Thus, it was somewhat to be expected that Undersecretary Hoverly should find himself chewing on the under-bristles of his mustache as he read the latest space-o-gram.
Dear Sir:
Needless to say, we are somewhat disappointed over the Western Cluster's meager3 response to our desperate need.
Perhaps Ambassador Summerson misrepresented our agreement. In that event, we feel sure that consultation4 with his Excellency will set the record straight.
We would appreciate prompt attention to this detail. Otherwise, in the interest of our people, we shall feel compelled to seek satisfaction elsewhere.
Respectfully yours,
Titus McWorther,
Potentate
Hoverly tossed the message on his desk, punched the audio-com button and called for his assistant. When Mallston arrived, the undersecretary was still pacing.
"Did you take care of the McWorther World aid consignment5?" he asked.
Mallston nodded. "Delivery should have been made day before yesterday. Full Class A schedule."
"Well, it wasn't enough!" Hoverly extended a stiff finger toward the space-o-gram. "Read that."
Looking up finally, Mallston said, "Evidently we dropped the ball."
"Indeed we did. Ambassador Summerson must have promised the Potentate the whole works."
Hoverly resumed pacing. "I should have guessed as much. President Roswell only last week hinted that the Western Cluster should level its galactic commerce sights on that entire sector6."
Mallston pondered the gravity of the space-o-gram. "Maybe we should lay the McWorther development before the President."
Bristling7, the undersecretary said, "And call attention to our own incompetence8? We'll straighten this matter out by doing what we should have done in the first place—by putting the Potentate on the double-A priority list. Full and immediate9 delivery under Class B through K schedules."
Mallston started out, but paused at the door. "How about cultural exchange?"
"We'll play it safe by assuming Summerson shot the works in that category too. Round up every uncommitted cultural group in the cluster."
Shaking his head deprecatingly, the twenty-seventh vice-president stood before the desk of the next highest official in the Rear-Sobucks hierarchy10.
"Well, Wheeler," V.R. clipped without looking up. "What is it this time?"
"Netath? Netath?" V.R. milked the name for its significance.
"Ogarm Netath. The prime minister of that Gauyuth place. The automatic bather."
"Oh, that one."
Wheeler handed over the space-o-gram and V.R. muttered through the message:
Dear Sir:
I'm sure you made a mistake filling my order. You've got to come pick up your shipment right away. We're up to our ears and it's shaking us to pieces.
Yours in disappointment,
Ogarm Netath,
Prime Minister
Growling12, V.R. dropped an effervescent pill into a glass of water. "You can't get anywhere with these back-planet bumpkins. I doubt that this Netath ever had a bath. Send him a Supplementary13 Manual of Operating Instructions."
Wheeler started for the door.
But V.R. called after him. "And bill the prime minister for that article. It'll teach him to show a little bit of appreciation14."
Titus winced15 before the persistent16 tremors17 that came through the floor of his cellar. He made another adjustment on the gravity control deflecting18 the planetoid's center of pseudomass another few feet. The ground beneath him finally quieted.
"Getting things balanced again."
"What are you going to do about all that stuff cluttering21 up our beautiful planetoid?" She was near tears.
With Edna dogging his steps, he returned to the veranda22, where his julep was now quite thin and warm in the rays of the setting sun.
"We'll have to find out where it came from first," he said, staring dismally23 over the mountains of machinery24 and grain, the tumbled stacks of crates25 and barrels and kegs, the lesser26 rows of wheeled and winged vehicles.
"Seems to me," Edna persisted, "that the invoices27 will show that." She gestured at what remained of the stacks of printed forms.
The rest of the slips were strewn over the ground as far as he could see. "Only the first sheet will show the origin—if we could ever find it," Titus explained.
He went out to the air car, warmed it up and sent it churning skyward. Near the attenuated28 top of the atmosphere, he was able to see exactly how much extraneous29 stuff had been dumped on his world. The main area of disposal seemed to have been within a two-mile radius30 of the house.
An ever-widening helical course, wending its way alternately from night to day, eventually brought him on a great circle that sliced over both poles. Then, with his searchlights still burning, he spiraled inward, covering the other hemisphere. The rest of his world was in primal31 order.
He started for home around the daylight side.
But even above the noise of his own rotorjets, the stridence of descending32 freighters erupted in a pandemonium33 of sound all around him. Great clouds of rockets, clustered in fleets, were darkening the sky and raining down onto the surface.
He barely managed to pull out from under one of the formations before it could pinch him against the ground. Swearing in oaths that he had not used in years, he headed for the nearest group of ships. Before he could close in, they had discharged their cargoes34 and thundered off into space again.
He altered course for another detachment of freighters, only to meet with the same frustrating35 results. By the time he had aimed his craft at a third group, all the ships had blasted away, leaving everywhere great, gleaming mounds36 and stacks and irregular rows of crates and containers that completely obscured the surface.
Enraged37, Titus gunned the craft for home. He picked his way between several monstrous38 peaks of grain, some of them soaring nearly all the way up through the six-hundred-foot-thick atmosphere, and threw on his brakes to avoid collision with a tremendous pyramid of what looked like corn kernels39.
With stark40 apprehension41, he envisioned his world shaking apart under the eccentric forces. But he quelled42 his fears with logic43: This new addition of mass, apparently44 distributed evenly over all but the four square miles that had already served as a dumping ground, would be unbalanced only to a negligible degree.
Titus flicked45 on his landing lights as he headed into the night. But from over the horizon came a glare considerably46 stronger than the candlepower of his own electrical system. As he pulled up to the mooring47 pylon48, the explanation was evident.
Scores of Pullman crafts were packed so tightly around his house that the blunt noses of several were sticking out over the veranda.
He cut off the idling jets. The militant49 strains of a Venurian march, blaring from the instruments of a hundred-piece symphony, swelled50 up mightily51 all around him. The orchestra itself was wedged between two residential52 crafts while the roof of McWorther's generating house served as the conductor's podium.
On the veranda, a full troupe53 of Simalean Ballet dancers swirled54 and caracoled, not seeming to mind that they were occasionally overflowing55 the tiles and flouncing not so lightly through Edna's caladiums.
His wife stood helplessly by, still gripping the autobroom which she had evidently wielded56 without success in an attempt to rout57 the intruders.
Dismayed, Titus elbowed his way through a dedicated58 choral group that was patriotically59 rendering60 the "Fayothian Anthem," sidestepped a tumbling foursome obviously from one of the Lesser Javapa planets and pushed aside a debating team which was having little luck making itself heard above the general cacophony61.
Edna swept out to meet him. "Titus, they just won't leave!"
"Who are they? What do they want?"
"I don't know." She was having a difficult time restraining herself. "They asked for the ministry62 of something or other. Then they said they were cooped up so long that they had to get some practice."
Titus bellowed63 for attention. But nobody turned an ear, except a pirouetting ballerina who whirled to a stop nearby, glissaded over in front of him and made a theatrical64 display of bending over and planting a set of lip-prints on his forehead—a gesture that fed considerable fuel to Edna's vexation.
"You're cute," the dancer tittered. "You got the word on this place, Pudgy? What is it—a stopover station?"
Before he could answer, one of the tumblers shouted, "It's snowing!"
The choral group broke reverently65 into the ancient carol "Noel" while the orchestra paused on an upbeat and swung into a jazzed-up "Jingle66 Bells."
Perplexed67, Titus stared at the dancing snowflakes. But that was impossible! It never snowed here on McWorther's World!
Then he remembered the grain peak he had skirted on the way home. It had extended high above the infrared69 and ultraviolet shields—into the naked, hot zone where restless winds had wafted70 the kernels eastward71.
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1
potentate
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| n.统治者；君主 | |
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premier
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| adj.首要的；n.总理，首相 | |
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meager
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| adj.缺乏的，不足的，瘦的 | |
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consultation
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| n.咨询；商量；商议；会议 | |
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consignment
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| n.寄售；发货；委托；交运货物 | |
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sector
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| n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形 | |
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bristling
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| a.竖立的 | |
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incompetence
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| n.不胜任，不称职 | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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hierarchy
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| n.等级制度；统治集团，领导层 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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growling
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| n.吠声, 咆哮声 v.怒吠, 咆哮, 吼 | |
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supplementary
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| adj.补充的，附加的 | |
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appreciation
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| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
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15
winced
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| 赶紧避开，畏缩( wince的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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persistent
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| adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的 | |
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tremors
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| 震颤( tremor的名词复数 )； 战栗； 震颤声； 大地的轻微震动 | |
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deflecting
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| （使）偏斜， （使）偏离， （使）转向( deflect的现在分词 ) | |
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mumbled
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| 含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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20
hips
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| abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯，耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 )；[建筑学]屋脊；臀围（尺寸）；臀部…的 | |
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21
cluttering
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| v.杂物，零乱的东西零乱vt.( clutter的现在分词 )；乱糟糟地堆满，把…弄得很乱；（以…） 塞满… | |
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veranda
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| n.走廊；阳台 | |
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dismally
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| adv.阴暗地，沉闷地 | |
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machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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crates
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| n. 板条箱, 篓子, 旧汽车 vt. 装进纸条箱 | |
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lesser
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| adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地 | |
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invoices
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| 发票( invoice的名词复数 )； （发货或服务）费用清单； 清单上货物的装运； 货物的托运 | |
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28
attenuated
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| v.（使）变细( attenuate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）变薄；（使）变小；减弱 | |
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extraneous
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| adj.体外的；外来的；外部的 | |
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radius
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| n.半径，半径范围；有效航程，范围，界限 | |
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primal
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| adj.原始的；最重要的 | |
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descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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pandemonium
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| n.喧嚣，大混乱 | |
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cargoes
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| n.（船或飞机装载的）货物( cargo的名词复数 )；大量，重负 | |
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35
frustrating
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| adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧 | |
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36
mounds
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| 土堆，土丘( mound的名词复数 )； 一大堆 | |
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enraged
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| 使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 )； 歜； 激愤 | |
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38
monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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kernels
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| 谷粒( kernel的名词复数 )； 仁； 核； 要点 | |
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stark
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| adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地 | |
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41
apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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42
quelled
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| v.（用武力）制止，结束，镇压( quell的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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43
logic
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| n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性 | |
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44
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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45
flicked
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| （尤指用手指或手快速地）轻击( flick的过去式和过去分词 )； （用…）轻挥； （快速地）按开关； 向…笑了一下（或瞥了一眼等） | |
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46
considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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47
mooring
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| n.停泊处；系泊用具，系船具；下锚v.停泊，系泊（船只）(moor的现在分词) | |
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48
pylon
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| n.高压电线架，桥塔 | |
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49
militant
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| adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士 | |
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50
swelled
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| 增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情） | |
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51
mightily
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| ad.强烈地；非常地 | |
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52
residential
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| adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的 | |
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53
troupe
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| n.剧团，戏班；杂技团；马戏团 | |
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54
swirled
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| v.旋转，打旋( swirl的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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55
overflowing
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| n. 溢出物,溢流 adj. 充沛的，充满的 动词overflow的现在分词形式 | |
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56
wielded
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| 手持着使用（武器、工具等）( wield的过去式和过去分词 )； 具有； 运用（权力）； 施加（影响） | |
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rout
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| n.溃退，溃败；v.击溃，打垮 | |
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dedicated
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| adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的 | |
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patriotically
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| 爱国地；忧国地 | |
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rendering
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| n.表现，描写 | |
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61
cacophony
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| n.刺耳的声音 | |
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62
ministry
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| n.(政府的)部；牧师 | |
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63
bellowed
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| v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的过去式和过去分词 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫 | |
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64
theatrical
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| adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的 | |
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reverently
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| adv.虔诚地 | |
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66
jingle
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| n.叮当声，韵律简单的诗句；v.使叮当作响，叮当响，押韵 | |
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perplexed
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| adj.不知所措的 | |
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68
flakes
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| 小薄片( flake的名词复数 )； （尤指）碎片； 雪花； 古怪的人 | |
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infrared
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| adj./n.红外线(的) | |
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70
wafted
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| v.吹送，飘送，（使）浮动( waft的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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71
eastward
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| adv.向东；adj.向东的；n.东方，东部 | |
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72
popcorn
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| n.爆米花 | |
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