It isn't advisable to get that gleam in your eye when
you're out in space. It can lead to complications....
_Chicago's own Mark Reinsberg, associated with Shasta Publishers,
the SF house, there, makes a first appearance in these pages
with this quiet little story of a susceptible trucker--galactic
style--who once swore by Mattapenny's otherwise so dependable
GALACTIC GUIDEBOOK._
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Fantastic Universe December 1956.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
Sex and space don't mix. And Mattapenny's _Galactic Guidebook_ can't be
trusted.
If you doubt either proposition, ask Bill Brack. It's hard to tell
what he thought about women, but all space truckers used to look upon
Mattapenny's little red book as a sort of interstellar Bible.
"Looking for a planet to stop over at?" they'd say. "Place to get good
meals? Decent room for the night? You can't go wrong with Mattapenny!"
Brack did.
You see, the _Galactic Guidebook_ lists Corbie as one of the five small
fuel stations sharing the outer-most orbit of the Dryodean planetary
system. The latest edition still gives Hotel Eros two asterisks.
Now, two asterisks (**) is supposed to mean "Plain but fairly
comfortable".
"Sure," says Brack, "the hotel may lack an up-to-date Dreamawake or a
Time-conditioner, but at least you expect your room to have a Vibrobath
and controllable gravity."
None of this at the Hotel Eros. Brack shakes his head complainingly.
"You sleep in a primitive 7/8G-bed. You wash yourself with
old-fashioned magnetic water. And oxygen service costs 10% extra."