Compleat collected sff w.., p.237
COMPLEAT Collected SFF Works, page 237
Munn kept sewing, without missing a stitch. He knew that his products were being scanned closely for signs of sloppy workmanship. Bronson kept juggling and doing coin tricks, never missing. Underhill typed with aching fingers.
Five hours. Six hours. Even with the rest periods, it was grueling. They had brought food from the Goodwill, but it wasn't too palatable. Still, Thirkell had selected it carefully for caloric.
Seven hours. Eight hours. The crowds made the canals impassable. A policeman came along and argued with Thirkell, who told him to see Jorust. Jorust must have put a flea in his ear, for he came back to watch, but not to interfere.
Nine hours. Ten hours. Ten hours of Herculean effort. The men were exhausted—but they kept going.
They had made their point by then, though, for a few Venusians approached Thirkell and inquired about the Power Pills. What were they? Did they really make you work faster? How could they buy the—
The policeman appeared to stand beside Thirkell. "I've a message from the medical tarkomar," he announced. "If you try to sell any of those things, you go to jail."
"Wouldn't think of it," Thirkell said. "We're giving away free samples. Here, buddy." He dug into a sack and tossed the nearest Venusian a Power Pill. "Two days' work in that instead of your usual one. Come back for more tomorrow. Want one, pal? Here. You, too. Catch."
"Wait a minute—" the policeman said.
"Go get a warrant," Thirkell told him. "There's no law against making presents."
Jorust appeared with a burly, intolerant-looking Venusian. She introduced the latter as head of the Vyring tarkomars.
"And I'm here to tell you to stop this," the Venusian said.
Thirkell knew what to say. His companions kept on with their work, but he felt them watching and listening.
"What rule do you invoke?"
"Why ... why, peddling."
"I'm not selling anything. This is public domain; we're putting on a free show."
"Those ... ah ... Power Pills—"
"Free gifts," Thirkell said. "Listen, pal. When we gave all our food to you Venusian crooks, did you squawk? No, you took it. And then clamped down. When we asked for our grub back, you just told us that we had no legal recourse; possession is nine points of the law, and we had a perfect right to make free gifts. That's what we're doing now—giving presents. So what?"
Jorust's eyes were twinkling, but she hooded them swiftly. "I fear he speaks the truth. The law protects him. It is no great harm."
Thirkell, watching her, wondered. Had Jorust guessed the right answer? Was she on their side? The tarkomar leader turned dark green, hesitated, swung on his heel and went away. Jorust gave the Earthmen a long, enigmatic look, moved her shoulders and followed.
-
"I'm still stiff," Mike Soaring Eagle said a week later in the Goodwill. "Hungry, too. When do we get grub?"
Thirkell, at the valve, handed out a Power Pill to a Venusian and came back rubbing his hands and grinning. "Wait. Just wait. What's going on, skipper?"
Munn nodded towards Underhill. "Ask the kid. He got back from Vyring a few minutes ago."
Underhill chuckled. "There was hell popping. All in a week, too. We've certainly struck at the economic base. Every Venusian who labors on a piecework basis wants our pills, so he can speed up his production and make more fals. It's the competitive instinct—which is universal."
"Well?" Bronson asked. "How do the lizard-faced big shots like that?"
"They don't like it. It's hit the economic set-up they've had for centuries. Till now, one Venusian would make exactly ten sofals a week—say—by turning out five thousand bottle caps. With the pills Steve made up, he's turning out eight or ten thousand and making correspondingly more dough. The guy at the next bench says what the hell, and comes to us for a Power Pill for himself. Thus it goes. And the lovely part is that not all the labor is on piecework basis. It can't be. You need tangibles for piecework. Running a weather machine has got to be measured by time—not by how many raindrops you make in a day."
Munn nodded. "Jealousy, you mean?"
Underhill said, "Well, look. A weather-machine operator has been making ten sofals a week, the same as a bottle capper on piecework. Now the bottle capper's making twenty sofals. The weather-machine man doesn't see the point. He's willing to take Power Pills, too, but that won't step up his production. He asks for a raise. If he gets it, the economy is upset even more. If he doesn't, other weather-machine operators get together with him and figure it's unfair discrimination. They get mad at the tarkomars. They strike!"
Mike Soaring Eagle said, "The tarkomars have forbidden work to any Venusian taking Power Pills."
"And still the Venusians ask us for Power Pills. So what? How can you prove a man's been swallowing them? His production steps up, sure, but the tarkomars can't clamp down on everybody with a good turnout. They tried that, and a lot of guys who never tried the Power Pills got mad. They were fast workers, that was all."
"The demonstration we put on was a good idea," Thirkell said. "It was convincing. I've had to cut down the strength of the pills—we're running low—but the power of suggestion helps us."
Underhill grinned. "So the base—the man-hour unit—had gone cockeyed. One little monkey wrench, thrown where it'll do the most good. It's spreading, too. Not only Vyring. The news is going all over Venus, and the workers in the other cities are asking why half of Vyring's laborers should get better pay. That's where the equal standard of exchange helps us—one monetary system all over Venus. Nothing has ever been off par here for centuries. Now—"
Munn said, "Now the system's toppling. It's a natural fault in a perfectly integrated, rigid set-up. For want of a nail the tarkomars are losing their grip. They've forgotten how to adjust."
"It'll spread," Underhill said confidently. "It'll spread. Steve, here comes another customer."
-
Underhill was wrong. Jorust and the Vyring tarkomar leader came in. "May you be worthy of your ancestors' names," Munn said politely. "Drag up a chair and have a drink. We've still got a few bulbs of beer left."
Jorust obeyed, but the Venusian rocked on his feet and glowered. The woman said, "Malsi is distressed. These Power Pills are causing trouble."
"I don't know why," Munn said. "They increase production, don't they?"
Malsi grimaced. "This is a trick! A stratagem! You are abusing our hospitality!"
"What hospitality?" Bronson wanted to know.
"You threatened the system," Malsi plunged on doggedly. "On Venus there is no change. There must be none."
"Why not?" Underhill asked. "There's only one real reason, and you know it. Any advances might upset the tarkomars—threaten the power they hold. You racketeers have had the whip hand for centuries. You've suppressed inventions, kept Venus in a backwater, tried to drive initiative out of the race, just so you could stay on top. It can't be done. Changes happen; they always do. If we hadn't come, there'd have been an internal explosion eventually."
Malsi glared at him. "You will stop making these Power Pills."
"Point of law," Thirkell said softly. "Show precedent."
Jorust said, "The right of free gift is one of the oldest on Venus. That law could be changed, Malsi, but I don't think the people would like it."
Munn grinned. "No. They wouldn't. That would be the tipoff. Venusians have learned it's possible to make more money. Take that chance away from them, and the tarkomars won't be the benevolent rulers any more."
Malsi turned darker green. "We have power—"
"Jorust, you're an administrator. Are we protected by your laws?" Underhill asked.
She moved her shoulders. "Yes, you are. The laws are sacrosanct. Perhaps because they have always been designed to protect the tarkomars."
Malsi swung towards her. "Are you siding with the Earthmen?"
"Why, of course not, Malsi. I'm merely upholding the law, according to my oath of office. Without prejudice—that's it, isn't it?"
Munn said, "We'll stop making the Power Pills if you like, but I warn you that it's only a respite. You can't halt progress."
Malsi seemed unconvinced. "You'll stop?"
"Sure. If you pay us."
"We cannot pay you," Malsi said stubbornly. "You belong to no tarkomar. It would be illegal."
Jorust murmured, "You might give them a free gift of—say—ten thousand sofals."
"Ten thousand!" Malsi yelped. "Ridiculous!"
"So it is," Underhill said. "Fifty thousand is more like it. We can live well for a year on that."
"No."
A Venusian came to the valve, peeped in and said: "I made twice as many difals today. May I have another Power Pill?" He saw Malsi and vanished with a small shriek.
Munn shrugged. "Suit yourself. Pay up, or we go on handing out Power Pills—and you'll have to adjust a rigid social economy. I don't think you can do it."
Jorust touched Malsi's arm. "There is no other way."
"I—" The Venusian by now was almost black with impotent rage. "All right," he capitulated, spitting the words between his teeth. "I won't forget this, Jorust."
"But I must administer the laws," the woman said. "Why, Malsi! The rule of the tarkomars has always been unswerving honesty."
Malsi didn't answer. He scribbled a credit check for fifty thousand sofals, validated it and gave the tag to Munn. After that he sent a parting glare around the cabin and stamped out.
"Well!" Bronson said. "Fifty grand! Tonight we eat!"
"May you be worthy of your fathers' names," Jorust murmured. At the valve she turned. "I'm afraid you've upset Malsi."
"Too bad," Munn said hypocritically.
Jorust moved her shoulders slightly. "Yes. You've upset Malsi. And Malsi represents the tarkomars—"
"What can he do about it?" Underhill asked.
"Nothing. The laws won't let him. But—it's nice to know the tarkomars aren't infallible. I think the word will get around."
Jorust winked gravely at Munn and departed, looking as innocent as a cat, and as potentially dangerous.
"Well!" Munn said. "What does that mean? The end of the tarkomar's rule, maybe?"
"Maybe," Bronson said. "I don't give a damn. I'm hungry and I want a beefsteak-mushroom. Where can we cash a check for fifty grand?"
The End
THE CHILDREN'S HOUR
Astounding Science Fiction - March 1944
with Henry Kuttner
(as by Lawrence O'Donnell)
He sat on a bench in the little grove in front of Administration, watching the clock over the provost marshal's door jerk its long hand toward seven. Presently, when the hour struck, he would be going in that door, and up one flight of stairs, and down the corridor to the room where Lieutenant Dyke sat waiting, as he had waited so many evenings before.
Tonight might be the night that would end it. Lessing thought perhaps it would be. Something was stirring behind the intangible locks of his mind, and tonight that door might open which had resisted the skilled manipulations of hypnosis for so long. The door might swing wide tonight at last, and let the secret out which not even Lessing knew.
Lessing was a good hypnosis subject. Lieutenant Dyke had discovered that early in their class experiments in psychonamics—that astonishing means by which a soldier can learn to desensitize his own body and feel neither pain nor hunger, when pain or hunger would otherwise be intolerable. In the process of learning, dim and untrodden corridors of the mind are sometimes laid bare. But seldom in any mind was such a thing to be encountered as that block in Lessing's.
He responded well to all the usual tests. Immobility and desensitization, the trick of warping the balance center, the familiar routine of posthypnotic commands, all these succeeded without a hitch, as they had succeeded with so many others. But in Lessing's brain one barrier stood up immovable. Three months in his life were locked and sealed behind adamant walls—under hypnosis.
That was the strangest thing of all, for waking, he remembered those three months clearly. Under hypnosis—they did not exist. Under hypnosis he had no recollection that in June, July and August of two years ago he had been living a perfectly normal existence. He was in New York, a civilian then, working in an advertising office and living the patterned life that still existed for a time after December 7, 1941. Nothing had happened to make his hypnotized memory blank out with such stubborn vehemence when asked to remember.
And so began the long sessions of searching, probing, delicately manipulating Lessing's mind as a complicated machine is readjusted, or as muscles wasted and atrophied are gently massaged back to life.
Up to now, the dam had resisted. Tonight—
The first stroke of seven vibrated upon the evening air. Lessing got up slowly, conscious of an unaccustomed touch of panic in his mind. This was the night, he thought. There was a stirring deep down in the roots of his subconscious. He would know the truth tonight—he would look again upon the memory his mind had refused to retain—and he was illogically just a little afraid to face it. He had no idea why.
In the doorway he paused for a moment, looking back. Only the twilight was out there, gathering luminously over the camp, blurring the outlines of barracks, the bulk of the hospital distantly rising. Somewhere a train hooted toward New York an hour away. New York that held mysteriously the memory his mind rejected.
-
"Good evening, sergeant," said Lieutenant Dyke, looking up from behind his desk.
Lessing looked at him a little uneasily. Dyke was a small, tight, blond man, sharp with nervous vigor, put together with taut wires. He had shown intense interest in the phenomenon of Lessing's memory, and Lessing had felt a bewildered sort of gratitude until this moment. Now he was not sure.
"Evening, sir," he said automatically.
"Sit down. Cigarette? Nervous, Lessing?"
"I don't know." He took the cigarette without knowing he had done it. This was the flood tide, he thought, and he had no mind for any other awareness than that. The dam was beginning to crumble, and behind it what flood waters, pent up in darkness, waited for release? There were almost inaudible little clicks in his mind as the bolts subconsciously, automatically clicked open. Conditioned reflex by now. His brain, responsive to Dyke's hypnotic probing, was preparing itself.
A bare light swung above Dyke's desk. His eyes turned to it, and everything else began to darken. This, too, was reflexive by now. Dyke, behind him, traced a finger back along his scalp. And Lessing went under very quickly. He heard Dyke's voice, and that changed from a sound to a strong, even suction pulling somewhere in darkness. An indefinable force that drew, and guided as it drew. The dam began to go almost at once. The gates of memory quivered, and Lessing was afraid.
"Go back. Go back. Back to the summer of '41. Summer. You are in New York. When I count ten you will remember. One. Two—" At ten Dyke's voice dropped.
Then again. And again. Until the long, difficult preparation for this moment proved itself, and James Lessing went back through time and ...
And saw a face, white against the dark, blazing like a flame in the emptiness of the swift temporal current. Whose face? He did not know, but he knew there was a shadow behind it, darker than the blackness, shapeless and watchful.
The shadow grew, looming, leaning over him. A tinkling rhythm beat out. Words fitted themselves to it.
-
Between the dark and the daylight
When the night is beginning to lower
Comes a pause in the day's occupation
That is known as the children's hour—
-
It meant nothing. He groped through blindness, searching for reason.
And then it began to come back to him, the thing he had forgotten. A minor thing, something hardly worth remembering, surely. Something ... no, someone—And not quite so minor, after all. Someone rather important. Someone he had met casually in a place he could not quite remember—a bar, or in the park, or at a party somewhere—very casually. Someone—yes, it had been in the park—but who? He could remember now a flickering of green around them, leaves twinkling in sunshine and grass underfoot. A fountain where they had stopped to drink. He could remember the water, clear and colorless, trickling musically away, but he could not quite remember who had ... who it was—Everything else was coming clear except the person. Forgetfulness clung stubbornly around that figure at his side. That slender figure, smaller than himself—dark? Fair? No, dark.
"Stabbed by a white wench's black eyes."
He caught his breath suddenly, in a violent physical wrench, as memory deluged back with appalling violence. Clarissa! How could he have forgotten? How could he? How could even amnesia have erased her? He sat stunned, the shining flood all but blinding him. And somewhere under that pouring brightness was grief—but he would not let that break the surface yet.
