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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..79cc217 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #60913 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/60913) diff --git a/old/60913-h.zip b/old/60913-h.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index e1e5f3e..0000000 --- a/old/60913-h.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/60913-h/60913-h.htm b/old/60913-h/60913-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index c85d2ba..0000000 --- a/old/60913-h/60913-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1456 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> - <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=us-ascii" /> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> - <title> - The Project Gutenberg eBook of A Matter of Taste, by Joseph Wesley. - </title> - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - - <style type="text/css"> - -body { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - - h1,h2 { - text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ - clear: both; -} - -p { - margin-top: .51em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .49em; -} - -hr { - width: 33%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - margin-left: 33.5%; - margin-right: 33.5%; - clear: both; -} - -hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} -hr.tb {width: 45%; margin-left: 27.5%; margin-right: 27.5%;} - -.center {text-align: center;} - -.right {text-align: right;} - -.caption {font-weight: bold;} - -/* Images */ -.figcenter { - margin: auto; - text-align: center; -} - -div.titlepage { - text-align: center; - page-break-before: always; - page-break-after: always; -} - -div.titlepage p { - text-align: center; - text-indent: 0em; - font-weight: bold; - line-height: 1.5; - margin-top: 3em; -} - -.ph1 { text-align: center; text-indent: 0em; font-weight: bold; } -.ph1 { font-size: large; margin: .83em auto; } - -.blockquot { - margin-left: 5%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - - - </style> - </head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Matter of Taste, by Joseph Wesley - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll -have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using -this ebook. - - - -Title: A Matter of Taste - -Author: Joseph Wesley - -Release Date: December 13, 2019 [EBook #60913] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A MATTER OF TASTE *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/cover.jpg" width="347" height="500" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="titlepage"> - -<h1>A MATTER OF TASTE</h1> - -<h2>By JOSEPH WESLEY</h2> - -<p class="ph1"><i>When a planet turns in an<br /> -insurance claim, it could run<br /> -to more than real money.</i></p> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Worlds of If Science Fiction, January 1961.<br /> -Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that<br /> -the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]</p> - -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>CASE RL472 XYA 386. Oral report of Claims Adjuster Mark Atkinson (#384 -762). Transcribed by Telepath Operator #842 765J (Tellus). First and -Final Report. CASE CLOSING SYMBOL: AAA.</p></div> - -<p>I arrived on the fourth planet of Sunder's Pride stark naked and -stood comfortably in the snow, listening to the wind howl by, while -waiting for the Expedition Manager to approach from the edge of the -small clearing and welcome me. The Manager's name is Obadiah Jones. -Like the rest of the expedition, he's from one of the minor Vegan -colonies—Kinnison III—but he's undifferentiated Earth stock.</p> - -<p>He bustled forward, wearing a full protective suit and helmet—the -temperature is thirty degrees below zero centigrade at noon and the -atmosphere is poisonous—but I could see the expression of relief on -his face through his face plate.</p> - -<p>"You're from Interstellar Insurance?" he panted under the one and a -half G of Sunder's Pride.</p> - -<p>I assented with a dignified nod.</p> - -<p>He looked me up and down—my skin wasn't even showing goose pimples, -of course—and then shrugged his shoulders. "The insurance company -sent a first-class Mental Control Operator, I see, but it was a waste -of talent. Maybe they didn't believe our reports. We've had our own -operators here—good ones, too—and they haven't been able to find any -solution. The Aliens are much better at all sorts of Mind Control than -even our most talented men. I know our Policy says that you can keep -us from calling in the military authorities for a week, but it's just -a waste of time—and, more important, it's a waste of lives, too. I -suggest that you give us authority to call in the Navy right away."</p> - -<p>"How many lives have you lost so far?" I asked.</p> - -<p>"Only a dozen, but at regular intervals."</p> - -<p>"That hardly seems excessive for an exploratory expedition," I -commented.</p> - -<p>He shook his head impatiently. "I said <i>at regular intervals</i>. The -Aliens treat us like we were cattle. Or sheep."</p> - -<p>"Not exactly," I said, "or you would scarcely have called <i>me</i> in. You -must be operating at a profit, and that means you're trading with these -Aliens."</p> - -<p>He scowled, but did not deny it.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Of course I knew this already. As an independent Claims Adjuster, it -goes without saying that I'd checked into the case before teleporting -to the planet. Their profit was enormous, and our losses would be -proportionately large if the military was invited to come in and spoil -trade while saving lives.</p> - -<p>Their charter called for exclusive trading rights on any planet they -opened for ten years. And they had the usual clause in their Policy -against loss by "government" action, meaning the military, even at -their own invitation. The military is fast, but it's not neat. The cost -could run to billions for us, so my job was to try to find another way.</p> - -<p>"Well," he said, "can we send an emergency signal to the Navy?"</p> - -<p>"When does the next regular interval expire?" I asked.</p> - -<p>He checked the timepiece set into the sleeve of his suit, and then -scratched some number in the clean wind-swept surface of snow. His -watch kept local time, of course. "In about fourteen Earth hours," he -translated at last.</p> - -<p>"Then there's no hurry, is there?" I leaned against the gale that was -blowing across the clearing. "Why don't we go to your office so you can -brief me?"</p> - -<p>He turned and stumped his way heavily to a gap at the edge of -the clearing, and then along a narrow path that wound its way -circuitously among tall, slender, tinkling, half-living ice trees. -I strolled lightly beside him, but my bare feet left deep imprints -in the crustless snow. In about fifteen minutes we reached the human -settlement, with its airlock set modestly into a great mound of snow.</p> - -<p>Here we had a little difficulty; the lock was designed to pass bulky -protective suits. If I had gone through it bare, I'd have let in some -of the poisonous atmosphere into the camp. We solved that, though. Mr. -Jones passed a suit out to me through the lock and I put it on. I wore -it all the way to his office, and then he rustled me up one of his -spare kilts—an ugly purple thing.</p> - -<p>"Now, Obadiah," I said, after I'd lighted one of his stogies and -settled myself into his most comfortable chair, "why this urgent call -for help? Our records show that you've never hollered copper in your -life, and you've had two expeditions nearly wiped out around you. -You've got the best profit record in your organization."</p> - -<p>"It's those Aliens," said Mr. Jones. "They arrived here on Sunder's -Pride just a few days behind us. I've always felt that someday -we'd come up against some life-form that would be too much for us, -and I'm afraid that we've done it at last. They trade us some of -the most magnificent works of art that have ever been seen in the -universe—you've undoubtedly admired some of them, and I'm sure you -know the prices they bring—and they do it as if they were tossing -glass beads to savages."</p> - -<p>"And if we are such savages, what can we have to trade in return?" I -asked.</p> - -<p>"They don't seem to be any great shakes with mechanical things," he -answered. "They call them 'gadgets,' but they buy them. The only -trouble is, that's not all they buy." He was sweating, his face turning -as green as the polka dots on his kilt. He mopped his face and chest -with a large handkerchief, and then sat there holding it and looking at -it as if he'd never seen a bandanna before.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>I felt sorry for him. These provincial types have an automatic feeling -of horror at the thought of meeting some superior creatures that will -replace man in the Galaxy. So I let him sit there for a couple of -minutes to recover before I prompted him.</p> - -<p>"Well?" I said at last. "The additional stuff they buy—what is it?" -This hadn't been part of the reports.</p> - -<p>"Oh. Yes. Once every five days they take one man. I may have given you -the idea that they killed them. They don't. They ship them off. They -say we are very popular, and when there are enough of us on the market -to bring the price down, we should make ideal pets. And we can't do a -thing to stop them."</p> - -<p>I flicked the ash of my cigar delicately onto his carpet. "You can't? -What have you tried?"</p> - -<p>He leaped to his feet and balled his fists belligerently. "I'm trying -to call in the military, but first I've got to get through the red tape -of calling in you insurance people. Now will you give me authority to -call in a fleet before it's too late?"</p> - -<p>I smiled in a superior manner and straightened a pleat on the hideous -kilt. "If you feel this way, then why do you worry about money? Why -didn't you just call the fleet directly and forfeit your insurance?"</p> - -<p>He glared at me through red-rimmed eyes. "I tried that," he said. "If -only we had some central government to turn to—but that's impossible -in space, of course. So I went to the only centralized force there is. -And they said that they have to count on voluntary contributions from -the member planets, and they couldn't afford to answer every call for -help. They told me to contact my insurance company."</p> - -<p>"Which," I commented mildly, "is another centralized force in space, -in spite of what you say. It's widespread, it's profit-making, -and it gets the job done. Nobody has to try to beg for voluntary -appropriations from penurious planetary governments."</p> - -<p>"This isn't a crackpot fear of aliens," he said, as soon as I stopped -talking. "I've seen aliens before, in all parts of the Galaxy. I don't -panic."</p> - -<p>"Then you must have tried something else before hollering Uncle," I -said. "Like, perhaps, keeping all of your men inside the dome here when -the time for another abduction approaches?"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>He waved a hand impatiently. "We've tried everything a large group of -top-flight minds can think of," he said. "My own organization has an -exceptional research staff, as I'm sure you know. The Aliens work by -mental control. We've had everyone brought into this building, have -double-checked them, and have sealed the doors with a time lock. It -turned out that one of the men was missing—we'd only imagined he was -among us when we assembled.</p> - -<p>"We scoured the planet before we landed and saw no signs of the Aliens. -We've seen no Alien ships land since we arrived. We have no idea where -they are, except that there's one sizable area not far from here that -we can't seem to penetrate. The only evidence we have that the Aliens -arrived after we did is that they told us so. Whatever that's worth.</p> - -<p>"We've brought in some of mankind's best Mental Control Operators. -People like you, who are able to walk around in a poisonous atmosphere -in sub-zero weather without any protection or any clothes at all. Every -one of them is now among the victims. The Aliens apparently thought it -would be a good joke to take them."</p> - -<p>He paused. "So you see, we don't expect you to be around very long. -Just so you call in the military before the Aliens call <i>you</i> in, we'll -try to control our grief when you go."</p> - -<p>"That's courteous of you," I said. "But you are suffering under an -understandable misapprehension. You seem to believe—probably because -of my somewhat unorthodox costume when I arrived—that I am a Master -Controller. In point of fact, nothing could be farther from the case. I -have no such powers. Or almost none, anyway.</p> - -<p>"I arrived naked because of the enormous expense of teleportation. -Those machines require gigantic amounts of power and skilled -technicians. At ten thousand a pound, I saved the company five thousand -by leaving my kilt behind, and even more when you consider my shoes. As -for a protective suit—why, such an unnecessary cost would have been -thrown out by our accountants in a minute."</p> - -<p>Obadiah Jones sneered at me in disbelief, but I tolerantly ignored -his attitude. "Let's admit, for the time being, that these Aliens are -better at Mental Control than we are," I said. "Then does it make sense -for us to fight them with their own weapons, giving them cards and -spades before the start of the game? Now take me to the edge of this -place where you say we can't go."</p> - -<p>In spite of Mr. Jones' urgent pleas, I refused to wear a protective -suit, except to go out through the lock. I knew he was worried about -the Mind Control he still was convinced I was using to survive -unprotected on the surface. He was afraid that when I came up against -the Aliens and what he called their "superior powers," it would mean -my death, if I didn't have a suit. Since I had equally valid reasons -for not wearing the suit, and since I didn't want to explain them, I -refused to argue. I just took the thing off as soon as we were outside. -I left the kilt on, though. I thought its ugliness might irritate the -Aliens.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Obadiah Jones kept up a running patter of conversation as he led me -toward the forbidden area. "We haven't been idle," he said. "We've -learned a lot about the Aliens' Mind Control. For one thing, they work -on our emotions. Several of us who are still alive have been exposed -to that. There were eight or nine of us in a group, the first time one -of us was Chosen. He said an overwhelming feeling of love was drawing -him in one direction; right after that, the rest of us felt a strong -sensation of revulsion and fear. We ran away, leaving him behind. We -never saw him again.</p> - -<p>"They also control our senses. We see and hear what they want us to. -It's perfect hallucination. But you'll know that for yourself in a few -minutes."</p> - -<p>I knew it already, of course. It had been in Jones' reports—all except -the bit about their capturing his men. And I had come prepared. I must -admit to feeling a distinct sensation of excitement as we approached -the area. But it was not induced, I am sure, by the Aliens, and in any -event it was not sufficiently intense to trigger my defense mechanisms.</p> - -<p>"Here we are," said Obadiah Jones at last, pointing to a marker -attached to one of the ice trees. "Beyond that sign the troubles begin."</p> - -<p>"It doesn't look like an alien artifact to me," I said, examining the -crudely made marker carefully.</p> - -<p>"It isn't. I had it put up after one of our men was missing for two -days, wandering around in that area that they claim for themselves."</p> - -<p>"Well, I'll find out just how good their claim is," I said. "I'm going -in there."</p> - -<p>"Good luck," said Mr. Jones. "I'll wait for you here. But, just in case -I never see you again, won't you please give me authorization to call -in the Fleet? You can postdate it, and cancel it if you get back."</p> - -<p>I nodded. "I'll give you an authorization dated tomorrow—if you'll -give me your gun first. You might just accidentally happen to kill me -after getting that paper from me, considering how important you think -it is to get the Fleet here fast, and how sure you are that I'll be -trapped."</p> - -<p>Jones looked startled, and then sheepish, and gave me the gun without -comment. I wrote out the paper he wanted, and then strolled up the path -past the marker. It didn't look any different on the other side. It -went straight into the forbidden area, and I do mean straight. It went -on without the slightest sign of a turn, as far as the eye could see, -and there were no cross trails anywhere along it.</p> - -<p>I stepped out at a good swift pace, striding along it long after Jones -disappeared from view behind me. I saw no signs of Aliens; I saw no -signs of anything unusual at all, until, about two hours after I -started, I saw a marker in the distance ahead of me. Jones was sitting -on the snow, just on the other side of the tree with the marker on it. -I strolled up toward him, crossed the invisible line, hiked up my kilt -to keep it from getting damp, and sat down on the soft snow beside him.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"Hello," he said non-committally. "You made pretty good time. In fact, -that's a new record for the course."</p> - -<p>"Then I'm not the first man to take that walk?" I asked.</p> - -<p>"Nope. Just the fastest. I'm glad you didn't try to turn around and -come back along the path. That way, you'd have gotten lost. Well, shall -we go back to the camp and call in the Navy?"</p> - -<p>"No, I'm going back in," I said calmly.</p> - -<p>He waved one gloved hand at me. "It's your funeral," he said. "Or what -amounts to the same thing, anyway."</p> - -<p>I stood up, dusted off the snow where some of it had stuck to me, and -settled my kilt into as fashionable a manner as was possible. I crossed -the line and started down the trail again, just as I had before, but -this time I didn't follow my eyes. Soon after losing sight of Mr. -Jones, I cut sharply off the clearly visible trail to the right and -started to weave my way through a thicket of the ice trees.</p> - -<p>Gradually a sensation of fear entirely foreign to my usual nature -built up within me, but I ignored it and kept going. As the sensation -increased to a nearly uncontrollable level, one of the automatic -mechanisms I had had the foresight to have implanted in my body -operated, and a few drops of a drug were shot into my veins and almost -instantly took effect. I still felt the fear sensation, but it no -longer had the power to bother me much. With that drug in my blood -stream, no emotion could affect me strongly.</p> - -<p>As I worked my way through the tinkling jungle of ice trees, there was -an amazing change. Before my eyes, the trees suddenly seemed to clothe -themselves in leaves and bark, and the sounds became those of birds -and insects. I was working my way through a jungle of Earth. The heavy -gravity of Sunder's Pride had not disturbed me before, but now it was -replaced by the almost buoyant feeling resulting from the far lighter -gravity of Earth. The harsh yellow glow of the sunlight striking on -eternal ice was replaced by the vibrant blues and greens of tropical -Earth.</p> - -<p>My fear sensation, which had been generalized, suddenly sharpened. I -was reminded of a time, on Earth, when I had nearly died in a tropical -river teeming with piranha fish. I still have a couple of scars from -that episode. Before me I could see the river flowing. Even under the -calming influence of the drug, I could feel my heart pounding in my -throat.</p> - -<p>I must confess that it took a distinct effort of will for me to wade -into the water. It was boiling with the flashing forms of angry fish. -As I stepped forward I could feel their greedy jaws snapping into my -flesh, feel the pointed rows of teeth on the bones of my ankles, then -my legs, then my thighs.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Despite the agony I continued on, and the water level gradually rose -until it closed over my head and my sight faded as the fish bit out -my eyes. I think I might have screamed then, if I hadn't already felt -the fish tear out my throat, so that I knew screaming was impossible. -Besides, I didn't want to open my mouth and let them get to work on my -tongue. I protected the soft spot under my chin with the hand that held -Obadiah's gun.</p> - -<p>If any of you homeside heroes ever wonder if we Claims Adjusters really -earn our considerable salaries, let me clue you: We do.</p> - -<p>When, stripped to a skeleton, I still kept moving stolidly ahead, the -boiling of the water slowly died away, the pain ceased, and my sight -gradually came back. The jungle was still there, but I found that I was -climbing up out of the river onto a trail that somehow seemed familiar. -The fear sensation was gone, too, to be replaced by a very different -one.</p> - -<p>I remembered why I had gone into the jungle on Earth, so many years -before, and why the trail was familiar. And who had been at the end of -it. And who <i>was</i> at the end of it. She was soft and beautiful, and she -had loved me for a while. She loved me still, I realized, and she was -waiting for me. I hurried my steps and the automatic mechanism again -put a few drops of the drug into my blood stream.</p> - -<p>I could still feel the sensation of longing, but the urgency was gone. -I let the feeling continue to pull me forward without fighting it, and -willingly followed the twists and turns of the still familiar trail.</p> - -<p>As the trees thinned out until I could see the well-remembered cottage -with its thatched roof, its single room, its wide veranda, I slowed. -The house stood alone, with no trees around it, just the way she and I -had wanted it.</p> - -<p>I stopped at the last tree and looked at the house for several minutes. -Nothing moved that I could see. Circling slowly from tree to tree, I -continued watching the house until I was staring at it from a point -nearly opposite the place where I had first seen it. Then I began to -walk toward it. Even the sound of the birds had faded away, although -I could still smell the heady fragrance of tropical flowers. She had -always kept a large bouquet of them on the table beside the bed.</p> - -<p>When I had reached a point about twenty paces from the house, I wheeled -suddenly and leaped forward, aiming at a spot where nothing showed to -the eye. There was a moment—the merest instant—of dizziness, and then -a room suddenly materialized around me. The room looked alien, and -there were two Aliens at the far end of it. The usual drag of one and a -half Earth gravities had returned.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>This, I felt, was the first undistorted view any man on Earth had had -of these Aliens, except as a pet. They had not expected any human to be -able to find his way here, to this room at the center of their base.</p> - -<p>The room was not what I had expected. I had thought that I would -find myself on the inside of a spaceship, and by no stretch of the -imagination could this ever have traveled between the stars. It was -unmistakably a prefab hut.</p> - -<p>The two Aliens better fitted my preconceptions. They looked something -like overgrown sea anemones, with three multi-jointed arms and three -short legs. They were just over two meters tall. They were extremely -sluggish in their movements, as might be expected from creatures that -depended almost entirely on their mental abilities for control of their -environment.</p> - -<p>They looked at me for a few minutes—all of their eyes were startlingly -humanlike in appearance—and I imagine that they had expressions of -surprise, if I could have found any expression, or interpreted from -their tendrils just where their faces were. Finally one of them moved -slowly to the far wall, extended one of his arms and depressed a lever -on a rather crude-looking panel attached to that wall. He then moved -slowly back to his companion and both of them continued to stare at me.</p> - -<p>I waved cheerily at them. "Hi, fellows," I said. I could detect no -answer, but the room wavered a little before my eyes. I blinked and -shook my head and my vision cleared.</p> - -<p>"So you haven't been trained in the techniques of Mental Control of -Earthmen," I commented. "That's interesting."</p> - -<p>A feathery stalk slowly rose from among the coiling things that circled -their tops, and at the same time I heard a gentle dragging noise -approaching the door of the hut.</p> - -<p>"It sounds as if we might be about to have company," I said. "That -will be pleasant."</p> - -<p>I examined my two hosts closely, because I had the feeling that I -wouldn't be able to see them much longer as they really were.</p> - -<p>"It's good of you to be so cautious," I said. "If you hadn't been so -careful as to shield this hut, just in case we Earthmen turned out to -have adequate Mind Control powers of our own, I wouldn't have had this -chance to see you two in all your natural ugliness. Your friends out -there would have kept me under control all this time.</p> - -<p>"And what's more," I added, "I wouldn't even have known that you -creatures had something that would shield your power. Our scientists -will be very interested in examining this hut in great detail."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Just then the door of the hut swung open and two elflike creatures -appeared to walk briskly in. I glanced at them and then back to where -my two slow-moving acquaintances had been standing. They were no longer -in sight.</p> - -<p>"Perhaps we can make things a little more comfortable for you," said -one of the brisk elves. "You have earned most special treatment from -us." He gestured and the strangeness of the room strangely disappeared. -The walls were suddenly paneled in mahogany and hung with rich drapes. -Easy chairs were placed at intervals around a long, brilliantly -polished table. A picture window showed a bucolic scene bathed in cool -sunshine. A deep pile rug covered the floor.</p> - -<p>I looked around appreciatively. "Very nice," I complimented them. "And -in excellent taste. But you have forgotten one thing, haven't you?"</p> - -<p>"What's that?" asked the second elf, in a piping voice.</p> - -<p>"Why, you forgot about the gravity. It's still at Sunder's Pride -normal."</p> - -<p>"So it is," said the elf. "But then you can't expect us to think of -everything. Besides, it doesn't seem to bother you the way it does most -of the other creatures of your kind."</p> - -<p>The gravity did not appear to change.</p> - -<p>"No matter," I said politely. I strolled over to the table and stroked -it with the hand that was not holding the gun. It seemed very real.</p> - -<p>"Won't you sit down?" asked the first elf. "I'm sure you will find the -chairs very comfortable."</p> - -<p>"I'm sure I would," I said, "but no, thank you. I'm certain it would -provide you with a lot of innocent merriment if I squatted in thin air -under the impression that I was settled into a cosy chair, but I did -not come here to amuse you."</p> - -<p>The elf smiled. "You are very different from the others who lumbered to -this planet in those clumsy artifacts. You are almost like a Person, in -spite of your feverish rushing around. Several of our laboratories will -bid very high for the right to examine you."</p> - -<p>I bowed acknowledgment of his compliment. "I'm not in one of your -laboratories yet," I said mildly.</p> - -<p>"It will be very interesting to find out how you managed to get here in -spite of our Mind Control," said the second elf. "Your arrival without -the necessity of swaddling yourself in awkward garments indicated a -certain amount of ability along mental lines, but I sense no more of -it in you than several others of your kind have managed to muster. The -others all brought premium prices on the market, despite conveyances -and garments."</p> - -<p>"I gather you don't think much of mechanical contrivances," I said -lightly.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Alien the First shrugged. "They make interesting toys," he said. "But, -of course, they are useless crutches in building a civilization. They -bring good prices when peddled for the amusement of our children and -the shallower-minded adults."</p> - -<p>"Listening to your remarks about our spaceships," I continued, "I -presume all of you teleported here. We Earthmen may not be very good -at Mind Control, but I think we have a good grasp of the principles, -and I don't see how you could teleport without some sort of terminal -device. Didn't you have to send that here by machine?"</p> - -<p>There was a brief silence, and then Alien the Second answered. "I -suppose it doesn't matter if we tell you. After all, we have you in -our possession. As you suggest, we do need a terminal device. But we -didn't use machinery; we used minds—the minds of you Earthmen. When -the first of you landed on this uninhabited planet, we discovered that -your undirected capacities were sufficient to serve as the terminal of -a teleport system.</p> - -<p>"We couldn't go directly to any of your more populous planets, because -the vast numbers of your untrained minds cause so much static that the -noise level is too high to permit a sharp enough focus for teleporting.</p> - -<p>"Of course, now that we're here, where you've set up a teleport -terminal that connects into your foolish mechanical network and ties -into all of your thousands of planets, we'll have no trouble going -anywhere among your worlds that we want to. And as soon as we have -built up enough consumer demand for you creatures as house pets, we'll -move in for the harvest."</p> - -<p>"It might not be too bad at that," I said. "I've got a cat back home on -Earth and she runs my household pretty much to suit her fancy. But I'm -afraid it's not the same thing for Earthmen to be house pets."</p> - -<p>"The ones we've got are doing a very good job at it," said Number Two. -"And, as we indicated, you won't get the chance to be a pet."</p> - -<p>"You seem very sure that you have me under your control."</p> - -<p>"Very sure," said Number One. "In this confined space, with our -training, the two of us could overcome all but one in a thousand of our -own kind—so do you think you have a chance?"</p> - -<p>I decided that a simple expletive would suffice as an answer. I didn't -know enough about them to be sure it was biologically possible for them -to carry out my suggestion, but it wasn't important. They ignored me.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>At least they didn't answer me. Instead, a cage suddenly appeared -around me, leaving me scarcely room to move around. I reached out and -tapped one of the bars. It seemed very strong. I didn't think I was -even close to panicking, but the implanted device in my body fed some -more of the drug into my veins. I may have felt a little more tense -than I realized.</p> - -<p>At any rate, the time for action seemed to have arrived, and it was not -on the mental level. I spun toward an apparently empty portion of the -room and emptied Obadiah's pistol. The sound of the explosive pellets -was very loud in the room.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus.jpg" width="370" height="500" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>The bars writhed, wavered and disappeared, as did the elflike -creatures. The atmosphere of the room turned momentarily opaque, and -when it cleared, what I could see was once again a clumsy prefab. Two -of the Aliens were still standing in a corner. The remains of the other -two were splashed pretty generally throughout the room. It was quite a -mess.</p> - -<p>"Well," I said, "thanks for the party. You'll excuse me for running."</p> - -<p>There was no answer. The two surviving Aliens hadn't learned much about -Earthmen. I walked over and lifted one of them. He weighed about three -hundred pounds, I judged. That would be a couple of hundred on Earth. -Hefty creatures. I figured that one was about all I could handle. I -looked around at the articles in the room and then decided not to use -any of them. I was sure that everything I saw was actually there, but -it didn't seem wise to take chances.</p> - -<p>I took off Obadiah's purple kilt and tore it into strips without -regret. Then I used the strips to fasten one of the Aliens securely, -so he couldn't use his arms or his legs. I didn't know if he could do -anything, loose, but I didn't want him to try. The other Alien I heaved -up onto my shoulders. Then I walked out of the room.</p> - -<p>There were a few of the ice trees scattered around, but the countryside -looked barren. I couldn't visually identify any landmarks, but I -started off without hesitation, and in about three hours I was back at -the marker. From there on I used my eyes to follow the path back to the -airlock. I had no trouble.</p> - -<p>This time Mr. Jones gave me a checked kilt. I know you won't believe -me, but it was even more hideous than the purple one. The red and -yellow squares were at least three inches across. Luckily, I didn't -have to look at it—just wear it.</p> - -<p>Jones was a little confused as to why I had brought back one of the -Aliens. He didn't even recognize it as an Alien at first, of course. -He'd never seen one of them before—just the elfin form they'd wanted -him to see.</p> - -<p>I'd had no more hallucinations and the other Earthmen seemed to be -seeing normally too. Apparently there had been only the two trained -beings among the Aliens on Sunder's Pride—and only the four of them in -all.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Nevertheless, I was in a hurry. I sent out an urgent call for one of -the most skilled Mental Controllers in Interstellar Insurance. I'll -admit that there are times when they can be put to use.</p> - -<p>Jones and I went down to the clearing that was the teleport terminal to -welcome him.</p> - -<p>The company chose to send that young self-styled genius Ralph Carter. -He's supercilious and conceited and altogether obnoxious—I don't know -why you hire such people—but no question of it, he's a real expert in -his field. He was dressed in a dark green kilt in the latest style, and -he smirked when he saw the thing I had on. I ignored his attitude, as -befitted a gentleman.</p> - -<p>I figured that it was time to move fast. While I showed Carter the way -to the headquarters, I explained why I had called for him. I wanted him -to get into communication with the Alien and find out the location of -his home worlds.</p> - -<p>"But how can I do that?" Carter asked. "I don't know anything at all -about these Aliens."</p> - -<p>"Can't you use your mental training to help you learn to talk mind to -mind?"</p> - -<p>"I suppose so. That shouldn't take more than a few days. The techniques -are well established with other new races we've encountered. But -learning his language won't make him answer."</p> - -<p>I looked at him with my most superior manner. "While you're learning -his language, I suggest you learn some of his psychology. Then you can -get some of our engineers to design you a machine that will function -the way a polygraph does with humans—act as a lie detector. With the -proper choice of questions, you should find out anything you want to -know."</p> - -<p>He shuddered delicately at the mention of that naughty word "machine." -Mentalists sometimes become purists and make fools of themselves by -trying to do without machinery—something like the attitude of the -Aliens.</p> - -<p>When I had given Carter his instructions, I turned to the rest of -the expedition. "I want all of your weapons," I said. "And don't try -holding out on me. That's to include knives and scissors, too. We'll -lock them up in Jones' vault."</p> - -<p>"Now see here," said Jones. "Some more of those Aliens may show up any -time. We can't afford to go out without our guns."</p> - -<p>"That's just the reason you've got to get rid of them. I don't want you -to start shooting each other—and me. Now, send out a party as fast as -you can to bring back a sample of the building material that blocks out -their minds. We'll ship it back to Earth and see if they can put it -into mass production. Have the party bring back that second Alien, too. -If we happen to spoil the one we've got making him talk, it would be -nice to have a spare."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>While the small group was away, I had Obadiah improvise some leg irons -out of light chain and padlocks, and used them to hobble all of the -Earthmen who remained in camp. Jones screamed like a holta whose mate -has estivated, but it didn't do him any good. I had the authority.</p> - -<p>He got even madder when I put the irons on him and at the same time -turned him down again when he wanted to call in the military. The idea -of a space fleet around while the Aliens were still free to use their -mind powers gave me cold chills.</p> - -<p>When the group returned from the Aliens' camp, they did so without the -Alien. They brought back the still tied strips of the purple kilt. It -looked as if he'd teleported right out of them. But at least they did -have a piece of the prefab hut with them. I had it sent back to Earth, -but not until after I'd attached chains to the party's legs, so that -they had to creep along with six-inch steps like the others.</p> - -<p>As the days passed without any apparent action from the Aliens, -dissatisfaction and grumbling grew. My precautionary action with -the chains was very unpopular. At the end of the first week after my -arrival on Sunder's Pride, Jones tried to invoke the Policy he'd signed -with the company to call in the military, on the grounds that the -situation hadn't been resolved in the prescribed time, and that the use -of chains proved that the colony was in even greater danger than before -I had arrived.</p> - -<p>I invoked the "substantial progress" clause, of course, but the fact -that I'd changed the combination to the vault and had the only gun in -the entire camp outside of it probably was more convincing to him.</p> - -<p>Carter called in a top-flight Engineer and made real progress in -developing lie-detector techniques against the Alien. The Aliens were -basically a guileless lot. I almost felt sorry for them.</p> - -<p>Things eased up a little when Earth sent us a stack of sheets they -claimed would be just as good in blocking out thoughts as the sample -we had sent them. The Alien captive told us, after Carter persuaded -him a little, that the blocking power was impressed on their building -materials by a mental process. We used electronic techniques, and our -Engineers said they could have done it years before, if Mentalists and -they could have gotten together on the work.</p> - -<p>By testing, we found that the stuff we had blocked out anything Carter -could transmit, so I let the rest of our people take off their chains -as long as they were inside camp—as soon that is, as we had it fully -protected. They worked faster on that job than they ever had worked in -their lives before.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>A few hours later, I was strolling down toward Telepath Clearing with -a courier to send a report back to Earth when the Aliens returned. -The first warning we had was a sudden wave of hate that struck like -a physical blow. It brought the courier to his knees, momentarily -helpless. Even with an automatic and instantaneous shot of the drug, it -had me grinding my teeth.</p> - -<p>Whether it was the rapidity of my recovery and my quickness of thought, -or whether it was just the effect of the hate spasm, I didn't know—at -any rate, I did the right thing. Before the courier could get up off -his knees and try to kill me, as I was sure he would do, I slugged him -alongside the ear with the butt of my pistol.</p> - -<p>The hatred sensation seemed to be channeled and directed. It made us -want to destroy Aliens—not each other—and that was unexpected to me. -And because the courier was on his way back to Earth, I'd left the -chains off him. In another few seconds, I figured, he'd have tried to -kill me—or, at least, that was my initial thought, until I realized -that, since I am a human, he wouldn't have felt hate for me. By that -time, and quite properly, I had laid him out cold.</p> - -<p>I reached down and picked up the courier, intending to toss him lightly -across my shoulder and start back to the camp. I found that I had a -problem—I couldn't figure which one of my three stumpy legs to start -walking with. I extended all my eyes and examined myself. I looked like -an Alien wearing a checked kilt.</p> - -<p>Unhappily, I tried to lick my labial fringes with my tongue—and -suddenly realized that I had no tongue! It was an unnerving -realization, even to me. But then I knew why the Aliens were -transmitting hatred of themselves; any Earthman who knew what an Alien -looked like would attack me on sight.</p> - -<p>I closed all of my eyes and concentrated, but I couldn't seem to be -able to figure out which of my three hands held the gun, for I could -no longer see it. I decided it was time for me to get back inside the -barrier.</p> - -<p>That was a devil of a lot easier to decide than it was to do. I could -see three legs and I could feel three legs, but I didn't know how to -operate three legs. I was slowed down to a sort of hobble. It wasn't as -slow as the sluggish amble of the real Aliens, but it wasn't any faster -than the other Earthmen could move, hobbled by chains.</p> - -<p>I couldn't afford to delay very long, though. Some of the unchained -men inside of the shack might take it into their heads to step outside -without remembering to hobble themselves, considering that I was not -there to remind them, and I didn't feel up to trying to handle anything -like that.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>I sneaked up as close as I could get to the lock without being seen. -There were six men gathered in front of it, waiting for me. I couldn't -think of anything else to do, so I just lit out for the airlock, -shuffling along as fast as I could go. The men swarmed around me. I -threw the courier at the first group to arrive—he was still out—and -gained a few seconds. But then they hung on me, they pummeled me, they -bit and they clawed.</p> - -<p>I just kept struggling bravely forward; I couldn't think of anything -else to do. At the last minute, just as I thought I was going down -under the mass of feet and fists, two of the men somehow got tangled in -each other's chains, and I managed to break loose long enough to pull -myself into the lock.</p> - -<p>As the outer door swung closed, I found myself with two arms, two -legs and, praise be, a tongue. Obadiah's kilt was missing and I'm -happy to say that I never saw it again. The gun was visible once more, -still firmly clutched in my right hand. It was empty; my fingers were -squeezing tightly on the trigger. Much good it had done me!</p> - -<p>I passed quickly into the headquarters building, bringing with me a -breath of poisonous outer air that set the men inside, except for -Carter, to gasping and choking. Not even pausing to say hello, or to -apologize for bringing in some of the outer atmosphere with me, I -hurried over to the control panel and switched on the visual receptors -that showed the outside of the lock. The men out there were fighting -each other to get inside the building and kill me. As they managed -to battle their way in through the lock, they looked bewildered for -a moment, and then all of them, released from the frenzy of hate, -collapsed into unconsciousness.</p> - -<p>We were a bloody mess, every one of us, but not one of us was seriously -hurt. The Aliens had outsmarted themselves. While I had looked like one -of them, those parts of me—like my eye stalks—that had seemed to be -most vulnerable, so that the Earthmen had gone after them, had turned -out to be things like ears and noses. They hurt, but they didn't put -me out of action when they were battered. That's all that had saved me -from being killed. I didn't figure that out till later, I must admit.</p> - -<p>I counted us. We were all safe inside. Then I used an amplifier, -connected up to a loudspeaker outside, to call the Aliens. I called for -several minutes, without receiving any response, before I realized that -they spoke with their minds exclusively and couldn't penetrate into the -headquarters where we were with their pseudo-voices.</p> - -<p>I sighed and started to go outside, but Jones hauled me back and made -me put on a protective suit. He said he couldn't stand another whiff of -that atmosphere.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Once outside, I had no trouble communicating with the Aliens. They were -very anxious to talk. Apparently they were convinced that, since they -believed my mental powers were at least as strong as theirs, there -were probably many more Earthmen like me that they wouldn't be able to -tackle. I had no trouble at all making a lucrative trading deal with -them for Jones' company, once I convinced them that I knew the location -of their planets, and that it would be an easy matter to blast them -from the face of the universe with primitive, uncivilized fusion bombs. -They even promised to send back the men they had taken as pets.</p> - -<p>After that, I staggered back inside the camp and slept the clock around.</p> - -<p>When I woke, I found that all of the men were very anxious to know the -secret of my success, especially Carter, who knew very well that I had -no skill at Mental Control.</p> - -<p>I was glad to oblige them, as a reward for Carter's courtesy in giving -me his stylish green kilt, which fitted me very well. Obadiah gave -Carter another of his horrors—and it was the worst we had seen to -date, as I let that young worthy know with a simple cock of an eyebrow.</p> - -<p>It was all very simple, as I explained to my admiring audience. The -reports we'd had back at the headquarters of the Interstellar Insurance -Company indicated that it was useless to try to compete with the Aliens -on the mental level, where they were strongest. This was the mistake -that Jones and his so-called experts had made.</p> - -<p>I decided, when I was given the assignment to straighten things out, -that the best way to compete was where we Earthmen are strongest: with -mechanical "gadgets." So I had our scientists implant a power source -in my body. It made use of short half-life radioactive isotopes for the -energy source—not too well shielded, but what the hell, I've already -fathered my family—and gave me more power than I could ever need.</p> - -<p>In order to be able to use that power, I'd had the scientists set up -a closed-cycle system in my body. The combustion products created by -the "burning" of food by my body cells, as in all humans, were carbon -dioxide and water. These were broken down, in another gadget implanted -in my body, into oxygen, carbon and hydrogen.</p> - -<p>The oxygen I used directly; another compact machine synthesized -carbohydrates to complete the closed-loop cycle. I neither breathed -nor ate during the entire time I was on Sunder's Pride, except for the -purpose of talking, and that breathing never went past the larynx.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>It was lucky I didn't need to breathe, too. Otherwise I'd have drowned -in imaginary water while wading in that river the Aliens had created in -my mind.</p> - -<p>"Also," I explained, "I had a sort of supersonic sonar device set into -me, with the transponder in my chest. That's why I had to avoid wearing -a protective suit; unless my chest was bare, I squelched the signals. I -used this sonar to judge what was going on around me, no matter what I -seemed to see."</p> - -<p>"Now don't feed us that," said Jones belligerently. "We aren't that -dumb. Don't you think we tried using sonar and radar to fool the -Aliens? They worked on all our senses. What we saw on a radar or sonar -screen matched perfectly the false picture we thought we were seeing -with our eyes. It was the same when we used aural reception. What came -in through our ears matched what we thought we saw. So now stop kidding -around and tell us the truth."</p> - -<p>I smiled condescendingly. "I am telling you the absolute truth, -Obadiah. You didn't use your head. Of course the sound signals I -received from the sonar matched what I thought I saw. I didn't -underestimate the Aliens. It's just that sound to my ears wasn't the -only read-out method I used. In addition to connecting to the nerves -of my ears, which the Aliens expected, the sonar output also connected -to the nerves of my tongue. Anything ahead of me tasted sweet, and -anything behind me tasted salt. To my left was bitter, to my right acid.</p> - -<p>"The Aliens didn't expect me to <i>taste</i> what was to be seen around me, -and what they didn't know about, they couldn't counter. No matter what -I saw or heard, I just followed my tongue.</p> - -<p>"I had a few bad moments one time, when by accident, more or less, the -actions of the Aliens almost made me imagine that my tongue was being -destroyed, but I managed to work my way out of that by keeping my mouth -closed. Just the other day, though, I had some more rough minutes when -I found that, along with thinking I had the body of an Alien, I also -thought I had no tongue, like them.</p> - -<p>"You see, I used what the Aliens consider to be primitive mechanical -toys. Oh, and one more thing, not quite so primitive: my brains. You -might all profit by trying that once in a while."</p> - -<p>"Well," said Jones at last, "I've got to give you credit. You knew what -you were doing."</p> - -<p>"That's all right," I said magnanimously. "I had the choice of trying -to combat them with Mental Control, where the Aliens are stronger, or -with mechanical science, where humans are stronger. Which I chose to -use." I punned, "was just a matter of taste."</p> - -<p>End of report. I'm going on a long vacation with my bonus money.</p> - -<p>And what I do while I'm away is none of your business. Don't send me -any of your preaching letters this time. How I have my fun is also a -matter of taste.</p> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Matter of Taste, by Joseph Wesley - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A MATTER OF TASTE *** - -***** This file should be named 60913-h.htm or 60913-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/0/9/1/60913/ - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll -have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using -this ebook. - - - -Title: A Matter of Taste - -Author: Joseph Wesley - -Release Date: December 13, 2019 [EBook #60913] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A MATTER OF TASTE *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - A MATTER OF TASTE - - By JOSEPH WESLEY - - _When a planet turns in an - insurance claim, it could run - to more than real money._ - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Worlds of If Science Fiction, January 1961. - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - - CASE RL472 XYA 386. Oral report of Claims Adjuster Mark Atkinson - (#384 762). Transcribed by Telepath Operator #842 765J (Tellus). - First and Final Report. CASE CLOSING SYMBOL: AAA. - -I arrived on the fourth planet of Sunder's Pride stark naked and -stood comfortably in the snow, listening to the wind howl by, while -waiting for the Expedition Manager to approach from the edge of the -small clearing and welcome me. The Manager's name is Obadiah Jones. -Like the rest of the expedition, he's from one of the minor Vegan -colonies--Kinnison III--but he's undifferentiated Earth stock. - -He bustled forward, wearing a full protective suit and helmet--the -temperature is thirty degrees below zero centigrade at noon and the -atmosphere is poisonous--but I could see the expression of relief on -his face through his face plate. - -"You're from Interstellar Insurance?" he panted under the one and a -half G of Sunder's Pride. - -I assented with a dignified nod. - -He looked me up and down--my skin wasn't even showing goose pimples, -of course--and then shrugged his shoulders. "The insurance company -sent a first-class Mental Control Operator, I see, but it was a waste -of talent. Maybe they didn't believe our reports. We've had our own -operators here--good ones, too--and they haven't been able to find any -solution. The Aliens are much better at all sorts of Mind Control than -even our most talented men. I know our Policy says that you can keep -us from calling in the military authorities for a week, but it's just -a waste of time--and, more important, it's a waste of lives, too. I -suggest that you give us authority to call in the Navy right away." - -"How many lives have you lost so far?" I asked. - -"Only a dozen, but at regular intervals." - -"That hardly seems excessive for an exploratory expedition," I -commented. - -He shook his head impatiently. "I said _at regular intervals_. The -Aliens treat us like we were cattle. Or sheep." - -"Not exactly," I said, "or you would scarcely have called _me_ in. You -must be operating at a profit, and that means you're trading with these -Aliens." - -He scowled, but did not deny it. - - * * * * * - -Of course I knew this already. As an independent Claims Adjuster, it -goes without saying that I'd checked into the case before teleporting -to the planet. Their profit was enormous, and our losses would be -proportionately large if the military was invited to come in and spoil -trade while saving lives. - -Their charter called for exclusive trading rights on any planet they -opened for ten years. And they had the usual clause in their Policy -against loss by "government" action, meaning the military, even at -their own invitation. The military is fast, but it's not neat. The cost -could run to billions for us, so my job was to try to find another way. - -"Well," he said, "can we send an emergency signal to the Navy?" - -"When does the next regular interval expire?" I asked. - -He checked the timepiece set into the sleeve of his suit, and then -scratched some number in the clean wind-swept surface of snow. His -watch kept local time, of course. "In about fourteen Earth hours," he -translated at last. - -"Then there's no hurry, is there?" I leaned against the gale that was -blowing across the clearing. "Why don't we go to your office so you can -brief me?" - -He turned and stumped his way heavily to a gap at the edge of -the clearing, and then along a narrow path that wound its way -circuitously among tall, slender, tinkling, half-living ice trees. -I strolled lightly beside him, but my bare feet left deep imprints -in the crustless snow. In about fifteen minutes we reached the human -settlement, with its airlock set modestly into a great mound of snow. - -Here we had a little difficulty; the lock was designed to pass bulky -protective suits. If I had gone through it bare, I'd have let in some -of the poisonous atmosphere into the camp. We solved that, though. Mr. -Jones passed a suit out to me through the lock and I put it on. I wore -it all the way to his office, and then he rustled me up one of his -spare kilts--an ugly purple thing. - -"Now, Obadiah," I said, after I'd lighted one of his stogies and -settled myself into his most comfortable chair, "why this urgent call -for help? Our records show that you've never hollered copper in your -life, and you've had two expeditions nearly wiped out around you. -You've got the best profit record in your organization." - -"It's those Aliens," said Mr. Jones. "They arrived here on Sunder's -Pride just a few days behind us. I've always felt that someday -we'd come up against some life-form that would be too much for us, -and I'm afraid that we've done it at last. They trade us some of -the most magnificent works of art that have ever been seen in the -universe--you've undoubtedly admired some of them, and I'm sure you -know the prices they bring--and they do it as if they were tossing -glass beads to savages." - -"And if we are such savages, what can we have to trade in return?" I -asked. - -"They don't seem to be any great shakes with mechanical things," he -answered. "They call them 'gadgets,' but they buy them. The only -trouble is, that's not all they buy." He was sweating, his face turning -as green as the polka dots on his kilt. He mopped his face and chest -with a large handkerchief, and then sat there holding it and looking at -it as if he'd never seen a bandanna before. - - * * * * * - -I felt sorry for him. These provincial types have an automatic feeling -of horror at the thought of meeting some superior creatures that will -replace man in the Galaxy. So I let him sit there for a couple of -minutes to recover before I prompted him. - -"Well?" I said at last. "The additional stuff they buy--what is it?" -This hadn't been part of the reports. - -"Oh. Yes. Once every five days they take one man. I may have given you -the idea that they killed them. They don't. They ship them off. They -say we are very popular, and when there are enough of us on the market -to bring the price down, we should make ideal pets. And we can't do a -thing to stop them." - -I flicked the ash of my cigar delicately onto his carpet. "You can't? -What have you tried?" - -He leaped to his feet and balled his fists belligerently. "I'm trying -to call in the military, but first I've got to get through the red tape -of calling in you insurance people. Now will you give me authority to -call in a fleet before it's too late?" - -I smiled in a superior manner and straightened a pleat on the hideous -kilt. "If you feel this way, then why do you worry about money? Why -didn't you just call the fleet directly and forfeit your insurance?" - -He glared at me through red-rimmed eyes. "I tried that," he said. "If -only we had some central government to turn to--but that's impossible -in space, of course. So I went to the only centralized force there is. -And they said that they have to count on voluntary contributions from -the member planets, and they couldn't afford to answer every call for -help. They told me to contact my insurance company." - -"Which," I commented mildly, "is another centralized force in space, -in spite of what you say. It's widespread, it's profit-making, -and it gets the job done. Nobody has to try to beg for voluntary -appropriations from penurious planetary governments." - -"This isn't a crackpot fear of aliens," he said, as soon as I stopped -talking. "I've seen aliens before, in all parts of the Galaxy. I don't -panic." - -"Then you must have tried something else before hollering Uncle," I -said. "Like, perhaps, keeping all of your men inside the dome here when -the time for another abduction approaches?" - - * * * * * - -He waved a hand impatiently. "We've tried everything a large group of -top-flight minds can think of," he said. "My own organization has an -exceptional research staff, as I'm sure you know. The Aliens work by -mental control. We've had everyone brought into this building, have -double-checked them, and have sealed the doors with a time lock. It -turned out that one of the men was missing--we'd only imagined he was -among us when we assembled. - -"We scoured the planet before we landed and saw no signs of the Aliens. -We've seen no Alien ships land since we arrived. We have no idea where -they are, except that there's one sizable area not far from here that -we can't seem to penetrate. The only evidence we have that the Aliens -arrived after we did is that they told us so. Whatever that's worth. - -"We've brought in some of mankind's best Mental Control Operators. -People like you, who are able to walk around in a poisonous atmosphere -in sub-zero weather without any protection or any clothes at all. Every -one of them is now among the victims. The Aliens apparently thought it -would be a good joke to take them." - -He paused. "So you see, we don't expect you to be around very long. -Just so you call in the military before the Aliens call _you_ in, we'll -try to control our grief when you go." - -"That's courteous of you," I said. "But you are suffering under an -understandable misapprehension. You seem to believe--probably because -of my somewhat unorthodox costume when I arrived--that I am a Master -Controller. In point of fact, nothing could be farther from the case. I -have no such powers. Or almost none, anyway. - -"I arrived naked because of the enormous expense of teleportation. -Those machines require gigantic amounts of power and skilled -technicians. At ten thousand a pound, I saved the company five thousand -by leaving my kilt behind, and even more when you consider my shoes. As -for a protective suit--why, such an unnecessary cost would have been -thrown out by our accountants in a minute." - -Obadiah Jones sneered at me in disbelief, but I tolerantly ignored -his attitude. "Let's admit, for the time being, that these Aliens are -better at Mental Control than we are," I said. "Then does it make sense -for us to fight them with their own weapons, giving them cards and -spades before the start of the game? Now take me to the edge of this -place where you say we can't go." - -In spite of Mr. Jones' urgent pleas, I refused to wear a protective -suit, except to go out through the lock. I knew he was worried about -the Mind Control he still was convinced I was using to survive -unprotected on the surface. He was afraid that when I came up against -the Aliens and what he called their "superior powers," it would mean -my death, if I didn't have a suit. Since I had equally valid reasons -for not wearing the suit, and since I didn't want to explain them, I -refused to argue. I just took the thing off as soon as we were outside. -I left the kilt on, though. I thought its ugliness might irritate the -Aliens. - - * * * * * - -Obadiah Jones kept up a running patter of conversation as he led me -toward the forbidden area. "We haven't been idle," he said. "We've -learned a lot about the Aliens' Mind Control. For one thing, they work -on our emotions. Several of us who are still alive have been exposed -to that. There were eight or nine of us in a group, the first time one -of us was Chosen. He said an overwhelming feeling of love was drawing -him in one direction; right after that, the rest of us felt a strong -sensation of revulsion and fear. We ran away, leaving him behind. We -never saw him again. - -"They also control our senses. We see and hear what they want us to. -It's perfect hallucination. But you'll know that for yourself in a few -minutes." - -I knew it already, of course. It had been in Jones' reports--all except -the bit about their capturing his men. And I had come prepared. I must -admit to feeling a distinct sensation of excitement as we approached -the area. But it was not induced, I am sure, by the Aliens, and in any -event it was not sufficiently intense to trigger my defense mechanisms. - -"Here we are," said Obadiah Jones at last, pointing to a marker -attached to one of the ice trees. "Beyond that sign the troubles begin." - -"It doesn't look like an alien artifact to me," I said, examining the -crudely made marker carefully. - -"It isn't. I had it put up after one of our men was missing for two -days, wandering around in that area that they claim for themselves." - -"Well, I'll find out just how good their claim is," I said. "I'm going -in there." - -"Good luck," said Mr. Jones. "I'll wait for you here. But, just in case -I never see you again, won't you please give me authorization to call -in the Fleet? You can postdate it, and cancel it if you get back." - -I nodded. "I'll give you an authorization dated tomorrow--if you'll -give me your gun first. You might just accidentally happen to kill me -after getting that paper from me, considering how important you think -it is to get the Fleet here fast, and how sure you are that I'll be -trapped." - -Jones looked startled, and then sheepish, and gave me the gun without -comment. I wrote out the paper he wanted, and then strolled up the path -past the marker. It didn't look any different on the other side. It -went straight into the forbidden area, and I do mean straight. It went -on without the slightest sign of a turn, as far as the eye could see, -and there were no cross trails anywhere along it. - -I stepped out at a good swift pace, striding along it long after Jones -disappeared from view behind me. I saw no signs of Aliens; I saw no -signs of anything unusual at all, until, about two hours after I -started, I saw a marker in the distance ahead of me. Jones was sitting -on the snow, just on the other side of the tree with the marker on it. -I strolled up toward him, crossed the invisible line, hiked up my kilt -to keep it from getting damp, and sat down on the soft snow beside him. - - * * * * * - -"Hello," he said non-committally. "You made pretty good time. In fact, -that's a new record for the course." - -"Then I'm not the first man to take that walk?" I asked. - -"Nope. Just the fastest. I'm glad you didn't try to turn around and -come back along the path. That way, you'd have gotten lost. Well, shall -we go back to the camp and call in the Navy?" - -"No, I'm going back in," I said calmly. - -He waved one gloved hand at me. "It's your funeral," he said. "Or what -amounts to the same thing, anyway." - -I stood up, dusted off the snow where some of it had stuck to me, and -settled my kilt into as fashionable a manner as was possible. I crossed -the line and started down the trail again, just as I had before, but -this time I didn't follow my eyes. Soon after losing sight of Mr. -Jones, I cut sharply off the clearly visible trail to the right and -started to weave my way through a thicket of the ice trees. - -Gradually a sensation of fear entirely foreign to my usual nature -built up within me, but I ignored it and kept going. As the sensation -increased to a nearly uncontrollable level, one of the automatic -mechanisms I had had the foresight to have implanted in my body -operated, and a few drops of a drug were shot into my veins and almost -instantly took effect. I still felt the fear sensation, but it no -longer had the power to bother me much. With that drug in my blood -stream, no emotion could affect me strongly. - -As I worked my way through the tinkling jungle of ice trees, there was -an amazing change. Before my eyes, the trees suddenly seemed to clothe -themselves in leaves and bark, and the sounds became those of birds -and insects. I was working my way through a jungle of Earth. The heavy -gravity of Sunder's Pride had not disturbed me before, but now it was -replaced by the almost buoyant feeling resulting from the far lighter -gravity of Earth. The harsh yellow glow of the sunlight striking on -eternal ice was replaced by the vibrant blues and greens of tropical -Earth. - -My fear sensation, which had been generalized, suddenly sharpened. I -was reminded of a time, on Earth, when I had nearly died in a tropical -river teeming with piranha fish. I still have a couple of scars from -that episode. Before me I could see the river flowing. Even under the -calming influence of the drug, I could feel my heart pounding in my -throat. - -I must confess that it took a distinct effort of will for me to wade -into the water. It was boiling with the flashing forms of angry fish. -As I stepped forward I could feel their greedy jaws snapping into my -flesh, feel the pointed rows of teeth on the bones of my ankles, then -my legs, then my thighs. - - * * * * * - -Despite the agony I continued on, and the water level gradually rose -until it closed over my head and my sight faded as the fish bit out -my eyes. I think I might have screamed then, if I hadn't already felt -the fish tear out my throat, so that I knew screaming was impossible. -Besides, I didn't want to open my mouth and let them get to work on my -tongue. I protected the soft spot under my chin with the hand that held -Obadiah's gun. - -If any of you homeside heroes ever wonder if we Claims Adjusters really -earn our considerable salaries, let me clue you: We do. - -When, stripped to a skeleton, I still kept moving stolidly ahead, the -boiling of the water slowly died away, the pain ceased, and my sight -gradually came back. The jungle was still there, but I found that I was -climbing up out of the river onto a trail that somehow seemed familiar. -The fear sensation was gone, too, to be replaced by a very different -one. - -I remembered why I had gone into the jungle on Earth, so many years -before, and why the trail was familiar. And who had been at the end of -it. And who _was_ at the end of it. She was soft and beautiful, and she -had loved me for a while. She loved me still, I realized, and she was -waiting for me. I hurried my steps and the automatic mechanism again -put a few drops of the drug into my blood stream. - -I could still feel the sensation of longing, but the urgency was gone. -I let the feeling continue to pull me forward without fighting it, and -willingly followed the twists and turns of the still familiar trail. - -As the trees thinned out until I could see the well-remembered cottage -with its thatched roof, its single room, its wide veranda, I slowed. -The house stood alone, with no trees around it, just the way she and I -had wanted it. - -I stopped at the last tree and looked at the house for several minutes. -Nothing moved that I could see. Circling slowly from tree to tree, I -continued watching the house until I was staring at it from a point -nearly opposite the place where I had first seen it. Then I began to -walk toward it. Even the sound of the birds had faded away, although -I could still smell the heady fragrance of tropical flowers. She had -always kept a large bouquet of them on the table beside the bed. - -When I had reached a point about twenty paces from the house, I wheeled -suddenly and leaped forward, aiming at a spot where nothing showed to -the eye. There was a moment--the merest instant--of dizziness, and then -a room suddenly materialized around me. The room looked alien, and -there were two Aliens at the far end of it. The usual drag of one and a -half Earth gravities had returned. - - * * * * * - -This, I felt, was the first undistorted view any man on Earth had had -of these Aliens, except as a pet. They had not expected any human to be -able to find his way here, to this room at the center of their base. - -The room was not what I had expected. I had thought that I would -find myself on the inside of a spaceship, and by no stretch of the -imagination could this ever have traveled between the stars. It was -unmistakably a prefab hut. - -The two Aliens better fitted my preconceptions. They looked something -like overgrown sea anemones, with three multi-jointed arms and three -short legs. They were just over two meters tall. They were extremely -sluggish in their movements, as might be expected from creatures that -depended almost entirely on their mental abilities for control of their -environment. - -They looked at me for a few minutes--all of their eyes were startlingly -humanlike in appearance--and I imagine that they had expressions of -surprise, if I could have found any expression, or interpreted from -their tendrils just where their faces were. Finally one of them moved -slowly to the far wall, extended one of his arms and depressed a lever -on a rather crude-looking panel attached to that wall. He then moved -slowly back to his companion and both of them continued to stare at me. - -I waved cheerily at them. "Hi, fellows," I said. I could detect no -answer, but the room wavered a little before my eyes. I blinked and -shook my head and my vision cleared. - -"So you haven't been trained in the techniques of Mental Control of -Earthmen," I commented. "That's interesting." - -A feathery stalk slowly rose from among the coiling things that circled -their tops, and at the same time I heard a gentle dragging noise -approaching the door of the hut. - -"It sounds as if we might be about to have company," I said. "That -will be pleasant." - -I examined my two hosts closely, because I had the feeling that I -wouldn't be able to see them much longer as they really were. - -"It's good of you to be so cautious," I said. "If you hadn't been so -careful as to shield this hut, just in case we Earthmen turned out to -have adequate Mind Control powers of our own, I wouldn't have had this -chance to see you two in all your natural ugliness. Your friends out -there would have kept me under control all this time. - -"And what's more," I added, "I wouldn't even have known that you -creatures had something that would shield your power. Our scientists -will be very interested in examining this hut in great detail." - - * * * * * - -Just then the door of the hut swung open and two elflike creatures -appeared to walk briskly in. I glanced at them and then back to where -my two slow-moving acquaintances had been standing. They were no longer -in sight. - -"Perhaps we can make things a little more comfortable for you," said -one of the brisk elves. "You have earned most special treatment from -us." He gestured and the strangeness of the room strangely disappeared. -The walls were suddenly paneled in mahogany and hung with rich drapes. -Easy chairs were placed at intervals around a long, brilliantly -polished table. A picture window showed a bucolic scene bathed in cool -sunshine. A deep pile rug covered the floor. - -I looked around appreciatively. "Very nice," I complimented them. "And -in excellent taste. But you have forgotten one thing, haven't you?" - -"What's that?" asked the second elf, in a piping voice. - -"Why, you forgot about the gravity. It's still at Sunder's Pride -normal." - -"So it is," said the elf. "But then you can't expect us to think of -everything. Besides, it doesn't seem to bother you the way it does most -of the other creatures of your kind." - -The gravity did not appear to change. - -"No matter," I said politely. I strolled over to the table and stroked -it with the hand that was not holding the gun. It seemed very real. - -"Won't you sit down?" asked the first elf. "I'm sure you will find the -chairs very comfortable." - -"I'm sure I would," I said, "but no, thank you. I'm certain it would -provide you with a lot of innocent merriment if I squatted in thin air -under the impression that I was settled into a cosy chair, but I did -not come here to amuse you." - -The elf smiled. "You are very different from the others who lumbered to -this planet in those clumsy artifacts. You are almost like a Person, in -spite of your feverish rushing around. Several of our laboratories will -bid very high for the right to examine you." - -I bowed acknowledgment of his compliment. "I'm not in one of your -laboratories yet," I said mildly. - -"It will be very interesting to find out how you managed to get here in -spite of our Mind Control," said the second elf. "Your arrival without -the necessity of swaddling yourself in awkward garments indicated a -certain amount of ability along mental lines, but I sense no more of -it in you than several others of your kind have managed to muster. The -others all brought premium prices on the market, despite conveyances -and garments." - -"I gather you don't think much of mechanical contrivances," I said -lightly. - - * * * * * - -Alien the First shrugged. "They make interesting toys," he said. "But, -of course, they are useless crutches in building a civilization. They -bring good prices when peddled for the amusement of our children and -the shallower-minded adults." - -"Listening to your remarks about our spaceships," I continued, "I -presume all of you teleported here. We Earthmen may not be very good -at Mind Control, but I think we have a good grasp of the principles, -and I don't see how you could teleport without some sort of terminal -device. Didn't you have to send that here by machine?" - -There was a brief silence, and then Alien the Second answered. "I -suppose it doesn't matter if we tell you. After all, we have you in -our possession. As you suggest, we do need a terminal device. But we -didn't use machinery; we used minds--the minds of you Earthmen. When -the first of you landed on this uninhabited planet, we discovered that -your undirected capacities were sufficient to serve as the terminal of -a teleport system. - -"We couldn't go directly to any of your more populous planets, because -the vast numbers of your untrained minds cause so much static that the -noise level is too high to permit a sharp enough focus for teleporting. - -"Of course, now that we're here, where you've set up a teleport -terminal that connects into your foolish mechanical network and ties -into all of your thousands of planets, we'll have no trouble going -anywhere among your worlds that we want to. And as soon as we have -built up enough consumer demand for you creatures as house pets, we'll -move in for the harvest." - -"It might not be too bad at that," I said. "I've got a cat back home on -Earth and she runs my household pretty much to suit her fancy. But I'm -afraid it's not the same thing for Earthmen to be house pets." - -"The ones we've got are doing a very good job at it," said Number Two. -"And, as we indicated, you won't get the chance to be a pet." - -"You seem very sure that you have me under your control." - -"Very sure," said Number One. "In this confined space, with our -training, the two of us could overcome all but one in a thousand of our -own kind--so do you think you have a chance?" - -I decided that a simple expletive would suffice as an answer. I didn't -know enough about them to be sure it was biologically possible for them -to carry out my suggestion, but it wasn't important. They ignored me. - - * * * * * - -At least they didn't answer me. Instead, a cage suddenly appeared -around me, leaving me scarcely room to move around. I reached out and -tapped one of the bars. It seemed very strong. I didn't think I was -even close to panicking, but the implanted device in my body fed some -more of the drug into my veins. I may have felt a little more tense -than I realized. - -At any rate, the time for action seemed to have arrived, and it was not -on the mental level. I spun toward an apparently empty portion of the -room and emptied Obadiah's pistol. The sound of the explosive pellets -was very loud in the room. - -The bars writhed, wavered and disappeared, as did the elflike -creatures. The atmosphere of the room turned momentarily opaque, and -when it cleared, what I could see was once again a clumsy prefab. Two -of the Aliens were still standing in a corner. The remains of the other -two were splashed pretty generally throughout the room. It was quite a -mess. - -"Well," I said, "thanks for the party. You'll excuse me for running." - -There was no answer. The two surviving Aliens hadn't learned much about -Earthmen. I walked over and lifted one of them. He weighed about three -hundred pounds, I judged. That would be a couple of hundred on Earth. -Hefty creatures. I figured that one was about all I could handle. I -looked around at the articles in the room and then decided not to use -any of them. I was sure that everything I saw was actually there, but -it didn't seem wise to take chances. - -I took off Obadiah's purple kilt and tore it into strips without -regret. Then I used the strips to fasten one of the Aliens securely, -so he couldn't use his arms or his legs. I didn't know if he could do -anything, loose, but I didn't want him to try. The other Alien I heaved -up onto my shoulders. Then I walked out of the room. - -There were a few of the ice trees scattered around, but the countryside -looked barren. I couldn't visually identify any landmarks, but I -started off without hesitation, and in about three hours I was back at -the marker. From there on I used my eyes to follow the path back to the -airlock. I had no trouble. - -This time Mr. Jones gave me a checked kilt. I know you won't believe -me, but it was even more hideous than the purple one. The red and -yellow squares were at least three inches across. Luckily, I didn't -have to look at it--just wear it. - -Jones was a little confused as to why I had brought back one of the -Aliens. He didn't even recognize it as an Alien at first, of course. -He'd never seen one of them before--just the elfin form they'd wanted -him to see. - -I'd had no more hallucinations and the other Earthmen seemed to be -seeing normally too. Apparently there had been only the two trained -beings among the Aliens on Sunder's Pride--and only the four of them in -all. - - * * * * * - -Nevertheless, I was in a hurry. I sent out an urgent call for one of -the most skilled Mental Controllers in Interstellar Insurance. I'll -admit that there are times when they can be put to use. - -Jones and I went down to the clearing that was the teleport terminal to -welcome him. - -The company chose to send that young self-styled genius Ralph Carter. -He's supercilious and conceited and altogether obnoxious--I don't know -why you hire such people--but no question of it, he's a real expert in -his field. He was dressed in a dark green kilt in the latest style, and -he smirked when he saw the thing I had on. I ignored his attitude, as -befitted a gentleman. - -I figured that it was time to move fast. While I showed Carter the way -to the headquarters, I explained why I had called for him. I wanted him -to get into communication with the Alien and find out the location of -his home worlds. - -"But how can I do that?" Carter asked. "I don't know anything at all -about these Aliens." - -"Can't you use your mental training to help you learn to talk mind to -mind?" - -"I suppose so. That shouldn't take more than a few days. The techniques -are well established with other new races we've encountered. But -learning his language won't make him answer." - -I looked at him with my most superior manner. "While you're learning -his language, I suggest you learn some of his psychology. Then you can -get some of our engineers to design you a machine that will function -the way a polygraph does with humans--act as a lie detector. With the -proper choice of questions, you should find out anything you want to -know." - -He shuddered delicately at the mention of that naughty word "machine." -Mentalists sometimes become purists and make fools of themselves by -trying to do without machinery--something like the attitude of the -Aliens. - -When I had given Carter his instructions, I turned to the rest of -the expedition. "I want all of your weapons," I said. "And don't try -holding out on me. That's to include knives and scissors, too. We'll -lock them up in Jones' vault." - -"Now see here," said Jones. "Some more of those Aliens may show up any -time. We can't afford to go out without our guns." - -"That's just the reason you've got to get rid of them. I don't want you -to start shooting each other--and me. Now, send out a party as fast as -you can to bring back a sample of the building material that blocks out -their minds. We'll ship it back to Earth and see if they can put it -into mass production. Have the party bring back that second Alien, too. -If we happen to spoil the one we've got making him talk, it would be -nice to have a spare." - - * * * * * - -While the small group was away, I had Obadiah improvise some leg irons -out of light chain and padlocks, and used them to hobble all of the -Earthmen who remained in camp. Jones screamed like a holta whose mate -has estivated, but it didn't do him any good. I had the authority. - -He got even madder when I put the irons on him and at the same time -turned him down again when he wanted to call in the military. The idea -of a space fleet around while the Aliens were still free to use their -mind powers gave me cold chills. - -When the group returned from the Aliens' camp, they did so without the -Alien. They brought back the still tied strips of the purple kilt. It -looked as if he'd teleported right out of them. But at least they did -have a piece of the prefab hut with them. I had it sent back to Earth, -but not until after I'd attached chains to the party's legs, so that -they had to creep along with six-inch steps like the others. - -As the days passed without any apparent action from the Aliens, -dissatisfaction and grumbling grew. My precautionary action with -the chains was very unpopular. At the end of the first week after my -arrival on Sunder's Pride, Jones tried to invoke the Policy he'd signed -with the company to call in the military, on the grounds that the -situation hadn't been resolved in the prescribed time, and that the use -of chains proved that the colony was in even greater danger than before -I had arrived. - -I invoked the "substantial progress" clause, of course, but the fact -that I'd changed the combination to the vault and had the only gun in -the entire camp outside of it probably was more convincing to him. - -Carter called in a top-flight Engineer and made real progress in -developing lie-detector techniques against the Alien. The Aliens were -basically a guileless lot. I almost felt sorry for them. - -Things eased up a little when Earth sent us a stack of sheets they -claimed would be just as good in blocking out thoughts as the sample -we had sent them. The Alien captive told us, after Carter persuaded -him a little, that the blocking power was impressed on their building -materials by a mental process. We used electronic techniques, and our -Engineers said they could have done it years before, if Mentalists and -they could have gotten together on the work. - -By testing, we found that the stuff we had blocked out anything Carter -could transmit, so I let the rest of our people take off their chains -as long as they were inside camp--as soon that is, as we had it fully -protected. They worked faster on that job than they ever had worked in -their lives before. - - * * * * * - -A few hours later, I was strolling down toward Telepath Clearing with -a courier to send a report back to Earth when the Aliens returned. -The first warning we had was a sudden wave of hate that struck like -a physical blow. It brought the courier to his knees, momentarily -helpless. Even with an automatic and instantaneous shot of the drug, it -had me grinding my teeth. - -Whether it was the rapidity of my recovery and my quickness of thought, -or whether it was just the effect of the hate spasm, I didn't know--at -any rate, I did the right thing. Before the courier could get up off -his knees and try to kill me, as I was sure he would do, I slugged him -alongside the ear with the butt of my pistol. - -The hatred sensation seemed to be channeled and directed. It made us -want to destroy Aliens--not each other--and that was unexpected to me. -And because the courier was on his way back to Earth, I'd left the -chains off him. In another few seconds, I figured, he'd have tried to -kill me--or, at least, that was my initial thought, until I realized -that, since I am a human, he wouldn't have felt hate for me. By that -time, and quite properly, I had laid him out cold. - -I reached down and picked up the courier, intending to toss him lightly -across my shoulder and start back to the camp. I found that I had a -problem--I couldn't figure which one of my three stumpy legs to start -walking with. I extended all my eyes and examined myself. I looked like -an Alien wearing a checked kilt. - -Unhappily, I tried to lick my labial fringes with my tongue--and -suddenly realized that I had no tongue! It was an unnerving -realization, even to me. But then I knew why the Aliens were -transmitting hatred of themselves; any Earthman who knew what an Alien -looked like would attack me on sight. - -I closed all of my eyes and concentrated, but I couldn't seem to be -able to figure out which of my three hands held the gun, for I could -no longer see it. I decided it was time for me to get back inside the -barrier. - -That was a devil of a lot easier to decide than it was to do. I could -see three legs and I could feel three legs, but I didn't know how to -operate three legs. I was slowed down to a sort of hobble. It wasn't as -slow as the sluggish amble of the real Aliens, but it wasn't any faster -than the other Earthmen could move, hobbled by chains. - -I couldn't afford to delay very long, though. Some of the unchained -men inside of the shack might take it into their heads to step outside -without remembering to hobble themselves, considering that I was not -there to remind them, and I didn't feel up to trying to handle anything -like that. - - * * * * * - -I sneaked up as close as I could get to the lock without being seen. -There were six men gathered in front of it, waiting for me. I couldn't -think of anything else to do, so I just lit out for the airlock, -shuffling along as fast as I could go. The men swarmed around me. I -threw the courier at the first group to arrive--he was still out--and -gained a few seconds. But then they hung on me, they pummeled me, they -bit and they clawed. - -I just kept struggling bravely forward; I couldn't think of anything -else to do. At the last minute, just as I thought I was going down -under the mass of feet and fists, two of the men somehow got tangled in -each other's chains, and I managed to break loose long enough to pull -myself into the lock. - -As the outer door swung closed, I found myself with two arms, two -legs and, praise be, a tongue. Obadiah's kilt was missing and I'm -happy to say that I never saw it again. The gun was visible once more, -still firmly clutched in my right hand. It was empty; my fingers were -squeezing tightly on the trigger. Much good it had done me! - -I passed quickly into the headquarters building, bringing with me a -breath of poisonous outer air that set the men inside, except for -Carter, to gasping and choking. Not even pausing to say hello, or to -apologize for bringing in some of the outer atmosphere with me, I -hurried over to the control panel and switched on the visual receptors -that showed the outside of the lock. The men out there were fighting -each other to get inside the building and kill me. As they managed -to battle their way in through the lock, they looked bewildered for -a moment, and then all of them, released from the frenzy of hate, -collapsed into unconsciousness. - -We were a bloody mess, every one of us, but not one of us was seriously -hurt. The Aliens had outsmarted themselves. While I had looked like one -of them, those parts of me--like my eye stalks--that had seemed to be -most vulnerable, so that the Earthmen had gone after them, had turned -out to be things like ears and noses. They hurt, but they didn't put -me out of action when they were battered. That's all that had saved me -from being killed. I didn't figure that out till later, I must admit. - -I counted us. We were all safe inside. Then I used an amplifier, -connected up to a loudspeaker outside, to call the Aliens. I called for -several minutes, without receiving any response, before I realized that -they spoke with their minds exclusively and couldn't penetrate into the -headquarters where we were with their pseudo-voices. - -I sighed and started to go outside, but Jones hauled me back and made -me put on a protective suit. He said he couldn't stand another whiff of -that atmosphere. - - * * * * * - -Once outside, I had no trouble communicating with the Aliens. They were -very anxious to talk. Apparently they were convinced that, since they -believed my mental powers were at least as strong as theirs, there -were probably many more Earthmen like me that they wouldn't be able to -tackle. I had no trouble at all making a lucrative trading deal with -them for Jones' company, once I convinced them that I knew the location -of their planets, and that it would be an easy matter to blast them -from the face of the universe with primitive, uncivilized fusion bombs. -They even promised to send back the men they had taken as pets. - -After that, I staggered back inside the camp and slept the clock around. - -When I woke, I found that all of the men were very anxious to know the -secret of my success, especially Carter, who knew very well that I had -no skill at Mental Control. - -I was glad to oblige them, as a reward for Carter's courtesy in giving -me his stylish green kilt, which fitted me very well. Obadiah gave -Carter another of his horrors--and it was the worst we had seen to -date, as I let that young worthy know with a simple cock of an eyebrow. - -It was all very simple, as I explained to my admiring audience. The -reports we'd had back at the headquarters of the Interstellar Insurance -Company indicated that it was useless to try to compete with the Aliens -on the mental level, where they were strongest. This was the mistake -that Jones and his so-called experts had made. - -I decided, when I was given the assignment to straighten things out, -that the best way to compete was where we Earthmen are strongest: with -mechanical "gadgets." So I had our scientists implant a power source -in my body. It made use of short half-life radioactive isotopes for the -energy source--not too well shielded, but what the hell, I've already -fathered my family--and gave me more power than I could ever need. - -In order to be able to use that power, I'd had the scientists set up -a closed-cycle system in my body. The combustion products created by -the "burning" of food by my body cells, as in all humans, were carbon -dioxide and water. These were broken down, in another gadget implanted -in my body, into oxygen, carbon and hydrogen. - -The oxygen I used directly; another compact machine synthesized -carbohydrates to complete the closed-loop cycle. I neither breathed -nor ate during the entire time I was on Sunder's Pride, except for the -purpose of talking, and that breathing never went past the larynx. - - * * * * * - -It was lucky I didn't need to breathe, too. Otherwise I'd have drowned -in imaginary water while wading in that river the Aliens had created in -my mind. - -"Also," I explained, "I had a sort of supersonic sonar device set into -me, with the transponder in my chest. That's why I had to avoid wearing -a protective suit; unless my chest was bare, I squelched the signals. I -used this sonar to judge what was going on around me, no matter what I -seemed to see." - -"Now don't feed us that," said Jones belligerently. "We aren't that -dumb. Don't you think we tried using sonar and radar to fool the -Aliens? They worked on all our senses. What we saw on a radar or sonar -screen matched perfectly the false picture we thought we were seeing -with our eyes. It was the same when we used aural reception. What came -in through our ears matched what we thought we saw. So now stop kidding -around and tell us the truth." - -I smiled condescendingly. "I am telling you the absolute truth, -Obadiah. You didn't use your head. Of course the sound signals I -received from the sonar matched what I thought I saw. I didn't -underestimate the Aliens. It's just that sound to my ears wasn't the -only read-out method I used. In addition to connecting to the nerves -of my ears, which the Aliens expected, the sonar output also connected -to the nerves of my tongue. Anything ahead of me tasted sweet, and -anything behind me tasted salt. To my left was bitter, to my right acid. - -"The Aliens didn't expect me to _taste_ what was to be seen around me, -and what they didn't know about, they couldn't counter. No matter what -I saw or heard, I just followed my tongue. - -"I had a few bad moments one time, when by accident, more or less, the -actions of the Aliens almost made me imagine that my tongue was being -destroyed, but I managed to work my way out of that by keeping my mouth -closed. Just the other day, though, I had some more rough minutes when -I found that, along with thinking I had the body of an Alien, I also -thought I had no tongue, like them. - -"You see, I used what the Aliens consider to be primitive mechanical -toys. Oh, and one more thing, not quite so primitive: my brains. You -might all profit by trying that once in a while." - -"Well," said Jones at last, "I've got to give you credit. You knew what -you were doing." - -"That's all right," I said magnanimously. "I had the choice of trying -to combat them with Mental Control, where the Aliens are stronger, or -with mechanical science, where humans are stronger. Which I chose to -use." I punned, "was just a matter of taste." - -End of report. I'm going on a long vacation with my bonus money. - -And what I do while I'm away is none of your business. Don't send me -any of your preaching letters this time. How I have my fun is also a -matter of taste. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Matter of Taste, by Joseph Wesley - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A MATTER OF TASTE *** - -***** This file should be named 60913.txt or 60913.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/0/9/1/60913/ - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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