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+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.
+
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #63616 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/63616)
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-The Project Gutenberg EBook of Hagerty's Enzymes, by A. L. Haley
-
-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: Hagerty's Enzymes
-
-Author: A. L. Haley
-
-Release Date: November 3, 2020 [EBook #63616]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HAGERTY'S ENZYMES ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online
-Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- HAGERTY'S ENZYMES
-
- By A. L. HALEY
-
- _There's a place for every man and a man for
- every place, but on robot-harried Mars the
- situation was just a little different._
-
- [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
- Planet Stories Spring 1955.
- Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
- the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
-
-
-Harper Breen sank down gingerly into the new Relaxo-Lounge. He placed
-twitching hands on the arm-rests and laid his head back stiffly. He
-closed his fluttering eyelids and clamped his mouth to keep the corner
-from jumping.
-
-"Just lie back, Harp," droned his sister soothingly. "Just give in and
-let go of everything."
-
-Harper tried to let go of everything. He gave in to the chair. And
-gently the chair went to work. It rocked rhythmically, it vibrated
-tenderly. With velvety cushions it massaged his back and arms and legs.
-
-For all of five minutes Harper stood it. Then with a frenzied lunge
-he escaped the embrace of the Relaxo-Lounge and fled to a gloriously
-stationary sofa.
-
-"Harp!" His sister, Bella, was ready to weep with exasperation. "Dr.
-Franz said it would be just the thing for you! Why won't you give it a
-trial?"
-
-Harper glared at the preposterous chair. "Franz!" he snarled. "That
-prize fathead! I've paid him a fortune in fees. I haven't slept for
-weeks. I can't eat anything but soup. My nerves are jangling like
-a four-alarm fire. And what does he prescribe? A blasted jiggling
-baby carriage! Why, I ought to send him the bill for it!" Completely
-outraged, he lay back on the couch and closed his eyes.
-
-"Now, Harp, you know you've never obeyed his orders. He told you
-last year that you'd have to ease up. Why do you have to try to run
-the whole world? It's the strain of all your business worries that's
-causing your trouble. He told you to take a long vacation or you'd
-crack up. Don't blame him for your own stubbornness."
-
-Harper snorted. His large nose developed the sound magnificently.
-"Vacation!" he snorted. "Batting a silly ball around or dragging a hook
-after a stupid fish! Fine activities for an intelligent middle-aged
-man! And let me correct you. It isn't business worries that are driving
-me to a crack-up. It's the strain of trying to get some sensible,
-reasonable coöperation from the nincompoops I have to hire! It's the
-idiocy of the human race that's got me whipped! It's the--"
-
-"Hey, Harp, old man!" His brother-in-law, turning the pages of the
-new colorama magazine, INTERPLANETARY, had paused at a double-spread.
-"Didn't you have a finger in those Martian equatorial wells they sunk
-twenty years ago?"
-
-Harper's hands twitched violently. "Don't mention that fiasco!" he
-rasped. "That deal nearly cost me my shirt! Water, hell! Those wells
-spewed up the craziest conglomeration of liquids ever tapped!"
-
- * * * * *
-
-Scribney, whose large, phlegmatic person and calm professorial brain
-were the complete antithesis of Harper's picked-crow physique and
-scheming financier's wits, looked severely over his glasses. Harp's
-nervous tribulations were beginning to bore him, as well as interfere
-with the harmony of his home.
-
-"You're away behind the times, Harp," he declared. "Don't you know
-that those have proved to be the most astoundingly curative springs
-ever discovered anywhere? Don't you know that a syndicate has built
-the largest extra-terrestial hotel of the solar system there and that
-people are flocking to it to get cured of whatever ails 'em? Old man,
-you missed a bet!"
-
-Leaping from the sofa, Harper rudely snatched the magazine from
-Scribney's hands. He glared at the spread which depicted a star-shaped
-structure of bottle-green glass resting jewel-like on the rufous rock
-of Mars. The main portion of the building consisted of a circular
-skyscraper with a glass-domed roof. Between its star-shaped annexes,
-other domes covered landscaped gardens and noxious pools which in the
-drawing looked lovely and enticing.
-
-"Why, I remember now!" exclaimed Bella. "That's where the Durants went
-two years ago! He was about dead and she looked like a hag. They came
-back in wonderful shape. Don't you remember, Scrib?"
-
-Dutifully Scribney remembered and commented on the change the Martian
-springs had effected in the Durants. "It's the very thing for you,
-Harp," he advised. "You'd get a good rest on the way out. This gas
-they use in the rockets nowadays is as good as a rest-cure; it sort of
-floats you along the time-track in a pleasant daze, they tell me. And
-you can finish the cure at the hotel while looking it over. And not
-only that." Confidentially he leaned toward his insignificant looking
-brother-in-law. "The chemists over at Dade McCann have just isolated an
-enzyme from one species of Martian fungus that breaks down crude oil
-into its components without the need for chemical processing. There's a
-fortune waiting for the man who corners that fungus market and learns
-to process the stuff!"
-
-Scribney had gauged his victim's mental processes accurately. The
-magazine sagged in Harp's hands, and his sharp eyes became shrewd and
-calculating. He even forgot to twitch. "Maybe you're right, Scrib," he
-acknowledged. "Combine a rest-cure with business, eh?"
-
-Raising the magazine, he began reading the advertisement. And that
-was when he saw the line about the robots. "--the only hotel staffed
-entirely with robot servants--"
-
-"Robots!" he shrilled. "You mean they've developed the things to that
-point? Why hasn't somebody told me? I'll have Jackson's hide! I'll
-disfranchise him! I'll--"
-
-"Harp!" exploded Bella. "Stop it! Maybe Jackson doesn't know a thing
-about it, whatever it is! If it's something at the Emerald Star Hotel,
-why don't you just go and find out for yourself instead of throwing a
-tantrum? That's the only sensible way!"
-
-"You're right, Bella," agreed Harper incisively. "I'll go and find out
-for myself. Immediately!" Scooping up his hat, he left at his usual
-lope.
-
-"Well!" remarked his sister. "All I can say is that they'd better turn
-that happy-gas on extra strong for Harp's trip out!"
-
- * * * * *
-
-The trip out did Harper a world of good. Under the influence of the
-soporific gas that permeated the rocket, he really relaxed for the
-first time in years, sinking with the other passengers into a hazy
-lethargy with little sense of passing time and almost no memory of the
-interval.
-
-It seemed hardly more than a handful of hours until they were strapping
-themselves into deceleration hammocks for the landing. And then Harper
-was waking with lassitude still heavy in his veins. He struggled out of
-the hammock, made his way to the airlock, and found himself whisked by
-pneumatic tube directly into the lobby of the Emerald Star Hotel.
-
-Appreciatively he gazed around at the half-acre of moss-gray carpeting,
-green-tinted by the light sifting through the walls of Martian
-copper-glass, and at the vistas of beautiful domed gardens framed by a
-dozen arches. But most of all, the robots won his delighted approval.
-
-He could see at once that they had been developed to an amazingly high
-state of perfection. How, he wondered again, had this been done without
-his knowledge? Was Scrib right? Was he slipping? Gnawing at the doubt,
-he watched the robots moving efficiently about, pushing patients in
-wheelchairs, carrying trays, guiding newcomers, performing janitorial
-duties tirelessly, promptly, and best of all, silently.
-
-Harper was enthralled. He'd staff his offices with them. Hang the
-expense! There'd be no more of that obnoxious personal friction and
-proneness to error that was always deviling the most carefully trained
-office staffs! He'd investigate and find out the exact potentialities
-of these robots while here, and then go home and introduce them into
-the field of business. He'd show them whether he was slipping! Briskly
-he went over to the desk.
-
-He was immediately confronted with a sample of that human obstinacy
-that was slowly driving him mad. Machines, he sighed to himself.
-Wonderful silent machines! For a woman was arguing stridently with the
-desk clerk who, poor man, was a high strung fellow human instead of a
-robot. Harper watched him shrinking and turning pale lavender in the
-stress of the argument.
-
-"A nurse!" shouted the woman. "I want a nurse! A real woman! For what
-you charge, you should be able to give me a television star if I want
-one! I won't have another of those damnable robots in my room, do you
-hear?"
-
-No one within the confines of the huge lobby could have helped hearing.
-The clerk flinched visibly. "Now, Mrs. Jacobsen," he soothed. "You know
-the hotel is staffed entirely with robots. They're much more expensive,
-really, than human employees, but so much more efficient, you know.
-Admit it, they give excellent service, don't they, now?" Toothily he
-smiled at the enraged woman.
-
-"That's just it!" Mrs. Jacobsen glared. "The service is _too_ good.
-I might just as well have a set of push buttons in the room. I want
-someone to _hear_ what I say! I want to be able to change my mind once
-in awhile!"
-
-Harper snorted. "Wants someone she can devil," he diagnosed. "Someone
-she can get a kick out of ordering around." With vast contempt he
-stepped to the desk beside her and peremptorily rapped for the clerk.
-
-"One moment, sir," begged that harassed individual. "Just one moment,
-please." He turned back to the woman.
-
-But she had turned her glare on Harper. "You could at least be civil
-enough to wait your turn!"
-
-Harper smirked. "My good woman, I'm not a robot. Robots, of course,
-are always civil. But you should know by now that civility isn't a
-normal human trait." Leaving her temporarily quashed, he beckoned
-authoritatively to the clerk.
-
-"I've just arrived and want to get settled. I'm here merely for a
-rest-cure, no treatments. You can assign my quarters before continuing
-your--ah--discussion with the lady."
-
-The clerk sputtered. Mrs. Jacobsen sputtered. But not for nothing was
-Harper one of the leading business executives of the earth. Harper's
-implacable stare won his point. Wiping beads of moisture from his
-forehead, the clerk fumbled for a card, typed it out, and was about to
-deposit it in the punch box when a fist hit the desk a resounding blow
-and another voice, male, roared out at Harper's elbow.
-
-"This is a helluva joint!" roared the voice. "Man could rot away to the
-knees while he's waitin' for accommodations. Service!" Again his fist
-banged the counter.
-
-The clerk jumped. He dropped Harper's card and had to stoop for it.
-Absently holding it, he straightened up to face Mrs. Jacobsen and the
-irate newcomer. Hastily he pushed a tagged key at Harper.
-
-"Here you are, Mr. Breen. I'm sure you'll find it comfortable." With a
-pallid smile he pressed a button and consigned Harper to the care of a
-silent and efficient robot.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The room was more than comfortable. It was beautiful. Its bank of clear
-windows set in the green glass wall framed startling rubicund views of
-the Martian hinterland where, Harper affectionately thought, fungi were
-busy producing enzymes that were going to be worth millions for him and
-his associates. There remained only the small detail of discovering how
-to extract them economically and to process them on this more than arid
-and almost airless planet. Details for his bright young laboratory men;
-mere details....
-
-Leaving his luggage to be unpacked by the robot attendant, he went up
-to the domed roof restaurant. Lunching boldly on broiled halibut with
-consomme, salad and a bland custard, he stared out at the dark blue
-sky of Mars, with Deimos hanging in the east in three-quarter phase
-while Phobos raced up from the west like a meteor behind schedule.
-Leaning back in his cushioned chair, he even more boldly lit a slim
-cigar--his first in months--and inhaled happily. For once old Scribney
-had certainly been right, he reflected. Yes sir, Scrib had rung the
-bell, and he wasn't the man to forget it. With a wonderful sense of
-well-being he returned to his room and prepared to relax.
-
-Harper opened his eyes. Two robots were bending over him. He saw that
-they were dressed in white, like hospital attendants. But he had no
-further opportunity to examine them. With brisk, well-co-ordinated
-movements they wheeled a stretcher along-side his couch, stuck a hypo
-into his arm, bundled him onto the stretcher and started wheeling him
-out.
-
-Harper's tongue finally functioned. "What's all this?" he demanded.
-"There's nothing wrong with me. Let me go!"
-
-He struggled to rise, but a metal hand pushed him firmly on the chest.
-Inexorably it pushed him flat.
-
-"You've got the wrong room!" yelled Harp. "Let me go!" But the hypo
-began to take effect. His yells became weaker and drowsier. Hazily, as
-he drifted off, he thought of Mrs. Jacobsen. Maybe she had something,
-at that.
-
- * * * * *
-
-There was a tentative knock on the door. "Come in," called Harper
-bleakly. As soon as the door opened he regretted his invitation, for
-the opening framed the large untidy man who had noisily pounded on the
-desk demanding service while he, Harp, was being registered.
-
-"Say, pardner," he said hoarsely, "you haven't seen any of them robots
-around here, have you?"
-
-Harper scowled. "Oh, haven't I?" he grated. "Robots! Do you know what
-they did to me." Indignation lit fires in his pale eyes. "Came in here
-while I was lying down peacefully digesting the first meal I've enjoyed
-in months, dragged me off to the surgery, and pumped it all out! The
-only meal I've enjoyed in months!" Blackly he sank his chin onto his
-fist and contemplated the outrage.
-
-"Why didn't you stop 'em?" reasonably asked the visitor.
-
-"Stop a robot?" Harper glared pityingly. "How? You can't reason with
-the blasted things. And as for using force--it's man against metal. You
-try it!" He ground his teeth together in futile rage. "And to think I
-had the insane notion that robots were the last word! Why, I was ready
-to staff my offices with the things!"
-
-The big man placed his large hands on his own capacious stomach and
-groaned. "I'm sure sorry it was you and not me, pardner. I could use
-some of that treatment right now. Musta been that steak and onions I
-ate after all that tundra dope I've been livin' on."
-
-"Tundra?" A faint spark of alertness lightened Harper's dull rage. "You
-mean you work out here on the tundra?"
-
-"That's right. How'd you think I got in such a helluva shape? I'm
-superintendent of one of the fungus plants. I'm Jake Ellis of Hagerty's
-Enzymes. There's good money in it, but man, what a job! No air worth
-mentionin'. Temperature always freezin' or below. Pressure suits. Huts.
-Factory. Processed food. Nothin' else. Just nothin'. That's where they
-could use some robots. It sure ain't no job for a real live man. And in
-fact, there ain't many men left there. If old man Hagerty only knew it,
-he's about out of business."
-
-Harper sat up as if he'd been needled. He opened his mouth to speak.
-But just then the door opened briskly and two robots entered. With a
-horrified stare, Harper clutched his maltreated stomach. He saw a third
-robot enter, wheeling a chair.
-
-"A wheel chair!" squeaked the victim. "I tell you, there's nothing
-wrong with me! Take it away! I'm only here for a rest-cure! Believe me!
-Take it away!"
-
-The robots ignored him. For the first time in his spectacular and
-ruthless career Harper was up against creatures that he could neither
-bribe, persuade nor browbeat, inveigle nor ignore. It shattered his
-ebbing self-confidence. He began waving his hands helplessly.
-
-The robots not only ignored Harper. They paid no attention at all to
-Jake Ellis, who was plucking at their metallic arms pleading, "Take
-me, boys. I need the treatment bad, whatever it is. I need all the
-treatment I can get. Take me! I'm just a wreck, fellers--"
-
-Stolidly they picked Harper up, plunked him into the chair, strapped
-him down and marched out with him.
-
-Dejectedly Ellis returned to his own room. Again he lifted the receiver
-of the room phone; but as usual a robot voice answered sweetly,
-mechanically, and meaninglessly. He hung up and went miserably to bed.
-
- * * * * *
-
-There was something nagging at Harper's mind. Something he should do.
-Something that concerned robots. But he was too exhausted to think it
-out.
-
-For five days now his pet robots had put him through an ordeal that
-made him flinch every time he thought about it. Which wasn't often,
-since he was almost past thinking. They plunked him into stinking
-mud-baths and held him there until he was well-done to the bone, he
-was sure. They soaked him in foul, steaming irradiated waters until he
-gagged. They brought him weird concoctions to eat and drink and then
-stood over him until he consumed them. They purged and massaged and
-exercised him.
-
-Whenever they let him alone, he simply collapsed into bed and slept.
-There was nothing else to do anyway. They'd taken his clothes; and the
-phone, after an announcement that he would have no more service for two
-weeks, gave him nothing but a busy signal.
-
-"Persecution, that's what it is!" he moaned desperately. And he turned
-his back to the mirror, which showed him that he was beginning to look
-flesh-colored instead of the parchment yellow to which he had become
-accustomed. He closed his mind to the fact that he was sleeping for
-hours on end like the proverbial baby, and that he was getting such an
-appetite that he could almost relish even that detestable mush they
-sent him for breakfast. He was determined to be furious. As soon as he
-could wake up enough to be.
-
-He hadn't been awake long this time before Jake Ellis was there again,
-still moaning about his lack of treatments. "Nothin' yet," he gloomily
-informed Harp. "They haven't been near me. I just can't understand it.
-After I signed up for the works and paid 'em in advance! And I can't
-find any way out of this section. The other two rooms are empty and the
-elevator hasn't got any button. The robots just have to come and get a
-man or he's stuck."
-
-"Stuck!" snarled Harp. "I'm never stuck! And I'm damned if I'll wait
-any longer to break out of this--this jail! Listen, Jake. I've been
-thinking. Or trying to, with what's left of me. You came in just when
-that assinine clerk was registering me. I'll bet that clerk got rattled
-and gave me the wrong key. I'll bet you're supposed to have this room
-and I'm getting your treatments. Why don't we switch rooms and see what
-happens?"
-
-"Say, maybe you're right!" Jake's eyes gleamed at last with hope. "I'll
-get my clothes."
-
-Harp's eyebrows rose. "You mean they left you your clothes?"
-
-"Why, sure. You mean they took yours?"
-
-Harp nodded. An idea began to formulate. "Leave your things, will you?
-I'm desperate! I'm going to see the manager of this madhouse if I have
-to go down dressed in a sheet. Your clothes would be better than that."
-
-Jake, looking over Harper's skimpy frame, grunted doubtfully. "Maybe
-you could tie 'em on so they wouldn't slip. And roll up the cuffs. It's
-okay with me, but just don't lose something when you're down there in
-that fancy lobby."
-
-Harper looked at his watch. "Time to go. Relax, old man. The robots
-will be along any minute now. If you're the only man in the room, I'm
-sure they'll take you. They aren't equipped to figure it out. And don't
-worry about me. I'll anchor your duds all right."
-
-Harper had guessed right. Gleefully from the doorway of his new room
-he watched the robots wheel away his equally delighted neighbor for
-his first treatment. Then he closed the door and began to don Jake's
-clothing.
-
-The result was unique. He looked like a small boy in his father's
-clothes, except for the remarkably aged and gnome-like head sticking
-up on a skinny neck from a collar three sizes too big. And he was
-shoeless. He was completely unable to navigate in Jake's number
-twelves. But Harper was a determined man. He didn't even flinch from
-his image in the mirror. Firmly he stepped over to Jake's telephone.
-"This is room 618," he said authoritatively. "Send up the elevator for
-me. I want to go down to the lobby."
-
-He'd guessed right again. "It will be right up, sir," responded the
-robot operator. Hopefully he stepped out into the hall and shuffled to
-the elevator.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Only the robots were immune to Harper Breen's progress across the huge
-suave lobby.
-
-He was a blot on its rich beauty, a grotesque enigma that rooted the
-other visitors into paralyzed staring groups. Stepping out of the
-elevator, he had laid a course for the desk which loomed like an island
-in a moss-gray lake, and now he strode manfully toward it, ignoring the
-oversize trousers slapping around his stocking feet. Only the robots
-shared his self control.
-
-The clerk was the first to recover from the collective stupor.
-Frantically he pushed the button that would summon the robot guard.
-With a gasp of relief he saw the two massive manlike machines moving
-inexorably forward. He pointed to Harper. "Get that patient!" he
-ordered. "Take him to the--to the mud-baths!"
-
-"No you don't!" yelled Harper. "I want to see the manager!" Nimbly he
-circled the guard and leaped behind the desk. He began to throw things
-at the robots. Things like inkwells and typewriters and card indexes.
-Especially, card indexes.
-
-"Stop it!" begged the clerk. "You'll wreck the system! We'll never get
-it straight again! Stop it!"
-
-"Call them off!" snarled Harper. "Call them off or I'll ruin your
-switchboard!" He put a shoulder against it and prepared to heave.
-
-With one last appalled glare at the madman, the clerk picked up an
-electric finger and pointed it at the approaching robots. They became
-oddly inanimate.
-
-"That's better!" Harper straightened up and meticulously smoothed the
-collar of his flapping coat. "Now--the manager, please."
-
-"This--this way, sir." With shrinking steps the clerk led Harper across
-the width of the lobby among the fascinated guests. He was beyond
-speech. Opening the inconspicuous door, he waved Harper inside and
-returned doggedly to his desk, where he began to pick up things and at
-the same time phrase his resignation in his mind.
-
-Brushing aside the startled secretary in the outer cubicle, Harper
-flapped and shuffled straight into the inner sanctum. The manager, who
-was busy chewing a cigar to shreds behind his fortress of gun metal
-desk, jerked hastily upright and glared at the intruder. "My good
-man--" he began.
-
-"Don't 'my-good-man' me!" snapped Harper. He glared back at the
-manager. Reaching as far across the expanse of desktop as he could
-stretch, he shook his puny fist. "Do you know who I am? I'm Harper
-S. Breen, of Breen and Helgart, Incorporated! And do you know why I
-haven't even a card to prove it? Do you know why I have to make my way
-downstairs in garb that makes a laughing stock of me? Do you know why?
-Because that assinine clerk of yours put me in the wrong room and those
-damnable robots of yours then proceeded to make a prisoner of me! Me,
-Harper S. Breen! Why, I'll sue you until you'll be lucky if you have a
-sheet of writing-paper left in this idiot's retreat!"
-
-Hayes, the manager, blanched. Then he began to mottle in an apoplectic
-pattern. And suddenly with a gusty sigh, he collapsed into his chair.
-With a shaking hand he mopped his forehead. "_My_ robots!" he muttered.
-"As if I invented the damned things!"
-
-Despondently he looked at Harper. "Go ahead and sue, Mr. Breen. If you
-don't, somebody else will. And if nobody sues, we'll go broke anyway,
-at the rate our guest list is declining. I'm ready to hand in my
-resignation."
-
-Again he sighed. "The trouble," he explained, "is that those fool
-robots are completely logical, and people aren't. There's no way to mix
-the two. It's dynamite. Maybe people can gradually learn to live with
-robots, but they haven't yet. Only we had to find it out the hard way.
-We--" he grimaced disgustedly--"had to pioneer in the use of robots.
-And it cost us so much that we can't afford to reconvert to human help.
-So--Operation Robot is about to bankrupt the syndicate."
-
-Listening, an amazing calm settled on Harper. Thoughtfully now he
-hooked a chair to the desk with his stockinged foot, sat down and
-reached for the cigar that Hayes automatically offered him. "Oh, I
-don't know," he said mildly.
-
-Hayes leaned forward like a drowning man sighting a liferaft. "What
-do you mean, you don't know? You're threatening to take our shirts,
-aren't you?"
-
-Meticulously Harper clipped and lit his cigar. "It seems to me that
-these robots might be useful in quite another capacity. I might even
-make a deal with your syndicate to take them off your hands--at a
-reasonable price, of course--and forget the outrages I've suffered at
-your establishment."
-
-Hayes leaned toward him incredulous. "You mean you want these robots
-after what you've seen and experienced?"
-
-Placidly Harper puffed a smoke ring. "Of course, you'd have to take
-into consideration that it would be an experiment for me, too. And
-there's the suit I'm clearly justified in instituting. However, I'm
-willing to discuss the matter with your superiors."
-
-With hope burgeoning for the first time in weeks, Hayes lifted his
-head. "My dear Mr. Breen, to get rid of these pestiferous robots, I'll
-back you to the hilt! I'll notify the owners at once. At once, Mr.
-Breen! And while we wait for them, allow me to put you up as a guest of
-the hotel." Coming around to Harper, he effusively shook Harp's scrawny
-hand, and then personally escorted him not merely to the door but
-across the lobby to the elevator.
-
-Harper gazed out at the stunned audience. This was more like the
-treatment he was accustomed to! Haughtily he squared his bony shoulders
-inside the immense jacket and stepped into the elevator. He was ready
-for the second step of his private Operation Robot.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Back on Earth it was a warm, misty spring day--the kind of day unknown
-to the planet Mars. Bella and Scribney, superb in new spring outfits,
-waited restlessly while the rocket cooled and the passengers recovered
-from deceleration.
-
-"Look, Scrib!" Bella clutched Scribney's substantial arm. "It's finally
-opening."
-
-They watched the airlock open and the platform wheel into place. They
-watched the passengers descend, looking a trifle dazed.
-
-"There he is!" cried Bella. "Why, doesn't he look wonderful! Scrib,
-it's amazing! Look at him!
-
-And indeed, Harper was stepping briskly downward, looking spry and fit
-and years younger. He came across to them actually beaming. It was the
-first pleasant expression they had seen on his face in years.
-
-"Well, you old dog!" exclaimed Scribney affectionately. "So you did it
-again!"
-
-Harper smirked. "Yep, I turned a neat little deal. I bought out
-Hagerty's Enzymes and staffed the plant with the hotel's robots. Got
-both of 'em dirt cheap. Both concerns going bankrupt because they
-didn't have sense enough to swap their workers. Feel I owe you a bit
-for that tip about enzymes, Scrib, so I made out a block of stock to
-you. All right?"
-
-"All right?" Scribney gulped. Why, the dried-up little turnip was human
-after all. "All right! Yes, sir! But aren't you going to use some of
-those robots for office help? Aren't they efficient and all that?"
-
-Harper's smile vanished. "Don't even mention such a thing!" he yelped.
-"You don't know what you're saying! I lived with those things for
-weeks. I wouldn't have one around! Keep 'em in the factory where they
-belong!"
-
-He glimpsed the composed, wonderfully human face of his secretary,
-waiting patiently in the background. "Oh there you are, Smythe." He
-turned to his relatives. "Busy day ahead. See you later, folks--"
-
-"Same old Harp," observed Scribney. Then he thought of the block of
-stock. "What say we celebrate our rise to a position in the syndicate,
-honey?"
-
-"Wonderful!" She squeezed his arm, and smiling at each other, they left
-the port.
-
-
-
-
-
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-
-The Project Gutenberg EBook of Hagerty's Enzymes, by A. L. Haley
-
-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: Hagerty's Enzymes
-
-Author: A. L. Haley
-
-Release Date: November 3, 2020 [EBook #63616]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HAGERTY'S ENZYMES ***
-
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-Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
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-</pre>
-
-
-<div class="titlepage">
-
-<h1>HAGERTY'S ENZYMES</h1>
-
-<h2>By A. L. HALEY</h2>
-
-<p><i>There's a place for every man and a man for<br />
-every place, but on robot-harried Mars the<br />
-situation was just a little different.</i></p>
-
-<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br />
-Planet Stories Spring 1955.<br />
-Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that<br />
-the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<p>Harper Breen sank down gingerly into the new Relaxo-Lounge. He placed
-twitching hands on the arm-rests and laid his head back stiffly. He
-closed his fluttering eyelids and clamped his mouth to keep the corner
-from jumping.</p>
-
-<p>"Just lie back, Harp," droned his sister soothingly. "Just give in and
-let go of everything."</p>
-
-<p>Harper tried to let go of everything. He gave in to the chair. And
-gently the chair went to work. It rocked rhythmically, it vibrated
-tenderly. With velvety cushions it massaged his back and arms and legs.</p>
-
-<p>For all of five minutes Harper stood it. Then with a frenzied lunge
-he escaped the embrace of the Relaxo-Lounge and fled to a gloriously
-stationary sofa.</p>
-
-<p>"Harp!" His sister, Bella, was ready to weep with exasperation. "Dr.
-Franz said it would be just the thing for you! Why won't you give it a
-trial?"</p>
-
-<p>Harper glared at the preposterous chair. "Franz!" he snarled. "That
-prize fathead! I've paid him a fortune in fees. I haven't slept for
-weeks. I can't eat anything but soup. My nerves are jangling like
-a four-alarm fire. And what does he prescribe? A blasted jiggling
-baby carriage! Why, I ought to send him the bill for it!" Completely
-outraged, he lay back on the couch and closed his eyes.</p>
-
-<p>"Now, Harp, you know you've never obeyed his orders. He told you
-last year that you'd have to ease up. Why do you have to try to run
-the whole world? It's the strain of all your business worries that's
-causing your trouble. He told you to take a long vacation or you'd
-crack up. Don't blame him for your own stubbornness."</p>
-
-<p>Harper snorted. His large nose developed the sound magnificently.
-"Vacation!" he snorted. "Batting a silly ball around or dragging a hook
-after a stupid fish! Fine activities for an intelligent middle-aged
-man! And let me correct you. It isn't business worries that are driving
-me to a crack-up. It's the strain of trying to get some sensible,
-reasonable coöperation from the nincompoops I have to hire! It's the
-idiocy of the human race that's got me whipped! It's the&mdash;"</p>
-
-<p>"Hey, Harp, old man!" His brother-in-law, turning the pages of the
-new colorama magazine, INTERPLANETARY, had paused at a double-spread.
-"Didn't you have a finger in those Martian equatorial wells they sunk
-twenty years ago?"</p>
-
-<p>Harper's hands twitched violently. "Don't mention that fiasco!" he
-rasped. "That deal nearly cost me my shirt! Water, hell! Those wells
-spewed up the craziest conglomeration of liquids ever tapped!"</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>Scribney, whose large, phlegmatic person and calm professorial brain
-were the complete antithesis of Harper's picked-crow physique and
-scheming financier's wits, looked severely over his glasses. Harp's
-nervous tribulations were beginning to bore him, as well as interfere
-with the harmony of his home.</p>
-
-<p>"You're away behind the times, Harp," he declared. "Don't you know
-that those have proved to be the most astoundingly curative springs
-ever discovered anywhere? Don't you know that a syndicate has built
-the largest extra-terrestial hotel of the solar system there and that
-people are flocking to it to get cured of whatever ails 'em? Old man,
-you missed a bet!"</p>
-
-<p>Leaping from the sofa, Harper rudely snatched the magazine from
-Scribney's hands. He glared at the spread which depicted a star-shaped
-structure of bottle-green glass resting jewel-like on the rufous rock
-of Mars. The main portion of the building consisted of a circular
-skyscraper with a glass-domed roof. Between its star-shaped annexes,
-other domes covered landscaped gardens and noxious pools which in the
-drawing looked lovely and enticing.</p>
-
-<p>"Why, I remember now!" exclaimed Bella. "That's where the Durants went
-two years ago! He was about dead and she looked like a hag. They came
-back in wonderful shape. Don't you remember, Scrib?"</p>
-
-<p>Dutifully Scribney remembered and commented on the change the Martian
-springs had effected in the Durants. "It's the very thing for you,
-Harp," he advised. "You'd get a good rest on the way out. This gas
-they use in the rockets nowadays is as good as a rest-cure; it sort of
-floats you along the time-track in a pleasant daze, they tell me. And
-you can finish the cure at the hotel while looking it over. And not
-only that." Confidentially he leaned toward his insignificant looking
-brother-in-law. "The chemists over at Dade McCann have just isolated an
-enzyme from one species of Martian fungus that breaks down crude oil
-into its components without the need for chemical processing. There's a
-fortune waiting for the man who corners that fungus market and learns
-to process the stuff!"</p>
-
-<p>Scribney had gauged his victim's mental processes accurately. The
-magazine sagged in Harp's hands, and his sharp eyes became shrewd and
-calculating. He even forgot to twitch. "Maybe you're right, Scrib," he
-acknowledged. "Combine a rest-cure with business, eh?"</p>
-
-<p>Raising the magazine, he began reading the advertisement. And that
-was when he saw the line about the robots. "&mdash;the only hotel staffed
-entirely with robot servants&mdash;"</p>
-
-<p>"Robots!" he shrilled. "You mean they've developed the things to that
-point? Why hasn't somebody told me? I'll have Jackson's hide! I'll
-disfranchise him! I'll&mdash;"</p>
-
-<p>"Harp!" exploded Bella. "Stop it! Maybe Jackson doesn't know a thing
-about it, whatever it is! If it's something at the Emerald Star Hotel,
-why don't you just go and find out for yourself instead of throwing a
-tantrum? That's the only sensible way!"</p>
-
-<p>"You're right, Bella," agreed Harper incisively. "I'll go and find out
-for myself. Immediately!" Scooping up his hat, he left at his usual
-lope.</p>
-
-<p>"Well!" remarked his sister. "All I can say is that they'd better turn
-that happy-gas on extra strong for Harp's trip out!"</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>The trip out did Harper a world of good. Under the influence of the
-soporific gas that permeated the rocket, he really relaxed for the
-first time in years, sinking with the other passengers into a hazy
-lethargy with little sense of passing time and almost no memory of the
-interval.</p>
-
-<p>It seemed hardly more than a handful of hours until they were strapping
-themselves into deceleration hammocks for the landing. And then Harper
-was waking with lassitude still heavy in his veins. He struggled out of
-the hammock, made his way to the airlock, and found himself whisked by
-pneumatic tube directly into the lobby of the Emerald Star Hotel.</p>
-
-<p>Appreciatively he gazed around at the half-acre of moss-gray carpeting,
-green-tinted by the light sifting through the walls of Martian
-copper-glass, and at the vistas of beautiful domed gardens framed by a
-dozen arches. But most of all, the robots won his delighted approval.</p>
-
-<p>He could see at once that they had been developed to an amazingly high
-state of perfection. How, he wondered again, had this been done without
-his knowledge? Was Scrib right? Was he slipping? Gnawing at the doubt,
-he watched the robots moving efficiently about, pushing patients in
-wheelchairs, carrying trays, guiding newcomers, performing janitorial
-duties tirelessly, promptly, and best of all, silently.</p>
-
-<p>Harper was enthralled. He'd staff his offices with them. Hang the
-expense! There'd be no more of that obnoxious personal friction and
-proneness to error that was always deviling the most carefully trained
-office staffs! He'd investigate and find out the exact potentialities
-of these robots while here, and then go home and introduce them into
-the field of business. He'd show them whether he was slipping! Briskly
-he went over to the desk.</p>
-
-<p>He was immediately confronted with a sample of that human obstinacy
-that was slowly driving him mad. Machines, he sighed to himself.
-Wonderful silent machines! For a woman was arguing stridently with the
-desk clerk who, poor man, was a high strung fellow human instead of a
-robot. Harper watched him shrinking and turning pale lavender in the
-stress of the argument.</p>
-
-<p>"A nurse!" shouted the woman. "I want a nurse! A real woman! For what
-you charge, you should be able to give me a television star if I want
-one! I won't have another of those damnable robots in my room, do you
-hear?"</p>
-
-<p>No one within the confines of the huge lobby could have helped hearing.
-The clerk flinched visibly. "Now, Mrs. Jacobsen," he soothed. "You know
-the hotel is staffed entirely with robots. They're much more expensive,
-really, than human employees, but so much more efficient, you know.
-Admit it, they give excellent service, don't they, now?" Toothily he
-smiled at the enraged woman.</p>
-
-<p>"That's just it!" Mrs. Jacobsen glared. "The service is <i>too</i> good.
-I might just as well have a set of push buttons in the room. I want
-someone to <i>hear</i> what I say! I want to be able to change my mind once
-in awhile!"</p>
-
-<p>Harper snorted. "Wants someone she can devil," he diagnosed. "Someone
-she can get a kick out of ordering around." With vast contempt he
-stepped to the desk beside her and peremptorily rapped for the clerk.</p>
-
-<p>"One moment, sir," begged that harassed individual. "Just one moment,
-please." He turned back to the woman.</p>
-
-<p>But she had turned her glare on Harper. "You could at least be civil
-enough to wait your turn!"</p>
-
-<p>Harper smirked. "My good woman, I'm not a robot. Robots, of course,
-are always civil. But you should know by now that civility isn't a
-normal human trait." Leaving her temporarily quashed, he beckoned
-authoritatively to the clerk.</p>
-
-<p>"I've just arrived and want to get settled. I'm here merely for a
-rest-cure, no treatments. You can assign my quarters before continuing
-your&mdash;ah&mdash;discussion with the lady."</p>
-
-<p>The clerk sputtered. Mrs. Jacobsen sputtered. But not for nothing was
-Harper one of the leading business executives of the earth. Harper's
-implacable stare won his point. Wiping beads of moisture from his
-forehead, the clerk fumbled for a card, typed it out, and was about to
-deposit it in the punch box when a fist hit the desk a resounding blow
-and another voice, male, roared out at Harper's elbow.</p>
-
-<p>"This is a helluva joint!" roared the voice. "Man could rot away to the
-knees while he's waitin' for accommodations. Service!" Again his fist
-banged the counter.</p>
-
-<p>The clerk jumped. He dropped Harper's card and had to stoop for it.
-Absently holding it, he straightened up to face Mrs. Jacobsen and the
-irate newcomer. Hastily he pushed a tagged key at Harper.</p>
-
-<p>"Here you are, Mr. Breen. I'm sure you'll find it comfortable." With a
-pallid smile he pressed a button and consigned Harper to the care of a
-silent and efficient robot.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>The room was more than comfortable. It was beautiful. Its bank of clear
-windows set in the green glass wall framed startling rubicund views of
-the Martian hinterland where, Harper affectionately thought, fungi were
-busy producing enzymes that were going to be worth millions for him and
-his associates. There remained only the small detail of discovering how
-to extract them economically and to process them on this more than arid
-and almost airless planet. Details for his bright young laboratory men;
-mere details....</p>
-
-<p>Leaving his luggage to be unpacked by the robot attendant, he went up
-to the domed roof restaurant. Lunching boldly on broiled halibut with
-consomme, salad and a bland custard, he stared out at the dark blue
-sky of Mars, with Deimos hanging in the east in three-quarter phase
-while Phobos raced up from the west like a meteor behind schedule.
-Leaning back in his cushioned chair, he even more boldly lit a slim
-cigar&mdash;his first in months&mdash;and inhaled happily. For once old Scribney
-had certainly been right, he reflected. Yes sir, Scrib had rung the
-bell, and he wasn't the man to forget it. With a wonderful sense of
-well-being he returned to his room and prepared to relax.</p>
-
-<p>Harper opened his eyes. Two robots were bending over him. He saw that
-they were dressed in white, like hospital attendants. But he had no
-further opportunity to examine them. With brisk, well-co-ordinated
-movements they wheeled a stretcher along-side his couch, stuck a hypo
-into his arm, bundled him onto the stretcher and started wheeling him
-out.</p>
-
-<p>Harper's tongue finally functioned. "What's all this?" he demanded.
-"There's nothing wrong with me. Let me go!"</p>
-
-<p>He struggled to rise, but a metal hand pushed him firmly on the chest.
-Inexorably it pushed him flat.</p>
-
-<p>"You've got the wrong room!" yelled Harp. "Let me go!" But the hypo
-began to take effect. His yells became weaker and drowsier. Hazily, as
-he drifted off, he thought of Mrs. Jacobsen. Maybe she had something,
-at that.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>There was a tentative knock on the door. "Come in," called Harper
-bleakly. As soon as the door opened he regretted his invitation, for
-the opening framed the large untidy man who had noisily pounded on the
-desk demanding service while he, Harp, was being registered.</p>
-
-<p>"Say, pardner," he said hoarsely, "you haven't seen any of them robots
-around here, have you?"</p>
-
-<p>Harper scowled. "Oh, haven't I?" he grated. "Robots! Do you know what
-they did to me." Indignation lit fires in his pale eyes. "Came in here
-while I was lying down peacefully digesting the first meal I've enjoyed
-in months, dragged me off to the surgery, and pumped it all out! The
-only meal I've enjoyed in months!" Blackly he sank his chin onto his
-fist and contemplated the outrage.</p>
-
-<p>"Why didn't you stop 'em?" reasonably asked the visitor.</p>
-
-<p>"Stop a robot?" Harper glared pityingly. "How? You can't reason with
-the blasted things. And as for using force&mdash;it's man against metal. You
-try it!" He ground his teeth together in futile rage. "And to think I
-had the insane notion that robots were the last word! Why, I was ready
-to staff my offices with the things!"</p>
-
-<p>The big man placed his large hands on his own capacious stomach and
-groaned. "I'm sure sorry it was you and not me, pardner. I could use
-some of that treatment right now. Musta been that steak and onions I
-ate after all that tundra dope I've been livin' on."</p>
-
-<p>"Tundra?" A faint spark of alertness lightened Harper's dull rage. "You
-mean you work out here on the tundra?"</p>
-
-<p>"That's right. How'd you think I got in such a helluva shape? I'm
-superintendent of one of the fungus plants. I'm Jake Ellis of Hagerty's
-Enzymes. There's good money in it, but man, what a job! No air worth
-mentionin'. Temperature always freezin' or below. Pressure suits. Huts.
-Factory. Processed food. Nothin' else. Just nothin'. That's where they
-could use some robots. It sure ain't no job for a real live man. And in
-fact, there ain't many men left there. If old man Hagerty only knew it,
-he's about out of business."</p>
-
-<p>Harper sat up as if he'd been needled. He opened his mouth to speak.
-But just then the door opened briskly and two robots entered. With a
-horrified stare, Harper clutched his maltreated stomach. He saw a third
-robot enter, wheeling a chair.</p>
-
-<p>"A wheel chair!" squeaked the victim. "I tell you, there's nothing
-wrong with me! Take it away! I'm only here for a rest-cure! Believe me!
-Take it away!"</p>
-
-<p>The robots ignored him. For the first time in his spectacular and
-ruthless career Harper was up against creatures that he could neither
-bribe, persuade nor browbeat, inveigle nor ignore. It shattered his
-ebbing self-confidence. He began waving his hands helplessly.</p>
-
-<p>The robots not only ignored Harper. They paid no attention at all to
-Jake Ellis, who was plucking at their metallic arms pleading, "Take
-me, boys. I need the treatment bad, whatever it is. I need all the
-treatment I can get. Take me! I'm just a wreck, fellers&mdash;"</p>
-
-<p>Stolidly they picked Harper up, plunked him into the chair, strapped
-him down and marched out with him.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<div class="figcenter">
- <img src="images/illus.jpg" alt=""/>
-</div>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<p>Dejectedly Ellis returned to his own room. Again he lifted the receiver
-of the room phone; but as usual a robot voice answered sweetly,
-mechanically, and meaninglessly. He hung up and went miserably to bed.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>There was something nagging at Harper's mind. Something he should do.
-Something that concerned robots. But he was too exhausted to think it
-out.</p>
-
-<p>For five days now his pet robots had put him through an ordeal that
-made him flinch every time he thought about it. Which wasn't often,
-since he was almost past thinking. They plunked him into stinking
-mud-baths and held him there until he was well-done to the bone, he
-was sure. They soaked him in foul, steaming irradiated waters until he
-gagged. They brought him weird concoctions to eat and drink and then
-stood over him until he consumed them. They purged and massaged and
-exercised him.</p>
-
-<p>Whenever they let him alone, he simply collapsed into bed and slept.
-There was nothing else to do anyway. They'd taken his clothes; and the
-phone, after an announcement that he would have no more service for two
-weeks, gave him nothing but a busy signal.</p>
-
-<p>"Persecution, that's what it is!" he moaned desperately. And he turned
-his back to the mirror, which showed him that he was beginning to look
-flesh-colored instead of the parchment yellow to which he had become
-accustomed. He closed his mind to the fact that he was sleeping for
-hours on end like the proverbial baby, and that he was getting such an
-appetite that he could almost relish even that detestable mush they
-sent him for breakfast. He was determined to be furious. As soon as he
-could wake up enough to be.</p>
-
-<p>He hadn't been awake long this time before Jake Ellis was there again,
-still moaning about his lack of treatments. "Nothin' yet," he gloomily
-informed Harp. "They haven't been near me. I just can't understand it.
-After I signed up for the works and paid 'em in advance! And I can't
-find any way out of this section. The other two rooms are empty and the
-elevator hasn't got any button. The robots just have to come and get a
-man or he's stuck."</p>
-
-<p>"Stuck!" snarled Harp. "I'm never stuck! And I'm damned if I'll wait
-any longer to break out of this&mdash;this jail! Listen, Jake. I've been
-thinking. Or trying to, with what's left of me. You came in just when
-that assinine clerk was registering me. I'll bet that clerk got rattled
-and gave me the wrong key. I'll bet you're supposed to have this room
-and I'm getting your treatments. Why don't we switch rooms and see what
-happens?"</p>
-
-<p>"Say, maybe you're right!" Jake's eyes gleamed at last with hope. "I'll
-get my clothes."</p>
-
-<p>Harp's eyebrows rose. "You mean they left you your clothes?"</p>
-
-<p>"Why, sure. You mean they took yours?"</p>
-
-<p>Harp nodded. An idea began to formulate. "Leave your things, will you?
-I'm desperate! I'm going to see the manager of this madhouse if I have
-to go down dressed in a sheet. Your clothes would be better than that."</p>
-
-<p>Jake, looking over Harper's skimpy frame, grunted doubtfully. "Maybe
-you could tie 'em on so they wouldn't slip. And roll up the cuffs. It's
-okay with me, but just don't lose something when you're down there in
-that fancy lobby."</p>
-
-<p>Harper looked at his watch. "Time to go. Relax, old man. The robots
-will be along any minute now. If you're the only man in the room, I'm
-sure they'll take you. They aren't equipped to figure it out. And don't
-worry about me. I'll anchor your duds all right."</p>
-
-<p>Harper had guessed right. Gleefully from the doorway of his new room
-he watched the robots wheel away his equally delighted neighbor for
-his first treatment. Then he closed the door and began to don Jake's
-clothing.</p>
-
-<p>The result was unique. He looked like a small boy in his father's
-clothes, except for the remarkably aged and gnome-like head sticking
-up on a skinny neck from a collar three sizes too big. And he was
-shoeless. He was completely unable to navigate in Jake's number
-twelves. But Harper was a determined man. He didn't even flinch from
-his image in the mirror. Firmly he stepped over to Jake's telephone.
-"This is room 618," he said authoritatively. "Send up the elevator for
-me. I want to go down to the lobby."</p>
-
-<p>He'd guessed right again. "It will be right up, sir," responded the
-robot operator. Hopefully he stepped out into the hall and shuffled to
-the elevator.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>Only the robots were immune to Harper Breen's progress across the huge
-suave lobby.</p>
-
-<p>He was a blot on its rich beauty, a grotesque enigma that rooted the
-other visitors into paralyzed staring groups. Stepping out of the
-elevator, he had laid a course for the desk which loomed like an island
-in a moss-gray lake, and now he strode manfully toward it, ignoring the
-oversize trousers slapping around his stocking feet. Only the robots
-shared his self control.</p>
-
-<p>The clerk was the first to recover from the collective stupor.
-Frantically he pushed the button that would summon the robot guard.
-With a gasp of relief he saw the two massive manlike machines moving
-inexorably forward. He pointed to Harper. "Get that patient!" he
-ordered. "Take him to the&mdash;to the mud-baths!"</p>
-
-<p>"No you don't!" yelled Harper. "I want to see the manager!" Nimbly he
-circled the guard and leaped behind the desk. He began to throw things
-at the robots. Things like inkwells and typewriters and card indexes.
-Especially, card indexes.</p>
-
-<p>"Stop it!" begged the clerk. "You'll wreck the system! We'll never get
-it straight again! Stop it!"</p>
-
-<p>"Call them off!" snarled Harper. "Call them off or I'll ruin your
-switchboard!" He put a shoulder against it and prepared to heave.</p>
-
-<p>With one last appalled glare at the madman, the clerk picked up an
-electric finger and pointed it at the approaching robots. They became
-oddly inanimate.</p>
-
-<p>"That's better!" Harper straightened up and meticulously smoothed the
-collar of his flapping coat. "Now&mdash;the manager, please."</p>
-
-<p>"This&mdash;this way, sir." With shrinking steps the clerk led Harper across
-the width of the lobby among the fascinated guests. He was beyond
-speech. Opening the inconspicuous door, he waved Harper inside and
-returned doggedly to his desk, where he began to pick up things and at
-the same time phrase his resignation in his mind.</p>
-
-<p>Brushing aside the startled secretary in the outer cubicle, Harper
-flapped and shuffled straight into the inner sanctum. The manager, who
-was busy chewing a cigar to shreds behind his fortress of gun metal
-desk, jerked hastily upright and glared at the intruder. "My good
-man&mdash;" he began.</p>
-
-<p>"Don't 'my-good-man' me!" snapped Harper. He glared back at the
-manager. Reaching as far across the expanse of desktop as he could
-stretch, he shook his puny fist. "Do you know who I am? I'm Harper
-S. Breen, of Breen and Helgart, Incorporated! And do you know why I
-haven't even a card to prove it? Do you know why I have to make my way
-downstairs in garb that makes a laughing stock of me? Do you know why?
-Because that assinine clerk of yours put me in the wrong room and those
-damnable robots of yours then proceeded to make a prisoner of me! Me,
-Harper S. Breen! Why, I'll sue you until you'll be lucky if you have a
-sheet of writing-paper left in this idiot's retreat!"</p>
-
-<p>Hayes, the manager, blanched. Then he began to mottle in an apoplectic
-pattern. And suddenly with a gusty sigh, he collapsed into his chair.
-With a shaking hand he mopped his forehead. "<i>My</i> robots!" he muttered.
-"As if I invented the damned things!"</p>
-
-<p>Despondently he looked at Harper. "Go ahead and sue, Mr. Breen. If you
-don't, somebody else will. And if nobody sues, we'll go broke anyway,
-at the rate our guest list is declining. I'm ready to hand in my
-resignation."</p>
-
-<p>Again he sighed. "The trouble," he explained, "is that those fool
-robots are completely logical, and people aren't. There's no way to mix
-the two. It's dynamite. Maybe people can gradually learn to live with
-robots, but they haven't yet. Only we had to find it out the hard way.
-We&mdash;" he grimaced disgustedly&mdash;"had to pioneer in the use of robots.
-And it cost us so much that we can't afford to reconvert to human help.
-So&mdash;Operation Robot is about to bankrupt the syndicate."</p>
-
-<p>Listening, an amazing calm settled on Harper. Thoughtfully now he
-hooked a chair to the desk with his stockinged foot, sat down and
-reached for the cigar that Hayes automatically offered him. "Oh, I
-don't know," he said mildly.</p>
-
-<p>Hayes leaned forward like a drowning man sighting a liferaft. "What
-do you mean, you don't know? You're threatening to take our shirts,
-aren't you?"</p>
-
-<p>Meticulously Harper clipped and lit his cigar. "It seems to me that
-these robots might be useful in quite another capacity. I might even
-make a deal with your syndicate to take them off your hands&mdash;at a
-reasonable price, of course&mdash;and forget the outrages I've suffered at
-your establishment."</p>
-
-<p>Hayes leaned toward him incredulous. "You mean you want these robots
-after what you've seen and experienced?"</p>
-
-<p>Placidly Harper puffed a smoke ring. "Of course, you'd have to take
-into consideration that it would be an experiment for me, too. And
-there's the suit I'm clearly justified in instituting. However, I'm
-willing to discuss the matter with your superiors."</p>
-
-<p>With hope burgeoning for the first time in weeks, Hayes lifted his
-head. "My dear Mr. Breen, to get rid of these pestiferous robots, I'll
-back you to the hilt! I'll notify the owners at once. At once, Mr.
-Breen! And while we wait for them, allow me to put you up as a guest of
-the hotel." Coming around to Harper, he effusively shook Harp's scrawny
-hand, and then personally escorted him not merely to the door but
-across the lobby to the elevator.</p>
-
-<p>Harper gazed out at the stunned audience. This was more like the
-treatment he was accustomed to! Haughtily he squared his bony shoulders
-inside the immense jacket and stepped into the elevator. He was ready
-for the second step of his private Operation Robot.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>Back on Earth it was a warm, misty spring day&mdash;the kind of day unknown
-to the planet Mars. Bella and Scribney, superb in new spring outfits,
-waited restlessly while the rocket cooled and the passengers recovered
-from deceleration.</p>
-
-<p>"Look, Scrib!" Bella clutched Scribney's substantial arm. "It's finally
-opening."</p>
-
-<p>They watched the airlock open and the platform wheel into place. They
-watched the passengers descend, looking a trifle dazed.</p>
-
-<p>"There he is!" cried Bella. "Why, doesn't he look wonderful! Scrib,
-it's amazing! Look at him!</p>
-
-<p>And indeed, Harper was stepping briskly downward, looking spry and fit
-and years younger. He came across to them actually beaming. It was the
-first pleasant expression they had seen on his face in years.</p>
-
-<p>"Well, you old dog!" exclaimed Scribney affectionately. "So you did it
-again!"</p>
-
-<p>Harper smirked. "Yep, I turned a neat little deal. I bought out
-Hagerty's Enzymes and staffed the plant with the hotel's robots. Got
-both of 'em dirt cheap. Both concerns going bankrupt because they
-didn't have sense enough to swap their workers. Feel I owe you a bit
-for that tip about enzymes, Scrib, so I made out a block of stock to
-you. All right?"</p>
-
-<p>"All right?" Scribney gulped. Why, the dried-up little turnip was human
-after all. "All right! Yes, sir! But aren't you going to use some of
-those robots for office help? Aren't they efficient and all that?"</p>
-
-<p>Harper's smile vanished. "Don't even mention such a thing!" he yelped.
-"You don't know what you're saying! I lived with those things for
-weeks. I wouldn't have one around! Keep 'em in the factory where they
-belong!"</p>
-
-<p>He glimpsed the composed, wonderfully human face of his secretary,
-waiting patiently in the background. "Oh there you are, Smythe." He
-turned to his relatives. "Busy day ahead. See you later, folks&mdash;"</p>
-
-<p>"Same old Harp," observed Scribney. Then he thought of the block of
-stock. "What say we celebrate our rise to a position in the syndicate,
-honey?"</p>
-
-<p>"Wonderful!" She squeezed his arm, and smiling at each other, they left
-the port.</p>
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-<pre>
-
-
-
-
-
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