A girls kiss
I sat cuddling the warm cup in my hands, savoring the chocolate sip by sip. She had made it with milk instead of water, and it tasted rich and wonderful. But Mrs. Klevity was sharing my thoughts with the cocoa. In that brief moment when I had been so close to her, I had looked deep into her dim eyes and was feeling a vast astonishment. The dimness was only on top. Underneath—underneath— Just that. Attempted murder is what it was, of both myself and, I suspect, Noah Rideout. The cows unexpected bounty put him in good humor; he didn’t seem to mind slopping the pigs nor the stranger’s helplessness at throwing scratch to the chickens. (The girls usually did this anyway; Maxill’s presence was a formality to impress the fellow with the scope and responsibility of the chores.) He ate what Nan had cooked with cheerful appetite, remarking jovially that the dummy would be cheap to feed since he didn’t touch meat, butter or milk, only bread, vegetables and water. Isnt it beautiful? Bernie asked. All my life, I never realized the . . .depth to these things. Do you know they’re almost a perfect symbol for power? Pure power? Think of it, curled up dormant in there, sleeping in its little nest in a cave of steel, ready to burst out instantly at the slightest call. Think of it! The perfect symbol for power; hard and cold but turgid with latent flame and noise.” Max! gasped Harold, we cant lift up the lid to get at the starting switch!” "Nine," I said. "Did have. I dont see the ones whore left now, for which their parents have always been just as happy— except one. And she was sensible enough to go along with the rest, while she was alive." Brock said,I dont remember how that was. No one does. Mind if I have some fresh air? I said. Its getting stuffy in here.” Even with the most sophisticated engineering techniques available thickness control was something of a hit-and-miss affair. A coarse discrepancy could mean that a pane intended to be five years thick might be five and a half, so that light which entered in summer emerged in winter, a fine discrepancy could mean that noon sunshine emerged at midnight. These incompatibilities had their peculiar charm— many night workers, for example, liked having their own private time zones — but, in general, it cost more to buy scenedows which kept closely in step with real time. The others words bothered Warren Casey. Not because they were new to him, subconsciously they’d been with him almost from the beginning. He looked at the scientist, waiting for him to go on. Ted Anderson stood beside the generator. He smiled, and went into topological convulsions. I looked away, and presently he came back in to shape.Hard getting used to real space again, he whispered. He looked thinner and paler than ever. I want my mummy, the child said, starting to cry. My Uncle says, "You have to do it. Theres only one way for us to get along with them," and he runs his fingers through his long blonde hair. My Uncles not an educated person, but highly placed, politically, and while Captain Dow is around my Uncle retains this particular shape. The Captain is shipping out soon, then Uncle will find some other features, because he's already warned that it's unseemly for him to be chasing around in the face of a girl after the half-bearded boys from the space ships. I don't want to do this myself, wasting so much time, when the fourteen decimals even now are clicking on my mirrors. Good God, what a specimen to take back. Radioactive animals! Why, they can reproduce themselves, of course! There must be thousands of these creatures around here some place. And to think of those damn fools on Earth with their plutonium piles! Hah! Now Ill have investorsflocking to me. How about it, Benson—does pioneering pay off or doesn’t it? At the United Nations, the American and Russian delegates were staring at the British delegate, who was saying methodically,Agriculture, art, literature, science, engineering, medicine, sociology, botany, zoology, beekeeping, tins mi thing, speleology, wa .. . w . .. milita ... mili... mil ... hm-m-m... sewing, needlework, navigation, law, business, barrister, batt... bat... ba— Cant say it. Maybe somebody hid it to irritate you. You know youre not the most popular guy around. Suppose I started all over, on some other planet, forgot the goonie, wiped it out of my mind, as humans do when they find reality unpleasant. Would that solve anything? If there are definitions of intelligence beyond mans own, would I not merely be starting all over with new scenes, new creatures, to reach the same end? Didnt seem to be anybody else in the room. With a sudden spasm of guilt, Cliff realized that he had never made that second call to Myra. It was Van Kessels fault; the engineer had kept him on the move, given him no time to brood over his own affairs. And Van Kessel was right: In a situation like this, a man could think only of himself. All his resources, mental and physical, must be concentrated on survival. This was no time or place for the distracting and weakening ties of love..
