One morning in New York last year, I was having a drug store breakfast with Nancy Weber, who wrote THE LIFE SWAP. We were sitting up at the counter, on revolving stools, chewing down greasy eggs and salty bacon, talking about how many dryads can live in a banyan tree, when the front door of the drug store (the now-razed, much-lamented, lovely Henry Halper's on the corner of 56th and Madison, torn down to build, I suppose, an esthetically-enchanting parking structure or candidate for a towering inferno) opened, and in stormed a little old man in an overcoat much to heavy for the weather. He boiled in like a monsoon, stood in the middle of the room and began to pillory Nixon and his resident offensive line of thugs for double-teaming Democracy. He was brilliant.

Never repeated himself once. And this was long before the crash of Nixon off his pedestal. Top of his lungs.

Flamboyant rhetoric. Utter honesty, no mickeymouse, corruption and evil aflower in the land of the free! On and on he went, as everyone stared dumbfounded. And then, without even a bow to the box seats, out he went, a breath of fresh air in a muggy world. I sat there with a grin on my face only a tape measure could have recorded. I applauded.

Superduper! Nancy dug it, I dug it, and a bespectacled gentleman three down from us-burnt toast ignored-dug it.

The rest of the people vacillated between outrage and confusion, finally settling on att.i.tudes best described by a circling finger toward the right ear. They thought he was bananas. Well, maybe, but what a swell madness!

Or take my bed, for instance.

When you come into my bedroom, you see the bed up on a square box platform covered with deep pile carpeting. It's in bright colors, because I like bright colors. Now, there's a very good, solid, rational reason why the bed is up there like that. Some day I'll tell you why; it's a personal reason; in the nature of killing evil shadows. But that isn't important, right here. What is important is the att.i.tude of people who see that bed for the first time. Some snicker and call it an altar. Others frown in disapproval and call it a pedestal, or a Playboy bed. It's none of those.

It's very functional, and serves an emotional purpose that is none of their business, but lord how quick they are to label it the way they see it, and lay their value-judgment on it, and me. Most of the time I don't bother explaining. It isn't worth it.

But it happens all the time, and every time it happens I think about this story. Madness is in the eye of the beholder. What seems cuckoo to you may be rigorously logical to someone else. Remember that as you read.

The Crackpots

HE WAS STANDING ON A STREET CORNER, wearing a long orange nightgown and a red slumber-cap with a ta.s.sel.

He was studiously picking his nose.

"Watch him!" cried Furth. "Watch what he does! Get the technique accurately!"

For this I studied four years to become an expert? thought Themus.

Furth looked at the younger man for the first time in several minutes. " Are you watching him?" The elder Watcher nudged his companion, causing Themus' dictobox to b.u.mp unceremoniously against his chest.

"Yes, yes, I'm watching," answered Themus, "but what possible reason could there be to watch a lunaticpicking his nose on a public street comer?" Annoyance rang in his voice.

Furth swung on him, his eyes cold-steel. "You watch them, that's your job. And don't ever forget that! And dictate it into that box strapped to your stupid shoulders. If I ever catch you failing to notice and dictate what they're doing, I'll have you shipped back to Central and then into the Mines. You understand what I'm saying?"

Themus nodded dumbly, the attack having shocked and surprised him, so sudden and intensive was it.

He watched the Crackpot.

His stomach felt uneasy. His voice quavered as he described in minute detail, as he had been taught, the procedure. It made his nose itch. He ignored it. Soon the Crackpot gave a little laugh, did a small dance step, and skipped out of sight across the street and around the corner.

Themus spoke into the Communicator-Attachment on his box: "Watcher, sector seventy, here. Male, orange nightgown, red slumber-cap, coming your way. Pick him up, sixty-nine. He's all yours. Over."

An acknowledging buzz came from the Attachment, Themus said, "Out here," and turned the Attachment off.

Furth, who had been dictating the detailed tying of a can on the tail of a four-legged Kyben dog by a tall, bald Crackpot, concluded his report as the dog ran off barking wildly, muttered, "Off, " into the dicto-box and turned once more to Themus. The younger Watcher tightened inside. Here it comes.

Unexpectedly, the senior Watcher's voice was quiet, almost gentle. "Come with me, Themus, I want to talk with you."

They strode through the street of Valasah, capital of Kyba, watching the other branch of Kyben. The native Kyben, those who put light-tubes in their mouths and twisted their ears in expectation of fluorescence, those who pulled their teeth with adjusto-wrenches, those who sat and scribbled odd messages on the sidewalks, called the armor-dressed Kyben "Stuffed-Shirts." The governing Kyben, those with the armor and high-crested metal helmets bearing the proud emblem of the eye-and-eagle, called their charges, "Crackpots,"

They were both Kyben.

There was a vast difference.

Furth was about to delineate the difference to his new aide. The senior Watcher's great cape swirled in a rain of black as he turned into the Pub-crawler.

At a table near the front, Furth pulled his cape about his thighs and sat down, motioning Themus to the other chair.

The waiter walked slowly over to them, yawning behind his hand, Furth dictated the fact briefly. The waiter gave a high-pitched maniacal laugh. Themus felt his blood chill. These people were all mad, absolutely mad.

"Two gla.s.ses of greth, " Furth said.

The waiter left. Furth recorded the fact. The waiter had kicked him before he had gone behind the bar.

When the drinks arrived, Furth took a long pull from the helix-shaped gla.s.s, slumped back, folded his hands on the table and said, "What did you learn at Academy-Central?"

The question took Themus by surprise. "Wh-what do you mean? I learned a great many things."

"Such as? Tell me."

"Well, there was primary snooping, both conscious and subconscious evaluation; reportage-four full years of it-shorthand, applied dictology, history, manners, customs, authority evaluation, mechanics, fact a.s.semblage..."

He found the subjects leaping to the front of his mind, tumbling from his lips. He had been second in his cla.s.s of twelve hundred, and it had all stuck.

Furth cut him off with a wave of his hand. "Let's take that history. Capsule it for me."

Furth was a big man, eyes oddly set far back in hollows above deep yellow cheeks, hair white about the temples, a lean and electric man, the type who radiates energy even when asleep. Themus suspected this was his superior's way of testing him. He recited: "The Corps is dedicated to gathering data. It will Watch and detect, a.s.similate and file. Nothing will escape the gaze of the Watcher. As the eagle soars, so the eye of the Watcher will fly to all things."

"G.o.d, no, man, I mean the History! The History. " The elder Watcher precision-tapped his fingers one after another in irritation. "What is the story of the Kyben. Of Kyba itself. Of your job here. What is our relation to these?"

He waved his hand, taking in the bar, the people in the streets, the entire planet and its twin suns blazing yellow in the afternoon sky.

Themus licked his thin lips, "The Kyben rule the Galaxy-is that what you want?" He breathed easier as the older man nodded. He continued, by rote: "The Kyben rule the Galaxy. They are the organizers. All other races realize the superior reasoning and administrative powers of the Kyben, and thus allow the Kyben to rule the Galaxy."

He stopped, biting his lower lip, "With your permission, Superior, can I do this some other way? Back at Academy-Central memorization was required, even on Penares it seemed apropos, but somehow-here-it sounds foolish to me. No disrespect intended, you understand. I'd just like to ramble it off quickly. I gather all you want are the basics."

The older man nodded his head for Themus to continue in any fashion he chose.

"We are a power, and all the others are too scared of us to try usurping because we run it all better than any ten of them could, and the only trouble is with the Earthmen and the Mawson Confederation, with whom we are negotiating right now. The only thing we have against us is this planet of black sheep relatives. They happen to be our people. but we left them some eleven hundred years ago because they were a pain in the neck and the Kyben realized they had a universe to conquer, and we wish we could get lid of them, because they're all quite mad, and if anyone finds out about them, we'll lose prestige, and besides they're a nuisance."He found himself out of breath after the long string of phrases, and he stopped for a second. "There isn't a sane person on this planet, which isn't strange because all the 4-Fs were left when our ancestors took to s.p.a.ce. In the eleven hundred years we've been running the Galaxy, these Crackpots have created a culture of imbecility for themselves. The Watcher garrison is maintained, to make sure the lunatics don't escape and damage our position with the other worlds around us.

"If you have a black sheep relative, you either put him away under surveillance so he can't bother you, or you have him exterminated. Since we aren't barbarians like the Earthmen, we keep the madmen here, and watch them full time."

He stopped, realizing he had covered the subject quite well, and because he saw the sour expression on Furth's face.

"That's what they taught you at Academy-Central?" asked the senior Watcher.

"That's about it, except that Watcher units are allover the Galaxy, from Penares to Kyba, from the home planet to our furthest holding, doing a job for which they were trained and which no other order could do. Performing an invaluable service to all Kyben, from Kyben-Central outward to the edges of our exploration."

"Then don't you ever forget it, hear?" snapped Furth, leaning quickly across to the younger man. "Don't you ever let it slip out of your mind. If anything happens while you're awake and on the scene, and you miss it, no matter how insignificant, you'll wind up in the Mines." As if to ill.u.s.trate his point, he clicked the dicto-box to "on" and spoke briefly into it, keeping his eyes on a girl neatly pouring the contents of a row of gla.s.ses on the bar's floor and eating the gla.s.ses, all but the stems, which she left lying in an orderlyin pile.

He concluded, and leaned back toward Themus, pointing a stubby finger. "You've got a soft job here, boy.

Ten years as a Watcher and you can retire. Back to a nice cozy apartment in a Project at Kyben-Central or any other planet you choose, with anyone you choose, doing anything you choose-within the bounds of the Covenant, of course. You're lucky you made it into the Corps. Many a mother's son would give his mother to be where you are."

He lifted the helix-gla.s.s to his lips and drained it.

Themus sat, scratched his nose, and watched the purple liquid disappear.

It was his first day on Kyba, his Superior had straightened him out, he knew his place, he knew his job.

Everything was clean and top-notch.

Somehow he was miserable.

Themus looked at himself. At himself as he knew he was, not as he thought he was. This was a time for realities, not for wishful thinking.

He was twenty-three, average height, blue hair, blue eyes, light complexion-just a bit lighter than the average gold-color of his people-superior intelligence, and with the rigid, logical mind of his kind. He was an accepted Undercla.s.s member of the Watcher Corps with a year of intern work at Penares-Base and an immediate promotion to Kyba, which was acknowledged the soft spot before retirement. For a man as new to the Corps as Themus' five years made him, this was a remarkable thing, and explainable only by his quick and brilliant dictographic background.

He was a free man, a quick mart with a dicto-box, a good-looking man, and unfortunately, an unhappy man.

He was confused by it all.

His summation of himself was suddenly shattered by the rest of his squad's entrance into the common-room, voices pitched on a dozen different levels.

They came through the sliding doors, jostling and joking with one another, all tall and straight, all handsome and intelligent.

"You should have seen the one I got yesterday," said one man, zipping up his chest-armor. "He was sitting in the Dog's-Skull-you know, that little place on the corner of Bremen and Gabrett-with a bowl of noodle soup in front of him, tying the things together. " The rest of the speaker's small group laughed uproariously. "When I asked him what he was doing, he said, 'I'm a noddle-knitter, stupid.' He called me stupid! A noodle-knitter!" He elbowed the Undercla.s.sman next to him in the ribs and they both roared with laughter.

Across the room, strapping his dicto-box to his chest one of the elder Undercla.s.smen was studiously holding court. "The worst ones are the psychos, gentlemen. I a.s.sure you, from six years service here, that they take every prize ever invented. They are destructive, confusing, and elaborate to record. I recall one who was stacking juba-fruits in a huge pyramid in front of the library on Hemmorth Court. I watched him for seven hours, then suddenly he leaped up, bellowing, kicking the whole thing over, threw himself through a shop-front, attacked a woman shopping in the store, and finally came to rest exhausted in the gutter. It was a twenty-eight minute record, and I a.s.sure you it stretched my ability to quick-dictate. If he had..."

Themus lost the train of the fellow's description. The talks were going on all over the common-room as the squad prepared to go out. His was one of three hundred such squads, all over the city, shifted every four hours of the thirty-two hour day so there was no section of the city left untended. Few, if any, things escaped the notice of the Watcher Corps.

He pulled on his soft-soled jump-boots, buckled his dicto-box about him, and moved into the briefing room for instructions.

The rows of seats were fast filling up, and Themus hurried down the aisle.

Furth, dressed in an off-duty suit of plastic body armor with elaborate scrollwork embossed on it, and the traditional black great-cape, was seated with legs neatly crossed at the front of the room, on a slightly raised podium.

Themus took a seat next to the Watcher named Elix, one who had been chortling over an escapade with apretty female Crackpot. Themus found himself looking at the other as though he were a mirror image. Odd how so many of us look alike, he thought. Then he caught himself. It was a ridiculous thought, and an incorrect one, of course. It was not that they looked alike, it was merely that the Kyben had found for themselves a central line, a median, to which they conformed. It was so much more logical and rewarding that way. If your brother looks and act as you do, you can predict him. If you can predict him, efficiency will follow.

Only these Crackpots defied prediction. Madmen! "There are two current items on our orders of business today, gentlemen," Furth announced, rising.

Note pads and styli appeared as though by magic, but Furth shook his head and indicated they were not needed.

"No, these aren't memoranda, gentlemen. The first is a problem of discipline. The second is an alert." There was a restless murmur in the room, and Themus glanced around to see uneasiness on many faces. What could it be?

"The problem of discipline is simply-" he pointed at Elix seated beside Themus, "-such of your Undercla.s.smen as Watcher Elix."

Elix rose to attention.

"Pack your gear, Watcher Elix, you leave for Kyben-Central this afternoon...

Themus noted with fascination that the Watcher's face turned a shade paler.

"M-may I ask why, Superior Furth?" Elix gasped out, maintaining Corps protocol even through his panic.

"Yes, yes, of course," replied Furth in a casual, matter-of-fact manner. "You were on the scene of an orgy in the Hagars Building yesterday during second-shift, were you not?"

Elix swallowed with difficulty and nodded yes, then catching himself he said, "Yes, Superior Forth."

"How much of that orgy did you record?"

"As much as I could before it broke up, sir."

"What you mean is, as much as you could before you found that fondling a young woman named Guzbee was more interesting than your on-duty job. Correct?"

"She-she just talked to me for a short time, Superior; I recorded the entire affair. It was-"

"Out." Furth pointed toward the door to the common-room. Elix slumped visibly, turned out of the row, walked up the aisle, and out of the briefing-room.

" And let that be an indication, gentlemen, that we will tolerate no activities with these people, be they Kyben or not. We are here to watch, and there are enough female-Watchers and Central personnel so that any desires that may be aroused in you may be quenched without recourse to our wards. Is that quite clear, gentlemen?"

He did not wait for an answer. They knew it was clear, and he knew it was clear. The message had been transmitted in the most readily understood manner.

"Now to the other business at hand," continued Furth. "We are currently looking for a man named Boolbak, who, we are told, pinches steel. I have no explanation of this description, gentlemen, merely that he 'pinches steel.'

"I can tell you that he has a big, bushy white beard, what they call twinkling eyes, a puffy-cheeked face and a scar across his forehead from temple to temple. He weighs something between 190 and 200 pounds, fat and short, and always dresses in a red jacket and knickers with white fur on them.

"If you see this man, you are to follow him, dictograph him completely-completely, do you understand?-and not lose sight of him unless you are relieved by at least ten other Watchers. Is that clear?"

Again he did not wait for an answer, but snapped his fingers casually, indicating the daily briefing was over.

Themus rose with the other thirty-eight Watchers and began to leave the room. There was a uniform look on all their faces; they all had the picture of Elix behind their eyes. Themus began to edge out of his row. He started when Furth called to him.

"Oh, Watcher Themus, I'd like a word with you."

Furth was a strange man, in many ways. He did not fit Themus' picture of a Superior, from previous experience with them, and, still bewildered by the abrupt fate a.s.signed Elix, he found himself looking on his Superior with a mixture of awe, incredulousness, hatred and fear.

"I hope the-uh-little lesson you saw today will not upset you. It was a harsh measure, to be sure, but it was the only way to get the point across."

Themus knew precisely what the Superior Watcher meant, for he had been taught from youth that this was the way matters should be handled. He also knew what he felt, but he was Kyben, and Kyben know their place.

Furth looked at him for a long moment, then pulled the black sheen that was his cloak closer about him. "I have you slated for big things here, Themus. We will have a post open for a new Junior Watcher in another six to eight months, and your record indicates you're a strong possibility."

Themus was shocked at the familiarity in both conversation protocol and exposition of Corps business, but he kept the astonishment from showing on his face.