Way Station

Clifford D. Simak
1964

Enoch Wallace is one hundred and twenty years old. For over a hundred years, he has served Galactic Central, providing a Way Station for travellers passing through this area of the galaxy. His home has been protected, and so has he. Whilst inside the Way Station, he does not age. Only when he goes for his daily walk does time act upon him.

This book is both simple and complex. It is full of simple descriptions and emotions, yet blended in such a way that they are complex and thought provoking while eliciting the emotions of the reader.

Enoch is a man who has had years to dwell on subjects that interest him, to explore the myriad cultures that he has been exposed to, and to find out just what humanity is. What is right and wrong, what are his responsibilities, and why are these things fluid depending on the situation.

During the years that Enoch’s home has served as a Galactic Way Station, he has managed to live in obscurity, troubled by no one. The locals believe there is something very strange about him, but they don’t talk to outsiders about it. Until a rumour reaches the CIA, and they start to watch him.

Enoch has spent time with hundreds of types of aliens, entertaining them for shorter or longer periods during their stop overs at his home. He has learned many things about their science and their home planets, and become friends with not a few of them.

Trapped by his own sense of responsibility and honour, he has never written articles for the journals of Earth, never taken any chance that the great secret would come out. Ever since he was recruited by the alien he calls Ulysses he has kept the secret, and endured being cut off from most of humanity as a result.

The only people who come close to knowing him are the friendly mailman who delivers his supplies from the town, and the deaf mute girl Lucy Fisher. It is said that Lucy can cure warts, and Enoch saw her heal a butterfly with a broken wing, but she cannot speak. Their strange friendship is based on a mutual love for the peaceful countryside, encountering each other on occasional rambles.

Simak’s descriptions of the gentle wonder at the world displayed by both Lucy and Enoch help evoke a quiet peacefulness. The hills and the flowers, the trees and the squirrels, all show the author’s love for the countryside and the rural life. Despite consorting with aliens and studying strange sciences, Enoch is still able to appreciate the simple joy of nature on his daily walks.

His peaceful and enjoyable existence begins to fall apart from several directions at once. The watchers transgress an alien custom, Lucy Fisher arrives on his doorstep covered in blood, and a strange and dangerous alien arrives unexpectedly.

Despite being effectively removed from humans since accepting the role, Enoch retains an essential humanity, and cannot abandon the human race entirely, despite the endless march of time running out every time he goes out of his home.

A lovely and interesting story from one of the old Grandmasters of SciFi, thoroughly enjoyable.