Banquets of the Black Widowers
Neither Brute Nor Human
THE MONTHLY DINNER of the Black Widowers was well under way and Emmanuel Rubin, his fork uplifted, and waving threateningly in the air, temporarily ignored his rack of lamb and said, "Edgar Allan Poe was the first important practitioner of the modern detective story and of the modern science fiction story. I'll give him that."
"Nice of you," murmured James Drake, the host of the occasion, in a low aside.
Rubin ignored him. "He lifted the horror story to new heights, too. Still, he had a morbid and unhealthy preoccupation with death."
"Not at all," said Geoffrey Avalon, in his deep voice, his thick eyebrows lowering into a frown. "Poe was writing in the first half of the nineteenth century, and there was still virtually no protection against infectious disease at the time. Life was short and death was ever - present. He wasn't being morbid; he was being realistic."
Roger Halsted said, "Absolutely! Read any fiction of the nineteenth century. Read Dickens and the death of Little Nell, or Harriet Beecher Stowe and the death of Little Eva. Children frequently died in fiction because they frequently died in real life."
Rubin's eyes, magnified by his thick glasses, took on a stubborn gleam, and his sparse beard seemed to bristle. "It's not death in itself. It's how you treat it. You can deal with it as the doorway to heaven, and treat the dying person as a saint - see the death of Beth in Little Women. That can be sickeningly sentimental, but it is meant to be uplifting. Poe, on the other hand, dwells with an unholy glee on the elements of degradation and decay. He makes death worse than it is and - Come on, you all know very well what 'morbid' is."
He returned to his lamb and attacked it with vigor.
Thomas Trumbull growled and said, "Certainly. 'Morbid' is talking about morbidity over what would otherwise be a pleasant dinner."
"I don't see that it makes any difference whether Poe was morbid or not," said Mario Gonzalo, who was neatly dissecting strips of meat off the ribs. "What counts is whether he was a good writer or not, and I suppose no one argues with the fact that he was good."
Avalon said, judiciously, "Even good writers aren't good all the time. James Russell Lowell described Poe as "three fifths of him genius and two fifths sheer fudge,' and I would say that was pretty accurate."
Halsted said, "My feeling is that a seminal writer has to accept some responsibility for his imitators. There is something about Poe that makes it absolutely necessary for his imitators to be awful. Consider H. P. Lovecraft - "
"No," said Rubin, violently, "we are not discussing Lovecraft; we are talking about Poe -"
And oddly enough, Drake's guest, who, until now, had sat mute through the dinner, said suddenly in a loud, almost metallic voice, "Why are we talking about Poe?"
His name was Jonathan Dandle; short, plump around the middle, a round face that was now quite flushed, a large bald head with a fringe of white hair about the ears, and round gold - rimmed bifocals. He looked in his early sixties.
He had startled the company into silence, and even Henry, the imperturbable waiter who was the pride of the Black Widowers, allowed an expression of surprise to flit momentarily across his face.
Drake cleared his throat and stubbed out his cigarette. "We talk about anything we please, Jonathan. Poe is as good a subject as any, especially since Manny Rubin writes mysteries so that Poe might be considered his patron saint. Right, Manny?"
Dandle looked about the table from one to the other and some of the redness drained out of his face and left it a normal hue. He lifted his hands in a kind of shrug. "My apologies, gentlemen. It was not my intention to dictate the subject of the conversation."
He looked a trifle unhappy.
Rubin nodded at Dandle in slightly haughty forgiveness, and said, "Actually, if we're talking about the patron saint of mysteries, I could make a good argument in favor of Conan Doyle. The Mystery Writers of America may hand out Edgars, but the archetypal detective, as all of us know - " and, with that, Poe was abandoned.
Dandle listened intently to the further course of the conversation, but said nothing else until Henry had served the coffee, and Gonzalo had produced a quick caricature which he showed the guest.
Dandle regarded it solemnly, then smiled. "It is fortunate, Mr. Gonzalo, that I have no great opinion of my beauty. You make me look like the old - time actor Guy Kibbee. Perhaps you don't remember him."
Gonzalo said, "Certainly, I remember him, and now that you point it out there is a resemblance. A clever artist, with a few strokes of the pen, can bare essentials that are not necessarily obvious."
"What a pity, Mario," said Rubin, "that you don't find a clever artist who can teach you to do so."
"And yet," said Gonzalo easily, "you have met any number of clever writers and none has been able to help you."
At which point, Drake rattled his water glass with his spoon. "Grilling time, gentlemen, so that Manny and Mario are requested to shut up. Jeff, will you do the honors."
Geoffrey Avalon stirred the melting ice in his half - consumed second Scotch with his middle finger, and said, "Mr. Dandle, how do you justify your existence?"
Dandle said, thoughtfully, "A good question. Since I had nothing to do with the initiation of my existence in this unfortunate world, I might justifiably deny any need to defend myself. However, I have accepted my existence for over six decades now - after all, I might have killed myself easily enough - so I will defend. How would it be if I told you I am making it easier for people to communicate with each other. Would that serve as grounds for justification?"
"It depends on what they communicate," said Gonzalo. "Now Manny's attempts at -"
"Mario!" said Avalon, sharply, and turned a frowning look in Gonzalo's direction. Then, more gently, he said, "I have the floor and I would rather that we not descend into anarchy this time. - In what way, Mr. Dandle, do you make it easier for people to communicate?"
"I work in fiber optics, Mr. Avalon, and communication by laser light through glass, rather than by electricity through copper, will make for cheaper and thinner cables that would nevertheless carry more messages. I admit that not all the high technology in the world will of itself serve to improve the quality of those messages."
"And yet, sir, if I may be allowed to interject a personal note, you do not yourself show much tendency to communicate, considering that communication is your business. You have said hardly anything at all during cocktails or dinner. Is there a reason for that?"
Dandle looked about him, his face reddening again. It was quite apparent that he flushed easily, and, like almost all people who do, that he was quite aware of it and seemed the more embarrassed - and to redden more - because of it. He mumbled something.
"I beg your pardon, sir," said Avalon. "I didn't hear you."
Drake, who sat next to his guest, and who looked rather uncomfortable himself, said, "Jonathan, saying 'I've nothing to say' is no answer."
Dandle said, "It's an answer if that's the answer I choose to give, Jim."
"No," said Drake, peering at his guest out of his wrinkle - nested eyes. "That's not among the permitted choices, Jonathan. I explained the deal on this meeting. You receive a good dinner and good company in exchange for substantive answers. No secrets. No evasions. My own experience is that you've always had plenty to say."
Avalon said, "Let me continue, Jim. - Mr. Dandle, I will accept your answer that you have nothing to say, though I wish you would speak up so that others besides your immediate neighbor might hear you. My next question is this: Why is it that you have nothing to say on this occasion considering that, if we are to believe Jim, such silence is not typical of you?"
Dandle spread out his hands and said loudly enough, "Is a man always accountable for his actions, Mr. Avalon? Does he always know the origins of his moods?"
Avalon said, "Then let me ask you another question. You did, on one occasion, interject a question into the general conversation. You asked why we were talking about Poe, and you did so quite forcibly. I interpreted your remark as indicating that you were offended, perhaps outraged, by the discussion. Is that so? And if it is so, why?"
Dandle shook his head. "No, no. I just asked."
Trumbull stood up and passed one hand over his tightly waved white hair. He said, with exaggerated patience. "Jim, as the host, you must make a decision. We are clearly getting nothing out of our guest, and I think that, under the rules of the club, we might be forced to adjourn the meeting now. In fact, I move you consider adjournment."
Drake waved a hand at him petulantly. "Take it easy, Tom. - Jonathan, you've got to answer honestly. Nothing that is said here will ever be repeated outside these walls. Our waiter, Henry, is a member of the club and he is as closemouthed as we are. More so. I know you well enough to know you haven't committed a crime, or are planning to commit one, but even so, we -"
"You're quite wrong," said Dandle, in a rather more high-pitched voice than before. "I am trying to commit what I consider a crime. I'm certainly trying to be dishonest."
Drake said, "You?"
"With what I think is considerable justification, of course."
"After that," said Trumbull, "if Mr. Dandle does not care to elaborate, Jim, then we can go no further."
There was silence. Trumbull remained standing. Drake looked at Dandle and said, "Well, Jonathan?"
Dandle said, "You told me, Jim, I would be grilled on the details of my profession. I did not expect this sort of thing."
"It can't be helped. If you had been yourself, none of this would have come up. What's wrong?"
Dandle looked helpless. He clenched his fist, made as though he was going to bring it down on the table, stopped the motion, and said, "It's my sister."
"Your crackp -" began Drake, and stopped suddenly.
"My crackpot sister," said Dandle. "She's dying. Cancer."
There was a sudden silence.
"We've known it for months," said Dandle, "and she may live for months more, but it does produce problems."
The silence continued. Finally, Henry said, "Brandy, gentlemen?"
Avalon said, absently, "Just a small portion, Henry. - What kind of problems, Mr. Dandle?"
"Her will."
"You mean, all this is a matter of money?" said Halsted, with rather more than a shade of disapproval in his voice.
"Not money at all," said Dandle, lifting his eyebrows. "Please understand, gentlemen, that my wife and I are well off. We have a son and daughter, but both are grown and both are reasonably well off. My sister has a house and some money that she inherited from our parents, but this is not something we lust for. At least, not the money. That she can dispose of as she wishes. She can leave it to a farm for homeless cats, if she wishes. It's the house."
He fell into momentary thought. "It was quite clear that she would never marry by the time my parents died. It made sense to leave the family house to her, even though it was unnecessarily large for one person. Still, it's belonged to the family since it was built; I was born there; lived there till I married; I have a profound emotional attachment to it. Now my sister, Rachel," Dandle looked briefly at Drake, "being, as you say, a crackpot, is planning to leave it to a crackpot organization, and I don't want her to. I'd be willing to have it sold to someone respectable. I'd even be willing to have it torn down in a decent way for a decent purpose. But I'm damned if I'm willing to let the - the Cosmic Order of Theognostics infest it."
"The what?" said Gonzalo.
Avalon said, "The word comes from the Greek and means 'knowing God.'"
Dandle said, "What they really know are methods for extracting money from fools and nuts."
Avalon said, "I assume they are extracting money from your sister."
"To some extent, yes, but not very much. She is a shrewd woman, financially, and is quite compos mentis outside her obsession. Still, they're angling to get it all when she dies. And they may."
"What is her obsession, sir?"
"I believe it started with her reading of Poe when she was young. I think she read everything he had written; memorized it, just about; and absorbed the unhealthy morbidity that Mr. Rubin mentioned. And she read Lovecraft, too, and grew inclined to believe in horrors from outer space, in elder intelligences, and so on. She lectured me often enough on that stuff. Naturally, she became part of the UFO mania."
"Naturally," muttered Rubin, with a look of distaste.
"She became convinced that intelligent beings from outer space are actually on Earth and have taken over Earth's leaders, and much of the general population. She thinks these aliens are themselves invisible, or can make themselves so, and can live within human beings parasitically. It's all quire mad."
"I suppose," said Avalon, "that if anyone disagrees with her, or tries to argue against her views, she considers it a sign the arguer has been taken over."
"Absolutely. I early recognized the mistake of trying to oppose her."
Halsted said, "Why haven't the aliens taken over everybody? How does your sister explain that she herself hasn't been taken over?"
"I gather," said Dandle, "that the Cosmic Order of Theognostics fights them with prayer and introspection and meditation and incantation and whatever the devil they claim to do, and they have taught her the same. She has tried to teach me and I've just kept silent and listened. There's a lot of candle burning involved, and the recitation of whole pages of material that has no meaning whatever but I suppose she thinks it keeps me safe - so far."
Drake said, through the smoke of his cigarette, "When I referred to her as a crackpot, Jonathan, I was thinking of the UFO stuff. I didn't know about this alien intelligences bit."
"It's not something I like to talk about, obviously," said Dandle, "and wouldn't be talking about now except under pressure."
Avalon said, "You said you were thinking of committing a crime. Surely, you're not thinking of mayhem against the Theognostics."
"Nothing like that. Just a crime in my own eyes. I've been trying to cheat and deceive my sister, and I'm not really proud of that."
"Would you be willing to explain that, sir?" asked Avalon, stiffly.
"Well, since Rachel was found to have cancer, things are at a crisis. She won't submit to surgery because she is sure that under anesthesia she will be taken over. She is suspicious of radiotherapy, too, since radiation is a weapon of those beings. She is relying entirely on Theognostic ritual, therefore, and you can imagine how effective that is."
Rubin said, "The most ridiculous methods can sometimes help if you believe firmly that they will. The mind is a powerful instrument."
"That may be," said Dandle, "but it isn't helping her. She's going downhill, and, about a month ago, she began to talk of leaving the house and her money to the Theognostics so that they could continue the great fight against the aliens. - So I started a plan of my own." He reddened and stopped.
After a short pause, Avalon said, gently, "Yes, Mr. Dandle?"
"To put it bluntly," said Dandle, "I came to her as an enthusiastic convert. I said she had convinced me and that I was heart and soul with her; that she could leave the money to the Theognostics if she wished, but that she should leave the house to me and I would make it the center of the fight against the aliens. I would allow the Theognostics to use it freely but I merely wanted to keep tide to it in honor of our parents. I was hypocritical and obsequious."
"No doubt," said Avalon, "but did it work? People who, like your sister, believe in invisible, untestable dangers would be suspicious of everything."
"I'm afraid so," said Dandle. "She's of two minds about me. She wants to believe, but, as you say, she is suspicious. She hesitates to tell me what I'm sure she believes to be the 'higher mysteries,' so to speak. I asked for details about the form and attributes of the mysterious aliens, for instance, and she was closemouthed about it - as though she was not sure I was worthy of initiation."
Trumbull said, "Maybe she doesn't know herself."
Rubin said, "She can easily invent anything she wishes and then come to believe it. Such things are very common."
"Last week she said something in a sort of singsong whisper and I thought I was making progress, but then there was nothing more."
"What did she say?"
"Well, they're hermaphroditic and are neither women nor men. And they weren't Earthly, of course. They aren't human beings or animals. And when they infest us they live on our spiritual nature rather than on our physical bodies, I gather, for she seized my arm, with a surprisingly strong grip, too, and whispered into my ear, 'They are worse than cannibals, and that is not surprising considering where they come from.'"
"Where do they come from?" asked Gonzalo.
"That's what I asked," said Dandle, "but she didn't say. She said that once you achieve a certain enlightenment, you know where they come from; that that is the test of enlightenment. It comes over you like a wave of revelation and gives you a certain power against them. She knows, and the Theognostics know; but they don't tell anyone because that's their test for the people who are strong against the aliens. It doesn't really make sense, but if I were to try to say that to her, it would mean the end of my chance to save the house. So I just said, earnestly, that I would meditate and try to gain the knowledge." He looked about the table with a grim face. "I'm supposed to be fasting. - She called me this morning."
"Things are coming to a crisis?" asked Avalon.
"Yes. That's why I've been preoccupied this evening, and didn't say much. I was of two minds whether to come here at all, but I didn't want to let Jim Drake down."
"But what was it your sister said to you this morning?"
"She says she wants to make a decision about her will. She feels herself weakening and she knows that she must become one with the Great Divine - which is the Theognostic term for God, apparently - and she wants to make sure she continues the fight from beyond the grave. She can't let me have the house unless she is certain I won't bar the Theognostics from it. And, of course, barring them is exactly what I intend to do so I am trying to flimflam her. - It's not exactly admirable of me."
Trumbull said, loudly,"We're on your side, Mr. Dandle. You're fighting a group of pernicious and vicious flimflam operators, and if counter - flimflam is required, so be it."
"Thank you," said Dandle, "but I don't see that I will win out. She wants me to visit her tomorrow at noon and tell her where the aliens come from. If I can't, then she can't rely on me to remain strong against them and the Theognostics will get the house. And, of course, I can't tell her where the aliens come from. They're from outer space, I'm sure. That would fit in with her UFO madness, for they undoubtedly reached Earth by UFO. But where in outer space?"
There was a short silence, then Gonzalo said, "She never gave you any hints?"
Dandle shook his head. "Only the remark about their being worse than cannibals and that that somehow was appropriate, considering where they come from. But what does that mean?"
"Nothing else?"
"Not that I can think of. If she did, it went right past me. - So tomorrow I lose the house."
Avalon said, "You know, sir, that you can contest the will."
"No, not really," said Dandle. "You were introduced to me as a lawyer - "
"A patent lawyer," said Avalon. "I am not knowledgeable on the intricacies of testamentary litigation."
"Well, on the one hand, there is a strong tendency to allow a testator to do as he wishes with his own property. It isn't easy to disallow a religious organization in favor of a relative who is already well off. I doubt that I can prove undue influence, nor would I care to try to make my sister seem to have been of unsound mind, if only out of family considerations. Then, even if I really thought I could win, it would be a long - drawn - out fight in which the legal fees would come to considerably more than I would care to pay. - So I'm going to lose the house."
Avalon said, "We might all of us think about this a bit."
A flicker of hope seemed to enliven Dandle. "Are any of you astronomers?"
"Not professionally," said Halsted, "but we have the usual superficial knowledge of the field that any intelligent and reasonably well - read individuals would have."
"Exactly," said Rubin, "and that means I can make a suggestion. We're looking for something in outer space that has cannibalistic associations. I've read articles recently that in clusters of galaxies, there are occasional collisions and that, in such collisions, the larger member gains stars at the expense of the smaller one. The result is that in some clusters, there is one galaxy that is larger than any of the others, having cannibalized them."
Halsted nodded vigorously. "You are right, Manny. I've read about it, too. There's one outsize galaxy that has five small bright regions within itself that resemble galactic centers. The thought is that it swallowed five small galaxies whole."
Gonzalo said, "Just for the record - what are galaxies?"
Avalon said, "Large conglomerations of stars, Mario. Our own Milky Way Galaxy has a couple of hundred billion stars in it."
Gonzalo said, "Well, then, has that cannibal galaxy - the one that swallowed up its five little sisters - got a name?"
The Black Widowers stared at each other. Finally, Halsted said, "It may, but if it does, it's probably not an ordinary name. Just a particular catalog number like NGC - 111, or something like that."
Gonzalo said, "I don't think Miss Dandle would be impressed by that."
Dandle said, "I don't think so, either. I'm grateful to you for your attempts to help, but if galactic cannibalization is a common phenomenon, which cannibal would be the correct one? And I'm sure my sister knows nothing about modern sophistications in astronomy, anyway. Nor would the Theognostics. Where would they hear of this phenomenon?"
Avalon said, "Does your sister read anything at all in the field of astronomy, Mr. Dandle?"
Dandle said, thoughtfully. "She's certainly read everything there is on UFOs and some astronomy - not necessarily correct - is bound to creep in there. She reads up on astrology, of course, which means additional possibly distorted astronomy. And I have seen astronomy popularizations in the house. I haven't actually seen her reading them but I wouldn't be surprised if she did."
"Is she well - read otherwise, sir?"
"Yes. All of Poe as I said, and Lovecraft, and some science fiction. A great deal of general nineteenth - century fiction, I should say, and, of course, she reads the newspapers and a number of magazines thoroughly, if only to find evidence of how far the aliens have taken over the world. I've got to explain to you that there's nothing wrong with her intelligence, outside her - her crackpottery."
"In that case," said Avalon, with a certain somber satisfaction, "I am quite sure I have the answer." He paused and cast a glance in the direction of the waiter, who was standing at the sideboard, listening with polite but silent attention.
"Henry," said Avalon, "I think that on this occasion we will not need your help."
"Yes, Mr. Avalon," said Henry, quietly.
Avalon cleared his throat. "You see, by far the best - known portion of the Universe, even to astronomers, and certainly to the general public, are the planets of our own Solar System. This is especially true for people like Miss Dandle, who are interested in astrology and similar aberrations.
"And of the planets, the one which in recent years has received the most attention and which is, in any case, the most spectacular, is the planet Saturn, with its rings and satellites. The Voyager probes have taken close - up photographs of the Saturnian system and these have made all the newspapers and magazines. Miss Dandle cannot have missed them."
Dandle said, "I'm sure she has not. But what then?"
"Saturn," said Avalon, "is named for an early Roman god of agriculture whom the Romans, with scant justice, equated with the Greek god Kronos. Kronos with his brothers and sisters made up the group of gods called the Titans, and they were the children of Ouranos and Gaea, the god of the sky and the goddess of the Earth, respectively. In a series of most unpleasant myths, the Greeks describe Kronos as castrating his father, Uranus, and taking over the rule of the Universe.
"Since the Fates had decreed that Kronos would, in turn, be replaced as ruler by his own son, the new lord of the Universe took to devouring each child as it was born. His wife, Rhea, managed to save one son by offering Kronos a rock wrapped in the baby's swaddling clothes. The rather stupid Kronos swallowed that without noticing the substitution. The son, still uneaten, was then hidden in Crete, and raised to maturity in secret. Eventually, the son, who was named Zeus (Jupiter, to the Romans), warred upon the Titans, defeated them, released his siblings, who were still alive within Kronos, and took over the Universe. All this Miss Dandle, in her reading, might very well have come across.
"Now, then, Saturn was clearly a cannibal. If there are degrees in such things, devouring one's own children is surely worse than fattening on strangers, so he might well be viewed as worse than an ordinary cannibal. Miss Dandle's statement that the aliens were worse than cannibals and that that was not surprising in view of where they came from would make sense if they came from Saturn."
And Avalon smiled at Dandle with self - conscious triumph.
Dandle said, "You think, then, I had better tell my sister the alien beings come from Saturn?"
"I can't say the matter is certain," said Avalon. "She may, after all, suppose them to have come from some entirely fictitious planet such as Zorkel, the fifth planet of the star Xanadu, in the galaxy of Yaanek. If, however, she has a real astronomical body in mind, then I am virtually certain that it is Saturn. It must be."
"It sounds good to me," said Gonzalo.
"It makes sense," admitted Rubin, looking distressed at having to say so.
Halsted said, "It's worth a try."
Trumbull said, "I can't think of anything better."
Drake said, "It seems unanimous. I'd take the chance, Jonathan."
Dandle began, "Well, since I can't think of anything better, either - "
Gonzalo interrupted. "Wait, Henry hasn't said anything. Henry, what do you think?"
Dandle looked up in astonishment at having the waiter referred to.
When Henry said, "May I ask Mr. Dandle if he shared in his sister's enthusiasm for Poe?" Dandle looked more astonished still.
Drake said, "Please answer, Jonathan. Henry is one of us."
Jonathan said, "No, definitely not. I know 'The Raven'; no one can avoid knowing that; but I know nothing else. I stay away from him."
"In that case," said Henry, "I fear that Mr. Avalon's suggestion, although most ingenious, is not the correct answer."
Avalon looked offended. "Indeed, Henry? Have you anything better to offer?"
Henry said, "Consider, sir, that Miss Dandle was a great devotee of Poe, and that in describing the aliens she said that they were neither female nor male, animal nor human."
"Well?"
"Well, Mr. Avalon, I, unlike Mr. Dandle but like his sister, am an admirer of Poe, though more so of his poetry than of his prose. Among my favorite poems by Poe is 'The Bells,' in the fourth part of which he describes the tolling of the funeral bells. There you have his morbid preoccupation with death, you see, something that is bound to follow his earlier descriptions of sleigh bells, wedding bells, and fire - alarm bells."
"Aha," said Rubin.
"Yes, Mr. Rubin," said Henry, "I suspect you already see what I mean. Part of the description of the funeral bells is - if I may quote:
"And the people - ah, the people - They that dwell up in the steeple, All alone, And who, tolling, tolling, tolling, In that muffled monotone, Feel a glory in so rolling On the human heart a stone - They are neither man nor woman - They are neither brute nor human - "
Henry paused, then said, "Miss Dandle was undoubtedly quoting those last two lines, I think. You stated that she said them in singsong fashion, Mr. Dandle, but not being a Poe enthusiast, you did not recognize them."
Avalon said, "But even so - How does that help?" Henry said, "It is the next line that counts, as Poe identifies the people who toll the funeral bells."
And he and Rubin quoted simultaneously: "'They are Ghouls.'"
Henry said, "Ghouls are creatures of Middle Eastern legend who infest graveyards and feed on dead bodies. That might well strike Miss Dandle, or anyone, as worse than ordinary cannibalism, just as vultures are worse than hawks in the general estimation."
Avalon said, "I grant that, but I still don't see the point."
"Nor I," said Trumbull.
Henry said, "There is a constellation in the sky named Perseus, named for the Greek hero who cut off the head of Medusa, a creature so dreadful in appearance that anyone looking at it turned to stone. The constellation is pictured as the hero holding the head of Medusa and that head is marked by a second - magnitude star, Beta Persei. I looked it up in the Columbia Encyclopedia during the discussion, to be sure of that fact.
"Because of its position in the constellation, Beta Persei is sometimes called the Demon Star, in consequence. The Arabs, who adopted the Greek view of the sky, named it Al Ghul, meaning "The Ghoul,' their version of something as horrible as Medusa, and our English version of that Arabic name is 'Algol.' That is now the common name of the star.
"Since Miss Dandle quoted that poem to define the aliens, she meant that they were ghouls, and therefore worse than cannibals, and she must have meant that it was not surprising that they were since they came from the star known as 'The Ghoul' - a fact she could surely have picked up from some book on popular astronomy, as I did, originally. I would suggest, then, Mr. Dandle, that you say, when you see your sister tomorrow, that the aliens come from Algol."
Dandle smiled brightly for the first time that evening and broke into applause. "Henry, I will. That should be the answer, and I am sure it is."
Henry said, gravely, "Nothing may be completely sure in this case, sir, but it is worth the gamble."
AFTERWORD
Eleanor worried about this story a bit because it seemed to her (and to me, too) that it wasn't quite admirable of Jonathan Dandle to want to deceive his sister, or of the Black Widowers to help him do so. Still I felt the cause was good enough to warrant the act, and I managed to convince Eleanor of it, too.
When it comes to that, Dandle himself worried about it, and I had nothing to do with that, either. My characters always manage to have a life of their own and they generally do things without my consciously willing them to do so.
Anyway, I have my own list of dislikes and disapprovals, and high on it are nonrational cults of any kind, whether they cover themselves with a cloak of pseudoreligiosity or not. Mind you, this does not extend to honest and rational religious feeling, as I showed in my story "The One and Only East," which appeared in an earlier Black Widowers collection.
Consequently, if I can do one of them in the eye - even if only fictionally - I don't hesitate.
The story appeared in the April 1984 issue of EQMM.
"Nice of you," murmured James Drake, the host of the occasion, in a low aside.
Rubin ignored him. "He lifted the horror story to new heights, too. Still, he had a morbid and unhealthy preoccupation with death."
"Not at all," said Geoffrey Avalon, in his deep voice, his thick eyebrows lowering into a frown. "Poe was writing in the first half of the nineteenth century, and there was still virtually no protection against infectious disease at the time. Life was short and death was ever - present. He wasn't being morbid; he was being realistic."
Roger Halsted said, "Absolutely! Read any fiction of the nineteenth century. Read Dickens and the death of Little Nell, or Harriet Beecher Stowe and the death of Little Eva. Children frequently died in fiction because they frequently died in real life."
Rubin's eyes, magnified by his thick glasses, took on a stubborn gleam, and his sparse beard seemed to bristle. "It's not death in itself. It's how you treat it. You can deal with it as the doorway to heaven, and treat the dying person as a saint - see the death of Beth in Little Women. That can be sickeningly sentimental, but it is meant to be uplifting. Poe, on the other hand, dwells with an unholy glee on the elements of degradation and decay. He makes death worse than it is and - Come on, you all know very well what 'morbid' is."
He returned to his lamb and attacked it with vigor.
Thomas Trumbull growled and said, "Certainly. 'Morbid' is talking about morbidity over what would otherwise be a pleasant dinner."
"I don't see that it makes any difference whether Poe was morbid or not," said Mario Gonzalo, who was neatly dissecting strips of meat off the ribs. "What counts is whether he was a good writer or not, and I suppose no one argues with the fact that he was good."
Avalon said, judiciously, "Even good writers aren't good all the time. James Russell Lowell described Poe as "three fifths of him genius and two fifths sheer fudge,' and I would say that was pretty accurate."
Halsted said, "My feeling is that a seminal writer has to accept some responsibility for his imitators. There is something about Poe that makes it absolutely necessary for his imitators to be awful. Consider H. P. Lovecraft - "
"No," said Rubin, violently, "we are not discussing Lovecraft; we are talking about Poe -"
And oddly enough, Drake's guest, who, until now, had sat mute through the dinner, said suddenly in a loud, almost metallic voice, "Why are we talking about Poe?"
His name was Jonathan Dandle; short, plump around the middle, a round face that was now quite flushed, a large bald head with a fringe of white hair about the ears, and round gold - rimmed bifocals. He looked in his early sixties.
He had startled the company into silence, and even Henry, the imperturbable waiter who was the pride of the Black Widowers, allowed an expression of surprise to flit momentarily across his face.
Drake cleared his throat and stubbed out his cigarette. "We talk about anything we please, Jonathan. Poe is as good a subject as any, especially since Manny Rubin writes mysteries so that Poe might be considered his patron saint. Right, Manny?"
Dandle looked about the table from one to the other and some of the redness drained out of his face and left it a normal hue. He lifted his hands in a kind of shrug. "My apologies, gentlemen. It was not my intention to dictate the subject of the conversation."
He looked a trifle unhappy.
Rubin nodded at Dandle in slightly haughty forgiveness, and said, "Actually, if we're talking about the patron saint of mysteries, I could make a good argument in favor of Conan Doyle. The Mystery Writers of America may hand out Edgars, but the archetypal detective, as all of us know - " and, with that, Poe was abandoned.
Dandle listened intently to the further course of the conversation, but said nothing else until Henry had served the coffee, and Gonzalo had produced a quick caricature which he showed the guest.
Dandle regarded it solemnly, then smiled. "It is fortunate, Mr. Gonzalo, that I have no great opinion of my beauty. You make me look like the old - time actor Guy Kibbee. Perhaps you don't remember him."
Gonzalo said, "Certainly, I remember him, and now that you point it out there is a resemblance. A clever artist, with a few strokes of the pen, can bare essentials that are not necessarily obvious."
"What a pity, Mario," said Rubin, "that you don't find a clever artist who can teach you to do so."
"And yet," said Gonzalo easily, "you have met any number of clever writers and none has been able to help you."
At which point, Drake rattled his water glass with his spoon. "Grilling time, gentlemen, so that Manny and Mario are requested to shut up. Jeff, will you do the honors."
Geoffrey Avalon stirred the melting ice in his half - consumed second Scotch with his middle finger, and said, "Mr. Dandle, how do you justify your existence?"
Dandle said, thoughtfully, "A good question. Since I had nothing to do with the initiation of my existence in this unfortunate world, I might justifiably deny any need to defend myself. However, I have accepted my existence for over six decades now - after all, I might have killed myself easily enough - so I will defend. How would it be if I told you I am making it easier for people to communicate with each other. Would that serve as grounds for justification?"
"It depends on what they communicate," said Gonzalo. "Now Manny's attempts at -"
"Mario!" said Avalon, sharply, and turned a frowning look in Gonzalo's direction. Then, more gently, he said, "I have the floor and I would rather that we not descend into anarchy this time. - In what way, Mr. Dandle, do you make it easier for people to communicate?"
"I work in fiber optics, Mr. Avalon, and communication by laser light through glass, rather than by electricity through copper, will make for cheaper and thinner cables that would nevertheless carry more messages. I admit that not all the high technology in the world will of itself serve to improve the quality of those messages."
"And yet, sir, if I may be allowed to interject a personal note, you do not yourself show much tendency to communicate, considering that communication is your business. You have said hardly anything at all during cocktails or dinner. Is there a reason for that?"
Dandle looked about him, his face reddening again. It was quite apparent that he flushed easily, and, like almost all people who do, that he was quite aware of it and seemed the more embarrassed - and to redden more - because of it. He mumbled something.
"I beg your pardon, sir," said Avalon. "I didn't hear you."
Drake, who sat next to his guest, and who looked rather uncomfortable himself, said, "Jonathan, saying 'I've nothing to say' is no answer."
Dandle said, "It's an answer if that's the answer I choose to give, Jim."
"No," said Drake, peering at his guest out of his wrinkle - nested eyes. "That's not among the permitted choices, Jonathan. I explained the deal on this meeting. You receive a good dinner and good company in exchange for substantive answers. No secrets. No evasions. My own experience is that you've always had plenty to say."
Avalon said, "Let me continue, Jim. - Mr. Dandle, I will accept your answer that you have nothing to say, though I wish you would speak up so that others besides your immediate neighbor might hear you. My next question is this: Why is it that you have nothing to say on this occasion considering that, if we are to believe Jim, such silence is not typical of you?"
Dandle spread out his hands and said loudly enough, "Is a man always accountable for his actions, Mr. Avalon? Does he always know the origins of his moods?"
Avalon said, "Then let me ask you another question. You did, on one occasion, interject a question into the general conversation. You asked why we were talking about Poe, and you did so quite forcibly. I interpreted your remark as indicating that you were offended, perhaps outraged, by the discussion. Is that so? And if it is so, why?"
Dandle shook his head. "No, no. I just asked."
Trumbull stood up and passed one hand over his tightly waved white hair. He said, with exaggerated patience. "Jim, as the host, you must make a decision. We are clearly getting nothing out of our guest, and I think that, under the rules of the club, we might be forced to adjourn the meeting now. In fact, I move you consider adjournment."
Drake waved a hand at him petulantly. "Take it easy, Tom. - Jonathan, you've got to answer honestly. Nothing that is said here will ever be repeated outside these walls. Our waiter, Henry, is a member of the club and he is as closemouthed as we are. More so. I know you well enough to know you haven't committed a crime, or are planning to commit one, but even so, we -"
"You're quite wrong," said Dandle, in a rather more high-pitched voice than before. "I am trying to commit what I consider a crime. I'm certainly trying to be dishonest."
Drake said, "You?"
"With what I think is considerable justification, of course."
"After that," said Trumbull, "if Mr. Dandle does not care to elaborate, Jim, then we can go no further."
There was silence. Trumbull remained standing. Drake looked at Dandle and said, "Well, Jonathan?"
Dandle said, "You told me, Jim, I would be grilled on the details of my profession. I did not expect this sort of thing."
"It can't be helped. If you had been yourself, none of this would have come up. What's wrong?"
Dandle looked helpless. He clenched his fist, made as though he was going to bring it down on the table, stopped the motion, and said, "It's my sister."
"Your crackp -" began Drake, and stopped suddenly.
"My crackpot sister," said Dandle. "She's dying. Cancer."
There was a sudden silence.
"We've known it for months," said Dandle, "and she may live for months more, but it does produce problems."
The silence continued. Finally, Henry said, "Brandy, gentlemen?"
Avalon said, absently, "Just a small portion, Henry. - What kind of problems, Mr. Dandle?"
"Her will."
"You mean, all this is a matter of money?" said Halsted, with rather more than a shade of disapproval in his voice.
"Not money at all," said Dandle, lifting his eyebrows. "Please understand, gentlemen, that my wife and I are well off. We have a son and daughter, but both are grown and both are reasonably well off. My sister has a house and some money that she inherited from our parents, but this is not something we lust for. At least, not the money. That she can dispose of as she wishes. She can leave it to a farm for homeless cats, if she wishes. It's the house."
He fell into momentary thought. "It was quite clear that she would never marry by the time my parents died. It made sense to leave the family house to her, even though it was unnecessarily large for one person. Still, it's belonged to the family since it was built; I was born there; lived there till I married; I have a profound emotional attachment to it. Now my sister, Rachel," Dandle looked briefly at Drake, "being, as you say, a crackpot, is planning to leave it to a crackpot organization, and I don't want her to. I'd be willing to have it sold to someone respectable. I'd even be willing to have it torn down in a decent way for a decent purpose. But I'm damned if I'm willing to let the - the Cosmic Order of Theognostics infest it."
"The what?" said Gonzalo.
Avalon said, "The word comes from the Greek and means 'knowing God.'"
Dandle said, "What they really know are methods for extracting money from fools and nuts."
Avalon said, "I assume they are extracting money from your sister."
"To some extent, yes, but not very much. She is a shrewd woman, financially, and is quite compos mentis outside her obsession. Still, they're angling to get it all when she dies. And they may."
"What is her obsession, sir?"
"I believe it started with her reading of Poe when she was young. I think she read everything he had written; memorized it, just about; and absorbed the unhealthy morbidity that Mr. Rubin mentioned. And she read Lovecraft, too, and grew inclined to believe in horrors from outer space, in elder intelligences, and so on. She lectured me often enough on that stuff. Naturally, she became part of the UFO mania."
"Naturally," muttered Rubin, with a look of distaste.
"She became convinced that intelligent beings from outer space are actually on Earth and have taken over Earth's leaders, and much of the general population. She thinks these aliens are themselves invisible, or can make themselves so, and can live within human beings parasitically. It's all quire mad."
"I suppose," said Avalon, "that if anyone disagrees with her, or tries to argue against her views, she considers it a sign the arguer has been taken over."
"Absolutely. I early recognized the mistake of trying to oppose her."
Halsted said, "Why haven't the aliens taken over everybody? How does your sister explain that she herself hasn't been taken over?"
"I gather," said Dandle, "that the Cosmic Order of Theognostics fights them with prayer and introspection and meditation and incantation and whatever the devil they claim to do, and they have taught her the same. She has tried to teach me and I've just kept silent and listened. There's a lot of candle burning involved, and the recitation of whole pages of material that has no meaning whatever but I suppose she thinks it keeps me safe - so far."
Drake said, through the smoke of his cigarette, "When I referred to her as a crackpot, Jonathan, I was thinking of the UFO stuff. I didn't know about this alien intelligences bit."
"It's not something I like to talk about, obviously," said Dandle, "and wouldn't be talking about now except under pressure."
Avalon said, "You said you were thinking of committing a crime. Surely, you're not thinking of mayhem against the Theognostics."
"Nothing like that. Just a crime in my own eyes. I've been trying to cheat and deceive my sister, and I'm not really proud of that."
"Would you be willing to explain that, sir?" asked Avalon, stiffly.
"Well, since Rachel was found to have cancer, things are at a crisis. She won't submit to surgery because she is sure that under anesthesia she will be taken over. She is suspicious of radiotherapy, too, since radiation is a weapon of those beings. She is relying entirely on Theognostic ritual, therefore, and you can imagine how effective that is."
Rubin said, "The most ridiculous methods can sometimes help if you believe firmly that they will. The mind is a powerful instrument."
"That may be," said Dandle, "but it isn't helping her. She's going downhill, and, about a month ago, she began to talk of leaving the house and her money to the Theognostics so that they could continue the great fight against the aliens. - So I started a plan of my own." He reddened and stopped.
After a short pause, Avalon said, gently, "Yes, Mr. Dandle?"
"To put it bluntly," said Dandle, "I came to her as an enthusiastic convert. I said she had convinced me and that I was heart and soul with her; that she could leave the money to the Theognostics if she wished, but that she should leave the house to me and I would make it the center of the fight against the aliens. I would allow the Theognostics to use it freely but I merely wanted to keep tide to it in honor of our parents. I was hypocritical and obsequious."
"No doubt," said Avalon, "but did it work? People who, like your sister, believe in invisible, untestable dangers would be suspicious of everything."
"I'm afraid so," said Dandle. "She's of two minds about me. She wants to believe, but, as you say, she is suspicious. She hesitates to tell me what I'm sure she believes to be the 'higher mysteries,' so to speak. I asked for details about the form and attributes of the mysterious aliens, for instance, and she was closemouthed about it - as though she was not sure I was worthy of initiation."
Trumbull said, "Maybe she doesn't know herself."
Rubin said, "She can easily invent anything she wishes and then come to believe it. Such things are very common."
"Last week she said something in a sort of singsong whisper and I thought I was making progress, but then there was nothing more."
"What did she say?"
"Well, they're hermaphroditic and are neither women nor men. And they weren't Earthly, of course. They aren't human beings or animals. And when they infest us they live on our spiritual nature rather than on our physical bodies, I gather, for she seized my arm, with a surprisingly strong grip, too, and whispered into my ear, 'They are worse than cannibals, and that is not surprising considering where they come from.'"
"Where do they come from?" asked Gonzalo.
"That's what I asked," said Dandle, "but she didn't say. She said that once you achieve a certain enlightenment, you know where they come from; that that is the test of enlightenment. It comes over you like a wave of revelation and gives you a certain power against them. She knows, and the Theognostics know; but they don't tell anyone because that's their test for the people who are strong against the aliens. It doesn't really make sense, but if I were to try to say that to her, it would mean the end of my chance to save the house. So I just said, earnestly, that I would meditate and try to gain the knowledge." He looked about the table with a grim face. "I'm supposed to be fasting. - She called me this morning."
"Things are coming to a crisis?" asked Avalon.
"Yes. That's why I've been preoccupied this evening, and didn't say much. I was of two minds whether to come here at all, but I didn't want to let Jim Drake down."
"But what was it your sister said to you this morning?"
"She says she wants to make a decision about her will. She feels herself weakening and she knows that she must become one with the Great Divine - which is the Theognostic term for God, apparently - and she wants to make sure she continues the fight from beyond the grave. She can't let me have the house unless she is certain I won't bar the Theognostics from it. And, of course, barring them is exactly what I intend to do so I am trying to flimflam her. - It's not exactly admirable of me."
Trumbull said, loudly,"We're on your side, Mr. Dandle. You're fighting a group of pernicious and vicious flimflam operators, and if counter - flimflam is required, so be it."
"Thank you," said Dandle, "but I don't see that I will win out. She wants me to visit her tomorrow at noon and tell her where the aliens come from. If I can't, then she can't rely on me to remain strong against them and the Theognostics will get the house. And, of course, I can't tell her where the aliens come from. They're from outer space, I'm sure. That would fit in with her UFO madness, for they undoubtedly reached Earth by UFO. But where in outer space?"
There was a short silence, then Gonzalo said, "She never gave you any hints?"
Dandle shook his head. "Only the remark about their being worse than cannibals and that that somehow was appropriate, considering where they come from. But what does that mean?"
"Nothing else?"
"Not that I can think of. If she did, it went right past me. - So tomorrow I lose the house."
Avalon said, "You know, sir, that you can contest the will."
"No, not really," said Dandle. "You were introduced to me as a lawyer - "
"A patent lawyer," said Avalon. "I am not knowledgeable on the intricacies of testamentary litigation."
"Well, on the one hand, there is a strong tendency to allow a testator to do as he wishes with his own property. It isn't easy to disallow a religious organization in favor of a relative who is already well off. I doubt that I can prove undue influence, nor would I care to try to make my sister seem to have been of unsound mind, if only out of family considerations. Then, even if I really thought I could win, it would be a long - drawn - out fight in which the legal fees would come to considerably more than I would care to pay. - So I'm going to lose the house."
Avalon said, "We might all of us think about this a bit."
A flicker of hope seemed to enliven Dandle. "Are any of you astronomers?"
"Not professionally," said Halsted, "but we have the usual superficial knowledge of the field that any intelligent and reasonably well - read individuals would have."
"Exactly," said Rubin, "and that means I can make a suggestion. We're looking for something in outer space that has cannibalistic associations. I've read articles recently that in clusters of galaxies, there are occasional collisions and that, in such collisions, the larger member gains stars at the expense of the smaller one. The result is that in some clusters, there is one galaxy that is larger than any of the others, having cannibalized them."
Halsted nodded vigorously. "You are right, Manny. I've read about it, too. There's one outsize galaxy that has five small bright regions within itself that resemble galactic centers. The thought is that it swallowed five small galaxies whole."
Gonzalo said, "Just for the record - what are galaxies?"
Avalon said, "Large conglomerations of stars, Mario. Our own Milky Way Galaxy has a couple of hundred billion stars in it."
Gonzalo said, "Well, then, has that cannibal galaxy - the one that swallowed up its five little sisters - got a name?"
The Black Widowers stared at each other. Finally, Halsted said, "It may, but if it does, it's probably not an ordinary name. Just a particular catalog number like NGC - 111, or something like that."
Gonzalo said, "I don't think Miss Dandle would be impressed by that."
Dandle said, "I don't think so, either. I'm grateful to you for your attempts to help, but if galactic cannibalization is a common phenomenon, which cannibal would be the correct one? And I'm sure my sister knows nothing about modern sophistications in astronomy, anyway. Nor would the Theognostics. Where would they hear of this phenomenon?"
Avalon said, "Does your sister read anything at all in the field of astronomy, Mr. Dandle?"
Dandle said, thoughtfully. "She's certainly read everything there is on UFOs and some astronomy - not necessarily correct - is bound to creep in there. She reads up on astrology, of course, which means additional possibly distorted astronomy. And I have seen astronomy popularizations in the house. I haven't actually seen her reading them but I wouldn't be surprised if she did."
"Is she well - read otherwise, sir?"
"Yes. All of Poe as I said, and Lovecraft, and some science fiction. A great deal of general nineteenth - century fiction, I should say, and, of course, she reads the newspapers and a number of magazines thoroughly, if only to find evidence of how far the aliens have taken over the world. I've got to explain to you that there's nothing wrong with her intelligence, outside her - her crackpottery."
"In that case," said Avalon, with a certain somber satisfaction, "I am quite sure I have the answer." He paused and cast a glance in the direction of the waiter, who was standing at the sideboard, listening with polite but silent attention.
"Henry," said Avalon, "I think that on this occasion we will not need your help."
"Yes, Mr. Avalon," said Henry, quietly.
Avalon cleared his throat. "You see, by far the best - known portion of the Universe, even to astronomers, and certainly to the general public, are the planets of our own Solar System. This is especially true for people like Miss Dandle, who are interested in astrology and similar aberrations.
"And of the planets, the one which in recent years has received the most attention and which is, in any case, the most spectacular, is the planet Saturn, with its rings and satellites. The Voyager probes have taken close - up photographs of the Saturnian system and these have made all the newspapers and magazines. Miss Dandle cannot have missed them."
Dandle said, "I'm sure she has not. But what then?"
"Saturn," said Avalon, "is named for an early Roman god of agriculture whom the Romans, with scant justice, equated with the Greek god Kronos. Kronos with his brothers and sisters made up the group of gods called the Titans, and they were the children of Ouranos and Gaea, the god of the sky and the goddess of the Earth, respectively. In a series of most unpleasant myths, the Greeks describe Kronos as castrating his father, Uranus, and taking over the rule of the Universe.
"Since the Fates had decreed that Kronos would, in turn, be replaced as ruler by his own son, the new lord of the Universe took to devouring each child as it was born. His wife, Rhea, managed to save one son by offering Kronos a rock wrapped in the baby's swaddling clothes. The rather stupid Kronos swallowed that without noticing the substitution. The son, still uneaten, was then hidden in Crete, and raised to maturity in secret. Eventually, the son, who was named Zeus (Jupiter, to the Romans), warred upon the Titans, defeated them, released his siblings, who were still alive within Kronos, and took over the Universe. All this Miss Dandle, in her reading, might very well have come across.
"Now, then, Saturn was clearly a cannibal. If there are degrees in such things, devouring one's own children is surely worse than fattening on strangers, so he might well be viewed as worse than an ordinary cannibal. Miss Dandle's statement that the aliens were worse than cannibals and that that was not surprising in view of where they came from would make sense if they came from Saturn."
And Avalon smiled at Dandle with self - conscious triumph.
Dandle said, "You think, then, I had better tell my sister the alien beings come from Saturn?"
"I can't say the matter is certain," said Avalon. "She may, after all, suppose them to have come from some entirely fictitious planet such as Zorkel, the fifth planet of the star Xanadu, in the galaxy of Yaanek. If, however, she has a real astronomical body in mind, then I am virtually certain that it is Saturn. It must be."
"It sounds good to me," said Gonzalo.
"It makes sense," admitted Rubin, looking distressed at having to say so.
Halsted said, "It's worth a try."
Trumbull said, "I can't think of anything better."
Drake said, "It seems unanimous. I'd take the chance, Jonathan."
Dandle began, "Well, since I can't think of anything better, either - "
Gonzalo interrupted. "Wait, Henry hasn't said anything. Henry, what do you think?"
Dandle looked up in astonishment at having the waiter referred to.
When Henry said, "May I ask Mr. Dandle if he shared in his sister's enthusiasm for Poe?" Dandle looked more astonished still.
Drake said, "Please answer, Jonathan. Henry is one of us."
Jonathan said, "No, definitely not. I know 'The Raven'; no one can avoid knowing that; but I know nothing else. I stay away from him."
"In that case," said Henry, "I fear that Mr. Avalon's suggestion, although most ingenious, is not the correct answer."
Avalon looked offended. "Indeed, Henry? Have you anything better to offer?"
Henry said, "Consider, sir, that Miss Dandle was a great devotee of Poe, and that in describing the aliens she said that they were neither female nor male, animal nor human."
"Well?"
"Well, Mr. Avalon, I, unlike Mr. Dandle but like his sister, am an admirer of Poe, though more so of his poetry than of his prose. Among my favorite poems by Poe is 'The Bells,' in the fourth part of which he describes the tolling of the funeral bells. There you have his morbid preoccupation with death, you see, something that is bound to follow his earlier descriptions of sleigh bells, wedding bells, and fire - alarm bells."
"Aha," said Rubin.
"Yes, Mr. Rubin," said Henry, "I suspect you already see what I mean. Part of the description of the funeral bells is - if I may quote:
"And the people - ah, the people - They that dwell up in the steeple, All alone, And who, tolling, tolling, tolling, In that muffled monotone, Feel a glory in so rolling On the human heart a stone - They are neither man nor woman - They are neither brute nor human - "
Henry paused, then said, "Miss Dandle was undoubtedly quoting those last two lines, I think. You stated that she said them in singsong fashion, Mr. Dandle, but not being a Poe enthusiast, you did not recognize them."
Avalon said, "But even so - How does that help?" Henry said, "It is the next line that counts, as Poe identifies the people who toll the funeral bells."
And he and Rubin quoted simultaneously: "'They are Ghouls.'"
Henry said, "Ghouls are creatures of Middle Eastern legend who infest graveyards and feed on dead bodies. That might well strike Miss Dandle, or anyone, as worse than ordinary cannibalism, just as vultures are worse than hawks in the general estimation."
Avalon said, "I grant that, but I still don't see the point."
"Nor I," said Trumbull.
Henry said, "There is a constellation in the sky named Perseus, named for the Greek hero who cut off the head of Medusa, a creature so dreadful in appearance that anyone looking at it turned to stone. The constellation is pictured as the hero holding the head of Medusa and that head is marked by a second - magnitude star, Beta Persei. I looked it up in the Columbia Encyclopedia during the discussion, to be sure of that fact.
"Because of its position in the constellation, Beta Persei is sometimes called the Demon Star, in consequence. The Arabs, who adopted the Greek view of the sky, named it Al Ghul, meaning "The Ghoul,' their version of something as horrible as Medusa, and our English version of that Arabic name is 'Algol.' That is now the common name of the star.
"Since Miss Dandle quoted that poem to define the aliens, she meant that they were ghouls, and therefore worse than cannibals, and she must have meant that it was not surprising that they were since they came from the star known as 'The Ghoul' - a fact she could surely have picked up from some book on popular astronomy, as I did, originally. I would suggest, then, Mr. Dandle, that you say, when you see your sister tomorrow, that the aliens come from Algol."
Dandle smiled brightly for the first time that evening and broke into applause. "Henry, I will. That should be the answer, and I am sure it is."
Henry said, gravely, "Nothing may be completely sure in this case, sir, but it is worth the gamble."
AFTERWORD
Eleanor worried about this story a bit because it seemed to her (and to me, too) that it wasn't quite admirable of Jonathan Dandle to want to deceive his sister, or of the Black Widowers to help him do so. Still I felt the cause was good enough to warrant the act, and I managed to convince Eleanor of it, too.
When it comes to that, Dandle himself worried about it, and I had nothing to do with that, either. My characters always manage to have a life of their own and they generally do things without my consciously willing them to do so.
Anyway, I have my own list of dislikes and disapprovals, and high on it are nonrational cults of any kind, whether they cover themselves with a cloak of pseudoreligiosity or not. Mind you, this does not extend to honest and rational religious feeling, as I showed in my story "The One and Only East," which appeared in an earlier Black Widowers collection.
Consequently, if I can do one of them in the eye - even if only fictionally - I don't hesitate.
The story appeared in the April 1984 issue of EQMM.
