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Spaceways, v. 4, issue 1, whole no. 24, December 1941
11
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SPACEWAYS 11 IF I WEREWOLF "All, or some? For instance, Lowndes and knight are admissible spirits, but do we want all the rest? Or just some of them, and if so, which ones?" This time Trudy though longer before replying. "We might try Koenig," she suggested, "and of the Futurians themselves, perhaps Michel and Bok, besides Lowndes and knight. True, there are plenty of others, but we need a small, cohesive striking force, and smote water and sand with her flukes. "With our powers," I suggested, circling a few hundred feet above the quiet tiger, "there's no reason for us to lack anything, as far as, say, money goes. Art and I will pick up a few thousand from some bank or other on the way home and then in human guise we'll meet you at the railroad station the day after tomorrow at 4 P.M. We'll take the night train to New York, and call on the Futurians at just about midnight." Art said nothing, but as I dipped lower, I could see the tiger licking his chops, while the whale spouted her pleasure beyond the surf-line. We had no trouble with the Futurians, except with those who wanted to join, and were temporarily refused. Indeed, we tried to limit the knowledge of the powers of the rhombohedron to those we had selected as recruits, but since the Futurians usually went around in crowds from two people up—oh, yes, two Futurians can make a reasonably good facsimile of a crowd, if you give them a chance—we were too impatient. Trudy was somewhat disappointed by H.C. Koenig's refusal to join our group. "But," came the great whale's telepathic protest from her station off New York harbor, "think of the endless amount of fun you can have, appearing as whatever you desire!" Koenig looked at me, and I spread my wings. He looked at Art, and Art lashed his tail. "No," said HCK, "I'm afraid it won't do. I've read so many wild and fantastic stories I never believed, that having to believe them would probably leave me hissing like a teakettle, and that would never do. You can appear to me in any form you please, and it's my imagination, if I like to think so, but once you convert me into a werewolf I'll have to believe the thing possible, whether I like to or not. And it's just too much trouble and bother. you'll have to excuse me." We didn't like to argue, so we let it go at that. Our next move was to invade Washington and draw in Milty Rothman and Jack Speer to the fold. The assault squadron chosen for the attempt consisted of Art, trudy, Bok, Lowndes, and myself. We went on down by train in human form, and took headquarters at a hotel within striking distance of Speer's place. Once it was suitably dark, we proceeded with out changes—by now, we were all thoroughly saturated in the radiations of the black crystal, but I still carried it for the benefit of our hoped-for converts. This time Trudy wanted to be in on the actual scene, so I bought a small bowl, filled it with water, and Trudy changed to a goldfish—somewhat easier to carry than a whale. We had found, to our surprise, that one could only make one choice, broad though that choice might be. I could appear as a sparrow, or a hummingbird, or an albatross, but a bird I must remain. Trudy had no choice but to stay a creature of the water, though, curiously, she could be warm or cold blooded, as she pleased. But such, indeed, was ever the way of a woman. Art, for his part, since acquiring his full and true powers had tried his hand at becoming a lion, panther, wildcat and kitten, before deciding to string along with the tiger role. His one appearance as a rabbit was due, of course, to the weak and diluted dose he had received that first time. Bok, as we had hoped, appeared as a flaming dragon, though the realistic fiery breath he breathed somehow never seemed strong enough to light even a cigarette. Lowndes' guise was that of a bat; he had had some fun experimenting with different kinds of bats, but for the special benefit of Jack Speer he chose to appear as a vampire bat. And so we descended upon the dwelling of Speer, I flying in the van, carrying the goldfish bowl, within which Trudy swam in uneasy circles, regretting, perhaps, the power and bulk of her previous leviathan character. The place, as
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SPACEWAYS 11 IF I WEREWOLF "All, or some? For instance, Lowndes and knight are admissible spirits, but do we want all the rest? Or just some of them, and if so, which ones?" This time Trudy though longer before replying. "We might try Koenig," she suggested, "and of the Futurians themselves, perhaps Michel and Bok, besides Lowndes and knight. True, there are plenty of others, but we need a small, cohesive striking force, and smote water and sand with her flukes. "With our powers," I suggested, circling a few hundred feet above the quiet tiger, "there's no reason for us to lack anything, as far as, say, money goes. Art and I will pick up a few thousand from some bank or other on the way home and then in human guise we'll meet you at the railroad station the day after tomorrow at 4 P.M. We'll take the night train to New York, and call on the Futurians at just about midnight." Art said nothing, but as I dipped lower, I could see the tiger licking his chops, while the whale spouted her pleasure beyond the surf-line. We had no trouble with the Futurians, except with those who wanted to join, and were temporarily refused. Indeed, we tried to limit the knowledge of the powers of the rhombohedron to those we had selected as recruits, but since the Futurians usually went around in crowds from two people up—oh, yes, two Futurians can make a reasonably good facsimile of a crowd, if you give them a chance—we were too impatient. Trudy was somewhat disappointed by H.C. Koenig's refusal to join our group. "But," came the great whale's telepathic protest from her station off New York harbor, "think of the endless amount of fun you can have, appearing as whatever you desire!" Koenig looked at me, and I spread my wings. He looked at Art, and Art lashed his tail. "No," said HCK, "I'm afraid it won't do. I've read so many wild and fantastic stories I never believed, that having to believe them would probably leave me hissing like a teakettle, and that would never do. You can appear to me in any form you please, and it's my imagination, if I like to think so, but once you convert me into a werewolf I'll have to believe the thing possible, whether I like to or not. And it's just too much trouble and bother. you'll have to excuse me." We didn't like to argue, so we let it go at that. Our next move was to invade Washington and draw in Milty Rothman and Jack Speer to the fold. The assault squadron chosen for the attempt consisted of Art, trudy, Bok, Lowndes, and myself. We went on down by train in human form, and took headquarters at a hotel within striking distance of Speer's place. Once it was suitably dark, we proceeded with out changes—by now, we were all thoroughly saturated in the radiations of the black crystal, but I still carried it for the benefit of our hoped-for converts. This time Trudy wanted to be in on the actual scene, so I bought a small bowl, filled it with water, and Trudy changed to a goldfish—somewhat easier to carry than a whale. We had found, to our surprise, that one could only make one choice, broad though that choice might be. I could appear as a sparrow, or a hummingbird, or an albatross, but a bird I must remain. Trudy had no choice but to stay a creature of the water, though, curiously, she could be warm or cold blooded, as she pleased. But such, indeed, was ever the way of a woman. Art, for his part, since acquiring his full and true powers had tried his hand at becoming a lion, panther, wildcat and kitten, before deciding to string along with the tiger role. His one appearance as a rabbit was due, of course, to the weak and diluted dose he had received that first time. Bok, as we had hoped, appeared as a flaming dragon, though the realistic fiery breath he breathed somehow never seemed strong enough to light even a cigarette. Lowndes' guise was that of a bat; he had had some fun experimenting with different kinds of bats, but for the special benefit of Jack Speer he chose to appear as a vampire bat. And so we descended upon the dwelling of Speer, I flying in the van, carrying the goldfish bowl, within which Trudy swam in uneasy circles, regretting, perhaps, the power and bulk of her previous leviathan character. The place, as
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