by Algis Budrys
– From Henshaw’s unwritten novel.
Well, there you have it. I began to research this book after the media story came out about two men falling off a condominium balcony. The TV and the papers covered it, of course, but something about the story didn’t quite ring right. I figured it was worth a look. And the first thing I found, of course, was the blood all over the apartment wall – which nobody else had mentioned, and which I saw only because the superintendent happens to be my cousin. With that much to go on, I was off.
I’m sorry the book isn’t more definitive. Actually, much of what precedes this closing note had to be made up. Well, all right, call it a docudrama, instead of the documentary that’ll never be written because there’s just plain so much that has to be conjecture. I mean, all five of them are dead, and were dead before I started on the book. Marjorie finally told me what she knew, for the most part, but when you look at it, she didn’t really know very much, did she?
In fact, I could have made up the whole thing, couldn’t I?
– A.B.
About the Author
Algis Budrys (1931–2008) was born in Königsberg, East Prussia, where his father served in the Lithuanian diplomatic corps. The family came to the United States when Budrys was five years old. A Renaissance man, he wrote stories and novels, and was an editor, critic, and reviewer, a teacher of aspiring writers, and a publisher. In the 1960s Budrys worked in public relations, advertising products such as pickles, tuna fish, and four-wheel-drive vehicles. His science fiction novels include Rogue Moon, Hard Landing, Falling Torch, and many others. His Cold War science fiction thriller Who? was adapted for the screen, and he received many award nominations for his work. Budrys was married to his wife, Edna, for almost fifty-four years.
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 1993 by Algis Budrys
Cover design by Andy Ross
978-1-4976-5300-9
This edition published in 2016 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Card of Thanks
Disclaimer
PART OF A REPORT LATER REMOVED FROM THE AO/LGM FILE ON NEVILLE SEALMAN
AUTHOR’S NOTE ON THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF PATHOLOGICAL ANOMALIES
PRELUDE TO EVENTS EARLY ON A MARCH EVENING
AN OCCURRENCE EARLY ON A MARCH EVENING
TRANSCRIBED CONVERSATION; ALBERT CAMUS; WILLIAM HENSHAW:
LATER EVENTS ON A MARCH NIGHT
THE RATIONALE*
ABOUT THE CHAPLAIN
NOTE ON DOTHAN STABLITS
DITLO RAVASHAN’S STATEMENT ON EVENTS IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE CRASH
A TRUE AND ACCURATE, COMPLETE ACCOUNT BY DITLO RAVASHAN FOR HIS OWN FILES
HANIG EIKMO, Part One
JACK MULLICA
OPENING STATEMENT BY YANKEE
OLIR SELMON
JACK MULLICA
INTERPOLATION, DWUORD ARYAN
COURTNEY MASON DOWRIGHT
FOOTNOTE
CARS
FOOTNOTE
STATEMENT, DITLO RAVASHAN
STATEMENT II, DITLO RAVASHAN
CONVERSATIONS BETWEEN FUNCTIONARIES
MORE CARS
THE END
About the Author
Copyright