New Writings in SF 4 - [Anthology]

by Edited By John Carnell

  That hurt because you know. Doc, she was a great girl, she’d got way under my skin. Wasn’t supposed to happen but it had. Somehow I’d done the lot for Connie, she didn’t care it made the whole thing sort of empty. I said to her we’d get out, go someplace and enjoy ourselves, we didn’t have to work no more. She wouldn’t answer me direct, just shrugged and said she’d see. I hadn’t had a drink for months, but I went on the beer that night. I couldn’t see my way round anything, somehow it had all got too big.

  I had a call next morning from a guy I know, a newsman. It was late, about ten-thirty, but I was still shaving. I got to the phone. I said, “Hello, Eddie, what’s the trouble?”

  He didn’t waste time being civil. “You bastards got something over there that’s sending the country crazy, Johnny, what the Hell you doing?”

  I said, “What’s the matter, Eddie, don’t you like Little Andy?”

  The phone made a noise. It said, “I don’t see Little Andy. I been wearing dark glasses for a month... what’re you doing, Johnny, what in Hell goes on?”

  “Well, you know, pal, just making fi—”

  He said, “J.B. was in here yesterday. Got a newsflash for us. If you don’t know, you better had ... he said he’d sold a new series, reckons it’ll make Little Andy look like feed for the chickens. And I know he hasn’t sold a thing, Johnny, he wants us to run the story, but Hell we can’t do a thing like that...”

  I finished shaving fast as I could and bolted for the studio. All that soft talk, he’d been working over my head all the time. I parked the Jag and half ran to his office. I kept thinking, supposing for kicks he wanted to start World War Three. Supposing he gave out in the Press, the Russians didn’t like Little Andy. Just you think about that, Doc, just you try that for size....

  I went in. I said, “What the Hell, J.B., you gone off your rocker? This crap you gave out about the new series, you can’t do that...”

  He was sitting at his desk. He looked me up and down. He said, “Johnny, it’s done.”

  I started to swear. I was the guy that mattered in that firm, I was the one had done all the donkeywork. I said, “You can’t do this, J.B. It’s just you and me, and I’m not having you do this...”

  I hadn’t seen Connie. She was sort of behind me. She came forward purring. She said, “We can, Johnny. Sorry.”

  I got it. Oh, but I got it all. And I knew I couldn’t fight the both of them. I couldn’t fight Connie. I thought of all the time she’d been playing about with me, she’d been hating my guts. I said, “Great. Just great. The new Mrs. March, I presume? Or won’t you bother...”

  She said, “You’ve got to understand, Johnny, it’s just one of those things.”

  I said, “Yeah, one of those things.” I put my face about six inches from hers. I said, “It’s true love at last, it always finds it’s little old way. What’s the matter, Connie, can’t you resist the smell of his breath—”

  I saw the swipe on the way and ducked. I didn’t miss with my backhand. I’m like that, Doc, somebody takes a swing at me I swing right back...I felt good for about half a second, then it was like the ceiling fell on me. I didn’t know J.B. was that tough. ... He hit me again right where it hurts, and I was on my knees on the carpet and it was like I’d swallowed a ball of something red-hot, it was stuck right in my throat.... When I could see again, he was standing in front of me dialling the police.

  She took the handset off him and threw it on the cradle. She said, “Forget it, J.B., he’s through.”

  He hauled me up. He was still plenty mad, He said, “Throw the bastard through the door.”

  She said, “No, leave him. Let him go. He don’t matter, let him stick around. You want to stick around, Johnny, see the fun?”

  I got hold of the edge of the desk, that meant I could stay on my feet. I didn’t answer. She said, “Come on, Johnny, I want you to stay, you’re a useful guy. Just one thing, you may have to move your office, but stay around, we’d miss you if you went.”

  I tried to talk. I was so mad the words wouldn’t come, it was like talking through felt. I said, “Anything more. Miss Connie ?”

  She grinned at me. She only used one side of her mouth. Her hair had half come out the clips and the bruise was already showing on her cheek. She picked her bag off the desk, opened it, threw down a couple of coins. She said, “Get me some cigarettes, Johnny. It seems I run right out....”

  So I got out of my office. I had to because J.B. was building a new place for her, and there was going to be a projection room so she could watch rushes without getting up from her desk. The box-suite cut my room in half. I moved downstairs. For what it mattered I was still a partner, I wasn’t leaving. I knew that was what they wanted, that was the way we ditched Jeff. I wasn’t going out like that.

  Nobody came near me, because the whole place knew how things stood. I brought in a couple of crates of Scotch and had a sort of lost ten days. I could look out the windows, see the stages going up, all the activity, I could hear Movieolas running all over the building, the whole damn place was jumping, but I didn’t belong any more. Everybody was riding the same wagon except me, I’d been kicked over the tailboard. I heard them installing the mechs for Connie. J.B. put in a pair of new Kalees because she’d said she liked the colour of the finish...They were right over my head, when they were running they shook the walls. Freddy would come in about ten and warm them over, and they’d show rushes three, four, maybe half a dozen times a day. And I sat and soaked whisky and listened to the projectors and thought about Connie and what she’d done...

  I felt pretty bad for a time, then I got over that and started getting wild. I didn’t care no more about Little Andy sending the world crazy, I could only think about Connie. Nobody tears me down like that and gets away with it, Doc, but nobody...

  It took me days to think of it. If I hadn’t pickled my brains I’d have worked it out straight away.

  I laid in enough money to cover the deal I was going to make. Then I waited. Five-thirty that night I heard the studio packing up and going home. I left it a few minutes, then I went and got the Jag, gunned it down the drive to the road. There was a bus stop a couple of hundred yards away from the gates, Freddy was waiting. It was raining and he looked like a little rat standing there with his collar turned up and the water running out of his hair. I did a skid stop and opened the car door. “Come on, Freddy,” I said, “you’ve got a lift.”

  For a minute I thought he was going to turn me down, he sort of looked round like he might make a run for it, but there was no place to run. He got in the car. He said, “Very nice of you, Mr. Harper. Very much obliged.”

  I got to his place ten minutes later. He lived in a scrappy little terrace over on the other side of town. I got out of the car. There was one streetlamp alight, the housefronts were shining with wet. Freddy tried to nip past and I got hold of his coat. I said, “Just a minute, Freddy, want a talk with you.”

  He stood there looking at me. He said, “Yes, Mr. Harper, I thought you did.” I waited. The rain beat on the pavement. He said, “You better come in.”

  He opened the door with a latchkey. The hall was dark, there was a sort of sour smell. Somebody called from upstairs, “Freddy, is that you? Who you got with you, Freddy?”

  He put a light on. He said, “She’s bedridden, Mr. Harper. Can’t get about no more.” He shouted back. “All right, mother, only Mr. Harper from the studio. Shan’t be long.” He opened a door. “In here, Mr. Harper. Isn’t very warm, I’ll get the old fire oil in a jiff.”

  I said, “The Hell with it, doesn’t matter.” I followed him into the room. There was an old table, high-backed chairs set round it. Faded floral paper. A big print on the chimney breast that showed all Wren’s buildings in one engraved heap. Freddy turned back to face me. He said, “Mustn’t be too long, Mr. Harper, she gets worried.”

  I lit a cigarette. “This won’t take long, Freddy. This won’t take no time at all. You remember I helped you out once ?” />
  He sort of stood and pulled his lip.

  I said, “You were for the chop, Freddy, I kept you on. Remember?”

  “Yes, Mr. Harper, yes, I do...”

  I said, “Right then, you know what they say. One good turn ... you’re going to make me an Image.”

  He said, “Eh?”

  I said, “Special sort of Image, Freddy. A love charm. A simple. An Image for love, can you do that, Freddy?”

  He swallowed. “I don’t know, I haven’t ever tried.”

  I said, “You’re going to try now. And you’re going to succeed. There’s an Image for everything, Freddy, you said so yourself.”

  He said, “Mr. Harper, Mr. Harper, sir ... who’s it for?”

  I started to laugh. I said, “The mechs in the new suite, Freddy, the new Kalees. They got cans on ?”

  He jumped like I’d stung him. He said, “I couldn’t do it, Mr. Harper. Not for a thousand quid I couldn’t...”

  I got hold of him. Like I told you, Doc, he’s a little guy...I backed him against the wall, I said, “Don’t play games, little man, I don’t have the time...”I got my free hand in my pocket, took out a wad of notes. I rammed them under his nose. I said, “A straight thousand, Freddy, no questions, no tax. You can get out, go any place you want. You’ll do it, little man.” I banged him against the wall, made his teeth rattle. I said, “A love charm. For the one and only Connie, for the little lion. Come on, Freddy, I’ll break your back...”

  Some expression went across his face, like a fool I thought it was fear. He said, “All right, Mr. Harper, let go, I can’t get my breath...”

  I stepped back. I said, “Attaboy, Fred.” You can buy anybody any time, Doc, you just gotta be sure you’re paying the highest ... I slung the wad down on the table. I said, “Get the stuff to me tomorrow, Freddy, I’ll love you like a son. Don’t let me down.” I went out and left him staring at the notes.

  He brought me the drawing next day and I looked at it just long enough to make sure it was the real thing. I couldn’t do anything about it till the evening. When the studio had emptied I set up one of the rostrums and filmed the Image. I developed the neg and printed enough frames for both mechs. Then I went up to the new suite and laced the Kalees. I set the heads for independent running, maximum saturation. From then on, Doc, everything she saw she’d see with hot cans...

  I sat in my office next day and laughed every time the mechs started up. I knew each time the crosses turned Images were stabbing into Connie’s brain like hypo shots.

  It didn’t take hardly any time. I met her in the corridor and her eyes were wild and she glared at me, and I stared right back and I knew...

  I took her home that night. We walked into my flat just the time the Little Andy show was starting up, all the suckers in the country crowding round their sets. She took her coat off and she was shaking. Her eyes were crazy like an animal and the tears were running down her throat, but her hands couldn’t stop unfastening her skirt. “You bastard,” she said. Over and over. “You bastard.” Doc, it was great. The little lion had an itch, and Johnny Harper was the only guy in the whole sweet world could do anything about it. I sat on the bed, then I lay on it, and laughed myself sick.

  And then I made her crawl...

  God, that little bastard, Freddy, he’d got it worked out right from the start. He was twenty moves in front of me all the way...

  Doc, what’s the matter, I thought you were smart. Freddy, he’d got nothing. He’d go home nights, look at the picture of all Wren’s buildings, sit and watch the fire. See to his old mum, wipe her mouth, feed her meat broth...He was through, Doc, he was a little old guy nobody could use. No front-office girls for Freddy. No Connie, not ever. Until I made my move. The Images wouldn’t work for him, there was no way he could get her, I put her right in his lap. She had to get free of me, he was the only guy could fix it. He knew she’d go to him, he knew she’d pay plenty. But she wouldn’t pay in cash...

  What ? How could she get free ? Wake up, Doc, do I have to spell it out for you...She couldn’t get the Image out of her head once the cans had driven it in, she was tied to me till I passed my check. That’s what she got Freddy to fix, he made me an Image as well. My Image was death...

  I ... I only got it once. Up in the main theatre, I saw a print this morning, the cans were hot. Somehow I knew as soon as the mech started, I tried to look away from the screen but I wasn’t quick enough. It only needed the once, it must have been a masterpiece. I expect it was. Doc, it was a labour of love...

  Doc, I’ve got an itch now, I know what it’s like...I didn’t know how I was going to do it till I bought the razor. I’m trying to keep my hands off it, Doc, I’m scared, I don’t want to go this way. Yeah, you’d better get on that phone, get the boys in with the jacket...But, Doc, don’t put me out, if you do I won’t wake up, my body’s programmed ... get moving, man, for the sake of God...

  The razor. Can’t... put it down. Don’t try to take it off me, Doc, I could kill you, don’t try and come too near...Doc, don’t watch Little Andy. Find Freddy Keeler, break his back for me....

  It’s ... like there was a magnet in my wrist, pulling. That’s where the itch is, Doc, it’s in my wrist right down near the bone. I can scratch it with this, I’ve got to do it, got to scratch, and scratch...

  Doc, don’t, don’t be crazy, I told you—

  Don’t—

  God....

  God, Doc, I’m ... sorry, didn’t mean to ... clout you like that, couldn’t help...Doc, look I ... done it, I had to. It was easy, going through the tendons was like cutting straw...it’s better now, Doc, the itching’s gone away...

  Messing the carpet a bit. Doc, sorry...God, Doc, listen, you can hear the blood sort of whistling...I ... thought about it, what it’d be like, didn’t... think of that...

  Doc, I’m scared, I want Connie...Try and listen, you gotta find her, look after her...She didn’t know what she was starting, he’ll ... do it again, sell her to somebody else, and she’ll buy off and then he’ll sell her, again and again, he’ll break her, Doc, she won’t walk proud no more...He’s the most dangerous guy in the world, we made him that way...Doc, this is sub-lim, you see what it can do....

  Funny. Like I can feel all the blood I got go rushing down my arm. Is that for real, Doc, is that what happens—

  Don’t feel too good. Can’t see ... shoulder’s hurting, guess I better ... sit down ...

  Sort of want to cry, but maybe better make a ... gag instead...Roll credits and fade to black...Doc, this is it I don’t want to go—

  Connie, darling, please, I never... never... meant...

  <>

  * * * *

  BERNIE THE FAUST

  William Tenn

  This story has the rather unique distinction of having been chosen by three editors as worthy of publication. Since its original debut in Playboy magazine, it was chosen for this collection and almost at the same time selected as one of the best s-f stories of 1963 for inclusion in Judith Merril’s Year’s Best S-F in the USA. If you like satire, you will see the reason why.

  * * * *

  That’s what Ricardo calls me. I don’t know what I am.

  Here I am. I’m sitting in my little nine-by-six office. I’m reading notices of Government-surplus sales. I’m trying to decide where lies a possible buck and where lies nothing but more headaches.

  So the office door opens. This little guy with a dirty face, wearing a very dirty, very wrinkled Palm Beach suit, he walks into my office, and he coughs a bit and he says:

  “Would you be interested in buying a twenty for a five?”

  That was it. I mean, that’s all I had to go on.

  I looked him over and I said, “Wha-at?”

  He shuffled his feet and coughed some more. “A twenty,” he mumbled. “A twenty for a five.”

  I made him drop his eyes and stare at his shoes. They were lousy, cracked shoes, lousy and dirty like the rest of him. Every once in a while, his l
eft shoulder hitched up in a kind of tic. “I give you twenty,” he explained to his shoes, “and I buy a five from you with it. I wind up with five, you wind up with twenty.”

  “How did you get into the building?”