Blish,James – And all the Stars a Stage

temerity. The Matriarch, I suppose; and how many others?”

Dr. Chase-Huebner stared at him. Her expression seemed to be one of

reproachful astonishment; but

70 fames Blish

all the same, for the very first time since he had known her, he found

himself afraid of her.

~’Nobody else,” she said, in a silken-soft voice. “Nobody at all, not even

the Matriarch. We have chosen and trained everyone honestly, and we are not

taking anyone just because she happens to be Somebody.”

That should have been that; and for a few seconds, as Jorn subsided into an

agony of embarrassment and self-recrimination, it was. But then Ailiss

OKung said precisely:

“Does that include the Director, Dr. Chase-Huebner?”

“Naturally,” the physician said, without even blinking. “We could hardly do

without him, after all.”

“I raise that question, if you please,” Ailiss said grimly. “I understand

he has suffered a breakdown. Other people have been weeded for less. Do you

still regard him as competent?”

“I do. That closes the question, I trust?”

“Not quite. Will you allow me to test him?”

The two women were now rigidly face to face in a furious locking of gazes

whose import was totally beyond Jorn’s understanding.

“For what purpose?”

“To confirm your assessment. Competence among crew members is my

responsibility.”

“You have often been wrong,” Dr. Chase-Huebner said.

“Sometimes, often, never, I won’t argue. Nevertheless, I am the

psychologist responsible; you are not”

“Very well,” Dr. Chase-Huebner said with a gentle smile, folding her plump,

magnificently competent fingers together. “In that case, you are