Breaking Point-James Edwin Gunn

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1:00Extra-value meals are back. Get a big something extra. With a Big Mac or 10-piece McNuggets, fries and a medium Coke all for just $9. Limited time only, promotion pricing may be lower than meal pricing. Ba-da-ba-ba-ba! Chapter one of Breaking Point. This is a Librevox recording. All Librevox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Librevox.org. Recording by Peter Eastman. Breaking Point by James Edwin Gunn. Chapter one. They sent the advance unit out to scout the new planet in the ambassador, homing down on the secret beeping of a featureless box dropped by an earlier survey party. Then they sat back at GHQ and began the same old pattern of worry

2:00that followed every advance unit. Not about the ship. The ambassador was a perfect machine, automatic, self-adjusting, self-regulating. It was built to last and do its job without failure under any and all conditions, as long as there was a universe around it. And it could not fail. There was no question about that. But an advance unit is composed of men. The factors of safety are indeterminable. The duplications of their internal mechanisms are conjectural, variable. The strength of the unit is the sum of the strength of its members. The weakness of the unit can be a single, small failing in a single man. Beep, boop, Gacha said Ives.

3:02Ives was communications. He had quick eyes, quick hands. He was huge, almost gross, but graceful. On the nose, he grinned and turned up the volume. Beep, boop. What else do you expect, said Johnny? Johnny was the pilot. Young, wide, flat. His movements were as controlled and decisive as those of the ship itself, in which he had an unshakable faith. He slid into the bucket seat before the great master console. Beep, boop. We expect the ship to do her job, said Hoskins, the engineer. He was mild and deft, middle-aged, with a domed head and wide, light blue eyes behind old-fashioned spectacles. He shared Johnny's belief in the machine, but through understanding, rather than through admiration.

4:04But it's always good to see her do it. Beep, boop. Beautiful, said Captain Anderson softly, and he may have been talking about the way the ship was hooming in on the tiny, featureless box that Survey had dropped on the unexplored planet, or about the planet itself, or even about the smooth integration of his crew. Beep, boop. Parasie said nothing. He had eyebrows and nostrils, as sensitive as a radar scope, at masked eyes of luminous black. Faces and motives were to him what gauges and log entries were to the engineer. Parasie was the doctor, and he had many a siphon and many a splint for invisible ills. He saw everything and understood much. He leaned against the bulkhead,

5:05his gaze flicking from one to the other of the crew. Occasionally his small mustache, twitched like the antennae of a cat, watching a bird. Barely audible, faint as the blue outline of a distant hill, hungry and lost as the half-hered cry of a banshee, came the thin sound of high atmosphere against the ship's hull. An hour passed. Bup, bup, bup, bup. Shut that damn thing off! Ives looked up at the pilot, startled. He turned the game down to a whisper. Parasie left the bulkhead and stood behind Johnny. What's the matter? He asked. His voice was feline too, a sort of purr. Johnny looked up at him quickly and grand. I can put her down, he said. That's what I'm here for.

6:05I like to think maybe I'll get to do it. That's all. I can't think that with the autopilot blasting out an on course. He punched the veering jet controls. It served men perfectly. The ship ignored him, honed on the beam. The ship computed velocity, altitude, gravity, magnetic polarization, windage, used and balanced and adjusted for them all. It adjusted for interference from the manual controls. It served men perfectly. It ignored them utterly. Johnny turned to look out and downward. Parasie's gaze followed. It was a beautiful planet, perhaps a shade greener than the blue green of earth. It seemed indefinably more park-like than wild. It had an air of controlled lushness and peace. The breaking jet's thundered as Johnny depressed to control.

7:09Parasie nodded slightly as he saw the pilot's hand move. For he knew that the autopilot had done it, and that Johnny's movement was one of trained reflex. The youngster was intense and alert, hair trigger schooled, taught to pretend in such a detail that the pretence was reality to him. A precise pretence that would become reality for all of them if the machine failed. But of course, the machine would not fail. Fields fled beneath them, looking like a crazy quilt in pastel. On them nothing moved. Hoskins moved to the viewport and watched them mildly. Very pastoral, he said, pretty. They'd haven't gotten very far, said Ives. Or they've gotten very far indeed, said Captain Anderson. Johnny snorted.

8:10No factories, no bridges, cow tracks and goat paths. The captain chuckled. Some cultures go through an agrarian stage to reach a technological civilization, and some pass through technology to reach the pastoral. I don't see it, said Johnny shortly, eyes ahead. Parasie's hand touched the captain's arm, and the captain then said nothing. WING! Stand by for landing, said the captain. Ives and Hoskins went afbed to the shock panels in the after-bulk head. Parasie and the captain stepped into Nisha's flanking the console. Johnny touched a control that freed his chair in its hydraulic gimbals. Chair and Nisha's and shock panels would not be needed as long as the artificial gravity and inertialist field functioned. It was a ritual.

9:12The ship skimmed treetops, heading flamatically for a rocky bluff. A gush of flame from its underjets and its shouldered heavily upward, just missing the jagged crest. A gout of fire forward, another, and it went into a long flat glide, following the fall of a foothill to the plane beyond. It held coarse and reduced speed, letting the ground to billow up to it rather than descending. There was a moment of almost flight, almost sliding, and at a rush of dust and smoke which overtook and passed them. When it cleared, they were part of the plane, part of the planet. A good landing, John, Parasie said. Hoskins caught his eye and frowned. Parasie grinned broadly, and the exchange between them was clear. Why do you needle the kid? And quiet engine room, I know what I'm doing.

10:17Hoskins shrugged, and with hives crossed to the communications desk. Hives ran his fat, skilled hands over the controls, and peered at his indicators. It's more than a good landing, he grunted. That squeakbox we home did on can't be more than a hundred meters from here. First time I've ever seen a ship bullseye like that. Johnny locked his gimbals, ran a steady, sensitive hand over the turret of the console, as if it were a woman's flank. Why? How close do you usually come? Planet falls close enough to satisfy survey, said the captain. Once in a while the box will materialize conveniently on a continent. But this, this is too good to be true. We practically landed on it. Hoskins nodded. It's usually buried in some jungle or at the bottom of a sea. But this is really all right. Let's line up. McDonald's is putting value back on the menu. Whether you're craving a big

11:22mac, McNuggets or sausage egg and cheese, McGrittle's, make it a meal and save. Your favorite is now your wallet's favorite too. Extra value meals are back. Get a big something extra. With a big mac or 10 piece McNuggets, fries and a medium coke all for just $9. Limited time only promotion pricing may be lower than meal pricing. Meet the Red Bull Dragonberry Emergized. It's one of the many new drinks out now. Who knew ice cold drinks could be so? Fire. Try them all only at McDonald's. Toyota's easy choice sales event is on. Whether you're looking for the performance of a camera, the versatility of her at four, the efficiency of a Corolla or all electric driving in the BZ. There's a Toyota that's just right for you. And with great deals across the lineup, now's the time to find yours. But hurry, these deals won't last long. Toyota's easy choice sales

12:26event ends soon. We make it easy. Toyota, let's go places. .98 Earth gravity, Earth type atmosphere? .98 Ark on Rich said ice from the panel, very rich. .98 That'll make no real difference, Hoskins went on. Temperature about normal for an early summer back home. Looks as if there's a fiendish plot of foot here to make things easy for us. .98 Parasie said, as if to himself, I worry about easy things. .98 Yeah, I know, snorted Johnny, rising to stretch. The head shrinker always does it the hard way. You can't just diss like rice pudding. It has to be a sister syndrome. If the shortest distance is from here to there, don't take it. Remember your uncle, Edipus. Captain Anderson chuckled. Cut your jets, Johnny. Maybe Parasie's torturous reasoning does

13:28seem out of order on such an ice day. But remember, eternal vigilance isn't just the price of liberty as the old books say. It's the price of existence. We know we're here, but we don't know where here is, and won't until after we get back. This is really Terra incognita. The location of Earth, or even of our part of the galaxy, is something that has to be concealed at all costs, until we're sure we're not going to turn up that potentially dangerous, possibly superior alien culture. What we don't know can't hurt Earth. No conceivable method could get that information out of us, any more than it could be had from the squeak box that serve a drop tier. Based all your thinking on that, Johnny, if that seems like leaning over backwards, it's only a sample of how careful we've got to be, how many angles we've got to figure. Hell, said the pilot, I know all that, I was just ribbing the batsnatcher here.

14:32He thumbed a cigarette out of his tunic, touched his lighter to it. He frowned, stared at the lighter, tried it again. It doesn't work. Damn it! He barked explosively. I don't like things that don't work. Parasie was beside him, cat-like, watchful. Here's a light. Take it easy, Johnny, above lighters not that important. Johnny looked solently at his lighter. It doesn't work, he muttered, guaranteed to. When we get back, I'm going to feed it to supply. He made a vivid gesture to describe the feeding technique, and jammed the lighter back into his pocket. Hell, I was heavy voice came from the communications desk. Maybe the natives are primitives at that, not a whisper of any radio on any band. No power line fields either. These are plowboys for sure.

15:35Johnny looked out at the sleeping valley. His irritation over the lighter was still in his voice. Imagine that. No video or tridio. No jet races or fillies. What do people do with their time in a place like this? Books, said Hoskins, almost absently. Chess, conversation. I don't know what chess is. In conversation is great if you want to tell somebody something like bring me a stake, said Johnny. Let's get out of this fire trap, he said to the captain. In time, said the captain. Ives dex those radio frequencies. If there's so much as a smell of radiation, even from the other side of this planet, we want to know about it. Hoskins checked the landing suits. Food, water, oxygen, radio, everything. Earth-type planet or no were not fooling with alien viruses. Johnny, I want you to survey this valley in every way you can and plot a minimum of three takeoff

16:40factors. The crew fell to work. Ives and Hoskins intently. Johnny offhandedly, as if he were playing out a ritual with some children. Parasy bent over a stereo microscope, manipulating controls which brought in samples of airborne bacteria and fungi and placed them under its objective. Captain Anderson ranged up beside him. We could walk out of the ship as if we were on Murak Port, said Parasy. These couldn't be more like earth organisms if they'd been transplanted from home to dilute us. The captain laughed. Sometimes I tend to agree with Johnny. I never met a more suspicious character. How do you ever bring yourself to sign your contract? Turned my back on a couple of clauses, said Parasy. Here, have a look. At that moment, the usually imperturbable Ives uttered a sharp grunt that echoed and re-echoed

17:45through the cabin. Parasy and the captain turned. Hoskins was just coming out of the after-alley way with an oxygen bottle in his hand and had frozen in his tracks as the sharp sound Ives had made. Johnny had whipped around as if the grunt had been a lion's roar. His back was to the bulkhead, his lean, long frame tensed for fight or flight. It was indescribable Ives grunt, and it was the only sound which could have had such an effect on such a variety of men, the same shocked immobility. Ives sat over his communications desk as if hypnotized by it. He moved one great arm forward almost reluctantly and turned an op. A soft, smooth hum filled the room. Carrier, said Ives. Then the words came. They were English words, faultlessly spoken, loud and clear and precise.

18:52They were harmless words, pleasant words even. They were men of earth, welcome to our planet. The voice hung in the air. The words stuck in the silence like insects wriggling upon a pin. Then the voice was gone and the silence was complete and heavy. The carrier hum ceased. With a spine tingling brief blaze of high frequency sound, Hoskins' oxygen bottle hit the steel deck. Then they all began to breathe again. There's your farmer's Johnny, said Parasi. Night to bishops third said Hoskins softly. What's that? demanded Johnny. Chas again said the captain appreciatively, an opening gambit.

19:53Johnny put a cigarette to his lips, tried his lighter. Damn, give me a light, Ives. Ives complied, sang over his big shoulder to the captain. In case you wondered, there was no fix on that. My direction finders indicate that the signal came simultaneously from forty odd transmitters placed in a circle around the ship, which is their way of saying, I don't know. The captain walked to the view bubble in front of the console and peered around. He saw the valley, the warm light of mid-afternoon, the two green slopes and the blue green distances. Trees, rocks, a balancing bird. It doesn't work, mutter Johnny. The captain ignored him. Men of earth, he quoted. Ives, they've gotten into survey squeak box and analyzed his origin. They know all about us.

20:56They don't because they can't, said Ives flatly. Survey traverses those boxes through second order space. They materialize near a planet and drop in. No computation on earth or off it could trace their normal space trajectory, let alone what happens in the second order condition. The elements the box is made of are carefully averaged isotopic forms that could have come from any of nine galaxies we know about and probably more. And all it does is throw out a VUHF signal that says beep on one side, boop on the other, and buck-buck in between. It does not speak English, mentioned the planet earth, and now it's anyone's arrival and purpose or teach etiquette. Captain Anderson spread his hands. They got it from somewhere. They didn't get it from us. This ship and the box are the only tarant objects on this planet. Therefore, they got their information from the box. QED, you reason like Euclid, said Parasy admiringly.

22:01But don't forget that geometry is an artificial school based on arbitrary axioms. It just doesn't work where the shortest distance is not a straight line. I'd suggest we gather evidence and postpone our conclusions. How do you think they got it? Ives challenged. I think we can operate from the fact they got it and make our analyses when we have more data. Ives went back to his desk and threw a switch. What are you doing? Asked the captain? Toyota's easy choice sales event is on. Whether you're looking for the performance of the camera, the versatility of Rav4, the efficiency of a Corolla,

23:03or all electric driving in the BZ. There's a Toyota that's just right for you. And with great deals across the lineup, now's the time to find yours. But hurry, these deals won't last long. Toyota's easy choice sales event and soon. We make it easy. Toyota, let's go places. Now, who knew ice cold drinks could be so? Fire. Try them all only at my thumbs. Don't you think they ought to be answered? Turn it off, Ives. But turn it off. Ives did. A next petition is an informal, highly democratic group and can't afford to be. For when the situation calls for it, there is never any question of where authority lies. The captain said, there is nothing we can say to them which won't yield them more information. Nothing.

24:08For all we know, it may be very important to them to learn whether or not we received their message. Our counter move is obviously to make no move at all. You mean just sit here and wait until they do something else? Asked Johnny appalled. The captain thumped his shoulder. Don't worry, we'll do something in some other area than communications. Hoskins are those landing suits ready? All but, wrapped Hoskins. He scooped up the oxygen bottle and disappeared. Peraisy said, we'll tell them something if we don't answer. The captain said his jaw. We do what we can, Nick. We do the best we can. Got any better ideas? Peraisy shrugged easily and smiled. Just knocking, skipper. Knock everything. Then what's hollow you know about?

25:09I should know better than to jump salty with you, said the captain. All but returning the doctor's smile. Johnny, Hoskins prepare for exploratory patrol. I'll go, said Peraisy. Johnny goes, said the captain bluntly. Because this is first trip and because if he isn't given something to do, he'll bust his adrenals. Hoskins goes because of all of us the engineer is most expendable. I've stays because we need hair-trigger communications. I stay to correlate what goes on outside with what goes on inside. You stay because if anything goes wrong, I'd rather have you fixing the men up than find myself trying to fix you up. He squinted at Peraisy. Does that knock solid? Solid. Testing, Johnny? I've said into a microphone. Johnny's duplicated voice from the open face plate of his helmet and from the intercom speaker,

26:11said, I hear you fine. Testing Hoskins. If I'd never seen you, said the speakers softly, I'd think you were right here in the suit with me. Hoskins helmet was obviously buttoned up. The two men came shuffling into the cabin, looking like gleaming ghosts in their chameleon suits, which repeated the color of the walls. Someday, growled, Johnny, there'll be a type suit where you can scratch your... Scratch when you get back, said the captain. Now hear this. Johnny, you can move fastest. You go out first. Wait in the airlock for 30 seconds after the outer port opens. When Oives gives you the beep, jump out, run around the boughs, and plant your back against the hole directly opposite the port. Hold your blaster at the ready, aimed down. You hear me down, so that any observer will know your arm but not attacking. Hoskins, you'll be in the lock with the

27:13outer port open by that time. When Johnny gives the all clear, you'll jump out and put your back against the hole by the port. Then you'll both stay where you are until you get further orders. Is that clear? I... yep. You're covered adequately from the ship. Don't fire without orders. There's nothing you can get with a blaster that we can't get first with a projector, unless it happens to be within 10 meters of the hole and we can't depress to it. Even then, describe it first and await orders to fire except in really extreme emergency. A single shot at the wrong time could set us back a thousand years with this planet. Remember that the ship isn't called Killer or Warrior or even Hero. It's the Earth's ship Ambassador. Go to it and good luck. Hoskins stepped back and waived Johnny past him. After you, Jets. Johnny's teeth flashed behind the face plate.

28:16He clicked his heels and bowed stiffly from the waist in a fine burless guvain ancient courtier. He stalked past Hoskins and punched the button which controlled the airlock. They waited. Nothing. Johnny frowned, jabbed the button again. And again. The captain started to speak, then fell watchfully silent. Johnny reached toward the button, touched it, then struck it savagely. He stepped back then, one foot striking the other like that of a clumsy child. He turned partially to the others. In his voice, as it came from the speaker across the room, was a deep amazement that rang like the opening cords of a prophetic and gloomy symphony. He said, the port won't open. End of chapter 1

29:23Chapter 2 of Breaking Point by James Edwin Gunn This Leigh-Ravox recording is in the public domain. Chapter 2 The extremes of mysticism and of pragmatism have their own expressions of worship. Each has its form, and the difference between them is the difference between Deus-Ex Machina and Deus Machina-East. E. Hunter Waldo Of course it will open, said Hoskins. He strode past the stunned pilot and confidently pomed the control. The port didn't open. Hoskins said, as if he had been asked an inaudible question and tried again. Nothing happened.

30:24Skipper, he said, over his shoulder, have a quick look at the meters behind you there. Are we getting auxiliary power? All well here, Sid Anderson, after a glance at the board, and no shorts showing. There was a silence punctuated by the soft, useless clicking of the control, as Hoskins manipulated it. Oh, what do you know? It won't work, said Johnny plaintively. Sure it'll work, said Parasy Swiftly, confidently. Take it easy, Johnny. It won't work, said Johnny. It won't work. He stumbled across the cabin and leaned against the opposite bulkhead, staring at the closed port with his head a little to one side, as if he expected it to shriek at him. Let me try, said Ives, going to Hoskins. He put out his hand.

31:25Don't, Johnny cried. Shut up, Johnny, said Parasy. All right, Nick, said Johnny. He opened his face plate, went to the rear bulkhead, keyed open and acceleration couched, and lay face down on it. Parasy watched him, his lips purged. Can't say I blame him, said the captains hoftly, catching Parasy's eye. It's something of a shock. This shouldn't be. The safety factors too great. A thousand percent are better. I know what you mean, said Hoskins. I saw it myself, but I don't believe it. He pushed the button again. I believe it, said Parasy. Ives went to his desk, clicked the transmitter and receiver switches on and off, moved a re-estater to. He reached up to a wall toggle, turned a small air circulating fan on it off.

32:31And everything else seems to work, he said absently. This is ridiculous, exploded the captain. It's like having your keys home or arriving at the theater without your tickets. It isn't dangerous. It's just stupid. It's dangerous, said Parasy. Dangerous how, Ives demanded, for one thing. Parasy nodded toward Johnny, who lay tensly his face hidden. For another, the simple calculation that if nothing inside this ship made that control fail, something outside this ship did it, and that I don't like. That couldn't happen, said the captain reasonably. Parasy snorted impatiently. Which of two mutually exclusive facts are you going to reason from? That the ship can't fail? Then this failure isn't a failure. It's an external control.

33:36Or are you going to reason that the ship can fail? Then you don't have to worry about an external force, but you can't trust anything about the ship. Do the trick that makes you happy, but do only one. You can't have both. Johnny began to laugh. Ives went to him. Hey boy. Johnny rolled over, swung his feet down and sat up, brushing the fat man aside. What you guys need, Johnny chuckled, is a nice kind policeman to feed you candy and take you home. He got real lost. Ive said, Johnny, take it easy and be quiet, huh? We'll figure a way out of this. I already have scrawny, said Johnny offensively. He got up, strode to the port. What a bunch of deadheads, he growled. He went two steps past the port and grasped the control

34:41wheel, which was mounted on the other side of the port from the button. Oh my god! Breathed Anderson delightedly. The manual. Anybody else want to be captain? Factor of safety, said Hoskins, smiting himself on the brow. There's a manual control for everything on the scout that there can be, and we stand here staring at it. If we don't win the fur-lined teacup, Ives laughed. Johnny hauled on the wheel. It wouldn't budge. Here Ives began to approach. Get away, said Johnny. He put his hands close together on the rim of the wheel, settled his big shoulders and hauled. With a sharp crack, the wheel broke off in his hands. Johnny staggered, then stood. He looked at the wheel, and then up at the broken end of its shaft,

35:46gleaming deep below the surface of the bulkhead. Oh fine, Ive swispered. Suddenly, Johnny threw back his head, and loosened a burst of high hysterical laughter. It echoed back and forth between the metal walls, like a torrent from a burst dam. It went on and on, as if now that the dam was gone, the flood would run forever. Anderson called out, Johnny, three times, but the note of command had no effect. Parasie walked to the pilot, and with the immemorial practice slapped him sharply across the cheeks. Johnny, stop it! The laughter broke off, as suddenly as it had begun. Johnny's chest heaved, drawing in breath with great rasping near sobs.

36:47Slowly they died away. He extended the wheel toward the captain. It broke off, he said, finally, don't leave without emphasis. Then he leaned back against the hull, slowly slid down until he was sitting on the deck. Broke right off, he said. Ives twined his fat fingers together and bent them until the knuckles cracked. Now what? I suggest, said Parasie, in an extremely controlled tone, that we all sit down and think over the whole thing very carefully. Hoskins had been staring hypnotically at the broken shaft deep into the wall. I wonder, he said at length, which way Johnny turned that wheel? Counter-clockwise, said Ives, you saw him.

37:49I know that, said Hoskins, I mean which way, the right way, or the wrong way. Oh, there was a short silence. Then Ive said, I guess we'll never know now. Not until we get back to earth, said Parasie quickly. You say, until or unless Ives demanded. I said, until Ives said Parasie levily and watched her mouth. Sometimes, said the fat man, with a dangerous joviality. You pick the wrong way to say the right thing, Nick. Then he clapped the slender doctor on the back. But all be good, we so no panicked do we. Much better not to, said the captain. It's been done efficiently enough from outside. Toyota's easy choice sales event is on.

38:49Whether you're looking for the performance of the camera, the versatility of her app for, the efficiency of a Corolla, or all electric driving in the BZ. There's a Toyota that's just right for you. And with great deals across the lineup, now's the time to find yours. But hurry, these deals won't last long. Toyota's easy choice sales event and soon. We make it easy. Toyota, let's go places. You are convinced it's been done from outside, asked Hoskins, peering at him outlishly. I'm convinced a very little, said the captain heavily. He went to the acceleration couch and sat down. I want out, he said. He waved away the professional comment he could see forming on Parasie's lips and went on. Not claustrophobia, Nick. Getting out of the ship's more important than just relieving our feelings. If the trouble with the port has been caused by some fantastic something outside the ship,

39:54we'll achieve a powerful victory over it, purely by ignoring it. It broke off, murmur Johnny. Ignore that, snorted eyes. You keep talking about this thing being caused by something outside, said Parasie. His tone was almost complaining. Got a better hypothesis, asked Hoskins. Hoskins, said the captain, isn't there some way we can get out? What about the tubes? Take a shipyard to move those power plants, said Hoskins. And even if it could be done, those radioactive tubes would fry you before you crawl to third of the way. We should have a lifeboat, said Ives, to know what in particular. What in time does a ship like the ambassador need with a lifeboat, asked Hoskins in genuine amazement?

40:55The captain frowned. What about the ventilators? Take us days to remove all the screens and purifiers, said Hoskins. And then we'd be up against the intake ports. You could stroll out through any of them about as far as her forearm. And after that, it's whole metal skipper. That you don't cut, not with a piece of the sun's corn. The captain got up and began pacing slowly and steadily, as if the problem could be trotted out like ripe grapes. He closed his eyes and said, I've been circling around that idea for 30 minutes now. Look, the hole can't be cut because it is built so it can't fail. It doesn't fail. The port controls were also built so they wouldn't fail. They do fail. The thing that keeps us in stays in shape.

41:55The thing that lets us out goes bad. Effect, we stay inside. Cause, something that wants us to stay inside. Oh, said Johnny clearly. They looked at him. He raised his head, stiffened his spine against the bulkhead. Parasie smiled at him. Sure, Johnny. The machine didn't fail. It was controlled. It's all right. Then he turned to the captain and said carefully, I'm not denying what you say, skipper, but I don't like to think of what will happen if you take that tack, reason it through, and don't get any answers. I'd hate to be a psychologist, said ives fervently. Do you extrapolate your mastocations too and get frightened of the stink you might get? Parasie smiled coldly. I control my projections.

42:59Captain Anderson's lips twitched in passing amusement, and then his expression soared. I'll take the challenge, Parasie. We have a cause and an effect. Something is keeping us in the ship. Coralary, we, or perhaps the ship, we are not welcome. Men of earth quoted ives in an excellent imitation of the accentless English they had heard on the radio. Welcome to our planet. They're kidding, said Johnny Hardley, rising to his feet. He dropped the control wheel with the clang and shoved it carelessly aside with his foot. Whoever says exactly what they mean anyhow, I see that conclusion the head shrinkers of frame will get to skipper. If we can't leave the ship, the only other thing we can do is to leave the planet. That it? Parasie nodded and watched the captain closely.

44:01Anderson turned abruptly away from them all and stood, feet apart, head down, hands behind his back, and stared out of the forward viewports. In the tense silence they could hear his knuckles crack. At length he said quietly. That isn't what we came here for Johnny. Johnny shrugged. Okay, chew it up, all you like, fellas. The only other choice is to sit here like bunts in a bottle until we die of old age. When you get tired of thinking that over, just let me know. I'll fly you out. We can always depend on Johnny, said Parasie, with no detectable emphasis at all. Not on me, said Johnny, and swatted the bulkhead. On this ship, nothing on any planet can stop this baby once I pour on the coal. She's just got too much muscles. Well, captain, asked Cosskin softly.

45:04Anderson looked at the basking valley, at the two blue sky, and the near familiar mellow weathered crags. They waited. Take her up, said the captain. Put her in orbit at 200 kilos. I'm not giving up this easily. I've swatted Johnny's broad shoulder. That's it take off and landing if I know the old man. Go to it, Jets. Johnny's wide white grin flashed, and he strode to the control chair. Gentlemen, be seated. I'll take mine lying down, said Ives, and spread his bulk out on the acceleration couch. The others went to their takeoff posts. On automatics, said the captain, fire away. Fire away, said Johnny cheerfully. He reached forward and pressed the central control.

46:09Nothing happened. Johnny put his hand toward the control again. It moved as if there were a repeller field around the button. The hand moved more and more slowly the closer it got, until it hovered just over the control and began to tremble. On manual, barked the captain, fire. Manual, sir, said Johnny reflexively. His trembling hand darted up to an overhead switch, pulled it. He grasped the control bars and dropped the heels of his hands heavily on the firing studs. From somewhere came a muted roar, a whispering, a subjective suggestion of the thunder of reaction motors. A frown crossed Parasie's face. The rocket noise was gone as the mind reached for it, like an occluded thought. The motors were silent. There wasn't a tremor of vibration.

47:12Yet somewhere a ghost engine was warming up, preparing a ghost ship for an intangible takeoff into nothingness. He snapped off the catch of his safety belt and crossed swiftly and silently to the console. Johnny sat raptly. A slow smile of satisfaction began to spread over his face. His gaze flipped to dials and gauges. He nodded very slightly and brought both hands down, like an organist playing a mighty cord. He watched the gauges. The needles were still lying on their zero pins, and were lights should have flickered and flashed. There was nothing. Parasie glanced at Anderson and met a worried look. Hosskins had his head cocked to one side. Listening puzzled. Ives rose from the couch and came forward to stand beside Parasie.

48:16Johnny was manipulating the keys firmly. His fingers began to play a rapid, skillful, silent concerto. His face had a look of intense concentration and of complete self-confidence. Well, said Ives heavily, that's a bust, too. Parasie spun to him. It was done with such intensity that Ives required. With a warning look at him, Parasie walked to the captain, whispered in his ear. My God, said Anderson. All right, doctor. He came forward to the pilot's chair. Johnny was still concentratedly uselessly at work. Anderson glanced inquiringly at Parasie, who nodded. That does it, said the captain loudly. Nice work, Johnny, where smack in orbit. The automatics couldn't have done it better. For once it feels good to be out in space again.

49:20Cut your jets now. You can check for correction later. Icer, said Johnny. He made two delicate adjustments through a master switch and swung around. Hugh, that's work! Facing the four silent men, Johnny thumbed out a cigarette, put it in his mouth, touched his lighter to it, drew a long, slow puff. Man, that goes good. The cigarette was not lighted. Hoskins turned away, an expression of sick pity on his face. Ives reached abruptly for his own lighter, and the doctor checked him with the gesture. Every time I see a hot pilot work, I'm amazed. Parasie said conversationally, such concentration. You must be tuckered, Johnny. Johnny puffed out his unlit cigarette.

50:21Tuckered, he said. Yeah. There were two odd undertones to his voice suddenly. They were fatigue and eagerness. Parasie said, you're off watch, John. Go stretch out. Real tired, mumble, Johnny. He lumbered to his feet and went afed, where he rolled to the couch, and was almost instantly asleep. The others congregated far forward around the controls, and for a long moment stared silently at the sleeping pilot. I don't get it, murmured Ives. He really thought he flew a sound didn't he, asked Hoskins? Parasie nodded. Had to. There isn't any place in his cosmos for machines that don't work. Contrary evidence can get just so strong. Then for him it ceased to exist. A faulty cigarette

51:25lighter irritated him, a fintling airlock control made him angry and swollen and then hysterical. When the drive controls wouldn't respond, he reached his breaking point. Everyone has such a breaking point, and arrives at it just that way if he's pushed far enough. Everyone? Parasie looked from face to face and nodded somberly. Anderson asked, what knocked him out? He's trained to take far more strength than that. Oh, he isn't suffering from any physical or conscious metal fatigue. The one thing he wanted to do was to get away from a terrifying situation. He convinced himself that he flew out of it. The next best thing he could do to keep anything else from attacking him was to sleep. He very much appreciated my suggestion that he was worn out and needed to stretch out. I'd very much appreciate some such, said Ives. Do it to me, Nick.

52:28Reach your breaking point first, said the doctor flatly, and went to place a pillow between Johnny's head and a rail guard. Hoskins turned away to stare at the peaceful landscape outside. The captain watched him for a moment, then. Hoskins. Ive seen that expression before. What are you thinking about? The engineer looked at him, shrugged, and said mildly. Chess. What especially? Oh, a very general thing. The reciprocity of the game. That's what makes it the magnificent thing it is. Most human enterprises can gang up on a man, slap him with one disaster after another without pause. But not Chess. No matter who your opponent might be, every time he does something to you, it's your move. Very comforting. Have you any idea of how we move now? Hoskins looked at him,

53:34a gentle surprise on his aging face. You missed my point skipper. We don't move. Oh, the captain whispered. His face taught him, does it pale? I see. We pushed the airlock button to get out. Counter-move, it wouldn't work. We tried the manual. Counter-move, it broke off, and so on. Now we've tried to fly the ship out. Oh, but Hoskins, Johnny Prok, isn't that counter-move enough? Maybe. Maybe you're right. Maybe the move wasn't trying to drive controls though. Maybe the move was to do what was necessary to knock Johnny out. Toyota's easy choice sales event is on. Whether you're looking for the performance of the Camry, the versatility of Arab 4, the efficiency of a Corolla, or all electric driving in the BZ. There's a Toyota that's just right for you. And with great deals across the lineup, now's the time to

54:37find yours. But hurry, these deals won't last long. Toyota's easy choice sales event ends soon. We make it easy. Toyota, let's go places. He shrugged again. We'll very soon see. The captain exhaled explosively through his nostrils. We'll find out if his are moved by moving. He gritted. Ives, Parasie. We're going to go over this thing from the beginning. First try the port. You, Ives. Ives grunted and went to the ship's side. Then he stopped. Where is the port? Anderson and Parasie followed Ives' flaccid, shocked gaze to the bulkhead, where there had been the outline of the closed port, and beside it the hole which had held the axle of the manual wheel, and which now was a smooth, seamless curtain of impenetrable black.

55:39But Hoskins looked at the captain first of all, and he said, now it's our move. And only then did he turn with them to look at the darkness. End of chapter 2 Chapter 3 of Breaking Point by James Edwin Gunn This Leigh Brevox recording is in the public domain, recording by Peter Eastman. Chapter 3 The unfamiliar, you say, is the unseen, the completely new and strange? Not so. The epitome of the unfamiliar is the familiar inverted, the familiar turned on its head. View a familiar place under new conditions, a deserted and darkened theater, and at the nightclub by day,

56:44and you will find yourself more influenced by the emotion of strangeness than by any number of unseen places. Go back to your old neighborhood and find everything changed. Come into your own home when everyone is gone, when the lights are out and the furniture rearranged. There I will show you the strange and frightened en-goasts that are the shapes left over, when reality superimposes itself upon the images of memory. The goblins lurk in the shadows of your own room. Owen Miller essays on night and the unfamiliar. For one heart-stopping moment, the darkness had seemed to swoop in upon them like the clutching hand of death. Instinctively they had huddled together in the center of the room.

57:45But when the second look and the third gave them reassurance that the effect was really there, though the cause was still a mystery, then half the mystery was gone, and they began to drift apart. Each felt on trial and held tight to himself, and the picture of himself he empathized in the other's eyes. The captain said quietly, it's just there. It doesn't seem to be spreading. Hoskins gazed at it critically. About half a meter deep, he murmured, what do you suppose it's made of? Not a gas, said Parasie. It has a sort of surface. Ives who had frozen to the spot when first he saw the blackness on his way to the port, took another two steps. The hand which had been half lifted to touch the control continued upward

58:47relievedly, as if glad to have a continuous function, even though its purpose had changed. Don't touch it, wrapped the captain. Ives turned his head to look at the captain, then faltered and let the hand drop. Why not? Certainly not a liquid, Parasie mused, as if there had been no interruption. And if it's a solid, where did that much matter come from? Through the whole? Hoskins, who knew the whole? How it was made, how fitted, how treated once it was in place, snorted at the idea. If it was a gas, said Parasie, there'd be diffusion and convection. If it were poisonous, we'd all be dead. If not, the chances are we'd smell it. And the counter's not saying a thing, so it's not radioactive. You trust the counter? Asked Ives bitterly.

59:50I trust it, said Parasie. His near whisper shook with what sounded like passion. A man must have faith in something. I hold that faith in every single function of every part of this ship, until each and every part is separately and distinctly proved unworthy of faith. Then by God you'll understand my faith in my own two hands and what they feel, snarled Ives. He stepped to the bulkhead and brought his meaty hand hard against it. Two sheh, murmured Hoskins, and meant either Ives remark, or the flat solid smack of the hand against the blackness. In his sleep, Johnny uttered a high, soft, careless tinkle of youthful happy laughter. "'Somebody's happy,' said Ives.

1:00:53Parasie said the captain. What happens when he wakes up?' Parasie's eyebrows shrugged for him. Practically anything, he's reached down inside himself somewhere and found a way out. For him, not for any of the rest of us. Maybe he'll ignore what we see. Maybe he'll think he's somewhere else or in some other time. Maybe he'll be someone else. Maybe he won't wake up at all. "'Maybe he has the right idea,' said Ives. "'That's the second time you've made a crack like that,' said Parasie, levelly. Don't do it again. You can't afford it.' "'We can't afford it,' the captain put in.' "'All right,' said Ives, with such daciility that Parasie shot him startled suspicious glance. The big communications man went to his station, and sat, half turned away from the rest.

1:01:55"'What are they after,' complained the captain suddenly. What do they want?' "'Who?' asked Parasie, still watching Ives. Hoskins explained. Whoever it was who said welcome to our planet.' Ives turned toward them, and Parasie's relief was noticeable. Ives said, they want us dead. "'Do they?' asked the captain. They don't want us to leave the ship, and they don't want the ship to leave the planet. Then it's the ship they want. Yeah, amended Ives without us.' Parasie said, "'You can't conclude that Ives. They've inconvenienced us. They've turned us in on ourselves, and put a drain on our intangible resources as men and as a crew. But so far they haven't actually done anything to us. We've done it to ourselves.'

1:02:59Ives looked at him scornfully. We wrecked the unrecable controls, manufactured that case-hardened darkness, and talked to ourselves on an all-wave carrier with no source about information no outsider could get. I didn't say any of that.' Parasie paused to choose words. Of course they're responsible for these phenomena, but the phenomena haven't heard us. Our reactions to the phenomena are what has done the damage. A fall never heard anyone they told me when I was a kid, said Ives pugnaciously. It's the sudden stop. Parasie dismissed the remark with a shrug. I still say that while we have been astonished, frightened, puzzled and frustrated, we have not been seriously threatened. Our water and food and air are virtually unlimited. Our ability to live with one another under emergency situations has been tested to

1:04:01affair thee well, and all we have to do is recognize the emergency as such, and that ability will rise to optimum. He smiled suddenly. It could be worse Ives. I suppose it could, said Ives, that blackness could move in until it really crowded us, or very quietly, Hoskin said. It is moving in. Captain Anderson shook his head. No. And hearing him, they slowly recognized that the syllable was not a denial, but an exclamation. For the darkness was no longer a half meter deep on the bulkhead. No one had noticed it, but they suddenly became aware that the almost square cabin was now definitely rectangular. With the familiar controls, the communications wall, and the thwart chip partition after them, forming three sides to the encroaching forth.

1:05:08Ives rose shaking and round eyed from his chair. He made an unspellable animal sound and rushed at the blackness. Parasie leaped for him, but not fast enough. Ives collided sickeningly against the strange jet surface and fell. He fell massively, gracelessly, not prone, but on widespread knees, with his arms crumpled beneath him, and the side of his face on the deck. He stayed there, quite unconscious, a gross caricature of worship. There was a furiously active, silent moment, while Parasie turned the fat man over on his back, ran skilled fingers over his bleeding face, his chest, back to the carotid area of his neck. He's alright, said Parasie, still working. Then, as if to keep his mind going with words to

1:06:09avoid conjecture, he went on didactically. This is the other fear reaction. Johnny's was flight. Ives' flight, the empirical result is very much the same. I thought, said Hoskins dryly, that flight and flight were survival reactions. Parasie stood up. Why they are, and the last analysis so is suicide. I'll think about that, said Hoskins softly. Parasie, spat Anderson. Medic or no, you'll watch your mouth. Sorry, Captain, that was panicked, Seed. Hoskins. Don't explain it to me, said the engineer mildly. I know what you meant. Suicides the direct product of survival compulsions, drives that try to save something, just as flight and flight are efforts to save something. I don't think you need worry.

1:07:11Immolation doesn't tempt me. I'm too, too interested in what goes on. What are you going to do about Ives? Bunk him, I guess, and stand by to fix up that headache you'll wake up to. Give me a hand, will you? Hoskins went to the bulkhead, and dropped a second acceleration couch. It took all three of them, working hard, to lift Ives great bulk up to it. Parasie opened the first aid kit, clamped under the control console, and went to the unconscious man. The captain cast about him for something to do, something to say, and apparently found it. Hoskins, I, do you usually think better on an empty stomach? Not me. I never have either. Hoskins smiled. I can take a hint, I'll rassle up something hot and filling. Good man, said the captain, as Hoskins disappeared toward the after-quarters.

1:08:16Anderson walked over to the doctor, and stood watching him clean up the abraded bruise on Ives' forehead. Parasie, without looking up, said. You'd better say it, whatever it is, get it out. Anderson half-chuckled. You psychic? Parasie shot him a glance. Depends, if you mean, has a natural sensitivity to the tension spectra, coupled itself with some years of practice in observing people, then yes, what's on your mind? Anderson said nothing for a long time. It was as if he were waiting for a question, a single prod from Parasie. But Parasie wouldn't give it. Parasie waited, just waited, with his dark face turned away, not helping, not pushing, not doing a single thing to modify the pressure that churned about in the captain. All right, said the captain irritably, I'll tell you. Parasie took tweezers, a

1:09:22retractor, two scalpoles in a hypodermic case out of the kit, and laid them in a neat row on the bunk. He then picked up each one and returned it to the kit. When he had quite finished, Anderson said, I was wondering, who's next? Parasie nodded and shot the kit with a sharp click. He looked up at the captain and nodded again. Why does it have to be you, he asked? I didn't say it would be me, said the captain sharply. Didn't you? When the captain had no answer, Parasie asked him, then why wonder about a thing like that? Oh, I see what you mean. When you start to be afraid, you start to be unsure, not of anyone else's weaknesses but of your own. That what you mean? Yep. His dark-framed grin flashed suddenly, but you're not afraid, cabin.

1:10:25The hell I'm not! Parasie shook his head. Johnny was afraid and fled. Ives was afraid and thought. There's only one fear that's a real fear, and that's the one that brings you to your breaking point. Any other fear is small potatoes compared with a tear like that. Small enough, so no one but me has to worry about it. Why you then? Parasie swatted the first aid kit as he carried it back to its clamp. I'm the Emma, remember? Symptoms are my business. Let me watch him, captain. Give me orders, but don't crowd me in my specialty. You're in subordinate, Parasie, said Anderson, and you're a great comfort. His slight smile faded, and horizontal furrows appeared over his eyes. Tell me why I had that nasty little face of doubt about myself. You think I can? Yes. He was certain.

1:11:29That's half the reason. The other half is Hoskins. What are you talking about? Johnny broke. Ives broke. Your question was, who's next? You doubt that it will be me because I'm de facto the boy with all the answers. You doubt it will be Hoskins because you can't extrapolate how he might break, or even if he would. So that leaves you. I hadn't exactly reasoned it out like that. Oh, yes you had, said Parasie, and thumbed the captain's shoulder. Now forget it. Confucius say he who turn gaze inward wide up cross-eyed can't afford to have a cross-eyed captain. Our friends out there are due to make another move. No, they're not. The doctor and the captain world at the quiet voice. What does that mean, Hoskins? The engineer came into the cabin, crossed over to a station, and began opening and closing drawers.

1:12:34They've moved. From the bottom drawer he pulled out a folded chess board and a rectangular box. Only then did he look directly at them. The food's gone. Food gone where? Hoskins smiled tiredly. Where's the port? Where's the outboard bulkhead? That black stuff has covered it up. Heeding units, food lockers, disposal unit, everything. He pulled a couple of chairs from their clips on the bulkhead and carried them across the cabin to the sheet of blackness. There's water, he said, as he unfolded the chairs. On the seat of one he placed the chess board. He sat on the other and pushed the board close to the darkness. The scuddle-bats inboard and still available. His voice seemed to get fender and fender as he talked, as if he were going slowly away from them.

1:13:37But there's no food. No food. He began to set up the pieces. His face to the black wall. End of chapter 3 Chapter 4 of Breaking Point by James Edwin Gunn This Librevox recording is in the public domain, recording by Peter Eastman. Chapter 4 The primary function of personality is self-preservation, but personality itself is not a static but a dynamic thing. The basic factor in its development is integration. Each new situation calls forth a new adjustment which modifies or alters the personality in the process. The proper aim of personality,

1:14:37therefore, is not permanent sensitivity but unification. The inability of a personality to adjust to or integrate a new situation. The resistance of the personality to unification and its efforts to preserve its integrity are known popularly as insanity. Morgan Littlefield notes on psychology. Haskins Parasie grabbed the captain's arm and spun him around roughly. Captain Anderson cut it. Very softly he said, leave him alone, he's doing what he has to do. Anderson stared over his shoulder at the little engineer. Is he now? Damn it, he's still under orders. Got something for him to do? Asked the doctor, coolly. Anderson looked around at the controls out at the sleeping mountains.

1:15:39I guess not, but I'd like to know he'd take an order when I have one. Leave him alone until you have an order. Haskins is a very steady head skipper, but just now he's on the outside edge. Don't push. The captain put his hand over his eyes and fumbled his way to the controls. He turned his back to the pilot's chair and leaned heavily against it. Okay, he said, this thing is developing into a duel between you and those those colleagues of yours out there. I guess the least we, I, can do, is not to fight you while you're fighting them. Parasie said, you are choosing up sides the wrong way. They're fighting us all right. We're only fighting ourselves. I don't mean each other. I mean each of us is fighting himself. We've got to stop doing that

1:16:39skipper. The captain gave him a one smile. Who has at the best of times? Parasie returned the smile. Trogadx, Catatonics, Illusionaries, and Saints. I guess it's up to us to add to the category. How about dead people? Eyes, how long have you been awake? The big man shoved himself up and leaned on one arm. He shook his head and grunted as if he had been punched in the solar plexus. Who hit me with what? He said painfully from between clenched teeth. You apparently decided the bulkhead was a paper hoop and tried to dive through it, said Parasie. He spoke lightly, but his face was watchful. Oh! Eyes held his head for a moment and then peered between his fingers at the darkness.

1:17:42I remember, he said, in a strained whisper. He looked around him, saw the engineer huddled against his chessboard. What's he doing? They all looked at the engineer as he moved to peace and then sat quietly. Hey, Hoskins! Hoskins ignored Ives' bold voice. Parasie said, he's not talking just now. He's, all right, Ives, leave him alone. At the moment, I'm more interested in you. How do you feel? Me, I feel great. Hungry, though, or what's for chow? Anderson said quickly, Nick doesn't want us to eat just now. Thanks, muttered Parasie, in vicious irony. He's the doctor, said Ives good-naturedly, but don't put it off too long, huh? This furnace needs stoking. He fisted his huge chest. Well, this is encouraging, said Parasie.

1:18:48It certainly is, said the captain. Maybe the breaking point is just the point of impact. After that, the rebound, huh? Parasie shook his head. Breaking means breaking. Sometimes things just don't break. Got to pass, said a voice. Johnny, the pilot, was stirring. Ha! Anderson's voice was exultant. Here comes another one. How sure are you of that? Asked the doctor. To Johnny, he called. Hiya, John. I got to pass, said Johnny, worryily. He swung his feet to the deck. You see, he said earnestly. Being the head of your class doesn't make it any easier. You've got to keep that and pass the examinations, too. You've got two jobs. Now, the guy who stands forth say he has only one job to do.

1:19:51Anderson turned a blank face to Parasie, who made a silencing gesture. Johnny put his head in his hands and said, when one variable varies directly as another, two pairs of their corresponding values are in proportion. He looked up. That's supposed to be the keystone of all vector analysis, the man says, and you don't get to be a pilot without vector analysis. And it makes no sense to me. What am I going to do? Get some shudder, said Parasie, immediately. You've been studying too hard. It'll make more sense to you in the morning. Johnny grinned and yawned at the same time, the worried wrinkles smoothing out. Now that was a real educational remark, Mardinold chap, he said. He lay down and stretched luxuriously. That I can understand. You may wear my famous Varun zip suit. He turned his face away and was instantly asleep.

1:20:56Who the hell is Mardin? I've demanded Mardin-Hoo. Shhh, probably his roommate in pre-pilot school. Anderson gaped. You mean he's back in school? Doesn't it figure? Said Parasie, sadly. I told you that the situation is intolerable to him. If he can't escape in space, he'll escape in time. He hasn't the imagination to go forward, so he goes backward. Something scuttled across the floor. Ives whipped his feet off the floor and sat like some cartoon of a Buddha clutching his ankles. What in God's name was that? I didn't see anything, said Parasie. The captain demanded. What was it? From the shadows, Hoskin said, a mouse. Nonsense! I can't stand things that straddle and slither and crawl, said Ives.

1:22:01His voice was suddenly womanish. Don't let anything like that in here. From the quarters aft came a faint scratching, a squeak. Ives trimmed pale. His waddles quivered. Snap out if it Ives, said Parasie coldly. There isn't so much as a microbe on the ship that I have an inventory. Don't sit there like little Miss Muffet. I know what I saw, said Ives. He rose suddenly, turned to the black wall and bellowed. Damn you, send something I can fight! To myse emerged from under the couch. One of them ran over Ives' foot. They disappeared aft, squeaking. Ives leapt straight up and came down standing on the couch. Anderson stepped back against the in-board bulkhead and stood rigid. Parasie walked with great purpose to the medical chest, took out a small black case and opened it.

1:23:04Ives cowered down to his knees and began to blubber openly without attempting to hide it, without any articulate speech. Parasie approached him, half concealing a small metal tube in his hand. A slight movement on the deck caught Anderson's eye. He was unable to control a shrill intake of breath as an enormous spider, hairy and swift, darted across to the couch and sprang. It landed next to Ives' knee, sprang again. Parasie swung at it and missed. His hand, catching Ives heavily, just under the armpit. The spider hit the deck, skidded, rited itself, and abruptly was gone. Ives caved in around the impact point of Parasie's hand, and curled up silently on the couch. Anderson ran to him. He'll be all right now, said Parasie. Forget it. Don't tell me he fainted, not Ives.

1:24:10Of course not. Parasie held up the little cylinder. And that's talks. Why did you use that on him? Parasie said irritably. For the reason, one usually uses a that's talks, to knock a patient out for a couple of hours without hurting him. Suppose you hadn't. How much more of that stuttle and slither treatment do you think he could have taken? Anderson looked at the unconscious communications man. Surely more than that, he looked up suddenly. Where the hell did that vermin come from? Ah, now you have it. He dislikes mysenspiders, but there is something special about these. They couldn't be here, and they were. He felt that it was a deliberate and personal attack. He couldn't have handled much more of it. Where did they come from? demanded the captain again.

1:25:12I don't know. snapped Parasie. Sorry, skipper. I'm a little unnerved. I'm not used to seeing a patient's hallucinations. Not that clearly at any rate. There were Ives hallucinations. Can you recall what was said just before they appeared? Ah, something scuttled. A mouse. It wasn't a mouse until someone said it was. The doctor turned and looked searchingly at Hoskins, who still sat quietly over his chest. By God it was Hoskins. Hoskins, what made you say that? The engineer did not move nor answer. Parasie shook his head hopelessly. Another retreat. It's no use captain. Anderson took a single step toward Hoskins, then obviously changed his mind.

1:26:12He shrugged and said, all right, something scuttled and Hoskins defined it. Let's accept that without reasoning it out. So who called up the spider? You did. I did. In a startling imitation of the captain's voice, Parasie quoted, don't sit there like Miss Muffet. I'll be damned, Sid Anderson. Maybe we'd all be better off saying nothing. Parasie said bitterly. You think it makes any difference if we say what we think? Perhaps, Nup said Parasie positively. Look at the way this thing works. First it traps us and then it shows us a growing darkness. Very basic. Then it starts picking on us, one by one. Johnny gets machines that don't work. When with his whole soul he worships machines that do. Ives gets a large charge of claustrophobia from the black stuff over there and goes into a flat spin.

1:27:15He came out of it. Johnny woke up too in another subjective time track. Quite harmless to to them. So they left him alone. But they lowered the boom on ives when he showed any resilience. It's breaking point thereafter, captain. Nothing less. Hoskins? I guess so. Said Parasie tiredly. Like Johnny, he escaped from a problem he couldn't handle to one he could. Only instead of regressing, he's turned to chess. I hope Johnny doesn't bounce back for a while yet. He's too... Captain! He's gone! They turned and stared at Johnny's bunk. Or, where the bunk had been, before the black wall had swelled inwards and covered it. End of chapter 4

1:28:19Chapter 5 of Breaking Point by James Edwin Gunn This leap of ox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Peter Eastman. Chapter 5 And there I was, doctor, in the lobby of the hotel at noon. Stark naked. Do you have these dreams often? I'm afraid so, doctor. Am I... alright? I mean... Let me ask you this question. Do you believe that these experiences are real? Of course not! Then, madam, you are, by definition, sane. For insanity in the final analysis is the inability to distinguish the real from the unreal. Parasie and the captain ran afed together. And together they stopped four paces away from the bulging blackness. Johnny!

1:29:20The captain's voice cracked with the agonized effort of his cry. He stepped to the black wall, pounded it with the heel of his hand. He won't hear you, so parasie bleakly. Come back, captain. Come back. Why him? Why Johnny? They've done everything they could to Johnny. You said so yourself. Come back, parasie said again, soothing. Then he spoke briskly. Can't you see they're not doing anything to him? They're doing it to us. The captain stood rigidly, staring at the featureless intrusion. He turned presently. To us, he paraded. Then he stumbled blindly to the doctor, who put a firm hand on his biceps and walked with him to the forward acceleration couch. The captain sat down heavily with his back to this new invasion.

1:30:20Parasie stood by him reflectively, then walked silently to Hoskins. The engineer sat over his chessboard in deep concentration. The far edge of the board seemed to be indefinite, lost partially in the mysterious sable curtain, which covered the bulkhead. Hoskins. No answer. Parasie put his hand on Hoskins' shoulder. Hoskins' head came up slowly. He did not turn it. His gaze was straight ahead into the darkness, but at least it was off the board. Hoskins said Parasie, why are you playing chess? Chas is chess, said Hoskins quietly. Chas may symbolize any conflict, but it is chess, and it will remain chess. Who are you playing with?

1:31:21No answer. Hoskins, we need you. Help us. Hoskins let his gaze travel slowly downward again until it was on the board. The word is not the thing, he said. The number is not the thing. The picture, the ideograph, the symbol. These are not the thing. Conversely. Yes, Hoskins? Parasie waited. Hoskins did not move for speak. Parasie put his hand on the man's shoulder again, but now there was no response. He cursed suddenly, bent, and brought up his hand with a violent smash, and sent bored and pieces flying. When the clatter had died down, Hoskins said pleasantly. The pieces are not the game. The symbols are not the thing.

1:32:22He sat still, his eyes fixed on the empty chair where the board had been. He put out a hand, and moved a piece where there was no piece, to a square which was no longer there. Then he sat and waited. Parasie breathing heavily, backed off, whirled, and went back to the captain. Anderson looked up at him, and there was the glimmer of humor in his eyes. Better sit down and talk about something different, doctor. Parasie made an animal sound, soft and deep, far back in his throat, plumped down next to the captain, and needed his hands together for a moment. Then he smiled. Quite right, skipper. I'd better. They sat quietly for a moment. Then the captain prompted. About the different breaking point.

1:33:25Yes, captain? Perhaps you can put your finger on the things that makes different men break in different ways, for different reasons. I mean, Johnny's case seemed pretty clear cut, and what you haven't explained about Hoskins, Hoskins has demonstrated pretty clearly. About eyes now, we can skip that for the time we'll be unconscious. But if you can figure out where you and I might break, why, we know what to look for. You think that would help? We'd be prepared. Parasie looked at him sharply. Let's hypnotize a child who was afraid of the dark. Ask him, and he might say, that there is something in dark places that will jump out at him. Then assure him with great authority that not only is he right, but that it's about to jump any minute, and what have you done? Damage. Noted the captain, but you wouldn't say that to the child. You tell him there was nothing there. You'd proof there wasn't.

1:34:29So I would, agreed to the doctor. But in our case, I couldn't do anything of the kind. Johnny broke over machines that really didn't work. Hoskins broke over phenomena that couldn't be measured nor understood. I've broke over things that scuttled and crawled. Subjectively real phenomena, all of them. Whatever basic tears hide in you and in me will come to face us, no matter how improbable they might be. And you want me to tell you what they are. No, skipper. Better leave them in your subconscious where you've buried them. I'm not afraid, said the captain. Tell me, Parasy. At least I'll know. I'd rather know. I'd so damn much rather know. You're sure I can tell you. Yes. I haven't psychoanalyzed you, you know. Some of these things are very hard to. You do know, don't you.

1:35:29Damn you, yes. Parasy wet his lips. All right, then. I may be doing a wrong thing here. You've cuddled up to the idea that I'm a very astute character who automatically knows about things like this. And it's been a comfort to you. Well, I've got news for you. I didn't figure all these things out. I was told. Told? Yes, told, said Parasy angrily. Look, this is supposed to be restricted information, but the exploration service doesn't rely on individual aptitude tests alone to make up a crew. There's another factor. Call it an in aptitude factor. And it's simplest terms, it comes to this, that a crew can't work together only if each member is the most efficient at his job. He has to need the others, each one of the others. And the word need predicates lack. In other words, none of us is a balanced individual. And the imbalances are chosen to match

1:36:34and blend so that we will react as a balanced unit. Sure, I know Johnny's Bugaboo's and Hoskins and yours. They were all in my indoctrination treatments. I know all your case histories, all your psychic push buttons. And yours demanded the captain. Hoskins, for example, said Parasy, happily married no children, physically inferior all his life. Repressed desire for pure science, which produced more than a smattering of a great many sciences and made him a hell of an engineer. High idealistic quotient, self-sacrifice. Look at him playing chess, making of this very real situation a theoretical abstraction, like leaving a marriage for deep space. Johnny, we know about, brought up with never failing machines. Still placed with them as if they were toys, and like any imaginative child, turns to his toys for reassurance. He needs to be a hero, hence the stars.

1:37:40Oives? Always fat. Learned to be easy-going. Learned to laugh with when others were laughing at. And bottling up pressures every time it happened. A large appetite. He's here to satisfy it. He's with us so he can eat up the galaxies. There was a long pause. Go on, said the captain. Who's next? You? You, said the doctor shortly. You grew up with a burning curiosity about the nature of things. But it wasn't a scientist's curiosity. It wasn't S-theads. You're one of the few people alive who refused to subsidize education and worked your way through advanced studies as a crumid on commercial space liners. You became one of the youngest professors of philosophy in recent history. You made a romantic marriage, and your wife died in childbirth. Since then, almost a hundred missions with EAS, refusing numerous offers of advancement.

1:38:46Do I have to tell you what your bugaboo is now? No, said Anderson, hoarsely. But I'm not afraid of it. I had no idea your... he swallowed. Information was that complete. I wish it wasn't. I wish I had some things to wonder about, said Parasie, with surprising bitterness. The captain looked at him shrewdly. Go on with your case histories. I finished. No, you haven't. When Parasie did not answer, the captain nudged him. Johnny, Ives, Hoskins, me. Haven't you forgotten someone? No, I haven't. Snarled, Parasie. And if you expect me to tell you why a psychologist buries himself in the stars, I'm not going to do it. I don't want to be told anything so general, said the captain.

1:39:48I just want to know why you came out here. Parasie scowled. The captain looked away from him and hazarded. Big frog in a small ponte, Nick. Parasie snorted. Anderson asked, women don't like you, do they, Nick? Almost to notably, Parasie said, better cut it out, skipper. Anderson said, closest thing to big a mother is that it. Parasie went white. The captain closed his eyes, frowned, and at last said, or maybe you just want to play God. I'm going to make it tough for you, said Parasie between his teeth. There are several ways you can break, just as there are several ways to break a log. Exploded, crushed, saw it, burned it. One of the ways is to fight me until you win.

1:40:51Me, because there's no one else left to fight you. So I won't fight with you, and you're too rational to attack me unless I do. That is the thing that will make it tough. If you must break, it'll have to be some other way. Is that what I'm doing? The captain asked with sudden mildness. I didn't know that. I thought I was trying to get your own case history out of you. That's all. What are you staring at? Nothing. There was nothing. Where there had been forward viewports, there was nothing. Where there had been controls, the communication station, the forward acceleration panels, and storage lockers. The charts and computers and radar gear. There was nothing. Blackness, featureless, silent, impenetrable. They sat on one couch by one wall, to which was fixed one table.

1:41:53Around them was empty floor and a blackness. The chess player faced into it, and perhaps he was partly within it. It was difficult to see. The captain and the medical officer stared at one another. There seemed to be nothing to say. End of chapter 5 Chapter 6 of Breaking Point by James Edwin Gunn This Libravox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Peter Eastman. Chapter 6 For man's sense is falsely asserted to be the standard of things. On the contrary, all the perceptions, both of the senses and the mind, bear reference to man and not to the universe.

1:42:55And the human mind resembles those uneven mirrors, which impart their own properties to different objects, and distorts and disfigures them. For every one has a cave for Dan of his own, which refracts and discolors the light of nature. Sir Francis Bacon, 1561 to 1626 It was the captain who moved first. He went to the remaining bulkhead, spun a dog and opened a cabinet. From it he took a rack of spare radar parts and three thick coils of wire. Parasie startled, turned, and saw Hoskins peering outlessly at the captain. Anderson withdrew some tools, reached far back in the cabinet, and took out a large bottle. Oh, said Parasie, that! I thought you were doing something constructive. In the far shadows, Hoskins turned silently back to his game.

1:44:00The captain gazed down at the bottle, tossed it, caught it. I am, he said, I am. He came and sat beside the doctor. He thumbed off the stopper and drank ferociously. Parasie watched, his eyes as featureless as the imprisoning dark. Well, said the captain, pugnaciously. Parasie's hands rose and fell once. Just wondering why. Why I am going to get loop and stoop and drunk? I'll tell you why, head shrinker, because I want to, that's why. Because I like it. I'm doing something I like because I like it. I'm not doing it because of the inversion of this concealed repression, as expressed in the invaluted feelings my childhood developed and my attitude toward the sex life

1:45:01of beavers, see couch catacas are old boy. I like it and that's why. I knew a man who went to bed with old shoes because he liked it, said Parasie coldly. The captain drank again and laughed harshly. Nothing can change you, can it, Nick? Parasie looked around him almost fearfully. I can change, he whispered. Ives is gone. Give me the bottle. Something clattered to the deck at the hem of the black curtain. Some other hallucination, said the captain. Go pick up the hallucination, Nicky boy. Not my hallucination, said Parasie. Pick it up yourself. Sure, said the captain good-naturedly. He waited well, Parasie drank, took back the bottle, tilted it sharply over his mouth.

1:46:04He wiped his lips with the back of his hand, exhaled heavily, and went to the blackness across the cabin. Well, what do you know, he breathed? What is it this time? Anderson held the thing up. A trophy, that's what? He peered at it. All American 2675, little statue of a guy holding up a victory, wreath, nice going little guy. He strode to Parasie and statched away the bottle. He poured liquor on the head of the figurine. Have a drink, little guy. Let me see that. Parasie took it, held it, turned it over. Suddenly, he dropped it as if it were a red hot call. Oh, dear God! Smother Nick! The captain picked up the statue and peered at it.

1:47:06Put it down, put it down, said the doctor in a choked voice. It's Johnny. Oh, it is, it is. Breathe to the captain. He put down the statue gingerly on the table, hesitated, then turned its face away from them. With a rough animation, he swung to Parasie. Hey, you didn't say it looked like Johnny, you said it was Johnny. Did I? Yep. He grinned, wolfishly. Not bad for a psychologist. What a people you opened up. Graven images, huh? Shot up, Anderson, said Parasie tiredly. I told you I'm not going to let you needle me. Oh, now it's all in fun, said the captain. He plumped down and threw a heavy arm across Parasie's shoulders. Let's be friends, let's sing a song.

1:48:07Parasie shoved him away. Leave me alone, leave me alone. Anderson turned away from him and regarded the statue at gravely. He extended the bottle toward it, muttered, greeting and drank. I wonder. The words hung there until Parasie twisted up out of his for-lorn reverie to bat them down. Damn it, what do you wonder? Oh, said the captain Jovially, I was just wondering what you'll be. What are you talking about? Anderson waved the bottle at the figurine, which called it to his attention again and so again he drank. Johnny turned into what he thinks he is, a little guy with a big victory. Hoskins there, he's going to be a slide rule, just you wait and see.

1:49:07Well, eyes, that's easy. He's going to be a beer barrel, with beer in it. How he did have a head on him, eyes did. He stopped to laugh immoderately at Parasie's darkening face. Me, I have no secrets no more. I'm going to be a coat of arms, useless philosophy rampant on a field of stars. He put the open mouth of the bottle against his forehead and pressed it violently, lowered it and touched the angry red ring it left between his eyes. Mark of the beast, he confided, cast Mark, zero. That's me and my whole damn family. To die is cast the cast has died. He granted appreciatively and turned again to Parasie. But what's old Nicky going to be? Don't call me Nicky, said the doctor testily. I know, said the captain, narrowing his eyes and laying one finger alongside his nose.

1:50:13A reference book, that's what you'll be. A treatise on the post nasal hysterectomy, or how to unbutton a man's prejudices and take down his pride. I swiped all that from somewhere. No, he shouted suddenly. Then with conspiratorial quiet he said, you won't be no buck, Nicky boy. Covers aren't hard enough. Not the right type face. Get it, he roared, and dug Parasie viciously in the ribs. Type face, it's a widestism. Parasie bent away from the blow like a caterpillar being bitten by a fire ant. He said nothing. And finally, said the captain, you won't be a book because you got no spine. He leapt abruptly to his feet. Well, what do you know?

1:51:15He bent and scooped up an unaccountable object that rested by the nearest shadows. It was a quarter-cag of beer. He hefted it and thumped it heavily down on the table. Come on, Nick. He chordled, gather ye round. Here's old eyes like a sad. Parasie stared at the cag. His eyes stretched so wide open that the lids moved visibly with his pulse. Stop it, Anderson. You swine! The captain tossed him a disgusted glance and a matching snort. From the clutter of radar gear he pulled a screwdriver and a massive little step-down transformer down on its handle. The bung disappeared explosively inside the cag and was replaced by a gout of white foam. Parasie shrieked. Ah, shut up, growl, Anderson. He rummaged until he found a tube shield.

1:52:17He stripped off a small length of self-welding metal tape and clapped it over the terminal hole at the closed end of the shield, making it into an adequate mug. He waited a moment while the weld cooled, then tipped the cag until solid beer began to run with the foam. He filled the improvised mug and extended it toward Parasie. Good ol' eyes, he said sentimentally. Come on, Parasie. Have a drink on eyes. Parasie turned and covered his face like a frightened woman. Anderson shrugged and drank the beer. It's good beer, he said. He glanced down at the doctor, who suddenly flung himself face down across the couch with his head hanging out of sight on the opposite side, from which came the sounds of heaving and choking. Poor ol' Nick said the captain sadly. He refilled the mug and sat down. With his free hand, he padded Parasie's back.

1:53:23Can't take it. Poor poor ol' Nick. After that there was a deepening silence, a deepening blackness. Parasie was quiet now, breathing very slowly, holding each breath, expelling air and lying quiet for three full seconds before each inhalation, as if breathing were a conscious effort. More, as if breathing were the whole task the entire end of existence. Anderson slumped lower and lower. Each time he blinked, his lids opened a fraction less, while the time his eyes stayed closed became a fraction of a second longer. The cabin waited, as tensily as the taught pose of the rigid little victory trophy. Then there was the music. It was soft, grand music. The music of pageantry, cloth of gold and scarlet vestments.

1:54:27Pendant jewels and multicolored dimness, sholdering upward to be lost in vaulted stone. It was music which awaited the accompaniment of whispers, thousands of odd ritualistic siblings, which would carry no knowable meaning and only one avowed purpose. Soft music. Soft, soft. Not soft as du volume, for the volume grew and grew, but soft with the softness of clouds, which are soft for all their mountain size and brilliance. Soft and living as a tiger's throat. Soft as a breast. Soft as the act of drowning, and huge as a cloud. Anderson made two moves. He raised his head, and he spun the beer in his mug, so it sent her surface sank and the bubbles whirled. With his head up and his eyes down, he sat watching the bubbles circle and slow.

1:55:31Parasie rose slowly and went to the center of the small lighted space left to them, and slowly he knelt. His arms came up and out, and his uptrend face was twisted and radiant. Before him in the blackness there was, or perhaps there had been for some time, a blue glow, almost as lightless as the surrounding dark, but blue and physically deep for all that. It's a depth increased rather than its light. It became the ghost of a grotto, the mouth of a nameless place, and in it was a person, a presence, it beckoned. Parasie's face gleamed wetly. Me? He breathed. You want me? It beckoned. I don't believe you. Said Parasie, you can't want me. You don't know who I am. You don't know what I am. What I've done. You don't want me.

1:56:41His voice quavered almost to inaudibility. Do you? It beckoned. Then you know, sang Parasie in the voice of Revelation. I have denied you with my lips, but you know, you know, you know, that underneath, deep down, I have not wafered for an instant. I have kept your image before me. He rose. Now Anderson watched him. You are my life, said Parasie. My hopes, my fulfillment. You are all wisdom and all charity. Thank you, thank you, master. I give the thanks so, Lord," he plurred, and walked straight into the blue glow. There was an instant when the music was an anthem, and then it too was gone. Anderson's breath whistled out. He lifted his

1:57:43beer, checked himself, then set it down gently by the figurine of the athlete. He went to the place where Parasie had disappeared, bent and picked up a small object. He swore and came back to the couch. He sucked his thumb and swore again. Your thorns are sharp, Parasie. Carefully he placed the object between the beer-cag and the statue at. It was a simple wooden cross. Around the arms and shaft, twisted tightly and biting deeply into the wood, was a thorny witty. God almighty, Nick! Anderson said more infallly. He didn't have to hide it. Nobody'd have minded. Well, he roared suddenly at the blackness. What are you waiting for? Him I in your way? Have I done anything to stop you? Come on, come on!

1:58:44His voice rebounded from the remaining bulkhead, but was noticeably swallowed up in the absorbent blackness. He waited until its last reverberations had died, and then until its memory was hard to fix. He pounded futilely at the couch cushions, glared all about in a swift, intense animal way. Then he relaxed, bent down and fumbled for the alcohol bottle. Oh, that's the matter with you out there. He demanded quietly. You waiting for me to sober up? You want me to be myself before you fix me up? You want to know something? In vino veritas, that's what? You don't have to wait for me, kiddies. I'm a hell of a lot more me right now than I will be after I get over this. He took the figurine and replaced it on the other side of the keg. That's right, Johnny. Get over on the other side of old beer belly there. Make room for the old man.

1:59:47To the blackness, he said. Look, I got neat habits. Don't leave me on no deck here. Rack me up alongside the boys. What is it I'm going to be? Oh, yeah, a coat of arms. Hey, I forgot the motto. Alrighty, this is my motto. Seek it or add astra. That is to say, this is the way to the men's room. Somewhere a baby cried. Anderson threw his forearm over his eyes. Someone went, shh, but the baby went right on crying. Anderson said, who's there? Just me, darling. He breathed deeply twice and then whispered, Louise? Of course, shh, jini. Jini's with you, Louise. She's all right. You're all right?

2:00:48Come and see, the sweet voice chuckled. Captain Anderson dove into the blackness aft. It closed over him silently and completely. On the table stood an ivory figurine, a quarter keg of beer, a thorny cross, and a heart. It wasn't a physiological specimen. Rather, it was the archetype of the most sentimental of symbols. The balanced, cushiony, brilliant red valentine heart. Through it was a golden arrow, and on it lay cut flowers, lilies, white roses, and forget me nots. The heart pulsed strongly, and though it pumped no blood, at least it showed that it was alive, which made it perhaps a better thing than it looked at first glance.

2:01:48Now it was very quiet in the ship, and very dark. End of chapter 6 Chapter 7 of Breaking Point by James Edwin Gunn This Leabrowvox recording is in the public domain, recording by Peter Eastman. Chapter 7 We are about to land. The planet is green and blue below us, and the long trip is over. It looks as if it might be a pleasant place to live. A fragment of Old Testament verse has been running through my mind. From ecclesiasties, I think. I don't remember it verbatim, but it's something like this. To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven. A time to weep, and a time to laugh. A time to mourn, and a time to dance.

2:02:53A time to get, and a time to lose. A time to keep, and a time to cast away. A time to be born, and a time to die. A time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted. For me, anyway, I feel that the time has come. Perhaps it is not to die, but something else, less final or more terrible. In any case, you will remember I know what we decided long ago. That a man owes one of two things to his planet, to his race. Posterity, or himself. I could not contribute the first. It is only proper that I should offer the second, and not shrink if it is accepted. From a letter by Peter Hoskins to his wife. In the quiet and the dark, Hoskins moved.

2:03:55Checkmate, he said. He rose from his chair, and crossed the cabin. He ignoring what was on the table, he opened a drawer under the parts cabinet, and took out a steel rule. From a book rack, he lifted down a heavy manual. He sat on the end of the couch with a manual on his knees, and leaped through it, smoothing it open at a page of physical measurements. He glanced at the floor, across it to the black curtain, back to the one exposed bulkhead. He grunted, put the book down, and carried his tape to the steel wall. He anchored one end of it there by flipping the paramedic control on the tape case, and pulled the tape across the room. At the blackness he took a reading, made a mark. Then he took a foreign-after measurement from a point opposite the forward end of the table, to one opposite the after-end of the bunk. Working carefully, he knelt, and constructed a perpendicular

2:05:00to this line. He put the tape down for the third time, arriving again at the outboard wall of darkness. He stood regarding it thoughtfully, and then, unhazutatingly, plunged his arm into it. He fumbled for a moment, moving his hand around in a circle, pressing forward, drawing again. Suddenly there was a click, a faint hum. He stepped back. Something huge shouldered out of the dark. It pressed forward toward him, passed him, stopped moving. It was the port. Hoskins wiped sweat away from his upper lip, and stood blinking into the airlock, until the outer port opened as well. Warm afternoon sunlight, and a soft fresh breeze poured in. In the wind was bird-song, and the smell of growing things. Hoskins gazed into it, his mild eyes misty. Then he turned back to the cabin.

2:06:07The darkness was gone. Eyes was sprawled on the after-couch, apparently unconscious. Johnny was smiling in his sleep. The captain was snoring stirrterously, and Horazie was curled up like a cat on the floor. The sunlight streamed in through the forward viewports. The manual wheel gleamed on the bulkhead, unbroken. Hoskins looked at the sleeping crew, and shook his head half-smiling. Then he stepped to the control console, and lifted a microphone from its hook. He began to speak softly into it, in his gentle, unimpressive voice. He said, �Reality is what it is, and not what it seems to be. What it seems to be is an individual matter, and even in the individual it varies constantly. If that's a truism, it's still the truth.

2:07:09Us tru is the fact that this ship cannot fail. The course of events after our landing would have been profoundly different if we had unanimously accepted the thing we knew to be true. But none of us need field guilty on that score. We are not conditioned to deny the evidence of our senses. What the natives of this planet have done is at base simple and straightforward. They had to know if the race who built this ship could do so because they were psychologically sound, and therefore capable of reasoning out the building process, among many, many other things, or whether we were merely mechanically apt. To find this out, they tested us. They tested us the way we test steel, to find out its breaking point. And while they were playing a game for our sanity, I played a game for our lives. I could not share it with any of you, because it was a game only I of us all have experience in.

2:08:13Praise was right to a certain degree when he said I had retreated into obstruction, the obstruction of chess. He was wrong, though, when he concluded I had been driven to it. You can be quite sure that I did it by choice. It was simply a matter of translating the contextual evidence into an equivalent idea system. I learned very rapidly that when they play a game, they abide by the rules. I know the rules of chess, but I did not know the rules of their game. They did not give me their rules. They simply permitted me to convey mine to them. I learned a little more slowly that though their power to reach our minds is unheard of in any of the seven galaxies we know about, it still cannot take and use any, but the ideas in the forefront of our consciousness. In other words, chess was a possibility. They could be forced to take a

2:09:16sacrifice to peace, as well as being forced to lose one of their own. They extrapolate a sequence beautifully, but they can be outthought. So much for that. I beat them at chess, and by confining my efforts to the chess board, where I knew the rules and where they respected them, I was able to keep what we call sanity. Where you were disturbed because the port disappeared, I was not disturbed, because the disappearance was not chess. You are wondering, of course, how they did what they did to us. I don't know, but I can tell you what they did. They empathize. That is, see through our eyes feel with our fingertips so that they perceive what we do. Second, they can control those perceptions. I'm on a distortion circuit, as Ives would put it, between the sense organ and the brain.

2:10:17For example, you'll find all our fingerprints all around the port control. Where one after the other, we punched the wall, and thought we were punching the button. You're wondering, too, what I did to break their hold on us. Well, I simply believed what I knew to be the truth. The ship is unharmed and unchanged. I measured it with a steel tape, and it was so. Why didn't they force me to misread the tape? They would have if I'd done that measuring first. At the start, they were in the business of turning every piece of pragmatic evidence into an outright lie. But I outlasted the test. When they'd finished with their whole arsenal of sensory lies, they still hadn't broken me. They then turned me loose, like correct in a maze, to see if I could find the way out. And again, they abided by their rules. They didn't change the

2:11:20maze when at last I attacked it. Let me rephrase what I've done. I feel uncomfortable cast as a Superman. We five pedestrians faced some heavy traffic on a surface road. You four tried nobly to cross. Death and blind folded. You were all casualties. I was not. And it wasn't because I am stronger or wiser than you, but only because I stayed on the sidewalk and waited for the light to change. So we won. Now. Hoskins paused to wet his lips. He looked at his shipmates, each in turn, each for a long reflective moment. Again, his gentle face showed the half-smile, the small shake of the head. He lifted the mic. In my chess game, I offered them a minor piece

2:12:25in order to achieve a victory, and they accepted. My interpretation is that they want me for further tests. This need not concern you on either of the scores which occur to you as you hear this. First, the choice is my own. It is not difficult one to make. As Parasie once pointed out, I have a high idealistic quotient. Second, I am, after all, a very minor piece, and the game is a great one. I am convinced that there is no test to which they can now subject me and break me, that any one of you cannot pass. But you must, in no case, come tearing after me in a wild and thoughtless rescue attempt. I neither want that nor need it. And to not judge the native severely, we are in no position to do so. I am certain now that whether I come back or not,

2:13:25these people will make a valuable addition to the galactic community. Good luck, in any case. If the tests should improve too, Arduous, I'll see you again. If not, my only regret is that I shall break up what has turned out to be, after all, a very effective team. If this happens, tell my wife the usual things, and deliver to her a letter you will find among my papers. She was long ago reconciled to eventualities. Johnny, the natives will fix your lighter. Good luck. Goodbye. Haskins hung up the microphone. He took a stylus and rode a line. Hear my recording, Pete. And then, bare-headed and unarmed, he stepped through the port, out into the golden sunshine. Outside he stopped, and for a moment touched his cheek to the

2:14:31flawless surface of the hole. He walked down into the valley. End of Breaking Point by James Edwin Gunn, recorded by Peter Eastman, 2016.