User:DoctorWho42/In His Own Image

"In His Own Image" is a short story by American author Lloyd Biggle Jr. It was first published in the January 1968 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.

Background
Previously, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction published Biggle's "And Madly Teach" in May 1966.

Publication history
"In His Own Image" was first published in the January 1968 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. In 1969, it reappeared in the book The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction: Eighteenth Series edited by Edward L. Ferman. In 1972, "In His Own Image" was republished in the Lloyd Biggle Jr. collection The Metallic Muse.

Plot
Gorton Effro is on an emergency space station. He arrived when his life-boat locked onto its rescue beacon. A cleaning robot follows Effro. He meets a man who wears tattered robes. He kneels before Effro. He asks for his blessing. Effro tells him he was on the spaceship Cherbilius. It blew up nineteen days out from Donardo. He is the only survivor. He asks if the predicant is alone. The predicant regards the robots as his "flock." Effro sleeps but locks the door. The hostel is self-sustaining. Effro bathes and a robot massages his back. A robot cleans his uniform and dispenses three outfits. Effro wears the uniform and carries the others back to his sleeping quarters. In the drawers, he finds a bible. He checks the nearby rooms. They all have bibles. Effro wonders about the predicant. He blames madness. He orders dinner from a serving robot. A beverage robot provides him drinks. The predicant approaches him. Effro confesses he was guilty and confined to quarters. He stole Donardian brandy and slept in a life-boat. Effro calls the predicant "star crazy" for having a flock of machines. The predicant says spirit is God's gift to man and man's gift to machines. The predicant asks if he is a sinner and says he will hold a special service. The predicant will pray for Effro. However, Effro won't attend. The predicant asks if he believes in God. Effro says the crew took bribes to transport illegal cargo. The owners are collecting insurance. God doesn't fit into it. Effro believes the machines are watching. He detains them or dumps them outside his hostel. He drinks. He awakes to a noise. He orders dinner. No robots attend to him. He finds all the machines facing the predicant on a pulpit. Effro demands the robots back because he wants a drink. The predicant hums. The robots make a chorus which drowns out Effro's demands. A blue spark leaps from the predicant. The spark engulfs him. The captain of the rescue ship asks if there's only one. The mate responds they looked everywhere. The life-boat could hold forty people. The captain and mate interrogate him but he talks like the predicant. They take him on. The mate says he'll tell Interstellar Safety Commission next time no bibles. The predicant watches the rescue ship leave. He attends to his flock. Three cleaning robots wait to confess.

Reception
In 1968, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction editor Edward L. Ferman said "this story [...] carries the man-machine relationship a step further than usual, and the result is a fresh and pointed tale with a double-barreled impact."