Grp at New

SewBce Novef

THE STAR KING

by JACK VANCE

THE DRAGON MASTERS

FRITZ LEIBER
The BEMs in your neighborhoodwon't run off with your books
if you put inside the front cover

of eoch book... a gummed bookplate

with your name printed on it!

eaiaxy
MAGAZINE

DECEMBER, 1963 • Vol. 22, No. 2 FREDERIK POHL

Editor
CONTENTS
WILLY LEY
SERIAL - First of Science Editor
Two Parts
THE STAR KING 8 SOL COHEN
by Jack Vance Publisher

COMPLETE SHORT NOVEL DAVID PERTON

Production Manager
NO GREAT MAGIC 150
by Fritz Leiber ROSEMARIE BIANCHINI
Art Director
NOVELETTE
YOUR NAME HERE DAVE GELLER, ASSOC
IN THECONTROL TOWER 134 Advertising
No. CF-612 by Emsh
by Will Mohler
No. CF-614 by Emsh
SHORT STORIES
FINAGLE SAYS — THE BIG PAT BOOM 82
GALAXY MAGAZINE is published
bi-monthly by Galaxy Publishing
The umpteenth corollary by Damon Knight Corporation. Main offices; 421
Law of Hudson Street, New York 14,
of FInagle's General IF THERE WERE NO BENNY CEMOLI 100
. . N. Y. 50c per copy. Subscrip-
Dynamic Negatives says: by Philip K. Dick tion; (6 copies) $2.50 per year
in the United States, Canada,
"No books are ever los^ AND ALL THE EARTH A GRAVE 126 Mexico, South and Central
by loaning except ones you by C. C. MacApp America and U. S. Possessions
particularly want to keep." Elsewhere $3.50. Second-class
SCIENCE DEPARTMENT postage paid at New York, N. Y.
Copyright, New York 1963, by
FOR YOUR INFORMATION 90
100 for $4; 200, $6; 300, $8 Galaxy Publishing Corporation,
by Willy Ley Robert M. Guinn, President. All
with owner's name imprinted rights, including translations
Add any.
FEATURES reserved. All material submitted
All Postpaid. slate sales lax. if

EDITOR'S PAGE 4 must be accompanied by selt-

addressed stamped envelopes.
ACTUAL SIZE, all designs, 3x4 inches by Frederik Pohl The publisher assumes no re-
No. CM-12 by Cullen Rapp No. CX-57 by Lynd Ward LULLABY: 1990 (verse) 121 sponsibility for unsolicited ma-
terial. All stories printed in
by Sheri S. Eberhart this magazine are fiction, and
The designs shown above are the only ones we offer I

GALAXY'S FIVE STAR SHELF any similarity between charac-

122
ters and actual persons is
by Theodore Sturgeon & Frederik Pohl
Ordsi* from GALAXY 421 Hudson street. New York 14 , N.Y.
FORECAST
coincidental.

133 Printed in the U. S. A.

By The Guinn Co., Inc. N. Y.
Cover by EMSH from THE STAR KING Title Reg. U. S. Pat. Off.
 SCIENCE -

SACRED & PROFANE

D uring the recent unpleasant-

ness, at places like Belsen
and Buchenwald, a number of
medical men on the payroll of the
S.S. were given an unparalleled
opportunity to engage in research
on human beings.
In most civilized countries — what they did with them pro-
which Germany at that time was
not —experimentation on human
subjects is governed by strict laws
and - by perhaps even stricter
medical rules. It is not allowed to
shorten the life of a subject. It is
not even allowed to cause him
rules. If you want quick, sure,
definite answers, you want sub-
you want
jects without rights, for
them to endure whatever
you decree.
These subjects the
doctors had in abundance, but
duced no harvest of definite an-
swers. They spared their victims
nothing. They strapped together
the knees of parturient women
imtil they died in agony they ex-
;
perimented with cures for frost-
bite bj/ dipping men in tanks of
fate
German
THERE are some things that cannot
be generally — things you ought to
know. Great truths are dangerous to
some — but factors for personal power
and accomplishment in the hands of
those who understand them. Behind
the tales of the miracles and mysteries
of the ancients, lie centuries of their
secret probing into nature’s laws —
their amazing discoveries of the hid-
den processes of man’s mind, and the
mastery of life’s problems. Once shroud-
organization) an age-old brotherhood
of learning, have preserved this secret
wisdom in their archives for centu-
ries. They now invite you to share the
practical helpfulness of their teachings.
Write today for a free copy of Ae
book, "The Mastery of Life.” Within
itspages may lie a new life of oppor-
tunity for you. Address: Scribe
Q.X.M.
SEND THIS COUPON
r
1 Scribe Q*X.M. |

very much pain, or to maim him icy brine, then sandwiching them ed in mystery to avoid their destruc- I
The ROSICRUCIANS (AMORC) |
Sao Jose, California
in some distinctive way. between nude women; they tion by mass feat and ignorance, these I

Please send me the free book. The Mastery

!

facts remain a useful heritage for the [ *

In a sense this is a pity. There plucked out hearts like an Inca of Life, which explains how I may learn to
thousands of men and
I

women who pri- I use my faculties and powers of mind.

{

a great deal about tbs human

[
is priest, and timed the convulsions vately use them in their homes today. Name __ |

body which is as yet poorly un- of their victims. What they did,
THIS FREE BOOK
{

Address |

derstood, and a lot of it could in short, may have beenwitch-

The Rosicrucians (not a religious
,

City,:.
be cleared up pretty quickly if craft, but it was not science and
it was not medicine. Surely there
it were not for these fusspot Wfe Rosicrucians (AMORO SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.SA.
4 GAUXY
were scientific questions that they that it is worth paying a price
could have answered. At that for. Human beings have just so
time, for example, from 1939 to many coins in which to pay for Two Great Science-Fiction Novels
1945, the earliest stages of the what they want —
money is one;
human embryo were known only but so is time, or danger, or suf-
by conjecture and analogy, for no fering. There is nothing intrinsic- by JACK WILLIAMSON
human eye had seen a foetus in ally wrong with spending suffM"-
Author of r/ie Humanoids, Darker Than You Think,
its earliest “horizons” until 1942 ing to buy knowledge. Many a etc.

— and it was not a German scien- medical volunteer has given up

UABABOOK
tist that obtained the first such his life in agony, and Ae state of I# III SCIENCE FICTION AT (TS BEST

specimen then. The work was the art has been enriched there-
done in Boston — without either by. TWO COMPLETE NOVELS
JACK WILLIAMSON
torture or killing. It is that key word, “volun-
the Herr Doktors had sys-
If teer,” which makes the differ- Autfier of THE HUMAHOIOS

AFTER THE LE6I0H

tematically murdered pregnant ence. S END OF TIME

Knowledge does not exist in a

female prisoners of the concen-
tration camps and searched their vacuum; there can’t be any
ovaries for laboratory specimens knowledge unless there is some-
— the rest of the world would one to know it. It was not a fall-
have hated the act, to be sure, ing apple which produced the law
but it is likely that one of the of gravitation, but Newton’s
most sought-after treasures in mind. Can a computer rattle off
Germany after the collapse that a list of primes, ten thousand
ended World War II would have times faster than a man? Yes,
been these same specimens. For but the computer does not THE LEGION OF TIME —
they were literally irreplaceable “know” what it has done. He followed her through the ages, into a strange
— are dreadfully scarce even Knowledge caii be described world of the future that might never come to
now, and indispensable to the as something possessed by human be . .

study of embryology.
But they didn’t. With no re-
beings.
It is at least a thesis worth AFTER WORLD'S END —
strictive laws to stop them, with debating that inhuman practices A story of courage and dazzling Science-fiction

subjects in endless supply they — cannot produce useful knowledge adventure

er people
in a strange world inhabited by strang-

achieved nothing. for human beings. Suffering, vol- . .

The question is, why? Why not by the subjects

untarily accepted
anything of value from all that can produce results; the same NOW ON SALE AT ALL NEWSSTANDS • 50<
pain and death? suffering, inflicted on helpless Ifyou missed Magabook No. 1 — The Sky Is Falling and Badge of
victims, cannot.

W e start with the assumption

that knowledge is a thing
worth acquiring, which is to say
it,
Or
ever?
if it can . . . why

THE EDITOR
hasn’t
Infamy, two complete sf novels by Lester del Rey— send 50(i to
Galaxy Publishing Co., 421 Hudson St., N. Y. 14, N. Y.

6 7
8 9
 I
shelf of heath between the Smade’s Planet was the single
Smade Mountains and Smade

W hat a paradox, what a

fearful reproach, when the
distinction of a few hundred
your
rough. In fact
mince matters
pretty
clientele
not to
it’s
is
—
—
the
Ocean, precisely on the planet’s
equator. He built to a plan as
old as construction itself, using
companion of Smade’s Star, an
undistinguished white dwarf in
a relatively empty region of
space. The native flora was
miles —nay, as many feet or general belief that stone for the walls, timber beams sparse lichen, moss, primitive
:

even inches! —
can transform Smade’s Tavern is fre- and plates of schist for the roof. vines and palodendron, pelagic
heinous crime to simple un- quented by the most no- Completed, the tavern clung to algae which tinctured the sea
qualified circumstance!” torious pirates and free- the landscape, as integral as an black. The fauna was even sim-
— Hm. Balder Bashin, in the booters of the Beyond. outcrop of rock a long two-
: pler: white worms in the sea-
Ecclesiarchic Nunciamento A: I suppose they occasional- storied structure with a high bottom muck; a few gelatinous
of Year 100 at For esse, on ly need rest too. gable, a double row of windows creatures which gathered and in-
the planet Krokinole. Q: Don’t you have difficulty to front and rear, chimneys at gested the black algae in a ludi-
with these people? Main- either end venting smoke from crously inept fashion; an assort-
“Law cannot reach where en- taining order, so to speak? fires of fossilmoss. At the rear ment of simple protozoa.
forcement will not follow.” A: No. They know my rules. stood a group of cypress trees, Smade’s alterations of the plan-
— Popular aphorism. I say, ‘Gentlemen, please their shape completely approp- et’s ecology could hardly, there-
desist. Your differences riate to the landscape. fore, be considered detrimental.
Excerpts from Smade Lof are your own; they are Smade introduced other new Smade himself was tall, broad
Smade's Planet, feature article The harmonious
fugitive. features into the ecology. In a and stout, with bone-white skin
in Cosmopolia, October, 1523. atmosphere of the tavern sheltered valley behind the tav- and jet-black hair. His anteced-
Do you ever get lonesome, is mine and I intend it to ern he planted fodder and gar- ents, as has been mentioned,
Q;
Mr. Smade? be permanent.’ den truck. In another he kept a were vague, and he never had
A: Not with three wives and Q: So then they desist? small herd of cattle and a flock been heard to reminisce. The
eleven children. A: Usually. of poultry. All did moderately tavern, however, was managed
Q: Whatever impelled you to Q; And if not? well,but showed no disposition with the utmost decorum. The
settle here? A
rather dis- A: I pitch them into the sea. to overrun the planet. three wives lived in harmony,
mal world, on the whole, Smade’s dominion extended as the children were handsome and
isn’t it? made was a reticent man. far as he cared to claim there — well-mannered, Smade himself
A; Beauty is in the eye of the S His origins and early life was no other habitation on the was unfailingly polite. His rates
beholder. I don’t care to were known only to himself. In planet —
but he chose to assert were high, but his hospitality
run a vacation resort. the year 1479 he acquired a car- control only over an area of per- was generous, and he made no
Q: What kind of people pa- go of fine timber, which, for a haps three acres, within the difficultiesabout collecting his
tronize the tavern? whole set of obscure reasons, he bounds of a whitewashed stone bill.A sign hung above the bar:
A; People who want quiet took to a small stony world in fence. To occurrences beyond “Eat and drink without stint. He
and a chance to rest. Oc- the middle Beyond. And there, the fence Smade held aloof, un- who can and does pay is a cus-
casionally a traveler from with the help of ten indentured less he had reason to consider tomer. He who cannot and does
inside the Pale or an ex- artisansand as many slaves, he his own interests threatened: a not pay is a guest of the estab-
plorer. built Smade’s Tavern. contingency which had never lishment.”
Q: I’ve heard that some of The site was a long narrow arisen. Smade’s patrons were diverse:

10 GALAXY THE STAR KING 11

explorers, locaters, Jamell tech-
nicians, private agents in search
of lost men or stolen treasure,
more rarely an IPCC representa-
tive, or “weasel”, in the argot of
the Beyond. Others were folk
more dire, and these were of as
many sorts as there were crimes
to be named. Making a virtue of
necessity, Smade presented the
same face to all.
T o Smade’s Tavern in the
July of 1524 came Kirth
Gersen, representing himself as a
locater. His boat was the stan-
dard model leased by the estate
houses within the Oikumene, a
thirty-foot cylinder equipped
with no more than bare neces-
sities: in the bow the monitor-
autopilot duplex, a star finder,
chronometer, macroscope
manual controls; midships the
living quarters with air ma-
chine, organic reconverter, in-
formation bank and storage; aft
the energy block, the Jarnell in-
tersplit and further storage. The
boat was as scarred and dented
as any. Gersen’s personal dis-
guise was no more then well-
worn clothes and natural tacitur-
nity. Smade accepted him
at his
own terms. “Will you stay
awhile, Mr. Gersen?”
“Two or three days, perhaps.
I have things to think over.”
Smade nodded in profound
understanding. “We’re slack just
12
now; just you and the Star King.
You’ll find all the quiet you
need.”
“I’llbe pleased for that,” said
Gersen, which was quite true;
his just-completed affairs had
lefthim with a set of unresolved
qualms. He turned away, then
halted and looked back as
Smade’s words penetrated his
consciousness. “There’s a Star
King here at the tavern?”
“He has presented himself so.”
“I’ve never seen a Star King.
Not that know of.”
I
Smade nodded politely to in-
dicate that the gossip had
reached to the allowable limits
of particularity. He indicated
the tavern clock: “Our local
time better set your watch. Sup-
per at seven o’clock: just half
and an hour.”
Gersen climbed stone stairs to
his room, an austere cubicle con-
taining bed, chair and table. He
looked through the window,
along the verge of heath between
mountain and ocean. Two space-
craft occupied the landing field.
His own and another ship, larg-
er and heavier, evidently the
property of the Star King.
Gersen washed in a hall bath-
room, returned to the down-
stairs hall, where he dined on
the produce of Smade’s own gar-
dens and herd. Two other guests
made their appearance. The first
was the Star King, who strode
GALAXY
to the far end of the room in a A fter dinner, as Gersen sat
flutter of rich garments: an in- ^watching the play of light-
dividual with skin dyed jet- ning over the ocean, the man
black, eyes like ebony cabo- sidled close, wincing and gri-
chons as black as his skin. He macing in sheer nervousness. He
was taller than average height, spoke in a voice which he tried
and carried himself with con- to keep even, but which trem-
summate arrogance. Lusterless bled nevertheless. “I assume that
as charcoal, the skin-dye blurred you are here from Brinktown?”
the contrast of his features, Gersen, with his own tensions,
made his face a protean mask. alarms and concerns, paused be-
His garments were dramatically fore replying, then gave a mild
fanciful :breeches of orange
silk, a loose scarlet robe with
white sash, a loose striped gray
assent. “As a matter of fact, I
am.”
“I expected to see someone
and black coif which hung rak- else. But no matter.I’ve decided
ishly down the right side of his that I can’t fulfill my obliga-
head. Gersen inspected him with tion. Your journey is pointless.
open curiosity. This was the That’s all.” He stood back, teeth
firstStar King he had observed showing in a humorless grin. He
as such, though popular belief was obviously braced against an
had hundreds moving incognito expected dire reaction.
through the worlds of man: cos- “You mistake me for someone
mic mysteries since the first hu- else,” said Gersen.
man visit to Lambda Grus. The other peered down in dis-
The second of the guests ap- belief. “But you are here from
parently had just arrived: a thin Brinktown?”
middle-aged man of indefinite “What of that?”
racial background. Gersen had The other made a forlorn
seen many like him: miscellan- gesture.“No matter. I expected
eous uncategorized vagabonds of — but no matter.” After a mo-
the Beyond. He had short coarse ment he said, “I noticed your
white hair, a sallow undyed ship. Model 9B. You’re a loca-
skin, an air of diffident uncer- ter,then.”
tainty. He ate without appetite, “Correct.”
looking back and forth between “You’re on your way out? Or
Gersen and the Star King in fur- in?”
tive speculation, but presently “I’ve been out. I can’t say that
his most searching glances were I’ve had luck.”
directed toward Gersen. The other man’s tension sud-
THE STAR KING
13
denly gave way. His shoulders
sagged. “I own to the same line
of business. As to luck?” He
heaved a forlorn sigh, and Ger-
sen smelled Smade’s home-dis-
tilled whiskey. “If it’s bad, no
doubt I have myself to blame.”
Gersen’s suspicion was not
completely lulled. The man’s
voice was well-modulated, his
accent educated. In itself it in-
dicated nothing. He might be
precisely as he represented him-
self, a locater in some sort of
trouble at Brinktown. Or he
might be otherwise —
a situation
entailing a set of hair-raising
corollaries. Gersen would have
preferred the company of his
own thoughts, but he made a
courteous gesture. “Do you care
to join me?”
“Thank you.” The man seated
himself gratefully,
new
and with a
air of bravado seemed to
dismiss all of his worries and
apprehensions. “My name is Lu-
go Teehalt. Will you drink?”
Without waiting for assent he
signaled one of Smade’s young
daughters, a girl of nine or ten,
wearing a modest white blouse
and long black skirt. “I’ll use
whiskey, lass, and serve this gen-
tleman whatever he decides for
himself.”
Teehalt appeared to derive
strength either from the drink,
or from the' prospect of conver-
sation. His voice became firmer,
14
his eyes clearer and brighter. which is a dead halt. An igno- beauty to corrupt and some-
“How long have you been out?” rant man can act. As to right times the beauty is incorrupti-
“Four or five months,” said and wrong — each man to his ble. He gave his hand a wave
Gersen, in his role of locater. own answer.” toward the ocean. “The tavern
“I’ve seen nothing but rock and Teehalt smiled sadly. “You harms nothing. The tavern al-
mud and sulfur. I don’t know espouse a very popular doctrine, lows the beauty of this terrible
whether it’s worth the trouble.” ethical pragmatism, which al- little planet to make itself
Teehalt smiled, nodded slow- ways turns out to be the doctrine known.” He leaned forward,
ly. “But still —
there’s always of self-interest. Still, I under- licked his lips. “You must know
excitement. The star gleams, stand you when you speak of un- of Grendel?”
you notice a circlet of planets, certainty, for I am an uncertain Gersen controlled his expres-
you ask yourself, will it be now? man.” He shook his thin sharp- sion. “Grendel the Monster, so-
And, time after time, the smoke featured head. “I know I’m in a called? I know his reputation.”
and ammonia, the weird crys- bad way, but I’ve had a peculiar “Whatever you may have
tals, the winds of monoxide, the experience.” He finished the heard, I assure you, it is flat-
rains of acid. But you go on and whiskey, leaned forward to gaze tery.”
on. Perhaps out in that region into Gersen’s face. “You are per- “You don’t know what I have
ahead the elements coalesce in- haps more sensitive than first heard.”
to nobler forms. Of course it’s impression v/ould suggest. And “I doubt if you have heard
the same slime and methane possibly younger than you seem.” the worst. But nevertheless, and
snow. And then, suddenly, there “I was born in 1490.” the astounding paradox. .” Tee- .
Utter beauty .”
it is. . . Teehalt made a sign which halt closed his eyes. “I am loca-
could mean anything, searched ting for Grendel. He owns my
G ersen sipped his whiskey
without comment. Teehalt
Gersen’s face once more. “Can
you understand me if I say that
ship. I have taken his money.”
apparently was a gentleman, I have known over-much beau- i(Tt is a difficult position.”
well-mannered and educated, ty?” A “WhenI found out what —
sadly come down in the world. “I probably could under- could do?” Teehalt threw up
I
Teehalt continued, half -talk- stand,” said Gersen, “if you his hands in an excited extra-
ing to himself. “Where the luck made yourself clear.” vagant gesture, reflecting either
lies, that I don’t know. I’m sure Teehalt blinked thoughtfully.
•
emotional turmoil or the effects
of nothing —now.” “I will try.” He considered. “As of Smade’s whiskey. “I asked
Gersen laughed sourly. “Un- I have admitted to you, I am a myself this over and over. For
certainty hurts more than igno- locater. It is a poor trade — with I had my ship and my money,
rance.” apologies to you —
for eventual- not from an estate house, but
Teehalt inspected him quizzi- ly it involves the degradation of from an institution of far great-
cally. “You can’t believe that a beauty. Sometimes only to a er dignity. I did not think of
man is the better for ignorance?” small extent, which is what a myself as a common locater. The
“Cases vary. But it’s clear that person such as myself hopes for. idea was demeaning. I was Lugo
uncertainty breeds indecision Sometimes there is only small Teehalt, a man of parts, who
GALAXY THE STAR KING 15
 ” .

had been appointed to the post Teehalt shook his head. “I
of Chief Explorer for the in- will not say. For all I know, you
stitution, or some such folly — are Grendel’s man. I hope not,
so I assured myself. But they for your own sake.”
sent me out in a 9B boat, and I “Why should I be Grendel’s
could no longer delude myself. man?”
I was Lugo Teehalt, common lo- “Circumstances suggest as
” much. But circumstances only.
cator.
“Where your boat?” asked
is And in fact I know that you are
Gersen, idly curious. “There is not. He would not send some-
only my own and the Star King’s one here whom I have not met.”
out on the landing-field.” “You have a rendezvous,
Teehalt pursed his lips, in an- then.”
other onset of wariness. “I have “One I don’t care to keep.
good reason for caution.” Tee- But I— don’t know what else to
“As you do now,” suggested would drop myself and boat and
Gersen. monitor and all into a star.”
Gersen had no comment to
^T^eehalt smiled his wincing make.
morose smile. “You could “I do not know what to do.”
tellGrendel nothing he does not Teehalt’s voice became soft, as
already know. The damage was the drink soothed his brain and
done at Brinktown.” showed him visions. “This is a
“Tell me more of this world. remarkable world. Beautiful,
Is it inhabited?” yes. I wonder if the beauty does
Teehaltsmiled again, but not conceal another quality
made no answer. Gersen felt no which I can’t fathom, just as a
resentment. Teehalt, beckoning woman’s beauty camouflages her
to Araminta Smade, ordered more abstract virtues. Or vices
Fraze, a heavy sour-sweet liquor In any event the world is beau-
. .

halt glanced right and left. do.” reputed to include among its tiful and serene beyond words.
“Would surprise you learn “Return to the Oikumene.”
that I
it

expect to meet
— to
He hesitated, thought better
of what he planned to say, and
sat silently a moment, looking
into his empty glass. Gersen sig-
naled, and young Araminta
Smade brought whiskey, on a
white jade tray, upon which she
herself had painted a red and
blue floral border.
“But this is inconsequential,”
said Teehalt suddenly. “I bore
you with my problems.”
“Not at all,” said Gersen,
quite truthfully. “The affairs of
Grendel interest me.”
“I can understand this,” said
Teehalt after another pause. “He
is a peculiar combination of
qualities.”
“From whom did you have
your boat?” Gersen asked
genuously.
16
“What does Grendel care for
constituents a subtle hallucini-
zer. Gersen signified that he
There are mountains washed by
rain. Over the valleys float
that? He comes and goes as he would drink no more. clouds as soft and bright as
pleases.” Night had long settled over the snow. The sky is a deep dark
“Why should he concern him- planet. Lightning crashed back sapphire blue. The air is sweet
selfwith you? Locators are twen-
ty to the dozen.”
and forth. A sudden downpour and cool —
so fresh that it seems
began to drum on the roof. a lens. There are flowers, though
“I am unique,” said Teehalt. “I Teehalt, lulled by the liquor, not very many. They grow in
am a locator who has found a perhaps seeing visions among little clumps, so that to find
prize too precious to sell.” the flames, said, “You could nev- them is like coming on a treas-
Gersen was impressed in spite er find this world. I am resolved ure.But there are many trees,
of himself. that it shall not be violated.” and most magnificent are the
“It is a world too beautiful for “What of your contract?” great kings, with gray bark,
degradation,” said Teehalt. “An Teehalt made a contemptuous which seem to have lived for-
innocent world, full of light and motion; “I would honor it for ever.
air and color. To give this world an ordinary world.” “You asked the world were
if
to Grendel, for his palaces and “The information is on the inhabited. I am forced to an-
whirligigs and casinos it— monitor filament,” Gersen swer yes, though the creatures
would be like giving a child to pointed out. “The property of who live there are strange. I call
a squad of Sarcoy soldiers. your sponsor.” them dryads. I saw only a few
Worse? Possibly worse.” Teehalt was silent so long that hundred, and they seem a race
“And Grendel knows of this?” Gersen wondered if he were ages old. As old as the trees. As
in- “It is my unfortunate habit to awake. Finally Teehalt said, “I old as the mountains.” Teehalt
drink rashly and talk wildly.” am afraid to die. Othenvise I shut his eyes. “The day is twice
GALAXY THE STAR KING 17
 The was clear and clean and ligious awe. Presently he came with great interest. The dryad
the length of ours; the mornings air
the air of a spring to understand that he must leave apparently had located the grub
are long and bright; the noons fresh, like
are quiet, the afternoons are dawn, and utterly silent, as if shortly or succumb psychically, in its subterranean burrow and

golden, like honey. The dryads just after a bird-call. give himself completely to the had pierced it with a sort of
bathe in the river or stand in the Teehalt wandered up the val- world. The knowledge afflicted proboscis, presumably for the
Teehalt’s voice ley. Stopping to admire a grove him with an almost unbearable ingestion of sustenance. Teehalt
dark forest. .

of trees, he saw the dryads, who sadness,for he knew that he felt a small pang of shame and
dwindled, he appeared to be half-
stood gathered in the shade. would never return. disillusionment. The dryads were
asleep.
“ They were bipeds, with a pe- During this time he watched evidently not quite as innocent
Gersen prompted him. ‘Dry-
ads’?” culiarly human torso and head the dryads as they moved and ethereal as he had thought
Teehalt stirred, raised in his structure, though it was clear through the valley, idly curious them to be.
chair. “It’s as good a name as that they resembled man in only as to their nature and habits. The hawk-thing lumbered up
any. They’re at least half-plant. the most superficial style. Their Were they intelligent? Teehalt from the pit, croaked, coughed,
made no examination I
real skin was a silver, brown, green, never answered the question to flapped away. Teehalt went cu-
I
Why?
I don’t know. in sheens and splotches; the his own satisfaction. not in-
If riously forward and stared down
dared not.
I was there —
oh, I suppose two head showed no features other telligent, he thought, surely they at the mangled worm.

or three weeks. This is what I
saw. .
.”
T landed the battered
eehalt
old 9B on a meadow beside
a river. He waited while the an-
alyzer made environmental tests,
though a landscape so fair could
not fail to be hospitable or
than purplish-green bruises,
which seemed to be eye-spots.
From the shoulders rose mem-
bers like arms, which branched
into twigs and then leaves of
dark and pale green, burnished
red, bronze-orange, golden och-
er. They saw Teehalt and moved
— forward with almost human in-
were wise. Their metabolism There was little to be seen but
puzzled him, and also the na- shreds of pallid flesh, yellow
ture of their life-cycle, though ooze and a hard black ball, the
gradually he acquired at least a size of Teehalt’s two fists. As he
glimmer of enlightenment. He
assumed at first that they de-
stared down, the dryads came
slowly forward and Teehalt
rived energy from some sort of withdrew. From a distance he
photosyntheti'c process. Then, watched as they clustered about
one morning, as Teehalt con- the torn worm. It seemed to Tee-

so thought Teehalt who was
scholar, poet and wastrel in
equal parts. He was not wrong.
The atmosphere proved salubri-
ous; allergen-sensitive cultures
tested negative: micro-organisms
of air and soil quickly died up-
on contact with the standard
antibiotic with which Teehalt
There seem-
now dosed himself.
ed no reason why he
immediately go forth upon
world, and he did so.
On the turf in front of the
Teehalt stood entranced.
ship
18
terest, to pause about fifty feet
distant, swaying on supple limbs,
the crests of colored
shimmering in the sunlight.
They examined Teehalt and he
examined them, in a mutual ab-
sence of fear, and Teehalt
thought them the most entranc-
ing creatures of his experience.
Teehalt remembered the days
which followed as idyllic and
should not
utterly calm. There was a maj-
this
esty, a clarity, a transcendental
quality to the planet which af-
fected him with an almost
GALAXY
templated a group of dryads halt that they mourned the man-
standing immobile in the gled creature. But presently,
leaves marshy meadow, a large winged with their supple lower limbs,
hawk-like creature swooped they brought up the black pod
down, buffeted one of the dry- which one of them carried away
ads to the side. As it toppled high in its branches. Teehalt fol-
Teehalt glimpsed two white lowed at a distance, and watched
shafts, or prongs, extending in fascinated wonder as close be-
from the supple gray legs into side a grove of slender white-
the ground, which at once re- branched trees the dryads buried
tracted. The hawk-creature ig- the black pod.
nored the toppled dryad, but
scratched and tore at the marsh n retrospect Teehalt won-
and unearthed an enormous I dered why he had attempt-
re- white grub. Teehalt watched ed no communication with the
THE STAR KING 19
dryads. Once or twice during
the time of his stay he toyed
with the idea, and let the thought
drift away —
perhaps because
he felt himself a gross and un-
pleasant intruder. The dryads
in their turn treated him with
what might be courteous disin-
terest.
Three days after the black
pod had been buried Teehalt
had occasion to return to the
grove. To his astonishment he
saw a pallid shoot rising from
the ground above the pod. At
the tip pale green leaves already
were unfolding into the sunlight.
Teehalt stood back and ex-
amined the grove with new in-
terest. Had each of these trees
grown from a pod originated in
the body of a subterranean
grub? He examined the foliage,
limbs and bark, finding nothing
to suggest such an origin. He
looked across the valley, to the
great dark-leaved giants. Surely
the two varieties were similar?
The giants were majestic, serene,
with trunks rising two or three
hundred feet to the first branch-
ing. The trees grown from the
black pods were frail. Their fol-
iage was a tenderer green. The
limbs were more flexible, and
branched close to the ground — ads. Why or how he could not
but the species were clearly re-
lated. Leaf shape and structure
were almost identical, as was the
general appearance of the bark,
20
supple and rough-textured,
though the bark of the giants
was darker and coarser. Tee-
halt’s head swarmed with specu-
lations.
Later the same day he climbed
the mountain across the valley.
Crossing the ridge he came down
upon a glen with precipitous
rocky walls.
A stream rushed and splashed
through mossy boulders and low
fernlike plants, falling from
pool to pool. Approaching the
brink Teehalt found himself on
a level with the foliage of the
giant trees, which here grew
close beside the cliff. He noted
dull green sacs, like fruit, grow-
ing among the leaves. Straining,
risking a fall, Teehalt was able
to pluck one of these sacs. He
carried it down the mountain-
side and across the meadow to-
ward the boat. He passed a
group of dryads who, fixing
their purple-green eye-bruises
on the sac,became rigid. Tee-
halt observed them with puzzle-
ment. Now they approached,
their gorgeous fans quivering
and shimmering in agitation.
Teehalt felt embarrassed and
guilty. Evidently by plucking
the sac he had offended the dry-
fathom, but he hastily sought
the concealment of his ship,
where he cut open the sac. The
husk was pithy and dry. Down
GALAXY
the center ran a stalk from
which depended white pea-sized
seeds, of great complexity. Tee-
halt inspected the seeds under a
magnifier. They bore a remark-
able resemblance to small under-
developed beetles, or wasps.
With tweezers and knife he
opened one out on a sheet of
paper, noting wings, thorax,
mandibles. Clearly an insect!
For a long while he sat con-
templating the insects which
grew on a tree. A curious ana-
logue, so Teehalt reflected, to
the sapling which sprouted
from a pod taken from the body
of a worm.
Sunset colored the sky; the
distant parts of the valley grew
indistinct. Dusk came and eve-
ning, with the stars blurring
large as lamps.
The long night passed. At
dawn when Teehalt emerged
from his boat he knew that the
time of his departure was close
at hand. How? Why? He had
no answer. The compulsion nev-
ertheless was real; he must leave,
and he knew he would never
return. As he considered the
mother-of-pearl sky, the curve
and swell of the hills, the groves
and forests, the gentle river, his
eyes went damp. The world was
too beautiful to leave; far too
beautiful to remain upon. It
worked on something deep in-
side him, arousing a queer tu-
THE STAR KING
mult which he could not under-
stand.There was a constant force
from somewhere to run from
the ship, to discard his clothes,
his weap>ons, to merge, to en-
velope and become enveloped, to
immolate himself in an ecstasy
of identification with beauty and
grandeur.
Today he must go. “If I’m here
any longer,” thought Teehalt,
“I’ll be carrying leaves over my
head with the dryads.”
T Te wandered up the valley,
turning to watch the sim
swell into the sky. He climbed
to the ridge of the hill, looked
east over a succession of rolling
crests and valleys, rising grad-
ually to a single great mountain.
To west and south he glimpsed
the glimmer of water. To the
north spread green parkland,
with a crumble of gray boulders
like the ruins of an ancient city.
Returning into the valley Tee-
halt passed below the giant
trees. Looking up he noticed that
all the pods had split and now
hung limp and withered. Even
as he watched he heard a drone
of wings. A hard heavy pellet
struck his cheek, where it clung
and bit.
In shock and pain Teehalt
crushed the insect, or wasp.
Looking aloft he saw others —
a multitude, darting and veer-
ing.Hastily he returned to the
21

ship, dressed in a coverall of
tough film, his face and head
protected by transparent mesh.
He was unreasonably angry. The
wasp’s attack had marred his
last day in the valley, and in
fact had caused him the first
pain of his stay. It was too much
to expect, he reflected bitterly,
that paradise could exist with-
out the serpent. And he dropped
a can of compressed insect re-
pellent into his pouch though
. . . of small white husks. The dryad
it might or might not be effica-
cious against these half -vegetable
insects.
Leaving the ship, he marched
up the valley, with the insect’s
bite paining him still. Ap-
proaching the forest he came up-
on a strange scene: a group of
dryads surrounded by a buzzing
swarm of wasps. Teehalt ap-
proached curiously. The dryads,
he saw, were under attack, but
lacked any efficient means of
defence. As the wasps darted in
to settle on the silver skin, the
dryads flapped their branches,
rubbed against each other,
scraped with their legs, dislodg-
ing the insects as best they could.
Teehalt approached, filled
with horrified anger One of the
dryads near him seemed to
weaken. Several of the insects
gnawed through its skin, draw-
ing gouts of ichor. The entire
swarm suddenly condensed up-
on the unfortunate dryad, which
22
I
tottered and fell, while the re-
maining dryads moved sedately
away.
Teehalt, impelled to disgust
and loathing, stepped forward,
turned the can of repellent up-
on the nearly solid mass of
wasps. It acted with dramatic
effectiveness, the wasps turning
white, withering, dropping to
the ground. In a single minute
the entire swarm was a scatter
under attack also lay dead, hav-
ing been almost instantly
stripped of its flesh.
The dryads who had escaped
were now returning, and so Tee-
halt thought, in a state of an-
guish and even fury. Their
branches quivered and flashed;
they marched down upon him
with every indication of anta-
gonism. Teehalt took to his heels
and returned to his ship.
Wiili binoculars he watched
the dryads. They stood about
their dead comrade in a state of
anxiety and irresolution. Ap-
parently — or at least it seemed
so to Teehalt —
their anguish
was as much for the withered
insects as the dead dryad.
They clustered over the fallen
body. Teehalt could not observe
exactly what they did, but pres-
ently they arose with a glossy
black ball. And Teehalt watched
them carry it across the valley
toward the grove of giant trees.
GALAXY
I have examined the native
life-forms of over two thousand
planets. I have noted many ex-
amples of convergent evolution,
but many many more of diver-
gence.
— Life Volume II,
by Unspiek, Baron Bodissey.
It is first of all essential that
we understand exactly what we
mean by the well-used term
“convergent evolution”. Espe-
cially we must not confuse sta-
tistical probability with some
transcendental and utterly com-
pelling force. Consider the class
of all possible objects, the num-
ber of which is naturally very
large: infinite indeed, unless we
impose an upper limit of mass
and certain other physical quali-
fications.Thus imposing and so
qualifying, we find that
only an infinitesimal fraction
of this class of objects can be
considered life-forms. . .
we have even started the inves-
tigation we have exercised a
very stringent selection of ob-
jects which by their very defini-
tion willshow basic similarities.
To particularize: there are a
limited number of methods of
locomotion. If we find a quad-
ruped on Planet A, and a quad-
ruped likewise on Planet B, does
this imply convergent evolution?
THE STAR KING
II
No. It merely implies evolution,
or perhaps no more than the
fact that a four-legged creature
can effectively stand without
toppling and walk without stum-
bling. In my opinion, therefore,
the expression “convergent evo-
lution” is tautological.
— Ibid
From: The Wages of Sin,
Stridenko; article in Cosmopol-
is, May, 1404.
Brinktown: what a city! Once
the jumping-off place, the last
outpost, the portal into infinity
— now just another settlement
of the North East Middle Be-
yond. But “just another”? Is this
a fair description? Decidedly
not. Brinktown must be seen to
be believed, and even then the
hard of belief depart incredu-
still lous. The houses are set far apart
along shaded avenues; still they
rise like watch-towers, thrusting
Before up into and through the palms,
virebols, scalmettos. It is a mean
house which does not soar above
the treetops. The ground level is
no more than an entry, a raised
pavilion where the clothes must
be changed, for local habit or-
dains the use of paper house-
capes and paper slippers. Then
above what an explosion of
:
architectural conceits, what tur-
rets and spires, belfries and cu-
23
polas! What jejeune magnifi- city down to jungle. The prisoner cess of life becomes a great about you. Now I suspect you of
cence, what inspired scrimshaw, is merely locked out of the city. circle, orperhaps a series of in- weaselry.”
what intricate, inventive, farci- Escape is at his option; he may carnations, with the great trees
cal, wonderful applications and flee as far through the jungle as as the end-result. The dryads t<Tf I were a weasel,” said
misapplications of likely and he sees fit; the entire continent is seem worms for part
to tap the Gersen smiling, “I’d hard-
unlikely materials! Where else at his disposal. But no prisoner of sustenance, the wasps
their ly admit it. The IPCC has few

can one find balustrades of tor- ever ventures far from the gate. devour the dryads. Where do the friends Bej^ond.”
toise-shell studded with gold- And when his presence is re- worms come from? Are the “I am imconcemed,” said Tee-
plated fish-heads? Where else quired it is only necessary to un- wasps their first phase? Flying halt. “But I hope for better days
do ivory nymphs hang suspend- lock the gate and call his name. larvae, so to speak? Do the if — when I return home. I do

ed by their hair from the roof
gutters, their faces expressing '^eehalt sat looking into
only bland benediction? Where Gersen wondered if he
fire.
else can a man’s success be intended to say more.
gauged by the sumptuousness of At last Teehalt spoke. “So I
the tombstone he designs for left the planet. I could stay no
himself and erects in his front longer. To live there a p>erson
yard, complete with panegyrical must either forget himself, give
epitaph? And in fact where but way completely to the beauty,
in Brinktown is success such drown his identity in it or — link were broken, the whole pro-
an ambiguous recommendation? else he must master it. Break it.
Few indeed of the inhabitants Reduce it to a background for
dare show themselves within the his own could
constructions. I “So therefore you don’t want
Oikumene. The magistrates are do neither, so I can never go
assassins; the civil guard arson- back. But the memory of the
ists, extortioners and rapists; place haunts me.”
the elders of the council, bordel- “In spite of the wasps?”
lo owners. But civil affairs pro- Teehalt nodded somberly.
ceed with a pimctililo and gravi- “Yes indeed. I did wrong to in-
ty worthy of the Grand Sessions terfere. There is a rh3rthm to the
at Borugstone, or a coronation at planet, an equilibrium which I
the Tower of London. The Brink- blundered into and disturbed.
town jail is one of the most in- I’ve speculated for days, but
genious ever propounded by civ- still don’t understand the pro-
ic authorities. It must be remem- cess completely. Wasps are born
bered that Brinktown occupies as fruit of the tree; the worms
the surface of a volcanic butte, yield the seed to one kind of
overlooking a trackless jungle of tree —
this much I know. I sus-
quagmire, thorn, eel-vine skiver pect that the dryads produce the
tussock. A
single road leads from seed to the great giants. The pro-
24 GALAXY
worms eventually metamorphose not care to incur Grendel’s ani-
the into dryads? I feel this must mosity by identifying him to a
be the case —
though I don’t weasel.”
know. If so, the cycle is beau- “If I were a weasel,” said Ger-
tiful, in a fashion I can’t find sen, “you have already com-
words to describe. Something or- promised yourself. You know of
dained, stately, ancient, like the truth drugs and hypnotic rays.”
rotation of the galaxy. If the “Yes. I also know how to avoid
pattern were disturbed, if one them. But no matter. It’s not
important. You asked how I
cess would collapse. This would learned that Grendel was my
be a great crime.” sponsor. I have no objection to
tellingyou this. Through my
to reveal the location of the own drunken prolixity. I put in-
world to your sponsor whom you to Brinktown. In Sin-San’s Tav-
believe to be Grendel the Mon- ern I spoke at length, much as
ster.” I spoke to you tonight, to a doz-
“I know to be Grendel,” said en enthralled listeners. Yes, I
Teehalt stiffly. held their attention.” Teehalt
“How did you find out?” laughed bitterly. “Presently I
Teehalt looked at him side- was called to the telephone. The
wise. “You are very interested man at the other end said his
I in Grendel.” name was Hildemar Dasce. Do
Gersen shrugged. “One hears you know him?”
many strange tales.” “No.”
“True. But I do not care to “Odd,” said Teehalt, “since
document them. And do you you are so interested in Grendel.
know why?” But, in any event, he spoke to
“No.” me, told me to report to Smade’s.
“I have changed my thoughts He said I’d meet Grendel here.”
THE STAR KING 25
 “What?” demanded Gersen. Teehalt nodded. “Locaters are, “So I have heard.” he wore two nozzles connected
“Here?” by and large, a vile lot. You are Teehalt sat looking into the to a tank of fluid which every
“Here at Smade’s. I asked, not of the IPCC?” fire. few seconds discharged a film of
what’s this to me? I had no deal- “Think of me as an explorer.” Five minutes passed. Then mist into his eyes. There was al-
ings with Grendel and wished “Will you help me?” Teehalt reached into his jacket, so a pair of shutters, now raised,
none. He convinced me other- brought forth an envelope. which could be lowered to cover
wise. So I’m here. I am not a ''T^he harsh precepts Ger-
of “Here are photographs you his eyes from the light, and
brave man.” He made a small sen’s training contended might be pleased to inspect at which were painted to represent
helpless gesture, picked up his with an innate generosity; he your leisure.” staring white and blue eyes simi-
empty glass, looked into it. “I muttered reluctantly, “Within Gersen took them without lar to Dasce’s own.
don’t know what to do. If I re- limits —very narrow limits.” comment.
main Beyond. . Teehalt Teehalt smiled thinly. “What The door slid back. Three '"T^he two men at his back by
shrugged. are these limits?” dark shapes stood in the gap, contrast appeared ordinary
“Destroy the monitor fila- “My own business is urgent. looking into the room. Smade run-of-the-mill human beings:
ment.” I can’t allow myself to be di- roared from behind the bar, both dark, hard, competent-
Teehalt shook his head regret- verted.” “Come in or stay out! Must I seeming, with quick clever eyes.
the surety I carry for
fully. “It’s Teehalt was neither disap- warm the whole cursed planet?” Dasce made a brusque signal
my life. Indeed
I’d rather he — pointed nor resentful. He could Into the hall otepped the to Smade, who stood impassive-
stopped short. “Did you hear expect no more from a stranger. strangest human being of Ger- ly watching from behind the
anything?” “Odd,” he said once more, “that sen’s experience. “And there,” bar. “Three rooms, if you please.
“Rain. Thunder.” you do not know Hildemar said Teehalt with a sick titter, We will eat presently.”
“I thought I heard tubes blow- Dasce. But he will come in pres- “you see Beauty Dasce.” “Very well.”
ing.” He rose to his feet, peered ently. How do I know? By the Dasce was about six feet tall. “The name is Hildemar
from the window. “Some is com- logic of plain ordinary fear.” His torso was a tube, the same Dasce.”
ing.” “You’ll be safe so long as you gauge from knee to shoulder. His “Very well, Mr. Dasce.”
Gersen also went to the win- stay inside the tavern,” said Ger- arms were thin and long, termi- Dasce now sauntered across
dow. “I see nothing.” sen.“Smade has his rules.” nating in great bony wrists, enor- the room to where Teehalt and
“A ship dropped down into Teehalt nodded, p>olitely ac- mous hands. His head was also Gersen sat. His glance shifted
the field,” said Teehalt. He knowledging the discomfiture he tall and round, with a ruff of from one to the other. “Since we
thought a moment. “There are had caused Gersen. A minute red hair and a chin seeming are fellow travelers, house-guests
only two ships there: yours and passed. The Star King rose to almost to rest on the clavicle. of Mr. Smade, let us introduce
the Star King’s.” his feet, his pink and red gar- Dasce had stained his neck and ourselves,” he said politely. “My
“Where is your ship?” ment glowed in the firelight. He face bright red, excepting only name is Hildemar Dasce. May I
“I set down in a valley to the walked slowly up the stairs, his cheeks, which were balls of inquire yours?”
north. I want no one meddling looking neither right nor left. bright chalk-blue, like a pair of “I am Kirth Gersen.”
with my monitor.” He seemed Teehalt followed him with his mildewed oranges. At some stage “I am Keelen Tannas.”
to listen, then looking into Ger- eyes. “Impressive creature I of his career his nose had been Dasce’s lips, pale purple-gray
sen ’s eyes he said, “You are not understand that only the hand- cleft into a pair of cartilaginous against the red of his skin,
a locator.” some ones are allowed to leave prongs, and his eyelids had been moved in a smile. “To an amaz-
“No.” their planet.” cut away; to moisten his corneas ing degree you resemble a cer-

26 GALAXY THE STAR KING 27

tain Lugo Teehalt whom I ex- Teehalt explained his act in per he said, “Grendel waits you The night was dark, lit only
pected to find here.” the next breath. “Since I fight outside. He will see you now.” by stars.The wind, for a won-
“Think of me as you like,” the hook, he thinks he has me Teehalt stared at him with der, was still; but the sea, swirl-
said Teehalt in a reedy voice. trapped, and he amuses himself.” sagging jaw. Dasce swaggered .^^ing and flowing, sent up a muf-
“I have spoken my name.” “What of Grendel? I thought back to his table. fled sad sound. A short sharp
. .

“But what a pity. I have busi- you had come here to meet him.” Now Teehalt rubbed his face scream, a whimper, from behind
ness to .transact with Lugo Tee- “Better that I return to Al- with quivering fingers, turned to the tavern. Gersen abandoned
halt!” phanor and confront him there. Gersen. “I can still evade them his resolve and started forward.
“It is pointless then to ap- I will return his money, but I if I can lose myself in the dusk. A grip like the pinch of steel
proach me.” will not lead him to the planet.” When I run out the door, will seized his arm, tweaked nerves
“As you wish. Though I sus- At the far end of the hall you detain the three?” at the back of his elbow; an-
pect that the business with Lugo Dasce and his two companions “How do you suggest I do other hand clamped at his neck.
Teehalt might interest Keelen were served with platters from this?” Gersen let himself fall, broke the
Tannas. Will you step aside for Smade’s kitchen. Gersen watched Teehalt was silent a moment. grip. He rolled over, bounced to
a moment’s private conversa- them a moment. “They seem un- “I don’t know.” his feet, stood in a half-crouch,
tion?” concerned.” “Nor do I, with the best will shuffled slowly forward. Facing
“No. I am not interested. My Teehalt sniffed. “They think in the world.” him with an easy smile stood
friend knows my name. It is that I will deal with Grendel, Teehalt gave a sad nod. “Very Tristano the Earthman. “Care-
Keelen Tannas.” but not with them. I will try
. . well, then. I will fend for my- ful, friend,”said Tristano in the
“Your ‘friend’?” Dasce turned to escape. Dasce does not know self. Good-by, Mr. Gersen.” He clipped flat Earth accent. “Give
his attention to Gersen. “Do you that I landed over the hill. Per- rose to his feet, walked to the me trouble and Smade pitches
know this man well?” haps he thinks that your ship bar. Dasce slanted his eyes at you into the sea.”
“As well as I know anyone.” is mine.” him, but otherwise seemed dis- Dasce came out the door, fol-
“And his name is Keelen Tan- “Who are the other two men?” interested. Beside the bar, Tee- lowed by the Sarcoy poisoner.
nas?” “Assassins. They know me well halt stood beyond the reach of Tristano joined them, the three
“If this is the name he offers enough, from the tavern at his vision. Instantly Teehalt walked to the space-port. Gersen
you, I can only suggest that you Brinktown. Tristano is an Earth- darted into the kitchen, out of remained on the terrace.
accept it!” man. He kills by touches of his sight. Smade looked after him Ten minutes later two ships
Without further remark Dasce hand. The other is a Sarkoy with sardonic wonder. rose into the night. The first was
turned away. He and his men venefice. He can brew stuff to Dasce and the two assassins a squat armored vessel, with
went to a table at the end of kill from sand and water. All stolidly continued their meal. weapons fore and aft. The sec-
the hall, where they ate. three are madmen —
but Dasce Gersen watched covertly. Why ond was a battered old locator’s
Teehalt spoke in a hollow is the worst. He knows every did they sit with such uncon- ship. Model 9B.
voice, “He knows me well horror there is to be known.” cern? Teehalt’s ruse had been Gersen stared in wonder. The
enough.” pitifully obvious. Gersen’s skin second ship was his own.
Gersen felt a spasm of irrita- TAasce at this moment looked began to prickle. In spite of his The ships disappeared, the sky
tion. Why should Teehalt feel at his watch. Wiping his resolve, he rose to his feet, went once more was empty. Gersen re-
impelled to embroil a stranger mouth with the back of his hand to the doorway. Pushing open turned into the tavern and sat
in his troubles, if his identity he rose, crossed the room, bent the timber panels, he stepped before the fire. Presently he
were already known? over Teehalt. In a husky whis- out on the veranda. brought forth the envelope given
28 GALAXY THE STAR KING 29

him by Lugo Teehalt, opened it
and extracted three photo-
graphs, which he examined for
the better part of an hour.
'^he fire burnt low. Smade
took himself to bed, leaving
a son dozing behind the bar. Out-
side the night rains began to
thrash down, lightning crackled,
the ocean groaned.
Gersen sat in deep thought.
Presently from his pocki t he
brought a sheet of paper, which
listed five names:
Grendel (the Monster)
Howard Alan Treesong
Viole Falushe
Kokor Hekkus (the Killing
Machine)
30
r
Lens Larque The flames settled low, chunks lowed by another even more viv-
From his pocket he brought of fossilized moss glowed scar- id: the same landscape, littered
a pencil, but still he deliberated. let. The sea-sound was slower with hacked and bleeding bodies.
If he continually added names and lower in pitch. Gersen rose Men and women and children
to his list he would never fin- to his feet and climbed the stone shuffled into the holds of five
ish. Of course there was no real stairs to his room. long ships under the weapons of
need to write. There v/as no real During his life Gersen had two score men in what seemed
need for a list: Gersen knew the known little other than a succes- strange and outlandish costumes.
five names as well as he knew sion of strange beds. Neverthe- With an old man who was his
his own. He compromised. To less sleep came slowly, and he grandfather, Gersen watched
the right and below the last lay staring into the dark. Visions horrified from across the river,
name of the original list he ap- passed before him, from as early concealed from the slavers by
pended a sixth name: Hildemar as he could remember: a land- the bulk of an old barge. When
Dasce. scape which, as he recalled, the ships had lifted, they return-
For a space he sat looking at seemed wonderfully pleasant ed across the river. Then his
the names, with two sides to his and bright. There were tawny grandfather told him, “Many
mind the one so alive and pas-
:
mountains, a village painted in things your father had planned
sionate that the other, the cere- faded pastel colors along the for you. Learning and useful
bral detached observer, felt a banks of a wide tawny river. But work and a life of satisfaction and
trace of amusement. this picture, as always, was fol- peace. Do you recall this?”
GALAXY THE STAR KING 31
 “Yes, grandfather.” nineteen his grandfather died, polarities, nor mirror images, tentialities for harm are less.
“The learning you shall have. bequeathing him a comfortable nor is one merely the absence You must seek him Beyond and
You and re-
will learn patience sum of money and a letter which of the other. In order to mini- learn from him the names of the
source, the ability of your hands read: mize confusion, your work will five.
and your mind. You will have merely be the destruction of Then you must kill the five,
useful work: the destruction of My dear Kirth: evil men. What is an evil man? and it will do no harm if they
evil men. What work could be I have seldom told of my af- The man is evil who
coerces suffer pain in the process, for
more useful? This is Beyond; fection and high regard for you; obedience to his private ends, they have brought an immeasur-
you will find that your work is I take this occasion to do so. You destroys beauty, produces pain, able amount of pain and grief to
never done —
so therefore you have come to mean more to me extinguishes life. It must be re- others.
may never know a life of peace. than ever did my own son. I membered that killing evil men There is still much for you to
However I guarantee you ample will not say I am sorry that I is not equivalent to expunging learn. Iwould advise you to join
satisfaction: for I will teach you have set your feet in thepath evil, which is a relationship be- the Institute, except I fear that
to crave the blood of these men they now must take, even though tween a situation and an indi- the disciplines of this body
more than the flesh of woman.” you will be denied many ordi- vidual. A poisonous spore will would not set well with you. Do
nary pleasures and luxuries. grow only in a nutrient soil. In as you think best. In my youth
'"T^he old man had been as Have I been presumptuous in so this case the nutrient soil is Be- I thought to become a catechu-
good as his word. Eventual- shaping your life? I think not. yond, and since no human ef- men, but Destiny ruled other-
ly they made their way to Earth, For several years you have been fort can alter the Beyond (which wise. If I were friends with a
the ultimate repository of every self-motivated, and have showed must always exist), you must Fellow I would send you to him
sort of knowledge. no inclination to point yourself devote your efforts to destroy- for counsel —
but I have no such
Young learned many
Kirth in any other direction. In any ing the poisonous spores, which friend. Perhaps you will be less
things, from a succession of event I can think of no more are evil men. It is a task of constricted outside the Institute.
strange teachers which it would useful service for a man to per- which you will never see the end. Stringent conditions are imposed
be tedious to detail. He killed form than that which I have or- Our sharpest and first motiva- upon the catechumen through
his first man at the age of four- dained for you. The Law of Man tion in this matter, agreed, is no the first fourteen degrees.
teen: a footpad who had the ill- is bounded by the limits of the more than a primitive ache for In any event, I advise you to
luck to accost them in a back Oikumene. Good and evil, how- revenge. Five pirate captains de- devote a time to the study of
alley of Rotterdam. While his ever, are ideas which encompass stroyed certain lives and en- Sarkoy poisons and hand-tech-
grandfather stood by, in the the universe; unluckily, beyond slaved other who were precious niques, preferably on Sarkoy it-
manner an old fox teaching
of the Pale there are few to ensure to us. Revenge is not an ignoble self. There is room for improve-
a cub hunt, young Kirth,
to the triumph of good over evil. motive, when it works to a pro- ment in your ‘marksmanship and
gasping and sobbing, broke first Actually the triumph consists ductive end. The names of these knife-play, though you need fear
the ankle, then the neck of the of two processes: first evil must five pirate captains I do not few men Your
at hand-fighting.
astonished assailant. be extinguished, then good must know. My best attempts have intuitive judgments are good;
From Earth they moved to Al- be introduced to fill the gap. It brought me no information. One your self control, economy of ac-
phanor, capitol planet of the is impossible that a man should man, an underling, I recognized: tion, and versatility are to be
Rigel Concourse, and here Kirth
Gersen gained more convention-
be equally efficacious in both
functions. Good and evil, in spite
his name is Pankarow,
Parsifal commended. — you But still
and he is no less baneful than have much to learn. For the next
al knowledge. When he was of a traditional fallacy, are not the five captains, though his po- ten years, study, train — and be
32 GALAXY THE STAR KING 33
cautious. There are many other regarding Parsifal Pankarow, in. “I will
capable men. Do not rashly and felt himself well rewarded “You will
waste yourself against them un- to learn that Parsifal Pankarow le again.”
til you are more than ready. In currently resided at Brinktown, kfully and
short, do not make an overvirtue where he was Ira Bugloss, opera-
of courage or heroism. A goodly tor of a prosperous import busi-
amount of caution —
call it fear ness. o Brink-
or even cowardice —
is a highly Gersen found Ira Bugloss, or sly placid
desirable adjunct for a man such Pankarow, to be a burly hearty ite three-,
as yourself, whose one fault man, egg-bald, his skin dyed Duses em-
GALAXY
421
might be said to be a mystical, lemon-yellow with mustachios a, purple
almost superstitious, faith in the which were wide, black and lux- vilight he
NEW
success of your destiny. Do not uriant. jiet back
be fooled. We are all mortal, as Brinktown occupied a plateau HUDSON

>use.
I now attest. which stood like an island in a YORK ne stood
So, my grandson, I am dead. black and orange jungle. Gersen ve monu-
I have trained you to know good scrutinized Pankarow’s move- eres and
from evil. I feel only pride in ments for two weeks, learned his 14, STREET
a sculp-
my accomplishment, and hope routine, which was that of a
PUBLISHING

il Panka-
N.
that you will remember me with man without a care. Then one se, head
affection and respect. evening he hired a cab, render- Y. iky, arms
Your loving grandfather, ed the operator unconscious, stood ap-
Rolf Harpit Gersen waited outside the Jodisei Con- irteen or
versation and Flower Arranging ped down
T?or eleven years Kirth Ger- Club, until Pankarow tired of jproached
sen obeyed the dictates of sporting with the inmates and CORP. n my fa-
his grandfather, or exceeded emerged into the humid Brink- women?”
them, meanwhile seeking both town Well pleased with
night. art to the
within the Oikumene and Be- himself, humming
a tune he had put aside
yond for Parsifal Pankarow, but just learned, he staggered into ting Pan-
fruitlessly. the cab and was conveyed, not ig a mes-
Few occupations offered more to his vast and sumptuous home,
challenge, more hazard, more but to a remote clearing in the inquired
chilling rebuffs to incompetence jungle. anxious.
than weasling for the IPCC. Here Gersen put questions
Gersen undertook two assign- which Pankarow had no wish to have no
ments, on Pharode and Blue answer. Pankarow made an ef- Your fa-
Planet. During the term of this fort to hold his tongue, to no iway. He
latter, he submitted a preemp- avail. Finally five names were in return.
tive requisition for information wrung from his memory. “Now
34 GALAXY 35
 '
cautious. what will you do with me?” koy poison into the skin. “I will
capable i croaked the erstwhile Ira Bug- go to look,” he said. “You will
waste you loss. sleep until you see me again.”
til you ar< “I will kill you,” said Gersen, Pankarow relaxed thankfully and
short, do r pale and quivering after exer- was dead in seconds.
of courage cise he did not enjoy. “I have
amount
or even c<
of
I
made you my
enemy. Further-
more you deserve to die a hun-
^ ersen returned to Brink-
town, a deceptively placid
desirable £ dred times over.” settlement of tall ornate three-,
as yourse “At one time, yes!” cried the four- and five-story houses em-
might be sweating Pankarow. “Now I lead bowered among green, purple
almost suj a blameless life, I injure no and black trees. At twilight he
success of one!” sauntered along a quiet back
be fooled. Gersen wondered if every such lane to Pankarow’s house.
I now att occasion would cause him such The stone tombstone stood
So, my nausea, misgivings and misery. plain to see: a massive monu-
I have trai He responded in a voice held ment of marble spheres and
from evil, crisp and even by enormous ef- cubes surmounted by a sculp-
my accon fort. “What you say perhaps is tured image of Parsifal Panka-
that you w true, but your wealth stinks of row in a noble pose, head
affection i pain. And certainly you will thrown back to the sky, arms
Your make a report to the first agent outspread. As Gersen stood ap-
Rolf of any of the five you meet.” praising it a boy thirteen or
“No. I swear not. And my fourteen years old stepped down
por elev wealth — take it all.” from the porch and approached
sen ol “Where is your wealth?” Gersen. “Are you from my fa-
his grand Pankarow tried to make con- ther? Is he with the fat women?”
them, mei ditions. “I will lead you to it.” Gersen steeled his heart to the
within the Gersen shook his head sadly. inevitable pangs, and put aside
From

yond for F “Accept my excuses. You are all thought of confiscating Pan-
fruitlessly. about to die. It comes to all men. karow’s wealth. “I bring a mes-
Few occ You had best feel that you are sage from your father.”
challenge, requiting the evil you have “Will you come in?” inquired
chilling rel done — the boy, tremulously anxious.
than weas “Under my tombstone!” “I’ll call my mother.”
Gersen ur screamed Pankarow. “Under the “No. Please don’t. I have no
ments, on stone tombstone before my time. Listen carefully. Your fa-
Planet. Dt house!” ther has been called away. He
latter, he Gersen touched a tube to Pan- is not sure when he can return.
tive requis . karow’s neck, which spat a Sar- Perhaps never.”
34 THE STAR KING 35
 The boy listened round-eyed.
“Did he —run away?”
Gersen nodded. “Yes. Some
old enemies found him, and he
does not dare show himself. He
said to tell you or your mother
that money is hidden under the
tombstone.”
The boy stared at Gersen.
“Who are you?”
“A messenger, no more. Tell
your mother exactly what I have
One more thing. When
told you.
you look beneath the tombstone,
be careful. There may be a trap .
to guard the money. Do you im-
derstand what I’m saying?”
“Yes. A booby-trap.”
“That’s right. Be careful. Get
the help of someone you can
trust.”
Gersen departed Brinktown.
He thought of Smade’s Planet,
with its elemental quiet and iso-
lation: precisely the antidote to
his fretful conscience.
as
Where, he asked himself,
the locater boat skidded down a
fracture in the continuum, did
the balance lie? He had by no
means reached the tipping point.
Parsifal Pankarow deserved the
callous execution he had re-
ceived.But what of wife and
son? They must bear the pain,
but why? To protect the wom-
en and children of more deserv-
ing men from worse pain. So
Gersen reassured himself. But
the haunted dark look of the
36
boy’s eyes would not leave his
memory.
The
Destiny led him.
night at Smade’s Tavern en-
gaged him with Grendel the
Monster, the first name Parsifal
Pankarow had blurted forth. In
his bed Gersen heaved a deep
sigh. Pankarow was dead. Poor
miserable Lugo Teehalt was
probably dead. All men must
die; let there be an end to brood-
ing. He grinned into the dark,
thinking ofGrendel (whoever
he might be) and Beauty Dasce
the monitor of his
examining
ship. To begin with they would
be unable to open the monitor
with their key. A formidable
difficulty, even worse if they sus-
pected thief-proofing of explos-
ive, poison gas or acid. When
after great travail they eventu-
ally extracted the filament, it
would show blank. Gersen’s
monitor was no more than win-
dow-dressing; he had never both-
ered to activate
it.
Grendel would look question-
ingly at Beauty Dasce, who
would mutter some sort of ob-
jurgation. Perhaps then they
would think to check the serial
number of the ship, only to find
that it was different from that
issued to Lugo Teehalt. And
then: swiftly back to Smade’s
Planet. But by that time, Gersen
would make sure that he was
gone.
GALAXY
m
Question put to Bale Maur-
first but only of establishing them-
math. Chief Quaestor of Tri- selves as a privileged and envied
Planetary Police System, dur- They mistake the attitude
elite.
ing a round-table television of natural caution and uncer-
discussion, broadcast from tainty of the civilian population
Conover, Cuthbert, Vega. May as admiration and respect, and
16, 993: presently they start to swagger
|
I know your problems are tre- back and forth jingling weap-
|
mendous, Quaestor Maurmath, ons, in megalomaniac eupho-
i
in fact I don’t really comprehend ria. People thereupon become
|
! how you get on top of them. For not masters, but servants.
. .
instance, how can you possibly Such a police force becomes
locate some one particular man, merely an aggregate of uniform-
|
or trace his background among ed criminals, the more baneful
i
ninety-odd inhabited planets in that their position is unchal-
|
and billions of people of all lenged and sanctioned by law.
varieties of political complex- The police mentality cannot re-
ion, local habit, doctrines of be- gard a human being in terms
lief? other than an item or object to
Answer: be processed as expeditiously as
Usually we can’t. possible. Public convenience or
i
dignity means nothing. Police
I
Message of Lord Jaiko Jaiko- prerogatives assume the status of
i
ska. Chairman of the Execu- divine law. Submissiveness is de-
:
tive Board, to the Valhalla manded. If a police officer kills
General Legislative Assembly, a civilian, it is a regrettable cir-
Valhalla, Tau Gemini, August cumstance: the officer was pos-
9, 1028 L sibly over-zealous. If a civilian
I urge you not endorse this kills a police officer all hell
sinister measure. Humanity breaks loose. The police foam
many times has had sad experi- at the mouth. All other business
ence of super-powerful police comes to a standstill until the
forces. .As soon as (the police)
.
perpetrator of this most dastard-
slip from under the firm thumb
ly act is found out. Inevitably,
of a suspicious local tribune, when apprehended, he is beaten
they become arbitary, mer- or otherwise tortured for his in-
ciless, a law to themselves. tolerable presumption. The
. .
They think no more of justice, police complain that they can-
THE STAR KING
37
 indexing and cross-indexing of be branches on every planet.
function efficiently, that More often the criminal who
not ]

information, and perhaps of Our staff will be recruited from

criminals escape them. Better a goes Beyond escapes scot-free.
highest importance, the creation among members of this associa-
hundred vmchecked criminals When he chooses to return into
and maintenance of an esprit, tion and any other qualified F>er-
than the despotism of one un- the Oikumene he may have
a pride of profession, to attract sons. They will be well paid,
changed his appearance, his
bridled police force. Again I and hold men and women of the from fees and profits. Where
warn you, do not endorse this LOS I coordinates, his finger-
highest abilities. will these fees and profits de-
is safe unless he has
and
measure. If you do, I shall sure- prints,
As we know, this central-
all rive? Primarily from local po-
ly veto the misfortune to be arrested for ized agency has been denied us,
it.
lice organizations, who will use
a new infraction in the com-
no matter how urgently we plead certain of the facilities of this
Excerpt from address of Rich- munity where he committed his its virtues. The ostensible mo- new interplanetary agency, in-
ard Parnell, Commissioner of original crime and was there
this
tive behind this refusal is known stead of expending large sums to
genified*. Essentially, in
Public Weal, Northern Terri- to us all, and I will not dignify maintain redundant facilities of
tory, Xion, Rigel Concourse, day of the Jarnell Intersplit, any
it by mentioning it. I will say the same sort. Since the proposed
to the Association of Police criminal who takes a few ele-
that police morale is sinking to agency will be a private busi-
Crime Detection Agencies, at mentary precautions can go un- an ever lower level and soon ness organization subject to all
Parilia, Pilgham, Rigel, De- punished.
This association many times
may vanish —
unless something local and interplanetary laws,
cember 1, 1075; is done. the critics of our former schemes
... It is not enough to say that has sought to establish a more Today I wish to put before the must be silenced.
our problems are unique, they satisfactory basis for crime-de-
convention a proposal for the . Eventually the Interworld
.

and prevention. Our

.

have become catastrophic. We tection

“something”. Our association is Police Coordination Company
are held responsible for the ef- main problem is the diversity the private organization of a would automatically be called
ficient conduct of our jobs, but with their totally disparate stan- group of private individuals. It upon to handle all problems of
are refused the necessary tools dards, goals and range of prob-
has no official status or connec- crime detection and prevention,
and powers to do so. A man can lems, and the consequent chaos
tion with any governmental of- other than those purely local,
murder and rob anywhere with- of information files and retriev-
fice whatever. In short, we are and even here the IPCC may
in the Oikumene, jump into a al systems. An obvious solution
free to do what we please, enter function usefully. In due course
waiting space-ship and be light- exists, and the association’s into any kind of business we the IPCC will certainly dwarf
years away before his crime is standing recommendation is the
please, so long as we contravene in scope all present and future
discovered. If he passes beyond formation of a single official no laws. official police groups. We will
the Pale, our jurisdiction ends police system to maintain law
I propose that this association have our own laboratories, re-
— at least officially, although and order throughout the Oiku- go into business, that we found search programs, absolutely
all of us know of courageous of- mene. a private crime detection agen- complete files, and an absolutely
ficers who have put justice ahead The advantages of such a sys-
tem are obvious: standardization
cy. The new company will be high-class staff — recruited as I
of expediencyand caution, and strictly a commercial proposi- say from members of the asso-
have gone beyond the Pale to of procedure, use of new equip-
tion, financed by association ciation, and others. Are there
make their arrests. This of course ment and ideas, unified control, money and by private subscrip- any questions?
they have a right to do, since a central office for the filing,
tion. Headquarters will be estab- A question from the floor: Is
every human law becomes inval- The noun is gene-classification, lished at some central and con- there any reason why police of-
id Beyond. But the risk is their
,

thence to adjective gene-classified. venient location, but there will ficers of a municipality or a
own. abbreviated to genified.
THE STAR KING 39
38 GALAXY
state should not simultaneously
be a member of the IPCC staff?
Answer This : isa very import-
ant point. No, there is none
whatever. I see no conflict be-
tween the two agencies, and
there is every reason to hope
that local police officials will
automatically wish to become
affiliated with the IPCC. This
would be to ttie advantage of
the IPCC, the local police group
and the individual himself. In
other words, the local police of-
ficer would have nothing to lose
and everything to gain by refer-
ring cases to the IPCC and au-
thorizing the subsequent fee if
he himself were a staff member.
From Chapter III, The IPCC'.
Men and Methods, by Raoul
Past.
. Nominally an intra-Oiku-
. .
mene organ, the IPCC has been
forced by the dynamics of its
basic rationale to operate Be-
yond. Here, where the only laws
are local ordinances and taboos,
the IPCC finds little coopera-
tion: indeed the very opposite.
The IPCC operative is
a weasel. His life is
balanced on a knife-edge. The
Central Agency shrouds in se-
crecy the exact number of “wea-
sels”, and also the percentage of
casualties. The first
suspected to be low, through dif-
ficulties of recruitment; the sec-
40
ond high, through both the exi-
gencies of the work and the ef-
forts of that most fantastic of
human constructions, the De-
weaseling Corps.
. The universe is infinite;
. .
worlds without end exists but
certainly one must travel far to
find a situation so paradoxical,
whimsical, and grim as this: that
the single discipline organization
of the Beyond exists only to ex-
tirpate the nominal forces of
law and order.
G awoke in the strange
ersen
the sky through the
bed,
square window only
small
vaguely gray. He dressed, de-
scended the stone steps to the
hall where he found one of
Smade’s sons, a dour dark lad
of twelve, fanning the coals in
the fireplace to life. He bade
Gerson a gruff “Good morning”,
but seemed indisposed for fur-
ther conversation.
stepped outside on the terrace.
Pre-dawn mist concealed the
ocean, rolling in sheets and curls
across the heath a —
dreary
known as monochromatic scene. The sense
constantly of isolation was suddenly op-
pressive. Gersen returned inside
to warm himself at the
The boy was sweeping
hearth. “Killing last night,” he
figvue is told Gersen in gloomy satisfac-
tion. “Little thin man got it.
Right behind the moss-shed.”
“Is the body there?” Gersen
asked presently.
“No. No body. They took it
with them. Three bad oneS; may-
be four. Father is black mad
they did their dirt inside the
; fence.”
Gersen grunted, displeased
with every aspect of the situa-
tion. He asked for breakfast,
which was presently forthcom-
ing. As he ate, the dwarf sun
lifted above the mountains, a
brittle white wafer barely visi-
ble through the mist. An on-
shore wind came. When Gersen
once more went outside the sky
was clear, though fog wisps still
blew in from the oily sea.
Gersen walked north along the
shelf between ocean cliffs and
mountains. Underfoot was a car-
pet of spongy gray moss, redo-
lent with a musty resinous odor.
The sunlight streamed over his
head, out to sea, the black water
Gersen giving back no glint or reflec-
tion.He went to the edge of the
cliffand looked down two hun-
dred feet to the rise and fall of
the water. He tossed a stone,
watched the splash, and the rip-
ples quickly absorbed in the
larger motion. What would it
new fire. be like, he wondered, to sail a
the boat on this ocean? Out across
the horizons, with the whole
world to explore; barren coasts,
bleak headlands, tall stern is-
lands,with no sight of human
GALAXY THE STAR KING
being or dwelling until the re.
turn to Smade’s Tavern. Gersetf
turned away from the cliff and
continued north. He passed the
mouth of a valley fenced in
against Smade’s cattle. Teehalt
certainly had not left his boat
here. A quarter mile ahead a
spur of the mountains humped
down almost to the sea. In the
shadow of the ridge Gersen
found Teehalt’s boat.
He made a quick inspection.
The vessel was indeed a Model
9B, identical to his own. The
gear and machinery seemed in
good order. In a housing under
the bow-bulge himg the monitor
which had cost Teehalt his life.
Gersen returned to the tavern.
His original plan had been to
spend several days. It must be
altered: Grendel might discover
his mistake and return with Hil-
demar Dasce and the two assas-
sins. They would wish to take
Teehalt’s monitor, and this Ger-
sen was resolved they should not
do, though he did not care to
risk his life in the effort.
O eturning to the taven he
noted that the landing field
was empty. The Star King had
departed. This morning? Or
during the night? Gersen had
no idea. He settled his score
and, moved by some obscure im-
pulse paid Lugo Teehalt’s bill.
Smade made no comment. He
41
was clearly consumed by cold
fury. His eyes showed white
around the drab irises, his nos-
trils were distended, his chin
jutted forward. The rage was not
on Lugo Teehalt’s behalf, Ger-
sen realized. The murderer, who-
ever he might be —
Dasce had
mentioned Grendel —
had flout-
ed Smade’s law, he had disturb-
ed the serenity of Smade’s Tav-
ern, he had wronged Smade. Po-
litely Gersen inquired, “When
did the Star King leave?” Smade
merely glared silently back at
him like an angry Black Angus
bull.
Gersen gathered his small
packet of belongings and depart-
by like fire-
a million. Stars slid
fliesblown on a dark wind, the
light reaching Gersen’s eyes by
back-splash or back-curl, where-
in the Doppler effect played no
role. Perspective was lost; the
eye was fooled. Stars moved as-
tern, the near slipping across
the far. Within hand-reach? A
hundred yards distant? Ten
miles? The eye had no tool by
which to judge.
Gersen set the star-finder to
the index of Rigel, engaged the
auto-pilot and made himself as
comfortable as the spartan facil-
ities of the Model 9B permitted.
The visit to Smade’s Tavern
had served him well, though the
ed casual habit. To sever rela-
tions with a man who might be
inconvenient, you killed him.
A third possibility: had Tee-
halt penetrated the anonymity
which Grendel, among all the
Demon Princes, held of
importance? Gersen
his conversation
with Teehalt.
For all his ravaged and woe-
begone appearance, Teehalt had
used educated speech. He had
seen better days. Why had he
turned to the disreputable pro-
fession of locating?
shrugged. Why did a man set
himself in any specific direc-
tion? Why did a man, presum-
ably born of ordinary parents,
It would be necessary, then, to
trace ownership of the boat in-
. directly. Gersen set himself to
consider the problem.
Estate houses maintained two-
thirds of all locator ships, their
supreme stock in trade consisting of
reviewed worlds with specific attributes:
planets highly mineralized,
planets suitable for colonization
by dissident groups, planets
pleasant enough to serve as a
millionaire’s reserve, planets dis-
tinguished by a sufficiently in-
Gersen teresting flora and fauna to at-
tract curio dealers or biologists;
most planets supporting
rarely,
intelligent or semi-intelligent
life, of interest to sociologists,

ed the tavern, declining the
twelve-year-old boys proffer of
assistance. Once more he walked
north. Crossing the ridge, he
looked back toward the tavern.
Staunch and secure it stood fac-
ing the sea, utterly alone. Ger-
sen shook his head dubiously
and turned away. “Everyone is
the same,” he told himself. “An-
xious to arrive. And when they
leave, wondering why they
came.”
A few minutes later he took
Teehalt’s boat aloft on its boost-
ers, then pointed it back to-
ward the Oikumene and cut in
profit had been bought by Lugo become Grendel the Monster? cultural taxonomists, linguists
Teehalt’s death. Grendel wanted and the like. The estate houses
Lugo Teehalt’s monitor: this ''T^eehalt had hinted or im- were concentrated in the cosmo-
was the premise which con- plied that Grendel was politan centers of the Oiku-
trolled the shape of the future. somehow involved in the leasing mene: three or four worlds of
Grendel would be willing to en- of the locater-ship. With this the Concourse, chief among
ter negotiations, and with equal thought in mind Gersen made a them Alphanor; Vega’s Cuth-
certainty he would act through careful inspection of the ship. bert, Boniface, Aloyisius No-
an agent. Although, thought He found the traditional brass vel; Pi Cassiopeia’s Copus and
Gersen, he had seen fit to kill plate, naming the place of manu- Orpo; Quantique; Old Earth.
Lugo Teehalt at first hand . . facture: Liverstone on Fiame, a The Concourse would be the log-
There was something puzzling planet of the Rigel Concourse. ical starting-place, if in fact Lu-
here. Why need Lugo Teehalt The monitor likewise carried a go Teehalt worked for an estate
die? Sheer malice on the part bronze flake detailing its serial house.
of Grendel? Not impossible. But number and the manufacturer: But this was by no means cer-
Grendel had killed and ravaged the Feritse Precision Instru- tain. In fact, as Gersen seemed
so extensively that taking the life ments Company, at Sansontiana to Teehalt had implied
recall,

the oversplit. Smade’s Planet of one thin miserable man could on Olliphane, also of the Con- otherwise. If so, the investiga-
dwindled astern, and with its provide him only the smallest course. But there was no indica- tion was narrowed considerably.
white dwarf sun, presently be- gratification. The motive more tion of the owner, no evidence Next to the estate houses, uni-
came lost, a single spark among likely was habit; sheer off -hand- of registration. versities and research institutes

42 GALAXY THE STAR KING 43

were the chief employers of lo-
cators. And Gersen had a new
thought. If Teehalt had been ei-
ther a student or faculty
ber at some specific lyceum, col-
lege or university, he
probably apply to this
i nstitution for employment.
Gersen corrected his thinking;
the conjecture was not neces-
sarily probable. A proud man,
with friends and associates who
might remember him, would use
his old school in this fashion
only as a last resort. Was Lugo
Teehalt proud? Not in this way,
or so it seemed to Gersen. Tee-
halt had seemed a man who
might easily turn to his old
haven for security.
^"T^here was another obvious
source of information: the
Feritse Precision Instrument
Company at Sansontiana, where
the monitor would be registered
in the name of its purchaser.
And another reason for visiting
the Feritse Precision Instrument
Company
Gersen wanted to
:
open the monitor and remove
the filament. To this end he
needed a key. Monitors were
often tamper-proofed with ex-
plosive capsules or corrosive;
violent extraction of the fila-
ment seldom jdelded useful in-
formation.
The officials of the Feritse
Company might or might not
44
prove accommodating. Sanson-
tiana was a city of Braichis, one
of Olliphane’s nineteen inde-
mem- pendent nations. The Braichish
were a headstrong, involute, al-
would together peculiar people. Con-
same course law, however, repudiated
. private claims beyond the Pale,
and discouraged the use of ex-
plosive traps. Hence, in an or-
dinance detailing the equip-
ment required aboard space-
craft: “The manufacturers of
such devices (referring to moni-
tors) are thereupon enjoined
and required to furnish keys,
switching devices, code-sticks,
number sequences or any other
tool, appliance or information
necessary to the safe opening of
the instrument in question, with-
out delay, complaint, error, ex-
orbitant charge, or any behavior
or act calculated to deter the
petitioner from obtaining the
key, coded device or informa-
tion demanded, if and when the
petitioner is able to demonstrate
ownership of said instrument.
Presentation of the serial plate
affixed by the manufacturer to
the instrument shall be deemed
sufficient and adequate evidence
of ownership.”
All well and good. Gersen
could secure the key, but the
company need not furnish in-
formation as to previous regis-
tration of the instrument. Espe-
cially if Grendel should sus-
GALAXY
pect that Gersen might come to pleasant and psychotic popula-
Sansontiana with such a purpose tion lived in five cities: Oni, Me,
in mind, and take steps to pre- Che, Dun and Ve, each compul-
clude the contingency. sively built in pentagonal pat-
The thought opened a set of terns, from a central five-sided
new vistas. Gersen frowned. Had citadel. The space-port, on a re-
his temperament been other than mote island, was opprobriously
careful and orderly, these vari- named “Orifice”. Everything
ous options and possibilities Gersen needed could be found
might not occur to him. He at the space-port; he had no de-
would be saved a great deal of sire to visit the cities, especially
difficulty, but he probably since each required in lieu of
would die sooner. . passport, the tattooing of a star
He shook his head in resigna- on the forehead, a different color
tion and reached for the star- for each city. To visit all five
charts. cities the prospective tourist
Not far off his line of fission must display five colored stars:
was the star Cygnus T342, and orange, black, mauve, yellow and
its planet Euville where an un- green.
IV
From New Discoveries in did not actually require that the
Space, by Ralph Quarry; personnel wear dinner jackets to
Sir Julian Hove apparent- meals, certain of his rules im-
. . .
ly derived his attitudes from the posed an almost equivalent
late Renaissance explorers. Upon punctilio. The use of first
. .
return to Earth members of his names was eschewed; salutes
crews imposed upon themselves were exchanged at the beginning
(or had imposed) a strict rule of and termination of each watch,
discretion and secrecy. Details even though the personnel was
nevertheless leaked out. Sir Ju- by and large civilian. Techni-
lian Hove was, to use the most cians whose specialties were
comprehensive term, a martinet. without scientific pertinence were
He was likewise a man utterly forbidden to set foot on the fas-
without humor. His eye was cinating new worlds, an order
bleak, he spoke without moving which came close to fomenting
his his hair was combed
lips, mutiny, until Sir Julian’s second
day after day in photographical- in command prevailed upon Sir
ly identical furrows. While he Julian to ameliorate it.
THE STAR KING 45

The Rigel Concourse Sir Ju-
is
lian’s most noteworthy dis-
covery: twenty-sixmagnificent
planets, most of them not only
habitable but salubrious, though
only two display even quasi-in-
telligent autochthones. Sir Ju-
. eccentric, tumbling, odd-shaped
.
lian, exercising his prerogatives,
named the planets for boyhood
heroes: Lord Kitchener, Wil
Ham Gladstone, Archbishop Rol-
Gore, Edythe MacDevott,
lo
Rudyard Kipling, Thomas Car-
lyle, William Kircudbright,
Samuel B. Gorsham, Sir Robert
Peel, and the like.
But Sir Julian was to be de-
prived of his privilege. He tele-
graphed ahead the news of his
return to Maudley Space Station,
together with a description of
the Concourse and the names he
had bestowed upon the members
of this magnificent group. The
list passed through the hands of
an obscure young clerk, one
Roger Pilgham, who rejected
Sir Julian’s nominations in dis-
gust. To each of the twenty-six
planets he assigned a letter of
the alphabet and hurriedly sup-
plied new names Alphanor,
: a triumphant return, and in due
Barleycorn, Chrysanthe, Dio-
genes, Elfland, Fiame, Goshen,
Hardacres, Image, Jezebel, Kro-
kinole, Lyonnesse, Madagascar,
Nowhere Olliphane, Pilgham,
Quinine, Raratonga, Some-
where, Tantamount, Unicom,
Vakwnde, Walpurgis, Xion, Ys
46
:
and Zacaranda —
the names de-
Sir Julian’s reaction to the and vigorous. The flora has in
rived from legend, msrth, ro-
deed was one of extraordinary no way yielded to terrestrial
mance and his own whimsy. The
fury. clerk prudently went imports, which must be carefully
Only one of the worlds was ac- into seclusion; Sir Julian was tended and nurtured. The fauna
companied by a satellite, de-
encouraged to reintroduce his islikewise complex, and on oc-
scribed in the dispatch as “an
own nominations, but the dam- casion actively savage, to cite
age had been done; Roger Pil-
the clever hyrcan major of up-
fragment of chondritic pumice”,
gham’s brash deed caught the per Phrygia, and the invisible
and this Roger Pilgham named
fancy of the public, and Sir Ju- eel of the Thaumaturge Ocean.
Sir Julian.
terminology
The press received and pub-
lian’s gradually The political structure of Al-
faded from memory. phanor is a pyramidal democ-
lished the list and Rigel’s plan-
ets became so known, though
racry —simple in theory, intri-
From popular Handbook ot cate in practice. The continents
Sir Julian’s acquaintances won-
the Planets, 303rd Edition, pub- are divided into provinces,
dered about the sudden extrava-
lished 1292: thence prefectures, districts and
gance of his imagination. And
Alphanor, a planet considered wards: these latter defined as
who, or what, was “Pilgham”?
the administrative node and cul- population blocs of five thou-
presumably would ex-
Sir Julian
tural center of the Rigel Con- sand persons. Each ward com-
plainupon his arrival.
course. It is eighth in orbital mittee sends a representative to
The clerk, Roger Pilgham, order. the district council, which elects
presently returns to the obscur-
Planetary Constants: a delegate to the prefectural diet,
ity from which he sprang, and
Diameter, 9300 miles. which in turn is represented at
there is no record of his conduct
Mass, 102. the district assembly, which
or state of mind as Sir Julian’s
Mean Day, 29 hours, 16 min- sends a member to provincial
return became imminent. Did he
utes, 29.4 seconds. congress, which does likewise for
feel apprehension? Uneasiness?
etc. the continental parliament.
Indifference? Beyond all doubt
General Remarks : Alphanor Each parliament elects seven
he had become resigned to the is a large bright sea-world, with rectors to the grand Council at
prospect of discharge from his
a generally bracing climate. Avente, in the Sea Province of
position.
Ocean occupies three-quarters of Umbria, which thereupon
In due course Sir Julian made
the total surface, including the chooses a chairman.
polar ice floes. The land mass
course used the phrase, “most
is divided into seven nearly con- From Preface to Peoples ot
impressive perhaps are the New
tiguous continents Phrygia, : the Concourse, by Strick and
Grampian Mountains on the Umbria, Lusitania, Scythia, Etru- Chemitz
North Continent of Lord Bulwer- ria, Lydia and Lycia, in a con-
Lytton”. A member of the audi-
The concourse populations are
figuration suggesting seven pet- far from homogeneous. During
ence politely asked the where- tals of a flower. There are un- the migrations from Earth racial
abouts of Lord Bulwer-Lytton,
counted islands. groups tended to follow their
and the change was revealed. Autochthonous life is complex own, and in the new environ-
GALAXY THE STAR KING 4/
menta, under the influence of he arrange a watch at every locked his auto-pilot into the of- ter a glance, ignored them. The
interbreeding and new behavior space-port? Theoretically, this ficial landing program and once Sarkoy muttered something to
patterns, such groups specialized could be done, by the suborning more sat back. The boat settled, his associate, came a little for-
even further. The folk of Al-
. . of port officials. The cheapest bumped in a roar of expiring ward. “I think we’ve met?” IBs
phanor in general are fair, and perhaps most effective sys- jets upon the scorched red earth. voice was soft, sardonic.
brown-haired, of medium stature, tem would be to offer a resound- The jets died there was silence. “Your name evades me,” said
though an hour’s walk along the ing reward to the man who re- Automatically the pressure- Gerson politely.
Grand Esplanade at Avente will ported Gersen’s arrival. Gersen equalizing valve began to hiss. “I am Sivij Suthiro.”
show the observer every conceiv- of course might choose to set The port officials approached
able style of human being. down at another star system. It in a slide-car.Gersen answered ersen examined him care-
The Alphanor psychology is would be difficult to mount questions, submitted to a brief fully, seeing a man^f mid-
more difficult to express. Every guard over every space-port of medical inspection and received dle weight, with the curious flat
inhabited world is different in the Oikumene. an entry permit. The officials head of the Sarkoy Steppe-man,*
this regard; and though the dif- But it was by no means Ger- departed. A mobile crane tmn- the face wider than high. Suth-
ferences are real and distinct sen’s purpose to go into hiding. dled up, lifted the boat, carried
enough, it is hard to present In the next phase of proceed- itto a bay in the storage line at *The Sarkoy were held in low esteem
them accurately without discur- ings he must necessarily expose one side of the field. by other peoples of the Oikumene, by
siveness —
especially since each himself. This next phase was the Gersen descended to the
virtue of repugnant eating habits,
gross and exhibitionistic sexual con-
planet-wide generalization is identification of Grendel. Two ground and started to detach the
duct. Also despised was the popular
compounded, vitiated, or contra- methods to this end suggested monitor, keeping a careful look- Sarkoy sport known as harbite, or
dicted by regional differences. themselves he could either trace
:
out in all directions. the baiting of a harikap, a large
the registry of the monitor,, or Two men sauntered along the bristle-furred semi-intelligent biped
storage of the north forests. The wretched
"D igel, deadahead, was a await the approach of some line, casually, or so it
creature, brought to a state of ten-
bright blue - white point member of Grendel’s organiza- seemed. Gersen recognized one
sion by hunger, would be thrust into
from which every other star tion, and then try to trace the of them instantly; the Sarcoy a circle of men armed with pitch-
seemed to flee. Gersen had little nerve of authority back to its who had followed Hildemar forks and torches, stimulated to wild
to do but contemplate his desti- source. Dasce into Smade’s Tavern. activity by being set on fire, thrust
As they approached, Gersen deftly with pitchforks back into the
nation, speculate regarding Grendel would take for grant-
center of the circle as it sought to
Grendel’s probable intentions ed Gersen’s intent to investigate gave no overt heed, but they
escape.
and formulate his own set of re- the monitor, and would presum- made no twitch or move that he Sarkovy, the single planet of Phi
sponses. The first problem: ably concentrate his vigilance at did not observe. The Sarkoy wore Ophiuchi, was a dim world of
where to land? One hundred and the Kindune space-port, which a modest suit of dark gray wnth steppes,swamps, black forests, mor-
eighty-three spaceports on twen- epaulettes embroidered asses. The Sarkoy lived in tall
served Sansontiana. with
wooden houses behind timber palis-
ty-two of the twenty-six worlds Nevertheless, for a series of in- opals; his companion, a thin
ades; not even the largest of the
were convenient to his lawful definite reasons, little more than sandy-haired man with dancing towns was secure from the attack of
use — as well as unlimited desert himches, Gersen decided to land white-gray eyes, wore a laborer’s bandits and nomads from the waste-
and wasteland, should he choose loose blue coverall. lands. By practice and tradition the
at the Grand Interplanetary
The two stopped a few feet Sarkoy were accomplished poisoners.
the quarantine laws. Space-port at Avente.
from Gersen, stood watching as
A Master Venefice reportedly could
How intensely did Grendel He approached Alphanor, kill a man merely by walking past
want Teehalt’s monitor? Would if in casual interest. Gersen, af-
coasted down into landing orbit. him.

48 GALAXY THE STAR KING 49

 iro’s eyes were soft dead olive- “Exactly. We met Beyond. At should have the monitor. I will detached the monitor. Gersen
drab, the nose snub and dark of Smade’s Tavern.” give Lugo Teehalt his monitor. counted the money, moved to the
nostril, the mouth wide, thick- “Indeed.” However it is perfectly legiti- side.The two dropped the moni-
lipped —
a face shaped by more “Yes. With certain others I mate for you to give me the tor into a bag, and without an-
than a thousand years of special- came to meet my friend Lugo money. Unless, of course, you other word departed.
^
ization and inbreeding. Teehalt. In the confusion and ex- distrust my honesty.” Gersen laughed quietly. This
Gersen could not detect the citement Lugo left Smade’s Plan- “By no means, since we do not was the monitor he had bought
“breath of death”: an accom- et in your space-ship. Surely you intend to put it to the test. We and installed at Euville, at a
plishment forced upon inden- are aware of this?” propose, in fact, to take the mon- cost of four hundred SVU. Tee-
tured assassins, which shortened Gersen laughed. “If Teehalt iter at this moment.” halt’s monitor was safe inside
their lives, gave the skin a yel- has either apologies or com- “I think not,” said Gersen. “I the ship.
lowish glaze and caused the hair plaints, I’m sure he will seek me plan to take possession of the Gersen returned into the ship,
to stiffen. Suthiro’s skin was un- out.” filament.” closed the ports. Time now was
toned pallid ivory. His hair was “Exactly,” said Suthiro. “Lu- “This is out of the question!” of the essence. Suthiro would re-
a glossy black pelt, and he wore go Teehalt sent me to make ad- said Suthiro gently. quire about ten minutes to com-
tattooed on his right cheek the justment. He begs forgiveness for “Try to stop me.” Gersen re- municate his success, either to
small Maltese cross of the Sar- his mistake, and wishes only turned to work, disengaged the Dasce or conceivably to Grendel
koy hetman. that I recover his monitor.” seals from the monitor housing. himself.Messages would then go
Gersen said, “My apologies. Gersen shook his head. “You Suthiro watched placidly. He out to various other space-ports
Scop Suthiro. I don’t remember can’thave it.” I
made a signal to the thin-faced of the Concourse, calling off the
the occasion you mention.” “No?” Suthiro moved closer. man who backed away and kept alert. Grendel would not receive
“Ah.” Suthiro’s eyes widened “Lugo offers a thousand SVU* lookout. “I could stop you so the monitor, if Gersen were in
at Gersen’s use of the honorific. to indemnify you for his mis- suddenly you’d become a marble luck, for several hours, perhaps
“You have visited Sarkovy. Dear take.” statue.” He looked over his not for days, depending upon his
green Sarkovy, its boundless “I accept with thanks. Give me shoulder to the thin-faced man, whereabouts. There would be an
steppes, its merry festivals!” the money.” who nodded. Suthiro exhibited additional delay while the decep-
“Merry, so long as the harikap “And the monitor?” a weapon he
carried in his hand. tion was discovered, and then
last. Then what will you tor- “I will return it when he “I can provide you a heart Grendel’s organization would
'
ture?” comes for it.” spasm, a brain hemorrhage, or once again be mobilized, the fo-
Suthiro, of a race inured to a convulsion of the small intes- cus now upon the Feritse Pre-
insult, took no offence. “We al-
'"T^he thin-faced man made an tine, whichever you prefer.” cision Instrument Company at
ways have each other. I see you
irritable clicking sound, but Gersen paused in his work. Sansontiana, on the planet of
know my planet well.” Suthiro grinned. “This is not ex- “Your arguments are impressive. Olliphane.
“Fairly well. Perhaps you re-
You will have
actly feasible. the Pay me five thousand SVU.” By this time Gersen hoped to
member me from Sarkovy.”
money, but we will not have the “I need pay you nothing. But be there and gone. Certainly he
“No,” said Suthiro wryly. here is the thousand I mention- would have no time to spare.
monitor.”
“Elsewhere and more recently.” “There is no reason why you ed.” He tossed Gersen a packet Without further delay he started
Gersen shook his head. “Im- of notes, motioned to the thin- the jets, rose into the blue Al-
possible. I have just come in *SVU Standard Value Unit of the
:
faced man who came forward, phanor sky and pointed the boat
from Beyond.” Oikumene. took Gersen’s tools and expertly toward Olliphane.
5U GALAXY THE STAR KING 51

From Popular Handbook of
the Planets;
Olliphane, nineteenth planet of
the Rigel Concourse.
Planetary Constants:
Diameter, 6700 miles
Mass, 0.9
etc.
General Remarks Olliphane
: er than natural foods are con-
is the most dense of the Rigel
planets, and orbits close at the
outer edge of the Habitable
Zone. It has been speculated that
when the proto-planet of the
Third Group disintegrated Olli-
phane received and unduly large
share of core materials. In any
event, until recent astronomic
times, Alliphone was subject to
intense plutonic activity, and
even today boasts ninety-two ac-
tive volcanoes.
Olliphane is highly mineral-
ized. An imposing relief pro-
vides vast hydro-electric poten-
tial, furnishing cheaper energy
than is possible from traditional
sources. A diligent, disciplined
population, utilizing these ad-
vantages, has made Olliphane
the most highly industrialized
world of the Concourse, rivaled
only by Tantamount, with its
shipyards, and Lyonnesse, with
its monumental Gnome Iron
Works.
52
r-
Olliphane is relatively cool
and wet, with the population
concentrated in the Equatorial
Zone, notably around the shores |
of Lake Clare. Here the visitor!
will find the ten largest cities
of the planet, led by Kindune,
Sansontiana and New Ossining.
Olliphane is likewise nutri-
tionally self-sufficient. Few oth-
sumed, of which per capita con-
sumption is highest in the Con-
course, third highest among maj-
or worlds of the Oikumene. The
alpine valleys surrounding the
lake are devoted to dairying and
the production of greenstuffs.
The Olphs are a mingled
stock, derived primarily from a
colony of Hyperborean Skakers.
They are typically blond to
brown of hair, large-boned, of,
ten inclined to corpulence, with
fair undyed skins. They are re-
spectful of orthodoxy, sedate in
personal lives, but notoriously
enthusiastic during the public
fetes and celebrations which
serve as emotional release to an
otherwise conventional and re-
serve folk.
A caste system, though with-
out legal status, permeates every
phase of the social structure
Prerogatives are carefully de-
fined, jealously observed; thf
language has expanded and loos-
GAUXl THE STAR KING 53
ened to provide at least a dozen
styles of address.
From A Study of Inter-Class
Accommodations, by Frerb
Hankbert, in Journal of the
Anthropicene, Vol. MCXIII:
It is a remarkable experience
for a visitor to watch a pair of
Olphs, strange to each other, ap-
praising each other for caste.
The operation requires no more
than an instant, and appears al-
most intuitive, for the persons
concerned may well be wearing
standard garments.
I have questioned many Olphs
in this matter, and can still make
no definite assertions. In the
first place most Olphs blandly
deny the existence of caste struc-
ture, and consider their society
completely egalitarian. In the
second place, the Olphs them-
selves are not quite sure how
they divine the caste of a stran-
ger. He either has more of the
quality known as haute than
oneself, or less.
I have theorized that rapid,
unconscious and almost unde-
tectable eye-movements are the
key to the assessment of haute,
with characteristic shifts or
steadiness
indicative of each
caste. Hands and hand motions
may play a similar function.
As might be expected high of-
ficials ofthe bureaucracy enjoy
the most exalted caste, and espe-
54
cially the Civic Tutelars, as the
Olphs name their police.
ersen landed at the
dune space-port and, with
Teehalt’s monitor in a suitcase,
boarded a subway for Sanson-
tiana. To the best of his knowl-
edge no one had heeded his ar-
rival, no one had followed him.
But now time was growing
short. At any moment Grendel
must realize he had been duped
and would seek to re-establish
contact. For the moment Gersen
considered himself safe; never-
theless, he performed a few
classic maneuvers to disengage
himself from stick-tight* or
tracker. Finding nothing to dis-
* Stick-tight — these come
in at least
least five varieties, suitable to var-
ious applications:
The servo-optical: a spy-cell sup-
ported on rotary wings, remotely
guided by an operator.
The automatic: a similar cell to
follow a radioactive or monochro-
matic tag fixed to, oi smeared upon,
man or vehicle.
The Culp spy-master: a semi-
intelligent flying creature trained to
follow any subject of interest; clever,
cooperative, reliable, but relatively
large and noticeable.
The Manx spy-bird a smaller, less
:
obtrusive creature, trained to per-
form similarly; less docile and intel-
ligent, more aggressive.
The Manx spy-bird modification:
similar to the above, equipped with
control devices.
GALAXY
concert him, he deposited the
monitor in a public locker, at
the subway interchange under
the Rapunzel Hotel, retaining
Kin-
only the brass serial plate. Then,
boarding an express car, he
was delivered in fifteen minutes
to Sansontiana eighty miles
south. He consulted a directory,
transferred to a local for the
Ferristoun District, and present-
ly was discharged into a station
only a few hundred yards from
the Feritse Precision Instrument
Company.
Ferristoun was a dismal dis-
trict of industrial structures,
warehouses, an occasional tav-
ern: these latter cheerful little
nooks, lavish with ornament,
colored glass and carved wood,
in emulation of the grand pleas-
ure arcades along the lakeshore.
The time was middle morn-
ing. Rain had darkened the black
cobblestone pavement. Six-
wheel drays lumbered along the
streets. The entire district sound-
ed to a subdued hum of engines.
As Gersen walked, a short sharp
bleat of whistle signaled a worlder, of unguessable caste,
change of shift, and the side-
walks at once became crowded
with workers. They were pale
people, blank and humorless of
face, wearing warm, well-made
coveralls in one of three colors,
gray, dark-blue or mustard yel-
low; a contrasting belt, either
black or white; black round-
THE STAR KING
topped kaftans. All were stan-
dard issue, the government be-
ing an elaborate syndicalism, as
thoroughgoing, careful and
humorless as its constituency.
Two further bleats of the
whistle sounded. As if by magic
the streets cleared, the workers
ducking into buildings like cock-
roaches exposed to the blinding
light.
A moment later Gersen came
to a stained concrete facade on
which large bronze letters read
FERITSE, and below, in the
hooked Olph script: Precision
instruments. A single small door
led into the building. Gersen en-
tered, to find himself in a long
dim hallway, a concrete tunnel,
which after a hundred feet
brought him to the administra-
tion offices. He went to stand at
a counter, and was approached
by an elderly woman of pleas-
ant appearance and manner. By
custom, she wore mascu-
local
line garments while at work: a
dark blue suit with a black belt.
Recognizing Gersen as an off-
she bowed with unctuous courte-
sy, and asked in a low reverent
voice: “How, sir, may we serve
you?”
Gersen tendered the brass
plate.
“I have lost the key to my
monitor, and I want to get a
duplicate made.”
55

T he woman blinked.
ner underwent an instant, if
Her man-
unconscious, change. She reach-
ed hesitantly for the plate, held
it between thumb and forefin-
ger as if it were tainted, looked
over her shoulder.
“Well?” asked Gersen in a
voice made suddenly harsh by
tension. “Is there any
culty?”
“There are new regulations,”
the woman muttered. “I have
had instructions to. I must con-
. .
sult Director- Controller Masen-
sen. Excuse me, sir.”
She went almost at a trot to
a side door, disappeared. Gersen
waited, the subconscious percep-
tors in his brain ticking and
prickling. He was more
nervous
than he cared to be. Nervous-
ness clouded the judgment, af-
fected the accuracy of observa-
tion.
The woman slowly returned to
the counter, looking to right and
left, evading Gersen’s eyes. “Just
a moment, sir. If you will wait.
There are records to be inspect-
ed isn’t this the way always?
When a person wishes haste. .”
“Where is the serial plate?”
asked Gersen.
“Director- Controller Masen-
sen has taken it into charge.”
“In that case. I’ll speak to Di-
rector-Controller Masensen
once.”
“I will inquire,” she said.
56
.
“Please don’t bother,” said
Gersen. Ignoring her startled
squeak of protest he let himself
through a swinging door, passed
ahead of her into the inner
chamber. A portly thick-faced
man in faddish Special Issue
blue and dove gray sat at a desk
talking into a telephone. He
diffi- looked at the brass serial plate
as he spoke. At the sight of Ger-
sen his eyebrows rose, his mouth
sagged in irritation and dismay.
Quickly he laid down the tele-
phone. There was an instant
while his eyes flicked up and
down Gersen’s clothes before he
shouted, “Who are you, sir? Why
do you come into my room?”
Gersen reached across the
desk, took possession of the se-
rial plate. “Who do you
phone in connection with
matter?”
Masensen became fiercely
haughty. “None of your concern,
whatsoever! Impudence! Here in
my office!”
. Gersen spoke in a soft
voice. “The Tutelars will
terested in your illegal actions.
. I am puzzled that you choose to
defy the law.”
Masensen back, in puff-
sat
cheeked alarm. The Tutelars, of
caste so elevated that the distinc-
tion between Masensen and his
at office-clerkwould seem insigni-
ficant, were not to be trifled
with. They were no respecters of
GALAXY
person they tended to believe
the accusation rather than the
protestation of innocence. They
wore uniforms of a sumptuous
thick pile which showed various
sheens according to the light:
plum, dark-green, gold. Not so
much arrogant as intensely seri-
ous, they conducted themselves
to the full implications of their
caste. On Olliphane penal tor-
ture was administered as a
cheaper, if not more effective,
deterrent than fines or imprison-
ment; the threat of a police ac-
cusation could therefore bring
consternation to the most inno-
cent.
Director-Controller Masensen
cried out, “I have never defied
the law! Do I refuse your re-
tele- quest? No, indeed!”
this “Then furnish my key imme-
diately, as the law requires.”
“Softly, then,” said Masensen.
“We can not go so fast. There
are records to inspect. Don’t for-
get, we have more important af-
even fairs than leaping to serve ever
be in- raggle-taggle vagabond of a lo-
cator who marches into our
room to insult us.”
Gersen stared into the round,
pale face, which gave back hos-
tility and defiance. “Very well,”
said Gersen. “I will go to com-
plain before the Board of Tute-
lars.”
“Now then, be reasonable!”
blurted Masensen in heavy af-
THE STAR KING
fability. “All things
at once.”
do not come
“Where is my key? Do you
stillplan to defy the law?”
“Naturally, no such thing is
possible. I will see to the matter.
Come, be patient. Take a chair
and compose yourself for just
these few minutes.”
“I do not care to wait.”
“Go then!” bellowed Masen-
sen. “I have done exactly as the
law requires!” His lips were
pushing in and out; his face was
pink with fury; he hammered
the desk with his fists. The clerk,
standing horrified in the door-
way, emitted a low wait of terror.
“Bring the Tutelars!” raged
Masensen. “I will accuse you of
molestation and threats! I will
see you whipped!”
Gersen turned, departed. He
passed through the outer office,
and out into the concrete tun-
nel. He paused, turned a quick
look behind him. The reception-
ist, fluttering in excitement, paid
him no heed. Gersen walked up
the hall, away from the entrance,
and presently came to an arched
opening, giving upon the pro-
duction chambers.
Standing to the side, incon-
spicuous in the shadow of a pi-
laster, Gersen made a carefxil
appraisal of the rooms, tracing
the various production lines.
Certain phases were under bio-
mechanical control, others were
57
performed by debtors, moral de- Gersen asked, “Would you “I will appreciate haste.” twists, conductivities and mag-
viants, vagrants or drunks, care to earn a hundred SVU — The clerk laughed. “From my netic nodes of the key.

leased by the dozen from the very quickly?” viewpoint the sooner you are Masensen rummaged through
city. They sat chained to their The clerk grimaced sadly. “Of gone, the better. I’ll have to look the files, extracted a card,

benches, guarded by an old war- course. Who must I kill?” through two sets of records. marched from the room. The
den, and worked with apathetic “My wants are less demand- We’re not too efficient here. clerk at once returned. The ma-
efficiency. The room supervisor ing,” said Gersen. He displayed Meanwhile keep to the back, out chinist tossed him the key; the

sat on an elevated platform, the brass plate. “Get me the key of sight.” He noted the serial clerk returned to the cubicle. He
which swung on a boom to any for this instrument, and fifty number, left the cubicle, disap- handed the key to Gersen, took

area of the room. SVU is yours.” He placed five peared behind a partition. five purple notes from the table.

Gersem located the process purple notes on the table. “Find Time passed. Gersen noticed “And the registration?” asked
where monitors were construct- out to whom the serial number that the back wall was paneled Gersen.
ed, identified the area where is registered — fifty SVU more.” with painted glass. Bending, he “I can’t help you. Masensen
locks were installed: an alcove He counted down the notes. put his eye to a scratch and ob- got to the files ahead of me, and
two hundred feet along the wall, clerk looked at the money,
The tained a blurred view of the removed the card.”
beside a cubicle where a clerical turned a speculative glance ov- room behind the partition.
worker, perhaps a time-keeper, er his shoulder, out across the The clerk stood at an old- ersen glumly considered
sat on a high chair. shop. “Why not go to the front fashioned filing case, flipping the key. His main purpose
He made a final survey of the office? The Director- Controller cards. He found the file, made had been to learn the registered
room. No one had showed the usually handles such things.” a set of notes. But now from a owner of the monitor. The key
slightest interest in him. The su- “I have irritated Director- side door Masensen lumbered in- of course was better than noth-
pervisor’s attention was turned Controller Masensen,” said Ger- to the room. The clerk closed ing. The record filament was
elsewhere. sen. “He makes difficulties, and the file, walked away. Masensen easier to hide than the monitor
I am in a hurry.” stopped short, fired a question itself.But time was short; he
T Te walked quickly along the “In other words. Director- at the clerk, who responded with dared delay no longer. “Keep
wall to the cubicle where controller Masensen would not an indifferent word or two. Ger- the other fifty,” he said. The
the clerk sat. The clerk was approve of my helping you.” sen paid silent tribute to his money, after all, had come from
a harassed, hollow-cheeked, “Which is why I offer you the sang-froid. Masensen glared af- Grendel. “Buy your children a
young-old man, with sardonic hundred SVU to perform an en- ter him, then wheeled and went present.”
black eyebrows, a wrinkled, sal- tirely legal errand for me.” to the files. The clerk shook his head. “I
low skin, a cynical hook of nose “Is it worth my job?” With one eye on Masensen’s accept pay only for what I

and curl of mouth: a man not
necessarily a pessimist, but ap-
parently one without optimism.
Gersen stepped to the back of
the cubicle where there were
shadows. The clerk looked
around in astonishment. “Well,
sir? What do you wish? This is
not permitted.”
“If I leave the back way no
one need know. And Masensen
will never know the difference.”
Theclerk considered. “Very
well,” he said. “I can do it. But
I’ll need another fifty SVU, for
the key-maker.”
Gersen shrugged, brought
forth an orange fifty SVU note.
burly back, the clerk bent over
the key-maker, whispered in his
ear, departed. Masensen looked
around suspiciously, but the
clerk had left the room.
The machinist dropped a key
blank into the machine, con-
sulted a paper, punched a set of
buttons, to control the notches,
achieve. I need no gift.”
“As you wish.” Gersen return-
ed the money to his pocket. “Tell
me how to leave.”
"You had better go the way
you came,” said the clerk. “If
you try to go out the back way,
you will be stopped by the pa-
trol.”

58 GALAXY THE STAR KING 59

 "Thank you,” said Gersen. good muscular leverage. His instantly, turned in mid-air, simultaneously bringing up his
‘You are not Olph?” head was small, almost hairless; pulled himself into a ball, used good leg. Gersen avoided the
“No. But I’ve lived here so his features were neat. The ears the momentum of his turn and arm-lock, seized the leg, pre-
long I’ve forgotten anything bet- were surgically cropped, the fall to wrench the foot harm- pared to break the other ankle.
ter.” nose flat, the area around the lessly from Gersen’s grasp. He Behind him there was an out-
Gersen looked cautiously from mouth thick with muscle. His ex- caught himself cat-like on hands cry and a flurry of movement.
the cubicle. The situation was pression was calm, with a serene, and feet, started to bounce away, Director- Controller Masensen,
as before. He slipped out, walked secret half-smile twisting up the but Gersen caught the back of face contorted, came running
quickly along the wall to the comers of his mouth. He seemed Tristano’s head, yanked Tris- awkwardly down the hall. Be-
arch, passed through into the reckless rather than vicious; a tano’s face down against his knee. hind him trotted two or three
concrete tunnel. Passing the man who would feel neither hate Cartilage cmshed, teeth broke. underlings. “Stop this!” cried
door which led into the adminis- nor pity, a man driven only by Tristano fell back, now star- Masenson. “What do you do
tration offices, he looked the need to fulfill the extremes tled.For an instant he sat laxly here, in this building?” He fair-
through, saw Masensen pacing of his capabilities. asprawl. Gersen caught Tris- ly spat in Gersen’s face, “You
back and forth, evidently in a A highly dangerous man, tano’s leg and ankle in a lock, are a devil, a crinriinal of the
vicious mood. Gersen stepped thought Gersen. He said quietly, threw over his weight, and felt worst sort! You insult me, you
past, hurried down the hall to- “Stand aside.” the bone snap. Tristano sucked attack my customer! I will have
ward the outside door. Tristano extended his left in his breath. Snatching for his the Tutelars attend to you!”
But now this door opened. A hand almost affably. “Whatever knife,he left his throat exposed; “By all means,” said Gersen.
man entered, his features dark your name is, be wise. Come with Gersen hacked backhand at the “Call the Tutelars.”
against the outside light. Gersen me.” Flicking and weaving the larynx. Tristano’s throat was Masensen raised his eyeborws.
continued forward briskly, con- extended hand he leaned for- well-muscled, and he retained “What? You have this inso-
fidently, as if his business were ward. Gersen watched Tristano’s consciousness, to fall back, fee- lence, too?”
the most legitimate in the world. eyes, ignoring the distracting bly waving his knife. Gersen “No insolence is intended,”
The man approached; their lefthand. When the right hand kicked it away, edged forward said Gersen. “A good citizen as-
eyes The
met. newcomer darted forth he knocked it aside, carefully, for Tristano might be sists the police in apprehending
stopped. It was Tristano the drove his fist into Tristano’s equipped with one or a dozen criminals.”
Earthman. face. secret built-in weapons. “What do you mean!”
“Luck!” declared Tristano in “Leave me be,” croaked Tris- “There is a certain name
a voice of hushed pleasure. '^ristano reeled back, as if in tano. “Leave me be, go your which I need speak only once
“Luck indeed.” desperate pain, and Gersen way.” He dragged himself to the to the Tutelars. I need only hint
Gersen made no reply. Slowly, pretended to be deceived. He wall. that you and this person are in
carefully, he sought to sidle past. mshed forward, arm cocked Gersen cautiously reached collusion. For proof? This
Tristano took a step, blocked his back to administer another blow, forth, giving Tristano the option
—
man ” he looked down at the
way. Gersen halted, appraised then halted abruptly as with in- to Tristano refused;
counter. half-smiling, half-dazed Tris-
him. Tristano was shorter than credible agility Tristano swung Gersen made contact with the tano —
“do you know him?”
himself by an inch, but thick in up his leg: a kick intended to massive shoulders, gripped. Tris- “No. Of course I do not know
the neck and shoulders, flat but cripple or kill. As the foot swung tano suffered this. The two him.”
rather wide at the hip: an at- by, Gersen seized toe and heel, stared eye to eye. Tristano made “But you identified him as a
tribute indicating agility and twisted hard. Tristano, relaxing a sudden grab for an arm-lock, customer?”
60 GALAXY THE STAR KING 61
 “So I thought him.’' “I saw nothing. I stood with
“You are in serious difficulties. “The Tutelars will ask the
“He is a notorious murderer.” you, by the door.”
I came here on a legal errand; same question, as well as many
“Wrong, my agile friend,” “But the three of you came
you telephone for a murderer, others.”
croaked Tristano. “No murderer together to Smade’s.”
who attacks me. This conduct no Masensen looked in anguish to
I.” Tristano made no response.
one should ignore.” up at the ceiling. “A
right, left,
“Lugo Teehalt is not alive to Gersen leaned forward, perform-
man,” he said, “at the Grand
ed a quick viscious act. Masensen
contradict you.”
made an inarticulate sound,
TV T asensen licked his lips. Pomador Hotel. His name —
iVJ. “You making false
are Spock.”
T essayed a grimace
ristano
of outraged innocence. “We
stumbled away, then halted as
if caught by a wire and slowly
turned once more to stare. Tris-
charges. I will
particulars.” It
add this to my
was a poor ef-
“I know
“You are Isdng.
better,” said Gersen.
I give you one
spoke, you and I, while the old
fort. Gersen laughted. He went to more chance. Who did you
man died.” tano looked numbly at his dan-
Tristano, turned him over on his call?”
“In this case, neighbor Dasce gling hand.
face, pulled the jacket down the Masensen shook his head
nor the Sarkoy killed Teehalt. “Who killed Teehalt?” broad back to constrict the amfs, desperately. “I do not lie.”
Who came with you to Smade’s Tristano shook his head. “I
tied it in place with Tristano’s “Have you seen the man?”
Planet?” will say no more. I would rather
sash. With his broken ankle Tris- “Yes. He is tall. He has short
“We came alone.” limp and squint than die of the
tano was now immobilized. pink hair, a long big head and
“I find this hard to believe. Sarkoy’s cluthe.”
Gersen stepped down the hall, no neck. His face is a peculiar
Hildemar Dasce told Teehalt can infect you with cluthe.”
“I
motioned to Masensen. “Let us red color, and he wears dark
no more.”
that Grendel awaited him out-
side.”
“I will say
Gersen leaned forward, but
go to your office.” spectacles, and a nose-guard —
Gersen led the way, with Mas- very unusual. He has no more
Tristano’s response was a faint Masensen uttered a short quav-
ensen stumping reluctantly be- feeling than a fish.”
shrug. ering cry. “This is intolerable!
hind; once in the office Masen- Gersen nodded. Masensen was
Gersen stood looking down at I will not allow it! Must you
sen sank into his chair. telling the truth. This would be
him. “I respect the Tutelars and give me nightmares? I do not
“Now then,” said Gersen. Hildemar Dasce.
their scourges. I dare not kill sleep well.”
Gersen examined him without
“Call the Tutelars.” He turned. “Now then, this is
you. But I can break more bones,
Masensen shook his head. “It most important. I wish to know
friendliness. “You would do well
and you will walk sideways like
a crab. I can spread apart your not to interfere.”
— better to make no diffi-
it is to whom the monitor is regis-
culties. The Tutelars are some- tered.”
eyes, and you will look in two “I will call in the Tutelars.
times unreasonable.” Masensen started to shake his
different directions the rest of Your acts are grossly illegal, you
“In that case you must tell me head, then gave a fatalistic shrug
your life.” have broken laws of the state.”
what I want to know.” and rose to his feet. “I will go
The lines bracketing Tris- Gersen laughed. “Call the Tu-
Masensen bowed his head. for the record.”
tano’s mouth became deep and telars. We will learn who has
“Ask.” “No,” said Gersen. “We will
melancholy. He slumped heavi- broken laws and who will be
“Who did you telephone when go together. And if we cannot
ly back against the wall, disin- punished.”
I appeared?” find the record, I swear to you, I
terested, sodden with pain. He Masensen rubbed his pallid
Masensen showed extreme agi- will lodge the strongest possible
mumbled, “And when is killing cheeks.“Go then. Never return,
tation. “I cannot tell you,” he charges.”
beyond the Pale called murder?” and I will say no more.”
said huskily. “Do you insist that Masensen rubbed his fore-
“Who killed Teehalt?” “Not so fast,” said Gersen.
be killed?”
I head wearily. “I remember now.
62 GALAXY
THE STAR KING 63
The record is here.” He brought
forth a card from his desk. “Sea
Province University, Avente, Al-
phanor. Beneficial Grant 291.”
“No name?”
“No. And there is no value to
you in the key. The University
uses a coder in each of its moni-
tors. Wehave sold them several.”
“Indeed.” The use of a coder,
to thwart the double-dealing of
an unscrupulous locator,
common enough.
M asensen’s voice
heavily ironic.
versity has evidently sold
became
“The Uni-
coded monitor without the de-
scrambling strip. If I were you
I would complain to the Avente
authorities.”
Gersen considered the implica-
tions of the information.
were far-reaching indeed,
certain condition was met.
“Why did you telephone the
man Spock? Did he offer you
money?”
Masensen nodded miserably.
“Money. And —
he made threats.
An indiscretion of my
He made a vague gesture.
“Tell me, did Spock realize
that the monitor was coded?”
“Certainly. I mentioned this
to him, but he was already aware
of it.”
Gersen nodded. The condition
had been met. Grendel must nec-
essarily have access to the de-
64
scrambling strip at the Sea Prov-
ince University.
He reflected a moment. Infor-
matio» was accumulating. Gren-
del himself had killed Teehalt,
if Hildemar Dasce were to be be-
lieved. Tristano indirectly had
verified this. He had conveyed
more information than he
meant. He had also confused the
situation.If Dasce, the Sarkoy
was poisoner and Tristano had come
together, with no fourth person,
how was the presence of Grendel
you a
to be explained? Had he arrived
simultaneously in another ship?
Possible, but unlikely. . . Masen-
sen was staring at him anxiously,
miserably. “I’m going now,” said
Gersen. “Do you plan to tell this
Spock that I was here?”
Masensen nodded, all his blus-
They ter departed. “I must.”
if one “But you will wait one hour.”
Mansensen made no protest.
He might or might not respect
Gersen’s wishes. Most likely not.
But there was no help for this.
Gersen turned and departed the
office, leaving Masensen utterly
past
— deflated.
Walking down the Ger-
hall,
sen overtook Tristano who some-
how had managed to squirm and
writhe himself erect. Now he
hopped down the hall, one foot
dragging at a queer angle. He
looked over his shoulder at Ger-
sen, still wearing the quiet half-
smile, though the muscles
GALAXY
around his mouth were tight. the possibility of police inter-
Gersen stopped to consider the ference. So, contenting himself
man. It would be wise and de- with a polite nod and stepping
sirable to kill him, except for past Tristano, he went his way.
VI
Preface to Men of the Oiku- But, in general, ambition is
mene, by Jan Holberk Vaenz turned inward, rather than out
LXII toward the obvious goals. Why?
Does infinity, as an object of ex-
There is a stifling quality to perience instead of a mathemati-
hisage which has been observed, cal abstraction, daunt the hu-
remarked and lamented by a man mind? Are we complacent
number of the contemporary an-
thropologists: a curious
dox, for never before have such
para-
and secure, knowing that the
riches of the galaxy are always
there for the taking? Is contem-
variegated opportunities and porary life already sated by too
possible channels of life existed. rich a diet of novelty? Is it con-
The most important fact of hu- ceivable that the Institute wields
man the infinity of space:
life is more control over the human
the bounds which can never be psyche than we suspect? Or is
reached, the worlds without there current a feeling of frus-
number still unseen. In short, tration and staleness, the con-
the Beyond. It is my belief that viction that all glory has been
the awareness of these awesome won, that all the meaningful
possibilities have somehow goals have been achieved?
clotted at the core of human con- Undoubtedly there is no single
sciousness, and have diminished answer. But several points are
or dampened human enterprise. noteworthy. First (to be men-
An instant qualification is tioned without comment) is the
necessary. Men of enterprise in- peculiar situation where the
deed exist, though sadly enough most influential and effective
most of them work Beyond, and systems of the day are the pri-
their enterprise is not entirely vate, or at best semi-public, as-
constructive. (The statement is sociations: the IPCC, the Insti-
not completely ironical: many tute, theJamell Corporation.
of themost noxious forms of life Second is the decline of the
exert some sort of useful side- general level of education. The
effect.) extremes are certainly farther
THE STAR KING 65
apart; the savants of the Insti- cation, administration and coer- course arch and consciously demanding a particular gratifi-
tute on the one hand, and, say, cion, not to mention the morass quaint. Our senses are undoubt- cation.

the serfs of a Tertullian estate of psychology already trampled edly much more acute than we
on the other. If we consider the by generations of incompetents, suspect. The composition of the ^ersen returned to the sub-
condition of men beyond the and the still unexplored wilder- air, the color of the light and way terminal at Sanson-
Pale, the polarity is even more ness of psionics. the sky, the curvature and proxi- tiana. He recovered the monitor
pronounced. There are obvious There are also those who, like mity of the horizon, the tension and immediately made a trial of
sources to the decline. Pioneers the author, ensconce themselves of gravity: these are presumably the key. To his gratification the
settling in strange and often hos- on a thunderous crag of omni- interpreted in our brains to pro- lock moved smoothly. The case
tile environments have sheer science and, with protestations duce an individuality, exactly as slid open.
survival for their first concern. of humility which are either un- the sight of eyes, a nose, hair, a There was neither explosive
Possibly even more daunting is convincing or totally absent, as- mouth, ears, creates the look of nor acid present. He extracted
the unmanageable mass of ac- sume the obligation of appraisal, a face. the little cylinder containing the
cumulated knowledge. The trend commendation, derogation or All of this without mention of filament and weighed it in his
toward specialization began with denunciation of their contempo- flora and fauna, the artifices of hand. Then he stepped into a
modem times, but after the raries. Still, by and large it is autochthone or man, the possi- post-office booth and mailed the
break-out into space, and the an easier job than digging a bly distinctive look of sun or cylinder to himself, at the Hotel
consequent new amplitude of in- ditch. suns. . Credenza, Avente, Alphanor. He
formation, specialization has be- rode the subway back to Kin-
come even more narrowly fo- From Ten Explorers: A Study From Life, Volume III, by dune and the space-port, and
of a Type, by Oscar Anderson Unspiek, Baron Bodissey with no untoward incident took
cused.
It is perhaps pertinent to con- Every world has its distinctive
As a society matures the strug- his ship aloft.

sider the manner of man who psychic aroma: this is a matter gle for survival imperceptibly The blue crescent of Alphanor
new specialist. attested to by each of the ten graduates and changes emphasis, presently bulged across the sky,
has become the
explorers. Isack Canaday is will-
and becomes what can only be with Rigel dazzling beyond.
He lives in a materialistic age,
where comparatively small in- ing to wager that if blindfolded
termed the quest for pleasure. When the seven continents be-
He This is a large statement, possi- gan to -emerge from the dark,
terest is given to absolutes. and taken to any planet of the
bly of no startling novelty. Nev- Gersen engaged his auto-pilot in-
is a man of charm, wit, sophisti- Oikumene or the immediate Be-
cation, but no profundity. His yond, he will correctly identify
ertheless, as a generality, it af- to the Avente landing program,

ideals are not abstract. His field this planet immediately upon re-
fords a rich resonance of impli- and so was guided down to the
cations. The author suggests as The crane
of endeavor, if he is a scholar, moval of the blindfold. How space-port. lifted the
a lively topic for a dissertation boat, carried to a storage bay.
may be mathematics or one of does he perform such a feat? At it
a survey of various environment- Gersen emerged and made a
the physical sciences: but a hun- first glance it seems incompre-
survival situations and the spe- cautious reconnaissance.
dred times more likely will be hensible. Canaday himself pro-
cial types of pleasure-goals de- Finding no evidence of his en-
a phase of what loosely are fesses not to know the source of
called humanistic studies: his- his knowledge. “I just raise my
riving therefrom. It seems prob- emies, he proceeded down the
able, from a moment’s reflection, ranks of stored space-craft to the
tory, comparatives,
sociology, nose, I Ipok around the sky, I
symbology, esthetics, anthropol- take a couple jumps and it— that every particular scarcity or
compulsion or danger generates
terminal building. Here he
ogy, the varieties of experience, comes to me.” breakfasted and considered his
a corresponding psychic tension plans. They were, he decided,
penology, education, communi- Canaday’s explanation is of
THE STAR KING 67
66 GALAXY

completely straightforward, de-
riving from a progression of log-
ical steps in which he could see
no flaw:
a. Lugo Teehalt’s monitor was
registered to the Sea Prov-
b.
ince University.
The information on the
monitor filament was
coded, accessible only upon
application of the decod-
ing, or descrambling, strip.
c. The decoding strip
possession of the Sea Prov-
ince University at Avente.
d.
1. According to Lugo Tee-
halt, Grendel had been
his sponsor. (A
original
fact he had apparently
understood for the
time at Brinktown.
discretionsby Hildemar
Dasce? Everything con-
sidered, Grendel prob-
ably still regarded
incognito secure.)
2. Grendel vigorously sought
possession of the monitor
and its filament, and hence
must have access to the de-
coding strip.
f. Gersen’s course of action
would therefore be:
1. Identify the persons who
had access to the decod-
ing strip.
2. Learn which of these ful-
filled a set of conditions
68
. :
consistent with the iden- shavings with dead-white skin- diculous doubly ridicu-
again,
tity and activities of toning; an elaborate cloche of lous. What would he say? He
Grendel. Which, for ex- silver leaves and tendrils clung pictured the two pretty faces at
ample, had been gone to her forehead and clasped her first puzzled, then embarrassed,
long enough for a visit cheeks. while he stood making lame ef-
to Smade’s Planet? Gersen drew a deep breath. forts to ingratiate himself. The
. .
Undoubtedly he had lived a girlswere gone.
str.ightforward and logi- grim cheerless existence. Think- Just as well, tliought Gersen,
A al line cf attack indeed. ing back across the years, scenes
came crowding into his mind,
half-amused,
himself.
half-angry
why
with
But, Gersen reflected, the im- Still, deceive him-
all of which were variations on self? Living the life of half a
plementation of his logic might
not be quite so easy. He dare a single theme: other children man was difficult, a source of
not arouse Grendel’s apprehen- occupied with irresponsible dissatisfaction. The
circum-
To pleasure, while he, a rather thin stances of his life had given him
was in sions. a certain extent, pos-
session of Teehalt’s filament boy with a grave face, watched small command of the social
provided security. However, if from a distance. He had felt only graces. Still, what of that? He
Grendel felt a personal threat, interest and wonder at the easy knew his mission in life, and he
and no qualms in arranging an gaiety — so he recalled —
never was superbly prepared to fulfill
To moment, relating the scenes to himself. this mission. He had no doubts,
assassination. this
Grendel had no reason to fear His grandfather had seen to that. no uncertainties; his goals were
exposure, and it would be fool- One of the girls at the nearby exactly defined.
first hardy to convince him other- booth had noticed his attention; A sudden idea disturbed the
In- wise. The initiative, for the pres- she whispered to her friend. flow of his self-reassurances
ent, was his; there was no occa-
Both glanced across the aisle, where would he be without this
sion for break-neck haste. then ostentatiously ignored him. clear purpose? If he were less
His attention became distract- Gersen smiled ruefully. He felt artificially motivated, he might
his ed. In a booth nearby sat a pair no confidence in his dealings not show so well in comparison
of pretty girls who evidently had with women; he had known few with the easy men around him,
welcome intimately. He frowned, turned with their pleasant manners and
come to the terminal to
a friend, or to see one off. Ger- the two a wary side-glance. Not fluent talk.
sen contemplated them wistfully, impossibly Grendel had sent
aware, not for the first time, of these girls to beguile him. . . Ri- '"T^urning the thought over,
an empty area in his life. Fri- diculous. Why two? back and forth, Gersen be-
volity. .
Theyrose and departed the gan to feel spiritually deficient.
The two girls evidently had restaurant, each turning him one No phase to his life had occurred
very little else on their minds. swift covert glance. by his own free choice. He felt
One had dyed her hair forest Gersen watched their retreat, no slightesttremor in his dedi-
green and toned her skin a deli- resisting thesudden urge to run cation : was not the point
this
after them, to introduce himself, at issue. But, he thought, a man’s
cate lettuce green. The other
wore a wig of lavender metal to make them his friends. . . Ri- goals should not be imposed up-
GALAXV THE STAR KING 69
on him until he knew enough
the world to make his own sur-
vey, to weigh his own decisions.
He had not been given this
option. The decision had been
made, he had accepted it. Af-
ter all, what matter? More to
the point, what would he do
when and if he succeeded in his
aims?
The chances were
course. But — assuming
death of five men — what
would he do with his life? Once
or twice before he had reached
this point in his
Warned by some subconscious
signal, he had never gone beyond
it. Nor did he do so now.
His breakfast was finished;
the girls, who had prompted
him to his brooding, had taken
themselves off. Evidently they
were not agents of Grendel the
Monster.
Gersen sat a few minutes long-
er considering the best approach
to his problem, and again de-
cided upon simple directness.
He went to a communication
booth and was connected to the
Information Bureau at the Sea
Province University in the sub-
urb of Remo, ten miles south.
The
telescreen flickered first
with the university seal, then a
conventional reception presen-
tation, with the words
printed
Please speak clearly. Simulta-
neously a recorded voice asked.
70
of “How may we serve you?” the fund which finances our ex- who is Chairman of the Research
Gersen spoke to the still un- ploration program.” Planning Committee. And Mr.
seen receptionist. “I want infor- “I’m particularly interested in Warweave, the Honorary Pro-
mation regarding tlie universi- a locater named Lugo Teehalt, vost, who made the donation for
ty’s exploration program. Which who worked under the grant.” Grant 291. Mr. Kelle is gone for
. . department is directly concern- She shook her head. “I the morning: his daughter is
ed?” wouldn’t know anything about marrying tomorrow and he’s very
The screen clarified through him. Mr. Detteras could tell you, busy.”
a decorative cross-hatching, to but he’s not available for ap- “What about Mr. Warweave?
show the gold-toned face of a pointments today.” Can I see him?”
small, of young woman with blonde hair “Mr. Detteras hires the loca- —
“Well ” The girl pursed her
the inflamboyant puffs at each ear. ters?” lips, bent her head over an ap-
then “That depends on the type of pointment panel. “He’s busy un-
exploration.”
“It would be connected with
Beneficial Grant 291.”
T he girl twisted her eyebrows,
squinted; she had a mobile
expression, a wide mouth with
til three, and then he keeps an
open hour, for students or per-
sons without appointments.”
reflections.
“Just a moment, sir, and I’ll a merry upward twitch at the “That would suit me very
inquire.” The scene retreated corners. Gersen watched her in well.”
behind the cross-hatching. fascination. “I don’t know too “If you’d care to leave your
Presently the girl’s face reap- much about things like that, sir. name,” said the girl demurely,
peared. “I’ll connect you with We have our part in the Master “I’ll put it head of the
at the
the Department of Galactic Mor- Exploration Program, of course. list. Then you won’t have to wait,
phology, sir.” That’s not under Grant 291, in case there are lots of others.”
Gersen looked another
into though. Mr. Detteras is Director Gersen was startled by her
pale receptionist face. This of Exploration; he could tell solicitude. He searched her face,
young woman had an arch pi- you whatever you wanted to and was further surprised to
quant face toned nacreous silver, know.” find her smiling at him. “That’s
and wore her hair in a dark “Is there anyone else in the de- very kind of you,” he said. “My
nimbus of ten thousand tiny partment who might sponsor a name is Kirth Gersen.”
varnished spikes. “Galactic locater on Grant 291?” He watched her write. She
Morph.” The girl looked speculatively seemed in no hurry to terminate
“I want to inquire about Bene- sidewise at Gersen, wondering as the conversation. He asked,
ficialGrant 291,” said Gersen. to the nature of his interest. “What does an Honorary Pro-
The girl considered a moment. “Are you a police official?” she vost do?”
“You mean the grant itself, sir?” asked timidly. She shrugged. “I don’t know,
“The grant, how it operates, Gersen laughed. “No. I’m a really. He comes and goes. I
who administers it.” friend of Mr. Teehalt’s, trying think he does just what he wants.
The arch young face pursed to finish up some business for Anyone who is rich does just
its mouth dubiously. “There’s him.” what he wants. Wait till I’m
not much I can tell you, sir. It’s “Oh. Well, there’s Mr. Kelle, richl”
GALAXY THE STAR KING 71
 “One more thing,” Gersen
“Are you familiar with the
said.
routine of the department?”
“Why, yes, I should say so.”
The girl laughed. “Insofar
a routine.”
there is
“The recording filament of
the monitor in a locater boat is
You’re aware of this?”
coded.
“So I have been told.” The girl
was definitely speaking to Ger-
sen as an individual, rather than
a face on a screen. Gersen
thought her deliciously pretty,
in spite of her rather extrava-
Definitely he
grant hair style.
had been in space too long. He
kept his voice even with an ef-
fort. “Who unscrambles the fila-
ments? Who is in charge of the
code?”
Again the girl was doubtful.
“Mr. Detteras for one. Perhaps
Mr. Kelle.”
“Can you find out definitely?”
T he girl hesitated, examining
Gersen’s face. It was always
wise to refuse to answer ques-
tions whose motives she could
not fathom. Still —
where could
be the harm? The man who in-
quired seemed interesting. Wist-
ful and sad, she thought, and a
trifle mysterious and defi-
. . . me.”
nitely not unattractive, after a
plain hard-bitten fashion. “I can
ask Mr. Detteras’ secretary,” she
said brightly. “Will you wait?”
The screen dimmed, and a
72
minute or two later brightened
again. The girl smiled back at
Gersen. “I was right. Mr. Det-
teras, and Mr. Keller and Mr.
as Warweave —
these are the only
people who have access to the
decoding strip.”
“I see. Mr. Detteras is
of Exploration, Mr. Kelle is
Chairman of the Research Plan-
ning Committee, and Mr. War-
weave is —
what?”
“Honorary Provost. They gave
him the title when he endowed
the department with Grant 291.
He’s a very wealthy man, and
very interested in space explora-
tion. He frequently goes Beyond.
Have you ever been Beyond?”
“I’ve just returned.”
She leaned forward, her face
alive with interest. “Is
as wild and dangerous as every-
one says?”
Gersen threw caution to the
winds, with a bravado that star-
tled even himself. “Come out
with me and see for yourself.”
The girl did not appear un-
duly perturbed. But she shook
her head. “I’d be alarmed. I’ve
been taught never to trust
strange men from the Beyond.
You might be a slaver and sell
“Such things have happened,”
said Gersen. “You’re probably
safer where you are.”
“Still,” she said coquettishly,
“who wants to be safe?”
Gersen hesitated, started to
speak, stopped short. The girl
watched him with an expression
of bland innocence. Well, why
not? Gersen asked himself. His
grandfather had been old and
parched. “In that case
. . if
Director you’re willing to risk it
haps you’d spend the evening
with me.”
“For what purpose?” The girl
was suddenly demure. “Slavery?”
“No. Just —
the usual. What
ever you’d like to do.”
“This is very abrupt. After all,
I haven’t even seen you face to
face.”
“Yes, you’re right,” said Ger-
sen, abashed. “I’m not very gal-
lant.”
“And still, what could be the
it really harm? I’m impulsive myself, or
so I’vebeen told.”
“I suppose it depends on cir-
cumstances.’
“You’re just in from Beyond,”
the girl said magnanimously. “So
I guess you can be excused.”
“Then you’ll do it?”
She pretended to consider.
“Very well.I’ll take a chance.
Where will I meet you?”
“I’ll be out at three o’clock to
see Mr. Warweave. We can make
arrangements then.”
“I’m off duty at four. You’re
sure you’re not a slaver?”
“I’m not even a pirate.”
“Rather an unenterprising sort,
I’d say. But I’m just as pleased.
GALAXY THE STAR KING
until I know you a little better."
A wide sandy beach extend-
ed a hundred miles south
of Avente, around the entire
concavity of Ard Hook. As far
— as Remo, and a few miles be-
— per- yond, villas built of glaring
white coquina lined the crest of
the sandy bluffs which overlook-
ed the ocean.
Gersen hired a small surface-
slider and skidded south over the
broad white turnpike, the in-
evitable dust puffing up behind
him. For a space the road fol-
lowed the shore. Sand dazzled
under the brilliant Rigel-light;
blue water under a collar of
white foam sparkled and rolled
calmly up and down the sand,
creating a sound invariable on
every other world in every other
galaxy where surf meets shore.
The road presently climbed the
bluffs. To the left spread sand-
dunes overgrown with black and
purple iron-bush, punctuated by
tall white balloon-flower, the in-
flated pod floating at the end
of a long stem. Other white villas
looked forth from groves of cool
green deodars, native feather-
tree, hybrid palm.
Ahead the ground rose, the
sandy bluffs became a range of
low hills, presenting a steep face
to the ocean. Remo occupied the
flat land at the foot of one of
these hills. A pair of piers termi-
73
 ” ” ”

high-domed casinos A t a desk a girl looked up, “His offices are down cess to the decoder; one of the
nating in
reached forth to create a harbor with an uncertainty Ger- corridor.And Mr. Gersen — that three must be Grendel. So then:
filled with small boats. The uni- sen identified as equivalent to Gersen looked down into the which? Warweave, Detteras or
versity occupied the crest of the his own. She was smaller and upturned face. “Yes?” Kelle?
hill, a series of low flat-roofed more slender than he had “Today I told you something Conjecture without facts was
structures connected by arcades. thought her to be, but by no which it seems I shouldn’t have. useless; he must deal with events
Gersen arrived at the campus means less appealing. “Mr. Ger- About the code. It’s supposed to as they occurred. He stepped for-
parking-area, lowered the slide- sen?” be secret. Would you please not ward. The door slipped aside,
car and alighted. A slideway Gersen put on what he hoped mention it to Mr. Warweave? quick as a camera shutter; the
took him through a commemora- was a reassuring mile. “It oc- I’d get in trouble.” identificator broke into individ-
tive arch into a wide mall, where curs to me that I don’t know “I’ll say nothing about it.” ual letters which scattered like
he inquired directions from a your name.” “Thank you.” frightened fish, to regroup after
student. She relaxed a trifle. “Pallis He went off down the corridor he had passed.
“The College of Galactic Mor- Atwrode.” she had indicated. The floor was
phology? Into the next quad, “That takes care of the formal- resilient black and gray tesserae; n the outer office a tall
sir; at the far corner.” ities,” said Gersen. “I hope that the walls and ceiling were plas- I thin, middle-aged woman
Ruefully pondering the re- our arrangement is still work- tered white, devoid of decora- with keen, unsympathic gray
spectful “sir” from a man no ing?” tion or relief except for the eyes stood listening to an ob-
more than seven years his junior, She nodded. “Unless you’ve various doors and identificators viously unhappy young man,
Gersen walked to the end of the changed your mind.” — these in various muted tones shaking her head slowly as he
mall, threading a many-voiced, “No.” of maroon, mauve, dark green, spoke.
many-costumed multitude of stu- “I act far bolder than I ac- indigo. “I’m sorry,” she said finally,
dents. He crossed the quadrangle tually am,” said Pallis Atwrode. Three doors along the corri- in a clear brittle voice. “These
and approached the building at She gave an embarrassed laugh. dor Gersen came upon
a free- arrangements are all made on a
the far corner. At the portal he “I’ve simply decided to ignore floating identificator of lumi- formal basis of student achieve-
paused, aware of an emotion my upbringing. My
mother is a nous blue letters, which read: ment. I can’t allow you to bother
strangely like diffidence, or shy- blue-stocking. Perhaps it’s time GYLE WARWEAVE, and be- the provost with your com-
ness, which had gradually been I began to overcompensate.” low: PROVOST. plaints.”
asserting itself during the entire “You begin to alarm me,” said Hepaused, struck by the in- “What is he there for, then?”
trip out to the university. He Gersen. “I’m not very bold ei- congruity of Grendel the Mon- shouted the young man. “He has
jeered at himself. Was he a ther, and if I have to cope with ster in such surroundings. Was open why
schoolboy, that the prospect of overcompensation — there a break in his chain of
office hours,
listen to my
can’t
side of the story?”
he

an evening with a strange girl “Not really formidable over- reasoning? The monitor was The woman shook her head.
should give him tremors? And compensation. won’t become
more remarkable, the emotion
I

intoxicated, or pick a fight, or

seemed to take precedence over
the basic goal of his existence!
He shrugged, irritated and
amused together, then entered
the foyer.
— coded, registered to the univer-
sity. Hildemar Dasce, Grendel’s
“I’m sorry.” She turned away.
“Are you Mr. Gersen?” she
She stopped. lieutenant, had sought possession asked.
“Or?” of the filament, which was use- Gersen came forward.
“Oh — just ‘or’.” less without the decoder. Gyle “Mr. Warweave is expecting
Gersen looked at his watch. Warweave, Detteras and Kelle you; please go through that
“I’d better see Mr. Warweave.” were the three men who had ac- door.”

74 GALAXY THE STAR KING 75

 Gersen went as directed. Gyle tion to theman behind the desk. listen without troubling about cenes, sinister old men in Insti-
Warweave, sitting at a desk rose Gyle Warweave hardly con- them.” tute black, decadent aristo-
to his feet as Gersen entered: a formed to Gersen’s picture of the Warweave nodded. “Rather crats .”
. .

tall handsome man, strong and fit typical university administrator. difficult, but I’ll try.” “I claim no particular niche,”
looking, of an age not immedi- This of course would well be “First of all, are you acquaint- said Gersen. “Incidentally, you
ately obvious —
perhaps ten or true, thought Gersen, if War-
ed with Mr. Lugo Teehalt?” puzzle me no less than I puzzle
fifteen years older than Gersen. weave were Grendel. Contradict- “No, I am not.” The answer you.”
His hair was a cushion of black ing the evidence of his conserva- was immediate and decisive. Warweave put on an expres-
curls shaped close to his skull, tive skin-dye, Warweave wore a “May I ask who has the re- sion of rueful whimsy. “Very
his skin-dye a conservative pale rich brightblue suit with a sponsibilityfor the university’s well, Mr. Gersen. You were ask-
umber. His face was emphatical- white sash, white leather greaves, space exploration program?” ing about our policy in connec-
ly marked; the eyes narrow, pale blue sandals; garments Warweave considered. “Do tion with locaters. First of all,
deep-set, black and brooding; which might be affected by a you refer to major expeditions, we cooperate with a number of
the nose and chin harsh. He sa- young buck of Sailmaker Beach shotgun surveys, or what?” other institutions in the Master
luted Gersen with a measured district, north of Avente. . Ger-
.
“Whatever program makes use Space Exploration Program.
courtesy. sen groped at an elusive famil- of locators in leased boats.” Secondly, there is a small fund
“Mr. Gersen, sit down, if you iarity, a tantalizing wisp of re- “Hm,” He
said Warweave. which may be drawn upon to
will. I’m glad to make your ac- collection, which fled complete- turned a quizzical look toward expedite some special project.”
quaintance.” ly from view. Gersen. “By any chance, are you “That is Beneficial Grant
“Thank you.” Gersen looked Warweave inspected Gersen a locator in search of a post? 291?”
about him. The room was larger with a similar frank curiosity, If so—” Warweave inclined his head in
than the usual office. The desk in which there was a trace of Gersen smiled politely. “No, curt assent.
occupied an unconventional pos- condescension. I’m not after a job.” “Very odd,” said Gersen.
ition by the left of the door, with Gersen definitely was no dan- Warweave smiled in his turn, “ ‘Odd’? How so?”
the greater part of room beyond. dy. He wore the neutral garments a quick humorless grimace. “No, “Lugo Teehalt was a locater.
Tall windows at the right over- of a person either uninterested of course not. I’m inept in my The monitor in his boat was
looked the quadrangle. The op- in current modes or unaware of judgments. For instance, your chartered to Sea Province Uni-
posite wall was papered with them. His skin was undyed voice tells me very little. You’re versity, under Grant 291.”
hundreds of Mercator-projection (walking along the streets of not a native of the Concourse. Warweave pursed his lips.
maps of many worlds. The cen- Avente Gersen had felt almost If you were of a different physi- Mr. Tee-
“It’s quite possible that
ter of the room was empty, giv- undressed); his thick dark hail ognomy I’d place you from Miz- halt might be working for one
ing it the semblance of a con- was cropped' into an undistin- ar’s Third.” of the department heads on some
ference chamber from which the guished ruff. “During most of my youth I special project.”
table had been removed. lived on Earth.” “The monitor was coded. That
At the far end, on a pedestal TT^arweave waited with at- “Indeed?” Warweave raised should narrow the possibilities.”
of polished wood, stood a con- ’ ’ tentive politeness. Gersen his eyebrows in manufactured Warweave pierced Gersen
struction of stone and metal said, “I’m here, Mr. Warweave, astonishment. “Out here, you with a hard glance of black eyes.
spires, the provenance of which in connection with a rather com- know, we think of Earthmen in “If I knew what you wanted to
Gersen was ignorant. He seated plex matter. My motives are be- terms of stereotypes cultists, ; learn, I could answer more to
himself and returned his atten- side the point, so I’ll ask you to mystics, hyper-civilized epi- the point.”
76 GALAXY THE STAR KING 77

i
 Warweave studied the picture blue, green torso. Purple-green

T here was nothing to lose by

telling at least part of the
watched him, studsdng the im-
maculate hands, the glossy fin-
gernails. Looking up he caught
at length, then made a gruff,
noncommittal sound. Gersen
eyes looked forth from a perfect
ovoid head, which was otherwise
truth, thought Gersen. If Gyle
provided another photograph. featureless. From the shoulders,
Warweave were Grendel, he the stare of Warweave’s gaze,
The screen shifted to display the arm-like members reached three
would know what had happen- less affable than his tone of
voice. “And from whom do you
view down the valley: the river feet into the air, branching and
ed. If he were not, no harm
meandering and twisting, finally webbing, to support the pea-
could be done. “The name Gren- propose to collect?”
disappearing into the far dis- cock’s tail fan of fronds.
del is familiar to you?” Gersen shrugged. I’ll give
tance. Trees standing tall at ei- “The creature, whatever it
“Grendel the Monster? One of sponsor the first op-
the so-called Demon Princes.”
Teehalt’s
portunity. As I mentioned, the ther side formed a sort of aisle, is —”
diminishing until all faded into “Teehalt called a dryad.”
it
“Lugo Teehalt located a world filament is coded, and is value-
haze. “ — certainly it is unique. I’ve
of apparently idyllic conditions less without the decoding strip.”
— a world literally beyond value, Warweave leaned back in his
f T^arweave heaved a sigh.
never seen its
picture is not faked
like before. If the
— and I do
more Earthlike than Earth. chair. “Offhand, I don’t know
Grendel learned of the discov- who might have contracted with
^ ^ “Beyond question a beau- not believe that it is then the —
ery, how I don’t know. In any this man Teehalt. Whoever it is
tiful world. A hospitable planet is what you claim it to

event, at least four of Grendel’s naturally would not buy a pig

world. What of atmosphere and be.”
biogens?” “Iclaim nothing. Teehalt
men hunted Teehalt to Smade’s in a poke.”
Tavern. “Naturally not.” Gersen placed
“Completely compatible, ac- made the claims. It is a world —
“Teehalt arrived just after I a photograph on the desk. War-
cording to Teehalt.” so he told —
me so beautiful that
did. He landed in a hidden valley weave glanced at it, dropped it “If it is as you say —
undis- he could neither bear to stay not
and walked to the tavern. Dur- into a projection slot. A screen
covered, uninhabited —
an in- bear to leave.” •

dependent locater could name “And you have Teehalt’s fila-

ing the evening Grendel’s men on the far wall burst into color.
his own price. Still, not being ment in your possession.”
arrived. Teehalt tried to escape, Teehalt had taken the picture
born yesterday, I wonder, could “Yes. I want to sell it. The
but they caught him in the dark, from a rise of ground to one side
not this photograph have been market is presumably limited to
killed him. Then they took off of a valley. On hand hills
either
made elsewhere? Even on Earth, those persons who have access
in my ship, apparently assum- rolled back, over, away and be-
where the vegetation is similar to the decoding strip. Of these,
ing that it was Teehalt’s. Both yond. The rounded tips could be
to this?” the man who sponsored Lugo
were the same, old Model 9B.” seen receding into the distance.
For answer Gersen brought Teehalt’s operation should have
Gersen laughed. “When they Groves of tall dark trees stood
checked my monitor they had a to the side of the valley; a river
forth a third photograph. War- the first option.”

sorry surprise. wandered through the meadows,

“The next day I left in
halt’s boat.Naturally I took pos-
session of his monitor. I plan to
sell the filament for as much as
the market will bear.”
Warweave nodded briskly,
moved a sheet of paper on his
desk an inch to the
right.
78
weave dropped it into the slot. Warweave gave Gersen a long
The screen depicted, as if from steady inspection. “A quixotic
Tee- the banks lined with rushes. At
a distance of twenty feet, one of attitude, which puzzles me. You
the far side of the meadow, al-
the objects which in the first do not seem a quixotic man.”
most in the shade of the forest,
stood what appeared to be a bank
photograph had appeared as a “Why not judge from deeds
flowering shrub. It was revealed rather than impressions?”
of flowering shrubs. The sun-
as a perambulatory being, semi- Warweave merely raised his
light was golden-white, warm,
humanoid, graceful Slender
. eyebrows in something like dis-
languid, and the time was evi-
gray legs supported a gray, silver, dain.Then he said, “Conceivably
Gersen dently noon.
THE STAR KING 79
GALAXY
I could make you an offer for ask Mr. Detteras and Mr. Kelle known, my money has gone to “Today?”
the filament: say two thousand to step into my office, and you endow Grant 291.” “Right now.”
SVU now, another ten thousand can make your inquiry. Will “That’s reasonable enough.” She looked at him with new
after inspection of the world. that be satisfactory?” “You agree to my bargain, interest. “You’d be surprised at

Possibly a trifle more.” “No.” then?” the people both Mr. Kelle and
“ “Yes. So long as you under- Mr. Detteras have refused to see
“Naturally I will take the best ‘No’?” barked Warweave.
price I can get,” said Gersen. “Why not?” stand that the first refusal goes today.”
“But I would like to interview Gersen also rose to his feet. to Teehalt’s sp>onsor.” Gersen grinned. “I don’t know
Mr. Kelle and Mr. Detteras first. Warweave’s eyelids drooped. how long be. If you’re off
One of them must be Teehalt’s
“Since the matter does not con-
cern you, I would prefer to inter- “I wonder why you insist on duty at four
I’ll
— . .

sponsor. If neither is interested view Mr. Kelle and Mr. Detteras this.” “I’ll wait,” said Pallis At-
in the filament, then
— alone, on my own terms.” “Perhaps I am a quixotic man wrode, and then she laughed. “I
Warweave interrupted sharpl- “This is at your option,” said after all, Mr. Warweave.” mean, you won’t be very much
ly. “Why do you specify these Warweave coldly. He consider- Warweave swung about, spoke longer than four, and I’d have
two men?” ed a moment. “What you are af- into the desk-screen, listened, to walk home, and explain where
“Other than yourself, they are ter, I can’t guess. I put little turned back to Gersen. “Very I live —
and it’s just easier wait-
the only persons who have ac- faith in your candor. But I will well. Mr. Kelle will see you first, ing.”
cess to the decoding strips.” make a bargain with you.” then Mr. Detteras. After which, “I’ll be as fast as I can,” said
“May I ask how you are aware Gersen waited. you will report back to me.” Gersen. He left to prepare for
of this?” “Kelle and Detteras are busy “I agree.” his encounter with the Star King,
Remembering Pallis Atwrode’s men,” said Warweave. “They are “Good. You will find Kelle’s feeling an unwonted sense of
request, Gersen felt a pang of not as accessible as I am. I will office at the opposite end of the pleasure but he did not keep it
guilt. “I asked a young man in arrange that you see them at building.” long. Two thoughts obtruded in
the quadrangle. Apparently it’s once —today, if you like. Pos- Gersen went out into the cor- his mind and destroyed it for
common knowledge.” sibly one or the other will admit ridor past Warweave’s glint-eyed him.
“Altogether too much loose to an arrangement with Lugo secretary, returned to the foyer. Did he dare involve this girl
talk,” said Warweave, his mouth Teehalt. In any case, after your PallisAtwrode looked up with in his struggle with a cruel and
in a hard angry line. interview with Kelle and Det- an eager expectancy Gersen inhuman enemy?
teras, you will report to me what found very appealing. “Did you Did he dare risk any distrac-

G ersen wanted
how Warweave had
to
spent
inquire offers, if any, they have made,
and so give me the opportunity
learn what you wanted to?”
“No. He’s sending me to see
tion of his own purpose, in the
face of this resourceful and de-
the previous month, but the oc- of meeting or exceeding the of- Kelle and Detteras.” vastating foe?
casion was clearly inopportune. fer.”
It could not be a wise question, “In other words,” said Gersen, TO BE CONCLUDED
ifposed directly: if Warweave “you’d keep this world for your
were Grendel, his suspicion private use?” -

would instantly be reinforced. “Why not? The filament is no

Warweave now tapped fingers longer the property of the uni-
on his desk, rose to his feet. “If versity. You have taken posses-
you will give half an hour I will sion of it. And, if the truth be

80 GALAXY THE STAR KING 81

]i
1

THE BIG PAT BOOM

by DAMON KNIGHT
ILLUSTRATED BY VAN DONGEN

This couldn't happen, of course.

People don't act this way. All
of recorded history proves this
point . . . one way or the other!

'^he long, shiny car pulled up tle yellow eyes. They were wear-
* with a whirr of turbines and ing gray tweed suits. Their bodies
a puff of dust.The sign over the looked approximately human,
roadside stand read: BAS- but you coul'd not see their chins,
KETS. CURIOS.” Farther down, which were covered by orange
another sign over a glass-fronted scarves.
rustic building announced Martha Crawford came hus-
SQUIRE CRAWFORD’S COF- tlingout of the house and into
FEE MILL. TRY OUR the basket stand, drying her
DOUGHNUTS.” Beyond that hands on her apron. After her
was a pasture, with a bam and came Llewellyn Crawford, her
silo set back from the road. husband, still chewing his corn-
The two aliens sat quietly and flakes.
looked at the signs. They both “Yes, sir —
ma’am?” Martha
had hard purplish skins and lit- asked nervously. She glanced at
82 GALAXY THE BIG PAT BOOM 83
Llewellyn for support, and he it was looking at a large, dis- The Crawfords watched them /^ne fall afternoon two years
patted her shoulder. Neither of shaped gray something that lay go, then looked at the shiny later, Llewellyn Crawford
them had ever seen an alien real on the ground. quarter lying on the counter. threw his hat in a corner, and
close to. “That?” Llewellyn asked Llewellyn picked it up and sat down hard. He glared over
One of the aliens, seeing the doubtfully. bounced it in his palm. “Well, his glasses at the large circular
Crawfords behind their counter, “That.” say!” He began to smile. object, tastefully tinted in con-
leisurely got out of the car. He, Llewellyn Crawford blushed. centric rings of blue, orange and
or it, was puffing a cigar stuck .“Why — that’s just a cowpat.
\ 11 that week the roads were yellow, which was mounted over
through a hole in the orange One of them cows from the dairy full of aliens in their long the mantelpiece. To the casual
scarf. got loose from the herd yester- shiny cars. They went every- eye, this might have been a gen-
“Good morning,” Mrs. Craw- day, and she must have dropped where, saw everything, paid their uine “Trophy” class pat, a mu-
ford said nervously. “Baskets? that there without me noticing.” way with bright new-minted seum piece, painted on the Hurk
Curios?” “How much?” coins and crisp paper bills. planet; but in fact, like so many
The alien blinked its yellow The Crawfords stared at him, There was some talk against artistic ladies nowadays, Mrs.
eyes solemnly. The rest of its or it, without comprehension. the government for letting them Crawford had painted and
face did not change. The scarf “How much what?” Llewellyn in, but they were good for busi- mounted it herself.
hid its chin and mouth, if any. asked finally. ness and made no trouble. Some “What’s the matter. Lew?” she
Some said that the aliens had no “How much,” the alien claimed to be tourists, others asked apprehensively. She had
chins, others that they had some- growled around its cigar, “for said they were sociology students a new hairdo and was wearing
thing instead of chins that was the cowpat?” on a field trip. a New York dress, but looked
so squirmy and awful that no hu- The Crawfords exchanged Llewellyn Crawford went into
man could bear to look at it. glances. “I never heard ” said — the adjoining pasture and picked
peaked and anxious.
“Matter!” Llewellyn grunted.
People called them “Hurks” be- Martha in an undertone, but her out four cowpats to deposit near “Old man Thomas is a damn
cause they came from a place husband shushed her. He cleared his basket stand. When the next fool, that’s all. Four hundred
called Zeta Herculis. his throat. “How about ten ce Hurk came by, Llewellyn asked, dollars a head! Can’t buy a cow
The Hurk glanced at the bas- well, I don’t want to cheat you and got, a dollar apiece. at a decent price any more.”
kets and gimcracks hung over — how about a quarter?” “But why do they want them?” “Well, Lew, we do have seven
the counter, and puffed its cigar. The alien produced a large Martha wailed. herds already, don’t we, and —
Then it said, in a blurred but change purse, laid a quarter on “What difference does that “Got to have more to meet the
comprehensible voice, “What is the counter and grunted some- make?” her husband asked. demand, Martha!” said Llewel-
that?” It pointed downward with thing to its companion in the car. “They want ’em —
we got ’em! lyn, sitting up. “My heaven, I’d
one horny, three-fingered hand. The other alien got out, bring- If Ed Lacey calls again about think you could see that. With,
“The little Indian papoose?” ing a square porcelain box and that mortgage payment, tell him queen pats bringing up to fif-
Martha Crawford said, in a voice a gold-handled shovel. With the not to worry!” He cleared off teen dollars, and not enough to
that rose to a squeak. “Or the shovel, she —
or it carefully— the counter and arranged the go ’round —
And fifteen hun-
birchbark calendar?” picked up the cowpat and de- new merchandise on it. He dred for an emperor pat, if
“No, that,” said the Hurk, posited it in the box. jacked his price up to two dol- you’re lucky enough —
pointing down again. This time, Both aliens then got into the lars, then to five. “Funny we never thought ther
craning over the counter, the car and drove away, in a whine Next day he ordered a new was so many kinds of pats,” Mar-
Crawfords were able to see that of turbines and a cloud of dust. sign: COWPATS. tha said dreamily. “The emperor
84 GALAXY THE BIG PAT BOOM 85
— that’s the one with the double Have to keep after ’em every
Only one customer was left at approached the stand, puffing a
damn minute.” Llewellyn
whorl?”
Llewellyn grunted, picking up marched out the kitchen door
the stand, a whiskered farmer in cigar through the hole in his —
a magazine. and across the yard to where a
a checked shirt. Frank, the at- or its —orange scarf.
tendant, was leaning comfort- “Yes, sir?” said Llewellyn at
“Seems like a person could gangling youth sat on a trolley,
kind of
— slowly eating an apple.
ably on the counter. The display once, hands clasped, bending
shelves -behind him were well forward slightly. “A nice pat
A kindly gleam came into “Delbert!” said Llewellyn, ex-
filled with pats. this morning?”
Llewellyn’s eyes. “Change one asperated.
around?” he said. “Nope— been “Oh —
hello, Mr. Crawford,”
“Morning, Roger,” Llewellyn
said with well-feigned pleasure.
The alien looked at the gray
objects behind the counter. He,
tried. I was reading about it in said the youth, with a gap-
“How’s the family? Sell you a or it, blinked its yellow eyes and
here just yesterday.” He held up toothed grin. He took a last bite
the current issue of The Ameri- from the apple, then dropped
nice pat this morning?” made a curious gurgling noise.
“Well, I don’t know,” said the After a moment Llewellyn de-
can Pat Dealer, then began to the core. Llewellyn’s gaze fol-
whiskered man, rubbing his cided that it was laughing.
turn the glossy pages. “Pat-O- lowed it. Owing to his missing
chin. “My wife’s had her eye on “What’s funny?” he demand-
Grams,” he read aloud. “Preserv-
ing Your Pats. Dairying —
front teeth, Delbert’s apple cores
were like nothing in this world.
—
that one there ” he pointed to ed, his smile fading.
a
a large, symmetrical pat on the “Not funny,” said
Profitable Sideline. Nope. Oh, “Why ain’t you trucking pats — tlie alien.
middle shelf “but at them “I laugh because am
here it is. Fake Pats a Flop. See,
it says here some fellow down in
to the stand?” Llewellyn de-
prices
— go home tomorrow — our field
I happy. I

manded. “I don’t pay you to

Amarillo got hold of an emperor
“You can’t do better, believe trip is over. Okay to take a pic-
set on no empty trolley, Del-
me, Roger. It’s an investment,” ture?” He raised a small lensed
and made a plaster mold. Then bert.”
he used the mold on a couple
said Llewellyn earnestly. machine one purple claw.
in
of big cull pats — says here they ing,”
“Took some out this morn-
the boy said. “Frank, he
“Frank, what did that last Hurk “Well, I
—
suppose ” Llewellyn
buy?” said uncertainly, “Well, you say
was so perfect you couldn’t tell told me to take ’em back.”
the difference. But the Hurks “He what?” “Nothing,” said Frank. A per- you’re going home? You mean
wouldn’t buy. They knew.” sistent buzz of music came from all of you? When will you be
Delbert nodded. “Said he
He threw the magazine down, the radio in his breast pocket. coming back?”
hadn’t sold but two. You ask
then turned to stare out the back him I’m lying.”
if
“Just took a picture of the stand “We are not coming back,”
window and drove off.” the alien said. He, or it, pressed
toward the sheds. “Do that,” Llewellyn grunted.
“Well, what did the one be- the camera, extracted the photo-
“There’s that fool boy just sit-
ting in the yard again. Why
He turned on his heel and strode
back across the yard. fore
— graph and looked at it, then
ain’t he working?” Llewellyn With a whirr of turbines, a grunted and put it away. “We
cranked down the louver, long shiny car pulled up behind are grateful for an entertaining
rose, /^ut at the roadside, a long
shouted through the opening, him. Llewellyn turned. The experience. Good-by.” He turned
car was parked beside a
“You, Delbert! Delbert!” He three aliens in the car were and got into the car. The car
battered pickup at the pat stand.
waited. “Deaf, too,” he muttered. It pulled out as Llewellyn started
wearing red felt hats with comic drove off in a cloud of dust.
“I’ll go tell him you want — toward it, and another one drove buttons sewed over them, and
all “Like that tlie whole morn-
Martha began, struggling out of carried Yale pennants. Confetti ing,” Frank said. “They don’t
up. As he approached the stand,
her apron. the alien was just getting back was strewn on their gray tweed buy nothing — just take pic-
“No, never mind —
go myself. in. The car drove off.
suits.
One
tures.”
of the Hurks got out and Llewellyn felt himself begin-
86 GALAXY
THE BIG PAT BOOM 87
 ” ” ”

ning to shake. “Think he means of the stand, was eating an apple. of intelligence seemed to come Delbert indistinctly, with hii
it —
they’re all going away?” “It’s the end of the world, into his eyes. “Mr. Crawford, I mouth full of apple. “Figure I’ll
“Radio said Frank re-
so,” Martha,” Llewellyn said huski- quit,” he said clearly. Then he go over to my uncle’s place. He’s
plied. “And Ed Coon was ly. Tears stood in his eyes. turned to the alien. “That’s a got an orchard.”
through here this morning from “Prime pats, going two for a Delbert Smith apple core,” he The Serp was hovering near-
Hortonville. Said he ain’t sold nickel!” said. by, watching the apple core and
a pat since day ’fore yesterday.” Headlights blinding in the Frozen, Llewellyn watched uttering little squeals of appre-
“Well, I don’t understand it.” dusk, a long, low car came nos- the Serp pull out a billfold and ciation.
Llewellyn said. “They can’t just ing up to the pat stand. In it scuttle forward. Money changed “Got to be close to your source
all quit.” His hands were trem- were two green creatures in hands. Delbert produced anoth- of supply, you know,” said Del-
bling badly, and he put them in raincoats, with feathery anten- er apple and began enthusiasti- bert, wagging his head wisely.
his pockets. “Say, Roger,” he nae that stood up through holes cally reducing it to a core. Speechless, Llewellyn felt a
said to the whiskered man, “now in their blue pork-pie hats. One “Say, Delbert,” said Llewel- tug at his sleeve. He looked
just how much would you want of them got out and approached lyn, stepping away from Mar- down : it was Ed Lacey, the
to pay for that pat?” the pat stand with a curious tha. His voice squeaked, and he banker.
“Well—” scuttling motion. Delbert gaped, cleared his throat. “Looks like “Say, Lew, I tried to get you
“It’s a ten dollar pat, you dropping his apple core. we got a good little thing going all afternoon, but your phone
know,” Llewellyn said, moving “Serps!” Frank hissed, leaning here. Now, if you was smart, didn’t answer. About your col-
closer. His voice had turned over the stand toward Llewel- you’d rent this pat stand — lateral on those loans. .” .

solemn. “Prime pat, Roger.”

— lyn. “Heard about ’em on the “Nope, Mr. Crawford,” said —DAMON KNIGHT
“I know that, but radio. From Gamma Serpentis,
“What would you say to seven radio said.”
fifty?” The green creature was in-
“Well, I don’t know. Might specting the half-bare shelves. New! in the big December Worlds of Tomorrowl
give —
say, five.” Homy lids flickered across its
“Sold,” said Llewellyn. “Wrap little bright eyes.
that one up, Frank.” “Pat, — ma’am?” Llewel-
sir
THE CREATURE INSIDE
He watched the whiskered lyn asked nervously. “Not many Seqnel to Arcturas Times Three, Big Baby, etc.
man carry his trophy off to the left right now, but— by Jack Sharkey
pickup. “Mark ’em all down, “What is that?" the Serp
Frank,” he said faintly. “Get asked in a rustling voice, point- FAR AVANAL
whatever you can.” ing downward with one claw. An exciting novelette
The Llewellyns looked. The by J. T. McIntosh
'^he long day’s debacle was Serp was pointing to a misshap-
-* almost over. Arms around The great concinsion of
en, knobby something that lay
each other, Llewellyn and Mar- beside Delbert’s boot. ALL WE MARSMEN
tha Crawford watched the last “That there?” Delbert asked,
of the crowd leaving the pat
by Philip K. Dick
coming partially to life “That’s
stand. Frank was cleaning up. an apple core.” He glanced
Delbert, leaning against the side
—and many others! December Worlds of Tomorrow on sa!e nowl
across to Llewellyn, and a gleam

88 GALAXY THE BIG PAT BOOM 89

 space to these names. By now
feel it is time to give in.
As I mentioned in my
column, the Astronomical Con-
gress of 1928 decided to recog-
nize eighty-eight different con-
stellations for the purpose of
having easy labels for referring
to areas in the sky. The list de-
signating the precise borders for
each of these constellations was
published by E. Delporte of
Brussels in his Atlas Celeste
for (Cambridge, 1930) so that there
can be no longer any disagree-
ment whether a faint star at the
your edge of one constellation belongs
to the particular constellation
information or to its neighbor. As regards
the names which are now recog-
nized they are all of long stand-
ing and many of them are clas-
sical, going back to F*tolemy’s
BY WILLY LEY Almagest.
Ptolemy listed a total of forty-
eight twelve of
constellations,
THE NAMES them being the Zodiac the
belt of constellations along
OF THE which the sun moves in the
course of a year. Of the others,
CONSTELLATIONS twenty-one were to the north of
the Zodiac and fifteen to the
n my column “Names in the south of the Zodiac. In fact, it
I Sky” which was published
was Ptolemy who is responsible
in the June, 1962, issue of
Galaxy for twelve constellations in the
lack of space compelled me to
Zodiac.
neglect the names of the con-
Most of the names of the signs
stellations.Ever since I have of the Zodiac do not need any
been receiving letters and post-
explanation. They are, in
cards asking me to devote some
customary order and in the La-
90 GALAXY FOR YOUR INFOR/MTION
I tin version, the following;
Aries (the Ram), Taurus (the
earlier Bull) and Gemini (the Twins,
named “Castor and Pollux” in
the Greek version and “Man and
Wife” in sixteenth-century Eu-
rope), followed by Cancer (the
Crab, or the Crayfish in western
Europe), Leo (the Lion) and
Virgo, (the Virgin, originally
just “the Woman”). The next
constellation, Libra (the Scales)
is the one Ptolemy made a separ-
ate constellation. Before him the
Greeks had considered the con-
stellation Libra to be a part,
namely the pincers, of the fol-
lowing constellation Scorpio
while the Romans considered it
the scales held by Themis, which
was the same as the preceding
constellation Virgo. Though
Ptolemy gave it the rank of a
separate constellation he still
called it “the pincers”.
chelai,
The constellations
following
— Libra, are, of course, Scorpius
(the Scorpion), Sagittarius (the
Archer), Capn'cornus (the Goat,
originally the Fish-Goat) ,
Aquarius (the Water Carrier)
and Pisces (the Fishes).
Ptolemy’s twenty-one constell-
ations to the north of the Zodiac,
numbered consecutively, were:
No. 1. Ursa minor and
No. 2. Ursa major (literally the
Little Bear and the
their Great Bear ... in the
past called the Small
91
 Wain and the Great No. 17. Delphinus (the Dol- called prokyon, which melopardalis (the Giraffe) and
Wain now
. called
. . phin) is now the name of its Columba (the Dove). The latter
the Little and Big No. 18. Equuleus (the Filly; in principal star.) is credited in countless books to
Dipper.) Ptolemy the “Front Dr. Edmond Halley but it was
No. 40. Argo navis (the Ship;
No. 3. Draco (the Dragon) Part of the Horse”.) since it also served as actually suggested by the Dutch
No. 4. Cepheus (this is a per- No. 19. Pegasus (the Horse; not the symbol of the year geographer Pieter Plancius. The
sonal name, presumed a winged horse in it was pictured with gradual mapping of the southern
to be the Latin ver- Ptolemy.) either sky which followed in the wake
12 or 52 oars,
sion of the name of No. 20. Andromeda (the daugh- symbolizing months or of geographical exploration add-
an Ethiopian king.) ter of Cepheus and weeks.) ed literally dozens of new con-
No. 5. Bootes (the Driver of the Cassiopeia.) 41. Hydra (the Sea Serpent) stellations, most of which were
No.
Oxen, or the Custodi- No. 21. Triangulum (the Tri- 42. Crater (the Cup) dropped later. It may be men-
No.
an of the Bears.) angle; originally the 43. Corvus (the Raven) tioned at this point that the
No.
No. 6. Corona borealis (the Nile Delta.) 44. Centaurus (the Centaur) early explorers expected the
No.
Northern Crown) The constellations to the south 45Lupus (the Wolf. In Ptol- southern sky to be a replica (or
No.
No. 7. Hercules (in Ptolemy’s of the Zodiac were: emy this constellation else a mirror image) of the
Almagest, “the Kneel- No. 34. Cetus (the Whale) is just therion, which northern sky and they were puz-
ing Man’’.) No. 35. Orion (the Himter) means “wild beast”; zled that this did not turn out to
No. 8. Lyra (originally a turtle, No. 36. Eridanus (the River; in the Arabs were the be the case. They were especially
the shell of which Ptolemy this constel- ones who substituted a disappointed that there was no
then became the lyre, lation is called pota- specific wild beast.) South Pole Star.
a rather poetic de- mos which Of the many new constella-
is the No. 46. Ara (the Altar)
velopment.) Greek word for River, No. 47. Corona australis (the tions suggested during the six-
No. 9. Cygnus (the Swan; in meaning the Nile. The Southern Crown; the teenth and seventeenth centuries
Ptolemy “the Bird”.) Romans changed this Arabs called it the a number are still accepted. They
No. 10. Cassiopeia (wife of Ce- to Eridanus, the Am- Ostrich Nest.) are; Chamaeleon, Phoenix, Grus
pheus; on some old ber River, which was No. 48. Piscis austrinus (the (the Crane), Pavo (the Pea-
charts this constella- their name for the Elb Southern Fish). cock), Lacerta (the Lizard), Leo
tions is called the river in Germany; lat- The constellation now known minor (the Little Lion), Hydrua
Throne or the Queen’s er they called
the as ComaBerenices (the Hair of (the Water Snake, Canes vena-
Throne.) same river Albis — Berenice) was suggested before tici (the Hunting Dogs), Dorado
No. 11 . Perseus (the rescuer of which caused a lot of Ptolemy by the Greek astrono- (the Swordfish, or Goldfish),
of Andromeda.) confusion.) mer Hipparchos, but for un- and Crux (the Southern Cross).
No. 12. Auriga (the Drajmian) No. 37. Lepus (the Hare) known reasons was not accepted Two of the newer constella-
No. 13. Ophiuchus (the Carrier No. 38. Canis major (the tions, Lynx and Apus, require
Big by Ptolemy.
of the Serpent) Dog; in Ptolemy just some explanation. The name
No. 14. Serpens (the serpent car- kynos, the dog.) pouring the sixteenth and Lynx applies to an area lacking
ried by Ophiuchus) No. 39. Canis minor (the Little seventeenth centuries three in bright stars; it was created
No. 15. Sagitta (the Arrow) Dog; in Ptolemy this more constellations were added: by the part-time astronomer, oth-
No. 16. Aquila (the Eagle) constellation was Monoceros (the Unicom), Ca- erwise brewmaster and city ald-
92 GALAXY FOR YOUR INFORAAATION 93
erman, Johannes Hewelcke (bet- Compasses and Ruler) I Sobieski’s Shield.) Vulpecula (usually called “the
ter known as Hevelius) of Dan- Fornax (the Furnace) I Sextans (the Sextant) Fox” in English, though the
zig. A constellation was needed Horologium (the Pendulum I Telescopium (the Telescope) word means Little Fox. The
in that area to fill the space. Clock) Triangulum australis (the original name by Hevelius
I
Hevelius named it Lynx because Indus (the Indian) Southern Triangle) was Vulpecula cum ansere,
he said that lynx eyes were Mensa (the Table, originally Tucana (the Toucan) the Little Fox and the
needed to see anything at all. Mons mensae, the Table Volans (originally Piscis volans, Goose.)
As for Apus the name is trans- Mountain, meaning Table the Flying Fish)
lated with annoying regularity Mountain near Cape Town
as The Bee in manuals for ama- in South Africa, from which
teurs. But the Latin word for Nicolas Louis de Lacaille,
“bee” is apis. Actually the
comes from Apus (seu
name
avis') in-
who introduced this con-
stellation, observed
(Questions ?
the
taken notion that the bird of southern sky.) You have repeatedly pointed as an arrow poison. Whether the
India” and is based on the mis- Microscopium (the Microscope) out scientific facts behind myths excretions of the skin glands of
taken notion that the Bird of Musca (the Fly) or allusions in classical litera- the common garden toad can be
Paradise was footless, which is Norma (the Ruler, but in the ture.How about these lines from called venomous is the subject
what apus really means. Hence sense of “straightedge”.) Shakespeare’s As You Like It: of a debate which by now has
the constellation Apus should be Pictor (originally Equus pic- Sweet are the uses of ad- lasted for at least five centuries.
rendered in English as “Bird of toris, the Painter’s Easel) versity; In England you still find the
Paradise”. Pyxis (the Mariner’s Compass. Which, like the toad, ugly belief in some quarters that
For the modern list of eighty- The literal meaning of the and venomous, touching a toad will cause warts,
eight constellations, one of Ptol- word is “small (wooden) Wears yet a precious jewel while German peasants are con-
emy’s constellations. No. 40, Argo box”; it came to mean Mar- in its head. vinced that touching a toad in
was divided into three: Carina, iner’sCompass via the Ital- What does the reference to the the light of a full moon will
Vela and Puppis (Keel, Sails and ian form, hussola della cala- precious jewel mean? And while cure warts. (People just can’t get
Poop) but the Greek letters for mita, which was a wooden I am at it, are toads venomous? together on some things!) I
the stars form one sequence bowl, filled with water, in Deborah Crawford think it would be correct to say
through all three. which a reed (calamita), New York City. that the excretion is not veno-
Theother constellations of the supporting the magnetic mous, though there are a few
modem star atlas which have not needle was floating.) Let me take your last question cases known where the handling
been mentioned so far are, in Reticulum (the Net; actually first, it’s easier that way. Toads of live toads caused a skin irrit-
[

alphabitical order: Lacaille’s reticule romboide, are amphibians, and no amphib- ation.
Antlia (originally Antlia pneu- the instrument he used for ian is venomous in the sense that Now for the “precious jewel”,
matica, the Air Pump) measuring angular distances they have poison fangs like some known as the toadstone. It
also
Caelum (originally Caelum between the stars.) snakes. But
amphibians have
all was supposed to be a yello'vish
the
sculptoris, Sculptor’s Sculptor (no translation need- skin glands; and the liquid ex- stone which either had the shape
Tool) ed) uded by the skin glands of one of a toad or else had the image
Circinus (the Compasses, origi- Scutum (the Shield, or Buckler; South American tree frog actual- of a toad on it. And, while the
nally Circinus et norma, originally Scutum Sobiesii, ly is toxic enough to be used toad itself does not produce such
94 GALAXY FOR YOUR INFORAAATION
.
95
 a stone, contemporary artisans
had no trouble furnishing them
for people with money.
Shakespeare’s contemporary,
the writer Edward Topsell, who
published a Historie of Foure-
footed Beasts in 1607, has pro-
vided us with a summary of the
beliefs then current: “There be
many late Writers, which doe
affirme that there is a precious
stone in the head of a Toade
There be many that weare these
stones in Ringes, beeing verily
perswaded that they keep them
from all manner of grypings and
paines of the belly, and the
small guttes. But the Art (as they
term it) is in taking of it out,
for they say it must be taken
out
of the head alive, before
the
Toade be dead, with a peece of
cloth of the colour of redde
Skarlet, wherewithal! they are
much delighted, so that while
they stretch out themselves as it
were in sport upon that cloth,
they cast out the stone of their
head, but instantly they sup
it
up againe, unlesse it be taken
from them through some secrete
hole in the said cloth, whereby
it falleth into a cesterne or
ves-
sell of water, into which the
Toade dare not enter, by reason
of the coldness of the water.”
Topsell was not Shakespeare’s
source, because As You Like
It
is usually dated as
having been
written in 1599 or 1600. Shake-
96
speare must have read about it
the tar pits have been re-assem- gone wrong. To check what it
in one of the unnamed
writers
quoted by Topsell who also said bled. My question is: how old are might be, samples of European
these bones? have heard state-
I material known to have been
that the toad stone was good
ments ranging from 10,000 to formed late during the last gla-
against the “falling sickness”
100.000 years. Hasn’t the radio- ciation were sent to the United
and that it changed color in the
carbon dating method been tried States for dating. The dates of
presence of poison. Topsell’s own
out on these bones? this European material agreed
own conclusion is
Magnus Hellmann with the Wisconsin dates within
“Now for my part I dare not
conclude
Hollywood, Calif. about a thousand years.
either with it, or
Since the last glaciation had
against it, for many are directlie
The reason why you have been more recent than had been
for this stone ingendered in
the heard such different age esti- assumed, the La Brea Fauna also
braine or head of the Toade:
mates is that during the last few had to be more recent. And an-
on the other side, some confesse
decades there has been a general other very strong hint was ob-
such a stone by name and na-
re-dating of recent geological tained elsewhere.
ture, but they make doubt of
the events. It had always been as- One of the animals from the
generation of it, as others have
sumed that the animals of the tar pits is a large ground sloth.
delivered; and therefore, they
tar fKJols, the so-called La Brea Radio -carbon dating of the re-
beeing in sundry opinions, the
Fauna, existed at about the time mains of identical ground sloths
found the Reader, I will referre
of the last glaciation in the from Gsrpsum Cave in Nevada
him for his satisfaction unto a
Toade, which he may easily
North. And it had also been as- showed that they were between
sumed that the last retreat of 10,000 and 11,000 years old. All
every day kill: For although
when the glaciers of the Ice Age took this made it unlikely that the
the Toade is dead, the
vertue thereof be lost, which con-
place about 30,000 years ago, a remains from the tar pits would
few geologists thinking that it be much older. The logical next
sisted in the eye, or blew spot in
might have been as recently as step was to date something from
the middle, yet the substance re-
20.000 years ago. the tar pits.
maineth, and, if the stone be
found there in substance, then is
Under these assumptions the When Pit No. 3 was excavated
age of the La Brea Fauna had during the period from July,
the question at an end; but, if it
to be not less than 30,000 years, 1913, to August, 1914, a tree
be not, then must the generation
probably nearer 50,000 years. trunk, eight feet tall, was found
of it be sought for in some other
But then the radio-carbon meth- rooted in the hard clay beneath
place.”
od permitted the dating of a spot the asphalt.
As a resident of Hollywood,
in Wisconsin where a forest had Wood from this tree was sent
been felled by the advance of to two different laboratories for
California, I am well acquainted
the glaciers. It then turned out dating. Since the wood was tar-
with the tar pools of Hancock
that the last glaciation was still soaked, part of the sample was
Park and I have paid a number
going on 11,000 to 12,000 years washed in xylol to remove the
of visits to our Museum where
ago. Nobody believed this result tar and then dated. The other
the skeletons of animals found in
at first; obviously something had part was dated without removing
GALAXY FOR YOUR INFORMATION 97
the tar. The two cleaned samples The answer is “about twenty”,
gave the ages of 15,390 plus or but there is an uncertainty in- length of one degree of longitude at different latitudes.
Degree of Place under that
minus 230 years and 13,890 plus volved due to the fact that the latitude Latitude Kilometers Miles
or minus 280 years; the two U. S. Air Force has launched a 0 Quito, Ekniador (Equator) 111.32 69.17
5 Cayenne, Guiana U0.90 68.91
samples which were not cleaned number of secret satellites with 10 San Jose, Costa Rica 109.64 68.13
15 Manilla, Philippines (approx.) 107.55 66.83
of tar gave the ages of 14,500 undisclosed orbits. Some of them 20 Guantanamo, Cuba ) 104.65 65.02
Mexico, City
plus or minus 210 years and 14,- may have a lifetime of more Hilo, Hawaii
)
)
(approx.)

110 plus or minus 420 years. than a century. And since the 25 Talhoku, Formosa 100.95 62.73
30 New Orleans, La., Cairo, Egypt 96.49 59.96
While the first laboratory had released information about the 35 Albuquerque, N. Mex. 91.29 56.73
40 Philadelphia, Pa., Boulder Colo. 85.40 53.06
tested pieces of the tree trunk, Russian series of “Cosmos” sa- 45 Minneapolis, - St. Paul, Minn. 78.85 48.99
50 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada 71.70 44.5b
the second laboratory was sup- tellites is quite meager, it would 55 Newcastle on Tyne, England 64.00 39. rr
plied with a piece of one of the be useless to guess about their 60 Oslo, Norway 55.80 34.67
65 Fairbanks,Alaska 47.18 29.31
roots of thesame tree. This lab- lifetimes. 70 Tromso, Norway (approx.) 33.19 23.73
75 Devon north of North America
Island, 28.90 17.96
oratory extracted the tar from Of the known satellites, the 80 Axel Heiberg Island 19.40 12.05
85 Arctic Ice north of Greenland 9.73 6.05
the whole sample and tested the ones with a very long life ex- 90 the Poles 0.00 0.00
cleaned root and the tar extract- pectancy are: Vanguard I (fired
week our science teacher point- any part of that sphere, say the
ed from it separately. The tar March 17, 1958), Tiros I (fired
ed out that the usual map, the continent of Africa, is a curved
proved to be “dead”, which April 1, 1960), Transit IIA
Mercator map, is all wrong be- surface. Ifyou flatten it out on
means that it was too old to be (fired June 22, 1960), Echo I
cause on this map the degrees paper for the purpose of making
dated by this method, or older (fired August 12, 1960), Courier
than 28,000 years. The root gave I October 4, 1960), Tiros
(fired
of longitude form parallel lines a map you have to introduce a
while, in reality, they should all distortion of some kind. Only a
an age of 14,400 plus or minus II (firedNov. 23, 1960), Explorer
come together at the poles. globe can be accurate. But if
300 years. IX (fired February 11, 1961),
These tests show that the more He also said that for this rea- you deal with a sufficiently small
Tiros III (fired July 12, 1961),
son a degree of longitude is of area, like that of a county, the
recent age estimates of the La Midas III (firedsame day as
different lengths, depending on distortion of the Mercator map
Brea Fauna were confirmed by Tiros II), Midas IV (fired Oct.
latitude. It is longest at the makes no difference. For maps
direct dating. Instead of saying 21, Transit IVB (fired
1961),
equator and has no length at all showing whole continents or
“30,000 to 50,000 years old,” one Nov. 15, 1961), Tiros IV (fired
at the poles. Now I have two oceans the Mercator map has the
should say “Between 10,000 and November 15, 1961), OSO-1
questions. If the Mercator map advantage that you can tell at a
20,000 years.” (fired March 7, 1962), 1962-
is so wrong, why is it still used? glance which place is due North
Kappa-1 (fired April 9, 1962),
And there a simple formula
is (or due South) of another. Its
If both the Soviet Union and Tiros V (fired June 19, 1962),
for calculating how long a de- directions are true, even if the
our own country stopped putting Telstar (fired July 10, 1962),
gree is in various places? dimensions are not.
satellites into orbit, how many Tiros VI (fired September 18,
Michael Stromberg There is no simple formula
of those now would still
in orbit 1962), Alouette (fired Septem-
Indianapolis, I nd. for computing the length of a
circle the earth a hundred years ber 27, 1962) and Tiros VII
from now? degree; in fact it is a fairly com-
discount the space
(I (fired June 19, 1963).
probes that are in orbit around
The Mercator map just em- plicated calculation. But I can
phasizes a problem which is give you a table, showing the
the sun.) Isaac Braunstein I am in the eighth grade and
common to all maps. The earth values for every five degrees
Brooklyn, N. Y. interested in the sciences. Last
is very nearly a sphere; hence (above). —WILLY
LEY
98 GALAXY FOR YOUR INFORAAATION 99
IF THERE
WERE NO
BENNY CEMOLI
by PHILIP K. DICK

ILLUSTRATED BY LUTJENS

They brought the peace of the

stars to ruined Earth . . . *juf
Earth had never asked for itl

campering across the un- Back on the ridge, John Le-

S plowed field the three boys
shouted as they saw the ship; it
had landed, all right, just where
they expected, and they were the
first to reach it.
“Hey, that’s the biggest I ever
saw!” Panting, the first boy
halted. “That’s not from Mars;
that’s from farther. It’s from all
the way out, I know it is.” He
became silent and afraid as he
saw the size of it. And then look-
Conte stood by his steam-power-
ed chauffeur-driven limousine,
impatiently waiting for the boil-
er to warm. Kids got there first,
he said to himself with anger.
Whereas I’m supposed to. And
the children were ragged; they
were merely farm boys.
“Is the phone working today?"
LeConte asked his secretary.
Glancing at his clipboard, Mr.
Fall said, “Yes, sir. Shall I put

ing up into the sky he realized through a message to Oklahoma

that an armada had arrived, ex- City?” He was the skinniest
actly as everyone had expected. employee ever assigned to Le-
“We better go tell,” he said to Conte’s office. The man evident-
his companions. ly took nothing for himself, was

100 GALAXY
 — .
positively uninterested in food.
And he was efficient.
LeConte murmured, “The im-
migration people ought to hear
about this outrage.”
He sighed. had all gone
It
wrong. The armada from Prox-
ima Centauri had after ten years
arrived and none of the early-
warning devices had detected it
in advance of its landing. Now
Oklahoma City would have to
deal with the outsiders here on
home ground —
a psychological
disadvantage which LeConte
keenly.
Lookat the equipment they’ve
got, he thought as he watched
the commercial ships of the flo-
tilla begin to lower their cargos.
Why, hell, they make us look
like provincials. He wished that
his official car did not need
twenty minutes to warm
wished
A ctually, he wished that
did not exist.
Centaurus Urban Renewal Bu-
reau, a do-gooding body unfor-
tunately vested with enormoqs
inter-system authority. It had
been informed of the Misadven-
ture back in 2170 and had start-
ed into space like a phototropic
organism, sensitive to the mere
physical light created by the hy-
drogen-bomb explosions. But Le-
Conte knew better than that. Ac-
tually the governing organiza-
102
tions in the Centaurian system
knew many details of the trag-
edy because they had been
radio contact with other planets
of the Sol system. Little of the
native forms on earth had sur-
vived. He himself was from
Mars; he had headed a relief
mission seven years ago, had de-
cided to stay because there were
so many opportunities here on
Earth, conditions being what
they were. . armed?”
This is all very difficult, he
felt said to himself as he stood wait-
ing for his steam-powered car to
warm. We got here first, but
CURB does outrank us;
face that awkward fact. In my
opinion, we’ve done a good job
of rebuilding. Of course, it isn’t
like it was before but ten.
years is not long. Give us anoth-
up; he er twenty and we’ll have the
trains running again.
recent road-building bonds sold
CURB quite successfully, in fact were
oversubscribed.
“Call for you, sir, from Okla-
homa City,” Mr. Fall said, hold-
ing out the receiver of the port-
able field-phone.
“Ultimate Representative in
the Field John LeConte, here,”
LeConte said into it loudly. “Go
ahead; I say go ahead.”
“This is Party Headquarters,”
the dry official voice at the oth-
er end came mixed with
faintly,
static, in his ear. “We’ve received-
”
reports from dozens of alert citi- the Council can do that and of
zens in Western Oklahoma and course it’s adamantly against
in Texas of an immense — that.”
“It’s here,” LeConte said. “I LeConte hung up the phone
can see it. I’m just about ready and hurried to his car.
to go out and confer with its
ranking members, and I’ll file a
full report at the usual time. So
D espite the opposition of the
local authorities,
CURB
Peter
it wasn’t necessary for you to Hood of decided to lo-
check up on me.” He felt irri- cate his headquarters in the
table. ruins of the old Terran capital.
“Is the armada heavily New York City. This would lend
prestige to the CURBmen as
“Naw,” LeConte said. “It ap- they gradually widened the cir-
pears to comprise bureaucrats cle of the organization’s influ-
and trade officials and commer- ence. At last, of course, the cir-
cial carriers. In other words, cle would embrace the planet.
we must vultures.” But that would take decades.
TheParty desk-man said, As he walked through the
“Well, go and make certain they ruins of what had once been a
understand that their presence major train yard, Peter Hood
. . here is resented by the native thought to himself that when the
population as well as the Relief task was done he himself would
of War-torn Areas Administrat- have long been retired. Not
And our ing Coucil. Tell them that the much remained of the pre- trag-
legislature will be called to pass edy culture here. The local au-
a special bill expressing indig- thorities —
the political nonen-
nation at this intrusion into tities who had flocked in from
domestic matters by an inter- Mars and Venus, as the neigh-
system body.” boring planets were called —
“I know, I know,” LeConte had done little. And yet he ad-
said. “It’s been all decided; I mired their efforts.
know.” To the members of his staff
His chauffeur called to him, walking directly behind him he
“Sir, your car is ready now.” said, “You know, they have done
The Party desk-man conclud- the hard part for us. We ought
ed, “Make certain they under- to be grateful. It is not easy to
stand that you can’t negotiate come into a totally destroyed
with them; you have no power area, as they’ve done.”
to admit them to Earth. Only His man Fletcher observed,
GALAXY IF THERE WERE NO BENNY CEMOLl 103
“They got back a good return.” “But it would be valuable,” munication and news-creation neers who stood waiting to de-
Hood said, “Motive is not im- Hood agreed. has been idle since. I can’t re- scend into the opening. “How
They have achieved re- “Yes,” the CURBman said. spect these politicos; it shows long it will take to revive it,
portant.
He was thinking of the
sults.” “Its outlets are scattered all over they’re ignorant of the basics of
—
how much ” He broke off.
who had met them in
official the planet; it must have had a a culture. By reviving the home- Two men in black uniforms
hissteam car; it had been sol- thousand different editions opapes we can do more to re- had Police, from the
arrived.
emn and formal, carrying com-
plicated trappings. When these
which it
many
put out
outlets
daily.
function
—” How
He
establish the pre-tragedy culture
than they’ve done in ten thou-
Security ship. One, he saw, was
Otto Dietrich, the ranking inves-
locals had first arrived on the broke off. “It’s hard to believe sand pitiful projects.” His tone tigator accompanying the arma-
scene years ago they had not that the local politicos made no was scornful. da from Centaurus, and he felt
been greeted, except perhaps by efforts to repair any of the ten Hood said, “You may misun- tense automatically; it was a re-
radiation-seared, blackened sur- or eleven world-wide homopa- derstand, but let it go. Let’s hope flex for all of them — he saw
vivors who had stumbled out of pes, but that seems to be the that the cephalon of the pape the engineers and the workmen
cellars and gaped sightlessly. He case.” is imdamaged. We
couldn’t pos- cease momentarily and then,
shivered. “Odd,” Hood said. Surely it sibly replace it.” Ahead he saw more slowly, resume their work.
Coming up to him, a CURB- would have eased their task. The the yawning entrance which the “Yes,” he said to Dietrich.
man of minor rank saluted and post-tragedy job of reuniting CURBmen crews had cleared. “Glad to see you. Let’s go off
said, “I think we’ve managed to people into a common culture This was to be his first move, to this side room and talk there.”
locate an undamaged structure depended on newspapers, ioniza- here on the ruined planet, re- He knew beyond a doubt what
in which your staff could be tion in the atmosphere making storing this immense self-con- the investigator wanted; he had
housed for the time being. It’s radio and TV reception difficult tained entity to its former au- been expecting him.
underground.” He looked em- if not impossible. “This makes thority.Once it had resumed its Dietrich said, “I won’t take up
barrassed. “Not what we had me instantly suspicious,” he said, activityhe would be freed for too much of your time. Hood. I
hoped for. We’d have to displace turning to his staff. “Are they other tasks; the homeopape know you’re quite busy. What is
the locals to get anything at- perhaps not trying to rebuild would take some of the burden this, here?” He glanced about

tractive.” after all? Is their work merely from him. curiously, his scrubbed, round,
“I don’t object,” Hood said. a pretense?” A workman, still clearing de- alert face eager.
“A basement will do.” It was his own wife Joan who bris away, muttered, “Jeez, I

“The structure,” the minor spoke up. “They may simply never saw so many layers of n a small side room, con-
CURBman said, “was once a have lacked the ability to place junk. You’d think they deliber- I verted to a temporary office,
great homeostatic newspaper, the the homeopapes on an opera- ately bottled it up down here.” Hood faced the two policemen.
New York Times. It printed tional basis.” In his hands, the suction furnace “I am opposed to prosecution,”
itself directly below us. At least, Give them the benefit of the which he operated glowed and he said quietly. “It’s been too
according to the maps. We doubt. Hood thought. You’re praunded as it absorbed material, long.Let them go.”
haven’t located the newspaper right. converting it to energy, leaving Dietrich tugging thoughtfully
yet; it was customary for the “So the last edition of the an increasingly enlarged open- “But war crimes
at his ear, said,
homeopapes to be buried a mile Times,” Fletcher said, “was put / are war crimes, even foul de-
or so down. As yet we don’t on the lines the day the Misad-^ “I’d like a report as soon as cades later. Anyhow, what argu-
know how much of this one sur- venture occurred. And the en- possible as to its condition,” ment can there be? We’re re-
vived.” tire network of newspaper com-; Hood said to the team of engi- quired by law to prosecute.

104 GALAXY IF THERE WERE NO BENNY CEMOLI 105

 J

Somebody started the war. They “You idealists,” Dietrich sigh- ented the homeostatic system, state, the newspaper had some-
may well hold positions of re- ed. “This is strictly a noble task appeared to be intact. If a ship how managed not to fall behind
sponsibility now, but that hard- confronting us ... to rebuild, were brought close by, perhaps events. Its receptors had kept
ly matters.” correct? What you don’t or its power supply could be inte- going.
“How many police troops have won’t see is that these people grated into the newspaper’s
you landed?” Hood asked. will start it all over again, one lines. Thereupon much more ~ CURB LANDS, TRIP DECADE
“Two hundred.” day, unless we take steps now. would be known. LONG, PLANS CENTRAL
“Then you’re ready to go to We owe it to future generations. “In other
words,” Fletcher ADMINISTRATION
work.” To be harsh now is the most said to Hood, as they sat with Ten years after the Misfortune of
“We’re ready to make in- humane method, in the long run. Joan eating breakfast, “it may a nuclear holocaust, the inter-sys-
Tell me. Hood. What is this site? tem rehabilitation agency, CURB,
quiries.Sequester pertinent doc- come on and it may not.Very
has made its historic appearance
uments and initiate litigation in What are you resurrecting here pragmatic. You hook it up and on Earth’s surface, landing from
the local courts. We’re prepared with such vigor?” if it works you’ve done your job. a veritable armada of craft a —
to enforce cooperation, if that’s “The New York Times,” Hood What if it doesn’t? Do the engi- sight which witnesses described as
what you mean. Various experi- said. neers intend to give up at that “overpowering both in scope and in
enced personnel have been dis- “It has, I assume, a morgue? point?”
significance.” CURBman Peter
Hood, named top co-ordinator by
tributed to key points.” Dietrich We can consult its backlog of Examining his cup. Hood said, Centaurian authorities, immed-
eyed him. “All this is necessary; information? That would prove “This tastes like authentic cof- iately set up headquarters in the
I don’t see the problem. Did you valuable in building up our fee.” He pondered. “Tell them ruins of New York City and con-
intend to protect the guilty cases.” to bring a ship in and start the ferred with aides, declaring that
parties — make use of their so- Hoood said, “I can’t deny you homeopape up. And if it begins
he had come “not to punish the
guilty but to re-estalish the plan-
called abilities on your staff?” access to material we uncover.” to print, bringme the edition at et-wide culture by every means
“No,” Hood said evenly. Smiling, Dietrich said, “A day once.” He
sipped his coffee. available, and to restore —
Dietrich said, “Nearly eighty by day account of the political An hour later a ship of the
million people died in the Mis- events leading up to the war line had landed in the vicinity Itwas uncanny. Hood thought
fortune. Can you forget that? Or would prove quite interesting. and its power source had been as he read the lead article. The
is it that since they were merely Who, for instance, held
supreme tapped for insertion into the varied news-gathering services
local people, not known to us power United States at the
in the homeopape. The conduits were of the homeopape had reached
personally — time of the Misfortune? No one placed, the circuits cautiously into his own life, had digested
“It’s not that,” Hood said. He we’ve talked to so far seems to closed. and then inserted into the lead
knew it was hopeless; he could remember.” His smile increased. Seated in his office, Peter article even the discussion be-
not communicate with the police Hood heard far underground a tween himself and Otto Dietrich.
mentality. “I’ve already stated
^ arly the next morning the low rumble, a halting, uncertain The newspaper was —
had been
my objections. I feel it serves no report from the corps of They had been success-
stirring. — doing its job. Nothing of
purpose at this late date to have engineers reached Hood in his ful. The newspaper was return- news-interest escaped it, even a
trials and hangings. Don’t re- temporary office. The power ing to life. discreet conversation carried on
quest use of my staff in this; supply of the newspaper had The edition, when it was laid with no outsiders as witnesses.
111 refuse on the grounds that I been totally destroyed. But the on his desk by a bustling CURB- He would have to be careful.
can spare no one, not even a jan- cephalon, the governing brain- man, surprised him by its ac- Sure enough, another item,
itor. Do I make myself clear?” structure which guided and ori- curacy. Even in its dormant ominous in tone, dealt with the
106 GALAXY IF THERE WERE NO BENNY CEMOLI 107

anival of the black jacks, the
police.
SECURITY AGENCY VOWS
“WAR CRIMINALS” TARGET
Captain Otto Dietrich, supreme
police investigator arriving with
the CURB armada from Proxima
Centauri, said today that those re-
sponsible for the Misfortune of a
decade ago “would have to pay
for i.heir crimes” before the bar
of Centaurian justice. Two hun-
dred
black-uniformed police, it
was learned by the Times, have al-
ready begun exploratory activi-
ties designed to — Cemoli deems “social justice and
The newspaper was warning
Earth about Dietrich, and Hood
could not help feeling grim re-
lish. The Times had not been set
up to serve merely the occupy-
ing hierarchy. It served every-
one, including
those Dietrich
intended to try. Each step of the
police activity would no doubt
be reported in full detail.
trich, who liked to work in ano-
nymity, would not enjoy this. But
the authority to maintain the
newspaper belonged to Hood.
And he did not intend to shut
it off.
One item on the first page of
the paper attracted his further
notice; he read it, frowning and
a little uneasy.
CEMOLI BACKERS RIOT
IN UPSTATE NEW YORK
Supporters of Benny Cemoli, gath-
ered in the familiar tent cities as-
108
sociated with the colorful political that it be repeated. But there on as Fletcher located the tem-
figure, clashed with local citizens was no mistake. The CURB field porary overhead fixture. “I
armed with hammers, shovels, and team had investigated through- thought I should come in and
boards, both sides claiming victory They had found no sign
in the two-hour melee which left
ly. wake you. Sorry, Mrs. Hood.”
twenty injured and a dozen hos-
whatsoever of any tent city or “I’m awake,” Hood muttered,
any group gathering. And citi-
pitalized in hastily-erected first rising from the bed and putting
aid stations. Cemoli, garbed as al- zens in the area whom they had on his robe and slippers. “What’s
ways in his toga-style red robes, interrogated had never heard of
it doing?”
visited the injured, evidently in
anyone named “Cemoli.” And Fletcher said, “It’s printing an
good spirits, joking and telling his
there was no sign of any scuffle extra.”
supporters that “it won’t be long
having taken place, no
now ” an evident reference to the first aid Sitting up, smoothing her tou-
organization's boast that it would stations, no injured persons. sled blond hair back,Joan said,
march on New York City in the Only the peaceful, semi-rural
“Good lord. What about?”
near future to establish what
countryside. Wide-eyed, she looked from her
true equality for the first time in
Baffled, Hood read the item husband to Fletcher.
world history.” It should be re- in the Times once more. There “We’ll have to bring in the
called that prior to his imprison- it was, in black and white, on
ment at San Quentin — local authorities,” Hood said.
the front page, along with the “Confer with them.” He had an
news about the landing of the intuition as to the nature of the
Flipping a switch on his in- CURB armada. What did it extra roaring through the presses
tercom system. Hood said, mean? at this moment. “Get that Le-
“Fletcher, check into activities He did not like it at all. Cone, that politico who met us
up in the north of the county. Had it been a mistake to re- on our arrival. Wake him up
Find out about some sort of a vive the great, old, damaged and fly him here immediately.
political mob gathering there.” homestatic newspaper? We need him.”
Die- Fletcher’s voice came back, “I It took almost an hour to ob-
have a copy of the Times, too, T^rom a sound sleep that tain the presence of the haughty,
sir. I see the item about this -* night Hood was awakened ceremonious local potentate and
Cemoli agitator. There’s a ship on by a clanging from far beneath his staff member. The two of
the way up there right now; the ground, an urgent racket them in their elaborate uni-
should have a report within ten that grew louder and louder as forms at last put in an appear-
minutes.” Fletcher paused. “Do he sat up in bed, blinking and ance at Hood’s office, both of
you think —
it’ll be necessary to confused. Machinery roared. He them indignant. They faced
bring in any of Dietrich’s peo- heard the heavy rumbling move- Hood silently, waiting to hear
ple?” ment as automatic circuits fitted what he wanted.
“Let’s hope not,” Hood into place, responding to in-
said In his bathrobe and slippers
shortly. structions emanating from with- Hood sat at his desk, a copy of
Half an hour later the CURB in the closed system itself. the Times’ extra before him; he
ship, through Fletcher, made its “Sir,”
Fletcher was saying was reading it once more as Le-
report. Puzzled, Hood asked from the darkness. A light came Conte and his man entered.
GALAXY IF THERE WERE NO BENNY CEMOLI 109
 NEW YORK POLICE REPORT
CEMOLI LEGIONS ON MOVE
TOWARD CITY,
BARRICADES ERECTED,
NATIONAL GUARD ALERTED
He
turned the paper, showing
the headlines to the two Earth-
men. “Who is this man?” he
said.
After a moment LeConte said,
“I — don’t know.”
Hood said, “Come on, Mr. Le-
Conte.”
“Let me read the article,” Le-
Conte He
said nervously.
scanned it in haste; his hands
trembled as he held the news-
paper. “Interesting,” he said at
last. “But I can’t tell you a thing.
It’s news to me. You must im-
derstand that our communica-
tions have been sparse, since
the Misfortune, and it’s entirely
possible that a political move-
ment could spring up without
our — Very
“Please,” Hood said.
make yourself absurd.”
Flushing, LeConte stammered,
“I’m doing the best I can, sum-
moned out of my bed in the
middle of the night.”
There was a stir, and through
the office doorway came the rap-
idly-moving figure of Otto Die-
trich, looking grim. “Hood,” he
said without preamble, “there’s
a Times kiosk near my head-
quarters. It just posted this.”
no
held up a copy of the extra. “The
matters,” Hood said to Dietrich, n a helicopter. Hood flew
damn thing is running this off I
“but I think you could reason- slowly above the terrain de-
and distributing it throughout
ably step in here.” picted in the Times articles, see-
the world, isn’t it? However, we
have crack teams up in that area
Dietrich, understanding, said, ing for himself that there was no
“I agree. You two men are under sign of political activity. He did
and they report absolutely noth-
arrest. Unless you feel inclined not feel really assured until he
ing, no road blocks, no militia-
to talk a little more freely about had seen with his own eyes that
style troops on the move, no ac-
this agitator in the red toga.” the newspaper had lost contact
tivity of any sort.”
He nodded to two of his police, with actual events. The reality
“I know,” Hood said. He felt
who stood by the office door- of the situation did not coincide
weary. And still, from beneath
them, the deep rumble contin-
way; they stepped obediently with the Times’ articles in any
forward. way; that was obvious. And yet
ued, the newspaper printing its
extra, informing the world of
As the two policemen came — the homeostatic system con-
up to him, LeConte said, “Come tinued on.
the march by Benny Cemoli’s
to think of it, there was such a Joan, seated beside him, said,
supporters on New York City — person. But —
he was very ob- “I have the third article here,
a fantasy march, evidently, a
secure.” if you want to read it.” She had
product manufactured entirely
“Before the war?” Hood been looking the latest edition
within the cephalon of the news-
asked. over.
paper itself.
“Yes.” LeConte nodded slow- “No,” Hood said.
“Shut it off,” Dietrich said.
ly. “He was a joke. As I recall, “Itsays they’re in the out-
Hood shook his head. “No. I of the city,” she said.
and it’s difficult ... a fat, igno- skirts
want to know more.”
rant clown from some back- “They broke through the police
“That’s no reason,” Dietrich
woods area. He had a little radio barricades and the governor has
said. “Obviously,
it’s defective.
station or something over which appealed for UN assistance.”
seriouslydamaged, not
he broadcast. He
peddled some Thoughtfiolly, Fletcher said,
working properly. Youll have to
“Don’t sort of anti-radiation box which “Here’s an idea. One of us, pre-
search elsewhere for your world-
you installed in your house, and ferably you. Hood, should write
wide propaganda network.” He
it made you safe from bomb-test a letter to the Times.”
tossed the newspaper down on
fallout.” Hood glanced at him.
Hood’s desk.
To LeConte, Hood said, “Was
Now his staff member Mr. “I think I can tell you exact-
Fall said, “I remember. He even ly how it should be worded,”
Benny Cemoli active before the
war?”
ran for the UN
senate. But he Fletcher said. “Make it a simple
was defeated, naturally.” inquiry. You’ve followed the ac-
There was silence. Both Le-
“And that was the last of counts in the paper about Ce-
Conte and his assistant Mr. Fall
him?” Hood asked. moli’s movement. Tell the edi-
were pale and tense; they faced
him tight-lipped, glancing at
“Oh yes,” LeConte said. “He tor — ” Fletcher paused. “That
died of Asian flu soon after. you feel sympathetic and you’d
each other. movement. Ask
He’s been dead for fifteen like to join the
He “I am not much for police the paper how.”
years.”
GALAXY
'
IF THERE WERE NO BENNY CEMOLI 111
 To himself. Hood thought. homeopape make front page use arrival of CURB, with all its ic stronghold of New York City
In other words ask the newspa- has fired my enthusiasm. How
of a letter such as this?” enormous inter-system authority
does an ordinary citizen become a
per to put me in touch with Ce- Obviously Fletcher had not and power? Surely the homeo- part of this history in the mak-
moli. He had to admire Fletch- thought of that; he looked cha- pape, before long, would have ing? Please inform me at once,
er’s idea. It was brilliant, in a grined. “I suppose we had better to face the incongruity. as I am eager to join Cemoli and
crazy sort of way. It was as if get someone else to sign it,” he One of the two accounts would endure the rigors and triumphs
Fletcher had been able to match admitted. “Some minor person with the others.
have to cease but Hood had
. . .
Cordially,
the derangement of the newspa- attached to your staff.” He add- an uneasy intuition that a home- Rudolf Fletcher
per by a deliberate shift from ed, “I could sign it myself.” opape which had dreamed for a
common sense on his own part. Handing him the letter back. decade would not readily give Beneath the letter, the home-
He would participate in the Hood said, “Do so. It’ll be in- up its fantasies. opape had given an answer;
newspaper’s delusion. Assuming teresting to see what response, Perhaps, he thought, the news Hood read it rapidly.
there was a Cemoli and a march if any, there Letters to the
is.” CURB and task of
of us, of its
on New York, he was asking a editor, he thought. Letters to a rebuilding Earth, will fade from Cemoli’s stalwarts maintain a re-
reasonable question. vast, complex, electronic orga- the pages of the Times, will be cruiting office in downtown New
Joan said, “I don’t want to nism buried deep in the ground, York; address, 460 Bleekman St.,
given a steadily decreasing cov-
sound stupid, but how does one responsible to no one, guided
New York 32. You might apply
erage each day, farther back in there, if the >oliee haven’t cracked
go about mailing a letter to a solely by its own ruling circuits. the paper. And at last only the down on these quasi-legal activ-
homeopape?” How would it react to this ex- exploits of Benny Cemoli will ities, in view of the current crisis.
“I’ve looked into that,” Fletch- ternal ratification of delu-
its remain.
er said. “At each kiosk set Up sion? Would the newspaper be was not a pleasant anticipa- Touching a button on his desk.
It
by the paper there’s a letter- snapped back to reality? Hood opened the direct line to
tion. It disturbed him deeply. As
slot, next to the coin-slot where It was, he thought, as if the if, he thought, we are only real
police headquarters. When he
you pay for your paper. It was newspaper, during these years of had the chief investigator, he
so long as the Times writes about
the law, when the homeopapes its enforced silence, had been us; as if we were dependent for said, “Dietrich, I’d like a team
were set up originally, decades dreaming, and now, reawakened, of your men; we have a trip to
our existence on it.
ago. All we need is your hus- it had allowed portions of its make and there may be diffi-
band’s signature.” Reaching in- former dreams to materialize in culties.”
'^wenty-four hours later, in
to his jacket, he brought out an its pages along with its accurate, After a pause Dietrich said
its regular edition, the
envelope. “The letter’s written.” perceptive accounts of the actual drily,“So it’s not all noble re-
Times printed Fletcher’s letter.
Hood took the letter, ex- situation. A blend of figments clamation after all. Well, we’ve
In print it struck Hood as flimsy
amined it. So we desire to be
part of the mythical fat clown’s
and sheer, stark reporting. and contrived — surely the already dispatched a man to
Which ultimately would tri- homeopape could not be taken keep an eye on the Bleek-
throng, he said to himself. umph? Soon, evidently, the un- man Street address. I admire
in by it, and yet here it was. It
“Won’t there be a headline read- folding story of Benny Cemoli your letter scheme. It may have
had managed to pass each of the
ingCURB CHIEF JOINS would have the toga-wearing steps in the pape’s processing. done the trick.” He chuckled.
MARCH ON EARTH CAPI- spellbinder in New York; it ap- Shortly, Hood and four black-
TAL?” he asked Fletcher, feel- peared that the march would uniformed Centaurian police-
Dear Editor;
ing a trace of wry amusement. succeed. And what then? How Your coverage of the heroic men flew by ’copter above the
“Wouldn’t a good, enterprising could this be squared with the inarch on the decadent plutocrat- ruins of New York City, search-

112 GALAXY IF THERE WERE NO BENNY CEMOLI 113

ing for the remains of what had to greet them with civility: he owner’s son at work, that’s all. Turning to his subordinates,
once been Bleekman Street. By was not afraid of them. Lifting the lid of a carton Hood
the police captain gave a series
the use of a map they managed “Gentlemen,” the Greek gro- peered inside. Cans of peaches. of orders. From the ship, equip-
after half an hour to locate them- cery store owner said, bowing And beside that a crate of let- ment was dragged, through the
selves. slightly. “What can I do for tuce. He tore off a leaf, feeling store, to the closet; a controlled
“There,” the police captain in you?” His eyes roved specula- futile and — disappointed. whine arose as the police began
charge of the team said, point- tively over the black Centaurian The police captain said to him the task of cutting into the
ing. “That would be it, that police uniforms, but he showed a low voice,
wood
in “Nothing, sir.” and plaster.
building used as a grocery store.” no expression, no reaction. “I see that,” Hood said, irri- Pale, the Greek said, “This is
The ’copter began to lower. Hood said, “We’ve come to tably.
outrageous. I will sue.”
It was a grocery store, all arrest a political agitator. You A door to the right, led to a “Right,” Hood agreed. “Take
right. Hood saw no signs of politi- have nothing to be alarmed closet. Opening it, he saw us to court.” Already a portion
cal activity, no persons loiter- about.” He started toward the brooms and a mop, a galvanized of the wall had given way. It
ing, no flags or banners. And grocery store; the team of police boxes of detergents.
pail, And inward with a crash,
yet — something ominous seem- followed, their side arms drawn. There were drops of paint on
fell
bits of rubble spilled down on-
and
ed to lie behind the common- “Political agitation here?” the floor.
the Greek said. “Come on. It is
to the floor. A white cloud of
place scene below, the bins of The some time recently
closet, dust rose, then settled.
vegetables parked out on the impossible.” He hurried after had been repainted when he It was not a large room which
sidewalk, the shabby women in tliem, panting, alarmed now. bent down and scratched with Hood saw in the glare of the
long cloth coats who stood pick- “What have I done? Nothing at his nail he found the paint still police flashlights. Dusty, with-
ing over the winter potatoes, the all; you can look around. Go tacky.
out windows, smelling stale and
elderly proprietor with his ahead.” He held open the door Look
at this,” he said, beck- ancient the room had not
. . .

white cloth apron sweeping with of the store, ushering them in- oning the police captain over.
been inhabited for a long, long
his broom. It was too natural, side. “See right away for your- The Greek,nervously, said, time, he realized as he warily
too easy. It was too ordinary. self.” 'What’s the matter, gentlemen?
entered. It was empty. Just an
“Shall we land?” the police “That’s what we intend to You find something dirty and
abandoned storeroom of some
captain asked him. do,” said. He moved with
Hood report to the board of health, is kind, its wooden walls scaling
“Yes,” Hood said. “And be agility,wasting no time on the that it? Customers have com- and dingy. Perhaps before the
ready.” conspicuous portions of the plained — tell me the truth, Misfortune the grocery store had
The proprietor, seeing them store; he strode directly on please. Yes, it is fresh paint.
We possessed a larger inventory.
land in the street before his through. keep everything spick and span.
More stocks had been available
grocery store, laid his broom Isn t that in the public
interest?” then, but now this room was not
carefully toone side and walked ^T'he back room lay ahead, Running his hands across the needed. Hood moved about,
toward them. He was. Hood saw, the warehouse with its car- wall of the broom closet,
the flashing his beam of light up to
a Greek. He had a heavy mus- tons of cans, cardboard boxes policecaptain said quietly, “Mr. the ceiling and then down to the
tache and slightly wavy gray stacked up on every side. A Hood, there was a doorway here.
floor. Dead flies, entombed here
hair, and he gazed at them with young boy was busy making a Sealed up now, very recently.”
. . . and, he saw, a few live ones
innate caution, knowing at once stock inventory; he glanced up, He looked expectantly toward
which crept haltingly in the
that they did not intend him startled, as they entered. Noth- Hood, awaiting instructions. dust.
any good. Yet he had decided ing here. Hood thought. The Hood said, “Let’s go in.” “Remember,” the police cap-
114 GALAXY IF THERE WERE NO BENNY CEMOLI 115
 —

tain said, “it was boarded up out of sight; it had slipped Ahe spread the picture out
s
a lot to the pape. They over-
just now, within the last three down farther and farther. Now on his desk. Hood thought. looked it or weren’t able to get
days. Or at least the painting was Hood took hold of it and care- merely a fantasy of the
It isn’t to it. Probably they were work-
just now done, to be absolutely fully drew it out. Back up the Times. We know the truth now. ing in such haste; they couldn’t
accurate about it.” way it had come. The man is real and twenty-four think of everything, even in ten
“These flies. Hood said. The Greek shuddered. hours ago this portrait of him years. It must be hard to obit-
“They’re not even dead yet.” So It was. Hood saw, a picture. hung on a wall, in plain sight. erate every surviving detail of a
it had not even been three days. A heavy, middle-aged man with It would still be there this mo-
planet-wide political movement,
Probably the boarding-up had loose jowls stained black by the ment, if CURB had not put in especially when its leader man-
been done yesterday. grained beginnings of a beard, its appearance. We frightened aged to seize absolute power in
What had this room been used frowning, his lips set in defiance. them. The Earth people have a the final phase.”
{or? He turned to the Greek, A big man, wearing some kind lot to hide from us, and they “Impossible to obliterate,”
who had come after them, still of uniform. Once this picture know it. They are taking steps, Hood said. A closed-off store-
tense and pale, his dark eyes had hung on the wall and people rapidly and effectively, and we room the back of a Greek
in
flickering rapidly with concern. had come here and looked at it, will be lucky if we can grocery store that was
. . .

This is a smart man. Hood real- paid respect to it. He knew who Interrupting his thoughts, enough to tell us what we needed
We get out of it was. This was Benny Cemoli, Joan said, “Then the Bleekman
ized. will little to know. Now Dietrich’s men
him. at the height of his political ca- Street address really was a meet- can do the rest. If Cemoli is
At the far end of the store- reer, the leader glaring bitterly ing place for them. The pape alive they will eventually find
who had
room
picked
the police
out
flashlights
a cabinet, empty
at the followers
ed here. So this was the man.
gather- was correct.”
“Yes,” Hood said.
him, and if he’s dead they’ll —
be hard to convince, knowing
shelves of rough wood.
bare, No wonder the Times showed “Where he now?”
is
Dietrich. They’ll never stop
Hood walked toward it. such alarm. I wish we knew. Hood thought.
looking now.
“Okay,” the Greek said thick- To the Greek grocery store “Has Dietrich seen the pic- “One good thing about this,”
ly, swallowing. “I admit it. We owner, Hood said, holding up ture yet?”
Joan said, “is that now a lot of
have kept bootleg gin stored the picture, “Tell me. Is this “Not yet,” Hood said. innocent people will be off the
here. We became scared. You familiar you?”
to Joan said, “He was responsi-
Centaurians
—” lookedHe “No, no,” the Greek said. He ble for the war and Dietrich is
hook. Dietrich won’t go around
prosecuting them. He’ll be busy
around at them all with fear. wiped perspiration from his face going to find it out.” tracking down Cemoli.”
“You’re not like our local with a large red handkerchief. “No one man,” Hood said, True, Hood thought. And that
bosses; we know them, they un- “Certainly not.” But obviously, “could solely be responsible.” was important. The Centaurian
derstand us. You! You can’t be it was. “But he figured largely,” Joan police would be thoroughly oc-
reached. But we have to make Hood said, “You’re a follower said. “That’s why theyr’ve gone
cupied for a long time to come,
a living.” He spread his hands, of Cemoli, aren’t you?” to so much effort to eradicate
and that was just as well for
appealing to them. There was silence. all traces of his existence.” everyone, including CURB and
From behind the cabinet the “Take him along,” Hood said Hood nodded. itsambitious program of recon-
edge of something protruded. to the police captain. “And let’s “Without the Times,” she said, struction.
Barely visible, it might never start back.” He walked from the ‘Svould we ever have guessed If there had never been a
have been noticed. A paper room, carrying the picture with that such a political figure as Benny Cemoli, he thought sud-
which had fallen there, almost him. Benny Cemoli existed? We owe denly, it would almost have been
116 GALAXY IF THERE WERE NO BENNY CEMOLI
117
necessary to invent him. An odd picture you have — I haven’t Hood said,
to prosecute him, I hope.”
“You’re not going He, too, could hardly wait.
thought ... he wondered how it seen it, of course, but Stavros,
“Oh, no. He’s simply a source
had happened to come to him. our Greek gentleman, told me Tn downtown Oklahoma City,
Again he examined the picture, about it —that portrait is ac-
of information. When he’s
us all he has on
told John LeConte put a coin in-
much as pos- tually obsolete in the sense that
his mind we’ll fhe slot of the kiosk which
trying to infer as let him go back
several more recent ones have to his onions
sible about the man from this
and canned apple sauce. He’s
the Times had long ago estab-
flatlikeness. How had Cemoli been in vogue among the faith- lished there. The copy of the
harmless.”
sounded? Had he gained power ful for some time now. Stavros Times, latest extra slid out, and
“Did Cemoli survive the war?”
through the spoken word, like hung onto it for sentimental rea- he picked it up and read the
“Yes,”
Dietrich said. “But
so many demagogues before sons. It reminded him of the old headline briefly, spending only
that was ten years ago. Stavros
him. And his writing . . . May- days. Later on when the Move- a moment on it to verify the es-
doesn’t know if the man' is still
be some of it would turn up. Or ment grew in strength, Cemoli sentials. Then he crossed the
alive now. Personally I think
even tap recordings of speeches stopped showing up at the gro- he sidewalk and stepped once more
is, and we’ll go on
cery store, and the Greek lost that assump-
he had made, the actual sound tion until it’s proved false.
into the rear seat of his chauf-
of the man. And perhaps video out in any personal contact with We feur-driven steam car.
have to.”
tapes as well. Eventually it him. He continued to be a loyal Mr. F all said circumspectly.
Hood thanked him and hung
would all come to light; it was dues-paying member, but it be- Sir, here
is the primary ma-
up.
only a question of time. And came abstract for him.”
As he turned from the phone
terial, you wish to make a
if

then we will be able to experi- “What about the war?” Hood word-by-word comparison.” The
he heard, beneath him, the low,
ence for ourselves how it was asked.
dull rumbling. The homeopape
secretary held out the folder,
to live under the shadow of such “Shortly before the war Ce- and LeConte accepted it.
had once more started into life.
a man, he realized. moli seized power in a coup The car started up.
W^ithout
“It’s not a regular edition,”
The line from Dietrich’s of- here in North America, through being told, the chauffeur drove
Joan said, quickly consulting her
fice buzzed. He picked up the a march on New York City, dur- in the direction of Party
head-
wristwatch. “So it must be an-
phone. ing a severe economic depres- quarters. LeConte leaned back,
other extra. This is
“We have the Greek here,” sion. Millions were unemployed exciting, lit a cigar and made himself
having it happen like this;
Dietrich said. “Under drug- and he drew a good deal of sup- I comfortable.
can’t wait to read
guidance he’s made a number of port from them. He tried to the front On his lap, the newspaper
page.”
admissions; you may be inter- solve the economic problems blazed up its enormous head-
What has Benny Cemoli done
ested.” through aggressive foreign
an lines.
—
attacked several Latin
now? Hood wondered. Accord-
“Yes,” Hood said. policy
ing to the Times, in its mis-
American republics which were CEMOLI ENTERS COALITION
phased chronicling of the man’s
UN GOVERNMENT;
D ietrich
he’s
said,
been
“He
follower for
a
seventeen years, a real old-timer
tells us in the sphere of influence of the
Chinese. That seems to be it, but
Stavros is a bit hazy about the
epic
ing
. .

place
. what stage, actually tak-
years ago, has now
TEMPORARY CESSATION OP
hostilities
been reached? Something
in the Movement. They met big picture we’ll have to fill
. . .
cli-
matic, deserving of an extra. It
twice a week in the back of his in more from other enthusiasts To his secretary, LeConte said,
will be interesting, no doubt of
grocery store, in the early days as we go along. From some of “My phone, please.”
that. The Times knows what “Yes
when the Movement was small the younger ones. After all, this is sir.” Mr. Fall handed
fit to print.
and relatively powerless. That one is over seventy years old.” him the portable field-phone.

118
GALAXY
119
 in the tattered textbook, crude-
“But we’re almost there. And it’s
a bombastic, threatening quality to complete, isn’t discovered.
you don’t ly, as if a pupil had done it; Or
always possible, if ... I must admit I enjoyed it.” doesn’t collapse.
mind my pointing it out, that And meanwhile, LeConte The steam car parked in the
they may have tapped us some- DOWN WITH CEMOLI thought, there are no war-crimes reserved space before Party
where along the line.”
Or was that going too far? No,
trials. We
who were leaders dur- headquarters; the chauffeur
“They’re busy in New York,” ing the war, on Earth and on came around to open the door,
LeConte said. “Among the he decided. There would be re-
Certainly of the spon-
Mars, we who held responsible and LeConte got leisurely out,
ruins.” In an area that hasn’t
sistance.
taneous, school boy variety. He
posts — we are safe, at least for stepping forth into the light of
mattered as long as I can re- a while. And perhaps it will be day, with no feeling of anxiety.
member, he said to himself. added
forever. our strategy contin-
If He tossed his cigar into the gut-
However, possibly Mr. Fall’s ues to work. And if our tunnel ter and then sauntered across
advice was good; he decided to WHERE ARE THE ORANGES?
to the cephalon of the homeo- the sidewalk, into the familiar
skip the phone call. “What do pape, which took us five years building. — PHILIP K. DICK
Peering over his shoulder,
you think of this last item?” he
Mr. Fall said, “What does that
asked his secretary, holding up
the newspaper.
mean?”
“Cemoli promises oranges to
“Very success-deserving,” Mr.
Fall said, nodding.
the youth,” LeConte explained. LULLABY: 1990
Opening his briefcase, Le- “Another empty boast which the Sleep now, little one, fortunate child.
revolution never fulfills. That (Summer
Conte brought out a tattered, follow spring and winter follow fall.)
coverless textbook. It had been was Stavros’ idea ... he being a When you were born the kind gods smiled.
grocer. A nice touch.” Giving it, Sleep, perfect little one, superior to all.
manufactured only an hour ago,
and it was the next artifact to he thought, just that much more
semblance of verisimilitude. It’s Some have three eyes and some have one.
be planted for the invaders from
the little touches that have done (Dawn follow dark and dark follow day.)
Proxima Centaurus to discover. Some have many legs and others have none;
This was his own contribution, it.
some live a little while and then waste away.
and he was personally quite “Yesterday,” Mr . Fall said,

proud of it. The book outlined “when I was at Party headquar-

Some are hair covered, head to toe.
in massive detail Cemoli’s pro- heard an audio tape that
ters, I (War follow hate and the bomb follow after.)
gram of social change; the rev- had been made. Cemoli address- Some are giants and some never grow.
depicted in language ing the UN. It was uncanny; Sleep, perfect
olution
comprehensible to school chil- you didn’t know — if little one, to your mother’s laughter.

dren. “Who did they get to do it?” Some eat flesh and some eat grasses.
LeConte asked, wondering why (Men still love and still
get married.)
“May I ask,” Mr. Fall said,
Tentacled lads and two headed lasses
“if the Party hierarchy intends he hadn’t been in on it.
lie in the alley-ways, yet unburied.
for them to discover a corpse?” “Some nightclub entertainer
“Eventually,” LeConte said. here in Oklahoma City. Rather Sleep now, little one, fortunate child.
“But that will be several months obscure, of course. I believe he (Summer follow spring and winter follow fall.)
from now.” Taking a pencil specializes in all sorts of char- When you were born the kind gods smiled.
from his coat pocket he wrote acterizations. The fellow gave it Sleep, little one, who will never wake at all.
Sheri S. Eberhart
120 GALAXy
121
 science, and philosophy”) and multifarious. One could not
ends with a more-in-sorrow-than- want a more detailed and fasci-
in-anger implication that sf has nating accoimt of the birth and
lost direction and ceased to growth of what is certainly one
evolve: “Suave writing (has) of the most interesting forms of
diluted most of the “sense of expression ever to strike this or
wonder” in science fiction. The any other planet. From the sci-
‘documentary,’ too close to the entific dreams of Cyrano to the
present to allow for any imagi- beauty of Dejah Thoris, from
nation, (has) rinsed out most of the influence of the legendary
what remained.” In between is Golem on robot stories to the
prose with the delicacy of a battle of the behemoths, where-
Caterpillar D-8 —
no insult, real- in Otis Adelbert Kline took on
ly, for we have much respect for Edgar Rice Burroughs, with
Mr. Caterpillars’ products. epics as weapons: from the very
The above quotes and citations well-written exposition of M. P.
are legitimate examples of a Shiel’s truly vicious anti-Semi-
man’s legitimate opinions. What tism to the extraordinary career
makes one carp a little is the of the almost-unknown Lu Sena-
air of positiveness with which rens, author of most of the Frank
they are presented. One would Reade, Jr. series —
there is
be happier if, say, the words In hardly a page of this remarkable
my opinion were run as a
. . book which will not yield you
sort of subtitle on the dedication an astonishment, a revelation or
page — a good position for it, at at the very least as well, whad-
THE INFINITE MOSKOWIH that, for there’s no question that daye know!” Some of the aston-
^T^he man named Sam the On the theory that it is point- the man isdedicated to just that. ishments involve names that you
Mosk, this milennium’s less to apply unguents until we And it is unfair to pick at a work may never have associated with
Stentor, who gossips like an auc- have a patient, leave us first lay of scholarship as if scholarship science fiction before —
Fitz-
tioneer,whose impact (if not in- about us. Sam Moskowitz begins should have conferred grace, just James O’Brien, for one, and Ed-
fluence) on fandom (if not sci- the book with the world’s knob- as it is unfair to pick at a grace- ward Everett Hale. And some of
ence fiction) is without compar- biest definition of science fic- ful work for its lack of scholar- the examinations —
for example,
ison (“He stamped about the tion (“. . . a branch of fantasy ship. If the criterion is did : that of Philip Wylie, and of
Convention,” wrote a fan, “drop- identifiable by the fact that it the author achieve his aims? Olaf Stapledon —
have a style
ping his own name,”) has pro- eases the ‘willing suspension of then on the one hand Shake- and depth quite transcending
duced a book which is an in- disbelief’ on the part of its read- speare did, for all his lack of all criticism of ham-handedness.
group landmark, and in many a ers by utilizing an atmosphere science, and so did Moskowitz, In view of our remarks above
sequence can be accused not of scientific credibility for its for all his lack of poetry. And concerning a man’s right to his
only with indefatigability but imaginative speculations in phys- here end the kicks. own choices and conclusions,
with downright scholarship. ical science, space, time, social The kudos is heartfelt and what follows is not a complaint.
122 GALAXY j FIVE STAR SHELF 123
We must, however, record our
disappointment in seeing no
mention of certain writers who
have been, personally, profoimd-
ly influential — so much so that
it would be hard for us (again,
personally) to imagine science
fiction without them. They are
Budrys, Shute, Tenn, Vonnegut,
Vercors and Tom Godwin, each
of whom has inspired and in-
structed your correspondent.
But certainly every writer in the
field could compose a similar
list, and it would be no discredit
to Mr. Moskowitz, for each of
us has a different opinion (some-
times differing a little, some-
times drastically) of what sci-
ence fiction is. In sum, no one
has surveyed the roots of sf as
well as Mr, M. probably no one
;
ever will; prossibly, no one else
can.
The book is published by
World, costs $6 (and is worth it)
has 353 pages and includes a
pretty good index. Ask for Ex-
plorers oi the Infinite, Shapers
of Science Fiction, by Sam Mos-
kowitz.
— THEODORE STURGEON
OTHER NEW BOOKS
n The World of Flying Saucers
I (Doubleday), Donald H.
IVenzel and Lyle G. Boyd have
gone to great lengths to track
down all the surviving evidence
surrounding every recorded UFO
124
“sighting” of the period of the
Great Saucer Craze. There is no
doubt that at this time a number
of people saw things they
couldn’t account for and, in
good faith, attempted to explain
them in terms of extra-terrestrial
visitors. There is even less doubt
that in the wake of these early
sightings there sprang up a rank
growth of lunatics and publicity-
hounds, buck-hustlers and frauds
who by their clamor and obvious
unreliability discredited not only
their own claims but those of all
the others. Dr. Menzel and Mrs.
Boyd have patiently gone over
every single case, preposterous
or not, and they, present their
findings here, without passion
but with candor and touches of
wit. What it all comes down
is that the case for flying sauc-
mostly on the words of
ers rests
observers describing what they
saw —
or thought they saw, or
claimed to see buttressed to—
some degree by a few smudged
photographs and a scattering of
physical objects described
their discoverers as of off-Earth
origin. Many exhibits in
category are demonstrably fakes.
The best that can be said of the
remaining photographs and speci-
mens is that they are ambiguous.
As to the eyewitness reports,
there are many by persons whose
statements deserve careful at-
tention; but in essentially every
GALAXY
such case the authors have been about these critics is well said,
able to show the existence, either but they say it twice; the first
as a matter of record or as at time is as a two-line rubric on the
least a reasonable probability, dedication page of the volume:
all of some other conspicuous phe- “S/’s no good,” they bellow
nomenon —
star, planet, cloud, till we’re deaf.
plane, weather ballon or optical “But this looks good.” “Well,
effect — which might easily have then, it’s not sf.”
been mistaken for a UFO. True,
the fact that an observer might When we published Jack
have been mistaken is a long way Vance’s The Dragon Masters
from proof that he was mistaken. here a year or so ago, it was re-
The authors point out, however, ceived with considerable delight,
that if these other phenomena are not only for its own considerable
not what the sighters saw, it is merits but because of the fine
at least interesting that they Gaughan illustrations that
didn’tmention these things when adorned it. Now in book form
they were in the very part of the (Ace), the publishers have kept
sky where the sighters reported Gaughan on to do its cover, which
“unidentified” objects. The auth- is again a handsome job. The
ors .conclude, rather regretfully, story remains what it was: one
that while there are grounds for of the best sf stories to appear
to
believing that intelligent life an 3Twhere in the past half-dozen
may exist off-Earth and may at
years. This is a double volume:
any moment come calling on us, the other half is an earlier, but
“No evidence yet found indicates well worthwhile, Vance science-
such visits have begun.” And so fiction adventure story called
we end an age .. . The Five Gold Bands Read- . . .
ers of our companion magazine.
by In Spectrum II (Harcourt, If, will be pleased by another
Brace & World), Kingsley Amis new Ace book, or at least by half
each and Robert Conquest put to- of it: six of Keith Laumer’s
gether an anthology of familiar Retief stories, collected under
but first-rate stories by Wyman the title of Envoy to New Worlds.
Guin, James Blish, Philip K. The other half of the book is
Dick, Isaac Asimov and others, Flight from Yesterday, by Rob-
and present them with a thought- ert Moore Williams, which brings
ful introduction berating those some Atlanteans to the 20th cen-
critics who reflexively damn all tury for assorted adventures, with
science fiction. What they say mixed effect. — FP
FIVE STAR SHELF 125
 AND AIL THE EARTH
There's nothing
dying
had the proper
Tt all began when the new
bookkeeping machine of a
large Midwestern coffin manu-
facturer slipped a cog, or blew
a transistor, or something. It was
fantastic that the error —
one of
two decimal places —
should en-
joy a straight run of okays, hu-
man and mechanical, clear down
the line; but when the figures
clacked out at the last clacking-
out station, there it was. The fig-
ures were now sacred; immuta-
ble; and it is doubtful whether
the President of the concern or
the Chairman of the Board
would have dared question them
— even if either of those two
gentlemen had been in town.
As for the Advertising Man-
ager, the last thing he wanted
to do was question them. He
carried them (they were the
budget for the coming fiscal
year) into his office, staggering
a little on the way, and dropped
dazedly into his chair.
126
A GRAVE were ready to get into it. For
amorous young men, and some
not so young, the message was
wrong with by C. C. MacAPP plain. The motto, “The Gift That
— Will Last More Than a Life-
it just hasn't ever
time”. seemed hardly to the
saies pitch! ILLUSTRATED
point.
BY GAUGHAN
Those at home were assailed
on TV with a variety of bright
showed the budget for his own bore them out. Gift
retail figures and clever skits of the same im-
department as exactly one hun- buying dribbled along feebly im- port. Some of them hinted that,
dred times what he’d been ex- til Thanksgiving, despite brave if the young lady’s gratitude
pecting. That is to say, fifty speeches by the Administration. were really precipitous, and the
times what he’d put in for. The holiday passed more in self- bedroom too far away, the cof-
When the initial shock began pity than in thankfulness among fin might be comfy.
to wear off, his face assumed an owners of gift-oriented busi- Of course the more settled ele-
expression of intense thought. In nesses. ments of the population were not
about five minutes he leaped Then, on Friday following neglected. For the older married
from his chair, dashed out of the Thanksgiving, the coffin ads man, there was a blow directly
office with a shouted syllable or struck. between the eyes: “Do You
two for his secretary, and got Struck may be too mild a Want Your Widow to Be Half-
his car out of the parking lot. At word. People on the streets saw Safe?” And, for the spinster
home, he tossed clothes into a feverishly-working crews (at without immediate hopes, “/
travelling bag and barged to- holiday rates!)- slapping up post- Dreamt I Was Caught Dead
ward the door, giving his wife ers on billboards. The first post- Without My Virginform Cas-
a quick kiss and an equally quick er was a dilly. A toothy and ket!”.
explanation. He didn’t bother to toothsome young woman leaned Newspapers, magazines and
call the airport. He meant to be over a coffin she’d been unwrap- every other medium added to
on the next plane east, and no ping. She smiled as if she’d just the assault, never letting it cool.
nonsense about it. . received overtures of matrimony It was the most horrendous cam-
from an eighty-year-old billion- paign, for sheer concentration,
TXrith one thing and another, aire. There was a Christmas tree that had ever battered at the
^ ^
the economy hadn’t been in the background, and the cof- public mind. The public reeled,
exactly in overdrive that year, fin was appropriately wrapped. blinked, shook its head to clear
and predictions for the Christ- So was she. She looked as if it, gawked, and rushed out to
They mas season were gloomy. Early had just gotten out of bed, or buy.
GALAXY AND ALL THE EARTH A GRAVE 127
 'ihristmas was not going to
C ^ be a failure after all. De-
partment store managers who
had, grudgingly and under
strong sales pressure, made space
for a single coffin somewhere at
the rear of the store, now rushed
to the telephones like touts with
a direct pronouncement from a
horse. Everyone who possibly
could got into the act. Grocery
supermarkets put in casket de-
partments. The Association of
Pharmaceutical Retailers, who
felt they had some claim to pri-
ority, tried to get court injunc-
tions tokeep caskets out of serv-
but were unsuccess-
ice stations,
ful because the judges were all
out buying caskets. Beauty par-
lors showed real ingenuity in
merchandising. Roads and
streets clogged with delivery
trucks, rented trailers, and what-
ever else could haul a coffin.
The Stock Market went com-
pletely mad. Strikes were de-
clared and settled within hours.
Congress was called into session
early. The President got author-
ity to ration lumber and other
materials suddenly in starvation-
short supply. State laws were
passed against cremation, under
heavy lobby pressure. A new
racket, called boxjacking, blos-
somed overnight.
The Advertising Manager who
had put the thing over had been
fighting with all the formidable
128
weapons o( his breed to make
his plant managers build up a
stockpile. They had, but it went
like a toupee in a wind tunnel.
Competitive coffin manufactur-
ers were caught napping, but by
Wednesday after Thanksgiving
they, along with the original
one, were on a twenty-four hour,
seven-day basis. Still only a frac-
tion of the demand could be met.
Jet passenger planes were
stripped of their seats, supplied
with Yankee gold, and sent to
plunder the world of its coffins.
It might be supposed that
Christmas goods other than cas-
kets would take a bad dumping.
That was not so. Such was the
upsurge of prosperity, and such
was the shortage of coffins, that
nearly everything — with a few
exceptions — enjoyed the biggest
season on record.
On Christmas Eve the frenzy
slumped to a crawl, though on
Christmas morning there were
still optimists out prowling the
empty stores. The nation sat
down to breathe. Mostly it sat
on coffins, because there wasn’t
space in the living rooms for
any other furniture.
There was hardly an individ-
ual in the United States who
didn’t have, in case of sudden
sharp pains in the chest, several
boxes to choose from. As for the
rest of the world, it had better
not die just now or it would be
literally a case of dust to dust.
O f course everyone expected
a doozy of a slump
Christmas. But our Advertising
Manager, who by now was
course Sales Manager and First
Vice President also, wasn’t set-
tling for any boom-and-bust.
He’d been a frustrated victim of
his choice of industries for so
many years that now, with his
teeth in something, he was going
to give it the old bite. He gave
people a short breathing spell to
arrange their coffin
and move the presents out
front rooms. Then, late in Jan-
uary, his new campaign came
down like a hundred-megaton-
ner.
Within a week, everyone saw
quite clearly that his Christmas
models were now obsolete. The
coffin became the new
symbol.
The auto industry was of
course demolished. Even people
who had enough money to buy
a new car weren’t going to trade
in the old one and let the new
one stand out in the rain. The
garages werefull of coffins. Pe-
troleum went along with Autos.
(Though there were those who
whispered knowingly that the
same people merely moved over
the new industry. It was
into
noticeable that the center of it
became Detroit.) A few trucks
130
and buses were still being
but that was all.
Some new caskets were
after
of the
true works of art. Others —
well,
there was variety. Compact mod-
of els appeared, in which the occu-
pant’s feet were .to be doubled
up alongside his ears. One manu-
facturer pushed a circular mod-
el, claiming that by all the laws
of nature the foetal position was
the only right one. At the other
extreme were virtual houses, or-
nate and lavishly equipped. Pos-
sibly the largest of all was the
payments “Togetherness” model, triangu-
of the lar, with graduated recesses for
Father, Mother, eight children
(plus two playmates), and, in
the far corner beyond the baby,
the cat.
The slump was over.
economists swore that the new
boom couldn’t last either. They
status reckoned without the Advertis-
ing Manager, whose eyes gleam-
ed brighter all the time. People
already had coffins, which they
polished and kept on display,
sometimes in the new “Coffin-
ports” being added to houses.
The Advertising Manager’s rea-
soning was direct and to the
point. He must get people to use
the coffins; and now he had all
the money to work with that
he could use.
The new note was woven in so
gradually that it is not easy to
put a finger on any one ad and
GALAXY
built, say, “It began here.” One of the Grant Avenue in San Francisco.
first was surely the widely-print- They died with highly intellec-
ed one showing a tattooed, smil-
ing young man with his chin
thrust out manfully, lying in a
and eventually
tual expressions,
were washed by the gentle rain.
Of course there were voices
coffin. He wasrugged-looking shouting calamity. When aren’t
and likable (not too rugged for there? But in the long run, and
the spindly-limbed to identify not a very long one at that, they
with) and he oozed, even though availed naught.
obviously dead, virility at every
pore. He was probably the finest- Tt isn’t hard imagine the
to
looking corpse since Richard
reactions of the rest of the
the Lion-Hearted. world. So let us imagine a few.
Neither must one overlook the The Communist Block immed-
singing commercials. Possibly ately gave its Stamp of Disap-
the catchiest of these, a really proval, denouncing the move-
cute little thing, was achieved by ment as a filthy Capitalist Im-
jazzing up the Funeral March. Pig plot. Red China,
perialist
It started gradually, and it was which had been squabbling with
all so un-violent that few saw it Russia for some time about a
as suicide. Teen-agers began hav- matter of method, screamed for
Still, ing “Popping-off parties”. Some immediate war. Russia exposed
of their elders protested a as patent stupidity, saying
little, this
but adults were taking it up too. that if the Capitalists wanted to
The tired, the unappreciated, die, warring upon them would
the ill and the heavy-laden lay only help them. China surrepti-
down in growing numbers and tiously tried out the thing as an
expired. A black market in poi- answer to excess population, and
sons operated for a little while, found
it good. It also appealed
but soon pinched out. Such was to the well-known melancholy
the pressure of persuasion that
facet of Russian nature. Besides,
few needed artificial aids. The after pondering for several days,
boxes were very comfortable. the Red Bloc decided it could
People just closed their eyes and not affort to fall behind in any-
exited smiling.
thing, so it started its own pro-
The Beatniks, who had their gram, explaining with much log-
own models of coffin —
mouldy, ic how it differed.
scroungy, and without lids, since An elderly British philoso-
the Beatniks insisted on being pher endorsed the movement, on
seen —
placed their boxes on the the grounds that a temporary set-
AND ALL THE EARTH A GRAVE 131
back in Evolution was preferable
to facing up
to anything.
The Free Bloc, the Red Bloc,
the Neutral Bloc and such scraps
as had been too obtuse to find
themselves a Bloc were drawn
into the whirlpool in an amaz-
ingly short time, if in a variety
of ways. In less than two years
the world was rid of most of
what had been bedeviling it.
Oddly enough, the country
where the movement began was
the last to succumb completely.
Or perhaps it is not so odd. Cof-
fin-maker to the world,
American had
casket industry
by now almost completely auto-
mated box-making and gravedig-
ging, with some interesting as-
sembly lines and packaging ar-
rangements; there still remained
the jobs of management and
distribution. The President of
General Mortuary, an ebullient
fellow affectionately called Sar-
cophagus Sam, put it well.
long as I have a single prospec-
looking for the coffin he liked
best. He upon a
settled at last
rich mahoganynumber with
platinum trimmings, an Automa-
tic Self-Adjusting Cadaver-con-
tour Innerspring Wearever-Plas-
tic-Covered Mattress with a built
in bar. He climbed in,
self a generous slug of fine
Scotch, giggled as the mattress
prodded him exploringly, closed
his eyes and sighed in solid com-
fort. Soft music played as the
lid closed itself.
From a building nearby a tur-
the key-buzzard swooped down, caw-
ing in raucous anger because it
had let its attention wander for
a moment. It was too late. It
clawed screaming at the
cover, hissed in frustration and
finally gave up. flapped into
It
the air begin, still grumbling
It was tired of living on dead
small rodents and coyotes. It
thought it would take a swing
“As over to Los Angeles, where the
pickings yere pretty good.
was Adams, trudged behind his A half-buried piece of news-
burro toward the buildings that paper fluttered in the breeze.
shimmered in the heat, hum- He walked forward slowly and
ming to himself now and then picked it up. It told him enough
or addressing some remark to so that he understood.
the beast. When he reached the “They’re gone, Evie,” he said
outskirts ofDenver he realized to the burro, “all gone.” He put
drew him- something was amisS. He stood his arm affectionately around
and gazed at the quiet scene. her neck. “I reckon it’s up to
Nothing moved except some me and you agin. We got to start
skinny packrats and a few spar- all over.” He stood back and
rows foraging for grain among gazed at her with mild reproach.
the unburied coffins. “I shore hope they don’t favor
“Tarnation!” he said to the your side of the house so much
burro. “Martians?” this time.” — C. C. MacAPP
solid
FORECAST
Next issue, naturally, contains the conclusion of Jack Vance's The
Star King, about which it is only necessary to say that all the thrill and
color of the first half, herein, is amply sustained and brought to an excit-
ing climax in the second.
There's a certain temptation to rest on that, because
if you won't be

tive customer, and a single Stock-
holder,” he said, mangling a
stogie and beetling his brows at
the one reporter who’d showed
up for the press conference, “111
As it moved westward over
parched hills, it espied two black
dots a few miles to its left. It
circled over for a closer look,
then grunted and went on its
around to see how The Star King comes out, what can we tell you to
change your mind? But, of course, there's more. Lots more and, we think, —
a great deal that you'll find just as rewarding as Vance. There is, for
example, the lead novelette. Grandmother Earth, by that Old Reliable,
J. T. McIntosh. There's a novelette by Philip K. Dick called Oh! to be a

try to put him in a coffin so I way. It had seen them before. Blobel which has to deal with certain unanticipated problems of the after-
can pay him a dividend.” The old prospector and his burro math of future interplanetary wars. (Talk about disabled veterans! In

had been in the mountains for Dick's view, the quadrapelgics and other victims of minor-league events like

T?inally, though, a man who so long the buzzard had con- World War II have nothing to worry about . . . )

thought he must be the last cluded they didn’t know how to And, of course, there'll be Willy Ley's usual contribution, short stories,
living human, wandered content- die. features and all . . .

edly about the city of Denver The prospector, whose name

132 GALAXY AND ALL THE EARTH A GRAVE 133
 IN THE CONTROL TOWER
1 soned or exhausted in that strug- This was almost merciful, con-
gle Lad been filled along the sidering what had been done to
pxewforth had almost most right-of-way, among drifts of the sky. When the train did not
lost the habit of looking soot and ground-mists of sul- sneak between hills of slag, cin-
from windows. The train which phurous smoke and chemical ders, rubbish, garbage, dross and
took him to the city every morn- flatulence, to form a long tedi- the bloody brown carrion of
ing passed through a country in ous mural — a parody of cloud- broken machinery, it shot like
the terminal stages of a long war borne Asiatic hills, precipitous a bolt in the groove of an ar-
of self-destruction. Whatever and always so close to the tracks bolest between unbroken bar-
had been burned, botched, poi- that their tops could not be seen. riers of advertising or through

haunted the dying alleys.

Madness stalked the wide streets.
by WILL MOHLER
And what lay at the city's heart? Illustrated by GIUNTA
134 GALAXY
deep concrete troughs and roar-
ing tunnels full of grimy light
and grubby air.
There was one inconsistancy
in this scheme of things Just as
: in his mind, and he was left with
the train emerged from a deep
valley of slag-hills and swung in-
to a long curve, passengers on
the left side had a panoramic
view of the city — a frozen scene
of battle between geometrical
monsters, made remote and ob-
scure by the dust of a thousand
thousand merely human strug-
gles, too small to be visible from
the crusty windows of the train
by the merely human eye. They
had about one second in which
to absorb this vision of corporate
purpose. Then they were plung-
ing into a final stretch of tunnel
to the center of the city itself,
where no surface was ever more
than fifteen paces away and
where there were no horizons at
all.
Dewforth was excited by this
view even though it reached him
in a fragmentary and subliminal
way. Day after day he told him-
self that he would have all his
faculties at the ready before the
train swung into the curve. But
morning after morning he was
still emerging from the stale
fumes of the preceding night’s
beer, or he allowed himself to
be hypnotized by the sound of
the wheels or fascinated by the
jiggling of another passenger’s
136
earlobe at that critical moment.
The train had always entered the
clangorous colon of the city be-
fore this resolve could crystallize
an impression which lay some-
where in the scale of reality be-
tween the after-image of a light
bulb and the morning memory
of a fever-dream. He could never
have described the scene except
in loose generalities about build-
ings of contrasting height and
unemphatic color.
rr^he single memorable fea-
ture of the panorama, loom-
ing above the rest, was not even
a building. It eluded all familiar
categories. It was, like the other
components of the picture, rec-
tangular; but it was a displaced
rectangle. A shining thread of
morning sky could be seen be-
neath it. It was only logical to
suppose that it stood on legs of
some kind —
a complicated pro-
cess of girders. The upper part
appeared to be made of corru-
gated metal, but, as with the
matter of the legs, it was impos-
sible to separate what was actu-
ally seen and what was merely
inferred. The only other struc-
tures Dewforth had seen which
resembled it at allwere water
towers and shipyard cranes, but
these had been mere toys com-
pared with the thing that hov-
ered over the center of the city.
GALAXY
Its purpose could not be guess-
ed, butwhat disturbed Dewforth
more was the fact that he could
not be sure that it existed. He
was a precision draftsman, more
or less resigned to deteriorating
eyesight, and his usual abstracted
state of mind during that seg-
ment day had also to be
of his
considered. He hoped that some-
one would mention the
else
structure. Once —
only once
a man sitting on the opposite
seat had made a comment which
could have applied to it. “It
turned,” he said, just as the tun-
nel swallowed the train.
Dewforth would have liked to
ask the other passenger what he
had meant. Had he seen the same
thing? Had he seen anything at
all? And what had he meant by
“turned”?
But he had not asked. The
other had been not merely for-
bidding, not merely repugnant,
but alternately forbidding and
repugnant —
in daylight, an im-
peccable burgher sitting tall and
righteous under a tall hat; in
tunnels, a hunchbacked gargoyle
picking its nose in the
darkness.
If Dewforth had been the only
passenger on the train, or indeed
the last man in the world, he
could not have been more alone
with his wonder. You did not
ask whimsical questions of stran-
gers nowadays. You did not ask
IN THE CONTROL TOWER
many questions of friends. All
uncertainties incubated in pri-
vate darkness; they lived and
grew and even put forth new
appendages.
Not a building. Not a water
tank. Not a crane. Perhaps it was
only an illusion.
Illusion or not, it wanted a
name so that it might be at least
catalogued in his own mind.
— Therefore, on a morning since
forgotten and for reasons never
closely examined, he decided to
call it The Control Tower.
II
'"T^herewas an unholy Friday
restlessness upon Dewforth.
To make matters worse, it was
the last Friday in March. Logi-
cally, perhaps, this should not
have made any difference be-
cause Dewforth worked in one
of a number of identical win-
dowless rooms in a building
from which all natural rhythms
had been rigorously excluded.
From skylights high in the ceil-
ings of the drafting rooms came
fickle a light which had been pasteur-
ized and was timeless. It could
have been artificial.
His work provided no refuge
for his thought. It was demand-
ing, but only mechanically so.
Strictly speaking, he did not
know what he was doing. No one
did, apparently. He did not have
137
the satisfaction of knowing that
what he did was real. He filled
large sheets of plastic with trac-
ings of intricate, interconnected
schematic But he
hieroglyphs.
knew that another place a
in
template would be laid over his
work. An irregular portion like
a piece of a jigsaw puzzle would
be cut out of it and the rest, per-
haps more than half of his work,
would be destroyed.
It was even possible that all
of it was destroyed.
Dewforth worked for a firm
which made components. Of
what, no one said, no one asked.
Components, Inc., the firm was
called. He knew that the finished
products were small, heavy and
very complicated. Their names
were mute combinations of let-
ters and numbers, joined by hy-
phens or separated by virgules.
Some said that these components
performed no functions. Others
said that they worked, but their
operations corresponded to no
known human need. It was
known that some of the finished
products themselves were de-
stroyed. Some maintained that
they were dissolved in vats of
hydrofluoric acid. Others argued
that they were encased in ce-
ment, then taken out to sea in
speedboats on moonless nights
and The favorite ru-
jettisoned.
mor was that the entire firm was
a decoy to bewilder agents of
138
foreign powers and pre-empt
their espionage efforts. There
was neither proof of this
evidence to the contrary.
The penalty for circulating
last rumor was immediate
missal with prejudice.
In another place, another
time, Dewforth might have
spread the burden of his mood
by confiding in other workers,
but not under the circumstances
so painstakingly arranged by
Components, Inc. in the interest
of what was called The Inter-
loathing Index, or 1. 1. It was an
axiom of modern industry that
a high 1. 1, meant high produc-
tivity and also tighter security.
The latter was as much the meas-
ure of the importance of an in-
dustry as what it made or how
much. That there was design in
the egg-box compartmentation
of workspaces, for example, was
obvious enough. Less overt were
the lengths to which Personnel
had gone to discourage the ex-
change of information, or con-
fidences, among employees.
Under the guise of aptitude
testing, the psychologists had
been able to select and organize
teams consisting entirely of mu-
tually incompatible individuals.
So well had they succeeded that
most workers could barely stand
the sight of one another, and so
were driven back upon them-
selves and their work. Only by
GALAXY
practicing an almost egg-like
self-containment could a drafts-
nor man or other worker hope to get
through the day without open
this conflict and disaster.
dis- Latent antipathies among
workers were further intensified
by means Annual Profi-
of the
ciency Competitions. At the con-
clusion of these tests all em-
ployees save two were given Pro-
ficiency Stars. Of the remaining
two, one was invariably a per-
son who had shown signs of be-
coming too popular among his
fellows. He was given a Leader-
ship Star, and because an affable
man was usually less rather than
more efficient that the rest, this
made of him a lonely little air-
bubble in a sea of resentment.
The second of the two workers
was always discharged. Thus a
dash of anxiety was added to the
proceedings.
''T^he visible manifestations of
high 1. 1, were hectic color,
a characteristic ferocity of eye
and throbbing jaw-hinges. Often
the jaw-hinges of an entire team
would be pulsating at once,
sometimes even in unison. This
spectacle emanated an over-
whelming feeling of earnestness
and purpose. Executives were
fond of pointing out this phe-
nomenon to visiting dignitaries.
“Observe their jaw-hinges,” they
would say.
IN THE CONTROL TOWER
Another factor which isolated
employees from one another was
the peculiarly virulent form of
halitosis which afflicted all work-
ers without exception. The com-
pany cafeteria was the source of
this malady.
Thus, if Dewforth had been
the only employee in that vast
complex of buildings, or in the
world, he could not have been
restlessness. Add to this the fact
that it had been his misfortime
to win the Leadership Star in
the Proficiency Competitions
only three days earlier. He did
not have to trace the bitter
stream of his mood any farther
back than that to find the bile-
source.
The object of the contest had
been to draw a single line 28 5/8
inches long and 1/15,000 of an
inch thick, a feat which is stark-
ly simple in conception but only
theoretically feasible. The drafts-
men had spent hours preparing
the surfaces of paper, straining
ink through filters, honing draw-
ing pens with emery and polish-
ing them with rouge, drawing
practice lines and scrutinizing
them with powerful bench mi-
croscopes. They did Balinese fin-
ger exercises, Chinese body co-
ordination exercises, Hindu
breathing exercises and Tibetan
spiritual calisthenics to dispel
their incipient shakes. When the
great moment came, a solemn
139
 group of executives enter-
little
ed the drafting room and stood
about in attitudes of grave cere-
monial courtesy.
The draftsmen then drew their
lines.
When it was over, the judges
examined and graded the lines
and the scores were announced
by Mr. Shrank, the foreman. The
better scores prompted little flut-
ters of restrained applause from
the executives. This moist and
muted sound had reminded Dew-
forth of a hippopotamus venting
its wind under water, and in a
moment of thoughtless exhilara-
tion he had even thought
of
sharing this bizarre notion with
his wife. He never did so, as it
happened.
\X/'hy had he ever told his
’ ^ wife about that wretched
Leadership Star? Her laughter
persisted through his dreams, or
through his dream. He only had
one. In this dream she was al-
ways a massive machine which
ingested songbirds between steel
rollers and stamped them into
pipe-flange gaskets at a rate of
one hundred and twenty per
minute.
And
the prize-winning line he
had drawn —
it revealed its true
nature in the perspective of
days. There was no mistaking
what it was. It was The Abyss.
It could widen and it could en-
140
gulf. How much light would a He had the city from that angle before,
of the habitual pattern.
Leadership Star cast in that bot-
tomless inkiness?
seen a window. He had, more- but if what he saw was what he
over, looked through a window. thought it was, how could it have
Acute had the effect
restless
What had he seen? He thought been so close without his know-
of sending Dewforth frequently
about this, and at the same time ing about it before this time?
to the lavatory, not so much for
he thought about being sick — It was a thing which belonged
physiological reasons as because
there was no other place to go
administratively sick. He suc- to vast distances —
spatial dis-
ceeded in working up a palpable tances and other kinds of dis-
and he had to go somewhere
when the white fever and a windy yawning be- ance as well. Now
it was close,
walls of the
neath the diaphragm. Before or he was closer to it than he
drafting room threatened to
taking any action he would have had ever imagined he would be
crush him. He went as often as
to confirm what he had seen in his life.
he thought he could without at-
through the window of the lava- It was accessible.
tracting the attention of Mr.
tory. Dewforth left at half past
Shrank or eliciting ponderous
On his last trip to the lavatory three when the somnolence of
jocosities from the other work-
he climbed up onto the slippery afternoon was heaviest on the
ers. After several visits, however,
washbasin and looked through heads of the other draftsmen. He
he did begin to question him-
the high window. His position did not speak to Mr. Shrank
self. What drew him to that
there would be impossible to ex- about it. He did not clear with
bleak refuge again and again?
plain, of course, if anyone should Miss Plock in the dispensary, nor
He was not aware of bladder ir-
come in. He was past caring with Mr. Fert in Personnel, nor
ritation.He had no infantile ob-
about that. The unpasteurized air with Miss Yurt in Wage Read-
session about such facilities. Was
made him a little drunk and the justment, nor with Miss Bort in
he driven by an aggregation of
petty forces, each too small to
sound —
the immense distant Sick Leave Subdivision, nor with
sighing groan like a giant’s whisp- Miss Vibe in Special Problems,
make sense by itself? Or was
there one reason hiding behind
per — filled his brain. It made nor with Mr. Pfister in Sick
him want to expand to meet it Claims, nor with Miss Grope in
a cloud of small rationaliza-
somehow. Employee Grievances, nor with
tions? There was a difference in
Only one immense skeleton Miss Rupnick in Company
the air in the lavatory, and in
Grievances, nor with Miss Gugg-
the sound — the undifferentiated
foot was visible, but there was
no question about exactly what ward in Allowance Reductions,
background sound which came
it was. nor with Mr. Droon in Privilege
from nowhere. Nowhere?
It came through a window.
No conventional structure Curtailment, nor with Miss
would curve upward in that way. Tremulo in Psychological Coun-
He had been staring at a win-
—
dow probably the only one in There was no point of reference seling, nor with Dr. Schreck in
by which to determine how far Spiritual Aid Subdiv.
the building —
and it had failed
away it was, and the air was He did not even trouble to see
to register on his mind at the
blue with haze, giving everything Miss Nosemilker who kept the
time because he had not expect-
an appearance of remoteness and time book.
ed it to be there. It was not part
of unreality. He had never seen He just left.
GALAXY IN THE CONTROL TOWER 141
 Ill streets were sewers, hiding from persecution behind At last he found a deserted street.
battle-
grounds, lairs, abattoirs, cess- the Spanish moss of consolidated He followed it and he was re-
(CXTobody goes up there,” said pools, lazarettes, midways of de- beards; headless things and warded with encouraging signs.
' the hulking oyster-eyed formity and brawling markets thingless heads, importuning, There was more birdlime under-
man in the burlap overcoat. where nightmares and spiro- threatening, watching or just foot, and the inhuman yammer-

The bum’s eyes cleared long chetes were sold.
enough for him to peer into The city had not less
Dewforth’s eyes in order to see three dimensions. He had
if his madness was worth shar- been fully prepared for the im-
ing,then they filmed over again plications of this, either.
as he decided that it was not. tence in three dimensions does
Dewforth crowded past him not necessarily mean three-di-
and walked on. He was making mensional vision. The sky was
real progress. He had at last not visible through the maze of
found someone who acknowl- girders, stairways and catwalks
edged that there was something overhead. Dewforth tried to ori-
up there above eye-level. The ent himself by the direction of
standing there, those that were ing of the streets was replaced
than able. with echoing silence, and that
In his search for a way out silence was invaded by the sound
not
of the darkness, he was obliged — the voice of the colossus, re-
Exis- to turn back time and again. If mote and terrible.
gangs of shadows fought with Dewforth asked directions
knives at the end of a street again, this time of a pear-shaped
which had at first looked prom- figure which may or may not
ising, what business had shad- have had legs and which sat in
ows cursing or screaming or the mouth of an iron cave and
bleeding? If the madman who smoked what appeared to be a
.”
enjoined the mob to fight in the twist of hemp. “Where . Dew-
.

others —
old lost children, fig-
ures of scab and grime —
had
been unaware of anything but
inner cavities of craving and fear
above the sidewalk firmament of
trodden gum disks, sputum stars
and the ends of twice-smoked
shadows, but this was mislead- service of nothingness was only forth began.
ing. It was the heart of the shad- a mouse dancing on a summit of “Nobody goes up there,” the
ow district, and the play of shad- garbage, why did they cheer? At hemp -smoker answered without
ows was the order of things. The the end of still another street, looking up at him.
rules were the rules of phantoms. a mass rape may not have been “Where do they come down,
Flesh lived there in subjection. in progress; the participants then,” asked Dewforth, trying a
Long miscegenation with shad- I many not have waited sullenly new approach but with little

cigarettes. ow had made phantoms of them in a long line; a macrocephalic hope. There was a long pause.
The pear-shaped man
j

Hecould not have lost sight
of the Control Tower. He had
never realized what streets were.
Before that time he had known
a single well policed block be-
tween the station and his place
of work. He still thought of
streets as more or less open strips
all andendowed all shadows
with the menace of the real. Ev-
erything was equivocal as hell.
Dewforth wandered in a cav-
ern without walls. He saw bulky
overcoats with defeated hats or
defeated heads; long-legged
dwarfs in black leather jackets;
gnome in a plaid suit may not
!
actually have moved up and
down the line selling tickets at
i a reduced rate and explaining
that the outrage had been in pro-
!
gress since the preceding Christ-
mas Eve; but why was the un-
'
have
didn’t
arms either, Dewforth noticed.
Hands, but no arms.
“Well now, some got it, some
ain’t,” he said.
“How’s that?” asked Dewforth.
The pear blew out a cloud of

reality so consistant? smoke, sulphurous, with viscous

along which people moved, north willowy chorus-boys with plati- And if no one was in fact being
or south, east or west, purpose- num ringlets, waiting in their ,
ravaged, why did everyone look
fully from Point A to Point B niches for the gift of violence; as though they had been?
I
strings through it. “I knowed a
guy caught it from a drinking
glass once.”
This dialogue might have gone

with perhaps one right-angle scuttling trolls with horse-blan-

these spectacle tested Dew- on much longer if Dewforth had
turn, two at the most, pausing
only to tip hats or look into shop
ket jackets and alpine hats; de-
posed patriarchs under the
'

A 11

forth’s courage, but they not just then noticed that his
noninformer was sitting on the
windows. Now it developed that small shelter of black derbies, dimmed his resolve not at all.
142 IN THE CONTROL TOWER 143
GALAXY
bottom step of a long, dark stair-
way which led up and up into a
jungle of lacy girders and shad-
ows above them.
He did not bother kicking the
pear-shaped man. He stepped
over him and ran up the stairs
two at a time. His footsteps rang
on the iron stairs and carried
through the structure. It sounded
like the bells of a sunken cathed-
ral ringing in the tide.
On the second level there was
more light and more air. It was
colder. There were loiterers on
the second level too, but these
were far from menacing. They
clung to things and pressed them-
selves against things, and they
stared with unfocused eyes at
something which had been there
before but was not there now.
These men seemed to be wear-
ing greasy fezzes and dark, baggy
long underwear with buttons and
vestigial lapels. As he approach-
ed them, Dewforth saw that the
fezzes were actually felt hats
with the brims atrophied or
rotted away, and the funereal
long-johns were the weather-
beaten remains of those suits
which are designed for Young
Men On The Way Up. As though
by tacit agreement of long stand-
ing, these men did not look di-
rectly at Dewforth as he passed,
nor he at them.
There was no about
difficulty
finding a stairway to the next
144
level,but there was a rusty chain
across the entrance.
Dewforth’s foot caught in this
chain as he stepped over it, and
it shattered like a chain of stale
pretzels. There were no more
people beyond the second level
— none that could be seen.
He soon lost count of levels.
Stairs became narrower and
more heavily encrusted with
birdlime and rust as he ascend-
ed. In some places there were
long sweeping ramps which led
to blind sacs or reached out un-
supported into space, and he was
forced to retrace his steps. At no
time did he look down, even
when it was possible. There were
usually high barriers along the
platforms and ramps. These were
covered with layers of old ad-
vertising posters which peeled
and were tom by the wind, re-
vealing more ancient posters
still
underneath. They seemed to
have grown there by themselves
like lichen. It seemed entirely
reasonable to Dewforth that the
writing on the older posters un-
derneath was runic or demotic
and the faces were ochre-stained
skulls, but his impulse was to
hurry past and not study them
too closely.
\ t last he found a long steep
-^ladder running up the out-
side of one of the legs of the
Control Tower. Only huge slow-
GALAXY
ly circling birds and low-flying
douds came between him and
the control
the underside of
house at the top of the structure.
Before beginning the climb he
admonished himself not to look
ponder what
down and not to
he was doing. In order to keep
climbing, however, he had to
keep admonishing himself,
thereby only reminding himself
to look down and to ponder, to
the detriment of his equilibrium
and confidence. Was it vertigo,
or did the ladder or the Tower
itself sway in the singing wind?
Who was to say that the earth
itself did not heave like ferment-
ing mash? Was any object in-
herently more solid than any
other object? What was “stabil-
ity”?
When he looked down at the
city he could not pick out the
building in which he had work-
ed. There was nothing in any
feature of the landscape. Noth-
ing. If his position, clinging to
girder high above the city, made
no sense, it did not make less
sense than the position of a man,
or a Dewforth, sitting in a blind
cell among thousands of other
blind cells down there, drawing
tiny lines. Nothing bound him
to the drafting room nor even
to the Dewforth of the drafting
room —
not so much as a spider
web or a shaft of light. The light
pointed to itself. The wind got
IN THE CONTROL TOWER
under his shirt and chilled hia
navel, a poignant reminder of
disconnectedness.
An eagle glided close and
screamed at him. It was like the
laughter of his wife. He resumed
his climb, looking down no
more.
The last few yards of the
climb were the worst. Some bolts
holding the ladder in place were
shapeless little masses of rust.
The eleventh rung from the top
broke under his weight, and for
the last ten steps he had to light-
en his body by means of a tech-
nique of autosuggestion and will-
projection which he invented on
the spot, demonstrating what
could be done under pressure of
extreme necessity. He could see
above his head a tiny balcony
not more than a yard square, at
which the ladder terminated.
The floor of this balcony ap-
peared to be made of long,
weatherbeaten cigars which rea-
a son told him were badly cor-
roded iron bars. Reason also told
him that there would be a door
there.
He could not see a door
through the skeleton floor of tha
balcony, but the idea that there
would not be a door there was,
under the circumstances, insup-
portable. There would be a door,
he told himself as he made his
way upwards by means of levita-
tion and the most tentative of
145
•teps. It would probably have an
inhospitable sign on it NO—
TRESPASSING, AUTHOR-
IZED PERSONNEL ONLY,
DANGER or perhaps HIGH
VOLTAGE. It might prove to
be locked. If so, he would pound
on it until some one opened it,
he decided.
There was even an outside pos-
sibility that no one would be in-
side. He had never considered
that possibility before that time.
He decided that it was not time
to consider it now.
When Dewforth heaved him-
self up onto the small project-
ing platform he felt the ladder
give under his feet. It was not
just another rung. He saw the
entire ladder go curling away in-
to the emptiness like a huge
broken spring. Then he lay on
the platform face down with his
eyes closed, fingers clutching the
sill of the door, for a long time.
New sounds invaded his per-
sonal darkness as he lay there.
He heard bells, buzzers, klaxons,
whistles and slamming relays.
There were voices from loud-
speakers —
imperious and hope-
less, angry and feeble, impas-
sioned and monotonous, arro-
gant and anguished —
in a syn-
thetic language made up of odd
phonemes long since discarded
from a thousand other languages.
When he looked up he saw no
door but only a rectangle of
146
darkness with erratic flashes of
colored light.
Having no choice, he entered
on his hands and knees.
IV
^
T^ewforth wandered
yrinth of
in a lab-
control panels
which reached almost to the ceil-
ing, but did not entirely shut out
the light. This light was like
skimmed milk diffused in shad-
ow. He reasoned that it came
from windows, but when he tried
to remember whether the control
cab had windows he could not
be sure. He had no visual image
of windows seen from the out-
side, but he had supposed that
such an edifice would hardly be
blind. Somewhere beyond this
maze of control panels, he also
reasoned, there must be an area
like the bridge of an enormous
ship where the clamor of the
bells, buzzers,
klaxons and whis-
and the silent warnings and
tles
importunings of dials, gauges,
colored lights, ticker-tapes which
spewed from metal mouths, the
palsied styles which scribbled
on creeping scrolls, were some-
how collated and made meaning-
ful,where the yammering loud-
speakers could be answered, and
where the operators could look
out and down and see what they
were doing.
Where were the operators?
GALAXY
The noise was deafening. Un-
like the noise of machinery in a
factory it was not homogenous.
Each sound was intended to at-
tract attention and to evoke a
certain response, but what re-
sponse and from whom? Long
levers projecting from the steel
deck wagged back and forth
spastically like the legs of mon-
strous insects struggling on their
backs. Several times Dewforth
was temporarily blinded by an
explosion of blue light as a fuse
blew or something short-circuit-
ed among the rows of knife-
switches and rheostats on the
panels. One would never really
get used to the sporadic sound
or to the lights. There was no
knowable pattern about them
about what they did or said.
When he closed his eyes and
tried to compose himself the
words Out of Control flashed red
against the back of his eyelids,
but he told himself that this was
foolish. How was one to adjudge
a situation to be Out of Control
when one did not know what
constituted control, over what, or
by whom? Furthermore, he re-
buked himself, if the panels
never mind how many or how
forbidding — with their lights,
bells, buzzers, switches, relays,
dials,gauges, styles, tapes, point-
ers, rheostats and buttons had
any meaning, and in fact if the
Tower itself had any meaning at
IN THE CONTROL TOWER
that meaning was Control.
all,
How arrogant it had been of him
to imagine,even briefly, that be-
cause he —
a green intruder in
that high place had not im- —
mediately comprehended what it
was all about, the situation must
be out of control. Absurd!
' ^here were hundreds — per-
I
-* haps thousands of little—
labels attached to the control
panels, presumably indicating
the functions of the buttons,
switches and other controls. Dew-
forth leaned close and studied
these, but found only mute com-
binations of letters and numbers,
joined by hyphens or separated
by virgules. They made him
—
. .
feel somewhat more fragile,
more round-shouldered and cold-
er, but he resisted despair. It
was getting a
little darker,
though. The skimmed-milk light
above him was taking on a bluish
tint. He had no way of knowing
how long he had wandered
among the control panels. His
time-sense had always been de-
pendent upon clocks and
— and upon the arrivals and de-
bells
— partures of trains.
It was a sound which finally
led Dewforth out of the maze of
control panels.
It was not a louder sound, not
more emphatic, imperative or
clear than the others; it was
formless, feeble and ineffably
147
 something very hot. His
On No Account, or At All Costs. what?”, “What’s where?”,
pathetic. It was its utter incon- ing
arms might have been elongated
The texts of these orders, in- “Where’s what” or even “Who’s
gruity which reached Dewforth
by a lifetime of such aborted
structions, directives or memo- where?” just as likely?
through the robotic clamor, and
randa consisted of mute combin- Of these possible last words,
which touched him. a mewing,
. . movement.
ations of letters and numbers, “M^ho’s where?” echoed most
as of a kitten trapped in a closet. Just as Dewforth began to won-
joined by hyphens or separated persistently in his memory.
It came, as he discovered, from der how his sudden appearance
there would affect the old man,
by virgules. Dewforth might have tom
The Operator.
feeble and distraught as he al-
Through the upper portion of away the pages of meaningless
He was quite alone among his the windows Dewforth could just
levers, wheels, switches, buttons, ready was, the Operator whirled orders and looked down upon
on his stool and stared at Dew- make out the horizon and a nar- lights as darkness fell, but he
cranks, gauges, lights, bells, buz-
forth with eyes so round, so huge
row strip of darkening sky, did not.
zers, horns, ticker-tapes, creep-
and so terrified that the rest of which were silent and which de- Opaque as they were in form
ing scrolls, barking loudspeakers
his face was not noticeable at
manded nothing of him. Amid and content alike, there was
and cryptic dials. Dewforth saw
the continuing clamor of all the something reassuringly familiar
him sharply silhouetted against all.

He shouted something that signal devices, he tried to re- in the lines of inane symbols.
a long window through which
bluish-gray light poured but sounded like "HuzzahP’ but al- capture the last utterance of the And they were all that stood be-

through which nothing could be most certainly was not, then Operator —
the former Operator. tween him and the approaching
then fell to the steel “Huzzah!” was out of the ques- tidal wave of night, and beyond
clearly seen from where he stood. stiffened,
deck with no more fuss than a tion. ‘Who’s there?” or “Who’s the night, the winter with its
The Operator sat on a high, one-
bag of corn-husks would have that?” were more likely, but, as storms.
legged stool. His head was drawn
into hisshoulders, which were made, and died, he thought of it, weren’t “I^hose — WILL MOHLER
crumpled things of birdlike
bones. His head was bald on top
but the fringe was long and wild. O ne would think that a win-
dowed control cab or
In the Current issue of IF —
He had big simian ears set at wheelhouse atop the loftiest

right angles to his head and the structure in a city, or in an en-

shone through them, not tire landscape, would afford a
A thrilling new Retief story
light
pink but yellowish. There was man an Olympian view of the
an aureole of fine hairs about world below, and of its people THE GOVERNOR OF GLAVE
them which gave them the ap- and their activities. by Keith Loumer
pearance of angel’s wings. V/ith Dewforth must have believed
enlarged hands at the ends of this at one time, but he found The dramatic conclusion of
almost fleshless arms he clutch- that it was not so. The entire
ed at the knobs of rheostats and
the cranks of transformers, hesi-
lower portion of the windows was
covered with thin pages of type-
THE REEFS OF SPACE
script, mostly yellowed, dusty
by Jack Williamson & Frederik Pohl
tantly, spasmodically, and with-
out ever quite reaching any- and curled at the edges —
orders,
thing. Each time he withdrew instructions, directives, memo- Damon Knight - John Brunner - Theodore Sturgeon
his hands quickly as though he randa, all Urgent, For Immedi- All in the November IF — on sale at your newsstand nowl
had been on the point of touch- ate Action, Important, Priority,

148 GALAXr IN THE CONTROL TOWER 149

 NO
GREAT MAGIC
The troupers of the Big Time
lack no art to sway a crowd
— or to change all history!

I dipped through the filmy

I curtain into the boys’ half
To bring the dead to life of the dressing room and there
Is no great magic. was Sid sitting at the star’s
Few are wholly dead; dressing table in his threadbare
Blow on a dead man’s em- yellowed undershirt, the lucky
bers one, not making up yet but star-
And a live flame will start ing sternly at himself in the
—Graves bulb-framed mirror and experi-

150 GALAXY
mentally working his features a tragical history of the bloody
Oid hesitated a half second was going to sayest that I do
little, as actors will, and knead- Scot, certes.” He waved his hand
longer than he usually know the plays. Having Queen
ing the stubble on his fat chin. toward the portrait of Shake- would — thought, his timing’s
I Elizabeth speak a prologue to
I said to him quietly, “Siddy, speare that always sits beside his otf tonight —
and then he har- Macbeth is as much an anachro-
what are we putting on tonight? mirror on top of his reserve rumphed and said, “Why, Iris nism as if you put her on the
Maxwell Anderson’s Elizabeth makeup box. At first that parti- Nefer, decked out as Good Queen gantry of the British moonship,
the Queen or Shakespeare’s cular picture of the Bard looked Bess, will speak a prologue to busting a bottle of champagne
Macbeth? It says Macbeth on too nancy to me a sort of — the play —
a prologue which I over its schnozzle.”
the callboard, but Miss Nefer’s peeping-tom schoolteacher have myself but last week writ.” “Ha!” he
cried as if he’d
getting ready for Elizabeth. She but I’ve grown used to it over He owled his eyes. “ ‘Tis an ex- caught me “And saying
out.
just had me go and fetch the red the months and even palsy-feel- periment in the new theater.” there’s a new
Elizabeth, wouldn’t
I said, “Siddy, prologues were that be the bravest advertise-
wig.” ing.
He tried out a few eyebrow He didn’t ask me why I hadn’t nothing new to Shakespeare. He ment ever for the Empire? —
rears — right, both togeth-
left, asked Miss Nefer my question. had them on half his other perchance rechristening the pi-
er —then turned to me, sucking Everybody in the company plays. Besides, it doesn’t make lot, copilot and astrogator
in his big gut a little, as he al- knows she spends the hour be- sense to use Queen Elizabeth. Drake, Hawkins and Raleigh?
ways does when a gal heaves in- fore curtain-time getting into She was dead by the time he And the ship The Golden Hind?
to hailing distance, and said, character, never parting her lips whipped up Macbeth, which is Tilly fally, lady!”
“Your pardon, sweetling, what except for that purpose — or to
all about witchcraft and direct- He went on, “My prologue an
sayest thou?” bite your head off if you try to ed at King James.” anachronism, quotha The !

Sid always uses that kook an-
tique patter backstage, until I
sometimes wonder whether I’m
in Central Park, New York City,
nineteen hundred and three
quarters, or somewhere in South-
make the most necessary conver- He growled a little at me and groundlings will never mark it.
sation. demanded, “Prithee, how comes Think’st thou wisdom came to
it your peewit-brain bears such mankind with the stenchful
“Aye, ’tiz Macbeth tonight,”
Sid confirmed, returning to his a ballast of fusty book-knowl- rocket and the sundered atomy?
frowning-practice: left eyebrow edge, chit?” More, the Bard himself was top-
I said softly, “Siddy, you don’t of anachronism. He put
up, right down, reverse, repeat, full

wark, Merry England,
hundred and same. The truth is
that although he loves every last
fat part in Shakespeare and will
play the skinniest one with loyal
and inspired affection, he thinks
Willy penned Falstaff with
S.
nobody else in mind but Sidney
J. Lessingham. (And no accent
fifteen rest. “And I must play the ill-
camp in a Shakespearean dress- spectacles on King Lear, had
starred Thane of Glamis.” ing room for a year, tete-a-teting clocks tolling the hour in Cae-
I said, “That’s fine, Siddy, with some of the wisest actors sar’s Rome, buried that Roman
but where does it leave us with ever, without learning a little ‘stead o’ burning him and gave
Miss Nefer? She’s already Sure I’m a mental case, a poor Czechoslovakia a seacoast. Go
little A 8s A existing on your
thinned her eyebrows and beak- to, doll.”
ed out the top of her nose for sweet charity, and don’t think I “Czechoslovakia, Siddy?”
Queen Liz, though that’s as far don’t appreciate it, but — “Bohemia, then, what skills
A “A-and-A, thou sayest?” he me now, sweet poppet.
Leave
as she’s got. beautiful job, the it?

on the ham, please.) nose. Anybody else would think frowned. “Methinks the glad- Go thy ways. I have matters of
I closed my eyes and counted it was plastic surgery instead of some new forswearers of sack import to ponder. There’s more
to eight, then repeated my ques- putty. But it’s going to look kind and ale call themselves AA.” to running a repertory company
tion. of funny on the Thaness of “Agoraphobe and Amnesiac,” than reading the footnotes to
I told him. “But look, Siddy, I
He replied, “Why, the Bard’s Glamis.” Furness.”

152 GALAXY NO GREAT MAGIC 153

M artin
looking in
had
calling the
just slouched
Half Hour and
his solemnity, sneak-
ers, levis and dirty T-shirt more
like an underage refugee from
Skid Row than Sid’s newest re-
cruit, assistant stage manager
and hardest-worked juvenile
though for once he’d remember-
ed to shave. I was about to ask
Sid who was going to play Lady
Mack if Miss Nefer wasn’t, or,
if she were going to double the
roles, shouldn’t I help her with
the change? She’s a slow dresser
and the Elizabeth costumes are
pretty realistically stayed. And
she would have trouble getting
off that nose, I was sure. But
then I saw that Siddy was al-
ready slapping on the alboline
to keep the grease paint from
getting into his pores.
Greta, too many ques-
you ask
tions, myself. You get
told
I
everybody riled up and you rack
your own poor ricketty little
mind; and I hied myself off to
the costumery to settle my
nerves.
The costumery, which occu-
pies the back end of the dress-
ing room, is exactly the right
place to settle the nerves and
warm the fancies of any child,
including an unraveled adult
who’s saving what’s left of her
sanity by pretending to be one.
To begin with there are the reg-
ular costumes for Shakespeare’s
154
by plays, all jeweled and spangled
and brocaded, stage armor, great
Roman togas with weights in
the borders to make them drape
right, velvets of every color to
rest your cheek against and
dream, and the fantastic cos-
— tumes for the we
other plays
favor; Ibsen’s Peer Gynt, Shaw’s
Back to Methuselah and Hil-
liard’sadaptation of Heinlein’s
Children of Methuselah, the Ca-
pek brothers’ Insect People,
The Fountain, Fleck-
O’Neill’s
er’sHassan, Camino Real, Chil-
dren of the Moon, The Beggar’s
Opera, Mary of Scotland, Berke-
ley Square, The Road to Rome.
There are also the costumes
for the special and variety
all
performances we give of the
plays: Hamlet in modem dress,
Julius Caesar set in a dictator-
ship of the 1920’s, The Taming
of the caveman furs
Shrew in
and leopard skins, where Pe-
truchio comes in riding a dino-
saur, The Tempest set on an-
other planet with a spaceship
wreck to start it off Karrumph!
— which means a half dozen
but
spacesuits, featherweight
looking ever so practical, and
the weirdest sort of extraterres-
trial-beast outfits for Ariel and
Caliban and the other monsters.
Oh, I tell you the stuff in the
costumery ranges over such a
sweep of space and time that
you sometimes get frightened
GALAXY
you’ll
off
have
just
be whirled up and spun
anywhere, so that you
to clutch at something very
real to you to keep it from hap-
pening and to remind you where
you really are — as I did
at the subway token on the
gold chain around my
(Siddy’s first gift to me
can remember) and chanted very
softly to myself, like a charm
or a prayer, closing my eyes
and squeezing the holes in the
token: “Columbus Circle, Times
Square, Penn Station, Christo-
pher Street.
.’’
.
ut you don’t ever get really
B frightened in the costum-
ery. Not exactly, though your
goosehairs get wonderfully real-
istically tingled and your tummy
chilled from time to time
because you know it’s all make-
believe, a lifesize doll world, a
children’s dress-up world. It gets
you thinking of far-off times
and scenes as pleasant places
and not as black hungry mouths
that might gobble you up and
keep you forever. It’s always
always just in the theatre,
safe,
just on the stage, no matter how
far it seems to plunge and roam
. . . and the best sort of therapy
for a pot-holed mind like mine,
with as many gray ruts and
curves and gaps as its cerebrum,
that can’t remember one single
thing before this last year in the
NO GREAT MAGIC
dressing room and
ever push its shaking body out
of that same motherly fatherly
that can’t
room, except to stand in the
wings for a scene or two and
now watch the play until the fear
thin gets too great and the urge to
neck take just one peek at the audi-
and I re-
that I ence gets too strong . . .
member what happened the two
times Idid peek, and I have to
come scuttling back.
The costumery’s good occupa-
tional therapy for me, too, as
my pricked and calloused finger-
tips testify. I think I must have
stitched up or darned half the
costumes in it this last twelve-
month, though there are so
many of them that I swear the
drawers have accordion pleats
and the racks extend into the
— fourth dimension —
not to men-
tion the boxes of props and the
shelves of scripts and prompt-
copies and other books, includ-
ing a couple of encyclopedias and
and the many thick volumes of
'Furness’s Variorum Shake-
speare, which as Sidhad guessed
I’d been boning up on. Oh, and
I’ve sponged and pressed enough
costumes, too, and even refitted
them to newcomers like Martin,
ripping up and resewing seams,
which can be a punishing job
with heavy materials.
In a less sloppily organized
company I’d be called wardrobe
mistress, I guess. Except that to
155 ^
I
anyone in show business that
suggests a crotchety old dame
with lots of authority and scis-
sors hanging around her neck on
a Although I got my
string.
I
crochets, all right, I’m not that
I
old. Kind of childish,
As for authority, everybody out-
ranks me, even Martin.
Of course to somebody outside
show business, wardrobe mis-
might suggest a yummy gal
tress
who spends her time dressing up
as Nell Gwyn or Anitra or Mrs.
Pinchwife or Cleopatra or even
Eve (we got a legal
it) and inspiring the boys.
tried once or twice. But
that
Siddy frowns on it, and if Miss
Nefer ever caught me at it I
think she’d whang me.
And in a normaller company
it would be the wardrobe room,
too, but costumery is my infan-
tile name for it and the actors go
along with my little whims.
I don’t mean to suggest our
company is completely crackers.
To get as close to
even as Central Park you got to
I
have something. But in spite of
Sid’s whip-cracking there is a
comforting looseness about its
I
efficiency —
people trade around
the parts they play without fuss,
the bill may be changed a half
hour before curtain without any-
body getting hysterics,
gets fired for eating garlic
breathing it in the leading lady’s
,
156
face. In short, we’re a team.
Which funny when you come
is
to think of it, as Sid and Miss
Nefer and Bruce and Maudie are
British (Miss Nefer with a touch
of Eurasian blood, I romance);
in fact. Martin and Beau and me are
American (at least I think I am)
while the rest come from just
everywhere.
T>esides my costumery work,
I fetch things and run in-
side errands and help the ac-
tresses dress and the actors too.
costume for The dressing room’s very coedu-
I’ve cational in a halfway respectable
way. And every once in a while
Martin and I police up the
whole place, me skittering about
with dustcloth and wastebasket,
he wielding the scrub-brush and
mop with such silent grim effi-
ciency that it always makes me
nervous to get through and duck
back into the costumery to col-
lect myself.
Yes, the costum ery’s a great
Broadway place to quiet your nerves or
improve your mind or even
dream your life away. But
time couldn’t have been there
I I got the sense of it.
eight minutes when Miss Nefer’s
Elizabeth-angry voice came
skirling, “Girl! Girl!
where is my niff with silver
trim?” I laid my hands on it
nobody in a flash and loped it to her,
and because Old Queen Liz was
known to slap even her Maids
GALAXY
of Honor around a bit now and
then and Miss Nefer is a bear
on getting into character
real Paul Muni.
She was all made up now, I
was happy to note, at least as
far as her face went —
I hate to
see that spooky eight-spoked
faint tattoo on her forehead
(I’ve sometimes wondered if she
got it acting in India or Egypt
maybe).
Yes, she was already all made
up. This time she’d been going
,
extra heavy on the burrowing-
into-character bit, I could
right away, even if it was only
for a hacked-out anachronistic
prologue. She signed to me to
help her dress without even
looking at me, but as I got busy
I looked at her eyes. They were
so cold and sad and lonely
(maybe because they were so far
away from her eyebrows and
temples and small tight mouth,
‘
and so shut away from each oth-
er by that ridge of nose) that I
got the creeps. Then she began
to murmur and sigh, very softly
this at first, then loudly enough so
“Cold, so cold,” she said, still
seeing things far away though
Greta, her hands were working smooth-
ly with mine. “Even a gallop
hardly fires my blood. Never
was such a Januarius, though
there’s no snow. Snow will not
come, or tears. Yet my brain
:
NO GREAT AAAGIC
burns with the thought of
Mary’s death-warrant unsigned.
—a There’s my particular hell! —
to doom, perchance, all future
queens, or leave a hole for the
Spaniard and the Pope to creep
like old worms back into the
sweet apple of England. Philip’s
tall black crooked ships massing
like sea-going fortresses south-
away —
cragged castles set to
march into the waves. Parma in
the Lowlands! And all the while
my bright young idiot gentle-
men spurting out my treasure as
tell if it were so much water, as if
gold pieces were a glut of sum-
mer posies. Oh, alackanight!”
And I thought. Cry Iced! —
thafs sure ipin^ to be one tyran-
nosauT of a prologue. And how
you’ll ever shift back to being
Lady Mack beats me. Greta, if
this is what it takes to do just a
bit part, you’d better give up
your secret ambition of playing
walk-ons some day when your
nerves heal.
he was really getting to
S me, you see, with that char-
acterization. It was as if I’d man-
aged to go out and take a walk
and sat down in the park out-
side and heard the President
talking to himself about the
chances of war with Russia and
realized he’d sat down on a
bench with its back to mine and
only a bush between. You see,
157
here we were, two females un-
dignifiedly twisted together, at
the moment getting her into that
crazy crouch-deep bodice that’s
like a big icecream cone, and yet
here at the same time was Queen
Elizabeth the First of England,
three hundred and umpty-ump
years dead, coming back to life
in a Central Park dressing room.
It shook me.
She looked so much the part,
you see —even without the red
wig yet, just powdered pale
makeup going back to a quarter
of an inch from her own short
dark bang combed and netted
back tight. The age too. Miss
Nefer can’t be a day over forty
— —
well, forty- two at most but
now she looked and talked and
felt to my hands dressing her,
well, at least a dozen years old-
er. I guess when Miss Nefer gets
into character she does it with
each molecule.
That age point fascinated me
so much that I risked asking her
a question. Probably I was fig-
uring that she couldn’t do me
much damage because of the
positions we happened to be in
at the moment. You see, I’d
started to lace her up and to do
it right I had my knee against
the tail of her spine.
“How old, I mean how young
might your majesty be?” I asked
her, innocently wonderingly
like some dumb serving wench.
158
For a wonder she didn’t some-
how swing around and clout me,
but only settled into character
a little more deeply.
“Fifty-four winters,”
“ some new comedy
plied dismally.
of Our Lord’s year One Thou-
sand and Five Hundred and
Eighty and Seven. I sit cold in
Greenwich, staring at the table
where Mary’s death warrant
waits only my sign manual. If
I send her to the block, I open
the doors to future, less official
regicides. But if I doom her not,
Philip’sarmada will come inch-
ing up the Channel in a season,
puffing smoke and shot, and my
English Catholics, thinking only
of Mary Regina, will rise and i’
the end the Spaniard will have
all. would alter. That
All history
must not be, even if I’m damned
for it! And yet and yet.
A
.
bright blue fly
. .
ing along (the
has some insect life) and slowly
circled her head rather close,
but she didn’t even flicker her
eyelids.
“I sit cold in Greenwich, go-
ing mad. Each afternoon I ride,
praying for some mischance,
some prodigy, to wash from my
mind away the bloody question
for some little space. It skills
not what: a fire, a tree a-falling,
Davison or e’en Eyes Leicester
tumbled with his horse, an assas-
sin’s ball clipping
:
by my ear, a maid crying rape,
a wild boar charging with dip-
ping tusks, news of the Spaniard
'
at Thames’ mouth or, more hap-
she re- I pily, a band of strolling actors
‘Tiz Januarius setting forth
j
to charm the fancy or some
great unheard-of tragedy to tear
the heart —
though that were
somewhat much to hope for at
thisseason and place, even
Southwark be close by.”
T he lacing was done. I stood
back from her, and really
she looked so much like Elia-
. beth painted by Gheeraerts or
'
on the Great Seal of Ireland or
something —
though the ash-col-
ored plush dress trimmed in
silver and the little silver-edge
ruff and the black-silver tinsel-
cloth cloak lined with ^ white
plush hanging behind her look-
came buzz- I ed most like a winter riding
dressingroom costume —
and her face was
such a pale frozen mask of Eliz-
abeth’s inward tortures, that I
told myself. Oh, I got to talk to
Siddy again, he’s made some big
, mistake, the lardy old lackwit,
Miss Nefer just can’t be figuring
I
I
on playing in Macbeth tonight.
As a matter of fact I was nerv-
ing myself to ask her all about
it direct, though it was going to
I
I
take some real nerve and may-
be be risking broken bones or
at least a flayed cheek to break
the cold twigs the ice of that characterization,
j
GALAXY '
NO GREAT /AAGIC
when who should come by call-
ing the Fifteen Minutes but
Martin. He looked so downright
goofy that it took my mind off
Nefer-in-character for all of
eight seconds.
His levied bottom half still
looked like The Lower Depths.
Martin is Village Stanislavsky
rather than Ye Olde English
if Stage Traditions. But above that
well, really amounted
, , . all it
to was that he was stripped to
the waist and had shaved off the
small high tuft of chest hair and
was wearing a black wig that
hung down in front of his shoul-
ders in two big braids heavy
with silver hoops and pins. But
just the same those simple things,
along with his tarpaper-solari-
um tan and habitual poker ex-
pression, made him look so like
an American Indian that I
thought. Hey Zeus! he’s all —
set to play Hiawatha, or if he’d
just cover up that straight-line
chest, afrowny Pocahontas. And
I quick ran through what plays
with Indian parts we do and
could only come up with The
Fountain.
I mutely goggled my question
at him, wiggling my hands like
guppy fins, but he brushed me
off with a solemn mysterious
smile and backed through the
curtain. I thought, nobody can
explain this but Siddy, and I fol-
lowed Martin.
159
 II set too. I could tell by the way
his waist was sucked in before
History does not move in he saw me. But instead of dark
one current, kilts and that bronze-studded
like the wind across bare sweat-stained leather battle har-
seas, ness that lets him show off his
but in a thousand streams beefy shoulders and the top half
and eddies, of his heavily furred chest
like the wind over a broken and which really does look great
landscape. on Macbeth in the first act when
— Cary he comes in straight from battle
— but instead of that he was
^ I *he boys’ half of the dressing wearing, so help me, red tights
^ room (two-thirds really) cross-gartered with strips of
was bustling. There was the smell gold-blue tinsel-cloth, a green
of spirit gum and Max Factor doublet gold-trimmed and to top
and just plain men. Several guys it a ruff, and he was trying
to
were getting dressed or un-, and fitonto his front a bright silver-
Bruce was cussing Bloody-some- ed cuirass that would have look-
thing because he’d just burnt his ed just dandy maybe on one of
fingersunwinding from the neck the Pope’s Swiss Guards.
of a hot electric bulb some I thought, Siddy, Willy S.
crepe hair he’d wound there to ought to reach out of his por-
dry after wetting and stretching trait there and bop you one on
it to turn it from crinkly to the koko for contemplating such
straight for his Banquo beard. a crazy-quilt desecration of just
Bruce is always getting to the about his greatest and certainly
theater late and trying short- his most atmospheric play.
cuts. Just then he noticed me and
But I had eyes only for Sid. hissed accusingly, “There thou
So help me, as soon as I saw art, slothy minx! Spring to and
him they bugged again. Greta, help stuff me into this mon-
I told myself, yoti’re going to strous chest-kettle.”
have to send Martin out to the “Siddy, what is all this?” I
drugstore for some anti-bug demanded as my hands automo-
powder. “For the roaches, boy? tically obeyed. “Are you going
“No, for the eyes.” to play Macbeth for laughs, ex-
Sid was made up and had his cept maybe leaving the Porter
long mustaches and elf-locked a serious character? You think
Macbeth wig on and his cor- — you’re Red Skelton?”
160
GALAXY NO GREAT /MGIC

“What monstrous brabble
this, you mad bitch?” he
ed, grunting as I bear-hugged his
waist, shouldering the cuirass to
squeeze it home.
“The clown costumes on all
you men,” I told him, for now
I’d noticed that the others were
in rainbow hues, Bruce a real
eye-buster in yellow tights and
violet doublet as he furiously
bushed out and clipped cross-
wise sections of beard and
slapped them on his chin gleam-
ing brown with spirit gum. “I
haven’t seen any eight-inch
polka-dots yet but I’m sure
will.”
Suddenly a big grin split Sid-
dy’s face and he laughed out
loud at me, though the laugh
changed to a gasp as I strapped
in the cuirass three notches too
tight. When we’d got that ad-
justed he said, “I’ faith thou
slayest me, pretty witling. Did I
not tell you this production is
an experiment, a novelty? We
shall but show Macbeth as it
might have been costumed at the
court of King James. In the
the clothes of the day, but gaud-
ier, as was then the stage fash-
ion. Hold, dove, I’ve somewhat
for thee.” He
fumbled his
is size,and one of the new Ken-
retort- nedy dimes.
A s squeezed those two and
I What’s more
gloated my eyes on them,
feeling securer and happier and
friendlier for them though I
didn’t at the moment want
thought. Well, Siddy’s right
about that, at least I've read they
used to costume the plays that
way, though I don’t see how
Shakespeare stood it. But it was
dirty of them all not to tell me
beforehand.
But that’s the way it is. Some-
I times I’m the butt as well as the
pet of the dressing room, and
considering all the breaks I get
I shouldn’t mind. I smiled at
Sid and went on tiptoes and
necked out my head and kissed
him on a powdery cheek just
above an aromatic mustache.
Then I wiped the smile off my
face and said, “Okay, Siddy,
play Macbeth as Little Lord
Faimtleroy or Baby Snooks if
you want to. I’ll never squeak
again. But the Elizabeth pro-
logue’s still an anachronism.
And — this is the thing I
to tell you, Siddy —
Miss Nefer’s
not getting ready for any measly
prologue. She’s set to play Queen
—”
Martin’s not dressing for Mal- “Martin,” I said, halfway up
colm, but for the Son of the the hooks and working fast —
Last of the Mohicans, I’d say. Miss Nefer’s costume fitted him
— fine. “You’re going to play ?” —
You know, something I said “Lady Macbeth, yes,” he fin-
must have annoyed Sid, for he ished for me. “Wish me courage,
changed his mood again in a will you Greta? Nobody else
to, I flash. “Shut your jaw, you crook seems to think I need it.”
brained cat, and begone!” he
snarled at me. “Here’s curtain punched him half-hearted-
time close upon us, and you I ly in the rear. Then, as I
come like a wittol scattering fastened the last hooks, my eyes
your mad questions like the topped his shoulder and I look-
crazed Ophelia her flowers. Be- ed at our faces side by side in
gone, I say!” the mirror of his dressing table.
“Yessir,” I whipped out softly. His, in spite of the female edg-
I skittered off toward the door ing and him being at least eight
to the stage, because that was the years younger than me, I think,
easiest direction. I figured I looked wise, poised, infinitely
could do with a breath of less resourceful with power in re-
grease-painty air. Then, “Oh, serve, very very real, while mine
Greta,” I heard Martin call nice- looked like that of a bewildered
ly- and characterless child ghost
He’d changed his levis for about to scatter into air — and
black tights, and was stepping the edges of my charcoal sweat-
into and pulling up around him er and skirt, contrasting with
a very familiar dress, dark green his strong colors, didn’t dispel
and embroidered with silver and that last illusion.
stage-rubies. He’d safety-pinned “Oh, by the way, Greta,” he
a folded towel around his chest said, “I picked up a copy of The
— to make a bosom of sorts, I Village Times for you. There’s
came realized. a thumbnail review of our Meas-
He armed into the sleeves and ure for Measure, though it men-
turned his back to me. “Hook me tions no names, darn it. It’s
.”
up, would you?” he entreated. around here somewhere. .

grouch bag from under his dou- Elizabeth all night and tomor- Then it hit me. They had no But was already hurrying
I

blet and dipped finger and row morning too. Whatever you actresses in Shakespeare’s day, on. Oh, it was logical enough to
thumb in it, and put in my palm think,she doesn’t know we’re they used boys. And the dark have Martin playing Mrs. Mac-
a silver model of the Empire doing Macbeth. But who’ll do green dress was so familiar to beth in a production styled to
State Building, charm bracelet Lady Mack if she doesn’t? And me because Shakespeare’s own times

'162 GALAXY NO GREAT MAGIC 163

(though pedantically over-au- Maybe there was a 25th hour or there’s a cold spap, or if you — or, it occurred to me for
nobody had told me about yet want to play all winter without the first time now, remember
thentic, I’dhave thought) and
really didanswer all my ques- when they did all the things they a single break, as we’ve been do- who I am. Which might be even
it
tions, eiifen why Miss Nefer could didn’t tell me about. ing, then you can put your audi- worse.
Maybe they were things they ence in the auditorium. In that Maybe that’s what I’m afraid
sink herself wholly in Elizabeth
tonight if she wanted to. But it didn’t dare tell me because of case, a big accordion-pleated of.

my top-storey weakness. wall shuts off the out of doors took a step back. I noticed
I
meant that I must be missing so
felt a cold draft and shiver- and keeps the wind from blow- something new just beside the
much of what was going on right I
ing your backdrop, which is on
ed and I realized I was at the door: a high-legged, short-key-
around me, in spite of spending
door to the stage. that side, of course, when the board piano. Then I saw that the
24 hours a day in the dressing
auditorium’s in use. legs were those of a table. The
room, or at most in the small
should explain that our Tonight the stage was set up to piano was just a box with yel-
adjoining John or in the wings
of the stage just outside the
I stage is rather an unusual face the outdoors, although that lowed keys. Spinet? Harpsi-
one, in that it can face two ways, draft felt mighty chilly. chord?
dressing room door, that it
with the drops and set pieces I hesitated, as I always do at “Five minutes, everybody,”
scared me. Siddy telling every-
body, “Macbeth tonight in Eliz- and lighting all capable of be- the door to the stage —
though Martin quietly called out behind
and ing switched around completely. it wasn’t the actual stage lying me.
abethan costume, boys
To your left, as you look out the just ahead qf me, but only back- took hold of m5reelf. Greta,
girls,” sure, that I could have
I

missed —though you’d have dressing-room door, is an open- stage, the wings. You see, I al- I told myself —
also for the first
an open- ways have to fight the feeling you know that some day
thought he’d have asked my help theater, or rather
air time,

on the costumes.
But Martin getting up in Mrs.
Mack. Why, someone must have
held the part on him twenty-
eight times, cueing him, while
he got the lines. And there must
have been at least a couple of
run-through rehearsals to
sure he had all the business and
stage movements down pat, and
Sid and Martin would have been
doing their big scenes every
backstage minute they could
spare with Sid yelling, “Witling!
Think’st that’s a wifely buss?”
and Martin would have been
droning his lines last time he
scrubbed and mopped
Greta, they’re hiding
from you, I told myself.
air place for the audience a —
large upward-sloping glade
walled by thick tall trees and
with benches for over two thou-
sand people. On that side the
stage kind of merges into the
grass and can be made to look
make part of it by a green ground-
cloth.
To your right is a big roofed
auditorium with the same num-
ber of seats.
The whole thing grew out of
the free summer Shakespeare
performances in Central Park
that they started back in the
1950’s.
The Janus-stage idea
things nice weather you can have the
audience outdoors, but if it rains
that if I go out the dressing room
door, go out just eight steps, the
world will change while I’m out
there and I’ll never be able to
get back. It won’t be New York
City any more, but Chicago or
Mars or Algiers or Atlanta,
Georgia, or Atlantis or Hell and
I’ll never be able to get back to
that lovely warm womb with all
the jolly boys and girls and all
the costumes smelling like au-
tumn leaves.
Or, especially when there’s a
cold breeze blowing, I’m afraid
that I’ll change, that I’ll grow
wrinkled and old in eight foot-
is that in steps, or shrink down to the wit-
less blob of a baby, or forget al-
together who I am — ers’. Doc had a mock-ermine
you’re really going to have to
face this thing, and not just for
a quick dip out and back either.
Better get in some practice.
I stepped through the door.
T>eau and Doc were already
out there, made up and in
costume for Ross and King Dun-
can. They were discreetly peer-
ing past the wings at the gather-
ing audience. Or at the place
where the audience ought to be
gathering, at any rate some- —
times the movies and girlie
shows and brainheavy beatnik
bruhahas outdraw us altogether.
Their costumes were the same
kooky colorful ones as the oth-

164
GALAXY NO GREAT MAGIC 165
robe and a huge
mache crown. Beau was
gilt
ing aragged black robe and
hood over his left arm he
doubles the First Witch.
As I came up behind them,
making no noise in my black
sneakers, I heard Beau say, “I
see some rude fellows from the
City approaching. I was hoping
we wouldn’t get any of those.
How should they scent us out?”
Brother, I thought, where do
you expect them to come from if
not the City? Central Park is
bounded on three sides by Man-
hattan Island and on the fourth
by the Eighth Avenue Subway.
And Brooklyn and Bronx boys
have got pretty sharp scenters.
And whafs it get you
the woiking and non-woiking
people of the woild’s greatest
metropolis? Be grateful for any
audience you get, boy.
But I suppose Beau Lassiter
considers anybody from north
ef Vicksburg a “rude fellow”
and is always waiting for the
day when the entire audience
will arrive in carriage and
democrat wagons.
Doc replied, holding down
his white beard and heavy on
the mongrel Russo-German ac-
cent he miraculously manages to
suppress on stage except when
“Vot does it matter? Ve don’t
convinze zem, ve don’t convinze
nobody. Nichevo.”
166
papier- Maybe, thought. Doc
carry- my
I
doubts about making Mac-
beth plausible in rainbow pants.
— Still unobserved by them, I
looked between their shoulders
and got the first of my shocks.
It wasn’t night at all, but af-
ternoon. A dark cold lowering
afternoon, admittedly. But
noon all the same.
Sure, between shows I some-
times forget whether it’s day or
night, living inside like I do. But
getting matinees and evening
performances mixed in some-
thing else again.
It also seemed to me, although
Beau was leaning in now and
I couldn’t see so well, that the
glade was smaller than it should
insulting be, the trees closer to us and
more irregular, and I couldn’t
see the benches. That was Shock
Two.
Beau said anxiously, glancing
at his wrist, wonder what’s
“I
holding up the Queen?”
Although I was busy keeping
up nerve-pressure against the
shocks, I managed to think, So
he knows about Biddy’s stupid
Queen Elizabeth prologue too.
But of course he would. It’s only
me they keep in the dark. If
he’s so smart he ought to re-
member that Miss Nefer is al-
ways the last person on stage,
even when she opens the play.
And then I thought I heard,
through the trees, the distant
GALAXY
shares drumming
the sound of a horn.
of horses’ hoofs
^^ow they do have horseback
^ riding in Central Park and
-*•
you can hear auto horns there,
but the hoofbeats don’t drum
that wild way. And there aren’t
after-
so many riding together.
auto horn I ever heard gave out
with that sweet yet imperious
ta-ta-ta-T A.
I must have squeaked or some-
thing, because Beau and Doc
turned around quickly, blocking
my view, their expressions half
angry, half anxious.
turned too and ran for the
I
dressing room, for I could feel
one of my mind-wavery fits
ing on. At the last second it
had seemed to me that the sce-
nery was getting skimpier, hard-
ly more than thin trees and
bushes itself, and underfoot feel-
ing more like ground than a
ground cloth, and overhead not
theater roof but gray sky. Shock
Three and you’re out, Gerta, my
umpire was calling.
made
I it through the dress-
ing room door and nothing there
was wavering or dissolving,
praised be Pan. Just Martin
standing with his back to me,
alert, alive, poised like a cat
in-
side that green dress, the prompt
book in his right hand with a
finger in it, and from his left
hand long black tatters
NO GREAT AAAGIC
and ing —
telling me he’d still be
doubling Second Witch. And he
was hissing, “Places, please, ev-
erybody. On stage!”
With a sweep of silver and
ash-colored plush. Miss Nefer
came past him, for once leading
the last-minute hurry to the
And no stage. She had on the dark red
wig now. For me that crowned
her characterization. It made
me remember her saying, “My
brain bums.” I ducked aside as
if she were majesty
incarnate.
And then she didn’t break her
own precedent. She stopped at
the new thing beside the door
and poised her long white skinny
fingers over the yellowed keys,
com- and suddenly I remembered what
it was called: a virginals.
She stared down at it fiercely,
evilly, like a
witch planning an
enchantment. Her face got the
secret fiendish look that, I told
myself, the real Elizabeth would
have had ordering the deaths of
Ballard and Babington, or plot-
ting with Drake (for all they say
she didn’t) one of his raids, that
long long
forefinger tracing
crooked courses through a crab-
bedly drawn map of the Indies
and she smiling at the dots of
cities that would burn.
Then all her eight fingers
came down and the
flickering
strings inside
the virginals be-
gan to twang and hum with a
swing- high-pitched rendering of Grieg’s
167
“In the Hall of the Mountain ture of the United Nations build- in the stomach of that particu- out dreaming. You see, the dress-
King.” ing with a hundred tiny gay pa- lar monster and not a seventeen ing room is the one place I really
Then as Sid and Bruce and per flags pasted around it, and tentacled one from the fifth do feel safe. Whatever is out

Martin rushed past me, along
with a black swooping that was
Maud already robed and hooded
for Third Witch, I beat it for
my sleeping closet like Peer
Gynt himself dashing across the
mountainside away from the
cave of the Troll King, who only
wanted to make tiny
eyeballs so that forever
wards he’d see reality just a
hanging in an old hairnet a
home-run baseball autographed
by Willy Mays. Things like that
Right now I was jumping my
eyes over that stuff, asking it to
keep me located and make me
safe, as I lay on my cot in my
clothes with my knees drawn
slits in his up and my fingers over my ears
after- so the louder lines from the
little play wouldn’t be able to come
planet of Aldebaran.
It’s really true, you
me actually living in the dress-
ing room. The boys bring me
meals: coffee in cardboard cy-
linders and doughnuts in little
brown grease-spotted paper sacks
and malts and hamburgers and
apples and little pizzas, and
Maud brings me raw vegetables
— carrots and parsnips and little
there in New York that terror-
see, about izes me, I’m pretty confident that
it can never get in here.
Besides that, there’s a great
big bolt on the inside of the
dressing room door that I throw
whenever I’m all alone after the
show. Next day they buzz for
me to open it.
It worried me a bit at first and
I had asked Sid, “But what if

differently. And as I ran, the nosing back around the trunks onions and such, and watches I’m so deep asleep I don’t hear
master-anachronism of that men- and tables and -bright-lit mirrors to make sure . I exercise my and you have to get in fast?”
acing mad march music was and find me. Generally I like to molars grinding them and get and he had replied, “Sweetling,
shrilling in my ears. listen to them, even if they’re my vitamins. I take spit-baths a word in your ear: our own
sort of sepulchral and drained in the little john. Architects Beauregard Lassiter is the pret-
Ill of overtones by their crooked don’t seem to think actors ever tiest picklock unj ailed since
trip. But they’re always tense- take baths, even when they’ve Jimmy Valentine and Jimmy
Sound a dumbe shew. Enter making. And tonight (I mean browned themselves all over Dale. not ask where he learn-
I’ll

the three fatall sisters, this afternoon) —

no! playing Pindarus the Parthian ed his trade, but ’tis sober truth,
with a rocke, a threed, It’sfunny I should find secur- in Julius Caesar. And all my upon my honor.”
and a pair of sheeres. ity mementos of a city I
in shut-eye is caught on this little And Beau had confirmed this
— Old Play daren’t go out into —
no, not cot in the twilight of my NYC with a courtly bow, murmuring,
even for a stroll through Central screen. “At your service. Miss Greta.”

M
the
sleeping closet is just
y
a cot at the back end of
third of the dressing
girls’
Park, though I know it from the
Pond to Harlem Meer
Met Museum, the Menagerie, the
the — \7"ou’d
*
think I’d be terrified
being alone in the dress-
“How do you jigger a big iron
bolt through a three-inch door
that fits like Maudie’s tights?”
room, with a three-panel screen Ramble, the Great Lawn, Cleo- ing room during the wee and I wanted to know.
to make it private. patra’s Needle and all the rest. morning hours, let alone trying “He carries lodestones of great
When I sleep I hang my out- But that’s the way it is. Maybe to sleep then, but that isn’t the power and divers subtle tools,”
on the screen, which
side clothes I’m like Jonah in the whale, re- way it works out. For one thing, Sid had explained for him.
is pasted and thumbtacked all luctant to go outside because the there’s apt to be someone sleep- I don’t know how they work it
over with the New York City whale’s a terrible monster that’s ing in too. Maudie especially. so that some Traverse-Three cop
stuff that gives me security: awful scary to look in the face And it’s my favorite time too or park official doesn’t find out
theater programs and restaurant and might really damage you for costume-mending and read- about me and raise a stink. May-
menus, clippings from the Times gulping you a second time, yet ing the Variorum and other be Sid just throws a little more
and the Minot, a torn-out pic- reassured to know you’re living books, and for just plain way- of the temperament he uses to

168 GALAXY NO GREAT AAAGIC 169

keep most outsiders out of the
dressing-room. We
sure don’t get
any janitors or scrubwomen, as
Martin and I know only too well.
More likely he squares someone.
I do get the impression all
the
company’s gone a little way out
on a limb letting me stay here
that the directors of our theater
wouldn’t like it if they found
cause it might revive the shock
that gave me agoraphobia and
amnesia in the first place, and
maybe this time knock out my
entire mind or at least
the new mouse-in-a-hole con-
sciousness I’ve made for myself.
— good to me in their kooky ways,
guessthey must have got
I by themselves a year ago
classification of the psychoses,
muttering, as he absentminded-
ly fondled my wrist, that in a
year or two he’d be a good il-
smash lustration of Korsakov’s Syn-
drome.
They’ve all been pretty dam
the actors have. Not one of them
has tried to take advantage of
Square, Columbus Circle
see?) and hung around the stage
door, so mousy but open-mouth-
ed that the actors made a pet of
her.
And then something very
nasty happened to her, either
dowm at the Village or in a dark
corner of the Park. Something
so nasty that it blew the top of

out about me.
In fact, the actors are all so
good about helping me and put-
ting up with my antics (though
they have their own, Danu digs!)
that I sometimes think I must
be related to one of them a —
and talked me over and decided
my best chance for cure or for
bumping along half happily
just
was staying in the dressing room
rather than being sent home
(funny, could I bave another?)
or to a mental hospital. And
my situation to extort an5dhing
out of me, beyond asking me to
sew on a button or polish some
boots or at worst clean the wash
bowl. Not one of the boys has
made a pass I didn’t at least
seem to invite. And when my
her head right off. And she ran
to the only people and place
where she felt she could ever
again feel safe. And she showed
them the top of her head with
its singed hair and its jagged
ring of skull and they took pity.

distant cousin or sister-in-law then they must have been cocky crush on Sid was at its worst he My least plausible theory of
enough about their amateur psy- shouldered me off by getting me, but the one I like the most,
(or my God!), because
wife,
—
and enough
interested polite something he only is to is that I was bom in the dress-
I’ve checked our faces side by chiatry
in me (the White Horse knows strangers. On the rebound I hit ing room, cradled in the top of
side in the mirrors often enough
why) to go ahead with a pro- Beau, who treated me like a real a flat theatrical trunk with my
and I can’t find any striking
Or maybe gram almost any psychiatrist Southern gentleman. ears full of Shakespeare’s lines
family resemblances.
would be bound to yike at. All this for a stupid little before I ever said “Mama,” let
I was even an actress in the
I got so worried about the set
waif, whom anyone but a gang alone lamped a TV; hush-walk-
company. The least important
up once and about the risks they of sentimental actors would ed when I cried by whoever was
one. Playing the tiniest roles
like Lucius in Caesar and Bianca might be running that, gritting have sent to Bellevue without a off stage, old props my first toys,

in Othello and one of the little down my dread of the idea, I second thought or feeling. For, trying to eat crepe hair my first

said to Sid, “Siddy, shouldn’t I to get disgustingly realistic, my indiscretion, sticks of grease-
princes in Dick the Three Eyes
see a doctor?” most plausible theory of me is paint my first crayons. You
and Fleance and the Gentle-
He looked at me solemnly for that I’m a stage-struck girl from know, I really wouldn’t be both-
woman in Macbeth, though me
couple of seconds and then Iowa who saw her twenties slip- ered by crazy fears about New
doing even that much acting a
“Sure, why not? Go talk ping away and her sanity too, York changing and the dressing
strikes me to laugh. said,
and made the dash to Greenwich
to Doc right now,” tipping a room shifting around in space
I am in that di-
But whatever
rection —
if I’m anything not — thumb toward Doc Pyeskov, who Village, and went so ape on
Shakespeare after seeing her
and time, if I could be sure I’d
always be able to stay in it and
one of the actors has told me a was just sneaking back into the
bottom of his makeup box what first performance in Central that the same sweet guys and
word about it or dropped the
looked like a half pint from the Park that she kept going back gals would always be with me
least hint. Not even when I beg
did, incidentally. there night after night (Christo- and that the shows would always
them to tell me or try to trick flash I got. I
pher Street, Penn Station, Times
them into it, presumably be- Doc explained to me Kraepelin’s go on.

GALAXY NO GREAT AAAGIC 171

170

T his
it
show was sure going
suddenly hit me, for
my
let my fingers slip off
as I sentimentalized and wish-
dreamed and I heard, muted by
the length and stuff of the dress-
ing room, the slow beat of a
drum and then a drum note in
Maudie’s voice taking up that
beat as she warned the other two
witches, “A drum, a drum! Mac-
beth doth come.”
Why, I’d not only missed Sid’s
history - making - and - breaking
Queen Elizabeth prologue (kick-
ing myself that I had, now it
was over), I’d also missed the
short witch scene with its fa-
mous “Fair is foul and foul is
fair,” the Bloody Sergeant scene
where Duncan hears about Mac-
beth’s victory, and we were well
into the second witch scene, the
one on the blasted heath where
Macbeth gets it predicted to
him he’ll be king after Duncan
and is tempted to speculate
about hurrying up the process.
I min-
sat up. I did hesitate a
ute then, my fingers going back
toward my ears, because Mac-
beth is specially tense-making
and when I’ve had one of my
mind-wavery fits I feel weak for
a while and things are blurry
and uncertain. Maybe I’d better
take a couple of the barbiturate
sleeping pills Maudie manages
to get for me and but No, — tumes. After a while I began to
Greta, I told myself, you want
172
to watch this show, you want to
on,
I’d see how they do in those crazy
costumes. You especially want
ears
to see how Martin makes out.
He’d never forgive you if you
didn’t.
So I walked to the other end
of the empty dressing room,
moving quite slowly and touch-
ing the edges here and there,
the words of the play getting
louder all the time. By the time
I got to the door Bruce-Banquo
was sasdng to the witches, “If
you can look into the seeds of
time. And say which grain will
grow and which will not,”
those lines that stir anyone’s
imagination with their veiled
vision of the tmiverse.
The overall lighting was a little
dim (afternoon fading already?
— a late matinee?) and the stage
lights flickery and the scenery
still a little spectral-flimsy. Oh,
my mind-wavery fits can be
lulus! But I concentrated on the
actors, watching them through
the entrance-gaps in the wings.
They were solid enough.
Giving a solid performance,
too, as I decided after watching
that scene through and the one
after it where Duncan congratu-
lates Macbeth, with never a
pause between the two scenes in
true Elizabethan style. Nobody
was laughing at the colorful cos-
accept them myself.
GALAXY
Oh, it was a different Macbeth
than our company usually does.
Louder and faster, with shorter
pauses between speeches, the
blank verse at times approach-
ing a chant. But had a lot of
it
real guts and everybody was just
throwing themselves into it, Sid
especially.
''T^he first Lady Macbeth scene
-* came. Without exactly real-
izing it I moved forward to
where I’d been when I got my
three shocks. Martin is so intent
on his career and making good
— that he has me the same way
about it.
The Thaness started off, as she
always does, toward the opposite
side of the stage and facing a
little away from me. Then she
moved a step and looked down
at the stage-parchment letter in
her hands and began to read it,
though there was nothing on it
but scribble, and my heart sank
because the voice I heard was
Miss Nefer’s. I thought (and al-
most said out loud) Oh, dammit,
he funked out, or Sid decided
at the last minute he couldn’t
trust him with the part. Who-
ever got Miss Nefer out of the
ice cream cone in time?
Then she swung around and
I saw that no, my God, it was
Martin, no mistaking. He’d been
using her voice. When a person
first does a part, especially get-
NO GREAT MAGIC
ting up in it without much re-
hearsing, he’s boimd to copy the
actor he’s been hearing doing it.
And as I listened on, I realized
it was fundamentally Martin’s
own voice pitched a trifle high,
only some of the intonations
and rythms were Miss Nefer’s.
He was showing a lot of feeling
and intensity too and real Mar-
tin- type poise. You’re off to a
great start, kid, I cheered in-
wardly. Keep it up!
Just then I looked toward the
audience. Once again I almost
squeaked out loud. For out
there, close to the stage, in the
very middle of the reserve sec-
tion, was a carpet spread out
And sitting in the middle of it
on some sort of little chair, with
what looked like two charcoal
braziers smoking to either side
of her, was Miss Nefer with a
string of extras in Elizabethan
hats with cloaks pulled around
them.
For a second it really threw
me because it reminded me of
the things I’d seen or thought
I’d seen the couple of times I’d
sneaked a peek through the cur-
tain-hole at the audience in the
indoor auditorium.
It hardly threw me for more
than a second, though, because
I remembered that the charac-
ters who speak Shakespeare’s
prologues often stay on stage and
sometimes kind of join the au-
173
dience and even comment on the IV wanted to shout hooray. Even can’t have hired horses for Ne-
play from time to time Chris- — Sid clutching Martin to that fer-Elizabeth much as he’s a ar-
topher Sly and attendant lords ... to dream of new dimen- ,( ridiculous pot-chested cuirass cus man at heart. We don’t hare
in The Shrew, for one. Sid had sions,
j
didn’t have one note of horse- that kind of money. Besides —
just copied and in his usual style Cheating checkmate 1
play in it. Their bodies spoke. But just then Sid-Macbetfa
laid it on thick. by painting the king’s robe !}
It was the McCoy. gasped as if he were sucking in
Welt, bully for you, Siddy, I So that he slides like a [' After that, the play began to a bucket of air. He’d shed the
thought, I’m sure the witless queen; get real good, the fast tempo cuirass, fortunately. He said, “Is
— Graves
:

New York groundlings will be ;

and exaggerated facial expres- this a dagger which I see before
thrilled to their cold little toes sions actually helping it. By the me. The handle toward my
^

knowing they’re sitting in the swung back to the play just I

time the Dagger Scene came hand?” and the play hooked me
same audience as Good Queen 1 at the moment Lady Mack along I was digging my finger- again, and I had no time to think
Liz and attendant courtiers. And soliloquizes, “Come to my wom- nails into my sweaty palms. about or listen for anything else.
as for you. Miss Nefer, I added an’s breasts. And take my milk '
Which was a good thing — my Most of the offstage actors were
a shade invidiously, you just for you murdering minis-
gall, i
eating up the play, I mean — on the other side of the stage,
keep on sitting cold in Central ters.’’ Although I knew it was because it kept me from looking as that’s where they make their
Park, warmed by dry-ice smoke just folded towel Martin was at the audience again, even tak- exists and entrances at this point
I

from braziers, and keep your touching with his fingertips as i ing a fast peek. As you’ve gath- in the Second Act. I stood alone
mouth shut and everything’ll be he lifted them to the top half of 1
ered, audiences bug me. All in the wings, watching the play
fine.I’m sincerely glad you’ll be his green bodice, I got carried those people out there in the like a bug, frightened only of
able to be Queen Elizabeth all away, he made it so real. I de- shadows, watching the actors in the horrors Shakespeare had in
night long. Just so long as you cided boys can play girls better the light, all those silent voyeurs mind when he wrote it.
don’t try to steal the scene from than people think. Maybe they as Bruce calls them. Why, they Yes, the play was going great.
Martin and the rest of the cast, should do it a little more often, might be anything. And some- The Dagger Scene was terrif
and the real play. and girls play boys too. times (to my mind-wavery sor- where Duncan gets murdered
I suppose that camp chair Then Sid-Macbeth came back row) I think they are. Maybe offstage, and so was the part af-
will get a little uncomfortable to his wife from the wars, look- crouching in the dark out there, terwards where hysteria mounts
by the time the Fifth Act comes ing triumphant but scared be- hiding among the others, is the as the crime’s discovered.
tramping along to that drum- cause the murder-idea’s started one who did the nasty thing to But
.
just at this point I began
beat, but I’m sure you’re so to smoulder in him, and she got me that tore off the top of mv to catch notes I didn’t like. Twice
much in character you’ll never busy fanning the blaze like any head. someone was late on entrance
feel it. other good little hausfrau intent Anyhow, if I so much as and came on as if shot from a
One thing though: just don’t on her husband rising in the glance at the audience, I begin cannon. And three times at least
scare me again pretending to company and knowing that she’s to get ideas about it —
and some- Sid had to throw someone a line
work witchcraft —
with a vir- the power behind him and that
^

times even if I don’t, as just at when they blew up — in the

ginals or any other way. when there are promotions this moment I thought I heard clutches .Sid’s than any
better
Okay? someone’s always got to get the horses pawing hard
restlessly prompt book. began to look
It
Swell. axe. Sid and Martin made this ground and one whinny, though as if the play were getting out
Me, now, Fm going to watch charming little domestic scene that was shut off fast. Krishna of control, maybe because the
the play. so natural yet gutsy too that I kressed us! I thought, Skiddy
I
new tempo was so hot.
174 GALAXY
175
 through the the front of the audience) “ ‘Tis hear? Ob, I like not that,” and Banquo beard. He’d be able to
ut they got
B
i
:

I thought, Oh-ho, so now she’s tear it off, of course, after the

Murder Scene okay. As a good bloody play. Eyes,” and
Murderers got Banquo and he’d
I

they came trooping off, yelling some voice I didn’t recognize re- t beginning to ad-lib.
Well, right away they all went made his brief appearance as a
“Well contented,” most of them ply a bit grudigingly, “There’s
c«i stage with a flourish, Sid and bloodied-up ghost in the Ban-
on my side for a change, I went meat in it and some poetry too, I
Martin crowned and hand in quet Scene. I asked myself. My
for Sid with a towel. He always though rough-wrought.” She 1

went on, still as loudly as if she hand. The play

got going strong God, has Siddy got all the other
sweats like a pig in the Murder d
owned the theater, “ ‘Twill make again. still those
But there were actors out in front playing cour-
Scene. I mopped his neck and 1

undercurrents tiers to Elizabeth- Nefer? Wast-

shoved the towel up under his Master Kyd bite his nails with edge-of-control
doublet to catch the dripping jealousy — ha, ha!” and began to be more uneasy
I ing them that way? The whore-
Ha-ha yourself, you scene- than caught up, and I had to son rogue’s gone nuts!
armpits.
Meanwhile he was fumbling stealing witch, I thought, as I I
stare consciously at the actors But really it was plain fright-
to keep off a wavery-fit. ening, all that frantic doubling
around on a narrow table where helped Sid and then Martin on
and tripling with its suggestion
they lay props and costumes for with their royal outer duds. But I

that the play (and the company

quick changes. Suddenly he dug
his fingers into my shoulder,
enough to catch my attention at
this point, meaning I’d show
bruises tomorrow, and yelled at
me under his breath, “And you
love me, our crows and robes.
Presto!”
I was off like a flash to" the
costumery. There were Mr. and
Mrs. Mack’s king-and-queen
robes and stuff hanging and sit-
ting just where I knew they’d
have to be.
I snatched them up, thinking,
Boy, they made a mistake when
they didn’t tell about this special
performance, and I started back
like Flash Two.
As I shot out the dressing
room door the theater was very
quiet. There’s a short low-pitched
scene on stage then, to give the
audience a breather. I heard
Miss Nefer say loudly (it had to
be loud to get to me from even
176
at the same time I knew Sid
must have written those
himself to go along with his pro-
logue. They had the unmistak-
able rough-wrought Lessingham
touch. Did he really expect the
make
audience to an5d;hing
that reference to Shakespeare’s
predecessor Thomas Kyd of The
Spanish Tragedy and the lost
Hamlet? And if they knew
enough to spot that, wouldn’t
they be bound to realize
whole Elizabeth-Macbeth tie-up
was anachronistic? But when
Sid gets an inspiration he can
be very bull-headed.
Just then, while Bruce-Banquo
was speaking his broody low
soliloquy on stage. Miss Nefer cut
in again loudly with, “Aye, Eyes,
a good bloody play. Yet some-
how, methinks I —know not
how — I’ve heard it before.”
Whereupon Sid grabbed Martin
by the wrist and hissed, “Did’st
GALAXY
lines
O ther things began to bother
me too, such as all the
doubling.
Macbeth’s a great play for
doubling. For instance, anyone
except Macbeth or Banquo can
double one of the Three Witches
of
— or one of the Three Murder-
ers for that matter. Normally we
double at least one or two of
the Witches and Murderers, but
this performance there’d been
more multiple-parting than I’d
the
ever seen. Doc had whipped off
Duncan beard and thrown on
his
a brown smock and hood to play
the Porter with his normal
bottle-roughened accents. Well,
a drunk impersonating a drunk,
pretty appropriate. But Bruce
was doing the next-door-to-im-
possible double of Banquo and
Macduff, using a ringing tenor
voice for the latter and wearing
in the murder scene a helmet
with dropped visor to hid his
NO GREAT MAGIC
too, Freya forfend) was becom-
ing a ricketty patchwork illu-
sion with everybody racing
around faster and faster to hide
the holes. And the scenery-wav-
ery stuff and the warped Park-
sounds were scary too. I was ac-
tually shivering by the time Sid
got to: “Light thickens; and the
crow Makes wing to the rooky
wood: Good things of day begin
to droop and drowse; Whiles
night’s black agents to their
preys do rouse.” Those grave-
yard lines didn’t help my nerves
any, of course. Nor did thinking
I heard Nefer-Elizabeth say from
the audience, rather softly for
her this time, “Eyes, I have
heard that speech, I know not
where. Think you ’tiz stolen?”
Greta, I told myself, you need
a miltown before the crow makes
wing through your kooky head.
I turned to go and fetch me
17/
one from my closet.
dead.
Just behind me, pacing back
and forth like an ash-colored
tiger in the gloomy wings, look-
ing daggers at the audience
every time she turned at that
end of her invisible cage, but
ignoring me completely, was
Miss Nefer in the Elizabeth wig
and rig.
Well, should have
I suppose I and becoming intensely
said to myself, Greta, you im-
agined that last loud whisper
from the audience. Miss Nefer’s
simply unkinked herself, waved
a hand to the real audience and
come back stage. Maybe Sid just
had her out there for the first
half of the play. Or maybe she
just couldn’t stand watching
Martin give such a bang-up per-
formance in her part of Lady
Mack.
Yes, maybe I should have told
myself something like that, but
somehow all I could think then
— and I thought it with a steady
mounting shiver was. We got — across seemed to char itself in
two Elizabeths. This one is our
witch Nefer. I know. I dressed
her. And I know that devil-look
from the But if this
virginals.
is our Elizabeth, the company
Elizabeth, the stage Elizabeth
. who’s the other?
. .
And because I didn’t dare to
let myself think of the answer
to that question,
around the invisible
178
And stopped the ash-colored skirt seemed to
ripple against as the Tiger
Queen turned and I ran into the
dressing room, my only thought
to get behind my New York City
Screen.
V Tempest, Peer Gynt and Insect
Even little things are turn-
ing out to be great things
in-
teresting.
Have you ever thought
about the properties
numbers?
— The Maiden
T ying on my cot, my eyes
' crosswise to the printing, I
looked from a pink Algonquin
menu to a pale green New Am-
sterdam program, with a tiny doll
of Father Knickerbocker dan-
gling between them on a yellow
thread. Really they weren’t cov-
ering up much of anything.
ghostly hole an inch and a half
the program. As if my eye were
right up against it, I saw in vi-
vid memory what I’d seen the
two times I’d dared a peek
through the hole in the curtain:
a bevy of ladies in masks and
Nell Gwyn dresses and men in
King Charles knee-breeches and
long curled hair, and the second
I dodged time a bunch of people and
cage that creatures just wild: all sorts
GALAXY
colors of clothes, humans with
hoofs for feet and antennae
springing from their foreheads,
furry and feathery things that
had more arms than two and in
one case that many heads —
as
if they were dressed up in our
People costumes and some more
besides.
Naturally I’d had mind-wavery
fitsboth times. Afterwards Sid
had wagged a finger at me and
explained that on those two
of nights we’d been giving per-
formances for people who’d ar-
ranged a costume theater-party
and been going to attend a mas-
querade ball, and ’zounds, when
would I learn to guard my half-
patched pate?
I don’t know, I guess never,
I answered now, quick looking
at a Giants pennant, a Korvette
ad, a map of Central Park, my
Willy Mays baseball and a Ra-
A dio City tour ticket. That was
eight items I’d looked at this
trip without feeling any inward
improvement. They weren’t re-
assuring me at all.
The blue fly came slowly buzz-
ing down over my screen and I
asked it, “What are you looking
for? A spider?” when what
should I hear coming back
through the dressing room
straight toward my sleeping
closet but Miss Nefer’s footsteps.
and No one else walks that way.
NO GREAT MAGIC
She’s going to do something to
you, Greta, I thought. She’s the
maniac in the company. She’s
the one who terrorized you with
the boning knife in the shrub-
bery, or sicked the giant tarant-
ula on you at the dark end of
the subway platform, or what-
ever it was, and the others are
covering up for. She’s going to
smile the devil-smile and weave
those white twig-fingers at you,
all eight of them. And Birnam
Wood’ll come to Dunsinane and
you’ll be burnt at the stake by
men in armor or drawn and
quartered by eight-legged mon-
keys that talk or torn apart by
wild centaurs or whirled through
the roof to the moon without
being dressed for it or sent bur-
rowing into the past to stifle in
Iowa 1948 or Egypt 4,008 B.C.
The screen won’t keep her out.
'"T^hen a head of hair pushed
-* over the screen. But it was
black-bound-with-silver, Brahma
bless us, and a moment later
Martin was giving me one of his
rare smiles.
I said, “Marty, do something
for me. Don’t ever use Miss Ne-
fer’s footsteps again. Her voice,
okay, if you have to. But not
the footsteps. Don’t ask me why,
just don’t.”
Martin came around and sat on
My legs were
the foot of my cot.
already doubled up. He straight-
179
ened out his blue-and-gold skirt goes with it.” he’s almost expected to be for- idea,” he commented.
and rested a hand on my black I shook my head, my cheek eign, it’s an asset to him.” reached down to his hand on
I

sneakers. scrubbing the pillow, “I mean “And a theater, well, a theat- my shoe and took hold of his
“Feeling a little wonky, . . . shifting,” I said. “By itself.” er can spring up almost any- middle finger as a baby might.
Greta?” he asked. “Don’t worry “How?” he asked. where and nobody ask questions, “Yeah,” I said, “But Martin,
about me. Banquo’s dead and so’s “Well,” I told him, “I’ve had except the zoning authorities is it true?”
his ghost. We’ve finished the this idea — it’s just a sort of and such and they can always He asked me gravely, “What
Banquet Scene. I’ve got lots of fancy, remember — that if you be squared. Theaters come and do you think?”
wanted to time-travel and, well, go. It happens all the time. I didn’t say anything.
time.”
I just looked at him, queerly I do things, you could hardly pick They’re transitory. Yet theaters “How would you like to work
guess. Then without lifting my a more practical machine than are crossroads, anonymous meet- in a company like that?” he ask-
head I asked him, “Martin, tell a dressing room and sort of stage ing places, anybody with a few ed speculatively.
me the truth. Does the dressing and half-theater attached, with bucks or sometimes nothing at “I don’t really know,” I said.
man
it. Actors can fit all can go. And theaters attract
room move around?” actors to
I was talking so low that he in They’re used to
anywhere. important people, the sort of TTe sat up straighter and his

hitched a little closer, not touch- learning new parts and wearing people you might want to do ^ voice got brisk. “Well, all
ing me anywhere else though. strange costumes. Heck, they’re something to. Caesar was stabbed fantasy aside, how’d you like to
“The Earth’s whipping around even used to traveling a lot. And in a theater. Lincoln was shot in work in this company?” He
the sun at 20 miles a second,” he if an actor’s a bit strange no- one. And. asked, lightly slapping my ankle.
replied, “and the dressing room body thinks anything of it — My voice trailed off. “A cute “On the stage, I mean. Sid thinks
180 GALAXY NO GREAT AAAGIC 181
you’re ready for some of the quite a few people in the theater close to his face. “Eight eyes me to see the length of the dress-
smaller parts. In fact, he asked who are bats on numerology, too,” he told me. Then, “Poor ing room and notice anyone
I

me to put it to you. He thinks they use it to pick stage-names. I little god,” he said and put it coming through the door and
you never take him seriously.” But I’d never have guessed it of back. any blurs moving behind the
I'

“Pardon me while I gasp and
glow,” I said. Then, “Oh Marty,
I can’t really imagine myself do-
ing the tiniest part.”
“Me neither, eight months
ago,” he said. “Now, look. Lady
Martin. He always stmck me as “Marty? Marty?” Sid’s des- thin white curtain shutting off
the skeptical, cynical type. perate stage-whisper rasped the the boys’ two-thirds.
“I had another idea about length of the dressing room. I’d been going to think. But
eight,” I said hesitatingly. “Spi- Martin stood up. “Yes, Sid?” instead I just sat there, experi-
ders. That 8-legged asterisk on Sid’s voice stayed a whisper encing my body and the room
Miss Nefer’s forehead ” I sup-
— but went from desperate to fero- around steadying myself or
it,

Macbeth.”
“But Marty,” I said, reaching
“you haven’t
for his finger again,
answered my question. About
whether it’s true.”
“Oh that!” he said with a
laugh, switching his hand to the
other side. “Ask me something
else.”
“Okay,” I said, “why am I
bugged on the number eight?
Because I’m permanently behind
a private 8-ball?”
“Eight’s a number with many
properties,” he said,suddenly as
intently serious as he usually is.
“The comers of a cube.”
“You mean I’m a square?”
said. “Or just a brick? You
know, ‘She’s a brick.’ ”
“But eight’s most curious prop-
erty.” he continued with a
frown, “is that lying on its side
it signifies infinity. So eight
erect is really — ” and suddenly
his made-up, naturally solemn
face got a great glow of inspira-
tion and devotion —
“Infinity
pressed a shudder.
“You don’t like her, do you?”
he stated.
“I’m afraid of her,”
“You shouldn’t be.
very great woman and
she’s playing an infinitely
difficultpart than I am. No,
Greta,” he went on as L started
me, you don’t
to protest, “believe
understand anything about it at
this moment. Just as you don’t
understand about spiders, fear-
ing them. They’re the first to
climb the rigging and to climb
ashore too. They’re the web-
weavers, the line-throwers, the
I connectors, Siva and Kali united
in love. They’re the double man-
dala, the beginning and the end,
infinity mustered and on the
march — curtain I went around it to Sid’s
“They’re also on
York screen!” squeaked,
I
shrinking back across the cot a
little and pointing at a tiny
glinting silver-and-black thing
mounting below my Willy-ball.
cious. “You villainous
Know you not the Cauldron
Scene’s been playing a hundred
I said. heartbeats? ’Tis ’most my en-
She’s a trance and we still mustering
tonight only two witches out of three!
more Oh, you nott-pated starveling!”
Before Sid had got much more
than half of that out, Martin had
slipped around the screen, raced
the length of the dressing room,
and I’d heard a lusty thwack as
he went out the door. I couldn’t
help grinning, though with Mar-
tin racked by anxieties and re-
liefs over his first
Mack, was easy to understand
it
it slipping his mind that he was
still doubling Second Witch.
VI
my New I vault credit
will
and affect high pleasures
I Beyond death.
— Ferdinand
i
elf-skin! maybe readying myself. I
couldn’t tell which, but it was
nothing to think about, only to
feel. My heartbeat became a very
faint, slow, solid throb. My spine
straightened.
No one came went out.
in or
Distantly I heard Macbeth and
the witches and the apparitions
talk.
Once I looked at the New
York Screen, but all the stuff
there had grown stale. No pro-
tection, no nothing.
I reached down to my suit-
time as Lady case and from where I’d been
going to get a miltown I took a
dexedrine and popped it in my
mouth. Then I started out, be-
ginning to shake.
When I got to the end of the
dressing table and asked Shake-
speare, “Am I doing the right
thing. Pop?” But he didn’t an-
swer me out of his portrait. He
just looked sneaky-innocent, like

sat down where Martin had he knew a lot but wouldn’t tell,
Arisen!” Martin gently caught its line I been, first pushing the and I found myself think of a
Well, I don’t know. You meet on his finger and lifted it very . screen far enough to the side for little silver-framed photo Sid

182 GALAXY NO GREAT MAGIC 133

had used to keep there too of a
cocky German-looking young ac-
tor with “Erich” autographed
across it in white ink. At least I
supposed he was an actor. He
looked a little like Erich von
Stroheim, but nicer yet some-
how nastier too. The photo had
used to upset me, I don’t know
why. Sid must have noticed it,
for one day it was gone.
I thought of the tiny black-
and-silver spider crawling across
the remembered silver frame,
and for some reason it gave me
the cold creeps.
Well, this wasn’t doing me
any good, just making me feel
dismal again, so I quick went
out. In the door I had to slip
around the actors coming back
from the Cauldron Scene and the
big bolt nicked my hip.
Outside Maud was peeling off
her Third Witch stuff to reveal
Lady Macduff beneath. She
twitched me a grin.
“How’s it going?” I asked.
“Okay, I guess,” she shrugged.
“What an audience! Noisy as
highschool kids.”
“How come Sid didn’t have a
boy do your part?” I asked.
“He goofed, I guess. But I’ve
battened down my bosoms and
playing Mrs. Macduff as a boy.”
“How does a girl do that in a
dress?” I asked.
“She sits stiff and thinks
pants,” she said, handing me her
184
witch robe. “ ’Scuse me now. I And I did smell horse dung. I nudged Doc. “What goes on
got to find my children and go When the Lady Macduff Scene now?” I whispered.
get murdered.” was over and the Chicken Scene He turned a bleary eye on
well begun, I went back to the them. “I think they are rehears-
’d moved a few steps nearer dressing room. Actors call it the ing Julius Caesar in Latin.” He
I the stage when I felt the Chicken Scene because Macduff shrugged. “It begins the oration
gentlest tug at my hip. I looked weeps in it about “all my pretty of Antony.”
down and saw that a taut black chickens and their dam,” mean- “But why?” I asked. Sid does
thread from the bottom of my ing his kids and wife, being mur- like to put every moment to use
sweater connected me with the dered “at one fell swoop” on or- when the performance-fire is in
dressing room. It must have ders of that chickenyard-raiding people, but this project seemed
snagged on the big bolt and un- “hell-kite” Macbeth. pretty far afield —
hyper-ped-
raveled. I moved my body an Inside the dressing room I antic. Yet at the same time I
inch or so, tugging it delicately steered down the boys’ side. Doc felt my scalp shivering as if my
to see what it felt like and I got was putting on an improbable- mind were jumping with specu-
the answers Theseus’s clew, a
:
looking dark makeup for Mac- lations below the surface.
just
spider’s line, an umbilicus. beth’s last faithful servant Sey- Doc shook hjs head and
reached down close to my
I ton. He didn’t seem as boozy- shrugged again.
side and snapped it with my fin- woozy as usual for Fourth Act, Sid shoved a palm at Martin
gernails. The black thread leap- but just the same I stopped to and roared softly, “ ’Sdeath, boy,
ed away. But the dressing room help him get into a chain-mail thou’rt not playing a Roman
door didn’t vanish, or the wings shirt made of thick cord woven statua but aRoman! Loosen your
change, or the world end, and I and silvered. knees and try again.”
didn’t fall down. In the third chair beyond, Sid Then he saw me. Signing Mar-
After that I just stood there was sitting back with his corset tin to stop, he called, “Come
for quite a while, feeling my new loosened and critically surveying hither, sweetling.” I obeyed
freedom and steadiness, letting Martin, who’d now changed to quickly. He me a fiendish
gave
my body get used to it. I a white wool nightgown that grin and “Thou’st heard
said,
didn’t do any thinking. I hardly climg and draped beautifully, our proposal from Martin. What
bothered to study anything but not particularly enticingly, sayest thou, wench?”
around me, though I did notice on him and his folded towel,
that there were more bushes which had slipped a bit. '"T^his time the shiver was in
and trees than set pieces, and From beside Sid’s mirror, my back. It felt good. I real-
that the flickery lightning was Shakespeare smiled out of his ized I was grinning back at him,
simply torches and that Queen portrait at them like an intelli- and I knew what I’d been get-
Elizabeth was in (or back in) the gent big-headed bug. ting ready for the last twenty
audience. Sometimes letting your Martin stood tall, spread his minutes.
body get used to something arms rather like a high priest, “I’m on,” I said. “Count me
is all you should do, or maybe and intoned, “Amici! Romani! in the company.”
can do. Populares!" Sid jumped up and grabbed
GALAXY NO GREAT /AAGIC 185
me by the shoulders and hair
and bussed me on both cheeks.
It was a little like being bombed.
“Prodigious!” he cried.
“Thou’lt play the Gentlewoman
in the Sleepwalking Scene to-
night. Martin, her costume!
Now sweet wench, mark me
well.” His voice grew grave and
old. “When was it she last
walked?”
The new courage went out
me like water down a chute. “But
Siddy, I can’t start tonight”
protested, half pleading, half
outraged.
“Tonight or never! ’Tis an
emergency —
we’re short-hand-
ed.” Again his voice changed.
“When was it she last walked?”
“But Siddy, I don’t know the
part.”
“You must. You’ve heard the
play twenty times this year past.
When was it she last walked?”
Martin was back and yanking
down a blonde wig on my head
and shoving my arms into a
light gray robe.
“I’ve never studied the lines,”
I squeaked at Sdiney.
“Liar! I’ve watched your lips
move a dozen nights when you
watched the scene from the
wings. Close your eyes, girl!
Martin, unhand her. Close your
eyes, girl, empty your mind, and
listen, listen only. When was
she last walked?”
In the blackness I heard my-
186
self replying to that cue, first in
a whisper, then more loudly,
then full-throated but grave,
“Since his majesty went into the
field, I have seen her rise from
her bed, throw her nightgown
upon her, unlock her closet,
—
take forth
“Bravissimo! Siddy
cried
and bombed me again. Martin
hugged his arm around my shoul-
of ders too, then quickly stooped
to hooking up
start my
I from the bottom.
“But that’s only the first lines,
Siddy,” I protested.
“They’re enough!”
“But Siddy, what if I blow
up?” I asked.
“Keep your mind empty. You
won’t. Further, I’ll be at your
side, doubling the Doctor,
prompt you if you pause.”
That ought to take care of two
of me, I thought. Then some-
thing else struck me. “But Sid-
dy,” I quavered, “how do I play
the Gentlewoman as a boy?”
“Boy?” he demanded wonder-
ingly.“Play her without falling
down flat on your face and I’ll
be past measure happy!” And
he smacked me hard on the
fanny.
Martin’s fingers were darting
at the next to the last hook. I
stopped him and shoved my
it hand down the neck of my
sweater and got hold of the sub-
way token and the chain it was
GALAXY
on and yanked. It burned my My skull was pulse-buzzing.
neck but the gold links parted. I My throat was squeezed dry. My
started to throw it across the heart was pounding. Below that
room, but instead I smUed at my body was empty, squirmy,
Siddy and dropped it in his electricity-stung, yet with the
palm. feeling of wearing ice cold iron
‘
“The Sleepwalking Scene!” pants.
I
Maud hissed insistently to us I heard as if from two million
from the door. miles, “When was it she last
walked?” and then an iron bell
VII somewhere tolling the the reply
— I guess it had to be my voice
know death hath coming up through my body from
robe I
ten thousand several doors my iron pants: “Since his maj-
For men to take their exits,
—
esty went into the field ” and
and ’tis found so on, until Martin had come on
They go on such strange stage, stary-eyed, a white scarf
;
geometrical hinges, tossed over the back of his long
black wig and a flaring candle
! You may open them both
ways. two inches thick gripped in his
— The Duchess hight hand and dripping wax on
his wrist,and started to do Lady
to
'^here is this about an actor Mack’s sleepwalking half-hinted
on stage: he can see the au- confessions of the murders of
dience but he can’t look at them, Duncan and Banquo and Lady
unless he’s a narrator or some Macduff.
sort of comic. I wasn’t the first So here is what I saw then
(Grendel groks!) and only without looking, like a vivid
scared to death of becoming the scene that floats out in front of
second as Siddy walked me out your mind in a reverie, hover-
of the wings onto the stage, over ing against a background of dark
the groundcloth that felt so blur, and sort of flashes on and
you think, or in my case
I
much like ground, with a sort off as
of interweaving policeman-grip act. Allthe time, remember, with
Sid’s hand hard on my wrist and
1
1
on my left arm.
Sid was in a dark gray robe me now and then tolling Shake-
looking like some dismal kind spearan language out of some
storehouse of memory
I
'
of monk, his head so hooded for lightless
the Doctor that you couldn’t see I’d never known was there to be-
I
his face at all. long to me.
^
NO GREAT MAGIC 187
^T'here was a medium-size
glade in a forest. Through
the half-naked black branches
shone a dark cold sky, like ashes
of silver, early evening.
The glade had two horns, as it
were, narrowing back to either
side and going off through the
forest. A chilly breeze was blow-
ing out of them, almost enough
to put out the candle. Its flame
rippled.
Rather back in the horn
far
to my left,
but not very far, were
clumped two dozen or so men in
dark cloaks they huddled aroimd
themselves. They wore brimmed
tallish hats and pale stuff show-
ing at their necks. Somehow I as-
sumed that these men must be
the “rude fellows from the City”
I remembered Beau mentioning
a million or so years ago. Al-
though I couldn’t see them very
well, and didn’t spend much
time on them, there was one of
them who had his hat off or ex-
citedly pushed way back, show-
ing a big pale forehead. Al-
though that was all the con-
scious impression I had of his
face, he seemed frighteningly
familiar.
In the horn to my right, which
was wider, were lined up about
a dozen horses, with grooms
holding tight every two of them,
but throwing their heads back
now and then as they strained
against the reins, and stamping
188
tlieirfront hooves restlessly. Oh,
they frightened me, I tell you,
that line of two-foot-long glossy-
haired faces, writhing back their
upper lips from teeth wide as
piano keys, every horse of them
looking as wild-eyed and evil as
Fuseli’s steed sticking its
through the drapes in his pic-
ture “The Nightmare.”
To the center the trees came
close to the stage. Just in front
of them was Queen Elizabeth sit-
ting on the chair on the spread
carpet, just as I’d seen her out
there before; only now I could
see that the braziers were glow-
ing and redly high-lighting her
pale cheeks and dark red hair
and the silver in her dress and
cloak. She was looking at Martin
— Lady —
Mack most intently,
her mouth grimaced tight, swist-
ing her fingers together.
Standing rather close around
her were a half dozen men with
fancier hats and ruffs and wide-
flaring riding gauntlets.
Then, through the trees and
tall leafless bushes just behind
Elizabeth, I saw an identical
Elizabeth-face floating, only this
one was smiling a demonic smile.
The eyes were open very wide.
Now and then the pupils darted
rapid glances from side to side.
'here was a sharp pain in my
^
I [
left wrist and Sid whisper-
snarling at me, “Accustomed ac-
GALAXY
tion!” out of the corner of his colored skirt. One of the cour-
shadowed mouth. tiersturned with her and stoop-
I tolled on obediently, “It is ed toward her closely, whisper-
an accustomed action with her, ing something. But although she
to seem thus washing her hands: paused a moment, all she said
I have known her continue in
, was, “Nay, Eyes, stop not the
this a quarter of an hour.” play, but follow me not! Nay, I
head Martin had set down the can- say leave me, Leicester!” And
dle, which still flared and gut- she walked into the trees, he
tered, on a little high table so looking after her.
firm its thin legs must have been Then Sid was kicking
my ankle
stabbed into the ground. And he and I was reciting something
was rubbing his hands together and Martin was taking up his
slowly, continually, tormented- candle again without looking at
ly, trying to get rid of Duncan’s it saying with a drugged agita-
blood which Mrs. Mack knows tion, “To bed; to bed; there’s
in her sleep is still there. And knocking at the gate.”
all the while as he did it, the
Elizabeth came walking out of
agitation of the seated Elizabeth the trees again, her head bowed.
grew, the eyes flicking from side She couldn’t have been
in them
to side, hands writhing. ten seconds.
i
He got to the lines, “Here’s
Leicester
toward her, hand anxiously out-
hurried
the smell of blood still: all the
i
stretched.
perfumes of Arabia will not Martin moved offstage, tor-
sweeten this little hand. Oh, oh turedly yet softly wailing,
oh!” “What’s done cannot be undone.”
As he wrung out those soft, Just then Elizabeth flicked
tortured sighs, Elizabeth stood aside Leicester’s hand with play-
up from her chair and took a fulcontempt and looked up and
step forward. The courtiers she was smiling the devil-smile.
i
moved toward her quickly, but A horse whinnied like a trum-
not touching her, and she said peted snicker.
loudly, “Tis the blood of Mary As Sid and I started our last
Stuart whereof she speaks —
the few lines together I intoned
pails of blood that will gush mechanically, letting words free-
from her chopped neck. Oh,
j
I fall from my mind to my tongue.
cannot endure it!” And as she
,
All this time I had been an-
said that last, she suddenly turn-
swering Lady Mack in my
ed about and strode back toward thoughts. That’s what you think,
the trees, kicking out her ash- sister.
NO GREAT MAGIC
189

VIII
God cannot effect that
anything which is past
should not have been.
It is more impossible than
rising the dead.
—
Summa Theologica
T he
of
moment
the
I was out of sight
audience I broke
away from Sid and ran
dressing room. I flopped down
I saw, my head
on the first chair
and arms trailed over its back,
and I almost passed out. It wasn’t
a mind-wavery fit. Just normal
faint.
I couldn’t have been
long — well, not very
though the battle-rattle and alar-
ums of the last scene were echo-
ing tinnily from the stage
when Bruce and Beau and Mark
(who was playing Malcolm,
Martin’s usual main part)
in wearing their last-act stage-
armor and carrying between
them Queen Elizabeth flaccid as
a sack. Martin came after _them,
stripping off his white wool
nightgown so fast that buttons
flew. I thought automatically,
rU have to sew those.
They laid her down on three
chairs set sideby side and hur-
ried out. Unpinning the folded
towel, which had fallen around
his waist, Martin walked over
and looked down at her. He
190
”
yanked off his wig by a braid
and tossed it at me.
I let it hit me and fall on the
floor. I was looking at that white
queenly face, eyes open and star-
ing sightless the ceiling,
at
mouth open a too with a
little
thread of foam trailing from the
comer, and at that ice-cream-
cone bodice that never stirred.
The blue fly came buzzing over
my head and
to the circled
ward her face.
“Martin,” I with diffi-
said
culty, “I don’t think I’m going
to like what we’re doing.”
He turned on me, his short
hair elfed, his fists planted high
there on his hips at the edge of his
long, black tights, which now were all
his clothes.
“You knew!” he said impa-
— tiently.“You knew you were
signingup for more than acting
when you said, ‘Count me in the
came company.’ ”
Like a legged saphire the blue
fly walked across her upper lip
and stopped by the thread of
foam.
“But Martin changing the
. .
past . dipping back and killing
. .
the real queen .replacing her
with a double
— . .
His dark brows shot up. “The
real — You think this is the real
Queen Elizabeth?” He grabbed
a bottle of rubbing alcohol from
the nearest table, gushed some
on a towel stained with grease-
paint and, holding the dead head
by its red hair (no, wig the
real one wore a wig too) scrubbed
the forehead.
The white cosmetic
away, showing sallow skin and
on it a faint tattoo in the form
of 3n “S” styled like a yin-yang
symbol left a little open.
down
CtOnake!”
stroyerl
he hissed.
The arch-enemy,
to-
the eternal opponent! God
knows how many times people
like Queen Elizabeth have been
dug out of the past, first by
Snakes, then by Spiders, and kid-
naped or killed and replaced in
the course of our war. This is
the first big operation I’ve been
on, Greta. But I know that
much.”
My head began to ache. I
asked, “If she’s an enemy double,
why didn’t she know a perform-
ance of Macbeth in her lifetime
was an anachronism?”
“Foxholed in the past, only
trying to hold a position, they
get dulled. They turn half zom-
.
bie. Even the Snakes. Even our
people. Besides, she almost did
catch on, twice when she spoke
to Leicester.”
“Martin,” I said dully,
there’ve been all these replace-
ments, first by them, then by us,
what’s happened to the real
Elizabeth?”
He shrugged. “God knows.”
GALAXY NO GREAT MAGIC
I asked softly, “But does He,
— Martin? Can He?”
He hugged his shoulders in,
as if to contain a shudder. “Look,
came Greta,” he said, “it’s the Snakes
who are the warpers and destroy-
ers. We’re restoring the past.
The Spiders are trying to keep
things as first created. We only
“De-
kill when we must.”
I shuddered then, for bursting
out of my memory came the
glit-
tering, knife-flashing, night-
shrouded, bloody image of my
lover, the Spider soldier-of-
change Erich von Hohenwald,
dying in the grip of a giant silver
spider, or spider-shaped entity
large as he, as they rolled in a
tangled ball down a flight of
rocks in Central Park.
But the memory-burst didn’t
blow up my mind, as it had done
a year ago, no more than snap-
ping the black thread from my
sweater had ended the world. I
asked Martin, “Is that what the
Snakes say?”
“Of course not! They make
the same claims we do. But some-
where, Greta, you have to trust.”
He put out the middle finger of
his hand.
I didn’t take hold of it. He
“if whirled it away, snapping it
against his thumb.
“You’re still grieving for that
carrion there!” he accused me.
He jerked down a section of
white curtain and whirled it
191

over the stiffening body. “If you
must grieve, grieve for
fer! Exiled, imprisoned, locked
forever in the past, her mind
pulsing faintly in the black hole
of the dead and gone, yearning
Nirvana yet nursing one lone
for
patch of consciousness.
painful
And only to hold a fort! Only
to make sure Mary Stuart is exe-
cuted, the Armada licked, and
that all the other consequences
flow on. The Snakes’ Elizabeth
let Mary
live and England . .
die and the Spaniard hold
. . . that saw everything. I knew at
North America to the Great
Lakes and New Scandinavia.”
Once more he put out his
middle finger.
A said,
ll right, all
barely touching it. “You’ve
convinced me.”
“Great!” he said. “’By for
now, Greta. I got to help strike
the set.”
“That’s good,” I said. He loped
out.
could hear the skirling
I
sword-clashes of the final fight
to the death of the two Macks,
Duff and Beth. But I only sat
there in the empty dressing
room pretending to grieve for a
devil -smiling snow tiger locked
in a time-cage and for a cute
sardonic German killed for in-
subordination that I had report-
ed .. but really grieving for a
.
girl who for a year
192
rootless child of the theater with
Miss Ne- a whole company of mothers
and fathers, afraid of nothing
more than subway bogies and
Park and Village monsters.
As I sat there pitying myself
beside a shrouded queen, a shad-
ow fell across my knees. I saw
stealing through the dressing
room a young man worn dark
in
clothes. He couldn’t have been
more than twenty-three. He was
a frail sort of guy with a weak
. chin and big forehead and eyes
one he was the one who had
seemed familiar to me in the knot
of City fellows.
He looked at me and I looked
from him to the picture sitting
on the reserve makeup box by
right,” I .
Siddy’s mirror. And I began to
tremble.
He looked at it too, of course,
as fast as I did. And then he
began to tremble too, though it
was a finer-grained tremor than
mine.
The sword-fight had ended
seconds back and now I heard
witches faintly wailing,
the
“Fair is foul, and foul is fair
— time’s fiery
Sid has them echo that line off-
stage at the end to give a feeling
prophecy fulfilled.
of
Then Sid came pounding
He’s the first finished, since the
fight ends offstage so Macduff
can carry back a red-necked
had been a papier-mache head of him and
GALAXY
show to the audience. Sid
it
stopped dead in the door.
Then the stranger turned
around. His shoulders jerked as
he saw Sid. He moved toward
him just two or three steps at a
time, speaking at the same time
in breathy little rushes.
stood there and watched
id
S him. When the other actors
came boiling up behind him, he
put his hands on the doorframe
to either side so
could get past. Their faces
peered around him.
And all this while the stranger
was saying, “What may this
mean? Can such things be? Are
all the seeds of time wetted by
some hell-trickle sprouted at
once in their granary? Speak
speak! You played me a play
that writing in
I am secretest
heart. Have you disjointed the
frame of things ... to steal my
unborn thoughts? Fair is foul
indeed. Is all the world a stage?
Speak, I say! Areyou not my
friend Sidney James Lessingham
of King’s Lynn
wand
with the ashes of thirty years?
Speak, are you not he? Oh, there
are more things in heaven and
up. earth aye, and perchance hell
. . .
too. Speak, I charge you!”
. .
And with that he put his hands
on Sid’s shoulders, half to
him, I think, but half to
NO GREAT AAAGIC
from falling over. And for tfie
one time I ever saw it, glib old
Siddy had nothing to say.
He worked his lips. He opened
his mouth twice and twice shut
it. Then, with a kind of despera-
tion in his face, he motioned the
actors out of the way behind
him with one big arm and swung
the other around the stranger’s
narrow shoulders and swept him
out of the dressing room, him-
self following.
none of them The actors came pouring in
then, Bruce tossing Macbeth’s
head to Martin like a football
while he tugged off his horned
helmet, Mark dumping a stack
of shields in the corner, Maudie
. . . pausing as she skittered past me
to say, “Hi Gret, great you’re
. .
back,” and patting my temple
. .
. . to show what part of me she
my meant. Beau went straight to
Sid’s dressing table and set the
portrait aside and lifted out
Sid’s reserve makeup box.
“The lights, Martin!” he
called.
Then Sid came back in, slam-
singed by ming and bolting the door be-
.
.
.
.
.
. sifted over hind him and standing for a mo-
ment with his back against it,
panting.
I rushed to him. Something
was boiling up inside me, but
before it could get to my brain
I opened my mouth and it came
shake out as, “Siddy, you can’t fool me,
keep that was no dirty S-or-S. I don’t
193
 ! -

care how much he shakes and green glow showed his intent
purrs, or shakes a spear, or just face, still framed by the long
BESTER'S BEST!
plain shakes —Siddy, that was glistening locks of the Ross wig, Have you read his famed THE DEMOLISHED ? Lived in
Shakespeare!” as he kneeled before the thing its vividly real telepathic society, detailed so ingeniously and dra-
“Aye, girl, I think so,” he told — Major Maintainer, I remem- matically that, finishing the hook, you’ll find it hard to Ixlieve that
me, holding my wrists together. bered it was called. society doesn’t exist —
yet
“They can’t find dolls to double “When now? Where?” Beau arrangement with the publisher of THE DEMOOSHED
—
men like that or such is my tossed impatiently to Sid over his
By special
MAN, we can offer you this magnificent book for $1.00, 2/3 off the
main hope.” A big sickly grin shoulder.
regular price, plus 25^ for postage and handling.
came on his face. “Oh, gods,” he “The forty-fourth year before
demanded, “with what words do our Lord’s birth!” Sid answered
you talk to a man whose speech instantly. “Rome!”
you’ve stolen all your life?” Beau’s fingers danced over the
I asked him, “Sid, were we dials like a musician’s, or a safe-
ever in Central Park?” cracker’s. The green glow flared
—
He answered, “Once twelve and faded flickeringly.
months back. A one-night stand. “There’s a storm in that vec-
They came for Erich. You tor of the Void.”
flipped.” “Circle it,” Sid ordered.
He swung me aside and moved “There are dark mists every
behind Beau: AJl the lights went way.”
out. “Then pick the likeliest dark
path!”
'^hen saw, dimly at first,
I I called through the dark,
the great dull-gleaming “Fair is foul, and foul is fair,

jewel, covered with dials and eh, Siddy?” Supplies are limited ! Send your order in immediately!
green-glowing windows, that “Aye, chick,” he answered me. (Use Coupon or Separate Sheet)
“
Beau had lifted from Sid’s re- ’Tis all the rule we have!”
serve makeup box. The strongest — FRITZ LEIBER GALAXY PUBLISHING CORP.
Pleaso 421 Hudson St. THE DEMOLISHED MAN
The Original
rush me New York Edition — Completa I

copies of 14, Not A Low Cost Reprint —

JACK WILLIAMSON Yet Yours For
THE DEMOLISHED MAN N.Y. Only $1,001
Two of his greatest novels ini one volume Plus Postage 25<

THE LEGION OF TIME Name

and
Address —
AFTER WORLD'S END City -State.
On sale at your newsstand in Galaxy Magabook No. II
I Enclose.
194 GALAXY
 .

Stop wasting time in a dead-end jobl

Enjoy the big rewards offered the

law-trained man in business

STUDY LAW IN YQUR SPARE TIME

as a way to
increased earnings
W HATEVER your present position — whatever
your previous schooling — you can multiply your
opportunities for rapid promotion, big income and
prestige through LaSalle law training at home.
A knowledge of Law is regarded today as in-
dispensable equipment in every activity of business.
The greatly increased role of government in business,
the many new problems of I^w involving taxes, in-
surance. contracts, liability, employment, and much
more — ail rt'quire the legally-trained executive who
can make day-to-day dwisions efToctively. That is
why leading corjwrations seek out such men for key
positions and reward them with top salaries.
You am master I,aw easily and enjoyably at home
— at remarkably I(»w cost — under the su|X‘rvision of
LaSalle’s distinguished Law faculty. Your study is
illuslratcnl with actual legal cases. Upon completion
of your training, you are awarded a Bachelor of I..aws
degree if qualified. The famed LaSalle Law Library
of 14 volumes is given to you as part
of your course.
For over half a century LaSalle has
Send
been an acknowledged leader in busi-
for
ness training, with more than l,(KX).000
this
students. Send for the free booklet
Free “Law Training for Leadership" and see
Book- how LaSalle am help you move up
let
rapidly in business. Address: 417 So.
Dearborn, Chicago, Illinois 60605.

LA SALLE
EXTENSION UNIVERSITY
A Correspondence Institution
417 S. Dearborn, Dept. 24*034
Chicago, Illinois 00605
Please send lue. Uve of tosi or ooti^ation. your
illustrated booklet ''l.aw Trainiog foE Lx^dership."

Name Age. .

Add ress County

City&
Zone State
Working
Occupation Hours. . .A.M.. . . P-M.
321 C»nsdl*n rrMdrnlv LaSallr. Box 1001. Monliral J