Page:World Without Men (HT osu.32435053364535).pdf/12

Gallardia was waiting for her at the main door to the laboratory. Her square face seemed a little oblong, as if her chin had dropped with excitement.

"Ah, Aubretia!" she said, simmering. "You handle news."

Aubretia contrived to smile politely. "I don't handle it. I vet it."

Gallardia retracted her chin, and her face became square again. "Well, then, I've got something sensational for you to vet. This way."

She led the way through the laboratory to the Annex. Aubretia noted briefly the long benches and the glass and chrome apparatus and the technicians—some of them only young girls in their teens—wearing the approved-pattern, transparent plastic overalls. They continued into the smaller cube of the Annex, with its racks and shelves and cupboards and, in the center of the floor, an adjustable operating table with a sheeted body.

Gallardia placed a proprietary hand on the center of the body and regarded the other woman with an air of restrained triumph. "What would be the most fantastic event you could imagine?" she demanded.

Aubretia spread out her hands noncommitally. "That's hard to say. A woman from Mars, perhaps?"

"Nonsense. We know there are no women on Mars."

"From out of space, then."

"No, no. That is fantasy. This"—she thumped the shape under the sheet—"is fact!"

"I really haven't the slightest idea."

"Then take a look." Gallardia drew back the sheet, revealing a white waxen head and shoulders.

"She's got a lot of hair, "Aubretia observed. "Peculiar face too. Kind of hard. Ugly." Something caught her eye. She leaned forward quickly and inspected the dead face. "I could almost swear . . ."

"What?"