Stephen Marlowe

“ So you have non-existent external things on the one hand and a non-existent mind on the other. The second nothing somehow gets images of the first nothing, and that's the sum total of the world."
"Interesting," said Qui Dor, ruffling his crest with a three-fingered hand, "but hardly practical. You see, Mr. Channing, our theories work. We can create your collocations of qualities to order. We can even give a man immortality." ”

“ You see, we of Targoff are not interested whether the tiara exists when someone is not actively perceiving it or not. It exists when existence becomes a necessary quality for it. It's a Monday, Wednesday, Friday concept, Mr. Channing. Your mind can grasp it only at times, and perhaps even then flittingly. Like the ontological proof for the existence of your God: by definition. He is an infinitely perfect Being. Since existence is one of the qualities of infinite perfection, He exists. ”

“ A few moments later, a furious Nicholson telio'd Channing and informed him that the New York State Junior League was lobbying Congress to pass a law nullifying diplomatic relations with Targoff. That was the root of the evil, they said. The planet itself. We want nothing to do with them. We don't want our children associating with images. Channing swore in silent desperation. You couldn't argue with the Junior League. Qui Dor Enterprises was lowering the standard of living more and more every day, not maliciously, certainly, but lowering it nevertheless. ”

“ Along with Health and P. W. and Ellen, every church on Earth might soon be clamoring for his scalp.
"Yes and no. Why create—or accept—the godhood if you have the power yourself? No wish-fulfillment was involved. And we never stopped creating."
"Are you trying to tell me that you ... that you can actually, well, create things out of air?"
"Out of nothing, Mr. Channing. For we create nothing. We merely establish your Mr. Hume's collocation of qualities around any desired pattern. We do not admit the existence of the external world, so we are not bothered about creating parts of it. ”

“ Channing?"
"I guess it means the Myers child will get his inheritance."
"It means much more than that. It set a precedent. Qui Dor creations have equal rights before the law, Mr. Channing. They can sue, they can vote, they can hold office, they can—"
"I can't see the harm in that."
"It encourages more of them. If you leave a fortune and want it spent a certain way, the Qui Dor Enterprises will create precisely the individual you want as an heir. It encourages crime, Mr. Channing. The Qui Dor Enterprises can create an individual for you to commit a crime. ”

“ If we leave Qui Dor alone, Health and Public Welfare raises a stink."
"Well, it's justified. Have you heard the latest?"
"About what?"
"About a state of emergency, Bryan. Places where the standard of living is high, it isn't too bad. But try telling 'em in India they have to buy and take food concentrates along with Qui Dor's stuff. They won't listen to you. They starve to death. They take Qui Dor's medication to get rid of disease and the symptoms disappear. But they're still sick and some of them die."
"Has anyone spoken to Qui Dor about this?" Channing wanted to know. ”

“ To continue: we of Targoff maintain that no thing in itself is real. Things only have existence as their various qualities are perceived. When you leave this room, as far as I am concerned, you do not exist."
"A man named Hume went a step further than that," Channing told Qui Dor with a smile. "After disposing of the world in such summary fashion, he also disposed of you and me and everyone. The mind which perceived these qualities, he said, was nothing more than a collection—he used the word collocation, I think—of the qualities. ”

“ Berkeley, Hume...."
"The Qui Dor people say they have the right idea. To be is to be perceived. As soon as you stop perceiving me—or anything—it no longer exists. As soon as you see me again, here I am. If you carry it to extremes, the notion can lead to solipsism, but—"
"—but," Channing finished for her, "you can thank the good Lord that Bishop Berkeley was no pagan and saved himself and the rest of us from that way of thinking. Sure, to be is to be perceived. Maybe nothing does exist unless it's being perceived, but that's where God comes in. God is the constant conserver, he said. ”

“ The copy stared mute murder at Channing, then wilted almost visibly when State decided: "That sounds fair enough to me. How soon would you like us to contact Qui Dor, Channing?"
"Not for a while yet, please. I have to see a man about a little job." ”

“ If only he could explain to the Targoffian Ambassador that his business enterprises were playing hob with the socio-economic set-up on Earth not to mention Channing's own marital life. The thing that hurt almost as much as Channing's own troubles was the Denebian Ambassador. He could picture the saurian face gloating.
"Good morning, chief. You have an appointment with Qui Dor at the Targoffian Embassy, eleven hundred hours."
"Morning, Julie. Anything else?"
"You look tired."
He couldn't tell her he'd been sleeping in a hotel. A man gets used to suburban quiet. ”

“ If something were white on Earth, it was black on Deneb. Unfortunately, Channing knew, there was at least as much truth as fancy in what he said.
"How do the Denebians deal with Targoff?" the under-secretary demanded.
Channing lit his pipe and knew he was in for trouble. "They don't," he said. "Diplomatic relations are not maintained between Deneb and Targoff."
"May I ask you why not? You see, Deneb can get away with it, but we—"
"I'm surprised at you," Channing cut her off. "Earth can't sink to the Denebian level. We've got to set the example. We've got to be a shining light, a beacon, a...." ”

“ You'd be guilty of nothing. Esse es percipi, Mr. Channing. No one's been murdered. There's no corpse. No one exists."
"I give up," said Channing. "Mrs. Delacourt, I can sympathize with you. For personal reasons, I can understand your problem. But right now there isn't a thing I can do about it. However, I'm going to see Qui Dor this morning and possibly something can be arranged to your mutual satisfaction."
Mrs. Delacourt had hardly heard him. "Yet esse should be more than percipi," she was mumbling. "There should be more to existing than merely being perceived, don't you think? ”

“ In the first few moments he rapped with his knuckles continually, until he could hardly hold his hands over his head. After that he paced the blows and sweated and thought.
Was this tomorrow? Had Nick done his job on schedule? A fat lot of good it would do if Channing remained where he was. He was in no position to make book, but the baggage compartment of a spaceship seemed a good bet. Outward bound, said spaceship, with a slowly suffocating Channing to be disposed of at someone's leisure. The second Channing was just brazen enough to pull it off. ”

“ That's an internal problem for the Department of Health and Public Welfare to solve, m'am."
"You can tell the Targoffian Ambassador to get the hell off our planet. Excuse me."
Channing shook his head. "Even if I agreed with you, I couldn't do that. Wouldn't that be perfect grist for the propaganda mills on Sirius and Centauri, not to mention Deneb? Big Brother Earth goes around using all the little planets. Humans break off diplomatic relations with cultures which don't adhere to Earth standards—unless, of course, we could milk something out of them." ”

“ She doesn't exist." Channing backed away.
"For a twenty-first century man with a college education, sometimes you can be the stubbornest—"
"She's not even a mess of chemicals!" stormed Channing. "It wouldn't be so bad if they made her in a test-tube or something. She just—is. You don't even know how they do it. You can't even call her an artificial baby."
"I'll say you can't," Ellen told him, picking Stephanie up and engulfing her with protective arms. "She's a real one."
"She goes," Channing. ”

“ You see, he's real. Not only that, he'll be the ideal husband. At least, he'll be Fanny's ideal husband. You have a wide variety to choose from, they told me. You can even buy one whose temperament changes to suit yours day by day."
"There were fifty thousand divorces in New York so far this week," said Channing, "according to the under-secretary of Health and Public Welfare. ”

“ How do you know I'm still here, unless you see me?"
"Because you didn't get up and go away, that's why. I would have heard you."
"How do you know? Maybe I'm only around when you look at me. When you perceive me, dear. You understand?"
"No. Yes. I read all about the idealists in college, too. ”

“ Channing hollered back. "What on Earth for?" He settled himself on a web-chair in the study, poured a martini from the decanter Ellen had prepared, and began to thumb through the impressive compilation of figures the under-secretary had left with Julie. ”

“ Sometimes I think it's all some kind of conspiracy between Nick and Qui Dor."
"You know Nick is only doing his job, chief. As an explorer with portfolio, he finds new planets and begins arranging diplomatic relations with them."
"With all the planets in the galaxy, why did he have to stumble on Targoff?"
"Ask Nick."
"Don't mind me, Julie. Just letting off steam." Channing pushed through the door marked UNDER SECRETARY FOR EXTRA-SOLAR AFFAIRS. Mrs. Delacourt paced back and forth like a fat lion which had learned to walk on its hind legs and grown soft in the process, but was still dangerous. ”

“ It was a way to wreck Earth's position in the galaxy, and to weaken Earth over a long period of time to such an extent that Deneb would be top dog. But now, as the Ambassador is beginning to find out, Deneb will also be confronted with a lower standard of living, a high divorce rate, a low birth rate, food which doesn't prevent malnutrition, medicine which cures symptoms but not disease...."
"I see, I see," Mrs. Delacourt beamed on Channing for the first time since they had met. "Everyone can save face if Earth and Deneb break off relations with Targoff at the same time." ”

“ He'll feel more at ease with you—or possibly that Nicholson fellow."
"Afraid you'll have to count Nick out. He's not a diplomat. All he wants is to get back into space again. You know, it isn't a bad idea. I still have my explorer's rating. I could—"
"Don't even think of it. You came up through the ranks, Channing. A man doesn't go down the same way. He goes out. I don't like this business of giving ultimatums. We're all grown men here, but ... Channing. I want you to see Qui Dor. I want you to reason with him. Not the full treatment, you understand. Qui Dor stays. ”

“ I was fired."
"Eh?"
"That is, Bryan Channing was fired from his job today. His secretary overheard our conversation and sent a transcript of it to the Secretary of State."
"That is too bad," Sarchix admitted. "We could use a man in your position. Tell me, Channing, are you prepared to play the Channing role completely?"
"Yes. Yes, I am."
"Then we still have a chance. Let the secret out. There is a real Channing and an es percipi Channing. You have his appearance, his fingerprints, his memories. Reveal him as a traitor, a Qui Dor creation. Then you can have the game as well as the name." ”

“ I'll bet they're from Deneb, Channing wanted to say. This was a pretty pickle, with the Denebians sitting somewhere out of sight and chuckling over the whole thing. Why couldn't Nick have been even more myopic—near-sighted enough to miss Targoff entirely?
"There is no limit to what I can give your people," said Qui Dor. "Next week we are opening a line of jewelry, as you may know. It is cheaper than what you can get in your mines."
South Africa, here comes disaster. "Artificial jewels?" demanded Channing. ”

“ It was decidedly upper middle class, this Center Moriches community, with half an acre of landscaped grounds for each house, a copter and a surface car for each family, and enough money floating around to keep everything, including the marble-walled swimming pools, in good repair.
There was something warm and secure about upper middle, anyway. The lower strata might need some of Qui Dor's goods, the highest might play with them extensively to show that it could but didn't need to, really. ”

“ The Qui Dor creation, whether child or full grown, is a citizen with all a citizen's rights, and since we don't recognize the possibility of pre-natal influence, we don't recognize the real criminal in such a case as an accessory. ”

“ Channing. The people. All the people. You. Are you only the various qualities of sense, an image in my mind, an idea? Are you?"
"I don't know," Channing admitted.
"If you are, if we all are, it's a sinister plot against the people. Civilization is ruined. Qui Dor's creations shall surely take over. Why, before you know it, women will stop having babies. No pain, no nuisance, no chance of congenital illness."
"I know exactly what you mean," Channing declared ruefully. "I've got to see Qui Dor, though, Mrs. ”

“ And, after Channing lit his pipe and nodded: "They weighed the Myers baby. They examined him. They pointed out he had a set of unique fingerprints, like a person. They showed his retinal pattern was both distinct and unique, as well as his electro-encephalogram. Child psychologists tested him and found him normal in every way. He perspires and passes his water and—forgive me, Mr. Channing—defecates." Mrs. Delacourt took the whole thing as a personal insult, as if, in finding that the Myers child functioned normally, the doctors had somehow deflated not only the entire human race but Mrs. ”