“… scintillating collection… a stimulating look at a genuine artist at work.”

  New York Times

  This is science-fiction in the true

  meaning of the term—alight with the

  wit, wisdom and wonder of a truly

  creative imagination. Here are utterly

  believable characters, set against

  strange backgrounds of past and

  future worlds.

  . . strikingly individual … creative fiction” New York Herald Tribune

  Selections From

  “Born Of Man And Woman”

  THIRD

  FROM

  THE

  SUN

  by Richard Matheson

  THIRD FROM THE SUN

  (Originally published under the title

  Born or Man and Woman)

  A Bantam Bookpublished by arrangement with

  The Chamberlain Press, Inc.

  Printing History

  Chamberlain Press edition published March 1954

  1st Printing…………February 1954

  Bantam edition published February 1955

  1st Printing………….January 1955

  Copyright, 1954, by Richard Matheson

  All rights reserved. This book, or any part

  thereof, may not be reproduced in any manner

  without written permission of the publisher,

  except for brief passages embodied in critical

  articles or reviews.

  Acknowledgments:

  Born of Man and Woman, Dress of White Silk, SRL Ad, and Dis-

  appearing Act, copyright 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953 by Fantasy House,

  Inc., for THE MAGAZINE OF FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION.

  Third From the Sun, Lover When You’re Near Me, Shipshape

  Home, and The Wedding copyright 1950, 1952, 1953 by Galaxy Publishing Corp. for GALAXY SCIENCE FICTION and BEYOND.

  Madhouse and To Fit the Crime copyright 1952 by Ziff-Davis Pub-

  lishing Co. for FANTASTIC.

  F - - - (under the title The Foodlegger) copyright 1951, 1952 by Standard Magazines, Inc., for THRILLING WONDER STORIES.

  Bantam Books are published by Bantam Books, Inc. Its trade mark, consisting of the words “Bantam Books”

  and the portrayal of a bantam, is registered in the U. S.

  Patent Office and in other countries. Marca Registrada

  PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

  Bantam Books,25 West 45th Street, New York 36, New York

  TO

  Professor William Peden of The University of Missouri with my thanks for help and encouragement on the first steps

  BORN OF MAN AND WOMAN

  X— THIS day when it had light mother called me retch. You retch she said. I saw in her eyes the anger. I wonder what it is a retch.

  This day it had water falling from upstairs. It fell all around. I saw that. The ground of the back I watched from the little window. The ground it sucked up the water like thirsty lips. It drank too much and it got sick and runny brown. I didnt like it.

  Mother is a pretty I know. In my bed place with cold walls around I have a paper things that was behind the furnace. It says on it SCREENSTARS. I see in the pictures faces like of mother and father. Father says they are pretty. Once he said it.

  And also mother he said. Mother so pretty and me decent enough. Look at you he said and didnt have the nice face. I touched his arm and said it is alright father. He shook and pulled away where I couldn’t reach.

  Today mother let me off the chain a little so I could look out the little window. That’s how I saw the water falling from upstairs.

  XX— This day it had goldness in the upstairs. As I know when I looked at it my eyes hurt. After I look at it the cellar is red.

  I think this was church. They leave the upstairs. The big machine swallows them and rolls out past and is gone. In the back part is the little mother. She is much small than me. I am I can see out the little window all I like.

  In this day when it got dark I had eat my food and some bugs. I hear laughs upstairs. I like to know why there are laughs for. I took the chain from the wall and wrapped it around me. I walked squish to the stairs. They creak when I walk on them. My legs slip on them because I dont walk on stairs. My feet stick to the wood.

  I went up and opened a door. It was a white place. White as white jewels that come from upstairs sometime. I went in and stood quiet. I hear the laughing some more. I walk to the sound and look through to the people. More people than I thought was. I thought I should laugh with them.

  Mother came out and pushed the door in. It hit me and hurt. I fell back on the smooth floor and the chain made noise. I cried. She made a hissing noise into her and put her hand on her mouth. Her eyes got big.

  She looked at me. I heard father call. What fell he called. She said a iron board. Come help pick it up she said. He came and said now is that so heavy you need. He saw me and grew big. The anger came in his eyes. He hit me. I spilled some of the drip on the floor from one arm. It was not nice. It made ugly green on the floor.

  Father told me to go to the cellar. I had to go. The light it hurt some now in my eyes. It is not so like that in the cellar.

  Father tied my legs and arms up. He put me on my bed. Upstairs I heard laughing while I was quiet there looking on a black spider that was swinging down to me. I thought what father said. Ohgod he said. And only eight.

  XXX— This day father hit in the chain again before it had light. I have to try pull it out again. He said I was bad to come upstairs. He said never do that again or he would beat me hard. That hurts.

  I hurt. I slept the day and rested my head against the cold wall. I thought of the white place upstairs.

  XXXX— I got the chain from the wall out. Mother was upstairs. I heard little laughs very high. I looked out the window. I saw all little people like the little mother and little fathers too. They are pretty.

  They were making nice noise and jumping around the ground. Their legs was moving hard. They are like mother and father. Mother says all right people look like they do.

  One of the little fathers saw me. He pointed at the window. I let go and slid down the wall in the dark. I curled up as they would not see. I heard their talks by the window and foots running. Upstairs there was a door hitting. I heard the little mother call upstairs. I heard heavy steps and I rushed in my bed place. I hit the chain in the wall and lay down on my front.

  I heard mother come down. Have you been at the window she said. I heard the anger. Stay away from the window. You have pulled the chain out again.

  She took the stick and hit me with it. I didnt cry. I cant do that. But the drip ran all over the bed. She saw it and twisted away and made a noise. Oh mygodmygod she said why have you done this to me? I heard the stick go bounce on the stone floor. She ran upstairs. I slept the day.

  XXXXX— This day it had water again. When mother was upstairs I heard the little one come slow down the steps. I hidded myself in the coal bin for mother would have anger if the little mother saw me.

  She had a little live thing with her. It walked on the arms and had pointy ears. She said things to it.

  It was all right except the live thing smelled me. It ran up the coal and looked down at me. The hairs stood up. In the throat it made an angry noise. I hissed but it jumped on me.

  I didnt want to hurt it. I got fear because it bit me harder than the rat does. I hurt and the little mother screamed. I grabbed the live thing tight. It made sounds I never heard. I pushed it all together. It was all lumpy and red on the black coal.

  I hid there when mother called. I was afraid of the stick. She left. I crept over the coal with the thing. I hid it under my pillow and rested on it. I put the chain in the wall again.

  X— This is another times. Father chained me tight. I hurt because he beat me. This time I hit the stick out of his hands and made noise. He went away and his face was white. He ran out of my bed place and locked the door.

  I am not so glad. All day it is cold in here. The chain comes slow out of the wall. And I have a bad anger with mother and father. I will show them. I will do what I did that once.

  I will screech and laugh loud. I will run on the walls. Last I will hang head down by all my legs and laugh and drip green all over until they are sorry they didn’t be nice to me.

  If they try to beat me again I’ll hurt them. I will.

  X—

  THIRD FROM THE SUN

  HIS EYES were open five seconds before the alarm was set to go off. There was no effort in waking. It was sudden. Coldly conscious, he reached out his left hand in the dark and pushed in the stop. The alarm glowed a second, then faded.

  At his side, his wife put her hand on his arm.

  “Did you sleep?” he asked.

  “No, did you?”

  “A little,” he said. “Not much.”

  She was silent for a few seconds. He heard her throat contract. She shivered. He knew what she was going to say.

  “We’re still going?” she asked.

  He twisted his shoulders on the bed and took a deep breath.

  “Yes,” he said, and he felt her fingers tighten on his arm.

  “What time is it?” she asked.

  “About five.”

  “We’d better get ready.”

  “Yes, we’d better.”

  They made no move.

  “You’re sure we can get on the ship without anyone noticing?” she asked.

  “They
think it’s just another test flight. Nobody will be checking.”

  She didn’t say anything. She moved a little closer to him. He felt how cold her skin was.

  “I’m afraid,” she said.

  He took her hand and held it in a tight grip. “Don’t be,” he said. “We’ll be safe.”

  “It’s the children I’m worried about.”

  “We’ll be safe,” he repeated.

  She lifted his hand to her lips and kissed it gently.

  “All right,” she said.

  They both sat up in the darkness. He heard her stand. Her night garment rustled to the floor. She didn’t pick it up. She stood still, shivering in the cold morning air.

  “You’re sure we don’t need anything else with us?” she asked.

  “No, nothing. I have all the supplies we need in the ship. Anyway …”

  “What?”

  “We can’t carry anything past the guard,” he said. “He has to think you and the kids are just coming to see me off.” She began dressing. He threw off the covering and got up. He went across the cold floor to the closet and dressed. “I’ll get the children up,” she said.

  He grunted, pulling clothes over his head. At the door she stopped. “Are you sure …” she began.

  “What?”

  “Won’t the guard think it’s funny that … that our neighbors are coming down to see you off, too?”

  He sank down on the bed and fumbled for the clasps on his shoes.

  “We’ll have to take that chance,” he said. “We need them with us.”

  She sighed. “It seems so cold. So calculating.”

  He straightened up and saw her silhouette in the doorway.

  “What else can we do?” he asked intensely. “We can’t interbreed our own children.”

  “No,” she said. “It’s just …”

  “Just what?”

  “Nothing, darling. I’m sorry.”

  She closed the door. Her footsteps disappeared down the hall. The door to the children’s room opened. He heard their two voices. A cheerless smile raised his lips. You’d think it was a holiday, he thought.

  He pulled on his shoes. At least the kids didn’t know what was happening. They thought they were going to take him down to the field. They thought they’d come back and tell all their schoolmates about it. They didn’t know they’d never come back.

  He finished clasping his shoes and stood up. He shuffled over to the bureau and turned on the light. It was odd, such an undistinguished looking man planning this.

  Cold. Calculating. Her words filled his mind again. Well, there was no other way. In a few years, probably less, the whole planet would go up with a blinding flash. This was the only way out. Escaping, starting all over again with a few people on a new planet.

  He stared at the reflection.

  “There’s no other way,” he said.

  He glanced around the bedroom. Good-bye this part of my life. Turning off the lamp was like turning off a light in his mind. He closed the door gently behind him and slid his fingers off the worn handle.

  His son and daughter were going down the ramp. They were talking in mysterious whispers. He shook his head in slight amusement.

  His wife waited for him. They went down together, holding hands.

  “I’m not afraid, darling,” she said. “It’ll be all right.”

  “Sure,” he said. “Sure it will.”

  They all went in to eat. He sat down with his children. His wife poured out juice for them. Then she went to get the food.

  “Help your mother, doll,” he told his daughter. She got up.

  “Pretty soon, haah, pop?” his son said. “Pretty soon, haah?”

  “Take it easy,” he cautioned. “Remember what I told you. If you say a word of it to anybody I’ll have to leave you behind.”

  A dish shattered on the floor. He darted a glance at his wife. She was staring at him, her lips trembling.

  She averted her eyes and bent down. She fumbled at - the pieces, picked up a few. Then she dropped them all, stood up and pushed them against the wall with her shoe.

  “As if it mattered,” she said nervously. “As if it mattered whether the place is clean or not.”

  The children were watching her in surprise.

  “What is it?” asked the daughter.

  “Nothing, darling, nothing,” she said. “I’m just nervous. Go back to the table. Drink your juice. We have to eat quickly. The neighbors will be here soon.”

  “Pop, why are the neighbors coming with us?” asked his son.

  “Because,” he said vaguely, “they want to. Now forget it. Don’t talk about it so much.”

  The room was quiet. His wife brought their food and set it down. Only her footsteps broke the silence. The children kept glancing at each other, at their father. He kept his eyes on the plate. The food tasted flat and thick in his mouth and he felt his heart thudding against the wall of his chest. Last day. This is the last day.

  “You’d better eat,” he told his wife.

  She sat down to eat. As she lifted the eating utensil the door buzzer sounded. The utensil skidded out of her nerveless fingers and clattered on the floor. He reached out quickly and put his hand on hers.

  “All right, darling,” he said. “It’s all right.” He turned to the children. “Go answer the door,” he told them.

  “Both of us?” his daughter asked.

  “Both of you.”

  “But …”

  “Do as I say.”

  They slid off their chairs and left the room, glancing back at their parents.

  When the sliding door shut off their view, he turned back to his wife. Her face was pale and tight; she had her lips pressed together.

  “Darling, please,” he said. “Please. You know I wouldn’t take you if I wasn’t sure it was safe. You know how many times I’ve flown the ship before. And I know just where we’re going. It’s safe. Believe me it’s safe.”

  She pressed his hand against her cheek. She closed her eyes and large tears ran out under her lids and down her cheeks.

  “It’s not that so m-much,” she said. “It’s just … leaving, never coming back. We’ve been here all our lives. It isn’t like … like moving. We can’t come back. Ever.”

  “Listen, darling,” his voice was tense and hurried. “You know as well as I do. In a matter of years, maybe less, there’s going to be another war, a terrible one. There won’t be a thing left. We have to leave. For our children, for ourselves …”

  He paused, testing the words in his mind.

  “For the future of life itself,” he finished weakly. He was sorry he said it. Early in the morning over prosaic food, that kind of talk didn’t sound right. Even if it was true.

  “Just don’t be afraid,” he said. “We’ll be all right.”

  She squeezed his hand.

  “I know,” she said quietly. “I know.”

  There were footsteps coming toward them. He pulled out a tissue and gave it to her. She hastily dabbed at her face.

  The door slid open. The neighbors and their son and daughter came in. The children were excited. They had trouble keeping it down.

  “Good morning,” the neighbor said.

  The neighbor’s wife went to his wife and the two of them went over to the window and talked in low voices. The children stood around, fidgeted and looked nervously at each other.

  “You’ve eaten?” he asked his neighbor.

  “Yes,” his neighbor said. “Don’t you think we’d better be going?”

  “I suppose so,” he said.

  They left all the dishes on the table. His wife went upstairs and got garments for the family.

  He and his wife stayed on the porch a moment while the rest went out to the ground car.

  “Should we lock the door?” he asked.

  She smiled helplessly and ran a hand through her hair.

  She shrugged. “Does it matter?” she said and turned away.