William Campbell Gault

“ He walked down the hill toward the blonde.
He pushed through the willows and came into the glade, and saw her quick smile of recognition.
He smiled in return. "I won't believe it in the morning." He sat on the grass beside her. "Is it Venus?"
"Where else?" Her face was finely modeled with faintly discernible cheek bones and a smooth jaw line. "The lover's planet, hidden from the universe by its atmosphere. Hamilton's work, I'll wager."
"Hamilton?"
"You know him, our friend from the nutmeg tree. He arranged it, didn't he?" ”

“ Hamilton looked at the nutmeg tree. "Oh, Truesdale, if you knew the story. If you knew what this meant." He started up the tree, and paused. "Well, there are others, plenty of them." He went quickly up the rest of the way.
Ted didn't even glance at the blonde, again, before going back into the house. He put some Cole Porter on the record player and sat by the fireplace.
Honolulu and Houston and Sweeney's and the country club merged in his mind as the whiskey drowsiness started to creep through him. He couldn't go to sleep, not before Ann came home. He had some things to tell her. ”

“ No words from Ted.
Hamilton looked down at the house below, and back at Ted. "Don't blame me for that Venus trip, Truesdale. You wanted it, but bad."
"I'm not blaming anybody for anything," Ted said. "Just because I had a dream."
"Dream? Why don't you go down and ask her if she had the same dream? What a man won't say to clear his conscience! Let go, Truesdale, enjoy yourself."
Below, the blonde came out onto her patio. She was wearing white shorts and halter today. She looked Ted's way for seconds—and then waved. ”

“ They're evil things, Ted."
"I think they're cute."
"Cute. Without the tail, they're just another rat. How some people can eat them is beyond me."
The pinkness and the sluice and the three-armed man with the enormous chest seemed to swim, for a moment, in Ted's memory. Hamilton went scurrying up the nutmeg tree.
"The little devil," Ann said.
Little devil? The devil, maybe? No, not Hamilton. Ted said, "No club meeting today? No garden, home, cooking, household management or knitting circle shindigs?"
"Not a one."
"Why don't we drive up the coast and eat out, tonight?" ”

“ Henri likes the place. I've been showing it to him. And pointing out its advantages. No husbands to come home, unexpectedly." Hamilton paused. "He'll be up there, again. And with whom, Truesdale?"
"Not Ann. She's incorruptible, you devil."
"Sure, she is. So what are you worried about?"
From the back porch, Ann said, "Ted, what are you doing?"
He turned to face her, as did Hamilton. Ted said, "I was going to climb up and knock down that nest."
"Oh, forget it. It was a silly whim of mine, anyway. Look at him, Ted. He seems to be begging you."
"You don't know him," Ted said. "He fools us all." ”

“ Why don't we go out to dinner, some place where we can dance?"
"Tonight? Have you forgotten the Drews are coming over?"
"I've been trying to. Couldn't you phone them?"
"Ted." She made two syllables out of it. She looked at him quietly. "Do they bore you terribly?"
"They do."
"And do I?"
"No. You should, but you don't. You've still a potential. Well, if the Drews are coming, I'd better shave."
She was looking at him thoughtfully as he left the room.
Peak outer-thought, "Well, Ha, what do you think of Earthians?"
"They're like us," Ha thought wonderingly, "except for that stuff growing on them." ”

“ There are a lot of arguments against buying a ball club, all right. It's a headache."
Ann shook her head. Then, "The Garden Club meets this afternoon. You won't be needing the car?"
"Not today. Do you remember our honeymoon, Ann? Remember Honolulu?"
"How could I ever forget it, Ted?" Her eyes were reminiscent. "Those flowers, those beautiful hibiscus and—"
Ted poured another cup of coffee.
When Ann had left, and he went back to the porch, the blonde was just coming through the sliding glass door that led from her living room to the patio. The squirrel wasn't in sight. ”

“ Talking squirrels and trysts on Venus and a quick trip to Mars. Punchy, that's all. The devil finds things for idle hands to....
No, it wasn't that; it was just day-dreaming. The devil had no part of this business. Nor had his idleness. A peeping-Tom, Hamilton might be, but no devil.
"I think I can see," Peak thought! "Not much, but a dim mist. Lern, are you listening?"
"I'm listening. I guess Ha is working, all right. He's going to work on some others, too."
Peak outer-thought, "Have you considered our big problem, to keep Lust minor?" ”

“ What he doesn't know about Earth needs knowing."
Lern thought, "How can we keep him minor, if we resurrect him? This Lust has a terrible appetite."
"That," answered Peak, "will be your job. You'll have to think of something that will keep his weight and power constant."
Ha was doing no outer-thinking; Ha was inner-thinking about Earth, and bodies.
Ted Truesdale was sitting on the back porch, supposedly enjoying the sun. He was, in reality, enjoying the view. The blonde who'd bought the house directly behind them, and considerably below them, was out on her patio. ”

“ Then the redness faded and against a pink background a figure appeared.
It was the figure of a bearded, three-armed man, nailing some boards on what appeared to be a sluice. Beyond and above the bent figure, a green mountain towered, its peak topped with a polar cap. ”

“ Ted answered. "Been to Venus, lately?"
The drink wobbled in Henri's left hand. The poise, for a moment, was shattered. "Ven—Venice? In Italy, you mean?"
"In California. You're trembling, Henri. Your heart?"
"Heart—?" Blank, oafish stare, the poise scrambling to get back.
"At our age, we have to watch the ticker," Ted warned him. "What are you drinking?"
Henri stared at his nearly-empty glass. "Scotch—I—ah—"
"Sure thing. I'll have one with you." Ted went over to the liquor cabinet.
When he returned, with the pair of drinks, Ann was in the room. Ann said, "I could use one, myself." ”

“ Look at those bright, black eyes. He wants to be friends."
Hamilton sat up on his haunches, his front paws curled, looking from one to the other beseechingly.
Ted saw the quick moisture in Ann's eyes and said, "Well, it's your decision, then. It's your responsibility." He walked past her and into the house.
He went up to his room. Projection.... The little devil had hit him with that one. Don't blame yourself, Ted Truesdale. Ann has too many unimportant interests; Ann's cold. ”

“ Ted said evenly, "Henri's sitting at my house, boring my wife to death, right now. I don't worry about Henri."
Pete coughed. Johnny studied his hand intently. Neither of them said a word.
The game went on. Ted had too many wild cards, or not enough. Nothing worked. He fed Johnny and got garbage from Pete. He drank and simmered and watched their scores pile up.
At five-thirty, he rose and said, "I don't mind losing to you guys, but you can't expect me to support you." He wrote out two checks.
"Bad loser," Pete said, winking at Johnny.
Johnny said, "We'll have to get some golf in, Ted. ”

“ Ann, Ann, thirty minutes, Ann, oh beloved darling....
The last record finished and shut off the machine. Ted dreamed of homering in the ninth, against Louisville, with the bases loaded.
He woke to a black room. Had Ann come in, not seen him in the living room, and gone to bed? Ann, no. Ann, be awake. Ann, you wouldn't like Venus—without me. I hope. Ann.... ”

“ Half an hour after Ted had left. Half an hour, half an hour, half an hour.... He poured a drink.
Half an hour, half an hour, half an hour.... He went out onto the porch. The blonde was on her patio, all dressed up in filmy green. Another blonde sat in the chair near her, male, with sport jacket and tanned face, with a drink in his hand. ”