The gracious presence within me said:—Yes, for this deed Janos Bolyai is made a saint and admitted to the nearness of God. How glad I am. And how glad you won your cause, dear friends, and Valeria Stevenovna is safe and the enemies of the Highest confounded! (Shyly) I have a selfish reason for additional pleasure, be it confessed. What I observed on this journey has given me some fascinating new ideas. A rigorous theoretical treatment—

  I sensed the wish that Lobachevsky could not bring himself to think overtly, and uttered it for him: You’d like to stick around awhile?

  —Frankly, yes. A few days, after which I must indeed return. It would be marvelous to explore these discoveries, not as a soul, but once again as a mortal. It is like a game, Steven Pavlovitch. One would like to see how far it is possible to go within the constraints of humanity. (In haste) But I beg you, esteemed friend, do not consider this a request. Your lady and yourself have endured perils, hardships, and fear of losing more than your lives. You wish to celebrate your triumph. Believe me, I would never be so indelicate as to—

  I looked fondly, a trifle wistfully, at Ginny and thought back: I know what you mean, Nick, and I’ve every intention of celebrating with her, at frequent intervals, till we reach an implausibly ripe old age. But you’ve forgotten that the flesh has physical as well as mental limits. She needs a good rest. I need a better one. You might as well stay for a bit. Besides, I want to see that what you write goes to the proper journals. It’ll be quite a boost for our side.

  And this is how it happened that, although Bolyai led our expedition, Lobachevsky published first.

  There is no such thing as living happily ever after.

  You’d like to be famous? You can have it, buster: every last reporter, crystal interview, daily ton of mail, pitch for Worthy Causes, autograph hound, belligerent drunk, crank phone call, uninvited visitor, sycophant, and you name it. Luckily, we followed sound advice and played loose. I ended up with a better position than I probably rate, Ginny with the freelance studio she’d always wanted, and we’re no longer especially newsworthy. Meanwhile Valeria’s gotten to the boy-friend stage, and none of them seem worthy of her. They tell me every father of a girl goes through that. The other children keep me too busy to fret much.

  It was quite a story. The demon’s public confession brought the Johannine Church down in spectacular style. We’ve got its diehards around yet, but they’re harmless. Then there’s the reformed sect of it—where my old sparring partner Marmiadon is prominent—that tries to promulgate the Gospel of Love as merely another creed. Since the Gnosticism and the secret diabolism are out, I don’t expect that either St. Peter or gentle St. John greatly mind.

  Before he left me for Heaven, Lobachevsky proved some theorems I don’t understand. I’m told they’ve doubled the effectiveness of the spells that Barney’s people worked out in those long-ago terrible hours. Our buddy Shining Knife had a lot to do with arranging sensible dissemination of the new knowledge. It has to be classified; you can’t trust any old nut with the capabilities conferred. However, the United States government is not the only one that knows how to invade hell if provoked. The armies of Earth couldn’t hope to conquer it, but they could make big trouble, and Heaven would probably intervene. As a result, we’ve no cause to fear other direct assaults from the Adversary’s dominion. From men, yes—because he still tempts, corrupts, seduces, tricks, and betrays. But I think if we keep our honor clean and our powder dry we won’t suffer more than we can bear.

  Looking back, I often can’t believe it happened: that this was done by a red-haired witch, a bobtailed werewolf, and a snooty black tomcat. Then I remember it’s the Adversary who is humorless. I’m sure God likes to laugh.

  If you’ve enjoyed this book and would like to read more great SF, you’ll find literally thousands of classic Science Fiction & Fantasy titles through the SF Gateway.

  For the new home of Science Fiction & Fantasy …

  For the most comprehensive collection of classic SF on the internet …

  Visit the SF Gateway.

  www.sfgateway.com

  Also by Poul Anderson

  SCIENCE FICTION

  The Psychotechnic League

  1. Star Ways (also known as The Peregrine) (1956)

  2. The Snows of Ganymede (1958)

  3. Virgin Planet (1959)

  4. Cold Victory (1982)

  5. Starship (1982)

  Polesotechnic League

  1. Trader to the Stars (1964)

  2. The Trouble Twisters (features David Falkayn, not Van Rijn) (1966)

  3. Satan’s World (1969)

  4. The Earth Book of Stormgate (1978)

  5. The Man Who Counts (revised and edited version of War of the Wing-Men) (1958)

  6. Mirkheim (1977)

  7. The People of the Wind

  Terran Empire period of Dominic Flandry

  1. Ensign Flandry (1966)

  2. A Circus of Hells (1970)

  3. The Rebel Worlds (1969)

  4. The Day of Their Return (1973)

  5. Agent of the Terran Empire (1965)

  6. Flandry of Terra (1965)

  7. A Knight of Ghosts and Shadows (1974)

  8. A Stone in Heaven (1979)

  9. The Game of Empire (1985)

  10. The Long Night

  11. Let the Spacemen Beware (1963)

  Time Patrol

  1. The Shield of Time (1990)

  2. Time Patrol (2006)

  History of Rustum

  1. Orbit Unlimited (1961)

  2. New America (1982)

  Maurai

  1. Maurai and Kith (1982)

  2. Orion Shall Rise (1983)

  Kith

  Starfarers (1998)

  Harvest of Stars

  1. Harvest of Stars (1993)

  2. The Stars Are Also Fire (1994)

  3. Harvest the Fire (1995)

  4. The Fleet of Stars (1997)

  Hoka (with Gordon R. Dickson)

  1. Earthman’s Burden (1957)

  2. Star Prince Charlie (1975)

  3. Hoka! (1983)

  Operation Otherworld

  1. Operation Chaos (1971)

  2. Operation Luna (1999)

  Other SF

  Vault of the Ages (1952)

  Brain Wave (1954)

  Question and Answer (also known as Planet of No Return) (1954)

  No World of Their Own (1955)

  The Long Way Home (1958)

  War of Two Worlds (1959)

  The Enemy Stars (1959)

  The High Crusade (1960)

  Twilight World (1961)

  After Doomsday (1962)

  The Makeshift Rocket (1962)

  Shield (1962)

  Three Worlds to Conquer (1964)

  The Corridors of Time (1965)

  The Star Fox (1965)

  World Without Stars (1966)

  Tau Zero (1970)

  The Byworlder (1971)

  The Dancer from Atlantis (1971)

  There Will Be Time (1972)

  Fire Time (1974)

  The Winter of the World (1975)

  The Avatar (1978)

  The Boat of a Million Years (1989)

  The Saturn Game (1989)

  The Longest Voyage (1991)

  Genesis (2000)

  For Love and Glory (2003)

  FANTASY

  King of Ys (with Karen Anderson)

  1. Roma Mater (1986)

  2. Gallicenae (1987)

  3. Dahut (1987)

  4. The Dog and the Wolf (1988)

  Other Fantasy

  Three Hearts and Three Lions (1953)

  The Broken Sword (1954, revised in 1971)

  Hrolf Kraki’s Saga (1973)

  A Midsummer Tempest (1974)

  The Merman’s Children (1979)

  The Devil’s Game (1980)

  War of the Gods (1997)

  Mother of Kings (2001)

  Acknowledgments

  The following people helped make this book possible.

  Technical help was provided by Dave Grubbs and Alice Lewis.

  Proofreading was done by David Anderson, Ann Broomhead, Jim Burton, Lis Carey, Gay Ellen Dennett, Lisa Hertel, Suford Lewis, Tony Lewis, Paula Lieberman, Mark Olson, Priscilla Olson, Joe Ross, Jean Rossner, Sharon Sbarsky, and Tim Szczesuil.

  A further round of proofing was then done by Jean Rossner and Sharon Sbarsky.

  Dave Grubbs then did the final proofing of the book.

  Alice Lewis did her magic in producing the dust jacket.

  Special thanks to David G. Hartwell for his introduction to the book and Karen Anderson who provided another nifty picture of Poul Anderson—

  —And to the New England Science Fiction Association (NESFA) Inc. for its support in bringing classic science fiction back in print. The NESFA Choice Books are proposed by a member of NESFA, and all of them remain in print. See the following page for a sample list of some of our books with information on how to look at our web site which contains the full list of books.

  Rick Katze, editor

  October 1, 2010

  Poul Anderson (1926 – 2001)

  Poul William Anderson was born in Pennsylvania to Scandinavian parents. His family lived for a time in Denmark but moved back to the United States after the outbreak of the Second World War. They settled in Minnesota, where Anderson received a degree in physics from the University of Minnesota.

  Anderson began writing while still an undergraduate and published his first story in 1947. He was active throughout the second half of the twentieth century, producing such classic works as the Dominic Flandry books and The High Crusade, and winning multiple Hugo and Nebula awards. He has served as President of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and was a founding member of the Society for Creative Anachronism. In 1998 he was named an SFWA Grand Master. He collaborated regularly with wife, Karen, and their daughter is married to noted SF writer Greg Bear. Poul Anderson died in July 2001.

  For more information see www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/anderson_poul

  Copyright

  A Gollancz eBook

  Copyright © Trigonier Trust 2011

  All rights reserved.

  The right of Poul Anderson to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  This eBook first published in Great Britain in 2016 by

  Gollancz

  The Orion Publishing Group Ltd

  Carmelite House

  50 Victoria Embankment

  London, EC4Y 0DZ

  An Hachette UK Company

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

  ISBN 978 0 575 10943 8

  All characters and events in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor to be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  www.orionbooks.co.uk

  1 The original title was “Physicist’s Lament.” Based on a discussion with Karen Anderson, the title was changed to “Black Bodies.” This version is from Karen Anderson’s records as expanded by Poul Anderson, March, 1992)

 

 

  Poul Anderson, Admiralty: The Collected Short Stories Volume 4

 

 

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