"This scene could have happened anytime in the history of China," 
Dr. X said. They were sitting in a rather spartan wardroom in the vessel's 
superstructure.
"It has always been done with us. The great rebellions of the 1800's were 
fueled by throngs of angry young men who could not find wives. In the darkest 
days of the Mao Dynasty's birth control policy, two hundred thousand little 
ones were exposed in this fashion"—he gestured toward the frozen image 
on the mediatron—"each year. Recently, with the coming of civil war and 
the draining of the Celestial Kingdom's aquifers, it has once again become 
common.
The difference is that now the babies are collected. We have been doing it for 
three years."