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Doubts from SEGREGATIONIST by Isaac Asimov The surgeon looked up without expressian. *Is he read.y?" "Ready is a relati...

Author: Harry Harrison | Brian W. Aldiss

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Doubts from SEGREGATIONIST by Isaac Asimov The surgeon looked up without expressian. *Is he read.y?" "Ready is a relative term," said the mcd-eng, 'We're ready. He,s restlcss." "Thsy always ate. . . . Well, it's a serious opoation." "serious or not, he should be tlwtkful. He's been cho,senlor it wer an enorrnous nutnber of possiblcsand lrankly,I dottit think..."

BE$T F:1968

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A BERKI.SY I'EDAII.IONBOOK PI'BUSHEDBY BERKLBfPUBUSHING @RPORATION

Copyright @ 1969 by Harry Harrison Atl rights reserved Published by onangernent with the authorrs agent Origina[y published by G. P. putnam's Sons BERKLEY MEDALLION SEPTEMBER, t969

EDITION,

sBN 425-01742-7 BERKLEY MEDALLION BOOKS are published by B erkley Publi shine Cor -por ation 200 Madison Avenue New York, N.Y. rcU6 BERKLEY MEDALLION BOOKS @ TM 757,375 Printed in the United Statesof America

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CONIENIII INTRODUCTION Harry Harrison

1

BUDGET PLANET Robert Sheckley

5

@

APPOINTMENT ON PRTLA Bob Sluw I'ST

37

GROUND David I. Masson

TIfi RIME OF TIIE ANCIENT SF AUTHO& OR CON\TENTIONS AND RECOLLECTIONS l. R. Pierce TIfi

66

ANNEX Iohn D. MacDornld

SEGREGATIONIST lsaac Asimw

r

FINAL 1y611rf? \rW \r rn9d3 tJ*r K. M. o'Donnell 2001: A SPACEODYSSEYt. s€ME SELECTEDREVTEWS I

l*ster del Rey, Satnucl R. Delany, Ed Emshwiller, and Leon E. Stover

THE SERPENT OF KUNDALINI Brian W. Aldiss ' GOLDE}*I ACRES Kit Reed i CRIMINAL IN UTOPIA Mack Reyrcld.s

64

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ONE STATION OF TI{E WAY Fritz Leiber SWEET DREAMS, MELISSA StephenGold.in TO THE DARK STAR RobertSilverberg Afterword TTIE HOUSE THAT JULES BUILT BrianW. Aldiss

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

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pany, Inc.

*Appoinheot-on Saw, copyright -Pril4' bv Bob reprinted bv perR :il'"t 3f h: i;;f6-N;t-puttications''Inc.; autllor. 'Lost Groun4" by David L-l{asson, qoprighJ @-19q8by David I' ufp"tnistlqn of tnd'urtnor-and Messrs'Faber raT*i; i6i"tell and Faber. .The Rime of the Ancient SF Autho4 or-$nrrentions and RecqlR PErcc;-;pltdght 4) lsat !v ultimate Publbhbeilil;6ti. ing @., Inc.; reprintedby permi$ion ot ttre autnor'

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printcd by permissionof the autbor. *Segegationist" by Isaac Asinov,-co.pyrigl4@ 1968 by- lqaac asfi6i: reprii,ted Uv pernisEion rit ttb'autbor' Reprinted from -.a-aTitiiri, publishEd-byAbbott Laboratories. "Final Wa,r," by K. M. ODonnell gggyright @t 1958 by Meranry Press,Inc.; reprintedby permiesionof tbe auroor. '2001: A SpaceOdyssey,'byI*ster del Rey,copyrigh!@ 1968.by r6printed bv peiiaission of the author cA;;-iu6tirliG-'Co{i; and $totr Meredith Literary Agersy' ltrc. by Saomel.n D"t"ql:,99pY; "Review of 2001: A SpaoeO
?{X)1: A SpaceOdvssevReview," by Ed Emsh'willer,-copyright@) 1968by Melcury Piess,-Inc.;reprinrcd by permissionot the aurnor' niddle,] pV "Aoeman. Superman-.-or 2fi)l's Answer to thrcWorldrepnnteo Dy I-eon E. Stover,copyrigfit @ 1968by Lcon E stovcr; permissionof the autbor. *The Serpeatof Kundalini," by Brian W. Aldiss, gopyright@ 1968 by New ilorMsi reprintedby permissionof the author' (re "Golden Acres.', by Kit Reed,copyright @ 1968 by Kit.Reed orinted fuom Liistir da Y and Other Storiesh rpprinted by permsiion of the euthor and C\rdis Brown, Ltd. (Continued overleaf)

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS-Co nctaded

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BEST S[:1968

INTRODUCTION fi"!9"^'^-Y^H:l::"3 It hasbeena goodvry for ggience peoflesuggest' some If, ?s ;i#"J;di*'atiog""nang"' it has been future, of-the -without waie fi;;-nai.n is tfie icience fiction

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y'"ry',lllry,Y ;#il?fih" u""ia*'u"a il"'t!"'tv'{dalmost ^*::::R* For drarnaticchange' iff#;;; example: *Si"ii*

fiction shambledto tife in the crumblingyeqoy

Jffiffi# msl,s;iriffiru'i"t";*ft

-'itfir-uttittat i6 sone-along with t+e pulp ;d";;ift;. of today are The SF=magazin-es. ;;";ffi;-thtilelves. are tw-o-of least * b"t-ttb' +e -the editors of ffiiffiCampbell puotic speakers'J9h Yt much-sought-attet and numZ"aoi-i".tg ftequeit visitcirto the universities' agc.uaintaolsga9y--of-th.9 aoo """ nis'ttienas G* t-d8"dttt ot toA"y*oO toqol"yr-F*derik Pohl l"-"&"g 'ot to ttr""eAory groopli"i from eoastto coasttecturingction ili*t*ig"iipr-auorutaiirpossibletutures.Sciencefi areresPected maeazines -T;ffi;;tio-'nm", up to World War rr' mainstream 1

Intro&rction publirslers would bring out the occasi,onalSF book_beins

Afrer.lle-w?r-a r"* eun*i :5}^t^9j^tj^|19qt lt p such. andoccasionally cr.ook9d, soulsprUGniA tn" ffl*stfr

on a shoestringbasis. !'or the most part these firms even-

3{t ^f4,..d,.just at the time tne estaUfiinea;"Uld;; _ryg?nro dlp tremutoustoesinto the murky watirs of this $nd of fictibn. Now rlTe majoi p"Utirt""r-"r" gaa ti put the-correctlabel on SF. Thdreil ;il; scieice fidi; book club,-and the pressesof tl" pap"*a;t ptGh"; . roaf,until thereis SF.in everysuperriarket,e*6t*e-rii bookshopacrossthe land.

The motion picture. With a few outstaading exceptions, such as Thingi to Come, tne s"o"o [", nii,terE "inimascientisl luridly^with -carajfarfrocretships, evil monsters, mad

b*6'in

and,lt dJ t:ffifl:rt:

-g plaslcine animalsoi the low budget fi6.Thi, ,y*" -single nas,perh_aps,_ beenchanged-drasticallyby a motion picture; 2001: A Spac{Odyssay.Iti m:uLt"tl%r-d.1lartrnancesalonedemandattention.AIso its slightly unusual ending. (Some of the better reviewsoift"-nfri cludedin this volume,.lod.puy Uetpto cfarity Ae "*-i"6irg opinionsaboutthat ending!) _ The Establishment.In"y are slowlybeingseduced_for no;t qSrtby-g.embers"of their;#" t;tp.. rn" i""qi .tfe tower dwellersof literaturestill ignoretfe existenceof thL mediumof sciencefictioi, so toot ieviewsaDDear "1.itiog ever. But the universities seldom, ;th";fuiildt -if awareof SF. Manuscriptcollectionsare "* beingb.il the libraries at Califomia SaateCollege;a fill"rt"",'G "pli Universityof_Californiain Berkeley,Sy.o*r" Ufi;rsfty, a-ndothers.Coursesin sciencefi"do;'are-;ow taughl # the Illinois Instituteof Technolory,Frr6;; and Clarion StalgCoIIegein Pennsylvania. All of which is of absolutelyno importanceto the reader who comesto sciencefiction foi relaxationand enjoyment.Or is it? I firmly believethat it is. Noneof the early sciencefiction writers-ever-predicted that the g;tot benefitsto be derivedfrom rocliet projectswould-bethe spin-offof new materialsand methdds.'nrespin-onLon

Introduction 3 writthe avakeninginterestin SF is more writers, better ers, better stories-and more enioyableones.The oldet, established writershavebeenlured back, and newerwritersaf,edeveloping.TheredreEo6e--andbetter-bodks to choosoftom. There are better stodes.There is even a clash of factionalismas proponentsof the 'bew wavd" strugglewith the die-harddefendersof the otd. I wish I could ioin sidesin this battle, having alwaysenjoyeda goodfight,but I amafraidI sannot. Thereis no new wave,savein the eyeof the beholder. Somewritersareexperimenting with newformsin SF, but somewiters have alwaysexperimentedwith new forms. Somewriters have written dirty words in SF, but diny words are neither new nor interestinsmost of the time. Somewdtershavewitten confused,dEnse,impressionistic and bad proso---andthis certainlyhas be€nwith us since the davmof qeation. One of the foremostwriters in the 'bew wave" admittedthat my oum writing fits hto both camps.So do the storiesanthologizedin this presentvolume.Thosewho carc to assigncategoriesmay do eo by putting NW or OW beforceachentry on the title pagp.I refuseto do so. My only yardstickis qua are the best stories that could be found had been publishedduringthe year 1968. I havenot beenalone.Hoverins behind me has been the stemandcriticat spirit of Janeigtish, who established certain standardsfor an anthologyo! this kind in last yeat's volume.I have attemptedto follow his credo.the contentsare all sciencefiction, as bestasI candefinethat slipperytem. The book is all fistion-with the exception of a brief poemand a handful of reviewsthat I felt were g_e-rmane to tht field asa whole.I hopethat he will excuse this lapse. And, once motrg,no resfrictionshave been placedon choiceof story.Thesearethe stories,and all the stories that I wantedto have tn this anthology.Period, The only aid and advicein selectionthat I receivedwas fron Brian W. Aldiss, uihosenameyou will note on the goverand tifle page.Brian, the bestof ftiends,is alsothe best of critics, and he has scoutedthe British publishing

4 Introduction scenefor this book Ifis help is happilyacknowledged and greatlyappreciated. In additionto'uneafihingsomechoice items,trehasalsowritten an afterwordthat tikes a slmoptie look at thepastyearin sciencefiction. I enjoyed reading these stories. May you do the same' HmnyH*nrsox

BUDGET PLANET Ronsnr SHScTLBY

Robqt SlwckLq lns tlrc kind of metaboli'smthd we all -tlveeor totp sfurutvttpalsa-d{v witl'ofi ;';;tu;A'iit -;;i&;;;;;; 1-i..d* wetlecittd nutabolism w ortcs "l td in h* stories'even l"-;rt swrr" icy. There is rP 'rnade qicktv is ii;;t;, it iin-;i; ';;;r;i -awoe thd vast -attlprs wites sctire' rt ntaefial tni teei-i1sested'He whocmwrite it iht t*o iritrii sF ;dfr';i'or prrctitiorut.ol a prav;es himsett -wlwt misht i7n, nii"-trz sdiria, tl thd triehtens-yolP Ai'iaua *niwtnpw*t iwi ii'lt" itty of denesisas told ftom -a con matfs point rin,r: [t tirni a clupter iry thb anthofs rccent book' "t iXnlntio" of Mtacles,' which containsltappily-tnuch tnoe of tIE sanc. *So this is it" eh,Orin?" Maudsleysaid. lYes rit'tli; is it" Qrin, t[9-qan-99 his left said, *What do you think of it, sir?" s-iling -Itffrd;ittito.a Oroludly. round d6w$ and zuweyedthe-meadow. the mduntains,the sun,the river, the forest.His face U"ti"ytalo e.xpreision.H6 sai4 "What do you think of it, Brookside?" ,

BudgetPlanet Brootside sai4 in a hemulousvoice,*Well sir, I rhink that Orin and I did a nice job. A really ticr*,iob, if you take into accounttbat it was oru first indepeideit foi@t."

"Aol 4o you concurin that judgment,Orin?" Maudv asked. sir," Orin said. down and pluckeda bladeof grass.He snifiedit and threw it away.He scuffedthe diribeneath his feet, then stared for severalmomentsfull into the btagingsun In_ameasuredvoice,he rai4 ..I am amazed truly aryaz-4$But !q a most unpleasantway. I ask you two to build a world for one of ny customersand you comc up-with thisl Do you really consideryourseives engrneets?" The two aidesdid not reply. They had stiffened,like boysawaitingthe birch rod. "Engineerst"Maudsleysaid, getting elmssf ffty footpoundsof contemptinto the word. "'Creative but practical scientis8who can build the planet whe'reand when you want iL' Do eitherof you recogdzethosewords?" "They'ie from the standasd brochurg' Orin said. "Th€t is correcf" Maudsleyreplied. ,.Now, do yotr conslderfiir a good exampleof 'creative,practicaleirgineeringl?" Both men were silenL Then Broolside bturted out, 'Velt sir,yessr,I do! "\ile examinedthe iob specsvery carefully.The Fquest wasfor a Ilpe 34Bcy'planetwith certainvariations.And &at's exactlywhat we built. This is only a @rnerof it, of @urse.But still-' - ..:B"t sdll, f can seewhat you did and iudgeaccordingly," Maudsleysaid."Orin! Whatkind of a heiting unit did you use?" "A 6/pe05 sun,sir," Orin replied..Tt fitted the &ernal reguirements nicely." "I daresayit did. But this wasa budgetworl4 you will temember,If we don't keep the costs down, we don't

RobertStpcklsy make a profir And the biggest single cost item is thc heating unit.' "We are aware of that su,'Brookside said. 'q9yedidn't at all like to use an 05 type sun for a single-planetElst€m. But the heat and radiation requirements-" -"Ilaven't you learned anything from me?" Maudsley cried. "This type of star is entirely superfluous.You there -'lls beckonedto the workmel. 'oTakeit down." The workmen hurried forward with a folding ladder. One man braced it and another man unfolded it ten tirnes, a hundred tines, a million times. T\vo other workmen mced up the ladder as fast as it went up. "Ilandle it carefullyt" Maudsley called up to them. oAni be sure yotr're wearing glovesl ftx1 thing's hott" The workmen at tbe very-top of the ladder unhooked thc qtar, folded it into itself and put it into a padded box marked STAR: HAI\IDLE WITH CARE. When the lid fell" everything went black. -"Hasl't anyone alry sense around here?" Maudsley asked."Damn it dl, let there be light." And iust like that, there was lipht 'OK;" Maudsley said. "That 0S typ" sun goesback into ttg1gge.On a job like this we can use a G13 t5ryestar." llput su,",Orin said nervously, "it isn't hdt enough." "f know that " Maudsley said. "That's where you have -to use your creativity. If you move the star closer tn, it ll be hot enough." _ "Yes srr, it will"' Bmokside said. "But it ll be emitting lR ryys without enough I,pacgto allow them to dissipati.. harmlessly. And that mi$t Hll oft the entire race tfrat's going to occupy -his planet." ..Arc you ._ Maudsley said_,vE:y_slowly aod distincfly, trying to tell me that Gl3 type stars are danseious?" .._'Well, no, I didn't nead it exacfly that viay,u Orin said, "f meant !o say, peV canbe dangeious,iust-like anythini ere rn ttre universe, it proper precautions are not taken.t'

"That's morelike it," Maudsleysaid. "Ihe proper precautions,"Brbokide said, ..involvein

8 BudgetPlmet this casethe wearing of protectivelead suits weiehing somefifty poundseacn.git this is impractical,sinc6thi ave-r. ege memberof this race only weilhs eight potmds.,' -not "That's tleir lookout" Maudsleysaid. 'Tt's our businessto tell them how to live their lives. Am I sup. posedto be responsiblewheneverthey stubtheir toe of,a rock I put m their planet?Besides,they doo't have to wearleadzuits.They canbuy oneof my optionalextras,a SolarScteenthat'll blockout-thePR rays.'r Both men smilednervously.But Orin gaid timidln 3'I believethis is a somewhatuiderprivilegedspecies,iir. I think perhapstheycan't affordthe-Solar3creen.,' ...*Well, rf not 4gb! now, maybeLator,"Maudsleyeaid. j{nd qg-yloq thq lR radiationsaren't instantly fatal. Evenwith it, they'll havean averagelifespanof 9.3 years, whirchoughtto be enoughfor anyoie.,' _,"Yessirr' the two assistantenelneerssaid, not hap, prlv. *Nexf', Maudsleysaid" "what's the height of those mountains?" _ "They, averagesix thousandfeet above sea level," Brootsidesaid. "At leasttbreethousandfeet too high," Maudsleysaid. "D9 you think mountafu$grow on tees? Parethemdown andput whatyou haveleft overinto thewarehouse.r' Brootside took out a notebookand iotted down the ghangp.Maudsleycontinuedto pacearorin4 looking and frouming. 'IIow longarethosekeessupposed to last?" *Eight hundredyears, sir. They're the new, improved modelApple-oak.They give fruif shade,nuts, re$eshing threeusefulfabrics;they makeexcelleatbuildPeverages, ing material,hold thesoil in place,ind-, __"Arg you trying to banliupt me?" Maudsleyroared. "Tko hundredyearsis entirely long enoughfor a treel Drain off most-of their elan-vital-and siore it in the lifeforceaccumulatort" all of their designed ^ "They won't be able to perform functions,then," Orin said.

RobertSlrccklsy

9

o'Then cut down on their functions! Shade and nuts is plenty, we doa't have to make a da^rnnedtreasurE chest out of those trees! Now then, who put those cows out ther€?" 'T di{ sir," Broolside said. "I thought it would make the place look-well, sort of inviting sir." 'You oaf,' Maudsley sard, "the time to make a place look inviting is before the sale, not after! This place was sold unfurnished. Put those cows into the protoplasm vat.tt

*Yes sir,' Orin said. "Terribly sorry, sir. Is there anything else?" .There,rc about ten thousand other thin$ wrong, Maudsley said, "But you can figure out those for yourselves,I hope. What, for example, is this?" He pointed at Carmody. "A statue or somefhing?Is he supposedto sing a song or recite a poem when the new ralso arrives?' Carmody said, "Sir, I am not part of this. A ftiend of yous named Malichrone sent me, and I'm trying to get home tomy o\iln planet-" Maudsley clearly did not hear what Carmody was saying. For, while Carmody was trying to speak, Maudsley was saying "Whatever he is, the job specsdon't call for him. So gtisf, him back itr the protoplasm vat with the cows.tt

'Hey!" Carmody shouted as workmen lifted him up by his arms. 'Hey, wait a minute!" he screamed."Pm not a part of this planet! Malichrone sent me! Wait, hold on, listen to met" "You really ought to be ashamedof younelves," lVlaudsley went on, oblivious to Carmody's shrieks. "What was that supposed to be? One of your interior decorating touches,Orin?" 'T "Oh nq" Odn said. diddt put hirn thercr.' "Then it was you, Brookside.'l 'f never sawhim before in my life, chief." "I{mq" Maudsley said "You're both fools, but you've never been liars. Heyt" he shouted to the workmen. "Bring him back heret"

10

BadgetPlanet pull yourself together," Maudsleysaid b _ "AIl _righ!, Carmod-y, who wasshakirguncontrollably...Geta gip oa yourself,I can't wait aroundherewhile you havei lit ot hysterics!Better!of? AII righ! would yiru nind explainin-gigslwhg! you'redoingtrespassing oi my propertyand why_Ishouldn'thaveyou convertedinto proioflaslm?" "f see," Maudsleysai4 after Carm-odyhad fnished explaining. l'Ifs an interestingstory, th6ugh f'm surc you've olerdramatizedit Still,-here -you are, and you'ro lookingfor a planetcalled-Earth?" correct,sirr" Car:nodysaid. llnu!ir '3Fqtth,"Maudsley muse4 scrarchinghis head.,.lhis is mo-slfortunatelor youl I seemto rememberthe place." .'Do you really,Mr. Maudsley?" "Yes, I'm quite sureof i!, Maudsleysaid,.Tt s a small greenplane! and it suppofs a mono-momhic humanoid ' ragg_like yourself.Am I right?'t "Completelyrightl' Carmodysaid. "I have rather a memoryf6r thesethings," Maudsley said.-"And in this particulir case,as it hippens, I built Earth." "Did you really,sir?" Carnody asked. in the courseof flYcp. I rememberdistinctly,-because it I a\o invented science. Perhaps you will find P-dai"g the-sto-ry_1musing." He turned to his aidei.,,And you night find the taleinshuc.tive." to deny tvlaudsleythe right to tell a . No oneyas go_lng story. So Carnody and the assistantensineelsassumed -and attentivepostures, MaudsleybeganTIIE STORY OF TIIE CREATTON ()8 BARTII

I was still quite a small contractor then. I put up a planet lere and there, and I got to do an occasig:naldbari star. But j,obswere always hard to come by, and the customers were invariably capricious, faulffinding and slow in their pa]nnents. Customers were hard to please in tlose days; they argued about every little detail.-Clwnge this, chaigi that, why must water flow downtrill, thi gravity's too

Robert Shcckley

1l

lwany, the lpt air rises wlun it ought to lall And so forth. I was Erite naive in those days. I used to explain the esthetic and practical reasonsfor everything I did. Before long the questions and the explanations were +akinglonger than the jobs. There was entirely too much talk-talk. I knew that I had to do something about if but I couldn't figure out what. Then, just before the Earth project, a whole new approach to customer relations began to shape itself in my mind, I found myself muttering to myself, "Forn follows function." I liked the way it sounded. But then I would ask myse$ "'Wlty mast form follow function?" And the reason I gave myself was, "Form follows function because that is an immutable law of nature and one of the fundamental axioms of applied ssien@." I liked the sound of that too, although it di&l't make much sense. But sensedidnt matter. What mattered was that I had made a new discovery. I had unwittingly stumbled into the art of advertising and salesmanship,and I had discoveqedthe gimmick of great possibilities: ilities: Namely tbs dochine of scientific Earth was my first test case,and that is why I will alwaysrememberit. A tall, beardedold man with piercing eyeshad come to me and ordered a planet. (That was how your planet began, Carmody.) WeL I did the job quickly, in six days I hlieve, and thought that would be the end of iL It was another of those budget planets, and I had crrt a few cornenl here and there. But to hear the owner complain, you'd have thought I had stolen the eyes out of Uis head. "Why are tlere so many tornadoqs?"he asked. "ffs part of the atmospherecirculation systenn, I told him. Actually, I had been a little rushed at Urat time; I had forgotten to put in an air c.irculation overload vake. _, "Thfee quarters of the place is water!" he told me. *And I clearly specifieda 4 to 1 land-towater ratio!" "'Well, we couldn't do it that way!" I said to him. I had

Budget Plmet lost his ddiculous specifications;I never can keep track of these *:ild absurd little one-planet 'rvhat proiects. 12

titttd tano vou.gav.gme with t;'ve fitta eesertsaftl swampsandiunglesandmountains'" scenic,"I Pointedout. "It's 'f a;'t caretiom scenict' the fellow thundered'"Oh' surJ oneocean'a doznnlakes,a coupleriversr-oceor two mo.ritain ranges.that would havebeenfine' Dressesthe giu""titlt inhabitantsa good feeling' But what p#rp, you - gavemeis shlock!" " lsfir"r"', a reasonfor i!' I said' In point of lact, we *tr1id"{;.dtnl lot pay excgptby uiing reconstituted .oontai"i a lot of riveis antl- oceansas fille-r, and-a I hatl bouglt cheapfrom Ourie the coupte--ot'Oeserts to tellhimthaL oifrri-io*.r. But I wasnt golne "-'%,-ir.root';u" ."tra-d. **hat will r tell my people? fm puttins an entire race on that planet maybetwo or three'.They'll be humans,madgin my own Snige' and humam are notoriouslypicky' iust as r am' wnat am r to tell them? supDosed --'{6tl kne; what he couldtell them,but I didn't want to bE dftensive;so I pretended!o -gfg .th: Tutl"I s9t": came

iffiA;. A"liiit'*q91i91"1*:![9,y. aq up d-tUtne gimnick to *You the tell them".td *You teliiust them tlat, sci b9.'

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scientifictruth," I said. , everythingthat l'smust

'.Huh?" he said. 'iit Ot"t i"it r" I said,makingup-the nameon the *It's'quite iirtple, thouqF a-bit .o* of the momeirt. ![ot".i". T; statt with, form'follows function; therefore th9 simplet*J gl o.* 'Atn'"toi*"tis exactly; it shouldbe by if anythinq-ist invariablejso ar. Nu"t, *i"oo is And finally, evel5rtli3gfollo*'s ffift"61", itiso'i ta"n alwaysfigureout what thosetures definiterules.You can't". Ue srpe tneyre pq9, 59, it standsto ;q d;tF; reasonthat no"*one ougStto ait wlry this insteadol tlwt? fnstea4 everyoneoug[t to askhav'doesit work?" *W;il i.-uit"o me'$om pretty tougbquestions,and he

,1a3

:,l

13 ] RobertShccklcy l t^tr^-. D,,+ L^ Ii,{at+ lraaw mn was a pretty smart old fellow. But he didn't know crap l] aUoui ingfu;ering; his field was etlics and morqts p{ religion ind spodft-stuff like that. So of cou$e, -!e iust wa6't able to-come up with any real obiections. He was one of the.e t5ryeswhb bves aSstractioni, and he started repeating; *Tf,a:t which rs is that which must be.I{mm" a veiii inliiiguing formula and not without its- papna $ stoicism. t sha[ incorporate some of theseinsigbts into the lessonsI give to my people. . . . But tell me this: how can I reconcile-this indetlrmiiate fatdity of sciencewith the ftee will I plan to gle to my people?" Weit. the dA Uov il;oJt had me there. I smiled and coughei to give myself time to think, and then I sai4 'The answer is obvioust" Which is always a good answer' as far as it goes. 'I daresayit is," he said. "But I don't perceiveiL" "Irob" I sai4 "tlis free will you're giving your people, ' 'iltisn't that a kind of fatality also?" could be considered ai such. But the diffetence-' *And besides," I said hastily, "since when are free will and fatality incompatible?" 'They certainly seemincompatible," he said. "That's only becauseyou don't understand scienoe," I said, performing the old switcheroo right under his hooked nose. "You see,my dear sir, one of the most basic laws of scienceis that chance plays a part in everything. Chance, Im sure you know, is lhe matf,ematical equivalent of free will." "But what you're saying is quite contradictory," he said. *That's how it goes," I said. 'Contradiction is one more of the fundamental rules of the universe. Contradiction generatesstrifg without which everything would reach a stage of entropy. So we couldn't have any planet or any universe if things didn't exist in an apparently irreconcilable state of contradiction." "Aplrmently?" he said quickly. "Right as rainr" I said. "Contradiction, which we can define provisionally as tle existence of reality-paired op -lJ

nd

BudgetPlmet PqStes,isn't $e last word on the subject.For exampls ht'r pogit singteisolatedtendency. - What happenswilen you pushaItendencyto the limifl' *I haven't_ the sligbtestidea,,' the old guy said".,The lcck of specificsin this sort of dis6llssisn-'t *What happens," I said,.,is&at the tendencyhrrnsinto .fr$opposite." *Does it rcally?" he asked considerablyshook up. re.ligious iypes are sodetling wnen'tht try-i; Pry.* tocklescience. tt-really doesr"f assuredhim. ,.fve got the proofsin Alylab, thoughthedemonskations area bit tedioG-' _9{q_pleaserl tale your word,,'theold guysaid...After e& we did makea Covenant.', That was the word he always used for contract. It &oantthe samething,but soundedbetter. *Paired opposites,"he mused..'Determinism.Things * heoo.mingtheir opposites.Ifs all quite intricate, I,h a&eid." oAnd aestheticas well," I said. ..But f didnt fnish c$outthe transfomationof extremes.', *Kindlygo on he " said. *Ihanks. Now then, we have entrop%which means !&t thi"gs persistin tieir motion untesi'fhereis outside hfiuence. (Sometimeseven when there is outsideinfluqrce, in my-experience.) But sq we got entropydriving a &ing towardits opposite.If onethinEis driveiitowardits gPposite'fts1 all.thingsare driventowardtheir opposites, Decausescienceis consistent.Now you get the picture? S/e'vegot all theseoppositestransforinindthemsefves like aazyrnd becomggtheir opposites.On a higberlevel of O8ganization, we have groups of opposites going tlrough

fhasamebit. And liebei andhigher.Sofar s6goft?,' *I supposeso," he said. *Fine. Now, the question nafurally arises,is this all? I $ps& theseoppositesturning themselvesinside out and fhcn outsidein, is that the whole ball eame?And the beauty-p-art is, it's-notl,No sir, theseop'posites flipprng a[fitad like trained sealsare only au dspectof what'i

15 RobertSheckleY paused And herd I oe*tty happening.Because-" -and 6polb in a very deepvoice.'3-foss6gssthereis a wisdom t$at se€abeyondthe clashand tumoil of the phenomenal wrld" This wisdom,sir, seesthroughthe illusory quality d thesereal tbingsand seesbeyondtheminto the deeper worHng of the universe,which arein a stateof like great eadnasrificent hamonv." 'TIoi can a thing be-bothillusory and real?" he asked m, quickasawhip. dlf is not for me to know an auswerlike tlaf' I told ffin. "Me, I am a mere humblescientificworker, and I wo what I seeand act accordingly.But maybethere'san dhisal reasonbehindit.' Tho old boy musedon that one for a whilg and I mld seehe was havingqdte a tusslewith himself.He could detecta logicalfallacy as fast as anyone,of couse, and ny r?asonsf,ad beenshotthroughwith them.But like and he he wasfascinatedwith conrtradictions all eggheads, them into his hig system. bad-the had the strongwge urge to incorpomte incorporatethcm bis comitbthd ticky, but hfu intetlectualitytotd him that maybethlngsdid indeed ooemthat complicated,althoughmaybothere was a nice dnoplounifying pinciple underneathit all. Or, if not a unifyingprinciple,at leasta goodsolid monal Anit fnalln I had hoo&ealhim all over againiust becauseI had used fho word ethics. Bbcausethis old gent was a perfect for ethics,he was supersaturated with ethics;you demaon eoqfd call him Mr. Ethics, make no mistake.And so, quite accidentatly,I had givenhim the ideathat the wholo bf;oodyuniversewas a seriesof homiliesand contradictionsnof laws and inequities,alt leadingto the most exandrarefiedsortof ethicalorder. Edsite *Ihere is a greaterdepthherethan I had considered"" Sc saidafter a while. 't had plannedto instructmy people h e,tbicsonly and to direct thefu attention to mo'rally laaperativequestionssuchas how and why a man should Sve insteadof what constitutesliving matter. I wanted &e.m to be explorersplumbingthe depthsof joy, fear,

16

Budget Planet

piety, hope, desparr, rather than scientists who examine stars and raindrops and form grandiose and impractical hypotheseson the basis of thei; findinss. I was aware of the universe, but consideredit superfluous.Now you have eorrectedme." 'Well, look,'I sai4 "I didn't mean to causetrouble. f just thoughtI shouldpoint out this stuft. . . ." The old 6aa gmilsd. "By causingme trouble," he said, '!ou have spared me greaier troub=le.I can create in my oum-image, but I will not create a world peopled with miniature versions of myself. Free will is impbrtant to me. My creatures will have it, to their g16ry and their sorrow. They will take this glittering uselesstoy which you. call science, and they will elevate it to an undeclared Godhead. Physicat contradictions and solar abstractions will fascinate them; they will pursue knowledge of these $ings and forget to explore the knowledge of their own heart. You have convinced me of this, and I am grateful for the forewarning." _ I'll be-frank, he got me a little nen/ous just about then. I mean" he was a nobody, he didn't know any important pegple,_and yef he had the grand manner. I h;d thc feeling that he could causeme dne hell of a lot of trolble, and I felt that he could do it with a few words, a sentence like a poisoned dart lodged in my mind and never to be removed.And that scaredme a little, to tell the truth. my -W_ell_sr, the old joker must have been reading -with1 mind. For he said,'"Do not be frightened.I accept out reservation the world you have built for me; it will sgrve very well, exactly as it is. As for the flaws and defectswhich you also 6uilt into my world, I accept those, not_e_ntirelywitlout gratitude, and I pay for thote, too.', "How?" I asked."How do you pay forerrors?" "By acceptingthem withorit dispute," he said. 'And by turning away from you now and going about my business and the businessof my people." And old gentlemalleft Sithout another word. Well, it left me pretty thoughtful. I'd had all the good

Robert SheckleY

17

arsuments. but the otd boy left somehow with the last wdrd. I knew what he meant; he had fulfilled his contract with me and that ended it. He was leaving with no word for me personally. From his point of view, it was a kind of punisbment. But thafs only the way hc saw it. What did I need with his word? I wanted to hear it, of course-that's only natural-and for quite a while I ftied to look him up. But he didn't care to seeme. So it really doesn't mattef. I made a prctty nice profit oo that wort4 and even if I bent the contrast here and there, f didn't break it. Thafs how things are; you owe it to yourselt to make a ptofit. You can't get too worked up over the consequences. But I was trying to make a point out of all this, and I want you boys to listen carefully. Scienceis filled with a lot of, nrles, becauseI invented it that way. Why did I inve,lrt it that way? Becauserules axea great assistanceto a smart operator, iust as a lot of laws are a great help to lawyers. The nrles, doctrines, axiomsrlaws, and principles of scienc€ are there to help you, not to hinder you, They're there in order to provide you with reasons for what you do. Most of them af,e true, more or less, and that helps. But always remember-these nrles are there to help you explain to the customerswhat you do alter you do it, not before. When you have a project, do it exactly as you see fit; then fit the facts around the event not the other way alound. Remember-thebe rules exist as a verbal barrier against people who ask questions. But they should not be used as a barrier by you. If you've learned anything from me, youte learned that our work is inevitably inexplicable; we simply do it, and sometimesit comes out well and sometimes not. But never try to explain to yourselveswhy some things happen and why other things don't happen- Don't ask, and don't imagine that an explanation exists. Get me?

18

Budget Planct

The two assistants nodded vehemenfly. -a They looked gnlighte_ned,like men who have found ner religion. Carmody would have bet anything that those two earnest young men had memorized every one of the builder's words, and would now proceed to elevate tlose words intearule.

APPOINTMENT ON PRILA Bon Snew

nsoff,' science fiction, but I hove never seen relerence to hard scierce frction iW Ae described.as lF tlnt adheres to knaln faci and respectsthe logical md scientific proce.vses" fl is also fascnarcd with the hwdwse of ryi9r1c9. Mn Show,wnoittt be remembercdas the author of"Lifit of Other Days"-which contained ot absoluteU n'ev' science-fictiotut daice, slot+ glass-writes a story fiIled with Sleelut detait tlnt coulil alrnost have been written by vanVogt during his gold.enperiod. Candar waited fot seventhousand years before he saw his secondspaceship. He hdd beef,fttle more than a cub whelhe saw the first, but the picture was still clear in his mind. It had been a warmr-moist morning and his mother and father had iust begun cutting through a village of the two-legged food creatures. Candar was quietly watching their great gray bodies at work when he ttepameaware of the ship. It came low, and was traveling so fast that the damp air was compressed into opaque gray clouds inside the shock waves createdby its blunt nose. The clouds swirled round t9

2A

Appointment onPrila it like a tattered cloak so that the ship skipped in and out of visibility, and Candar wondered now'inytting coufa move at such a speedand not make any sound. It was not until afler the ship had f,assedoverheadthat the sound cane, leveling the iood cieatures' m"rsi m even mo-reefrrciently than mother and father codd have 9one. The,ship banked sharply, hdted high in the mornrng air and suddenly Candar and his parbnts were lifted FJo-tn: sky. Candar deducedthat he *as caught in some kind of a force field. He measured its frequency, wave_ length, intensity, and even discovered that his Uriii coUa produce a similar field of its own-but he could not aet qway. He and his parents were rushed upwards to whjre Fe sfy turned black and Candar could hear the stars andthen,-somc time later, his mother and father wiir-r# leas-ed.They vanished in a few secondsand Candar, al_ ready adapting to the new environment, realized thai his parents had been steered into a course which terminated il Fl Sun. fudging,b-V th"T agomzedstnrggles as they {windled frgm vigW his mother and father had performel fle sarnecalculation. The sun shrank, becarne a star, then much later a double star blossomed and became two egg-shapedsuns courting each other in a binary ritual. Ten mileiabove a planet of black rock which wobbled a precarious orbit between the suns the spaceshiplet Candar drop. OnIy by gonvgttinglis body into miles of springr, hair-abin organic wire did he survive the fall, and by the timb he had re-formed his senseorgaosthe ship was gone. Candar knew that he had been inprisoned. He also knew that on this world which could carnr no trare of food he would eventually die, and there was nothing to do but wait. I:[s new world made its painful nrn between the two suns every year; each time the black rock melted and ran like mud and nothing survived unchanged but Candarand it was seventhousand years before he saw his second spaceship.

2l Bobshaw The thing Surgenordetestedmostalout high-$avity pfanetswas6e speedat qihichbeadsof sweatcorrldmove'A trictfJ of peripirationcouldform on his brow an4 rvith a *st-tite in aitackinginsect,be down the qideof his face aoO uoO"t his collai before he could raise a hand to cGferrdbimself.In slxteenyearsof $rvey work he had nevetbecomeusedto it. --"rf thi" *"sn't nf tast trip," Surgenorsaid quietly,"fd refuseto do anymore." "Can I nav6 time to thinlr about that one?" Voysey, who was on his secondtrip, kept his eyeson the survey module'scontrols. *You've got 6me,hSurgenorsaid."Everybo{y on lds job has time." He decidedto talk about somethingelse. afll bet you ten stellarsws seethe ship from the top of thishill." "Already!" Voysey becamealert and started setting vernierson therange-finderpanel. Atredy, Surgef,orthought.It felt like centuriessinct the mothir ship-hadgetits-sixsun'eymodulesdownat the backinto the sky to black planefssouthpole and ghosted -at do a fialncircuit and landing the north pole. The ship would have completedthe journey in half an hour-the men in the modrileshad Uadto sweatit out under three gravitiesfor twelvedaysastheir machineszigaggedalcrng the planefs surface.Ilad therc beenan atmosphercthey could have switchedto grormd-eftectand travelledtwice asfast,but evenasit wastheyhadmadegoodtime. The car reachedthe top of the rise and the horizon, which wasthe line separatingstarry blacknessfrom dead blackness,droppedaway in front and Surgenc saw the clusteredlights of the Sqotand down on the plain about five milesfrom them. "You were rigbt, Davern'Voysey said and Surgenon grinnedat the note of respectin his voice."f tlink we're goingto befirst back,too. I don't seeanyotherlights." Sutge,nornodded. Shictly speaking all six modules shouldhavebeenexactlythe samedistanceort from the Saralandin their respectivedirections,rangedin a per-

22 Appointmentonprila f".S most of the journey the vehicleshad "iftg.-D-uring aqnered ngqJy.to the searchpatternso that the data they yere hansmitting-to the mofuer ship alwaysreachedit rr.9myx equallydistanqequallyspacedpoid,ts.Any deviauonrrom tILepatten wouldhavecauseddistortionin the g,T"l_nap lepg. lftt up in the ship's computerdeck. Itut eachmodulehad an awareness radiusof fire hundred ryiles,-with the result that when they got to within tr"11 that distanceof the mother snip ttJ rEmaininsterritorv IT Fpg^-ppp"-d_rir t'*es ovir, anOtle-iot-;;;;fi .angmrty_tinished.It wqs an unofficialtradition that the rast tryo'hundred-and-fifty-mile leg of a survey was an out-and-outrace for honie,with clampas." fd the winnersandan appropriaresalarydeductioitiitdi*"rs. Module Frue, which yas Surgglot's vehicle, had iust jaeggdrangeof hills and he guessed that :FI"d.1 low !u! at leasttwo of the otherswould havehad to go over the top and losetime. Somehow,in spiteof all t# yur* ,rra {eht-Vears,he felt someexcitem6nt.It ori$, * nice to finish his careef in CartographicalServi; with champagne. "Here w_egg," Voysey said as the vehicle gathered speedon the downward slope. ..A shower, shive and champagne-whatmorecouldyou askfor?" 'We4 even if we stick to the ailiteration" Surgenor reqf!4 "there'ssteak,sex,sleep. . .. . H: ttoppd gpe?}ingaslhe-voiceof CaptainAesopon boardtheSaalandboomedfrom the radio grill. "This-is Sarolurd spealringto all surveymodules.Do not continueyour approach.Cut your motbrsand remain where ytxr are until further notification-This is an order." _ Before Aesop'svoice had died away the radio silence that had beenobservedduring the race was broken as startled and angry commentsfrom the other modules crashedfnom the speaker.Surgenorfelt the first cold feather-flick of alarm-Aesop had soundedas though

23 Bobshaw somethingwas seriouslywrong.-n4qarll, Ffve was $ill waydownwardinto the blackness. churning-its -"tt frust bd some kind of mistake," Surgenorsai4 'butyou'd htt€r cut the motor an1may." ;But this is crazyt Aesop's o:azyt What could go wlonfo Voyseysouiaedindignant.He madeno moveto the motor controls. touch -an ultralaser burst from the-Syap( Wi6ttt*"toiog,

sptinteredthe nief,i into dazzlingfragmentsand the hill;Id;ilt"d stywa'ia* in front of.lvrodile Five. voysey.hit tne brak"s aiO tfte vehicleslid to a halt on the glowing edeesof the ultralaser scaf,.Falling tock hammered on the roit in an irregular, deafening ftenzy, then there was silence. "Aeeop's gone mad," Vopey said numbly, almost to himself. 'Why did he want to do that?" "Ttis is tie Soafand," the radio blared "g"i. :I 11, peat No survey module is to attempl to- pp1o3c!r I yill be torced to deitroy any other module which fails to obey this sdet." Surgenor pressed the button which put him on &e air. "Thig is Surgenor n Module Flve, Aesop. You'd better tell us wtat's going on." Therc was a pause, then Aesop spoke again.-'S5 carg wetrt out on thii survey--seven have come back- I need hardly point out that this is one too many."

.With a zudden spasm of alarm Candar rcalized he had made a mistake. ltis tear stemmed not from the fact that the strangershad deduced his presence,or that they lad reasonably potetrt weapour, it came from thrc tnowledge that he dad made suCh a simple error. The process of deterioration must have gone much furthet than he had realized. The task of reforming his body to look like o'ne of the traveling machines had been a difrcult one, but not sq difrculias the vast cellular reorganization which enabled him to survive when the two srms were overhead. His

AppointmentonPrila

nistake had beento a{o_rythe machine,whoseshapehe comewithin ra"ge-ot tni s"*"i"E,i,rvio !S_Epi:4 aboard the !o largestmachine.He had allowed tfe smal lnaclxneto draw awayfrom him while he went throueh the.agon-y of transfoniationa"O tbrn, whro il;r"t A;; rq Dad b€comeawaxe_ of tho pulsing spray of electron sweepingover him. Itre shouldhave-aeCuc.6O-in ;dfi; uat creatures*ith tlry feeb-lesenseorg;ansho had perceivedwould have stiven for sometii"-glo wruen thiir awareness of the universo.Especiallycreitureswho would - --takgthetroubleto build sucniompdcatedGniUes. -tt Candat'salarin faded away aj ne picked up *rrentsof fear and bewildermentqtining in tns nhes of G beinry in the mashinesaearest'totifr. lfnOs Uk; tht*; couldneve-rpresentany seriousproblem-ail ho hadto do wasawaithis chance.He croucf,edon the crackedsurface 9f th9 plalp, ng'st of the metallis eternentsi" his;yrG; to thepriphery of his new shape,*hd6-;; Fg{.,o{ now identicalto tbat of the havellingmacf,ines.A small pf_9f,hft,9nqp wasgoinginto prod-ucing ttght;hfh h" beamedout in fr-ort, and occasionallyrc ehitTeAburstsoi racro wavesat ftequenciesbasedon the strangers'spee€h patterns. He was9*Aq; the most intelligen! talentedand dangeroussrngXe entity in the universe;and all he had to do waswail

The-standardintercomspe-akers fitted in geodesicsurvey werc, in their bf smalt si%, very good. n${T_ lpire Yl{g,eno.r }ad.neverheardoneoverloadbefoie,buit6meqaqy tollowingAseop'sannouncement effectiveoonmumcquon was lost in a crashing skidding roar as everv module reacted in surpriseA- disb;tf.f:-a;"I;;;'" mechanismausedhim to stareat thJ speakbgtlt iri-rild wondermentwhile another part or-nii nina-assinitaGd Aesql's news. -A seventhmodule had appearedon an airlessworld w$ch wasngt_onlyuninhabitid but, in the strictestclinicar senseot the word" sterile. Not even the tougbes

Bob Shnut

25

known vifls coutdstuvivevfren Prila l-ran the gt-F.of its double2n. The cacophonyfrom the speakerquercs abnroflvasAesopcameonthe air again' 'T^aft open fbr suggestions regardingour next move' theymist be madeoneat a time." but --Thr'hi"a of reproof in Aesgy's volce wqs en-ougLto ;"nt" i6tA to a backlound rym$le' but S-urdr6,h" setrorcould sensea growingpaiic. The trouble wasthat ffi;fine;neodesic-survey dodule had neverbecomea *"Jto" easy.rt was a big-moneyiob that iioi"tti.:"-jii smartvounqmenwent intd for two or tbreeyearsto raise caoitat for iusiness ventures'and when signiry on they o'ricticattvdemandeda writtdn guaranteethat therenever intemrptioni" th9 profitableroutine' Now i'o"tatdr"y ---Sttgd; so-"thioe hadeoneunongandtheywereworried' then tiri ni"t r-of angefat his teammates, joined " h{ IIe ttiog out. was too, *#i6"d-tnaiti E up seventeenyearsbefore, 4onq with t'ro of his spacesfiu& oousins:-aiv sayeo ror deht yearsbeforequiuing and going into the plant&ire bushess.Most of his accumniatedsalarywas in the businesswitb thenq.but n9y Can ana Chris [ad reachedtle end of their patience'He had to take an activepart in the nrnning of the firm ot be bougbtouf which waswhy he had sewednoticeof resignatiin. At ihe ageof thirtylsil he wasgoingto settledorrn . to a normalme,-Aoa ftflL fshing and golfing and probably get manied. Surgenorhad to admit the-prospe{ yas. nci inpteasant.It wis a pity that Module Sevm hadhad , to cropup on his last triP. 'If^ thire is a seventhmodule, Aesop,l' Gillespie in Tlvee spokeqtrickly,"anothersulrey ship musJhavebeen

ffi LfGG.

p"tip. anemergen"y laniing."

, "l.Io.' Caotain Ae-so replied. "The detectors nrle that i possibiiity right out. BbsGs we are the only scheduled ctew within three hundred ligbt-years." Surgenor pressedhis Talk button. "Have you checked for somekind of underground installation?" *The world map is not yet complete but I have nrn a

26

AppoinsmcntonPril^a

computor check on all the geognosticdata. Result tive.'

.,f Qltt_rrpirrg Tlyee spokeagain. take it that this n modulehasn'ttried to-comminicate-witntheSiotand d{*y of t4ecrews.S/hy is that?" onl.ysurmiseitis deliberatelymingtingwith thr ql .,'T pqgqlo.ggL ne.gltheship.At this stager &n't-saywhy but f don't like it." . "Well, what do we do?" The question was asked simul tangously by severalmen.

.I , 4rry.was.a.long silencebeforeAesopspoke. dered all modulesto halt becauseI do iot wish to los-ingthe ship,but I realizenow that a certainamouJt risk must bo taken. I can see only threo modulesa p*uyr"- the_searchpatternwas brolen over the last t

hundred nailes I cainot identify any of Vou tV c bearing. I will permit all modules to appioach ihe a dktance of one thousand yards foi-visrial _Anymodule attempting to come closer will be

No warningswil te issued.Commenceyour now.t'

WhenModule Five drew to a halt a thousandyards the Swafand,the only sign of other vehiclei was $stantly wavegng-lighaor-the plain beyondthe big

Surgenor wqtched the light drbw near wonderin[ if was-he h_esitatg4then applied the label-the enemy. 'T wonder is that it,'Voysey said. 'Slho knows?" Surgenor riplied. *Why don't you ask it?" *All tight. Ygy,t"y sat motionless for several seconds. will." He pressedhis Talk button. .,This is ModulcVit,

Voyse_y speaking.We are alreadyat the ship.Who is the seco_nd mrcdulenow approaching?,, uModttlc Oru,I-amereax speaking,,lcamea hear Iy famitar voice. "Hellg Victoa Davb. Good to see that's if it rs you."

"Of course.Who do you think it is?,,

Bob Slww

27

Lamereux's laugh sounded slightly unnatural. "At a time like this I wouldn't ewn like to guess." Voysey jabbed down on his Talk button, then changed his mind. "f hope Aesop spots a difference and blows this Seven to shreds without any talk. Before it makes a movg.tt

*What if it doesn't make a move? It migbt be happy to do nothing but mix us up." Surgenor unwrapped a sandwich and bit into it-he had planned that his next meal would be a steak on board the mother ship, but it looked as thougb dinner migbt be a liftle late. *What do you mean about not making a move?" 'TVell, even on Earth there are birds that imitate me'lr's voices, monkeys that mimic their actions-and they haven't any special reason for doing it. Thafs iust the way they are. This t}ing might be a supermimic. Maybe it iust turns into the sameshapeas any new thing it seeswithout even wanting to." r:4a animal that can mimic a forty-foot long machine? I believed you about the Drambons, Dave, but this is too much.tt Surgenorsbruggedand ate more sandwich. He had seen the Drambo'ns on his hundred and twenty-third suffey, wheel-shapedcreatureson a higb-gravity planet who were the opposite of humans and most other beings in that their blood remained statironary at the bottom of the wheel while their bodies circulated- He alwavs had trouble convincing new srurey men that Dramb6ns really existedDrambons and a hundred other equally weird species. That was the trouble with the Instant Distance drive-it was the frst form of travel which didn't broaden the Find. Voysey was five thousand light-years from Earth; brrt becausehb hadn't done it the hard way, hopping from star to lonely star, he was mentally still inside the orbit of Mars. _ Slowly the other vehicles made their appearanceson Module Fiye's viewscreenuntil tlere were Gven ranged in a circle around the blagk pinnacle of the Soafand. Cay tain Aesop had remained silent during the approaih

28

Appointtnent onPrila.

manoeuve$, but comment from the various grews crashed continuously from the radio gn!. Some of the men, finding themselves still alive and t'nharmed as minute after minute went by, began t9 relax and make jokes. The jokes. died away as Aesop finatly spoke from the tofty sectuity of the ship's operations level, two hundred feet abovethe surfaceof the plain. "Before we listen to such suggestionsas may be availabler" he said calmly, "I wish to remind all crews of the standing order not to approach the ship to within one th.orsand^yar-ds.Any module doing so rvill be destroyed without further warning. -Ygu may now,n' Aesop concluded pleasantln 'lroceed with the discussion." Voysey snorted with resentment..,Cofiee and cucumber sandwicheswil be served presentlyt When I get back on board I'm going to take a fourtlen-pound lammer to Aesop and smash his . . . He just doesn't care.', .,He simply isn't . "Aesqr.doe-s care," Surgenor said. demonstrative." The confident reedy voice of Pollen in Module Four was the first to break the radio silenco that had followed Aesop's announcement.This was pollen's eleventh survev and he was wdting a book about his experiences,but hai never allowed Surgenor to see the manuscript. Surgenor zuspected4f iqw_asbecausehe, Surgenor, aipearedin it as a laughable,Oldest-Memberfigure. 'ufo me, tle prob-lem we have here,,' pollen began, ., "appeaxsto take the form of a classical exercisein lofrc." "Turnit off, P,ollen,"rymebody intemrpted angrily.'All dght, aU dght. But the iact remiins thit ie can think our way out of this one. The basic parametersof the problem are ttrese: We have six unmarked and identical sl{vey modules and, hidden among them, a seventh machine..." ..Correction,,'he said Fqgenor pressedhis Talk button. quietly. "Was that Dave Surgenor?" Pollen said. .,As f was saying,tlere is a seventhmachine . . .,' "Correction."

Bob Shmt

29

"That is Surgenor, isn't it? What do you wan! Dave?" "I just want to help you be logical, Clifford' There isn't a seventh machine-we:ve got six machines and a very special sort of animal." t'r{a 4nimel?" t'Yes.ft's a Gray Man." For the second time in an hour, Surgenor heard his radio tail to cope with the demandsmade on it, and he waited impassively for the noise to subside. He glanced sidewa;rs at Voysey's exasperatedface and wondered if he, too, had looked like that the first time he had heard. The stories were not wide-spread, but here and there they cropped up; on worlds where the native racial memory reached far enough into the past. There were distortions upon distortions, but always the theme of the Gray Men and the battle they had waged with and lost to the White Ones. Neither mce had left any tangible traces of its existenoeto b picked up by Earth's belated armies of archaeologists, but the myths were still there. And the most significant tling, to one whose ears were in tune, was that-no matter what the shape of the storytellers or whether they walked, swam, flew, crawled or burrowed-the name they applied to the Gray Men was always their own name for membersof their own species. . . "What's aGray Man?" It was Carlen inTwo. "It's a big gay monster that can furn itself into anything it wanb," Pollen explained "Surgenor never travels anywhere without his. He's had it all over the galaxy: tlat's what started all those old stories." "It can't turn itself into anything it wants," Srrrgenor said. 'nlt can only assrnre any external shape it wants. Inside it's still a Gray Man.' There was another roar of disbelief in which Surgenor distinguished the words "Ancient Marinef' several times. "Al1 right,' he said with deliberate and tlpical stolidity. The best way to convince Pollen was to let him convince himself. "You don't have to acceptmy word, Clifford."

30

Appointment onprtb know, Dave-the Gray Man will vouch fot every...'T thing you say!', 'Ask Captain Aeso.4r to goltrough the xenologicaldata .. -s1orqan{ estimatethe probabilily of the exfitence theGrayJVten in thenrsf$ace,la "l in" priL-Jruti that Module Sevenis a Gray'Muo.;Siog"oo, "t " noticed that this time therewa$no tadgbtei-anailas relieved be_ glqe, if he wasright therewas-no tim; for inetevanaes. prob_abtyng_time at all. The bright f...Xp_.Tjt:_y?r aouDle$ar, w[ich Wasthis yorli:r parentsun,washaig_ ing.lol q the sky beyondthe .tim'bulk ot tri" smitak qgd the distant biack-hills. to *otl., ,.o"oteen nonths the planet_-w_oul4 6e 1;[6arringfts tatbea;en rtrosetwo

p_gf:ll-4l

a$

[o befar awaywhen

uat-napp€Nred-butIursetgr_ianted so did the multi_talented supdr beast hidden in their midst. Candar was astonishedto find himself listening to the food creatures' mental p-."rs., witn *."td"gproaching interest. "lI.fig race had never been machine-buitders_they had

relied insteadon the strength,speeCanCadgptability oi .an{ aOaptabititvof tlis of t";d";d; d#;;;; *:"_ry:lryf ldi,"'. 9n-.p fo1 gi4tnery; Candarnud sbentseve"ryc""ruries on a

wonld where no artifact, no datter how irell o"Ga" could survive the annual passagethrough tne "oo-rt Uinary teU. Consequently he was sn6cteO-to ,"uifr how much the ro,oq.cretures_depended on their fabrications of metal and p,rasucs-fhe discovery which most infrigued him was that ue metal shells were n9t meansa of kansport, but _only, th,ey qgtually supported the tives of the-food creatures wnile they were on rris airlessworld. Cand_a-r tried to imagt"e entnrsting his life to the care of a-complicated aod fallible mechaniJm"but the itlea fiUJ him with a vast, unfamiliar dread. He pushed it aside and concentrated all his ferociors intelligerice on ttre pr"UG, o{ g:tti"_g close enoughto the spaces'hipto ,"i* th" miod. wlmrn. In particular, it was ne@ssaryto immefili2s 1trs

31 BobShmt me they caltedCaptainAesopbeforethe ship'sweapons multl be b'roughtinto play. Gently, deiicateln- c6ntrolling his hunget, Candar preparedthe attack. Sursenorstaredat bis handin disbelief. He taO decidedto drink somecoffeeto easethe drlmess in his throat and had beeunto reachfor the supplyhrbe. Ifis dght handhaalrisenperhapsan eigfuthof an inch then hartdroppedbackon to the armrest. instinctivereactionwast9 bdng his left hand SurgeTods over t6 assistthe other,but i! too, refusedto move-and therealizationcamethat hewasparalysed. lbe mindlessperiod of paric lasted pediaps ?- full minute, at the eni of which-Surgenor16undhimself exbaustedfrom the conflict with his locked muscles.Serpents of icy sweatwere makingsavagedownwardrushes bver every-partof his body. Fe forced himself to relax and assesifhe situation,diicoveringas he did so that he $till had control of his eye movements. A sideways glance showed him that V byseyhad been

caugfit,too:-thJody signof life beinga barelyPg*eptiPle tremor of the facial muscles.Surgenorguessedthe.phenomelroowasnewto Voysey.It wasthefrst time Surgenor it at first han4 but he had beenoo had ever experienced manyworldi whereanimalsof prey wereableto surround tle theniselves with a blanketfieldtafable of suppressing grosserneural activitiesin othei creatures.The dgadly on higb Savity planets talentwasmostoften encountered whosepredatorswere likely to be as sluggishry qeq to Voyseybut as he ha{ tried to speak victirns.-Surgenot -direct air through his vocal expected,was unable to chords. He suddenlybecameawarethat voiceswereqtill issutgg from the comirunicationspeaker,andlistenedfor a while beforethefull sipificanceof the fact dawned6rahim. "There isn't much to worry about' Pollenwas saying. "This is the sort of exercisein pure logic which is rigbt up your str.et, Aeso'p.I would suggestthat you lead oft by

32

Appointment onPrila

cailing out the module numbers in rotation and command ing each to move back a hundred yards. In that way the original six machines will be separatedfrom the seventh or on one of the comnands fwo machineswill . . ." Surgenor swore mentally at his inability to reash his Talk button and cut Pollen oft before it was too late, but then the other man's voice was lost in a shrill, discordant whistle of interference. The noise continued with no sigu of abating and Surgenor knew with a pang of relief, that Module Sevenhad stepped in. Surgenoi tried to relax and found himself ftinking clearly. Pollen had been loudly and confidently sigmng their death warrants by making the, in this case fatal, nistake of confusing the map with the territory The situation on the black airless plain glimmering in the viewscreensbore a superficial resemblanceto the classical identification problem, and treated on that level Surgenor could see several solutions. Apart from Pollen's standard technique, a mor€ empirical would be to have Aesop fire a low-powered bursf from a laser rifle at each module in turn. Even if a Gray Man were able to withstand that sort of treahent without flinching, spectroscopic analysis of the ligbt produced would show up compositional differences. Another solution would be to order each module to unship its little inspection-and-repair robot. Surgenor doubted if the alien could cope with a simulation task which involved splitting itself in two. The deadly flaw in all those solutions was that they employed a process of elimination-which was something Module Seyen would never permit. Any attempt to narrow down the field would only trigger off the final calamity a little earlier. The real-life solution, if one existed" must be capable of instantaneous application, and genor was not at all optimistic about his chancesof fi it. From sheer force of habit he began reviewing the situation, processinghis data, then realized the signfficanceof

33 Bob Shout the voicesfrom the communicationspeaker'Pollen and seve*t otlers were still able to tatt which probably -meantthey were out of Module Serte,fsrangB",lift and Surgenor fte diicoverygavehim a mo-mentary tl" vieiscreens,wonderingiust how manymin""a-ioJA oi"s, ors."*As, werercA ft wasdifrcult to assimilatethe discreetimagesProPerlY,but he,saw!!at there were two i6 tne rigft, which-meantthat his -oaof.s was parl of a looseclusterof three' All the o"'" vti"t""ot-tar^away oft"rt *"t" much'furtherawayon the oppositesideof the cir"iJanC as he watchedond of them beganflashingits tirhtr in a hesitantattemptat Morse.Surgenorignoredit' p-artlybecausehe had krng forgottenthe code and partly becaisehe wasconcentratibgon the two nearermachines, wni"U would be Module Seve*.High up. on the o"J "t Uehtsfli*ered againstthe backgroundof stars Soatmd as Aesoprdspondedin crisp, higb-speedMorse.Surgenor almostwanteAto laugh-trust Aesopto havetho ancient

*h:""H&lli"r

w-as of radiointerrerence ssreech -but T4{"g Surgenorkept doggedlyat it. At first thoupbtdifrcult he #s not sure why it-was worth the trouble, then ths rlim outlinesof an incredibteideabeganto emerge.There inconsistentabout. . . 1s6s s666thing seemed -right hand forward to the control Voysey moved his consoieandstartedtheengines. For an instant Surgenorthought they had 6gsa f1€ed but he found himselfitill unableto move.Voysey'sface was chalk-whiteand immobile, saliva glisteningon his chin and Surge,norrealizedhe had acted merely as a controlled by Module Seven. hnmlanservomechanism, Sureenot'sminfl lsgan to race. This must be it the,n,he thoight, the big moment.The only-reasonthe alien could haveioi -akiig Voysey activate-themotors was that it was olanninsto moie the vehicleto cneatea distrastion went numb at the idea-Aesop was for Aesop.Surge,nor not easili distracted,nor would he haveany hesitationin vaporizirigthe first moduleto crossthe invisiblethousandyard line.

34

Appointnunton prila ..Y.yrgy'! left hand releasedthe bra&esand the vehicl shiftedslighflyon the unevenground. _ surgenormade anotherfrantic uselesseffort to move But what wasModule S"v"i;s ,udi", of contro waslimited and it was aboutt.iii"ff-fi, air"*ion, whict ippUedthat it wasgoingt" g"i "i""t"iitt" s*ot"rra.n i thatmeant... "for", - fle truth seemedto batheSurgenot'smind in an almos physicalbrilliance,then newrist"usoi' &;. unforded.I Fow the truth, he tlougnt, dli;;r;tfthink about il becausea Gray Man is 6t"p"thd"J-f i tliot about it

tt gr! hard againstthe throtfle lever _'l9.frrft-ng9 and themoduledippedforward. . -. . The Gray-Man will know that_No, think abou yrythinSelse,.thi-nk aUoutttre ctam;; i;

:I,r*qf rff'.-:lnlis"r,lFffa

almostdid it . . . r amort tnoirgbi"U*i l} .. . AESOPT

cao,thelpir

The distanceseoarating.Candar from the was one that, in a mbre efriient f;r.,-h;^";o-to spaceship rruo" crossed in two bounds.ft -+r,-gF.;ltghdy dn;; he knew he was too'fast to be-stoipeJ"by this way, but anything.He .gavetu! rein to his hunge-r,tetting'ii drivJ him s1 ns [s leapedforward. neni,n{."tii;-;4il-ril; rhan expegted,the two machinesie had-;k;;'under he had control rolled toward-thespacestrip.-One of lnJtooa creatures y:. ydy trying to-suppressa thougbfbut there was no

-**3t%l',i:3ff ."Xffi -' ii**Hffi tl "hilqf struckwithhisUriinintottrespaceshil. Norhing! 4t Fmryer beamhit

with a violencewhich in a matter of p^,TT-lT"$, _but-canda? ;;;,ld ;;"4! so easily.rhe rym would have destroyed any ,tG" o."tri"

parn was greater than he could ever have expectja, l"i even wo$e than the agony was his sudden-clear lookinto

Bob Sltaw

35

the minds of the food creatures-those bleak, sold, alien minds. For the first time ever, Candar felt fear. Then he died. The champagpe\pas good, the steakwas good, and sleepwhen it fnally came-would be even better. Surgenor ieaned back contentedly, lit his pipe, and gazed benigdy at the group round the table on the -During the meal he had Swalmds op6rations level. reacheda decision, and he tnew with a comforting glow in his belly thaf for him, it was the right decision. He had made up his mind that he liked being ao Oldest Member figtue.Smart young men could go on putting him ia fftsir books, his cousins could buy him out of their plant-hire business-he was going to stay with the Cartographical Service until he dropped. It was his life, and he wasn't giving it up. At the other end of the table, Pollen was making out his notes of the trip. ots that "The way you see it then, Dave," Pollen said, the Gray Man was simply incapable of understanding the machine building philosophy?" "That's dght. A Gray Man, because of his spec.ial physical properties, would have no use for a machine at the best of times. And thousands of years on a planet like Prila l-where a machine couldn't exist anyway-would havs conditioned his mind to the point where ouf tltochine'orientated lives would have been incomprehensible tg him."

Surgenor drew on the fragrant smoke and looked out through tbe viewscreensto where the brilliant double star hung low in the sky, and he felt an unexpected surge of sympathy for the massive alien being whose remains still lay on the black rock of the plain. Life would have been very precious to a Gray Man, too precious for him ever to consider entrusting it to anyone or anything but himself. That, basically, was why he had made the mistake of

36 Appointmcntonprila trying to.control the entity theSaralods crewthougbtof asCaptainAesoD. Wondering-h6w the Gray Man had felt in that last gom.e^ntof discovery,Surg6norBlancedat the dG;;;a pl{e o.q l9:ly9gT S: lnip-'t centratcomputinginstaltauon-that vast artificial intelligenceinto whoseleepins they deliveredtheir lives at the Eeginningof iu.L;di;.y: The platesaid: surgenorlad heard *f *"1,;*l; guessthat the letters stoodfor AutomaticElectronicSpqq-eship Oprrutiogp1*i -but nobodywasabsolutelysure-.Ilumin tiiogr,T",uO denlyrealized,tendto takea lot for granted.

LOST GROUND Drvo I. M.a,ssoN

oLost Gromdi' is really a goundbrealccr, a tascinating story by a fascitming mot Mr. Masson is a rue-book Iibruiot md Enguist,wln hn only rccently began to write science frction, Here Iu specaldes on the rufilre of time trwel in an enfirely new,way, in a work of fiction thfr is ttutlti-level md efimaining. Critical overenthwtasrn in the past has discovered,too nmny briglu netv Hghts of attltos-wlw becomc dmkercd cindqs olter emiuing only a hmdtul of plwtotts. This will rrot be true ol Masson. We will hem muchmore from him. Read this @rdyouwill seewlry. GBat up your bacon now, May," said Mrtel. 'Datldy's ready to run you up-don't keep him waiting." May, hunming irrepressibly to herself, picked up her fork and began toyrng with the crisp fragpents. *Mayt" said Mriel sharp'ly again. The ten-year-old's brown curls tossed, but she fell to. Philip, his dark eyes scanningthe faces of his mother and eister with the air of an anxious dog, spooned in his ponidge. He was only in his third year. Roydon, shifting about a little in his chair, was hidden behind the 37

38

l_ostGrourd .paper'uneasilyawareof its sourbiscuityodor in the sun "srRrFF. Io{foo,

DUE To LAsr BITTERspELL?,t ,uA *" of Al .tATs RAcE-sro_RMs srALL omo,,, said another.

Roydol frowned,i*.+g

; d"t;frh#

inro oneea

and-switched on the minitape recorder which he had set to the last forecast.

and associatedtrougls - -'jA systemof depressions follow o-neanot&erg guick *&i*.i"o o*r Scotlandwill and the north," it said.,\.i"op, ratn;i ,"a tl-"Uri;;i tomorrow, followed.by short_livedgt.fr, some ;; heaw. somestormy, wi& cheerfulintervals.-By,iArit-gdriti dying out, rarhpr r**, in tfie soutl. Drives Iq'ry weak to m:ggrate,,veeringcreativeto instinctive.-T;: peramentchillier thannorm:l for the rest of ne wLh b"t morningf;; in the dtteihali ryre-ne;however,some-early of theweekis expectedto form i"-6;:iyid arras,CJpirring slowlyeachdiy." - Roy.donsnappedotr the recorderand removedhis earplug.-"Better $ve May a stol pip piff b"t *rn"'g"*. The forecasfs-abit gtgogy; f iniruidn,t-6e surprised if therew_ere_griefs on aid on ihis att".oooo,too.,, -O.l( Here you ar€. May; swallowtnit witl your tea,,, said.Miriel. ..lind yo.1.ighr-* ;;ll hil one yourself, cangivepnfl a +iicr qril".^r;;; tf b" A""r;; {ar{"&..I to play."

*;l&r;'1"1#xwJ,,h"H,Yi';# "y$, May-I

think Miss Weatherbridge is a bit care less_ab-out tf,esethings;shetas a tot;f";thJthiil, ; think about,after all.;, "Oh, all ritht!. .. Roydondimped a singingMay-from his litfle city-car, the.greeSone-.ihe pep i,Il"was-;6dy fi{i"g his spirits, astheyweie Ui tn" -ryotectpd a"ior,ir. fr" u"a to check "" -*oot", an{ lad a quick one,,'he tloug[i. ;mriuf .._ at9-rt+. if fromhei."Theoi;il-oii;;;wn rL " old-fashionedly curtainedin th;;-dghtf;ii """rdark oi soft

*_HH-#*qt';'"tt'*ri:f #'o,1ff;

39 hair hovqed betweeahim and the trafrc for an instant' Afoer elevenyearsit was still a my1tery-aTdan enchant;;a tr hi-.'He openedthe drauEhtaqq-Ft the sadnes's Gepinfor a little. A few of the sciool childrenwattingto tn" next schoolwerein tears."Fecklesspaf,entsr" "toit-af he thought They would be all dght after a minutein the air-conditionedschool. Itr the studi,oofrce all was b'ustleand confusion'Panset, the ehief, was in and out constantly,mood-weather boiheredhim-comparativelylittle, except,t$t i" periods he usuallyhad to Akc a of unusuallywarm'temperament tranquilizer-outside. Tfie pep aerosolswere functioning nicely all over the buitdiig.- The nigbt's programmeof currentaffairswasbeginnini to take shapo,but musttest in a half-cooked state titl late that afternoon, when Roydon would leaveit in the handsand mouthsof the studio people.He rang up Miriel at-lunchtimeto Py b might be later than usual,the way thingswerenmtrurg.,7'Are you comingout for lunch, ViC?" he calledto hi$ mate aciossthe table, fxing him unconsciorslywith a characteristicallysearchingEMe under his thick brows; "I'm gettingsic.kof the canteenstuff." "Better pep yourself up again' then, Royor there's-a nastygrief outside,"saidKen I\fiattock,comingin' breathing deeplyanderraticallythroughpinchednostrils. t'Ot, t[" corner ph; wil Ao us. That's not faf' we'll survivoit e\ Vic?" D6r'idl Masson

'I'll take a quick booster first, if you don't mind. I'm a bit low this mdrning" said Vic, helping himself from his { *Riiht-thafll now. Pm readY ready now." pharma'poucJr. me. I'm oharma-oouclr. fx me, fix -

That fughg disturbedMay evertuallypersuad"'ratf,er of schoot schoollFecaPthe zubiect Miriel broachedthe broached zubiectot ed to bed, bed, Miriel Precau' *Ym

tions again.

Lnow,' she saiE "I don't care for the

way they hand out their peps and kanqe-much too rori$ aria ready.I deliverei May after lunch in th9 red with quite upset word with in. I had had a word city car: she city-car: shewas wai quite upsetcoming comihgin.

k""p her caiefulty drugged up and tnd neaC.I,m going to k"ep &e school will have her for lunch in future. That means shewon't be so easily exposed."

40

last Ground "You coddleher too much,',saidRoydon. R:y* I can't havehlr educati'on goingto pieces .^ilI9t Decause of all these upgand dgwns,It may-beitt rigbt tor someparents,but not for us. We havehei future tjtt i"t of." g€vewa{. He-sighedf9r the GoldenAge of his __}9** parents'memory, whenthe world,satmosphere hid noth_ mg worset[an Aue weatherand a litfle failout for mento gogtendwith. A featureitem on the chaos-inAftia;; by pharnacol"gi"at aid, under_ ,Ifip,, gcry.celV.mitigated_ thiqgfts: The Indians and Africans were trying ||ne$,nrs lo nd:- qu1gnefsby hecticdancesessionson the linei o[ me old Mediterranean-tarantella-remedy, and angersand fears!y greatchoral chantsbut thesi i'oik remeaieswere naturaU.y very chancy.Onfythe mostadvancednationshad ryen qbteto meetthe new emotionalinfluencesin the air and with arogsruUtr";;;"gh; ;;; Tfle"or$tionlnS gT"f_9lo-o{ or slgwgnqughand without seriouslya^ffectSB lu
back again. Ilence the semi-m,ysticalniture_loving joy one moment and the suicide leap the next.,' _"'But such violent chanles are not met with in other places,arc they?" ^_llgt -commonly. Indeed tle micro-sentiment at many spots is nore stable than that of the general mood_weathjr 11-ll-^T-lright. The-strface of madhes is nearly always depressed and fearful. Those of a park or a well-kerit

a,

4l David I. Masson is a sarden are wafm, friendly, serene.And of course there twentya or micto'oalhesis which varies on ?hfi}"* A wooa or a lake at noo,nis usually gay ld* r.* """8 in moonlight but hostile "v"tt t?i*".?-tianigli-u-orous cycle and intens6ly fearful in darkness. The nature ot tre the illumination"'io - tnis casedependson at novdon va:wningostentatiously, switchgd the set off him.his bevond rather were uti. *tt ,nri'.i,i":t]dJ;tf;f impli"d. But his heartbeat was acceleratlng' rro.raqri ';d.;'tik;'tht; .* he found disquieting' The-world without theselocal effects' Hq Prg enough il"r d;;;"s -The shelter of Miriel's arms and hair to know. i"t*a n6i blotted out the world and its perils. Three vears later it happened. Roydon,-1ow in the sfirdio

;iJ;

w;tia-ouv, oi& normallyworkingfrom 3 -to 11

afternoon at 5' p.*. '--"f ** *ng at thi studio one March tiooght"f told you not to nng me. at night-it's far too hectic heref' "Roy, Roy, it's P!4t He-he-" He recalled "He iiad-in accident!" shouted Roydon' rather older by-pqme horye brought thatihil wa* infant school sobbing ivliriel told hitn that n"- "t"u:fy "nfa*" ihn anA nis mends had nrn into anunexpected-qocke! o{ u Ap in the road coming hbpe'- They ha$ ;Jrrort outLt"a, ihil A"t'd"g insanely acrosslhe road, it seerred" and straiglt under a car. It was all over in a moment After lhe funeral, which ironically took place on a gay' on a tight Miriel, who had ftpt -he-1se-lf ttd;-;-itg; rein, seemedto go to pieces.She refused all drugs, !@rcg: on thi moit cheerftrl of days,-and-81ve hersglf ry6*Ja ip to a sort of resentfuln:,ssof sorrow. Roydon's .parents, who had stayed on for some days, took May under.their roof not tar 64 and for the rest of term were to fetch her t" t"[oot and back. Roydon managed to secureleave and took Miriel west to a ila part of the country neither.oJ them had seen before, which she could not assoclatewitn Philio. Thev left the two city-cars behind and hhed a n oaboot. Gradually shebegan to pick up, but there was a

42

Lost Ground gemething ghostly about her look, an air of looking tbrough or past Roydon, which worried him. It was a fine spring and the mood-weather was optimistic, with only the occasional grief. Roydon let the griefs wash over Miriel when they were out walking and sometimesover himself, as he felt they would help to purge the emotional load. The first Sunday they went to church. The rather meagre congregationhuddled in the cool Ear$ English interior. The sermon was uninspiring. But there was a soothing quality about the gay-green gloom and the thin arches. the motor of the tranquilizer-cordial hummed gently in the silences.Afterwards Roydon was rather sorry-they had gone, for they were strolling througb the churchyard when Miriel stopped with a shudder. The funeral was too re. cent. Drunken gravestones,their inscriptions worn to rivers in the soft local stone, leant around them. But she had stoppedat a very tall and broad headstone. o'Roy, you "Look," she said uncertainly, could have had,an ancestorhere." 'nWell" could be, certainly ends with 'Back,' and it cg4ainty has an R ab second letter, and the length lools rigbt. Can't make out the forename, can you?" think I can. And what a long inscrip- "'lio, I don't tion." "From the few words I can make out, it was one of those paragons of all the virtues. Local bigrvig, I expect. They used to make them out to be saints, on their tombstones,in those days; whereasthey probably fathered half the brats in the parish really, and twisted their tenants. I must have a look at the parfuh register some time, just in ca.qehe really had the samename. Srill, it's not absolutely unique as a name." "What is all this about the Snevley Fields?" said the big man at the bar. Roydon turned half round from his half-pint. Miriel was upstairs._llhe big man, who looked like a landowner or a businessman, was talking to a squat little fellow who might be a farmer or a lawyer.

David I. Masson

43

GWhat do you want to know about the Snevley Fields?" "Something queer is going on there-what is itf' "Something decidedly queer is certainly going on therer' said the squat man, who, like the big man, had a whisky in front of him. Roydon cocked his World-Dayeducatedear. "ft seemsthat all Morris's cattle have disap peared there. So bas Midgley's dog. Midgley was walking the Camrthers side and his dog went after rabbie. That was a week ago and no one has seenthe dog sin@." *But it's perfectly qren counfiry, no badger-holas or foxholes either." "Etracfly. And no cow-holes! . .. Mdgley's a bit scared to go in himseE. As for Moris, he thinks the place is bewirched. Talks about fairies and I don't know what. \Mon't stir near there. A bit supentitious, old Morris is." 'Vas it in daylight?" "We don't know about Morris'g cattle. But Mdgley's dog went early one afternoon." "Any clues?"

'Not Only thing is, the SnevleyFields seemto have en rehedged rehedsedby been bvf someone. someone.The The old old hawthorn's hawthorn'sgiven wav sivenway

to tahaznl, hazel. Morris says. savs. He looked through throup& binoculars. binoc Says it goesbeyond the brook, too.' "Snevley'sis let isn't it?' 'Yes-to someone from Scrut0on. But they haven't been there for weeks." 'f6s falking about them SnevleyFields?" put in long a man in an overcoaf drinking stout, on the far side. "Yes, and Harry says it goes on beyood the brook." "Too true; and another thing" said the long man; '!ou know that brook nrns straight down a fair way betwe€Nl them two hedgas?Someonedigged it that way long since.' The other two nodded assent.So did three other listene,rs. "Well now it don't. It runs all squiggly-sEraggly. And them hedges-ttrey've gonel" There was a heavy silence."f know another man as lost a dog thereabouts," called a dark man in a corner.

44 Lost Ground Silence.Headstuned. "'Tsele Ted.l:[s bitch wereround Parket'sKnoL a weekcomeFriday'twere.,9&ewerechasing rabbits,too. Ted sayshe had his eye on her, and she just rranished." "Hdw d'youmean,vanished?"put ln the big man. "Vanishedin full view, right in the middle of the next field. Here,Fred,turn up the aerewhat'sit THatcrossness is seepingin again-I canfeelne hacklesrising." 'f'Tls the whisky in yo.l Bill," called the squat mali amid generallaugftter, lut the landlord picked up an aeroso,lhand-sprayerand pumpedthe cordial-tranquilizer over the room. *We11,as I weresaying.S[e vanishedin full view. OnE moment she were there, going hell for leather in the middleof a field. Next moment-she weren'tthere.Never cameback no mofe." *That's a hell of a lot of land that is. From Snevley'sto Parker'sl(noll." *And from Gofs Brook to t'other side of Snevley,f shouldn'twonder,"camefrom a small man who had not yet spoken. Roydon, who was gse{ to inteniewing, or failing to interview,nral types,held his peace,but after a moment or two found occasionto ask the barmanthe nameof the long man and the squatrnaf,, and still later buttonholed thelandlordandgot from him their addresses (they turned out to be the villagegtocerand the local garageman) and the approximatelocationof Gofls Brook, Snevley'gand Parker's I(noll. He represe,nted himself as an amateur painterwith someideasaboutlater fishing. landscape Next morning with a stronginstinctivedrive prevalent and a cordial temperamentabroad,Roydon took Miriel out on foot lookingfor the mysteryarea.The forecastwas fairly optimisticand he thoughtit would be goodfor her to tramp aroundwith him while lie tried to work up what promisedto be somethingof a newsstory. In two hours they were in sight of the farmhouseknoqmas Snevley's. Beyondit down a sligbt slopeweretie SnevleyFields, a set of meadowsalreadypowderedwith buttercups.The

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pair paused. "Irt's work round this field aqd uP F th3t i"p*,!. We might get a better view of that break in the hedgesthey were talking about." Wnen tliey reached a field-corner next the copse,where a distinct drop in the emotional temperature could be fglt Roydon took some photographs. The cbilliness was becoming palpable hostility, and his wife was unprotected by drugs.-"You stick it out here, Miriel. I'll walk uphill aq:d see-what can be seen from that tree." Roydon strode oft. A brusquely suspicious mood dominated the summit Reaching the tree at the top he turned. Miriel was not to be seen Roydon, shouting het name at the top of his voice, glate
46 Lost Ground pill had taken effect in more cordial surroundlngqhc stumbledinto the inn. Miriel was not in their room. No one had seenher. Someonebrougbt him to the policestation,in whosebanquillizedair hetold his story. '"Iliat settlesif" said the sergeant; "I'm dnging HQ. arebeyondus." Thesedisappearanoes Roydonfound himselfat the receivingend of the interviewing on that eveningisWorld-Day. Ken had sbot up from London by jet to seehim personally.By next day the C.I.D. and hall the newshawksof the west of the cormtrywerein the dis&ict. No one dare enterthe 'Forbidden7nn€'and a cordonwas to be thrown up by the army. During the week a helicopterand a set of trackerdogson tlie end of microphonedlong lines were brought up. The tracker-dogsfound nothing but two disappeared, tlieir linesneatlycut. The helicopteronly discoveredfields emptyof all but birds; but two locals (Mdgley and the squatman) who were persuadedto go up in it averred that (so far as they could tell sincethey had neverflown before) the cormtryhad cliangedquit€ a lot. Ttie areawas closedoft now with rolls of barbedwirg military posts establishedround it and a desultorywatch was kept up, with an occasionalsearchlightat night. "I'd soonernrn straigbt acrost a bleedin' minefield 'n gow in theer," Rovdonheardonesoldiersayto another. '-Reckonit is a minefielA:-.onlythe other sort. I reckon up," said it's holesin it, bloodygreatpits, all camouflaged the other. Roydon flew up to London. He meantt9 resigil. Th-e like al undubbedfflm in city seemedto hitn meaningtess, a foreien lanzuase.Its noiseand bustle seemedto be all on the6&er siAe-otaninvisiblebanier. *Look here,Royo," saidVic, takinghim asidenearthe is goingup there;why not studio;"a teamof investigators join the,mas a report€r?Pansetll recommendyou, he savs.tt -"Who

are thev?" "scientists of iome sort. You know they got someanom-

47 Davidl. Masson alies with their lidar probe when Ken was thero-or d""'tt Sone of them think there'ssometbing ili["pgio" tna amirt the spacetimegeometryof the tegion' Tbat's line they'reworkingon now." the -_-Mav wai adopteilorvher aunt and uncle' Roytlon was to the group6f scientists,sliut up-thehouse'and attachied ;;hrtned to oaiacoirrsed greencountryJideto wbich he to*d, as with tfr'eoongs -Heof a rack, by {9s 9f ;;;;; came eladually.,to fear, hatred, mbmory and love. folltiw, n abazy way, the investigators'teasming?nd th.: drift of tlieir experimetfswith masersa$d chargerr-Pd1: So-ii-*ur^ that six months later Roydon hinse8 "f"r. out a oreDared'tntervied'of the group'sspok9scarrving the public its first picture ot what man oiW, hid B'ive'n washappening. ;A iel of inachro'nisticcellsor domainshas comeinto teine on the landscape,coveringa wide area' Each cell in time-we are not at hasieverted to an e-arlierpoint -point-and its- neigh-borcells ii.t."t suri exactly what no drsoefitrure with. but apparently reverte{ havesimilarly -quilt patih-worf time'levels"' of a liave oattern. We '"Ho* far backaie thesetime-levelsfrom outs?" "We don't know. Somemay be only a few secondsor even mictoseconds.Others day be a few wee-ns,-Yqfs' manyyearsback' The Someare certainly io." -that, accordingto early "eototies. in visible landmarksfits "nuogi tithe-maps." "But it we canseethe countryhow is it we cam'tseetlie Dersons '-i'w; aadanimalsthathavedisappeared?" but in tlie ttti"t tn"v havenoved out-of the area,r time --l'Do"s of thecell inwhich theyfoundthemselves." the first cefl ybu meet fix your time-level, then?" "We don't know.It may--ot it mayflot." Rovdon.allo*ed pastthe armypostsas oneof Onedav -slipped quiefly awaytowar{s the spot.wherehe the team, had last seenhis wife. He was certainnow that snenac ru" of further into the area and believedhe migbt havq a glimpseof her running and not of somebird """gnt

48

Lost Ground.

flyrng. But the landscape was confusing, was difrcult to identify. Where he thought to have found the field-corner below the hill there seemedto be a long stone dike with stone steps jutting out of it, and a fence to one side. He climbed over the dike, keeping bent low in case he was spotted from outside. He was determined to follow Miriel and search, if need be for yearsnin this past world. The atmospherewas serene,with a slight intellectual drive in it. He combed the copse, returned, walked along the fence, slithered down some rocks which he never remembered seeingbefore, ran into a riclrly. cordial atmospherg skirted a round dewpond, and past a gparled old thorn came face to face with a stinking old man in tatters, who touchedhis forehead and sank on one knee. "Where do you come from?" Roydon had to repeat this three times before tfle man answered:"Sctootton, ant plaze thee, Serr." "Have you ever seea young woman in strange dress in these parts?" '2n hereyoung-woman-irear "Have-you-+een-a svsl-wsaring-sfr ange--dress?" 'T.Ioo, Selr, Roydon had to re,peatthis once more, then: hant niwer seen nob witch, Serr!" and the creature took to his heels. As Roydon stared after him he vanished in mid-stride. Much shaken, Roydon walked slowly onward, stumbled over some gravel, was pushing througf some lush undergrowth, and found himself on a sheep traek among tussocksof grass.A grotesquesight rnet his eyes a few yards further on dorpn the track. A thin man in a sort of sicking hood, raggedhose like i[-fitting tights, and-bare feet, was perched on a short ladder leaning crazily in towards th6 track. The ladder was leaning on nothing, and inded its poles ended at their tops in a curious vertical chopped cut, which kept changing its pattern,- yet thls hdddr stood still and only rocked stightly with the man's movements.It was some iime before Roydon realized that the changing texture at the tops of the poles coincided with thel bowing slightly sliorter or longer as they

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rocked. The man kept descending and coming u-p again with bundles of what-looked to Roydon (who had seen a mnseum of antiquities) like thatching straw2aud thrustin-g them above thd ladder where, together with his hands, they disappeared.His handless arms, each obscene$ termiri4sd by a fluctuating blue-white and crimson crosssection, w6Ua ply about-for a time, then the hands would reappeat, but not the bundles. A geat he-a-po.f.tll?se buitiles iay on the ground- The place was thick with flies and gnats. The hlder-man wds humming an endless, -ptaintive eery chaot. Behind him was the rim of a forest cleiriig. Tbo lean dogs like lurchers, but with loqgln pointeiears, were stnEng about near it. The trees of the torest seemedto be chodped -dogs short at about tetr feet up. were all totally oblivious of The ladder-man and his Roydon's shouting and gestiorlating. Something,hoqever, helil Roydon bact tom passing under or beyond- the ladder. Perhapsit was thatbnly teo feet on the far side of the man the iorest-clearine siutrg in abruptly -the to march beheaded right up to the sheeptracl. miJ part of foiest, fooreover, wal frost-laden, frbm the bougls to the ground, and devoid of undergrowth, and a,ligbt-snow ihower was scudding down from nowhere. Through this wintry woodscape, lit by a nrddy glow ftom the elst' a pack of huge saiage houias prese,htlybroke, bayingterceiy, and plunged-obliquely towards the still oblivious tidder-man and tis do-es.Instead of overwhetming them the pack vanished ond ty one in the still air of the clearing, and the silence ieturned piecemeal hound by hound. A last hound, a straggler, was still bounding,up, wheg the man called out, as if to someone well beyond Roydon's shoulder: "Pest taak they, Will, maak hustr-'tis aal- boot nohn!" He paused, apparently listening, thcn broke into a snort of laughter and resumed his whistling andhumming. An obscure trumpeting mingled with cries, bro*e out deep in the frosty wood;-cracklirg branches and rhythmical thuds intervened.

50

Lost Ground Seizedwith a kind of panic, Roydon turned down the track tbrust through a dark thicket, and found himgslf without warning in the middle of a curious wide tunnel or cave apparently made of blackish glass,and dimly lit from nowhere in particular. There was a marked cheerfulness and a strong organizing drive in the air. Coming out into the daylight he saw a wide flat level strip, like the track of a gigantic snail a hundred yards across,made of the same material, stretching out from his feet. On its edges a number of glassy boxes and tubes, on spring legs or spikes, wete standing, some winking and ctcking busily. The strip looked rather asif it had been sprayedon. "What kind of a past era is tlis?" he thought. Beyond the strip were banks of rich shnrbs powdered with exotic butterflies. The gfowl of a helicopter came from the west, and Roydon took cover beneath a shrub, distubing the butterflies somewhat.When the helicopter appearedit had an unfamiliar look, and most of it was formed of greenish and blackish glassy material. After it had gone Roydon walked on above the shrubs. Then he took cover beneath the shrub, disturbing the butterflies, hearing the machine. When it had gone he began to walk on. Then he took cover under the butterfly-laden shrub, keeping the helicopter under observalisa. ffien it had departed he walked on, shaking his head uncertainly. There was something he could not quite remembet A diid vr sensation. Odd. He recalled the tunnel and the strip. What an odd stripl What kind of past age could this be? And what peculiar gadgets these are down its edges.Why do they aadllink like that? . . . He found himself walking "1i"1 about the shrubs, feeling unaccountably odd and dazed. Then he saw Parker's I(noll or what should have been Parker's Knoll, miles ahead. It was topped by a device like a glass water tower. The entire landscape between seemedto be dotted with tallish block buildings of greenish opaque glass, with banks of shrubs between. Men, women and children, in closely clinging clothing with a dull whitish lustre, were moving about. The sound of their voices came to him. fhs sky was pullulating with aircraft

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like a s;warmof ,inssc1g,and droned and screamed with them, but the voices could be heard quite clearly nevertheless.Only the stip and its neigbborhood seemeddeserted. Then h6 saw a iort of Parker's l(uoll, but decorated with a glassy tower, and the people in thgg glingng clothes, ana the aircraft overhead. He shook his head to clear i! and saw Parker's l(noll, topped with a tower, and the population, and the crowdeil skies, and heard the noises.Roydonsat down (and in betweenthe first bending of his knees and being seated, had a visionary flash of millions upon millions of-what? of the same event, whlch he instanUy forgot). He sat down, and tied to collect his thoughts. Coidd it be that he was somewherein the future, not the past? Could the helicopter have come out of the world ofthat future? The machine came back and for the secondtime (was it the secondtime?) Roydon took cover, but he was astonishedto hear a loud-hailer of rcrts addresshim: "We can detect you undet that growtli. Who are yg,u? Can we help you?-. . . Who are you? Are you Roydon Greenback?Pleasecome out from under. Pleasecome out ftrom under. We would fike to helD vou." There was something peanliarly vulgar and sprawling about the ae cents of the speaker,and his vowels were d'fficult to recogmze. Roydon clambered out and waved. After a moment he called out "Yes, I am Roydon Greenback, Who are you? Where am f?" The helicopter descendedsome way and a rope ladder was loweted. "Pleaseclimb in." 'T am looking for my wife." "IVe don't know where she is, but perhaps we can help you. Willyou come with us first?' Silentln Roydon climbed up the ladder, which was at once extraordinarily smooth and very easy to hold on to. As he went up there was a sort of blink, and looking down by the helicopter hatch, he was astonished to see that the landscape was once more deserted and gee,n, indeed rather lush, except that the glassy strip and a few

52

Inst Growtd.

of the shrubbanls up to a little past where he fiad sat down, were still there below him. A big gloved hand hauled him in. "Roydon Greenback. Well. You are something of a legend to us, the man who entered the poikilochronistic jurgle'to search for the woman he loved. Well, well. As luck would have it, you got into a domain that started at plus-sixty-one years and has been running a cog-slipper static ever since. So you leveled up with our time. You are sixty-one years behind us in source. We shall take you to our world of sixty-one years ahead." The voice was no longer sprawling but the same slip shod quality seemedto slur its vowels, and what with this and the unfamiliar vocabulary, Roydon could hardly comprehend two words in tbree. He looked at its owner, a tall, red headed man of middle age with shaggy locks and a long beard. I{s clothes, like those of his companions, seemed to consist of a translucent skin-diving suit with pockets, and without mask or orygerL and encasing the hands and upper anns, long translucent gloves. There were half a dozen pennns in the cabin" two of them women. "f am Paul Sattem, chronismologist in chief. This is Fenn Vaugban, chronismologist-maturator; Mary Scarrick, entomologist; Richard Metcalfe, chronistic metrolo gist; Elizabeth Raine, air chemist; Morris Ekwall, transitional diathesiologist; Zen Haddock, botanist who also takes soil samplesfor the podologists; and at the controls, Peter Datch." The correct responseto an introduction seemedto be a nod. It appeared that Morris Ekwall was concerned, in some esotericway, with the violent local changesin moodweather that accompanied the area's time-shifts, while Richard Metcalfe spent most of his time dumping gadgets on the terrain and reading their messageson instruments in the helicopter. What Vaughan and Sattern actually did Roydon never discovered, but the others were concern€d with the insects, plants, soil and atmosphere itself. At

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intervals one or more of them would go down the ladder ratherswiftly. and come up rismologistsrt' Satterntold Roydon,"are "Teamslof

engagedid mappingthe poikitochronismand its changes; thedomainsareconstantlvaltering." "How,do you mean?Do tney changetheir time'level?" "Usually i domaindividesihto severalquite intependentdomd,ins, especiallyif it's a big one;or a wholesetof boundsanddomiins isieplacedby new unrelatedon9s,in one part oJ the poik. ffuere's not alwaysmuch visible to discern." sign-you -*Aid haveto-instnrmentate Richardherg" saidVaughan,"is trying iust now to catchthemat it. He thinksthey don't just go click, they go vlhoosh---eh andhe sang,softly: Richard?'n " Micro, naw', pico, tetnto, its all the sameto metro Met.; No matter what he Pegsdmwt tlnre, he hosrtt mappeil them sntitching yet!' Richard looked pained. "Are we free of it now?" asked Roydon. tYou mean, beyond the poik? "Free?" said Sattern. No. It's much bigget than in your day, Ifs growing abo,ut three hectares a yeaf, now. Swallowed many square kilometres of our normal-density regions in the last ten year-q -but slowly. We had to rehiloiate the population. Devil of a lot of economic and social problems. f,ost some strays, too-like you." Sattem broke off and gave a terse account of their discoveryof Roydon into a microphone. Roydon, looking over the side some minutes later, saw the hated gr:a6, already peppered with odd glassy lumps and bumpi, cease abruptty. Beyond was a tangl! of curved highways crawling with moving specks. Helicop ters seemednow to jostle them on all sides, and above them a densecaosrdof swift jetcraft litrered the sky. Soon an endless forest of multistoried buildings, glassy in texture, gawky oblongs, jetting into the air, thrust all round

54 LostGround. th.emand in ev-erydirection.Here and there greatbanks ot flowers or butterfly-powderedshrubs gtowed at the buildings' feet, but much of the gound-was a closecroppedSfy-geen hgrlqge.The helicopterdroppedon to I squ?t sube of 6uil.ling, and Roydon was-escorted " downinto theCtronismatic ebntre. I{ere he formda smallquiet crowdgathered,all clothed Iike the -helicoaterparty. One wall-of the huge room converteditself silenfly into a coloredvision screen,and for the nexthour he wdssrbjectedto a mercilessinte;dew &om the reportersin that screen,with their unfamiliarflat accents-and phraseolory.After that a seriesof interchanges took -place-betwee,lrthe helicopter party, some of the crowd, and the screenreporte*, wlio seemedto be in Lg{og with occasionals-huntsto New york, Moscow, and Peiping.The exchanges werrelargelylost on Roydon, whosenervesseemedto be dancingalig aUover his Lody. 4 gd witt darkishred hair anOgreenJves,whomhe took for Sattem'ssectetary,ted hirt off fbr a meal and a sleepingpotion. I{e woke on a couch and the pngatory beganagain. Housedin the building occasionally-treaiedio visiiape recordingsof bis inlerrriew,interviewedanewby scientiits and -reporters,invited to, appeaf,in featureprogrammes, put thmryh tesb of blood-pressure, skin-potentia[,electrc. enrylphatogrlm,blood-fllid makeup,olfactroniciignatu e and many othery he collapsedat the end of a weik and was_kept rmderdeepnarcosisfor ten days. He cameto to find the red-hairedgirl, whosenamewag Sal, conte.mplating him. "someoneiJ askingto seeyou," shesaid."Prqrare yourselffor a shock.',Shelookedserious. "'Who is it? Are tliey he,te?" 't{o of course not] On the screen. ft's someonefrom your famil-y. Think now-who could be alive after sixtyone years?" "lf'g nsf-ii's not May?' *ft's your daugfter. She was called May. Now remem-

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ber, she has lived all her life in ordinary time. How old was shewhen you last saw her?" Even so, R6ydon could not believe for a long-timrcthat the rather bowid, though well-preserved, old lady in gray slacks and tunic could be his own daughter. He was rmsoeakablYembarrassedwhen after a minute of awkwarb speecha slow tear or two rolled down tbe face sn the scrbn. 'You af,ejust like your photo," she whispered brokenly, then broke down complete-ly4{ sobbed. "You never came back-you never came back!' Gradually he pieied out her history. Brought up -for-fhe rest of her foowiig years with her uncle's children she had adiusted to-the situation but had always mourned her parenis, especially Roydon. An unhappy marriage at-twetrty had lasigd four years. Another at thirty with an older man had terminated with his death sevenyears before. Her fivo children-she held uP their ihree with her daughter followed. She herself was living in the section of normal-density Britain still known as Aberdee& where her husbandnsfolk were. Roydon offered to go and see her but it seemed that no ordinary pennn Laveled much today. "Sutface and even air travel are too crowded, and stratocnrising is only for long distance" said Sal, who h:id come back in after half an hour. May assured hitn she was content with the screen' and they egreed '-Sd, he should contact her once a week. it began to appear, \rlx a liaison officer for the Centre with other insdltutions.But she took Roydon under her particular care and few minutes of a day went by without her turning up with provender, colversation or hit4self up fix himself means of entertainment. She got him to lix of sort of some by meafls suits the translucent with one of many lonsdistanc€ measurement meanrrement recorder. She explained nany longdistance lvuEuoruw ways and words that he could not ugdgrsfan{. H-er grgen ey6sfixing his, she would speak slowly in her husly voice. She kept a straro eve on his reaction to the mood-weather if he w&e outside, ind produced the antidote.

56

Lost Ground not what it was," Satterncom_ -'!hq mood-climate's plained to Sal and Roydon one day, to6ting in tom-a conferencewith the ihiefs ot otne? nlUco?tir-parties "Sprin-gu-sedto be hopeful, ,u*-er-seiine, aufirnn regloomy-.Now, it's all mixedu!. Vou never ,q1ff,.wr1!er Know what to expect.tt

_-,'jYpr1'reg"tli"g more vulnerable in your old age, paul,,' sars Dru,gnnning. "Somet!{g in what you say, actually. The inocs are weanngofi. I must get someboosters." "{ow do you make out here with mood-weather?" asked Rovdonl - "ft doesn't worry us much," said SaI. ..We inogulate Aunlg childhood; only the most violent moodstorms touch us. Your age hadn't got inocs for that; we'll have to qros:-dope you pretty carefully for outside. But the encocnne typometer gaveus enough data on you to give you a reasonablesafeguard." A week or two later Sal told Roydon that paul Sattern's team would like him to accompany them on tips, hoping cogld set them right on som'ep6ints about the ffE !e was given unlimited credit for purchase, and th6iastl official positiol of 3'lrislsrisaladviser."'Chronismologistsweie in gr!{{ dgnand, as the poikilochronisfi was rjgarded as a plblic.danger, and weie highly paid, partly be6auseof the rrsr.s trey ran. "eUALIFTEDcnRomsMolocrsr,. Roydon read on an old-fashionedplastic news-sheet'sadirertisefoent page:-"Vacanciesfor chronismologists.Higher Sc. degrees essential.ltartilg-gredit equivaleit €,5,d'00 to eOlOOO p.a..:ising gSOt p.a. Mnimsl serviseone year.',' 9y "T.wo_otherpoiks-have been detected,,,Saf to14 tim, .. "one in Bonnium and one in Cevlon." tand we think there are some in _ "Yes," said Paul; Central Africa and one in Antarctica, only Antarctica is rather sparselypopulated, and news from niuch of Central Africa is nil-mood-climate closed chunks of it down. The whole world, including the oceans,might become one vast _poik in a few millennla or even centriries, unless we can find out enough about tftese chronismatic processis to

David l. Masson

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know how to stabilize or reverse them' It's a tacr- against Time, in two senses.o' "I had no idea [6ar things were," said Roydon weakly. "'Well, we have enoughto do in our own little corner of ordinary time and space.Do you feel like coming with us tofrorow?" I must see,Roydon thought, if I can't get a better clue to where she went. That rook-was it a rook? Can I trace the place? Will they take me there? Miriefs dark hair and oval fac,esn'amup at him suddenly and he groped his way out of the roorh, muttering something.Paul Sattern looked after him an4 turning to Sal with a bitter smile, shook his head ever so sliglrtly, The gd flushed an4 biting her lip, picked up a nest of tapes and walked out of the other cloor. She encounteredRichard, the gadget-man,past the door:way.Richard, who had his eyes on her face, turned pale and said nothing, but cameon into the room. "Well?" said Paul, "Those linking atto-second counters-will tley be rerdy?" utterod Richard harshly, as though the twhnical sentencewas code for somethingelse. "Of course. You can peg them in a new line from LV3 to PN8 tomorrow. But I think the femto-counters nay show somethingyet." '"foo slow,'-said Richard and began a brisk disorssion" but his manner was distrait and he iumped when Sal came back in. Roydon, recovering next door, heard much of the discussio&but it might as well have been the conversation of rooks or starlinp. Fenn Vaughan strolled in and past the trio, singing: "Where the fernto-secondspass Richard sits upon:' Paul kicked his shin. Fenn walked on whistling. The group broke up in silence. 'What are all those things?" said Roydon The craft was slowly cruising over the gre€nery.

58

Lost Ground

"Those are future. buildings," explained Sal, who had p.r_essed Paul to take her along to ke6p an eye on Roydon "We don't know whether they're som6 UnAbf pi;;;;; new..The three-m-etre-topbound .dpp;d th; lgpJthioq exrsting above that at but they're growingup now a centimetre a week by-{r$, infection, and pishing irp^the top

bound.Onedaytheyqbecompiete. ri,"it-";nvidfu;f ffi* sal; the time piur:;;";y-fo'", i" y;d i" Ll". that patch Pi:[ below. But of

courseit's mostly-the saine with p_tggft and past buildings-- il they're oe* Oo-uins, tni o11u$ng!can't grow above the top bound at first. Look at att that lot to the west; they're all sorts of dates, mostly past, blt they gr.-ewup when there wasn't an! p_1,",T,1t_1? Du1gng tier-e so they are still incomplete." "Byt qurely the whole world from one of these domains must look very oueer-masses of foundations ana noming else?" no, if, you _Duuomgs, -,'jTo, probably went down-there you'd see complete a normal_density district, all around you; only the domain part itself would have'theseshells. Someoneg6ming on to the domain from the world of that date would probably think it was a patch where demol_ ition work had been going 9n, One riason why we don't otten seepeoplenear thoseshells." lfWhat's that odd broqm patch down there?,, . "9h,- th-at's just the bther way. It,s minus-three nundred-odd years, Dick says. Most of the domains are dl1t g"np.y-or.more rolund her+aren't they, pauli -which ? is why they're still un-built up.', "How big are 16sds6ains?" "Anything from a metre to a couple of kilometres across, and any shape. Dck says thev mav even start bv goyrng .quickly frggr q mqre point,-and inanging time_ level as they rygw.-lhat's where-his atto-second"hies may pick up something." Roydon'seyesdevouredthe hated green.The craft sank and Richard went down the ladder wittr tris first gadget. They proceededmethodically acrosscountry fike a hatirematically-minded crane-fly oviposiring on a iafrn.

59 Dcrrid I. Masson looks very like tbe villagel Is it part

"Why, that-that the-the Poik?" of --'Yes, beeininside it for dozens of years. A lot of it is minus-twentY-five-Yeatsnow.' _-"Is that wny igi got all those odd buildings among it?" tYeg.tt

"Look, there are somepeoplet How is it they don't they'reisolated?' lnow -"Don'f 'open' domains vou teallzn?"cried Paul. "The poik margins.But tbe can be eni'xed. They're mostly on only be left can entered, once domains, the inner mostof seosfaphicalv.You can see men and animalscrossing lainefi and vanishing.Watch that nineteenth-century tot"ton ttrat pbrlgHand. There-he's- gonet,But. he doesn'tknow that. Fe's in a completenineteenth-century *orld" Onco you're down in a patch 9f' say-'-minus' twentv-fiveyeirs like the village,you'vedroppedthrough a ho6 twenly-fiveyearsdeep,and haveto walk abouton that level foieverrnore.That's the risk we all run if we haope,nto crossa domain-boundwithout knowingit' We caii eet back. That's what your wife must have done' whatwith the cog-slipper." -Youiercfucky, -nouao. inoaO"ted-but not Somiear-and choked' *Ahd of course,there'snot muchsip of a boundin an arisultual arealike that whenit's mostlyminusa c€ntuf"i-so: '*How it had beenbroadlythe samefor generations'", is it you can see all those domainsftom the ait?" 'The top bound at rougbly tlree metres,that Sal was abovethe pns ot taffint ab6ut. It risesto Ihree metres'open'-at 'ota' Eunaingstoo. All domains are tr9 top boun4 morJor bss, and you can seethem from above' you can Sound'travelsboth waysthere,too. Down below from an 'open' one' onlv seeor hearneighboringdomains 'closed' oaes' by the sorirc 'open' ones f,ardenLp into way.' i'Don't thevillagersandsoon soethehelicopter?" 'Yes, but they-musthavehelicopte-rs at minus-twenty-five-years,so they probably iust rhink we're another' If

Lost Ground another came by they'd seeus go thoush each other in a gh-ost-collision that neither lot ol us would know anything about-above the three-metrebound.', "What about the people in the place you picked me up from?" "That was approx-zero. It showed how the area would have-been today if there hadn't been a poik at all. The population was real there to themselves,dut unreal in our poik-ridden world. Ghosts,if you like.', ll9- I go down by the village?', "Village? No. It's hicky nith people about. Let Rich-tr-d peg lis ninth counter-down &niLa that big barn" on his own." At the eleventh descent: "Why that's the hilt I ran down!" shouted Roydon. "fs tlat the Spot on the east?" askedPaul. "I think so." "Well, that's where Richard pegshis next counter." "Can I go down then?" - -'Yes, but dont do anything rash. Tell us what you think and we'll take actioni' Roydon followed Richard down the ladder when thev cameover the place. "Wait, Royo, I'm coming too," callei Sal and clambered dovm third- Richard said-nothing, but -fixing his face was set as he peered at the ground before injo !! 9n its long pronghis gadgetfor-recording millionthi of millionths of millionths of a second. "Can't make it out-the dike's nrbble, the fence is all

lotted,alay; bramblesand nettleseverywheretoo, and all ue

lvrsvD

vvvrJwsvrv

!w,

@

a

thosedocks," mutteredRoydon.He turned,his eyessearchlng along what he hoped was the line taken by that hurrying speck so long ago. Richard straightenedhii back and stared n1 him, but said nothing. The fool tlinks, Richard said to himsstf, becausewe snatchedhim from a cog-slipper, that all domain-time is frozen for ever, doesn't rcalizn, most of it's moved sixty-one years on, is going onward all the time, let alone what's shunted oi rebounded. Sal, who, a little way off, was anxiously watching i

David I. Masson

61

Richard and read his Roydon, happened to glance at'lBoy!" slre shrieked' At of intuition. ii'a nasu ;#;;;" gust of instinctive and violeirt unexpected an moment that Arivs-invaded the hoilow. At the cry, *hich sounded to tti. fit his wife's voice, Roydon's pale face turned white' along the'old hedge-line. lhe h-edgeseemed ii;^*thtd" "ff to him to swing round and to flicker beside him-was She running along its far side? Sal."racin[ at an angle to cut him oft, had reached t*"tri tFO""* when shivanished. Two secondslater and you f9o]' off, Roydon ;;;'*uy -Paul vanished too. "Richard, *Thut patch is the helicopter. from ;;; fii" roared of fittle domains' Come up! We can winch yorr ;i^rt' ao*" *tt"t" she vanished." But when Richard, white and UuUUtios.was lowered down on the spot, he saw fivg pages i"*rtA'fut" utiot of a deep quarry. Below, men in tilty *ttiti Jttottt working ultrasonic ex€avators, far in the fuwere gaping at ihe broken body. ttrre, ---noyaoof hic[ering.hedge w-as9" 99g"-9f a turze thicket. R6vdon was runiing on dry heath. It was very -hgt' was the b=obbing-bftwenty-seven crouching -,A, ftt" n'"i"ting f,"r"" bone-tippeE wooden - spears !"Jt:d fr"uO" towards him, aimed at his hamstrings. Three struck him one went in above a knee' He fell' The iigft i" ttt" ""lo"s, s-ffr-daa figures, quacking and barking, loped toward him. i'Luo" snoute(r fllacman!" shouted must get that madmqrJ'] We must Richard. We "Leave Richard. '.f've-pin-pointed his vanishear. Paul's in f""nVagh; !t rl.l--.+*La hrct hafnre hirn-iust w ru strike trim slrlrlit something saw someuullg JuDr before. mfnK I Saw inS. iI ttti"fl -"'iAll tigttt. Swing her round, Peter' I-et Fenn con'" RoYdon's Point of Rq In ten ten-seconds seconds&e craft was over the point shagg5l a naked, Half heath. patch of disappearance,a

irrigtr'coutdbb -se9n, -and.a-queer.cougbing lql9l^fgf ;;il

d;;.*d.

P;ul and F6nn"stun-gunsat the teady,

clitrnerl the ladder. down the shpped doim

The ftibe was tvins Roydon up wift leather thongs. He d. With btood-curdti"g howls Fenn and Paul looked dazed. A flash of fghtning and a simultaneous thern. on rushed craci-of thundei completed the tribe's panic, and in a

62

Lost Ground

torrential rain-squall they scatteredover the heather. paul and .t'enn carried Roydon a few paces back inside the dgmain bounds where-the helicopter could again b" ,"ro .efqtily-thr- ough the diminishing downpow,"aoa gasnea nrs-bonds-toose, looking anxiously about them. From the trelicopter's wall the echo of a blackbird,s call could be $qA Jen feej away, somewherein the nineteenth century. Paul clamped emergencydressingson the wounds. Rovdon sta.ggc_red to his feet. .Must find her,,' he said thicki,y. _ "We've had one death on your account-we don't *ant !hrge.--!p the ladde4 you fool, before the tribe comes back."-The sun was glinting on the wet heath. At that moment an even fainter echo from the helicopter's base reached the group on the ground. *Mid;L Miriel," it seemed to saf. Tfre men and wonen in th; gaft, s-f9echless,. were gdsturing wildty to one side. ..Up the ladder to the red-markjtheyll trawl you ov.r,i' shouted Paul. All three clambered'post-haste above the red three-metre mark. .'lW_r'll drop you quiefly and fil to pick up Richard," said Peter's voice at lasi. The helicopter drifted some me-tresnortl" its loaded ladder swayrni dangerously. An o-Id genfleman clad in a somber iaclet,-a deh of tice at !!e- ne9k, and breeches,was tneeting on tle ground by a Iittle.plot of smooth grass.He did n6t bok uf even wfren ttre tXree dropped beside him, and seemedno^tto heat the noise of the machine which now vanished southward. A g4eur May morning burgeoned all around him. c.ffi1is1, Mirielt'he was cryilg. At last he lookedup at the group around him. He not_quite f.9.",.t9 1rght io the hea--d:at any rate he gave litfle sip' of surprise. ..Here is a lock of her hair cuf off when she came to us, here is a lock of white hair when she was,taken, here is her ring her wedding ring. She iesought I would bury them-near to the p]ace where she came t9 us, for her body is in Mafiord chirchyard and her

bu! h9rheart,I fear,is irrri, Ao,.gh ::I^TI _n.r,Maker, sne cnenshed our people for sixty years. Who are yo-u,

63 David'l. Masson are you sirs, are you of the company of the blesse-d-angels'

t" iut" -" to lteaienio be with her?" ffi" --;'*tiwa. my wife," saidRoydggquietly' when she "fh.'sir. b:ut -6 ;; an'old 6td *oman be?" that riti * ftiaay bst. How can a"puiJAfri. *{x""it tti"a: it is trui. I shouldlike to-seehgt g{."; Lxc thdsi i k"oo, whereit lies: I haveseenit long since. you?" to came uil n"i uru aftershe #lfi*iil" -1'v"., t'it, shewas,u. yoo -igh! 9uy,themother oI oS by ttue i&t.'rrf,ourn.A *dium""T"d by bne-and all' sir' stone noble a and woman, and JO uy man ;;ffi;.i is they will put up' ,o, ut tnt n.ad of tlie -grave'Matthew fear' I two' day a for Jrfrion iiUrrt'^ti'ill hoi G ready -or

iffr';';'d;';;td;-o*

oiit"g9,thori$herheart'r

a-kindof ft*, ffi trc*tt*", andthatgaveaira sadneqst shewas' will to ,ll her davs.Resi-gDed94'9 ffiil;dd cherhas Miriel dearlvt p*-pt" lnt-rou"a'o* ile?;il; our i'iltige, but shewill not come ilo*1-';e-*"".*ed Andtheo4fr"", smilingsadly'nodded ;;;n;;;suin." off aniongthe meadowflowers' tn" tl"g and slipped it on the little Rovdon picked "p His s[ear wounds-wereyelling at l*ia. ut #;;ihf spreashifr, but in his heart a vast dark gray calm was ing.

THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT SF AUTHOR, OR COI.IVENTIONS AND RECOLLECTIONS f. R. Prencs

Dr. Pierce, executiye d.irector ol the Research and Communications SciencesDivision of the BelI YelephoneLaboratories, hns published such works as euantum Elec_ tronics and Electronics and Waves. His otltcr personality i" tryt o! I. J. Coupling, author ol rnuch-anthotogizedSb stories. In this latter role he has had ample opporlunity to observe the other sciencefiction authors irrd, with' his physicist s eye, he con appaiently seeright through to their componentatoms. That he should present these observations in lhis delightfutly witty poem is an unexpected pteasurelor us all. Seethem cavort in tittle herds, feet and twinkling words, lhpl"g Cropping imag:rnslisn's pla*ne, IT ftq. envy, far from-gain.' Oh-vision rare, beyondcdmpare, Fair writers stripping fair soulsbareAnd how I wish that f was there. 64

How he seesthem In their purity

65

I. R. Pierce

Somewrite straighttechnology, Somepeculiarhabits and how he lovesthem And;thil *titipttito.ophy,--' here, onlY Stale subjects,charming Or after cans and cans of beer. Oh cans of beer, aPartmentsdrear And points uncleai of friendsmost dear, How, how I wish You all werehere' Fetteredby convention'sg5rves Somestray but many return With edito;s if not with wives, sex, and Seduccdaway bY slicks How can SF iurvive its checks? Oh, riches pall, commitmenls galll What fat cats want cannot be all, And back into their waYstheY fall. Writins tripe for gold's a sin, A;;;"tl, *;rt-w[ot" grving.in; A whoring after foreip godsMakes SF writers boring clods. 0hlovers pure, I can't endure The tawdry mainstream'stinsel lure; The bait is bright, the wagessure.

His horror at those who lust after the mauuitrezrm

TIIE ANNEX Jorrll D. lvlacDoxnr,o

Iohn D. MacDonald is a volcano-though as far as oitics tre cqlcerngd, he might be erupting, invisibly, far out to sea, Tlwre is a jownal, The JDM EiUtioptriti jevoted to the appreciaion ol his works, while thbse same works sell in the hurdreds ol thoasands ol copies. perhaps he does not need thc critics. yet I do wbn ttwy would notice W In-i" one ol the best American authoi writing today. It lus been over ten years since he last wrote a Sf ,no:rt sto.ry,so_"ThcAnnexi' is more tlnn diubty welcome.you wiU read i1 wiyh pleasure. Perlaps tlu literary estabtishmenl would also rea.d.it if I toW thzm ttut it has very definite Kal kaesque overtonas. Well-it lus. During the last hour of the night, the charge nurse looked in at tle critical in Room-li, intensiie-care section, coroqary. _She scowled and made an ugly, displeased mouth and hastenedto replace the dislodsedI.V.-needle in the vein inside the elboi, of the right arfu, imm6!i12s6 by the straps,the board and the side rail of'the bed. She checked the glucose drip, made a small adjustment of the 66

67 tohnD. MacDonal"d flow valve, checked oxygen supply, listened-to the ragged *A #ent ofi-antl found the pretty little h*b;t'; iilJ"t." special drinking coffee in the treahent room and lonng witn tte red headedintern. "-After her oui-with a col-d,expertise that welled ;G*i"t tears into the biue eyei she herded her-back to her niglt watch over the Patient. lii tut"'t god" thr"e minutes, honest"she said' "an-nour"before dawn thef get restless," the charge to go, someappointootre sXC.'iAs if they had somept-ace ment to keeP.' light of the 4ornlng made the shape IVhen the first gray "oi.iUti he dressed quickly and went out' oi tlt *ioAo* dxpecting him to leave be not i'ould they ff" zur*O tlat so soon after arriving. that-room -were shadows of night still remaining in th9 ilutt

he knewh*yly::l *tt""it, *o tnlt eveotho:ugfo him' They were Iney were to him' "-pty strange strange city city seemed seemed the the swiftly, swiftly, *uii6a walked changi"git ii quictiv thesepastf:Y y,:ary'3-t--:I"

becotei accustoied tb thc shape and bulk of stnrctures, yet when' so gving them only a marginal -u$"lio"j of -havinq feeling the h11d gone,-one wire they it*idy, madi a wton! turn somewhere.Then even the unchanged thines beganto look half strange. H?tni"C a dark coflrer and saw the hotel ligfts in the distance. A taxi came swiftly to the cross-town corn€r' made a wrenching shuddedngturn and speq up the 9mg tv avenue, and he caught a silhouette elimpse -ot thq *l"iftout hats of nuns in lhe dark interior, two or three of them. He had not been in the hotel for years' He saw at once that it was quite changed.That gertai-nquaintness of the lobby that once set Jn tn9 higb style of the moneyed *oolt and the women of the theatre was now merely a in"6Ui*s. He realized that he could have guessedit' be' causewere it not changed,they would 4ot be mixed up in this sort 6f rhing. Ana his shabby assignmentin an un-

68 Tfu Annex known room wo-uldhave ocftrred in someotler place, perhapsevenin anotler city at anoinerffiJ. Therewasno one trhi",i the desk.ffe ffu in his pocket lor the identificationhe would dv; to pr"r"ot and felt fear andirritation whenhe did not nnd iiat once.ThenamgTg-p-ut, he fingeredthe shapeof it anA-too{ itluj anc neld it in his claspedhand.As he wonderedwhethcr 19tup the deskbe!, he sawmovementout of the ,idt;i Ius eyj and turned and saw a man walking toward him out of the lobby shadows. *ryft.Davis?"the smallman said;and as he cameinto , th" Iignt"lis facewaselusivelyfamiliar-He searcneO men_ gry. and finally recallgp thg rqage of the sameface, a bellhopuniform in dull red and fray, big-brasscircle'of mster key r-rng.looped aroundthe-rd*oy neck.And lfg the namecameback. I*o? From before?,' liPo yq" remembcrme,-He *Sur,e,' the man said. leanedagainsrthe desk and yawned.Davis knew tle man did noi rememberhim at all. "You're the manager nosf"

1S m"Vkeeptcflftg me.,, up inthe wdrld,eh?. il_Come

- -"f --guess so.n' He yawned again. "You rhing?"

got that

_ He felt unaccountablyshy about lsysaling what thev h3d gven him. He said, ..I-keep t tti"g G"- th;; th;i

Bu1.thev. erTr"o"ituLit j*i Shp.rrpl"i" :h:*9 ^y::Sy:Eharder.tq ylen thinp go

_mares-everytring wrdng. What kind of a sentimentalnrit would navefgoia ;i"6: gf his.ownd9c tag qfe? A grownmun f, r"pii"*a Pry to gptoverbeingia autaL', - "!pot, ,I have to see.it.,, Leo's tone was patient and F 19, and Davis knew the man had no interist in what he thought and very little intercst in wnf ne had come nefe. He held his hand out and the little wafer gleamed on

hisopenpalm.Leo tooki! glanced at it alrdfri it i" fr; own pocket.

IolnD.MacDonald

69

"They didn't tel meyou'd keepit-." "f,hdroom you wantis four-two-four-two." *Are you iupposedto keep it? Did they make that ---'iFbtry-t*o cleafl" forly-two. Four thousand,two hundredand -forty-two,Mr. Davis.OK?" ;'elt ril+t. I1l assumeyou'1esupposedto keep-i!' I*o' It's their iroblem, not mine.But you're supposedto turn overtheGy, I knowrftat.' ti catt,'6uddy, becausethe only leys hereare th9 kgVs know that and thgy shoidd to the main noui6 here. You talking aboutis the we're What Right? that. know riootA annex.Whichis beingtorn down." in it?' "Then thereisdt anYbotlY 'Did I saythat mist6r?Dd anybodysay-that?" 'Therds ito reasonto getuglybboutiq L€o." '"Rnot ugly?Listen, frey gdt old foops in thereliving and all that theresinJetfr6 year oni, ani Gaseagrecments around work do is tton, sJ"bo"l ihe only thing 4"y "uo get and mess and noise thri ot it thetget sicl th; until out. Therearei't manylcft now. I think maybeyour party is the onlv one left cin that floor, but I don't keep close ttu"t. t'ui got enougbto do hete without worrying about there." over "Stthat do I do about a key? Am I supposedto go knockon the door, for Godnssake?" "Mrs. Dorn is over there.She'sgot a mast€fkey to the wholeamex." "Doessheknow aboutme?" "Wht;iluld she?Just con her a little, lvlr. Davis' Play it bv ear.OK?" 't don'thavemuchchoice,f guess." "Has anybodylately?Comethis way."I*o led'Oe ti'uy b#k throughthe fubby a1d tbrough-a kirclien" where iignt Ugh-tspicked up the n"g" "-pty of'stainlesss6el racks ina tautes.rre a;h-ild-"th"p" Sulleaa door olpenand turnedon a weakbulb at the head bf a narrowfliglt of stairs. "The regulai way over tlere has beenboardedup, so

70

The Anncx

yhat y.o.udo is just lollor the way a red pipe runs alons rne c€rrrngthere, and when you come to Jt3lrs nnaUy, gi on up and.you'll find her aro-undsomeplace. rnree srcps down, he turned to say his thanks in some massrvetysarcastic way; but as he turned" the door was slammed. There were distant lights in ttJourt reaches of the basement,just enougfi for-him to make out the red 'lhereryp"oded by straps from the low 6siting overhead. Pgl9 was a sweaty dampnessin the basemeit. In some lT_ !oqer,_a laborin-g machine was m4tring a slow and neaqy -chntring sound. It made a vibration le could feel luougn the soles of his shoes as he ulalked. He noticed

re{nine overheadwasof sometO"O* pr".ii"

311 S: sufficiently flexiblc matenal, so tlat there was a oeieofi_ b.lg-expqgslon and contraction as the machine irade'its thick and rhythmic sound. , He estimatedthat he had valked more than a city block before he came to the stairs, where thc red pioe'Aisaopeared into a waII. These were unexpectedly iviOe arid gt"q"t stairs, marble streakedwith gray and g6rq ascenaing.in-agentle curve. At 4qtop of-thdrt"irrltii"stia open and Jound hi'nself in an enormoris lobby." $^a$ fogr rt bad txe silence of a museum. Dropcloths oovered t6e plaster dust was^gritty on the flooi. thapes_of furniture. Some huge beams h-a$ falgn and wele iropped at an m$el s inpictures of bombings "lvtrs. Dorn!" he called. ..I\Z$. Dornt" The sound did not seemto carry. It died at once into the silence. Then he heard a click-tock 6f high heets and he could not tell where tie sound was co-ing from. ..yes?" she said. 'You,. thergl !p heret" Her voice was musicat; thi _tone,impatient He looked up and saw her standing ai the broad ornate railing of mezzaninefloor, looking down? -a him, in silhouette against a window beyond hir. *yes? What do you want?',' "Can f speakto you a minute?" "I'm very busy. Well . . . come on uD." She turned away. He looked around and saw the stairs and went up. There was a library and writing room at the

Iohn D. MacDonald,

7t

top of the stairs. Severaldoors openc4 ft-* the rcom. He tried them, one by one, and found they opened onto corridors. Then, close bebind him, she chuckled and, as he turned, startled, she sai4 "It's really vcry confusing. I used to get hopelesslylost when I first camehere." She t6oked-like sbmeone he bad known, somewhere, perhaps a long time ago. She bad-a sgft-anp prg{ty f.ace' itart winp ofcarelesihair, and she looked 61 him in a familiar and mocking way of old secretsshared. She s'orc a shift of some tweedy gray substance over a y-oung' sturdy body with a vital f,eft of htp and weight of breast. "I wonder, lv1rs.Dorn, if you could. . . .o "Just a momeng please. i missed this room somehow, and the crews will te- arriving any minutc, and it would be iust my-torotten luck if they siarted bete, wouldn't it?' She -tegan walk stowly arorind the room, pausing from- timg to-time, pausing to hold at arm's length a piece of soft yellow cfan irthe measuring gesture-of thc artist. She iroaa"C to herself from time to time and then would mark with the chalk a piece of paneling or a chair, or the frame of an old painting. At last-she sighett and turned toward him with a smile of enduring patience. "Done, I guess.As well as I can do it, aayway. Th"y don't really give a damn about saving anything. You have to watch tLen Ute hawks. Ttey'll pretend they didn't see the mark and they'll smash stuff topowder and then look so tenibly innocent. Thcy hate old things, I guess. And hale the loveliest otd things worst of alL They iust want to come in and biff, bang crunch and truck it away and get it over with and go orto the next iob. My' how they resent me, and resent having to save things and handle them so geotly and take them to our warehouse. You wouldn't believe it." The marks she made each time was a D with a cross drawn through it, like a cancellatioa "What did yott want?" she asked.

72 TheAnnex *They told 1nethat you'retle oneto see.you can lend me themasterkev.,, . .'Sr^uUytAnd exactlywhat room do you want to get into? And whv?,, 'Four-two-iour ..: oh, Forty-two forty. It will take only a . . . veryfewminutes.,' *9 tfe.forty-gecond floor. Now isn't that quaintt Isn,t ., that the living endl" to*.y, Mrs. Dorn?f don't rhink aa5rffriag is _^llktt": particularlyfunny.', 'I_couldn't polsibly explainit to you. I'll haveto show

you.tt

"Y_oucould let me take the key, couldn t you?r' uMy dear man, so much nii Oeen ton down and j$o*T away.and lmashed, you could wander around up tt F l"l.weets trying to find a way to the right floor ani the right wing. Eren if I believed.ybu, I'd haie to go with you in any case.r' the silence of - Sle led the way back down and throush -into lgbby and to a bird-cage $e I ba"! corridor, and elevator no more than five feet square. She reached aid clanged the door shu! turned a ,frorn brass handle and $ey began t9 creak sl6wty upwarO"lli stareA utrhrough me cerrmg-ot woven metal strips and saw the sway of the moving cables and far overGad, a pale square of gray skv. -'The animation and mocking amusementhad gone out of lgt She le-anedsagging todting downward, fiiger tips on the_brasslever, and he sensedthat he had no part in yhat she was thinking. He could look at her with that feeling of invasion oie has in watching iomeo"e ste"p. There was a small mole below the corner-of her mouth, 6n *" ?ut9 concavity below the soft weight of her undeilip. Her lasheswere lbng and dark. He sai the lift and fafl 6t her slow breathing and was aware of a warmth and scent of her breath. There were two deep pockets in the prav shift. The master key would have-t6 be in one or-thl ofter. So it could be done. There was always a way. Suddenly he had the feeling he was 6ing trippeO in

IohnD. MacDonaW

7g

some curious \f,ay, was being led from his assignmentinto a plan devised for some othet reason, a ptan wherein his role was minor; and looking at the panel above her resting hand, he saw what had probably given him subtlc warning. There were brass buttons for the floor,s,-presseds9 many hundred thousand times the incised digits were almosf worn away; yet when the gray light struck them properly, he could make out the topmost numeral of the vertical row-21. "So thafs it," he said. "That's what's funny." He made his nouth stretch wide in the knowing grin. The girl looked at him, startled and puzled. "There's no fortysecondfloo&' he said. Frowning, she turned and looked at the row of buttons and thc,lr bick at him. "You're serious? Don't you know about the annex at all? You know how the transients are. Top floor. Top floor. It's all they can think about. But the pe6fle who stiy have to have private lives, don't they? Not all cluttered up with salesmenand people coming to town for the thcatre and all that. You've never been in the business,have you? All the city hotels are just the same, you know. The elevators for the transients go only so high, just to such and such a number, and the quiet floors, wf,ere people live, are above that, always, and they have their private ways to get up to them." Shewas so very patient that he felt ashamedof acorsing her and felt irritated with himself for not having guessed, long ago, what she told him. There had always been enough clues. There were always people going through the hotel lobbies, looking neither to the rigbt nor to the left" walking by the regrlar elevators to some special place and service awaiting them. But when the elevator stopped and they got out she reached back into itn pressed the lowest button, yanked her arm out quickly and slammed the latticework door. It began to creak doumward, with a elicking of pulleys and rasp of cables. She looked up at him and wrinkled her nose in mischief and mockery, saying "r\on't look so worried. There'll be other ways down." Itre remembered

74

TheAnnex that she had not told him the joke, and he was once again annoyed at her. These were broad corridors, pale gray, -paietswith composition floors, Iighted by misted dtass set into the fililg. He tried to walk beside [er, biit she kept quicken_ ing her pace, and he realized she wanted hiin io walk behind ter, q person-gqided rather than a companion. .$,any times they reached an intersection where tfre corridors stretched for vast distances, and sometimes she w.ould pause to orient hersell and'then turn confidently right or left. He noticed that all the numbers had been taken off the doors. He could see the raw holes where they had been screwedtbrough gray paint into the plywood. She was fifteen feet ahead of- him, the dark hair boygolg at the nape of her neck to her swift, buoyant stride. The parsg gray fabric pulled in alternatin! OiaglnA tensionsagainsfher rear, andlomehow he knew-that-were she-quile_s$l and quile bare, were he to place his hands so !h{ $s.$nee1 tips were hooked around ihe shelf of hip socket, feeling the warm, smooth slide of membrane ove^r bone, holding her from the rear, his hands placed as a player holds a basketball for the long set- sho! then f$olgt some delicigus coincidence of desip, the pads of his thumbs would fit precisely into tle t'w6 deep dimples -the spacgdbelow her spine. He shooft himself out of erbtic musing, remembering how often they had told him that assignmentswere mishandled too often for exactly this reason. At tle end of a corridor, she pulled a heavy fue door open and turned to give him a 6awdy wink, io run hir ton-guetipacrossher lips, as though she had read his mind and his weakness;and he determinednot to look at her as she climbed the stairs ahead of him, and looked instead at the steel treads set into the concrete. He lost track of the number of flights they climbed. It winded him; and when he helped her push another fire door open, he tried to concealhis laboring lrngs and to seemayfresh as she. These corridors were a pale yellow, like weak winter

Iohn D. MacDonaW

75

sunligbt, and at last they came to a small elevator standing open. The flourescenceinside was harsh and tlere was a sharp minty odor, as though it had recently been scrtrbbed with some cheap, strong antiseptic. It acceleratedupward with silent velocity that hollowed red his belly and made his knees bend sliehtly. It automatically on a narrowcorridor. Shc reached into the er, dingy,

elevatoras before;and whenthe door hissedshut and she turnedto spealqhe said,"I know. There'll be other ways down.tt

"That isn't what I was going to say.' "I'm sor4r. What were you going to say?" "I can't say it now. You spoiled it." Again he followed her. These corridors were set at odd angles.The room doors were shiny dark with old coats of varnish. The room numbers were not removed and they were of tarnished brass, fluted and curly and ornate. All the rooms were in the 4000 series, but they were not in any reasonableorder, 4100 and something acrossfrom or next door to 4800 and something. Shestoppedvery abrupfly; and as he cameup upon her, he heard what she had heard-the gritty sound of latch and bolt-and then, twenty feet ahead of them, an old couplq dressedfor winter, came out of one of the rooms, complaining at each other, fussing, asking if he or she had forgotten this or that dropping small packagesand picting them up. Just before &e old coupfe turned and noticed them" 'Mrs. Dorn hooked hcr arm around his waist and forced him iirto a slow walk. He put his arm, interlocke{ aromd her, and she reached up with her free hand, placed it against his cheek, chuckled in a furry way, turned her mouttr up to the awkward kiss while walking so that as they passedttrc couple, he heard tsk's and clucks of their disapproval "Darling darling" she murmured. "Dave, darling." Behind them he heard the old man's voice, without making out the words. There was a harsh resonanceto it

76

TheAnnex

and then it cracked into a high quaver and then went deep again. He smiled inside himself, thinking it sounded exactly like Ricky trying to managehis fourteen-year-old voice ai it alternately squeakedand rumbled. The finger tips of the arm that was around her waist touched the top of the pocket o-nthe left side of the gray shift, and with sneaky and daring inspiration, he sfid his hand down into tG pocket, bending his knees ineonspicuously to lower himself just enough, tle palm of his hand against round, warg thigh under fabric, and with his finger tips he touched the cylinder of yellow chatk and then tf,e thin edge of metal. With the metal held againstthe nail of his index finger by the pad of his middle finger, he drew it out of the deep pocket and worked it into the palm of his hand. She stopped and turned and leaned against the corridor wall and, with her hands restinC lightly on his shoulders, looked up at him, still mocking him, saying, "You're just not very bright, Dave, darling." The old peorplewere gone, around a distant corner of the old hallway. Suddenly,he realized that she had cleverly kept them from seeinghis face, so that they would be unable to identify him later. And with a senseof disbelief, he realizedshehad calledhim bv his name. "You could have told me how much vou knew about this," he said. "ft's better for you to guess, dear. Look at what you took.t' He opened his palm and saw the miniature gold tag. Name, rank, serial number, blood type O, meaning zero, meaning blood type nothing. The shock was enormous. He was suddenly afraid he might cry like a child and shame himself in front of her. "How did..you ... How could Leo have.. . ." *I.eo? Dm't be silly. I had it all along. There were always two, you know. Don't you remember that, even? Nq keep it, dear. If I have to have it back, you can always give it to me. Without any fuss. Promise?"

lohn D. MacDonald 77 you blt if just coutd tell me. . . ." I lllure, | 1l "* showyou,-Dave.Comealong." Sh: palse.q at the. next turning a--nOtit her lip and | . lstanding beside her, he saw that-the floor itsef Aip;; genflgcurve and lifted again at anotherplai6 in l9p*-".T a I lhe.dlstancer wherglt tu-med-aSTn:ft was swayin! dightthe whole.corridol, Ik" the bridges primitiveftofites lly, acr-oss deep swift rivers. She told him to wAir cirelygy" lllxy and stay close to the corridor wall. She motioned to lrym- -t" ltop 1nd they were, he saw, on either side of a aoubtedoor. lt wls rqom 4242.If. sheknew the rest of i! I the righl nl'mber. It had been so ptaceci | :,h".yo$d$ow faff of it was on each door, so that each was labeled Itlat l4?. E:e\ thgog! she knew, he did not want her to watch yhat,had tg.be {oge, watch the task assigtedhim; but tje_ rore ne could ask her-to 99 lwly, to give him the key and gg aypy- go back and wait for him around the corner, out 9f gi$t,. she put a bright red key in rhe lock and the double doors opened inward. ou{$. They o-penedonto tte nothing of _ ,Il-rr9,.ty! height, making a vent for a cold wind that cime ? Vy down thc hallway behind him and pushed him a lfrusting long clumsy stride to stand on the very brink^.Far, far, far the bug shapes crty cars ani trucks moi,eA very -of Lrt:y, slowly, as when seen from an aircraft. He teetered, toes over the edge, and slowly fought back the sicknessand the ttt91,,To*iog !e gould not let her see that he suddenly how c;mically and savagetythey had tricked him. !2atlzr,j He_adjusted himgelf to the stight sway of the corridor and smiling and casual for her benefit, aware of flocteit easily, ,hownarrowly she was watching him. Then came a deep and powerful tlud, more vibration .. than sound.It came welling up from below and it danced the.swaying corridoq nearly toppting him out. ff again an
78

The Annex

$own there and they're swinging one of those big ca:tnon balls againstthe foundation." He stepped back with care and reached and took her hand. Her hand was cold and hesitant. He led her past the open and windy spaceand back to where, once agbin, the structure was solld underfoot, trembling almost imperceptibly to e_achsubsonicthud. She pulled her hand free and, after walking slovly, looking at the room numbers, chose one, and opened the door, motioning him to come in. The room was in semidarkness,gray ligbt outlining the window. She closed the door and he heard her sigh. Reaction made him feel weak and sick. He saw the qhapeof the bed and moved to it and sat on the edge of it. She carne to him and pushed at his shoulder and he lay back, grateful that she understood. He swung his legs on to the bed and she went to the foot and unlaced his shoes and took them off. n'We'd better not make very much noise," she whispered. "Of course," "Do you understandabout the old people?'n "f know tlere's something I'm supposed to understand." "That's enougbfor now." She disappearedin tle shadows and then he saw her again in silhouette in front of the gray of the window. He heard her sigh and he saw her, with slow and weary motion, tug the shift olf over her head toss it aside, pat her rumpled hair back into order, then bend and slip her shoes off. She stood near the cornet of the window, half turned, standingquite still in silhouette,hips in relaxed and wary tilt, and he remembered one of the grls in that Degas print standing off at the side, standing in exactly the sameposition. Hc knew she would turn and come to him but would not understand about what weaknesshad done to him. He did not want to confess that kind of weakness to her. He said" "Even when they do very tric\r +hings, that

IohnD. MacDoruld

79

doesn't mean the rules are changed.We have to follow the rules, just as if everything were happening to someone else,-t6 some people ihey want to kee,p,instead of to us' vori aie it thdh riay, and you know there isn! really any other way down frofr here.-This is a! we have left." "So if i knew all along?" she askedPrompting him. "ff you knew how it was going to be, then you had to know you were a part of it, too.'n Nof turning sdfl standing at the gray of the windoq she said sadln softly, "See?You keep und-erstagfingmor-g and more otii. Steef for a little while, darling. Then you'll know the rest of iL' At a few minutes past six, Dr. Samuel Barring-er ogengd the doot of Roomil in the intensive-care section. In the shadowsof tle room, he saw the young nurse standing tl silhouette by the gray of the window, looking out, standing -etthere with a look of wisful grace. tne sound of the latch a-she closed the door, she spun with a guilty start, greeted him in hg gentlg a$ firrnal morniig v6ice and f,anded him the clip-board with the patienfs chltt and the notation she had made since his visitfour hours earlier. He held it undcr the low ligfut for a moment, handed it back to her, then reached through th-e orifioe in the transparent side of the oxygen ten! to gently place the pads of nis nrst two fingcrs against the arterial ihrob in tlie slack throat. He stood in a half bow, his eyes closed, listening and measuring tbrough his finger ttps. Hg was a big blond bear of a man, simultaneously clumsy and defl asbearscan be. The nurse stood, awaiting instructions. He told her he would be bac,kin a few minutes, and he walked to the far end of the corridor, to the waiting-room beyond the nurs; es'station. Sytvia sat alone thereiat the enil of the couch by the lamp table, staring out the big window. The ho-sp.itil tower das higirer thai the buildings to the west of it, and shc could see the wide, slow rivet in the morning' haze. Daytight muted the yellow glow of the lamp beside her.

80

TheAnnex

She turned and saw him and suddenlv her dark eves looked enonnous and her face was m6re pale. *Sa;n? !s-' "They didn't call mc back. I just came in and checked him, and I have a couple of others to check, and it's standardprocedure, Sylvie. No perceptible change." He walked past her to the big window and shoved his fists into his hip pockets and looked out at the new day. After a little while, she said, "IIe's been trying to take it easier since that little coronary. He really has. But you know how Dave is. He said he was going to weed his practice down to about eight very rich and nervous old ladies with minor ailments. Sam?" He turned and looked at her, at the lean, mature vitality of her face. "TVhat, honefl" 'TVhat's the Sam?" He his bear shoulders. "Too early to tell.' He looked out the window window and saw a freight freighter being nudged into the channel by the tugs. He wished he were on it and that everyb.ody on board was. sworn never to tell Dr. Bardnger where they were going or how long they'd be gone. "Sam, please! That was a big one. Oh, God, I know that was a big one! Remember me, Sam? Eighteen years we tlree have known one another. I'm a nurse. . . was a nurse. Remember?You don't have to pat me on the head, Sam." It was easy to remember the Sylvie Dorn of 18 years ago, that chunky, flirtatious, lively girl, now a whipslender matron, dark hair with the first touches of gray. Thirty-eight? Mother of Ricky, Susan,Timmy-godmother fortyto his own pair of demons. And Dave is-was-is two. "Sam?" she said again. to the He turned from th-e*ilAo* and went couch, thinking of all the times you makc this and then decide how to wrap words around it to match the person you tell. But this one was elose to the past and all the years, close to the heart.

81 Iohn D. MacDonaW He sat besideher and took her hands, and swallowed a tiri"e thi.k"i.s in his throat, blinked, swallowed $aio and ruia-io a pebbly voice, "f'm sorry, Sylvie' Puog hasn't got hiutt muscle ieft to run- a toy train' And there's ""*eh not ine damnedthing we can do about it or for it.'' --Shc oulled her haids free and lunged againslhim,.and ne-fJO'nei io nit tig arms and patte-dher-as she strained ui tl. nttt ereat hara spasmodii sob and got past it and i" uUo"t tw-o or three ininutes pulled herself back to a contot and a forlorn stability he-knew she would be able maintain. to-shtdabbcd her eyes and blew her nose and said, "Today sometime?" "Probably." 'fiff tl.i" younve given permission for me to stay in there witl him, will You?" "Of course.I'11bein every oncein a while." 'And thank your dear fat tor taking over our tribe, -he'll know Itm ... I'm there you trrink SamlSamf Do with him?" Firsl he thougtrt, you throw tle stone and then- yo9 throw til i"-p oi sriglat.No point in teling her that death ild oo"o"d,'that Dive, as Dave, was long gone and that the contemporary miracles of medical science were keep log to-u waning meat alive, in the laboratory senseof the word. "From everything we can learn and everything w9 can zuess. Svlvie, i tee-i certain that he'll be aware of you 6eingth6re, holding bis hand." gray tight of the mornin-g-made the shape When the first -visitte, he dressed quickly and went out. of the window He guessedthat they would lot be expecting him to leave room so soon after aniving. that There were shadowsof night still remaining in the emptv streets. so that even though he knew his way antl ri'ateO swiftly, the city seemedstrange16 him.

SEGREGATIONIST Islec Asuvrov

It is rtot thd the tireless Asimov has been m'ay lrom writing, lt is iust that he has not been writing much science fictian. During tlu past calendw yew E lwd a round -dozenbooks published, ranging lrom a collection ol detection stgries, Asimov's Mysteriei, to the first ol two r@her thick volumes enthusiasticalty entitled Asimov,s Guide to the Bible. Rrrzor has it that lu wiII tackte Shaketpeareruxt, in the sarnegrand fashion, and Baconiqns are already going into hiding. But, lappily, between Mtl slukes at thc pillos tlwt support our-iivilization, he did think about sciencefiction. And wrote.,segregationist." A compact, strong, and.enioyable story. The surgeon looked up without expression. ..Is he ready?" *Ready is a relative term," said the med-eng. "Vldte ready.He's restless." iiTh"y always are. ... . Well, it's a seriousoperation." *Serious or not, he should be thankful. Hb's been chosen for it over an enormous number of possibles and frankln I don't think . .."

82

IsqacAsinav 83 *Don't say ig" said the sugeon. 'The decisionis not oursto make.tt "We acccptit. But do we haveto agree?' "Yes," said&e surgeon,crisply.'oWeagree.Completely and wholeheartedly. The operationis entirelytoo inbicate to approach with mental reservations.This man has provenhis worth in a numbcr of ways,and his profile is suitablefor the Boardof Mortalitv." ' "All righq'said themed+ng. The zurgeonsaid,'T'll ssshim right in hete,f thinlr. It is snall enoughand personalenougfto be comforting." *It won't help. He's nervous, nervous.and he's made up his l "ft won't mind.tt

*Has hc indeed?" "Yes. He wants metal; they always do.' The surgeon'sface did not changeexpression.He stared at his hands. "Sometimesone can talk them out of it." (Why bother?" said the med-eng indifferently. "If he wants metal, let it be metd" 'You don't care?" *Why should I?" The med-eng satd it almost bnrtalty. , 3'Either-way ifs a medical enginiedng ptoblem and I'm:a medical engincer. Either waR I can handle it lt/hy should I go beyond that?" , The srugpon said stolidly, "To me, it is a matter of the fitness61 things.,, "Fitness! You can't use that as an argument. What does thepatie,nt caxeabout tbe frtnessof things?' ttf

caf,e.t'

*You carein a minority. The trend is againstyou. You haveno chan@." *f have to try." The surgeon waved the silence with a quick wave of his hand-no

it merely quickness.He had alreadvinformcd the nurse and he had already been signalledconcerningher ap. proach.He presseda small otuttonaad the djuble-dobr pulled sviftly apart. The patient moved inward in his potor-chair, thc nurse stepping briskly along beside him.

84

Segregationist

.but wait out- "Yo-u may gq nurse," said the surgeon, ti$. I yltt .Ugcalling you." He nodded to the med-eng who left with the nurse, and tlre door closed behint them. The man in the chair looked over his shoulder and watchbd them go. His neck was scrawny and there were fine wrinkles about his eyes. He was frLshly shaven and the fing-eryof his hands, as they gipped -niiis. th6 arms of the chair tigfutly. showed manicured He was a highpdority patient and he was being taken care of .. . But there was a look of settled peevishnesson his face. He said, "Will we be starting tnday?" The surgeonnodded. "This afternoon, Senator." "f understandit will take weeks." *Not for the operation itself, Senator. But there are a numbei of subsidiary points to be taken care of. There are some circulatory renovations that must be carried through, and hormonal adjustments. These are Eicky things." *Are they dangerous?" Then, as thougb feeling the need for re-cstablishinga friendly relationship, but patently againsthis will, he added, ". . . doctor?" - Thg_surgqo:rpaid no attention to the nuancesof expression.-"ne He said" flatly, "Everything is dangerous. Weiake olu in order that it be less dangerous.It is the time required, the skill of many individuals udted, the that makes such operations available to so few ::,**q "f know that" said the patient, restlessly. "f refuse to fcel guilty about that. Or are you implying improper pres. sure?n' "Not at all, Senator. The decisions of the Board have never been questioned, I mention the difficulty and infticacy of the operation merd to explain my desire to havc it oonductedin the best fashion possible." "Well, do so, then. That is my desire, also." "Then I must ask you to make a decision.It is possible to supply you with either of two t5pes of cyber-hearts, metalor . .."

IsaacAsimov

85

"Plastic!" said the patient, irritably. "fsn't that the alternative you were going to ofter, doctor? Cheap plastic. I don't want that. I've made my choice. I want the metal.tt ttBut.

. .t'

"See here. I've been told the choice rests with me. Isdt that so?" The surgeon nodded. "Where two alternate procedures are of equal value from a medical standpoint, the choice rests with the patient. In actual practice, the choice rests with the patient even when the alternate proeedures are not of equal value, as in this case." The patient's eyesnarrowed. 'Are you trying to tell me the plastic heart is superior?" "It depeuds on the patient. In my opinion, in your individual case, it is. And we prefer not to use the term, plastic. It is a fibrous cyber-heart." "Ifs plastic as far as I an concsrned." .n'S€nator,"said the surgeon, infnitely patient, "the material is not plastic in the ordinary senseof the word. It is a polymeric material true, but one that is far more complex than ordinary plastic. It is a complex protein-like fibre designedto imitate, as closely as possiblenthe natural structure of the human heart you now have within your chest." *Exactly, and the human heart I now have within my chest is wotn out although I am not yet sixty years old. I don't want another one like it, thank you. I want some1fringbetter." *We all want something better for you" Senator. fite fibrous cyber-heart wiil be better. It has a potential life of centuries. It is absolutely non-allergenic . . ." 'fsn't that so for the metallic heart, too?" 'Yes, it is," said the surgeon. "The metallic cyber is of titanium alloy that . . ." *And it doesn't wear out? And it is stronger than plastic? Or flbre or whatever you nant to call it?" "The metal is physically stronger, yes, but mechanical strength is not a point at issue. Its mechanical strength

86 Segregationist dges^you-np particulargoodsincethe hcart is well protected. Anything capableof reachingthe heart wil l.il you for other reasonsevenif the heart standsup under man. handling." _ The patient shnrgged."If I ever break a rib, I1l have tlat replacedby titanium, also. Replacingbonesis easy. Anyoneqn havethat doneanytime.I,ll be as metallicas I wantto be, doctor." *That is your righ! if you so choose.However,it is only fair to lcll you that althoughno metalliccyber-heart haseverbroken-down"mechaniially,a number'havebro.

ken doum electronicallv." 'What does that mein?" '.It meansthat that every everycyber-heart cyber-heartcontains containsa pacemaker .' "It means ry-Pgt of its stnrcture. In the case of thc metafic variety, this is an electronic device that keeps the cyber in rhyttri. It meansan entire battery of miniaturized iquipment must be included to alter the heart's rhythm rhvthm to suit in inAiviaual's emotional and physical state. Occasionally something goeg,wrongthere and people have died before that wrong could be corrected." "f never heard of such a thing." "I assureyou it happens." l_{re you lglling me it happensoften?" f'Not at all. It happensvery rarely." *{ell, then, I'11f.akemy cfrance.'What about the plastic , heb;rt?Doesn't that contain a pacemaker?" 'nOf course it does, Senatoi. But the chemical structure oJ a fibrous cyber-heart is quite close to that of human tissue. It can respond to the-ionic and hormonal controls 9f lhe qody itself. The total complex that need be inserted

control?"

ttNonehas ever yet done so.tt "Because you 6aven't been working with them long enough.fsn't that so?" The surgeon hesitated. "It is true that the fibrous cybers have not been used nearly as long as the metallic."

87 IsarcAsimw *There vou are. TVhatis it anyway,doctor?Are you aftaid I'm haki"g myself into a rdboi. . . into a Metallo, asthey call them-siniecitizenshipwgqt tlryugh?' - - , ."Tdere is nothing wrong with a Metallo as a Metallo. As you say, they ie citizEns.But you're not a MetaTlo. yori're ahlhan-teing. Why not staya humanbelng?l "BecauseI want lne Gst and ihat's a metallic heart You seeto that." The surgeonnodded.*Very well. You 1qll b" askedto signthe nicessarypermissioniand you will then be fited with a metalheart." *And you'll be the surgeonin charge?They tell me the besl" vou'rc ' "I wiil do what I can to make the changeoveran easy ooe." The door opgnedand the chair mored the patient out to the nurse. The med-engcamein, looking over his shoulderat the patieit until tire Aoors naa dosgd a-gain.H9 receding -to'Oe srugeon."Well, I can't tell what happened trned at you. Whatwashis decision?' looking by iust ' Td surgeoi be-ntover his desk,punrhing-out-th: fi""l itemsfor fis records."What you predicted.He insistson tbemetalliccybet-heart" *After all, they arebetter." *Not significinUy. ttey've becn around -longer;.no morc than-that. It'; this nania that'6 bcen plaguinghu' maniw ever since Metallos have becomecitizens. Men haveihis odd desireto make Metallosout of themselves. They yearn for the physicatstrcngthald en&naoe ono with them." associates "It isn't one-sided,doc. You don't work with Metallos but I do; so I know. The last two who camein for repairs haveaskedfor fibrouselements." "Did they getthem?" "fn one iCse,it wasjust a mattcr of zupplyingtendggs; it didn't makemuch diherencethere, metal or fibre. The otler wanteda blood syst€mor its equivalent.J told him I couldn't; not without a completerebuildingof the stnro' ture of his mAy in fibrousmatcrial.... I supposeit will

88

Segregationist

come to that some da-y.Metallos that aren't really MetalIo13!a[,_buta kindof fl"rn *a-6r"Ji.;* 'You

don't mind that tnought?;;--not? And metaltizedl-uman being, too. We "Why have two varieties of intelligence on Earth */ dth;; with two. Let them alproach ;;h dhi;d "ow'uha eventuallv

we won't be able to G1_the oifferenci--Why .ilff;a yant to? We'd have thg best of both ;orldr; A" iOv_tages_ of Fan combinedwith ttorl of ,oG.. get a.hybrid,"saidth; suiil_,-#th som"thins .,-'ly_o]'d that-apprgachedfierceness...you'd !"t ib-"-t}iig ;ffi"i; no! both,but neither.fsn't it togi"ul tE-roppose an individ-

t99nqgoa of hif;tru;ilJ'""d ia"otity-to l*y:S1,1: want to dilute ir frth somett,i"g "td"?-W;rrld;;;i;;

" lhat's segregationisttalk." 'lh.l t9l it -!e that.', The surgeon said with calm em_p.hasis,.',I

betievei" b.io; ;ilT;."j.. I wouldnt Gla-nge a brt ot my own structurefot any reason.If some of it absolutelyrdquiredrepla;;e;iJ'*oora have that repla-cement ai closeto thl o.id"A'i" oit* as could b: ma11sed,t am iTsen *"u pf"*"a to u" lll.^tb.tv mysert;and would not be anythingelse."Hb had finished t_:y_gl,h?d.to preparergr the oleration.He pfacednis sJrg-ng handsinto the heatingoven-andlet them reachthe 9d t$:log glow.that woriA Grilio ti"- compleretv. rls words,his voice had nevei risei, lol I hrsimpassioned anc on bumishedmetalface therewas (as always)no no signof expression.

FINAL WAR K. M. O'DoNNBr,l

n. . . Ahhough most of the commcnts I've received to date on this novZlette hsve noted its pwallels to Catch-2Z, I, ,itp"ittutty d.eclinzthc question;I think-that Heler and I boih appioached some- source-rnaterial to render it in iit if,"iA ways which might only indicate that we could ti*, o drink-togetlwr comfortably (we live a block lrom one opther hqi tn NYC; I guessit might be about time)' lf*A Wd' is about ncitlrcr war nx,r dcath; it is abow thc polarization of existencesre'enacied on several levels ovei and again and il that makes no sense' I suppose huntot litelnakes no sense either. Tlw longer I wtitecorrection, tlu longer I tmsuccesslullyresist not writingtle more'l think ihat humantty is either a slight, almgsl inconseqtential aberration in tlu universe or tlut Efe itself is-btrt a blank metaphor lor somahing More Im' poriant. 'noted If tluse il:'l;iclus seem contradictory, I arn not for-my consistenq. I thmtk Ed Fermatt for seeing exactli wtut t was trying to do, std, I owe him a great debt'" Barry N. Malzberg (K. M. O'Donnell) 89

90 FinatWt ',."'Tbas a mad stratagem, To shoe a troop of hirse with felt . . .', Lear, Act III Hastings had never liked the new Captain. . The leq _Captainwent through ttie mine field like a ftom time to time to seeif anyone fT|1,}loogng,around penrnd was tooking at his hembling rear end. If he found .t+at.anyonswas, he immediately dropped to the end of qg?lto screamthreats,told the company H:.ro-JTauo.n, ma! the mine field would go up on them. This^wai p.erfectly ridiculous because- thd company had- been t!1*-g4. the mine field hundreds of timG U"* ttui rain and the { of the mines had been defused by the""a bgS. The mine field was-the satest ihing goi"g. It ;;; yha!. lay ar?yil the mine field that frai Aiogirou.. Ha.stin-gs_couldhave told the new Captain all of thi-i if he had asked. The new Captain, however, was stubborn. He told everyo-nethat, before he heard a thing he wanted to become aoclimated. - Brckground: Hasting's company was quartered, with lhreir.grymy,q'ran enormousestat6.Their'grounds iegan in a disheveledforest and passedacrossthe hine field t6 a series of rocks or dismalti, piled and multicolored stones which formed into the grid and blasted abutments two miles away. Or, it began in a set of rocks or abutments anp, passin-gthrough a scarred mins fietd, ended in an exhausted forest two miles back. It all depended upon whether tley were-attacking or defending; it'atl depended *pon.the dgV of the week.-On Thursdafi, Saturdays and 'luesdays, ttre company moved east to capture the forest; on f't!day_s,Sq3{ays and Wednesdays,thej' lost the battles to delend it. Mondays, everyone i'as to6 tired to fight. Jhe.Captain stayed_in his tent and sent out messageJto headquarters; asked what new course of action to-take. Heg$qugrters advisedhim to continue as previously. The forest was the right place to be. in the firit place,

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the trees gave privacy, and in the second it was cool' It *o* oo*=it't" toplay i'decent same of poker, get a nighfs sleeo. Perhaps because of the poker, the enemy Iou*: bi ll,i t"t*t and defendid it like lunatics' so did ;e; Hastfies'to.p"oy. Bsing there' even if only on Thursdavs. Satrnduvs und T\resdays,made the war worflrwhue' ttuu. felt-the sarne way' but-they, of il"'r*;tiloti drse, h;e the odd day of the weekr Still,-even Hastings wua o,ili"g to stay orgairized on that basis' Monday was a day to get uP' anvwaY. lousy girCii**"th" iliw Capiain who wanted fs sglss rhings ffio weeks after he came to the company-,h.9 qF the "o. o5""."0 tlut l" n"C partialy faniliarized ]imself with the remtnd to wanted now he 6asis, Ai, *d-to ffi;the captured bad comDanvnot to ceasefighting once they went war the of purpose them that-the fotdtl fitudvised -b;u;d tht lorest; it involved a timited victory on ideological issues,and he gave the company a^Tonth to stra4nrcn f"u* the- new proccdure. Also, he refused -to ""t U"fi*""oeni't First Sergeanthhen the First Sergea$ tgd ,b"T about the mine field but sent out men at nrghJ Iq ogrK clothing to check the area; he claimed that mines had a t"pttufioo for exploding tweoty years later' The First Sero.ti trtatit wasin6t twenty years lator, but ;fifD"t"ttd fu C6trt" said this made no differencel it could hgPPel u"vtir"i" ut utl. Not even the First Sergeantlnew what to in addition to aliof thery &ings'-it d;'*tth ti*-aoA, wu. nt-otta t}lat the Captain talked in private to |is officers of.a total victory policy, -bewas saying llings to me successfulif taken out&e war couti only iAJA"t ria" ot in"1rt"te. When Histings had grasped th" .tI imolication of all of this, he tried to imagine tor a wfire metety stupid but, -even$ally the simtdt-il;-a;piui" ple truth of the "'at situation came quit'e clear; the new t-aprn" madness was not hateful: Hastings ilil-il "iutr be q.titt -"a. The issue was how the ni.t"ff'to i** lunacy bore'on Hastings' problem: now, HastC"ptui"" iod a".iA"A, th6 Captain would never approvehis reguest for convalescentleave.

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FinalWo This rgq:rqst was alreadyleveral months old. Hastings . had handed it to the new Captain the day that the nei, .Captain had.come into- the c6mpany. Sin6e the Captain ^told had many things on his mind- at this time-he Hastings that he would have to become acclimated to the new situation-Hastings could understand matters being {elayed !o1 a short while. But still, nothing had beei done, and it was after the glection; furthermoie, Hastings 3vlas.gettgg worse instead of beffer. Every time thit Hastings looked up the Captain to discuss1ffis a{1fohim, the Captain fled. He had told the First Sergeantthat he wante_d-Hastilgsto kmw that he felt he wai acting inesponsibly and out of the network of the probbml lhis gews, when it was delivered, gave Hastings-little comfort. I -am-.not agtinC inesponsibly, he totd the First Sergeant who listened without apparent interest, as a matter oftact, Ilm acting in quite a mature fashion. I'm trying id Set some leave for tlrc good of tltc cornpmy. The First Sergeant had said that he gressed he didn't understand it either and he had been through four wars, not counting eight limited actions. He said that it was somethingwhich Hastings would have to work out for his own satisfaction. Very few hings, however, gave Hastings that much satisfaction, anymore. He was good and fed up with the wgq for one thing and, for another, he had gotten bored with the estate even if the company hadn't: once you had seenthe forest you had seenall of it that was worthwhile. Unquestionably, the clifts, the abutments and the mine field were terrible. It might have been a manageablething if they could have reached some kind of understanding with the enemy, a peaceful allotment of benefits, but it was obvious that headquarters would have none of tlis and besides,the enemy probably had a headquarters,too. Some of the men in the company might have lived limited existences;this might be perfectly all rigbt with them, but Hastings liked to think of himself as a man whose horizons were, perhaps, a little wider than those of the others. Iy'e knew the situation was ridiculous. Every weel to

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remind him" reinforcements would come from somewhere in the South and tell Hastings &at they had never seen anything like it. Hastings told them that this was because there had never been anything like it; not ever. Since the reinforcements had heard that Hastings had been there longer than anyone, they shut up then and left him alone. Hastings did not find that this improved his mood, appreciably. If anything it convined him that his worst suspicions were, after all, completely justified. On election day, the company had a particularly bad experience. The president of their country was being threatened by an opposition whieh had no use for his preparednesspolicy; as a defensivemeasure,therefore, he had no choice on the day before election, other than to order every military installation in the vicinity of the company'swar to send out at least one bomber and more likely two to show determination. Hastings' company knew notling whatever of this; they woke on the morning of thc election cheerful becauseit was their turn to take the forest. Furthermore, the tents of the enemy seenin the distance were already being struck, a good sign that the enemy would not contest things too vigorously. The men of the company put on their combat gear singing, goosing one another, challenging for poker games that night; it looked as if it were going to be a mamificent day. AII indications were that the enemy would yield like genflemes. Some of the company began to play tag leaping through the abutnnents,comparing them to the forest that would soon be theirs. Then, from all conceivable directions, airplanes.came; they wandered, moaning, a few hundred feet above tle surface of the cliffs and apparent$ waited. When all of them were quite sure that no others were coming (there would have been no room for them anryay), they began to methodically drop bombs on the company. Naturalty, the pilots and srews of the airplanas were tenibly excited and, as a result, they misplaced their fire quite badly, missing direct hits on the company more often than not"

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After a while, there was so much smoke around the vicini!y of $9 cliffs that the pilots were unable to see at all, and they drifted over and pcevishty sent excessbombs on the mine field. Hastings, lying on his bacl guessedthat the First Sergeant had been proved right because, just as everyone had beerr telling the Captain, the mine field did not go up. It took the bombs quite nicely, as a matter of fact, not heaving a bit. When every plane had releasedits bomb (some had to actually go over to the forest and drop 9ne otlhe egem-y;thrcrewas.no other spaceleft), they flew off rn a danle of satisfaction, leaving the larsest pari of the company choking with laughter. those tfr'at Sere not choking were unable to becausethey were dead. The point seemedto be that here it was the company's day in &e forest and now their own or some oth=erforce had come in and had screwed everything up. In the distance, the enemy could be seen holding cautious formation and then" with no hesitation whatsoever, they put themselves into lines and marched briskly away from the forest, takirg the long route back to the clifts. The new Captain got up on an abutment and made a speech; he said that this had been the first step in a whole series leading to mass rcalignment. The company applauded thinly, wondering if there was any chance that he migbt have a stroke. Then everybody packed up and went over to the torest; all of them, of coursg except those who were dead. Hastinp stayed with a work detail and labelled all of tlem so that headquarterr, if they ever sent anyone up, would know who in the company had failed to take the proper precautions and was thcrefore to be permanently removed from the master roster list and placed in the inactive files, nevet to be bothered by formations again. It was the election day disaster that causedcertain men in the company to begin behaving in a very bizarre fashion. News received through the First Sergeantthat headquarters believed that the president had won re-election had no effect upon the decision of thesemen to take up indefinite residencein the fores$ they told anyone who asked them

95 K. M. O'DotneII that the v'hole rhing was a futile proposition and the company was alwayJ going to come back there,- anyway' thef re'tusedto mike formations and had fiends answer t* in".; they covered their tents with ml{ and pitched thin in the sfoadowof trees; they washed their garments io tl" rain and, fuflhermore, they told everyone in -the co-oaov that they were fools not to ioin them. Onc lining up in the clifts, the First Sergetnt noticed ;;;td ioi tn"-ht.t tlme tnat five men were gone. He became futi"* and said he would not stand for it; he told t{e comounv that he had been through four wars, not inclu{ins iipht limited actions, and there was simply no basis *E , ii, performancesof this sort The First Sergeant.saicl thut he ri,as going personally to lead the company back to the forcst to-shoot-thosefive men. They were all prepared to so. looking forward to the objective really, when a .is-zuiA"a enJmy pilot flew uncertainly over the forest and perhaps in-re:tdiation, dropped thirty-seven bombs on it,'Uto*iog every tree to th9 ground, l""yl.g thq ear-th ooite sre"o aid shiadering and completely decimating his dom dooos. Thev were unible to fight for a week because had'to ship reinforccments, and when they tn" ""mlv n"uny got back to the forest, they could-fint, ofrcourse, no trace'oiOeir five men at all; onli a few belt buckles. It was rigbt then that Hastings decided that the mattet of his convitescent leave had come to a head. He had had O" iO"" ^a he knew that it was covered in regulations: fte was entitled to it. Atmy manuals noted the existence ot so-"tliog called convali,scentleavc: if it wasn't for situaho"* t"d us th"t", well then, for what was it? Tltey hd ;;-i""t with it. Oie morning he carefully re-drafted his iequest with a borrowed pencil on thc back of an &dttt ofa-t"tto fio- his fiancee and biougbt it again into lhe FEsi Sergeant.Hastines reminded the First Sergeant that he ha
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ising news: the Captain had been saylng that he would probably be completely familiarized by Christnas. ft was 9dy a matter of taking time to get hold of a situation. Hastin-gssaid was that a fact and, mumbling promises to -tf,e himse$ left the headquarters tent; he told Corporal with whom hc slept that he hoped to be out of this, so-oner or later. Most of the company were still gathering for hours around the belt buckles, Iooking solemnln telling each other that it was a damned shamewhat the Army did to people. Hastings, looking it over again, decided that hc had written a strong appeal: IJow could,it be ignored? Gentlemen(Hastings had written), listen: I am applying for convalescentleave as I have alreadv done becauseI have been in vigorous combat and, whiie adding little or nothing to the company efiort have driven myself to the ridges of neurasthenia.What fighting skills I do possessand what morale I have acquired through recommendedreading materials have fallen to a very low point becauseof the discouragementinvolved in the present situation. We are capturing and capturing again one forest and some wasted hills. The forest is bearable;the hills are noq but in the exhaustion of this repeated effort, both have levelled to a kind of hideous sameness;no*, there is no difference. Indeed, cverything has become the same, as is common now in casesof great tension occuniog under stresssituations to certain limited individuals. Recently, I have had cold sweats, nause4 some vomiting and various newous reactions including migraine of relative severity that has cut my diminisfui1geffectivenesseven firrtler. Most of the time, I can barely lift a rifle . . . and for all of these treasorur,I am repeating my ignored request of three months' duration that I be given convalescentleave for a period of several weeks to months for the purposes of renewedvision. Ideally, I would likc to go back home, see my civilian fiends, share my experienceswith them, but if it is found that I cannot be sent there due to problems with transportation allotments and the like, I would settle for being sent alone to the nearest town where tbere are

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women and where it is possible to sleep. I would even be wiling if the nights were quiet" to go to a-place withgut wome-n;as a mitter of fact, this might be the best action at this-time. I am certainly in no condition for relation' ships, not even thosc of th6 fragmentary kind necessitated by'copulation. Hoping that thii lequest meets with yo-ur aitention and apprbval; hoping that you will see it as the frenzied expresiion of a collapsed man byt qot-.vas t]ne cool and reisoned action of thd professional soldier under stress, I remain yours truly, Haitings, L14786210- P.S. I wish to note that-my condition is serious;how seriousonly a qualified protessi6nal judgement coutd determine. If this re{uest is f,ot met with-your prompt attcntion, -therefore, or not, at least sent to a coirpetent psychiatrist for an opinion, it is impossible for me to predict what the scope of my reactions ivill bez I can,no longer control tny behav' ior. i bave been brought up all my life to believe that institutions are the fi"al repository of all the good sense left in this indecent world; at this point in my life it would assume the proportion of a major disaster if I were to learn &at Ac Army, one of our most respected and ancient institutions, were not to be tnrsted. P.P.S. Please note that the mines here are already defused; inform the Captain that they need not worry him. On the other hand, the first request had been good, too. The day that the old Captain's reassignmentto headquarters came through, all of the men in the company had come to his tent to stand around him, giving him notes and wishes of good will. Hastings had given him his request in a sealed envelope, and the Captain had taken it for another farewell messageand ptaced it carefully in his knapsack; he told Hastings and the others that he was moved by their display of affec'tionand he hoped that any of them who came into his Grritory later in the war would drop in and say hello; he would like to fnd out per-sonally how everything wa$ going. After 2116f this was over, the old Captain had crawled into his tent, saying, over his shoulder, that the company had given him sn experience

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$at_he sugply would never forget. The company smiled at tLe Captain's elosed tent and wandered off-to llay poker. (They had been in the forest that day.) Hastings thougbt that he would join them and then decided that this would not do; he would have to force the issue, and so he ctawled, quite respectfully, into the Captainjq tgnt and, finding him wapped in an embryonic ball g_nhis bunk,_told him that he had a few things tb explain. Hastings lold the Captain that he had submiited a request for convalescentleave and not a good will message.At this, the Captain's legs kicked from-the balt he hadmade of himself, and he told Hastings that he fclt that he had very little consideration. Hastings said that this might all well be true, but lrc was a sick man and he then outlined the substanceof his request. The Captain wrapped himself up intently and thought about i! said that ne-coutd courtmartial Hastings. He added cheerfully that, since he was not legally in command of the company now, Hastings could be placed in the stockade for divulging confidential material to an outsider. Hastin$ kneeled then and asked thc Captain what the proper thing would be to do, and the Captain said that he hadn't the faintest idea. He suggested that HastingF recall his request an4 as a @ncession, court-martial proceedingswould be dropped. He said that the appeal itself was unexceptionable;the new Captain, if one ever came, surely would approve it. Hastings took his envelope and left the Captain, went baek to his.tent sinsing an Army song and fixed up his pegs ncatly, but by the time he had all of them fimly in the ground he found himself stricken with a terrible intimation. He went back to see the Captain, learned that he was in the ofrcers' latrine, and waited outside thcre uatil the Captain came out. Hastings asked the Cagtain if headquarters or tle new Captain might think that his request was a joke. The Captain said that he could not speak professionally but ftom what he had gathered from summation, he saw nothing funny in it at all; it seemed quite serious, quite to the point. Hastings said that the Captain migbt feel that way but, after all, he had been

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heading up the war, maybe at headquarters,they did not glimpse the urgencies.The Captain said that headquarters was filled with understanding people: they were people who had approved his own request for transfer, and they could be counted upon to comprehend the necessary. Hastings said a few unfortunate words about possible prejudice against enlisted men, and the Captainns face became brigbt green; he said that he suddenly realized that he had not finished his own business in the latrine. Hastings could not follow him in there, of course, but he waited two hours until the Captain came out and tried to pursue tle matter. But the Captain, q'alting away hurriedly, said that he did not know what Hastings was falking about: he did not evenknow what this requestwas, had never heard of it in fact; and then he said that, upon consideration, he realized that he did not know Hastings either; sure$, he had aever seenhim before. The Captain ordered Hastings to retum to his proper company, wherever tlat might be. Hastings explained that theirs was the milss, and the Captain only company within two hundred milss. said that Hastings was ol obviouslyan AWOL with energy. Then, he ran briskly away. Hastings gathered that there would be very little point in following and instead went back to his tent. His tent mate was sleeping inside, and Hastings methodically demolished the tent, wrapped it around the Corporal, picked all of this up, groaning, and threw it into a tree. The Cgrporal hit with a dull noise. When he came out rubbhg himsslf, he said that he was shocked at this; he did not know that Hastings was the type. Hastings shrugged and said that some men changed personality under stress. He wan{9red away, not breathing very hard, and bought a pengil from someone, took some toilet paper from the latrine and began a very sedous letter to-his fianc6e.,He had just brougbt matters through the Captain,s second flight when the sun set violenily, and he had to put ererything arvay. He slept quite badly in the mine field that nigbt (he did not feel like returning to his tent; not quite yet) and in the morning found that his letter had

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FinalWar been somehowstolen.Hastingshad a good reputation as a letter writer, and men in the dompany"werialways,tEuflne trying to get *6trt ptr"r"r] ff".ti"gi -b!scomespondence, did not care about this particilarly, except tfrat fatety f;e had begun to feel that fre had onii a tirf,ited ;i s3{ *.q thgy yere airninishing "u-b"', rhis rapidy. llTj.-,to theft, then, intensifiedhis gloom, and he athosf de6idedto seek another interview with the Captain but ttren ne saia: The heV with it. We'Il give tlw new'man a chance. That is the least we ccrn do. f-o-oking sadly at the enemy tents, Hastings again decided &at he was-in a highly utirror-ai situation. Headquarters (wrote Hastings some time later on the back of a letter from an old acquaintance), I am forced tL tatce tbis most serious and irregular aaion becauseof tte fiiJ: udicial conduct of the iecently installed Commaniinl Qfficer concerning my rc-requejt for conval"s"*Tit"toi As you may 9r may not know, I originally placed this request several months ago and rewrotl it ias-t week be_ causeof the failure of the CommandingOfrcer to pay anv heed,whatsoever.This Commandingdfficer t as ,riUilct"i m" q an exposrue of terrifying inadequacy without preced:nt in a gaptain of.this Army and hasimferilled my -confronted entire image of your institution. He has never pe concerning-either request but has relayed statements tbrougb the First Sergeant (who is a wai veteran with great sympathy-for my position) that I am behaving irre_ sponsibly. Headquarters, f ask you, is it irresponsilbleof to request a convalescentleave? I have bfun fighting *9 this war for a considerable period of time now, exiosini myself over and over again to the same dreary set oT expericncesw'hile around me ttre company ebbs and flows and the reinforcements creep in darkly. The reinforcements-tellme again and again that they-do not think ttrat there rs any senseto this-engagement, and I am compelled to agree with them. This entire action has acquired the aspectof niel-tmare, f am sorry to say, and although I am not an unstable man, f have fbund 61nelf becomlng not

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neurasthenicas previously noted, but truly psychotic. This is terible ritual gentlemen,terrible sacrifice, really deadly convolution of the soul. Also, they are stealing my correspondence.I have not been able actually to mail a letter for months even to tell my fianc€e that i have terminated our engagement.Gentlemen, I like my fianc6e and what is more important, after two years of distance,I now wish to make an arangement to spare her of me. What more significant proof can I provide of insanitf? Hoping that you will give this request the most serious consideration and hoping that you will review the folder of the Commm{ng Officer here very thorougbly indeed, I am sending this letter out by and through devious and covert means.Yours truly, Hastings, serial number posted. When he was finished" Hastings took the letter to the officere' section and gave it to ttfu First Sergeant,who was cleatng some bits ol Utter from the top oi his'desk He gazed dully at the First Sergcant and asked if it could be sutmitted tbrough special channels, around the Captain. The First Sergeant gave him a look of wonderment and said that the letter could not possibly pass: it was not written in code as all direct codmunicadons to headquarters were compelled to be. F\rthemore, the First Sergeantsaid, he had received exciting news from headquarters: there were plans to start a newspaperwhich wouldbe distributed by airline to the company; this newspaperwould tell them now they were progressing in their battle. The First Serg:ant qarg that headquarters considered it a major breakthrough in morale policy. And, in addition to all of this the First$_ergeantwhispered, there was one other piece of news which had come through from headquarteri which he was not authorized to disElosebut whicl the Captain would make the subject of an address to the troops on lhis day. The First Sergeantsaid that this would probably be a revelation even to Hastings, a teal sgrprise from headquarters.Ilastinry, slill thi;king about flie newspaper, asked if it would contain anSrtf,ingexcept statistics, and the First Sergeantsaid there would-probaLly be somi

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editori4s nnitten by military experts. Hastings said that he wanted to awaken the Captain. The First-Sergeant said that,this-was impossiblebeiause the Captain was atready awake; he was drafting his speech, ana ne was too excited to deal with Hastings now. The Fimt Sergeant added that he agreedthat thii was a sha:ne. Hastings-said that he was at the thc end of his rope. rooe. The Sergeant Serqeantsaid that things-werf getting better: hc recommendedthat Hastings learn headquarteri code if he was serious about the meisage and then re-submit re-submit it, it- and he handed hsnded him a book. hook. Hastings saw that the book was really a folder containing shpets-qfgrpewriter paper, and he asked the First Sergeant what this was. The First Sergeantexplained that this ias a copy of his short novel detailing his experiencesas a veteran of four wars and eigbt linited achons. HastingB asked what the hell this had to do with learning code or with sending his message,and the First Sergeanisaid that !e ryas astonished;he said that Hastings was the only man in the company so far to be offered his novel, and he added that everything in it contained the final answer, if it was only studied. The First Sergeant then said that the convalescentleave business was Hastings' problem, anyway; he had never cracked the code completely himself, and he doubted if it were possible to solve i.t. When he came back to his tent, still carrying the First Sergeant'snovel in one hand, Hastinp decided that he had reached a moment of major crisis. There were obviously no points of reference to this life; he was definitely on his ovm. AII of the compaDy were getting up one by one, discussing the push to the cliffs which they were going to make later in the day. Someof the reinforcements insisted that to achieve the cliffs would be to attain a major objective, but older members of the company g€ntly explained that the battle was probably endless.When they heard this, the reinforcements sat Carfully and had to be persuaded to strike their tents..The First Sergeant came out after a while and called a formation, saying that the Captain was going to addressthem. When they heard this, the company, evcn Hastings, became very excited because

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the Captain had never talked to any o-f them before; he laa U$avs been at the end of the mirches, saying that hs had to be acclimatized. Now, apparently, hc had com' oleted his assessmentof the situaiion' and everybody was very anxious to find out what he had learned. Also they *"ft ctttio*, some of them, about his rear end and fisured that at one time or another they would probably # able to get a gilimpseof it now. Standing in -th-eranks, Hastines to-nAedfte-First Sergeanfs novel and his lctter ana mide a decision: he would-presentboth of them to the Caotain iust as soon as he had-finished talking He would wait untii the end of the Captain's speechthat was, only if thc speechwas very lol"psting: if tfie Captain had nothing to say or only detailed how he intendedto further familiarize nimsett, he would go up to hirn in the middle and simolv hand Lim the letter. At leasq,he would have the aftention. This would be a new element in the ;ai'; situation, rigbt awaY. erecededty the-Fint Sergeant,the Captain came frm his tent and,- walking carefully, came in front of the compaoy. No one coirld see hfo buttocks because all of theni wire facing in the samedinection. The Capain stood there, nodding lor several minutes, mqking-some notes in pen dn frash faper, beaming at themotion. Hastings found He naO nJver before noticcd how small tnis fsteniig. trc Caftainns face was; at this distance it was seen to be covercd with a hideous snrbble superimposed over the fcatures of a very young boy. In spite of all this evidencc' he had not been cdnvinced, apparently, becausohe worp a wedding ring. The Captain backed carefully against a tree and leaied againstitf smiling at the company.-'Some of you," he sai4 "havc brought it to the attention of my First Sergeantthat you are unhappy. *More- than undappiness. I ld6w that you ate vitalll concerned. You're c6ncerned becauseyou see no point in what you're doing. You're concerned because you -canjt see how what you are doing afiects anything or anybody else. You're worried about this. ThiB is serious. It is a real problem.

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"ft's a legitimate matter of concernoatl dght. When a group of men such as yourself cannot feel dignity in the work they do, cannot feel that what they do is important to a much larger number of people, they break down. They become nervous. They begin to function in a cold sweat and sometimesthey do not function at all. I have noticed this about one or two of you. But even those I do not condemn. In fact, I have all kinds of sympathy for men in this predicament; it is not pleasant. I know what it can be like. But now and for all of you, this pxl of your life is over." The company cheered thinly. Hastings folded his letter and put it away. "The situafion, in fact," said the Captain, "is now entirely changed; more than you would have ever thought possible. Gencral war has been declwed. The enemy, who havc become increasingly provocative in recent weeks, bombed one of our ports of installation last weel reducing it to a pulp. How about that? As a result of this action, the president of the country has declared that a general and total state of war now exists between the countries of the enemy and ourselves. At this moment, troops all over the globe are actively pouring in and out of our military installations; their weaponsat the readyl uNo14t,what does this mean? ru tell you what it means. Gentlemen, you are the first. But, you are only the beginning. What you have gone through will be absorbed, will be a spearhead.And when we go out today, we go into these fields with the enlire Army, with the muntry behind us. You are some lucky bunch of fellows. f congratulate all of you, and I congratulateyou individually." After the Captain had finished, he stood against the tree, apparently waiting for the company to disperse, so that he could return to his telrt without anyone having seen his rear end. Hastings, weepin& drifted behind him, stood in a clearing, destroyedhis letter. The trunk covered the Captain's behind from that angle, too. I do leel better, already, Hastings told himg6lf, I feel better already. Bat

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lwhen the Captain finally gave a cautious look in all direcItions and startea backing slowly from the tree, Hastings Itook his bayonet and threw i1-af him, cleaving the left lbuttock of ihe Captain, bringrng forth a bdght screatrL 'I stilt feel lousy," Hastings said. | lThe Captain had never liked Hastings. Hastings walked in Ithe mia-O" of formations, telling everyone as they went lover thc min6 fislds that they were absolutelyhamless, a lftaud. No one would have taken any precautions going I over the mine field, if it had not been for the Captain lrunnine behind them. Some of the men picked up stooes other; some men said the war and thiew them at each-hings got utterly out of hand, the would never end. When Captain would have to shouf af the troops, at distancesof huidreds of yards he found himself bellowing and, even then, the comlany would not listen. All of this traced back to Hastings. He was destroying the morale of thc comPany. The Captain suspected that, beneath all of thist Iiasti"gs wai trying to sink the progress of the linircd war. In addition to saying that the mine field was iust as safe as a playground, this Hastings was a letter wriGr. He wrote letters to cveryone; now he had written a request to headquarters (which was peculiar enough already; the messagescoming from headquarters now were enougb to confuse anyone, let alone a Captain just trying to gct acclimated), gving his situation and asking for convalescent leave; he cited obscure regulations. The Captain knew, of course, that if he forwarded this material to headquarters,two or three field grade officers would come out in a ieep, capture Hastings and placr-him h a hospital for mental cases, and the Captain wanted to sparc Hastings this. He \ras governe4 then, by commo'n if causeless,feelings of mercy but nevertheless, thert was llastings, insisting that his form go through. The Captain did not know what to do with him. In the first place, he had only been with this company for six weels and he was having all he could do io get acclimated to tbe situa-

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tion; in the secondplace, he badly missed his wife and the 9ot!.age_theyhad had in officers, quarters on a small post in the Southern tier. Furthermore.-the Captain found himself wondering at odd moments in tne nieht whether the war effort would truly be successful.There seemedto be g9m-9vgty peculiar elementsabout it The bombing was so highly irregular, and some of the pilots did not seJm to be very interested; they dropped bombs cn their own side and also flew out of pattern. In addition, some of tle mcn B the company had become attached to a certain part of the terrain; they were maintaining now ttrat the entire PllPose of the_war was to secrrc and live permanently wirhin it. The Captan did not know what to do about thii. {ls_o, Hastings waited outside of his tent often, trying to find out what he was doing with the leave requesg andtle Captain found that his freb rights of accessind exit were beilg severely limit€d, above and beyond the Army code. The Captain had nothing against the war. It was all working out the way the preparation oourseshad taught. Certainln it had its strangefacets: the enemy also seemed to be attached to the forest part of the map and fought bittedy for the retention of certain cherishLd trees, but Qiogs like this were normal in stress situations anryay; altet a while, all sonflisfs, all abshactions carnc down, in-a group of-limited men, to resfticted areas.The Captain had been trained to seethings in this fashion, and he had atso been given a good deal of instnrction in the intricacies of troop morale. So, he understood the war; he understood it very well. There was no doubt about that. However, the Agademy had neglected to prepss him for Hastings. There wirs no one l-ikeHastings af the Academy, even i;a clean-up capacity. The Captain had taken to writing his young wife long letters on stationery he had borrowed from his First Sergeant(a war veteran of four major conflicts and eight limited actions), telling her all about tle situation, adding that it was very odd and strained but that he hoped to have matters cleaned up by the end of the year, that is, if he was ever unleashed"Other than this, he

107 K.M. O'DomcII at did not wdte hEr about the waf, at all but-instead wlote oourttheir of had he t"ngth about certain recollections

hticht". ro oe relaxatio:rof the war' he ilffi*"d;il;il *;" .btr to gatherastonishing-perceP-tio-ns iffia-Gi-i" of his'iife, ani he told his wife the i;t" tf;;tq"ulity ut do* timeg askedher if she for'hrt ;"*; ""r[oo We wiltiti ti the bottotnof this,-he often ;6.tt"4. il oriy yiu will coQpdqe' tfis wife's t".i"aJ-n"r, so'metimes lcttersin returhweresbmetimesargumentative, energyrn his wasting him he was that disturM; shetold his of that all and wastes, Oe torgotten -stre$fr IHt -"1Y needed-tobecomeacclimatedto a new situation'when ne ouA-tn&"-i"tt"tt, tne Captainfound that, unreasonably' t"-irv'u"t his'6unkwastoo aeaf,to that of his il;;;A ft*t Suige*t, ioC ne was ashamed.None of the offrcers wantedt6 be'caughtcrying by the First Sergeanfo con' veteran. bat --Mil;htt", the Captainfound that bis commrmications witn neaaquaitcrsweie t ing blocke{ for.days at a timS when they did come' werc and also ihat his messages, i,n*.*i"gi p"""fiut. Sofiuti-"s, the Caglain sucstrmbed tti"nv titn"' feelingthat headquartersdid not tnrly unait*ti"a the situadon,but he-put zuch thou€htsaway ;tikl". Thinkine them or puttinl them away;it madeno differcirce,he wis elmostalwayJdepressed'Cotrtituc on would lsll him or yindrt done,wirry not, headqriarters thrle aayslater in responscto a routine inquryt 9t,,Y new strdegy hcre and ask-you P nok' tttE oe prepoing -iriit"tW.Such"-thingswels highly disturbing; iiiti therewassimplyno doubtaboutit. One morningnear Christmas,the€aptain went througha neardisaster]a partial catastrophe-The First Sgge1nt cameinto tii tenf andtold him tirat Hastingswasthinking on the subof submittinga letter to headquarters-directlv iect of his convaleso* i"u"t].-Tfre Captain-said that he tould-not believe that even Hastings ryould bc crazy and the First Se-rgeant like that'-tnre enoushto do something ""'"lt Uug neverthelesg t" thtt .t$t ;a-"tilt

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Hastings had brought in some kind of a letter that morning and asked to have it forwarded. The Captain asked the First Sergeantif he could see the letter, and the First Sergeantsaid that he had told Hastings to go away with it but that Hastings had promised to come back later. The Captain put on some old fatigues and went out into the forest in real grief; he looked at Hastings' tent, which was of a peculiar, greysh shade, and he sigbed. Hastings was sitting outside the tent on his knees with his back to the Captain, scribbling something in the dirt with a stick. The Captain decided that he was ill; he did not want to have anything whatever to do with Hastinp. Instead, he went back tq his tent intending to sleep some more, but when he got tlere, the First Sergeantwas waiting for him with nslsnighing news. He told the Captain that somehow a messagehd gotten through on Hastings because some Corporal was up from headquarterssaying he had orders to put Hastings away in the asylum. When ttre Captain heard tlis, he felt himself possessedby absolute fury and he told the First Sergeantthat he was running this company and he refused to takc'treafrent like this from anyon€. lAe First Sergeantsaid that he absolutely agreed with the Captain and he would go out to deal with the Corporalo buf the Captain said that, fot onoe, he was going to handle the situation the way it should be. He told the First Sergeantto leave him alone, and then he went over to a clearing where the Corporal sat in a ieep and told him that Hastings had been killsd a few hours ago in an abortive attack and was being buried. The Corporal said that that was a rotten shamebecauseeveryone in headquartershad heard the story and was really anxious to find out what kind of lunatic this Ilastings was. Thq Captain said that he could tell him slerisg but he would not and ordered the Corporal to return to his unit. After the Corporal had exp[ained that he was in an admlnistrative capacity and therefore not at all wlnerable to the Captain's orders, he got in the jeep and said that he would go gack to his unit and report what had happcned. He asked the Captain if llsstings had had any special characteristicswhich should

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bc noted in a condolence letter. The Captain said that Hftiogt had always been kind of an lndividudist and in his own'way; also he was highly motivated' .q f.;f"i unreatistic. tfoe Corporal said that this would r"-i*nat be useful and hc drove away.- For almost an hour, the Caotain found himself unable to move from the spot, but *me, he was able to remember the motions of aitii " walking and-he stumbled back to his tent and began a lone le-ti:,erto his wifc. I garc an order todsy in 4 very tlifriU capacity,he beganiq but he decidedthat this was gooa and instead siatt"a, I have- bec-omelully accli: "d maied to thc situdion here ai last and'feel that I arn at the tiei*ri"s ol my best possibilities:do you- retnember how oititArut I usea to be? After he wrote this, he found that t" dd absolutely nothing else to write ant, thinking of his *ifJu bt"utts, put the i'aper away and went for a long *ult. tvto.tr litir, he ae6idea that ihat had happened-had been for the good; it was only a question now of killing Hastings, and-ttrenhe could be-ginto take control. The-First Sergeanthad nothing to do with things, anymore. He slept- a twisted sleepl crawling with sgangg rn"p"t, and in^th- morning the First Sergeantawakened hi-, t;yi"g that headquart6is 'total-winhad just sent in a coomunipolicy was now in eftect; que'ae6Ufrng that a iar had bcei declared. When the Gptain heard this, he becamequite excited and began to feel petter about -many thin$i hi asked the First Sirgeant if he thought- tEt il m"a"ntthat the company was n6w unleashed,and the First Sergeantsaid that h:e#as positive that that was what had hap"pened.The Captain safd that this would definitely take caie of Hastings; tfiey could work him out of $e- way vely easily now, aJa ie iaa"a that he had studied the morale ptob'lem oi troops: now he was going to be able to- pulit into effect. Troois, he said, were-willing to get involved in anything, but if ihey felt they were being used to no good puipose]' they tend'ed to gei childish -and stubborn' The baftain'felt so good aboit this that he invited the First Sergeant to forgit things and look at o-ne of his wife's recint letters, birt tne First Sergeant said that he felt he

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tr" Captain,swrfe alreadyand, besides,he had to F:y mate preparationfor th-ewar; he had real responsibilities The First.Sergeant explained'thatthis woutd^behis fifth war, but sinceeachonewasIiSea ngwbeginning -fi-O he felt as if he had neverbeenin comUatUiforc he-wantedio makesomenotes.The Cuptuinsaidthat tfris wasfine,.and

on instagt, re oeaaealo--ur" u G;ilto *gl4t the company. $_e He requisitioned paoer

two sheetsof bodd Fq$ Se_lgeant and sat dovm to draft it, Uut^ne Iom,+ghimself round so flled yrth,happy thougbts of Hastings im_ pegdio-gqs,sassination that he ivbi unabie to keep .titf, -O t" 1". dgo$"d.t_ospeakext€mporaneously.He kdew that he corilc ceal with the company in the right way. When he was qlite sure that he wai in the proper"moodio mate thi spegc!, he ordered the First Sergeani to caU a tormadon, a1d-whenthe First Sergeantcam-eback to iell him that Ji of the men were assem=ble4te wattJ o"iJr"*ry t;iii"d t{ first_$rgeaqt, knowin! how good u pi"tor" he was m:tong. He stood near a tree for shelter, and smiled at all at 9-fjg_prq, gs.negiallyH_1!tiog*,but Aistings, 1oe*"g-the somettring_ in his hands, did not seethe smitJana that pa;ttain decided, was-Hastings' loss. tt wu, one more mrltcauo& tlis walr of fhinkirrg, of how well he had finally Decomeacclimated. Everytling altm all, was only amai_ ter of time. "You men," the Captarf, said, ,.are plenty upset because you se€-no-purposein this whole operation. In fact, it seep.sabsolujely purposeless to you, a conclusion with wrucn r am in utter sympathy. It is no fun when emp_ tiness replacesmeanin!; when despair replacesmotive.^I know all about this; I have shared it with you over and over. ."Tgduy, we mount another attack and many wonder; what is 4r pog!? it's all the same;it always was. We,ve been back and forth so many times, whaf the hell's the difference,now? "Io- Ito" yoth thi-., f want to tell you something now, something that will,_ I am convinced, change the-entire picture in your minds and hearts. Sornethinl is different;

tll thingshave changed.We are now -ln a state of war with ao"p"ttt of installation were bombedlast ;ff?;ffi: are nislU in return, our presidem-has {ecl19d that we that? How war. p*itioi to-tal of ;;T-i^; lbgut *;B"f#-il fave finishedour missio-nnow, ten thou.*d. a million men will have shared.out losses'our our hopes' And yet, bec-ause o* *.*it-.om, "ilL-. frth-*, ess"otiauywe-arethe creatorsof the ffi;U; war. ";Are we forhrnate?I do not know' Suchis our responSuchis our honor." sibilitv. ""AiilthieCupt"io had finishe4 he stoodrear th€ trj': K. M.dDonnell

whil6, marvelling at his speech'-There was no f-;-i;"s th9 to' th9 rigbt througb' t"' had"gotten rigbt-througb' i'tt iarl"gotten ;;'d;;-d;lt"t ;;td;;'-d;lt"t

iiOOe of the situation;it left n9 rgoq tor any.couDto-r

io.t*.,h?-q1-ry^*i1'-l1n3,i ff ff: s";dyh;-ht, hiq ;&; nowtheteyai n9 stop.ping -g"a ffiio*"."u."t".i;d ^"liri. oI care ot tooK care ^. irr a-'l i+ Hastings;itlt took of that that Hastings: cate of took nnte it rnnk dartness' was Hastings for step steP r"i'" but ttttt good. sood.the The next him

ffitJtit"'idt" ;;'ii;fid;; ;;;;;--hfti"i

whenhe surprise0 c-aplainwasdnormously him' & toward 6me eii"i"g lvstgriga{Y, if .1o1t showed rt nina. vou nii io iirst

aidn't lnow it well already, that thgre was iust no.preolcting anything with enlisted men. Before the Uaptam couro raised his arm and tbrew the instrument at ;;"e,"Ht"frgt the Captain. *What are you doing?" the Captain screamed' "fm oo* Co.-anding Officer in the midst of a war!" '";i.-tiu*viu"notctazyl".Hastings-screamed' said' "We-te-li, the middle- of a wart" the Captain dyi"t. But Hastings, apparendy quite mad now, would not listen

-fiti;i Sergeanthad never liked HastinUs 9r $e -Cap; The First Themwere cr;azyithere was-no doubt about t"d. t{at illf f u-ttioe*,-airivate, told everyonrcin" the co-mpanV.the quite pafe, sh4m, iii" tl"""naas were a Tally,-and that they were re-apV-t-ofire' When the b'"otrio-i*i.ted ovir tnti mins fistds, Hastings cursed to ""ofiffiy;dked

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the troops that they were a bunch of cowards, and the Captain, his stupid ass waving, fell to the end of the formation and screamedat them to keep going. The two of them were wrecking the company, making the entire situatioa (yhlch had had such potential, such really nice things in it) impossible.The wir was peculiar, therb was no question about this, but there were ways to get around i! -4 get a job done. But the two of thefo, Haitings and the Captain, were lousing things up. The First Sergeant found himself so furious-with theif businessthat afier a while he could not even keep his communiquesstraight: all the headquartersmessageswere getting sciewed up in ttre decodebecausehe was too upsetlo ao it rigbt andno one would leave him alone. There was no senselo most of the messages;they all seemedto say the same thing anyway, and the First Sergeant knew tirat headquarters were a pack of morons; he had decided this three davs after he had taken over his job and began getting t'ieir idiotic messages.Meanwhile, the new Captain woutd not leave him afgne; all that he wanted to talk-about was Hastings. It was Hastings, the Captain said loudly to the First-Sergean! who was forrling everytling up. He asked the First Sergeantif -tlr"ry nnighi be ariy proce-duresto get Hastings to Kee_p_ quiet, bccause everything that had gone wrong was all his fault. Over and over again, the Captain asked $" F rt lgrgeant to figure out- a way to get rid of Hastings without grving hin convalescentieave.-r{ll of this w..asla$.engugh for the First Sergeantbut thcn" on top of {l of- this, there was Hastings himself hanging around all th9. t'qg,,trying to find ou1 things aboui 6e Captain, Ssking-rf the men had yet inirialedhis request. an in aU, i! t$ io.t ridiculous, what they were doirfu to him. When the First Sergeantdecided to do what he di-d,he had every excuse in the world for it. They were a pack of lunatics. They were out of control. They deservedno mercy. _ One moraing, for instance, around fhanksgvin& the ()apt?tn woke tlte First Sergeantto say that he had figured out the entire situation: Hastings wai insane. He was investing said the Captain, terrible dependencyin an efiort

113 K.M. O'Dorm'ell to become a child again and his functioning waq-e-ntir-e1.1 asked the Fiist Sergeantif he felt ;;r;r"tft"GptuTo wa-sreaionaule and whether or not he thouebt A;A; belonged in some kind of qslitutlg:-I: tl"i ff*ti"g.

Fhrt S.G;"t wu6.'nO. been uP.'rery late trying to from-hgadqn4eF communiques usingco.mmuniquesft-og**qP*H ;rg"ot"."o-s'senf ;rn*t; fi;; confusing supper'-said Thanksgiving in-relationto the -that lq"Yls that he woutd'thint someabo-ut-it,.andlf the -C"ot"i" ooir*i-t"t

wanted him to, he would even check into Army t"driutio*. He added that Hastings might have combat something that he had seen in -a lot of men i;lso;, of four wars and eight limited actions; ;ffi;si, the **ti weaker than otfers' The point here simply *ere -tnut ro-"8* was trling to be as decent to At First Seigeant ** -Hastings qs any-mLn could be, -blt and b"th th" Captain tn.t" *"* timits. Later that day, Hastings fssad-him sittine behind a tree and told him that he had fi-gur-edout tn"-fnot" thing: the Captain was otviously mad' He sugsestedthat the-First Sergeanthelp him prepare I 1epo4 to f,"uaq"utt"t listing att 6t tte peiuliar acti-onqgf $: Q"pLi" rina a.ted for-some clean-paper to do this. HaslpS uaa"a A"t he though that mosi oi the Captain's problem *"fA U" tt*"d UaJk to his shameover his rear end' The made the Captain look fem'lnine,said Hastings, i""iita O. C"ptaio *ut rbacting to this in a very -nornal,.if "i,O fashion. The First Sergeant said that he o*ott*ut", didn't know enough about modern psychiatry to givg 9n nnininn wav or the other. Hastings asked the oie way that nne on fhaf ooinion nn First Sereeantto simply consider it, and the First S"tgg*t .uia tlut-n" would do tnat. After a while, Hastings left' -saying that the First Sorgeanthq{ h-urthim. in""U of this, then,-it could be seen that the First had acted entirety corr-ectly,in g{ire iustice' He S"G*t *ur"io a difficult position but he was doing the best he could. No claims ioUa be made against him that he was not doins his iob. But, in spite of all the times the First S""n"*ti"p"a"tea tnis io bidseff, he found that, finally, he waieettins sood and fed up with the whole thing There werd le ddded, natural linits to all circumstancesand

Lt4

FinalWo Hastings,_headquarters, the Captain and the war wer passing.theirs; after a point simply no part of it was hir responsibility, any more. This, the First Sergeant told the ofrcen who knev enough to listen. *llg5 ngt.colnrTg various other difficulties he had en counrereo gunng his many years in the Army. Actually, thrl w-T not entirely tnre, but the First Sergeanthad takdi 1s fe€ling that it was, which was almost b-etter.The trutt of the situation, which the First Sergeantkept to himsel except for occasional letters to his wife wajthat he had worked in a division mgtor pool for fifteen years before he had _{eeq reassignedto the company, and tnat reassign ment had been something of a ni*e, tringing on the fict pat the qg-Tpaqyhad, be-foretbe days ot"tnJfimt"O **, be.enestablishedas a conveyance -been unit, and the First Sergeant had absent-mindedly assiplredas a mechanic f}?t tni"gr had worked odt this way das probabty the fault o.r ne-adquarters;at least, the First Sergeantdid not question them onthat *,ore. --n4y in rh.g.careerof the First Sergeaot,he had accidenlally shoqa General while in rifle tiaining. The General" fortunately had only lost an ear which, lJ haC laughin$f told the First Sergeantat the court-martial, he could spiri becausehe never heard that much that was worth heaiing aoyway. The General, however, claimed that the First Sergeanthad had no right to shoot at him when he was in lhc pr-ocess-oftroop-inipection, even if the shots had only been fired from excitement, as was the claim of the Firsi Sergeant'sdefence. The General said that he felt the best rehabilitative action for the First Sergeant, under all the principles oJ modern social action, dodd'be to be shot . *gtf, ^al$o"gh not in the ear. When the First Sergean leard this, he stood up in court and said that for thtfi$t time in his life, he wis ashamedthat he.had chosen to cnlist in the Armv. -W!en the head of the courl a Major, heard this, he asked_theFirst Sergeantto stay i:alm anh state, ;ust off the record, what he wanted to do with his life. When the First

115 K. M. ADonnzll Sergeant said that all he wanted to do was to make an and a First Sergeancy(at this t''ne he looiiuUt" ""t."t less, a Private iir fact), thrc Mlior nua t.." "ootiO"tiUty General ihat the First Sergeantwoqlq prolathe "Auir"A h;o" to be treated differently from the run of the mine blv roiOi"t, and the General said that he found the First S.tg"ulfs testimony very -movin-g.It was agreedto fine the Fidt Sereeant onc moith's salary every month for the n"*t nu" i"*s and send him to automobile tr-aining-in the Far Norttr. The General said that he could think of some where the First Serifu"tJ-tisht 'n"*i;lF,ttt off the top of his head him that he would do weil, 6ut he reminded now on all of sharply very cut down fiuui tJtE.ember to of a on sonewhat livihg be would he as niJ ""p"*.s budget. -limited fl" Firsi Sergeantlearned to live frugally (even-now, he was still forgetting to pick up his pa-yy.hen headquart"rs dilio.t"d ii; ne fras blwayi astonlshed) and repaired vehi"le,sfor fourteen years, but inwardln he was furious' and also, his wife (whom was ashamedthat he had not been killgd, as had the husbands of many gf -heq friends. As a reiult of this, he and his wife eventually had an informal separation, and the First Sergeant (who was bv then a Firsf Sergeant) took 1s t€lling people iust-Ueiqg s6nt into the motor pool that he personall-y-'founil'ibis

wailffi-e. but d6?rst Seigeant -the still had the feeling that he was tre[g possibilities. He segnen! of his ^possibilities. deprived of the largest seqment m6ved into a barracks with a platoon of younget troops and tauebt them all the war songshe knew. of his next to last yeq-in the Army, the In Se-"ptember First Seigeantfell into enormous luck. He often felt that it had all wtrked out somethinglike a combat movie. A jeep for whose repair be had been responsible-explodedwhile parked in front severelyinjuring a Lieufroirt of a whorehouse,ieverely who were waiting, his aide-decamp and ienant Colonel tenant

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FinalWar

fq the areato be invadedby civilian S:,1_l"rng.tref" p,lT.-_I,!"y hadreceived a{vancewarningaoOn"a ao

croeoro be on the premisesfor the protecdonof entiste men As a result of which followe4 the $e in_vestigation aidede-campw3s reduced to &e ,;"k;f Comoral'and sentto 4e hygieniclecruresto troopsd th"-f;.-iins combal The LieutenantColonel was promotedto Cole "f nel,and the First sergeantwassentto the stockadefor six we€Ks.Whenhe wasreleased,he wasgivenbackall of his stripes_and told by a civilian'Uo"raot-oii"w that gorng-ro- be sent into troop tralsport. The headhe was of the boardsaidthat this would tis consider a!ff, and told him rhat "irt""a he *ootd "ip"rience b"- ; the site of. actually engaged in, ; fi-ite? flthoggh -not ""n--*iil lm$i*g inlront of the sii igo,-ti, nus@-ie-sewn sripe,; yenpfrge, th" F.rq Sergeanthad be;-tilaUe to comjre_ nenqnrs stunnns fortune. seemedentirelyout 6on_ of -It gqftil=ginstnrctions-fr", ;;fr*r, he found Ilgl,I-ur"t, that he would take over the dutiesof a -croniucted convej.ance First Sergeant.inan important action Uiing secreflv on a crstant coast. As soon as he muld talk, the Firlt Sergeantaskedif he could have three days convalescen l91ve, and the officer said thai *g,rt;d"il would cover !his, he was entitledto it becausejt tle contriUutionsni hadmade. - T_h"First Sergeantborroweda jeep and drove several hundred miles Eom post to a dark town in o*,i"U ni, sepaf,ated wife worked-as a waitress.He found Uersittinl

patcolyof.aqovign"*", *"t"ni",go--coilGi

1|1*_qft9 qp. ang cry_rng_.absentty. q.rt, s,h! wanted-nothing at lt all to do with him, buf after he iold her what had d'anPen99 to him, she touched him softly and said that sie could not believe it had workea o"t. tneiwent -;# to a hotel loget_her,because her tandlady did believe io h.; boarders being with other peoile, a"J-t"lieA fo, a fons

timei 1nd for fue first time,ihi'ni"t S"rgr,*:t #,i til;h: yjs-frightened at whar was happening; *[;-O"tJn f. He hpd beenawayfor so long'rhat hE Aa not kni'w if G could tnrst hinself. His wite Saia-inaifi";iy, afrer fifteen

K. M. O'DonncII

711

years, she felt proud, and she told him that she knew he would do well. Later on he remembered that. But he never remembered answedng her that only distress can make a man. - They-w-entto bed together and it was almost good; they {potl held together unfil the very end, but tien werytfing- began t9 come to piec€s. The First Sergeant said that he would probably not be able to write [er letters becauseh9-was going to an area of high security, and she sard ttrat ttri-sw9s perfectly all right with her as long as the ailoment checks were not intemrpted. When he heard began to shake with an old pain and he Fit 9" Se_rgeant told- her -thu! th" jeep had blown up becarise he had de-li]rygtely failed tb ieplace a bad fuel connection. She told him that if this were so, he deserved anything that |appened !o h4, He told her that nothing he had ever done had been his fault, and she said thal he disgusted her. After-.1pat_both of them got dressed, feeling terrible, pd thg first Sergeantdrove fre jeep at i grotes-quespeeri toward the post. In the middle of tne trip fe found tnit ne could not drive for a while, and he gof out and vomited, the empty road raising dust in his- eyes, tho ligbts of occasional cars pinnin! him fislplsssty ajain t AiF t"ti age. When the First Sergeant came to the company, they were just at the true beeinning of the limited wan, and hle

ye lbJ" tg.S9t-ho$ofmauelsalmostinmedi;iely.Th; .^t ttring that he learned was that his predecessorhad

been gtven a transfer for reasons of emotional incompeterrce and had been sent bact to the country as the head 9{ 1 gotor pool. The second rhing he found out t"s tti; was completely no-n-combatant,involving hi:n only 11sJ,oD in the communications detail. When the FfusI Sersean:t discovered that his duties inrrolved only aecodi;;d;: pent. ang relay of commurriquesfrom'division n-Jaaquarto the company. and bpk again, he felt, at fid;;; 1e{. rgeungot enormousbetrayal, almost as if he had been in the Army all his life to discover that there was absoluGly

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FinalWar

no reasonfor it at-all.-The Captainof -;;;ili. this cor anv genrn'nissfsd with -ie€; fi? -headguarters'fro; one hundred and fitty-everythiog tifoes auiln" -il&o-di"g-tn"t i"d to himself posred on " fi6,il "h;d procedurefor morale-reterition." Otn r-rmLn;r" messages, 1nd in the meanwhile,enlistedpersonnel constantlyhandinghim money,ti"ggng hirn to sendwere back a hello tb retative.-s through tidaaqffi.tEt"lme First sergeantfound this repulsive-butthe worst of it wasto t*G at the rearof fornritions while in I,oaOed with ten to fif3een-pleoesof radio.equipment "o-Uui, alilt-cacying *or_ paper w-hichhe was expected 1i'andto Tgus_stacks.of ureortrcemat anv time that they felt in ieed of io writins. In addigon,his pocketsw"r" studed*ith h-il;r;;;""1# which the Captain g.runiquesiilil-il-s1 tirc to time. "itit ""t.C r"", tn thinstha Ir^yt:lgitj1tu,gsitiation; to him. lhen they werenot in EattfJ, yt9:191 ^nappened rne Frst Sergeantwaschokedwith cross_communiques ii impossiblefor him to conceG oi a life lackins F*g them:hesweated, breathedand-slept,"d;;J[fiffir: 9f pfer. He took to writing his wife rn rt f"tt".s1 ;iiil; her, in substancethat ever5ihingsnetraa-saiawas absol lutely righr. In what free_tirnehe had, ne Lquiridonei a stopwatchand tried to figure out his discharge d"tr-t"

terms of minutes, seconds,and fifths of seconds. _ Then, at the beginning of the fimt sunmer, the First luck, and it F"geql had his sJcond-and finafi;k;f looked for a long while as if werything-had worked out for the best afterill. He stopped rs to his wife immediately after the Captain "iiti"g"f"tt i", back to flTT, neadquartersand a new, a younger Captain".U"A was assigned to the command. This new -aptairi was not at all interested in communications; ne iota-the Fi*t S.rg""t invofvea-inl Se fixst day he was in that before ne got he had first to become"."tfi-"t"a to the {9*.9t messages, sruauorn. rh-lt was perfectly aU right with the First Ser_ geant; immediately he saw the change working throuBh in otrer things; it was magical. Messagesfrom headquiters

119 K.M. CDonnell pemed10|diminish; there were days when they could be [mbered in the tens, and the First Sergeantfound that he ad more time to himself; he star0edto write a short novel his combat experiencesin four wars and eiglt limlbout 'ed actions. Also, his role in combat had shifted drastical7. Perhaps becauseof the new Captain's familiarization iolicy, Le was permitted to carry a rifle pi15 him, and .ow and then, he even took a caritious shot, being careful c point the instrument in the air, so that there would be ,o danger of hitting anyone on his own side. Once, quite ccidentally, he hit one of the enemy's trees (they were ttacking the forest that day) and destroyed a shrub; it /as one of the most truly important moments of his life. feanwhile, the new Captain-said that he would contact ,eadErarterseigbt times a day and that would be that. The First Sergeantmoved into one of the most wholly atisfactory periods of his life. His wife's letters stopped bruptly after she said she had been promoted to the tosition of hostess,and he quietly cut his allotment to her ,y tlree dollars a month; no one seemed to know the lifterence. He went to bed early and found that he slepit he nigbt throug!, but often he was up at four o'clock €cause starting each new day was such a pleasure. Thon, ast as the First Sergeanthad come to the amazedcmvicion that he was not by any means an accursed man,. lfugfings came acutely to his consciousness. Hastings, who was some kind of Private, had put in for convalescentleave months before, during the bad time of thc First Sergeant'slife, but the old Captain had handled the situation very well. Now, the new Captain said that he had to be acclimated to the situation, and so it was the First Sergeant'sresponsibility to deal with Hastinp, to tell him that the Captain could not be distracted at this time. For a wiile, Hastings listened to this quietly and went, but suddenly,for no apparcnt reason, he submitted opthel rgqu€st for leave. From that monent, the difrcult pace oJ the llirst Sergeantwas at an end. Hastings insistea that this messagehad to reach the gupt"io, and the First

t20

Final Wm

Sergeant told him be forwarded, ryt ir}.would but the Captainrefusedro tal: b;c;;"ie ,"ij rnu,he wasin an adjusfinent stase.go, tli-lifsi"s-eriilr-* keprthe requestin hrsdesk,E into the -c"pruio l *:1.*r**.0;d;"L*, tenteverydayto ask wh{. action-the hadfinallv taken.TheFirst Sergeant k;;tr,;gb; #;y ttaT-fr#ffi;i wascrazybecause h: !q u *ila-r-iloii"t, uyo, and he alsosaidtharrheclnt$1;ragl r"r not facins him. la addition to I ""*i?f Captainwasfunctioning qt";;T;oilir luy; ssnsthins woutdhaveto be do,nJ. f4rhe;-i#Fi#jergeant finalli decidedthat he h"U l1|_:oough.of rhis,he wenrto the pld hin,whltyafti"s;'dd 9uptq 3nd himif le would, at least look at this-cr-azy"Hastings,asked requesl but the Captainsaid'rhatrl your4A6ffiTr leasrsevera months

gi,.tG"g.;;i";, ;ui"hTJ':f fl"b"ff,f S1r""{T

to be accultumted to the Sgor-;;h"r he would judgmental,or";-in tn" *'*t"_l: not gccupJ.a meanrime, he corud be disturbed ty, srrange'.;qo;r. Then, the Captain leaned over I

-n#"::'f#i,'.?,f, thdn; [" r"it A; ltl';t#l*ffi; tioning

like an adutt JsituationJui" to, men.When $ he heardthis, the Firsi_ s;r}ll;rfi;h'""d witdly and t"

_niifrli-nfrift".a*it wour ::i?Ifi,S-_T.::19, satisfy himandoainol A;;r;";.1fiT""ffi"t:"y#

alone,but Hastines saio.tlaffi;ildr]ur, provedhis p:i"tr th.e-.Cantain *. ioruo".ifirniO i'rU"arhe First sergeant if hewouldhelphimto ;;;d;?#;i, p* ;"r; AIt of.this waseoing'on tt"";-tl'Ji#;* thingandHastinftdo$"l, ilth; riJilLr*";sayingone in ri,fibA'#;; fti;;i"s on;and :l*Itr oo asrli-s,.tte ir was gomg if it *Tj_Tl:, .top *ni"fi, of course,it wouldnot.TheFirstSergeana wgufA naviritten hiswife againif he hadnot conrfletgf_y f*g"il", nl, address -and pre;gou.sly thrownawayauot nrri"itlri.*-d ftp c"pgr* ;;;;;;p of him all the *_Y*rioe' rme no% andneitherbf them nua-tn"-rutt"rt iG what they were doing. o "i

K. M. O'Donncll

tzr

asd

a wgek$eq ; three days_

-o"l"rpo*iutqqyouorit,andon Mondav-s ;;A''tfr''"ffi;to'*otty {w 1u0 of ieconnoiterins-?ng i[-of Pt|$fg Sbte"*t; the

devolved9n #;;;:;i;lt;ith* -{irst o.ith"t of them wqrld leavehim alone'The ;;;;tfth""; fhrt-Seisrunt had moredutiesthan anymancouldhandle: -fi;;fi;ised the ofrcers'tents and k6pt up the moraleof he advisedthe officersof the lessonsof his tifii*p;l and he had to help some of the men over "*p"tiinice, personal problems;no of,e' not e-vena combat ttifr""tt tfmself, could handteit, He slep noorly ut J""n waygr"rd; tbd;p mostof his meals,foundhis eyes-tght ;;; he and combat, rifle in his ing io-that h6 could not handle the strain' under apart falling at last, was, that he O""AA"a If t" n"A not had all of his obligtions, he would have nio* op then.They werethat ungrateful,the wholelot of fiem. frastings,thi Captain;the-Captain,Hastings:thcy *"t" U"O tunatics,andon top of that, therewasthematter One niglg the Fint of the tentsand the communications. In an agonyof penultimate inspiration. Serseanthad his one way to only was there that decided he wilA cunning, handlethings.And what wasbettet, he hew that he was rlgbt No oie could haveapproachedhis level of function*t*

*, uo at tlree o'cloc,k in the morning and crept tbrouef, tle iorest to the communicationstent md carefultv. mJthodically, lovingly, he tore down the equipmen! so fh-at it could not possibly ttansmit, and then he furiousty reconstructed it s6 that it looked perfect again. Then, he sat uo until reveille, scribbling out headquarterscommuniqo, *a he marked DELIVERED in ink on all of the c^ompany'smessagesto headquarters. After brealCast, he san" th;se nessagesto the Captain, and the Captain took lhem and said that they were typical headEtarters crap; they were the same as ever. The Captain said then that sod"ti-"s, iust occasionally, you understand' he thougfut

122

FinalWar

hav! point,

aftera[. TbeFirs -4 H1^lSFe:,.g*t sergeanr permitted himselfto riiltz6 tt uit"nuO-stonltG on to an extremelv largeconcepdit ;;;GG-i6',hffi that

daybotheredlim it att. The next morning,"he--r-.J early again and crept fuoo-gh the cliffs to the communicatidns "0. Lnt and wrote out threeheadsuarters messages advisin! ,h" C$rrd; put his First Serseanto" O5-poi"t. -frfl"o &e Captain 5ead!h.es9,he lodked *t"gti.i;; ;'""i.i that this had beenlis idea enttue\y,rh9 G;;*i'ila rhe column {td $at day, firing his tm9.st."-q"uv;il;li iirds overhead He succumbed-to a feeliig fui"r and,to test it, wroteout no m".sage"* "i;;;; ;-"U-f.; A;"next truo days, meanwhilekeepingthe iompany'smessages ERED status.rhJ captanaffi ;h;fidi;as n a DELIVa pleasure, tle lqstards shouldoniy snui up fike this. On day,thefirst S"rgeaoi'*r"t"".rt*" "ifin!*ri.L ressageorder_ 1h: *19 mg ttrat companvcasualiiesbe made hiuoi"i-io;;;r; interestin the wai efiort;two_m"o*"r. .o.ffiofidffi; l+at d?y in combatuy.lr"-rqgior_6iujJi_i""renants.Bv then, tte FirstSersea;t

naaarrea-a/e;;idt;;H#,i,

g.u!.qtiog he had Jurpa^ssed anyot the LEortsof western giviliz-ation throughoui nvehun-drec fri"i tioorof modern thought.

Headquarters seemedto--takeno notice. -Their supply trucks-ca.m€as always; ;;"1;&; aroundand "eliqt"d yith the troo3s;"d rd;;;"1;;;i: :IT"d rhey did not evenaskto seethe First SergeantU""uor"L had let it be known that he wa$ too,Uuiy.to ui-[itii"o. The First go9 ta"kd; ;;p."ifi. ferggant inro schedute, that he could refer daily itacks ".fntlaq,ilitersafternoonso messaqes

q:-:Tl.{mgrning,.onJ G"rft;i;il;d 11 so exceptionally well that

tffiil F"il

.h9 ,epairea tn" equipment, transnitted Hastings' to."f"oaf"sJnt teave withfeggest out a tremor, affixed the Captain, gnatute, pd lhen destroyed ttrg raaig ioii*-J."oOe-counter-si li"ri.ed the least that 4e could d6 in return to, niiiooA i*t. - This proved to be the Firsr S;d;rb;; error. A day Iater, a Corporal ca.me from d.dA;;; to see the

123 for the First laptain, and later the Captaincamelooking He asked conf-.sion' with tu"" ithcken hi" #'*;i, nuA uff.t"A that Hastingst9 :neak into the ffi ,h" t"ll ",lit" TheEirstSerffi ffi fi;t F noraE theequipmlnt? it about-i!-but knoraivtling did not ;;fi;d-thdhe had olher he nappen; co*i tnit plausible 16"t ;'#rf""tl" to t"u.rt"the radio, sometineor other' ffi;#;;*i"'iuE tl"t this was fine becauseheadqua-rters iilb;t"i"-.uia E*t gs' recall and lqd arrangedfor i'#'*air.a n'ii had comeup.to fng Cptpg.tul -discharge' ft- t" b" p"tio a hospital. 'a The First psychiatric about -r" -r-itirios, K. M. tDonncll

to started StlnJlilr-Sil.th;G-*o.i.i n*o" this,.andhe had just died,but

saythat Hastings ;?;A;-C"**"lto saidthat this was not neceqsary and f6[owed [he Captain had had Hastings'tuture decided;-he ;;iri;Trbims"tf ;;ff"-t k;-""* of tl i"gs now. flre Qaptain said that not goingto getout of any damnedco-m4n{ il"tti"S;* of his inv way at al; [" w6Ua makethingsso hot for that rfiat it would not be funny for anyoneat all' i"*ti"io* ffi-C6r"t"luia mut-tn y* in controlof 1l: gP"E9l Ao"tt aboutthat whatsoever'The Serili rti" wal "" presenceand yeqt outsidetq c1y Oe-Captain's ;;11"il uut wien he cameback, he found the F;irff;uoot, ne Jrnewexactly Yh"t * rya9goingt9 and rp"*l^pty, a'o.g.-rt.avdCawayfrom the Caitain until nighdall and' assoonasit wassafe,dictateda total war communique'ln bieathingheavily,he deliveredit to th-9Caq td;tt"t"g, it ovei-trn'iceand drooled'He said t.i". Th" C"apiuiot"ui.hing that had everhap,pened!"*y: best **'the inut Oir one in the entireunfortunatehistoryof t4e Army'lte s+9 go out immediatelygnd-makea sngec!to.ltis th"tG;;"ld Sergeantsaidthat he ggessedthat this TfFfut ;;;. right s'iih him-;if he inspiredthem' it could ;6ufi b" "tt countfor somelhingincombat. The First Sergeantdid not eve1 trY tg-li*g" to the mad a;;t"i"b tdtofic speech.He only stood behind and waited nnitn. wf"o Hastings iame over after it was done i;'iG the Captain's rear end harmlessly with a bayonet ;a;t

124

FirwlWar

the First_Sergeant laughed like hell. But, later, when hr went to the broken equipment, wondering if he cduld eve set it up-aglg, he.was not so sure that it was funny. Ht woq{ered if he might not have done, instead" the-mos terrible thing of his entire life. Much later and unde different circumstanc€s,he recollected that he had not"

2001:A SPACEODYSSEY- produced by Stanlev\-ulri9t1 Directed and SlreenPtaYbYStanleY-KYlric.k

^uAlHL"';:t#::

KeirDullea."'Bowman GmY Loclcwood'" ' P9o19 Oouitas Rain. .'' Hal 9000

SOME SELECTED REVIEWS ',"",""*l'{n"'iisi"it-sr hisvolumeattefnptstoincludethebestsciencefictiono.f eventof

p*.ty|Y:::n

!h.? i";;;;";"i; 6;;;-;tu' ^oio,'pictuig tttat afficionados In ad'ditio?-t:,::y:: iti-ii- i'"iientt'.oh-oy:' : seemsto this irii-A

^orr.y lor all @ncerneil,

film

piiltil'iqi;iwtmtU.renewinct?!::",:l:'::*::: ' I amassociated #;; :;;,;;;;.V w"- i iir.- di'couZ'ttntmanv iiitn" ioita o! scienciftctioFa srcat askof'themi6 cottese'professors--all-.the same i"^'"*wtii"i'ii*idi.l;*", anmter' did it nearb I now gtvethem the Or ratherfour ttswers.4lt of then quitep"y.ty"'!!!-:! Here del Rav s?e* forGalary,. Delarv iii'iin/rtit. ';;;"i;#iiiiiit* Fantasvand ScienceFiction (one for o* to, science?),while tlu good Doctor 1il^"-;rd ';;;;; a"iotia ali of his Amazingsciencecolurnn to a t25

126 2001: A SpaceOdyssey potnt by point wtalysis ol every detail. Here are tlu frcts Now you know. I think... Reviewedby Lrsrrn nrr RBy

|lobody slept at the New York_press preview of. 2001 but only because the raucous aria siUi noise from the sound track screamedpainfully into our ears. Spacewas a tumult of din and the hero brdathed in his spacisuit like a monstrous locomotive at 60 gasps a mbuie. It was the ody widence of excitement in tlie place. Almost half ol the audiencehad left by intermission, and most of us who stayeddid so from curiosity and to complete our reviews. The pictorial part was superb. -the The-color photographl was gencrally excellent, and special effects and lechnical tricks were the best ever done. Even the acting was qnusually good. With all that, Stanley Kubrick and &thur C. Clarke should have given us the superlative movie promis.ed_by_a barrage_of publicity. If they had put Clarke's Eanhhght or the screen with equal genius, it would have been a gteat science-fiction mbvie.-Unfortunate_ly,.they didn't. Instead they gave us dullness and confusion. The whole affair dragged. Every trick had to be she!ch9{ interminably and then repeated over and over again.,Nothing was explained or given cohersnt flow, but gv-erythingryas np- on to boredom. Further cutting might help; surely it couldnt hurt. Th"__*Joty stagge_rsthrough four vaguely related episodes.First we get the theme of man's humanoid anest6rs being given_gtelligence by an alien slab only to besome murderers. Next we go to the moon to find future men have dug up the same slab---€xcellent background but no drama-and no reason for it being there. Tlen we take a t-np_tq Jupiter because-as we learn evenfually-men think the slab came from there. This episode has a conflict between men and an articulate computer. It might have been good, except for the lack

tn

SnnuelR.DeIanY for the computer's of rationality. No motivation is provided He knowsthe

tn" h;;;-*G'tit".u fool' ;A;ffi;4'""4 t"it6o' *a we'veseen.thatthe comu" E#;"t";:*'t op"i"t"??"t""" c19ftt9 bringbackhis ;;#;;; leavingbrscompan"tr"*t outhimself, #ffiilJ:li"inJd""t ttre-computer' i."r i. iriUt-ationtdbe killedby of obfrousand empty *-riirUr ron *" get an-endiess strange followed Aitcreen' ru-f-or*',i" !y out.h"Toh a erand ;#;.ip;"fi dii"t**lireo"-iitergalactictransf by- a now srowsold antl A"t fi the-roJm' followed *a' Qe.a$e1contactwe've ;""i"p3;#d"si.6iJttt shot of the slab been promised is no il*" again.

tl*

a brief

you-canbuy If possiblewait to seeit for the effectsuntil agree' don't movie and Book tootA"T;il;;";t -entirelyconfuthe to relief th"-t*t *u p*oia" some ilt;yb; sionof the movie. rick has usert cou$e, is one-Kub: -petnaps'"oit -iot message,of Th" real and gertainly is -useless' Ui!"nc-" utiorJ t the comof madness tt#"idrcactioiand fointless Td this. Men can only be savedby somevague ;;;tffi by aliens'. olrsno* mysticexperienceioa *ilit-it"t-o7orm* movie at all' y-orrsee' Jcience-fiction with the It's the first of tn" N"* Wave-Thingmovtes' were Thin-g^advocates ty.uorir.' trq I"y il"|;m!t It takes experience' exulting over it "-t*oA-Utowing minds'But for the rest of us' itnsa u"ty fifif"to tlow ",some disaster. probablybe a box-officedisaster'too' and thus T;,lil moui" makingback anotherten *r'Lli*tt"i"i"Jn"ti* years. It's a great PitY.

ReviewedbY Snrvrusr,R' Dsr'ANY muted earth Once past the titles, you see landscapes: The feeling colors, yellows, lots ;f'r;;k; little vegetation'

128

2001: A SpoceOdyssey

is horizontal stasis. Almost- every line is as long as the horizon itself. The point of view ijimrnobile. . - Io $" penultimate,sequelce, you are propelled with fantastic energ,ythrough landscapesfull of virticals: crass. mesas,canyons, waves and precipices, as rich and viole--n as the opening ones are serene. Some of the scenesare solarized, sgme are developed _with color replacement techniquesthat insreasethe vizual violence. -The journey betweenthe two is an odysseythat takes a --ttigl or so years. We watch proto.humanjbegin it with a pllliant sequencein which men/apes learnlo distingurqh the subjective from the objecfrve, and so invent tools, first qse{ to gqin food, therr as weaponsagainsttheir ovm kind. At its end a starchild, man-become-iometbingmore-tban-man, moves tbrougb spaceinside a transluceit amnio-n,regarding the planet ea*[. The journey has unexpected twists, goes in many odd directibns, ij ultimatelv grruilar; and- great steps of it are bridged in the space betweentwo frames 6f film. Kubrick concentrat€s perhaps two.thirds of his vision otr one "moment" of the journey: the incidents up to and including the nine month expedition of the spice shio Discovery to fupiter. The ship is seeking,unbekiownst t^o the two conscioushunnanson the crew, still another of the p-oss-ibly+entient slabs-thathave stood as guide posts since the beginnigg this seciion of A-, tt , -oj the !our.ney,.In imagesare lighly mechanized.people tatk to one anoiher, make spee-ches, listeu to orders (anb in tbe un-cut version, one set of orders is nrn twice verbatim to great ironii -effgct), and only moments later do we realfu that the information content is nil. Machines on the vast cinerama ycreen, showing jeweled Lunar and trans-Lunar nights, dance, ofter themselves to one another, supplicate-and entreat each other: in one scene,mechanical iinOs Uear a corpse before an implacable, whose computer-brain has por of the movig Kubrick carefully creates a gravity_,tessrrni_ verse; as the film progresses,ioncepts lide up and down

129 SamuelR'DetanY at last a disintegrate under the cinerama mgdigm' until

il;;*.dtfr;*tth

at the hl- il*d ^Plinting.straieht as-anothelstanding

audiencehas the ,r-rTtouti"ight i" the *-" fratnes' ri*re Yniut versionwe {;;ght' of GarI,I"ockwood were rnvena long *d ilyil-t'"q""* of a PFeat'crcuwalls abouCthe ;;iHft;-;-t"g,-iogsng th" t""ou.savethe aydilar room. me otiginfir?iin ot transl-ationof their Jtd;t tf,.^;;""v io-t-utE ;;ffi; the own physicalmour--ott-iito this n€y sPace'Now (or viscerain ar{ J*ir'it' .ooriAetaurrtroo.uttd, .the where

ffi;; ;;;;fit;

ear) i" tfr"rtarktolJ ofthemiddle

is a litfle looser' film gxabs,thehold -eiAs"d the --B"t twenty minutes (cut by tn" ;t"" begant9 9oq9 "'iO blunderings himself first the after fuUricf -* critics completelyat a lossover what to oo throuehfrom bGiuotrv-i".od"erned with the nineteenth ffi;;-fi il mistakesgrowo from the centurv-probtemsoiit"*." til intelect, the spirit, or-defectsin i*.i"i.:*tiltitfi arestill very mrrchintact' the bones 6thei --rilJ sensibitities) otobGmJio ioittpttting the nni do not lie in the d"i .t-tlt ttosiofi hqEiour. With all its complex "ittAexfirisiteimtgery,I-think everyonewill agreeit.is.a ana The probldmthrowsus back to Affffittilof"Juiitir. what sort 6f manis beingreborn? Discoverv: the ship -_-T\ild -e" una-u computerare the three consciousentities thainak; Oe vovale. By the time the shiP{ in Jupimen thecomputeih-astilea one of tle conscious ter sDace. the survivor and i*d;ll ihre" of tt" onesin bibernation), tti cotpottr. But all threeare presented ili"b"t".l*d .* A"n"ma"ir"A ptod""ts'of a bureaucraticculture where peoplecongratuliteoneanotheron how well they canuse jargonto avoidsayinganYthing. " ivhen Keir Dullea-undereoJs is he a transmogrification, companiont hero who is beingrewardeiifor avengrnqhis *nind'n on the Is he the murderelwho destroyedthe-only -tp.Amo" Aat understoodthi real purposeof lhe jouractingsoley n"yi-Otls hJ a purely mechanical-peison unier the dictates& tn6 situation,andwhobearsno moral weight one way or the other?Theseare the intorpretive

130

2001:A SpaceOdyssey dgei$ons.the audience.has to make before it can decide whetherit agrees or ais"gre; *ffi-*i'ii rrurick is say ing. Whether one agrees-or not, the argument is austere

glryss.ltg.

Tnip.:i"e d-ffi; t'',i. orieioal) was elegantand statelvao4 fE tle. ni"*", ip mapificently for.tle final exptoji'onot rigit, -"rrd, lnjrimagistic juxtaposruon. ^ Ihg a+?zng white on white orpi{ns uiltoi'1cf. tn" *_puiol"aon white scenesin the in Godard,s technicotor,"io"i"r"op"_nil-Cli;;;;;\ranincredible "pirill" visual dare that worrsl Th;;;;';fr:;d this for the buff. Fo:gg r9rt,9lr-r1l;; rittl" g"ms uke is an amazing amountof visual excitement.ft is nof tire excitementof fast-cutting. fn cinerama,-tt o. t oLi il-rt andyou,dbe ready.for-dramamine "t t uoiirii *. It is simplv jh: tlo.."s.r "oir "o*""

anaoujecis;;ffi;".d9d ;#.i vrsuat intelligence: t$v ire ";rh glsiring to rhinrraUout excitintiorook atteiyoui;;"j;il'uiii"d.,t ";;;""Jfi;; "r' Reviewedby Eo ErrlsnvrnrBr When Ed Ferman ph,orlu.d-

and asked if I,d write a short reviewof Stanley r"urici,s i'oii'"ioiiti) sp*" odyssladtlp.6eg.r r,aaoor-si;;"u;;;"tion, howev_ lJ,,l_ er. r've maintained i;;-rki"s toiil;i".d :.r"g.i "T, aU thatI hated gu11s_myself critics?nd?.Jr*.., andhere

,i:e$ilx.-I*iltil*,; lpii!6""ixf

areseemto havecome_home. Nowl h;;";;ild;; 9o.g iy a few words,.toruy ,o."tlioi uuout another

ffi;rff,

something i,; G'.it"";;':T evenwithmy

So, after all the hemmi.ngand hawing, let

me say I Iiked

iti" p"JirJ??o'"u1" f:^i:vr:. tor.recomrrena interested in crnema, thosewhg_areiit"riri"i"iollpanains tne variety of their exDeriences, and to tf,o.i *t o are interestedin science fi6tion.iFi,;ril h" go to rhe moviesfor ritualisticinvotvehei ,o IHJJJ i'ro""i"rd adventure story beware.The fitm Co"rnuu"-d"T;;gty dramatic

Ed Entshwiller tgl sequence which is quite eftective,but that dramaand its resolutionis not the basisof 1ftefilm, merelyan episode, and if you are goingto savourthe piciure,ydu musi enioi other aspectsas well. For example,what f would call the second-sequence+ t_r pictura is a beautifully choreographedprys?gewith just-aspaceship,a spacedatiof,, the earth, and the stars. There is no ..action' except the doqkiogof the ship to the station.The paceis unhirrie4 as is true of much of the picture, yet tf,is seque,lrce, with its sweepingturning move-ments, irakes preat kinedthetis useof the big scrgen-inan almrst abstracisense,a ioy of puremovernent.At the sametime the vieweris introiriced to some,of the many exceptionallygood".sciencefiction, p.gtsand sp-eciale-ffects.SomehowI was preparednot to like mostof the "hardware.but foundtha:tdost wasvery good indeed. I expectedeverythingto be too smootd. Happily there_ are somenice,ldobby spaceships. Obviously, a tremendousa^mountof sars inC concdn for detail wentinto themakingsf this film. - But it's in the ve-ryareaof detail wherethe picturefalls short of its potentialfor me. Theredon't seei to be anv wrinklesor greasespotson either the peopleor the machines.I meanthis mostly in a figurativeiense.I rcalir,n ,,iunan' F" S. is stylized,bgt th6 manneiof conveying touches,evenwhenironic, seemssfudiedadd tinreal. Ite just sp-entth.epaqt sE monthsmakingan impressionistic a lot of !l- of Project Apollo and have en-counter6d bureaucratsand spaceman types.SomeI liked and someI qdn'q Qutin all casesthey weresomehowmore textured thantheir counterparts n i\U. I-should say here that thereare virtually no fitms f see that don't have areasthat bother me. 'itis one is no gTcepgg!.I gogrsit's gy inclinationto say,evenof good films,_'![41'snice but I would do it anotderwan" wlich wouldbe a difterentfflm, of cou$e. - An especiatlyinterestingaspectof the film for me in tbat respectis the laodling of the final sequences. At one poinl.early in +qFng ftt film, Kubrick'askeAnJ U i woutdassistin desiping the part I readthe scripthe and

132 2001:A SprceOdyssey Ar&ur Clarkehad written. The pr-otlemobviously o&at€ an overwhelmilgalien woild experi"o"e.Forwasto v*i_ ouereasonsl did not beco-me involvedil-tne proiect,tuti ras. intenselycurious to tnow noi n" *ir"rc -rtd the problem. As it turned out h" dia tt d;;rtitulltsolve of meansand with great visc6iA im_ P:rg"t.economy his use of semilabstractio* *d PacL In this sequence_ (sotarization,-"oii*"ij"cement, po$ifigqtirin etc.) hlg-" to tle.big giry screentechniquiswhich 6nceseemedthe prrovinoeof the avante-&rde6r experimentatis-rc-?Wht lrompts me to sayth"t rj is encouragrng to seetd ;;; of cinematicvoca6ularybeingusedin commercialmovies tod-ay.Tnre, iis stitt a riiativefy ,-"lG;: ld.d*:i"n ment of the total output that really uses s6-called vancedtechniques.buf it's there and'gro*i"g *pifuy. ai_ S" ls its audiencelTbe net resutiis th"ifi;;';r more q?es vairie systemsavail_ {,n-r to choosefrory. lhe are.pc.reasingan{ this.is""rio* ; n."ftny tliog, I think. ef 1!le course,it also means.tlratthe cutting edgeof the avanti, FTg porn"{ by. an ev"r-griwiig sophistication etq and has to keepmoving-innew diiectioni to stay ia th; game.) my response to 2001.I ... So,anyway,let me geton with l*" th" fact that Kubri-ckchoee..Th1Sin-tin"t,'by &thur Clarketo basehis scienc€fiction .ooii *. fn, good sciencefiction picture without the usual,6ruft i. a overem_

mircituntnei ca lnowever *ry!_l_Ig:v:d.m6nsters De sonoetlmes).I like--the-s€nse

of scale and journ6y he

sciencefictionfitm-yet"i" td-; i3l.^-Ilj: execuuon!3,"-Uig_se5t'1. and actual drrnensions,

at least ai tar as I cari remem_ter. (I'd fike to seeagainiomJ of tnu pi"G.*f goll.dl'ry.t9gdl like Thinsi To Come.)I tiked "fa ii whenhi implied disliked it when he explaineil,*ni"n,- h"ppily; wasn't often I lited fts,o"y tie stfl6s u*ira f#d; the 6verall ttiu"tor a variety in 9T="j:qlF1tqlte cnaracterand mood- I was at times unhappy with"G liatogqe,lte pjSury-tt strongestin its oo-J"^iUh d"?" rye) eventhoughiti k:J,fiH31f"e_tlat.appe{9.to soncepr$ Dasedon a story. I thought his use of iound

133 EitEmslwilter was sood.verv effectiveat times: massedvoicesinrising cres&nao at'the sigbt of the mysteriousslabs' lonely amb-iguitt""tti"g in emptytiu*. -The I liked the open-ended sati$ying m€' a for ha4 film ti"* of fne "ndi.'og. Sam Moskowitzcalls a "senseof wonu-oo"t of what goodsciencefstionhasfor d-r," anda feelingwhichsomeour teeling surroundin-g regions niysterious and G sensual about machines,iime and space.All in all it was a fine experience.

Apeman, Superman
NdbpAy ylo can identify the opening and closing bars of -*^t: ZO! t puzzlepry over the fi rm's 6siriing. iT .nrya At tle start the eye of the camera looks down iom barren hills, under the rising sun at dawn" into a still valley below. As the sun mounts, the eye advancesinto the.valley. Zarathustra is come forth out of his cavq hailing the sun-"Ihou great starlr-he descendsfrom 1ftshills once mofe to invest himself in humanity and go at man's progress again. Zarathustra's cosmic misiion is-gv,el out in the great blast of trumpets which pronoonces-the World Riddle theme (C{-C) from Thus Spake Tsakstra, by Richard Strauss. Richard Strauss wrote of this music that it was his homageto the philosophical geniusof Nietzche: f meant to convey by means of music an idea of the human race from its origins, through the various phases of its development,religious and scientifc, up t6 Nietzche'sidea of the Superman. t34

135 t*on E' Stover I valleyhumandestinyis on I oo*o therein that awesome -f ln" up"-"", membersof the genus [h""Jdft;;ii";;th or' anthropology - in South lA ustralopitlu"^, *tJ'i"i'o scelff

op:oiTs savennahland e .m:today ffie'fi;f;ift6.'The is exacuy which landscape, fr";#h&i";"ri am"* t.o*:1 during tn" uilm""-roah"d.tnere b"til;;-;6 peacetul be to shown at-" -clewing lii"itr&i"t ti-.t. rnJ up""oult--ouveatingand rGv'tF"E iliifi;,;tt.". foods. rfiant *ffii;;;;orning a seaq blackmonolim. "!P":A^*^*: pertectron fieding-place'The.sh.eer dA; ;iih"tt-*"lt chamthe dim in arouses thit -fifact iltffi;#;frIftjfi senseof bers of ooe ap"mao'spieadamitelraq .gomefirst $en h., i6u"u*t of to touch-fearfirlly-at il;.;; smoothsurfacggand smartedges ffitt'#; vi"t"i"g-tui u*ina* thing'.Ile is inspired to dis"ooersthe principleof the levet, an "f"trtfi-ilieptfdttv ffiffift" in 9 tgng.bone picked 9lt,91-u ";d6fr hit ot &ffii"o "tt, He baJhesthis-club aroundext":pit.rcr"t6". ;;Ti;e ptd old bones-fromwhich he lifted of G ;ffi;r"tly'i" of. his -greathairy arm sequence motion in a-slow i,t *t to flower caqsfng.q"btit crashingdoin, iid#;-;J of a falling visions with intercut arci, nouti"g iltH'Lj'io taDir. *"fri,

insighdul apeunn leads his kind to hunting and m"aGatine]Meat eiting takes less time thag.dant-eating and with it comes the leisure for tool making whlcn-rn to science and-adyancedtecholot"* il"*,-t*ntua[y, triumb'n of artifigg,.thrc hunting .club,. is ;. iilil'fi*t ftlf"ili"-.a W Ae OCC World Riddle thcme, cqmax+g and organ. The we-aponis tossed to the il-toir-ot"ni'.tt" J nt of religious exaltation the while the apemen "lr-1" dance -:;. around the monolith' and ' ' ' - that tales care of 3 million years of h;wipe history, the bone in its toss is replacedby a "oof"tio"uw The camera comesupon a greal w-geerflight. in spaceship t-nuo"a &Uit"t itation that turns slowly and maiesticalty t9 tfre'tune of the Blue Danube, which,waltzes for man's virtuosity. The audiencp, accordingly' t ""iy, "n"ofgical

136

2001's Answer to the World Riddle

is treated to a lons appreciation

the docLirg manoeu uerc,.in.3/4time,-of;'rnryt - of ;;;p from Earth "1.Ii is*an.Ameri.*-rii"*irt *^:;P: topassenger on a secr rhecraterClaviuson tni-moon,-rh.r, myste #ffi: p-Iatform is fitredout wirh Hilton, pan Am Tk.lp3ry Tetephone seryices, rre;;.ii;r**;*"ys ohsand T9 T"[ ahs to see these familiar^ i^igi"

i"-iie*world

of the

ro coon m- t'ut iottipologisrs have **1,,$:l Imm disaster .s.oes. rearned !todr":, tlat peopledaUy-lor;; tf# cutture.It is part of them. rlogre ilifrro.i; -o.ait!, into a srare of shock wh-enfloods, desrructiv -tomaq;;s g19lt* removelargechrinls of their tamiliil naterial environment. The scientistfrom Earth continuesthe last leg of his journeyin a low flvrngm.o91 bus,-thewllle its occupant eatham and chees-e s{ndqictes.-il;j*#position of the eternallybanalpicnic lunch with tn"-t?,iiirfi" lunar landp\g by-belowservesb re_emptasize ?9 the confi_ "::2" vr{ugsity d:nL of spacetechnolog;r.B-u-tiiis confidence is shafferedby the mvsteryat Cfaiiusi ttelonolirh asain. this time eicavatedouf the suited .of fo"*-roirliilife gartq elampe.sit, a stinging, ,irdd penetratestheir helnets. ffie cinJraGr; of shrifl sound 1oot, up from tle very baseof the monolilh ro sunl-"ta;.*gt*h"i td duplicating-thg onethqt b;orgdt##J"l r.queo" to u clog wirh rheboneclub soariie hfil--* rne wipeftom the screamin!-m6nofith to a shipheaded for deep spacecovers The energ5 -i"j1a !;;a";;o. emittedfrom the monolith Aeatowara fupiter, tbe ship,s fg.s$natio-1. -{ crew ot nv-e--itrre"iiir#"i"tion) and a llf le:_flHngI.p.M..g000-series-"&p:oi"r,occ.upya enormous,sperm_shaoed craft: aaj sgsiiig th, d;; During tf,e oufiqaid T6 ;;;en actina as caretakers ogthe ""yd;

ship-are

.hoh r" arpl"v?rt.i-iJii"i] trq.F. spry'tq.o-pG;,-frd?hi.,l*{"' il 6d;H; mto everything_ -t*andruns.we-q,tning.

Maii ; ,o tr"-t it is'overwhe*.r:"tt3liflr"ifr 3dv.angecf basically,is an artificialr"-.

ol

"*iilffgttumatr

organs.

t?7 LeonE. Stover Clothes are an extension of the skin, a computet is.an of the brain" a wheeled vehicle is. an extension -th; "itr"si"t l"ss. a telephoie is an extession of the ear and ;f more such extorsions are elaboratilooo, uf;a to "o.'rn" tnJ -otu tn"V tu"n b ^d: o-n a life ot their Abi'-* own'and ihreaten to tule over. A simple exam.aleoI ano extensionsgetting out of hand is the urban co-n-gesuon

in .9ryat o bv use of the pos.sible"by "ie?t made "ii-pou"tioi big organization, it il.'G;-A"otn"i maKe: electronic extensionsof the speechfunctions'-whr€n *orqanization man'-' the in for suftocating dehumanization to oaraptras-eHamlet, "How like a cog is man!" The two

;;ffd;Jtnp

*" eiaetlvthat.HAi-mns.tne$p an{

they ast like low grade robots, passively eating coloyre.o pas-tefor food that comes out of a machine' passrv€ry TV broadcasts from Earth, passive$ receiving i"tiili"g birthdav ereetinssfrom home. --llA'tfiUtfitis tlat point of no return in the develop of tecbnolory wien man's extensions n"uUy 9t: **t .r". fn"y p"st"ti'tU" more life tle more man is devitalwiu be suicide for man to continue in his i^Abt tdd-it culture. Dependenceon an advanced ro i i6t lit.aterial state of technology makes it impossible,to revert to a ptimitive statp of t6chnotogr. Andlt is too late to solve the with a "technological fix." iroblem ' HAL reports an immii'ent malfunction in the directionat antenna of the ship. One of the men, Astronaut Frank Poole, leaves the shiir in a space pod in orde-r to -tt-pt"q tne uiit. The old unit is broug[t 6ack, teste4 and-fotnd to be without defect. The two men worry about HAL's laose of iudnment. HAL lnsists the unit will fail on schedott. So ifoole replaces the unit by way of testing HAL But HAL tested is HAL irritated. When Poole steps out of the spacepod to reinstall the unit, HAL works one ot the oodis meihanicat arrns.--s runaway extension of the bum'an arm-to snip off his orygen line. Poole's par,tne,r' Mission Commandei David Bowman" goes after the body in another space pod and returns to the ship. But- HAL won't obey tfre coinmand to opea the porL The only way

138

2001's Answer to the Wortd Riddle

o9* i: through th,e emergencyair lock, Fj:,F:_.-Fq provtftng me entrant is fully suited.Bowman,in nis nasti to rescuePoole.foreo! to bring lus helmet-titozuoo*t inlo'th; pod"---Meanwtile,--HAi nas tu6ea oiiff,J .o*te-msfor the threemenin hibernation.fte UUnffnelinfr;,

y!iq4 regltertheirdeartssay,Lrrr rndffiffi: tury+Tp?, .? fittio_g obituaryfor technomrrp-bd ;a".

Ilut.at bottom, Bowmanis a real hero. He triumnhs over fhe_techno^morphism that turns men into dutt-fi; clpq. He manipulate_s the pod's waldo arm to own the arilocK on tie-ship,-then aligns the pod's hatch wift it. bowmancalculatesthat rt he blowsthe hatchbolts,the air exploding,oplwa4 ftom the pod will Utasttino--into G evacuatedairlock; perhapshe can survivenaf a minutoin !arg, cold vasuum"_In a realistic sequenceof-tn, human d?T"g and b-ravery,Bowmanis explodedi"t" .nip yng.a +ent-rrenz_ythat doesnot pick up sounduntit tlie rocKrsclosedandair pressureis restored. Bowman's next move is to lobotomize HAL, who pleadssorry for the four murdersin a parody of a'suiltv humantrying-togetofi the hook: ..I admitt,ve madeiom6 pretty -bad decisionslataly." The humo,r of this line soncealsan affrmation of IIAL's autonomy.nemwd oi high.r control cenlersis a sienificantict forecastine Fl tbings-tog9me.It looks forward-tothe dmJ;henili shall be able to su1 himsslf loose from his ;ftensiom altogether.The solution to a runawaytectnofogyis-not pastery_overit but abandonmentot it. The tiafiffitiesoi gqqn dependence on material meansare to be left bentnq.tnt[e conquestof somehigberform of existence, . lne mono_lltlappeirsoutsidethe cabinwindoupat this ,unctureto indicatethe direction of that conquesl BowFan follows!t in his spac€pd, but the nonotiit vanisLes purptegow. StraiTinghis gyeson the spothe sudden_ ln p is ly led down a rushingfcorridor of comp-uter efiects that represent his translation throulh a mensionalexperience.

.:q"tigyl.ride, Bowmanis givena god*,-?:,11^g-tf like vision of whole galaxiesin tult forn, tuiaing fifr;I,

LeonE' Stuver

139

k';htri",F,,',n":+f gas the scre"i'aod into a pulsing.luminousthat Htil;Lst In here' cloud. A delicatepo-iot tn"4oryit 4*q ( 194-4)'

;IvJ ;it#.ddl

ta""."-n"tiot Peretardra

9'

.r#w'lodv l;,Hxt"THffi*Ey*t*':"9*l;9ffi tbe planet humacity, having now sufrciently comrpted to seed itself costs'contrive ui"U where it arose, -J distances astronomic vast tle that area: o""t u larger ;hioh ut"-God's quarantine regulations, must somehow be overcome.

The vievmoifi o12001,however,is that man'sseeding ^Uf?"ott[s is-a positivi good'F,or$e menwho will g.o of th"'""iuerse-with the human.prese-nce.will ;t ; d.td bevondthe evil they did on Earth as ;;-JJ;;-lift"d Man's bxtersions always te,cfnotogr. ;rA;6;-th"it in .urgrn oT wickedness,beginning.qth 6I[J.-U"iti of the hunt that could be usecarso \Peapon the apeman's of T*. But the lupemrc-nwill be fuqy ;;';*pon from materialextensionsas from the materiemancipafea is extendedby technolory.The universewill JUoJv'A"i of a disembodied b.;;6" f"lt *ia tn" esseitialgoodness humanity. tn" ii*tition for Bowmantakesplacein a hotel suite, -o.["a * bevondJuprterby the kind of superbeingnhe to ioin' ThereBow;d the r"it of manfind are-destined man as"s iapidlv and takesto bed' living out the childnooAit mati to-the end. Whenthe end comes'the g1et r""*UO standsbeforehis bed, that recurrentsymbolof tA" *r"t vearningthat promptedthe apemenmitlions of veari asoio reacf,for tool mrakingand that now prompts bowna-nto reachout for sonethingbeyondartifice. He in his strugglesupward from his sheets,-uq.rggognlzable yet reachingpainfully for that ineluo' stupindous'oldness, table goal waiting beyondthe nysterious form stancling

140

lffri

2001's Anwer to thz World Riddte

him. He reaches forwardto touchi! reachingfor

d-:y of plp-et-Earthas seenfrom outer space ,r*3t^t"^1 rrnecameTlFoves aside-from the great greenAiscil th; sky to include anoth.erluminous fily iirrUv. n i, ; eronmoustransDarcnt $obe that containsan dt"h_ $.Jqbtyo of cbsmicfroportions,6;H"g?oo"f"rt,on Earth ,*ft 4: eyesof BoIFli, as he'preparEs'toliberateall humanity from the asauiiitiis t';;;;; aft promote it- to the statushe t* uEuio"A "ds-6; embry,onicfgure is a symbotic,h;;I", to. This giant sgyaejlingto visualizeon'tle ,o..q ot'd;ranthe sake of s leader-

J:i;nh,",ln*;.ffi Bi"f"f"H :o; :3$"{*itfl writers.It is to befoundako_infru Ftnir*r_ ot Mwt

by theratepierreTjilhard'a;e"rdt\ l6-6atffi: .(19_s2) lic fatherandantlroooJogrC *ho thegatheringfgrceof mindtna:tn-aic6il;";;ffi;ttre "rpfil"iil"t surfaceof gft*t"fi b6ffi& mrun event 9,:#:_l_^IS_g"J 1!".*-u projectioninto spaceasa ptiely ,iirit"A-"-diii utiimuttv i{ni'irrl8'sopoint in one ggnyergq i:rjFIJg e,*Erw urs'Euru.u enuf,y, very sfufi of God. But once all the.consciousness_the -cod-tr;; ana mer4d.in the omega "i'th" ""#;lls"adrmurateo poinC r"n"rvE ni, completeness, and ihe processof crea:tion;,iit b"$" cons;ir* ;;rr;s to reachour 1ge uy wgvo! arousing oo1"pf^.^!I ctgsure in onecoUectivJ ide,ndry. zuut

l,%',tiii&s*":t'##'"i,"##t* .

comqs to an end

on a great trumpeting blast of rheworldRiddletn"me,qc_bi*;;hi_d#dt"b;;i

Bowman'spure mind r*ff dirg- int-au*Aiencp in the l*. -S*o ihe whole populationG Birtl-*ru join him. of maniJilffipi;r, #ih theevolution P:ltq111"-,t, uom apemanto superman.TVhei A" supsnnanis still onestepawaytrom evotvinl ""rtain-cfos6]-d; into God. then the storyis i;iinislJ. . But.ev-en f8r tne universe is cyclical.God will.o-6 Ao*n t iliils again.atrus spakeZarathustra: "n-il" Iot I am weary of my wisdom. I need hands reaching

t4r LeonE. Stover descendto the depth' as out for it. For that end I must tehind the sea thou thou dost at even' in""-tinti"g

start resplendent HiJsiffir*" rn" i"i'"ilegonsitnou more becomea maIL Zu*tn,titt"

will once

that God is dea4 it Now that the theologians tell us SF'

up;"arsilii tn" u*d""-of theologris upon

TIIE SERPENTOF KUNDALINI BnHN W. Ar.prss

Is it possible thar fime is sickening on the tee? Brian AWiss belizves th;d, ,,Sffaight nitraive depends on chronology; when chronology is awry, you don't seem to rced straight nfirative." In- his twi'niost recent novels C}yplnzoic! and Report on probability A, he examirci tnts concept, and is now venturing stiu lurtlrct with tlw series al -Chmteris/acid-head stories of a where psychedelic drugs lwve been used in whari. lutwe Thc stories are not to everyonds taste, becausethey sometimesrequire o certain effort at anderstandingon th; pwt of thz reider. Bu!, as "TItc Serpent ol Kundalinf, proves, ii * m ejort well worth making. long drive asrossEurope, from south to north, 1I"14r Ctarteris was tired. On the terry gding across to nnghnal he slept. . When he woke, the ship had alrcady moored in Dover harbor and was absolutely deserted except f6 him. Even the sailors had gone ashoie. White cliffs loomed over the boat. The quays and the sea were empty, The entire 142

Bfian'W. Ald'iss

t43

was covered in desolation was the more bare because it sunshine' fl ;;1t.;;*tv-tPti"g ""i"*i stoog

iotiJi o:* 6'ttn" *tio-t

shedso9 fe-eugy

Charteris a man in a blue ,o'"ut"t with his arms-folded' and gangplank'

the ut n" ** descending -ai w6ilahardlv rf,e t"lt' tl; n"ta-o" thirty all, utt"t ffi;ne;ooti"""Ut"; -he-was perhaps

;#tfrJ.;"l"ti ;il'il;ilili.

playedby ttict ot ac9u9!1cs i"iit i*"v;-but, by ut*io* ma'o's clift,.-the oj p"ot sloae o" i#;;hiln"d '']aenified' and "io to-Charteris *"* ;;;-.ff"i "'H'.;ff; u.t'ntt"-Jnii ""ti.a ;d i""dru:ghEm" PT-:l he re-foldedhis arms' heanng ds wrists td;Jttd;an's nis-treatn in his.lu-ncs'hearingt{e il! iiarr ?"* "t infinitesimalmovementol nit tt"t in nis boots'hearinghis oto"gn the loadedseconds.of.the ililt-ti"t 9l'. ^--, *^

;:v*rr*-*Crgxi**b::-litr over great -yeuow-pam-rsu SrffiOt t"ffi;J on bis left, marchingto him which reducedhim #a r?itt.t tit"*i"gles-s him close take would fris coutse li toiagrun. ;;';;ph* to "- the waitingman. the universewhich Chartedshad iil"'n w-"visionof that U."o er*tta in Francewas with !u4 *4: Ho knew g waitinThis beineFwere symbols' ryat il;tf;';h".a;t[. He had cometo Englandto find ry-*#ff"ldG things. otler -*';Thi. d;;dnessthat I feel wilt PsS," he saidaloud'The anj lyioq waiti-fr-m'unUreatneaby way of Gpty: a cunninS. nocr or A ttaqger' was answei.thoughtChateris. There balllike that swiveled heads Utack t untfii.-*liitwitl ;;;?iid. .uil.d ao*n from the clifttop, tlddiog e ry."t ;I c#;dti", and landed on the sea' They sank liko rionJ. A cioud slid over the sun and the water was immediatelvthebrownnearestblack' the u"tti"t. As he swungit wide andp,assed -;;Aii"A th;;eh. thenoisesof the waitingman died' To standhere tr" ambition of years. Charterisknrclt to kiss the il gt""td; as his kneesbuckled,he glancedlack and saw, E*mpfing over one of the yellow arrows,his own body'

144

The Serpent ol Kundalini j.grked upright and went on. He recalled what {e Gurdjieff had'saId: to ttrings keeps alive a .attachment Sol..u{d usetesstt ilf man; iG""ib-";ust die so rhat the big f can be Uo-. ffr" O"ual;-"g*;;r"' - peeling from him. Soonhe himself would be born."-Nobody w""t* io change. *^*:ljl".bling. lne rown was large and -Th; the _grand.The wiidows and paintwork, Charteris-.thougf,t, wer"-n"1y dglirl, formed by the buildingi were arso=ili"o ii, ni.. -spaces believed that architecture wai a kinetic rlri"t;;otid$; H" and that photographyhad - killed tn"ii*" spirit because people

had ero-cm^ ;*-a. t"!t"4";;- u,riii",es

ii; rather ", and $an b.Vwalking lhlough tti"ro"*a ,L"nd them seeingthem in relationshipt5. othei *b""'"bfd;. I" fi; sarne-way, the true humai spirit had Ueenkil;C. it *rfJ only be seenin and by movement. - Conscious of the'dram;-;ith, moment, he paused, .c]utcling .his chest, w-higperingt"-f,i.r"ff, Lb"cill F& ft" was revelati6n. ,{ ptil"rrii,? of movement. *941 .. . Dqences-lke photographymust be us6d to a difterent --pu{pose, and motion must be an expression of stillness. In his mind, flaring vlslon: g io tn" ltony continental prodigal F,rfofean tradition,'oi-*ial "ity and ,qry{ urue crooKeo allevs_a German citv oerhaps, "u.oues perhaps rn a motor 9:o:rq.pThaps Brussels.A"d h; ;;ui;;"s lllalcafe,.Jeading them, talking un i""ompi"hlnsible lan_ guage, tenmg them worship him. And t sdlen English chick parting her white thigft. Ttren it was sone. Simultaaeguity,a4 the.peoplein the Dover street began ^tg mov-e.Till now, they hid Leen stationurv,t ooo, o:*_ djmensional.Now, molion gave rfi; lif;-,ana t["y **t about their variousbusiness.'

- As he walkedthroughthem,he sawhow miscellaneous they were.He had imigined th" f"girh- L essentially a fair northern race with-the aa*_haila them as startlingcontrast.But these_ *"r. piopi" "looog Lrr;hrrpa; ,that, their featuresbluntgd Uy t""g i"i"i_**ri;Sri.i"i stuntedwith blurred gestures,uoi iuiyJews and dark

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people among them. Their dress also presented a more tremendous and ragged variety than he had encountered in other countrieg evenhis own Montenegro. Althougb these people were doing nothing out of the ordinary, Charteris knew that the insane breath of war had blown here too. Psychochemicalbombs had splashed down from England's gray clouds; and the liquid eyesthat turned toward him had a frigbtening glimFseof madness. He thought he could still hear the breathing of the waiting man; but as he listened to it more closely, he realized that the people near him were whispering his name-and more than that. "Charteris! Colin Charteris-funny name for a Jug!" "Charteris is pretending that he swam the Channel to get here." "What's Charteris doing here? I thought he was going to Scotlandt" l'Did yorr see Charteris kiss fle ground, cheeky devil!" - "Why didn't you stay in France, Charteri$---didnt you know it's neutral?"' A woman took her small girl by the hand and led her hurriedly,into a butcher's shop, saying "Come away, darling, Charteris raped a gd ln Frbnce!', The butcher leant across the counter wifh a huge crimson leg in his @nds a.ndbrought it down savagelyon the littblirl,sCharteris looked round hastily aid saw that the Sutcher was merely hanging a red boloney sausageon a hook. His gye! werg b-etrayinghim. F[s hearing was probably not to be trusted either. Anxious to get away from the wlispering, whether real orimaginary, he hurried up a shoppin! stre* that climbed rr.plill.'Three youqg girls walked Gtoie him in very short skirts. By slowing his pace, he could study their teg{ Al ot wluch were extremely shapely. The girl on the outside of tre pavement, in particular, had beautiful limbs. He adanklesolhe c-alves,the dimpling poplireal hinges, $tq.q" the thigbs, following the logic of th6m in imaeination"u; t9 flrg sensuously jolting buttocks. Motioq again, G thoughl; without that elan vital, they would be io more

146 TheSerpentol Kundalini intere-s$ngthan the butcher'smeat.An ove

t" ."rhibfbi*;"Ii-tJtl" grlls.rose withinffi:rtrt"ffi% it only by turning aslae

i"io-a ,-r,"i'; it *"r-*oGi -u Fght butchet'sshoo: he hjnself nung_oai"d'"oa ,tin o" hook, white, .a!rapint-trottered.-He f*"a ?irJJfy""uoi sawit wasa pig'scarcass. -- But asheleft the shop,he sawanotler of his discarded peelingoff and'irumpling counrer,IifeIi:_r* less. "r*-in" H.ehurried on to the top-of the hill. The girls had gone. Like.a noth, the stareof the *"rfa n tt"ra? nf. i"tt".ii. lol -h" wept for ir. The west naa JerivJ-rld.-iGrffi rfi: butchers. A view of the seaofered.itself at the top hill. Breathingas hard *,_l: waitin_gnT*'Chrit".l.of the somerailingsand lookedover tde cfif at tlie sea.grspt One of those.h.ateful phantomvoicesdown in G to*o had susgestedhe wasgoingto Scofland;ne saw tilil ffi; "ow north. He lndeedabouttd do-that;at feast,ne woufJtead hcpedhis new-foundmentalstafcwo"td enaUtehim to see the future with increasing_clarity; but, *[* n" madethe :gort, ,asif, it might b", nis..Vlrignt'.i*t"a ""*;;;seemed Ittempt to read small prir! th" endeavor b*Tt"gy selfdefeating,:the .nuU print ;f th" t t and.ran-indee.d, all he could Aistinguistwas re Uf"a a notice read]ng.something like row suRRoSwnicn woutd-nJ resolveinto cr.Ascovr,somesort of pfani with cdn;; bloomsand ... a road accidert?_unfi;t tt"tt ;ffirl" ytn,t|ry mrrddledimages, he finally,*i ioit thedirection Itr wnrcna6 mrn( was trying myopicallyand illiterateln to peer. . Oingrngto the railinS, he tried to sort out his random mages.LorarEuRRowwasno doubtsomesort of freu&he dismissedthe crinson ChristmasUtooms; ?l nonsense; his anxietyclusteredround the accident-all he could see IT a-gr-eatperspectiveof c-ras{ringand clanging cars, -tife aligned down the beachesof triplJcarriagewalrs a

BriutW. AWss But he had left his car on even to nim wit4 the budding "otnowo, po*e"s so far'away from what the sane **

iiattzna in a btealhles$ moment like a

147

that he that ho

eye. -' The shiPbumPedthe quaY. rf. tiobdat the rait" trying to adjust, as the passengers ure left the ship and the cars were driven- aleav trom

roortdoilui tnJ-iurt;sttug -*op"d down

noata on the oily sea'He listenedand breathing,the.raspof his owntody in lit ilriA ""tV In "*" or out of trJnce, he stood: and the quay his clothei. emptiedof PeoPle. 'tls therredcar yours,sir?" "You areMr. Charteris,sifl" Sfoifv ne-tutneatowara the Englishvoice' He extendiouchetl the fabric of the man's tunic' "f;'d"a-antl NoaAioswithout sPeaking,be madehis way slowlybetgw deck.Slowb,he walkeddownthe ectoingbely-p€rspecnve of the car ibck to wherehis Bansheestood' He climbed it his pocket for the ignition key, slowly d.;ilhrd it was alreaay in the ignition, started uP, and rcitiznd drove slowlyovertherampon to Engtishconcrete. ffi Too[64 acrossio the customsshed.A man stood the; half in shadow,in a blue sweate'r,armsfoldetl He beckoned.Charterisdrove forward and found it was a cortons man A small rain began to fall as the man lookedlaconicallythrougbCharteris'grip. itThis is England,bft my drean-was mote truer" he said. -'ilrhat's asmayber"saidthe man,in surly{ashion.'TVe had a war here,you know, su, not like you lot in France' Voul{ expectabit of dislocaticn,sort of, woutdn'tyou?" "Dislocation,my God,Yes!" . "Well, then. . . ."

"ratt "t]ftt ft". ti;iuoA

148

The Serpentof Kundabni

He dr.gv-eaway,-enormouslysloy, and the slimy yellow arrows licked their way un-der tii Uonnet. TBNEZ LA GAUCHB. LINKS FAIIREN. DRTVE ON TIIE LEFT.

WATNEY'S aEER.The enonnousgate swungope4 h" f"lt ;;; 4d love.He wavedat the-franwno ip"iea AL gut tbe ^ man ; staredbacksuspiciously. England! rne great white _lumpish-buildings along the front sgeme{to hesitate.He turnedand looTed-U"&l" fr", the ship-where-what *., lif-io-tle wet;;: "i 9n1pplqd.over oneof the arrows,lay one fu, i; i"J,'I; in the vision,discardec. "f 9nly now did he clearlyrecallthedetailsof the vision. to what extentwasa-vision- iUrrirr, to what extent a clearersortof tnrth?

He recollectedthe Engand_ofhis imagination, culledfrom doze,ns of Saintbooks]a S"""J, pi#ff"o"to"ysr trurse_ q"i.$, policemen,slums,,irti;h;,;; iirge housesfult of the rnrlnerableiewelryot b"eautitur';L;;: Th;i;fi; w-asnot.this. Weil, li_k"thq Soy ,uia,"6?r, had been a waf,, a dislocation.He looket tnJ* plopte streets.The few women-who*.i""i aU"t'movea in these fast and turtive, poorly and strabbily arr.il--tiping close to walls.The mendid not.mo1e.e crirsJoiafbmate inertia had be-envisitedopoo-tn" r"gilh;;;fi"" stoodwaitrgg.ald smokingin'ritue ext"p; r-"6;"ftoi, *o^"o ,"*ried lonely. In-their,eye-s, af;imal gtints of -h-e-saw^the padn-ess.Their -nitn pupils-flishei;;# frin rue anirnal headligbts,terat g.o""i"; th; ;;;,s greeq the meg'1rqdlil.e wolf-houni. u or* - uoit?." "i {]!tt19 fear clungto Charteris. . "I1l drive up td Scoflanq;le said. Bombardmentof images.He wascontosingG a".-ti.l-i."J"rd neverget there.Somethine haopeied_to hd'.l. ^ni woufO hap,pen Had hap-peneajnA wash* -d ooil* imaseof himself.oerhapsa d"A6G;;';rh#';fi; Dut a Dast thecast+ft fs tnit^curaii;ff ;;;;;ff'dil"arded before a ggn couldawatento tiue **ai*.orrr.-He cameto the junction *t"r",-i; d; vision, he had

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turned and walked up the steep shopping street. With determination, Charte;s wrenche-dthe *heel and accelerated up the hill. Under suddenpromating, !9 $ange{ ovg his sh6ultler. A red Bansheewith himself dtiving had split away and was taking the other turning. Did that way lead to Slofland or to . .llove Burrow? Iffs other I caugbt his gaze just momentarily, pupil$ flashing blank guanin red, teeth bright in a wolf snarl. That's one I I'm happy to lose. . . . As he climbed up tirE,hill, he looked for three glrls in minislrirts, for a butchet's shop. But the people were the

shabbypostcatastrophecrowd and most of the shops wereshuttered:all infinitely sadderthanthe vision,however ftighteningit had been.Had he been frigbtened?He Materialismhad a knewle embracedthe newstrangeness. bullet througbits heart;the incalculable silverpsychedelic took vampirafligbt. Abeady, he felt a cooler knowledge of bimself. Down in the south of ltaly, that was where this new phaseof life had festered fsl him, in the rehabilitation camp for thousands of Slav victims of the war. There he had been forced to wander in the maznd caverns of their derangements: and had learnt there in a hidden part of himself that sanity hadmany alternatives. Now, unbecaverned, he could see that his forte was action directed by philosophy. He was not the introspectiveg on the othet han{ he was not the simple doer. He was rarely conscious of himgelf, yet rarely unfeeling for others. As a good (lapsed) Comrnunist, he had little time for soul-searching;yet he hatl always spared a moment for inquiring into his own motives. Psychoanalysiswas anathema to him-yet he could detect the many forms that self-gratification took And where did thesethougbts lead? Somethingimpelled him: perhaps only the demon chemicals;but he neededto know where he was goitg. It would help if he could examine one of his cast-oft I's. As he reached the top of tfoehill, he saw that he still stood gnpping the railings and staring out to sea.He stoppedthe car.

150

TheSerpentol Kundalini As he walked toward thg fgure, monstrous things whe_eled in thefirmament,sankfikJ stones becamepreternaturallyacute.Althoughtri, ^_!r;^4*g onm-tootstepssoundeddistant veryhear at handwis the adal flow of his breathing,the tick of his watch, the stealthyrustle of his bodt'insid€ its ;lorhing. tid th; mal sr44 therehadbeena war, a dislocation._ As his hand came up to iouch the shoulderof the GurdjieffianJ,_it was in mid-air; tor his g"ori caughtth9 sight of something "tiqqbd uoving onthe sea.?oi-a moment,hg tltirtook it for somesort 6f a new machineoi anim:I, until it resolveditsetfunderhis startledfocusinio a ship, a _car_ ferry, movingclosein to the harbJ.-O"A; promeladel9ck, ne sawhimselfs,tanding remoteand still. Thefigrrrebeforehim lurnsd. - It had brokenteethsetin an indefinitemouth,and dark !-oF.prJpils.of eyesgnppedbetweenUaggytiAi. G Dne,rand snott5r-jts rlio puffed and discolored, "orc its Irap nar as short and tufted as fur. It wasthe waitingman.It

smiled.

ill oqqwaitingfor you, Charteris!" ll9g th"Vwerehintingdownrn thetown." "You don't haveanychildren,do you?" - -*W€ll, nq but my ancestry-go"iright back to Early

Man." *You'll tell me if you aren t at ease with me? your 1$w-9t _r-gyeals,I think, that you are a follower of Gurdjiefl' Ouspensky, really. , f'9"o9.{ gLres.s! ' The two are ons__ but Gurdjieff talks such nons-ense." 'You read him in the original, I suppose?" "The original what? "Tten ygu qrll realizs that the very -:msswe live in are

Thetinesthemselo"s, i -ed ::,f"I}1!_c1td+"Tq3,eh? rark nonsense-but the sort of

nonsensethat irakes ui simlltaneouslyvery scepticalabout the ota ,otrs of saorty." Charteriswasfeelingafggost_no apprehensionnow, althqrgh his pulsebeat rlpidty. far Uif-owon ,he qd; G

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151

could see himself climbing into the car and ddving the customsshed. toward *';f he s-aidfoft"ll-y' "AF .ort u" gtttiog along" -date with destiny' I'm looking a li* t Saint woJili"i, had forgotten the name; that H" ...' i*l i"* ""tiia. imase had been self-canceling "f,tfy houseis hard by here." "I orefer a sofoerkind." 'ifis sotter inside, and my daughter would like to meet anA iest a riomeit alrd feel yourself wetvo"--po-"o-" in Britian." lome --Ei-n"iit"Gd. The time would come, might eveg beclose, when all the gatesof the farmyard would be closed to him: he would fall dead and be forgotten; and continue to stari forever out through the window at the blackness of the garden. With a Jimple gpsture .of assent-how simple iI yet remained to turn the wrist in the lubricated boay-1j he$ed the waiting man into tle car and al' lowed trim to direct tbe way to his house. this was a middle-class area, and unlike anywhete he had visited before. Roads of small neat horses and bungalows stretched away on all sides, crescentscurved off and reioined the road, and all neat$ labeled with sylvan namrs: Sherwood Forest Road, Dingley Dell Road Herbivore Drive, Placenta Place, Honeysuckle Ayenue, -Cowpat Avenue, Geranium Gardens, Clematis,-Close, Creosote Crescent, Launrstinus Lane. Each dwelling had a neat little piece of garden, often with nrstic work aqd gnomel on th6 front lawn. Even the snallest bungalowshad grand them with a mytlical gleen nature once oames, linking-have existed: TalI Trees, Rolling-Stones' suppoied to O6rianView, Neptune Tiles, The Bushes,lhuggy S-hutters' Jasmine Coiage-, My Wilderness, Solitude, The Laurustinuses,Our Oleanders,Florabunda. *What sort of a fantasy Charteris grew angry and said, are thesepeople living in?" "If yori're-asking sEriously,I'd say, Security masquerad' ing as a little danger."

t52

The Serpentof Kundabni

"We aren't allowed.this sort -- of private propertyt -- r--'-* It,s an r' offenceagainstthe state." worryt _--,--?-ol't lt'r. ull dead_the war has killed it. The ;11e1o1.wnict ff, , ,-. cliJtzatton ia, lee" built have

oeensw.ept away-not thatqost or theinhabiLntsreifrzi it yet.I keepuptheoretence Urruurcoimy ai-ugh;;;* Thewaitinimad.uegan-dil;t#ffa certainway. regarded hi'n.ryrfi.ty-*t;fA, 9lryrir corner of his eye, becausehe fancied-that

accomplishins ratheranacc.ratenggoyoi ft;e,*-;;; ruJ a""gn[?t d;r;Afiilffi goodwasit thata" sglwasvirtually;""i"i.i'iiEiilJi pr.oved ro-g",t". cliili"frr;i?frlq theoneof !|cry.;she the..three gds in a miniskirt

n"-naJmoJiadoririd ;hi; walkingup the hill. The iUusionfasiid;& a split second andthenthewaitins-ln wur-tirattilgi?irrally agaio. "All-pretencemist U. Urotiof ffioilnat quest is the on

whichI came

*r,*

afil"gl*ir'*T 1operhaps 4, strangers and should talk"formaly%g.tirii musrsayrharI believ.e,ve.y tteepiytlat tl"r6 fr-i ,?'Jrig"

for.celatent in man which cin beiwakeneO-;

"I(und?lini; ftrm Ieft nJri, Cffi.i"-tiiia park Road.,, "'What?" "Ibrn left.,' elsedid you say?you were swearingat me, r b";'yril *Kundalini. you don't know your Gurdjieft as well as you pretend,my friendl Socallei o"orili6oto., speaks of Kundatini,oi the servant.aK*J;td; strange force io g_uo wlich canbeawakened. tlen,-yes! I wani to awakeuit. What are ..^'jpufrjr, all tnesepeopledoingin ttrerain?" 4S $",y drove down petunia park tealizedthat the niddJe clasG-. .-.;ffi.gRoad, Charteris ;"-"dy ;; in thgir gardens..::;# p#;;rs cnaracterly^"I::tf tsucactionssuchas adjugting ani,uAiog-&g-"r;;r{es pe5.:bgt post weresidply,6rirg ir,t"?[","ud. "f.eft here, into Bronlosaunri Broadway.-Listen, my boy,.Kundalinl,that srrp"ot, ,t.ufOi;-ffi deeping.Il,s tpthing fusirablel Repuisive'tn"gn Voo -"y d"A-tn"r-

153 BdMW. Aldiss oeople here. their lines have at least been dedicated-and

ffiKtuttt;

oo tn" whole-to kgepingth"-.9,":p"lt*1""q:

ing. I mean,securitymasqueradinga1-a fttte dangera ;T; --it" ; A;ll' ttf" ablerratioi,whereasKundalini-" *.ti i"iJ somelong rigmarolewhic! Ctarteris was a red Banshee,driven to-io[ont; h" had-iust-seen the top of the road" past "oable u"-"iiti,* E*arcm." i, slide uia w"s Aist"ttiA ty it. attnougb there was much he *-t a to learn frod the waidng man, he must not be a"n""tra from his main north-5ound intention, or !e -igbt fnC himgslfin the positionof-a discardedI. On the that golng north TiSbt brine ot6i Uana,it was possib^le him into dGcardmeit.For the fini tinie in his life, he was awareof all life's rich or dessicatingalternalives;and an ureewithin hirn-but that might be l(undalini-prompted hifi to go and talk to people, preach to them, about cultivatinsthe multi-valued. *Here'i the house,"said the waiting man. '?ear Tree Palace.Comein and have a eup of tea. You must meet my -Atdaughter." td-eneat little front qate. barred with a sunset pattern, Charteris hesitated. 'tou are hospitable, but l-hope you won't mind my asking-I seem nyself to be slightly iffected by the PCA bombs-hallucinations, you know-I wondercd-aren't you also a bit-touched-" The waiting min hugbed, maHng his ugly face look- a lot uglier. "Everyone's touched! Don't be taken in by appeirances here. Believe ne, the old wo4d has-gone,but iis shell remains in place. One day soon, there will come a breath of wind, a n6w messiah,tlie shell will crumple, and the kids will run streaming screaming barefoot in the head, tlrough the lush new-hallucinatory meadows.Come on, I'll put the kettle on! Wipe your feet!" "It's as bad as that?-' The waiting man had opened the front door and_gone inside. Uneasf, Charteris piused and looked about. Kinet' ic architecture here had spited the viewpoint with a crazy barricade of pergolas, patios, bay windows, arches, exten' sions, all manner of dinky garages and outhouses, set

I54

TheSerpentol Kmdalini 4mongfancy trees.y*t.Sgtq wo{d. AIt hushedunder the fne misi of rain. ffi to, him, small {eighffi!;ili squaxes of anemicfancy, fu;sbi$;pirij"ry.

He found himself at the porch, wtere the gaunt rambler canesatreadybore snouri.rf d;h g;#i. fine showof New oawn_in to;-f";.;';;nths.fnere,C Uea An en_ chanhent waited ner^1 ue **t*ii,"f*T"i"g the door ope.q.tle wantedto hear-or. utout fri_^iiri"i. At the back of the.house,tl" *uiti"l*_an was in a small kitchen,all paintegg,e;n-;J;fi every surface covered withpattei.n.a

Jililfu*, a picture $tr p,gopqhr.ryrgg in.p1n4-.! g;ld. d#"te :lE9 ffio frozen people,sheepbrokefrop thgir

e""t"surea"d wen:t;th; ramJqgeanong wheatripeniogio*"rO t"il"rt. Per-lagsinsdnctively,ih-;id;g;;tua r*it"n"a oo

ui_*ctrd{$r#F.:Jr$,

great oatrttsof or all srn.* bands au time. ume.We W9rp_spinlrlg ioi*i"-, r-rutl.o arra+r^ this oner^for Auntii

Betty and all the bovs.at--,No'st.1d"",il;t",, Cottages,lhe Tip, C-oAvrue,i"LT;;;ftre_rho 2 Armourv m-o-+

orttJdr.iiJ,&rtEf;T,ii#ffffilffiil s-eatioinrr

MoonJight Serenade.,,

With his mouth stighfl.ryopen,-rhe waitirrg man beat time in the air. watchin_g tne lreacfy.*i"-u* it rosein a foe_tidbreathfrom the-flettt;;iff**i*;*'ed acrossthe ceiling. *-'My *ogntrt isn,t in. I expectshe,llbe back soon. Why do.-n't you settledownhere-wift o, io, bit? There,s a nice little spareroom Ppstairs_a UitLAf" but cosv. You neverkn6w-you ,ightf.ri i"U; #th her.. Hg-regemberednis.nrsiFear; G ;;d;g man : that he would detain Charteris.i" ;*t"d;-rGe. N&;;*; F; "b"rgmade. subtly,theattemptut argoqoqwry ;g.t . "And you,rea folower * c*ajrcftJrJlour" Charteris asked. "He-w-asratheran unp-leasant customer,wasn,the?But

ft_.rigo*,

a goodguiaetnrougbtnei" hrlid;i"ry

BtianW' Adiss

155

't want to waken a strange force that I feel inside me, but you say that is Kundalin[ and Gurdiieff warns against waking it?" "V;ry definitely! Most definitely! G says-rn-az pusj awake, but the sn-ake,the serpent, inust be left sleeping"' He made the tea meticulously, using milk from a tube which was lettered Ideal. "We've all got serpents in us, you - know!" He laughed. "What is this serpent of Kundalini then? Come 9q -ot* with ig or I could pletty easity brain you with this kettlet" "'It's an electric kettlet' *f don't carel" At this proof of Charteris' recklessness,lhewaitin-gma1 backed aiay, helped himself to a saccharine Prll, ana your tea while ifs hot!" said, "Enioy -siree, one of the great ones! And now for a "Yes, welcome changeof pace-" Charteris was coiscious of a mounting pressure inside trtm. Sometling was breathing clos€ to his left ear and stealing away. "Answer my question!" he said. *Well, accortfthg to G, the serpent is the power of the imagination-the power of fantasy-which_takes the place of a real function You take my meaning? When a man dlpems instead of acting, when he imagines -that'shimseff to be the force of a great eagle or a great magician . . . Kundalini acting ia him. . . .n' "Cannot one act and dream?' The waiting man appeared to double up, sniggering in repulsive fashion witf his fists to his mouth. Love Brrrrow-that was the sign, and a pale-thighed wife beside him. ... His place wCs there, wherever that was. This Pear Tree Palace was a trap, a dead end, the waiting man hinm€lf an anbigtrous either/oilbath,/and sign, deluding yet warning him; perhsps a manifestation of Kundalini itself. He had 6ot his tasks in the wrong order; clearln this was a dead end with no aew alternative, a corner of extinction. What he wanted was a new tribet Now the waiting man's sniggers were choHng him.

!56

The Serpent of Kundalini Abo.ve their bubbling- clin, he heard the sound of a car engine^outside,and-gtppfi- hiJ.;;;. fne tea ..oi.*"

lor:T Sg"t across 14eiritist tioo.Ou"i ni, fists;th;Utfl; figureglared blankly,.A nir-. Cn.rdfii;; P:lt:d 8nd ran. "t

., fuoogh-thp gpen door. Birds leapedfrom the lawn to lhe eavesof the Sungalow,leade4 t b-.otioofessil; ;; instant motionlessneis. Down the path. The rain had lured out a huge black rlug which cra^wledlike a torn watch+trap before him.

ft.9g.u-*. Thesuqsetfor-ivei*iln-itGi

*v, -^-T:len caught in motfled iron. - Tg the road. But he was a discarded alternative. A red Bansheewas pnning awa],,with;;-;ih;glttt"rf i;;; the wheet, puiisanitull .jf poi"oti+ .ufti-ia".a, saviorshaped. He ran_after-it, calling from the asphalt heart of Bron^rosaurus rrroadway, leaping over the gigantic yellow arrows. They ysls b€€omingmore difficuit-to neg6tiate. Ids powers, he knew, weie failing. He had cho-sen*ro"n9wT ly, becone a uselessI, dallying with an old order instdd of seekingnew patterns. _Now the arrbws were almost vertical, LrNKs FAHREN. The.red car was far away, just a Urur - m
GOLDEN ACRES Krr RBBP

and iteath ate taboo sabiects that most of tlg'"iiii&i'7atln* Apeinp ,iifw" to touch unless-.tlwv are well aeatn are what reall! matterqnd iiiui"'ina ;;;;;;7. i3 iipl",t tna ine tue witer rnust deal wi-tf' Kit Reed is but this bittersweetbut not bitter story was i-i"i-irit"r, in a magazirc.,Nor.in tp.United States' *"i 'k i"iitt"d Shc ;;p;;;;f iist in a niasn collection of lry stories' intiri"s ^. itot basicallyit is anuqbeu.nnd positivestory oitd, oft", rereading,t rrltrstadmit tlw she is rigltt' 'I can walk, daomit." After a scuffe Hamish threw off A" t"Utoy'J hand and went into the elevator himself' It troubied lim that Nelda rode serenely, submitting to- 4" roller chair. The bellhops pushed him in the corner of the if"nutoi, ciowding him-wi?h the secondchair; th,ey h"d-i! tott of fhe Scofieids' luggage, and when the elevator let them out on Four thei-took off with a look of spite, roffins-the chairs down-coniAors so fast that Hamish had to ruito keep up. His frail lunp failed him fim'lly.13d helost them; he cr'ine round the last corner to find himself alone on a tong cement porch. The pale stucco building 157

158

GoldenAqes

99 f:."{-to S"-*ay around a courr, or square, and when Hamish4looked over the _porchrail he siw a'pool gnd g garden Qelow.He would frave waved, or caledout pu1 they-we-reboth empty/ except tor ttre tamo*iu-.""ugnt and a t-ewilprobable flowers.He turned back to the porch and a series of identical doors, all louwed, all closed. "Nelda? Nelda?" He hated his voice; it sounded old and thin. He was breathing heavily, whirling in indecision when a , soor opened ctownthe way; one of the bellhops beckoned *ith u condescendinggln.Jley lad arrange-dl.leldain the middle of the suiteases 3nd -nqt-boxes,tableau: woman aniving at a resorL Her hand fluttered at the bosom of her best voile dress;in a lgrngte her smile would fly apart..Uamisn,, sni'saia, "fsn't it beautiful?" ..That will be ail," Hamish - ,Ihp bellboys were lipgering, sard, but ti_ey were waiting. He made a little nrsh at them and tben, becauseNelda was pale and tremulous, he went oT, fiyiog qot to look around-him, .,Just U.aotihrfj''aod *1:,o h:,bgk{ op this $m$e beUlboyswere gone. "!o9I, they've put the TV where you can-see it from the bed." IIe was looking-out the door; when he had watched the , Dettnopsaround fte last corner he closed the door and turne_d-tohe1,full of misgivings: - "Ngfda, I don't know ad,out this place, I just don t know." 'Floney-r_you,re going to love it, it's all we ever dreamed." She had Fer hlt off now sn" w"" b.d;h; ""Atouching tlr; ^etil !o make a little tour ^of the room, bedstelds, I"-Trgg hertngers .!ou over the t;;" "the the dresser

cans"e 1"j,..*1?,?5].tu oed, JustIrke they said ".uj$ in the brochure.,'

TV frdt;;

"Those look like hospital beds." "You-can glanL yoltf,selfup any way you want.r, She memory: ..Everything for safety and com^qyt:.t-ft9q ron." trut she was running her fingers along the wals

Kit Reed

159

when she spoke again-her now. thev were Formica, and :

vtv toi"t-toack shelr,r dodt 'iiii,irn;flk;t ;;il;;i kni6t-tnactshelf"' r*llru J*"i.i-v

"I rioi't seeanyllace for arrything." nu"g m.ykqick-knackshelf"' "ffr"V ."ia f g"i f{ani.n ",ioiA wasn'tG6niig; he was movingre-stlessly' the oattakiis i" E" o*"otor drapel ^theand bedspreads,. was turniture Tlie walls' Fot-i"u on -Jiu ;;h of each for one racks, ruggage two il.ffiitr.iii?a;i;; ^two bolted chairs straight A*."ttl"tttt tft.-, t*o beds, i"iffiu""; at waistheightall the way around,therewas a "I don't needany resentment: in sudlaen ;J.'f;-#1"4 soddamrail." "-;.;ANb THE Hor PLATE. r don't seethe hot plate." *iifr

'oOn 1"r.," Hamishsaidfrom the tiny bathroom' theioilet tank. Say,wherein hell are all the mirrors?nNelda'svoicerosein aliny wail. "WherecanI plug in hairdrver? How can I do mY hair?" *'Ii;irh';;;-&;;i mv th" batiroom before she fnished' He had his arm around her, saying, "Honey, are you sure tlirL *n"t Voo wuofl I mi,an, it'i not too late to change 6grminds..." Shewavered."Oh, Il?mish." rwe could be balk in Waukegan before you know iL We could be ltome."

But he had lost her. As he spoke her arms dropped and in the next secondshe was tugi'ing at one of the suit'cases' to tn" bed. ShJiook out a sun hat and put ;;;tli"ttt;" it on. "Hamisb, Hamish, tftis is home." "ft's a damn motel." to buv in here.' She had a Printed "We sold beach dress by the Louldels:she was shaking it out.t "We're going to love it here." "Nelda.

. .tt

on the iliiiwas aheadytoo late. Shehad her sunshade bed and on top of-that her sneakersand her aquaCapri pants.(It costirs ten thousanddollars,therearethousands

160

GoldenAues on the waiting-list. Do you think I,m going to back out now?" He went on patiently. .I. Just. Don t. Like. What I've. Seen." She=turned,brandishing a purple sweater. .,What would w9-tg-.llrhe neighbors when we gbt back? What would we tell Albert and Lorraine?" He knew what he wante$ t9 .qy, he wanted to say To hell with the neighbors, to hell wiin atert and Lorraine. but somethinq pul 4- -oS; it wasn't the neighbors, ii wasn't aty|$y who had been at the farewell -pau:tyihe yasn'l afraid of any of the rest of rlem, SusteiUeri inO Lorraine. "We'r-e going to love it here,', Nelda said firrrlv. .,It says so in the brochure." She had the children's pi6t"r* ..Albert. now, shewas setting iAAi". $9m ol her dresser. Lo:farye. 'I'here,that's lovely.,Isn't it lovely, Spike?' He jumped at the soundof the old name. She came closer and her face had dropped years. "You1l see, Sp-ike. It's going to be just fifd ; dcAA bonelmoon.. ." He would have kissed her tfien, he would have taken her old bones in his but there wai a knoci on the door and before either of them- could answer, a young man came in, leading a bearded old man who leaired fr"uvifi on a cane. "Mr. and Mrg Scofield?" _ Ilamish stepped in front of Nelda. .,f'm Hamish Scofield,..of lViukegan, Illinois, *A- iC lik; t;"1; meet. . .tt The_young man walked on past; he ran a quick finser around the carnation in his lapel and saia,^unaer iis breath: "Clutter. We don't liki our peopd io five-i" clutter." Wgttiog quickly, he folded Nelda's family pichues and sw-eptthem into the dresser drawer. Albert'. EAOi". I,orraine. Hamish knew he ought to protest and he *o.rld haye, !9o, if it had been her silvEr dresser set, or her velvet lined vanity . . .

Kit Reed

t6r

was neat as a "There. I'm Mister Richardson'"He ;it "r;the pallsel here' and -foia, ii nit-pi"tulp"d -Cl"tt "ir*lJ our SecondOldestRgsidgnl" hilt. *tii; nesiaentraisedq hand from uoder or.itit G;o just.bofore ,ir^i;ile;-h; ano Hamisn touchedllgers to be sure came "I saying: aside, ili.n"l[.J" u*tn"a niAnd if Acres' Cotden af her6 nappity ."ttf"O *"t" rio lhere'sanything.. ." HamisliandNeldaboth began: "Mirtor. needa damnshaving-mirror"' a placefor ' ' .'' ih"tf, r neJd "iriu-ti"t-Lt""t *. il"i,*atoo ** .titl tuiu"g. .. if there'sany$i1gw9 in toucn yorr haveonly to set -know cando to makeyou happier, them will you atteid*ts, ,"u"tii with any of our G.uo., they wear white, the coior of Hope' And now. ..tt

"l would like . . ." "If you could just . . ." ". . . a few simPlerules." Hamish stiffened. " Rules." "Rules. Then Cletus hete . . ." Cletussaid,hopelessly, "Mis-ter ford']'. icld; hJ"-"ill tett vbu about the golden opportunities for you, but first . . ." waiting -;WElflJuid'Cletus,'there's the Rotary and the Golden Agers and. . ." "Cletus. ..tt ". .-. a"a the Close ShaveClub, I'm a charter member' and the Amvets . .." -ni"n*Ato" had bim by the shoulders' "Cletus " "' "'Ms-tetr Ford?" 'Cletus, I want you to go over to that chair and sit ouietlv with vour lfoees together and try and remember manageiwent on, through tr b96r io*'plu."."-The fteoa'it you can't remeiber your place, you know what will happen. don't you?" ftuoii'rn ioUAnt be sure, but he thougbt he heard a aisiant rumUte, as if of a gigantic gocery cart. If he heard it, then Cletus-heardit tooithe old man shrank, clioinish-

162

Golden A*es

4g !.fof their eyes, folding himself into a chair anr drypiog his handsneatlyundeihis beard. "Y-yessir. Yes sir." Hamisb had his mouth open, he slas list€ning hard bur the-.Ilmble, or whatever it wis, i'as gone. - "First, a little about our many beiefits. Of course manr of them are obvious, the swimming, the sun,-thth-a;;i complnlomltip pf people your ouff ug"; puiti.r- io-if,i moonlight, dancing on the esplanade. . .,t Nelda.said,dreamily: ....,. dancing on the esplanade "rtut there is much, much more. Did you Enow, for hstance, that thcre is a dispensaryon every nooJ-or Oal the Tower of Hope . . ." Richardson smileil ou"i'ni, aation ". . . that's what we call our hospital . . . the Tower "ar. 9f Hope is-only tbree minutes away? Did you know there rg an attendant on duty on every terrac€ twenty_four hours a day?" Hamish stiffened. " Atendant.', "To answer the cry of dishess. The fall in the night. The suddenseizureat dawn.', *The doctorg" Nelda said. ..Tell Spike about &e doctors.tt "Specialistsin every ailment of the human flesh." Richardson smoothed plump hands over his dark suit. "you are safein our hands." "Safe. See,Spike, I told you it would be wonderfirl." "Reveille at seven sharp, marches over the intercom .. ." Richardson was grow-inglyric. .,Breakfast at eighq after you cleanyour room." Nelda frowned. "Clean?" "Walks and therapy until noon, then lunch. Then naos. Then clubs. pinnsl at five-thirty, bed by nine. Cookingbn gpecialdays, with permission from the desk." '?ermission from the desk my ass." Hamish advanced ga him. 'oD1tnel at five-thirty. Bed by nlle . . ." "Bed by [ine," Richardson said firmly. .,you are safe in our hands. Safe to live out your golden years in this California paradise. Now Cletus here " Cletus

163 one asleep;Richardsonkicked him sharply, perforating lrukle."Clctus,hcre . . ." ht-wh,ih. osteoiomyclub, cribbageteams,-the' ' .'' "it 'ttEL l"t" it a living testimonyto the goodlife' When n" nrst cani io U"r" he-wasa holiow wreck' Weren'tyou' Cletus?" -T--. Club ProgressStudy Club, Great Grantlmotherso *Sir? Oho silence. an ugly oi ...,' iietus iecame ai'are Yessir." ves. '--nl"naiason went on, gratified. "A few day-s-in our hosoitat.at"w monthsin-the sun, andlook at him nost' H;i.ori itconO OldestResident,loved by everybodyitr the Dlace." Niatda'sfacewasnaked."Loved." ffit'itl *t"ted to pushthe othersout and take her in too many and he yas loo old; he hisarms U"t they weri *You'll undeitone, * r"i{ i" --ili"natAso" -always-beloved"' had prit his handson old Cletus,trundling li--i"to O" spotlight."O.K., Clefirs,you'reon'" Sdflinga vawn he bowedhimself ouf barelyrememberingto say: aReniember, you aresafein orn hands." Ha-ish countedto sixty, and when Cletusstill hadn't saidanything,he stoodoverthe old man."Well?" Ctetuswai scratchinghis head."IVell . . . Oh, the clubs' Well. Well, we have tf,e biggestSunshineBoo-stergroup i" tn" *notu United Statesand a MasonicLodge s99on! to none.And we havethe largestKiwanismembershipin but he wasdistracted, inio,otiA . . ." he was still 1,al-king, drittiug away ofl a distant sound."Aod the Lions . . . a-ttamsn n d .. . " said, sharply,'You were telling us about the KitReed

clubs." a little ierk He "The clubs." Clefiis carne to with'oDo you have any looked around furtively, vihispering. ldeahow bisthrsPlaceis?" 33Tlny"Neldasaid. "Exclusive.It saysso in the brochute.' His voicedroppedevenfurther. "It's "If,s a boneyard.'n vavt,"

164

Golden Acres

Nelda said doggedly, ... "Only a few well-chosen-couples," ott saysso in the brochure.', ..Let Hamish hushedher. him talk." _ -*I tried to walk to the eOge oi this place one dav. Maybe I wanted to see if tne wtla-was;tfiiE;.;h;yli; I ry-st w11ted to know there was iagr. I wa(ea anO walked. You want tg know somemingi; "o tte weni on in awe."I walked for miles-" Neldasaid, crossly,..It only seemedlike miles.,' rramish was leaning forward. ..And you finally made it to the edge.i ,,Walked Cletus shook his head sadly. until mlegs gave piot""tfo 9u!. They-9ome and got me in u ,oliog "nuir. tusl as well, come fs think of it. M,blood pressurewai gving me hell." ..Ihe clubs. please. you were . .-ry.ldu ryid, alxiously, telling us about the clubj; "Hell with the clubs. I always 'eIIhated clubs.. tle C"ta"n Agers, just _--'But the companionship. like you.. ." "Fossils." Cletussnorted...Bunchof bones." dont r,eally mean it." Nelda turned to Hamish. --j'Y.oo :rie ooesn't realv meanft. If.!: di4 he wouldn't stay." "Hate the buililings, too. All s-efu-of nifOio aoa'argy_ 101." "The pool, how about the pool?" 'T'm too damnoXdta swim'." Hamish squinted at hirr, puzzled. ..But you stay . . ."

ri+htI stay."Cldtu.&i*-tl"ri L tl6 window. -_"D.amn -Look out there. See-that w-hite thing sticking up, taller thananythingelse?Thar,sAe fowiiofild.-ii*ptdi

round here." .'What's that tall black thinfl,, Ilg"irh said, "Torpigl arouud here," Cletus o[ut ?, not answer. ingj-"qe facrqs ar,emadeof Corning'Ctass." rie drew the shuttels and faced them belligerently. right.I stay. Where else could t get ro:und-tlti ]lDup" ctocK medical care? p-One shot every mdrning, all the hormones I can take, Doctors, nurses,'gyr1, catcb me if

Kit Reed

165

Hamish not something FP I fa11.' He was squinting at*Don't ttifi. knock it, buddy' This anler to r"* J.r-eA place alive." me is keeping *:;If-th;t;lfiltJ g"q it isn't worth it' Hamish said ansrilv. "ff that's all . . ." f,Ielda cut him off. "That can't be all." i'All? That's pIeW." Cletus paused, listening to somethev could not make out. thine _.lf?.iJh *as on him in a flash "What's that noise?' ftJ ota man was uafty, insolent. "There isrt! any it was coming closet, and Clefirs ooi*.; But there was, 'iArchie, lvfcoq I bet ifs for Arlike a spider. f""p"O Hanish &iec to hold him but he was too late. "See "ni!.t sai4 and scuttled ouq slamming the door. vou'he '-il to&-rl;hnh ; couple of ininutes td'get it open and when he di{ he saw only the cement porch rcceding,-the t"sulat march of the posis. He turned Sack to Nelda then, w6nderine how he co:Ua get her to oofire away with him, how he iould begin. Slie was aheady busy with the suitcase, pulling out clothe.s and spreading them on the bed. "Nelda." She wouldn't look at him; instead she picked up a mimeosraphed paper from the bedside table. "I-ooko the newrpipei. It's 6alied the GoldenBMe;' "N-elda,please,we have to get out of here-" "It sayi-here ihey're having a Shipuneck Party-Friday; . . .' and therb are shufreboard lessonstoday at four 'nCletus, CleOutside someone was calling fainlly, tus. . ." *We don't belong herg Neldq I thougbt we might but we don't." 'Then where do we She turned on him in sudden spite. belong?" "Cletus .. . I know you're in here, Cletus. Come on out.'The old lady came skidding into the room in white Gtound Gdppers and a white lawn dress. "Excuse me,' she said when she saw them. "Where's he hiding this time, in the shower?"

166

GoldenAqes ..8"g your pardon?, ll"l4 put on her best aS. loves to curl up"He on lhe seai. . . Comeon't shesaid -lmking for hd ;ai'vi, g;il;T; lSralenuy., "They're him ftpgg.tt

"Well, he urar here, but he . . ." "Just like him to ruo out, just when the pressure is so. . .'n Hamish took her elbow. .What pressure?" She shook him off. you_icnow. Being the Oldest Living Resident.Sorry _...Oh, I both6red voo . . : interceiting her with a smireso . .\"t4 step_ped-forward, ldgnt that Hamish was embarr"Ssedtoi-n"r. ..Don,t so. We were iust hooine we'd get to meet so.i ot rh"-p"6i; here.' "Look, Ihave to. .." 'T'm Nelda Scofield-and this is Hamish ..., Nelda,s vo.lce.yg-nt up, quavering. "Couldn't yoo ,it aown ior a minute?tt "{ yall-y oughtto ..,., The old lady seemedto seethe rced in Nelda's face bec-ause,shesaid,-a,bn fr"U-r"* lY"F"'* Lucy Fortnnain," and pfoppea in one of the chairs. The silence was ragged, embarrassing; Hamish saw gorng.throggh.her pu-rse,nentatt!'.six"g-"p ;ir; I"ld" larder, rcalizing she had nbthin! to oftei her He 6rest. had come tliJtar for herco--f" n.nJ'in his pockets. "Have a Life Saver?', The old ladv turned.with a graciorrssmile. ..Hell, sure.,, -wedon't .h;;-;;4hi.gTor -"I'm-so-rry exciting to offer," Nelda said. Hamish saw ihe *-u* oo-th-r';d:;; tears. ..L€mon was always my tavor.. Lo"y patted her hand. ite.t' 'That collar,', Nelda said. ..Ttiat's a lovely looking . collan" . . "Daugher made it. Tatting. I taugbt her when she was a kid." "ft's lovely," Nelda said. "Margaret m'oldest. Do you koow, I have sevenkids?,,

KtReed

167

boy Nelda touched her flat bosom' "We have two-a and a girl." "OhI how old are the]t?" forty-three. Lost our yorurgest when "iltty:oi;ana he was in his teens.' --.,'i;t -r6dt'f-o.y said thougbttully. "That's just about the cutest age." 1i;;;d"td have seen ours when they found out we saidr "They.ryerc fit to.be tied"' N.tdu f."oi"g;' '-;brftofi'tri "'"t mine," Lucy said. "You know how kids are,tt -aTh"o bessed us to stay with them in Waukegan, but when I sho;A them the brochure, how beautiful it was' t""ft, ttt"V just had to gtye in gr-acefully; Mother, they said, we'li jrist have to give 1qgracefulln" --i-""v riid"'Tyell, fiy kidJsai4 {it ofo agv dag byt here, tfiey'd iome and-drag me outn but they know I'm in such good hands . . ." that "I [now." Nelda was gaining confidence."f sensed the attendants, in. All we came as soon place as about the thedoctors..." the " . . All the help,' Lucy said. "!fs as close as brooding' her head, lowered brrn*r by your be&' Sbe whiie she said, with determined cheer: "And there Aft"t iot"" of parties and stuff, clubs and dancesand all' My "t couldnevet give ne all that.' kids "ft's all so fiendlYr" Nelda said. '*;ll. uh. Yes."itey have people to pick you up i{ vou fall and people to come in the nigbt if you have a--bacl and feopte on the terrace, they're-paid to talk to itr"-, yo,1 uoa peoptg to b$ng you sh9ts.you don't even watrt ...; I-""v to"s U"ginningto sound depressed'"It's all iust geat. If only . .." Nelda pressedher. "If onlY?" Lucy ihook herself. "Welp. I'11 say-one thing' We all haye a lot in common here. Sameproblems, sameregrets' We've all come the samedistance, and we're all going the *All in the samedamn boal' sane way." Shesnorted

169

GoldenAffes quiet$, .,What do you mean, going the

Ilamis\-said sameway?" "l elplain, It's just that for everythins thev sive ""tlt theytakesomerhing

awiy."S[e-;J"il .y9u.T 41pta"", bleakly, 1'Some moniingsI getup aiO aoh'tk""* ;lil I

am. There isn't even any mirror, sb I can check.' .,you qrsls telling us-aboutthe peopl-,', Nelda said with .

t6;d;g, id; P.iehtdeterminatioi.,.rot"iesii-fr""ir,'ut

keep you here." "I'd leave in a minute, T th"y'A let me.,n Lucy stood like a small ramrod. ..Kidi don't i,ant me. it*t'i irAy\;i here." Nelda's voice rose. "No.o' _"We[ I': I off. Thanls for the Life Saver. If you see Cletus,tell him they're after him.,' 'Waitgminute...', She was in the doorway- ..How many charms you got on your grandmother bracelet?" Netda said defensively: ,.Five." , "You lose. I've got trrenty-four.,, The door closed on ner. jail," Hamish-said,tegting for a reaction; Nelda ._ l?uql nac ner bead fimed so he couldn,t seeher face. .,Justlike a da+n jail. Even the damn chairs are bolted down." "Now, now, settle down." "D.amn jail," he said again. o,prison furniture. prison rules.t' Se qg! down the nightie she was unpacking and . "f s-upposettrere-weren't any rules at Albert,s F-q. nousez ur when we wele living with Lorraine? .Don,t use ,, Hir voice that clai1, was ugy, but he P"{Ay ...., ., recognized the inflections. .We,re going to-lidve somi peopJein for dinner, Mommy, I wondEr it"Vou and DaCdy would mind . .."' "Don't." He knew it was already too latreto head her off. 'Yor used to have to smoke in the coal room at Al_ , Lucy made you srop tyiog flirr. dd h"w aUJofif ,b:-t"r txose morningswhen you had tdgo down ainu" il ""Uu,

Kit Reed

169

srx, so you wouldn't wake up anybody when you

couqhed?" --7.Thev're

our kids, Nelda. You'll put up with a lot of urnss i6i uds" Nelda"we were bori in Waukegan,and thatt wherewe belong.' "So vou want to so-backandlet themgo on hurtingus' Thev don't needus-anymore, Spike,doo't you see?They oasiedrul one day whenwe weren'tlooking,they outgrew irs and everydaysincethen they havebee'lrgettingSgg1 and strongei aid tne two of ui .. ." Shetook his hand. 'We hadio getout of &ere beforewe iust fadedaway." "Dammi{Nelda, the/re our past.They'reall the future we've qot." Hamish freed himself without even noticing what hEwasdoing.He was at the windownow, tired and to thougbtful."I read somevthereabout how they__used handleit in New Hampshire,or maybeit was Vermonl Put the old peopleout in the barn everywinter, stacEed 'em like cordwoodandleft 'em to freezeuntil spring."He 'ulhen

pressedhis forehead againstthe shutters,dr-t one sunny day in spring all the children and would some for then, they'd lay the old bodies out in the sun to thaw so they could help with the planting. There they were, out of the way tmtil somebody needed themAnd when they woke up they were lrome where they belonged,all warmed up, with plenty to do." "Hamish, thaf s t enible." "They werc tueded. What's so tenible about that?" From where he stood he could see part of the porch and the finges of tbe court below; he could not see but imagin€d a hundred tbousand identical quadrangles stretching beyond, all quret, all orderlS all crammed with bodies full ot pills and iniections. The old peo,ple-wereall in their places, hooked up to intravclous tubes, and around thlm the tooms were neat and tidy with no iuoS in sight; someone had swept out all the fragments of their nist uoA there they were taia out with their hair bnrshed inoo&ty and all- the character laundered out of their clothes. He and Nelda would be iust like them soon, they

nA

Golden Acres

would be .. . He turned to,Nelda, breathinghard. *They wereneeded.Who needsus here?"Wl"T Nelda spoke her voice was so low he hardly ,beard her. gfmining, he made it out: ,.I need yod, Hamish.' He couldn't help himself; his mouth filted with tears. "Please,for me. Rememberhow it was . . ." She didn,t gQ on; she didn't have-to, her tone struck echoes,and

th9roomlhewasqt6r-bea;ide,-ooliigf,'ri XltTlll,p h"-1tatl promising u"ytlinglu'tt";fi;-iliti;; qg {gI winter wasin the room ana ni wai promises,feedingher on 'ou

her alive on

were sicl you neededto think . . .,' "f still need. I need to be safe. safe- I'm I,m sick to death of peing ti-1edan{_sick and being afraid of being sick. promise you'll stay, Hamish. For mi?. - He wasn't ready to face her; he didn't have to because !!9 dgor slapped wide and Cletus was in the room like a li4tr+g bolt, with limbs flailing and electriciry cracktins in his beard. Before they could-stop him rc sfimmea -UurtnE door and headed into the tiny baihroom; n" was rowing g th" shower. When Hamish went in after him an{_tried to pull him 6uf he turned and spat like a caC *r€t go, you son of a bitch, they're after me." Lll"y wa! gext, crowding into tne tiny bathroom, and .. the three of them went. round and r9g!4 Ct.tus fl;i,pi"; and blubbering, Lucy tryrng to pull him off the slio^wei seat. "Corne_on,Clete, no use fighting. The cartnsoutside." "I-et go,dammit.r, Hamish found hims-elf crowded against the basin; he upgo.it, rrying to stay out-of the way. He was ly*qod conscious of Nelda whinperingJust outsidethe'bathroom door. - was wheedling. .,Come on . "Come on, Clete.', Lucy boy, comeon. Tchum on." He poked his headout. ..Havethev qone?,' "You know damn well $ey !ave_n,t-Sone."She grabbed quickln before he could duik Uact io:'totle snof"i; shi

l7r Kit Reed they began manoeuvrilg nodded to Hamish and together

6"3Th-"i'of"'*l"r?$;s:+"*y,*whvdidvouh along come it could; Tl Y:,T'?Tyil3i r".. butHamish The old man coulol

I didn't want waslined with pain' Sn" t"ia' it]Q9.Fo*: easier"' a little []l ilJt,n"irgrtt it nignimate w shot' it's pasttime for orni.p"ttEl;i-"'*t H6 was shol" myt"S;i;" and --rou Ynrrss Dvrnanyshots'clete' and angioerans' had so "-ti*'?oa'ws' biby, they'll on' baby' . -!tt- ^-: \.-raw( iome come on, vitamin pills, and..X-r?::-"""a'Ws. rrr-, onr{mqwha '- '- '^r, maYbe tidY,-and and o".i uff take You . "Maybe?" He soufred

He pi"tirf,

, howling. "I don't watrt to

feel steppedin front of the9l{ man; he could throat his to-clear stie ana he had uir^ilittiu#'going wolk prgpgrlf' "I-ook here'" voice-iluld his before twice righi' If he doesn'twant to no have il:^iliffi-it""''You

*Slt#[iiit

'cHe t* withoutpassion' hasto go' rt's

tine." *iietus

here for a was blubbering' "But I've only been miwte . -." yeary;' She moved "Fourteen years. rourteen mortal man'sshoul-

aroundtle 9ld ou.ifilnJtn-, i;td;g fftti;il."-*"i*4,ft for me ryh9nI carnein' *uy ih" #i. in here'rf fd ffi""' iti"t-U.ta rot--", uLiogshgved for y9"'' '" comc to h-ave..to go-g ffi;;?ff1bat r was oY: trviPg mouth' her iito ntt +9i to no $;'i;d"d wagnt to "I!9 ilh"f;h-r-;as-able snesaia, $a-nis!r'a fight'Hegotus titi" u*Jato put.uPa he-ll.of i#;tft; at dinner,andlater|glts.' ' "' , napliins "'L'fr?ilb" good'I my.shot'.I11be t#",I havent-had otr El$ nose his wiping was Ctetus . .' . *ilt p.tiJi beara. "?d*" on, Clete.Braceup' Takeit like-a man'" her 'i;;;'t;L, it"-oot my tutn'" He wrenchedout of

t72

Golden Acres

grip, grinning slyly. "It's not my turn at all. It's your turn s "Oh, Clete,you're a caution." He grggled"falling into an old pattern of banter. ,'Or maybeyou're so u$y they won't take you." "You old goat ..." She brigbtened."Hey, that sounds more like my old Clete. Now go on out there and show thoseguysyou can take it like a man.,' "Oh Lucy, I'm afraid." Lucy looked over his head at the Scofields.'.IVould vou believe he was the best linotypist in the East? fhats ihat this placedoesto you." ..please _ He was weeping,wiping his eyeswith her hand. don't let them take me, please." "Takes it right out of you." "Lucy, Lucy, Ma. Mom. Mom.Mommy . ..,, She still stood proudly but her old face was glazed with tears. "You see?" She patted Cletus on the shoulder. "Th_erethere,baby. You'll be all right . . .', ^ Hamish said, qirietly, "Maybe y-ou'dbetter tell us about

it.tt

But shewasn't listening.Shewas patting Cletus,saying, *Yo-":! be all right, I'll lake care bf you . . .,'Haimis1 would have shakenan answerout of hei but shewas busy with h9_rown thoughts, planning. ..W'ell,', she said abstractedly, "I'll show th.ern.',Then she was busy with her buttons and in the next second her dress fefl t6 the floor and she-stood, straight and proud of her stiff white muslin undersliF.-"Here," she said-to Cletus. ..you just slip into my frock." -- "Lucy. . ." fiie old man should have been protesting. Hamish wanted to take him by the shoulders and shaki -until him and scream into his face he turned and went outsideandlought... ft was too late. Cletus took the dress and shimmied into il.stuffing his beard into the bodice, not caring that his lgry ar-s and black trouser legs stuck out incoigruously. Whe-n.he-wasr-eqdyLucy held him off at armt bngth, revolving him with one hand. "Yes," she said finally, "You'll do. Now you go on ou!

Kit Reed

173

and if they try and stot you, dqck inlo the l-adies Room' they'll foflow you into the l-adies Room"' i a""'rttti"t "Lucy, I . . . I don't know what to say.' 'tNi"!r mind. lggs just say you're-not.up to it,-and I iYou go wait in the Ladies am." She gave him a shove. Room until you hear them leave." -He danced on the doorsill for a minute, looking as if he would thank her, or apologize, or beg her to change he-r mind, but it was apparent-to all of them that he didnt reallv want her to ctiangeher mind; in the end, he wasn't evei able to thank her.- Instead he said, dully, "It's time for my shot." Lucy watched out the window, quqilg--back to -th9 it.'She smoothed Scofieldswith a grim smile. "He made *Well . . ." her put to hair. ahand her slip and Hairish moved toward her. "You're not going out thefe . . ." Shewas cool and proud. "WhY not?" -You know what's out there." "Hell yes.The deadcart. From the Tower of Sleep." Neldats voice went up and up. "It isn't even your twn.. ." "I'd rather go trow, while I still have some choice. After all, I've still got my pride. Pride's all I have left." She looked past Nelda, talking directly to Hamish. "You understand.If I'd just held out, you know, when they tried to put me in this place. I could have sold flowers or something to earn my keep." Hamish saidn"Or campedin the train station." "Or gone on relief," Lucy said wistfully. "Anything but this. I gave up everything when I let myself be suckered into this. Well, it's been nice knowing you." She raised one hand in a $adiator's salute. "Hang on, daumit. Hang on." She turned to Hamish. "You're still your qwn man. Better get out before it's too late.n' Tte door slanmed behind her. There was a second of silence from outside, then the sound of a scufle, the rattle of bodies against metal and the crash of heels on the

174

GoldenAcres

cement. Hamish could hear the soundsof arms and heads in de,speratefriction and over it, Lucy's voice rising: "Let go of me, you bastards.I'll climb on by myself.uThere was a long pause and then the rattle, or rumble, recedingas the cart took her away. Before the sound faded Hamish was at the suitcase, stuffing Nelda's resort clothes in willy-nilly, putting sneakers i1 on top of her Capri pants and finishing off with ttre sunshade,not minding that clothes stuck out of all the cracks when he sat on top and tried to close the thing. "Come_on," he said, assurningshe was with him. "If you want those damn ftids' pictures, you'd better get their pictures. I'll sneak the suitcasesout the back and wait in the bushesby the gate . . ." ttNo.ot

'1 . . you can tell them you're going out for a liffle walk .. ." He climbed off the suitcaseslowly, seeingthat she had taken the family pictures to her bosom. She was sitting quietly in one of the two straight chairs. "Give me those damn things, don't you want to take them home?" "f'm not going." *The dead cart, Nelda." He tugged at the pictures, he had to get her moving. "The Tower of Sleep." She let go of the pictures unexpectedly. "f akeady knew." The pictures fell betweenthem with a little c.rash."You knew?" "Of course I did, ifs in the back of the brochure. The tiny print." He was backing away from her. "But you didu't lell me.tt

"I was hoping you'd get to like it here first. It's perfect' ly fair," she-said-matter-of-factly. "When you've used up your quota of medicine they come fo1 V-ou.The funerals tr"r" ui" beautiful, I've seenthe card; it doesn't hurt at all and in the meantime you have everything you want"' "Nelda, its monstrous." She stood now, looking at him so steadily that he

Kit Reed

t7s

backed into a bed and sat doqm. "Ifs bettertha-n anything

ir-n"a-"1tho."

dar"i nghtswitn thekids;beio.qti"kl

Krlro or being afraid. They have drugp to take care.ot that of Tower the in tli"i. tn"v have dverything iou need over There there' somebody iatt--tnere's H"pZ,*.#d tf Vou wain-i anvbodv-therelast wi$ter . . "' He win'ced."NeYer mind."

;i iui i" tnat aueytor twglve

t"tt.tY:tl

!?o*'. T, around a corner to get out of the cold and-there r was m slush-running under me and blood in my tnr-Att-"itl even call for help' I don't want-to.go couldtr't -oom, I going tht-;Et th;i;gui", r aon't even wani to be alraid of . .' . through it, and I don't She was near t€afll; she openedthe suitca-se9gd9.l *: ing out the Capri pants, and when she .had couectec herself shetook a deep breath and beganagatn' --:;t Oool want to b? dependent on the kids' They're at us all the time, Don't thls, Don't that, and as soon as comti thev scru6 us and prop us up in the ;il;*v livini-room, Bxhibit A. Well I'm not up to it any more'

Hufrsh,fm justnotuPto it." -ft" siw anopening."Are youan-ybetteroft here?You

know what we ire? Vegetables,goddam vegetables,they'll tend us and water us and cart us oft before we can even die on the vine . . ." l'It's worth it for a little comfort and safety." She was oushins him away from the suitcase,trying to unpack. ettrr i fttle scufre she gave up, saying, sadly, "f was hooine vou'd set to like itlere. I1 only you'd get to like it heie : . ." S[e changed her tone, accusing him. "You promised vou'd give it a chance." ^ 'I didntt proiise to drop dead.I'm going home.' "You'd rather go back there and suffer . . ." "Hellyes. At l6ast fll know I'm still alive." He had the suitcasei6 himself now, he was iamming things in again' srysstling it shut. "Loob I'd rather be huqt arrd sick and afraid, Itd rather be living with those damn kids . . ." "Don't make me tell you. Promiseyou'll stay." Somethingin her voice arrestedhim. "Tell me what?"

176

Golden Acres

lJ.do_n'twant to have to tell you. Hamish, the kids . . .,,

of ieie.-,ihT *o alreadyin _^:11"_r lusj got to s9l out ..If motion,rrying not to listea i;; irsie"t toing Gi*, rt getsdark . . ." , "The-kids." The wolds poppedinto the room. Nelda

'ff"Xx'#*,ffi ',iTIa T#fl ,*J*,l lfilt*sfr

raiger Tley'were so damn- sympatnetic; all about how awful winters were f.or how ire aeserveAbetter than _us, that, that and tiving in ta,it-iooms'.lTr* too sick to -v"'en9e

ofi1. rhil fi;y ;il"J u""dJ r;;iJ"r. 3*:_ plcturesof swimming_p-oolg

and'people ... r don'tknow.it ir'i*_tJ;#;fi#j, nf"y6 fi th;;; andafterthey left r lookedat iome fft"o to dreama little bit." "Lih;l;ld^;il "You don't have.to tell -me any more, Nelda, just reggnper me^whenI'm goni.'; "Let me ffnis[.', She-trad him by the arm now; her fingerswere like iton Uunos..rd#;;day they came uagk tfey s-ard,how yolld *" fitl to T"y Golden Asres. thouehtjt " about

it, i ioio-,1..L- niur111.r, ;;;b;bilA -ngtrtfor peoplewirhgyltol,tsUut-weiift as soonstay

home,with them,and then. . ."--she didn't have to he didn't want to have to finish, but she seeme $oirh,to go on' lIe mJo-io

stoi

heq,-he said,"Nelda.l.'oo*u

"Then I found out. It was all arrange4 fteyd o-urstocks the down payment, I wdsupposed sold off !o-r to break thenews."She

went grifrry.;j;J'fr";;t with my backhurtins "n tfior"-j;;;;;g """a

thatironbed kidsstaring

j'"#*:Hli*#.*:.ffJffi "#*?:ffiT F,ilt "f know.,t "You didn't know.r, "f didn't want to admit it, but I kn-ewit all along.,, "So here we are." a bravelitIe

' rraigtt i"iitft'"' dt""rfftT.tfu ' "* do it, Nelda, "f cant f luoJto go.,,

smile'

IIe was desperat€to

Kit Reed

t7?

be away, to have her come with him before the manager ot tn" fiJntoys came along anil locked tlem $; hg tuggS 'nCome 6o, com" on," she ui l"t, t-oviirg, 1nd when said, "Do you want to sit and wait for *oJitti't-oioui'he tl"-i m"y[ come wiin tne 6art and after that they'llput our clothei in a box to be burned and then they'll scrub iverytning and change the linens and disinfect the room' NekJa, wfien I go, I frant to leave somethingbehiird, eveil if it's only 4-s srr7ell." She diiengagedherself. "I1l miss ygg fq much.' "I've atwiyi been my own matr' Nelda; I've got to p where somebodycares." "Do you +hiirk anybody oat there gares?"-$ey wery havine i tittte battle over the suitcase;she made him put it downind shehad it oPenagain. *At least they1l feel somathing about me, even it'r !f onlv dislike." He tried to lift her with his voice. "Maybo I'll go back to Waukegan and get a iob." "Waukegan doesnt want us, Hamish, nobody does."

"I wasborn in that town, my pastis in the streets,my past and my futurenif I've got any future. I've got to go and see.tt Sheshook her head. "You're only fooling yourself." "Then let mo fool mYself." They were both crying; there was a little silence while ne rumbtA in the tiny closet and put on his coat. Nelda brushed his shoulders and turneil down his collar and sho spoko,fually, saying: "You-ll need a few things. You can"t gb - off without a few thinP." He hied to steadyhis voice. "The overnight bag if you dont need it." Shesai4 quietly, "I'm not going anywbere." "Ioll get a job, I used to be a pretty good b:icklayer. Then I'11find us a place and I'll send for you." He too& *You will bome,won't you?" her hand, lingering. Shesai4 with love, "\Me'll be together soofl." He wrapped his dry bones around her in a fierce embrace. "I'll find a place and then I'll sendfor you. It wont

Golden Acres be long.'He let her go and now he was in the doorway; bo had to break away or he would never be free. Her voice was so low he could hardly make out what she was saying: "It doesn't mattef where we are . . . it won't be for long." He migft have turned. He might have gone back inside the room to plead with her but the sun was on its way dovm and in the distance there began a subtle nrmble and he knew without stopping to think about it that it was cominghis way. 178

CRIMINAL

IN UTOPIA Mecr RSYNoI-Ps

Mack Reynold.sis alive and.well in Mexico' He has lived ii'i, uXitta, more countriesthst there are Statesin thc -iion. As ot' on-the-spotstudentof political systems!ry t^ io" ttgm all, and maaecomparisotts,so tfut in his fiction lE has woduced mpre ilteresting systemsof govmisgovetntnent-tlwn have his sedentW ii*"n
180

Criminal in tttopia .be$room! sole table.- He said into the screen, .Credit balancecheck,please." robot voice said, ..Ten shares of _ Yjthi" modents,_a Inalienab-legasic. frro ,h;; ;I^V"rt;i" Basic. Currenr cas.hcredit, one dollar a"a tw""ty_tt*!'ients.,,

doltar uod ry"o-ly-thd ;;,liT" ..__"9o9 mott"rd. grtrg Zoroaster. I Ad,r'tthink-itil"u" to startwith LHglf that little

on hand-" He dialled Credit and waited until a face faded in on . the"screen.

It wasa Uusinerstit", UJr[, i"rriUri i*p"tien;

. ."J3rol !I_ay, herer-1{ssistantCredit Manager, InalienableBasicDividends," he said. .$e1=Moran put his Uni-Credit Card on the screen and said, "f'd fike air advanceon my dividendsj, . The--oJler was seated, ;-d;;k. itust a moment, please," he said and "t iie listened to a -touched ; fitJ;. report on a desk plrone screen then looked b;i-.; Moran.

"you'reatreddy i*o -oo&r-iiJ"a'.',, *I know.tlat,, ReiMo;*-r"id dr;;dy, ..butit,s an -emergency."

'jlt _ ls-alvays an emergency,Mr. Moran,,, the other said flatly. "Whaf is the gggrgency? your records show that you are almost invadably-as fir ahead Voo catr get on mpnthly dividends.-As yoo muri i;d*, ". 1ou1 tf,e-gi"e;

su"[aava""e'i L frcroignn, ffi'#3tr3i1:"t'."r'J.'9" t'I

know, I knowr" Rex Moran said, an element of gompJaint in his voice..,fue t"JTrirJ'r* 'Ygb uv of bad luck. Qas thing after another." 'Vhatis thecurrentemergency, please?,, . Rg-"-Vot* wishedhe hid thorugni-*ri. out in more detail beforelaunchingqt;_ his iffi:ii"Hd, -e' ^rv sB ..r,vegot a sick brother,

I haveto io nefo:; ::!Vhereis this brothEr, Mr^.Moran?,, "fn PanamaCitv., . . "9o9 moment, !rease." The other went back to one of his desk screens.in only -"-""t, n"'i*t"J iip-"j"il wi& a sigh.

MackRqnolds

181

no recordl of "Mf. Moran, the computer banks have or anywhere Ci!51 oorrttuuioe a biother at ill, in Panama Moran Mr. And denied. " 6rc. neqGst 'Yeah-?" Rex Moran said in disgust' "' manager in atcredit a to lie fiE-u .ioot ofiense to I shall take no dividendrs' on advance an tempi to secure o" tnit o."usion, but the fact will be entered on ""tf5" recotd in the computer banks." vour ';.O-h; off his Cr;ut; n"* ltloran growled-.He flicked muthe anyway," work diin't expect that-to to".o."il tered. ---He thouebt over his plans for a few minutes, then and diatted the local branch of the *o"-*"d-lir-rnodders box, He was a man in auto-delivery his on ritra-market, thirties, mildlv burly in build and with a not hd;it a broken face of one who has either t".Uv "irpt"asantbut or perhaps been a pugilist' In actucombat, r"""'toitiiuty neither was the case. ality, --{frJottt.--arket in the screen,he dialled the children's tov section. bovs' toys, and then military type toys' He fiiatly nariowe-d it down to- guns-and dialled one that c"me to onlv seventy-cents.It would have to do, He put his Uni{reAit Car
t82

Crimirut in ttnpia The other was a tired lookingobvious h"pL-?f^ewyearstheothersideo]-sixw.-* aristocrat,per_ Stiil froumine.he said,-:Tiil;il I do for you, Mr. McCord?. jryt g_otbackinto toqmand heardthe bad news.fm .'1I

irff;1|;*s"

me,I\dr.n"*in;;;

ftleni;il"r;

...the_ other,s face lightened slightly and then went sad. see.

l$rJ

r amurrfion" ruaiTii"iiii".e yourname,

-!u! llen Jerome had many E;dr;;om I tnew Iitfle." "Yes, sir. I'd like the- opportunity to '" ofter lences "' my condoin person,"n"" Moriil"i"i.' rne olcter man \rras frowning slightly and began to respond. But Moran hurried.on._,,ButI also have somethingof Jeglr's that I supposeshoutdgo d;;.."-" rrcx *WeII,Moran managed to look slightly embarrassed..

su,I... weil,Tthl,rk;';d?1;b"C;

iliJ;;; brought it over.', The other was mvstifed. HowevEr, he shrugged..Very

v9.tf"gman.Gt Te see,r snaiiUJi*. at, saynine I9[: noursthismornins.and shouidU" uUrJio-giu"foo," t"* minpfgg."

3'Fin€, -sir. I'll be there.,' Rex Moran switched oft the *g:l before the other could say I.,irtn"r. ""ytht"*

j?i:$$3r. ,ff;:lffil"T.:."J"T *$,T$ ffi'::ld,H good.

I{aybet shouroo,t #;#'thfii;;;; tI1r:,1o, l,W.tfit w_on't mateanyCini;;;.;, Hl |ao orqn't take tle

;;

vasunm fube transport from his own

11{{tn9, Foy"e tn3t.arycord ;;J k"pi;f au trips in the coqpulgr.banks, and S" ion"+oo-_ifiit back larer o.lSr Uni-Credit Card ndmGr. r*rEfrl! """ "" watkedseveral blocts andentered p"tri" t"nd"ii*' " ^ couple I: t*Eq 1rpft the m1g and selecredanotherterminal a of blocla from lis d;ti";A;;; fren enteredthe trext twenry-seater eoing^through that p"i"i. Aftdp"tfi"; his credit card in fre paymentslot, he realized that with

183 Mack ReYnolds ihe buvine of the toy grn, he probably had only a few cents ieft-to his balance. He didn't even have enougn r".nit io get back to his aparhent if tbi-s little romp that would give the bovs if he had ;i;H;d"-wT.t;i*sb to walk home. -ie l"ft th" vaccum-tube transport terminal and walked to-tn"-U"ifOiog wni. Vassilis tiieO. tnis was the crucial i.i"inow. If ihere were othem present,his plan had come if he hai read botween the lines ;;;;";:-lto*e*'"t, Vassilis lived alone in his apartiv{r. the senior corr"dtiv, *es1 iLthis swank neigbborhood" --tnJt" ** an identiiy screenin the front entry' Keeping crossedthat his Universal Credit Card woul
"The apartnentof Frank Vassilis." The'Vassilis apaxtment\ras on the top floor but one' Rex Moran got out of the elevator,found I door with the VassilisnamEoo it and activatedthe door scleen.Whenit lit"p, Ui saia into i! "Roy McCotd salling on Mr' Vassilis,by appointment." the do6ropene{ andhe steppedtbrough. And cameio a halt. The man standingtherein a dark suit was not tle Mr. Vasillis he had spokento earlier on the teeveephone. This worthy was a stifrsh type, of possiblyery. ms eyeswent up and down Rex Motaa iupercitiotrSiy,taHng in the lessthan elegantsuig taking in the nrggedfeatures. IIo sai[ *Yes, sir. Mr. McCord?The masteris awaiting room"' vou ' in his escaPe The master?Holy iumping Zoroaster,Vassilis had a man selrant" Whoeverheard of personalservantsin this day and age?The obituary had hiated that the old boy wusupperlass, but Moran hadn't beenthinking in terms with a servant. sorich asan establishment of some-thing Howewr,-he followed along.It was the largestaPart'

184

Criminalin|topia ment he sould off-hand ever remember being in. They wentdownonehaII"tu-g4 rtgd*d;;; anotherone. ev# qjar-"fr,;;;;"" -There-wasn't thedoorbefon which-they _stopped. Tne. s"fraoi-t"iLo genfly and opened thedooi-before

-y iipry."ilotd"jil -' +g;tfi; oldVassiliswasexpecting tim, .i*T rne serrantstoodstifly andsaid, "U ;.I[r. Mccord.,, The erderly ngn uoiar'hia ;iii-t"'on . the teevee ph9n9eartier$,e! ut fr;;-;h;.; dr;i#; fgoked comfortchair,a smll nleniSins-g-*I t m do.zen solt?mpson a smalta6le"before 9r him. He was ";A; evidenfly a philatelist. He saidl.Ah- ves,.l![r. Roy MrcCord Jerome,s Pleasecome in.t'hs'the servdntnaa Ueiorehim, friend. he took

andg*rr"r-upp";;;, illyto1t t clotling slighfly.

ffiSrnTrlB

and

hiseve"Now, wnifisii icin aJf"; fi;

Rex Moranlookedat the seryant. Y*1lry said""That wiil be U, F**to.,, turned and left, closingthe door quietly beht#tffi No needto mince.uTqog.Rex Moran brought the toy gun from his pocket bri"fl.y, il td;ilr rerurnedit to tiis side pockli, Uit*riU"il'jdingsee i! and it in his hand. ..This is a romp, I\dr. Vasillis.,, R rui$,

,*' ",#;,iffiiffp#,lt"H';'J#;#i'n Moranlet-hisTacegg.enpty.,i-*"oiafr,t put it that way.Let's

iust savthail,m d;d oi -tiui"i"'iloot il;;drg my share

ff"Sffif;,$ii'..

tn"Jowi'

sveit to

otd mlanstaredat him. ..you are a foo! young _#; maybe nor.', Rex Moran jigged the gun in ^r,]'Yll,F; his slde pocket, 'Being suggestively. a tbiel doesi't.m1k9 se-nge in this day. Societv hasmade arransemenrs

qoOrr.iffi

..frifrr;;,rnffi;i There'snotenorrthprofitin pettycrine toliy ofi.,

185 Mack ReYnolds *t-didn't exactly Rex Moran grinnealat him sotrln in mua' Mr' vassilis' Now' hand me d;;t6;-"t't# credit caf,d." vour '"*vffit;tdkind Nobody but r of crime is possible? -cant my dollar credib. I -give them away' be "*'tp"oA thto* them away, cheatedout of Iil6i" Gt'"*"v, OotyI canJpendmy dividends'" fr"-. -;w"n-i* 'T'[ow,let's Juo"t a*"-Rex Moran nodded' na"e iorn 0"ivursal Credit Card." He iiggtedthe gun in hiepocketagain. -fie took a beautifulleather older-mancontemptuously forth a standard and-brought poctet inner *allei6;an it over. handed He Card. Uni-Credit 'Yoo have a vacuumdeliverybox.tn tfis n{"i* tui4 yeah, herc we are. Zoroaster,look at the size room?Oh, of beiogan upperclasslike nJNow tlafs'the advantage "i yotr, Mr. Vassilis.You shouldseetle teenyauto-delivery 6orin my mini-apartne,nlIf I want anything9! a"V-tf" at all, Pve got to use the box down in the lobby of the cnrorny buitding I'm in. Now, with a nice big autode[veri box like'this anythingyou wantedwould haveto be reaily super+izebefore you couldo't get it delivered escaperoom." rigbthere -Vassilisinto your gai{ *You are a fool, youngman The officials willbe afteryou inno time flat." Moran ginnea xf him and sat down before the bo:, on the other. lle P9t the card in the keepingoie eye -slot *Credit balance,please.'' teeveeic'reen's andsaid" *Ten sharesof InalienableBasic' A robot voice gaid, T\wo thousandand iorty-six sharesof Variable Basic' Attt""t cashcredit, forty-truo thousandand twenty-nine dollars --ffi and eiglteencents." lvfotfr wbistled" "Tbethousand-and-forty-sixshares.of-Variable!" Vassilisgnrntedcontemptof him. Moran &a[ed the ultra-markeqthen sports,4"o l*tttg, th"n handguns.IIe finalf selecteda '38 Reccfless anitdianeAit anda box of cartridges.

186

Crtminatin tttopia

He thought

for a momenf rhan ,ti^rr^ and-serecteEp;i-,cTl"LT#1"fffi ghqtogra

"Mght as well do r

fii: #tn-T;dJffi"fil5.iHlf,':H;"rT

',i[fi *"1;:hy;*X *,,lffi ffi-qrilfiffi t"'"i""Li'th 6 *';;;; Ht"lff'hryrffiHi

and took histime ,#:fi*^X"ffi"ffi1fr"ffn1f*t

ffiffr; F.lfftru;l1i"ff "ri"li-!,ffiffi *s;$l*t*#"":,-l6;, oterthing. i _one agai4 su a .ly{r_(trousand-dollar diamond rins.

ffjt}ff"ff* "j!*f;

He turnedbackto

andcampins'*? "iliffiy"" ,.And

now, old man. fqnt.V.assifis. here and sticr *iltruru*fit ioui llu.Jr?l*Tr"I f refuse?,' "Supposo Rex Moran prinned .,Why should you? Like you said"whenyou "t ryF. your credit doflarsTl"rt ,n ", ,n"'iirn?fies wiII return andcome nonoe-r*

*il'Ji,#iojl;Hr'ffrf#

il"l

rne order man, gnrmbling, c4me erect in his chair. He cameoverto tho auto-detv6ry

mi .ii, tm u sneerof hisintruder, ,toJr ni, ,iiti in ru printon ;fJ:r.Tr*:* Mome_nts later,the afticleshad arrived.

tohiscomfort;i-"i.-. Yry{ryreturn6a

ffiffiffi-*l*

.T - tr€ mutt€re{ havehilf ot thesebut that big a draina mind to order a few more on you" a6-unt all at the

MackRcYnolds

187

same time migbt throw some relays and have the compeople check back." outer ' et7ft"1it Vassilis said bitterly. Moran ginned at him. "What's your beef? It won't be vou ' - who loses." HJ iook up the rope. "First well tie you uP a bit, old chum-pal, and then we'll call in Franklin, or whatever you ca[edlfm, and do a iob on him." 'Youllhever get iway \rith tbis, youyoung cloddn" tbe old man bit out. "Famous last wordsr" Moran gnnned back at him

u Backon the strreefhe realizedit wasgoingto be necessary to walk to his next destination.Ifis credit standingsimply did not allow even such a small sum as riding in the vacuumtubes.However,happily, it wasn't as faf, as all that As he walked,he took the toy gua from his pocket and threwit into a wastereceptacle.He had the real rhing now. IIe found the neighborhoodand had a choiceof tbree alteroatives.IIe took the smallestof the shopsand enTherewereevena few displaycases.How anachnistic uld you geL He grunted sour amusementto himself; here was the last of tbe kulaks, the last of the small businessmen. A quiet man of about ffty entered from a back room and took Rex in before saylng in a soft voice, 'Yeg sir, what can I do for you?" Rex Moran went into his act. Hesitantln he said" 'T understandthat you sometin:s buy personalproperty." "That is correct. Buy and sell. But what type of property, Mr. ... ?' "Adaflro,'Rex Moran said. "Tlmothy Adams. I have a ring that used to belong to my mothec It is of no value to trle, no% and I thought .. . well, I night as well realize what dollar credit value it has."

188

CriminalinUtopia

"I see.Pleasesit down, Mr. Adams.Heirloom iewelry !1a bit 9f a drug on trJ niarr"Ci,;t ;; t"r" a look., He sat himseffSehind Gk-;d-;#oi!a "ri t";A;At chair. " Rex Moran sat down_and brought the diamondring f* ti.j poctet qqgproffeidir T#-;th"; took it and se at Rexirroranrfishm,ii: l!"fl rurs *"^ ts a 3!]:._Hqlooked velr' modernseffing,Mr. Adams.I haii gainjO !h9 impressiodthat it was*;id;bil;;;* motherhad left you"" .,Shebougbt . "O!, nq" Rcx Moran said. it not too very long before she died. t nqd-a *lfA; someone,I niglt giveit to her,but _q f haven;tl gvenly...Mr. Adams,f am not -'Ibe otherlookedal a fe.nca,ylu know.Thisryo, is u t.gEfiut" Uorioirs.,, "Fence?,Rex Moran saiAUGntfv. 'T buy and sell such.items F;t objectsand jewelry, but -I do not receivestotengoods. Wd;Aa y;;t t;,ii motherboughtthis?. "On a vacationin CommonEur-Asia. In Budapest,I tlink, or possiblyBelsrade.,' _ "!o it wouldfie uniraceableherein the UnitedStatesof the Americas." *Why, it neveroccurredto me." mg .. $op _ovnertook up the ring and looked at it &org[tfully. He broughta jeweller'sglassfrom a drawer andpeef,edthroughit. - He put it doqmfinafly and looked,at Rex Moran. ..flI giveyou two hundreddollarsfor it.,' . "T\tro hundreddollars!My mothersaid shepaid more thantwo thousand."

'Then __ high,r!: p+{ too much. The markup on jewelry is very Mr. Adams, and such items as-this cno t lie a very long time to move.,' Rex Moran thought about it. "Make it three hundred." The other consideredthat. .Very well,'he said fnally. sBut f am making mistake.', a "Yeahr" Rex Moran said sourly. He brought his Uni-

MackRoytotds

189

Credit Card from his pocket and stuck it into one of tho slots on the otheds ExchangeScreen. tnJ shop owner put the-ring in a drawer, brought forth his olnn Uiiversal Creait Card and put it into the other ttan*e" tlot. He said into the scr€en' "Please transfer the three hundred dotlars from my account to this "-or"ioicatd"" other '"Iransfer completed." A robot voice said" his Uni-Credit Card and came to retrieired Moran Rei bis feet. *I still think I was robbed," he muttered. the other said nothing simply sat there and watched after hirn as Rex Moran left the shop. Well, he now had three hundretl dollars to his accounl That was x demn sigbt less than he had expegtedto get. However, he hadn't dared b'uy a moJe expensivePfce..gf. ieweky than the two thousand-dollar piece, on Vassilis' of a chance of ireCit cara. There would have been more-IVlore chanceof the shop owner checking on such ql item. if drained had he traced' Besides,, it being able to be Vassilis' account too badln there might have been a somouter check at that point. ' He strode rathei rapidly to the nearest vacuum-tube transport terminal and-int6 ig wanting !9 get out of the neighUo*ooO as quickly as possible. He took a two' seaTervehicle to thd downtown-area of the pseudo-city' if can be said to have a downtown area. a pseudo-city 'When heieft the vacuum tube, it was to emergein the vicinity of several restaurants.It was iust about noon, but since he hadn't been able to afiord breaHast, he was feeling hunger. Well, tbree hunclred dollars was three hundred doflars, and he mi$t as well blow himself to a fairly good repast in an auto-cafeteria. He selectedone and sat himself down at a table and stared dovm at the menu listed on the table top. To hgll with anything based on Antarctic krill, plankton pr-otein, or soy Seans;he was up to some real animal protein and Zoroaster could take the cost. He put his credit card in the table slot, his -thumbprint on tbelcreen and dialled chicken and a mug of sea-booze.

190

CrimirulinUtopia

He would have liked a shot of pseudo-whisky to begin, but his funds weren't that unlimited. Ifis wrist teeveephone tntz:ed,. He looked domat it in some surprise. He had it set on Number One Priority, and only tw6 people in the world were-etgible to break in on him on that priority, and he certainly was not expectinga call from either. But there was a Jtrangdface in the tiny ss:reen.Strange and severe. . T\: yoice said, "This is Distribution Service, Subdivi. sion Police. Rex Moran, yorr are under arrest for attempt to violate regulations -immediaiely periainine to usase -theof the Universil Credi.t -Card. Report to nearest police Administrative Station. Failure to do so will compound the felony." .. "Fiet losf ftrzz-_john,',Rex Moran snarled. He snapped tle instnrment off, then stared down at the blank screii in dismay. Wh4 _h-a{gone wrong? Especially, what had gone vlr-gpg so quickly? It had to be something to do witf, his selling that damned ring. But what? He hid expectedthe dng qo stay in that tiny shop, waiting for a cus-tomerfor monthsr_perhapseven years. And even then, when it was resold, the transaction should never have appearedon the computer records, except as an exchangeof dollar credit from the purchaser'saccbunt to the shop-keeper's. What foul luckt Vassilis must have put id an immediate alarm, qgd thq police must have conticted every place in tovm where Rex Moran could possibly dispoie- of the purloined ring. He had to think fast. They'd be after him now. Damn and double damn. He wouldn't even be able to return to his-mini'apartment. He was on the run, and for a tueanilgless amount such as three hundred'dollars, and even that now was of no use. He wouldn't dare use his credit carj!-;the computerswere surely watching for him. They could 4so zero-in on his wrist-teevee phone. He reached down" in disgrrst,and began to rip it oft. However, the screenlit up again, and a new face was there. A voice rasped, "Now hear this, all citizens. Crimes

191 Mack RoYnolils asainstthe governmentof the Unifed Statesof the Ameri.o.-itt"a by Rex Moran" including as; ;;hdG; sault, robbery, sale of stolen prgneltY.?.nd qfi€mPreo universat Credit card. All citizens are ;i.G"-;i-t# reouestedto cooperatein his apprehension'The ctininal Hereis his face"' and-armed. is - daneerous t{eTproa"*A whenhis faceappearedon the tin-yscreen' beforesome gappitf -tfit it wasa fairly old photo, and.taken what they pt"r"nt scarrel feafureshad become of were. "-ii" tipp"A the instnrmentfrom his wrist and fluqe it into a c-oil"r. et tnit early hour there were none others tl" auto-cafeteiia,thank the living 7'orcast'et tt&;tio for tbat. -to his feet andhunied for the door' In the far H" "*t te coutAhear a siren. Undoubledly,it.was for ab-tance, tin. iou didn't hear police sirensthat often in the pseudo-citiesof the Ultra-welfareState. He hunied down the street and turned a corner as possiUt".He dared not use the vacuumtube' qoi"lty "tnot summora floater,for that matter. He daied But that brorgbt somethingto mind. He tounO a-fairly isotated spot and waited until a pedesuiancamealon!. He brou$.6this gunfrom his pocket andsai4 "Hold it, chum-Pal." fhe othir looked'athim, down at the gun,up into Rex "Why, why you're tre Moran's face agan and blirnched.the teevee," cdminaliust flashedon 'fnatt rigbt, chum-pal,and you look just like the sort of chum-pat-wliddcoopeiaten'itn a man with a shooter trainedon his tudmy.n' 'Wby . ' ' why, of Tho otherwaswiie'eyed and ashen. course.t' "Okay. Quick now, dial a floater on your wrist teevee phone." - t'Of course,of course.Don't be nervous." "fm not nervous." Rex Moran grinned 4 him and the gunup anddown."Hurry it up.?' iiggled " aihe othir diatteC, and within momentsan auto-floater

192 Criminatintltopia cab tumed the corner and pultedup next to them at tho curb.Thedooropeneq. - Rgx said "Qriick, put your Uni-Cledit Card in the slot " . Even as the other-wasdoing so, Moran was climbins

lgto lh" backseatof thefld6;-h;-;ft4*"ff;;? thrmbprint onthescreen." Whit"t6;thA aiatnot,,IG

was dialling his destinatioo, oot f"ttiog rd orh;; Yg* |ee. . He reaehedout suddenly and grasped the o&et's wrist teeveeDhone and rioped off an:dsfuct it in hi;-p*f;: Ile.pulted the credit cird iffrom tl"-nout".,r'slot and handcd it back to his victim _'There," he said, ].$on't say I didn't do you a favor.

Thinkot all thetroubteyou'dmviit-i,o" tiia"t n""" i creditcard."

He slammedthe door shut and the floater took off. Rex Moran said into the vehicb'J s;;;.& ..Mdimum rpeed, please." ..yes, sir." {robot yoice said, He coutdn't afford to stay in the floater for verv lons. _

of tlis;ishb;;fi;:-Ar;';;; -1,*l"lo]r4-to setout jf1t_.1,",19y1:kA just stuckup backttrerereportedto ure polrce, they'd check

through the computeri for the floater'sdestinition.There'df";il;d,'taseA on tte number of the victim's Uni-Credit Cara. a ,""orA oi seepqglywentinto ttre computl.6""l".-w";; trot7 {re_growledsourly; evidentlytheir capacitywas ai_ mostinfinite. thel d checkthe destinationof his trip. However, .-Y_rl,_ De was not quite so_silll as to go all the-way to the destinationhd had diafled. Ab""i h"lf *uy tnJ*, traffic control stop,he openedthe Aooiand-fetttlJhoater "t " !o go on its own. He ducked down a side street and took oft at rigbt to the avenuealongwhich the floaterwasprogrcssfleles mg. Rex Moran now had a-double-problem.He grimaced urryIy.An immediatedoubleprobllm, that was.'For one

193 MackRqwtds get.oft thinpl he was still hungry.For another,he had-to tte freBts. Ctti*"" weieir't apt to pay overmuchattention to Ae Di.nibotioo Servicepolice calls over the teevee the exception'G-iven ..rerot, U"etn t" was^always ;hr* 'tnr-somioti him, in spiteof the report would spot and broadcast' been photograph had which Door iust --ri"-"-ootflt6a" the strilenwrist teeveephonebuzzin his pocCeianatiougtt it fotth, flicking th,l tiny stud which it ftom transmittinghis face. irevented -Ii-;as tdsame ofrcial aJ before,and he ,wasmaqng td;am; Uroad"ast,but now reportingRex Moran as last sr.o i" thut part of town where-hehtd dialtedthe floater' -EvidentlvhiJvicfim hadrePorted. fn"t fuJmeant thev wbutd know that Moran had the *oi"" *titt teeveephoheand would-shortlybe zeroingtq oii-ii. uJtntiw thdinstrumentinto the gufter and ground a heeldownon it. He hadto getoffthe streets. And zuddenlyhe knewwhereto go. In tbis vicitity therewas a poshrestaurantof which he naOrcarO Uut f,ad neverbeedabb to afiord, nor had he reary ever expectedto be able to afford it. Welt rhtngs weredifferentnow. He-&.!.d tte Uuruing and took the elevatorto the restaurantknoSn as the GourmetRoom. The oeothonse 'alav wusmore advancednow, and upperclassofrce workcri werebesinnineto streamin for the middaymeal' swank He avoiGd boEng impressedat the ostentatious his thanked and tnG dtra-wealthy oI rendezvous this of starsthat he had thoughtof acquiringhis presentclothing. A headwaiterapproadheddiffiilently. Io qU his life, lex Moran had nev6featenin a restaurantwhich boastedlive waiters.Now he ftied to look unimpressedtiogq sir?" ths maitred'hotelsaid. "A *PleasE'-RexMoran told him, keepinghis voicesoftly werean every modulatedandasthoughsuchsurroundings dav affair f6q him. "If possible,a table set back somewhere.I havea bit of figruingto do." 'Certainly, sir. This way."

t94

Crimbtalintttopla He was seatedin an out of the way alcove which suited his needsperfectly. The maitre d' snappedhis fingers, and a waitet scurried

up. there wasno menu.It wasthat kind of a restauranl The maitred' saidunctuously,*Sir,' today ' theffin de lotgowirus Georgetteis suped5." _ Rer Moran hadn't the vaguestidea what lrlrrgoustines Georgatemight be, but he niAe a faceas Aogf, corsia. edng. 'What elsemightyou recomnend?"he said. *{.he chef has surpassed himself with the poulet doa ^

but." *fhat soundsgod." The waiter made a note. "And a half bottle of Sylvaner of the Haut-Rhin, perbaps?" ttFlne.t'

Salad and dessertwere settled upon, and then the maitre d'and the waiter were gone. Rex Moran sighed inwardly and looked around. The only other diner within his immediate vicinity had his back toMoran. - He-unslung the Poloroid-pentax from his shoulder and trougbt ftom his pocket the cassetteef fitm. He inserted it in the camera. Then he took from his inner pocket the Univerral Chedit Card he had approprialed fiom frant -spending Vassilis and examined it with ciie, partiorlar time on the thumbprinl - Finally, he profped the card against the small rnasein 9t" 1"99 cent€f,, whict _hrld a singte black rose, and focused tie camera on it. He clicked the shutter thendrew tha photo from the carneraback and starcd at it. It didn't quite do.-_Hetried again, getting the canera closer to the ..tubiecl He took hatf a dozen shots before he came uo with as neaf, a duplicate of the Universal Ctredit C*a'i thumbprint as he could hope for. Iie put the credit card away, the canera back in ite @se, and brought forth his penknife. He was busily eim-

195 ming the phototo be the exactsizeof a thumbprintwhen the - initer turnedup with his first @urse. ponet doctewtrirnedout to be the bestchickendishhe had evertasted.And the winewasexcellcnt' --In the ;riAdle of his saladcourse,and before dessert" ne caml suAaeny to his feet and hunied toward the the ieceptiondes[ cum cashiet'sbooth. It was there that the payfrent screenfor the ultra-swankrestaurantwa$ to be found. And it was there that the maitre d'hotel stood his evebrows oolitelyraisednow. 'd"x Moran siid to hirn huniedly, "r havejust thought of somethingI must attendto. Pleaseholclmy dessertfor me. And, piease,keep an eye on my cameraover thete, will you?' Tfremaitred'looked over at Moran'stable.The camefa satuoonit. He said."Whg of course,sir." Relx Moran tef!'still liojecting an air -of a suddenly t-"mUerea matteithat musiurgeitly be takencareof' Down on on the the street streethe he grim,aced. srima&d. Onecamerasacrificed Down nr of it now. fhe game. same-However, I{owever. he had no need to -- the sectionsof town. He ttte best o] o"" ;'"t-;titt-io fi -aAe nis way toward a nearbyhotel, holding a handter' chief over his face, as thougbtrying to e)rtractsometnng tom his left eye.'Therewere quite a few pedestriansat this fime of the day. In the hotel"he approachedthe lone clerk aqthg receP tion desk.Nofu, ne^naAto take his chances.If the man recopized him- ftqp the police broadcast-Rex Moran wasotr a spot. He said,*I would like a smallsuite.Nothingambitlous. Living room, bedroom,bath. I doubt if I'll be entertain' MackRqnold.s

ing." *lilhy, yes sir, of course.o' The other looked beYond Moran. "Ah, your luggage,sir?"

Ll nirvi olr'tugeagEi'h.;x Moran said,off-han*dly.-"r g just camein fron ihe coast.Plan to do sone shoppinilere for my wardrobe.Always buy Py thingshere in the East.Californiastylesareludictous."

196 CrimtutalinUtopia 'Y"! sir, of course.'? The clerk motioned in the direo tion of the teevee screen slot on the desk. "Woddt;u wish to rcgister?" _"Pd rather see tle suite, before deciding,' -Rex Moran sai$.]I1l_-registerup there, if it's satisfactor!." *Oh, I'm sure it will'be, sir. I-et me zuggest Suite _ Double A." . "polblr A," Retr Moran said and madc his way to the bank of elevators. Inside the first elevator, he said, .Suite Double .4.." "Yes, sirr" a robot voiG said. Suite Double A was several stories up. Rex ilforan emerged from the elevator, looked up a't the direction qtCpson the wall and made his way to the suite in ques. tion. - -It was quite the most elaborate quarters in which Rex Moran had ever been. Not that tfrat was the issue, he would have takcn the accommodationswhatever they'had resembled. the room's teeveephone scte,enand said . He ap_proached intg it "This suite seemsadequate,I'll take it, A robot voicc sai4 *Very good, sir. If you,ll just put your Uni-Chedit Card in the slot.. Rex Moran took a deep breath. He brougftt the card of Frank Vassilis from his-pocket, inserted It in the slot. lh"q -h" trought forth tf,e photo he had taken of the Vassilis right thumbprint anii Uia it on the screen. He picked it up again, immediately. A robot voice said. "Thank vou. sir.', Rex Moran took another deip breath and let it hiss out again betweenhis teeth. "7+ro-as-ter. I think it worked." He diallcd the time. It was mid-afternoon. He grinned enrberantly. He had it licked. Unless there was something he didn't know about, he absolutely bad it licked. He dialled Service and said to the scrce& 'fd like to

197 MackReYnolds lay in a stockof potables.I-et me see.Lefs s-aya bottle of S6otch,oneof c6gnac,one of Metaxa,one of Benedictine' one of Cherry frening, one of Chartreuse--Xellcw, of coufip, not the green---oneof Pernod,absintheif availwill do." ablebut otherwisethe ordinary A robot voice said, *Sir, in the New Carlton all these canbe dialledon the auto-bat." 'T know,I know,but I like to mix my own.' "Very good, sir. They will be deliveredthroug! the auto-batr6ir." eel4o,irrtRex Moran said,"the bestquality." "Always, sir." Sfifl dnnine wideln he went over to the suite'sautobar and-tooku! Ae fiitUe of GlengrantScotchandheld it uo to the lipht-approvinglv.In his wholelife he had been ldshed-uociactli-once on Scotct. The stuff wasworth its weight ii nrbiei since Central Productionhad discontinued the useof cerealsfor beverages. He dialled for sodaand sippedawayat it approvingly' evenas he strodeup and down the room, consideringbis immediatefuture. He wonderedbriefly how you went about getting a up to yorrr quartetsin a hostelry as posh as the moosry -Caitton.But he had bettei draw thc line therg Neir It was a$rway. -come no use pushingyour luck. Somowheel ofi. She might have seenthe police teevee might alarmon him. What the hcll elsewas thete in the way of umealized lifelongambitions? Cadar. He had neverealenhisfiIl of caviar-In fact' the amormtof caviarhe had eatenin his wholelife could have comeout of atwo olmcejar of the preciousstuft. Fine. He dialled Serviccagainand had a pormdiar of saviaf,sent up, along with sweetbutter, toast chopped eggr and chofued onion. While he was at it' -heordered itog" amountof smokedsfiugeonandsmokedsalmon. Vllilc he waitedfot this ordernhe built himselfanother Scotchand soda.Glengrant.He'd haveto rememberthat

198

CrlmhalinUtopia

nam€, oD tlb off chance that he'd sver have another opporfimity gusfras this. - 4" *qp"! -thgresl of the day indulging himself in every food and drink ambition he cbuld eier-remember havini had" And in getting well smashedand zurfeited with ricf, edibles to the point that when dinner time anived, he had no appetite, to his disgust IIe wanted to order a real gargantuanmeal. Ifis last v?epe memo'ry was of staggprlnginto tlie bedroom and dialling the bed to ultimate softness beforc throwing hinself into it In the morning, he should have awatened with some sort of bangovet, but the gods were sti[ with hirn; either that or there was anothei good mark to chalk up for G_lengrantwhistey. He awoke gdnniqg up at the €ilin& IIe had slept like a 1og. He dialled the time at the bedside teevee phone and didn't bother to look into the screen at the clock A robot voie said, *When the bell rings it will be exactly ninc minutes to eigbt hours." Hal Nine minutes to go. He dialled brealdast a monstrous breakfast arid had it delivered to the auto-table next to the bed. Fresh mango iuice, papay4 eggs in black butter, caviar again, toast &ied tomatoe$ coffee; double orders of all. Qs6aningsatisfaction,he ate. By the time brealfast was over, it was past eight o'clock. AII tigtg he grtnned jubilantln time to get busy. He went to the teevee phone screen and dialled tlie local branch of the ultra-market and men's tunisnings. He took his time selecting a nertr change of clothing. That accomplished he dialled the order, put Vasillis' cad in the slot and laid the photo of the thumbprint on the screen and took it off again immediately Thc clothing arrived in minutes, and he dressed after showeringand shavingin the batbroom. lle rpturned to the t€€veephone screen and dlaled the ultra-market once again. He began ordering itcms, ln fine

199 tliscrimination,and had the time of his life unwrapping andexaminingthemasthey anived.Ifis loot piled up. At about Gn o'clock, he decidedto really do it up brovm and dialled a floater salcs outlet. He ordered a sportsmodelprivatefloaterand instructedthem to sendit oiverto the hotel'sparkingateaon automalic. At ten minutesatterten, the identity screenon thc door lit up. Thereweretwo menthere,onein unifrrm. Ifie one in plain clothessaid disgustedln"Alt tignt" comoalong." The one in uniform looked at all the purchasesshewn aroundthe room, wrappingpaper and siring everywhere. "Zotoastet" he snorted. They took him down the elevator,through the lobby-, out to-thc streetwherea police floater awaited.The uniformed ono drove manuafly.Rex Moran sat in thc back with the other. said sourly, 'You must havehad The plainclothesman your life." the time of Rex Moran laughed. 'Big joke," the orler said. 'Ve alntost nabQd you -the thcre fo auto-cafeteria.We shouldhave zeroed-inon you, trying to arrestyou by teeveeph,o4qi ,instead of "I wonderedwhy you didnt" Rex Moran said."Police Mack Reynolds

inefficiency." They t6ok him to the local ofrces of the Bureau of Distribution Services,to an clevator, and then to the tbird floor where he was ushered into the presence of Marvin Ruhltng himself. Ruhfng looked 4 him and sai4 "Very funnn ordering even a sports floater." Rex tiughed and took a chair. Thc uniformed policeman left but the plainclothesman also sat down. His face-

wasas disgustedasthat of the Supervisor. Man'in-Ruhling sai4 said, "Holy "Holy ji"mping Zoroaster,what tind of heat do you think Vassilis V ir ;"i""sio'*iiriTRex Moran said reasonably, "Nevbr let him know what rreally happened. Hc wasn't doing any harm. He had a little excitement."

204 CriminatinUtopia 'A little excitemenq you damn cloddy. Supposehe had dropped

{ead of a lJatt;tt""k;il;dfie? N;ffi mentionthat pedestrian you toi".a-ai-frnptrt'ti lit i floaterfor youl" .,Well, askedfor it. you wantedauthenti- you - Rex sai4 ' city. You got it.' "Authenticitv." tbe praincrothesman gnrnted disgrrsted *tlit ly. "Which reirinds *, bJt#grTt t."o." police broadcastBillg4 of T9; the-gext time f,ex?oes out on rhe streetsomebody'llsho6thim.,, Ruhlings{dto Rex Moran"..Well"your conclusions?,, - _"Thatwe've got to do something;o the cards.Some_ thing-toguarantJetnetnumtpri"t-is-rciriilate.Othernds a real bad-ocould locate,ot" -hi.-;irt wit[oii any immediarefriends or relativi's; "pp"rGr, &k "ioAAy *.; w_hcrg and finish him -offanC,niOJiheUoCV,tlen tate the Uni-CreditCard andhead offintosJne;iffi;;rtoI th; country an4 usins the.samesystemt AiO,Oupftcab-ptol tne_thumbprint.a"C to, id rest of his lite fogaphicaly ne coutd mitk the dividendsthat would a@rueon the upp.erclass cloddy'scredit accountfrom his VariaUiJga_ sic.tt

- Marvin Ruhling looked at him sourly. ..What could we do to the qredit c;rds?,, to the engineers. Maybe 6ome_ _ -"Search me. That's up ^the

t.i"g thecard,or on *"r."o, ilAiiect UciafncaT-I don't+t knov. But I provedthe caidsvul";iabit'th" ;;t

they are." *What else?" Rex Moran thought_about it. He shookhis head..t just n-entigpd it to FrcA here,on td;;t;"*. That ,vri"-

oj making a cltiv,€,nil1s51 himsslf and turn himself oi.er to the nearest police station doesn't waslr Ob, I admit it saves manpower, ordinarily, but when you iet a cloddv enou_ggto be carrying a shooter, then you shodd zer
2OL MrckRe'Ynolds he sai$ Malrin Ruhling sighed deeply' "AIl ri€ht' rap'-e1ist be.aithe to "vo.li,i" vo*Gt. flo" *erel6te i;; ffi t*e"ty-to* hours,without any dollar h ;i; *fr'" oredits." as the holy if*.d at his rmtlerling' "But {'1 {*t months ftom six do it t"i-you ril"--to lil'il; ffiil; loopholes vou op s6-" of those ;;-*:ff;l;;;;l"*td used." *il"* Moran ginned af him' "It!s a be!" he said"

ONE STATION OF TIIE WAY FmrzLerBnn

It is very nice to hove Fritz Leiber mound scierrce fiction as .gur nrythtnaker, mytltologist wtd. historian. L"r*; wrtters would never have tackled the thcmc presented her-e, the most emationalty laden theme in our western gln1e, Leiber is not a leiser writer.,iOrc SiitonAih; Way' is written with setue and feehng, md is the'onlv sciencefrction story of value ever wriah aboui tt d ii;ih oI a religion, tlrc twenty-fitth ol December, Christmas Day. Jhqpui..A m99ns Daurya and Sonistawere both still hiph 1y thg night, although th6y had U"gun their ar-r.ioi to*"t me f,at westem horizon. The stars that -showed in the heave_ns were few and dim, even in the east. Sr1$denlya new one appearedtherJbright, white and , sannng as a cut sunstone. - The three hominids, h.y_ly robed and cowled against the desert, which thirsted fbr mlir-noisture. swiftlv. dismotated from the high-backed ;f'th# cameloids,tnelt in the_slnd, which"nuir-raAaf"d was cota aUove,-t"t still hot below, and did the new star reverence, rhyinmi_ 202

,...- f ^'L^FritzLeiber

203

spearsin fime with the ally swayingtqry".td.ft"llplanted tori'uouUingof their heaos' briglter still and beganto the star in the "*f;"t

*fi""t"**u

wife sai4*rt is a sigqtry- c.-d'Blessed

'{llfl,f lruirya:;H$,}:H,:i"r*oseno whoseek' underthofaltingr*. riiii"d;:q;-;iss'S*" senses"' and tiod h;oi infif theybe *y"ffi-ot btignt" liercingty Evenasoey spoxe,6ie"sttr,gro*o been had it yh"th-"r lebkedout. It ** oim"ofii"'tiU behind a dune' The latter extinzuishe{ or had Ot"pp"O p9b semicirortarglow t seemeafikely, tin.t ttif*t"vanishedtoo' wherethe star naOo"J"' b"t O"n'th9 $9w

ffiffifi -?iff""? ##'*"h.#Yf'tffiie1'i:i* "we must vit,; o" frtl"*od"d ashe-rose' navetorS"m' ' 'gur gltf'"rising too'. ,"."ffit-tfiaiwe elet seco-nd-ruge4

ns haste,cousln"iithe uiE" rtriuiffiLa !agt' $mirins .,lr[ffHiXdffi;""dfi-ft*t :gl**,Utffi t'F lh* 13"il9fi"H; tbreeeves'

il;tf,;**

il;;J;;A'

theveach*gY:d ftom ro"g,goingalmost

while their one wberea nose*otliO G oJa terras-face'tnmpetear

friil;;drd*.i"

to trumpetear. Ttevremountedandwentdown.theslopeofthedune '""iJ#itil"n faintlv-under

\ ;"d; iilt*d hissverf homof each rgtinq tnJtntt" oo "t i"tiltri,mi'loovei. fr"t theafter-imago tio"irt""iliri""a in "acuot theirbrains, thenight' than bt""ker batt tinv A&;tt.;;diiunrne4 a yet. paralvsed at the Five dunes ahead Wife staxedaftight toit fantastic iil itut^ fantastic siglt-fantaid;;* mostevolved

ffi-i,ioiil**,

*u"iJ-"*""pl amone^lfe-

and tnrernO iitt"Uignt iypes, monstirs were-the nrle excePtion. tbe bre€ds ""$ffit-*"ic-iear nu*and's hcart -99* "19*S.he her either from her. Holdins oistanc, ,tolrd'uio-rlort of replicas snallwere hand" peeping*o*J l"t iobes,

204

One Station ol tle Way Husband and herself. She.could feel their hearts beating

oot^?j:1, euretlVaswten tneyoo...do, lru rourlltDernsswere visagedand robed ,r"pt. like the three hominidsridin-g ihe caneloidi. wue tnoughtio activecornerof her frozenmind: Thelittle onesdo not " !3y fear strangen;r; ; ieastso Iongas I Iotq -th-" hands.They open t$nriii,a io al the world. Could that be good? Thty ?;;;'-rr.* -woman the,mselv againstit, as a ardrorsherself ;il;i.; and erant seedsand againstAlnviis save "grfrrt one, after - she -cutsher middleteethaf,dthel-aregrovriaro, -doo(-ffipt sfira. But could spsning gges6u,o?i t" in childhoo4 when oni- ti"*-f*6iei' p?rent_protected Love is a tunnel seal4 at both ends,td;* ;"i;;;; the_&restant seaandsky. WhetWife staredal srlquake,thoughnor

yonggr,*ti iro-iguoti"s€lpents, .JrH* ffffi9 "*h !a1d but threefuiesl.gstat fi tleir-drwila thirdsalone

,E!rur;ld#*jm;.r*d*

lurked behind with rris nioG" dd #"idi"i"'-"rl*, now to.&e right of g{, .orp*ioo, iodto the'ieit, Enight. wasdark asmoonless 9 F l"ps- they weie more properly millipeds than serpents, for from each's.ventral'sidi,liow tadng Wirf grewranksand ranksof stubby-fingered ,*]; oi tni fingersnerv_ously a-writhe.Td."-f;g;*i1!et,f"* grewthickest under the ereat se{pent ufin"=o,igilVif1 }**-."fti*, coul$ Lot know it, was'so tnat tne-tnl serpentscould crawl effectivelyon a max-gravptanet.ffel on Finiswar whighwas as imat as Terri" tt'" G;a_f; were of litue need"

blurredto Wife'sthreeeyes,because their ,^-*ryg,rhem, rocuswaseveron the serpents, stood-theslen
205

FritzLeiber

i*"l#i'X*'fi ffi-ulPr3:il*'ff but even "Ti,:iX5,:Jtrgf as *tite nouust-i":wers, lils-oales From #;fk;ht; form' hct t'u"gq gitl;'id: Ai

;;?;#*"tlt timeto timeberigmiii'tiuJ-l"i qiq.his-gfuost-white' stoppod.vibrltins' ffioJ' ffi; d"-siltfrai*""r -d;ft thunder'though|e Hoifilo;t n ctuld she were-mere$ however' ", stood still as stooe.riJ "nilO*"' il,""*-.TlJdl*"itt;il*un;agwntu4heldaugbter the serpent'While her

was stretching trtioji--io*utt " btt tne no longerknew -shivery' if it were tl"aalog ffiil;ffi shocking the thud
"ffiilJilf#Jff;,

withaw'4 armost sheqas-mled It madeher

unbearableexcitemeni]il;"d"-h* questioneverythingsheknew'

wonder'

Nol lbis "-3il-?ou#i tn""u"ffi"ier -selingsgave' never' never' ne\Ier' i"dfrtt, Iilout, inperioussearching Lovi was.d needte-in *: could be love, shetoid-n"ts"n wrong ones' t&,- A"-ooi, right needtea'midsta trilliol and testedat *oman sontrolled t*"t[i"g-*t" ffi algrt.from pedphery *"-"tlugy ttoJ"J ""t n"r evert instan!, dealdeathas

ffi ;'t'txi;tiG i' *"t to thiq qarnothingto do with rr;Ld;t"d aoi paorya and Sonista *d ;; t"t f,-t"u*itti*eachother oo"t * thevcii':le
;;;"#,T; ii iir"ii*

witaer than a magnified.ttfgtg ffi;A;"te"nf wings ieiret-crusteldgreat sea+nake,a rainbow bird whose ipanned trees.And yet andyet. ' '-'

be love'w-hat 5;ilif-O" ;t'.-om"'#pot*i6iutv 'thJ { q9"tq dark brother?paUil

.6oni"g ot ms !o1{'s heiA ana ief eyes,followed clsselY.ev"{I *U*" "U*of the pallid lord's flat face, now ftppng tn movemetrt from the other, watching,T? tio{ ;il;;; "o* quite evercloseenoughto toucnwrm touchingthoughnot

2OG

OneStationof tlu Way tifid and blur{. 9*o black tongue,which was sle,trder, ringly a-tremble.Love wasfor twq not three.Washe the pallid lord's tue brother,to be acceptedwith nonorl d washe to be hatedas the pallid lord-wasto be loved?Oi wgs he-in truth only a sLadow?Uore substantiA-than other stradosrs,a shadowwith depth as well as breadth qnc ng!Bn-t, but still only a shade,an unvaryingadjunctof thepallid lord? And yef and yet . . . what elsebut love could tre the excitement-turnredglory that now filled her, filled her qlnost to fainting as the serpent'sgreat headoaused.so that she felt the tongue'stipfe hembling throug['her robe before{g gtru! f,'eadliftei backandafray. The First lfra'te,for such was the office dt tne UUck sgrpryt,murmur-hissed softln .,you spentsomeappreciative time there,you old lecheii your siermapositdilad ie kigks. I !"tigy: you do your-whoteriork s6lelyfor your enjoyment of thesemoments." .,The work must - "Silen@,filthr' the Captainreplied. be.done genily softly, with greatest anA care,since S*wt rts object-is a mustardseed that eventuallywill fill all earth ands$r." 'T've guessed it. You're sentimentaln" the Eirst Matejeered. Whn you mustbe remembering,tlat world-how many more notable siuccesses," the Capiain contradis'ted. n'f don't seehow. As I recall, f,is people killed him most painfully. And we had later reporti oi even more disastrous consequences." *Bxasttyt-they killed him. Anil by that death he emo_ tionally and mentally fecundated his whole world. you still don't undersand my-methods. Observation has only gade ygur blind spots blacker. My son died, but hi! ideas--the idea of love-lived on." (In utterly distorted foms," the First lVtate pro. nounce4 "eventually turning half that race into itter preys, into,victims even more critgrng than before your 'great work,' the other half into stlll more mer&ess

2O7 FritzLeibet hunters. A schizophrenicsplit io -tht collectiveunconbeing r"fott-eilast report, the tott of $at planetwere were nations great the gieea, while anh *il"'bt]il 'p?.ertiig other with Chemical,biological 6d.ttt"y "ach ind nuclearweaPons." *^.;t*i Yet they'd only prepare4 not doneit'' "ooogb'. "For lov6 fo frn, gr-eat risks must -t tn" bipt"i"-"fl*t"red. love there's no hoqe at without But f"". t- Uffaiv tle-unin
life'Then-" *"4 toward ""4 intemrpte9 Mate First this desert!" the :"t:

ffi;;; B#rthi" Toh.-v.rl

h;tt,

donicafiv."That otherplanethad a desert-too'And it nac bipeds,andcameloidbeasts,and ilIffii"u"o-i"utl"tt"is fioiswar here trffi lsmindedyou of it. You are "-.o.io. just beingsentimental. '- 'g"rid"r thaf you have a ttryg agqt deserts'They your isteticism. They fit with your ever more appealto rrltiogt and alsoto IolT groyng flirtatious-ness "il;fi" an-aspectof your feelingsfor whict llulnv3 wift'Oeatn" u-*tt UfiiO spot. fnciOentatty,I believe this desert is Ottt"ot. Most^ofmy computet'sprobes-haven'treported Uu.[ Vti,-Uot I ahiady have.an intuition' An intuition tn"t ir a warningto you: don't tnrst th-eanalgg Eif*o *e finisiar t6o far. In fact,don't tnrst it at all'' f"rr" "iou and your computerandits probestForeverseeb i"g io dissec{the univefseto the last prutiele. Forever Gki"g to disproveempathyant similarity and oneness' find lovethat waY." Youll-never - -"f*i I won't-because it's not there! There are only you have your computer.and desire.Besidesn t-it/;d pretend they'reonly a techno' you its piob"s too, thoug! manageto echo always they wni"n' o"tpiti ir*ilJ-ttnt. " yo:urprofoundiudgments. Wife, floatingin a seaof glory distantlyslored with fear' ueariig o i[ tu"y were iind on sand the hissingsTf -"t riCtlt of Ciptain and First Mate,now suddenlyfelt

208

OncStationol the Way tiny touchof an alienseedon her poignanfly F: !fg!* razor-sharp sensitive teeth. At first shewasonly gentlystartled.The desertwasthe placeof no-seed"Theie-werdsomeseedsererywn"r", Iik" sporel of plague.Nevertlreless,the scarcityoi atien seej s'aswtrysheandHusbandhadcomehere. Then all at oncesherealizedit mustbe the seedof the greatwhitesnake.It had tle sameconstantvidan& inl;; movemegts,the same gentle imperiousness.Sheielt ii crossandrecrossher bitq quesrinFy.fnen snepartiA ler teetha little andit slowlycriwled 6. .o11,:lp _Fota lo-nepoment shecouldhaveslicedit ia two, aad atm. €s! *S to- do. so, althoug! her :*rtnct, me
2@ Fritzl*iber we-apons ^tot of evasion' control, did not employany of the receivedthe il dtp*ut defence*a .ooot"*#"f;i with the skir outer A;;A'; alien seed,which -tIio : - -. "Whyse Jozym"sqf a million Terran-typesPem, 'tiffi"ilolnlt

n""tt-ttu riri'ing,whispered'

you smiling?" a place of no-see4 excepl "I smile becausewe are in Daurvaand because

*nlrp"*.ii;i. "rHid althey *1 Sonistacurtsey*o.-e-.""ti Juttt "h"tiogly us' and soared the serpents il;?ffifly-i"-iltu..i"iJ great its felt wd their stardid not o"tiltii"G-tniugn

v*i"iffi" heat.tt

*Fcr those last you should feel relief'' he told her

qlY?u t*l:!g?:. coruyJ'rasted-WhY

t-*t -19^:qg ti"j k'd-ihdEti.4,1: ff" cic^ff,-""J{',ii. h:j iiwJ ;;*t" H:#:

""iEher

tle waY "ra'on f,ers, as-:lTp*:: fittte nand

[and chitled and almost fell awaY

r.i[*g firrgers.Eventhe childr-enknrcw' i.ffftt ne woutt frst .n9ni.1h'.th-e-n krc;'InA Husband Yes. ot ato"9 intg stgriles!and hottestnodtv^oi;;;e*G

-4"b1" daugbterduPlicate' ;;4 6' !il; ;;r6fr omher glory-atleastin the But eventnatwoudG " wouldhavsa sera daugfiter-whg all Finiswar'a change "d:-sil;fieuear wno-would iiii:i'Titi,-" 'ai"t6i'#n" a""eht€i at la*-qdth9wholeworld *ofia ul'ttigiove -"no.titti"g' Yes,it wouldbe a #if"&;; "i"r"Cig great glory. tell' Tho Cbptain was saying, "It has taken' you can the other's." Her -T'io"--, smile is like t"oti-"o.tuti"i"g!" the black First Mate reioined. '""frTnm moon or moons' desert, a willing female-what

pr*i"llt-"ti aesar i-t9tt-vou plainly, r! v-oukeeg with-T6rra,V9" 3r" in for some ti.itntiti"t r'ffig tot nastys:hocls-yes,anddeadlydalger1oo'i' *Alsq the *;'ftil;; cahly' uiu cupiui"the Three "oittudiata ri.ifttiti"t continue]toihere-behold!---come Kings."

One Stationot theWry Slithering down the dune so silently neither Husband nor Wife heard them. came the tfuee robed and cowled hominids. Their richly caparisoned cameloids had beea left beyond the top. g:hi"{ Hugban{, the first hominid raised his arm" as if . in salutation, then drew it back. From a small gleaming instnrment held in a finee,red foot iust below the head of the First Mate who now 6ared up qs sleady as an ebony temple column, a brilliant scarlet needle-beam took that hominid in sh6ulder, chest and throat. And as the secondhominid raised his arm, it tooi him too. A brilliant white needle-F"-, shooting sideways from a similar instrument o"aAy -Mate 4r Cup$o hgd produced" which hai _tookoft that fingered foot of the First held the scarlet-spitting weapon. The last hominid riised iris arm and hurled. The Cao. tain swayed sideways fast enough to save his life, birt not+ntirely-his skin. The whirring spear transfi;ed a tot$ -of i! lqrety penetrating below tne ic*ea epidermis, and dangledfrom the Captain's neck. With anotler instrument as quickly produced, the First Mate shot down the last of tne intrud6rs. Then hi gave tbe whistling hlss that was his laugh. The Captain's nearest fingered feet explored the lodpe. ment of the spear aad fiarting it shallow,-tore it loose ind cast it- ayal 9n thg-rupd, $s -fingeredfeet moved swiftfy this, but all the rest of him appearedt6 fnolgfi.in-doing be shockednumb. Wife and Husband had dropped to their knees, whiledaughter-andson-duplicateswer€ hidden in Wife,s rirfe. , The First Mate turned off his hateful laugh at last and mumur-hissed as hatefully, "Y€s, there is ii'my minfl ns doubt but that the Three Wise Men came to Kili fnsUana and rape_Wife. And l,fancy_ that on Finiswar rape is a most curious and prolonged business.you will'admit no% will you not, my Captain, that at least in one Dartic_ ular your analog5l between Terra and Finiswar lacted rigor?"

FritzLeiber 2ll great Tlie captain still did not move. Then a shiver travelleddownhis scales. The First l\fiatelaughedagainbriefly and sardonically. *IVell you gxeatwork is finished is it not? I mean,on Finiswar,at least My probeshave returnedto my computer. So yours have to yours f presume.In any case,I suggpstwe departat once,beforewe meetany shepberds, perchance.' Now at lastthe Captainnodded.Once.Dumbly. While Husbandand Wife continuedto kneel and staf,e, the two great serpentslowered their proud tnrnks and sn'iftlycrawledon their belliesbackto their ship. Later, in tlie control room on lweminator, tliey argued tbe whole mattet. Their great looped forms lookd at homein the silveryrcom; their fingeredfeet fitting themselvesto the buttons and control holes of the multiplo consolesas occasionrequired.The argumentbegm ldth desultorycommenf followed by a "report" by ihe First Mate,deliveredcoollybutwith acidcynicism. - The Captain said, "I still do not seewhy they should $ve $ed to spearme. It was you who was shootingat them"' The Fint Matd explained,"At first they were simply trying to spearHusband.Thereafter,being-attacked, tliev naturally tried to Hll their attacker.You" being whito, stoodout in the dark I didn't. There are advaotages in beingblack We wereclosetogetherand the last hoioinid aimedat the ono of us he could see.A matter of ptnely physicalblack and white, you understand.I doub-tthei sens€dyor hypotheticalspirituallight at all-or my spiritual negationof light, for that matter." - "I.-wasgoingto as$_yogrpardonfor shootingoft your foot"- the Captainsaid. "But sinceyou navedade it an oocasionfor oneof your materialistic-diafribes-' -'t{evertheless,I freely grant you my forgiveness,fof whatit's worth.'n 'Ygry-ryell. \9w let me haveyour computet'sevaluation of Finiswar."

212 Orcstaionof tlwWay The First Mate noddedhis flar head. Setflinghis dart @ils more comfortablyaroundnrir-iltii:.hee,,, 1e bg. gan:

gathered

u-ons tions made by its orober, .y'.o.pulii'* and the observa"3ffig.the_materials determined u. urc cmer e.hiefmode mod6of of reproduction $at the reoroi,,.*^il.i'frlr-*.^_ :^ p; _,_ on Finistt is

upgenesls. tnogenesis.The bov_chilg *d-A;ji*rrira tn_girr*nil.i"frdi"S#; lhe boy-child *g wirh rrna to tell you,fri;dand was wasenough *:*d_ryf beenenbugh enouqh to tell me.'

#e{H."*flx1#.LffjJ!lt dr,f; te.llsme, {* purthoi"oirir-oo"fi*rwar f-rpltrr and foa ue unusual armoring-and ;rming of t"..f, there.For Finiswart

genitalia -r*"*il;afux3i*!':i"?#::,t oee. #H} w,

ffi JfrJ!*zhf :i:,ffirf #;,r",:l*'* no ofispring no matterbow monstrous, "atffi which cannotlive at leasta little while. 'Yet sexual breeding,_will.rjn qnecies_irpossiblethere,

ffi;#"tr",':"tr#.3.itr?#I: !okilt offall false,p"rr. ninit"d?;trff; species, such asthe

hominids, ,"its ouj$ breidffi.ii**r, asarid tnd ster'eanarea po.riui",-,;;fiif,"r&.rsertwe found "r !n"mia Else,despite^_11-;;ffi;;,l"rJ-"r" nigbtbe

:rtrffi ki,mtr*ft ft'*=ffi$

*$niqyar sm-anway rather like ow _d,:-H-o, planet-{r shoutdI call f, it* your " p_lanet?.,_joi"o you are the TI_9". paranoidenoughtoii,iot-itl*gr"at work to

rr'it'Lat,oo-*i fftr'T#ffif#""qi [e universe'

thenoe"ntiailv;il?}d'*ff ;:.,irJffiffil.gT ::.nlss,ararp-moremodest..Theyd;;; ;"; their seed wru geat ideas_lov1 3n6 susffi"J-6ii, them ou all the infnitely vaxiedbT"d_l.t G-g-ti" ,"r"i uo*r, *,,t therebyto Fringlreaoe'_your p""61 t" ufi]

2r3 FritzLeiber osilence!" the Captain said at tast with a wdtho of disgust."Despite aIL your mocking, m; gt-m-pute.1 .sap tff" is a mfuit seveniine probabilitythCtWite will bear a cbild glfrously-" 'Mv-comoutrirsavl point eightthreeon tha!'the F -irst 'tsit you're,wrong about thc I\,Iato-'bpke-in Utteitnbtv. no adulaEonand reveF rcceive will sloriouslvoarl Wife fotiaO she witl be tortured by Husban{ be1 ilt;ad iraioendcenefisdauebrcrtaken ftom hef and killed,'and ili Ottuefio"t ton ler family and tibe to suffer.Oh' sho wil[-" ' -1'ti6*1'r tlie Captainbissedmajestically."Despiteall" shewil oroducoa sonwhosdll-" ;A diugbter,'the First Mate contradicted."By a poid nineeigbtprobabilitY.' *Yd, a-daugbter,you're rigft there," the Captainadmitt€d inlaUtn *My computerechoesyours. But what mattef?Shewbn't G Ae first fematesaviour,as you well lnow. lte only potlntof imporanoeis that Wife will giv-9 bfuth to a beiie who will preachthe gospelof love all astossfiniswar, so eloquentlythat none will be able to resistt llate ani mruderousresswill vanish. Greed and enrlywill wither away.Love alone-" "And whatwilt tlat mean... on Finiswar?"the First Mate intemryt€dincisively,his greatheadtalling F thc natural swayingit maintainedin free fall. "I willtell ygg. It will meair that the femdes of Finiswar, at least tho to all seeds.There hominidfemales,will openthemselves monster$.Exotic fantastical will be a great'birthing of flowe,rswitfrttree-eyeeileadssetamidsttheirpetalsrHor lnids crest€dand finned like fsh, but not likely showing gills. Rainbowbird$ with wide mouthsinsteadof beaks ana arrrs insteadof wings.Beingsevef,morefantasticalinsectsthat glitter and speatr,animalculathat peer wiJh plea
214

One Station of tlu Way bt"ding race of loving hominids on Flniswar al€. .. well point one seven" he added defiantlv. _The First Mate shnrgged all along his body,s length. "%!n"g my computer riyr pr"t oh-oa tfree.. -Your computer is biasedf' "I$ot as much as youn, I fancy. Remember, you have a great work, I am only the observbr. No, the ovdrwhelming g_hancesare for one jeweled and gemmed generation oi rlmswar, Jltre an uncontrollable growth of crystals of every angutarity and hue, like a belutiful cancei-freaks to p-leryea mad emperort-and the.lr. . . the end. At least fu the hominids.,' 'What mattu{|" the Capain demanded stubbornly. sll will be an end with love. Tfiat is enoueh.' 'Oh, you have at last solved the-problem of Death?pn , thg-ltrst l\date asked rygocently. Thin, after a momen! with his hi*ryg laugh, ,.No, you'have n,it as I can see. d 1tnts.ya-r at least, your highly touted love will end in P.ea$. tyt.gg it-promises to do on longer-suffering Tetra" Myse[ I still admire mgst,the beinS iho rise up-and do battle against Deatb" And even t[-e creator"s'that flee Deat4 the ones who are the eternal prey_those I admirs tp, 1T !}*gl noJ gs geatly.TUehaier is alwaysmore affIllrabte tFan the slain, for he survives., _ "That endlesscircling bloody chaseof the hunters and the prey? You can adnin thd?n . "Why.not? It's all there is to admire. Besideg ft forces both basic types of being to develop velocity, first to swim Itrloqgq warcr, nm on land and fly through air. Finalln to speed tbrough sub-space,even aj we dol And to actiiivi ,tlpj.laslrequiree rhe development of high intelligence and Druanr imagination, qualities which nicelv embellisb both the best of hunters and the best of prey. i always admirro good decor.' you *j! in this mood"', the Captain said fla0y. *You $etesl have been the com-panionof all mfwanderings, a;t -cinnot still y-or will not admit the primacy of i,ove. you eren bring youqg$ to think--of what might nappen if the prey fled so swiftly that, Uke a guilty-conscience, they

Fritzl*ibt

2t5

caryht up with the huntersalongthe great circlesof tho comos." was the First Mate's onlY comment with great contemPt. rlelivered i'You scorn"me and my iorls," the Captain said' "Yet -"*ryt"1r3" to obsening me and you devote your eatire

whf?" ihem.If they-arevalueless,

For the first time, the First Mato was at a loss for an aoswer.Finally he'hissed,"Perhapsit amusesme to watch vou do vour work of destruction,caling it Love-a love and the ivnicn oily weakensthe huntet's lust toprey"sparic to escape.UsingLove, you'd leechout of tho irniversi its finest hgttti"g itocls, its cleverestevadershe continuedflatln "has not Finiswar at Neverthelessr" lasl taugbt you that your great work is useless,tending iowdrd Death-ratheithan Life? All your saviourlast one of them+re

mules unable even

for DeathlI They arespokesme,n to reproduce ds instant.Negatethe Insemirw suggpstyou end it alt this

tor! fix on the next plane! and set a cou$e for home.' "Nevert' said the Captain. "Wherever it leads-into whateverseeminghorrors-Love is primal!" "Oh, that is sweet. That is exquisite," the first Mate hissed"his voice dripping venom. "As I said, my chief ain is my own amusement.And truly the fnest pleasurelies in spying on you, who are the greatest hunter of them all' sl-d$ng with love. And also the greatest prey, fleeing always from the simple truth." "silencet'the Captain hisse4 wratbful at last. "fm sick of your sickness.Slither off at once to your study' and stay there. Placeyourself under ship's affiest." The First Mate obeyed with atacrity. As he glided into Lis hole, the Captain called after him, "And the great work goeson. I shall continue planting saviourst" the Rrst Mate thrust back out of his hole his flat black head with eyeslike rounds of starry nighl 'Or simply the seeds of your great Death-oriented paranoia," he hissedwith sheeresthatred.

216 OneStationol the Way ''And you shall continue to watch me,', the Captain cai4 nissing no leastopportunityto stampinto the irthii the fact of his own unswervinesirensth. "Fg I- shal|," the First MaG hissddsharply. I[s head ^nrhssive vanishedasif everyatomof strengthin his trunk hadbeenemployed towhip it out of sighl

SWEET DREAMS, MELISSA SrspHEx Gor-DDl

I ,nDc that we wiII be seeing nore work in tlw tltu'e *tho, of this story.-He is a nzttt wfter-tltis is lrt;il" '6iy'i* lira sati-but noi a begiwdng writer' You will uiit"rtt*ra why alter reading tlte chntning, and .more itn siittty citiltug, story ol ttc Ettle gitl rumed Me' lissa From out of her special darkness,Melissa heard the voice tones at the-far end of the A Dr-. Faut speatihg in hushed *Oh, Dr. Paul, please come toom. "Dr. t'aulr' fre cried" whine. a desperate took on voice Her henet" Dr. Paul's voice stoppe4 then muttered something' Melissa heard lis toottt"f* approach her. "Y€s, Melissa, what is it?" he said in deep,patielt tones. *Pm scared,Dr. Paul." "Morc nigbtmares?" tYes." Tou don't have to worry about the'n' Melissa They won't hurt you." 'tsut they're scary," Melissa insisted. "Make them stop. Make thengo away like you always do."

2t7

J

218

SweetDreow, Melissa

r,,f.lJl,t,t fT$?f, *l*ffi# r*ffif"il"ffi. .$fr then.s?id under hisW?q""o Aru;,;i.iiffi ;;

tikethis.We're navbehint rttrhoru'", itF;tr; "Yo3'llhave g.1ur.a

fiild to to oiEt Lil,tilrtir*, Melisuem.iwoFt?iiysi, n ., to make .*Io_..vbody.-has them go asray."

'0.h, please donrt go." Soing Vel,.Uefissa.Not yet. But if you dont -.J'_T_oot

i13,?d."#'*:f#:#;:#,e-d"i.iend

"WeL at first-I th*ght th;.y wele the nurnbers,which are 1ll d€ht-becausethi numfeo Ooo;itu* to do with peo.ple,thet're nice and d;;{ h; nobodylike Segtle ryd h thS nightuares.Then-the nu-beis *t"rt.a to chanse and becamelines-two q".J ;d* d#;;;i; -p"gpi;, running toward each-other anC "f sn6od"g other. They .wererifles and_tanks;; d;id*. at eachpeoole And

joq rx. raol rotsor pd;6^ih";-d"il'#d

.weqan-ns two tundred andeighty-tfrree -ro-dirA- A"O tha;;;;i all, because_ eoq o-1ih€_otd;td" ;tie vattenttere wasmoreshootins.And l-heard so.iG -di"arcs saythlartnis was all^-right,becluseas-tonf as-in, staved belowffteen point seven.perojnt aori"g tnJliid;il; 9" ltrt gr1losfon, whi6h;;tne.*"iotilarht;p;6"Li p.ur$teeg point sevenper;; A; 6A ,n_e_-saine0.. rorceswouldbenine thousan4sixnuidJa"e"f tooopoi"t s€,v€n seveneigh-t-ryne onemcnaeaooiwound"e dfi-------Lk?,I::*djee_all thosenenlyingther", Ayiog.,'--

r .rolq you a Uve_ye_ar-old mentality - wisn,t mafirremggeh_Ve1 lvlilitary -ffgstics,'; Dr. Ed ;hdLr";;li: for .,9!, Aut w""'io I war, Melissa __Dr-.Paulignoredni*. Yot haveto elpect ftat peoptewill d; kill"jin a ryaf,.,, "Why, Dr. Paul?" . .. because!!a{s the way war is, Melissa. ^ "-B9cagqe it didn,t,reallyhdp"": ii wai j*t;pr;; land-p-esidgs, le^nqI+e wirh the numfers,'o_dy'ti#;r*;eople - " --- t insread of nrrmbers.It wasall pretend..' "No it wasn't,Dr. FauL" cried Melissa...ft wasall real.

StephenGolilen

2r9

Atl ttiosEpeople qere real. I even-kno-wtlieir narnes' iGre w"s'Abirs, Joslph T. Pfc', Adelli, Alonzo CpL' '?5iip Aikens..." it, Meussa,"Dr. Paul sai4 his voicerising much hieherthan normal -zf--tonw, Dr. Paul,' Melissaapologized Ut flrf taan'f heardher;-hcwasbusyw.,hi*p-ttiog n-ot-t Dr. Ed: ". ' . no otherrecoursethan a fuIl analyzatiol"' to *;tiirt tird could destroy the whole personaliJyye've wotlJi to ttta to build up.'Dr. Ed didh"tevenbotherto whisper. " cpically' "\ilft ehe could we do?" Dr. Paul asked and further us drivins hers are of "miie-ligntmares' ftrther behindschedule." --'W; e"n tty letting Melissaanalpe herself"' 'TIow'?" *Watch.' Ifis voicc startedtltti"g on,the sweettoneC that Melissahad cometo learn that peopleusedwith her' but not with eashother."How afeyou' Melissa?" *fm fine,Dr. Ed." nIlow wdUeyou like meto tell you a story?" As it a hapPYstoryDr. Ed?" *i don't How yet, Uetissa. Do you know wbat a comurteris?" *Yes. It's a countingf,achine." *tVell the simplestEomputersstarrcdout that mYr Mt lissa,but they quickly grew more -andmo-r9com-plicated undt smn thlre- wer6 computersthat could rea4 write' speat, and even think all by themselves,without help from men a time, therewas? grouPof-menwho t{ow, onceupon -computer sould think by itse$ it -was said thai if a personality, so they undertookto a developin! of capable hi'td one that wouF act just like a real person.They called it the Multi-Iogical $pems aaalyzer,or MLSA t, *Ihat soundslike Meliesa"' Mgllssaggded. Tee, it does,doesn'tit? Anyway, thesene,lr realized trat a personatityisn't sometlingthat iust pop out of the

220 &veetDrewns,Melissa air full-grown; it has_ to be developedslowly. Bu! at the y.me qme, they neededthe comp.itingability of iti ma_ qune oecauseit was_themost expeNive and complex -did comprter ever rnade.So what they wasto rlivide tne compute,fsbrain into two parts--one part would handG lorm?l computations,while the other dart would aevetoo mto the.de.siredlersonality.Then, when the personality was.built up sufrciently,tlhetwo parts woddbe unitea agam. '4t least, that's the way they thot'ght it would work _ Itut it turned out that the,basii designof the comDuter prevented-acompletedichotomy-thit meanssplittiis in trafi-ot ttre functions.Whenevertheywoutdgvb a prbb. lem t9 the computingparq someot"it woute-nJdsiaiiv I9ep into- the personalitypart. This was bad becausj. Meussa,the personalitypart didnt know it was a comput€r;_nthoughtit wasa little grl like you. The data that seeped-rln_confused it andftigftenedit.-And asit became more.&igbtenedand confusdd,its efrciency went down until it couldno longerwork properlv." f'Whatdid themenao, Or. BCf" .-,'lI me !on't.$oU Melissa.I was hopiagthat you could trelp endthe story. *How?I don't know anythingaboutcomputers.,' "Yj! yoo do, Melissa,-only-youdon't ieme.nberit f rememberall aQouta lot of thingp.But it g_" |etp y-ou_ Ifelissa,.very har!. All sorrsof straigorhings I|} wul 99!*$ comeinto you-rhead,and you'll find younJlt doiig Iryn_gsyou_neverkngw Vog could do. Will you try ii M:ltSpJg ltp u"_n"_d otit the endof the stori?' "4lliehqDr, Ed if youwantmeto.,' "Good girl, Melissa" on ._D; -Plql was whisperingto his colleague...ffitch Memory'and-tell Fer to call subfrogram.Circuit Analysis'.' "artial "Call'Circuit Analysis',Melissa.o . All at_once,strangethin$ appearedin her mind. I,one strlngs-otnumbersthat lookedpeaningl6ss,and yet somd how she knew that &ey did mean djffer6nt ihings,-Ee

ttsistance'

StePhcnGolilen capacitance,inductance' A"g qtl"

221 were myri-

Andformulae' ' ' cur.lycue' ilf,iflili-Jt=tsaight,-;ig'ag, *Read MISA 54(X)'Melrssa"'

wasthe mostftight'"ffig Aod suddenly,Melissasawherself'ftmore scaryeventhan eiperience4 irt"!-iti"'o ever f,orriblenightmar.es' tUe -ll,"ot at SeEtion4C-79A-" Uerpuet""n Sle had-to look' To the #tiffAid"'t of ildidt{ 19of m"cn different-from the rest ttoil-ilf much Very knew' she *fi;it"t, $ff*;at herself.But it was her toii, did noiseemtote a.naturalpart of ;fi" cripples.' by b"t t"th'.t like a braceused'iA""ly'e that sectionand "Il,Dr. Ed's voic" wal Lns;' for maximumreductionof data tre? ii"'pitih "tt"og"

*lftTfiit" SeeDagatt

tried her best to comply,but she couldn't' sheneededto know S#;'frift wa* mi*.iog,*P"thgg gA told her to' She naa Dr' tnl. *UA Ao ifrat tfil can'tt' I cant I Edt Dr' can'q i*ttA i" oy. "I

7t told vou it o'ooldo't worh" Dr' Paul said slowly' *W"fi-n"ot to switch on the full memory for complete analysis." protested'*It could kill "But she'snot ready," Dt' Ed -aMaybe, her." Ed. But if it does' ' ' well, at leastwe'll know howto do it betternexttime' Melissal" {es, Dr. Paul?" 'C#;t;;eff, MelissaTbit tt goingtohurt' a"a, #tn no more warning thin-that',the *T19-Sj M;G;. Numbers,endlessstreamsof numbers-complex ;t nb;, real numbers,integers,sulscltpts' ex-l91ents' A"d-th;l" were battles,wars more honible and bloody she'ddreamedand casualtylists that were in* Ot ""s tht;-t"rl to her becausesheknew everythingabout ;; y"iEt, hah col.9:,,evecolor' marin#e3.ign1 ;& ' :' qe Ustwenton' And tal status,numberof dependents pay fc bus driversin Ohio' tn"t" *"i" ,t"tirti"*-uo^u*g"

222

SweetDreams, Melissa number of deaths due to cancer in the U.S. 1965 to 1971, av:r_aggyield of wheat per ton of fertilizer consumed.. . . ' Melissa was drowning in a seaof data. "Help me, Dr. Ed, br. paul. Help me!'r she tried to scre:rm. But she couldn't make herse-ifheard. Somebodv elgew-ast^lking. Some stranger she didn't tnorv wai u$ng ner voice and saylng "v"n factors lhings about impedance and semiconductors. - And Melissa was falling deeper and deeper, rushed in Oy$e IIle relentlessly relenuessly_advancing advancin! army anny of information. into-oation. rrve mrnutes later, Dr. Edward Bloom Bloom opened oot the switch and separatedthe main froq the personality section. .'Ii{elissa,,' " he said softly, all rieht

nolv._Weknow how the story'sgoii! to

tn]e ,Cenffi

asked.the computer to red6sigi itif, ""i. *a it did. Th;rE won't be any lrore nightmares,Melissa Only sweetdre4ms Irom now on Isn't that good news?,' Silence. "Melissa?" His voice w1s hi-gh and shalry. ..Can you hear me, Melissa?Are you there?l' But there was no longer any room in the MLSA 5400 for a little girl.

TO TIIE DARK STAR ..

Rossnr Srr"vBnnsnc

We hovelittle enoughsciencefistiontlrcsed91stlut cow si.derstlw gloriesand wondersof science.Pity, becanse. there is siory material galore in thc new cosntological theoriesmd'the contirutingW of nsw discoveties.Sil' verbergis a rnmrwln knowsh* sciencetact-the librui' boolcswu to6* forward to his anthordive and he aiso kttourshis sciencefiction. Here, in d tale ot hamanemotioruffid stettfi wonders,lubleld^cboth inro tlu kind of storytlut is ortlypossiblzin SF. We came to the dark star, the microcephalonand the adaptedgirl and I, and our struggle,-b"gag.A poo-rly iot we weie, to begin with. The microcephalon asso:rted hailed from QuendarfV, where tbey grow their people with greasygray -alt. skins, looming shoulders,and virtuatly He-it-was wholly alien, at least The no headsit girl I hatedher. not so was and Shecami from a world in the Procyonsystem,where the air was more or lessEarth-qpe, but the gravity was doubleours. There were other difierences,too. She was thick through the shoulders,thick tbrougb the waist a 223

224

To the Dark Stt block of flesh..fhe- gengtic surgeons had begun with hu_ Tln raw material, but they had transformed-it into something nearly as alien as the microcephalon. Nearly. We were a scientific team, so they said. Sint out to observethe last moments of a dying stir. A great interstellar effort. Pick three specialists-at-rzndom,"p"tthdil; ship, hurl them halfday across the univdrie to observe what man had never obierved before. A fne idea. Noble. Inspfuing. We knew our subject well. We were ideul----' . Bgt we felt no urge to cooperate, becausewe hated one another. at the controls the - Th9 adapted girl-Miranda-was -daythat ttre dark star actnally came into sight. She spent bours studying it before she ieigned to tet-us know'*alJt lre were at our destination. Thetshe buzzcdus out of our quarters. f entered thg sganniagroom. lvfiranda's muscrilar bulk , ov_erflowgdthe glossy chair before the main screen The ggrocepnAon stood -beqideher, a squat figure on a tripodEre .arange-ment gl bony legs; the great shoul-ders nuncned and virhrally concealed the tiny cupola of &e head There was no ieal reason why an i,tffism,JUrain hd to be in its skull, and not safely tuckeE aw-y in tne 9o.o; but I had never gr-ownaccujtomed to tn"-rignt ot the creature. I fear I havJlttle tolerance for aliens. ul-ao4" Miranda said, and the screenslowed. The dark star hung in dead center, at a distance of perhaps eight light-days-aq close as we dared to come. ii was not quitedead, and not quite da*. I stared in awe. It was a hrrge thing some four solar masses,the imposing pf ."-.Fguo,ic star. On the screen there gowei' f,.TTt what looked like an enonnous lava field- Islands -ot asn qnd 4"g the size of worlds drifted in a sea of molten and glowing magma. A dull red illumination burnish;a &; s9r€9g. Black against crimson" the nrined gtar still throbbed with ancient power. In the depths of that monh.eap,coyrpressednuclei gro-anedand garyedF*.$ug Once the radiance of this star had lit a solar systed'; 6it I did not 6sxs think of the billions of years Aat UO'ir"sseC

225 RobertSilverberg sincethen, iror of the poesiblecivilizationthat had hailed aid warmthbefore$e cat'ptro.nhe, ugtt Ih-";;;'"f -'{'ve "tt picked up th9 thermals4re4y: Miranda said, avera$s about nine hundred temperatuie The surface There'snb chanceof thelanding.?' deprees. i scowledat her. "What good is tftLeaueraget€mperaGet a specific.Oneof thoseislands-" ture? --nThe ashhassesare radiatingat tw-ohundredand fifty tleere.e].the intersticesgo from one thouqan$degreq oq uol Evervthins works out to a mean ot nine hrmcrec ina iou'a meft in an instant if you went down d;*;. Airp. You'refrelcometo go,brother.With my blessing"' didn't say-" "I '*ou imptied that fhere'dbe a safe place to land on Oat-treball"" Mirznda snapped.Her voice was a basso boom; theri was plenty of-iesonancespacein that vast 'Yoi snidetycastdoubton my ability to-" Jn rt btn 'We will"*.usethe crawl6rto makeour inspection" said the microcephalonin its reasooableway. "There nevet was -trlir-inttaiuusided. anvolai to makea physicallandingon the star." I si:aiedin aweaithe sightthat filled our screen. A star takesa long time to die, and the,relict I viewed impressedme with'its colossatage. It had blazedfor biliions of years,until the hyalrogenthat was its fuel had at last be6'nexhausted,and its thermonuclearfirnace against startedto spufferand 96 out. A star has defe-nces growing coid; as its fuel- supply dwindles,it Egel tq Eontrad, raising its density and convertinggravitatio.nal potentiaienergfinto thermhlenerry.It takeson new life; iow a white dfrarf, with a densityof tons per cubic inch, it bwns in a stablewayuntil at lastit glowsdark" We have studiedwhite 0warfs for centuries,and we know their secrets+o we think. A cup of matterfrom a white dwarf now orbits the observatoryon Pluto for our further ilhnination. But the starof our screenwasdifferent. It had oncebeen alarge star-greater than tbe Chandraskharlifrit" t.2 solar masses.Thus it was not content

226

To thc Dok Stw

to shrink step by step to the status of a white dwarf. The stellar core grew so dense that catastrophe came before stabili--ty;-w_hen it had coryerted all its fydrogen to irouq6,_it qdl into catastrophic collapse and wenf supernova. A shock wave ran through the core, converting thi kinotic e,n€t5f of collapse into heat. Neutinos spewed outward; the e_nvelqreo_f-the star reached temperatures upwards of two hundred billion degrees; thermal energy bicame inten-se_ra4lation,streaming away from the-igonized star and shedding the luminosity of a gataxy tor a brief, fitftrl moment. What we beheld now was the core Ieft behind by the supelnova explosion. Even after that awesomefury,-what was intact was of great mass. The shatteredhulk hid been cooling for eons, cooling toward the final death. For a small star, that death would be the simple death of cold, ness: the ultimate burnout, the bladk dwarf driftins througb the void like a hideous mound of ash, liehtless] without warmth. But this our stellar core was stifl beycnci the Chandrasekharlimit. A special death was reservedfor ig aweird and improbable death. _And that was why we had come to watch it perish, the microcephalon and the adapted girl and I. I parked our small vesselin an orbit that gave the dart star plenty of room. Miranda busied herself with her measurementsand computations. The microcephalon had more abstruss thing to do. The work was well divided; we each had our chores. The expenseof sendinga ship so great a distance had necessarily limited the size of- the expedition. Three of us: a representativeof the basic human stock, a representative of the adapted colonists, a representativeof the race of microcephalons,the Quendar people, the only other intelligent beings in the knoum tmiverse. Three dedicated scientists. And, therefore, three who would live in serene harmony during the course of tbe worl since as everyoneknows scientistshave no emotiors and thinlc only of their professional mysteries. As every-

227 RobertSilverberg one knows.When did that myth start to circulate' anywav? f said to Miranda' 'owhereare the figures foc radial oscillation?" She replied, "See my report. It'll be publishedearly nextyeatin-" 'damn you, axe you doing that deliberately?I need thosefisuresnowt" curvo,then." meyour totalson the mass-density "GiG *Ihey areir'tready.All fve got is raw data." "Thai's a liel The computet'sbeennrnning for daysl at me. fve seenit" sheboomed I wasreadyto leap at her throat. It'would havebeeno body was not nighty battli; her three-huntlred-pound trr[neil for peisonalcomba! as miill was,but shehad all the advantasesof strengthand size.Could I club her in somevital p-iacebefore-shebroke me in half? I weighed mv options. -Th!n appeatedandmaclepeac€once the microcephalon more,with a few feather+oftwords. Onlv the alienamonsus seemedto conformat all to tho abstraction""the scientist.t' abstraction, reotvoeof that emoEonlees stereotype It was not tue, of course; for all we could tell, the nicrocephalonseethedwith iealousiesasd tusts and angers,but wo had no clue to their outwardmanifestationg. Ie voioewasa$flat as a vocodertransmission.Ihe crea' ture moved peacefullyanong us, the medlatorbetween Ivlirandaand me. I despisedit for its maskof tranqui[ity. I suspected" toq that the microcephalonloathedthe two of us for our willingnessto vent our emotioos,and took a sadistiopleasurefrom assertingzuperiorityby caloing us. We re,turnedto our research,We stil had sometime beforothelast collapseof the dark sar. It had coolednearlyto death.Now therewasstill some thermonuclearactivity within thatbizate core,enoughto keep the star too warm for an actual landing. It was radiatingpdnarily in the optical band of the rpectrum, a4d by stellarstandardsits temperafurewasnil, but for us it wouldbelikeprowlingtheheartofialive volcano.

228

Tothe Dok Sts

starhadbeena chore.Its luminositywasso ,^.}1l?C^tr rcw urat it could not be detectedoptically at a greater

a

fidG;o spotte"a ry a

**1p,f$1n X-ray lfeht-month.i*;it sarcffe-borne telescope that had de?ected ihe einanations of the d"grorotJ of the core. Now we gathered arouid and performed'our ";;;-c", functio"s of measurement.We recorded tli"ry like neutron drip and 6"for" :J*Foq captue. We computed fi" ti-"-""-"i"ioe rne lnar colapse. Where neepssary,we collaboratfr; most or ule nme we went our separate ways. The tension ship

w1snasty.Miran,iawenrt hJr *"Ti; tg1g m,e. -was provo_ke And, though I like to "riiof think that I Deyondand aboveher beastliness, I haveto confessthat I matchedher, obstructionfor obsinrction.Our alien companion never made any-overt attempt to annoy usi but aggression,can Tdfrt !,e maddeniilgin ctose"quarters, ang th€ microcephalon's benignindiff6renceto us was as aslvfiranda'soutrightshrewPgtenta torcefor dissonance ishn:ss .f or my onmdeliberatelymulish respooses. ., T".lT .l*.g in our viewscreen,bubblingwith vitality q"t FIiS its dying state.The islandsof slig &ousandi o-tmilesindiameter,broke.freeand drifted at-randomon tn-eseaof inner flame.Now and thelr spoutingeruptions of stripp-ed particlescameheaving ooi oi tnd cord.Our tiguresshowedthat the final coiiarie "p was drawingnear, 1nd that meant that an awkward'choicewas upon us. Someone _wasgoingto have to moniioitne hst nioments ot me dait star.The riskswerehigh.It couldbefatal.N_one of us mentionedthat dtifrate ,"rpoo.iUifity. We moved toward the climax of o-rif work. il{iranda continuedto annoy me_tg every way, sheerlyfor tle devilishnessof it. How I hatld deri de naa-dl,g.r, rhi; _Yo{$e"o:l[, with notlring dividing us but profissional -furned Ilut the month,sof proximity had tearousy. our quaryl into a personalfeud. The meresight of Gr nudgenedp9, and I'm sure she reactedthe-sameway. She her energie-s 1s 6 immsture to fouble 9yoS4. me. Iitely she took to walki.g around "tt".pt th6 ship in the nuce, I suspect trying to stir some spark of sexual feeling

RobertSilverberg 229 in me that shecould dousewith a blunt, mockingrefusal. The trotrblowasthat I couldfeel no dosirewhateverfor a grotesqueadaptedcreaturelike Miranda, a mound of muecleand bonetwice my size.The siglt of her massive uddersand monumentalbuttocks stirred nothing in ms but disgust. The witchl Was it desireshewas trying to kindle by exposingherself that way, or loathing?Either way, she hadme.Shemusthavekoosmthat. In our third month in orbit aronrndthe dark star, the microoephalon annonced "The coordinatesshowan approachto the Schwarzchildradius.It is fime to sendour vehicleto the surfac€of the star." "ll/hich oneof us ridesmonitor?"I asked. Miranda'sbeefyhandshotout at me."You do." 'Think you're better equippedto make the observations," I told her sweetly. "Thank you, no." 'T[e must draw lots," said the microcephalon. 'unfai1," saiil tvfiranda.She glared at me. 'Tle'll do s66ethingto rig theodds.I couldn'ttnrst him.'n "How elsecanwe choose?"thealienasked. *We canvote,' I suggested"'T nominateMranda.' '! nominatehimr" shesnapped. The mictocephalonput fiis ropy tentaclesasrossthe tiny noduleof skull betweenhis shoulders."SinseI did not chooseto nominatemyself,"he saidmildly, "it falls to me to mekea decidinge,hoicebetweenthe two of you. I refusethe responsibility.Another methodmustbe fotrnd." Wb let the matter drop for the moment.We still bad a few moredaysbeforethecriticaltime wasat hand. With all my heart I wishedMranda into the monitor capwle.It wouldmeanat besther death,at worst a sober muting of her abrasivepenonality, if she were tle one who satin vtcariouslyon-thetbroesof the dark star.f was willing to stopat noihingto givoher that remarkableand demolishingexperience. What was going to happen to our star may sound strangpto a layman,but the theoryhad beenoutlinedby

To the Dark Sto Einstein and Sc,hwarzchilda thousand yeirr ago, aad had beel confirmed many times, though never until our expedition had it been observed at close range. When nattcr

reac;hes a sufrcientlyhigh density,it can force the local cureafureof space curafure spac€to closearounditself, itself. forming forminea pocket isolatedfrom the rest of the universe.A collapsingiupernova corc ceates just such a Schwarzchildsingulaiity. After it hascooledtb near-zerotemperature,a corl of t{e proper Ctandrasekharmassunder$resa violent collapse to zero volume,simultaneouslyattainings1 infinite {qp sity. In a way, it swallowsitself and vanishesfrom this universe-for how could the fabric of the continuum toleratea point of infinitedensityandzerovolume? Suchcollapsesare rare. Most starscometo a stateof cold equilibriumandremainthere.We wereon the tbreshold of a singularity,and we were in a positionto prt an observervehicle rigbt on the surfaceof the cold star, sendingbackao exactdesciptionof the eventsup urtil the final momentwhenthe collapsingcore brcke thmughthe wallsof theuniverseanddisappeared. -on Someonehad to rtde gafui tne equipmenf thougb. Wbi& meaot, in eftect, vicariouslypartic.ipatingin &e deathof the star. We had learnedin other casesthat it becomesdifrcult for the monitor to distinguishbetween reality andefiect;he acceptsthe sensoryperceptsfrom the distantprckup as his own experience.A kind of psychic backlashresults;oftea, an unwary-braio is buned out entirely. q;6a1 irnpact would the direct e:rperienceof belng cnrshedout of existence in a singularityhaveon a monitoring observer? I was eagerto find out. But not with myself as the saqificial victim. f cast about for someway to get Mranda iato that capsule.She,of course,wasdoingthe samefor me.It wag she who madethe first move by attemptingto drug me into compliance. What drug she use{ I have no idea- Her peoplea,re

Robert Silvet$etg

2lL

which help fornd of the non-addictivehalhrcinogens' world' ownized ti*[ tn"it thembreaktn" moooto'olo]'&

$;;doJi.riri"d"mtJi"i'J*itrq"g-'{:ry,J"t^?1" '#*;'ii"i.t{"'i'-t"'x{":i:{, j orthedark ffiff.a?.ti;'H"il;-'t"iltd*'dns

TTs ;ilLii"b A;;'s'di'"JT b tnryff:'-:T.4J:T: im.age-on*"^:T::: ttre im I rootta,^the ffi";;ili'"t-;"?J

ff;ili':#f-*e;ii,

". *o-iJ"s""sofflImedidaneerie

a"ffi atoogthehorizorsoTF Pft;*r!f,ldT"iil'""r""iif$*t por€s.Wasthe broie qom my -Th" :buckedbeneath and heaved fl;t rnio"ril.i"iytilel ii tneu*t ot mv handandsawcontinents illfrilllla .., meto thecap of asnsutin a groutingof fieryP3Pa"with -'ffi;a;ttfrd beftndmel'cdme "rG monitorlsreadyfor launching iJffrJil"t-*;a. to seethelastnoments'" irwonderful YdA fi"d ;;. *ittt[iot-tttti n"a i-paaa"a *9tt$ the strangely formwasevenmorealien atdA;h#. Ittir*c";i aodptea muscu--tun; ler-goldner -t6e-spectrum, fr--ot"U ttqpt"dandfow-ed' her fleshwas h"itat tt" colorso! ;;rt

emerg&Ofv p""t"t"d and cratered,with-wiry.filaments the quite caln ibout entering il;tJ;ti;-ttio.-l-r"rt .la Uu"t the hatcb"-revealingthe glelqtng ill*irfilsn" pana wrthin' andI beeln to enter'an$thgn the ;fi;6oi and I saw in the Lauucinationdeepene-d ;eefi;-td b6vond devil a tda;*te il;d.i 4 rySgoatioo" I ddild"f to A6 Aoo'randlay theretwitching:. . .. Miraieh seizedme. To her I wasno more than a ootl. Perspi-t'e. to thrust me into $e gapsgle-' ShJtiftrJm;;began Reality renrned' I slippeil from her ;d";;;tk-i *icclea awai iouiog toward-thebulkhead' stat.;d ilitJ" u""ti of,primoraiat forestsshe cameponderously aftEr ne. *Nor" I said. t'I won't go.tt

race iwistea in anger,and she turned silH6a:rrJr I lay pantingand quivcringuntil d;f""t. Jt i" "Ji'mt *.s purgedof phandoms. my-fii"d It hadbeenclose' with later' Fight force while tt was my-turn a sfiod

232 To the Dok Sto force, I told myself.I co-uldnot risk more of Miranda,s treachery.Time,wasnpning short-

i,Tfr ,?f,iH.,&ifttT,tr*HXT

anaesthesia, and telescopeantennae. it for inductionof docility, ity, rI Gft left it to to go so tJwTifi;-fl*.'frraiiin, madeher

thJhyp.noprob" woord p;it. :9::.T_"!:9, srrustercoaring, and-perhaps_Mir;nda

,i;r"sois

would bdfi "f to

my wishes. It did not work. -riiv-"i"a - I watchedher going-tohq telescopes. I sawher broad_ beamedform set[ingi-i+ tdd:-rn I heard the

'*i:t1i":T:'.?nl:"t:F, ffimffi ... get into the capsule. .. you u,lUmooitorAc criwier . . : y o u . . . y o u . . . y o u w i l l d o i.t. . , I waitedfor her to qise and movelike a sleepwalkerto

jfn,x#",fid st#:y*iff'*l;"e"'-*tJ. ' prgle had[6r! yesr n wasg;itdl;-h# No. She clawedat the telescopeas thoughit were a steel_ .

$f,ffiHffi,f i$"}:rttr'1xlHfffi tri ra4.-He_renonnousEoiirr"da-ir-i 9r9sglowed_-with

beforeqre.Sheseemdd hatfberserE-Td;r6b;-n"en"f, someeffecton her;I couldseeher -iaA;i aid;d-s*dilii; knew-that shewai 3IFy.-gtiit ur*]ffi; gnough.Somethingwithfti that adaptedbr"io ;i h;6;;; herrheshength t6 ngbtoa tndmirty ,lr""o tism. "inviii: *You ..you

did thatP' sheroared. gimmictredJ the telescgge,,didn't you?" f! {ont knowwhatyou mean,Miranda." 'Liad Fraudl 'qdm down Sneaki" '111 roct all You're rockingusout of orbit." I wantt_m"-dtwas tnai-miire that had .

li:*Tp:l*-TI trypnoprobe you !1+j,you used?',

putii a"r shat wasiq tho

233 Robert Sitverbetg (And what was it you put {es." I admittedcoolty. into myfood?Whichhallucinogen?" "Tt aids't work " someone'sgot "ilifrilr'did-my hypnoprobe'Miranda" the to gei-into tnat cipsiie. io a few hours.well be at the esseowithout back celf;"af-ooint.We dbn't darecome ldake thesacrifice"' U"t oUe;rvatioos. you?" "f.ot I said, appealingto that noble abstrao' "Fil't"l*o," tioa *isot the disdainfullaughthat I deserved'Then Miranme. sne-uaorecoveredher coordination dt;frd;i.t;;d i" tblt- now andit seemedas thoug! shew9ryplanningto tbnrst-meinto the capsuleby main force. Het Pgocerols armsenfotdedme. The stink of her thickend brdemaoe i titl ribs crealing within ne.-r hammeredat ffi.n for the-pressurcpoints that would f,&-Uffi.-tt-*"tiog felled-heap.We iruristed eachothercrqelly' d;;-dila c"fiffd back ana fortfr acrosi the sabin. It was a fierce Attest-of iH[ againstmass.She would ns1 fall' and I not crush. woild 'Tti-tooet"ss 'Release buzaof the microcephalonsai{ eaOo&er. The coltapsingstar is neiring its Schwanchild Wemusta,ctnow." radius. -back, t"trandas armsslippedawayfrom me. I steprped dowerins at her, to iirck breatn into my bat0etedbody' liviO trriisesweic appearingon her skin We hadcometo al mutual awarenesibt muhrat strength;but the capsule gtill was€mpty. Ilatreil hoveredtike a globeof ball lightningbetweelrus. The erav.greasvaliencieaturestoodto oneside. I iorifd-not iare to guesswhichof us had the ideafirst Mranda or L But we-movedswiftly. The microcephalon $ar,cetymurmured a word of protest as we hustled it and into the mom that held the capsule. dorrn the passage Mranda was smiling.I felt reliof. Sheheld the alientight while I openedthe hatch,and then shethnrst it througb. We doggedthehatchtogether.

231 To the Dark Sto 'Launch the crawler,',shesaid. I noddedand went io Ae ;;nhols. Like a dafi&om a blowgun thecrawter

fromour ship |q"dr$iiipri.a andjourneyed unaer Hgh-f,"c"Gra:ti5i-io the (fr surface thedarkstar.It conrainfi

;;-;;;;"hicle with sturdv legs,conholrd bt;d;t"Ti"k# from lg.,g theobser vauoncapsuleaboard.shi-p-.

As the ;b-s;.wermovedams and feetwithin the control'harie*J-,"r"r* relays act'ated thehydraulic pistons

i" th;;;ilil

iaA;r;;;

in.iarallel resllonse, ".,iol over the slas ctaindring It_-.lo* uaps of a sorarsurface uiatnoorgaic-rG-*.tra op-elaleq A;;;*G, wift "iti.i]. E" Tricrocephalgo skitl We watched throughtne skeiOecftt";-;i; ,;bilds" #;""itn"t iorrroo. Bven -ffiH:rf.ffit"; tcgi'yingtvhotrtrananyptanii ot;;-. tne srgnalsco-ilg- from the star altered with each mcrntent, as the tou.lorce of the ,iO:rnitt-eripfidl;i $i"g-tight.. SometlingungG;Uy-;drs, was takinc ptace o'"--riFo.rpfrfdHi .dosqthere;and.t!r,irO rooted to the scene.fijderavitaAonafGrcas "t *ar. Thecrawlerwastifte{he".d,;;;rrssed, lashedthe subjected to strainsthat slowty,ipe;e ift;*tTThe alienwit_ aessedit att, and dictaiedao *n"in *"*, dgly, m.ethgdigalty, ".-oiiot wirhouta ni"t , tJL. tidal forces aspired . rne- s.nguarity approached. The "f infinity. The-microcephal*,r*d"d C"ild;; ry{ at lastasit attempted fo describe tnetopofogicuf pni*_: that

gg

p ey9

,.ro-Giil-riHiii-0"*ity,

,*1 volume-how did_ua the nynd comprehr"dii? Th.-;**i; was contortedinto an inconceifabh shape; *d Fj i;; rcnsorc obstinatelv to dk""d -continued through the nind of th;mi;r;pnuili,""f"j'drtu" *o into our oomputerbanls. carnesilence.Our screenswent dead. The . -T-h"_o unthinkablehadat lastoccurred,ana tle Aii ,t n nuC puoud

withinthe radiusor.singutirity.n- iltLu"p..d-i"i" 9Pffi*: takingwith,it d; "dd: T;-th" alienin the obseryation capsuleaboardour ship, it-wus ,* th;ogh;;

235 Robert Silverberg that too bad vanighed into that pocket of hyperspace 'oassedall understanding. I looked toward the heavens.The dark staf, was go-tre' pt"k"d up lhe outpouring.o.f gngrSf th3t O,;'d"td*t -.ttilitation.-we were-buffeGd b'riefly on the its .*t"i aat ripped outward from the place vrhere *rrc "t-iii& the star had been, and then all was calm. Mranda and I exchangedglances. 'Let the microcephalonouf" I said. Sn"-opJ*Otlt l"t"l. The'alien sat quite calmly at the controt &nsofe. It did not speak. Mirantia assistedit from tne-captufe. Its eyes were^expressionless;but they had never shown anYthing anyway. We are on our way back to the worlds of our-galaxy'-now: fto nission has-been acconplished. We have relayed 'odcelessand unique data. The micrccepfalon has not spoken since we removed it &om the capsutL.I do not believl it will speakagain. Mranda^and I perform our chorec in harmony. Ihe hostility between ris is gone. We are paxtners in crime, now; edg with guilt thaiwe do not admit to one another. We tendour shipmatewith loving care. Someonehad to make the ob'sefl'ations,after all. There \pero ro volunteers. The situation called for force' or the deadlockwould never have been broken. But Miranda and I hated each other, you say? Why, then, should we cooperate? We both are humans, Mranda and I. The micro cephalon is not. In the en4 that made the difterence. In tbe last analysis, Miranda and I decided that we humans must stick together. There are ties that bind" We speedonward toward civilization. Sbe sniles at me. I do not fnd her hateful now. The microcephalon is silent.

AFTERWORD The House That lules Built BnrerW.Ar-orss

Last century,therewasa firm of specbuilderswho erected a little bijou housein the seedierend of town. You knowthefirm. It wascalledVerne,Wells& Co. The houseat that time wasa desirableprqperty.It gave shelter, kept out the cold winds of tho bentury, and prorridedits ocorpantswith gpod vantagepoints from which they could watch what went on round about. Indeed,someof the rooms,particularlythosein the WeUs Toger, hadveryfne viewswhichcanstill be enioyed. The yearstold againstthe property.If any of you were in real estateat the time, you will recall vftat happened whenthe edifice-in 1926-te1l into the handsof a-deco rator called Gernsback;it was he who addedthe gothic beltry andthe big nurseryvith the bahan wallpaper. Late4 anotherowner extensivelyconvertedthb gfound floor into a workshop,settingup lathesand a privateradio stationwhereWellshad alloweda bit of living room. This ownet'saatnewasCampbellSeveralof his tenantsbuilt a qhongwall round the property,while others did a good job of landscapingthe garden.Campbellis still to be seen working busily in the basemenlthoughsomeclaim he ls 236

237 BtimtV' Aldiss dry rot' His wall hac mainlypreoccupiedwith pr'oblemsof fallen into disrePair. *ititit""*tiiithe property-h9s\en split uo into a lot begomesiowdedwith n"ti"tt"f["t of semi-independent zntazni w i" th" clouds-to rsaacAsimov Ar G Eo; "tf;F;;e;ti"ot'' features

MuovryY Tg.cunous -i"o-i ;"ffi? laUeaoict is buildinga e ffi; ffi-uO."a. t-rrao luite' ry th9 Maslerffi;fituft4-"ruu*"b-[ioo inhabitants dt-on.$oomr it ; F" 9Jd* ffiffi}ffi; t"gr"tt Uty,9trtr3g-pey".lTg-YS: areoftento beseen, ua in kind'Theconcierge th; fi"g *ttona, iegdttauty, pof[ en-a tttst noticethe -* business-like Ygtl il*m, towardwhichthe localcour R *". ""ri"a ilffi;"*

qil allowsa grant. *tti";7{th" to missincludethe back,features--no! 'Ai[e t"lo*i"u terrace, the Norton .self-perpe-tuating and the Heinlein-guntht-M;til exercise-ya-rd, 'tryftr 6;t"id ; ;tt;u ti* in one'of the rather tumble-down orrtbuildings. Mv metaphothasbeenfloggedto death'But I supposeat its corpsef6r a momentmore-that most ii i -"i-'i"tt -"t'O"-Afittrtoo oo, hdarsabouttbis interestinS!m9 sti99 of leal estateconcernsitself with how th9 propertysl-oqd h-renovateq or, on the other han4-h9w it should be is; or whetherit sr#;"d 'iii{:*ttiur" iod""t ior posterity iust as itonto one side,and io uuila a big iew wing *dt6; the w*tt tnoUA 6e flattenei eotirely or rebuilt furtherout to enclosemoreland. --fvf" *ttonal feelingis that on the wholethe househas the entiredishict hasalteredin b;-dL;aintaioeaiUut one should move t'o lodgtrg perhaps so that "nar"cttt; again. start and elsewherc '-iit n-st"t" plaiily what I mean by saytngthat the alteredin character. _attitoa" disbict has toward fte firt'ure and toward the uniOur *rt" tna otttelvesihaschangettg€atly sincoH' G' Wells *ua" to wdte. SuchWellsianconceptsasthe World State atlon"ot to us becausewe have learnedsadly "tJ "ow

238 TheHouseThatlules Buitt that we foster inside tfrannies undreamed by rational Fabian.Mr.-Wellsand.ul thdr" Vi"i;ri;;-#o ,u* mankind asreadilyeducable. . As for the universelIt ha-schangedout of all recosrition-changed

evensjncea"- pruiiiiii ltTas#e#; Be,st.SFtpulsars*::_FF."!.J".?t]i"nrronting us with new ideas about elgrg5lt

intersteUar'etgctrondensity, andthengrureof celestiat*time:i.iifr.-i"ey movethe scie_nce edirorof Na+,iaei*i;ri;A ot A" rmiverse proftTrgpof barety*Jr"riffi ll_'P:q oi.iiJi a"rmost vanishingpoin! lly space,,---a "ui."t, -to Oe.scription so strippedof thesmurtissot *lrty'yeak tn"-ii;f ,i#t .i whg -still sendtheil paper "gl junkltting aboutold -h-eio6smodels of theuniverse wboU UewiU'ililJo to heedit. as-Ioqrhefuturet is tu th" tut";; for manvof us.{nd The_SFI readas.a-T boy-inth" tok ;'J.*lt+ot promised mawellous.{hi"gs .i"ti.r. p"r.ibti y;; wilt recallthat,accordingAi;rh" W;tt*,i"iilSn"p" to.Come,'1965wastnira, in wniif,-"-Jo-rr"o* "ffnfid calledat Basra(by theTrinsportUJ;; ilom which*u* the ModernStateenieieee;ln{"auj";;;rA-4il;;;;; delegates frerepresent,aswilt asLuropeanrep$*le reseatatives. Theaverag6 ageoi wasaboutthir_ ty-three.How simpteft w;s afaeqites gotito bet And the asa simptified fres=ented versionof the 1!1r-:yp(and 4*1y-r present still mosfl.y is), whereas'* -cooim*i.udo"i * .o"ioi-inti erasofgreatercomplexity #peOpti, aA mediaall multiolv. weretold we weregoingto live in ,_-F l again'.w.e glass.ciries, wear.tin-togas,6vU a-tot (;e i" lF:d_" consequence all bea oleasinglig6-t btonzn*i*), ;"fu"Ifi w, *g ueiane.aiaffidi. rh.;; wasgoingto i1i9v be no smogin"g Los Angelesa"o ir.ryoni-*u* foiof io enjoya Ios Angelesclimate.

- It didnt wor-kout that way.,tlgreis the furure,and our few palacesare built on niubisn d"-i. b;b6d ;".;; beautitul_newbuildingti",r.mt dk{il i;rs wherehumanderelictshidethjir wouncts_away. Evenwor€e, that everyscientificadvanceadvanceso*--"rrty we see a shade

239 BfianW.Aldiss nearersomeultimatoconfusion.Of coursethereis no such tliog a generalspf,rihraladvance. "t a rtiicd6us tt'i"g if the sciencefiction fie14 l"*orlfiG signsoI disintegration,should be ah";dt;fowi"tiome the gtnelations-tho New baftbgroundfor *ptit'ihto a tne bU F.
2n The House That lules Built pianist Daniel Barenboim said recenfly tlat music was the silence between the notes; so literatire is the space between the words.---asDisch acknowledges. novel, _ Th9 o-ngthing thit Norman Spinrad's blistering -silsace Bug Irck Barcn lacked was space-betweensstds betweenthe notes. It also ovei-worked one offensiveword to desperation, until this reader flinched at its every appea.rance.I refer to the odious term "nitty-gritty". Apart from this, a bold blast at the forces of cynicism, some lyricd sexual passages,and great humor, make Bug lack Buon a rare and vivid contribution" certainly not to ordinary fiction, ful c€lfainly so to tle SF canon. What marks these writets-Diseh" Sladek and Spinrad -and others similal to them on both sides of the Atlantie, as distinct from earlier writers is often less their technique than what may be termed their position of engagement" They are sceptical of the advantageto the spirit of our technological age, which includes everything from, say, the sacrednessof SF magazinesto the technological gadgetsthemselves. This comesout most markedly in Sladek's novel, which concerns itself with the horrors of mechanical proliferatioeproliferatioa that eventually brings gove,rnments and nations to their metaphorical knees while leaving F*"o beinp pretty well unscathed-Thus, while it may be withering about our preoccupation with hardware, it fu hopeful about us, sayrn& in eftect that we may be contaninated but perhaps not fatally. I'm doubtful about that conclusion myself, but certainly it is refreshing to read The Reproductive Systernwhich is, for the reasonsstated, far less cynical about the human condition than books Iike, for example, tle Lensman series, where legality and goodness seem to be inGrchangeable terms, and when both dependon loads of lethal machinesorquasi-machines for their continued existence. The Faust theme may be read into Sladek's novel--if you af,eprepared for the sake of your thesis to equateDr. Smilax's immortal soul with his spectacles-but it is deliberately there in Disch's novel, where knowledge is bought

Bfinnw'Ald'iss

24L

at an exDensethat, in these non-theological days:.:genl

Bothnovelstackleat different ;oil;fi;iltnan'raust-t. rilenma of our age,tho relafronship l"oJri-u "r"tttf*O lvtachine-torthis-reason, i;tnd rr,r.n I tltu.F*

amongthe most intereetingof the year'snovels,lnsl(E or outside --Birt the SF field. thtt E"ttaf Onenna is the one, you may.agree' that divialesmostof the youngerwritersfrom most ot the The ymng Oon't-tite the systemor the ma"fd."-o"o. to it"'p*f,"ttg forcedto ch6ose,th"y-'! prcfer "iirrt-Out LSD. The oldet lniterg have faith in the machineand -t,itl i,n our tpchnologyto pull us through to a better world. '-Sit;h a dilemmabearsvery hard upon sciencefiction writ€ttt ftiy mustta*e sides.i will staGpy-own position: t""nnoiocttis no help at all to the essentialhumansondient. The reasons tiot-a"v-in* than; changpof governmtavg * organic-c'reatires, beings, ;ht fifr -tee;o.impeuei from within to build a semi+entientworld ot rnorga$c tt""g" of an increasingcomplexity(and thereforcinsubosdt"fiyi- are otscut"] tuf tnosi ieasonq ar9 nrob-a,b.ly unherilihful,asonecai seeby examiningthg effectsof the *.o"ttioo'so iar. Any wriler who light heartedlysings tte ltorious future of michinery putshimselfin an ambiguousphilooophicalattitude. ef important non-fiction boo-\ nublishe
TheHouseTInt lulcs Built 242 hammer-blows strucklast century.fust asagainstmenlike Darwin and Marx we can offer only JamesWatsonand Billy Grahan, so Sussmanshowsby his investigationof sevenwiten whosebooks span the century bow much our curent attitudesto the machinewereshapedby men like Carlyle,Ruskin,Dickens,Morris, and Wels. Deeper in the mire, we haveachievedonly an aestheticappreciation of machinesandtheir products. In the first chapterof that rather bodng book, Walilen, Thoreausays,"We are in greathasteto constructa magnetictelegraphfrom Maine to Texas;but Maineto Texas, it may be, havo nothingimportant to commuoicate".Of oourse,Thoreau was just a aature-'lovingliterary man; bttt since the likelihood that the world's Maines and Texaseswill have nothing to communicatehas become more thoroughlyconfirmed,his cautionarywords should be remembered by the morc-means-better brigndewho cry for morecomsatsandadditionalT\l channels So with most other faceb of our contemporar5r world. SomeVictorianssawthe situationclearlyenougb"By the end of the 1850's,the decadeof the GreatErhibition, it was no longer possibleto hope for a richer life througb machines;therewastechnologicalporffer;but it flourished amid emotionaland physicalpoverty;and what was then true for VictorianEnglandis now tnre for the globe. Another curiousfac.tor,whlch SussmanbrinS out well, is the ambivalenceof Victotian feelingstoward the nnr chine and the awful fascinationof them.In part this 6ay be becauseof the man-machineintedependbnce,a more soplisticatedversionof the peasant-goat interdependencq which waspinpointedby SamuelButlecthus (qne of thc excellentand appositequotationswhich adom Sussmaa's 'The fact is that our intercstsareinseparable from Fot): theirs (the machines),and theirsfrom ours.Sach raceis dependent uponthe otherfor innumerablebenefits." Of course,thingshavegonefurther today.We arcnt so sure any longer that they need us . . . But even this suspicionis inhereutin the vnitingsof Wellsby the endof the century.Sciencefiction authorsstill experiencethat

24? BfianW.Al;d'iss ambivalent feeling towatd mac'hines;it -it unfortunats Aat ii.it nitt*ic 6nse iJ so often directedforwardsnther ilii Ui"k' to tnai tniv do not rcaliz'ehow often they are merelycoireringold grbund.The newerwritersseemmore spheres;wbich shoultlhelp -rle;ii ieaa in"non-iecnni-cal themio breaknew ground. freshaspectsof our-presenf Often this neans-revealing wbich is a stewpotof past and future.-It is not tbat they tht future;ratheAthefuture hasdesertedthem' d;"tt The near-futurewas somethingthat happenedin- tlo nineteen-fifties.Many utopian dreaps were realized.oy th* *d p-viO Oytiopiud. -new Al1 we haveimmediate$-bedocsocio-economic-national until least f"rJ 1":t "s iust as is merely the present-in-extension, ttioJptiouitf our centuryis the nineteenth-in'extension. '-Ot ttis iigntmare retardationof tim9, we had an example last vJui-u large-scaleand honifying example'.On Aupust 2tst, units of the Soviet Army, supported-Dy uni[s of four other Warsaw Pact countries, invaded their main objectivewast9 cnrshthe new CZecnottovatia; *uoit of feelin! 6id thinking then brealon-gthroug[ the official Communistmold. Theseshocksof changewere readingsthat senta tremorthroug! th.-gr"y seismograpnic menin-Mbscow;they movedhurriedlyin to setthe Ctech back. clock -f" tne-West, with our customaryoptimism, ye ha{ deceivedoursetvesinto imagining1tri1thingshad changed in the SovietUnion sincetf,e repressivedaysof Stalinism. We seenow it is not so. Inside-theenduringwalls of the Iftemlin, time has beenstopped;and since-whether we like it or not-the Russiansare our brotlers, orr osm time-pulseis cbilledthereby. race is an old-fashioned Thb future is over. Tha space -infertile phallic symbols, a diversion conducted with Verne freak-out.What &en is a cleativewriter to do? Is therea placefor him, exceptasa museumcurator,a worm re-turninsold soil? in the arts: sothey Thereis still art. Thereis oo Progress must be amongthe true things. I believein writing. I

244

The House That lulesBuilt

believe writing is to be preferred to advertising or to advertising oneself, or to knoeking out scripts for TV or film aeording to someoneelse's dictatesr pr to strip carl tootxr; or to fry other bastard relation. Writing is a iaft of words-with words aod thought inextricable, &e rrery mark of Man. I also believe that if you feel this wan you may possibly summon enough faith to wite well, and that possibly writing well may mean arranging a logical seriesof weqts into a reasoned structure, and populating that stnrcture with facsimilies of human beings. And that if one does thiq one standsa chanceof producing a living work as well as iust earning a living. The,re is little doubt that this is a splendid p€riod itr recalls the old which to be observing and writi time.s!"--if Chinese curse, "May you live in win& of only one can fortify oneself against the nihilism and not be tempted by any of the various unsound theories flying around. Perhaps the theo'ry that did SF most damagewas the idea that the future was going to be made glorious through a sort of anny of technotogical devices-an unthinking optimism that led to coarseness and turned SF into propaganda, pro'pagandafor the qpace race or for stunt systemsof psychologr or mechanics. A curious idea that someSF witers entertain nowadays is that there is something called a 'lsychic landscape" which somehow has an exact external equivalent surely this is part and parcel of the Pathetic Fallacy, worn thin in William lVordsworth's day; luc*ily, tbe human identity can still distinpish itself from its e,nvironment.Too much prctenco and pretentiousnesssan t ill SF. Unfortmately, the coterie aspect of SF magazines-whether Galaxy ot to breed formulao and New Worlds or Awlog-tends dogmq some of which, initially helpfu! tend to assumethe streagth of strait-jackets. Writers can only function well as writers by preserving their independence.Iife is brief, art is long one Burrougfis follows another. The pressureto take sidesis heavy today. We have to opt for being capitalist or communist,

245 Bfianw'Aliliss But or democralyoungor ol4 whiteor black' republican as known genre Tbeits'itrenfilas' ;d;diry tilla" self+onsciqrs'^m-e-r so besofoe now has ficton il;"ce ;ffffi ffii tttdid"t, oai irs a fight to writefreehly' uits--the only to-separate f#6- li wU utt .tnmUt"-inunits -T; thatevernatt€,r:individuals. it f* til uouteuiatV""oeandWellsbuilTperhaps or sucn wrft€r$ q9 sheltuing of capable is no longer Pqny ail;;--v$w* d"o t rti"es. After-all"it-is an old victorian pr"e&tth; itntcturefi not assoutrdas-itwas;qndth9 districthaslostmcn of its previousvisualdramathro-.ugp to findtheirownlittleio-ntfu. te"ant* wouldbe'advised for a fairly isolat€d hoping fm Mvt"ff, fro6Elo'n"tt. maybdstilfwithinsignfotthemarketplace' fi;t[*gh

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