fantasy & science fiction, february 1955

'THf MAQAZIN.I O~

2 FEBRUARY

3hy MARION ZIMMER BRAD~EYThe Climbing Wave(short novel)

Blood hy FREDRIC BROWN 56

Birds Can't Count hy MILDRED CLINGERMA~ 57

The Royal Historian of Oz hy MARTIN GARDNBR 64(article: second of two parts)

The Tweener hy LEIGH BRACKETT 75

The Tidings hy ARTHUR PORGES 90

Recommended 'Reading (a department) hy THE EDITOR 96

Shiver in the Pines hy MANLY WADB WBLLMAN 99

Botany Bay

The Midway

hy P. M. HUBBARD 114

hy BRYCE WALTON 117

Cover painting hy Kelly Freas(from The Climhing Wave, hy MArion Zimmer Bradley)

T

Joseph W. Ferman, PUBLISHER An/hony Boucher, EDITOR

The MagaziM ofFanlasy aM &ieneePiet;on, Volume 8, No.2, Whok No. 45, p,lJrwry, 1955. Pllhl;s!lednumlhly lJy Fanlasy House, Inc., at 35, a copy. Annual sulJst:ription, 14.00 in U. S. aM PosSlssions; 15.00in.all other:cOUnlries. PulJlieat;01I o1/iee, Coneord, N. H. Generalojfie,s, 471 PII1'It.. A"",ru, New York 22, .N. Y. Editorialo.Jli&e, 2643 DaM St., Berkeley 4, Calif. Enlnwl as second'class 11IIIItn at tile POll OJ1j&e atConeord, N. H., unJertlle Act ofMarch 3, 1879. Prinled in U. S. A. Copyriglu, 1954, IJy Fatllilsy HolI."Inc. All Nlhls, including translation into other lanp4ges, rest!t'1lfd. Submissions mustlJe tl&companied byRilmpN, ,,/f-adJressedetUlelopes; the PuhlislJer assumes no responsibilityfor return ofunsolicited tnllmut:rlPtl.

J. FrtmeisMcComas, ADVISORY EDITOR; RolJert P. MiUs, MANAGING EDITOR; Ge01'8..eSaltn, ART DIJlBCTOR;Howard K. Pruyn, PRODUCTION MANAGER; CJuwles Angoff, ASSOCIATE EDITOR.; Gloria Ler!itas. ASSISTANT

EDITOB.; Constafl&e Di Rimzo, BDlTOR.IAL SECRETARY •

'-r-

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MArion Zimmer BrMiley is a relatively new professional writer, only recently grtHluat;a from the ranks of fans,,· yet, to judge from your reactions, oneof the most successful stories F&SF pulJlished in I9J4 was her powerfullyconceived. and movingly executed novelet, Centaurus Changeling. It'sgratifying, to writers and editors alike, to know that readers are willing tojudge a story on its own merits rather than on the Name of the author,,- andI'll prophesy that Mrs. :&adley will, as II result, soon lJe a Name of considerahle importance herself. T~is new short novel, like her previous story,demonstrates her ahility to write pure modern science ftction, comhiningstriking concept.s, thought out in full detail, with ,,'story of human prohlemsand character. I don't thinkyou'll soon forget the crew of/he starship Homeward" who returned from man's first thrust at the stars to discover an Earththey never made and could not understand. •••

crhe Climbing ~ve

hy MARION ZIMMER BRADLEY

BRIAN KEARNS KNEW TO THE SEC

ond, by his ship-time chronometerand by the faint, almost imperceptible humming of a monitor screen,when the limit of gravity tolerancewas reached. Giving himself a roundten seconds for safety marginBrian was a practical and me~icalyoung man, and had spent twelveyears training for this work andfour and a half years doing it - heunfastened the straps on his sky.hook, the _free-swinging, nest-likelounge cradle where he had beenlying with ears and eyes faste~ed onthe complex controls. He inchedpatiently, fly-like, down the wall,

3

braced himself to a handhold, andthrew a certain switch to the farthestposition leftward.

The barely perceptible hummingstopped.

Brian Kearns had just put himself out ofa job.

He picked up the s~ylus chainedto the logbook, held a.floating pagedown with his right hand, and wroteswiftly and expertly with his left:.

"I676th day of voyage; have justthrown switch which cut the interstellar drives. Our calculations werecorrect and there appear to havebeen no visible shock effects as theIS units went out of function. We

4

are now standing fourteen hundredmiles off Mars. Relinquished control of ship at -" he glanced at thechronometer again, and wrote "0814 hours. Position ..•" He added'a series of complicated numerals,scribbled his initials beneath theentry, then picked up the hook ofthe intercabin communicator andwaggled it.

A dim rasping voice said from theother end of the starship, almosthalf a mile away, "Thqt you,Kearns?"

'~Right, Caldwell.""We're standing by with atomics

back here, Brian. Were the figuresright?"

"All calculations appear to havebeen correct," Brian answered ~tif

fly. "The drives have been cutaccording to the schedule previouslyworked out."

"Yippee!" the voice shouted fromthe loudspeaker, and Brian frownedand coughed reprovingly. The faraway voice appeared to be stiflingan expletive, but inquired correctly: "Standing by for orders,Captain Kearns?"

"All right, Captain Caldwell,"Brian said; "she's your ship, asof-" he stopped, glanced at thechronometer again, and after a fewseconds .said "now!"

He put down the hook, andlooked around the main controlroom, in which he had spent thebest part of the Homeward's longvoyage. The tremendous interstellardrives were silent now, their dim


hum stilled, and the metal surfacesfaced him with a blank, metallicunresponsiveness. Brian had a curious feeling of anticlimax while herecapped the stylus, slid a movingpanel over the logbook, and clungthere to the handhold, wonderingwith the back part of his mind if hehad left anything undone, whileknowing, with the sureness of longhabit, that he had not.

It is impossible to shrug one'sshoulders in free fall; the motionsends you flying across the cabin,and Brian was too well-trained. tomake waste motions of that sort.But his eyebrow lifted a little, and asort of elated grin spread across hisface; for a minute, unobserved, helooked almost as young as he was.Then, re-schooling his expression tothe gravity he always wore in thepresence of his crew, he inched back~cross the wall, methodically unstrapped his rubber sandals fromtheir place in the skyhook, workedhis feet into them' with the skill oflong practice, and, pulling himselfswiftly across the remaining sectionof wall, wriggled the forward partof his body through the sphi~cter

lock which led to the forward partof the great starship.

There he paused, his middleclasped firmly by the expandingdiaphragm, looking down the narrow, cylindrical corridor. He couldfeel, now, the faint vibration allaround him, as far away in the noseof the Homeward the atomic rocketsbegan firing. He allowed himself to

nIE CLIMBING WAVE·

grin again, this time with the secretcontempt of a hyperdrive technician for rockets, however necessary, and slowly hauled the rest ofhis long, narrow body through thesphincter; then, pushing his feethard against the diaphragm whichhad snapped tight behind him, hearrowed down, in a straight line, hisbody rocketing weightless down thecorridor. He braked himself withstrong hands at the far ~nd, thenpaused; there was a musical mewingbehind him, and the ship's cat,Einstein - actually a Centaurianmammal more nearly resembling adwarf kangaroo - somersaulted dizzily through the .air toward him.

"Brian - catch him'" a girl'svoice called, and Briao turned,hooking one rubber sandal througha strap, and made a wide sweepinggrab for the creature. He caughtit by one spindly !eg; it squalled andthrashed to get away, and the girlcalled anxiously "Hang on, I'mcoming." She propelled herselfdownthe corridor, and hurriedly snatchedthe little anmal, who immediatelyquieted and snuggled under herchin.

"He went crazy when the rocketsstarted," she murmured apologetically. "It must be the vibration orsomething."

Brian grinned down at the girl,·who was small and slight, her curlyfair hair standing weirdly aroundher head and her prim brief overallBoating out in odd billows. They~d all lived at free fall conditr-ons

5

for so long that he barely noticedthis, hut he did see the disquiet inher brown eyes - Elinor Wade wasa food culturist, and knew ratherless about the drives than the Ceo'"taurian cat.

"It's all right, Ellie; maybe Einstein's a hyperdrive technician. Ijust cut the IS units and turned the'ship over to Caldwell.

She' whispered, "Then we're almost tneref Dh, Brian!" and hereyes were a double star, first magnitude. He nodded. "It's Caldwell'scommand now, so I don't knowwhat he'll do," Brian added, "butyou'd better keep' your ears lappedover for instructions. We'll have tostrap in,. in a few minutes, fordeceleration, if he's going to brakein at Mars."

"Brian, I'm scared...." Elliewhispered, and let the Centauriancat float free, fumbling around forhis hand. "It would be - hideouslyironical, if this old ship tr~velled toCentaurus and back, and then.cracked up in atmosphere -"

"Relax," Brian advised her genially. "He may decide to go on to·Earth, anyway - Caldwell_ knowshis business, Ellie. And I know theHomeward."

"You certainly do." The girl at-·tempted a smile, which somehowmissed its purpose. "You're in lovewith this old wreck!"

Brian grinned disarmingly. "Iwon't deny it," he answered. "Butit's just a kind of substitute passiontill I can get you down to earth!"

6

The girl blushed and turned herface away from him. ,The twelvemembers of the Homeward's crewwere all young, and the confinedquarters aboard generated strongattachments; but men and womenwere carefully segregated aboardship, for an excellent and practicalreason which had nothing to dowith morality. The trip from Cen'"taurus, even at hyperspeeds, tookthe best part of five years. And noone has yet discovered any methodfor delivering a baby in free fall.

Brian unhooked his rubber shoe."Going into the lounge?"

"No...." She hung back. "I'vegot to feed Einstein, after - Paula'sstill in the Food Culture unit, andthere's no public address system inthere - I'd better go and tell herwe may have to strap, in. Go onahead, and I'll tell Paula -"

"I'll come with you. I'm hungryand I want to snatch a bite beforewe go out~ anyhow -"

"Nol" The sharpness of her voiceamazed him. "Go on out in thelounge, I'll bring you somethipg."

He stared at her. "What-""Go on. Paula's - Paula's-"

Ellie fumbled and finished "- she'sdressing in there." \

"What the devil-" Brian, sud...denly suspicious, shoved hard againstthe handhold, and barreled acrossthe corridor to the open lock of theFood Culture unit. Ellie gave awordless cry of warning as Brian fellthrough the doorway, and in theaftermath of that cry, beneath


Brian's intrusive stare, two fusedfigures jerked convulsively andthrust apart..Paula Sandoval flungher arms over her face and grabbedat a floating g~rment, while TomMellen jacknifed upright andglared belligerently at Brian.

"Get the hell out of herel" heroared, simultaneous with Brian'sneedle-voiced "What's going on inhere?"

There was blue vitriol in PaulaSandoval's taut voice. "I think youcan see what goes on, Captainl" andher black eyes snapped fire at him.

"Brian -" Ellie implored, herhand on his wrist with a gentle, repressive force. Be threw it off with aviolence that flung her halfwayacross the cabin.

Hesaid, with icy command, "You'dbetter get up front, Paula. Caldwellwill need his figures checked. As foryou, Mellen, regulations -"

"Regulations go jump in a hot jet,and you tool" Tom Mellen stormed.He was a loose-limbed young fellow,well over six feet tall and lookinglonger. ~'What the hell do you thinkyou're doing anyway, pushing yourweight a·round?"

"Look," Brian said tersely, andjerked around to the girls, "Paula,get up front - that's .an order! Tom,this part of the ship is off limits formen except at regular meal periods.This is the' fifth time -"

"The sixth to be exact, Captain'sLog-book, and four times you didn'tcatch me. So what.? What the hellare you? a blasted -"

rHE CLIMBING WAVS

"We'll leave my personal habitsout of the matter, Mister 'Mellen.Sandoval!" he Bung at Paula. "Igave you an order!", Ellie had ·her arms around Paula,

who was sobbing harshly, but thesmall dark girl pulled away fromEllie, her eyes ablaze. "Give himanother one for me, Tom," she saidbitterly, and scooted out of thecabin. Brian added, more .quietly,"You go too, Ellie. I'll settle thiswith Mellen right now."

But Ellie did not move. "Brian,"she said quietly, "this is a prettystupid ,time to be enforcing thatregulation."

"As long as the Homeward is inspace," Brian said tightly, "thatparticular regulation - and allothersbased on principles of necessitywill be enforced."

"You listen here -" Mellen be...gan furiously, then abruptly, hisface suffusing with violent color, heflung himself upward at Brian, before Kearns realized what was com'"ing. "The atomics are on," he grated."Which means Caldwell's captainIAnd for three years I've been. waiting for this -"

Brian dodged in a queer, jerkygesture, and Mellen hurtled overhis head, thrown on by the momentum ofrus own blow. "Brian! Tom!"Ellie begged; diving toward them.and thrusting her rubber-sandaledfeet between the men, but Mellenshoved her aside.

"I'm warning you, Ellie, get outof the way -" he panted. Brian

1

started "Look here -" then, asMellen plunged at him again, putout both hands and shoved hard.

Momentum met momentum.Brian and Mellen spun apart withsuch violence that heads cracked atopposite ends of the food cultureunit, and Brian, half-stunned,dragged himself groggily upright.

Mellen's laughter, wry and ironical, filled the cabin.

"Okay, damn it," he said bitterly."I suppose therels no use having itout here and now. But just· waittill I get you down to earth -"

Brian rubbed his head and blinkeddizzily, but his voice was precise,giving ,no hint of the shooting starsthat were chasing themselves beforehis .eyes. "By that time," he an'"swered coldly, "there will no longerbe occasion for fighting, since mycommand will have terminated."

Mellen tightened his mouth, andEllie interceded anxiously: "Tom,Brian is perfectly right, theoretically - don't stir up hard feelingsnow, when we're aImost home-"

"Yeah, that's right...." Tom.Mellen suddenly grinned, and hisface was good-natured. "Hey, Brian,how about it? No hard feelings,huh?"

Brian turned away. He said frig...idly, "Why should there be hardfeelings? It's my duty to enforceregulations until the Homeward isdown.'"

"God damn -" Mellen mutteredunder his breath at Brian's rigidback, and even Ellie looked tr~u-

8

~ bled. Then Mellen made a useless.movement and started toward thefront of the ship.

"Come OD. I expect Caldwell willbe wanting us," he said tightly, andpropelled himself !n quick, wrathfuljerks toward. the forward lounge.

II

The technique of braking intoatmosphere had been perfected ahundred years before the old Starward rose from Earth to aim atCentaurus. However, it was new tothe Homeward's crew, and the tediousness of the process set nerves tojittering. Only Brian, strapped intoone of the skyhooks in the lounge,was really calm, "and Ellie, in thecradle next to his, absorbed a littleof his calm confidence·; Brian Kearnshad been trained aboard the Homeward for twelve years before the tripbegan.

It·had taken four generations forthe stranded crew of the originalship, the Starward, to repair thehyperdrives smashed in landing,and to w·rest from the soil of eCentauri fourth planet - TerraTwo, they called. it - enough cerberum to take a pilot crew back toearth with news of their success. Ahundred and thirty years, subjectivetime. Taking account of the timelags engendered by their hyperspeeds, it was entirely possible thatfour or' .five hundred years hadel.apsed, objectively, on the planettheir ancestors had left. Ellie, looking across at Brian's calm face, at

FANTASY AND SCIENCB FICTION

his mouth that persisted in grinningwith some personal, individual elation when he thought himselfunwatched, wondered if he felt noregrets at all. Ellie struggled with a

.moment of blinding homesickness,remembering their last view of thelittle dark planet spinning aroundthe red star. They had left a growing'colony of 400 souls, a world towhich they could never return, for,after five years of subjective time inhyperspeeds, it was entirely possiblethat everyone they had known onTerra Two had already lived out afull lifetime.

But Brian's thoughts were mov'"ing forward, not backward, and hecould not keep them to himself.

"I suppose by now they've dis'"covered a better method for brakinginto atmosphere," he mused. "Ifanybody's watching us, down there,we probably look like living fossils- and I suppose we are. In theirworld, we'll be' so obsolete thatwe'll feel like stone-age manl"

"Oh, I don't know," ~llie pro'"tested. "People don't change ~"

"But civilizations do," Brian in...sisted. ~'There was less than a hun'"dred years between the first rocketto'Luna and the launching of theStarward. That's how fast a scien...tific civilization can move."

"But how can you be sure they'vemoved along those lines?" Elliewanted to know.

"Have you ever heard of time·binding?" he asked derisively."When each generation accumulates

THB CLIMBING WAVE

the knowledge of the one before it,progress is a perfectly cumulative,straightforward thing. When theSearward left -"

"Brian -" she began, but herushed on: "I grant you that manprogressed at random for thousandsof years, but when he acquired thescientific method, it was less than ahundred years from jet plane torocketship. A race which had interstellar travel could progress inonly one direction. If we wanted totake the time, we could sit downwith an electronic calculator andadd it all up, and predict exactlywhat we'd find down there."

"It seems," Ellie said slowly,"That you're leaving out the human element. The crew of the Starward were all scientists, hand-pickedfor compatibility, and the TerraTwo colony is probably the nearestthing to a homogeneous society thatever existed. You can't make thatkind of predictions for a normallypopulated planet."·

"The human element -""Will you two quit it?" shouted

Langdon Forbes angrily from hisskyhook. "I'm trying not to getspacesick, but Kearns sounding offabout progress .is about all leantake! Does he have to pick a timewhen we're strapped in, and can'tget away?"

Brian grumbled something unintelligible and lapsed into morosesilence. Ellie reached dragging fingers, newly. clumsy, toward him,

:, but he pushed the hand away.

9

A dismal wailing came from beneath Ellie's skyhook; Einstein wasgetting reacquainted with gravity,and didn't like it. Ellie scooped upthe miserable little animal and heldit cuddled tight against her straps.It was silent in the lounge; thesteady, low vibration of the atomicdrives was a sound already so deeplyembedded in their consciousnessthat they did not think of it as soundat all. There was still no feeling ofmotion, but there was an unpleasant, dragging sensation as the enor"mous starship made its wide brakingcircles, first grazing the atmospherefor a second or two, as it swung-elliptically, like a crazy comet; thenentering atmosphere. for a few sec"onds, then a full minute, then a fewminutes - coming "down" in slow,careful spirals.

"I hope they've found some wayto put artificial gravity in spaceships," Judy Keretsky moaned, halflaughing, from the skyhook whereshe swung, upside down, from whatwas now the ceiling of the lounge.Her long, curly hair fell down overher head in a thick curtain; shealone qf starship's crew did not keepher hair clipped functionally short.She batted futilely at the wavingcurls as she wailed, "Oh, my pOorhead, I'm getting di-i-izzy upherel"

"You're getting dizzy I. ·Whatabout this pOor catl" Ellie jibed.

"Say, whose idea was it to bringthat animal along, anyhow?" someone demanded.

10

"Very valuable contribution toscience," Judy burlesqued. "Whydidn't you bring a pair of them,Elliel"

"Brian wouldn't let her," Marciavan Schreeven jeered, with an undertone of bitterness.

Ellie patted Einstein's darkishfur defensively, reminding Marciain. her peaceful voice: "Einstein isone of the third gender. When conditions are right, he'll reproduce inthe first and second."

"Lucky animal," Brian said halfseriously, and Ellie glanced at himwith unusual shyness as she murmured, "Well, Einstein will beunique on Earth, anyhow!"

"You'11 see things much weirderthan Einstein," Brian said offhandedly. "We've only been on oneplanet, and by now, Earth hasprobably colonized all the nearerstars. The people of Earth will. becosmopolitan in the largest sense-"

"Speaking of Earth,'~ Langdonforcibly headed him off before hecould hold forth again, "where onthe planet are we going to set thisthing down?"

"We won't know that till we contact the surface," Judy said irritably,batting her hair back. "We havethe map the Firsts gave us, but it's.unthinkable that the old spaceportat Denver would still be in use, andif it is, it would probably be sochanged that we wouldn't knowhow to land - and too crowded foran IS ship this size." _

"You've been listening to Brian,"

PANTASY AND SCIENCE PlcnON

Langdon grinned. "According tohim, it's a wonder we haven't already bumped into the local rocketfor the second galaxy I"

Brian ignored the confusion oftechnical terms and answered seriously "That's why I suggested landing on Mars." There are enoughdesert areas, on Mars where wecould have landed without anydanger of damaging urbanized sections. I doubt if the populationthere is quite so centralized _".

"Well, why didn't we?" Marciaqueried sharply, and Langdon,frowning, twisted. his head to her."We tried to radio them fromspace," he answered, "but theyevidently didn't pick up our signals.So Caldwell and Mellen decided tobring us in to Earth instead ofwasting time braking in at Mars andmaybe having to pick up again. Wehaven't enough fuel for more thanone landing and pick-up."

"We could certainly have ·re..fueled at Mars -" Brian began, butwas interrupted by an apologeticcough from the loudspeaker in thecentre of the lounge.

"Hey, Kearns," it said in a puzzled rasp. "Brian Kearns, come onup forward, will you? Kearns, pleasecome up to the front control room,if you can."

Brian scowled, and· started painfully unbuckling the straps on hisskyhook. "Now what does Mellenwant -" he wondered aloud.

"What's the matter?" Judysqueaked, "Are we in trouble?"

THE CLIMBING WAVE

"Oh, hushl" Ellie commanded."If we· are, we'll be told I" Shewatched, with vague disquiet, asBrian crawled over the side of hisskyhook and abruptly tumbled twofeet, not very hard, to the floor."Weight's on the axis now," heannounced wryly to no one in particular. "Good thing I wasn't upwhere Judy is, or I'd have broken'my neck I Somebody w~l have tolift her down -"

Judy squeaked again, but Elliesnapped at her: "Just stay whereyou are until we find out what'sgoing on I" and watched, disturbed,as Brian crawled clumsily on handsand knees across the wall ~hich layalong the central axis of the starshipand was therefore "down." Hepushed at the refractory sphincterlock~ it worked perfectly only infree fa11- and forced his head andshoulders through into the forwardcontrol room.

Tom Mellen, his short hair bristling upright around his head,twisted around as Brian wriggledhis shoulders through. "We've triedto raise them by FM, AM andwavicle," he said, scowling, "butthey don't answer. Not a sign of asignal. What do you think of that,Brian?" ·

Brian looked deliberately aroundt~e cabin. Paula Sandoval, strappedin before the navigation instruments, hunched her bare, tannedshoulders and refused to meet hiseyes; Caldwell, the gray-haired veteran who had repaired the atomic

II

rockets, grinned truculently. Mellen's face was puzzled and defensive.

"I said it off Mars," Brian toldthem, "and I say it again; we're justwast~g time trying to raise themwith any communication. devicesaboard. By now, they're probablyusing something so far beyond, radioor wavicles that they can't pick usup. Their equipment would be toofine ~ for our clumsy primitive de"vices to-"

"Clumsy primitive -" Caldwellbroke off, visibly summoning pa"tience, and Mellen interruptedfiercely. "Look, Kearns, there arejust so many ways of transmittingelectric impulseS."

"The first spacemen said that allfuels had to be chemical or atomic,didn't they?" Brian snapped. "Andwe came on cerberum. The' worlddidn't end when the Starward leftlYou've got to realize that we'vebeen stranded in what amounts to atime-warp for five hundred years orso, and we're hopelessly obsoletel"

"Maybe so ..." Mellen saidslowly, and waggled the switchagain. Brian irritably Hipped it shut.

"Why keep fussing with it, Tom?If they'd picked up our signals,they'd have answered by now. Haveyo.u seen any rockets entering orleaving?"

"Nothing larger than twelve cen"timeters since we entered the orbit," Mellen told him.

Brian frowned. "Where are we,Paula?"

The 'girl gave him a venomous

12

look, but she glanced at her instruments and replied, "Orbiting atforty miles, velocity five point six

. "m.p.s.Kearns glanced at Caldwell.

"You're the captain-""In a~ted sense," Caldwell said

slowly, and. returned his steadygaze. "That's why I wanted you uphere. There are two things we cando. We can go down under the cloudlayer - and maybe risk gettingshot at - to find a 'place to setdown, or else go on a permanentorbit, and send somebody down inthe pickup."

"The pickup," Brian, decided im...mediately. "Can you imagine tryingto land a .ship this size without in...structions from outside? For all weknow, there may be,laws about landing spaceships. The pickup can setdown in a few square yards. Who...ever goes down can locate a space'"port big enough to handle theHomeward and see about gettingthe necessary permissions."

"You're overlooking one thing."Mellen force4 the words out. "Sup...pose they'haven't any spaceportsl"

"They'd have to have spaceports,Tom," Caldwell protested, "evenfor interplanetary ships." And Brianadded, "It's impossible that we'dhave been the only interstellarship-'"

"That isn't what I mean," Mellenprotested. "'Surely one of the planets,Mars or Earth, would have pic~ed

up our signals. Someone must useradio for something, even if it's


purely local. That is, if there's anyone down there at allt"

Brian snorted laughter. "Youmean some kind of end...of...the...worlddisaster?" he .asked, elaborately sarcastic, but Mellen took him seriously. "Something like that."

"There's one way we can findout," Caldwell interrupted, "Doyou want to take the pickup down,Brian? We won't be using the ISdrives again --there's nothing moreyou can. do aboard."

"I'll go," Brian said shortly, buthe could barely conceal his eager...ness, and even forgot his animositytoward Mellen for a minute. "Shall Itake Tom.to handle the radio?"

Caldwell frowned, and answeredhalf practically and half tactfully,"I'll need Tom, arid Paula too, tobring the ship down when we'reready. Langdon can handle the radioin the pickup~ And take a couple ofothers too; Mellen mayor may notbe right, but I don't think any crewmembers ought to go down aloneuntil we know exactly what we'll"find down there."

Caldwell's seriousness made littleimpression on Brian, but he realizedthat he would need someone topilot the pickup in any case; his owntraining had fitted him only to handle the complex interstellar drives.And Langdon should, they decided,keep the radio at his fingertips,. toreport instantly to the Homewardin case of any unforeseen events.

So it was Ellinor Wade who tookthe controls of the small jet-driven

THE CLIMBING WAV,E

stratoplane which had been designedfor ship-to-surface shuttling, andused during the final stages of repairon the Homeward. She let the smallplane sink through the thick clouds,and asked, "Where do we want to.set down?"

Langdon bent over the carefullycopied map. "Judy's scribbled allover this thing," he complained."But try North America, midwest.That's where the first rocket rangeswere built, and we all speak English,after a fashion."

"Unless the Janguage has changedtoo much," Brian murmured. Elliefrowned as she brought the swiftlittle jet down, arcing across anunfamiliar land-mass; Brian andLangdon squeezed their ..hands totheir eyes as the clouds thinned, forthe sudden blaze of yellow light waslike a stab in the eyeballs. Lightingaboard ship, of course, was keyed tothe familiar crimson noon of TerraTwo, under which the crew hadlived all their lives. Ellie squintedover the instrument panel, using anunladylike wo~d under her breath.

The ship dived over rolling hills,and Brian let out his breath slowlyas the serried regular skyline ofmassive buildings cleaved the hori..zon, and said in an edgy voice, "Iwas beginning to wonder if Mellenhad been right about those atomicdeserts!"

Ellie warned, "From what theFirsts have told us, I don't care toget tangled up in a city airport ILet's find an ope~ spa~e and set

13

down there." She he~ded northward from the city, and asked,"Have either of you seen anythingthat looks like transportation?Planes, rockets, anything on theground?" .

"Nothing at all with the nakedeye," Langdon frowned, "and nothing moving that beeps the radar.And~ I've been watching prettyclose."

"Funny . . ." Ellie murmured.From this height everything was

clear, and as they swerved ground...ward, details became sharply incisedin miniature: wide- plowed ~elds,

scattered, toy-like houses, clustersof small buildings. There seemed tobe animals in the fields. Langdonsmiled. "Just like home," he saidhappily, meaning Terra Two. "Reg..ular rural community, except thateverything looks green!"

"That's this ridiculous yellowlight!" Ellie said, absently, andBrian scoffed, "Just like home! Bet...ter get set for a shock, Langdon!"

"It might be you that gets theshock,'" Langdon answered unex'"pectedly, and peered over Ellie'sshoulder at the controls. "Theground's level here, Ellie."

The pickup bumped ground androlled gently; Langdon's fingersmoved delicately on the radio panel,and he made a brief report instaccato speech while Brian' unsealecJ the door. Strange smellswafted into the cabin, and the threecrowded together in the entrance,eyes squinted against the stabbing

14

light, strangely reluctant, at thelast, to set foot on the unfamiliarsoil.

"It's cold...." Ellie shivered inher thin garment.

Langdon looked down, dismayed."You've set down in somebody'sgrain'fieldl" he reproached. Foodwas still conserved carefully on TerraTwo, more from habit than fromserious privation; Man's conquest ofthe new planet was uncertain, andthe colony took no chances~ Thethree felt a twinging guilt as theylooked down at the blackenedspears of grai~, and Ellie clutched atBrian"s arm. "Someone's coming -"she faltered.

Across the evenly plowed ridges,between rows of riperiing whea.t, aboy of thirteen .walked, steadily andunhurried.. He was not very tall,but looked sturdy; his face wasdeeply tanned under square-cutdark hair, and he was w,earing aloose shirt and breeches tucked intolow boots, all the same rich deepbrown color. Even Brian ,vas silentas the boy advanced to the very foot

~ of the pickup plane, paused andlooked up at it, then glanced up indifferently at the'three in the d'oorway, and began to move a~otind tothe tail, toward the smoking jets.

Brian quickly dropped Ellie'shand and scrambled to the ground."Hey there I" he called, forgettingthe prepared speech onhis lips."Better not go around there, it'sdangerous - hot/"

The boy desisted at once, turning


to gaze at him, and after a momenthe said in slurred but perfectly un"derstandable English, "I saw thestreak, and hoped that. a meteorhad fallen." He laughed, turned andbegan to walk away from them.

Brian looked blankly up at Ellieand Langdon. The man jumpeddown and gave Ellie a hand as shecalled after the boy "Please~ waita minute-"

He looked around,politely, andbefore ~is indifferent courtesy Brianfelt the words melting from his lips.~t was Langdon who finally said, inan empty voice, "Where can weWe have a message for the - theGovernment. Where can we gettransportation - to the City?"

"The City?" The boy stared."What for? Where did you come·from? The- the City?"

Brian quietly assumed commandof the situation again. "We arefrom the first Centaurian expedition, the Starward," he said. "We,or rather our ship, left this planethundreds of years ago."

"Oh?" The boy smiled 'in afriendly way. "Well, I suppose youare glad to be back. Over that hill,"he pointed, "you will find a roadwhich goes toward the City." Heturned again, this time with adefinite air of finali,ty, and started towalk away.

The three travelers stared at oneanother in blank indignation. Brianfinally took a step forward andshouted.: "Hey, come back hereI"

With an irritated jerk of his head,

THE CLIMBING WAVB

the boy turned. "Now what do youwant?" he demanded.

Ellie said concillatingly, "This isonly the pickup ofour ship. We haveto - to· find someone who can tellus where to bring the spaceshipdown. As you can see," she gesturedtoward the ruined wheat, "our jetshave destroyed a part of the crophere. Our spaceship is much larger,and we don't want to do any moredamage. Perhaps your father-"

The boy's face, puzzled at first,had cleared while she was talking."My father is not in our villagenow," he informed them, "but ifyou will come with me, I will takeyou to my grandfather."

"If YOy could tell us where, thenearest spaceport is -" Brian suggested.

The boy frowned. "Spaceport?"he repeated. "Well, maybe mygrandfather can help you."

He turned again, and led the wayacross the. field. Langdon and Elliefollowed at once; Brian hung back,looking uneasily at the pickup. Theboy glanced over his shoulder."You need not be anxious aboutyour plane," he called, laughing."It's too large to be stolenl"

Brian stiffened; the boy's attitudewas just derisive enough to put himon the defensive. Then, realizing thefutility of anger, he broke into arun to catch up with the others.When he came near them, the boywas saying, a little sulkily, "Ithought that I would be fortunateenough to find a fallen meteorI I

15

have never seen a meteorite."Then, making a tardy attempt toremember his manners, he addedpolitely, "Of course, I have neverseen a spaceship either -" but itwas evident that a spaceship was avery poor substitute.

Ellie's thinly shod feet stumbledon the uneven ground, and all threewere glad when they came out on asmoothed road which, wound between low flowering trees. 'Thereseemed to be no vehicles of anykind for the road was just wideenough to permit the f~ur to walkabreast. The 'boy's walk was rapid,and he kept moving, almost uncon'"sciously, ahead of them, then ·look...ing back and deliberately slowinghis steps. Once when he had forgedahead, Langdon murmured, "Evidently vehicular traffic has beencompletely diverted from ruralneighborhoods!" and Brian whispered, "This is mcredible! Eitherthat boy's half-witted, or else eventhe children here are so blase thatthe first star-expedition doesn'tmean anything to theml"

"I wouldn't be too sure," Elliesaid slowly. "There's somethingthat we don't understand. Let's nottry to figure things out ahead,Brian. Let's just take them as theycome."

III

Muscles virtually unused fornearly five years were aching by thetime the narrow road wound into avillage of low clustered houses,

16

built of what seemed to be grayishfield stone. A profu:se display offlowers bloomed in elaborate geometrical patterns around nearlyevery doorstep, and little groups ofchildren, dressed in smocks of darkyellow or pale reddish-gray, werechasing orie another haphazardly onthe lawns, shouting .somethingrhythmic and untuneful. Most ofthe houses had low trellised porches,and women in short light dresses satin little groups on the porches. Thestreet was not p~ved, and the womendid not appear busy; their lowpitched conversation was a musicalhum, and all down the street thethree strangers could hear a soundof singing. A man's voice, singing ina low, monotonous rise and fall ofnotes. It was toward this sound ofsinging that the boy led them,up the steps of. a porch which was'not trellised but roofed, and throughan open door.

They stepped into a wide, lightroom. Two walls seemed to open inslatted shutters, giving a view of anevenly patterned garden; on anotherwall was a large fireplace, whereembers flickered quietly, and therewas a gleaming kettle of some light,brilliant metal swung on a craneover the embers. "It reminded Brianof a picture in one of his oldesthistory books, and he blinked at theanachronism. The other furniturein the room was unfamiliar, lowcushioned seats built against thewalls, and a few closed doors on the'fourth wall. From an inner room,


the singing filled the house: a baritone voice, rich and resonant, risingand falling in slow, unfamiliarharmonic patterns.

The boy called: "Grandpal"-The singer ~nished one of the odd

phrases; then the song ceased, "andthe three strangers heard slow, deliberate steps behind the closed door.It swung back, and a tall old mancame out into the main room.

He looked like the boy. His hairwas clipped short, but grew downalong his cheeks, although his chinwas shaven clean; he wore a shirtand breeches of the same rich brown,but his feet were thrust into slippersof stitched leather. He lookedstrong and vigorous; his hands,tanned and knotty, were extremelywell-kept, though somewhat stained,and he stood very erect, surveyingthem with great composure, whilehis deep-set dark eyes studied themfrom their clipped and tended hairto their rubber-sandaled feet. Thecomposure gradually gave way to aqui~zical smile, and he came forwarda few steps. His voice w~ a singer'svoice, full and very strong.

~'Be welcome, friends. You are athome. Destry, who are our guests?"

The boy said calmly "They camedown in -a spaceship, grandpa, orrather, part of one. That streakwasn't a meteor at all. They saidthey wanted to go to the City. So Ibrought them along to you instead."

The man's face did not change bya fraction. Brian had been lookingfor surprise, or some ~ore tangible

THE CLIMBING WAVE

emotion, but the man only surveyedthem equably.

"Please be seated," he invitedgraciously. "I am Hard Frobisher,friends, and this is my grandsonDestry."

The three sank on one of thecushioned seats, feeling a little likechildren in their first learningperiod before the Firsts. Only Brianhad prese~ce of mind enough tomurmur their names.

"Brian Kearns - Ellinor Wade- Langdon Forbes -"

The old man repeated the names,bowing courteously to Ellie, atwhich the girl could barely concealher amazement. He inquired, smiling, "Can I be of assistance toyou?"

Brian stood up. "The boy didn'ttell you, sir, but we're from the firstCentaurus expedition - the Starward."

"Dh?" A faint flicker of interestcrossed Hard Frobisher's face. "Thatwas a good long time ago, I am told.Did the Barbarians have some means,then, of prolonging life beyond itsappointed limits?"

Brian's patience had already gonea long way beyond its appointedlimits, and now~ abruptly, it desertedhim.

"Look, sir. We're from the firstexpedition into interstellar space.The first. None of us left Earth onthe Starward. We weren't born. Ourhyperspeeds, if you know what theyare - which I'm beginning to doubt- threw us into a t~e-Iag. There's

17

no need to call us Barbarians, either.The ship's drives were smashed whenthey landed, and we've been fourgenerations, jour generations, gettingit in operable condition to comeback to Earth. None of us has everbeen on Earth before. We're strangers here, understand? We have toask our way around. W~ asked acivil question. Now if. we couldkindly have a civil answer -"

Hard Frobisher raised a placatinghand. "I am sorry," he said calq:l1y."I didn't understand. Just what doyou want me to do about it?"

Brian made a visible attempt tokeep his temper. "Well, first, wewant ·to get in .. touch with the ~u

thorities. Then I want to find. a placewhere we can bring out spaceshipdown-"

Frobisher was frowning, and Brianfell silent.

"Frankly," the old man said, "Idon't know whom you'd contactabout a thing like that. There isplenty of open land to the south,nearer the city, where you mightland your ship -"

"Now look -" Brian started, butLangdon tquched his arm. So Brianonly asked, "If you could tell us howto get in ~ouch with the Government • • • ?"

"Well," the old man said neu".trally," .there are three governorsin our village, but they only regu~

late the school hours, and makerules about locking houses. I wouldn'twant to bother them about something foolish like this. I don't think

18

they'd have much to say about your••. oh yes, spaceship."

That silenced Brian and Langdoncompletely. Ellie, feeling as if theywere being tangled into a giantspiderweb, asked desperately, "Couldwe go to ~me other, perhaps somelarger place?"

Frobisher looked at her, franklypuzzled.

"It's half a day's walk to Carney,"he said, "and when you got there,they would tell you the same thing.You are perfectly welcome to putyour spaceship down on our barrens,if you want to."

Brianstiffened belligerently. "Nowlet's get this straight. There's a cityover there. There must be some onethere in authority I"

"Oh, the City I" Frobisher's voiceheld dismissal, "Nobody's lived inany of the cities for years' Whywould you want to go there?"

Langdon said, baffled, "Look, Mr.Frobisher. We've come all the wayfrom Centaurus, to bring Earth thenews about our expedition. We'd expected to be surprised at what wefound - after all, it has been a longtime since the Starward left. Butare we supposed to understand fromthis run...around you're giving usthat there's nobody to listen, thatthe first of the interstellar expeditions doesn't mean anything toanyone?"

"Should it?" asked Frobisher, andhis face was even more baffled thanBrian's. "I can understand your personal predicament somewhat -after

FANTASY AND SCIENCE FIcnON

all, you've come a long way, butwhy? Didn't you like it where youwere? There is only one reason whypeople move from one place to another - and it seems to me thatyou have overdone it."

The room was silent. Hard Frobisher stood up, looking indecisivelyat his guests, and Brian half expected him to repeat Destry's moveand walk away, uninterested; buthe merely went to the fireplace andpeered into the kettle.

"Food is prepared," he remarked."Can I invite you to join us? Goodfood is ill"'seasoned by dissension, ~

and there is no wisdom in an emptybelly."

Brian and Langdon just sat andlooked dumbly at Frobisher. It wasEllie who said firmly, "Thank you,Mr. Frobisher," and dug an elbowinto Brian's ribs, whisperingsavagely,"Behave yourselfl"

The boy Destry came and helpedhis grandfather bring food from thefireplace and from an inner room; heconducted the strangers to seatsaround a sort of table. The food wasunfamiliar and not altogether pleasant to the strangers, accustomed tothe elaborate synthetics of the ship;Brian, altogether out of humor;made almost no effort to conceal hisdistaste, and Langdon ate listlessly;Hard and nestry ate with the un"feigned appetite' of men who spendmuch time in the open air, andneither spoke much during the mealexcept to urge food upon their

THE CLIMBING WAVE

guests. Ellie, finding the curiousliquids and semi-solids fascinating, ifstrange, tasted them with an inter..ested professional curiosity, wonder...ing how they were prepared.

It was not very long before HardFrobisher nodded to Destry, and theboy rose and began taking dishesfrom the table. Frobisher pushedback\his chair and turned to Brian."We can now discuss your-problem,if you wish,"" he said pleasantly~

"Full stomachs make wise decisions."He glanced at Ellie, smiling. "Iregret that there is no woman inmy house to entertain you while wetalk, young lady," he said regret..fully, and Ellie dropped her eyes.On the Homeward - as on TerraTwo - men and women were equalsand neither deferred to the other.Hard's polite deference was new,and his bland assumption that shecould have no part in their talk wasa somewhat distasteful surprise.Langdon cleI)ched his fists, whileBrian see;ffied about to explode.Ellie summed up the situation at aglance, and" swiftly intervened byrising and glancing shyly at Destry."Can I help you?" she offered dif..fidently, the boy grinned.

"Sure, come ahead," he told her.~'You carry the dishes and I'll bringthe kettle."

Frobisher settled back, taking aleather pouch from his pocket andmeticulously stuffing a pipe ofcarvedamber which swiftly revised Langdon's ideas of th~ present level ~f

civilization. Smoking was a habit

-19

on" Terra Two as well; only the smellof the tobacco was unfamiliar. Bothyoung men stifled coughs and re'"fused his offer of the sack, takingout their own grayish cigarettes andinhaling the sweetish-sour smokeavidly to shut out the rank stenchof the pipe. Somewhere, behindclosed doors, they heard a spla,shingof water and the uncertain falsettoof the boy's voice, mingled' withEllie's merry soprano laughter. Brianscowled and leaned forward, hisarms on his knees.

"See here, Mr. Frobisher," hesaid truculently. "I know you aretrying to be hospitable, but if youdon't mind, let's talk business. Wehave to bring· the ship down, andafter that -" He stopped and staredat the floor, wondering suddenly ifhe were on some kind of reservationfor half..wits. No: the room wastastefully, if simply, furnished; everything ·was plain, but nothingcrude. The wood of the furniture~as beautifully stained an9 polished,and the hand-woven rug on thefloor matched the thick draperiesat the slatted windows. The ·houseshowed comfort, even a moderatedluxury, and Frobisher's accents werethose of a cultured man. Nor was hemerely an eccentric, judging fromwhat Brian had briefly seen of theother houses and the glimpsed people. Destry hadn't seemed surprisedat the plane - he'd known what itwas, and yet it hadn't impressedhim. No, it wasn't savagery. But itwas radically different from what

20

he had expected, and the change be...wildered him. He looked up at oneof the· many pictures which hungabout the room, and there, for thefirst time, sensed a note of eccen...tricity; they were mostly sketches ofbirds, very precisely drawn, but thecolors were combined in a fashionwhich only a madman could en'"dure.... Then Brian realized thatit was this bright, unfamiliar lightwhich made the colors bizarre tohim, and simultaneously he becameconscious that his eyes were stingingand watering, and that he had aviolent headache. He rested his forehead on his clenched hands, closinghis eyes.

"It isn't that you aren't welcomehere," Frobisher said thoughtfully,pulling at his pipe. "We realize thatthere is only one reason why youwould leave your home planet, andthat would, of course, be becauseyou were unhappy there. And sowe understand -"

"Of all the stupid, unjustified as'"sumptions-" Brian began furiously,then checked himself. What washappening to his caution? He andLangdon were effectively cut offfrom the rest of the crew; theycouldn't afford to get into trouble.He rubbed his aching eyes.

"Sorry, Mr. ·Frobisher," he saidtiredly. "I didn't mean to be offen'"sive."

"No offense taken," Frobisher as'"sured him. "And certainly none wasintended by me. Am I mistaken-"

"We came here for one reason,"


Langdon informed him. "To ad...vance man's knowledge of the worldoutside the solar system. In otherwords, to "finish what: the Firstsstarted."

"And, judging by"appearances-"Brian's voice was bitter "- we'vewasted our time!"

"Yes, I'm afraid you have." Some...thing new in Frobisher's voice madeboth young men look up. "Whetheryou. realize it or not, I am quiteaware ofyour problems, Mr. Kearns.I have read a good .deal about theBar - excuse me, about the past~"

He tapped his pipe meditatively ona projecting corner of the fireplace.·"I suppose it would be impossiblefor you to return to Centaurus inyour lifetimes?"

Brian bit his lip. "In our lifetimes- no, not impossible," he answered,"but in. the lifetimes of anyone wehad known, assuming that we couldget back. Our fuel reserves are notgreat -" He looked questioninglyat Frobisher.

"Then I don't quite know whatto do with you," the old man said,and there was a genuine personalconcern in his voice. And thatfriendly concern was the last thingneeded to bring Brian to criticalmass. Ignoring the warning pressureof Langdon's hand on his knee, hestood up.

"Look, Frobisher," he saidtensely, "just who in hell gave youth_e authority to' make this decision,anyhow?"

Frobisher's face did not change by

THE CLIMBING WAVE

a fraction. "Why, you landed' in ourfield and my grandson brought youhere."

"So you're just taking respon-sibility for the whole matter? Doyou rule Earth?"

The man's mouth dropped open."Do I rule . .. Ha, ha, ha!" Fro-bisher leaned back in his chair, holding ,his sides and rocking suddenlywith uncontrollable laughter. "DoI rule •••" He collapsed in tochuckles again, his mirth literallyshaking the floor, and the large expansive laughter was so infectiousthat Langdon finally glanced up witha faint, puzzled grin, and even theworst of Brian's fury began to drainaway a little. "I'm sorry," Frobishersaid weakly at last, and there weretears in his eyes. "But that - that isthe funniest thing I've heard sincespring sowing I Do 1 ... ha, ha,ha, hal Wait until I tell my sonI'm sorry, Mr. Kearns, I can't help'it. Do I rule Earth!" he chuckledagain, "Heavens forbid! I haveenough trouble ruling my grandson!"He laughed again, irrepressibly. Briancouldn't see what was so funny andsaid so.

With an effort, Frobisher controlled )lis laughter and his eyessobered - but not much - as helooked at Brian. "You did come tome," he pointed out, "and thatmakes it my responsibility. I'm nota man to evade responsibility orrefuse you hospitality, but frankly,I wish you had found somelxxlyelse!" A t~y snort of laughter

21

escaped him again, "I can see you'llmake trouble here! But if you don'tlisten to me, you'll only' have to findsomelxxly else, and I'm afraid thatwhoever you found would tell youjust about the same thingl" Hesmiled, and the anxious friendliness 'in his face took the edge from Brian'sanger, although annoyed puzzlement remained.

Frobisher added quietly, "Thereis no reason that Norten villageshouldn't have this problem, as wellas any other." He stood up. "Iexpect the remainder of your ship'screw will be anxious about you. DoI assume correctly that you have acommunication device?" At Langdon's exasperated nod, Frobishertwitched a loose coat from a peg."Then why not report to them? Wecan talk further on the way - youdon't mind -if I come,- do you?"

"No, not at all," Brian' saidweakly. "Not at all."

IV

Mindful ofCaldwell's words aboutnot getting separated, Brian insistedthat Ellie should accompany themback to the pickup. Destry, apparently .uninterested, at first refusedhis grandfather's invitation to jointhem, then changed his mind. Heran to· fetch a warm jacket, but~

surprisingly, instead of donning it,he laid it about Ellie's shoulders."She's cold," he explained brieflyto his' grandfather, and withoutwaiting for thanks, strode ahead ofthem, along the road.

22

The sun was dropping westward,and the light was almost unbearable;Brian's eyes were squinted tight,and Langdon's forehead furrowed indeep"'plowed lines; Ellie held onehand across her forehead, and Brianput his arm around her.

"Headache, darling?" he askedtenderly..

She grimaced. "Will we get usedto this light, do you think, or arewe going to have to 'put up withthis all along?"

Langdon said wryly, "I supposethe Firsts felt like this under ThetaCentauril"

Ellie smiled faintly. "No onespread out a welcome for them."

Frobisher walked ahead of them,with long, swinging steps, and Briansaid in a savage undertone, "I stillthink this whole thing is an elaboratebluff of some sort. Or else we're on aprimitive reservation. The wholeworld can't be like thisl·

"Oh, don't be silly, Ellie saidwearily, rubbing her aching eyes."How could anyone have knownthat we'd choose to land here?"

Some of the women on the porchescalled familiarly to Frobisher, andhe waved gaily to them in return,but no one paid any attention to thestrangers, except for one plumpwoman, her hair in curly sausagesall over her head, who waddled fromher steps and toward the road. "Isee you have guests, Hard," shecalled cheerfully. "If your. house istoo full, mine is emptyl"

Frobisher faced around, smiling.


"Your hospitality may be required,"he said. "There are others, and theyhave come a long way."

The woman looked at Ellie witha sharp female glance, notmg herfair cropped hair, the smooth spun'synthetic coverall beneath the boy"sjacket, the molded sandals and barelegs. Then she put out a fat war~

hand. "Are you planning to settlein our yillage, my· dear?". she asked.

"They haven't decided," Fr~

bisheranswered noncommittally, butEllie said with a shy, impulsivefriendliness, "I. do hope so 1" andsqueezed the offered.hand.

"Well, I hope so too, dear. It isn'toften we have young neighbors,"the plump woman replied. "Youand your husband" (Ellie blushedat the forthright archaism) "be sureand call on us, now, if you needanything before you get settled."She smiled and waddled back to herdoorway.

Langdon said, low...voiced, "It'slike being on Terra Two, except thateverything - everything-"

Brian said, "There must have beensome inconceivable disaster I CuI...turally, they're a thousand years be·hind the world when the Starwardleft. Why, even Terra Two is morecivilized than they seem to belCooking with fire - and these littlevillages - and the cities empty-"

"Oh, I don't know," Ellie mur.mured surprisingly. "How do youmeasure culture? Isn't it possiblethat they've progressed in ways wedon't know anything about? The

....J

THE CLIMBING WAVE

difference might be in. viewpoint."Brian shook his head stubbornly."It's regression,U he protested,

but Ellie had no time to answer, forthey had come within sight of thepickup, and Frobisher dropped backto walk with them.

"There is your plane," he said."Do you intend to communicatefrom here, or will you rejoin yourspaceship?" .'

Brian and Langdon looked at oneanother. "We haven't thought abo~tit," Langdon 'said at last, "butBrian - without a spaceport or atleast a radio beaming device, howare they going to land?"

Brian frowned. "I don't knowmuch about rockets," he said atlast; "the hyperdrives are my job.How much1anding room ~o they.need?"

Langdon said, troubled, "Paulaand Caldwell, between them, could·land the Homeward in great-grandfather Kearns's biochemistry lab, ifthey had.to, without breaking a testtube. But they'd have to have a fix.If they land blind, they're apt toset down right on the village." Hepaused, and clarified, "That is, ifthey just aim at our general direction from what we transmit here."

"In that case," Brian suggested,"we'd better' take up the· pickupand rejoin the ship - and hunt upa good big desert to land blind."

"Rejoining the ship would ·bequite a problem in this light," Elliesaid, troubled. "It's going to be darkin less than an hour, I'd say - and I

.23

have a feeling that we're going tofind ourselves completely nightblind."

Frobisher had considerately withdrawn while they were talking, andBrian snapped, "What's the matterwith your brain, Ellie? You cango around to sunward, and matchvelocities with the Homeward there I"

"But then we might not find thisplace again," Langdon said surprisingly, and Ellie added, "If we gohurtling all around the planet, whoknows if we'd find this again?"

"For the love .of- who cares?""1 do," said Langdon firmly.

"According to Frobisher, conditionsare pretty much the same everywhere, and - I kind of like that oldguy, Brian. I like it her~. I'd like toland here. Maybe settle down here."

~rian stared. "Are you crazy?"Langdon said, "Not at all. If we

want to look around after the Homeward is down, fine - we have thepickup, we can do all the exploringwe want to. We've plenty of fuelfor the pickup. We're down,... let'sstay down."

Brian's face lost a little of its selfconfidence; it was the fir~t time thatany of the crew had ever questionedhis judgment, although many hadresented his methods. He shruggedin a sudden futile misery. '.'I'moutvotedl And anyhow I resignedcommand when the atomics wenton! Settle it with Caldwell by radioI"He lurched away from them andaround toward the other side of thepickup. He heard the staccato bark

24

of the radio inside, but paid no attention until he suddenly becameconscious of Ellie, close beside him.

She raised her face, with an affectionate smile. Brian, even distractedby a thousand irritated thoughts,found time to wonder at the newmystery of her fair hair in the goldensun: the red was dimmed out, here,and the short curls seemed a pure,delicate silver; she was very whiteand fragile in this new light, andBrian reached impulsively to pullher. close. She responded eagerly,her arms going around him and herface lifted with a simplicity that hehad not quite expected.

"Journey's end," she said gently."We've waited a long time for this,Brian, even if that electronic calculator was off..beam about what we'dfind down here. Kiss me, you idiot."

The strength in his' arms wasastonishing, and she gave a littlecry. "Hey, I'm not used to weighingso much, take it easy -" she protested, laughing, and the laughter

-trailed away as he bent his headdown to hers. She was conscious ofthe sun in her eyes, of the physicalfatigue from unaccustomed exercise,and the dragging" feel of too muchgravity - Terra Two was a small,light world. There was a crushingurgency "in Brian's arms, and hestrained her desperately close for afrantic minute, then abruptly pushedher away, his voice roughened. .

"Where did Frobisher gor- Damnit, Ellie, I need a clear head rightnow I The way it looks, we'll have


the rest of our lives for that kind ofthingl"

Hurt, but sensing the plea forhelp that begged her from behindthe facade of his taut control, Ellieswallowed the pain of the personalrejection, and forced herself to thinkbeyond the immediate moment. "Heand Destry went to see how muchof the grain had been ruined-"

"Hell, we can pay for the grain.There they come now-" Briankicked out at a stalk of wheat, acuriously futile movement, and saidin an odd, quenched voice, lookingat his foot, "It's going to take monthsfor us to get back in shape, after solong in free fall. We're coordinatedall wrong for so much gravity. No..tice the way Frobisher walks? Likehe owned the world.-" Resentmentand envy mingled in his voice, andhe stopped, then finished in a surprised tone, "- or as much of it ashe wantsl"

He ~id abruptly as the grand...father and grandson joined them,"Mr. Frobisher, we'll be glad topay for what wheat we ruined."

"I would not ,have mentioned it,"Frobisher said, and for the first timetpere was something like respect inhis voice, "but it shows a good spiritthat you have mentioned it. I haveabundance, and you will have muchto do after your crew lands. But ifyou insist .upon payment, you cancontribute task-work next season,after you are settled."

Brian was puzzled, but decidednot to press the point. Langdon re'"

THE CLIMBING WAVE

joined them, and he asked, "Whatdid Caldwell say?"

"He'll try' it, if we'll fix up somekind of radio beam," Langdon responded. "Where do you want usto land, Mr. Frobisher?"

Hard Frobisher began to draw asketch-map with a long stick in thedirt. "Over that rise -"

"We'll move the pickup overthere," Ellie decided, then abruptlyproffered the invitation, "Ride overthere with us?"

Hard Frobisher looked speculatively at the plane, then toward thehorizon. "Oh, it isn't a long walk,"he said, but Destry said eagerly, "Ibelieve I'd like it, grandpa."

The old man smiled deprecatingly."The young are enthusiastic, Miss.Wade," he said, almost in apology,"but - very well."

Brian logged another point of bewilderment. Could any educatedhumans be so trusting? Even onTerra Two, a well-united colony,there was a .certain individual wariness, and strangers - how did FrobisherandDestryknow theywouldn'tbe kidnaped?

It was an incredible relief to getback inside .the pickup and switchon the familiar crimson light. Destryexpressed ffiild surprise at the lighting, but Frobisher asked no questions and did not seem impressedwhen the pickup rose straight upward and circled before relanding atthe edge of the large barren tractwhere they were to bring the Homeward down. At only one point in the

25

whole maneuver did Frobisher showthe slightest surprise, and that waswhen Ellie took the controls; heglanced at Brian, then at Langdon,and then, in frank amazement, atthe small slim girl at the controls;but he made no comment.

Theylanded,and Langdon touchedthe radio. Brian took it from hishand. "Hello? Hello the Homeward?Kearns talking. That you, Tom?"

Tom Mellen's husky voice, veryfar away, asked thinly, "Was I rightabout no spaceports?"

"You were." Brian did not elaborate.

"We've got the direction of yourbeam. But Paula says ifwe follow itin, we'll land straight on the pickup.And if we don't, how are we goingto hit the spot you've picked outfor us?" Tom sounded puzzled. "Inthe last few seconds of braking, thishulk isn't very easy to steer."

"Heill" Brian' swore. "Hold ona minute!" He explained the situation briefly to Langdon. "I toldyou so!,t

Langdon said grimly, "There'sonly one way to handle it. Take thefuel out of the pickup - impactwould blow it up - move it outwhere we want them to land, andlet them land on it. The pickup'Sexpendable. The crew isn't. They'dland hard, but the crew will be inskyhooks,. and Caldwell in·a crashcockpit. Nobody'll be hurt."

"We're going to need the pickuplater," Brian argued stubbornly.

"Well, have you a better idea?"

26

Langdon asked. "If they follow thebeam in part way, and try to swervein the last few seconds, they're aptto miscalculate by a degree or two,and burn up the village."

"I still think we ought to huntup a good-sized desert,U Brian insisted.

Destry interrupted suddenly, in atone of disgust, "Say, when youwant a kingfisher to dive, you throwa hunk of bread where you want himto dive - you don't stand and holdit I Ifyour radio - what is it - beamcomes from that," he gestured at thetransmitter, "why not j~st rip thatthing out of the plane, fix it to send·out a steady signal, and take it outwhere you want your spaceship toland? It won't hurt the spaceship toland on anything that small, willit?"

Brian stared at the boy in amazement for a minute, and Langdon'smouth dropped open.

"Destry," Ellie said after a briefsilence, "you have the makings of ascientist."

"Look, the boy said uncomfortably. "The idea may not be muchgood, but why insult me?"

"It is good," Langdon interrupted. "I don't know why I didn'tthink of it myself, except that I'mhalf-witted in this light I Brian,.that's it. Ellie, while I send word toMellen - before I rip this ·outget under the seat and find the radiokit; I may have to resolder a fewwires. Looks like we'll be in thedark by the time we finish, too; bet-


ter get out the small lamps. Come on,get busy -" He flipped the switchopen. "Homeward? Forbes speaking. Tom? Listen, in about twentyminutes we'll have a fix set up -"

Brian and Ellie were strugglingto lift the heavy seat; the unaccustomed gravity made it almost impossible to budge. Destry caughtone end and heaved it up easily, andEllie and Brian bent over the equipment stored there. The girl murmured in Brian's ear, ~'There goesyour theory about regressionl Thatkid knew what he 'was talking,about."

Brian snorted. "And used ananalogy from natural history I Itwas obvious enough, knowing thepurpose of the radio. If eitherLangdon or I had been thinking,we'd have hit on it."

Ellie did not answer; there seemedno use in making Brian·angry again.She went and stood watching Langdon working swiftly ~nd expertlyto dislnantle and readjust the radioset to emit a self-contained, steadysignal. He had to switch on thelights in the pickup before he finished, and .before the impromptuhoming device. was completed, t~e

sun had gone down. As they stoodin the doorway of the pickup, Langdon scowled.

"I can't see my hand before myeyes!" he protested, and· took oneof the small red handlamps Elliehanded him. He looked at it disgustedly. "I can set the signa~ upwith this, yes - but I don't know

THE CLIMBING WAVE

the 'lay of the land I" He gesturedto the vast empty tract of barrenland, and added, "I'll get lost outthere, or set it up on a side hill I"

Destry volunteered: "I know thisplace like my own hand - I'll comealong and find you a flat space."

"Need any help?" Brian offered,but Langdon shook his head. "Nothanks. No sense in both of us getting tangled up in this murk." Hepicked up the homing device and,with Destry, moved away acrossthe field which, to Brian and Ellie,'was inky...dark, although in actuality it was bathed in clear moonlight.They stood in the door of the pickup, straining their eyes for the reddish, bobbing glimmer of Langdon'slight, and Ellie shuddered in therough warmth of Destry's coat.Brian's arm stole round her in thedarkness.

She said tremulously "What wouldhave happened if we'd gone in at-Marsl"

Frobisher, behind them, drew aharsh breath. "You're certainly luckyyou didn't I" he said thankfully~

"You couldn't have lived therethree days, unless you stayed withyour ship - I assume the ship isself...contained?"

"Oh, yes,H Brian told him. "But- Mars was a sizable colony whenthe Starward left 1"

'Frobisher shrugged. "Everybodycame in from Mars before the spacersstopped running. There's no waterthere at all, now."

Brian murmured, ". •.. and by

27

now you should have had all theplanets colonized, and reached mostof the nearer starsl"

The older man's voice lost· itspleasant inflection. "You say somevery surprising things, Mr. Kearns,"he said dryly. "You don't say thatwe could have colonized the planets- which, of course, is true - butthat we should have. Do you mindtelling me why? The planets arenot exactly suited for human habitation, except this one - and I wouldhate to have to live on any other."

Brian asked almost savagely "Youmean there is no ~pace travel?"

"Why, no," Frobisher said slowly."No one cares to go to the planets.'~

"But ... the planets had already been reached, conquered, whenthe Starward left I"

Frobisher shrugged. "The .Barharians did a great many thingswhich we regard as stupid," he said."But why should it be called conquest, to encourage men to go out toworlds for ··which they are not biologically adapted? I have read muchabout the Barbarians, their insatiableegotism, their idle, childish curiosity, their continual escapism andrefusal to face their problems, butforgive me for saying this, no personal offense is intended - I hadnever believed it until taday I"

Ellie took Brian's arm before hecould answer. "Look there, Langdon's signaling - they must havethe transmitter set up," she said t

and" moved her lamp in a widecircle. Before long, Langdon and

28

Destry emerged from the bath ofinky darkness, and sank down on theground, in the little flood of reddishlight from the pickup's windows."That did it," Langdon said. "Nowwe sit and wait while Paula pinpoints the beam, and Caldwell willput her down right where we want."

"I hope somebody remembers tolook after Einstein," Ellie worried."I'd hate to have him break his neckin the last few seconds of the trip!"

"Judy will take care of.him,"Langdon reassured, and they waitedin the red--cast darkness. Brian wasmustering all the arguments he hadheard from the Firsts ab9ut thenecessity that had backed develop-ing space travel.

"What about overpopula tion?What about diminishing food supplies and natural resources?"

Frobisher's laugh was loud in thedarkness. "Certainly not even theBarbarians expected to find naturalfood supplies on Mars or Venus!" hechuckled. "Interstellar travel mighthave solved it, but at prohibitivecost. Still, once man decided to stopsquandering natural resources onvast theoretical projects, and throwing them irrecoverably out intospace, that problem was easilysolved."

"But what forced the decision?"Brian asked almost timidly.

"I wouldn't know," Frobishersaid thoughtfully, "but when adecision is really necessary, as a rule,someone makes it. Probably theoverpopulation reached such ex-


tremes - the solar system as a whole,of course, since Earth had to feedMars and Venus too - that for oneor two whole generations, everyable-bodied man and woman hadto put all his efforts into food--making instead of theoretical astronomyor whatever they called it. And bythe time they had that problemsolved, people were thinking ofscience in terms of human benefits,and probably realized that their re.:sources could be handled more efficiently here on Earth. That~ Imean thinking in terms of cost andhuman benefits - did away withwar, too. It doesn't take long forattitudes to grow up. Then, too,during the overpopulated gene~ra-

tions, the population was almostentirely neurotic. The scientists ofthat day simply made it possible, Iimagine, for women to avoid havingthe children they didn't want anyway, so that no one had childrenexcept the healthy--min~ed womenwhose primary interest was in chil-dren. The neurotic death-wish inthe others -effectively reduced thepopulation in only two or three generations. You might say that theneurotics committed race suicide.Is that your ship, or another ofDestry's meteors?"

They scrambled down, .stumblingin the darkness, as the incrediblerocket--roar sounded, and, on a collapsing telescope of fire, the Homeward screamed down to its' restingplace. Brian, standing between De'stry and Ellie, wondered - but was

THE CLIMBING WAVE

too weary and too overexcited toask - if Destry still regretted hisfailure to finH a meteor.

v

. Explanations, introductions and.much rapid..fire conversation madethe landing a babble of noise.

"Hey, we're here!""Who thought up that homing

device?""Hey, I'm blind! No light on this

planet? Couldn't we have landed tosunward?"

"What, in China?""Damned gravity, I can't walkl"

-"Ellie I" (More imperatively thanthe other voices.) "Come here andget this devil-ridden cat of yours!"

Ellie dashed to Judy, who was, carrying the squirming Einstein as

she stumbled, clumsy..footed, downthe ladder. "Here, take this anima!!"she said crossly.. "He's pulling myhair out by the roots!" She shovedthe thick curls back over her shoul-der, and fretted, "Hair's a worsenuisance in gravity than out of it!"

Ellie gently unwound her pet'ssuckers from Judy's ringlets, and theanimal clung to her shoulder, squirm-ing in crazy anticipation, strugglingto get to the ground. She climbedthe ladder painfully, wondering ifshe. ~ould ever adjust to the heavygraVIty again, and, shoving into thelounge, ripped a strip of cloth fromher skyhook to make a leash for theIittle animal.. It was docile, but theprospect of running freely mighttempt it to wildness.

29

As she came down again, she heardFrobisher's rich voice. "I offer thehospitality of our village and myhom~, for as long as you wish -"

Stumbling on the final rung, Elliealmost fell against Mellen and Paula,standing silently in each other's armsat its foot. rheir faces glowed dimlyin the reddish shimmer from theopen door of the ship, and a pang ofenvy stabbed through Ellie. Theyhad only one emotion about thelanding. They didn't care what theyfound - they were here, and to-gether. She turned swiftly, not want...ing to violate their moment, butTom looked up ~t her and smiledwith a joyfulness that made hisgaunt good"natured face almosthandsome. Paula reached out andhugged Ellie, .cat and. all. "It's allover!" she whispered jubilantly."We're hereI" But her dark eyeswere a little sad, too, as she added,"I only wish there was some way wecould let - our mothers and fathers- know that we came safely."

'''They would be sure of that,"Ellie comforted softly.

Tom Mellen scowled. "What'sKearns sounding off about now?Shush, girls -"

Brian was protesting, "Look, wecan't alV go. So~e of us ought tostay aboard the Homeward. I sug-gest that we sleep aboard, a~d visi.tthe village in the morning -"

"You stay if you like," Caldwellsaid mutinously. "I've seen enoughof the Homeward for a lifetime!"

Then open rebellion burst o~t.

3°

Little Judy set off the reaction byproclaiming violently,' "If I ever goaboard the Homeward again, they'llhave to carry me and tie me!" andMellen shouted, "The trip's overand we're private citizens again,Kearns, so stop pulling your rank onus!" In the storm of voices, theCentaurian cat went wild and clawedits way from Ellie's shoulder, tum"bling with a queer, staggering gaitacross the rough dark grass. Elliescreamed "Catch him, catch him!"and Paula made a grab for the crea"ture, but missed, to trip and fall inthe darkness. She lay there, laughinghysterically, watching the cat as itdived into the ring of lights. Itstumbled and weaved on its spindlylegs, thrusting po~ch and tail weirdlyto balance against the unfamiliargravity; it sniffed the grass, with amusical caterwauling, then rolledover and over in the dark grass ofthe barrens, like a crazy asteroidtumbling in a wildly erratic orbit.

Brian didn't have a chance afterthat. The Homeward's crew, barelymore than adolescents, and semi..hysterical anyway with release fromstrain and the euphoria 'of journey'send, lay on the grass and rolled andstretched like children, paying lessthan no attention to Brian's ha"rangue. By the time Ellie had man"aged to recapture the staggeringEinstein, and the laughter-drunkyoungsters ha~ calmed a little, Brianhad only one desire: to restore somesemblance of dignity to himself andhis crew. Livid and all but speech"


less, he tersely requested Caldwell,the calmest of the group, to acceptFrobisher's hospitality on behalf ofall, and watched, leaning somberlyagainst the ladder, as they troopedaway, guided by ·.Destry with alantern, still laughin'g wildly atnothing, and hanging on to eachother's hands in the darkness to keepfrom falling.

Hard Frobisher walked steadilytoward him, and on an impulseBrian asked him, "Wo~ld you liketo come aboard?"

Hard answered unexpectedly"Yes, I believe I'd be interested tosee the inside of your ship," andfollowed Brian up the ladder, navi-'gating the rungs with more easethan Brian himself, and into thelounge.

He looked curiously at the sky..hooks and the complicated recreation devices, inspected the cabins.without much comment, gave aninterested hum in the Food Culturedepartment. Finally Brian led hiinupward, into the enormous cabinwhere he himself had spent most ofthe voyage, handling the incrediblycomplex IS drives.

And here, before the tremendousmachinery, Frobisher seemed at lastimpressed. He broke his silence witha wondering, "~d you - you knowall about this - this gimcrackery?"

Since the IS drives weighed up"wards of a hundred tons, Brianlaughed tolerantly at this under'"statement. "Yes, I'm a drive tech...nician. I spent some time training."

THE CLIMBING WAVE

"It must take a lifetime to learnall thisl"

Brian condescended, "No, onlyabout twelve years."

"Twelve yearsl" Frobisher r~

peated. "Twelve years, and howmany - four? - on the way here,wasted on a room full of machineslU

And now Brian uncomfortably recognized the emotion in.his voice. Itwas pity. "You poor boy," Frobisher said, and repeated "Poor boy!To waste sixteen years on these metallevers and things! No wonder youare -" He broke off, perhaps awareof the tightness of Brian's clenchedjaw.

Brian said in a low and deadly'voice, "Oh, don't stop thereI Nowonder I am - what?"

"Neurotic," Frobishersaidquietly."Of course you must give yourselfsome reason why you have not wastedy~ur life." And sadly he shook hishead. "Fortunately you are stillyoung-"

"This ship," Brian said stiffly,"is the greatest accomplishment ofthe human race! If I live to be twiceyour age, I shall never -" Abruptlyhe rose and flicked a switch. Thegreat dome cleared, and the immense magnifiers brought down thenewly blossoming stars so that theman and boy stood under a vast,blazing galaxy of fire. "Damn it/'Brian said huskily and his voicecaught. "Man, we brought this littleship across nine light-years of noth...ing, nothing, nothingl We stepped OD.

worlds where no human being had

31

ever been beforeI You can't makeout that that's nothingI 'It's thebiggest thing humanity ever did and I had the privilege to be partof it -" He was stammering, and,aware of it, he stopped.

Frobisher looked sad and embarrassed. "Poor lad, and what for?What did you, personally; get fromit? What good did it do - not youalone - any single human being?"

Brian shouted suddenly, "Yousenile, half-witted old imbecile, Idon't suppose you ever heard ofabstract knowledge!" .

"It isn't wholly unknown to me,"Frobisher said coldly, but added,again with the same anxious friendliness, "Well, my boy, I suppose youbelieve as you've been taughtbut can you show me one· single human, now or in the past, who wasbenefited by the trip of the Starward,except in his personal vanity? Ithink, if you carefully examined thematter, you'd find that the building,launching and cost of the Starwarddefrauded quite a large number ofpeople."

Brian said almost desperately."Individuals don't matter. Knowl...edge - any knowledge - is for thegood of the race as a whole - tolift humanity out 'of the mud of thesea bottom - toward the stars -"

"I can't breathe such thin air,"Frobisher said lightly. -"The mud ismuch mor:e comfortable."

"And where would you be,"Brian almost shouted, "if your remote ancestor had never crawled

32

down a tree trunk because he wascomfortable where he was?"

"Why," Frobisher returned, looking up at the stars that were brilliantin the dome, "I should be veryhappily scratching myselfand swing...iog by' my tail. Do you think thegreat apes have any ambition to behuman? Unfortunately~ I've cometoo far to be happy in a treetop ora cave. But it seems to me that it'simportant, for anYI individual hu'"man, to find the absolute minimumwith which he can recover that stateof effortless happiness he lost whenhe left. the treetops. Do you knowwhat this ship reminds me of?"

"No!" Brian snapped."A brontosaurus." Frobisher did

not elaborate, and' in surly silenceBrian snapped a switch. The starswent out.

"Come on," he muttered, "let'sget out of here."

'Brian slept little that night..Atdaybreak he stole into the roomwhere the six women of the crewwere sleeping, and quietly wokethem; one by one, wrapping them'"selves sleepily in blanke~s, they tip'"toed into the men's bedroom, wherethe crew gathered close, listening toBrian's soft, savage whispers.

"Kids, we've got to do something- anything to get away from thismadhouse I" .

"Go easy, Brian," Mellen interrupted. "That's strong language,and I ·don't like it. These peoplearen't crazy, from what we saw and


heard last night. They think we'rea little off course, though."

Caldwellmuttered, "They'reprobably right. They used to say thatbeing too long in space drove mencrazy."

Brian said bitterly, "You all seeminsane!"

"I don't blame them," Ellie saidunexpectedly. "What is the good ofgoing shooting all over the galaxy?It was fine, back in the days when itmade people happy, but these people are happy without it."

"Brian's right, of course," saidDon Isaacs, a quiet boy who hadnever grown too friendly with anyof the crew except Marcia, and whonever had much to say. "But there'sthis. Let's be practical. We're here.We can't go back to Terra Two'.And we can't start reforming them.&> let's just make the best of it. ~~

Mellen said shortly, "Good foryou, Don. And one more thing: ifKearns keeps shooting off his bigmou~h, we're apt to land in the localequivalent of the lock..up, for dis..turbing the peace or something.The peace seems to be valued prettyhighly around here."

_"But what are we going to do?"Brian wanted to know. "We can'tjust litle here, can we?"

"And why not?" Paula's voicewas defiant, and Judy murmured,"There aren't as many gadgets andthings as there are on Terra Two,but it's certainly a better place thanthe Shipl"

Mellen pulled Paula's small shad...

THE CLIMBING WAVE 33

owy form upright beside him. "I others and ran out into the newdon't know why you came on the day. She plunged her way throughtrip, Brian," he said. "But I came the gradually thinqing darkness afterfor one reason: because the Firsts his retreating shadow, and foundtrained me for it, and because if I'd him, huddled at the foot of the.begged off, somebody else would pickup. She knelt close to him andhave had to. This isn't -home, but put her warm hands over his. coldit's.as close to it as we're apt to find. ones.I like it. Paula and I are going to "Brian - oh, my dearest -"settle down, and build a house or "Ellie, Ellie I" He flung his armssomething." around her, hiding his head against

Langdon added, "It's no secret her thin dress.' The girl held himthat Judy and I - and Don and tight, without speaking. How youngMarcia, -" he paused, -"and Brian he was, she thought, how veryand Ellie too - have been waiting a young. He'd started training forlot longer than we wanted to wait. this work before he could read.There are a couple Qfhundred peo- Twelve years, training for the bigpIe in this village. Nice people, too, gest job in the world he knew. AndI'll bet. I like that old fellow. He now it all collapsed under him.reminds me of great-grand~Wade. Brian said bitterly, "It's the waste,Anyhow, that's almost as many as Ellie. Why - we might as well havethey have on Terra Two. And I'll stayed on Terra Twol"bet they don't all spend their time "That's exactly what Frobisherknocking themselves out, synthesiz- said," Ellie told him gently. Sheing food and exploring and cata- glanced at the reddening clouds inloguing the whole planet, eitherl" the east, and such a wave of home-

"They certainly don'tl" Ellie slid sickness wrenched at her that sheher arm through Brian's. "They are, nearly sobbed.now, where Terra Two is, without "Ellie-why?" he insisted.the struggle. They've conquered the "Why? What makes a culture justplanet. They can quit trying." stop, go dead, stagnant? They ~ere

But Mellen murmured derisively, right on the borders of conquering"Kearns is heartbrokenl He wanted the whole universel What made themto find mechanical computers telling stop?" The agonized earnestness ofeverybody when to spit, and robots ~ the question made Ellie's voice verydoing all the houseworkl" tender.

"yes...." Brian said thickly. "Maybe they didn't-stop, Brian."I guess I did...." Maybe they just progressed in an-

He turned his back on them and other direction. Space travel wasslammed out. right for the culture we knew - or

Ellie thrust her way through the maybe it wasn't.. Remember what

34

the Firsts told us, about the Russo...Venusian War, and the Mars Raids?These people-maybe they'veachieved what all cultures were looking for, and never found."

"Utopia!" Brian sneered, andpushed her away.

"No," said Ellie very low, andput her arms about him again."Arcadia."

"You're just the same, anyway.• -.. Ellie, whatever happens, don'tyou leave me too -" he begged.

"I won't," she promised. "Never.Look, Brian, the sun's coming up.We should go back."

"Yeah, big day ahead," he .said,and his mouth was too young totwist into such bitter lines. Then itrelaxed, and he smiled and pulledher close to him.

"Not just yet ..."

VI

Paula and Ellie stood on a knoll,near the abandoned Homeward, andwatched the skeletal houses goingup almost visibly beneath .them."The entire village has turned out I"Paula marveled. "Our house will befinished before night!" "

"I~m glad there was land near thevillage for us," Ellie murmured."Don't you feel as if you'd alwayslived here? And inonly four months I"

The dark girl's face was sad."Ellie, can't you do anything tokeep Brian from - from soundingoff at Tom? One day Tom will upand paste him one, and then youknow what will happen to us!'~


Ellie sighed. "And I'd hate tohave either of us turned out of thevillage I It isn't all Brian's fault,Paula -" But then she paused,smiled sadly, and· finished "I'mafraid he usually starts it, though.I'll do what I can, of course -"

"Brian is crazy!" Paula said emphatically. "Ellie -. is it really true,that you and Brian will go on livingin the Homeward?" She glanceddistastefully at the black mass of thestarship, and went on, "Why doyou stand for it?"

"I'd live with Brian in a worn-outhydroponics tank, Paula. You wouldtoo, if it were Tom," Ellie saidwearily. ~'And Brian's right, some"one should keep the ship from beingdismantled. Any of you had thesame choice."

Paula murmured "I like our housebetter, especially now·-" and sheput her head close to Ellie and whis..pered. Ellie hugged her delightedly,then asked, "Are you feeling allright, Paula?"

The girl hesitated before answer"ing. "I tell myself it's all my imagi..nation," she said at last. "This planetbelonged to our ancestors, our race;my body should adapt to it easily.But after being born and growingup on Terra Two where I weighedhalf what I do here, and then solong in free fall- I know it's hardfor all of us, this gravity; but sincethe baby ... My body is onedamned enormous ache, night andday I"

"You poor thing -" Ellie put an

THE CLIMBING WAVE

arm around her friend. "And I thinkI have troubles because my eyes stillhurt in this lightI"

Judy, heavy-footed, puffed up theslope. She had wound her heavyhair into a coil on her neck, andwould have been pretty, in her lightsynthetic ship's overall, had hereyes been less painfully screwed upagainst the brilliant sunlight. "Lazythings," she called gaily. "The menare hungryl"

"In a minute," Ellie answered, butdid not move. She still found it moreconvenient to prepare food in theculture units of the Homeward, butdisliked doing so now. However,. onoccasions such as today, when thevillagers had turned out en masse,making a holiday of building thefive new houses, it would make iteasy to feed almost three hundred.

Langdon and Brian came up thehill, Hard Frobisher striding easilybeside them. Langdon squinted atthe woman and finally pretended toidentify Judy. "You women are get...ting spoiled," he teased. "On TerraTwo, you'd be working along wi~h

the men, Judyl"Judy tossed her head. "I enjoy

being spoiled," she said pertly, "andI'll have enough to do, learningwhat women do here I"

There was a derisive twist inBrian Kearns's smile. "I came- offlucky," he commented sourly. "Ellieat least had training for this kind oflife. What about you, Paula, areyou sorry not to be playing nurse toyour electronic calculator?"

35

Paula gave an eloquent shrug.."The women of the Starward choseto be scientists and were chosenbecause they were scientists I I learnednavigation because my grandmotherlearned to fix a cyclotron before shehad her babies on Terra Twol I'mshedding no tears."

"Well, suppose you two come andhave a lesson in food culture," Ellieadmonished, and the three women

.. turned toward the ship. At the footof the ladder, however, Ellie paused."Paula, dear, you shouldn't climbthese steps now. Go on back, we'llmanage by ourselves," she offeredgently, and Paula gratefully turnedback to rejoin the men.

Meanwhile, Frobisher sat lookingdown at the rising houses. "Soon youwill be part of our village," he commented. "I think you have all donewell."

Brian nodded curtly in acknowledgment. He had not been preparedto find the village operating as a self...contained colony, very much likethe one at Terra Two - the crew ofthe Homeward had expected to'reenter the complex financial structureof the world the Starward had left.But the system seemed simplicityi'tself. Every man owned as muchland as he, alone, was able to work,and owned whatever else he madewith his own hands. A man gave hiswork wherever it was needed, and inreturn was entitled to take what heneeded; food from those who grewit, clothes from those who madethem, and so forth. Whatever he

36

needed beyond the necessities ~ oflife must be earned by industry,goOO management and private ar"rangements. Brian found the systemeasy and congenial, even enjoyingthe job he did - a carpenter inNorten had given him work, andBrian, whose training had familiar"ized him with tools and machinery,had found no trouble in adaptinghis specialized skills to carpentryand building. There was always build"ing going on somewhere in the village, it seemed. Brian made a goOOliving.. And yet, for all its simplicity, the

system seemed remarkably inefficient. Brian said, loo~ng down atthe sprawled hou~s, "I would thinkit would be easier if you had somekind of central distribution system."

"It's been tried, often," the oldman answered patiently. "Everyfew years, a group of villages willconsolidate, to exchange services, orset up communication systems forprivate individuals, or distributefoOOs that can't be grown locally, orluxury goOOs of one kind oranother.But that means devising a means ofexchange, and keeping account ofcredits, and so forth. As a rule, thedisadvantages are so ~uch greaterthan the a~vantages that the consolidation breaks down again within ayear or two.n

"But there's no law against it?"Brian asked. -

"Oh, nol" Frobisher soundedshocked. "What would be the senseof that? The purpose of the whole

FANTASY ANn SCIENCE FICTION

system is to leave each man as freeas possible I Most places are justabout like Norten - the maximumof comfort, and the minimum oftrouble-."

Brian murmured, "I should think,then, that you'd want all kinds oflabor-saving devices. You cook withfire - isn't it easier to have £000culture units, such as we have on theShip?"

Frobisher gave the matter graveattention. "Well, a woOO fire imparts a fine Bavor to foOO," he remarked. "Most people prefer it.And a cook must take pride in whatshe cooks, or why cook at all? And,although foOO culture units may beeasier, if one is lazy, for those whouse them, no one wants to take thetime to manufacture them. One mancan build a fireplace in a day, witha neighbo' to help, and cook withit for the rest of his life. For a £000culture unit, a man would have tospend years in learning to build it,and dozens of skilled- and unskilledworkers take months to build it;and, in order to make them cheaplyenough for one man to buy, millionsof them must be made, which meanshundreds and thousands of peoplecrowded together, just making them,having no time to grow or cook theirown foOO, or live their own lives.The cost is too high. It's more trouble than it's worth."

Langdon asked him suddenly,,cJust what is the population now?"

Frobisher frowned. UYou peoplecertainly are full of questions f Who

THE CLIMBING WAVE 37

knows? Collectively, peopleare noth.. wife," Frobisher answered, not Dfr

ing but statistics, :which are no good tieing how Paula winced at the wordto .anyone. People are individuals. which, on Terra Two, had acquiredA few years ago, a philosopher in an ignominious connotation ofserviCarney - that's where Destry was tude and sexual inferiority. Theborn - worked out what he called three men from the Homeward triedthe critical factor in population: the to' Ignore the vulgarity, and Lang...point where a village becomes too don gave a self-conscious laugh. "Ilarge to be efficient as a self-con- think I can translate for you."tained unit, and starts to break "W'hat have you got there?"down. It's a nice problem, if you're Brian asked, interested against hisinterested in abstract mathematics will- Judy had been an electrician-which I'm not." aboard the Homeward, responsible

"But I am," Paula said behind for all lighting circuits, and herthem, lowering herse~ carefully to work was capable and excellent. Hethe grass beside the men. "It sounds squinted tow~rd the paper. Langdoninteresting." scowled. "I can't see a thing in this

Frobisher looked at her with cussed sunlight! What's it supposedfatherly friendliness. "You and Tom to be, Tom?"can come with me, next time I go to "Wiring diagram. There are redCarney," he invited. "I'll introduce bulbs in the Homeward, and Judy'syou to Tuck - but all I know is, going to put lighting in our house if a village gets too large, it's more and yours, too. Didn't she tell you?"trouble than convenience, and abput "I thought you'd both gone allhalf the population will go away and out on the primitive life," Brianstart a new one, or move to a smaller muttered. Langdon snorted mock..place." ingly, and Mellen clenched his fists,

"It doesn't sound very workable," then relaxed, with an easy grin.Brian said with sour skepticism. "It's a free country," he said.

"It works," Frobisher answered Then suddenly he added, "Brian,equably. "That's the final test of it's none of my b~iness, but are youany theory - hullo, here's Tom. . and Ellie really going to stick to thisWe're not lying down on the job, damn foolishness? You'll be lonelyTom - just waiting for the women up here. We could start on a houseto bring dinner." for you tomorrow."

Mellen- thrust a penciled scrap of "Somebody's got to keep the shippaper into' Langdon's hands. "Is from being dismantled," Brian saidJudy around? I can't read this - her stiffly. "And that reminds me, ifwriting is half Russian and half Judy's going to do any wiring, she'dArabicl" bett~r use spare parts. No more try'"

"She's in the ship with Kearns's ing to dismantle the drive unitsl"

38

Langdon laughed softly, but Mellen's face darkened in annoyance. Hesaid shortly, "-You aren't captainany more. The Homeward isn't yourpersonal property, Brian."

"-I'm aware of that," Brian rasped."Neither does it belong to the crewcollectively. It's being held in trust.And since nobody else has any senseof responsibility, I'm acting ascaretaker." -

Frobisher looked up as if he wereabout to speak, but Paula forestalledhim, asking gently, "What for?We've no fuel, we'll never take offagain."

The nightmare settled down onBrian again. He was fighting - butfighting an intangible, unresistingopponent! If they had been malicious, it would have been easier.They weren't malicious, they wereonly stupid - unable to understandjust why the Homeward must besafeguarded as their only link withcivilized life.. A year. or two, hethought grimly, and they'll realizejust what I'm doing, and why. Justnow, this primitivism is new, novel.But they are basically intelligent,sooner or later they will get tiredof this. They can't live from dayto day, like the villagers - but howdo the villagers live this way? Frobisher's a cultured man. Destry's abright boy. How· can they stand it,living like nice clean animals?

"What deep imponderable. areyou meditating?" Ellie mocked hisserious expression with a gay grimace, and thrust 'a basket into his

FANTASY AND SCIENCE PICTION

hands, loaded with hot food. "Langdon, Paula, Mr. Frobisher - allhands needed to. carry food. Here,Destry, you take a basket too," shecommanded, handing one to theboy. "Bring this down to the village, now. Dinner is ready. Andhurry up before it all gets cold."

Brian absent-mindedly picked. upa biscuit-like cake of protein andmunched a·t it as they descended thehill, his mind still halfway circlingthe continual problem. Ellie offered·her basket, in turn, to Destry andFrobisher, and. the old man politelytook a cake, but Destry shook hishead. "Thanks, I don't care for synthetics, Ellie."

"Desteyl" His grandfather saidwith unnecessary sharpness, whileEllie murmured, "I didn't knowyou'd ever tasted them."

Destry stumbled over a rock inthe path and used a couple of unfamiliar expletives; by the time hehad picked himself up, retrieved theluckily unhurt basket, and apologizedunnecessarily for the words he hadused - he might have saved thetrouble, for Ellie had never heardthem and did not know whetherthey were sacred or profane - Elliehad forgotten her question for an~

other."Have you ever been out of

NorteD, Destry?""Once or twice. I went to Carney

with my father, when he went toteach a man there how to weavea rug. He weaves beautiful rugsmuch better oneS than ours."

THE CLIMBING WAVE

"I see," Ellie murmured.•"He wanted me to come·with him

this time, but one place is prettymuch like another, and I had mygardens to look after, so I stayedwith grandpa. Besides, I had to-"Destry abruptly stopped. They werenearing the site of the new houses,and he called loudly "Dinner!" andwatched the villagers swarm off theirscaffolds and beams. He took one ofthe baskets and scooted away tohand it around.

The food from the Homeward's·culture units was distributed, andthe villagers ate it with polite thanks,but without much enthusiasm; onlythe children seemed to enjoy theelaborate synthetics, and even theHomeward's crew seemed to havelost their taste for it. Brian, sittingon a half-finished wooden step andmunching abse.nt-mindedly, abruptly made a face and flung thecake into the grass. Ellie cookedbetter, he decided, without the foodmachines. She liked the primitivecooking, and he had to admit shedid it well. Still he felt disquieted.The food culture units synthesizedtheir food out of raw carbon, water,and almost infinitesimal amounts ofraw chemicals; the whole process ofgrowing food seemed, to Brian,wasteful and ineflicient. It took somuch time. Of course, he reHected,it was pleasant, outdoor work, andthe people who did it seemed toenjoy it. It wasn't so confining asstanding over the machines, and youdidn't grow so deathly bored, month

39

after month, with nothing to doexcept push a lever now and then,and between the lever-pushings,scan films and play endlessly c~m

plicated mental games. Brian hadbeen expert at a certain three-dimensional board galll:e which had to beplayed with the aid of an electroniccomputation device; now he felta curiously disloyal thought thathis proficiency had been born ofboredom. When you enjoyed yourwork, he thought, you didn't haveto invent things to do in your sparetime.

But I enjoyed my work, he toldhimself in confusion, I enjoyed working on the IS units.

Didn't I?Furiously scattering the remain

ing synthetics on his disposableplate, he crumpled up the bit ofplastic and flung it angrily away,grabbing up his tools - the newhammer, plane and level which thevillage smith had made in exchangefor roofing a chicken-house and repairing his cellar steps - and shoutedto Caldwell.

"Come on, let's get back at work,I want to get this floor laid by sundownl" He walked catlike acrossthe empty beams, squatted wherehe had left off, and began slidingboards into place and nailing themwith fierce, angrily precise blows.

VII

He was still tersely angry andshort-worded when, a few weekslater, he walked down through the

4°village, a box in his hands. Thehouses were completed now, evento the steps, although still scantilyfurpished - Brian was still working;after each day's work, helping Caldwell. build furniture.

He turned in at one still-raw,trampled muddy lawn, where briefspikes of summer grass were justbeginning ·to peep through the wetearth, and knocked roughly.

Paula, a loose hand-woven smockwrapped about her body - she wasbeginning to grow clumsy and heavynow - opened the door, and hersquinted, drawn face relaxed suddenly in a quick impulsive smilewhich made Brian feel ashamed andalmost defensjve.

"Brian - yes, Ellie's here, but-"She paused, hesitant, then invitedshyly, "Won't you come in for afew minutes? We don't see much ofyou."

"I came down to see Tom -"Brian said uneasily, and followedPaula into the large reddish-lightedroom. Before the fireplace he saw, tohis intense dismay, that not onlyEllie was there with Tom Mellen,but Langdon and Judy, Marcia andDon Isaacs, Destry, and - HardFrobisher. Frobisher! It seemed· thatHard Frobisher was continually underfoot, as if the crew of' theHomeward needed his continual surveillance, assistance, advice I Brianfrowned in annoyance; Frobisheracted like a self-appointed guardianto the newcqiners. Yet it was impossible not to like the old fellow, even


when he inquired genially, "Andwhat have you in that big, interesting box, Mr. Kearns?"

"Just more of our top-heavyscience," Brian said rudely, and, undoing the box, took from it severalpairs of red-lensed glasses in bentplastic frames. He handed one pairto Mellen -and donned one himself."Turn out these lights, and see ifthese help any in the sun, will you?"

Tom looked at the glasses, puzzled, for a moment, then hooked theframes behind his ears and switchedout the red lights, stepping to thewest door and looking into the setting sun. Then he turned, grinning.

"They work, all rightI What didyou do, Brian? Just red glass wouldn'twork - remember, we tried it?"

Brian shrugged. "There's a polarized layer inside. I couldn't· findselenium, so I used an oxide of goldfor the red color. It's a thin quartzfilter ... oh, never mind. I'd havehad them before, but it took adamned long time to grind them.'"

Langdon took a pair from the box."Tha:t's right," he said slowly. "I remember, Miguel Kearns made lensesfor some of the old Starward instruments, when they broke, and whenwe were duplicating instruments forthe trip. Did you help him?"

"Some," Brian returned. He metFrobisher's eyes, and said trucu·lendy, "So you have no use forscience. Well, as you pointed outyourself, it's a free country, and mycrew have been going aroun~ withsore eyes - and I don't like itl"

THE CLIMBING WAVE

Paula's strained face relaxed as sh@slipped the filter glasses over hereyes, and she smiled. "This is wonderful, Brian," she said, and Ellie'sface glowed with pride. Langdonmocked in a friendly voice, "Theold fellow's human after alll" andflung a companionable arm aroundBrian's shoulders. "When are youand Ellie going to come down offyour lofty peak and live with therest of the pack?"

Brian stiffened, hut the tone ofapprobation warmed him, and hecame back, half-unwilling, to thefireplace, and listened to Frobisher,who said, laughing faintly, "It isn'tscience itself we don't like. It's theuse of science as an end in itSelf,rather than a means. I mentioned abrontosaurus. I assume you knowwhat that is?"

"We had them, alive, on TerraTwo - or something like them.They're big, but not dangerousthey're too du·mb." Brian told him.

"Exactly," Frobisher said. "Butthey're not much good to themselves, are they?" He smiled; thenhis face sobered. "The brontosaurus,with his titanic body-mass, had outgrown the logical use of a develop·ment wh~ch had, originally, beengood and useful. Science," he proceeded, "was developed to make lifeeasier for man. The individual man.The light body-armor of the Barbarian soldier was developed toguard him against the simple weapons of his enemies. But it spurredon the development of more for-

41

midable weapons, and finally thearmor had to be so cumbersome thatthe armored man must be lifted onhis horse with a derrick. And ifhe fell down - well, there he was.It helped along the army, as a unit- but it certainly made life a mess,for the individual. And science gaveso much time and thought to units- the Nation, the Race, Humanity..as-a-Whole - that it laid terrificburdens on humanity as individuals.To benefit the monster of Humanity-as-a-Whole, they even foughtwars - which killed off humanity,individually, at a fearful rate. Eventually - well, the knight fell downinside his armor, and couldn't get upagain. I think the collapse startedeven before the Starward left. Thebrontosaurus died along with hisprotective nuisances, but nature wasa little kinder to men - individually. Humanity-as-a-"'Thole died outpretty thoroughly, even as a concept..The individuals who were leftknew enough not to start the wholedreary process all over again. Sciencetook its rightful place with the otherarts and crafts - instead of usingit to serve a hypothetical whole, weuse each art, or science, to enrichthe personal, private life of eachindividual." He gestured around theroom. "The sawmill and pottery.Tom's red lighting in here. Andyour red-lensed glasses, Brian. -Ithink the time has come when I cantell you why -"

But Brian had already risen, andflung away from him.

42

"I didn't come down here to belectured!" he shouted at Frobisher,and strode to the door. "There arethe glasses, Tom. You hand themout~ Tell everybody not to breakthem; they take forever to grind."

The door slammed behind him.

Now that he had defied Frobisher,he felt a little better, but as the dayscame and went, he felt tormentedby the uselessness of his life. Hespent more and more time in vi..cious, expert hammering and sawing- in solitude, now - at furniture,finding a sort of satisfaction in substituting physical activity for in..soluble mental problems; Ellie neverdared to broach the subject of mov"ing away from the Homeward again,until one night when Brian wassitting hunched over in the formerlounge, listlessly watching Einsteinclamber .around the axis/beams. TheCentaurian eat's suckers were notstrong enough to support ~is weight,in this gravity; he' had developed aqueer shambling gait on his hindfeet, amusing to watch, but clumsyand painful, and Ellie' picked up herpet and patted him as she passedthrough the lounge.

"Poor Einstein doesn't know whatto make of this," she observed."Gravity, in here where there oughtto be no gravity at all. He'd be hap-pier in a regular house."

"I.suppose so," Brian said sourly."I suppose you would, too. Butlook, Ellie; the crew would dis..mantle the ship inside a year or two."


"Well, why not let them?" Ellieasked, matter-of.-factly.

Brian shrugged, helplessly. "Isuppose, sooner or later - but still,som.e day Terra Two will go out intospace again, too - they haven't reverted to savageryI"

Ellie only smiled. "It won't happen in our lifetime."

"You're worse than the othersl"Brian shouted in sudden furiousanger. She only murmured uncriti..cally, "Come in and have dinner."

Brian morosely rose and followedher. He had to edge by a machine,suddenly stumbled over Einstein,and exploded violently, "It's toodamn cramped in herel"

Ellie did not answer, and Brianfinally said, "I suppose - it won'thappen in our lifetime, no."

"What are you going to do then,pass this gl'eat secret on to yoursons?" Ellie inquired, and Brianstarted to answer before apprehending the dry irony in her voice. Ithad taken him twelve years to learneven the basics of interstellar op·eration.

He applied himself grimly to hisfood; .but his mood softened as heate, and he finally looked up andsaid, "Frobisher can like it or not,but I'll make a scientist out ofDestry yet. The kid's always under"foot. Ever since you taught me tofiy the pickup - I took him up oneday, and let him take the controlsfor a few minutes; they aren't verycomplicated." He spoke with a sortof satisfaction; it was a point of

mE CLIMBING WAYS

self-respect in his continual struggleto maintain himself in Frobisher'spresence. "The boy's nuts on airplanes. He must have read a lot inold books."

Ellie asked suddenly, "I wonderwhat Destry's father is like?"

Brian scoffed, "He makes rugsl"Ellie looked unconvinced. "May

be he makes rugs the way Frobisherpaints those birds he has all over thehouse. Look what I found in Frobisher's bookcase. Destry loaned itto me when I asked him." Shehanded him a book, nicely handbound in red cloth. Brian' openedit curiously, skipping over the name- John D~ Frobisher - pennedneatly on the cover. He had seenfew books in Norten village, andthose were mostly blank-books filledwith recipes, musical notations, ordiaries - diary-keeping was a favorite pastime among young peoplehere. But this was printed, and filledwith elaborate, exquisitely reproduced diagrams which remindedBrian of Judy's scrawls when shewas working out a wiring diagram.He tried to read a page or two, but,although the language was onlyloosely technical, Brian's educationhad been so rigidly specialized thatthe vocabulary was beyond him.He shut it up, and asked, "Did youshow this to Judy?"

"Yes. It's a. text, she says, onradio and radar, and not an elementary one either."

"Funny •••" Brian mused."Here's something funnier," El-

43

lie said. "Have you seen Caldwelllately? Or Marcia and Don Isaacs?"

"Come to think of it, I haven't. Inever saw much of Don, though -"

"They went away, that night youand Frobisher had a fight. Marciatold me they were going so thatDon could \'lork in another village.That's what they always say -likeDestry's father'. People seem tocome and go, here, all the time!Almost every day, somebody picksup a clean shirt and a pair of stockings, and walks off down the road.And nobody sees him again forthree or four months - then hewalks in again, as casually .. as I dowhen I go down to Paula's andbackl"

"And the standard of living ..."Brian mused "comfortable enough- but primitive -"

Ellie laughed. "Oh, BrianI Wewere happy enough on Terra Two,without quite so much. The ship issuper-mechanized. We're spoiledwe've developed a lot of artificialwants-"

"Frobisher converting you, too?"he asked glumly. .

Her laugh was gay. "Maybe."Brian was silent, staring at the

book. He felt trapped. It was aninsidious poison, the temptation torelax, rest, dream and die in this- Ellie had called it Arcadia, buta fragment of poetry from an oldbook in the ship's library teased hisbrain; not Arcadia, he thoughtdrearily, but the isle of the lotuseaters, who tasted the poison Bower

44

and forgot all that they had beenbefore.•••

The words of the ancient poet sanginsidiously in his brain. He roseand fetched the book from behind apanel in the lounge, and sat withit on his knees, the words of defeatstaring him in the face.

Hateful is the dark-blue sky,Vaulted o'er the dark-blue sea;Death is the end of life; ah, whyShould life all labor be?Let us alone; Time driveth on·

ward fast.•••

How could a man who had mas"tered space live like this, in animalcontent, year after year? He wondered if among the lotus eaters therehad 'been ~nyone who had refusedthe poison -'and finally eaten itfrom starvation, or because he couldnot endure the loneliness of beingthe only sane man among a crewabandoned to their dreams?

Let us alone • • • what pleasurecan we have

To war with evil? Is there anypeace

In ever climbing up the climb..ing wave?

Give us long rest or death, darkdeath or dreamful ease. • • •

Brian scowled and let the bookfall to the floor. There was nothingeasy about life in Norten I In thelast few days, weeks, months, hehad worked harder than ever in hi~

life. His hands, once sensitive andsmooth, alert to the quiver of a


lever, were hard and calloused and,brown. And 'yet there was somethingsatisfying about it. He no longerfound himself inventing elaborateleisure-time pursuits, no longer feltimpelled by continual anxiety abouthis crew, lest some minor infringement of a rule should lead to catastrophe. And Ellie - he had Ellie,and that, if nothing else, was something to hold him here.

And yet - after he had c,rossedspace- his body thrived, but hisbrain was starving. Or was it, heasked himself. He'd gotten almost asmuch satisfaction - the guiltythought came - out of seeing hiscrew's eyes get well again, with thespecial glasses he'd made, as he hadhad in piloting the Homeward safelythrough a dangerous cloud of radioactive gas. Maybe - again the guilt- maybe more.

The glasses. But they couldn't goaround wearing red goggles for therest of their lives. There ought to besome way of gradu~lly altering thefilters, maybe at monthly intervals,so· that they became gradually accustomed to the light. He pulleda stylus toward him, vainly rum'"maged for a loose sheet of paper,then irritably climbed into his oldcontrol room, search, and at lastslid open the moving p~nel over thelog book. His hands hesitated at thevandalism, then he shrugged andswore - the voyage was- finished,'the log book closed outl He rippeda blank sheet from the back, satdown then and there on the edge of

TIlE CLIMBING WAVE

the _skyhook, and began to sketchout, roughly, a plan for glasses withchangeable filters.

The yellow dawn was a glare inthe sky when he finally came down;Ellie was sleeping in the cabin, hercurly hair scattered over her face,and he quietly tiptoed past her and"down the ladder. The air was coldand clear, and he stretched andyawned, suddenly realizing that hewas very sleepy.

Against the brightening sky, aman's form was silhouetted as. hegradually came over ·the knoll, andTom Mellen called to him, "Isthat you, Brian?" and came towardhim with swinging strides. He hadlong ago discarded the shorts andsandals of the ship in favor of bootsand long dyed breeches, and he woreone of hi-; uniform shirts tucked intothem. The ship's synthetics werenot long-wearing or practical, a1-"though they were simply produced,but a few of the younger women inNorten had liked the thin prettystuff, and exchanged lengths of itfor the sturdier and more practicalhandmade variety.

As he came near, Brian askedhim, "Where are you going soearly?"

"I'm going to work awhile inanother town," Tom told him cas"ually. "I've a letter to a friend ofFrobisher's. I came up to ask afavor. I don't suppose Ellie's up yet?Well, don't bother her, but -" Hepaused, then added, "I meant forPaula to come along with me. But

45

she's not very well, and she doesn'twant to be' with strangers. She'dparticularly miss Ellie. But I hateto have her alone -"

Brian said abruptly, "Tom, we'regoing to move down into·the village.I've -" He glanced around at theHomeward and all his pent-up re"sentment suddenly spilled over andhe shouted, "I'm tired of ,caretakingthe damned old - brontosaurus!I'm throught"

Tom whistled. "What's gotteninto you? I thought you were dedi"cated to maintaining a nice snuglittle island of culture." Then atBrian's expression, the sarcasm lefthis voice, and he said eagerly,"Brian, ifyou mean that, why don'tyou and Ellie move down withP~u1a while I'm gone? I'll be backbefore the -baby comes, and we canget started on"a house for you two."

Brian stood thinking it over fora minute, and finally nodded. "All,right. I'm sure Ellie will want to;she worries about Paula."

Tom stood looking at the ground."Well, I'll shove along and tellPaula to expect you, and then I'llget on my way." He paused, thensaid, low .. voiced, "Brian - Ithought, on the ship, you were justthrowing your rank, about - well,about the girls. But now -" Hestopped again, and said finally, em-barrassed, "You know the baby was- started - before we landed?"

"I gu~ that," Brian saidcoldly.

"I thought it was all right because

46

we'd be landing wi~ a month· ortwo. But now - and the change ingravity, I'in afraid~ if Paula andI had had the sense to wait - Judy's'pregnant, .you know, and she's not.having any trouble at all, whilePaula -" He stopped, and finallygot out, "I guess 1 owe you anapology, Brian~"

"You might better apologize toPaula," Brian said, but, he hadappreciated the spirit in which Tomspoke. So Tom finally realized thatBrian had a good reason for whathe'd done1

Tom added quietly, "lowe anapology for something else, too,Brian. It's my fault they've beenleaving you out of things aroundhere. I had the idea you were stilltrying to rehabilitate the natives."

"Don't bother apologizing,"Brian said frigidly. So Tom hadmissed the. point after all! "I'm not.particularly inter~ted in 'thingsaround here,' and sooner or later Iexpect the natives will need rehabilitating, as you put it. Whenthat day comes, I'll be here."

Mellen's mouth hardened. "I.guess Frobisher's right about youl"he· said tightly. "So long, then."He put out his hand, rather unwillingly, .and Brian shook it, without enthusiasm. He watched as Tomdescended the hill, wondering wherehe was going and why. Was it justpart of the local irresponsibility?Tom was irr~ponsible anyhowthe way he'd behaved toward Paulawas shameful. And who, here, was

PANTASY AND SCIENCE.FICTION

going to look after her? The localwitch-doctor? He scowled, and wentin to tell Ellie about their impending move.

VIII

Paula was almost patheticallygrateful for Ellie's company, andeven Einstein settled down· nearthe new fireplace as cozily as anyof the ordinary Norten cats withwhom he had a continual feud.Brian located a site for the house heintended to build and, aided by,Destry, began a rough workshop offieldstone. In return for the boy'shelp, Brian took him, nightly, intothe dome of the Homeward andtaught him the names and positionsof. the fixed stars. The boy wasfilling a blank--book with astronomical data; Brian offered to presenthim with oneof the astronomytexts duplicated in the ship, butDestry politely refused the gift."I like to make my own. That wayI'm sure, of what's in .it," he explained..

Brian himself was painst~gly

perfecting his lens-grin~ing equipment. The workshop had graduallybecome his refuge, and, now that heknew ~ was working on somethingwhich was worth doing, he slowlybegan to come out of the closedshell he had originally thrown abouthimself, forbidding intimacy withthe life of the village. He -. relaxedfrom the painstaking lens-grindingby beginning something he had notdone since his early teens: glass-

TIlE CLIMBING WAVE

blowing. He made a ,set of fancybottles for Ellie, and when Judyadmired them, made one for her aswell. Both Ellie and Judy had manyfriends in the village, and within afew weeks Brian found that somany men and women were askinghim to make them that he couldswitch his full-time work from car'"pentry to glass-making. There wasa potter in the village, who madeextremely fine crockery, but atpresent the local glass-maker was-again the omnipresent phrase"working in another village." Brianfound the work congenial, and feltthat he had approval.

However, privately, anxiety piledon anxiety. He actually saw verylittle of Paula, for there was still acertain stiffness between them; how...ever, he felt disturbed at her obviousweakness. Ellie, too, was expectinga child by now, although as yetshe had told no one but him, andPaula's condition filled him withpanic for Ellie.

There had not been a medicalman on the Homeward: none ofthem had ever been ill. Marcia hadnominally been responsible for theirhealth, but even Marcia wasn't herenow. And judging from what littletalk Brian had heard here in N01=ten,it was simply a matter of anywoman's helping out when asked.Ellie had vigorously defended thesystem when Brian attacked it, protesting that having children was anatural function, and that the medi...cal and surgical atmosphere with

47

which the Terra Two colony sur'"rounded it was enough to make anywoman neurotic. Brian was uncan·vinced; that might be true wheneverything was normal, but Pauladefinitely needed care. He wonderedhow Ellie could be so unconcerned;Paula was her closest friend.

But even Brian was not preparedfor the suddenness with which mereanxiety turned to disaster. At noonthat day Paula was her usual self:pale and pathetically heavy of step,but gay and bright-eyed. In theevening she was quieter than usual,and went to bed early. And sometime during the night Brian wasroused by Ellie's ha"nd on his shoul...dec and her scared voice: "Brianwake up!"

Brian drew himself upright, in...stantly alert, seeing Ellie's. tenselydrawn face and hearing the nearhysteria in her voice. "It's PaulaI've never seen anything like itshe was all right this evening - oh,Brian, please cornel"

Brian pulled a robe about hisshoulders, thinking, what could have.happened so suddenly? He heard thelow, incessant moans even beforehe stepped into the inner room andstopped, aghast at Paula's face. Itwas altogether drained ofcolor; eventhe lips were white and sunken, buta curious dark line marred theiredges. She had always been exces:sively thin, but now her handsseemedsuddenlyshrunkenintoclaws,and when Brian touched one, it wasfire-hot. Brian cast his mind rapidly

48

over what little he had been taughtabout the relationship ofgravity andpregnancy - just enough to knowthat in free fall, a dangerous condition could develop suddenly. Hewished he had known more, butthey had taught him just enoughthat he was thoroughly convinced ofthe wisdom of enforcing strict celibacy inspaceshippersonnel.His brain,strictly specialized for one limitedaspect ofscience, retained only a fewfragments of knowledge. They fluttered and teased at the edge of hismind: imperfect placental junctionwithout the cohesive effect of gravity, hormone malfunction under theadded strain of pregnancy, extensivedamage to internal tissues - all thiswas at free fall conditions. But whatabout Paula, who was adapted to thelight gravity of Terra Two, whosechild had actually been conceivedin free fall, and who was beingbrutally punished by the dragginggravity of Earth? Something in thedelicate balance of cohesions hadevidently kicked loose. Brian lookeddown at the unconscious girl andspoke violently.

"Damn Mellenfor an insuhordinateidiot!"

"Where's Tom?" Paula whisperedrackingly. "I want Toml" The feverish bony fingers clutched atBrian's, and she begged UI wantTom!" Her eyes opened, but shewas looking past Brian into space.Brian felt the old cold anger knotting inside him. He bent over andpromised quietly, "I'll get him:'

PANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION

Ellie' whispered, "But - I don'tknow wllere he's gone, Brian. Paulamight be~" .

Brian straightened savagely. "I'llfind him if I have to take.. my fiststo Frobisher! Thank God we stillhave the pickupI And I'll find outwhere Don and Marcia were sent;yes, senti All along I've had thefeeling -"

"Brian -" Ellie caught at hishand, but he pushed her away."Frobisher's going to listen to mefor once! He can damn science allhe wants to. But if Paula dies on ourhands because nobody on this darkages planet knows what to do for her,then by the living God I'm going topersonally raise such hell in this godforsaken little Utopia of theirs thatFrobisher and his pals will snap outof their daydream and start livinglike human beings againl-" Withoutanother word he strode out of theroom, dressed hastily and went outof the house, his long-repressed angerboiling up and stiffening his back ashe hurried toward the village. Hewent up F~obisher'ssteps and acrosshis porch at a single bound, thrustth~ door open without knocking,and stormed inside.

"Frobisherl" he bellowed uncere'"moniously.

In the darkness there was a surprised noise, then steps, a doorHung open and a light shining inBrian's eyes - and Hard Frobisher,half-dressed, came swiftly into themain room. Another opening doorshowed the half-naked Destry, sur'"

mE CLIMBING WAVB

prised and angry. Frobisher's face,dim in the firelight, was surprised,too, but there was no anger, andhe asked calmly, "Is somethingwrong?"

And as always, his calm broughtBrian's anger to the exploding point."You're right there's somethingwrong," he raged, and advanced onFrobisher so violently that the oldman 'retreated a step or two. "I'vegot a girl on my hands who looksas if she were going to die," Brianroared, "And.I want to know whereon this devil-ridden planet youpacked Tom off to, and where Marcia's gone! And then I want to knowif there's a decent"medic~ man anywhere in this damned backwarddark-ages Utopia of yoursl"

Frobisher's face swiftly lost itscalm.

"Tom's wife?""And there's no need to talk

smut!" Brian shouted, "Paulal""Paula Sandoval, then, if you like

it better. What's the trouble?""I doubt if you'd understand,"

Brian snapped, bu~ Frobisher saidsteadily, "I suppose it's the gravitysickness. Tom mentioned it beforehe left. It's easy to get hold of him.Destry -" He turned to the boy inthe doorway. "Quick, go down andget the Center on the wire. Tellthem to fly Mellen back here, insidean hour "if they can. And - where'syour father, Destry? This soundslike something for him."

Destry had disappeared inside hisroom while his grandfather was

49

talking; almost instantly he cameout again, stuffing his shirt intotrousers. "He was in the MarillaCenter last week, too," Destry saidquickly, "but he's in Slayton now.And there's no regular tran$it planethere. Hey, Mr. Kearns -" Heturned quickly to Brian. "Youcan fly the Homeward's plane now,can't you? Or shall we get ~ngdon?They'll By Tom in from the MarillaCenter, but we'll have to By overand pick up my father."

"What the - what the hell-I"Brian started, but Destry was already hurrying down a Bight ofstairs. Hard Frobisher put a compulsive hand on Brian's shoulder andshoved him after the boy. Brianstumbled on the steps and blinkedin the/raw light of an electric arcbulb. On a rough wood workbench,with Destry's notebooks and a fewordinary boy-type oddments, thestupefied Brian recognized what wasunmistakably a radio transmitter.And not a simple one. Destry wasalready adjusting earphones andmaking a careful calibration of aninstrument which looked handmadebut incredibly delicate. He moveda key and said in a hurried voice,"Marilla Center, please, second-classpriority, personal. Hello - Betty?You've got a man in the Centerworking on radio? Mellen? That'sthe man. This is Destry Frobishertalking from Norten. Fly him overhere - as fast as you can make it.His wife's ill- yes, I know, but it'sa special case. Thanks -" A long

5°

pause. "Thanks again, but we'llmanage. ~k, Betty,-I have to getSlayton. Clear the stations, willyou?" Another pause, and he said,"My father. Why? Oh - thanks,Betty, thanks a lot. Tell them we'llbring a plane over there for him."He closed the key and ripped off theheadphone, sJanding up, and Brianexploded again.

"Just what's going on?" he de...manded. "What kind ofa hluff haveyou people been putting up on us?"

"No bluff," Frobisher said calmly."I've told you, all along, that we usescience, in its proper place. I've triedto tell you, two or three times, butyou always shouted at me and shutme up before I could explain. TomMellen has been working in on~ ofthe Centers for a month. Didn't youwonder why he wasn'~worried aboutleaving Paula, in her state of health?He's known that if any serious complication developed, he'd be sent forright away." He turned and startedtoward the stairs. "Don't you realizethis is the first time you've evershown the slightest personal concernfor anyone or anything? Before this,you've been concerned withscientificaccomplishmenls for, their own sake.Now look, you can stand here staringlike abrainless fool, or you can comewith me to the Center to fetch myson --- Destey's father - who is oneof the most skillful medical men inthis section." As Brian stood stonestill, unable to move before theonslaught of ideas, Frobisher uc'"gently took his arm. "Snap out of


itl" he cotnmanded harshly. "I canfly a plane, but I would hate to haveto manage that jet of yours! -AndI'll have to come with you, becauseyou don't know the way I Destry,you stay close to the radio, just incase," he added.

Brian, too dazed to speak, sturn'"bled with him across the dark fieldstoward the pickup, but by the timethey reached it, his reactions werein operable condition; he climbed inat the controls, advised Frobisher tofasten a safety strap, put the pickupin the air, and listened intelligentlyto Frobisher's instructions for reach...ing the place he called SlaytonCenter. Then he turned his head.

"Look," he said grimly, "I'm alittle stunned. Just what has beengoing on?"

Frobisher looked equally puzzled."What do you mean?"

"All this -""Oh, this!" Frobisher dismissed it

with a shrug. "You had fire ex'"tinguishers on your spaceship, Iremember. Did you keep them outon your dinner tables, or did youleave them out of sight until they,were needed in a hurry?"

"I mean - you let me go onthinking that people here didn'tknow much about science-"

"Listen, Kearns," Frobisher saidabruptly, "}rou've been jumping toconclusions all along. Now don'tjump to another one, that we'vebeen bluffing, and concealing ourcivilization from you. We live theway we like to live."

THE CLIMBING WAVE

"But radio ~planes-you haveall those things, and yet -"

Frobisher said, with barely con'"cealed disgust, "You have the Barbarian viewpoint, I see. Radio, forinstance. We use it for emergencyneeds. The Barbarians used to listento keep from doing things~ Iknow, they even had radio withpictures, and used to sit and listenand look at other people doingthings instead of doing them themselves. Of course, they had ratherprimitive lives -"

"Primitivel" Brian interrupted."You have airplanes, and yet peoplewalk-"

Frobisher said irritably, "Whynot? Where is there to go in such ahurry - as long as we have fasttransport for those few times whenit is really necessary?"

"But even when the Starward left,each man had his own private'copter -"

"Private baby carriagel" Fro...bisher snorted. "When I go anywhere, I go on my feet like a man!Stupid, primitive Barbarians, livinghuddled in cities like big mechanicalcaves, never seeing the world theylived in, hidden away behind glassand steel and seeing their world ontelevision screens and through airplane windows! And to make allthose things they had to-live hud-"dIed in their caves and do dirtysmelly .jobs with metal nuts andbolts, and never see what they weredoing, never have any pride or skill.-;., they lived like dirty animals! And

51

what for? Mass men for mass pro.duction - to produce things ~hey

didn't need, to have 'money to buyother things they didn't needl Topheavy brontosaurs! Who wants tolive that way, or do that kind ofwork? There are a few craftsmenwho build airplanes, or design them,because that's what they wouldrather do, and they'd be unhappyif they couldn't. They're artisans.And we can always use afew planes.But there aren't many, so we keepthe planes for necessary work. Andmost people like doing simplerthings, things with personal satisfaction.- We don't force them to massproduce airplanes simply becauseit's possiblel" He checked his vehemence with an almost apologeticcough. "I didn't mean to get angry- that's the Slayton Center downthere. You can land inside thatrectangle of lights."

Brian set the pickup down easily- it seemed to be rolling over avelvety carpet - and they got downand walked, in silence, across thedarkly luxuriant grass, toward a lowframe building ofdark ,wood. Inside,by the warm glow of a fireplace, aman sat at a large table, lighted "byan expertly rigged system of miniature spotlights, looking down atwhat appeared to be a large reliefmap. A headphone was on his ears;he glanced up as they came throughthe door, but motioned them intosilence, listening intently, and aftera moment groped blindly into a boxfixed on the side of the desk and

52

came out with a large black pinwhich he stabbed accurately intothe relief map~ "Tornado reportedbetween Carney and Marilla. All.right, then, ring off and send Robinson up to put a bomb in the centerof it before it hits the farms out thatway." He replaced the headphone,and inquired. courteously, "Whatcan I do for you gentlemen?"

"Hello, Halleck," Hard Frobishersaid, and, advancing to the desk,shook hands with the man, "This isBrian Kearns - came in from space."

"Oh, are they still coming in,down your way? The last one wehad here was in my grandfather'stime," the man Halleck observedcasually. "No, come to think of it,down there in Marilla they have aman called Mellen, been workingthe weather station. Do you knowhim, Mr. Kearns? I'm glad to. meetyou."

Brian murmured something· noncommittal, and looked around, dazed.Halleck added, "I suppose you cameto pick up Dr. Frobisher? He's onhis way over. Won't you sit down?"

"Thanks." Frobisher sank downin a comfortable armchair, motionedBrian inOto another. Th~ man at thedesk hung up his headset and cameto stand by Frobisher's chair. "Goodto see you, Hard. When do you comeup here again?tt

"Not for a month or so. You'll beoff by then?"

"I should say sol I've a couple ofgood cows calving, and I want to behome." .


"Those blacks?" Frobisher asked."Drive a few through Norten someday,.and we'll see if we can't makea deal. I could use a good bull, anddtere are some new families withchildren, could use a milk cow."

Brian didn't try to follow theconv~rsationafter that; it seemed tobe mostly about cows and the luck amutual friend was having in breeding chickens which laid black-shelledeggs. Frobisher finally took pity onhis blank face. "He's never been ata Center, before, Halleck," he toldthe stranger, who grinned. "Prettydull, aren't they, Mr. Kearns? I'malways glad to come up here whenit's time, but I'm always glad to getback to the farm."

Brian said, "I'm a little stunned atall this -" and added, "I'd understood your-your civilization wasn'tscientific -"

"It isn't," Frobisher said sternly."It definitely is not. We use science;it doesn't use us. Science, Mr.Kearns, is no longer the plaything ofpowerful warmongers, nor is it enslaved to an artificial standard ofliving, keyed to an unhealthy, neu"rotic population who want to becontinually amused, rocked in· acradle of overstimulationl It is nota plaything for pressure groups, so"·called educators, fanatics, adolescents, egocentric exhibitionists, orlazy women I Men are no longer under pressure to buy the products ofcommercialized science to create employment and keep the cities running. Anyone who's interested, and

THE CLIMBING WAVE

who has talents and skills which gobeyond day-to-day living, which ismore than' half of the population,spends a few months every year doing the things which need doing, notjust in science. Halleck here knowsmore about weather conditions thananyone else in the South Plains.About four months out of the year,he sits over there, or works out ina weather plane, fighting tornadosbefore they get started, working onreforestation, handling drought conditions. The rest of the year, heliv.es like anybody else. Everybodylives an easy, balanced life·. Man's asmall animal, and has to have a smallhorizon. There's a definite limit tohis horizon, which is why a villagebreaks down and starts having internal trouble when it gets too big.But groups of people, as a whole,have to have some idea of the worldover the horizon, if they're going toavoid the development of false ideas,superstitions and fears of strangers.So every man leads a secure, balanced life in the small horizon ofhis village, where he is responsiblefor himself, and responsible to everyperson he knows - and also, if heis capable, he lives a larger lifebeyond the village, working forothers - but still and always for individuals, not for ideals." Brianopened his mouth to speak, butFrobisher quietly forestalled him.,eAnd before he can work in theCenters, he has to prove himself asa responsible individual in the villages. There's a place waiting' for

53

you, Brian. How would you liketo teach a course in the mechanicsof interstellar 'space?"

"What?" Brian spluttered. "Youmean - space travel?"

Frobisher laughed heartily. Heglanced at his watch and said inconsequentially, "My son will probably'be here in a few minutes - but still,I've time to explain -"

He turned to Brian again. "Fortwo or three months a year," hereminded him.. "There is always ause for knowledge, whether we canuse it immediately or not. Ourpresent way of life won't endureforever. At best it's, an interim de:'vice, a probationary period, a sortof resting stage while man returnsto sanity before he starts climbingagain. Some day, man will probablytake to space again, even the stars,but this time, we-hope he'll do itwith a sense of perspective, countingthe cost and weighing it against"individual advantages." He paused,and added quietly, "I think he will."

After a long silence, he added,"I'm a historian. Back in the FirstRenaissance, man was starting tooutgrow his atavistic notion aboutsurvival of the strong and powerfulinstead of the best. Then, unluckilyfor Europe, and also unluckily forthe ROOmen, the so-called NewWorld was discovered. It's alwayseasier to escape across a frontier, anddrive your misfits out instead oflearning to live with your problems~

When that frontier was finally conquered, man had a second chance

54to learn to live with himself andwith what he'd done. Instead, afterwars and all kinds of trouble, heescaped again, this time to theplanets. But he couldn't escape fromhimself - and eventually that frontier was filled up to the saturationpoint, too. So he escaped again,this time by launching the Starward- but that time he went just onestep too far. And then the crashcame. Every man had the choice:die in his armor, or take it off." Hegrinned. "I thought for a while,Brian, that you were a brontosaur."

Brian mopped his forehead. "Ifeel pretty extinct," he murmured.

"Well, you can try teaching interstellar mechanics for awhile. Therest of the time -"

"Say -" Brian interrupted anxiously. "I don't have to start rightaway, do I? I'm fixing up a new setof lenses. for the crew -"

Frobisher laughed, heartily andkindly, and put a hand on hisshoulder. "Take your own time, myboy. The stars won't be bridgedagain for centuries. It's a lot moreimportant to get your crew's eyesin good condition again." He roseabruptly. "Good - here is John,and I suppose by now, Mellen's onhis way to Paula."

Brian quickly got to his feet as atall dark-haired man in a whitejacket came into the room. Even inthe dim light the resemblance toFrobisher was obvious; he lookedlike an older, maturer Destry. Frobisher introduced the men, and Dr.


John Frobisher gave Brian's hand aquick, hard shake.

"Glad to meet you, Kearns. TomMellen spoke about you, last timeI was in Marilla. Shall we be on ourway?" As they turned outward, andcrossed the lighted airfield, he andhis father spoke in low ton~, andfor once Brian had nothing to say.Even his thoughts were not workingas he put the pi~kup in the air. Thereversal had been too' fast. Then,abruptly, a memory hit him and heturned his head around to asksharply, "Listen' here, if you canreceive radio signals, how is it that noone answered the Homeward's callfrom space!"

Frobisher looked a trifle embarrassed. He said gently, at last, "Weuse a special, tight-beam transmission. Your signals are the old wideband ones, and they' came in asbursts of static."

For some reason Brian felt incredibly relieved, and his relief exploded in laughter.

"I told Tom our radio deviceswould be obsolete" • • • he choked.

"Yes," Frobisher said quietly."Obsolete t only in a way you hadn'tplanned for. The whole crew of theHomewardw~obsolete-and you'vebeen on probation all alo~g. Butyou've come out of that now, Ithink. Wait a bit - don't .go on toNorten just yet. Turn north - jus.ta mile or two. There's something Iwant you to see."

Brian protested, "Paula -"John. Frobisher leaned forward.

THE CLIMBING WAVB

"Mellen's wife -" and this timeBrian did not bridle at the vulgarism,"- will be all right, Kearns. Wedon't get the gravity sickness veryoften, now; but any danger in itwas knocked out even before thespacers quit running. The girl'sprobably uncomfortable, and it looksterrible, but it isn't dangerous. We'llhave her fixed up within an hour."

And somehow Brian's anxietyslid away. The words didn't meanmuch to him, but his training hadtaught him one thing, at least; herecognized competence when hemet it, and it was in every inflectionof John Frobisher's voice. Acquies...cently he swung the ship to thenortheast. The rising sun broke ina wave of brightness over the hori'zon, revealing the far"away line ofruined buildings that looked downdrearily over a too..flat strip ofdismal, barren land where nothinggrew, a straight level plain of grayconcrete. For miles it' seemed tostretch away; Brian, flying low,could see the grass that pushed itsway upward through the crumblingconcrete, the dreary gap..windowedbuildings softened a little by ivy.And then he saw them: eight tallregular shapes, straight and stillgleaming a little.•..

"There are only two laws in ourculture," Frobisher said q\lietly•."One is that no man shall enslaveanother. And the second -" hepaused, looking straight at Brian,"- is that no man shall enslavehimself. Which is why we have

55never destroyed .these ships. Thiswas the old spaceport, :Brian. Doesit look very majestic? Would youcare to land ?~'

Brian looked, thinking: this waswhat he had expected to see first.And yet, somehow, this was whatseemed greatest to him: that man,having created this monster, shouldhave the common sense to abandonits dreary domination - and thecourage to leave it there. Mendestroy only what they fear.

"Come on,." Brian said steadily."Quit riding me. Let's get backhome-and I do mean home. There'sa sick girl waiting for you, doctor.And even if it isn't dangerous,they're going to be worrying untilyou tell them it isn't." Abruptly hegunned the jets and turned the shipsoutheast toward Norten Village,into the rising sun. He was not awarethat he had passed the final test. Hewas thinking about Paula, and aboutEllie, waiting and worrying. Heknew in the back of his mind thathe'd come back here sOme day, lookaround a little, maybe even mourn3: little; you couldn't put away thebiggest part of your life. But hewouldn't·come right away. He hadwork to do.

The pickup of the Homewardflew away, into the morning. Yetbehind them the mighty symbolsremained, cold and masterful, apromise and a threat: eight greatstarships, covered from nos.e to tailwith green..growing moss and redrust~

13100dhy FREDRIC BROWN

IN THEIR TIME MACHINE, VRON AND' recognized for what they were.Dreena, last -two survivors of the They'd managed to feed once, onrace of vampires, fled into the the blood of a tender young bitch,future to escape annihilation. They but then they~d been hounded backheld hands and consoled one an- to their time machine and intoother in their terror and their flight again.hunger. "Thanks for stopping," Dreena

In the twenty..second century -said. She sighed.mankind had found them out, had "Don't thank- me," said Vrondiscovered that the legend of vam- grimly. "This is the end of thepires living secretly among humans line. We're out of fuel and we'llwas not a legend at all, but fact. find none here - by now all radioThere had been a pogrom that had actives will have turned. to lead. Wefound and killed every vampire but live here ... or else."these two, who had already been They went out to scout. "Look,"working on a time machine and who said Dreena excitedly, pointing tohad finished in time to escape in it. something walking toward them.Into the future, far enough into the "A new creaturel The dogs are gonefuture that the very word vampire and somethi~g else has taken over.would be forgotten- so they could And surely we're forgotten."again live unsuspected - and from The approaching cteature was·their loins regenerate their race. telepathic. "I have heard your

"I'm hungry, Vron. Awfully hun- thoughts," said a voice inside theirgry." brains. "You wonder whether we

"I too, Dreena dear. We'll stop know 'vampires,' whatever they are.again soon." We do not."

They had stopped four times al- Dreena clutched Vron's arm inready and had narrowly escaped ecstasy. "Freedoml" she murmureddying each time. They had not hungrily. "Andfoodl"been forgotten. The last stop, half a "You also wonder," said the voice,million years back, had shown them "about my origin and evolution.a world gone to the dogs - quite All life today is vegetable. 1-"literally: human beings were ex- He bowed low to them. "I, a memtinct and dogs had become civilized ber of the dominant race, was onceand man..like. Still they had been what you called a turnip."

56

In which one of OM'· three most attractive authors (a per/,CIly saflo!Jservation, so long as no one asks me to name the other two, or to award the Golde"Apple among them) pre.,ent., the deft ami charming tale 0/ (J marriage, ah,!ngover, II tomcat and an Alien OlJ.,erver.

~irds Can~t Counthy MlLDRED CLINGERMAN

EVERYBODY HAS HIS OWN WAY OF

weathering a hangover. Maggie'shusband's way was to ignore thewhole matter, stoudy denying, ifpressed, that he suffered at all.Maggie never denied· Mark theright to this brave pretense, but shehad long ago noted that on suchdays the family car needed a great·deal of tinkering with, which necessitated Mark's lying down underit or in it for several hours. Maggierefused· any such face-saving measures. Right after breakfast on theday after the party she took to herbed, fortified with massive doses ofBb a dull book and, for quiet companionship, Gomez, the cat.

The window cooler hummed invitingly in the darkened bedroom;the curtains belled out in the breeze,and Maggie, shedding everythingbut her slip, climbed gratefully intobed. The book was called Hunting Our Feathered Friends With aCamera, and Maggie, who knewnothing of photography or birds,

57

began to read It 1D the hope ofbeing bored into sudden sleep.

Sleep had been very elusive lately.It was silly of her to become sodisturbed over shadows •• ~ or,more oftro, the lack of shadows.But how to explain her uneasinessto Mark, or to anybody? Once,last night at the party, she'd comevery close to asking her friends forhelp or, maybe, just sympathythe talk had turned to ghosts. and4auntings - but luckily she'd calledback the words bef~re they'd formed.The whole thing was too nebulousto talk about. From the first, Markhad labeled it paranoiac, laughingat her wide-eyed account of something that looked at her in the bathroom, trundled after her to the bedroom, then watched her in thekitchen while she pared potatoes.When Mark had asked where forpete's sake was there room in thatsmall kitchen for a secret watcher,Maggie had shut up. Not for worldswould she leave herself open to.

58

Mark's delighted shouts (she couldjust hear him) by answering thatquestion.

"If I'd said: 'on top of the re£rig~rat~r,' " Maggie thought drowsily, "I'd never have heard the lastofit."

••• The hunting urge is deeply ingrained in man. It is no longer necessary to huntfor food; take a camerain your hands and stalk your prey.The prime hunter, anyway, from thedays of the caveman, has been theartist, tracking down and recordingheauty. • • . Allowyour cJu1dren andyourself the thn°ll ofthe chase; satisfythis primitive urge with a safe weapon,the camera. Patience • • • do not harmthe nests . . . natural seuing . • •build yourself a blind • • • patience• • • catch them feeding • • • mating• • . battling • • • patience • • •quick exposure • • • patience • • •

Maggie slept.Minutes later she woke to find

Gomez, the cat, sitting on herstomach. -She and Gomez, goodfriends, regarded each other gravely.Gomez, aware that he had her fullattention, tossed ,his head skittishly.

"You woke met" Maggie accused.

"Mmm-ow-rannkk?" He was giving her the three-syllable, get-upand-feed-me treatment. Maggie wassupposed to find this coaxing irresistible.

"Blast and damn," Maggie saidgently, nQt moving. Gomez trodheavily towards her chin.

"All right," Maggie muttered.

'PANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION

"But stop flouncing. Whoever heardof a flouncing tomcat -"

Both Maggie and Gomez froze,staring at something close to theceiling.

"DO you see it, too?" Maggierolled her eyes at Gomez, which soterrified him he immediately beganevasive action - bounding off thebed, stumbling over her shoes, caroming off her desk, falling into thelid of her portable typewriter, hisfavorite sleeping spot. Gomez cowered deep in the lid, one scallopedear doing radar duty for whateverdanger hovered.

"That's my brave, contained cat.".Maggie crooned through her teeth.She raised herself up on her elbowsto stare at one corner of the ceiling;her eyes moved slowly with theslow movement there. But was itmovement? Strictly speaking, it wasnot. Only some subtle shifting ofthe light in the room, she thought.That was all. The ceiling was blankand bare. Gradually the tumult ofher heart subsided. Maggie caughtsight of her face in the dressingtable mirror. She was interestinglypale.

"It's all done with mirrors,Gomez, and who's afraid of amirror? Neither you nor I ... acar went by, or a cloud. Take onecloud, a mirror, and a hangover;divide by ... Wait a, minute. Ijust thought of something."

Gomez waited, relaxing somewhatin his tight-fittin~ box. Maggie satcross-legged in the middle of the

BIRDS CAN'T COUNT

double bed- silently pursuing anelusive memory.

White face • • • tents • • • carnival ••• yes, the spider lady I Itwas one of the nrst dates I had withMark, and how much I impressedhim, because I saw through the illu"sion at once. There in the tent, behind a roped-off section, sat a huge,hairy spider with the head of awoman. The head turned and talkedand laughed with the crowd, butglared at me when I began to pointout to Mark the arrangement of themirrors. It was all simple enoughand fairly obvious, but not to. Mark.Not to most people. Later, overcoffee and doughnuts, I explainedrather proudly to him. that magicshows, pickpocket shows, that kindof thing, were always dull for me,because I could see so clearly whatwas really happening - that the·way to look, to watch, was notstraight on, but in a funny kind- ofoblique way, head tilted. Marksqueezed my hand then and madesome remark about a crazy femalewho goes through life with her headon one side, seeing too deeply intothings .•••

It is nice to remember young love,Maggie thought, but I'm losing thetrack of that thought. Oh, yes •••and then during the war there wasthe General at Mark's basic trainingcamp - he definitely lacked mypeculiar ability - who came to checkon the trainees' camouflaged fox..holes. Mark wrote me about it.The old boy cursed them all for

S9

inept idiots who couldn't decentlycamouflage a flea, and then, rightin front of the whole companyand still cursing the obviousness ofthe;.r efforts, stepped straight intoone of the concealed holes and brokehis leg. So ••• ? .

Maggie lay back on her .bed,her usual abstracted look consider...ably deepened. Her mind wheeledaround to the part}! last night.Something said or done then naggedat her now. What was it? It had beena good party. Nobody mad or sador very bad. The summer bachelorhad Hitted about like an overweight hummingbird stealing sips ofkisses. •• and almost drownedin the blonde, bless her. A mercurialyoung man had explained to Maggiewhat a bitch his first wife was,while staring rather gloomily athis second. • • • The talk had rangedfrom ghosts to sex, from religiOn tosex, from Bying saucers to sex, andeverybody had come out stronglyon the side of the angels and sex.The rocket engineer believed pa!sionately in the fiying saucers, butthat was itl

He'd said: "Maggie, it's silly andsweet of you to hope for a deus exmachina, come to save civilization,but have you considered we maymean no~ng to them emotionally?Haven't you ever watched antsstruggling with a load too big forthem? How much did you care?Even if, like God, you marked thefall of every sparrow, you mightsimply be conducting a surveyor

60

expressing colossal boredom, likethe people who delight in measuring things. You know what I mean.:..... if .so and so were laid end toend • • • " And right there the talkhad turned back to sex.

"So," Maggie said aloud, "I'mbeing watched. Cataloged. Maybephotographed. Either that, 'or I'mnuts, loony, strictly. for the birds."She grabbed the dull book and began·to read again, not quite sure whatshe was looking for. She studiedthe photographs in the book, andfor the first time it struck her howself-consciously posed some of thebirds looked. "Hams," Maggie dismissed them. "Camera hogs." Sheglanced at herself in the mirror,hesitated, then got up and combedher hair and lipsti~ked her mouth.In the mirror she could see Gomezpee~ing cautiously from the typewriter lid towards a spot over thewindow cooler. The shadowy coolness of the room lightened for amoment, and Gomez' eyes registeredthe change, but Maggie didn't mind.She was posing sultrily and likingthe effect. Maggie had decided to.cooperate fo~ the. time being andgive the unseen watcher an eyeful.

Mind you, she was thinking furiously, if this is camouflage, it's outof my class • .. maybe out of thisworld. Then how am I to prove it?It might be easier just to go quietlynuts. ••• But I've got too much todo this week to go crazy. Next week,perhaps. What am I sayingl Fie on

PANTASY AND SCIENCB PIcnON

this character, whoever ;t may he.Wtih my tilted, eagle eye I WIll ferrethim outl

Cheered, she began to do sit..ting-up exercises. Next, she stoodon her head. 'Unfortunately shecouldn't see anything, since heronly garmeht fell down around herears.

Mark opened her bedroom doorand peered in.

"Good God, Maggie I" he said."What's up?"

Maggie's head emerged from thefolds of the slip, and she lay fulllength on the rug. "Just a game,"she said. "Wanta play?"

"Please, Maggie," he said plain..tively. "Not just now. I've got togo polish the car."

"Idiot," Maggie said. "I'm study....ing photography . . . I think. Goaway, you're apt to ruin the exposure."

"I am not." Mark said doggedly."It's a lovely exposure, it's justthat I have to -""-polish the car!" Maggie threat...

ened him with a shoe. Mark sighedand withdrew, closing the doorgently behind him.

Maggie got up and dressed inshirt and shorts and tried the head..stand again. Gomez' watched herwith wide, startled eyes. Next shebent down and peered. back between her legs while turning slowlyto survey all four sides of the room.Nothing. Wearily she sat a momenton the rug, rubbing her achingbrow. Her eyes felt sandy, and she

BIRDS CAN;' COUNT

rubbed them, too~ She glanced atGomez and saw that he lookedlike two cats, one barely offsettingthe other, lik~ a color overlay on amagazine page that wasn't. quiteright. She rubbed her eyes harder todispel the illusion, and just then shesaw the watcher.

She and the watcher stared ateach other across the interveningspace and across the little blackbox the watcher held. Even nowhis image was not clear to Maggie.One moment he was there, the nexthe was a something--nothing, thenhe was gone.

Maggie rubbed furiously at hereyes again and brought him backto her vision. This time she was ableto hold him there, though the imagedanced and swam and her eyeswatered a little with the effort.. Itwas just like any illusion, she~hought; once you know the trickof looking at it, you feel stupid notto have seen it at once.

"Peek--a--boo," she said. '''1 seeyou. But stop wiggling."

The watcher's expression did notchange. He continued to gaze ather raptly. But all the rest of himchanged. He reminded Maggie ofmirages she'd seen, linking andflattening mountain tops. Was hehuman? A moment ago, he mighthave been. But n~w he was a greatwhirl of gray petals with the blackbox and the staring eyes remainingstill" and cool in the center. Theeyes were-large, dark and unblinking. The gray petals now drooped

61

like melted wax and flowed "intostiffening horizontal lines like astylized Christmas" tree, and theliquid eyes became twin stars decorating its apex, with the blackbox dangling below like a gift tiedto a branch. The tree dissolved andturned into a vase--shape, with delicate etchings of light on the graythat reminded Maggie offine lace.

Maggie got up purposefully andwalked towards the fluidly shiftingimage. The watcher shrank into asmall square shape that was like awindow open onto cold, slantinglines of rain. Maggie reached outa hand and touched the solid plasterwall.

"Nuts," Maggie said. "I knowyou're there. Come out, come out,and we'll all take tea."

The watcher's gaze now turnedtoward her feet, and his form lengthened and narrowed so drasticallythat he reminded Maggie of nothingso much as a barber pole with grayand white stripes. The barber 'polegrew an appendage that pointeddownward~ It seemed to be pointingat Gomez, who had seated himselfjust where Maggie might most conveniently step on him, and wasyawning as unconcernedly as.if thewatcher did not exist, or- as if hewere' quite used to him. The watchergrew another appendage, raised theblack box, and just then a tinys~ft of light touched Gome~ on th-enose.

Maggie watched carefully, butGomez did not seem to be hurt.

62

He began to wash his face. -"Isi: a ca-mera, then?" Maggie asked.No answer. She looked wildly aroundIhe room, grabbed up the framedphotograph of her mother-in-lawlnd showed it to the watcher. Thestaring eyes looked dubious. But·by dint of using her eyebrowsand all her faci~l muscles Maggiefinally made her question clear tohim.- One appendage disappearedinto the black box and drew out atiny replica of Gomez yawning. Itwas a 'perfect little three...dimensionalfigurine, and Maggie coveted itwith all her heart. She reached forit, but the wavering barber poledrew itself up stiffly, the eyes admired the figurine a few moments,glared haughtily at Maggie, andthe figurine disappeared. Maggie'sface expressed her disappointment.

"Whataboutme?"Maggiepointedto herself, pantomim~d the. wayhe held the box, then touched herown nose lightly. The eyes at thetop of the barber pole -gazed at herblandly. The barber pole shuddered.Then the watcher pantomimed thatMaggie should pick up Gomez andhold him. Maggie did, and againthe little shaft of light hit Gomezon the nose.

"Hey I" Maggie said. "Did youget me, too? Let me see." No response from the watcher. "Ohwell," Maggie said, "maybe that onewasn't so good. Howabout thispose?"She smiled and pirouetted gracefullyfor the watcher, but the watcheronly looked bored. There's nothing


so disconcerting, Maggie thought, asa bored barber pole. She sU'bsidedinto deep thought. Come to thinkof it, Gomez had been with hereach time she'd sensed the preseneeof the thing.

"Blast -and damn," she said. "1will not play a supporting role forany cat, even Gomez." She madefierce go...away motions to the imagemaker. She shoved Gomez outsidethe bedroom. She created a host ofnasty faces and tried them on forthe watcher. She made shooingmotions as if he were a chicken.Finally, in a burst of inspiration sheprinted the address of the AnimalShelter on a card and drew picturesof cats all around it. She heldit upfor the barber pole to read. Theeyes looked puzzled, but willing.The little black box was beingfolded into itself until now 'it wasno larger than an ice cube. Thebarber pole swelled into a caricatureof a woman, a woman with enormous brandy-snifter-size breasts andhuge flopping buttocks. The -eyeswere now set in a round, doughy,simpering'~ce that somehow (horribly, incomprehensibly) remindedMaggie of her own. The watcherthen, gazing straight at Maggie,mimicked all the nasty faces she'dmade, stoodonhis (her?) head, peeredbetween his legs, smiled and pirouetted, pretended to leer at him..,self in a mirror, and then, verydeliberately, indicated with one spiraling finger atop his head thatMaggie w~ nuts. He gave her one

BIRDS CAN'T COUNT

look of pure male amusement anddisappeared.

"Come back and fight," Maggiesaid. "I. dare you to say that again."She rubbed her eyes without muchhope, and she waS right. The watcherwas gone.

Rather forlornly, Maggie tookto her bed again. "It's the worsthangover I've ever had," Maggiemoaned. "So maybe I wasn't looking my best, but it's a bitterblow .•."

The worst of it was, she couldnever tell anybody, even Mark.What woman could ever admit shehad less charm than a beat-up oldtomcat? "But I've found out onething," Maggie thought. "I knownow what dogs and cats stare atwhen people can't see anythingthere...." But she almost weptwhen she remembered her old day-dream - of watchers lovingly studying and guiding mankind, or atleast holding themselves ready tostep in and help when the goinggot too rough. Suppose, though,the watchers considered mankindno more than servants to the otheranimals? Feeding and bathing them,providing warm houses and soft,safe beds....

It was a'sickening thought. Maggieharbored it for two minutes, and then

63

resolutely ~d it from mind."FiddlesticksI He - wasn't that

stupid. In fact, he was a damn smart...aleck. So he liked Gomez. So what?Maybe he's a woman-hater."

She settled back against her pillowand o~ned the bird book:

Rememher, birds can't count. Whenyou huild your hlind, let two peopleenter d. Let one person go away, andthe birds WIll return without fiar,thinJifng they are sofi. In this way, youwill get good, natural1JtCtures of our

in"ends eating, fighting, and mating. ..•

Mark opened the bedroom doorand walked in. "Maggie?"

"Hmm?" Maggie went on reading."I couldn't polish the car. • . ."

Mark grinned at h~r.

"Why not?" Maggie dropped thedull book with alacrity.· She knewthat grin.-

"I kept thinking about that newgame you were playing. . . . Sometype of photography, did you say?Then I know the perfect name forit."

"What?""It's called see-the-birdie, and it

isn't a new game at all- it's justpart of an old one."

Maggie stretched luxuriously andmade an apparently irrelevant remark: "So long, hangover."

WIN A NEW ENGLISH FORD/

For aetails, see the Fehruary issue of ELLERY QUEEN'SMYITERY MAGAZINE - on sale, JanuMJ 11th.

LlIst month MAn;" GIJ,J"" told us of th, ,,,,rly lit' 0/ LYmiln Frllnk Bllum,who splnt the first 4JY'II'S 0/ his life liS II restl,ss jllCk oflJll trlldes - actor,plllywright, printer, reporte" eJitor, columnist, trMle-jO*t:fIIl1 puhlisher,1J1I(llllr-proprietfW, s"lesflWn of crocJury "nil of crmJe oil, IIlwllyS moving onto something new IInhl, lit thl tNrn of the century" he found himself liS thefirst grellt crelltor of purety Americlln fllirytllles. THE WONDEllFUL WIZARD

OP OZ (IgOO) WIIS tmI of mIIny, lind 0( WIIS only 0111 DIU' of II numIJer of wondrous cOllntries invent,d lJy Bllum's ;mllgitJlltion, sU&h liS Mo, Yew, Ix, lindMerrylllnd. BNt fine thOMgh these other cfJ*ntries were, ther, UJIIS somethingspecilll IIhONt 0(, liS pr01JlJ hy the triumph of Montgomery Ilnd Stone liS theTin Wood11JlJn lind the SCllricrow in the musiclll comedy THE WIZAllD OP OZ

(I9 0.2). &um 1Jm,.fIIl on II sefuel, THB MARVELOUS LAND OP OZ (I9 04);hut even lifter thllt he ,ontinued to work on stories unrelllted to 0( ... untilpuhlic demand pr(J1JfJ overwhelmingly thllt 0( WIIS ."ifNI in its IIppelll.Here is thl story of how thosl fir.!t two Ot hooks grew into thl gllY, 10vIl!JI"di(J and wonder/MIseries which is one oj 011' most joyous heritages.

erhe 1{oyal Hiftorian Of o~hy MARTIN GARDNER

(second of two parts)

THE SECOND OZ BOOK DID NOT CON- characters also introduced for thecern Dorothy - nor in fact did any first time include Tik-Tok, a meperson from outside of Oz take part chanical copper man; the Hungryin the story. But readers remem- Tiger, who longs to eat little babiesbered fondly the little Kansas farm but whose conscience never permitsgirl, and yielding to their entreaties him to do so (a neat illustration ofBaum reintroduced her as- the cen- "the Freudian conflict between thetral character of his third volume in ld and Superego!); and the Nomethe series, Ozma ofOz, in 1907. King, a delightful mixture of evil

Dorothy's companion on her sec- and the comic, who appears in manyond adventure is a proud yellow later Oz books as the sworn enemyhen called Billina. Other "Ozzy" of both young Dorothy and Ozma.

64

THE ROYAL HISTORIAN OF OZ

Tik-Tok is one of the earliestrobots in American fantasy. As hisdirections for winding read, he"thinks, speaks, acts, and does everything but live." Parts of his mechariism are always running down atcrucial moments. Once in a laterbook he lapses into double-talkwhen his thought mechanism, butnot his speech, ceases to operate.

The remaining Oz books, all ofthem excellent, contain scores offantastic personages, meat and meatless. There is the Woozy, a blue,square-shaped animal of wood whoseeyes dart fire whenever anyone says"Krizzle-Kroo" (the Woozy doesnot understand what this means,and it is this which makes him" sofurious). There is the PatchworkGirl, a cotton-stuffed figure whosemeeting with the Scarecrow is oneof: the highlights of the book inwhich she first appears. Quox, afriendly dragon sent by Tititi-Hoo"choo to conquer the Nome King, isthe model for Ollie in the Kukla,Fran, and Ollie TV show. BurrTillstrom, the show's creator andpupeteer, has long been an Oz fan.

One does not easily forget JohnnyDoit, with the long gray whiskersand copper tool chest, who can buildanything in just a few seconds; TheLonesome Duck, a miserly misanthrope who lives alone in a palac~

of diamonds and hates everybody;the Braicled Man who sells boxes ofassorted ruffles for ladies' skirts andHutters for Hags; the Fuddles, a raceof 3-D jigsaw people who "scatter"

6S

when disturbed, thereby givingvisitors the fun of putting them to·gether again.

The two cats in Oz deserve specialmention. Both behave exactly asyou would expect. Eureka, Dorothy'smeat cat, permits herself to undergoa long court trial to determine if shehas eaten one of the Wizard's pigletsbefore she informs the court wherethe little pig can be found. Bungles,a glass cat with a cold ruby heart, isso reluctant to show her emotionsthat once when she leaves to obtainhelp for friends in distr~ss, she movesvery slowly to give the impressionshe is indifferent to their fate. Assoon as she is out of sight, however,she runs like a streak of crystal.

At the close of The Emerald CityofOz Baum tried to drop the seriesaltogether. Glinda, the most powerful sorceress in Oz, cast a spell overthe country which made it im,p9ssible for the "Royal Historian to obtain further information. You canimagine, of course, the deluge ofletters from heartbroken readers.Baum quickly reestablished com·munication with Oz and the series continued. He did manage todo two more superb fantasies thatdid not concern Oz: Sea Fairies andSkY Island, about the adventures ofa girl named Trot and her companion, a peg-legged sailor calledCap'n Bill- both of whom werelater added to the roster of Oz'smeat people.

Certainly one reason for the immense popularity of the Oz books is

66

the fact that they are told with suchcareful attention to detail that astrong sense of reality is created. It isno wonder that thousands of chil..dren have believed for a time thatOz really does exist. The intricategeography of Oz is well worked out,and· a map of the country was actually issued as a folded insert inone of the books. As every Ozreader knows, the country is rect~ngular and divided into four regions, each with a characteristiccolor. The first edition of The Roadto Oz was printed on tinted paperwhich changed color each time thescene shifted to another region t Inthe center of Oz is the EmeraldCity where Princess Ozma rules in apalace of glittering gems. Surrounding Oz on all sides is the DeadlyDesert. Anyone touching the desertturns instantly into a grain of sand.

Many_ social and ecopomic detailsabout Oz are known. Its populationis about half a million. The EmeraldCity, at the time when it was almostconquered by the Nome King, had9,654 buildings and 57,318 inhabitants. There is no sickness and disease in Oz. No one ages and deathoccurs only rarely as the result of

* This is a point debated among enthusiastsof Oz, since the Royal Historian's reports arenot too clear or consistent. The key-passageseems to be in The Magic oj'Oz: &tIt is possiblefor beasts - or even people - to be destroyed[as the Wicked Witches of the East and Westwere by Dorothy in The Wizard), but the taskis so difficult that it is seldom attempted. • •.•it is doubtful whether those who come to Ozfrom the outside world, as Dorothy •.• did,will live forever and cannot be injured. EvenOzma is not sure about this. • • •tt

FANTASY AND SCIENCE FlcnON

serious accident.· All animals talkin Oz, and they are treated with asmuch respect as humans. In manyways Oz resembles the anarchistUtopia of William Morris' Newsfrom Nowhere. There is virtuallyno police force because all Ozitesare happy, unselfish, and contented.They work .half the time, play halfthe time. There is no money, norich, and no poor. "Each person,"the Royal Historian tells us, "wasgiven freely by his neighbors whatever he required for his use, whichis as much as anyone may reasonablydesire."

Fortunately, not all parts of Ozare this orderly - especially thewild, unsettled areas of the' northand south where many queer andunruly races flourish. Otherwisethere would be no dangers and consequently no adventures.

Dangers yes, but horrors no. It isa rare occasion when Baum describesa scene that might frighten a sensitive child. Only a morbid adult willobject to a wicked witch meltingaway, or Jack Pumpkinhead carvinga new head for himself to replacea former one that has spoiled.Baum's intention, stated in the preface of The Wizard, to leave out the"heartaches and nightmares" wasamply fulfilled. You have only toread the original Grimm and Andersen, Pinnochio, or many anotherchildren's classic to realize how skillfully Baum managed, in contrast to'these works, to retain the excitement and avoid the violence and

mE ROYAL HISTORIAN OP OZ

tears. Perrault's original story ofRed Riding Hood, still the versiontold to French children, ends withthe wolf eating both the little girland her grandmother. A good case.can even be made for the view thatthis sort of violence is a healthypurging of a child's sadistic emotions as well as a valuable early introduction to the reality of evil."Children love a lot of nightmareand at least a" little heartache intheir books," writes thurber, andhe for one is glad that Baum did notsucceed completely in keeping theseelements out of his work. It is truethat Bawn occasionally forgot his·promise, especially in Dorothy andthe Wizard in Oz where an atmosphere of violence and gloom hangsover a g~ part of the tale. But onthe whole his books are remarkablyfree of shocking scenes, and the

-spirit ofOz is a happy, sunny one.As might be expected, Baum often

contradicted himself. Like the BakerStreet Irregulars who go to greatlengths to find plausible explanations for Watson's memory lapses, agroup of Oz fans can spend manypleasant hours suggesting ways forharmonizing contradictions in thework of the Royal Historian. TheLand of Ev, for example, lies justacross the Deadly Desert. But inwhat direction? You can find a basisfor placing it to the north, south,east, or west of Oz. The early historyof Oz, before the Wizard arrived inhis balloon, is riddled with difficulties. There is reason to believe that

67

grass takes on the color of each r~

gion in Oz, and equally good reasonto think it doesn't. Exactly whathappens when a Nome touches anegg? Does he wither away or turninto an egg? Why do the ShaggyMan and Polychrome, the Rain...bow's daughter, act like total stran'"gers when they meet for the secondtime? These are only a fraction ofthe' tantalizing problems that facean Oz student.

An equally fascinating pastime isto speculate on how Baum arrivedat the names of various charactersand countries. In many cases thebasis is obvious. For example, Princess Langwidere, is a haughty womanwith a "languid air." General Jinjuris a girl with lots of "ginger." Butwhat about Woot the Wanderer,protagonist of The Tin Woodman ofOz? Did Baum take the initials ofthe' book's title and switch the "T"from front to back? The word Ozitself has been the subject of muchspeculation. One theory is thatBaum looked up at a filing cabinetand saw the words "From a to Z."Another is that it came from Boz,nickname of Charles Dickens whowas one of Baum's favorite authors.And someone has po~ted out thatJob lived in the land of Uz. Morelikely, it was simply one of themany words that Baum inventedand used because he liked the sound.

The Baums moved to Pasadena in1909 where Baum constructed anenormous bird cage in the ga.-denand stocked it with 40 song birds.

68

His love of nature is reflected in allhis writings, and one has the feelirigthat when the Tin Woodman expresses horror at the thought of injuring a butterfly, he is expressingthe sentiments ·of the author. Baumnever cared for hunting and fishing.In early life his favorite recreationsseem "to have been swimming andarchery, though in California, as heapproached his sixties, he turnedmore to golf and gardening. Whenthe Baums moved to Hollywood in1910, a large garden surroundedOzcot (Baum's name for the homehe built there). Baum won overtwenty cups in flower competitionsand even· became known as "TheChrysanthemum King of Soqthernulifornia."

At the time Oz<:ot was built,Hollywood was still a small suburbantown. The infant movie industrywas 'then centered in New York.But as Jack Snow, the author of arecently published Who's Who in Ozhas observed, Baum was unable toescape from fairyland. The movieindustry grew up around him. Afterhis death Mrs. Baum sold a portionof their lot for an enormous sum.Ozcot is still standing, just one blockfrom Hollywood Boulevard, andthe Historian's widow continued tolive there until her death in 1953,at the age of 91.

As one would have expected,Baum was fascinated by the artisticpotential of the film. In 1908, whilestill living in Chicago, he investedheavily in the production- of a series


of short movies depicting storiesfrom his books. He called them"Radio Plays." They were presentedin Chicago and later in New Yorkwith Baum standing by the screento narrate the tales. This venturewas "a financial failure and in 1911Baum filed a bankruptcy petition inCalifornia. He listed his debts as$12,600 and his assets as two suits ofclothes and a typewriter.

In 1913 Baum made his third andlast attempt to repeat the stagesuccess of The Wizard. His musical·The Tik-Tok Man of Oz had/shortruns in Los Angeles and Chicago butwas not well received. (Baum's "enthusiasm for the stage, however, wasnever-ending. In later years he usedto appear as an actor - and, according to reports, a very good one - ~t

the Uplifters' Ranch in companywith such professionals as WillRogers.) .

The following year, 1914, heturned his attention once more to,motion pictures, forming the OiFilm Company to produce screenversions of his tales. In a press interview he explained that because ofthe many color plates his books hadto sell at a pei'ce which kept themfrom millions ofyoungsters. Throughthe movies he hoped to make hisstories available to every Americanboy and girl for the cos·t of admissionto the theater - five cents. Thisproject also proved unsuccessful,though the company did produceone dismal film in 1-914 - The Patchwork Girl of Oz. The picture is still


sold in faded home movie versionsunder the title of The RJzggedy Girl.

The Wizard of Oz was filmed as aone..reeler by Selig Pictures in 1910.Another silent version was issued in1925 by Chadwick Pictures, starringthe comedian Larry Semon as theScarecrow. And of course everyoneover twenty remembers M ..G-M'slavish technicolor production in1939 with Judy Garland in .the roleof a singing Dorothy. Ray Bolgerplayed the capering straw man, JackHaley the tin man, and Bert Labrthe Cowardly Lion. Other roles included Billie Burke as Glinda, FrankMorgan as the Wizard, and theSinger Midgets as the Munchkins.The picture featured some brighttunes (Over the Rainbow and We'reOff to See the Wizard) but to mytastes was marred by sentimentalityand an inexcusable revelation at theend that the -whole thing was adream.*

Baum's genero~ heart, unlike thefine velvet heart of the Tin Wood-

.man, was not replaceable. As hepassed the age of 60 it began to falt~r. It is interesting to note that thelast Oz book he wrote, Glinda ofOz,is almost completely devoid of humor. I have often fancied that thesunken island on which Dorothy·was trapped beneath a lake during

• Many enthusiasts of Oz, including RayBradbury, Jack Snow, and this editor, disagreesharply with Mr. Gardner. To my own taste,the film was the finest American fantasy pictureI have seen - as imaginarive, charming, humorous and inventive as Baum's own tales. -A. B.

69

the latter half of the story was anunconscious expression of Baum'sown sinking· emotions~ The islandwas finally raised when Dorothythought of the proper magic words.There were no magic words forBaum's failing heart, and on May6, 1919, at his home in Hollywood,it finally gave way.

Glinda of Oz was published afterBaum's death. He left scatterednotes for another Oz book whichthe publishers turned 'over to RuthPlumly Thompson, a twenty..yearold Philadelphia girl who had writ..ten a number of stories for children.The Royal Book of Oz, which sheedited and to a major extent wrote,was the laSt of the series to carryBaum's name. Since then MissThompson has written eighteen ad..ditional Oz books, many of themcharmingly told.

The late John Rea Neill, who soably illustrated all of Bauni's Ozbooks except the first one, also triedhis hand at three Oz books. Notmuch can be said for Neill as awriter, but as the Royal Painter ofOz his pictures are as indissolublylinked with the Oz books as Tenniel's illustrations are linked withAlice. Whatever one may think ofhis pictures as works of art, there isno denying that he caught theflavor of Baum's text, and his pictures have exactly the sort of colorand reali~m that Oz books require.Denslow's illustrations for The Wiz·ard possess a quaint charm, but theyare not pictures of Oz.

70

A great deal can be said for MissThompson's books and also for themost recent Oz book, written byRachel Cosgrove; but in the opinionofmany Oz fans the mantle of RoyalHistorian should fall on the shoulders of Jack Snow. His two Oz booksare remarkable in capturing themood and style of Baum's own work.They are both excellent, and whenSnow tells us he has established TVcommunication with the EmeraldCity one is inclined to believe him.I have already mentioned his Who'sWho in Oz, which contains_ biographies of all of Baum's astonishingcharacters.* Jack Snow (it's his realname) has been shadowed all his lifeby Oz. At the moment he works inNew York for the Associated Hospital Service, or AHS as it is called,and he is not in the least surprised athow this sounds when you pronounce it.

*Published by Reilly 6: Lee ($2.75), thisbiographical index may, of course, be orderedthrough F&SF's Readers' Book Service.-A. B.


Ray Bradbury, one of the best ofmodern fantasy writers, has spokenmany times of the influence of Oz onhis career. His story, "The Exiles,"pictures a future world in which thepsychiatrists have succeeded at lastin destroying all books of fantasy.The narrative closes with the col...lapse of the Emerald City as thelast Oz book burns.

But I do 09t think the EmeraldCity will collapse for a long longtime. A child's love of fantasy is toohealthy a love. "Perhaps some ofthose b~g, grown"up people willpoke fun at us," Baum wrote in theintroduction to one of his earlybooks, "- at you for reading thesenonsense tales ... and at me forwriting them.. Never mind. Manyof the big folk are still childreneven as you and I. We can not measure a .child by a standard of size orage. The big folk who are childrenwill be our comrades; the others weneed not consider at all, for they a"reself..exiled from our domain."

A CHRONOLOGICAL CHECKLIST OF WORKSOF FANTASY BY L. FRANK BAUM

1897 MornER GOOSE IN PROSE. Chicago: Way and Williams. Illustrated by MaxfieldParrish. Twenty-two stories, each based on a Mother Goose rhyme. Dorothy, alittle farm girl, appears in the last story.

1900 THE WONDERFUL WJZAIlD OF oz. Chicago: George M. Hill. Illustrated by WilliamWallace Denslow. A cyclone carries Dorothy and her dog, Toto, from Kansas toOz where she meets with many strange adventures before she is magically transported home. Although copyrighted in 1899, the book did not appear until Maythe following year.


A NEW WONDERLAND. New York: R. H. Russell. Illustrated by Frank Verbeck."Fourteen amusing tales about the beautiful valley of Mo. The Cast..iron Man isBaum's first use of a mechanical robot. The present edition bears the title~ THB

MAGICAL MONARCH OP MO.

1901 DOT AND TOT OF MERRYLAND. Chicago:· George M. Hill. Illustrated by Denslow.The adventures of a small boy and girl in Merryland~where a wax doll~ aided byher "thinking machine~" rules ove~ the seven valleys.

AMERICAN FAIRY TALES. Chicago: George M. Hill. Illustrated by George Kerrand others. Fifteen fairy tales, one of which describes the temporary halting oftime and motion in an American city.

THE MASTER KEY. Indianapolis: Bowen-Merrill. Illustrated by Fanny Cory.Baum's only science fiction novel. Rob (the author's son, Robert) accidentally ar..ranges some wires in a curious network that summons the Demon of Electricity.The Demon provides the boy with six electrical wonders - concentrated foodtablets~ a ray gun, a device for traveling through the air, a garment that protectshim from injury, a device picturing events as they take place anywhere in the~

world (i.e., television), and spectacles enabling him to see anyone's true character.After many mishaps, Rob sends the Demon away with his gifts, convinced thatthe world is not yet wise enough to cope with them.

1902 THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF SANTA CLAUS. Indianapolis: Bowen-Merrill. IlIus..trated by Mary Cowles Clark. A pagan biography of Santa Claus from birth toold age when the gods confer upon him the Mantle of Immortality. An elaborateDunsany-like mythology is involved.

1903 THE ENCHANTED ISLAND OF YEW. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill. Illustrated by Cory.A fairy, weary of her life as an immortal, becomes a knight in armor for one year.

1904 THE MARVELOUS LAND OF oz. Chicago: Reilly and Britton. This and all subsequentOz books by Baum are illustrated by John R. Neill. The Scarecrow, ruling as' Kingof Oz, is overthrown by an army of girls, in turn overthrown by Glinda. The boyTip is released from his enchanted form to become Princess Ozma, rightful heirto the throne.

1905 QUEEN ZIXI OF IX. New York: Century. Illustrated by Frederick Richardson. Amagic cloak provides the fulfilment of one wish for each' of its wearers. The storywas first serialized in St. Nicholas in 1904 and 1905.

THE WOGGLE-BUQ BOOK. Chicago: Reilly and Britton. Illustrated by Ike Morgan.A giant-size picture book about the Woggle-Bug's misfortunes in an Americancity.

1906 JOHN DOUGH AND THE CHERUB. Chicago: Reilly and Britton. Illustrated by Neill.The mad adventures of John Dough, a large gingerbread man, and his companion~

Chick the Cherub. Chick is the world's first incubator baby. His (or her) sex isnever revealed. A Chicago newspaper offered a prize for the best reason for think..ing Chick either a boy or girl, and contest blanks were inserted in early editions ofthe-book.

72. FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION

BANDIT JIM CROW, MR. WOODCHUCK, PRAIRIE-DOG TOWN, PRINCE MUD-TURTLE,

SUGAR-LOAP MOUNTAIN, and TWINKLE'S ENCHANTMENT - six small. books byLaura Bancroft (pseud.). Chicago: Reilly and Britton. Illustrated by MaginelWright Enright. The six tales were issued as a single volume in 191 I under thetitle '!WINKLB AND CHUBBINS.

POLICEMAN BLUEJAY, by Laura Bancroft (pseud.). Chicago: Reilly and Britton.Illustrated by Enright. Two small children acquire the bQdies of birds and magically enter a nature fairyland. Re-issued in 1917 as BABES IN BIRDLAND, withBaum's name on the title page. .

OZMA OF oz. Chicago: Reilly and Britton. Dorothy and a yellow hen are caught ina storm at sea, washed overboard, and carried to the shore of Ev. With the aid ofTik-Tok and a group of Ozites led by Ozma, they force the Nome King to releasefrom captivity the royal family of Ev. By means of the Magic Belt, taken from theNome King, Ozma teleports Dorothy home.

1908 DOROTIlY AND mE WIZARD IN oz. Chicago: Reilly and Britton. An earthquakedrops Dorothy and her cousin Zeb into the earth's interior where gravity is weakand suns of different colors provide illumination. They meet the Wizard who hasbeen caught in the same quake. After many frighte~ing adventures they reach acul-de-sac, but are extricated by Ozma who sees their plight in her Magic Pictu{eand teleportS them to Oz. Dorothy and Zeb are later teleported home, but theWizard remains in Oz. The book was written during the year of the San Franciscoquake.

1909 THE ROAD TO oz. Chicago: Reilly and Britton. Dorothy, the Shaggy. Man (a vaga- ~

bond from Colorado), Button-Bright (a small boy from Philadelphia), and Polychrome (the Rainbow's daughter) enjoy many picaresque adventures before theyarrive at the Emerald 'City in time for Ozma's birthday party - a wonderfulfeast attended by Santa ClaUs, John Dough, Queen Zixi of Ix, the doll-Queen ofMerryland, and almost every other character so far created by Baum in or out ofthe Oz-series. The Magic Belt sends Dorothy home. .

1910 THE EMERALD CITY OF oz. Chicago: Reilly and Britton. The Nome King gathers alarge army of evil immortals for the purpose of conquering Oz. They dig an underground tunnd to the Emerald City, emerge near the Fountain of Oblivion. Thirstyand tired, they drink from the fountain and immediately forget why they came.Meanwhile, Ozma has teleported Dorothy and her aging_uncle and aunt to Oz, tobecome permanent residents.

191 I THE SEA FAIRIES. Chicago: Reilly and Britton. Illustrated by Neill. Trot, a Cali..fornia girl, and her peg-legged sailor companion, Cap'n Bill, are taken on an exciting undersea tour by three mermaids.

1912 SKY ISLAND. Chicago: Reilly and Britton. Illustrated by Neill. A magic umbrellacarries Trot, Cap'n Bill, and Button-Bright to an island in the sky. Trot becomesruler of the Pinks. In a war with the Blues she defeats the evil Boolooroo andreigns as queen of the island until they find the umbrella and are able to return toearth.

THE ROYAL mSTORIAN OF OZ 73

1913 THB PATCHWORK GIRL OF OZ. Chicago: Reilly and Britton. The Munchkin boyOjo, the Patchwork Girl, and others go in search of five curious items needed by amagician to restore Ojo's uncle to life. The uncle had been accidentally turned tomarble by the magician. .

JACK PUMPKINHEAD AND THB SAWHORSE, LITTLB DOR.OTHY AND TOTO, OZMA AND

THE LITTLE WIZARD, THE COWARDLY LION AND THE HUNGRY nGER, THE SCARECROW

AND THE TIN WOODMAN, and TIK-TOK AND THE NOME KING - six separate booklets,each a complete short story about Oz. Chicago: Reilly and Britton. Illustrated byNeill. Published as a single volume, LITrLE WIZAR.D STOR.IES OF OZ, in 1914.

-1914 nK-TOK OP oz. Reilly and Britton. Betsy Bobbin, from Oklahoma, the ShaggyMan, Tik-Tok, and others succeed in rescuing Shaggy's brother from a long imprisonment by the Nome King. A- fall through a tube that extends through thecenter of the earth is involved in one episode.

1915 THE SCARECROW OF oz. Chicago: Reilly and Britton. Trot, Cap'n Bill, ButtonBright, and the Ork (a featherless bird with a propeller tail) are aided by theScarecrow in conquering the wicked King of Jinxland.

1916 RINKITINK IN OZ. Chicago: Reilly and Britton. Fat and jolly King Rinkitink andhis young friend Prince Inga, with the help of Dorothy and the Wizard, liberateInga's parents from the Nome King. /

1917 THB LOST PRINCESS OF OZ. Chicago: Reilly and Britton. Ozma is kidnapped byUgu, a shoemaker turned evil sorcerer. A search party headed by the Wizardbreaks into Ugu's castle and transforms him into a dove. The unusual spot whereUgu concealed Ozma is finally disclosed by the Pink Bear, a wind-up automatoncapable of answering any question.

1918 THB TIN WOODMAN OP oz. Chicago: Reilly and Britton. The Tin Woodman and theTin Soldier visit their former sweetheart, Nimmie Amee, and find her happily·married to Chopfyte, a composite man assem~led from parts of their original"meat" bodies. The story includes a remarkable conversation between the TinWoodman and his former head.

1919 THE MAGIC OP OZ. Chicago: Reilly and Lee. The Nome King tries to recruit anarmy of wild beasts for a second attempt to conquer Oz. Meanwhile two partiesset out from the Emerald City to secure unusual birthday presents for Ozma. Thethree groups intertwine, but all ends well. Of special interest is the magic wordPYRZQXGL. Correctly pronounced, it enables one to assume any desired form.

1920 GLINDA OF oz. Chicago: Reilly and Lee. Ozma and Dorothy try to prevent a warbetween the Skeezers and the Flatheads (who carry their brains in a can). Glindaand the Wizard come to their "rescue after they are trapped in a glass-domed citythat submerges beneath the water of a lake.

J92( THE ROYAL BOOK OF OZ. Chicago: Reilly and Lee. In an effort to learn somethingabout his ancestry the Scarecrow slides down his family tree (the beanpole on whichhe first came to life) and finds himself in the Silver Islands. Dorothy, the CowardlyLion, and a knight, Sir Hocus of Pokes, save the Scarecrow from a nefarious plot.

74 FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION

1953 JAGLON AND THE nCER FAIRIES. Chicago: Reilly and Lee. Illustrated by DaleUlrey, edited and expanded by Jack Snow. First in a projected series of book edi·tions of nine "animal fairy tales" (as Baum called them) which first appeared inThe Delineator in 1905.

REFERENCES ABOUT BAUM

UTOPIA AMERICANA, by Edward Wagenknecht, 1929. This rare booklet, published by theUniversity of Washington Bookstore, Seattle, is the first and only critical study of Baum'swork to date."The Wizard of Chittenango," an article by James Thurber, New Republic, Decembet 12,.

1934·

Cyclopedia ofAmerican Biography, New EditIon, Vol. 10, p. 168.National Cyclopedia ofAmetUan -Biography, Vol. 18; p. 331.Dictionary ofAmerican Biography, Vol. 2, p. 59-Encyclopedia ofAmerican Biography, New Series, Vol. 6, p. 378.

MAROI OF DIMES

•FIGHTINFANTILEPARALYSIS,

IAIOARY 3-31

Leigh Brackett is the «knowledged mistress of the jlllmIJ0Yllnt interplanetary adventure. No one can riDal her in telling such a story liS, say, PurplePriestess of the Mad Moon so skilfully lind even IIrtistically that relldersnormally IIllergic to such Ixtravagan(lIs are astonished to find themselvesenjoying it. But there's another side to Brackett's writing, too little knownana too infrefJNently practiced. Sh,'s written several realistic aetective novelsin the firmest Hammett tradition, ana hrought the sa"" realism to II few distinguished science fiction stories, including the well-rememIJerea The Halfling. Now F&SF is prfJUd to presmt the latest offering lJy this 'OtherBrackett: II poignant story of the near future, of the lJeg;nnings of inte"elationhetween Earth and Mars as Jeen and felt hy II father, his childrm ••• anda Martilln tweener.

erhe erweener~ LEIGH BRACKETT

A TAXICAB TURNED THE CORNER AND

came slowly down the street."Here he is!" shrieked the child..

ren, tearing open the white gate."Mother! Dadl He's here, UncleFred's here!"

Matt Winslow came out onto theporch, and in a minute Lucille cametoo, flushed from the purgatory 6fa kitchen on a July day. The cabstopped in front of the house. Joshand Barbie pounced on it like twosmall tigers, howling, and from· upand down the street the neighbors'young came drifting, not makingany noise, recognizing that this wasthe Winslows, moment and not intruding on' it, but wanting to be-

close to it, to breathe and see andhear the magic.

"Look at them," said Matt, halflaughing. "You'd think Fred wasTarzan, Santa Claus, and Superman,all rolled into one."

"Well," said Lucille proudly, '·'notmany people have been where hehas."

She went running down the path.Matt followed her. Inside, he wasjealous. It was nothing personal, heliked Lucille's brother and respectedhim. It was only that Josh andBa'rbie had never had that look intheir eyes for him. This was a sec~et

jealousy, that Matt hid carefully,frighteningly, even from himself.

75

76

Fred got out of the cab, trim andsoldierly in his uniform with thecaduceus on the collar tabs, but forgetting all about dignity as he triedto hug the kids and kiss his sisterand shake Matt's hand all at once."I'll get your bags," said Matt, andthe neighbors' children stared withenormous eyes and sent the name ofMars whispering back and forthbetween them.

"Be careful," Fred said. "That onethere, with the handle on it - letme." He lifted it out, a smallishbox made from pieces of packingcase that still showed Army serialnumbers. It· had little round holesbored' in i"ts top and sides. Fredwaved the children back. "Don'tjoggle it, it's a rare Martian vaseI brought back for your mother,and I don't want it broken. Presentsfor you? Now what do you think ofthat - I clean forgot! Oh well,there wasn't much out there you'dhave wanted, anyway."

"Not even a rock?" cried Josh, andFred shook his head solemnly. "Nota pebble." Barbie was staring atthe holes in the box. Matt pickedup Fred's suitcase. "He hasn'tchanged," he thought. "Lost someweight, and got some new lines inhis face, but with the kids he hasn'tchanged. He still acts like one himself." He, too, looked at the holesin the box, but with apprehension."T~is is going to be good," hethought. "Something special."

"God, it's hot," said Fred, screwing up his eyes as though the sun-


light hurt them. "Ten months onMars is no way to train up for aneastern summer. Barbie, don't hangon your old uncle, he's having troubleenough." He glanced at Matt andLucille, grinning ruefully, and madea pantomime of giving at the knees."I feel as though I'm wading inglue."

"Sit down on the porch," Lucillesaid. "There's a' little breeze-"

"In a minute," Fred said. "Butfirst, don't you want to see yourpresent?" He set the box down, ina shady spot u~der the big maple atthe corner of the house.

"Now Fred, what are you up to?"she demanded suspiciously. "Martian vases, indeed!"

"Well, it's not exactly a vase.It's more of a - ['II open it, Josh,you just stand back. This doesn'tconcern you." '

"Oh, Uncle Fred!" wailed Barbie,dancing up and down like a doll onstrings. "Open it up, please open itup."

Matt had put the suitcase insidethe door. Now he came and joinedthe others under the tree.

Fred opened the lid of the box.Then he sat back on his heels,watching the children's faces, andMatt thought, "He's been waitingfor this for nearly a year, dreamingit up •.. he should have marriedand had kids of his own."

Josh and Barbie let out one mingled cry, and then were still. For amoment.

"Is it really alive?"

TIlE TWEENER

"Can we touch it?""Will it bite?""Oh, Uncle Fred - oh, look - it

does belong to us, doesn't it?"Along the fence small boys and

girls impaled their meager bellieson the pickets in an effort to see.-Matt and Lucille peered down intothe box. On a mat of red sand anddry lichens a thing was crouching,a neat furry thing about the sizeof a big rabbit and not unlike onein outline, except that its ears werecup-shaped, and except that itscoat was mottled in the exact rustred and greenish gray of the nativesand and lichens. It looked up atthe unfamiliar faces with a sort ofmild incuriosity, it's eyes half shutagainst the glare, but otherwise itdid not move. .

"What on earth 'is it ?" askedLucille.

"Nothing," said Fred, "on Earth.On Mars, he's the dominant formof life - or was, until we came.In fact, he's the sole surviving mammal, and almost the sole survivingvertebrate. He' doesn't have anofficial name yet. It'll be years before the zoologists can d~ide ontheir classifications. But the boysout there call him tweener."

"What?" said Lucille."Tweener. Because he's sort of

between things. You know - ifanyone asked you what he was like,you'd say he was something betweena rabbit and a ground-hog, or maybebetween a monkey and a squirrel. Goahead, Barbie, pick him up."

77

",Now wait a minute," said Matt.He pushed Barbie back. "Wait justa minute. Fred, are you sure aboutthis thing? Is he safe? I don't wantthe kids bitten, or catching anything."

"Beside him" said Fred, "a rabbitis dangerous. The tweeners havehad no enemies for. so long they'veforgotten how to fight, and theyhaven't yet acquired any fear of.man. I've pulled 'em out of theirburrows with my bare hands."

He reached into the box andlifted the creature gently, cluckingto it. "Anyway, this qne has been apet all his life. I picked him especially because of that. He's acclimated to warmer temperaturesand approximately Earth-normalatmosphere, from living in a Basehut, and I thought he'd stand theshock of transplanting better." Heheld the tweener out. "Here, youtake him, Matt. You and Lucille.Set your minds' at rest."

Matt hesitated, and then receivedthe tweener into his hands. It feltlike - well, like an animal. Likeany small animal you might pickup. Warm, very thick-furred, perhaps more slight in the bone andlight in the muscle than he' had expected. It had no tail. Its hind legswere not at all rabbit-like, and itsforelegs were longer than he hadthought. It placed a paw on his.arm, a curious paw with three strongfingers and a thumb, and lifted itshead, sniffing. The sunlight wasbeighter here, falling in a shaft be-

78

tween the branches,' and the tweener's eyes were almost shut, givingit a look of sleepy imbecility. Mattstroked it awkwardly, once or twice,and it rubbed its head against hisarm. Matt shivered. "That softfur,n he said. "It tickles, sort of.Want him, Lucille?" .

She looked sternly at Fred. "Nogerms?"

"No. germs.""All iight."She took the tweener

the way she would have taken acat, holding him up under the forelegs and looking him over while hedangled, limp and patient. Finallyshe smiled. "He's cute. I thinkI'm going to like him." She sethim carefully on his feet in thegreen grass. "All right, you kids.And be careful you don't hurthim."

Once more Josh and Barbie werespeechless, if not silent. They layon the ground and touched andpatted and peered and took turnsholding, and the ragged fringe ofsmall bodies on the fence dripped andflowed inward until the yard wasfull of children and the strangerfrom Mars was hidden out of sight.

'''Kids,'' said Fred, and laughed."It's nice to see them again. Andnormal people."

"What do you mean, normal?"Fred said wryly, "I had to be

doctor and psychiatrist. I've hadxenophobes crawling all over mefor ten long months."

"Xeno - what?" asked Lucille."A two-dollar word for men who


fear unkown. When chaps got toworrying too much about what wasover the horizon, they were dumpedon me. But the heck with that.Take me somewhere cool and drownme in beer."

It was a long hot afternoon, anda long hot evening, and they belonged mostly to Fred. To thechildren he seemed ten feet highand shining with the hero..light.To the neighbors who dropped into say hello, he was a man who hadactually visited a place they stilldid not quite· believe in.

The children, the whole gaggleof them, hunkered in a circle aroundthe chairs that had been dragged tothe coolest spot in the yard.

"Is it like in the books, UncleFred? Is it?"

Fred groaned, and pointed to thetweener in Barbie's arms. "Get himto· tell you. He knows better thanI do."

"Of course he does," said Barbie;"John Carter knows everything.But-U

"Who?" asked Fred."John Carter. John Carter of

Mars."Fred laughed. "Good. That's a

good name. You get it, don't you,Matt? Remember all those wonderful Edgar Rice Burroughs storiesabout the Warlord of Mars, and theSwordsman of Mars, and the Gods·of Mars?" . ,

"Sure," said Matt, rather sourly."The kids read 'em all the time.John Carter is the hero, the kind

THE TWEENER

with a capital H." He turned to thechildren. "But John Carter was anEarthman, who went to Mars."

"Well," said Josh, scornfully im...patient of adult illogic, "he's a Mar~

tian who came to Earth. It's thesame thing. Isn't it, Uncle Fred?"

"You might say that, like theother John Carter, he's a citizen oftwo worlds."

"Yes," said Barbie. "But anyway, we can't understand his language yet, so you'll have to tell usabout Mars."

"Oh, all right," said Fred, andhe told them about Mars, about thedark canals and the ruined cities,about the ancient towers standingwhite .and lonely under the twinmoons, about beautiful princessesand wicked kings and mighty swordsmen. And after they had gone awayagain to play with John Carter,Matt shook his head and said, "You:ought to be ashamed, filling theirheads up with that stuff."

Fred grinned. "Time enough forreality when they grow up."

It got later, and the night closedin. Neighbors came and went. Theextra children disappeared. It grewquiet, and finally there was no oneleft but the Winslows and Fred.Matt went inside to the kitchenfor more beer..

From somewhere in the remotedarkness beyond the open windows,Barbie screamed.

The can he was opening fell outofMatt's hand, making a geyser offoam where it hit the floor. "If

79

that ·little - "he said, and did notstop to finish the sentence. He ranout the kitchen door.

Fred and Lucille had jumped up.Barbie's shrieks were coming fromthe foot of the lot, where/the garagewas, and now Matt could hear Joshyelling. He ran across the lawn andonto the drive. Lucille was behindhini, calling, "Barbie! JoshI What isit?"

In the dim reflection of light fromthe house, Matt could make outthe small figure ofJosh bent over andtugging frantically at the handleof the overhead door, which wasclosed tight. "Helpf" he panted."It's stuck, or" something."

Matt brushed him aside. Beyondthe door, in the dark garage, Barbiewas still screaming. Matt took holdof the handle and heaved.

It was jammed, but not so badlythat his greater strength could notforce it up. It _slid, clicking andgrumbling, into place, and Mattrushed into the opening.

Barbie was standing just inside,her mouth stretched over anotherscream, her cheeks running, streamsof tears. John Carter was besideher. He was standing on his hindlegs, almost erect, and the fingers ofone forepaw were gripped tightlyaround Barbie's thumb. His eyeswere wide open. In the kindly nightthere was no hot glare to botherthem. a~d they looked out, green·gold and very, very bright. Some'"thing rose up into Matt's throatand closed it. He reached out, and

80

Barbie shook off John Carter's gripand flung herself into Matt's arms.

"Oh, Daddy, it was so dark andJosh couldn't get the door open~"

Josh came in and picked up JohnCarter. "Aw, girls," he said, quitescornful now that the emergencywas ave"!. "Just because she getsstuck in the garage for a few minutes, she has to have hysterics."

"What in the world were youdoing?" Lucille demanded weakly,feeling Barbie all over.

"Just playing," said Josh, sulking."How should I know the old doorwouldn't work?"

"She's okay," Fred said. "Justscared."

Lucille groaned deeply "And theywonder why mothers turn gray atan early age. All right, you two, offto bed. Scoot!" -

Josh started toward the housewith Barbie,. still clutching JohnCarter.

"Oh, no," said Matt. "You'renot taking that thing to bed withyou." He caught John Carter bythe loose skin of his shoulders andpulled him out of the boy's arms.Josh spun around, all ready- to maketrouble about it, and Fred saidsmoothly, "I'll take him."

He did, holding him more gentlythan Matt. "Your father's right,Josh. No pets in the bedroom. And.anyway, John Carter wouldn't becomfortable there. He likes a nicecool place where he can dig hisown house and make the rooms justto suit him,"

FANTASY AND SCIENC~ FICTION

"Like a catacomb"?" asked Barbie,in a voice still damp and tremulous.

"Or a cave?" asked Josh."Exactly. Now you run along, and

your father and I will fix him up.""Well," said Josh. "Okay." He

held out a finger and John Carterwrapped a paw around it. Josh shookhands solemnly. "Good night."Then he lOoked up. "Uncle Fred, ifhe digs like a woodchuck, how comehis front feet are like a monkey's?"

"Because," said Fred, "he didn'tstart out to be a digger~ And he ismuch more like an ape than a woodchuck. But there haven't been anytrees in his country for a long time,and -he had to take to the groundanyway to keep warm. That's whatwe call adaptation." He turned toMatt. "How about the old rootcellar? It'd be ideal for him, ~if

you're still not using it for anything."No," said Matt slowly. "I'm

not using it." He looked at JohnCarter in the dim light from thehouse, and John Carter looked backat him with those bright unearthlyeyes.

Matt put a hand up to his head,aware that it had begun to ache."My sinus is kicking up - prob-ably going to rain tomorrow. Ithink I'll turn in myself, if you don'tmind."

"Go ahead, honey," Lucille said."I'll help Fred with the tweener."

Matt took two aspirin on topof his beer, which made him feel nobetter, and retired into a heavy~leep, through which stalked dark

THE TWEENER

and unfamiliar dreams that would notshow their faces.

The next day was Sunday. Itdid not rain, but Matt's head wenton aching.

"Are you sure it's your sinus?"Lucille asked.

"Oh, y~s. All in. the right side,frontal and maxillary. Even myteeth hurt."

."Hm," said Fred. "Don't ever goto Mars. Sinusitis is an occupationalhazard there, in spite of oxygen'masks. Something about the dif-ference'in pressure that raises hobwith terrestrial insides. Why, doyouknow-"

'~No," said Matt sourly, "andI don't want to know. Save yourgruesome stories for your medicalconference."

Fred winced. "I wish you hadn'tmentioned that. I hate the thoughtof New York in this kind of weather.Damn it, it's cruelty to animals.And speaking ofwhich -" he turnedto Josh and Barbie - "keep JohnCarter in the cellar until this heatwave breaks. At least it's fairly cooldown there. Remember he wasn'tbuilt for this climate, nor for thisworld. Give him a break."

"Oh, we will," said Barbie earnestly. "Besides, he's busy, buildinghis castle. You ought to see the wall.he's making around it."

Working slowly, resting often,John Carter had begun the con"struction of an elaborate burrow inthe soft floor of the old root cellar.

81

They went down and watched himfrom time to time, bringing upearth and then patting and shapingit with his clever paws into a neatrampart to protect his front door."To deflect wind and sand," Fredsaid, and Barbie, watching withfascinated eyes, murmured, "I'll bethe could build anything ,he wantedto, if he was big enough."

"Maybe. Matter of fact, he probably was a good bit bigger once,a long time'ago when things weren·'tso tough. But-"

"As big as me?" asked Josh."Possibly. But if he built any

thing then we haven't been able tofind it. Or anything at all that anybody built. Except, of course," headded hastily, "those cities I wastelling you about."

The heat wave broke that nightin a burst of savage line-squalls."That's what my head was complain"ing about," thought Matt, rousingup to blink at the lightning. Andthen he slept again, and dreamed,dim sad dreams of loss and yearning.In' the morning his head still ached.

Fred went down to New York forhis conference. Matt went to theoffice and stewed, finding it hard tokeep his mind on his work with thenagging pain in the side of his skull.He began to worry. He had neverhad a bout go on thiS long. He fidgeted more and more as the daywore on, and then hurried homeoppressed by a ,vague unease that hecould find no foundation for.

82

"All right?" Lucille echoed. "Ofcourse everything's all right. Why?"

"I don't know. Nothing. Thekids -?"

"They've been playing Martianall day. Matt, 'I've never seen themso tickled with anything it) theirlives as they are with that littlebeastie. And he's so cute and patient with them. Come here aminute."

She led him to the door of thechildren's room, and pointed in.Josh and Barbie arrayed in stripedbeach towels and some of Lucille'sjunkier costume jewelry, were engaged in a complicated ritual thatinvolved much posturing and waving of wooden swords. In the centerof the room enthroned on a chair,John Carter sat. He had a length ofbright cloth wrapped around himand a gold bracelet on his neck. Hesat perfectly still, watching thechildren with his usual half..liddedstare, and Matt said harshly, "Itisn't right."

"What isn't?""Any ordinary animal wouldn't

stand for it. Look at him, justsquatting there like a -" He huntedfor a word and couldn't ,find it.

"The gravity," Lucille remindedhim. ,;'He hardly moves at all,poor little thing. And it seems quitehard for him to breathe."

Josh and Barbie knelt side by_side in front of the throne, holding

their swords high in the air. "Kaorl"they cried to John Carter, andthen Josh stood up again and began

FAN~ASY AND SCIENCE FIcnON

to talk'in gibberish, but respectfully,as though addressing a king.

"That's Martian," said Lucille,and winked at Matt. "Sometimesyou'<;:I swear they were actuallyspeaking a language. <:Orne on .andstretch out on the couch a while,honey, why don't you? You looktired."

'''I am tired," he said. "And 1-"He stopped.

"What?""Nothing.'" No, nothing at all.

He lay down on the couch. Lucillewent into the kitchen. He couldhear her moving about, makingthe usual noises. Faintly, far off,he heard the children's voices. Some'"times you'd swear they were actuallyspeaking a language. Sometime you'dswear -

No. No you wouldn't. You knowwhat is, and what isn't. Even thekids know.

He dozed, and the children'svoices crept into his dream. Theyspoke in the thin and icy wind andmurmured in the dust that blewbeneath it, and there was no doubtat all now that they were-speaking atongue they knew and understood~

He called to them, but they didnot answer, and' he knew that theydid not want to answer, that theywere hiding from him somewhereamong the ridges of red sand thatflowed and shifted so that therewas never a trail or a landmark.He ran among the dunes, shoutingtheir names, and then there was atumble of ancient rock where a

mE TWEENER

mountain had died, and a hollowplace below it with a tinge of greenaround a meager pool. He knew thatthey were there in that hollow place.He raced toward it, racing thenight that deepened out of a skyalready dark and flecked with stars,and in the dusk a shape rose up andblocked his way.' It bore in its righthand a blade of grass - no, a sword.A sword, and its face was shadowed,but its eyes looked out at him, greengold and bright and not of theEarth-

"For heaven's sake, Matt - wakeupl" Lucille was shaking him. Hesprang up, still in the grip of hisdream, and saw Josh and Barbiestanding on the other side of theroom. They had their ordinaryclothes on, ~nd they were grinning,and Barbie said, "How can you havea nightmare when it's still daytime?"

"I don't know," said Lucille, "butit must have been a dandy. Comeon Matt, and get your dinner, before the neighbors decide I'm beatingyou."

"Other people's nightmares,"Matt snarled, "are always so funny.Where's John Clrter?"

"Oh, we put him back downcellar," Josh said, quite uncon"cerned. "Mom, will you get himsome more lettuce tomorrow? Hesure goes for it."

Feeling shamefaced and a little'sick, Matt sat down and ate hisdinner. He did not enjoy it. Nordid 'he sleep well that night, startingup more than onCe from the verge

83

of an ugly dream. Next day GulfTropical had come in again worsethan before, and his head had notstopped aching.

He went to his doctor, who couldfind no sign of infection but gavehim a shot on general principles. Hewent to his office, but it waS onlya gesture. He returned home atnoon on a two-day sick leave. Thetemperature had crept up to ninetyarid the humidity dripped out ofthe air in sharp crashing showers.

"I'll bet Fred's suffering in NewYork," Lucille said. "And poorJohn Carter! I haven't let the kidstake him out of the cellar at all."

"Do you know what he did,Daddy?" Barbie said. "Josh foundit this morning after you left."

"What?" asked Matt, with anedge in his voice.

"A hole," said Josh. "He musttve .tunneled right under the founda..tion. It was in the lawn, just out..side where the root cellar is. I guesshe's used to having a back door tohis castle, but I filled it in. I filledit real good and put a great bigstone on top."

Matt relaxed. "He'll only diganother."

Barbie shook her head. "He bet..ter not. I told him what wouldhappen if' he did, how a big dogmight kill h~, or he might get lostand never find his way home again."

"Poor little tyke," Lucille said."He'll never find his home again."

"Oh, the hell with him," Matt said

84

angrily. "Couldn't you ,waste alittle sympathy on me? I fe~llousy."

He went upstairs away from themand tried to lie down, but theroom was a sweat-box. He tossedand groaned and came down again,and Lucille fixed him iced lemonade. He sat in the shade on the backporch and drank it. It hit hisstomach cold and sour-sweet andit tied him in knots, and he got upto pace the lawn. The heat weighedand dragged at him. His headthrobbed and his knees felt weak.He passed the place where Josh hadfilled in the new tunnel, and fromthe cellar window he -heard thechildren's voices. He turned around

.. and stamped back into. the house."What are you doing down

there?" he shouted, through theopen cellar door.

Barbie's answer came muffled andhollow from the gloom below. "Webrought John Carter some ice tolick on, but he won't come out."She began to talk in a different tone,softly, crooning, calling. Matt said,"Come' up 'out of there before youcatch coldf"

"In a minute," Josh said.Matt went down the steps, his

shoes thumping on the woodentreads. They had not turned on the"lights, and what came through thesmall dusty windows was only enoughto show the dim outlines of things.He banged his head on a heatingduct and swore, and Barbie saidrather impatiently, "We said we'dbe up in a minute."


"What's the matter?" Matt de...manded, blundering around the furnace. "Am I not supposed to comedown here any more?"

"Sh-h f" Josh told him. "Ther~,

he's just coming out. Don't scarehim back in again!"

The door of the root cellar wasopen. The children were crouchedinside it, by the earthen rampartJohn Carter had constructed withsuch labor. In the circle of the rampart was a dark nole, and from itJohn Carter was emerging, veryslowly, his eyes luminescent in thegloom. Barbie put two ice cubes onthe ground before him,and he sethis muzzle against them and laypanting, his flanks pulsing in ashallow, uneven rhythm.

"You'll be all right," Josh toldhim, and stroked his head. To Matthe said, "You don't understand howimportant he is. There isn't anotherkid anywhere around who has a realgenuine Martian. for a pet."

"Come on," said Matt harshly."Upstairs." The clammy air wasmaking him shiver. Reluctantly thechildren rose and went past him.John Carter did not stir. He lookedat Matt, and Matt drew back,slamming the door shut. He followed the children out of the cellar,but in his mind's eye he could stillsee John Carter crouched behind hiswall in the dark, tortured by aworld that was not his, a world toobig, too hot, too heavy.

Crouched behind his wall in thedark, and thinking.

TIlE TWEENER

No. Animals do not think. Theyfeel. They can be lost, or frightened,or suffering, or a lot of things,but they're all feelings, not thoughts.Only humans think.

On Earth.Matt went out in the yard again.

He went clear to the back of itwhere the fence ran along the alley,and took hold of the pickets inhis two hands. He stood therestaring at the neighbor's'back fences,at their garages and garbage cans,not seeing them, feeling the vagueconviction that had been in theback of his mind grow and takeshape and advance to a point wherehe could no longer pretend he didn'tsee it.

"No," he said to himself. "Fredwould have known. The scientistswould know. It couldn't be, andnot be known."

Or couldn't it? How did youmeasure possibility on another world?

The only mammal, Fred had said,and almost the only vertebrate. Whyshould one sole species survive whenall the others were gone, unlessit had an edge to begin with, anadvantage?

Suppose a race. Suppose intelligence. Intelligence, perhaps, of asort that human men, Earthly men,would not understand.

Suppose a race an4 a world. ·Adying world. Suppose that racebeing forced to change with itsdying, to dw~dle and adapt, to loseits cities and its writings and inventions, or whatever had taken the

85

place of them, but not its mind.Never its mind, because mind wouldbe the only barrier against destruction.

Suppose that race, physically altered, environmentally destitute,driven inward on its own thoughts.Wouldn't it evolve all kinds ofmental compensations, powers noEarthman would suspect or lookfor because he would be thinkingin . terms of what he knew, ofEartWy life-forms? And wouldn'tsuch a race go to any lengths tohide its intelligence, its one lastweapon, from the strangers who hadcome trampling in to take its worldaway?

Matt trembled. He looked up atthe sky, and 'he knew what wasdifferent about it. It was no longera solid shell that covered him..It was wide open, ripped and tornby the greedy ships, carrying thegreedy men who had not beencontent with what they had. Andthrough those 'rents the Outsidehad slipped in, and it would neverbe the same again. Never more thesafe familiar Earth containing onlywhat belonged to it, only what mencould understand.

He stood there while a shower ofrain crashed down and drenchedhim, and he did not feel it.

Then again,. fiercely, Matt said,"No. I won't believe that, it's too -:it's like the kids believing theirgames ·while they play them."

But were they only- game¥He started at the sound ofLucille's

86

voice calling him in. He knewby the sound of it she was worried.He went back toward the house.-She came part way to meet him,demanding to know what he was·doing out in the rain. He let herchivvy him into the house and intodry clothes, and he kept telling herthere was nothing wrong, but ~he

was alarmed now and would notlisten. "You lie down." she saidand covered him with a quilt, andthen he heard her go downstairsand get on the telephone. He layquiet _for a few minutes, trying toget· hiin~,elf in hand, frightened andhalf ashamed of the state of hisnerves. Sweat began to roll off hfm.He kicked the quilt away. The airinside the room was thick withmoisture, heavy, stale. He foundhimself panting like-

Hell, it was no different from anysummer heat wave, the bedroom wasalways hot and suffocating. It wasalways hard to breathe.

He left it and went downstairs.Lucille was just getting up from

the phone. "Who were you calling?"he "asked.

"Fred," she said, giving him that·no-nonsense look she·got when shedecided that something had to bedone. "He said he'd be here in themorning. I'm going to find outwhat's the matter with you."

Matt said irritably, "But mydoctor -"

"Your doctor c;loesn't know youlike Fred does, and he doesn'tcare as much about you, either."


Matt grumbled, but it was toolate to do anything about it now.Then he began to think that maybeFred was the answer. Maybe if hetoldhim-

What?All right, drag it out, put it into

words. I think John Carter is morethan a harmless little beast. I thinkhe's intelligent. I think that hehates me, that he hates this Earthwhere he's been brought so casuallyas a pet. I think he's doing something to my children.

Could he say that to Fred?Lucille was calling the children

for supper. "Oh lord, they're downin that damp cellar ~gain. Josh,Barbie, come up here this minutel"

Matt put his head between -hishands. It hurt.,

He slept downstairs that night,on the living room couch. He haddone that before during heatwaves.It gave the illusion of being cooler.He dosed himself heavily with aspirin, and for a time he lapsed intoa drugged slumber full of darkshapes that pursued him over alandscape he could not quite seebut which he knew was 'alien andhateful. Then in the silent hoursbetween midnight and dawn hestarted up in panic. He could notbreathe. The air was as thick aswater, and a weight as of mountainranges lay along his chest, his thighs,his shoulders.

He turned on a lamp and'began tomove up and down, his chest heav-

mBTWEENER

ing, his hands never still, a glassyterror spreading over him, sheathinghim as a sleet storm sheathes atree.

The living room looked strange,the familiar things overlaid witha gloss of fear, traces everywhere ofJosh and Barbie, of Lucille andhimself, suddenly significant, suddenly sharp and poignantly symbolic as items in a Dali painting.Lucille's lending-library novel withthe brown paper cover, Lucille'sstiff Staffordshire figures on themantel staring with their stiff whitefaces. An empty pop bottle, no, twoempty pop bottles shoved guiltilybehind the couch. Small blue jacketwith the pocket torn, a drift ofcomic books under the lamp, hisown chair with the cushion wornhollow by his own sitting. Pat..terns. Wall-paper, slipcovers; rug.Colors, harsh and queer. He wasaware of the floor beneath his feet.It was thin. It was a skim of iceover a black pool, ready to crackand let him fall, into the place wherethe stranger lay, and thought, andwaited.

Allover Mars they lie and wait,he thought, in their places underthe ground. Thinking back andforth in the bitter nights, hatingthe men, human men who pullthem out of their burrows and killthem and dissect them and pry attheir brains and bones and nervesand organs. The men who tie ·littlestrings around their necks and put

~ them in cages, and never think to

87

look behind their eyes and seewhat lurks there.

Hating, and wanting their worldback.. Ha~ing, and quietly drivingmen Insane.

Just as this one is doing to me,he thought. He's suffering. He'sc~ushed in this gravity, and strangling in this air, and he's going tomake me suffer too. He knows hecan never go home. He knows he'sdying. Ho~ far can he push it?Can he only make me feel what he'sfeeling, or can he . . .?

Suppose he can. Suppose he knowsI'm going to tell Fred. Supposehe stops me.

After that, what? Josh? Barbie?Lucille?

Matt stood still in the middleof the floor. "He's killing me/' hethought. "He knows."

.He began to shake. The roomturned dark in front of him. He·wanted to vomit, but there was astrange paralysis creeping over him,tightening his muscles, knottingthem into ropes to bind him. Hefelt cold, as though he were already dead.

He turned. He did not run, hewas past running, but he walkedfaster with every step, stiffly, likea mechanical thing wound up andaccelerating toward a magnetic goal.He opened the cellar door, and thesteps took him down. He remem"bered to switch on the light.

It was only a short distance tothe north corner, and the halfopen door.

88

John Carter made a $Qund, theonly one Matt· had ever heard himmake. A small thin shriek, purelyanimal ~~ quite, quite brainless.

I t was the next morning, andFred had come on the early train.They were standing, all of them,grouped together on the lawn nearthe back fence, looking down. Thechildren were crying.

"A dog must have got him,"Matt said. He had said that before,but· his voice still lacked the solidconvicti~n of a statement knownand believed. He wanted to lookup and away from what lay on theground by his feet, but he did not.Fred was facing him.

"Poor little thing," said Lucille."I suppose it must have been adog. Can you tell, Fred?"

Fred bent over. Matt stared athis own shoes. Inside his. pockets,his hands were curled tightly into~sts. He wanted to talk. The temptation, the longing, the lust to talkwas almost more than he couldendure. He put the edges of histongue between his teeth and bit it.

After a minute Fred said, "Itwas' a dog."

Matt glanced at him, and now itwas Fred who scowled at his shoes.

"I hope it didn't hurt him,"Lucille said.

Fred said~ "I don't think it did."Miserably, between his sobs, Josh

wailed, "I used the biggest stoneI could find.~ I never thought hecould have moved it."

FANTASY AND SCIBNCE FICTION

"There, now," said Lucille, put·ting her arms around the children.She led them away toward thehouse, talking briskly, the usualmixture of nonsense and soundtruth that parents administer atsuch times. Matt wanted to goaway too, but Fred made no move,and somehow he knew that it wasno use going. He stood with his headdown, feeling the sun beat on theback of it like a hammer on aflinching anvil.

He wished Fred would say something. Fred remained silent.

Finally Matt said. "Thanks.""I didn't see any reason to tell

them. They'd find it hard to un·derstand."

"Do you understand?" Matt criedout. "I don't. Why did I do- sucha thing? How could I have donesuch a thing?"

"Fear. I think I mentioned thatonce. Xenophobia."

"But that's not - I mean, Idon't see how it applies."

"It's not just a fear of unknownplaces, but of unknown things. Anything at all that's strange and unfamiliar." He shook his head. "I'lladmit I didn't expect to find thatat home, but I should have thoughtof the possibility. It's somethingto remember."

"I was so sure," Matt said. "Itall fitted together, everything."

"The human imagination is a wonderful thing. I know, I've just putin ten months nursing it. I supposeyou had symptoms?"

mE TWEENER

"~, yes." Matt enumeratedthem. "Last night it got so bad Jthought -" He glanced at thesmall body. by his feet. "As soon asI did that it all went away. Eventhe headache. What's the word?Psycho-something?

"Psychosomatic. Yes. The guysout there developed everything fromcorns to angina, scared of wherethey were and wanting to leave it."

"I'm ashamed," Matt said. "Ifeel . . ." He moved his hands.

"Well," said Fred, "it was onlyan animal. Probably it wouldn'thave lived long anyway. I shouldn'thave brought it."

"Oh for Chrissake," Matt said,and turned away. Josh and Barbie

89

were coming out of the house again.Josh carried a box, and Barbie hada bunch of Bowers and a spade.They passed by the place on thelawn where the big stone had beenmoved and the hole opened upagain - only part way, and fromthe outside, but Matt hoped theywould not know ~hat. He hopedthey would not ever know that.

He went to meet them.He kneeled down and put an

arm around each of them. "Don'tfeel bad," he said desperately. "LookI'll tell you what we'll do. We'llgo and find the best place in thecountry to buy a.pup. Wouldn't youlike that, a fine new puppy, allyour own?"

Coming Next MonthF&SF is happy to announce the advent, in its next issue (on thestands in early February), of the Hokas, that wonderfully comicrace of illterstellar mimics created by Poul Anderson and Gordon R.Dickson. Perhaps you've read elsewhere the earlier exploits of thesedelightful teddybear-like threats to the sanity of the Galaxy; henceforth their adventures will appear exclusively in F&SF, starting ~ith

a novelet in which the Hokas, inspired as always by their loyalstudy of Terran culture, set up a piratical civilization, complete.withSpanish Main, cutlasses, yardarms and all other requisites. The t~tle

is, inevitably, Yo Ho Hoktl! The issue will also contain a strikingscience fiction novelet, The Short Ones, by the rapidly rising youngwriter Raymond E. Banks, and short stories by such luminaries asFrank Gruber, Idris Seabright, James Blish, John Anthony, andF&SF's highly individual discovery, Avram Davidson (rememberMy Boy/riend's Name ;s fetto?) - plus a detailed survey of sciencefantasy publishing in 1954 and a checklist of the year's outstandingboQks.

ANGELS AND SPACESHIPS, thl title of Il recent and aJmirll1Jle hook hy FredricBrown, is not" bMl Jefi"~tion of the gamut of man's imllginingJ. No matterhow much evidence may he tmkJ,rseJ by JchollJrs t~ J!rofJe the ,xistmel (insome time, at some place) of one or th, other, none of *.1 exp«ts to see eitherfm angel or " spaceship tomorrow. But there's SfJI'IU fJU,st;on, Mr. Porgesslyly suggests, as to .which might first he used to try to sotfJe the prohlems ofthis tormented glohe.

crhe cridings!Jy ARTHUR PORGES

IN THROUGH MY WINDOW FLEW TIllS

archangel.That's as good a place to hook it

as any, short of starting at thebeginning - and I mean the Beginning. I was mixed up with thisbusiness from the first, and my published reports didn't tell the wholestory by any means. Now thateverybody's taking it all so seriously,a few marginal notes might help.

It's not very surprising, whenyou consider the situation - thedesire for publicity - that one ofthe angels called on me among thefirst. After all, my column does reachat least as many readers as Winchell's,and on a more literate level. Ican't actually prove that the otherdozen or so Divine Messengers didn'tget to their men earlier, but mypaper hit .the stands ahead. of itsrivals. Besides, mine was an archangel, remember. A fine, personable

chap, even if rather naive. I'll callit "him/' although there's no wayof telling. Put it down to a malesuperiority complex.

I know what you're thinking: thatthis is one hell of a time to getflippant. Maybe so, but it's the'only way I can write, and further...more, I've never taken mankindor its ultimate fate very much toheart. Frankly, I prefer Siamesecats. Do me something.

It was a hot evening, that redletter one when all the fuss began.My window was wide open; I washaving a last pipe before reworkinga stubborn column. A column Inever did use, come to think of it.Anyway, in through my windowflew this archangel.

"Leonard J. Irwin," he cried ina ringing, melodious voice. "I bringa message."

Newspaper men can't ever admit

THE TIDINGS

to being surprised by anything thathappens; and right here, in print,I'll deny getting excited. I lookedhim over very calmly. Handsome;smooth, boyish face; golden hair,quite curly; Grecian type robes; and,of course, wings. Utterly, hopelesslynon-aerodynamic, those wings.You'll never convince me thatangels actually fly with them. It'sjust teleportation, or something.

"Leonard J. Irwin," he repeated(we never got to the first-namestage - he wouldn't even drop theinitial); "the One who sent me iswroth with humanity." This angelthrew in an archaic Biblical phrasehere and there, but his Englishwas otherwise like anybody else's.

I managed to answer without toomuch embarrassment. And give mecredit for not gasping out, "Whoare you?" Any damn fool couldsee. When a character with wingsand sandals flits through a windowten stories up, it's obvious he didn'tcome from Gimbel's.

"I'm a little wroth myself," Ireplied, showinggreat self-possession."And so are a lot of other people.We've been hoping, in fact, thatSomebody would, take a hand andput things in order before it's toolate. Welcome, and thrice welcome."

"So," he said, looking at mefixedly, ~'there is some concern."

"Concernl" I exploded. "Hell,yesl" He winced, and I knew hedidn't come from There. "Do youthink we like what's going on inRussia, or China, or -"

91

"Or anywhere else," he cut invery coldly.

"Touche," I admitted. "There's abit of skulduggery here and there.in the U. S., too. Who am I to denyit? But what's the remedy? I maybe a pessimist, but to me man is adisgusting animal. Personally, with...out being reactionary, I think anotherflood -.:... warm water, if you don'tmind -"

"Peace! The Prime Intelligencecannot repeat."

"Then it's pretty hopeless. Youneed something with teeth in it.There are too many places on earthwhere physical pain is a weapon ofstate as well as a personal, psycho"pathic pick-me-up for assortedbully-boys. How are you going toteach these jolly folks the Brother-hood of Man?" -

"We have the means, and theywill not fail. Harkl"

I cringed at that Hark. It alwayssuggests third-rate verse. "Yes?"I prompted him.

"My Master has decreed thefollowing new law for humanity.Hear it, remember it, make itknown to all the world. Whosoeverinflicts wanton pain upon anothershall, at the same time, and in thesame degree, fcel such pain himself."I could almost hear his unspokenepilogue: "How's that for a neatordinance?"

"Well," I began doubtfully, "itseems pretty cute, but-"

"But what?tt The archangelsounded a little piqued by my lack

92

of enthusiasm for his ingenious ukase.You see, he hadn't lived throughthe Volstead Era, and probablywas ignorant of the peculiar moresof motorists.

"I don't think it'll work, that'sall."

"And why not?" He seemed indignant. "It's flawless. If one manhurts another for no reason, he'llfeel the same pain himself. By thistoken, nobody will be in a hurryto maltreat the next fellow. Yetthe word 'wanton' leaves room forthe duties of surgeons and otherjustifiable pain-givers. In a matterof weeks, man will learn to "respect the sanctity of the individual,and do that which is right. Besides,a whole council of elder angelsapproved the law's soundness. Amen,I say unto thee, there are no loopholes."

"Maybe they did, but you angels- excuse my candor - are an ivorytower bunch, I'm afraid. Now, Idon't know just how peoplesome people~ will get around yourneat commandment, but believeme, when it comes to evading lawsin order to do himself dirt, man isthe all-time, copper-riveted, noholds-barred champion of the universe. It takes a newspaper hack,not an angel, to realize that." Iwas feeling unusually bitter, havingjust had dealings with a used cardealer known far and wide as SaintlySam.

"Unhappy manl" the angel reproved me. "0 thou of little faithl"


Then, with a mo~e businesslike ring:"Enforceable or not, see that thelaw gets known immediately."

When he took that tone, I didn'tmess around. "Yessir,'; I said. "Rightaway."

"Then my job's done. Woe tothe multitude if they transgressJSo long." And gathering his robeclose, he dived head-first out of mywindow. My stomach turned over,but when there was no clatter inthe florist's stall, ten stories down,I guessed he'd made flying speedokay.

Well, at first, as you all know,things looked good. Reports beganto pile in. The small town sheriffwho tried to pistol-whip a bum, andyelped in agony at the first blow.And the rapist who suddenly feltall the shock and terror of his prospective victim. They both fledscreaming in opposite directions,she unharmed, he unlikely to tryagain, and certain to fail in any case.And yet it wasn't long before otherstories, unpleasant ones, hit the bigdailies.

Sure enough, the archangel cameback. My window was closed, butwhen he fluttered around the glasslike an outsize moth, I let him in.He seemed glad to alight on something solid again. It must be quitea long trip from There to here, andnot especially congenial. No doubtour ambassador to Moscow wouldunderstand the angel's attitude.

I didn't say anything. Why rub

THE TIDINGS

it in? And after a minute he remarked dolefully, "Man is certainlytricky. Rebellion and sedition.againstthe Law flourish like the green baytree."

"Which particular ingenuity areyou thinking.--of?" I asked him, al~

though I had a pretty good idea."That trick in totalitarian coun

tries - and a few others - of usingmasochists to inflict the lighterpunishments. And the much morenasty device of lining up fifty ora hundred fanatic party· men, and.having each person give the victimone lash, or one burn, or one similaragony, thus dividing the poor fellow's torment among many executioners." He shook his goldenhead. "Diabolical!"

"Yes," I agreed. "I doubt ifmy Managing Editor could topthat stunt, and I'm sure he worksfor the D - the other. side."

"I'm glad you have the decencynot to mention that name in mypresence," he said frostily. "Butif you're implying man isn't toblame-"

"Not at all, but don't say I didn'twarn you." I spoke with a touch ofcomplacency. To be honest, I wasperversely proud of man's geniusfor law evasion. Still, I thoughtthere was something to be said inour behalf. "It's only a few. Mostpeople are" quite innocent -"

"There are no innocent humans,"he replied flady. "Only a smallnumber less guilty. Anyhow, itwon't hap~n again."

93

"Ah," I said. "You've acceptedmy advice about the flood. Good. Isuggest -"

"No. The law has been amended.There will be no evasion, now."Once again he stood erect, putting on.his hanging face. "Harkl 0 LeonardJ. Irwin: Whosoever inflicts wanton pain upon another shall, at thesame time, feel the same variety ofpain, but multiplied a thousandfold.You will note," he added somewhatsmugly, "that even a single whiplash would be uriendurable for thesmiter. No more division of pain."

"Your laws are too literal andspecialized," I protested. "And that'~

the trouble. If you'd merely makeeverylxxly incapable of evil-"

"Please don't try to teach us outbusiness," he snubbed me. "Manmust have free will to work outhis own salvation if such an end isto come to pass."

"Any more laws," I told him, "andman will be about as free as thefolks in Stalingrad on May Day.Why not do it right?" He ignoredme, so I said: '-'.You'll be back."

He gave me a solemn shake ofthe, head, then jumped, feet firstthis time. When I peeked out, hewas heading straight up in th<;general direction of Antares.

But, of course, he was back insix weeks. It was inevitable. Andhe had bags under his eyes.

"Now what?" I asked him, sincethe rumors from certain countrieswere rather confusing. One said

94that physiologists had found a wayof stimulating particular nerves sothat when the victim felt an unbearable twinge, the same stimulation multiplied a thousand timesbecame merely a pleasant tonic tothe torturer.

The archangel, very downcast,admitted this was so, and worse,some people had found anotherloophole in the new law: the use ofanimals - wild ones,- that is, inironic distinction from the animal,man.

"Hearken unto me," he com"plained. "They send the teeth ofbeasts upon them, or the stings ofangry bees. The creatures inflictpain, but not wantonly. Few loweranimals are capable of wantonness.As we conceived the law, wildbytsts and insects do not feel thepain they cause; and even if theydid, nothing would change. A lionin agony would attack all the harder"mad with torment."

:"But surely," I objected, "theperson who turned the animalsagainst his fellows is the guiltyparty."

"Verily, 0 Leonard J. Irwin,"the angel admitted with some confusion, "but we never dreamed ofsuch perverted inventiveness. If oneman lures another into a chamberfull of savage beasts, all he'll feelis .whatever apprehension the victim suffers before the brutes takeover. A clever villain can contriveto lead his enemy to doom withoutarousing any fear until it's too


late. I wonder," he added bitterly,"who thought of using wildanimals?"

"I don't know, but one'll getyou ten that plenty of brilliantcharacters came up with the ideasimultaneously. We have no lackof imaginative thinkers. This planetis lousy with such talent."

"So I see. But there won't beany more loopholes in the law. It'sbeen carefully revi -"

"Wanna bet?"He gave me one look from his

amber, cold-lit eyes, and I felt asif I'd been caught scribbling amustache on the Mona Lisa.

"This is ~he new law," he iJl.toned, not even standing up. A~parently he was tired of making abig show of the legislation and thenhaving the rug pulled out fromunder his very humanitarian statutes."Whenever wanton pain, 01 even dis'"comfort, is inflicted hy any human,using any agency whatever, uponanother human, every person in thewhole world not already undergoingmaltreatment shall ftel such painor discomfort in the same degree."

He looked at me triumphantly,and 1 thought it over. No moreuse of animals. The one employingthem would feel the pain. Good.Frankly, I was almost ready toadmit that this might be It. He sawmy hesitation, and his dour ex'"pression brightened.

"'They can't' get around that," heexulted. "Garments will wax oldupon you ere -"

THE TIDINGS

"1 won't give you ten-to-oneodds," 1 told him, "but if you're interested in even rnon~y -?"

"Don't be idiotic," he retorted."This is no game." He stepped tothe window sill. "I doubt if I'llbe back. This law is sound andfinds favor in our sight, so -"

"I'll make it three-to-one," Isaid hastily, my confidence in man"kind returning. But he was gone,making a whoosh like a jet plane.I ~hink he hurried to avoid temptation. There's something aboutgambling that not even an angelcan resist. .

Well, I'm almost up to date, now.He was back last night. I'd neverseen his face so coldly aloof, sostern, so essentially withdrawn.

"Okay, tell Poppa- how did theyscuttle you this time?"

There was a blending of respectand loathing in his tones. "Theytorture people in pairs," he said."They put one man naked in a refrigeration. room at ten below zeroFahrenheit, and another in a steamheated cell at 130 degrees; Bothmen suffer terribly, but every otherhuman being feels a combinationof minus ten and plus 130 degrees,which is the same, obviously"here he glanced at the scribblingson one broad wing-feather - "as

95

a . not uncomfortable 60 degreeS.""So," I said, a. bit sarcastically,

"you're back with The Solution.Well, I'm all ears. This one ought tosew us up tight."

"No," he replied, his voice likea deep-tolling bell. "I have an altogether different message - a finalone. Man is now on his own forgood. My Superior is herewith abdicating all responsibility for whatever happens on earth in the future.Howl, 0 gate; cry, 0 city!"

He made it sound pretty awful,and for a moment I felt chilled. "Iguess He's within His rights," I saidhumbly. I paused, thinking backover the long irrational, bloody,wholly incomprehensible history ofthe human race. There was something I'd always felt, and this wasa perfect chance to express it.The verdict was in, and the angelseemed to think we should creepaway utterly stricken. If there wasany justice in this sentence, iteluded me.

"But what?" the angel demanded,crouching for his last. takeoff. "Icharge thee speak, 0 Leonard J. -"

"The Abdication," I said boldly,looking him right in the eye. "Ifyou hadn't told us, we'd nevereven know the difference."

He left. without answering. I imagine there was nothing he could say.

'1{ecommended'1{eading!Jy THE EDITOR

NEXT MONTI! WE'LL HAVE F&SF's been previously reprinted; but Ispecial annual book department: a don't feel that's an objection in thecomplete survey of science-fantasy case of a volume aiming at suchpublishing during the past year, definitive representation ofthe year'swith an annotated list of the year's best.) BEYOND THE BARRIERS OP

outstanding books. This month the SPACE AND TIME (Random, $2.95*)space for books·is a little short, but is edited by Judith Merril- a factenough to allow some last..minute sufficient in itself to mean imper~

notes on the publications of late tive purchase. Add that it deals with1954. those odd aspects of the human

Anthologies: The year's twenty'* mind known as psi-phenomena andsecond and twenty-third (and, I that it contains unusually fine un~

venture to hope, last) anthologies reprinted stories by Phillip K. Dick,are, by good fortune, among ~he best, Isaac Asimov, Theodore R. Cogs~

and strongly reconunended even to ,well and many others (including 4the anthology-jaded. TIlE BEST SCI- F&SF stories), plus a delightfulENCE"PICTION STORIES: 1954 (Fell, preface by Theodore Sturgeon and$3.50*) is one of the most satisfac... notes and bibliography by the edi'*tory of the always indispensable tor, and what more can you ask?Bleiler-Dikty annuals - if I can Novels: There's been a spate ofjudge it impersonally: 5 of the 13 novels this year by Old Space Handstories, representing 50% of the Murray Leinster: 3 earlier and 3wordage, are from F&SF. I think more to report on now. Best of theeven rival editors will admit that lot is the cheapest, nIE BRAIN"

such stories as Ward Moore's .Lot STEALERS (Ace, 35c; serialized inand J. T. Mcintosh's One in Three Startling in 1947 as mE MAN IN TIlE

Hundred do belong among the best, IRON CAP), in which an overfamiliarjust as I happily welcome topnotch theme (invasion of earth by para"stories by Fritz Leiber and William sitic telepaths) is developed so con'"Morrison from Galaxy and by Wal'* vincingly and excitingly that itter M. Miller, Jr. and the Clifton.. i seems spang new again. TIlE PORGOT~

Apostolides t~ from Astounding. TEN PLANET (Gnome, $2.50*; re4'(Note: A number of the stories have written from stories in Amazing in

96

RECOMMENDED READING

1927) is an interminable sequence ofwars against giant insects, whichseems pr~tty outmoded today. opERATION: OUTER SPACE (Fantasy'Press, $3*; never previously published) has fun satirizing the conquest of space under TV-commercialsponsorship; only a slight lack ofgenuine bite and emotion (cf. Kornbluth's stories on similar themes)keeps it from being a front-ranker.Poul Anderson deserts science fiction for absolute epic fantasy in TIlE

BROKEN SWORD (Abelard-Schuman,$2·i5*) , a magnificent saga of theinterplay of gods, demigods, faerie,heroes and men in the Ninth Century; if, like me, you find clarionexaltation in the works of H. RiderH~ggardor E. R. Eddison, this is onno account to be missed. JefferyLloyd Castle's SATELLITE E ONE

(Dodd, Mead, $3*) is, I reluctantlys~ppose, worthwhile for its detailedfactual thinking about satellite problems; it is also easily the year's dullest novel.

Juveniles: The satellite themecomes off much better in Lester delRey's STEP TO TIlE STARS (Winston,$2*), in which comparabl~ factprobability is fused with a goodstudy of a boy's emergence fromadolescence into manhood. Alsorecommended: LUCKY STARR AND

THE OCEANS OF VENUS (Doubleday,$2.50*), much the best of this seriesby Paul French [Isaac Asimov],combining plausible adventure, interesting alien life-fotms and a sounddetective story, and An~re Norton's

97

THE STARS AREOU~S (World, $2.75*),a good adventure story of resistahceto an anti-science dictatorship and apleasing travelog of man's first alienplanet. An unclassifiable juvenileitem is the adventure. of Tom Corbett, Space Cadet, arranged for theView-Master by Florence Thomas.

-The story is slight -and passable; thestereoscopic reproduction is extraordinarily fine, and the portrayals ofalien life and of deep space havegreat .charm and authentic ~auty.

For details of the View-Master, thisastonishing modern. stereopticon,write to Sawyer's Inc., Box 490,Portland, Ore.

Humor: I don't think F&SF readers need more than an announcement of the availability of WaltKelly's THE INCOMPLEAT POGO (Simon & Schuster, $1*), a collection(better integrated than earlier an-nuals) of the 1953 daily strips of thisincomparable comic. You mightfind a mad kind of entertainment,certainly verging on fantasy, inDAU'S MUSTACHE (Simon & Schuster, $1.50*), in which the Spanishsurrealist and photographer Philippe(THE FRENCHMAN) Halsman joinforces in a deliberate (and highlysuccessful) attempt "to create awork of major preposterousness."There ~re only a few fantasy cartoons (but good ones) in Bill Yates'sTOO FUNNY FOR WORDS (Dell, 25c);but the idea of an anthology ofcaptionless cartoons is so admirableand the choices so amusing that itdeserves recommendation here.

98 mE EDITORS...,

History and Bibliography: Very Charles Lee Riddle's THB ~I953

few regular science--fantasy readers CHECKDEX (25c; order from Riddle,are, in the technical sense, Jans; but 108 Durham St., Norwich, Conn.)'even those who have (to my mind, is a complete listing by author of allmistakenly) shunned fan--activity stories in all of the 39 (!) science.. I

will find much of interest in Sam fantasy magazines published in 1953,Moskowitz' THE IMMORTAL STORM and indispensable to students and($S; oI:der from Carson F. Jacks, collectors.ASFO Press, 713 Coventry Road, Reprints: Top priority recommenDecatur, Ga.), a 135,ooo--word his... dations to two of 1953's many exceltory of every least action of organ- lent novels, both towering overized fandom from 1930 to 1939. most of the 1954 crop: Arthur C.Never has so much been written Clarke's AGAINST THE FALL OF

about'so little; the result is a unique NIGHT (Permabooks, 25c) and Frit~

document not without a good deal Leiber's THE GREEN MILLENNIUM

of social and psychological value. (Lion, 35c).

• Books marked with an asterisk may be ordered through F &SF's Readers' BookService.

1\l,ew 1{eaders' 1Joolc Service

Bec~usebookstores are less common than they should be, and storeswith a complete science-fantasy stock are even scarcer, you can noworder direct from us any hard-cover book reviewed in this -magazineduring the past year, including this month's fine selections! (SorrYtbut we cannot offer this service on paper-bound books.)

By ordering through Fantasy House you are as~ured of quick, efficient service; you save valuable time; and you save on postage. Turnto page 12.8 for the handy order coupon and a partial listing of someof the excellent books available.

Very often your letters Ask why MAnly Wade Wellman doesn't puhlish a hookof the adventures of the roving hallad-singer 1UIme of ]-ohn, and point outthat such a hook would be a villuahte contribution, not only to fantasy,but to American folklore. Well, the only reast»;l that there isn't an entir,

- hook of John is that not 'iuite enough of his strange experiences h(lve heenrecorded as yet./ hut I can assure you that there are more on the way to rounaout a full-si'{ed volume very soon - and the line of eager and percipientpuhlishers will please form on the right. Meanwhile here is John again artist, wanderer, sometimes a detective, sometimes a sort of· magician, andalways a friend - learning the secret of the gold mined hy the Ancientsin the Jouthern mountains . .. anti of what manner of thing the Ancientsset to guard it.

Shiver in the Pineshy MANLY WADE WELLMAN

WE SAT ALONG THE EDGE OF MR. my guitar and began the old tunefulHoje Cowand's porch, up the high one:hills of the Rebel Creek country. Choose your partner as you go,Mr. Hoje himself, and his neighbor Choose your partner as you go.Mr. Eddy Herron who was a widow-man like Mr. Hoje, and Mr. Eddy's "Yippeehool" hollered old Mr.son Clay who was a long tall fellow Eddy. "You sure enough can playlike his daddy, and Mr. Hoje's that, John! Come on,- ch~se partpretty-cheeked daughter Sarah Ann, nees and dance!"who was courting with Clay. And Up hopped Clay and Sarah Ann,me. I'd stopped off to hand-help on the level-stamped front yard,Mr. Hoje build him a new pole and I played it up loud and sang,fence, and nothing would do him .and Mr. Eddy called figures forbut I'd stay. two-three days. Supper them.to step to:had been pork and fried apples and "Honor your partner! .•. Swingpone and snap beans. The sun made your partner! ... Do-si..do! ..•to set, and they all asked me to sing. Allemand right!" Till I got to one

So I picked the silver strings on" last chorus and I sang out loudly:

99

100

Fare thee well, my charming gal,Fare thee well, I'm gonelFare thee well, °my charming gal,With golden slippers onl

'''Kiss your partner and turn herloosel" whooped out Mr. Eddyas I stopped. Clay kissed Sarah Annthe way you'd think it was hiswhole business in life, and SarahAnn, up on her .. little toes, kissedhim back.

"Won't be no better singing anddancing the day these young onesmarry up," said Mr. Hoje. "Andno fare thee wells then."

"And I purely wish I could buyyou golden slippers, Sarah Ann,"said Clay as the two sat down together again.

"Gold's where you find it," quotedMr. Eddy from the Book. "Clay,you might ransack round them old

. lost mines the Ancients dug, thatnobody knows about. John, your~member the song about them?"

I remembered, for Mr. Eddy andMr. Hoje talked a right muchabout the Ancients and their mines.I sang it':

Where were they, where were they,On that gone and vanished dayWhen they shoveled for their treasure

of gold? .In the pines, in the pines,Where the sun netler shines,And I shiver when the wind blows

cold. •••

As I stopped, a throat rasped,loud. "Odd," said somebody, walk-

FANTASY AND ~CIENCE FICTION

ing into the yard, "to hear thatsong just now."

We didn't know the somebody.He was blocky-made, not youngnor either old, with a store suit anda black hat~ like a man running fordistrict judge. His square face lookedBat and white, like a face drawn onpaper.

"Might I sit for a minute?" heasked, mannerly. "I've come a long,

,long way.""Take the door-log, and welcome,"

Mr. Hoje bade him. "My name'sHoje Cowand, and this is mydaughter Sarah Ann, and these arethe Herrons, and this here's John,who's a-visiting me. Come a longway, you said? Where from, sir?"

"From going to and fro in theworld," said the stranger, liftingthe hat from his smoke-gray hair,"and from walking up and downin it."

Another quotation from theBook;and if you've read Job's first chapter, you know. who's· supposed tohave said it. The man saw how wegopped, for he smiled as he satdown and stuck out his dustyshoes.

"My name's Reed Barnitt," hesaid. "Odd, to hear talk of theAncients and their mines. For I'veroved around after talk of them."

"Why," said Mr. Hoje, "folkssay the Ancients came into thesemountains before the settlers. Closeto four hundred years back."

"That long, Mr. Hoje?" askedyoung Clay.

SHIVER IN THE PINES 101

"Well, a tree was cut that growed- when the wind blows cold." Hisin the mouth of an Ancients' mine, smile at me was tight.near Horse Stomp," Mr. Hoje al- "I was there three-four timeslowed. "Schooled folks counted the when I was a chap, but not lately,rings in the wood, and there was for folks allows there's haunts there.full three hundred. It was before I saw a right much quartz layingthe Yankee war they done that, so around, and I hear tell gold comesthe tree seeded itself in the mine- from quartz rock."hole four hundred years back, or "Gold," nodded Reed Barnitt.near about." He put his hand inside his coat.

"The time of the Spaniards," "You folks are treating me clever,"nodded Reed Barnitt. "Maybe he ~d, "and I hope you let meabout when de Soto and his Spanish make a 'gift. Miss Sarah Ann, Isoldiers crossed these mountains." myself don't have use for these,

"I've heard tell the Ancients was so if you'd accept -"here around that time," put in What he held out was goldenMr. ~ddy, "but I've likewise heard slippers, that shone in the downtell they wasn't Spanish folks, nor going sun's last suspicions.either Indians." Gentlemen, you should have heard

"Did they get what they sought?" Sarah Ann cry out her pleasure,wondered Reed Barnitt. you should have seen the gold shine

"My daddy went into that Horse in her eyes. But she drew backStomp heading once," ~id Mr. the hand she put out.Eddy. "He said it run back about "I couldn't," she said. "Wouldn'tseven hundred foot as he stepped be fitting to."it, and a deep shaft went down at "Then I'll give them to thisthe end. Well, he figured no mortal young man." Reed Barnitt set the,soul would dig so far, saving he slippers in Clay's lap. "Young sir,'found what he was after." He had I misdoubt if Miss Sarah Ann wouldhold of M~. Hoje's jug, and now he refuse a gift at your hands."pushed it toward Mr. Barnitt. "Have The slippers had high iteels anda drink?" pointy toes, and they shone like

"Thank you kindly, I don't use glory. Clay smiled at Sarah Ann andit. What did the Ancients want?" ... gave them to her. To see her

"I've seen only one of their smile back, you'd think it was Clay,mines, over the ridge yonder," and not Reed Barnitt, had takenand Mr. Hoje nodded through the them from nowhere for her. ""dusk. "Where they call it Black ~'I do thank you kindly," saidPine Hollow -" Sarah Ann. She shucked off her

"Where the sun never shines," Scutfy old shoes, and the goldenput in Mr. Barnitt, "and I shiver slippers fitted her like slippers made

102

to the measure of her feet. "John,"she said, "was' just singing aboutthings like this."

"Heard him as I came up trailfrom Rebel Creek," said Reed. Barnitt. "And likewise heard him sing ofthe Ancients in Black Pine Hollow."His square face looked at us around."Gentlemen," he said, "I wonder ifthere's heart in you all to go therewith me."

We gapped again. Finally Claysaid, "For gold?"

"For what else?" said. Reed Barnitt. "Nobody's found it there,because nobody had the special wayto look for it."

Nary one of us was really surprised to hear what the man said.There'd been such a story as longas anybody had lived around RebelCreek. Mr. Hoje drank from thejug. Finally he said, "In what respect a special way, Mr. Bamitt?"

"I said I'd roved a far piece. Iwent to fetch a spell that wouldshow the treasure. But'I can't do italone." Again the white fac~ traveledits look over us. "It takes fivefolks - men, because a womanmustn't go into a mine."

We knew about that. If lady-folksgo'down a mine, there'll be somethingbad befall, maybe a miner killed.

"You've been kindly to me,"said Reed Barnitt. "I feel likeasking you, will you all come helpme? Mr. Cowand, and Mr. Herron,and you his sOn, and you, John. Fivewe'd seek the treasure of theAncientsand five ways we'd divide it."


Sa-rah Ann had her manners withher. "I'll just go do the dishes,"she said to us. "No, Clay, don~t

come help. Stay and talk here."Reed Barnitt watched h~r go into

the house. She left the door open,and the shine from the hearthgave us red light after sundown.

"You're a lucky young rooster,"Reed Barnitt said to Clay. "Afifth chunk of the Ancients' treasure would sure enough pleasurethat girL"

"Mr. Barnitt, I'm with you,"Clay told him quick.

"So am I," said Mr. Eddy, because his son had spoken.

"I don't lag back when others goforward," I added on.

"Count on me," finished Mr..Hoje for us. "That makes five, likeyou want it, sir. But you studied thething' out and got the spell. Youshould have more than a fifth ofwhatever we find."

But the white square face shooksideways. "No. Part of the businessis that each of the five takes hisequal part, of the doing and ofthe sharing. That's how it must,be. Now - we begin."

"Right this instant?" asked Clay."Yes," said Reed Barnitt. "Stand

round, you all."He got up from the door-log and

stepped into the yard, and the restof us with him. "The first part of thespell," he said. "To learn if the Ancien15 truly left a treasure."

Where the hearth's red glimmershowed on the ground in front of

SHIVER IN THE PINES

the door, he knelt down. He pickedup a stick. He marked in the dirt.

"Five-pointed star," he said. Itwas maybe four feet across. "Standat the points, gentlemen. Yes, likethat."

Rising, he took his place at thefifth point. He Bung away thestick', and put a white hand intothe side pocket of his coat. "Si..lence," he warned us, though hedidn't need to.

He stooped and flung somethingdown at the star's center. Maybeit was powder, though I'm not sure,for it broke out into fire quick,and shone like pure white heatyanked in a chunk from the heart ofa furnace. I saw it shine sIckly onthe hairy faces of Mr. Hoje andMr. Eddy, and Clay's young jawsand cheeks seemed dull and drawn.Reed Barnitt needed no speciallight to be pale.

He began to speak. "Moloch,Lucifer," he said in a voice likepraying. "Anector, Somiator, sleepye not, awake. The strong heroHoloba, the"' powerful Ischiros, themighty Manus Erohye - showus thetruthl Amen."

Again his hand in his pocket,and he brought out a slip of paperthe size of a postcard, whiter thanwhite in the glow. He handed itto Clay, who was nearest him."Breathe on it," said Reed Barnitt, '"and the others do likewise."

Clay breathed on it, and passedit to Mr. Hoje. Then it came tome, and to Mr. Eddy, and back to

1°3

Reed Barnitt~ He stooped again,and held it above that sick-whiteheat. Back he jumped, quick, andyelled out loud, "Earth on thefire! Smother it before we losethe true word!"

Clay and his father flung on dirt.Mr. Hoje and Reed Burnitt walkedside by side to the porch,· whispering.together. Then Mr. Hoje calledin to Sarah Ann, "Fetch out thelamp, honey."

She did so. We gathered roundto look at the paper. Writing wason it, spidery-looking and rough,the way you'd think it was writtenin mud instead of ink. Reed Barnittgave it to Sarah Ann. '

"Your heart is good," he said."Read out what it says for tis."

She held the lamp in 'one hand,the paper in the other.

"Do right, and prosper," sheread, soft and shaky, "and whatyou seek is yours. Great treasure.Obey orders. To open the way,burn the light -"

"We put out the light," saidClay, but Reed Barnitt waved himquiet.

"Turn the paper over, Miss SarahAnn," said Reed Barnitt. "Lookslike more to read on the other side."

She looked at more muddy-looking scrawl on the back. She wenton:

"Aram Harnam has the light. Buyit from him, but don't tell himwhy. He is wicked. Pay what heasks. The power is dear and scarce."

She looked up. "That's all it

1°4

says," she told .us, and gave thepaper back to .Reed Barnitt.

We all sat down, the lamp on theporch floor among us. "Anybodyknow that man, what's-his-name?"asked Reed Barnitt.

"Yes," answered Mr. Hoje. "Weknow Aram Harnam."

.At least, I'd heard what othersalong Rebel Creek said about AramHarnam, and it wasn't good. .

Seems he'd gone to a college tobe a preacher. But that collegesent him to be tried, with a sermonto some folks in another county.His teachers went to hear. Whenhe had done, as I heard it told,those teachers told Aram Harnamthat from what he'd said undername of a sermon they .wanted himto pack his things and leave thecollege before ever another sun rose:

So he came back to .Rebel Creek.One night he went up on a baldhill most folks stayed away from,and put his hand on his head andsaid that all beneath his hand couldbe Satan's property. After that, hedid witch-doctoring. Nobody likedhim but ary man, woman and childin the Rebel Creek county fearedhim.

"I take it that Aram Harnam'sa bad man," Reed Barnitt suggested.

"You take it right, sir," allowedMr. Eddy. "So does whoever wroteon that paper."

"Wrote on the paper?" ReedBarnitt said after him, and held itout to the light. It was white and


empty; so was the other side whenhe turned that up. .

"The writing's. been taken back,"he said, nodding his pale face aboveit. "But we all remember what itsaid. We must buy the light, and notlet Aram Harnam know why wewant it."

"When do we go see him?"asked Mr. Hoje.

"Why not now?" said Reed Barnitt, but Mr. Hoje and Mr. Eddyspoke against that. Neither of themwanted to be trucking round AramHarnam's place in the dark of night.We made it up to· meet tomorrowmorning for breakfast at Mr. Eddy's,then go.

Mr. Eddy and Clay left. Mr.Hoje and Sarah Ann made uppallets for Reed Barnitt and mejust inside the front door. ReedBarnitt slept right off quick, butI lay awake a good spell. There wasa sight of hoot owls hooting in thetrees round the cabin, and a sightof thoughts in my head.

Way I've told it so far, you mightwonder why we came in so quickon Reed Barnitt's spell and scheme.Lying there, I was wondering thesame thing. It came to mind thatClay had first said he'd join. Thatwas for Sarah Ann, and Clay without land or money, wanting tomarry her and have enough tomake her happy. After Clay spoke,Mr. Eddy and Mr. Hoje felt boundto do the same, for with them thekingdom and the -power and theglory tied up to their young ones,

SHIVER IN THE PINES

and they wanted to see themwed .and happy. Mr. Hoje special.He worked hard on a little place,with corn patches on terraces upslope you had to hang on with onehand while you chopped weedswith the other, and just one cowand two ho~ in his pens.

I reckoned it was hope, morethan belief, that caused them tosay yes to Reed Barnitt. And mewell, I'd gone a many miles andseen a right much more thingsthan any of my friends, and someof the things not what you'd calleveryday things. I reckon I washoping, too, for a good piece ofluck for Clay and Sarah Ann. Neverhaving had anything myself, orexpecting to, I could anyhow seehow he and she wanted something.So why not help out? Maybe, oneor two things I'd watched happen,I could know to help out morethan either of their fathers.

Figuring like that, I slept at last,and at the dawn gray we up tomeet at Mr. Eddy's.

My first look at Aram Harnam,sitting in front of his low-built littleshanty, I reckoned I'd never seena hairier man, and mighty fewhairier ·creatures. He had a juniperbark basket betwixt his patchedknees, and he was picking over a'mess of narrow-leafed plants in it.His hands crawled in the basketlike black-furred spiders. Out between his shaggy hair and his shaggybeard looked only his bright eyes

1°5

and his thin brown nose, and ifhe smiled or frowned at us, nonecould say. He spoke'\ up with aboom, and I recollected how oncehe'd studied to preach.

"Hoje Cowand," he said, '~you're

welcome, and your friends, too.I knew 'you all was coming."

"Who done told you that?" askedMr. Hoje.

"Little bird done told me," saidAram Harnam. "Little black birdwith green eyes, that tells me amany things."

It minded me of the Ugly Bird,that once I killed and freed a wholedistrict of folks from the scare of it.

"Maybe your little bird toldyou what we want," said Mr. Eddy,standing close to Clay, but AramHarnam shook his head.

"No sir, didn't say that." Heset down the basket. "I'm a-waitingto hear."

Mr. Hoje introduced Reed Barnitt and me, and neither of usnor yet Aram Harnam made offerto shake hands.

"It's' a light we want of you,Aram Harnam," said Mr. Hojethen. "A special kind of light."

"Oh." Aram Harnam leaned backagainst the logs of his shaQty. "Thelight that shows you what you'dmiss else? I can fix you such a'light."

"How much?" asked Clay.Aram Harnam's furry hand fid

dled in his beard. "It's a scarcething, that light. Cost you five,hundred dollars."

106

"Five hundred dollarsl" whoopedout Mr. Eddy.

The eyes among all AramHarnam's hair came to me. "Hearthat echo, son?" he asked me."Right clear today - these hillsand mountains sure enough giveyou back echoes." Then, to Mr.Eddy. "Yes, sir. Five hundred dollars."

Mr. Hoje gulped. "We ain't·gotthat kind of money."

"Got to have that kind of moneyfor t~t kind of light," said AramHarnam.

"Step aside with. me, gentlemen," said Reed Barnitt, and AramHarnam sat and watched us pullback a dozen or twenty steps totalk with our heads together.

"He knows something," Reed Barnitt whispered, "but not everything, or I judge he'd put his pricehigher still. Anyway, our spell lastnight told us there's treasure, andwe need the light to find it."

"I ain't got but forty dollars,"said Mr. Eddy. "Anybody else gotenough to put with my forty dollars to make five hundred?"

"Twenty's all I have," ReedBarnitt told us, and breathed longand worried. "That's sixty so far.John?"

"Maybe the change in my pocketswould add up to a dollar," I said."I'm not right sure. u

Aram Harnam laughed, or coughed,one. "You all make a big thingout of five hundred dollars," hecalled to us. .


Mr. Hoje faced around and walkedback toward him. "We .don't haveit."

"Cash," said Aram Harnam afterhim.. "I might credit you, HojeCowand."

"Five hundred dollars' worth?"asked Mr. Hoje. "What on?"

"We-ell ..." The word cameslow out of the hair and whiskers."You've got a piece of land, anda house, and a cow and a pig ortwo ..."

"I can't give you those," 1-1r.Hoje put in.

"You could put them up. AndMr. Eddy could put up his place,too.U

"The two places are worth plentymore than five hundred dollars,"Mr. Eddy started to argue.

"Not on the tax. bi.lls, the way lhear from my little green~eyed

black bird."Reed Barnitt beckoned us round

him again. "Isn't there ,any way toraise the money?" he whispered."We're just before finding a fortune."

Mr. Hoje and Mr. Eddy shooktheir heads.

"Gentlemen, we've as good asgot that Ancients' treasure," ReedBarnitt said, and 'rummaged moneyfrom his pocket - a wadded ten,a five and some Qnes. "I'll risk mylast cent, and take it back fromoff .the top of whatever find. Youothers can do the same."

"Wait," said Mr. Hoje.He put his arm around Mr.

SHIVER IN nIE PINES

Eddy's neck, and the two of the~mumbled together a while, and weothers watched. Then they turned,both of them, and went back toAram Harnam.

"We'd want a guarantee," saidMr. Hoje.

"Guarantee?" repeated AramHarnam. "Oh, I'll guarantee the.light. Put it in writing that it'llshow you what you seek.'.'

"Draw us up some loan papers,"said Mr. Eddy. "Two hundred andfifty dollars credit to each of us,against our places, and a guaranteethe light will work, and sixty·days oftime."

Mr. Eddy spoke sharp and deeply.Aram Harnam looked at him, thenwent into the shanty. He broughtout a tablet of paper and an inkbottle and an old stump of a pen.He wrote two pages, and when Mr.Hoje and Mr. Eddy read them overthey signed their names.

Then Aram 'Harnam bade uswait. He carried "the papers back inside. What he did in there tooktime, and I watched part of itthrough the open door. He mixedstuff in a pot - I thought I smelledburning sulphur, and once something sweet and spicy, like whatincense must smell like. There wasother stuff. He heated it so itsmoked, then worked it with thosefurry hands. After while he fetchedout what he'd made. It was a bigrough candle, as big around asyour wrist and as long as your armto the elbow. Its wick looked like

i I 07

gray· yarn, and the candle wax wasdirty black.

"Light it at midnight," he said,"and carry it forward. .It'll go outat the place where you'll find yourwish. Understand?"

We ·said we understood."Then good day to you all,"

said Aram Harnam.

Nobody felt the need of sleepthat night. At eleven o'clock byMr. Hoje's big silver turnip watch,we started out to cross the ridgeto Black Pine Hollow. Clay wentfirst, with a lantern. -Reed Barnittfollowed, with the candle. Thenme, with my guitar slung on myback because I had a notion tocarry it along, and a grubbinghoe in my hand. Then Mr. Hojewith a spade, and Mr. Eddy lastof all with a crowbar. Sarah Annwatched us from the door, untilwe got out of her sight.

Not. much of a trail led to BlackPine Hollow, for folks don't gothere much. Last night's hoot owlswere at it again, and once or twicewe heard rattlings to right and left,like things keeping pace with usamong the bushes. Down into thehollow we went, while a breezeblew down on tis, chill for thattime of year. I thought, but didn'tsing out loud:

In thepines, in the pines,Where the sun never shines,And I shiver when the wind blows

cold .

108 FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION

"Where's this mine?" asked Reed think a hunk of coal would showBarnitt. white. Maybe the lantern was smok-

"I can find it better than Clay," ing; it made just a pool of dim glowcalled Mr. Hoje. He pushed ahead for us. Reed Barnitt struck a matchand took the lantern. The light on the, seat of his' pants and set itshowed duller and duller, the deeper to the yarny wick of that fivewe went into the hollow; it showed hundred dollar candle. It blazed upa sort of dim brown, the way you'd clean. and strong, like the lightthink that moonless night ~was try- Reed Barnitt had made in the middleing to smother it. Around us crowded of the star when it cast the spell.the black pines the hollow was We saw where we were.named after. For my own comfort Seemed as if once there'd beenI reached back and tweaked a silver a long. hallway cut in the brownguitar-string, and it rang so loud • rock, but rocks had fallen down.we all jumped. They lay one on top of the other

"Now," said Mr. Hoje, after a before us, shutting us away fromlong, long while, "I think this the hall, so that we stood in a littlemust be it." space not much bigger than Mr.

He turned off among a thick Hoje's front room. To either sidebunch' of the blackest-looking pines, the walls were of brown stone,and held the lantern high. Hidden !parked by cutting tools - those Anthere behind the trees rose a rock cients had made their way throughface like a wall, and in the rock was solid rock - and underfoot were~ hole the size of a door, but un- pebbles. Some were quartz, likeeven. Vines hung down around it, Mr. Hoje had said. Everythingbut they looked dead and burnt was quiet as the inside of a coffinout. As we stood still and looked, the night before judgment.there was a little timid foot-patter "The flame's pointing," Reed Bar-inside. ~ nitt called to us. It did point,

"Let's pray that's no rat," said like a burning finger, straight intoClay. "Rats in mines are plumb the place. He stepped toward thosebad luck." pil~d rocks, that made something

"Shoo," said his daddy, "let's like steps to go up, and we movedhope it's nothing worse than just with him. I don't think anybodya rat." wanted to go over the rocks and

Reed Barnitt shoved forward. beyond. The blackness there made"I'm going in," he said through his you feel that not only nobody hadteeth, "and I sure enough don't ever been in there, but likewisewant to go in alone." nobody could ever go; the black-

We went in together. Gentlemen, ness would shove him back like-ait was so black in that mine, you'd hand.

SHIVER IN THE PINES

I moved behind Reed Barnittwith the others. The light of thecandle shone past his blocky bodyand wide hat, making him looklike something cut out of blackcloth. Two-three steps, and hestopped, so quick we almost bumpedhim. "The light flutters," he said.

It dio Hutter, and it didn't pointto the piled rocks, but to the wallat their right. When Reed Barnittmade a pace that way, it winkedout. We all stood close togetherin the dim lantern light.Re~d Barnitt put his hand on

the rock wall. It showed ghostwhite on the brown. His fingercrawled along a seamy crack.

"Dig there," he said to us.By what light the lantern showed,

I shoved the pick end of the grubbing hoe into the crack and gouged.Seemed to me the whole wall foughtme, but I heaved hard and thecrack widened. It made a heavyspiteful noise somewhere. Mr. Eddydrove in the point of his bar andpulled down.

"Come help me, Clay," he called."Put your man on this."

The two pulled down with theirlong tall bodies, then together theypushed up. My heart jumped inside me, for a piece of rock thesize of a table top was moving. Ishoved on the hoe handle.. Reed.Barnitt grabbed the free edge ofthe moving piece, and we laid intoit - then jumped back just in time.

The big loose chunk droppedlike the lid of a box. Underneath

1°9

was dark dirt. Mr. Eddy drove thebar point into it.

"Light that candle thing again,"he asked Reed Barnitt.

Reed Barnitt struck another matchand tried. "Won't light," he said."We've got our hand right on thetreasure."

I reckon that's the moment weall believed we had it. So far we'dworried and bothered, but now westopped, and jus~ worked. Claytook the spade ~om Mr. Hore,and I swung my hoe. He scoopedout the dirt I loosened. We breathedhard, watching or working. Suddenly:

"John," said Clay, "didn't I hearthat hoe-blade hit metal?"

I slammed it into the dirt again,hard as I could. Clay scooped outa big spadeful. Bright yellow, glimmered up out of the dark dirt.Clay grabbed into it, and so didhis daddy. I had my mouth opento yell, but Reed Barnitt yelledfirst.

"God in the bushes! Look upthere I"

We looked. Reed Barnitt hadturned away from our work, andhe pointed up those step"piled.rocks. On the top rock of themstood something against the choking blackness.

It stood up the height of a man,that thing, but you couldn't makesure of its shape. Because it wasstrung and swaddled over withwebby rags. They stirred and fluttered around it like gray smoke.

110

And it had a hand, and the handheld a skull, with white grinningteeth and eyes that shone.

'.'It's an Ancient!" Reed Barnittyelle~ and the thing growled, deepand hungry and ugly.

Clay dropped his spade. I heardthe clink and jangle of metal pieces

,on the floor pebbles. He gave back,and Mr. Hoje and Mr. Eddy gaveback with him. I stood where Iwas, putting down my hoe. Reed~arnitt was the only op.e that movedforward.

"Stay away from us," he sort ofbreathed out at the ragged-graything.

It just pushed out the skull athim, and the skull's eye-lights blinkedand glared. Reed Barnitt backed up.

"Let's get out of here," he choked,"before that Ancient -"

He didn't know we'd found· thetreasure, his eyes had been on whatever the thing was. He was for"running, but I wasn't.

In my mind I saw the peculiarthings I'd faced before this. TheUgly Bird ... One Other ...Mr. Loden who might have livedthree hundred years but for me. . . F-orney Meechum whose deadghost had fled from me. I'd evenseen the Behinder that nobody'sever reckoned to see, and I'd comeback to tell of it. I wouldn't runfrom that gray-raggedy thing thatheld a skull like a lantern.

I' shrugged my guitar in front ofme. My" left hand "-grabbed its neckand my right spread on the silver


strings, the silver that's sure suddendeath to witch-stuff. I dragged achord of music from them, and itechoed in there like a whole houseful of guitar-men helping me. AndI thought the thing up there aboveshuddered, and the skull· it heldwabbled from side to side, tryingmaybe to say no to me.

"You don't like my music?" Isaid to it, and swept alit anotherchord and got my foot on the bot-·tom step-stone.

"John!" came Reed Barnitt's sickvoice. "Take care-"

"Let that thing take care.!" Itold him and moved up on therocks.

The gray thing flung the skullat me. I dodged, and felt the windof the skull as it sailed grinningpast, and I heard it smash like abottle on the floor behind me.For a moment'that flinging handstuck out of the gray rags.

I knew whose hand it was, blackfurry like a spider.

"Aram Harnam!" I yelled out,and let my guitar fall to hang byits string', and I charged up thosestairs of stones.

Reed Barnitt was after me as Igot to the top.

"It's a put-up show!" I wasshouting; and grabbed my handsfull of rags. Reed Barnitt clampedonto my arm and flung me downthe step-stones so I almost fell flaton the floor. But rags had tornaway in my grip, and you couldsee Aram Harnam's face, all a thicket

SHIVER IN THE PINES

of hair and beard, with hookednose and shining eyes.

"What's up?" hooted out Mr.Eddy. .

"Aram Harnam's upl" 1 yelledto him and the others. "Sold usthat candle-thing, then came hereto scare us outl" I pointed. "AndReed Barnitt's in it with himl"

Reed Barnitt, on the top stonebeside Aram Harnam, turned around,his eyes big in his white face. 1 gotmy feet under m~ to charge backup at those two.

But then I stopped, the wayyou'd think roots had sprung from-my toes into the rock. There werethree up there, not two.

That third one looked at firstglimpse like a big, big man wearinga fur coat; until you saw the. furwas on his skin, with warty musclesbunching through. His head wasmore like a frog's than anythingelse, wide in the mouth and bigin the eye and no nose. He spreadhis arms and put them quiet-likeround the shoulders of Reed Barnitt and Aram Harnam, and tookhold with his hands that had bothwebs and claws.

The two men he touched screamedout like animals in a snap-trap.I sort of reckon they tried to pullfree, but those two big shaggyarms just hugged them close andhiked them off their feet. And whathad come to fetch them, it fetchedthem away, all in a blink of time,back into that darkness no sensiblesoul would dare.

III

That's when we four others upand ran like rabbits, dropping thelantern.

'We got back to Mr. Hoje's, andlighted a lamp there, and lookedat those two handfuls of metalpieces Clay and Mr. Eddy hadgrabbed and never turned loose.

"I reckon they're money," saidMr. Hoje, "but 1 never seen thelike."

None of us had. They weren'teven round. Just limpy-edged andBattened out. You could figure howthey'd been made, a lump of softgold put between two jaws of a dieand stamped out. The smallest wasbigger and thicker than a four-bitpiece. They had figures, like menwith horned heads and snaky tails;and there were what might beletters or numbers, but nothingany of us could name in any language we'd ever heard tell of.

We put all those coins into anold salt-bag, and sat up the rest ofthe night, not talking much butpure down glad of each other'scompany. We had breakfast to·gether, cooked by Sarah Ann, whohad the good sense not to question.And after that, came up a youngman who was sheriff's deputy.

. "Gentlemen," he said to us, "haSary one of you seen a fellow with awhite face and a broad build?"

"What's up with such a one?"asked Mr. Hoje.

"Why, Mr. Hoje," said the sheriff's deputy, "they want him bad

112

at the state prison. He was a showfellow, doing play-magic tricks, buthe took to swindling folks and gotin jail and then got out again, andthe law's after him."

"We've seen such a man," allowed Mr. Eddy, "but he's gonefrom here now."

When we were left alone again,we told each other we could seehow it was. Reed Barnitt did hisfalse magic tricks, like setting thelight on the star and making wordsshow on the white paper by heatingit. And he'd planned it with AramHarnam to furnish us that blackcandle, to get hold of the propertyof Mr. Hoje and Mr. Eddy - scaring them afterward, so bad they'dnever dare look again, and forfeittheir home places.

Only: There was treasure there,the way those two swindlers neverguessed. And there was somethingleft to watch and see it wasn'trobbed away.

I don't call to mind which of ussaid that all we could do was takeback the gold pieces, because suchthings could never do anybodygood. We went back. that noon toBlack Pine Hollow, where the sunsure enough didn't shine. We shivered without ary wind blowing.

Inside the mine-mouth, we pickedup the lantern and lighted it. Clayhad the nerve to pick ,up the, brokenskull Aram Harnam had flung, andwe saw why the eyes had shonepieces of tin in them. We found ourspade and hoe. Into the hole we


flung the gold pieces, on top ofwhat seemed a heap more lyingthere. Then we put back the dirt,tamped it d~wn hard, and·· we allheaved and sweated till we putthe piece of rock in place again.

"There, the Ancients got theirtreasure back," said Mr. Hoje,breathing hard.

Then, noise up on those step'"stones. I held up the lantern.

Huddled and bent they stood upthere, Reed Barnitt and Aram Harname

They sort of leaned together,like tired horses in plow harness,not quite touching shoulders. Theirhands - Reed Barnitt's white ones,Aram Harnam's shaggy ones - hungwith the fingers bent and limp.They looked down at us with tiredeyes and mouths drooped open,the way you'd think they had somehope about us, but not much.

"Look," said Clay, just behindmy neck. "We gave back the gold.They're giving back those two thatthey dragged away last night."

But they looked as if they'd beengone more than a night._The hair on Reed Barnitt's hat

less head was as white as his face.And Aram Harnam's beard, andthe fur on his hands - black nomore, but a dirty, steamy gray.Maybe it had changed from fear,the way folks say can happen. Ormaybe there'd been time for it tochange, where they were.

"Go fetch them, John," Mr.Hoje asked me. "And we'll get a

SHIVER IN THE PINES

doctor for them when we get themto my house."

I started· up over the stones withthe Iantern.

Their eyes picked up the lanternlight and shone greeo, like theeyes of dogs. One of them, I don'tknow which, made a little whimpering cry with no words in it. Theyran from me into the dark, andI saw their backs, bent more thanI'd thought possible.

I ran up to the top stone, holdingout the lantern.

As I watched they sort of fellforward and ran on hands andfeet. Like animals•. Not quite sureof how to run that way OQ allfours; but something told me, mightypositive, that they'd learn betteras time went by. I backed downagain, without watching any more.

"They won't come out," I said.Mr. Hoje spit on the pebbles.

"From what I saw, maybe it'sjust as well. They can live in there

,with the Ancients.""Live?" repeated Clay. "The

Ancients are dead. Way I figure,what's in there isn't Ancientsjust something Ancients left be-hind. I don't want any part of it."

From Black Pine Hollow we wentto Aram Harnam's empty shantyand there we found the papershe'd tricked Mr. Hoje and Mr.

113

Eddy into signing, and we burnedthem up. On the way back, ~Q_e

two old men made it up betweenthemselves to spare Clay and SarahAnn a few acres from both places.As to the cabin, neighbors wouldbe proud to help build it.

"One thing wonders me," saidClay. "John, you didn't have anynotion night before last of singingabout the girl with golden slippers?"

"Not till I struck the stringsand piped up," I told him.

"Then how did Reed Barnittjust happen to take them fromunder his coat for Sarah Ann?"Clay asked us. "Stag~-show· magi-cian or .not, how did he just hap-pen to do that?"

None of us could guess.But Sarah Ann kept the

golden slippers, and nobody couldsee any reason why not. She worethem to marry up with Clay, anddanced in them while I played songafter song - "Pretty Fair Maid,"and "Willie From the WesternStates,'~ and "I Dreamed Last Nightof. My True Love, All In My ArmsI Had Her." Preacher Miller saidthe service, wnat God hath joinedtogether let no man put asunder.I kissed the pretty-cheeked bride,and so did many a kind friend,but the only man of us she kissedback was long tall Clay Herron.

WIN A NEW ENGLISH FORDISee the February issue of ELLERY QUEENS MYSTERY MAGAZINE

- on sale January 11the

P•. M. H1JJIJIl,J ;s the f1IIJst slUlhJ .nJ [,,/lCej_l.wr;te, Df light C.nJ DeellsifJtWlly S'';ON1) 11e,s, whom Punch h.l Jisco11e"J s;nee A. P. He,lJert.(Memo 10 Ame,ic." puIJlish"s: A collection of his ,"light/Ill POltry isIon!, D11e,•.) I" this story, writte" ,splci.lly lo, F&SF, hI lJ,ings II

pOlt'S sensl of eoncisl lJell.ty If} • elllssic lind ever-trtlgie th"", of sciene,pClion.

130tany 13ayhy P. M. HUBBARD

IT WAS ONE OF THOSE EVENINGS YOU

get in England around midsummer,that seem to go on indefinitely. Icould build up a nice bit of atmosphere about that evening, but itwouldn't be true. If there was anatmosphere, I didn't feel it; andon the facts, even as presented, Idon't see. why there should havebeen. And the petrol-station was aperfectly ordinary one, and theman on duty, to all appearances, aperfectly ordinary man.

The man filled her up, speakingwith a pleasant richness in what I

.took to be the local voice. Then hewent inside for change, and I gotout and walked around a bit tostretch my legs. The road followedthe valley here, with hills - I suppose chalk downs - rising sharplyon the far side. It was really startingto get dark at last, and the narrowstrip of tarmac reHected like waterthe tremendous sultry glow that

lay across the tops of the hills. Therewere a few stars showing, and onein particular, a steady orange-gold,over the high skyline right oppositethe pumps..

I fetched up beside the door ofthe garage, looking at the collectionof spares and accessories they alwaysput in the window at these places.The man must have thought I wasstill in the car. He came straight outof the door, leaving me behind him,and walked towards the pumps. Hehad the money in his hand. Thenhe stopped, just as I was going tospeak to him, and uttered a soundwhich I could hardly believe I'dheard, only my stomach was stillsickened at it. When I pulled my-'self together, I decided he was ill,and went to him. He was still stand~ing there, with the line of pumpsbetween him and the car, gazingup at the sky, where the orangeyellow star, clearer now, gazed back.

114

BOTANY BAY

I said, "Are you all right?" Ididn't touch him or anything. Hewas perfectly steady on his feet,just standing there, and I still wasn'tsure. Then I came abreast of himand saw his face. I haven't describedhis appearance before, because hewasn't the sort of man you find itnecessary to describe - just an ordinary man, in overalls, a bit onthe small side and quiet-spoken,but very ordinary. Now he had- a

, look on his face that needs describing, but isn't easy to describenot adequately. It was a look oflonging, a sort of shocking hunger,but so overlaid with hopelessnessthat the impression was one ofcomplete passivity. He didn't movebecause there was nothing he coulddo. The so~nd· he had uttered hadbeen squeezed out of him; it wasquite involuntary. He was lookingat the star.

I said, "Are yo~ all right?" again.- It was an idiotic question to ask a

'man with that look on his face, butit was the sort of thing one does say.He heard me the second time. Het~rned and held -out the money tome, but in a tentative sort of way,and not quite within my reach, asthough he couldn't get me properlyfocussed. I moved up and took itfrom him. That seemed to rousehim. He looked at me, rearranging~ disintegrated features. "I thoughtyou we~e in the car," he said. Thevoice, with its soft country burr, wasquite unchanged.

It seemed to be dark now all at

115

once. The orange star glowed in thesky, but he did not look at it. Itdidn't look right to me, but I don'tnotic.e that sort of thing much, andI think now it was probably quitenormal. There again, there was noreason, even on the facts, why itshould have been anything else.

I said, "That star~" but he cutme very short.. "That's not a star,sir," he said. "More what you'dcall a planet." He spoke exactly asa countryman speaks to a townsman,putting him right, but no disrespectintended. He was in every way perfectly ordinary again.

"All right,;' I said, "a planet it is.But look, chum. I don't want tointerfere, and I'm sorry if you didn'tknow I was ther~. But I heard youand saw your face just now, andthere's something very wrong. Ifthere's anything I can do -"

He turned hi,s back while I wasstill speaking and started walkingtowards· the garage. He said, "Iwonder why the hell They let meremember."

He went inside and I followed him.In the last glimmer of daylight wegroped our way into the littleboarded box ofan office and sat downon hard chairs. The .air smelt ofpetrol and oiled metal. I could seethe outline of' a cash-register andabove it the stolid, frowning profileagainst the luminous window. "Ididn't ought to remember, not byrights," he said. "They said -'!

He caught his breath, and 1 feltsick at the stomach again. "They

116

said -" this time the word washarsh with a --sort of incredulousdefiance - "They said we'd remember nothing that was any good tous - just enough' to keep us unhappy. They must have got themixture wrong." He thought for abit. "A couple of hundred of usthere must have been, my time. Toomany to handle properly, perhaps.Used to be forty or fifty in a batch,generally, but They had been having a lot of trouble. Don't all getthere, of course. Even They don'tknow everything, and there's a lotof wastage. What happens to theones that miss nobody knows, butThey wouldn't care, so long as theyget us off. Still, there must be a lotof us about, remembering enough tokeep us unhappy. It's nicely done,really. You've got to hand it tothem. They are clever all right."

He chuckled, a soft countrychuckle, and then caught his breathagain, so that I felt my heart thudtwice in the sudden, hollow silence.

The window-frame lit up silverwith the lights of an on-coming car.I got up, clutching with both handsat the solid reality of a countrygarage. Somebody sounded a hornoutside, and he said, "I'll have toask you to move your car, sir.You're blocking the pumps."

"I will," I said. I got in and startedher up. Then, seeing no reason todo anything else, I drove on.


It was nearly a year before I wentthere again. I had no need· to stopthis time, and did not mean to.Nevertheless, I found I had beenhoping to see him outside by theprimps; and when I did not, Ihesitated on the throttle, and thenstopped the car and walked back.

I didn't know the man who cameout. He was a lot older, probably theboss. I suddenly found myself in adifficulty. I said, "Oh - I was hoping to see the chap who was here"."

He looked at me a bit sharp."Newman, you mean?" he said.

"I don't know his name. Abouta year ago~ A smallish chap, fair."

"That's right, Newman. Whatd'you want him· for? Any sort oftrouble?" He seemed eager.

"No," I said, "no trouble. Isn'the here?"

"He went," he said. "Walked outon me. Must be nearly a year agonow. Never heard a word from him,nor did anyone else. Left everything"in order, I must say. But when you'asked for him, .J wondered."

I said, "It doesn't matter." Iturned and walked back to the car,feeling his eyes on my back thewhole way. Now, of course, I shallnever know. Only I did not imagineit. I can see him and hear him muchtoo clearly for that, railing in hissoft country voice against somemonstrous celestial tyranny I c~uld

not understand.

Bryce Walton hegan his writing hy covering the fwo lima and Okinawacampaigns as a comlJat correspondent for Leatherneck. In the decade andmore .fince then he has written two novels (an s.f. juvenile and a crime hook),close to II hundred scripts for CAPTAIN VIDBO and other TV shows, " seriesof articles on American history for British readers, ana innumerahle storiesand novelets for just ahout every pulp mtJglI~ine in existence, western, detective, tJdventure,. and science ftction. His.ftrst story in F&SF is a hrilliantlyvivid nightmare of If-This-Goes-On ..• a flashing glimpse of the futurein which the Psych /Joys think they have found the answer (cool, man.') toour heavily puhlici'{ed prohlems of juvenile aherration.

crhe JJ1idwayhy BRYCE .. WALTON

SOON AS HEIw LATHROP SAW THE

Whirbug drop past his window, heran. to the secret compartment behind the desk of his room anddragged 0l:lt the Black Raiders' hid..den phone. He listened to se~

whether or not his old man mightbe spying on him, tapping the phoneon the sly, then he waited forRingo's plug..in.

"You ready, Herm?""Ready, Ringo.-Got to get some

fun money first from the old man,and I'll be right.out I"

"Then we'll get release," Ringosaid from the Whirbug hotrod out..sid.e. "This time I'm hunting medown a redhead 1""

Herm wiped at the nervousnesscoating his face and hardening his

thin lips. "I'll go for anything to"night! It's been a week since I had agirlie."

"A week for me too, a week toolong for Ringo. So let's move,Herm!" .

Herm made the salute of theBlack Raiders and'said with a hollowhaunt in his throat, Hoi Hoooo!Black Raiderrrrrrrl" .

"HoI Hoooo! Black Raiderrrrrr!"Ringo answered.

Herm slipped down the stairs withthe weight of his Old Man's totallack of feeling, sympathy or understanding on his lungs, and the OldMan's 'tired marshmallow face in hismind's gray space. He spied carefully across the living room.

The Old. Man sagged snoring be-117

118

fore the 1V screen, dead inside asusual,. gone with the life-killingwork-week, so that he'd be snoringthe weekend away like in a graydream.

Herm slipped some credit paperfrom the Old Man's wallet, replacedthe wallet and crammed the creditsinto his skin-tight blue jeans. Thenhe leaned close to the bald head andblasted it right off the Old Man'seardrum. "HoI Hoooo! Black Raiderrrrrr!"

Old Man Lathrop .crieeJ. out asthough shot. He leaned far awayfrom his only offspring and almostfell off the chair on the other side.Adult squareheads were either unconscious, Herm thought, or witheyes open looking dead from slavingtoo long in the work groove. Mastercraftsman Lathrop who geared him-self to eight hours a day in a factoryturning out boxes for the storing ofcereal to make kids feel like supermen. You couldn't even feel sorryfor the Old Man who had forgotwhat it was to spit in the face of theworld.

Herm doubled over laug.hing. OldMan Lathrop's ~ired face seemed tobe looking into a wavering mirror ofdoubt and doom. "Youth's impunity!" he almost screamed. "I'd kickyour heels up your back like windowshades if I didn't know I ought togive you more love and affection IWhat's the idea, Herm?"

Herm couldn't stop.laughing. HisOld Man was the world's worstsquare.

P~TASY AND SCIENCE FICTION

"What do you want, Herm? Tellmel Your Mother needs help in thebasement!"

His Mother was always on theclean kick, wrapping herself up inthe new thermodynamatrix washingmachine, probably trying to forgetthat she wasn't really living anymore. "I've got to have fun at theMidway again, Poppa."

"You been to the Midway oncethis week!"

"Feel dangerous suppressed impulses digging my insides," Hermsaid, doing a little dance around hisOld Man. "Got to release frenziedadolescent drives, Poppa. Got to g~t

myself a woman.""You had yourself a woman last

week!" the Old Man yelled. "Whatis this - release from adolescentfrustration, or addiction to sexydope?"

"Give me some credits, Poppa.You think the world gives releasingpleasure for nothing?"

"You don't have any allowanceleftl" A line of white moved aroundthe Old Man's tired lips. "Listen:you aren't going any place but intothe basement to help your mother.You're not getting another creditfrom me until next weekI"

"You want I should turn into adelinquent kid because I don't getlove?" Herm yelled, even louderthan his Old Man.

His Old Man leaned over and puthis hand over his eyes. He whispered."You get a woman once a week, son.That's what it says on your release

THE MIDWAY 119

Below them, the Midway whirledspinning, making like a big neon toptwisting, all fiery color for a milealong the lakeshore.

"We're going to get release huh?"Herm said.

"Release for us," Ringo yelled."So school won't be a headache."

chart. It's plenty. It's plenty for any "Hoi Hoooot Black Raider Fatso!'!~

kid, espe~ially a kid' who doesn't Herm said and hit Ringo on the slabeven study his lessons and won't of a shoulder. "It's high release time,help his mother. You'll never gradu" so let's split the sky open!"ate. You'll never follow in my foot.. "Herm, you got plenty of creditsteps making boxes to help keep the moneys?"complex consumer-productive sys" "Loaded, Fatso. Loaded for love!"tern running smoo.thly -" The thought of the Midway, the

You can't trust a moron, Herm plunging into high skies of night,thought. He'll get you in a hassle. the promise ofsound and the screamsThe Old Man really thought he was of the women . . ~ it always seemedimportant, a soldier in .the great to push those indefinable fears of theproduction army,. worthy of the .future and its meaninglessness out of'Medal of Honor, just because he Herm, those frights that came fromhelped put pasteboard boxes to- nowhere to blow empty spaces insidegether all day. The creeping fear him.came back to Her~ then as the- Fatso Ringo started killing himmuddy flat future opened before self all over again with sounding exhini. 'He had to get out, Qad to get cited, and the Whirbug shot straightto the fun of the Midway! up 5,000 feet and was soon hitting

"HoI Hoooo! Black Raiderrrrrr!" high at 1500 miles an hour for MidHerm screamed, and his face was way love of living, streaming fierygetting red. "I'm going to the Mid- lust all over the skyway, and makingway,Poppal Give me pleasure like a moon rocket racking at thepaper. If you don't you may get a stars.black mark when the Social Worker "Ho! Hoooo! Black Raiderrrrrr!"comes around from the school want.. Herm and Ringo, yelled ~ toweringing to know if I'm getting enough togetherness. And to avoid disasterfatherly affection!" from the Whirbug's howling plunge

The 91d Man's hand was shaking for Midway fun, a passenger rocket'as he got the credit papers from his plunged itself desperately 500 mileswallet and threw them into Herm's off course.face. Herm grabbed the credits outof the air like in a magic act anddanced backward out the door.

He ran laughing out into thecrazy starlight and into the Whirbugbeside' the fatso Raider, RingoReese. The fat boy jiggled an overthe seat killing himself with the ex·pected j'oy of release at the Midway.

120

"And home won't be a headache.""And we can face the responsible

future like it said in the adolescentpsych book."

"Right!" Ringo yelled. "We gotto get quick release from adolescenttensions."

Looking down through the trickling beads that bled from neon,Herm's eyes sailed the glaring wonders of escape.

"Maybe adult squareh~ads aren't'so wrong," Ringo said as he waveredthe Whirbug all over, making for aparking slot, and the fun-ice sparkling below whirred up to greet them."They threw this pleasure park uphere just for us love-starved, excitement-crazy kids!"

"They had nothing to do with itfrom beginning to the end!" Hermsaid. "Not the adults, they didn't.Not the parents anyway." He foundhimself again inanely looking for thespot in his life when .he stoppedwhistling and started feeling a serious depth in every little thing. Adolescence was sure a bad time, like thebooks said, all' full of danger. "Itwas the psych boys that did it. Thelearning mill figured we need releasefrom frustrated adolescent drives!"

'Ringo laughed. "We do, we doneed it, Herml"

Sometime, Herm thought, Fatso,would laugh his lonely insides rightout of his basketball body. "Theygot the Midway set up for us, Fatso.Now we won't lounge and loaf allfull of suppressed sin on the streetcorners."

FANTASY AND SCIENCE FlcnoN

"So, Herm, maybe we ought to bethankful."

"Not to the parent squareheads.Maybe not to anybody. Something'swrong somewhere, Ringo. Adultsnever get nothing but TV eyestrainat home, and moronitis from livingin the work groove. What are wegetting healthy release for, Ringo so we can make pasteboard boxes allday and be retired with empty headsafter twenty years?"

"You're too serious," Ringo said.He wasn't laughing.

"Then after that you drop dead.'""Anyway, I sure need a woman,"

Ringo said. "Must be they gave mesomebody else's release chart by mis.take. I figure mine was aimed for.some other stoop, some sick kid withpernicious anemia."

"Let's drop down there, Fatso. Ican't suppress my dangerous impulses much longer!"

The Whirbug .clicked like a cog inits slot and Herm and Ringo raceddown the steps toward the .Midwayall reflecting flashing colors like living neon. They shot past the lesserpleasures, strictly for puberty pixies:the fun rooms, hate-expressing roomswhere you could smash images ofyour old man and old lady, theSuperman Tunnels, the Spaceman'sRealm, the h~rror shows, the KillAlleys, the Hunting Houses andChase Lounges and the psychodramas and the rest of it. Theyheaded past the Barkers dressed inblue jeans for Girlie Land.

"Come on in, you hep~ds," the

THE MIDWAY

Barkers slapped their jeans andyelled wildly, all hyped up in thepay of the state and eager to stay intheir easy cool income racket. "Getrelease and relax your backs. Clearyour brain for the scholastic strain,and rub out that growing painl"

Herm sneered up at the Barker."What a lousy way to make a living," he said, and then he draggedat Ringo, pulling him unresistinglyand faster after him toward theGirlie Hunt.

"For us, the Barkers hark theirthroats out," Ringo laughed. "Allfor us wild adolescent problems."

.4.. "They're, heroes!" yelled Herm.·There weren't many roads for thetrapped, he thought; climb a towerto Mars, or drown out your brams,you couldn't long endure reality.Get to the Midway and get release.Go loose again,Jack. Muh-muh-muh.

"Hero shmero!" yelled Ringo.Again he belted out long fatty laughsand all around, kids of all ages ranthis way and that having a ball, getting healthy escape from growing-uppressure that would keep them offthe streets, keep them from runningover innocent square-headed adultson side streets with RoaromasterRoadeaters, keep them from lounging in surly groups in front of maltshops and snarling insults at delicateladies, keep them from roaming. thevast city jungle in secret gangs aridbeating up honest adult moronitisvictims, robbing stores of junk, andcommitting rape and sundry sabotage and assault.

121

For a moment, Herm didn't hearRingo's laughter as they dived intothe neon bath of the Midway. Hedidn't hear the bells, horns, drums,shrieks, and releasing energy explod-ing all over th~ Midway. '

Where was he going - when theMidway ended? The Midway only aflood-lighted oasis between being akid and being a squarehead adultwho got stuck in a machine-tooledbox factory or something and couldnever go anywhere but asleep infront of a 1V frame.

Suddenly, Herm didn't want tothink about anything but the Midway. The Midway couldn't end. TheMidway was the end. The Midwaywas everywhere, stretching in alldirections and he was in it and wouldnever have to get out. He was suddenly taken with a .flooding feel ofgratitude, and he wanted to falldown on his knees and give thanksto the Midway and the schools andeverybody who had ever had anything to do with building the Midways that were scattered all over theland for dangerous teen-agers to getrelease from ominous energy in. Asourceless sensation of suppressedterror crawled up through him andstarted to ooze into his throat sothat he thought he might never beable to laugh or yell crazy anymore.

He didn't really want to makewith the gags about it. He was scared- scared if it wasn't for the Midwayabout what he might do, how hemight sneak out at nights all full of

122

dangerous steamed up energy and dosomething real gone bad.

Oh thanks for the Midway, Jack,it's cold outside.

The psych boys had" figured it.The psych boys built the Midway.In the Midway you could get cool,it was all planned and plotted sothat a kid ofany age could get rid ofthe craziest animal impulses and itwas all like fun.

Oh thanks Jack for the psychboys, they knew what was what allright.

If it weren't for the Midway,Herm thought, I'd be a juvenile delinquent ten times over by now, andsent up to the hammer with a sinrecord longer than the hairs ofDaddy Freud's beard put end toend. I'd have innocent women'sblood staining my eager beaverpalms and I'd be washing them inLux all day like Macbeth's wife whowas really his mother image gonenuts with greed.

"Get yourself a Girlie, kids! Red-heads, brownheads, blackheads, andluScious babes all scared and hidingfrom the hunters I Come on in andfire the lady's skin!"

The barker leaned down· from hisaltar, and twisted his ratty face in ascrimey promise, and made willowygestures of anatomical curves withpractised glidings of his hands. Whatfor a flunky middle-man like that?Herm thought. Don't they thinkadolescents know ·what they want?

"Ho, ho, Black' Raider!" yelledRingo as, with Herm, he looked over


the adolescent mob gathered hungryin front of the Girlie Hunt~ Dangerous energy was over the shinyupturned faces like a vapor in aCh~m III lab experiment that nobody ever remembered. Who needschemistry when you make pasteboard boxes? There ,were a fewBlack Raiders in the mob, and theyyelled in eager unison.

"HoI Hooool Black Raiderrrrrr!""Ho, hoI" laughed the barker.

"Looks like lots of eager huntingwaiting for release. Come on in andfire the skin. Grab a gun and get thenaked lovelies on the run!"

Herm wiped at his mouth andshoved to the front and Ringo followed, both digging out their pleasure paper and_ throwing the creditleaves ~pward to grabbing fingersand getting a ring of hunting ricketsin return. Across the front of theGirlie Hunt ran three-dimensionalneon-activated lovelies,' all shapesand sizes and colors, ~aked fleshshining as lifelike as life, but lovelier.

Herm was the first through thedoor and Ringo ran panting after,and Herm could feel sweat ofanimaldesire popping from his skin and hedidn't feel like laughing at anythingany more, and Ringo wasn't evensmiling. His fat round face w~s

squeezed into determination to getrelease like an oldish grapefruit, andhe was breathing with heavy desire.

They jammed tickets through thecage and were issued with fast prac..tice sonic rifles, satchels of vibrocartridges, and score cards.

THE MIDWAY

Herm no longer had the urge tofeel or say anything except the thrillof hunting, the aU"enclosing feelingthat there was only the Jungle, bigas Africa, and no factory or schoolwaiting outside of it. And Ringo w~s

the first to hit the door leadingthrough and into Girlie Land. Hermran through and dropped fast to hisknees as Ringo yelled a warning andflopped out of sight among thickbushes.

Trembling, Herm lay there flatand looked through the leaves, and.the trees and vines and ,trunks ofGirlie Jungle hung over him andrustled away everywhere whisperingpromise of danger as far as he couldsee.

An eager adolescent who was notin sight long enough for Herm totell whether he wore a Black Raiderbutton or not dropped out of a treebehind a redheaded lovely andaimed.. The woman screamed andthe sound was a hypo in Herm'sblood and he started shaking withsuppressed impulses. The teen..ageraimed and the invisible, inaudibleand brief charge of sonic energymust have got the redhead deadcenter in the birdbrain because sheran around shrieking in a Iittle circle,then fell squirming on the mossyjungle floor.

Herm saw Ringo, suddenly lighton his feet like Jungle Man, slip awaythrough the jungle shadows, his rifleready for female game. Herm felt awoman's arrow rip leaves beside hishead and he tried to figure quick

123

where the shot came from. The arrows, lik~ spiritual shafts from Cupid's bow, didn't .really hurt a guy,but if a kid was honest in the hunthe had to put it on his score card. ABlack Raider was strictly strychnine if he got tapped by a Girlie'sCupid arrow.

Herm crawled toward a grove oftrees and he could hear the screamsand shrieks of the hunted echoingalong with the shouts of adolescentstalkers of Girlie game. Anotherarrow almost parted Herm's brushcut hair. Hey Jack where are thegiggling Girlies?

The ache in He~m's belly threatened like paralysis. He wanted to getup, get running, get moving, getshpoting and shouting and watchingthe Girlies gallop screaming nakedthrough the forest green. He'd nevergotten a Cupid's arrow mark on ascore card yet and Ringo hadn'teither. Two real solid Raiders.

Herm leaped up and suddenly ranstraight for the grove of trees byalake. A brownhead with.a body likeAnita Starre on TV, long and cooland dipped in brown hot sauce,dropped next to the pool and ranalong the edge making like a nymph.Giggling, she turned to aim herCupid's bow.

Herm dodged and ducked andwent up a tree like Jungle Man witha hotfoot, feeling dangerous suppressed desire in his blood and hisbreath, and he ran along a big limb,c~ncealed by leaves and trailingVInes.

124

The Girlie was starting to runalong the pool, still cool, and Hermaimed and fired his vibro charge.The Girlie's scream sent a floodingweakness through Herm's knees, andas she fell fainting, Herm droppedout of the tree, marked up No. I onhis score card and ran on, shootingwith a panting intensity at anythingnaked, giggling, or aiming a Cupid'sarrow. _.

He marked down four more onthe score card, two redheads, ablackhead, and another luscious autumnal tan. And he looked aroundfor Ringo," but the jungle stretchedaway in a quiet cool way, and maybeit would go on forever for a guy whonever really wanted to get out of it.

He walked a way and stumbledagain on the hot sauce specialsprawled beside the pool. He startedto run on, wanting to find himselfanother redhead, but he stopped andlooked down at his first shockedquarry lying there, with one hand"gripping at the water like it wassolid, .and her face with eyes stiffwide, looking up into the sky'sphony props.

Suddenly it was like he couldn'tbring his ~nd together with thelevel of his screaming feelings. Hethought about it all, without thinking at all, but feeling it all a~d it wassomething distantly frightening andit rolled up into nausea.

He didn't want to leave the brown'"head or the jungle where fun was.He had a creeping fear that all,everything,. all of them were dying


while moments hurtled out of thesun to change from gold to ashes.The jungle rippled for a whilethrough life's muddy promising flatness, but the time wore out, thepleasure paper ran down, you hadto get out into the future.

His Old Man's grimacing imagecovered his brain like a film.

He tried to pull himselfaway fronilooking down at the Girlie, get goingfast to continue the hunt, fill out hisscore card, get release, be ready forthe schoolmill grind, the study periods when you had to think of whatyou didn't really need to learn instead of thinking about jungles andadventures and Girlies, be ready forstatistics, ballistics, fairy lectures andmusty gestures. Why Jack, why allthe study when you go into the assembly line to make with the littlepasteboard boxes?

Adult squareheads and schoolteaching jerks all figured a kid hadto do unskilled work because itdidn't take anything bUt"- a moron"and was easy security, and paidhigher than anything else. Sometimes a guy wanted to yell and rebeland take off out of it all.

He tried to move away from thebrunette bundle, but he couldn'tbudge any farther through the websof Girlie Land. He was gripping thescore card so hard the stuff crinkledup like what you wanted to do to areport card, and ripped across the"middle like useless scratch padding.

What was it all for? You got outof school and turned, like the Old

TIlE MIDWAY

M~n, into a moron sticking littleboxes together all day to put cerealin? To stay forever in the GirlieJungle" - but it wasn't realie real. Itwas just a.sidefreakshow all the wayto phony heaven.

He thought of the neon-jungledcity exploding away in all directionsso that at a thousand miles an hour ina gone Whirbug· you never got out ofit, but somewhere there was an edgeto it, and maybe it would be likethis, like Girlie Jungle and even ifit was a jungle without Girlies, itwould be better than this!

Herm took two steps back and· felthow scared he was. He saw his OldMan's tired marshmallow face in hismind's gray space again and sweatran down his back. He stared at thebrunette. oh Jackie girl what away you got to get state pay, what alousy way to stay in the gravy'"getting groove. Hunted all the tiineand giggling phony' laughs like inthe TV drip shows, and even thescreams were no more realie than ina TV dragnet diabol . . . knockedout of life for twenty minutes bya subsonic smack in the brain cells,and then up again to be hunted andto aim your little Cupid's 'arrows.

Herm sighed and was on his kneesand touching the Girlie's £lee liketouching clay. A scream smashedthrough ~e leaves, and somewherehe heard Ringo's triumphant laugh...ter lathering the leaves like a bullape's mating call.in Jungle Comics.

Psych boys wrong, all wrong, allsquareheads. Phony comic jungles

125

and Girlie slavies getting imitativelybumped off a hundred times a day,that was not enough. That waswrong.

"It's not enough," Herm whis...pered. He put his ~ngers on theGirlie's throat. "When you knowit's not a realie, it isn't enough,Brownhair."

His hands seemed far away butrealie as they squeezed more tightly~n the. soft clay throat, and theGirlie's hand wavered on the waterlike a fish looking for the sun. Butthat's no real sky up there, Girlie,and there's no realie sunshine comingout of it, and the silver lining in theersatz cloud-structure is reflectionsfrom a baby spot.

Herm felt his hands squeezingJ tighter and tighter and for realie ashis mind seemed screaming to splitopen some prison ofboneand lay bareand breathing wide a while in a realjungle far away, then to run downfreedom paths to wide-openness amillion miles from the City. Hefelt the .heated conduits washingpast his eyes, and he felt the throbbing threats of his own aloneness,and uselessness, and he saw himselfending where his Old Man hadended, snoring away gray life beforea TV frame, never having beenanywhere, and nowhere else left togo.

Even the Girlie hunts weren'tenough. They ought to have something real, and there ought to be areason for it all.

Herm leaned down and his body

126

corded all down its length as heput pressure downward from hiswhirring brain through his arms intohis hands into her throat. This wouldbe for realie.

Was this what the adult squareheads meant? Was this the deadlydanger stuff of growing pains everyone had built million-dollar midwaysto divert? .

Release he felt cHI right, for realie.He felt it exploding out everywhere,and he knew now what it was. Theyhad said so many t4Jtes how dangerous he was and now Herm knew it,and he knew it for sure and all. Itwas, like when a mortar goes off"ia War Comics and steely jaggedknives of metal tear the flesh topIeces.

The harde.r Herm pressed themore slippery her neck got, themore for realie it all was for Herm.That was what they really needed,something like a war, like in WarComics. Not this phony jungle landand the props two for a' nickel,and the baby spots and Cupid'sarrows twanging like the harpstringsin a.corny stringed longhair chamberseSSIon.

Hands strained at Herm's neck.He fought to keep his hands onthe Girlie's neC"k, on something forrealie.

"Herm! God, Herm, you're ridingthe wrong kick!""L~go!"

"Jack I This jungle's strictly forrelease, don't let it hip you!"

"Leggo, leggo!"


"Don't get yourself all in a hassle,Herm boy!"

Herm felt himself being dragge9.away and Ringo was turning himaround in the air. Ringo tried tolaugh, but his face was white as hejumped toward the Girlie and feltof her pulse and .her. heart and herneck. When he looked up he wasforcing a slaphappy grin.

"You didn't do for her, BlackRaider boy. He~ heart still throbsto play Cupid." He jumped toHerm's side and pulled him awaytoward the door that led out ofJungleland. "Man, you really gothunting fever tonight. You all rightnow, Jack?"

"Cool . . . Oh I got tp get cool,"Herm whispered. And he went stumbling after Ringo humbly out ofGirlie Land and afraid of himself,more afraid of himself and his suppressed dangerous impulses than hehad ever been before.

There was his Old Man's graymarshmallow' face still snoring infront of the TV frame. Herm stoodthere on the stairs that went up tohis room and looked into the livingroom and rubbed at his burningeyes. There weren't many roads forthe trapped, Pappa, but Poppa wastoo dead inside to know or care.

Poppa didn't care how your eyeslooked when they darted around forsomething real to hold to. Therecords didn't show when yourbody is hungry with all kinds ofneeds....

mB MIDWAY

He ran on up and into the darkand into bed and lay there thinking'~bout how dangerous he was, sodangerous that even the Midwaycouldn't release it safely, and therewas no one to tell about how dangerous he really was.

B"ut his Old Man and his OldLady who never saw or understoodanything, maybe they were lucky.They couldn't feel dangerous anymore, if maybe they had felt thatway once. They didn't feel much ofanything now. They were in thegravy-getting groove, and after awhile in that you didn't feel anything.

Herm closed his eyes. He thoughtabout the dreams that were his:how great it had been to imagine-himself a Black Raider flying big

127

rockets in the night, conqueringenemies, doing something big, powerful, good, and never afraid ofstriking out and feeling powerfulbecause it was so gone dangerous.Real cool, man.

But.it was dangerous. In two yearshe would be out of school, andin a little while longer he'd move upin years and slide off the adolescentchart scale and into adultsquarehood.Oh Jack I'd better hurry and get.off that adolescent chart before_mydangerous suppressed impulses reallyturn into loveless juvenile delinquency.

Then I'll be safe. Like the oldman. Not feeling anything, makingpasteboard boxes fit together allday for the cereals that made kidsfeel like supermen in the mornings.

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