Read Online Our Friends From Frolix 8 by Philip K Dick - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Philip K Dick
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said. ‘You give somebody something; later on he returns the favor by giving you something in return. That’s obvious.’
‘That’s not giving; that’s barter. Listen to this. “God tells us—”’
‘God is dead,’ Nick said. ‘They found his carcass in 2019. Floating out in space near Alpha.’
‘They found the remains of an organism advanced several thousand times over what we are,’ Charley said. ‘And it evidently could create habitable worlds and populate them with living organisms, derived from itself. But that doesn’t prove it was God.’
‘I think it was God.’
Charley said, ‘Can I stay at your place tonight and maybe,if it’s necessary — and
only
if it’s necessary — maybe tomorrow night. Okay?’ She glanced up at him, her bright smile bathed in the light of innocence. As if, like a little cat, she were asking for a saucer of milk, nothing more. ‘Don’t be afraid of Denny, he won’t hurt you. If he beats up anybody, it’ll be me. But he’s not going to be able to find your apartment; how could he? He doesn’t know your name; he doesn’t know—’
‘He knows I work for Zeta.’
‘Zeta isn’t afraid of him. Zeta could beat him to a pulp—’
‘You contradict yourself,’ Nick said, or at least so it seemed; perhaps the alcohol was still affecting him. He wondered when it wore off, an hour? Two? Anyhow, it appeared that he was flying his squib adequately; at least no PSS occifer had flagged him down or grappled onto him with tractor beams.
‘You’re afraid of what your wife will say,’ Charley said. ‘If you bring me home. She’ll think lots of things.’
‘Well, there’s that,’ he said. ‘And also the law called “statutory rape”. You’re not twenty-one, are you?’
‘I’m sixteen.’
‘There, you see—’
‘Okay,’ she said merrily. ‘Land and drop me off.’
‘Do you have any money?’ he asked.
‘No.’
‘But you’ll manage?’
‘Yes. I can always manage.’ She spoke without rancor; she did not seem to blame him for his hesitation. Maybe this sort of thing has happened before between them, he reflected. And others, like myself, have been lured in. With the best intentions in mind.
‘I’ll tell you what may happen to you if you take me to your place,’ Charley said. ‘You can be bursted for being in the same room with Cordonite material. You can be bursted for statutory rape. Your wife, who will also be arrested for being in the same room with Cordonite material, will leave you, and will never understand or forgive you. And yet you can’t just let me off, even though you don’t know me, because I’m a girl and I have nowhere to go to—’
‘Friends,’ he said. ‘You must have friends you could go to.’ Or are they too much afraid of Denny? he wondered. ‘You’re right.’ he said, then. ‘I can’t just let you off.’
Kidnapping, he thought; I could also be charged with that, if Denny felt like calling the PSS. But — Denny could not, would not, do that, because then, in return, he would be nailed as a peddler of Cordonite material. He can’t take that chance.
‘You’re a strange little girl,’ he said to Charley. ‘In some ways you’re naïveté itself and in other ways you’re tough as a warehouse rat.’ Did selling illegal material make her like this? he wondered. Or did it happen the other way around… she had grown up hard, toughened, and hence had gravitated to such work. He glanced at her, now, sizing up her clothes. She is too well-dressed, he thought; those are expensive garments. Maybe she is greedy — this is a way of earning enough pops to satisfy that greed. For her, clothes. For Denny, the Shellingberg 8. Without this they would merely be teenagers, going to school in jeans and shapeless sweaters.
Evil, he thought, in the service of good. Or were Cordon’s writings good? He had never seen an authentic Cordon tract before; now, presumably, he had one and he was free to read it himself and
‘That’s not giving; that’s barter. Listen to this. “God tells us—”’
‘God is dead,’ Nick said. ‘They found his carcass in 2019. Floating out in space near Alpha.’
‘They found the remains of an organism advanced several thousand times over what we are,’ Charley said. ‘And it evidently could create habitable worlds and populate them with living organisms, derived from itself. But that doesn’t prove it was God.’
‘I think it was God.’
Charley said, ‘Can I stay at your place tonight and maybe,if it’s necessary — and
only
if it’s necessary — maybe tomorrow night. Okay?’ She glanced up at him, her bright smile bathed in the light of innocence. As if, like a little cat, she were asking for a saucer of milk, nothing more. ‘Don’t be afraid of Denny, he won’t hurt you. If he beats up anybody, it’ll be me. But he’s not going to be able to find your apartment; how could he? He doesn’t know your name; he doesn’t know—’
‘He knows I work for Zeta.’
‘Zeta isn’t afraid of him. Zeta could beat him to a pulp—’
‘You contradict yourself,’ Nick said, or at least so it seemed; perhaps the alcohol was still affecting him. He wondered when it wore off, an hour? Two? Anyhow, it appeared that he was flying his squib adequately; at least no PSS occifer had flagged him down or grappled onto him with tractor beams.
‘You’re afraid of what your wife will say,’ Charley said. ‘If you bring me home. She’ll think lots of things.’
‘Well, there’s that,’ he said. ‘And also the law called “statutory rape”. You’re not twenty-one, are you?’
‘I’m sixteen.’
‘There, you see—’
‘Okay,’ she said merrily. ‘Land and drop me off.’
‘Do you have any money?’ he asked.
‘No.’
‘But you’ll manage?’
‘Yes. I can always manage.’ She spoke without rancor; she did not seem to blame him for his hesitation. Maybe this sort of thing has happened before between them, he reflected. And others, like myself, have been lured in. With the best intentions in mind.
‘I’ll tell you what may happen to you if you take me to your place,’ Charley said. ‘You can be bursted for being in the same room with Cordonite material. You can be bursted for statutory rape. Your wife, who will also be arrested for being in the same room with Cordonite material, will leave you, and will never understand or forgive you. And yet you can’t just let me off, even though you don’t know me, because I’m a girl and I have nowhere to go to—’
‘Friends,’ he said. ‘You must have friends you could go to.’ Or are they too much afraid of Denny? he wondered. ‘You’re right.’ he said, then. ‘I can’t just let you off.’
Kidnapping, he thought; I could also be charged with that, if Denny felt like calling the PSS. But — Denny could not, would not, do that, because then, in return, he would be nailed as a peddler of Cordonite material. He can’t take that chance.
‘You’re a strange little girl,’ he said to Charley. ‘In some ways you’re naïveté itself and in other ways you’re tough as a warehouse rat.’ Did selling illegal material make her like this? he wondered. Or did it happen the other way around… she had grown up hard, toughened, and hence had gravitated to such work. He glanced at her, now, sizing up her clothes. She is too well-dressed, he thought; those are expensive garments. Maybe she is greedy — this is a way of earning enough pops to satisfy that greed. For her, clothes. For Denny, the Shellingberg 8. Without this they would merely be teenagers, going to school in jeans and shapeless sweaters.
Evil, he thought, in the service of good. Or were Cordon’s writings good? He had never seen an authentic Cordon tract before; now, presumably, he had one and he was free to read it himself and
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