WHEN THEY HAD GONE, Harshaw started to give instructions to Duke- theninstead said grumpily, .What are you looking sour about?“.Boss, when are we going to get rid of that ghoul?“.’Ghoul’? Why, you provincial lout!“.Okay, so I come from Kansas. You won’t find any cases of cannibalism inKansas-they were all farther west. I’ve got my own opinions about who is alout and who isn’t . . . but I’m eating in the kitchen until we get rid of him.“Harshaw said icily, .So? Don’t put yourself out. Anne can have your closingcheck ready in five minutes . . . and it ought not to take you more than tenminutes to pack up your comic books and your other shirt.“Duke had been setting up a projector. He stopped and straightened up. .Oh, Ididn’t mean that I was quitting.“.It means exactly that to me, son.“.But-I mean, what the hell? I’ve eaten in the kitchen lots of times.“.So you have. For your own convenience, or to keep from making extra workfor the girls. Or some such. You can have breakfast in bed, for all of me, ifyou can bribe the girls to serve it to you. But nobody who sleeps under myroof refuses to eat at my table because he doesn’t want to eat with otherswho eat there. I happen to be of an almost extinct breed, an old-fashionedgentleman-which means I can be a real revolving son of bitch when it suitsme. And it suits me right now . . . which is to say that no ignorant,superstitious, prejudiced bumpkin is permitted to tell me who is, or is not, fitto eat at my table. If I choose to dine with publicans and sinners, that is mybusiness. But I do not choose to break bread with Pharisees.“Duke turned red and said slowly, .I ought to pop you one-and I would, ifyou were my age.“.Don’t let that stop you, Duke. I may be tougher than you think and if I’m not,the commotion will probably bring the others in. Do you think you can handlethe Man from Mars?“.Him? I could break him in two with one hand!“ .Probably ... if you could lay ahand on him.“ .Huh?“.You saw me try to point a pistol at him. Duke-where’s that pistol? Before yougo flexing your biceps, stop and think-or whatever it is you do in place ofthinking. Find that pistol. Then tell me whether or not you still think you canbreak Mike in two. But find the pistol first.“Duke wrinkled his forehead, then went ahead setting up the projector. .Somesort of sleight-of-hand. The films will show it.“Harshaw said, .Duke. Stop fiddling with that projector. Sit down. I’ll take careof it after you’ve left and run off the films myself. But I want to talk to you afew moments first.“.Huh? Jubal, I don’t want you touching this projector. Every time you do, youget it out of whack. It’s a delicate piece of machinery.“.Sit down, I said.“.But-.
.It’s my projector, Duke. I’ll bust the damned thing if it suits me. Or: I’ll getLarry to run it for me. But I do not accept service from a man alter he hasresigned from my employ.“.Hell, I didn’t resign! You got nasty and sounded off and fired me- for noreason.“.Sit down, Duke,“ Harshaw said quietly. .Either sit down ... and let me try tosave your life-or get off this place as fast as you can and let me send yourclothes and wages after you. Don’t stop to pack; it’s too risky. You might notlive that long.“.What the hell do you mean?“.Exactly what I say. Duke, it’s irrelevant whether you resigned or were fired;you terminated your employment here when you announced that you wouldno longer eat at my table. Nevertheless I would find it distasteful for you to bekilled on my premises. So sit down and I will do my best to avoid it.“Duke looked startled, opened his mouth-closed it and sat down. Harshawwent on, .Are you Mike’s water brother?“.Huh? Of course not. Oh, I’ve heard such chatter-but it’s nonsense, if youask me.“.It is not nonsense and nobody asked you; you aren’t competent to have anopinion about it.“ Harshaw frowned. .That’s too bad. I can see that I am notonly going to have to let you go-and, Duke, I don’t want to fire you; you do agood job of keeping the gadgetry around here working properly and therebysave me from being annoyed by mechanical buffoonery I am totallyuninterested in. But I must not only get you safely off the place but I mustalso find out at once who else around here is not a water brother to Mike . . .
and either see to it that they become such-or get them off the place beforeanything happens to them.“ Jubal chewed his lip and stared at the ceiling.
.Maybe it would be sufficient to exact a solemn promise from Mike not to hurtanyone without my specific permission. Mmmm . . . no, I can’t risk it. Toomuch horse play around here-and there is always the chance that Mike mightmisinterpret something that was meant in fun. Say if you-or Larry, rather,since you won’t be here- picked up Jill and tossed her into the pool, Larrymight wind up where that pistol went, before I could explain to Mike that itwas all in fun and Jill was not in danger. I wouldn’t want Larry to die throughmy oversight. Larry is entitled to work out his own damn foolishness withouthaving it cut short through my carelessness. Duke, I believe in everyone’sworking out his own damnation his own way . . . but nevertheless that is noexcuse for an adult to give a dynamite cap to a baby as a toy.“Duke said slowly, .Boss, you sound like you’ve come unzipped. Mikewouldn’t hurt anybody-shucks, this cannibalism talk makes me want to throwup but don’t get me wrong; I know he’s just a savage, he doesn’t know anybetter. Hell, Boss, he’s gentle as a lamb. He would never hurt anybody.“.You think so?“.I’m sure of it.“.So. You’ve got two or three guns in your room. I say he’s dangerous. It’sopen season on Martians, so pick a gun you trust, go down to the swimmingpool, and kill him. Don’t worry about the law; I’ll be your attorney and Iguarantee that you’ll never be indicted. Go ahead, do it!“.Jubal ... you don’t mean that.“.No. No, I don’t really mean it. Because you can’t. If you tried it, your gunwould go where my pistol went-and if you hurried him you’d probably go withit. Duke, you don’t know what you are fiddling with- and I don’t either exceptthat I know it’s dangerous and you don’t. Mike is not .gentle as a lamb’ andhe is not a savage. I suspect we are the savages. Ever raise snakes?“.Uh ... no.“.I did, when I was a kid. Thought I was going to be a zoologist then. Onewinter, down in Florida, I caught what I thought was a scarlet snake. Knowwhat they look like?“.I don’t like snakes.“.Prejudice again, rank prejudice. Most snakes are harmless, useful, and funto raise. The scarlet snake is a beauty-red, and black and yellow-docile andmakes a fine pet. I think this little fellow was fond of me, in its dim reptilianfashion. Of course I knew how to handle snakes, how not to alarm them andnot give them a chance to bite, because the bite of even a non-poisonoussnake is a nuisance. But I was fond of this baby; he was the prize of mycollection. I used to take him out and show him to people, holding him backof his head and letting him wrap himself around my wrist.
.One day I got a chance to show my collection to the herpetologist of theTampa zoo-and I showed him my prize first. He almost had hysterics. My petwas not a scarlet snake-it was a young coral snake. The American cobra . . .
the most deadly snake in North America. Duke, do You see my point?“.I see that raising snakes is dangerous. I could have told you.“.Oh, for Pete’s sake! I already had rattlesnakes and water moccasins In mycollection. A poisonous snake is not dangerous, not any more than a loadedgun is dangerous-in each case, if you handle it properly. The thing that madethat coral snake dangerous was that I hadn’t known what it was, what it coulddo. If, in my ignorance, I had handled it carelessly, it would have killed me ascasually and as innocently as a kitten scratches. And that’s what I’m trying totell you about Mike. He seems as gentle as a lamb-and I’m convinced that hereally is gentle and unreservedly friendly with anyone he trusts. But if hedoesn’t trust you-well, he’s not what he seems to be. He seems like anordinary young male human, rather underdeveloped, decidedly clumsy, andabysmally ignorant...but bright and very docile and eager to learn. All ofwhich is true and not surprising, in view of his ancestry and his strangebackground. But, like my pet snake, Mike is more than he appears to be. IfMike does not trust you, blindly and all out, he can be instantly aggressiveand much more deadly than that coral snake. Especially if he thinks you areharming one of his water brothers, such as Jill-or me.“Harshaw shook his head sadly. .Duke, if you had given way to your naturalimpulse to take a poke at me, a few minutes ago when I told you somehomely truths about yourself, and if Mike had been standing in that doorwaybehind you . . . well, I’m convinced that you would have stood no chance atall. None. You would have been dead before you knew it, much too quicklyfor me to stop him. Mike would then have been sorrowfully apologetic overhaving .wasted food’-namely your big, beefy carcass. Oh, he would feel guiltyabout that; you heard him a while ago. But he wouldn’t feel guilty about killingyou; that would just be a necessity you had forced on him . . . and not amatter of any great importance anyhow, even to you. You see, Mike believesthat your soul is immortal.“.Huh? Well, hell, so do I. But-.
.Do you?“ Jubal said bleakly. .I wonder.“.Why, certainly I do! Oh, I admit I don’t go to church much, but I was broughtup right. I’m no infidel. I’ve got faith.“.Good. Though I’ve never been able to understand .faith’ myself, nor to seehow a just God could expect his creatures to pick the one true religion Out ofan infinitude of false ones-by faith alone. It strikes me as a sloppy way to runan organization, whether a universe or a smaller one. However, since you dohave faith and it includes belief in your own immortality, we need not troublefurther over the probability that your prejudices will result in your earlydemise. Do you want to be cremated or buried?“.Huh? Oh, for cripe’s sake, Jubal, quit trying to get my goat.“.Not at all. I can’t guarantee to get you off my place safely as long as youpersist in thinking that a coral snake is a harmless scarlet snake-any blunderyou make may be your last. But I promise you I won’t let Mike eat you.“Duke’s mouth dropped open. At last he managed to answer, explosively,profanely, and quite incoherently. Harshaw listened, then said testily, .Allright, all right, but pipe down. You can make any arrangements with Mike youlike. I thought I was doing you a favor.“ Harshaw turned and bent over theprojector. .I want to see these pictures. Stick around, if you want to, until I’mthrough. Prob’ly safer. Damn!“ he added. .The pesky thing savaged me.“.You tried to force it. Here-. Duke completed the adjustment Harshaw hadmuffed, then went ahead and inserted the first film cartridge. Neither of themre-opened the question of whether Duke was, or was not, still working forJubal. The cameras were Mitchell servos; the projector was a Yashinontabletop tank, with an adapter to permit it to receive Land Solid-Sight-Sound4 mm. film. Shortly they were listening to and watching the events leading upto the disappearance of the empty brandy case.
Jubal watched the box being thrown at his head, saw it wink out in midair.
.That’s enough,“ he said. .Anne will be pleased to know that the camerasback her up. Duke, let’s repeat that last bit in slow motion.“.Okay.“ Duke spooled back, then announced, .This is ten-to-one.“The scene was the same but the slowed-down sound was useless; Dukeswitched it off. The box floated slowly from Jill’s hands toward Jubal’s head,then quite suddenly ceased to be. But it did not simply wink out; under slowmotionprojection it could be seen shrinking, smaller and smaller until it wasno longer there.
Jubal nodded thoughtfully. .Duke, can you slow it down still more?“.Just a sec. Something is fouled up with the stereo.“.What?“.Darned if I can figure it out. It looked all right on the fast run. But when Islowed it down, the depth effect was reversed. You saw it. That box wentaway from us fast, mighty fast-but it always looked closer than the wall.
Swapped parallax, of course. But I never took that cartridge off the spindle.
Gremlins.“.Oh. Hold it, Duke. Run the film from the other camera.“.Unh ... oh, I see, That’ll give us a ninety-degree cross on it and we’ll seeproperly even if I did jimmy this film somehow.“ Duke changed cartridges.
.Zip through the first part, okay? Then undercranked ten-to-one on the partthat counts.“.Go ahead.“The scene was the same save for angle. When the image of Jill grabbed thebox, Duke slowed down the show and again they watched the box go away.
Duke cursed. .Something was fouled up with the second camera too.“.So?“.Of course. It was looking at it around from the side so the box~ should havegone out of the frame to one side or the other. Instead it went ~ straight awayfrom us again. Well, didn’t it? You saw it. Straight away from us.“.Yes,“ agreed Jubal. .’Straight away from us.’“.Out it can’t-not from both angles.“.What do you mean, it can’t? It already did.“ Harshaw added, .If we I hadused doppler-radar in place of each of those cameras, I wonder what ~ theywould have shown?“.How should I know? I’m going to take both these cameras apart.“.Don’t bother.“.But-.
.Don’t waste your time, Duke; the cameras are all right. What is exactlyninety degrees from everything else?“.I’m no good at riddles.“.It’s not a riddle and I meant it seriously. I could refer you to Mr. A. Squarefrom Flatland, but I’ll answer it myself. What is exactly at right angles toeverything else? Answer: two dead bodies, one old pistol, and an emptyliquor case.“.What the deuce do you mean, Boss?“.I never spoke more plainly in my life. Try believing what the cameras seeinstead of insisting that the cameras must be at fault because what they sawwas not what you expected. Let’s see the other films.“Harshaw made no comment as they were shown; they added nothing ~ towhat he already knew but did confirm and substantiate. The ash tray whenfloating near the ceiling had been out of camera angle, but its leisurelydescent and landing had been recorded. The pistol’s image in the:’ stereotank was quite small but, so far as could be seen, the pistol had done justwhat the box appeared to have done: shrunk away into the far distance~without moving. Since Harshaw had been gripping it tightly when it hadshrunk out of his hand, he was satisfied-if .satisfied“ was the right word, headded grumpily to himself. .Convinced“ at least.
.Duke, when you get time, I want duplicate prints of all of those.“Duke hesitated. .You mean I’m still working here?“.What? Oh, damn it! You can’t eat in the kitchen, and Duke, try to cut yourlocal prejudices out of the circuit and just while. Try really hard.“.I’ll listen.“.When Mike asked for the privilege of eating my stringy old carcass, he wasdoing me the greatest honor that he knew of-by the only rules he knows.
What he had .learned at his mother’s knee,’ so to speak. Do you savvy that?
You heard his tone of voice, you saw his manner. He was paying me hishighest compliment-and asking of me a boon. You see? Never mind whatthey think of such things in Kansas; Mike uses the values taught him onMars.“.I think I’ll take Kansas.“.Well,“ admitted Jubal, .so do I. But it is not a matter of free choice for me,nor for you-nor for Mike. All three of us are prisoners of our earlyindoctrinations, for it is hard, very nearly impossible, to shake off one’searliest training. Duke, can you get it through your skull that if you had beenborn on Mars and brought up by Martians, you yourself would have exactlythe same attitude toward eating and being eaten that Mike has?“Duke considered it, then shook his head. .I won’t buy it, Jubal. Sure, aboutmost things it’s just Mike’s hard luck that he wasn’t brought up in civilizationandmy good luck that I was. I’m willing to make allowances for him. But thisis different, this is an instinct.“.’Instinct,’ dreck!“.But it is. I didn’t get any .training at my mother’s knee’ not to be a cannibal.
Hell, I didn’t need it; I’ve always known it was a sin-a nasty one. Why, themere thought of it makes my stomach do a flip-flop. It’s a basic instinct.“Jubal groaned. .Duke, how could you learn so much about machinery andnever learn anything about how you yourself tick? That nausea you feelthat’snot an instinct; that’s a conditioned reflex. Your mother didn’t have tosay to you, .Mustn’t eat your playmates, dear; that’s not nice,’ because yousoaked it up from our whole culture-and so did I. Jokes about cannibals andmissionaries, cartoons, fairy tales, horror stories, endless little things. But ithas nothing to do with instinct. Shucks, son, it couldn’t possibly be instinct . . .
because cannibalism is historically one of the most widespread of humancustoms, extending through every branch of the human race. Your ancestors,my ancestors, everybody.“.Your ancestors, maybe. Don’t bring mine into it.“.Um. Duke, didn’t you tell me you had some Indian blood?“.Huh? Yeah, an eighth. In the Army they used to call me .Chief.’ What of it?
I’m not ashamed of it. I’m proud of it,“.No reason to be ashamed-nor proud, either, for that matter, But, while bothof us certainly have cannibals in our family trees, chances are that you are agood many generations closer to cannibals than I am, because-.
.Why, you bald-headed old-.
.Simmer down! You were going to listen; remember? Ritual cannibalism wasa widespread custom among aboriginal American cultures. But don’t take myword for it; look it up. Besides that, both of us, simply as North Americans,stand a better than even chance of having a touch of the Congo in us withoutknowing it . . . and there you are again. But even if both of us were SimonpureNorth European stock, certified by the American Kennel Club, (a sillynotion, since the amount of casual bastardy among humans is far in excessof that ever admitted)-but even if we were, such ancestry would merely tell uswhich cannibals we are descended from. . because every branch of thehuman race, without any exception, has practiced cannibalism in the courseof its history. Duke, it’s silly to talk about a practice being .against instinct’
when hundreds of millions of human beings have followed that practice.“.But- All right, all right, I should know better than to argue with you, Jubal;you can always twist things around your way. But suppose we all did comefrom savages who didn’t know any better-I’m not admitting it but justsupposing. Suppose we did. What of it? We’re civilized now. Or at least Iam.“Jubal grinned cheerfully. .Implying that I am not. Son, quite aside from myown conditioned reflex against munching a roast haunch of- well, you, forexample-quite aside from that trained-in emotional prejudice, for coldlypractical reasons I regard our taboo against cannibalism as an excellent idea. . . because we are not civilized.“.Huh?“.Obvious. If we didn’t have a tribal taboo about the matter so strong that youhonestly believed it was an instinct, I can think of a long list of people Iwouldn’t trust with my back turned, not with the price of beef what it is today.
Eh?“Duke grudged a grin. .Maybe you’ve got something there. I wouldn’t want totake a chance on my ex-mother-in-law. She hates my guts.“.You see? Or how about our charming neighbour on the south, who is socasual about other people’s fences and live stock during the hunting season?
I wouldn’t want to bet that you and I wouldn’t wind up in his freezer if wedidn’t have that taboo. But Mike I would trust utterly- because Mike iscivilized.“.Huh?“.Mike is utterly civilized, Martian style. Duke, I don’t understand the Martianviewpoint and probably never shall. But I’ve talked enough with Mike on thissubject to know that the Martian practice isn’t at all dog-eat-dog . . . orMartian-eat-Martian. Surely they eat their dead, instead of burying them, orburning them, or exposing them to vultures. But the custom is highlyformalized and deeply religious. A Martian is never grabbed and butcheredagainst his will. In fact, so far as I have been able to find out, the idea ofmurder isn’t even a Martian concept. Instead, a Martian dies when hedecides to die, having discussed it with and been advised by his friends andhaving received the consent of his ancestors’ ghosts to join them. Havingdecided to die, he does so, as easily as you close your eyes-no violence, nolingering illness, not even an overdose of sleeping pills. One second he isalive and well, the next second he’s a ghost, with a dead body left over.
Then, or maybe later (Mike is always vague about time factors) his closestfriends eat what he no longer has any use for, .grokking’ him, as Mike wouldsay, and praising his virtues as they spread the mustard. The new ghostattends the feast himself, as it is sort of a bar mitzvah or confirmation serviceby which the ghost attains the status of .Old One’-becomes an elderstatesman, if I understand it.“Duke made a face of disgust. .God, what superstitious junk! Turns mystomach.“.Does it? To Mike it’s a most solemn-but joyful-religious ceremony.“Duke snorted, .Jubal, you don’t believe that stuff about ghosts, do you? Oh, Iknow you don’t. It’s just cannibalism combined with the rankest sort ofsuperstition.“.Well, now, I wouldn’t go that far. I admit that I find these Martian .Old Ones’
a little hard to swallow-but Mike speaks of them as matter-offactly as we talkabout last Wednesday. As for the rest-Duke, what church were you broughtup in?“ Duke told him; Jubal nodded and went on: .I thought it might be; inKansas most belong to yours or to one enough like it that you would have tolook at the sign out in front to tell the difference. Tell me . . . how did you feelwhen you took part in the symbolic cannibalism that plays so paramount apart in your church’s rituals?“Duke stared at him. .What the devil do you mean?“Jubal blinked solemnly back. .Were you actually a church member? Or wereyou simply sent to Sunday School as a kid?“.Huh? Why, certainly I was a church member. My whole family was. I still am. . . even though I don’t go much.“.I thought perhaps you weren’t entitled to receive it, But apparently you are,so you know what I’m talking about, if you stop to think.“ Jubal Stood upsuddenly. .But I don’t belong to your church nor to Mike’s, so I shan’t attemptto argue the subtle differences between one form of ritual cannibalism andanother. Duke, I’ve got urgent work to do; I can’t spend any more time tryingto shake you loose from your prejudices. Are you leaving? If you are, I think Ihad better chaperone you off the place, make sure you’re safe. Or do youwant to stay? Stay and behave yourself, I mean-eat at the table with the restof us cannibals.“ Duke frowned. .Reckon I’ll stay.“.Suit yourself. Because from this moment forward I wash my hands of anyresponsibility for your safety. You saw those movies; if you’re bright enoughto hit the floor with your hat, you’ve figured out that this man-Martian we’vegot staying with us can be unpredictably dangerous.“Duke nodded. .I got the point. I’m not as stupid as you think I am, Jubal. ButI’m not letting Mike run me off the place, either.“ He added, .You say he’sdangerous ... and I see how he could be, if he got stirred up. But I’m notgoing to stir him up. Shucks, Jubal, I like the little dope, most ways.“.Mmm ... damn it, I still think you underestimate him, Duke. See here, if youreally do feel friendly toward him, the best thing you can do is to offer him aglass of water. Share it with him. Understand me? Become his .Waterbrother.’“.Um. I’ll think about it.“.But if you do, Duke, don’t fake it. If Mike accepts your offer of waterbrotherhood,he’ll be dead serious about it. He’ll trust you utterly, no matterwhat-so don’t do it unless you are equally willing to trust him and stand byhim, no matter how rough things get. Either all out-or don’t do it.“.I understood that. That’s why I said, .I’ll think about it.’“.Okay. But don’t take too long making up your mind ... because I expectthings to get very rough before long.“