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diff --git a/42987-8.txt b/42987-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index b378168..0000000 --- a/42987-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,2131 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Nightmare Planet, by Murray Leinster - -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: Nightmare Planet - -Author: Murray Leinster - -Release Date: June 19, 2013 [EBook #42987] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NIGHTMARE PLANET *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Denny Lien, Mary Meehan and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - Nightmare Planet - - _by_ MURRAY LEINSTER - - (_Illustrations by Tom O'Reilly_) - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Science Fiction - Plus June 1953. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - * * * * * - - _In science-fiction, as in all categories of fiction, there are - stories that are so outstanding from the standpoint of - characterization, concept, and background development that they - remain popular for decades. Two such stories were Murray Leinster's_ - The Mad Planet _and_ Red Dust. _Originally published in 1923, they - have been reprinted frequently both here and abroad. They are now - scheduled for book publication. Especially for this magazine, Murray - Leinster has written the final story in the series. It is not - necessary to have read the previous stories to enjoy this one. Once - again, Burl experiences magnificent adventures against a colorful - background, but to the whole the author has added philosophical and - psychological observations that give this story a flavor seldom - achieved in science-fiction._ - - Under his real name of Will Fitzgerald Jenkins, the author has sold - to _The Saturday Evening Post_, _Colliers'_, _Today's Woman_, in - fact every important publication in America. He has had over 1200 - stories published, 15 books and 35 science-fiction stories - anthologized. His writing earned him a listing in _Who's Who in - America_. - - * * * * * - - - - -The Directory-ship _Tethys_ made the first landing on the planet, -L216^{12}. It was a goodly world, with an ample atmosphere and many -seas, which the nearby sun warmed so lavishly that a perpetual -cloud-bank hid them and all the solid ground from view. It had mountains -and islands and high plateaus. It had day and night and rain. It had an -equable climate, rather on the tropical side. But it possessed no life. - -No animals roamed its solid surface. No vegetation grew from its rocks. -Not even bacteria struggled with the stones to turn them into soil. No -living thing, however small, swam in its oceans. It was one of that -disappointing vast majority of otherwise admirable worlds which was -unsuited for colonization solely because it had not been colonized -before. It could be used for biological experiments in a completely -germ-free environment, or ships could land upon it for water and -supplies of air. The water was pure and the air breathable, but it had -no other present utility. Such was the case with an overwhelming number -of Earth-type planets when first discovered in the exploration of the -galaxy. Life simply hadn't started there. - -So the ship which first landed upon it made due note for the Galactic -Directory and went away, and no other ship came near the planet for -eight hundred years. - -But nearly a millennium later, the Seed-Ship _Orana_ arrived. It landed -and carefully seeded the useless world. It circled endlessly above the -clouds, dribbling out a fine dust comprised of the spores of every -conceivable microorganism that could break down rock to powder and turn -the powder to organic matter. It also seeded with moulds and fungi and -lichens, and everything that could turn powdery primitive soil into -stuff on which higher forms of life could grow. The _Orana_ seeded the -seas with plankton. Then it, too, went away. - -Centuries passed. Then the Ecological Preparation Ship _Ludred_ swam to -the planet from space. It was a gigantic ship of highly improbable -construction and purpose. It found the previous seeding successful. Now -there was soil which swarmed with minute living things. There were fungi -which throve monstrously. The seas stank of teeming minuscule -life-forms. There were even some novelties on land, developed by -strictly local conditions. There were, for example, _paramecium_ as big -as grapes, and yeasts had increased in size so that they bore flowers -visible to the naked eye. The life on the planet was not aboriginal, -though. It had all been planted by the seed-ship of centuries before. - -The _Ludred_ released insects, it dumped fish into the seas. It -scattered plant-seeds over the continents. It treated the planet to a -sort of Russell's Mixture of living things. The real Russell's Mixture -is that blend of simple elements in the proportions found in suns. This -was a blend of living creatures, of whom some should certainly survive -by consuming the now habituated flora, and others which should survive -by preying on the first. The planet was stocked, in effect, with -everything it could be hoped might live there. - -But at the time of the _Ludred's_ visit of course no creature needing -parental care had any chance of survival. Everything had to be able to -care for itself the instant it burst its egg. So there were no birds or -mammals. Trees and plants of divers sorts, and fish and crustaceans and -insects could be planted. Nothing else. - -The _Ludred_ swam away through emptiness. - -There should have been another planting, centuries later still, but it -was never made. When the Ecological Preparation Service was moved to -Algol IV, a file was upset. The cards in it were picked up and replaced, -but one was missed. So that planet was forgotten. It circled its sun in -emptiness. Cloud-banks covered it from pole to pole. There were hazy -markings in certain places, where high plateaus penetrated the clouds. -But from space the planet was featureless. Seen from afar, it was merely -a round white ball--white from its cloud-banks and nothing else. - -But on its surface, in its lowlands it was nightmare. - -Especially was it nightmare--after some centuries--for the descendants -of the human beings from the space-liner _Icarus_, wrecked there some -forty-odd generations ago. Naturally, nobody anywhere else thought of -the _Icarus_ any more. It was not even remembered by the descendants of -its human cargo, who now inhabited the planet. The wreckage of the ship -was long since hidden under the seething, furiously striving fungi of -the boil. The human beings on the planet had forgotten not only the ship -but very nearly everything--how they came to this world, the use of -metals, the existence of fire, and even the fact that there was such a -thing as sunlight. They lived in the lowlands, deep under the -cloud-bank, amid surroundings which were riotous, swarming, frenzied -horror. They had become savages. They were less than savages. They had -forgotten their high destiny as men. - - * * * * * - -[Illustration] - -Dawn came. Grayness appeared overhead and increased. That was all. The -sky was a blank, colorless pall, merely mottled where the clouds -clustered a little thicker or a little thinner, as clouds do. But the -landscape was variegated enough! Where the little group of people -huddled together, there was a wide valley. Its walls rose up and up into -the very clouds. The people had never climbed those hillsides. - -They had not even traditions of what might lie above them, and their -lives had been much too occupied to allow of speculations on cosmology. -By day they were utterly absorbed in two problems which filled every -waking minute. One was the securing of food to eat, under the conditions -of the second problem, which was that of merely staying alive. - -There was only one of their number who sometimes thought of other -matters, and he did so because he had become lost from his group of -humans once, and had found his way back to it. His name was Burl, and -his becoming lost was pure fantastic accident, and his utilization of a -fully inherited power to think was the result of extraordinary events. -But he still had not the actual habit of thinking. This morning he was -like his fellows. - -All of them were soaked with wetness. During the night--every night--the -sky dripped slow, spaced, solemn water-drops during the whole of the -dark hours. This was customary. But normally the humans hid in the -mushroom-forests, sheltered by the toadstools which now grew to three -man-heights. They denned in small openings in the tangled mass of -parasitic growths which flourished in such thickets. But this last night -they had camped in the open. They had no proper habitations of their -own. Caves would have been desirable, but insects made use of caves, and -the descendants of insects introduced untold centuries before had shared -in the size-increase of _paramecium_ and yeasts and the few true plants -which had been able to hold their own. Mining-wasps were two yards long, -and bumble-bees were nearly as huge, and there were other armored -monstrosities which also preferred caves for their own purposes. And of -course the humans could not build habitations, because anything men -built to serve the purpose of a cave would instantly be preempted by -creatures who would automatically destroy any previous occupants. - -The humans had no fixed dens at any time. Now they had not even shelter. -They lacked other things, also. They had no tools save salvaged scraps -of insect-armor--great sawtoothed mandibles or razor-pointed -leg-shells--which they used to pry apart the edible fungi on which they -lived, or to get at the morsels of meat left behind when the brainless -lords of this planet devoured each other. They had not even any useful -knowledge, except desperately accurate special knowledge of the manners -and customs of the insects they could not defy. And on this special -morning they concluded that they were doomed. They were going to be -killed. They stood shivering in the open, waiting for it to happen. - -It was not exactly news. They had had warning days ago, but they could -do nothing about it. Their home valley, to be sure, would have made any -civilized human being shudder merely to look at it, but they had -considered it almost paradise. It was many miles long, and a fair number -wide, and a stream ran down its middle. At the lower end of the valley -there was a vast swamp, from which at nightfall the thunderously -deep-bass croaking of giant frogs could be heard. But that swamp had -kept out the more terrifying creatures of that world. The thirty-foot -centipedes could not cross it or did not choose to. The mastodon-sized -tarantulas which ravaged so much of the planet would not cross it save -in pursuit of prey. So the valley was nearly a haven of safety. - -True, there was one clotho spider in its ogre's castle nearby, and there -was a labyrinth spider in a minor valley which nobody had ever ventured -into, and there were some--not many--praying-mantises as tall as -giraffes. They wandered terribly here and there. But most members of -insect life here were absorbed in their own affairs and ignored the -humans. There was an ant-city, whose foot-long warriors competed with -the humans as scavengers. There were the bees, trying to eke out a -livelihood from the great, cruciform flowers of the giant cabbage-plants -and the milkweeds when water-lilies in the swamps did not bear their -four-foot blooms. Wasps sought their own prey. Flies were consumers of -corruption, but even the flies two feet in length would shy away from a -man who waved his arms at it. So this valley had seemed to these people -to be a truly admirable place. - -But a fiend had entered it. As the gray light grew stronger the -shivering folk looked terrifiedly about them. There were only twenty of -the people now. Two weeks before there had been thirty. In a matter of -days or less, there would be none. Because the valley had been invaded -by a great gray furry spider! - - * * * * * - -There was a stirring, not far from where the man-folk trembled. Small, -inquisitive antennae popped into view among a mass of large-sized -pebbles. There was a violent stirring, and gravel disappeared. Small -black things thrust upward into view and scurried anxiously about. They -returned to the spot from which they had emerged. They were ants, -opening the shaft of their city after scouting for danger outside. They -scratched and pulled and tugged at the plug of stones. They opened the -ant-city's artery of commerce. Strings of small black things came -pouring out. They averaged a foot in length, and they marched off in -groups upon their divers errands. Presently a group of huge-jawed -soldier-ants appeared, picking their way stolidly out of the opening. -They waited stupidly for the workers they were to guard. The workers -came, each carrying a faintly greenish blob of living matter. The -caravan moved off. The humans knew exactly what it was. The green blobs -were aphids--plant lice: ant-cows--small creatures sheltered and guarded -by the ants and daily carried to nearby vegetation to feed upon its sap -and yield inestimable honeydew. - -Something reared up two hundred yards away, where the thin mist that lay -everywhere just barely began to fade all colorings before it dimmed all -outlines. The object was slender. It had a curiously humanlike head. It -held out horrible sawtoothed arms in a gesture as of benediction--which -was purest mockery. Something smaller was drawing near to it. The -colossal praying mantis held its pose, immovable. Presently it struck -downward with lightning speed. There was a cry. The mantis rose erect -again, its great arms holding something that stirred and struggled -helplessly, and repented its unconsonanted outcry. The mantis ate it -daintily as it struggled and screamed. - -The humans did not watch this tragedy. The mantis would eat a man, of -course. It had. The only creatures immune to its menace were ants, which -for some reason it would not touch. But it was a mantis' custom after -spotting its prey to wait immobile for the unlucky creature to come -within its reach. It preferred to make its captures that way. Only if a -thing fled did the mantis pursue with deadly ferocity. Even then it -dined with monstrous deliberation as this one dined now. Still, mantises -could be seen from a distance and hidden from. They were not the terror -which had driven the humans even from their hiding-places. - -It had been two weeks since the giant hunting-spider had come through a -mountain pass into this valley to prey upon the life within it. It was -gigantic even of its kind. It was deadliness beyond compare. The first -human to see it froze in terror. It was disaster itself. Its legs -spanned yards. Its fangs were needle-sharp and feet in length--and -poisoned. Its eyes glittered with insatiable, insane blood-lust. Its -coming was ten times more deadly to the unarmed folk than a Bengal tiger -loose in the valley would have been. - -It killed a man the very first day it was in the valley, leaving his -sucked-dry carcass, and going on to destroy a rhinoceros-beetle and a -cricket--whose deep-bass cries were horrible--and proceeded down the -valley, leaving only death behind it. It had killed other men and women -since. It had caught four children. But even that was not the worst. It -carried worse, more deadly, more inevitable disaster with it. - -Because, bumping and bouncing behind its abdomen as it moved, fastened -to its body with cables of coarse and discolored silk, the -hunting-spider dragged a burden which was its own ferocity many times -multiplied. It dragged an egg-bag. The bag was larger than its body, -four feet in diameter. The female spider would carry this -burden--cherishing it--until the eggs hatched. Then there would be four -to five hundred small monsters at large in the valley. And from the -instant of their hatching they would be just such demoniac creatures as -their parents. They would be small, to be sure. Their legs would span no -more than a foot. Their bodies would be the size of a man's fist. But -they could leap two yards, instantly they reached the open air, and -their inch-long fangs would be no less envenomed, and their ferocity -would be in madness, in insanity and in stark maniacal horror equal the -great gray fiend which had begot them. - -The eggs had hatched. Today--now--this morning--they were abroad. The -little group of humans no longer hid in the mushroom-forests because the -small hunting-spiders sought frenziedly there for things to kill. -Hundreds of small lunatic demons roamed the valley. They swarmed among -the huge toadstools, killing and devouring all living things large and -small. When they encountered each other they fought in slavering, -panting fury, and the survivors of such duels dined upon their brothers. -Small truffle-beetles died, clicking futilely. Infinitesimal grubs, -newly hatched from butterfly eggs and barely six inches long, furnished -them with tidbits. But they would kill anything and feast upon it. - -A woman had died yesterday, and two small gray devils battled -murderously above her corpse. - -Just before darkness a huge yellow butterfly had flung itself agonizedly -aloft, with these small dark horrors clinging to its body, feasting upon -the juices of the body their poison had not yet done to death. - -And now, at daybreak, the humans looked about despairingly for their own -deaths to come to them. They had spent the night in the open lest they -be trapped in the very forests that had been their protection. Now they -remained in clear view of the large gray murderer should it pass that -way. They did not dare to hide because of that ogreish creature's young, -who panted in their blood-lust as they scurried here and there and -everywhere. - -As the day became established, the clouds were gray--gray only. The -night-mist thinned. One of the younger women of the tribe--a girl called -Saya--saw the huge thing far away. She cried out, choking. The others -saw the monster as it leaped upon and murdered a vividly colored -caterpillar on a milkweed near the limit of vision. The milkweed was the -size of a tree. The caterpillar was four yards long. While the enormous -victim writhed as it died, not one of the humans looked away. Presently -all was still. The hunting-spider crouched over its victim in obscene -absorption. Having been madness incarnate, it now was the very exemplar -of a horrid gluttony. - -Again the humans shivered. They were without shelter. They were without -even the concept of arms. But it was morning, and they were alive, and -therefore they were hungry. Their desperation was absolute, but -desperation to some degree was part of their lives. Yet they shivered -and suffered. There were edible mushrooms nearby, but with the deadly -small replicas of the hunting-spider giant roaming everywhere, any -movement was as likely to be deadly as standing still to be found and -killed. The humans murmured to one another, fearfully. - -But there was the young man called Burl, who had been lost from his -tribe and had found it again. The experience had changed him. He had -felt stirrings of atavistic impulses in recent weeks--the more -especially when the young girl Saya looked at him. It was not normal, in -humans conditioned to survive by flight, that Burl should feel -previously unimagined hunger for fury--a longing to hate and do battle. -Of course men sometimes fought for a particular woman's favor, but not -when there were deadly insects about. The carnivorous insects were not -only peril, but horror unfaceable. So Burl's sensations were very -strange. On this planet a courtship did not usually involve displays of -valor. A man who was a more skillful forager than the foot-long ants was -an acceptable husband. Warriors did not exist. - -Burl did not even know what a warrior was. Yet today the sullen, -unreasonable impulses to conduct what he could not quite imagine were -very strong. He knew all the despairing terror the others felt. But he -also was hungry. The sheer doom that was upon his group did not change -the fact that he wanted to eat, nor did it change the fact that he felt -queer when the girl Saya looked at him. Because she was terrified, the -same sort of atavistic process was at work in her. She looked to Burl. -Men no longer served as protectors against enemies so irresistible as -giant spiders. It was not possible. But when Burl realized her regard -his chest swelled. He felt a half-formed impulse to beat upon it. His -new-found reasoning processes told him that this particular fear was -different in some fashion from the terrors men normally experienced. It -was. This was a different sort of emergency. Most dangers were sudden -and either immediately fatal or somehow avoidable. This was different. -There was time to savor its meaning and its hopelessness. It seemed as -if it should be possible to do something about it. But Burl was not -able, as yet, to think what to do. The bare idea of doing anything was -unusual, now. Because of it, though, Burl was able to disregard his -terror when Saya regarded him yearningly. - - * * * * * - -The other men muttered to each other of the sudden death in the mushroom -thickets. No less certain death now feasted on the dead yellow -caterpillar. But Burl abruptly pushed his way clear of the small crowd -and scowled for Saya to see. He moved toward the nearest fungus-thicket. -An edible mushroom grew at its very edge. He marched toward it, -swaggering. Men did not often swagger on this planet. - -But then he ceased to swagger. His approach to the mingled mass of -toadstools and lesser monstrosities grew slower. His feet dragged. He -came to a halt. His impulse to combat conflicted with the facts of here -and now. His flesh crawled at the thought of the grisly small beasts -which now might be within yards. These thickets had been men's safest -hiding-places. Now they were places of surest disaster. - -He stopped, with a coldness at the pit of his stomach. But as it was a -new experience to be able to have danger come in a form which could be -foreseen, so Burl now had a new experience in that he was ashamed to be -afraid. Somehow, having tacitly undertaken to get food for his -companions, he could not bring himself to draw back while they watched. -But he did want desperately to get the food in a hurry and get away from -there. - -He saw a gruesome fragment of a tragedy of days before. It was the -emptied, scraped, hollow leg-shell of a beetle. It was horrendously -barbed. Great, knife-edged spines lined its edge. They were six inches -in length. And men did not have weapons any more, but they sometimes -used just such objects as this to dismember defenseless giant slugs they -came upon. - -Burl picked up the hollow shell of the leg-joint. He shook it free of -clinging moulds--and small things an inch or two in length dropped from -it and scurried frantically into hiding. He moved hesitantly toward the -edible mushroom which would be food for Saya and the rest. He was four -yards from the thicket. Three. Two. He needed to move only six feet, and -then slice at the flabby mushroom-head, and he would be at least an -admirable person in the eyes of Saya. - -Then he cried out thinly. Something small, with insane eyes, leaped upon -him from the edge of a giant toadstool. - -It was, of course, one of the small beasts which had hatched from the -hunting-spider's egg-bag. It had grown. Its legs now spanned sixteen -inches. Its body was as large as Burl's two fists together. It was big -enough to enclose his head in a cage of loathesomeness formed by its -legs, while its fangs tore at his scalp. Or it could cover his chest -with its abominableness while its poison filled his veins, and while it -feasted upon him afterward.... - -He flung up his hands in a paralytic, horror-stricken attempt to ward it -off. But they were clenched. His right hand did not let go of the -leg-section with its razor-sharp barbs. - -The spider struck the beetle-leg. He felt the impact. Then he heard -gaspings and bubblings of fury. He heard an indescribable cry which was -madness itself. The chitinous object he had picked up now shook and -quivered of itself. - -The spider was impaled. Two of its legs were severed and twitched upon -the ground before him. Its body was slashed nearly in half. It writhed -and struggled and made beastly sounds. Thin, colored fluids dripped from -it. A disgusting musky smell filled the air. It strove to reach and kill -him as it died. Its eyes looked like flames. - -Burl's arm shook convulsively. The small thing dropped to the ground. -Its remaining legs moved frantically but without purpose. - -It died, though its leg continued to twitch and stir and quiver. - -Burl remained frozen, for seconds. It was an acquired instinct; a -conditioned reflex which humans had to develop on this world. When -danger was past, one stayed desperately still lest it return. But Burl's -thoughts were now not of horror but a vast astonishment. He had killed a -spider! He had killed a thing which would have killed him! He was still -alive! - -And then, being a savage, and an animal, as well as a human being, he -acted according to that highly complicated nature. As a savage, he knew -with strict practicality that it was improbable that there was another -baby spider nearby. If there had been, they would have fought each -other. As an animal, he was again hungry. As a human being, he was vain. - -So he moved closer to the toadstool-thicket and put his hand out and -broke off a great mass of the one edible mushroom at the edge. A -noisesome broth poured out and little maggots dropped to the ground and -writhed there in it. But most of what he had broken off was sound. He -turned to take it to Saya. Then he saw the dropped weapon and the -spider. He picked up the weapon. - -The spider's legs still twitched, though futilely. He spiked the small -body on the beetle-leg's spines. He strode back to the remnant of his -tribe with a peculiar gait that even he had not often practiced. - -It was rather more pronounced than a swagger. It was a strut. - -They trembled when they saw the dead creature he had killed. He gave -Saya the food. She took it, looking at him with bright and intense eyes. -He took a part of the mushroom for himself and ate it, scowling. -Thoughts were struggling to form in his mind. He was not accustomed to -thinking, but he had done more of it than any other of the pitiful group -about him. - -He felt eyes watching him. There were five adult men in this group -besides himself, and six women. The rest were children, from gangling -adolescents to one mere infant in arms. They were a remarkably colorful -group at the moment, had he only known it. The men wore -yellow-and-gold-brown loin-cloths of caterpillar-fur, stripped from the -drained carcasses of creatures that the formerly resident clothed spider -had killed. The women wore cloaks of butterfly-wing, similarly salvaged -from the remnants of a meal left unfinished by a finicky or engorged -praying mantis. The stuff was thick and leathery, but it was -magnificently tinted in purples and yellows. - -Time passed. The mushroom Burl had brought was finished. Some eyes -always explored the clear ground around this group. But other eyes fixed -themselves upon Burl. It was not a consciously questioning gaze. It was -surely not a hopeful one. But men and women and children looked at him. -They marveled at him. He had dared to go and get food! He had been -attacked by one of the creatures who doomed them all, but he was not -dead! Instead, he had killed the spider! It was marvelous! It was -unparalleled that a man should kill anything that attacked him! - - * * * * * - -The doomed small group regarded Burl with wondering eyes. He brushed his -hands together. He looked at Saya. He wished to be alone with her. He -wished to know what she thought when she looked at him. Why she looked -at him. What she felt when she looked at him. - -He stood up and said dourly: - -"Come!" - -She moved timidly and gave him her hand. He moved away. There was but -one way that any human being on this planet would think to move, from -this particular spot just now--away from the still-feasting gigantic -horror whose offspring he had killed. The folk shivered near the edge of -the first upward slope of the valley wall. Burl moved in that direction. -Toward the slope. Saya went with him. - -Before they had gone ten yards a man spoke to his wife. They followed -Burl, with their three children. Five yards more, and two of the -remaining three adult men were hustling their families in his wake also. -In seconds the last was in motion. - -Burl moved on, unconscious of any who followed him, aware only of Saya. -The procession, absurd as it was, continued in his wake simply because -it had begun to do so. A skinny, half-grown boy regarded Burl's stained -weapon. He saw something half-buried in the soil and moved aside to tug -at it. It was part of the armor of a former rhinoceros-beetle. He went -on, rather awkwardly holding a weapon which might have been called a -dagger, eighteen inches long, except that no dagger would have a -hand-guard nearly its own length in diameter. - -They passed a struggling milkweed plant, no more than twenty feet high -and already scabrous with scale and rusts upon its lower parts. Ants -marched up and down its stalk in a steady, single file, placing aphids -from the ant-city on suitable spots to feed, and to multiply as only -parthenogenic aphids can do. But already on the far side of the -milkweed, an ant-lion climbed up to do murder among them. The ant-lion -was the larval form the lace-wing fly, of course. Aphids were its -predestined prey. - -[Illustration] - -Burl continued to march, holding Saya's hand. The reek of formic acid -came to his nostrils. But that was only ants. The slope grew steeper. -Massacre began behind him on the tree-sized milkweed. The ant-lion which -even when it was but half an inch long, on Earth, could bite through the -skin of a man--the ant-lion reached the pasturing cows. It plunged into -slaughter. It was demoniac. It was such ghastly ferocity that the eggs -from which its kind hatched were equipped, each one, with a plastic -column to hold it well away from the object on which the clutch of eggs -were laid. But for this precaution by the maternal lace-wing fly, the -first of her brood to hatch would devour its unhatched brothers and -sisters. This ant-lion charged into the placidly feeding aphids on the -milkweed plant. It seized one and crushed it, holding it aloft so that -the juices of its body would pour into the ant-lion's mouth. Almost -instantly, it seemed, the mild-eyed aphid was a shrunken empty sack. The -ant-lion seized another. The remaining aphids fed placidly while their -enemy did vast slaughter among them. - -Clickings and a shrill stridulation sounded. Warrior-ants climbed with -stupid ferocity to offer battle. - -Burl moved on to a minor eminence. He reached its top and looked sharply -about him with the caution that was the price of existence on this -world. Two hundred feet away, a small scurrying horror raged and -searched among the rough-edged layers of what on other worlds was called -paper-mould or rock-tripe. Here it was thick as quilting, and -infinitesimal creatures denned under it. The sixteen-inch spider -devoured them, making gluttonous sounds. But it was busy, and all -spiders are relatively short-sighted. - -Burl turned to Saya--and realized that all the human folk had followed -him. One of the adults was reaching fearfully for part of a discarded -cricket-shell in the ground. He tore free an emptied, sickle-shaped jaw. -It was curved and sharp and deadly if properly wielded. The man had seen -Burl kill something. He tried vaguely to imagine killing something -himself. He was not too successful. Another man tugged at the ground. -The skinny boy was practicing thrusts with his giant dagger. - -Two of the adults were armed, without any clear idea of what to do with -their arms. But Burl knew, now. - -He regarded them angrily. He had not meant to desert them, or even to -take Saya permanently from among them. Humans had little enough of -satisfaction on this planet. The scared company of their kind was one of -the most important. So Burl did not resent that they had followed him. -He did resent that they were near when he wanted to talk to Saya in what -he did not yet think of as lover-like seclusion. - -They halted, regarding him humbly. They had been hungry, and he had -found food for them. They had been paralyzed by terror, and he had dared -to move. So they moved with him. They might have followed anybody else, -but only Burl had initiative--so far. They trustfully waited to follow -and to imitate him for so long as panic numbed their ability to think -for themselves. - -Burl opened his mouth to shout furiously at them. But it was not a good -idea for humans to draw attention. Spiders did not hunt by scent, but -sound sometimes drew them. Burl closed his mouth again, in a taut -straight line. The men looked at him supplicatingly. They had never been -lost, and so had never learned to think even a little. Burl had learned -to think in a rudimentary fashion and now he suddenly perceived that it -was pleasing to have all the tribe regard him so worshipfully, even if -not in quite the same fashion as Saya. He was suddenly aware that even -as Saya had obeyed him when he told her to come with him, they would -obey. He had, at the moment, no commands to give, but he immediately -invented one for the pleasure of seeing it carried out. - -"_I carry sharp things_," he said sternly. "I killed a spider. Go find -_sharp things_ to carry." - -They were a meek and abject folk, and they were desperately in need of -something to do to take their minds from the uselessness of doing -anything at all. - -They moved to obey. Saya would have loosened her hand and obeyed, too, -but Burl held her beside him. One of the women, with a child three years -old, laid the child down by Burl's feet while she went fearfully to seek -some fragment of a dead creature, that would meet Burl's specification -of sharpness. - -Burl heard a stifled scream. A ten-year-old boy stood paralyzed, staring -in an agony of horror at something which had stepped from behind a -misshapen fungoid object. - -It was a pallidly greenish creature with a small head and enormous eyes. -It was a very few inches taller than a man. Its abdomen swelled -gracefully into a pleasing, leaf-like shape. The boy faced it, paralyzed -by horror, and it stood stock-still. Its great, hideously spiny arms -were spread out in a pose of pious benediction. - -[Illustration: "_The boy faced it, paralyzed by horror._"] - -It was a partly-grown praying mantis, not very long hatched. It stood -rigid, waiting benignly for the boy to come closer. If he fled, it would -fling itself after him with ferocity beside which the fury of a tiger -would seem kittenish. If he approached, its fanged arms would flash -down, pierce his body, and hold him inextricably fast by the spikes that -were worse than trap-claws. And of course it would not wait for him to -die before it began its meal. - -The small party of humans stood frozen. They were filled with horror -for the boy. They were cast into a deep abyss of despair by the -sight of a half-grown mantis, because if there was one such miniature -insect-dinosaur in the valley, there would be many others. Hundreds of -others. This meant there had been a hatching of them. And they were as -deadly as spiders. - - * * * * * - -But Burl did not think in such terms just now. Vanity filled him. He had -commanded, and he had been obeyed. But now obedience was forgotten -because there was this young praying mantis. If men had ever thought of -fighting such a creature, it could have destroyed any number of them by -pure ferocity and superiority of armament. But Burl raged. He ran toward -the spot. Even mantises were sometimes frightened by the unexpected. -Burl seized a lumpish object barely protruding from the ground. It -looked like a rock. It was actually a flattened ball-fungus, feeding on -the soil through thin white threads beneath it. Burl wrenched it free -and hurled it furiously at the young monster. - -Insects simply do not think. Something came swiftly at it, and the -mantis flashed its ghastly arms to seize and kill its attacker. The -ball-fungus was heavy. It literally knocked the mantis backward. The boy -fled frantically. The insect fought crazily against the thing it thought -had assailed it. - -The humans gathered around Burl hundreds of yards away--again uphill. -The slope of the mountain-flank was marked here. They gathered about -Burl because of an example set by the woman who had left her -three-year-old child behind. Saya, in the unfailing instinct of a girl -for a small child, had snatched it up when Burl left her. Then she had -joined him because the instinct which had made her obey him in starting -off--it was not quite the same instinct which moved the others--also -bade her follow him wherever he went. The mother of the child went to -retrieve her deposit. Other figures moved cautiously toward him. The -tribe was reconvened. - -The floor of the valley seemed a trifle obscured. The mist that hung -always in the air made it seem less distinct; less actual; not quite as -real as it had been. - -Burl gulped and said sternly: - -"Where are the sharp things?" - -The men looked at one another, numbly. Then one spoke despairingly, -ignoring Burl's question. "Now," said the man dully, "there was not only -the hunting-spider in the valley, but its young. And not only the young -of the hunting-spider, but the young of a mantis ... It was hard to stay -alive at the best of times. Now it had become impossible ..." - -Burl glared at him. It was neither courage nor resolution. He had come -to realize what a splendid sensation it was to be admired by one's -fellows. The more he was admired, the better. He was enraged that people -thought to despair. - -"I," said Burl haughtily, "am _not_ going to stay here. I go to a place -where there are neither spiders nor mantises. Come!" - -He held out his hand to Saya. She gave the child to its mother and look -his hand. Burl stalked haughtily away, and she went with him. He went -uphill. Naturally. He knew there were spiders and mantises in the -valley. So many that to stay there was to die. So he went away from -where they were. - -Burl had found out that adulation was enjoyable and authority -delectable. He had found that it was pleasant to be a dictator. And then -he had been disregarded. So he marched furiously away from his folk, in -exactly the fashion of a spoiled child refusing to play any longer. He -happened to march up the mountainside toward the cloud-bank that he -considered the sky. He had no conscious intent to climb the mountain. He -did not intend to lead the others. He meant to sulk, by punishing them -through the removal of his own admirable person from their society. But -they followed him. - -So he led his people upward. It has happened on other planets, in other -manners. Most human achievements come about through the daring of those -who strive. - - * * * * * - -The sun was very near. It shone upon the top of the cloud-bank and the -clouds glowed with a marvelous whiteness. It shone upon the -mountain-peaks where they penetrated the clouds, and the peaks were -warmed, and there was no snow anywhere despite the height. There were -winds here where the sun shone. The sky was very blue. At the edge of -the plateau where the cloud-bank lay below, the mountainsides seemed to -descend into a sea of milk. Great undulations in the mist had the -seeming of waves, which moved with great deliberation toward the shores. -They seemed sometimes to break against the mountain-wall where it was -cliff-like, and sometimes they seemed to flow up gentler inclinations -like water flowing up a beach. - -All this was in the slowest of slow motion, because the cloud-waves were -sometimes miles from crest to crest. - -The look of things was different on the plateau, too. This part of the -unnamed world, no less than the lowlands, had been seeded with life on -two separate occasions. Once with bacteria and moulds and lichens to -break up the rocks and make soil of them, and once with seeds and -insects-eggs and such living things as might sustain themselves -immediately upon hatching. But here on the heights the conditions were -drastically unlike the lowland tropic moisture. Different things had -thriven, and in quite different fashion. - -Here moulds and yeasts and rusts were stunted by the sunlight. Grasses -and weeds and trees survived, instead. This was an ideal environment for -plants that needed sunlight to form chlorophyll, and chlorophyll to -make use of the soil that had been formed. So here was vegetation that -was nearly Earth-like. And there was a remarkable side-effect on the -fauna which had been introduced at the same time and in the same manner -as down below. In coolness which amounted to a temperate climate there -could be no such frenzy of life as formed the nightmare-jungles in the -lowlands. Plants grew at a slower tempo than fungi, and less -luxuriantly. There was no adequate food-supply for large-sized -plant-eaters. Insects which were to survive in sunshine could not grow -to be monsters. Moreover, the nights were chill. Many insects grow -torpid in the cool of a temperate-zone night, but warm up to activity -soon after sunrise. But a large creature, made torpid by cold, will not -revive so quickly. If large enough, it will not become fully active -until close to dusk. On the plateau, the lowland monsters would starve -in any case. But more--they would have only a fraction of a day of full -activity. - -There was a necessary limit then, to the size of the insects that lived -above the clouds. The life on the plateau would not have seemed -horrifying at all to humans living on other planets. Save for the -absence of birds to sing and lack of a variety of small mammals, the -untouched sunlit plateau with its warm days and briskly chill nights -would have impressed most men as an ideal habitation. - -But Burl and his companions were hardly prepared to see it that way at -first glimpse. Certainly if told about it beforehand, they would have -viewed it with despair. - -But they did not know beforehand. They toiled upward, their leader moved -by such ridiculous motives as have sometimes caused men to achieve -greatness throughout all history. Back on Earth, two great continents -were discovered by a man trying to get spices to conceal the gamey -flavor of half-spoiled meat. The power that drives mile-long -space-craft, and that lights and runs the cities of the galaxy, was -first developed because it could be used in bombs to kill other men. -There were precedents for Burl leading his fellows into sunshine merely -because he was angered that they ceased to admire him. - -The trudging, climbing folk were high above the valley, now. The thin -mist that was never absent anywhere had hidden their former home, little -by little. They climbed a steeply slanting mountain-flank. The stone was -mostly covered by ragged, bluish-green rock-tripe in partly overlapping -sheets. Such stuff is always close behind the bacteria which first -attack a rock-face. On a slope, it clings while soil is washed downward -as fast as it forms. The people never ate it. It produced frightening -cramps. In time they would learn that if thoroughly dried it can he -soaked to pliability again and cooked to a reasonable palatability. But -so far they knew neither dryness nor fire. - -Nor had they ever known such surroundings as presently enveloped them. A -slanting, stony mountainside which stretched up frighteningly to the -very sky. Grayness overhead. Grayness, also, to one side--the side away -from the mountain. And equal grayness below. The valley in which they -lived could no longer be seen at all. Trudging and scrambling up the -interminable incline, the people of Burl's personal following gradually -realized the strangeness of their surroundings. As one result, they grew -sick and dizzy. To them it seemed that the solid earth had tilted, and -might presently tilt further. There was no horizon, but they had never -seen a horizon. So they felt that what had been _down_ was now partly -_behind_, and they feared lest a turning universe let them fall -ultimately toward the grayness they considered sky. - -In this frightening strangeness, their only consolation was the company -of their fellows. To stop would be to be abandoned in this place where -all values were turned topsy-turvy. To go back--but none of them could -imagine descending again to be devoured as one-third of their number -already had been. If Burl had stopped, his followers would have squatted -down and shivered together miserably, and waited for death. They had no -thought of adventure nor any hope of safety. The only goodnesses they -could imagine were food and the nearness of other humans. They clung -together, obsessed by the dread of being left alone. - -Burl's motivation was no longer noble. He had started uphill in a fit of -sulks, and he was ashamed to stop. - -They came to a place where the mountain-flank sank inward. There was a -flat area, and behind it there was a winding cañon of sorts, like a vast -crack in the mountain's substance. Burl breasted the curving edge, and -walked on level ground. Then he stopped short. - -The mouth of the cañon was perhaps fifty yards from the lip of the -downward slope. There was this level space, and on it there were -toadstools and milkweed, and there was food. It was a small, isolated -asylum for life such as they were used to. It could have been that here -they could have found safety. But it wasn't that way. - - * * * * * - -They saw the web at once. It was slung from between the opposite -cliff-walls by cables two hundred feet long. Its radiating cables -reached down to anchorages on stone. The snare-threads, winding out and -out in that logarithmic spiral which men on other planets had noted -thousands of years before--the snare-threads were a yard apart. The web -was set for giant game. It was empty now, but Burl searched keenly and -saw the tight-rope-cable leading from the very center of the web to a -rocky shelf some fifty feet above the cañon's floor. At its end he saw -the spider. It waited there, almost invisible against the stone, with -one furry leg touching the cable that led to its waiting-place so that -the slightest touch on any part of the web would warn it instantly. - -Burl's followers accumulated behind him. They stared. They knew, of -course, that a web-spider will not leave its snare under any normal -circumstances. They were not afraid of that. But they looked at the -ground between the web and themselves. - -It was a charnel-house of murdered creatures. Half-inch-thick wing-cases -of dead beetles. The cleaned-out carcasses of other giants. The -ovipositor of an ichneumon-fly--six feet of slender, springy, -deadly-pointed tube--and abdomen-plates of bees and draggled antennae of -moths and butterflies. - -Something very terrible lived in this small place. The mountainsides -were barren of food for big flying things. Anything which did fly so -high for any reason would never land on sloping, foodless stone. It -would land here. And very obviously it would die. Because -something--something--killed them as they came. It denned back in the -cañon where they could not see. It dined here. - -The humans looked and shivered. All but Burl. He deliberately chose for -himself a magnificent lance grown by one dead creature for its own -defense. He pulled it out of the ground and cleaned it with his hands. -He seemed absorbed, but he was terribly aware of the inner depths of the -cañon. He was actually pretending, for the sake of what he believed his -dignity. - -Fearfully, the other humans imitated him in choosing weapons from the -armory of the devoured. Then Burl stalked grandly to one side and began -to climb again. His people followed him in numbed silence. They were -filled with dread, but it was not quite terror. Insects do not stalk -their prey. The deadly unseen monster of the cañon had not attacked -them. Therefore, it did not know they were there. And therefore they -were safe from it until it appeared. But none of them desired to stay. - -The slope lessened here, and half a mile further on there was a small -thicket of mushrooms. From within it came the cheerful loud clicking of -some small beetle, arrived at this spot nobody could possibly know how, -but happily ensconced in a twenty-yard patch of jungle above a hollow -that had gathered soil through the centuries. There were edible -mushrooms in the thicket. - -The humans ate. Naturally. And here they realized that they were no -longer doomed by the creatures in the valley. Since their climb began -they had seen no dangerous thing except the one gigantic, motionless -web-spider. They had left the valley and its particular dangers behind. - -A man exclaimed in naïve astonishment. He was eating raw mushroom at the -moment, and his mouth was full. But abruptly it occurred to him that -their doom was lifted. He mentioned the fact in a sort of startled -wonder. - -"We will stay here," he added happily. "There is food." - -And Burl regarded him with knitted brows. Burl was well on the way to -becoming spoiled. He had tasted power over his folk, and he found -himself jealous of any decision by anybody else. - -"I go on," he said haughtily. "Now! You may stay behind if you -wish--alone!" - -He broke off food for the journey. He held out his hand to Saya. He went -on. And again he went upward because to go back was to go to the cañon -of the unknown killer. And his folk docilely followed him. They did not -really reason about it. To follow him had become a pattern, more or less -precarious. In time it could become a habit. Over a period of years it -could even become a tradition. - -The procession marched on and up. Burl noticed that the air seemed -clearer, here. It was not the misty, quasi-transparent stuff of the -valley. He could see for miles to right and left, and the curvatures of -the mountain-face. But he could not see the valley. - -Then he realized that the cloud-bank he saw was finite--an object. He -had never thought of it specifically before. To him it had seemed simply -the sky. - -Now he saw an indefinite lower surface which yet definitely hid the -heights toward which he moved. He and his followers were less than a -thousand feet below it. It appeared to Burl that presently he would run -into an obstacle that would simply keep him from going any further. But -until that happened he obstinately continued to climb. - -The thing which was the sky appeared to stir. It moved. A little higher, -and he could see that there were parts of it which were lower than he -was. They moved also. But they did not approach him. And he had no -experience of anything inimical which did not plunge upon its victims. -Therefore he was not afraid. - -In fact, a little later he observed that the whiteness retreated before -him, and he was pleased. Weak things such as humans fled aside when -predators approached. Here was something which fled aside at his -approach. His followers undoubtedly observed the same phenomenon. He had -killed a spider. He was a remarkable person. This unknown white stuff -was afraid of him. - -Burl, with bland conceit, marched confidently through the cloud-bank, -ever climbing. At its thickest, he could see only feet in each -direction, but always when he advanced threateningly upon opacity, it -cleared before him. - -Presently the gray light grew brighter. Burl and his folk were -accustomed to a shadowless illumination such as fungi could endure--the -equivalent of a heavily overcast day on an Earth-type planet. Now the -mist about him took on a luminosity which was of a different kind. -Suddenly he noticed the silence. He had never known even comparative -silence before in all his life. His ears had been assailed every minute -since he had been born by a din which was the noise of creatures. By -stridulations, by chirpings, by screams, or at the least by the clicking -of armor or the deep-toned pulsations of wings. He had always lived in -the uproar of frenzied struggle. Now, that hellish chorus of shrieks and -cries and mating-calls was cut off. The lower surface of the cloud-bank -reflected it. Burl and his people moved upward through an unparalleled -stillness. - -They fell silent, marveling. They heard each other's movements. They -could hear each other's voices. But they moved in a vast quietness over -stones which here were not even lichen-covered, but glistened with wet. -And all about them a golden glow hung in the very air. Stillness, and -quietude, and golden light which grew stronger and stronger and -stronger.... - -It was very remarkable when they came up through the sea of mist upon a -shore of sunshine, and saw blue sky and sunlight for the first time. The -light smote upon their pink skins and brilliantly colored furry -garments. It glinted in changing, ever-more-colorful flashes upon the -cloaks made of butterfly wings. It sparkled upon the great lance carried -by Burl in the lead, and the quite preposterous weapons borne by his -followers. - -The little party of twenty humans waded ashore through the last of the -thinning white stuff which was cloud. They gazed about them with -blinking, wondering, astounded eyes. The sky was blue. There was green -grass. And there was sound. The sound was of wind blowing in the trees -and sunshine. - -They heard insects, too, but they did not know what it was they heard. -The shrill, small musical whirrings, the high-pitched small cries which -made up a strange new elfin melody, were totally strange. All things -were novel to their eyes, and an enormous exultation filled them. From -deep-buried ancestral memories, they knew that this was somehow right, -was somehow normal. And they breathed clean air for the first time in -many generations. - -Burl even shouted, in triumph, and his voice rang echoing among rocks. - -The plateau rang with the shouting of a man in triumph! - - * * * * * - -They had enough food for days. They had brought it from the isolated -thicket not too far beneath the clouds. Had they found other food -immediately, they would have settled down comfortably, in the fashion -normal to creatures whose idea of bliss is a secure hiding-place and -food on hand. Somehow they believed that this high place was secure. But -it was not a hiding-place. And though they did accept, with the -simplicity of children and savages, that they had no enemies here, their -first quest, nevertheless, was for a place in which they could conceal -themselves. - -[Illustration] - -They found a cave. It was small to hold all of them, so that they would -be crowded in it, but, as it turned out, that was fortunate. - -At some time it had been occupied by some other creature, but the dirt -which floored it had settled flat and there were no recent tracks. It -retained faint traces of an odor which was unfamiliar but not -unpleasant. It had no connotation of danger. - -Ants stank of formic acid plus the musky odor of their particular city -and kind. One could tell not only the kind of ant but what hill they -came from, from a mere sniff at a well-traveled ant-trail. Spiders had -their own hair-raising odor. The smell of a praying-mantis was acrid, -and of beetles decay, and of course those bugs whose main defense was -smell gave off an effluvium which tended to strangle all but themselves. - -The cave's smell was quite different. The humans thought vaguely that it -might be another kind of man. Actually, it _was_ the smell of a -warm-blooded animal. But Burl and his fellows knew of no warm-blooded -creatures but themselves. - -They had come above the clouds a bare two hours before sunset--of which -they knew nothing. For an hour they marveled, staying close together. -They were astounded by the sun, more particularly since they could not -look at it. But presently, being savages, they accepted it with the -matter-of-factness of children. - -They could not cease to wonder at the vegetation about them. They were -accustomed only to gigantic fungi, and a few feverishly growing plants -striving to flower and bear seed before being devoured. Here they saw -many plants, and at first no insects at all. However, they looked only -for the large things they were accustomed to. - -They were astounded by the slenderness of the plants. Grass fascinated -them, and weeds. A large part of their courage came from the absence of -debris upon the ground. In the valley, the habitation of a trapdoor -spider was marked by grisly trophies--armor emptied of all meat but not -yet rotted by the highly specialized bacteria which flourished upon -chitin. The hunting-ground of even a mantis was marked by discarded, -transparent beetle-wings and sharp spiny bits of armor, and mandibles -not tasty enough to be consumed. Here, in the first hour of their -exploration, they saw no sign that any insect from the lowlands had ever -come to this place at all. But they interpreted the fact quite correctly -as rarity, rather than complete absence of huge creatures blundering up -into the sunlight. - -They were relieved that they had found a cave. There was no thicket of -trees close-growing enough to shelter them. They were ludicrously amazed -when they found that trees were hard and solid, because the fungi they -knew were easily cut by sawtoothed tools. They found nothing to eat, but -they were not yet hungry. They did not worry about it while they still -had bits of edible mushroom from their climb. - -When the sun sank low and the crimson colorings filled the western -horizon, they shivered. They watched the glory of their first sunset -with scared, incredulous eyes. Yellows and reds and purples reared -toward the zenith. It became possible to look and gaze directly at the -sun. They saw it descend behind something they could not guess at. Then -there was dark. - -The fact stunned them. So night came like this! - -Then they saw the stars as they winked singly into being. And the folk -from the lowland crowded frantically into the cave with its faint odor -of having once been occupied. They filled the cave tightly. But Burl was -somewhat reluctant to admit his fear, and Saya lingered close to him. -They were the last to enter. - - * * * * * - -Nothing happened. Nothing. The sounds of evening continued. They were -strange but infinitely soothing and somehow what night-sounds ought to -be. Burl and the others could not possibly analyze it, but for the first -time in many generations they were in an environment really similar to -that intended for their race. It had a rightness and a goodness about it -which was perceptible for all its novelty. And because Burl had once -been lost from his tribe, he was capable of estimating novelties a -little better than the rest. - -He listened to the night-noises from close by the cave's small entrance. -He heard the breathing of his tribesmen. He felt the heat of their -bodies, keeping the crowded enclosure warm enough for all. Saya was -close beside him. She held fast to his arm for reassurance. He was -wakeful, and thinking very busily and very painfully. - -Saya was filled with a tumult that was combined fear of the unknown and -relief from much greater fear of the familiar ... and warm, proud -memories of the sight of Burl leading and commanding the others, and -memories of the look and feel of sunshine, and pictures of sky and -grass and trees which she had never seen before. Emotion-filled memories -of Burl as he killed a spider! Flinging a ball-fungus at a hatchling -mantis, saving a young boy. Grandly leading the others up the -mountainside which it had never occurred to anybody else to climb. -Keeping onward sternly when it seemed that the solid ground had twisted -and would drop them into a misplaced sky. And now, between her and the -doorway to the strange and very beautiful night outside. - -Saya felt an absorbed, impassioned, delectable disquiet from the touch -of Burl's arm beneath her fingers. - -He stirred. She whispered a question. - -"I am going out," he murmured in her ear. "I wish to see the lights. To -see if they come nearer, or move." - -It had occurred to him that the first few stars they had seen glowed in -darkness like the giant fireflies of the valley. They were comparable in -size to all the enlarged insect kingdom. They were a yard and more in -length, and sometimes at night they soared and wheeled above the lowland -fungus jungles, and the segmented larval females of their kind, which -never grew wings, grew frantic at the sight. They climbed recklessly -upon the flat tops of toadstools and waved their dimmer twinned lanterns -at the flying males. - -But this was not the lowland. Burl freed his arm from Saya's fingers. He -crept through the constricted opening of the cave, carrying his lance -before him. He already had a vague idea that it should be not only an -instrument but a weapon. He imagined stabbing enemy creatures with -it--but only vaguely, as yet. - -He stood upright in the open air. There was coolness. Night had fallen, -but only a little while since. There were smells in the air such as Burl -had never smelled before--green things growing, and the peculiar clean -odor of wind that has been bathed in sunshine, and the peculiarly -satisfying fragrance of coniferous trees. - -But Burl raised his eyes to the heavens. He saw the stars in all their -glory, and he was the first man in at least forty generations to look at -them from this planet. There were myriads upon myriads of them, varying -in brightness from stabbing lights to infinitesimal twinklings. They -were of every possible color. They hung in the sky above him, immobile -and unthreatening. They had not come nearer. They were very beautiful. - -[Illustration: "_... he was the first man in ... forty generations to -look at them._"] - -Burl stared. And then he noticed that he was breathing deeply, with a -new zest. He was filling his lungs with clean, cool, fragrant air such -as men were intended to breathe from the beginning, and of which Burl -and many others had been deprived. It was almost intoxicating to feel so -splendidly alive and unafraid. - -There was a rustling. Saya stood beside him, trembling a little. To -leave the others had required great courage. But she had come to realize -that if any danger befell Burl she wished to share it. So she had come. -They shared the starlight. - -They heard the nightwind and the orchestra of night-singers. They -wandered aside from the cave-mouth, and Saya found completely primitive -and wholly atavistic pride in the courage of Burl, who was actually not -afraid of the dark! Her own uneasiness became merely something to give -more savor to her pride in him. She stayed close beside him, not only -for reassurance but also for joy in being close to him. - -Presently they heard a new sound in the night. It was very far away and -not in the least like any sound they had ever heard before. It changed -in pitch. Insect-cries do not. It was a baying, yelping sound. It rose -in pitch, and held the higher note, and abruptly dropped in pitch before -it ceased. Minutes later it came again. - -Saya shivered, but Burl said thoughtfully: - -"That is a good sound." - -He didn't know why. Saya shivered once more. She said reluctantly: - -"I am cold." - -It had been a rare sensation in the lowlands. It came only after one of -the infrequent thunderstorms, when wetted human bodies were exposed to -the gusty winds that otherwise rarely blew there. But here the nights -grew cold, after sundown. The heat in the ground radiated to outer space -at night, not being trapped by a layer of clouds. Before dawn, the -temperature would be close to freezing, though anything worse than a -light fleeting hoar-frost would be rare on this plateau. - -The two of them went back to the cave. It was warm there. The cave was -so packed with humans that their body-heat kept the air from growing -chill. Burl and Saya crouched among the rest, and became drowsy and -comfortable. Presently Saya dropped off to sleep, her hand trustfully in -Burl's. - -But he remained awake for a long time, blinking. He thought of the -stars, but they were too strange. He thought of the trees and grass. But -most of the impressions of this upper world were so remote from previous -knowledge that he could only accept them as they were and defer -reflection upon them until later. But he did feel an enormous -complacency, what with having brought his followers to an effective -paradise of safety, and having arrived at a completely satisfactory -emotional status with Saya. - -But the last thing he actually thought about, before his eyes blinked -shut in sleep, was that yelping noise he had heard in the night. It was -totally novel in kind, yet there was something buried among his racial -heritages that told him it was good. - - * * * * * - -Burl was first awake of all the tribesmen and he looked out into a cold -and pallid grayness. He saw trees. One side of the cluster was brightly -lighted, the other side was dark. He heard tiny singing noises of the -creatures of this place. Presently he crawled out of the cave to scout -for danger. - -The air was biting in its chill. It was an excellent reason why giant -insects could not survive here, but it was particularly invigorating as -he breathed it in. Then he summoned courage to move to where he could -peer at the source of this strange light. - -He saw the top of the sun as it peered above the eastern cloud-bank. The -sky grew lighter. He blinked at the sun and saw it rise more fully into -view. He thought to look upward, and the stars that had bewildered him -were nearly gone. - -He ran to call Saya. - -The rest of the tribe waked as he roused her. One by one they followed, -to watch their first sunrise. The men and women gaped at the sun as it -filled the east with colorings and rose above the seemingly steaming -layer of clouds and then appeared to spring free of the horizon and swim -on upward. - -The children blinked and shivered and crept to their mothers for warmth. -The women enclosed them in their cloaks, and they thawed and peered out -once more at the glory of sunshine and the day. Soon, though, they -realized that warmth came from the glaring body in the sky. The -children presently discovered a game. It was the first game they had -ever played, and it consisted simply of running into a shaded place -until they shivered, and then of running out into the sunshine again -where they were warm. Until this dawning they had never been free enough -from fear to play at all. But this discovery of the nightly chill and of -the utility of cloaks for warmth up here as well as it had been against -the nightly rain of the lowlands, was a specific suggestion of the value -of clothing. Which was to have another significance, a short time later. - -In this first dawn of their experience, the tribesmen ate of the edible -mushroom they had brought up the mountain-flank. But there was not an -indefinite amount of food left. Burl shared the meal Saya brought him. -She touched him fondly. But he regarded his happy fellows with something -like a scowl. They were quite contented, and they had for the moment no -need of his guidance. They did not look to him for orders. And Burl -wanted attention. - -He spoke abruptly. - -"We do not want to go back to the place we came from," he said sternly. -"We must look for food here, so we can stay for always. Today we look -for food." - -It was a seizure of the initiative. It was the linking of what the folk -most craved with obedience to Burl. It was the instinct of a leader. The -eating men murmured agreement. There was a certain definite idea of -goodness--not moral virtue, but of the desirable--becoming associated -with what Burl did and what Burl commanded. His tribe was becoming a -group of which he was the leader, rather than only a loose association -held together only by the fear of solitude. - -He led them exploring as soon as they had eaten. All of them, of course. -None had yet become confident enough to be left behind. They straggled -irregularly behind Burl and Saya. They came to a brook and regarded it -with amazement. There were no leeches. No fungus. No swiftly drifting -islands of scum. It was clear. Greatly daring, Burl tasted it and it was -water, but such as he had never tasted before. It was clean, fresh, -sparkling water, not fouled by drainage through mould or rust. - -The rest of the tribe tasted. A child slipped on a muddy place and sat -down hard on white stuff that yielded and almost splashed. The child -howled. Saya picked it up. Then she looked where it had been for spines -or small stinging things. - -She stared blankly. - -She went to Burl with a tiny white thing in her hand. It was a mushroom. -But it was a _tiny_, clean, appetizing object. Saya had no words for it. -She was amazed. - -Burl smelled it carefully. He tasted it. And it was actually no more and -no less than a normal mushroom, growing in a shaded place upon -enormously rich soil. It had been protected from sunlight, but it had -not the means nor the stimulus to become a monster. - -Burl ate it. He carefully composed his features. Then he announced the -find to his followers. - -There was food here, he told them. But in this splendid world to which -he had led them, food was small. There would be no great enemies here, -but the food would have to be sought in small objects rather than great -ones. They must look at this place and seek others like it, where food -would be found.... - -The tribesmen were doubtful. But they plucked mushrooms--whole -ones!--instead of merely breaking off parts of their tops. In deep -astonishment they recognized miniatures of what they had known only in -gigantic forms. They tasted. The tiny mushrooms had the same savor, but -they were not coarse or stringy or tough like the giants. They melted in -the mouth! Life in this place to which Burl had led them was delectable! -Truly the doings of Burl were astonishing! - -When a child found a beetle on a leaf, and they recognized it, they were -entranced, for instead of being bigger than a man and a thing to flee -from, it was less than an inch in size and helpless against them. From -that moment on, they would follow Burl anywhere and obey him in any -matter, in the happy conviction that he could do nothing that was not -desirable in all respects. - -The belief, of course, was not quite accurate. Tender tiny mushrooms as -a staple, instead of the tough and chewy provender they were used to, in -time would cause them to have toothaches. But they could not anticipate -it, and it was actually very far away in time. - -They struggled after Burl through vast patches of bushes with thorns on -them. They were not used to thorns, and they deeply distrusted the -bushes and even the glistening fruit on them, which eventually they -would know were blackberries. Near midday they heard noises in the -distance. - -The sounds were made up of cries of varying pitch, some of which were -sharp and abrupt, and others longer and less loud. The people did not -understand them in the least. They could have been the cries of human -beings, but they were assuredly not cries of pain. Also they were not -language. They seemed to convey an impression of enormous, zestful -excitement. They had no overtone of horror. And Burl and his folk had -known of no excitement among insects except the frenzy of ferocity. They -were unable to imagine even the nature of the tumult. - -To Burl the cries seemed to have somewhat the timbre of the yelping -sounds he had heard the night before. And he had felt instinctively -drawn to that sound. He liked it. - -He led the way boldly in the direction of the noise. And presently he -came out of breast-high weeds with Saya close behind him and the others -trailing. He emerged upon a space of bare stone, a little upraised. He -looked down into a small and grassy amphitheater. The tumult came from -its center. - -A pack of dogs were joyously attacking something that Burl could not see -clearly. They _were dogs_. They barked zestfully, and they yelped and -snarled and yapped in a dozen different voices, and they darted at the -unseen something and darted away, and they were having a thoroughly -enjoyable time, though it might not be so good for the thing they -attacked. - -One of them saw the humans and stopped stock-still and barked. The -others whirled and saw the humans as they came out into view. The tumult -ceased entirely. - -There was silence. The men for the first time saw creatures with only -four legs. They had never before seen any moving thing with fewer than -six--except men. Spiders had eight. The dogs did not have mandibles. -They did not act like insects. - -And the dogs saw men, whom they had never seen before. Much more -important, they smelled men. And the difference between man-smell and -that of insects was vast. Through many generations the dogs had not -smelled anything with warm blood save their own kind. The difference in -smell between insect and man was so great that the dogs did not react -with suspicion, but with curiosity. This was an unparalleled smell. It -was even a good smell. - -The dogs regarded the men with their heads on one side, sniffing them in -the deepest possible amazement--amazement so intense that they could not -feel hostility. One of them whined a little because he did not -understand. - - * * * * * - -Peculiarly enough, it was a matter of topography. The plateau which -reached above the clouds rose with a steep slope from the valley in -which Burl and the others had lived. To westward, however, the highland -was subject to an indentation which almost severed it. No more than -twenty miles from where Burl's group had climbed to sunshine, there was -a much more gradual slope downward. There, mushroom-forests grew almost -to the cloud-layer. From there, giant insects strayed up and onto the -plateau itself. They could not live on the plateau, of course. There was -no food for their insatiable hunger. Especially at night, there was no -warmth to keep them active. But they did stray from their normal -environment, and some of them reached the sunshine, and perhaps some of -them blundered back down to their mushroom-forests again. But those that -did not find their way back were chilled to torpor during their first -night on the highland. They were only partly active on the second day -if, indeed, they were active at all. And few or none recovered from the -second night of cold. Certainly none kept their full ferocity and -deadliness. And this was how the dogs survived. - -Unquestionably the dogs were descended from dogs on the wrecked -ship--name now unknown--which had landed on this planet some forty-odd -human generations since. The humans had no memories of that ship, and -the dogs had surely no traditions. But perhaps because those early dogs -had less of intellect, they had possessed more useful instincts. Perhaps -dogs were bred by the first desperate generations of humans, to warn -them against dangers. But no human civilization could survive the -environment of the lowlands. The humans inevitably reverted to the -primitive. The environment was not one in which dogs could survive, so -somehow they took to the heights. Perhaps dogs survived their masters. -Perhaps some were abandoned or driven away. But dogs had reached the -heights. And they did survive because of the simple fact that giant -insects blundered up after them--and could not survive the proper -environment for dogs and men. - -There was even a reason why they had not multiplied excessively. The -food-supply was limited. When there were too many dogs, their attacks on -stumbling insects were more desperate, and made earlier before ferocity -of the insects was lessened. And more dogs died. So there was a specific -adjustment of the dog population to the food-supply. There was also a -selection of those intelligent enough not to attack foolishly, but not -of those whose cowardice left them out of conflict altogether. - -These dogs who regarded men with their heads cocked on one side were -excellent dogs. Intelligent dogs. They did not attack anything -imprudently, and they knew it was not necessary to be more than wary of -insects in general. Even spiders, unless they were very newly arrived -from the lowlands. So the attitude of men and dogs was that of -astonished curiosity rather than that of instant fear or rage. Burl knew -that the shaggy, bright-eyed creatures were unlike insects. Actually, -they behaved strikingly like men. They were estimating these strange -beings, men. Insects never estimated. Those that were not carnivorous -had no interest in anything but food, and those that were carnivorous -lumbered insanely into battle the instant any prey came to their notice. -The dogs did neither. They sniffed. They considered. They were amazed. - -Burl said harshly to his group: - -"Stay here!" - -He walked slowly down into the amphitheater. Saya, disregarding his -order, followed him instantly. The dogs moved warily aside. But they -raised their noses and sniffed--long, luxurious sniffs. The smell of -humankind was a good smell. Dogs had gone hundreds of generations -without having it in their nostrils. But before that there were -thousands of generations of dogs to whom that smell was a fulfillment. - -Burl reached the object the dogs had been attacking. It lay on the -grass, throbbing painfully. It had come up from the world below. It was -the larva of an azure-blue moth which spread ten-foot wings at -nightfall. The time for its metamorphosis was near, and it had gone -blindly in search of a place where it could spin its cocoon safely and -change to its winged form. It had come to another world--the world above -the clouds. It could find no proper place. Its stores of fat had -protected it a little from the chill. But the dogs had found it. - -Burl considered. It was the custom of wasps to sting creatures like this -within a certain special spot--marked for them apparently by a tuft of -dark fur. - -Burl thrust his lance into that particular spot. The creature died -quickly and without agony. The thought to kill was an inspiration, which -was the result of continued adventuring. Burl cut off meat for his -tribesmen. The dogs offered no objection. They were well-fed enough. -Burl and Saya, together, carried the meat back to the blinking -tribesfolk. On the way they passed within two yards of a dog which -regarded them with extreme intent and almost a wistful expression. Their -smell did not mean game. It meant--something the dog struggled dumbly to -remember. - -"I have killed the thing," said Burl, in the tone of one speaking to an -equal. "You can go and eat it now. I took only part of it." - -The dog wagged its tail--and then backed away as if in confusion. After -all, matters had not yet progressed to cordiality. - -The humans consumed what Burl had brought them. Most of the dogs went to -the feast Burl had left. Presently they were back. They had no reason to -be hostile. They were fed. The humans offered them no injury. The humans -smelled good. The dogs were fascinated by their smell. - -Presently they were close about the humans. They were not insects. They -were interested. The humans were extremely interested in anything which -was interested in them. It was a wholly novel experience. It was the -feeling Burl had felt in becoming the tribal leader. Now every human -felt a little of it, in the intent regard of the dogs. And everything -else was so strange that it was possible to accept anything without -question. Even the possible friendliness of unparalleled creatures which -assuredly were not of a kind with past enemies. - -A similar state of "mind" existed among the dogs. - -Saya had more meat than she desired. She looked about among the humans. -All were well supplied. She tossed it to a dog. He jerked away alertly, -and then sniffed at the meat where it had dropped. A dog can always eat. -He ate it. - -"I wish you would talk to us," said Saya hopefully. - -The dog wagged his tail. - -"You do not look like us," said Saya interestedly, "but you act as we -do. Not as the--monsters!" - -The dog looked at meat in Burl's hand. Burl tossed it. The dog caught it -with a quick snap, swallowed it, wagged his tail briefly and came -closer. It was a completely incredible action, but dogs and men were -blood-kin on this planet. Besides, there was subconscious racial-memory -instinct in friendship between man and dog. It was not overlaid by any -past experience of either. They were the only warm-blooded creatures on -this world. It was kinship felt by both. - -Burl stood up and spoke politely to the dog. He addressed him with the -same respect he would have given to another man. In all his life he had -never felt equal to an insect, but he felt no arrogance toward this dog. - -He felt superior only to other men. - -[Illustration] - -"We are going back to our cave," he said politely. "Maybe we will meet -again." - -He led his tribe back to the cave in which they had spent the previous -night. The dogs followed, ranging on either side. They were well-fed, -with no memory of hostility to any creature which smelled like men. They -had instinct and intelligence. The latter part of the return to the -cave--if anybody had been qualified to notice--was remarkably like a -group of dogs taking a walk with a group of people. It was -companionable. It felt remarkably right. - -That night Burl left the cave, as before, to look at the stars. This -time Saya went with him, gladly. But as they emerged from the -cave-entrance there was a stirring. A dog rose and stretched itself -elaborately, yawning the while. When Burl and Saya walked aside from the -cave, the dog trotted amiably with them. - -They talked to it, embarrassed. And the dog seemed pleased. It wagged -its tail. - -When morning came the dogs were still waiting hopefully for the humans -to come out. They appeared to expect the humans to take another nice -long walk, on which they would accompany them. It was a brand-new -satisfaction they did not wish to miss. After all, from a dog's -standpoint, humans were made to take long walks with, among other -things. The dogs greeted the humans with tail-waggings and cordiality. - - * * * * * - -The friendship of the dogs assured the humans' new status in life. They -had ceased to be fugitive game for any insect murderer. They had hoped -to be unpursued foragers. But, joined to the dogs, they were raised to -the estate of hunters. The men did not domesticate the dogs. They made -friends with them. The dogs did not subjugate themselves to the men. -They joined them, at first tentatively and then with worshipful -enthusiasm. And the partnership was so inherently right that within a -month it was as if it had been always. And indeed, except for a few -centuries, for them, it had. - -The humans had made a permanent encampment by then. There were a few -caves at an appropriate distance from the slope up which most wanderers -from the lowlands came. The humans moved into the caves. A child found -the chrysalis of a giant butterfly, whose caterpillar form had so -offensive an odor that the dogs had not attacked it. But when it -emerged from the chrysalis, humans and dogs together assailed it before -it could take flight. They ended with warm approval of each other. The -humans had great wings with which to make cloaks. And men wore cloaks -now--shorter than the women's--but cloaks. They were very useful against -the evening chill. When one dawning a vast outcry of dogs awoke the -humans, Burl led the rush to the spot, and his great lance did execution -which the dogs appeared to admire. Burl wore a moth's feathery antennae, -now, bound to his forehead like a knight's plumes. They were very -splendid. - -In a single month their entire way of life went through a revolution. -The ground was often thorny. A man pierced his foot, and bandaged it -with a strip of wing-fabric so he could walk. The injured foot was more -comfortable to walk with than the well one. Within a week women were -busily contriving divers forms of footgear, to achieve the greatest -comfort. One day Saya admired glistening red berries and tried to pluck -them, and they stained her fingers. She licked the fingers--and berries -were added to the tribe's menu. A veritable orgy of experimentation -began. And this was a state of affairs which is very, very rare among -human beings. A tribe with an established culture and tradition cannot -change without disaster. But men who have abandoned their old ways and -are seeking new ones can go far. - -Already the dogs were established as sentries and watchmen and friends -to every one of the humans. By now mothers did not feel alarmed if a -child wandered out of sight. There would be dogs along. No danger could -approach a child without vociferous warning from the dogs. Men went -hunting, now, with zestful tail-wagging dogs as companions in the chase. -By the time a stray monster from the lowlands reached this area, it was -dazed and half-numbed by at least one night of bitter cold. Even spiders -could not find energy to leap. They fought like fiends, but sluggishly. -Men could kill them while dogs kept their attention. Burl killed one -the third week on the plateau. He was nerved to the deed by a peculiar -feeling that he must be worthy of the courage of the dogs with him at -the time. - -And presently, while their way of life was still fluid, the permanent -pattern of civilization on the nightmare planet was settled. Burl and -Saya went out early one morning with the dogs, to hunt for meat for the -village. Hunting was easiest in the morning while creatures strayed up -the night before were still numbed. Often, hunting was merely butchery -of an enfeebled monster to whom any sort of movement was enormous -effort. - -This morning the humans moved briskly. The dogs roamed exuberantly -through the brush before them. They were five miles from the village -when the dogs bayed game some distance ahead. And Burl and Saya ran to -the spot hand in hand--which was something of a change from their former -actions at the thought of a giant creature of the insect kind--and found -the dogs dancing and barking around one of the most ferocious and most -ghastly of the carnivorous beetles. It was not too large, to be sure. -Its body might have been four feet long, but its horrid mandibles added -three feet more. - -Those scythe-like objects gaped wide--opening sidewise as a beetle's -jaws do--and snapped hideously, swinging about as the dogs dashed at -them. The legs were spurred and spiked and armed with dagger-like -spines. Burl plunged into the fight. - -[Illustration: "_Those scythe-like objects gaped wide ... as the dogs -dashed at them._"] - -The great gaping mandibles clicked and clashed. They were capable of -disemboweling a man or snapping a dog's body in half without effort. -There were whistling noises as the beetle breathed through its abdominal -spiracles. It fought furiously, making frantic plunges at the dogs who -dashed in and out to torment and bewilder it while they created the most -zestfully excited of uproars. - -There was something beside this conflict that Burl and Saya should have -noticed, but they were instantly intent. The other thing was quite -unparalleled. There had been nothing else like it on this planet in many -hundreds of years. It moved slowly above the plateau as if examining it. -It was half a dozen miles away and perhaps a mile higher when Burl and -Saya prepared to intervene professionally on behalf of the dogs. Then it -swerved and moved directly toward them. It moved swiftly. - -But it was silent, and they did not know at all. Burl leaped in with a -lance-thrust at the tough integument where an armored leg joined the -body. He missed, and the monster whirled. Then Saya flashed her cloak -before the beetle, so that it seemed a larger and nearer antagonist. As -the creature whirled again, Burl thrust once more and a hind-leg -crumpled. - -Instantly the thing limped crazily. A beetle does not use its legs like -four-legged creatures. It moves the two end legs on one side with the -center leg on the other, so that always it is braced on an adjustable -tripod. But it cannot adjust readily to crippling. - -A dog snatched at a spiny lower leg and crunched and darted away. The -expressionless, machine-like horror uttered a formless, deep-bass cry -and was spurred to all possible ferocity. The fight became a thing of -furious movement and uproar, with Burl striking once at a multiple eye -so the pain would deflect it from a charge on Saya, and Saya again -deflecting it with her cloak and once breathlessly trying to strike it -with her shorter spear. - -Then the beetle sank to the ground, all three legs on one side crippled. -The remaining three thrust and thrust and struggled terribly and -suddenly it was on its back, still striking its gigantic jaws -frantically in the hope of murder. But Burl stabbed home between two -armor-plates where a ganglion was almost exposed. A thrust killed it -instantly. - -Burl and Saya smiled at each other. There was a monstrous sound of -splintering trees. They whirled. The dogs pricked up their ears. One of -them barked defiantly. - - * * * * * - -Something huge--truly huge!--settled to the ground a bare hundred yards -away. It was metal, and there were ports, and it was utterly beyond -experience, because, of course, there had been no spaceship landings on -this planet in forty-odd human generations. But as Burl and Saya stared -blankly at it, a port opened, and men came out, and they waved hopefully -to the two barbarically attired figures who had been seen fighting a -monster with the help of dogs. Which meant some sort of civilization. - -The dogs confirmed it. They sniffed. These, also, were men. And Burl and -his tribe had this smell, and were friends. So the dogs trotted forward -with the self-confident cordiality of dogs on excellent terms with -men--and there was no question of friendship. None at all. The men came -forward joyously to talk to Burl and Saya. - -There were difficulties, of course. But Burl and Saya had the calm -composure of savages, and the alertness of people who are changing the -pattern of their lives of their own volition--and finding it very -pleasant--and things went swimmingly. There was, on the spaceship, an -"educator." They invited Burl to put it on his head. He obliged. And -very shortly he understood a new language, and was equipped with a very -considerable fund of general information. Among the items of information -was the fact that presently he would have a splitting headache--he -did--and that the making of records for an educator was so different -that it required generations to get all the facts and knowledge for a -single type of education down in permanent form. - -All of which fitted admirably into the arrangements that the men on the -spaceship were anxious to make, and Burl was enthusiastically willing to -accede to. He and his folk knew the creatures of the lowlands as nobody -else could possibly know them. No electronic educator could possibly -make a record making available that knowledge in less than two -generations--maybe three. Therefore-- - - * * * * * - -The nightmare world swims in space about its nearby sun. It has a name -now, but it does not matter. It has a city on it, which probably matters -less. It is a curious city, though. The people in it wear gorgeous -colored fur, and cloaks of butterfly wings. The least of the people in -that city wear garments which would fetch fortunes on other inhabited -worlds. In fact, such garments do. But it is most practical for Burl, -and Saya, and their followers to wear such garments. There is no day but -that a small, winged flying craft rises from the city to go silently -over the plateau until it reaches the space above the cloud-bank, and -then dives down into it. It is wise for the occupants and the operators -of such small craft to wear garments like the other humans on this -planet. They are recognized, that way, when garments such as most -planets find suitable would make them seem strange. - -They want to be recognized, in the jungles and the noisesome valleys of -the lowlands. There are other humans down there. The people of the city, -of course, bring their fellows out as fast as they can find them. There -is a session with an educator--and a splitting headache afterward--and -very soon the folk who have hidden from monsters all their lives are -zestfully hunting them with dogs. Presently they are hunting them with -flying machines. - -It is a nice arrangement. The search for more people in the lowlands is -a prosperous business even when it is unsuccessful. The wings of white -morph butterflies bring the highest price, but even a common -swallow-tail is riches enough. And the fur of caterpillars--duly -processed--goes into the holds of the regular spaceliners with the same -care given elsewhere to jewels and platinum. - -But the nightmare planet has not become a merely sordid place of -business. What comforts and what luxuries spaceships can bring are -available enough, to be sure. But the city on the plateau, and the homes -of the barbarically clad inhabitants are not places to which invitations -are coveted for the luxury of them. The planet is a sportman's paradise. - -Not long since, the Planet President of _Surmor III_ was a guest in -Burl's dwelling. Burl is all hard muscle, despite his graying hair, and -he and Saya have fitted very beautifully into the sort of civilization -that turned out to be congenial to them. They have grown children now, -and their home is quite fit to entertain a World President in its -richness. But it is small--the size they want it to be. - -The atmosphere is oddly informal. There are self-respecting and amiable -dogs nearly everywhere. The World President of _Surmor III_ was inclined -to be stand-offish at first. But he is a sportsman, like Burl. And since -the last hunting trip, he is very respectful. After all, there are few -planet leaders who will, as they do, for pure sporting joy of the hunt, -fight the mastodon-sized tarantula of the lowlands with nothing but a -spear--and win. - -But Burl does. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Nightmare Planet, by Murray Leinster - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NIGHTMARE PLANET *** - -***** This file should be named 42987-8.txt or 42987-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/2/9/8/42987/ - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Denny Lien, Mary Meehan 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. 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