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What is the melting sickness?	After carefully reading the provided chunks, write a detailed response to the following question about Contagion by Katherine MacLean. Relevant chunks: a note on your town, telling them you got through to us," Hal Barton told Pat, who was sitting up watching Max dexterously put the blood and spinal fluids into the right bottles without exposing them to air. "We won't be free to contact your people until we know if they still carry melting sickness," Max added. "You might be immune so it doesn't show on you, but still carry enough germs—if that's what caused it—to wipe out a planet." "If you do carry melting sickness," said Hal Barton, "we won't be able to mingle with your people until we've was the disease?" Hal Barton asked. "Pretty gruesome, according to my father. They called it the melting sickness. The doctors died too soon to find out what it was or what to do about it." "You should have trained for more doctors, or sent to civilization for some." A trace of impatience was in George Barton's voice. Pat Mead explained patiently, "Our ship, with the power plant and all the books we needed, went off into the sky to avoid the contagion, and never came back. The crew must have died." Long years of hardship were indicated by that statement, attack of space-appendicitis. The rest you know." "So you?" "So I'm a combination nurse, governess, guard and what have you. Or will be until we get back. After this, I'll probably be looking for work." She shivered. "Cold?" he inquired concernedly. "On the contrary, I'm too warm." She started to remove the blanket. Rat threw up a hand to stop her. "Leave on! Hot out here." "But I'm too hot now. I want to take it off!" "No. Leave on. Wool blanket. Keep in body heat, yes. Keep out cold, yes. Keep in, keep out, likewise. See?" Gray stared at a colony with electric power gone and machinery stilled, with key technicians dead and no way to replace them. June realized then the full meaning of the primitive sheath knife and bow. "Any recurrence of melting sickness?" asked Hal Barton. "No." "Any other diseases?" "Not a one." Max was eyeing the bronze red-headed figure with something approaching awe. "Do you think all the Meads look like that?" he said to June on the intercom. "I wouldn't mind being a Mead myself!" Their job had been made easy by the coming of Pat. They went back to the ship laughing, exchanging CONTAGION By KATHERINE MacLEAN [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Galaxy Science Fiction October 1950. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] Minos was such a lovely planet. Not a thing seemed wrong with it. Excepting the food, perhaps. And a disease that wasn't really. It was like an Earth forest in the fall, but it was not fall. The forest leaves were green and copper and purple and fiery red, and a wind sent patches of bright greenish sunlight dancing among the leaf shadows. The hunt party of the Question: What is the melting sickness? Answer:	[ "The melting sickness is described as a type of plague by Pat. He informs the doctors that it arrived soon after the colony settled on the planet and killed all but one particular familiar which happened to be immune to the disease. The disease is described as being brutal and not even doctors were able to avoid it. According to Pat, there has not been any recurrence of the melting sickness and no other diseases to note. ", "The melting sickness is the name the local colonists gave to some kind of a plague which killed all the colonists except the Meads families. It happened in a couple years after arrival and only the Meads turned out to be immune, that's why all the people on Minos look similar - they are related. The disease was so rapid and furious that it killed all the doctors and, therefore, wasn't studied. The rest of the colonists took off on the ship to escape, and left the Meads without any books or technologies, so they don't have doctors and hunt with bows. This disease is still carried by the Meads without harming them, it's also unable to record through testings - all the tests are good but the hamsters die.", "The melting sickness is a plague that spread across the first colony on Minos. The melting sickness killed everyone except for the Mead family, who seemed to be immune to the disease. It is unsure what exactly the melting sickness is or its cure, because the doctors working to learn about it ended up dying during the plague. Since the, plague, there have been no more cases of the melting sickness on Minos, but the people on The Explorer still need to take precautions in case the germs prevailed. When the experiment is run on the hamsters, three of them die, one of them losing its hair. ", "Melting sickness is the equivalent of a plague-type disease on Minos. Patrick does not know much about the melting sickness, but his father had explained it to him as being pretty gruesome. The doctors died too soon to find out what the disease was and what to do to cure it. It was also impossible to train more doctors or send them to civilization because their spaceship that served as a power plant with all of the necessary books went into the sky and never came back. Although Patrick says that there are no more recurrences of melting sickness, it is revealed that the colony peoples still carry the germs of the disease, which means that they must disinfect before establishing contact. The hamsters can fight off melting sickness alone, but the ones who died had strong shots of adaptive and counter histamine. George also says that they can not find any external micro-organisms. Everything present is leucosis and anemia; fever is only for the ones who fought it off. " ]	50774	a note on your town, telling them you got through to us," Hal Barton told Pat, who was sitting up watching Max dexterously put the blood and spinal fluids into the right bottles without exposing them to air. "We won't be free to contact your people until we know if they still carry melting sickness," Max added. "You might be immune so it doesn't show on you, but still carry enough germs—if that's what caused it—to wipe out a planet." "If you do carry melting sickness," said Hal Barton, "we won't be able to mingle with your people until we've was the disease?" Hal Barton asked. "Pretty gruesome, according to my father. They called it the melting sickness. The doctors died too soon to find out what it was or what to do about it." "You should have trained for more doctors, or sent to civilization for some." A trace of impatience was in George Barton's voice. Pat Mead explained patiently, "Our ship, with the power plant and all the books we needed, went off into the sky to avoid the contagion, and never came back. The crew must have died." Long years of hardship were indicated by that statement, attack of space-appendicitis. The rest you know." "So you?" "So I'm a combination nurse, governess, guard and what have you. Or will be until we get back. After this, I'll probably be looking for work." She shivered. "Cold?" he inquired concernedly. "On the contrary, I'm too warm." She started to remove the blanket. Rat threw up a hand to stop her. "Leave on! Hot out here." "But I'm too hot now. I want to take it off!" "No. Leave on. Wool blanket. Keep in body heat, yes. Keep out cold, yes. Keep in, keep out, likewise. See?" Gray stared at a colony with electric power gone and machinery stilled, with key technicians dead and no way to replace them. June realized then the full meaning of the primitive sheath knife and bow. "Any recurrence of melting sickness?" asked Hal Barton. "No." "Any other diseases?" "Not a one." Max was eyeing the bronze red-headed figure with something approaching awe. "Do you think all the Meads look like that?" he said to June on the intercom. "I wouldn't mind being a Mead myself!" Their job had been made easy by the coming of Pat. They went back to the ship laughing, exchanging CONTAGION By KATHERINE MacLEAN [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Galaxy Science Fiction October 1950. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] Minos was such a lovely planet. Not a thing seemed wrong with it. Excepting the food, perhaps. And a disease that wasn't really. It was like an Earth forest in the fall, but it was not fall. The forest leaves were green and copper and purple and fiery red, and a wind sent patches of bright greenish sunlight dancing among the leaf shadows. The hunt party of the
Describe what "pre-civilization" means in the context of this story	After carefully reading the provided chunks, write a detailed response to the following question about Time In the Round by Fritz Leiber. Relevant chunks: was almost frightening: a silent picture of the beginning of civilization challenging the end of it. Then a small boy caught up with the dog and it rolled over enthusiastically at his feet and the scene was normal again. The small boy, however, seemed definitely pre-civilization. He studied the dog coldly and then inserted a thin metal tube under its eyelid and poked. The dog wagged its stumpy tail. The boy frowned, tightened his grip on the tube and jabbed hard. The dog's tail thumped the cushiony pavement and the four paws beat the air. The boy shortened his grip sorry she hadn't been contacted telepathically. "Yeah," Kane replied. "I saw all sorts of mental pictures and they explained what they did to us. Those damned aliens want us for their zoo!" "Start at the beginning," I suggested. He flashed an angry glance at me, but seemed to calm somewhat. "This ship was made by a race from another galaxy. Thousands of years ago, they came to Earth in their spaceships when men were primitives living in caves. They wanted to know what our civilization would be like when we developed space flight. So they put this ship on the our conquest of space flight when we hadn't even invented the wheel. That thought awed me—somehow they had analyzed our brains thousands of years ago and calculated what our future accomplishments would be. They had been able to predict our scientific development, but they hadn't been able to tell how our civilization would develop. They were curious, so they had left an enormously elaborate piece of bait on the Moon. The aliens were incredibly more advanced than ourselves. I couldn't help thinking, And to a rabbit in a snare, mankind must seem impossibly clever . I decided to ask the above his head and striding purposefully down the aisle. At his heels, five stocky forms trotted. In a definitely pre-civilization voice, or at least with pre-civilization volume, he bellowed: "Hey, you! You quit that!" The first warrior looked toward him, gave his left shoulder a shake to quiet his wriggling captive, gave his right shoulder one to supple his sword arm, and waited until the dwarfish challenger came into range. Then his sword swished down in a flashing arc. Next moment, the Butcher was on his knees and the warrior was staring at him open-mouthed. The sword had rebounded from me of a mechanical toy being wound into motion. "The whole foundation of this or any other culture is based on the history of all the time dimensions, each interwoven with the other, throughout the ages. And the holes provide a means of studying all of it first hand." Oh, oh , I thought. But you still have to eat. Remember, you still have to eat. "Trouble is," he went on, "there are so many holes in this universe." "Holes?" I kept a straight face. "Certainly. Look around you. All you see is holes. These beer bottles are just holes Question: Describe what "pre-civilization" means in the context of this story Answer:	[ "The term pre-civilization points to anything that has a sense of violence or chaos in the lives of adults. For instance, raised voices and people talking over each other is considered pre-civilization, but so are violent wars. The society is built to get rid of these tendencies in children and recondition them as adults to be calm and peaceful members of society. When the Butcher is referred to as looking pre-civilization at the beginning of the story, it is because he seems to be up to something he isn't supposed to do, as he is potentially hurting or controlling Brute in some way with the use of a metal tube. ", "In “Time in the Round,” the society is structured around perfection. Small children are given breakables, and those items are the only things that are physically capable of being broken. There are dirt-pens for kids to play in, and besides those areas, children are incapable of becoming dirty. The dirt-pens are only available to children aged 2 and younger. The society’s dogs, uninjes, are programmed not to bite or hurt the people, even when they are hit or stabbed themselves. They do not react like normal canines. \n\nYoung children are considered to be self-centered and ruthless, and they are provided with death games and fear houses to get out their emotions and prepare to be conditioned as adults. When children turn six years old, they feel differently than they did before. They are ready to enter the Time Theater and view the Time Bubble. They are taught about pre-civilization and the important differences between their own society and the past. They learn how to reject violent solutions to problems and live in peace. Even yelling is considered a pre-civilization act. When Butch enters the Time Theater and tries to get the Scandinavian warrior’s attention, he is using someithing called a “pre-civilization voice”. The Time Bubble is a tool that society uses to remind its current citizens what humans used to act barbarically, and that is not longer appropriate. \n", "Pre-civilization seems to refer to the society that we know, and any society that predates the decision to make violence impossible and to control all aspects of societal behavior. Hal describes the process of conditioning humanity to reject violence in all forms, and pre-civilization points to a time before that process was undertaken. For example, Butch is referred to as “pre-civilization” when he continually abuses an uninj at the beginning of the story, because he is behaving in a violent way. He is described this way again at the end of the story when he is shouting battle orders. \n", "Pre-civilization primarily refers to the time before the post-violent society where the central action of the story takes place. They are able to view this era by using the time-hole technology of the bubble on display at the Time Theater in the Peace Park at the end of the Avenue of Wisdom. \"Pre-civilization\" is characterized by famous historical figures such as Hitler, Stalin, and Tamerlane--individuals that the Butcher idealizes for their use of violence in resolving conflict. The climax of the story revolves around a viewing of Scandinavian men of the Dawn Era gone wrong when the simultaneous workings of a sorcerer and the Butcher's impulsive mind allow the Scandinavian men to pass through the bubble into the Time Theater. The ensuing battle highlights the barbarism of the Dawn Era--they use swords and real dogs in battle; it also demonstrates the Butcher's ability to weaponize technology meant to oppose violence as a way to protect this new society." ]	51380	was almost frightening: a silent picture of the beginning of civilization challenging the end of it. Then a small boy caught up with the dog and it rolled over enthusiastically at his feet and the scene was normal again. The small boy, however, seemed definitely pre-civilization. He studied the dog coldly and then inserted a thin metal tube under its eyelid and poked. The dog wagged its stumpy tail. The boy frowned, tightened his grip on the tube and jabbed hard. The dog's tail thumped the cushiony pavement and the four paws beat the air. The boy shortened his grip sorry she hadn't been contacted telepathically. "Yeah," Kane replied. "I saw all sorts of mental pictures and they explained what they did to us. Those damned aliens want us for their zoo!" "Start at the beginning," I suggested. He flashed an angry glance at me, but seemed to calm somewhat. "This ship was made by a race from another galaxy. Thousands of years ago, they came to Earth in their spaceships when men were primitives living in caves. They wanted to know what our civilization would be like when we developed space flight. So they put this ship on the our conquest of space flight when we hadn't even invented the wheel. That thought awed me—somehow they had analyzed our brains thousands of years ago and calculated what our future accomplishments would be. They had been able to predict our scientific development, but they hadn't been able to tell how our civilization would develop. They were curious, so they had left an enormously elaborate piece of bait on the Moon. The aliens were incredibly more advanced than ourselves. I couldn't help thinking, And to a rabbit in a snare, mankind must seem impossibly clever . I decided to ask the above his head and striding purposefully down the aisle. At his heels, five stocky forms trotted. In a definitely pre-civilization voice, or at least with pre-civilization volume, he bellowed: "Hey, you! You quit that!" The first warrior looked toward him, gave his left shoulder a shake to quiet his wriggling captive, gave his right shoulder one to supple his sword arm, and waited until the dwarfish challenger came into range. Then his sword swished down in a flashing arc. Next moment, the Butcher was on his knees and the warrior was staring at him open-mouthed. The sword had rebounded from me of a mechanical toy being wound into motion. "The whole foundation of this or any other culture is based on the history of all the time dimensions, each interwoven with the other, throughout the ages. And the holes provide a means of studying all of it first hand." Oh, oh , I thought. But you still have to eat. Remember, you still have to eat. "Trouble is," he went on, "there are so many holes in this universe." "Holes?" I kept a straight face. "Certainly. Look around you. All you see is holes. These beer bottles are just holes
What is the setting of the story?	After carefully reading the provided chunks, write a detailed response to the following question about Contagion by Katherine MacLean. Relevant chunks: on a dead planet, living in an atmosphere of carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide brought him up sharp. If there had been life here once, there would have been plant life as well, and therefore oxygen. If the war had been so long ago that the free oxygen had since gone out of the atmosphere—good God, how old were the robots? Steffens looked at Ball, then at the silent robots, then out across the field to where the rest of them stood. The black wheat. Steffens felt a deep chill. Were they immortal? "Would you like to see a doctor?" many days?" His only answer was an inhuman snarl, and the cruel blazing of those inhuman eyes. She fell face first to the floor. "I can't keep it up!" she cried. The sound of her voice rolled along the hot steel deck. "I cant! I cant!" A double handful of tepid water was thrown in her face. "Get up!" Rat stood over her, face twisted, his body hunched. "Get up!" She stared at him, dazed. He kicked her. "Get up!" The tepid water ran off her face and far away she heard Judith calling.... She forced herself up. Rat was and didn't look at her. "You'll have to spend most of the trip in a hammock." "I can take it." Suddenly she smiled, wanly. "I was with the Fleet. How long will it take?" "Eight days, in that ship." Roberds lit his pipe, and carefully hid his emotions. He knew Peterson was harboring the same thoughts. Eight days in space, in a small ship meant for two, and built for planetary surface flights. Eight days in that untrustworthy crate, hurtling to save the lives of that girl and Gladney. "Who was that ... man? The one you put out?" Gray The Beast-Jewel of Mars By V. E. THIESSEN The city was strange, fantastic, beautiful. He'd never been there before, yet already he was a fabulous legendâ€”a dire, hateful legend. [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Planet Stories Spring 1955. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] He lay on his stomach, a lean man in faded one piece dungarees, and an odd metallic hat, peering over the side of the canal. Behind him the little winds sifted red dust into his collar, but he could not move; he could only asked. "We call him Rat," Roberds said. She didn't ask why. She said: "Why couldn't he pilot the ship, I mean? What is his record?" Peterson opened his mouth. "Shut up, Peterson!" the Chief snapped. "We don't talk about his record around here, Miss Gray. It's not a pretty thing to tell." "Stow it, Chief," said Peterson. "Miss Gray is no pantywaist." He turned to the nurse. "Ever hear of the Sansan massacre?" Patti Gray paled. "Yes," she whispered. "Was Rat in that?" Roberds shook his head. "He didn't take part in it. But Rat was attached to a very Question: What is the setting of the story? Answer:	[ "The story begins with the ship, the Explorer, landing on an unknown planet. It has an Earth-like forest in the fall. The leaves were of various colors, green, copper, purple, and red. To get to this planet, known as Minos, it took 36 light-years from Earth. The ship they traveled on is described as being like a silver and black column. It was previously a yacht that was retrofitted to become the Explorer. \n\nThey take Pat back to the ship and they all decontaminate. Once they are done, they go to the dining hall for food. After eating their food in the dining, June and some of the other doctors return to the laboratory to inspect the mice. \n", "The story begins on Minos, a lovely planet reminding Earth. A party of doctors in spacesuits and earphones are moving through the forest, which looks like a beautiful Earth forest in the fall. The trail is narrow, and the spaceship, 'Explorer', towers behind. The ship is huge and it looks like a skyscraper within the forest. It is a polished silver and black column which used to be a yacht. There are many passengers abroad, staring at the planet through the windows. There are cabins, a cafeteria, a control room, a library and laboratories inside. Before coming in, Pat is tested on the ground near the ship. The ship has a cureall - a cure from any disease. Not to get sick before it's used, then testings are done by machines. There is Reno's plane which travels with the news and notions. There are hamsters in one of the laboratories. From the view plate mountains, forests, hills and fields are visible. The ship used to have ballrooms and dining rooms but all was transformed. ", "The story is set on Minos, a planet that Earthmen had found and landed on in hopes of finding a habitable place to colonize. Minos is visually and physically very similar to Earth, with forests, meadows, clouds, and breathable air. The animals are also similar to Earth animals. However, there is uncertainty about Minos, and risk of the planet carrying diseases that would kill the humans. Part of the story takes place aboard The Explorer, a large yacht-converted-spaceship. The Explorer is silver and black and towers over the forests of Minos, and inside the ship has several compartments, including precautionary medical rooms, staterooms, and a dining hall.", "The story is set on the planet of Minos. The forest that the doctors trek through is said to be similar to Earth in the fall, but it is not fall. The colors of the leaves themselves are green, copper, purple, and fiery red. There are also patches of bright greenish sunlight and wind. On the planet, the small town of Alexandria is also there. The Explorer itself is converted from a yacht with a synthetic diamond-studded control board and murals. However, it does not have the newest speed drives. Inside of the ship, there are multiple stalls and rooms for disinfecting. There is also a locker room with shower stalls and a wall mirror. The room has a wall phone too. The Explorer has a viewplate, showcasing the outside landscape of mountains on the horizon. The low rolling hills are bronze and red, with patches of clear green in the fields. The cafeteria is converted from an old dining room, so it still has the original finely grained wood of the ceilings and walls. It also features sound absorbance, soft music spools, and intimate small light tables to eat at. There are trays to use to take food back to a table too. The ship has many working and living quarters as well, including a laboratory to do experiments in and study the hamsters. " ]	50774	on a dead planet, living in an atmosphere of carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide brought him up sharp. If there had been life here once, there would have been plant life as well, and therefore oxygen. If the war had been so long ago that the free oxygen had since gone out of the atmosphere—good God, how old were the robots? Steffens looked at Ball, then at the silent robots, then out across the field to where the rest of them stood. The black wheat. Steffens felt a deep chill. Were they immortal? "Would you like to see a doctor?" many days?" His only answer was an inhuman snarl, and the cruel blazing of those inhuman eyes. She fell face first to the floor. "I can't keep it up!" she cried. The sound of her voice rolled along the hot steel deck. "I cant! I cant!" A double handful of tepid water was thrown in her face. "Get up!" Rat stood over her, face twisted, his body hunched. "Get up!" She stared at him, dazed. He kicked her. "Get up!" The tepid water ran off her face and far away she heard Judith calling.... She forced herself up. Rat was and didn't look at her. "You'll have to spend most of the trip in a hammock." "I can take it." Suddenly she smiled, wanly. "I was with the Fleet. How long will it take?" "Eight days, in that ship." Roberds lit his pipe, and carefully hid his emotions. He knew Peterson was harboring the same thoughts. Eight days in space, in a small ship meant for two, and built for planetary surface flights. Eight days in that untrustworthy crate, hurtling to save the lives of that girl and Gladney. "Who was that ... man? The one you put out?" Gray The Beast-Jewel of Mars By V. E. THIESSEN The city was strange, fantastic, beautiful. He'd never been there before, yet already he was a fabulous legendâ€”a dire, hateful legend. [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Planet Stories Spring 1955. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] He lay on his stomach, a lean man in faded one piece dungarees, and an odd metallic hat, peering over the side of the canal. Behind him the little winds sifted red dust into his collar, but he could not move; he could only asked. "We call him Rat," Roberds said. She didn't ask why. She said: "Why couldn't he pilot the ship, I mean? What is his record?" Peterson opened his mouth. "Shut up, Peterson!" the Chief snapped. "We don't talk about his record around here, Miss Gray. It's not a pretty thing to tell." "Stow it, Chief," said Peterson. "Miss Gray is no pantywaist." He turned to the nurse. "Ever hear of the Sansan massacre?" Patti Gray paled. "Yes," she whispered. "Was Rat in that?" Roberds shook his head. "He didn't take part in it. But Rat was attached to a very
What is the plot of the story?	After carefully reading the provided chunks, write a detailed response to the following question about The Hoofer by Walter M. Miller. Relevant chunks: explain the phenomena of the Ghost Ship? Was it really only a product of his imagination? What of all the others who had seen it? Was it possible for many different men under many different situations to have the same exact illusion? Reason denied that. But perhaps space itself denies reason. Grimly he retraced the legend of the Ghost Ship. A chance phrase here and a story there put together all that he knew: Doomed for all eternity to wander in the empty star-lanes, the Ghost Ship haunts the Solar System that gave it birth. And this is its tragedy, course. What is it that girls in small offices do or eat or drink or wear that girls in large offices don't do or eat or drink or wear? What do writers and doctors do differently? Or poets and dentists? What are we missing? What—" In the outer office a girl cried out. A body thumped against a desk, then a chair, then to the floor. Two girls screamed. Andy bolted up from his chair. Racing to the door, he shouted back to Bettijean, "Get a staff doctor and a chemist from the lab." It was the girl who had forty years ago or more. Resembled one? It was one! Unquestionably, though half-invisible and like a piece of glass immersed in water, it was a rocket ship. But the instruments on the control board could not lie. The presence of any material body within a hundred thousand miles would be revealed. But the needle on the gauge did not quiver. Nothing indicated the presence of a ship. But the evidence of his eyes was incontestable. Or was it? Doubt gripped him. Did the loneliness of all these years in space twist his mind till he was imagining the appearance of "Get somebody—maybe even the President—on all radio and TV networks. Explain frankly about the four-centers and warn against licking any stamps. Then—" He broke off as his phone rang. Answering, he listened for a moment, then hung up and said, "But before the big announcement, get somebody checking on the security clearances at whatever plant it is where they print stamps. This's a big deal. Somebody may've been planted years ago for this operation. It shouldn't be too hard. "But there's no evidence it was a plot yet. Could be pure accident—some chemical in the stickum spoiled. Do they keep deathly ill, but nobody dying. And doctors can't identify the poison until they have a fatality for an autopsy. People stricken in every part of the country, but the water systems are pure. How does it spread?" "In food?" "How? There must be hundreds of canneries and dairies and packing plants over the country. How could they all goof at the same time—even if it was sabotage?" "On the wind?" "But who could accurately predict every wind over the entire country—even Alaska and Hawaii—without hitting Canada or Mexico? And why wouldn't everybody get it in a given area?" Bettijean's smooth Question: What is the plot of the story? Answer:	[ "This story follows the protagonist, Hogey Parker’s, journey in heading back home after a long stint in space. His identity leans heavily on being a spacer - or a tumbler - with distinguishing sunburned marks and glare-blinded eyes. Parker is accompanied by a bottle of gin, and with it, stumbles onto a bus. In his drunken ramblings and stumblings - attributed by himself to him being a spaceman - Hogey creates a ruckus on the bus and disturbs its passengers. Fellow passengers give him allowances as he’s a spaceman and help him out. \n\nThroughout his journey, he is helped by various characters who further progress his journey back home. After being dropped off, the bus driver helps him across the road, where he is later then picked up by a farmer who drops Hogey off even closer to his farmhouse. In between, Hogey constantly looks up at the Big Bottomless space and thinks about his time in space with particular feelings of resentment and anger - one towards the sun for blinding him and another towards the rookie that replaced him. After finally making it close to his farmhouse, he sneaks through the grass past the fence and encounters the dog, who he quickly shushes when one of his wife’s brothers comes out to investigate the noise. Staring at his wife and son through the house, he stumbles into wet concrete and quickly becomes stuck in the sand as it dries. Despite his best efforts he is unable to claw himself out. At the end of the story, his cries at being stuck in the concrete echo at the same time the cries of his son as the Hauptmann men find him, stuck. \n", "Big Hogey Parker, a tumbler who comes back to Earth from his nine-month stay in the space, can hardly behave appropriately on the bus because of his unaccustomedness to the gravity and the drunkenness. He harasses and annoys the passengers on the bus, gets warned by the driver, and sleeps on the rear seat of the bus. After the bus stop at Caine’s junction, the bus driver helps him get out of the bus and safely cross the road. While crossing the road, Hogey talks about the importance of family and learns that the driver has two daughters. After crossing the road, the driver asks whether someone will come and pick Hogey up, but Hogey tells him that he is a week late and nobody will come. The driver tells him to wait for a car and leaves. Hogey stares at the sun while waiting, feeling unfamiliar with the gravity.\n\nHogey starts to lurch in the middle of the road. A car almost hits him when he fails to control his balance. A man comes out of the car and shouts at him. The man realizes that Hogey is Marie’s husband through the conversation, so he drives Hogey to a place near Marie’s house. Hogey takes a nap in the grass near the ditch until the night. He swallows a few gins, checks the time with the star's position in the sky as he pawns his watch in the poker game that he lost all of the money, and walks toward the house. He is afraid of facing his wife and son as he lost all the money in a poker game two weeks ago after his wife had waited for him for so long to do all the space travel to earn money. He wants to run away. He walks through the fence, trampling through some boards when the dog barks. He hides in the shadow of the peach tree when Marie’s brother comes out to check. The dog comes at him, and Hogey calms the dog, waiting until the man goes inside the house. When Hogey keeps walking, he steps into a concrete mixer with sand and falls. He takes off his shoes and puts his bare feet back in the muddy sand. Laying on the sand, Hogey falls asleep. Past midnight, he gets awakened by the dog's licking, finding his feet stuck in the concrete. Reflecting on his time in the space and the people there, Hogey feels desperate. Suddenly, he hears his son cry. The cry brings Hogey’s consciousness back from the space to where he is, and the significance of his family strikes him. He calls out loud for help and sobs with his feet stuck tight. He will live on Earth with gravity from now on.\n", "The story focuses on a man named Hogey. Hogey is trying to return to his wife and child, but seems to find it very difficult because he has been drinking, and because his body needs to adapt to being back on Earth. The story begins in a bus, where Hogey is very drunk and is trying to talk to other passengers. The other passengers help Hogey sleep, but he wakes up again and continues speaking with others. When the bus reaches his stop, Hogey clumsily gets off the bus. When the driver sees that Hogey needs help, he helps Hogey sit down in the street and tells him to wait for a ride instead of walking to his wife’s house. Hogey waits for a while, then decides to walk. He falls in a ditch, but he is helped by a couple who passes in a car. The man tells him that his wife remarried and that he is going to the new husband’s house. After the man drops him off, Hogey falls asleep close to the house. He sleeps for a while and afterwards he tries to go into the house, but he struggles mentally to accept what he is doing. He ends up falling in cement, and his feet get stuck. We learn that Hogey worked in space a lot, and that he was afraid to go back to earth because of the amount of time that he had been away. \n\n", "Everybody immediately knows that Big Hogey Parker is a spacer and goes out of their way to help him even if he is harassing a housewife. He reveals that he was kidding about being an Indian, and there are two men who lead him back to his seat. When the driver threatens to turn him over, Big Hogey apologizes and sits in his seat until it is time to leave, and the driver asks if he is okay once he staggers to cross the highway. The man asks if somebody is supposed to meet Big Hogey, but he says that it is a surprise for everybody. He is redirected to sit at the culvert, but gravity makes it difficult for him to walk. As the sun sets, Hogey stares at it because he hates it for what it truly is and what it did to his eyes. A burly farmer angrily confronts him when he stumbles down the road again, but he reveals that he is married to Marie Hauptman. They offer to drop him off at the area near Hauptman's road, and Hogey finds himself too tired to go on because it is twilight. When he awakes again, it is night time. He takes another sip of his gin and decides how the meeting will go. Hogey is worried about the money, especially since he has gone on six hitches in space with the promise that each one would be his last one. As he goes near the house, a dog suddenly comes out and barks. One of Marie’s brothers comes out to investigate the situation too, but he finds nothing and returns home with the dog. He tries to think about why a tumbler like him would be married with a son, and he finds both his feet losing the strength to move. The dog, Hooky, comes up to greet him again, but he angrily sends it away. Hogey thinks back to his crew, and a baby begins to cry suddenly. He yells for help, and the lights come on again because the baby begins to cry more. The kid had been an accident, and he knows that a tumblr has no business with a family. However, there is nobody to blame for this. Big Hogey sits with his foot locked in the solid concrete and sobs when the rest of the men find him. " ]	29170	explain the phenomena of the Ghost Ship? Was it really only a product of his imagination? What of all the others who had seen it? Was it possible for many different men under many different situations to have the same exact illusion? Reason denied that. But perhaps space itself denies reason. Grimly he retraced the legend of the Ghost Ship. A chance phrase here and a story there put together all that he knew: Doomed for all eternity to wander in the empty star-lanes, the Ghost Ship haunts the Solar System that gave it birth. And this is its tragedy, course. What is it that girls in small offices do or eat or drink or wear that girls in large offices don't do or eat or drink or wear? What do writers and doctors do differently? Or poets and dentists? What are we missing? What—" In the outer office a girl cried out. A body thumped against a desk, then a chair, then to the floor. Two girls screamed. Andy bolted up from his chair. Racing to the door, he shouted back to Bettijean, "Get a staff doctor and a chemist from the lab." It was the girl who had forty years ago or more. Resembled one? It was one! Unquestionably, though half-invisible and like a piece of glass immersed in water, it was a rocket ship. But the instruments on the control board could not lie. The presence of any material body within a hundred thousand miles would be revealed. But the needle on the gauge did not quiver. Nothing indicated the presence of a ship. But the evidence of his eyes was incontestable. Or was it? Doubt gripped him. Did the loneliness of all these years in space twist his mind till he was imagining the appearance of "Get somebody—maybe even the President—on all radio and TV networks. Explain frankly about the four-centers and warn against licking any stamps. Then—" He broke off as his phone rang. Answering, he listened for a moment, then hung up and said, "But before the big announcement, get somebody checking on the security clearances at whatever plant it is where they print stamps. This's a big deal. Somebody may've been planted years ago for this operation. It shouldn't be too hard. "But there's no evidence it was a plot yet. Could be pure accident—some chemical in the stickum spoiled. Do they keep deathly ill, but nobody dying. And doctors can't identify the poison until they have a fatality for an autopsy. People stricken in every part of the country, but the water systems are pure. How does it spread?" "In food?" "How? There must be hundreds of canneries and dairies and packing plants over the country. How could they all goof at the same time—even if it was sabotage?" "On the wind?" "But who could accurately predict every wind over the entire country—even Alaska and Hawaii—without hitting Canada or Mexico? And why wouldn't everybody get it in a given area?" Bettijean's smooth
What is the relationship between Michael and Mr. Carpenter?	After carefully reading the provided chunks, write a detailed response to the following question about Tea Tray in the Sky by Evelyn E. Smith. Relevant chunks: enhanced by Mr. Carpenter, whose emerald-green cloak was drawn back to reveal a chartreuse tunic and olive-green breeches which had apparently been designed for a taller and somewhat less pudgy man. Carpenter rubbed modestly gloved hands together. "I have no immediate business, so supposing I start showing you the sights. What would you like to see first, Mr. Frey? Or would you prefer a nice, restful movid?" "Frankly," Michael admitted, "the first thing I'd like to do is get myself something to eat. I didn't have any breakfast and I'm famished." Two small creatures standing close to him giggled nervously wanted to know. The other man smiled. "If there were, my boy, do you think anybody would watch it? Furthermore, turning it off would violate the spirit of free enterprise. We wouldn't want that, would we?" "Oh, no!" Michael agreed hastily. "Certainly not." "And it might hurt the advertiser's feelings, cause him ego injury." "How could I ever have had such a ridiculous idea?" Michael murmured, abashed. "Allow me to introduce myself," said his companion. "My name is Pierce B. Carpenter. Aphrodisiacs are my line. Here's my card." He handed Michael a transparent tab with the photograph of Mr. Carpenter of The Law is no excuse.' I'd be glad to give you any little tips I can. For instance, your hands...." Michael spread his hands out in front of him. They were perfectly good hands, he thought. "Is there something wrong with them?" Carpenter blushed and looked away. "Didn't you know that on Electra it is forbidden for anyone to appear in public with his hands bare?" "Of course I know that," Michael said impatiently. "But what's that got to do with me?" The salesman was wide-eyed. "But if it is forbidden on Electra, it becomes automatically prohibited here." "But were few extraterrestrial clocks because most non-humans had time sense, Michael knew, and needed no mechanical devices. "This," said Carpenter, "is Times Square. Once it wasn't really square, but it is contrary to Nekkarian custom to do, say, imply, or permit the existence of anything that isn't true, so when Nekkar entered the Union, we had to square off the place. And, of course, install the clocks. Finest clock museum in the Union, I understand." "The pictures in my history books—" Michael began. "Did I hear you correctly, sir?" The capes of a bright blue cloak trembled with the indignation supposing somebody else saw your—er—friend and wanted her also; you wouldn't wish him to endure the frustration of not having her, would you?" Michael squared his jaw. "You bet I would." Carpenter drew himself away slightly, as if to avoid contamination. "This is un-Universal. Young man, if I didn't have a kind heart, I would report you." Michael was too preoccupied to be disturbed by this threat. "You mean if I bring my girl here, I'd have to share her?" "Certainly. And she'd have to share you. If somebody wanted you, that is." "Then I'm not staying here," Michael declared Question: What is the relationship between Michael and Mr. Carpenter? Answer:	[ "Mr. Carpenter is the first acquaintance Michael makes on his trip into the world. They are companions on the bus to Portyork. At first, Michael is unwilling to talk and Carpenter is curious to know about the reasons for the former to join a Brotherhood. Soon, Carpenter realizes that Michael is unfamiliar with the ways of this world and decides to take charge and show the youth around. Carpenter forgives Michael's every mistake and explains it, warning the youth to become silent in case of danger. Carpenter is more forgiving and kind than many other citizens, which is the reason for him taking charge of Michael. The man shows the newcomer around the city and prevents him from getting in trouble. Carpenter even defends Michael before an offended Meropian, who wants to report to the police. Things change when Michael begins an argument with Carpenter regarding marriage, which has been outlawed. Michael's desire to possess his girl alone contradicts the norms of the world and the youth's obstinance in this desire shock Carpenter completely. When he learns that in the Brotherhood both sexes are represented and marriage, which equals slavery to him, exists, Carpenter becomes sure that Michael can't adapt to the civilized world. After that, each goes his way.\n", "Michael and Mr. Carpenter are travel companions for the duration of his stay in Portyork. Mr. Carpenter first befriends Michael on the jet bus, and he decides to take the latter around after seeing that Michael does not know his way around Earth. He is quick to inform Michael of the rules of the United Universe and always corrects him immediately whenever there is a problem. Mr. Carpenter is very knowledgeable about Portyork, the rules of the United Universe, and even the extraterrestrials. Although he does get fearful of Michael’s illegal outbursts, he is kind enough not to report him to the police and teach him instead. While Mr. Carpenter concludes that Michael is unsuited for life on Earth and the United Universe, there is no bad blood between them, and Michael learns a lot from him. \n", "Michael first met Mr. Carpenter on the jet bus heading towards Portyork. Carpenter notices that Michael comes from the Brotherhood and assumed that he was there because of trouble over women. Then Michael reveals that he has been in the Brotherhood for almost his whole life. After being reminded of a few tabus and customs that Michael is not even aware off, Carpenter asks Michael to stick around him for a while since he is unfamiliar with the civilized behaviors and can easily get in trouble. After exiting the jet bus, Carpenter mentions to Michael that he does not have anything to do this moment, thus he can show him around. Carpenter helps Michael to find the position of a “Feeding Station” so that he can get some food. Afterwards, Michael attempts to break more customs when trying to get to the Old Town. However, they were all stopped by Carpenter before anyone notices it. However, getting off the taxi, a being notices Carpenter stating the word “history” and threatens to report him to the police because history is something that the Meropians lack. Carpenter begs the being and blames himself for not warning Michael. Later, Michael interrupts Carpenter, asking for the lavatory. Thus, they get to the Empire State Building, which has been transformed into a lavatory, since, apparently, it has no other use. On their way out, Carpenter is shocked at Michael desiring for a permanent family, since there’s no marriage in the Union, and family is never permanent. Carpenter is very openminded, and agrees that there are individuals that do not apapt themselves to the civilization, the Brotherhood is a much better option for them. Later, Michael heads home to his Brotherhood. ", "Mr.Carpenter acts as a kind of companion and advisor to Micheal. They first meet on the space bus on the way to Port York. Carpenter notices that Micheal is hopelessly lost in the social intricacies of the United Universe. Carpenter decides to take Micheal under his wing to make sure that he doesn't get in any trouble with the law as he tries to maneuver his way through this new society. They exit the bus together and make their way to a nourishing station, and then into the old town, where Carpenter points out various landmarks to Micheal. Carpenter keeps having to correct Micheal on his language, and eventually has to defend and apologize for him when he offends a Meropian. Carpenter often is shocked by Micheal's language and thoughts, but chalks it up to him not being experienced. Carpenter eventually agrees that it's better for Micheal to go home to the Brotherhood. They part amicably. " ]	50847	enhanced by Mr. Carpenter, whose emerald-green cloak was drawn back to reveal a chartreuse tunic and olive-green breeches which had apparently been designed for a taller and somewhat less pudgy man. Carpenter rubbed modestly gloved hands together. "I have no immediate business, so supposing I start showing you the sights. What would you like to see first, Mr. Frey? Or would you prefer a nice, restful movid?" "Frankly," Michael admitted, "the first thing I'd like to do is get myself something to eat. I didn't have any breakfast and I'm famished." Two small creatures standing close to him giggled nervously wanted to know. The other man smiled. "If there were, my boy, do you think anybody would watch it? Furthermore, turning it off would violate the spirit of free enterprise. We wouldn't want that, would we?" "Oh, no!" Michael agreed hastily. "Certainly not." "And it might hurt the advertiser's feelings, cause him ego injury." "How could I ever have had such a ridiculous idea?" Michael murmured, abashed. "Allow me to introduce myself," said his companion. "My name is Pierce B. Carpenter. Aphrodisiacs are my line. Here's my card." He handed Michael a transparent tab with the photograph of Mr. Carpenter of The Law is no excuse.' I'd be glad to give you any little tips I can. For instance, your hands...." Michael spread his hands out in front of him. They were perfectly good hands, he thought. "Is there something wrong with them?" Carpenter blushed and looked away. "Didn't you know that on Electra it is forbidden for anyone to appear in public with his hands bare?" "Of course I know that," Michael said impatiently. "But what's that got to do with me?" The salesman was wide-eyed. "But if it is forbidden on Electra, it becomes automatically prohibited here." "But were few extraterrestrial clocks because most non-humans had time sense, Michael knew, and needed no mechanical devices. "This," said Carpenter, "is Times Square. Once it wasn't really square, but it is contrary to Nekkarian custom to do, say, imply, or permit the existence of anything that isn't true, so when Nekkar entered the Union, we had to square off the place. And, of course, install the clocks. Finest clock museum in the Union, I understand." "The pictures in my history books—" Michael began. "Did I hear you correctly, sir?" The capes of a bright blue cloak trembled with the indignation supposing somebody else saw your—er—friend and wanted her also; you wouldn't wish him to endure the frustration of not having her, would you?" Michael squared his jaw. "You bet I would." Carpenter drew himself away slightly, as if to avoid contamination. "This is un-Universal. Young man, if I didn't have a kind heart, I would report you." Michael was too preoccupied to be disturbed by this threat. "You mean if I bring my girl here, I'd have to share her?" "Certainly. And she'd have to share you. If somebody wanted you, that is." "Then I'm not staying here," Michael declared
Describe the President's communciations to the public and the reasoning behind his choices	After carefully reading the provided chunks, write a detailed response to the following question about The Valley by Richard Stockham. Relevant chunks: does my wife. They were designed to kill the wearer instantly and painlessly if he were ever faced with pain or a terror he couldn't endure." The President was standing again. A stir ran along the barricade of desks. "We can't endure the city," went on Michael, "or its life and the ways of the people." He glanced along the line of staring faces. "If what I think you're about to say is true," said the President in a shaking voice, "it would have been better if you'd never been born." "Let's face facts, Mr. President. We were born and minds.... They'll do it.... Eyes're mad.... What can we do?... What?..." The sweaty faces, the cold white ones, the flushed hot ones: all began to turn to the President, who was staring at the two before him like a man watching himself die in a mirror. "I command you," he suddenly said, in a choked voice, "to—to give me those—lockets! It's your—duty!" "We've only one duty, Mr. President," said Michael sharply. "To ourselves." "You're sick. Give yourselves over to us. We'll help you." "We've made our choice. We want an answer. Quickly! Now!" The President's body sagged. "What—what is it the people. They've been informed that your statement wasn't entirely true. This was necessary, to avoid a panic. The people simply must not know the whole truth." He paused. "Now we ask you to keep in mind that whatever we decide about the two of you will be for the good of the people." Michael and Mary were silent. "You'll wait outside the council chambers," the President went on, "until we have reached our decision." As the man and woman were led away, the pumps beat in the stillness, and at the edge of the shrinking seas the salt thick anger and fear. Arms waved and fists pounded. Hands clasped and unclasped and clawed at collars, and there was a pell mell rushing around the President. They yelled at each other and clasped each other by the shoulders, turned away and back again, and then suddenly became very still. Now they began to step down from the raised line of desks, the President leading them, and came close to the man and woman, gathering around them in a wide half circle. Michael and Mary were holding the lockets close to their throats. The half circle of people, with the President you want?" Michael threw the words. "To go beyond the force fields of the city. To go far out onto the Earth and live as long as we can, and then to die a natural death." The half circle of faces turned to each other and muttered and whispered again. "In the name of God.... Let them go.... Contaminate us.... Like animals.... Get them out of here.... Let them be finished.... Best for us all.... And them...." There was a turning to the President again and hands thrusting him forward to within one step of Michael and Mary, who were Question: Describe the President's communciations to the public and the reasoning behind his choices Answer:	[ "In the earth of the future that is at the center of this story, the society has managed to reduce accidents so much that violent deaths do not happen. This happened because some people reacted with hysterics to witnessing death of this type, so efforts were made to avoid the issue entirely, which had been successful for the past few hundred years. President Davis did not want the public to hear any more details about the expedition after Michael and Mary first addressed everyone. He says that the only reason the public has not lost all sense after seeing some of the footage from the expedition is that it was visual media and stories, but not something people witnessed first-hand for themselves. However, he does not want to expose the people to the violent deaths that the people on the expedition suffered, so he claims that Michael and Mary did not tell the truth, in an effort to save face. The President considers this type of lying to be for the good of the people, who cannot handle the reality of the expedition. He also does not think that the people could handle the loss of hope for another planet to live on, which is why he plays the ad campaigns for a new expediton in a different solar system that aims to eventually find (or rediscover, in his words) another planet for humans to inhabit, perhaps in Andromeda. In this way, the President thinks it is better for his people to have false hope instead of no hope at all. The reader sees the irony in this at the end of the story when Michael and Mary find the patch of life that has started to re-establish itself outside of the boundaries of the city they ventured from. ", "Michael and Mary return to Earth after 2,000 years only to report the worst news possible: there is no other virgin planet in this galaxy that has the ability to shelter humans. They announce their news to the public, but the President quickly shuts down the conference and brings them inside so they can report their more detailed findings. After showing them the pictures of the various planets, aliens, and demises of their colleagues, they concur once again that Earth is their only home. However, the President lies to the public, releasing a broadcast stating that they found and lost a planet, and another expedition will be sent out shortly to relocate their new home. He claims that his people need hope to keep going, which may be true. After living for thousands of years through reincarnation on barren Earth, his people are desperate for hope and a new planet. Without hope, their entire society would fall apart, as their eventual deaths would become a very real future. ", "When Michael and Mary land on Earth and report that there are no other habitable planets for humans to move to in the Milky Way galaxy after two thousand years of space exploration, President Davis quickly moves to silence their truth. The President begs Michael to take back what he has said to the people, and when he refuses, the President quickly pivots the message to the public. He declares that there has been a mistake, and tells them that everything will be “all right” and that they should all go back to the pumps and distilleries to work and wait for more information.\nMichael and Mary present deeply disturbing video evidence to the President and council detailing the gruesome deaths of their thousand other peers sent on the mission because of the dangers of space travel. Some died by explosions in meteor fields or getting sucked into the gravity of dangerous planetary bodies. The President knows that the people of Earth have not witnessed the image of a violent death in hundreds of years, and that the last time it was seen all the witnesses went insane. The President quickly denies the video evidence in front of the council, saying that what they showed was only a picture, and if it were screened for the rest of the people on Earth there would be mass hysteria.\nThe President is desperately trying to avoid any hysteria by the public, and fears that if they knew the real truth from Michael and Mary that their society would cease to function entirely. The council ultimately decides that Michael and Mary will never be allowed to mingle with the public on Earth because their truth is too dangerous for people to know. They will be taken care of, and allowed to continue their lives as they have been in solitary confinement. The President informs the public that the statement Michael made was untrue, and quickly begins a new ad campaign of hope in the city by announcing a new mission to explore a different galaxy for habitable planets.\n", "When Michael and Mary return from space, President Davis is overwhelmed but hopeful that they have discovered a planet suitable for human life. When Michael unceremoniously reveals that the mission was a failure, President Davis immediately ushers them off stage and takes them before a small council, where they show them the visual footage with evidence proving their mission to be a failure along with the violent deaths of the rest of their thousand-person cohort. President Davis explains that the remaining humans have not seen a violent human death in hundreds of years and seeing such footage would surely drive them insane. The council members themselves lash out and insist the footage be turned off when they see it. After convening privately with the council, President Davis informs Michael and Mary that they have scrubbed the violent footage and replaced it with images intended to give the people hope that there is a habitable planet. He also informs them that they will be placed in solitary confinement with all necessities and comforts provided to them as thanks for their service to humankind. He reasons that keeping them away from the rest of the people will help preserve the image of hope he wants to foster amongst the people." ]	32744	does my wife. They were designed to kill the wearer instantly and painlessly if he were ever faced with pain or a terror he couldn't endure." The President was standing again. A stir ran along the barricade of desks. "We can't endure the city," went on Michael, "or its life and the ways of the people." He glanced along the line of staring faces. "If what I think you're about to say is true," said the President in a shaking voice, "it would have been better if you'd never been born." "Let's face facts, Mr. President. We were born and minds.... They'll do it.... Eyes're mad.... What can we do?... What?..." The sweaty faces, the cold white ones, the flushed hot ones: all began to turn to the President, who was staring at the two before him like a man watching himself die in a mirror. "I command you," he suddenly said, in a choked voice, "to—to give me those—lockets! It's your—duty!" "We've only one duty, Mr. President," said Michael sharply. "To ourselves." "You're sick. Give yourselves over to us. We'll help you." "We've made our choice. We want an answer. Quickly! Now!" The President's body sagged. "What—what is it the people. They've been informed that your statement wasn't entirely true. This was necessary, to avoid a panic. The people simply must not know the whole truth." He paused. "Now we ask you to keep in mind that whatever we decide about the two of you will be for the good of the people." Michael and Mary were silent. "You'll wait outside the council chambers," the President went on, "until we have reached our decision." As the man and woman were led away, the pumps beat in the stillness, and at the edge of the shrinking seas the salt thick anger and fear. Arms waved and fists pounded. Hands clasped and unclasped and clawed at collars, and there was a pell mell rushing around the President. They yelled at each other and clasped each other by the shoulders, turned away and back again, and then suddenly became very still. Now they began to step down from the raised line of desks, the President leading them, and came close to the man and woman, gathering around them in a wide half circle. Michael and Mary were holding the lockets close to their throats. The half circle of people, with the President you want?" Michael threw the words. "To go beyond the force fields of the city. To go far out onto the Earth and live as long as we can, and then to die a natural death." The half circle of faces turned to each other and muttered and whispered again. "In the name of God.... Let them go.... Contaminate us.... Like animals.... Get them out of here.... Let them be finished.... Best for us all.... And them...." There was a turning to the President again and hands thrusting him forward to within one step of Michael and Mary, who were
Describe the different expectations about women	After carefully reading the provided chunks, write a detailed response to the following question about The Girls From Earth by Frank M. Robinson. Relevant chunks: form very carefully and submitted it for analysis and assignment. The clerk saw my name, and did the usual double-take. He coughed and swallowed and fidgeted. He said, "Of course you understand that we must submit your application to the woman authorized to spend time in the mating booths with you, and that she has the right to refuse." "Yes, I understand that." "M'm," he said, and dismissed me with a nod. I waited for a call in the next few weeks, still hoping, but I knew no woman would consent to meet a man with my name, let alone women in the community. Karl caught himself eyeing the women closely, wondering how the girls from Earth would compare with them. He fingered the ticket in his pocket. What would the woman be like who had drawn the companion number 53 aboard the rocket? For when it landed, they would pair up by numbers. The method had its drawbacks, of course, but time was much too short to allow even a few days of getting acquainted. He'd have to get back to his trapping lines and he imagined that Hill would have to get back to his sawmill and the name. She's a woman, so that's probably it. Women don't have real guts." Bruce bent toward the radio. Outside the shelter, the wind whistled softly at the door. "Marsha," he said. "Bruce—" She hadn't said his name that way for a long time. "Marsha, remember how we used to talk about human values? I remember how you seemed to have something maybe different from the others. I never thought you'd really buy this will to conquer, and now it doesn't matter...." He listened to her voice, first the crazy laughter, and then a whisper. "Bruce, hello down there." Her voice one—colonization problem. You know that when we first started to colonize, quite a large percentage of the male population took to the stars, as the saying goes. The adventuresome, the gamblers, the frontier type all decided they wanted to head for other worlds, to get away from it all. The male of the species is far more adventuresome than the female; the men left—but the women didn't. At least, not in nearly the same large numbers. "Well, you see the problem. The ratio of women to men here on Earth is now something like five to three. If you don't on his bare chest that was just enough to be attractive without being apelike. He held an axe in his hands and was eyeing her with a clearly inviting look of brazen self-confidence. It was definitely a privacy violator and she should notify the authorities immediately! Bright lettering at the top of the poster shrieked: "Come to the Colonies, the Planets of Romance!" Whoever had mailed it should be arrested and imprisoned! Preying on.... The smaller print at the bottom was mostly full of facts and figures. The need for women out on the colony planets, the percentage of men Question: Describe the different expectations about women Answer:	[ "First, Joe takes some furs that could help cover the girl, and Joe hopes that she will appreciate it. However, Hill believes that they should give less to the girls. Because the less you give, the less they will expect, and if they are spoiled, the men has to do all the farming and family raising yourself, which is all that they have to do. Joe thought of the girl as somebody he can talk to, somebody that can help him with the farm. Hill suggests for his wife to have a garden, but Karl doesn’t think she will have the time for a garden. However, it is important to note that the girls were considered as objects since Karl and Joe mentions trading them. In particular, Earthwomen are expected to be beautiful, sophisticated, glamorous, and hardworking. Moreover, Escher is thinking about persuading and forcing the girls to colonize while forgetting about the moral codes. The governments seems to expect the women without husbands to be satisfied with bridge games and benefits and lectures. ", "The few women that were on the colonized planet where Karl and Joseph lived were expected to cook the food that was being served as part of the welcoming party for the wife draft. On Earth, the expectations for women are to find a husband. Phyliss is 30 years old and details her frustration with not being married at her age, complaining that nothing else can fill the emptiness that she feels from not having a husband. ", "In the story, the women are expected to find husbands. This is especially apparent on Earth, where locking down a man has become an intense competition because of the five to three ratio between women and men. Furthermore, the Earthwomen are expected to be more sophisticated, cultured, prettier, and glamorous than the colonial women. These women are also expected to fulfill the traditional roles of raising families, helping colonize the planet, and supporting their husbands with whatever they need help with. The decision to send the women to the colonies is also made by men. On the other hand, women are expected to just follow along and accept the offer if they want any chance of landing a husband at all. \n", "There are many expectations for women both on the colonised worlds, and on Earth. On Earth, women are expected to behave in a polite, civilised manner. They are also lucky to get a man of any kind, with women outnumbering men 5 to 3, so they are expected to take what they can get. Women on the colonised worlds are expected to obey their husbands, and take care of all tasks related to life on their farms. This includes: working the farms, and raising the families. \n" ]	51268	form very carefully and submitted it for analysis and assignment. The clerk saw my name, and did the usual double-take. He coughed and swallowed and fidgeted. He said, "Of course you understand that we must submit your application to the woman authorized to spend time in the mating booths with you, and that she has the right to refuse." "Yes, I understand that." "M'm," he said, and dismissed me with a nod. I waited for a call in the next few weeks, still hoping, but I knew no woman would consent to meet a man with my name, let alone women in the community. Karl caught himself eyeing the women closely, wondering how the girls from Earth would compare with them. He fingered the ticket in his pocket. What would the woman be like who had drawn the companion number 53 aboard the rocket? For when it landed, they would pair up by numbers. The method had its drawbacks, of course, but time was much too short to allow even a few days of getting acquainted. He'd have to get back to his trapping lines and he imagined that Hill would have to get back to his sawmill and the name. She's a woman, so that's probably it. Women don't have real guts." Bruce bent toward the radio. Outside the shelter, the wind whistled softly at the door. "Marsha," he said. "Bruce—" She hadn't said his name that way for a long time. "Marsha, remember how we used to talk about human values? I remember how you seemed to have something maybe different from the others. I never thought you'd really buy this will to conquer, and now it doesn't matter...." He listened to her voice, first the crazy laughter, and then a whisper. "Bruce, hello down there." Her voice one—colonization problem. You know that when we first started to colonize, quite a large percentage of the male population took to the stars, as the saying goes. The adventuresome, the gamblers, the frontier type all decided they wanted to head for other worlds, to get away from it all. The male of the species is far more adventuresome than the female; the men left—but the women didn't. At least, not in nearly the same large numbers. "Well, you see the problem. The ratio of women to men here on Earth is now something like five to three. If you don't on his bare chest that was just enough to be attractive without being apelike. He held an axe in his hands and was eyeing her with a clearly inviting look of brazen self-confidence. It was definitely a privacy violator and she should notify the authorities immediately! Bright lettering at the top of the poster shrieked: "Come to the Colonies, the Planets of Romance!" Whoever had mailed it should be arrested and imprisoned! Preying on.... The smaller print at the bottom was mostly full of facts and figures. The need for women out on the colony planets, the percentage of men
Who is Mackenzie, and what happens to him?	After carefully reading the provided chunks, write a detailed response to the following question about Desire No More by Algis Budrys. Relevant chunks: MacKenzie said softly. "I wish I did." Ish slammed the door behind him. He stood in the corridor, jamming a fresh cigarette in his mouth. He threw a glance at his watch. Twelve hours, twenty-two minutes, and four days to go. Damn! He was late for the briefing. Odd—that fool psychiatrist hadn't seemed to take up that much of his time. He shrugged. What difference did it make? As he strode down the hall, he lost his momentary puzzlement under the flood of realization that nothing could stop him now, that the last hurdle was beaten. He was going. He all before; you'd been there." He was past emotions. "Yeah?" "We couldn't take the chance." MacKenzie was trying desperately to explain. "You were the best there was—but you'd done something to yourself by becoming the best. You shut yourself off from your family. You had no close friends, no women. You had no other interests. You were a rocket pilot—nothing else. You've never read an adult book that wasn't a text; you've never listened to a symphony except by accident. You don't know Rembrandt from Norman Rockwell. Nothing. No ties, no props, nothing to sustain you if something went wrong. Ish answered him truthfully, without more than ordinary reservations. This was the man who could ground him He was dangerous—red-letter dangerous—because of it. "No family." Ish shrugged. "Not that I know of. Cut out at seventeen. My father was making good money. He had a pension plan, insurance policies. No need to worry about them." Ish knew the normal reaction a statement like that should have brought. MacKenzie's face did not go into a blank of repression—but it still passed no judgements. "How's things between you and the opposite sex?" "About normal." "No wife—no steady girl." "Not a very good voices, a tumult of congratulations. He looked at it all, dead-faced, his eyes empty. "It was easy," he said over a world-wide network, and pushed the press representatives out of his way. MacKENZIE was waiting for him in the crew section. Ish flicked his stolid eyes at him, shrugged, and stripped out of his clothes. He pulled a coverall out of a locker and climbed into it, then went over to his bunk and lay down on his side, facing the bulkhead. "Ish." It was MacKenzie, bending over him. Ish grunted. "It wasn't any good was it? You'd done it idea, in my racket." MacKenzie grunted. Suddenly, he sat bolt upright in his chair, and swung toward Ish. His lean arm shot out, and his index finger was aimed between Isherwood's eyes. "You can't go!" Ish was on his feet, his fists clenched, the blood throbbing in his temple veins. "What!" he roared. MacKenzie seemed to collapse in his chair. The brief commanding burst was over, and his face was apologetic, "Sorry," he said. He seemed genuinely abashed. "Shotgun therapy. Works best, sometimes. You can go, all right; I just wanted to get a fast check on your reactions and Question: Who is Mackenzie, and what happens to him? Answer:	[ "Mackenzie is an army therapist who first meets Martin when he is asked to vet him before he goes on a trip for the airforce. Mackenzie tries to test Martin a lot, but ends up clearing him and allowing him to fly. At the end, it is also Mackenzie who tells Martin what had actually happened to him, and that what he thought was a routine trip was in fact Martin’s first trip to the moon. Mackenzie struggles with telling Martin this, but ends up doing it. This news ends up hurting Martin mentally, and it is insinuated that Martin holds a grudge forever against Mackenzie.", "MacKenzie is the therapist who Ish meets after the Flight Surgeon introduces him as a big gun in the head-thumping racket. MacKenzie specializes in shock therapy, and he starts off by asking Ish a lot about his life. He asks Ish questions such as whether he has any families or a woman; this is done in order to build a basic profile of the other man. MacKenzie is noted to be taking any notes, instead preferring to record their conversation with his portable tape-recorder. MacKenzie also administers shotgun therapy on Ish, which he does not realize the effects of until later. MacKenzie does not appear again until Ish is at the station, where he reveals that he hypnotized Ish in order to bring him back. He reveals that everything Ish felt about death and the moon is not real in order to not have him completely lost to the idea of being a rocket pilot. ", "Mackenzie is a psychiatrist who is sent to Martin by the Air Force. The Flight Surgeon lets him into the room where Martin is sitting. The psychiatrist asks Martin several questions about his previous jobs at the airports near Miami, his family, and a possible girlfriend. Then he unexpectedly tells Martin that he can’t go to space which causes an immediate aggressive reaction from the pilot. Mackenzie apologizes and explains that he just decided to use shotgun therapy to check Martin’s reactions and drives. The doctor feels embarrassed. Then at some point, Mackenzie hypnotizes Martin, making him believe that he has already been to the Moon. When Martin comes back from the flight, the doctor tells him the truth, claiming that it was the only way to make sure that Martin comes back and doesn’t go farther. ", "MacKenzie is a psychiatrist. He meets Martin Isherwood when the flight surgeon tells Martin to meet him. MacKenzie asks Martin several questions but does not pay special attention to his answers. He has a portable tape recorder under his lapel. His face always has no judgments whenever Ish responds to his questions. He wears a tailored suit. He is skinny. His hair is washed-out. At the end of his conversation with Ish, he suddenly commands Ish, making Ish angry. It turns out that it is some therapy, and MacKenzie is embarrassed. MacKenzie hypnotizes Ish. When Ish wakes up from the hallucination, MacKenzie tells him the truth." ]	40968	MacKenzie said softly. "I wish I did." Ish slammed the door behind him. He stood in the corridor, jamming a fresh cigarette in his mouth. He threw a glance at his watch. Twelve hours, twenty-two minutes, and four days to go. Damn! He was late for the briefing. Odd—that fool psychiatrist hadn't seemed to take up that much of his time. He shrugged. What difference did it make? As he strode down the hall, he lost his momentary puzzlement under the flood of realization that nothing could stop him now, that the last hurdle was beaten. He was going. He all before; you'd been there." He was past emotions. "Yeah?" "We couldn't take the chance." MacKenzie was trying desperately to explain. "You were the best there was—but you'd done something to yourself by becoming the best. You shut yourself off from your family. You had no close friends, no women. You had no other interests. You were a rocket pilot—nothing else. You've never read an adult book that wasn't a text; you've never listened to a symphony except by accident. You don't know Rembrandt from Norman Rockwell. Nothing. No ties, no props, nothing to sustain you if something went wrong. Ish answered him truthfully, without more than ordinary reservations. This was the man who could ground him He was dangerous—red-letter dangerous—because of it. "No family." Ish shrugged. "Not that I know of. Cut out at seventeen. My father was making good money. He had a pension plan, insurance policies. No need to worry about them." Ish knew the normal reaction a statement like that should have brought. MacKenzie's face did not go into a blank of repression—but it still passed no judgements. "How's things between you and the opposite sex?" "About normal." "No wife—no steady girl." "Not a very good voices, a tumult of congratulations. He looked at it all, dead-faced, his eyes empty. "It was easy," he said over a world-wide network, and pushed the press representatives out of his way. MacKENZIE was waiting for him in the crew section. Ish flicked his stolid eyes at him, shrugged, and stripped out of his clothes. He pulled a coverall out of a locker and climbed into it, then went over to his bunk and lay down on his side, facing the bulkhead. "Ish." It was MacKenzie, bending over him. Ish grunted. "It wasn't any good was it? You'd done it idea, in my racket." MacKenzie grunted. Suddenly, he sat bolt upright in his chair, and swung toward Ish. His lean arm shot out, and his index finger was aimed between Isherwood's eyes. "You can't go!" Ish was on his feet, his fists clenched, the blood throbbing in his temple veins. "What!" he roared. MacKenzie seemed to collapse in his chair. The brief commanding burst was over, and his face was apologetic, "Sorry," he said. He seemed genuinely abashed. "Shotgun therapy. Works best, sometimes. You can go, all right; I just wanted to get a fast check on your reactions and
Who is Farrell and what happens to him throughout the story?	After carefully reading the provided chunks, write a detailed response to the following question about Control Group by Roger D. Aycock. Relevant chunks: conviction of nightmare heightened by the outlandish tone of his surroundings. He lay on a narrow bed in a whitely antiseptic infirmary, an oblong metal cell cluttered with a grimly utilitarian array of tables and lockers and chests. The lighting was harsh and overbright and the air hung thick with pungent unfamiliar chemical odors. From somewhere, far off yet at the same time as near as the bulkhead above him, came the unceasing drone of machinery. Farrell sat up, groaning, when full consciousness made his position clear. He had been shot down by God knew what sort of devastating unorthodox the Hymenops because there's no common ground of logic between us. Why try to interpret their intentions now?" Farrell threw up his hands in disgust. "Next you'll say this is an ancient Terran expedition that actually succeeded! There's only one way to answer the questions we've raised, and that's to go down and see for ourselves. Ready, Xav?" But uncertainty nagged uneasily at him when Farrell found himself alone in the helihopper with the forest flowing beneath like a leafy river and Xavier's scouter disappearing bulletlike into the dusk ahead. We never found a colony so advanced, Farrell thought. Suppose what had happened, followed without protest into an intersecting way that led through a bewildering succession of storage rooms and hydroponics gardens, through a small gymnasium fitted with physical training equipment in graduated sizes and finally into a soundproofed place that could have been nothing but a nursery. The implication behind its presence stopped Farrell short. "A creche ," he said, stunned. He had a wild vision of endless generations of children growing up in this dim and stuffy room, to be taught from their first toddling steps the functions they must fulfill before the venture of which they were at some time during the two hundred years of Hymenop occupation and evacuation." Farrell, tangled in contradictions, swore bitterly. "But why should the Bees let them through? The three domes on Five are over two hundred years old, which means that the Bees were here before the ship came. Why didn't they blast it or enslave its crew?" "We haven't touched on all the possibilities," Gibson reminded him. "We haven't even established yet that these people were never under Hymenop control. Precedent won't hold always, and there's no predicting nor evaluating the motives of an alien race. We never understood their own invaded ground. He followed his white-smocked guide through a power room where great crude generators whirred ponderously, pouring out gross electric current into arm-thick cables. They were nearing the bow of the ship when they passed by another open port and Farrell, glancing out over the lowered rampway, saw that his fears for Stryker and Gibson had been well grounded. The Marco Four , ports open, lay grounded outside. Farrell could not have said, later, whether his next move was planned or reflexive. The whole desperate issue seemed to hang suspended for a breathless moment upon a hair-fine Question: Who is Farrell and what happens to him throughout the story? Answer:	[ "Arthur Farrell is the ship’s navigator, the youngest and most impulsive member of the crew. He tries to convince captain Stryker to land on Alphard Six, claiming that it cannot be inhabited. Stryker doesn’t agree and orders Farrell to find a reconnaissance spiral. After the torpedo explodes near the ship, they all discuss who the attackers could be. Farrell points out that there was no sign of life on Alphard Six around the year 3000, so the inhabitants appeared after this. Farrell agrees to be sent to the planet’s surface and explore. They continue talking and soon see an ancient ship in the center of the planet’s town. Farrell is quick to state that it couldn’t have come from Earth because it would've taken hundreds of years to travel here, and the ship’s ancient technology is not effective enough for such a voyage. Irritated, he interrupts the discussion and suggests he and Xavier go down and see who the inhabitants are. Farrell flies in a helihopper and notices a bonfire near the town. He starts reporting when the helihopper’s carriage crumples, an electric discharge blinds Farrell, and he momentarily loses consciousness. Later, he wakes up with a brutal headache in an infirmary inside the ancient ship. A medic with anachronistic spectacles and gray hair uses unintelligible words and gestures to Farrell to follow him. They pass several open ports, and he sees Xavier’s scouter and later the Marco Four. Shocked, he runs to the spaceship and takes off, when unexpectedly Stryker appears near him, ordering him to take the ship down. Soon Gibson explains that Farrell piloted into metallic power lines, and the crash put him out for almost a day. These Alphardians are incredibly friendly. The object the crew considered a torpedo was actually an emergency boat the inhabitants sent to the spaceship to make sure the people on board noticed their colony. Their spaceship’s technology set off the atomic engines of the boat, making it explode. Gibson and Xavier recognized an old language of frequency modulation the night before, heard about Farrell’s crash, and landed the ship to help. It turns out that the expedition that left Terra for Sirius in 2171 perished soon, and the Bees brought the spacecraft here. They also brought some people from their peripheral colonies conditioned to believe themselves descendants of the expedition. They have been let alone. Farrell understands that the Bees were trying to monitor this group and understand humans’ logic, but they never did. \n\n", "Navigator Arthur Farrell is part of the Terran Reclamations crew on the Marco Four ship. He is part of a three-man crew with a mechanical named Xavier. Farrell is also considered to be the youngest and most impulsive member of the crew; he also jumps to conclusions quickly and often gets corrected by either Stryker or Gibson. At the beginning of the story, Farrell is excited to go to the Alphard Six and almost forgets about the reconnaissance spiral. He tries to prove that the planet was never unreclaimed, even though the other two members are much more cautious in case there are traces left behind by the Bees. When they discuss what could be on the planet, Farrell continues to argue that the Bees never colonized Six. He also says that they might have all been the victims of a joint hallucination. He later volunteers to do the field work with Xavier, as he is sick of staying on the ship with either of the other two men. Farrell later goes down on the helihopper and goes past a hamlet when a blinding flare of electric discharge knocks him out. He later wakes up in an infirmary and believes he was taken by the enemy. However, as the medic leads him out, he realizes that these people are a result of one of the old ventures. Farrell mistakenly believes that the Marco Four is grounded too, which is why he runs to the ship and pushes a few buttons to take off. Later, however, he is reprimanded for his actions and explained that the people here mean no harm. ", "Arthur Farrell is the navigator and the youngest in the Terran Reclamations crew aboard the Marco Four. He is described to be impatient and impulsive but eager. Assigned to investigate the unknown colony they encounter, he disembarks into a helihopper to determine the planet's origins and inhabitants. As he begins to pull back, he passes over a hamlet and the helihopper suddenly crashes as Farrell falls unconscious. \n\nWhen he awakens, he finds himself in an infirmary and presumes himself to be prisoner. Following the medic out of the infirmary, Farrell marvels at the succession of rooms like the hydroponics garden and nursery that convinces him that previous old ventures on colonization had indeed succeeded. However, he is worried his fellow crewmates have been captured as well. When he sees the grounded ship, his fears comes true and he impulsively rushes aboard the ship to fly them away. Stopped short by Stryker, he soon finds out that no one was shot down by the colony. Instead, Farrell himself had flown into an electrical line and knocked himself out. In addition, the colony was friendly and eager to return to Terra with the crew, as they had been hoping for a while. ", "Farrell is the navigator on the spaceship Marco Four. He is the youngest and the most impulsive among the crew. He is also called Arthur. He attempts to planetfall the unobserved planet without scouting at first. He does not recognize the importance of the Reclamations Handbook. After getting struck, Farrell volunteers to investigate the planet and the primitive village. When they find out the damaged spaceship on the land uses continuous atomic fission to supply power, they are astonished. Farrell teases Stryker with the hypothesis that the people below are humanoid. Farrell uses the helihopper to investigate the land, with Xavier’s scouter scouting ahead of him. When he reaches the field, he is struck by the power lines used to transmit electricity in the city and passes out. He is in an infirmary room when he wakes up, and an anachronistic man comes in. Farrell thinks that all the other crew members are captive when he sees their spaceship land with the port open. As all the assumptions become more apparent in his head, he dashes to the Marco Four and rises it up. Disrupted by Stryker, he drives the spaceship down again. Farrell learns from Stryker that all their hypotheses are wrong, and these people are harmless and primitive as they had thought." ]	24949	conviction of nightmare heightened by the outlandish tone of his surroundings. He lay on a narrow bed in a whitely antiseptic infirmary, an oblong metal cell cluttered with a grimly utilitarian array of tables and lockers and chests. The lighting was harsh and overbright and the air hung thick with pungent unfamiliar chemical odors. From somewhere, far off yet at the same time as near as the bulkhead above him, came the unceasing drone of machinery. Farrell sat up, groaning, when full consciousness made his position clear. He had been shot down by God knew what sort of devastating unorthodox the Hymenops because there's no common ground of logic between us. Why try to interpret their intentions now?" Farrell threw up his hands in disgust. "Next you'll say this is an ancient Terran expedition that actually succeeded! There's only one way to answer the questions we've raised, and that's to go down and see for ourselves. Ready, Xav?" But uncertainty nagged uneasily at him when Farrell found himself alone in the helihopper with the forest flowing beneath like a leafy river and Xavier's scouter disappearing bulletlike into the dusk ahead. We never found a colony so advanced, Farrell thought. Suppose what had happened, followed without protest into an intersecting way that led through a bewildering succession of storage rooms and hydroponics gardens, through a small gymnasium fitted with physical training equipment in graduated sizes and finally into a soundproofed place that could have been nothing but a nursery. The implication behind its presence stopped Farrell short. "A creche ," he said, stunned. He had a wild vision of endless generations of children growing up in this dim and stuffy room, to be taught from their first toddling steps the functions they must fulfill before the venture of which they were at some time during the two hundred years of Hymenop occupation and evacuation." Farrell, tangled in contradictions, swore bitterly. "But why should the Bees let them through? The three domes on Five are over two hundred years old, which means that the Bees were here before the ship came. Why didn't they blast it or enslave its crew?" "We haven't touched on all the possibilities," Gibson reminded him. "We haven't even established yet that these people were never under Hymenop control. Precedent won't hold always, and there's no predicting nor evaluating the motives of an alien race. We never understood their own invaded ground. He followed his white-smocked guide through a power room where great crude generators whirred ponderously, pouring out gross electric current into arm-thick cables. They were nearing the bow of the ship when they passed by another open port and Farrell, glancing out over the lowered rampway, saw that his fears for Stryker and Gibson had been well grounded. The Marco Four , ports open, lay grounded outside. Farrell could not have said, later, whether his next move was planned or reflexive. The whole desperate issue seemed to hang suspended for a breathless moment upon a hair-fine
What is the importance of the baby talk in the story?	After carefully reading the provided chunks, write a detailed response to the following question about Growing up on Big Muddy by Charles V. De Vet. Relevant chunks: except rain?" His attention returned to the matter at hand. Why the baby talk? And why was his memory so hazy? How long had he been here? What had he been doing during that time? Listlessly he reached for the towel at his elbow and wiped the moisture from his face and bare shoulders. The air conditioning had gone out when the scout ship cracked up. He'd have to repair the scout or he was stuck here for good. He remembered now that he had gone over the job very carefully and thoroughly, and had found it too big to Well, naturally Kaiser would transmit baby talk messages to his mother ship! He was— GROWING UP ON BIG MUDDY By CHARLES V. DE VET Illustrated by TURPIN [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Galaxy Science Fiction July 1957. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] Kaiser stared at the tape in his hand for a long uncomprehending minute. How long had the stuff been coming through in this inane baby talk? And why hadn't he noticed it before? Why had he had to read this last communication a third time IN PLAIN TERRAN. NO REASON WHY YOU COULDN'T READ IT. AND WHY THE BABY TALK? IF YOU'RE SPOOFING, STOP. GIVE US MORE SYMPTOMS. HOW ARE YOU FEELING NOW? SS II The baby talk was worse on Kaiser's next: TWAZY. WHAT FOR OO TENDING TWAZY LETTERS? FINK UM CAN WEAD TWAZY LETTERS? SKIN ALL YELLOW NOW. COLD. COLD. CO The ship's following communication was three hours late. It was the last on the tape—the one Kaiser had read earlier. Apparently they decided to humor him. OO IS SICK, SMOKY. DO TO BEDDY-BY. KEEP UM WARM. WHEN UM FEELS BETTER, LET USNS with very little clear thought, for several hours—until the next communication came in: WELL, THIS IS WHAT SAM HAS TO SAY, SMOKY. SYMBIOTE AMICABLE AND APPARENTLY SWIFTLY ADAPTABLE. YOUR CHANGING COLOR, DIFFICULTY IN EATING AND EVEN BABY TALK WERE THE RESULT OF ITS EFFORTS TO GIVE YOU WHAT IT BELIEVED YOU NEEDED OR WANTED. CHANGING COLOR: PROTECTIVE CAMOUFLAGE. TROUBLE KEEPING FOOD DOWN: IT KEPT YOUR STOMACH EMPTY BECAUSE IT SENSED YOU WERE IN TROUBLE AND MIGHT HAVE NEED FOR SHARP REFLEXES, WITH NO EXCESS WEIGHT TO CARRY. THE BABY TALK WE AREN'T TOO CERTAIN ABOUT, BUT OUR BEST CONCLUSION IS "Well," he said, "before you kill me, tell me about the book." He held it up for Maota to see. "What about the book?" "What kind of book is it?" "What does Mr. Earthgod mean, what kind of book? You have seen it. It is like any other book, except for the material and the fact that it talks." "No, no. I mean, what's in it?" "Poetry." "Poetry? For God's sake, why poetry? Why not mathematics or history? Why not tell how to make the metal of the book itself? Now there is a subject worthy of a book." Maota Question: What is the importance of the baby talk in the story? Answer:	[ "The fact that Kaiser at some point uses baby-talk helps Sam and other members of the Soscites II team determine what exactly caused Kaiser’s symptoms and how it can analyze his emotions and use them to give his body what it needs. The main reason why the man uses baby-talk seems to be that he was most happy in his childhood which also underscores his alienation from people, that he is a loner. Kaiser went to space to run away from his wife and her brother, his colleagues respect him but do not like him, and none of them is Kaiser’s friend. He’s naturally unsociable and was happier when he was a kid. ", "The baby talk that Kaiser experiences is important because it is the effect of the symbiote being in his body. Without the baby talk, the ship would not have accurately determined that there is a symbiote in his body. It also sets off the story, because Kaiser would otherwise believe that he is perfectly fine on the planet. Although he is confused by the baby talk, he does realize that it disappears later. It is an effect of the symbiote, trying to bring him back to a happier time in his life which was childhood. Without the baby talk, it would have been impossible for Kaiser and the rest of the ship to realize the symbiote. It also later directly affects how Kaiser makes the choices regarding the seal-people and how he eventually destroys the communication device to join them. ", "The baby talk is important because it is a clear sign of the symbiote having entered Kaiser's system and adapting him. His other symptoms like changing color or having trouble keeping food down could have been reasoned to a flu or virus, so the baby talk symptom was an important distinction for the doctor and those aboard SS II to identify what was going on. \n\nAdditionally, the reason behind the baby talk appearing hinted at why Kaiser may have more easily given into staying on Big Muddy and transforming into the seal-life creatures. Sam had said the symbiote instilled baby talk back into Kaiser because it believed that Ksier was most happy when he was a child - and wanted to provide Kaiser with this happy state of mind. This, along with Kaiser's feeling lonely and tormented aboard the SS and on Earth respectively, makes sense why Kaiser might choose another way of life for himself and his happiness. ", "The baby talk is one of the symptoms that Kaiser shows at the beginning of the story. While communicating with the ship, he sent the ship weird messages. These messages replicated how babies talk. The ship’s doctor told Kaiser that it was a symptom of the symbiote entering Kaiser’s body, and that the baby talk could be explained. The symbiote wanted Kaiser to feel happy, and it believed that Kaiser had been most happy when he was a baby, so the symbiote tried to replicate those feelings. Overall, the baby talk was the initial sign of the control that the symbiote would have over Kaiser and his body, eventually leading to Kaiser slowly turning into a seal-person." ]	51398	except rain?" His attention returned to the matter at hand. Why the baby talk? And why was his memory so hazy? How long had he been here? What had he been doing during that time? Listlessly he reached for the towel at his elbow and wiped the moisture from his face and bare shoulders. The air conditioning had gone out when the scout ship cracked up. He'd have to repair the scout or he was stuck here for good. He remembered now that he had gone over the job very carefully and thoroughly, and had found it too big to Well, naturally Kaiser would transmit baby talk messages to his mother ship! He was— GROWING UP ON BIG MUDDY By CHARLES V. DE VET Illustrated by TURPIN [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Galaxy Science Fiction July 1957. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] Kaiser stared at the tape in his hand for a long uncomprehending minute. How long had the stuff been coming through in this inane baby talk? And why hadn't he noticed it before? Why had he had to read this last communication a third time IN PLAIN TERRAN. NO REASON WHY YOU COULDN'T READ IT. AND WHY THE BABY TALK? IF YOU'RE SPOOFING, STOP. GIVE US MORE SYMPTOMS. HOW ARE YOU FEELING NOW? SS II The baby talk was worse on Kaiser's next: TWAZY. WHAT FOR OO TENDING TWAZY LETTERS? FINK UM CAN WEAD TWAZY LETTERS? SKIN ALL YELLOW NOW. COLD. COLD. CO The ship's following communication was three hours late. It was the last on the tape—the one Kaiser had read earlier. Apparently they decided to humor him. OO IS SICK, SMOKY. DO TO BEDDY-BY. KEEP UM WARM. WHEN UM FEELS BETTER, LET USNS with very little clear thought, for several hours—until the next communication came in: WELL, THIS IS WHAT SAM HAS TO SAY, SMOKY. SYMBIOTE AMICABLE AND APPARENTLY SWIFTLY ADAPTABLE. YOUR CHANGING COLOR, DIFFICULTY IN EATING AND EVEN BABY TALK WERE THE RESULT OF ITS EFFORTS TO GIVE YOU WHAT IT BELIEVED YOU NEEDED OR WANTED. CHANGING COLOR: PROTECTIVE CAMOUFLAGE. TROUBLE KEEPING FOOD DOWN: IT KEPT YOUR STOMACH EMPTY BECAUSE IT SENSED YOU WERE IN TROUBLE AND MIGHT HAVE NEED FOR SHARP REFLEXES, WITH NO EXCESS WEIGHT TO CARRY. THE BABY TALK WE AREN'T TOO CERTAIN ABOUT, BUT OUR BEST CONCLUSION IS "Well," he said, "before you kill me, tell me about the book." He held it up for Maota to see. "What about the book?" "What kind of book is it?" "What does Mr. Earthgod mean, what kind of book? You have seen it. It is like any other book, except for the material and the fact that it talks." "No, no. I mean, what's in it?" "Poetry." "Poetry? For God's sake, why poetry? Why not mathematics or history? Why not tell how to make the metal of the book itself? Now there is a subject worthy of a book." Maota
What happens to Marie throughout the story?	After carefully reading the provided chunks, write a detailed response to the following question about The Snare by Richard Rein Smith. Relevant chunks: bag suddenly and leaned against a fence post, rolling his head on his forearms and choking in spasms of air. He was shaking all over, and his belly writhed. He wanted to turn and run. He wanted to crawl out in the grass and hide. What were they going to say? And Marie, Marie most of all. How was he going to tell her about the money? Six hitches in space, and every time the promise had been the same: One more tour, baby, and we'll have enough dough, and then I'll quit for good. One more time, and we'll hulk of smooth metal. It was featureless and yet conveyed a sense of alienness . It was alien and yet it wasn't a natural formation. Something had made the thing, whatever it was. But was it strange that it hadn't been noticed before? Men had lived on the Moon for over a year, but the Moon was vast and the Mare Serenitatis covered three hundred and forty thousand square miles. "What is it?" Marie asked breathlessly. Her husband grunted his bafflement. "Who knows? But see how it curves? If it's a perfect sphere, it must be at least two miles broken by a circular opening that yawned invitingly. Kane ran ahead and flashed his head-lamp into the dark recess. "There's a small room inside," he told us, and climbed through the opening. We waited outside and focused our lamps through the five-foot opening to give him as much light as possible. "Come on in, Marie," he called to his wife. "This is really something! It must be an alien race. There's all kinds of weird drawings on the walls and gadgets that look like controls for something...." Briefly, my lamp flickered over Marie's pale face. Her features struggled with two was almost straight above him in the late August sky, so he knew it wasn't much after sundown—probably about eight o'clock. He braced himself with another swallow of gin, picked himself up and got back to the road, feeling a little sobered after the nap. He limped on up the pavement and turned left at the narrow drive that led between barbed-wire fences toward the Hauptman farmhouse, five hundred yards or so from the farm road. The fields on his left belonged to Marie's father, he knew. He was getting close—close to home and woman and child. He dropped the a good set of nerves. Kane excited easily, his temper was fiery, but his nerves were like steel. "The end of the line," he grunted. As though to disprove the statement, a door on his right side opened soundlessly. He went through the doorway as if shoved violently by an invisible hand. The door closed behind him. Marie threw herself at the door and beat at the metal. "Harry!" Verana rushed to her side. Another door on the opposite side of the corridor opened silently. The door was behind them; they didn't notice. Before I could warn them, Marie floated Question: What happens to Marie throughout the story? Answer:	[ "Marie is the wife of Kane, the sharp, brash anti-hero of the story. She begins on the walk with the rest of the crew, ending up on the alien spaceship. When Kane is thrown into a separate room from the rest of the crew, Marie throws herself against the door and tries with all her strength to get it to open, until she herself is put in a separate room. The room is dark, and she is touched by a telepathic voice that tells her not to worry. They won't hurt her, and they only want to learn something about her. The voice seems to search through her memories, looking at her high school days. It also looked at human customs and their lives in general. The room must be filled with some sort of happiness gas, because she comes out of it to join the rest of the crew in an airy, relaxed mood that soon wears off. She then searches the ship for a way to break out with the rest of the group but finds nothing. She goes to sleep with Verana. She wakes up to Kane having tied them all up. When Kane is strangling Ed, she screams at him to stop. Eventually though, the computer lets them go home. ", "Marie is the wife of Harry Kane. She joins Harry, Ed, Miller, and Verana on a walk on the Moon at the beginning of the story. When they encounter the object, she is the second one to enter through its opening, following her husband despite being frightened. Marie and the rest of the group examine the object, walking down its large corridor, when she is suddenly pushed into a room by a mysterious force. Marie is then separated by the group, returning to them later and dizzily explaining how her mind was searched and prodded for memories. Once Marie falls out of her trance and Harry returns, she returns to being frightened and panicking. She rests that night with Verana, and awakes the next morning tied to a chair, where Kane is executing his plan.", "\nMarie is the wife of Harry Kane. She initially follows her husband into the spaceship. Then, after he is pushed into one of the rooms, she floats across the corridor into another room. Marie screams and struggles, but she is taken away regardless. Later, she comes back into the observatory and says a voice spoke to her telepathically when she was in the dark room. She then says that the voice was interested in her memories, especially the high school ones about English and history. However, she could also feel it searching for memories of general life and customs. The voice spoke very nicely to her too, which made her happy and calm. Later, she is frightened again once the machine reveals what is going to happen to them. She cares for Kane after he has his violent outburst but becomes involved in his later plan again. \n\n", "Marie approaches the sphere together with the whole group and follows Kane, her husband, inside. There she is as scared as everyone, passes the corridor, and when a door closes behind her husband she starts beating it violently. Then she floats into another door which shuts behind screaming Marie. In a while she appears in the observatory with a calm face. She tells about a telepathic voice in the dark which calmed her down and searched through her memories. While she listens to her husband's story about the experiment and their future as prisoners on an alien planet, the calm effect disappears and she is filled with terror of dissection, for example. Then she searches the ship together with the rest of the group without effect and goes to sleep. She was frightened all the way. Soon she is joined by her husband in bed. In the morning she finds herself bound to a chair together with Ed and Verana in the kitchen. She is upset and feels shame for her husband, she is also scared of him choking Ed. She asks her husband to let go of Ed. Eventually, she returns to the Moon together with the group. " ]	49901	bag suddenly and leaned against a fence post, rolling his head on his forearms and choking in spasms of air. He was shaking all over, and his belly writhed. He wanted to turn and run. He wanted to crawl out in the grass and hide. What were they going to say? And Marie, Marie most of all. How was he going to tell her about the money? Six hitches in space, and every time the promise had been the same: One more tour, baby, and we'll have enough dough, and then I'll quit for good. One more time, and we'll hulk of smooth metal. It was featureless and yet conveyed a sense of alienness . It was alien and yet it wasn't a natural formation. Something had made the thing, whatever it was. But was it strange that it hadn't been noticed before? Men had lived on the Moon for over a year, but the Moon was vast and the Mare Serenitatis covered three hundred and forty thousand square miles. "What is it?" Marie asked breathlessly. Her husband grunted his bafflement. "Who knows? But see how it curves? If it's a perfect sphere, it must be at least two miles broken by a circular opening that yawned invitingly. Kane ran ahead and flashed his head-lamp into the dark recess. "There's a small room inside," he told us, and climbed through the opening. We waited outside and focused our lamps through the five-foot opening to give him as much light as possible. "Come on in, Marie," he called to his wife. "This is really something! It must be an alien race. There's all kinds of weird drawings on the walls and gadgets that look like controls for something...." Briefly, my lamp flickered over Marie's pale face. Her features struggled with two was almost straight above him in the late August sky, so he knew it wasn't much after sundown—probably about eight o'clock. He braced himself with another swallow of gin, picked himself up and got back to the road, feeling a little sobered after the nap. He limped on up the pavement and turned left at the narrow drive that led between barbed-wire fences toward the Hauptman farmhouse, five hundred yards or so from the farm road. The fields on his left belonged to Marie's father, he knew. He was getting close—close to home and woman and child. He dropped the a good set of nerves. Kane excited easily, his temper was fiery, but his nerves were like steel. "The end of the line," he grunted. As though to disprove the statement, a door on his right side opened soundlessly. He went through the doorway as if shoved violently by an invisible hand. The door closed behind him. Marie threw herself at the door and beat at the metal. "Harry!" Verana rushed to her side. Another door on the opposite side of the corridor opened silently. The door was behind them; they didn't notice. Before I could warn them, Marie floated
How is the theme of responsibility explored in the story?	After carefully reading the provided chunks, write a detailed response to the following question about The First Man in Space by Heather Feldman. Relevant chunks: man!” Mom burst out, as though she had been holding it in as long as she could. “Sending a boy who isn’t even twenty-two—” “Things are different nowadays, Mom,” Dad explained, still with the assumed calmness that masked his real feelings. “These days, men grow up faster and mature quicker. They’re stronger and more alert than older men—” His voice trailed off as if he were unable to convince himself. “ Some body has to go,” Marsh said. “Why not a younger man without family and responsibility? That’s why they’re giving younger men more opportunities today than they used to.” edge, and birds as delicate as colored glass wavered down the wind. He opened the shelter door and went out. The shelter looked the same, but useless now. How did the shelter of that bleak world get into this one, where the air was warm and fragrant, where there was no cold, from that world into this one of his dreams? The girl—Helene—was standing there leaning against a tree, smoking a cigarette. He walked toward her, and stopped. In the dream it had been easy, but now he was embarrassed, in spite of the intimacy that had grown between them. of futile sons? What can I do to save myself from dying eight days from now? Is there escape? His eyes widened, another image came to focus. Beyond this valley of cliffs, on a low mountain lay a perfect, unscarred metal seed. A metal ship, not rusted or touched by the avalanches. The ship was deserted, whole, intact. It was the only ship of all these that had crashed that was still a unit, still usable. But it was so far away. There was no one in it to help. This ship, then, on the far mountain, was the destiny THE HANGING STRANGER BY PHILIP K. DICK ILLUSTRATED BY SMITH [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Science Fiction Adventures Magazine December 1953. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] Ed had always been a practical man, when he saw something was wrong he tried to correct it. Then one day he saw it hanging in the town square. Five o'clock Ed Loyce washed up, tossed on his hat and coat, got his car out and headed across town toward his TV sales store. He was tired. His back and shoulders mission that huge and depressing in eight short, vanishing days? How had his people gotten into such a condition? As if at a button pressed, he saw an image. Metal seeds, blown across space from a distant green world, fighting with long flames, crashing on this bleak planet. From their shattered hulls tumble men and women. When? Long ago. Ten thousand days. The crash victims hid in the cliffs from the sun. Fire, ice and floods washed away the wreckage of the huge metal seeds. The victims were shaped and beaten like iron upon a forge. Solar radiations drenched them. Question: How is the theme of responsibility explored in the story? Answer:	[ "Being the first man to go to space is a task of extreme responsibility. For years, the flight was worked through to make it as safe and well-organized as possible. Due to the need to choose only one man, long training and checkouts took place, and Marsh was decided to be the best. His success is the reason his friends are not able to go and their years of training were in vain. The generals and other higher standing participants trained and chose Marsh, so he has to meet their expectations. The whole globe is watching him with interest and attention, which is an additional pressure. He has to complete the mission successfully, because he was chosen and he can’t fail, he needs to be brave, calm and concentrated. Moreover, he is responsible before his parents to come back, not to make them lose their only son. Detailed instructions were given to him and failing to follow them means proving not good enough. This flight was prepared for too long, and if he fails, he moves the exploration years back. Understanding all of that, Marsh tries to calm him down every time and reminds himself of what has to be done. He does everything with caution, and when he loses control in space, he rapidly recovers and reminds himself to be careful. Under the burden of this responsibility, Marsh doesn’t let himself to get nervous. \n", "The theme of responsibility is explored through the story via Marsh’s own experience in space. Although he undergoes training, Marsh is still given the responsibility of being the person who makes man’s first journey into space. He is responsible when piloting the rocket, too, and can execute all of the instructions that the general gives him. Marsh can safely disconnect the cables and prevent the ship’s delicate instruments from becoming damaged when he goes out to observe. Even during the trickiest part of the operation, Marsh can manually pilot the ship back to Earth. He demonstrates excellent responsibility here, as he manages to safely land and successfully fulfills the mission. ", "The theme of responsibility features heavily in this story. Marsh feels the responsibility of the world to succeed in this flight. He doubts whether he was the right man for the job. He feels the responsibility to have the mission be a success for not only his team, but also himself, and his own life. The weight of the world is on his shoulders, and the future of space travel depends on him. \nMom and Dad feel the responsibility to keep their child safe. They are angered by the fact that he was chosen, and wish the space program had picked a grown man. \nThe entire team at the Skyharbour have the responsibility of keeping Marsh safe. They give him a full medical check, and wire him up to know the status of his vitals. \nThe Colonel has the responsibility of keeping a boy safe that he has known for a very long time. He is his CO, and as such, is the main person responsible for him at the station. \nThe general has the responsibility to make sure everything about the mission goes smoothly. \nThere is definitely a very clear theme of responsibility throughout the story. ", "We learn that even though Marsh’s Mom and Dad does not want him to go to space, his exploration to the space can bring valuable finding to Earth. Firstly, he was able to spot a meteor that is heading towards Earth. He reports this back. He is also able to bring data back for months of analysis. While his parents hoped he would fail the exams, he passed and becomes the first pilot going into space. It is such an honor for him. Even Marsh himself was thrilled to see Earth from space, especially since he is the first man ever. " ]	55801	man!” Mom burst out, as though she had been holding it in as long as she could. “Sending a boy who isn’t even twenty-two—” “Things are different nowadays, Mom,” Dad explained, still with the assumed calmness that masked his real feelings. “These days, men grow up faster and mature quicker. They’re stronger and more alert than older men—” His voice trailed off as if he were unable to convince himself. “ Some body has to go,” Marsh said. “Why not a younger man without family and responsibility? That’s why they’re giving younger men more opportunities today than they used to.” edge, and birds as delicate as colored glass wavered down the wind. He opened the shelter door and went out. The shelter looked the same, but useless now. How did the shelter of that bleak world get into this one, where the air was warm and fragrant, where there was no cold, from that world into this one of his dreams? The girl—Helene—was standing there leaning against a tree, smoking a cigarette. He walked toward her, and stopped. In the dream it had been easy, but now he was embarrassed, in spite of the intimacy that had grown between them. of futile sons? What can I do to save myself from dying eight days from now? Is there escape? His eyes widened, another image came to focus. Beyond this valley of cliffs, on a low mountain lay a perfect, unscarred metal seed. A metal ship, not rusted or touched by the avalanches. The ship was deserted, whole, intact. It was the only ship of all these that had crashed that was still a unit, still usable. But it was so far away. There was no one in it to help. This ship, then, on the far mountain, was the destiny THE HANGING STRANGER BY PHILIP K. DICK ILLUSTRATED BY SMITH [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Science Fiction Adventures Magazine December 1953. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] Ed had always been a practical man, when he saw something was wrong he tried to correct it. Then one day he saw it hanging in the town square. Five o'clock Ed Loyce washed up, tossed on his hat and coat, got his car out and headed across town toward his TV sales store. He was tired. His back and shoulders mission that huge and depressing in eight short, vanishing days? How had his people gotten into such a condition? As if at a button pressed, he saw an image. Metal seeds, blown across space from a distant green world, fighting with long flames, crashing on this bleak planet. From their shattered hulls tumble men and women. When? Long ago. Ten thousand days. The crash victims hid in the cliffs from the sun. Fire, ice and floods washed away the wreckage of the huge metal seeds. The victims were shaped and beaten like iron upon a forge. Solar radiations drenched them.
Describe the setting of the story?	After carefully reading the provided chunks, write a detailed response to the following question about DEATH STAR by TOM PACE. Relevant chunks: explain the phenomena of the Ghost Ship? Was it really only a product of his imagination? What of all the others who had seen it? Was it possible for many different men under many different situations to have the same exact illusion? Reason denied that. But perhaps space itself denies reason. Grimly he retraced the legend of the Ghost Ship. A chance phrase here and a story there put together all that he knew: Doomed for all eternity to wander in the empty star-lanes, the Ghost Ship haunts the Solar System that gave it birth. And this is its tragedy, course. What is it that girls in small offices do or eat or drink or wear that girls in large offices don't do or eat or drink or wear? What do writers and doctors do differently? Or poets and dentists? What are we missing? What—" In the outer office a girl cried out. A body thumped against a desk, then a chair, then to the floor. Two girls screamed. Andy bolted up from his chair. Racing to the door, he shouted back to Bettijean, "Get a staff doctor and a chemist from the lab." It was the girl who had started to rise, the wave of blackness warned me, and I restrained my ambition. "I will walk soon." "We will have much to talk about. Your friend has pointed to the stars and told me a strange story of your coming. We have walked around the ship. He has told me how it rides through the sky. I can hardly make myself believe." Tomboldo's eyes cast upward under the strong ridge of forehead where the eyebrows should have been. He was evidently trying to visualize the flight of a space ship. "We will have much to tell each other." "I deathly ill, but nobody dying. And doctors can't identify the poison until they have a fatality for an autopsy. People stricken in every part of the country, but the water systems are pure. How does it spread?" "In food?" "How? There must be hundreds of canneries and dairies and packing plants over the country. How could they all goof at the same time—even if it was sabotage?" "On the wind?" "But who could accurately predict every wind over the entire country—even Alaska and Hawaii—without hitting Canada or Mexico? And why wouldn't everybody get it in a given area?" Bettijean's smooth HOME IS WHERE YOU LEFT IT By ADAM CHASE [Transcriber Note: This etext was produced from Amazing Stories February 1957. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] The chance of mass slaughter was their eternal nightmare. How black is the blackest treachery? Is the most callous traitor entitled to mercy? Steve pondered these questions. His decision? That at times the villain should possibly be spoken of as a hero. Only the shells of deserted mud-brick houses greeted Steve Cantwell when he reached the village. He poked around in them for a Question: Describe the setting of the story? Answer:	[ "The story takes place on Alpha Centauri III, a planet that has many stagnant lakes that are only a few hundred feet across, but a few thousand feet deep. After Star’s ship fells into one of the lakes, he is knocked out and is captured by the girl and Garrett’s people to their craft. He is sitting on a lab chair where he realizes that he is being called “Garrett” instead of Star. He is still super surprised, but then is knocked out again. He wakes up in some kind of cell and is told he will be executed. He is brought to a room to be executed streaming to the Section Void Headquarters with a stellar vision screen. After some distraction, Garrett misses the shot. But Star is knocked out again to be brought back to the cell again. After acknowledging that the girl knows his true identity, Garrett notices them and brought them to see his grand operation that will allow him to rule over the world. However, he dies before he was able to finish introducing the rest of the machineries. ", "The story begins on the surface of Alpha Centauri III, also known as the most barren planet in space. The surface of the planet is flat, with only lakes disrupting the flatness. The lakes, though only several hundred feet across, are several thousand feet deep. \nAs Starrett Blade, who is also known as Death Star, is taken to the lair of Devil Garrett, a space pirate, the setting changes to an underground space. Star wakes up in a cell, and is then taken to another room with a transmitter to be executed. However, the transmission goes awry, and Star is subdued and returned to his cell. \nUpon waking up again, Star is taken, alongside Anne Hinton, to a room a thousand feet long and five hundred feet wide, filled with machinery, ladders, and catwalks. The machinery includes vats connected to cables, in which the electrolysis of water is performed, and pipes leading from the vats to large engines in which hydrogen and oxygen gas are allowed to combust and turn turbines. \n", "The story takes place on Alpha Centauri III, a barren planet with no life. Star finds himself in Garrett's lair, where he is held in a cell for much of the story. Star's execution takes place after Garrett and Anne have eaten in the dining room, where a large transmitter is located that will broadcast the execution to those across the galaxy. Garrett's place also holds turbines and chambers that would generate energy towards his plan of dominating Alpha III.", "The story begins with Star Blade crouched by some rocks on a tiny lake that is about a couple of hundred feet across but thousands of feet deep. He is on the surface of Alpha Centauri III, the most barren planet in space as it has a mostly flat, rocky surface. There is no running water on the planet, only lakes exist. Tides do not exist on the planet because it does not have a moon which is required for tidal power. \n\nStar is taken to a prison cell by Garrett’s orders. Before his planned execution, Star stands in front of a transmitter that is meant to kill him. He is not killed by the transmitter and returns to his cell. \n\nGarrett shows Star a room that is about a thousand feet long and about 500 feet wide. The room is filled with very large machines and different ladders leading to various sections of the machines. \n" ]	63419	explain the phenomena of the Ghost Ship? Was it really only a product of his imagination? What of all the others who had seen it? Was it possible for many different men under many different situations to have the same exact illusion? Reason denied that. But perhaps space itself denies reason. Grimly he retraced the legend of the Ghost Ship. A chance phrase here and a story there put together all that he knew: Doomed for all eternity to wander in the empty star-lanes, the Ghost Ship haunts the Solar System that gave it birth. And this is its tragedy, course. What is it that girls in small offices do or eat or drink or wear that girls in large offices don't do or eat or drink or wear? What do writers and doctors do differently? Or poets and dentists? What are we missing? What—" In the outer office a girl cried out. A body thumped against a desk, then a chair, then to the floor. Two girls screamed. Andy bolted up from his chair. Racing to the door, he shouted back to Bettijean, "Get a staff doctor and a chemist from the lab." It was the girl who had started to rise, the wave of blackness warned me, and I restrained my ambition. "I will walk soon." "We will have much to talk about. Your friend has pointed to the stars and told me a strange story of your coming. We have walked around the ship. He has told me how it rides through the sky. I can hardly make myself believe." Tomboldo's eyes cast upward under the strong ridge of forehead where the eyebrows should have been. He was evidently trying to visualize the flight of a space ship. "We will have much to tell each other." "I deathly ill, but nobody dying. And doctors can't identify the poison until they have a fatality for an autopsy. People stricken in every part of the country, but the water systems are pure. How does it spread?" "In food?" "How? There must be hundreds of canneries and dairies and packing plants over the country. How could they all goof at the same time—even if it was sabotage?" "On the wind?" "But who could accurately predict every wind over the entire country—even Alaska and Hawaii—without hitting Canada or Mexico? And why wouldn't everybody get it in a given area?" Bettijean's smooth HOME IS WHERE YOU LEFT IT By ADAM CHASE [Transcriber Note: This etext was produced from Amazing Stories February 1957. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] The chance of mass slaughter was their eternal nightmare. How black is the blackest treachery? Is the most callous traitor entitled to mercy? Steve pondered these questions. His decision? That at times the villain should possibly be spoken of as a hero. Only the shells of deserted mud-brick houses greeted Steve Cantwell when he reached the village. He poked around in them for a
Describe the setting of the story.	After carefully reading the provided chunks, write a detailed response to the following question about Control Group by Roger D. Aycock. Relevant chunks: proud of the apartment. It had all the modern conveniences, like the needle shower with the perfume dispenser, the built-in soft-drink bar in the library, the all-communications set, and the electrical massager. It was a nice, comfortable setup, an illusion of security in an ever-changing world. She lit a cigarette and chuckled. Mrs. Burger, the fat old landlady, thought she kept up the apartment by working as a buyer for one of the downtown stores. Well, maybe some day she would. But not today. And not tonight. The phone rang and she answered in a casual tone. She talked for the means to go there.... Yet instinct told me that wasn't the answer, either. I thought of a verse by an ancient pre-atomic poet named Hoffenstein. (People had unwieldy, random combinations of letters for names in those days.) The poem went: Wherever I go, I go too, And spoil everything. That was it. The story of mankind. I turned the glowlight down and lay on the pneumo after a while, but I didn't sleep for a long, long time. Then, when I did sleep, when I had been sleeping, I heard the voice again. The low, seductive woman's voice—the startling, willing guest. No! He couldn't afford it! No! No! NO! His lot was a cheap suit of satin! Cheap whiskey! Cheap champagne! A cheap shack by the river.... An inarticulate cry escaped his twisted lips. He clutched her roughly to him and dragged her through the door and into the moonlight, whiskey and anger lending him brutal strength. He pulled her through the deserted garden. All the others had private rooms! He pulled her to the far end, behind a clump of squatty firs. His hands clawed at her. He tried to smother her mouth with kisses. She eluded him 10:30." The following evening found Quidley on tenter-hooks. The snoll-doper mystery had acquired a new tang. He could hardly wait till the next message transfer took place. He decided to spend the evening plotting the epic novel which he intended to write someday. He set to work immediately. He plotted mentally, of course—notes were for the hacks and the other commercial non-geniuses who infested the modern literary world. Closing his eyes, he saw the whole vivid panorama of epic action and grand adventure flowing like a mighty and majestic river before his literary vision: the authentic and awe-inspiring background; the edge, and birds as delicate as colored glass wavered down the wind. He opened the shelter door and went out. The shelter looked the same, but useless now. How did the shelter of that bleak world get into this one, where the air was warm and fragrant, where there was no cold, from that world into this one of his dreams? The girl—Helene—was standing there leaning against a tree, smoking a cigarette. He walked toward her, and stopped. In the dream it had been easy, but now he was embarrassed, in spite of the intimacy that had grown between them. Question: Describe the setting of the story. Answer:	[ "The story begins on a spaceship called the Marco Four. It is working on Ringwave generators and hangs inside the orbit of a dun-colored moon of the green planet Alphard Six. This ship has several tools, including a magnoscanner, the Zero Interval Transfer computer, and a screen that shows the surface of the planet. Then Farrell gets on a helihopper and soon crashes. The next day he wakes up in an infirmary with white walls, tables, lockers, chests, and some unfamiliar chemical odor. It is one of the rooms of the ancient ship located in the central square of the town on Alphard Six. Farrell then walks down a bare corridor with a metal floor and rare open ports that let in a flood of reddish sunlight. He goes through storage rooms, hydroponics gardens, a gymnasium, a nursery, and a power room. He also notices the Marco Four parked near the square.\n", "The story is initially set on the Marco Four, which is flying in the atmosphere of the Alphard Six. The ship has many controls, including a Ringwave generator, magnoscanner, and a Zero Interval Transfer computer. There is also an area for sleeping on the ship as well. Alphard Six itself is described to have a cool green disk and an airy jewel compared to the other areas. The planet itself is mostly uninhabited, but there is an island about three hundred miles in diameter that has signs of being habited. On the island, there are twenty-seven agrarian hamlets surrounded by cultivated fields. There is also a city with a thousand buildings and a central square. There is also a primitive spaceship there as well. When Farrell awakens later, he finds himself on a narrow bed in a whitely antiseptic infirmary. The infirmary is cluttered with tables, lockers, and chests full of material. When the medic guides him later, Farrell sees storage rooms, hydroponics gardens, a small gymnasium, and a nursery. ", "This story is set within Alphard Six, one of the many inner planets. These planets have been explored, colonzied, and abandoned by Terrans, the Hymenops, and the Bees. Alphard Six is not unreclaimed nor uninhabited and are home to the Alphardians, who reside in hamlets on the planet. \n\nThis story also takes place on the ship, the Marco Four. It is where discussions between the crewmates occur as they debate the origins and potential inhabitants of Alphard Six. ", "The story happens on the planet Alphard Six. There are barren, desolated lands and swamplands on the planet. The planet looks uninhabitable except for a large island. Twenty-seven small farmhouses are surrounded by the cultivated fields on the island, surrounded by the forest. There is a city strewn with many buildings, the center of which is a square that rests a damaged spaceship of a size ten times larger than Marco Four. The damaged spaceship is used for the power supply in the city. Streets stretch out from the square in order." ]	24949	proud of the apartment. It had all the modern conveniences, like the needle shower with the perfume dispenser, the built-in soft-drink bar in the library, the all-communications set, and the electrical massager. It was a nice, comfortable setup, an illusion of security in an ever-changing world. She lit a cigarette and chuckled. Mrs. Burger, the fat old landlady, thought she kept up the apartment by working as a buyer for one of the downtown stores. Well, maybe some day she would. But not today. And not tonight. The phone rang and she answered in a casual tone. She talked for the means to go there.... Yet instinct told me that wasn't the answer, either. I thought of a verse by an ancient pre-atomic poet named Hoffenstein. (People had unwieldy, random combinations of letters for names in those days.) The poem went: Wherever I go, I go too, And spoil everything. That was it. The story of mankind. I turned the glowlight down and lay on the pneumo after a while, but I didn't sleep for a long, long time. Then, when I did sleep, when I had been sleeping, I heard the voice again. The low, seductive woman's voice—the startling, willing guest. No! He couldn't afford it! No! No! NO! His lot was a cheap suit of satin! Cheap whiskey! Cheap champagne! A cheap shack by the river.... An inarticulate cry escaped his twisted lips. He clutched her roughly to him and dragged her through the door and into the moonlight, whiskey and anger lending him brutal strength. He pulled her through the deserted garden. All the others had private rooms! He pulled her to the far end, behind a clump of squatty firs. His hands clawed at her. He tried to smother her mouth with kisses. She eluded him 10:30." The following evening found Quidley on tenter-hooks. The snoll-doper mystery had acquired a new tang. He could hardly wait till the next message transfer took place. He decided to spend the evening plotting the epic novel which he intended to write someday. He set to work immediately. He plotted mentally, of course—notes were for the hacks and the other commercial non-geniuses who infested the modern literary world. Closing his eyes, he saw the whole vivid panorama of epic action and grand adventure flowing like a mighty and majestic river before his literary vision: the authentic and awe-inspiring background; the edge, and birds as delicate as colored glass wavered down the wind. He opened the shelter door and went out. The shelter looked the same, but useless now. How did the shelter of that bleak world get into this one, where the air was warm and fragrant, where there was no cold, from that world into this one of his dreams? The girl—Helene—was standing there leaning against a tree, smoking a cigarette. He walked toward her, and stopped. In the dream it had been easy, but now he was embarrassed, in spite of the intimacy that had grown between them.
Describe the setting of this story.	After carefully reading the provided chunks, write a detailed response to the following question about The Hoofer by Walter M. Miller. Relevant chunks: cream-colored robe which flowed from his back, whipping lightly in the breeze. He wore a brilliant red sash about his middle, and this was matched by a red headdress that came down over his shoulders as a circular mantle. The girl stood several yards distant, watching him. This was some sort of ritual, no doubt. He was not concerned with her, but with the setting sun. Its rays were almost horizontal, knifing through a break in the distant mountain skyline. He went through some routine motions, his moving arms highlighted by the lemon-colored light of evening. The girl approached him. explain the phenomena of the Ghost Ship? Was it really only a product of his imagination? What of all the others who had seen it? Was it possible for many different men under many different situations to have the same exact illusion? Reason denied that. But perhaps space itself denies reason. Grimly he retraced the legend of the Ghost Ship. A chance phrase here and a story there put together all that he knew: Doomed for all eternity to wander in the empty star-lanes, the Ghost Ship haunts the Solar System that gave it birth. And this is its tragedy, started to rise, the wave of blackness warned me, and I restrained my ambition. "I will walk soon." "We will have much to talk about. Your friend has pointed to the stars and told me a strange story of your coming. We have walked around the ship. He has told me how it rides through the sky. I can hardly make myself believe." Tomboldo's eyes cast upward under the strong ridge of forehead where the eyebrows should have been. He was evidently trying to visualize the flight of a space ship. "We will have much to tell each other." "I for it is the home of spacemen who can never go home again. When your last measure of fuel is burnt and your ship becomes a lifeless hulk—the Ghost will come—for you! And this is all there was to the legend. Merely a tale of some fairy ship told to amuse and to while away the days of a star-voyage. Bitterly, Willard dismissed it from his mind. Another year of loneliness passed. And still another. Willard lost track of the days. It was difficult to keep time for to what purpose could time be kept. Here in space there was HOME IS WHERE YOU LEFT IT By ADAM CHASE [Transcriber Note: This etext was produced from Amazing Stories February 1957. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] The chance of mass slaughter was their eternal nightmare. How black is the blackest treachery? Is the most callous traitor entitled to mercy? Steve pondered these questions. His decision? That at times the villain should possibly be spoken of as a hero. Only the shells of deserted mud-brick houses greeted Steve Cantwell when he reached the village. He poked around in them for a Question: Describe the setting of this story. Answer:	[ "This story takes place on Earth. As we are following the protagonist’s journey home, the setting constantly changes in terms of transportation mode and the landscape. First, we can identify the setting as a public bus, where Hogey occupies the back seats of the bus as he falls asleep clutching his gin. Hogey gets off at his stop - Caine’s junction - which is a road junction with just a few farmhouses at the side and a derelict filling station. There is also a ditch, which he promptly stumbles into. The landscape reveals the Great Plains country, with descriptions of the setting being treeless and barren, and instead being full of rolling hills and fields of grass.\n\nTowards the end of the story, the setting changes to the Hauptman’s place where the farmhouse sits off the side of the road with a barbed-wire fence. Within the tall grass of the farmhouse also lies a sloppy heap of sand - concrete. \n", "It is in late August. The first scene is on a bus. After the protagonist gets out of the bus, he sits at a road junction. Along the side of the road, there is gravel. Next to the railroad tracks, a freight building, several farmhouses, and a filling station stand across the road. The land is barren, unwooded, and rolling. The hills around are dusty. There is a ditch along the road, the bottom of which is wet and muddy. The protagonist’s house is about three miles from there. A wheat field and a few trees surround the house. Beyond the ditch next to the road, a tall grass lies. Six miles away to the west, there is a rocket launching station. A narrow path along with the barbed-wire fence leads toward the house. The hedge divides the peach trees from the field inside the fence gap. Some old boards, a shovel and pick, a sand pile, a stack of new lumbers, and a concrete mixer lie on the ground. There is a porch light next to the screen door of the house. ", "The story takes place on Earth. It starts off in a bus, and then it continues to be set in what seems to be a side road off a highway. Hogey is on his way to his house, which is described to be isolated, like a farmhouse. The house is big and has dogs, which make it more similar to a farmhouse. Hogey also remembers his time in space, which was described as a floating station full of tubes and metal machines that continued falling, and the people inside fell with it. The story seems to be set in the future, but it could very well be set only a few from now. ", "The story is set on Earth and on a bus. Hogey initially sits next to a housewife on the bus, but he is moved to the back after. There is a highway near the area where Hogey is dropped off, and he falls into a ditch when the sun goes down. There is a farm road to go into, and a side-road for cars to turn onto. At Hauptman's road, there is a narrow drive that leads to the barbed wire of the farmhouse. There is also a peach tree next to the house, and a porch. Eventually, Hogey gets himself stuck in concrete. There is a pile of wood boards, a careful stack of new lumber, a pick and a shovel, a sand-pile, heaps of freshly-turned earth, and a concrete mixer near the area that his feet are stuck inside of. " ]	29170	cream-colored robe which flowed from his back, whipping lightly in the breeze. He wore a brilliant red sash about his middle, and this was matched by a red headdress that came down over his shoulders as a circular mantle. The girl stood several yards distant, watching him. This was some sort of ritual, no doubt. He was not concerned with her, but with the setting sun. Its rays were almost horizontal, knifing through a break in the distant mountain skyline. He went through some routine motions, his moving arms highlighted by the lemon-colored light of evening. The girl approached him. explain the phenomena of the Ghost Ship? Was it really only a product of his imagination? What of all the others who had seen it? Was it possible for many different men under many different situations to have the same exact illusion? Reason denied that. But perhaps space itself denies reason. Grimly he retraced the legend of the Ghost Ship. A chance phrase here and a story there put together all that he knew: Doomed for all eternity to wander in the empty star-lanes, the Ghost Ship haunts the Solar System that gave it birth. And this is its tragedy, started to rise, the wave of blackness warned me, and I restrained my ambition. "I will walk soon." "We will have much to talk about. Your friend has pointed to the stars and told me a strange story of your coming. We have walked around the ship. He has told me how it rides through the sky. I can hardly make myself believe." Tomboldo's eyes cast upward under the strong ridge of forehead where the eyebrows should have been. He was evidently trying to visualize the flight of a space ship. "We will have much to tell each other." "I for it is the home of spacemen who can never go home again. When your last measure of fuel is burnt and your ship becomes a lifeless hulk—the Ghost will come—for you! And this is all there was to the legend. Merely a tale of some fairy ship told to amuse and to while away the days of a star-voyage. Bitterly, Willard dismissed it from his mind. Another year of loneliness passed. And still another. Willard lost track of the days. It was difficult to keep time for to what purpose could time be kept. Here in space there was HOME IS WHERE YOU LEFT IT By ADAM CHASE [Transcriber Note: This etext was produced from Amazing Stories February 1957. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] The chance of mass slaughter was their eternal nightmare. How black is the blackest treachery? Is the most callous traitor entitled to mercy? Steve pondered these questions. His decision? That at times the villain should possibly be spoken of as a hero. Only the shells of deserted mud-brick houses greeted Steve Cantwell when he reached the village. He poked around in them for a
What is the significance of the cut wire?	After carefully reading the provided chunks, write a detailed response to the following question about Soldier Boy by Michael Shaara. Relevant chunks: he said, "and try not to scare hell out of them. I'll be with you as soon as I've spliced this wire." Rossel nodded and went off, running. Dylan knelt with the metal in his hands. He began to feel that, by God, he was getting cold. He realized that he'd better go inside soon, but the wire had to be spliced. That was perhaps the most important thing he could do now, splice the wire. All right, he asked himself for the thousandth time, who cut it? How? Telepathy? Could they somehow control one of us? No. If they think one of your people did it?" Rossel stared at him. "Isn't that obvious?" "Why?" "Well, they probably thought it was too dangerous, and silly too, like most government rules. Or maybe one of the kids...." It was then that Dylan told him about the wire on Lupus V. Rossel was silent. Involuntarily, he glanced at the sky, then he said shakily, "Maybe an animal?" Dylan shook his head. "No animal did that. Wouldn't have buried it, or found it in the first place. Heck of a coincidence, don't you think? The wire at Lupus was cut just before an blown. The detonating wire had been cut. In the heart of the camp, hidden from view under twelve inches of earth, the wire had been dug up and cut. The army could not understand it and had no time to try. After five hundred years of peace and anti-war conditioning the army was small, weak and without respect. Therefore, the army did nothing but spread the news, and Man began to fall back. In a thickening, hastening stream he came back from the hard-won stars, blowing up his homes behind him, stunned and cursing. Most of the colonists got out alien attack, and now this one is cut too—newly cut." The colonist put one hand to his mouth, his eyes wide and white. "So something," said Dylan, "knew enough about this camp to know that a bomb was buried here and also to know why it was here. And that something didn't want the camp destroyed and so came right into the center of the camp, traced the wire, dug it up and cut it. And then walked right out again." "Listen," said Rossel, "I'd better go ask." He started away but Dylan caught his arm. "Tell them to arm," Rush was methodically cleaning an old hunting rifle. Rossel was surprisingly full of hope. "Listen, there's a mail ship due in, been due since yesterday. We might get the rest of the folks out on that." Dylan shrugged. "Don't count on it." "But they have a contract!" The soldier grinned. The big man, Rush, was paying no attention. Quite suddenly he said: "Who cut that wire, Cap?" Dylan swung slowly to look at him. "As far as I can figure, an alien cut it." Rush shook his head. "No. Ain't been no aliens near this camp, and no peculiar animals Question: What is the significance of the cut wire? Answer:	[ "When the army investigates the destruction of Lupus V, it discovers that the wire to the bomb that would blow up the community had been cut. The wire was hidden 12 inches under the ground, so it would not have been easy to find. Since the wire was cut, the bomb didn’t explode, enabling the aliens to take the women and children, along with all the technology, from the planet. The purpose of the bomb was to prevent the aliens from gaining knowledge of human technology and body chemistry; presumably, aliens would be able to use this information against humans in the future. Because Dylan knows of the cut wire on Lupus V, he checks the wire for the bomb on the planet he has come to evacuate. When he discovers the wire is cut here, too, he notes that the ends are clean, so someone made the cut recently. The ground over the wire was packed down, so whoever cut it also wanted to hide that it had been tampered with. Rossel assumes one of the colonists must have cut the wire, possibly thinking it was dangerous for the colonists and just a silly government rule. After Dylan tells him about the wire being cut on Lupus V, Rossel plans to question everyone. Dylan wonders if the aliens could have cut it by telepathy of one of the colonists but rules that out because if they could control one human, they could control all of them. Dylan then wonders if an alien has done it. No one knows what the aliens look like, but for them to have intelligence, they would need a large brain, making the alien about the size of a large dog. Dylan knows all the animals on the planet had been vetted before the colony was settled. When he tells the others his suspicion, Rush says the only animal they’ve seen nearby is a viggle, which is something like a monkey with four legs. The viggle passed Biology’s screening, so the viggle is ruled out. Although Dylan doesn’t discover the alien hidden in its electric cocoon, he is convinced that aliens cut the wire. He is also convinced that the alien attack is imminent.\n", "After the 70 colonists on Lupus V were either captured or killed, the soldiers discovered a cut wire leading to the detonator. The bombs were placed to protect human secrets, chemistry, and biology from prying alien hands. The fact that someone or something knew about the bomb and knew how to preven it from detonating suggests that the aliens are more intelligent about human life than everyone previously thought. \nWhen Captain Dylan finds the cut wire on the ice-cold colony, he realizes that they need to evacuate as quickly as possible, since this is the sign that the aliens are already here. \n", "The wire being discussed is one which connects a detonator to a bomb mandated to be a the center of each human colony for security purposes. The bomb is intended to destroy the entire colony and all the people in it upon alien attach so that the aliens don’t learn about human technology and body chemistry.\nThe bomb on Lupus V, the first colony to be attacked, did not blow because the wire had been cut. Thus, the alien attack captured many of the humans there, potentially giving them access to their technology and biology that humans had been trying to keep secure. Similarly, the wire had been cut on the planet that Captain Dylan landed on to evacuate in the story, which he discovered by digging down to it almost a foot underground. The reader learns there is an alien hiding underground nearby controlling the attack that may have been capable of cutting the wire through something like telepathy. The significance that two wires were cut in the same way suggests that the aliens are mounting a concerted attack on many human colonies and disabling their detonators in order to gain advantages over humans by learning their secrets.\n", "Each colony had a bomb buried in the center, which would be detonated in the event of an alien attack in order to prevent them from learning important facts about human technology and body chemistry. When the aliens attacked and destroyed Lupus V in 2360, the army investigated the remnants of the colony there; they discovered the wire that was hidden under a foot of earth and was intended to trigger the detonation had been dug up and cut, thereby preventing detonation. Dylan discovers a similar situation when he arrives at the unnamed colony of the story. When he finds the cut wire, Rossel believes it is one of the colonists lashing out against a government they do not respect. When Rush sees the wire, he agrees with Dylan that it must be some kind of telepathic alien intervention. In fact, an alien had cut the wire, presumably by deploying a box that allowed it to perform actions remotely from a subterranean control center. The cut wire provides the warning the colonists need in order to have time to evacuate before the alien attack." ]	50848	he said, "and try not to scare hell out of them. I'll be with you as soon as I've spliced this wire." Rossel nodded and went off, running. Dylan knelt with the metal in his hands. He began to feel that, by God, he was getting cold. He realized that he'd better go inside soon, but the wire had to be spliced. That was perhaps the most important thing he could do now, splice the wire. All right, he asked himself for the thousandth time, who cut it? How? Telepathy? Could they somehow control one of us? No. If they think one of your people did it?" Rossel stared at him. "Isn't that obvious?" "Why?" "Well, they probably thought it was too dangerous, and silly too, like most government rules. Or maybe one of the kids...." It was then that Dylan told him about the wire on Lupus V. Rossel was silent. Involuntarily, he glanced at the sky, then he said shakily, "Maybe an animal?" Dylan shook his head. "No animal did that. Wouldn't have buried it, or found it in the first place. Heck of a coincidence, don't you think? The wire at Lupus was cut just before an blown. The detonating wire had been cut. In the heart of the camp, hidden from view under twelve inches of earth, the wire had been dug up and cut. The army could not understand it and had no time to try. After five hundred years of peace and anti-war conditioning the army was small, weak and without respect. Therefore, the army did nothing but spread the news, and Man began to fall back. In a thickening, hastening stream he came back from the hard-won stars, blowing up his homes behind him, stunned and cursing. Most of the colonists got out alien attack, and now this one is cut too—newly cut." The colonist put one hand to his mouth, his eyes wide and white. "So something," said Dylan, "knew enough about this camp to know that a bomb was buried here and also to know why it was here. And that something didn't want the camp destroyed and so came right into the center of the camp, traced the wire, dug it up and cut it. And then walked right out again." "Listen," said Rossel, "I'd better go ask." He started away but Dylan caught his arm. "Tell them to arm," Rush was methodically cleaning an old hunting rifle. Rossel was surprisingly full of hope. "Listen, there's a mail ship due in, been due since yesterday. We might get the rest of the folks out on that." Dylan shrugged. "Don't count on it." "But they have a contract!" The soldier grinned. The big man, Rush, was paying no attention. Quite suddenly he said: "Who cut that wire, Cap?" Dylan swung slowly to look at him. "As far as I can figure, an alien cut it." Rush shook his head. "No. Ain't been no aliens near this camp, and no peculiar animals
Describe the setting of the story.	After carefully reading the provided chunks, write a detailed response to the following question about Growing up on Big Muddy by Charles V. De Vet. Relevant chunks: events of the day before dropping off to sleep. The troublesome Sally. The strange dream world of Armagon. The visit to the barber shop. The removal of Brundage's body. The conversations with the townspeople. Dawes' suspicious attitude ... Then sleep came. He was flanked by marble pillars, thrusting towards a high-domed ceiling. The room stretched long and wide before him, the walls bedecked in stunning purple draperies. He whirled at the sound of footsteps, echoing stridently on the stone floor. Someone was running towards him. It was Sally, pigtails streaming out behind her, the small body wearing a flowing white tightening of the man's shoulder muscles that his presence was known. He looked down and saw that his feet made clear-cut depressions in the soft rich soil of the field. "Continue to work," he said to the young man. "Do not be too surprised at what I am about to tell you, Rold." He paused and watched the golden man's rather stupid face intently. "I am not a Misty One," Noork said. "I killed the owner of this strange garment I wear yesterday on the mainland. I have come to rescue the girl, Tholon Sarna, of whom you spoke." Rold's bound to develop differently." "Is environment so important? Newman tells about a pair of identical twins separated from birth, unaware of each other's existence. They met by accident when they were twenty-one. Each was a telephone repairman. Each had a wife the same age. Each had a baby son. And each had a fox terrier called 'Trixie.' That's without trying to make environments similar. But suppose you did try. Suppose you saw to it that each of them had exactly the same experiences at the same times...." For a moment it seemed to Jack that the room was dimming and from the side of her mouth. "Don't you know nothin' ?" " Arma gon," Dawes corrected. He looked sheepishly at the stranger. "Don't expect Mister—" He cocked an eyebrow. "What's the name?" "Becker." "Don't expect Mr. Becker knows anything about Armagon. It's just a dream, you know." He smiled apologetically. "Dream? You mean this—Armagon is a place you dream about?" "Yep," Dawes said. He lifted cup to lip. "Great coffee, Ma." He leaned back with a contented sigh. "Dream about it every night. Got so used to the place, I get all confused in the daytime." Mom said: "I get the people there know nothing of a Lincoln or that war." Jeff looked blank. "What are they doing then?" The little man spread his hands. "What are the people doing now at Sixth and Main? Certainly not the same things they were doing the day of the fire. We're talking about a dimension, not an event. Don't you grasp the difference between the two?" "Nope. To me, 1865 means the end of the Civil War. How else can you speak of a point in time except by the events that happened then?" "Well, if you go to a place in Question: Describe the setting of the story. Answer:	[ "Kaiser left Earth on a mothership Soscites II, that soon, finishing its planet-mapping tour, approached a planet that the man named Big Muddy. He left the spacecraft in a small scout ship - which had a pilot chair, a communicator, and a bunk - and landed on the muddy surface. The other seven scouts got lost during the previous exploration of new worlds. It is wet, humid, and warm on Big muddy, constantly raining with different intensity. There is a wide sluggish river, which has the shape of a horseshoe, two hundred yards away from the scout and also a chain of hills. Farther, along the stream, there is a group of several hundred domed dwellings, built of mud blocks, packed with river weed and sand. Another group of seal-people lives near the riverbank in the opposite direction of Kaiser's first observational walk. ", "The story is set on a planet that Kaiser has named the Big Muddy. It is extremely wet, warm, and humid. There is also a village of seal-people nearby, and they have huts alongside the river bank. Kaiser’s scout ship has places for controls and also to sleep. In the village, there are also round domes that were based on construction of a series of four arches in a circle. The climate also changes on the planet, which is why the seal-people change as time goes on. Although it rains a lot in general, there are seasons where it rains less than the others. This is evident because the domes are built by river weed, mud, and sand. Even though the seal-people do not know how to use fire, it is evident that there must be times where it rains less in order for them to build these domes. ", "This story takes placed on Big Muddy. The current climate on this planet when Kaiser arrives is wet, humid and warm - and constantly raining. The landscape includes many river banks where the natives spend time, and the ground is often muddy and slippery. \n\nAlongside the riverbank, there are also two hundred dwellings. These dwellings - round domes - are constructed from bricks built from a dried combination of mud, river weed, and sand. The dome was built by constructing four arches ranging in a circle, with the roof forming the final layer. \n\n", "The story is set on a planet in which there is little human presence. After Kaiser crashes on this planet, he is stuck on a small metal ship trying to fix it. The planet is described to be very rainy and humid, but it is also mentioned that the planet constantly changes weather. The weather can vary from very rainy and humid to very arid and sunny. The planet is inhabited by native seal-people. These natives live in settlements around the bank of a curling river, in small huts made from mud. The planet is also mentioned to have large foothills around the river. \n" ]	51398	events of the day before dropping off to sleep. The troublesome Sally. The strange dream world of Armagon. The visit to the barber shop. The removal of Brundage's body. The conversations with the townspeople. Dawes' suspicious attitude ... Then sleep came. He was flanked by marble pillars, thrusting towards a high-domed ceiling. The room stretched long and wide before him, the walls bedecked in stunning purple draperies. He whirled at the sound of footsteps, echoing stridently on the stone floor. Someone was running towards him. It was Sally, pigtails streaming out behind her, the small body wearing a flowing white tightening of the man's shoulder muscles that his presence was known. He looked down and saw that his feet made clear-cut depressions in the soft rich soil of the field. "Continue to work," he said to the young man. "Do not be too surprised at what I am about to tell you, Rold." He paused and watched the golden man's rather stupid face intently. "I am not a Misty One," Noork said. "I killed the owner of this strange garment I wear yesterday on the mainland. I have come to rescue the girl, Tholon Sarna, of whom you spoke." Rold's bound to develop differently." "Is environment so important? Newman tells about a pair of identical twins separated from birth, unaware of each other's existence. They met by accident when they were twenty-one. Each was a telephone repairman. Each had a wife the same age. Each had a baby son. And each had a fox terrier called 'Trixie.' That's without trying to make environments similar. But suppose you did try. Suppose you saw to it that each of them had exactly the same experiences at the same times...." For a moment it seemed to Jack that the room was dimming and from the side of her mouth. "Don't you know nothin' ?" " Arma gon," Dawes corrected. He looked sheepishly at the stranger. "Don't expect Mister—" He cocked an eyebrow. "What's the name?" "Becker." "Don't expect Mr. Becker knows anything about Armagon. It's just a dream, you know." He smiled apologetically. "Dream? You mean this—Armagon is a place you dream about?" "Yep," Dawes said. He lifted cup to lip. "Great coffee, Ma." He leaned back with a contented sigh. "Dream about it every night. Got so used to the place, I get all confused in the daytime." Mom said: "I get the people there know nothing of a Lincoln or that war." Jeff looked blank. "What are they doing then?" The little man spread his hands. "What are the people doing now at Sixth and Main? Certainly not the same things they were doing the day of the fire. We're talking about a dimension, not an event. Don't you grasp the difference between the two?" "Nope. To me, 1865 means the end of the Civil War. How else can you speak of a point in time except by the events that happened then?" "Well, if you go to a place in
What role does the snoll doper play in the story?	After carefully reading the provided chunks, write a detailed response to the following question about The Girls from Fieu Dayol by Robert F. Young. Relevant chunks: a snoll doper was; whether she would reveal the nature of the amateur secret society to which she and Klio and Yoolna and Gorka belonged. It virtually had to be an amateur secret society. Unless, of course, they were foreigners. But what on earth foreign organization would be quixotic enough to employ Taine's History of English Literature as a communications medium when there was a telephone in every drugstore and a mailbox on every corner? Somehow the words "what on earth foreign organization" got turned around in his mind and became "what foreign organization on earth" and before he could in the lead, and disappear into the ship. "Next," Kay said. Quidley shook his head. "You're not taking me to another planet!" She opened her purse and pulled out a small metallic object "A little while ago you asked me what a snoll doper was," she said. "Unfortunately interstellar law severely limits us in our choice of marriageable males, and we can take only those who refuse to conform to the sexual mores of their own societies." She did something to the object that caused it to extend itself into a long, tubular affair. " This is a snoll doper library aisle and staring at the indecipherable words, was a normal girl like Kay doing in such a childish secret society? From the way she and her correspondents carried on you'd almost think they were Martian girl scouts on an interplanetary camping trip, trying for their merit badges in communications! You could hardly call Kay a girl scout, though. Nevertheless, she was the key figure in the snoll-doper enigma. The fact annoyed him, especially when he considered that a snoll doper , for all he knew, could be anything from a Chinese fortune cooky to an H-bomb. He remembered Kay's spilled the sugar?" "Part of the reason," he said. "What's a snoll doper ?" She laughed. "I don't think I'd better tell you just yet." He sighed again. "But if Jilka wanted a snoll doper ," he said after a while, "why in the world didn't she call you up and say so?" "Regulations." She pulled over to the curb in front of a brick apartment building. "This is where Jilka lives. I'll explain when I get back." He watched her get out, walk up the walk to the entrance and let herself in. He leaned his head back on had varied, but the message was typical enough: fdsa jkl; fdsa jkl; fdsa jkl; fdsa jkl; fdsa jkl; fdsa jkl; Cai: Gind en snoll doper nckli! Wotnid antwaterer Fieu Dayol hid jestig snoll doper ifedererer te. Dep gogensplo snoll dopers ensing!—Gorka. fdsa jkl; fdsa jkl; fdsa jkl; fdsa jkl; Judging from the repeated use of the words, snoll dopers were the topic of the day. Annoyed, Quidley replaced the message and put the book back on the shelf. Then he returned to his apartment to await Kay. He wondered what her reaction would be if he asked her point-blank what Question: What role does the snoll doper play in the story? Answer:	[ "Snoll doper appears in every letter that is hidden in History of English Literature by Hippolyte Adolphe Taine, a book favored by Hebert Quidley, from which he finds these letters and starts his observation. Quidley finds these words several times when he secretly reads the letters in the book whenever a girl comes to put a new letter in the book. He is fascinated by the first girl called Kay Smith who takes the first letter after he notices it. From then on, he has been guessing the meaning of snoll doper. At first, Quidley thinks that snoll doper means a person who has close relationships with Kay, like a boyfriend or a husband. He is annoyed by this possibility after having sexual behaviors with Kay, which causes him to secretly read the fourth letter before Kay comes to pick it up. When Kay finds out that Quidley has been reading her letter, she tells him to come with her to deliver the snoll doper to Jilka, where Quidley is relieved because he realizes that snoll doper is the name of an object, not an identity. On their way to Jilka’s place, Quidley keeps asking Kay what the meaning of snoll doper is, but Kay doesn’t tell him. At the end of the story, snoll doper turns out to be the name of a shotgun, which is what the letters are for, a requisition for the shotgun. Those letters are sent toward Kay because she is the ship’s stock girl who delivers the guns. In conclusion, snoll doper is a word that puzzles Quidley throughout the whole story and causes him to be caught by Kay, the purpose of those secret letters transmitted between Kay and other girls through the book, and an object that forces Quidley to go into the ship.", "The snoll doper is an important part of the story because it was a part of all of the messages. When Herbert read all of the different messages scribbled in bookmarks, he saw that the names of the girls repeated in every message, as well as the words: snoll doper. He was very curious to understand what they meant, so he decided to meet Kay. After Kay tells Herbet who she is, Herbert asks her whan snoll dopers are. She responds by taking out a shotgun-like weapon and forcing him onto their ship. ", "The snoll doper is mentioned in the very first message that Quidley reads. It is also this message that motivates him to investigate further into who Kay is and what exactly is a snoll doper. Most of the story revolves around him trying to crack the meaning behind snoll doper, and he wonders if he could just ask Kay directly about it when she comes to his apartment. The snoll dopper is also largely relevant in helping him figure out what the next The snoll doper is still relevant either, after he finds out Kay’s identity and has to go back to her planet with her. ", "Snoll doper is one of the phrases that Quidley finds in the unintelligible messages from the library. It intrigues him because he doesn’t understand what it means. It makes him think about its potential meaning. Eventually, it leads to his mini-relationship with Kay. When he asks her about this term, she says she will share its meaning later. Thus, she brings him to the ship without any trouble and knows she can use her snoll doper in case Quidley refuses to go. When he does, she presses a snoll doper - a tool similar to a shotgun - against his back and orders him to enter the ship. " ]	61048	a snoll doper was; whether she would reveal the nature of the amateur secret society to which she and Klio and Yoolna and Gorka belonged. It virtually had to be an amateur secret society. Unless, of course, they were foreigners. But what on earth foreign organization would be quixotic enough to employ Taine's History of English Literature as a communications medium when there was a telephone in every drugstore and a mailbox on every corner? Somehow the words "what on earth foreign organization" got turned around in his mind and became "what foreign organization on earth" and before he could in the lead, and disappear into the ship. "Next," Kay said. Quidley shook his head. "You're not taking me to another planet!" She opened her purse and pulled out a small metallic object "A little while ago you asked me what a snoll doper was," she said. "Unfortunately interstellar law severely limits us in our choice of marriageable males, and we can take only those who refuse to conform to the sexual mores of their own societies." She did something to the object that caused it to extend itself into a long, tubular affair. " This is a snoll doper library aisle and staring at the indecipherable words, was a normal girl like Kay doing in such a childish secret society? From the way she and her correspondents carried on you'd almost think they were Martian girl scouts on an interplanetary camping trip, trying for their merit badges in communications! You could hardly call Kay a girl scout, though. Nevertheless, she was the key figure in the snoll-doper enigma. The fact annoyed him, especially when he considered that a snoll doper , for all he knew, could be anything from a Chinese fortune cooky to an H-bomb. He remembered Kay's spilled the sugar?" "Part of the reason," he said. "What's a snoll doper ?" She laughed. "I don't think I'd better tell you just yet." He sighed again. "But if Jilka wanted a snoll doper ," he said after a while, "why in the world didn't she call you up and say so?" "Regulations." She pulled over to the curb in front of a brick apartment building. "This is where Jilka lives. I'll explain when I get back." He watched her get out, walk up the walk to the entrance and let herself in. He leaned his head back on had varied, but the message was typical enough: fdsa jkl; fdsa jkl; fdsa jkl; fdsa jkl; fdsa jkl; fdsa jkl; Cai: Gind en snoll doper nckli! Wotnid antwaterer Fieu Dayol hid jestig snoll doper ifedererer te. Dep gogensplo snoll dopers ensing!—Gorka. fdsa jkl; fdsa jkl; fdsa jkl; fdsa jkl; Judging from the repeated use of the words, snoll dopers were the topic of the day. Annoyed, Quidley replaced the message and put the book back on the shelf. Then he returned to his apartment to await Kay. He wondered what her reaction would be if he asked her point-blank what
What is ekalastron or No. 97?	After carefully reading the provided chunks, write a detailed response to the following question about The Lorelei Death by Nelson S. Bond. Relevant chunks: must be filthy with credits to be able to coat an entire ship with ekalastron!" "You," boasted Chip, "ain't heard nothing yet!" And he told him how they had discovered an entire mountain of the previous new element, No. 97 in the periodic table, on frigid Titania, satellite of far Uranus. "It was touch-and-go for a while," he admitted, "whether we'd be the luckiest three guys in space—or the deadest! But we passed through the flaming caverns like old Shadrach in the Bible—remember?—and here we are!" [1] Haldane was exuberant. "A mountain of ekalastron!" he gloated. "That's the greatest contribution of soiled linens in the laundry. He described her. His description goes perfectly with less accurate glimpses seen over the visiphones of several score spacecraft!" Chip said soberly, "So it's no joke, eh, pal? Sorry I popped off. I thought you were pulling my leg. Where do I come into this mess, though?" "Ekalastron!" grunted Johnny succinctly. "A jackpot prize for any corsair! And you advertised a cargo of it over the etherwaves! The Lorelei will be waiting for you with her tongue hanging out. The only thing for you to do, kid, is go back to Jupiter or Io the Lorelei's men?" "The who? Never mind that, bucko, just talk. That ekalastron—where did it come from?" And it occurred to Warren suddenly that although the big man did hold the whip hand, he was still not in possession of the most important secret of all! While the location of the ekalastron mine remained a secret, a deadlock existed. "And if I won't tell—?" he countered shrewdly. "Why, then, sailor—" The pirate leader's hamlike fists tightened, and a cold light glinted in his eyes—"why, then I guess maybe I'll have to beat it out o' you!" cargo-bins loaded to the gunwales with enough ekalastron to make us rich for life—and you sit here like a pair of stuffed owls! "Well, not me! I'm going to take a night off, throw myself a party the likes of which was never seen around these parts. Put a candle in the window, chilluns, 'cause li'l' Chip won't be home till the wee, sma' hours!" Syd chuckled. "O.Q., big shot. But don't get too cozy with any of those joy-joint entertainers. Remember what happened to poor old Dougal MacNeer!" Salvation said soberly, "Syd's just fooling, my boy. But I would intelligent, and you must be educated, the way you talk. That gadget looks like a time-piece of some sort. What is it? What does it measure?" "I insist that you go." The webfoot held something in his hand. "No." Michaelson looked off down the street, trying to ignore the native, trying to feel the life of the city as it might have been. "You are sensitive," the native said in his ear. "It takes a sensitive god to feel the spirits moving in the houses and walking in these old streets." "Say it any way you want to. This is Question: What is ekalastron or No. 97? Answer:	[ "Ekalastron is the element No. 97 on the period table. It is an incredibly valuable material due to its properties. It’s an incredibly light metal, and yet it is also impenetrable. Johnny claims that it’s strong enough that a simple film of ekalastron would deflect an entire meteor. Of course, because of this, any amount of ekalastron could make a person very wealthy. Chip and his crew find an entire mountain of ekalastron on the chilly Titania, a satellite off of Uranus. They decided to turn over their find to the Uranus Space Patrol, and then let the Earth authorities know that they were bringing in some cargo. ", "Ekalastron is a recently discovered element that takes up No. 97 on the periodic table. It is an extremely light metal that is also very strong and resiliant, so it could be worth a lot of money to the right people. Chip and his crew had found a mountain of it, which they had collected and begun to use to plate their ship to protect it from attack. The pirates who capture Chip at the end had intercepted Chip's message to Earth about the delivery of the shipment, but it seemed what they were really after was information on the location where Chip had mined this resource. This was worth far more, which made Chip realize he still had an advantage in the discussions.\n", "Ekalastron (ek) is a recently discovered new element; on the periodic table, it is No. 97. Ek is extremely valuable due to its characteristics. It is such a lightweight metal that a man can carry enough in one hand to coat the entire hull of a battleship. Yet even the slightest layer of ek is strong enough to deflect a meteor. It is strong enough to crush the hardest materials but at the same time so resilient that it can rebound like rubber. A ship coated in ek will be invincible, so the element is highly desired by both government agencies and criminals alike. Chip’s men have a cargo of it, and all three will be rich for the rest of their lives.\n\tThe element has far-reaching implications for whoever has it; in the wrong hands, it will enable criminals like space pirates to attack and plunder with impunity. In the hands of the government and the Space Patrol, ek will ensure the safety of public officers and officials, guaranteeing that criminal elements will never be able to damage their ships. It also ensures tremendous wealth for whoever owns it. The ek shows the true character of Chip, Syd, and Salvation; while they take enough for their own wants and needs, they turn over the balance to the Space Patrol of Uranus, providing that organization with the opportunity to benefit from it and preventing it from falling into the wrong hands. They also notify Earth that they are bringing a cargo of ek, presumably to arrange a private sale to the government or law enforcement, again keeping the valuable mineral out of the hands of those who would use it for unlawful gain.\n", "Ekalastron, colloquially referred to as \"ek\", is a light, but extremely durable metal discovered in vast quantities in the fiery mines of Uranus' moon Titania by Chip Warren and the crew of the Chickadee II. The metal is so strong that even a small sliver of it is sufficient to deflect a meteor striking a ship. It can easily crush diamonds into ash. For all of these reasons, ekalastron is a highly sought-after and valuable element (Number 97 on the periodic table). After discovering a mountain of ekalastron within the mines of Titania, Chip and his crew turns the reserves over to Space Patrol authorities on Uranus and begin the journey back to Earth, where they plan to deliver their ship's cargo of the element. To protect themselves on the journey, they stop at a spaceport on Donae where a jerry-crew begins covering the ship with a thin coat of ekalastron. Johnny Haldane offers to deputize Chip as a member of Space Patrol when he realizes his ship has this level of protection, so that Chip may help him in his pursuit of Lorelei and her band of pirates. Johnny warns Chip that her crew may have already intercepted his transmission to Earth revealing the cargo he is carrying, and they might be lying in wait to ambush Chip on his way back home; therefore, the two have a shared interest in working together. After Chip is captured by Lorelei's men, they demand to know where the rest of the ekalastron stores are." ]	62039	must be filthy with credits to be able to coat an entire ship with ekalastron!" "You," boasted Chip, "ain't heard nothing yet!" And he told him how they had discovered an entire mountain of the previous new element, No. 97 in the periodic table, on frigid Titania, satellite of far Uranus. "It was touch-and-go for a while," he admitted, "whether we'd be the luckiest three guys in space—or the deadest! But we passed through the flaming caverns like old Shadrach in the Bible—remember?—and here we are!" [1] Haldane was exuberant. "A mountain of ekalastron!" he gloated. "That's the greatest contribution of soiled linens in the laundry. He described her. His description goes perfectly with less accurate glimpses seen over the visiphones of several score spacecraft!" Chip said soberly, "So it's no joke, eh, pal? Sorry I popped off. I thought you were pulling my leg. Where do I come into this mess, though?" "Ekalastron!" grunted Johnny succinctly. "A jackpot prize for any corsair! And you advertised a cargo of it over the etherwaves! The Lorelei will be waiting for you with her tongue hanging out. The only thing for you to do, kid, is go back to Jupiter or Io the Lorelei's men?" "The who? Never mind that, bucko, just talk. That ekalastron—where did it come from?" And it occurred to Warren suddenly that although the big man did hold the whip hand, he was still not in possession of the most important secret of all! While the location of the ekalastron mine remained a secret, a deadlock existed. "And if I won't tell—?" he countered shrewdly. "Why, then, sailor—" The pirate leader's hamlike fists tightened, and a cold light glinted in his eyes—"why, then I guess maybe I'll have to beat it out o' you!" cargo-bins loaded to the gunwales with enough ekalastron to make us rich for life—and you sit here like a pair of stuffed owls! "Well, not me! I'm going to take a night off, throw myself a party the likes of which was never seen around these parts. Put a candle in the window, chilluns, 'cause li'l' Chip won't be home till the wee, sma' hours!" Syd chuckled. "O.Q., big shot. But don't get too cozy with any of those joy-joint entertainers. Remember what happened to poor old Dougal MacNeer!" Salvation said soberly, "Syd's just fooling, my boy. But I would intelligent, and you must be educated, the way you talk. That gadget looks like a time-piece of some sort. What is it? What does it measure?" "I insist that you go." The webfoot held something in his hand. "No." Michaelson looked off down the street, trying to ignore the native, trying to feel the life of the city as it might have been. "You are sensitive," the native said in his ear. "It takes a sensitive god to feel the spirits moving in the houses and walking in these old streets." "Say it any way you want to. This is
What is the plot of the story?	After carefully reading the provided chunks, write a detailed response to the following question about The Valley by Richard Stockham. Relevant chunks: and didn't look at her. "You'll have to spend most of the trip in a hammock." "I can take it." Suddenly she smiled, wanly. "I was with the Fleet. How long will it take?" "Eight days, in that ship." Roberds lit his pipe, and carefully hid his emotions. He knew Peterson was harboring the same thoughts. Eight days in space, in a small ship meant for two, and built for planetary surface flights. Eight days in that untrustworthy crate, hurtling to save the lives of that girl and Gladney. "Who was that ... man? The one you put out?" Gray its own folly. In other words, should he become the MASTER OF LIFE AND DEATH? CAST OF CHARACTERS ROY WALTON He had to adopt the motto— the ends justify the means . FITZMAUGHAM His reward for devoted service was—an assassin's bullet. FRED WALTON His ambition was to fill his brother's shoes—but he underestimated their size. LEE PERCY His specialty was sugarcoating bitter pills. PRIOR With the pen as his only weapon, could he save his son? DR. LAMARRE He died for discovering the secret of immortality. Contents I The offices of the Bureau of Population Equalization, vulgarly known as Popeek, asked. "We call him Rat," Roberds said. She didn't ask why. She said: "Why couldn't he pilot the ship, I mean? What is his record?" Peterson opened his mouth. "Shut up, Peterson!" the Chief snapped. "We don't talk about his record around here, Miss Gray. It's not a pretty thing to tell." "Stow it, Chief," said Peterson. "Miss Gray is no pantywaist." He turned to the nurse. "Ever hear of the Sansan massacre?" Patti Gray paled. "Yes," she whispered. "Was Rat in that?" Roberds shook his head. "He didn't take part in it. But Rat was attached to a very many days?" His only answer was an inhuman snarl, and the cruel blazing of those inhuman eyes. She fell face first to the floor. "I can't keep it up!" she cried. The sound of her voice rolled along the hot steel deck. "I cant! I cant!" A double handful of tepid water was thrown in her face. "Get up!" Rat stood over her, face twisted, his body hunched. "Get up!" She stared at him, dazed. He kicked her. "Get up!" The tepid water ran off her face and far away she heard Judith calling.... She forced herself up. Rat was moving things had unnerved him. He had already sounded the alert, flicked out the defense screens. Now he had nothing to do. He tried to concentrate on what the League Law would have him do. The Law was no help. Contact with planet-bound races was forbidden under any circumstances. But could a bunch of robots be called a race? The Law said nothing about robots because Earthmen had none. The building of imaginative robots was expressly forbidden. But at any rate, Steffens thought, he had made contact already. While Steffens stood by the screen, completely bewildered for the first time Question: What is the plot of the story? Answer:	[ "Michael and Mary were sent to look for another planet for humans to live on. After looking for two thousand years, their \"Milky Way\" expedition had failed to find an alternative, but humans were desperate because Earth was scorched and not easily liveable. The President is taken aback by the news, and his council looked at some footage from the expedition, watching ships explode and seeing dangerous atmospheres that would not sustain human life. A thousand people were grown from cultured scar tissue only to die violent deaths, so people yelled for the video to be shut off. President Davis explains that violent death is an unfamiliar thing to the contemporary humans, so he decided to lie to the public about the expedition details. Michael had promised Mary they would stay on Earth, but the government lying to the public was hard--Mary suggests that Michael can still leave, but he doesn't want to go without her, and she wants to stay on the planet she came from, even if it means a difficult life on Earth. They remember their lockets, that give them the option of a quick death in case they had gotten trapped in a dangerous situation, but they don't want to threaten to kill themselves either. Mary admits she's pregnant, which is surprising because humans in this day are cultured from scar tissue. With heavy hearts, they looked out onto the city where the large TV screens were promising the public an idyllic planet that would one day be recovered again, through a different mission, which is disheartening because their own mission had turned into a lie. They went back into the council chambers and sat again. Michael and Mary were told they'd be kept in solitary confinement to protect the public, which was ironic since Mary wanted to stay on Earth to avoid loneliness. Michael reminds the President of the lockets he and his wife have, and there is panic--what is there to do? The President demanded they hand over the lockets, but Michael and Mary stay strong and ask to be let outside of the city's protective barrier so that they can experience a natural death. The President conceded, so that he didn't have to look at them anymore, and gave them the car that they asked for. They have supplies to last a year, but don't know where to go or what to do. They get out of their car and take their shoes off to walk around, experiencing quiet for the first time in memory. To their surprise, they found three blades of grass, and run to a hill to see other patches of green in the area, some animals, and a small spring. They have hope: they can build a house, have a child, and eventually they can show the ones in the city that there is hope much closer than they realized. ", "Michael and Mary arrive back on Earth after a 2,000-year expedition scouting the galaxy for any potential new planets for humans to move to. After finding nothing, Michael is hesitant to report the news back to Earth and wants to stay in space. Mary, however, insists they return to Earth, so they step out of their spaceship and give the first press conference detailing their failed exploit. Michael does not hold back on the details and shocks the hopeful humans to their core. The President pulls them aside and interrogates them with his council. They share all the pictures from their adventures into the galaxy, showing yellow aliens, planets with deadly atmospheres, and horrific images of the other couples on the expedition dying. The council becomes ill at the images of their gruesome deaths, so the President shuts down the slideshow. Apparently, humans were no longer accustomed to violent deaths, as they hadn’t had to see any for thousands of years. The last time such an occurrence happened, a man was struck and killed by a ground car, and all the witnesses were driven mad. The President had shut down any potential violent deaths from then on. \nThe President asks for hope from Michael and Mary, but they are unable to give him any. They send them out of the chambers to deliberate their fate. Michael and Mary discuss their options. Mary wants to stay and die on Earth, while Michael wants to escape. They decide to use their lockets which cause instant death for the wearers to force the council’s hand. Mary reveals that she is pregnant, something that hasn’t occurred for three thousand years due to overpopulation laws, and Michael agrees to stay on Earth. \nThey return to the chambers, and the President delivers their verdict. They are condemned to isolation until the next expedition is set out, because he fears they will reveal the truth to Earth. He sent out a broadcast earlier saying there was hope after all, as they had found a planet, but lost it, so another expedition would be sent out soon. Michael and Mary refuse their isolation, and threaten to kill themselves with the lockets unless they are released and given a ground car and supplies. The President agrees after he and his congregation are thrown by the thought of watching someone die in front of their eyes. \nThe story flashes forward to Mary and Michael driving out of the city and into the sandy mountains. They come to a valley and step out of the car, placing their bare feet on the soil. Mary sees three blades of grass and shows Michael excitedly. They run down the hill and discover baby trees, flowers, wildlife, and a small stream. The Earth is healing itself, and they had the proof. Thrilled that htey will be able to live off the land, they start planning where they will put their cabin and when they will reintroduce this new Earth to humanity. \n", "Michael and Mary are returning from a mission to discover other planets in the Milky Way suitable for human colonization. During their exploration, which spanned two thousand years, the one thousand other humans sent with them had all died. They are the lone survivors, returning to Earth with grave news that there is no other place in the galaxy humans can move to. The remaining humans on Earth are overjoyed when they make radio contact because their life on Earth is confined to a city huddled around a water hole in a desert where their technology for distilling the salty water is the only thing keeping them alive on a planet they condemn as devoid of any other resources.\n \nMichael is hesitant to land on Earth, but Mary is determined to spend the rest of her life there now. They land and deliver a speech to a cheering crowd of white faces that are the same as those that had cheered when their mission departed two thousand years ago. Humans have technology to tissue culture new bodies and effectively become immortal. Pregnancy was outlawed 3000 years ago to control the population, and ever since then they have been regenerating their bodies. Michael announces that there are no other habitable planets. President Davis begs Michael to retract what he has said, and tells the public that there has been a mistake, that everything will be “all right”, and that they should go back to work and wait for more information. \nMichael and Mary are brought to the council to deliver a 60 second video documenting their entire two thousand year mission. Most disturbing is that it shows the violent deaths of many explorers - some being sucked into the gravity of foreign planets, or their ships exploding after colliding with meteors. Violent death was last witnessed on Earth hundreds of years ago, and all of the witnesses went insane. The video is shocking and disturbing. The President quickly denies the validity of the video evidence, desperately trying to avoid any hysteria by the public. Michael and Mary are told to wait outside the council chambers while their fate is decided. \nMichael thinks they should have never landed on the planet, but Mary reveals she is pregnant and wants to remain on Earth. They plan to leave the city by threatening to kill themselves in front of the council. Out the window, they glimpse a public screen projection showing that there is going to be a new mission to space and everything will be “all right”. The council decides Michael and Mary will be placed in solitary confinement. The couple threaten to kill themselves using their lockets in front of the council, a violent death that would make those who see it go insane. They demand a ground car with a year of supplies, which they are granted. They leave the city together and soon discover an oasis with spring water to build a house next to and raise their child.", "Michael and Mary return to Earth from a 2,000-year-long mission to find a planet suitable for human habitation because Earth's resources have slowly dwindled away due to human greed and atomic war. Michael would rather end his life than tell those remaining on Earth that their mission had failed, but Mary believes they owe it to the one thousand who had perished on the expedition to reveal the truth to them. Besides, 2,000 years away from Earth is a long time, and she misses home. A crowd eagerly welcomes them, including President Davis, and Michael soon confesses no planets exist that can support human life. He and Mary have returned to Earth to stay and die. President Davis whisks them away from the troubled crowd and brings them to the council chambers, where Michael and Mary reveal the documentary footage of their trip. They show the council hundreds of years' worth of visual evidence of all the planets they visited, all the strange creatures they encountered, and, worst of all, the explicit, violent deaths of their fellow travelers. Upon seeing these deaths, the council members insist Michael and Mary turn off the footage. They are horrified by the violent images because it has been hundreds of years since any human has died a violent death; seeing such images would drive them insane. As the President and council members discuss the couple's fate, Michael and Mary await their decision and discuss what to do next. Michael wants to go back to space, while Mary wants to stay on Earth because she has grown weary of traveling and exhausted by the process of reincarnation that has kept them both alive for 2,000 years. Mary reminds Michael of the lockets they carry--lockets that were given to them prior to departing for their journey that have the power to kill them instantly in order to avoid a painful death. Mary suggests using this locket as leverage against the council, who would grant whatever they asked in exchange for not having to witness their gruesome suicides in person. She also reveals she is pregnant. Later, President Davis announces the council has altered their documentary footage in order to spare the hope of their people, and he tells Michael and Mary that they will spend the rest of their lives in solitary confinement with everything provided for them, including the tools of reincarnation. At that moment, Michael threatens to trigger his locket unless the council gives him and Mary a ground car and provisions and lets them leave the force walls surrounding the last-remaining Earth settlement. President Davis grants their wish. Together, Michael and Mary head out into the desolation of Earth. Soon they discover evidence of new life on Earth including grass, birds, and water. They set out to build their home and prepare to restore civilization." ]	32744	and didn't look at her. "You'll have to spend most of the trip in a hammock." "I can take it." Suddenly she smiled, wanly. "I was with the Fleet. How long will it take?" "Eight days, in that ship." Roberds lit his pipe, and carefully hid his emotions. He knew Peterson was harboring the same thoughts. Eight days in space, in a small ship meant for two, and built for planetary surface flights. Eight days in that untrustworthy crate, hurtling to save the lives of that girl and Gladney. "Who was that ... man? The one you put out?" Gray its own folly. In other words, should he become the MASTER OF LIFE AND DEATH? CAST OF CHARACTERS ROY WALTON He had to adopt the motto— the ends justify the means . FITZMAUGHAM His reward for devoted service was—an assassin's bullet. FRED WALTON His ambition was to fill his brother's shoes—but he underestimated their size. LEE PERCY His specialty was sugarcoating bitter pills. PRIOR With the pen as his only weapon, could he save his son? DR. LAMARRE He died for discovering the secret of immortality. Contents I The offices of the Bureau of Population Equalization, vulgarly known as Popeek, asked. "We call him Rat," Roberds said. She didn't ask why. She said: "Why couldn't he pilot the ship, I mean? What is his record?" Peterson opened his mouth. "Shut up, Peterson!" the Chief snapped. "We don't talk about his record around here, Miss Gray. It's not a pretty thing to tell." "Stow it, Chief," said Peterson. "Miss Gray is no pantywaist." He turned to the nurse. "Ever hear of the Sansan massacre?" Patti Gray paled. "Yes," she whispered. "Was Rat in that?" Roberds shook his head. "He didn't take part in it. But Rat was attached to a very many days?" His only answer was an inhuman snarl, and the cruel blazing of those inhuman eyes. She fell face first to the floor. "I can't keep it up!" she cried. The sound of her voice rolled along the hot steel deck. "I cant! I cant!" A double handful of tepid water was thrown in her face. "Get up!" Rat stood over her, face twisted, his body hunched. "Get up!" She stared at him, dazed. He kicked her. "Get up!" The tepid water ran off her face and far away she heard Judith calling.... She forced herself up. Rat was moving things had unnerved him. He had already sounded the alert, flicked out the defense screens. Now he had nothing to do. He tried to concentrate on what the League Law would have him do. The Law was no help. Contact with planet-bound races was forbidden under any circumstances. But could a bunch of robots be called a race? The Law said nothing about robots because Earthmen had none. The building of imaginative robots was expressly forbidden. But at any rate, Steffens thought, he had made contact already. While Steffens stood by the screen, completely bewildered for the first time
Who is Herbert's wife and what is her role in the story?	After carefully reading the provided chunks, write a detailed response to the following question about A BOTTLE OF Old Wine by Richard O. Lewis. Relevant chunks: hordes of colorful characters; the handsome virile hero, the compelling Helenesque heroine.... God, it was going to be great! The best thing he'd ever done! See, already there was a crowd of book lovers in front of the bookstore, staring into the window where the new Herbert Quidley was on display, trying to force its way into the jammed interior.... Cut to interior. FIRST EAGER CUSTOMER: Tell me quickly, are there any more copies of the new Herbert Quidley left? BOOK CLERK: A few. You don't know how lucky you are to get here before the first printing ran out. Pleasurable things. He remembered the girl he had met the night before, and smiled smugly. Perhaps she would be awaiting him even now. If not, there would be another one.... He settled himself deeper into the chair, glanced once more at his wife, then let his head lean comfortably back against the chair's headrest. His hand upon his thigh felt the thin mesh that cloaked his body beneath his clothing like a sheer stocking. His fingers went again to the tiny switch. Again he hesitated. Herbert Hyrel knew no more about the telporter suit he wore than he did about A grim tale of a future in which everyone is desperate to escape reality, and a hero who wants to have his wine and drink it, too. A BOTTLE OF Old Wine By Richard O. Lewis Illustrated by KELLY FREAS Herbert Hyrel settled himself more comfortably in his easy chair, extended his short legs further toward the fireplace, and let his eyes travel cautiously in the general direction of his wife. She was in her chair as usual, her long legs curled up beneath her, the upper half of her face hidden in the bulk of her personalized, three-dimensional telovis. a month ago. He thought once more of the girl who might be waiting for him, smiled, and pressed the switch. The dank air of the cabin was chill to Herbert Hyrel's naked flesh. He fumbled through the darkness for the clothing he kept there, found his shorts and trousers, got hurriedly into them, then flicked on a pocket lighter and ignited a stub of candle upon the table. By the wavering light, he finished dressing in the black satin clothing, the white shirt, the flowing necktie and tam. He invoiced the contents of his billfold. Not much. And his I, the Unspeakable By WALT SHELDON Illustrated by LOUIS MARCHETTI [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Galaxy Science Fiction April 1951. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] "What's in a name?" might be very dangerous to ask in certain societies, in which sticks and stones are also a big problem! I fought to be awake. I was dreaming, but I think I must have blushed. I must have blushed in my sleep. " Do it! " she said. " Please do it! For me! " It was the voice Question: Who is Herbert's wife and what is her role in the story? Answer:	[ "Herbert's wife controls the financial affairs in their household. She is a fan of her telovis set, her preferred medium for escapist entertainment, and Herbert is under the impression that she likes to watch sex-operas, which are a longer experience that rely on emotional build-up. She makes most of the money but also controls it all, which Herbert resents her for--he thinks she is keeping it from him, and feels looked down upon when she gives him his allowance. This infantilizing attitude makes him extremely angry. She is devious and cunning, and hatches a plan to catch him in his act. It is her, after all, that drove him to want to escape. Either to confirm suspicions of a murder plot or to disrupt his own escapist time, she has her own teleporter suit that she uses to position herself to seduce her husband in the one place he figured he would be free from her. She dresses up covered in jewels and insists that he spend money on her to pressure him to admitting that he has none, which eventually pushes him to admit his plan. She kills him once she hears this, and calmly puts everything back in order as she reports something being wrong with her husband to the police, clearly not upset that her husband is dead. ", "Mrs. Herbert Hyrel is the daughter of a wealthy family. Although she and Herbert most likely originally married for love, their relationship quickly spiraled out of control and soon their disparity in wealth became a pressing issue. \nMrs. Hyrel withdrew herself from her husband once she felt that he was only with her for her money. She allotted him a monthly allowance, but that was all. Since Herbert was not the breadwinner, he felt emasculated and out of control in his own home. She is the instigator for his violent fantasies of killing her, and the woman that draws him back to Riverside Club. \nHer jewel-studded flapper dress that reveals her legs reveals her wealth and status at the Riverside Club. She wears green contacts and a platinum wig to further disguise herself from Herbert. Despite being married, he fails to recognize her, and, after tempting him and berating him, he reveals to her his plans to murder his wife. She then murders him in the shadow realm, killing his soul there but leaving his corporeal body intact in the real world. After traveling back to their home, Mrs. Herbert Hyrel supposedly gets away with the murder by pretending to be the doting wife concerned for her husband’s health. She also has a rock-solid alibi with the televois and the fact that Hyrel was in an illegal teleporter suit. \n", "Mrs. Herbert Hyrel is a strong, financially independent woman loathed by her husband because he feels she considers him less of a man because of his reliance upon her. At the beginning of the story, she wears a telovis--a device used to render 3-D images of remote performances in one's own living room. Herbert suspects she is using the device to watch a sex-opera, and that explains the slight smile on her face as he watches her. In reality, she is likely smiling because she is confident in her plan to catch Herbert at the Riverside Club and kill him there. Mrs. Hyrel provides Herbert a small allowance, which he saves up to purchase his own telporter suit, not knowing that she also has one. Mrs. Hyrel uses Herbert's tendency toward fantasy as an advantage in her plot against him. She takes on the persona of the mysterious woman, wearing a white mask, green contact lenses, and a platinum blonde wig. She seduces Herbert, and eventually kills him when he admits his plot to her. She knows she will get away with his murder because once his shadowy self transfers back into his body, there will be no visible wounds.", "Herbert’s wife is the can-can girl that he met at the Riverside Club the night before, but he doesn’t recognize her. She detests Herbert and resents having to give him some of her money. She acts as if he tricked her into marrying him and now treats him like an irresponsible child. Every night, she escapes from him when she puts on her telovis and watches shows for three hours. The night in the story, we learn that she actually teleports to the Riverside Club, too. At the club the night before, she met Herbert and flirted with him so much that he couldn’t wait to see her again. When he goes to the club the night that the story takes place, he looks for her, finally finds her, and pulls her out of a booth to him. She wears a can-can dancer outfit that highlights her long legs. Herbert tries to take her outside immediately, but she insists on having champagne first. She drinks her champagne slowly while Herbert is anxious that he might have to teleport back. Herbert decides that he will go ahead and kill his wife, as he has been thinking about doing for quite some time. They dance, and then Herbert tries to pull her outside. Mrs. Hyrel asks if he doesn’t have a private room he can take her to. Frustrated, he drags her outside, but she pushes away from him and says she needs to know he can afford a private room, show her a good time, and come there often to see her. When he says he’ll have money after tomorrow night, she insists they will wait until then. Angry and desperate, Herbert vows he will kill his wife, and then he will have money. Mrs. Hyrel laughs and asks who he will kill, and he repeats it even though he realizes he shouldn’t. She removes a gun from her purse and shoots him in the heart and the head. She teleports back home, presses his teleporter button, and after he dies, she calls the police saying that something horrible has happened to her husband. Before the police arrive, she changes out of her teleporter suit and hides it behind a hidden back in the medicine cabinet.\n" ]	30004	hordes of colorful characters; the handsome virile hero, the compelling Helenesque heroine.... God, it was going to be great! The best thing he'd ever done! See, already there was a crowd of book lovers in front of the bookstore, staring into the window where the new Herbert Quidley was on display, trying to force its way into the jammed interior.... Cut to interior. FIRST EAGER CUSTOMER: Tell me quickly, are there any more copies of the new Herbert Quidley left? BOOK CLERK: A few. You don't know how lucky you are to get here before the first printing ran out. Pleasurable things. He remembered the girl he had met the night before, and smiled smugly. Perhaps she would be awaiting him even now. If not, there would be another one.... He settled himself deeper into the chair, glanced once more at his wife, then let his head lean comfortably back against the chair's headrest. His hand upon his thigh felt the thin mesh that cloaked his body beneath his clothing like a sheer stocking. His fingers went again to the tiny switch. Again he hesitated. Herbert Hyrel knew no more about the telporter suit he wore than he did about A grim tale of a future in which everyone is desperate to escape reality, and a hero who wants to have his wine and drink it, too. A BOTTLE OF Old Wine By Richard O. Lewis Illustrated by KELLY FREAS Herbert Hyrel settled himself more comfortably in his easy chair, extended his short legs further toward the fireplace, and let his eyes travel cautiously in the general direction of his wife. She was in her chair as usual, her long legs curled up beneath her, the upper half of her face hidden in the bulk of her personalized, three-dimensional telovis. a month ago. He thought once more of the girl who might be waiting for him, smiled, and pressed the switch. The dank air of the cabin was chill to Herbert Hyrel's naked flesh. He fumbled through the darkness for the clothing he kept there, found his shorts and trousers, got hurriedly into them, then flicked on a pocket lighter and ignited a stub of candle upon the table. By the wavering light, he finished dressing in the black satin clothing, the white shirt, the flowing necktie and tam. He invoiced the contents of his billfold. Not much. And his I, the Unspeakable By WALT SHELDON Illustrated by LOUIS MARCHETTI [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Galaxy Science Fiction April 1951. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] "What's in a name?" might be very dangerous to ask in certain societies, in which sticks and stones are also a big problem! I fought to be awake. I was dreaming, but I think I must have blushed. I must have blushed in my sleep. " Do it! " she said. " Please do it! For me! " It was the voice
How does Maizie work, and how is this significant to the story?	After carefully reading the provided chunks, write a detailed response to the following question about Appointment In Tomorrow by Fritz Leiber. Relevant chunks: grizzled general—there was also one who was gray—was thinking that this was a very odd link in the chain of command. Some shadowy and usually well-controlled memories from World War II faintly stirred his ire. Here he was giving orders to a being immeasurably more intelligent than himself. And always orders of the "Tell me how to kill that man" rather than the "Kill that man" sort. The distinction bothered him obscurely. It relieved him to know that Maizie had built-in controls which made her always the servant of humanity, or of humanity's right-minded leaders—even the Thinkers weren't certain which. to tape again. "Maizie does not stand for Maelzel. Maizie stands for amazing, humorously given the form of a girl's name. Section Six, Answer One: The mid-term election viewcasts should be spaced as follows...." But his lips didn't lose the shape of a snarl. Five hundred miles above the ionosphere, the Mars rocket cut off its fuel and slumped gratefully into an orbit that would carry it effortlessly around the world at that altitude. The pilot unstrapped himself and stretched, but he didn't look out the viewport at the dried-mud disc that was Earth, cloaked in its haze of blue so necessary for social control in this chaotic era. He himself, Jorj Helmuth, was the real leader in theoretics and all-over strategy, the mind behind the mind behind Maizie. He stretched himself on the bed, almost instantly achieved maximum relaxation, turned on the somno-learner, and began the two hour rest he knew would be desirable before the big conference. ribbon and the click of the taper, except for the seconds the fat man took to close his eyes, or to drink or pour beer. Once, too, he lifted a phone, asked a concise question, waited half a minute, listened to an answer, then went back to the grind. Until he came to Section Five, Question Four. That time he did his thinking with his eyes open. The question was: "Does Maizie stand for Maelzel?" He sat for a while slowly scratching his thigh. His loose, persuasive lips tightened, without closing, into the shape of a snarl. Suddenly he began like this. The burly Secretary of Space, who had come up through United Rockets, was thanking his stars that at any rate the professional scientists weren't responsible for this job. Like the grizzled general, he'd always felt suspicious of men who kept telling you how to do things, rather than doing them themselves. In World War III he'd had his fill of the professional physicists, with their eternal taint of a misty sort of radicalism and free-thinking. The Thinkers were better—more disciplined, more human. They'd called their brain-machine Maizie, which helped take the curse off her. Somewhat. The President's Secretary, Question: How does Maizie work, and how is this significant to the story? Answer:	[ "Maizie is a large contraption that occupies a room in the Thinker's Foundation. It consists of various controls, cables, and synapses, more than the human brain. It reads questions through information fed on a tape. Once Maizie processes the questions and conjures up answers, it delivers information back through a man who translates the tape into an answer. The main point regarding Maizie is that little to no one knows how it truly works, which is why it is regarded even by the President as a superior guide for intelligence. Maizie appears to be intimidating with its incomprehensible parts and gadgets, but the process in which it delivers simple answers to questions allows the public to trust it with decisions.", "Maizie, which is regarded as a super-intelligent computer capable of answering complex problems about governance and political strategy, is in fact merely a unit housing a man who manually answers the questions posed to the machine. Jorj Helmuth, a member of a group called the Thinkers, inputs questions onto tape which are fed to Maizie, and the tape rolls along inside the machine and emerges in the room containing the man. He tapes out answers, which are output and given by Jorj to those who asked the question. \nThis deception is a common strategy of the Thinkers, who have also faked travel to Mars, among other inventions. However, they hope to one day be able to construct all those things in order to stand on equal footing as scientists.\nMaizie is a means by which the Thinkers have influenced politics, and through which they have acquired power. It is hypothesized by Opperly, an elderly physicist, who knows how Maizie works, that the success of the deception is a result of their era, which yearns for fantastical solutions. The decision to reveal Maizie to the world is a topic of conversation between Opperly and a younger member of his group, Willard Farquar, who wants to expose the machine. \n", "Maizie is a brain machine built by the Thinkers. The Thinkers publicly claim that is a million times more synapses than a human brain. They say that Maizie has incredible intelligent capabilities. The reason Maizie is significant to the story is that Opperly and Farquar reveal how Maizie is actually fake. Someone records the answers for Maizie to recite. The Thinkers came into power because they were able to present incredible feats of technology like Maizie, but the technology turns out to not actually exist. Jorj Helmuth claims to be the mind that is behind the ‘mind’ of Maizie. ", "Maizie is supposed to be the thinking machine that has a million times more synapses than human brains have. It should take in the questions by humans entering it on the tape, and report answers back. Maizie was set up to work for the humans or the right-minded leaders of humans. However, Maizie does not work the way that the government believes it does, or the way that the Thinkers want them to believe. Instead, there is literally a fat man sitting in the middle of the room, he looks through the tapes that are sent in to his room and then writes down the answers to each of those questions. To the government officials, this is magical and believable, and they take advises from the machine. However, apparently the physicists knew the actual way that Maizie works, they do not want to be fooled and teased the Thinkers by sending them a question. On the question, it asks if Maizie stands for Maelzel. Maelzel is a chess playing machine that turned out to have a man inside it, exactly the same with Maizie. While the government officials did not seem to understand the mockery in it, the Thinkers did." ]	51152	grizzled general—there was also one who was gray—was thinking that this was a very odd link in the chain of command. Some shadowy and usually well-controlled memories from World War II faintly stirred his ire. Here he was giving orders to a being immeasurably more intelligent than himself. And always orders of the "Tell me how to kill that man" rather than the "Kill that man" sort. The distinction bothered him obscurely. It relieved him to know that Maizie had built-in controls which made her always the servant of humanity, or of humanity's right-minded leaders—even the Thinkers weren't certain which. to tape again. "Maizie does not stand for Maelzel. Maizie stands for amazing, humorously given the form of a girl's name. Section Six, Answer One: The mid-term election viewcasts should be spaced as follows...." But his lips didn't lose the shape of a snarl. Five hundred miles above the ionosphere, the Mars rocket cut off its fuel and slumped gratefully into an orbit that would carry it effortlessly around the world at that altitude. The pilot unstrapped himself and stretched, but he didn't look out the viewport at the dried-mud disc that was Earth, cloaked in its haze of blue so necessary for social control in this chaotic era. He himself, Jorj Helmuth, was the real leader in theoretics and all-over strategy, the mind behind the mind behind Maizie. He stretched himself on the bed, almost instantly achieved maximum relaxation, turned on the somno-learner, and began the two hour rest he knew would be desirable before the big conference. ribbon and the click of the taper, except for the seconds the fat man took to close his eyes, or to drink or pour beer. Once, too, he lifted a phone, asked a concise question, waited half a minute, listened to an answer, then went back to the grind. Until he came to Section Five, Question Four. That time he did his thinking with his eyes open. The question was: "Does Maizie stand for Maelzel?" He sat for a while slowly scratching his thigh. His loose, persuasive lips tightened, without closing, into the shape of a snarl. Suddenly he began like this. The burly Secretary of Space, who had come up through United Rockets, was thanking his stars that at any rate the professional scientists weren't responsible for this job. Like the grizzled general, he'd always felt suspicious of men who kept telling you how to do things, rather than doing them themselves. In World War III he'd had his fill of the professional physicists, with their eternal taint of a misty sort of radicalism and free-thinking. The Thinkers were better—more disciplined, more human. They'd called their brain-machine Maizie, which helped take the curse off her. Somewhat. The President's Secretary,
What is the relationship between Bruce and Marsha?	After carefully reading the provided chunks, write a detailed response to the following question about The Highest Mountain by Bryce Walton. Relevant chunks: that other time, years ago, when the two of them seemed to have shared so much, when the future had not yet destroyed her. He saw the shadow of Helene bend across Marsha's face against the background of the silently flowing water of the cool, green canal. "You loved her?" "Once," Bruce said. "She might have been sane. They got her when she was young. Too young to fight. But she would have, I think, if she'd been older when they got her." He sat looking down at Marsha's face, and then at the water with the leaves floating down when he woke from them. "This is a mere formality," Terrence finally said, "since we all know you killed Lieutenant Doran a few hours ago. Marsha saw you kill him. Whatever you say goes on the record, of course." "For whom?" Bruce asked. "What kind of question is that? For the authorities on Earth when we get back." "When you get back? Like the crews of those other four ships out there?" Bruce laughed without much humor. Terrence rubbed a palm across his lips, dropped the hand quickly again to his belly. "You want to make a statement or not? but no one's ever come back down. No contact with anything up there. "Captain, I'm not accepting a ridiculous challenge like that. Why should I? I didn't come here to conquer anything, even a mountain. The challenge of coming to Mars, of going on to where ever you guys intend going before something bigger than you are stops you—it doesn't interest me." "Nothing's bigger than the destiny of Earth!" Terrence said, sitting up straight and rigid. "I know," Bruce said. "Anyway, I got off the track. As I was saying, I woke up from this dream and Marsha and Doran name. She's a woman, so that's probably it. Women don't have real guts." Bruce bent toward the radio. Outside the shelter, the wind whistled softly at the door. "Marsha," he said. "Bruce—" She hadn't said his name that way for a long time. "Marsha, remember how we used to talk about human values? I remember how you seemed to have something maybe different from the others. I never thought you'd really buy this will to conquer, and now it doesn't matter...." He listened to her voice, first the crazy laughter, and then a whisper. "Bruce, hello down there." Her voice for Doran's action? Doran must have seen something—" "Doran's charts show high suggestibility under stress. Another weak personality eliminated. Let's regard it that way. He imagined he saw something." He glanced at Marsha. "Did you see anything?" She hesitated, avoiding Bruce's eyes. "Nothing at all. There wasn't anything out there to see, except the dust and rocks. That's all there is to see here. We could stay a million years and never see anything else. A shadow maybe—" "All right," Terrence interrupted. "Now, Bruce, you know the law regulating the treatment of serious psycho cases in space?" "Yes. Execution." "No Question: What is the relationship between Bruce and Marsha? Answer:	[ "Bruce and Marsha were close years ago when they lived on Earth. They shared similar values and loved each other, but eventually, Marsha became one of the conquerors, ready to expand the human territories. Now she’s almost emotionless. Bruce is disappointed and reckons that the other conquerors had gotten her young, and there was nothing he could do about it. When he’s interrogated, the psychologist asks if she saw any creature before Bruce shot Doran. She seems hesitant and doesn’t look at Bruce when denying seeing anything. When she is dying, she crazily laughs and admits that she is in love with him, asking Bruce to read her a poem. At the end, he finds Marsha’s body among the eroded hills and puts it beside the city canal. He says that he loved her once, and she could’ve been sane, different if the conquerors hadn’t got her when she was so young. \n", "Bruce and Marsha do not interact much initially. Marsha is a witness of when Bruce shot Doran, but she makes no move to oppose the other members of the crew. She also hesitates to meet his eyes when she speaks, only following orders. Bruce mentions that they had gotten her when she was too young. Later, when Marsha is dying, she calls him darling and mentions how much she loves him. Even though she is hysterical, Bruce remembers the time when they used to talk about human values. He recites poetry to her and tries to think about the good times on Earth. Later, it is revealed that Bruce loved her before on Earth. However, it eventually meant nothing because she had been converted by the Conquerors too early and could not fight back. ", "Bruce and Marsha appear to once have been romantic partners, with both proclaiming their love for each other. They used to share poetry and talk about human values and had a clear and affectionate connection back on Earth. \n\nHowever, Marsha and Bruce begin to distance as Marsha bought into the will to conquer, whereas Bruce leaned further away from this thought. This dissonance is apparent as she refuses to look at him during his inquest and at the fact that Marsha goes onto the climb. \n\nDespite this, when Marsha dies over the radio, they share a last moment of spoken affection. When Bruce sees her dead body, he takes care to rest her by the canal as he expresses his melancholy over \"they\" getting to her young. ", "Bruce and Marsha used to be lovers years ago. Marsha is indifferent to Bruce when Bruce accepts his inquisition from other crewmembers for his murder. When Marsha is asked whether she saw anything when Bruce killed Doran, she says no, even though she might see it. According to Bruce, Marsha was reconditioned to accept the new values in New Era, where strength and conquest are prioritized as the most important thing, compared to Old Era, where mercy and compassion seem to exist. Marsha keeps calling Bruce’s name on the edge of death while climbing the mountain. She misses the warmth she used to have with Bruce, realizing that conquest is not everything. After she dies, Bruce places her corpse along the canals. Bruce and Marsha used to be in a romantic relationship, but after Marsha accepts the will to conquer, they become distant from each other. When Marsha is dying, Marsha finally regains herself and confesses to Bruce. Their relationship becomes tolerant and beloved." ]	50868	that other time, years ago, when the two of them seemed to have shared so much, when the future had not yet destroyed her. He saw the shadow of Helene bend across Marsha's face against the background of the silently flowing water of the cool, green canal. "You loved her?" "Once," Bruce said. "She might have been sane. They got her when she was young. Too young to fight. But she would have, I think, if she'd been older when they got her." He sat looking down at Marsha's face, and then at the water with the leaves floating down when he woke from them. "This is a mere formality," Terrence finally said, "since we all know you killed Lieutenant Doran a few hours ago. Marsha saw you kill him. Whatever you say goes on the record, of course." "For whom?" Bruce asked. "What kind of question is that? For the authorities on Earth when we get back." "When you get back? Like the crews of those other four ships out there?" Bruce laughed without much humor. Terrence rubbed a palm across his lips, dropped the hand quickly again to his belly. "You want to make a statement or not? but no one's ever come back down. No contact with anything up there. "Captain, I'm not accepting a ridiculous challenge like that. Why should I? I didn't come here to conquer anything, even a mountain. The challenge of coming to Mars, of going on to where ever you guys intend going before something bigger than you are stops you—it doesn't interest me." "Nothing's bigger than the destiny of Earth!" Terrence said, sitting up straight and rigid. "I know," Bruce said. "Anyway, I got off the track. As I was saying, I woke up from this dream and Marsha and Doran name. She's a woman, so that's probably it. Women don't have real guts." Bruce bent toward the radio. Outside the shelter, the wind whistled softly at the door. "Marsha," he said. "Bruce—" She hadn't said his name that way for a long time. "Marsha, remember how we used to talk about human values? I remember how you seemed to have something maybe different from the others. I never thought you'd really buy this will to conquer, and now it doesn't matter...." He listened to her voice, first the crazy laughter, and then a whisper. "Bruce, hello down there." Her voice for Doran's action? Doran must have seen something—" "Doran's charts show high suggestibility under stress. Another weak personality eliminated. Let's regard it that way. He imagined he saw something." He glanced at Marsha. "Did you see anything?" She hesitated, avoiding Bruce's eyes. "Nothing at all. There wasn't anything out there to see, except the dust and rocks. That's all there is to see here. We could stay a million years and never see anything else. A shadow maybe—" "All right," Terrence interrupted. "Now, Bruce, you know the law regulating the treatment of serious psycho cases in space?" "Yes. Execution." "No
What is the plot of the story?	After carefully reading the provided chunks, write a detailed response to the following question about The Plague by Teddy Keller. Relevant chunks: explain the phenomena of the Ghost Ship? Was it really only a product of his imagination? What of all the others who had seen it? Was it possible for many different men under many different situations to have the same exact illusion? Reason denied that. But perhaps space itself denies reason. Grimly he retraced the legend of the Ghost Ship. A chance phrase here and a story there put together all that he knew: Doomed for all eternity to wander in the empty star-lanes, the Ghost Ship haunts the Solar System that gave it birth. And this is its tragedy, course. What is it that girls in small offices do or eat or drink or wear that girls in large offices don't do or eat or drink or wear? What do writers and doctors do differently? Or poets and dentists? What are we missing? What—" In the outer office a girl cried out. A body thumped against a desk, then a chair, then to the floor. Two girls screamed. Andy bolted up from his chair. Racing to the door, he shouted back to Bettijean, "Get a staff doctor and a chemist from the lab." It was the girl who had forty years ago or more. Resembled one? It was one! Unquestionably, though half-invisible and like a piece of glass immersed in water, it was a rocket ship. But the instruments on the control board could not lie. The presence of any material body within a hundred thousand miles would be revealed. But the needle on the gauge did not quiver. Nothing indicated the presence of a ship. But the evidence of his eyes was incontestable. Or was it? Doubt gripped him. Did the loneliness of all these years in space twist his mind till he was imagining the appearance of "Get somebody—maybe even the President—on all radio and TV networks. Explain frankly about the four-centers and warn against licking any stamps. Then—" He broke off as his phone rang. Answering, he listened for a moment, then hung up and said, "But before the big announcement, get somebody checking on the security clearances at whatever plant it is where they print stamps. This's a big deal. Somebody may've been planted years ago for this operation. It shouldn't be too hard. "But there's no evidence it was a plot yet. Could be pure accident—some chemical in the stickum spoiled. Do they keep deathly ill, but nobody dying. And doctors can't identify the poison until they have a fatality for an autopsy. People stricken in every part of the country, but the water systems are pure. How does it spread?" "In food?" "How? There must be hundreds of canneries and dairies and packing plants over the country. How could they all goof at the same time—even if it was sabotage?" "On the wind?" "But who could accurately predict every wind over the entire country—even Alaska and Hawaii—without hitting Canada or Mexico? And why wouldn't everybody get it in a given area?" Bettijean's smooth Question: What is the plot of the story? Answer:	[ "The Plague takes place in the modern United States of America. The story follows several government workers as they navigate a sudden and mysterious epidemic. Sergeant Major Andrew McCloud, mostly referred to as Andy, works at the Office of the Civil Health and Germ Welfare Protection located in the Pentagon. Corporal Bettijean Baker, his right-hand woman and new lover, picks up the phone one day, and then chaos ensues. \nA switchboard is put in the hallway to help receive the hundreds of calls being made to their office. This sudden influx of calls, attention, people, and disease leave the main characters feeling overwhelmed and desperate. \nSince the new lieutenant had not arrived (post Colonel Patterson’s retirement), Sergeant Andy is effectively in charge as a noncom, though not everyone is happy about that. Andy pushes their worries aside, and continues working. \nDespite the spread, no fatalities have been reported, and infections are random. No trend has been established yet, but they are searching desperately for one. Bettijean goes through reports with Sergeant Andy, revealing all she’s uncovered. It’s affecting workers, artists, and poets, but not necessarily those who work in government, or as doctors or businessmen. The water systems are ruled out, as well as wind and food. Bettijean and Andy are left with nothing, except the possibility of biological terrorism. \nFinally, Andy orders Bettijean to halt all in-coming calls, and redirect their attention to all hospitals. \nDespite their best efforts, no conclusion can be reached. The colonel reappears in Andy’s office, followed by two officers. He throws a newspaper down on his desk, proclaiming that this epidemic was allegedly caused by the Russians, and that all the authorities are baffled. It is hinted that the Colonel commissioned this article to throw doubt on Andy’s authority. Andy defends his employees and the work they’ve been doing. The Colonel forces Andy and Bettijean out of office, and Andy lets him, kissing Bettijean on the way out. Suddenly, the general walks in and gives Andy back his job, while telling him the news from Intelligence. The Iron Curtain’s not sent word for almost two days. Only a coded message that could have been about the epidemic. \nAndy promises to work hard again, and the general assigns the colonel and his two men to the switchboard in the hall. After brainstorming about potential causes, Janis, another employee, enters the room and puts another stack of reports down. Small college towns, newly engaged girls, poets, all these people have been infected. Janis falls to the floor, and everyone rushes to her. She’s been infected with the disease, and they question her about her activities for the past 12 hours. It’s revealed finally that she wrote a letter to her mother, and Andy finally figures it out. The poison was in the stamps. He lets his higher-ups know, and Janis is carted off to safety. Bettijean and Andy are given a 30-day vacation to relax and explore their relationship further. \n", "Sergeant Major Andrew McCloud has found himself in charge of the Office of Civil Health and Germ Warfare Protection somewhat by accident. As he waits for a replacement, his superior officers nervously warn him about an epidemic that they don’t understand yet, that Andy will be in charge of the response for. Corporal Bettijean Baker is Andy’s assistant, in this previously under-the-radar department that is all of a sudden the most important aspect of the nation’s response. Andy and Bettijean work through reports together to look for a trend, hoping to find how the epidemic is spreading. It seems to be affecting only the United States of America, without affecting Canada even though it has reached Alaska. The dumbfounded officers decide to learn more about the people who have fallen sick. When Bettijean returned with more reports, two other officers came into Andy’s office to show him the headlines: the public panic had started, two days after the office had stopped sleeping to find the root of the issue. The colonel doesn’t appreciate the lack of military formality in the way that Andy and Bettijean are taking, and he angrily orders them to be disciplined before the general interrupts. The general gestures to Andy and Bettijean to continue their work, and sat down with them to talk solemnly. There’s some suspicion about the Soviet Union’s involvement. Recognizing Andy’s need for manpower, the general assigns the very unhappy colonel to report to Andy and Bettijean for as long as the epidemic is going on. Lighting a new cigarette, Andy gets back to work. The team found evidence of small business workers being sick, but no government workers (outside of some in a hospital), no doctors, and no postal workers. They take this as evidence that it’s not communicable, but they find some cities are more affected than others. Writers, poets, artists, and musicians in cities that are often vacation spots are hit hard, along with small college towns. They are interrupted by screams outside their door when Janis falls sick. When she’s able to talk, Andy asks Janis questions about the past twelve hours. She had written and mailed a letter to her mother about the epidemic, but nothing else seemed out of place. Andy pondered over another cigarette as the doctor saw to Janis. Andy suddenly had an idea, frantically searched for Janis’ purse, and handed one of her postage stamps to a lab technician. His hunch was right: the stamp was the problem, licking the glue was how people got sick. Andy starts on a plan to notify the public of the issue, and to investigate the source of the poison in the stamps. The lab was able to identify the toxin, and it would be simple to treat. The general took over giving orders, and gave Andy and Bettijean a month of furlough before marching the stamp out of the office as Andy and Bettijean looked at each other longingly. ", "The story describes members of the U.S. military Germ Warfare Protection Division as they struggle to understand the cause of a mysterious illness. Sergeant Major Andy McCloud and his Corporal Bettijean Baker slowly learns the details of the pandemic. It is entirely confined to the United States and seems to affect people according to no discernable pattern. The illness is not passed person to person and has affected people regardless of age, location, and behavior while other people are spared.\n\nHigh ranking military officials (the brass) express to Andy the urgency of the situation. As the day wears on, Andymust deal with threats to his operation from officers that believe that, as a noncommissioned officer, He is not qualified to perform his task regardless of his obvious expertise.\n\nVague trends begin to emerge. Large offices see no cases while small ones do; doctors and dentists are mostly unaffected while writers and poets are.\n\nEventually a woman working the phones in the Germ Warfare Protection division falls ill and Andy solves the riddle of the illness. Stamp adhesive is determined to be the vector for the illness. With the mystery solved, a plan to halt the spread of the illness is formulated and the brass gives Andy and Bettijean a vacation furlough and promise of a promotion.", "Sergeant Andrew McCloud is in charge of the office of Germ War Protection when a mysterious plague breaks out in the United States. His coworker Bettlejean tells him that all kinds of people are coming down with the illness, but no one has died yet. The strangest part about the new disease is that it has only affected Americans. Not even Canadians or Mexicans have become sick. \n\nMcCloud decides to send everyone who works in the office out to do some investigating about where the illness is coming from. He tells Bettlejean that the two of them will work in Washington. They begin to put together clues about the nature of the illness when suddenly a woman in the office, Janis, drops to the ground. She is red and feverish and extremely nervous. After some prodding, she admits that she broke an office rule when she mailed her mother a letter that included information about the outbreak. \n\nAfter a few moments of reflection, McCloud runs to Janis’s office and tears through her drawers to find her stamps. He sends the lab technician to test them, but he is already convinced that the stamps contain poison, and they are behind the mysterious illness. \n\nWhen his superior comes in to ask him what he has discovered, McCloud divulges his beliefs about the problematic stamps. McCloud suggests that the President make an announcement to the public about the poisonous stamps. However, he quickly realizes that the stamps could have been tainted accidentally, and this doesn’t necessarily point to an attack on the country. McCloud is interrupted by a phone call from the lab. The technician informs him that the illness the stamps cause has a quick fix, and the people who are ill are going to be just fine. McCloud allows someone else to take over. He’s too tired and elated to make any more decisions. \n\nThe general offers McCloud and Bettlejean many awards and some time off to get to know each other better. He can tell that they are quite fond of each other. \n\n\n" ]	30062	explain the phenomena of the Ghost Ship? Was it really only a product of his imagination? What of all the others who had seen it? Was it possible for many different men under many different situations to have the same exact illusion? Reason denied that. But perhaps space itself denies reason. Grimly he retraced the legend of the Ghost Ship. A chance phrase here and a story there put together all that he knew: Doomed for all eternity to wander in the empty star-lanes, the Ghost Ship haunts the Solar System that gave it birth. And this is its tragedy, course. What is it that girls in small offices do or eat or drink or wear that girls in large offices don't do or eat or drink or wear? What do writers and doctors do differently? Or poets and dentists? What are we missing? What—" In the outer office a girl cried out. A body thumped against a desk, then a chair, then to the floor. Two girls screamed. Andy bolted up from his chair. Racing to the door, he shouted back to Bettijean, "Get a staff doctor and a chemist from the lab." It was the girl who had forty years ago or more. Resembled one? It was one! Unquestionably, though half-invisible and like a piece of glass immersed in water, it was a rocket ship. But the instruments on the control board could not lie. The presence of any material body within a hundred thousand miles would be revealed. But the needle on the gauge did not quiver. Nothing indicated the presence of a ship. But the evidence of his eyes was incontestable. Or was it? Doubt gripped him. Did the loneliness of all these years in space twist his mind till he was imagining the appearance of "Get somebody—maybe even the President—on all radio and TV networks. Explain frankly about the four-centers and warn against licking any stamps. Then—" He broke off as his phone rang. Answering, he listened for a moment, then hung up and said, "But before the big announcement, get somebody checking on the security clearances at whatever plant it is where they print stamps. This's a big deal. Somebody may've been planted years ago for this operation. It shouldn't be too hard. "But there's no evidence it was a plot yet. Could be pure accident—some chemical in the stickum spoiled. Do they keep deathly ill, but nobody dying. And doctors can't identify the poison until they have a fatality for an autopsy. People stricken in every part of the country, but the water systems are pure. How does it spread?" "In food?" "How? There must be hundreds of canneries and dairies and packing plants over the country. How could they all goof at the same time—even if it was sabotage?" "On the wind?" "But who could accurately predict every wind over the entire country—even Alaska and Hawaii—without hitting Canada or Mexico? And why wouldn't everybody get it in a given area?" Bettijean's smooth
What are some of the government regulations that are imposed in the story?	After carefully reading the provided chunks, write a detailed response to the following question about Breakdown by Herbert D. Kastle. Relevant chunks: some kind of scientist? Lime doesn't do much to a stiff at all. Kind of putrifies them like...." "I forgot," I admitted. "I'd read it in so many stories I'd forgotten it wouldn't work. And I suppose the furnace leaves ashes and there's always traces of hair and teeth in the garbage disposal... An interesting problem, at that." "I figured you could handle it," Carmen said, leaning back comfortably in the favorite chair of my bachelor apartment. "I heard you were working on something to get rid of trash for the government." "That," I told him, "is restricted information. I his home, not south? Could a man get so confused as to forget things he'd known all his life? He reached the Shanks' place, and passed it at a trot. Then he was beyond their boundaries and breaking regulations again. He stayed on the road. He went by a small house and saw colored folks in the yard. There'd been no colored folks here. There'd been Eli Bergen and his family and his mother, in a bigger, newer house. The colored folks heard Plum's hooves and looked up and stared. Then a man raised his voice. "Mistah, you breakin' regulations! Just shelves—no doors or sides. They want a revolutionary garbage disposal too." "Do you own stock in the company? Is that how you know?" "I own stock in a competitor. That's how I know," Carmen informed me. "Listen, Professor, you can sell to Arcivox and still keep control of the patents through a separate corporation. And I'll give you 49% of its stock." This was Carmen's idea of a magnanimous offer for my invention. It was a pretty good offer—49% and my good health. "But will the government let Arcivox have the machine for commercial use?" "The government would let bag suddenly and leaned against a fence post, rolling his head on his forearms and choking in spasms of air. He was shaking all over, and his belly writhed. He wanted to turn and run. He wanted to crawl out in the grass and hide. What were they going to say? And Marie, Marie most of all. How was he going to tell her about the money? Six hitches in space, and every time the promise had been the same: One more tour, baby, and we'll have enough dough, and then I'll quit for good. One more time, and we'll course. What is it that girls in small offices do or eat or drink or wear that girls in large offices don't do or eat or drink or wear? What do writers and doctors do differently? Or poets and dentists? What are we missing? What—" In the outer office a girl cried out. A body thumped against a desk, then a chair, then to the floor. Two girls screamed. Andy bolted up from his chair. Racing to the door, he shouted back to Bettijean, "Get a staff doctor and a chemist from the lab." It was the girl who had Question: What are some of the government regulations that are imposed in the story? Answer:	[ "One of the government restrictions that Edna reminds Harry about is the rationing of meat. Due to the crisis in the country, there is a shortage of meat. Instead of actual meat, most people eat multi-pro, which is similar to spam. The government also sets up boundaries for the residents to stay inside of, and they are not allowed to go past these regulations or else the police will come. The government also takes care of supplies, and most residents just have to write down what they want and pay a bill. In terms of money, the government takes care of it as well each week. Each farm receives the same number of animals because government agents paid flat rates. When Harry finds the stock of grain, he notes that the government has enough to keep going for a few years. Television is also restricted to old movies, playing only on one channel from nine to eleven at night. Later, it is revealed that these restrictions are imposed to keep the people alive on the ark long enough until they can begin to expand civilization again. ", "Some of the government regulations included rationing the food. This included not being able to butcher their own meat, but rather, having multi-pro. There was also a regulation about the type of farming allowed. Despite all the land, the government would pay the farmers for letting the fields remain empty as long as they only farm vegetables, and not wheat or corn. \n\nAdditionally, there are regulations on travel and gas. You were not able to go further than your neighbor's house. There is also an education regulation that says children should be at least 5 years and 9 months old before beginning to learn and read through a kindergarten book. ", "The travel regulation restricts the area that people can travel to, which means their own houses and the closest neighbor's house. Whoever breaks the travel regulation will be sent to see the doctor. People buy their living necessities through delivery weekly by the rationing regulation. The farming regulations prohibit the plantation of wheat and corn, only allowing vegetables to be grown, resulting in many fields fallow. People would get compensated by the government for not planting wheat or corn. The rationing regulation allocates foods and living necessities for each family, regulates the supplies people can get, and prohibits people from butchering their livestock. Everyone has the same amount of livestock. Gas and water are also rationed that each family can only have a sink of water for dishes each day and a tub of bath water twice a week. The television regulation limits the channel to one, restricts the watching time to only nine to eleven at night, and constrains the audience to watch the listed movies only. Emergency Education Regulations claim that children should be at least five years nine months old to learn kindergarten books.", "They cannot cultivate wheat and corn, and these fields are not in use. There are meat rations that significantly limit the amount of meat one household can consume. Harry also thinks about the travel regulations - he can't go further than Walt and Gloria Shanks' place. They live a little more than a mile away from Harry and Edna. There is gas rationing. The livestock is controlled by the government, too - every household has the same number of chickens, sheep, cows, etc. We learn about the Emergency Education Regulations - every child should be five years nine months old before embarking on a kindergarten book. " ]	51662	some kind of scientist? Lime doesn't do much to a stiff at all. Kind of putrifies them like...." "I forgot," I admitted. "I'd read it in so many stories I'd forgotten it wouldn't work. And I suppose the furnace leaves ashes and there's always traces of hair and teeth in the garbage disposal... An interesting problem, at that." "I figured you could handle it," Carmen said, leaning back comfortably in the favorite chair of my bachelor apartment. "I heard you were working on something to get rid of trash for the government." "That," I told him, "is restricted information. I his home, not south? Could a man get so confused as to forget things he'd known all his life? He reached the Shanks' place, and passed it at a trot. Then he was beyond their boundaries and breaking regulations again. He stayed on the road. He went by a small house and saw colored folks in the yard. There'd been no colored folks here. There'd been Eli Bergen and his family and his mother, in a bigger, newer house. The colored folks heard Plum's hooves and looked up and stared. Then a man raised his voice. "Mistah, you breakin' regulations! Just shelves—no doors or sides. They want a revolutionary garbage disposal too." "Do you own stock in the company? Is that how you know?" "I own stock in a competitor. That's how I know," Carmen informed me. "Listen, Professor, you can sell to Arcivox and still keep control of the patents through a separate corporation. And I'll give you 49% of its stock." This was Carmen's idea of a magnanimous offer for my invention. It was a pretty good offer—49% and my good health. "But will the government let Arcivox have the machine for commercial use?" "The government would let bag suddenly and leaned against a fence post, rolling his head on his forearms and choking in spasms of air. He was shaking all over, and his belly writhed. He wanted to turn and run. He wanted to crawl out in the grass and hide. What were they going to say? And Marie, Marie most of all. How was he going to tell her about the money? Six hitches in space, and every time the promise had been the same: One more tour, baby, and we'll have enough dough, and then I'll quit for good. One more time, and we'll course. What is it that girls in small offices do or eat or drink or wear that girls in large offices don't do or eat or drink or wear? What do writers and doctors do differently? Or poets and dentists? What are we missing? What—" In the outer office a girl cried out. A body thumped against a desk, then a chair, then to the floor. Two girls screamed. Andy bolted up from his chair. Racing to the door, he shouted back to Bettijean, "Get a staff doctor and a chemist from the lab." It was the girl who had
What is the plot of the story?	After carefully reading the provided chunks, write a detailed response to the following question about The Beast-Jewel of Mars by V. E. Thiessen. Relevant chunks: and didn't look at her. "You'll have to spend most of the trip in a hammock." "I can take it." Suddenly she smiled, wanly. "I was with the Fleet. How long will it take?" "Eight days, in that ship." Roberds lit his pipe, and carefully hid his emotions. He knew Peterson was harboring the same thoughts. Eight days in space, in a small ship meant for two, and built for planetary surface flights. Eight days in that untrustworthy crate, hurtling to save the lives of that girl and Gladney. "Who was that ... man? The one you put out?" Gray its own folly. In other words, should he become the MASTER OF LIFE AND DEATH? CAST OF CHARACTERS ROY WALTON He had to adopt the motto— the ends justify the means . FITZMAUGHAM His reward for devoted service was—an assassin's bullet. FRED WALTON His ambition was to fill his brother's shoes—but he underestimated their size. LEE PERCY His specialty was sugarcoating bitter pills. PRIOR With the pen as his only weapon, could he save his son? DR. LAMARRE He died for discovering the secret of immortality. Contents I The offices of the Bureau of Population Equalization, vulgarly known as Popeek, asked. "We call him Rat," Roberds said. She didn't ask why. She said: "Why couldn't he pilot the ship, I mean? What is his record?" Peterson opened his mouth. "Shut up, Peterson!" the Chief snapped. "We don't talk about his record around here, Miss Gray. It's not a pretty thing to tell." "Stow it, Chief," said Peterson. "Miss Gray is no pantywaist." He turned to the nurse. "Ever hear of the Sansan massacre?" Patti Gray paled. "Yes," she whispered. "Was Rat in that?" Roberds shook his head. "He didn't take part in it. But Rat was attached to a very many days?" His only answer was an inhuman snarl, and the cruel blazing of those inhuman eyes. She fell face first to the floor. "I can't keep it up!" she cried. The sound of her voice rolled along the hot steel deck. "I cant! I cant!" A double handful of tepid water was thrown in her face. "Get up!" Rat stood over her, face twisted, his body hunched. "Get up!" She stared at him, dazed. He kicked her. "Get up!" The tepid water ran off her face and far away she heard Judith calling.... She forced herself up. Rat was moving things had unnerved him. He had already sounded the alert, flicked out the defense screens. Now he had nothing to do. He tried to concentrate on what the League Law would have him do. The Law was no help. Contact with planet-bound races was forbidden under any circumstances. But could a bunch of robots be called a race? The Law said nothing about robots because Earthmen had none. The building of imaginative robots was expressly forbidden. But at any rate, Steffens thought, he had made contact already. While Steffens stood by the screen, completely bewildered for the first time Question: What is the plot of the story? Answer:	[ "Eric North, a man from Earth, is lying on his stomach and thinking whether he should go down to the bottom of the canal before him, where the beauty of the fabled city of Mars calls the youth. After a short resistance, Eric surrenders to the call of the city, rushes towards it and starts beating the gate to get in. Upon hearing Eric's name, the sentinel screams it out loud and strikes the man with hatred, mentioning some kind of a legend. A crowd full of hatred gathers, but Eric manages to escape from the city. Nevertheless, it calls again and he starts pleading at the gates to be let back, even though he knows it's insane. Shortly after, Eric realizes, with the help of taking off his hat, that the beauty is an illusion and walks away on a safe distance. He figures out putting the hat on and off confuses the machine and the illusion disappears. He decides to destroy the city without exploring further not to put himself and his brother in danger. Nevertheless, turns out that Garve, the brother, followed his curiosity and went to the city. When the two meet, Garve takes off Eric's head and mentions the legend about Eric which everyone in the city believes. While heading to the city center, the two are followed and Garve asks his brother not to use the gun, which results in Eric's capture. Eric bluffs, threatening people with the prophecy, but they decide to kill him. A respected young woman, Nolette, suddenly saves him and brings before the council. There Eric learns the story of the city, which is a small colony of those who chose to remain on Mars during the drought and a machine was created there to translate thought into reality. Now people become lustful, lose their will to learn and many of those banished have lost their minds. That's why the city has to be destroyed and Eric is the instrument. Then Eric is led to his quarters in the building of the Elders, and his brother stays in the city as well, though in another place.", "Eric North, from Earth, is trying to escape the illusion of a grand, but evil city on Mars. A machine buried deep under the city is controlling this facade, to make the city unspeakably beautiful, luring Eric in. He tries his best to avert his eyes from the city, but sweet music pours out of it, and he goes back, banging on the door to be let in. He wears a copper helmet, designed to shield him from the fabricated beauty of the place, but it doesn't seem to work. He is met by a sentinel guarding the city, who attacks him with a sword when he tells the guard his name. He exclaims that Eric is \"Eric the Bronze''. Eric wakes up with the people of the city crowding around him. They agree to execute him, but Eric is able to escape, making it back to his ship, where he expects to meet his brother Garve. He realises that if he continues to take the helmet he is wearing on and off, he can see past the illusion of the city, for what it truly is, and escapes it's pull. When he arrives on the ship, he sees a note from Garve, telling Eric that he heard the sweet music of the city, and has gone to explore it. Eric takes two grenades and his pistol, and goes to save Garve. He scales the outer wall of the city, soon meeting Garve. He steals the copper helmet away from Eric, throwing it over the wall. He tells Eric to keep his face hidden so the people of the city won't see him. He relays how the elders of the city told him the legend of Eric The Bronze, whom they are going to see now. They are soon spotted and taken by two men to the centre of the city, where the mob plan on killing him again. Just then, a woman on a black horse appears. Her name is Nolette, The Daughter of the City. She takes Eric to the building in which the elders preside. Eric enters the room where they are waiting. They Tell Eric of how the city came to be. How the once lush Mars died, and the city was created to protect those who keep the ancient skills and science of Mars. The city is really a machine under their feet, and it can be changed into whatever an inhabitant thinks of. However, over time, the people grew drunk with the power of creation and turned evil. And so, it is time for the city to be destroyed. And as the prophecy states, Eric will be the one to carry out the destruction. They invite him to stay in the city with his brother until this time comes, and if after a while it doesn't, and the prophecy is wrong, he is free to go. ", "The story starts with Eric North, an Earth man, laying on the ground in the canal where he can see the spires and minarets in the distance. Those minarets and the city attracts him, but his mind fights this dangerous thought and reminds him the possibility of becoming a soulless husk. He refuses to look at it and walks away from the city. However, after reaching the bottom of the canal, he runs towards the city. As he gets nearer, he can hear richer music. The sentinel assumes that he is Eric the Bronze from the legend and hits Eric with his sword. The other people in the city also look at him with hatred and want to whip him. He gets so scared that he runs away. When he is attracted to come back again, he realizes that his metal helmet is able to defend the illusions for a short while. Thus, on his way back to his ship he keeps putting the helmet on and taking it off. He assumes that the helmet’s electrical circuit is able to defend against the illusion for a while since it takes some time for the illusions to adjust the waves to affect him. Even though he seems very curious to learn more about the city, he decides to go back to the ship to his brother Grave North. \n\nOn the ship, Eric realizes that Grave had also heard the beautiful music from the city. While the music did not force Grave, his curiosity lead him to the city. Eric gets some explosives and goes back to the city. Climbing the city’s wall, he is greeted by a caricature form of his brother. The caricature tells him to get rid of his hat as they walk to the city center where the Elders are expecting him. Realizing that they are being followed, they run separately. When Eric is finally captured, he remembers that his brother told him to not use the gun. Thus, he uses superstition and tells them that a Legend cannot be defeated with some simple whips. They decide to kill him instead. Before he is killed, Nolette, the Daughter of the City, carries him to the Council on a horse. There, he learns that Eric the Bronze will destroy this city. He also acknowledges that the city is a product of a machine that translates the mass will of the citizens into reality. From the Elders, he learns about the banished ones and the ancient Legend. Finally, he is then to stay inside this building for some time. If he is not Eric the Legend, then he will be able stay or leave as he desires. ", "Eric North finds the fabled city of Mars and hears strange music that he cannot resist. Although he tries to turn away, the tune’s influence becomes too powerful. He runs to the city’s gates and demands to be let in. The gates swing open, and one of the well-dressed sentinels welcomes him. However, once he gives his name, the sentinel claims that he is Eric the Bronze and smashes his sword on Eric’s metal hat. When Eric wakes up again, he finds many beautiful citizens staring at him with hatred. He fears what the citizens will do and runs out of the city, despite the music telling him to come back. For a moment, the illusion of the beautiful city changes to one of evil and disgust. Eric walks away from the canal and examines how the illusions have affected him. His helmet has an electrical circuit that acts as a shield against any electrical waves that may affect his brain. Although Eric wants to know more, it is too dangerous. He finds his brother Garve North and plans to make arrangements to have the city destroyed. When Eric returns, Garve tells him about seeing the city and is going down to see it again. He selects two grenades and a pistol packed with explosive pellets as he goes back to investigate with Garve. After he returns, the illusion changes once again when he has his hat on and after Garve throws his hat out of the city walls. Garve reveals that he knows about Eric the Bronze legend and is taking him to see the Elders right now. The two of them are being followed by the citizens, and Garve tries to distract them. They realize that Eric is who they want; Eric wants to use his gun, but Garve warns him not to if he values his brother’s life. Instead, he tries to scare the citizens by bluffing, but they decide to kill him and stop the prophesy. Nolette, the Daughter of the City, suddenly appears and retrieves him from the angry crowd. She takes him to a building in the city center and tells him to go inside to see The Council. Six men and Nolette sit at a conference table, and they begin to discuss him. Nolette believes he is Eric the Bronze, while Kroon explains that he is prophesied to destroy the city. The city is also a machine built to protect the small colony of those on Mars after natural changes occurred. Kroon further explains that the Elders collectively control the city’s appearance, and the ancient builders prophesied that the machine would be destroyed by a man termed Eric the Bronze. The name Eric was chosen because it is an honorable name for the ancient fathers and a symbol of new beginnings for some. The Elders let Eric live with them, while Garve will live outside of the building. " ]	63605	and didn't look at her. "You'll have to spend most of the trip in a hammock." "I can take it." Suddenly she smiled, wanly. "I was with the Fleet. How long will it take?" "Eight days, in that ship." Roberds lit his pipe, and carefully hid his emotions. He knew Peterson was harboring the same thoughts. Eight days in space, in a small ship meant for two, and built for planetary surface flights. Eight days in that untrustworthy crate, hurtling to save the lives of that girl and Gladney. "Who was that ... man? The one you put out?" Gray its own folly. In other words, should he become the MASTER OF LIFE AND DEATH? CAST OF CHARACTERS ROY WALTON He had to adopt the motto— the ends justify the means . FITZMAUGHAM His reward for devoted service was—an assassin's bullet. FRED WALTON His ambition was to fill his brother's shoes—but he underestimated their size. LEE PERCY His specialty was sugarcoating bitter pills. PRIOR With the pen as his only weapon, could he save his son? DR. LAMARRE He died for discovering the secret of immortality. Contents I The offices of the Bureau of Population Equalization, vulgarly known as Popeek, asked. "We call him Rat," Roberds said. She didn't ask why. She said: "Why couldn't he pilot the ship, I mean? What is his record?" Peterson opened his mouth. "Shut up, Peterson!" the Chief snapped. "We don't talk about his record around here, Miss Gray. It's not a pretty thing to tell." "Stow it, Chief," said Peterson. "Miss Gray is no pantywaist." He turned to the nurse. "Ever hear of the Sansan massacre?" Patti Gray paled. "Yes," she whispered. "Was Rat in that?" Roberds shook his head. "He didn't take part in it. But Rat was attached to a very many days?" His only answer was an inhuman snarl, and the cruel blazing of those inhuman eyes. She fell face first to the floor. "I can't keep it up!" she cried. The sound of her voice rolled along the hot steel deck. "I cant! I cant!" A double handful of tepid water was thrown in her face. "Get up!" Rat stood over her, face twisted, his body hunched. "Get up!" She stared at him, dazed. He kicked her. "Get up!" The tepid water ran off her face and far away she heard Judith calling.... She forced herself up. Rat was moving things had unnerved him. He had already sounded the alert, flicked out the defense screens. Now he had nothing to do. He tried to concentrate on what the League Law would have him do. The Law was no help. Contact with planet-bound races was forbidden under any circumstances. But could a bunch of robots be called a race? The Law said nothing about robots because Earthmen had none. The building of imaginative robots was expressly forbidden. But at any rate, Steffens thought, he had made contact already. While Steffens stood by the screen, completely bewildered for the first time
What is the plot of the story?	After carefully reading the provided chunks, write a detailed response to the following question about Bridge Crossing by Dave Dryfoos. Relevant chunks: explain the phenomena of the Ghost Ship? Was it really only a product of his imagination? What of all the others who had seen it? Was it possible for many different men under many different situations to have the same exact illusion? Reason denied that. But perhaps space itself denies reason. Grimly he retraced the legend of the Ghost Ship. A chance phrase here and a story there put together all that he knew: Doomed for all eternity to wander in the empty star-lanes, the Ghost Ship haunts the Solar System that gave it birth. And this is its tragedy, course. What is it that girls in small offices do or eat or drink or wear that girls in large offices don't do or eat or drink or wear? What do writers and doctors do differently? Or poets and dentists? What are we missing? What—" In the outer office a girl cried out. A body thumped against a desk, then a chair, then to the floor. Two girls screamed. Andy bolted up from his chair. Racing to the door, he shouted back to Bettijean, "Get a staff doctor and a chemist from the lab." It was the girl who had forty years ago or more. Resembled one? It was one! Unquestionably, though half-invisible and like a piece of glass immersed in water, it was a rocket ship. But the instruments on the control board could not lie. The presence of any material body within a hundred thousand miles would be revealed. But the needle on the gauge did not quiver. Nothing indicated the presence of a ship. But the evidence of his eyes was incontestable. Or was it? Doubt gripped him. Did the loneliness of all these years in space twist his mind till he was imagining the appearance of "Get somebody—maybe even the President—on all radio and TV networks. Explain frankly about the four-centers and warn against licking any stamps. Then—" He broke off as his phone rang. Answering, he listened for a moment, then hung up and said, "But before the big announcement, get somebody checking on the security clearances at whatever plant it is where they print stamps. This's a big deal. Somebody may've been planted years ago for this operation. It shouldn't be too hard. "But there's no evidence it was a plot yet. Could be pure accident—some chemical in the stickum spoiled. Do they keep deathly ill, but nobody dying. And doctors can't identify the poison until they have a fatality for an autopsy. People stricken in every part of the country, but the water systems are pure. How does it spread?" "In food?" "How? There must be hundreds of canneries and dairies and packing plants over the country. How could they all goof at the same time—even if it was sabotage?" "On the wind?" "But who could accurately predict every wind over the entire country—even Alaska and Hawaii—without hitting Canada or Mexico? And why wouldn't everybody get it in a given area?" Bettijean's smooth Question: What is the plot of the story? Answer:	[ "The protagonist of this story is Roddie, a young male character whose interactions with the characters around him include mechanical arms and robotic functionalities. It turns out that Roddie lives within a dystopian city, to which alongside his android friends, seek to defend the city against its enemy. Whilst going about his day, Roddie investigates the manhole he often frequents and finds that it has recently been visited by something warm. Further investigation reveals Ida to be the culprit, a human female who has decided to help the wounded in the city.\n\nDespite Roddie’s initial hesitance, Ida and Roddie strike up an easygoing acquaintance and gallivant around the city, with the latter guiding the former due to his experience. In addition to helping Ida find food and shelter, Roddie is able to ward off a potential attack from an android soldier with a talisman - his watch. However, this watch leads Ida to be suspicious of Roddie. As they neared the bridge, Ida insists on bringing Roddie back to where he belongs, fearing he had been wrongfully taken or indoctrinated. After a chase and climbing up the south tower, Roddie notices that Ida may be able to inform her fellow humans on how to infiltrate the city due to them being on top of the bridge. Choosing to defend his city and prove himself to his friends, Roddie does not hesitate to kill Ida and advances to do so. Ida begins to cry and defend her people - insisting that they are on the same side as Men and that the city belongs to the two of them, not Roddie’s friends. Initially in disbelief, Roddie continues to advance before deciding to leave it for the next morning before comforting Ida and later on, realizing that he too, is Man. \n", "Roddie, a man, raised by the androids in the ruined city, is angry to be left behind with his nurse, Molly, whenever the soldiers go out to fight the Invaders from the north. When he complains about it with Molly, a nursing android, Molly’s robotic response irritates him, and he rips her head off her neck. The soldiers come back when Roddie is repairing Molly. Roddie orders the soldiers to line up and report, inspecting their damages. One soldier suddenly attacks Roddie as it seems to identify Roddie as one of the Invaders, but Molly protects Roddie, and he stops it. After the chaos has been eased, Roddie tries to fix and recombine the damaged soldier while reflecting on the dim future for him and the city. He accidentally burns his hair, and a civil defender firefighter covers him with carbon dioxide foam, irritating him and making him run away. \n\nOn the street, Roddie feels cold, being shamed by the sensation of coldness and reflecting on all the other differences that he has from the androids. The night comes, and he tries to find the way down to his usual hiding spot: a manhole under a bar. Once he arrives at the bottom of the manhole, he feels the warmth, realizing that something had just rested there. He prepares his hammer as a weapon, touches the thing in the darkness, and gets attacked by it. It is a girl named Ida who is one of the Invaders. She identifies Roddie as one of her sides. Roddie takes advantage of that, intending to kill her after gaining more information about the way to pass the impassable Golden Gate Bridge that connects the ruins and the Invaders’ area. After the conversation with Ida, Roddie climbs out of the manhole, followed by Ida. When he learns that Ida recognizes him as one of the Invaders, he thinks it is his chance to be accepted by his friends by giving them his achievement. Roddie learns many new things and beliefs from Ida on their way to the bridge. They also meet an android, but Roddie lets it go away without hurting them. Roddie finds canned baby food from the ruined supermarket to feed him and Ida. Once they arrive at the bridge, as Ida keeps going towards it, Roddie grabs her, but Ida loosens his grip and escapes from him. She climbs on the dangling wire, followed by him. Ida is scared and wants to stop on the wire, but Roddie forces her to keep climbing. After they arrive at the tower, Roddie tries to kill Ida as she may bring more Invaders to come, but Ida tells him that he is a human, not an android, and surrenders herself to him. After the dispute about his identity and the superiority of either the robot or the humans, Roddie decides to wait for a night. The following day, Roddie acknowledges himself as a man.", "The story follows the journey of a man called Roddie. He lives in a destroyed San Francisco under the care of a robot called Molly. San Francisco is protected against “invaders” by other robots, who Roddie takes care of with his tools. Roddie believes that the robots are his friends and wishes to go out and fight with them against the invaders. Roddie knows that he is different from the robots, but still wishes to become a part of them. When Molly and other robots start to malfunction more and more, Roddie runs to a manhole which he uses as a hiding place. Here, he meets a girl called Ida. Roddie believes that he has to kill Ida in order to finally be able to fight side by side with the robots, but decides to first get information out of her. They traverse together to the Golden Gate Bridge, where Ida tells him that the invaders are in fact humans like them that go into the city in order to get food and supplies. Roddie doesn’t want to believe that he is like an invader, so he chases Ida to the top of the bridge in order to kill her. Here, they confront each other and Roddie was very close to killing her, but decides not to. At the end, it is insinuated that Roddie learns that he belongs with the humans at the other side of the bridge and not with the robots.", "It’s the twenty-fourth century. San Francisco is ruined and now guarded by robot soldiers built by humans in the past. They fight with humans - Invaders - and don’t let them come to the city. Roddie lives with Molly - a robotic nurse who still treats him as a child - and hasn’t seen an invader. He sits with Molly and complains about not being allowed to fight alongside the soldiers. She starts singing a children’s song, and Roddie rips her head off her neck. Soldiers come back. Roddie tries to fix one of them, but the robot unexpectedly attacks the young man. Molly defends Roddie by thrusting needles into the robot’s eyes. Roddie is working and thinking about his desire to be accepted by the soldiers. His hair catches fire accidentally, and a Civil Defense firefighter covers him with carbon dioxide foam. Roddie gets frustrated and leaves. He is walking along cold streets and stone ruins toward his hideout. Roddie comes down to his manhole and realizes that someone was there. He starts moving in the darkness and soon finds Ida, a young human girl. Roddie understands that she thinks he is one of her kind and continues talking to her. She came on some boat and followed Roddie’s footprints to his hideout. Ida says she knows a way over the Golden Gate Bridge and invites Roddie to go with her. They leave the hole, and Ida starts laughing at the diapers he’s wearing. While walking, Ida tells him that men rely on raids for tools and that she left here to help the wounded. Suddenly they meet one of the soldiers, Roddie quickly tells him everything is fine, and the robot leaves. Ida kisses him after the shock. They go to a supermarket to get food, and Ida asks why the robot let them go. Roddie shows her his watch - a talisman, and she looks scared. They reach the bridge. Ida starts leading him somewhere unknown, saying that she’s taking him where he belongs. He refuses and starts chasing her with a hummer. While following her, Roddie starts walking along the suspension cable’s steel surface; soon, walking turns into crawling. He thinks about killing Ida - it will earn him a place among the robot soldiers. They keep going up, finally reach a tower, and fall asleep for several hours. They wake up, and Roddie decides to look around the tower. He can see Mount Tamalpais, the Twin Peaks, and Mount Diablo. He follows Ida’s gaze and finds the secret path the invaders are using. Roddie prepares to kill Ida, but she starts crying - it disturbs him. She tells him that he is a man, not a robot. Roddie says he believes the true men are rational and superior - thus, the robot soldiers are the real men. She asks him why killing a defenseless girl is rational and says that emotion is for creating. Roddie tucks his hammer away and comforts crying Ida.\n\n\n" ]	51241	explain the phenomena of the Ghost Ship? Was it really only a product of his imagination? What of all the others who had seen it? Was it possible for many different men under many different situations to have the same exact illusion? Reason denied that. But perhaps space itself denies reason. Grimly he retraced the legend of the Ghost Ship. A chance phrase here and a story there put together all that he knew: Doomed for all eternity to wander in the empty star-lanes, the Ghost Ship haunts the Solar System that gave it birth. And this is its tragedy, course. What is it that girls in small offices do or eat or drink or wear that girls in large offices don't do or eat or drink or wear? What do writers and doctors do differently? Or poets and dentists? What are we missing? What—" In the outer office a girl cried out. A body thumped against a desk, then a chair, then to the floor. Two girls screamed. Andy bolted up from his chair. Racing to the door, he shouted back to Bettijean, "Get a staff doctor and a chemist from the lab." It was the girl who had forty years ago or more. Resembled one? It was one! Unquestionably, though half-invisible and like a piece of glass immersed in water, it was a rocket ship. But the instruments on the control board could not lie. The presence of any material body within a hundred thousand miles would be revealed. But the needle on the gauge did not quiver. Nothing indicated the presence of a ship. But the evidence of his eyes was incontestable. Or was it? Doubt gripped him. Did the loneliness of all these years in space twist his mind till he was imagining the appearance of "Get somebody—maybe even the President—on all radio and TV networks. Explain frankly about the four-centers and warn against licking any stamps. Then—" He broke off as his phone rang. Answering, he listened for a moment, then hung up and said, "But before the big announcement, get somebody checking on the security clearances at whatever plant it is where they print stamps. This's a big deal. Somebody may've been planted years ago for this operation. It shouldn't be too hard. "But there's no evidence it was a plot yet. Could be pure accident—some chemical in the stickum spoiled. Do they keep deathly ill, but nobody dying. And doctors can't identify the poison until they have a fatality for an autopsy. People stricken in every part of the country, but the water systems are pure. How does it spread?" "In food?" "How? There must be hundreds of canneries and dairies and packing plants over the country. How could they all goof at the same time—even if it was sabotage?" "On the wind?" "But who could accurately predict every wind over the entire country—even Alaska and Hawaii—without hitting Canada or Mexico? And why wouldn't everybody get it in a given area?" Bettijean's smooth
Describe the structure of the society in this story	After carefully reading the provided chunks, write a detailed response to the following question about Time In the Round by Fritz Leiber. Relevant chunks: was almost frightening: a silent picture of the beginning of civilization challenging the end of it. Then a small boy caught up with the dog and it rolled over enthusiastically at his feet and the scene was normal again. The small boy, however, seemed definitely pre-civilization. He studied the dog coldly and then inserted a thin metal tube under its eyelid and poked. The dog wagged its stumpy tail. The boy frowned, tightened his grip on the tube and jabbed hard. The dog's tail thumped the cushiony pavement and the four paws beat the air. The boy shortened his grip explain the phenomena of the Ghost Ship? Was it really only a product of his imagination? What of all the others who had seen it? Was it possible for many different men under many different situations to have the same exact illusion? Reason denied that. But perhaps space itself denies reason. Grimly he retraced the legend of the Ghost Ship. A chance phrase here and a story there put together all that he knew: Doomed for all eternity to wander in the empty star-lanes, the Ghost Ship haunts the Solar System that gave it birth. And this is its tragedy, sorry she hadn't been contacted telepathically. "Yeah," Kane replied. "I saw all sorts of mental pictures and they explained what they did to us. Those damned aliens want us for their zoo!" "Start at the beginning," I suggested. He flashed an angry glance at me, but seemed to calm somewhat. "This ship was made by a race from another galaxy. Thousands of years ago, they came to Earth in their spaceships when men were primitives living in caves. They wanted to know what our civilization would be like when we developed space flight. So they put this ship on the our conquest of space flight when we hadn't even invented the wheel. That thought awed me—somehow they had analyzed our brains thousands of years ago and calculated what our future accomplishments would be. They had been able to predict our scientific development, but they hadn't been able to tell how our civilization would develop. They were curious, so they had left an enormously elaborate piece of bait on the Moon. The aliens were incredibly more advanced than ourselves. I couldn't help thinking, And to a rabbit in a snare, mankind must seem impossibly clever . I decided to ask the started to rise, the wave of blackness warned me, and I restrained my ambition. "I will walk soon." "We will have much to talk about. Your friend has pointed to the stars and told me a strange story of your coming. We have walked around the ship. He has told me how it rides through the sky. I can hardly make myself believe." Tomboldo's eyes cast upward under the strong ridge of forehead where the eyebrows should have been. He was evidently trying to visualize the flight of a space ship. "We will have much to tell each other." "I Question: Describe the structure of the society in this story Answer:	[ "This society is organized around a reconditioning of thoughts that happens as children transition into adulthood, starting at age six. Adults who have already been reconditioned are passive and polite members of society, who supposedly do not have traces of violent tendencies anymore. Before this, however, there are a few levels of separation from the rest of the society. Five year olds are allowed to go to the Time Theater to view whatever is showing through the Time Bubble, a view into other societies throughout time, but anyone younger than five is not allowed. This is presumably because of safety concerns--Hal thinks that young children are a nuisance to adults in these settings. The society has a number of systems in place specifically for these younger children who have not yet been conditioned. There are things called death games and fear houses, which we do not see details of in this story, that are meant to clear out the childrens' emotional space. It also seems that uninjes, the robotic dogs that the boys have, are also for this purpose: Hal says that they are part of the society's options for letting kids work out their ruthless and inconsiderate impulses. These impulses are restructured when they are aimed at other people, but violent alien beings and viruses or other medical concerns are still considered threats worth responding to in full force. The particular focus on avoiding violent patterns seen in other civilizations is highlighted by the grand nature of the Time Theater, and its position at the end of a major street in a large public park.", "In “Time in the Round,” the society is structured around perfection. Small children are given breakables, and those items are the only things that are physically capable of being broken. There are dirt-pens for kids to play in, and besides those areas, children are incapable of becoming dirty. The dirt-pens are only available to children aged 2 and younger. The society’s dogs, uninjes, are programmed not to bite or hurt the people, even when they are hit or stabbed themselves. They do not react like normal canines. \n\nYoung children are considered to be self-centered and ruthless, and they are provided with death games and fear houses to get out their emotions and prepare to be conditioned as adults. When children turn six years old, they feel differently than they did before. They are ready to enter the Time Theater and view the Time Bubble. They are taught about pre-civilization and the important differences between their own society and the past. They learn how to reject violent solutions to problems and live in peace. \n", "The structure of society is based on age, and very specific behaviors are allowed and prohibited at different ages. Very young children are allowed to play and get dirty, but after a certain age they are no longer allowed to do so. Certain ages are considered too young for certain ideas, and aren’t allowed in the Time Building or are only allowed in certain parts of it. Younger children are sometimes called “cubs”, and it seems to be commonplace for older members of society to treat younger members with sweet derision. This society puts a strong emphasis on maturity and carefully controls what people are allowed to do at what ages and when they are allowed to learn concepts or do activities. The core principle is nonviolence but the results are near-total uniformity and strict constraints. \n", "The society the main characters inhabit is post-violence. While children below five are given uninjes, death games, and fear houses in order to clear their emotions, adults are systematically re-programmed to believe that violence has no place in this new society. While violence is never used to resolve conflicts between humans, the Space Fleet will still use violence in defense against alien enemies. There are a number of protections in place to prevent violence upon humans from repulsor shields to the protective uninjes. The bubble at the Time Theater offers adults and those with the appropriate mental facilities a view into the pre-civilization world so that they may learn from the past and understand why a lack of violence became necessary in the new society." ]	51380	was almost frightening: a silent picture of the beginning of civilization challenging the end of it. Then a small boy caught up with the dog and it rolled over enthusiastically at his feet and the scene was normal again. The small boy, however, seemed definitely pre-civilization. He studied the dog coldly and then inserted a thin metal tube under its eyelid and poked. The dog wagged its stumpy tail. The boy frowned, tightened his grip on the tube and jabbed hard. The dog's tail thumped the cushiony pavement and the four paws beat the air. The boy shortened his grip explain the phenomena of the Ghost Ship? Was it really only a product of his imagination? What of all the others who had seen it? Was it possible for many different men under many different situations to have the same exact illusion? Reason denied that. But perhaps space itself denies reason. Grimly he retraced the legend of the Ghost Ship. A chance phrase here and a story there put together all that he knew: Doomed for all eternity to wander in the empty star-lanes, the Ghost Ship haunts the Solar System that gave it birth. And this is its tragedy, sorry she hadn't been contacted telepathically. "Yeah," Kane replied. "I saw all sorts of mental pictures and they explained what they did to us. Those damned aliens want us for their zoo!" "Start at the beginning," I suggested. He flashed an angry glance at me, but seemed to calm somewhat. "This ship was made by a race from another galaxy. Thousands of years ago, they came to Earth in their spaceships when men were primitives living in caves. They wanted to know what our civilization would be like when we developed space flight. So they put this ship on the our conquest of space flight when we hadn't even invented the wheel. That thought awed me—somehow they had analyzed our brains thousands of years ago and calculated what our future accomplishments would be. They had been able to predict our scientific development, but they hadn't been able to tell how our civilization would develop. They were curious, so they had left an enormously elaborate piece of bait on the Moon. The aliens were incredibly more advanced than ourselves. I couldn't help thinking, And to a rabbit in a snare, mankind must seem impossibly clever . I decided to ask the started to rise, the wave of blackness warned me, and I restrained my ambition. "I will walk soon." "We will have much to talk about. Your friend has pointed to the stars and told me a strange story of your coming. We have walked around the ship. He has told me how it rides through the sky. I can hardly make myself believe." Tomboldo's eyes cast upward under the strong ridge of forehead where the eyebrows should have been. He was evidently trying to visualize the flight of a space ship. "We will have much to tell each other." "I
What is the setting of the story?	After carefully reading the provided chunks, write a detailed response to the following question about Trouble on Tycho by Nelson S. Bond. Relevant chunks: mission that huge and depressing in eight short, vanishing days? How had his people gotten into such a condition? As if at a button pressed, he saw an image. Metal seeds, blown across space from a distant green world, fighting with long flames, crashing on this bleak planet. From their shattered hulls tumble men and women. When? Long ago. Ten thousand days. The crash victims hid in the cliffs from the sun. Fire, ice and floods washed away the wreckage of the huge metal seeds. The victims were shaped and beaten like iron upon a forge. Solar radiations drenched them. of futile sons? What can I do to save myself from dying eight days from now? Is there escape? His eyes widened, another image came to focus. Beyond this valley of cliffs, on a low mountain lay a perfect, unscarred metal seed. A metal ship, not rusted or touched by the avalanches. The ship was deserted, whole, intact. It was the only ship of all these that had crashed that was still a unit, still usable. But it was so far away. There was no one in it to help. This ship, then, on the far mountain, was the destiny edge, and birds as delicate as colored glass wavered down the wind. He opened the shelter door and went out. The shelter looked the same, but useless now. How did the shelter of that bleak world get into this one, where the air was warm and fragrant, where there was no cold, from that world into this one of his dreams? The girl—Helene—was standing there leaning against a tree, smoking a cigarette. He walked toward her, and stopped. In the dream it had been easy, but now he was embarrassed, in spite of the intimacy that had grown between them. proud of the apartment. It had all the modern conveniences, like the needle shower with the perfume dispenser, the built-in soft-drink bar in the library, the all-communications set, and the electrical massager. It was a nice, comfortable setup, an illusion of security in an ever-changing world. She lit a cigarette and chuckled. Mrs. Burger, the fat old landlady, thought she kept up the apartment by working as a buyer for one of the downtown stores. Well, maybe some day she would. But not today. And not tonight. The phone rang and she answered in a casual tone. She talked for at his own wife and child. This day was an eighth part of his total life! He must enjoy every second of it. He must search his parents' thoughts for knowledge. Because in a few hours they'd be dead. This was so impossibly unfair. Was this all of life? In his prenatal state hadn't he dreamed of long lives, valleys not of blasted stone but green foliage and temperate clime? Yes! And if he'd dreamed then there must be truth in the visions. How could he seek and find the long life? Where? And how could he accomplish a life Question: What is the setting of the story? Answer:	[ "Trouble on Tycho takes place on Luna III, a new frontier for space technology. The planet itself is lush and green, with a beautiful network of trees and greenery. However, it is inhabited by Granitebacks, an unbeatable foe known to kill any Earthmen who dare cross their path. So, the new inhabitants of Luna III built a giant dome to keep themselves safe from the Grannies, at least until they devised a way to beat them. The dome allows its residents to see out but makes it very difficult for them to escape. The inhabitants are there to provide Earth with news from space as well as other meteorological forecasts. The dome has air-conditioning and thick glass walls, so there’s no fresh air or real sunlight, only the meager, filtered kind. ", "The story takes place on Earth's moon, Luna. Since the first Lunar expedition, humans have established Lunar III, a frontier outpost that operates as a rocket refueling station, teleradio transmission point, and meteorological base. Resting in a lunar valley rich with grass, flowers, insects, sunlight, trees, and fresh air, the outpost is comprised of several domes, including the Experimental Dome from which Isobar Jones observes and reports weather on Earth. The Dome has a transmission turret, operated by Sparks Riley, which allows communication with Earth, and the atmosphere of the entire outpost is controlled with atmo-conditioning units reoxygenating the air. Isobar plays his bagpipes locked inside his office, but everyone in the Dome can hear him thanks to the air-conditioning system that can't be shut off. To prevent people from leaving and to protect against the Granitebacks, massive impervite gates protect the entrance to the Dome. The moon's only mobile, native species are the Granitebacks, called \"Grannies\", who are dangerous to humans and have bodies protected by thick exoskeletons impenetrable to any known weapon.", "“Trouble on Tycho” is set on Earth’s moon, and it mostly takes place on Lunar III, a frontier outpost which is used for rocket refueling, teleradio transmission, and meteorological observances. There are airtight domes in the station that make Isobar feel like a goldfish in a glass bowl. The sunlight is filtered through ultraviolet wave-traps so the workers’ skin does not get burnt, and this makes them very pale. The air is constantly recycled through atmo-conditioning units, and it’s anything but fresh. The men who work on Lunar III have beautiful views to take in, but they are not allowed to go Outside. Outside the post is a beautiful valley filled with green foliage and small insects. A warm breeze blows through the flowery meadows. However, the picturesque scenery is ruined by the Granitebacks, or Grannies, that will attack humans without provocation. \n", "The story is set in an Experimental Dome on Luna, and the main character, Isobar is stationed within a hemispheric dome unit called Lunar III. There are separate quarters for the employees and towers for transmitting video and radio signals to Earth. Sunlight is filtered through ultraviolet wave-traps, which leaves Isobars skin pale and clammy. The air is scented and reoxygenated and is pumped in through atmo-conditioning units. Isobar has been stationed there for six months, and will be there for at least six more, leading to a kind of disdain for these features.\nIn the transmission tower that communicates with Earth there are desks like a typical broadcasting office and a plate on the wall that projects the video from Earth. Out the window on the Earth side of the video feed, there is blue sky, trees, birds, flowers, and people. \nThere is an “Outside” hemispherical dome which houses a lush valley adjacent to the air conditioned living quarters the employees are confined to, and guarded under heavy gates. “Outside” is warm with thin, fragrant breezes, good sunlight, and abundant forest flora that make Isobar feel replenished after being in the sanitized quarters of the Dome.\n" ]	62260	mission that huge and depressing in eight short, vanishing days? How had his people gotten into such a condition? As if at a button pressed, he saw an image. Metal seeds, blown across space from a distant green world, fighting with long flames, crashing on this bleak planet. From their shattered hulls tumble men and women. When? Long ago. Ten thousand days. The crash victims hid in the cliffs from the sun. Fire, ice and floods washed away the wreckage of the huge metal seeds. The victims were shaped and beaten like iron upon a forge. Solar radiations drenched them. of futile sons? What can I do to save myself from dying eight days from now? Is there escape? His eyes widened, another image came to focus. Beyond this valley of cliffs, on a low mountain lay a perfect, unscarred metal seed. A metal ship, not rusted or touched by the avalanches. The ship was deserted, whole, intact. It was the only ship of all these that had crashed that was still a unit, still usable. But it was so far away. There was no one in it to help. This ship, then, on the far mountain, was the destiny edge, and birds as delicate as colored glass wavered down the wind. He opened the shelter door and went out. The shelter looked the same, but useless now. How did the shelter of that bleak world get into this one, where the air was warm and fragrant, where there was no cold, from that world into this one of his dreams? The girl—Helene—was standing there leaning against a tree, smoking a cigarette. He walked toward her, and stopped. In the dream it had been easy, but now he was embarrassed, in spite of the intimacy that had grown between them. proud of the apartment. It had all the modern conveniences, like the needle shower with the perfume dispenser, the built-in soft-drink bar in the library, the all-communications set, and the electrical massager. It was a nice, comfortable setup, an illusion of security in an ever-changing world. She lit a cigarette and chuckled. Mrs. Burger, the fat old landlady, thought she kept up the apartment by working as a buyer for one of the downtown stores. Well, maybe some day she would. But not today. And not tonight. The phone rang and she answered in a casual tone. She talked for at his own wife and child. This day was an eighth part of his total life! He must enjoy every second of it. He must search his parents' thoughts for knowledge. Because in a few hours they'd be dead. This was so impossibly unfair. Was this all of life? In his prenatal state hadn't he dreamed of long lives, valleys not of blasted stone but green foliage and temperate clime? Yes! And if he'd dreamed then there must be truth in the visions. How could he seek and find the long life? Where? And how could he accomplish a life
What is the significance of the old man in the story?	After carefully reading the provided chunks, write a detailed response to the following question about Home is Where You Left It by Stephen Marlowe. Relevant chunks: explain the phenomena of the Ghost Ship? Was it really only a product of his imagination? What of all the others who had seen it? Was it possible for many different men under many different situations to have the same exact illusion? Reason denied that. But perhaps space itself denies reason. Grimly he retraced the legend of the Ghost Ship. A chance phrase here and a story there put together all that he knew: Doomed for all eternity to wander in the empty star-lanes, the Ghost Ship haunts the Solar System that gave it birth. And this is its tragedy, the fields to his left. Why, the tractor shed had stood just fifty feet from the house! No, he'd torn it down. The tractor was in town, being overhauled and all. He was leaving it there until he had use for it. He went on toward the road, his head beginning to throb. Why should a man his age, hardly sick at all since he was a kid, suddenly start losing hold this way? Edna was worried. The Shanks had noticed it too. He was at the supply bin—like an old-fashioned wood bin; a box with a sloping flap lid. the full vigor of youth do—if his heart cries out for a home? They all knew he was a spacer because of the white goggle marks on his sun-scorched face, and so they tolerated him and helped him. They even made allowances for him when he staggered and fell in the aisle of the bus while pursuing the harassed little housewife from seat to seat and cajoling her to sit and talk with him. Having fallen, he decided to sleep in the aisle. Two men helped him to the back of the bus, dumped him on the rear seat, and saw them! They huddled, almost naked in a corner, skeletal things with skull-like faces that leered at me with the vacuous obscenity of old age. Even their voices were raw and cracked with the rusty decay of years. They babbled stupidly, caressing the walls with claw-like hands. They were old, old! I understood then. I knew what my wrinkled aged hands meant. That devil-metal from beyond the stars had drawn the energy it needed from ... us ! My laughter was a crazy shriek inside my helmet. I looked wildly at the gleaming walls that had sucked the youth and an elevation of two thousand feet. Steve turned the little turbo-jet engine over, then on impulse ran back to the old man and gave him his canteen, turning away before it could be refused and striding quickly back to the unicopter and getting himself airborne without looking at the deserted village or the old man again. The old man's voice called after him: "Tell the people ... hurry ... Kumaji looking for them to kill ... desert wind ought to wipe out their trail ... but hurry...." The voice faded into the faint rushing sound of the hot desert wind. Question: What is the significance of the old man in the story? Answer:	[ "When Steve arrives at the Colony, he sees deserted buildings and realizes that the well water is poisoned. The old man - the Kumaji who lived with the humans - tells him that the day before, three people died from the poisoned drinking water. The Kumaji are behind this and are trying to locate the others who left the Colony. They want to find the caravan, and even though the desert wind will wipe out the humans' trail, they still need to be informed about this danger. Knowing all of this allows Steve to find the caravan and eventually save them from the Kumaji, who could learn their location from Tobias Whiting. ", "\nThe old man serves as a guide for Steve in the story. Initially, he is the one who tells him about the colonists leaving because of the poisoned water. He also explains that the Kumaji are out to get them and that the colonists are desperate to get to Oasis City. His words also give Steve the motivation to go and help his people, despite being away for so long on Earth. Furthermore, the old man is also proof that Kumaji and humans can live together. Although he is a Kumaji, he has lived with humans and can speak perfect English. He does not hold any malice and even says that this is the only home he has ever had. Therefore, he will not leave this place and wishes Steve good luck to helping his people. ", "The old man plays the role of the messenger. He has a strong role in the beginning of the story and sets up young Steve Cantwell with the background of what happened to the colony, as well as driving him with the mission of catching up to the travelling colony in order to warn them of the pursuing Kumajis. \n\nHe is significant because the old man, by face, is a Kumaji. Despite this, he has lived with the Earth colony and is insistent on dying in the village, which he proclaims as his town. This hints at the fact that Kumajis and the Earthmen could have actually cohabited peacefully, and even form strong bonds when their communities interacted and lived with each other. ", "The old man is a very important figure in the plot. After Steve finds his village abandoned and dead, the old man is the only one who stayed behind. He is also revealed to be of the Kumaji species, but he has lived with the humans in the village for such a long time that he has no ties to them. He helps Steve figure out what happened, and tells him where the people went in order for Steve to find them. He ends up staying in the village, even though Steve offered to take him to the others. He did this because he was already dying, and wanted to die in his village. " ]	32890	explain the phenomena of the Ghost Ship? Was it really only a product of his imagination? What of all the others who had seen it? Was it possible for many different men under many different situations to have the same exact illusion? Reason denied that. But perhaps space itself denies reason. Grimly he retraced the legend of the Ghost Ship. A chance phrase here and a story there put together all that he knew: Doomed for all eternity to wander in the empty star-lanes, the Ghost Ship haunts the Solar System that gave it birth. And this is its tragedy, the fields to his left. Why, the tractor shed had stood just fifty feet from the house! No, he'd torn it down. The tractor was in town, being overhauled and all. He was leaving it there until he had use for it. He went on toward the road, his head beginning to throb. Why should a man his age, hardly sick at all since he was a kid, suddenly start losing hold this way? Edna was worried. The Shanks had noticed it too. He was at the supply bin—like an old-fashioned wood bin; a box with a sloping flap lid. the full vigor of youth do—if his heart cries out for a home? They all knew he was a spacer because of the white goggle marks on his sun-scorched face, and so they tolerated him and helped him. They even made allowances for him when he staggered and fell in the aisle of the bus while pursuing the harassed little housewife from seat to seat and cajoling her to sit and talk with him. Having fallen, he decided to sleep in the aisle. Two men helped him to the back of the bus, dumped him on the rear seat, and saw them! They huddled, almost naked in a corner, skeletal things with skull-like faces that leered at me with the vacuous obscenity of old age. Even their voices were raw and cracked with the rusty decay of years. They babbled stupidly, caressing the walls with claw-like hands. They were old, old! I understood then. I knew what my wrinkled aged hands meant. That devil-metal from beyond the stars had drawn the energy it needed from ... us ! My laughter was a crazy shriek inside my helmet. I looked wildly at the gleaming walls that had sucked the youth and an elevation of two thousand feet. Steve turned the little turbo-jet engine over, then on impulse ran back to the old man and gave him his canteen, turning away before it could be refused and striding quickly back to the unicopter and getting himself airborne without looking at the deserted village or the old man again. The old man's voice called after him: "Tell the people ... hurry ... Kumaji looking for them to kill ... desert wind ought to wipe out their trail ... but hurry...." The voice faded into the faint rushing sound of the hot desert wind.
Describe the setting of the story.	After carefully reading the provided chunks, write a detailed response to the following question about Signal Red by Henry Guth. Relevant chunks: proud of the apartment. It had all the modern conveniences, like the needle shower with the perfume dispenser, the built-in soft-drink bar in the library, the all-communications set, and the electrical massager. It was a nice, comfortable setup, an illusion of security in an ever-changing world. She lit a cigarette and chuckled. Mrs. Burger, the fat old landlady, thought she kept up the apartment by working as a buyer for one of the downtown stores. Well, maybe some day she would. But not today. And not tonight. The phone rang and she answered in a casual tone. She talked for the means to go there.... Yet instinct told me that wasn't the answer, either. I thought of a verse by an ancient pre-atomic poet named Hoffenstein. (People had unwieldy, random combinations of letters for names in those days.) The poem went: Wherever I go, I go too, And spoil everything. That was it. The story of mankind. I turned the glowlight down and lay on the pneumo after a while, but I didn't sleep for a long, long time. Then, when I did sleep, when I had been sleeping, I heard the voice again. The low, seductive woman's voice—the startling, willing guest. No! He couldn't afford it! No! No! NO! His lot was a cheap suit of satin! Cheap whiskey! Cheap champagne! A cheap shack by the river.... An inarticulate cry escaped his twisted lips. He clutched her roughly to him and dragged her through the door and into the moonlight, whiskey and anger lending him brutal strength. He pulled her through the deserted garden. All the others had private rooms! He pulled her to the far end, behind a clump of squatty firs. His hands clawed at her. He tried to smother her mouth with kisses. She eluded him 10:30." The following evening found Quidley on tenter-hooks. The snoll-doper mystery had acquired a new tang. He could hardly wait till the next message transfer took place. He decided to spend the evening plotting the epic novel which he intended to write someday. He set to work immediately. He plotted mentally, of course—notes were for the hacks and the other commercial non-geniuses who infested the modern literary world. Closing his eyes, he saw the whole vivid panorama of epic action and grand adventure flowing like a mighty and majestic river before his literary vision: the authentic and awe-inspiring background; the edge, and birds as delicate as colored glass wavered down the wind. He opened the shelter door and went out. The shelter looked the same, but useless now. How did the shelter of that bleak world get into this one, where the air was warm and fragrant, where there was no cold, from that world into this one of his dreams? The girl—Helene—was standing there leaning against a tree, smoking a cigarette. He walked toward her, and stopped. In the dream it had been easy, but now he was embarrassed, in spite of the intimacy that had grown between them. Question: Describe the setting of the story. Answer:	[ "The very first setting of the story is the Q City Spaceport. Many space liners come in and out, making the space very busy. The spaceport also features freighter catapults, long runaways, cradles, and hangars. Inside, there are also ticket scanners and turnstiles that the passengers go through before boarding the ship.\n\nThe second and primary setting is the Stardust space liner. The space liner has an air lock that closes when the ship begins to fly. There is a control room with buttons and seats for the pilot to sit in as well. Although Shano is the only passenger on board, there are many cabins for the passengers to use. The cabin that Shano stays in also has a bunk to sleep on. Other basic parts include numerous steel decks and companionways. Later, the ship is revealed to have an engine room too, where the most crucial mechanical parts of the ship are. These parts are all advanced technology, including a new cosmic drive, selector valves (Carrsteel rods), and tube chambers to keep the filaments operating. These parts are essential to operate the jets of the liner and keep them running smoothly. ", "The story begins in the Q City Spaceport. A ship called Stardust lands to set off to Earth. Red signal is on. One old man gets on the ship and the crew is in. On board there is a control room from where one can descend to the next deck with a viewpoint. Then everything is turned off and the whole ship is dark and silent. Shano's cabin is dark and cold. Outside men are hurrying in all directions. Everyone follows the orders, there is an atmosphere of tension. Engine room is the most important place and the selector there is broken, the room is full of toxic gas. There is a massive machinery in the emergency room and a shattered cylinder all in gas with Shano making it work.", "The story sets in the Q City Spaceport, where the lights flicked and probed the sky. The spaceport appears to be infra red as the ship sank into the light. The speaker in the spaceport makes the announcement stating that the signal has now turned red. Afterward, Shano still decides to aboard the ship, by going through a turnstile connected to a gangway. The ship has a control room which has a panel of studs and a leather seat; there is also a companionway leading to the next deck. In Shano’s cabin, there is a bunk bed; when the ship’s machinery stopped, the room feels cold and dark. From his cabin, there is a passageway leading toward the Engine Room; an emergency exit door connects the Engine Room to the passageway. The passageway also leads to a deck. Above the room is where the captain and the crew were standing. And in the engine room is a smashed selector chamber, which has broken valve rods. ", "The story is mostly set on the spaceship \"Stardust\". When the story begins, Shano is standing in the dead of night on Mercury, before he goes to the gate to wait for the ship. He quickly boards the vessel. There is an airlock going onto the ship, with two more doors after it. There is a control room where the captain sits in a bucket seat. In Shano's cabin there is a bunk, with a \"riveted studded bulkhead\". The cabin was dark and cold. There is an engine room. At the end of the passageway is a group of pipes in the corner. \n" ]	63860	proud of the apartment. It had all the modern conveniences, like the needle shower with the perfume dispenser, the built-in soft-drink bar in the library, the all-communications set, and the electrical massager. It was a nice, comfortable setup, an illusion of security in an ever-changing world. She lit a cigarette and chuckled. Mrs. Burger, the fat old landlady, thought she kept up the apartment by working as a buyer for one of the downtown stores. Well, maybe some day she would. But not today. And not tonight. The phone rang and she answered in a casual tone. She talked for the means to go there.... Yet instinct told me that wasn't the answer, either. I thought of a verse by an ancient pre-atomic poet named Hoffenstein. (People had unwieldy, random combinations of letters for names in those days.) The poem went: Wherever I go, I go too, And spoil everything. That was it. The story of mankind. I turned the glowlight down and lay on the pneumo after a while, but I didn't sleep for a long, long time. Then, when I did sleep, when I had been sleeping, I heard the voice again. The low, seductive woman's voice—the startling, willing guest. No! He couldn't afford it! No! No! NO! His lot was a cheap suit of satin! Cheap whiskey! Cheap champagne! A cheap shack by the river.... An inarticulate cry escaped his twisted lips. He clutched her roughly to him and dragged her through the door and into the moonlight, whiskey and anger lending him brutal strength. He pulled her through the deserted garden. All the others had private rooms! He pulled her to the far end, behind a clump of squatty firs. His hands clawed at her. He tried to smother her mouth with kisses. She eluded him 10:30." The following evening found Quidley on tenter-hooks. The snoll-doper mystery had acquired a new tang. He could hardly wait till the next message transfer took place. He decided to spend the evening plotting the epic novel which he intended to write someday. He set to work immediately. He plotted mentally, of course—notes were for the hacks and the other commercial non-geniuses who infested the modern literary world. Closing his eyes, he saw the whole vivid panorama of epic action and grand adventure flowing like a mighty and majestic river before his literary vision: the authentic and awe-inspiring background; the edge, and birds as delicate as colored glass wavered down the wind. He opened the shelter door and went out. The shelter looked the same, but useless now. How did the shelter of that bleak world get into this one, where the air was warm and fragrant, where there was no cold, from that world into this one of his dreams? The girl—Helene—was standing there leaning against a tree, smoking a cigarette. He walked toward her, and stopped. In the dream it had been easy, but now he was embarrassed, in spite of the intimacy that had grown between them.
Who is Stryker and what are his characteristics?	After carefully reading the provided chunks, write a detailed response to the following question about Control Group by Roger D. Aycock. Relevant chunks: to supply power to the outlying hamlets." The mechanical put a flexible gray finger upon an indicator graph derived from a composite section of detector meters. "The power transmitted seems to be gross electric current conveyed by metallic cables. It is generated through a crudely governed process of continuous atomic fission." Farrell, himself appalled by the information, still found himself able to chuckle at Stryker's bellow of consternation. " Continuous fission? Good God, only madmen would deliberately run a risk like that!" Farrell prodded him with cheerful malice. "Why say mad men ? Maybe they're humanoid aliens who thrive on they're not Hymenops or humans or aliens, then what in God's name are they?" "Aye, there's the rub," Farrell said, quoting a passage whose aptness had somehow seen it through a dozen reorganizations of insular tongue and a final translation to universal Terran. "If they're none of those three, we've only one conclusion left. There's no one down there at all—we're victims of the first joint hallucination in psychiatric history." Stryker threw up his hands in surrender. "We can't identify them by theorizing, and that brings us down to the business of first-hand investigation. Who's going to bell the cat hard radiation and look on the danger of being blown to hell in the middle of the night as a satisfactory risk." "They're not alien," Gibson said positively. "Their architecture is Terran, and so is their ship. The ship is incredibly primitive, though; those batteries of tubes at either end—" "Are thrust reaction jets," Stryker finished in an awed voice. "Primitive isn't the word, Gib—the thing is prehistoric! Rocket propulsion hasn't been used in spacecraft since—how long, Xav?" Xavier supplied the information with mechanical infallibility. "Since the year 2100 when the Ringwave propulsion-communication principle was discovered. That principle has served men since." Farrell stared in blank disbelief at the anomalous craft on the screen. Primitive, as Stryker had said, was not the word for it: clumsily ovoid, studded with torpedo domes and turrets and bristling at either end with propulsion tubes, it lay at the center of its square like a rusted relic of a past largely destroyed and all but forgotten. What a magnificent disregard its builders must have had, he thought, for their lives and the genetic purity of their posterity! The sullen atomic fires banked in that oxidizing hulk— Stryker said plaintively, "If you're right, Gib, then we're more in the dark than ever. How could a Terran-built ship eleven hundred years old get here ?" Gibson, absorbed in his chess-player's contemplation of alternatives, seemed hardly to hear him. "Logic or not-logic," Gibson said. "If it's a Terran artifact, we can discover the reason for its presence. If not—" " Any problem posed by one group of human beings ," Stryker quoted his Handbook, " can be resolved by any other group, regardless of ideology or conditioning, because the basic perceptive abilities of both must be the same through identical heredity ." "If it's an imitation, and Question: Who is Stryker and what are his characteristics? Answer:	[ "Stryker is a crew member of the Marco Four, nominally captain of the group sent on a mission to locate the Terran slaves that were abandoned by the Bees. He seems experienced, calm, and disciplined, always following the Reclamation Handbook. Stryker has fought the Hymenops and spent a lot of time trying to understand their behavior. He values his team and doesn’t want to risk them or their ship in the search for the unknown and, for example, was ready to pull Xavier back when they just detected the waves, fearing it could be something lethal. He appreciates Farrell’s eagerness to find the new and enjoys bantering with him; he also respects other crew members, like Gibson and Xavier, and attentively listens to them when they discuss the origin of the atomic-powered ship. Stryker is intelligent enough to determine that this ancient ship couldn’t have been constructed on this planet - it was brought from somewhere else.\n", "Lee Stryker is one of the other members of the Terran Reclamations crew. He is the one with experience fighting the Hymenops and always cautious of any remains of the enemy. Stryker is also very careful too, constantly citing lines from the Reclamations Handbook on the ship or to Farrell. He enjoys proving Farrell wrong as well, knowing how impulsive the younger member is in most situations. Stryker’s cautiousness does come in handy, as they do get into an explosion later on while in the atmosphere of the Alphard Six. Even though he is very cautious and knowledgeable, there are times where he becomes impatient out of curiosity. However, Stryker is a lot more reasonable than Farrell, rushing to land the ship again after Farrell starts it. He takes the time to explain to Farrell about their current situation as well. ", "Stryker is the captain of the Marco Four and the crew. He is described to be the most knowledgeable, not only in regard to the Reclamations Handbook but also first hand, as he had fought the Hymenops. Physically, he has a bare fringe and a fat face. \n\nHe is intelligent as he leads the crew in theorising multiple explanations for the explosion as well as the potential inhabitants of the planet they encounter, as well as later deescalating Farrell's fear later on in the story. ", "Stryker is the captain of the Terran Reclamation crew Marco Four. He has a Reclamations Handbook that he constantly checks. He fought with the Bees before and learned that humans and the Bees, an alien species, would never understand each other. He is also called Lee by Farrell. He likes to tease Farrell, the youngest in the crew, to teach him the importance of abiding Reclamations Handbook for safety. He is tolerant and communicative that whenever Farrell acts impulsively or argues with other crew members, he will ease Farrell’s irritation and negotiate the solution among different ideas from the crew members. He is rational and practical that when all crew members theorize the possible situation after being struck, he concludes that they should investigate the land first-handly instead of denying every hypothesis." ]	24949	to supply power to the outlying hamlets." The mechanical put a flexible gray finger upon an indicator graph derived from a composite section of detector meters. "The power transmitted seems to be gross electric current conveyed by metallic cables. It is generated through a crudely governed process of continuous atomic fission." Farrell, himself appalled by the information, still found himself able to chuckle at Stryker's bellow of consternation. " Continuous fission? Good God, only madmen would deliberately run a risk like that!" Farrell prodded him with cheerful malice. "Why say mad men ? Maybe they're humanoid aliens who thrive on they're not Hymenops or humans or aliens, then what in God's name are they?" "Aye, there's the rub," Farrell said, quoting a passage whose aptness had somehow seen it through a dozen reorganizations of insular tongue and a final translation to universal Terran. "If they're none of those three, we've only one conclusion left. There's no one down there at all—we're victims of the first joint hallucination in psychiatric history." Stryker threw up his hands in surrender. "We can't identify them by theorizing, and that brings us down to the business of first-hand investigation. Who's going to bell the cat hard radiation and look on the danger of being blown to hell in the middle of the night as a satisfactory risk." "They're not alien," Gibson said positively. "Their architecture is Terran, and so is their ship. The ship is incredibly primitive, though; those batteries of tubes at either end—" "Are thrust reaction jets," Stryker finished in an awed voice. "Primitive isn't the word, Gib—the thing is prehistoric! Rocket propulsion hasn't been used in spacecraft since—how long, Xav?" Xavier supplied the information with mechanical infallibility. "Since the year 2100 when the Ringwave propulsion-communication principle was discovered. That principle has served men since." Farrell stared in blank disbelief at the anomalous craft on the screen. Primitive, as Stryker had said, was not the word for it: clumsily ovoid, studded with torpedo domes and turrets and bristling at either end with propulsion tubes, it lay at the center of its square like a rusted relic of a past largely destroyed and all but forgotten. What a magnificent disregard its builders must have had, he thought, for their lives and the genetic purity of their posterity! The sullen atomic fires banked in that oxidizing hulk— Stryker said plaintively, "If you're right, Gib, then we're more in the dark than ever. How could a Terran-built ship eleven hundred years old get here ?" Gibson, absorbed in his chess-player's contemplation of alternatives, seemed hardly to hear him. "Logic or not-logic," Gibson said. "If it's a Terran artifact, we can discover the reason for its presence. If not—" " Any problem posed by one group of human beings ," Stryker quoted his Handbook, " can be resolved by any other group, regardless of ideology or conditioning, because the basic perceptive abilities of both must be the same through identical heredity ." "If it's an imitation, and
Describe the relationship between Kevin and his mother	After carefully reading the provided chunks, write a detailed response to the following question about Jack of No Trades by Evelyn E. Smith. Relevant chunks: into the kitchen, muttering to himself. Mother's lips tightened. "Sylvia, go upstairs and change your dress. Kevin, do I have to make an appointment for you at the clinic again?" A psychiatrist never diagnosed members of his own family—that is, not officially; they couldn't help offering thumbnail diagnoses any more than they could help having thumbnails. "No use," I said, deciding it was safe to drop into my chair. "Who can adjust me to an environment to which I'm fundamentally unsuited?" "Maybe there is something physically wrong with him, Amy," my father suggested hopefully. "Maybe you should make an appointment myself a-tall." Finally my mother came in from the kitchen; she was an old-fashioned woman and didn't hold with robocooks. One quick glance at me gave her the complete details, even though I quickly protested, "It's illegal to probe anyone without permission." "I used to probe you to find out when you needed your diapers changed," she said tartly, "and I'll probe you now. You should watch yourself, Sylvia—poor Kevin isn't responsible." She didn't need to probe to get the blast of naked emotion that spurted out from me. My sister screamed and even Father looked uncomfortable. Danny stomped back I want to arouse false hopes, Kevin," she added with grim scrupulousness. "Tim's awfully young yet and I wouldn't trust his extracurricular prognostications too far." Nonetheless, I couldn't help feeling a feeble renewal of old hopes. After all, young or not, Tim was a hell of a good prognosticator; he wouldn't have risen so rapidly to the position he held in the Weather Bureau if he hadn't been pretty near tops in foreboding. Mother smiled sadly at my thoughts, but I didn't let that discourage me. As Danny had said, she knew but she didn't really understand . Nobody, for Jack of No Trades By EVELYN E. SMITH Illustrated by CAVAT [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Galaxy October 1955. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] I was psick of Psi powers, not having any. Or didn't I? Maybe they'd psee otherwise psomeday! I walked into the dining room and collided with a floating mass of fabric, which promptly draped itself over me like a sentient shroud. "Oh, for God's sake, Kevin!" my middle brother's voice came muffled through the folds. "If you can't help, at least don't hinder!" from your job and come down to Psycho Center to learn first-aid techniques. And you too, Kevin," she added, obviously a little surprised herself at what she was saying. "Probably you'd be even better at it than Sylvia since you aren't sensitive to other people's pain." I looked at her. "It is an ill wind," she agreed, smiling wryly, "but don't let me catch you thinking that way, Kevin. Can't you see it would be better that there should be no war and you should remain useless?" I couldn't see it, of course, and she knew that, with her wretched Question: Describe the relationship between Kevin and his mother Answer:	[ "Kevin's mother is a psychiatrist, but she does not want to diagnose her own family member, so she has to entrust Kevin's care to people outside the household. There is a lot of tension between Kevin and his mother at the beginning of the story, and she feels sorry for him whenever he feels hope for the future. It seems that the family knows she can feel the specific thoughts but they don't think she can necessarily where they're coming from, and doesn't have context for these feelings. Even though he is slower at some things than his siblings, his mom encourages him to get trained for first-aid once they know a war is coming; in some sense, he finally has a chance to directly contribute to society, according to his mom, and wouldn't be useless anymore. She also thinks he might have an advantage since he won't feel the others' pain as much. After Kevin finds out that he does have powers, his mom seems to be trying to make up for lost time, trying to bond with him, because she recognizes him as useful now, and is no longer indifferent (or even directly mean) towards him. \n", "Kevin's mother is a psychiatrist at the Psycho Center with strong telepathic ability. She can read Kevin's mind from the kitchen when he is sitting in the dining room. Although Kevin's mother clearly harbors a bias against psi-deficient people, she also rejects some of the technological advancements of the new society, including the robocooks. Instead, she prefers to cook her own food. Like Kevin's other family members, Kevin's mother walks on eggshells around Kevin, never really truly engaging with him other than to remind the other children to not insult him for his deficiency. As a psychiatrist, his mother won't officially diagnose Kevin herself, but she wants him to make an appointment at the Psycho Center to help him because better adjusted to society. Kevin becomes emotionally disconnected from other people thanks to his own parents' emotional distance from him, and this lack of communication leads them to not understand each other very well. When Earth begins to anticipate war with the aliens from planets near Alpha Centauri, Kevin's mother orders him to train in first-aid in order to contribute. Since the world lacks hospitals because of the exponential decrease in sickness and disease, they have to turn the Psycho Center into a makeshift hospital. This is where Kevin discovers his power to heal people by touching them with his hands. When his mother witnesses his new ability, she is proud to call him her son and reminds him that the leaders of the old world had a similar ability. This encourages Kevin to use his newly-found power for the good of humanity.", "Kevin’s mother (Amy) reluctantly accepts that her son lacks supernatural (psi-power) abilities after he undergoes all possible medical tests and psychological evaluations. Kev feels disconnected and like a disappointment to his mother and the rest of his family. His mother is telepathic, and uses this power to probe Kev’s mind and read his thoughts without permission. She encourages Kev to not get his hopes up when Tim, his prognosticating brother, declares that Kev must have a psi-power they have not discovered a test for yet. When the potential for alien attack becomes apparent and she decides to train as many medics as possible to treat casualties, she surprises herself by choosing to bring Kev along because it is a job even someone without powers can do. \nTheir relationship totally changes when Kevin discovers his psi-power of healing - the greatest gift of all. When his mother witnesses him healing a casualty of the alien attack for the first time at the Psycho Center, she is shocked and apologizes for ever doubting Kevin. She tells him that he has a gift, and looks at him with a pride that he has not before felt from her.\n", "Kevin’s mother, Amy, is a psychiatrist and a deep-probe telepath, meaning she only has to glance at Kevin to read exactly what’s passing through his mind at that moment. Since Kevin is psi-deficient and her only child to be that way, their relationship is rather strained. The rest of her children are very talented individuals and hold important jobs, even the youngest Tim. Kevin, on the other hand, works at home watching over the machines that do the housework for them. In some ways, Amy both resents and pities him for his lack of powers. \nKevin feels the tension and acts out because of it. As can be seen at the breakfast table, he feels violated by his mother’s ability and his inability to defend himself against her. As well, she clearly has no sympathy for his cause and tells him to make himself useful when the war comes. He trains in first-aid, but at the sight of his first patient who had half his face ripped off, he tries to run away. His mother stops him and scolds him, claiming that if all the telepaths can handle the pain, he can at least look at him. He heals him with his touch and discovers his psi-power. Soon, Kevin becomes the most important man in the world thanks to his healing ability and is irreplaceable in the war. \n" ]	49838	into the kitchen, muttering to himself. Mother's lips tightened. "Sylvia, go upstairs and change your dress. Kevin, do I have to make an appointment for you at the clinic again?" A psychiatrist never diagnosed members of his own family—that is, not officially; they couldn't help offering thumbnail diagnoses any more than they could help having thumbnails. "No use," I said, deciding it was safe to drop into my chair. "Who can adjust me to an environment to which I'm fundamentally unsuited?" "Maybe there is something physically wrong with him, Amy," my father suggested hopefully. "Maybe you should make an appointment myself a-tall." Finally my mother came in from the kitchen; she was an old-fashioned woman and didn't hold with robocooks. One quick glance at me gave her the complete details, even though I quickly protested, "It's illegal to probe anyone without permission." "I used to probe you to find out when you needed your diapers changed," she said tartly, "and I'll probe you now. You should watch yourself, Sylvia—poor Kevin isn't responsible." She didn't need to probe to get the blast of naked emotion that spurted out from me. My sister screamed and even Father looked uncomfortable. Danny stomped back I want to arouse false hopes, Kevin," she added with grim scrupulousness. "Tim's awfully young yet and I wouldn't trust his extracurricular prognostications too far." Nonetheless, I couldn't help feeling a feeble renewal of old hopes. After all, young or not, Tim was a hell of a good prognosticator; he wouldn't have risen so rapidly to the position he held in the Weather Bureau if he hadn't been pretty near tops in foreboding. Mother smiled sadly at my thoughts, but I didn't let that discourage me. As Danny had said, she knew but she didn't really understand . Nobody, for Jack of No Trades By EVELYN E. SMITH Illustrated by CAVAT [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Galaxy October 1955. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] I was psick of Psi powers, not having any. Or didn't I? Maybe they'd psee otherwise psomeday! I walked into the dining room and collided with a floating mass of fabric, which promptly draped itself over me like a sentient shroud. "Oh, for God's sake, Kevin!" my middle brother's voice came muffled through the folds. "If you can't help, at least don't hinder!" from your job and come down to Psycho Center to learn first-aid techniques. And you too, Kevin," she added, obviously a little surprised herself at what she was saying. "Probably you'd be even better at it than Sylvia since you aren't sensitive to other people's pain." I looked at her. "It is an ill wind," she agreed, smiling wryly, "but don't let me catch you thinking that way, Kevin. Can't you see it would be better that there should be no war and you should remain useless?" I couldn't see it, of course, and she knew that, with her wretched
How do Bill and Elizabeth contribute to the story?	After carefully reading the provided chunks, write a detailed response to the following question about What is POSAT? by Phyllis Sterling Smith. Relevant chunks: a pen or pencil was nearer at hand. Bill Evans, an unemployed pharmacist, saw the ad in a copy of Your Life and Psychology that had been abandoned on his seat in the bus. He filled out the blanks on the coupon with a scrap of stubby pencil. "You can alter the course of your life!" he read again. He particularly liked that thought, even though he had long since ceased to believe it. He actually took the trouble to mail the coupon. After all, he had, literally, nothing to lose, and nothing else to occupy his time. Miss Elizabeth project couldn't have lasted through forty generations, speculative fiction to the contrary—the later generations would have been too far removed in ideology and intent from their ancestors. They'd have adapted to shipboard life as the norm. They'd have atrophied physically, perhaps even have mutated—" "And they'd never have fought past the Bees during the Hymenop invasion and occupation," Farrell finished triumphantly. "The Bees had better detection equipment than we had. They'd have picked this ship up long before it reached Alphard Six." "But the ship wasn't here in 3000," Gibson said, "and it is now. Therefore it must have arrived in 2171," Gibson said. "But not with these people aboard, or their ancestors. That expedition perished after less than a light-year when its hydroponics system failed. The Hymenops found the ship derelict when they invaded us, and brought it to Alphard Six in what was probably their first experiment with human subjects. The ship's log shows clearly what happened to the original complement. The rest is deducible from the situation here." Farrell put his hands to his temples and groaned. "The crash must have scrambled my wits. Gib, where did they come from?" "From one of the first peripheral colonies mission that huge and depressing in eight short, vanishing days? How had his people gotten into such a condition? As if at a button pressed, he saw an image. Metal seeds, blown across space from a distant green world, fighting with long flames, crashing on this bleak planet. From their shattered hulls tumble men and women. When? Long ago. Ten thousand days. The crash victims hid in the cliffs from the sun. Fire, ice and floods washed away the wreckage of the huge metal seeds. The victims were shaped and beaten like iron upon a forge. Solar radiations drenched them. rent between their world and his. "Ed!" Janet Loyce backed away nervously. "What is it? What—" Ed Loyce slammed the door behind him and came into the living room. "Pull down the shades. Quick." Janet moved toward the window. "But—" "Do as I say. Who else is here besides you?" "Nobody. Just the twins. They're upstairs in their room. What's happened? You look so strange. Why are you home?" Ed locked the front door. He prowled around the house, into the kitchen. From the drawer under the sink he slid out the big butcher knife and ran his finger along Question: How do Bill and Elizabeth contribute to the story? Answer:	[ "Bill and Elizabeth are minor characters in the story, but they are key in demonstrating how POSAT’S recruiting efforts work. Bill, Elizabeth, and Don all see the same magazine advertisement and decide to send their coupons in the mail and receive an informational pamphlet in return. Bill is motivated by his desire to change his life. He has lost his job and feels useless and dejected. Elizabeth wants to join the ancient society because she truly believes it can offer her profound wisdom. She also believes that her cats are her family members reincarnated, so she’s clearly a gullible person who hopes to find magic and miracles in her everyday life. Don is curious about the advertisement, and as a naturally skeptical person, he assumes it’s all a hoax.\n\nPOSAT’s correspondence with the three highly different individuals starts out the same, but after gaining a little bit of insight into each person’s background, job, religious beliefs, and motivation for joining the society, the people at POSAT individualize Bill, Elizabeth, and Don’s responses. Bill receives a pamphlet with vague answers to life’s problems, while Elizabeth gets literature about topics like the sacred cats of ancient Egypt. She is also offered an official membership to the group and told to contribute $5 per month. Don, however, is given an in-depth psychological exam. \n\nTowards the end of the story, Mr. Crandon reveals how POSAT’s magazine advertisements work to attract people to the secret society. The new supercomputer they have invented has created the perfect combination of intrigue, symbolism, and promise of knowledge to get the right peoples’ attention. Don, for example, was immediately taken by POSAT’s logo, although he could not explain why. When people like Bill and Elizabeth apply to become members, they are pacified through other means. Elizabeth is an example of a religious fanatic who contributes to the society financially while also feeling deeply satisfied at her inclusion. Bill is an example of someone who is desperate and wants to try to join the society as a way to change his life. Since POSAT wants a more civilized and peaceful society, they work with those people by finding them new jobs or renovating their homes. \n", "Bill Evans is a pharmacist who does not currently have a job, and is hesitant to fill out the long form he was given in return for his request for a POSAT booklet. Elizabeth Arnable, on the other hand, is overjoyed to have the chance to talk about herself and send in the form, providing much more information than was requested of her. Not only do the two different people allow the reader to see that POSAT sends different responses in the mail to different people, but we learn at the end of the story that these different people play different roles in the organization. Neither Bill nor Elizabeth will contribute scientific knowledge but each have their place in the organization. People like Elizabeth, for instance, are kept interested with various pamphlets, and contribute to the organization if they want to--Elizabeth asks how much dues are, so she is given the chance to contribute financially. Bill, on the other hand, is someone who looks to the organization as a last resort, so POSAT takes advantage of the opportunity to study human motivation, practicing their newly developed theories by providing Bill with a pharmacy job and keeping an eye on him. ", "Bill Evans is an unemployed pharmacist, who turns to POSAT as a last-ditch effort to escape the financial ruin of his current situation. He discovers an advertisement for POSAT in a copy of Your Life and Psychology on an empty bus seat, and writes in to get more information on its promise that its secrets can \"alter the course of your life!\" Likewise, Elizabeth Arnable discovers the advertisement in a copy of Antivivisectionist Gazette, a magazine she reads by chance despite the fact that she rarely reads and prefers listening to the radio with her cats. Most likely due to the fact that she believes her cats are reincarnated family members, the vague mysticism of the advertisement attracts her, and she immediately wants to become a POSAT member. Although this same messaging disappoints Bill, he is pleased that around the same time that he receives his information packet from POSAT, he receives a job offer at a pharmacy that shares the same building as their headquarters. Elizabeth receives pamphlets of information about the sacred cats of ancient Egypt, a POSAT membership pin, and details about membership fees. Later, Dr. Crandon explains these fees are collected from people who view their POSAT membership with religious fervor to cover operational expenses. The pharmacy where Bill Evans works was built in an effort to employ those who turn to POSAT out of desperation, and there they become the subjects of covert rehabilitation to help them reenter society using POSAT's knowledge and discoveries.", "Bill and Elizabeth are two other people who responded to the POSAT ad in a magazine. They are examples of the two other things that may happen to people who apply to POSAT, but are not the correct person to get in. \nBill was down on his luck and searching for cosmic change. He needed a job, a better life, and he needed it fast. He responded to the advertisement as his last hope and was disappointed to only receive a metaphysical text in return. However, he was also offered a job at a wholesale pharmacy right next to the POSAT headquarters. Dr. Crandon later reveals that they give back to the world by finding housing, jobs, and more for people down on their luck who apply to POSAT in the hopes of a change. \nElizabeth, on the other hand, is a completely different applicant. She was interested and enthralled by the idea of a secret society, but wouldn’t actually be qualified to join or dedicated to the task at hand. So, POSAT enrolled her, but only sends pamphlets that she would be interested in. For example, they sent her a pamphlet about Egyptian cats, since she had mentioned her cats in her original letter to POSAT. Since she asked about dues, they asked her to contribute $5 monthly which she will do happily. \n" ]	51336	a pen or pencil was nearer at hand. Bill Evans, an unemployed pharmacist, saw the ad in a copy of Your Life and Psychology that had been abandoned on his seat in the bus. He filled out the blanks on the coupon with a scrap of stubby pencil. "You can alter the course of your life!" he read again. He particularly liked that thought, even though he had long since ceased to believe it. He actually took the trouble to mail the coupon. After all, he had, literally, nothing to lose, and nothing else to occupy his time. Miss Elizabeth project couldn't have lasted through forty generations, speculative fiction to the contrary—the later generations would have been too far removed in ideology and intent from their ancestors. They'd have adapted to shipboard life as the norm. They'd have atrophied physically, perhaps even have mutated—" "And they'd never have fought past the Bees during the Hymenop invasion and occupation," Farrell finished triumphantly. "The Bees had better detection equipment than we had. They'd have picked this ship up long before it reached Alphard Six." "But the ship wasn't here in 3000," Gibson said, "and it is now. Therefore it must have arrived in 2171," Gibson said. "But not with these people aboard, or their ancestors. That expedition perished after less than a light-year when its hydroponics system failed. The Hymenops found the ship derelict when they invaded us, and brought it to Alphard Six in what was probably their first experiment with human subjects. The ship's log shows clearly what happened to the original complement. The rest is deducible from the situation here." Farrell put his hands to his temples and groaned. "The crash must have scrambled my wits. Gib, where did they come from?" "From one of the first peripheral colonies mission that huge and depressing in eight short, vanishing days? How had his people gotten into such a condition? As if at a button pressed, he saw an image. Metal seeds, blown across space from a distant green world, fighting with long flames, crashing on this bleak planet. From their shattered hulls tumble men and women. When? Long ago. Ten thousand days. The crash victims hid in the cliffs from the sun. Fire, ice and floods washed away the wreckage of the huge metal seeds. The victims were shaped and beaten like iron upon a forge. Solar radiations drenched them. rent between their world and his. "Ed!" Janet Loyce backed away nervously. "What is it? What—" Ed Loyce slammed the door behind him and came into the living room. "Pull down the shades. Quick." Janet moved toward the window. "But—" "Do as I say. Who else is here besides you?" "Nobody. Just the twins. They're upstairs in their room. What's happened? You look so strange. Why are you home?" Ed locked the front door. He prowled around the house, into the kitchen. From the drawer under the sink he slid out the big butcher knife and ran his finger along
What is the setting of the story?	After carefully reading the provided chunks, write a detailed response to the following question about The Girls From Earth by Frank M. Robinson. Relevant chunks: mission that huge and depressing in eight short, vanishing days? How had his people gotten into such a condition? As if at a button pressed, he saw an image. Metal seeds, blown across space from a distant green world, fighting with long flames, crashing on this bleak planet. From their shattered hulls tumble men and women. When? Long ago. Ten thousand days. The crash victims hid in the cliffs from the sun. Fire, ice and floods washed away the wreckage of the huge metal seeds. The victims were shaped and beaten like iron upon a forge. Solar radiations drenched them. of futile sons? What can I do to save myself from dying eight days from now? Is there escape? His eyes widened, another image came to focus. Beyond this valley of cliffs, on a low mountain lay a perfect, unscarred metal seed. A metal ship, not rusted or touched by the avalanches. The ship was deserted, whole, intact. It was the only ship of all these that had crashed that was still a unit, still usable. But it was so far away. There was no one in it to help. This ship, then, on the far mountain, was the destiny edge, and birds as delicate as colored glass wavered down the wind. He opened the shelter door and went out. The shelter looked the same, but useless now. How did the shelter of that bleak world get into this one, where the air was warm and fragrant, where there was no cold, from that world into this one of his dreams? The girl—Helene—was standing there leaning against a tree, smoking a cigarette. He walked toward her, and stopped. In the dream it had been easy, but now he was embarrassed, in spite of the intimacy that had grown between them. proud of the apartment. It had all the modern conveniences, like the needle shower with the perfume dispenser, the built-in soft-drink bar in the library, the all-communications set, and the electrical massager. It was a nice, comfortable setup, an illusion of security in an ever-changing world. She lit a cigarette and chuckled. Mrs. Burger, the fat old landlady, thought she kept up the apartment by working as a buyer for one of the downtown stores. Well, maybe some day she would. But not today. And not tonight. The phone rang and she answered in a casual tone. She talked for at his own wife and child. This day was an eighth part of his total life! He must enjoy every second of it. He must search his parents' thoughts for knowledge. Because in a few hours they'd be dead. This was so impossibly unfair. Was this all of life? In his prenatal state hadn't he dreamed of long lives, valleys not of blasted stone but green foliage and temperate clime? Yes! And if he'd dreamed then there must be truth in the visions. How could he seek and find the long life? Where? And how could he accomplish a life Question: What is the setting of the story? Answer:	[ "The story first sets next to the river on Midplanet. The road connecting the river to the Landing City goes from forest to grassland, multiple small trails connects to the large one, leading towards the city. The Landing City is not really that big, especially comparing to Altair. The battered shack and headquarters building appears as they reach the Landing City. There is a grassy lot next to the landing field. The landing field is decorated with bunting and welcome signs. There is a table with government pamphlets as well as tables for luncheon food. \n\nInside Mr. Eescher’s room, there is an intercom switch, some seats, and on his desk, there was also a drawer. Phyllis’ in an office that has a typewriter which is put inside a drawer. There is a washroom along with a mirror where she notices her worry lines. She owns a small two-room bachelor-girl apartment, in the bathroom there’s a mirror. She is on the sofa reading a book when she throws it across the room. There’s also a mail slot where she finds the odd poster. Rudy is in shop, and there’s a dress laying on the counter. In a courtroom in the detention building, there’s a judge and he has a ledger with him. Suzanne’s apartment has needle shower with perfume dispenser, build-in soft-drink bar in the library, as well as all-communications set and electrical massager. There is also a telephone, and her bedroom has a hat box. She arrives at a brownstone office building, there’s a buzzer and a then a young man appears in the doorway. There are bright lights inside the room, and there was a battery of chairs against one side of the room where the girls are sitting. ", "The story begins with Karl and Joseph working with water and trying to tie logs together. Karl describes the ground as being thick with shadows. When they finish their work, they walk on a trail through a forest towards Landing City. Landing City is described as having rusting, steel shacks with muddy streets. When they get to Landing City, they begin to line up on the landing field that is decorated with welcome signs in anticipation for the wife draft that is going to begin soon. There are tables on the landing field filled with informational pamphlets and food. \n\nWhen the story goes to Phyllis Hanson it details her leaving work and going to her apartment. Her apartment is a small two-room p[lace. \n\nRuby’s Johnson story begins at a clothing store. She is soon taken to a court for trial after she is caught stealing. \n\nSuzanne’s story is originally set at her apartment. After receiving a call, she leaves and walks to a nearby brownstone that looks like an office building. Once in the brownstone, she is instructed to sit in a room filled with chairs where other women that she recognizes are sitting. \n", "The story begins near Landing City on Altair. There is a river in the thick forest where Hill and Karl work, while their tiny yllumphs nibble on grass in a nearby grove of trees. Landing City is a smudge of corrugated steel shacks that are rusting, muddy streets, and a small rocket port of thirty acres fenced off with barbed wire. Even the main office and headquarter is a dirty shack. The grassy field beside the landing port is decorated with huge welcome signs for the new arrivals. A table with luncheon food has also been set up. \n\nPhyllis Hansen has a typewriter on her desk and correspondence drawer at the office she works at. There is also a washroom for the ladies' to do their makeup. Her home is a two-room bachelor girl apartment, with a bathroom. The bathroom has a mirror and a shower. There is also a kitchen area to cook, a sink to do the dishes, books, and a sofa to sit on. There is a mail slot to receive mail in too. \n\nRuby Johnson's story takes place in a department store with many counters, including a lingerie one that a man and woman are in. There is also a counter from which Ruby takes the dress. Later, she is sent to the detention center and the courtroom. \n\nFinally, Suzanne Carsten's 'rented' apartment has the latest conveniences, such as a needle shower and perfume dispenser. There is also a built-in soft drink bar in the library, an all-communications set, and an electrical massager. The building that she goes to later is a brownstone one, resembling more of an office building than anything else. Inside, there is a battery of chairs on one side, where many other women are seated. ", "The story is set in many different places. The story begins on the newly colonised planet, where Karl and Joseph are in a river. They haul themselves out and make their way to the ramshackle city of the area. It is muddy and the buildings are mostly makeshift huts. \nMr. Macdonald and Mr. Escher discuss their issue in the office building of the colonisation board.\nPhyllis Hanson walks home after taking a trip to the bathroom in her office. At home, she goes into the kitchen to make dinner, gets ready for bed in the bathroom and finally curls up on the sofa to read a book. \nRuby Johnson movies from a brightly lit department store, to a courtroom in her part of the story. \nSuzanne begins her story in her comfortable apartment. It has a needle shoer that sprays perfume, a built-in soft drink bar, a library, an all communications set and a massage chair. She then walks the streets to an unusual brownstone office building, where she is taken inside, to a brightly lit room. " ]	51268	mission that huge and depressing in eight short, vanishing days? How had his people gotten into such a condition? As if at a button pressed, he saw an image. Metal seeds, blown across space from a distant green world, fighting with long flames, crashing on this bleak planet. From their shattered hulls tumble men and women. When? Long ago. Ten thousand days. The crash victims hid in the cliffs from the sun. Fire, ice and floods washed away the wreckage of the huge metal seeds. The victims were shaped and beaten like iron upon a forge. Solar radiations drenched them. of futile sons? What can I do to save myself from dying eight days from now? Is there escape? His eyes widened, another image came to focus. Beyond this valley of cliffs, on a low mountain lay a perfect, unscarred metal seed. A metal ship, not rusted or touched by the avalanches. The ship was deserted, whole, intact. It was the only ship of all these that had crashed that was still a unit, still usable. But it was so far away. There was no one in it to help. This ship, then, on the far mountain, was the destiny edge, and birds as delicate as colored glass wavered down the wind. He opened the shelter door and went out. The shelter looked the same, but useless now. How did the shelter of that bleak world get into this one, where the air was warm and fragrant, where there was no cold, from that world into this one of his dreams? The girl—Helene—was standing there leaning against a tree, smoking a cigarette. He walked toward her, and stopped. In the dream it had been easy, but now he was embarrassed, in spite of the intimacy that had grown between them. proud of the apartment. It had all the modern conveniences, like the needle shower with the perfume dispenser, the built-in soft-drink bar in the library, the all-communications set, and the electrical massager. It was a nice, comfortable setup, an illusion of security in an ever-changing world. She lit a cigarette and chuckled. Mrs. Burger, the fat old landlady, thought she kept up the apartment by working as a buyer for one of the downtown stores. Well, maybe some day she would. But not today. And not tonight. The phone rang and she answered in a casual tone. She talked for at his own wife and child. This day was an eighth part of his total life! He must enjoy every second of it. He must search his parents' thoughts for knowledge. Because in a few hours they'd be dead. This was so impossibly unfair. Was this all of life? In his prenatal state hadn't he dreamed of long lives, valleys not of blasted stone but green foliage and temperate clime? Yes! And if he'd dreamed then there must be truth in the visions. How could he seek and find the long life? Where? And how could he accomplish a life
What is the plot of the story?	After carefully reading the provided chunks, write a detailed response to the following question about Prison Planet by Wilson Tucker. Relevant chunks: and didn't look at her. "You'll have to spend most of the trip in a hammock." "I can take it." Suddenly she smiled, wanly. "I was with the Fleet. How long will it take?" "Eight days, in that ship." Roberds lit his pipe, and carefully hid his emotions. He knew Peterson was harboring the same thoughts. Eight days in space, in a small ship meant for two, and built for planetary surface flights. Eight days in that untrustworthy crate, hurtling to save the lives of that girl and Gladney. "Who was that ... man? The one you put out?" Gray its own folly. In other words, should he become the MASTER OF LIFE AND DEATH? CAST OF CHARACTERS ROY WALTON He had to adopt the motto— the ends justify the means . FITZMAUGHAM His reward for devoted service was—an assassin's bullet. FRED WALTON His ambition was to fill his brother's shoes—but he underestimated their size. LEE PERCY His specialty was sugarcoating bitter pills. PRIOR With the pen as his only weapon, could he save his son? DR. LAMARRE He died for discovering the secret of immortality. Contents I The offices of the Bureau of Population Equalization, vulgarly known as Popeek, asked. "We call him Rat," Roberds said. She didn't ask why. She said: "Why couldn't he pilot the ship, I mean? What is his record?" Peterson opened his mouth. "Shut up, Peterson!" the Chief snapped. "We don't talk about his record around here, Miss Gray. It's not a pretty thing to tell." "Stow it, Chief," said Peterson. "Miss Gray is no pantywaist." He turned to the nurse. "Ever hear of the Sansan massacre?" Patti Gray paled. "Yes," she whispered. "Was Rat in that?" Roberds shook his head. "He didn't take part in it. But Rat was attached to a very many days?" His only answer was an inhuman snarl, and the cruel blazing of those inhuman eyes. She fell face first to the floor. "I can't keep it up!" she cried. The sound of her voice rolled along the hot steel deck. "I cant! I cant!" A double handful of tepid water was thrown in her face. "Get up!" Rat stood over her, face twisted, his body hunched. "Get up!" She stared at him, dazed. He kicked her. "Get up!" The tepid water ran off her face and far away she heard Judith calling.... She forced herself up. Rat was moving things had unnerved him. He had already sounded the alert, flicked out the defense screens. Now he had nothing to do. He tried to concentrate on what the League Law would have him do. The Law was no help. Contact with planet-bound races was forbidden under any circumstances. But could a bunch of robots be called a race? The Law said nothing about robots because Earthmen had none. The building of imaginative robots was expressly forbidden. But at any rate, Steffens thought, he had made contact already. While Steffens stood by the screen, completely bewildered for the first time Question: What is the plot of the story? Answer:	[ "There is a gravely sick girl on a spaceship near Mars and the crew argues what to do. Roberds decides to pilot the ship to Earth breaking the command due to an emergency. Rat argues with him and wants to pilot the ship himself, which leads to him being forced to leave. Roberds and Peterson then explain to nurse Gray, who is looking after the sick girl, that Rat left his post once and therefore didn't warn anyone about the Sansan massacre, so now he is out of favor. The nurse, nevertheless, visits Rat in secret and asks to pilot the ship. She says the sick wants him to and Rat takes Judith, the sick girl covered in blankets, and the nurse to the hammocks on his wings. The girls then wait for him to return with another sick man who was injured after finding and saving the crashed girls in the past. Judith feels bad for breaking the law and causing so much trouble by leaving Earth, now her appendix hurts and they have to take charge of the ship and travel to a hospital on Earth. Rat returns with sick Gladney and learns that Judith and Patti Gray were attacked during their cruise to space, which is the reason they got to Mars. The trip begins, soon everyone gets thirsty and hot, Gray is hurt when the ship moves between a meteor rain, she is devastated with suffering. Rat refuses to brake and is going to make the trip in six days instead of eight. He then tells his part of the story about the Sansan massacre - he left the post to save a sick man but nobody believed it back then.", "The story begins with Roberds yelling that he is going to pilot the ship no matter the consequences. Roberds is saying that an ill girl needs to be taken to a hospital and that he plans to take her to Earth where she can be treated. He then asks Patti for the status of Judith and she communicates that Judith is holding in but will not be able to do so for long as her health continues to fail. \n\nSeparately, Rat and Greaseball are helping complete tasks to prepare the ship for its flight to Earth. Once they are done, Greaseball tells Rat that he can go to bed. As Rat is heading to his bed, Patti whispers to him through a window. She does not want to wait to fly to Earth and asks Rat to take them instead. Rat readily agrees to do so and begins to enact their escape plan. He flies both of the girls to the ship and instructs them to be quiet on the ship so they do not attract attention. Before they head off on their trip, Rat says he is going to get Gladney and bring him too as he is also sick. When Rat returns to the ship with Gladney, they are found out and the ship begins to be attacked. One of Rat’s wings is damaged in the process. Rat pilots the ship to a very fast takeoff and they head towards Earth. At the beginning of the trip, Rat finds out that Judith is ill because of her appendix. \n\nPatti continues talking to Rat and answering questions about herself and Judith. During the conversation with Rat, she begins to realize the trip is going to be very uncomfortable as the cooling system is not working and they have a very limited supply of water. Patti becomes dehydrated and grows increasingly upset about the conditions on the cramped ship. In exasperation, she repeatedly asks him how many more days they have to spend on the ship. \n\nGladney suddenly wakes up and in an excited manner tells Rat that he needs to begin braking. Gladney begins asking Patti for help in convincing Rat to apply the brakes to make sure they get to Earth safely. Rat explains that he is cutting the trip time down from an expected 78 days to just 6 days with no breaks. Suddenly, they spot Earth in the distance. Patti starts to ask Rat about the attack that the Chief mentioned earlier and Rat says that he was just trying to help someone but knew no one would listen to his story. Gladney interrupts the conversation and taunts Rat that he will be arrested when they get to Earth to the dismay of Patti. Rat replies by cryptically stating that Earth seems like a nice place but not one for him. \n", "Gladney and Judith are two ill patients who require surgery on Earth. A Centaurian named Rat asks the Chief Consul Roberds if he can pilot the ship, but the field manager angrily denies him the opportunity. He asks Peterson to help get rid of Rat, and Rat leaves quickly. Roberds is determined to take the ship for himself because both patients will get the necessary treatment, and he mentions that Greaseball has stayed up all night, tearing the bunks and lockers out to prepare. Nurse Gray comes back after checking on the patient, and he tells her that she will be sleeping in a hammock for their eight-day trip. Gray asks about Rat, to which Peterson explains that he was part of the Sansan massacre. Rat was a member of the outpost watch, but he went AWOL from the Ganymedean colony when Mad Barry Sansan attacked and was saved by politics. Gray tells Roberds to call her if needed and then leaves the room. The story cuts to Rat helping Greaseball fill the water tanks with fuel and check the concentrated rations. Just as Rat is about to go to bed, Nurse Gray gets his attention and tells him that her patient wants him to pilot the ship. He instructs the nurse to wrap Judith up and takes them to the ship by flying. After dropping both of them inside, Rat leaves to transport Gladney. Judith laments about having learned her lesson the hard way and notices that the pilot has been gone for a long time. Just then, Rat returns with Gladney after tricking Roberds and Peterson by burning down his shack. Rat then takes off with the ship. They get thirsty from the heat, but there is only one water tank because the rest is full of fuel. The water they drink is hot because the ship itself is heating up. Gray realizes that the hammocks have also turned upside down. The ship is hell as the journey continues because of the uncomfortable conditions, lack of sleep, and increasing heat. However, Rat continues to drive the ship. Even when Nurse Gray continuously asks him how long the trip is and breaks down, he makes her get up. Gladney wants Rat to brake too, but he refuses and explains that this is a six-day journey. He also says that they will land tonight. Nurse Gray asks him about his knowledge of the attack in the Sansan massacre; Rat responds that he left his post to help a sick man in the desert when the attack happened. Gladney tells him that the police will get him the moment they land, while Rat only grins and says that Earth is not a place for Rat. Gladney realizes what he implies, but Rat tells him to shut up because he talks too much. ", "The story opens on Mars, with Chief Roberds and Peterson speaking to Rat, a Centaurian. Peterson refuses to allow Rat to pilot an emergency surface ship to Earth after several people have fallen sick due to a space illness. The two argue briefly, before Rat storms out. As Peterson and the Chief discuss the fate of the ship, and advise that Roberds pilot the ship despite it possibly costing him his job, nurse Patti Gray appears in the doorway. She tells them that her patient, seventeen year old Judith, is falling ill quickly and asks when the trip was planned to take place. She also asks about Rat, and it is revealed that he has a record due to his role in the Sansan massacre, where he abandoned his post, causing destruction to their colony. Roberds plans to take off at dawn. However, that night, Patti finds Rat and asks him to pilot the ship; Judith requested him specifically and they fear waiting until dawn. Rat agrees, and carries them to the ship using his wings. He additionally brings Gladney along, who is also sick. As the ship prepares to take off, they are suddenly attacked with bullets. Rat is injured slightly but they manage to get away. On the ship, Rat asks Patti what is wrong with Judith, and she replies saying that she has appendicitis; Rat remarks that Centaurians do not have an appendix. There are challenges on the ship, namely the temperature and the lack of water supply; Patti and Rat are only allowed two drinks a day, and the water remains hot. As time passes, the crew begins to go mad, and Gladney erupts in rage, telling Rat to begin braking the ship. Rat reveals that they had long since passed the halfway mark, and he does not intend to brake. Gladney angrily tells Rat that the police will be waiting for him on Earth." ]	62212	and didn't look at her. "You'll have to spend most of the trip in a hammock." "I can take it." Suddenly she smiled, wanly. "I was with the Fleet. How long will it take?" "Eight days, in that ship." Roberds lit his pipe, and carefully hid his emotions. He knew Peterson was harboring the same thoughts. Eight days in space, in a small ship meant for two, and built for planetary surface flights. Eight days in that untrustworthy crate, hurtling to save the lives of that girl and Gladney. "Who was that ... man? The one you put out?" Gray its own folly. In other words, should he become the MASTER OF LIFE AND DEATH? CAST OF CHARACTERS ROY WALTON He had to adopt the motto— the ends justify the means . FITZMAUGHAM His reward for devoted service was—an assassin's bullet. FRED WALTON His ambition was to fill his brother's shoes—but he underestimated their size. LEE PERCY His specialty was sugarcoating bitter pills. PRIOR With the pen as his only weapon, could he save his son? DR. LAMARRE He died for discovering the secret of immortality. Contents I The offices of the Bureau of Population Equalization, vulgarly known as Popeek, asked. "We call him Rat," Roberds said. She didn't ask why. She said: "Why couldn't he pilot the ship, I mean? What is his record?" Peterson opened his mouth. "Shut up, Peterson!" the Chief snapped. "We don't talk about his record around here, Miss Gray. It's not a pretty thing to tell." "Stow it, Chief," said Peterson. "Miss Gray is no pantywaist." He turned to the nurse. "Ever hear of the Sansan massacre?" Patti Gray paled. "Yes," she whispered. "Was Rat in that?" Roberds shook his head. "He didn't take part in it. But Rat was attached to a very many days?" His only answer was an inhuman snarl, and the cruel blazing of those inhuman eyes. She fell face first to the floor. "I can't keep it up!" she cried. The sound of her voice rolled along the hot steel deck. "I cant! I cant!" A double handful of tepid water was thrown in her face. "Get up!" Rat stood over her, face twisted, his body hunched. "Get up!" She stared at him, dazed. He kicked her. "Get up!" The tepid water ran off her face and far away she heard Judith calling.... She forced herself up. Rat was moving things had unnerved him. He had already sounded the alert, flicked out the defense screens. Now he had nothing to do. He tried to concentrate on what the League Law would have him do. The Law was no help. Contact with planet-bound races was forbidden under any circumstances. But could a bunch of robots be called a race? The Law said nothing about robots because Earthmen had none. The building of imaginative robots was expressly forbidden. But at any rate, Steffens thought, he had made contact already. While Steffens stood by the screen, completely bewildered for the first time
What is the role of technology in this society?	After carefully reading the provided chunks, write a detailed response to the following question about Time In the Round by Fritz Leiber. Relevant chunks: course. What is it that girls in small offices do or eat or drink or wear that girls in large offices don't do or eat or drink or wear? What do writers and doctors do differently? Or poets and dentists? What are we missing? What—" In the outer office a girl cried out. A body thumped against a desk, then a chair, then to the floor. Two girls screamed. Andy bolted up from his chair. Racing to the door, he shouted back to Bettijean, "Get a staff doctor and a chemist from the lab." It was the girl who had the same basic situation." "So what?" Verana queried in a sarcastic tone. "The aliens want us transported to their planet so they can examine and question us. Right?" "Right." "Ed, remember that remark the machine made last night?" "What remark?" "It said, ' My masters will be displeased with me if you arrive in a damaged condition.' What does that indicate to you?" I assumed a baffled expression. I didn't have the slightest idea of what he was driving at and I told him so. "Ed," he said, "if you could build an electronic brain capable of making decisions, how explain the phenomena of the Ghost Ship? Was it really only a product of his imagination? What of all the others who had seen it? Was it possible for many different men under many different situations to have the same exact illusion? Reason denied that. But perhaps space itself denies reason. Grimly he retraced the legend of the Ghost Ship. A chance phrase here and a story there put together all that he knew: Doomed for all eternity to wander in the empty star-lanes, the Ghost Ship haunts the Solar System that gave it birth. And this is its tragedy, Just shelves—no doors or sides. They want a revolutionary garbage disposal too." "Do you own stock in the company? Is that how you know?" "I own stock in a competitor. That's how I know," Carmen informed me. "Listen, Professor, you can sell to Arcivox and still keep control of the patents through a separate corporation. And I'll give you 49% of its stock." This was Carmen's idea of a magnanimous offer for my invention. It was a pretty good offer—49% and my good health. "But will the government let Arcivox have the machine for commercial use?" "The government would let would you build it?" "Hell, I don't know," I confessed. "Well, if I could build an electronic brain like the one running this ship, I'd build it with a conscience so it'd do its best at all times." "Machines always do their best," I argued. "Come on, untie us. I'm getting a crick in my back!" I didn't like the idea of being slugged while asleep. If Kane had been sober and if his wife hadn't been present, I would have let him know exactly what I thought of him. " Our machines always do their best," he argued, "because Question: What is the role of technology in this society? Answer:	[ "There are two major types of technology highlighted in the story: the first is the mechanical kind that allows for hovering travel, the development of uninjes, and the systems in place in the theater like the ushers and the protective mechanisms. The other major thing that could be categorized as technology is the Time Bubble itself; it acts as a form of entertainment but also as a warning to avoid the habits of people of the past. Focusing on the engineering technology that does not directly relate to potential time-travel, it is strongly hinted that the children in the story might be partly mechanical themselves, though this is not clarified. It is pointed out that there are \"adolescers\" and \"kinderobots\", which could be referring to the age groups of these children, and the dogs that follow the people around are also technological creations. The \"uninjes\" are like dogs, and are built to have canine reactions to be as close to real dogs as possible, but cannot be harmed and in the end are still collections of circuits with a battery and molded plastic. There are a number of pieces of technology in the theater, including forcefields used by ushers to block children who are too young to enter, and a number of safeguards like forcefields to protect people inc ase something went wrong with the Time Bubble. The bubble itself is a marvel of technology but nobody understands exactly how it works. Most of the discourse surrounding this is about the theories of time travel. ", "The technology in this world helps the children and people from getting injured. The boys use metal harnesses, levitators, and the hemisphere repulsor to keep them from hitting their bodies against trees, the ground, walls, or anything else that could potentially inflict pain. These technologies create an invisible shield around them and gently bounce them away from objects. \n\nThe Time Theater is a very important place that houses the society’s Time Bubble, their most prized possession. It allows the adults to feel like gods because they are able to look back at any time or place and recognize how much their society has improved from simpler times. Upon entering the theater, Hal and Joggy feel a shock of electricity. Butch, however, is repelled by an invisible wall that knows he is not yet of age to enter the sacred space. There is also technology to keep the children separated from the adults in the theater. \n \nThe electronic interpreter in the theater helps the audience members understand what it is they’re seeing and how the machine works. It is capable of hearing the audience members’ questions and it quickly provides answers. \nThe Time Bubble is supposed to keep everything, even light, from entering the theater. It is only supposed to give viewers a look into the past, not a real experience. Some scientists in the society believe that the Time Bubble uses real peoples’ memories to time travel. The Time Bubble malfunctions and allows the Scandinavian warriors in the Bubble to enter the theater. The men from the past are shocked when they see that Butch is protected by an invisible shield and the uninjes are incapable of being injured the way real dogs would. \nThe society’s new technology saves the audience members’ lives from a real attack from people of the past. Even when their technology malfunctions, they are able to protect themselves from the swords and wolvish dogs. \n", "Technology is a huge part of this society, as it prevents bloodshed and is central to their way of life. Hal mentions fear houses and death games, as well as the invincible robot dogs known as uninjs. He explains that over time humans have been conditioned to reject violence. He also mentions a Space Fleet that they rely on in case of an outside attack. This society has also created a setting that is difficult or impossible to tarnish or disrupt. The children use levitators to “swim” through the air, and the Time Bubble is used as a source of historical exposure (and possibly propaganda). Until Butch is able to use the Time Bubble for actual space travel, the primary role of technology in this society seems to be to maintain peace, pleasantness, and control. \n", "Technology plays an important role in the story, particularly as a buffer against violence in the new civilization as well as a window into the pre-civilization era. The boys use special levitation devices to swim through the air; these devices also release a kind of repulsor shield that protects them from running into things while they're swimming such as trees. The Butcher later utilizes this technology to protect himself against the sword attacks of the Scandinavian men when they are pushed through the bubble into the Time Theater. The uninjes are robotic canines that cannot be hurt and are programmed against hurting humans themselves. However, they also protect the humans against the attacks of the Scandinavian men later in the story. The Time Theater utilizes time-hole technology to open windows into previous eras for observation and study, and the interpreter intuits viewers' questions and answers them in real-time. The \"usher\" is a kind of force field as well, which has the ability to determine a person's age as they attempt to pass through it. All of this technology is imperfect, and, as the Butcher later demonstrates, malleable if in the hands of someone with impulsive instincts." ]	51380	course. What is it that girls in small offices do or eat or drink or wear that girls in large offices don't do or eat or drink or wear? What do writers and doctors do differently? Or poets and dentists? What are we missing? What—" In the outer office a girl cried out. A body thumped against a desk, then a chair, then to the floor. Two girls screamed. Andy bolted up from his chair. Racing to the door, he shouted back to Bettijean, "Get a staff doctor and a chemist from the lab." It was the girl who had the same basic situation." "So what?" Verana queried in a sarcastic tone. "The aliens want us transported to their planet so they can examine and question us. Right?" "Right." "Ed, remember that remark the machine made last night?" "What remark?" "It said, ' My masters will be displeased with me if you arrive in a damaged condition.' What does that indicate to you?" I assumed a baffled expression. I didn't have the slightest idea of what he was driving at and I told him so. "Ed," he said, "if you could build an electronic brain capable of making decisions, how explain the phenomena of the Ghost Ship? Was it really only a product of his imagination? What of all the others who had seen it? Was it possible for many different men under many different situations to have the same exact illusion? Reason denied that. But perhaps space itself denies reason. Grimly he retraced the legend of the Ghost Ship. A chance phrase here and a story there put together all that he knew: Doomed for all eternity to wander in the empty star-lanes, the Ghost Ship haunts the Solar System that gave it birth. And this is its tragedy, Just shelves—no doors or sides. They want a revolutionary garbage disposal too." "Do you own stock in the company? Is that how you know?" "I own stock in a competitor. That's how I know," Carmen informed me. "Listen, Professor, you can sell to Arcivox and still keep control of the patents through a separate corporation. And I'll give you 49% of its stock." This was Carmen's idea of a magnanimous offer for my invention. It was a pretty good offer—49% and my good health. "But will the government let Arcivox have the machine for commercial use?" "The government would let would you build it?" "Hell, I don't know," I confessed. "Well, if I could build an electronic brain like the one running this ship, I'd build it with a conscience so it'd do its best at all times." "Machines always do their best," I argued. "Come on, untie us. I'm getting a crick in my back!" I didn't like the idea of being slugged while asleep. If Kane had been sober and if his wife hadn't been present, I would have let him know exactly what I thought of him. " Our machines always do their best," he argued, "because
What is the plot of the story?	After carefully reading the provided chunks, write a detailed response to the following question about The First Man in Space by Heather Feldman. Relevant chunks: of futile sons? What can I do to save myself from dying eight days from now? Is there escape? His eyes widened, another image came to focus. Beyond this valley of cliffs, on a low mountain lay a perfect, unscarred metal seed. A metal ship, not rusted or touched by the avalanches. The ship was deserted, whole, intact. It was the only ship of all these that had crashed that was still a unit, still usable. But it was so far away. There was no one in it to help. This ship, then, on the far mountain, was the destiny What is POSAT? By PHYLLIS STERLING SMITH Illustrated by ED ALEXANDER [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Galaxy Science Fiction September 1951. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] Of course coming events cast their shadows before, but this shadow was 400 years long! The following advertisement appeared in the July 1953 issue of several magazines: MASTERY OF ALL KNOWLEDGE CAN BE YOURS! What is the secret source of those profound principles that can solve the problems of life? Send for our FREE booklet of explanation. Do not be a mission that huge and depressing in eight short, vanishing days? How had his people gotten into such a condition? As if at a button pressed, he saw an image. Metal seeds, blown across space from a distant green world, fighting with long flames, crashing on this bleak planet. From their shattered hulls tumble men and women. When? Long ago. Ten thousand days. The crash victims hid in the cliffs from the sun. Fire, ice and floods washed away the wreckage of the huge metal seeds. The victims were shaped and beaten like iron upon a forge. Solar radiations drenched them. 10:30." The following evening found Quidley on tenter-hooks. The snoll-doper mystery had acquired a new tang. He could hardly wait till the next message transfer took place. He decided to spend the evening plotting the epic novel which he intended to write someday. He set to work immediately. He plotted mentally, of course—notes were for the hacks and the other commercial non-geniuses who infested the modern literary world. Closing his eyes, he saw the whole vivid panorama of epic action and grand adventure flowing like a mighty and majestic river before his literary vision: the authentic and awe-inspiring background; the the corner he halted. The street lights had not yet come on. The street was dim. Everything was vague. He looked around—and froze. From the telephone pole in front of the police station, something large and shapeless hung. It moved a little with the wind. What the hell was it? Mason approached it warily. He wanted to get home. He was tired and hungry. He thought of his wife, his kids, a hot meal on the dinner table. But there was something about the dark bundle, something ominous and ugly. The light was bad; he couldn't tell what it was. Question: What is the plot of the story? Answer:	[ "Cadet Marshall Farnsworth wakes up at night, frightened by the sound of rockets. He looks in the window and thinks about his upcoming trip to space, as a first man, reflecting upon the history of mankind and space interaction. The next morning he has a short but difficult talk with his anxious parents. Marsh's dad takes him to the Skyharbor, the young man feels uneasy. Then he goes through a check up at psychiatrist's and space surgeon's, revises the route, and takes a nap. Then his Colonel gives him a brief speech, and his cadet friends wish him luck. Thousands of spectators and reporters try to see Marsh on his way to the rocket. Various gadgets are put on Marsh, he rises to the platform, says warm goodbye to the Colonel, and puts the helmet on. Inside the ship Marsh is fastened and final tests take place before he is left alone with his nerves. The last five minutes are long, Marsh thinks about his planet and parents, and then the ship sets off. Minutes seem an eternity, the first phase is behind, and upon reaching the peak velocity the speed starts to drop back. The free-flight orbit is reached and Marsh hears General Forsythe's earthly and calming voice. All the indicators are good and Marsh gets excited to be the first one to leave the rocket and look at the globe from space. He takes all the precautions and the first glance \"downward\" makes him feel like the king of the universe. Suddenly, he feels like he is falling and makes a forbidden movement, which leads to him bouncing from and back to the rocket a couple times, when he has to try hard to stop. When he calms down after the fright, he starts describing what he sees. General orders Marsh to go back and he returns to his cabin. The hardest part begins, as the speed of the ship is high and needs to be reduced. When Marsh succeeds in doing so, the ship heads back to Earth. Marsh has to make a couple spirals and near the airport the braking fuel is gone. Eventually, he manages to exit and breathe the air of Earth and is attacked by the reporters, until he is left with only three men. \n", "Cadet Marshall Farnsworth is chosen out of two hundred cadets to make man's first trip into space. He is considered one of the most stable, but he is still nervous after waking up from a nightmare. Marsh tries to sleep again, but he is unable to because of the anxious footsteps of his mother and father. He finally falls asleep until the alarm goes off in the morning and prepares himself for the big day. Marsh's parents pretend to be happy the next day, but he knows that they do not want him to go. They try to convince themselves that he will be the Farnsworth family celebrity and completely safe in the rocket. When his father drops him off, they share a brief goodbye, and he begins to go through his pre-flight examinations. Further instructions regarding Marsh's take-off time and position are given to him. He manages to sleep for a few more hours before he talks to Colonel Tregasker. The Colonel wishes him luck and brings in ten more cadets who would be Marsh's replacement should he fail the trip. He then escorts Mash to the ship once the speaker announces that there are less than thirty minutes. There are crowds of photographers and newspapermen in the area, looking for a chance to interview Marsh. However, the Colonel leads him to a blockhouse where he puts on his space gear. He puts on a multitude of gadgets, and the two of them get into the cage that takes them to the platform of the third stage. Marsh begins to feel fear, even though there are workmen and engineers preparing the compartment because he also thinks that this may be his death chamber. He says his goodbye to the Colonel, and a man hands him his helmet. He waits inside the compartment, and the rocket launches soon after. The rocket then fires, and Marsh begins to see the mach numbers rise. After seeing the other parts rise, the voice of General Forsythe speaks to him and tells him that everything is going fine so far. When Marsh gets the O.K. signal, he exits the rocket and begins eagerly describing what he sees in space, such as the rotating Earth and the Milky Way. Marsh no longer feels any fear anymore as he observes space. The General then tells him to go back to avoid further danger, and he prepares himself to return to Earth's atmosphere. He comes back safely, sees many familiar sights along the way, and prepares to land the valuable ship. The General reassures him, and he safely returns to the ground again after gliding. Many reporters come to greet him, but the police safely escort him. Only three men are allowed to follow through the cordon.", "Cadet Marshall Farnsworth is to be the first man to ever go into space. He wakes up the morning of the day he is meant to take off, and has breakfast with his parents. His Dad drives him to the airport \"Skyharbour\" where the rocket is waiting to launch. Marsh goes through various checks with doctors to make sure he is in shape for flying. Blast off is set for 22:30. As the day goes on he becomes more calm, and goes for a nap in the general's office. He is awoken and goes to met with his CO, Colonel Tregasker. They talk for a while and then are met by Marshall's comrades, who wish him luck. The Colonel and Marshall make their way to the blockhouse, where Marshall changes into his space suit. He is plastered with different wires to convey information back to the station about his state. They move to the elevator that takes them to the door hatch of the rocket. They say their goodbyes and Marsh steps into the compartment. Some final tests are done and then the countdown begins. The rocket blasts off, Marsh being thrown back in his seat in agony. The first part of the rocket breaks off, then the second, until he is left with just his compartment outside of the atmosphere, just as planned. When Marsh gets into a steady orbit, he exits the cabin, attached to the ship by his tether. He talks to the general about what he can see of Earth. He then looks under his feet and gets the sense of falling and becomes panicked, pushing himself to the end of his tether, and then knocking against the ship, back and forth. He eventually regains himself and re-enters the cabin. After that he starts his initial descent, swerving in and out of the atmosphere to avoid burning up on re-entry. Slowly, he makes it down to the surface, using his training. He makes it back in one piece, and is greeted by crowds of people. ", "The Air Force is getting ready for a rocket blast off the next day. And the rocket is scheduled to blast off at 10:30 PM in the evening. It will go into the orbit around Earth, and once it is stable cadet Marshall Farnsworth, the trained astronaut, will go take a trip to the outside of the rocket, in space, then it would return, carrying Marsh back to Earth. The rocket consists of three parts, where two of them will fall off after the fuel are used and before entering into the orbit. \n\nThe story starts with Marsh having a bad dream about not able to make it to space and back. Apparently, he is not the only one worried, so are his parents. The next morning, his parents tries to act as if they are glad for him, but later his mom was not able to hold it anymore, luckily Dad is able to stop her so that the morning will not be filled with sadness. After Dad drives Marsh to Skyharbor, where the rocket will be blasting, they quickly said goodbye to each other, and Marsh goes to get a physical examination and a briefing. After a quick nap, he is woken up by the colonel and greets his classmates whom he went through the trainings with. \n\nWhen it was thirty minutes until the blast off, the colonel escorts Marsh to the ship to have his gears put on except his helmet. Then, he takes the lift that gets him to the platform surrounding the rocket, where he puts on his helmet and steps into the ship to make sure everything works fine. The countdown goes to zero and the rocket rises into the sky. \n\nAs he keeps on rising, the two parts of the rocket drop as they are supposed to. Then he successfully goes into the orbit as predicted. After a few minutes, he gets the order to leave the rocket. Where he sees the stunning view of Earth from space. Despite a small accident with no injuries, his trip outside the rocket goes well. Then he is ready to get back to Earth. He uses his skills and talents, after a long time, he finally lands safely. After a few seconds of aloneness, men come running and congratulating him. " ]	55801	of futile sons? What can I do to save myself from dying eight days from now? Is there escape? His eyes widened, another image came to focus. Beyond this valley of cliffs, on a low mountain lay a perfect, unscarred metal seed. A metal ship, not rusted or touched by the avalanches. The ship was deserted, whole, intact. It was the only ship of all these that had crashed that was still a unit, still usable. But it was so far away. There was no one in it to help. This ship, then, on the far mountain, was the destiny What is POSAT? By PHYLLIS STERLING SMITH Illustrated by ED ALEXANDER [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Galaxy Science Fiction September 1951. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] Of course coming events cast their shadows before, but this shadow was 400 years long! The following advertisement appeared in the July 1953 issue of several magazines: MASTERY OF ALL KNOWLEDGE CAN BE YOURS! What is the secret source of those profound principles that can solve the problems of life? Send for our FREE booklet of explanation. Do not be a mission that huge and depressing in eight short, vanishing days? How had his people gotten into such a condition? As if at a button pressed, he saw an image. Metal seeds, blown across space from a distant green world, fighting with long flames, crashing on this bleak planet. From their shattered hulls tumble men and women. When? Long ago. Ten thousand days. The crash victims hid in the cliffs from the sun. Fire, ice and floods washed away the wreckage of the huge metal seeds. The victims were shaped and beaten like iron upon a forge. Solar radiations drenched them. 10:30." The following evening found Quidley on tenter-hooks. The snoll-doper mystery had acquired a new tang. He could hardly wait till the next message transfer took place. He decided to spend the evening plotting the epic novel which he intended to write someday. He set to work immediately. He plotted mentally, of course—notes were for the hacks and the other commercial non-geniuses who infested the modern literary world. Closing his eyes, he saw the whole vivid panorama of epic action and grand adventure flowing like a mighty and majestic river before his literary vision: the authentic and awe-inspiring background; the the corner he halted. The street lights had not yet come on. The street was dim. Everything was vague. He looked around—and froze. From the telephone pole in front of the police station, something large and shapeless hung. It moved a little with the wind. What the hell was it? Mason approached it warily. He wanted to get home. He was tired and hungry. He thought of his wife, his kids, a hot meal on the dinner table. But there was something about the dark bundle, something ominous and ugly. The light was bad; he couldn't tell what it was.
What is the plot of the story?	After carefully reading the provided chunks, write a detailed response to the following question about The Hanging Stranger by Philip K. Dick. Relevant chunks: of futile sons? What can I do to save myself from dying eight days from now? Is there escape? His eyes widened, another image came to focus. Beyond this valley of cliffs, on a low mountain lay a perfect, unscarred metal seed. A metal ship, not rusted or touched by the avalanches. The ship was deserted, whole, intact. It was the only ship of all these that had crashed that was still a unit, still usable. But it was so far away. There was no one in it to help. This ship, then, on the far mountain, was the destiny What is POSAT? By PHYLLIS STERLING SMITH Illustrated by ED ALEXANDER [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Galaxy Science Fiction September 1951. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] Of course coming events cast their shadows before, but this shadow was 400 years long! The following advertisement appeared in the July 1953 issue of several magazines: MASTERY OF ALL KNOWLEDGE CAN BE YOURS! What is the secret source of those profound principles that can solve the problems of life? Send for our FREE booklet of explanation. Do not be a mission that huge and depressing in eight short, vanishing days? How had his people gotten into such a condition? As if at a button pressed, he saw an image. Metal seeds, blown across space from a distant green world, fighting with long flames, crashing on this bleak planet. From their shattered hulls tumble men and women. When? Long ago. Ten thousand days. The crash victims hid in the cliffs from the sun. Fire, ice and floods washed away the wreckage of the huge metal seeds. The victims were shaped and beaten like iron upon a forge. Solar radiations drenched them. 10:30." The following evening found Quidley on tenter-hooks. The snoll-doper mystery had acquired a new tang. He could hardly wait till the next message transfer took place. He decided to spend the evening plotting the epic novel which he intended to write someday. He set to work immediately. He plotted mentally, of course—notes were for the hacks and the other commercial non-geniuses who infested the modern literary world. Closing his eyes, he saw the whole vivid panorama of epic action and grand adventure flowing like a mighty and majestic river before his literary vision: the authentic and awe-inspiring background; the the corner he halted. The street lights had not yet come on. The street was dim. Everything was vague. He looked around—and froze. From the telephone pole in front of the police station, something large and shapeless hung. It moved a little with the wind. What the hell was it? Mason approached it warily. He wanted to get home. He was tired and hungry. He thought of his wife, his kids, a hot meal on the dinner table. But there was something about the dark bundle, something ominous and ugly. The light was bad; he couldn't tell what it was. Question: What is the plot of the story? Answer:	[ "Edward Loyce spends the whole day repairing the foundation. When he drives past the town park, he sees a thing hanging under the lamppost. He realizes that it’s a hanging human. Ed is frightened because of the hanged body and because everyone seems to not care about it. People walk past and ignore it. Ed tells the owners of other shops, trying to figure out the situation. However, both the owners think it is normal. After realizing he is the only one who feels strange, Ed gets closer to the hanged body, noticing that it’s a stranger. He bumps into Jenkins, a stationary clerk. Through the conversation with Jenkins and the jewelry store owner, he realizes that he is the only normal person in the town. He shouts to get the police, makes his way through the crowd, and finally gets into the police’s car.\n\nWhen he tries to understand the situation from the police, he realizes that the police are fake because he knows every cop in the town. He escapes from the fake police. When he gets closer to the police station, he sees a swarm of alien flies landing on the roof of City Hall and flying inside of the building, disguising themselves as men coming out of the City Hall. Ed realizes that they are aliens from other dimensions trying to control the humans and already control the minds of town people, except for him, as he escapes from it when repairing the foundation. He cautiously leaves and takes the bus. People on the bus are mind-controlled. A man with a book is looking at him, and Ed guesses the identity of the seemingly mind-clear man. When another older man ascends the bus and looks at the man with the book, Ed realizes the strangeness and escapes from the bus. Two men come after Ed, and Ed kills the man with the book and runs away. A doubt about killing the wrong person flashes through his mind, but he has no time to think.\n\nHe tells his wife to get ready to leave when he gets home. He picks up a butcher knife and explains everything to his wife. When the twins come down, he sees a baby alien fly come toward him. Ed kills the alien, abandons his dazed wife and child, and flees. He runs ten miles towards Oak Grove. He explains everything to the Commissioner. The Commissioner records and agrees with his saying. Ed talks about his theory of the alien, but he cannot figure out the purpose of the hanged body. Finally, the Commissioner tells him that it is bait to lure people like him who escape successfully. Ed is frightened and realizes that he will be hanged in Oak Grove, just like the hanged body in Pikeville. That evening, Clarence Mason, the vice president of the Oak Grove Merchant’s Bank, sees a hanging object under the telephone pole in front of the police station.\n", "The story follows a regular man named Ed. The story follows Ed as he goes from his house to a shop that he owns. On his way there, he sees a dead body hanging from a tree in the town square. When he tells his coworkers, no one seems to understand the true implications of the hanging body, and Ed is the only one that takes it seriously. Ed starts to ask his coworkers why they are taking the hanging body so well, and Ed ends up being arrested by the town’s police. In the police car, Ed tries to explain his reaction to the policemen. He realizes that they aren’t real policemen, as Ed already knew every policeman in the town. Ed manages to escape and tries to head back home. While running, he sees a swarm of large alien-like bugs. He learns that they can control humans and imitate their actions. After seeing this, he gets on a bus and realizes that almost everyone in the bus is being controlled by the bugs. He also sees 2 people that seem different. He escapes the bus and is followed by the 2 same men. He gets into a fight with them and ends up killing one of them with a rock, thinking that they were controlled by bugs. He runs to his house to get his family and escape the town, but when he gets there he realizes that they were already being controlled by the bugs. He kills one of his sons and escapes alone. He gets to another town where he tries to explain everything to a police officer, but the police officer seemed very calm after everything that Ed had said, and the same cycle continues when another man finds a hanging body again.", "Ed Loyce goes to his TV store at five o’clock, and he is tired from digging dirt out of the basement. He stops his Packard at a red light while observing other people; the store has been open without him all day. There is no place to park in front of LOYCE TV SALES AND SERVICE, but he does a shapeless dark bundle swinging a little from the wind. As he brings his car around, he realizes that it is a human body. Loyce tells his co-workers Don Fergusson and Jack Potter about the body, but they seem untroubled about it. Nobody pays attention to the body, and Loyce feels sick. He bumps into Jenkins and Margaret Henderson, both who assume that he is sick because of his reactions. Two cops show up, and they tell him that he missed the announcement earlier today. As he gets into the police car, he realizes that they weren’t cops in Pikeville. Loyce manages to get away, stopping at the entrance of an alley. He heads towards the City Hall and sees fluttering shapes from the sky. The shapes are similar to giant insects with wings, and he wonders if there are more. Loyce realizes that they are aliens with the ability to change into man, and he boards a bus to get out of the area. Everyone seems fairly normal, but he notices a man watching him with shrewd eyes. He rushes out of the bus, and the man follows him. Loyce strikes the man with a rock and runs away as other people begin to gather. Janet asks what is happening when he returns him, and he tells her that the entire town is under control of the aliens now. The twins are called down, as Loyce tells him that they are going on a ride. Suddenly, there is a buzz and one of the aliens that bears a resemblance to Jimmy hurls itself at him. Loyce stabs it, realizing that his wife and other son are also controlled because of how expressionless they are. Eventually, he reaches Oak Grove and talks to the Commissioner. The Commissioner explains that he thinks this has been going on for a long time, and Loyce thinks about the man he accidentally killed. It turns out that the dead man was bait to draw out who had escaped, and the Commissioner tells him to come along as there is no time to waste. The last thing Loyce sees is a telephone pole and a rope on the street in front of the police station. The story then cuts to Clarence Mason preparing to go home after a long day working in the vaults. However, he notices a shapeless thing that looks like an ominous bundle hanging. He finds it strange that nobody else has noticed it. ", "Ed Loyce is the owner of a TV sales store. After a day of digging in his basement, he decided to drive to his store in the evening. While searching for a parking spot, he notices some bundle hanging from a lamppost in a town park, not far from his store. Moments later, he realizes it’s a human body. Loyce is shocked and starts asking his salesman Don Fergusson about the body but gets an indefinite answer. Jack Potter, a shoe shop’s employee, also calmly states that there has to be some valid reason behind it. Don goes back to work, surprisingly unbothered. Ed walks to the park to look at the dead man: not a local, his skin is cut gouged. Ed then meets a clerk named Jenkins, who asks why Ed looks sick. Loyce becomes hysterical, and people start gathering around him, wondering why someone is screaming. Two cops detain him and decide to drive Ed to the Hall of Justice. They start asking questions: his name, where he was during the day. Ed knows they are not real policemen - he knows all the cops of Pikeville - and eventually jumps out of the car when it slows down. He runs away and then sees a splotch of darkness above the City Hall and some alien figures coming through this slit. They can disguise themselves as men. He gets on the bus and inspects the other passengers - they seem to be under the influence of the alien creatures. Two men look at Ed with suspicion, and he quickly gets off the bus. He kills one of them with a rock while running away. Ed comes home and orders his wife and kids to get ready to leave the town immediately. His younger son seems to be under the control of a small alien. Ed stabs the creature, killing it. His wife and the other son are not reacting - they are subservient to the aliens, too. Ed runs away alone. He gets to a patrol station after crawling and limping for ten miles. The station’s attendant hears Ed’s story and looks confused. Loyce asks the man to get him to Oak Grove. Later, he tells his story to the Commissioner of Oak Grove, the officer believes him. Ed suggests that these creatures have been inhabiting the planet’s towns for a long time. He thinks the Jewish people defeated them and showed it in the Bible, illustrating Beelzebub as a giant fly, an alien insect. The Commissioner then explains that the dead body probably served as bait for people who were not yet under the aliens’ control. He asks Loyce to come with him somewhere. In the next scene, the vice president of the Oak Grove Merchants’ Bank leaves work after spending the day in the vault, examining deposit boxes. He suddenly sees a dark bundle hanging in front of the police station. \n" ]	41562	of futile sons? What can I do to save myself from dying eight days from now? Is there escape? His eyes widened, another image came to focus. Beyond this valley of cliffs, on a low mountain lay a perfect, unscarred metal seed. A metal ship, not rusted or touched by the avalanches. The ship was deserted, whole, intact. It was the only ship of all these that had crashed that was still a unit, still usable. But it was so far away. There was no one in it to help. This ship, then, on the far mountain, was the destiny What is POSAT? By PHYLLIS STERLING SMITH Illustrated by ED ALEXANDER [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Galaxy Science Fiction September 1951. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] Of course coming events cast their shadows before, but this shadow was 400 years long! The following advertisement appeared in the July 1953 issue of several magazines: MASTERY OF ALL KNOWLEDGE CAN BE YOURS! What is the secret source of those profound principles that can solve the problems of life? Send for our FREE booklet of explanation. Do not be a mission that huge and depressing in eight short, vanishing days? How had his people gotten into such a condition? As if at a button pressed, he saw an image. Metal seeds, blown across space from a distant green world, fighting with long flames, crashing on this bleak planet. From their shattered hulls tumble men and women. When? Long ago. Ten thousand days. The crash victims hid in the cliffs from the sun. Fire, ice and floods washed away the wreckage of the huge metal seeds. The victims were shaped and beaten like iron upon a forge. Solar radiations drenched them. 10:30." The following evening found Quidley on tenter-hooks. The snoll-doper mystery had acquired a new tang. He could hardly wait till the next message transfer took place. He decided to spend the evening plotting the epic novel which he intended to write someday. He set to work immediately. He plotted mentally, of course—notes were for the hacks and the other commercial non-geniuses who infested the modern literary world. Closing his eyes, he saw the whole vivid panorama of epic action and grand adventure flowing like a mighty and majestic river before his literary vision: the authentic and awe-inspiring background; the the corner he halted. The street lights had not yet come on. The street was dim. Everything was vague. He looked around—and froze. From the telephone pole in front of the police station, something large and shapeless hung. It moved a little with the wind. What the hell was it? Mason approached it warily. He wanted to get home. He was tired and hungry. He thought of his wife, his kids, a hot meal on the dinner table. But there was something about the dark bundle, something ominous and ugly. The light was bad; he couldn't tell what it was.
Why does Steffens decide to engage with the robots?	After carefully reading the provided chunks, write a detailed response to the following question about Orphans of the Void by Michael Shaara. Relevant chunks: machines. He tried to push the thought out of his mind, because he knew that they should seem inhuman. But.... "Will the others come down?" asked the robot, still mechanically. Steffens felt his embarrassment. The ship lay high in the mist above, jets throbbing gently. "They must remain with the ship," Steffens said aloud, trusting to the robot's formality not to ask him why. Although, if they could read his mind, there was no need to ask. For a long while, neither spoke, long enough for Steffens to grow tense and uncomfortable. He could not think of a thing to Why else would we have been built?" Steffens thought the robot would go on, but it didn't. The question, to Elb, was no question at all. Although Steffens knew already what the robot could not possibly have known—that the Makers were gone and would never come back—he was a long time understanding. What he did was push this speculation into the back of his mind, to keep it from Elb. He had no desire to destroy a faith. But it created a problem in him. He had begun to picture for Elb the structure of human society, and the robot—a were almost like children in their eagerness, yet they were still reserved. Whoever had built them, Steffens thought in wonder, had built them well. Ball came to join Steffens, staring at the robots through the clear plastic of his helmet with baffledly widened eyes. A robot moved out from the mass in the field, allied itself to him. The first to speak had remained with Steffens. Realizing that the robot could hear every word he was saying, Ball was for a while apprehensive. But the sheer unreality of standing and talking with a multi-limbed, intelligent hunk of dead metal upon that the Earthmen wore suits which were not parts of their bodies, and it was even more difficult for them to understand why the suits were needed. But when they did understand, the robots did a surprising thing. At first, because of the excessive radiation, none of the Earthmen could remain outside the ship for long, even in radiation suits. And one morning, when Steffens came out of the ship, it was to discover that hundreds of the robots, working through the night, had effectively decontaminated the entire area. It was at this point that Steffens asked how many robots him, extended a hand as it had done in the picture. Steffens took it, he hoped, warmly; felt the power of the metal through the glove of his suit. "Welcome," the robot said, speaking again to his mind, and now Steffens detected a peculiar alteration in the robot's tone. It was less friendly now, less—Steffens could not understand—somehow less interested , as if the robot had been—expecting someone else. "Thank you," Steffens said. "We are deeply grateful for your permission to land." "Our desire," the robot repeated mechanically, "is only to serve." Suddenly, Steffens began to feel alone, surrounded by Question: Why does Steffens decide to engage with the robots? Answer:	[ "Steffens was stumped as to what to do when they visually discovered robots on the Third planet. He proactively sounded an alert and put defense screens on the ship, but wondered about what his governing League Law would have him do.\nContact with races on foreign planets was forbidden, but he was unsure if robots could be called a race. Earth didn’t have robots because imaginative robots were expressly forbidden to build. Steffens thought it was possible the robots were the brains of natives encased in metal.\nSince Steffens is under “The Mapping Command”, he is supposed to go no further than examining unexplored systems, checking for life-forms and the possibilities of human colonization. His conundrum was that, “if he returned to Sirius base without investigating this robot situation, he could very well be court-martialed one way or the other, either for breaking the Law of Contact or for dereliction of duty.”\nThe robots reach out telepathically, saying in words that they are only here to serve, and communicating a photo to the minds of the crew of a robot extending a hand for a handshake. Although Steffens wonders about letting the Alien Contact crew handle the situation, he ultimately decides it is his responsibility - and he goes on to initiate contact by requesting to land. He is encouraged to stay and explore by the kind nature of the robots.\n", "When Steffens and his crew flew from Tyban IV to check out this other planet, they had no idea that they would find life or even robotic humanoids on this planet. The Mapping Command is simply meant to check off boxes (was there life on this planet? Is it inhabitable for humans?), not to interact with the potential life forms below. However, Steffens is faced with a serious dilemma when he encounters the robots. He has already technically made contact by accident since he flew so close to the surface to investigate the burnt city. Whether or not he interacted with them more or flew away, he would be in trouble with the Commissioner. Contact with races is expressly forbidden, however, he wonders if robots could really be defined as a race since they were more of an invention. So, he decided to learn more about the robots by staying. ", "At first, Steffens isn't sure if he should engage with the robots because the League Law forbids contact with planet-bound races, but the robots were not necessarily a race. Because Earthmen did not have robots, they were a new type of encounter for him, and he decided that it would be okay since they had effectively already made contact. He isn't even sure if they are native beings with some kind of casing to protect their organs or even just brains from the elements, or if they are entirely robots. In the end, though, it was a Catch-22: if he made contact, he could be breaking the Law of Contact, but if he went back to base without making contact, it could be said that he did not complete his duty. ", "Steffens decides to engage with the robots because they seem to be openly and graciously inviting the spaceship and its men to visit them. The robots send a friendly greeting, explaining that they do not wish the humans harm and that their only desire is to serve. They also send an image of one of the robots lifting its arm and graciously offering its hand. In addition, since the robots communicate with the humans telepathically, their messages are persuasive, and Steffens feels a strong urge to take the robot’s proffered hand. Another reason he decides to engage with the robots is that while the Law of Contact forbids making contact with life-forms, the robots are not life-forms, and Steffens could very well face a court-martial for dereliction of duty if he does not make contact with them. On top of that, Steffens is immensely curious about the robots and their makers." ]	50827	machines. He tried to push the thought out of his mind, because he knew that they should seem inhuman. But.... "Will the others come down?" asked the robot, still mechanically. Steffens felt his embarrassment. The ship lay high in the mist above, jets throbbing gently. "They must remain with the ship," Steffens said aloud, trusting to the robot's formality not to ask him why. Although, if they could read his mind, there was no need to ask. For a long while, neither spoke, long enough for Steffens to grow tense and uncomfortable. He could not think of a thing to Why else would we have been built?" Steffens thought the robot would go on, but it didn't. The question, to Elb, was no question at all. Although Steffens knew already what the robot could not possibly have known—that the Makers were gone and would never come back—he was a long time understanding. What he did was push this speculation into the back of his mind, to keep it from Elb. He had no desire to destroy a faith. But it created a problem in him. He had begun to picture for Elb the structure of human society, and the robot—a were almost like children in their eagerness, yet they were still reserved. Whoever had built them, Steffens thought in wonder, had built them well. Ball came to join Steffens, staring at the robots through the clear plastic of his helmet with baffledly widened eyes. A robot moved out from the mass in the field, allied itself to him. The first to speak had remained with Steffens. Realizing that the robot could hear every word he was saying, Ball was for a while apprehensive. But the sheer unreality of standing and talking with a multi-limbed, intelligent hunk of dead metal upon that the Earthmen wore suits which were not parts of their bodies, and it was even more difficult for them to understand why the suits were needed. But when they did understand, the robots did a surprising thing. At first, because of the excessive radiation, none of the Earthmen could remain outside the ship for long, even in radiation suits. And one morning, when Steffens came out of the ship, it was to discover that hundreds of the robots, working through the night, had effectively decontaminated the entire area. It was at this point that Steffens asked how many robots him, extended a hand as it had done in the picture. Steffens took it, he hoped, warmly; felt the power of the metal through the glove of his suit. "Welcome," the robot said, speaking again to his mind, and now Steffens detected a peculiar alteration in the robot's tone. It was less friendly now, less—Steffens could not understand—somehow less interested , as if the robot had been—expecting someone else. "Thank you," Steffens said. "We are deeply grateful for your permission to land." "Our desire," the robot repeated mechanically, "is only to serve." Suddenly, Steffens began to feel alone, surrounded by