[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
"I'll bet you did."
"I mean that! Otherwise I wouldn't have sold to him. Neither man was inherently
vicious. I warned Jordan enough against taking the seven. But when he came in
and found them making love he obviously went berserk. The seven integrals of
the star should be taken an hour apart. That's leaving a quarter-hour safety limit,
which I never mention. A half-hour is the real danger point. He must have
downed them all at once. The result is unimaginable to most men.
Overwhelming. Few minds could handle such an abrupt release. He couldn't. But
I was correct about his innate mental control and discipline."
Herrera gestured angrily around them. "You call this control?"
"Yes! He had enough sense left to kill himself. He did kill himself?"
"We took the knife back to the lab," admitted Herrera.
"What he was undergoing was to normal anger as a nova is to a normal sun. A
less controlled individual would have stumbled from the room and gone to kill a
hundred people in an orgy of release."
"I don't understand how any drug can boost an emotion like that," murmured
Herrera, shaking his head.
"It doesn't 'boost' the emotion or add to it or multiply it," Sawbill said. "That's
the common mistake everyone makes. They don't consider the other those who
don't want to beh'eve it. The drug removes the natural safeguards a man's mind
has built up to protect and regulate his natural self. It breaks the seal holding air
in the tank, doesn't pump more air into it. It removes a million years of
evolutionary barriers man has carefully erected to hold back the blackness that
lives inside him. Taken properly it does so hi the small-
67
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Click here to buy
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WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE . ..
est way. It isn't dangerous, just effectively awesome. Few men can resist the tiny
blot of animal self so set free.
"But when all the safeguards are removed, like this ..."
"I think I see," whispered Herrera.
"May I leave now?"
"What? Oh, yes, you can go. Get out of my sight."
Sawbill paused at the door.
"What about the girl?"
"How do you mean? Oh, I understand. What you might expect. She was playing
one off against the other. Jordan was a little more naive than Wu, I suspect. I
hope she enjoyed it." Herrera paused. Then: "I checked you with Central and
Customs, hoping I could get you on illegal entry. No such luck. I see you got your
doctorate in endocrinology from the University of Belem. That's on Terra, isn't
it?"
Sawbill nodded. He was halfway out of the room.
"One other thing," Herrera said hurriedly. "I've never met one of you before. Tell
me, is it true what they say about you Emomen?"
"What do they say about us Emomen?"
"That you haven't any true emotions of your own? That you're so tied up in
playing God that you've lost your own capacity to feel? That your humanity's
atrophied?"
"Oh, there's no doubt about it," said Sawbill. He closed the door quietly behind
him.
68
Space Opera
Sometimes a science-fiction story is the coming together of seemingly diverse
elements. You may have one idea which in itself is insufficient on which to hang a
story. And another, seemingly unrelated idea.
Unrelated? Listen, in science fiction, everything relates. Including a
preoccupation with the less intellectual aspects of current daytime entertainment,
the arrogance of humanity, and the relaxed indifference of that rare personality
who just wants to get on with the job at hand.
Put them all together and you've got a ...
The biggest drawback in the gleaming functional desk, Commander Cleve
reflected, was its damnable impervi-ousness. Since it was composed of
diamondlike silicone plastic, his nails could only scrape futilely across the smooth
surface, and at the moment, he was in the mood to mark something,
On the other side of the desk, Lieutenant Vander-
69
WITH: FRIENDS LIKE THESE . ..
meer shifted slightly in his seat. He recognized the commander's mood and was
uncomfortably aware of the convenient target he made for any localized mayhem
the commander might choose to commit.
Cleve stopped trying to make an impression on the desk and looked up.
"I won't let that pipsqueak do it. I refuse!" "Yes sir," said Vandermeer.
Vandermeer was a fine lieutenant. He always said just the right thing.
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"Exceptional stupidity requires foresight, .planning, and careful preparation to be
properly effective. But this fellow. Himpel . . . Hurmal . . ." "Hinkel, sir."
"Yes, this Hinkel's talent for improvising really remarkable idiocy on the spur of
the moment is astonishing. And I fear the Council may support it! Perhaps I shall
simply join his sphere of insanity. It may be the only solution." "Yes sir." "What?"
"I... I mean, no sir."
Cleve sighed and slumped in his genuine starfox, red and silver hand-rubbed
mahogany swivel chair. "It's not an unreasonable request, is it, Lieutenant? After
all, this is the third expedition to Titan. It's not as if anything really newsworthy
were happening. We're only here to set up a small life-support station for the next
three expeditions. And for the miners. A few simple solidosemis, habitats, an oxy-
conversion plant . . . stuff like that. Why bring along a big newscast crew with a
caster as big as Hurkel?"
"Hinkel, sir. As I understand it, the ISA and Admiral Howard thought it would
give us some excellent publicity, sir. What with the current furor over funding
and all, a few dramatic location shots of exotic Titan and Saturn, added to
Hinkel's prestige, should produce ratings that "
"Ratings!" Cleve roared, purpling. "I'm deathly sick of hearing about Hickey's
goddamn, God-awful, got-verstunken, gder... gef...1"
70
Space Opera
"Easy, sir. You know what Dr. Galeth said about your blood pressure, particularly
in a low-grav environment."
"Yes, Lieutenant, yes, yes. It's just that I cannot, I purely cannot, permit this man
to interfere in any way with the negotiations. The Murrin are an utterly
unfamiliar quantity. They could react in an infinitude of ways to anything we say,
do, bint at, or even the way we walk. I cannot risk jeopardizing man's first
meeting with an intelligent alien race for the sake of ... of ratings." The last word
was given the accent usually reserved for ultimate loathsomeness most often
senators who voted against ISA funding and apricots, to which the commander
was violently allergic.
Bronislaw Hinkel chose that moment to present himself.
Vandermeer intercepted the diminutive telecaster at the door, blocking him from
the commander's view.
"Ah, good morning, Peter! Is the commander busy?" [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl aikidobyd.xlx.pl
"I'll bet you did."
"I mean that! Otherwise I wouldn't have sold to him. Neither man was inherently
vicious. I warned Jordan enough against taking the seven. But when he came in
and found them making love he obviously went berserk. The seven integrals of
the star should be taken an hour apart. That's leaving a quarter-hour safety limit,
which I never mention. A half-hour is the real danger point. He must have
downed them all at once. The result is unimaginable to most men.
Overwhelming. Few minds could handle such an abrupt release. He couldn't. But
I was correct about his innate mental control and discipline."
Herrera gestured angrily around them. "You call this control?"
"Yes! He had enough sense left to kill himself. He did kill himself?"
"We took the knife back to the lab," admitted Herrera.
"What he was undergoing was to normal anger as a nova is to a normal sun. A
less controlled individual would have stumbled from the room and gone to kill a
hundred people in an orgy of release."
"I don't understand how any drug can boost an emotion like that," murmured
Herrera, shaking his head.
"It doesn't 'boost' the emotion or add to it or multiply it," Sawbill said. "That's
the common mistake everyone makes. They don't consider the other those who
don't want to beh'eve it. The drug removes the natural safeguards a man's mind
has built up to protect and regulate his natural self. It breaks the seal holding air
in the tank, doesn't pump more air into it. It removes a million years of
evolutionary barriers man has carefully erected to hold back the blackness that
lives inside him. Taken properly it does so hi the small-
67
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.
.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
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w
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w
c
c
.
.
.
.
A
A
Y
Y
B
B
Y
Y
B
B
r r
WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE . ..
est way. It isn't dangerous, just effectively awesome. Few men can resist the tiny
blot of animal self so set free.
"But when all the safeguards are removed, like this ..."
"I think I see," whispered Herrera.
"May I leave now?"
"What? Oh, yes, you can go. Get out of my sight."
Sawbill paused at the door.
"What about the girl?"
"How do you mean? Oh, I understand. What you might expect. She was playing
one off against the other. Jordan was a little more naive than Wu, I suspect. I
hope she enjoyed it." Herrera paused. Then: "I checked you with Central and
Customs, hoping I could get you on illegal entry. No such luck. I see you got your
doctorate in endocrinology from the University of Belem. That's on Terra, isn't
it?"
Sawbill nodded. He was halfway out of the room.
"One other thing," Herrera said hurriedly. "I've never met one of you before. Tell
me, is it true what they say about you Emomen?"
"What do they say about us Emomen?"
"That you haven't any true emotions of your own? That you're so tied up in
playing God that you've lost your own capacity to feel? That your humanity's
atrophied?"
"Oh, there's no doubt about it," said Sawbill. He closed the door quietly behind
him.
68
Space Opera
Sometimes a science-fiction story is the coming together of seemingly diverse
elements. You may have one idea which in itself is insufficient on which to hang a
story. And another, seemingly unrelated idea.
Unrelated? Listen, in science fiction, everything relates. Including a
preoccupation with the less intellectual aspects of current daytime entertainment,
the arrogance of humanity, and the relaxed indifference of that rare personality
who just wants to get on with the job at hand.
Put them all together and you've got a ...
The biggest drawback in the gleaming functional desk, Commander Cleve
reflected, was its damnable impervi-ousness. Since it was composed of
diamondlike silicone plastic, his nails could only scrape futilely across the smooth
surface, and at the moment, he was in the mood to mark something,
On the other side of the desk, Lieutenant Vander-
69
WITH: FRIENDS LIKE THESE . ..
meer shifted slightly in his seat. He recognized the commander's mood and was
uncomfortably aware of the convenient target he made for any localized mayhem
the commander might choose to commit.
Cleve stopped trying to make an impression on the desk and looked up.
"I won't let that pipsqueak do it. I refuse!" "Yes sir," said Vandermeer.
Vandermeer was a fine lieutenant. He always said just the right thing.
a
a
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T
n
n
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F
f
f
o
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P
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Y
e
e
Y
Y
r
r
B
B
2
2
.
.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
w
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m
w
w
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w
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c
.
.
.
.
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A
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Y
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r r
"Exceptional stupidity requires foresight, .planning, and careful preparation to be
properly effective. But this fellow. Himpel . . . Hurmal . . ." "Hinkel, sir."
"Yes, this Hinkel's talent for improvising really remarkable idiocy on the spur of
the moment is astonishing. And I fear the Council may support it! Perhaps I shall
simply join his sphere of insanity. It may be the only solution." "Yes sir." "What?"
"I... I mean, no sir."
Cleve sighed and slumped in his genuine starfox, red and silver hand-rubbed
mahogany swivel chair. "It's not an unreasonable request, is it, Lieutenant? After
all, this is the third expedition to Titan. It's not as if anything really newsworthy
were happening. We're only here to set up a small life-support station for the next
three expeditions. And for the miners. A few simple solidosemis, habitats, an oxy-
conversion plant . . . stuff like that. Why bring along a big newscast crew with a
caster as big as Hurkel?"
"Hinkel, sir. As I understand it, the ISA and Admiral Howard thought it would
give us some excellent publicity, sir. What with the current furor over funding
and all, a few dramatic location shots of exotic Titan and Saturn, added to
Hinkel's prestige, should produce ratings that "
"Ratings!" Cleve roared, purpling. "I'm deathly sick of hearing about Hickey's
goddamn, God-awful, got-verstunken, gder... gef...1"
70
Space Opera
"Easy, sir. You know what Dr. Galeth said about your blood pressure, particularly
in a low-grav environment."
"Yes, Lieutenant, yes, yes. It's just that I cannot, I purely cannot, permit this man
to interfere in any way with the negotiations. The Murrin are an utterly
unfamiliar quantity. They could react in an infinitude of ways to anything we say,
do, bint at, or even the way we walk. I cannot risk jeopardizing man's first
meeting with an intelligent alien race for the sake of ... of ratings." The last word
was given the accent usually reserved for ultimate loathsomeness most often
senators who voted against ISA funding and apricots, to which the commander
was violently allergic.
Bronislaw Hinkel chose that moment to present himself.
Vandermeer intercepted the diminutive telecaster at the door, blocking him from
the commander's view.
"Ah, good morning, Peter! Is the commander busy?" [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]