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great Bottleneck of his day. But what motivated Poole, do you think? I’m sure he was
paid.
But was it just money he wanted?”
    “No.”
    “Then what?”
    She frowned, thinking. “His world was in trouble. Duty, I suppose.”
    “Duty, yes. Of course everything is different now. But even though money has vanished, duty remains—don’t you think? And I already know you do your duty, Alia, with your Witnessing. Tell me what you think of Poole.”
    “His legacy—”
    “Never mind his place in history. What do you think of
him
?”
    She studied the playing boy. To her, Poole was a stunted creature, living in a cramped, dark time. And his mind was only half-formed, his speech a drawl. Why, he was barely conscious most of the time. It was as if he walked around in a dream, a robot driven by unconscious and atavistic impulses. When tragedy hit, when his wife died, he was overwhelmed, quite unable even to comprehend the powerful emotions that tore him apart.
    Yet this flawed animal was a citizen of a civilization that was already reaching out beyond the planet of its birth, and Michael Poole himself had a grave, history-shaping responsibility; and yet this man, in a way, would save his world.
    Uncertainly she tried to express some of this to Reath.
    Reath said, “Just think how you would look to
him.
Why, you’re a different category of creature altogether. If Poole was standing before you now, I wonder if you’d even be able to talk to each other! You and Poole are as different as two humans could ever be. And yet you have always watched him. Do you think, Alia, that you could ever
love
him?”
    “Love? What are you talking about? What do you want, Reath?”
    His eyes were a deep, watery gold. “I have to be sure, you see.”
    “About what?”
    “If you really are what I’m looking for.” He turned in response to a faint sound. “I think your father is home.”
    Alia was happy to run from the room, fleeing from this strange man and his intense scrutiny, seeking her father’s reassurance. But in the end reassurance was the last thing she got from him.
             
    In the apartment’s living room, her mother and father stood side by side. Her sister Drea was here, too. Alia’s attention was distracted by the Witnessing tanks stacked up in one corner of the room, her parents’, and Drea’s. It struck her that she couldn’t remember when the others had done their Witnessing. Maybe Reath was right, she was unusual.
    Her family was staring at her.
    And then, as if noticing it for the first time, she saw that Ansec hadn’t come home alone. In her father’s arms, fresh from the birthing tanks, was a baby.
    Reath followed Alia, and stood discreetly to one side.
    Alia found it difficult to speak. “Well,” she said. “Quite a family gathering.”
    Her mother was anguished. “Oh, Alia, I’m sorry.”
    Ansec, her father, was calmer, though distress showed in his face. “It’s not a crisis,” he said. “At least it doesn’t have to be. An opportunity—that’s what we have.”
    Alia turned on her sister. “And you—did you know?”
    Drea snapped back, sibling rivalry briefly flaring. “Don’t take it out on me.” She waved at Reath. “It’s you the Commonwealth wants, not me!”
    And all the time, in her father’s arms, there was the mute, incontrovertible existence of the baby. Bel’s eyes were shining now. “It’s a boy, Alia, a baby boy!”
    Ansec said, “You know how happy this will make us, don’t you? You know how we love children—how we’ve loved having you as you’ve grown.” He cradled the baby. “This is
us,
Alia. The two of us, Bel and me. Having children. It’s what makes us what we are.”
    “And what about me?” Alia said. “It takes two years for a gestation in the tank. So you’ve known this day would come for that long. And you’ve known what would happen then . . .” It was the
Nord
’s one iron rule. In its limited space, you were allowed two children; if