I poured a few more drops of gin on the glass top, then raised the
bottle. "Here's to happy days in the Pentagon!" I toasted.
Our spirits were soon soaring to great heights, and, as usual under
such circumstances, Gyl began talking about the "good old days" when
you could pick up a likely corpse almost anywhere, anytime.
"Used to be so much simpler then," he commented, flowing around one
of the fresh drops. "Now you have to beat the embalmer!" He chuckled.
"Fairly close race at times, too! But it keeps one on one's pseudotoes,
so to speak!" A combined burp and hiccough nearly flopped him off the
desk.
After he had regained his equilibrium we spent an enjoyable
half-hour talking of cadavers, funeral homes, the comparative merits
of inhabiting youthful or wealthy bodies, and other delightfully
stimulating subjects. Then we began to sing songs, old and new.
We had finished the chorus of "We Have All the Dough of Remey" for the
third time and were just getting warmed up on an extemporization of
"We'll Carry On in the Pentagon" when the office door flew suddenly
open and two Federal boys stepped in, followed by my stupid-looking
secretary.
They came quickly to the desk. One of them grabbed a handful of Gyl
with one hand and pointed a gun at me with the other. "Just stay as you
are," the officer cautioned.
My dumb secretary stared at me with round, innocent eyes. "I couldn't
help hearing everything you said, Mr. Nelson," she chirped, half
apologetically. "Your intercom box was open. Must be a short in it
somewhere. Or a loose connection...."
The other officer picked up the little box and shook it. A surprised
Gyf felt out from between the slats....
* * * * *
They have Gyf and Gyl in a little bottle now, tightly stoppered and
ready for shipment back home to Venus. They'll be placed on the next
space ship heading out.
There is a stupid Terrestrial law, you know, which makes it mandatory
that all Venusians be apprehended on sight or extracted from any body
they may be occupying and sent back to Venus in all possible haste.
And so I shall soon be extracted from the body of T. J. Nelson and his
neck will bend double in the middle again just the way it was when I
found him shortly after his accident. Then, in a little bottle of my
own, I shall accompany Gyf and Gyl homeward.
But, don't worry, I'll be back! I'll be back just as soon as I can
hitch a ride on a returning spaceboat!
So take good care of yourself, my friend, and don't catch pneumonia or
step in front of a truck or anything like that--_until I return_.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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