the April Fantasy and Science Fiction

130 Pages·2012·9.92 MB·English

Including Venture Science Fiction
Fast Trip (novelet) JAMES WHITE 5
Still Shall The Lovers (verse) DORIS PITKIN BUCK 40
Place of Refuge ROBERT J. TILLEY 41
The Short and Happy Death of George Frumkin
GERTRUDE FRIEDBERG 47
Science: The Rigid Vacuum ISAAC ASIMOV 52
Ferdinand Feghoot: LXI GRENDEL BRIARTON 631
Tell Me Doctor-Please KIT REED 64
Kindergarten FRITZ LEIBER 75
Voyage of the "Deborah Pratt" MIRIAM ALLEN DEFORD 77
Books AVRAM DAVIDSON 85
The Old Man of the Mountains TERRY CARR 89
My Son, The Physicist! ISAAC ASIMOV 98
The World Must Never Know G. C. EDMONDSON 102
The Histronaut PAUL SEABURY 117
Not Couqting Bridges ROBERT L. FISH 126!
In this issue ... Comitzg 11ext motJtb 4
Editorial 128
F&SF Marketplace 129
Cover by Ed Emsh (illustrating "Fast Trip")
The Magazine of Fa11tasy a11d Science Fictio11, Volume 24, :. .: o. 4, Whole No. 143, Apr.
1963. Published mout!Jly by Afc,-cury Press, Iuc., at 40~~, a copy. Annual subscription
$4.50 in U. S. and Possessions, $5.00 in Canada and the Pan Amc.-ican Union; $5.50
i1r all other couutries. Publication office, 10 FelTY Street, Concord, N. H. Editorial a.nd
ge11cral mail should be sent to 347 East 53rd St., Nt?W York 22, N. Y. Second Class
postage paid at Concord, N. H. Printed in U. S. A. (!) 1963 by Mercury Press, !11c. All
rights, including trauslatious into othe1· laHguages, resert•cd. Submissio11s must be accom
panied by stamped, self-addressed cuvc!opes; the Publisher assumes no t·cspousibility for
return of unsolicited ma"uscripts.
Joseph fV. Ferman, PUBLISHER Avram Davidson, EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Isaac AsiiiiO'i.', SCIEXCE EDITOR Ed-ward L. Fcrma11, MAXAGIXG EDITOR
In this issue . . .
. is JAMES WIDTE's swift-pacing story of short commons on
a fast trip through space, and of passengers who fast while won
dering if it will be fast enough for them; an adventure into the
worlds of dreams by ROBERT J. TILLEY; a sardonic assessment
of the high cost of dying, by GERTRUDE FRIEDBERG; and
KIT REED's latest-about a time-traveller who fell among phy
sicians. Also, a short and amusing piece of FRITZ LEIBER's.
MIRIAM ALLEN DeFORD tells of a horrid incident on the hor
rid "Middle Passage" of the old slave-trade, TERRY CARR con
siders old and new perils in the Western mountains, ISAAC
ASIMOV-in one of his rare, recent ventures into fiction-ex
amines filial piety in the Age of Space, while G. C. EDMONDSON
and his Mad Friend encounter Strange Things in the Mexican
Highlands. PAUL SEABURY takes us on a grim trip to 191 7, and
ROBERT FISH concludes the issue on a note of only half-comic
despair in examining the swift erosion of our lives by our limou
sines.
Coming next month . . .
. . . of course, is our SPECIAL RAY BRADBURY ISSUE: two
new stories (count them: two), a profile, and a bibliography, by
and/or about the best known SF writer of our day. BRIGHT
PHOENIX and TO THE CHICAGO ABYSS are the titles of the
stories. You should not miss them. Plus a story of exceptional beau
ty by Dr. FELIX MARTI-IBANEZ, about a girl who ~ght have
been one of those handmaidens of the Inca, called the Virgins
of the Sun; and KAREN ANDERSON will be there, too, with
a talc from the misty dawn of history (though some may call it
legend) which settles a long-pondered problem. Other goodies
present therewith for your purchase, and "therein fail not. "
4
The Hakluyt of the future, author-to-be of The Principal
Navagations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the Age
of Space's early days, may even now be bubbling in his crib.
Time was, of course, when every tiny port could tum out
ships to circumambulate the seas-now the wealth of a
wealthy nation is taxed to produce a vessel capable of ven
turing out upon even the shallows of the heavens. So intent
are we upon the primary and essential step of getting up, of
getting out; so confident are we of our technical ingenuity
(this shot fails, that probe falters, but the next-ah, the
next-) in creating integuments and engines, that we give no
glance back to those days when the water turned green and
heavy in the butts, and stank; when the crew chased rats,
and, when the rats gave out, were glad enough to eat the
leather of their shoes; when no man had the strength to reef
a sail ... ]ames White of Belfast, Northern Ireland, author
of COUNTER SECURITY (F&SF, Feb., 1963), considers
a voyage under a baleful star, when the ingenuity of space
lore creates a problem it was intended to solve.
FAST TRIP
by James White
\VITH THE SOUNDING OF THE picked up speed rapidly until air
five second warning the clicking, flow over its fins began to assist the
whining bedlam inside Ramsey gyros in maintaining vertical sta
built suddenly to a climax.· The bility, until it began to outstrip its
chemical boosters fired, their thun own thunder and until five gravi
der so deep and vast that it was ties of acceleration and a surpris
felt in the bones rather than heard ingly few minutes of time had
with overloaded ears, and the ship combined to hurl it accuratelv
began creeping into the sky. It into space. Then just before th~
5
6 FANTASY AXD SCIENCE FICTION
booster stage was due to fall away cause it was the radio that had
the ship's reactor cut in smoothly, gone, the people on the ground
augmenting the enormous pre would not know that anything
burnout thrust with its modest else was amiss. So far as they were
half-G. concerned Ramsey was pointed in
That was when it happened. the right direction and everything
The radio unit which was at was Go.
tached to a bulkhead a few feet For a time the ship's passengers
above the pilot's position tore loose had the same comforting idea. All
and dropped onto the couch below, except one ...
then rolled off and snapped Herdman knew immediately
through the open well of the pas that they had lost pressure by the
senger compartment as if pulled change in the sounds which the
by a giant elastic band. The pas ship was making-he was hearing
senger lounge was twenty-five feet them via the fabric of his couch
long and with over five Gs acting and helmet rather tl1an through the
on it the small, metal cabinet air of the passenger lounge-and
gained enough velocity to crash by the way his spacesuit creaked.
through the transparent panel A leak was not a very rare occur
which looked into the cargo space ranee during the period of maxi
without even slowing down. Here mum stress that was take-off and,
it was deflected by cargo into the provided it was not the product of
food storage compartment where some more serious malfunction,
it left the ship via a large, ragged loss of pressure was nothing to
hole it had torn in the hull plat- worry about. The ship's air regen
ing. eration system would not be ac
On time to the split second the tivated until after the Captain had
booster stage dropped away and checked that everything was sealed
Ramsey, outwardly unaffected by tight, so that all they had lost was a
these internal disturbances, con few cubic metres of the dusty,
tinued along its pre-calculated peroxide-smelling air which had
flight path. After seventeen min come aboard with the passengers
utes at one-half G the reactor shut before take-off. Herdman waited
down and the ship was precisely tensely for something more ca
on the course which would place it lamitous to happen, and when it
in orbit around Mars in a little didn't he began to relax.
over sixteen weeks. The fact that The people on the gtound were
something had happened to the· especially careful with ships mak
radio would not become apparent ing their first trip, he thought
until the Captain failed to make his sourly, and with a vessel like Ram
post takeoff check report and, be- sey-the first spaceship designed
FAST TRIP 7
primarily to carry passengers their ship during that all-impor
the care with which they had tant first inspection. Herdman
checked everything must have been sighed, hoping that Captain Ram
blood-curdling to watch. Herd sey would not insist on treating
man was reminded of the chilling him like a passenger, that the pilot
little tale of the over-anxious engi might even ask him to help look
neer who had tested the free work for the leak. But very likely the
ing of an emergency-jettison con hope was a forlorn one. From what
trol forty-seven times in order to he had heard of Ramsey the Cap
make absolutely sure that it was tain was the type who leaned over
functioning correctly, only to find backwards and, perversely, Herd
on the forty-eighth time that he man did not want to claim anv
had tested the mechanism to de privileges which were not first of
struction ... fered.
As he lay staring at the under But half an hour later Ramsev
side of the acceleration bunk above still had not appeared, neither had
his own Herdman let his mental there been any of the faint, irregu
eye travel further upwards, past lar sounds and vibrations from the
and through the vertical tier -of ship's metal which would have in
nine bunks above him-six of dicated the Captain moving about.
which were empty- to Control Herdman began to feel anxious,
and to the man who occupied it. and within a minute his anxietv
After the reactor shut down had grown to the point where h~
there would be a forty-five minute was willing to risk a rebuff for
instrument check, he knew, after leaving his bunk without permis
which the Captain would carry sion. The instant he realised that
out a visual inspection of his ship something might be wrong Herd
to make doubly sure that every man slapped the quick-release
thing was sealed and secure. Dur plate on .. his harness, twisted out of
ing this inspection the Captain the bunk and kicked himself to
would trace and seal the leak, and wards the cone-all without com
only when pressure was restored ing to any conscious decision re
would he give permission for the garding his actions. It was a matter
passengers to get out of their tiny of conditioning-if there was
bunks and even more constricting trouble Herdman had been trained
spaceships. to do the correct thing automati
Should am·one dare to leave his cally, and such conditioning died
bunk before -receiving permission hard.
to do so they would find them Something had torn loose, he
selves in trouble, because Captains saw as soon as he reached the con
did not like people cluttering up trol-room trap. There was a one-
8 FANTASY AXD SCIEKCE FICTION
foot square gap in the almost solid with every breath that he took.
canopy of control panels and tell If Ramscv wasn't taken out of
tales which was the nose cone. his suit quickly, or at least had his
Four projecting lugs showed in the helmet removed, there was danger
empty space, to which had been of him breathing in one of those
bolted the missing item of equip tiny red beads and choking to
ment, and raw metal gleamed in the death on it. But before he removed
empty hole of each lug. Herdman the helmet Herdman would have to
wondered briefly if some over restore pressure to the ship . . .
zealous member of the ground While he was applying a Num
crew had tightened one of those ber One patch to the holed port
bolts so thoroughly that he had Herdman became aware of three
stripped the thread, and the stress heads looking down at him over
and vibration of five Gs had done the edges of the occupied bunks.
the rest. But it would be very diffi None of the passengers made any
cult to bring a negligence charge attempt to leave their places, they
against a man who was guilty of probably thought he was the Cap
being too careful. tain, and Herdman ignored them
The equipment had fallen a until air was hissing into the com
distance of three feet onto the partment and the pressure gauge
Captain's position, although with told him that it was staying there.
an acceleration of five Gs acting on Then with an atmosphere present
it the object's speed and inertia to carry his voice he flipped his
had been the equivalent of a fall of outside speaker switch and said,
fifteen feet under normal condi "All right, gentlemen, you can
tions. It had struck the Captain's take them off now," and dived to
shoulder and dented the side of his wards Control again.
helmet before rolling off to go bul There he swung himself over the
leting through the port at the bot pilot's couch, locking his legs
tom of the passenger lounge. around it at the level of Ramsey's
Ramsey's suit was badly crushed waist, and began carefully remov
where the right arm joined the ing the helmet.
body and inside the visor the pi The face he uncovered was the
lot's face was white and sweating. same one that had looked out at
The Captain wasn't moving al him from the pages of newspapers
though the suit was still airtight. and magazines witp increasing
Herdman pulled himself closer frequency over the p~t five years,
and saw that the other's eyes were but the utter relaxation of uncon
closed, that he was breathing and sciousness gave the features an un
that little red beads were floating familiar look. There were three
about inside the helmet, eddying deep lacerations above and behind
FAST TRIP 9
the right ear, caust;d by the radio When he put the question it was
ear-piece which had practically a tall, rangy individual, who al
shattered itself against Ramsey's ready had his suit off and was per
skull. He swung away and began forming a wightless adagio dance
searching for the ship's log. with it in his efforts to stow it
During the three minutes it away, who was the first to speak.
took him to find it he discovered, He said, "If you mean is one of us
by a process of elimination, that it a real doctor and not just one of
was the radio unit which had come these common PhDs, the answer is
adrift. He also found that his yes. My name is Forsythe, Cap
hands shook and he was driven tain ..."
close to panic at the sight of all ~'I'm not the Captain!" said
those familiar panels and controls Herdman sharply, then in a quieter
in their subtly unfamiliar posi tone; "The Captain has been in
tions. But the feeling passed when jured, Doctor. A piece of
he had the log to concentrate on. equipment came loose during take
Herdman quickly found the off. Head and shoulder injuries. I
page giving the names and all-up didn't want to risk taking off his
weights of the passengers. Dr. F. suit in case I compounded-"
Brett, he read: Dr. J. Forsythe, "Quite right," said Forsythe
Dr. M. Wallace and Mr. J. Herd briskly. He steadied himself against
man • • • He snapped the log a bunk, then dived awkwardly to
shut and replaced it in its clip, wards the cone. He reappeared a
wishing that he had more detailed moment later to remove the medi
knowledge of the qualifications of cal kit from its rack and returned
these three no-doubt eminent doc without speaking. Herdman turned
tors. But it was customary to give to the other passengers.
only minimum information about "This compartment is tight and
any passenger, the theory being there is no immediate danger," he
that during the long- boring trip said quietly. "But tbe rest of the
everything there was' to know ship has lost pressure and there
but everything-about one's fel may be some damage. I'm, uh, fa
low passengers would come out in miliar with the layout of the ship
conversation, and any prepub and Wlll check the damage while
lished biographical material would the Doctor is attending to Captain
spoil the fun of finding out. His Ramsey ..."
only course was to go and ask Herdman had never been in a
them, although he was going to ship like Ramsey before, but he
feel awfully silly asking three doc had kept abreast of all the litera
tors if one of them was a doc ture as it became available. He
tor . · .. knew that the current thinldng in
10 FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION
the field was that spaceflight was The ship's layout was conven
reaching the point where it should tional in that Control and its asso
no longer be necessary for the var ciated instrumentation was housed
ious governments to foot the bill in the nose-cone, which widened
completely. There were colonies from a blunt point to the ten feet
and projects on the Moon and in which was the maximum diameter
ner planets which were becoming of the ship until it tapered slightly
self-sufficient in that the financial below the reactor. The twenty-five
returns from their research paid foot cylinder below Control was
for the astronomical cost of keep divided vertically by thin metal
ing them supplied, and it was felt plating supported by two of the
that the time had come for space main structural members, one half
flight to be put on a paying basis. forming the Passenger Lounge :tnd
Ramsey was the first step in a long the other containing the air and
journey which would enable space water recycling gear and the con
travel to be undertaken by tired trol tanks to the reactor. A three
businessmen rather than reserving way lock built into this compart
it for the intrepid adventurer ment connected it with the pas
types. It was luxurious and, for a senger compartment and the cargo
spaceship, extraordinarily roomy. hold, which occupied the next
It even boasted a swimming pool. tweDty feet below. Then came the
Ramsey was the last word, storage compartments, the fuel
Herdman thought bitterly as he tank/s wimming pool and finally
squeezed through the interior lock, the reactor. A hollow pipe two feet
the only trouble was that its de wide joined the cargo hold with
signers were already thinking up the reactor room via the centre of
later ones. But Ramsey was a good the tank in case something went
man and he had a fine ship -a wrong.
clean, simple design which might As he had half expected the air
go for eight or nine years without regeneration section still retained
major modifications. In that Ram the atmosphere brought aboard be
sey was lucky. It was a terrible fore take-off but in the cargo space
thing to be rendered obsolescent at pressure was nil. \Vhen Herdman
thirty-one. saw the extent of the damage he
Herdman severed that line cf found himself wishing that just
thought quickly before it dragged this once the radio ~it's circuits
him into a morass of self-pity. had not been sealed intQ a block of
Maybe the Captain wasn't so rock-hard plastic to protect them
lucky, or anyone else on board his against vibtation. As it was that
ship. Herdman wouldn't know un small, dense piece of equipment
til he had finished his check. had wrecked havoc enough to
11
FAST TRIP
make an armour~piercing shell feel in unfamiliar places, and it was
proud. three hours before pressure was re·
The missile's path through the stored to the rest of the ship.
cargo space had been deflected by But he didn't go immediately to
a pressurised crate which had Ramsey. The things he had been
bounced it towards the food stor~ doing would have registered on
age bin. This it had entered close the Control~room tell~tales, and
to deck level, bursting through the Ramsey had not contacted him on
tightly~packed food containers the suit. radio. Which meant that
therein and exiting where the hull either the Captain was still un~
joined the deck. The plastic con~ conscious or he approved of what
tainers held the concentrated liq~ Herdman was doing. Herdman
uid and semiliquid meals designed wriggled out of his spacesuit,
for weightless conditions, and drank some water and began a
when the compartment had been careful inventory of the cargo hold
opened to space vapour pressure and its associafed storage spaces.
from the contents of the burst con~ The cargo consisted of lab
tainers had forced most of the un~ equipment, medical supplies, light·
damaged packs out through the weight books and drums of black,
opening in the hull. And if that white and red paint which, the Ia·
wasn't enough there was a slight bels stated, had been developed to
but detectable fog in the compart~ withstand both the sand abrasion
ment. and the extremes of temperature
The fuel tank, whose upper to be found on Mars. There was
wall formed the floor of the food nothing edible in the cargo, which
storage bin, had also been opened. was unfortunate. He was begin·
The first job was to rescue what ning to realise the full extent of
food containers remained in the their predicament.
bin and these he tossed gently into Unfortunate, he thought grimly,
the main cargo space for collec~ was far too mild a word to de
tion later, noticing as he did so scribe it.
that there were a few otl1ers drift~ When he finally returned to the
ing outside the rent in the hull. passenger compartment the Cap
They also could be retrieved later. tain, fully conscious and talking
Then he traced and sealed off the quietly, was surrounded by a
puncture in the tank, entering it to weightless shoal of passengers.
make sure that all was tight, and Ramsey's head was bandaged, the
only then did he start work on the sleeve and part of the shoulder of
damaged hull. He was slowed his tunic had been cut away and
down at times because certain his arm was strapped to his side
tools and equipment were racked and rendered immobile by a