Eric Frank Russell

How can trade be bad if you don__ make moneyeven when it__ good?_ inquired Gleed, reasonablyapplying the information Harrison had given him.Jeff__ big moon eyes went over him slowly thenturned to Harrison. __o he__ another bum off yourboat, eh? What__ he talking about?___oney,_ explained Harrison. __t__ stuff we use tosimplify trade. It__ printed stuff, like documentaryobs of various sizes.___hat tells me a lot,_ Jeff Baines observed. __ttells a crowd that has to make a printed record ofevery ob is not to be trusted _ because they don__even trust each other.

If one would praise the Almighty, one must then revel in His works, and take them whole, adore their very grossness, savor the oozing quiddity of that slime of which He seems to be inordinately fond. Love is not nice. God's love assuredly is not; and human love, its copy, must not presume to be so.

What doesthis F. _ I.W. mean?___nitial-slang,_ informed Baines. __ade correctby common usage. It has become a worldwidemotto. You__l see it all over the place if you haven__noticed it already.___ have seen it here and there but attached no importanceto it and thought nothing more about it. Iremember now that it was inscribed in several placesincluding Seth__ and the fire depot.___t was on the sides of that bus we couldn__empty,_ put in Gleed. __t didn__ mean anything tome.___t means plenty,_ said Jeff. __reedom _ IWon__!___hat kills me,_ Gleed responded. ____ stonedead already. I__e dropped in my tracks._ Hewatched Harrison thoughtfully pocketing the plaque.__ piece of abracadabra. What a weapon!___gnorance is bliss,_ asserted Baines, strangelysure of himself. __specially when you don__ knowthat what you__e playing with is the safety catch ofsomething that goes bang.___ll right,_ challenged Gleed, taking him up onthat. __ell us how it works.___ won__._ Baines_ grin reappeared. He seemed tobe highly satisfied about something.__hat__ a fat lot of help._ Gleed felt let down, especiallyover that momentary hoped-for reward.__ou brag and boast about a one-way weapon, tossacross a slip of stuff with three letters on it and thengo dumb. Any folly will do for braggarts and anybraggart can talk through the seat of his pants. Howabout backing up your talk?___ won__,_ repeated Baines, his grin broader thanever. He gave the onlooking Harrison a fat, significantwink.It made something spark vividly within Harrison__mind. His jaw dropped, he dragged the plaque fromhis pocket and stared at it as if seeing it for the firsttime.__ive it back to me,_ requested Baines, watchinghim.Replacing it in his pocket, Harrison said veryfirmly, __ won__.__aines chuckled. __ome people catch on quicker than others.

Inside, Harrison came face to face witha small man wearing immense plus fours.__ooking for someone?_ asked the small man.__es, the fire chief.___ho__ he?__y now prepared for this sort of thing, Harrisonspoke as one would to a child. __ee here, Mister, thisis a fire-fighting outfit. Somebody bosses it. Somebodyorganizes the whole affair, fills forms, pressesbuttons, shouts orders, recommends promotions,kicks the shiftless, grabs all the credit, transfers allthe blame and generally lords it around. He__ themost important man in the bunch and everybodyknows it._ His forefinger tapped imperatively on theother__ chest. __nd he is the fellow I__ going to talkto if it__ the last thing I do.___obody is more important than anyone else.How can he be? I think you__e crazy.___ou__e welcome to think what you please but Iam telling you that_.__ shrill bell clamoured, cutting off his sentence.

Damn! - I'd rather walk into something of my own accord than to be frogmarched into it.""So it says here in the file. James Mowry, twenty-six, restless and pigheaded. Can be trusted to do anything at all - provided the alternative is worse.""You sound like my father. Did he tell you that?""The Service does not reveal its sources of information.