“Fine!” Mal bristled and clenched his fists.
The doctor reached over to him. “Let me feel your pulse.”
“NO! It’s slightly elevated again, true, but that’s only because I’m angry. A natural reaction!”
His partner leaned back. “So, you plan to die before you see the conclusion of this extraordinary study of yours? Because that’s what your fury is going to do to you: stop that heart before your mind is ready to quit.”
Mal took a few deep breaths. “See? Better already.”
“Oh, yes,” the doctor nodded cynically. “I see the tranquility in your eyes. Nicko, you’re not fooling me. Tell me, why do you let him get to you? How can you be so analytically objective in everything else, but not when it comes to the Shins?”
“I don’t know!” Mal hissed. “Do I need a reason? You think running the world is easy? You oversee only one twenty-second of it. I oversee it all! Every soldier and citizen is under my watch, and I’m doing an exceptional job! If I choose to vent my irritations and rage on one family, who isn’t even around to feel it, how is that such a problem?! Objective?! No one is objective, my friend! Irrational? Every person in the world has their moments of irrationality. Look on that shelf—I’ve documented thousands of displays of irrationality. If I had enough time, I could find a moment of illogical thought and reasoning in every last person in the world. You’re the one who keeps telling me to take a walk every now and then. Do my heart some good to get the heart rate up. Well, it’s up now! How is this not as healthy as taking a walk, Doctor?!”
His partner only blinked. “Are you about finished with your little tirade?”
“We need a new plan for Shin.”
“Wait a minute—I barely compiled the report on the raid in Trades. It will take seasons to go through all of the information. What do you mean, a new plan for Shin?”
“I want him tested, now. Again.”
His companion exhaled. “Still on your tirade.”
“I’m about to prove to you that I’m a compassionate man, Doctor,” Mal said calmly. “I want Perrin Shin to have a son.”
“Uh-huh,” his partner said. “And how are you going to ensure that?”
“Eliminate his wife and daughter.”
The doctor choked and coughed before regaining his voice. “What?!”
“Consider, what if the second baby is another girl? He’s already had one, chances are overwhelming he’ll have a second. Then Shin’s chances at a son are over. What a waste. Even officers are allowed only two children. But,” Mal continued as easily as if he was musing over dinner choices, “as the law states, should his wife and children die, he can remarry and have up to two more children. Another two chances at a son. Now, what’s not compassionate about that?”
It took the doctor several long, heavy moments to respond. “That’s . . . that’s . . . An expecting woman? That’s a little much, don’t you think? And a baby?”
Mal eyed him. “Shin’s a test subject, remember? Consider the wealth of information we can gather from such an occurrence. How would someone as strong as Shin respond to the loss of his wife and daughter? What we learn could better the entire world in terms of recommendations coming out of the Office of Family on ways to handle grieving. Then again, if he doesn’t have any strong feelings for them, we will have done him a tremendous favor. In one way, we stand to gain a great deal, another way he gains a great deal. That’s what we call a gain-gain situation.”
Had there been any more light in the room, Mal might have discerned the growing horror in his companion’s eyes. But perhaps that was why they always met in the dark.
“Nicko, you can’t be serious. You can’t do this . . . not to them.”
“Not to them?” Mal squinted. “Are you sure you’re not bonding to him, just a bit? I made that mistake once with a horse. When it died I actually felt some sorrow, and couldn’t fully appreciate the information its death provided me. It was almost not worth killing the beast for. Don’t fall into that trap, now.”
The doctor held up his hands. “I’m not, I’m not. It’s just that . . . well, that wealth of information you mentioned—perhaps there’s more to this than we realize, a full range of possibilities we haven’t considered. Do you know how rare it is for a man, especially an officer, to have two children? And so close together? Nicko, we shouldn’t eliminate a potentially captivating research project.”
Mal was unconvinced. “You realize I had others to choose from, but I thought you were the most intelligent and open-minded. There are others willing to take your place, you know.”