First published in Galaxy Dec 1963
“If There Were No Benny Cemoli” is a twisting story about the legend and myth of revolutionaries. Using fake news reports from the past about an agitator named Benny Cemoli, those on Earth who orchestrated a disastrous nuclear war keep a newly arrived intergalactic reconstruction crew (the Centaurus Urban Renewal Bureau aka CURB) occupied chasing this phantom and off their trail.
Cast of characters
- John LeConte – a ‘politico’ on Earth
- Mr. Fall – LeConte’s secretary
- Peter Hood – CURBman from Centaurus
- Joan Hood – Peter Hood’s wife
- Rudolph Fletcher – Hood’s assistant
- Otto Dietrich – the supreme police investigator from Centaurus who vows to make an example of the war criminals responsible for Earth’s nuclear war
- Benny Cemoli – a supposed revolutionary who seized power of North America in a coup
- Stavros – a Greek grocery store owner and supposed follower of Benny Cemoli