R. W. Stockheker

“ I snapped.
"But, Freddy," she wailed, "he might have killed you!"
I had to laugh. "You mean Arnie?" I snickered. "Why Arnie wouldn't hurt a fly. Besides, it's against the rules for clean-cut American kids to wrestle rough."
"I mean Dr. MacCluett," she squalled. "That was a very dangerous operation he performed on you. He might have done an irreparable injury to your poor little brain."
In all my life I had never heard such a silly statement.
"Panda, I got to tell you something," I sighed. "Even that bear in that carnival couldn't damage my brain. ”

“ MacCluett type your symbiotic waveform. We may be able to get a waveshape picture of the enmity factor in its pure form. Such a study might lead to the unlocking of the riddle of the antipathy some ethnic groups instinctively hold for others. This might easily turn out to be the dawn of a new era."
Well, as long as she put it that way, I didn't see how I could refuse. I figure if there's one thing this world can use, it's the dawn of a new era. ”

“ You have what we bio-electronicists call a rogue symbiotic waveform."
She could be right. Big-electronics was a little out of my line. I didn't feel I knew enough about the subject to argue.
"What throws me," I said, "is why I should reciprocate your revulsion. I mean, ordinarily I am a sort of good-natured slob. I don't often get mad—not even at kindly old ladies."
It seemed Panda also had a theory about that. "This antagonism undoubtedly stems from the fact that we are at opposite ends of the symbiotic scale," she said. "We are a hundred per cent incompatible." ”

“ These Bel Air soirees are usually loaded with earnest intellectuals, and if there's one thing that upsets me it's mingling with earnest intellectuals. But Leo is my manager. What he decides I should do, I do.
"Being seen at this brain brawl will be smart box office, Freddy," Leo told me. "You can use a little high-brow publicity."
I could have used a little premonition and second sight too. It would have kept me from getting mixed up with Panda, the beautiful Ph.D. It would have kept me from taking that fatal fall to Dr. Stanley MacCluett's synthetic symbiotic wave. ”

“ I'm proud of that pig farm. People may detest me, but I get along fine with pigs. We're real compatible.
The party Leo picked out for me to attend that night was being held in one of those mansions which come equipped with their own private mountain. It was jammed clear to the upstairs maid with artists, swamis and people, and I was prepared to have a very dull night. What I wasn't prepared for was to meet Panda.
At the time, I didn't know that's who she was. All I knew was suddenly here was this spectacular girl with the glossy white streak in her satin black hair standing in front of me. ”

“ Arnie finally terminated this loathsome exhibition by lying down and covering his head with his arms. Either that crowd had to cheer fair or Arnie wasn't going to play.
I don't want to linger any longer on that match. It is something better forgotten by one and all. It is a black and infamous blot, buried now in the pages of wrestling history. Let us leave it there.
Leo waited until we were back in the dressing room before blowing his top. "Freddy," he screeched, "what disgusting thing have you done? Have you rescued some blonde who was going down in the briny deep for the ninth time?" ”

“ Panda snapped, giving me a look that would have carved a duck. "This isn't going to hurt."
She was right, Dr. MacCluett said. All they were going to do was use a radio electroencephalograph on me. That radio electroencephalograph was just a series of modified FM transmitters which they were going to set up around me. Those transmitters would pick up my wave patterns and transmit them over to that receiver in the corner. That receiver would flash the pattern to that oscilloscope beside it. I would be as safe as a baby in its mother's arms. Safer even. ”

“ Mind driving around a bit?"
While I drove around she told me about herself. Her name, she said, was Marsha Carson, though her friends all called her Panda. She worked for the Keevan Research Foundation. Her boss was Dr. Stanley MacCluett, the famous bio-electronicist, who was presently doing some important work on waveform mutuality. ”

“ It wasn't anything to get sore about. Lots of women throw drinks at me. I'm used to it by now. When it happens, I merely draw myself up to my full six-feet-four and drip disdainfully down on the drink-tosser. ”

“ MacCluett to do. Still, I guess having a high I.Q. doesn't necessarily guarantee a man against being a complete jerk in certain things.
"Why, that poor stupid genius!" I chuckled.
Leo let out a strangled roar. "Freddy," he bellowed, "what is this pinto Ph.D. saying? Is she saying you have let some wacky scientist tamper with your putrid personality?"
That wacky scientist had tampered all right. There wasn't much point in denying it, so I just raised my eyebrows like a furry pair of humpbacked Japanese bridges.
Panda drew a long shuddering breath and began to close in on me. "When Dr. ”

“ The reason they consistently refrain from doing this is merely because promoters dearly love to amass money. Time and time again cash customers will come back to the arena in the hopes of seeing some clean-cut American kid twist me up like a cruller. ”