Astounding Science Fiction v39n6

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sc AUGUST I! 25 CENTS

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This car is running with an CMPTV^SCkS tank ! EVE* after the gas gauge says "empty" a mo Jem car can keep going for a good many miles. Here's why, Auhcirfiobite maim fjirt urcrs Iinow hit- man nalurCr They Jfigunt? that, sooner or laterT we' It get careless, or nils judge how far we have to go. S*i the gas gauge is set to nhow "empty/* white I hero are stf}) a couple nf gallons left In the tank. This reierv* tupply ifc a swell idea that ha* kc^pt many a family frcjiu get- ting stuck. It's an WQd better idea for a fam- ily^ budget f ■ A reserve supply of d&Uars will keep your family going if sudden illness strikes, or unexpected ejf pensea show up. And one of the easiest ways to build a cash reserve is hitying O. S. Savinga Hand.* ow the Payroll Sotting.* -Plant TVhat's more* the money you save in Bonds buckles right down and starts making more mvne?f — in juat HI years you got back $100 for every $75 you (jut in today. So keep on buying Bonds on the Payroll Plan. Buy all the ejetra Bonds you can, at any bank or p<*at office. And rememlwr. every Bond you buy plays a part in keeping the U. S< strong and economically sound! Save the easy w<jy„twy your bonds through payroll sorings Contributed by this magQzirtt* in cooped f fort with tho Ma£nxifi& Publishers of America, ba a public rarp£c#* ■

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JR. E FICTION * fit* 0,9. P*1, Off, ■ » 1 , . CONTENTS AUGUST, 1947 VOL. XXXIX, NO, 6 SERIAL THE BSD IS SOT YET, fry If. Be* i/ir&&*tti . « 4 NOVELETTES * INBOMNU, INC., bp Kerry Walton . . T , fla THE FEESON PflO^ PORLOCK, SHORT STORIES HAT RACE, ftp Qeargc O. Smith . Qf> PROPAGANDIST. &ir tfurvw J^l^ffi- .130 ARTICLES 3BOAO BAND, Coupling . . . . . llfi CALENDAR rOK MABS, 5* JE. 'ff. /fJcfcardaej] . 133 READERS' DEPARTMENTS TllE EDITOR'S PJ(3K 4" THE ANAJ^VTICAL LABORATORY . . . AS IK TIMES TO COME . . • .188 BRASS TACKS . ♦ * * „ , . - " . . . 1GT COVER BY ROGERS ■ - I II U It nation j by Cartler, Davie, Rogers and TJrtimlnS tfljrklH. (IDHt bo irfttfnlM »ICHq*l vubUabttS' p*ratalo&r All tftgrtw Ci tndi W If* BrtSMl. fJi* mcftUaJ ptMBfl WTl 4«lv»lc4 b| n*izn &r HflcthU {mw*\k>* IsaitO far Btr*rf * Bmltb mtiltc*ttnQir [nraponfet. 122 But 4^m4 fctrtet, Pt* To*tt IT, K, If. Wl<n L. CnWncKr, PrcsECrat; tlcnlJ H. SmitU, tire, Vtcn FroW^Pt and TreoaUrtf; HmfT W. RlilvUwi, VJrt fr^iifclrnt iHril Efcr*latT. CftWTlSlit. IffiTj, 111 US, h mil UrtaZ Britain Iff Mlft * St»VA VnM^A'.frdir Inn. BHfllffml M SefrmrSdAH Miltef, tWbnurj 7 193S f.1 tho ran *m« n Aw T^rfcr onitff Art of Cdttpma Mir* S. ]9Tflu euSnrrijitKiM td L:i3:r.[riajHln Ain-fltin Vatat^ #S.TS per fttt; per fc«/ in Ca.u4i; tlsewterc, *?fSB fl« i**r. W* numrt *<rt**l r*» Ipeulblllt?1 fat HraUrttnd BBtausfffip** or irtwuk. Aoj uteri il rtftBlK** must 52.50 r*u la (J . «- rrmtrf id tm 0. s, a, as* iv c*r* NEXT JSSDE ON SALE AUGUST 13, 194T AST— 1U

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INDIFFERENCE- If ten couples landed and set up housekeeping on a newly opened* Earth-like planet for colonization, and there was no further immigra- tion, the planet could have a popu- lation equal to Earth's present two billions within 400 years, . And, judging from past performances, it would. It's characteristic of human- ity that, on entering a new, wide- open, land -rich area, families are apt to be large* Ten and fifteen children per family were common only a few generations ago in the United States, With a whole planet to fill, it wouldn't take many genera- tions to do the trick. It could well In? that you'd be working with a geo- metric progression based on a factor of ten. Ten billions being 101*, and allowing 30. years to a generation, that's. only 300 years. It wouldn't take man very long to. populate a galaxy. But it would n^t be a galactic em- pire. Not if any present technique of government, or human education were relied on. At the present time, very few peo- ple indeed have any real conception of the nature of this planet — of the way peoples in different parts of the world live. Even a global war, with armies marching and countermarch- ing practically across the entire planet, wasn't enough to bring that ■ 4 -COSMIC SCALE about. Movies have come nearer doing it than any other medium — and they're a highly distorted means oi communication, The pioneer carving out a new civilization on Deneb IX may have some idea ot ^ what life on Earth is Uke, but he+U be a dang sight too busy to worry about a virus disease that destroys all food plants on Tobart IV, 685,- 000 light-years across the galaxy in the other direction. Or imagine a later time, and the problems of engineering societies* Assume that the galaxy, can be crossed by interstellar ships in 15 days; and that communication beams, relayed from stellar system to stellar system, can cross in a mat- ter of IS minutes. That there are 10,000,000 inhabited, highly devel- oped planets, and another 2,000,000 frontier-level planets. If there's an average population of 2,000,000,000 per planet, that gives us 20,000,000^ 000,000,000 people on the more highly developed planets alone. Very few basic inventions are made; most of the success of engi- neering comes from the small devel^ opmcnts that push equipment to- ward higher efficiency and simpler structure. The wartime develop- ment of printed electronic circuits . bids fair to reduce radio sets from a jumble of many smaU, individual ASTOUKJ0INQ SCI ENCfc-F JCT1 OM

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parts to a few. mechanically simple parts, (Based, of course, on the invention of a whole n^w technology of printing metallic "inks" on ce- ramics.) One " engineer per 100 population in a Highly technical civilization would be a very low pro- portion ; one communications equip- ment engineer per 1000 would be low indeed in so wide- spread, highly integrated a culture. But even if there were only 1 communications engineer in 10.000 there would be 2,000,000.000.000 'members of the Galactic Society of Communications Engineers. Obviously, there couldn't be n Journal, distributed to any such un- wieldly organization. If one en- gineer in a billion wrote a technical paper for the Journal, there would be 2,000 papers a year to publish. The publication would be bulky. If only that one in-a-billipn paper pre- sentation program were available, practically none of the important en- gineering papers would available to engineers throughout the galaxy. If local or regional journals handle the technical papers, it will be prac- tically impossible to keep things op- erating rationally. Equipment ad- vances in the Alpha-Zed Setter, on one edge of the galaxy would pro- ceed merrily h efficiently— but along entirely divergent 3 hies from the progress bciii£ made independently (because of poor contact — by engi- neers in the Sigma-Zed sector at the other extreme of the galaxy* HUHFTBASVCE— COSMJC SCALE Once such divergence gets started, peculiar results tend to follow in- exorably. Suppose that, after 20 years, both groups have made a 100% iticrease in effective range of equipment. Group A has done it by developing equipment capable of more driving power in less space and weight. Group S, on the other handj has advanced on the line of a new theory of propagation, (For example, in radio, more brute-power on AM transmission overcomes static, FM, on the other hand, evades static by using a different modulation technique.) Each group has achieved equal pragmatic Success - — but the methods arc divergent. Further progress will increase the divergence, and, once started in either direction, the investment in equipment will practically forbid conversion to the other type. Group A will, therefore, tend to ignore Group SNs work as inapplicable to their situation. A feeling of indif- ference will gi ow up — ■ Lack of mutual understanding, because individual people simply can't remember where in the galaxy that planet Troy IX isF when there arc, after all, 10,000,000 of those darned worlds to remember. Lack of mutual understanding because, naturally! no engineer can possibly keep up with everything being; done by his two trillion fallow engineers, It's too big for an individual to bother with — The Editor a ■ t * * L

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BY L. RON HUBBARD THE END IS NOT YET Fir si of tjirev parts of Ilnhhard's first -post-war novel. A story of a feio men against a dictatorship^&nd of the i inevitable, the inescapable, result, whatever the determina- tion* the high ideals /tnd high courage of the rebels! Illustrated toy Pcgor* INTRODUCTION The street lay heavy with the. grayish murk of fogt arid no thicker or solid than this was the man who drifted to me that night, bearing a message and the tale that is told herein. He was a square, triumphant man, with Hie sol id N savage triumph of one who has but lately cheated L death. His laugh was har^l>fc cynical, unpleasant to the ear; his speech was learned but careless from ae-^ customed power; and the suit which bulged on his unstable bulk was tweed, gray as the fog, redolent as a laboratory. I was writing at the time; hunched over the old secretary but favoring the fire — for cold bites an ancient Avound and cold with fog is pain, Tliat which I did was inconsequen- tial novt% pen scratches to outline dreams which would never be, I had been listening to the radio mut- tering as low as the sigh of flames in the £rateT Russia had spoken her piece. France had felt her pride. And the United States and4 England blindly batted the specter of lost gain. Before spring, cold as the fog, ASTOUNDING SCIH N CEl^FICTI ON

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unreasoning as the fire, war would come again, for the. third time in my generation. The knowledge was clammier than the fog. World War III would be the Atomic War, He did not enter at the door — * that was double- barred against the parades which eddied into Seventy- fifth Street from Broadway. Noth- ing had come in the slightly parted window hut the gray tendrils and the blare o£ a far off hand — a sad band, yelling against the mouth of waiting oblivion. He was occupying a chair which, not minet drifted with half -seen metallic glints in the chimney comer. Through him, quite easily, I saw my Sessions seascape of a plunging, storm- labored ship. " The smoothness of his appearance, of his coming, did not jolt my nerves despite the fact that these have decreased in resiliency since the last war. It was so. quiet, so effortless, that visitation, that I found myself calmly regarding the visitor as though I had for long expected him, I knew ham, I thought. It was Professor Mad I wraith of Columbia* Recollecting myself, I started up and bowed, mechanically fumbling for my cigarette case and staring cov- ertly around for the wine decanter. I realize now that the dreadful por- tents of the moment had so bemused mc, the internationally idiocy had 50 saddened me, that nothing could have jarred. "You/1 he said in his harsh, un- pleasant voice, "are Charles -Mattel." It was an accusation but it was accurate identification. "Wine?" £ said. "As you see me now^ Captain THE BJTI> 13 NOT TfiT Martet* I could not wclljmbibe wine, no matter the thirst." He picked up a square hand and looked ruefully through it. "We have perfected this far, no further— if you can call it perfection at all. My voice comes clear to you?" "Of coursft," I said. "Cigarette?" The firelight flicked on his craggy face as he packed a thoughtful pipe, searching how to begin something. He turned and said something over his shoulder to some one I did not see and nodded at the reply. "You .did not appear very discon- certed, sir/* said Macllwraith. "Am I supposed to be ? What the gods and science propose — " He looked at me with approval. *£Then interplane travel does not awe you. Perhaps you have studied it here on this plane?" £*Durak wrote a book. People plucked matter from holes in space. A few have seen through for a mo- ment or two. A ghost is a scientific fact, I suppose* Have you come here to prove it ?** ££Ferhaps/J and he , seemed to study mc. "Then you*ve picked an ideal night, professor. The Atomic War awaits and we'll all be ghosts of a real sort before many dawns whisk by/' He laughed again, at some length, as though I had said something truly witty. His manner toward me seemed less harsh and, released for an instant from the intensity of Ids gaze, I realized for the first time that my Sessions seascape really was seeing straight through him. T

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"Come all the way in/' I said. His laughter grew arid there seemed to be others laughing about ham although I saw nothing. If* was a pleased, flattering sort of mirth, "If I came all the way through/* said the professor, " so far as we know, I would have to stay on your plane. I should make clear the fact that I am not the Professor Mac- Ilwraith you know. I am but his counterpart/' "How is this?" "Why, when Washington was struck, the time plane split.. .Didn't you know ?" "Struck? By what?" **The German Atomic Bomb, of course. That was in early 1945, a long time ago." "Lead us not into dizzy by-t rails, professor. Washington was not struck " "Captain, that was the split of the time planes. Our Washington was struck. Yours ^as not. It catalyzed our advance in time so that we are many * many years ahead bf you* We have had two atomic wars, so much time Iiave we lived while you lived so little. The first was in 1945,. the second was several years after. We have traveled almost two genera- tions-while you have gone but five or six years. We have made techno^ logical advances about which ' you have not yet begun to dream. Not only atu I the Professor MeicII^ wraith you know, but I am thirty- seven years older, remarkably pre- served by our medical science. But come, that seems to be war I hear on your radio. Don't tell me that you failed to win the war in 1945, even with your Washington spared I" j "We won the war," I said- "Otir ■ coats were not touched. We hit Japan with two atomic bombs and then the thing was done. No one J. who was anyone here was hurt* War was still play. A big football game. Something to make bets on. Some- thing to -sell bonds and slogans about. Something to laugh and grow ji ritVi about. Nobody was hurt, pro- fessor/' j "Your sclent i sts ?" he ;isked+ 1 "They did nothing. Wliaf could they do. Go along. Take their pay* Give away their patents. Make new formulas for slutighter. 1 Don't he hard on them. They tried *0 break clean but they couldn't. Nobody who mattered was hurt.3' " Didn't you have a United Na- tions? What did it do?" I smiled a little. The J>and was fading out but someone was getting a cheer on the corner. Several cheers. And the fog was thicker and colder in the room* "Professor, politics has been a thousand years behind every other means of human advancement. This ' wilJ always be true. Politics depends upon changing the minds of a great many people* Science depends upon a few accurate discoveries Learned by a few people* It has always been so* And thus science is turned back to murder on a par with the villianies of the middle ages. The United Nations ?'J 1 laughed at him* "Captain, what, may I ask, have you yourself done?" I poured a small glass of wine, glancing for his permission- I ex- astounding science-fiction

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. ■ T amhied t]ie amber glow oi h against the warm firelight. "I spoke. I wrote.. People said I was bitter. Said the war bad turned my mind. i Said I was wounded a fid to l>e pitied but* fortunately, not to be taken seriously. Some called me the Prophet of Doom. T even made the Sunday supplements once, The Prophet of Doom/ I drank the wine. '"But mostly they did not talk at all, or think at jt.11. There were a ' \ few others like my self. We drowned casually hi a sea of in difference." : "You took no action?*' "What action could I take ? Oh, we had a few ideas, we did a few things. For a little while three atomic scientists and an ex-naval officer and myself attempted to form a group to be known as the Allied Scientists of the World. We at- tended a meeting or two at Cal Tech, r * .We corresponded with the people at ;.. Alamogordo. But the scientists themselves were too savage, to ex- treme, and though we decided that the proper function of the scientist was to bene Jit all mankind even if i scientists themselves had to rule the i world, there was too much prima donna in the top flight, too much bitterness in the ranks. We wrote a charter, a code. We were de- stroyed by lack of capital in part, ..but mostly by the tremendous inertia of the people. We had ideas. No one could agree. And now—" Tbe televisor was flickering with f a long-range view of the Russian ! ■ dictator addressing a1 crowded mass * x in the Red Square. The volume was turned too low to hear the an- THE END IS NOT YET nouncer. Probably it was a recast with motion pictures, for Russia was too well censored to permit a direct scan, especially just jjow. I sat for a little while looking at the screen, feeling the drifting fog outside, hearing the far oit" thud of a drum — the only instrument ot the departing band tn carry the distance. "Charles Mart el/* said the square, triumphant man, *+you have nothing with which to reproach yourself. But you have not yet done all you con Id." There was no accusation in it, rather an invitation. "When nations are in trouble and people starve^ they inevitably turn to a Messiah/' he continued, "So turned the American Indian when he could not longer prevail against the white man. Thus faced the civilized world under the onslaught of barbarians two thousand years ago. So will turn mankind once more. "You are not aware of it, but you had a counterpart in our plane, just as I have one in yours. lie worked, thought, organized and worked .again. From the wreathing smoke of our ruins he raised a civilization greater than any of the past, lie gave his life tu the endeavor but there are happy millions who wor- ship him here row." "My counterpart there.?" "Yes, that portion of you which ■ took this plane. A god he hf a hero beyond the maddest story of any Valhalla. I know not what you can do. My visit, whieh will be my last, concerns only the placing in your

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hands of the story arid notes of the Charles Martel we know, the Charles Martel that you can be- Arc you still interested in severing your pres- ent interests and embarking upon a career which here you took?" "Where are the wfrrks ?** "You will have them in a mo- ment, for they are the sole purpose of -"my visit. Out I must impress Upon you the importance of these documents and urge thai you read them as soon as possible ► It appears" and he motioned toward the tele- visor , "that you have very little time," ■ "Give them to me." "No, not yet. You wonder that we have here achieved inter plane travel while you have not, You won- der why we have sources of energy not avail ah] e to you. I shall not at- tempt to explain exactly what this is, for I have a handbook here which del a [Is itF a book written long ago by your counterpart here, a book entitled, 'Negative Energy Flows i A Neglected Field with Some Notes on Future Potentialities in Life Creation/ The details here " may or may not be known on your plane, Just as energy which you use as electricity was once inducible only by amber and useful not at all, so is negative flow now produced in your plane only with glass- Can you imagine a culture without electric- ity? * Then you can see how lost I would feci in a culture without electricity and negative flow — which we have called vi tie sty from lis association with life currents and waves. Many of your greatest puzzles there on your plane must come from an inability to measure,. 1 produce or utilize this magnificent j and powerful source of energy and life. You are living in a world run on it and yet yon cannot even meas- ure it. You have yet to tap the greatest reservoir of energy and power which will be available to ] man. "Your atomic energy and, hence, an atomic war, may be a fixation with you. You break up atoms and destroy things. But what holds the atom together? You arc using a low-grade force how, and have in . consequence a puzzled science and, without insulting you' I hope* a low- grade culture'* "You come at a very late time,;* I said. "Tomorrow, next week, next month we will be deluged with sel f -navigating, circumnavigating missiles. We may not even know our enemy and will strike out blind, perhaps to destroy all. Yes, you come very late/* "Perhaps. Perhaps not. But I come to tell you that if you on tnis plane could produce viticity, you on that plane may certainly produce the thing for .which yon have all proper notes. 1'iut f may overestimate your backwardness. It may just be that somewhere there some one — not you — has already made viticity. In that event do [lot hope for a mild" atomic war.11 "A mild atomic war !" I gasped. * "Aye," said MacII wraith. i4l said WdTJ * "You mean viticity is that much more powerful than electricity f" "And attracting atoms within themselves is that much more powe; - ASTOUNDING fJCIENCB-FICTION

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■ fill than fission. {fit has been done on your plane, then do not sit and worry about atomic bombs. You'll not have just an atomic war. We bad that this side, you know. Wash- ington was struck and saint? other places in the world and we see en to have survived it — thanks to Charles M artel and the rest. But the war which devastated wiis not part of World War 11. It was . , * but here are the books." "Could I ask—?" "Read the books/' said MacII- wraith. "The story of Martel is written by his friend and is a biog- raphy meant to please. The others are volumes which changed our lives/' I did not realize that he had al- ready begun to fade from my room, that only fog drifted where his chair had been. Before the fire, in the ce Filer of the hearth rug, a volume began to appear, held in a spotlight of green which had no visible source. An- other book grew and took body and then a third. The light faded and only the guttering fire splashed on the covers^ * T took them and found them wholly solid. They were bound in scarlet and each was emblazoned with a great golden sword. The smaller pair were entitled: "Nega- tive Energy Flows: A Neglected Field with Some Notes on Future Potentialities in Life Creation'1 and "Codes, Constitution and General Organization of the Allied Scientists of the World 7 with notes on Viticity Defense." After an interested ex- amination I laid them by. THE END IS NOT YET All my interest, for such is the ego of manf was focused upon "Charles Martel: A Biography by Le Chat a Faimc." And here is the story : CHARLES MARTEL A BIOGRAPHY By TvC Chat a Fairne PROLOGUE The prison darkness was sicken- ing hot and the -Negro in the next cell was moaning. Against the gray stone ceiling above the bunk of Charles M artel , Convict lfii*-353t marched or writhed the broken dreams of yesteryear. For two heartbreaking years he had watched that dim parade each night, when the lights blacked out and thrust away the grating steel and stone and for two endless sweat- ing summers he had endured the heat. Two winters liad frozen him here. Two autumns. Two springs had brought no hope- For life. Treason against the United States of America, Attempting to overthrow the government by force. Aid and comfort to her enemies. For life. He who held the only key to all the senseless whirl without these walls was buried alive within them. For life. But would he live when

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the millions had died whom he had sought to save? And across the ceiling marched the hell in his heart while the Negro moaned and far off on the prairie summer lightning flashed. And down from the unseen ceiling the great blob of a face muttered, "I'll get you, Charles Martel* 1*11 get you if I have to beat all hell for evidence. I'll get you, Charles1 Martel!" For life, "You awake, Martel?" He lay for a little while not an- swering. Jimmy knew he was awake- Jimmy was a yegg that could see in the dark. "Want a cigarette, Martel?" He took Jimmy's cigarette and in the Hash of the lighter saw the thin, scared visage of the man. Jimmy's hand was trembling. He didn't like the dark, this frightened little man. He wanted to see a human face for a moment and see a cigarette glow and fade as human breath drew on it. The parade was stale hones and rags, thin with being- watched. But it would march and march as the years went on until it came to its end, an end which stopped with a cheap black box in the dirt of the prison yard. He watched the little yegg ner- vously twitch the cigarette between his lips, A year ago Jimmy had talked his whole life out. There was little to say which had not been said before. Charles Martel talked to no one. ~'I got a feeling," said the yegg* 12 Martel shut off the parade with effort. * "I heard the radio in the shop saying something about Russia and England and $pain. I ain't smart like you, Martel But J gnt a feel- ing/* He paused, raised himself suddenly, CI got a feeling it ain't all right tonight." "Go to slecpT Jimmy. It will be light in a few hours.*' "Not this is different. My girl, I know she's gone. She aiu*t faith- ful , not like your hoy, I got the cough and I'll never leave this place alive- I know that, Uut this is different." "Go to sleep, Jimmy/' "No, listen, Martel. You're smart, You know about these things. You know about nations and wars and such. You're prob- ably the smartest man in this place,** ilNot smart enough to keep out of here,'* said Martel bitterly. "It's the breaks. I make a clean 'Job of it. I get the stuff in a bag and the bag out of the window. I hit n cop by accident. It's the breaks/* "Go to sleep* Jimmy." "No» look. You sec that last flash? That didn't look like light- nings It was yellow and green. It wasn't lightning." Martel leaped from his hunk and clung savagely to the bars, staring at the sky. He recollected himself in a' moment and turned back to drop wearily upon his blanket. "I'm sorry, Martel. Eut I couldn't help saying — ** "That's ali right, Jimmy. I didn't see the flash,*' ASTOUNDING £0 I E NCE-F1 CTTON

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"But lookh Martel, what eolor would it be if * , * if that was an atomic bomb? Green, wouldn't U r1 You know a] I about these tiling Mattel." The little yegg was scared, not with a fear lie conld rationahzcj not with any knowledge lie had, but with the instinct of an animal who feels a breath of death. A time elapsed and then, sud- denly, Jimmy spoke sharp] v. "There! Look!" The Negro had stopped moaning. The flash glowed ujion the interior of the cell, Soon afterwards there canif a shock through the earth and then a faint concuss ion in the air.. For it space the ugly stone pile seemed to have stopped living. Martei felt his heart hammering hi his throat but he lay quietly on his THE EIfl> IS NOT YET bunk. He knew lie was trapped. He knew tliat his boy was out there somewhere^ unprotected. He was schooled in destruction and he knew how the ground must look under the spreading mushroom. But he lay still. The walls of the prison wretched and swayed. Something EeiL "Atom bomb? That was not an atom 1x3 mb^ That was something a thousand times worse. What hav*« I done?^ His voice was low. It could not have carried even to Jimmy. And yet it was as though he had an- nounced the thing through the great speakers ^in the halls* As a car crashes against concrete the prison broke into- frenzied,- maddening sound. Through the crazy din of screams r shaken bars and bawling men.

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Jimmy cried , ++MarteH Martel! Get nie out af here ! Get me. out ! We'll be fried ! FRIED 1" * "Shut up !" said Martel. "It was not that close. They can be seen lor three hundred mites/* "No look. Marl el, that wasn't no three hundred. That was ten, " five. , Why -don't they open these doors?" Arid his fiats began to beat against the lock and his voice joined a thousand more all screaming for the guards. * A -siren began to yell and then rose to an aching incessant howl which drowned all else. A guard appeared at the end of the tierT He was newly awakened and his eyes we're wild with i fear* The lights were not yet on but there was- scarlet and green light in the air* A searchlight swept into the tier. The lights flashed, flickered and went out* There was yelling in the yard and bedlam in the walls. A car smarted up with a crash of gears and then slammed into something. The guard looked irresolutely at the cell [switches winch would key open the doors. He looked at the forest of arms which reached at him. He was beaten back by the screams and turned to sprint away. Martel went to the window and looked down into the yard. The main gate was open and three cars were starting through it, burdened with men in uniform! The search- light swung in crazy arcs and beat, beat, beat af~ the tiny figures which followed the cars — all in uniform. A guard ,on the high wall Threw 14 away hi$ gun and ran down the steps to disappear out of the gale. The green and scarlet light struck against low clouds and rebounded again to earth. Summer lightning fluttered weakly on the horizon* No one else Jeft by that gate. The siren still screamed and the convicts yelled. But there was a deserted air anout the place already as though death had set in. "The dirty devils left us to starve r shrieked the Negro, -lCome back ! Come back you — " A change had come over Martehs The gray of the prison cloth was sii]J*upon his body but there was no defeat iti his eyes. Jimmy turned from the dour and whatever he was about to cry stuck in his throat* By the light of a newspaper somebody had lighted far a torch , Martel seemed to have grown taller, stroEiger, There was a savage curve on his mouth which might have been a grin. There was bitterness and ferocity in his eyes. He seemed to be a man who could walk through steel and stone. With an effort he tempered Ma expression. Ho stifled a laugh whiclj beat for freedom in his throat. For life? He fought the laugh aticl sat down on the bunk. But there was a force in him, a brutal vitality which flowed like lightning from him. And jimmy stood back to bars in awe. Martel 'carefully modulated his voice, speaking just doud enough to be heard above the terror in that abandoned place. - ASTOUNDING SCIENCE-FICTION

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"Give me your playing cards, Jimmy," "You all right, Martel?" "Give fixe your playing cards a Ad a razor. And make those fools throw more packs tip to this cell.*' "But what— " "Do as I command." "Yes sir," said Jimmy. "Wliat are we .going: to do?" "Scrape cards and shred cello- phane off your cigarettes. Gun- powder. Jimmy.- I'm going to blow Our way out of here.1* The siren howled like a mad dog set loose upon the world. . FRANCE, The dismal autumn rain soaked dirt from the cobbles of the broken courtyard* Along one wall ran a line of ragged pockmarksp plaster plucked with a leaden thumb, plaster which bore another .substance in it here and there. A lone, trench-coated man sadly gazed upon the scene, hands thrust deeply into his pockets, chin dropped on breast, tie looked at a small, sodden bird which sat hopelessly on the remains of a tree, still like the man before the gloom of the place, Dawn was a lifeless thing which grayed the lowering clouds; it cast no shadow in a place where all was shadow. Beyond the wall, half -seen in miat± stood the jagged stones which had once raised a cross to God, but now a shattered hulk gazing somberly down on the rubble which had been France. The only crosses here were the seven posts which stood before the wall, posts which had been trees but were TUP] EXD TS NOT VET converted now so that they stood the height of a head* The per- formance of their office had chewed and carved, their trunks the height of a breast* The bird sat brooding and the only courtyard song was the dismal gurgle of a spout which vomited leaden rain. Charles Martel, if" one can see correctly through the legends, the tales, the hero-worship* the blazing glory which later obscured all his past, must have been about thirty- five years of age. Through six long and arduous years he had served ceaselessly in the causes he believed to be right, and though some authorities trace his service to Spain at an earlier" date, nineteen thirty-nine would seem to be his first European connection, for the reputation he must have possessed1 at that date as a scientist could not have been preceded by actual par- ticipation in war. He had been employed in various capacities because of his basic skill ✓as a nuclear physicist, but for the entire duration these employments had all been in the fields of es- pionage and intelligence under the Allies. Such activities ar,e never blatant and all records o£ him were buried in the most secret riles of Washington and London where they were later, of course, utterly de- stroyed- A large portion of any credit accruing from the interrupt tion of the rocket missile and atomic research activities in the Axis powers which were Germany, Italy and Japan, was owing tq him. Un- seen, unknown^ he had worked thoroughly and well. is

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But six long: years of danger, arduous travel and combat leave deep marks on a man. And Charles Martel at this dale was iU, nearly broken in body, exhausted and feverish in minw knew him, not even his in- timates in work, for the tasks of intelligence are hard and impress a sccrec3> it! to the depths of a man. ifi Tlsere was a felt ruthlessness about him, .a, s*avage relentlessness, a power of being about him which commanded and received respect. And yet. as with all great hearts, there was a gentleness, too, bom out of understanding and suffering which could go out to the helpless with as much strength as his savagery could strike the men. who opposed him. He was too complex as an individual to be understood or labeled in a breath, which is the thing which probably brings down to us the many conflicting descrip- tions of him which gamut from sadist to saint. ^He was neither; He was a man whose nerve alone bore - him up utuler the great burden of six long years fcof war. Somberly he watched the bird which 'did not sing. They both were waiting and the rain came down, A son of shudder took him when he heard the files. The even thump of rhythmic boots, the clink of metal, the sodden slap of leather as the truop drew up, stqpped, grounded arms and took the command at case- He looked at them then and found that they were French. But their fates went unseen below their dull helmets and such was the strange effect of rain that I hey appeared to be on the other side of some curtain and were nut real at all hut some- thing badly dreamed and half re- inembered* The officer alone was human, nervously pacing up and down he fore the ranks, flicking at his boots with a crop, young and iSrOUMJ[^(J SCrKTiCE-FICTlON

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inexperienced and very ill at ease^ * His pistoi was bolstered outside his raincoat and he touched its butt from time to time, quickly with- drawing from its black coldness. It- was ca&y -to see his mind. He had not been in the war ; lit had not killed his man, ' Today he would have to give the coup da grace to eight. He had a little mustache of which he was probably proud but the blackness of it was startling against the pallor of his face. With worried ami half- fearful eyes he gazed upon the leaden day* The bird tenaciously" kept his post before all this military prepa- ration, clinging hard to one of the converted trees against a sudden, gust of wind. The cathedral bell tower retained two eyes of air and stone and these looked sadly upon the courtyard, - The tnist thickened and the shattered ljulk swam for a moment and then vanished* The -officer glanced nervously at his watch -and then ran to the gate to look down the road. The lorry came with ponderous lurches, waddling through thick pools, slamming its canvas covers out and back, windshietd swipes swinging like sluggish metronomes. It lurched through the gate and cast a final splash far from it. before it halted m the yard, Two guards swung out of the cab and hurried to the rear where they undid the fastenings and permitted two more guards to step down^ With peremptory gestures the four called the burden out and when it did not come swiftly enough. THE HHP JS> WOT -two mounted up and yanked at the first man, A French sergeant alighted from the cab now. In his grubby fist he carried a board on which paper was clipped, a hoard not unlike that carried by a grocery truck driver. He consulted it and counted the names on it with Si is pencil f then lie counted the names backwards* Satisfied, he looked harshly at the eight men who had now been beaten into a ragged line behind the truck. 1]^ counted them with hid pencil, counted them backwards and then did some arithmetic on his pad. He grunted with satisfaction and without saluting, thrust the receipt before the officer. Taking the pencil , the nervous f entente counted the names, looked . up and counted the prisoners. He was about to sign when he recalled something and with a frown looked at the paper. 'Siegfried Kline!" One of the men in the ]jnc who stood sagging, hands tied behind him like the rest, replied, "Hier" "Gustav Schwartz!" And then rapidly, hardly waiting for the answer: "Josef Mcmsicr, Ludwig K rants, Stenan Draus, Franz Scharfcnstein, Karl von Steel, Leut nant-Kom mandant Ger- ber/' The line sagged back into hope- lessness. The tenhente scribbled his signature on the slip and gave the board to the sergeant. A squad of men tinder a corporal detached it- self from the ranks and came for- ward to thrust and hustle the 17

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prisoners toward the posts. The sergeant looked after them, a twisted grin on his month. He spat and laughed shortly. The guards got back into the lorry and the ser- geant took the wheel, backing the vehicle into the street and then lurching into some kind of gear- clashing motion went away- The officer gave directions as to the order of the men and the posts and Had a sergeant pass out the black hoods and the ropes. He " stood for a little, watching the prisoners being trussed* and then nervously exploded at his sergeant. There were eight prisoners but only seven posts. He argued with his second about itf waving the paper in the air, gesturing wildly with his croj> "What shall I do? What shall 1 do? Oh, to be served by imbceilesf cabbages, camels!" He stabbed at the eighth prisoner as though he thrust into a sack of grain, "What shall I do with this one?" The bird had withdrawn to the wall where it waited sotidcnly. The ■ lowering mists swirled and' the gutter gushed under a fresh torrent. Dirt gritted underfoot, *'A moment, my lieutenant," said Charles Martel. ''There is some error here. Karl von Steel is not scheduled for execution/' The French officer swung about as though the quiet voice" had goaded him beyond endurance. *'And who might you be?** "I am Charles Martel, my lieu- tenant. Intelligence advisor to the Allied War ^ Crimes Commission which ordered this execution/1 18 "Ah! Capifttinc Martel!" The officer footed at the list and then thrust it tinder Marl el's nose, "Read, There on the seventh line. Doe* that not say Karl von Steel ? And look, does this paper not read that these men are to be shot? Does it not? VoUai" And he turned his back to give more furious directions to his sergeant. The noncom did not appear im- pressed, He chewed at a heavy peasant mustache unlit the tirade was worn down a little and then, interjected that while sergeants were generally responsible for many things a] id while lieutenants, even if they were young, must have their respect, the solution, if one wished to find one, was quite simple. One merely had to let one man wait until seven were dead and then kill the eighth. And why all this for- mality. It was cold and the men were wet, w "Lieutenant," said Martel* less courteously. "I must ask you to stop this execution until the com- mission member and the staff are informed." '* '!Ah ! And now the execution must stop. You hear what my sergeant has said. My men, my poor children are wet and it is cold* Besides the commission has stated that it will be here. Veil*!" Martel looked at the prisoners. They were being mauled about and masked like so many bayonet dum- mies. There was a time when human beings were given choice of a blindfold, a cigarette, a chance for a last word. Civilization, in its

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stately progress j was falling back Oil a front or 1\vo. Mart e J was raking his weary mind for the uiiuie of Karl von Steel find the crime* Had lie been less tired, less numb, the res tilt which now took place would have come much earlier. Anger paled his Hps, The agcrl man who, even in this sordid scene, retained some dignity and seemed not afraid was Karl vou,Stech They had knocked his glasses off in fixing a hood to fit him a] id then* as the extra man, had thrust him asid^ to wait his. turn ".while the others were yanked with- out ceremony to the posts and lashed. With a band which shook, Martel whirled the officer about, "There is a mistake here, my nervous little man. Dr. Karl von Steel is a famous Austrian psych iatrist, the foremost scientist in his field. He was never intended for execution. T brought liim myself for a trial witness. You will plca.se to place him inside and out of the wet/' Cowed for an instant by tone and eyes, the Frenchman suddenly shook free, .The anger was con- tagious and lie flew into a tirade. His authority was being questioned. Did the paper not say — "Silence!" said MarfceL The officer stripped in mid-rise, *'You wiJl deliver .this prisoner into my hands." said Marteh ' Two months ago J gave him my word he was needed only as a witness," Sullenly demanding authority and* being damned for asking, the officer TtlK 15 IS NOT YET suddenly snatched the old prisoner by the arm and hurled him at Mar- Cel "But lie does not leave this yard until the commission gives me orders!" fumed the lieutenant. "And if the commission does not came — " But the commission was arriv- ing, or at least a few of its members. There were several press photog- raphers and reporters in a car behind the sleek limousine which came first. A little bundle of allied flag on the limnuyine's radiator cap arid a large gold insignia on the door gave the vehicle identity and as much pomp as it could manage in this rain. Martel drew the old man hack out of the big car's road. Dr. von Steel's gray hair, matted with the rain, got into his eyes and he thrust it back. "Thank you± captain/* said von Steeh "This is a gal] ant gesture^ hut I tear it i$ of "no avail. I was tried in secret and condemned" "This is another matter,, doctor," said Martel. "You had my word that you were only needed as a witness. There has been some error here, I think." The old man's lips curved iu a proud but cynical smile. "I appre- ciate your interest, captain. +Word' is something which the world has forgotten t I think. But then, you have — " he paused. He had been looking interestedly at Martel's face, into his eyes. "Forgive me, captain, I think your word means something to you." There was re- spect in his voire, JMarteJ nodded briefly. His anger 10

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had not diminished and there was a flush on his cheeks. He bent down to look into the limousine the win- dows of whkh were steamed and streaming. The suddenly opened rear door almost struck him- Out of the car, as he supposed sonic Roman genera] might have stepped* came Mr, Connover Banks, political advisor and head without title — the chairman notwithstanding even if named — of the Allied War Crimes Commission. He was a small man* Mt, Con- nover Banks, but he swelled into something like stature each time before he spoke. He was flabby soft so that one could imagine pick- ing pieces off him with finger and thumb. There was a hearty joviality about him in public but his black, small eyes1 were hidden, well within the folds of his round* unhealthy face. He was picking bits of break- fast out of his front teeth and sucking them noisily from his little fingers. ■ "Mattel I Well, well, well My old friend Mar tel. Ready and on the job, I set Sent a car around for you earlier. Get there? Fine, line, fine. WellT I see we have our Httle friends all rounded up and ready for the trimming, hat ha. Some friends of yours, here?" "This man is Karl von Steel/ ' said Martcl. "There is an order here for him to be shot this morn- "So?" said Connover Banks, +ens to be the world's foremost psych i at rist-diag- nastician* He is a research scientist. His hooks are standard texts in. every university in America." "Sd?" drawled Mr. Banks. He stepped aside to let others out of the car and these wont over to look at the prisoners. Among them. was_ a French general, Chibatdt, ,Mr. Banks looked after them and showed an inclination to leave. "But that is not the point/1 con- tinued Mattel. "Whether he is famous or n&tT he is a scientist And he is a man. His life is not to he lightly taken, I gave him my word when I brought him here that he was wanted just as a witness. You yourself so informed me." " Mr. Banks looked diffidently at the prisoner. "He is a dangerous man- Every Nazi concentration camp had complete pamphlets of his works. One of his texts on frus- t ration was used as a standard torture by the SS guards. Now." "Mr. Banks, the doctor was a prisoner in Chateau Colaine from nineteen forty-one until six months ago. All his works were written before the war." "Besides," said Mr. Banks, "the man is a socialist, probably a com- munist/* ASTOUNDING ftCISNCB-FlC'TION

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**I am not prepared to argue that/1 said MarteL "But—" It was Dr„ von Steel who inter- posed and said in good English, "Young man; you arc incurring displeasure for my sake- 1 assure you it is useless. They have tried and convicted me—" "I beg your pardon, Dr. von Steel," said Martel, "but there is something; else here. Mr. Banks, I gave this man my word he was needed only as a witness. He could have escaped*" Mr, Banks smiled jovially* "Why, don't disturb yourself about that, Mattel. The Nazis, like this man, broke their word all the time," He grinned through the torrent which ran from his hat brim. , "The difficulty/' said Martel, "in fighting a war is to keep from sink- ing to the level of one's enemies. I gave my word, Mr. Banks, and I want that word kept!1* With a sly glance around hiin as though to be sure they were alone, Mr, Banks drew Martel slightly to one side and whispered, ''This is pretty much out of our hands,, old boy. The French had evidence we didn't count on. They took this one right out from uuder us. It's the French , you see, and that absolves us. Marshal Germain e — " "Marshal Germaine is here in this town/' said Martel. *T can reach him." "By all means, by all means. There's a phone right inside there, Martel. Go see what you can do. Use my name, if you like/" Mr- Banks walked quickly away toward the group of officials „ The TUB END IS MOT TBT preparations were well advanced now. The firing squad was filing up into position under the nervous orders of the lieutenant whose anxiety was increased by the pres- ence of a general of his army* Martel turned to Dr. von 'Steel and would have spoken but the doctor was holding out an envelope, "If you fail, captain, there's some- thing you could do/' "I won't fail," said Martel, start- ing off. . "Wait, captain. There is always a chance, I know. But I have a. feeling — Well, here." He twitched his bound hands about until they, indicated his left jacket pocket. "There's" a letter in there, X doubt these1 gentlemen would deliver it/* Impatient to he off, Martel took the letter from the pocket and hid it quickly to keep it dry. '*To my daughter," said von Steel , "I am not sure where she ist They have permitted no com- munication with anyone. Would^ you deliver it?" "Certainly. But there'll be no need/* ■i ■ • Mattel ran across the yard into the broken building. It was a pre- cinct station but there were no gendarmes about at this hour. He unhooked the phone and called the Grand Hotel. .. There was considerable delay. The lines were few. The operator rang for some time before the hotel finally answered. Tfte clerk was very sleepy and would not for a while admit that Marshal Germaine was there. After much coaxing and si

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fuming by iurusT Marte! managed to get him to .send the porter to bring the marshal to the phone. He managed - to light a soggy cigarette with reluctant matches and puffed nervously on it without satis- faction. The wait seemed endless. He tried to peer out into, the yard bur could not without deserting the phone. The line was buying peculiarly and with a flash of suspicion he hung up and called the operator hack* No, he was not connected to the hotel. Yes, she would rin^ again but the lines were net many and perhaps the hotel had reasons for not talking to him — She rang. The sleepy clerk was antagonistic now. Yes , he hnd sent a porter. A liar? Of course he Was no liar I Yes, he had sent a porter* For whom? Well — All right, all right, the gentleman need not he violent. Marshal Ge murine. Very well, he would send for Marshal Germatne* But it was a very bad hour— Mattel waited. There was. a ragged crash of rifle?, deafening even here inside. It was succeeded by three more crashes in rapid order. Inanely Mart el wondered if the bird had flown away. There was one single report— a revolver. It was reported six more times. "Marshal Gennainc speaking. Who? Oh yes, Captain Mattel. Yes, captain. How are you? , v . Dr. Karl von Steel? I can't seem to remember . . . Oh, yes. The scientist. Ah, too bad, too bad , , . Why, of course, captain. If you think there-s any reasonable doubt. I'll fend an order over im- mediately for a stay. Certainly/* •'Thank 3*011, marshal. It's a matter — " *'I quite understand, M artel. And 1 can't forget what you diet for tis after Dieppe, Glftd to oblige." M artel felt a tingle of cold upon him as hu put down the phone. He thrust back and started toward the door, . There was the crash of a single volley. Martcl grasped the pnrch post with a crushing grip. The yard" seemed to spin before him a a thought ■ the rain which sliced down wns composed of dancers which whirled and whirled and whirled. The line of men was filing our. He looked with the fascination of horror at what the French lieutenant was doing. There was a single pistol report. Mattel turned and looked va- cantly into the precinct station. It seemed to him as though laughter was rolling through the empty bareness of the place. Oily laughter which came now from the desk, now from the phone, now from the win clows. The whole place was tipping crazily fts though he were aboard an unsteady boat in a raging sea. His ears roared and his throat was too dry to swallow. Things seemed to be brushing against him, dancing around him, laughing* With a hard wrench at himself he steadied his nerves and wits- He discovered he was talking- to himself and clamped his jaw tight. ASTOUNDING S C I «N pffi.P I CT t

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He turned jmrt walked out into the yard. One body of the first seven had been cut from its post, The others slumped, drenched with rain which darkened as it poured over their breasts, AH trees were occupied* The yard now had a drab pickup truck in it and the men of this were pushing the first body about on the post to cut it loose. The lieutenant was white. He was trying to reload Lis pistol but after a little gave it up and thrust it into his holster. He went and sat down on a stone, recollected s himself and leaped up to saunter with extreme and careful casualuess back of the files which the sergeant was forming up. A noncom from the pickup truck . ran up to the officer and thrust a pencil and sheet at him. The officer signed landT folding; the receipt T surrendered his uwti. The noncom carefully counted the names twice and then with the pencil counted the lifeless sacks Ins men were hauling about He nodded and signed his name again. The springs of the pickup groaned- Small trails of darkness went between truck and posts* The little bird stood soddenly on the wall and the rain came -down. Mart el looked across to where Mr. Banks and the other officials had finished having their pictures taken. He waited by the limousine, oblivious of water , coldness, bodies and pooled blood. Mr, Banks would Jmve gone to THE RND NOT YBT the other side of the limousine but Martel shifted over. He fore either could speak, General Chibault cheer fully flapped Mr. Banks on the shoulder* "Well, leave it to you Americans. You*U t^acli us all a thing or two. Effi- ciency. Emc iency in bombing. Effi- ciency in rounding them up. And now efficiency in this. Speed, accu- racy, timing, Amazing people. Now; take that last one, von Steel. I never would have, thought a man like that would have been so closely connected with the torture camps if yon hadn't told us, Banks. Efficiency, that does it. Speed, dash^ accuracy. Well, let's all have another breakfast. At my place. Starved,' aren't you?" M artel barred their way. A motorcycle had drawn up. "Mr. Banks, a stay in the execu- tion of Dr. Karl von Steel was granted by Marshal Germaine." He was distracted by the messenger asking for Captain M artel and he took the envelope and ripped it open* Looking at the paper which was thrust at him, Mr. Banks shrugged. 'T am afraid I should have known, this sooner, Martd." " * "You knew I was phoning the marshal /' "Say, old man," said Banks, "You look pretty bad. Probably a touch of flu coming on, Herej get in out of the wet and — " "You knew I was phoning," said Mar tel. "Captain—" "That is a courtesy title, I am a civilian, Mr. Banks, I am eni- ployed — " £3

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*You are employed as an intelli- gence officer, M artel," said Banks with sudden viciousnessp "You are employed to do as you are told and to follow your orders, I knew nothing about your phoning. This stay was pro cured without any authority and I myself shall have to explain and apuiogizc for you to Marshal Germain e — ■" You'll have to explain some day to a Higher Power than that, Mr+ Banks/1 said Mart el* "Dr* von Steel was innocent. The Nazis used anything any scientist had done just as the United States used whatever the brains England and the United Slates had to offer. Dr. von Steel has saved the sanity of millions of jjeople/* "Hi* work tortured a hundred thousand to death!" snarled Banks. "Now take care what yon do. This, is insubordination—" "One has to have a superior to lie subordinate, Mr, Banks* You caused me to break my word. You have used ine this time* You hive probably used me a thousand times as shabbily/1 "Turn over to me instantly your lists, Mattel. You are fired." Martel Teached with fury-shaken lingers into his trench coat. He got out matches at the same time* He tried hard to get a light going and failed. With a grab, Banks sought lo seize the liaison and underground lists. He forgot these were the property o£ Martel. He knew how vital they were in locating men in ^ all this tumbled wreck of J^urope, Martel ripped them a dozen times TUB END IH NOT YET and stamped them into a bloody pool under his feet. "You're fired!" cried Banks* tearing the cigar out of his mouth and spitting its fragments. * 'You're fired "Mr. Banks/' said Mattel, "you may be a powerful political figure* you may be rich. But politics and money won*t take away the fact that you've murdered a man this morn- ing, murdered him as surely as if youJd sunk a. knife into his heart with your own hand* You're drunk on killing. You're a rotten sadist, a coward! "When a state touches a single hair on the head of an innocent man* when it murders without cause, that state is doomed, doomed as surety as Karl von Steel. If you've got a shred of conscience about you, if youwe got a heart or even a dirty whipped rag of decency left — " "Arrest this roanl" cried Banks, *'I le's gone mad 1" Martel struck him across the month* struck him and smashed the cigar and the bloated face. Banks slammed back into the pickup truck - door and fell forward again. Martel stepped aside and let him drop into the red pools which had spread there. Stunned and shaking, Banks got up. He had caught himself with ■ his hands against the cobbles and now those hands dripped darkly, j Martel would have struck again but he paused at the sight of the hands, - paused long enough for General Chibault and an orderly to grab him and throw him to one side.

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Banks stood shaking a fist. 'Til get you, Charles M artel. I'll get you if I have to beat all hell for evidence, I'll get you, Charles Martel V* They got Banks into the limousine and the cars went^away. The pick- up finished its business and left. The lieutenant, with recovered spirits, marched away at the head of his men. Their military boots gritted against the fouled cobbles, metal clinked," leather creaked. The rhythmic beat faded into the rain. Martel stood alone in the court- yard, holding the stay in* a nerveless hand. He shook himself a little and iooktd slowly around. Nothing looked the same to him. The rain* the vomiting gutter spout, the rear- ing, shattered tower of the church, these wore different, too. The little bird preened its sodden feathers, but not to sing. In small, wary hops it came down to the first post and began to pick hungrily at the newly shattered trunk. Martel looked at the bird^ the pave, the pockmarked wall. His eyes were glazed as though he had been struck in every wound anew. There was a chill of fever on him from the swamps of haiy and the bitter day was hot upon hi 5 skin. Before him the world dimmed and cleared and dimmed again and all things wrapped themselves in un- familiar cloaks and madlj' swirjed about him. He stumbled to the gate and slowly, numbly gazed back. The little bird was eating mid the rain came down. The day tivas hot and the dust rose in orange curtains from the abandoned fields of Southern France, to speed in swirls through liamlet and village and race, as though mocking the lack of other trattlcT whirlwind against whirlwind down the long, curving roads. Where rumbling, Roman catapults had groaned along, where the pageantry of chivalry was iron o*ide and calcium amongst the ruts, where barefoot kings had on penance walked > a lonely man, lean- ing heavily upon a stick, limped southward. There was weariness, not of the body but of the mind and soul, Hi every stumbling step, and there a dazed wildncss in his eye as though he knew not where he weni. But he did" know. Clutched in his hand was a small, square en- velope, much grimed, which said; Anne von Steel Villa Vcntc Biarritz, Fi'aiiet. Now and then he stuffed it in die pocket of his dusty jacket but be- fore a hundred yards had go tic he consulted it again. He must be almost there. For the difficulty of his' travel made the way**very long, He was puzzled from time to fcimi- by his lack of money. In the dull- ness which submerged hi ui there seemed to be a fact he should know- about the money, a fact which he could not grasp. He had asked a gendarme about it and tliat one, being a very old man who had seen much oE war and understanding, had discussed _A ST OU K Fi I N G SfJIRSc: !■> r K.T I 1 ■ S

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the possibilities of his" having been struck and robbed. But the only name on which they could fasten was 11 Hanks" and this obviously must be wrong. A cart had brought him far, a driver of a truck farther. A slim officer of the nrniy had given him a lift in a rattling old car and had recognized him and, alarmed at his condition, required much persuasion before the journey could be re- sumed. ' The days and faces in the in were all jumbled. People looked at him strangely, tapped their skulls and shrugged* The war. Iti the end it wrecked the finest of them. An old woman who fancied she saw in bun a resemblance to her son, exported to Germany as a la1>orer and never seen again, stopped to feed hiiti milk and bread from a precious basket. When she touched his hand she found it hot and, look- in** more closelv at him. saw that he was ill with a fever which bor- dered on <jjfdirtum and yet could not persuade him to stop at her cottage, "I have a message. 1 promised a thing," he muttered and, getting stiffly upt walked on. It was a nightmare walk where strange fancies changed the pleasant day and green fields into a -peopled world of weird shapes and stranger conversations. He was quite sane toward it. He knew that he was ilk But he could afford no energy expended upon a momentary rest or, so it seemed, upon a righting of the things about him. He was at the University of California sometimes or at Cal Tech, TUB BNP IE NOT IET arguing theories with professors with the next few years to prove !iiin right, but whenever he caught himself at this talking he ceased ashamedty. Odd bits of knowledge came fioating back to him. Entire sec- tions of his thesis on chain reaction -—-a thesis which had been often consulted of late and with some awe, a fact which he, buried in war, did not know — came back to plague him with their endless propoundings of nearly unsdlvable equations so that sometimes as he , rested be- made aimless summation marks with his stick in the dust only to see what he did and hastily dust them out. It was thus that the urchin found him. The hoy was about thirteen but his face looked ages older. His clothing was gunny sacking and his shoes were' sections of a discarded ty-e. He had a dirty mop of blond hair j.iid calculating bhie eyes* Fed and washed he might have been a very presentable boy but as he was, a beggar, a bit of jetsam in war's backwash, not even a self-respecting peasant would have touched him. "Francs"!11 he demanded, stand- ing squarely . before the man, "Bread!" The man looked, at hiin idly but made no move to rise or fish in_ his. pocket and the boy became bolder. "Give me francs!" The child came into focus, per- haps the first face he had clearly seen in all this travel "I ... 1 have no money." The boyfs skeleton hands clenched. "I an; an English gentle- £7

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man, I do not have anything to eat. France !"' Looki tig: at hi in more closely, the man .Winked. "I have no money ,If he said in English. The bny looked interested, though she was only twenty. The t>oy finally recovered his speech. "My friend and It we have brought you a letter," he said, J,He has walked across France to bring ASTOUNDING SCIENCE PICT I OX

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it to you and with him 1 have travel! for five days. He has it in his hand*" The boy knelt to take it but the man gripped it tightly. "It is all right/* said the boy, "This is the place." "WhEit is her name?" muttered the man. "What is your name?" said the boy. "A nut. Anne von Si cel." though realizing for the first time that he had at rived at his destination, the man thrust down with his stick and managed to stand agEiin, He turned, hulking at the letter to make sure it was all right and still there. He half extended it and then seemed to want confirma- tion from her. He looked at her face with feverish eyes. He backed a step find Finally tore his glance away. He looked. about him as though to assure himself that he was not dead that he had come to confront an angel. Disbelieving he stared at her face. She took the letter from him which he gave now with ease. Per- haps she would have spoken then, for her glance on him was curiously and oddly confused, but her eyes dropping saw the handwriting. She had not known where her father had gone nor why. For three months there had been no word from him. Her cry was glad as; she ripped the envelope but as she read she became paler and from her par turf lips came a low moan. > The urchin looked at her with deepening concern and then, ashamed of his dirty t hands but TUB END IS NOT IE T alarmed , he took her by the wrist and half supporting her led her into the house. The man sat on the step for some time and then, finding: the boy beside him once mfrre asked , "Where is the letter?" And he ransacked .his pockets* "We delivered it," said the boy. "Oh/' And after a moment. "I saw a beautiful woman just now. Was that Anne von Steel ~f "Yes." *'Oh.,J tie sat a while longer and theti stood slowly. He looked out at the round, rolling surf and across the bine Mediterranean, Bewildered now that the purpose of weeks was gone, be was uncertain. It seemed as though his life had stopped there on the steps and that something was buried and forgotten and must never he dug out again* A street cleaner on the ocean boulevard before the house stopped* stared and then hastily pulled his cap over his face and pushed his cart forward at a swift pace. The man took no notice of him. Suddenly it seemed to the man that he had come home somehow. He looked at the front door which stood wide. She filled his vision once more* "I have been selfish*" she said* "Please come — Why* vou are ill !" He smiled a little* "I don't feel very well." "Help mc" she said to the boy. Together they aided the man into the house. AFRICA, THE HIGH ATLAS. Tlit chamber was dark, dark un-

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der the mystery of two thousand years," A temple once, built by unknown hands, supported by columns which were Grecian and yet not Grecian, it had housed many strange gods : Roman, Carthaginian, Vandal, Arab and Berber. Oil pots sputtered under lighted wicks along the wall and threw poor light down upon the great marble fable in the center the room — a table which had grooves for sacri- ficial Mood. On .a throne above a mutilated, robbed and dishonored god showed the remains of a smile and an eye, gazing down upon the table where sat four men. Outside, partly seen through a long tunnel, lay the jagged brown brutality of the Atlas Mountains and the coastal plain far beyond and far below. From here one might have seen Hannibal disci nbark or the smoke which had been Carthage. Partly in the viefr stood a Berber soldier, swathed round with dirty djcllaba, a bandoleer glittering over his shoulder,, a fine German rifle serving as an elbow rest aTid staff. Between the plain below and the soldier lay a landing field, hacked out by excited and confused soldiery and forgotten by more easily con- fused generals. Sheep nibbled now at the sparse grass and all traces of wheels had been carefully covered, ) The four at the table had been silent for sonic rime. This quiet- ness they had in common, (or there was much in each on which to brood. Their other bond was science. JaeckcT, the great physicist was idly stirring the masses of papers before him, his great hands dwarf* ing the rest of him, an old man ex- cept for the nervous, high flame which burned in his brilhant eyes, "I don't," he said at last, "see thac we x:an do it. It is too risky a thing, While we are not hunted, we must not risk being so/* "Every day a plane goes out/' said Dr. Thorpe. "It could do more than bring back books, reports and an occasional man. I say it must/* He was a bony angular man of great vitality and a habit of stabhing with his finger as he talked. He stabbed it now at Murtowsky and Bethel. "Wc sit here and do noth- ing while we are facetl with the most damnable plot the world, lias ever seen. We sit here and do nothing while the entire held of science is in very great danger of perishing. A war of such ferocity, that the last one will look tame, will break out in a matter of years. And yet we sit here and do nothing; All we need is a fiddle f gentlemen." "Rome/* said Murtowsky in a gloomy voice us dark as his beard, "is already dead. We can rescue and assemble and perhaps even hope when there is no hope." He turned his, sad doleful glance on Bethel 'What chance have four or even four dozen agahist the world?" "I suppose that goes for you, too/* said Thorpe, also looking at Bethel. The one they addressed coughed and looked at the shattered god. The thing , always offended his Christian senses and he wrenched his weak blue eyes hastily away* He swallowed hard+ "Meekness will triumph in the ASTOUNDING SCIENCE-FICTION

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end," said BetheL "The world will succeed in blowing itself apart and if God wills—" 'HGod seems to have precious little to do with this/' said ibe atheist Thorpe, "It looks more to me like devil's work." Jaeckei smiled thinly, his famous colleagues, Thorpe, the Englishman who hated war as much as any war- rior ever hated foe, and who was willing to be quite bloody about it; Mtmowsky, the great Russian sur- geon, supposedly dead in the purge in spite of all his great heart experi- ments; and Bethel the mild metal- lurgist of MForway' — rarely failed to wrangle amongst J hem 3 elves at this .meeting every day. x Jaeckei was hard and factual He had quit the Germans in 1943 when ihey had called upon him tor atomic work, fie had been unseen by the world ever since. - His laboratory in an oEd mine nearby- was waiting for him and Tit restrained an impulse to stalk out- Coldly Jaeckei said, "If you gen tie men wish, we. can e;o on play- ing dead for years and years* Per- sonally I think it is a coward's role. We have positive evidence that a group headed by one man, Jules Fahrceken, is promoting a war be- tween the United States and Russia. And we know definitely that that war will probably wipe out half of the population, of 'each country. Furthermore, gentlemen, that group hunts down our brothers o£ science, arrests them, shoots them, or picks r their brains, and hides them in dusty vaults where they cannot benefit humanity. * THK END IS NOT YET "I agree with Thorpe. We are here gathered to save science a:nd I agree with him that we do very little about it/* Dr. Thorpe would have launched forth again but he looked at Jaeckei and subsided. "Jules Fabrecken, through Con- 110 ver Banks, caused the execution of von Steel/' said Jaeckei, "for no other reason than that von Steel was working as a psychologist upon a new ideology. Hardly a day passes but what Professor Hans sends us information from Biarritz to the effect that another scientist has either been shot or has disappeared/' "The reason the Fabreckeu crowd does this/'- said Thorpe, "'is obvious. The best brains in the world today are scientists. A new weapon, a new invention, a new system of economics could very well completely upset the large and valuable interests of the Fabrecken crowd. They have seen wliat the atomic bomb could do. But now that they have made certain that Russia also lias an atomic bomb and are trying their best to engage Rus- sia in a war with the United States, the etimination of scientists who can- not be bought becomes paramount to them. The scientists must either be hired &□ that a finger can be kept on their inventions aud research or they must kill them on some trumped-up charge. "They are operating by their own lights/1 he continued. "It seems outrageous to them tliat any change should occur in the world to upset their way of life, And perhaps it is only blindness which permits them 91

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to sit idly by while millions of hu- man beings die as the result of their creeds. But whatever it is3 it*s vicious The first and foremost reason why we as*e mbled here was to try to prevent what they were doing." "We are doing something/' said Bethel peevishly. -'We are bringing hack books." And lie pointed at the vaults under the temple, HfAnd we are rescuing scientists whenever we can. You don't for a moment think wc could actively block the Fabrecken crowd, much less ag- gress ively oppose them, do you ? What folly that would be V "ft would he very difficult," said Murtowaky gloomily. " ''Gentlemen, gentlemen," said Thorpe, "you make me ashamed of you, If Jules Fabrecken were to get wind of this hideaway, he would have no slightest compunctions in having us all shot. What are we ? rdbbits? that we sit here waiting. If we only had some bold spirit, a leader who could make things right. Who could protect the world of thought, invention and advance- ment against Fabrecken and his Tike* If we only had a leader. For, . unless we take an aggressive stand all that we know and call culture is going to disappear." "We can rescue our fellow scien- tists from trouble with our means," said Bethel, "and we can safeguard wisdom. That is all/' Dr. Thorpe, however, was not quite through. "Gentlemen, as art economist I can show you where to get more money. We have planes, 8£ pilots, barracks, dispersal bases and, with Haus, a^ue intelligent corps, WThat weak spirits have we here if we, reputedly greatest in our lines, cannot thrust forth into this world and put a stop to madness which cannot do otherwise than cause a war so swift, so final, so completely devastating that every other war in history will seem as tame as a boyJs cricket match. We are sadly in want of spirit!" He stood up in disgust. "We pay the penalty of our anarchy/*' said Jaeckel. "But a momentT Drt Thorpe, There was another matter in the Hans report. Your indulgence please/7 "By all means," said Thorpe, sit- ting down with a glare at Murtow- sky and" Bethel* "Hatis, reports to us that the Power has the name of Charles Martel high on its list and that it is only a matter of time/' "Charles Martel!" said the Rus- sian, showing enthusiasm for the first time* "Ah, a brilliant mind. He aided my escape through the German lines and we had some famous talks. He spoke of some- thing which he called the life cur- rent, the binding force just the Opposite from electricity. He said it was far more powerful than electricity and yet we didn't even know enough to measure it. He said any fission is essentially tame com- pared to this viticity as he called it. Ah, a brilliant minch gen clem en v a brilliant mindl" "I have heard of him/' said Bethel.

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Thorpe alone looked puzzled and uneasy. "Haus," continued Jaeckel, long suffering with interruptions, fi states that Martcl might be at- Biarritz." "Ah/* said Thorpe. "But this is something which bears explaining. Hatis and our intelligence head- quarters is at Biarritz. Martcl is at BiEirntz. Martcl left the Held of science in nineteen thirty-nine and has developed nothing brilliant since. Why? Because he served as an in- telligence officer, the Allies using his fine command of nuclear physics to detect operations in that held by the Axis* He served in other intelli- gence capacities until the end of the war and then was drafted to the Allied War Crimes Commission, Connover Banks> gentlemen," he added in a low, hard voice. "Connover Banks ?** said Mur- towsky. "Linked with Mattel? I do not believe it!" "There is much to suspect here.,'* said Bethel. "But it is difficult to think of the great Martel in such odd company." "Odd company!" snorted Thorpe. "Fiendish, wicked, brutal, sadistic, greedy — *' "Gentlemen, gentlemen," said Jaeckel, "Haus only wonders if anyone amongst our people would know more about this. It is very shaky business indeed." "I say don't take a chance," said Thorpe. "Kill him and keep Haus safe. Haus is important — " " "Well, well" said Jaeckel. ^Some- how, Dr. Thorpe, I have a feeling that I have heard your sentiments somewhere before." And he held a TUB KNI> IB JfOT YBT1 mocking hand aloft in a Nazi salute. He smothered the papers again, flI took the liberty of asking before we met. Our young men know nothing but good of Martcl — " "He arrested and liad von Steel shot I1* said Thorpe, The other three stared at him, Jaeckel did not even have to glance around, "I suppose, gentlemen, that that settles everything, I shall micro radio Haus tonight to be care- ful of him." "'Do," said Murtowsky, with a disappointed sigh, "And he was such a fine nuclear physicist. Such line ideas* Too bad." "We might tell Haus to . . . er— " and Bethel made a gun of his thumb and forefinger, "Fie is a great scientist," said Jaeckel, "We have all done strange things in our days. We have helped make weapons that murdered mil- lions, all of us, wittingly ur not. We have no direct proof that he brought down von Steel. If he did — well, when the world goes down, i( he is still alive , he can have liis trial and a fair trial." "After which we can shoot him," said Dr. Thorpe. "After which," said Jaeckel, <Twe will be just/' "And shoot him/1 sard the timid Bethel. They folded up their papers and slowly filed out injo the African sunlight and the old god with the shattered face sat quietly and smiled. MEXICO. His Tine head thrown back, his large, intelligent eyes looking far sa

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out across the plains of Mexico* Jules Fabrecken took his ease on the veranda of his hacienda and listened to the reports of Mr, Con- nover Banks. Now and then, like the sun flashing upon the silver conchas of one of his vaqueros m the fields before him, his greenish eyes would spark, sole sign of in- terest in hie beautifully molded face, Jules Fabrecken+s aristocratic liands plucked idly at the heavy silh which covered the chair arms, now* agitatedly over some detail of the report he did not like, now strok- ingly as though he touclued a purring cat. Throned there, Jules Fabrecken looked like majesty. In every curve and color of ^him one could see the power which he held+ The vast realms he commanded, the mighty structures he had designed or seised, the millions of workmen throughout the world all seemed to he not scattered over the surface ot the globe but concent rated here, man with something be- yond a common spirit H And yet there was something drugged about him , something sleeping, perhaps the conscience which he had long ago found to be an excessive burden. A genius of finance, a master of industry, a wizard of complex poli- tics, it was part of that power that he could restrain surface, vanity to such a point, that scarcely anyone beyond the strata of the economic and governmental lords of earth had heard of him. Obscurity was no stranger to him. Indeed few on earth had had more obscure begin- nings. His family had been poorer 54 than poverty itself and he had beer, hurled into ithe streets almost as soon as he could walk and there Fome defect in his character had implied to him that the world was. an. evil place and that thts hands of all mankind were clenched threaten- ingly before his face, ready, yea eager, to crush his teeth down his throat. He had run errands for a sea- 1 port's lowest scum, he had feasted from garbage pails, he had cheated and sold out his comrades, he had crouched in misery starved for care, for sympathy, his very savageness in the face of travail making him unapproachable. * From the gutter he had watched the fine carriages go by, but unlikt? the usual fanatic he had not jeered, he had yearned, lfy menial serv- ices, amid belly-twi sting privations, he had fought his way through school, supposing that once he had a fine education, all gates would open. And then he had Icarned- thaE gates open only to the well horn, the Heirs to glory others had made, and from this rebufT he took again a lesson that everything was organized to cast him down. Like most men who had suffered danger f rom the multitude as one of the multitude, Fabrecken had scant love for his brother man. His friends he conceived to be given him for his own use and he used them. Society had shut the gates against him. By picking locks he had opened them to begin one of the most fantastic careers of capitalism the world had ever seen. He knew what was good for

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Fabreckeru He made the mistake of thinking that it would be good for everyone. To him man was blind and needed an overlord* And it never occurred to him that the overlord tht-y needed was not Jules Fahrcckcrt. Quietly, many years before, lie had closed a lift; a* a common attor- ney in the .Scandinavian countries and had begun to built!. Cautiously, certainly - and infallibly, he had worked himself to tilt: crest of Scan- dinavian industry, pulling into his own two hands the final controls of steel, coal, transport and communi- cation, lint this was not suJlicient to his dreams, scarcely less than a beginning of his empire. He had found an obscure Aus^ trian corporal, a in an mad with vanity and blinded with hatred and by the judicious issuance of funds and political directions, Fahreekcn had brought about the absorption o£ all German industry by the German state and then the utter destruction of the German state itscll and the death of the no longer Obscure "cor- poral with it. And though this left one Fab- recken with virtual industrial monopolies in Europe, financed by the war expenditures of the late C ierman state, it was not yet the end of his dreams. And there he sat in Mexico, lis- tening quietly, dreaming behind his eyes, balancing; his ledgers. He had shaken frce yf the last stigma the war had attached to him, he was on the verge rtf ending his Mexican THE END 16 NOT AST — 2U 35

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exile- His vast holdings awaited him. Quietly he listened to his friend Conn over Banks and quietly he planned- Jules Fabiccken had the nnfor* tunate conviction that the world needed to be saved, r Banks continued his report on his Own activities. He appeared very much at case, occasionally dragging on a cigar, punctuating his remarks with smoke- plumed gestures. All the falsity of his donned personality was here dropped, all hi& forced bon-hommic, all bis subterfuge, For a long time now Banks had worked with Jules Fab reck en and in that Banks knew himself inferior in genius to Fabrecken, Banks could recognize the dream. Finance, governing heads, atomic production and other incidentals dis- posed of, Banks turned now to the theme of his recent activities "You know that science outfit I told you about before, Jules, Well, I think I've got them pushed out of the picture. Practically nothing has been heard of from that quarter since I nailed von Steel." Fabrecken sat up straight with great attention. *LAha! So you managed that i" "Well, one might say it more or less managed itself." "Good!" said Fabrecken heartily, slapping Banks on the knee. "You know, Connover, that is the one thing which can stand in front of us. The one thing! Acht these idealists ! All practical considera- tions fail io reach them. Why, the fools don't even fear for their own lives, Irrati6naiJ" Fabrecken stood up and faced Banks, "That is the one thing which worries me. We have laid careful plans. We have loaned money to almost every government official we can use. The structure is almost completed and soon the world can look forward to a longT unbroken prosperity. But since the day you told me the scientists ol Europe were determined to take a strong stand against good, sound conservative government such as we propose, I have worried/* "I can't see why," said Banks. ^WJiat can a few thousand c rack- pots do against guns and money?" "Ah, but yon stilt continue in this stratige blindness," said Fab- recken. "Can't you see it, Con- novcr ? The plague of the earth is the idealist! He comes prancing out with a spacious philosophy* armed with pamphlets, braying wild speeches, screaming down all orderly conducts and experience and sud- denly there is war ! "What caused the French revolu- tion? Idealists! And it all but wrecked France. What caused every upheaval in the social orders of man? Idealists! They tome storming into the picture. They have nothing and they hate anyone who is smart enough to own a shirt and suddenly there is war and slaughter, blood in ihc -i reels. And does this advance man : No ! "Connovcr, we are the only ones who can advance man. We employ men to perfect manufacturing pro- cesses, then we set up factories.

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\\ e stabilize ei country's economy , We give: men ways to earn and eat and work and be comfortable. And when we have standardized his living, when all is well, then I he only thing we have to fear is some raving lunatic who <:an catch the attention of the idle and thoughtless and stampede them into useless, entirely uncalled- for action. The result is chaos/' . "Well, these scientists/' said Banks, "weren't really demanding1 that anybody fight anybody. They claimed that nationalism was the cause oE wars and they said that - now there was an atomic bomb man couldn't risk another war and . there—0 "Just sot So they stop further wars, they wanted to create one. This is folly* They can't even think, those people. There are al- ways the haves and the have-nots. The have-nots will eternally war to take away whatever is possessed by the haves. This is a natural order of things. Men are very far from equal. Why. look there. See that vague raf Could he run this haci- enda? No I And yet the stupid fool thinks he should own it* Men- tal agility must always he rewarded. And if we have the agility to monop- olize the industrial world, then cer- tainly we are entitled to the profits .the re from. "Connover, we live in an anarchy of industry. Competition is a poli- tical catchword. Some people think it is necessary while anyone with intelligence knows that monopoly is the safest possible means of satisfying the needs of men. It can ■p.M BNtt NOT TlDT1 be proven by theoretical economics that monopoly is most likely to bene- fit the individual man. ''What we seek to do is create a monoply which will halt this use- less waste of materials and energy* Once done, this will give the world peace and prosperity for hundreds of years, But I cannot impress upon you too strongly the danger which lurks in the garrets and alleys. Some wild fanatic may always be expected whot without any experi- ence or hope of gain, will seek to overthrow an existing regime in the name of progress/' "Von Steel/' said Banks, '"'is out of the way. Out there may be others. We managed to catch tip with, almost all of his organization in Europe." "Exactly , There may be others! Connover, if we wish to succeed, we must be vigilant. And in the name of future peace we must be merciless. Once we have estab- lished ourselves we must assure our- selves of lasting success. It is a primary right o£ every government to protect itself + New inventions, crackpot philosophers, unhinged labor-leaders, these alone can ruin ust And I promise you that if we are mined, so is civilization. AH we seek to do is perfect the existing economic and industrial pattern and then hold it so+ The plan is simple even if the working is complex. Once Russia and the United States are out of the way, the field is clear* These alone, as existing govern- ments, arc strong enough to oppose. "Man deserves his future peace,

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Comiover. And we can create it for him and then keep it, It will not be long before we can accom- plish it.*' /'What happen*/3 said Banks, "when my European work is over?" "For the moment, continue your vigilance, Continue to act the fool, the vengeful representative of out- raged powers. Wear your fine clothes and smoke big cigars. Be the typical industrialist turned pa- triotic. Meantime recruit one way or another the scientists we need and put a^idc those we don*t — for not the least of an industrial mon- opoly, Conn over, is a monopoly on potential creation — Tf l'l don't 'exact!}' like/* said Banks, "the role of executioner. It gets my guts sometimes. Jules, I wasn't cut out to be — "Don't worry about it Vonr American interests will be as noth- ing compared to the future struc- ture. 1 can appreciate what you mean. But who else can we trust but ourselves? Keep up the role. Big cigars, big talk. And soon, when the situation looks right you will become attorney general of the United States. And the military there will become alarmed with Russia's preparations. And Russia will na"ve itfc atomic bombs thanks to us. But then, you know the plan, As soon as we emi we will push the button and our people everywhere _ will act. And after that. Con- nover, prosperity. "We have to grit our teeth awhile at our tactics. The ends justify the means. Remember always that we are putting a final end to the anarchy of industry and with that the anar- chy of nations. And all we have to fear is the wild-eyed fool with a two-penny idea who will stampede the unthinking world against us — the only ones who can possibly bring stability to the hell on earth men have been calling life/* RIVIERA. The ebullient bursts of laughter which came from the beach did not seem sufficiently out of place, that brim's nit summer day, to cause such close interest on the part of an old, shabby eccentric whose pursuit of street cleaning was entirely ne- glected. He clung to the stone watl above the bright yellow sand and nervously scratch ed the backs of his legs with his toes one at a time and wriggled continually down and out of sight whenever he thought he might be observed. His eyes hid behind centimeter thick spectacles and his twisted face lurked behind an enormous white mustache. He was perpetually on the verge oE running and hiding but each time a gloomy fascination pinned him to the spot. Before the clear, calm blue of the Mediterranean* Charles and Anne Martel, with an English wait called Buckingham, played with an enor- mous striped ball Buckingham : was fourteen but very light for 'his age and so had been knocked solidly out of* his comer of the triangle for three times running to land in a great spurt of yellow sand. Each time he lay and howled dismally like a dog audi then, beginning a laugh which ASTOUNDING SI C IE Nf I? -P I CT I O H

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kerned by its very torcc to propyl him from the ground, bounded back to liis post to Take new punishment. Just now, Anne having thrown liim the \yal\f he suddenly reversed direction and pitched it back at her so solidly and so suddenly thai the yreat soft blob of air and rubber f|uite Ieii inched her* Buckingham, on his part, was ready lo IkjIIow a triumphant cry but this had no more ilian started from his throat ihan it occurred to hicn that he might have injured her and before the sand had well settled around her he had Mown to her side. "Oh, Anne, forgive me! Please, Anne, speak to me E Anne! Arc you hurt?" She J Eiy back with eyes closed, limp, scarcely breathing. But the effect of this imposture was so heart- rending upon the boy, who broke into real wails and licggcd for Charles to come, that she laughed suddenly ami uproariously into his face and seized liis mop of blond hair to roll him in the warm sand, Buckingham was so entirely re- lieved that she could have hit him with bricks and he still would have kuighed joyously. After a little she let him up and said she d race him into the water and so away they went to hurst through the surf and send showers of glittering spray Mice diamond fountains above thctm Laughing in his turn, Martcl re- covered the ba]l and sat upon it* looking after them. What a change had come over him in a year and a half ! Had any- one &aid war to him he would have THE Ef-D I& KOT VET looked up quite blank and won- dered what war was meant, His sandy hair was no longer gray about the temples and the lines about his eyes had vanished. He laughed easily and often atid whisiled as he went about. The great strength of him was visible in every corded muscle of his brow si body. The. eighteen months had been good to him* But for the first six, ^niggling with finances, searching incessantly for food, Anne had often wondered if his eye would ever light again or his laugh ever sound. But faithfully she had kept to her task, knowing no rest, thinking of herself not at all, pu slung back all the terrors and horrors of her life with a strong self -den Sal which at last had banished them from view. Charles was writing courses on nuclear,, physics for the French Academy's distribution and with long uncollected royalties on pre- vious works, was mending; their for- tunes. But his prize work which he most enjoyed was a book* nearly completed , called v* Negative Energy Flows: A Neglected Field with Some Notes on Future Potentialities in Life Creation/' a work which ab- sorbed him deeply* But it was Anne to whom he devoted his in- terests and when she had become Mrs. Charles Mart el in the small chapel n Mar- ie! had thought he would never fed richer if he made alt the money in the world. He called her Anne of Austria and hough t her baubles and bonbons ami nosegays wherever they could be found. He made her a queenly

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crown of cardboard and then when she took it so well, gave her the real gold one lie had wheedled out of an impoverished nobleman near- by. The still came up and went down to the east and west of Anne and Martel felt himself an emperor at least. She was so busy with collecting the rent on the villa — which she had let. to a manufacturer from Italy who seemed to possess great and mysterious hoards— and running their own cottage and coaxing- pro- vender out of tradesmen acid copy- ing manuscripts for Charles in addi- tion to the enormous primary task she had set herself, that she was hardly aware of the change in her- self. But the looked like a girl of sixteen and there was a youthful bloom upon her and laughter in her eyes which never had been there before. * Buckingham had crept into their lives, an English boy, abandoned in the fall of France, without any slightest notion of what had hap- pened to his people or whether he had relatives alive. Vears of priva- tion had reduced him to a lx>ny shadow, had nearly destroyed his memory, and had taught him tricks and usages which no high-born Eng- lish lad had ever known before. Charles and Anne had scrubbed his body and his heart, had filled him full of vitamins and food, and had talked of sending him to Eng- land some day. "But that talk grew desultory and For some months had not been heard at all. Instead Anne Ijad taught bun English ah over again, complete with an accent and "By Juve" and CharleF had begun a technical education in soil so fertile and quick that Martel was nearly burst with pride, Buckingham, would have swum an ocean or walked barefoot to the Moon if he ha<l thought there was the slightest necessity to do so hi the cause of his foster parents. And outside of a propensity for waking up every- body with a terrific nightmare in which he was being bombed or tor- tured or starved, Buckingham fitted well into the household. No son ever considered himself more for- tunate in parents and no parents ever so respected and loved a son. The little man on the walk above twisted and darted his lensed eye* about, looking closely at Martel in puzzlement and then ducking only to be drawn into staring again as though he was a needle and Martel a magnet. He was entirely unable to make up his mind whether this was Charles Martel or not and the direful consequences one way and the hoped .for relief the other kept him spiked to the spot. But Martel was not paying any attention to him Eor there were other people about and who would notice a street cleaner ? Who? Some minutes before a low gray car had crept down the street and parked directly across from the Si and cart which the little man had abandoned. In it were three men, heavy and purposeful and until now very quiet. One of them smoked an eternal cigar and gazed at the beach with a placid air of having forever in which to work. He was plump and

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comfortable, sat is lied with existence in general and particularly with his own. The second man ^vas from a rougher mold and about as oily as sandpaper. He had a photograph in his hand which he was comparing . with thoroughness — a faculty which be substituted for I trains — which al- most wore it out. "1 guess you got him, Mr. Ilanks/' rasped the second man, '"This here picture and that there street cleaner's the same man or I'll eat 'cm both/* He clapped his jaw shut as though ;*] ready masticating this strange food and looked with some servility at Cormover Batiks. The. third man was French, portly and flustered. He was the htiad of the Sanitation Department and he had an eye on his future* + "What nationality was he?'* smiled Banks. "Oh, but of course how could he l>e anything but French? His pa- pers-— " "Papers!'' laughed Banks. ' No. no, Critter. Iton't arrest him. Always so anxious, eh, G niter. But not yet. That man on the beach, you know him? J think it would be very profitable to wait and mid out just why our little street cleaner is so interested in Captain Charles Martel." He continued to smile pleasantly. He could wait. THE BNi> TP KOT TE'i'' Amie and Buckingham came yeli- ing out o£ the surf, the famous round rollers of Biarritz. The boy, displaying one of those odd skills in which he had been so long and pain- fully trained by war, had caught a fish in a cleft in the rocks. He raced up to Martel and displayed his triumph ,t wailing with eager bluo eves for the master's praise. It was a ten -pound beauty, a prize indeed to a house two days without meat. While Charles pronounced him a very prodigy amongst anglers, Anne went swiftly into the small beach bathhouse and came Out shortly afterwards, still arranging her hair, dressed far the street. "And whither goest Her High- ness?" said Mart eh "I have a date with a man/' said Annc± looking sly— or looking what she supposed rto be sly — for such an expression would have been strange indeed on that bright young face. "I'll tear his heart out," said Martch "Ob no you won't, sir. He's prom- ised me fresh greens and a dozen onions, and we can't dine on fish alone. Besides* lie thinks you're wonderful," "So that makes it fine/' said Mar- tel, pretending great ferocity. "Aw, she's talking about old Can- can ThibauhV' said Buckingham. "I swear, you'd think she was royalty the way that grocer scrapes and I jaws in front of her' I guess I know. He even forgave uie — '+ he stopped and blushed. Martel looked down at him, "What have you done now ?" Buckingham looked unhappy and 41

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then, with the air of one who is happy to have but one life to give for his country, straightened up and blurted, "I took three heads of eal> hage off liia stand with a pole and hoak three months ago and he had put a belt on the last one." Mart el sighed. "Didn't you have money to pay?" "Sure T had money to pay, but a . fellow has to keep his hand in! 1 was going to pay — " They were both laughing at him so. for a moment, he appeared un- decided and then wriggled himself into a suitable stance which was supposed to be contrition. But he couldn't hold it and suddenly burst out laughing, too. He knew they knew they had convinced him about stealing. Tic wouldn't steal ,now. not for anything. He was a gentle- mam wasn't lie? Charles said so, Martel went into the bathhouse and changed his clothes and when he came out, both Anne and Buck- ingham were gone, the latter hound for home and a quick cleaning of his prey. Possibly M artel's life would have gone on as happily -as it had in this interlude if the old man on the walk had not beheld him now, face to Face, dressed, * The thick lenses peered, the mus- tache quivered. With a terrible squirm and a moan, the eavesdrop- per forgot all caution. The man was Charles Martel. Dropping broom with a clang against the .handcart, the street cleaner sprinted up the walk with only one thought — to put distance between himself and Mac tel. Puzzled and instantly alert, Mar- tel searched his memory for that race and manner and then, with a startled exclamation, darted up the walk in pursuit. "Professor Hans!" cried Martel r "Wait r Hut the suddenly titled street cleaner had no mind for wailing. Biarritz had become much too small. The perfectly rounded combers, so delightful to the painter, had lost their enchantment. The green, pink and yellow villas and houses which stepped neatly up the mountains, the grape arbors, the lemon groves, the olive trees, the impressive hotels and pleasant lanes had all, every one, sonnet I a gigantic plot to im- prison him j and his heart hammered like a machine gun more from terror than Exertion. 4tl must get on. At It, T must gel on!" And he got on with remark- able agility so that he was shortly sprinting up a steep, winding street between two villas. The grade was too much for him but the danger was too pressing to allow him to stop. One hasty glance he threw over his shoulder to discover that Martel was less than*a hundred feet behind him, and then lie sped with renewed energy. But it was an energy sucked upon by terror and he retorted to a. hare and hounds trick. Professor Haus turned the end of the villa and darted instantly into a garden door which he slammed be- hind him. He pressed anxious ear to the panels and his eyes bulged hugely behind his glasses while his old ASTOOJJDINO SCI KNCE-FICTXOW

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heart sought to spring straight through his ribs. He heard Martel slop and cast around him and then start away. But his triumph was brief. A huge voice behind him 1x1 lowed; "What ure you doing here?" Hatts whirled and there against the snfr, Oriental garden was the roughest butler he had ever seen. But butlers were nothing to the old professor beside M artel, Hans leaped like some demented chim- panzee far the fellow's throat and the giant screamed in terror and scrambled hastily back, tripping over a pot and falling with it into a flower bed. Haus left him with an arbor [if crushed geraniums and darted across the main court ♦ A tea table was bringing n belated breakfast lo two old men. The table was a portable affair and its pilot was an cx- soldier who felt that valor before bis employer would not go unrewarded. He made a barrier out of the table at a strategic mument and Hans crashed into it. Pilot and table, cups and pastry and chocolate tangled up in a horrible c rash, lUit Ha us was afoot+ run- ning; and halfway aver the wall. He stopped iur an instant at the top and glanced back at the ruin he had left but the sight of M artel turning through the gate acted as a strong projector upon him and Hans was Hying at doubled speed up another lane, There was a Lemon grove to his left and beyond that a ditch which made a sorl. of earthwork and Haus changed bis course for this fortifica- tion. He knew lie could not run TliE END I£ SOT YET much farther. He Hopped over the top of the rampart and went up to his ankles in an irrigation ditch. Promptly, as though the shock of the cold water had restored his courage, he peered back over the parapet and from his pocket drew a y mm. Luger, He put a shell under the firing pin, estimated the range and waited, M artel had been slightly detained by the necessity of apologizing for his intrusion and helping first the butler and then the ex- soldier to his feet and finally by £oing out the gate and around the wall — 'for there was too much silver plate in his right leg to permit athletic ascents. He stood for a moment at the corner where he should have dis- covered Haus andN not finding him, £ot his breath back. He pushed a hand through his dampened sandy hair to take it out of his eyes. "There is no Lleetness like the wicked's !" said Martel and grinned. This was an awful lot of trouble he was going lo just to tell a man that he needn't run halfway across Europe out of fear. His practised eye explored the way with an eitpertness cultivated only by the surpassing danger of hunting that most deadly animal — man. He found the footprints in the dusty furrows of the lemon grove. He traced them a short way through the trees. But he did not move from the spot. Affecting the most casual manner possible— hut not so casual that he whistled — he sauntered back along the villa wall and vanished. *3

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Hans watched him. But Hans knew a thing or two and he promptly shifted his position until he was around a bend in the irrigation ditch and could command his old spot. He then ^avc twice as much attention to the area back of the ditch as he did to that before it, carefully mark in g down all cover T _ sketching how h would foe utilized. And then » for alt his precaution, his hands began to sweat and he began to tremble. He knew that this was all wrong , He waited for nearly ten minutes and still nothing happened. Sud- denly an awful fear took him and he whirled. Martel was fifty yards away> be- hind Haus, having come into the ditch from the farthest end. Haus threw a quick shot and sand leaped off the bank while the ricochet howled away on dismal wings. At the first sign of Haus1 turning, Martel went over the bank+ He was entirely under cover when the shot arrived. "Professor Hans! Don't shoot. By the gods, you give a man a lot of trouble/' f*Keep your distance, captain! By this T do not mean to be taken!*' And he .shook the Luger at the empty" scenery down the ditchH "You throw yutir gun into sight and I promise you dot I will let you go t" Martel made no answer and there was no swnd- This unnerved Haus. He clicl not dare to rise up to see if Martel was still on the other side of the ditch and he dared not go away and so expose his back. What was Martel doing? *+ Presently there came an answer to that. On a twig plucked from a lemon tree, a white handkerchief was exposed to view. "A trick !" cried Haus. "Come up. your hands into the air+" "Put down your gun, professor. This is no trick. I am not with any government anywhere and I haven't the slightest interest in taking you. That's why I chased you* To tell you that." Haus blinked and fidgeted with his Lugen Oh, if this were only true. What a lot of running away it would save him! lie was very tired of running away\ was Haus. Silence ensued but the twig was still in view and the handkerchiet was fluttering. Haus speculated. He knew nothing but good of Mar- tel, but one gets out of the habit of, trusting — yes, and hoping, too. "You stand up as yon say if this iss true. Martel/' "Stand where you are, professor/' said Martel coolly. Haus leaped half a foot into the air. The voice liad come from behind him! "Don't turn/' said MarteL "La> youX'Luger down on the batik. Care- fully now. I wouldn't want you to get sand in it." Haus trembled and tears started into bis eyes. He pushed down a sob and laid the gun as he had been directed. "Good," said Martel, "You von't take me away/' said Haus, "T*m afraid I must," said Martel, retrieving the Luger. ASTOUN r>l\'fl KCIUNCE-FICTION

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^Bul J. lliJ you — -Achj how hor- ■riblc, All these years and now — " "But I shriTi't take you any farther than to dinner," said Mattel. "Turn around, Hans/* Hans' nerves were buffeted enough without this. But lie turned, head lowered, lip trembling. He opened his eye* to stare at the Luger which ( unaccountably, was extended to him butt first. Hope struggled up behind the thick lenses but still he wouldn't touch the gun. This was ari old trickH Bait. Shot in ^elf- defense, "Take it!" said MarteL "Put it in your pocket." Hans finally took it, saw that it was still loaded and then put it in his pocket. He looked at the ex- tended hand for a little while and then, with a long, shuddering sob took it and sank down on the bank to cry uninterruptedly for four -iolid minutes. Martel looked down at the curv- ing white beach and the flags on the hotel roofs. He puffed on a ciga- rette and admired the scrubby hills. After a little while he went down and retrieved his pocket handker- chief, which be gave to Professor Baus, ''Blow hard/' said Mar tel. 'Now come along/' he added. ''My hoy caught a wonderful fish mid dinner will be ready in no time." Ha us blew his nose and wiped his misted passes and combed the tears of relief out of his huge mustache, and soon came along very hand- somely* < THE J5JJD IS NOT TPT In the dining room o£ the SEnali cottage, Professor Haus picked his teeth with a bone of the fish and gazed with benign satisfaction upon the lace- covered board and its empty dishes, upon the silver service of the buffet, upon Anne and -Buckingham* He was garbed in one of the latter' s jackets — for he quite would have disappeared in a coat of Mar- teljs — and a pair of that young bandit's slippers, and having washed mustache, face, bauds and ears., Haus looked entirely different from the street cleaner of a few hours before. The great lenses sparkled, the rough voice was softened by occasional chuckles* M artel had not told Anne any- thing yther than that Haus was an old friend. Had he added that he and Haus had been swapping shots and crossing trails for years, Anne would have been frosty, and had M artel added that one of these shots bad just missed him, Anne would have been savage to the little pro- fessor. As it was she merely identified his. speech as having a Polish accent and thought very little about him otherwise. She did* how- ever, experience an uncomfortable feeling when she left -*he table as though she was departing from an era through which they had passed happily. This she put aside and motioning to Buckingham to come on and leave the men alone, there was shortly heard the distant rattle of dishes in the kitchen as that worthy began to wash dishes and the mutter of a history lesson going forward the while. Haus beamed upon MarteJ, took 4*

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'fir* the proffered brandy ghtss, sniffed at the fine liquor, and toasted Anne. "Royalty, my old friend,*' said - Han^ £l Not less than royalty. Such charm, such beauty, such grace. Ah, it carries one back to the great clay s of Warsaw, the balls, the fine din- ners, the jewels and lights and music. Achf my dear Mart el, how rich 5 0U are- 1 £*ve y°u L^dy Anne/' Martel was certainly nothing loath and they toasted her twice. "And your boy+ tn"e urchin you — 1 "He's no urchin,'" said Martel quickly, ("Ah, yes/' but Hairs had his sus- picions. "He seems quite devoted to you. Dot is a fine thing, to have a hoy devoted to yon. And a hand- some fellow. Of course, there is something hi the way-*-*' tf Clicking I jam is a good lad/' said Martel f quickly divining that Haus felt antipathy toward the boy on no other grounds than that Bucking- ham was already taller than Halt's* that he hated Germans, "Of course. Tell me, rny old friend, what have yon been doing; with yourself these past tew years?" Martel told him back to eighteen months and that quite simply. But as he spoke he had the odd feeling that he had been born eighteen months ago, had lived that life and was now laying it aside. "And now yon,"' said Martel. "Ach. there is little enough to tell. When war broke out, you know what I was doing;." +d Certainly* You were trying to swamp the world with German cul- ASTOU SWING SCIfcN'CE-FICTTOIi

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ture/T laughed Mar tel. "And what a violent effort it was V* Haus looked at him fixedly and set down ihu brandy glass. "You believe maybe something. You be- lieve maybe I helped start this war?" "Well, as Hitler's foremost po- litical scientist — " "Von Ijclieve 1 tried to start a war with cannons? You believe 1 meant for nitiii ro get killed over silly stupidities? You think niaybq I meant tor airplanes to bomb cities and millions Lo be dumped in com- mon graves? You think this?" And i hereupon Haus startled Mart el by laying his rmia.ll ball-on-a- sstick head down on the table and weeping until the portieres shook with the; violence of: it. Martel urged brandy, but Hans would have none of it. M artel tried patting him on the shoulder consolingly, but Haus only wept ihe more. Only the appearance of Anne, attracted by the wails, made Haus stop and rapidly dry his eyes tlpon a napkin and wipe hift glasses in a furious ei¥ort to be utterly calm and collected. "The war/' smiled M artel. But as she went out carrying the last few dishes, she stopped in the doorway and looked back wouder- ingly at Haus, Suddenly she stopped and came ioto the room Eigain . She looked hard at the guest. "At last !" *akl Anne. i- Professor KausI Certainly, I know you pro- tessor. You lectured at Vienna in nineteen thirty -eight and the SS guards stopped vou !" "There!" cried Haus. "There! THU E>'D rP NOT Yt'f Now you sec, captain? You See. Tell hi [ii, dear lady. Tell him!" And he pranced back and forth behind his chair, now pointing to Martel, now nodding vigorously at Anne. "Yes, what happened r " said Mar- tel, amused* "Why, he was spunking about science being truth and went so far as to advise that the Viennese scien- tists get out if they wanted to keep on thinking or some such thing, and then an SS spy leaped up on the stage and thanked I he audience right in the middle of the lecture and they hustled the professor away in a staff car. I rememl>er well because he was to have had dinner that night at our house and father came home to tefl us about it. We were very upset, but father discounted it only to be imprisoned the very neNt year when he would not co-operate with them." "See, see. see I" cried Haus, jump- ing about. "Thank you, my dear lady* Heratix mit der Nazis?* Martel was quite surprised but he spoke to conciliate the old man and get him seated again. The bait of another glass of brandy accom- plished this. "Well, now at least you have par- taken of the promised dinner,'* said Martel. "A bit late, perhaps, hut pleasant nonetheless, I hope/' "Indeed. Dinner to a starving man now. Dinner to a heartbroken if veil fed political scientist den. Ah, my dear lady^ — But Anne had returned to the kitchen and the door, still swinging-, gave punctuation to Buckingham's 57

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chant about King Charles Fifth * - - Netherlands , * * stabled ♦ , . art — . "So they weren't popular with you ?" said Mattel. "Nazis? Popular? Ach, und me a Pole ! Bah, X spit on the Nazis. I grind them under mv feet. I tear out their—" "Kot so loud," said MarteL Hans game half out of his chair and poked hi a lenses fearfully about him and under the very silver before he realized what year this was and where this was, "Tell nig, then." sakl M&rtel, "what you really did." Hans fortified himself with a .strong slug of brandy, hitched his chair sideways and spoke in a very confidential voice, i4I was a trained ape. Trained mitt hot .pokers and the food away taken. A trained ape- My family in Poland was — " He sucked back an imminent tear — "And before war started I was confidence itself. Yes, I thought the brain of Haus— this poor, withered old apple of a brain — was greater than that of any Nazi. Veil, maybe my brain was great, but what I lacked was the cruelty. The nrne3ty of the beast. The sadism, I was not enough ot a brutal murderer or a coward. Zzo ! I was wrong. c<Tn nineteen hundred and thirty- three they needed me, Ah, they Mattered me, I was teaching at the University of Berlin and three of my pupils came to me and said they had found a better position for me. It paid marks like to planets a train would take days. It gave things. My family was poor, There was 4& little to eat. And all they said was, 'Here, great* Professor Hans, you who are the world's greatest living authority, perhaps the greatest who ever lived, on political sciences, you to whom nothing human or political is any mystery, permit us at your feet to sit and become informed of how to make Germany a great, prosperous, peace Jul nation, re- spected among all nations, admired as is the sun.* And I said yes, "So they came. Nobody at my feet sat but many before my book sat. And when a year I had worked they came to me and said, 'Herr Professor Haus, Der Fiihrer thinks you a genius. Come teach this master of all Germany how to be a great ruler/ Und I vent. "Now maybe E should have re- membered what happened to der writer MachiavelU when he wrote the 'Prince/ A great book, the * Prince' A great work. A demon- stration of great political genius. And what happened to Machiavelljr A eft, to a Nasi it should not happen. Mi utster Colbert of France, he read how to become powerful, he forgot to read how to be a great ruler. Cardinal Richelieu? He read how to be a great manager of kings and lands, but forgets how MachiaveUi says to make kings acid lands happy. Napoleon? Frederick? Catherine? Adi, but you know the story. L forgot the story, " 'Professor^ my dear old friend/ iays the arch- ft end Hitler. pMy staff and gride, my dear Haus. Teach me how should Germany great become* Please teach a will- ing pupil/ ASTOUNDING SCIUNCE FTCTIOK

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"Und 2ZZzo! J teach himt der , , * veil, anyway, I teach him. And to the sentences and ideas which he already knows, he agrees > you see ?" **A uian isn't likely to learn more than he knows," Paid Mattel. Brandy?" Hang took the brandy and gulped it down u 'Ah, yes. lie hears whar be knows already and the rest ]ic does not hear* I sit and talk of peace and happy people in id food and great ad mi ration by the world und dot Hitler 1 Ach3 der — vol], anyway, lie hears nothing. "Then he says, 'Herr Professor, make me a program to create Ger- many the greatest nation in the world/ And I go and make Him a little personnel essay all about itT mitt drawings and statistics, all very neat. And when this he gets, he says, *l3ut my dear professor, all you have written concerns the Ger- man scientist, not the people/ "So I tell hi mf 'The j>eoplc need food and peace, to raise children and amuse themselves and happy be. The scientist in Germany can create; food and health. The one asset which Germany has is her scientific man. Her warriors, phooy! War after war she has lost and will lose with her warriors, Pig-heads,, her warriors! Nobody ever won a war. Nobody anywhere.' " \A successful war would make die world respect Germany/ says der , . . veil, anyway, he says so. And I sayT 'Already the world respects Germany, All the chemistry in the world is led by Germans. Physics. Engineering, Led by Germans. Everywhere, people know ibis. If German scientists could have all they needed with which to work, tbey would control all tbe industry in the world and be thanked for doing so, and everybody would be happy and nobody would get killed, which is stupid/ ' "Der * , , veil* he smiles. 'Control all industry? Scientists?' 'Indus- try/ I say, *and all is industry now. Make Germany the fount of such great discoveries and developments that the world is free from. disease and suffering Germany will be ^rcat. A thousand years of human greatness will result and everywhere you go everybody will shout "Long Tare Germany, the greatest nation on earth 1* "ZZZZo! Tn two days he sends for me again. Und this time, how nice he is! *Herr Professor Haus, a school yon make for me. A nice big school. The money I give you. And in this school you teach all you know about races and peoples every- where. Your idea, it is wonderful. So make a school so we I earn what the world needs every place and what the world knows and does not know. Und what the world is doing pud what the world h not doing. All this you will make tor me, Herr Professor/ "What else can I dor I go and i.he school make. T am alt excited. Hans takes a band in building a new world, a magnificent world. And for a year 1 build the school and teach and give books to the yovmg instructors > Und everything is going fine. Eut there is- one trouble* I have not enough informa- THH END IS JiOT YET 49

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tion to teach what I am supposed to teach, M ore data. 'And more data. What do they do in South America? Who should be made happy in the United States? What peoples are down- trodden und why? Und what can a German scientist do to tin trod them? "ZZZo! Back to der , . . veil* X see Hitler. I tell hi in- 'Ah,, II err ♦Professor, my good and loyal friend, for you I was about to send. I have heard that onee you wrote a book o/i the procuring ot information/ And, thick-skulled imbecile that I am, 1 say yes. 'Hcrr Professor, for me, then, you will construct a textbook on how to do this thing. And more, JYou take an active part in making it so. Then we can find Out all the fine things you want to know everywhere* And there is one especial thing 1 want you to do, 1 want you to have for nie an always up to date list of the scientists of the world, what they are doing and why and how soon they will finish. Then the German scientist can work harder and solve his problems bet- ter/ "To me this seems very beautiful. Und so I go and I make up a bookT Did I know I was %vriting the basic intelligence system for Germany? Did I know that dot pi^-brain Ru- dolph Hess would add to it all the Japanese methods he had learned by way of torture and counter- espionage ? Did I know I was about to hound millions of people from their wits out ? No, I write a book, Like Machiavelli I hand out wis- dom mid nobody reads but the first page und crazy go, "ZZZZZZZot When the school is running und geopolitics is getting taught, when the book is written and an intelligence bureau I start, who comes to see me,? Der . . r veil, was it Hitler? NOk It was a squad from the SS guards and they keep me under lock and key like a crim- inal. And I riorTt sec the school - And I don't lecture on my book. 1 But all day long reports I sit and rile about scientists. And if I com- plain, the SS guard is there to see nobody shoots me. And if 1 want to know wliat is really happening* why they say they can't ^btraec me with petty things because i am so great. And there I sit and make up dossiers on all the scientists in the workt and wonder if I am a prisoner or if I am just protected. "Comes Austria. I go< The troops are nice to me. The official t bow from the hips to me, I start to make an address and I am ar- rested like a bread stealer. Acht "I see Hitler. I complain. I say £ will no longer, make up dossiers on scientists or help because I see so plain it is to war he is goiug.The world he has by the teeth and .yet to war he is going, Ach, dot — -veil, he was not bright, God roast his soul. He calls me jiis 11 err Processor hue I tell hitu no more in- formation, no more ^copnlkio?, no more anything, Und he pulls out a photograph of my dear, dear wife and my two lid die poyS — *" Haus stopped and sobbed. "What did he do?" said Mattel, "So I work until nineteen hun- dred and forty- three making dos- siers* I 'find out about your atomic ASTOUNDING 3 CI EXCE- F TCTi & K

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bomb. 1 find out about the people and the projects* I learn about submarine mousetraps, about ba- zookas, I list new scientists, where they work and what they do all through the world, und all I can have happen to hurt the Nazis is to suppress ^formation which would really help, "ZZZZZOJ I suppress one piece of information too many and away I have to run. Run away I could because the Russians territory have taken and my wife and little boy s are in their hands. So to the Rus- sians 1 go, full of hope, T get through, their lines und they take me to a coin mii ear and the commis- sar says yes, niy wife and children are in Rtissiau hands and a photo- graph he shows me, And then he makes me swear I will behave if they'll keep me out of jail and the—" Haus choked with suppress- ing the volley of violence which sought to escape. "I go hack to Germany as their spy, With you 1 swap shots. With the Germans, I swap shots. Me^ an old man, I act like a common spy. And the Russains are worse than the Gentians. Worse! They are so stupid I hey will not even ask me for the mine of information I carry in my head. But finally a bullet I stop and in the hospital a general sees me and suddenly realizes who I am, Ach, if I had just died there! *\Back to making dossiers I go. But do the Russians want Nazi scientist dossiers? Himmcl, no! They want allied dossiers. They waniL to know what all the scientists are deing. So I reconstruct the THE END IS NOT YKt system. And then what ? Why, the pigs will not believe anybody had done so much anywhere and they threaten to shoot me. "But the Russians forgot they had made rue a spy. They forgot I could also spy in Russia. Und I learn dot my vife, niy liddle poys™'J lie really broke down then and wept without restraint for three and a half minutes. Brandy had no charms. **What happened?" asked Martel, "So there is no use to stay anfl ■away I run. But die French in nineteen forty- four \viU only arrest me. Nobody will touch me. I con- tact undergrounds, both sides. The pigs get more and more stupid iti a war. I run and run and run and — " lie controlled himself and wiped hard at his glasses. **I become a street cleaner in Biarritz and here I have been for three years/' "Passport?" Hans was suddenly touched in his professional pride. "Would the greatest intelligence officer in the world have any trouble ^with pass- ports V% Martel laughed and poured the brandy. "You are quite right, pro- fessor. There were very tew in- telligence men worthy of the name. And you were the greatest in Ger- many without question, if not in the whole world* But I despair to think how you would clear your^ name." "Ach, to clear my name I would give my arm! Only for this reason

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have I maintained liaison with some of my old workers," * Wh at ? You retain contacts ?" "Of coarse. I have amassed documents and documents and per- haps in a little while I can prove I was an unwilling Nazi and a forced Russian. Captain Martcl, you no idea have what it means toJ>e brains amongst wooden-skulled thieves and idiots. Would I work to hill millions? To bring unhappiness to millions upon millions more? To ruin countries all for the sake of the extension of some national domin- ion ? What matters it at all whether Germany or Russia collects Polish taxe* if the personal freedom of the Pole is guaranteed? What does it matter if the whole world is owned by one man or a thousand men so long as the individual is happy and can pursue his natural vocations? Did it matter whether Charles the Fifth or Henri the Second ruled Europe in fifteen fifty? Was there any choice between their stupidity and profligacy? Then what is the difference now? Individual free- dom, the dignity and nobility of the individual man is the important thing. Patriotism was a mechanism invented by Machiavelli who played upon a man's natural love of his soil to enslave Ins heart to a king;. King ' is not soil. The trick of patriotism is to make it seem so. Nations rob and pillage and tax, A few wax fat on the sweat of the millions within it. Freedom? There is no freedom not allowed by the vested interests of the world. Freedom? There is nothing hut slavery any where > Ad- vertising, propaganda — what differ- ence ? Buy France ! France will make you f*eet Buy Russian, Russia will make you free! Bah! A plague overtake the cunning 3lia" sadistic minds which call themselves politi- cal and are in fact industrial and capitalistic tools. Is there any free- dom today ? . Is there any freedom anywhere that is true freedom? If a man behaves in the feeling that he is free it is because he has been taught a certain connotation for freedom in his extreme youth ai*:! if he follows that ri^id connotation, iw is lFree\ But is he? Or is be hemmed and guided and spurred and spurned the instant he begins to display any talent for original thought. He is free like the ox, my friend. He is given his oats so long as he behaves and pulls the cart that carries his national flag* "Nationalism will destroy this world, Charles Mattel. For the mind which is revered through all the world is the mind of greed and avarice, The only mind which can benefit humanity is that which works and gives all it has to brin^ -happi- ness to the world. Uut no hat tips to the altruistic mind and the kind heart. All headgear sweeps to earth when greed and avarice as repre- sented by money and seliish power rides the juggernaut into the scene. Think on that, Charles Marteh Think on that. Unless all mankind realises that unless it learns to sup- port and revere those mentalities and personalities which can improve man's chances of survival t those very wits will be used as tools in the hands of j^tty schemers promi- nent in the histories as great leaders,

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to ens Live, enfeeble arid finally de- stroy Man, Eetore five years are out, there will not he enough left of the United States, Europe or Russia to get together the information re- quired to make and strike a match. The criminals will perish witli the innocent. But what is satisfaction like thai to a dead man ? Man ami this culture deserves to Jive, Martel. Who is there to make sure they b've ? Nobody, my host, nobody V For a little while Martel sat and watched his guest 131 silence. The little man, who substituted nerves and motion where others used mus- cles and appearance, was quite ex- hausted and wrung out by his vio- lent discourse. It took three large gfasses of brandy and two fresh napkins to ret ore his equilibrium. "Mr, Conn over Hanks/' mur- mured Martel, "would call you a 'Communist'."* "A communist!" cried Han 9, all fluttery on the instant. "No, no, I would not. Yon don't know Conn over Banks." "Ah, but if he would call me a communist or a socialist or a demo- crat or a double- blue- eyed stinkpot for uttering those sentiments, then I know Mr. Ccn ] never "Banks. Such men, and don't think I don't know them, brand any thine; which would unseat them with a name which they have carefully made detestable to everybody so nobody wiu listen to truth, I am no German, I am no Russian. I am a political scientist and the finest in the world. What do I care for flag* or government — " ■ THE Etfl> TS NOT VET Martel hurriedly stopped him* "No, no. I share many of your senti- ments. But what is this you say about five years; why five years Hans instantly became the con- spirator. He hitched his chair sideways though it moved not a quarter of an inch. He regarded all the doors with grave suspicion and even seemed half -minded to look under the candlesticks. In a hoarse whisper he said, "Martel, I trust you. I am expert at reading t faces. I see that you are honest. My gppd friend, Jules Fabrecken and his crowd have given an atomic bomb to Russia and all the facilities to produce more. They are seeking to promote a war between the United States and Russia for those two countries alone, in all the world, oppose them, Fabrecken only wishes to maintain the stafits quo in the world of economics and in- vent ion. If no new ideology and no new weapon or defense against the atomic bomb appear then Russia, and the United States will cease to be a menace to him. He will be- come, in effect, the dictator of the whole world. Connover Banks, your former employer on the Allied War Crimes Commission is the chief lieutenant of Jules Fabrecken. "The first interest, of Fabrecken is to prevent any new ideas from arising and to do this he is cither killing, capturing or buying off every scientist he can lay his hands onT There is a small group or- ganised to oppose him. We need the brains and initiative which you can offer. For gcU Gvtt, you sure displayed them in the recent warn 08

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TCut this is a bigger war than that one, e,Ii the world falls under the complete dictatorship of Fabreckeu and his crowd you can kiss your science good-by and the dark ages all over again will start. It is impossible for us to stop an atomic war but it is possible for us to save what we cati of science and maybe, who knows, maytw we can com- pletely overthrow and defeat Fab- reckon l>eforc all mankind h thrown in the gutter." "I have suspected this," said Mattel. "I have seen the signs but how do you know?** *%" said Hans, "am the greatest intelligence scientist in the world. I have files, 1 have means, I have names* I have contacts. The group even has a secret headquarters in a place not likely to be found, I tell yon all this because I know you are honest. I tell you this because we need your help. Ach Gott, how we need it/' * "You have files," said MartcL **Ach> yes, und a laboratory. Please, Charles Mattel will you help us r> Mattel sat quietly for a little while. "You really have the evidence that Fabrecken means to let the war between the United States and Russia go through? Then, by keeping all new thought corrated for bis own personal use to rule: the world r" Haus, tears in his eyes, nodded vigorously. You come to my bouse to be a to-night at nine and I will tell you more* You will help:'* They were at the door now. "Shall I come with you oow?" asked Martel. Hans shook his head violently. "Still for a little while streets I must dean. I hit tonight at nine? jar They shook 011 it and soon Haus the street cleaner was handed out the door with many compliments to Anne, many bows to Martel and even an effort to be nice to Bucking- ham* "A funny little man," said Anne. Rut JIariol hardly heard her. So great was Ins preoccupation that Buckingham was alarmed and stood in the doorway fur some minutes, looking at the stairs where Charles had vanished and into the street where Haus had gone. Suddenly Buckingham grabbed a cap from a peg, lie kissed Anne on the cheek on his way through the parlor and in reply to her pur- suing query , said mocking Haus: " Ach; a hunch I got/' and rapid ]y went on his way. A chill hand clutched at AnneTs heart and she rose from her sewing to call him back. But then she sank into her chair. Rule hei world she might, hut there were some things on which men were entitled to act alone. She began to sew and found, suddenly, that her work w;is blurred l>y her tears.

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RAT RACE BY GEORGE 0. SMITH The idea zeus to htt-itd an electronic yadgel ; that it turned ont to be a rat trap was purelp accidental. And that it turned ottt to have the highly undesirable effects it had — - Illustrated by C artier "Bill— " "You 'as nuts, came the reply, but the voice on the telephone was jovially reproving; rather that sar- castic. "I can't do anything about this order." Peter Manton blinked. "But it has a Four-A-One priority.*1 Brarmon nodded- -invisibly, of course — and suid, "Sure yon have a top priority. Anything your lab want£ has top. Eut darn it, Peter, the best priority in the world isn't going to buy you a dozen mouse- traps that axe nonexistent." lf Besides which j that building you're in^is about as' rat- proof as a sealed gasoline can. There isn't an item of comestible in the place." "I know that. And the mice can go hungry for all I care. But the mice don't seem to understand lb at bringing food into the place is not only forbidden by law but dangerous, "But there ain't " a mousetrap in the country. Ding bust it, Peter> mousetraps take spring wire, and SAT feACM 5S

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labor. The people who used to make mousetraps are now making liombsights and tanks. Besides, Peter, over at that laboratory of yours there should be enough brains ;uul gear to realty build the Better Mousetrap. Tf you can- spot a plane at fifty miles, split atoms, and fire L'aclio equipment out of a cannon a you ought to be able to dispose of a mouse or two," Peter grinned, 'HYou mean spot em with radar, and then shoot Jem i low ti jn flames with proximity i uses loaded with plutonium war heads? That might be a little stren- uous, don't you think? Like cut- ting; the throat to stop the spread of impetigo." "Well, if you have mice over there* you think of something. But top priority or not, we can't get you your mousetraps 1" Peter hung up unhappily. Be turned from his desk to see. an im- pertinent mouse sitting on the floor watching him out of beady black eyes. Peter hurled a book at it and sworeh a rare thing; for him, The mouse disappeared behind a bank of filing cabinets. "That's right," he grunted. "Go on — disappear !" The word struck home. ■ Peter blinked. And remembered « , * It was dark-, though not too dark i'or the mouse to see his surround- ings. Tt was hungry, and it was beginning to understand that of the many places occupied by man, this was .one place where man left nothing that could be eaten. This evening, however* the situation was changed. There was a faint smell of food Jn the place, relatively great compared to the sterile at-J in o sphere of previous days. The mouse located the odor. A small wire tunnel closed at the far end. A nice* rancid bit of baton hung there* The mouse was no foul. ITc in- spected the wire tunnel carefully. Three of his brothers had been taken away by various metal con- trivances and he was not going to follow them if he could he]p it. The mouse sniffed the wires, climbed the top oE the little cage and raced around it, poking it and bumping it. Often a trap could lw sprung by poking it with a foot — just jar- ' ring it. That left the bait safe to eat, \\\\\ this seemed innocuous. No springs, no wires, no trapdoor, no mirrors. Just a little tunnel of wire eloth about six inches long and two inches in diameter, The mouse entered the tunnel ; headed for the bit of bacon. Nothing happened, and the mouse gathered speed* It paid no atten- tion to the silvery metal ring that encircled the inside of the tunnel, and would not have known what it was anyway. There were other things there, loo. Hits of Ainico V, a couple of cubes of Cerise Wax, some m invite inductances and a very small capacitor made of a tiny square of mica with some silver sputtered on both sides. Down in the center was a clear crystal with electrodes clamped on it. The whole assembly was about a half inch cubed and from it on either side at AETOTJM>IN« SfinNOrc-PICrTIGN

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emerged the ends of the silvery- wire loop. Had the mouse seen all this, it would not have understood,. That was not strange, for even the man who built it was not too certain what it did, or what it was, nor how it worked* He knew it worked, and it served its purpose. He w?is like the man who daily uses electricity enough to kill him, but is not quite sure of what goes on in the instant be- tween Liis snap of the switch and the arrival of the illumination. The mouse cared not. AH he was after was food. He paused, uncertainly and checked to ste if there were any * moving parts. There were, but they were intangible fields and stresses of space. Then the mouse raced forward and passed through the silvery circle. But did not come out on the far side. ,\ second mouse, watching look a sigh of relief. The ha it was still there. There had neither been cry of pain nor was there a captive warning1 the rest away in mouse- esc. He, too, came to the trap, and entered, the odor from the rancid bacon drawing trim with a magnetic force. He, too, came to the silvery circle, passed through — into noth- ingness ! Came then another, and another, each pleased in turn that the bait was his alone for the taking. And as each one entered and disap- peared, a tiny silent counter moved one digit higher. Came morning . , , And— "Great Unholy Madness," ex- ploded Peter. "If this is a rat- proof building. I am a Chinese policeman V* Jack Brandt locked over Peter's shoulder. "How many?" he asked. "Twenty-three J" " Colly, dt grinned Brandt. "We're outnumbered/* "We won't he long if this thing; works like this every night. This is better than the original ball- bearing mousetrap/7 "Which?" Peter grinned. "The tomcat," he said, That was Iiow it started* It went on for a week, passed through a huge peak of catch, and then tapered off abruptly. A month later, Lhc crap had passed no mouse into — nothingness — for three days. The Better Mousetrap was placed back in the cabinet and forgotten. For this was during the day£ of War, when he who was not fight- ing was working to provide the fighting man with what he needed. And Peter Manton*s laboratory had too much to do in too short a time lo permit even an hour's wonder or work on anything not directly concerned with the problem at hand. The months passed. Peter Matv ton nodded knowingly when Hiro- shima heralded the atomic age* He made penciled notes on the margin of the paper correcting some of the reporter's errata in describing RAT R iVCK

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radar* I-Ie wrote a hot letter to OSRD complaining tliat the news release on the proximity fuse had Irfen mishandled, that he knew the real facts. He fallowed sonar and loran witli interest. More months passe d, and the peace which was- raging all over the world continued, but Peter Man ton's laboratory was disbanded. Much of the stuff was sold as scrap, and among it was the. Rettcr Mouse- trap, It no ] Oliver workudH Its magnets were mere hits of metal alloy ; its permanent wax-elect rets were discharged. The crystal no jongeir vibrated niuleeularly, and be- sides, the wire loop was brushed beneath a pile of scrap mctaL The next time Peter Man ton re- membered his Better Mousetrap was when a friend of bis mentioned tin at lie wanted to move. "Move?" asked Peter, ' Where to?" "That's che point," grumbled Tony Andrews. "There's no place, But I'm not going to stay where I am I" "It looks like a nice enough place. What's wrong?" "Mice. The place is lousy with em," ■'Oh ? Thought that was a fairly respectable place." Mlt was/' replied Andrews. " But lately— the mouse, population has increased. Probably due to the lack of traps created by the war." Pt:tLr nodded, "We had a mouse- trap at the lab," he said with a fond smile of reminiscence. Then he told Tony about it, and the other man blinked hungrily* "That good r" he exclaimed. Peter nodded. "Can you build another?" "Sure." Andrews smiled, "Look," he said, "Vou arc the man who buiit the HcTtcr Mousetrap. But the old platitude isn't good enough* The world will not beat a jjath to your door unless you make yourself known. This should make yon fam- ous." Peter frowned a bit. "Is it that good ?" he asked. +Tt has one feature that will outdo all other traps/' said An- drews. "In any trap, there is the corpse to dispose of. In ibis one, there is the disposal system built in. Look, you build one for met and we'll form a company to build them." "If you think so/* "I think so. How long will it take ?+t "To build another? About an hour once I get the parts. Luckily there's a section of the Central Scientific Company handy > They have most of the stuff." It took several days to collect the material, after wbkh Peter called Andrews. By the time the other man arrived, Peter was finish- ing oft the main part of the trap. He handed the thing to Andrews, who looked at it, squinted through the circlet of wire, and then poked a ]>cngil into it. Where it Came level with the plane of the circlet, it ceased to exist in a slick plane of cleavage. ASTOUNDING ^ OfKNTR-FIOTIOK

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Andrews withdrew the pencil and it was complete again. "treat Harry," he shouted. "Where did you get that?1' "That/' smiled PeterT "is some- thing out of Campbell by Edward E. Smith," "Who?' "Writers of science fiction that turned out millions of words dealing with strange minerals, space warps, and the like. They used to spend their leisure hours thinking up something that would outdo the other. Actually/' he said, becoming serious again, "the thing was dis- covered in our lab during the war. We were working on a closed means of radio communication — a method of wireless connection that would not Only prevent the enemy from decoding or unscrambling, but which would be impossible to detect unless you were set up properly. Too many things happened under radio- silence that a means of com- munication might have prevented* Anyway, in our search for a new level u£ communications, we got this effect/' "Seems to me that it should be good for something;/* "The trouble is that it can*t be made any bigger. Once that loop size is changed, the effect is no longer there. We worked on it for about a month and gave it up be- cause there it is and that's all that coitkl be done with it." "How about using it to pump water out of a sinking ship/' "Can't fasten anything to the ring/* said Peter* "But the thing that bothers me HAT sapb 1 is where does it go?" asked An- drews, poking his finger through the ring and withdrawing it hastily as he saw the clean- cut cross sec- tion. "Haven't the vaguest idea/' "You haven "t worked on it much, then?" Peter shook his head. "There were a lot oi things that had prior- ity/' he said, "We had that sched- uled for about three years from now, even+ Anyway — what are you do in^ ?" - ,JTd like to know where the stuff goes/' said Andrews. "I law are you going; to rtnd out?" ■ Tony Andrews handed1 Peter a key ring tagT It was an advertise- ment for an automobile sales room t and it stated that any possible find- ers should merely drop the key ring and chain into the nearest mailbox j that the addressee would pay the, postage. It then gave Tony An- drews' name and address and tele- phone number* "Think . . . if it's found anywhere . . : it'll be returned?" "That's how they sent them out." he said, "Darned good advertise- ment, too/' "But—" "Look, Peter, if this , , . and it must go somewhere . . . lands close by, h/11 be returned* Perhaps we'll get a letter, too* telling us where. It it lands in some distant country, we'll probably get it back with a tetter tctling us that I sure did get around/' "You feel certain that it will land somewhere on earth/' 59

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Tony Andrews nodded. "There is no pressure gradient worthy o£ rhe name across the face of this," he said. "Though there is a very si ight motion of air through the ring. That means that the air pres- sure on either side of this ding I listed ring is- about the same, 'l-'iiuny, though, it sort of blows both ivavs." Pet^r nodded. From either side lie poked forefingers in. At the plane of cleavage, both fingers passed forward into — through — one another, giving, an appearance very much iike poking the forcrhi^cr into 51 pool of mercury. Andrews shuddered* Then he took the. little circlet, held the ring ^idc wise, and dropped the tag from the key ring through it* Through the ring they heard it clang onto the [h>or* Peter took the ring from An- drews and put it horizontal, close to the floor. He put a finger through it and probed. He said; "Ah V7 and put thumb and forefinger through the ring and came up with the tag. "What's down there?" asked Andrews. "Feels like wood." Teter poked a ruler through and measured the distance. About two inches dif- fered between the concrete of Peter's basement floor and the wood surface of the other. ''We'll Kck that," said Peter. "I've got a tiny miniature camera upstairs* We poke it through and take si picture or two/* That was a flat failure, they round. The film came out utterly black. Whether the film was ex- posed ir> passing, or whether the * 'other side" was highly illuminated could not be determined. They could control the light in the cellar so that the partially "gone1* camera would not cause exposure of the- film. But if the other side were h rightly illuminated* there would be an instant where the film was open to the light. They tried for hours, but failed. Eventually, Andrews took his mousetrap home with him and set it up in the kitchen* Again, its take was enormous. Senator Treed entered the hard- ware store along Connecticut Ave- nue and asked the clerk for a mouse- trap* The clerk looked surprised and said* "Hut you're living in the Wardman Park Hotel, senator." "I know* Reputed to he one of the finest hotels in Washington, too. Eut, there're mice there/' "Hard to believe. Does the man- agement know?" *+Not yet," said the senator quiet- ly* f*And say nothing, please- You see, Mrs* Treed and I just re- turned from a vacation in Wisconsin and we had a large number ot pack- ing cases deli veted to, our suite- It is more than possible that we included a few field mice* Fd .hate to be held responsible for bringing mice into the Ward man Park*" The clerk grinned. "Mice in the Wardman Park. That's a nation- al calamity* isn't it?" Senator Treed scowled. "Young man, this rat plague is a national calamity. You do not realize how AfcTOTTNlJlNO SC f F S CE -PI CT T On

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bad it really is* An outbreak caused by the war/* "Come now, senator* Don't blame everything on the war/' Senator Treed shook hi a head. "I try to be level headed and as honest as I can/' he said, "But how many mousetraps have you had in the place since Pearl Har- bor?" "Not many/' admitted the clerk. "Freedom from rodent pests is a warfare that must be constantly and ruthlessly waged/' replied the senator. "Otherwise,, they over- whelm us. We stopped fighting rats to fight another kind. We licked the otlteV kind, hut there's this kind still, Now, what's new in mouse- traps V "Here's a new number. it's called the Better Mousetrap* A new company started, about a week ago and we accepted one on consign- ment." "How much is it?" asked the senator. "It's not for sak\" The senator spluttered in con- fusion. "It's on a rental basis/" said the clerk. "There's n register below* It counts the catch. You pay two two cents per catch /* "Really a guaranteed job, hey?'' smiled the senator. "How does it work ':" The clerk held up the trap. "This is where you put the bait/* he said. "You impale it on tins spike and then swivel it through the slit in the wire so the mice miit-t enter the tunnel to get to it/' *'Yeah. but there's Nothing there HAT RACK to stop the mice from having a free lunch," objected the senator. The clerk took a small bolt set it on the floor of the tunnel, tilted the cage and let the bolt run down the floor slowlyT It passed through the circlet and disappeared. I+Hey!" The clerk grinned* "Convenient, isn't it ? No muss, no fussT no strain, no pain. And no corpse to clean away/* ""A very definite advantage/* said the senator. "But where do they go?" ^No one knows. They go — and we ask no questions." "Make a fine garbage disposal unit/1 suggested the senator. "Could be. I imagine so. Also a swell way to get rid of old razor blades. But every item that goes through this trap is registered — and that bolt will cost the firm two cents. It can't tell the differ- ence between a boh and a mouse*" riH]i>iinii, Good thing that tun- nel is long and small, lJeop!e would he poking all manner of things into them. But where do they go?*' <J They Ye. trying to find out. So far they don't know. It's said that one of the founders oi the Better Mousetrap Company dropped a tag1 through with name and address and the offer of a reward. It hasn't been returned. Maybe the mail is irregular from Mars, huh ?** "Mars?" The clerk shrugged. "I wouldn't know where/' he said doubtfully/ The senator nodded. 'Despite the population of the country— of the world— there are places where 01

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men seldom ga" he said, "That tag may he lying in the rough at Homiie Dundee Golf Course for we know/' Agatha M err it placed her pince-nez firmly on her nose* +iGood morning j class," she said primly and With perfect diction. "Good morning, teacher," re- ^pojkW forty third -grade voices. , Miss Agatha Merrit went to her Q-2 tlfisk and sat down. "Today," she suid, "we will learn ahout being afraid. It is known " that ninety percent of all tilings thai people fear will not harm them, I know of big strong men afraid oMti&Ects and many women are dreadfully frightened of mice." AS5T0UNEHNC f>CI R N C K F ICTTON

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Peter Manton, Junior, raised his hand and said : **My father built a Better Mousetrap/' he announced irrelevantly. Miss Agatha Merrit was annoyed at the sidetracking, bat young Man- ton's father was becoming a finan- cial force in the comm unity and she felt it unwise to ignore the com- ment, "I understand that the world is starting to beat a path to'ydur door/' she said, completing the old platitude. "But we're speaking of fear, nor mice." "You're not afraid of mice?" insisted young Peter, "I can't say that I like them," said Mfss Agarha Merrit. "Though I feel that the mouse is more fright- ened of me than 1 could possibly be of it. After ail, I ani quite a hit larger and more, capable than a mouse — Miss Agatha Merrit opened the drawer of her desk . but was pre- vented from looking in. The netft several minutes are not describable. Not in any sort of chronological order because every- thing happened at once. Miss Aga- tha Merrit headed for the chande- lier and got as far as the top of har chair which somehow arrived on the top of the table. Mice boited out of the desk drawer and spread in a wave across the desk and across the floor. In a ragged wave front, the third-grade girls found the tops o"f their desks and . the third-grade boys yelped in amusement and started to corral the mice. By the time the room was cleaned up au hour Jater, the boys had thirty- four mice in a bat race wastebasket^ covered by a small drawing- hoard p four mice had esca- ped down holes in the woodwork, seven had gone out under the door, and three were trying to find their -way out of nine-yeEir-old pockets. . Miss Agatha Merrit never did learn the name of the ringleader of that prank. She strongly sus- pected Peter Junior who was at best an imaginative child with a clever mind and few inhibitions. What bothered her most was thai the trick was repeated. There were three drawers in her desk. Young Peter Mantpn brought, on the following morjaung. one of his father's Better Mousetraps, She placed it in the drawer that had been '^salted" with mice the day before, hut the pranksters used the second drawer that night* Care- fully she concealed the trap in the third drawer on the following night+ and the mice turned up in the top drawer again. It became a race, Whether the problem would be solved before Miss Agatha Merrit became a quiv- ering nervous wreck. A total of one hundred and seventy-three mice registered on the Better Mousetrap in a week* and then Miss Agatha Merrit polished off the job by procuring enough traps for all of" the desk drawers. Since no place remained to place them without the mice being col- lected and destroyed* the mice-ftlled drawers ceased to be a favorite prank of the school. The children, all of. them sweet innocents, took to other forms of childish torture. She confessed to Peter Manton, «a

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Senior, that bad it not been for his excellent product, she would be a nervous wreck. "And" she said, "■I never did find out where they cfitne from/* He grinned. "We've never found out where they went," he rold her, "I shudder," said Miss Agatha Merrit, ''to think. Do yon sttp- posc, Mr. Manton, that your device Transmits them to some other corner «>£ the world ?" "We have tried to find out. Mice, tin fortunately do not take well to hieing tagged. But we've tagged a number of them m the hope that wc in discover where they go/* "I've noticed in the papers," re- plied Miss Agatha M err it, "that there is a veritable plague of rats, The Chicago World bad an edi- torial about you . - .did yon see it ?*J "No," he admitted. "But I'm rather pleased. What did they say?11 ' it seems that the Chicago World was plagued with rats until they got about two dozen of your Better Mousetraps, That fixed them". Now they claim that your invention came along at the proper time. The world is about to heat its path to your door, Mr, Man ton.** Peter shrugged. "Most inventions are made to fill a definite need," he said. "Discoveries are made because of man's curiosity. An invention is an aggregation of dis- coveries collected because their prin- ciples add up to the proper effect to take care of the necessity. I'm glad that I was able to make this invention of mine. It seems timely," Senator Treed rapped for at^ tendon and the committee came to order. "This morning:,*' said Treed, "we will have open discussion of the problem." General Hayes nodded and said: "This much is known; The mice are delivered somewhere out of Man ton's Better Mousetrap. I wonder if some foreign power might not have discovered even more of its powers and is using it to plague America?" "That seems far fetched/' "Not at alt It might he likened to a bacterial warfare. Pests will vitiate a country as well as war — weakening a strong country to pre- pare it for easy conquest.1* Tag Harris of the FBI Lahora-* tory shook his head. "There's more than meets the eye/* he said. "I've definite proof that some human agency Is working at it." 'You haver" demanded Senator Treed. "Tell us." "We tagged rats and sent 'em through one of Mantan's traps. Later wc nscd one of the old wire- cage affairs. Someone had gone to the trouble of counterfeiting some of our tags. Out of fifty- seven rats caught with tags, wc found a duplicate number. Some- one obviously caught a tagged one from wherever it was sent, and in an affbrt to confuse us, made dupli- cate ta^s and sent 'em back." ' "Deliberate!" Admiral Grayson of Intelligence nodded. "Tomlinson of Psycho- logical Warfare says that's what he would recommend to spread con- fusion. You see, this Power would ASTOUND!^ RCIENUK-FICTION

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not stop; they would also know that we are trying to find out all about it- Therefore they would prefer to add confusion to our search. Hence the duplication of tags." "Could you tell the real one?" Harris nodded. "Easily. The original one was well worn because the rat had more time to go roam- ing, The duplicate was almost new." "They never did turn up with that key tag of Andrews, did they ?" "Nope." uNo one but a suspicious Power would conceal such a thing no w that the search for it is out. The answer is obvious." Treed nodded in agreement. "I shall recommend that Congress of- fer an award of twenty thousand dollars to whomever gives informa- tion to bring the truth to light " He shuddered. "This rat business is terrible* My wife is nearly out of her mind. Last night she swore ■that she saw a rat nppear on the floor benefit h the dresser. I hushed it, of course, but that is why I'm bringing this committee to order on the subject/' "Perhaps Manton's device just hurls them back and forth across the country." Treed shook his head, "Man ton's Better Mousetrap doesn't work that way," he said with conviction. "Thanks to Man ton's little registers we know that M an ton's catch — over- ail — has been rising but definitely following the increase in rat popu- lation over the entire country. You see, gentlemen, Mamons craps have been made to fill a demand in every case. It started with friends who r It AT HACK needed them. ^You're sort of in- sisting that M anion's traps come assembled with its own mice." That got a big laugh, "And/' said Senator Treed, "God help the one who is responsible for this I" Tony Andrews entered the sales- room and smiled at the clerk, "Look," he said, "Fve been a good customer." "You have/* agreed the salesman. "I know you. I'm Tom Locke/" f;'Well, Mr. Locke, I'd like an- other one of those key tags." The salesman nodded. "Those things are popular/' he said. "But what happened?" "I dropped mine through one oF those Better Mousetraps." "Oh/' laughed the salesman, "they've been returned front every portion of the globe, But I guess the mail service isn't too good from wherever That is/' *Td hoped it would come back/1 said Andrews. "But I'm wrong. And Fd like another one." "Sure. Be glad to. Since you're the man who originated the idea with us/' "I'm sorry to have to ask — What? Originated what?" "Why*yes. The tale goes thai you came in to buy a car quite s^mti lime ago, and the salesman saw the tag on your key ring. He men- tioned it to Mr. Cagley who is our advertising manager, He had the tags niade up and we gave them our to our best customers." ^Thcu you've got me mixed tin with someone else, For I received ■

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mine as they did. Mine came in the mail and cost mfc three cents — which was as good" an advertising stunt as the tags themse. — " "Mail? Mail? We gave them in person/* "But mine came through the mail." 11 'Sorry. We've never sen! any ■>f them through the mail." "Oh," said Andrews with rising suspicion. He look the new lag with chunks and returned to Fcter Man ton's home. 'h Peter * is Junior handy:1* Mauton nodded and called, Jun- ior came. Then Andrews said : "Junior, have you ever seen any- thing ]ike this before?" Junior nodded. "Last winter. Tonnd it down in the cellar on my sled?' ASled !JJ "Uh-huh. Then because it said po drop it in the mail box if found* I did, Ynit got it* huh?" Andrews nodded. "Yup/' he said. "I got it! Peter Man ton, vou haven't seen the end of this* yet" Manton f rowned slightly. l"Why ?" he asked- ^You've really built the Better Mousetrap, and you haven't seen the people who are going to heat their path to your door. They haven't really arrived ycl. But they will !" The first to arrive was the l^lAl r Then Peter Man ton's domicile was changed from a town in Illinois to a eolrl *tone place in Washington. Ted Harris faced the Court. "Here is "the originator o£ the Plague of Rats/1 he saicL "And the sav- iour of the country at the same time. He is in the position of a physician who poisons people so that he can save them. A sort of stinking henc- Faetor." '"Will you please explain to the Court ?" demanded the Court, "The field set up by the Better Mousetrap at the plane of cleav- age hurls anything that passes through it backwards in time. The time-rate is indefinite and uncon- trollable, However* this is why Manton 's trap was so effective. On Monday a plague of mice appears in an apartment. The master of the place goes out and rents one of the Better Mousetraps. He places it in his apartment and during the time lit is there it hurls mice back- ward in time to create the plague 1 Naturally, the trap will be removed as soon as I he mice stop— and be- cause the trap wiH l>e removed in a few days, the trap itself stops ihe How of mice/' "but how far back — ?" li There's little correlation. It just hurls, It is aimless and uncon- trollable. In one case, a key tag went back several months/' "But how conic nothing was known of this?JJ demanded the Court. Tag Harris smiled. 'When 1 hfive- something that will utterly de- stroy something, 1 do not place suiy- thinj; valuable near it," be said, In Manton"s own laboratory the 1>oys dropped spare parts through it. In

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- hardware stares all over the country the clerk > were dropping screws and outs and the like. Most of this stuff fell to iht- floor and was swept up a few days to a week be fore. Tacj; Harris hAt\ up a scrap of nc wspaper . Th e < I ; ■ i e was foil r d ay s in the future. "Proof/' he said, "I'll be send- ing that to myself later. if "And the tagged iiui'c — the dupli- cations?'1 "Animals that had #one through the time-trap twice and were living their live^ in parallel. You see. your lienor^ not only did Man toil's Cotter Moit^eivnp huH mice Imck in time, but it eoukl hurl the same mouse back to the same era several times — and the Plague of ftats was a Man- Made Plague/' Epilogue — ' 71s said lhat he %^ho laughs hst fattf/Jis host. The wo rid who beat a ftath to Peter M anion's door in anger because fie built the Better Maitsetrctp., returned to thank hint anyv:ay. Voit see. with ntiee being hitrted backzmtrds in time, they lived and they died in the ntitd rat- roee in time. And America, for its trouble n*ith more rodents thou it could stand for a sh<?rt period, now reaps its reheard. For America is free of rots. tut: io;d. Produced By The Maker Of The Famous Gillette Blue Blade It A T (iAt'K AST— 3U HT

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INC. if men rfUtft have to sleep, it would give researchers a big kelp in meeting a deadline. No dmtht about U, Hut there is $ome doubt, stilU another respect — BY HARRY WALTON mudtratcd &>■ Pat Davis A i J east, Sanders thought irri- tably, the man might have stayed awake until the story was told, Instead, Wirtberg sat like a log in i he one comfortable chair the tiny office boasted, fat hands clasped over his enormous, paunch, heavy- lidded eyes shut, his thick under lip trembling with each exhaled breath. He seemed on the verge of snoring. Sander's bit his lip in annoyance, A fine thing for Pioneer Space Ways to be asking help o£ this mound of blubber ! Suddenly Wirtbcrg sighed gustily- A a though the effort was to be hi? last, he opened his eyes. They were pale uhie and inordinately small in that vast Face. "That is all?" he wheezed. "'It's enough* Cullen has three times the men 1 have. It stands to reason he can do research, experi- ment, and demonstrate a perfected drive before we can. The first patent is hound to lie basic. We*d be sunk." "So it seems to me also, my young friend," Sanders snorted. "Tin not ask- ing you to confirm that. I'm asking you for help. Five years ago you were irvorkmg on the elimination of sleep, We're desperate enough to AfiTOl' JfplKr. SOlRXOM-FirTIO^

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think something like that might give us a break." Wirtberg smoothed his enormous vest, fished a package ot gutn out of a pocket, and un wrapper! it with laity cEire. "You think,. if you can rill work- more and sleep less, you can maybe still beat Cullon?" He shook his head. The gum disappeared, and thrte- chins wagged rhythmically, "It -might give vs a fighting chance/* "Fighting;* Always you young men must struggle. Look- at mo. Do I fight? No, because I cannot afikjrd to. I, Emmanuel* Wirt herg, confess it. My tissues are degenerate. My heart is overburdencdr Any day may be my last. So TH I fight only with the brain, and even that I do not overtax," Sanders finished red hair back from hts forehead - impatiently. "Sure, but with us it's light or bust I've got one ship out on the CalHsto run, and it s mortgaged to the hilt. It's only beeu.il st; we run on shoe- string profits thai we can coin pete with Cull en's two ships — that and thus fact that rocket drive costs him as much as it dues ujh."' He hitched his squeaky swivel chair closer to the other man in his earnestness. "Look, it goes deeper than that. You knew my father. He reached Callisto tiraE, and So far as the Callisians are concerned he represents the whole hitman race. He made the trading; terms and they were fair ones. How lon^ do you think they'd stay that way if Cullen's ships were the only ones to call? And if he perfects a repulsor drive before we do, they will be, because rocket power won't l>e ahle to com- pete. We know he^s been "working since the repulsor principle was published for development three months ago,*' Wirtberg's pale eyes grewr mourn- fill. "I have nothing that could be of use to you- And if I had, you could tiot pay me, Is it not so?" - "It's so. We've stink all our cash and most of our credit into research. But T thought yr>u might strmg along with us. There'll be plenty ot royalties from other lines if we design a basic drive/! The pale eyes closed against the creases of fat cheeks, "It is too bad. I never gamble/ Always, with me, it is paramount that 1 Ixr paid. So it is as well that I cannoc help,'" . "Sure," said. Sanders bitterly. "Just as well. Sorry I bothered you." He wasN too. He hadn't^ slept in twenty hours, and the inter- view had Masted another hope, and he was furious with himself for expecting anything at all from Wirtherg, for presuming oven so far on the man's ancient friendship with 1iis father. Wirtberg opened his eyes again < r "You see how it is? I am a sick man. To gamble is for me not business. 1 do not live to work, I work "only to lhe, so I must be paid." "Of course. Sorry to have asked you." "You are hitler, my young friend/' murmured the big man, Sighing gustily, lie heaved his bull: out of the groaning chair and INSOMNIA. I NO.

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waddled toward the *}oav. On the threshold he paused. "A thought for you, my friend* If you arc afraid of Cullen, do not iorget that he also is afraid of you. Nor that the race, it is not always to the swift*" The fat man didn't stir when The receptionist called the first time. "Mr. Cullen will see you now/1 she repeated, "Of course he will. Why should he not? He is curious. He says to himself, 'What can the eminent biochemist, Kninianuel Wirtberg, want of me ? 1 £ it is a donation, I can always refuse. But first X must find out.' So he agrees to ^ee me/1 "Yes, sir. Will you go in?" Grunting, Wirt berg struggled to his feet atid walked past the girl- The door she indicated opened as his bulk occulted an electric eye. Once through it, he headed straight for the largest of two chairs beside an impressive desk, and only when solely implanted in it did lie look at the man behind the desk. "You will excuse an old man his liberties, Mr. Cullen? My tis- sues, ihey are degenerate. My heart is overtaxed. It is necessary that 1 pamper -myself physically, hut my brain, it never rests." The other nodded curtly. Thin, nervous lips gnawed at the fringe of a mustache waxed to two tiny points* Cyrus CuEleti surveyed his visitor with eyes that popped ab- surdly out oi a thin face. He said nothing. "'You wonder why I am here/* Wirtberg continued. " "1 will tfcll you that I have just come from Thomas Sanders." "In that case/' said Cullen in a high-pitched, querulous voice, "we are probably both wasting our time/' Win berg gave no sign of having heard. **He makes progress, *hU young math lie possesses bound- less energy. His spirit is superb. But he has nn money— we cannot transact business, you understand. In this world, one must sell if one would buy/-1 mO£ what interest is this to me?" demanded ^Cullet;. Wirtberg^ care fully unwrapped a package of gum+ "I say to myself, 'If this that Thomas Sanders wants is important to him — a pity he can- not pay far it — then it must be valuable to Cyrus Ciillen, And surely he will be able to pay for it " "What've you got that I'd want?" snapped Cullen, "Time," said Wirtberg, and bit into the gum. He chewed slowly, Cullen toyed with a paperweight, his mustache twitching, "Go on," he urged at last *Tm listening/' "So, Money you have. Techni- cian s you have. The A rive pr i neiple , it was published for development and so is anybody's until a practical drive is demonstrated. But one thing you need that you cannot buy - — time. Of that Sanders -has as much as you, not a minute more, but also not a second less. Your men worki then they must rest, then they work again." ASTOUNDING SC 1 BS'CB -PICTI Ofl

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"You're not telling me anything new/* growled Oil leu, "But 1 have said it ! Your men, they sleep because they must. But what if they did not sleep rv "Fine/' growled CuHen, i(It would also help if they didn't eat, quarrel, or want 10 visit their wives. So what?*' "So we cannot help the eating : and the quarreling?, ii is for the psychologists to prevent ; and women even have their place, Hut sleep, it is not necessary, 1> Em- manuel Win berg, can arrange that/7 Cull en glared at hini suspiciously as he lit a eij^in "Assuming h*s possible, what are the drawbacks : What strings are attach ed this tiling :t+ "But none! The health, it re- mains excellent. Theru are no ill effects. The psychology, that is something else. It is not a freedom for little minds. I would treat only men certified normal. For ah normal psychologies T would not he re- sponsible. That must l>e agreed." "What about nim^d alertness? Memory: Reasoning faculties ?" *f Better than ever. This also I will guarantee. 'J in: hrairs. it be- comes like mine, uk' a brilliance extraordinary." Cull en paced to Lhe wimkiw, paused, and strode back. '* You've tested Uus thoroughly; On humans?" r 'First on animals with a success astounding. And on one man, hut his identity I cannot reveal. You ha ve the word of En oh; time I Wtri- berg." IXfiOMNfA. INC. "Your price for treating seven men ?" "One hundred thousand points.'" "Ridiculous," snarled Cull en. Wirt berg sighed deeply. "So I say to myself. How can even 1, although of a genius extraO c denary, put a price on this so precious commodity, time? But one must live. So for a price I sell what is without price. "Fifty thousand!" Wirtherg folded his bauds. Eyes closed, he sat like a stone Buddha, "Seventy- live/* Snarled the thin man. The figure in the chair gave no sign. "A hundred thousand> provided I get the patent." Wirtberg's eyes opened. He sighed again. "We do not meet with our minds, Mr. Culleru A pity, is it not ? But I never gamble." ■'All ritfht !?' snarled Culle.ii. "A hundred thousand in advance, re- fundable if you fail. I'll want your guarantees in writing. You're 10 renew tile treatment as often as necessary at no additional cost/' "Most certainly. But these men of yours I do not know. Are they of normal psychology? Of that I must he sure. A ten-day psycho- diagnosis will be sufficient*** "Ten days!'1 roared Cull en. "That's out. Time's the whole es- sence of this tiling Yuti know that." Wirtherg shrugged broadly. "Re- grettable, is it not? But how cist shall I dare undertake the respon- sibility?" "O.K., HI waive ii, Psycho-

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logically they're none of your business, But you guarantee their physical welfare." 'That is so. Ybu may draw up the agree incut." Wirtberg sighed deeply as he struggled to Jiis feet. e there.fp "At twenty o'eluch precisely, if you plea ye. It is vital to me that [ do not exert myself late at uight. You understand that a sick man must pumper himself. My heart is of an abominable- weakness. My tissues — TJ "We'll be on time. Any special instruct ions ?" "To T>c sure. Do not by any means Fail to bring with you the hundred thousand points — in cash,'1 Sanders, deftly parking his well- worn roadster beside a tin-roofed shanty, looked up automatically as a rocket take-off burst roared out over the field. The departing ship was far off, at the south end, and already had dwindled to an absurd size under its tremendous accelera- tion. He watched the pale blue 11a me of its exhaust lose itself against the somber evening sky, then glanced back to ttic glare of loading floodlights a quarter of a mile down the landing strip- That would be a Cullen ship, he knew. Only the CaJLiatan vessels and a few Ventisian tramps used this port now. Once the land had been swamp. Eighty years ago it 72 had been reclaimed for a world's fair. It was close to New York* but not fashionable ; the luxury I.una ships and most Inner Planet liners landed at La Guardia, Its chief advantage was thai the ground fees were low. But not low enough to keep Pioneer Space ways in business if Culten lw_al them to the drive. St ratine haw it 1 wiled down to a race between him and Cullen t both comparatively small operators. Other lines, with shorter runs, could afford rocket fueEs. If a repulsor drive were developed they'd switch to it in time t hut it wasn't the life- nod-death matter to them that it was to the Calli stan lines. So far as he knew no other group was even interested enough, to resunrch the problem now. Shipping was on a boom and they had their hands full coining profits. He turned away from the Hood- lights and only then !>aw Tony, her slim swtatered. figure limited against the glow from inside the lab build- ing, Shed seen him. But it was like her not to call Inni, not to draw attention to herself until he was ready to give h\ He wondered briefly wbether he would ever meet another as thoroughly satisfactory a woman as Antoinette Brandes. The f|uestioii was purely academic; he didn't want to, "We're ready, Tom/' she said. "Jul held the test uu for you. Did you rest wel I V* "I feel wonderful.** Me kissed her as though he did, ''Xow )etTs see what you two have worked out while I was on the shelf." ASTOUNDING * r I KSOE- FICTION

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The laboratory wait small, cramped, full of dark corners to which the fluorescents never pene- trated. An iontc converter hummed furiously at one end, but the light- ing: was concentrated over a smgle l0:l£ work bene h: point four seven. Run twelve seconds, four more than las.t time/5 "We're making progress," said Sanders bitterly, "Twelve seconds continuous run after twelve weeks of work, just half the thrust we need to lift a pay load. Looks as if rockets have a bi^ future." "But it was predictable, Tom/* said Tony- "Just as in every other test we've run, there was that one factor that wouldn't check. It never has. Of course I'm com- pletely stupid about the engineering factors you have to deal with, but 1 am sure about my figures/' "She means our dielectric con- stant," Craijr put in+ "And don't swallow that about her being stupid. She makes with the equations like Einstein. And, confound it, she's always right.," "We might try plastoene platen hi the capacitor/' said Sanders, "And how about inverting the phase of two drive circuits ? That'll cut the load even while the capacitor's doing the same job. Here, let's work out the new eon status for Tony and — " ''Mail has been received/1 an- n on need an automatic speaker. The two men mi^lit as well not have heard it. Tony slipped from the laboratory, wem lo, the tiny office, and opened the mail -tube re- ceptacle. She did not tear open the sealed form it contained, but her walk back to the lab was very slow," WVW1I start with a thousand mils on the repulsor &ruL Try that on vour slide rule, Touw Make the -■ — capacitance—1* Sanders 5a w her face then. She simply held out the letter, and he looked at the return address and tore off the tape without a word.

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Reading: i* at a glance, lie passed it to Craig. "That's our notice that Culler* has filed for demonstration, Our swan aongk Finish, "The strain of weeks, of mental and physical fatigue, increased disappointment to the point of bitterness, Craig's reaction, too, was tinged with weariness, despite an obvious effort to face the situation, "Maybe he's bluffing. Or he may Jbe overs- reaching himself, banking on a re- search schedule he can t meet. If he can't produce a model on the date he's tiled, he can't apply again for sixty days. Meanwhile we may lick those flashovers — "Or we may not V Sanders an- swered harshly, 4tI won't let you and Tony kid yourselves for my sake. We may as well admit we're Hcked. Cullen 's toy smart to go off half cocked. Since he's filed, he's sure to have a model And even if we had one with which to contest his application, aud it was as good as his, the best we could get now is a shared patent," The logic was unanswerable. There was no dissenting voice as he tossed *the circuit diagrams into a filing bin, Craig and Tony looked helplessly at each other as he left the laboratory, Sanders had in mind nothing more but to be alone, to thrash out what he recognized as fatigue-in- duced discouragement. Without conscious decision lie headed for the little office. He had reached his desk before he became aware that somebody else was in the room. 74 An apology came to his* lips, to be stifled as he saw who it was* " You r receptor panel smd "enter** so I did±" said Cyrus Cull en. 'We're careless that way," San- ders jesponded, "But then, most of our visitors are nice people/' Cullen ignored the thrust. "Work- ing hard?" "You know we are. And you didn't come to ask, so say your piece and be done*'* CuJlen shrugged. "You prob- ably know by now that I've filed for demonstration. Or else you soon will. You're licked, Sanders/' "Too bad 1 can't take your word for that-" "It would , pay you, YouTre beaten and we both know it, hut 1*11 admit that by some. ..fluke you might produce a contesting model and claim a shared patent. That's barely possible, but I can pay to eliminate a long shot. I'll give you ,nfiy thousand for your drive as it stands," "The Pioneer drive isn't for sale," Cullen grinned. " Maybe I can help you change your mind* You don't yet know what you're up against. How much sleep have you had this week?*1 The question was so unexpected Sanders answered it before he thought,' "Twelve or thirteen hours, O.K., so we're understaffed and overworked. But we'll keep trying to beat that brain trust of yours." He was nonetheless acutely con- scious of the contrast between him- ' self — heavy eyed for want of sleep, seedy in clothes heTd worn too long ASTOUHJCMNG SC IENCW-FI CTiOM

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—and the alert, clipper figure presented by Culler "Yea., take a good look at tnc while you're at itT Sanders. I feel fine. JHut / haven't slept die minute ^/ic /fi-rt tff^/i* days" Stunned nerves absorbed the shock slowly. "You didn't ... oh, no, he wouldn't have— " "If you mean Wirtberg, he did. You couldn't \xly him, so he made a deal with mc/ My technicians all got the ami fatigue treatment, too. When it wears oll\ they'll get it again. They eau work twenty- four hours a day if need bi\ They're in top physical shape and their minds are, if anything, keener than usual. You're up against an un- beatable combination, Sanders. I'm generous to offer von liftv thou- sand" "No sale." "You're tired V sneered Cull en. "'If yOu weren't, you^d know when you're licked- My demonstration date was figured before we got the autislcep treatment ; I bought Wirt- berg's help just as a mutter of insurance. There isn't anything — not a single, small , solitary thing — tHat can keep me from demon- strating my model on- the date set, X '"in offering you fifty thousand just as another insurance premium — again st a million- to-on e shot. Wa u t it?" "Get out of here/" said Sanders thick lyt getting to his feet. Cullers stood Tip, ion, *Jlt won't pay you to he stubborn. Think it over., but not too long. Tomorrow my otYer will be forty- Jive thousand. IH! drop five thousand a day/' "Get out E" gritted Sanders. Cull en's smirk stuck in his memory long after the man bad gone. Rut finally Sanders strolled back to the lab, where Craig and Tony at: once pretended Furiously they were not interested in the sheets of figures before them. "Culien was just here," Sanders ami on need. "He offered fifty thou- sand fur our drive." The others' silence wits pregnant with question. "Maybe I shouldn't have done what I did* Maybe 1 owe yotl both an kinds of apulogics. There just didn't seem to he anything else — *J C raid's answer eame haltingly. "We're sorry too, Tom. I>ut if you saw it that way, it's all right with me+ And with Tony too, I'll bet. We'd have stuck i f you wanted to keep on, but . , > but that's all. r** ^uess. 'That's right," Tony added, "Whatever you say, Tom. Some- times you have to be smart; co know when to quit." +<I guess none ol us are* then,'" said Sanders triumphantly. "I turned Culkrt down cokk even after lie admitted Wirtberg sold out to him. Get out that slide rule as^sum Tony." Ales: Henderson, treasurer of the Cullen line, watched his eniploj'er pace the floor in his office with a nervous energy just short of being ridiculous. The popeyed htde pro- moter seemed tense to the bursting point. if.

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Jupiter's sake, sit down," burst out Henderson at last. "It makes me tired just to watch you." Cutlen, back at his desk in three "it r i £ 1 es h ■ Jl u ng himseT f dy nam Leal ] y into his chair, "That's a sample," he barked, *V>£ the co-operation I get. It makes you tired. Doesn't anybody care what's happening to my organizat- ion?" 4 "Of course. You're two weeks ahead of schedule, your appli cation is filed, Sanders is 1 beaten, and your ships are making a profit on every run. Is thai had ?" '*But Sanders is still working, lwo weeks after I offered to buy him out, I-Je has something up his sleeve. " ''Nothing hut elhow grease/' re- torted Henderson. "Your imagi- nation's got yon by the throat. Remember that the 1>est he could get — by crowding his luck to the limit — is a shared patent. Which means you'd both stay on the Callis- tan run, making more money than ever before " h 'That's what he's after! And what are we doing about it?" Henderson, who hadn't had the an ti sleep treatment, yawned. "What you need is a good night's sleep," he offered. "This Wirtberg may ix; able to keep you awake, hut you've been sharp as c jacked glass all week. The other fellows at least get out of their labs regu- larly. They don't brood as you do. And -at that 1 donH like what Gilroy said this morning"." '■What?*' 'That it's dull throwing loaded gloves against a man who has a glass jaw. And that he wished he could change sides, wnrk tor San- ders a while, to even things up a hit" "You see? Sec what I'm up against?" ("ullen's voice neaved a scpieak. "No loyalty.'7 ''What I'd say is that they're bo i ed. And you, too. You've been in this thing too long* Even while you're wrapped up in it, you "re sick of the whole affair yourself," Cullen snorted. The announcer on his desk glowed, and he harked nu answer. A man in a laboratory technician's smock entered. "Well, what do you want, Moran? A bonus on your bonus ?'J The man stood jauntily without saying a word, but very slowly a smile grew, overspread his face* He beamed on the mu stacked little man behind the desk. "Speak up [ Don't stand grin- ning hke an idiot." The man continued to smile. Without budging, Cullen managed lo give the impression of hopping up and down. "Then get out. J f you have nothing tO Sayt gel out \** JTkil J have." Moran found his voice. "I came to remind you that I've worked for you cJevcn years, at bottom pay for ten of them. Ten months ago yon trebled my salary, I'm in line for a good bonus when ycair patent goes through, I helped you get it, and that's all right. I jnst want to say we're even — and I'm quitting." i A ST PUNDINC fit". I H X C K - r I C T I OK

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"You can*!:!" C ul Sen screamed1. H,Yowil yet no bonus if you doS* "I know it. That's why I'm tickled. Yon ice. I don't care. ) just realised I'm free. The job*S done and Fin sick of it and I'm going. I just realized the bonus doesn't in a tier. I'm so sick o£ it no bonus could make it worth my whiJe to stay.'* *Tll double it. You yet twice what the others do." Ma ran shook his head. "Ypu don't see it, I'm bored, I have been for ten years , and never knew that was what was wrong " with me. Now I know and I'm doing something about it. Going to tour the wo rid . Always did want IHSOMJi'IA. isc. 7?

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Without another word he turned and walked out( amid a torrent of wordsT When, finally exhausted of speech, oCuHeii opened a desk drawer, swallowed a pill from a, bottle there, and washed it down with a drink, Henderson watched 7 half simused. "I said you were bored. He said he was. A tough cu stonier, bore- dom. You can't fight it, canTt come to grips with it- IVfaybe itfs going to heat you after all, Cyrus/' Cull en gagged oyer his drink, so that Henderson had to answer the announcer for him. "It's Craven tins time," the treasurer reported. "May as well see hint and gel it over with. May- be he wants to quit, too." "Mot Craven," Cullen snarled when he could talk again. "You know he can't walk out on me." Craven, dark and sardonic, stood as jauntily before the desk as Mo ran had, .Silence held for forty seconds, a duel between him and Cullen. "Spit it out!" roared Henderson, as ilte suspense grew. Craven laughed. "All right.- I'm ted up. Yon don't need me, and I'm not going back. It* routine from here in." Cu lien's face purpled. *1f you leave hereT it'll be to go to a Lunar jail. Fve got what it takes, to put vou there." -■ "Save it I" Craven stuck his long face into the others, "You've held ■ that over me six years. And only now I've found the nerve to teif you to go to Pluto* Know why? 78 Because I'm bored stiff. Even a Lunar prison would he n. change. I won't go back to that lab." "Why not?" asked Henderson reasonably. LtIt.'s a good lab. You get paid well- You'll get a whack- ing big bonus. Why not go back ?" "Bored stiff." ... ' ."You'll like Luna/* Cullen snarled, "Two weeks of night, two weeks of day. , Prison routine, clock controlled. Always the same." "Hold it," Henderson interrupted, "If both of you weren't over- wrought, you'd see where it fits*" ' At truce for a moment, they looked at him. "Cravem wants to quit the lab. All right. You, Gyrus, are worried about what Sanders is doing. I think you're foolish. But Craven could prove you are.Tl "You mean let him spy on San- ders ?" **I-et him play investigator, I believe he's not without previous experience that way/* "[ can walk without slam ping my feet/* Craven admitted. *' Never mind the cracks. For that I'm youi man. I'll want the lab bonus plus that story siboui me you keep in your safe." Henderson got up* yawning. "You two wiU g^-t along. I can leave the dirty details to you+ For myself, I'm glad I can still enjoy eight hours of sound sleep. Good night." He teft the others in sullen but complete agreement. Sanders stirred on his cot in a cubby adjoining the office. Through AKTOTJNDTNO SCIES CE-PlCTION

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a. haze of delightful languor con- sciousness struggled back to a sense of his whereabouts, to a sharp, chronic realization of the problem that claimed his every waking mo- ment. Reluctantly he raised his head to glance at the luminous clock on the walk It w;is only 3:15. lie had allowed himself until five Onjy as he turned back fco his pillow did the disquieting: truth penetrate his sleep -starved brain. Sornrtftitu/ must have awakened him. It wasn't in nature that he would have stirred otherwise. That realization stung him awake as no physical impetus con I el. He got up, threw the master switch that turned on Lights throughout the lab and the adjoining shop. The i Humiliation stabbed his eyes agoniz- ingly : ml must without sight he groped through the harsh brilliance, his feet through long habit taking him to the lab. There he flung the door open, stood blinking as his pupils strove to accommodate them- selves to the glare. Something ill the air made him cough. On the workbench the black bulk of the drive unit seemed to shimmer be- fore his ga>:c. Then, with stunning suddenness, he knew that not his eyesight but the object itself was the cause. The drive was activated , had been for some time, and was already over- heated to a poinr where insulation was breaking down. In what seemed long moments but could have been no more than a second or two he reached the power switched and opened them, A stench of overloaded dielectric plates hunp like a pall over the workbench. Seizing tools, he loosened the hous- ing bolts, flung the hot metal aside heedless of burned fingers, and stared at the wreckage within. Tt was complete. Every tube, relay, and condenser bore the marks of damage, including sjjbcial units designed by him and painfully hand- made by Craig, A sledge could hardly have created greater havoc. lie was still at the workbench, disassembling the unit to salvage the pitifully few i^arts that might he made to serve again, when Tony and Craig found him. "Yon have nothing to worry about/' said Craven. "They're still fooling with steatite as the rcpulsor dielectric. We've been through all that and know it's a blind alley. And, of course, they're srill putting high potential on the repulsor grid, which is hopeless.'* Cull tn chewed the end off a cigar ; as an afterthought "he pushed the box toward Craven. "You got out unnoticed? They don't know any thing V Craven grinned. "Unless they're deaf, dumb, and "blind, they know it wasn't Santa Clauti who came last night, I tried their model out. It ought to make good scrap/* Ctdletl Swore. "You're a fool, you've not only tipped them off lo that we know what they're doing, but forced them to build a new model. Suppose they hit on the right combination in rebuilding?'" "I'm betting," said Craven nejf- 7ft

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ligently, "ibat they don't. Do I gel paid ?" "Yes. I j nay need you again/' Craven threw his half-smoked ci^ar into the ash tray+ **I want something else. A goo J night's sleep. I'm not one of your trained seals any more." 1 'You'll sleep when the vest of us do/* snarled Cull en. Craven j^ot up. f*Tliat your last word ?" And as Cullen only scowled in reply , he added : "Because it best not be. I don*t know just what's wrong, hut I'm not normal, r fee) as if I don't give a whoop l*Ow things turn out+ the way I felt when T played hookey from school as a kid* That's how I came to wreck Sanders' model. Jt wasn't smart, and I Knew it. But I didn't care." At the door he turned back briefly. "1 think that goes for the whole bunch En the tab. better let them sleep before they all start doing things just to see what happens. iSeeause what liappens may sur- prise everybody — especially you/' "A week's work," said Craig, his eyes serious behind their lenses. **t should have heard him," nmt-. tered Sanders. i{l did bear him, and just lay there, doing nothing/' "The sooner you two quit the post-mortem and get to work," said Toiry practically, "the sooner we're back in business." Craig grinned at her. ''How can one girl be right so often? O.K., give me those plate dimensions again atvl HI start." Tony riffled her papers — and sud* daily gave a Ihtle gasp of dismay "He's been at these — look !" The sheet she held was heavily smeared with pencil marks* inter- Jined with scrawls. "Even with the calculator, that's a day's work/' she said indignantly, "And so senseless. Why didn't he just tear it up or burn — " She Fell silent, studying the sheet, while the men watched. "He knew calculus/' she mused. "Look — he substituted for this quantity. And it comes out right, if ynu follow through! Remember what never seemed the correct value ?" "The repulsor dieleetric," San- ders admitted. "As that it?" She nodded, writing rapidly. ''Here it is, within the theoretical limit we fixed on and were never able to reach," "No good, then," said Craig, "A dielectric of that value would break down instantly/' "Lct*s see, all the same/' sug- gested Sander taking up a book of synthetic-material sped Beat ions. "*Itfcs way below steatite, which we've been using. Here — a foam-body silicon compound, si lean he. You're right, it breaks down at 200 volts/' "And we're using 6,000/ f scoffed Craig. Sanders laid the hook dowrt. *T don't get it, Tony, but even if it made sense — how could it ? Why should the enemy give us informa- tion?" "If it's the enemy/' countered Tony, "why try to fool us with something Chat seents so wrong?**

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"'She's "gkt again/1 Craig ad- milted reluctantly. "As id it's funny how the constant he gives. . j ihes with. silcanitc to the last decimal, AIL wc need is Vj knock our 6,000 volts, down Lo 200 fir less/* "Wc can 3TT Sanders cut in, "The repulsor has to he b3usrS25 volt* on the second plate, 6,000 on the first. We're high to ground f but the dicier trie \& stressed to only 175 volts/' They hiked at one another with renewed ho|>e, the mantle of weari- ness dropping from them as though routed hy sleep. Tony reached around and slipped a graph sheet into the calculator. Cullou, guided by ei grinning Japanese. uouseh\\ stalked glower- ing into Wirtherg's biological laboratory. The master at the establish me] it sat in a. huge chair before a worktahlc laden with chemical wart:, hut his eves were tightly shut and hijs hands folded over his enormous stomach. Fluid bubble^ unheeded in a retort be- fore him. "WirtberjDf!" The dapper owner of the Cullcji lines stopped in the doorway, appalled at the stench within* *' Confound it, man,. I had to see you. Why didn't you come when I asked you to V The biologist reluctantly opened his eyes. "Ah, it is Mr. Cullem But I rarely go out. For nie it is a -great exertion to leave my house. INSOMNIA. INC t My heart is already overburdened. My tissues are—" "Ail right,'* said Cttllen hastily. "So I've come to you. Call we go some where else? This place stinks/" "Does it not? * agreed Wirtherg calmly, "You should not have come.1' rCullen glanced at him suspi- ciously, then with a shvu£ decided no insult was intended. He edged farther into the place. A cagctul of monkeys at the far end set *ip a terrific chaiier at the sight of a stranger. Wirtberg waved to a stool near by, ^Surely there is nothing wrong. Your men, they do not fall asleep over their work ?h> "No, but it's serious enough,' ' growled Cullen. "Try to under- stand this. Twenty -six days ago we'd ' reached a point where my engineers could promise a working model within a deiinitc time. 1 know engineers ; that estimate didn't allow for mistakes* lint I fiEed for that date after you'd given us the an tt sleep treatment, Figured thai gave us margin for any thing those foois could overlook, since they could work day and aught if some- thing went wrong." Wirtberg nodded ponderously. "But surely things arc not wrong? Their mitids are keen as ever : lf Emmanuaf Wirtberg, guaranteed it would be so.*' "Oh, they're keen enough/' con- fessed Cullcn sourly. "That's the trouble. TheyVe bored. Mind you, they're not overworked, We're right Lip to schedule. But my chief engineer asked me for a vacation 91

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yesterday. A vacation! And this week two of my best men quit* Wouldn't say why except they were sick of the job." The biologist made chicking noises. "But what can you want of me? These menT they lire of the work, JJiey are in good health, their faculties are not impaired. It is not my fault," A gaud y bird in a near-by cage suddenly squeaked madly. CtilJen jumped, wiped his brow with a handkerchief. "I didn't say it was. It's just boredom. They want a change/* Wirtbcrg made more clucking noises, "It is 50 much like the case of Rimer/' he said judiciously. v "I'm not interested in family reminiscences, What about my men V "KJmcr is a monkey," continued Wirtberg imperturbably, "The anti- sleep treatment, it was very suc- cessful with him. From the very first .he did not sleep. Day and night he hopped about in his cage. But finally, this monkey he became bored. Then he became very un- happy- Even in a new cage it was the same, and not even a new friend, a monkey named Mary Jane, could long interest him+ He would only sulk." The. biologist wagged his head solemnly, "Afterwards only did it dawn on me, This Elmer, he was a victim of psychic fatigue. He was bored with his surroundings and with his body and most of all with himself, I shrug. I say. fPouft This is merely an anirnaL It has few in- terests. With men h will be differ- ent/ But alas, your men, they are also bored, lDid I not say it is not a freedom for little minds? Did you not ask me, Emmanuel Wirt- bergp to waive the psychodiagnosis I demanded ?" "O.K+, so f did/* admitted Cullen. "You've diagnosed the trouble. What's the cure?" Wirtbcrg shrugged, "The cure, it is to sleep. In psychic fatigue, the paiieht desires to rest in his dream world, - Nature, she gives us two worlds, one to strive in and one to rest in. It is not only the body that rests — no! The soul,, it expands in the more elastic world of dreams. It is not unconscious- ness it seeks, hut rebirth 111 the realm of its own making. Even the fan cast Sc dream, it is flight from the boredom of reality. The cga rests itself in fancy. Too much reality it cannot endure." Cutten Hcked his lips, ''That makes sense. I've felt I wouldn't mind a good night's sleep myself + Why not? If sleep win keep them on the job, we can afford it now* Take care of it, will you?" . "But gladly. I foresaw that you might desire the antidote to the treatment. I did notH of course/ know you would want it So soon, But already I am working on it/1 "Working on it?" *' Constantly, day and night. You sec before you the extraction of an alkaloid intended to restimulate the sleep center of the brain." Deftly r for all his liamlikc hands, Wirtberg Swung aside a Hansen burner to allow the retort to cool. "It may/' ASTOUNFUMO RCIRN OK* FT-CTI ON

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■T he continued pleasantly, "be so -much of a failure as ail tuy other e^cperiment$^', A fold blue flush spread upward from (Julleu's lean throat,- His prominent Adam's apple bobbed violently before be found voice. "You mean you haven1! £ot 5X1 amidote yet?" he demanded shrilly. "But no. Although it is yet too early to say there is none, I have after all made only two hundred J seventy- lour experiments so far. But I do ntrt give up. I, Emmanuel Wirtberg, still believe there is an antidote. It remains only to 6nd it*** "But you didn't tetl me there was no ami dote," squeaked Cull en. "You even agreed to renew the treatment when necessary," "To be sura I abide by the contract, If your men fall asleep, . I gladly will repeat the treat men L But it has never proved necessary yet. J "yen EJmcr. lit is still awake after rive years/' "Five years — " muttered Cullen weakly. "Wirtberg, you've got to find it." He swallowed as though gasping for breath. *'My men * * * 1 wouldn't dare tell them this. You mustn't let them know. They'd kill rife/' Carefully Wirtberg unwrapped a "stick of gui 11. "It is possible, yes. The psyche denied its normal es- cape in dreams may turn to morbid violence. Particularly fo if there is present a suitable scapegoat." He eyed the trembling little pro- jnotcr speculatively, then nodded, as though be bad reached a satis- factory conclusion . "*Yes, it is even INSdHNlJ, ISC more than possible. You are the logical victim. Me, I am safe. Is not Emmanuel Wirtberg the only man who knows the ant i sleep treat- ment? And who else can discover the antidote? But you — " He shook his head gravely s bis three chins chewing in unison. », "There must be a way out of tins," whispered Cullen^ dabbing at his moist forehead. quicker way. You alone here , - . hundreds oE experiments! It may take a lifetime!" "Already it has taken five years, But science, she is a demanding mistress. What is the lift °f a man?" "No! This can't wait, Wirtberg. YouVe got to find it fast. Get assistants. Get a bigger laboratory, Run ten experiments at once. Twenty." Wirtberg gestured with both hands, palms down, ,+My friend t I am a poor mam Such a schedule as that, it takes money, I would be happy to supervise it,, but assistants, they do not work for nothing. A bigger laboratory? I can scarcely afford this One/' -"How much?" The words were a whispered croak, Wirtberg closed his eyes calcu- latingly ; his chins ceased their labor of mastication. "It is possible/' be said at last. "Kot easy* no* Only Emmanuel Wirtberg could wTOrk such a miracle of research for only two hundred thousand points." Cutlen made no sound H His face was the color of dirty wax. 4iYe&" Wirtberg continued cheer-

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fully. 'Two hundred thousand will give us a start. And if I must afterward ask for more — w He shrugged expansively, smiling at the crushed and silent wretch beside. himt Tony read aloud From the offi- cial-looking sheet brought by the morning tnaiL "Since, in the event that both claimants arc successful, a shared patent may have tp be granted, their models must be alike as to size, shape, weight, and other outward characteristics. Flans and specifi- cations, for the hulls are therefore submitted *hcre with. Mo deb must be -remote controlled by microwave transmitters on the individual wave- lengths specified below/* *' Simple enough," was Sanders' comment, - "The hulls are standard one-man lifeboats, which is just what our drive will handle, since* of course, there won't be a passenger aboard. The prime drive units and the maximum weight of the repulsor drive itself were set when we riled for development, so Cullen had to stick to the same limits we dick And we caii adapt a regular micro- wave^ control unit in an hour or two. Of course Cullen will do the same, and except for the tuning our controls are bound to be almost identical.'* Cmig frowned. "Sounds fair enough, except that Cullen shouldn't ever have been able to claim against you. If Wirtbctg hadn't double- crossed us, the sanctimonious old fraud—" "Cullen would still be ou our necks/* Sanders finished. ''With the men and money he had, he could hardly miss: No, this is a ease where half a loaf will be mighty welcome- A shared patent means our ships stay oil the Callisto run. But If Cullen wins full rights—" "lie won't/' said Tony staunchly. "Our drive works wonder Cully." "And just to make sure: it'll keep working,'* said Craig, "Tom and 1 arc go in:; to sleep here from now on. IVe got a few interference beg m 5 rigged where they'll catch anybody who tries pnissy footing around while weVc asleep-' "Which won't lie much/1 amended Sanders grimly. "We're stilt up against Cu lien's nonstop crrew: — Insomnia Incorporated — and we have only six days to gn/" "Mr, Gilroy is here from the lab," spoke the announcer on Cullen's desk. Mr. Gilroy was not alone. Three- wide-awake, grim- faced technicians hied in after him, "I'm sorry, Mr. Cullen/* the an* noimqer apologized. "The others appeared, right after you'd said you would see Mr. Gilroy." "All right, all right/' snapped Cullen. "That's all/* His mustache looked frayed. The head of the Cullen enterprises did not seem as fresh as he had three weeks before. By comparison with his employees he looked seedy where they looked stern. "Well? What's this:" he blus- tered, Gilroy stepped forward. "It's a committee ot_ the few technicians ASTOUNDING RCIBKCR -FICTION

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you stilt have working for you, I'm talking lor the lot.5' "Go ahead," sneered Cullem "Talk !" "I will, Yom- drive model is finished. Its installation in the standard hull designated is sheer routine ; any apprentice crew could do it in three (Illy*. We expect to finish it by tonight/* *lAud high time/" declared Cttllen* f" Tonight," Gilroy continued, "we are going home. To bed4 For ;ibout fourteen lionrs sleep." "You mean you're fired ?'* Cull en naked in surprise. "Why7 Wirtberg told me — ** ■ We're not tired, hut you'd bet^ rcr see that we are. Because with- out being sleepy at all, we desperate- ly want sleep. If we could get narcotic s, some of us would hELve tried them hy now. Failing; that, it's up to you, ' Get that fellow who treated us to give us the antidote,*' Cullen called on the remnants of his I Eldership. ITe essayed a bluff. "What you're asking is impossible, I can't risk mouths of work, an investment of half a million points, to let you take a nap. You know that I took the an ti sleep treatment with you. I won't sleep until I have that patent, and by the six-toed mules of Callisto, neither will yon j" The ensuing silence hummed with tension. "Yow mean to say you*d deny us ^leep," roared one mail,*" when your model is finished and ready For demon st iii£ ion ?" "I cauM take the risk/** retorted CuH.cn. +( You've no right :t ask it* INSOMNIA, INC. A muttering: swelled angrily in answer. He tried to shout it down. As the men closed in on his desk, his fingers frantically sought and pressed a button* "That's all of it/* said a new yoke. "The lot of yon, about face t" The insurgents whirled to face Craven t whom they hadn't seen for days. He held a paralyser, cover- ing them. "No sleep in this baby/' he said, patting the weapon. "Just a few hours of helplessness, then a couple of nauseaT and you're on your feet again. ItTs really not worth It, boys." They., saw the point. Grimly, itn forgivingly, they riled out. When I he door was shut behind them, Craven sat on the desk. "They had you going/* he said* "Wonder how long it'll lake them to see it." "See what?" "That you have no antidote. Maybe Wir there's holding you up for it — or hasn't he got it either? Don't answer; I know, I've sus- pected it*" "He's working on it/* Culler, confessed tremulously. "I've backed hit il to the limit. And remember I'm jn the same boat you are.NT Craven spat on the immaculate floor. "That's all that keeps me from pumping a few needles into you with this*" He waved the paralyser. "1*11 go along with you — for a while, But unless Wirtberg docs come through soonf I wouldn't underwrite your life insurance." Cullen sat down trembling. **lt takes money. Wirtberg's already 9&

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got two h:mdrcd thousand, besides what J paid him for the antisleci?, Hi tricked me, but lie's our only hope. That's why I can't afford a shared patent. Only full control wili hring ill tin* tiash I nCtfd — to finance Wirtberg, among other things."' "J can see that. So why don't ypu play for keeps?'' Gn lien stared ^uc^tionin^hv "The models art remote con- trolled/" Craven amplified. "On set wave lengths. So <you get a port- able projector cut there on the test field, out of sight. Time it to San- ders' outfit, and — " "Crash his ship?" whispered Olllen. Craven shrugged. "His drive tailed, that's all. He'll never know the difference himself. What you need, of course, is a man who can quietly build a self- tracking beam projector strong enough to blanket Sanders' control." "Five days left. Can you do it?" "Single handed, without any ol your trained seals to help. I've sort of been thinking it might come to this, so 1 made plans. It'll cost you double the bonus, and your signature on this." He flung a much-creased paper before Cull en, who read it between trembling finger?. "Why, this . . , this is a con- fession to what voa're just offered to do!" Craven grinned. "That's to bal- ance the little paper hi your safe. Remember? I wouldn't take the

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job unless Tin protected-- by having you right in with nie where the water '3 hottest." Cullen threw the paper aside, "I'm not that crazy. " * "No," agreed Craven. "You+re sane, and you Mvdw just what you'll be tip against, when those chaps in the lab find you've soU! rhem in- soninaa for life." Cullen tel. "Someone titled you while you were away, Tony," said Craig as she and Sanders came back the last evening before the test. "Said v his name was Anton Gilroy, He wanted to come Over if you were in. Tony's face went a. hit pinker than cosmetics made it-. v" Thank yon. I didn't want to see him any- wav " "Gilroy ?" asked Sanders. "Who- , , ever he is, he's out of luck. Tony ' is going to be dated up permanently. As Mr*.- Sanders." Craig beamed. "No surprise to me, but I'm glad it's announced. Congratulations-" '■ 'Accepted as due. I think I'm lucky." ,fI feel lucky myself," said Tony, "And 1 ! I link we're going to win tomorrow, Woman's intuition." '*V\[hat, no slide rule?" queried Craig, "'That reminds me — an In- spector from the Patent Commission was here to check our control equip- ment. Seemed to have credentials* hut I didn't take my eyes oft him *he whole time/1 "And everything checked?" "To the last milUcycIe. He had insomnia. 1 No- me run through the control sequence, checked the receiver frequency, and then got interested in our trans- mitter. But all he did there was check its frequency and put a seal on it, There it is+" The control sender^ a compact cube about one foot on a side, was a standard piece of equipment commonly used for landing robot lifeboats in. spatial rescue opera- tion s+ Four squat levers sticking up from the top gave a total of eight variables. On a fixed carrier frequency > timed pulses were grouped eight different ways to afford as many control signals. Horizontally around the case, . effectively preventing removal of any access panel, ran a broad metal band, its ends joined in a. thick metal disk bearing a battered im- print. "Gives me a funny feeling," Craig' commented. 'I mean having nothing to do. That seal is sym- bolic. We're ready, and that's that. I just Can't think of anything else to do." "No?" asked Tony. "Well, I can; Isn't the Ganymede still load- ing?'* *'Sure," answered Sanders^ mys- tified. "And why?" "Because, while she's. loading, you're going to ask four or five crew members to spend the evening here — refreshments served. They're going to guard the equipment" "What's wrong; with us for that job?" "You'll be busy," said Tony positively, "Taking me out to din- ner, as a reward for work well

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done. Ami lor passing up Mr, Gilroy." The test field, once a lesser air- port in nor them Westchester, was covered with a thin ground fog when Craig drove the truck iti. Tony and Sanders waved him to- ward one of the hangars, where their own car was parked beside a little knot of Patent Commission officials. No Cullen equipment or personnel was yet in sight, "You're a bit early, but that's fine>,J an olTicial greeted them. "If you' II unload your ship, we'll get busy." Weighed, measured, examined from stein to stern and identified by a spot- welded plate, the little vessel was laid on a launching cradle. "Your transmitter ne*t/J said the technical inspector. ''But we checked that yester- day/' fraig demurred. "It's CMC" The man shrugged. ''It's purely a formal ity> but the rules call for a frequency check just tie fore the test." A few minutes later the trans- mitter, too, had been cleared - Nothing remained but to wait. Slow minutes dragged into half an hour. The ground fog lifted, and more than one official looked im- patiently at his watch. But at ten o'clock precisely, the time set, C id- le u+s crew arrived in two trucks. Cull en himself with them. The rival ship also was checked quickly, and laid into a second cradle beside the first. Its control transmitter, handled by a burly 3* technician who wore thick-lensed* old- fashioned glasses, similarly passed its frequency test, "As a routine safety precaution^ announced the Committee head, "we shall take stations in a" concrete shelter about a mile up the runway. The start will be plainly visible through binoculars, and electronic scanners will keep the ships in watch at all times. They are, of course, to Tic controlled from the shelter.' * The journey to the shelter was quickly made in the trucks. Craig set up his transmitter while Cullerfs man did the same. Cull en himself stood silently by. fiAs you were first to arrive/* the Committee head said to Sanders, "yon have the choice of position." "We're ready." "Very well. Follow- the flight instructions provided you*'* Sanders nodded. It was so quiet in the shelter that the Hip of the switches under Craig's fingers was plainly audible. At that tense mo- ment Oillen signaled a man of his erew, who instantly left. Sanders took up binoculars to watch the ship, leaving the con t rob to Craig, "Output normal/"" the latter re- ported in a tight monotone. "Con- trol response normal. Take-ofT drive cut in. Drive rj cut in — j" "She's lifting," breathed Sanders, and a sigh escaped Tony as the little vessel a mile away rose as though plucked from the cradle by invi- sible but incredibly sensitive fingers. For a moment it hovered wdiile the drive output was automatically in- creased, then flung itself skyward *V iBXftUNDTNfl SCIHff CK-FIC'l'lOlC

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though oil jets. In thirty seconds it was a speck in the blue, "Hold it at 4,000/' Sanders re- mind et I Craig. "Accelerate at quarter drive For half a mile, then circle/* Under Craig's deft fingers on the levers, the little ship began to move. In three seconds it was streaking toward the observers. Tn four more its straight course, obedient to Craig7 a will, had become a curve. \nd .si ill if* speed increased. '"Pinch it down/' Sanders cau- tioned, studying it through the glasses. Obediently Craig worked the controls. Hut the little ship, now hurtling in a circular course, con- tinued to gain speed. And the circle widened as centrifugal force overcame the directional thrust of its steering plates. "Too fast/5 Sanders said curtly. "Cut the drive. Cut it." '*ltfs off/' gasped Craig, punching levers as though to reassure him- self of the fact. An exclamation as from a single , l.hrOat Went up from the watchers as the little craft staggered in its course. Again and again its nose headed out ward , to be momentarily; pulled back by its directional drive. And still its speed went up, To the onlookers came the thin scream of its passage through impeding air. The hidh designed to cut only the chin stratosphere at such speed, was approaching the critical velocity of sound. A sob escaped Craig;, frantically break that mad flight. Sanders., as applying every control in turn to . oiter screen, which revealed the eratt as a luminous dotn while instruments alongside lodged its speed and al- titude. "Altitude twenty miles," an- nounced the technical inspector. "You may level off." The speck on the screen assumed 30

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a course move 01 less radial to the engraved circles that scaled the miles* "Maximum acceleration test," ordered the inspector. The specie fied across the screen, vanished, came abruptly liaek on the opposite side as the operator swims the scanning beam to keep it in the field. *'Kour gravities acceleration/' he reported after a moment, "De- celerate in a spiral to 10,000 feet." Obediently" the speck circled, growing brighter all the * while. Two m unites tidied by. '■Deceleration satisfactory/* said the inspector curtly. "You may land." lives sought the first glimpse of the descending ship. Unseen at first, it suddenly broke through a high cloud. It was dropping swiftly but under complete control. In silence all watched it come down, hesitate when ten feet up, then gently sink to earth not Ear from the wreckage of the ill-fated first ship. r,On the basis of the .satisfactory demonstration just concluded/* said Cull en hi what seemed an unnatur- ally loud voice, "I claim a full patent on the first successful repul- sor drive/" Nohody answered him, and he managed u. look somewhat foolish, Only the technician at his control uniL looking up, smiled trium- phantly at him. Quietly the four-man Patent Committee gathered up papers and, followed by the technical inspector, left ui a service car to examine both ships. Those remaining, having been asked to wait, did so with what patience they could. The silence was an awkward thing. Cullen, gnawing his mus- tache impatiently, whispered now and then to his control technician. A few minutes later the technician carried his transmitter out to the truck. Since the crash Craig hadn'l budged, nor spoken a word. Now he suddenly tame to life. Like si man possessed with a single pur pose, he seized tools from the kit he had carried along, slid a cutter beneath the tape seal, and squeezed the jaws together. The metal snapped — and disintegrated into a tangle of line wires* In an instant a Aeore of taut- strung metal strands, hit Iter to em- bedded in what bail seem eel a simple steel strap, were hopelessly snarled* And Craig, fired by some sudden intuition, placed the scnling ^disk between the jaws of pliers. it crunched like an overripe nut. Within lay the familiar wafer of a frequency-timed crystal. £"T knew he hadn't got inside/' Craig muttered. "J Jut [ never thought of this — " Sanders clapped his shoulder. "Forget it. If it weren't for you. we wouldn't know even now. This ^ives us grounds to appeal," He knew better. Thereof be no money to appeal, to fight a dragged- out case in court after court. There was no proof that it was Cohen who had sabot aged them. They'd lost — irrevo ca bly . In Craig's cvct hey ciid the same A R TOfJNDINO SiCiftN^K-FTCTTOfl!

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thoughts- Sick, not merely with failure but with the treachery that had caused it, he turned to Tony. And she wasn't there. "Tony! I thought she was here with us" He never knew whether suspicion kindled in Craig's eyes firsts or in his own mind- But instantly he put it away, Tony a traitor? Ijoyal, lovable Tony? Il was unthinkable. He wouldn't think it. And Craig, seizing his arm, sud- denly overbore that resolution with stark fact. For what Craig had setu, what Sanders now had to see, was Tony standing beside Cullcn^s truck, speaking earnestly to some- one inside. It was Craig wTio dashed out, Sanders following like eui auto- maton. Tony swung around, startled at their coming. "Tom"! This is Anton Gilroy." The control technician nodded ac- knowledgment. "We were studertts together at the Institute of Mathe- matics, ?■ knew he was one of Mr. Cull tu's technicians, so I was sur- prised when he called yesterday." " Hardly anything would surprise me now," said Sanders flatly. The look Tony bent upon him was a searching one. *T recognized Mr. Gilroy inside. So I follower! him to ask why he wanted to see me, Perhaps he'll tell us now," Gilroy spoke reluctantly. "Purely a social mailer. 1 thought we might have dinner together, for old time's sake/1 "Sure it wasn*t to put a damping XNSOMNIA, INC. < coil around our transmitter ?" gritted Sanders* A silence boding no good was broken by Craig, who sprang up on the truck to stare more closely at Gilroy* "The voice settles.it* You were the 'inspector* yesterday. A skin dye, colored Contact lenses, and a mustache would add up to it. It was you!" Gilroy shrugged. ' You'd 1iave a hard time proving a thing like that." "And you phoned Tony before- hand, to make sure she wouldn't be around to recognise you." "There are plenty of other reasons- I'd phone her," Sanders laid a hand on Craig's arm. "Are you sure?" "Oh, Tm sure — eighteen hours too late. This is the man who sabotaged our stuff-" Sanders never knew what he might have done, if the Committee had not returned at the moment. The men got out gravely as those waiting converged on them, Ine spokesman looked soberer than ever. "Our inspection was brief but conclusive. But first, 1 think it must be obvious to all that the first ship lacked stable acceleration as well as directional drive energy. It must, there fore » be considered a failure. The second ship completed every required maneuver success- fully, It therefore embodies the first successful demo narration of the repulsor drive." Sanders stifled the desire to turn away, "The Committee has carefully considered, Despite some irregu- 91

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larity. ii lias no choice but to giant a full patent to the designer and builder of the second ship demon- strated/' Cullers spoke suavely. "I thank the Committee for its prompt and eminently fair decision, I trust it is final. "It is, No appeal will be con- sidered. But the successf ul shipt Mr. Calk np is not yours. It is the one entered by Pioneer Space ways, who will he granted the so^e patent." A bombshell of silence exploded over the group. "You're mistaken !'* sputtered Gullen; "You've mixed up the ships/1 "lVn afraid so/J su.id Sanders taUtly, "There is sonic evidence that our entry was tampered with, hut no doubt that it was our ship which crashed. Will the Commit- tee be good enough to verify its findings ;v The Committee leader nodded. ,+It has. Both models were c^rti- fiitly ide rit i fieri before the tests. Not only did we wetd our own identification plates on theni, but we noted in our records such small differences as existed between the similar hulls. They are conclusive. Your technician, Mr. Sanders, con- trolled the ship that crashed, The successful model was flown by Mr. Culler/s technician, But it was your ship, "This is the irregularity I re- ferred to before, and the cause of much rechecking. If you have been the victim of sabotage, it has been nullified m a most curious fashion. But our decision stands, based not 9A on die piloting of the models, hut on the performance they turned in. The patent is yours, Mr. Sanders/' "Mr. GUroy id really very nice," said Tony the nest morning. "Wt had a lovely dinner— and he didn't wear those awful glasses.1' "Then I hope you said yood-by/' commented Sanders. "As my wife, which yon will be eight hours from now, you won't be seeing nuidi of hillL" Tony looked at him and Craig, her eyes sparkling. "Come on/' groaned Craigf. "You kl low what we're waiting for,'* "It wasn't a damping coil/7 said Tony" obediently, *cIt was a com- pensated inductance, 7 think he said. What it did was shift your frequency, once he had activated the crystal with a coded signal From his own t ran ami iter, so that you con hi control Cu Hen's ship but not your own. lien] ember, trilroy went through your control sequence. That was to make certain the one in Cxillen+s ship would match. He saw to it that it did. THis own transmitter was rigged so that he could switch to your frequency after the Committee had checked it for his own. He's quite proud of the gadget that worked it+ No- bodv else knew/* ''But why?** "Why he did it V* said Tony. "That was hard to learn. lit seemed — almost light-head edT Said he wanted to make tilings interest- ing, that everything was a bore. Later he admitted be*d disagreed with Cull en , that he suspected your ASTOIIVOINO SCIENGK'PICTION

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ship might be wrecked some way, that it wouldn't surprise him if a high-powered blanketing transmit- ter was rigged un near by* Some- body called Craven, he thought, would do that sort of thing for Hen. The blanketing beam would have to Vxj very broad, he said — so broad ii would blanket Cullen's fre- quency as readily as yours. Some- thing else he said, crazy as it seems, was that if each of you unknow- ingly were to uy the other's ship, that would insure, a fair test. But I think the real reason was the very last thing lie said/ "That's what we want to know. What was it?" "He simply* said — it was good fun." Four hours later, as the bell in Sanders' apartment rang- insistently, Craig swore softly and dropped the black tie he had been trying to knot about Sanders1 neck* "I wasn't cut out to be & valet/* he groaned . "Why didn't you ever learn to tic a bow tie yourself?" "Only mean to get married oncet so it isn't worth while. Will you Hj]jen the door?" Craig vanished to do so, hut the ligiire that reappeared was a not her , considerably bulkier, "Ah f the success lid man prepares to celebrate /* murmured Wirtberg. "Do not let me interrupt. Permit me, please, to congratulate you" ■Thanks/' retorted Sanders. "I rtas lucky, 3i o thanks to you," The biochemist raised a pudgy palm. "But yes indeed, much thanks 10 me. That I liave come to explain." INSOMNIA. INC. "You owe me no explanation." Craig;, who had returned, asked pointedly, +iSha)f I show Mr. Wirt- berg the door?" *fBut no! I have made great effort to come. A chair, if you please* It wearies me to stand Jong." Of his own accord Wirtherg found a uig armchair and sank into it, sprawling like a fleshy mountain. Ignoring him, Craig resumed his manipulation of the tieT which San- ders endured as t>est he could. "Vou will forgive a.n old man his enfeebled body" croaked Wirt- berg. "My. tissues are , . . but I did not come to tell you that. You think I did sell you out, yes? "But of course you do. So let me ex- plain, "You wanted the anti sleep treat- ment, to give you more time. And so it would* But time, it Is also a term for boredom. Too much time,, too much awareness of the same things, to these the mind of man is not tuned. I, Emmanuel Wirtberg, knew the eli sad van rages of antisleep. Also, there was a matter of money I much, needed, that you did not have. So, presto, I took Cullers money in order to help you." The silence that followed this was eloquent with disbelief „ "You do not yet wish to see. But consider, This antisleep that you -thought would solve your problems, it creates instead new problems for Cullen. Because his men cannot sleep* nor can they r J ream, and so they become bored. You who sleep may care nothing for dreams, but dream you do, and are refreshed A3

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even though you do not remember those dreams. But a man who cannot dream is forced to strange actions, "To predict the behavior of meti bored even with themselves, it is impossible. They make demands, paid are dissatisfied when these are met. They do things having no purpose but to relieve their boredom. Also, their conscience is dulled. The subconscious, it is more as- cendant, as it is m normal sleep. Their morality, it become* amoral t cartn^ only for change and relief for their boredom. Is this a thing to give the man who asks for my help;?" His two listeners looked at him thoughtfully, their attention now wholly won. "No, rather it is for the greedy enemy of such a man. Physically it is harmless* IT llmmanucf Wirt- berg, have long since proved this* And perhaps 1, too, am amoral. Needing money greatly, I sell this thing to Cullem And too late he discover* why it is that I need money. It is for my research, be- cause I must yet find the antidote.;' "Yon mean the one treatment is permanent;" asked Sanders. "So I learned. My first subject," a monkey named Elmer, he suiTered nothing at first. So I say, 'This which %b, goo [I for monkey is better for man." And I treat one man who is willing, an intelligent mail who will make #00 d use of his freedom, .so I believe. Only after- ward doc? lilmer show the erf^ets of psychic fatigue* I regret my »4 hastiness. My human subject is warned. And I, Emmanuel Wirt- berg, begin the desperate search for an antidote that has now gone oti five years. I neglect all else. My savings vanish. Seeing the need for a brilliant stroke, I treat Cull en. so enlisting his help with much money. And his men, as I foresee^ make difficulties that end greatly to your advantage, my young friend." Sanders nodded thoughtfully. "I see tli at f owe you an opology. You Ye protected me despite my- self. In fact, I owe the patent to vou and Craig; here and Tony and "And perhaps a little even to a villain named Craven," said Wirt- here;, "who came to me asking for the antidote, and stayed to tclt how he destroyed your first mode! but could not forego the pleasure — a childish one, born of boredom — of leaving yon a riddle in tuat hematics/' "Which Tony solved/1 Craig put in. "I'm indebted to you/' Sanders said, '"If Cuileii isn't nbU: to finance you long: enough to find the anti- dote, I'll help. With the patent, we'll be on our feet soon/' Wirtber^ raised a protesting hand, "But that, thanking you, will not be necessary. Mr. Cullfn has been very generous, because he could not help him sell. And I have been fortunate, although you are the only ones I have told. Last night I discovered the antidote. This morning El hilt awoke I rem his ASTODKDISd SCt K N 0 V. - V I C T I 0 N

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first sleep in five years, refreshed and full of monkey business. The 4hing is done/' Sanders grmned. "Then Cullen arid 'the others have resigned from Insomnia Incorporated ?M "Mot yet, but only because they do not yet know I have the anti- dote* Let them wait a little r My first obligation, it Is to the coura- geous man I first experimented on, the man who for five years has not slept. Ilim I gave the antidote an Iwur ago. Soon, I think, it will take effect/' Sanders looked" at the biochemist closely. THE "I think I know this, man/1 he said. M WIrtberg nodded slowly. "Yes? You have discernment, then. And you will understand why I have done the things I have done/* .JUraig looked his bewilderment- But Wirtberg showed no desire to explain,- Fat hands clasped over his paunch like those of a beatific Kuddha, his eyes shut, he seemed on the verge 01 snoring. ^Surely," Craig whispered, "he d oes n't mean — b i msel f ?' ' Sanders simply nodded. To- gether they looked at Wirtberg n nde rstandi ngly . He was snoring. END. T THE ANALYTICAL LABORATORY Believe it or net, the order of the stories in an issue of Astounding Science Fiction is determined purely by mechanical considerations of make-up, and has nothing whatever to do with the editorial judgment of their respective excel- lence. Some of the readers seem to feel that their order from front to back represents our feelings on their quality* Tain't so. Occasionally, they do wind up in the same order in the Lab here, but that's coincidence. This time they almost ilitl— MAY, 1047 Issue Place Siory Author Points 1. Fury (PL 1) J:: for Effort Lawrence O'Doimeli U9 2. T. L. Sherred 2.27 3. Tiny and the Monster % Theodore Sturgeon 2.5 4, Jesting Pilot I^ewis Padgett 3,25 Journey and die Goal Chan Davis 4.65 — and any time a brand newH first- time-up audior succeeds in outpacing: a Itne-up like that, we want more of his work I That December editorial invita- tion to new authors is showing results 1 The Editor- INSOMNIA, INC. , 05

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THE PERSON . FROM PORLOCK 1 Ray Joti&s suggests a. fascia fit tuff propo- sition in this .yarn. Mfiyhv yoth too, are ff victim of persons from Port oak* ■ JfiustraUd by Piit Da vis BY RAYMOND F. JONES Barge, the chief engineer of Intercontinental, glanced down at the blue -backed folder in hi 5 hand. Then he looked at the strained face of Reg: Stone, his top engineer. "It's no use/1 sai<i Borg^. "We're canceling the project. Miltejids re- port is negative. He finds the BW effect impossible of practical appli- es cation. You cam read the details, yourself." "Canceling-- r Reg Stone lialf rose from has chair. "But chief, you can't do ihat. MiUen*s crazy. What caca he prove with only a little math and no experimental data? I'm rij^ht 011 the erlgc of success. If I could just make you see it 1" "I have seen it, I can't see any1 ASTOUNDING SClKNfJE-riCTlOJf

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tiling that warrants our [louring out another twenty-five thousand bucks after the hundred and fifty your project has already cost the company." "Twenty j. then. Even fifteen might do it, Borgc, if you don't let me go on with this you're pass- ing up the biggest development of the century. Some other outfit -with more guts and imagination and less respect for high-priced opinion ifo pretty foldcr.s ip. going to come through with it. Teleportation is in the bag — all we've got to do is lift it out!" "Majestic and Camithers Electric have both canceled their projects on it. Professor Merrill Hauford, who assisted Bots-Wellton in the original research » says that the BW effect will never be anything of more than academic interest/7 "Han ford V1 Keg exploded, "He's jealous because he doesn't have the brains to produce a discovery of tliat magnitude, Bots-Wellton him- self says that ais effect will even- tually make it possible to eliminate ail other means of freight transport and most passenger stuff except that which is merely for pleasure." "AM of which is very well," said Borgeh "except that it doesn't work outside of an insignificant laboratory demonstration." "Insignificant! The actual trans- fer of six milligrams of silver over ;t distance of ten feet is liardly insignificant. As for Millen's inath+ we haven't got the right tools to handle this." "I was speaking from an engi- neering standpoint Of course, the r» 15 persos Ffcoar I'OJtl^QCK effect is of interest in a purely- scientific way, but it is of no use to us. Millen's. math proves it* Take this copy and1 see for your- self. I'm sorry, RegT but that's the final word on it**1 Reg Stone rose slowly, his big hands resting against rhe ass- topped desk. "I sec, I'M just have to forget it then, I guess."' "I'm afraid so " Borge rose and extended his hand. "You've been working too hard on this thing. Why don't you take a couple o£ days Off? By then we'll have your next assignment lined up. And no hard feelings over this Bots-Wellton e fiect hu sin ess ?5 * "OhT no — ?ure tiot,T' Reg said absently. He strode ont of the office and 1>ack to the lab where the elaborate equipment oi Ms teleport project was strewn in chaotic piles over hencbes and lined up ill racks and panels. A hundred thousand dollars worth of beautiful junkt he thought. He slumped in a chair before the vast, complex panels. This cancellation was the fitting climax to the delays t misfortunes, and accidents that had dogged the project since it began. From tlie first, everyone except a few members of the Engineering Committee and Eeg himself had been against it. Burge considered it a waste of time and money. The other engineers referred to it as Stone's Folly. And within Reg himself rhere was that smothering, frustrated,

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indefinable sensation which he couldn't name. / It was it premonition of failure, and there had been a thousand and ony incidents to support it. From the first day* when one of his lab assistants fell and broke a precious an rye amplifier, the project seemed to have been hexed. No day passed but that materials seemed myste- riously missing or hiueprints turned up with the wrong specifications on them, He'd tried six incom pa- tent junior engineers before the last one, a brilliant chap named Spence, who seemed to be the only one of the lot who knew a light- house tube from a stub support. With men and materials continu- ally suaFn it was almost as if some- One had deliberately sabotaged the whole project. He caught himself up with a short, bitter laugh. The little men in white coats would be a her htm if he kept tip that line of thought. He passed a hand over his eyes. How tired he was! He hadn't realized until now what a tremen- dous ptah of tension he had reached. He felt it in the faint trembling of his fingers, the pressure behind his eyeballs. His disappointment and an^er slowly sett ted like a vortex about Cad Milieu, the con suiting physicist who'd reported negatively when Borge insisted to the Engineering Committee ihat they get outside opinion on the practicability of BW utilization. The cooL implacable Milieu, how- ever, could hardly he the object of any thine: as personal as anger. Yet, strangely enough, he had been the objeet of Reg Clone's friendship ever since the two of them were in engineering school together. What each of them found in the other would have been bard to put into words, but there was some complementary view of opposite worlds which each seemed able to nee through the other's eyes. As for Millcrfs report on the B\V project — Reg knew it had been utterly impersonal and rendered as Carl Mi lien saw it. though the two of them had often dismissed it in heated1 argument in the jxast. But the very impersonality of Mil)en*s point of vie iv made the maintenance of lu\s an^er impossible for Reg* . Hut never in his Eife had he \yantcd any thing so much as be wanted to lie the one to develop the Bots- Well ton effect from a mere laboratory demonstration to a sys- tem able to transport millions of tons of freight over thousands of miles without material agent oT transfer. Now he was cut oft" right at the poclictSr He felt at loose ends. It wan a panicky feeling. For mouths 011 end be had been working at top capacity . lie seemed to have suddenly dropped into a vacuum. IJc debated handing in his resig- nation and going to some company that would let him develop the project, Rut who won Id? Majes- tic and CaiTulhersh two of the largest outfits, had pulled out, Rorge had said. Who else would pick it There was one other possibility. A O T N I>T XO fiCT V. N C !■; V I CT [ O N

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he thought breathlessly. Reg; Stout could take it overt Why not? He had a beautifully equipped back yard lab and machine shop. Tens of thousands of dollars worth of equipment from the proj- ect would have to lie junked by fiticrroiitineiital. Re^ felt sure Kovge would let him buy it as junk. Sure, it would be slow without Llit: facilities oE ihe Intercontinental Infos, hut it would he better than ^aittlirig the entire project. He suddenly glanced at the clock on Che wail. He'd been sitting i here without moving for over an /tour. It was lunch time. He de- cided to downtown where he wouldn't meet anyone he knew, r Either it Jan eat in the company '"tfcteria. lie chose the Estate, a sea food re.iaurant three miles from the plant. As soon as lie walked in he knew why he had chosen the Estate wnih subconscious deliberation. l ie saw Carl Mi lien across the room, lit hud meant to see him. Milieu always ate at the same place :it the same lime, , Milieu spotted Reg almost simul- ** "All right, have your funT but come around and see me when you want to £0 on a quick vacation via the Stone Instantaneous Trans- fer Co," "Reg, that job I talked about a year ago is still open. I could AST— 4U J9J>

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offer yqu Assistant Chief of Devel- opment. In a year I could let you in on a partnership, ItTs worth twenty thousand now, thirty later." "I could work on the B\V out- - side ?" Mi lien, shook his head. "That's the only string attached. Our men haven't time for anything; but cus- tomer s* projects. Besides, you'd have to get used to. the idea ot believing in math^ not intuition/* "I don't" think Td do you much good," "You could learn, for that kind of money, couldn't your What does that cheese factory pay you; About eight or ten?" "Seven and a. half." "The lousy cheapskates! Three times that ought to be worth shelv- ing your intuition in favor of math." Reg shook liis head. "There isn't that much money in the ivorlcL Solving other peoples* riddles for a £ee is not my idea of living." *" Sometimes I think you're just a frustrated research physicist. In this business you're in for the money. It's a cinch there* s no gtory." % The waiter brought their orders, ttien. His depression continued with Reg that evening. .His three boys sensed it when he turned. down a hall game. His wife, Janice, sensed It when he didn't poke his head in the kitchen on the v*ay to his study. After dinner, and when the boys were in bed, he told her what had happened that day. "I don't understand why you. feel so badly about the cancellation of this particular project," she said when lie finished. "Others have been cancelled too." '"Because it*s one of the greatest phenomena, ever discovered. lt*s ripe for engineering application, but * : no one else will believe it. It's as if they deliberately try to block 'me in every stq>. AH through the project it's been that way. Now this— chucking 'the whole business, } when we've gone so far E I can't see through the reasons behind It j all. Except that they just don't want it to succeed. I've got that feeling about it, and canJt rid my- self of it. They want me to fail!*' "Who does?"" "Everyone! Tn the drafting room. The lab technieians. The mode! shop. It seems as if everybody's - concern with the project is simply to throw monkey wrenches in the gears," "Oh, darling — you're just wrought up over this thing. Let's * take a vacation J^et the boys go \ Lo canip this summer and go off by j ourselves somewhere. You've got lo have a rest/* ; lie knew that. He'd known it for a. long time, but tekportation was more important than rest. .He could take care of the neuroses at his leisure, later. That's the theory he'd worked on. Nuwt all he had was a beautiful neurosis. It couldn't he anything else, he told himself, this absolute convict i&n that he was " being; sabotaged in his work, that others were bawled against him to prevent the full development of the BW principle. ASTOUNDING BCIESCK-PICTION i

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■'Perhaps in a few weeks/' lie said. "There are. some more angles about this business that I must follow up. Let's read tonight, Something fanciful^ something beautiful, something faraway — " "Coleridge," Janice laughed. They sat by the window overlook- ing the garden. Their one vice of leading poetry together was some- thing of an anachronism in a world threatened with atomic fires, but it was die single escape that Reg would allow himself irom his en- gineering problems, Janice began reading softly, Her ' voice was like music out of a past more gentle and nearer the ultimate ■ — truths than this age. "In Xanadu did Kubla Klian A stately pleasure-dome decree: Where Alph, the sacred river, ran— —that deqj romantic cliasm which Wanted Down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover! ■V savage place 3 as holy and en- ■Planted As e'er l>encath a waning moon> was haunted — " Reg suddenly stiffened and ,sat erect, his eyes on the distant golden cavern of the sky. . "That's it," he breathed softly. ■ That's just how it is—" Janice looked up from the book, her face puzzled. "What in the world arc you talking about ?** "The Person from I 'or lock. Re- member how Coleridge wrote Kubla Khan?" "No. Who's the Person from Porlock?" ' "Coleridge wrote this poem just after coming out of a dope dream. He later said that during his sleep he had produced at least two to three hundred lines. While trying to get it on paper he was interrupted by a person from the village of Porlock. When he. finally got rid of the visitor j Coleridge could re- call no more of his envisioned pot-m.. . "He was furious because this self-important busybody had inter- rupted his work and he wrote a poem castigating the Person from Porlock and all other stupid, busy people who hamper the really in- dustrious ones/' "And so—?" "Don't you see? It's these Per- sons from Porlock who have made it impossible for me to complete my work. Borge * Millen; Dickson, the draftsman who bungled the drawings; Hansen, the model shop mechanic who boggled tolerances so badly that nothing would work. These persons from Porlock — I wonder how many thousands of years of advancement they have cost Lhe world !" In the near darkness now, Janice sat staring at Reg's bitter face. Her eyes were wide and rilled with genuine fear, fear of this malign, obsession that had overtaken him. "The Persons from Porlock," Reg mused, half aloud. "Wouldn't it be funny if it turned out that they were deliberately and purposely upsetting the works o£ other men. Suppose it were their whole object in life—" "Reg!" He was scarcely able to see Janice THE FEU&ON FROM FOgLOCX

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in the settling gloom, but he felt her fear. "Don't worry j Janice, t haven't gone off my rocker* 1 was just thinking — Sure, it's fantastic, but Coleridge was one of the w or Id's geniuses Perhaps he glimpsed something of a truth that no one else has guessed." Reg went into Borge's office early the »ex* morning, The chief en- gineer frowned as he saw Reg Stone. "I thought you were going to take a few days." 'hI came in to ask what you are going to do with the equipment that's been built for my EW proj- ect." "Well store it with the miscel- laneous plumbing for a while, then junk it. Why?" "How about doing me a big favor and declaring it junk right away and letting me buy it — as Junk ?" "What do you want the stuff for r ilI want to continue the BW ex- periments on my own. You know, just putter around with it in my shop at home." "Still think it will amount to something, eh?" '■Yes. That's why I'd like to buy the stuff , especially the velocitor chamber. It would take me a couple of years to byikl one of those on my own/' "I'd like to do it as a favor to you," said Border "but Bruce, the new manager has just made a ruling that no parts or equipment may be sold to employees. It was all right during the war when the boys were outfitting their WERS stations on company time and equipment. We were on cost plus then, hut too many are trying to refurnish their ama- teur stations now at our expense- So Bruce cut it all out" "But that doesn't make sense with such" specialized stuff as I*ve had built for the EW. It's no good for anything else." "Maybe you could talk Bruce out of it. You know him." Ves, he knew Bruce, Re^ thought. A production man who, like many of his kind, considered engineers mere necessary evils. It was ut- terly useless to ask Bruce to make an exception to one of his own regulations. Per sou s from Porlgtzk — Persons from Forlock — The words echoed like a tanta- lizing refrain in his mind as he went downstairs towards his own lab- He knew he should forget that im- possible concept, but the words were J ike a magic chant explaining all his misfortunes* This huge plant and all the* tech- 'iiologfcal advances that had come out of itfc could not exist without Barge and Bruce, and the others like them. Yet, at the same time, these Persons from Porlock con- stituted the greatest stumbling block to modern scientific deve1oj>- menL Kvery engineer in the world at some time had been stymied by one. of them — an unimaginative chief , a stupid factory nianager, incompetent draftsmen, model shop machinists, secretaries, expediters, admirtistrators™ As he passed the open door of the company's technical library he ASTOUNDING ^CIENCR-FICTIOS

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Spotted Dickson* Ms head drafts- man on the BW project, sitting inside at a taHe, tie went in. Dickson looked up. *' Hello, Reg. I wondered where you were this morning. I jtist heard about them junking the project. It's a devil of a tough break." Are you realty sorry* Dickson ? said Reg. The draftsman looked sharply „ "What do you mean? Of course I hate to work on a project and see it canceled^ Who wouldn't?" "Yon know, looking backbit ap- pears as if we hadn't made each J UK FEUS OK PIE OUT FQHl,oCS£

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one of about fifty boners, the project would have succeeded. For example, that dimension on the diameter of the focusing cavity in the assembly unit. It's the only one in the as- sembly that wouldn't be obvious to the model shopT and it's the only one on which yon made a mistake in spite of our checking. A seven that looked like a two in your di- mensioning. That made the differ- ence between success and iailure and lost us nearly four weeks while we looked for the bug in the unit/1 "Reg, I've told you twenty times Pin sorry, but I can't do anything about it now, A hair on my letter- in gf pen made just enough o£ a boggle of the figure so that those dopes in the model shop misread it. It was a worse two than it was a seven. They should liave checked us on it even if we did miss it." **Yeah, I know, It just seemed funny that it was that particular dimension you were drawing when the hair got on your pen/J The draftsman looked at Reg as iF stunned by thft unspoken im- plication. "If you think I did that ■ on purpose— !" * t didn't say that. Sure it was an accident, but why? Was it he- cause you didn't want the thing to su cceed — subc on scion sty rp * "Of course not! It was of no material interest to me, except, of course, as I said before X have the same enthusiasm to- see a project on which I work turn out success- fully as you do;* "Yeah, J suppose so. Just forget I said anything." Reg left Dickson and walked hack to 'the hall. Persons from Pot lock — were they consciously malicious or were they mere stupid blunderers? More likely the latter, he thought, yet there must be some subconscious desire to cause failure as was the ease with the mysterious accident prones so familiar to in- surance companies, . ' The more he considered itt the' less fantastic the Person from Por- lock concept seemed. It was en- tirely possible that the genius at the "poet, Coleridge, had hit upon a class of persons as definite and distinct as accident prones — and a thousand times more deadly. There could hardly be any other explanation for the stupid blunder of Dickson in drawing the focusing cavity. He had done far more complex drawings on this project, yet that single dimension, of all .extremely critical nature, had heen the one to be botched . And it meant there were others like him in the model shop because any machinist with half an eye for accuracy would have checked that figure before going ahead and shaping up the part lo such critical Lole ranees. He turned into the mac tune shop where Hansen, the machinist who'd done the job on the cavity, was working, "Pretty nice work/* He nodded towards the piece in the lathe ► "I hope the engineer thinks so,'H Hansen growled. "They give me plus nve thousands on this thing and no minus. Next they It want ASTOtJfDT^P SCIESCIC-FICTION

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flea whiskers with ,zero-?ero toler- ance," l not worry about whether they work or not," "DiduTt it occur to you to check that boggled figure?" "I told you it looked all right!" Hansen turned angrily back to his lathe and resumed work, Reg watched the mechanic for a moment, then left the shop. The bunglers seemed to have no personal interest in their botch work, he decided. It must be some- thing entirely subconscious as in the case uf accident prones. That didn't make them any less dan- gerous, however. Without them on his project he would have been able by now to demonstrate the prac- ticability of BW utilization* But, following, this line, of reason- ing, why couldn't the teleportation 'CHfc PERSON rilOM 1' OR LOCK equipment be made to work now? According to all his theory the equipment he had built should have been capable of acting, as a pilot model for a larger unit and it should have been able to transfer liundred pound masses at least a thousand feet. Yet, it had failed completely. Granting that he himself was not a Person from For lock — liut could he grant that? Maybe the greatest blunders were his own, His failure to catch Dickson's mistake early enough, for example 1 That was the one premise he could not admit* however. It led to insolvabie dilemma, rendered the problem completely indeterminate. He bad to assume that iie was not . one of the bunglers. In that case, why did the equip- ment fail to work? It meant that some of the blunders introduced by the Persons from Forlock still remained in the equip- ment. Remove them, and it should work ! ' He'd have to go over every equa- tion, every design, every specifica- tion— point by point — compare them with the actual equipment and dig out the bugs. He went into his own lab. He dismissed the as i status and shut the door. He sat down with the voluminous papers which he had produced In the ten months of work on the project. It was hopeless to attempt to go over the entire mass of work in short hours or days. That's what should' be done, but he could cover the most vulnerable 104

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points. These lay in the routine, conventional circuits which he had left to his assistants and in whose design the draftsman and model shop had been trusted with too many details. Thc^ first of these was the ampli- fier for the BW generator, whose radiation, capable of mass-modula- tion, carried the broken down components of the materials to be transported. The amplifier l)eld many conventional features, though the wave form handled was radically unconventional. It contained two stages of Class A amplification which had to be perfectly symmetrical. Reg had never made certain of the correct operation of these two stages by themselves Spcnce, his junior engineer, had reported them operate ing correctly and Reg had taken his word on so simple a circuit. He had no reason now to believe that anything was wrong, Jt was Just one of those items left to a potential Person from Forlock, He disconnected the input and output of the amplifier and hooked up a signal generator and a vacuum tube voltmeter. Point by point he checked the circuit. The positive and negative peaks were equal and a scope showed perfect symmetry, but in the second stage they weren't "high enough. He wasn't getting the required soup. The output of the tube in use should have been more than sufficient to produce it* Then he discovered the fault. The bias was wrong and the drive had been cut to preserve symmetry* 100 Spcnce had simply assumed the flat tops^ were clue to overioading. Rcg sat in silent contemplation of the alleged engineering and poured on self-recrimination for trusting Speitcc. This was the reason For the- apparent failure of the whole modulator circuit. Because of it, he had assumed his theory oi mass modulation was faulty, Spenee was obviously one of them, he thought. That meant other i untold numbers of bugs throughout the mass of equipment. Dining the remainder 'of the morning and in the afternoon he adjusted the amplifiers a] id got the modulator into operation. Me uncovered an- other serious hue in an out -of - tolerance dropping resistor in the modulator, He contemplated the probability of that one defect ire- resistor among the hundreds of thousands of satisfactory ones the plant used — the probability of its being1 plated in exactly tliat critical spot. The" figure was too infinitesimal to be mere chance* L5y quitting time he had the circuit as far as the mass modulator functioning fairly smoothly. He called Janice and told her lie wouldn't be home until late. Then he worked until past midnight to try to get the transmission elements to accept the modulated carrier; The only result was failure and at last he went home in utter exhaus- tion. The next morning, refreshed, he was filled with an unnatural ex- uberance, however, fie had the key ASTOUNDING SCIEKCS-PICTIOK

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to the cause of his failures and he Celt success was only a matter of time, m If be could just get that necessary time — - The broad parking tot was dotted with infrequent cats at the early bom- of the morning at which he arrived- Gail, ihe Eab secretary a was already at her desk, however, when he walked in. She called to him, "Mr. 1 Jorge wants you to conic up, Lfe£ " , "O.K. Thanks." Me turned arid went back out the door towards the chief engineer's 'jJVicc. This would be the new project, hti thought. He strode in and Ecji-ge looked up with a. brief Mod. "Sit down, Reg " The Hues of liorye's face seemed to have eroded into deeper valleys in the short time *lncc Reg had' last seen him. "I hear some things I don't like," ■ill id 3$or«;c suddenly, "About you " "What sort of things? I haven't — " "Dick son and Hansen liave been ■sayinp you've accused them oE de- li]>erate sabotage on your project. True or not, whatever is implied by these rumors ciit't go on. Tt can wreck thii shop in a month." "J i lid n't accuse them of ony- iliinjjf["' Ktj; llared. stI just asked if they waiUed the project to faiL Of course, 1 didn't expect them to say that thi-y did, bs.it their manner showed me what 1 wan led to know/'. ' And what was that?" Rc£ hesitated. This development was nothing that he had expected* How would 'Uorge, as, one o£ the Persons from I'oi'Iock, react to niK pkuson from r^ii^ocK Regfa knowledge of them? Did Borge even understand his own motives? Whether he did or not, Keg could make no rational answer except the truth. "I found that they did, subcon- sciously, want the project to faiL I believe this is the explanation of the numerous blunders without which my project would have been a success." ^'You believe, then, that your failure is due to the . . . ah, per- secutions + H . of these persons, rather than to any inherent im- possibility in the project itself ur your own inability to bring it off?" haven't a persecution complex* if that's what you're trying to say," Reg said hotly. "Look, Borge, did you ever hear of accident prones, who plague insurance companies V* "Vaguely, I don't know much about the subject." "I can prove there is another kind of prone, a blunder prone, whose existence is just as definite as that of the accident prone< I call these blunder p rones 'Persons from Porlock' after the otic named by the poec± Coleridge, when his ^reat poem, 'Kubla Khan/ was ruined jby one of -them." "And just what do these , , .. er, Persons from Forlock do?" ""They make mistakes in impor- tant work en trusted to the in. They interfere with others who are doing intense and concentrated work so that trains o£ thought are broken and perhaps fost forever, as in the case of Coleridge. And as in my own case, I could tell of at least a hundred times when I have been \Q1

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deliberately interrupted at critical points of my calculations so that work had to be repeated and sonic points, only faintly conceived* were totally lost." "Which couldn't have been due to your own nervous strain and overworked condition?" "No." "I see. These Persons of Porloek generally persecute the intelligent and superior people of the world, is that it?" Keg's anger flared. "I'm not a psychoneurotic case and I'm not suffering from a persecution com- plex!" Suddenly T cold fear washed over Reg. Borge's pattern of reason was clear, nowH He would dismiss the whole matter as a neurotic com- plex and Jet Reg out of the la.i>. He would he blackballed with every other company in which he might have another try at B\V work. "I know yOU*re not " Eorgti was saying, "but you are tired. For six years you've been turning out miracles, I hate like the devil to see you come up with something like this, Reg. Surely you must realize it's all the result ol overwork and fatigue. No one is going around interfering with your work. Your mind refuses to admit defeat so it*s automatically throwing it off on someone else. I'm no psycholo- gist, but I'll bet that's close to the right answer. I want you to have Walker at the Clinic examine you. I'm willing to bet- lie recommends a long rest. Ill give you six months with pay if necessary. But I can't j oft let yot4 back in the lab unless you do this. & repetition of yesterday's performance and the whole place would be shot up. You've got to get rid of this Person from Porloek business/' The pieces of the whole puzzle locked into place with startling clarity for Reg. He knew that the last uncertainty had been removed. They were not random, subcon- sciously motivated performers. These Persons from Porlock were skillfully conscious of what they were doing. Borge could not hide the know let] ge that his eyes revealed. But what were they doing? Six mouths — it would be too late, then. His sense' of blind urgency told him that, Gorge was simply showing him that there was no possible way that he could, win." He tried again, "1 can't expect you to believe these things, I know it sounds fantastic Any psychia- trist would no doubt diagnose it as a persecution complex. But I promise that no more incidents like yesterday's will take place. Give me the new assignment, hut let me work On the BW just six weeks in my spare time, on my own. I'll guarantee HI have it working in that time." Borge shook his head. "That's the main trouble with you already- over work. You've been pushing yourself so hard that your nerves are all shot. Anyone walking by while you are computing is such a disturbance that you think he's de- liberately interfering with you. Put yourself in the care of a good doctor and let me know his report. ABTOUNDIWO I EN CT?. FICTION

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That's :be only condition upon which ] can let you stay with the company, I liate to put it that wa>\ I. wish you'd try to under- stand for yourself — hut if you won't, thai' a the way it's got to be," Reg stood up, his body trembling saintly with the fury of his anger. Mo lea tied forward across the desk'. 7 knviv who yoil ore? But 1 warn you that I won't stop. Somehow E "ill going to carry this work through, and all you and your kind can do won't Atop me!" Me whirled and strode from the office, conscious of Borge's pitying glance ujxju his back. Conscious, too, that he wag walking out for rhe last time* The fury and the anger didn't last When he got outside, he was sick with frustration as. he glanced I jack at the plant. He had acted stupidly through the whole thing, he thought, letting them cut him off from any access to the BW equipment without a struggle. Yet j how else could he have con- ducted himself ? The whole tiling was so fantastic at first that he couldn't have outlined a rational program to combat il, Maybe 1 forge was right in one iesi>ect. Ho teas de v il i s lily ti red and exhausted from the long war years of uninterrupted work, Tbere'd tiecu that micro- search system on "which "he'd .spent two years at Radiation T-ab- One such project as that1 won Id have sent the average engineer nuts. As soon as it was in production he'd tackled an equally tough baby in the radar fire-control equipment that had gone into fighter THK FROM -POBLOCK planes four months after he took over the projocL cold. Yeah, he was tired— Janice was surprised to sec him, and was shocked by the pain and bewilderment on his. face* Slowly f and carefully, he ex- plained to her what had happened. He told her how liorge had built up a cast against him out of the things he'd said to Dickson and Hansen* He told her how they and Spenco and the rest had sabo- taged Ins project, "Tney*ve got me licked," he finished, "They've done what they started out to do, knocked out the BW project/' Janice had sat quietly during his recital, only her eyes reflecting the growing terror within her. "But, darling, why should they want to hinder the project? What possible reason could there he be- hind it, even if these mysterious Persons from Porlock actually existed ?" f*Who knows? TJut it doesn't make any difference, I suppose. They're so obvious that I douTt see how the world has failed to recog- nize them. Yet . . . you don't be- lieve a thing I've said, do yon?" "They can't exist, Reg! Dorgc is right, You're tired. *This notion is only something that your mind has seized upon out of Coleridge's fantasy. It has no basis in reality. Flease, for my .sake, take a visit to the Clinic and sec if they don't advise rest and psychiatric treatment for you.'1 Like a colda invisible shell! lone- 109

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lines* seenxed to coalesce about him. There was the illusion of being cut off from all sight and sound, and he had the impression that Janice was sitting there with her Hpy mov- ing, but no sound coming forth, Illusion, of course,, but the lone- liness was real. It tut him off from all the world, for where was there one who would understand and believe about the Persons from Porlock ? They surrounded him on every side. Wherever he turned, they stood ready to beat down his struggles, for the right to work as he wished. Perhaps even Janice — But that premise had to be denied. *1TI let them tap my knees and my skull if it will make you hap- pier/' he said, "Maybe I'll even beg Borge to take me back if that's the wav you want it. It doesn't 110 niatler any more. The B W project is dead. They killed it — but don't ever try to make me believe they dorrt exist." "They don't i They don'n tce^;. You've got to believe that. Quit deluding yourself — " ■ Quite suddenly, it was beyond his endurance. He strode from the room and out into the. brilliance of the day, brilliance that was like a cold, shimmering wall surrounding binx moving as he moved, sur- roun cling but not protecting. . Not protecting from the glance of those who passed on the* .street nor from those who came towards, him, nor those who followjsd afte:- in a steady, converging stream. He felt their presence — the Per- sons ironi Porlock— like tangible, stinging auras on every side^ They A8TQUNJ>tN"G SCIE N"CE- C ICT I QET

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surrounded Uim. They were out to get liim. His stride broke Into a half mn. How long his flight continued he never knew. It was dimming twi- light when he sank, half sobbing from exhaustion, onto a park bench miles from home. Tie looked about him in the gath- ering darkness, and somehow it seemed less evil than the light and the thousand faces of the Persons from I 'or] ock who drilled by on every side. i If only he could drag one of them out into the open where all the world could see it and believe — ^that won id be one way of escape from the soundless, invisible prison in which they hud 43 leased him. He had to show that they existed so that no one in the world would rjpuhl his word again. But how ? What incontrovertible proof of their existence did he possess? What was there besides his own f pel ings ai id be I ie f s ? 1 1 e shudde red with realisation that there was nothing. His knowledge, his evi-* deuce of them was of the flimsiest kind. There had to be something tangible. Hut coitki there be more? -In- sidiously, douhts began to creep into his mind. He remembered the look in Borges eyes, the [iity and the ]ear in Janice's. He sose si inly from tlie park hcucHj. co hi tear driving his limbs lu carry him out into the lights, Jf -he were to remain sure of his own sanity, he had to first prove to himself beyond any doubt that the Persons from Porlock existed THE P^li son pbom rtfTU.OCK in actuality, not merely in his Own suspicions, There was one way by which he might be able to do this. That way lay through the report of Carl Milieu and the mathematics bv which he had "proved" the BW effect impossible of mass exploita- tion. The math was deliberately fabe, Reg knew. Jf he proved it, con- fronted Millen with the fact — lie caught a taxi home, Janice met him, dry-eyed and ^ with no questions or demands for explana- tions. He offered none, but went to his study and took out Milieu's report, lie asked Janice to brew up a pot of Co flee »nd he began the slow weaving of a pathway through the tortuous trail of Mil- len's abstruse mathematical reason- Sleep at last forced abandonment of his work, but he arose after a few hours and turned to the pur- suit again. All through the d?ay he kepi steadily at it, and in the late afternoon he caught the first threads of what he was searching for. A thread of deliberate falsifi- cation, a beckoning towards wide j>aths of illo^ie and untruth. It was so subtle that he passed jt^ twice- before recognizing it, So met! ling of the intense delibera- tion chilled him when he realised the depths of the insinuations. It was like "the devil's nine i nulls and a lie that .he'd heard country preachers talk about when he was a boy. This work of Carl M ill en's was

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certainly' the nine truths— and the One, black , insidious lie* Now that he recognized it, fol- lowing its development became easier until he trailed it to the final, colossal untruth that the f ree atomic eon cent rat Ion in the disper- sion held made large scale applied tion impossible. This was it E Proof I The triumph of his discovery swept away the exhaustion that had filled him. Let them call it a per- secution complex now ! He put the report and his pile of computations in his brief case and told Janice lie was going to Mi lien's. As he drove with furious skill towards town he wondered what Mitten's reaction would be. He could call Reg crazy „ deny he was a Person from Porloc/k— but he could never deny the evidence of his deliberate falsifications. The secretary told Reg that Mil- len was busy and would he sit down ? "Tell him it's Re^ Stone, and Fvc found out what he tried to do in the 1*W report," said Reg. "I think he'll see me." The girl glanced disapprovingly at the engineer's disheveled appear- ance and relayed the in formation + Then she nodded towards the polished, hardwood door. "He'll see you." Reg opened the door sharply. Carl Milieu looked up from behind the desk ut the center of the room. His face was unsmiling. Then Reg; saw the second person in the room. Spcnce, his junior engineer on the B\V project, The man's unexpected presence gave him a moment's uneasiness/ but it would make .no difference, tteg thought — since S pence was one of them, too. "So you think you've found something in my report?" said Millen, "Full up a chair and show me what you mean," Reg sat down with slow delibera- tion, but he left his brief case closed. *T think you know what I mean,'" he said. fHi don't believe it's neces- sary to go into the details. You deliberately invented a false line of reasoning Lo prove the 1.1 W effect useless. " "So? And what does. that prove?*' His failure to deny die accusation took Reg aback. There was no trace of surprise or consternation on Milieu's face. fTt proves that you are one of them," said Keg, "One with Dick- son, Hansen, Borge, and Spence here — on* of those who fought to keep me from developing fcelcpor- tatlom f want to know why!" Milieu's face relaxed slowly. ^Onc of your Persons from Por- locfc?" Amusement touched his face at the words. i+Ves." * Millen leaned forward^ his almost ominous seriousness returning* "You've done a good job, Reg. Better than we hoped for a while. It looked for a lime as if you weren't going to get it/' Reg stared at him. The words made no sense* but yet there was an admission here of the unknown that chilled hini, ASTOUKDlNd HClT3KCtt- FICTION

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"You admit that you falsified the fact* in your report ? That you are one of the Persons from Por- lock?1' "Yes/ The stark admission echoed in rhe van silences of the .room. Reg lookcl slowly from one face to (he other, "Who are you ? What is your purpose r* he asked hoarsely. "I'm jusl like you,1* said Mil km. I stumbled into this thing when i lir.^ opened my consulting ser- vice* Sjurnce is the one that can tell you about it. He's the different nne — vour real Person from For- lock/7 - Re*j ki rued to his former junior H:ngineprh Somehow, this was what he Itertl known since he first entered i he room. Speiice's face held a look of alien detachment, as if the affairs Of common engineers were irivial tilings, " Mis eyes finally turned towards keg's face and they seemed to bum with a quality of age despite the you tli of his face. J*We earn* here a long time ago," ^aid Silence slowly. "And now we live here and are citiiens of Earth just as yon are. That is our only L^tiuse for meddling in your affairs. Our inter fere rice , however, gives you the same safety it does us/* Reg fell as if he were not hear- ing Speuce, only seeing his lips move. "You came here? You are not or Earjh — " "Originally, no." And suddenly Reg found Spencers words credible. Somehow, they son from Porlock concept, removed the fantasy from the Fer- "Why haven't you Ynade your- selves known ? What docs all of this mean ?w f'I did not come/' said- Speuce j *Hbtu jny ancestors did. They had no intention of visiting Earth > An accident destroyed their vessel and made landing here necessary, The members of the expedition were scientists and technicians, hut their skill was not the kind to rebuild th^ ship that had brought them across space, nor were the proper materials then available on Earth. - "They became reconciled to their erp and knowing that the chance of communication with the home plan- et, and knowing that the chance, of being;" found was infinitely remote. They were skilled in the biologic sciences and managed in a genera- tion or two to nmdify their physical form sufficiently to mingle unde- tected with Karthmen, though they kept their own group affiliation, "From the first, they adopted a. policy of noninterference, but they found living standards hardly suit- able and built secret colonies where their own life and science could develop apart from that of Earth- men. °lf. was one oi these colonies - which the drugged mind of your poet, Coleridge, was able to see in his unconsciousness* and which he began to deseritje in "Knbte Khan*. My people had detected the pres- ence of his perceptions and one of them was sent immediately to interrupt the work of recollection ■ is

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because they didn't want their colony revealed with such accurate de- , scription as Coleridge could make. The Person from Porlock was this disturbing emissary." S pence smiled f cir the first time, briefly; fi5o you see, your desig- nation of all of its as Persons from Porloek was not far from the truth." "But why have you interfered with me? Why don't yon make yourselves known and offer- your advanced science to the world?" "Surely you are sufficiently fami- liar with E.hc reaction of your own people tP the new and the unknown to make that last question unneces- sary. We aren't cancer ned with advancing: your 'science. It is pro- gress ing rapldl j' enough. ' too rapidly for your social relationships,, which1 would benefit by some of the energy yon expend on mechanical inquiries. "In our own science we have great fields of knowledge which do not exist in yours. One is a highly specialized* field of what we term prognostication logics. Your sym- bolic j!ogic sciences are a brief step in that direction— very brief. We are enabled to predict the cumulative efTect of events a aid discoveries in your culture,- \V* take a hand in those which indicate a potential destructive to the race. We inter- fere to the point of preventing their development." Reg stared at Spence. "Hqw could my t deportation development imperil the race ? Surely that was jio excuse for your interference J " "It was. It isn't obvious to you yet because yon haven't come to the 114 discovery that telcportation can be quite really accomplished from the transmitting end without the use of terminal equipment. Further alongT you would have found no receivers necessary. Everything could be done from the transmission end." "That would have made it a thousand times more valuable!" iEVes? Suppose the cargo to be - transported was the most destructive atomic bomb your science is capable of building.1' The inijjact of that concept burst upon Reg. +rI see/' lie said at last, quietly. "Why did you 'let us pro- duce the bomb at aU?" "We were rattier divided on that fjuestionr Our computations show a high probability that yon will he ahh- to survive it., but only if a number of auxiliary implements are with- held, teleportation among otliers. There were some of us who were in favor of preventing the IjOmVs construction even with tile assurance our computations give but their influence was less than that of us who know what benefits atomic ^energy can bring i£ propcrjy uti- lized. As a group, we decided to lei the bomb be produced/' "But tbc PW effect can never be . utilized ?"' +'Not for some centuries/" Spence seemed to have said al! that he was going to say, but Milieu moved uneasily. "I can never tell you how glad I am that you uncovered my math/1 he said, "You know the alternative i f you -hadn't?" "Alternative — ?" Reg looked

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across the desk. Then lie remem- bered, that night, sitting in the park, seeing the shadows against the distant lights, the ghastly pursuit of imagined terrors, "The alternative was — insanity*? * MiUcn nodded. "Why? Couldn't it have been done some other way?1 Milieu avoided the question, "You will never attempt to develop the BW effect now, will you ?*' ''No. Of course not/" "It wouldn't have been that way if Spenee or some other had tome to you and war tied you that it wasn't to be done". You'd liave laughed at him ay a crackpot. Now there's no doubi in your mind.'* „Re# nodded slowK" at id cold sick- ness Lodged in his vitals at tlie thought of what he had so narrowly escaped, "Yes, I see. And now I suppose I shall go back and eat crow for Borge, That is, if 3-011 will put in a good word for me with your man." He smiled wryly- to- wards Spence. "We have a bigger job for you/* said Mil Jen r irl still want you here." •'Doing" nail puzzles and answer- ing riddles for customers too stingy to run their own development labs? Not me!" "Not that, exactly. We .need you to take over my iob+ I've got some- thing else lined up to take care of. "Wliat are you talking about? Take over as head of Carl Milieu & Associates? That would be worse than the puzzles— desk arthritis/' uNo. Who's the best man in the world today on interference with * the utilization of the BW effect?" "I don't understand you." "You're that man. We need some- body to take charge of the whole project of BW interference. Spenee htts another assignment for tue, but Bors-Welltou himself still needs to be worked on. Car ru the is and Ma- jestic haven't slopped their projects yet. That was only a blind to fool your company. They've got to be stopped yet, A couple of universi- ties are working on it. It's a big job. and youVe the best equipped , man in the world to handle it— under Spencers direction of course. You see, his people won't do the detail work after some of us once become trained in it. It's up to ns to fry our own fish. Will you take it?" Reg stood up and went to the win- dow^ looking down upon the street crawling with ever hopeful |{ JeT He turned back to Spence and Milieu. ^ "How could I do anything else tn the face of the drastic; tudoctri nation and persuasion course, you've given me. Sure Ir|l take it!" Then he laughed softly. "Reg Stone : Person from Porlock f" THE. END. tfttE PERSOK FRO&L POftLOCK llo

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BROAD BAND BY J. J. COUPLING 0>riy so viveh of anything can go through an opening of a given sise under a given pressuret in unit time* The width of the band of frequtmcies an electrical circuit will p«ss detemiines the site of the electrical "opening*' and thus the rate of jtov* of Information pasted. Xt*s sometiincs^hard to give just credit "for great inventions, but In one modern instance, at least, we can properly recognise the man responsible. George O. Smith really put the matter transmitter on its feet by describing exactly how it works. As told in the Smithiau yarns „ the object to be transmitted — a watch, for instance — is elec- tronically scanned, atom by atom* one presumes, and this atom-by- atom specification is transmitted to a receiver, which reconstructs an exact replica o£ the original object. Presumably the signal picked up by the scanning beam would have to be amplified considerably if it were to be sent arrj- distance and made to actuate a reconstruction device at the other end of the cir^ cnit. This thought immediately brings up the question of what sort of amplifiers would be needed, an^ how wide a hand uF frequencies they would have to amplify. Would a television amplifier do, for in- stance? We know that in general* the amount of intelligence any linking circuit can convey in a. given unit of time is limited by the width of the band of frequencies it can pass, so by a little computa- tion we can determine whether or not an amplifier of given bandwidth will pass the amount of intelligence required for a co mnTete atom-by- atom specification of a selected ob- ject in a reasonable amount of time.. Let's see now. Suppose we tk> ivant to send a watch, say t an iron watch weighing iSTOgJTDISU HCIENCB-PICTJLON

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Hh.-H.1-u Cnr [wrAiLaa of AhktIc* A bit fuzzy, what? At only 60 scanning lines per inch of screen this television image leaves a good many things to be desired r including recognizabi!* ity! Better image- definition requires more lines per inch, which in turn requires that the whole video system pass a wider band, of frequencies. BROAD BAND tlT

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One ounce or about 23 grams. Now, the atomic weight of iron is about 56, aot dividing the 2S grams by 56 we find that the watch represents gram mols of iron. There are G followed by 23 zeros molecules — or, in this ease, atoms — per gram inol. LcVs assume. that in scanning the watch we pick up a voltage characteristic of the constitution of every atom involved. Most o£ these voltages will be that charac- teristic of. iron, but some will describe the carbon in the steel, or various ^alloying materials, or the jewels in the bearings. We Dave in our half gram mol 3 followed by 23 zeros atoms to describe* If we send the watch in IS minutes or 900 seconds* the voltage that docs the describing must be able to fluc- tuate 3.3 followed by 20 zeros times- a second. This is a frequency of \^30 million initl ion megacycles* Assuming ourMiand starts at zeto frequency and extends up to this Better, huh? Our old friend Felix the Car looks more like himself and less the hobgoblin when scanned &t 343 lines per inch. But the system has to pass a band of frequencies about 2 megacycles wide to produce this improved degree of definition. Till 11B ASTOIlNDINli K O I 1-r \ CM - K I C T F 0«

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Hm-ni-mr better yet. At 441 lines per inch even the fine lines visible on Felix's nose, eyes and tummy itt second picture have almost vanished. Yes, it takes an even wider bandwidth system* too, as a limit, an amplifier to handle the matter signal must handle audio frequencies, radio frequencies right out through microwaves;, heat, light, ultraviolet, X rays, and on out into the middle of the gamma-ray band. The tube boys wl]l have to work pretty fast I Recently the Bell Telephone Laboratories announced the devel- opment of a vacuum, tube capable of amplifying a band of frequencies 800 megacycles wide, a figure as- tonishing; enough for most engineers familiar with the problem of wide band amplification, yet tins would be only a small step toward the matter transmitter amplifier. Per- haps a short illustration will give an idea of the capabilities of this new tuoe as compared to the re- quirements of some amplification problems already familiar to most everybody, including Sinatra lovers. With a few exceptions, the cars of average people nan hear a range ot frequencies from about 15 to about 18,000 cycles per second, A good FM radio will reproduce for; the listener a range of about SO to DROAU BAND lift

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cycles, almost all the average ftir can hear. Thus the bandwidth required for good audio reproduc- tion can be called 15,000 cycles, in round figures, and it is easy to see that the new tube with its 800 million cycle bandwidth is 53,000 times as broad as the audio channel. Maybe this comparison is a little unfair, for we know -that the radio end of an FM receiver has to accept ft hand not just 15,000 cycles, but 150,000 cycles wide, since the FM transmitter carrier frequency swings that far. This wide carrier swing is what gives FM radio its ability to overcome static and other am- plitude types of interference. But even considering this aspect, the new tube still has enough band- width to handle some 53,000 F-M channels. The Bell Laboratories appears to have niade a cautiously conservative estimate by saying it will handle at least 10,000 simul- taneous telephone conversations. These figures however, while startling enough to the .practicing engineer, will probably not blast off the toupees of most Astounding Science Fiction readers. The, men at Venus Kquilatcral produce a lot move than a few hundred mega- cycles bandwidth in half an hour with a pencil, a tablecloth, and a few gallons of beer. Something must he wrong with onr liarth- bound radio engineers, who've been heating their brows to bits ever since- ic lev is ion began to gel am- plifiers with something like 10 mega- cycles bandwidth. And much of the browbeating has been against a stone wall, too, for when the band- width finally came along the diffi- culties had been more by-passed' than overcome* What has made it hard for radio engineers to make broad-band am- plifiers? We find out very easily if we draw a circuit for a one-stage vacuum tube amplifier. Such a circuit is shown in Figure la. The elements of the vacuum Ttube are the hot, _ electron-emitting filament, the control grid through which the electrons must pass, and the posi- tive plate on which they finally land. If we make the grid very negative^ it repels the electrons SO effectively that none reach the plate. For small voltage changes from the average or "bias" voltage oT -the grid, * increasing the grid voltage makes more electrons" Bow to the plate and decreasing the grid voltage makes fewer electrons flow to the plate. The measure of the effectiveness of this control action is the t ranscoud uc tcuicg of the vacuum tube, which is measured in uiieromhos or mil Months of a mho. Actually, ihe tra ^conductance ia Just the change in plate current per unit change in grid voltage under a fancy name. A good vacuum tube may have a transconductance of Sf000 micromhos, and that means merely that for one volt change in grid voltage we get 5,000 i nil lion ths" of an ampere cliangc in plate cur- rent or a change of .005 amperes. Now, in the amplifier circuit shown in Figure la, this current flows through- the resistance R. Suppose, for instance, that R is 1,000 ohms. Then, if we change S STOI1 K |>IIf f: -^TKN'Cli-FICTTON

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Figure 1; The shunting capacitances of tube, ele- ments and wiring act to reduce the bandwidth ordinary vacuum tubes can amplify effectively. ■ the voltage across the input tcrmi- change in the voltage drop across rials a-a' by 1 vo1t3 changing the R must l>e the current multiplied plate current of the vacuum tube by the resistance, that is, ,005 times .005 amperes, by Ohm's law the 1,000 or 5 volts. With a tube i BROAD HANI) 12!

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output! input OUTPUT mo Figure 2; The klystron tube operates wcU into the microwave region, hut suffers from the same bandwidth limitations that afflict ordinary tubes. transconductance of 5,000 .microm- hos and a load resistance of 1,000 ohms, our one-stage amplifier gives a change in voltage between output terminals b-V of 5 volts for one volt change between the input ter- minals a-a'. We say that the ampli- fier has a voltage gain of five times, which is a pretty respectable gain. So far we haven *t Said a word about frequency or bandwidth, arid it might appear at a first glance that the circuit would amplify all frequencies right out to microwaves, i£2 What is wrong with the picture? The most serious thing wrong is that we haven't said anything about the capacity of the condenser formed by the plate and the other electrodes of the tube. This con- denser has been represented sym- bolically and labeled C in Figure la. A condenser is a sort at" electric tank, To raise the voltage level one unit — one volt — we must supply C units of charge — C coulombs — where C is the capacity of the con- denser— in farads. The farad is "a AETOUNPINO SCI ENCE-FICTIQM

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pretty big unit, and capacities m amplifier circuits are best measured in m ic r o-m i cro farads— niili io nths _ of a millionth of a farad> Jn a multistage amplifier the capacity C appearing across the output of a tube may be about 20 micro-micro- fa ruds. This is partly the plate capacity of the tubet partly the , grid capacity of the next tube, and pardy wiring. This means that in order to change the voltage be- tween b and b' by live volts we must supply to the condenser five rimes twenty divided by a million million coulombs, or ,1 billion t lis of a coulomb. This certainly seems a pretty small charge to give us any trouble. Suppose, however, that the input voltage we are trying to amplify has a frequency of 10 megacycles, that is, that it changes from most positive to most negative and back to most positive again in one ten millionth of a second. This gives it only a half of a ten millionth of a second to change from most posi- tive to most negative* Wc have said that for the tube we are talking alwut, one volt" change at the input causes a change of .005 amperes in the plate current. The current is just the rate of flow of charge, so in one half cycle — from most positive to most negative; — the total flow of charge in the plate circuit will be .005 times y% divided by 40,000,000, or 25 billionth* of a coulomb. . // atl of this went into the condenser C it would ne more than the d billionth of a Coulomb necessary to change the voltage across the condenser by 5 volts; BEUAt) ii-lND i 1 in fact, it would change the voltage by 12,5 volts, But, not all of the current does flow into the conden- ser, and, in fact, in calculating the . gain we assumed that all of the current flowed through the resist-' Gtnce. . In any event, you can see that around a frequency ol 10 mega- cycles we are getting into trouble in supplying, during the brief time between when the grid is most posi- tive *and when the grid is most negative, enough charge to change the voltage across the condenser by the "dewed amount. Actual calculations concerning the gain of amplifiers at high frequencies arc made a little differently, in terms of the impedance of the circuit formed by the condenser C and the resistance R- The impedance is the quantity by which we multiply an alternating current to get the alter- nating voltage, just as we multiply a direct current by the resistance to get the voltage, A calculation shows that at a frequency of 10 megacycles the impedance of the resistance-condenser output circuit we have been talking about is only 620 ohms, compared with the im- pedance at low frequencies — which is equal to the resistance— of 1,000 ohmti. This means that the voltage gain of our one- stage amplifier will have fallen from its low- frequency -value of 5 times to 3.1 times at a frequency of 10 megacycles, and at higher frequencies the gain will be even less. What can we do about it? We can, of course, make the resistance l£ smaller, so that the plate voltage 13£

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doesn't change so much and we don't have to supply so much charge to the condenser. This, however, . obviously cuts dowii the gain of the amplifier. We could recoup this Joss by increasing the tranij^on- ductance of the tube, that is, by malting a tube that gave more change in plate current for each volt change in grid voltagc-^if we could make such a tube. Thafs One thing the electronics experts have worked hard on( .Or, if the condenser C had less capacity — + But that condenser pretty much goes with the tube, too. It*s mainly the pi ale capacity plus the grid - capacity of the next tube. Elec- tronics experts have been sweating over that. Maybe we infill have better tubes, with greater tratiscon- ductance and lower capacity, in the * future. Stilt, it's a long way from 10 megacycles to 800 megacycles, and ti/i? almost obvious that the Bell l aboratories men didn't do it that way* How general is the sort of initia- tion we have been talking about? We might consider a radio- fre- quency amplifier, as shown in Figure lb. Here the condenser G lias been shunted by an inductance (coil) L„ Such a combination has a very high impedance near a cer- tain frequency to which it is tuned. Near that frequency the impedance of the circuit formed by C, L and R Is just the resistance R, and we get the same gain we would get at low frequencies with the circuit of Figure la. However, at fre- quencies away from this frequent LLJ4 the condenser gets in its dirty lick, and we actually find that the tojal ba.a<htfidih of the radio-frequency amplifier of lb is the same as the bandwidth of the audio amplifier of la — if the tube transconductancej and C and R are the same. No matter what frequency we amplify atT we are faced with the same problem" * Is tins really true? Suppose we go to microwave frequencies, and don't use triodes, or tetrodes* or pentodes, but use a klystron am- plifier instead. Figure 2 shows the chief parts of a klystron amplifier; the vacuum-tight envelope which enclose^ the e;ithode and the path of the electron he-am is not shown. In the klystron, an electron beam is drawn from the cathode by a positive accelerating voltage. This electron beam is shot ir] succession through two high- frequency "reso- nators." Jn Figure 2 the input resonator is shown cut in half. The re son fi tors are hollow metal struc- tures shaped nuich like pillboxe^ At the center, short sections of metal tubing; stick in toward one another, the ends separated by a short gap. When an input signal of the frequency to which the resonator is tuned is con pled into the input resonator by a loop of wire, .a high radio- frequency vol- tage appears across this central gap. The voltage across the central £TipT alternately positive and nega- tive, alternately speed* up and slows dmvn the electrons forming the electron beam as they cross the gap. Thus, if electrons at one instant are slowed down by the signal volt- ARTOrJfDlNO H C IT' ?fCTJ FICTION

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Figure S* Bell Telephone Laboratories traveling wave tube extends the duration of interaction be- tween electric wave and electron stream in both time and space so it can amplify a wider band* XIAO A© BAN1> I*

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age> eIe*trons crossing the gap a half cycle later will be speeded -up. Then, as the electrons travel to- ward the output resonator, the fast electrons, which left the gap later, tend to catch up with the slower . electrons, which leit earlier, Thus, the signal voltage tends to make the electrons pass through the out- put resonator 111 hunches. These bunches constitute an a-c output current which for small signals, is proportional to the signal voltage across the input resonator. Thus, the klystron has a property much like the triode; the a-c output cur- rent is proportional to the input voltage, and the constant of pro- jionionality is exactly analogous to the transconductance of the triode. What about the capacity of the tube ? The input and output resona- tors do have capacity, just as the triode ptate and grid do, the capac- ities appearing between the faces of the resonators and the short protruding tubes at the center, ThuST the amplification Eind band- width of the klystron can be ex- pressed in terms of transconduc- tance and capacity f Just as in more conventional tubes, and the same sort of limitations apply. The chief difference is that for a given gain the klystron won't give quite as much bandwidth as, say, a good pentode will at lower frequencies. We see that for two quite differ- ent sort s j o t vacuum tube, a high "gain can be achieved only with a narrow bandwidth ^or, conversely, a broad bandwidth can be achieved only by reducing the gain,* Further, if we broaden the band more and j 2* more, finally the gain becomes unity and the "amplifier" is completely ineffective- A 2 a matter of fact* any tube in which the electrons are acted on over a short distance only have this limitation. A good gain can be achieved only by using hi^h impedance input and output circuits which give hi^h voltages to act on the beam. These high impedance circuits will* because of the capacity across them, have a high impedance over a narrow frequency range only. Mow can we get more bandwidth ? It's the high impedance circuits, needed to give hijji voltages to act on the elect ronsh that cause us the trouble. Couldn't we perhaps do with low voltages? li we let the electric field caused by the input signal act on the electrons - for a long time, perhaps we could get as much effect fr#m the weak field of a low -impedance circuit as we get from the strong field" of a high- impedance circuit acting for a short distance only. The idea of letting a weak field act 011 the electron stream over a long distance has been haunting* electronic^ engineer* ever since the early thirties. How was this to be done? That part came fairly easily, c/ne was to use some sort of trans- mission line down which the radio wave won id travel slowly compared with the speed of light, so that electrons accelerated by a reasonable voltage could keep tip with the wave. Then, we could have an electron, so to speak, skimming alpng with thf wave like a man on a surf- hoard rather than cutting through

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it like a man on a speed boat. The idea of a slowly traveling electric " field and a stream of electron & keeping pace with it isn't particu- larly new. Somehow, though, the earlier workers gnt stuck at this point, and bogged down in the complications of trying; to combine this wave sort of operation with features of more conventional tubes. During the war an unprejudiced young worker, K. Kompfner, at the Clarendon Laboratory in Ox- ford, England, threw out all the complications and showed that one could get gain with the simplest combtn at io 11 of t ran &m i ssion-I i n e type of traveling: wave circuit and electron stream imaginable. Now. the Bell Telephone Laboratories has announced a tube with unprece- dented gain and bandwidth, which Dr. J. R. Pierce, one of the inven- tors, is holding in Figure 3+ If you want to know what's in ihe tube, though, and how it operates, you'd better look at the schematic drawing in Figure 4, Here we see to the left the elec- tron-emitting cathode and the posi- tive gun anode for accelerating the electrons. The electrons are ac- celerated from the hot cathode by the high voltage — 1,700 volts— ap- plied to this electrode and shoot down the axis of the tube in a narrow beam, focused and guided by magnetic fields. The magnetic fields are produced by coils not shown in Figure 4. Surrounding the electron beam for nearly a foot of its length down the tube there is a closely wound BROAP band helix of Wire which guides the ra£io wave. This wave, consisting of electric and magnetic fields, tends to follow the wire with the speed Of light; As the wire is roughly 13 times as long as the wound spiral, the wave travels down the helix at about 1/13 the speed of light. The electron stream travels through the helix a little faster than the wave* Now, it is true that the helix down which the wave travels has capacity and inductance, but these are distributed all along it in such a way that it acts quite differently - from the "lumped" capacity and inductance of the triode amplifier in Figure lb, or th& capacity and inductance of the klystron resona- tors of Figure 2. The helix of Fig- ure 4 is a "transmission line" type of circuit, and waves of widely differing frequencies can travel down it in much the same manner. Thus, as" far as the helix of the traveling wave tube goes, it's good for a very wide band of frequencies, and has none of the limitations of the circuits of Figures la and 2. Qf course, it doesn't give as high a voltage or field as these circuits. The electric field of the helix i$ weak, but, on the other hand, it interacts with the electrons all along the helix. In a klystron , the elec- trons may be in the field of the input resonator for a tenth of an inch and then in the field of the output resonator for another tenth of an inch, and that's all the chance * the electrons get at the field or the field at the electrons. In the traveling wave tube, each electron 1*T

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is in the field for about eleven inches, and that makes a lot of difference. We've mentioned that the tube does have soma hand width limita- tion. It appears that at the present this isn't in the tube at alt, but in getting the signal onto the hetfx at the input end or off of the helix at the output end, The rail 10 signal is brought to the tube in a wave guide, a rectangular metal tube which can carry microwave radio J waves much as a speaking tube transmits sound. The end of the helix passes through the input wave guide and is so shaped that the radio wave jumps right through the glass onto the end of the helix, which acts as a sort of antenna, and flows on down the helix, A similar connection h made between the other cud of the helix and the output wave guide. This is indi- cated in Figure 4. However, the ingenious connections between the input and output wave guides and the helbfc are not nice smooth cir- cuit as are the wave guides Find helix : they partake somewhat of the nature of the lumped circuits which limit the bandwidth of pentode and klystron amplifiers, although they are much broader tamd* It is these input and output circuits which limit the bandwidth to about S00 megacycles, and if they could be improved the tube would presum- ably work over an evTen wider band- width. AIT the important parts of the traveling wave tube have now been described, and it might be well to look at the tube in its cireuit-^-a complete traveling amplifier — which is shown in Figure S, Besides the tube and the two wave guide con- nections, we see the two coils which arc required to guide the beam down the tube. The narrow coil just to the left of the input wave guide in Figure 4.' This schematic diagram shows the en- gineer one of the fundamental differences between the traveling wave tube and other types, Inter* action between electron stream and radio wave occurs over about 11 inches of space instead of about 0.1 inch, as in a typical triode vacuum tube. HEATER^ CATHODE INPUT " ASTOUNDING S ft CE • V ICT J OH

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Figure 5; The traveling wave tube in its work clothes looks like this: Rectangular openings xre for coupling to input and output wave guides. Figure 5 provides an adjustment of the beam just before it enters the helix, and the long coil covering the tube between the two wave guides tecps the beam from spread- ing in its passage through the liehM. With this picture of the tube ami its parts in mind, I suppose that the reader wants to know just how it is that the tube amplifies the wave traveling down the helix. This question can be tackled in varying degrees of detail One can handlc the problem mathematically and get some really quantitative answers, but the going is pretty tough. Or, one can give a general picture of the operation by saving that the eleo tnon$ flow past the wave much as a wind blows past ripples on a stream, making them bigger as they travel SlftOAD BAND along, Tlii* picture is really a pretty dobC mechanical analogy to the interaction of the electrons and the field in a general way, though it breaks down if examined too closely. What is needed is perlvaps some- thing in between, and Dr. J. R. ' Pierce and Dr. M. Field, who described the Bell Laboratories tube at an Institute of Radio Engineers meeting held at Yale last June gave just such a picture. They say that the part of the radio wave going; down the helix which really does the business is the electric field along the axis of the helix, which acts at some points to slow the electrons down at other points to speed them up. If we could travel down the helix at the same speed as the wave, what we would see ahead and be- viit

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bind would be, then, evenly spaced regions of alternately accelerating And retarding field. If this doesn't seem concrete enough, we can in our thinking replace the field by a series of hills and . valley s, as shown m Figure 6, and the electrons by frictionless balls rolling on these hills. In operation, the -electrons move a little faster than the wave, so isi Figure 6 we can imagine the balls rolling to the fight, past the wave with which asje are moving. Too* ■since tlie lube amplifies, the wave will be a little bigger to the right than to the left, but this isn't very important in our argument. As wo move with the wave, then, vre sec the balls roll to the right, alternately rolling up hill— in a re- tard ing part of the electric field — ■ and then down hill— in an accelerat- ing; part of the electric field. Now, if the electric field — sayT the height uE the hills — remained constant, not changing whir time, the electrons would lose just as much energy going up the up slopes as they gained rolling down the down slopes. They would go fastest at the bottom of i he* valleys and slowest at the peak. Where they went slowest, they would be closest together; that is, the electrons would be "bunched together11 at the top of the hills. Suppose, however, that the wave gets larger as it travels along, as in fact it docs. Then, moving with the wave, we sec the hills of Figure 6 get higher and the valleys get deeper with time. What does this ^lo? Well, consider an electron rolling down from A and. up again io the same height at B. If the mo wave weren't increasing, it would be going th*c same speed at B as at A. However, as the wave is increasing, the electron rolls from A down a small slope and then up a steeper slope to ^et to B, for the valley is getting deeper all the time the electron rolls along. Thus, the electron is going slower at B tluin at A. Similarly, in rolling from B to A' the electron rolls up a slope and then down a steeper stope, vhe hill having got higher between the time the electron rolls up and the time it rolls down. Thus, electrons' go foster at A' than at We see that if the wave increases as it travels along *t he helix, and if the electrons roll past it, moving faster than the wave, the general rule is that the electrons go slow on trie t|p slopes — regions of re-^ tardhig field — and are hence bunched close together in the regions of retarding field, while the elec- trons go fast on the down slopes- regions of accelerating field — and hence are dispersed in the regions of accelerating fields This means that all along the helix at any time there are always more electrons in the regions of retarding field, losing energy, than there are electrons in the regions oE accelerating field, gaining energy. J Teneef there is a net transfer of energy from the electrons to the wave along the hetixH As the wave gets stronger, the electrons Ejccume more strongly bunched, and as a result the strength of the wave increases exponentially with distance along the helix. The longer the tube is made, the greater the gain. Presumably there are

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pr(\aical li filiations which make very long tabes ineffective. How- ever, some Lubes have had a power gam of two hundred times* It stiems that the new tube not only gives a very ^reat deal more hand width and a gopd deal more giuii at n lie ic> wave frequencies than does the klystron, for instance, but is really a lot simpler as well. Just what is it going to do? Will it make your television 01 I'M set obsolete? Probably the answer to ihis question is no. not in the near future. As we've seen, you can*t use it in George Smith's matter transmitter. Where are we likely to see it first / General Klectric baa talked about microwave stations to rcEay tele- vision programs for one city to an- other. Western Union has an- nounced -plans for a microwave telegraph ^system to cover the country . The American Telephone & Telegraph Company is installing an experimental microwave radio relay system for television and tele- phone between New York and Huston. All 01 these systems are tlq use sharply focused beam.* of microwaves, beams which remain narrow and strong as Far as there is an unobstructed path, but which can't get over the horizon. Thus, theiie has to be a receiver and trans- mitter about every thirty miles. Kot a great deal of power is needed for the transmitter, because the highly directive transmitting an- tennas don't spread the power broadcast, but economically shoot toward the receive r, where equally directive antennas of large area are used to intercept as much energy as is practical. Now, the highest 1 ?ower that has been mentioned in connection with the Bell Labora- tories* new tube is three walls, and this sounds a^ if it might be all right for such microwave ' relay systems. Thus, we might, expect the new tube to be used in such microwave relay systems. What would it send over the systems? We've said that to make full use of its capacities as far as hand wif 1th goes, we'd have to lump together maybe 53.000 audio chan- Figure 6: The diagram shows how the electron density varies at different points in the electric wave. The points marked B are at maximum and those marked A are at minimum electron density. r b ELECTRONS -MOVE TO RIGHT PA5T WAVE BKOAU II A NO AST— SU 131

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nels cadi 15,000 cycles wide, or, with broad land FM, 5,300 such channels. The question Is, cart the systems engineers do it? There's always a chance that if you send SjOOO conversations through one amplifier you won't be able to mi- ser an) ble them effectively at the other endn Theoretically, you can send each conversation on a different frequency band, and all you need, to separate them is niters. Practi- cally, frequences have a way of getting mixed up when they are am pi i tied, Npn -linearities cause the frequencies to beat together^ producing various sum and differ- ences. This mixes up the informa- tion as it is being amplified* There's a good chance that if an engineer tried right now to design sueh a 5,000 channel system, 1 without thinking it over, a long time, and making a lot of experiments and measurements and even a lot of inventions, the listener would get 1/5,000 of each conversation he didn't want to hear and not much of the one he was after. It's likely, in other words, that the rest of the art wifl have to catch up before the tube can be fully utilized, *This applies to sending lots of television programs through one tube as well. Does this mean that the tube has t« wait on future developments to be of practical value? That isn't quite right, either. For instance, it will .do the klystron's job better than the klystron, giving more gain even where bandwidth isn't so im- portant. Then, in using tubes such as the klystron, engineers have been the struggling for, not R00 megacycles bandwidth, hut just a little more bandwidth with the same gain- Now they have more bandwidth than they need; they just don't have to worry about bandwidth any more, and they have more gain as well FerbajJa the lube will he used first of all hi make things easier rather than fo do anything startling or new. - But the new things will com? later, and soon. Nobody is goin;* to let bandwidth lie around unused. We'll have something big. Maybe it will be 10,000 telephone conver- sations sent through one amplifier, or 50,000, for that matter. M&yh* r it will be 100 tele vision program* or 5,250 line television instead ot 525 line as now. There's just about enough room for that. It's quite possible and likely that it will be some use not yet thought of or seriously proposed. Often ideas for such uses are considered and dis- carded bci.ii use there is no practical way to accomplish the desired re- sult. But bandwidth is a door which formerly was merely ajar and now has swung wide enough to permit many things to pass which pre- viously had to be left outside Since the total of discrete items of datum which can be passed through any system in unit time is a k function of the width of the frequency baud the system will pass wit bout dis- crimination, it is obvious that push- ing the bandwidth door farther open is another step, and an important one, in man's struggle to under- stand' and control his environment. END, ASTOUNDING SCMENCJE-FTCTIOW

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We haven? 1 there just yet — but maybe if wc figure the thing out beforehand* -we can set v-p a Martian colony -with a miixihle calendar* instead of winding up -with a **jest gro-ccd1* hodgepodge such as Earth's present job! CALENDAR FOR MARS BY R. S. RICHARDSON Xix, the Martian Zygote, scanned the message eagerly, "And so the date of invasion is set at IastP he cried, in hoarse guttural accents. "So it would appear," the chief gymnosperm replied. He consulted the pages of the perpetual loose- leaf calendar reposing upon the top of his cue lo stat.. "Our troops will start for Terra on Friday the 42nd f of the third autumnal period/" The preceding remarks, sire a bit on the irrational side except for the hist statement. Incredible as it may seem, from a distance of 40,000,000 miles we can devise a calendar for Mars that is much superior to our own. Our terrestrial calendar has been patched and rcpatched through The centuries as one generation after ^Al.ENDAB FOR MARS * another strove to keep the dates in stop with the seasons. In addition, so much sentiment and tradiiion have become attached to the calendar that the prospect of adopting a perpetual simplified form is pretty slim. But in planning lor Mars we can start with a cleEiti slate. Tt is interesting to note that Earth and Mars are the only planets for which a calendar is needed. Mercury and probably Venus have a day equal in lengtli to the year. Jupiter and Saturn rotate at differ- ent rates in different latitudes* Uramis± Neptune, and Pluto are so far from the Sun that time must be of little concern on those lonely worlds. But a calendar would cer- tainly be as necessary on Mars as on Karth, And since we know the length of the Martian day ami year

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with a High degree of accuracy, ft is entirely possible to construct a calendar good not merely for a year at a time but perpetually — one that could be used*' for ten thousand years without requiring correction. The following calendar scheme is one designed by Dr. Robert G* Aftkcn, Director Emeritus of the Lick Observatory, Mount Hamilton, California. It is, a splendid ex-' ample of rational calendar planning. After studying it carefully maybe you would like to try your hand at making one, tOO< For iT is only one of many that might be suitable for the Red Planet. The chief source of trouble in any calendar scheme is the fact that there are not an exact number of days in the ^eo -called tropical year, or year of the seasons. Take our present calendar, for instance. If Earth made a revolution around the *Stm once in exactly 365 days there would be no problem at all. The difficulty lies in the fact that one revolution requires about 365,25 days, so that if we call the year 365 days we would be losing one-quarter of a day per annum r The result would be to make the "seasons gradu- ally work through the months. Eventually the words of the popu- lar song would come true and we would be having June in January, not figuratively but literally,- In Roman times the calendar was regulated by the priesthood and got 'w confused that as Voltaire re- marked, "The Roman general* al- ways triumphed, but they didn't know on what day they triumphed 1'* To bring order out of this chrono- logical chaos, Julius Caesar acting upon the advice of the astronomer Sosigencs decreed that henceforth there should be three years of 365 days followed by one of 366 days known as a leap year. This system of reckoning is known as the Julian calendar and went into effect in 45 15. C. The Julian calendar relieved the symptoms without actually correct- ing; them. For the length of the tropical year is not exactly 365+25 days, but falls short of it by 11 minutes ami 14,0 seconds. This might seem to be cutting it pretty fine and for many years the Julian calendar was satisfactory. But after 400 years it was off by 3 days* and by 1582 A,D. spring was coming on March 1 1th instead of March 2 1 St. A new reform was urgently needed. This time the distinguished as- tronomer C lav ins recommended that in the future only such century years? as are evenly divisible by 400 should be leap years. Thus 1600 and 2000 are leap years but I700t 1S0O, and 1900 are not. The re- form was inaugurated by Pope Gregory rtnd constitutes the Gre- gorian calendar. That calendar on the wall in front of you with the girl in the bathing suit above it is a Gregorian calendar. But even the Gregorian calendar is not perfect but will be in error by a day in the year 4732 A, D. Mars makes one rotation on its axis in 24 hours 37 minutes and 22. 5S seconds of terrestrial time, ami makes one revolution around ABTOUJtDlNO SClBNCt l'ICTtOK

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r (he Sun in 6S6.9797 terrestrial days, tiut naturally on Mars we would hardly w ea.su re the flay and year in terrestrial units any more than we would think of using Arean units on Earth, T ran slated iutg Martian time, therefore, the calen- dar consists of 686,600 Martian days of 24 Martian hours each. The question now arises: how to [tjjrj in Spring Jammer ".Id Tare 16T IflVT Kiln jfcflra: rt&t HiT J^coiilil . ]£l 101 (I} y-Jart"- deal willi lliis odd 0,600 part of a day ? We can think of several schemes sit once. Five Martian years con- tain 5X686 600 or 3343 days exactly. We might have four years of 669 days followed by one of 667 days. Or four years of 668 days followed by one of 671 days, Bath of these, however, would seem inferior to the following: Suppose we have the years run alternately 668 and 669 days each. This would mean that the first year we would lose 6/10 of a day and the second year gain 4/10 of a day, so that in two years we would be out by 3/10 of a day. In ten years we would be short by five times this amount or one entire day. Consequently, leap year' on Mars would come every ten years instead of every four as on Earth. With this scheme we can make the Mar- tian dates agree with the seasons for ten thousand years. The sensible thing to do on Earth would be to make January 1st come on tfce day the Sun crosses the equator from south to north calked the vernal equinox when. spring be- gins in the northern hemisphere. So let us without hesitation start the arean year when the spring be- gins in the northern hemisphere of Mara. Then divide the year into four quarters and* insert an extra decennial day between the second and third quarters,, in this way : Au:uinb muttr T*«l lt»T 1*7 GfltS IGF 10ft IfiT M HTQ On Earth the month arose in connection with the period of 29}4 days from new m*?n to new moon. Phobos and Deimos have given Mars a lot of publicity but they are nnt very well adapted for calen- dar purposes. As it seems desirable to have one day in seven as a rest day, the different quarters could- be broken up into periods of 41 and 42 days. We have no idea, what these days would be called on Mars, but since we have to call them something, suppose we con- tinue to u$e the old names familiar to us on Earth. Now we are ready to form our perpetual Martian calendar— the calendar that will endure for 10X 10X10X10 Martian years. We make the first day of all odd numbered years begin on a Sunday; and the' first day of all even num- bered years begin on a Wednesday. The midyear day interpolated every ten years has no week day name. Oil this scheme the calendar b cyclical on a two-year basis,

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PWPETUAL MARTIAN CALENDAR ODD- NUMBERED YEARS SPRING . SUMMER AUTUMN WINTER r L ft (WT F TW'T F s wrnw T F s s M T w T F ( 2 3 4 5 6 7 i I 1 £ 3 S JO h i IZ iai4 3 4 7 a 3 4 5 7 a [ II 5 7 e 10 (6 n 13 |R ' *j JO H 13 W E5 JO t \ 52 13 12 15 14. ID| lb n £2 £5 27 2£ n n 20 £1 22 *7 £4 \8 £5 n ^0 21 £5 16 H SO £1 £2 23 £^ 3\ 32 as 23 2* £7 as 21 £5j 3> ££ f35 27. ze 2^ 3G si 37 30 3) 3334 35 3fc 51 3£ 3} 34 35 3^37 3435 37 58 3^4CI4I 4* 38 4^4) 31 eh 4*j n I5T 3fc 37 16 W 10 3 1 23 24 £*?303! 35335155 (6 12 1*1 6 IS 23£fe 7 14 27 se 42 M J W T F 1 5 4 fe 7 © IO 1 1 62 15 14 IS 17 10 R a: e\ £2 £3 24, 25 26 27 2£ as SO1 51 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 37 4Gj 41 42 T W 't F 5 I £ 5 4 5 7 a 10 IL 13 J4i 25 ft £3 17 1© n 20 21 £4 £5 27 ae £1 3G 3t 52 53 54 55 34 57 36 5lf40 4t 4^ i HI HE T w T F 1 4 7 [0 1 1 IE R 26 J3 ao f4 15 16 V? 18 21 22 23 30 £4 sr 25 32 27 ?e 33 34 35 5k 37 40| 41 M IT W T F 1 £ 3 4 5 6 e IO n £2 13 17 24 "£5 a& 2C 26 £5 27 30 31 3? 35 i 34 37 m 3^ 12 M T W T 5 J 3 4 & 7 s 10 II IS 14 n *B 19 2e £5 i i be 3333 51 35 3b 58 3i 41 15Z 123 So 37 EIBISIBIEIE assess 1 s M T )T F S 1 4 5 & 7 IS 10 n 62 13 14 15 16 17 19 iq SI 23 £3 S4 25 3C 3! Ji? 33 34 55 % 57 3a 4t IS M T W T F s * | 3 4 5 7 to II 12 13 J4 15 n [S H ac 21 32 25 ?4 £3 24 28 3C 31 3£ 31 34 35 36 37 5*1 4C 41 M T F 1 £ 3 4 5 7 B fO 17 24 M 12 13 14 15 IS 11 3D at 22 2J SS £7 2e 21 50 31 32 53 54 35 34 3? 38 4C 4-i 42 M T WIT F 5 i 3 4 5" 6 7 a JC n 12 13 J4 13 16 17, 13 11 2o 21 22 £4 31 25 2£ 27 2B 2^ 30- 32 35 34 35j 36 37 3fi 3s? 40 41 42 3sr 5 M T W T 5 2 3 4 5 □aaEHi IZ J3 t& J7 18 £5 ao 2k 23 24 30 31 32 33 34 35 [3S 31 41 T L AST0UHDINO SCt ENCH-PJ CT I O y

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SPRING* EVEN- NUMBERED YEARS SUMMER " AUTUMN WINTER 3 M 2fa 53 13 11 34] 40 41 4E I a 14 "5 T 16 2? 23 £4 3 IO 17 4 H LB 32 II 5 2£> 40 13 27 tWtf 7 14 eh 22 23 M 42 _ 3" to 17 £4 4 H lei £5 52 3t \Z S3 Ho 6 15 L £3 W TiF 2? 3 n so 51 4- LI 343J5£37pBi3 EAR3 WHOSE NUMBER© IS PWIS^BLE. &V TE.N 15 36 23 TW 3 JO 17 £4 3C3( 37 18 32 13 R 3334 7 t4 55 4£ 1JX S M 1 S 30 3i 16 3 10 n ea'£4 3f 37 4 H 5 12 383^^142 13 7 )4 IE M J [£1 3t lb ^£23&4 303 3 10 17 1 3^ 3*1 13 |£0 4 1 1 IS 32 335^ 331 4*41 42 7 14 UALUNHAA I'Ul! At A Ji H

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■ In addition to being perpetual, this calendar has the advantage that the number of working days in each quarter are divided as evenly as possible, and any set holi- day such as Christmas would always fall upon the same week day in the odd- and even -numbered yearsT Dr. A it ken's calendar is a model of simplicity, easy to muster and three times as accurate as our terrestrial method of calculating when taxes come due. Now you can go ahead and figure out a calendar of your own for Mars. It is a fascinating pastime with plenty of opportunity for originality and imagination. You, too, can become a World Planner 3 - IN TIMES TO COME The September issue of Science Fiction is going: to have a number of inter- esting items to offer, but this column, for tins time, is going to be devoted to art work primarily. Item the first is Astounding^ cover tot September. It's (different. It's unique. And itf3 more than good. It came about in the following way; k Alejandro Canedo, who did our last cover, was in, and invEtcd me to Come up to his studio where he had some paintings he was about to ship to a showing I did. And he bad some -strikingly beautiful, and wholly unique art work. I had never seen anything' like it — and immediately demanded why he hadn't done one like that for Astounding. It seems that Qmedo doing what he likes, and Canedo doing what he thinks someone else wants are quite, quite different I think you'll want a lot more of the type Iwfs done. And I can't describe it. Item the second concern* *our sister magazine. AW Trails and Scicncr Frontier* The August issue contains a fuIE-page color photograph of MIT'* cyclotron in action, and a brief article on Cyclotrons. It's an unusually beauti- ful color shot. But i he September Air Trails will carry three of four Chesley Bonesteli paintings of the planets. The cover , and Air Trails and Science Frontier's two full-color pages will carry paintings of Jupiter, Venus and Mars. They're magnificent jobs; they'd fit Astounding Science Fiction per- fectly except that the larger size makes them better in AT. They ill List rate EL S. Richardson's article. "New Paths to N ew Planets." ' * The fourth picture — the Sun with McTcury in Transit — will be on our October cover. It would be a mistake to miss- any of these four genuinely magnificent paintings. The Editor. X3B i Jt^TOTlVrrTNO fcCTRN' C13 -FICTION

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-BY MURRAY 1EINSTER PROPAGANDIST Buck was a dog — a good pup* with no' particular education in 'psy- chology, tcmantief* or propaganda , techniques behind Mm^ But rtcver- 1hele$$t Jte. didr a magnificent — f hough completely accideuial—jobt Illustrated by Tlmmlri* You fXtiK'int;c:i" it at Space ' Assas- sin 5* o" bourse. They were that tu.cc of which no human being ever a living member, and escaped 10 ;etl about; it a forward. You also remember rhe deadly, far-flung search ihat was made for their base, their home. They'd been -miphig our ships tor a tong time, Kut ihrn ei squadron of their space licet raided the Earth colony on Caj>c-t1a Three and without warning or provocation or alternative slaughtered every one of the colony's half million human population. Then the hunt for them began. This is the story of oite of the incidents df that hunt — and also it's i he story of □ dog named Buck. Buck trailed his master sedately into the control room of the light cruiser Kenncssec. lie waited patiently untjl the skipper looked up from the electron telescope. Then Buck's master — Hoi den — ■ L3S

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sat down with the sheaf of wave1 records he'd brought from the Comm u nidations Room . R n ck blinked wisely at the skipper and lay down on the floor with an aud- ible, loose-jointed thump. Tie 'put? his nose between his paws and sighed heavily. But the sigh was not of unhappinetis, Buck wag a simple flog. He was friendly with everybody on the Kenncssce, from the t, kipper himself to the I owl test mess boy, but his master and private deity was junior lieutenant Ho! den. Whithersoever floldcn went there Buck went ^ than-lfght-spced far beyond the outermost of the Masa Gamma planets. She'd decelerated to an appropriate speed and course for a wanderer, and she'd begun her ride along a comet's path through the eleven -planet system. And almost immediately her receptors had picked up evidence oi civilization here* Space-radio signals. They were unintelligible, of course, .but they told that here was a civilization comparable" to human culture on a technical ba^is. And that was what the K^ttnessegj with every other li^ht ship of Earth's space navyt was hunting for. There was a race which, without known contact with Earthmcn, was the deadly enemy of humanity. For years past, ex- ploring ships from Earth had dropped out of sight with ominous frequency. There had been sus- picions, hut no proof of an inirnkal race which destroyed humans wher- ever it came upon them. But sis: months ago the Earth Colony on Cajiella Three had been wiped out* terribly, by raiders of whom nothing was known except that they were not human. So somen here there was a race which held Earth to lie its enemy. It had to be found, If it couTd nor he negotiated with, it must be destroyed before it grew strong enough to wipe out all of humankind. And the men on the Keimcxsee knew that they might have found it on the planets of Masa Gamma. This system had no

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never been explored before, arid this civilization which had space radio might be the one — lsuck, the dog, dozed lightly on the control room floor. Little fragments of dreams ran through his half -slumbering consciousness: The smells, in the engine room; an irrelevant fragment of chasing a. uat ; a moment or two in which "he sniffed etal>orately at a tree — A slightly louder comment made him open his eyes, "They've interplanetary travel* sir, at least"— that was Holden. "'We've picked up space-radio mes- sages from tlerinitely between planets. It looks like this is the race we were sent to Jind/' The skipper nodded. "It could be. But if they're to. |>e smashed on our report we need to make sure. That's order s> too. Can they smash the Kennesseet That's the test tor the enemy* If this race can't kill us, they're not the enemy we're looking for. If they can. they are. We've got to lii id out/' "But interplanetary travel is good evidence — 11 "It's not interstellar travel/' said the skipper, "We'll send a torp back immediately with all the data co date. But you've picked up no wl tango waves, Holden, We've no ]>roof that these folk can travel between the stars. The enemy can." "They might be concealing the fact," said Holden. "They'd liave picked tip our whango wave on arrival* They might be laying for nST waiting for us to walk into their parlor where they can smash us without a chance to fight back or report. That would he typical ;,<r He stood up and Buck got im- mediately to his four paws and wagged his tail, His master, Hol- den, was going to go somewhere. So Buck was going with him* He waited contentedly , To Buck, happiness was going where Holden went ; being wherever Holden was ; simply soaking in the sensation of being with Holden. It was a very simple pleasure, but it was all he asked of fate or chance. When Holden petted him or played roughly with him, Buck was filled with ecstatic Iiappiness, but now he waited contentedly enough simply to follow Holden. "What you say i& true enough/1 agreed the skipper. ^They could be laying for us, We'll seeH A message torp will make sure that if we dyn't get back our fleet will* know where to come and who to smash. Then we'll make a landing in a lifeboat. Our enemy couldn't resist smashing that! And if it gets away, we'll know something about their weapons, anyhow — /' fT volunteer, sirT for the life- boat/' said Holden, quickly. M'Wc'Il see/1 3aid the skipper, "You get your data ready for the torp. You're sure this record is a scanning beam? Like the old- fashioned radar? And it's being kept on us from this fourth planet?" "Quite sure, sir/' said Holden. "We can't know how detailed the information may be that it takes back. Of course, it would be logical enough to scan a supposed comet — JJ "Let's hope," said the skipjver, - 141

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twinkling, "that the echo from bur ,hull says, 'Nobody out here but us comets, boss/ Get your stuff ready for half an hour from now, Hol- den." Hoi den saluted and went out of the control room. Buck went sedately after him, a large brown dog who did not bother- his head over such trivia as interstellar travel or nonhuman races who massacred half a million humans with an insensate ferocity. Buck was a very contented dog. ITe was with his master. The Planetary Council of Masa Four was in session. It was not a happy gathering. Scanning beams had reported that a supposed new comet, driving in on a perfectly convincing orbit, was actually an artifact— a spaceship. It used no drive and seemed empty of life. But it had come in through the gravitation field of the outermost planets— and it showed no sign of rotation. Which was impossible unless gyroscopes or some similar device were running within it* "We have had one v-isitor from space, before/' said the Moderator of the Planetary Council. He looked very weary, "Our histories Cell us of the consequences. If this is tin other ship of the same race, we must destroy it. Since it is attempting secrecy, such action is justified, I think. Bui that secrecy suggests suspicion of us — a suspi- cion that we may have destroyed the last visitor. If we destroy this ship also, we may be sure that suspicion will become certainty and a third 142 visit will be made in overwhelming force. That means that we will have to convert our whole civiliza- tion for war. We will have some- how to develop an interstellar drive, and we will have to spend the rest of the time in battle for our very survival. We will have to change from a peaceful race to one with a psychology adapted only to war^" The Spokesman for the First Continent said hopefully: "Is at certain tliat this is a ship of the same race as the first? It is not of the same form. Is it cer>* tain that this race is of a not- pos- sibly- friendly type, like the first?" "It is not certain/' said the Moderator ti redly, "The psycho- logical factors implied in its outer design suggest a different race. But can we risk ail attempt at peaceful contact? The crew of one ship would be at our mercy. Might they not pretend friendship in order to escape with information leading to our destruction ? Could we trust the friendship of any race at all. which sent a single ship to spy?'+ There was silence* Two cen- turies before another ship had entered the Masan system. Half a planet devastated; and millions upon millions of lives, .had been the cost of the destruction' of that one ship, But its destruction had been necessary. Its ciew made no re- sponse to peaceful overtures- Wher- ever they landed they destroy ef 3 „ ferociously, everything savoring of ;t rival civilization. Especially the inhabitants. They coufd not be treated with—only kilted. "If," said the Spokesman for the ASTOTTWDINO S C N CE-FI CTI 0 H

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Third Continent wistfully, ■ "we f ou Id capture a single member of this spaceship's crew, we could make sure that friendship was hope- less. It is a pity we cannot make; sure, before — " "It is a great pity," said the Moderator bleakly. "To convert not only our civilization but our people to endless war, for all time, is the greatest of pities, But I do not think there is anything else to do. Will you vote upon prepara- tions for the destruction of this *hip?" The vote was reluctant, but unani- mous^ blor war. The Koines sec sent oh! the- torp from the aft commun [cat ions room, Tt was not an impressive device, the torr?, merely a cigar- shaped object some six feet long. After leaving the Kftmessee it would drive away at thirty- five gravities* acceleration for fifteen minutes, and then go into Overdrive — when it . would cease to e>dst, as far as normal space was concerned. Its disappearance would be marked by the emission of a monstrous surge of energy— a "whango wave", — which could be detected at hun- dreds of millions of miles. Near borne base it would come out of overdrive with the emission of an- other, similar wave, The second -wave was useful From Masa Gamma to the Kcnnesse^j home base was some eighty light-years. A space -rati io message transmitted by tight beam would reach home l>ase only in time to be of interest to the crew's great-grandchildren. But the torp would arrive within days; its reappearance- wave would be picked up by a far- flung net of communications ships, and they would receive and forward the torp's automatically transmitted messages and later, pick it up for the recovery of written, data and physical specimens. Buck was not allowed to be present at the launching. He was a large dog,, and the aft eommuntca- . tions room was, in the tapering, slender tail of the Kentie It would' be crowded. H olden ordered him out. And Buck was far too well assured, both of Holders affection for him and of his own * worth, to be sensitive about such a matter. He knew there were times when he couldn't be underfoot. But he also knew that he was wel- come anywhere else on the ship. He went trolling sedately in search, of inferior Tbut still human, com- pany until his master could allow him around again. He found crew members stocking a lifeboat for its special mission. He, went companion ably into the lifeboat with the working party. He wriggled into the control cubicle with the man sent to remove its records— and observe rt. Presently other men arrived, the work parly left, and there were Sundry heaving movements ofc the lifeboat. Duck blinked from where he lay more C-r less curled up on. the floor. Stars shone in the lifeboat port- holes. There was a glaring bright light. Unshielded sunshine from . Masa Gamma came in a forward port and made a patch of incandes- H3

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ceiioe mi . the back wall. Junior lieutenant Maynard walked into the control cubicle and flipped the phone switch. "Lifeboat in launching position, blister removed, ready to take oft/' he said briskly. "All right:/' said Holders voices from the speaker. It sounded gloomy, "Take off when the whango wave hits. It may jam their scanner and get you out of the beam unob- served. Luck." Buck knew loud-speakers. But also hq knew his master's voice. He wagged his tail. It thumped. Maynard jerked his head around and yelled: "Buck! Here's Buck! Behind met" An instant's silence* Then Hoi den '.s voice, more gloomy still. "No time to get him back on board. Hell have to go along, Sorry, Maynard." *'No harm/1 said Maynard cheer- fully. "Maybe he'll mascot us. How much time?" "Twenty seconds/* said Holders voice. "You have all the luck I I was high man for this job until you drew that acel" Maynard chuckled. The Kermes- see rode into a very probably hostile solar system, If it was the home of ihe race that had been sniping off Earth-ships and had massacred the colonists of Caoella Three, there was not much chance that rhe cruiser would ever get away a^aim But its junior" officers had played a band of stud poker for the privi- lege of making a dare-landing On the system's largest piauet The speaker suddenly emitted a sound- so savage and so ifturl t^at the diaphragm jangled musically only once, and then made strangled, rasping noises. That was the whango wave of the message torp. It was a blast of untuned and untun- able radiation which . would jam every receiver in range while tt lasted. There was a crushing feeling of weight. Buck slid back against the back-rest of the seat on which he now lay. He was pressed hard against the upholstery. He wriggled and. panted. His eyes grew plaiu7 live. Buck did not like acceleration. In £act, he did not like lifeboat travel. But he had his fill of it in the iTcxt eighteen hours, anyhow, A message arrived at the hastily- improvised Department of War on Masa Four. The Department of War was being feverishly organ- ized" to co-ordinate every erg of energy in the entire solar system into synchrophased power beams which at a given moment would stab out from four planets at once- all of them on the same side of the local sun — and converge terribly upon the pseudo comet. There would be no material weapon for - the ship's detectors to note in time for any maneuver of escape. This weapon would strike at the speed of light. An object in the focus of the combined beams would ex- perience the temperature of the interior of a sun. It was unthink- able that any possible relay could operate before it was volatilized. The weapon was irresistible — as against a. single ship. But the com-

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puiation of phase -relationships for the moving planetary projectors, so that the separate beams would reinforce instead of partially can- celing each other t was a matter of ter ri fy i ng complexity . This weapon could destroy one ship/ of known course and speed, or one s]up on the ground, if enough time could he had for calculations. But it would be useless against a fleet. Days or weeks were required for the ad- justment of the multitude of beams for a hit on a predetermined spot. Against ships of changing course and speed, the weapon was useless. A message arrived at the De partment of War+ SMALL SPACE CRAFT DE- TACH ITSELF FROM INVAD- J KG VESSEL AT INSTANT /OF STRONG UNTUNED WAVE DIS- TURBANCE. SMALL CRAFT MAK- ING GUIDED FLIGHT TOWARD PLANET FOUR. WILL LAND ON DARK 5mE NORTHERN AREA FIRST CONTINENT, REQUEST ORDERS, The Department of War was newly organized and had not time to acquire traditions of pompo&ity and bureaucratic delay. Within minutes its orders went back: EVACUATE ALL POPULATION FROM AREA IN QUESTION, HAVE GROUND VEHICLES AND ATMOS- PHERE FLIERS &EADY TO TEST OUT ARMAMENT OF .CRAFT. BROADCAST APPEAL FOR VOL- UNTEERS, GIVING DUE WARN- ING OF PROBABLE DEATH. NO SPACE CRAFT TO BE USED. NO HINT OF ADEQUATE DEFENSES MUST BE GIVEN TO ENfEM V UN- TIL FULL-SCALE OPERATION BY ENTIRE SYSTEM. The . population of the Masati had hall one experience of invader* from beyond. Some twenty-five million citizens began a swift, or5- dcrly evacuation — as a precaution against the landing of an unarmed lifeboat, Buck waked from an uneasy doze when the lifeboat descended to the planet's dark side. Every ob- servation device known to men was at work to gather information, but Buck was not interested in tech- nicalities. He yawned elaborately , even as scanner beams were noted. He stretched, as the scanner beams cut oft abruptly* He shook himself comfortably as the analyzers re- ported the atmosphere to be Earth- type, with a considerable excess of the inert gases, but well inside the comfort range of oxy^swiitrogen mixtures. The lifeboat went down care- fully, feeling for dangers. Infra- red equipment reported the shore of a sea, arid oddities that could be the equipment of a harbor. May- nard sheered the tiny craft away. He actually neared ground only a bund red-odd miles away. It was his job to get himself killed if the local population could ■ manage it, but it was not his job to make themH If they knew the seeming comet out in space was a spaceship, they'd he on the alert If they were the race that had murdered the Capellau colonists, they'd try to keep him fBOPAGANHIST

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from getting bat-k to his sliip* If *they weren't — - The lifeboat grounded with inn- nite caution in what the scanners declared was a jungle of feathery- leayed vfegetatioru For long, long 14* , minutes Maynard sat tense t pre^ pared to fling the little craft skyward on any sign of action against it, Nothing happened. The out side microphones transmitted noises, to he sure, but they were the random

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sound r oE wild life in a , jungle, After a long time Maynard cracked a port* Still nothing. (EIf anybody wants to volunteer to gel biological specimens," said Maynard, "he can step out. .In case of alarm, ' though^ I'm going to lake this boat tip audi try to wriggle back — to find out what they'll try to use to stop us." Voices answered. There was the clanking of an unlocking door. Buck trotted back to it. Fascinating smells 'came in the opening. Men stepped out — armed and cautious. The exit door stayed open. One man stood by to shut and dog it if the lifeboat shot skyward. It took courage for men to ven- ture out, knowing that they might have to be abandoned so the life- boat's mission of drawing enemy fire — if this race was inimical — could be carried out. But Buck * was fascinated by the smells. He would have liked to get back to H olden, of course, but these men were his friends, too. If they went out into this place of innumerable novel -smells — Tie jumped lightly to the ground. His nose was instantly busy. The ground had a different smell from that of Earth* The plants were new. There were scents which must he animals, but not any ani- mals Buck had ever scented before. He heard a man moving nearby * taking samples of vegetation. Very much could be interred from the types of starch and cellulose this planet's vegetation contained. But Buck could have told much more, from what his nose discovered . Here a Tittle carnivore had trailed a skittering small thing which periodically darted up into over- hanging vegetation, and as periodi- cally darted down again. There a small herbivore had made a vast, terrified leap for no apparent reason —which meant that a flying thing had made a swoop at it, and missed* And here a thing which had almost the smell of a snake mo^ed in dis- tinctive hops, while there was the definite smell of a warm-blooded animal in something which left a completely continuous trail by traveling on its' belly. Buck explored, utterly absorbed in this world of literally new smells. From time to time he heard the sounds made by the men, and was reassured. But he strayed farther and farther from the grounded life- boat— only sometimes he stopped and listened to it — and he had found the burrow of some living creature and was sniffing absorbedly at its entrance when the really significant noises began* One noise began at the horizon and swept toward the zenith. It was a dull, humming rumble, like the motors of atmosphere fliers Buck had heard back on Earth. It was; mechanical, and, therefore, of man* and, therefore* not to be feared Or suspected. At the same time there came distant clank ings. And they were like bulldozers and other ma- chines of men, and they were not to be feared, either. Buck sniffed fascinatedly at the burrow. Men's voices called sharply. Had Holdcn called himT Buck would have gone bounding instantly. But

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he owed a lesser obedience to other men. He sniffed again, and again, lingerlngly. Then, as he trotted unhurriedly in response to the call, he heard the zooming roar of a lifeboat drive in atmosphere. It shot toward the sky* It did not occur to Buck that he might have had to be left "behind — us a man would have been abandoned under like ci resistances — because the life- boat had to test out the deadlines of armaments on this planet, but had to be aloft to test them fully. When he got back to the place where the lifeboat had been, though, it was gone. + Buck was simply bewildered. The droning above grew to a thun- derous, circling roar. There were many flying things overhead, and they cruised back and forth in the darkness in a pattern which would have made it difficult indeed for the lifeboat to have escaped without coming under radar-aimed fire. At the same time, the clanking mechani- cal noises came closer from at least fhree directions. Buck smelled incredulously at the place where the lifeboat had been, but where it was no longer. He ran uneasily along the scent trails left by the men who had gathered bio- logical specimens. It was com- pletely unthinkable tliat the men had deserted him. He came back again and again to the place where the lifeboat had rested. He was un- happy, of course, but it was not possible for him to imagine him- self abandoned. He waited dis- comfortably for the men to notice that he'd been left behind and to come back after him. - - Roarings circled in the overcast *ky above him. Cfankings ap- proached in the encircling dark. Those were things of men — not his men; perhaps, but certainly men who would be friendly to a large brown well-mannered dog with a collar around bis neck which said he belonged to H olden. They might even help him get back to Holden. But meantime he trotted uneasily about the place to' which the lifeboat had not returned. The noises and clankings grew louder. When the noises were very near, a blind ingly bright, white light ab- ruptly shone down, from a low- flying plane which spun in diar.y tight circles overhead. The light showed everything with a pitiless clarily, and Buck blinked dazedly. But he was not alarmed. Machines and bright lights and flying things meant men. And a self-respecting dog has a perfectly comfortable relationship with all men, though it is a special relationship with the crew oE his ship, and his tie to his master is unique. . Buck moved prudently out of the way as machines with glaring lights came clanking through the jungle, thrusting aside the feathery trees with a powerful violence. He moved out of their patK but he did not dodge into the shadows. He blinkedT and wagged his tail abstractedly, and prejjarcd to greet the men in the machines with due courtesy. Of course they would help him get back to Hold en ! A machine stopped and some-

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thing go: cue of it. But the figure was not a man. Buck sniffed in- credulously. Then bis hackles rose. It was not possible ! Machines were handled by men ! Only by men ! The Masian moved, toward him. Buck growled warningly. Unbear- able light smote upon him. He growled again, bristling., a big brown dog growl trig [n warning that num- bers of a mere ratzc which might 1 have been sniping Earth- ships ;i:id massacring Earth colonics had better not bother him! Buck, of course, knew nothing of missing ships or massacres. He was a dog, a man's Jog, and he could imagine no creature which was not inferior to man and which a man's dog could not reasonably defy. It was an extraordinary picture. Alien and unlikely jungle trees rising toward an overcast sky in which a bright white light whirled m dizzying circles. Hu^c, gleaming machines with lights — very bright lights — stabbing through the "jungle's feathery leafage and test- ing innumerable sharp shadows. The Masians,, inhabitant of t3ie fourth planet nf Masa Gamma— not trx> much unlike men, to be sure- staring at a place in the jungle where a ship's lifeboat had landed, and where a big brown dog stood warn- ingly at bay and growled at them of the wrath of his masters. There was a pause. A race which has space radio?, and interplanetary ships, and radar, is not likely to be altogether stupid. And there were scanners in the ground vehicles, too, which carried back every thing the machines saw to record rooms. The PROPAGANDIST best brains of the race watched this meeting. And perhaps it was hack where the scanned picture of the event was seen that someone realised that Buck's paws were not made for the handling; of machinery or the making of spaceships. Or perhaps something more subtle — There were sounds which Buck somehow knew were language, chough he could not understand them as words. He turned sedately from the nrst figurcT which had halted at his growl. He blinked digutrledly at the surrounding Jig] its. None advanced toward him. thick emitted sundry small* eonfi- *dent* admonitory rumblings. His men had been here. They had gone away. They would come back . for him. Of course* He was going to wait for diem. He was not arbitrary about it. He would allow, the machines to pass as they phased. Men probably wished the machincsi to do thus sop and he would not interfere. But he would wait here. Tic deliberately turned himself around twice and lay down on the ground* But his head stayed erect, and he blinked at the lights* He calmly and confidently settled down for men to notice that he'd been left behind, and to come back for him. JJut he hopt:d desperately that Hoi den would be with them, A report went to the TJepartmcnt of War on Planet Four* It was a highly accurate report, covering the landing of a smaH space craft on the northern area of the First Conti- nent, The footprints of men were

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accurately transmitted, fes well as the impression left by the space boat in the soiL There were motion pictures of Buck. Most of the report, naturally, was about him. " . 1 . Limited but definite intel- ligence/' said the report. "Is aware of social relationships neither hos- tile nor friendly, but of tolerance. Is familiar with machines and* regards them without fear but with- out interest. Has an extraordinary air of self -confide nee and seems justified in opposing the wishes of more intelligent beings, though offering no hostility unless an at- tempt is made to force it to comply . . . Appears to be a, member of aj subject species to £he makers of the space craft, though its utility is * not clear, since it has neither pre- hensile claws nOr any apparent technical aptitude for the super- vision of machines * . . We are setting up psyehoscanmng; device* to attempt to extract information from its memories, of course with- out its awareness o£ the process. Meanwhile we are making every effort to leave it emotionally un- disturbed . . +" A later report : . . Psychoscanners have been able to secure excellent pictures and sound memories from the animal* It U of a species which lives hi symbiosis with, the creatures operat- ing the space craft. Its utility to the superior race is not yet clear, but its subservience to theni— they are not much unlike ns — is proven 'by the records forwarded with this report. The animal's vision appears 1&0 / to be comparatively poor, but its hearing' and smell arc excellent. Its memories of smells, in particu- lar, are especially vivid* We have vision-memory records of various members of the spaceships crew, hut smell memories of every indi- vidual. Apparently, however, little or no technical information can be had from the animal because of the disinterest of the 'Buck1 — this is the auditory memory ot the animal's name for itself— in such matters. Memories of the naval base and of the presumed home planet of the invaders are concerned almost ex- clusively with smells, Jt is ex- tremely concerned with tree* and posts and the smells associated with them . We regret that no useful technical information can be had . . An order from the Department of War: ''"URGENT. FIRST ATTEN- TION. THIS ORDER SUPER- SEDES AHL OTHERS WHAT- SOEVER AND CLAIMS THE OBEDIENCE OF EVERY C1TT- ZEN BEFORE ANY OTHER ACTIVITY WHATEVER. The Planetary Council has decided that information obtained from t-ie Hnch will determine our attitude toward the invaders. Tbe fullest data must be secured concerning the retative loyalty of superior and in- ferior. Subject races can be psy- chologically conditioned to loyalty to tyrannical superiors. To what extent was this done to the Buck, and how? To what extent are rights conceded to the inferior race? What punishments are inflicted for A&TOt! NDISC PCIEXCB-FTCTIOS

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mistakes ot the mce of inferior intelligence? What social stigma attaches to them? To what degree does the tiuck expect loyalty to bis kind from the superior race? What is the nature of the compact be- tween the two— explicit or implied — and tu what extent is it observed by the superior? What . ♦ The order continued in exhaust- ing detail. It was based upon the realization that Buck — as a domestic animal— contai tied within his skutl an absolutely objective picture oi the human race. Duck would not be unbiased in his contemplation of his memories, but his memories would be right. A dogVeye view of humanity would "7>e, within its limits, an extraordinary revealing view. The Planetary Council accepted the conclusion that no technical or military information could be had from Buck, But wliat information it could obtain would lie priceless. No man could be truthful about his own race, tu Eking to an alien entity. Kut a dog — The Planetary Council pushed its preparations for war, It had very little hope of anything but never- ending battle through all the cen- turies of the future, But what hopes it had were centered in Buck. Buck, himself, found. life con- fusing. The place where the life- boat had landed was. fenced in, now, and he was inside the f^nce. The things which were not men treated him with respect, and he treated' them with the self -respecting cour- tesy of a well-mannered dog. They mot>A« A JTOI 5>T pointed tilings at him, and he was bored. But presently they had a loud^ speaker which made noises, Onco it barked at him in exact similitude of another dog — in fact, Buck re- membered a dog at the Rigel bas* whose bark had sounded exactly like that. He barked back, angrily. But the loud-speaker did not bark again. ' Another time, HoEden'» voice came out of it. And Buck leaped in frenzied joy, his tail wa- ging until it was almost a blur, and gave tongue in such bowlings of heartbroken joy as a dog does give when his master returns after many days. When he realized that it was the loud- speaker be Could not ac- cept the disappointment. He went whimpering about the enclosure, searching for Holden, There were other stimuli applied to Buck, too. One of the Masians brought him food. At first Buck .sniffed at tt gingerly. If lie must eat of unfamiliar things, he pre- ferred food of his own killing. But ultimately he tolerated the Masian arid ate. The Masian had a loud- speaker attached to his bodyN and it said "Buck"* on various occasion and at first Buck's tail wagged joyously at the familiar syllabic. But even when the Masian mastered the articulation of the name him- self. Ruck did not accept him fully, He wanted men. Especially, he wanted Holden. He dozed, and dreamed of Holden. He slept* atid sometimes has dreams were such as to make his paws make tiny, jerk- ing, frustrated movements, and sometimes he harked or whimpered or whined in his sleep. But the j si

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whinings were of the desperate joy lit felt when In his dreams he saw Holden. He. had no idea that the things pointed at him by the Masians made Records of his memories as they were evoked by the increasing stock of stimuli the Masiaus were able to apply* Buck had understood the meaning; of well over a hundred words, when combined with certain tones of voice. These words in- variably provoked similar responses as the loud-speaker uttered them from the record' of Buck's memo- ries While the preparations for the destruction of the Ke*inessG but it rankled • The material brought back from Masa Four was duly examined. The space-radio records piled up, and electron-telescope examination of the planets continued, and evi- dences of highly-developed civili- zation accumulated — while scanner- beam observation of the Kennessce from Masa Four went on unend- ingly. It was a dubious situation ex- tended almost to the breaking point-. The lifeboat voyage had produced a reaction of ground vehicles and a &v o u k d i x i i s c i n x dn ■ f j<: t j n n

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atmosphere flu.']".-;. It ^avc an im- pression of limited offensive power, "But on the other hand, there was interplanetary travel, here. And the scanner beam on the Kenm'jtsee and the instant detection of the lifeboat was proof that the people of this system knew exactly what, the Ken lies sec was. A civilization without defense weapons -but with interplanetary ships and space radio should have -tried to make contact with the Kennssscr. If only to placate in- vaders, some attempt to open com- munication should have been made. Absence of such efforts was omi- nous. The appearance was that of a race which played possum until it could strike an overwhelming blow. So the Kennessce stayed in a state of nerve-racking alertness, with detectors out all around and relays set to throw on overdrive should a high- velocity guided missile seem to draw near. "It looks bad," admitted the skipper to H olden, "We'd have tried to make contact T in their shoes. But whoever raided the Capella colony simply rode, in and started killing. May he these people are that sort. Anyhow, if they do get us our fleet will know who did it i:w-:: FtOF AO ANDIST

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and come take them a pari with planet -s 1 1 Lasher bombs. ' 1 HoTUen said: dourly: "I wish I'd been in that lifeboat. When do we send back another message torp?" "We make no more landings/* said the skipper. He added, "Vou'd never be able to find where the other boat landed, and any haw "Wafe probably blasted the in- stant they saw nimT" said H olden. He couldn't blame anybody, bin he was angry. He missed Buck. On the twelfth day after Buck's landings an' interplanetary ship took oft from Musa Four. The K^nn^ssce had ridden in beyond that p Janet, now, and was headed for a per- il e) ion point on the other side of Maaa Gamma, If she survived to get there, it was the skipper's in- Leution to put on overdrive and go back to base with all- his records* But this interplanetary ship changed all plans. It appeared to be a rocket* in that it left behind a. trailing ■cloud of vapor which looked like ejected gases- The spectroscopes, though, showed it to be merely hy- drocarbon— smoke particles. And it altogether lacked the backward velocity which would have proved it a means qi propulsion. It was simply a trail of vapor, as if for advertisement. ^ In two days it had climbed well away from the planet and changed direction in a long smooth curve. The Navigation Officer came to the control room shortly after, to re- port that it was on an interception 1H course, with interception speed, and would draw gradually closer to the Kenttessee until contact was made, Then its trail o£ vapor broke, and swelled, and broke, and swelled, a* if unmistakably to draw attention from the cruiser. The control room loud-speaker boomed shortly t HoLdcu's voice: "Sir!" he said harshly. "That phony rocket is beaming signals at us, running up and down the spec- trum and trying frequency and amplitude modulation and every- thing else. Listen!" The speaker said resonantly : "tV&ofr It was Buck's joyous bark. An instant later en me the word "Buck" in a distorted but definitely recognizable version of Hold en's own voice. And then, quite in- sanely, "Lie doiun, sir?' "Come get it, boy!'* "Fetch itf Buck" and all the other phrases to which the- dog Buck had been trained to respond. "As a. means of opening communication between alien and mutually suspicious races, the vo- cabulary known to a big brown dog named Buck lacked dignity, hut nothing could have been much more in format rve, f "You see what it means, sir!" said Holden in a strained voice. "They got the stun: out of Buck?s brain, somehow 1 They read his memories! They must have, some- how! They want to make contact I" Then he said thick'iy, "But if they killed him to rummage in. his brain—" "Mr. Holden," said the skipper, "answer them, please. Speak as if to Buck himself, and see what ASTOUNDING SCIENCE-FICTION

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happens." In the speaker in the control room hi? heard Hoi den's voice as he spoke into another microphone. "Buck J" said Holden hoarsely. *£If you hear me, speak tip, boy I Buck 5 Do jou hear ine ?" And then the loud-speaker bel- lowed with the joy on s uproar with which Buck replied to his master. He barked and bayed and yelped and whined all at once, and then barked crazily like a creature gone quite mad with joy. "He ... he heard me, sir/' said Holden unsteadily. "They didn't hurt him! I ... I think, air — n "Quite so, Mr. Holden/1 said the skipper sedately* "I was about to order you to take a lifeboat and take another chance to learn some* thing of these people. Suppose you " go over and make contact with them? A race which knows a good dog when it seed one, and is honest enough to return him to his master, can't be the race that mas- sacred bali a million people on Capella Three! The Mas [an scientist who'd tried to replace Ho] den in Ruck's affec- tions nevertheless grew rather friendly with Holden after the Kennessee landed on Mas* FourH A message torp, send back to base, had explained the situation and the reason for friendly centact with the Marian civilization. Of course, if the 'Kenmssee vanished, the Masians woufd be known to be definitely responsible, but tliat did not seem to bother them. And it did not bother the humans, either. X'ftOPAQANJ>l ST i The Masian scientist explained to Holden: "It has worked out very .well. With your atomic power, you can put any amount of energy into the power beam we've showed you, for battle with our common enemy. It is odd that we made power beams to fuel our interplanetary ships be- cause we didn't have atomic energy , and you made atomic energy be- cause you didn't have power beams 1" , "There'll be a lot of stuff that will fit together like that" said Holden. "Our civilization will mesh nicely, as long as we trust each other.*.' "Yes," said the Masian, somehow ruefully- "We intended to blast you to atoms, because you were afraid, and i you intended to destroy our. planets, because you were, also, I think both our races owe much to Buck." "I still," said Holden uncom- fortably, "can't see how you were able to trust us so completely. I don't -think we'd have trusted strangers as you do us* Just be- cause of Buck — " "But it is because of Buck/* said the Masian, wisely, "We could extract all of bis memories, AIL of them. His kind adores men. He would accept any cruelty from you. But you arc not cruel. He would give his life gladly, but no man would ask it. He is yours* unreservedly, but you do not accept from him without giving in return . Do you know when the policy of the Planetary Council, lo trust men without limit, was finally decided ?"i 1M

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"Why . . . no," said Hoi den, "When you entered the air lock of our ship/' said the Masian, smiling, "and Buck met you. He had told us every secret he could impart He ha that a dog is a Masian 's best friend. There's no statue of J J nek on Earth* though. Hut he doesn't mind. Buck is a very happy do-. He's with Holden. He follows him everywhere* 1 !>G ASTOUNDING HO I « K CE-FlCT I OJ*

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BRASS Honest, guys, Kuttner isn't wearing all the false whiskers — and that December editorial did bring in some netv authors. E. E. Smith says Fit be seeing his new serial soon — may start about No&ember, The tess of pages -vas art unex- pected blow; the paper situation is bad. We ran out of that roto- gravure paper j couldn't get more,, and had to change our original plans* Dear Mr, Campbell: I suppose this letter is useless — you seem to have eliminated the Analytical Lab — but I'H write it anyway, since I have a few things to say before I am finished* First, the stories. 1. "Child's Play," Who wrote it? Could it be another name for Kutt- ner, perish the thought? You never can tell, you know. The guy is t very body in stL A phis for the yam, which may be among the top five of the year if you put out no more classics before December. 2. "The Equalizer," which would have rated first, needless tassed them. Ye gods— it's been going; on for the last ten years I * 4. "Tomorrow's Children," This is ' one that T don't think Kuttner - wrote. These two guys may be real, for all I know, Give their first ef- fort a B plus, on its merits as a first effort, Here's hoping they stay and improve; they ought to go some- where* 5. "Turning Point." Rehash, like tlit one above* The only thing that saved them was being well- written. I am getting darned sick and tired of end of the world stories, atom war and otherwise. Just because you are a nuclear physicist, and are naturally interested in atom bomb stuff, doesn't mean that you have to 1S7

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keep on foisting us the stuff. Not only you, but your competitors. Yeah. It gets monotonous and even sickening at times. Let up a little, willya? How about some galactic yarns? G. O. Smith can do femr if . E. E. can't. By the way, tell E. E. to hurry and finish the last Lensman. We are breathlessly waiting for it. Yeah. Tell him also not to make it an atom- war story. Rogers* cover was woiftierf ul. It m is fully up to the standard set by him in prewar days, I hope that you continue to use Timmins off and on occasionally, Incidentally, is Sehnce- man ever coming back? Foundation stories. pnkrimvfi World*. And another thing. When warn-- ing us about- the new paper* you said : **The jiages will be the same.1' That is a direct quote, sir. The first issue you didn't lie. You kept the slick section t and 178 pages. Now what do you do? Pretend that you are editing a S&S pulp, and cut us down to 162 pages, eliminating the slick section. And still, of course, charging the same price. Naturally. That couldn't be changed. li you raised it, nobody would buy the tna£- azine. If you cut it— well, that's just Out of the question. No hard feelings, but you might not try to pre! end in your editorials. We can stand bad news, straight, without pretensions; Bring back the Analytical Lab- oratory. Dont drop In Times To Come. Let's have more STURGEON, —Don Wilson, 495 N. Third Street, Tianning, California. ICS Beginning of an "Answer"? Dear John: Hal Clements* "Answer," in the April issue, is closer to reality than you*d think from reading the story. You're aware of the theoretical work, now' going on in several parts of ihe world, in representing reac- tion patterns of the human nervous system atid other complex systems by means of equivalent "networks.*' Professor Norbert Wiener of MIT — who is, incidentally t one of the leaders in this theoretical develop- ment— Eel Is the following story, showing bow remarkably far we've goiic on the practical side. It happened at Chicago this March. One of the University of Chicago boys had completed a gad- get, not too credible a gadget at thatP for the use of the blind. It could scan a page of type and read it aloud ! You tuay have read about it. Well, it* inventor was expound- ing its operation, to a group of his 'colleagues when, one of them, an anatomist at Illinois, was given to ill ink. ** Isn't that last diagram he asked, "a diagram of the fourth sub- retina] layer?" ■ Investigation showed that indeed some of the "coding" operations of the machine paralleled the coding o pe rations o t the human cye+ We're weil on our way to Clements' "an- swer !" However, since our knowl- edge of the bratn*s working, for that matter our knowledge of anything, can hardly be expected ever to be complete, I doubt that wesH ever be driven either to assuming a mystical AKTOUNDXi'G S CT K KCE F I CTI OS

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spirit or to the dilemma which con- fronted Dr. Wren. — Chan Davis. As usual — with a well-liked issue, ratings varied cuonnoitsly. Dear Mr. Campbell: My ratmg of the April issue fol- lows. As I wrote you once before, you seem to hit alternately excellent and only so-so issues. This one is super. As a result, rating It was difficult. If it were possible, I'd put them all in first place. Here's how I finally wound up, though: Ht: "Psych's War" (Hopkinson, Jr. )— not only possible, but highly probable in the future. Also, a grand job of writing. 2nd: "Project" { Padgett )— this ■ is near-perfection. 3rd : "Answer" (demerit) — some highly Interesting technical data' in this one — hence the third spot. 4th: "An Enemy of Knowledge'1 (Phillips) — -a hauntmg,pLecc, and i needed warning. By no means a, new idea, but Phillips knows people better than some who have tried the theme, I'd say he comes close to actuality. 5th: 'Time and Time Again" (Piper) — I loved this one, and would have rated it higher, only it seemed to fall off a bit toward . the end+ It seems illogical that if one could come back and effect an alternate destiny that the en- tire sequence of events would be so altered that the "memory1* would b* inaccurate, and useless. For instance, a $5000 bet on As- sault would likely Iiare changed the odds, so that the original TACK 3 ei^ht-to-onc odds would be low- ered. And so on. That's only a minor sample. 6th : "Homo of the Gods" (van Vogt, AH or EA) — somebody had to be last, and this time it's one of my favorite writers, Reason; this is the second Lord Clane tale I've encountered, and it seems that these would be far better if serial- ized, rather than thrust forth one at a time, where one must strug- gle with memory — as I have to ! — to recall the former situation* these characters got into, and which events DO colflr this tale, independent though it "may be, -Or is this YOUR fault? I'm not panning Van.Vogt* mind you. It's just that this tale didn't quite ring the bell as some of his have* Incidentally, I'd stick your "New Art" item in there about fhird place, too, if possible, be- cause you handed me a piece of information I *ncver knew till nowNf — about the metal plane* Kids nowadays use telephone/ radio, and automobile with the same nonchalance as they do a knife and fork, and know nothing whatever of the sweat that went into the creation of those com- monplace items. I*m glad you dug that up the way you did — Philip Ht Scheller* Upper King St., RJ?.D. No, 4-, Greenwich, ■ Connecticut, Hiroshima — 4 square miles j Sibe^ rian meteor- — 400 1 Dear Mr, Campbell : The April ASF maintains the

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traditionally high standards of the magazine. In addition the new for- mat is a decided improvement. I would rate the stories as fol- lows : 1. "I Iodic of the Gocb"— Van Vogt 2. "Time and Time Again"— Piper 3. "Project" — Padgett 4. "Answer"— Clement 5. "Psych's War1— Hopkimon 6. "An Enemy of Knowledge" — Phillips Although I have rated it low, I am especially interested in "Psyches War." The reason for its low rat- ing is that the author has under- estimated the possibilities of the technique. It would be more effi- cient, if less dramatic, to include a few special situations where the hypnosis would be removed. Or even permit the subject to have conscious control — autohypiiosis, as it were. Which reminds? me; irTs rather strange how that Russian official up in Canada gave so much informa- tion so easily. In the hands of a less capable author, I should expect the Lord Ckne to turn out to be a normal man of present-day type, with every- one else, o£ course, being mutants. A theme I do not remember see- ing used very much is the mining of the asteroids, not for rare metals, but for iron, nickel, chrome, ct cetera. It shouldn't take too much energy to nud^e a small hunk of metal from its orbit a few million miles and cause it to intersect that of Earth , Profitable and dangerous. - As a potential weapon, a few thou- sand tons of Iron traveling at ten nips would compare quite favorably (?) with the A-bomb. — Warren Rayle, 6fi3 l£. 1 07th Street, Cleve- land 8, Ohio, Tltere are just so many available pages to be filled ifi the wafj&ziiie ; stories mid articles don't like to cut or pad. The only elastic feature of the magazine is Brass Tacks — atid sometimes it gets squeezed ottt. Dear Mr+ Campbell ; There's another magazine in the field which claim s that science has caught up with the old type science- fiction, and that it is now publishing a new type. This new type, after some study, appears to be practically the same as the old type, Only not quite as good. Astounding, how- ever, for the last two years or so, without fanfare or fuss, has been quietly going ahead and pub- lishing a typt? of science-fiction that really is new. and that makes most of the old type seem, weak by com- parison. In fact, all but one depart- ment of the magazine have been steadily getting better and better all the lime. The stories are beautifully and carefully done, with really thought-provoking ideas and charac- ters that will slick in the memory of fans for a long time to come* The illustrations aret almost without ex- ception, unusually wtlFset up. Bern- bach^ illustrations in the April issue are very fine, keep him on. The covers get better and better all the ASTOUNDING SCI EK CE-FICT7 OK

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time. The articles are really timely, informative, and generally far ahead of the Sunday-supplement stuff that passes for faa-Jab Pencil Packet* " FwJI'Cut RoomiejCU Non-Rip Seam* At stores tttmrSfflf V SHIRTS ^* PANTS RtlliHc* H,mft Kl iHtflf CBr. 112 W, W*r« St. . &ta|»f BrlAfl3 TACKS 1U

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inly such fan writing, sometimes I led that I am — it makes no never mind. Another thing that would be very much welcomed would be the publication of more letters, technical or otherwise. You could maybe print the test paragraph or two of nine or ten letters, instead of three or four in entirety. And please give its more editorial comment on the letters, not one sentence or none, but a real addition to the discussion. It adds a lot to the column, gives it more of a feeling of discussion. Brass Tacks has gotten a. lot worse than It used to be. .Shorten the article a bit, leave out the Lab, but give us more letters! Of the stories in the April issue, X rate "An Enemy of Knowledge*' first — if mankind doesn't realize the danger of another war^ iL won't he the fault of * Astounding, Second cernes ''Home of the Gods," I -hope this series continues, I'm just as interested as Clatie in finding out about the civilisation that preceded this- If it was so wonderful that the civilization after it is degenerate even with spaceships and what no, it really must have been something 1 The others are a little -har^ to rate, they're almost uniformly good. Put "Answer1* third, "Psych's War" fourth, "Time and Time Again" fifth, and "Project" sixth- "Proj- ect" just doesn't hit the spot, somehow, it isn't up to Padgett's usual standard. The idea of Homo superior developing from atom bomb rays seems to be a httle farfetched anyhow, and besides, is Homo sapiens so much ahead of Neander- thal man? He's cleverer, all right, 183 iu using his hands, and discover! fig tacts and usmg them— but physi- cally and emotionally, he isn't really too much different. It seems to us, looking hack, that the different spe- cies of man came quickly, very different from those preceding but I'll bet that as a -general thing the fact that sorne one person was su- perior wasn't even realized by trie OLncrs. 1 think Homo superior will come as a natural mutation } not helped by the atom bomb at all, with possibly a little more emo- tional stability, and physical adapta- tions more suited to walking upright, ami so on, but I doubt if he'll make Homo Sapiens seem like awed chil- dren. -Xiiturc changes things slowly, nor with dramatic sudden- ness. And in the light of the recent rep oris from Japan, it seems much more likely that the effect of the atom bomb on the human race will belhe kind that is described in "To- morrOv/s Children." As a mutter of fact, a sequel to "Tomorrow's Children" would be very inte resting. Go fifty years ahead of the time of TCf and give us a picture o£ a race of mutants. It might be a little shocking, but very interesting to speculate on. So here I end tip with the same type of long, long letter that I railed against. But how about it, see if you can't improve on Brass Tacks, You might conduct a poll* and if I'm in the minority I'll bow out gracefully. Aside from Brass Tacks^ all your departments and every- thing are head and shoulders above the rest of the field.— Margaret Mc- Intyre, Box 192, Isanti, Minnesota* ASTOUN'FjTNti SC T RXCIS-F JC'f I ON

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A LIFE OF ACTION FOR MEN OF ACTION I Bypflp> H U.S. COAST GUARD ^ Mar

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