. 3 — NEW WRITINGS IN S.F.— Eight exciting stories of the future the finding of an alien culture so different from our own that it is almost incomprehensible ... a frightening glimpse into the power of the mind ... a scientific view of the phenomenon of the poltergeist . the perils of space exploration . NEW WRITINGS IN S.F.— Eight science fiction stories edited by John Camell 42865791 Also edited by John Carnell NEW WRITINGS IN S.F.— NEW WRITINGS IN S.F.— NEW WRITINGS IN S.F.— NEW WRITINGS IN S.F.— NEW WRITINGS IN S.F.— NEW WRITINGS IN S.F.— NEW WRITINGS IN S.F.— NEW WRITINGS IN S.F.— NEW WRITINGS IN S.F.~10 NEW WRITINGS IN S.F.—11 NEW WRITINGS IN S.F.—12 NEW WRITINGS IN S.F.— 13 NEW WRITINGS IN S.F.—14 NEW WRITINGS IN S.F.— 15 NEW WRITINGS IN S.F.—16 Also published by Coroi Books 3 Edited by John Camell New Writings in S.F.— TRANSWORLD PUBLISHERS LTD A National Conoral Company 3 NEW WRITINGS IN S.F.— A CORGI BOOK 552 08417 4 Originally published in Great Britain by Dobson Books, Ltd. Printing History Dobson Books Edition published 1964 Corgi Edition published 1965 Corgi Edition reissued 1970 Ail the characters in this book are fictitious and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Copyright €> 1964 by John Carnell Conditions of Sale—^This book shall not, without the written consent of Transw’orld first given, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise disposed of by way of trade in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published. This book is set in 10 pt. Pilgrim Corgi Books are published by Transworld Publishers, Ltd., Bashley Road, London, N.W.IO Made and printed in Great Britain by Richard Clay (The Chaucer Press), Ltd., Bungay, Suffolk ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS "The Fiend'\ by Frederik Pohl. Copyright 1964 by HMH Publishing Ca.» Inc. and published originally in Playboy. Reprinted by permission of the author. CONTENTS Page Foreword by John Cornell 7 The Subways Of Tazoo by Colin Kapp 9 The Fiend by Frederik Pohl 55 Manipulation by John Kingston 65 Testament by John Baxter 93 Night Watch by James Inglis 103 Boulter’s Canaries by Keith Roberts 119 Emreth by Dan Morgan 141 Spacemaster by James H. Schmitz 163 ; FOREWORD In this third volume of New Writings in S.F. we take a much wider cross- section of contemporary themes by present-day writers. All but one of the stories have never been published before—in fact most were written specially for this series. The sole exception, Frederik Pohl’s “The Fiend”, will not have been read by many regular S.F. readers, as it originally appeared in Playboy, an American magazine with the broadest of broad policies devoted to masculine appeal. The inclusion of the Pohl story was deliberate, in view of the many ad- mirers of his own works (novels and short stories) and his brilliant collabora- tions with the late C. M. Kombluth of satires exposing our own life and times against future backgrounds—The Space Merchants, Gladiators-ahLaw, Wolfbane, etc. Here is a new type of Pohl story, written for a specific mar- ket, with all the trappings of S.F. shifted slightly into a new angle. At the other end of the scale, Colin Kapp’s ‘‘The Subways Of Tazoo” is one of the finest rcxe/ice-fiction stories for a long time, but here we have a science which is, at first, completely alien to Man. Few themes stir the imagination more than that of archaeological research, whether it be of ancient Egyptian or Roman remains or a Kon-Tiki expedition to prove a possibility. In science fiction, the quest is always for traces of another intelligence or artifacts left behind by people long departed. The Kapp story combines the best of these possibilities with the finding of an alien culture so different from our own that it is almost incomprehensible—but not quite which makes the story. Stories evolved round the mental powers (psi) have been particularly popular since the advent of space satellites, many authors feeling that with Man practically on the threshold of space travel it was time to turn the spotlight of literary research inward upon the mind itself. There have been 3 many fine stories upon this subject and a great deal of rubbish. John King- ston’s “Manipulation” is obviously in the former class as he unfolds the suspenseful story of a man “gifted” with such a power he is not equipped to handle successfully. There is a sharp change of pace and ideas in Keith Roberts’s story “Boulter’s Canaries”, the background theme to which is a poltergeist (usually reserved for weird stories) but Mr. Roberts turns a scientific eye on this phenomena and finds a different answer to the one usually given by psychic research experts. For those who like space stories, however, there are at least four different types in this collection, each with a moral to prove if you look at them in retrospect. Two vignettes—John Baxter’s “Testament” and James Inglis’s “Night Watch”—are so dissimilar that they might well be the alpha and omega of the collection, for in the former the main theme is one of a desperate search for food and water to prevent a race dying, and in the latter we see the end of the galaxy. In between these two extremes both Dan Morgan and James H. Schmitz present unusual themes in “Emreth” and “Spacemaster”. Basically, then, this is a new collection of stories designed primarily for enjoyment. That one or more of them will evoke speculation in some readers* minds is almost certain, for this has been the main feature of S.F. for over fifty years. A sense of wonder and a sense of enjoyment go band in hand, f^ew Writings in S.F.— should provide you with both. John Carnell November 1964 THE SUBWAYS OF 1 AZOO by Colin Kapp While archaeologists continue to unravel the mys- teries of former civilizations on Earth, science- fiction writers have been speculating on the possi- bility that one day we may find similar traces of alien intelligence on other worlds-—Mars, for in- stance. Author Colin Kapp, however, takes us fur- ther away, to an alien planet with a lost civilization and the incomprehensible artifacts they left behind in their flight from . what? THE SUBWAYS OF TAZOO ONE "Lieutenant Van Noon, report to Colcmel Belling’s office.” “Damn!” Fritz Van Noon glared at the loudspeaker. “Sounds as though Belling’s back and on the warpath again.” “Can you wonder?” Jacko Hine helped him out from under the miscellanea of half-assembled pieces. “Let’s face it, Fritz, some of our recent projects have come unstuck in a rather spectacular manner.” “True,” said Fritz, “but never let it be said that the Un- orthodox Engineers have produced a damp squib. Always our results have exceeded our wildest expectations.” “Or Belling’s wildest fears,” said Jacko morosely. As Fritz entered the office Colonel Belling half raised himself from his chair in greeting. “Ah, Van Noon! Just the fellow 1 wanted to see.” “Sir?” asked Fritz suspiciously. Colonel Belling was not a man given to cordiality towards his subordinates. Belling smiled wolfishly. “I’ve just returned from the General Staff conference. Since you re-instated the railways up on Cannis even the Old Man has been forced to admit that there may be occasions when unorthodox engineering has its virtues. For my part I felt impelled to point out that I’m trying to run a specialist engineering reserve, and that carrying the can for a complete squad of engineering illegi- timates was not strictly within my terms of reference. As 1 explained, always 1 get stuck with the one engineer in a thousand who should never have left kindergarten, let alone graduated. The only repository I have for these mechanical misfits is the U.E. squad, where the damage they can do, if not exactly nullified, is at least anticipated.” .” “Isn’t that a little unfair, sir? 1 mean . “I know just what you mean, Fritz, and I don’t accept it. Engineering is a discipline, but the brand you apply is II strictly delinquent. The outcome of the conference was that Colonel Nash, whom I’m beginning to suspect has masochistic tendencies, has volunteered to take the U.E. squad on the Tazoon enterprise.” Fritz considered this for a moment. "Exactly what are they doing on Tazoo, sir?” "Supporting an archaeological team. Life on Tazoo is now extinct, but evidence tends to show that it once held a civilization as highly developed or more so than our own. In terms of knowledge to be gained it is probably the greatest find that space has ever given to us. It is doubtful if the Tazoons were human or even humanoid, and they became extinct at least two million years ago. Our prob- lem is to pick up the remains of a complex mechanical culture as alien and as old as that and attempt to under- stand it for what it was.” "I shouldn't have thought that was too difficult, sir.” “No, Fritz, I never supposed you would. That’s partly the reason you’re going. Your inverted-sideways approach is the nearest thing to an alien technolog)' that we’ve got. That makes you a specialist.” “Thank you, sir,” said Fritz warily. “And the other part of the reason we’re going?” “The climatic conditions on Tazoo are such hell that the average rugged ground-cat has a useful working life of about two weeks.