Service Call

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First published in Science Fiction Stories July 1955

A repairman shows up at David Courtland’s apartment late one night to service his swibble. Courtland has no idea what a swibble is and sends the man away only to find out from a paper left behind that the man is from nine years in the future. He gathers a group of his coworkers to await the repairman’s return hoping to learn as much as possible about this futuristic swibble presumably so his business can attempt to build one. 

When the repairman returns Courtland leads him on and they eventually find out the swibble is some kind of quasi-organic, telepathic device that forces conformity on the society of the future, although it’s not clear who is really in control, the swibbles or the humans. When the repairman learns that Courtland doesn’t actually own a swibble and that he was sent back to the wrong time he disappears and almost immediately a swibble installation crew from the future knocks on Courtland’s door with a swibble for his apartment.

Cast of characters

  • David Courtland
  • Fay Courtland – Courtland’s wife
  • The unnamed swibble repairman
  • Pesbroke – Courtland’s boss
  • Jack Hurley, Parkinson, Anderson, MacDowell – the crew Courtland assembles to interrogate the repairman