The Old Reactor Read Online Free

moon. He could see only a hazy dark form rolling and bouncing down into the pit. The rug slipped from his grasp and followed her down, rising now and then on the pit’s heat like a magic carpet.
    In news from Altobello, the famous golfing jellyhead, Brainerd Franklin, received the heart of a free woman, Edith Farr, who was killed in a fall while visiting the Old Reactor ruins. Scientist Dr. Zanzetti performed the surgery. “Studies confirm the efficacy of human-jellyhead exchanges,” he said. “Economically significant jellies like Franklin tend to reject the hearts of other jellies, but not of human females.”
    At age forty, Franklin was quite old for a jellyhead and too weak to walk the links and fire off those legendary drives. A donor was sought Bunkerville-wide, though none was found. It was thought that all hope for Franklin was lost, until a compatible donor became available. Now that the Farr heart has been transplanted, golfing enthusiasts are full of glee.
    Just a day before his departure, for the little offense at Eternity Meadows, an officer of the court informed Moldenke that his stay in Altobello would be indeterminate. There would be no set date for his release.
    Before going he would have to either board up or rent the house on Esplanade. Boarding it would be on the strenuous side if he tried to do it himself. There were a few tools in the shed, but he had no skills at measuring, cutting, or nailing. Hiring someone to do it would be expensive, take too long, and still, persistent thieves would eventually break in and help themselves. He asked around among his pro-labor friends if anyone needed a place to stay Someone suggested Ozzie, Moldenke’s old high-strung associate. Moldenke found him in an alleyway on the poorer side of town. sleeping on the ground, quilted over with burlap sacks and newsprint.
    “Ozzie?” Moldenke kicked him lightly. “Wake up. I have a place you can live.”
    “I won’t pay the going rate. It’s way too high. Landlords are nothing but blood suckers. I will not pay it.”
    “I’m talking about my aunt’s house on Esplanade. I’m being sent to Altobello for a while. I guess they need people there. I won’t charge you any rent at all. Just watch over the place until I get back.”
    “There’s a sweet deal, brother. I can’t pass on that.”
    “Do you still have that pistol?”
    “I had to sell it.”
    “All right. I’m leaving tomorrow. I’ll put a key under the flower pot on the gallery. She’s left a fund for fixing things when they break.”
    “Where is it, this fund?”
    “Don’t worry. Arrangements will be made. Send me a letter once and a while, general delivery, Altobello, and let me know what’s what. That’s all I ask. No rent will be charged.”
    “How long?”
    “I don’t know. It’s indeterminate. A week, a year, the rest of my life.”
    Ozzie sat up and threw off the sacks. “I’ll go on over there tomorrow. We’re still picketing the Meadows today. You want to come with us?”
    “I can’t, really. My bowel is angry as hell. I’m afraid it’ll happen again.”
    “Well, brother, I can’t thank you enough. It’s hard out here on the streets when it gets cold.”
    “Don’t forget the letters. I’ll be living in the house when I get back. So I want it to be kept up. Please let me know if anything goes wrong.”
    “Nothing to worry about, I guarantee it. I’m a clever person when I want to be. You know what I mean? I make friends easily, even with jellyheads.”
    “I do. I know.”
    “Good luck over there. I hear all that freedom can be pretty scary.”
    “I’ll get by. I’ll make the best of it.”
    As he waited in line to board the freighter Pipistrelle for the voyage to Altobello, Moldenke read the brochures made available to him. They covered the history of the liberation, gave general directions for getting around, lists of accommodations and streetcar schedules and the like. His plan was to settle down and make the most