d of the air-conditioning fans and
the crackle of the electrostatic precipitators that sieved out the dust
reached her consciousness again like the bite of a dentist's drill.

"Only wanted to look at the Moon!" he mimicked her in falsetto. "Only
wanted to die like a little fool and make me that much more ashamed of
you!" Then his voice went gruff and professional. "Here, count
yourself."

She silently took the Geiger counter he held at arm's length, waited
until it settled down to a steady ticking slower than a clock--due only
to cosmic rays and indicating nothing dangerous--and then began to comb
her body with the instrument. First her head and shoulders, then out
along her arms and back along their under side. There was something
oddly voluptuous about her movements, although her features were gray
and sagging.

The ticking did not change its tempo until she came to her waist. Then
it suddenly spurted, clicking faster and faster. Her husband gave an
excited grunt, took a quick step forward, froze. She goggled for a
moment in fear, then grinned foolishly, dug in the pocket of her grimy
apron and guiltily pulled out a wristwatch.

He grabbed it as it dangled from her fingers, saw that it had a radium
dial, cursed, heaved it up as if to smash it on the floor, but instead
put it carefully on the table.

"You imbecile, you incredible imbecile," he softly chanted to himself
through clenched teeth, with eyes half closed.

She shrugged faintly, put the Geiger counter on the table, and stood
there slumped.

He waited until the chanting had soothed his anger, before speaking
again. He said quietly, "I do suppose you still realize the sort of
world you're living in?"

* * * * *

She nodded slowly, staring at nothingness. Oh, she realized, all right,
realized only too well. It was the world that hadn't realized. The world
that had gone on stockpiling hydrogen bombs. The world that had put
those bombs in cobalt shells, although it had promised it wouldn't,
because the cobalt made them much more terrible and cost no more. The
world that had started throwing those bombs, always telling itself that
it hadn't thrown enough of them yet to make the air really dangerous
with the deadly radioactive dust that came from the cobalt. Thrown them
and kept on throwing until the danger point, where air and ground would
become fatal to all human life, was approached.

Then, for about a month, the two gr