Black Eyes and the Daily Grind
Page 2
uttered asound. It did not frolic and it did not gambol. Most of the time itcould have been carved from stone. But Lindy was happy and Judd saidnothing.
They had a little trouble with the customs officials. This becausenothing unknown could be brought to Earth without a thoroughexamination.
At the customs office, a bespectacled official stared at Black Eyes,scratching his head. "Never seen one like that before."
"Neither have I," Judd admitted.
"Well, I'll look in the book." The man did, but there are no thoroughtomes on Venusian fauna. "Not here."
"I could have told you."
"Well, we'll have to quarantine it and study it. That means you and yourwife go into quarantine, too. It could have something that's catching."
"Absurd!" Lindy cried.
"Sorry, lady. I only work here."
"You and your bright ideas," Judd told his wife acidly. "We may bequarantined a month until they satisfy themselves about Black Eyes."
The customs official shrugged his bony shoulders, and Judd removed atwenty-credit note from his pocket and handed it to the man. "Will thischange your mind?"
"I should say not! You can't bribe me, Mr. Whitney! You can't--" The manyawned, stretched languidly, smiled. "No, sir, you can keep your money,Mr. Whitney. Guess we don't have to examine your pet after all. Mightycute little feller. Well, have fun with it. Come on, move along now."And, as they were departing with Black Eyes, still not believing theirears: "Darn this weather! Makes a man so lazy...."
It was after the affair at the customs office, that Black Eyes utteredits first sound. City life hasn't changed much in the last fifty years.Jet-cars still streak around the circumferential highways, theirwhistles blaring. Factories still belch smoke and steam, although thenew atomic power plants have lessened that to a certain extent. Crowdsstill throng the streets, noisy, hurrying, ill-mannered. It's one ofthose things that can't be helped. A city has to live, and it has tomake noise.
But it seemed to frighten Lindy's new pet. It stared through the jet-carwindow on the way from the spaceport to the Whitneys' suburban home, itsblack eyes welling with tears.
"Look!" Judd exclaimed. "Black Eyes can cry!"
"A crying pet, Judd. I knew there would be something unusual about BlackEyes, I just knew it!"
The tears in the big black eyes overflowed and tumbled out, rolling downBlack Eyes' silvery cheeks. And then Black Eyes whimpered. It was only abrief whimper, but both Judd and Lindy heard it, and even the driverturned around for a moment and stared at the animal.
The driver stopped the jet. He yawned and rested his head comfortably onthe cushioned seat. He went quietly to sleep.
* * * * *
A man named Merrywinkle owned the Merrywinkle Shipping Service. That, initself, was not unusual. But at precisely the moment that Black Eyesunleashed its mild whimper, Mr. Merrywinkle--uptown and five milesaway--called an emergency conference of the board of directors anddeclared:
"Gentlemen, we have all been working too hard, and I, for one, am goingto take a vacation. I don't know when I'll be back, but it won't bebefore six months."
"But C.M.," someone protested. "There's the Parker deal and the Gilettecontract and a dozen other things. You're needed!"
Mr. Merrywinkle shook his bald head. "What's more, you're all takingvacations, with pay. Six months, each of you. We're closing downMerrywinkle Shipping for half a year. Give the competition a break, eh?"
"But C.M.! We're about ready to squeeze out Chambers Parcel Co.! They'llget back on their feet in six months."
"Never mind. Notify all departments of the shut-down, effectiveimmediately. Vacations for all."
* * * * *
"Who shut off the assembly belt?" the foreman asked mildly. He was not amild man and he usually stormed and ranted at the slightest provocation.This was at Clewson Jetcraft, and you couldn't produce a singlejet-plane without the assembly belt, naturally.
A plump little man said, "I did."
"But why?" the foreman asked him, smiling blandly.
"I don't know. I just did."
The foreman was still smiling. "I don't blame you."
Two days later, Clewson Jetcraft had to lay off all its help. They putads in all the papers seeking new personnel but no one showed up.Clewson was forced to shut down.
* * * * *
The crack Boston to New York pneumo-tube commuter's special pulled to abone-jarring stop immediately outside the New York station. Some angrycommuters pried open the conductor's cab, and found the man snoozingquite contentedly. They awakened him, but he refused to drive the trainany further. All the commuters had to leave the pneumo-train and edgetheir way along three miles of catwalk to the station. No one was veryhappy about it, but the feeling of well-being which came over them allnipped any possible protest in the bud.
* * * * *
Black Eyes whimpered again when Judd and Lindy reached home but afterthat it was quiet. It just sat on its haunches near the window andstared out at the city.
The quiet city.
Nothing moved in the streets. Nothing stirred. People remained at homewatching local video or the new space-video from Mars. At first it was agood joke, and the newspapers could have had a field day with it, hadthe newspapers remained in circulation. After four days, however, theysuspended publication. On the fifth day, there was a shortage of food inthe city, great stores of it spoiling in the warehouses. Heat and lightfailed after a week, and the fire department ignored all alarms a daylater.
But everything did not stop. School teachers still taught their classes;clerks still sold whatever goods were left on local shelves. Librarianswere still at their desks.
Conservatives said it was a liberal plot to undermine capital and demandhigher wages; liberals said big business could afford the temporarylayoff and wanted to squeeze out the small businessman and labor unions.
Scientists pondered and city officials made speeches over video.
"Something," one of them observed, "has hit our city. Work that requiresanything above a modicum of sound has become impossible; in regards tosuch work people have become lazy. No one can offer any validsuggestions concerning the malady. It merely exists. However, if a stopis not put to it--and soon--our fair city will disintegrate. Somethingis making us lazy, and that laziness can spell doom, being a compulsivelack of desire to create any noise or disturbance. If anyone believes hehas the solution, he should contact the Department of Science at once.If you can't use the video-phone, come in person. But come! Every hourwhich passes adds to the city's woes."
Nothing but scatter-brained ideas for a week, none of them worthconsideration. Then the bespectacled customs official who had bypassedquarantine for Black Eyes, got in touch with the authorities. He hadalways been a conscientious man--except for that one lapse. Maybe thequeer little beast had nothing to do with this crisis. But then again,the customs official had never before--or since--had that strangefeeling of lassitude. Could there be some connection?
A staff of experts on extra-terrestrial fauna was dispatched to theWhitney residence, although, indeed, the chairman of the Department ofScience secretly considered the whole idea ridiculous.
The staff of experts introduced themselves. Then, ignoring the protestsof Lindy, went to work on Black Eyes. At first Judd thought the animalwould object, but apparently it did not. While conditions all about themin the city worsened, the experts spent three days studying Black Eyes.
They found nothing out of the ordinary.
Black Eyes merely stared back at them, and but for an accident, theywould have departed without a lead. On the third day, a huge mongrel dogwhich belonged to the Whitneys' next-door neighbors somehow slipped itsleash. It was a fierce and ugly animal, and it was known to attackanything smaller than itself. It jumped the fence and landed in JuddWhitney's yard. A few loping bounds took it through an open window,ground level. Inside, it sp
ied Black Eyes and made for the creature atonce, howling furiously.
Black Eyes didn't budge.
And the mongrel changed its mind! The slavering tongue withdrew insidethe chops, the howling stopped. The mongrel lay down on the floor andwhined. Presently it lost all interest, got to its feet, and left as ithad come.
Other animals were brought to the Whitney home. Cats. Dogs. A lion fromthe city zoo, starved for two days and brought in a special mobile cageby its keeper. Black Eyes was thrust into the cage and the lion gaveforth with a hideous yowling. Soon it stopped, rolled over, and slept.
* * * * *
The scientists correlated their reports, returned with them to theWhitney house. The leader, whose name was Jamison,