The Three Stigmata Of Palmer Eldritch Part 11

Tod Morris said, Maybe h.e.l.lyou know. Tell.

We can swear him to secrecy, Sam Regan said, and his wife Mary nodded. Our discussion, Mr. Geyerson Mayerson, Barney corrected.

Has to do with the drug Can-D, which is the old reliable translating agent weve depended on, versus the newer, untried drug Chew-Z; were debating whether to drop Can-D once and for all and Wait until were below, Norm Schein said, and scowled.

Seating himself on the bench beside Barney Mayerson, Tod Morris said, Can-D is kaput; its too hard to get, costs too many skins, and personally Im tired of Perky Pat.i.ts too artificial, too superficial, and matterialistality inpardon; thats our word here for He groped in difficult explanation. Well, its apartments, cars, sunbathing on the beach, ritzy clothes we enjoyed it for a while, but its not enough in some sort of unmatterialistality way. You see at all, Mayerson?

Norm Schein said, Okay, but Mayerson here hasnt had that; he isnt jaded. Maybe hed appreciate going through all that.

Like we did, Fran agreed. Anyhow, we havent voted; we havent decided which were going to buy and use from now on. I think we ought to let Mr. Mayerson try both. Or have you already tried Can-D, Mr. Mayerson?

I did, Barney said. But a long time ago. Too long for me to remember clearly. Leo had given it to him, and offered him more, big amounts, all he wanted. But he had declined; it hadnt appealed to him.

Norm Schein said, This is rather an unfortunate welcome to our hovel, Im afraid, getting you embroiled in our controversy like this. But weve run out of Can-D; we either have to restock or switch: this is the critical moment. Of course the Can-D pusher, Impy White, is after us to reorder through her by the end of tonight well have decided one way or another. And it will affect all of us for the rest of our lives.

So be glad you didnt arrive tomorrow, Fran said. After the vote is taken. She smiled at him encouragingly, trying to make him feel welcome; they had little to offer him except their mutual bond, the fact of their relatedness one to another, and this was extended now to him.

What a place, Barney Mayerson was thinking to himself. The rest of my life it seemed impossible, but what they said was true. There was no provision in the UN selective service law for mustering out. And the fact was not an easy one to face; these people were the bodycorporate for him now, and yethow much worse it could be. Two of their women seemed physically attractive and he could tellor believed he couldthat they were, so to speak, interested; he sensed the subtle interaction of the manifold complexities of the interpersonal relations.h.i.+ps which built up in the cramped confines of a single hovel. But The way out, Mary Regan said quietly to him, seating herself on the side of the bench opposite Tod Morris, is through one or the other of the translating drugs, Mr. Mayerson. Otherwise, as you can see She put her hand on his shoulder; the physical touch was there already. It would be impossible. Wed simply wind up killing one another in our pain.

Yes, he said. I see. But he had not learned that by coming to Mars; he had, like every other Terran, known that early in life, heard of colony life, the struggle against the lure of internecine termination to it all in one swift surrender.

No wonder induction was fought so rabidly, as had been the case with him originally. It was a fight to hold onto life.

Tonight, Mary Regan said to him, well procure one drug or the other; Impy will be stopping by about 7 P.M., Fineburg Crescent time; the answer will have to be in by then.

I think we can vote now, Norm Schein said. I can see that Mr. Mayerson, even though hes just arrived, is prepared. Am I right, Mayerson?

Yes, Barney said. The sand-dredge had completed its autonomic task; his possessions sat in a meager heap, and loose sand billowed across them alreadyif they were not taken below they would succ.u.mb to the dust, and soon. h.e.l.l, he thought; maybe its just as well. Ties to the past The other hovelists gathered to a.s.sist him, pa.s.sing his suitcases from hand to hand, to the conveyer belt that serviced the hovel below the surface. Even if he was not interested in preserving his former goods they were; they had a knowledge superior to his.

You learn to get by from day to day, Sam Regan said sympathetically to him. You never think in longer terms. Just until dinner or until time for bed; very finite intervals and tasks and pleasures. Escapes.

Tossing his cigarette away, Barney reached for the heaviest of his suitcases. Thanks. It was profound advice.

Excuse me, Sam Regan said with polite dignity and went to pick up the discarded cigarette for himself.

Seated in the hovel-chamber adequate to receive them all, the collective members, including new Barney Mayerson, prepared to solemnly vote. The time: six oclock, Fineburg Crescent reckoning. The evening meal, shared as was customary, was over; the dishes now lay lathered and rinsed in the proper machine. No one, it appeared to Barney, had anything to do now; the weight of empty time hung over them all.

Examining the collection of votes, Norm Schein announced, Four for Chew-Z. Three for Can-D. Thats the decision, then. Okay, who wants the job of telling Impy White the bad news? He peered around at each of them. Shes going to be sore; we better expect that.

Barney said, Ill tell her.

Astonished, the three couples who comprised the hovels inhabitants in addition to himself stared at him. But you dont even know her, Fran Schein protested.

Ill say its my fault, Barney said. That I tipped the balance here to Chew-Z. They would let him, he knew; it was an onerous task.

Half an hour later he lounged in the silent darkness at the lip of the hovels entrance, smoking and listening to the unfamiliar sounds of the Martian night.

Far off some lunary object streaked the sky, pa.s.sing between his sight and the stars. A moment later he heard retrojets. Soon, he knew; he waited, arms folded, more or less relaxed, practicing what he intended to say.

Presently a squat female figure dressed in heavy coveralls trudged into view. Schein? Morris? Well, Regan, then? She squinted at him, using an infrared lantern. I dont know you. Warily, she halted. I have a laser pistol. It manifested itself, pointed at him. Speak up.

Barney said, Lets move off out of earshot of the hovel.

With extreme caution Impatience White accompanied him, still pointing the laser pistol menacingly. She accepted his ident-pak, reading it by means of her lantern. You were with Bulero, she said, glancing up at him appraisingly. So?

So, he said, were switching to Chew-Z, we at Chicken Pox Prospects.

Why?

Just accept it and dont push any farther here. You can check with Leo at P.P. Or through Conner Freeman on Venus.

I will, Impatience said. Chew-Z is garbage; its habit forming, toxic, and whats worse leads to lethal, escape-dreams, not of Terra but of She gestured with the pistol. Grotesque, baroque fantasies of an infantile, totally deranged nature. Explain to me why this decision.

He said nothing; he merely shrugged. It was interesting, however, the ideological devotion on her part; it amused him. In fact, he reflected, its fanaticism was in sharp contrast to the att.i.tude which the girl missionary aboard the TerraMars s.h.i.+p had shown. Evidently subject matter had no bearing; he had never realized this before.

Ill see you tomorrow night at this same time, Impatience White decided. If youre being truthful, fine. But if youre not What if Im not? he said slowly, deliberately. Can you force us to consume your product? After all, it is illegal; we could ask for UN protection.

Youre new. Her scorn was enormous. The UN in this region is perfectly aware of the Can-D traffic; I pay a regular stipend to them, to avoid interference. As far as Chew-Z goes She gestured with her gun. If the UN is going to protect them, and theyre the coming thing Then youll go over to them, Barney said.

She did not answer; instead she turned and strode off. Almost at once her short shape vanished into the Martian night; he remained where he was and then he made his way back to the hovel, orienting himself by the looming, opaque shape of a huge, apparently discarded tractortype farm machine parked close by.

Well? Norm Schein, to his surprise, said, meeting him at the entrance. I came up to see how many holes she had lasered in your cranium.

She took it philosophically.

Impy White? Norm laughed sharply. Its a millionskin business she runsphilosophically my a.s.s. What really happened?

Barney said, Sh.e.l.l be back after she gets instructions from above. He began to descend into the hovel.

Yeah, that makes sense; shes small-fry. Leo Bulero, on Terra I know. He saw no reason to conceal his previous career; in any case it was public record; the hovelists would run across the datum eventually. I was Leos Pre-Fash consultant for New York.

And you voted to switch to Chew-Z? Norm was incredulous. You had a falling-out with Bulero, is that right?

Ill tell you sometime. He reached the bottom of the ramp and stepped out into the communal chamber where the others waited.

With relief Fran Schein said, At least she didnt stew you with that little laser pistol she waves around. You must have outstared her.

Are we rid of her? Tod Morris asked.

Ill have that news tomorrow night, Barney said.

Mary Regan said to him, We think youre very brave. Youre going to give this hovel a great deal, Mr. Mayerson. Barney, I mean. To mix a metaphor, a good swift goose to our morale.

My, my, Helen Morris mocked. Arent we getting a little inelegant in our dithering attempt to impress the new citizen?

Flus.h.i.+ng, Mary Regan said, I wasnt trying to impress him.

Flatter him, then, Fran Schein said softly.

You, too, Mary said with anger. You were the first to fawn over him when he stepped off that rampor anyhow you wanted to; you would have, if we hadnt all been here. If your husband especially hadnt been here.

To change the subject, Norm Schein said, Too bad we cant translate ourselves tonight, get out the good old Perky Pat layout one final time. Barney might enjoy it. He could at least see what hes voted to give up. Meaningfully, he gazed from one of them to the next, pinning each down. Now come on surely one of you has some Can-D youve held back, stuffed in a crack in the wall or under the septic tank for a rainy year. Aw, come on; be generous to the new citizen; show him youre not Okay, Helen Morris burst in, flushed with sullen resentment. I have a little, enough for three-quarters of an hour. But thats absolutely all, and suppose that Chew-Z isnt ready for distribution in our area yet?

Get your Can-D, Norm said. As she departed he said, And dont worry; Chew-Z is here . Today when I was picking up a sack of salt from that last UN drop I ran into one of their pushers. He gave me his card. He displayed the card. All we need do is light a common strontium nitrate flare at 7:30 P.M. and theyll be down from their satellite Satellite! Everyone squawked in amazement. Then, Fran said excitedly, it must be UN-sanctioned. Or do they have a layout and the disc jockeys on the satellite advertise their new mins?

I dont know, yet, Norm admitted. I mean, at this point theres a lot of confusion. Waitll the dust settles.

Here on Mars, Sam Regan said hollowly, itll never settle.

They sat in a circle. Before them the Perky Pat layout, complete and elaborate, beckoned; they all felt its pull, and Norm Schein reflected that this was a sentimental occasion because they would never be doing this again unless, of course, they did itmade use of the layoutwith Chew-Z. How would that work out? he wondered. Interesting He had a feeling, unaccountably, that it would not be the same.

Andthey might not like the difference.

You understand, Sam Regan said to the new member Barney Mayerson, that were going to spend the translated period listening to and watching Pats new Great Books animatoryou know, the device theyve just brought out on Terra youre surely more familiar with it than we are, Barney, so maybe you ought to explain it to us.

Barney, dutifully, said, You insert one of the Great Books, for instance Moby d.i.c.k , into the reservoid. Then you set the controls for long or short . Then for funny version, or same-as-book or sad version. Then you set the style-indicator as to which cla.s.sic Great Artist you want the book animated like. Dali, Bacon, Pica.s.so the medium-priced Great Books animator is set up to render in cartoon form the styles of a dozen system-famous artists; you specify which ones you want when you originally buy the thing. And there are options you can add later that provide even more.

Terrific, Norm Schein said, radiating enthusiasm. So what you get is a whole evenings entertainment, say sad version in the style of Jack Wright of like for instance Vanity Fair . Wow!

Sighing, Fran said dreamily, How it must have resounded in your soul, Barney, to have lived so recently on Terra. You seem to carry the vibrations with you still.

Heck, we get it all, Norm said, when were translated. Impatiently he reached for the undersize supply of Can-D. Lets start. Taking his own slice he chewed with vigor. The Great Book Im going to turn into a full-length funny cartoon version in the style of De Chirico will be He pondered. IJm, The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius .

Very witty, Helen Morris said cuttingly. I was going to suggest Augustines Confessions in the style of Lichtenstein funny, of course.

I mean it! Imagine: the surrealistic perspective, deserted, ruined buildings with Done columns lying on their sides, hollow heads Everybody else better get chewing, Fran advised, taking her slice, so well be in synch.

Barney accepted his. The end of the old , he reflected as he chewed; Im partic.i.p.ating in what, for this particular hovel, is the final night, and in its place comes what? If Leo is right it will be intolerably worse, in fact no comparison. Of course, Leo is scarcely disinterested. But he is evolved. And wise.

Minned objects which in the past I judged favorably, he realized. Ill in a moment be immersed in a world composed of them, reduced to their dimension. And, unlike the other hovelists, I can compare my experience of this layout with what I so recently left behind.

And fairly soon, he realized soberly, I will be required to do the same with Chew-Z.

Youre going to discover its an odd sensation, Norm Schein said to him, to find yourself inhabiting a body with three other fellas; we all have to agree on what we want the body to do, or anyhow a dominant majority has to form, otherwise were just plain stuck.

That happens, Tod Morris said. Half the time, in fact.

One by one the rest of them began to chew their slices of Can-D; Barney Mayerson was the last and most reluctant. Aw h.e.l.l, he thought all at once, and strode across the room to a basin; there he spat out the half-chewed Can-D without having swallowed it.

The others, seated at the Perky Pat layout, had already collapsed into a coma and none of them now paid any attention to him. He was, for all intents and purposes, suddenly alone. The hovel for a time was his.

He wandered about, aware of the silence.

I just cant do it, he realized. Cant take the d.a.m.n stuff like the rest of them do. At least not yet.

A bell sounded.

Someone was at the hovel entrance, requesting permission to enter; it was up to him to admit them. So he made his way in ascent, hoping he was doing the proper thing, hoping that it was not one of the UNs periodic raids; there would not be much he could do to keep them from discovering the other hovelists inert at their layout and, flagrante delicto , Can-D users.

Lantern in hand, at the ground-level entrance, stood a young woman wearing a bulky heat-retention suit and clearly unaccustomed to it; she looked enormously comfortable. h.e.l.lo, Mr. Mayerson, she said. Remember me? I tracked you down because Im just terribly lonely. May I come in? It was Anne Hawthorne; surprised, he stared at her. Or are you busy? I could come back another time. She half-turned, starting away.

I can see, he said, that Mars has been quite some shock to you.

Its a sin on my part, Anne said, but I already hate it; I really doI know I should adopt a patient att.i.tude of acceptance and all that, but She flashed the lantern at the landscape beyond the hovel and in a quavering, despairing voice said, All I want to do now is find some way to get back to Earth; I dont want to convert anybody or change anything, I just want to get away from here. She added morosely, But I know I cant. So I thought instead Id visit you. See?

Taking her by the hand he led her down the ramp and to the compartment which had been a.s.signed to him as his living quarters.

Wherere your co-hovelists? She looked about alertly.

Out.

Outside? She opened the door to the communal room, and saw the lot of them slumped at the layout. Oh, out that way. But not you. She shut the door, frowning, obviously perplexed. You amaze me. Id have gladly accepted some Can-D, tonight, the way I feel. Look how well youre standing up under it, compared with me. Im so inadequate.

Barney said, Maybe I have more of a purpose here than you.

I had plenty of purpose. She removed her bulky suit and seated herself as he began fixing coffee for the two of them. The people in my hovelits half a mile to the north of this oneare out, too, the same way. Did you know I was so close? Would you have looked me up?

Sure I would have. He found plastic, insipidly styled cups and saucers, laid them on the foldaway table, and produced the equally foldaway chairs. Maybe, he said, G.o.d doesnt extend as far as Mars. Maybe when we left Terra Nonsense, Anne said sharply, rousing herself.

I thought that would succeed in getting you angry.

Of course it does. Hes everywhere. Even here. She glanced at his partially unpacked possessions, the suitcases and sealed cartons. You didnt bring very much, did you? Most of mines still on the way, on an autonomic transport. Strolling over, she stood studying a pile of paperback books. De Imitatione Christi, she said in amazement. Youre reading Thomas Kempis? This is a great and wonderful book.

I bought it, he said, but never read it.

Did you try? I bet you didnt. She opened it at random and read to herself, her lips moving. Think the least gift that he giveth is great; and the most despisable things take as special gifts and as great tokens of love. That would include life here on Mars, wouldnt it? This despisable life, shut up in thesehovels. Well-named, arent they? Why in the name of G.o.d She turned to him, appealing to him. Couldnt it be a finite period here, and then we could go home?

Barney said, A colony, by definition, has to be permanent. Think of Roanoke Island.

Yes. Anne nodded. I have been. I wish Mars was one big Roanoke Island, with everyone going home.

To be slowly cooked.

We can evolve, as the rich do; it could be done on a ma.s.s basis. She put down the Kempis book abruptly. But I dont want that, either; a chitinous sh.e.l.l and the rest. Isnt there any answer, Mr. Mayerson? You know, Neo-Christians are taught to believe theyre travelers in a foreign land. Wayfaring strangers. Now we really are; Earth is ceasing to become our natural world, and certainly this never will be. Weve got no world left! She stared at him, her nostrils flaring. No home at all!

Well, he said uncomfortably, theres always Can-D and Chew-Z.

Do you have any?

No.

She nodded. Back to Thomas Kempis, then. But she did not pick the book up again; instead she stood head-down, lost in dreary meditation. I know whats going to happen, Mr. Mayerson. Barney. Im not going to convert anyone to Neo-American Christianity; instead theyll convert me to Can-D and Chew-Z and whatever other vice is current, here, whatever escape presents itself. s.e.x. Theyre terribly promiscuous here on Mars, you know; everyone goes to bed with everyone else. Ill even try that; in fact Im ready for it right nowI just cant stand the way things are did you get a really good look at the surface before nightfall?

Yes. It hadnt upset him that much, seeing the half abandoned gardens and fully abandoned equipment, the great heaps of rotting supplies. He knew from edu-tapes that the frontier was always like that, even on Earth; Alaska had been like that until recent times and so, except for the actual resort towns, was Antarctica right now.

Anne Hawthorne said, Those hovelists in the other room at their layout. Suppose we lifted Perky Pat entirely from the board and smashed it to bits? What would become of them?

Theyd go on with their fantasy. It was established, now; the props were no longer necessary as foci. Why would you want to do that? It had a decided s.a.d.i.s.tic quality to it and he was surprised; the girl had not struck him that way at first meeting.