The Quest - Smith Wilbur (читаем книги онлайн бесплатно TXT) 📗

procreation was an unusually intimate and sensitive experience for him.

I have no need to tell you that he was subjected to a great deal of pain.

All of this was a gross imposition on the dignity and privacy of such an extraordinary person. Despite this, he has agreed to allow us to examine and evaluate the results. I am sure we all realize that this was not an easy decision for him to make. We should be grateful for this opportunity.'

At last she turned to Taita. 'With your permission, Lord Taita.'

Taita nodded and stretched out on the table top. Gibba came to stand on the opposite side of the table from Hannah. Between them they lifted the skirts of Taita's tunic. 'You may come forward to obtain a better view,' Hannah told the onlookers. They left their stools and formed a circle round the table.

Taita had become so accustomed to being pored over that he felt no particular embarrassment under their scrutiny. He raised himself on his elbows and looked down his body as Hannah resumed her lecture.

'You will observe how the new skin has covered the wound. It has the suppleness and elasticity that one would expect to find in a pubertal male. In contrast please note the hair on the pubes, which is well advanced. It has grown with extraordinary rapidity.' She laid her hand on the area she was discussing. 'This whole fleshy promontory comprises the mons pubis. If you feel it you will discern how the cushion of flesh has already formed over the pelvic bone. You will observe that the general development approximates that of a ten-year-old male. This has been achieved in the weeks since the surgery was performed. Now observe the penis. The prepuce is well formed, not too tight as it is in many young boys.' She took the foreskin and drew it back carefully.

Taita's glans penis emerged from its hood of loose skin. It was little larger than a ripe acorn, soft and glossy pink. Hannah went on, 'Please note the opening of the urethra. We formed this by inserting a catheter during the operation. When we removed it the aperture was round, but now you will see that it has become a characteristic slit.' Hannah slid the foreskin back.

She turned her attention to the scrotum below the immature shaft.

'The sac is developing normally but with the usual extraordinary rapidity we have noted in all our other seedings.' She squeezed it gently. 'There!

It already contains the immature testicles.' She looked across the table at the lone female visitor. 'Dr Lusulu, would you care to examine them for yourself?'

'Thank you, Dr Hannah,' the woman said. She seemed to be in the region of thirty-five years, but when Taita studied her aura he saw that this was deceptive and that she was much older. Her demure attitude did not accurately depict her true nature, which contained a lascivious streak. She took his scrotum and deftly located the two little orbs it contained. She rolled them thoughtfully between her fingers. 'Yes,' she said at last. 'They seem perfectly formed. Do you have any sensation there, Lord Taita?'

'Yes.' His voice was husky.

The woman continued to touch him as she studied his face. 'You must not be embarrassed, my lord. You must learn to enjoy the manly parts that Dr Hannah has returned to you, to delight in and glory in them.'

She moved her fingers up to the shaft of his penis. 'Do you have sensation here yet?' She began to move her fingers up and down the shaft. 'Can you feel how I am manipulating you?'

'Very distinctly,' Taita replied, his voice huskier still. This new feeling far exceeded any that he had experienced before. In the short time since the small appendage had made its appearance he had treated it with caution and reserve. He had handled it only when he was forced to do so, in response to the demands of hygiene and nature. Even then his touch had been clumsy and inept, certainly lacking the dexterity and expertise that Dr Lusulu was demonstrating.

'What dimensions do you expect the organs to attain when they are fully developed?' Dr Lusulu asked Hannah.

'We can be no more certain of that than we could be in the case of a child. However, I expect that they will eventually be a close copy of the original organs.'

'How very interesting,' Dr Lusulu murmured. 'Do you think it might be possible at some future time to grow organs and parts that are superior to the original? For example, to replace a clubbed foot or a cleft palate with a perfect specimen, an abnormally small penis with a larger one? Is that impossible?'

'Impossible? No, Doctor, nothing is impossible until you prove it to be so. Even if I never achieve my goals, those who follow me might do so.'

Their discussion lasted a little longer, then Lusulu broke off and transferred her attention to Taita. She was still stroking his parts, and now she looked pleased. 'Oh, very good,' she said. 'The member is functional. The patient is nearing full erection. That really is proof of your skills, Dr Hannah. Do you think he will be able to reach orgasm

yet? Or is it too soon for that advance?' By now the shaft in her hand had more than doubled its dimensions and the prepuce was fully retracted. Both women studied it with full attention.'

Hannah considered the question seriously, then replied, 'I think that orgasm may already be possible, but it will be some time before ejaculation is achieved.'

'Perhaps we should put it to the test. What do you think, Doctor?'

They were conducting the discussion in cool impersonal tones. However, the unfamiliar sensations that Dr Lusulu was creating with her simple hand movements were so pervasive that Taita was thrown into a state of confusion. He had no idea where or how it would end. For someone who was accustomed to being in full control of himself and all those about him, it was an alarming prospect. He reached down and removed her hand. 'Thank you, Doctor,' he said. 'We are all impressed by Dr Hannah's surgical brilliance. I certainly am. Nevertheless, 1 feel that the test that you are suggesting might better be conducted in a less public environment.' He straightened the skirts of his tunic and sat up.

Dr Lusulu smiled at him and said, 'I wish you much joy.' From the look in her eyes it was plain that she did not subscribe to the philosophy on dalliance that Dr Hannah professed.

Now that Taita had access to the great library, the days passed quickly. As Hannah had remarked, a lifetime would be too short to take in all of the knowledge that was stored there. Oddly, he mustered no interest in the locked and barred room. Like the weeping woman in the night and many other unexplained occurrences, the thought simply receded into the mists of his memory.

When he was not studying, he spent much time in discussion with Hannah, Rei and Assem. They took turns to guide him through some of the other laboratories where they were engaged in a number of extraordinary projects.

'Do you recall Dr Lusulu's question regarding replacing bodily parts with improved versions?' Hannah asked. 'Well, let us consider a soldier with legs that can carry him at the speed of a horse. What if we could grow him more than one pair of arms? A pair to fire a bow, a second to wield a battleaxe, the third to swing a sword and the last to carry a shield. Nothing could stand against such a warrior.'

'A slave with four strong arms and extremely short legs could be sent

into the most confined stopes in the mines to shovel out the gold ore in great quantities,' said Rei. 'How much better if his intelligence was reduced to that of an ox, so that he was inured to hardship and would work in the harshest conditions without complaint? Dr Assem has grown herbs that will achieve that mental effect. In time Dr Hannah and I might be able to create the physical improvements.'

'No doubt you saw the trained apes that stand guard at the entrance to the tunnel that leads into these gardens,' Hannah said.