"I understand that they"re pa.s.sing a special law to let--people--like me vote at the next election."
"I"m for it, Ronar, I"m for it. You can count on me."
The chairman came up on the platform, a stout and dignified woman who smiled at both Ronar and the Senator, and shook hands with both without showing signs of distaste for either. The a.s.sembled compet.i.tors and spectators took seats.
The chairman cleared her throat. "Ladies and gentlemen, let us open this meeting by singing the _Hymn of All Planets_."
They all rose, Ronar with them. His voice wasn"t too well adapted to singing, but neither, it seemed, were most of the human voices. And, at least, he knew all the words.
The chairman proceeded to greet the gathering formally, in the name of the Presiding Committee.
Then she introduced Senator Whitten. She referred archly to the fact that the Senator had long since reached the age of indiscretion and had so far escaped marriage. He was an enemy of the female s.e.x, but they"d let him speak to them anyway.
Senator Whitten just as archly took up the challenge. He had escaped more by good luck--if you could call it good--than by good management.
But he was sure that if he had ever had the fortune to encounter some of the beautiful ladies here this fine day, and to taste the products of their splendid cooking and baking, he would have been a lost man. He would long since have committed polygamy.
Senator Whitten then launched into a paean of praise for the ancient art of preparing food.
Ronar"s attention wandered. So did that of a good part of the audience.
His ears picked up another conversation, this time whispered between a man and a woman in the front row.
The man said, "I should have put your name on it, instead of mine."
"That would have been silly. All my friends know that I can"t bake. And it would look so strange if I won."
"It"ll look stranger if I win. I can imagine what the boys in the shop will say."
"Oh, the boys in the shop are stupid. What"s so unmanly in being able to cook and bake?"
"I"m not anxious for the news to get around."
"Some of the best chefs have been men."
"I"m not a chef."
"Stop worrying." There was exasperation in the force of her whisper.
"You won"t win anyway."
"I don"t know. Sheila--"
"What?"
"If I win, will you explain to everybody how manly I really am? Will you be my character witness?"
She repressed a giggle.
"If you won"t help me, I"ll have to go around giving proof myself."
"Shh, someone will hear you."
Senator Whitten went on and on.
Ronar thought back to the time when he had wandered over the surface of this, his native satellite. He no longer had the old desires, the old appet.i.tes. Only the faintest of ghosts still persisted, ghosts with no power to do harm. But he could remember the old feeling of pleasure, the delight of sinking his teeth into an animal he had brought down himself, the savage joy of gulping the tasty flesh. He didn"t eat raw meat any more; he didn"t eat meat at all. He had been conditioned against it. He was now half vegetarian, half synthetarian. His meals were nourishing, healthful, and a part of his life he would rather not think about.
He took no real pleasure in the tasting of the cakes and other delicacies that born human beings favored. His sense of taste had remained keen only to the advantage of others. To himself it was a tantalizing mockery.
Senator Whitten"s voice came to a sudden stop. There was applause. The Senator sat down; the chairman stood up. The time for the judging had arrived.
They set out the cakes--more than a hundred of them, topped by icings of all colors and all flavors. The chairman introduced Ronar and lauded both his impartiality and the keenness of his sense of taste.
They had a judging card ready. Slowly, Ronar began to go down the line.
They might just as well have signed each cake with its maker"s name. As he lifted a portion of each to his mouth, he could hear the quick intake of breath from the woman who had baked it, could catch the whispered warning from her companion. There were few secrets they could keep from him.
At first they all watched intently. When he had reached the fifth cake, however, a hand went up in the audience. "Madam Chairman!"
"Please, ladies, let us not interrupt the judging."
"But I don"t think the judging is right. Mr. Ronar tastes hardly more than a crumb of each!"
"A minimum of three crumbs," Ronar corrected her. "One from the body of the cake, one from the icing, and an additional crumb from each filling between layers."
"But you can"t judge a cake that way! You have to eat it, take a whole mouthful--"
"Please, madam, permit me to explain. A crumb is all I need. I can a.n.a.lyze the contents of the cake sufficiently well from that. Let me take for instance Cake Number 4, made from an excellent recipe, well baked. Martian granis flour, goover eggs, tingan-flavored salt, a trace of Venusian orange spice, synthetic shortening of the best quality. The icing is excellent, made with rare dipentose sugars which give it a delightful flavor. Unfortunately, however, the cake will not win first prize."
An anguished cry rose from the audience. "Why?"
"Through no fault of your own, dear lady. The purberries used in making the filling were not freshly picked. They have the characteristic flavor of refrigeration."
"The manager of the store swore to me that they were fresh! Oh, I"ll kill him, I"ll murder him--"
She broke down in a flood of tears.
Ronar said to the lady who had protested, "I trust, madam, that you will now have slightly greater confidence in my judgment."
She blushed and subsided.
Ronar went on with the testing. Ninety per cent of the cakes he was able to discard at once, from some fault in the raw materials used or in the method of baking. Eleven cakes survived the first elimination contest.
He went over them again, more slowly this time. When he had completed the second round of tests, only three were left. Number 17 belonged to Mrs. Cabanis. Number 43 had been made by the man who argued with his wife. Number 64 was the product of the young bride, whom he had still not seen.