"A willful woman," said Lazarus. "In three seconds I could have told Ish whether or not this thing looked enough like my mother to be useful. Instead I must depend on the opinions of people who have never laid eyes on my mother. Damn it, I am owner of record of the clinic and Chairman Regent of all B.I.T. Does that count with Ishtar? Hilda, my senior wife is as tough a case as you are... and looks as little like it as you do."

"So? It will be interesting to see what happens when I am your junior wife," Sharpie answered at her pertest.

"Are you going to be my junior wife?" Lazarus swung around and looked at her husband. "Jake?"

"I don't think I have a vote," my blood brother answered easily.

"I'll automatically be your junior wife if we are invited to join the Long Family which we damn well ought to be if we make this work!" Sharpie said indignantly.

"Wait a half!" I put in. "If we are invited to join the Long Family-a tall assumption if I ever saw one-Deety would be junior. Not you, you elderly baggage."

"Hillbilly can be junior if she wants to be. I don't mind."

"Deety," I said, "are you serious? I've been trying to point out to your stepmother that you don't push your way into a family."

"I wasn't pushing, Zebadiah," my wife answered. "I want us to stay on Tertius at least until we have our babies, and possibly make it our home; it seems to be a pleasant place and should be free of 'Black Hats'-no skin taboos. But that doesn't mean that the Longs have to have us in their laps."

'i intend to nominate you, Zebadiah," Libby told me. "All four of you. And I hope you four accept. But, Deety twin, you know what I'm attempting. With your father."

"Yes, I know. I'm cheering for it."

"Your husband must hear this. Deety, I still have that Y chromosome in every cell even though it has been so inhibited by hormone balance that I don't notice it. You and I could try for a mathematical-genius baby, too."

"Huh! Which one of us supplies the penis?"

"Ishtar does. Neither of us would be host-mother, the way it would be done. But any of my sister-wives would supply womb room if she didn't happen to be pregnant. Or the host-mother could be a stranger we would never meet and the child's family-parents strangers, too-all handled by Ishtar who always reads the relevant genetic charts before approving anything."

"Zebadiah?"

I said without hesitation, "It's up to you, hon. I'm in favor of it; it makes sense. But don't lose track of the child. Elizabeth, I want to adopt the baby ahead of time. Hmm- Bottle baby... but the formulas are probably better now. Not here-now. Tertius there-then-now."

"Bottle baby'? Oh! No longer done; a baby needs to suckle. But there is usually spare milk around the Longs'. If I'm lactating I always have excess; I turn out to be a good milch cow despite that extra chromosome. But Deety can nurse our child if she wishes to; causing a woman to come fresh with milk without bearing a child is a minor biochemical manipulation today-Tertiantoday. Professional wet nurses do it regularly and are likely to be in that vocation because they love babies but can't have 'em themselves for some reason."

"Sounds good." (What sounded best was this: a baby Deety is a wonderful idea-but a baby Deety who is also a baby Libby is sure to be wonderful squared. Cubed!)

"While I'm on this and no one here but family-Jacob, there is no reason not to create a third mathematical supergenius by crossing you with your daughter."

I was looking at my wife, thinking pleasant thoughts about baby DeetyLibby, when Elizabeth dropped this bomb-and Deety shut down her face. It's not an unpleasant expression; it's a no-expression, a closed door, while Deety sorts out her thoughts.

So I looked at Jake, in time to see his face shift from surprise to shock. "But that's-"

"Incest?" Libby supplied. "No, Jacob, incest is a social matter. Whether you bed your daughter is none of my business. I'm speaking of genes, of still another way to conserve mathematical genius. Ishtar would scan your charts most carefully and would resort to chromosome surgery if there was the slightest chance of double dosage of a bad allele. But you and your daughter could see

Ishtar on different days and never know anything about the outcome. Your genes are not your property; they come from your race. This offers opportunity to give them back to the race with your highest talent reinforced... without loss to anyone. Think about it."

Jake looked at me, then at his daughter. "Deety?"

She added no-expression voice to no-expression face-but directed her answer to me: "Zebadiah, this is necessarily up to you and Jacob." I'm not sure that anyone but Sharpie noticed that she had not said "Pop."

Deety added at once with total change in manner, "First things first! Maureen's rescue. All of you are stuck in a rut of time sequence. Oh, the minor problem of keeping clear of Dora and the missile both times. Routine." (And I was hit by a satori.)

Lazarus answered, "But Deety, I promised Dora never again to take her anywhere near Albuquerque."

Deety sighed. "Lib?"

"Frames one-thirteen through seven-seven-two, then seven-seven-three through one thousand and two?"

"Precisely. And precisely it must be, too. I'm timing it by that yellow open roadable approaching from the other direction. What are you using?"

"The same one. Easy to spot and its speed never varies."

Lazarus said, "Jake, do you know what they are saying?"

"Yes and no. They are treating it as two problems. But we lack three seconds of time enough to dump one and snatch the other. Those-traffic lights, you called them?-leave that intersection clear by a measured interval, clocked by your camera."

Sharpie suddenly grinned; I nodded to her to take it. She did. "Deety and Libby are saying that we do it twice. First, we rescue Maureen. Then we come back and dump the corpse."

I added, "But the second time we don't ground. Jake, I'm going to ask you to move over-Deety moves to my seat. We'll dump the dead meat so that it hits the ground between frames seven-seven-two and seven-seven-three. I'll be on manual and hovering. I need to know where Dora is and where that missile is and need to be sure of the acceleration of gravity, Earth-Prime. Because that corpse will already be falling, right over our heads, while we are making the snatch. Close timing. Mmm-Gay can fly herself more precisely than I can. I think that Deety and I will write a program... then I'll be on override-suspenders and belt."

Jake added, "Zeb, I see the procedure. But, if we are hovering for the drop while we are also on the ground, why aren't we shown in the photographs?"

"May be in some of them. Doesn't matter. Deety, when do we do this? Cancel. Sharpie? Your orders, Captain?"

Deety and Sharpie swapped glances. Then they sounded like Laz-Lor, with Sharpie leading. "Now to bed. It's almost midnight in our biological time, slightly later in local time."

"We do both jobs after breakfast," Deety responded. "But sleep as late as we can. Be sharp and on our toes. 'Minds me. Just one 'fresher, quite primitive.

But the two in Gay are as available here as anywhere; since they are actually in Oz. Six people, three pots, not difficult."

"And three beds," added Sharpie. "Jacob, kiss us goodnight and take Lib to bed. Master bedroom and good luck! Use my toothbrush, Lib hon-anything else you need?"

"No. A good cry, maybe. I love you, Hilda."

"If I didn't love you, Elizabeth, I wouldn't be Madam of this joint. We'll cry together the day Ishtar tells us you've caught. Now shoosh! Scat! Kiss us and go to bed."

As they headed upstairs Sharpie said to me, "Zebbie, give Deety a preamnesty so that she can try out Lazarus and find out whether she wants to be junior wife."

I tried to look amazed. "Deety, haven't you tried Lazarus yet?"

"You know darn well I haven't! When have I had time?"

"From a woman who specializes in programming time machines that is a silly question. Lazarus, she's already knocked up, so don't fret about it. One warning: She bites."

"The best ones always do."

"Hush. Kiss us good-night, dears. Zebbie, open the couch in the living room; that's where you're going to keep me warm."

"But who's going to keep me warm? A skinny little runt like you?"

Sharpie bites.

XLV

A Stitch in Time

Jake:

We popped out one klick H-above-G over Albuquerque, Earth-Prime, and Gay tilted her nose down. A last-minute change put my daughter Deety at copilot, while I sat left rear, nominal navigator. Deety can use verniers as accurately as I, did not expect to use them at all, did need to be able to see the yellow roadable-and has this clock in her head.

Elizabeth Long was in the after compartment, strapped down but not on lumps of ordnance. Rifles, pistols, bed clothes for the control compartment, anything else that could be moved easily to reduce clutter, had been shifted into our space warp, as had Lazarus Long.

Doctor Ishtar had warned Lazarus not to let his mother recognize him, as the shock to her might be harmful, even fatal. While Lazarus had been trying to figure out how to make the snatch using Dora, he had planned on wearing disguise. But hiding in our Land-of-Oz addition was simpler-especially as Ishtar was almost as anxious that Lazarus not see his mother, not see his mother's pseudo corpse-this I learned from Elizabeth in the night.

So I showed Lazarus the everlasting picnic basket, advised him to use bed clothes to make a shakedown and sleep if possible as there would be time to kill, and supplied him with books-but don't come out until I open the door! Then did not mention that I was locking him in.

I was relieved to have only a nominal job. I was not sleepy despite a short mghtj was bemused.

I was falling in love with-had fallen in love with-Elizabeth Long. No less

in love with Hilda-more in love with her than ever! I am learning that love does not subtract-it multiplies!

As Gay tilted down I reached over and touched Hilda's hand. She smiled and threw me a kiss. I'm sure she had a sweet night; she has loved Zeb as long as she has known him. "As a loyal chum," she tells me-but Hilda holds to the Higher Truth that it is better to be kind than to be frank. It did not matter either way; Zeb is my blood brother beloved by me, perfect husband for my daughter, and, if not Hilda's lover in the past, then he surely was now- and it troubled me not at all. On awakening I had discussed it with Jane before I opened my eyes-Jane approves and is delighted by Elizabeth.

My daughter had an unusual night, too. If the myths are true, Lazarus is more than one hundred times as old as Deety. This gulf may not matter to him-but Deety takes everything seriously.

Apparently it had done her no harm; at breakfast she was bright-eyed and bubbly. All of us were euphoric and eager to get on with it.

Zeb was saying, "That's it! Got it in the gunsight-got the range, Smart Girl?"

"Got it nailed, Boss!"

"Keep it so. Deety! Yellow roadable?"

"Just spotted it. Gay, count down! Six... Five... Four... Three... Two... One.. .Now!"

We were diagonally in that intersection; Gay's portside door was popping open. I heard Zeb say, "Oh, my God!" He was out of the car, kneeling, picking up a body, kicking a cop in the stomach, and throwing that body to me, as he scrambled inside and shouted, "GayBounce!"

Gay bounced. Gay is not supposed to lift with a door open and "Bounce!" means ten klicks. She bounced one klick, finished closing her door, waited while Zeb checked the seal-completed the bounce. I am now a believer.

I was passing this little old lady back to Elizabeth, and looking for resemblance to Lazarus when I heard Zeb moan, "I didn't get her purse, I didn't get her purse!"

"What of it?" said Deety. "It's where we want it. Gay Deceiver. Tertius Orbit. Execute."

A beautiful planet- Zeb was saying, "Lib, can you coach us? Or are you too busy?"

"Not that busy. Maureen fainted but her heart is strong and steady, and I have a strap holding her. Is Gay on frequency?"

Deety reported, "Right on. Go ahead, Lib."

The next I can't report; it was in Galacta. Then Elizabeth said, "We'll be passing over Boondock in three minutes twenty-two seconds. Roof of the clinic is designated. Shall I come forward and point it out?"

"Can you handle yourself in free fall?" Zeb asked.

"I've some experience. Eight centuries."

"My big mouth. Come forward."

In four or five minutes we grounded on a flat roof in a wooded part of a moderately large city. I saw a figure in a white coverall, plus two others with

a wheeled stretcher-and only then did I recall that none of us had dressed. Hilda had asked; Lazarus had vetoed, Elizabeth had concurred.

So I found myself bare to my ears, bowing over a lady's hand and saying, "I am honored, Doctor Ishtar."

She is indeed beautiful-a Valkyrie sculptured from cream and marshmallow and honey. She smiled and kissed my hand.'

Elizabeth said something in this other language; Ishtar smiled again and said, in careful, fluent English, "In that case, he is one of us"-took my head in her hands and kissed me thoroughly.

Ishtar so distracted me that I did not notice that Maureen had been handed out-awake but dazed-been rolled away, and was gone. All of us were thoroughly and carefully kissed, then Elizabeth discussed matters with Ishtar in Galacta. "Ish says that she has been slowly warming the thing. It is now at four degrees Celsius. She would like more time but will bring it to thirty-seven degrees Celsius in six hours if she must."

Deety said, "How about twenty-four hours?"

Ishtar was pleased at this, agreed that she understood that the substitute must be dressed in the patient's (client's) clothing, agreed that the space we were in would be kept clear-and asked, "What's that pounding noise?"

Elizabeth explained that it was Lazarus. "He is in a magic space warp about where we were standing. He knows that he is supposed to remain there, but he changed his mind-and has just discovered that he is locked in."

Ishtar's smile suddenly became a grin, as quickly left. "A magic space warp? Lib, I want to hear about that."

"You will."

We climbed back inside, Deety told Gay "Twenty-four hours"-and we stepped out again. Ishtar was lying on a pad, taking the sun... this time as bare as we were-and I was still more impressed.

"Right on time," she said, standing (taller than I am) and, as always, smiling. "The substitute is waiting, and I have had time to examine and talk with the client. She is in good shape for her age, understands in part at least what has happened, and is undismayed by it. Please tell Lazarus that, if he returns to Tertius soon, he will not be admitted to this building for seventeen months. The client is most firm: she will not see Lazarus until I have completed rejuvenating her."

"Lib," said my daughter Deety, "seventeen what sort of months? I want to set an exact rendezvous-and Gay's time calibration is not Tertian but EarthPrime and Earth-zero. Old Home Terra." With Elizabeth as interface the three agreed on an exact time. Then Elizabeth again discussed something in that language.

Ishtar nodded. "No problem, I have seen that picture. And a hooded cape is even less trouble."