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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..f6c561f --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #66395 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66395) diff --git a/old/66395-0.txt b/old/66395-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 0aac809..0000000 --- a/old/66395-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1329 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Queen of Space, by Joseph Slotkin - -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 -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The Queen of Space - -Author: Joseph Slotkin - -Release Date: September 27, 2021 [eBook #66395] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE QUEEN OF SPACE *** - - - - - The Queen of Space - - By Joseph Slotkin - - Helen LaTour had the best hip wriggle in - galactic Burleyque. In fact, it was so good she - hipped herself smack into another dimension!... - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy - August 1954 - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - -I was relaxin' with my second Plutonian Stinger in the dignified -atmosphere of Charley's Venusian Retreat when there was this strange -noise outside the dive, like a flock of hot jets hittin' the -atmosphere. Right after a character comes bustin' through the door. - -He looks behind him, scared-like, wipin' his forehead with a -handkerchief as big as one of Charley's tablecloths, only cleaner. He -stops near my table. - -"I beg your pardon, would you mind if I joined you?" - -"Listen, buster, if you got a ulterior motif, such as a touch, you kin -hop a jet, and--" I starts. Then I get a really good look, and hear -myself sayin', "Hey, you don't look so good. Maybe you better sit down." - -"Thank you, oh thank you very much," he says, floppin' onto one of -Charley's flexible plastic stools. - -"Well, I guess I kin maybe be a sucker and go fer just one," I says, -while he is still mutterin' somethin' to hisself. "Waiter! Hey, mug!" I -turns back to the little fella, feelin' real expansive, like they say. - -"What'll be your pleasure, buster?" - -"Oh, but please allow me." - -Well, this is a new angle--a panhandler puttin' hisself on the pan. -But far be it from me to refuse a barroom curtsy, so I orders another -Jupiter sling. - -"I'll have two of those drinks on your tray," the little guy pipes up -to the waiter. And the mug, who is also one of Charley's best bouncers, -almost drops his load. - -"Hey, mister, these here's Plutonian stingers," the waiter yells. - -"Y'know what's in them things, fella?" I chimes in. "They get ground -vesicantus herbs from Pluto, and--" - -"Oh, what difference does it make?" The little guy looked mournful. -"He'll get me sooner or later, and then--" - -"He?" Maybe I had this little guy all wrong. Maybe he was a nut that -had decided to bolt. - -"Yes. Perhaps you heard that heat ray gun being discharged, just as I -came in." - -"Oh. So that's what them noises was." - -"Yes. Wherever I go, _he_ shoots at me. Waits for me to leave the -building, and then shoots at me." - -"Well, mister, again it's none a my business, but--if you're carryin' -any asteroids around--they kin be cashed anywhere. Lots of guys would -take pot shots at ya." - -"Oh, Luigi isn't interested in my--money." - -"Luigi?" That name sent shudders goin' around my curvature. - -"Precisely." He gives with a long sigh. "I've been dodging him for some -time now." - -"Mister," I says, "everybody knows what a dangerous guy Luigi is. Why, -they got his mug on the wanted wall in every space station from here to -the outer galaxies." - -"Yes, I presume they have." - -"I figure one of these days the cops is gonna pin enough on him to -make him look like a astronavigator's space map," I adds. - -"Oh, I doubt if the space control will ever have the opportunity to -apprehend him here on Venus. This is still a wild, mostly unsettled -planet, you know. And besides, Luigi is too smart," says this little -guy, like he knows Luigi personal. - -"Yeh, he sure is. Uh--what's he got on you?" - - * * * * * - -The little guy reaches over like he doesn't know he's takin' the -Plutonian stinger right from under me nose, and says sort of -thoughtful-like, "He thinks I stole his girl." - -"Yeh. Yeh, sure, that would make _any_ fella ma--" I starts, then it -seeps through, and I looks at this little, skinny, runty guy, only I -can't laugh. - -"Oh, I didn't of course. But the fact that she was last seen entering -my apartment, and that she never left it, at least not visibly--well, -that makes it terribly difficult to convince him--" - -"Now wait a minute--" - -"Oh, I don't expect anyone to believe me, anymore. Sometimes I find it -hard to believe myself." - -"D-do you know who Luigi's gal is?" I finally stutters. - -"Was," he corrects, mournful-like. This sort of scared me. Either -this guy was the kind of crank they never use to wind up a cold jet, -or women had changed a lot since the last time I enriched my culture -by attending a performance of Flossie's Follies at the Little Venus -Circuit Burly-que. - -"Mister, I ain't lookin' fer no trouble," I mutters, edgin' back on my -stool. - -"Oh, but I assure you, I'm telling the truth." - -"Helen LaTour, the terrific blonde," I says, meaningful-like. - -"The same!" - -"The queen of the burly circuit," I goes on, without realizin' that I -am stretched halfway across the table, shoutin' into his ear because -of a slight argument going on down the bar. "The most luscious hunk of -stuff that ever shook a notion to go on the stage," I enlarges. "Right -out of this world," I finishes up. "Right?" - -"Precisely. Right out of this world." - -"In your apartment?" - -"In my apartment." - -Now, I figures that maybe he was one of these here not-so-juvenile -delinquents what believes that if they can't have it, they can at least -kill it, so I starts edgin' away, but then I gets a sudden thought. - -"You sure the cops ain't on your trail, bud?" - -"No, but if Luigi doesn't get me, it's only a matter of time until they -will be. After all, anyone such as her, disappearing--" - -"I thought she was out of town." - -"No. Just out of this world." - -Them words take on a sinister-like significance, the way he says them. -Then he gets up, sober-lookin' in spite of them Plutonian stingers that -would of disintegrated even a Martian. - -"If you wouldn't mind running the risk, I'd appreciate your company. -I'm going back to my place now. The--ah--refreshments here lack the -needed stimulation. I have a much better supply home." - -Now, maybe it was that stinger and the Uranus delight, because under -ordinary circumstances I would turn down such a invite from a guy who -is no doubt a no-orbit meteorite. But then I realize--he's invitin' me -to his apartment where, accordin' to _his_ story, the luscious LaTour, -queen of the strip world, has not been seen since. So I gives in. - - * * * * * - -When we reaches his apartment, he snaps on the lights, like he was -nervous somebody might be hidin' inside, and locks the door tight. I -watch close. He leaves the key in the lock, which makes me feel some -easier. - -He has quite a nice little joint. Not gaudy, but nice. He goes to one -bookshelf, presses a button, and a shelf slides back. Inside, he's got -enough wiggle-water to fill all the Martian canals and irrigate the -Moon. - -Well, we're heisting a couple, and then he starts talkin' like we was -never interrupted. - -"Please forgive me for not introducing myself sooner, but under the -circumstances--My name is Timothy J. Brown, M.D., Ph.D., M.A. and A.B." - -"Oh. Well, me monicker is Benjamin Spelvin, but you kin call me Benny." - -"Very well--uh--Benny. I am, you see, a psychiatrist." - -"Oh, yeh. But you'd never be able to figure _me_ out, Doc. I got so -many bumps on my head from hittin' th' anti-gravitational screens on -the jets during free fall--" - -He laughs. "No, that would be a phrenologist you're thinking of, -Benny. I'm concerned mainly with psychological abnormalities and -mal-adjustments of the psyche. I'm also known as something of an expert -in the more physical science of phenomenology," he adds modest-like. - -Now all this adds up to minus zero to me, but I'm sittin' in a -comfortable apartment in the better section of Venus, I got me a -glass of Uranus Number Eight, Vintage 2480, so I lets the little -fellow ramble on. Finally I says, "Uh, Mister--uh, Doc, you was sayin' -somethin' about Helen LaTour, the strip--" - -"Oh, oh yes, I was coming to that. Well, now--uh, where was I? Oh, -yes ... Benny, these were the events that brought me, a modest -scientist, into contact with this Luigi and that--uh--delectable -creature, Miss Helen LaTour. And I'll leave it to you to decide for -yourself that I am telling the truth." - - * * * * * - -Not so long ago (the Professor starts out) I was visited here by a -rather attractive young woman who told me her name was Helen LaTour. - -It is true, she had called me first on the telescreen, and at the sight -of that lovely--um--face, obviously mirroring distress, I assumed that, -having heard of my reputation she had sought me out for--um--treatment. - -Still, it was rather--um--disturbing to me to be interrupted by this -beautiful young woman while I was in the midst of my studies. - -"I'm grateful to you fer seein' me, P'fessor, honest I am," she -began, seating herself immediately, and crossing her--um--quite shapely -legs ... er, limbs, that is. - -"Well, Miss--uh--LaTour, wasn't it?" - -"Yeah. Helen LaTour. You heard of me 'way up here on Venusian Heights?" - -"The--ah--name has a familiar ring. But I must remind you, I have -restricted my practice to native Venusians." - -"Yeah, sure, Doc. Still, I figured you, bein' an Earth man, and me a -Earth woman, well--patriotism...." - -Her eyes were indeed lovely, gazing at me so appealingly, and -I must confess she aroused my--um--sense of Earthy--that is, -Earthy--um--patriotism. - -"Uh--just what can I do for you, Miss LaTour?" - -"I dunno yet, doc. I'm happy in my work. I got a swell boy friend, -name of Luigi, maybe you heard of him? No? Well, I got no reason to be -unhappy, and yet--" - -"Just a moment, please. What is your work?" - -"Doc, I been known in the strip tease game as the Queen of the Solid -Shake." - -"You are--er--a night club dancer?" - -"Night clubs? Nah, I never leave the boards, Doc. I got my own circuit, -my agent takes good care of my bookings, and my wardrobe is the envy of -ingenues from Mercury to Pluto." - -"You--act?" - -"Yeah. Plenty of action, Doc." - -"Just what type of--er--roles do you play?" - -"I'm a tease artist, Doc. I take it off. Strip." - -Every word this remarkable young lady uttered was punctuated by the -most fluid and expressive movements of her--um--agile--um--body, but I -must confess I was becoming more and more--er--confused. - -"Want a demonstration?" - -By now, I had begun to gather what she meant, and hastily asserted that -such a procedure would be unnecessary. - -"Well, Doc, I'm solid sender, see? Hep with the jet.... Right out of -this world." - -"Yes?" - -"That's just the trouble. I _been_ right out of this world." - -"You have dreams?" - -"I dunno. Lemme explain. I'm opening next week after a layoff on -Earth, see? Them Earthmen are gettin' sorta tame, but we figure these -Venusians will appreciate what I got to offer when they come in after a -long, muggy day at them cold uranium mines, see?" - -I commented that I had made some notations about the working conditions -of the native Venusians comparing them, especially atmospherically, to -the phenomenon of what is known on Earth as ACM--ancient, California -smog. - -"Yeah, sure, sure, Doc. Well, they got the whole show at the Little -Venus Theater built around my number. I got my whole new wardrobe, with -the special anti-gravity zippers, some classy plastic bubbles, and a -special arrangement cooked up by Ziggy, the trumpeter from Mercury. -They're billing me tops, and I figured out a routine that's a sure -sensation. I been practicing it all during my vacation. - -"I even been holding off Luigi so I could practice," Miss LaTour said. - -"Luigi--that's your boy friend's name?" - -"Yeah," she laughed, and added, "I been practicin' by myself so much he -thinks I been cheatin' on him." She winked her lovely eye at me. - -"Well, you should see this number," she said. "It begins with me -wigglin' like this." - - * * * * * - -She began to swing about the room. I had to confess to myself that, -standing there, her dark eyes flashing, her long, rather--uh--shapely -legs, and--um--well, it was obvious that if anyone were better -qualified to interpret love, I had never seen it. But as I observed her -closely, she seemed truly agitated. - -"Why, I even learned a couple of new languages, so I could sing a part -of my song in each language--one from each planet." - -"Er--I believe we can dispense with that." - -"But that's just it, Doc. I gotta tell you about it. It's all sort of -symbolic, see? A sort of United Planets number. The idea is that all of -the planets are held together by love, real, solid love, the kind that -grips you." - -It was most apparent to me at that juncture that her--um--talents -_were_ of the--um--gripping variety. - -I begged her, however, to come to the source of her difficulty. - -"Well, the number's comin' along terrific. I got it down perfect, every -movement, every swing and every sway. I feel I reached a new peak in my -art, when--just a couple of days ago--it happens." - -I begged her to be explicit. - -"Well, I'm doing the routine in my dressing-room, see? First the -singing as a tease, see? Then the bubbles, then I start playin' with -the anti-gravity zippers, see? Well, I get my skirt off, and then my -blouse, and I've got panties and a brassiere, of course, using the -skirt as a kind of screen, see? Well, there I am--" - -"Yes?" - -"In my panties and bra, of course." - -"Of course." - -"Usin' the skirt as a sort of a fan, see? Then I get to the part -where I suddenly lift the skirt over my head, and I give a sort of -wiggle--well, it ain't a wiggle, exactly, with my hips, and then--" - -"Yes, yes, and then, Miss LaTour?" - -"That's it, Doc," she said unhappily. "That's when it happened. One -minute I was standin' there in my room, practicin', and then--the room -wasn't there anymore." - -I watched her closely--observing her reactions, of course. - -"Where do you suppose the room went?" - -"I dunno. It just wasn't there." - -"And--uh--where were you?" - -"That's the funniest part of it. I didn't seem to be in a room at all. -I seemed to be in a large, open space and, Doc, _there was sand under -my feet_!" - -Her particular hallucination began to take coherent--um--shape in my -mind, now. - -"You say there was sand under your feet--and you were out-of-doors?" - -"Like in some sort of desert, Doc. And Doc--_there was someone coming -toward me_!" - -"I see. A--man, doubtless." - -"Yeah, yeah! And when he saw me standing there, he came rushing at me. -Well, I remembered I didn't have much on, so I lowered my skirt." - -"I see. And this man. He--chased you?" - -"Well--no. When I lowered my skirt, he stopped." - -"He--stopped." - -"Yeah. Well, I figures here's a man, and I got my new routine, let's -try it out. So I raised my skirt again, watching his face, and went on -from there." - -"On. From there. I see." - -"And Doc," she became intensely excited, and I must confess I found it -fairly difficult to preserve my own calm, "when I went through that -hip-sway, his face became dim, and then sort of cloudy, and then, in -a flash, there I was back in my room again just as if it never had -happened." - - * * * * * - -I said, "Miss LaTour, tell me, when you were a child, were you always -imagining that men would turn around to look at you: that is, that they -were always looking at you?" - -"They _were_," she stated flatly. "Hey--you think I'm imagining I was -somewhere else? Well, you're wrong, Doc. I was on a desert, I tell -you--and what's more, when I got back in my room, there was sand on -the bottom of my slippers!" - -"Of course," I soothed her. "I'm not arguing with you at all." - -"Look--" She became vehement. "I'll do my routine right here, in front -of you, and you'll see--" - -I pleaded with her that this was entirely unnecessary, but she began to -walk enticingly about the room, humming some tune. - -I was shocked at first, but in spite of myself, the eternal attraction -of the feminine form asserted itself, and I watched the rest of the -proceedings with, I must admit, keen interest. Miss LaTour was indeed -a--um--skillful young woman, and generously equipped to prove her -points. - -"You see now?" She was standing before me, holding her skirt over her -head, scantily clothed otherwise. "Just about now, I go into my new -hip-sway, like this, and--" - -And then she was gone. - -She had begun an enticing--indeed, fascinating wiggle of as excellently -rounded a pair of hips as I had ever seen, and then, without warning of -any sort, she had vanished. - -Well, you can imagine how perturbed I was. I searched the entire -apartment thoroughly. For a moment I was inclined to believe it was -merely an hallucination of my own. But there was the evidence of the -clothing she had already--um--shed, lying on the floor, to prove my own -sanity. - -Then I thought of the drinking cabinet I--ah--keep here for my -patients, and I turned to it with shaking hands. As I was pouring -myself a Uranian Delight, I heard her voice suddenly, and the glass -crashed from my hands. - -"I'm back, Doc." - -Indeed, there she was, standing as she had before, her skirt raised -about her head with one hand, and in the other what looked like _some -sort of human hand_! - -"Guess where I was this time." - -I confess I was shaking violently, but she laughed, and approached me -coquettishly, showing me what appeared on closer examination to be an -artifact of some sort, rather like a metal glove. As I peered at it she -sighed deeply. - -"What a knight!" - -"Extraordinary, but I fancied I heard you say, 'What a night'!" - -"That's what I said, Doc." - -"But you've only been gone about five minutes. How can you say--?" - -"Search me. All I know is, I just spent the last three hours with a -knight." - -"A night, in a few hours! How--?" - -"I said 'knight'. The kind that rides a horse--you know." - -I stared at her, but she was coyly putting on her clothes, a half-smile -on her lovely face. - -"He was so sweet, Doc. Talked a kind of funny French, but I could -understand enough to intuition the rest--Anyhow, after awhile I -remembered you'd be worried about me, so I sneaked out of his castle, -and went through my routine up to the point where I wiggle my hips--and -here I am." - -"But--where _were_ you?" - -"Search me. He said his name was Launcelot." - -"What?" - -"Launcelot. That's what he said his name was. That's a pretty name." -She giggled, "I wonder what Luigi would say." - - * * * * * - -I was shocked, but then the full significance of this young lady's -strange powers flooded over me. I regarded her seriously. - -"Miss LaTour, do you realize what you've accomplished by a mere wiggle -of your hips?" - -She paused in fastening the garter to her filmy stocking. "I built up -quite a reputation. I know that." - -I fired her with my glance. "At first I thought perhaps you were -suffering from--well, no matter. Now, either we're both mad, or you've -penetrated the fourth dimension and bridged space and time." - -She appeared highly uninterested. "That's fine, Doc. Uh--my seams -straight? Thanks. Now if you kin figure out some way to get that--what -did you call it? Oh, yeah, penetration--out of my act, everything'll be -O.K. After all, I got my cash customers to consider." - -"Oh, your act is unimportant now," I said excitedly. "Consider what -this means to science! With that little--ah--wiggle of your hips you've -found a warp in space that's projected you into another time sphere, -proportionately co-existent with our own!" - -"That's great, Doc. Now that you know how I do it, how about helping -me to get rid of it? Although--" She hesitated. "I _would_ like to see -Launce again. I wonder if he's married?" - -"Perhaps," I mused, "this phenomenon manifested itself here on Venus -and not when you were on Earth because of the peculiar orbit of the -Venusian--" And then I realized she was waiting for me to answer her. - -"Launcelot? I--uh--think he's been carrying on an affair with a lady -named--um--Guinevere." - -"A two-timer, huh?" - -I avoided this trend in the conversation. "Miss LaTour, apparently -it depends where you do your--um--contortions. Apparently in your -dressing-room you emerged onto a desert. While in my apartment, it -brought you straight into an ancient age--" - -"Hot asteroids, so that's it!" Her lovely face was suffused with an -unmistakable eagerness. "Look, Doc, supposin' I come up here again some -time, so I can see him again?" - -I was properly outraged. "Hardly! Come to my apartment so that you can -carry on an affair with a man dead for thousands of years? Certainly -not!" - -She was puzzled. "He didn't seem dead to me." - -"Miss LaTour!" I was desperate. "Do you realize what this would mean -to science?" I tried to explain to her, "For centuries, man has tried -to find the answer to the secrets of the action of mass subject to -certain movements at certain speeds, knowing that mass and energy were -identical--" - -"I coulda given them the answer any time they wanted to catch me at the -Little Venus Burly-que," she retorted fliply. "I use plenty of energy, -but, brother, I never waste a movement." - -"Please, young lady, this flippant attitude toward science--" - -"What do I care about science? All I want is my routine. Now, can you -hep me to what's putting the crimp in my act, so's I can iron out that -there fourth-dimensional wiggle?" - -"I'd have to study this peculiar phenomenon much more closely--" - -"Nothin' doin'! You seen all you're going to!" - -"But you don't understand," I pleaded. - -"Lissen! I built myself up from a walk-on in the chorus. Worked hard, -see? Figured out my own bumps and grinds and hip-rolls, just so's I -could make myself the biggest tease name in the galaxy. And now, what -goes? I got what you call a fourth-dimensional wiggle that gets me -out through somebody's space warp into somebody's back yard who lived -before I was born! This here thing's warpin' my personality. I'm fed -up," she cried. - -I was frantic. "But you've a debt to society--" - -"Lissen. I pay my debt every time I walk out on that stage. Think of -all the men I make forget they're married, or their office, or factory -or farm troubles--or their income taxes! How would _they_ feel, if I -disappeared in the middle of my strip? They want to see _more_ of me, -not _less_! - -"I thought maybe you could help me lick this thing--whatever you call -it. But under that beard you're just like all them other guys. I'm fed -up on double talk. Let's just forget the whole thing, Doc. Good-by, -professor!" - -And with that, she flounced out of my apartment. - - * * * * * - -Well, the little guy stopped talkin', then, and takes another drink and -I find I been sittin' on the edge of my chair, like I was stymied by a -paralaray. - -"B-but--you said that she disappeared from here," I says like a guy in -a trance. - -"Oh yes indeed," he smiles at me. "I was too wrapped up in her by then -to let her off so easily." - -"Y'mean--you followed her up?" - -"I felt sure that if I could just see her again, and explain the value -of her peculiar, indeed amazing talent, to science--well, at any rate -I knew where to go. I had never in all my life frequented one of those -burlesque houses. - -"After the performance I endeavored to see her backstage. That was when -I had my first brush with Mr. Luigi." - -"Tough character, ain't he?" - -"Extremely so. He warned me not to bother her, and when I tried to -explain, he threatened me. - -"And then one evening," the little guy says, settling back in his chair -with a hooker of Saturnian Sling, and that far-away look in his eyes -again, "just when I least expected it, my robot butler announced her. - -"'Oh, I'm so glad you've changed your mind, Miss LaTour,' I greeted -her. 'And now if you're ready, we can continue our experiments without -further delay.' - -"'Nix, doc, I ain't here for any more experiments,' were her first -words. - -"I was non-plussed. 'You're not? Then why did you--?' - -"'Oh, I dunno. I been practisin' that space-warpin' hip-wiggle in -private, see? And I been meetin' all sorts of characters. But not the -one I got a real interest in.' - -"I sensed trouble. 'Miss LaTour, if you've come here for--' - -"'I'm getting bored, Doc. Luigi's gettin' too jealous. Why he even -thinks that you--' She leered at me archly. 'Well, never mind. But them -few hours I spent with that there Launcelot--' - -"She began to hum a few bars of the song she used in her--um--routine, -despite my pleas. - -"'Miss LaTour, please don't begin that again!' - -"'What're ya kickin' about, professor? You're gettin' a free show, -ain'tcha? At least up to a point y'are--' - -"'Please, Miss LaTour, put on that blouse. I must warn you--' - -"Her lovely bare arms stopped their gyrations. 'Huh? Warn me? About -what?' - -"'That time and space are really fluid, as that ancient philosopher, -Einstein, suspected back in the Twentieth Century. You may not reach -the same time-space continuum again. Why, you may even--um--wiggle -yourself into the middle of a Pharaoh's tomb--or perhaps the bottom of -the ocean which now covers what used to be ancient Russia!' - -"'I'll take my chances, Doc. Hmmm.... Hmmm.... Pretty good, huh?' - -"'I implore you, Miss LaTour!' - -"Despite my desperate efforts, she began to remove another of -her--um--garments. - -"'Da de da, my bra. Da de daa doo, my shoe. And now, Launcelot, honey, -here I--' - -"She had come to the hip-wiggle that curiously projected her through -some warp in space. There was a sound as though a rubber tube were -being sucked inside out--and she vanished." - - * * * * * - -The little fella emptied his glass and filled it again. - -"I waited for what seemed an eternity. But she never reappeared, to -this very day." - -I takes another slug of that Martian wiggle-water myself, then I -squints at the professor over my glass. - -"I guess maybe you been hittin' the bottle yourself lately, huh Doc?" - -"What? Oh, you don't believe me, do you, Benny?" - -"Well, it ain't that exactly, but ya gotta admit--" - -He gets excited again. "Here, I'll show you." He goes to a drawer, -takes somethin' soft and shiny out, and comes back, wavin' them under -my nose. My nose doesn't object. - -"I have proof. Take a look at these." - -They was Helen LaTour's size, all right. I gotta admit that, okay. And -they _was_ pretty. Especially when I starts thinkin' of what filled 'em. - -"She left them behind when she went through that space warp. It's all -there is left of her." - -"Hmmm. Say, doc, y'sure these ain't some other dame's? Maybe yer -wife's--?" - -"I assure you, I have never been married." He looks wistful-like. -"Since meeting Miss LaTour, I grant you I have toyed with the -speculation of what marital bliss might have been like with someone of -the caliber of--" - -Just then, the window behind me pops open with a crash that breaks it -into a zillion pieces, and into the room steps Luigi. - -I couldn't of been more scared if I'd started seeing snakes, which I -had, since Luigi looks like the meanest kind of viper in the zoo. - -"Okay, pop," he snarls, deadly-like. "Where ya keepin' her?" - -The little guy doesn't even turn a hair, whiles I'm startin' to get rid -of all the stuff I been drinkin', reflex-like, so's I'll be lighter fer -the takeoff when I kin get my feet unfroze. - -"How did you get here?" the prof inquires, cool like a cucumber. - -"I climbed in through that there space warp you been warblin' about," -Luigi sneers, and I can see he is in a definitely unsociable mood. - -"You!" he hollers, looking at where I was before he hollered, and when -I come down off the top of the bookcase he says, "What do you know -about it?" - -"Luigi," I peeps, "I ain't never seen this guy until tonight." - -"He's telling the truth, Luigi," the little guy says, and I coulda -kissed him fer it. - -"Okay, pop. So now that you're talkin', start singin'. And it better -be on the level, too. What did you do with my gal? C'mon, spill it, or -you'll be spillin' more than words." - -"I told you the truth the first time," the little guy says, with -terrific dignity fer a future corpse. - -I thought Luigi would bust a jet-gasket, but all of a sudden he calms -down, and gets an expression on his puss like a tiger tryin' to smile. - -"Look pop," he says, "I know how it is." And he's almost beggin' now. -"I know LaTour. She's gotta have a change once't in a while. But I love -that dame, see? And I gotta have her back. So if you'll just tell me -where she is, I'm willin' to forget all about everythin' else--" - -The little guy just looks at him sort of pitying-like. "I assure you -I'd like to help you, Luigi, but--" - -He stops, with his mouth open, his eyes poppin' out of his head. He's -starin' at somethin' behind me and Luigi's. - - * * * * * - -I hears a low, silvery laugh, kinda like little bells tinklin', and -the kinda voice you figure that there pie-eyed piper musta had on his -flute, is sayin': - -"Well! Hello, suckers!" - -When Luigi hears that laugh, he whirls around like a weathercock on top -of a landship station, his face all red and puffed up. - -"Baby!" He gets that far, then _his_ eyes start to pop out. Mine are -already rollin' on the rug. - -Standin' there, laughin' like she is havin' the time of her luscious -life, is the Queen of Burly-que, Helen LaTour herself, in, what I mean, -the flesh. - -She is holdin' some white sort of a robe or somethin' over her head, -and aside from that, she ain't got a stitch on that knockout of a body -of hers. - -Luigi gets his wind back, and starts gettin' tough again. "So you been -two-timin' me fer this old goat here, huh?" - -"I assure you, this is as much of a shock to me--" - -But the LaTour ain't payin' them no attention. She pulls the robe half -over her, and gives with that tinklin' laugh again. - -"I didn't expect to come back here," she chuckles. "I made a mistake." - -"Where you been?" Luigi moves towards her, like he was gonna hit her. - -"Don't you take another step, you lug!" - -She sure knew how to handle men. Luigi stops like he's been slugged by -a Uranian, and his face gets all purple and pleading. - -"Aw come on, babe, gimme a break. Ain't you been hangin' out with this -little jerk long enough?" - -"Th-that garment--" The little guy is starin' at the robe LaTour is -holdin' over the better parts of her. "That white robe--where did you -get it?" he sorta wheezed. - -"This? Oh, this old thing. It's just part of my old wardrobe. The guy I -married gave it to me." - -"You--_what_?" Luigi's puss turns from purple to pale white. "You ain't -married?" - -"Oh, no?" LaTour looks at him like he's a Venusian rainworm, and the -lug goes inta another Technicolor trance. - -"But I'm gettin' fed up already," she yawns. "I met a fella's got a -lot more S.A. than the guy I'm hitched to now. Yeah," she giggles, "My -new fella knows how to appreciate a gal. Why, he even judged a beauty -contest once." - -"You take that jet line to Atlantic City, baby?" Luigi says. - -The LaTour laughs, and catches the little guy's eye. "Professor, tell -this jerk here what I'm talkin' about." - -The little guy nods. "So that's why you didn't come back," he says. - -"Yeah. I been promised to my new fella, and I ain't one to break a -promise." - -"The apple of discord," the little guy is mutterin'. "'Twas ever thus, -my dear. But why are you here now?" - -"I been tellin' my new boy friend about show business. He kept beggin' -me to do my stuff, and I finally gave in. Right after we eloped--maybe -it's the ham in me or somethin', but I did my routine fer him, and I -guess I musta forgot and added that extra wiggle. - -"I figured he had it comin'," she says. "Anyhow, here I am." - -"And you'll stay here now, baby, wherever you been?" For a tough guy, -Luigi sure looked soft-boiled, now. - -The LaTour gave him a look that ain't had the benefit of Ivory Soap. -"I'm goin' back." - -"Aw, baby...." - -"I can speak their language fine now. Besides, there's gonna be hell to -pay because we eloped. And I gotta stick by Paris." - -"You goin' to France, Miss LaTour?" I blurts out. - - * * * * * - -She laughs. Luigi is scowlin', but the little professor is just noddin' -like he understands everything. - -"I been there, fella," she says to me. "I been everywhere." She starts -to hum a song I ain't never heard before. - -"This here's LaTour's farewell tour, men," she says, startin' to do -some fancy movin' around that makes my skin crawl, watchin' her. - -"Baby, you ain't gonna start your routine here, are ya?" Luigi says. - -"Shut up, creep, I gotta concentrate," she squelches him. - -The professor pipes up like he's half asleep. "You know, Miss LaTour, -there must be a destiny about all this...." - -"La de day--yeah, that's what that there Aphrodite told my new boy -friend," she throws a dazzlin' smile at him over her shoulder, wavin' -that white robe around her flawless body. - -"It won't seem the same on Venus without you," the professor sort of -moans. - -"Shut up, professor," Luigi hollers, then that tough voice of his -breaks, like he was almost cryin'. "Baby, stop dancin' around." - -"Outa my way, ya lug. I'm workin' up to the finale." - -"Please, baby. I'll--I'll give ya a million asteroids, honey. I won't -smoke no more of them there Saturn Stogies--" - -The LaTour's movin' around gets more fancy all the time. She is all -the moonbeams and flowers I ever seen, rolled into one. It was easy to -unnerstan' how she got to be the big star that she was--even here on -rough and ready Venus. She had class, and somethin' else--somethin' -that made ya keep watchin' her every movement, like you was hungry for -somethin', but ya didn't know what. And you wanted to jump up and -down, and holler, but ya just couldn't move because you was watchin' so -hard. - -She was wigglin' them beautiful, dimpled, rounded hips-- - -And then she wasn't there anymore. - - * * * * * - -"Hey!" Luigi runs around the room like he is goin' space-daffy. - -"It's no use, Luigi," the little guy says, lookin' sadder than ever. -"She's gone back. And this time I suspect it's forever," the prof says. - -Luigi comes over to the little guy and grabs him by the throat. - -"She can't do that to me. Gone back where? Y'gotta tell me." - -"She's gone back to Paris," the prof says. - -Luigi snarls like he is gettin' a Martian sand-fever fit. "What? -Leavin' me fer some Frenchman? I'll--" - -"No." The professor pulls away from Luigi. "This Paris is a part of -ancient Greece--a young shepherd prince whose theft of the wife of -Menelaos started the Trojan War." - -"Huh?" Luigi is as up in the air as I am. - -"Helen...." The little, fella looks sort of thoughtful. "Of course. -That was her name. Helen of Troy--LaTour. The queen of space. 'The -face that launched a thousand ships.'" - -The professor nods at us. "Who would have ever believed--" - -"Okay, pop," Luigi looks tough again, and I am plenty scared. - -"Hey Luigi," I hollers, "You kin see the little guy is tellin' the -truth. He didn't do nothin'--" - -Luigi turns around, and I kin see the little red specks at the corners -of his eyes. "Who says he did?" he snarls. He heads fer the open -window, reachin' in his vest fer his blood-freezer, and I kin hear him -mutterin'. - -"I'm goin' after that guy Paris, and when I find him, I'm gonna turn -the blaster on and smash him right through that there space warp! - -"Yeah," he hollers, standin' there framed by that window fer a minute -before he jets off, with all them millions of stars blazin' like fury -in the cleared-up Venusian night sky. - -"No lousy Greek is gonna steal my girl and get away with it!" - -I dunno. I ain't seen Luigi since, but I'm willin' t'wager a platterful -of Plutonian Stingers that he ain't never gonna master that there -hip-wiggle. - -Not like Helen LaTour, he ain't. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE QUEEN OF SPACE *** - -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. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. 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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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Queen of Space</p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Joseph Slotkin</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: September 27, 2021 [eBook #66395]</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net</div> - -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE QUEEN OF SPACE ***</div> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="titlepage"> - -<h1>The Queen of Space</h1> - -<h2>By Joseph Slotkin</h2> - -<p>Helen LaTour had the best hip wriggle in<br /> -galactic Burleyque. In fact, it was so good she<br /> -hipped herself smack into another dimension!...</p> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy<br /> -August 1954<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>I was relaxin' with my second Plutonian Stinger in the dignified -atmosphere of Charley's Venusian Retreat when there was this strange -noise outside the dive, like a flock of hot jets hittin' the -atmosphere. Right after a character comes bustin' through the door.</p> - -<p>He looks behind him, scared-like, wipin' his forehead with a -handkerchief as big as one of Charley's tablecloths, only cleaner. He -stops near my table.</p> - -<p>"I beg your pardon, would you mind if I joined you?"</p> - -<p>"Listen, buster, if you got a ulterior motif, such as a touch, you kin -hop a jet, and—" I starts. Then I get a really good look, and hear -myself sayin', "Hey, you don't look so good. Maybe you better sit down."</p> - -<p>"Thank you, oh thank you very much," he says, floppin' onto one of -Charley's flexible plastic stools.</p> - -<p>"Well, I guess I kin maybe be a sucker and go fer just one," I says, -while he is still mutterin' somethin' to hisself. "Waiter! Hey, mug!" I -turns back to the little fella, feelin' real expansive, like they say.</p> - -<p>"What'll be your pleasure, buster?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, but please allow me."</p> - -<p>Well, this is a new angle—a panhandler puttin' hisself on the pan. -But far be it from me to refuse a barroom curtsy, so I orders another -Jupiter sling.</p> - -<p>"I'll have two of those drinks on your tray," the little guy pipes up -to the waiter. And the mug, who is also one of Charley's best bouncers, -almost drops his load.</p> - -<p>"Hey, mister, these here's Plutonian stingers," the waiter yells.</p> - -<p>"Y'know what's in them things, fella?" I chimes in. "They get ground -vesicantus herbs from Pluto, and—"</p> - -<p>"Oh, what difference does it make?" The little guy looked mournful. -"He'll get me sooner or later, and then—"</p> - -<p>"He?" Maybe I had this little guy all wrong. Maybe he was a nut that -had decided to bolt.</p> - -<p>"Yes. Perhaps you heard that heat ray gun being discharged, just as I -came in."</p> - -<p>"Oh. So that's what them noises was."</p> - -<p>"Yes. Wherever I go, <i>he</i> shoots at me. Waits for me to leave the -building, and then shoots at me."</p> - -<p>"Well, mister, again it's none a my business, but—if you're carryin' -any asteroids around—they kin be cashed anywhere. Lots of guys would -take pot shots at ya."</p> - -<p>"Oh, Luigi isn't interested in my—money."</p> - -<p>"Luigi?" That name sent shudders goin' around my curvature.</p> - -<p>"Precisely." He gives with a long sigh. "I've been dodging him for some -time now."</p> - -<p>"Mister," I says, "everybody knows what a dangerous guy Luigi is. Why, -they got his mug on the wanted wall in every space station from here to -the outer galaxies."</p> - -<p>"Yes, I presume they have."</p> - -<p>"I figure one of these days the cops is gonna pin enough on him to -make him look like a astronavigator's space map," I adds.</p> - -<p>"Oh, I doubt if the space control will ever have the opportunity to -apprehend him here on Venus. This is still a wild, mostly unsettled -planet, you know. And besides, Luigi is too smart," says this little -guy, like he knows Luigi personal.</p> - -<p>"Yeh, he sure is. Uh—what's he got on you?"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The little guy reaches over like he doesn't know he's takin' the -Plutonian stinger right from under me nose, and says sort of -thoughtful-like, "He thinks I stole his girl."</p> - -<p>"Yeh. Yeh, sure, that would make <i>any</i> fella ma—" I starts, then it -seeps through, and I looks at this little, skinny, runty guy, only I -can't laugh.</p> - -<p>"Oh, I didn't of course. But the fact that she was last seen entering -my apartment, and that she never left it, at least not visibly—well, -that makes it terribly difficult to convince him—"</p> - -<p>"Now wait a minute—"</p> - -<p>"Oh, I don't expect anyone to believe me, anymore. Sometimes I find it -hard to believe myself."</p> - -<p>"D-do you know who Luigi's gal is?" I finally stutters.</p> - -<p>"Was," he corrects, mournful-like. This sort of scared me. Either -this guy was the kind of crank they never use to wind up a cold jet, -or women had changed a lot since the last time I enriched my culture -by attending a performance of Flossie's Follies at the Little Venus -Circuit Burly-que.</p> - -<p>"Mister, I ain't lookin' fer no trouble," I mutters, edgin' back on my -stool.</p> - -<p>"Oh, but I assure you, I'm telling the truth."</p> - -<p>"Helen LaTour, the terrific blonde," I says, meaningful-like.</p> - -<p>"The same!"</p> - -<p>"The queen of the burly circuit," I goes on, without realizin' that I -am stretched halfway across the table, shoutin' into his ear because -of a slight argument going on down the bar. "The most luscious hunk of -stuff that ever shook a notion to go on the stage," I enlarges. "Right -out of this world," I finishes up. "Right?"</p> - -<p>"Precisely. Right out of this world."</p> - -<p>"In your apartment?"</p> - -<p>"In my apartment."</p> - -<p>Now, I figures that maybe he was one of these here not-so-juvenile -delinquents what believes that if they can't have it, they can at least -kill it, so I starts edgin' away, but then I gets a sudden thought.</p> - -<p>"You sure the cops ain't on your trail, bud?"</p> - -<p>"No, but if Luigi doesn't get me, it's only a matter of time until they -will be. After all, anyone such as her, disappearing—"</p> - -<p>"I thought she was out of town."</p> - -<p>"No. Just out of this world."</p> - -<p>Them words take on a sinister-like significance, the way he says them. -Then he gets up, sober-lookin' in spite of them Plutonian stingers that -would of disintegrated even a Martian.</p> - -<p>"If you wouldn't mind running the risk, I'd appreciate your company. -I'm going back to my place now. The—ah—refreshments here lack the -needed stimulation. I have a much better supply home."</p> - -<p>Now, maybe it was that stinger and the Uranus delight, because under -ordinary circumstances I would turn down such a invite from a guy who -is no doubt a no-orbit meteorite. But then I realize—he's invitin' me -to his apartment where, accordin' to <i>his</i> story, the luscious LaTour, -queen of the strip world, has not been seen since. So I gives in.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>When we reaches his apartment, he snaps on the lights, like he was -nervous somebody might be hidin' inside, and locks the door tight. I -watch close. He leaves the key in the lock, which makes me feel some -easier.</p> - -<p>He has quite a nice little joint. Not gaudy, but nice. He goes to one -bookshelf, presses a button, and a shelf slides back. Inside, he's got -enough wiggle-water to fill all the Martian canals and irrigate the -Moon.</p> - -<p>Well, we're heisting a couple, and then he starts talkin' like we was -never interrupted.</p> - -<p>"Please forgive me for not introducing myself sooner, but under the -circumstances—My name is Timothy J. Brown, M.D., Ph.D., M.A. and A.B."</p> - -<p>"Oh. Well, me monicker is Benjamin Spelvin, but you kin call me Benny."</p> - -<p>"Very well—uh—Benny. I am, you see, a psychiatrist."</p> - -<p>"Oh, yeh. But you'd never be able to figure <i>me</i> out, Doc. I got so -many bumps on my head from hittin' th' anti-gravitational screens on -the jets during free fall—"</p> - -<p>He laughs. "No, that would be a phrenologist you're thinking of, -Benny. I'm concerned mainly with psychological abnormalities and -mal-adjustments of the psyche. I'm also known as something of an expert -in the more physical science of phenomenology," he adds modest-like.</p> - -<p>Now all this adds up to minus zero to me, but I'm sittin' in a -comfortable apartment in the better section of Venus, I got me a -glass of Uranus Number Eight, Vintage 2480, so I lets the little -fellow ramble on. Finally I says, "Uh, Mister—uh, Doc, you was sayin' -somethin' about Helen LaTour, the strip—"</p> - -<p>"Oh, oh yes, I was coming to that. Well, now—uh, where was I? Oh, -yes ... Benny, these were the events that brought me, a modest -scientist, into contact with this Luigi and that—uh—delectable -creature, Miss Helen LaTour. And I'll leave it to you to decide for -yourself that I am telling the truth."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Not so long ago (the Professor starts out) I was visited here by a -rather attractive young woman who told me her name was Helen LaTour.</p> - -<p>It is true, she had called me first on the telescreen, and at the sight -of that lovely—um—face, obviously mirroring distress, I assumed that, -having heard of my reputation she had sought me out for—um—treatment.</p> - -<p>Still, it was rather—um—disturbing to me to be interrupted by this -beautiful young woman while I was in the midst of my studies.</p> - -<p>"I'm grateful to you fer seein' me, P'fessor, honest I am," she -began, seating herself immediately, and crossing her—um—quite shapely -legs ... er, limbs, that is.</p> - -<p>"Well, Miss—uh—LaTour, wasn't it?"</p> - -<p>"Yeah. Helen LaTour. You heard of me 'way up here on Venusian Heights?"</p> - -<p>"The—ah—name has a familiar ring. But I must remind you, I have -restricted my practice to native Venusians."</p> - -<p>"Yeah, sure, Doc. Still, I figured you, bein' an Earth man, and me a -Earth woman, well—patriotism...."</p> - -<p>Her eyes were indeed lovely, gazing at me so appealingly, and -I must confess she aroused my—um—sense of Earthy—that is, -Earthy—um—patriotism.</p> - -<p>"Uh—just what can I do for you, Miss LaTour?"</p> - -<p>"I dunno yet, doc. I'm happy in my work. I got a swell boy friend, -name of Luigi, maybe you heard of him? No? Well, I got no reason to be -unhappy, and yet—"</p> - -<p>"Just a moment, please. What is your work?"</p> - -<p>"Doc, I been known in the strip tease game as the Queen of the Solid -Shake."</p> - -<p>"You are—er—a night club dancer?"</p> - -<p>"Night clubs? Nah, I never leave the boards, Doc. I got my own circuit, -my agent takes good care of my bookings, and my wardrobe is the envy of -ingenues from Mercury to Pluto."</p> - -<p>"You—act?"</p> - -<p>"Yeah. Plenty of action, Doc."</p> - -<p>"Just what type of—er—roles do you play?"</p> - -<p>"I'm a tease artist, Doc. I take it off. Strip."</p> - -<p>Every word this remarkable young lady uttered was punctuated by the -most fluid and expressive movements of her—um—agile—um—body, but I -must confess I was becoming more and more—er—confused.</p> - -<p>"Want a demonstration?"</p> - -<p>By now, I had begun to gather what she meant, and hastily asserted that -such a procedure would be unnecessary.</p> - -<p>"Well, Doc, I'm solid sender, see? Hep with the jet.... Right out of -this world."</p> - -<p>"Yes?"</p> - -<p>"That's just the trouble. I <i>been</i> right out of this world."</p> - -<p>"You have dreams?"</p> - -<p>"I dunno. Lemme explain. I'm opening next week after a layoff on -Earth, see? Them Earthmen are gettin' sorta tame, but we figure these -Venusians will appreciate what I got to offer when they come in after a -long, muggy day at them cold uranium mines, see?"</p> - -<p>I commented that I had made some notations about the working conditions -of the native Venusians comparing them, especially atmospherically, to -the phenomenon of what is known on Earth as ACM—ancient, California -smog.</p> - -<p>"Yeah, sure, sure, Doc. Well, they got the whole show at the Little -Venus Theater built around my number. I got my whole new wardrobe, with -the special anti-gravity zippers, some classy plastic bubbles, and a -special arrangement cooked up by Ziggy, the trumpeter from Mercury. -They're billing me tops, and I figured out a routine that's a sure -sensation. I been practicing it all during my vacation.</p> - -<p>"I even been holding off Luigi so I could practice," Miss LaTour said.</p> - -<p>"Luigi—that's your boy friend's name?"</p> - -<p>"Yeah," she laughed, and added, "I been practicin' by myself so much he -thinks I been cheatin' on him." She winked her lovely eye at me.</p> - -<p>"Well, you should see this number," she said. "It begins with me -wigglin' like this."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>She began to swing about the room. I had to confess to myself that, -standing there, her dark eyes flashing, her long, rather—uh—shapely -legs, and—um—well, it was obvious that if anyone were better -qualified to interpret love, I had never seen it. But as I observed her -closely, she seemed truly agitated.</p> - -<p>"Why, I even learned a couple of new languages, so I could sing a part -of my song in each language—one from each planet."</p> - -<p>"Er—I believe we can dispense with that."</p> - -<p>"But that's just it, Doc. I gotta tell you about it. It's all sort of -symbolic, see? A sort of United Planets number. The idea is that all of -the planets are held together by love, real, solid love, the kind that -grips you."</p> - -<p>It was most apparent to me at that juncture that her—um—talents -<i>were</i> of the—um—gripping variety.</p> - -<p>I begged her, however, to come to the source of her difficulty.</p> - -<p>"Well, the number's comin' along terrific. I got it down perfect, every -movement, every swing and every sway. I feel I reached a new peak in my -art, when—just a couple of days ago—it happens."</p> - -<p>I begged her to be explicit.</p> - -<p>"Well, I'm doing the routine in my dressing-room, see? First the -singing as a tease, see? Then the bubbles, then I start playin' with -the anti-gravity zippers, see? Well, I get my skirt off, and then my -blouse, and I've got panties and a brassiere, of course, using the -skirt as a kind of screen, see? Well, there I am—"</p> - -<p>"Yes?"</p> - -<p>"In my panties and bra, of course."</p> - -<p>"Of course."</p> - -<p>"Usin' the skirt as a sort of a fan, see? Then I get to the part -where I suddenly lift the skirt over my head, and I give a sort of -wiggle—well, it ain't a wiggle, exactly, with my hips, and then—"</p> - -<p>"Yes, yes, and then, Miss LaTour?"</p> - -<p>"That's it, Doc," she said unhappily. "That's when it happened. One -minute I was standin' there in my room, practicin', and then—the room -wasn't there anymore."</p> - -<p>I watched her closely—observing her reactions, of course.</p> - -<p>"Where do you suppose the room went?"</p> - -<p>"I dunno. It just wasn't there."</p> - -<p>"And—uh—where were you?"</p> - -<p>"That's the funniest part of it. I didn't seem to be in a room at all. -I seemed to be in a large, open space and, Doc, <i>there was sand under -my feet</i>!"</p> - -<p>Her particular hallucination began to take coherent—um—shape in my -mind, now.</p> - -<p>"You say there was sand under your feet—and you were out-of-doors?"</p> - -<p>"Like in some sort of desert, Doc. And Doc—<i>there was someone coming -toward me</i>!"</p> - -<p>"I see. A—man, doubtless."</p> - -<p>"Yeah, yeah! And when he saw me standing there, he came rushing at me. -Well, I remembered I didn't have much on, so I lowered my skirt."</p> - -<p>"I see. And this man. He—chased you?"</p> - -<p>"Well—no. When I lowered my skirt, he stopped."</p> - -<p>"He—stopped."</p> - -<p>"Yeah. Well, I figures here's a man, and I got my new routine, let's -try it out. So I raised my skirt again, watching his face, and went on -from there."</p> - -<p>"On. From there. I see."</p> - -<p>"And Doc," she became intensely excited, and I must confess I found it -fairly difficult to preserve my own calm, "when I went through that -hip-sway, his face became dim, and then sort of cloudy, and then, in -a flash, there I was back in my room again just as if it never had -happened."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>I said, "Miss LaTour, tell me, when you were a child, were you always -imagining that men would turn around to look at you: that is, that they -were always looking at you?"</p> - -<p>"They <i>were</i>," she stated flatly. "Hey—you think I'm imagining I was -somewhere else? Well, you're wrong, Doc. I was on a desert, I tell -you—and what's more, when I got back in my room, there was sand on -the bottom of my slippers!"</p> - -<p>"Of course," I soothed her. "I'm not arguing with you at all."</p> - -<p>"Look—" She became vehement. "I'll do my routine right here, in front -of you, and you'll see—"</p> - -<p>I pleaded with her that this was entirely unnecessary, but she began to -walk enticingly about the room, humming some tune.</p> - -<p>I was shocked at first, but in spite of myself, the eternal attraction -of the feminine form asserted itself, and I watched the rest of the -proceedings with, I must admit, keen interest. Miss LaTour was indeed -a—um—skillful young woman, and generously equipped to prove her -points.</p> - -<p>"You see now?" She was standing before me, holding her skirt over her -head, scantily clothed otherwise. "Just about now, I go into my new -hip-sway, like this, and—"</p> - -<p>And then she was gone.</p> - -<p>She had begun an enticing—indeed, fascinating wiggle of as excellently -rounded a pair of hips as I had ever seen, and then, without warning of -any sort, she had vanished.</p> - -<p>Well, you can imagine how perturbed I was. I searched the entire -apartment thoroughly. For a moment I was inclined to believe it was -merely an hallucination of my own. But there was the evidence of the -clothing she had already—um—shed, lying on the floor, to prove my own -sanity.</p> - -<p>Then I thought of the drinking cabinet I—ah—keep here for my -patients, and I turned to it with shaking hands. As I was pouring -myself a Uranian Delight, I heard her voice suddenly, and the glass -crashed from my hands.</p> - -<p>"I'm back, Doc."</p> - -<p>Indeed, there she was, standing as she had before, her skirt raised -about her head with one hand, and in the other what looked like <i>some -sort of human hand</i>!</p> - -<p>"Guess where I was this time."</p> - -<p>I confess I was shaking violently, but she laughed, and approached me -coquettishly, showing me what appeared on closer examination to be an -artifact of some sort, rather like a metal glove. As I peered at it she -sighed deeply.</p> - -<p>"What a knight!"</p> - -<p>"Extraordinary, but I fancied I heard you say, 'What a night'!"</p> - -<p>"That's what I said, Doc."</p> - -<p>"But you've only been gone about five minutes. How can you say—?"</p> - -<p>"Search me. All I know is, I just spent the last three hours with a -knight."</p> - -<p>"A night, in a few hours! How—?"</p> - -<p>"I said 'knight'. The kind that rides a horse—you know."</p> - -<p>I stared at her, but she was coyly putting on her clothes, a half-smile -on her lovely face.</p> - -<p>"He was so sweet, Doc. Talked a kind of funny French, but I could -understand enough to intuition the rest—Anyhow, after awhile I -remembered you'd be worried about me, so I sneaked out of his castle, -and went through my routine up to the point where I wiggle my hips—and -here I am."</p> - -<p>"But—where <i>were</i> you?"</p> - -<p>"Search me. He said his name was Launcelot."</p> - -<p>"What?"</p> - -<p>"Launcelot. That's what he said his name was. That's a pretty name." -She giggled, "I wonder what Luigi would say."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>I was shocked, but then the full significance of this young lady's -strange powers flooded over me. I regarded her seriously.</p> - -<p>"Miss LaTour, do you realize what you've accomplished by a mere wiggle -of your hips?"</p> - -<p>She paused in fastening the garter to her filmy stocking. "I built up -quite a reputation. I know that."</p> - -<p>I fired her with my glance. "At first I thought perhaps you were -suffering from—well, no matter. Now, either we're both mad, or you've -penetrated the fourth dimension and bridged space and time."</p> - -<p>She appeared highly uninterested. "That's fine, Doc. Uh—my seams -straight? Thanks. Now if you kin figure out some way to get that—what -did you call it? Oh, yeah, penetration—out of my act, everything'll be -O.K. After all, I got my cash customers to consider."</p> - -<p>"Oh, your act is unimportant now," I said excitedly. "Consider what -this means to science! With that little—ah—wiggle of your hips you've -found a warp in space that's projected you into another time sphere, -proportionately co-existent with our own!"</p> - -<p>"That's great, Doc. Now that you know how I do it, how about helping -me to get rid of it? Although—" She hesitated. "I <i>would</i> like to see -Launce again. I wonder if he's married?"</p> - -<p>"Perhaps," I mused, "this phenomenon manifested itself here on Venus -and not when you were on Earth because of the peculiar orbit of the -Venusian—" And then I realized she was waiting for me to answer her.</p> - -<p>"Launcelot? I—uh—think he's been carrying on an affair with a lady -named—um—Guinevere."</p> - -<p>"A two-timer, huh?"</p> - -<p>I avoided this trend in the conversation. "Miss LaTour, apparently -it depends where you do your—um—contortions. Apparently in your -dressing-room you emerged onto a desert. While in my apartment, it -brought you straight into an ancient age—"</p> - -<p>"Hot asteroids, so that's it!" Her lovely face was suffused with an -unmistakable eagerness. "Look, Doc, supposin' I come up here again some -time, so I can see him again?"</p> - -<p>I was properly outraged. "Hardly! Come to my apartment so that you can -carry on an affair with a man dead for thousands of years? Certainly -not!"</p> - -<p>She was puzzled. "He didn't seem dead to me."</p> - -<p>"Miss LaTour!" I was desperate. "Do you realize what this would mean -to science?" I tried to explain to her, "For centuries, man has tried -to find the answer to the secrets of the action of mass subject to -certain movements at certain speeds, knowing that mass and energy were -identical—"</p> - -<p>"I coulda given them the answer any time they wanted to catch me at the -Little Venus Burly-que," she retorted fliply. "I use plenty of energy, -but, brother, I never waste a movement."</p> - -<p>"Please, young lady, this flippant attitude toward science—"</p> - -<p>"What do I care about science? All I want is my routine. Now, can you -hep me to what's putting the crimp in my act, so's I can iron out that -there fourth-dimensional wiggle?"</p> - -<p>"I'd have to study this peculiar phenomenon much more closely—"</p> - -<p>"Nothin' doin'! You seen all you're going to!"</p> - -<p>"But you don't understand," I pleaded.</p> - -<p>"Lissen! I built myself up from a walk-on in the chorus. Worked hard, -see? Figured out my own bumps and grinds and hip-rolls, just so's I -could make myself the biggest tease name in the galaxy. And now, what -goes? I got what you call a fourth-dimensional wiggle that gets me -out through somebody's space warp into somebody's back yard who lived -before I was born! This here thing's warpin' my personality. I'm fed -up," she cried.</p> - -<p>I was frantic. "But you've a debt to society—"</p> - -<p>"Lissen. I pay my debt every time I walk out on that stage. Think of -all the men I make forget they're married, or their office, or factory -or farm troubles—or their income taxes! How would <i>they</i> feel, if I -disappeared in the middle of my strip? They want to see <i>more</i> of me, -not <i>less</i>!</p> - -<p>"I thought maybe you could help me lick this thing—whatever you call -it. But under that beard you're just like all them other guys. I'm fed -up on double talk. Let's just forget the whole thing, Doc. Good-by, -professor!"</p> - -<p>And with that, she flounced out of my apartment.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Well, the little guy stopped talkin', then, and takes another drink and -I find I been sittin' on the edge of my chair, like I was stymied by a -paralaray.</p> - -<p>"B-but—you said that she disappeared from here," I says like a guy in -a trance.</p> - -<p>"Oh yes indeed," he smiles at me. "I was too wrapped up in her by then -to let her off so easily."</p> - -<p>"Y'mean—you followed her up?"</p> - -<p>"I felt sure that if I could just see her again, and explain the value -of her peculiar, indeed amazing talent, to science—well, at any rate -I knew where to go. I had never in all my life frequented one of those -burlesque houses.</p> - -<p>"After the performance I endeavored to see her backstage. That was when -I had my first brush with Mr. Luigi."</p> - -<p>"Tough character, ain't he?"</p> - -<p>"Extremely so. He warned me not to bother her, and when I tried to -explain, he threatened me.</p> - -<p>"And then one evening," the little guy says, settling back in his chair -with a hooker of Saturnian Sling, and that far-away look in his eyes -again, "just when I least expected it, my robot butler announced her.</p> - -<p>"'Oh, I'm so glad you've changed your mind, Miss LaTour,' I greeted -her. 'And now if you're ready, we can continue our experiments without -further delay.'</p> - -<p>"'Nix, doc, I ain't here for any more experiments,' were her first -words.</p> - -<p>"I was non-plussed. 'You're not? Then why did you—?'</p> - -<p>"'Oh, I dunno. I been practisin' that space-warpin' hip-wiggle in -private, see? And I been meetin' all sorts of characters. But not the -one I got a real interest in.'</p> - -<p>"I sensed trouble. 'Miss LaTour, if you've come here for—'</p> - -<p>"'I'm getting bored, Doc. Luigi's gettin' too jealous. Why he even -thinks that you—' She leered at me archly. 'Well, never mind. But them -few hours I spent with that there Launcelot—'</p> - -<p>"She began to hum a few bars of the song she used in her—um—routine, -despite my pleas.</p> - -<p>"'Miss LaTour, please don't begin that again!'</p> - -<p>"'What're ya kickin' about, professor? You're gettin' a free show, -ain'tcha? At least up to a point y'are—'</p> - -<p>"'Please, Miss LaTour, put on that blouse. I must warn you—'</p> - -<p>"Her lovely bare arms stopped their gyrations. 'Huh? Warn me? About -what?'</p> - -<p>"'That time and space are really fluid, as that ancient philosopher, -Einstein, suspected back in the Twentieth Century. You may not reach -the same time-space continuum again. Why, you may even—um—wiggle -yourself into the middle of a Pharaoh's tomb—or perhaps the bottom of -the ocean which now covers what used to be ancient Russia!'</p> - -<p>"'I'll take my chances, Doc. Hmmm.... Hmmm.... Pretty good, huh?'</p> - -<p>"'I implore you, Miss LaTour!'</p> - -<p>"Despite my desperate efforts, she began to remove another of -her—um—garments.</p> - -<p>"'Da de da, my bra. Da de daa doo, my shoe. And now, Launcelot, honey, -here I—'</p> - -<p>"She had come to the hip-wiggle that curiously projected her through -some warp in space. There was a sound as though a rubber tube were -being sucked inside out—and she vanished."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The little fella emptied his glass and filled it again.</p> - -<p>"I waited for what seemed an eternity. But she never reappeared, to -this very day."</p> - -<p>I takes another slug of that Martian wiggle-water myself, then I -squints at the professor over my glass.</p> - -<p>"I guess maybe you been hittin' the bottle yourself lately, huh Doc?"</p> - -<p>"What? Oh, you don't believe me, do you, Benny?"</p> - -<p>"Well, it ain't that exactly, but ya gotta admit—"</p> - -<p>He gets excited again. "Here, I'll show you." He goes to a drawer, -takes somethin' soft and shiny out, and comes back, wavin' them under -my nose. My nose doesn't object.</p> - -<p>"I have proof. Take a look at these."</p> - -<p>They was Helen LaTour's size, all right. I gotta admit that, okay. And -they <i>was</i> pretty. Especially when I starts thinkin' of what filled 'em.</p> - -<p>"She left them behind when she went through that space warp. It's all -there is left of her."</p> - -<p>"Hmmm. Say, doc, y'sure these ain't some other dame's? Maybe yer -wife's—?"</p> - -<p>"I assure you, I have never been married." He looks wistful-like. -"Since meeting Miss LaTour, I grant you I have toyed with the -speculation of what marital bliss might have been like with someone of -the caliber of—"</p> - -<p>Just then, the window behind me pops open with a crash that breaks it -into a zillion pieces, and into the room steps Luigi.</p> - -<p>I couldn't of been more scared if I'd started seeing snakes, which I -had, since Luigi looks like the meanest kind of viper in the zoo.</p> - -<p>"Okay, pop," he snarls, deadly-like. "Where ya keepin' her?"</p> - -<p>The little guy doesn't even turn a hair, whiles I'm startin' to get rid -of all the stuff I been drinkin', reflex-like, so's I'll be lighter fer -the takeoff when I kin get my feet unfroze.</p> - -<p>"How did you get here?" the prof inquires, cool like a cucumber.</p> - -<p>"I climbed in through that there space warp you been warblin' about," -Luigi sneers, and I can see he is in a definitely unsociable mood.</p> - -<p>"You!" he hollers, looking at where I was before he hollered, and when -I come down off the top of the bookcase he says, "What do you know -about it?"</p> - -<p>"Luigi," I peeps, "I ain't never seen this guy until tonight."</p> - -<p>"He's telling the truth, Luigi," the little guy says, and I coulda -kissed him fer it.</p> - -<p>"Okay, pop. So now that you're talkin', start singin'. And it better -be on the level, too. What did you do with my gal? C'mon, spill it, or -you'll be spillin' more than words."</p> - -<p>"I told you the truth the first time," the little guy says, with -terrific dignity fer a future corpse.</p> - -<p>I thought Luigi would bust a jet-gasket, but all of a sudden he calms -down, and gets an expression on his puss like a tiger tryin' to smile.</p> - -<p>"Look pop," he says, "I know how it is." And he's almost beggin' now. -"I know LaTour. She's gotta have a change once't in a while. But I love -that dame, see? And I gotta have her back. So if you'll just tell me -where she is, I'm willin' to forget all about everythin' else—"</p> - -<p>The little guy just looks at him sort of pitying-like. "I assure you -I'd like to help you, Luigi, but—"</p> - -<p>He stops, with his mouth open, his eyes poppin' out of his head. He's -starin' at somethin' behind me and Luigi's.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>I hears a low, silvery laugh, kinda like little bells tinklin', and -the kinda voice you figure that there pie-eyed piper musta had on his -flute, is sayin':</p> - -<p>"Well! Hello, suckers!"</p> - -<p>When Luigi hears that laugh, he whirls around like a weathercock on top -of a landship station, his face all red and puffed up.</p> - -<p>"Baby!" He gets that far, then <i>his</i> eyes start to pop out. Mine are -already rollin' on the rug.</p> - -<p>Standin' there, laughin' like she is havin' the time of her luscious -life, is the Queen of Burly-que, Helen LaTour herself, in, what I mean, -the flesh.</p> - -<p>She is holdin' some white sort of a robe or somethin' over her head, -and aside from that, she ain't got a stitch on that knockout of a body -of hers.</p> - -<p>Luigi gets his wind back, and starts gettin' tough again. "So you been -two-timin' me fer this old goat here, huh?"</p> - -<p>"I assure you, this is as much of a shock to me—"</p> - -<p>But the LaTour ain't payin' them no attention. She pulls the robe half -over her, and gives with that tinklin' laugh again.</p> - -<p>"I didn't expect to come back here," she chuckles. "I made a mistake."</p> - -<p>"Where you been?" Luigi moves towards her, like he was gonna hit her.</p> - -<p>"Don't you take another step, you lug!"</p> - -<p>She sure knew how to handle men. Luigi stops like he's been slugged by -a Uranian, and his face gets all purple and pleading.</p> - -<p>"Aw come on, babe, gimme a break. Ain't you been hangin' out with this -little jerk long enough?"</p> - -<p>"Th-that garment—" The little guy is starin' at the robe LaTour is -holdin' over the better parts of her. "That white robe—where did you -get it?" he sorta wheezed.</p> - -<p>"This? Oh, this old thing. It's just part of my old wardrobe. The guy I -married gave it to me."</p> - -<p>"You—<i>what</i>?" Luigi's puss turns from purple to pale white. "You ain't -married?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, no?" LaTour looks at him like he's a Venusian rainworm, and the -lug goes inta another Technicolor trance.</p> - -<p>"But I'm gettin' fed up already," she yawns. "I met a fella's got a -lot more S.A. than the guy I'm hitched to now. Yeah," she giggles, "My -new fella knows how to appreciate a gal. Why, he even judged a beauty -contest once."</p> - -<p>"You take that jet line to Atlantic City, baby?" Luigi says.</p> - -<p>The LaTour laughs, and catches the little guy's eye. "Professor, tell -this jerk here what I'm talkin' about."</p> - -<p>The little guy nods. "So that's why you didn't come back," he says.</p> - -<p>"Yeah. I been promised to my new fella, and I ain't one to break a -promise."</p> - -<p>"The apple of discord," the little guy is mutterin'. "'Twas ever thus, -my dear. But why are you here now?"</p> - -<p>"I been tellin' my new boy friend about show business. He kept beggin' -me to do my stuff, and I finally gave in. Right after we eloped—maybe -it's the ham in me or somethin', but I did my routine fer him, and I -guess I musta forgot and added that extra wiggle.</p> - -<p>"I figured he had it comin'," she says. "Anyhow, here I am."</p> - -<p>"And you'll stay here now, baby, wherever you been?" For a tough guy, -Luigi sure looked soft-boiled, now.</p> - -<p>The LaTour gave him a look that ain't had the benefit of Ivory Soap. -"I'm goin' back."</p> - -<p>"Aw, baby...."</p> - -<p>"I can speak their language fine now. Besides, there's gonna be hell to -pay because we eloped. And I gotta stick by Paris."</p> - -<p>"You goin' to France, Miss LaTour?" I blurts out.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>She laughs. Luigi is scowlin', but the little professor is just noddin' -like he understands everything.</p> - -<p>"I been there, fella," she says to me. "I been everywhere." She starts -to hum a song I ain't never heard before.</p> - -<p>"This here's LaTour's farewell tour, men," she says, startin' to do -some fancy movin' around that makes my skin crawl, watchin' her.</p> - -<p>"Baby, you ain't gonna start your routine here, are ya?" Luigi says.</p> - -<p>"Shut up, creep, I gotta concentrate," she squelches him.</p> - -<p>The professor pipes up like he's half asleep. "You know, Miss LaTour, -there must be a destiny about all this...."</p> - -<p>"La de day—yeah, that's what that there Aphrodite told my new boy -friend," she throws a dazzlin' smile at him over her shoulder, wavin' -that white robe around her flawless body.</p> - -<p>"It won't seem the same on Venus without you," the professor sort of -moans.</p> - -<p>"Shut up, professor," Luigi hollers, then that tough voice of his -breaks, like he was almost cryin'. "Baby, stop dancin' around."</p> - -<p>"Outa my way, ya lug. I'm workin' up to the finale."</p> - -<p>"Please, baby. I'll—I'll give ya a million asteroids, honey. I won't -smoke no more of them there Saturn Stogies—"</p> - -<p>The LaTour's movin' around gets more fancy all the time. She is all -the moonbeams and flowers I ever seen, rolled into one. It was easy to -unnerstan' how she got to be the big star that she was—even here on -rough and ready Venus. She had class, and somethin' else—somethin' -that made ya keep watchin' her every movement, like you was hungry for -somethin', but ya didn't know what. And you wanted to jump up and -down, and holler, but ya just couldn't move because you was watchin' so -hard.</p> - -<p>She was wigglin' them beautiful, dimpled, rounded hips—</p> - -<p>And then she wasn't there anymore.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"Hey!" Luigi runs around the room like he is goin' space-daffy.</p> - -<p>"It's no use, Luigi," the little guy says, lookin' sadder than ever. -"She's gone back. And this time I suspect it's forever," the prof says.</p> - -<p>Luigi comes over to the little guy and grabs him by the throat.</p> - -<p>"She can't do that to me. Gone back where? Y'gotta tell me."</p> - -<p>"She's gone back to Paris," the prof says.</p> - -<p>Luigi snarls like he is gettin' a Martian sand-fever fit. "What? -Leavin' me fer some Frenchman? I'll—"</p> - -<p>"No." The professor pulls away from Luigi. "This Paris is a part of -ancient Greece—a young shepherd prince whose theft of the wife of -Menelaos started the Trojan War."</p> - -<p>"Huh?" Luigi is as up in the air as I am.</p> - -<p>"Helen...." The little, fella looks sort of thoughtful. "Of course. -That was her name. Helen of Troy—LaTour. The queen of space. 'The -face that launched a thousand ships.'"</p> - -<p>The professor nods at us. "Who would have ever believed—"</p> - -<p>"Okay, pop," Luigi looks tough again, and I am plenty scared.</p> - -<p>"Hey Luigi," I hollers, "You kin see the little guy is tellin' the -truth. He didn't do nothin'—"</p> - -<p>Luigi turns around, and I kin see the little red specks at the corners -of his eyes. "Who says he did?" he snarls. He heads fer the open -window, reachin' in his vest fer his blood-freezer, and I kin hear him -mutterin'.</p> - -<p>"I'm goin' after that guy Paris, and when I find him, I'm gonna turn -the blaster on and smash him right through that there space warp!</p> - -<p>"Yeah," he hollers, standin' there framed by that window fer a minute -before he jets off, with all them millions of stars blazin' like fury -in the cleared-up Venusian night sky.</p> - -<p>"No lousy Greek is gonna steal my girl and get away with it!"</p> - -<p>I dunno. I ain't seen Luigi since, but I'm willin' t'wager a platterful -of Plutonian Stingers that he ain't never gonna master that there -hip-wiggle.</p> - -<p>Not like Helen LaTour, he ain't.</p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE QUEEN OF SPACE ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -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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