Universe Day

by Barry N. Malzberg

Genres: Science Fiction; Sci-fi Action & Adventure; Alien Contact

Synopsis

The Outer limit... When man's ambition expanded to fill the solar system, his technology expanded to take him as far as he wanted to go. Technology went on expanding. So did man's ambitions. But there was a danger only dimly suspected, and only poorly comprehended when it began to make itself felt. It was that man's ambition would outleap his imagination; that his technology would outstrip his emotional capacity. It might be that it was just too big, the universe. That there was just too much to of nothing for man to bear.

Release date: September 29, 2011

Publisher: Gateway

Print pages: 160

Sample

MERCURY

Man conquered Mercury in 2119; John Golden’s crew of nine fighting their way, every inch of the terrain, through Brightside, past Darkside, and into the quarters of Hut, the terrible chieftain of the Mercurian people who were, by then, a much reduced population owing to the quality of the heat which was most severe, even during the cooler periods. “We come in peace,” announced Golden, as the commander of the expedition, and shot the treacherous leader through the heart. The natives were surprisingly humanoid in appearances, although they were to be distinguished by their sun-bronzed skin, the lustre of their eyes, and a curious, dull flatness to their squarish limbs which probably came from too much exercise. “I declare myself king of this here planet,” Golden added to the delegation of natives assembled around their deceased chief. “I’m sorry to have used such abrupt measures but, you know, you can never tell in these highly structured situations.” The natives shrugged and cheered absently, a high, whistling sound coming through their ugly little nostrils. “Meni, marshik tekel upsharshin,” said one of them, probably a vice-leader, and made a gesture of obeisance to the great Golden. Much moved, Golden accepted the cheers of his own men, respectfully accepted from the vice-leader what appeared to be a Mercurian version of a crown and pulled it down snugly over his ears, somewhat discomfited by a rather humid clinging which he took to be the action of a cooling device. Golden and his men reigned supreme over the planet for a period of six revolutions, after which they were instructed to return to their ship and emplane for Earth. There they were received as heroes and after many fine ticker-tape parades on the main streets of the various cities, retired into a happy and prosperous old age. The second expedition was pleased to find, when they touched Mercury six months later, that Golden was still remembered with affection and his kingly throne vacant. “Power to those who want it,” the vice-leader said with that reserved mysticism which has made the remaining Mercurians so beloved to so many of us.

VENUS

Venus was conquered by man in 1993, just before the period of the Great Eastern Revolutions which held back further interplanetary adventures for some 25 years. Golin Joathan, the leader of the expedition of three; a Lieutenant Commander in the Air Force Alliance, got to the center of the Green Planet, fighting every step of the way, in an exciting adventure which may be read in transcript three rooms down the hall. There he met Horsh, head reptile of the Venusians, who were a small, decadent population living in a series of bogs in mid-planet due to the tempestuous and nearly uncontrollable spate of bad weather which had persisted on Venus since the fall of their technology. Horsh saluted Jonathan with five tentacles and said, “Welcome to this palace, we are happy to meet future denizens.” Somewhat surprised at the ability of the monster to speak English, Jonathan nevertheless retained his cool-headedness and shot the beast through the center of the belly, resulting in a greenish paste being spewed over him and his men and he waited out the animal’s death agony. “Oh welcome to our planet, you fair leader,” another reptile, apparently a vice-lord, said and bestowed upon Jonathan the oath of office which, being rendered as it was in purest Venusian, was indecipherable. “We come in peace and jollity,” said Jonathan and motioned for his men to distribute gifts; since no one in the Project had been sure of what Venusians might want or whether there even were any Venusians (but Congress had voted the extra appropriation just for the hell of it), they consisted of small packages of dollar bills. “Very good for exchange,” winked Jonathan and reigned solemn in the bog for twelve Earth hours, but then it was time to return to the mother ship, which they did, fighting every step of the way. They were welcomed back as heroes and received ticker-tape parades on the main streets of many famous cities; then were permitted—if that is the word—to publish their memoirs, one by one, after serial rights to the official agency version had cleared. When the second expedition returned to Venus some months later, they were surprised to see that a small memorial to Jonathan still existed in the middle of a bog; it was made of stone and sinking as it was to the shoulders, yet retained a stricken grin, a frozen glare, a flicker of precision in the eyes which all agreed was exactly like the old bugger.

THE MOON

Man conquered the moon for the first time in 1969. Fighting every inch of the way, Neil Armstrong and his crew of two circled into orbit on July 19th, then landed on the satellite itself some 36 hours later. “One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind,” Armstrong said, and he and his crew-mate then proceeded to set up experiments on the moon with radioactivity, implosives and so on. Sentient life was not observed, so it was not necessary to take defensive action. After reigning over the moon for some hours, Armstrong and his companion returned to the Lunar module and then to the command ship itself, where some time later they blasted off to earth. There they were met by an enormous reception and several ticker-tape parades; afterwards they related their experiences in a book called FIRST ON THE MOON published by Little, Brown and selected as a first choice by the Literary Guild of America.

MARS

Man first conquered Mars in 1982. Fighting every inch of the way, Gull Johnson led his little expedition of two to the great Stone City on the fourth canal where were found many interesting relics of a vast Martian civilization which had apparently perished in drought many centuries ago. “We are here; we have survived, we flourish, we go on,” he announced over the radio to an intercontinental hookup of several billions and then, fighting back every step of the way, the little party returned to the AMERICAN BOMBSHELL where they emplaned for Earth. There they were met by record demonstrations at the periphery of the central cities; the inner cities being occupied by riots and then received the Congressional Medal of Freedom from President Agnew. “This is a prophecy fulfilled,” the President said. On nationwide television, in a joint congressional session, the three heroes then pleaded for further funding for the space program. “We must not perish on Earth,” Johnson announced to enormous applause, “but must move on to the frozen spheres of Mercury, Venus and elsewhere, where we will doubtless find life and thus fulfill our destiny.”

JUPITER

Jupiter was first conquered by man in 2146, shortly before the period of the Great Peril that put a halt to the great project for some 85 years. Grant John led his party of sixty-five, fighting every step of the way, through the gaseous Jovian desert and into a small amphitheatre at mid-planet where, it was rumored, the Jovians, now extinct, had held sex-festivals and lunar watches. There, John took upon himself the title of Conqueror of Jupiter, while his crew applauded, then left upon the surface of the planet a tablet of stone saying, “Here came men from Earth, Mercury, Venus and Mars, voyaging outward through the imperishable night.” Fighting every step of the way, they then returned to the SUPER DESTROYER and emplaned to Earth, where they were met by a modest reception in the city, bedecked with garlands and sent through the streets of Rome on donkeys as a reconstruction, it was stated, of the coming of Christ. Afterwards, John wrote his famous novel SPEAK NOT OF EVIL, in which this and many other interesting events of his life are reported. It may be read for a small additional fee in the cubicle to the rear of the pens.

SATURN

Saturn was first conquered by man in 2231, just before the period of the Grand Plague which had such embarrassing consequences for those who caught it and turned out to be female. Fighting every step of the way, Grant Jolson and his companion traveled 650 miles in the grim Saturnian sunset to the Castle of Death, where they met the last Saturnian, a large, doglike creature who lolled uneasily on his throne. “Welcome, men of the third planet,” said the evil Saturnian and expired with a shrug, popping into mist shortly thereafter and hence leaving no evidence, other than testimony, of his presence. Next to the abandoned throne was the Saturnian’s diary, which he had apparently been keeping for many centuries against Jolson’s coming and since it happened, miraculously, to be written in English, Jolson was able to deduce, with the help of his skilled-linguist companion, that the coming of Earthmen to Saturn was the fulfillment of a religion which had been the center of Saturnian culture from the beginning and to which the last Saturnian had willed his own immortality to witness. “Imagine that, son of a bitch, poor old bastard, waiting all this time for us; well, at least he died happy,” Jolson said and flung the diary into his satchel, winked at his companion (who was really more of a coolie, the caste system in the space program being one of the few carryovers from the less liberal traditions of history) and led him back, fighting every inch of the way, to the mother ship BOX which they rode back to Earth, being received there by a small delegation of nobles who clasped the cherished diary as it was and welcomed them back to the planet. Jolson and his companion were then executed, since it was felt that they might have too much knowledge of the customs and lore of the Fabled Saturnian Religion, whose roots and outlines had been prophesied in the new cultism of Saturniasis, originated in 2170 in the back room of a pub in Derby-shire.

URANUS

Uranus was first conquered by man in 2850, shortly after the great Final War which had devastated the planet for almost six months, ending in deadlock and vows for a lasting peace. Golden Jones, the leader of the expedition, and his 448 men, fighting every step of the way, struggled across the edge of Uranus and fell into the famous Sea of Fire, where they were all drowned except for certain artifacts which were resuscitated much later, at the time of the second expedition, in fact. The artifacts were immediately consigned to government security and may be investigated, by special permit, between the hours of 23X and 431B depending upon the authority of the visitor.

NEPTUNE

Neptune was first conquered by man in 2851. Jones Golding and his expedition of 5,000, fighting every inch of the way, came to the Palace of Crags in which a delegation of 65 Neptunians were waiting to greet them. “Oh, it is time, it is time,” said one of the Neptunians, apparently the leader. “Indeed it is,” said Golding and shot him through the heart with a.45 colt antique which he had retained for exactly occasions of this sort. His men proceeded then to methodically slaughter the other 64 beasts. None of their brave efforts succeeded in saving them, however, for outside the Palace of Crags, cloaked in invisibility, were several million other Neptunians who overtook the palace and slew all of Golding’s men except Golding, whom they sent back to Earth with a message never to return to Neptune. Golding delivered the message, fighting every step of the way through the Government offices, and when he had delivered it to the King, fell with a pang in his heart, a Neptunian arrow, so to speak, punctured through the seat of his consciousness and with a defiant roar he expired, bringing about the famous Neptunian Revenge of 2900.

PLUTO

Man conquered Pluto in 4111. Gaul Jolding and his bird, Marsythe, fighting every step of the way, came to the center of a Plutonian desert where, it is rumored, they met God himself in the center of a shallow crevice. “Enough of this,” God said, but before the villain could continue, Jolding did the necessary. He was met by a huge reception and became vice-Lord of the planet, dedicating his efforts to the conquest of the Centauris and the Foxing Of Time but unfortunately, the Grand Disasters of the Low Forties interrupted this noble program for several centuries, retarding man’s progress to the stars, so that it was 6831 before man first set bomb on extra-solar territory. But that is another story entirely and of those great deeds’ accounting, researchers must be referred to the other museum, three levels down and to the rear of the Slaughtering House.

NOW THERE IS NOTHING TO DO but wait. He had plotted it out. . .