Tilda looked at her twins, cuddled close
together in the crib. Mat-set had all four arms wrapped around Suzie. They
seemed to cuddle any chance they got. Maybe they were glad to be free of
separate amniotic sacs.
She looked down at Mat-set and remembered
the rumors of Tofa with five arms instead of four. She had even seen pictures,
but who knew whether they were authentic. Certainly none of the Tofa Twin-Bred
babies had been born with extra limbs.
Tilda glanced over at the big dormitory
clock and then back down at the babies. She gasped and staggered a step back.
Mat-set was still holding Suzie with four arms. So how was he scratching his
head with another one?
Tilda looked around wildly for a chair,
found one blessedly nearby, and sank down on it. She pinched herself. Nothing
changed. Well, who said you couldn’t pinch yourself in a dream and keep on
dreaming?
She got up and walked, a bit unsteadily, to
the intercom and buzzed for a nurse. Then she went back to the crib. Of course.
Four arms, only four, and what was she going to do now?
She decided to be brave and sensible. If
she had really seen it, the staff had to know. And if she hadn’t, and she
didn’t wake up, then she was ill, and she should get the help she needed.
The chief nurse tucked Tilda in and watched
her drift off to sleep, sedative patch in place. Then she went back to her
station and called up the monitor footage on Tilda’s twins.
Well, well.
* CONFIDENTIAL *
CLEARANCE CLASS 3 AND ABOVE
LEVI Status Report, 12-15-71
Executive Summary
Anatomical Developments
Observation of the Tofa infants has shed
some light on the longstanding question of whether the number of Tofa upper
appendages is variable among the Tofa population. The thickest of the four
armlike appendages is apparently capable of dividing when an additional upper
appendage is desired. . . .
Councilman Kimball bookmarked the spot in
his agent's report and opened his mail program. He owed an apology to the young
man who had claimed his poor showing against a Tofa undesirable was due to the
sudden appearance of an extra appendage. Apparently the man had been neither
dishonest nor drunk.
After discharging that obligation, Kimball
made a note to seek further details as to the divided arms' placement, reach,
and muscular potential. His people needed adequate information to prepare them
for future confrontations. After all, forewarned — he laughed out loud at the
thought — was forearmed.
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