День триффидов
Conference
Unlessyoucanagreetothat,therecanbenoplaceforyouinourcommunity."
Afteranintervalofdeadsilence,headded:
"Wecanaffordtosupportalimitednumberofwomenwhocannotsee,becausetheywillhavebabieswhocansee.Wecannotaffordtosupportmenwhocannotsee.Inournewworld,then,babiesbecomeverymuchmoreimportantthanhusbands."
Forsomesecondsafterhestoppedspeaking,silencecontinued,thenisolatedmurmursgrewquicklyintoageneralbuzz.
IlookedatJosella.Tomyastonishment,shewasgrinningimpishly.
"Whatdoyoufindfunnyaboutthis?"Iaskedatrifleshortly.
"People’sexpressionsmostly,"shereplied.
Ihadtoadmititasareason.Ilookedroundtheplace,andthenacrossatMichael.Hiseyesweremovingfromonesectiontoanotheroftheaudienceashetriedtosumupthereaction.
"Michael’slookingabitanxious,"Iobserved.
"Heshouldworry,"saidJosella."IfBrighamYoungcouldbringitoffinthemiddleofthenineteenthcentury,thisoughttobeapushover."
"Whatacrudeyoungwomanyouareattimes,"Isaid."Wereyouinonthisbefore?"
"Notexactly,butI’mnotquitedumb,youknow.Besides,whileyouwereawaysomeonedroveinabuswithmostoftheseblindgirlsonboard.Theyallcamefromsomeinstitution.Isaidtomyself,whycollectthemfromtherewhenyoucouldgatherupthousandsinafewstreetsroundhere?
Theanswerobviouslywasthat(a)beingblindbeforethishappened,theyhadbeentrainedtodoworkofsomekind,and(b)theywereallgirls.
