“Oh, no. Not in the ordinary sense of the word. We’re a temporary committee elected to meet this particular situation. That is, to answer any questions you might wish to ask about Einstein, or to show you anything you might wish to see.”
“Who elected you?” Ronny said.
The other scowled slightly at him, as though the question didn’t make much sense. “Why, the people.”
“All of the people?”
“All who bothered to vote.”
Dorn Horsten pushed his glasses further back on the bridge of his nose. He said, “Well, who nominated you, Citizen Fredric?”
“Just Fredric,” the other said. “Anyone who wished to.”
Ronny had reached down to give the dog’s back a scratch and was rewarded with a double wag of the tail. He said, “That’s not very clear. Would you elucidate?”
“Certainly. When the news was released that you were on your way, it became obvious that there would have to be a committee. The computers were consulted as to what citizens would be best suited to act. Then our people nominated whomever they wished. The twelve who received the most nominations were put up for the vote. Those of us who were interested voted and the six who received the largest number of votes became the committee.”
“How did Rosemary get into the act?” Ronny said.
Fredric looked at him, and said, “We of the committee selected her.”
“Let’s go back for a moment,” Dorn Horsten said. “You said all of the people, and Rosemary have already mentioned that you have complete sexual equality. But what is the minimum age of the electorate?”
“There is none.”
Ronny frowned. “You mean a ten year old child can vote in your elections?”
“If he or she so wishes. Usually a child of that age has little interest in elections, or has insufficient knowledge of whatever subject is being considered. But if the vote is being taken on some subject in which he is interested and has an opinion, why yes, he can and does vote.”
Ronny shook his head. This was a new one. He said, “To return to this no-officials thing. You’ve got to have at least some officials to run your government.”
The other shook his head. “Didn’t Rosemary tell you? We have no government.”
While the two Section G agents were gawking at him, Rosemary walked in. She was attired in practically identical clothing to that she had worn the day before and she made a little yawn before smiling her bright smile. “Good morning, Dorn and Ronny. Good morning, Fredric. Did everyone sleep well?” Without waiting for an answer, she departed into the dining room, obviously in search of coffee herself.
Ronny said, “No government! Do you mean that yours is an anarchist socio-economic system? It’s one thing for a backward agricultural society such as Kropotkin to have no government. But Einstein would seem to be one of the most advanced worlds, economically, scientifically, technologically and so forth. You can’t run a society like this without a government.”
Fredric sipped at his coffee. “Yes, you can,” he said mildly.
Dorn Horsten shook his head in amazement. He said, “And you have no president, no premier, no king or other head of state?”
“We don’t have a state, let alone a head of state.”
The dog looked up from where he’d had his head resting on his paws, cocked his ears forward a little, and said in a half growl, “Somebody is coming.”
Chapter Ten
The newcomers were two women. Fredric and the Section G operatives came to their feet.
To Ronny’s surprise, both of them were as attractive as Rosemary, though ten or fifteen years her senior. They wore their hair in much the same manner she did, obviously more interested in comfort than anything else. One was a redhead, the other a jet-black brunette, who looked as though she was at least half Negro. If Rosemary had reminded Ronny of that motion picture beauty of yesteryear, Jean Simmons, this one reminded him of Lena Horne of the same period. She was a knockout. They both wore approximately the same outfit that Rosemary did, blouse and kilt, though they differed in color.
They had entered from the patio and now advanced, smiling. These people did one hell of a lot of smiling, Ronny decided, even as he shook hands with them.
The redhead said, “My name’s Barbara,” and the brunette flashed perfect teeth and said, “And mine’s Mattie.”
Fredric said, “And, of course, these are our visitors, Doctor Dorn Horsten and Ronald Bronston. Dorn and Ronny, by our custom.”
Rosemary came back in bearing a tray with sugar, milk, cups, spoons, and a vacuum pot of coffee.
She said, “Hello, Mattie, Barbara. Won’t everybody sit down? And who would like coffee? Or anything else for that matter.”
Even before they had settled, the three remaining members of the committee arrived, two men and a woman.
They were introduced, Darlene, Max and Marvin, and were soon organized.
They were all extremely handsome, Ronny decided. Rosemary had been correct when she said that on Einstein they bred for physical as well as mental attributes. Marvin seemed to be the youngest, at possibly forty. The six of the committee seemed to run from forty to fifty-five. On the youngish side, as government officials went, but, then, they had pointed out that they weren’t government officials.
Settled again, spaced out very informally, Fredric said, “I suggest that we elect a chairman.”
Darlene, who was an older edition of Rosemary, and just as attractive, in a more mature way, said, “You asked for it. I nominate Fredric.”
“Second,” Mattie said.
“Any more nominations?” Barbara said.
Evidently there were none. On the face of it, nobody gave a damn who the chairman was. The vote was unanimous.
All sipped their coffee for a moment.
Dorn Horsten politely said to Marvin, “That’s a beautiful ring you have. Looks something like an Earth-side opal. One of the Australian black opals. I’ve always admired them.”
Marvin took it off and handed it over to the doctor. He said, “Yes, our Einstein opals are basically quite similar of those of Earth. They aren’t a crystalline body, of course, but an amorphous mass of hydrous silica, which, in solidifying from a jelly-like state, is penetrated by cracks, these later becoming filled with material differing in water content from the original material and hence of different density. It becomes a beautiful gem. We don’t have the fire opal here, such as I know is a product of Mother Earth, but our black opals are, in all modesty, superior to those of Australia and what was once called Czechoslovakia.”
He had lost Ronny way back.
Dorn examined the ring appreciatively and said, “It is certainly one of the most beautiful gems I have ever seen.” He handed it back towards its owner.
“It is yours,” Marvin said.
Dorn Horsten ogled him. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“But it is.”
Dorn said, “See here. On Earth, or a dozen other worlds that I can think of, I could sell this jewel and retire for the rest of my life. It’s priceless.”
“Yes, of course.”
Dorn shook his head. “We seem to be talking about two different things. I meant that this opal is extremely valuable and that… ”
“It has no value whatsoever, on Einstein. It’s priceless.”
