There has always been strong sympathy for the poor, meek, downtrodden slave--the kindly little man, oppressed by cruel and overbearing masters. Could it possibly have been misplaced...?
He who grins in clown's disguise Often hides an aching heart- Sadness, sometimes worldly-wise, Dresses for a motley part- Cap, and bells to cheat the ears, Chalk and paint to hide the tears Lest the world, divining pain, Turn to gape and stare again.
Allan Stern and his secretary Beatrice Kendricks awake in New York City, one thousand years after an asteroid destroys most life on earth. Just his luck, Allan is a master engineer and can make explosives, build bridges, fly bi-planes, etc. Beatrice is the gorgeous, spunky blond along for the ride (she even gets kidnapped by a giant gorilla at one point!).In the first part the discussion is of what happened, and how they will save themselves and rebuild civilization.
Tabby was peculiar, of course, but seemed harmless: just a little green fly that couldn't even protect itself from ordinary spiders. So the spiders fed, and grew, and fed, and grew....