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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..601871a --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #51028 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/51028) diff --git a/old/51028-h.zip b/old/51028-h.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 4649f17..0000000 --- a/old/51028-h.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/51028-h/51028-h.htm b/old/51028-h/51028-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index 137868e..0000000 --- a/old/51028-h/51028-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,891 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> - <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=us-ascii" /> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> - <title> - The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Protector, by Betsy Curtis. - </title> - - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - - <style type="text/css"> - -body { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - - h1,h2 { - text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ - clear: both; -} - -p { - margin-top: .51em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .49em; -} - -hr { - width: 33%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - margin-left: 33.5%; - margin-right: 33.5%; - clear: both; -} - -hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} -hr.tb {width: 45%; margin-left: 27.5%; margin-right: 27.5%;} - -.center {text-align: center;} - -.right {text-align: right;} - -.caption {font-weight: bold;} - -/* Images */ -.figcenter { - margin: auto; - text-align: center; -} - -div.titlepage { - text-align: center; - page-break-before: always; - page-break-after: always; -} - -div.titlepage p { - text-align: center; - text-indent: 0em; - font-weight: bold; - line-height: 1.5; - margin-top: 3em; -} - -.ph1, .ph2, .ph3, .ph4 { text-align: center; text-indent: 0em; font-weight: bold; } -.ph1 { font-size: xx-large; margin: .67em auto; } -.ph2 { font-size: x-large; margin: .75em auto; } -.ph3 { font-size: large; margin: .83em auto; } -.ph4 { font-size: medium; margin: 1.12em auto; } - - - </style> - </head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Protector, by Betsy Curtis - -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/license - - -Title: The Protector - -Author: Betsy Curtis - -Release Date: January 24, 2016 [EBook #51028] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PROTECTOR *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/cover.jpg" width="376" height="500" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="titlepage"> -<h1>The Protector</h1> - -<p>BY BETSY CURTIS</p> - -<p>Illustrated by DAVID STONE</p> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Galaxy Science Fiction February 1951.<br /> -Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that<br /> -the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]</p> - -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus.jpg" width="352" height="500" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph3">There's a fortune in a boxer who feels no pain.<br /> -This one didn't, except in odd ways....</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>How come I live here on Gorlin permanent? Well, it's something like -this.</p> - -<p>There is nobody real surprised when some scientist writes an article -in the Sunday supplement about the primitive tribes of Anestha dying -out probably. The Anesthon natives is freaks, anyway, and folks just -naturally figure they can't last long in stiff competition. If you -are like them and your body don't feel any pain any time, you need a -nursemaid around to keep you from doing dumb things, like walking in -front of a truck or starving to death.</p> - -<p>I am here on Gorlin a couple times and know about 'em. Some folks think -it's comical to watch the space crews think up ways to give an Anesthon -a workout. I see one Anesthon girl—a real looker she is, too—dance -fourteen hours before she gives out, just for a bottle of perfume and -one of them Venusian fur lounge robes. They sure enjoy their pleasures, -even if they never feel no pain. You feeling any? More thiska?</p> - -<p>Hey, Noor! Another round of thiska for the boys!</p> - -<p>Well, they can feel your feelings, and any thoughts that are about -them, too. I guess all they live for is pleasure and a pat on the -back. One time a little runty Anesthon guy even builds a whole stone -blockhouse for a first looie, when the looie thinks real hard that -the little guy looks like a first-rate hod carrier. Time the house is -built, the Anesthon's hands is all bloody and one ankle broke where a -chunk of rock drops on him. He don't notice it, of course.</p> - -<p>Pierre gets all worked up about them Anestha dying out. That's my -boy Pierre, the heavyweight. I name him Pierre so's nobody thinks he -is tough till afterward. He comes from Gorlin. Of course I have to -stable him on Venus long enough for a legal residence, or the Boxing -Commission would have him investigated and maybe banned from the ring -as a telepath. Tough training him, too. He can't see the sense of -fighting, but, man, he can stay in the ring all night. He never does -get real speedy on his feet, but he learns fast and packs a wicked -left. I don't have to lie when I am thinking real hard he is champeen -material.</p> - -<p>Anyhow, Pierre gets all worked up over his race getting extinct. He has -a sister who is glenched to some nice boy and his old man is some sort -of a chief. He is all for beating it back by the next via-Venus ship to -see what is getting at the old folks at home. I calm him down though, -give him a couple of shots of thiska and say I better take him around -to see that scientist-dopester and get the inside first. I have to go -everywhere with him to see he doesn't break a leg and forget to tell me -about it.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>So we hop a TAT in Chi and make for Washington where this science -fellow is with some Smithsonian Institute. He is nice enough about -seeing us, but he can't figure how a Chinaman like Pierre has any -call to be steamed up about the Anestha (you seen these Anestha with -their slick black hair and goldy skin and smooth eyelids like a Earth -Chinaman) so I have to break down and tell him about Pierre being an -Anesthon.</p> - -<p>That scientist is pretty peeved with me bringing Pierre into the Earth -system, but when I tell him Pierre wants to go back to help out the -folks, he kind of clams up and says the article is just one of those -Sunday paper things. There don't really seem to be anything wrong on -Gorlin except that all the workers are getting more careless than -usual, falling off walls they are building and getting hit by rocks -during blasting, or walking in front of full cars in the mines.</p> - -<p>Pierre gives the man a look. "Workers? Mines? Blasting?" he says. "What -gives? There are no mines on Gorlin," he says, "just a few quarries -and a lot of big farms. We never have to kill ourselves working. What -gives?" he says.</p> - -<p>"Oh," the man comes back, "there's a couple big targ mines in full -swing. Some big Earth concern is shipping out the stuff five freighters -a day to Mercury for mass insulation. All native workers. They don't -get paid much—weej cigarettes, bubble bath, some thiska, electro-fur -blankets, stuff like that—but I don't hear yapping. If I do, I report -anything that looks like slavery." Of course he says it with a lot of -grammar and it takes him a half hour, but that is the slant.</p> - -<p>He wants to gab some then with Pierre. I see that the boy is getting -jittery and homesick, too, when the guy starts raving about swimming -in the flaff pools and the feeling of katweela petals under your bare -feet, so I says we have to catch a plane and get out of there.</p> - -<p>Pierre still wants to head for Gorlin. He says his people must be -unhappy about something or they are more careful. Life on Gorlin is too -much fun to just go and die for no reason.</p> - -<p>I try to pep him up on the way back to Chi, talking about his next -fight with Kid Bop, but he says he can't see any reason in fighting, -either, just now. I tell him I think he kind of likes fighting, but he -says what he likes is the nice things I think about him when he wins, -and he is too worried about his family to pay much attention to what I -think just now.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Well, we are both pretty flush from one of the best fight seasons I -ever see and a rest won't hurt the boy, so I say okay, we are going by -the first liner off the Flats.</p> - -<p>"You don't have to go, Joe," he says. "Keep your dough and train a -couple more kids. I may not be back," he says.</p> - -<p>"Look, boy," I says, "you know what the food is like on them liners," -I says, kind of kidding, "and if there's nobody around to cram it -down you, you don't eat, and if you don't eat, you starve—and if you -starve, you are in no condition to cheer up your sister and your old -man. Besides," I says, "I can afford a vacation and you're the only -fighter I want to work with. You've got a real future," I says, "and -I'm going to bring you back alive."</p> - -<p>I guess that makes him feel kind of good, because he grins first time -since he reads that paper and says, "All right, Joe, come on along."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>We buy a few pretties and neckties in the station and ship out of Chi -for the Flats on the next TAT. Pierre wants to get some perfume for his -sister, but I tell him we can get better on Venus, where all the good -stuff is made.</p> - -<p>The trip from Venus Space Base to Gorlin is fast on account of -over-drive, but even so I have no trouble passing Pierre off as a -fighter who has the jitters and is headed for a vacation where he -learns to take it easy the easy way. He is always burning his fingers -or his mouth on a cigarette, and I have to keep an eye on him all the -time. Nerves, I explain to the passengers.</p> - -<p>When we land, Pierre is all for hunting up his folks, but I says no, -if there is some trouble, it is smarter to case the joint. We check in -at the swanky tourist hotel. She is new since I am on Gorlin a couple -years ago and what class! She is built around one of the biggest flaff -pools on the whole planet and our room is completely lined with padded -velvety stuff, sort of a deep red color, and the bathroom has a -cloudrift shower that you nearly float away on.</p> - -<p>But Pierre just doesn't relax. I keep trying to make him get in the -shower, but it is no use. He says he is just too worried to take any -pleasure in it. I don't think we ought to go scouting till night and -that is thirty some hours yet, but when I see he is settling down to -wear the fuzz right off the floor walking round and round, I give in, -feed him a sandwich I bring from the ship, and we stroll off in the -woods like we are looking for flowers.</p> - -<p>There are no signs around the hotel saying which way to the mines, so -we set off to circle the hotel and spaceport clearing to look for the -rail-line that brings the targ to the port. I figure we have gone about -two-thirds of the way around when I nearly fall over a guy sitting on -the ground with his head in his hands. What I think is katweela flowers -is just the red Anesthon kloa he has on. He looks up sort of dull and -then he sees Pierre with me. He lets out a yip and sits back hard on -the ground and moans. Pierre yanks the fellow up on his feet and hugs -him and starts to jabber away so fast I can't tell what he is saying. -Foreigners always talk faster than anybody else. The other guy puts in -a word or two every once in a while and then he scrams off through the -trees.</p> - -<p>"That's Noor," Pierre informs me, "the guy my sister Jennel is -glenched to. He's gonna get us a couple of kloas so nobody'll notice -us around the mine. He's feeling mighty low, but I can't figure out -why. He says Jennel and the old man are okay, only he can't ever carry -Jennel to his own house because he ain't man enough. I don't get it. He -can make a good fighter, Joe."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Before you can count three, Noor is back again with the kloas and -Pierre strips and gets into his. I ain't too keen to show my shapelies, -but Pierre starts grabbing my shirt and I have to put the kloa on or -else. The boys head south at a good clip and I tag along trying to -catch up and find out the score. When Pierre sees I am making like -winded, he slows down and tells me we are going to the mine owner's -fancy dump about two miles down the drag. Pierre says Noor tells him -the mine owner doesn't like him and he has to leave us when we get in -sight of the house.</p> - -<p>After about a mile, Noor begins to drag along. Then he just sits down -under another tree and says that is the end of the line for him. He -points through the trees and says go on, maybe he is still there when -we come back, maybe not. While Pierre is jawing with him, I look up the -trail and see a Anesthon babe about a hundred feet away. You can tell -it is a babe from one of them blue and green mollos draped around her -over the kloa.</p> - -<p>Noor sees her, too, and takes off like a bat back the way we come. -Pierre jogs ahead and when I get up with him, there he is hugging and -jabbering again.</p> - -<p>"My sister Jennel," he says, and, "Jennel, this is Joe, my manager."</p> - -<p>She is a cute trick with lots of yumph showing through the mollo. She -stands kind of slumped, though, and a few of the flowers in her shiny -black hair are pretty mashed.</p> - -<p>"'Smatter, Jennel?" I says. "You look kind of dragged out for a dame -whose brother comes home practically a champeen. Katweela flowers go on -strike?" I says, just trying to make talk.</p> - -<p>She slumps a little more and says the boss don't like her and how it's -too bad her brother has to come home and find her still alive and -cluttering up the woods.</p> - -<p>I tell Pierre she better take us to this boss that don't like a babe -like her, but she just shakes her head and says go that way and we -come to the house. Then she says the boss makes the natives use the -employees' entrance on the other side of the house and she offers to -take and show us the way. She kind of twitches when she says "natives."</p> - -<p>She don't even says yes or no all the way to the gate till, just before -we get there, I trip on a root and bang my knee on a rock on the way -down. Well, I howl and cuss some and she comes up close and asks me -what seems to be the matter. I tell her the blamed rock hurts my knee -and I think real hard about how her knee would feel if a rock hits it -and she busts right out crying.</p> - -<p>"Oh, you poor man, you poor man, you," she sobs. "That rock don't like -you at all."</p> - -<p>"It don't hate me, either," I says. "It's only a rock."</p> - -<p>"But it makes a hurt to you. It don't love you and now you are not -happy where there's any rocks because they don't love you," she says, -and she helps me up and starts dragging me along, still crying like -crazy.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>I don't make nothing out of that, but pretty soon we come to a little -gate in a thick row of bushes. Jennel lets go of me then and says she -hopes Pierre is a strong man and a good worker and that the boss likes -him. And then she gives a big sigh and says if the boss don't like him, -we can find her over there where the men are cutting down a bunch of -trees, because if one of the trees likes her, it will maybe fall on her -pretty soon.</p> - -<p>Pierre tells her to wait right there by the gate because he is coming -back. He isn't looking for work so the boss won't care if he is strong -or not. She just sighs again and sits down on the grass and whimpers.</p> - -<p>Pierre tries once more to get her to tell him what is the matter, but -all she says is that their father and some other fellow named Frith -are up at the big house. They are being talked to by the boss about -not getting out enough targ on the shifts where they are foremen, and -she says how sad it is about Pierre coming home.</p> - -<p>It is just beginning to filter through my thick skull that the boss is -connected with all this dying out of the Anestha, as the Sunday paper -puts it, and I grab Pierre away from Jennel and hustle him through the -gate.</p> - -<p>"Look, Pierre," I says, "we'll go around and listen by them long -windows and see what cooks. I'll bet that boss is up to something dirty -in there. If he is the one who messed up Jennel," I says, "we better -just mess him up some."</p> - -<p>There is nobody in sight on the lawn and we just march up to the window -easy as pie. There is this big booming voice giving somebody what for.</p> - -<p>"You poor miserable idiots," yells this voice, "you can't keep the -workers off the tracks and you get out less than twenty tons of targ -since last night, and then you waste a whole charge of nitro by not -telling the watchman he's not supposed to smoke in the enclosure. All -those people are dead and it's your fault."</p> - -<p>I hear a sniffle behind me and when I turn around, there is Jennel. She -has sneaked up behind us to see what we are going to do.</p> - -<p>"That's how he talks to me, too," she lets us know in a whisper, "only -he says I am not fit to even wash dishes, let alone ever have a house -of my own ... when I drop one of his plates a little while ago. He says -I am looking in a mirror instead of where I am going and he hopes I see -what an ugly pan I have, because I ought to know it and keep out of -people's way so they won't have to look at me." Her tears splash right -down on the grass.</p> - -<p>"And that's not all," the yelling inside goes on. "Not only do you -kill off all my workers, but at this rate I'm losing money paying you -four packs of cigarettes a day. If I have to blast off and start from -scratch in some other part of this blamed universe, you stupid, -gutless ... why, you aren't even men. You worms don't even run when you -see a car coming at you. Too blamed dumb to come in out of the rain."</p> - -<p>I stick my head around the corner and look in, and there is the back of -a big guy in a Mercury-made suit and with a bald head that is red all -the way round to the back of his neck. On the other side of the room I -see a couple of the sorriest-looking Anestha God ever makes, shuffling -their feet and looking like kicked dogs.</p> - -<p>I turn to Pierre. "Go in there swinging," I says, like at a fight, and -pull the window open.</p> - -<p>"He won't like me," Pierre says, hanging back. "He says Anestha are -dumb cowards. Maybe he knows. Maybe I won't dare hit him."</p> - -<p>"You get in there and poke him, boy," I says and give him a push. -"I like you and I see you fight and the Anestha got more guts than -anybody!"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The big guy hears us and turns around. "Get out of here, you mangy -natives," he bellows. "You good for nothing, shivering, sniveling, -cowardly boobs. I'm not ready for you yet." He is shaking a -whippy-looking cane at me and Pierre, and I think he has turned purple.</p> - -<p>"We're ready for you, though," I yell back. I climb into the room -pulling Pierre in after me. "Pierre's no sniveling coward and you can -quit talking to his brave, heroic, self-sacrificing father like that. -Put 'em up and defend yourself, you howling ape," I yell, "because -Pierre is going to give you the beating of your howling life!"</p> - -<p>I see Pierre's old man and the other fellow spruce up some.</p> - -<p>The big guy sits down in a chair real quick, and, sucking in a big -breath, he starts going all fatherly at Pierre, telling him that he -doesn't want to have to hit him back, because Pierre will not feel -it when he kills him, which he doesn't want to have to do because -Pierre is just a poor weak Anesthon who don't know from nothing, and -he doesn't want to injure any of his workers and he is just telling -Pierre's old man a few things to protect the Anestha.</p> - -<p>Pierre looks at me kind of doubtful.</p> - -<p>"Go on, hit the fat bully," I says, real icy. "He has it coming. You -owe it to your old man and Noor and Jennel here. Go ahead and show him -what kind of champeens the Anestha can turn out. It's just for his own -good," I says, "so hit him now. Then you can tell your dad what a great -guy you are."</p> - -<p>Pierre's left obediently swings into the lug's jaw with a crack like a -rifle. He don't even watch the big guy sag down on the floor. He begins -hugging his father and the other fellow and grinning and jabbering away -like blue blazes.</p> - -<p>The big guy is still breathing, but out cold, so I go to look for a -tele-viz. I figure the authorities better hear my story before the big -guy wakes up.</p> - -<p>After I make my spiel, the port chief says to come in and bring Pierre -and his father and Frith and Jennel and Noor, too, if we can find him, -and make an official recorded report. He is sending a doctor out by -'copter.</p> - -<p>We beat it for the port, leaving the fat boss sleeping on the floor.</p> - -<p>We all stay in protective custody at the hotel, swimming in flaff -and lounging around the thiska bar for a couple of weeks, until the -commission headed by that scientist from the Smithsonian Institute -comes out and takes the boss back to Earth. He has to see a judge about -why he should not go into stir for a while for psychological coercion -or something like that.</p> - -<p>Before they leave, the commission hands me an official charge at a -hundred thou a year to stay as Protector of Morale to the Anestha. That -is better than the fight racket, but the protectorship is a laugh. I -can't even go out for a walk without a couple dozen Anestha tagging -along, to keep me from stubbing my toe on some unfriendly pebble, or -socking my eye on some unloving devil of a doorknob.</p> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Protector, by Betsy Curtis - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PROTECTOR *** - -***** This file should be named 51028-h.htm or 51028-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/1/0/2/51028/ - -Produced by Greg Weeks, 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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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/license - - -Title: The Protector - -Author: Betsy Curtis - -Release Date: January 24, 2016 [EBook #51028] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PROTECTOR *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - - The Protector - - BY BETSY CURTIS - - Illustrated by DAVID STONE - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Galaxy Science Fiction February 1951. - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - - - - There's a fortune in a boxer who feels no pain. - This one didn't, except in odd ways.... - - -How come I live here on Gorlin permanent? Well, it's something like -this. - -There is nobody real surprised when some scientist writes an article -in the Sunday supplement about the primitive tribes of Anestha dying -out probably. The Anesthon natives is freaks, anyway, and folks just -naturally figure they can't last long in stiff competition. If you -are like them and your body don't feel any pain any time, you need a -nursemaid around to keep you from doing dumb things, like walking in -front of a truck or starving to death. - -I am here on Gorlin a couple times and know about 'em. Some folks think -it's comical to watch the space crews think up ways to give an Anesthon -a workout. I see one Anesthon girl--a real looker she is, too--dance -fourteen hours before she gives out, just for a bottle of perfume and -one of them Venusian fur lounge robes. They sure enjoy their pleasures, -even if they never feel no pain. You feeling any? More thiska? - -Hey, Noor! Another round of thiska for the boys! - -Well, they can feel your feelings, and any thoughts that are about -them, too. I guess all they live for is pleasure and a pat on the -back. One time a little runty Anesthon guy even builds a whole stone -blockhouse for a first looie, when the looie thinks real hard that -the little guy looks like a first-rate hod carrier. Time the house is -built, the Anesthon's hands is all bloody and one ankle broke where a -chunk of rock drops on him. He don't notice it, of course. - -Pierre gets all worked up about them Anestha dying out. That's my -boy Pierre, the heavyweight. I name him Pierre so's nobody thinks he -is tough till afterward. He comes from Gorlin. Of course I have to -stable him on Venus long enough for a legal residence, or the Boxing -Commission would have him investigated and maybe banned from the ring -as a telepath. Tough training him, too. He can't see the sense of -fighting, but, man, he can stay in the ring all night. He never does -get real speedy on his feet, but he learns fast and packs a wicked -left. I don't have to lie when I am thinking real hard he is champeen -material. - -Anyhow, Pierre gets all worked up over his race getting extinct. He has -a sister who is glenched to some nice boy and his old man is some sort -of a chief. He is all for beating it back by the next via-Venus ship to -see what is getting at the old folks at home. I calm him down though, -give him a couple of shots of thiska and say I better take him around -to see that scientist-dopester and get the inside first. I have to go -everywhere with him to see he doesn't break a leg and forget to tell me -about it. - - * * * * * - -So we hop a TAT in Chi and make for Washington where this science -fellow is with some Smithsonian Institute. He is nice enough about -seeing us, but he can't figure how a Chinaman like Pierre has any -call to be steamed up about the Anestha (you seen these Anestha with -their slick black hair and goldy skin and smooth eyelids like a Earth -Chinaman) so I have to break down and tell him about Pierre being an -Anesthon. - -That scientist is pretty peeved with me bringing Pierre into the Earth -system, but when I tell him Pierre wants to go back to help out the -folks, he kind of clams up and says the article is just one of those -Sunday paper things. There don't really seem to be anything wrong on -Gorlin except that all the workers are getting more careless than -usual, falling off walls they are building and getting hit by rocks -during blasting, or walking in front of full cars in the mines. - -Pierre gives the man a look. "Workers? Mines? Blasting?" he says. "What -gives? There are no mines on Gorlin," he says, "just a few quarries -and a lot of big farms. We never have to kill ourselves working. What -gives?" he says. - -"Oh," the man comes back, "there's a couple big targ mines in full -swing. Some big Earth concern is shipping out the stuff five freighters -a day to Mercury for mass insulation. All native workers. They don't -get paid much--weej cigarettes, bubble bath, some thiska, electro-fur -blankets, stuff like that--but I don't hear yapping. If I do, I report -anything that looks like slavery." Of course he says it with a lot of -grammar and it takes him a half hour, but that is the slant. - -He wants to gab some then with Pierre. I see that the boy is getting -jittery and homesick, too, when the guy starts raving about swimming -in the flaff pools and the feeling of katweela petals under your bare -feet, so I says we have to catch a plane and get out of there. - -Pierre still wants to head for Gorlin. He says his people must be -unhappy about something or they are more careful. Life on Gorlin is too -much fun to just go and die for no reason. - -I try to pep him up on the way back to Chi, talking about his next -fight with Kid Bop, but he says he can't see any reason in fighting, -either, just now. I tell him I think he kind of likes fighting, but he -says what he likes is the nice things I think about him when he wins, -and he is too worried about his family to pay much attention to what I -think just now. - - * * * * * - -Well, we are both pretty flush from one of the best fight seasons I -ever see and a rest won't hurt the boy, so I say okay, we are going by -the first liner off the Flats. - -"You don't have to go, Joe," he says. "Keep your dough and train a -couple more kids. I may not be back," he says. - -"Look, boy," I says, "you know what the food is like on them liners," -I says, kind of kidding, "and if there's nobody around to cram it -down you, you don't eat, and if you don't eat, you starve--and if you -starve, you are in no condition to cheer up your sister and your old -man. Besides," I says, "I can afford a vacation and you're the only -fighter I want to work with. You've got a real future," I says, "and -I'm going to bring you back alive." - -I guess that makes him feel kind of good, because he grins first time -since he reads that paper and says, "All right, Joe, come on along." - - * * * * * - -We buy a few pretties and neckties in the station and ship out of Chi -for the Flats on the next TAT. Pierre wants to get some perfume for his -sister, but I tell him we can get better on Venus, where all the good -stuff is made. - -The trip from Venus Space Base to Gorlin is fast on account of -over-drive, but even so I have no trouble passing Pierre off as a -fighter who has the jitters and is headed for a vacation where he -learns to take it easy the easy way. He is always burning his fingers -or his mouth on a cigarette, and I have to keep an eye on him all the -time. Nerves, I explain to the passengers. - -When we land, Pierre is all for hunting up his folks, but I says no, -if there is some trouble, it is smarter to case the joint. We check in -at the swanky tourist hotel. She is new since I am on Gorlin a couple -years ago and what class! She is built around one of the biggest flaff -pools on the whole planet and our room is completely lined with padded -velvety stuff, sort of a deep red color, and the bathroom has a -cloudrift shower that you nearly float away on. - -But Pierre just doesn't relax. I keep trying to make him get in the -shower, but it is no use. He says he is just too worried to take any -pleasure in it. I don't think we ought to go scouting till night and -that is thirty some hours yet, but when I see he is settling down to -wear the fuzz right off the floor walking round and round, I give in, -feed him a sandwich I bring from the ship, and we stroll off in the -woods like we are looking for flowers. - -There are no signs around the hotel saying which way to the mines, so -we set off to circle the hotel and spaceport clearing to look for the -rail-line that brings the targ to the port. I figure we have gone about -two-thirds of the way around when I nearly fall over a guy sitting on -the ground with his head in his hands. What I think is katweela flowers -is just the red Anesthon kloa he has on. He looks up sort of dull and -then he sees Pierre with me. He lets out a yip and sits back hard on -the ground and moans. Pierre yanks the fellow up on his feet and hugs -him and starts to jabber away so fast I can't tell what he is saying. -Foreigners always talk faster than anybody else. The other guy puts in -a word or two every once in a while and then he scrams off through the -trees. - -"That's Noor," Pierre informs me, "the guy my sister Jennel is -glenched to. He's gonna get us a couple of kloas so nobody'll notice -us around the mine. He's feeling mighty low, but I can't figure out -why. He says Jennel and the old man are okay, only he can't ever carry -Jennel to his own house because he ain't man enough. I don't get it. He -can make a good fighter, Joe." - - * * * * * - -Before you can count three, Noor is back again with the kloas and -Pierre strips and gets into his. I ain't too keen to show my shapelies, -but Pierre starts grabbing my shirt and I have to put the kloa on or -else. The boys head south at a good clip and I tag along trying to -catch up and find out the score. When Pierre sees I am making like -winded, he slows down and tells me we are going to the mine owner's -fancy dump about two miles down the drag. Pierre says Noor tells him -the mine owner doesn't like him and he has to leave us when we get in -sight of the house. - -After about a mile, Noor begins to drag along. Then he just sits down -under another tree and says that is the end of the line for him. He -points through the trees and says go on, maybe he is still there when -we come back, maybe not. While Pierre is jawing with him, I look up the -trail and see a Anesthon babe about a hundred feet away. You can tell -it is a babe from one of them blue and green mollos draped around her -over the kloa. - -Noor sees her, too, and takes off like a bat back the way we come. -Pierre jogs ahead and when I get up with him, there he is hugging and -jabbering again. - -"My sister Jennel," he says, and, "Jennel, this is Joe, my manager." - -She is a cute trick with lots of yumph showing through the mollo. She -stands kind of slumped, though, and a few of the flowers in her shiny -black hair are pretty mashed. - -"'Smatter, Jennel?" I says. "You look kind of dragged out for a dame -whose brother comes home practically a champeen. Katweela flowers go on -strike?" I says, just trying to make talk. - -She slumps a little more and says the boss don't like her and how it's -too bad her brother has to come home and find her still alive and -cluttering up the woods. - -I tell Pierre she better take us to this boss that don't like a babe -like her, but she just shakes her head and says go that way and we -come to the house. Then she says the boss makes the natives use the -employees' entrance on the other side of the house and she offers to -take and show us the way. She kind of twitches when she says "natives." - -She don't even says yes or no all the way to the gate till, just before -we get there, I trip on a root and bang my knee on a rock on the way -down. Well, I howl and cuss some and she comes up close and asks me -what seems to be the matter. I tell her the blamed rock hurts my knee -and I think real hard about how her knee would feel if a rock hits it -and she busts right out crying. - -"Oh, you poor man, you poor man, you," she sobs. "That rock don't like -you at all." - -"It don't hate me, either," I says. "It's only a rock." - -"But it makes a hurt to you. It don't love you and now you are not -happy where there's any rocks because they don't love you," she says, -and she helps me up and starts dragging me along, still crying like -crazy. - - * * * * * - -I don't make nothing out of that, but pretty soon we come to a little -gate in a thick row of bushes. Jennel lets go of me then and says she -hopes Pierre is a strong man and a good worker and that the boss likes -him. And then she gives a big sigh and says if the boss don't like him, -we can find her over there where the men are cutting down a bunch of -trees, because if one of the trees likes her, it will maybe fall on her -pretty soon. - -Pierre tells her to wait right there by the gate because he is coming -back. He isn't looking for work so the boss won't care if he is strong -or not. She just sighs again and sits down on the grass and whimpers. - -Pierre tries once more to get her to tell him what is the matter, but -all she says is that their father and some other fellow named Frith -are up at the big house. They are being talked to by the boss about -not getting out enough targ on the shifts where they are foremen, and -she says how sad it is about Pierre coming home. - -It is just beginning to filter through my thick skull that the boss is -connected with all this dying out of the Anestha, as the Sunday paper -puts it, and I grab Pierre away from Jennel and hustle him through the -gate. - -"Look, Pierre," I says, "we'll go around and listen by them long -windows and see what cooks. I'll bet that boss is up to something dirty -in there. If he is the one who messed up Jennel," I says, "we better -just mess him up some." - -There is nobody in sight on the lawn and we just march up to the window -easy as pie. There is this big booming voice giving somebody what for. - -"You poor miserable idiots," yells this voice, "you can't keep the -workers off the tracks and you get out less than twenty tons of targ -since last night, and then you waste a whole charge of nitro by not -telling the watchman he's not supposed to smoke in the enclosure. All -those people are dead and it's your fault." - -I hear a sniffle behind me and when I turn around, there is Jennel. She -has sneaked up behind us to see what we are going to do. - -"That's how he talks to me, too," she lets us know in a whisper, "only -he says I am not fit to even wash dishes, let alone ever have a house -of my own ... when I drop one of his plates a little while ago. He says -I am looking in a mirror instead of where I am going and he hopes I see -what an ugly pan I have, because I ought to know it and keep out of -people's way so they won't have to look at me." Her tears splash right -down on the grass. - -"And that's not all," the yelling inside goes on. "Not only do you -kill off all my workers, but at this rate I'm losing money paying you -four packs of cigarettes a day. If I have to blast off and start from -scratch in some other part of this blamed universe, you stupid, -gutless ... why, you aren't even men. You worms don't even run when you -see a car coming at you. Too blamed dumb to come in out of the rain." - -I stick my head around the corner and look in, and there is the back of -a big guy in a Mercury-made suit and with a bald head that is red all -the way round to the back of his neck. On the other side of the room I -see a couple of the sorriest-looking Anestha God ever makes, shuffling -their feet and looking like kicked dogs. - -I turn to Pierre. "Go in there swinging," I says, like at a fight, and -pull the window open. - -"He won't like me," Pierre says, hanging back. "He says Anestha are -dumb cowards. Maybe he knows. Maybe I won't dare hit him." - -"You get in there and poke him, boy," I says and give him a push. -"I like you and I see you fight and the Anestha got more guts than -anybody!" - - * * * * * - -The big guy hears us and turns around. "Get out of here, you mangy -natives," he bellows. "You good for nothing, shivering, sniveling, -cowardly boobs. I'm not ready for you yet." He is shaking a -whippy-looking cane at me and Pierre, and I think he has turned purple. - -"We're ready for you, though," I yell back. I climb into the room -pulling Pierre in after me. "Pierre's no sniveling coward and you can -quit talking to his brave, heroic, self-sacrificing father like that. -Put 'em up and defend yourself, you howling ape," I yell, "because -Pierre is going to give you the beating of your howling life!" - -I see Pierre's old man and the other fellow spruce up some. - -The big guy sits down in a chair real quick, and, sucking in a big -breath, he starts going all fatherly at Pierre, telling him that he -doesn't want to have to hit him back, because Pierre will not feel -it when he kills him, which he doesn't want to have to do because -Pierre is just a poor weak Anesthon who don't know from nothing, and -he doesn't want to injure any of his workers and he is just telling -Pierre's old man a few things to protect the Anestha. - -Pierre looks at me kind of doubtful. - -"Go on, hit the fat bully," I says, real icy. "He has it coming. You -owe it to your old man and Noor and Jennel here. Go ahead and show him -what kind of champeens the Anestha can turn out. It's just for his own -good," I says, "so hit him now. Then you can tell your dad what a great -guy you are." - -Pierre's left obediently swings into the lug's jaw with a crack like a -rifle. He don't even watch the big guy sag down on the floor. He begins -hugging his father and the other fellow and grinning and jabbering away -like blue blazes. - -The big guy is still breathing, but out cold, so I go to look for a -tele-viz. I figure the authorities better hear my story before the big -guy wakes up. - -After I make my spiel, the port chief says to come in and bring Pierre -and his father and Frith and Jennel and Noor, too, if we can find him, -and make an official recorded report. He is sending a doctor out by -'copter. - -We beat it for the port, leaving the fat boss sleeping on the floor. - -We all stay in protective custody at the hotel, swimming in flaff -and lounging around the thiska bar for a couple of weeks, until the -commission headed by that scientist from the Smithsonian Institute -comes out and takes the boss back to Earth. He has to see a judge about -why he should not go into stir for a while for psychological coercion -or something like that. - -Before they leave, the commission hands me an official charge at a -hundred thou a year to stay as Protector of Morale to the Anestha. That -is better than the fight racket, but the protectorship is a laugh. I -can't even go out for a walk without a couple dozen Anestha tagging -along, to keep me from stubbing my toe on some unfriendly pebble, or -socking my eye on some unloving devil of a doorknob. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Protector, by Betsy Curtis - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PROTECTOR *** - -***** This file should be named 51028.txt or 51028.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/1/0/2/51028/ - -Produced by Greg Weeks, 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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