Echoes of Ekcolir

Echo of Ekcolir.

Below on this page is Part 3 of a science fiction story called City on the Edge of Tomorrow. As described at the start of June, my intention is to have City on the Edge of Tomorrow be a kind of fan-fiction sequel to the famous Star Trek episode "The City on the Edge of Forever". To accomplish that goal, I need to send Tyhry and Marda to New York City, but it will be the New York of the Ekcolir Reality. Ten years ago, I imagined that in the alternate Reality of the Ekcolir Reality, New York was located further south, on the shore of what we, here in this Realty, call Virginia.

The Ekcolir Reality was quite different from the world as we know it, largely because there was never any Roman Empire in that Reality. Rather, there was a large and influential Etruscan Civilization in which women became the most important politicians and scientists. 

Naseh

Science and the industrial revolution arrived earlier in the Ekcolir Reality than here in the world as we know it. The Ekcolir Reality was a hot bed for Interventionist agents trying to rush Earth's technological progress rapidly towards sophisticated forms of nanotechnology. That "technology rush" was assisted by First Contact with the alien Fru'wu in the 1950s.

 Writing Backwards. In Part 2 of City on the Edge of Tomorrow, I introduced a character named Naseh. Naseh has a large number of gene patterns that are derived from the Ek'col, a human variant that was designed to have telepathic abilities. The first Ek'col who was sent to Earth was named Ekcolir and the entire Ekcolir Reality was named for him and his efforts to make possible the Trysta-Grean Pact, ending the Time Travel War between R. Gohrlay and Grean the Kac'hin. 

A rather whimsical depiction
(thanks DALL-E and Mr. Wombo)
of Delpha testing the Wydgren nanites.

In a scene taking place several days before the events depicted in Part 2 of City on the Edge of Tomorrow, Tyhry met Naseh. During their first meeting, Tyhry was able to convince Naseh that Tyhry was indeed a tryp'At and they made plans for their two unusual families to meet at the Futurescape night club. I've decided to include an account of that first meeting between Tyhry and Naseh in Part 4 of the story. 

However, Part 3 of City on the Edge of Tomorrow begins at a point further back in Deep Time, when Grean the Kac'hin is visited by what she believes to be "an old friend", but who is actually Manny the bumpha in disguise. 

Grean and Delpha

Previously, in Part 2 of my science fiction story called "Telepaths of Site Q", Grean had a similar visit with Manny who pretended to be an unnamed childhood friend of Grean. Here, I name that friend as Delpha.

Grean asks Delpha to go to Earth and visit the analogue of Naseh's mother in law who lived in the Ekcolir Reality. Grean instructs Delpha to provide Wydgren with some sophisticated medical nanites.

I had a complex debate with myself over exactly how to depict Grean's intervention into the life of Wydgren. During the Ekcolir Reality, Grean's constant companion in Eternity is Wendy the probot. Initially, Grean asks Wendy to go to Earth and perform an experiment with medical nanites, checking to see if Wydgren's virus-induced cortical degeneration can be reversed. As a probot, Wendy can take on any convenient physical form, so she carefully prepares a disguise that is suited for the time in the Ekcolir Reality that she will visit. When Delpha "magically" appears, Wendy is given a different mission on Earth, in the year 1930 of the Ekcolir Reality.

Temporal Helix

In the Ekcolir Reality, Wydgren is a writer. As a tribute to one of her favorite authors, Wydgren wrote a novel called Temporal Helix, a kind of sequel to a short story that was published by Asimov called "Cosmic Corkscrew". Because Wydgren was born with four nipples, she included in Temporal Helix an alien visitor who had two rows of breasts. Much of Wydgren's success as a science fiction story teller came from the fact that she had the ability to access information in the Sedron Time Stream.

 One More Note. Below, in Part 3, there is some discussion of the writing career of Wydgren within the Ekcolir Reality. I got some help from ChatGPT to quickly generate some plot elements for a science fiction story called "Second Contact". Rather than accept what ChatGPT created, I freely modified and changed the text that was generated by ChatGPT, producing the first page of "Second Contact".

Part 3 of City on the Edge of Tomorrow. (Part 1)(Part 2)

 Deep Time, inside Grean's Workshop, Observer Base, Eternity. Grean was contemplating a delicate problem in diplomacy. While working to polish to perfection her plans for the Final Reality, Grean had discovered a previously overlooked opportunity for temporal engineering. Long on Grean's list of possible recruits for the Writers Block was an unfortunate woman named Wydgren Förbyndel. Born in 1930, Wydgren had been infected in utero by a newly mutated enterovirus and suffered devastating damage to her nervous system. With no ability to send action potentials to the muscles in her legs, eventually the atrophied legs of the young Wydgren had to be amputated.

Reality Chain

However, even with no legs, Wydgren had a successful career as a science fiction story teller. And now, Grean was rather startled by the surprising role that Wydgren's analogue could play in the Final Reality. However, it was Wydgren's unusual genome that made her very susceptible to neurological damage from viral infections and in order for Wydgren to escape from temporal momentum and avoid neurological disease in the Final Reality, it would be necessary for Grean to provide her with some protective medical nanites. That was what created the diplomatic challenge. Grean wanted to test and refine the special Wydgren medical nanites in the Ekcolir Reality in order to be certain that they would actually work as needed in the Final Reality.

Grean was tempted to go to Earth and perform the needed test of the medical nanites using Wydgren as her unsuspecting test subject. However, under the restrictions of the Trysta-Grean Pact, Grean was not supposed to visit Earth. Now Grean was contemplating which of her operatives to send on this mission. Wendy the probot and Deomede the Ek'col were two possibilities. 

Since Deomede was busy with another project, Grean decided to send Wendy to Earth. Now, Grean was in telepathic contact with Wendy, making suggestions for how the probot should adjust her appearance for this visit to Earth. Wendy wanted to appear to be a young woman of the year 2020 in the Ekcolir Reality and provide no possible grounds for anyone on Earth to suspect that she was visiting from off planet.

While Wendy was making some last minute adjustments to her speech and accent, the teleportation platform in Grean's workshop buzzed and flashed. Grean's childhood friend Delpha materialized and stepped down from the platform, calling to Grean, "I'm back!"

The two women rushed towards each-other and hugged. For a long minute they kissed and began the sweet process of exploring their sexy bodies with their hands. Grean was quickly becoming quite sexually aroused, but then Delpha pulled back and asked, "Have you missed me?"

Grean was excitedly synchronizing her mind pattern to that Delpha. Now she could telepathically "see" in Delpha's mind that she had been teleported to Observer Base by the Huaoshy in order to help with the Wydgren mission. Grean replied, "Of course I've missed you. I'm glad you were sent by the Huaoshy. I was on the verge of sending someone else to Earth, but I'd prefer to have your help with this Intervention."

Delpha walked over to Grean's Reality Viewer and gazed at a displayed image of Wydgren. In big red letters above the image was the year: 2020. Delpha said, "No disrespect to Wendy, but I'm much better suited for this mission." Grean quickly explained the situation to Delpha: Grean's bold plan to insert advanced medical nanites into an Earthling. Delpha was quick to understand the delicacy of the task at hand, particularly their need to avoid being caught sending advanced technology to Earth. If R. Gohrlay detected this Intervention, it could derail the Trysta-Grean Pact. Delpha noted, "Wydgren seems quite frail. Maybe I should go further back in time than 2020 for this test of the medical nanites."

Grean showed Delpha the results from a temporal optiscan. Grean explained, "Somewhen between the year 2017 and 2023 is the optimal time for this Intervention. It is a matter of waiting long enough for public opinion on the Fru'wu to shift while not reaching the point of irreversible cerebral degeneration. I've selected 2020 as the best time for the nanite experiment."

Delpha used the Reality Viewer to scan the effects that this Intervention would have on Earth's historical timeline. As she gazed into the future at the temporal ripple of effects, Delpha sighed. "A total cerebral regeneration in 2020, resulting in a major increase in anti-alien sentiment among the people of Earth... Trysta will surely notice this radical changes to the timeline."

Grean's Viewer

"Yes, I'm sure that she will. But the benefits for Earth's global warming problem are rather amazing. Even Trysta will have to go along with this little Reality Change. And notice how it adds temporal energy in support of the pending quantal jump into the Final Reality."

For a minute Delpha examined the temporal energy data for the planned Intervention. "Wow. How was this over-looked for so long?"

"I've tracked it to a micro-change caused by the Ekcolir Intervention in the far past... the insertion of Ek'col genes into the human population of Earth 20,000 years ago. Remember, Wydgren's illness is due to her many Ek'col gene patterns. And notice one other subtle implication of this temporal adjustment... this micro-change may finally convince Trysta that it is time for her to depart into the past, although there is some interference from Temporal Paradox that is preventing me from accurately measuring that effect."

"Then we are getting close to the quantal Reality shift?"

"I believe so."

"How exciting. All of your hard work has paid off."

"Yes, and I want to celebrate." Grean hugged Delpha tightly. "Right now I'd like you to provide me with an orgasm... I've got a rock hard erection."

Delpha reached a hand into Grean's dress and touched the hot, stiff glans of her big Kac'hin clitoris. "Very exciting! However, I better get down to Earth and test the medical nanites. We'll have time for some sexplay after I return from this mission."

Wendy the probot

Grean knew that time was pressing, so she finished briefing Delpha and then teleported her to New York. Grean then telepathically contacted Wendy: I need you in the Workshop, now. Grean allowed her clothing nanites to dissolve and she waited rather impatiently for her lover to arrive.

Wendy was quick to arrive inside Grean's workshop and said rather sarcastically, "Too bad Delpha had to run off so quickly." Wendy offered no objections to Grean's burning desire for a spicy sexplay session. Then having provided Grean with two very satisfying orgasms, Wendy reassembled her clothing nanites and told Grean: You rest, darling. I'll monitor Delpha's progress with the Viewer. Wendy adjusted the Viewer to Wydgren's New York apartment and watched events just prior to the start of Delpha's nanite experiment.

_____________

Wendy tuned the Viewer for optimal audio and video reception from Wydgren's apartment. Wendy watched as Wydgren's household robot, Lectra, watched Wydgren at work, writing.

Wendy checked on Delpha's location. Having taken the subway, she was now approaching Wydgren's apartment. 

Carrying a hair brush, Lectra now approached Wydgren and said, "Let me do your hair. Your appointment is almost here."

Wydgren was annoyed by the interruption. She was struggling mightily to establish the flow of the story that she was writing. "Appointment? What are you talking about?"

Lectra directed Wydgren's attention to a note that Wydgren had written to herself: "I keep forgetting that I agreed to meet a reporter today. Lectra has to keep reminding me. I must stop arguing about this!" Wydgren read the note and shook her head. She had no memory of... then the memory did return. She muttered, "How could I forget?" 

Second Contact

For a moment Wydgren was flustered, then she got back into her routine and continued trying to make sense of the story fragments that she was working on while Lectra prettied her hair, taking great care to carefully conceal the unusual pointy tips of Wydgren's ears.

While Lectra adjusted Wydgren's hair and clothing, Wydgren reviewed the story that she was working on:

"Second Contact"

It was a sunny day in Paris when the alien visitor arrived by teleportation, appearing in the middle of the Seine, floating on the water like some sort of a glistening metallic jellyfish that had complete control of a sophisticated anti-gravity technology.  The people on the bridges and the banks of the river that saw the alien were stunned. They used their phones to record images of the strange sight and soon the entire city and all of planet Earth knew that another alien life-form besides the Fru'wu had come to visit Earth. 

For several hours, the alien did not seem to notice the growing crowd or do anything. It just stayed there, pulsing softly with a queer blue light that radiated from its metallic surface. Its "skin" seemed to be made of thin wires, almost like fine hair, which continually shifted, producing new patterns of reflection and glowing blue sparkles. It was unlike any life-form ever seen on Earth. At least the Fru'wu had wing-like arms and a head. But soon it became clear that this alien was intelligent and had traveled across a vast distance from elsewhere in galaxy. 

Second Contact

During its first hours on Earth, the mysterious alien visitor was scanning the planet by means of nanorobotic probes. The alien was amazed and delighted by the diversity and complexity of Earth's biosphere but concerned about the impact Fru'wu technology was having on human society and the planet's ecosystems. It wanted to establish a peaceful and friendly contact.  It chose Paris as its first destination, because it recognized it as one of the cultural and historical centers of human civilization. It also liked the river and the architecture.  It hoped that the humans would welcome it and understand its intentions and be receptive to warnings about the dangers posed by Fru'wu technology. Then the alien telepathically linked itself to all the people of Earth and introduced itself as...

Just then the door of the apartment spoke out, signaling the arrival of the guest. Lectra brought a young woman into Wydgren's writing room and announced: "Camylly Kelly". Camylly Kelly was the name that Manny had decided to use while on Earth for this mission.

Having completely forgotten that Camylly had requested time for an interview, Wydgren asked, "What can I do for you, my dear?"

Lectra gestured towards a chair and Camylly seated herself. She told Wydgren, "I'm so thrilled that you have granted me a few minutes of your time. Your fans are eager to hear... well, anything that you would like to share about yourself. Do you still write?"

Wydgren waved her compad at Camylly and replied, "I write every day."

Second Contact

"What are you writing now?"

Wydgren was trying to understand who Camylly was and why she was there. Wydgren could not remember the title of the story she was working on. For a moment she tried to activate the compad. Lectra told Camylly, "Wydgren has been working on a story called 'Second Contact'." The robot did not bother to mention that Wydgren had been working on that same story for more than five years, but unable to form new long-term memories, no progress was being made.

Camylly exclaimed, "How wonderful! I'd abandoned my hope that there might be more Förbyndel stories for the world to enjoy."

Wydgren now had the compad activated. She asked, "Would you like to see the first page?"

"Oh, Yes!"

Lectra took the writing device from Wydgren and carried it across the room to Camylly who scanned the text that constituted the first page of 'Second Contact'. Camylly looked up and said, "How wonderful! Another alien species besides the Fru'wu." Lectra passed the compad back to Wydgren. Camylly commented, "It seems like you are going in a totally different direction than The Overseer."

Wydgren giggled. "Oh, my! I'm surprised a youngster like you even knows about that old tale."

Camylly explained, "Well, it is something of a rallying point for the members of the anti-Fru'wu movement. Do you feel pride for having anticipated this new social trend with your stories?"

Lectra and Wydgren, 2020 Ekcolir Reality

Wydgren had no idea what Camylly was talking about. Wydgren looked at Lectra. Lectra patted Wydgren's shoulder and told Camylly, "Wydgren had an advanced neurodegenerative disease. She has no memory of recent cultural affairs."

"I see. Well, I'd really rather talk about your fiction, not current events."

Wydgren seemed to sink into her compad and said nothing. Lectra asked Camylly, "Can I bring you refreshment? Coffee? Tea?"

Camylly shook her head. "Not just now."

Lectra told Wydgren, "I'll bring your tea." The robot went off to the kitchen. Camylly took that opportunity to raise her hand and send a stream of nanites into Wydgren. There was a brief sparkling flash that went from Camylly's finger across the room and into Wydgren. Wydgren was deep in thought, thinking about the silly movie that had been made about her story, originally called Overseer Sachiz.

Soon, Lectra returned and handed Wydgren a small bottle containing brown liquid; tea and medicine. Wydgren dutifully took a sip of the concoction and then noticed Camylly. "Did you ask something?"

Camylly replied, "I am curious about how you came up with the idea of telepathic Overseers, watching over Earth."

Wydgren brightened. "Of course, that goes all the way back to 1953 and First Contact with the Fru'wu."

Overseer Sachiz

Camylly objected, "Correct me if I'm wrong. but your novel, Overseer Sachiz, the source material for The Overseer, was not published until 1977."

Wydgren shook her head at the old memories of her struggle to publish Overseer Sachiz. "All the editors refused to publish my story. They called it anti-Fru'wu propaganda."

Camylly (or more accurately, Manny the bumpha) was monitoring the action of the medical nanites as they began to alter the fine structure of Wydgren's brain. Manny knew that some of the beneficial effects of the nanites would be almost instantaneous.

Wydgren explained, "When the Fru'wu craze started, I felt like an outsider. Rather than waiting expectantly for First Contact (like so many others of that time), I felt that contact with an advanced alien species would lead to trouble for Humanity. It just seemed obvious to me that the aliens would have sent an advance party of investigators to Earth, maybe as early as the 1920s. Of course, my ideas about what the aliens would look like turned out to be wrong." Wydgren now opened up a copy of Overseer Sachiz that was stored on her compad and she began reading the old story.

Marda and Tyhry access
the Sedron Time Stream

Manny knew that because of her extensive Ek'col gene patterns, Wydgren had been born with access to the Sedron Time Stream. Wydgren had visions from the future, of times when the alien body forms of the Ek'col and the tryp'At would finally be revealed to Earthlings. 

Now, Delpha was satisfied that she had gathered all the data concerning effectiveness of the medical nanites that Grean was hoping for. Wydgren was immersed in the text of Overseer Sachiz and had seemingly forgotten about Camylly. Camylly got to her feet and told Wydgren, "I won't take any more of your time. Thank you for speaking to me." 

Camylly walked to the front door of the apartment and Lectra said, "Thank you for visiting. It is like Wydgren awoke from a dream. I have not seen her read one of her old published stories for about five years. I can't thank you enough for stimulating Wydgren's tired old mind."

Camylly stepped through the doorway, turned her head over her shoulder and told the robot, "Maybe she will be willing to do more interviews in the future." Then Delpha went back to the subway tunnel. Soon Delpha was on a train, heading out of the city core. Near the end of the subway line, after the subway car had nearly emptied of passengers, Delpha teleported back to Eternity. The journalism career of Camylly Kelly had ended as quickly as it had begun.

____________

Wendy: virus recovery 1930

After seeing Camylly to the door, Lectra returned to Wydgren and the robot took up the empty medicine bottle. Wydgren looked up from her compad and told the robot, "Camylly... what an odd name. So primeval!" Wydgren set aside the compad. "Such a strange girl. She begs for an interview and then runs off before we have a chance to discuss anything important."

Lectra began pretending to be surprised that Wydgren could even remember having met Camylly. Wydgren was now alert and talkative. Lectra asked, "She did not tire you?"

"I feel fine. In fact, I feel puzzled. It is like there is hole in my memory..." Wydgren took hold of Lectra's hand and asked, "What were we doing before Camylly arrived. Was I napping? I can't seem to remember..."

Lectra contacted Wydgren's physician who after examining Wydgren could not explain the startling improvement in Wydgren's cognitive function. Two weeks later the physician wanted to publish a case report about Wydgren's recovery of her memory functions, but Wydgren refused to cooperate and take the time to complete a battery of tests. She was too busy planning how to complete and publish Second Contact and she did not want to appear in the biomedical literature as the writer who had first lost her mind then recovered and lived a second life.

____________

anti-Fru'wu protest

When Camylly/Delpha/Manny returned to Grean's workshop, both Grean and Wendy were there, using the Viewer to monitor how Wydgren had reacted to the medical nanites. Wendy showed Delpha an image from five years ahead, in 2025. "Wydgren is now a leader in the anti-Fru'wu movement."

Delpha asked, "Her cognitive recovery was complete?"

Grean shook her head. "Not really. In fact, the medical nanites seem to have reactivated a set of viral sequences that were dormant in one of Wydgren's chromosomes. At the time shown in this image, the reactivated virus and the medical nanites were locked in a battle for the fate of Wydgren's body."

Wendy adjusted the controls and moved the Viewer ahead another five years and showed an image of a terminally ill Wydgren. "She gets an extra ten years of life, but that is all. I don't understand why her body reacts so strangely to common viruses."

Grean suggested, "It is only a mystery because of our ignorance. It is terrible... how little we know about Ek'col biology." Grean turned the temporal selection dial on the Viewer and locked in on the year 1930. "Wendy, I do need you to go to Earth. I want a sample of the virus that was inside Wydgren at her birth."

Delpha nodded, "Yes, that might allow us to make a correction to the medical nanites... make them specific to the virus that damaged Wydgren's nervous system in utero."

The virus research laboratory.

Wendy added, "Prevention is better than a cure. I'll prepare for a quick trip to 1930." Wendy went to her research lab and began creating a new disguise for 1930.

As soon as Wendy departed from Grean's workshop, Grean grabbed hold of Delpha. "Now, I want that sexplay session!

Manny had no objection to a heated sexual romp with Grean. So while Wendy went off to Earth for the viral sample, Manny and Grean shared a few sweet orgasms. 

Obtaining the virus sample was a simple task, quickly accomplished. When Wendy returned to Eternity, she immediately sequenced the genes of the virus that she had collected from newborn Wydgren's body.

Wendy waited patiently until Delpha and Grean finished their sexplay session then delivered a report on the virus sample. Wendy told Grean, "I got a result that I don't understand. The virus that I took from Wydgren's body matches quite closely the gene sequences of an enterovirus that is in our database... but it matches a virus from the 23rd century."

The Sedron War

Grean examined the sequence data and puzzled over the match between a virus from 1930 and the virus that was going to appear in the year 2284. Grean suggested, "It must be a case of parallel evolution."

Delpha commented, "Don't forget the theory that inadvertent microbial transfer by time travelers is a preferred means of relieving temporal stress and resolving temporal paradoxes."

Wendy asked, "But how can we know if this virus was shifted to the 20th century by a time traveler?"

Grean shook her head. "Maybe with their access to the Sedron Domain the Huaoshy could trace such a virus transfer, but my Reality Viewing equipment does not have that kind of resolving power." Delpha kissed Grean goodbye and then teleported out of the workshop. The viral sequence recovered by Wendy was used to make some improvements to the medical nanites that Grean planned to used on Wydgren in the Final Reality. Grean gave no further thought to the possibility that the virus had been shifted through time.

Next: Part 4 of City on the Edge of Tomorrow. 

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Love Virus

Wired patient.

 Back in 2018, I blogged about "The Wages of Synergy" by Theodore Sturgeon (1953), a story about the fictional chemistry of orgasm. In 1954 there appeared "Mate in Two Moves" by Winston Marks, a story about a virus that causes people to fall in love. "Mate in Two Moves" was originally published in a 1954 issue of Galaxy and later collected along with 17 other stories in Great Science Fiction About Doctors. Here in this blog post (and the next one, too) I'm going to comment on several stories about doctors, much as I did previously (in April of this year) for Groff Conklin's anthology called Great Science Fiction by Scientists.

 Winston Marks. "Mate in Two Moves" is of interest to me because I'm currently writing my own science fiction story called The Nanites of Love. My story concerns imaginary nano-scale devices (nanites) and genetic engineering that makes possible telepathic humans with great amounts of empathy and who can only establish telepathic mind links to those who they love.

Introducing the Author: Winston Marks

I have not been able to learn very much about Winston Marks. In an autobiographical essay ("Introducing the Author: Winston Marks") written for the July 1954 issue of Imagination, he stated that he was going to try making a living by writing. Back in July I commented on "Manic Perverse", a story from his "early phase" (two of his stories were published in the early 1940s then there was a pause of 12 years before he resumed publishing Sci Fi in 1953).

interior artwork by W. E. Terry

Back in February of this year, I briefly commented on two other stories by Marks: "Kid Stuff" (1955) and "John's Other Practice" (1954). Since February, I've investigated Sci Fi stories about baseball, and "John's Other Practice" mentions baseball. The story is set in Hi Tek™ New York City of the future: in spring 1984, the centennial year of the Dodgers in Brooklyn. Sadly, the Dodgers actually left Brooklyn in 1957, just three years after "John's Other Practice" was published.

"John's Other Practice" features several doctors including Dr. Calicoo, a doctor of philosophy (Ph.D.) who readers quickly learn is a cute blue-eyed redhead with shapely hips. 

in the Ekcolir Reality

Near the beginning of the story, Dr. Calicoo crosses paths with Dr. Klinghammer who works for the Malpractice Board of Control. I'd like to know which medical school Dr. Klinghammer attended; he is soon telling readers that he has "a virulent case of the quim-quim". Is this a disease you can get from the love virus?

Dr. Calicoo claims expertise in mathematics and electronics. Dr. Klinghammer meets Dr. Calicoo in the women's room of the Hotel Celt where she services electronic devices that look rather like slot machines, but they dispense medical advice for specific medical conditions. Dr. Calicoo has in red letters on her blouse: JaySee Symptometer Service. Apparently worried that Dr. Klinghammer is going to interfere with her job, Dr. Calicoo is soon smooching Dr. Klinghammer. Only after a long, sultry kiss does Klinghammer learn that her name is Sue.

Approved by the IMA.

The driving force behind the JaySee Symptometer is Dr. John Cunningham who lasted only three years as a gynecologist before learning that he needed a way to apply his medical knowledge that did not involve any contact with patients. Dr. Klinghammer is told that with the help of Sue, John is building an electronic diagnostic computer, an electronic brain, that will "reduce physician error to practically zero". Dr. Klinghammer is told that the less complex Symptometer is simply a way to earn money to finance development of the more complex full diagnostic computer. 

The end of the story is something of a let-down. Dr. Klinghammer sells the Malpractice Board of Control and the International Medical Association on the idea of licensing the Symptometers for use in doctors' offices, but then Klinghammer learns that the partially constructed full diagnostic computer was just a fake. 😞

interior artwork by Ashman

Maybe Marks had plans for a sequel, set in 2022, in which that super-duper physician-computer would have been built by Sue's daughter, Sofia Klinghammer, a Ph.D. in Computer Science.

However, Klinghammer does get the girl and the story closes with more fiery kissing between Sue and Klinghammer. We are supposed to believe that Sue has long had her eye on Klinghammer as the dude who could get Symptometers into doctors' offices and I guess the hot romance that develops between Sue and Klinghammer is just icing on the cake.

medical research

 Murt's Virus. "Mate in Two Moves" was originally published in the May 1954 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction. The artwork for the first page of the story by William Ashman was rather strange. Maybe Ashman had no idea what a virus is, but that hand on the lady's face is sure creepy. The story is set during the pandemic of 1961. When the pandemic begins, pathologist Dr. Sylvester Murt is working quietly at High Dawn Hospital and training his assistant, Phyllis Sutton, a resident, who has lovely eyes and a shapely body that includes "generous breasts" which can't be hidden by her lab coat. 

Hi Tek™ wonders: nylon and
higher-than-practical heels

During working hours at the hospital, Sylvester spends much time in contemplation of Phyllis' sheer nylon stockings and her sexy legs. However, he's a bachelor and does not want his life complicated by a wife or even a girl friend. Sylvester and Phyllis maintain a strictly professional working relation for six months, but then one day Phyllis takes off her lab coat and seems even sexier than usual: "He looked back at the profile of his assistant's body, which was now stretched out full length, suspended at three points- her higher-than-practical heels on the linoleum tile, her spine and curved hips using only an inch off the chair's edge, and her head tilted over the chair's back". At that moment, with Phyllis in such a provocative pose, Sylvester can't help but notice the way that Phyllis' breasts bounce when she speaks. Sylvester starts having sexual fantasies about his assistant, an affliction which he aggressively treats with long cold showers. Readers don't find out until later in the story that Phyllis has been infected by the "love bug".

the travails of virus research

 The pathology of pantie raids. Her keen eye always on the look-out for a new research project, Phyllis calls to Sylvester's attention the fact that college campuses are being swept by an epidemic of pantie raids and unprecedented levels of intramural romance. Statistical analysis indicates that the marriage rate among high school students is also rising. Phyllis offers her preliminary assessment of the news: the poor school kids "can't control their glands". Can Phyllis control her own glands?

The entire story is constructed around the idea that love is the result of over-active endocrine glands and a virus can target those glands and cause people to fall in love. While Phyllis and Sylvester work to understand the love pandemic, eventually they are both infected by the virus ("the love bug") and in dramatic fashion they use their own bodies to test a newly discovered chemical cure for the affliction. 

the cure

 Move 1. By July of 1961, the marriage rate has doubled. Since this is the early 1960s, when Sylvester catches the virus and falls in love, although his hormones are raging, he and Phyllis take the time to get married before they hop in bed. Phyllis reveals that she has been infected and in love with Sylvester for months before Sylvester became infected. 

Move 2. Winston Marks never explains why Phyllis seems to be the one person on Earth who can resist the effects of the "love bug". However, in the end, having taken the cure and now free of the virus, Sylvester and Phyllis fall in love again without any microbial help. Yes, it was 1961, so Winston Marks only depicted boys in love with girls, but maybe in the Ekcolir Reality there could have been more variety.

in the Ekcolir Reality

 Science? Winston Marks explicitly stated in the story that the chemical cure (a "sulfa drug") functions by forming deposits in the endocrine glands. This soon leads to the virus being eliminated from a patient's body. I wonder which gland(s) Marks had in mind. And more importantly, how would a virus change the activity of a gland so as to cause someone to fall in love? It seems like there should have been a follow-up story about answering that question and then applying that knowledge.

Foster's Fever. Winston Marks published "The Naked People" in the September 1954 issue of Amazing Stories. "The Naked People" concerns the young Dr. Foster who, after a dangerous brain infection, is able to see the hard-to-see "naked people" who co-inhabit Earth with we humans. 

cover art by Jeff Jones

 Telepathy, too. Using their telepathic abilities, the "naked people" normally can prevent humans from being aware of the existence of the "naked people" as they live among humans, but Foster's fever-damaged brain is now resistant to telepathic control. Marks never bothers to explain any of this and the story seems more like magical fantasy than science fiction. Later, "The Naked People" was anthologized in Demon Lovers and Strange Seductions.      

Dr. Foster quickly gives up trying to convince other people that the "naked people" exist. Dr. Foster marries his nurse, the fetching Miss Kelly, and they live happily ever after, sharing their house with a cute blonde naked person.

Hidden Telepaths. As was the case for "Mate in Two Moves", I have to wonder if Winston Marks ever wrote a sequel story in which he provided readers with more backstory for the "naked people". Dr. Foster asks several of the "naked people" about their origins, but no satisfying answer is ever provided.

in the Ekcolir Reality

 Intelligent Asteroid. Before moving on from Winston Marks and his stories about doctors, I must mention four more of his stories. In the December 1954 issue of Fantastic Universe there was "The Pompous Asteroid". I've previously complained about science fiction stories that depict life as existing on every planet and asteroid of the galaxy. For "The Pompous Asteroid", Marks imagined a well-traveled, sentient asteroid that arrives in our Solar System. I wonder if Arthur C. Clarke was influenced by "The Pompous Asteroid" when he wrote Rendezvous with Rama. 

"The Pompous Asteroid" is a first contact story about Spud Herley's encounter with a talking asteroid. As strange as it is for Spud to encounter a sentient asteroid, the inter-galactic wandering asteroid feels much the same way about meeting Spud. 

Playing catch in the Ekcolir Reality

The asteroid claims to have visited billions of galaxies and Spud is the first chemistry-based lifeform it has found. The story seems like magical fantasy with an iron-containing asteroid that can cruise through the universe and telepathically communicate with the first human it encounters.

 Fantastic Fantasy. "The Pompous Asteroid" reminds me of "Proof" by Hal Clement, a 1942 story in which readers are asked to accept that living creatures could be composed of neutronium. Winston Marks tries to add drama to "The Pompous Asteroid" by telling readers that this intergalactic asteroid is composed of antimatter. I have to wonder if "The Pompous Asteroid" may have been written in the 1940s, but Marks could only get it published in the 1950s when there was a proliferation of Sci Fi magazines such as Fantastic Universe.

interior art by Frank Kelly Freas

 A Pitch Man. Sadly, Spud's scout ship does not have a baseball onboard, but he throws a handy wrench at the alien asteroid. The resulting explosion destroys the sentient asteroid, completing this silly First Contact story.

Telepathy. In the Spring 1955 issue of Startling Stories was "Double Date". Set in the not-too-distant future, a pill is now available, that when swallowed, can give people telepathic powers. These telepathic abilities are limited to "hearing" the language-like thoughts of another person who has also ingested a magical telepathy pill.

in the Ekcolir Reality

 Smith and Jones. "Double Date" is told from the perspective of "Smitty" who gets an invitation from his girl friend, Ms. Jones, to go on a double date with Betty. Yes, we wonder: what kind of drama will ensue when Smitty pops a telepathy pill and gets to listen in on the telepathic "conversations" between Betty and Ms. Jones?

Easy as 1, 2, 3. Here is how Winston Marks explains human telepathy. 1) Telepathy evolved as a way for the various parts of the brain to communicate with each-other using a high-frequency signal that had long been over-looked by scientists. 2) Further, there is a chemical in the blood which absorbs the telepathic waves, preventing their escape from the brain. 3) After 1 and 2 were discovered, then it was then easy for pharmacologists to make a drug that neutralizes the telepathic wave absorber. 

double dating in the Ekcolir Reality

So, just take the magic pill and PRESTO! You can telepathically communicate your thoughts to other people who also use the neutralizer. Smitty takes the magic neutralizer pill and soon telepathically learns that Ms. Jones only wants to marry Smitty for his money. From then on, with his telepathic insights, Smitty can't help noticing that Betty is actually much nicer than Ms Jones. Betty quickly falls for Smitty and he dumps Ms. Jones. Betty and Smitty soon learn that they are telepathically quite compatible.

in the Ekcolir Reality

 Telepathy in 1958. "Go to Sleep, My Darling", in the November 1958 issue of Infinity Science Fiction, is another telepathy story by Marks that ends up with a man transferring his mind into that of his young daughter. The possibility of human telepathy is discovered when a father wishes for his young daughter to sleep through the night.

Last Gasp. "The Cure-All" by Winston Marks was published in the July 1968 issue of If. According to the ISFDB, Marks only published two stories after 1959, so I'll say that "The Cure-All" is from the third and final phase of his Sci Fi career. "The Cure-All" reminds me of Hal Clement's 1949 story Needle. Spacemen return to Earth after exploring distant worlds and bring back a microscopic lifeform that has health benefits when it infects humans. The story ends with the discovery that women who become hosts for the aliens all become pregnant through parthenogenesis.

Spread the aliens. Internal art for "The Cure-All" by Brock.

Rappaccini's lovers in
the Ekcolir Reality.

Age Discrimination. Returning to the collection Great Science Fiction About Doctors, I'll bluntly ask: is "Rappaccini's Daughter" (1844) science fiction? In the story, it is suggested that Dr. Rappaccini created a poisonous plant that is like a sister to his daughter, Beatrice. Through long, close association with the poisonous plant, Beatrice has become toxic to other people, which curtails her love life. You can read the story here.

"The Man Without an Appetite" by Miles Breuer was apparently written sometime around 1916. When asked for a story by Conklin, this old story was found among Breuer's papers by his wife and there was no clear record of its prior publication in English. You can read the story here. A brilliant physician (Dr. Volny) discovers how to make his hemoglobin do a job similar to that accomplished by chlorophyll and photosynthesis in plants... capture usable energy for cells from readily available chemicals in the environment and sunlight. With his hemoglobin doing photosynthesis, now Volny does not need to eat food. Sadly, the story includes no details about this magical biochemistry. 😞

Dr. Wentworth checks the size of
the Ananias gland of a patient.

In the November 1928 issue of Amazing Stories was "The Psychophonic Nurse" by David H. Keller (himself a medical doctor). However, in that issue, there was also a very short and very silly story called "The Ananias Gland" by W. Alexander. As told in "The Ananias Gland", Dr. Wentworth has discovered a small gland near the base of the brain that controls the human capacity to lie. If the Ananias gland is too large, then a person will continually tell lies. I would have call this story concept completely silly except for having lived through a Trump presidency... 

Is there a doctor in the house? In "The Psychophonic Nurse" there are practical robots, including a nurse who cares for a young baby. I have to wonder if Isaac Asimov was influenced by this story, but it may have passed through the news stands about a year before the young Asimov began reading all the Sci Fi he could get his hands on.

A child care robot in "The Psychophonic Nurse". Interior art by Frank R. Paul.
Special bonus for 1929; liberated mothers are smoking in the baby's room.

interior art for "Expedition Mercy".

 PTH. "Expedition Mercy" by Joseph A. Winter (himself an M.D.) is a painfully sloooooowwww account of visiting a distant exoplanet where the water contains a chemical that apparently activates parathyroid hormone receptors. A team of medical doctors takes a very loooong time to figure this out and I suspect only a fellow medical doctor or fan of House would enjoy this story. "Expedition Mercy" originally appeared in the November 1948 issue of Astounding Science Fiction.

Fig. 1. interior art for "The Little Black Bag"

 Doctor of Time Travel. I'm generally a sucker for stories about time travel, but "The Little Black Bag" by C. M. Kornbluth has a slow start, introducing readers to the miserable life of disgraced physician, Dr. Full. 

Kornbluth imagined a future that is similar to what Asimov would use in his 1967 story "Profession". In the 25th century, most people are just smart enough to use the machines that keep society humming. A small minority population is intelligent enough to invent new machines... such as a time travel device. So, presto, a futuristic medical tool kit gets sent into the past and arrives in the hands of the miserable drunkard, Dr. Full. 

This basic plot was later used in The Gods Must Be Crazy.

Dr. Full tries 25th century medicine.

 Blue Pill. In The Voyage Home, McCoy gives a sick woman a pill and she quickly regenerates a fully functioning kidney. Dr. Full opens up the medical tool kit from the future, pops a blue pill and his drunkenness is cured. 

For a time, Dr. Full uses the futuristic medical tool kit to help sick people, but he meets the fate shown in Figure 1, above. His assistant uses the super-advanced surgical instruments to cut Dr. Full into small bits that are disposed of by the medical tool kit's Hi Tek™ waste incinerator. When Dr. Full's murder is detected in the future, the "lost" medical tool kit is automatically inactivated and can be used no more.

Next: more stories about doctors

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