Part 6 (1/2)

Livia finished her drink.

”It was my child.”

The man and the woman, whose grins now seemed permanently affixed to their faces, were forced to wait a considerable amount of time before Tom Blacker was both ready and able to listen to their explanation.

Livia did most of the talking.

”You'll probably be horrified at all this,” she said, with a trace of amus.e.m.e.nt around her red mouth. ”Particularly since you and I have been--” She paused, and looked towards Andrusco with a slight lift of her shoulder. ”Well, you know. But you needn't feel too squeamish, Tom.

After all, I was born and raised on Earth. I am, you might say, an honorary Earth woman.”

Tom's eyes bulged at her.

”This civilization from which my husband and I claim ancestry is perhaps no older than your own. Unfortunately, we were not blessed with a planetary situation as agreeable as Earth's. Our sun is far feebler, the orbital paths of our moons act drastically upon our waters, causing generations of drought and centuries of flood ...”

”What are you talking about?” Tom said hoa.r.s.ely.

”I speak of home,” Livia Cord said. And her eyes gleamed.

”Antamunda is the name we give it,” John Andrusco said cordially. ”A world very much like your own in size and atmosphere, Mr. Blacker. But tragically, a world whose usefulness has been gradually coming to an end. Our ancestors, who were scientists of much ability, foresaw this some hundreds of years ago. Since that time, they have been seeking a solution to the problem.”

”I don't believe this!”

”We have,” Livia said carefully, ”excellent evidence.”

”Some five hundred years ago,” Andrusco continued, ”our people despatched an exploratory s.p.a.ce vessel. A home-hunting force, seeking to relocate the surviving members of our race. It was a long, trying odyssey, but it finally culminated in the selection of a new home. I needn't tell you that the home is in your own solar system.”

Tom shot to his feet. ”You mean Earth? You mean you want to take over here--”

Andrusco looked shocked. ”Certainly not! What a violent thought, Mr.

Blacker!”

”The planet you call Mars,” Livia said coolly, ”was the selected destination. A planet with only limited facilities for the support of life. But a planet even more like our own dying world than Earth, Mr.

Blacker. So you needn't cry havoc about alien invaders.” She laughed sharply.

”Then what are you doing here?”

”Merely waiting,” Andrusco said. ”We are the offspring of the surviving members of the expeditionary force from Antamunda, placed here on Earth as a vanguard of the immigration that will shortly take place to this system. But your own world is in no danger, Mr. Blacker. That you must believe. Physically, our people are not your equals. Scientifically, we are advanced in certain fields and shamefully backwards in others.

Biologically--” He frowned. ”This is our greatest weakness. To the Antamundans, your breeding capacity is nothing short of grotesque.” His handsome lip curled. He enjoyed watching Tom's reaction.

Tom swallowed hard. ”How long have you been here?”

”Some four generations have been born here. Our duty has been merely to await the arrival of our people. But in the last fifty years, we found ourselves faced with another obligation. It was that obligation which brought about the formation of Homelovers, Incorporated.”

”I don't understand.”