DOUBLE STANDARD
By ALFRED COPPEL
Illustrated by MAC LELLAN
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Galaxy Science Fiction February 1952.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
He did not have the qualifications to go
into space—so he had them manufactured!
It was after oh-one-hundred when Kane arrived at my apartment.I checked the hall screen carefully before letting him in, too,though the hour almost precluded the possibility of any inquisitivepassers-by.
He didn't say anything at all when he saw me, but his eyes wenta bit wide. That was perfectly natural, after all. The illegalplasti-cosmetician had done his work better than well. I wasn't thesame person I had been.
I led Kane into the living room and stood before him, letting him havea good look at me.
"Well," I asked, "will it work?"
Kane lit a cigarette thoughtfully, not taking his eyes off me.
"Maybe," he said. "Just maybe."
I thought about the spaceship standing proud and tall under the stars,ready to go. And I knew that it had to work. It had to.
Some men dream of money, others of power. All my life I had dreamedonly of lands in the sky. The red sand hills of Mars, moldering inaged slumber under a cobalt-colored day; the icy moraines of Io andCallisto, where the yellow methane snow drifted in the faint lightof the Sun; the barren, stark seas of the Moon, where razor-backedmountains limned themselves against the star fields—
"I don't know, Kim; you're asking a hell of a lot, you know," Kane said.
"It'll work," I assured him. "The examination is cursory after theapplication has been acted on." I grinned easily under the flesh mask."And mine has."
"You mean Kim Hall's application has," he said.
I shrugged. "Well?"
Kane frowned at me and blew smoke into the still air of the room. "TheKim Hall on the application and you aren't exactly the same person. Idon't have to tell you that."
"Look," I said. "I called you here tonight to check me over and becausewe've been friends for a good long time. This is important to me, Kane.It isn't just that I want to go. I have to. You can understandthat, maybe."
"Yes, Kim," he said bitterly. "I can understand. Maybe if I had yourbuild and mass, I'd be trying the same thing right now. My onlychance was the Eugenics Board and they turned me down cold. Remember?Sex-linked predilection to carcinoma. Unsuitable for colonial breedingstock—"
I felt a wave of pity for Kane then. I was almost sorry I'd called himover. Within six hours I would be on board the spaceship, while hewould be here. Earthbound for always. Unsuitable for breeding stock inthe controlled colonies of Mars or Io and Callisto.
I thought about that, too. I knew I wouldn't be able to carry offmy masquerade forever. I wouldn't want to. The stringent physicalexamination given on landing would pierce my disguise easily. Butby that time it would be too late. I'd be there, out among thestars. And no Earthbound spaceship captain would carry my mass backinstead of precious cargo. I'd stay. If they wanted me for a breederthen—okay. In spite of my slight build and lack of physical strength,I'd still be where I wanted to be. In the fey lands in t