The salesman froze just slightly. He shook his head, half sadly, half in bewilderment. “Well, now, I don’t know if we could allow you much for that. It’s a fairly old type of machine. Almost obsolete.”
“But you could give me something?”
“I think so. Not a great deal, though.”
“And time payment?”
“Yes, certainly. We could work something out. If you would give me your name.”
Hart told him what it was.
The salesman jotted it down and said, “Excuse me a moment, sir.”
Hart stood for a moment, looking after him. Then, like a sneak thief in the night, he moved softly to the front door and walked swiftly down the street.
There was no use in staying. No use at all of waiting for the salesman to come back and shake his hand and say, “We’re very sorry, sir.”
We’re very sorry, sir, because we’ve looked up your credit rating and it’s absolutely worthless. We checked your sales record and found you sold just one short story in the last six months.
It had been a mistake to go for a walk at all, Hart told himself, not without bitterness.
Downtown, in a section of the city far removed from the glamorous showroom, Hart climbed six flights of stairs because the elevator was out of whack again.
Behind the door that said Irving Publications, the preoccupied receptionist stopped filing her nails long enough to make a motion with her thumb toward the inner office.
“Go on in and see him,” she said.
Ben Irving sat behind a heaped-up desk cluttered with manuscripts, proofs and layout sheets. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and he wore an eyeshade. He always wore the eyeshade and that was one of the minor mysteries of the place, for at no time during the day was there light enough in his dingy office to blind a self-respecting bat.
He looked up and blinked at Hart.
“Glad to see you, Kemp,” he said. “Sit down. What’s on your mind today?”
Hart took a chair. “I was wondering. About that last story that I sent you –”
“Haven’t got around to it yet,” said Irving. He waved his hand at the mess upon his desk by way of explanation.
“Mary!” he shouted.
The receptionist stuck her head inside the door.
“Get Hart’s manuscript,” he said, “and let Millie have a look at it.”
Irving leaned back in his chair. “This won’t take long,” he said. “Millie’s a fast reader.”
“I’ll wait,” said Hart.
“I’ve got something for you,” Irving told him. “We’re starting a new magazine, aimed at the tribes out in the Algol system. They’re a primitive sort of people, but they can read, Lord love them. We had the devil’s own time finding someone who could do the translations for us and it’ll cost more than we like to pay to have the type set up. They got the damnedest alphabet you ever saw. We finally found a printer who had some in his fonts.”
“What kind of stuff?” Hart asked.
“Simple humanoid,” Irving replied. “Blood and thunder and a lot of spectacle. Life is tough and hard out there, so we have to give them something with plenty of color in it that’s easy to read. Nothing fancy, mind you.”
“Sounds all right.”
“Good basic hack,” said Irving. “See how it goes out there and if it goes all right we’ll make translations for some of the primitive groups out in the Capella region. Minor changes, maybe, but none too serious.”
He squinted meditatively at Hart.
“Not too much pay. But if it goes over we’ll want a lot of it.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” said Hart. “Any taboos? Anything to duck?”
“No religion at all,” the editor told him. “They’ve got it, of course, but it’s so complicated that you’d better steer clear of it entirely. No mushy stuff. Love don’t rate with them. They buy their women and don’t fool around with love. Treasure and greed would be good. Any standard reference work will give you a line on that. Fantastic weapons – the more gruesome the better. Bloodshed, lots of it. Hatred, that’s their dish. Hatred and vengeance and hell-for-leather living. And you simply got to keep it moving.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
“That’s the second time you’ve said that.”
“I’m not doing so good, Ben. Once I could have told you yes. Once I could have hauled it over by the ton.”
“Lost the touch?”
“Not the touch. The machine. My yarner is haywire. I might just as well try to write my stories by hand.”
Irving shuddered at the thought.
“Fix it up,” he said. “Tinker with it.”
“I’m no good at that. Anyhow, it’s too old. Almost obsolete.”
“Well, do the best you can. I’d like to go on buying from you.”
The girl came in. Without looking at Hart she laid the manuscript down upon the desk. From where he sat, Hart could see the single word the machine had stamped upon its face: REJECTED.
“Emphatic,” said the girl. “Millie almost stripped a gear.”
Irving pitched the manuscript to Hart.
“Sorry, Kemp. Better luck next time.”
Hart rose, holding the manuscript in his hand. “I’ll try this other thing,” he said.
He started for the door.
“Just a minute,” Irving said, his voice sympathetic.
Hart turned back.
Irving brought out his billfold, stripped out two tens and held them out.
“No,” said Hart, staring at the bills longingly.
“It’s a loan,” said the editor. “Damn it, man, you can take a loan. You’ll be bringing me some stuff.”
“Thanks, Ben. I’ll remember this.”
He stuffed the bills into his pocket and made a swift retreat.
Bitter dust burned in his throat and there was a hard, cold lump in the center of his belly.
Got something for you, Ben had said. Good basic hack.
Good basic hack.
So that was what he’d sunk to!
Angela Maret was the only patron in the Bright Star bar when Hart finally arrived there, with money in his pocket and a man-sized hankering for a glass of beer. Angela was drinking a weird sort of pink concoction that looked positively poisonous. She had her glasses on and her hair skinned back and was quite obviously on a literary binge. It was a shame, Hart thought. She could be attractive, but preferred not to be.
The instant Hart joined her Blake, the bartender, came over to the table and just stood there, with his fists firmly planted on his hips.
“Glass of beer,” Hart told him.
“No more cuff,” Blake said, with an accusing stare.
“Who said anything about cuff? I’ll pay for it.”
Blake scowled. “Since you’re loaded, how about paying on the bill?”
“I haven’t got that kind of money. Do I get the beer or don’t I?”
Watching Blake waddle back to the bar, Hart was glad he had had the foresight to stop and buy a pack of cigarettes to break one of the tens. Flash a ten in this joint and Blake would be on it in a second and have it chalked against his bill.
“Staked?” Angela asked sweetly.
“An advance,” Hart told her, lying like a gentleman. “Irving has some stuff for me to do. He’ll need a lot of it. It doesn’t pay too well, of course.”
Blake came with the beer and plunked it down on the table and waited pointedly for Hart to do the expected thing.
Hart paid him and he waddled off.
“Have you heard about Jasper?” Angela asked.
Hart shook his head. “Nothing recent,” he said. “Did he finish his book?”