Unspecialist

Unspecialist' is a science-fiction novel by Murray F. Yaco. We are introduced to a character named Arnold in the beginning of this book, who during the next six weeks, spent most of the time in his bunk, scanning tapes from the ship's micro-library on an overhead viewer. At meal times he was polite, offering no further information about himself, yet entering into any conversation that centered around such trivia as terrestrial sports, taxes, money, liquor, food, government agencies. By mutual, if silent, agreement, neither women nor work were discussed. Working in the ship's control room, sometimes together, sometimes spelling each other, Banner and Warcraft speculated bitterly and endlessly about their passenger. Theories to explain his presence-most of them propounded by Warcraft-were created, torn apart, modified, exploded, in giant sequences of effort which left both men finally exhausted and tired of the whole business. On the second day of the seventh week out, their ennui vanished. A ship was picked up by the spec-spanner, and at their delight at the break in routine, they summoned Arnold up to the cabin.