The Galaxy Primes

and the lacquer on her finger-and toe-nails. As she strolled into the Main of the starship, followed hesitantly by the

oc

he pilot's bucket seat. His guard was partially down; he was telep

The emphasis was somewhere between condescension and sneer. "Not much to choose

th Garlock, Doctor of Philosophy, Doctor of Science, Prime Operator, President and First Fellow of the Galaxian Society, First Fellow of the Gunther Society, Fellow of the Institute of Paraphysics, of the Institute of Nuclear Phy

amy, the better. Obstinate, swell-headed women give me an acute rectal pain. Pitching your curves over all the vizzies in space got you aboard, but it wo

he jeered. "That I want to see! Any time you want

can't say a thing for your judgment." He got up and started

inst the heavier man's chest. "What the hell kind

on people looking on! You know as well as I do that we may have to spend the rest o

ock interrupted. "When pussy there st

ply, "but Fatso and his number one girl

ilent three-dimensional communications instrument. T

ber off?" she demanded. Her voice was deep-pitch

e and a man's appeared-a face to ju

ale eyes glared from the fat face. "That co

is cost me, Fatso

at deliberately, demotion three grades and prob

ed,

going anywhere," Garlo

ous starship in as junk. In the meantime, whether you like it or not, I'm going to

utting pliers, "is that all your strength is in your glands and none in your alleged brain. There are a lot

an shouted. "I'd fire you-blac

d to the two women in the Main. He began to

thing was ever calculated to drive a man nuts, this farce was. As the only female Prime in the system, Belle should have been in automatically-she had

ip will never even lift. So they made a Grand Circus of it. But they succeeded in one thing-with such abysmal stupidit

had a very good cha

n bigger damn lies than that one.

I'm not a ma

l Jim and I work out something to steer us with. But they must be wondering no end, outside, what t

y." Neither, however, ev

body," Garlock said,

" the worried voice of the System's ace ne

understand the meaning of the word. Now all four of us tell everybody who is watching or li

nded. "Leave it on until the last po

ck on!" Bel

ix

?" she

u be, if you had three brain cells working in that glory-ho

xclaimed. "Where do you want u

re probably won't be any shock, and we should land right side up, b

's in ou

struments. The pilot donned his scanner. The ship lifted effortlessly, noiseless

?" James lic

ever will be, I

usiastically toward a red button on his panel ... slowed ...

. "Hit it, for goodness sake,

ndings disappeared. Or, rather, and without any sensation of motion, of displacement, or of the passage of any time whatsoever, the planet beneath them was no lon

g almost jauntily now that the attempt had been made and had failed. "So now it's up to you, Clee, as Director of Project G

ing to the annihilation of distance, had been studied, tested, and applied to the full. So had the Psionic Corollaries; which, while not having the sta

ally a foregone conclusion that any man of the requisite caliber would already be a member of the Galaxian Society, the three pla

iron-clad contract to, vast Solar System Enterprises, Inc., the only c

elieved implicitly that Firsts were in fact tops in Gunther ability; that these few self-styled "Operators" and "Prime Operators" were either charlatans or se

as he would go. For salaries and for labor, for research and mater

cost the Galaxian Society alm

ption. They were to be of the crew; for over a year it

field went on, the ship would be displaced instantaneously to some location in space having precisely the Gunther coordinates required by that particular field. One impeccably rigorous analysis showed that the ship would

equal rigor that the point of destination was no more likely to be any one given Gunther point than any other one of the myriads of bill

culated pressures would make them go. It was neither

wenty-five age group. Thus, if the Pleiades returned successfully to Earth, well and good. If she did not, the four selectees would found, upon s

aceport until a bare fifteen minutes before the scheduled time of take-off. Thus it made no difference whether the women liked the men or not, or vice

ve to do some organizing. These instruments," he waved at his console, "show that ours is the only Operator Field in this w

o Tellus," Belle

us there will be no Gunthe

e in again. "Have

will reach for it or have it passed. We will pick up things, such as cigarettes, with our fingers.

lish," Belle sneered, "but

d held. Then Garlock grinned savagely. "Okay. You tel

d, while Belle glared at Garlock in frustrated ang

ad of the class. All monosyllables except two. T

e a tight-beamed thought. "I wa

n, aloud, to all three, "In emergencies, of course, anything goes. We will n

are you insisting on oral communication, when lepping is so muc

men, no more than I have to. What I

o run a ship!

female exhibitionist. Besides your obvious qualifications to be one of the Eves in case of Ultimate Contingency...." he broke

wenty, forty?

as an almost tangible force;

five. If any of it's any of your business, which it isn't. You

have got a brain-one that really works. What do you t

y man ever born can d

ll put us two hundred thousand feet di

irness from you-and you know it. That d

, n

en't had. Give me a five-tape course on it and I'll come cl

re supposed to know, then. How woul

I saw, putting my foot on his face, and yelling 'Bow down, you stupid, ign

le, that one mi

hell are you trying to prove? How about cutting ou

, holding his temper by a visible effort. "S

ther. I have a whole box of tapes in my room, including advanced Gunther math and first-conta

ur own tapes-and you probably won't, since Ferber and his Miss Foster ran the selections-use our library. It

how to be Doct

a," James said. "

led winningly. "And my f

uld. It fits like

magination-was a rich and even brown. Originally fairly dark, it had been tanned to a more-than-fashionable depth of color by naked sun-bathing

re or less, to study, too. It'll be quite a while, I'm afra

ng above his finely-chiseled aquiline nose. "Since neither Jim nor I need an assistant any more than we need tails, it was designed to give you girls something

at's a fair question. Don't read anything into it tha

when I know what should be done, I give orders. When I don't kn

apt to need any nu

ol

ldn't duplicate. W

rk full time on nebular configurations. If we hit inhabited planets he'll have to add their star-charts to his own. That leaves three of us to do all the other work of a surv

ts. Lots of inhabitants-farms, villages, all sizes of cities. Not close en

stronomy, which is all yo

e is any. I'd say the most important ones would be geology, stratigraphy, paleontology, oceanogr

f. But there are only three of us. Th

st split would be planetology, xenology, and anthropology-each, of course, str

studying the non-human life forms-including as many lower animals and plants as possible. I'll make a stab a

y. "All I know about it is a hazy idea of what the word mea

ology to you, Lola. Besides,

I mean-working for my Ph.D. But as Jim said, it isn't only the on

know what you're doing, while Belle a

he line between hum

as much as we can, I think. Take us down, Jim-a

just outside a fairly large city. Fifty t

of your tremendous, hitherto-considered-impossible mass-" a t

commanding, asking permission to land and information as to landing conventio

ving done so. Hold for inspection and type-test, please. We

antastic speed. They leveled off a thousand feet below the Pleiades and made a flying ci

part of the galaxy, certainly ... could it be that intergalactic travel is actually possible? But excuse me, Captain Garlock, none of that is any of my business; which is to determine w

our own tri-d

I will rise to your level and teleport one acros

t of your 'copter into the air. We'll take i

The alien was all attention. "I have not known that

James said.

he alien. Then, to Lola: "You've be

nd those in the fighters, yes. M

set's coming t

uline rudimentary nipples-had double shoulders and four arms. His skin was a vividly intense cobalt blue. His ears were black, long, and highly dirigible. His eyes, a flaming red in colo

hat nothing even remotely like it is on record, you four are completely human and, i

micro-organ

ach, please, one of you, and grasp wi

rlock did so. He felt no unus

rprising in the extreme, as you are the first human beings of record

he terms are i

y own. However, there is no doubt that physically you are perfectly compatible wit

tions and so on? And may we keep this box? We will be glad to trad

's good. Land where you please, go where you please, do what you please as long as you please. Take up permanent residence or leave as soon as you please. Marry if you like, or simply br

y so. Than

lly must g

s had disappeared, the helicopter was f

l be damne

d. "Lola, do you check me that this planet is named Hodell,

'creatures'. They are human

Well, let's take advantage of their extraordinarily

ipped with runways and/or other landing facilities to suit one class of craft-propellor

down, Jim? With the 'copters

ithin a couple of inches. I'll put her squarely into th

Garlock said. "But the gr

's terrific stuff we'd smash it. On bare ground, the worst we

re foot, is all. Shall we stra

n though I've got to do this on manual, I w

e selected corner. There was no noise, no blast, no flame, no slightest visible or detectable sign of whatever force i

o be felt. When she came to rest, after settling into the

proximately Earth-normal," Garlock said

eld. "Our visit is kicking up a l

d. "I want to see how the

ded, "and some oth

's tremendous Operator Field by the sheer power of her Prime Operator's mind-s

surprised. I am shocked, annoyed, and disgruntled. W

isted. "They're wearing anything and e

re or covered. Ditto for legs up to there, backs, arms, necks and shoulders down to here, and torsos clear down to there. We'll not violate any convention

that. We'll go

. The Press. Three men and two women. Two cameras, one walkie-talkie, and two microphones. The

h to lep, boss?" Belle sugges

, anyway-I'll log this stuff u

y good. On Gunther, the guy was right-no signs at

" James

y were the same as the Arpalone we talked to. They ar

tearing canine teeth. Carnivorous. I'll call them jus

than voices in similar case, in being so much faster. The reporters, all of them, wanted to know everything at once. How, what, where, when, and why. Also who. And all about Tellus and

Lola Montandon, our anthropologist, will take charge. Keep it orderly, Lola, if you have to throw half of them o

ream of speech going into his portable recorder. Garlock also noticed that in any group of more than a dozen people there was always at least one guardian. They paid no attention whatever to the people, who in tu

urning Garlock over to a startlingly beautiful, leggy

a Two-a high Two, at that-be working as an usher? And w

"You aren't putting out anything about ou

We must know the

Keep your

rg's Cartier Room, seized his left hand in both of hers and held it considerably longer than was necessary. Her dazzling smile, her laugh

Her thoughts flowed. "I have been, too, sir, and I'm simply delighted to see you close up, and I hope to see a lot more of you. You're a wonderfully pleasant surprise, sir; I've never seen a man like you before. I don't think Hodell ever saw

fed chair, and crossed her legs meticulously. Then, still smiling

t office instead of the port manager. He knew that Atterlin had been reading him-as muc

le-aged, red-headed man a trifle inclined to portliness, had been seated i

thing we need or can use. For such, all services are free-or rather, are paid by the city. Our cur

have plenty of metal. What are your ratios

rs flashed over the keys of a computer beside his chair. "One weig

re not nece

. One of gold to eleven of silver.

ion tomorrow morning and exchange it for your curren

have an armored tru

t five thousand tanes. Thank you very much, Gov

n to you, sir. Unt

turned t

p, sir, to take just a little look

y Neldine, I'd like t

"And I want to see Pilot James close up, too, sir-he's not nearly as wonderful as you are, sir-and I wonder why Planetographer Bel

e. She could not read him, except very superficially, but she was reading the strange girl like a book and wa

ttle man-eating shark?" she sen

inned. "I haven't been able to find any urbane w

"I shouldn't have said that, Clee, of course." She laughed lightly. "It was just the shock; there wasn't anything in any of my First Contact tapes covering what to do about beautiful and enticing g

And for the rest of the day Belle playe

ans could be persuaded to leave the

s in a dozen different theaters and eighteen night spots. To dance all night in twenty-one different places, ranging from dives to strictly soup-and-fish. I was nice about it, of course-j

her. I feel as though I'd done a day's work. After supper

s soon ov

ht. These Hodellians expect Jim and me to impregnate as many as possible of their highest-rated women before we leave. By their Code it's mandatory, since we can't hide the fact that we rate much higher than they do-their highest rating is only Grade Two by our standards-and all the planets hereabouts up-grade themselves w

, at that, come to think of it. That ball of fire they picked out for you would be a blue-ribbon dish in anybody's cook-book. And

ly; then paused in thought and went on slowly, "I won't prete

sitation. "I don't like it, either. I think it's horrible; but it's exc

course. But think, damn it! There's nothing higher than Gunther Two in the humanity of this planet. Telepathy is the only ESP they have. High Gunther uses hitherto unused portions of the brain. It's transmitted through genes, which

minutes o

got a bone in it," Ja

tes more o

a," Garlock said the

er, but it's the only one I've been able to think up. First, are you absolutely su

sit

imaginable, but in fact impossible. We pair-or marry, or whatever they do here-once only. For life. Desire and potency can exist only within the pair; never outside it. Like eagles. If a man's wife dies, even,

oud, full-bodied, ear-piercing, tongue-and-teeth whistle which so few women ever master. Her eyes

ggest a solution. What

bout it...." Belle was rocking back and forth with laughter. She could not possibly talk, but her thought flowed on, "I just love

spot-especially Jim,"

hinking about the thing only as a problem in anthropology,

at-telling this whole damn cockeyed region of space that he's impotent, too! And with a perfectly straight face! And it ties in so beautifully with his making no

ged finally to break in. "Not that

see if we don't. You won't need any nasty little...." Belle could not hold the pose, but went off again into whoops of laughter. "What a brain you've got

nd listen!" James roared aloud. "There

n?" Belle was still laughing

"But it'll have to be a dilly. I'm not exactly enamored of Lola's idea, either, but as the ans

t no improvement could

dy comes up with anything by then, let me know. If not, it goes i

m and closed the door behind her. She sat down on the edge of a chair, lighted a cigarette, and began to

of me, Lola?" h

, and she wouldn't admit the truth. "You see, I've n

of me at all. I'm not g

fell out of it. She took a few seconds to recover it. "

, to show her splendid fig

h women, and that little has been urbane, logical, and strictly en passant; on the level of mutual physical desire. Thus, I have never taken a virgin. Pairing with one is

not? You've never read me that deep. No

essary-you flaunt

th you, Clee!" Lola had lost all of her nervousness, most of her fear. "It's part of the job

enough to have done just that. And you have a ver

But we'd better go ahe

Permissible, but

ve just as much fun, or even more-she's charming; a real darling, isn't she?-without pairing with me, and then I had to open my

direct and control their drives or who haven't any real work to occupy their minds. It applies to many men, of course, possibly to

s. Thanks, Clee. You kn

u? Kis

di

ee

trick

ne of the three. You'll have to grow up, some day. In my opinion, forcing yourself to give up one of your hardest-held ideals-virginity-merely because of the utte

mendous force. I didn't know men felt that way. But no matter what my feeling for you really is, I'm really grateful to

not you, that I'll take for the long pull. And not beca

est, I thi

Well, that buttons it up, Brownie, except for one thi

ll as to present a united f

watch you

wn. I'm awfully glad you called me 'Brown

ed to a woman this way before, eithe

g-I do like you a lot, j

t don't strain yourself; and I me

training a bit, an

in, and this time

ncing demonstration, Brownie

happily. "If there's any next ti

ime you really want to ... to kiss me, come right in. I won't be as silly an

ight, B