"Not even Uncle Nathan?" Johnny persisted. Nathan was his mother's brother.
"All right, Johnny," his father said in a firm voice. "I'll answer you. No, I wouldn't have you, your mother, or your Uncle Nathan 'put to sleep' for any amount of money—for the colony or for myself. But you must understand, Johnny, you aren't the same as a little bouncing bear."
"But Baba—" Johnny began.
"Baba is an animal," Johnny's mother broke in. "I know how you love him. But you have to understand that your father could not do differently from what he did." She came over to Johnny and put her arm around him. "We love Baba, too, and it hurts us to give him up. Still we must. You do understand, don't you?"
Johnny looked up into his mother's face and smiled. It was a very small and very weak smile, but a smile none the less.
"I understand," he said, and turned back to his father. "Thanks for answering my question, Dad." Johnny felt better for the first time since Baba had been put in the cage. Now he knew just what he had to do. It was right to do it. Baba was as close to him as any brother.
"Do you think I could go see Baba before sleep time, Dad? You know he won't eat if I'm not there."
Johnny's father looked at his mother.
"It couldn't do any harm, Fred," she said. "Let the boy go. But he must be in bed soon."
"All right, son," his father answered. "But remember, the whole thing is out of our hands now. You'll just have to accept what is going to happen."