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diff --git a/38302-8.txt b/38302-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 242079f..0000000 --- a/38302-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1139 +0,0 @@ - The Lonely Ones - - -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 http://www.gutenberg.org/license. - -Title: The Lonely Ones - -Author: Edward W. Ludwig - -Release Date: December 12, 2011 [EBook #38302] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LONELY ONES *** - - - - -Produced by Frank van Drogen, Greg Weeks, and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net. - - The Lonely Ones - - By Edward W. Ludwig - - Illustrated by PAUL ORBAN - - _The line between noble dreams and madness is thin, and - loneliness can push men past it...._ - - -Onward sped the _Wanderer_, onward through cold, silent infinity, on and -on, an insignificant pencil of silver lost in the terrible, brooding -blackness. - -But even more awful than the blackness was the loneliness of the six men -who inhabited the silver rocket. They moved in loneliness as fish move -in water. Their lives revolved in loneliness as planets revolve in space -and time. They bore their loneliness like a shroud, and it was as much a -part of them as sight in their eyes. Loneliness was both their brother -and their god. - -Yet, like a tiny flame in the darkness, there was hope, a savage, -desperate hope that grew with the passing of each day, each month, and -each year. - -And at last.... - -"Lord," breathed Captain Sam Wiley. - -Lieutenant Gunderson nodded. "It's a big one, isn't it?" - -"It's a big one," repeated Captain Wiley. - -They stared at the image in the _Wanderer's_ forward visi-screen, at the -great, shining gray ball. They stared hard, for it was like an -enchanted, God-given fruit handed them on a star-flecked platter of -midnight. It was like the answer to a thousand prayers, a shining symbol -of hope which could mean the end of loneliness. - -"It's ten times as big as Earth," mused Lieutenant Gunderson. "Do you -think this'll be it, Captain?" - -"I'm afraid to think." - -A thoughtful silence. - -"Captain." - -"Yes?" - -"Do you hear my heart pounding?" - -Captain Wiley smiled. "No. No, of course not." - -"It seems like everybody should be hearing it. But we shouldn't get -excited, should we? We mustn't hope too hard." He bit his lip. "But -there _should_ be life there, don't you think, Captain?" - -"There may be." - -"Nine years, Captain. Think of it. It's taken us nine years to get here. -There's _got_ to be life." - -"Prepare for deceleration, Lieutenant." - -Lieutenant Gunderson's tall, slim body sagged for an instant. Then his -eyes brightened. - -"Yes, sir!" - - ---- - -Captain Sam Wiley continued to stare at the beautiful gray globe in the -visi-screen. He was not like Gunderson, with boyish eagerness and -anxiety flowing out of him in a ceaseless babble. His emotion was as -great, or greater, but it was imprisoned within him, like swirling, -foaming liquid inside a corked jug. - -It wouldn't do to encourage the men too much. Because, if they were -disappointed.... - -He shook his silver-thatched head. There it was, he thought. A new -world. A world that, perhaps, held life. - -Life. It was a word uttered only with reverence, for throughout the -Solar System, with the exception of on Earth, there had been only death. - -First it was the Moon, airless and lifeless. That had been expected, of -course. - -But Mars. For centuries men had dreamed of Mars and written of Mars with -its canals and dead cities, with its ancient men and strange animals. -Everyone _knew_ there was or had been life on Mars. - -The flaming rockets reached Mars, and the canals became volcanic -crevices, and the dead cities became jagged peaks of red stone, and the -endless sands were smooth, smooth, smooth, untouched by feet of living -creatures. There was plant-life, a species of green-red lichen in the -Polar regions. But nowhere was there real life. - -Then Venus, with its dust and wind. No life there. Not even the stars to -make one think of home. Only the dust and wind, a dark veil of death -screaming eternally over hot dry land. - -And Jupiter, with its seas of ice; and hot Mercury, a cracked, withered -mummy of a planet, baked as hard and dry as an ancient walnut in a -furnace. - -Next, the airless, rocky asteroids, and frozen Saturn with its swirling -ammonia snows. And last, the white, silent worlds, Uranus, Neptune, and -Pluto. - -World after world, all dead, with no sign of life, no reminder of life, -and no promise of life. - -Thus the loneliness had grown. It was not a child of Earth. It was not -born in the hearts of those who scurried along city pavements or of -those in the green fields or of those in the cool, clean houses. - -It was a child of the incredible distances, of the infinite night, of -emptiness and silence. It was born in the hearts of the slit-eyed men, -the oldish young men, the spacemen. - -For without life on other worlds, where was the sky's challenge? Why go -on and on to discover only worlds of death? - -The dream of the spacemen turned from the planets to the stars. -Somewhere in the galaxy or in other galaxies there _had_ to be life. -Life was a wonderful and precious thing. It wasn't right that it should -be confined to a single, tiny planet. If it were, then life would seem -meaningless. Mankind would be a freak, a cosmic accident. - -And now the _Wanderer_ was on the first interstellar flight, hurtling -through the dark spaces to Proxima Centauri. Moving silently, as if -motionless, yet at a speed of 160,000 miles a second. And ahead loomed -the great, gray planet, the only planet of the sun, growing larger, -larger, each instant.... - - ---- - -A gentle, murmuring hum filled the ship. The indicator lights on the -control panel glowed like a swarm of pink eyes. - -"Deceleration compensator adjusted for 12 G's, sir," reported Lieutenant -Gunderson. - -Captain Wiley nodded, still studying the image of the planet. - -"There--there's something else, Captain." - -"Yes?" - -"It's Brown, sir. He's drunk." - -Captain Wiley turned, a scowl on his hard, lined face. "Drunk? Where'd -he get the stuff?" - -"He saved it, sir, saved it for nine years. Said he was going to drink -it when we discovered life." - -"We haven't discovered life yet." - -"I know. He said he wouldn't set foot on the planet if he was sober. -Said if there isn't life there, he couldn't take it--unless he was -drunk." - -Captain Wiley grunted. "All right." - -They looked at the world. - -"Wouldn't it be wonderful, Captain? Just think--to meet another race. It -wouldn't matter what they were like, would it? If they were primitive, -we could teach them things. If they were ahead of us, they could teach -us. You know what I'd like? To have someone meet us, to gather around -us. It wouldn't matter if they were afraid of us or even if they tried -to kill us. We'd know that we aren't alone." - -"I know what you mean," said Captain Wiley. Some of his emotion -overflowed the prison of his body. "There's no thrill in landing on dead -worlds. If no one's there to see you, you don't feel like a hero." - -"That's it, Captain! That's why I came on this crazy trip. I guess -that's why we all came. I...." - -Captain Wiley cleared his throat. "Lieutenant, commence deceleration. 6 -G's." - -"Yes, sir!" - -The planet grew bigger, filling the entire visi-screen. - -Someone coughed behind Captain Wiley. - -"Sir, the men would like to look at the screen. They can't see the -planet out of the ports yet." The speaker was Doyle, the ship's -Engineer, a dry, tight-skinned little man. - -"Sure." Captain Wiley stepped aside. - -Doyle looked, then Parker and Fong. Just three of them, for Watkins had -sliced his wrists the fourth year out. And Brown was drunk. - -As they looked, a realization came to Captain Wiley. The men were -getting old. The years had passed so gradually that he'd never really -noticed it before. Lieutenant Gunderson had been a kid just out of Space -Academy. Parker and Doyle and Fong, too, had been in their twenties. -They had been boys. And now something was gone--the sharp eyes and sure -movements of youth, the smooth skin and thick, soft hair. - -Now they had become men. And yet for a few moments, as they gazed at the -screen, they seemed like happy, expectant children. - -"I wish Brown could see this," Doyle murmured. "He says now he isn't -going to get off his couch till we land and discover life. Says he won't -dare look for himself." - -"The planet's right for life," said Fong, the dark-faced -astro-physicist. "Atmosphere forty per cent oxygen, lots of water vapor. -No poisonous gases, according to spectroscopic analyses. It should be -ideal for life." - -"There _is_ life there," said Parker, the radarman. "You know why? -Because we've given up eighteen years of our lives. Nine years to get -here, nine to get back. I'm thirty now. I was twenty-one when we left -Earth. I gave up all those good years. They say that you can have -something if you pay enough for it. Well, we've paid for this. There has -to be a--a sort of universal justice. That's why I know there's life -here, life that moves and thinks--maybe even life we can talk to." - -"You need a drink," said Fong. - -"It's getting bigger," murmured Lieutenant Gunderson. - -"The Centaurians," mused Doyle, half to himself. "What'll they be like? -Monsters or men? If Parker's right about universal justice, they'll be -men." - -"Hey, where there's men, there's women!" yelled Parker. "A Centaurian -woman! Say!" - -"Look at those clouds!" exclaimed Doyle. "Damn it, we can't see the -surface." - -"Hey, there! Look there, to the right! See it? It's silver, down in a -hole in the clouds. It's like a city!" - -"Maybe it's just water." - -"No, it's a city!" - -"Bring 'er down, Captain. God, Captain, bring 'er down fast!" - -"Drag Brown in here! He ought to see this!" - -"Can't you bring 'er down faster, Captain?" - -"Damn it, it _is_ a city!" - -"Why doesn't someone get Brown?" - -"Take to your couches, men," said Captain Wiley. "Landing's apt to be a -bit bumpy. Better strap yourselves in." - - ---- - -Down went the rocket, more slowly now, great plumes of scarlet -thundering from its forward braking jets. Down, down into soft, -cotton-like clouds, the whiteness sliding silently past the ports. - -Suddenly, a droning voice: - -"To those in the ship from the planet called Earth: Please refrain from -landing at this moment. You will await landing instructions." - -Parker leaped off his couch, grasping a stanchion for support. "That -voice! It was human!" - -Captain Wiley's trembling hand moved over the jet-control panel. The -ship slowed in its descent. The clouds outside the portholes became -motionless, a milky whiteness pressed against the ship. - -"The voice!" Parker cried again. "Am I crazy? Did everyone hear it?" - -Captain Wiley turned away from the panel. "We heard it, Parker. It was -in our minds. Telepathy." - -He smiled. "Yes, the planet is inhabited. There are intelligent beings -on it. Perhaps they're more intelligent than we are." - -It was strange. The men had hoped, dreamed, prayed for this moment. Now -they sat stunned, unable to comprehend, their tongues frozen. - -"We'll see them very soon," said Captain Wiley, his voice quivering. -"We'll wait for their directions." - -Breathlessly, they waited. - -Captain Wiley's fingers drummed nervously on the base of the control -panel. Lieutenant Gunderson rose from his couch, stood in the center of -the cabin, then returned to his couch. - -Silence, save for the constant, rumbling roar of the jets which held the -ship aloft. - -"I wonder how long it'll be," murmured Fong at last. - -"It seems like a long time!" burst Parker. - -"We've waited nine years," said Captain Wiley. "We can wait a few more -minutes." - -They waited. - -"Good Lord!" said Parker. "How long is it going to be? What time is it? -We've been waiting an hour! What kind of people are they down there?" - -"Maybe they've forgotten about us," said Fong. - -"That's it!" cried Parker. "They've forgotten about us! Hey, you! Down -there--you that talked to us! We're still here, damn it! We want to -land!" - -"Parker," said Captain Wiley, sternly. - -Parker sat down on his couch, his lips quivering. - -Then came the voice: - -"We regret that a landing is impossible at this moment. Our field is -overcrowded, and your vessel is without priority. You must wait your -turn." - -Captain Wiley stared forward at nothing. "Whoever you are," he -whispered, "please understand that we have come a long way to reach your -planet. Our trip...." - -"We do not wish to discuss your trip. You will be notified when landing -space is available." - -Captain Wiley's body shook. "Wait, tell us who you are. What do you look -like? Tell us...." - -"Talking to you is quite difficult. We must form our thoughts so as to -form word-patterns in your minds. You will be notified." - -"Wait a minute!" called Captain Wiley. - -No answer. - -Captain Wiley straightened in an effort to maintain dignity. - -They waited.... - - ---- - -It was night. - -The darkness was an impenetrable blanket, a solid thing, like thick -black velvet glued over the ports. It was worse than the darkness of -space. - -Captain Wiley sat before the control panel, slowly beating his fists -against the arms of his chair, a human metronome ticking off the slow -seconds. - -Parker stood before a porthole. - -"Hey, look, Captain! There's a streak of red, like a meteor. And there's -another!" - -Captain Wiley rose, looked out. "They're rockets. They're going to land. -These people are highly advanced." - -His face became grim. Below them lay a planet, an intelligent race -hidden beneath clouds and darkness. What manner of creatures were they? -How great was their civilization? What marvelous secrets had their -scientists discovered? What was their food like, their women, their -whiskey? - -The questions darted endlessly through his mind like teasing -needle-points. All these wondrous things lay below them, and here they -sat, like starving men, their hands tied, gazing upon a steaming but -unobtainable dinner. So near and yet so far. - -He trembled. The emotion grew within him until it burst out as water -bursts through the cracked wall of a dam. He became like Parker. - -"Why should we wait?" he yelled. "Why must we land in their field? -Parker! Prepare to release flares! We're going down! We'll land -anywhere--in a street, in the country. We don't have to wait for -orders!" - -Parker bounced off his couch. Someone called, "Brown, we're going to -land!" - -A scurrying of feet, the rush of taut-muscled bodies, the babble of -excited voices. - -"We're going down!" - -"_We're going down!_" - -The grumble of the _Wanderer's_ jets loudened, softened, spluttered, -loudened again. Vibration filled the ship as it sank downward. - -Suddenly it lurched upward, like a child's ball caught in a stream of -rising water. The jolt staggered the men. They seized stanchions and -bulkhead railings to keep their balance. - -"What the hell?" - -Abruptly, the strange movement ceased. The ship seemed motionless. There -was no vibration. - -"Captain," said Lieutenant Gunderson. "There's no change in altitude. -We're still at 35,000 feet, no more, no less." - -"We _must_ be going down," said Captain Wiley, puzzled. "Kill jets 4 and -6." - -The Lieutenant's hands flicked off two switches. A moment later: -"There's no change, Captain." - -Then came the voice: - -"To those in the vessel from the planet Earth: Please do not oppose -orders of the Landing Council. You are the first visitors in the history -of our world whom we have had to restrain with physical force. You will -be notified when landing space is available." - - ---- - -Morning. - -The warm sunlight streamed into the clouds, washing away the last -shadows and filtering through the portholes. - -The men breakfasted, bathed, shaved, smoked, sat, twisted their fingers, -looked out the ports. They were silent men, with dark shadows about -their eyes and with tight, white-lipped mouths. - -Frequently, the clouds near them were cut by swift, dark shapes swooping -downward. The shapes were indistinct in the cotton-like whiteness, but -obviously they were huge, like a dozen _Wanderers_ made into one. - -"Those ships are big," someone murmured, without enthusiasm. - -"It's a busy spaceport," grumbled Captain Wiley. - -Thoughts, words, movements came so slowly it was like walking under -water. Enthusiasm was dead. The men were automatons, sitting, waiting, -eating, sitting, waiting. - -A day passed, and a night. - -"Maybe they've forgotten us," said Fong. - -No one answered. The thought had been voiced before, a hundred times. - -Then, at last, the droning words: - -"To those in the vessel from the planet Earth: You will now land. We -will carry you directly over the field. Then you will descend straight -down. The atmosphere is suitable to your type of life and is free of -germs. You will not need protection." - -The men stared at one another. - -"Hey," Doyle said, "did you hear that? He says we can go down." - -The men blinked. Captain Wiley swallowed hard. He rose with a stiff, -slow, nervous hesitancy. - -"We're going down," he mumbled, as if repeating the words over and over -in his mind and trying to believe them. - -The men stirred as realization sprouted and grew. They stirred like -lethargic animals aroused from the long, dreamless sleep of hibernation. - -"We're going to land," breathed Parker, unbelievingly. - -The _Wanderer_ moved as though caught in the grip of a giant, invisible -hand. - -The voice said: - -"You may now descend." - -Captain Wiley moved to the jet-control panel. "Lieutenant!" he snapped. -"Wake up. Let's go!" - -The ship sank downward through the thick sea of clouds. The men walked -to the ports. A tenseness, an excitement grew in their faces, like dying -flame being fanned into its former brilliancy. - -Out of the clouds loomed monstrous, shining, silver spires and towers, -Cyclopean bridges, gigantic lake-like mirrors, immense golden spheres. -It was a nightmare world, a jungle of fantastic shape and color. - -The men gasped, whispered, murmured, the flame of their excitement -growing, growing. - -"The whole planet is a city!" breathed Parker. - - ---- - -Thump! - -The _Wanderer_ came to rest on a broad landing field of light blue -stone. The jets coughed, spluttered, died. The ship quivered, then lay -still, its interior charged with an electric, pregnant silence. - -"You first, Captain." Lieutenant Gunderson's voice cracked, and his face -was flushed. "You be the first to go outside." - -Captain Wiley stepped through the airlock, his heart pounding. It was -over now--all the bewilderment, the numbness. - -And his eyes were shining. He'd waited so long that it was hard to -believe the waiting was over. But it was, he told himself. The journey -was over, and the waiting, and now the loneliness would soon be over. -Mankind was not alone. It was a good universe after all! - -He stepped outside, followed by Lieutenant Gunderson, then by Parker, -Doyle and Fong. - -He rubbed his eyes. This couldn't be! A world like this couldn't exist! -He shook his head, blinked furiously. - -"It--it can't be true," he mumbled to Lieutenant Gunderson. "We're still -on the ship--dreaming." - -The landing field was huge, perhaps ten miles across, and its sides were -lined with incredible ships, the smallest of which seemed forty times as -large as the _Wanderer_. There were silver ships, golden ships, black -ships, round ships, transparent ships, cigar-shaped ships, flat-topped -ships. - -And scattered over the field were--creatures. - -A few were the size of men, but most were giants by comparison. Some -were humanoid, some reptilian. Some were naked, some clad in helmeted -suits, some enveloped with a shimmering, water-like luminescence. The -creatures walked, slithered, floated, crawled. - -Beyond the ships and the field lay the great city, its web-work of -towers, minarets, spheres and bridges like the peaks of an enormous -mountain range stretching up into space itself. The structures were like -the colors of a rainbow mixed in a cosmic paint pot, molded and -solidified into fantastic shapes by a mad god. - -"I--I'm going back to the ship," stammered Parker. The whiteness of -death was in his face. "I'm going to stay with Brown." - -He turned, and then he screamed. - -"Captain, the ship's moving!" - -Silently, the _Wanderer_ was drifting to the side of the field. - -The toneless voice said: - -"We are removing your vessel so that other descending ships will not -damage it." - -Captain Wiley shouted into the air. "Wait! Don't go away! Help us! Where -can we see you?" - -The voice seemed to hesitate. "It is difficult for us to speak in -thoughts that you understand." - - ---- - -Silence. - -Captain Wiley studied the faces of his men. They were not faces of -conquerors or of triumphant spacemen. They were the faces of dazed, -frightened children who had caught a glimpse of Hell. He attempted, -feebly, to smile. - -"All right," he said loudly, "so it isn't like we expected. So no one -came to meet us with brass bands and ten cent flags. We've still -succeeded, haven't we? We've found life that's intelligent beyond our -comprehension. What if our own civilization is insignificant by -comparison? Look at those beings. Think of what we can learn from them. -Why, their ships might have exceeded the speed of light. They might be -from other galaxies!" - -"Let's find out," said Parker. - -They strode to the nearest ship, an immense, smooth, bluish sphere. Two -creatures stood before it, shaped like men and yet twice the size of -men. They wore white, skin-tight garments that revealed muscular bodies -like those of gods. - -They looked at Captain Wiley and smiled. - -One of them pointed toward the _Wanderer_. Their smiles widened and then -they laughed. - -They laughed gently, understandingly, but they _laughed_. - -And then they turned away. - -"Talk to them," Parker urged. - -"How?" Beads of perspiration shone on Captain Wiley's face. - -"Any way. Go ahead." - -Captain Wiley wiped his forehead. "We are from Earth, the third -planet...." - -The two god-like men seemed annoyed. They walked away, ignoring the -Earthmen. - -Captain Wiley spat. "All right, so they won't talk to us. Look at that -city! Think of the things we can see there and tell the folks on Earth -about! Why, we'll be heroes!" - -"Let's go," said Parker, his voice quavering around the edges. - -They walked toward a large, oval opening in a side of the field, a hole -between mountainous, conical structures that seemed like the entrance to -a street. - -Suddenly breath exploded from Captain Wiley's lungs. His body jerked -back. He fell to the blue stone pavement. - -Then he scrambled erect, scowling, his hands outstretched. He felt a -soft, rubbery, invisible substance. - -"It's a wall!" he exclaimed. - -The voice droned: - -"To those of Earth: Beings under the 4th stage of Galactic Development -are restricted to the area of the landing field. We are sorry. In your -primitive stage it would be unwise for you to learn the nature of our -civilization. Knowledge of our science would be abused by your people, -and used for the thing you call war. We hope that you have been inspired -by what you have seen. However, neither we nor the other visitors to our -planet are permitted to hold contact with you. It is suggested that you -and your vessel depart." - -"Listen, you!" screamed Parker. "We've been nine years getting here! By -Heaven, we won't leave now! We're...." - -"We have no time to discuss the matter. Beings under the 4th stage of -Galactic...." - -"Never mind!" spat Captain Wiley. - -Madness flamed in Parker's eyes. "We won't go! I tell you, we _won't_, -we _won't_!" - -His fists streaked through the air as if at an invisible enemy. He ran -toward the wall. - -He collided with a jolt that sent him staggering backward, crying, -sobbing, screaming, all at once. - -Captain Wiley stepped forward, struck him on the chin. Parker crumpled. - -They stood looking at his body, which lay motionless except for the slow -rising and falling of his chest. - -"What now, Captain?" asked Lieutenant Gunderson. - -Captain Wiley thought for a few seconds. - -Then he said, "We're ignorant country bumpkins, Lieutenant, riding into -the city in a chugging jalopy. We're stupid savages, trying to discuss -the making of fire with the creators of atomic energy. We're children -racing a paper glider against an atomic-powered jet. We're too -ridiculous to be noticed. We're tolerated--but nothing more." - -"Shall we go home?" asked Fong, a weariness in his voice. - -Lieutenant Gunderson scratched his neck. "I don't think I'd want to go -home now. Could you bear to tell the truth about what happened?" - -Fong looked wistfully at the shining city. "If we told the truth, they -probably wouldn't believe us. We've failed. It sounds crazy. We reached -Proxima Centauri and found life, and yet somehow we failed. No, I -wouldn't like to go home." - -"Still, we learned something," said Doyle. "We know now that there is -life on worlds beside our own. Somewhere there must be other races like -ours." - -They looked at each other, strangely, for a long, long moment. - -At last Lieutenant Gunderson asked, "How far is Alpha Centauri?" - -Captain Wiley frowned. "_Alpha_ Centauri?" Through his mind swirled -chaotic visions of colossal distances, eternal night, and lonely years. -He sought hard to find a seed of hope in his mind, and yet there was no -seed. There were only a coldness and an emptiness. - -Suddenly, the voice: - -"Yes, Men of Earth, we suggest that you try Alpha Centauri." - -The men stood silent and numb, like bewildered children, as the -implication of those incredible words sifted into their consciousness. - -Finally Fong said, "Did--did you hear that? He said..." - -Captain Sam Wiley nodded, very slowly. "Yes. Alpha Centauri. _Alpha_ -Centauri." - -His eyes began to twinkle, and then he smiled.... - - ---- - -Onward sped the _Wanderer_, onward through cold, silent infinity, on and -on, an insignificant pencil of silver lost in the terrible, brooding -blackness. - -Yet even greater than the blackness was the flaming hope in the six men -who inhabited the silver rocket. They moved in hope as fish move in -water. Their lives revolved in hope as planets revolve in space and -time. They bore their hope like a jeweled crown, and it was as much a -part of them as sight in their eyes. Hope was both their brother and -their god. - -And there was no loneliness. - -THE END - -_Transcribers note_: This etext was produced from Galaxy Science Fiction -July 1953. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. -copyright on this publication was renewed. - - - - - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LONELY ONES *** - - - - -A Word from Project Gutenberg - - -We will update this book if we find any errors. - -This book can be found under: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/38302 - -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. 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