GRAND OL' SPACE OPRY A Collection of Verse on Science Fiction and Fantasy by SOURDOUGH JACKSON Version 1.0 COPYRIGHT NOTICE!!! All poems contained in this publication are COPYRIGHT 1987 by Sourdough Jackson This is an experiment in "disktop publishing". Permission is granted to individuals to make copies to give away and to non-profit organizations to distribute for a nominal copying fee (e.g. user-group libraries). Permission is also granted to upload and download this document to and from electronic bulletin boards. In all cases, this permission is contingent upon the document being copied in its entirety, including this copyright notice. No deletions or amendments are permitted. Permision is !!!NOT!!! granted to upload this document to CompuServe! Any attempt to do so will be considered a copyright violation by the publisher. SYSOPS: If you are running a FIDO or similar public board, you are encouraged to spread this document around, provided it is kept intact. 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Jackson 31 Rangeview Dr. Lakewood CO 80215 UPGRADE POLICY: All those who send the requested contribution to the author will receive a free upgrade when the document is significantly expanded. This is VERSION 1.0. With every turn of the disk in the drive: To him who helps the poet thrive By swapping silver for the use Of verse, sweet blessings from the Muse. But woe to him who plays the thief, Deletes this message--grant him grief! For every time the disk spins round, His luck shall tumble to the ground. ELEGY FOR A. BERTRAM CHANDLER A terrifying, sodden end, Drowning in the sea, For Death who takes our best, and leaves Mediocrity. He might have taken Elwood, Script-writers for his toll, But nothing satisfied the brute But Bertram Chandler's soul. None other knew the sea so well, Or knew bushranging Ned. What shall we do for sailing tales Now our old salt is dead? How swift to start a story Like an old pulp-hack, His characters would love and fight And leave strange worlds in their track, John Grimes and Derek Calver And pirate Drongo Kane. Though space is dark and deep, it seems Blue as the bounding main. A sailor-man, he sprinkled salt On everything he said. What shall we do for sailing tales Now our old salt is dead? There is a place, the seamen say, Their shades sometimes go-- Sin is free, no crimps allowed, Beer and whisky flow. No "Growl we may, but go we must" When comes that harbor town, But "Leave her, Johnny, leave her" as He lays his seabag down. And we are left with memories And paperbacks we've read. What shall we do for sailing tales Now our old salt is dead? FINAGLE DON'T HAVE NO MERCY (tune: Death Don't Have No Mercy) Finagle don't have no mercy in Known Space. Finagle don't have no mercy in Known Space. He comes to your ship, he don't stay long-- Come into your control room and your televisor's gone. Finagle don't have no mercy in Known Space. Finagle will leave you standing still in Known Space. Finagle will leave you standing still in Known Space. He comes to your ship, he don't stay long-- Go back to check your engines and your thrusters are gone. Finagle don't have no mercy in Known Space. Finagle don't play no favorites in Known Space. Finagle don't play no favorites in Known Space. He comes to your ship, he don't stay long-- Skate into the neutron star and your gravity's all wrong. Finagle don't have no mercy in Known Space. Finagle can screw you royal in Known Space. Finagle can screw you royal in Known Space. He comes to your ship, he don't stay long-- Stop to view a starseed, and your passengers are gone. Finagle don't have no mercy in Known Space. Finagle never plays fair in Known Space. Finagle never plays fair in Known Space. He comes to your ship, he don't stay long-- Fly down to the Ringworld, and you're a slave to Teela Brown. Finagle don't have no mercy in Known Space. Finagle will try to kill you in Known Space. Finagle will try to kill you in Known Space. He comes to your ship, he don't stay long-- Chase a protosun, and your GP hull is gone. Finagle don't have no mercy in Known Space. Finagle gets you in the end in Known Space. Finagle gets you in the end in Known Space. He comes to your ship, he don't stay long-- Hunt for a nest of pirates, and your hyper-drive is gone. Finagle don't have no mercy in Known Space Finagle don't have no mercy in Known Space. Finagle don't have no mercy in Known Space. He comes to your ship, he don't stay long-- And anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. Finagle don't have no mercy in Known Space. GRAND OLE SPACE OPRY Tune: Rosy Dawn Day, by Robert Cook Come write me an epic tale Of good guys who always do right, Pursuing pirates and zwilnik thugs Who are smuggling thionite. Come tell me a starship saga full Of crackling busbars and beams, Of coruscating energy bolts In a doughnut-mix chemist's bold dreams. Chorus: Come tell me a tale of starships, Of Lensmen and cities in flight, Of pirates grim, of running the Rim, A tale of the starry deep night. Come write me a novel thick With invaders of doubtful worth And a hometown good boy fighting them off, Whose battlefield's all the Earth. Come tell me of super-scientists Leaping into the void full-blast, Who fight alone with the Fenachrone With each new ship dwarfing the last. (chorus) Come write me an Okie yarn Of New York taking to space, Of bright star-shine in the spindizzies' whine And of Earth-cops raiding the place. Come stage a grand ol' space opry On the Rim, where a ghost won't rest, The twisted times and life of John Grimes And his faraway endless quest. (chorus) MISSION TO FLY (tune: Somebody To Love, Jefferson Airplane) When the desk sticks to you like glue, And Lorn's gray skies close in on you, Chorus: Don't you want a mission to fly, Don't you need a mission to fly, Wouldn't you love a mission to fly, You'd better find a mission to fly. The admiral sits on your chest, Your office staff treat you like a guest. (chorus) On the field stands the Faraway Quest, So Commodore, take ship and get you a rest. (chorus) RHYME OF THE RINGWORLD One world for Kzinti-cats, strong of flesh and bone, Five for the puppeteers, led from behind, Nine worlds for humans, in the Space that's Known, One for the Pak-lords, Protecting all Mankind On great scrith Ringworld, where squared shadows fly. One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to draw them, One Ring to dwarf them all And with conundrums awe them: The great scrith Ringworld, where squared shadows fly. RIM RUNNERS (tune: Rum Runners, by Jerry Garcia) Here is a tale of the great Rim Runners, Ships that sailed the outermost stars, Cruising where the cloth of space and time Grew tattered, worn, and gold-leaf thin. Sailing round, round, round Out to Stree, Mellise and Tharn, Grollor, Thule, Ultimo, and Faraway, and Lorn-- Their dreams a hollow ghost upon the Rim. Here is a captain, drunk and swaying, Here is a mate who took to praying As the tramp raised ship and left, Her driving gyros playing eerie tunes, Spinning round, round, round, etc. Ahead in space, astern in time, Sky like bottle blown by Klein, Deja vu as gyros whine. The ship Goes skating on the edge of Time. Skating round, etc. In the dark, alarms sound riot. In the cockpit quakes the pilot. Ship on starboard bow's converging To collision, moving, closing in. Closing round, etc. As the ships close, find the trouble: Captain stares to see his double. Starboard ship then disappears, An eldritch sight, a ghost upon the Rim, Running round, round, round, Out to Stree, Mellise, and Tharn, Grollor, Thule, Ultimo, and Faraway, and Lorn-- Their dreams a hollow ghost upon the Rim. RING Ring: From the gumball machine? From the jeweller's shop? From the Forges of Doom? You are come to me And lie on my table In my front room. LOOSE AND MUDDY THINKING tune: Ripple, by Jerry Garcia If my thoughts did glow with the rainbow starshine, Were I out upon a far flit alone, Would you hear my voice come through the ether, Would it come in clear, as it were your own? It's a sweet surprise, a wide-open two-way; Perhaps my thoughts loose and muddy are. Just this once I don't really care; Let our thoughts leap to the farthest star. Ripple in clear ether, Where there is no ship in flight Nor beam to flare. Reach out your mind if your spirit has run low, If your spirit's high, may it be again. No matter how far distant my travels, Send your thought to me; I'll be with you then. There is a load, no simple burden, To bear through light and the darkness dense. If it you lift, you've help from comrades. That load is shared by all bearing Lens. Ripple in clear ether, Where there is no ship in flight Nor beam to flare. All who wear the Grays never follow, But if they fall they are not alone. So here we stand with little to guide but Loose and muddy thought. Let us make a home. THE SMUGGLING BELTER (tune: Highway Star, by Deep Purple) Ain't nobody gonna take my ship Gonna shape my orbit well. Ain't nobody gonna take my ship On an orbit straight to hell. Oh, I've got a clean machine-- Four gees--at all costs, Leave the goldskins eating dust And gas from my exhaust. Chorus: I'm a miner, I'm a smuggler 'Tween Mercury and Pluto, Singleship, four-gee trip, I'm a Belter, sure! Ain't nobody gonna take my suit With its seals and gaskets tidy. Ain't nobody gonna take my suit There's no place you could hide it. Madonna of Port Lligatt Blazing on my chest, My rubber/fabric second skin Has got to be the best. (chorus) Ain't nobody gonna take my ore, Won't pay no taxes down. Ain't nobody gonna take my ore, Gonna smuggle to Earth's ground. Goldskins are a-huntin' me But they haven't caught me yet. Leave 'em eating hot exhaust From my four-gee fusion jet. (chorus) THE SUICIDE EXPRESS tune: "Drink Up the River", by Kathy Mar Sir Richard Burton, the explorer, tramped the wide world in rough style, Searching for the highest mountains and the dim source of the Nile. When the sable camel knelt for him, to Heaven he went not, But awoke beside a River on a distant alien spot. He sailed up the great River on a quest to find its source, And to fathom why Mankind was there--that secret he would force. But the Rivermasters smelled his trail and came to hunt him down, So he just jumped in the River, and then he drowned! Chorus: You've got to drink up the River, You've got to drink up the River, You've got to drink up the River, Until you drown! You've got to drink up the River, You've got to drink up the River, You've got to drink up the River, Until you drown! He awoke, reborn, next morning up the River, far away, In the midst of giant ape-men in a chilly, sunless day. He was nigh to the headwaters, but the ape-men knocked him dead, And he resurrected elsewhere; disappointment filled his head. What's worse, a foe he knew and loathed had resurrected there, And could point him out to searching spies before he could prepare An escape. So he took action when the foreign sun went down-- Jumped in and drank up the River until he drowned! (chorus) He would off himself quite often; unlike most, found no distress In this novel way of travel, called the Suicide Express. In his quest for the headwaters and the secret of the place, He did make acquaintance with most cultures of the human race. 'Twas seven hundred times or more, he shifted in the night, Till the Rivermasters caught him, and they warned him that he might Die forever if he once again, in skipping out of town, Jumped in and drank up the River until he drowned! (chorus) If you go to Riverworld, not Hell or Heaven, when you die, And you find you're in a Stone Age land beneath an alien sky, You can build yourself a hut, a boat, a spear, a town, a land, And three times a day get dinner from the bucket in your hand. But if you hate your chieftain 'cause he's always making war, Or you've lost your dinner-bucket, or your hutmate is a bore, Suicide is not a sin; it's just a way to get around, You can just drink up the River until you drown! (chorus) THE QUEEN (tune: The King, by Leslie Fish) "Farewell, SF!" the Wells fan said "With phrase well-turned She went away. "Pulp prints the ignoble penny-dread- "Fuls; Tarzan roams the woods to-day. "Changed are the readers to dull riff-raff "And She with them. Farewell, SF!" "Farewell, SF!" old Hugo cried "Stories must teach of science now "The WEIRD TALES of E. Farnsworth Wright "Hold Her whom gadgets do not awe. "Lost Worlds we scientists scorn to view, "Leave Her to rest. SF, adieu!" "Farewell, SF!" John Campbell spoke. "By purple prose ye may not sell, "But wrestle with a human bloke "In future worlds believable. "Science fantastic, save Smith, has left. "We're rational. Goodby, SF!" "Farewell, SF!" the New Wave huffed. "Astounding Yarns of yore are dead. "Let's throw the plot out, 'tis useless stuff, "And dwell on grim despair instead. "Always remember Man's Fallen State-- "Rest well in peace, SF the Late!" "Goodby, SF!" young Harlan said, "I never wrote it, never will. "My works by mainstream minds are read, "But SF's taint is hard to kill. "Hang all the honors, and Hugos, too-- "With childish things, SF, I'm through!" "SF!" the diehard readers mourn. "She's never what she used to be. "When will new Weinbaums and Smiths be born? "Can Niven top Ringworld with a tree? "Confound SF!" . . . But turn the page-- SF renews the Golden Age. From Her starship She weaves her spell Where deep sky calls and spaceship lands With silent, hidden miracle To please the Janus-headed fans: She then told this parodist to say "Our Queen was with us--yesterday!" THINK BLUE, COUNT TWO tune: Casey Jones, by Jerry Garcia Thinking of blue, counting to two, Looking for a red shoe when in need. Trouble above, trouble below, Where the ghosties come from, I don't know. Photon sail ship voyages slow, Crawls to the stars in a millenium or so. Sailor is dead and the sails are all torn, Wake a girl and two men to get her travelling again. Thinking of blue, etc. Trouble with one is the trouble with all, Three in a cabin, much too long and too small. One man's berserk, girl, his mind is askew, It's on the wrong track, and he's headed for you! Thinking of blue, etc. Nuts in the head, he's the devil you dread, Sound the alarm, or all are gonna be dead! Ghost comes alive, cures the nut, all survive, The ship sails on, 'cause of what the girl's done: Thinking of blue, counting to two, Looking for a red shoe when in need. Trouble above, trouble below, Where the ghosties come from, I don't know. THE WALLS HAVE EARS II (tune: The Walls Have Ears) I went to attend sister Florimel's ball And I smelt a rat walking down the hall. I danced with a duchess in the pale moonlight And the shadows crept on my right! The walls have ears, and the ceiling has eyes, And the waiter was a brother in disguise. How well someone knows what goes on around here, For I know that the walls have ears. I broke off the dance quite courteously, And I thought I saw a tapestry wink at me, And while I sauntered out through the door, The arras nearest me stirred. The walls have ears, and the ceiling has eyes, And the goosegirl was a sister in disguise. How well someone knows what goes on around here, For I know that the walls have ears. Through palace halls I made cautious advance Lest I take a crossbow quarrel in the pants. I dived for the floor when a flagstone clacked And an arrow whizzed over my back! The walls have ears, and the ceiling has eyes, And the gargoyle was a relative in disguise. How well someone knows what goes on around here, For I know that the walls have ears. I slipped out of town to my fav'rite retreat, Shifting worlds with each long step of my feet, When over my shoulder what did I see But a chickenhawk shadowing me! The walls have ears, and the ceiling has eyes, And the forest was a relative in disguise. How well someone knows what goes on around here, For I know that the walls have ears. Now I'm home at the palace, but quite all alone In a secret passage, spying on my own! But still, just across the room I can see A peep-hole eye looking at me. The walls have ears, and the ceiling has eyes, And the Pattern is my grendpa in disguise. How well do I know what goes on around here, For I know that the walls have ears. SONG OF THE WALL-SHIELD tune: Song of the Shield-Wall, Doyle & Williamson Hasten, O sky-steed, over the star-road Hard-driven ships through the ether run free, For Mentor has called us from Tellus and Rigel The Lens-load to bear and his champions to be. We'll loose our lightnings fierce at the foemen, Ships shrugging thunders. We build strong and whole, As Mentor suggested, our Civilization Which always we'll guard with the Lens and Patrol! Hasten, Patrolmen, out to the star-lanes; Pirates of Boskone now strike all through space! The primary beam and Delameter blaster Are needed again out at Helmuth's Grand Base. Pow'r up your wall-shields and screens 'round your cruisers, Blast till the base is a black-clinkered hole. From all such foes our dear Civilization Is ever preserved by the Lens and Patrol! Hasten, Gray Lensman, to Lundmark's star-cloud; Lan of the Eich runs amok o'er the sky. His maulers bear zwilniks and thionite powder To crack our cohesion, our serfdom to buy. Bitter he'll find here the bite of our beam-spears, Hard fighting Boskone, the masters of cold. We'll grant him two worlds--with opposing intrinsics-- Of planets of Civilization to hold! Hasten on starward, strong son of Kimball, Victory's sweet, the Gray Legion's fought hard, But Eddore's Aall-Highest has shot forth his ship-hordes, Blasting the worlds you are oath-bound to guard. Draw up Lens-brethren in billions for battle, Station your sisters the mind-bolt to throw, And strike at Eddore till the last foe has fallen So Civilization might prosper and grow! WILD GHOST CHASE (tune: Sally Go 'Round the Roses) Commodore chased a Rim Ghost, Commodore chased a Rim Ghost. Rim Ghost, it can't hurt you, Rim Ghost, it can't hurt you. John Grimes, don't you go to Kinsolving's now, John Grimes, don't you go to Kinsolving's now. Strangest thing in the far Rim Worlds To see yourself with another girl. Grimes went to the Outsider, Grimes went to the Outsider. Outsider wouldn't open, Outsider wouldn't open. John Grimes, don't you go to that Outside ship, John Grimes, don't you go to that Outside ship. Strangest thing in the far Rim Worlds To see yourself with another girl. Flandry went to the Outsider, Flandry went to the Outsider. Flandry hailed the Commodore, Flandry hailed the Commodore. John Grimes, don't you let Captain Flandry in, John Grimes, don't you let Captain Flandry in. Strangest thing to lose your girl To a man from Poul Anderson's world. John Grimes went to Australia, John Grimes went to Australia. He boarded a coastal freighter, He boarded a coastal freighter. Chandler, don't you look right behind you now, Chandler, don't you look right behind you now. Strangest thing for Commodore Grimes To see his author in another time. CRYSTAL BLUE STARSTONE (tune: China Cat Sunflower, by Jerry Garcia) Look for a while in the crystal blue starstone: Deep purple sky and a bloody red sun; World has a roof-tree of snow-covered mountains; Gold-hearted flowers bloom blue in the snow. Crazy gray world in the blue crystal matrix Peopled by ghostly forms in the half-light. Tower stands proud, barricaded for working, Energy flowing in beams from the screens. Swords flash on wrath in the steel-blue jewel, Forests blaze fury against digging men, Castle walls crack, fall, and crumble to Chaos --Wrap it in silk, in a bag 'round my neck. DARKOVAN PATTON The Kilghard Wolf crawls in my starstone's eye Through mud and wire where stood a forest fair Alone, he scorns the lead storm in the sky, Knows not the dart that pierced him from the air. And now, a knight, he rides behind cold steel, Hard driving treads twixt mountains and the sea The foe falls back before him in the field The king rebukes him in his victory. Before a banner, swearing at his men He swings his final strokes in battle now. Machines of war he leads until his end, Machines of peace now lay him in his howe. If scenes impossible these seem to be, Then tell me why in him the Wolf I see. I KNOW YOU, KEEPER (tune: I Know You, Rider by Jerry Garcia [?]) I know you, Keeper, and I miss you now I've gone, I know you, Keeper, and I miss you now I've gone, Miss the Tower Circle and the flows of energons. Lay down last night 'neath a cold, white, giant moon, Lay down last night 'neath a cold, white, giant moon, With dark ghosts around me and sleep not coming soon. Red sun will shine in my back door some day, Red sun will shine in my back door some day, Ghost Winds will blow all my foes away. I wish I was a starship on an outbound run, I wish I was a starship on an outbound run, I'd drill the ether as we'd race to the Bloody Sun! I know you, Keeper, and I miss you as I go, I know you, Keeper, and I miss you as I go, Miss Armida's manor and the Kilghard Hills in snow! KEEPER'S TOWER (tune: Franklin's Tower, by Jerry Garcia) On another world in distant space Your eyes say you from your brother's face Lines of chance sprout from clear blue stone May good fortune be all your own. Blow away the snow, Blow away the snow, Blow away the snow, Blow away the snow. I'll tell you where the lines come from: In Keeper's Tower there lives a crone Who can spin, cause kings to fall; She can weave her will over all. Blow away the snow. Gods help the man who breaks her sleep, Misfortune he shall surely reap. Her maidens watch by night and day To keep the ice and fire away. Blow away the snow. Outside the Tower, no one sees The strings that bear the Fates' decrees. Whichever path you choose to tread, The Crone can follow, alive or dead. Blow away the snow. In Keeper's Tower, Ashera sleeps. Her puzzle-web her maidens keep. Lines of chance spring from clear blue stone; May good fortune be all your own. Blow away the snow. MATRIX ENGINEERS (tune: MIT Engineers Song) I'm a rambling wreck from Arilinn Tech and a matrix engineer. The laran force I work with can be mighty strange and queer. I work the relays dusk to dawn and keep my channels clear; I'm a rambling wreck from Arilinn Tech and a matrix engineer. Chorus: We are, we are , we are, we are the matrix engineers, We've worked with psi technology for o'er two thousand years. Pig out, pig out, pig out, pig out and come along with us For we don't give a damn for the Terranan when they don't give a damn 'bout us. In my youth I was not sure what I'd do when full grown A leronis came to my house and sat with me alone The next day my dad said to me in words that all could hear, "Go to Arilinn and learn to be an engineer." (chorus) Dorilys of Aldaran could throw the lightning flame She wasn't Tower-trained for fear of Hastur's meddling game She blasted down an army-group with plenty of juice to spare And zapped herself to death, for she was not an engineer. (chorus) Varzil, tenerezu, came from old Neskaya Tower. Not ours at first, we count him now because he had the power To redesign the works from outer case to central gear. He wrote the Rules and Ethics for the Matrix Engineer. (Chorus) Though Terran, Andrew Carr had laran talents all in full. He took to wife a Keeper, which the Comyn thought was bull. He found that, trying to break through his spouse's mental block, If you fool with charged capacitors, you might get shocked. (chorus) Lew Alton was an engineer who went to Aldaran To teach the trade to new blood in the Hellers by Caer Donn. They flunked completely, but they learned one lesson loud and clear: To work Ninth-Levels, you must all be Matrix Engineers! (chorus) Regis Hastur saw Darkover fall in disrepair. The Empire would take over, but the Empire didn't care. His system redesign contained a notion that was weird: Teach some Gifted Terrans to be Matrix Engineers! (chorus) Arilinn was Arilinn when Hali was a pup And Arilinn will be Arilinn when Hali's broken up. And if you don't believe this, and think that it's a fib, You'd also think the Dry-Town men invented Women's Lib! (chorus) Neskaya's run by anarchy, the Dry-Towns by kihar, And Aldaran by blasters, because swords don't reach too far. The Terran Empire's run by bureaucrats and profiteers But Tower Arilinn is run by matrix engineers. (chorus) I'm a rambling wreck from Arilinn Tech and a matrix engineer On a starship built to Arilinn specs by Arilinn's club of peers. My talent's precognition, but the future's not too clear On what will happen when we meet the Ringworld Engineers. (chorus) WHEN I STOOD IN CIRCLE (tune: When I Was On Horseback) When I stood in Circle, hadn't I power? When I stood in Circle, wasn't I brave? Hadn't I power when we strafed Hastur's Tower And I met with my downfall in the Overworld fray? Six haggard Comyn to carry my coffin, Six of my Circle to march by my side, Six haggard Comyn make a Circle around me. Of all in my Tower, 'tis they who survived. Beat the drum slowly and play the harp o'er me, Pipe up a dead song as we march along, Take me to Lake of Hali and lay me down easy, I am a young Keeper who's never done wrong. THOMPSON GUNNER "You! Headless shade, I summon you tonight To take your gun and steal inside the Tower, To slay my foe the wizard before light, And leave this winter world within the hour!" The ghost slipped silent in Neskaya Tower The Keeper and his Circle were not there The stone that held him bound him in an hour To seek and slay a sorceror. Beware! "You! Shade! I did not bid you come back here! But since you have, your mission--it is done?" But Roland aimed his Thompson gun at fear. He fired, and left before the rising sun. The wizard's corpse lay scattered in the snow From Aldaran to Scathfell, far below. I'M FROM THE WALL AROUND THE WORLD (tune: I've Been All Around This World) In Comyn Castle courtyard, there I'll make my stand. In Comyn Castle courtyard, there I'll make my stand. Sharra's sword above me and my starstone in my hand. I'm from the Wall Around the World. Alton, Lew Alton, keep you from Council's board. Alton, Lew Alton, keep you from Council's board Before I up and challenge you with my long, beaten sword. I'm from the Wall Around the World. Kadarin, Thyra, and Dyan Ardais make three, Regis, Lew Alton, and Ashera's Keeper make three, In duel with fell spell-swords, it's the last they'll see of me. I'm from the Wall Around the World. Lay me in Hali, for I be dead and gone. Lay me in Hali, for I be dead and gone-- I could not slay my son's sworn lord or my own bredu's son. I'm from the Wall Around the World. In Comyn Castle courtyard, there I'll make my stand. In Comyn Castle courtyard, there I'll make my stand. Sharra's sword above me and my starstone in my hand. I'm from the Wall Around the World. HACKER'S TOWER (tune: Shady Grove) I wish I had a starstone, I wish I had a VAX, I wish I could abolish Hastur's technophobic acts. Program the Overworld with logic, speed and power, Starstones mesh with microchips up here in Hacker's Tower. Hastur runs old Arilinn and Comyn Council, too. Conservative as hell, they're our own version of Big Blue. Down with the dinosaurs, turn 'em all to stone, Future's not for fossils, it's for living things alone. They say they're short of talent, they say they're needing psis, I'll volunteer and learn their game and make 'em fossilize. Now I've got a starstone and a robe of crimson hue, After years of practice I will take on old Big Blue. Big Blue has one good notion with which we all agree: Keep the Empire out, or we shall always pay their fee. Silicon's from sand; of that an awful lot we've got; Trace elements for doping we can mine from where it's hot. We'll make our own computer chips, though Terrans think we're fools; Deep-monitor techniques will give us tools to make our tools. The system's all assembled and debugged with lots of fuss. Let's plug our matrix board into the S-100 bus! The system's up and running, swift, elegant and tight, Keeper or Programmer, I'm a hacker all the night. I rell each one and zero, I grok each bit and byte, Instructions and the registers are mine to read and write. In barely a few seconds, although like days it felt, The system now is ready to replicate itself. Starstones can be programmed by those who know the way; Matrix stones are really psychic EPROM's, you might say. With starstones and support chips the energons run free My Hacker's Tower has an automated factory. Information makes you free, and energy is power. With homebrew systems we will break the grip of Big Blue Tower. We sell our psi computers to the merchants in the town, Big Blue has finally noticed, and they're trying to crack down. They call us to a duel, and they say it's to the death; We answer them by linking in defense, to save our breath. We're linked into a Circle; in the center there with us I've patched into the matrix in our S-100 bus. Monsters they throw many, raw lightning bolts and more-- But we are seasoned hackers; we've played these games before. We counter every psi attack; it isn't too much work, And when they've shot their wad we get 'em in a game of Zork. With all the twists and turns they soon get lost inside the maze. Avoiding traps and fighting foes too fast clouds minds in haze. A dino skeleton attacks! They bash against the bone. Too late they find it is a trap, for now they've turned to stone. It's over, we revive 'em, and they tell us that we've won. We did it all with homebrew tech not touched by Terranan. With our hardware and our software Big Blue's cold weight we lift. Any who have wit can do our work with ne'er a Gift. Information makes all free, and energy is power! Each home and shop where hackers work is strong as any Tower! Šs power! Each home and shop where hackers work is strong as any Tower!