Page:World Without Men (HT osu.32435053364535).pdf/157

bator represented the pinnacle of scientific achievement; and it might also be the problem of all time.

She traveled by underground mobile roads to the select government zone of the city, and ascended to the fourteenth story of the Department of Science and Techonolgy. There was some difficulty with the receptionist and the undersecretary; the Senior Mistress of Applied Cytology was by no means readily accessible. After a twenty minute delay she was admitted to the secretary's office, and ten minutes later finally reached the inner sanctum and found herself greeting the Mistress herself.

The Mistress was a woman of indeterminate age, fleshy without being fat, rigid without being bony. Her face was flaccid, her eyes small but deep. Her flat breasts were lacquered purple as was the custom among higher government officials. She wore a short black skirt and black sandals, contrasting with her hair which had been varnished snow white.

"Sit down, Cordelia," said the Mistress of Applied Cytology. "I must apologize for keeping you waiting, but pressure of work is, well . . ." She smiled thinly."Unexpected interviews are always difficult to arrange."

Cordelia nodded sympathetically. "I understand, Mistress. But I have some very important news about test four-six-five."

The Mistress opened a drawer in her desk and produced a box file which she opened, withdrawing a number of papers. She flicked through them rapidly, then selected one particular typewritten sheet.

"Four-six-five," she murmured thoughtfully. "That's in the chromosome linkage series."

"The Arctic man," Cordelia explained. "The one they found in the ice three years ago.”

"I remember."

"He was in a remarkably well-preserved state. We were able to isolate many thousands of perfect cell nuclei—gam-