Forget Me Nearly: Space Tales
About this ebook
The man across the desk shook his head. "I don't know," he said indistinctly.
"Sometimes a simple approach works," said the counselor, shoving aside the nameplate. "But not often. We haven't found anything that's effective in more than a small percentage of cases." He blinked thoughtfully. "Names are difficult. A name is like clothing, put on or taken off, recognizable but not part of the person--the first thing forgotten and the last remembered."
The man with no name said nothing.
"Try pet names," suggested Borgenese. "You don't have to be sure--just say the first thing you think of. It may be something your parents called you when you were a child."
The man stared vacantly, closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them and mumbled something.
"What?" asked Borgenese.
"Putsy," said the man more distinctly. "The only thing I can think of is Putsy."
The counselor smiled. "That's a pet name, of course, but it doesn't help much. We can't trace it, and I don't think you'd want it as a permanent name." He saw the expression on the man's face and added hastily: "We haven't given up, if that's what you're thinking. But it's not easy to determine your identity. The most important source of information is your mind, and that was at the two year level when we found you. The fact that you recalled the word Putsy is an indication."
About the author
F. L. Wallace (February 16, 1915 – November 26, 2004), sometimes credited as Floyd Wallace, was a noted science fiction and mystery writer. He was born in Rock Island, Illinois, in 1915, and died in Tustin, California, in 2004. Wallace spent most of his life in California as a writer and mechanical engineer after attending the University of Iowa. He also attended UCLA.
His first published story, "Hideaway," appeared in the magazine Astounding. Galaxy Science Fiction and other science fiction magazines published subsequent stories of his including "Delay in Transit", "Bolden's Pets", and "Tangle Hold". His mystery works include "Driving Lesson," a second-prize winner in the twelfth annual short story contest held by Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. His novel, Address: Centauri, was published by Gnome Press in 1955. His works have been translated into numerous languages and his stories are available today around the world in anthologies..
