HEREAFTER, INC.
Unknown December 1941 by Lester del Rey (1915- )
Phineas Theophilus Potts, who would have been the last to admit and the first to believe he was a godly man, creaked over in bed and stuck out one scrawny arm wrathfully. The raucous jangling of the alarm was an unusually painful cancer in his soul that morning. Then his waking mind took over and he checked his hand, bringing it down on the alarm button with precise, but gentle, firmness. Would he never learn to control these little angers? In this world one should bear all troubles with uncomplaining meekness, not rebel against them; otherwise But it was too early in the morning to think of that.
He wriggled out of bed and gave his thoughts over to the ritual of remembering yesterday’s sins, checking to make sure all had been covered and wiped out the night before. That’s when he got his first shock; he couldn’t remember anything about the day beforebad, very bad. Well, no doubt it was another trap of the forces conspiring to secure Potts’ soul. Teh, tch. Terrible, but he could circumvent even that snare.
There was no mere mumbling by habit to his confession; word after word rolled off his tongue carefully with full knowledge and unctuous shame until he reached the concluding lines. “For the manifold sins which I have committed and for this greater sin which now afflicts me, forgive and guide me to sin no more, but preserve me in righteousness all the days of my life. Amen.” Thus having avoided the pitfall and saved himself again from eternal combustion, he scrubbed hands with himself and began climbing into his scratchy underclothes and cheap black suit. Then he indulged in a breakfast of dry toast and buttermilk flavored with self-denial and was ready to fare forth into the world of ‘ temptation around him.
The telephone jangled against his nerves and he jumped, grabbing for it impatiently before he remembered; he addressed the mouthpiece contritely. “Phineas Potts speaking.”
It was Mr. Sloane, his lusty animal voice barking out from the receiver. ” ‘Lo, Phin, they told me you’re ready to come down to work today. Business is booming and we can use you. How about it?”
“Certainly, Mr. Sloane. I’m not one to shirk my duty.” There was no reason for the call that Potts could see; he hadn’t missed a day in twelve years. “You know”
“Sure, okay. That’s fine. Just wanted to warn you that we’ve moved. You’ll see the name plate right across the street when you come outswell place, too. Sure you can make it all right?”
“I shall be there in ten minutes, Mr. Sloane,” Phineas assured him, and remembered in time to hang up without displaying distaste. Tch, poor Sloane, wallowing in sin and ignorant of the doom that awaited him. Why, the last time Phineas had chided his employermildly, tooSloane had actually laughed at him! Dear. Well, no doubt he incurred grace by trying to save the poor lost soul, even though his efforts seemed futile. Of course, there was danger in consorting with such people, but no doubt his sacrifices would be duly recorded.
There was a new elevator boy, apparently, when he came out of his room. He sniffed pointedly at the smoke from the boy’s cigarette; the boy twitched his lips, but did not throw it away.
“Okay, bub,” he grunted as the doors clanked shut, grating across Phineas’ nerves, “I don’t like it no better’n you will, but here We are.”
Bub! Phineas glared at the shoulders turned to him and shuddered. He’d see Mrs. Biddle about this later.
Suppressing his feelings with some effort, he headed across the lobby, scarcely noting it, and stepped out onto the street. Then he stopped. That was the second jolt. He swallowed twice, opened his eyes and lifted them for the first time in weeks, and looked again. It hadn’t changed. Where there should have been a little twisted side street near the tenements, he saw instead a broad gleaming thoroughfare, busy with people and bright in warm golden sunshine. Opposite, the ugly stores were replaced with bright, new office buildings, and the elevated tracks were completely missing. He swung slowly about, clutching his umbrella for support as he faced the hotel; it was still a hotelbut not his definitely not his. Nor was the lobby the same. He fumbled back into it, shaken and bewildered.
The girl at the desk smiled up at him out of dancing eyes, and she certainly wasn’t the manager. Nor would prim Mrs. Biddle, who went to his church, have hired this brazen little thing; both her lips and fingernails were bright crimson, to begin with, and beyond that he preferred not to go.
The brazen little thing smiled again, as if glorying in her obvious idolatry. “Forget something, Mr. Potts?”
“I … uh . . ; no. That is … you know who I am?”
She nodded brightly. “Yes indeed, Mr. Potts. You moved in yesterday. Room 408. Is everything satisfactory?”
Phineas half nodded, gulped, and stumbled out again. Moved in? He couldn’t recall it. Why should he leave Mrs. Biddle’s? And 408 was his old room number; the room was identical with the one he had lived in, even to the gray streak on the wallpaper that had bothered his eyes for years. Something was horribly wrongfirst the lack of memory, then Sloane’s peculiar call, now this. He was too upset even to realize that this was probably another temptation set before him.
Mechanically, Phineas spied Sloane’s name plate on one of the new buildings and crossed over into it. “Morning, Mr. Potts,” said the elevator boy, and Phineas jumped. He’d never seen this person before, either. “Fourth floor, Mr. Potts. Mr. Sloane’s office is just two doors down.”
Phineas followed the directions automatically, found the door marked G. R. SLOANEARCHITECT, and pushed into a huge room filled with the almost unbearable clatter of typewriters and Comptometers, the buzz of voices, and the jarring thump of an addressing machine. But this morning the familiarity of the sound seemed like a haven out of the wilderness until he looked around. Not only had Sloane moved, but he’d apparently also expanded and changed most of his office force. Only old Callahan was left, and Callahan Strange, he felt sure Callahan had retired or something the year before. Oh, well, that was the least of his puzzles.
Callahan seemed to sense his stare, for he jumped up and brought a hamlike fist down on Phineas’ back, almost knocking out the ill-fitting false teeth. “Phin Potts, you old doom-monger! Welcome back!” He thumped again and Potts coughed, trying to reach the spot and rub out the sting. Not only did Callahan have to be an atheistan argumentative onebut he had to indulge in this gross horseplay. Why hadn’t the man stayed properly retired?
“Mr. Sloane?” he managed to gurgle.
Sloane himself answered, his rugged face split in a grin. “Hi, Phin. Let him alone, Callahan. Another thump like that and I’ll have to hire a new draftsman. Come on, Phin, there’s the devil’s own amount of work piled up for you now that you’re back from your little illness.” He led him around a bunch of tables where bright-painted hussies were busily typing, down a hall, and into the drafting room, exchanging words with others that made Phineas wince. Really, his language seemed to grow worse each day.
“Mr. Sloane, would you please”
“Mind not using such language,” Sloane finished, and grinned. “Phin, I can’t help it. I feel too good. Business is terrific and I’ve got the world by the tail. How do you feel?”
“Very well, thank you.” Phineas fumbled and caught the thread of former conversation that had been bothering him. “You said something aboutillness?”
“Think nothing of it. After working for me twelve years, I’m not going to dock your pay for a mere month’s absence. Kind of a shame you had to be off just when I needed you, but such things will happen, so we’ll just forget it, eh?” He brushed aside the other’s muttered attempt at questioning and dug into the plans. “Here, better start on thisyou’ll notice some changes, but it’s a lot like what we used to do; something like the Oswego we built in ‘37. Only thing that’ll give you trouble is the new steel they put out now, but you can follow specifications on that.”
Phineas picked up the specifications, ran them over, and blinked. This would never do; much as he loathed the work, he was an excellent draftsman, and he knew enough of general structural design to know this would never do. “But, two-inch I-beams here”
” ‘Sail right, Phin, structural strength is about twelve times what you’re used to. Makes some really nice designing possible, too. Just follow the things like I said, and I’ll go over it all later. Things changed a little while you were delirious. But I’m in a devil of a rush right flow. See you.” He stuck his body through the door, thrust his head back inside and cocked an eyebrow. “Lunch? Need somebody to show you around, I guess.”