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The Stone That Never Came Down John Brunner BOOK ONE Ascent Dissidentes Christianorum antistites cum plebe discissa in palatium intromissos, monebat civifius, ut discordiis consopitis, quisque nullo vetante, religioni suae serviret intrepidus. Quod agebat ideo obstinate ut dissensiones augente licentia, non timeret unanimantem postea plebem, nullas infestas hominibus bestias, ut sunt sibi ferales plerique Christianorum expertus. — Ammianus Marcellinus: Res Gestae I The morning after it went up . . . * * * Snow on Chater Street in London’s Kentish Town. It was such a hard winter all over Europe that meteorologists were now confidently predicting Britain’s first “white Christmas” for many years, in the intervals of disputing learnedly about the effect of high-flying planes, the displacement of jet-streams, and suchlike. In a front-to-back ground-floor room — the ground-floor room — at number 25, Malcolm Fry was roused by his bedside radio. “. . . and found the bagpipes playing the octopus!” There followed a burst of synthetic- sounding recorded laughter. — What the hell? Muzzily, out of the depths of the best sleep he had enjoyed for months. Then a sycophantic announcer said, “Thank you, Home Secretary, for sharing with our listeners one of your favourite jokes. Tune in at the same time tomorrow, when another distinguished sponsor of the Campaign Against Moral Pollution will prove it doesn’t have to be vulgar to be funny. Remember, dirt demeans!” — Oh. Of course. Radio Free Enterprise. We were making up parodies on the commercials last night. But I feet very strange. I feel . . . How do I feel? The word came to him, and for a long moment he
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