Latest / 3 Science Fiction Stories by Frank Herbert / Old Rambling House

Transcript

Old Rambling House · 3 Science Fiction Stories by Frank Herbert

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Old rambling House by Frank Herbert. This LibriVox recording is
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: in the public domain. Recording by Phil Chinevert Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: On his last night on Earth, tag Graham stepped out
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: of a glass walled telephone booth, ducked to avoid a
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: swooping moth that battered itself in a frenzy against a
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: bare globe above the booth. Tag Graham was a long
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: necked man with a head of pronounced egg shape topped
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: by prematurely bawling sandy hair. Something about his lanky, intense
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: appearance suggested his occupation certified public accountant. He stopped behind
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: his wife, who was studying a newspaper classified page, and frowned.
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: They said, to wait here, they'll come get us, said,
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: the places hard to find at night. Martha Graham looked
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: up from the newspaper. She was a doll faced woman,
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: heavily pregnant, a kind of pink prettiness about her. The
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: yellow glow from the light above the booth subdued the
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: red auburn cast of her ponytail hair. I just have
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: to be in a house when the baby's born, she said,
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: What did they sound like? I don't know. There was
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: a funny kind of interruption, like an argument in some
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: foreign language. Do they sound foreign in a way? He
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: motioned along the night shrouded line of trailers toward one
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: with two windows glowing amber. Let's wait inside. These bugs
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: out here are fierce. Did you tell them which trailer
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: is ours? Yes? They didn't sound anxious at all to
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: look at it. That's odd them wanting to trade their
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: house for a trailer. There's nothing odd about it. They've
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: probably just got itchy feet like we did. He appeared
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: not to hear her. Funniest sounding language you ever heard
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: when that argument started, like a squirt of noise inside
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: the trailer. Ted Graham sat down on the green couch
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: that opened into a double bed for company. They could
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: use a good tax accountant around here, he said. When
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: I first saw the place, I got that definite feeling.
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: The valley looks prosperous. It's a wonder nobody's opened an
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: office here before. His wife took a straight chair by
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: the counter separating kitchen and living area, folded her hands
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: across her heavy stomach. I'm just continental tired of wheels
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: going around under me, she said, I want to sit
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: and stare at the same view for the rest of
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: my life. I don't know how a trailer ever seemed
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: glamorous when it was The inheritance gave us itchy feet,
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: he said, tires gritted on gravel outside. The Graham straightened.
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: Could that be them? Awful quick? If it is. He
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: went to the door and opened it. Stared down at
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: the man who was just raising a hand to knock.
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: Are you mister, Graham asked the man. Yes, he found
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: himself staring at the collar. I'm Clint Rush. You called
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: about the house. The man moved farther into the light.
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: At first, he seemed an old man, fine wrinkled, the
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: lines in his face a tired leather looked to his skin.
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: But as he moved his head in the light, the
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: wrinkles seemed to dissolve, and with them the years lifted
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: from him. Yes, we called, said Ted Graham. He stood aside.
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: Do you want to look at the trailer now? Martha
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: Graham crossed to stand beside her husband. We've kept it
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: in awfully good shape, she said, We've never let anything
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: gets seriously wrong with it. She sounds too anxious, thought
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: Ted Graham. I wish you'd let me do the talking
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: for the two of us. We can come back and
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: look at your trailer tomorrow in daylight, said Rush. My
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: car is right out here if you'd like to see
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: our house. Ted Graham hesitated. He felt a nagging worry
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: tug in his mind. Tried to fix his attention on
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: what bothered him. Hadn't we better take our car? He asked,
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: we could follow you, No need, said Rush. We're coming
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: back into town tonight. Anyway we can drop you off then,
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: Ted Graham nodded, be right with you as soon as
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: I lock up. Inside the car, Rush mumbled introductions. His
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: wife was a dark shadow in the front seat, her
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: hair drawn back in a severe bun. Her features suggested
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: gipsy blood. He called her ray me odd name, thought
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: Ted Graham, and he noticed that she too, gave that
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: strange first impression of age that melted in a shift
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: of light. Missus Rush turned her gipsy features toward Martha Graham.
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: You are going to have a baby, It came out
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: as an odd, veiled statement. Abruptly, the car rolled forward.
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: Martha Graham said, it's supposed to be born in about
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: two months. We hope it's a boy. Missus Rush looked
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: at her husband. I have changed my mind, she said,
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: Rush spoke, without taking his attention from the road. It
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: is too He broke off, spoke in a tumble of
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: strange sounds. Ted Graham recognized it as the language he'd
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: heard on the telephone. Missus Rush answered in the same tongue,
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: anger showing in the intensity of her voice. Her husband replied,
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: his voice calmer presently, Missus Rushrush fell moodily silent. Rush
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: tipped his head toward the rear of the car. My
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: wife has moments when she does not want to get
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: rid of the old house. It has been with her
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: for many years. Ted Graham said, oh, then, are you Spanish?
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: Rush hesitated, No, we are a bosque. He turned the
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: car down a well lighted avenue that merged into a highway.
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: He turned onto a side road. There followed more turns left, right, right.
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: Ted Graham lost track. They hit a jolting bump that
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: made Martha gasp. I hope that wasn't too rough on you, said, Rush,
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: We're almost there. The car swung into a lane, its
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: lights picking out the skeleton outlines of trees, peculiar trees, tall, gaunt,
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: leafless they added to Ted Graham's feeling of uneasiness. The
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: lane dipped ended at a low wall of a house,
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: red brick, with celestory windows beneath overhanging eaves. The effect
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: of the wall and a wide beamed door they could
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: see to the left was ultra modern. Ted Graham helped
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: his wife out of the car, follow the Rushes to
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: the door. I thought you told me it was an
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: old house, he said. It was designed by one of
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: the first modernists, said Rush. He fumbled with an odd
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: curved key. The wide door swung open onto a hallway
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: equally wide, carpeted by a deep piled rug back a
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: glimpse floor to ceiling view windows at the end of
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: the hall city lights beyond. Martha Graham gasped entered the
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: hall as though in a trance. Ted Graham followed, heard
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: the door close behind them. It sows, oh so big,
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: exclaimed Martha Graham. You want to trade this for our trailer,
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: asked Tag Graham. It's too inconvenient for us, said Rush.
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: My work is over the mountains on the coast. He shrugged.
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: We cannot sell it. Tag Graham looked at him sharply,
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: isn't there any money around here. He had a sudden
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: vision of a tax accountant with no customers, plenty of money,
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: but no real estate customers. They entered the living room.
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: Sectional divans lined the walls. Subdued lighting glowed from the corners.
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: Two paintings hung on the opposite walls oblongs of odd
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: lines and twists that made Tag Graham dizzy. Warning bells
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: clamored in his mind. Martha Graham crossed to the windows,
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: looked at the lights far away below. I had no
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: idea We climbed that for she said, It's like a
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: fairy city. Missus. Rush emitted a sharp, nervous laugh. Taed
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: Graham glanced around the room. Thought, if the rest of
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: the house is like this, it's worth fifty or sixty thousand.
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: He thought of the trailer, a good one, but not
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: worth more than seven thousand. Uneasiness was like a neon
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: sign flashing in his mind. This seems so, he shook
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: his head. Would you like to see the rest of
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: the house, asked Rush. Martha Graham turned from the window.
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: Oh yes, tag Graham shrugged. No harm in looking, he thought.
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: When they returned to the living room, Tag Graham had
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: doubled his previous estimate on the house's value. His brain
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: reeled with the summing of it. A solarium with an
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: entire ceiling covered by sun lamps, an automatic laundry where
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: you drop soil clothing down a chute took it washed
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: and ironed from the other end. Perhaps you and your
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: wife would like to discuss it in private, said Rush.
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: We will leave you for a moment, and they were
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: gone before Ted Graham could protest. Martha Graham said, Ted,
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: I honestly never in my life dreamed something's very wrong, honey.
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: But Ted, this house is worth at least one hundred
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: thousand dollars, maybe more, and they want to trade this.
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: He looked around him for a seven thousand dollars trailer. Ted,
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: they're foreigners, and if they're so foolish they don't know
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: the value of this place, then why should I don't
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: like it? He said again, He looked around the room,
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: recall the fantastic equipment of the house. But maybe you're right.
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: Stilled out of the city lights, they had a lace
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: like quality, tall buildings linked by lines of flickering incandescence,
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: something like a Roman candle shot skyward in the distance. Okay,
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: he said, if they want to trade, let's go push
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: the deal. Abruptly, the house shuddered, the city lights blinked out.
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: A humming sound filled the air. Martha Graham clutched her
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: husband's arm, ted, what was that? I don't know, he turned,
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: mister Rush. No answer, only the humming. The door at
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: the end of the room opened. A strange man came through.
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: He wore a short, toga like garment of gray metallic cloth,
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: belted at the waist by something that glittered and shimmered
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: through every color of the spectrum. An aura of coldness
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: and power emanated from him, a sense of untouchable hauteur.
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: He glanced around the room spoke in the same tongue
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: the Rushes had used. Tay Graham said, I don't understand you, mister.
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: The man put a hand to his flickering belt. Both
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: Tad and Martha Graham felt themselves rooted to the floor,
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: a tingling sensation vibrating along every nerve. Again, the strange
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: language rolled from the man's tongue, but now the words
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: were understood. Who are you? My name's Graham, This is
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: my wife. What's going? How did you get here? The
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: Rushes they wanted to trade us this house for our
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: trailer they brought us. Now look we what is your talent?
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: Your occupation tax? The countant say, why all these? That
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: was to be expected, said the man. Clever, Oh, clever.
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: His hand moved again to the belt. Now be very quiet,
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: this may confuse you. Momentarily, cauter lights filled both the
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: Graham's mines. They staggered. You are qualified, said the man.
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: You will serve. Where are we demanded Martha Graham. The
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: coordinates would not be intelligible to you, he said. I
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: am of the Rojack. It is sufficient for you to
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: know that you are under Roejack sovereignty. Ted Graham said,
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: but you have in a way been kidnapped, and the
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: Rams have fled to your planet, an unregistered planet. I
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: am afraid, Martha Graham said, shakily. You have nothing to fear,
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: said the man. You are no longer on the planet
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: of your birth, nor even in the same galaxy. He
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: glanced at Ted Graham wrist. That device on your wrist.
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: It tells your local time. Yes, that will help in
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: the search and your son. Can you describe its atomic cycle?
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: Ted Graham groped in his mind for his science memories
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: from school. From the Sunday supplements, I can recall that
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: our galaxy is a spiral, like most galaxies are spiral.
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: Is this some kind of a practical joke, asked Ted Graham.
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: The man smiled a cold, superior smile. It is no joke.
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: Now I will make you a proposition. Ted nodded wearily.
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: All right, let's have the stinger. The people who brought
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: you here were tax collectors we rojack recruited from a
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: subject planet. They were conditioned to make it impossible for
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: them to leave their job untended. Unfortunately, they were clever
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: enough to realize that if they brought someone else in
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: who could do their job, they were released from their
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: mental bonds. Very clever. But you may have their job,
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: said the man. Normally you would be put to work
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: in the lower echalons, but we believe in meeting out
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: justice wherever possible. The Rams undoubtedly stumbled on your planet
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: by accident and lure you into this position without How
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: do you know I can do your job? That moment
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: of brilliance was an aptitude test you passed. Well, do
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: you accept? What about our baby Martha? Graham warrily wanted
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: to know, you will be allowed to keep it until
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: it reaches the age of decision, about the time it
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: will take the child to reach adult stature. Then, what
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: insisted Mortha Graham, The child will take its position in
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: society according to its ability. Will we ever see our
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: child after that? Possibly, Taed Graham said, what's the joker
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: in this? Again? The cold superior smile. You will receive
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: conditioning similar to that which we gave the Rummies, and
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: we will want to examine your memories to aid us
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: in our search for your planet. It would be good
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: to find a new inhabitable place. Why do they drap
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: us like this, asked Martha Graham. It's lonely work. The
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: man explained. Your house is actually a type of space
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: conveyance that travels along your collection route, and there is
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: much travel to the job, and then you will not
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: have friends nor time for much other than work. Our
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: methods are necessarily severe at timesimes travel, Martha Graham repeated
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: in dismay, almost constantly. Ted Graham felt his mind whirling,
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: and behind him he heard his wife sobbing. The Ramis
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: sat in what had been the Graham's trailer for a
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: few moments, I feared he would not succumb to the bait.
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: She said, I knew you could never overcome the mental
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: compulsion enough to leave them there without their first agreeing
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: Remy chuckled, Yes, And now I'm going to indulge in
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: everything the road Jack never permitted. I'm going to write
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: ballads and poems, and I'm going to paint. She said, Oh,
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: the delicious freedom greed won this for us. He said.
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: The long study of the grams paid off. They couldn't
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: refuse the trade. He knew they'd agree. The looks in
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: their eyes when they saw the house they both had.
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: She broke off, a look of horror coming into her eyes.
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: One of them did not agree. They both did. You
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: heard them the baby, he stared at his wife. But
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: but it is not at the age of decision. In
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: perhaps eighteen of this planet's years, it will be at
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: the age of decision. What then, His shoulders sagged. He shuddered.
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: I will not be able to fight it off. I
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: will have to build a transmitter called the Roejack and confess,
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: and they will collect another inhabitable place. She said, her
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: voice flat and toneless. I've spoiled it, he said, I've
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: spoiled it. End of Old Rambling House by Frank Herbert.
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: End of three science fiction stories by Frank Herbert. This
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: recording was by Phil Schinevert in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: certainly hope you enjoyed it.