The Project Gutenberg EBook of Hoiman and the Solar Circuit, by Gordon Dewey

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Title: Hoiman and the Solar Circuit

Author: Gordon Dewey

Release Date: May 2, 2010 [EBook #32213]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOIMAN AND THE SOLAR CIRCUIT ***

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Transcriber's Note:

This etext was produced from If Worlds of Science Fiction July 1952.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S.
copyright on this publication was renewed.

Hoiman and the Solar Circuit

By Gordon Dewey

_They lifted Hoiman's scratch, thus causing him to lose much
smoosh. So he grabbed his bum and hit the high orbit._

* * * * *

Pay day! I scrawled my Larry Maloney across the back of the check and
handed it to Nick, the bartender. "Leave me something to operate on,"
I told him.

Nick turned it over. "Still with the _News_?"

The question was rhetorical. I let it pass without swinging at it. I
was mentally estimating the total of the pile of tabs Nick pulled out
of the cash register, like a fighter on percentage trying to count the
house. I didn't like the figure it gave me.

Nick added them up, then added them again before he pulled some bills
out of the money drawer and said, "Here's thirty skins. Your rent
due?"

"This'll cover it. I'll do my drinking here."

I went over to a booth and sat down. I lit a cigarette. I smoked. And
waited. Presently Sherry, tall, dark and delicious, decided I was
making like a customer, and strolled over. "Would you like a menu, Mr.
Maloney?" she trilled.

"Larry to you," I reminded her. "No menu. Bring me a steak. Big.
Thick. Rare. And a plate of french fries. No salad. Bread and butter.
Coffee."

She managed at last to pull her writing hand out of mine, and I had to
repeat the order. Unless it could be turned into money, Sherry's
memory was limited strictly to the present instant.

She put in the order, the