 Stairway to the Stars by Larry Shaw. This is a LibreBox recording. All LibreBox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibreBox.org. Recording by RJ Davis. Stairway to the Stars by Larry Shaw. Yes, Earth may be a sort of fenced off area. So far as other intelligent races of the galaxy are concerned. But not for the granderous reasons that some have imagined. It was a stairway leading down. But it also led out into space, indirectly. And the situation had the aspects of a burlesque on Grand Hotel. But John Andrew Farmer scowled at the occupants that sprawled on his living room couch. Rubbed his stubby jaw with a stubby fist and said, I love you. Farmer was uncomfortable. He was almost always uncomfortable for various reasons. Though it rarely have ever occurred to him, as he considered each individual irritant, that this was his normal state of existence. Right now he was acutely conscious of how ridiculous it must look for him to be making love to an octopus. But he was even more conscious of the very real pains of unrequited love. It wasn't even a respectable, ordinary looking octopus. To be accurate, it would have to be called a nonopus. Each of the nine tentacles had a lobster-ish claw at its tip. And there were various other unusual appendages. It would be hard enough to explain an earthly octopus in his living room if the necessity arose. Farmer reflected for the tenth-tenth time. But how in the name of Neptune could he ever explain this? It had all started with Judge Ray. Ray had not been a real judge, obviously. He would use the title in lieu of any other first name. That was the first of the inexplectable things. Farmer could have expected the odd little old man to call himself a professor of something or other, but Ray insisted on judge. Ray had come to the office of the Stein Fine-Brian's publishing company where Farmer was working as an assistant editor and announced that he was about to write The Greatest Book of the Age. Yes, he wanted an advance against royalties. It didn't have to be large. Ray lived simply to tide him over while doing the actual writing, which shouldn't take more than a very few weeks. Now, Farmer wasn't much of an editor, even as editors go. The one useful quality he had was a home-spun and graciating air which put nervous young geniuses at their ease so that they could give a reasonable coherent verbal picture of what their books were about. This often saved Stein, Fine, and Brian's a lot of reading of unpublishable manuscripts. At least that had been the theory when they gave Farmer the job. As it worked out, John Andrew was a person who found it virtually impossible to say no. He generally took the manuscripts in hand and when he couldn't stick some other member of the firm with a task, read them himself until the wee hours. Farmer was not able to say no to Ray, but even he looked dubious at the small grey fellow's voluple outpouring of pseudo-scientific jargon. Ray, made sensitive by years of open skepticism on the part of many listeners, caught the look and insisted on a demonstration of his fabulous invention. So the oddly assorted pair, quick, box-like little Ray and big awkward uncockable Farmer spurtered out into Long Island Sound in an indescribable old motor-launch and the adventure was on. Finally Ray shut off the racketing engine and let the rusty anchor. He opened a large wooden case which showed evidence of some really good cabinet work and took out a peculiar machine which showed evidence of unarguably excellent machining. These details were the first things that made Farmer think Ray might not be a complete crackpot, after all. If he hadn't been feeling just the slightest touch of seasickness, John Andrew would have breathed a sigh of relief. Ray polished off the somewhat rabbit-from-hattie routine by bringing out a portable television set, connecting it to the boat's electrical generator and stringing an assortment of wires between it and his invention. He would not allow Farmer even close to the ladder, but to the editor's un-technical eye it looked like a fairly ordinary radio set with more than enough dials and switches added to it to furnish the dashboards of several Rolls Royces. Ray held up a hand purely for drama, since there was silence already. This is a great moment in the course of human history, he said. You are about to witness the first demonstration of Ray's Ray, the work of genius which will allow mankind his first really close contact with the last remaining frontier on his home planet, the bottom of the sea. Farmer looked impressed, then began to realize what some of this meant. He caught himself, straightened out his face, and licked his lips. You mean you've never tried this thing before, he protested? How do you know it will work? Ray's glance took on a touch of icy fury. The launch rocked gently in the swell of a long, silent minute, and Farmer began to feel slightly afraid. Was he alone in a spot like this with a madman? The salty breeze turned colder. Then Ray smiled, a smile that was surprisingly soft and sweet. John Andrew reached two decisions, that he was safe and that he liked the judge. One of Farmer's weaknesses, in fact, was that though thoroughly masculine himself, he completely distrusted women and was too trusting with men. I could go into theories and scientific details, Ray said. I could explain principles of operation and the construction of the machine for hours. But you would be bored and wouldn't understand anyway. It is sufficient to say that the Ray will work because I invented it. Farmer caught himself nodding and blamed the boast's motion. He shifted uneasily on the built-in seat and got a splinter in a vital spot. He frowned. Ray was bending over his machine, making motions designed to impress as well as to make it work. In very simple terms, he was saying, this is a combination of color television and super radar. He will bring in a perfect color picture of the ocean at whatever depth I set it for, or will set itself automatically to present a view of the ocean floor. It will. His voice trailed off. The machine hissed, snapped, and crackled. The television set flickered, honed, gave out a flashing dance of surrealistic doodles, and abruptly presented a picture. It was a picture of Milton Burl. Ray looked mad, started to aim a kick at the screen but thought better of it. A small wave almost made him sit down on the deck before he got both feet planted again. He swore and started to check the wiring. Maybe there's something wrong inside the dingus itself, John Andrews suggested tenacially. Ray turned on him with a look that would have seared the sphinx. There's nothing wrong with the machine, he said, almost but not quite shouting. There's nothing wrong with the television. There's nothing wrong with the wiring. There must be something wrong at the other end. With Ray is focused, and I intend to find out. Farmer ponded the idea of a transmitter that worked under water like a ballpoint pen. Broadcasting weary Bodville routines, he scratched his head and looked wistfully at the New England shoreline, or was that Long Island? He wasn't sure anymore. A clink and clatter brought his attention to the launch. He got. Ray had thrown back a deck catch and produced a diving suit which looked as unshipped shape as the rest of the boat's equipment. Ray looked it over hastily. Ben turned a spectacledly glance on Farmer. He shook his head. Too small for you, he murmured. You wouldn't know what to look for anyway. I'll have to go down myself. Farmer changed his mind again about Ray's being cracked. Listen, he said, the first thing that came to his mind. Didn't you say you rented this boat for the first time today? How'd he know that thing doesn't leak? Ray smiled again as he climbed brisky in and through the suit. I'll be alright, he said serenely. You just keep an eye on things here. But don't touch anything. I'll be right back. He settled a helmet on his head, motioned for Farmer to help him check the connections of the suit's self-contained oxygen supply. John Andrew was straightening up from doing this when he saw the Nonopus for the first time. He was climbing over the rail at the stern and already beginning to make a puddle on the deck. Farmer froze and gulped wordlessly. Behind the barred face plate, Ray looked puzzled, then annoyed. From the corner of his eye, Farmer could see Milton Burl still cavorting silently on the television screen. And this seemed to add the final touch of insanity to the scene. Farmer finally succeeded in pointing and Ray clumped slowly in a half-circle, just as the Nonopus dropped to the deck with a plank shivering thump. The scene assumed some of the aspects of a bad movie comedy. The background was an out-of-focus blur, although Farmer was dimly conscious of motion in it somewhere. Something else breaking the surface of the water as it emerged. In the foreground, the boat and its occupants were sharply etched, but seemed to have gone into slow motion. The Nonopus crept forward ponderously and Farmer searched daisily for a weapon. He was Ray who first started stumbling in the direction of the boat hook, but John Andrew, in a sudden fit of bravery, shoved past him and grabbed the fragile-looking thing from its cleats. He swung to face the monster with a sick feeling in his stomach and got another surprise. The thing had stopped moving. Straddling a rail behind it and similarly dripping was a, my God! It, he looked almost like a man and that only made the difference worse. The details resolved as Farmer stared at him. The oddness about the head and shoulders became finny crests and what looked at first like a red, skin-tight costume became a scaly hide. Farmer realized with a shock that the creature wasn't wearing anything. Farmer crouched. The point of the boat hook wavered. Aimed first at the Nonopus, then at the feast fan. To the editor both were alien, but he couldn't decide which one was more dangerous. For a long moment, neither of them advanced and he wondered if they could really be frightened of his puny weapon. He doubted it. He was beginning to notice, among other things, that the Nonopus was more fearsome than it had seemed at first. In addition to nine tentacles, claws, fangs, and antenna became apparent. So did the big glassy-eyed disc of the ice and Farmer aimed the point of the hook at one of them started to thrust. It was wrenched from his hands and forced downward to stick quivering in the deck. The development took Farmer completely unaware. Neither of the aliens moved. It was Judge Gray who had disarmed him. Judge Gray was now frantically trying to remove his diving helmet again. Excitement made his motions ineffective and he signaled for Farmer to help him. Then continued to fumble with the fastenings himself. John Andrew turned, feeling completely doomed to a demand and they started getting in each other's way and slowing down the operation even more. They finally succeeded though. The helmet swung back and Ray promptly shoved Farmer aside. Some of Farmer's fear gave way to amazement at the little inventor's audacity and what seemed to Farmer at least to be foolishly optimistic scientific detachment. Ray said, My name is Ray. It is indeed fortunate that you have met me immediately upon your arrival here since I am the world's greatest genius equipped to tell you anything you wish to know about my people and civilization. I take it you come from Atlantis. Amazingly his tongue only got tangled once in the middle of this speech and he regained control of it quickly then. John Andrew felt a touch of jealousy at the little man's capability in assuming control of the situation. That and a sudden idea of his own forced him to speak for himself. It was a sad attempt. Venus? Spaceship? He managed to croak before giving it up. The launch rocked gently. The non of us crouched motionless. The feasts man stood firmly as if untouched by anything around him his arms folded and a faint smile upon his damp lips. Finally he spoke too. What he said was Venus? Spaceship? My name is Ray. It is indeed fortunate that you have met me immediately upon your arrival here since I am the world's greatest genius. He broke off. Apparently he interpreted the looks of consternation on the faces of his audience correctly. For his smile became more friendly and he continued in a casual tone. Excuse me he said I didn't speak your language until I arrived here and I had to learn it and become accustomed to its use through analyzing what you just said. I really didn't mean to puzzle you or make you feel inferior by mimicking you. Farmer's mind worked chaotically. This was puzzling he decided and did make him feel inferior that is. It did if the man in the red scales had really picked up English so quickly. But why lie? The feastsman came forward. His step was bouncy as if he were used to a higher gravity or greater pressure. That farmer complimented himself on his cleverness made sense at least. But he extended his hand and said, like any ladies, wear buyer at an annual convention. Ray and farmer shook with him in turn. His hand was damp and webbed but felt fairly human for all that. My name is Garf, he said cheerfully. John Andrew tried not to stare at him too noticeably. But Ray made no bones about him. Apparently the feastsman thought nothing at all of his state of nudity. Farmer shivered. He was Ray who brought the conversation back to earth or sea again. He asked Garf directly exactly where he did come from. Garf looked hesitant. Then waved to the rail with him. See those he asked, they looked and saw what seemed to be a flight of steps carved from stone, old and worn. Starting abruptly just below the water level and leading downward. There was nothing on either side of the steps or underneath them as far as could be seen. But ordinary ocean. I came up those Garf said. Farmer stared and Ray stared. The stairway shouldn't be there. It certainly hadn't been there before. Garf's explanations it seemed only compounded the confusion caused by his presence. Farmer, muddled, looked again at the nonopus which had apparently gone to sleep. Even so it looked deadly. Something bit him on the arm. He discovered Ray's fingers in the driving glove and looking into his flesh in an amazingly powerful grip. Farmer hunched his shoulders trying to break loose and then he saw what Ray was staring at. Garf had left him and was strolling around the launch as if he had just bought it looking down his nose at it at the same time. Acting as if he could afford not to give a damn how badly he had been stunned. But the startling thing was that he had picked up the boat hook and was trolling it unconcernedly. He had not only picked it up, however, he had also tied it in a knot. It should have splintered in his hands assuming he was strong enough to bend it at all. It hadn't. It was in perfect shape except for the knot. Or so it seemed at least for even as Ray started forward without stretch to hand obviously hoping to examine the thing Garf gave it a final twirl and scaled it carelessly overboard. John Andrew began to feel quick frozen again. Being along at sea in a rickety craft with a possible madman had been bad enough to have a weird creature with superhuman powers and an impossible pet monster added to the crew was a little too much. Garf turned his attention to the television set which was still presenting his hysterical vaudeville. Great Uncle's gills he exclaimed and laps into fascinated silence. He studied the proceedings carefully holding the arms cross pose again. Finally he turned to Ray. Weren't you saying something about civilization a while ago? Finless? He asked, his voice was sneering. Ray frowned and said something about mass appeal. Pay no attention to that he continued. Just listen to me. I'll tell you about our civilization and our science and his voice broke off as if he had been struck in the face. In a way he had Garf had deliberately turned his back on the old fellow. The judge's bloodshot little eyes darted about as if he wanted to pick up something heavy and hit Garf on the crest with it. John Andrew's brain had finally resumed normal operations. He was thinking slowly but clearly. He examined the evidence with care. He decided that Garf's superior attitude and powers voted no good. That if the feast man once became slightly irritated he would sick the nonopus on Ray and himself. Probably in fact Garf would try to conquer the world anyway. That was how it went in stories as corny as a situation. Farmer further decided that Ray was too egocentrically eccentric to be trusted to get him out of this fix. He decided he'd have to do something himself. Having decided all this Farmer went back over the territory to see if he could find any flaws in it or any other way out. It still made sense. He added a decision to get the boat back to shore as fast as possible. He approached the engine. As he did so the engine melted into a solid irregular lump of metal. John Andrew gulped and put out a tennis of hand towards a fused mess. It was not particularly warm but it had melted. Farmer looked at Garf again with fear and awe and the feast man looked back with cold amusement but not for long. Garf turned to the judge's invention and started to show some genuine interest for the first time since he had showed up. He stood over the thing, webbed hands on scaly hips peering at it intently. After a long silence he knelt. He started feeling over the machine with his webbed hands. Finally he placed his fingers on the largest of the control switches then changed his mind and gestured imperatively to Judge Ray. Intelligent one he said. The quotes around intelligent were clear in his intonation. Explain this to me. It's obviously what reactivated the gate. But whoever made it did a screwball job. There are all sorts of things that don't seem to belong and even the parts that should be there seem wrong somehow. He paused. Of course he had it smugly. I'm not a transportation expert. If I were I'd have made my own activator long ago and done some visiting on the closed worlds before this. Not that they had kept me from getting bored for long. But yours looks as if it's going to be slightly amusing at least. A struggle showed in Ray's face. Farmers saw insulted and anger hurt pride. A desire to brag about his gadgetry. A question about Garth's last words and a caution that was not too far from fear. John Andrew had stopped trying to hide his own fear and though he had plenty of questions of his own he was mainly concerned with looking for a means of escape. Garth was rising again looking impatient. Ray reached a decision said go to hell and turned his back on the feast fam. Garth looked astonished then angry and raised a hand. Ray jumped not very far because of the heavy diving suit stumbled on oddly twisted legs and collapsed on the deck writhing, moaning and turning red in the face. The diving helmet clattered on the planks. Farmer got mad. He started to charge across the deck at Garth but his own feet went out from under him and he landed flat on his nose. There were waves of fire chasing each other around his body and his stomach was trying to turn itself inside out. As instantaneously as it had come the pain left him. He left him weak and quivering and John Andrew Farmer lay on his back waiting for his strength to seep back. As a red haze drifted from before his eyes he realized that the launch had acquired another occupant. In appearance he could easily have been Garth's sister in life. Her figure was leaf and nicely curved. Her scales stopped in eye catching points just above her distinctly mammalian bosom. From there on up she looked almost completely human. She wasn't wearing anything either. The overall effect was oddly beautiful. Farmer blushed hotly and tried to keep his eyes on her face. Not that it made any difference to her. She ignored everyone and everything but the Feastman. Glaring at him angrily she snapped out his name in an icy voice. Garth! Garth was a changed Feastman. He looked faintly frightened, moderately worried and definitely embarrassed. This passed and he started to smile in a placating manner. Garth door snapped again. She followed it up this time with a string of intricate foreign sounding words that even farmer could tell were hot and stinging. The Feastman backed away. He seemed to be growing angry himself now under the whiplashing woman's tongue. Finally he spoke in English. He called door a puddle snake. That wasn't all of what he said by any means. The name was preceded by several agitifs and followed by an obscene command. Door blanched slightly. Oh yes, she said. Her voice dripping danger. I can speak this language too, you know. I learned it years ago before the gate to this world was closed. And let me tell you something else. She told him something else. John Andrew blushed furiously again and covered his ears with his hands. Little Ray was on his feet trying to get a word in edgewise. But not succeeding at all. He too started to get angry. Farmer hold himself upright hoping to approach Ray. Calm him and get him to figure a way out of this madhouse. Garfield had expletitive and gestured with his hand. A wave of pure heat swept over the boat blistering what paint it still boasted. The blow had been directed at door and she showed that she had absorbed most of it by wilting visibly. But Farmer felt as much of it as he wanted. It was as if a blast furnace had suddenly opened beside him. He wondered how uncomfortable he could get. A deadly silence descended. John Andrew was wishing that he could swim when door smiles. And he began to be interested in living again in spite of himself. The girl he thought was somehow radiant. Really lovely. In spite of her scales and fins. He was peculiar. He had never liked women at all. And had certainly never thought he had like a mermaid. But anyway he decided he wasn't going to take sides if the two aliens were going to fight it out. His first interest was in saving his own hide. His second in getting back to shore to give warning of the invasion. As for door, John Andrew had lived this long without going to the aid of a damsel in distress. Without in fact ever seeing one that he could remember who wasn't obviously more capable of helping herself than he was. He wasn't going to start rescuing Fair Maiden's now. Even if she needed rescuing. Still there was something awfully attractive. Damn, but he was confused. Door's smile didn't really last that long. Farmer's thoughts were going fast now somehow. He had finished those just described before door said all right Garf, fun's fun. Now let's kiss and make up. After all it's illegal for us to be here. Not only our own cops but the Galactic Federation would be on our necks if they knew. Let's see if we can close up the gate ourselves. Or if this needs to be reported and then let's go home. Garf, friend whatever you say my dear. He dipped an eyebrow in a wink behind door. The non of us third sluggishly extended a tentacle opened a claw and nipped door neatly on the behind. She's creached. There was an explosion in Farmer's brain. This was too much. Garf had gone too far. The blurly editor plunged across the desk, swinging a fist. To his surprise Garf did nothing to stop him probably. John Andrew figured later. The peaceman expected no further trouble from the humans after the treatment they had had. Farmer's haymaker connected. Garf staggered across the deck until he brought up against the rail holding his jaw and shaken his head muscly. Farmer braced himself for retaliation, hoping it would be something less than a bolt of barbed lightning. But Garf remained unpredictable. He mumbled something that wasn't oh the hell with it but sounded like it and softly and silently slid overboard. He disappeared under water with scarcely a ripple. Good door said briskly. Now I'll just she strode directly to Ray's invention and Farmer wondered why both aliens were so interested in a gadget that didn't work. Door wasted no time. She bent over, picked up the machine yanking wiring loose carelessly straightened up turned a beaming smile on Farmer and Ray said goodbye and headed for the rail. Ray yelped. He started after her as progress in the diving suit was waddling and slow. She reached the rail first and went over. Ray was not too far behind and he slammed his helmet down angrily as he reached the rail. Farmer, galvanized belatedly gave chase as well. Door was picking her way slowly down the stone steps. The machine cradled under her arm. Ray climbed up on the rail and there for a second then attempted a swan dive. John Andrew yelled at him as he arched forward but it was too late. The old man dropped like a stone flapping his arms pounced slightly on the top step then slid forward down several more steps on his face plate. Door hesitated her head just above water she looked at the limp diving suited body beside her then back at the launch and farmer. Again she came to a decision quickly. Bending leaving a trail of bubbles as her head went under she set the judge's invention down on a lower step and picked up the judge instead. Cradling him in her arms she started back up again calling to farmer to be ready to take her burden aboard. They got him on board the boat with little difficulty and John Andrew laid him on the deck as door spring leafly over the rail again showing interest in the little fella's condition. The diving helmet came off easily not having been properly fastened down at all. Farmer bent anxiously over the judge looking for signs of life. The diving suit had shipped some water and the judge had gotten a nasty crack on the head but he was a tough bozo. There was no blood nothing seemed almost normal and he already showed signs of returning consciousness. John Andrew turned to door well I should thank you for bringing him back I guess he muttered but now that you're with us again he shot out a big paw and grabbed her by the wrist how about explaining some of this he was very gentle with the wrist he didn't want to hurt her he was wondering already in fact what made him get so rough at all but she didn't seem to mind I've got to go quickly she told him I think Garth will be all right now but he may take a notion to come back and I have to see that the gate is closed before or what gate get back where Farmer managed to put more curiosity than impatient into his tone back to my own planet Tamdavar, son Nogor member of the Galactic Federation she said patiently the gate is a matter transmitter between my world and yours it was once in constant use but my government closed it when you people got to the point where you were running around in submarines using depth bombs and just noticing our aircraft too much somehow what popped into Farmer's head was a chorus of an old song he had sung in boys camp when very young there's a hole in the bottom of the sea there's a log in the hole your machine re-activated the gate from this side even if that isn't what you designed it to do door went on it's a good thing I noticed the gate was open of course the area affected is enlarged it includes those steps and a lot of water around them the gate will stay open now until it's closed from our side but I'll have to take your outfit back and destroy it anyway our cops would be tough with you if they found you operating the thing and Federation security men would be even tougher take it as a warning don't do it again she turned to go but Farmer held on what's this about a galactic Federation and if they banned all communication with Earth why haven't they just blasted the planet out of existence and gotten rid of it of course I know we're thoroughly uncivilized to unwarlike for any other race to trust and all that I can see how Earth might be considered the plague spot of the universe door got and saw that he was very serious then she threw back her head and laughed a merry laugh listen friend she said it last the only real trouble with you Earth is that you have a tremendous inferiority complex collectively and individually as you've just illustrated get over that and you'll eliminate most of your trouble as for the Federation they let us in and most member races have wars occasionally they'll undoubtedly accept you once you develop space travel just at the moment of course you're at a crossroads jumping either direction blowing yourself up or taking the big step into space I think you'll turn out okay but not everybody agrees and the Federation can't take even small chances so you can't be allowed to set off your atom bombs or worse where they might get through to another planet we can't actually interfere with you so we've closed the gates that's all thinking it over said and let go of her wrist she turned and went back to the rail again after flashing him the most deluxe smile so far farmer came out of a philosophic haze to notice she was leaving he said hey she looked over her shoulder farmer didn't know what to say but he wanted to delay her finally he pointed to the nonopus and said what about that monster you're not going to leave it here she laughed again oh the robot it'll follow me it's designed to oh damn the damn was for something she saw in the water as she looked back over the rail again John Andrew rusted her side and looked as she got set for a dive Garf he saw immediately had returned and was picking up the judges invention put that down door gel was high pissed Garf faced him and farmer could just make out his lazy contemptous smile through the murky water the feast fan raised his arm in one of the now familiar gestures the boat heaved wallowed and sank farmer thought desperately again that he couldn't swim and then he thought wildly of the judge who hadn't regained full consciousness he went under once choking and sputtering he decided his end had come and he didn't even know the identity of the enemy who had done him in he was ironic he should have asked door to tell him more about Garf was he a traitor or a tamed a variant gangster or what John Andrew gasping started sinking again to find himself hauled out of the water unceremoniously by the scruff as he rose ropey tentacles twined around him and he saw what had saved him he was being cradled gently but firmly by the non of us which had judged ray in another set of tentacles and a non of us it became apparent was not only a water creature it could also fly Garf paddled idly around doors apartment pretending interest in the shell paintings that decorated the walls presented her a bouquet in which rare blossoms hid slimy smelly weeds and she was sore at him again as he finished her conversation and switched off the two way radio he turned to her door he said softly she looked at him haughtily don't speak to me she said I told you you'd have to stop your irresponsible practical joking and settle down if you did inherit a fortune I don't mind so much when you pull those stunts on me but when I think of how you practically drown those poor defenseless earth creatures his mouth twisted poor defenseless earth creatures how was I to know they couldn't swim just imagine beings that live on a world with almost as much water as ours who can't use their natural abilities any more than that ridiculous I never saw this morons the big ugly one especially he had intended that to sting and it did door raised her nose another notch I think he's cute and I'm learning he's pretty intelligent too he catches on fast to everything I tell him he and his little friend will have their spaceship finished soon now and that's another thing I don't know if I'm going to get in or snap keeping her on the dependency maybe I violated security by going to earth when they accidentally open the gate but what are you doing what would the feds say if they knew you were giving out information the earth men hadn't acquired by themselves helping them get into space what about that door shrugged by the most elementary sort things they'd have figured out soon anyway and things they still have to work hard to make practicable even if some of the inventions they've worked out so far haven't able them to make enough money to live on nicely after all those things are the mere toys to us what could it possibly matter garf considered this briefing was as usual getting them exactly nowhere he gave up all right dear he said you win your right of course and I'm wrong I only hope you don't bother so much with talking to that earth slug on the radio after we're married door laughed they tinkly laugh and came into his waiting arms darlings they could what a thing to say I actually believe you're jealous I love you which wasn't strictly true the big earth man was cute she thought and it was quite of him to be in love with her and to tell her so every day over the radio belt into the robot nonopus of course he was inferior to her in every way and she wouldn't think of marrying him or anything like that but even his inferiority was interesting in a way yes it was nice to know he loved her and she loved him too like an amusing baby brother this concludes a reading of stairway to the stars by Larry Shaw Traders risk this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Susan Unpleby Traders risk by Roger D. keeping this cargo meant death to jettison it meant to make flotsam and jetsam of a world the cerimian ship was passing in hyperdrive through a classic three-body system comprising in this case a fiercely white sun circled by a fainter companion and a single planet that swung in precise balance when the canthorian zed broke out of its cage in the specimen hold of the ship's social quartet chaffis I and II were asleep at the moment dreaming wistful dreams of conical cerimian cities spearing up to a soft and plum-colored sky the zed raged into their communal rest cell smashed them down from their gimbled sleeping perches and with the ravining blood-hunger of its kind devoured them before they could wake enough chaffis III and IV on sideshift in the forward control cubicle might have fallen as easily if the mental screamings of their fellows had not warned them in time as it was they had barely time to teleport themselves to the after-hold as far as possible from immediate danger and to consider the issue while the zed lunged about the ship in search of them with malignant cries and a great shrieking of claws on metal their case was the more desperate because the chaffis were professional freighters with little experience of emergency hauling a zed from canthorian jungles to a cerimian zoo was a prosaic enough assignment so long as the cage held but with the raging brute swiftly smelling them out they were helpless to catch and restrain it when the zed found them they had no other course but to teleport back to the control cubicle and wait until the beast should snuff them down again the zed learned quickly so quickly that it was soon clear that its physical strength would far outlast their considerable but limited telekinetic ability still they possessed their share of owlish cerimian logic and hit soon enough upon the one practical course to jettison the zed on the nearest world demonstrably free of intelligent life they worked hurriedly between jumps four and aft chaffee three while they were still in the control cubicle threw the ship out of hyperdrive within scant miles of the neighboring sun single planet chaffee four on the next jump scanned the ship's charts and identified the system through which they traveled luck was with them the system had been catalogued some four cerimian generations before and tagged planet undeveloped between intelligence's only the discovery relieved them greatly for the reason that no cerimian even to save his own feathered skin would have set down such a monster as the zed among rational but vulnerable entities the planet was a water world bare of continents and only sparsely sprinkled with minor archipelagos the island suited the chaffee's purpose admirably the zed does not swim chaffee four radiated marooned it can do no harm to marine intelligences also chaffee three pointed out as they dodged to the control cubicle again just ahead of the slavering zed we may return later with a canthorian hunting party and recover our investment closing their perception against the zed's distracting raging they set to work with perfect coordination set down the ship on an island that was only one of a freckling chain of similar islands chaffee four projected himself first to the opened port then when the zed charged after him to the herbivore crop swore of tropical setting outside the zed lunged out chaffee four teleported inside again chaffee three closed the port together they relaxed their perception shields in relief unaware in their consternation that they committed the barbarous lapse of vocalizing they twittered aloud when they realized the extent of their error above the far murmurous whisper of expected marine celebration there rose an uncoordinated mishmash of thought from at least two strong and relatively complex intelligences gas breathing chaffee four said unbelievably warm-blooded land-dwelling mammalian a class five culture chaffee three agreed shakenly his aura quivered with a shock of betrayal the catalog was wrong ironically their problem was more pressing now than before unless checked the zed would rapidly depopulate the island and to check it they must break a prime rule of galactic protocol with the help of a new and untested species but they had no choice they teleported at once into the presence of the two nearby natives and met with frustration beyond cerimian experience Jeff Aubrey glimpsed the cerimian ship's landing because the morning was a one day and on one day his mission to the island demanded that he be up and about at sunrise for two reasons on one day on one day through some unfailing miracle of klaxon seamanship old charlie max sailed down in his ancient island queen from the township that represented colonial terran civilization in prosinian archipelago 147 bringing supplies and gossip to last jeff through the following ten day the queen would dock at jeff's little pier at dawn she was never late also on one day necessarily before charlie max visit jeff must assemble his smuggled communicator kept dismantled and hidden from suspicious local eyes and report to earth interest consulate his progress during the cycle just ended the ungodly hour of transmission naturally was set to coincide with the closing of the consul's field office half way around the planet so the nacreous glory of prosinian's rising was just tinting the windows of jeff's cottage when he aligned and activated his little communicator on his breakfast table its three inch screen lighted to signal and a doer and disappointed consul satterfield looked at him behind satterfield foreshortened to no mishness by the pickup lurked dr. herman earth interest resident zoologist no progress jeff reported except that the few islanders i've met seemed to be accepting me at last a little more time and they might let me into the township where i can learn something if homeside you've had seven ten days satterfield said homeside won't wait longer aubrey they need those calm crystals too badly they'll use force jeff had considered the possibility but its immediacy appalled him sir these colonists had been autonomous for two hundred years ever since the fourth work cut them off from us will homeside deny their independence his sense of loss at satterfield's grim nod stemmed from something deeper than sympathy for the islanders it found roots in his daily rambles over the little island granted him by the township for the painting he had begun as a blind to his assignment and in the gossip of old charlie mac and the few others he had met the easy life of the islands well enough to be dismayed now by what must happen under e. i. pressure to old charlie and his hand full of sun-brown fisherfolk unexpectedly because jeff had not considered that it might matter he was disturbed by the realization that he wouldn't be seeing jennifer old charlie mac's red-haired niece once occupation began jennifer who sailed with her uncle and did a crewman's work as a matter of course jennifer would not have recognized the sight of him the consul's pessimism jolted jeff back to the moment at hand homeside will deny their autonomy obre i've had a warp bean message today ordering me to move in the situation was desperate enough at home jeff had to admit callaxian calm crystals did what no refinement of terren therapeutics had been able to manage they erased the fears of the neurotic quiverings of the hypertensive both an alarming majority in the shattering aftermath of the fourth war with no adverse effects at all permanent benefit was slow but cumulative offering for the first time a real step toward ultimate stability the medical, psychiatric and political fields cried out for crystals and more crystals if the islanders would tell us their source and let us help develop it as Dr. Satterfield said previously instead of doling out a handful of crystals every ten day there wouldn't be any need of action homeside feels they're just letting us have some of the surplus not likely jeff said they don't use the crystals themselves old Dr. Herman put his chin almost on the consul's shoulder to present his wise and face to the scanner of course they don't he said complicated even simple-minded world like this who would need crystals but maybe they fear glutting the market or the domination of outside capital coming in to develop the source when people backslide there's no telling what's on their minds and we have no time to waste negotiating or convincing them in any case how could they stop us from moving in abruptly he switched to his own interest have you learned anything new about the scoops nothing beyond the fact that the islanders don't talk about them jeff said I've seen perhaps a dozen offshore during the seven cycles I've been here one usually surfaces outside my harbor at about the time old Charlie Mack's supply boat comes in thinking of Charlie Mack brought a forced end to his report Charlie's due now I'll call back later he cut the circuit hurrying to have his communicator stowed away before old Charlie's arrival not he thought bitterly that being found out now would make any great difference stepping out into the brief klaxon dawn he caught his glimpse of the cerimian ships landing before the island forest of palm firms cut it off from site home site hadn't been bluffing he thought assuming as a matter of course that this was the task before Satterfield had been ordered to send they didn't waste any time jeff growled damn them he ignored the inevitable glory of morning rainbow that just preceded Procyon's rising and strode irritably down to his miniature dock he was still scowling over what he should tell Charlie Mack when the island queen hoevened a view she was a pretty sight there was an artist's perception in jeff in spite of his drab years of E.I. patrol duty the white puff of sail on dark green sea gliding across calm water banded with lighter and darker striae where submerged shoals lay struck something responsive in him the comparison at force between klaxia and earth whose yawning fourth war scars and heritage of anxieties made calm crystal so desperately necessary oppressed him klaxia was wholly unscarred her people without need of the calm crystals they traded something odd in the set of the queen's sails puzzled him until he identified the abnormality in spite of distance and the swift approach of the old fishing boat he could have sworn that her sails bellied not with the wind but against they fell slack however when the queen reached his channel and flapped lazily reversing to catch the wind and nose her cautiously into the shallows jeff dismissed it impatiently a change of wind or some crafty maneuver of old charlie max to take advantage of the current jeff had just set foot on his dock when it happened solid as the planking itself and all but blocking off his view of the nearing island queen stood a six foot owl it was wingless and covered smoothly with pastel blue feathers it stood solidly on carefully manicured yellow feet and stared at him out of square violet eyes involuntarily he took a backward step caught his heel on a sun-warped board and sat down heavily well, what the devil he said innately the owl winced and disappeared without a sound jeff got up shakily and stumbled to the dock's edge a chill conviction of insanity gripped him when he looked down on water lapping smooth and undisturbed below I've gone mad, he said aloud out on the bay another catastrophe just as improbable was in progress old charlie max island queen had veered sharply off course left the darker green stripe of safe channel and plunged into water too shallow for her draft listed and hung aground with wind-filled sails holding her fast the scoop that had surfaced just behind her was so close that jeff wondered if its species legendary good nature had been misrepresented it floated like a glistening plum-colored island flat dorsal flippers undulating gently on the water and its great filmy eyes all but closed against the slanting glare of morning sun it was more than vast the thing must weigh jeff thought dizzily thousands or maybe millions of tons he thought he understood the queen's grounding when he saw the swimmer stroking urgently toward his dock old charlie had abandoned his boat and was swimming in to escape the scoop but it wasn't charlie it was jennifer charlie's niece jeff took the brown hand she put up and drew her to the dock beside him studying her while she shook out her dripping red hair and regained her breath seawater had plastered jennifer's white blouse and knee-length dungarees to her body like a second skin and the effect bordered on the spectacular did you see it she demanded jeff wrestled his eyes away to the scoop that floated like a purple island in the bay a proper monster he said you got out just in time she looked at once startled and impatient not the scoop you idiot the owl it was jeff's turn to stare owl there was one on the dock but i thought so did i she sounded relieved but if you saw one too all of a sudden it was standing there on the deck beside me right out of nowhere i lost my head and grounded the queen finished the owl i mean so did mine jeff said while they stood marvelling the owls came back chaffis three and four were horribly shaken by the initial attempt at communication with the natives nothing in serimian experience had prepared them for creatures intelligent but illogical individually perceptive yet isolated from each other communication by audible symbol chaffi three said he ruffled his feathers in a shutter barbarous adivistic agreed chaffi four they could even lie to each other but their dilemma remained they must warn the natives before the prowling zid found them else there would be no natives we must try again three concluded searching out and using the proper symbols for explanation hallucination vocally said chaffi four they shuttered and teleported the sudden reappearance of his hallucination doubled startled jeff no more than the fact that he seemed to be holding jennifer mac tightly amazingly his immediate problem was not the possibility of harm from the owls but whether he should reassure jennifer before or after releasing her he compromised by leaving the choice to her they can't be dangerous he said there are no land-dwelling predators on kalaxia i read that in nothing like that ever hatched out on kalaxia said jennifer she pulled free of him if they're real they came from somewhere else the implication drew a cold finger down jeff's spine that would mean other cultures out there and in all our years of planet hunting we haven't found one memory chilled him further a ship landed inland a few minutes ago he said i took it for an e.i. consulate craft but it could have been the cerimians caught his mental image of the landing and intervened while common ground offered the ship was ours said chaffi three he had not vocalized since fledgling days and his voice had a jarring croak of disuse our zid escaped its cage and destroyed two of us forcing us to maroon it here for our own safety unfortunately we trusted our star manual statement that the planet is unpopulated the terrens drew together again zid jeff echoed chaffi four relieved his fellow of the strain by trying his own rusty croak a vicious cantorian predator combing the island at this moment for prey you must help us to recapture it so that you may identify it chaffi three finished helpfully the zid has this appearance his sigh projection of the zid appeared on the dock before them with demoniac abruptness crouched to leap the zid entails lashing and its ten-foot length bristling with glassy magenta bristles it had a lethal pair of extra limbs that sprang from the shoulders to end in taloned seizing hands and its slanted red eyes burned malevolently from a snouted razor fanged face it was too real to bear jeff stepped back on suddenly unreliable legs jennifer fainted against him and the unexpected weight of her sent them both sprawling to the dock we lean on weak reeds chaffi three said creatures who collapse with terror at the mere projection of a zid can be of little assistance in recapturing one chaffi four agreed reluctantly then we must seek aid elsewhere when jeff obry pulled himself up from the planking the apparitions were gone he shook and perspiration crawled cold on his face but he managed to haul jennifer up with him come out of it will you he yelled ungallantly in her ear if a thing like that is loose on the island we've got to get help jennifer did not respond and he slapped her until her eyes fluttered angrily there's an e.i. communicator in my cabin jeff said let's go for a sudden vitality that nearly left jeff behind in their dash for the cottage up the beach the door jeff panted inside fasten the hurricane bolt hurry while she secured the flimsy door he ripped through his belongings aligning his e.i. communicator again on his breakfast table finding out where the islanders got their calm crystals had become suddenly unimportant nothing so much as to see a well-armed patrol ship nosing down out of the klaxian sunrise he was activating the screen when jennifer in a magnificent rage in spite of soaked blouse and dungarees advanced on him you're an earth-interest spy after all she accused they said in the township you are no artist but uncle charlie and i jeff made a pushing motion keep away from me do you want that devil tearing the cabin down around us she fell quiet remembering the zid and he made his call aubrey chain 147 come in consulate there was a sound a stealthy movement outside the cabin and he flipped sweat out of his eyes with a hand that shook e.i. for god's sakes come in i'm in trouble here the image on his three inch screen was not consul satterfields consulate operators trouble jeff forced stumbling words into line the e.i. operator shook his head doubtfully consul's gone for the day aubrey i'll see if i can reach him he was about to send out an e.i. patrol ship to take over here in the islands jeff said tell him to hurry yet he knew when he put down the microphone that the ship would be too late e.i. might still drag the secret calm crystal source out of the islanders but jeff aubrey and jennifer mac wouldn't be on hand to witness their sorry triumph the flimsy cabin could not stand for long against the sort of brute the owls had shown him and there was no sort of weapon at hand they couldn't even run there's something outside jennifer said in a small voice her voice seemed to trigger the attack the zid lunged against the door with a force that cracked the wooden hurricane bold across and opened a three inch slit between the leading edge and lintel jeff had a glimpse of slanted red eyes and a white fanged snout before reflex sent him headlong to shoulder the door shut again the bunk, he panted at jennifer shove it over between them they wedged the bunk against the door and held it in place then they stood looking paley at each other next attack it came from a different quarter the wide double windows that overlooked the bay the zid rearing upright smashed away the flimsy retan blinds with a taloned seizing hand and looked redly in at them like a man in a dream jeff caught up his communicator from the table and hurled it the zid caught it deftly st. glistening teeth into the unit and demolished it with a single snap crushed the rig's powerful little battery discharged with a muffled sputtering and flashing of sparks the zid howled piercingly and dropped away from the window that gave jeff time enough to reach the storm shutters and secure them only to rush again with jennifer to their bunk barricade as the zid promptly renewed its ferocious attack on the door he flinched when jennifer to be heard above the zid's raging tear my scoop should have the queen afloat by now can we reach her? scoop the zid's avid cries discouraged curiosity before it was well-born we'd never make it we couldn't possibly outrun that beast the zid crashed against the door and drove it inches ajar driving back their barricade one taloned paw slid in and slashed viciously at random jeff ducked and strained his weight against the bunk momentarily pinning the zid's threshing forelimb chaffee three chose that moment to reappear nearly causing jeff to let go of the bunk and admit the zid your female suggestion is right the cerimian croaked the zid does not swim for and I are arranging escape on that premise the zid's talons ripped through the door leaving parallel rows of splintered breaks both slanted red eyes glared in briefly then you damn well better hurry jeff panted the door he estimated might or might not hold for two minutes more the cerimian vanished there was a slithering sound in the distance that sounded like a mountain in motion and with it a sturdorous grunting that all but drowned out the zid's cries something nudged the cottage with a force that all but knocked it flat my scope jennifer exclaimed she let go the barricade and ran to the window to throw open the storm shutters never mind the door this way quick she scrambled to the window sill and jumped numbly jeff saw her suspended there feet only inches below the sill apparently on empty air then the door sagged again under the zid's lunging's and he left the bunk to follow jennifer he landed on something tough and warm and slippery a monstrous tail fluke that stretched down the beach to merge into a flat purplish acreage of back forested with endless rows of fins and spines and enigmatic tendrils the scoop he saw and only half believed it had wallowed into the shallows alongside his dock it had reversed its unbelievable length to keep the head submerged and at the same time had backed out of the water until its leviathan tail spanned the hundred odd yards of sloping beach from surf to cabin just ahead of him jennifer caught an erect fin spine and clung with both arms hang on we're going the scoop contracted itself with a suddenness that yanked them yards from the cottage and all but dislodged jeff beyond the surf the shallows boiled whitely where the scoop fought for traction to draw its grounded bulk into the water jeff looked back once to see the zid close the distance between and spring upward to the tail fluke behind him he had an instant conviction that the brute's second spring would see him torn to bits but the scoop at the moment found water deep enough to move in earnest the zid could only sink in all six taland limbs and hold fast the hundred odd yards from cabin to beach passed in a blur of speed the scoop reached deeper water and submerged throwing a mountainous billow that sent the island queen reeling and all but founded her jeff was dislodged instantly and sank like a stone he came up spouting water and fighting for breath to find himself a perilous twenty feet from the zid the zid, utterly out of its element screamed hideously pressed water to froth all its earlier ferocity vanished under the imminent and unfamiliar threat of drowning jeff sank again and churned desperately to put distance between them he came up again nearly strangled to find that either he or the zid had halved the distance between them they were all but eye to eye when jennifer caught him and towed him away toward the doubtful safety of the island queen he appeared from nowhere and stood solemnly by while the zid weakened and sank with a final gout of bubbles we must have your friends help chafee three said to jennifer then to recover our investment jeff willed on him incredulously me go down there after that monster not on your he means the scoop jennifer said they brought it ashore to help us out of the cabin why shouldn't it help them now the scoop came up out of the water so smoothly that the island queen hardly rocked dangling the limp form of the zid from its great rubbery lips like a drowned kitten here jennifer said the scoop touched its vast face to the queen's rail and dropped the unconscious body to the deck the zid twitched weakly and coughed up froth and water jeff backed away warily damn it are we going through all that again once it gets its wind back chafee three interrupted him this time the crystal now we must have it to quiet the zid until it is safely caged again jennifer turned suddenly firm no I won't let this eion former know about that the cerimians were firmer it will not matter now galactic adjustment will extend aid to both calaxia and terra furnishing substitutes for the crystals you deal in there will be no loss to either faction no loss jennifer repeated indignantly but then there won't be any demand for our crystals we'll lose everything we've gained not so chafee three assured her galactic will offer satisfactory items in exchange as well as a solution to terra's problems the scoop sensing jennifer's surrender slid its ponderous bulk nearer and opened its mouth leaving half an acre of lower jaw resting flush with the island queen's deck without hesitation jennifer stepped over the rail and vanished into the yawning pinkish cavern beyond appalled jeff rushed after her jennifer, have you lost your mind? there is no danger chafee three assured him scoops are benevolent as well as intelligent and arrived long ago at a working agreement with the islanders this one has produced a crystal and is ready to be relieved of it else it would not have attached itself to a convenient human jeff said dizzily the scoops make the crystals there is a knightess just back of a fleshy process in its throat corresponding to your own tonsils which produces a crystal much as your terra and oyster secretes a pearl the irritation distracts the scoops from their meditations they are a philosophical species though not mechanically progressive and prompts them to barter their strength for a time to be relieved jennifer reappeared with a walnut-sized crystal in her hand and vaulted across the rail there goes another scoop she said resignedly the queen will have to tack with the wind for a while until another one shows up so that's why your sails bellied backward when you came into harbour said jeff the thing was towing you a thin high streak of vapor trail needling down toward them from the sunrise rainbow turned the channel of his thought that will be satterfield on his task force jeff told the chaffees i think you're going to find yourselves in an argument over that matter of squeezing terra out of the crystal trade they reassured him solemnly terra has no real need of the crystals that will eliminate racial anxiety within a few generations and supply neuro therapy equipment on a trade basis of course that will serve the crystals purpose during the interim there should be a flaw somewhere jeff felt but he failed to see one he gave up trying when he found jennifer eyeing him with uncharacteristic uncertainty you'll be glad to get back to your patrol work she said it had an oddly tentative sound somehow the predictable monotony of consulate work had never seemed less inviting the prospect of ending his callaxian tour and going to a half barren and jittery earth appealed to jeff even less no he said i'd like to stay there's nothing to do but fish and sail around looking to shed their crystals jennifer reminded him still uncle charlie has talked about settling in the township and standing for council election can you fish and sail jeff obry the consulate rocket landed ashore but jeff ignored it i can learn he said end of traders risk by roger d this is a liberox recording is in the public domain for more information please visit this reading is by alex salander of davis california wizard by larry m harris although the masquerade itself as a necessary protection against non telepaths was not formally formulated until the late years of the 17th century groups of telepaths in hiding existed long before that day whether such groups were the results of natural mutations or whether they came into being due to some other cause has not yet been fully determined but that a group did exist in the district of oftenberg in what is now pressure we are quite sure the activities of the group appear to have begun approximately in the year 1594 but it was not until 11 years after that date that they achieved a signal triumph the first and perhaps the last of its kind until the dissolution of the masquerade in 2103 excerpt from a short history of the masquerade by a milch crystal 704 5 4 368 produced 2440 Jonas came over the hill whistling as if he had not a care in the world which is not even approximately true he reflected happily the state of complete and utter quiet was both foreign and slightly repugnant to him he was never more pleased than when he had a job in hand a job that involved a slight and unavoidable risk this time of course the risk was more than slight why he thought happily it was even more for him to get killed and most painfully too with a great deal of pleasure he stood for a second at the crest of the hill his hands on his hips looking down at the town of Spire as it baked in the May afternoon sunlight behold the tortoise he makeeth no progress unless he sticketh out his neck but he makeeth very little progress unless he picked the right time and place to sticketh out his neck which can be quite a sticky problem Jonas did not in spite of his pose looked like the typical hero folktale or scribes tome he was not even seven feet tall for instance nor did he have a handsome lovesome face with flashing blue eyes or broad-shouldered narrow-waisted marvel of a figure he was instead somewhat shorter than the average of men in Europe in 1605 and for some time thereafter he had small almost hidden eyes that seemed to see a great deal that failed completely to make a fuss about the fact and while his figure was just a trifle dumpy his face completed the rhyme by being extraordinarily lumpy the nose as a matter of strict truth was hard to distinguish from the other contusions swellings and marks that covered the head nor of course did he carry the sword of a great hero or noble Jonas had no Vaughn to stick on his name and he had never thought it worthwhile to claim one and accept the tiny risk of disclosure after all a noble was only a man like other men and besides, Jonas knew perfectly well that he had no need of a sword his adventures too were a little out of the common run of tales Jonas had, he thought, regretfully few duels to look forward to and he had even fewer to look back on and as a maid is one by face, figure and daring and a wife by riches, position or prospects there was a notably posity of nice ladies in Jonas's career all in all he thought sadly he was not a usual hero but he refused to let the thought spoil his enjoyment after all, he was a hero though of his own unique kind there was no denying that and in his own way he had his reward he took one hand off his hip to scratch at the top of his head wondering briefly if he had managed to pick up the lice in the last town he had visited and he took another look at the city Spire seemed a lot better at first glance than some of the other places Jonas had visited for one thing it had a full town hall built no less a stone and probably a relic of the moment times this was the parish church of course a good solid wooden structure and a collection of houses strung along the dirt past of the town the houses of the rich were naturally wooden the poor built of baked mud there were a great many baked mud structures and only one wooden one besides the church that Jonas could see the past were winding but comparatively free from slop that was pleasing he told himself and the buildings themselves trusted in the valley below him as if they were afraid and needed each other's protection which in a way they did Jonas reflected on that a trifle grimly thinking of the holy inquisition with his hierarchy of priests and layfolk busily working in Spire just as it worked in every other town throughout Offenberg and throughout the civilized world ordinarily he would not have given it a thought beyond a passing scythe of the ways of the world he had other business but now he grinned to himself and the grin turned to a laugh as he started down the hill the gristlier methods of the inquisitorial process were well known to him by reputation and soon he might be testing them out for himself there was absolutely no way to be sure that thought pleased him greatly after all he told himself there was nothing like a little danger despite the boring business of living by the time he reached the bottom of the hill he was whistling loudly he stopped at the first house a mud construction with a badly carpeted wooden door and a single bare window that looked out on the street it smelled but Jonas went up to the door bravely and knocked there was no answer he went on whistling fortuna Plango Vulnera under his breath and after a time he knocked again this time he heard women inside the house and nodded to himself in a satisfied fashion but almost a minute passed before the head of an old woman showed itself at the window she was really extraordinarily ugly he thought she wore a bonnet that did nothing to whatever to enhance her doubtful wrinkled charms or to conceal them she said in the voice of a very benignist toad go away Jonas smiled at her it was an effort, madam he began politely nobody's home she repeated drawing slightly back from the window you go away now ah as Jonas said pleasantly but your home aren't you the old woman frowned at him suspiciously now she said vaguely well this is your house he said the house where you live the old woman said that's right Jonas said equally you come to turn me out she demanded her eyebrows which were almost as big and black as her ancient mustache came down over glittering little eyes I hold this house free and proper she said in a determined roar and nobody can take it away from me it belongs to me and to my children and to their children and to the children of those children the catalog seemed likely to go on forever exactly Jonas said hastily he started to draw back Jonas gestured lazily with one hand wait he said I am not going to take your house away from you madam I am only here to ask you a question question she said you come from herk noof I am an old woman but I do know wrong and there is no one can accuse me of heresy I am in church every week I am more than once I keep peace with my neighbors and there's none can say a mystery about me the woman Jonas thought was full to the eyebrows with words there she didn't have anyone to talk to until a stranger came along he sighed briefly I do not come from the inquisitor he said truthfully nor is my question one that should cause you alarm the old woman pondered for a minute she leaned her elbows on the windowsill getting them muddy but that Jonas thought didn't seem to matter to this creature apparently asked she said at last Jonas put on his most pleasant expression madam he said I wish to know if there be any family in this town understanding of course that the wafer would insist on paying paying well he added the old woman blinked you looking for an inn she said an inn in this town the idea appeared to strike her as the very height of idiocy she covered her face with her hands and shook after a second Jonas discovered that she was laughing he waited patiently until the fit had left her not an inn he said there is no inn here I know but a family willing to take in a stranger he said he watches his flock with zeal which meant Jonas reflected that he was in a fair way to get himself burned as a herodic unless he watched his step carefully he's fame has reached my own country far away he said with some truth nevertheless a family which wait she said you have said that you will pay well yet you do not appear rich Jonas understood fishing in his own pocket he withdrew a single shiny coin I also wish he said smoothly to pay for any help I may receive such as the answering of an instant question a question in which the respected inquisitive Knuff cannot have no interest whatever the old woman's eyes went to the coin and stayed there well she said it is said that the family called sharp has a house too large for them now that the elder son is gone there is only the man his wife and a daughter it is said that the man is in need of money he would accept payment for a generous in return for sharing room in his house I would be most grateful Jonas murdered he passed the coin over the old woman's hand snatched it and closed on it where might I find this family he said it is now late in the afternoon the old woman said perhaps they are at home you will see a path which takes you to the left follow it until you reach the last house knock at the door I shall Jonas said and many thanks the old woman still clutching her coin disappeared from the window as if someone had yanked her back he was turned with relief and got back on the path but his stank quite as badly as the house had he endured the stench heroically sharp proved to be a barrel-shaped man who was unaccountably cheerless as if the inside structure had been carefully removed and then replaced by a sawdust Jonas thought even the offer of seven corona for a single week stave failed to produce the delirious joy Jonas had expected the money is needed sharp said in a dour bass voice staring off past Jonas's left ear of the darkening and for the money you will be welcome I must take your word that you are not dangerous I can only pray that you do not portray that trust it was far from a warm welcome but Jonas was satisfied with it I shall work to do you good he said and not evil stranger sharp said work for your own good do nothing for me this is an accursed family there is no good to be done to me or my wife or child Jonas tried to look reassuring he thought of several things to say about the sunny side of life and decided on none of them my sympathy he began your sympathy may endanger you sharp said my son is gone I pray that there is an end to it Jonas peered once into the mind of the man and recalled violently but he had enough in that one glimpse to tell him the reason for sharp's misery and it was quite reason enough he thought here Knuff we do not mention that name sharp said my wife has resigned herself to what has happened I am not so wise I promise you Jonas said earnestly that you will be in no danger for me no more that I will help you out of your difficulties and ensure your peace then you are an angel from heaven sharp said bitterly there is no other help while the inquisitor remains and our sons become suspect to his rages Jonas shook his head there is help he said and you will find it your son is gone he used questioned confessed and burnt but there will be no more sharp looked at him for a long time come with me he said at last and led the way into his mud house inside there was only one large room but it seems spacious enough for four three pallets lay against the far white wall a single one against the left sharp went to the back of the house near the single bed this will be yours he said while you are with us it is poor but it is all we can offer I am honored Jonas said here we are alone sharp went on his voice lowering my wife and daughter have gone to visit a neighbor for they have not yet closed us off entirely from all human contact he grimaced Jonas peered into the mind again very gently but the mad roiling of pain and memory there was too strong for him and he returned if you have anything to say to me sharp said tell me now no one can hear us not to say to you regarding your plan sharp said surely you have a plan and if I may play any part in it Jonas blinked plan he said of course sharp said you speak of an end to troubles an end to the inquisition and the buildings an end to the question and so you must have a plan for reading us of herknupf one which you would tell me Jonas shook his head I have no plan he said it means danger sharp pressed him but I do not mind danger in such a cause I am not vengeful but my son was no wizard yet the inquisitor took him and had a confession from him you know well the worth of such confessions and soon there will be others from when the curse strikes a family it does not stop with one member he tightened his lips it is not for myself I am afraid he said Jonas nodded be assured I would tell you but there is none Jonas said herknupf shall remain for all that I can do while the earth remains sharp opened his mouth shut it again and then shrugged I see he said at last you do not trust me perhaps you are wise I might talk foolishly I am an old man older in this last month than in all my years believe me Jonas began I let it be sharp said quietly if that is what you want I believe you he shrugged again moving out toward the door of the hut and in any case he said the money is needed for there are fines to pay and costs of the inquisition I understand Jonas said helplessly sharp turned and looked at him full in the face in the man's big eyes bitterness and hopelessness glittered I am sure you do he said and turned again toward the door the others he met only briefly for our sharp was a little woman with the face of a walnut who looked as if she had never really been cheerful her son's death he saw when he looked into her mind had not come as a surprise to her it was one more unhappy event in a lifetime in which she had expected nothing else unhappiness she told herself was her portion in this life in the life above things would be different Jonas had met the type before and was uninterested in going further but ill see sharp was something else entirely she did not say a word to him coming into the house that evening a pace behind her mother like an obedient slave she was about seventeen and her mind was as fresh and clean and pretty as her face and figure Jonas started musing on heroes again but he never had the chance to make a move towards her she had a very nice smile and for memories in the other's mind he could hear the voice low unquiet and entirely satisfactory Jonas sighed the job he told himself sternly came first and afterward to think of it there wouldn't be an afterward the evening meal was simple there was a single dish of meat and some sort of beans after it had been eaten and the darkness outside grew to full night it was time to retire Jonas went over to his pallet removed his jerkin and shoes and lay down he heard the others readying themselves for sleep but he did not look into their minds soon they were asleep and breathing heavily but Jonas stayed awake for a while it's really too bad we can't work this sort of thing at a distance Clairton's voice said suddenly but then none of us has ever met the man and you can't read a mind if you haven't had some physical contact with the man who owns it it's too bad Jonas agreed politely 500 miles away Clairton chuckled and the linkage of minds transmitted this amusement to Jonas you don't think so at any rate the director said you're having adventures at a fine time it's the sort of thing you like after all Jonas shrugged mentally I suppose so he said I like to work on my own and it's got you into trouble before Clairton said but you can't afford any mistakes this time I know the risk perfectly well Jonas thought back Clairton's thought carried a wry echo you know the risk to yourself he told Jonas and you've accepted that you rather like it as a matter of fact but you haven't thought of the risk to the rest of us and to the town you're in Jonas sent a thought of uncertainty what? Clairton transmitted the entire picture in one sudden blow immediately but will be discovered the chance that the inquisitor would get from him the secret of the brotherhood that's impossible Jonas said Clairton sounded resigned nothing's impossible he said and if the secret is let out why the brotherhood is finished finished before it's barely started because you can read a man's mind doesn't mean you can defeat him Jonas but you know what he's going to do and if he's got you in a wooden house and he's going to burn it down then you can transmit false thoughts and confuse him Clairton said fine fine if you've ever met the man before and suppose you haven't then you can't transmit a thing to him you're trapped in the house remember and the fire started what goods your telepathy but it's a sense Clairton said like any other sense but it isn't magic any more than your eyes are magic they're given by God if you like they grow they develop so the ability to read minds to transmit its thought is given by God no one knows why or how 15 of us have developed it 15 who are members of the brotherhood but there are others of course Jonas thought impatiently I know all that you know a great deal Clairton said which I sometimes find it necessary to bring to your attention I've done all right Jonas thought sullenly Clairton agreed of course you have he thought you're not the most careful of man your brotherhood must grow this new sense of his great value perhaps we can learn to teach it to others in time though we have had little success with that but at least we can maintain our numbers pass the gift on to our children if it is possible Jonas said we must try Clairton said and your job is enormously important I know that Jonas thought warily you have accomplished the first step do nothing rash of course not I will not Jonas thought very well then Clairton thought there was the ghost of another idea Jonas caught it I know perfectly well that you wouldn't have sent me if there were any other available member he thought there is no need to remind me I'm sorry Clairton thought he radiated caution, worry, patience Jonas turned to the bed and cut off from the director with a grunt he was tired, long distance linkages were drained on the body's energy even when the person involved was easy to visualize he had insisted on an intermittent contact if there was such a thing as total contact constant contact over a period of days Jonas thought Clairton would use me for a puppet a veritable punch among men he would override me and take me over the way a traveling entertainer rules his jointed dolls and that would be a fine thing for a hero wouldn't it he grimaced in the darkness constant contact was simply impossible and he reaching out used energy and linking up for a long period simply burned the body up like a long starvation it was as bad as a penance Jonas was thankful for that and for the rest well he thought what was a hero without a quest and what was a quest without someone to set it but that someone had to be Clairton with his caution and his old woman worry Jonas sighed and said about the business of falling to sleep the days passed slowly with great boredom Jonas made contact twice with Clairton who told him over and over to wait to do nothing the move is coming soon do nothing to hurry it you can only upset the natural course of events which is unwise Jonas thought and risky and very probably impious as well as for the piety Clairton thought I leave that to the priests and the women but wisdom and caution on my task Jonas as they must be yours I, you are a hero not on an adventure Clairton thought witheringly but set your course with sense you will more certainly arrive philosophy for a dull plotter Jonas thought philosophy for one of the brotherhood Clairton thought back we are tiny as yet we have no force you can add to that force add greatly but you must be wise I must be slow you mean I mean what I have told you Clairton thought and one more thing Jonas yes the daughter Clairton thought I have seen her in your mind ignore the winch is she worth what your task is worth I never then my caution is unnecessary Clairton thought but in the unlikely case that she might tempt you to folly remember it Jonas who disliked irony sighed and cut off that was the third night during the days he had done the things he had planned he did no work with the sharps but let them find him when they returned to the hut of an evening reciting strange words once he built a small outdoor fire and walked around it for several minutes then he put the fire out and went inside he wasn't sure whether or not anyone was watching him that time but soon a little later it had to happen and it happened as Jonas suspected it would through the wife Mrs. Sharp came back to the hut early one day through a frightened glance at Jonas sitting in a corner doing nothing at all and left he hardly needed to see into her mind to know where she was going and 20 minutes later two men came to the hut they stood in the open door Mrs. Sharp behind them twittering like an ancient bird and Jonas watched them boardily they were giants for this part of the world almost six feet tall with great hands and jaws one had black coarse hair on his head and a stubble about his face the other was bald as an egg that's him, Mr. Sharp said just a tribal hesitantly he's the one, he came to stay with us and we didn't know the man with the black hair said her knuff said take him back her knuff Jonas said entering the conversation with a light pleasant tone he's the Mrs. Sharp tried to get the word out and then pushed by the two men and came into the hut I didn't want to but there's something strange and we can't afford any suspicion and Jonas realized slowly that she was crying as she looked at him it's alright he said uncomfortably I'll be perfectly alright Jonas said he stood up there's her knuff he said he wants to see me the man told him the black hair man nodded very slowly grrr he said Jonas sighed and went forward to meet the two big men leaving Mr. Sharp solving in the background the poor woman felt terrible he knew but there was nothing he could do about that then let us go he said and marched off feeling that one more effect wouldn't hurt he led the way to the town hall let them figure out how he had known just where to go he thought their minds were very very boring and quite black Jonas reflected might be a definite relief first there was the cell which was in the basin of the town hall it was damp and the air was not too good but there were compensations rats for instance Jonas told himself after the first couple of hours that he simply wouldn't have known what to do without the rats trying to trap and kill them with no weapons beyond his bare hands even an aiding knife he had carried in his jerkin had been taken away leaving him to the uncomfortable reflection that he was going to have to die in with his fingers was a pastime that occupied him for several hours on the first day on the second day the rats began to bore him by that evening they were annoying him and when the third day dawned bright and warm as near as he could tell from the tiny slip of window at the top of his cell Jonas was telling himself that any move at all was a move in the right direction he set up a shout for one of the guards the bald one brought his meals every day but the black-haired one was the man who checked his cell at night for once Jonas thought he was lucky the bald man appeared after some 15 minutes of screaming and cursing Jonas was not at all sure whether the black-haired man understood language there was little trace of it in his mind and virtually nothing that might be called intelligence with the bald man at least he could communicate what's wanted the guard said sourly staring through the bars Jonas smiled softly you know why I'm here don't you he said in a voice as close to silk as he could make it you the bald man said you're here in a cell that's right Jonas said patiently do you know why I was put here you cast spells you make things happen that's right Jonas said smiling again I'm a wizard a warlock that's what they say isn't it you make things happen the bald man said but he had the basic idea Jonas checked that in his mind very well he said now I wish to see her knuff the inquisitor calls you when he wants you the bald man said now Jonas said Jonas said I have powers strange powers I could make you he reflected for a minute I could make you into a beetle and squash you under fruit as a matter of fact I think I will he gays were physically of the bald man who gulped and turned a little pale you are in a cell he said at last locked up do you think that will stop me Jonas said he came to the barred door still smiling you were not there why not Jonas asked and clawing the finger slightly he took a deep breath as if he were about to spit out an incantation his eyes glittered the smile broadened a long second passed I will tell the inquisitor you wish to see him the bald guard said Jonas relaxed and stepped back I shall be most grateful he said formally the guard turned and started to walk away five paces down the corridor the walk turned into a run Jonas watched him go and then sat down on his louse and festers caught to await developments the minutes ticked by endlessly he thought of trying to reach Clariton but decided not entirely with regret that the contact would use up too much energy and he needed all the energy he could conserve now the second step had been taken the fact that he decided to sell at a prison was proof of that the third step the all important final step was about to begin Gjörr Knupp was a tall man with skin of the color and apparent texture of good leather he had a face like an eagle and his eyes were ice blue he moved his thin strong hands gently back and forth on the table that held his papers ink stand and pen and said in a voice like audible sandpaper you wanted to see me true, Jonas said pleasantly Knupp was sitting behind the table Jonas had not been asked to sit he remained standing and he was reasonably sure that his feet were going to hurt in a minute he tried not to let the thought disturb him the man's mind was like his office in the town hall sparsely furnished almost austere but with all the necessities laid out for easy access underneath the strength and iron of the mind Jonas called the spark glowing and nearly smiled in spite of the reports, in spite of logic there had been a chance the brotherhood to guess wrongly about this man now that chance was gone and the brotherhood was right again not many asked to see me Knupp said in the same voice he went on looking at his hands there was bitterness in his mind bitterness that had changed to hate there pleas tend to be exactly the opposite I did not plead Jonas pointed out it was necessary that I come to see you the question was, he told himself exactly what were the inquisitors' real beliefs his public professions were well known Jonas searched and found the answer Knupp was an honest man that of course made matters simpler Necessary Knupp said, looking up for the first time his gaze stabbed like a sword he was uneasy, Jonas knew with another mind perving his he could not help but be uneasy but he could not find a cause it would never occur to him he controlled his feelings superbly you believe that I am a wizard, Jonas said Knupp waited a bare second and then nodded I can do many things, Jonas went on it was necessary that I bring these to your attention and prove to you that they were not wizardly or magic many have told me, Knupp muttered that their feats were natural it is a common defense so I have heard, Jonas said easily but I shall prove what I say I am under no compulsion I listen to you, Knupp said after a pause Jonas shrugged his feet were beginning to hurt, he realized he sighed briefly but there was no time or attention to spare for them I could only see you by having myself accused of witchcraft, he said in that way you would be forced to listen to me you may listen now or later at a full hearing of the inquisitor's court am I to take my choice, Knupp said he smiled briefly, his face remained cold the strong hands moved on the tabletop it is a matter of indifference to me, Jonas said but the wait becomes boring after a time Knupp's eyebrows went up boring is hardly the word others would use I am not like others, Jonas said he wished for a clearton suddenly but there was no way to reach him safely he had to make his move alone well, he told himself, that was what he had wanted I can tell you what is in your mind, he said the words hung in the air of the room for a long time at last Knupp nodded the devil grants to many his power of seeing the minds of men he said quietly this is not devil's work, as I shall prove Jonas said, he shifted his feet but let me establish one point at a time in the most scholastic manner if you will permit I permit, Knupp said there was interest in his mind, overlaid with skepticism of course, but interest all the same that Jonas thought was a better sign than he had ever dared hoped for very well he said one word, think of any single word I shall tell it to you as any wizard might do who had the help of his lord, the devil Knupp buttered do you expect this to prove one thing at a time, Jonas said Knupp nodded, a second pass Jonas licked his lips the possibility spreaded before him on one hand success on the other there was the torture and death of the inquisition Jonas took a deep breath there was no way to back out now he closed his eyes campages, he said Knupp neither applauded nor looked surprised as I have said, he murmured that which the devil can grant he paused and looked down at his hands am I to take this as a confession, he said do you wish to hurry your own death I am no wizard, Jonas said a stranger, Knupp said who enters a small city is seen at mysterious undertakings pluck words out of the center of a man's mind why, the picture is a classic one Del Rio himself Holzinger or any of the others could not describe it better yet all this was done to draw your attention to fix it on what I have to tell you Jonas said, shifting his feet again I am no wizard but a man who may do certain things and here is my proof you may do the same yourself the silence was a long one and at the end of it Knupp froze he walked to the door of the room and the bald-headed guard came in he has tried to tempt me to pact with Satan, the Quintenquisitor said but take him away some day Jonas thought back in his cell there would be a method of controlling minds that did not require the willing cooperation of the two parties some day the man who reads minds would be more than a passive onlooker but the talent was new, it needed practice it needed training the cell grew dark as night came Jonas heard squeaking and thought of the rats but he couldn't even summon up enough energy to try for them he sat cross-legged in a corner of the cell and closed his eyes, he sighed once deeply this is what a hero came to and told himself this was the end of heroics and playing alone hand why, if he had it to do over again he would, you would do exactly the same thing, Clearton's voice said Jonas grinned suddenly and sat straighter I should have known you'd be getting into contact sooner or later he thought I try to keep track of all our men Clearton thought in a case like yours, I try harder my foolishness, Jonas thought sometimes works to my benefit Clearton's thoughts were dry if you hadn't gotten impatient and tried to hurdy things his voice said in Jonas' mind you wouldn't be back in your cell now there is a time and a place for your disclosure another day in here would have driven me out of my wits, Jonas thought better out of your wits than dead, Clearton thought Jonas sighed however, Clearton went on there is still a way out for you I have read the situation in your mind and your next move will have to be rather more spectacular than usual so long as it works, Jonas said I will be satisfied it will work, Clearton said at least I think it will another day dragged by Jonas put in his time alternately going over the new plan and feeling more frightened I never believed possible Clearton reached him once, but that contact was weak and fleeting the director hadn't enough strength to reach him again at least not for a day or so Jonas was exactly where he'd wanted to be on his own, he hated the idea time passed somehow when morning dawn, Jonas awoke to find the door of his cell being unlocked the bald man and the black-head man were both there he looked after them with distaste then he saw what was in their minds and the distaste changed a fear he confessed, the bald one said it is necessary that you ratify your confession come with us Jonas knew what that meant ratification of a free confession took place on a torture he wiped his face with one hand but he hardly thought of escaping he had to go through with the plan the two guards came into the cell and gripped his arms Jonas allowed himself to be carried out into the corridor and down into a great wooden door the guards opened it and dragged him through the torture chamber was brightly lit by the rackets along the walls that gave off by a small fraction more light than smoke in one corner the rackets self stood and there were other tools of the trade scattered around the room Jonas found that he was sweating the guards brought him to the center of the room couldn't put standing near him a perfectly brank expression on his face his voice was the same rough rasp but it seemed almost mechanical you have confessed to me he said, your heresy now you will be made to ratify your confession that done, your penalty will be exacted and the penalty of course will be death death at the stake he forced himself to remain calm now was the time for his play he took a deep breath and felt the strength in him gathered to a single point and flew outward the two men suddenly seemed to stagger there was a second of confusion and they had let him go he stood alone in the room he turned and walked to the door but he did not open it instead he leaned against it he forced his voice into the patterns of calmness and ease your men cannot touch me, he said we said, no, Jonas said the confusion he was broadcasting kept the men from doing anything they required even a simple plan but he couldn't keep it up for long a man like yourself, a man with a particular talent given by God the name of God I can say that name, Jonas told the inquisitor no wizard may say it it is a trick, Knopf said Jonas shook his head, not at all I will ask you to do nothing against the faith I merely ask you to test for yourself what I say you are a heretic, Knopf said suddenly I cannot, you can pray, Jonas said Knopf blinked pray, he said meditate on a prayer, Jonas said keep your mind open, keep yourself ready for the gift of God it will descend on you Knopf shook his head it is a trick, he began a trick, Jonas said for the prayers of God and his church no wizard could use the name of God no wizard could pray so the inquisition said so Knopf said so Knopf had to say and so he had to believe slowly his mind opened and became receptive the prayer hung in the air of the smoky room Jonas slipped in now, he said quietly his control slipped, the two guards came to ward him overpowered and held him in a brief second wait, the inquisitor said heavily wait, release him and so Klerton thought the job was accomplished naturally Jonas thought Klerton thought had an overtone awareness there is no need to be smug he told Jonas after all, you did not do the job yourself unimportant Jonas thought the man is convinced he can be trained further and join the brotherhood it will take time Klerton said, a few years perhaps but in the meantime there will be no trials in Spaya no trials, Jonas thought but oh, I see of course Klerton thought any man who considers himself a wizard will have his mind seen by the inquisitor and since there are no wizards at least none we have discovered the trials will cease, Jonas finished and the brotherhood has gained a new member Klerton said a member with influence and power it is an important step forward, Jonas of course, Jonas thought disinterestedly yet you seem bored by the matter Klerton thought, puzzled I don't see oh, I see the woman in your mind the daughter and now stop it, Jonas thought stop it, cut off after all, you finish there are times when even a hero wants a little privacy post-grip in 1605 to 1606 in Offenberg there were no executions in the early materials toward the history of witchcraft, volume 3 page 1148 End of Wizard by Larry M. Harris Recording by Alex Tallander of Davis, California www.alexthallander.com