diff options
| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:53:06 -0700 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:53:06 -0700 |
| commit | b47ac34732d41ece18b7397be11cadb11efcdf35 (patch) | |
| tree | 62162a00ece10f0f2b1d108bfd0cb8c1c25b244e | |
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 18342-h.zip | bin | 0 -> 19176 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 18342-h/18342-h.htm | 982 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 18342.txt | 935 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 18342.zip | bin | 0 -> 18231 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 |
7 files changed, 1933 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/18342-h.zip b/18342-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f58715e --- /dev/null +++ b/18342-h.zip diff --git a/18342-h/18342-h.htm b/18342-h/18342-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3afe20d --- /dev/null +++ b/18342-h/18342-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,982 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Answer, by H. Beam Piper + </title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + p {margin-top: .75em;text-align: justify;margin-bottom: .75em;} + + h1,h2,h3,h4 {text-align: center; clear: both;} + + hr { width: 33%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; clear: both;} + + body{margin-left: 10%;margin-right: 10%;} + + .pagenum { position: absolute; left: 92%; + font-size: x-small; text-align: right;} + + .tr { text-align:left; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; + margin-top: 5%; margin-bottom: 5%; padding: 2em; + background-color: #f6f2f2; color: black; border: solid black 1px;} + + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Answer, by Henry Beam Piper + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Answer + +Author: Henry Beam Piper + +Release Date: May 8, 2006 [EBook #18342] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ANSWER *** + + + + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Geetu Melwani, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + + + + +<p class="tr"> <b>Transcriber's notes.</b><br /> +<br />This etext was produced from Fantastic Universe Science Fiction, December, 1959. Extensive +research did not uncover any evidence that the copyright on this publication was renewed.<br /> +<br />A number of typographical errors found in the +original text have been corrected in this version. A <a href="#note">list</a> of these +errors is found at the end of this book. +</p> + + + +<h1>The Answer</h1> + +<h4>by </h4> + +<h2>H. Beam Piper</h2> +<p> </p> +<hr style="width:65%" /> + +<p>For a moment, after the screen door snapped and wakened him, Lee +Richardson sat breathless and motionless, his eyes still closed, trying +desperately to cling to the dream and print it upon his conscious memory +before it faded.</p> + +<p>"Are you there, Lee?" he heard Alexis Pitov's voice.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I'm here. What time is it?" he asked, and then added, "I fell +asleep. I was dreaming."</p> + +<p>It was all right; he was going to be able to remember. He could still +see the slim woman with the graying blonde hair, playing with the little +dachshund among the new-fallen leaves on the lawn. He was glad they'd +both been in this dream together; these dream-glimpses were all he'd had +for the last fifteen years, and they were too precious to lose. He +opened his eyes. The Russian was sitting just outside the light from the +open door of the bungalow, lighting a cigarette. For a moment, he could +see the blocky, high-cheeked face, now pouched and wrinkled, and then +the flame went out and there was only the red coal glowing in the +darkness. He closed his eyes again, and the dream picture came back to +him, the woman catching the little dog and raising her head as though to +speak to him.</p> + +<p>"Plenty of time, yet." Pitov was speaking German instead of Spanish, as +they always did between themselves. "They're still counting down from +minus three hours. I just phoned the launching site for a jeep. +Eugenio's been there ever since dinner; they say he's running around +like a cat looking for a place to have her first litter of kittens."</p> + +<p>He chuckled. This would be something new for Eugenio Galvez—for which +he could be thankful.</p> + +<p>"I hope the generators don't develop any last-second bugs," he said. +"We'll only be a mile and a half away, and that'll be too close to fifty +kilos<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> of negamatter if the field collapses."</p> + +<p>"It'll be all right," Pitov assured him. "The bugs have all been chased +out years ago."</p> + +<p>"Not out of those generators in the rocket. They're new." He fumbled in +his coat pocket for his pipe and tobacco. "I never thought I'd run +another nuclear-bomb test, as long as I lived."</p> + +<p>"Lee!" Pitov was shocked. "You mustn't call it that. It isn't that, at +all. It's purely a scientific experiment."</p> + +<p>"Wasn't that all any of them were? We made lots of experiments like +this, back before 1969." The memories of all those other tests, each +ending in an Everest-high mushroom column, rose in his mind. And the end +result—the United States and the Soviet Union blasted to rubble, a +whole hemisphere pushed back into the Dark Ages, a quarter of a billion +dead. Including a slim woman with graying blonde hair, and a little red +dog, and a girl from Odessa whom Alexis Pitov had been going to marry. +"Forgive me, Alexis. I just couldn't help remembering. I suppose it's +this shot we're going to make, tonight. It's so much like the other +ones, before—" He hesitated slightly. "Before the Auburn Bomb."</p> + +<p>There; he'd come out and said it. In all the years they'd worked +together at the <i>Instituto Argentino de Ciencia Fisica</i>, that had been +unmentioned between them. The families of hanged cutthroats avoid +mention of ropes and knives. He thumbed the old-fashioned American +lighter and held it to his pipe. Across the veranda, in the darkness, he +knew that Pitov was looking intently at him.</p> + +<p>"You've been thinking about that, lately, haven't you?" the Russian +asked, and then, timidly: "Was that what you were dreaming of?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, thank heaven!"</p> + +<p>"I think about it, too, always. I suppose—" He seemed relieved, now +that it had been brought out into the open and could be discussed. "You +saw it fall, didn't you?"</p> + +<p>"That's right. From about thirty miles away. A little closer than we'll +be to this shot, tonight. I was in charge of the investigation at +Auburn, until we had New York and Washington and Detroit and Mobile and +San Francisco to worry about. Then what had happened to Auburn wasn't +important, any more. We were trying to get evidence to lay before the +United Nations. We kept at it for about twelve hours after the United +Nations had ceased to exist."</p> + +<p>"I could never understand about that, Lee. I don't know what the truth +is; I probably never shall. But I know that my government did not launch +that missile. During the first days after yours began coming in, I +talked to people who had been in the Kremlin at the time. One had been +in the presence of Klyzenko himself when the news of your bombardment +arrived. He said that Klyzenko was absolutely stunned. We always +believed that your government decided upon a preventive surprise attack, +and picked out a town, Auburn, New York, that had been hit by one of our +first retaliation missiles, and claimed that it had been hit first."</p> + +<p>He shook his head. "Auburn was hit an hour before the first American +missile was launched. I know that to be a fact. We could never +understand why you launched just that one, and no more until after ours +began landing on you; why you threw away the advantage of surprise and +priority of attack—"</p> + +<p>"Because we didn't do it, Lee!" The Russian's voice trembled with +earnestness. "You believe me when I tell you that?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I believe you. After all that happened, and all that you, and I, +and the people you worked with, and the people I worked with, and your +government, and mine, have been guilty of, it would be a waste of breath +for either of us to try to lie to the other about what happened fifteen +years<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> ago." He drew slowly on his pipe. "But who launched it, then? It +had to be launched by somebody."</p> + +<p>"Don't you think I've been tormenting myself with that question for the +last fifteen years?" Pitov demanded. "You know, there were people inside +the Soviet Union—not many, and they kept themselves well hidden—who +were dedicated to the overthrow of the Soviet regime. They, or some of +them, might have thought that the devastation of both our countries, and +the obliteration of civilization in the Northern Hemisphere, would be a +cheap price to pay for ending the rule of the Communist Party."</p> + +<p>"Could they have built an ICBM with a thermonuclear warhead in secret?" +he asked. "There were also fanatical nationalist groups in Europe, both +sides of the Iron Curtain, who might have thought our mutual destruction +would be worth the risks involved."</p> + +<p>"There was China, and India. If your country and mine wiped each other +out, they could go back to the old ways and the old traditions. Or +Japan, or the Moslem States. In the end, they all went down along with +us, but what criminal ever expects to fall?"</p> + +<p>"We have too many suspects, and the trail's too cold, Alexis. That +rocket wouldn't have had to have been launched anywhere in the Northern +Hemisphere. For instance, our friends here in the Argentine have been +doing very well by themselves since <i>El Coloso del Norte</i> went down."</p> + +<p>And there were the Australians, picking themselves up bargains in +real-estate in the East Indies at gun-point, and there were the Boers, +trekking north again, in tanks instead of ox-wagons. And Brazil, with a +not-too-implausible pretender to the Braganza throne, calling itself the +Portuguese Empire and looking eastward. And, to complete the picture, +here were Professor Doctor Lee Richardson and Comrade Professor Alexis +Petrovitch Pitov, getting ready to test a missile with a +matter-annihilation warhead.</p> + +<p>No. This thing just wasn't a weapon.</p> + +<p>A jeep came around the corner, lighting the dark roadway between the +bungalows, its radio on and counting down—<i>Twenty two minutes. Twenty +one fifty nine, fifty eight, fifty seven</i>—It came to a stop in front of +their bungalow, at exactly Minus Two Hours, Twenty One Minutes, Fifty +Four Seconds. The driver called out in Spanish:</p> + +<p>"Doctor Richardson; Doctor Pitov! Are you ready?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, ready. We're coming."</p> + +<p>They both got to their feet, Richardson pulling himself up reluctantly. +The older you get, the harder it is to leave a comfortable chair. He +settled himself beside his colleague and former enemy, and the jeep +started again, rolling between the buildings of the living-quarters area +and out onto the long, straight road across the pampas toward the +distant blaze of electric lights.</p> + +<p>He wondered why he had been thinking so much, lately, about the Auburn +Bomb. He'd questioned, at times, indignantly, of course, whether Russia +had launched it—but it wasn't until tonight, until he had heard what +Pitov had had to say, that he seriously doubted it. Pitov wouldn't lie +about it, and Pitov would have been in a position to have known the +truth, if the missile had been launched from Russia. Then he stopped +thinking about what was water—or blood—a long time over the dam.</p> + +<p>The special policeman at the entrance to the launching site reminded +them that they were both smoking; when they extinguished, respectively, +their cigarette and pipe, he waved the jeep on and went back to his +argument with a carload of tourists who wanted to get a good view of the +launching.</p> + +<p>"There, now, Lee; do you need<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> anything else to convince you that this +isn't a weapon project?" Pitov asked.</p> + +<p>"No, now that you mention it. I don't. You know, I don't believe I've +had to show an identity card the whole time I've been here."</p> + +<p>"I don't believe I have an identity card," Pitov said. "Think of that."</p> + +<p>The lights blazed everywhere around them, but mostly about the rocket +that towered above everything else, so thick that it seemed squat. The +gantry-cranes had been hauled away, now, and it stood alone, but it was +still wreathed in thick electric cables. They were pouring enough +current into that thing to light half the street-lights in Buenos Aires; +when the cables were blown free by separation charges at the blastoff, +the generators powered by the rocket-engines had better be able to take +over, because if the magnetic field collapsed and that fifty-kilo chunk +of negative-proton matter came in contact with natural positive-proton +matter, an old-fashioned H-bomb would be a firecracker to what would +happen. Just one hundred kilos of pure, two-hundred proof MC2.</p> + +<p>The driver took them around the rocket, dodging assorted trucks and +mobile machinery that were being hurried out of the way. The countdown +was just beyond two hours five minutes. The jeep stopped at the edge of +a crowd around three more trucks, and Doctor Eugenio Galvez, the +director of the Institute, left the crowd and approached at an awkward +half-run as they got down.</p> + +<p>"Is everything checked, gentlemen?" he wanted to know.</p> + +<p>"It was this afternoon at 1730," Pitov told him. "And nobody's been +burning my telephone to report anything different. Are the balloons and +the drone planes ready?"</p> + +<p>"The Air Force just finished checking; they're ready. Captain Urquiola +flew one of the planes over the course and made a guidance-tape; that's +been duplicated and all the planes are equipped with copies."</p> + +<p>"How's the wind?" Richardson asked.</p> + +<p>"Still steady. We won't have any trouble about fallout or with the +balloons."</p> + +<p>"Then we'd better go back to the bunker and make sure everybody there is +on the job."</p> + +<p>The loudspeaker was counting down to Two Hours One Minute.</p> + +<p>"Could you spare a few minutes to talk to the press?" Eugenio Galvez +asked. "And perhaps say a few words for telecast? This last is most +important; we can't explain too many times the purpose of this +experiment. There is still much hostility, arising from fear that we are +testing a nuclear weapon."</p> + +<p>The press and telecast services were well represented; there were close +to a hundred correspondents, from all over South America, from South +Africa and Australia, even one from Ceylon. They had three trucks, with +mobile telecast pickups, and when they saw who was approaching, they +released the two rocketry experts they had been quizzing and pounced on +the new victims.</p> + +<p>Was there any possibility that negative-proton matter might be used as a +weapon?</p> + +<p>"Anything can be used as a weapon; you could stab a man to death with +that lead pencil you're using," Pitov replied. "But I doubt if +negamatter will ever be so used. We're certainly not working on weapons +design here. We started, six years ago, with the ability to produce +negative protons, reverse-spin neutrons, and positrons, and the +theoretical possibility of assembling them into negamatter. We have just +gotten a fifty kilogramme mass of nega-iron assembled. In those six +years, we had to invent all our techniques, and design all our +equipment. If we'd been insane enough to want to build a nuclear weapon, +after what we went through<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> up North, we could have done so from memory, +and designed a better—which is to say a worse—one from memory in a few +days."</p> + +<p>"Yes, and building a negamatter bomb for military purposes would be like +digging a fifty foot shaft to get a rock to bash somebody's head in, +when you could do the job better with the shovel you're digging with," +Richardson added. "The time, money, energy and work we put in on this +thing would be ample to construct twenty thermonuclear bombs. And that's +only a small part of it." He went on to tell them about the magnetic +bottle inside the rocket's warhead, mentioning how much electric current +was needed to keep up the magnetic field that insulated the negamatter +from contact with posimatter.</p> + +<p>"Then what was the purpose of this experiment, Doctor Richardson?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, we were just trying to find out a few basic facts about natural +structure. Long ago, it was realized that the nucleonic +particles—protons, neutrons, mesons and so on—must have structure of +their own. Since we started constructing negative-proton matter, we've +found out a few things about nucleonic structure. Some rather odd +things, including fractions of Planck's constant."</p> + +<p>A couple of the correspondents—a man from La Prensa, and an +Australian—whistled softly. The others looked blank. Pitov took over:</p> + +<p>"You see, gentlemen, most of what we learned, we learned from putting +negamatter atoms together. We annihilated a few of them—over there in +that little concrete building, we have one of the most massive steel +vaults in the world, where we do that—but we assembled millions of them +for every one we annihilated, and that chunk of nega-iron inside the +magnetic bottle kept growing. And when you have a piece of negamatter +you don't want, you can't just throw it out on the scrap-pile. We might +have rocketed it into escape velocity and let it blow up in space, away +from the Moon or any of the artificial satellites, but why waste it? So +we're going to have the rocket eject it, and when it falls, we can see, +by our telemetered instruments, just what happens."</p> + +<p>"Well, won't it be annihilated by contact with atmosphere?" somebody +asked.</p> + +<p>"That's one of the things we want to find out," Pitov said. "We estimate +about twenty percent loss from contact with atmosphere, but the mass +that actually lands on the target area should be about forty kilos. It +should be something of a spectacle, coming down."</p> + +<p>"You say you had to assemble it, after creating the negative protons and +neutrons and the positrons. Doesn't any of this sort of matter exist in +nature?"</p> + +<p>The man who asked that knew better himself. He just wanted the answer on +the record.</p> + +<p>"Oh no; not on this planet, and probably not in the Galaxy. There may be +whole galaxies composed of nothing but negamatter. There may even be +isolated stars and planetary systems inside our Galaxy composed of +negamatter, though I think that very improbable. But when negamatter and +posimatter come into contact with one another, the result is immediate +mutual annihilation."</p> + +<p>They managed to get away from the press, and returned as far as the +bunkers, a mile and a half away. Before they went inside, Richardson +glanced up at the sky, fixing the location of a few of the more +conspicuous stars in his mind. There were almost a hundred men and women +inside, each at his or her instruments—view-screens, radar indicators, +detection instruments of a dozen kinds. The reporters and telecast +people arrived shortly afterward, and Eugenio Galvez took them in tow. +While Richardson and Pitov were making their last-minute rounds, the +countdown prog<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span>ressed past minus one hour, and at minus twenty minutes +all the overhead lights went off and the small instrument operators' +lights came on.</p> + +<p>Pitov turned on a couple of view-screens, one from a pickup on the roof +of the bunker and another from the launching-pad. They sat down side by +side and waited. Richardson got his pipe out and began loading it. The +loudspeaker was saying: "<i>Minus two minutes, one fifty nine, fifty +eight, fifty seven</i>—"</p> + +<p>He let his mind drift away from the test, back to the world that had +been smashed around his ears in the autumn of 1969. He was doing that so +often, now, when he should be thinking about—</p> + +<p>"<i>Two seconds, one second</i>. FIRING!"</p> + +<p>It was a second later that his eyes focussed on the left hand +view-screen. Red and yellow flames were gushing out at the bottom of the +rocket, and it was beginning to tremble. Then the upper jets, the ones +that furnished power for the generators, began firing. He looked +anxiously at the meters; the generators were building up power. Finally, +when he was sure that the rocket would be blasting off anyhow, the +separator-charges fired and the heavy cables fell away. An instant +later, the big missile started inching upward, gaining speed by the +second, first slowly and jerkily and then more rapidly, until it passed +out of the field of the pickup. He watched the rising spout of fire from +the other screen until it passed from sight.</p> + +<p>By that time, Pitov had twisted a dial and gotten another view on the +left hand screen, this time from close to the target. That camera was +radar-controlled; it had fastened onto the approaching missile, which +was still invisible. The stars swung slowly across the screen until +Richardson recognized the ones he had spotted at the zenith. In a +moment, now, the rocket, a hundred miles overhead, would be nosing down, +and then the warhead would open and the magnetic field inside would +alter and the mass of negamatter would be ejected.</p> + +<p>The stars were blotted out by a sudden glow of light. Even at a hundred +miles, there was enough atmospheric density to produce considerable +energy release. Pitov, beside him, was muttering, partly in German and +partly in Russian; most of what Richardson caught was figures. Trying to +calculate how much of the mass of unnatural iron would get down for the +ground blast. Then the right hand screen broke into a wriggling orgy of +color, and at the same time every scrap of radio-transmitted apparatus +either went out or began reporting erratically. The left hand screen, +connected by wiring to the pickup on the roof, was still functioning. +For a moment, Richardson wondered what was going on, and then shocked +recognition drove that from his mind as he stared at the +ever-brightening glare in the sky.</p> + +<p>It was the Auburn Bomb again! He was back, in memory, to the night on +the shore of Lake Ontario; the party breaking up in the early hours of +morning; he and Janet and the people with whom they had been spending a +vacation week standing on the lawn as the guests were getting into their +cars. And then the sudden light in the sky. The cries of surprise, and +then of alarm as it seemed to be rushing straight down upon them. He and +Janet, clutching each other and staring up in terror at the falling +blaze from which there seemed no escape. Then relief, as it curved away +from them and fell to the south. And then the explosion, lighting the +whole southern sky.</p> + +<p>There was a similar explosion in the screen, when the mass of nega-iron +landed—a sheet of pure white light, so bright and so quick as to almost +pass above the limit of visibility, and then a moment's darkness that +was in his stunned eyes more<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> than in the screen, and then the rising +glow of updrawn incandescent dust.</p> + +<p>Before the sound-waves had reached them, he had been legging it into the +house. The television had been on, and it had been acting as insanely as +the screen on his right now. He had called the State Police—the +telephones had been working all right—and told them who he was, and +they had told him to stay put and they'd send a car for him. They did, +within minutes. Janet and his host and hostess had waited with him on +the lawn until it came, and after he had gotten into it, he had turned +around and looked back through the rear window, and seen Janet standing +under the front light, holding the little dog in her arms, flopping one +of its silly little paws up and down with her hand to wave goodbye to +him.</p> + +<p>He had seen her and the dog like that every day of his life for the last +fifteen years.</p> + +<p>"What kind of radiation are you getting?" he could hear Alexis Pitov +asking into a phone. "What? Nothing else? Oh; yes, of course. But mostly +cosmic. That shouldn't last long." He turned from the phone. "A devil's +own dose of cosmic, and some gamma. It was the cosmic radiation that put +the radios and telescreens out. That's why I insisted that the drone +planes be independent of radio control."</p> + +<p>They always got cosmic radiation from the micro-annihilations in the +test-vault. Well, now they had an idea of what produced natural cosmic +rays. There must be quite a bit of negamatter and posimatter going into +mutual annihilation and total energy release through the Universe.</p> + +<p>"Of course, there were no detectors set up in advance around Auburn," he +said. "We didn't really begin to find anything out for half an hour. By +that time, the cosmic radiation was over and we weren't getting anything +but gamma."</p> + +<p>"What—What has Auburn to do—?" The Russian stopped short. "You think +this was the same thing?" He gave it a moment's consideration. "Lee, +you're crazy! There wasn't an atom of artificial negamatter in the world +in 1969. Nobody had made any before us. We gave each other some +scientific surprises, then, but nobody surprised both of us. You and I, +between us, knew everything that was going on in nuclear physics in the +world. And you know as well as I do—"</p> + +<p>A voice came out of the public-address speaker. "Some of the radio +equipment around the target area, that wasn't knocked out by blast, is +beginning to function again. There is an increasingly heavy gamma +radiation, but no more cosmic rays. They were all prompt radiation from +the annihilation; the gamma is secondary effect. Wait a moment; Captain +Urquiola, of the Air Force, says that the first drone plane is about to +take off."</p> + +<p>It had been two hours after the blast that the first drones had gone +over what had been Auburn, New York. He was trying to remember, as +exactly as possible, what had been learned from them. Gamma radiation; a +great deal of gamma. But it didn't last long. It had been almost down to +a safe level by the time the investigation had been called off, and, two +months after there had been no more missiles, and no way of producing +more, and no targets to send them against if they'd had them, rather—he +had been back at Auburn on his hopeless quest, and there had been almost +no trace of radiation. Nothing but a wide, shallow crater, almost two +hundred feet in diameter and only fifteen at its deepest, already full +of water, and a circle of flattened and scattered rubble for a mile and +a half all around it. He was willing to bet anything that that was what +they'd find where the chunk of nega-iron had landed, fifty miles away on +the pampas.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span></p> + +<p>Well, the first drone ought to be over the target area before long, and +at least one of the balloons that had been sent up was reporting its +course by radio. The radios in the others were silent, and the recording +counters had probably jammed in all of them. There'd be something of +interest when the first drone came back. He dragged his mind back to the +present, and went to work with Alexis Pitov.</p> + +<p>They were at it all night, checking, evaluating, making sure that the +masses of data that were coming in were being promptly processed for +programming the computers. At each of the increasingly frequent +coffee-breaks, he noticed Pitov looking curiously. He said nothing, +however, until, long after dawn, they stood outside the bunker, waiting +for the jeep that would take them back to their bungalow and watching +the line of trucks—Argentine army engineers, locally hired laborers, +load after load of prefab-huts and equipment—going down toward the +target-area, where they would be working for the next week.</p> + +<p>"Lee, were you serious?" Pitov asked. "I mean, about this being like the +one at Auburn?"</p> + +<p>"It was exactly like Auburn; even that blazing light that came rushing +down out of the sky. I wondered about that at the time—what kind of a +missile would produce an effect like that. Now I know. We just launched +one like it."</p> + +<p>"But that's impossible! I told you, between us we know everything that +was happening in nuclear physics then. Nobody in the world knew how to +assemble atoms of negamatter and build them into masses."</p> + +<p>"Nobody, and nothing, on this planet built that mass of negamatter. I +doubt if it even came from this Galaxy. But we didn't know that, then. +When that negamatter meteor fell, the only thing anybody could think of +was that it had been a Soviet missile. If it had hit around Leningrad or +Moscow or Kharkov, who would you have blamed it on?"</p> + + +<hr /> + +<h2>THE END.</h2> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><a name="note" id="note"><b>TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS CORRECTED</b></a></p> + +<p>The following typographical errors in the text were corrected as +detailed here.</p> + +<p>In the text: "Could they have built an ICBM with a thermonuclear +warhead ..." the word "termonuclear" was corrected to "thermonuclear."</p> + +<p>In the text: "If it had hit around Leningrad or Moscow ..." the word +"Lenigrad" was corrected to "Leningrad."</p> + +<p>In the text: "... from all over South America, from South Africa +and Australia ..." the word "Austrailia" was corrected to "Australia."</p> + + +<p>In the text: "Or Japan, or the Moslem States...." the word "Moselem" +was corrected to "Moslem."</p> + +<p>In the text: "... the director of the Institute, left ..." +the word "Insitutue" was corrected to "Institute."</p> + +<p>Misspelt proper names were also corrected: "Klyzneko" was corrected to +"Klyzenko," and "Pitou" was corrected to "Pitov."</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Answer, by Henry Beam Piper + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ANSWER *** + +***** This file should be named 18342-h.htm or 18342-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/8/3/4/18342/ + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Geetu Melwani, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + + +</pre> + +</body> +</html> diff --git a/18342.txt b/18342.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4781337 --- /dev/null +++ b/18342.txt @@ -0,0 +1,935 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Answer, by Henry Beam Piper + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Answer + +Author: Henry Beam Piper + +Release Date: May 8, 2006 [EBook #18342] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ANSWER *** + + + + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Geetu Melwani, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + * * * * * + +Transcriber's Notes: + +This etext was produced from Fantastic Universe Science Fiction, December, +1959. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the copyright +on this publication was renewed. + +A number of typographical errors found in the original text have been +corrected in this version. A list of these errors is found at the end +of this book. + + * * * * * + + + + +The Answer + +by + +H. BEAM PIPER + + +For a moment, after the screen door snapped and wakened him, Lee +Richardson sat breathless and motionless, his eyes still closed, trying +desperately to cling to the dream and print it upon his conscious memory +before it faded. + +"Are you there, Lee?" he heard Alexis Pitov's voice. + +"Yes, I'm here. What time is it?" he asked, and then added, "I fell +asleep. I was dreaming." + +It was all right; he was going to be able to remember. He could still +see the slim woman with the graying blonde hair, playing with the little +dachshund among the new-fallen leaves on the lawn. He was glad they'd +both been in this dream together; these dream-glimpses were all he'd had +for the last fifteen years, and they were too precious to lose. He +opened his eyes. The Russian was sitting just outside the light from the +open door of the bungalow, lighting a cigarette. For a moment, he could +see the blocky, high-cheeked face, now pouched and wrinkled, and then +the flame went out and there was only the red coal glowing in the +darkness. He closed his eyes again, and the dream picture came back to +him, the woman catching the little dog and raising her head as though to +speak to him. + +"Plenty of time, yet." Pitov was speaking German instead of Spanish, as +they always did between themselves. "They're still counting down from +minus three hours. I just phoned the launching site for a jeep. +Eugenio's been there ever since dinner; they say he's running around +like a cat looking for a place to have her first litter of kittens." + +He chuckled. This would be something new for Eugenio Galvez--for which +he could be thankful. + +"I hope the generators don't develop any last-second bugs," he said. +"We'll only be a mile and a half away, and that'll be too close to fifty +kilos of negamatter if the field collapses." + +"It'll be all right," Pitov assured him. "The bugs have all been chased +out years ago." + +"Not out of those generators in the rocket. They're new." He fumbled in +his coat pocket for his pipe and tobacco. "I never thought I'd run +another nuclear-bomb test, as long as I lived." + +"Lee!" Pitov was shocked. "You mustn't call it that. It isn't that, at +all. It's purely a scientific experiment." + +"Wasn't that all any of them were? We made lots of experiments like +this, back before 1969." The memories of all those other tests, each +ending in an Everest-high mushroom column, rose in his mind. And the end +result--the United States and the Soviet Union blasted to rubble, a +whole hemisphere pushed back into the Dark Ages, a quarter of a billion +dead. Including a slim woman with graying blonde hair, and a little red +dog, and a girl from Odessa whom Alexis Pitov had been going to marry. +"Forgive me, Alexis. I just couldn't help remembering. I suppose it's +this shot we're going to make, tonight. It's so much like the other +ones, before--" He hesitated slightly. "Before the Auburn Bomb." + +There; he'd come out and said it. In all the years they'd worked +together at the _Instituto Argentino de Ciencia Fisica_, that had been +unmentioned between them. The families of hanged cutthroats avoid +mention of ropes and knives. He thumbed the old-fashioned American +lighter and held it to his pipe. Across the veranda, in the darkness, he +knew that Pitov was looking intently at him. + +"You've been thinking about that, lately, haven't you?" the Russian +asked, and then, timidly: "Was that what you were dreaming of?" + +"Oh, no, thank heaven!" + +"I think about it, too, always. I suppose--" He seemed relieved, now +that it had been brought out into the open and could be discussed. "You +saw it fall, didn't you?" + +"That's right. From about thirty miles away. A little closer than we'll +be to this shot, tonight. I was in charge of the investigation at +Auburn, until we had New York and Washington and Detroit and Mobile and +San Francisco to worry about. Then what had happened to Auburn wasn't +important, any more. We were trying to get evidence to lay before the +United Nations. We kept at it for about twelve hours after the United +Nations had ceased to exist." + +"I could never understand about that, Lee. I don't know what the truth +is; I probably never shall. But I know that my government did not launch +that missile. During the first days after yours began coming in, I +talked to people who had been in the Kremlin at the time. One had been +in the presence of Klyzenko himself when the news of your bombardment +arrived. He said that Klyzenko was absolutely stunned. We always +believed that your government decided upon a preventive surprise attack, +and picked out a town, Auburn, New York, that had been hit by one of our +first retaliation missiles, and claimed that it had been hit first." + +He shook his head. "Auburn was hit an hour before the first American +missile was launched. I know that to be a fact. We could never +understand why you launched just that one, and no more until after ours +began landing on you; why you threw away the advantage of surprise and +priority of attack--" + +"Because we didn't do it, Lee!" The Russian's voice trembled with +earnestness. "You believe me when I tell you that?" + +"Yes, I believe you. After all that happened, and all that you, and I, +and the people you worked with, and the people I worked with, and your +government, and mine, have been guilty of, it would be a waste of breath +for either of us to try to lie to the other about what happened fifteen +years ago." He drew slowly on his pipe. "But who launched it, then? It +had to be launched by somebody." + +"Don't you think I've been tormenting myself with that question for the +last fifteen years?" Pitov demanded. "You know, there were people inside +the Soviet Union--not many, and they kept themselves well hidden--who +were dedicated to the overthrow of the Soviet regime. They, or some of +them, might have thought that the devastation of both our countries, and +the obliteration of civilization in the Northern Hemisphere, would be a +cheap price to pay for ending the rule of the Communist Party." + +"Could they have built an ICBM with a thermonuclear warhead in secret?" +he asked. "There were also fanatical nationalist groups in Europe, both +sides of the Iron Curtain, who might have thought our mutual destruction +would be worth the risks involved." + +"There was China, and India. If your country and mine wiped each other +out, they could go back to the old ways and the old traditions. Or +Japan, or the Moslem States. In the end, they all went down along with +us, but what criminal ever expects to fall?" + +"We have too many suspects, and the trail's too cold, Alexis. That +rocket wouldn't have had to have been launched anywhere in the Northern +Hemisphere. For instance, our friends here in the Argentine have been +doing very well by themselves since _El Coloso del Norte_ went down." + +And there were the Australians, picking themselves up bargains in +real-estate in the East Indies at gun-point, and there were the Boers, +trekking north again, in tanks instead of ox-wagons. And Brazil, with a +not-too-implausible pretender to the Braganza throne, calling itself the +Portuguese Empire and looking eastward. And, to complete the picture, +here were Professor Doctor Lee Richardson and Comrade Professor Alexis +Petrovitch Pitov, getting ready to test a missile with a +matter-annihilation warhead. + +No. This thing just wasn't a weapon. + +A jeep came around the corner, lighting the dark roadway between the +bungalows, its radio on and counting down--_Twenty two minutes. Twenty +one fifty nine, fifty eight, fifty seven_--It came to a stop in front of +their bungalow, at exactly Minus Two Hours, Twenty One Minutes, Fifty +Four Seconds. The driver called out in Spanish: + +"Doctor Richardson; Doctor Pitov! Are you ready?" + +"Yes, ready. We're coming." + +They both got to their feet, Richardson pulling himself up reluctantly. +The older you get, the harder it is to leave a comfortable chair. He +settled himself beside his colleague and former enemy, and the jeep +started again, rolling between the buildings of the living-quarters area +and out onto the long, straight road across the pampas toward the +distant blaze of electric lights. + +He wondered why he had been thinking so much, lately, about the Auburn +Bomb. He'd questioned, at times, indignantly, of course, whether Russia +had launched it--but it wasn't until tonight, until he had heard what +Pitov had had to say, that he seriously doubted it. Pitov wouldn't lie +about it, and Pitov would have been in a position to have known the +truth, if the missile had been launched from Russia. Then he stopped +thinking about what was water--or blood--a long time over the dam. + +The special policeman at the entrance to the launching site reminded +them that they were both smoking; when they extinguished, respectively, +their cigarette and pipe, he waved the jeep on and went back to his +argument with a carload of tourists who wanted to get a good view of the +launching. + +"There, now, Lee; do you need anything else to convince you that this +isn't a weapon project?" Pitov asked. + +"No, now that you mention it. I don't. You know, I don't believe I've +had to show an identity card the whole time I've been here." + +"I don't believe I have an identity card," Pitov said. "Think of that." + +The lights blazed everywhere around them, but mostly about the rocket +that towered above everything else, so thick that it seemed squat. The +gantry-cranes had been hauled away, now, and it stood alone, but it was +still wreathed in thick electric cables. They were pouring enough +current into that thing to light half the street-lights in Buenos Aires; +when the cables were blown free by separation charges at the blastoff, +the generators powered by the rocket-engines had better be able to take +over, because if the magnetic field collapsed and that fifty-kilo chunk +of negative-proton matter came in contact with natural positive-proton +matter, an old-fashioned H-bomb would be a firecracker to what would +happen. Just one hundred kilos of pure, two-hundred proof MC2. + +The driver took them around the rocket, dodging assorted trucks and +mobile machinery that were being hurried out of the way. The countdown +was just beyond two hours five minutes. The jeep stopped at the edge of +a crowd around three more trucks, and Doctor Eugenio Galvez, the +director of the Institute, left the crowd and approached at an awkward +half-run as they got down. + +"Is everything checked, gentlemen?" he wanted to know. + +"It was this afternoon at 1730," Pitov told him. "And nobody's been +burning my telephone to report anything different. Are the balloons and +the drone planes ready?" + +"The Air Force just finished checking; they're ready. Captain Urquiola +flew one of the planes over the course and made a guidance-tape; that's +been duplicated and all the planes are equipped with copies." + +"How's the wind?" Richardson asked. + +"Still steady. We won't have any trouble about fallout or with the +balloons." + +"Then we'd better go back to the bunker and make sure everybody there is +on the job." + +The loudspeaker was counting down to Two Hours One Minute. + +"Could you spare a few minutes to talk to the press?" Eugenio Galvez +asked. "And perhaps say a few words for telecast? This last is most +important; we can't explain too many times the purpose of this +experiment. There is still much hostility, arising from fear that we are +testing a nuclear weapon." + +The press and telecast services were well represented; there were close +to a hundred correspondents, from all over South America, from South +Africa and Australia, even one from Ceylon. They had three trucks, with +mobile telecast pickups, and when they saw who was approaching, they +released the two rocketry experts they had been quizzing and pounced on +the new victims. + +Was there any possibility that negative-proton matter might be used as a +weapon? + +"Anything can be used as a weapon; you could stab a man to death with +that lead pencil you're using," Pitov replied. "But I doubt if +negamatter will ever be so used. We're certainly not working on weapons +design here. We started, six years ago, with the ability to produce +negative protons, reverse-spin neutrons, and positrons, and the +theoretical possibility of assembling them into negamatter. We have just +gotten a fifty kilogramme mass of nega-iron assembled. In those six +years, we had to invent all our techniques, and design all our +equipment. If we'd been insane enough to want to build a nuclear weapon, +after what we went through up North, we could have done so from memory, +and designed a better--which is to say a worse--one from memory in a few +days." + +"Yes, and building a negamatter bomb for military purposes would be like +digging a fifty foot shaft to get a rock to bash somebody's head in, +when you could do the job better with the shovel you're digging with," +Richardson added. "The time, money, energy and work we put in on this +thing would be ample to construct twenty thermonuclear bombs. And that's +only a small part of it." He went on to tell them about the magnetic +bottle inside the rocket's warhead, mentioning how much electric current +was needed to keep up the magnetic field that insulated the negamatter +from contact with posimatter. + +"Then what was the purpose of this experiment, Doctor Richardson?" + +"Oh, we were just trying to find out a few basic facts about natural +structure. Long ago, it was realized that the nucleonic +particles--protons, neutrons, mesons and so on--must have structure of +their own. Since we started constructing negative-proton matter, we've +found out a few things about nucleonic structure. Some rather odd +things, including fractions of Planck's constant." + +A couple of the correspondents--a man from La Prensa, and an +Australian--whistled softly. The others looked blank. Pitov took over: + +"You see, gentlemen, most of what we learned, we learned from putting +negamatter atoms together. We annihilated a few of them--over there in +that little concrete building, we have one of the most massive steel +vaults in the world, where we do that--but we assembled millions of them +for every one we annihilated, and that chunk of nega-iron inside the +magnetic bottle kept growing. And when you have a piece of negamatter +you don't want, you can't just throw it out on the scrap-pile. We might +have rocketed it into escape velocity and let it blow up in space, away +from the Moon or any of the artificial satellites, but why waste it? So +we're going to have the rocket eject it, and when it falls, we can see, +by our telemetered instruments, just what happens." + +"Well, won't it be annihilated by contact with atmosphere?" somebody +asked. + +"That's one of the things we want to find out," Pitov said. "We estimate +about twenty percent loss from contact with atmosphere, but the mass +that actually lands on the target area should be about forty kilos. It +should be something of a spectacle, coming down." + +"You say you had to assemble it, after creating the negative protons and +neutrons and the positrons. Doesn't any of this sort of matter exist in +nature?" + +The man who asked that knew better himself. He just wanted the answer on +the record. + +"Oh no; not on this planet, and probably not in the Galaxy. There may be +whole galaxies composed of nothing but negamatter. There may even be +isolated stars and planetary systems inside our Galaxy composed of +negamatter, though I think that very improbable. But when negamatter and +posimatter come into contact with one another, the result is immediate +mutual annihilation." + +They managed to get away from the press, and returned as far as the +bunkers, a mile and a half away. Before they went inside, Richardson +glanced up at the sky, fixing the location of a few of the more +conspicuous stars in his mind. There were almost a hundred men and women +inside, each at his or her instruments--view-screens, radar indicators, +detection instruments of a dozen kinds. The reporters and telecast +people arrived shortly afterward, and Eugenio Galvez took them in tow. +While Richardson and Pitov were making their last-minute rounds, the +countdown progressed past minus one hour, and at minus twenty minutes +all the overhead lights went off and the small instrument operators' +lights came on. + +Pitov turned on a couple of view-screens, one from a pickup on the roof +of the bunker and another from the launching-pad. They sat down side by +side and waited. Richardson got his pipe out and began loading it. The +loudspeaker was saying: "_Minus two minutes, one fifty nine, fifty +eight, fifty seven_--" + +He let his mind drift away from the test, back to the world that had +been smashed around his ears in the autumn of 1969. He was doing that so +often, now, when he should be thinking about-- + +"_Two seconds, one second_. FIRING!" + +It was a second later that his eyes focussed on the left hand +view-screen. Red and yellow flames were gushing out at the bottom of the +rocket, and it was beginning to tremble. Then the upper jets, the ones +that furnished power for the generators, began firing. He looked +anxiously at the meters; the generators were building up power. Finally, +when he was sure that the rocket would be blasting off anyhow, the +separator-charges fired and the heavy cables fell away. An instant +later, the big missile started inching upward, gaining speed by the +second, first slowly and jerkily and then more rapidly, until it passed +out of the field of the pickup. He watched the rising spout of fire from +the other screen until it passed from sight. + +By that time, Pitov had twisted a dial and gotten another view on the +left hand screen, this time from close to the target. That camera was +radar-controlled; it had fastened onto the approaching missile, which +was still invisible. The stars swung slowly across the screen until +Richardson recognized the ones he had spotted at the zenith. In a +moment, now, the rocket, a hundred miles overhead, would be nosing down, +and then the warhead would open and the magnetic field inside would +alter and the mass of negamatter would be ejected. + +The stars were blotted out by a sudden glow of light. Even at a hundred +miles, there was enough atmospheric density to produce considerable +energy release. Pitov, beside him, was muttering, partly in German and +partly in Russian; most of what Richardson caught was figures. Trying to +calculate how much of the mass of unnatural iron would get down for the +ground blast. Then the right hand screen broke into a wriggling orgy of +color, and at the same time every scrap of radio-transmitted apparatus +either went out or began reporting erratically. The left hand screen, +connected by wiring to the pickup on the roof, was still functioning. +For a moment, Richardson wondered what was going on, and then shocked +recognition drove that from his mind as he stared at the +ever-brightening glare in the sky. + +It was the Auburn Bomb again! He was back, in memory, to the night on +the shore of Lake Ontario; the party breaking up in the early hours of +morning; he and Janet and the people with whom they had been spending a +vacation week standing on the lawn as the guests were getting into their +cars. And then the sudden light in the sky. The cries of surprise, and +then of alarm as it seemed to be rushing straight down upon them. He and +Janet, clutching each other and staring up in terror at the falling +blaze from which there seemed no escape. Then relief, as it curved away +from them and fell to the south. And then the explosion, lighting the +whole southern sky. + +There was a similar explosion in the screen, when the mass of nega-iron +landed--a sheet of pure white light, so bright and so quick as to almost +pass above the limit of visibility, and then a moment's darkness that +was in his stunned eyes more than in the screen, and then the rising +glow of updrawn incandescent dust. + +Before the sound-waves had reached them, he had been legging it into the +house. The television had been on, and it had been acting as insanely as +the screen on his right now. He had called the State Police--the +telephones had been working all right--and told them who he was, and +they had told him to stay put and they'd send a car for him. They did, +within minutes. Janet and his host and hostess had waited with him on +the lawn until it came, and after he had gotten into it, he had turned +around and looked back through the rear window, and seen Janet standing +under the front light, holding the little dog in her arms, flopping one +of its silly little paws up and down with her hand to wave goodbye to +him. + +He had seen her and the dog like that every day of his life for the last +fifteen years. + +"What kind of radiation are you getting?" he could hear Alexis Pitov +asking into a phone. "What? Nothing else? Oh; yes, of course. But mostly +cosmic. That shouldn't last long." He turned from the phone. "A devil's +own dose of cosmic, and some gamma. It was the cosmic radiation that put +the radios and telescreens out. That's why I insisted that the drone +planes be independent of radio control." + +They always got cosmic radiation from the micro-annihilations in the +test-vault. Well, now they had an idea of what produced natural cosmic +rays. There must be quite a bit of negamatter and posimatter going into +mutual annihilation and total energy release through the Universe. + +"Of course, there were no detectors set up in advance around Auburn," he +said. "We didn't really begin to find anything out for half an hour. By +that time, the cosmic radiation was over and we weren't getting anything +but gamma." + +"What--What has Auburn to do--?" The Russian stopped short. "You think +this was the same thing?" He gave it a moment's consideration. "Lee, +you're crazy! There wasn't an atom of artificial negamatter in the world +in 1969. Nobody had made any before us. We gave each other some +scientific surprises, then, but nobody surprised both of us. You and I, +between us, knew everything that was going on in nuclear physics in the +world. And you know as well as I do--" + +A voice came out of the public-address speaker. "Some of the radio +equipment around the target area, that wasn't knocked out by blast, is +beginning to function again. There is an increasingly heavy gamma +radiation, but no more cosmic rays. They were all prompt radiation from +the annihilation; the gamma is secondary effect. Wait a moment; Captain +Urquiola, of the Air Force, says that the first drone plane is about to +take off." + +It had been two hours after the blast that the first drones had gone +over what had been Auburn, New York. He was trying to remember, as +exactly as possible, what had been learned from them. Gamma radiation; a +great deal of gamma. But it didn't last long. It had been almost down to +a safe level by the time the investigation had been called off, and, two +months after there had been no more missiles, and no way of producing +more, and no targets to send them against if they'd had them, rather--he +had been back at Auburn on his hopeless quest, and there had been almost +no trace of radiation. Nothing but a wide, shallow crater, almost two +hundred feet in diameter and only fifteen at its deepest, already full +of water, and a circle of flattened and scattered rubble for a mile and +a half all around it. He was willing to bet anything that that was what +they'd find where the chunk of nega-iron had landed, fifty miles away on +the pampas. + +Well, the first drone ought to be over the target area before long, and +at least one of the balloons that had been sent up was reporting its +course by radio. The radios in the others were silent, and the recording +counters had probably jammed in all of them. There'd be something of +interest when the first drone came back. He dragged his mind back to the +present, and went to work with Alexis Pitov. + +They were at it all night, checking, evaluating, making sure that the +masses of data that were coming in were being promptly processed for +programming the computers. At each of the increasingly frequent +coffee-breaks, he noticed Pitov looking curiously. He said nothing, +however, until, long after dawn, they stood outside the bunker, waiting +for the jeep that would take them back to their bungalow and watching +the line of trucks--Argentine army engineers, locally hired laborers, +load after load of prefab-huts and equipment--going down toward the +target-area, where they would be working for the next week. + +"Lee, were you serious?" Pitov asked. "I mean, about this being like the +one at Auburn?" + +"It was exactly like Auburn; even that blazing light that came rushing +down out of the sky. I wondered about that at the time--what kind of a +missile would produce an effect like that. Now I know. We just launched +one like it." + +"But that's impossible! I told you, between us we know everything that +was happening in nuclear physics then. Nobody in the world knew how to +assemble atoms of negamatter and build them into masses." + +"Nobody, and nothing, on this planet built that mass of negamatter. I +doubt if it even came from this Galaxy. But we didn't know that, then. +When that negamatter meteor fell, the only thing anybody could think of +was that it had been a Soviet missile. If it had hit around Leningrad or +Moscow or Kharkov, who would you have blamed it on?" + + +THE END. + + + + + * * * * * + +TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS CORRECTED + +The following typographical errors in the text were corrected as +detailed here. + +In the text: "Could they have built an ICBM with a thermonuclear +warhead ..." the word "termonuclear" was corrected to "thermonuclear." + +In the text: "If it had hit around Leningrad or Moscow ..." the word +"Lenigrad" was corrected to "Leningrad." + +In the text: "... from all over South America, from South Africa +and Australia ..." the word "Austrailia" was corrected to "Australia." + +In the text: "Or Japan, or the Moslem States...." the word "Moselem" +was corrected to "Moslem." + +In the text: "... the director of the Institute, left ..." the word +"Insitutue" was corrected to "Institute." + +Misspelt proper names were also corrected: "Klyzneko" was corrected to +"Klyzenko," and "Pitou" was corrected to "Pitov." + + * * * * * + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Answer, by Henry Beam Piper + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ANSWER *** + +***** This file should be named 18342.txt or 18342.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/8/3/4/18342/ + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Geetu Melwani, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/18342.zip b/18342.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..20098f0 --- /dev/null +++ b/18342.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..742beff --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #18342 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/18342) |