The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Kenzie Report, by Mark Clifton

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Title: The Kenzie Report

Author: Mark Clifton

Illustrator: Kelly Freas

Release Date: April 25, 2010 [EBook #32131]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE KENZIE REPORT ***

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Transcriber's Note:

This etext was produced from If Worlds of Science Fiction May 1953.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S.
copyright on this publication was renewed.

THE _Kenzie_ REPORT

_By Mark Clifton_

Illustrated by Kelly Freas

_If this story has a moral, it is: "Leave well enough
alone." Just look what happened to Kenzie "mad-about-ants"
MacKenzie, who didn't...._

* * * * *

That Kenzie MacKenzie was a mad scientist hardly showed at all. To see
him ambling down the street in loose jointed manner, with sandy hair
uncombed, blue eyes looking vaguely beyond normal focus, you might
think here was a young fellow dreaming over how his gal looked last
night. It might never occur to you that he was thinking of--ants.

Of course, we fellows in the experimental lab all knew it, but Kenzie
wasn't too hard to get along with. In fact, he could usually be
counted on to pull us out of a technical hole. We put up with him
through a certain fondness, maybe even a little pride. It gave us a
harmless subject to talk about when security was too rigid on other
things.

Our Department Chief knew it, but Kenzie had solved quite a few knotty
electronics problems. The Chief never has been too particular to see
credit get back to the guy who earned it. We guessed he figured having
Kenzie there was profitable to him. In fact, the little redhead in
payroll told me the Chief was drawing quite a few bonus checks.

Personnel probably didn't know about it. Kenzie's papers, buried deep
in the files, wouldn't show it; because about the only question the