Master of Space and Time by Rudy Rucker Page B

the—it got me.” The man broke off to stare at the dead brain on the floor. “It was one of those. They kept splitting and getting more and more of us. They must have everyone down at the station house by now. Are you Joseph Fletcher?”
    â€œThat’s right. They’re after me and Harry Gerber, I think.”
    â€œGerber, yeah. Some other guys went off after him. What are we going to do, Mr. Fletcher?”
    â€œIf I can think of a way to get to Gerber, I can fix the whole thing. Right now I’m going to hide. Meanwhile, why don’t you go to the state police, officer? The parasites can’t have spread very far yet. Go get in touch with some higher-ups.”
    â€œBut what shall I tell them?”
    â€œWe’re being invaded by an alien life form. If they don’t believe you, show them your back and this dead spine-rider. We don’t have a minute to lose.”
    The policeman sped off on his motorcycle. I filled a shopping bag with money from under the bed and locked up the house. Then Nancy and Serena and I got in the Buick and took off. The main thing I wanted right now was a chance to sleep.

14
Wanted
    I woke to the sound of Nancy’s and Serena’s voices. We were parked on a back road some fifteen miles south of Princeton. It was as far as we’d been able to come last night before falling asleep. Fortunately I’d remembered to throw some seeds out the window before dropping off, so there was a nice little stand of porkchop bushes and fritter trees right by the car. Nancy and Serena were having breakfast. I joined them.
    â€œHow much money did you bring?” Nancy asked.
    â€œA few hundred thousand at least. Whatever’s in that bag I put in the trunk. These fritters are really good.”
    â€œThey sure are. If it wasn’t for the Herber-brains everything would be perfect.”
    â€œLet’s see how it’s going.” I turned on the radio.
    â€œ. . . invasion,” intoned a drunk-sounding newscaster.“New Brunswick has been cordoned off, with reports of alien activity in some of the surrounding areas. An unconfirmed report states that the New York Port Authority Bus Terminal in central Manhattan has been taken over by the aliens. One of the most effective weapons against them seems to be good old-fashioned alcohol. These brainlike creatures are extremely susceptible to alcohol poisoning, and all soldiers in the cordon have been put on double-grog rations. Any listeners who are near the combat zone are advised to remain intoxicated for the duration. I certainly am. Annie?”
    â€œThank you, Greg. Bottoms up. First reports of the invasion began trickling in last night in the wee morning hours. A number of police officers have fallen under the control of the parasites who call themselves Herberites. Their objectives at this time remain unclear, although some of the individuals under alien control have spoken of converting people to God’s Laws. There is no question that these organisms are extraterrestrial in origin, although . . .”
    I turned the radio back down. “Sounds like things won’t get out of control. I hadn’t realized that Gary is that allergic to alcohol.”
    â€œDo you think that people are going to blame you and Harry?” asked Nancy.
    â€œWell, the brains are all thinking about us. So anyone who recovers—like that cop last night—is going to know we did it. Yeah, we’re going to get blamed.” I turned the radio back up for a minute.
    â€œ. . . was caused by two eccentric scientists, JosephFletcher and Harry Gerber. Authorities continue to seek . . .”
    â€œYou see?” I turned the radio off entirely.
    â€œThey won’t be mad at you once they find out about the porkchop bushes and the fritter trees,” said Nancy soothingly.
    â€œThe government won’t like free food. What about all the people who just work to get enough to eat? People with