"He's big, Carl!" she cried.

And he grew, and grew, and grew uneasy...

"_Now!_"

He looked down.

He looked down, as the god of our most ancient ancestors might havelooked down. Fear, shame, and mocking laughter rang in my head. Her head,too?

"Now!"

She looked up at the nascent earthquake.

"I can't!"

It was going to be so damnably simple this time, now the rabbit haddied. I reached out.

I stopped.

"Push it yourself."

"I can't. You do it. Land him, Carl!"

"No. If I do, you'll wonder for the rest of your life whether you couldhave. You'll throw away your soul finding out. I know you will, becausewe're alike, and I did it that way. Find out now!"

She stared.

I gripped her shoulders.

"Could be that's me out there," I offered. "I am a green sea serpent, ahateful, monstrous beast, and out to destroy you. I am answerable to no one.Push the Inject."

Her hand moved to the button, jerked back.

"Now!"

She pushed it.

I lowered her still form to the floor and finished things up with Ikky.

It was a good seven hours before I awakened to the steady, sea-chewinggrind of Tensquare's blades.

"You're sick," commented Mike.

"How's Jean?"

"The same."

"Where's the beast?"

"Here."

"Good." I rolled over. "...Didn't get away this time."

So that's the way it was. No one is born a baitman, I don't think, butthe rings of Saturn sing epithalamium the sea-beast's dower.

BORN OF MAN and woman, in accordance with Catform Y7 requirements,Coldworld Class (modified per Alyonal), 3.2-E, G.M.I. option, Jarry Dark wasnot suited for existence anywhere in the universe which had guaranteed him aniche. This was either a blessing or a curse, depending on how you looked atit.

So look at it however you would, here is the story:

It is likely that his parents could have afforded the temperaturecontrol unit, but not much more than that. (Jarry required atemperature of at least -50 C. to be comfortable.)

It is unlikely that his parents could have provided for the airpressure control and gas mixture equipment required to maintain his life.

Nothing could be done in the way of 3.2-E grav-simulation, so dailymedication and physiotherapy were required. It is unlikely that his parentscould have provided for this.

The much-maligned option took care of him, however. It safe-guarded hishealth. It provided for his education. It assured his economic welfare andphysical well-being.

It might be argued that Jarry Dark would not have been a homelessColdworld Catform (modified per Alyonal) had it not been for General Mining,Incorporated, which had held the option. But then it must be borne in mindthat no one could have foreseen the nova which destroyed Alyonal.

When his parents had presented themselves at the Public Health PlannedParenthood Center and requested advice and medication pending offspring,they had been informed as to the available worlds and the bodyformrequirements for them. They had selected Alyonal, which had recently beenpurchased by General Mining for purposes of mineral exploitation. Wisely,they had elected the option; that is to say, they had signed a contract onbehalf of their anticipated offspring, who would be eminently qualified toinhabit that world, agreeing that he would work as an employee of GeneralMining until he achieved his majority, at which time he would be free todepart and seek employment wherever he might choose (though his choiceswould admittedly be limited). In return for this guarantee, General Miningagreed to assure his health, education and continuing welfare for so long ashe remained in their employ.

When Alyonal caught fire and went away, those Coldworld Catformscovered by the option who were scattered about the crowded galaxy were, byvirtue of the agreement, wards of General Mining.

This is why Jarry grew up in a hermetically sealed room containingtemperature and atmosphere controls, and why he received a first-classclosed circuit education, along with his physiotherapy and medicine. This isalso why Jarry bore some resemblance to a large gray ocelot without a tail,had webbing between his fingers and could not go outside to watch thetraffic unless he wore a pressurized refrigeration suit and took extramedication.

All over the swarming galaxy, people took the advice of Public HealthPlanned Parenthood Centers, and many others had chosen as had Jarry'sparents. Twenty-eight thousand, five hundred sixty-six of them, to be exact.In any group of over twenty-eight thousand five hundred sixty, there arebound to be a few talented individuals. Jarry was one of them. He had aknack for making money. Most of his General Mining pension check wasinvested in well-chosen stocks of a speculative nature. (In fact, after atime he came to own considerable stock in General Mining.)

When the man from the Galactic Civil Liberties Union had come around,expressing concern over the pre-birth contracts involved in the option andexplaining that the Alyonal Catforms would make a good test case (especiallysince Jarry's parents lived within jurisdiction of the 877th Circuit, wherethey would be assured favorable courtroom atmosphere), Jarry's parents haddemurred, for fear of jeopardizing the General Mining pension. Later on,Jarry himself dismissed the notion also. A favorable decision could not makehim an E-world Normform, and what else mattered? He was not vindictive.Also, he owned considerable stock in G.M. by then.

He loafed in his methane tank and purred, which meant that he wasthinking. He operated his cryo-computer as he purred and thought. He wascomputing the total net worth of all the Catforms in the recently organizedDecember Club.

He stopped purring and considered a sub-total, stretched, shook hishead slowly. Then he returned to his calculations.

When he had finished, he dictated a message into his speech-tube, toSanza Barati, President of December and his betrothed:

"Dearest Sanza--the funds available, as I have suspected, leave much tobe desired. All the more reason to begin immediately. Kindly submit theproposal to the business committee, outline my qualifications and seekimmediate endorsement. I've finished drafting the general statement to themembership. (Copy attached.) From these figures, it will take me betweenfive and ten years, if at least eighty percent of the membership backs me.So push hard, beloved. I'd like to meet you someday, in a place where thesky is purple. Yours, always, Jarry Dark, Treasurer. P.S. I'm pleased youwere pleased with the ring."

Two years later, Jarry had doubled the net worth of December,Incorporated.

A year and a half after that, he had doubled it again.

When he received the following letter from Sanza, he leapt onto histrampoline, bounded into the air, landed upon his feet at the opposite endof his quarters, returned to his viewer and replayed it:

Dear Jarry,

Attached are specifications and prices for five more

worlds. The research staff likes the last one. So do I.

What do you think? Alyonal II? If so, how about the price?

When could we afford that much? The staff also says that an

hundred Worldchange units could alter it to what we want in

5-6 centuries. Will forward costs of this machinery shortly.

Come live with me and be my love, in a place where there

are no walls....

Sanza

"One year," he replied, "and I'll buy you a world! Hurry up with thecosts of the machinery and transport...." When the figures arrived Jarrywept icy tears. One hundred machines, capable of altering the environment ofa world, plus twenty-eight thousand coldsleep bunkers, plus transportationcosts for the machinery and his people, plus...Too high! He did a rapidcalculation.