ANOTHER MAN'S POISON 
     
    
   
   
    
     by Paul Stewart 
     
    

    
     “Starting accelerator 
     
     circuits. All personnel 
     
     please leave the test 
     
     area.” 
     
    

    
     Under the command of 
     
     a heavy metallic voice, 
     
     dozens of figures, clad 
     
     in shiny coveralls, 
     
     darted and disappeared 
     
     into various recesses in 
     
     the walls of the circular 
     
     room. A many-toned hum 
     
     climbed up and up the 
     
     scale. The air was rich 
     
     with energy. Unseen eyes 
     
     focused on an object 
     
     raised on a pedestal in 
     
     the middle of the floor; 
     
     a simple black cube 
     
     exactly one rand in weight 
     
     and one and one-half 
     
     sions in length on each 
     
     side. The air about the 
     
     cube began to glow and 
     
     ionize. As the whine 
     
     neared the ultrasonic 
     
     threshold, the pedestal 
     
     became lost to sight 
     
     within a cloud of vapor. 
     
    

    
     Suddenly a hammer came 
     
     down on the world. With 
     
     a massive roar the tiny 
     
     cloud collapsed upon 
     
     itself and was gone. A 
     
     much larger cloud 
     
     simultaneously billowed 
     
     into existence near the 
     
     domed ceiling and 
     
     unceremoniously released 
     
     a shower of rocks and 
     
     dirt upon the empty 
     
     pedestal below. 
     
    

    
     Silver figures raced 
     
     into the chamber and 
     
     milled and fussed over 
     
     the scattered debris, 
     
     symbol of the very first 
     
     interdLmensional tele- 
     
     portation in the recorded 
     
     nistory of the planet 
     
     Llaro. 
     
    

    
     It had been known for 
     
     :ome time that other 
     
     iimensions existed. A 
     
     clue to their access was 
     
     fforded by certain 
     
     ,nomalies in the hearts 
     
     rf stars which seemed to 
     
     ass much more than they 
     
     hould. The result was 
     
     :hat the stars either 
     
     collapsed upon themselves 
     
     or swelled and exploded 
     
     leaving a massive gravity 
     
     rink in their place. 
     
    

    
     'nis collection of odd- 
     
     ities, upon closer 
     
     inspection, was finally 
     
     cxplained by their being 
     
    
   
   
    
     focal,points of galactic {' 
     
    
   
   
    
     U n O G t I ~,V,.V.V .‘.-.\-\.'.V iv-‘-\,‘A\‘A‘-'.' 1 u n - I I 
     
    
   
   
    
     electromagnetic waves. 
     
     50 the theories went from 
     
     there. , 
     
    
   
   
    
     And it had worked! A 
     
    
   
   
    
     gring of mighty electro- 
     
    
   
   
    
     magnets could produce the 
     
     necessary “hole” through 
     
    
   
   
    
     7 which the interdimensional 
     
    
   
   
    
     game of “put-and-take” 
     
     could be played. 
     
    

    
     Plans were already in 
     
     the works for a manned 
     
     capsule which could with- 
     
     stand the forces of 
     
     magnetic stress. 
     
    

    
     However, it was to be 
     
     proven again that greed 
     
     and promise of rewarding 
     
     adventure could corrupt 
     
     even the sturdiest and 
     
     most patient of scientific 
     
     minds. These two 
     
     particular examples of 
     
     corruption, Aloc and‘ 
     
     Evid, knew too well the 
     
     fates of those who 
     
     developed Such marvels. 
     
     They would,be relegated 
     
     to a cozy spot on the 
     
     Science Council and a 
     
     fat pension. But this 
     
     bordered on anonymity 
     
     compared to the rewards 
     
     of the relatively mindless 
     
     clods whose sole functionr 
     
     it would be to ride the. 
     
     capsule into the new 
     
     dimension, collect a few 
     
     things as could trained 
     
     dogs, and return. Even 
     
     the problem of return 
     
     was no more a chore to 
     
     them than that of 
     
     assembling a nursery 
     
     puzzle. The prefabricated 
     
     units of the electromagnet 
     
     would be sent with the 
     
     ship. Zap! Instant 
     
     heroes! 
     
    

    
     Well not this time. 
     
    

    
     Aloc and Evid would be the 
     
     first to build and the 
     
     first to ride. Traitorous 
     
     as it was, they knew 
     
     themselves to be in no‘ 
     
     danger. After all, who 
     
     would shoot world-wide 
     
     heroes? And geniuses at 
     
     that? ~ 
     
    

    
     So it was that late into 
     
     the night two silver 
     
     figures passed through the 
     
     guard stations into the 
     
     circular chamber. Having 
     
     pre-set the controls of 
     
     the magnetic field 
     
     generators, the two 
     
     renegade scientists sealed 
     
     themselves inside the tall 
     
     rod-shaped craft perched' 
     
    
   
   
    
     STEPSON 
     
    
   
   
    
     by Judy Whitehead 
     
    
   
   
    
     I sit, listening to the children 
     
     playing in the barn on a Sunday afternoon. 
     
     i can hear them all laughing . » 
     
     and that gives me real pleasure, 
     
     because today for the first time Matthew came 
     
    
   
   
    
     to stay. 
     
     i like him. 
     
    
   
   
    
     to stay. 
     
    
   
   
    
     He's tall and gangling, 
     
    
   
   
    
     arms and legs too long to cope with, trying 
     
    
   
   
    
     so hard to be a man. 
     
    
   
   
    
     So he swigs beer from a bottle, and spills it 
     
    
   
   
    
     down his T-shirt, 
     
    
   
   
    
     \ 
     
    
   
   
    
     tries political jokes then fluffs the final time. ’ 
     
    
   
   
    
     He resents me, I understand that. 
     
    
   
   
    
     He is only fourteen, I am almost forty; 
     
     i am the new Wife. 
     
    
   
   
    
     the son, 
     
    
   
   
    
     he is 
     
    
   
   
    
     I should try not to worry as i sit listening to 
     
    
   
   
    
     the children 
     
    
   
   
    
     but i want him to accept me, and I don't 
     
    
   
   
    
     know what to say. 
     
    
   
   
    
     fi\, 
     
    
   
   
    
     pedestal in the centre of 
     
     the floor. ' 
     
    

    
     The preliminaries were 
     
     attended to. The two 
     
     scientists took a last‘ i 
     
     look about the room 
     
     through their view holes, 
     
     shot a wild glance at 
     
     one another, grinned, and 
     
     threw the final switches. 
     
    

    
     The hum rose fast. The 
     
     room outside became lost 
     
     behind a wall of bluish 
     
     mist all about them. The 
     
     cabin bristled with static 
     
     charge despite the 
     
     shields. 
     
    

    
     A thousand hammers came 
     
     down on the world and all 
     
     was dark. 
     
    

    
     Aloc and Evid awoke to 
     
     a multitude of brightly 
     
     flashing controls and the 
     
     sounds of alarms. Their 
     
     ship swam and tossed in- 
     
     what their sensors told 
     
     them was a dark hot sea of 
     
     hydrochloric acid.... 
     
    
   
   
    
     Joe Bronowski looked 
     
     around the construction 
     
     site, sweating profusely 
     
     He was searching for the 
     
     nearest toilet trailer. 
     
    

    
     He was feeling very, very 
     
     ill. Racing for the 
     
     ,distant white door, 
     
     discarding his hard hat 
     
    

    
     and grabbing at his belt, 
     
     he belched and bloated 
     
     with the worst attack of 
     
     gas he hadgever experienced 
     
     Minutes later, feeling / 
     
     some relief and minus a 
     
     stomach-full of trouble, 
     
     Joe was approached by one 
     
     of his co-workers. 
     
    
   
   
    
     ......§$9P. .Sbs. .rzsw.1x:t?yi..l.t.,.;.:_ . ;':‘::'f-::::: g'..'l_*9Y'.'.-‘< FT‘e._PL!m'.“Y a PM: ;   
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     You looked mighty green, 
     
    

    
     for a while there.” 
     
     “Can't understand it,” 
     
    

    
     raSped Joe, working his 
     
    
   
   
    
     Ithroat with his hand. 
     
    
   
   
    
     “Never been that sick 
     
     before. Came on real fast. 
     
     And it hurt like hell 
     
    
   
   
    
     V when it came up, too. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Felt like I was tossin' 
     
     up~steel!” 
     
    

    
     'Madda ya think brought 
     
     it on?“ prompted the 
     
     other. ' 
     
    

    
     “Dunno. I felt fine all 
     
     day. Strange thing.” 
     
    

    
     "Not.as strange as what 
     
     I saw about a week and a' 
     
     half ago," added a third 
     
     worker coming up to the ' 
     
     pair and leaning on his' 
     
     shovel. "l was sittin" 
     
     near the foundation there» 
     
     eating lunch when a little 
     
     ness of dirt disappeared: 
     
     not an inch away from my 
     
     foot. Damnedest thing I 
     
     ever saw.” 
     
    

    
     Somewhere in the sewerf 
     
     system of Metro Toronto 
     
     float the minute corpses 
     
    
   
   
    
     of two brilliant 
     
     scientists, driven t0' 
     
     disaster by their over- 
     
     powering greed. ' ‘ 
     
     Somewhere in another 
     
     dimension, on a planet 
     
     called Claro, frantic 
     
     rescue workers struggle 
     
     to free survivors from 
     
     the wreckage of the 
     
     Science and Technology 
     
     Station #37, completely 
     
     buried under a monolithic 
     
     mass of semi-digested I 
     
     tuna fish sandwiches, 
     
    
   
   
    
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