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ChicagoFire. Allset.Everything salltakencareof.Matedandeverything,e venlegal. Heheldup themarriagelicense. ThegreenmantookthepaperfromM ilt sfingersandlookedit overcarefully.Hisblobby nosetwitchedwit hsomeunnamedemotion.Henoddedhishead,andhandedthepape rback. Well,whendow ego? Miltdemanded.The greenmanthumbedthesideofhishugenose. Well,yousee-- Milt sjoyturnedtomoth swingsinhismouth.Hisfacecrumpledslowly,andh isvoicegrew syrupywithdread. Hey,waitaminute!Youpromised.YousaidIcouldbesurvivornumbe rone.AllIhadtodowas getmated.SoIgo tmated;look! Hewavedthelicensebeneaththegreenman sprominentproboscis. Thevisitorplacatedhim. Nowtak eiteas y,Mr.Klowitz.S omething scomeup.WhenIwentto mak emyreporttotheCouncilofE lders,Idiscove redthattherehad beena changeinp lans. Youmightcall itapostponement. Youcan tdoth is tome! Milt said. Youcan t justleavemehere todie.Youcan tyouca n t you-- Mr.Klowitz ,please!You ren otlisteningt ome.Yo udon thavetodie .NoEarthlinghastod ie.The Councilhasdecidedtoextendtheclean-updateanothertenthousandEarth-years.It sposs iblethatfuture developmentswillcauseus tode cide notto eliminateyourraceatall.Youwill be-- By thistimeMilt shabitofinterruptionw asingrown. Youmeany ouaren tg oingt odes troythe Earth? Precisely. Page 158 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html Miltsankontothesofawithastrangledgasp.Itwasasthoughthelidhadbeenliftedfromthep ressurecooker in which hehadbeensteamin gfo rth reedays. Thank God, hemurmured, hea di nhands.Thegreenmanwentt othedoor. I trustyounotto mention this affair, he said. You renot liabletoenc ounterm uch belief. Sof or your ownsake,Iho peyouwillbed iscreet. Miltn oddedatthefloor. It sbeenapleasureknowing you, th egreenmansaid.Andhewasgone. Itw asonlynatural thattheepisodewouldeffect a changeinMilt snature.Naomi approvedof hisdeepen edmaturity,andsodidNaom i sparents,wh omethernewhusbandaweeklater .Miltfoundthem pleasant,agreeab lepeople.Mrs.Winklerwasasplendidcook,andMr.Wi nkler sharedhisinterestintheliteratureofsciencefiction. Theonly thing tha tb othered Milt Klowitzwasthe vague notionthathe ha dmet Naomi sfather before.Ther ewassomethingfamiliarabou ttheman.Somethingaboutthenose. SamuelR.DelanyandHarlanEllisonTHE POWEROFTHE NAIL INTRODUCTION Thereisverylittletosayaboutthisstoryo rmyrelationshipw ithChipDelany,savethatbetween uswehavedec idedtowinalltheHug oandNebulatrophiesthatSilverbergdoesn twin. As for thecollaboration,it came aboutasapartystunt,afluke,aspur-of-the-momentactivitya ta dull party atTed White shousein Brooklynse veral yearsago. Wejustde cidedtoa wethepartygoers,andrigh tinthemiddleoftheactionIsatdown,typedthetitleandthefirstpa georso , andChip tookitupf romthere.Wefinishedita ttheparty,ItookitbacktoLosAngelesanddidtherewrite,andseveral months later, a tth eO aklandWor ldSF Convent ion Chipd idthepolishand finaltouches. Thedamnedest thing about itisthatitwasfinally publishedin a magazineTedWhiteedited,thoughh ewasn teditoratthetimethestorywaswritten.Allof whichgoes toproveabsolutelyn othinge xcept theworldofs fwriting istood amnedsmall. To beabsolutelyupfrontabouti t,neitherChipn orI feelth isstoryissuccessful. Sometimesit happensthat way; Oh, ittellsitself literately,andith assomeclever passages,b ut in thecold,h arddawnof reappraisal wemustc onfessthestory fails.At least,perhaps, it ll bea learningexperienceforallof us.ThePoweroftheNail Page 159 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html Coffins,onSaquetta,areround.Thenatives,onSaquetta ,are round.Whentheyd ieviolently,the soundthe ymakerisesupintotheultrasonicand anEarther s livertightensinsidehim.ButonSaquettathereis very littleviolent death.Itisapeacefulworld;thereareveryfewSaquettesandun lesstheya reviolently killed,theyarereincarnatedalmost immediately. ThatwasthewayithadalwaysbeenonSaquetta, tillthe Earther ,Zagaramendo,c ame.Alwaysgentle, in azurebreezeswithfullbellies. They neverhurtone another, they knewnothingaboutk illing.Tod iewastopaleandshiverandceasemov ing,w ithoutpain,untilthedormantsk inshelle mergedfromthesk y-night-bluesandoftheHatcheryDesertandtheyknewtheirdeadb rotherhadbeen rebornintothe skin-shellthat hadalwayswaitedforh im.Andthentheskin-shellm oistened, tore, fellaway,and theSaquetteh adreturned. That was the wayi th adalw aysbeen, withman yrotationsofSaquettapassingwithouttheterrible soundoftheviolentdeathscreamrisingu ptill itc ouldnolongerbeheard. Andthen cameRobertZagaramendo, with Margret. Ihateithere. Shutu p. Youpromisedmebetterthanthis,somewhere;thereareotherposts.Ihateithere! Shutup,Margret. Theyhadp lantedtheautomaticecologye quipment.Nowtheysatontheemptyequ ipmentcases.Shebrushedauburnh airb ackfromher forehead;she wasperspiring andthescent of herself reachedher;itwashardl yunp leasant,butitdisgustedher. Thisis whatyouc allproviding forme? Zagaramendos toodup:motionand emotionmadehimh iss.Hestartedtosaysomethingloud,butinsteadturnedandwalkedtothesquid.Hepunchedo utthebuildingcodesonthesquid sbelly; itwas somethingtod o that wasnotf ighting.Fightingh adbeenconstantsincehehadacceptedthisObserverpost,andhewantednom ore.Theywereherenow, farouton thePerimeter, an dthey wouldm aketh ebest of it. Hecompletedthebuildingcodesandpunchedthesquidtoaction.Stamp...stamp...stamp,st amp, stamp.Ithuzzzedawayont ractor-treadfeet. Zagaramendowent backt ohe r. Look... Idon tw anttot alk about it any more. Margret,look,we vegotachancehere,pleasetrytobereasonable. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |