I'm in Marsport Without Hilda

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I'm in Marsport Without Hilda is a short story by Isaac Asimov. The story first appeared in the November 1957 issue of Venture Science Fiction, and was reprinted in the collection Nine Tomorrows in 1959, in a slightly censored form. The complete original version appeared in Asimov's Mysteries (1968). Mildly ribald, it is a mystery story in a science fiction setting.

A Galactic Service agent, Max, is in Marsport without his wife, Hilda. He plans to visit a gorgeous woman of his acquaintance, Flora, but his plans are disrupted when he receives an unexpected assignment. His supervisor informs him that a new source of altered Spaceoline has appeared. While regular Spaceoline is a common anti-nausea treatment, a chemical modification can turn it into a dangerous narcotic. The Service suspects that one man in a group of three VIPs is smuggling the drug. All three men appear to be in the inebriated, free-association state which regular Spaceoline produces, but since the actual criminal cannot afford to impair his own judgment, he must be faking. The easiest method of determining the criminal among them would be a simple search. However, his boss from the Service firmly places this out of question: since only one of three men is guilty, the other two are innocent, and the consequences of perfoming such a rough operation on two innocent men of very high social standing would be unbearable. Lacking a straight-forward resolution, Max is forced to improvise.

Max converses with the three men, trying to find the faker, but the criminal is clever enough to avoid detection. All three men keep slipping statements which might be subtle clues or taunts, but which could equally well be innocent free-association. Growing ever more desperate, Max starts describing his planned evening with Flora in graphic detail. The two honest men are too stoned to be affected, but the faker develops a physiological reaction which gives him away.


Nine Tomorrows
I Just Make Them Up, See! | Rejection Slips | Profession | The Feeling of Power | The Dying Night | I'm in Marsport Without Hilda | The Gentle Vultures | All the Troubles of the World | Spell My Name with an S | The Last Question | The Ugly Little Boy


Asimov's Mysteries
The Singing Bell | The Talking Stone | What's in a Name? | The Dying Night | Pâté de Foie Gras | The Dust of Death | A Loint of Paw | I'm in Marsport Without Hilda | Marooned Off Vesta | Anniversary | Obituary | Star Light | The Key | The Billiard Ball