by William Tenn
These burrows were virgin. Men had never lived and died within them.
"Good enough," he said. "We can camp here until the take-off." And he posted sentries. No need really, but discipline was discipline.
Roy carried the message back swiftly. In a little while, people began to arrive: first expeditionary policemen, who set off areas for each section, then the sections themselves. Rachel came in with Section 15; by that time, the place was getting pretty crowded. The last one in was the Aaron—two husky policemen carried him on their shoulders and had to push hard to make their way through.
They could all hear a distant thumping by then. The Monsters were moving about and working on the machinery.
The Aaron put a megaphone to his lips. "Now hear me, my people!" he called out in a tired, cracked voice. "We have accomplished our Plan. We are all safely inside the burrows of a spaceship which is about to depart for the stars. We have plenty of food and water and can stay out of sight until long after the take-off."
He paused, took a deep breath before going on. "This is a cargo ship, my people. It will make many stops, on many worlds. At each stop, one or more sections will leave the ship and stay in hiding on the planet until their numbers have increased substantially. After all, anywhere that Monsters can live, humans can. Anywhere the Monsters have a settlement, men will thrive. Anything the Monsters provide for themselves, we can probably use. We have learned this on Earth—and we have learned it thoroughly."
The floor began vibrating as the motors went on. They felt the ship shake and start to move.
The Aaron lifted his arms above his head. People every-where fell to their knees. "The universe!" the Aaron cried ecstatically. "My people, henceforth the universe is ours!"
When the ship had stopped accelerating and they could move about freely, Eric and the other section leaders collected their groups and led them to adjoining burrows. Men paced off the areas that their families would occupy. Women began preparing food. And children ran about and played.
It was wonderful the way the children adjusted to the acceleration and the strange, new burrows. Everyone who watched them at their games agreed that they made the place feel like home.
ABOUT WILLIAM TENN
Theodore Sturgeon, writing in If magazine, had the following to say:
It would be too wide a generalization to say that every sf satire, every sf comedy and every attempt at witty and biting criticism found in the field is a poor and usually cheap imitation of what this man has been doing since the '40s. [But] his incredibly involved and complex mind can at times produce constructive comment so pointed and astute that the fortunate recipient is permanently improved by it. Admittedly the price may be to create two whole categories for our species: humanity, and William Tenn. For each of which you must create your ethos and your laws. I've done that. And to me it's worth it.
William Tenn is the pen name of London-born Philip Mass. He began writing in 1945 after being discharged from the Army, and his first story was published a year later. His stories and articles have been widely anthologized, a number of them in best-of the-year collections. Currently he is a professor of English at the Pennsylvania State University, where he teaches—among other things—a popular science-fiction course.
Table of Contents
OF MEN AND MONSTERS
CONTENTS
DEDICATION
PART I PRIESTS FOR THEIR LEARNING
PART II SOLDIERS FOR THEIR VALOR
PART III COUNSELORS FOR THEIR WISDOM
ABOUT WILLIAM TENN