Charles Dye

“ Forty-five minutes to go. The beam wasn't going to work. The sudden realization cut into Ballard like a knife. He should have known that in the first place; a beam meant for plastic wasn't intense enough for the skin of a spaceship.
This time as Ballard once more climbed the hill, the stars seemed to be smiling at him. But not with friendliness. They seemed to smile death.
He got the jackhammer all the way down to the ship before a devastating thought struck him. He'd forgotten that the hammer had a cracked 5R bit; it would fly to pieces on the diamond hardness of the hull. ”

“ A Federation investigator would not be on a wild goose chase.
The plates were taken away and cups of steaming black coffee put between them. He would have to warn Johnny. It was strange how well you could know a man as well as he knew Johnny, firmly enough to believe that, despite evidence, everything the man did was right.
"Why must it be a myth?" Camba asked softly.
"It's ridiculous!" Alcala protested. "Why would any man—" His voice cut off as unrelated facts fell into a pattern. He sat for a moment, thinking intensely, seeing the century of plague as something he had never dreamed.... ”

“ I said civilization is cooperation among men in adapting to environment--which includes man."
The two men stared at each other, and for awhile there was silence.
"Nevertheless," Thougor finally said, "Thor and blood offerings continue!"
Builder watched Thougor turn and stalk out of the tiny hovel that housed his plans and his work, himself and his dreams. What could he do? He could only appeal to the tribe's reason; Thougor could appeal to their emotions which were far stronger. But unless emotion was controlled, used wisely, there could never be any reason. ”

“ Camba said with a sneering merriment, "the Syndrome Plagues have come and they have gone. Where is this change?"
Alcala tried to express it clearly. "We are stronger. Potentially, we are tremendously stronger. But we of this generation are still weak and ill, as our parents were, from the shock of the change. And we need silicone feeding; we have not adjusted yet. Our illness masks our strength." He thought of what that strength would be!
Camba smiled and took out a small notebook. "The disease is connected with silicones, you say? The original name of John Delgados was John Osborne Drake. ”

“ He couldn't spare the time to turn his head and watch Walton, but he could follow the other's progress in welding the framework of the blinker tower by the irregular breathing and clanks and buzzes coming through his earphones. He listened to Walton's motions with an automatic alertness developed over six long weeks of tension—ever since the finding of the rotenite nuggets on the second of the light-marker asteroids. The rotenite represented enough wealth to make them among the richest men in the solar system. Or one of them—the richest. That was what Ballard was afraid of. ”

“ It would not do to give the investigator any reason for suspicion by refusing.
As the 'copter lifted into the air, Camba spoke with a more friendly note in his voice, as if he humored a child. "Come, Alcala, you're a doctor dedicated to saving lives. How can you find sympathy for a murderer?"
Alcala sat in the dark, looking through the windshield down at the bright street falling away below. "I'm not a practicing medico; only one night a week do I come to the hospital. I'm a research man. I don't try to save individual lives. I'm dedicated to improving the average life, the average health. ”

“ Hours and days turned into weeks and months as Builder taught his people what feeble knowledge he possessed in arithmetic, simple engineering--such as the dam--and most of all, instilling in them the will to want to learn and investigate and question anything they came in contact with--even the very thing he was asking them to do. ”

“ Alcala smiled. "I wouldn't want to add to the national debt."
"Not at all, Senor. The Federated States are only too happy thus to express a fraction of their gratitude by adding a touch of luxury to the otherwise barren and self-sacrificing life of a scientist."
"You shame me," Alcala said dryly. It was true that he needed every spare penny for the health of Nita and the child, and for the laboratory. A penny saved from being spent on nourishment was a penny earned. He picked up the menu again and ordered steak.
The investigator lit a cigar, asking casually: "Do you know John Osborne Drake?" ”

“ The power-pack was empty.
Ballard's reason reeled. He grabbed the crowbar and jabbed at the fast cooling metal.
Too late.
In the one minute he had left to live, Ballard suddenly became calm, reconciling himself to his end. Wearily he crawled out of the tube. At least Walton would be in for a nasty surprise, with the main drive recoil plate gone. And to make sure, he would push it off into space. With one last surge of fury he dragged up the foot thick plate he could never have lifted back on Earth, and started shoving to give it momentum.
Momentum equals velocity times mass. ”

“ Builder realized, with a sinking heart, that he was much too old for the job he'd undertaken. Too late in life had he discovered these people. Almost all his energy since youth had been sapped just looking for a segment of humanity. ”

“ Camba urged softly. "'Why would any man—'"
He tried to find a way of explaining which would not seem to have any relationship to John Delgados. "It has been recently discovered"—but he did not say how recently—"that the disease of Syndrome Plague was not a disease. It is an improvement." He had spoken clumsily.
"An improvement on life?" Camba laughed and nodded, but there were bitterness and anger burning behind the small man's smile. "People can be improved to death by the millions. Yes, yes, go on, Senor. You fascinate me."
"We are stronger," Alcala told him. "We are changed chemically. ”

“ His first income tax was paid in 1970, exactly one hundred and twenty years ago."
"Other men are that old," said Alcala.
"Other men are old, yes. Those who survived the two successive plagues, were unusually durable." Camba finished and pushed back his plate. "There is no crime in being long-lived, surely. But he has changed his name five times!"
"That proves nothing. Whatever his reasons for changing his name, it doesn't prove that he is Syndrome Johnny any more than it proves he is the cow that jumped over the moon. Syndrome Johnny is a myth, a figment of mob delirium." ”

“ Old Builder knew he didn't have the strength to wrestle; he managed to get his pile of skins unfolded and, with his last ounce of strength, throw them over the head of his attacker. Somehow he managed to wiggle out from underneath and climb to his feet. His assailant began to scream for help, but the heavy skins muffled his shouts.
Quickly Builder looked around for something to hit him with. The only thing his eye spotted was the idol. He hobbled over and, using both arms, dragged it off its dias. ”

“ Asteroid 1207 came spinning into the auxiliary ship's viewplate like a glittering black mirage. The eight-mile chunk of rock was the last link in a chain of nine asteroid navigational-markers still needing blinker equipment installation. ”

“ Alcala was feeling increasingly nervous. Actually, Johnny was working at his laboratory.
"What do you know of his activities?" Camba asked.
"A biochemist." Alcala tried to see past the meditative mask of the thin dark face. "He makes small job-lots of chemical compounds. Special bug spray for sale to experimental plantations, hormone spray for fruits, that sort of thing. Sometimes, when he collects some money ahead, he does research."
Camba waited, and his silence became a question. Alcala spoke reluctantly, anger rising in him. "Oh, it's genuine research. ”

“ When the god and Morge were discovered missing, Thougor had called the village together, explaining that Thor had left them, taking Morge as a sacrifice because he was dissatisfied with the tribe's paltry blood offerings and worship. Therefore a great death sacrifice of young men and women must be undertaken to pacify Thor and cause his return. ”

“ Mass is a constant. Weight is a variable, but mass is what knocks holes in things—spaceships, for instance.
Just one thing could save him now—momentum. Ballard glanced at his wrist. Twenty seconds to go. Then maybe another twenty from the oxygen in the connecting tube. Not much time—
He bounded off after the still-drifting plate, then began forcing it around in a semi-circle back toward the ship. The recoil plate sluggishly began to move faster as it gained momentum. It started getting ahead of him so he gave it one last push, and it slowly crept away heading straight for the hull. ”