Read Online The Complete Short Stories by J. G. Ballard - Free Book Online
Authors: J. G. Ballard
Tags: Fiction.Literature.Modern, Collection.Single Author, Fiction.Magical Realism, Fiction.Sci-Fi, Short Stories & Novellas
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Metropolitan - 'Wait!' Franz leapt out of his seat and stared at the indicator panel.
'What's the matter?' someone opposite asked.
'East!' Franz shouted. He banged the panel sharply with his hand but the lights held. 'Has this train changed direction?'
'No, it's eastbound,' another of the passengers told him. 'Are you on the wrong train?'
'It should be heading west,' Franz insisted. 'It has been for the last ten days.'
'Ten days!' the man exclaimed. 'Have you been on this sleeper for ten days?'
Franz went forward and found the car attendant. 'Which way is this train going? West?'
The attendant shook his head. 'East, sir. It's always been going east.'
'You're crazy,' Franz snapped. 'I want to see the pilot's log.'
'I'm afraid that isn't possible. May I see your ticket, sir?'
'Listen,' Franz said weakly, all the accumulated frustration of the last twenty years mounting inside him. 'I've been on this..
He stopped and went back to his seat.
The five other passengers watched him carefully.
'Ten days,' one of them was still repeating in an awed voice.
Two minutes later someone came and asked Franz for his ticket.
'And of course it was completely in order,' the police surgeon commented. 'Strangely enough there's no regulation to prevent anyone else doing the same thing. I used to go for free rides myself when I was younger, though I never tried anything like your journey.'
He went back to the desk. 'We'll drop the charge,' he said. 'You're not a vagrant in any indictable sense, and the transport authorities can do nothing against you. How this curvature was built into the system they can't explain, it seems to be some inherent feature of the City itself. Now about yourself. Are you going to continue this search?'
'I want to build a flying machine,' M. said carefully. 'There must be free space somewhere. I don't know... perhaps on the lower levels.'
The surgeon stood up. 'I'll see the sergeant and get him to hand you over to one of our psychiatrists. He'll be able to help you with your dreams!'
The surgeon hesitated before opening the door. 'Look,' he began to explain, 'you can't get out of time, can you? Subjectively it's a plastic dimension, but whatever you do to yourself you'll never be able to stop that clock'- he pointed to the one on the desk - 'or make it run backwards. In exactly the same way you can't get out of the City.'
'The analogy doesn't hold,' M. said. He gestured at the walls around them and the lights in the street outside. 'All this was built by us. The question nobody can answer is: what was here before we built it?'
'It's always been here,' the surgeon said. 'Not these particular bricks and girders, but others before them. You accept that time has no beginning and no end. The City is as old as time and continuous with it.'
'The first bricks were laid by someone,' M. insisted. 'There was the Foundation.'
'A myth. Only the scientists believe in that, and even they don't try to make too much of it. Most of them privately admit that the Foundation Stone is nothing more than a superstition. We pay it lip service out of convenience, and because it gives us a sense of tradition. Obviously there can't have been a first brick. If there was, how can you explain who laid it and, even more difficult, where they came from?'
'There must be free space somewhere,' M. said doggedly. 'The City must have bounds.'
'Why?' the surgeon asked. 'It can't be floating in the middle of nowhere. Or is that what you're trying to believe?'
M. sank back limply. 'No.'
The surgeon watched M. silently for a few minutes and paced back to the desk. 'This peculiar fixation of yours puzzles me. You're caught between what the psychiatrists call paradoxical faces. I suppose you haven't misinterpreted something you've heard about the Wall?'
M. looked up. 'Which wall?'
The surgeon nodded to himself. 'Some advanced opinion maintains that there's a wall around the City, through which it's impossible to penetrate. I don't pretend
'What's the matter?' someone opposite asked.
'East!' Franz shouted. He banged the panel sharply with his hand but the lights held. 'Has this train changed direction?'
'No, it's eastbound,' another of the passengers told him. 'Are you on the wrong train?'
'It should be heading west,' Franz insisted. 'It has been for the last ten days.'
'Ten days!' the man exclaimed. 'Have you been on this sleeper for ten days?'
Franz went forward and found the car attendant. 'Which way is this train going? West?'
The attendant shook his head. 'East, sir. It's always been going east.'
'You're crazy,' Franz snapped. 'I want to see the pilot's log.'
'I'm afraid that isn't possible. May I see your ticket, sir?'
'Listen,' Franz said weakly, all the accumulated frustration of the last twenty years mounting inside him. 'I've been on this..
He stopped and went back to his seat.
The five other passengers watched him carefully.
'Ten days,' one of them was still repeating in an awed voice.
Two minutes later someone came and asked Franz for his ticket.
'And of course it was completely in order,' the police surgeon commented. 'Strangely enough there's no regulation to prevent anyone else doing the same thing. I used to go for free rides myself when I was younger, though I never tried anything like your journey.'
He went back to the desk. 'We'll drop the charge,' he said. 'You're not a vagrant in any indictable sense, and the transport authorities can do nothing against you. How this curvature was built into the system they can't explain, it seems to be some inherent feature of the City itself. Now about yourself. Are you going to continue this search?'
'I want to build a flying machine,' M. said carefully. 'There must be free space somewhere. I don't know... perhaps on the lower levels.'
The surgeon stood up. 'I'll see the sergeant and get him to hand you over to one of our psychiatrists. He'll be able to help you with your dreams!'
The surgeon hesitated before opening the door. 'Look,' he began to explain, 'you can't get out of time, can you? Subjectively it's a plastic dimension, but whatever you do to yourself you'll never be able to stop that clock'- he pointed to the one on the desk - 'or make it run backwards. In exactly the same way you can't get out of the City.'
'The analogy doesn't hold,' M. said. He gestured at the walls around them and the lights in the street outside. 'All this was built by us. The question nobody can answer is: what was here before we built it?'
'It's always been here,' the surgeon said. 'Not these particular bricks and girders, but others before them. You accept that time has no beginning and no end. The City is as old as time and continuous with it.'
'The first bricks were laid by someone,' M. insisted. 'There was the Foundation.'
'A myth. Only the scientists believe in that, and even they don't try to make too much of it. Most of them privately admit that the Foundation Stone is nothing more than a superstition. We pay it lip service out of convenience, and because it gives us a sense of tradition. Obviously there can't have been a first brick. If there was, how can you explain who laid it and, even more difficult, where they came from?'
'There must be free space somewhere,' M. said doggedly. 'The City must have bounds.'
'Why?' the surgeon asked. 'It can't be floating in the middle of nowhere. Or is that what you're trying to believe?'
M. sank back limply. 'No.'
The surgeon watched M. silently for a few minutes and paced back to the desk. 'This peculiar fixation of yours puzzles me. You're caught between what the psychiatrists call paradoxical faces. I suppose you haven't misinterpreted something you've heard about the Wall?'
M. looked up. 'Which wall?'
The surgeon nodded to himself. 'Some advanced opinion maintains that there's a wall around the City, through which it's impossible to penetrate. I don't pretend
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