Blish,James – And all the Stars a Stage

whose purport could not be riddled. The tropics were gone, scorched to the

ground, and the temperate zones were afire in many places. Those who

remained alive huddled at the

89

90 fames Blish

poles, dying of heat prostration and starvation in about equal numbers,

under skies permanently black with smoke.

Incredibly, there was a war on between the two poles. Nobody could guess

what they had found to fight about. They no longer seemed to know them-

selves.

And yet, and yet, in some unguessable crypt of this blistered, blackened,

burning world, there was a sane man-

The signal was quite strong compared to the others, and directional.

Furthermore, it was slowed by just the necessary amount, so that it first

came through as a strange groaning noise, and had to be picked up direct

instead of on the tape. It said:

“Calling the Interstellar Expeditionary Project. Don’t try to reply, III

never hear you. If my figures are right, you’re about to cross over the

speed of light. May the Ghost bear you in His hands. If you find any

worlds, make a better job of them than we did with this one. Can’t say any

more but will set this to repeat–7

Then there was a heavy explosion, powerful even at this enormous distance;

and a woman’s voice, screaming:

“Thought you’d get away clean, did you? Thought we couldn’t find your

little spy’s den, eh? Somebody kill me that traitorl”

A crackle and hiss of shots; a groan; the laughter of several people, sex

not deten-ninable; retreating footsteps, somehow unsteady. And then,

another groan, and the slow, slow onset of terminal breathing.