Pawn’s Gambit by Timothy Zahn

for us outside the door to Jordan’s office: a man and woman, both dressed in conservative business suits. I recognized them from TV news shorts of the previous year, but before I could clue Dan in they had stepped forward to intercept us. “Dr. Staley?” the man said. “My name’s John Cooper; this is Helen Reese. I wonder if we might have a word with you?” He gestured down the hall to where the door of a small lounge was visible.
    â€œWe have an appointment with Dr. Jordan,” I put in.
    â€œHe’s not back from class yet,” Mrs. Reese said. “This will only take a few minutes, if you don’t mind.”
    Dan shrugged. “All right,” he said agreeably.
    The others remained silent until we were seated in a small circle in a corner of the otherwise deserted lounge. “Dr. Staley, we understand you’re planning some sort of experiment with Dr. Jordan to determine when life begins,” Cooper said, leaning forward slightly in his chair. “We’d like to ask you a few questions about this, if we may.”
    Dan cocked an eyebrow. “I fail, first of all, to see how you learned about my private conversation with Dr. Jordan,” he said calmly, “and, secondly, to understand what business it is of yours.”
    â€œMr. Cooper is the Bay Area president of the Family Alliance,” I told him. “Mrs. Reese is their chief antiabortion advocate.”
    They both looked at me with surprise. “I see,” Dan nodded. “Well, that explains the second part of my question. You folks want to take a crack at the first part now?”
    â€œHow we heard about it is unimportant,” Mrs. Reese said. “What is important is that we find out how you stand on the abortion issue.”
    Dan blinked. “Why?”
    â€œSurely, Doctor, you understand the highly subjective nature of the experiment you’re planning,” she said. “Naturally, we need to know what your own beliefs are concerning when life arises.”
    â€œMy telepathic ability is not subjective,” Dan said, a bit stiffly. “It’s as scientific and accurate as anything you’d care to name. Whatever my beliefs happen to be, I can assure you they do not interfere with either my perception or interpretation.”
    â€œBeliefs always affect interpretation, to one degree or another,” Cooper said. “Now, you yourself said you could prove the fetus wasn’t human until the second trimester of pregnancy. It seems to us that, with such an attitude, you would be very likely to interpret any brain activity before that point as ‘nonhuman,’ whether it is or not.”
    Dan looked at me. “Iris?” he invited.
    I nodded. “The exact quote, Dr. Cooper, was as follows: ‘At worst, I may be able to show that a fetus isn’t human during the entire first month or trimester or whatever.’ End quote. Dr. Staley made no assumptions in that statement. I suggest you ask your spies to be more accurate in the future.”
    Reese bristled. “We weren’t spying on anyone, Miss Marx; the information relayed to us was obtained quite legitimately.”
    â€œI’m sure it was,” Dan said, getting to his feet. “Now if you’ll excuse us, Dr. Jordan is expecting us.”
    The rest of us stood, as well. “We haven’t finished our conversation, though—” Cooper began.
    â€œYes, we have,” Dan interrupted him. “If— if, mind you—I do this experiment it’ll be because I’m convinced it can be done objectively and accurately. If you have any suggestions or comments you’re welcome to write them up and send them to my office. Good day.”
    Threading between them, we left the lounge.
    Jordan and Dr. Pamela Halladay were waiting for us when we arrived back at Jordan’s office. “Sorry we’re late,” Dan told them after quick handshakes all around,