Joseph Samachson

“ Arthur's voice was choked, and tears filled his eyes. "Do you ever stop to think of the place that men like Arnold and Quisling hold in human history? When I think that your name will join theirs, that it will be even more infamous than theirs, I feel like killing myself."
The older Everson laughed, rather harshly. "If I'm right, I'm no traitor. If you're right, there will be no human race, and no human history to record my name. Don't be such a child, Arthur, and don't try to make history's decisions for it. ”

“ Angel's lower jaw had dropped. He stammered, "What is this? Professor, that ain't a gun, is it?"
"Much more than a gun," said Crusoe softly. "That's the magic. When I pointed with my hand, without thinking, it was because I was accustomed to having a weapon like that. But it was the Professor who actually had it. It was he who made those rifles explode. And because he didn't want any one to suspect that he had such a thing on him, he let me have the credit."
"It will do you no good to remember," said the Professor. "In the long run it will do you no good." ”

“ The good doctor looked around, smiled, greeted several ladies of his acquaintance as if he were witnessing a private strip-tease of their souls, and then came directly up to the platform. "How are you, Ronar?"
"Fine, Doctor. Are you here to keep an eye on me?"
"I hardly think that's necessary. I have an interest in the results of the judging. My wife has baked a cake."
"I had no idea that cake-baking was so popular a human avocation."
"Anything that requires skill is sure to become popular among us. By the way, Ronar, I hope you don't feel hurt." ”

“ He ripped the flaring-mouthed gun from the tank. His hands twisted the thick metal into a shape it had never known before, bent it into a strange curve, fashioned it so that it would emit overtones to chill the souls of those who heard it. His brain charged the instrument with the energy of his own mind, energy that would send its voice to the far corners of this diseased planet, and leave not a single individual deaf to its dreaded tones. ”

“ Would he consider her properly reconstructed if he gave her the right number of arms and legs, and artificial organs of sight that acted like eyes—and made her look like some creature out of Hell? Would he be proud of his handiwork, as human doctors had been known to be, when their patients ended up alive and helpless, their bodies scarred, their organs functioning feebly and imperfectly? Would he turn her into something that Fred would look at with abhorrence and disgust?
Fred had always been a little too sensitive to beauty in women. ”

“ That night it was clear that neither the judges nor the audience thought much of Ollie as an eater. Hungry he undoubtedly was, but it was obvious that his stomach had shrunk from years of disuse, and besides, he didn't have the build of a born eater. He was long and skinny, whereas the other contestants seemed almost as broad and wide as they were tall. In gaining weight, as in so many other things, the motto seemed to be that those who already had would get more. Ollie had too little to start with. ”

“ The scratching at the door stopped next. This time there came the howling of octerocap heads, and then a crash high up, as if the creature had been hurled with great force against the house. The thing that had hurled it next pounded on the door, and to her horror Alice saw the door yield at the same time both at the bottom and at the top, as if it had been hit by both head and foot at once. Never before had any animal been large enough to accomplish such a feat. This must be a predator of a new type, huger and stronger than the others. ”

“ Too much static from both Mars and Earth this time of year."
That was the beauty of the marak, he thought. It changed his mood, and left him calm and in full command of his faculties, able to handle any problem that came up. He himself, of course, missed neither the radio nor the television, and he never touched the fine library of micro-books. He didn't need them.
A shadow flitted by outside the thick window, blotting out for a moment the blaze of stars. It was the shadow of death, as he knew, and he was able to smile even at that. Even death was wonderful. ”

“ The helmet was the first nuisance. There would be others too. He couldn't even talk in what had become his natural manner, with a whine in every word, a whine that came from being treated with contempt by police and fellow-criminals alike. A god had to speak with slow gravity, with dignity. A god had to walk like a god. A god had endless responsibilities here, it seemed.
He thought again of his mother. Ever since he could remember, it had been, "Georgie, wipe your nose!" and, "Georgie, keep your fingers out of the cake!" and Georgie do this and don't do that. A fine way to speak to a god. ”

“ Mark shivered in the sun. "It's kind of lonely," he said.
"More lonely than the ship?"
"It's different. It's bigger, so it's more lonely."
I'm not so sure, argued Sam mentally. In the ship, we have all of space around us, and nothing's bigger than that. Still, your opinion has to be respected. You're almost as great an expert on the various kinds of loneliness as I am. The difference is that you're loneliest when you're away from people. I'm loneliest in a crowd. That's why I don't mind this planet so much. ”

“ Miss Burton's class was not the only one which had come to hear the famous actor-hunter describe his brave exploits. There were at least five others like it, and by some mistake, a class of boys, who also whispered to each other, in manly superiority, and pretended to find amusement in the presence of so many of the fairer sex.
In this atmosphere of giggles and whispers, Manto and Palit could exchange confidences without being noticed. Palit said savagely, "Why did you tell her that I could act too?"
"Why, because it's the truth. You're a very good animal performer. ”

“ A policeman fired his revolver, but so excitedly that every bullet missed, while he yelled, “It’s not human. It’s not human!”
The gravity was a little too great here for him to do any real flying, but at least his wings, unfolded at last, could take him high into the air in the great room, terrifying and confusing them. As he slowly floated down, he could see them racing around madly. He headed for the door to an outer room. A policeman who was standing in his path could not move his bulk out of the way in time. Kayin crashed into him and sent him sprawling. ”

“ Panic-stricken by the four-dimensional space-warp in which he was trapped, Rogue Rogan stormed at his terrified followers. "By all the devils of the Coal Sack," he shouted, "the man doesn't live who can take me alive! You'll fight and die like men, you hen-hearted cowards...."
But they didn't die like men. In fact, they didn't die at all, and Plato permitted a slight sneer to play across his youthful features. Though he considered himself a passionate admirer of Comets Carter, even he felt dissatisfied with the story. When they were trapped, they were never really trapped. ”

“ You are not the first visitor who has pretended to be real. There were hundreds before you. I have seen press agent stunts by the dozen, and advertising pictures by the hundreds about Mars, about Venus, about the Moon, about visitors from interstellar space. Your pretended colleagues have walked the streets of innumerable cities, until now we are weary of the entire tribe of you. And you yourself, sir, if you will pardon the expression, you are an anticlimax."
"Your race must be insane," protested Xhanph. ”

“ She and Fred could go back to their married life with the knowledge that they would be as happy as ever. Nothing exuberant, of course, but as happy as their own peculiar natures permitted. As happy as a plain and worried wife and a handsome husband could ever be.
Now that this had been decided, the days passed slowly. Her arms and legs grew, and her eyes too. She could feel the beginnings of fingers and toes, and on the sensitive optic nerve the flashes of light came with greater and greater frequency. ”

“ Manto wanted to win easy popularity by treating a few of the other children, but Palit put his girlish foot down. No use arousing suspicion. Even as it was—
"Gee, your father gives you an awful lot of spending money," said Frances enviously. "Is he rich?"
"We get as much as we want," replied Manto carelessly.
"Gosh, I wish I did."
Miss Burton collected her brood. "Come together, children, I have something to say to you. Soon it will be time to go in and hear Mr. George. Now, if Mr. George is so kind as to entertain us, don't you think that it's only proper for us to entertain him?" ”

“ The rocks, the ocean, even the Earth itself. Remember, the entropy of the Universe is supposed to tend to a maximum not only as a whole, but in each of its parts taken in isolation. The Earth's evolution—reversed. Spottily, and maybe that's worse, because some parts will evolve forward and others reverse, as is happening in my own body. Heaven help the world, Old Virgie! And not just the Earth, because what can stop them from spreading? ”

“ If you still want to die after that, I'll shoot you and myself." He looked into her eyes. "I promise, you, dear. And even the Hops know that I carry out my promises," he added bitterly.
He took her in his arms and kissed her, the weapon still in his right hand. Then he put it in a drawer of his desk, and returned to his work.
The minutes passed slowly. He looked up, startled, as the excited voice of his secretary came to him, without the warning bell that should have preceded it. "Mr. Everson! There's been a massacre! The Hops—they've slaughtered thousands! ”

“ Paul took it in his stride, though."
"There aren't any earthquakes on Ganymede," said her father. "If your memory of that incident is correct, you're looking in the wrong place."
"I suppose so," he said. "But what's the right place?"
"Perhaps if you thought of a few more incidents, we might figure it out. It's the little things you don't forget that can be most helpful."
What nonsense, thought Carol, although she kept the thought to herself. The little things can be most harmful. They keep the pain, and the memory of pain, alive and vivid. ”

“ Your experiments are not new, and it is known—” he did not say where it was known—“it is known that they can lead to disaster. They can produce microorganisms of a virulence never before seen here.”
“You’re just imagining things!”
“I do not imagine. At this period, your discovery is of too treacherous a nature to be used.”
Blayson was silent, and Kayin hoped that he was thinking of something else than breaking down the door.
“You will not be the first, Mr. Blayson, to have suppressed a discovery of so great significance.”
“I don’t believe you. Open the door.” ”

“ Louise had tried to argue with him after she had found out, but he had turned every exchange of views into a peaceful discussion, which from his side, at least, was brimming over with good humor. He had even been good-humored when she tried to slip the antidote into his food. It was this attitude of his that had so often left her baffled and enraged, and he had a good chuckle out of that, too. Imagine a wife getting angry because her husband was too good-natured. ”

“ When a driven man arrives at a cemetery world, what else can it be but journey's end—and the start of a new one?
Outside the ship, it was the sun that blazed angrily. Inside, it was Sam Wilson's temper. "Study your lessons," he snarled, with a savageness that surprised himself, "or I'll never let you set foot on this planet at all."
"Okay, Pop," said Mark, a little white around the nostrils. He looked old for so young a kid. ”

“ He kissed her shoulder. "You know, I didn't fall in love with you for your cooking, sweetheart. You don't have to bake any cakes for me. You're good enough to eat yourself."
"He's right," thought Ronar, as he stared at her. "The man's right. Not in the way he means, but he's right." And suddenly, for one second of decision, Ronar's entire past seemed to flash through his mind.
The young bride never knew why she won first prize. ”

“ Small, however, wasn't having any emotional excitement. He said, "What was it, Daddy? Was it really a badgerine?"
"Not this time, son. Just an octerocap."
"As if the other wasn't bad enough," said Alice faintly. The octerocap was an eight-headed wolf, and was as likely to kill newcomers by the fright its appearance induced as much as by its numerous teeth. "Anthony, you must simply get me another gun like yours."
"You can take mine if you really feel unsafe."
"You know I wouldn't take it. You need yours to get home with. And there isn't so much danger as long as you're within calling range. ”

“ On a fair number of planets he found animal-like creatures in different stages of development, and on a few he discovered life that was intelligent. It was with these that he had a renewed feeling of anticipation, the spark of hope glowing momentarily before it faded again.
"It's intelligent life I've got to find," he told himself. "But where?"
His astronomical memory, insofar as it covered the post-nova period, was perfect, and he paid more attention to the details of star-and-planet configuration than he had ever done before. ”

“ To Ollie, things seemed to be happening in more and more bewildering fashion. No sooner had these strange doctors left than Dr. Manson came rushing back, cursing, in a way that would have shocked Hippocrates, the unknown idiot who had summoned him to surgery. Then the nurse came in, with a paper. Ollie gathered that he was being asked to sign something.
He shook his head vigorously. "Not me. I don't sign nothin', sister."
"It's a matter of life and death. Your own life and death. We have to get those things out of your stomach." ”

“ He wondered whether she had been impressed by his helmet. Did she take that to be his actual head? No, of course not. They had made helmets for themselves, therefore they knew that the thing he wore was also a helmet. Perhaps they knew more about him than he thought.
But they continued to worship him, that was the main thing. And Aoooya brought him, every day, little presents, special flowers and food delicacies, that argued a personal affection.
This was a danger that he recognized from the beginning. Perhaps a god might fall in love with a mortal without losing his godliness. Perhaps. ”

“ It would be difficult, no doubt, without arms or legs, without any way of knowing her surroundings; but sooner or later she would think of a way. She had heard somewhere of people strangling themselves by swallowing their own tongues, and the thought cheered her. She could at least try that right now. She could—
No, she couldn't. She hadn't realized it before, but she had no tongue.
She didn't black out at this sudden awareness of a new horror, although she desperately wanted to. She thought: I can make an effort of will, I can force myself to die. Die, you fool, you helpless lump of flesh. ”

“ Two children, a boy and a girl, were standing with a smiling young woman in front of a sturdy, old-fashioned plastic house. Their clothes were out of fashion by a year or so, but that depended on where you were. Mars, for instance, was always three years behind Earth. Here on Ganymede, on the other hand, you might even be ahead of Earth in some respects.
As Carol's eyes lifted to his, she saw him staring at the picture with such longing that she at once knew herself for a fool. They're his wife and children, she thought. He's trying to find them. ”

“ Of course, he needed money. He might travel at half fare, but even that would be expensive. And then there was the matter of food. He'd have to stay hidden until the spaceship took off and there was no turning back, and at the thought of crouching in some dark hold, motionless for hours, cramped, and with an empty stomach—
He wasn't going to starve himself. Even Comets Carter couldn't have gone without eating and got very far in his pursuit of Rogan. Plato would have to acquire money for flight, fare and food. ”

“ Not unless you forget that you're a drunk, and remember that you're a man. Not unless you make me forget that you drank your way through Africa—"
"Because you weren't there with me!"
"—with hardly enough energy to let them dress you in that hunter's outfit and photograph you as if you were shooting lions."
"You're so unforgiving, Carol. You don't have much use for me, do you—consciously, that is?"
"Frankly, Curt, no. I don't have much use for useless people." ”

“ He said bitterly, "You're the addict now and I'm cured."
She stopped smiling and said quietly, "Jim, listen to me. You're wrong, completely wrong. I didn't give you the antidote, and you didn't give me the drug."
"I put it in your wineglass myself."
She shook her head. "That was a tablet I substituted for yours. It's an anti-virus dose from our medicine chest. You took one of the same things. That's why you feel so depressed. You're not under the influence of the drug any more." ”