 What is Puerto Pacifico?
THE PERFECTIONISTS By ARNOLD CASTLE ILLUSTRATED by SUMMERS Is there something wrong with you? Opening the desk drawer, which was almost empty, Pembroke removed an automatic pistol fitted with a silencer. The series of events leading up to Pembroke's present occupation had commenced on a dismal, overcast evening in the South Pacific a year earlier. Bound for Sydney, two days out of Valparaiso, the Colombian tramp steamer Elena Mia had encountered a dense greenish fog which seemed vaguely redolent of citrus trees. Standing on the forward deck, Pembroke was one of the first to perceive the peculiar odor and to spot the immense gray hulk wallowing in the murky distance. Then the explosion had come, from far below the waterline, and the decks were awash with frantic crewmen, officers, and the handful of passengers. Only two lifeboats were launched before the Elena Mia went down. Pembroke came as close to being a professional adventurer as one can in these days of regimented travel, organized peril, and political restriction. Loyalty to person or to people was a trait Pembroke had never recognized in himself, nor had it ever been expected of him. Lacking such loyalties, Pembroke adapted quickly to the situation in which he found himself when he regained consciousness. He awoke in a small room in what appeared to be a typical modern American hotel. His situation could have been any small western American seacoast city. In his full-gaited walk, he was soon approaching the beach. One in particular, an attractive woman of about thirty, tossed back her long, chestnut locks and gazed up intently at Pembroke as he passed. "You're not casual enough, for one thing," said Pembroke, deciding to play along with her for the moment. Pembroke watched with lifted eyebrows as the clerk whisked the bizarre statuette underneath the counter. "Don't try to go so fast and you won't fall down," suggested Pembroke. "Well, they've got a point," said Pembroke. "Incidentally, just where are we, anyway? "Puerto Pacifico," she told him. It means peaceful port. But as he left the shop he began checking off every west coast state, city, town, and inlet. None, to the best of his knowledge, was called Puerto Pacifico. "Which way is it to San Francisco?" asked Pembroke. "This is Puerto Pacifico." Pembroke watched him hurry off to service a car with a sense of having been given the runaround. "Not enough slang, huh? "Perfect," Pembroke told him.
 Puerto Pacifico is a training ground for the androids that the aliens are sending to prepare Earth for invasion.
 Puerto Pacifico is a training ground for the androids that the aliens are sending to prepare Earth for invasion.  Puerto Pacifico is a training ground for the android forces that are preparing to invade Earth.  Puerto Pacifico is a training ground for the aliens who will be replacing key humans on Earth in preparation for invasion.  Pembroke has died and Puerto Pacifico is his purgatory.