On November 14, 1956, I was in the office of Infinity Science Fiction, Infinity Science Fiction, talking to the editor, Larry Shaw. We got along well together, he and I,* [* I mustn"t make that sound exceptional. I get along with nearly everyone.] and I often dropped in to see him when I visited New York. talking to the editor, Larry Shaw. We got along well together, he and I,* [* I mustn"t make that sound exceptional. I get along with nearly everyone.] and I often dropped in to see him when I visited New York.

That day he had an idea. He was to give me the t.i.tle for a story-the least inspirational t.i.tle he could think of-and I was to write a short-short, on the spot, based on that t.i.tle. Then he would give the same t.i.tle to two other writers and they would do the same.

I asked, cautiously, what the t.i.tle was, and he said, "Blank."

"Blank?" I said.

"Blank," he said.

So I thought a little and wrote the following story, with the t.i.tle of BLANK! (with an exclamation point).

Randall Garrett wrote a story ent.i.tled Blank? Blank? with a question mark, and Harlan Ellison wrote one called with a question mark, and Harlan Ellison wrote one called Blank Blank with no punctuation at all. with no punctuation at all.

BLANK!.

"Presumably," said August Pointdexter, "there is such a thing as overweening pride. The Greeks called it hubris, hubris, and considered it to be defiance of the G.o.ds, to be followed always by and considered it to be defiance of the G.o.ds, to be followed always by ate, ate, or retribution." He rubbed his pale blue eyes uneasily. or retribution." He rubbed his pale blue eyes uneasily.

"Very pretty," said Dr. Edward Barron impatiently. "Has that any connection with what I said?" His forehead was high and had horizontal creases in it that cut in sharply when he raised his eyebrows in contempt.

"Every connection," said Pointdexter. "To construct a time machine is itself a challenge to fate. You make it worse by your flat confidence. How can you be sure sure that your time-travel machine will operate through all of time without the possibility of paradox?" that your time-travel machine will operate through all of time without the possibility of paradox?"

Barron said, "I didn"t know you were superst.i.tious. The simple fact is that a time machine is a machine like any other machine, no more and no less sacrilegious. Mathematically, it is a.n.a.logous to an elevator moving up and down its shaft. What danger of retribution lies in that?"

Pointdexter said energetically, "An elevator doesn"t involve paradoxes. You can"t move from the fifth floor to the fourth and kill your grandfather as a child."

Dr. Barron shook his head in agonized impatience. "I was waiting for that. For exactly exactly that. Why couldn"t you suggest that I would meet myself or that I would change history by telling McClellan that Stonewall Jackson was going to make a flank march on Washington, or anything else? Now I"m asking you point blank. Will you come into the machine with me?" that. Why couldn"t you suggest that I would meet myself or that I would change history by telling McClellan that Stonewall Jackson was going to make a flank march on Washington, or anything else? Now I"m asking you point blank. Will you come into the machine with me?"

Pointdexter hesitated. "I...I don"t think so."

"Why do you make things difficult? I"ve explained already that time is invariant. If I go into the past it will be because I"ve already been there. Anything I decided to do and proceed to do. I will have already done in the past all along, so I"ll be changing nothing and no paradoxes will result. If I decided to kill my grandfather as a baby, and did did it I would not be here. But I it I would not be here. But I am am here. Therefore I did not kill my grandfather. No matter how I try to kill him and plan to kill him, the fact is I didn"t kill him and so I won"t kill him. Nothing would change that. Do you understand what I"m explaining?" here. Therefore I did not kill my grandfather. No matter how I try to kill him and plan to kill him, the fact is I didn"t kill him and so I won"t kill him. Nothing would change that. Do you understand what I"m explaining?"

"I understand what you say, but are you right?"

"Of course I"m right. For G.o.d"s sake, why couldn"t you have been a mathematician instead of a machinist with a college education?" In his impatience, Barron could scarcely hide his contempt. "Look, this machine is only possible because certain mathematical relationships between s.p.a.ce and time hold true. You understand that, don"t you, even if you don"t follow the details of the mathematics? The machine exists, so the mathematical relations I worked out have some correspondence in reality. Right? You"ve seen me send rabbits a week into the future. You"ve seen them appear out of nothing. You"ve watched me send a rabbit a week into the past one week after it appeared. And they were unharmed."

"All right. I admit all that."

"Then will you believe me if I tell you that the equations upon which this machine is based a.s.sume that time is composed of particles that exist in an unchanging order; that time is invariant. If the order of the particles could be changed in any way-any way at all-the equations would be invalid and this machine wouldn"t work; this particular method of time travel would be impossible."

Pointdexter rubbed his eyes again and looked thoughtful. "I wish I knew mathematics."

Barron said, "Just consider the facts. You tried to send the rabbit two two weeks into the past when it had arrived only one week in the past. That would have created a paradox, wouldn"t it? But what happened? The indicator stuck at one week and wouldn"t budge. You weeks into the past when it had arrived only one week in the past. That would have created a paradox, wouldn"t it? But what happened? The indicator stuck at one week and wouldn"t budge. You couldn"t couldn"t create a paradox. Will you come?" create a paradox. Will you come?"

Pointdexter shuddered at the edge of the abyss of agreement and drew back. He said, "No."

Barron said, "I wouldn"t .ask you to help if I could do this alone, but you know it takes two men to operate the machine for intervals of more than a month. I need someone to control the Standards so that we can return with precision. And you"re the one I want to use. We share the-the glory of this thing now. Do you want to thin it out, but in a third person? Time enough for that after we"ve established ourselves as the first time travelers in history. Good Lord, man, don"t you want to see where we"ll be a hundred years from now, or a thousand; don"t you want to see Napoleon, or Jesus, for that matter? We"ll be like-like"-Barron seemed carried away-"like G.o.ds."

"Exactly," mumbled Pointdexter. "Hubris. Time travel isn"t G.o.dlike enough to risk being stranded out of my own time." Time travel isn"t G.o.dlike enough to risk being stranded out of my own time."

"Hubris. Stranded. You keep making up fears. We"re just moving along the particles of time like an elevator along the floors of a building. Time travel is actually safer because an elevator cable can break, whereas in the time machine there"ll be no gravity to pun us down destructively. Nothing wrong can possibly happen. I guarantee it," said Barron, tapping his chest with the middle finger of his right hand. "I guarantee it." Stranded. You keep making up fears. We"re just moving along the particles of time like an elevator along the floors of a building. Time travel is actually safer because an elevator cable can break, whereas in the time machine there"ll be no gravity to pun us down destructively. Nothing wrong can possibly happen. I guarantee it," said Barron, tapping his chest with the middle finger of his right hand. "I guarantee it."

"Hubris," muttered Pointdexter, but fell into the abyss of agreement nevertheless, overborne at last. muttered Pointdexter, but fell into the abyss of agreement nevertheless, overborne at last.

Together they entered the machine.

Pointdexter did not understand the controls in the sense Barron did, for he was no mathematician, but he knew how they were supposed to be handled.

Barron was at one set, the Propulsions. They supplied the drive that forced the machine along the time axis. Pointdexter was at the Standards that kept the point of origin fixed so that the machine could move back to the original starting point at any time.

Pointdexter"s teeth chattered as the first motion made itself felt in his stomach, Like an elevator"s motion it was, but not quite, It was something more subtle, yet very real. He said, "What if-"

Barron snapped out, "Nothing can go wrong. Please!" And at once there was a jar and Pointdexter fell heavily against the wall.

Barron said, "What the devil!"

"What happened?" demanded Pointdexter breathlessly. "I don"t know, but it doesn"t matter. We"re only twenty-two hours into the future. Let"s step out and check."

The door of the machine slid into its recessed panel and the breath went out of Pointdexter"s body in a panting whoosh. He said, "There"s nothing there."

Nothing. No matter. No light. Blank!

Pointdexter screamed. "The Earth moved. We forgot that. In twenty-two hours, it moved thousands of miles through s.p.a.ce, traveling around the sun."

"No," said Barron faintly, "I didn"t forget that. The machine is designed to follow the time path of Earth wherever that leads. Besides, even if Earth moved, where is the sun? Where are the stars?"

Barron went back to the controls. Nothing budged. Nothing worked. The door would no longer slide shut. Blank!

Pointdexter found it getting difficult to breathe, difficult to move. With effort he said, "What"s wrong, then?"

Barron moved slowly toward the center of the machine. He said painfully, "The particles of time. I think we happened to stall...between two...particles."

Pointdexter tried to clench a fist but couldn"t. "Don"t understand."

"Like an elevator. Like an elevator." He could no longer sound the words, but only move his lips to shape them. "Like an elevator, after all...stuck between the floors."

Pointdexter could not even move his lips. He thought: Nothing can proceed in nontime. All motion is suspended, all consciousness, all everything. There was an inertia about themselves that had carried them along in time for a minute or so, like a body leaning forward when an automobile comes to a sudden halt-but it was dying fast.

The light within the machine dimmed and went out. Sensation and awareness chilled into nothing.

One last thought, one final, feeble, mental sigh: Hubris, ate! Hubris, ate!

Then thought stopped, too.

Stasis! Nothing! For all eternity, where even eternity was meaningless, there would only be-blank!

All three Blanks Blanks were published in the June 1957 issue of were published in the June 1957 issue of Infinity Infinity and the idea of the gimmick, I suppose, was to let the reader compare them and note how three different imaginations took off from a single, nondescript t.i.tle. and the idea of the gimmick, I suppose, was to let the reader compare them and note how three different imaginations took off from a single, nondescript t.i.tle.

Perhaps you wish you could have all three stories here, so that you could make the comparison yourself. Well, you can"t.

In the first place, I"d have to get permissions from Randall and from Harlan and I don"t want to have to go through that, In the second place, you underestimate my self-centered nature. I don"t want their stories included with mine!

Then, too, I must explain that I always dismantle magazines with my stories in them, because I just can"t manage to keep intact those magazines containing my stories. There are too many magazines and not enough room. I take out my own particular stories and bind them into volumes for future reference (as in the preparation of this book). Actually, I am running out of room for the volumes.

Anyway, when it came to dismantling the June 1957 Infinity Infinity I abstracted only BLANK! and discarded I abstracted only BLANK! and discarded Blank? Blank? and and Blank. Blank.

Or, perhaps, you don"t underestimate my self-centered nature and expect me as a matter of course, to do that sort of thing.

Back in the middle 1950s, when some of the less affluent science fiction magazines (not that any of them were really affluent) really affluent) asked me for a story, it was my practice to request the rates that asked me for a story, it was my practice to request the rates that Astounding Astounding and and Galaxy Galaxy paid if any magazine expected a story written especially for them. They would do so, quite confident that if I said a story was written especially for them, it was, and that it had not been slipped out of the bottom of the barrel. (There are times when having a reputation as being too dumb to be crooked comes in handy.) paid if any magazine expected a story written especially for them. They would do so, quite confident that if I said a story was written especially for them, it was, and that it had not been slipped out of the bottom of the barrel. (There are times when having a reputation as being too dumb to be crooked comes in handy.) The corollary of that, of course, is that if a story of mine is ever rejected by Editor A, it is inc.u.mbent upon me to tell this to Editor B when I offer it anew. In the first place, a rejection of a story with my name on it must give rise to thoughts such as "Wow! This story must must be a stinker!" and it"s only fair to give the second editor a chance to agree. Secondly, even if the second editor accepts the story he need not feel called upon to pay me more than his own standard fees. It meant an occasional loss of a few dollars but it made me more comfortable inside my wizened little soul. be a stinker!" and it"s only fair to give the second editor a chance to agree. Secondly, even if the second editor accepts the story he need not feel called upon to pay me more than his own standard fees. It meant an occasional loss of a few dollars but it made me more comfortable inside my wizened little soul.

Anyway, DOES A BEE CARE? was written in October 1956, after I had discussed it with Robert P. Mills, of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Fantasy and Science Fiction, who had taken over the editorship of a new sister magazine of who had taken over the editorship of a new sister magazine of F F & & SF, SF, which was to be called which was to be called Venture Science Fiction. Venture Science Fiction.

I guess the execution fell short of the promise, because Mills rejected it and it was deemed unworthy both for Venture Venture and for and for F F & & SF. SF. So I pa.s.sed it on to So I pa.s.sed it on to If: Worlds of Science Fiction If: Worlds of Science Fiction with the word of the rejection and I got less than top rates for it. It appeared in the June 1957 issue. with the word of the rejection and I got less than top rates for it. It appeared in the June 1957 issue.

Now the sad part is that I can never tell what there is about a story that makes the difference between acceptance and rejection, or which editor, the rejecting one or the accepting one, is correct. That"s why I"m not an editor and never intend to be.

But you can judge for yourself.

DOES A BEE CARE?

The ship began as a metal skeleton. Slowly a shining skin was layered on without and odd-shaped vitals were crammed within.

Thornton Hammer, of all the individuals (but one) involved in the growth, did the least physically. Perhaps that was why he was most highly regarded. He handled the mathematical symbols that formed the basis for lines on drafting paper, which, in turn, formed the basis for the fitting together of the various ma.s.ses and different forms of energy that went into the ship.

Hammer watched now through close-fitting spectacles somberly. Their lenses caught the light of the fluorescent tubes above and sent them out again as highlights. Theodore Lengyel, representing Personnel of the corporation that was footing the bill for the project, stood beside him and said, as he pointed with a rigid, stabbing finger: "There he is. That"s the man." Hammer peered. "You mean Kane?"

"The fellow in the green overalls, holding a wrench."

"That"s Kane. Now what is this you"ve got against him?"

"I want to know what he does. The man"s an idiot." Lengyel had a round, plump face and his jowls quivered a bit.

Hammer turned to look at the other, his spare body a.s.suming an air of displeasure along every inch. "Have you been bothering him?"

"Bothering him? I"ve been talking to him. It"s my job to talk to the men, to get their viewpoints, to get information out of which I can build campaigns for improved morale." him? I"ve been talking to him. It"s my job to talk to the men, to get their viewpoints, to get information out of which I can build campaigns for improved morale."

"How does Kane disturb that?"

"He"s insolent. I asked him how it felt to be working on a ship that would reach the moon. I talked a little about the ship being a pathway to the stars. Perhaps I made a little speech about it, built it up a bit, when he turned away in the rudest possible manner. I called him back and said, "Where are you going?" And he said, "I get tired of that kind of talk. I"m going out to look at the stars.""

Hammer nodded. "All right. Kane likes to look at the stars."

"It was daytime. The man"s an idiot. I"ve been watching him since and he doesn"t do any work."

"I know that."

"Then why is he kept on?"

Hammer said with a sudden, tight fierceness, "Because I want him around. Because he"s my luck."

"You luck?" faltered Lengyel. "What the h.e.l.l does that mean?"

"It means that when he"s around I think better. When he pa.s.ses me, holding his d.a.m.ned wrench, I get ideas. It"s happened three times. I don"t explain it; I"m not interested in explaining it. It"s happened. He stays."

"You"re joking."

"No, I"m not. Now leave me alone."

Kane stood there in his green overalls, holding his wrench.

Dimly he was aware that the ship was almost ready. It was not designed to carry a man, but there was s.p.a.ce for a man. He knew that the way he knew a lot of things; like keeping out of the way of most people most of the time; like carrying a wrench until people grew used to him carrying a wrench and stopped noticing it. Protective coloration consisted of little things, really-like carrying the wrench.

He was full of drives he did not fully understand, like looking at the stars. At first, many years back, he had just looked at the stars with a vague ache. Then, slowly, his attention had centered itself on a certain region of the sky, then to a certain pinpointed spot. He didn"t know why that certain spot. There were no stars in that spot. There was nothing to see.

That spot was high in the night sky in the late spring and in the summer months and he sometimes spent most of the night watching the spot until it sank toward the southwestern horizon. At other times in the year he would stare at the spot during the day.

There was some thought in connection with that spot which he couldn"t quite crystallize. It had grown stronger, come nearer to the surface as the years pa.s.sed, and it was almost bursting for expression now. But still it had not quite come clear.

Kane shifted restlessly and approached the ship. It was almost complete, almost whole. Everything fitted just so. Almost.

For within it, far forward, was a hole a little larger than a man; and leading to that hole was a pathway a little wider than a man. Tomorrow that pathway would be filled with the last of the vitals, and before that was done the hole had to be filled, too. But not with anything they they planned. planned.

Kane moved still closer and no one paid any attention to him. They were used to him.

There was a metal ladder that had to be climbed and a catwalk that had to be moved along to enter the last opening. He knew where the opening was as exactly as if he had built the ship with his own hands. He climbed the ladder and moved along the catwalk. There was no one there at the mo- He was wrong. One man.

That one said sharply, "What are you doing here?" Kane straightened and his vague eyes stared at the speaker. He lifted his wrench and brought it down on the speaker"s head lightly. The man who was struck (and who had made no effort to ward off the blow) dropped, partly from the effect of the blow.

Kane let him lie there, without concern. The man would not remain unconscious for long, but long enough to allow Kane to wriggle into the hole. When the man revived he would recall nothing about Kane or about the fact of his own unconsciousness. There would simply be five minutes taken out of his life that he would never find and never miss.

It was dark in the hole and, of course, there was no ventilation, but Kane paid no attention to that. With the sureness of instinct, he clambered upward toward the hold that would receive him, then lay there, panting, fitting the cavity neatly, as though it were a womb.

In two hours they would begin inserting the last of the vitals, close the pa.s.sage, and leave Kane there, unknowingly. Kane would be the sole bit of flesh and blood in a thing of metal and ceramics and fuel.

Kane was not afraid of being prematurely discovered. No one in the project knew the hole was there. The design didn"t call for it. The mechanics and construction men weren"t aware of having put it in.

Kane had arranged that entirely by himself. He didn"t know how he had arranged it but he knew he had. He could watch his own influence without knowing how it was exerted. Take the man Hammer, for instance, the leader of the project and the most clearly influenced. Of all the indistinct figures about Kane, he was the least indistinct. Kane would be very aware of him at times, when he pa.s.sed near him in his slow and hazy journeys about the grounds. It was all that was necessary-pa.s.sing near him.