'What happened to the first one?'
He chuckled.
'It did not possess a particle-exceptor program.'
'How does that work?'
He shook his head.
'There are some things that man is not meant to know,' he said.
'That's a hell of a thing to say at this stage of the game.'
'Actually, I don't understand it myself.'
'Oh.'
'Let's go drink Merimee's booze and smoke his cigarettes,' he said. 'I want to talk to your uncle some more, too. He has offered me a job, you know.'
'He has? Doing what?'
'He has some interesting ideas concerning galactic trade. He says that he wants to set up, a modest export- import business. You see, I am about ready to retire from the force, and he wants someone with my sort of experience to advise him. We might work something out.'
'He is my favorite uncle,' I said, 'and I owe him a lot. But I am also sufficiently indebted to you that I feel obligated to point out that his reputation is somewhat less than savory.'
Ragma shrugged.
'The galaxy is a big place,' he said. 'There are laws and occasions for all sorts and situations. These are some of the things he wants me to advise him about.'
I nodded slowly, apocalyptic pieces of family folklore having but recently fallen into place in light of Merimee's revelations and some of Uncle Albert's own reminiscences during our small family reunion the previous evening.
'Doctor Merimee, by the way, will be a partner in the enterprise,' Ragma added.
I continued to nod.
'Whatever happens,' I said, 'I am certain that you will find it a stimulating and enlightening experience.'
We continued to the car, into it, cityward, away. Behind me the beach was suddenly full of doorways, and I thought of ladies, tigers, shoes, ships, sealing wax and other lurkers on the threshold. Soon, soon, soon ...
Variations on a Theme by the Third Gargoyle from the End: Stars and the Dream of Time-
It was in a small town in the shadow of the Alps that I finally caught up with him, brooding atop the local house of worship, regarding the huge clock high up on the city hall across the way.
'Good evening. Professor Dobson.'
'Eh? Fred? Goodness! Mind the next stone over-the mortar is a bit crumbly ... There. Very good. I hardly expected to see you tonight. Glad you happened by, though. I was going to send you a postcard in the morning, telling you about this place. Not just the climbing but the perspective. Keep your eye on the big clock, will you?'
'All right,' I said, settling back onto a perch and bracing one foot against an ornamental projection.
'I've brought you something,' I said, passing him the package.
'Why, thank you. Most unexpected. A surprise ... It gurgles, Fred.'
'So it does.'
He peeled away the paper.
'Indeed! I can't make out the label, so I had better sample it.'
I watched the big clock on the tower.
After a moment, 'Fred!' he said. 'I've never tasted the like! What is it?'
'The stereoisomer of a common bourbon,' I said. 'I was permitted to run a few bottles through the Rhennius machine recently, as the UN Special Committee on Alien Artifacts is being particularly nice to me these days. So, in this sense, you have just sampled a very rare thing.'
'I see. Yes ... What is the occasion?'
'The stars have run their fiery courses to their proper places, positioned with elegant cunning, possessed of noble portent.'
He nodded.
'Beautifully stated,' he said. 'But what do you mean?'
'To begin with a departure, I have graduated.'
'I am sorry to hear that. I was beginning to believe they would never get you.'
'So was I. But they did. I am now working for the State Department or the United Nations, depending on how one looks at these matters.'
'What sort of position is it?'
'That is what I am thinking about at the moment. You see, I have a choice.'
He took another sip and passed me the bottle.
'Always an awesome moment,' he reflected. 'Here.'
I nodded. I took a sip.
'Which is why I wanted to talk with you before I made it.'
'Always an awesome responsibility,' he said, recovering the bottle. 'Why me?'
'Some time ago, when I was being tormented in the desert,' I said, 'I thought about the many advisers I have had. It only recently occurred to me what made some of them better than others. The best ones, I see now, were those who did not try to force me to go the prescribed routes. They did not simply sign my card either, though. They always talked to me for a time. Not the usual sort of thing. They never counseled me in the direct manner ritual prescribes for such occasions. I don't even remember much of what was said. Things they had learned the hard way usually, things they considered important, I guess. Generally non-academic things. Those were the ones who taught me something, and perhaps they did direct me in an indirect way. Not to do what they wanted but to see something they had really seen. A piece of their slant on life, take it for whatever it is worth. Anyhow, while you are one of the few who escaped the formal assignment, over the years I have come to consider you my only real adviser.'
'It was never intentional ... ' he said.
'Exactly. That was the best way to do it in my case. The only way, probably. You have shown me things that have helped me. Often. Now I am thinking particularly of our recent conversation, back on campus, right before you retired.'
'I remember it well.'
I lit a cigarette.
'The entire situation is rather difficult to explain,' I said. 'I will try to simplify it: The star-stone, that alien artifact we have on loan, is sentient. It was created by a now extinct race somewhat similar to our own. It was located among the ruins of their civilization ages after its passing, and no one recognized it for what it was. This is not especially strange, because there was nothing to distinguish it as the Speicus referred to in some of the writings which survived and were subsequently translated. It was assumed that the references indicated some sort of investigating committee or some process or program employed in the gathering and evaluation of information in the area of the social sciences. But it was the star-stone they were talking about. To function properly, it requires a host built along our lines. It exists then as a symbiote within that creature, obtaining data by means of that being's nervous system as it goes about its business. It operates on this material as something of a sociological computer. In return for this, it keeps its host in good repair indefinitely. On request, it provides analyses of anything it has encountered directly or peripherally, along with reliability figures, unbiased because it is uniquely alien to all life forms, yet creature-oriented because of the nature of the input mechanism. It prefers a mobile host with a fact- filled head.'
'Fascinating. How did you learn all this?'
'By accident, I partially activated it. It got inside me then and persuaded me to bring it to full function. Which I did. In the process, however, I rendered myself incapable of all but the most rudimentary communication with it. Later, it was removed and I was returned to normal. It is currently functioning, though, and telepathic analysts are capable of conversing with it. Now, both the galactic Council and the United Nations would like to see it employed once more. What has been proposed is that it continue as a special item in the kula chain setup, providing each
