diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 4 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/51233-h.zip | bin | 314735 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/51233-h/51233-h.htm | 2059 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/51233-h/images/cover.jpg | bin | 85525 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/51233-h/images/illus1.jpg | bin | 68767 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/51233-h/images/illus2.jpg | bin | 44361 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/51233-h/images/illus3.jpg | bin | 79093 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/51233.txt | 1926 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/51233.zip | bin | 35730 -> 0 bytes |
11 files changed, 17 insertions, 3985 deletions
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..0c70927 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #51233 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/51233) diff --git a/old/51233-h.zip b/old/51233-h.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 50b572b..0000000 --- a/old/51233-h.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/51233-h/51233-h.htm b/old/51233-h/51233-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index a5529bd..0000000 --- a/old/51233-h/51233-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,2059 +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 Marching Morons, by C. M. Kornbluth. - </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 Marching Morons, by C.M. Kornbluth - -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 Marching Morons - -Author: C.M. Kornbluth - -Release Date: February 16, 2016 [EBook #51233] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MARCHING MORONS *** - - - - -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 Marching Morons</h1> - -<p>By C. M. KORNBLUTH</p> - -<p>Illustrated by DON SIBLEY</p> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Galaxy Science Fiction April 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/illus1.jpg" width="600" height="445" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph3">In the country of the blind, the one-eyed man, of<br /> -course, is king. But how about a live wire, a smart<br /> -businessman, in a civilization of 100% pure chumps?</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - -<p>Some things had not changed. A potter's wheel was still a potter's -wheel and clay was still clay. Efim Hawkins had built his shop near -Goose Lake, which had a narrow band of good fat clay and a narrow beach -of white sand. He fired three bottle-nosed kilns with willow charcoal -from the wood lot. The wood lot was also useful for long walks while -the kilns were cooling; if he let himself stay within sight of them, -he would open them prematurely, impatient to see how some new shape or -glaze had come through the fire, and—<i>ping!</i>—the new shape or glaze -would be good for nothing but the shard pile back of his slip tanks.</p> - -<p>A business conference was in full swing in his shop, a modest cube -of brick, tile-roofed, as the Chicago-Los Angeles "rocket" thundered -overhead—very noisy, very swept-back, very fiery jets, shaped as -sleekly swift-looking as an airborne barracuda.</p> - -<p>The buyer from Marshall Fields was turning over a black-glazed one -liter carafe, nodding approval with his massive, handsome head. "This -is real pretty," he told Hawkins and his own secretary, Gomez-Laplace. -"This has got lots of what ya call real est'etic principles. Yeah, it -is real pretty."</p> - -<p>"How much?" the secretary asked the potter.</p> - -<p>"Seven-fifty each in dozen lots," said Hawkins. "I ran up fifteen dozen -last month."</p> - -<p>"They are real est'etic," repeated the buyer from Fields. "I will take -them all."</p> - -<p>"I don't think we can do that, doctor," said the secretary. "They'd -cost us $1,350. That would leave only $532 in our quarter's budget. -And we still have to run down to East Liverpool to pick up some cheap -dinner sets."</p> - -<p>"Dinner sets?" asked the buyer, his big face full of wonder.</p> - -<p>"Dinner sets. The department's been out of them for two months now. Mr. -Garvy-Seabright got pretty nasty about it yesterday. Remember?"</p> - -<p>"Garvy-Seabright, that meat-headed bluenose," the buyer said -contemptuously. "He don't know nothin' about est'etics. Why for don't -he lemme run my own department?" His eye fell on a stray copy of -<i>Whambozambo Comix</i> and he sat down with it. An occasional deep chuckle -or grunt of surprise escaped him as he turned the pages.</p> - -<p>Uninterrupted, the potter and the buyer's secretary quickly closed a -deal for two dozen of the liter carafes. "I wish we could take more," -said the secretary, "but you heard what I told him. We've had to -turn away customers for ordinary dinnerware because he shot the last -quarter's budget on some Mexican piggy banks some equally enthusiastic -importer stuck him with. The fifth floor is packed solid with them."</p> - -<p>"I'll bet they look mighty est'etic."</p> - -<p>"They're painted with purple cacti."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The potter shuddered and caressed the glaze of the sample carafe.</p> - -<p>The buyer looked up and rumbled, "Ain't you dummies through yakkin' -yet? What good's a seckertary for if'n he don't take the burden of -<i>de</i>-tail off'n my back, harh?"</p> - -<p>"We're all through, doctor. Are you ready to go?"</p> - -<p>The buyer grunted peevishly, dropped <i>Whambozambo Comix</i> on the floor -and led the way out of the building and down the log corduroy road to -the highway. His car was waiting on the concrete. It was, like all -contemporary cars, too low-slung to get over the logs. He climbed down -into the car and started the motor with a tremendous sparkle and roar.</p> - -<p>"Gomez-Laplace," called out the potter under cover of the noise, "did -anything come of the radiation program they were working on the last -time I was on duty at the Pole?"</p> - -<p>"The same old fallacy," said the secretary gloomily. "It stopped us on -mutation, it stopped us on culling, it stopped us on segregation, and -now it's stopped us on hypnosis."</p> - -<p>"Well, I'm scheduled back to the grind in nine days. Time for another -firing right now. I've got a new luster to try...."</p> - -<p>"I'll miss you. I shall be 'vacationing'—running the drafting room of -the New Century Engineering Corporation in Denver. They're going to put -up a two hundred-story office building, and naturally somebody's got to -be on hand."</p> - -<p>"Naturally," said Hawkins with a sour smile.</p> - -<p>There was an ear-piercingly sweet blast as the buyer leaned on the horn -button. Also, a yard-tall jet of what looked like flame spurted up from -the car's radiator cap; the car's power plant was a gas turbine, and -had no radiator.</p> - -<p>"I'm coming, doctor," said the secretary dispiritedly. He climbed down -into the car and it whooshed off with much flame and noise.</p> - -<p>The potter, depressed, wandered back up the corduroy road and -contemplated his cooling kilns. The rustling wind in the boughs was -obscuring the creak and mutter of the shrinking refractory brick. -Hawkins wondered about the number two kiln—a reduction fire on a load -of lusterware mugs. Had the clay chinking excluded the air? Had it -been a properly smoky blaze? Would it do any harm if he just took one -close—?</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Common sense took Hawkins by the scruff of the neck and yanked him -over to the tool shed. He got out his pick and resolutely set off on a -prospecting jaunt to a hummocky field that might yield some oxides. He -was especially low on coppers.</p> - -<p>The long walk left him sweating hard, with his lust for a peek into the -kiln quiet in his breast. He swung his pick almost at random into one -of the hummocks; it clanged on a stone which he excavated. A largely -obliterated inscription said:</p> - -<p class="ph4">ERSITY OF CHIC<br /> -OGICAL LABO<br /> -ELOVED MEMORY OF<br /> -KILLED IN ACT</p> - -<p>The potter swore mildly. He had hoped the field would turn out to be a -cemetery, preferably a once-fashionable cemetery full of once-massive -bronze caskets moldered into oxides of tin and copper.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Well, hell, maybe there was some around anyway.</p> - -<p>He headed lackadaisically for the second largest hillock and sliced -into it with his pick. There was a stone to undercut and topple into -a trench, and then the potter was very glad he'd stuck at it. His -nostrils were filled with the bitter smell and the dirt was tinged with -the exciting blue of copper salts. The pick went <i>clang</i>!</p> - -<p>Hawkins, puffing, pried up a stainless steel plate that was quite badly -stained and was also marked with incised letters. It seemed to have -pulled loose from rotting bronze; there were rivets on the back that -brought up flakes of green patina. The potter wiped off the surface -dirt with his sleeve, turned it to catch the sunlight obliquely and -read:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p class="ph4">"HONEST JOHN BARLOW</p> - -<p>"Honest John," famed in university annals, represents a challenge -which medical science has not yet answered: revival of a human being -accidentally thrown into a state of suspended animation.</p> - -<p>In 1988 Mr. Barlow, a leading Evanston real estate dealer, visited -his dentist for treatment of an impacted wisdom tooth. His dentist -requested and received permission to use the experimental anesthetic -Cycloparadimethanol-B-7, developed at the University.</p> - -<p>After administration of the anesthetic, the dentist resorted to his -drill. By freakish mischance, a short circuit in his machine delivered -220 volts of 60-cycle current into the patient. (In a damage suit -instituted by Mrs. Barlow against the dentist, the University and the -makers of the drill, a jury found for the defendants.) Mr. Barlow -never got up from the dentist's chair and was assumed to have died of -poisoning, electrocution or both.</p> - -<p>Morticians preparing him for embalming discovered, however, that their -subject was—though certainly not living—just as certainly not dead. -The University was notified and a series of exhaustive tests was -begun, including attempts to duplicate the trance state on volunteers. -After a bad run of seven cases which ended fatally, the attempts were -abandoned.</p> - -<p>Honest John was long an exhibit at the University museum, and livened -many a football game as mascot of the University's Blue Crushers. The -bounds of taste were overstepped, however, when a pledge to Sigma -Delta Chi was ordered in '03 to "kidnap" Honest John from his loosely -guarded glass museum case and introduce him into the Rachel Swanson -Memorial Girls' Gymnasium shower room.</p> - -<p>On May 22nd, 2003, the University Board of Regents issued the -following order: "By unanimous vote, it is directed that the remains -of Honest John Barlow be removed from the University museum and -conveyed to the University's Lieutenant James Scott III Memorial -Biological Laboratories and there be securely locked in a specially -prepared vault. It is further directed that all possible measures -for the preservation of these remains be taken by the Laboratory -administration and that access to these remains be denied to all -persons except qualified scholars authorized in writing by the Board. -The Board reluctantly takes this action in view of recent notices and -photographs in the nation's press which, to say the least, reflect but -small credit upon the University."</p></blockquote> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>It was far from his field, but Hawkins understood what had happened—an -early and accidental blundering onto the bare bones of the Levantman -shock anesthesia, which had since been replaced by other methods. To -bring subjects out of Levantman shock, you let them have a squirt of -simple saline in the trigeminal nerve. Interesting. And now about that -bronze—</p> - -<p>He heaved the pick into the rotting green salts, expecting no -resistence and almost fractured his wrist. <i>Something</i> down there was -<i>solid</i>. He began to flake off the oxides.</p> - -<p>A half hour of work brought him down to phosphor bronze, a huge casting -of the almost incorruptible metal. It had weakened structurally over -the centuries; he could fit the point of his pick under a corroded boss -and pry off great creaking and grumbling striae of the stuff.</p> - -<p>Hawkins wished he had an archeologist with him, but didn't dream of -returning to his shop and calling one to take over the find. He was an -all-around man: by choice and in his free time, an artist in clay and -glaze; by necessity, an automotive, electronics and atomic engineer -who could also swing a project in traffic control, individual and -group psychology, architecture or tool design. He didn't yell for a -specialist every time something out of his line came up; there were so -few with so much to do....</p> - -<p>He trenched around his find, discovering that it was a great -brick-shaped bronze mass with an excitingly hollow sound. A long strip -of moldering metal from one of the long vertical faces pulled away, -exposing red rust that went <i>whoosh</i> and was sucked into the interior -of the mass.</p> - -<p>It had been de-aired, thought Hawkins, and there must have been an -inner jacket of glass which had crystalized through the centuries and -quietly crumbled at the first clang of his pick. He didn't know what a -vacuum would do to a subject of Levantman shock, but he had hopes, nor -did he quite understand what a real estate dealer was, but it might -have something to do with pottery. And <i>anything</i> might have a bearing -on Topic Number One.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>He flung his pick out of the trench, climbed out and set off at a -dog-trot for his shop. A little rummaging turned up a hypo and there -was a plasticontainer of salt in the kitchen.</p> - -<p>Back at his dig, he chipped for another half hour to expose the -juncture of lid and body. The hinges were hopeless; he smashed them off.</p> - -<p>Hawkins extended the telescopic handle of the pick for the best -leverage, fitted its point into a deep pit, set its built-in fulcrum, -and heaved. Five more heaves and he could see, inside the vault, what -looked like a dusty marble statue. Ten more and he could see that it -was the naked body of Honest John Barlow, Evanston real estate dealer, -uncorrupted by time.</p> - -<p>The potter found the apex of the trigeminal nerve with his needle's -point and gave him 60 cc.</p> - -<p>In an hour Barlow's chest began to pump.</p> - -<p>In another hour, he rasped, "Did it work?"</p> - -<p>"<i>Did</i> it!" muttered Hawkins.</p> - -<p>Barlow opened his eyes and stirred, looked down, turned his hands -before his eyes—</p> - -<p>"I'll sue!" he screamed. "My clothes! My fingernails!" A horrid -suspicion came over his face and he clapped his hands to his hairless -scalp. "My hair!" he wailed. "I'll sue you for every penny you've got! -That release won't mean a damned thing in court—I didn't sign away my -hair and clothes and fingernails!"</p> - -<p>"They'll grow back," said Hawkins casually. "Also your epidermis. Those -parts of you weren't alive, you know, so they weren't preserved like -the rest of you. I'm afraid the clothes are gone, though."</p> - -<p>"What is this—the University hospital?" demanded Barlow. "I want -a phone. No, you phone. Tell my wife I'm all right and tell Sam -Immerman—he's my lawyer—to get over here right away. Greenleaf -7-4022. Ow!" He had tried to sit up, and a portion of his pink skin -rubbed against the inner surface of the casket, which was powdered by -the ancient crystalized glass. "What the hell did you guys do, boil me -alive? Oh, you're going to pay for this!"</p> - -<p>"You're all right," said Hawkins, wishing now he had a reference book -to clear up several obscure terms. "Your epidermis will start growing -immediately. You're not in the hospital. Look here."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>He handed Barlow the stainless steel plate that had labeled the casket. -After a suspicious glance, the man started to read. Finishing, he laid -the plate carefully on the edge of the vault and was silent for a -spell.</p> - -<p>"Poor Verna," he said at last. "It doesn't say whether she was stuck -with the court costs. Do you happen to know—"</p> - -<p>"No," said the potter. "All I know is what was on the plate, and how to -revive you. The dentist accidentally gave you a dose of what we call -Levantman shock anesthesia. We haven't used it for centuries; it was -powerful, but too dangerous."</p> - -<p>"Centuries ..." brooded the man. "Centuries ... I'll bet Sam swindled -her out of her eyeteeth. Poor Verna. How long ago was it? What year is -this?"</p> - -<p>Hawkins shrugged. "We call it 7-B-936. That's no help to you. It takes -a long time for these metals to oxidize."</p> - -<p>"Like that movie," Barlow muttered. "Who would have thought it? Poor -Verna!" He blubbered and sniffled, reminding Hawkins powerfully of the -fact that he had been found under a flat rock.</p> - -<p>Almost angrily, the potter demanded, "How many children did you have?"</p> - -<p>"None yet," sniffed Barlow. "My first wife didn't want them. But Verna -wants one—wanted one—but we're going to wait until—we <i>were</i> going -to wait until—"</p> - -<p>"Of course," said the potter, feeling a savage desire to tell him off, -blast him to hell and gone for his work. But he choked it down. There -was The Problem to think of; there was always The Problem to think of, -and this poor blubberer might unexpectedly supply a clue. Hawkins would -have to pass him on.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"Come along," Hawkins said. "My time is short."</p> - -<p>Barlow looked up, outraged. "How can you be so unfeeling? I'm a human -being like—"</p> - -<p>The Los Angeles-Chicago "rocket" thundered overhead and Barlow broke -off in mid-complaint. "Beautiful!" he breathed, following it with his -eyes. "Beautiful!"</p> - -<p>He climbed out of the vault, too interested to be pained by its -roughness against his infantile skin. "After all," he said briskly, -"this should have its sunny side. I never was much for reading, but -this is just like one of those stories. And I ought to make some money -out of it, shouldn't I?" He gave Hawkins a shrewd glance.</p> - -<p>"You want money?" asked the potter. "Here." He handed over a fistful -of change and bills. "You'd better put my shoes on. It'll be about a -quarter-mile. Oh, and you're—uh, modest?—yes, that was the word. -Here." Hawkins gave him his pants, but Barlow was excitedly counting -the money.</p> - -<p>"Eighty-five, eighty-six—and it's dollars, too! I thought it'd -be credits or whatever they call them. 'E Pluribus Unum' and -'Liberty'—just different faces. Say, is there a catch to this? Are -these real, genuine, honest twenty-two-cent dollars like we had or -just wallpaper?"</p> - -<p>"They're quite all right, I assure you," said the potter. "I wish you'd -come along. I'm in a hurry."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The man babbled as they stumped toward the shop. "Where are we -going—The Council of Scientists, the World Coordinator or something -like that?"</p> - -<p>"Who? Oh, no. We call them 'President' and 'Congress.' No, that -wouldn't do any good at all. I'm just taking you to see some people."</p> - -<p>"I ought to make plenty out of this. <i>Plenty!</i> I could write books. -Get some smart young fellow to put it into words for me and I'll bet I -could turn out a best-seller. What's the setup on things like that?"</p> - -<p>"It's about like that. Smart young fellows. But there aren't any -best-sellers any more. People don't read much nowadays. We'll find -something equally profitable for you to do."</p> - -<p>Back in the shop, Hawkins gave Barlow a suit of clothes, deposited him -in the waiting room and called Central in Chicago. "Take him away," he -pleaded. "I have time for one more firing and he blathers and blathers. -I haven't told him anything. Perhaps we should just turn him loose and -let him find his own level, but there's a chance—"</p> - -<p>"The Problem," agreed Central. "Yes, there's a chance."</p> - -<p>The potter delighted Barlow by making him a cup of coffee with a cube -that not only dissolved in cold water but heated the water to boiling -point. Killing time, Hawkins chatted about the "rocket" Barlow had -admired, and had to haul himself up short; he had almost told the real -estate man what its top speed really was—almost, indeed, revealed that -it was not a rocket.</p> - -<p>He regretted, too, that he had so casually handed Barlow a couple of -hundred dollars. The man seemed obsessed with fear that they were -worthless since Hawkins refused to take a note or I.O.U. or even a -definite promise of repayment. But Hawkins couldn't go into details, -and was very glad when a stranger arrived from Central.</p> - -<p>"Tinny-Peete, from Algeciras," the stranger told him swiftly as the -two of them met at the door. "Psychist for Poprob. Polasigned special -overtake Barlow."</p> - -<p>"Thank Heaven," said Hawkins. "Barlow," he told the man from the past, -"this is Tinny-Peete. He's going to take care of you and help you make -lots of money."</p> - -<p>The psychist stayed for a cup of the coffee whose preparation had -delighted Barlow, and then conducted the real estate man down the -corduroy road to his car, leaving the potter to speculate on whether he -could at last crack his kilns.</p> - -<p>Hawkins, abruptly dismissing Barlow and the Problem, happily picked -the chinking from around the door of the number two kiln, prying it -open a trifle. A blast of heat and the heady, smoky scent of the -reduction fire delighted him. He peered and saw a corner of a shelf -glowing cherry-red, becoming obscured by wavering black areas as it -lost heat through the opened door. He slipped a charred wood paddle -under a mug on the shelf and pulled it out as a sample, the hairs on -the back of his hand curling and scorching. The mug crackled and pinged -and Hawkins sighed happily.</p> - -<p>The bismuth resinate luster had fired to perfection, a haunting film -of silvery-black metal with strange bluish lights in it as it turned -before the eyes, and the Problem of Population seemed very far away to -Hawkins then.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Barlow and Tinny-Peete arrived at the concrete highway where the -psychist's car was parked in a safety bay.</p> - -<p>"What—a—<i>boat</i>!" gasped the man from the past.</p> - -<p>"Boat? No, that's my car."</p> - -<p>Barlow surveyed it with awe. Swept-back lines, deep-drawn compound -curves, kilograms of chrome. He ran his hands futilely over the -door—or was it the door?—in a futile search for a handle, and asked -respectfully, "How fast does it go?"</p> - -<p>The psychist gave him a keen look and said slowly, "Two hundred and -fifty. You can tell by the speedometer."</p> - -<p>"Wow! My old Chevvy could hit a hundred on a straightaway, but you're -out of my class, mister!"</p> - -<p>Tinny-Peete somehow got a huge, low door open and Barlow descended -three steps into immense cushions, floundering over to the right. He -was too fascinated to pay serious attention to his flayed dermis. The -dashboard was a lovely wilderness of dials, plugs, indicators, lights, -scales and switches.</p> - -<p>The psychist climbed down into the driver's seat and did something with -his feet. The motor started like lighting a blowtorch as big as a silo. -Wallowing around in the cushions, Barlow saw through a rear-view mirror -a tremendous exhaust filled with brilliant white sparkles.</p> - -<p>"Do you like it?" yelled the psychist.</p> - -<p>"It's terrific!" Barlow yelled back. "It's—"</p> - -<p>He was shut up as the car pulled out from the bay into the road with -a great <i>voo-ooo-ooom</i>! A gale roared past Barlow's head, though the -windows seemed to be closed; the impression of speed was terrific. He -located the speedometer on the dashboard and saw it climb past 90, 100, -150, 200.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus2.jpg" width="600" height="296" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>"Fast enough for me," yelled the psychist, noting that Barlow's face -fell in response. "Radio?"</p> - -<p>He passed over a surprisingly light object like a football helmet, -with no trailing wires, and pointed to a row of buttons. Barlow put -on the helmet, glad to have the roar of air stilled, and pushed a -pushbutton. It lit up satisfyingly and Barlow settled back even farther -for a sample of the brave new world's super-modern taste in ingenious -entertainment.</p> - -<p>"TAKE IT AND STICK IT!" a voice roared in his ears.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>He snatched off the helmet and gave the psychist an injured look. -Tinny-Peete grinned and turned a dial associated with the pushbutton -layout. The man from the past donned the helmet again and found the -voice had lowered to normal.</p> - -<p>"The show of shows! The super-show! The super-duper show! The quiz of -quizzes! <i>Take it and stick it!</i>"</p> - -<p>There were shrieks of laughter in the background.</p> - -<p>"Here we got the contes-tants all ready to go. You know how we work it. -I hand a contes-tant a triangle-shaped cut-out and like that down the -line. Now we got these here boards, they got cut-out places the same -shape as the triangles and things, only they're all different shapes, -and the first contes-tant that sticks the cutouts into the board, he -wins.</p> - -<p>"Now I'm gonna innaview the first contes-tant. Right here, honey. -What's your name?"</p> - -<p>"Name? Uh—"</p> - -<p>"Hoddaya like that, folks? She don't remember her name! Hah? <i>Would -you buy that for a quarter?</i>" The question was spoken with arch -significance, and the audience shrieked, howled and whistled its -appreciation.</p> - -<p>It was dull listening when you didn't know the punch lines and catch -lines. Barlow pushed another button, with his free hand ready at the -volume control.</p> - -<p>"—latest from Washington. It's about Senator Hull-Mendoza. He is still -attacking the Bureau of Fisheries. The North California Syndicalist -says he got affidavits that John Kingsley-Schultz is a bluenose from -way back. He didn't publistat the affydavits, but he says they say that -Kingsley-Schultz was saw at bluenose meetings in Oregon State College -and later at Florida University. Kingsley-Schultz says he gotta confess -he did major in fly-casting at Oregon and got his Ph.D. in game-fish at -Florida.</p> - -<p>"And here is a quote from Kingsley-Schultz: 'Hull-Mendoza don't know -what he's talking about. He should drop dead.' Unquote. Hull-Mendoza -says he won't publistat the affydavits to pertect his sources. He says -they was sworn by three former employes of the Bureau which was fired -for in-com-petence and in-com-pat-ibility by Kingsley-Schultz.</p> - -<p>"Elsewhere they was the usual run of traffic accidents. A three-way -pileup of cars on Route 66 going outta Chicago took twelve lives. -The Chicago-Los Angeles morning rocket crashed and exploded in the -Mo-have—Mo-javvy—what-ever-you-call-it Desert. All the 94 people -aboard got killed. A Civil Aeronautics Authority investigator on the -scene says that the pilot was buzzing herds of sheep and didn't pull -out in time.</p> - -<p>"Hey! Here's a hot one from New York! A Diesel tug run wild in the -harbor while the crew was below and shoved in the port bow of the -luck-shury liner <i>S. S. Placentia</i>. It says the ship filled and sank -taking the lives of an es-ti-mated 180 passengers and 50 crew members. -Six divers was sent down to study the wreckage, but they died, too, -when their suits turned out to be fulla little holes.</p> - -<p>"And here is a bulletin I just got from Denver. It seems—"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Barlow took off the headset uncomprehendingly. "He seemed so callous," -he yelled at the driver. "I was listening to a newscast—"</p> - -<p>Tinny-Peete shook his head and pointed at his ears. The roar of air was -deafening. Barlow frowned baffledly and stared out of the window.</p> - -<p>A glowing sign said:</p> - -<p class="ph4">MOOGS!<br /> -WOULD YOU BUY IT<br /> -FOR A QUARTER?</p> - -<p>He didn't know what Moogs was or were; the illustration showed -an incredibly proportioned girl, 99.9 per cent naked, writhing -passionately in animated full color.</p> - -<p>The roadside jingle was still with him, but with a new feature. Radar -or something spotted the car and alerted the lines of the jingle. Each -in turn sped along a roadside track, even with the car, so it could be -read before the next line was alerted.</p> - -<p class="ph4">IF THERE'S A GIRL<br /> -YOU WANT TO GET<br /> -DEFLOCCULIZE<br /> -UNROMANTIC SWEAT.<br /> -"A*R*M*P*I*T*T*O"</p> - -<p>Another animated job, in two panels, the familiar "Before and After." -The first said, "Just Any Cigar?" and was illustrated with a two-person -domestic tragedy of a wife holding her nose while her coarse and -red-faced husband puffed a slimy-looking rope. The second panel glowed, -"Or a VUELTA ABAJO?" and was illustrated with—</p> - -<p>Barlow blushed and looked at his feet until they had passed the sign.</p> - -<p>"Coming into Chicago!" bawled Tinny-Peete.</p> - -<p>Other cars were showing up, all of them dreamboats.</p> - -<p>Watching them, Barlow began to wonder if he knew what a kilometer -was, exactly. They seemed to be traveling so slowly, if you ignored -the roaring air past your ears and didn't let the speedy lines of the -dreamboats fool you. He would have sworn they were really crawling -along at twenty-five, with occasional spurts up to thirty. How much -was a kilometer, anyway?</p> - -<p>The city loomed ahead, and it was just what it ought to be: towering -skyscrapers, overhead ramps, landing platforms for helicopters—</p> - -<p>He clutched at the cushions. Those two 'copters. They were going -to—they were going to—they—</p> - -<p>He didn't see what happened because their apparent collision courses -took them behind a giant building.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Screamingly sweet blasts of sound surrounded them as they stopped for a -red light. "What the hell is going on here?" said Barlow in a shrill, -frightened voice, because the braking time was just about zero, he -wasn't hurled against the dashboard. "Who's kidding who?"</p> - -<p>"Why, what's the matter?" demanded the driver.</p> - -<p>The light changed to green and he started the pickup. Barlow stiffened -as he realized that the rush of air past his ears began just a brief, -unreal split-second before the car was actually moving. He grabbed for -the door handle on his side.</p> - -<p>The city grew on them slowly: scattered buildings, denser buildings, -taller buildings, and a red light ahead. The car rolled to a stop in -zero braking time, the rush of air cut off an instant after it stopped, -and Barlow was out of the car and running frenziedly down a sidewalk -one instant after that.</p> - -<p><i>They'll track me down</i>, he thought, panting. <i>It's a secret police -thing. They'll get you—mind-reading machines, television eyes -everywhere, afraid you'll tell their slaves about freedom and stuff. -They don't let anybody cross them, like that story I once read.</i></p> - -<p>Winded, he slowed to a walk and congratulated himself that he had guts -enough not to turn around. That was what they always watched for. -Walking, he was just another business-suited back among hundreds. He -would be safe, he would be safe—</p> - -<p>A hand tumbled from a large, coarse, handsome face thrust close to his: -"Wassamatta bumpinninna people likeya owna sidewalk gotta miner slamya -inna mushya bassar!" It was neither the mad potter nor the mad driver.</p> - -<p>"Excuse me," said Barlow. "What did you say?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, yeah?" yelled the stranger dangerously, and waited for an answer.</p> - -<p>Barlow, with the feeling that he had somehow been suckered into -the short end of an intricate land-title deal, heard himself reply -belligerently, "Yeah!"</p> - -<p>The stranger let go of his shoulder and snarled, "Oh, yeah?"</p> - -<p>"Yeah!" said Barlow, yanking his jacket back into shape.</p> - -<p>"Aaah!" snarled the stranger, with more contempt and disgust than -ferocity. He added an obscenity current in Barlow's time, a standard -but physiologically impossible directive, and strutted off hulking his -shoulders and balling his fists.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Barlow walked on, trembling. Evidently he had handled it well enough. -He stopped at a red light while the long, low dreamboats roared before -him and pedestrians in the sidewalk flow with him threaded their ways -through the stream of cars. Brakes screamed, fenders clanged and -dented, hoarse cries flew back and forth between drivers and walkers. -He leaped backward frantically as one car swerved over an arc of -sidewalk to miss another.</p> - -<p>The signal changed to green, the cars kept on coming for about thirty -seconds and then dwindled to an occasional light-runner. Barlow crossed -warily and leaned against a vending machine, blowing big breaths.</p> - -<p><i>Look natural</i>, he told himself. <i>Do something normal. Buy something -from the machine.</i></p> - -<p>He fumbled out some change, got a newspaper for a dime, a handkerchief -for a quarter and a candy bar for another quarter.</p> - -<p>The faint chocolate smell made him ravenous suddenly. He clawed at the -glassy wrapper printed "CRIGGLIES" quite futilely for a few seconds, -and then it divided neatly by itself. The bar made three good bites, -and he bought two more and gobbled them down.</p> - -<p>Thirsty, he drew a carbonated orange drink in another one of the glassy -wrappers from the machine for another dime. When he fumbled with it, it -divided neatly and spilled all over his knees. Barlow decided he had -been there long enough and walked on.</p> - -<p>The shop windows were—shop windows. People still wore and bought -clothes, still smoked and bought tobacco, still ate and bought food. -And they still went to the movies, he saw with pleased surprise as he -passed and then returned to a glittering place whose sign said it was -THE BIJOU.</p> - -<p>The place seemed to be showing a quintuple feature, <i>Babies Are -Terrible</i>, <i>Don't Have Children</i>, and <i>The Canali Kid</i>.</p> - -<p>It was irresistible; he paid a dollar and went in.</p> - -<p>He caught the tail-end of <i>The Canali Kid</i> in three-dimensional, -full-color, full-scent production. It appeared to be an interplanetary -saga winding up with a chase scene and a reconciliation between -estranged hero and heroine. <i>Babies Are Terrible</i> and <i>Don't Have -Children</i> were fantastic arguments against parenthood—the grotesquely -exaggerated dangers of painfully graphic childbirth, vicious children, -old parents beaten and starved by their sadistic offspring. The -audience, Barlow astoundedly noted, was placidly champing sweets and -showing no particular signs of revulsion.</p> - -<p>The <i>Coming Attractions</i> drove him into the lobby. The fanfares -were shattering, the blazing colors blinding, and the added scents -stomach-heaving.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>When his eyes again became accustomed to the moderate lighting of the -lobby, he groped his way to a bench and opened the newspaper he had -bought. It turned out to be <i>The Racing Sheet</i>, which afflicted him -with a crushing sense of loss. The familiar boxed index in the lower -left hand corner of the front page showed almost unbearably that -Churchill Downs and Empire City were still in business—</p> - -<p>Blinking back tears, he turned to the Past Performances at Churchill. -They weren't using abbreviations any more, and the pages because of -that were single-column instead of double. But it was all the same—or -was it?</p> - -<p>He squinted at the first race, a three-quarter-mile maiden claimer for -thirteen hundred dollars. Incredibly, the track record was two minutes, -ten and three-fifths seconds. Any beetle in his time could have knocked -off the three-quarter in one-fifteen. It was the same for the other -distances, much worse for route events.</p> - -<p><i>What the hell had happened to everything?</i></p> - -<p>He studied the form of a five-year-old brown mare in the second and -couldn't make head or tail of it. She'd won and lost and placed and -showed and lost and placed without rhyme or reason. She looked like a -front-runner for a couple of races and then she looked like a no-good -pig and then she looked like a mudder but the next time it rained she -wasn't and then she was a stayer and then she was a pig again. In a -good five-thousand-dollar allowances event, too!</p> - -<p>Barlow looked at the other entries and it slowly dawned on him that -they were all like the five-year-old brown mare. Not a single damned -horse running had the slightest trace of class.</p> - -<p>Somebody sat down beside him and said, "That's the story."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Barlow whirled to his feet and saw it was Tinny-Peete, his driver.</p> - -<p>"I was in doubts about telling you," said the psychist, "but I see you -have some growing suspicions of the truth. Please don't get excited. -It's all right, I tell you."</p> - -<p>"So you've got me," said Barlow.</p> - -<p>"<i>Got</i> you?"</p> - -<p>"Don't pretend. I can put two and two together. You're the secret -police. You and the rest of the aristocrats live in luxury on the sweat -of these oppressed slaves. You're afraid of me because you have to keep -them ignorant."</p> - -<p>There was a bellow of bright laughter from the psychist that got them -blank looks from other patrons of the lobby. The laughter didn't sound -at all sinister.</p> - -<p>"Let's get out of here," said Tinny-Peete, still chuckling. "You -couldn't possibly have it more wrong." He engaged Barlow's arm and led -him to the street. "The actual truth is that the millions of workers -live in luxury on the sweat of the handful of aristocrats. I shall -probably die before my time of overwork unless—" He gave Barlow a -speculative look. "You may be able to help us."</p> - -<p>"I know that gag," sneered Barlow. "I made money in my time and to make -money you have to get people on your side. Go ahead and shoot me if you -want, but you're not going to make a fool out of me."</p> - -<p>"You nasty little ingrate!" snapped the psychist, with a kaleidoscopic -change of mood. "This damned mess is all your fault and the fault of -people like you! Now come along and no more of your nonsense."</p> - -<p>He yanked Barlow into an office building lobby and an elevator that, -disconcertingly, went <i>whoosh</i> loudly as it rose. The real estate man's -knees were wobbly as the psychist pushed him from the elevator, down a -corridor and into an office.</p> - -<p>A hawk-faced man rose from a plain chair as the door closed behind -them. After an angry look at Barlow, he asked the psychist, "Was I -called from the Pole to inspect this—this—?"</p> - -<p>"Unget updandered. I've dee-probed etfind quasichance exhim -Poprobattackline," said the psychist soothingly.</p> - -<p>"Doubt," grunted the hawk-faced man.</p> - -<p>"Try," suggested Tinny-Peete.</p> - -<p>"Very well. Mr. Barlow, I understand you and your lamented had no -children."</p> - -<p>"What of it?"</p> - -<p>"This of it. You were a blind, selfish stupid ass to tolerate economic -and social conditions which penalized child-bearing by the prudent and -foresighted. You made us what we are today, and I want you to know that -we are far from satisfied. Damn-fool rockets! Damn-fool automobiles! -Damn-fool cities with overhead ramps!"</p> - -<p>"As far as I can see," said Barlow, "you're running down the best -features of time. Are you crazy?"</p> - -<p>"The rockets aren't rockets. They're turbo-jets—good turbo-jets, but -the fancy shell around them makes for a bad drag. The automobiles -have a top speed of one hundred kilometers per hour—a kilometer is, -if I recall my paleolinguistics, three-fifths of a mile—and the -speedometers are all rigged accordingly so the drivers will think -they're going two hundred and fifty. The cities are ridiculous, -expensive, unsanitary, wasteful conglomerations of people who'd -be better off and more productive if they were spread over the -countryside.</p> - -<p>"We need the rockets and trick speedometers and cities because, while -you and your kind were being prudent and foresighted and not having -children, the migrant workers, slum dwellers and tenant farmers were -shiftlessly and short-sightedly having children—breeding, breeding. My -God, how they bred!"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"Wait a minute," objected Barlow. "There were lots of people in our -crowd who had two or three children."</p> - -<p>"The attrition of accidents, illness, wars and such took care of that. -Your intelligence was bred out. It is gone. Children that should have -been born never were. The just-average, they'll-get-along majority took -over the population. The average IQ now is 45."</p> - -<p>"But that's far in the future—"</p> - -<p>"So are you," grunted the hawk-faced man sourly.</p> - -<p>"But who are <i>you</i> people?"</p> - -<p>"Just people—real people. Some generations ago, the geneticists -realized at last that nobody was going to pay any attention to what -they said, so they abandoned words for deeds. Specifically, they formed -and recruited for a closed corporation intended to maintain and improve -the breed. We are their descendants, about three million of us. There -are five billion of the others, so we are their slaves.</p> - -<p>"During the past couple of years I've designed a skyscraper, kept -Billings Memorial Hospital here in Chicago running, headed off war with -Mexico and directed traffic at LaGuardia Field in New York."</p> - -<p>"I don't understand! Why don't you let them go to hell in their own -way?"</p> - -<p>The man grimaced. "We tried it once for three months. We holed up at -the South Pole and waited. They didn't notice it. Some drafting-room -people were missing, some chief nurses didn't show up, minor government -people on the non-policy level couldn't be located. It didn't seem to -matter.</p> - -<p>"In a week there was hunger. In two weeks there were famine and plague, -in three weeks war and anarchy. We called off the experiment; it took -us most of the next generation to get things squared away again."</p> - -<p>"But why <i>didn't</i> you let them kill each other off?"</p> - -<p>"Five billion corpses mean about five hundred million tons of rotting -flesh."</p> - -<p>Barlow had another idea. "Why don't you sterilize them?"</p> - -<p>"Two and one-half billion operations is a lot of operations. Because -they breed continuously, the job would never be done."</p> - -<p>"I see. Like the marching Chinese!"</p> - -<p>"Who the devil are they?"</p> - -<p>"It was a—uh—paradox of my time. Somebody figured out that if all -the Chinese in the world were to line up four abreast, I think it was, -and start marching past a given point, they'd never stop because of the -babies that would be born and grow up before they passed the point."</p> - -<p>"That's right. Only instead of 'a given point,' make it 'the largest -conceivable number of operating rooms that we could build and staff.' -There could never be enough."</p> - -<p>"Say!" said Barlow. "Those movies about babies—was that your -propaganda?"</p> - -<p>"It was. It doesn't seem to mean a thing to them. We have abandoned the -idea of attempting propaganda contrary to a biological drive."</p> - -<p>"So if you work <i>with</i> a biological drive—?"</p> - -<p>"I know of none which is consistent with inhibition of fertility."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Barlow's face went poker-blank, the result of years of careful -discipline. "You don't, huh? You're the great brains and you can't -think of any?"</p> - -<p>"Why, no," said the psychist innocently. "Can you?"</p> - -<p>"That depends. I sold ten thousand acres of Siberian tundra—through -a dummy firm, of course—after the partition of Russia. The buyers -thought they were getting improved building lots on the outskirts of -Kiev. I'd say that was a lot tougher than this job."</p> - -<p>"How so?" asked the hawk-faced man.</p> - -<p>"Those were normal, suspicious customers and these are morons, born -suckers. You just figure out a con they'll fall for; they won't know -enough to do any smart checking."</p> - -<p>The psychist and the hawk-faced man had also had training; they kept -themselves from looking with sudden hope at each other.</p> - -<p>"You seem to have something in mind," said the psychist.</p> - -<p>Barlow's poker face went blanker still. "Maybe I have. I haven't heard -any offer yet."</p> - -<p>"There's the satisfaction of knowing that you've prevented Earth's -resources from being so plundered," the hawk-faced man pointed out, -"that the race will soon become extinct."</p> - -<p>"I don't know that," Barlow said bluntly. "All I have is your word."</p> - -<p>"If you really have a method, I don't think any price would be too -great," the psychist offered.</p> - -<p>"Money," said Barlow.</p> - -<p>"All you want."</p> - -<p>"More than you want," the hawk-faced man corrected.</p> - -<p>"Prestige," added Barlow. "Plenty of publicity. My picture and my name -in the papers and over TV every day, statues to me, parks and cities -and streets and other things named after me. A whole chapter in the -history books."</p> - -<p>The psychist made a facial sign to the hawk-faced man that meant, "Oh, -brother!"</p> - -<p>The hawk-faced man signaled back, "Steady, boy!"</p> - -<p>"It's not too much to ask," the psychist agreed.</p> - -<p>Barlow, sensing a seller's market, said, "Power!"</p> - -<p>"Power?" the hawk-faced man repeated puzzledly. "Your own hydro station -or nuclear pile?"</p> - -<p>"I mean a world dictatorship with me as dictator!"</p> - -<p>"Well, now—" said the psychist, but the hawk-faced man interrupted, -"It would take a special emergency act of Congress but the situation -warrants it. I think that can be guaranteed."</p> - -<p>"Could you give us some indication of your plan?" the psychist asked.</p> - -<p>"Ever hear of lemmings?"</p> - -<p>"No."</p> - -<p>"They are—were, I guess, since you haven't heard of them—little -animals in Norway, and every few years they'd swarm to the coast and -swim out to sea until they drowned. I figure on putting some lemming -urge into the population."</p> - -<p>"How?"</p> - -<p>"I'll save that till I get the right signatures on the deal."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The hawk-faced man said, "I'd like to work with you on it, Barlow. My -name's Ryan-Ngana." He put out his hand.</p> - -<p>Barlow looked closely at the hand, then at the man's face. "Ryan what?"</p> - -<p>"Ngana."</p> - -<p>"That sounds like an African name."</p> - -<p>"It is. My mother's father was a Watusi."</p> - -<p>Barlow didn't take the hand. "I thought you looked pretty dark. I don't -want to hurt your feelings, but I don't think I'd be at my best working -with you. There must be somebody else just as well qualified, I'm sure."</p> - -<p>The psychist made a facial sign to Ryan-Ngana that meant, "Steady -<i>yourself</i>, boy!"</p> - -<p>"Very well," Ryan-Ngana told Barlow. "We'll see what arrangement can be -made."</p> - -<p>"It's not that I'm prejudiced, you understand. Some of my best -friends—"</p> - -<p>"Mr. Barlow, don't give it another thought. Anybody who could pick on -the lemming analogy is going to be useful to us."</p> - -<p>And so he would, thought Ryan-Ngana, alone in the office after -Tinny-Peete had taken Barlow up to the helicopter stage. So he -would. Poprob had exhausted every rational attempt and the new -Poprobattacklines would have to be irrational or sub-rational. This -creature from the past with his lemming legends and his improved -building lots would be a fountain of precious vicious self-interest.</p> - -<p>Ryan-Ngana sighed and stretched. He had to go and run the San -Francisco subway. Summoned early from the Pole to study Barlow, he'd -left unfinished a nice little theorem. Between interruptions, he was -slowly constructing an n-dimensional geometry whose foundations and -superstructure owed no debt whatsoever to intuition.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Upstairs, waiting for a helicopter, Barlow was explaining to -Tinny-Peete that he had nothing against Negroes, and Tinny-Peete wished -he had some of Ryan-Ngana's imperturbability and humor for the ordeal.</p> - -<p>The helicopter took them to International Airport where, Tinny-Peete -explained, Barlow would leave for the Pole.</p> - -<p>The man from the past wasn't sure he'd like a dreary waste of ice and -cold.</p> - -<p>"It's all right," said the psychist. "A civilized layout. Warm, -pleasant. You'll be able to work more efficiently there. All the facts -at your fingertips, a good secretary—"</p> - -<p>"I'll need a pretty big staff," said Barlow, who had learned from -thousands of deals never to take the first offer.</p> - -<p>"I meant a private, confidential one," said Tinny-Peete readily, "but -you can have as many as you want. You'll naturally have top-primary-top -priority if you really have a workable plan."</p> - -<p>"Let's not forget this dictatorship angle," said Barlow.</p> - -<p>He didn't know that the psychist would just as readily have promised -him deification to get him happily on the "rocket" for the Pole. -Tinny-Peete had no wish to be torn limb from limb; he knew very -well that it would end that way if the population learned from this -anachronism that there was a small elite which considered itself -head, shoulders, trunk and groin above the rest. The fact that this -assumption was perfectly true and the fact that the elite was condemned -by its superiority to a life of the most grinding toil would not be -considered; the difference would.</p> - -<p>The psychist finally put Barlow aboard the "rocket" with some thirty -people—real people—headed for the Pole.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Barlow was airsick all the way because of a post-hypnotic suggestion -Tinny-Peete had planted in him. One idea was to make him as averse as -possible to a return trip, and another idea was to spare the other -passengers from his aggressive, talkative company.</p> - -<p>Barlow during the first day at the pole was reminded -of his first day in the Army. It was the same -now-where-the-hell-are-we-going-to-put-<i>you</i>? business until he took a -firm line with them. Then instead of acting like supply sergeants they -acted like hotel clerks.</p> - -<p>It was a wonderful, wonderfully calculated buildup, and one that he -failed to suspect. After all, in his time a visitor from the past would -have been lionized.</p> - -<p>At day's end he reclined in a snug underground billet with the 60-mile -gales roaring yards overhead, and tried to put two and two together.</p> - -<p>It was like old times, he thought—like a coup in real estate where -you had the competition by the throat, like a 50-per cent rent boost -when you knew damned well there was no place for the tenants to move, -like smiling when you read over the breakfast orange juice that the -city council had decided to build a school on the ground you had -acquired by a deal with the city council. And it was simple. He would -just sell tundra building lots to eagerly suicidal lemmings, and that -was absolutely all there was to solving the Problem that had these -double-domes spinning.</p> - -<p>They'd have to work out most of the details, naturally, but what the -hell, that was what subordinates were for. He'd need specialists in -advertising, engineering, communications—did they know anything about -hypnotism? That might be helpful. If not, there'd have to be a lot of -bribery done, but he'd make sure—damned sure—there were unlimited -funds.</p> - -<p>Just selling building lots to lemmings....</p> - -<p>He wished, as he fell asleep, that poor Verna could have been in on -this. It was his biggest, most stupendous deal. Verna—that sharp -shyster Sam Immerman must have swindled her....</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>It began the next day with people coming to visit him. He knew the -approach. They merely wanted to be helpful to their illustrious visitor -from the past and would he help fill them in about his era, which -unfortunately was somewhat obscure historically, and what did he think -could be done about the Problem? He told them he was too old to be -roped any more, and they wouldn't get any information out of him until -he got a letter of intent from at least the Polar President, and a -session of the Polar Congress empowered to make him dictator.</p> - -<p>He got the letter and the session. He presented his program, was asked -whether his conscience didn't revolt at its callousness, explained -succinctly that a deal was a deal and anybody who wasn't smart enough -to protect himself didn't deserve protection—"Caveat emptor," he threw -in for scholarship, and had to translate it to "Let the buyer beware." -He didn't, he stated, give a damn about either the morons or their -intelligent slaves; he'd told them his price and that was all he was -interested in.</p> - -<p>Would they meet it or wouldn't they?</p> - -<p>The Polar President offered to resign in his favor, with certain -temporary emergency powers that the Polar Congress would vote him if -he thought them necessary. Barlow demanded the title of World Dictator, -complete control of world finances, salary to be decided by himself, -and the publicity campaign and historical writeup to begin at once.</p> - -<p>"As for the emergency powers," he added, "they are neither to be -temporary nor limited."</p> - -<p>Somebody wanted the floor to discuss the matter, with the declared hope -that perhaps Barlow would modify his demands.</p> - -<p>"You've got the proposition," Barlow said. "I'm not knocking off even -ten per cent."</p> - -<p>"But what if the Congress refuses, sir?" the President asked.</p> - -<p>"Then you can stay up here at the Pole and try to work it out -yourselves. I'll get what I want from the morons. A shrewd operator -like me doesn't have to compromise; I haven't got a single competitor -in this whole cockeyed moronic era."</p> - -<p>Congress waived debate and voted by show of hands. Barlow won -unanimously.</p> - -<p>"You don't know how close you came to losing me," he said in his first -official address to the joint Houses. "I'm not the boy to haggle; -either I get what I ask or I go elsewhere. The first thing I want is -to see designs for a new palace for me—nothing <i>un</i>ostentatious, -either—and your best painters and sculptors to start working on my -portraits and statues. Meanwhile, I'll get my staff together."</p> - -<p>He dismissed the Polar President and the Polar Congress, telling them -that he'd let them know when the next meeting would be.</p> - -<p>A week later, the program started with North America the first target.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Garvy was resting after dinner before the ordeal of turning on -the dishwasher. The TV, of course, was on and it said: "Oooh!"—long, -shuddery and ecstatic, the cue for the <i>Parfum Assault Criminale</i> spot -commercial. "Girls," said the announcer hoarsely, "do you want your -man? It's easy to get him—easy as a trip to Venus."</p> - -<p>"Huh?" said Mrs. Garvy.</p> - -<p>"Wassamatter?" snorted her husband, starting out of a doze.</p> - -<p>"Ja hear that?"</p> - -<p>"Wha'?"</p> - -<p>"He said 'easy like a trip to Venus.'"</p> - -<p>"So?"</p> - -<p>"Well, I thought ya couldn't get to Venus. I thought they just had that -one rocket thing that crashed on the Moon."</p> - -<p>"Aah, women don't keep up with the news," said Garvy righteously, -subsiding again.</p> - -<p>"Oh," said his wife uncertainly.</p> - -<p>And the next day, on <i>Henry's Other Mistress</i>, there was a new -character who had just breezed in: Buzz Rentshaw, Master Rocket Pilot -of the Venus run. On <i>Henry's Other Mistress</i>, "the broadcast drama -about you and your neighbors, <i>folksy</i> people, <i>ordinary</i> people, -<i>real</i> people"! Mrs. Garvy listened with amazement over a cooling cup -of coffee as Buzz made hay of her hazy convictions.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus3.jpg" width="485" height="500" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>MONA: Darling, it's so good to see you again!</p> - -<p>BUZZ: You don't know how I've missed you on that dreary Venus run.</p> - -<p>SOUND: <i>Venetian blind run down, key turned in door lock.</i></p> - -<p>MONA: Was it <i>very</i> dull, dearest?</p> - -<p>BUZZ: Let's not talk about my humdrum job, darling. Let's talk about us.</p> - -<p>SOUND: <i>Creaking bed.</i></p> - -<p>Well, the program was back to normal at last. That evening Mrs. Garvy -tried to ask again whether her husband was sure about those rockets, -but he was dozing right through <i>Take It and Stick It</i>, so she watched -the screen and forgot the puzzle.</p> - -<p>She was still rocking with laughter at the gag line, "Would you buy it -for a quarter?" when the commercial went on for the detergent powder -she always faithfully loaded her dishwasher with on the first of every -month.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The announcer displayed mountains of suds from a tiny piece of the -stuff and coyly added: "Of course, Cleano don't lay around for you to -pick up like the soap root on Venus, but it's pretty cheap and it's -almost pretty near just as good. So for us plain folks who ain't lucky -enough to live up there on Venus, Cleano is the real cleaning stuff!"</p> - -<p>Then the chorus went into their "Cleano-is-the-stuff" jingle, but Mrs. -Garvy didn't hear it. She was a stubborn woman, but it occurred to her -that she was very sick indeed. She didn't want to worry her husband. -The next day she quietly made an appointment with her family freud.</p> - -<p>In the waiting room she picked up a fresh new copy of <i>Readers Pablum</i> -and put it down with a faint palpitation. The lead article, according -to the table of contents on the cover, was titled "The Most Memorable -Venusian I Ever Met."</p> - -<p>"The freud will see you now," said the nurse, and Mrs. Garvy tottered -into his office.</p> - -<p>His traditional glasses and whiskers were reassuring. She choked out -the ritual: "Freud, forgive me, for I have neuroses."</p> - -<p>He chanted the antiphonal: "Tut, my dear girl, what seems to be the -trouble?"</p> - -<p>"I got like a hole in the head," she quavered. "I seem to forget all -kinds of things. Things like everybody seems to know and I don't."</p> - -<p>"Well, that happens to everybody occasionally, my dear. I suggest a -vacation on Venus."</p> - -<p>The freud stared, open-mouthed, at the empty chair. His nurse came in -and demanded, "Hey, you see how she scrammed? What was the matter with -<i>her</i>?"</p> - -<p>He took off his glasses and whiskers meditatively. "You can search -me. I told her she should maybe try a vacation on Venus." A momentary -bafflement came into his face and he dug through his desk drawers -until he found a copy of the four-color, profusely illustrated journal -of his profession. It had come that morning and he had lip-read it, -though looking mostly at the pictures. He leafed through to the article -<i>Advantages of the Planet Venus in Rest Cures</i>.</p> - -<p>"It's right there," he said.</p> - -<p>The nurse looked. "It sure is," she agreed. "Why shouldn't it be?"</p> - -<p>"The trouble with these here neurotics," decided the freud, "is that -they all the time got to fight reality. Show in the next twitch."</p> - -<p>He put on his glasses and whiskers again and forgot Mrs. Garvy and her -strange behavior.</p> - -<p>"Freud, forgive me, for I have neuroses."</p> - -<p>"Tut, my dear girl, what seems to be the trouble?"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Like many cures of mental disorders, Mrs. Garvy's was achieved largely -by self-treatment. She disciplined herself sternly out of the crazy -notion that there had been only one rocket ship and that one a failure. -She could join without wincing, eventually, in any conversation on the -desirability of Venus as a place to retire, on its fabulous floral -profusion. Finally she went to Venus.</p> - -<p>All her friends were trying to book passage with the Evening Star -Travel and Real Estate Corporation, but naturally the demand was -crushing. She considered herself lucky to get a seat at last for the -two-week summer cruise. The space ship took off from a place called -Los Alamos, New Mexico. It looked just like all the spaceships on -television and in the picture magazines, but was more comfortable than -you would expect.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Garvy was delighted with the fifty or so fellow-passengers -assembled before takeoff. They were from all over the country and -she had a distinct impression that they were on the brainy side. The -captain, a tall, hawk-faced, impressive fellow named Ryan-Something -or other, welcomed them aboard and trusted that their trip would be a -memorable one. He regretted that there would be nothing to see because, -"due to the meteorite season," the ports would be dogged down. It was -disappointing, yet reassuring that the line was taking no chances.</p> - -<p>There was the expected momentary discomfort at takeoff and then two -monotonous days of droning travel through space to be whiled away in -the lounge at cards or craps. The landing was a routine bump and the -voyagers were issued tablets to swallow to immunize them against any -minor ailments. When the tablets took effect, the lock was opened and -Venus was theirs.</p> - -<p>It looked much like a tropical island on Earth, except for a blanket -of cloud overhead. But it had a heady, other-worldly quality that was -intoxicating and glamorous.</p> - -<p>The ten days of the vacation were suffused with a hazy magic. The soap -root, as advertised, was free and sudsy. The fruits, mostly tropical -varieties transplanted from Earth, were delightful. The simple shelters -provided by the travel company were more than adequate for the balmy -days and nights.</p> - -<p>It was with sincere regret that the voyagers filed again into the ship, -and swallowed more tablets doled out to counteract and sterilize any -Venus illnesses they might unwittingly communicate to Earth.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Vacationing was one thing. Power politics was another.</p> - -<p>At the Pole, a small man was in a soundproof room, his face deathly -pale and his body limp in a straight chair.</p> - -<p>In the American Senate Chamber, Senator Hull-Mendoza (Synd., N. Cal.) -was saying: "Mr. President and gentlemen, I would be remiss in my duty -as a legislature if'n I didn't bring to the attention of the au-gust -body I see here a perilous situation which is fraught with peril. -As is well known to members of this au-gust body, the perfection of -space flight has brought with it a situation I can only describe -as fraught with peril. Mr. President and gentlemen, now that swift -American rockets now traverse the trackless void of space between this -planet and our nearest planetarial neighbor in space—and, gentlemen, I -refer to Venus, the star of dawn, the brightest jewel in fair Vulcan's -diadome—now, I say, I want to inquire what steps are being taken -to colonize Venus with a vanguard of patriotic citizens like those -minutemen of yore.</p> - -<p>"Mr. President and gentlemen! There are in this world nations, envious -nations—I do not name Mexico—who by fair means or foul may seek to -wrest from Columbia's grasp the torch of freedom of space; nations -whose low living standards and innate depravity give them an unfair -advantage over the citizens of our fair republic.</p> - -<p>"This is my program: I suggest that a city of more than 100,000 -population be selected by lot. The citizens of the fortunate city -are to be awarded choice lands on Venus free and clear, to have and -to hold and convey to their descendants. And the national government -shall provide free transportation to Venus for these citizens. And this -program shall continue, city by city, until there has been deposited on -Venus a sufficient vanguard of citizens to protect our manifest rights -in that planet.</p> - -<p>"Objections will be raised, for carping critics we have always with -us. They will say there isn't enough steel. They will call it a cheap -giveaway. I say there <i>is</i> enough steel for <i>one</i> city's population to -be transferred to Venus, and that is all that is needed. For when the -time comes for the second city to be transferred, the first, emptied -city can be wrecked for the needed steel! And is it a giveaway? Yes! It -is the most glorious giveaway in the history of mankind! Mr. President -and gentlemen, there is no time to waste—Venus must be American!"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Black-Kupperman, at the Pole, opened his eyes and said feebly, "The -style was a little uneven. Do you think anybody'll notice?"</p> - -<p>"You did fine, boy; just fine," Barlow reassured him.</p> - -<p>Hull-Mendoza's bill became law.</p> - -<p>Drafting machines at the South Pole were busy around the clock and the -Pittsburgh steel mills spewed millions of plates into the Los Alamos -spaceport of the Evening Star Travel and Real Estate Corporation. It -was going to be Los Angeles, for logistic reasons, and the three most -accomplished psycho-kineticists went to Washington and mingled in the -crowd at the drawing to make certain that the Los Angeles capsule -slithered into the fingers of the blind-folded Senator.</p> - -<p>Los Angeles loved the idea and a forest of spaceships began to blossom -in the desert. They weren't very good space ships, but they didn't have -to be.</p> - -<p>A team at the Pole worked at Barlow's direction on a mail setup. There -would have to be letters to and from Venus to keep the slightest -taint of suspicion from arising. Luckily Barlow remembered that the -problem had been solved once before—by Hitler. Relatives of persons -incinerated in the furnaces of Lublin or Majdanek continued to get -cheery postal cards.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The Los Angeles flight went off on schedule, under tremendous press, -newsreel and television coverage. The world cheered the gallant -Angelenos who were setting off on their patriotic voyage to the land -of milk and honey. The forest of spaceships thundered up, and up, and -out of sight without untoward incident. Billions envied the Angelenos, -cramped and on short rations though they were.</p> - -<p>Wreckers from San Francisco, whose capsule came up second, moved -immediately into the city of the angels for the scrap steel their own -flight would require. Senator Hull-Mendoza's constituents could do no -less.</p> - -<p>The president of Mexico, hypnotically alarmed at this extension of -<i>yanqui imperialismo</i> beyond the stratosphere, launched his own -Venus-colony program.</p> - -<p>Across the water it was England versus Ireland, France versus Germany, -China versus Russia, India versus Indonesia. Ancient hatreds grew into -the flames that were rocket ships assailing the air by hundreds daily.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Dear Ed, how are you? Sam and I are fine and hope you are fine. Is -it nice up there like they say with food and close grone on trees? -I drove by Springfield yesterday and it sure looked funny all the -buildings down but of coarse it is worth it we have to keep the -greasers in their place. Do you have any truble with them on Venus? -Drop me a line some time. Your loving sister, Alma.</p> - -<p>Dear Alma, I am fine and hope you are fine. It is a fine place here -fine climate and easy living. The doctor told me today that I seem to -be ten years younger. He thinks there is something in the air here -keeps people young. We do not have much trouble with the greasers here -they keep to theirselves it is just a question of us outnumbering them -and staking out the best places for the Americans. In South Bay I know -a nice little island that I have been saving for you and Sam with lots -of blanket trees and ham bushes. Hoping to see you and Sam soon, your -loving brother, Ed.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Sam and Alma were on their way shortly.</p> - -<p>Poprob got a dividend in every nation after the emigration had passed -the halfway mark. The lonesome stay-at-homes were unable to bear the -melancholy of a low population density; their conditioning had been to -swarms of their kin. After that point it was possible to foist off the -crudest stripped-down accommodations on would-be emigrants; they didn't -care.</p> - -<p>Black-Kupperman did a final job on President Hull-Mendoza, the last -job that genius of hypnotics would ever do on any moron, important or -otherwise.</p> - -<p>Hull-Mendoza, panic-stricken by his presidency over an emptying nation, -joined his constituents. The <i>Independence</i>, aboard which traveled -the national government of America, was the most elaborate of all the -spaceships—bigger, more comfortable, with a lounge that was handsome, -though cramped, and cloakrooms for Senators and Representatives. It -went, however, to the same place as the others and Black-Kupperman -killed himself, leaving a note that stated he "couldn't live with my -conscience."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The day after the American President departed, Barlow flew into a rage. -Across his specially built desk were supposed to flow all Poprob -high-level documents and this thing—this outrageous thing—called -Poprob<i>term</i> apparently had got into the executive stage before he had -even had a glimpse of it!</p> - -<p>He buzzed for Rogge-Smith, his statistician. Rogge-Smith seemed to be -at the bottom of it. Poprobterm seemed to be about first and second and -third derivatives, whatever they were. Barlow had a deep distrust of -anything more complex than what he called an "average."</p> - -<p>While Rogge-Smith was still at the door, Barlow snapped, "What's the -meaning of this? Why haven't I been consulted? How far have you people -got and why have you been working on something I haven't authorized?"</p> - -<p>"Didn't want to bother you, Chief," said Rogge-Smith. "It was really -a technical matter, kind of a final cleanup. Want to come and see the -work?"</p> - -<p>Mollified, Barlow followed his statistician down the corridor.</p> - -<p>"You still shouldn't have gone ahead without my okay," he grumbled. -"Where the hell would you people have been without me?"</p> - -<p>"That's right, Chief. We couldn't have swung it ourselves; our minds -just don't work that way. And all that stuff you knew from Hitler—it -wouldn't have occurred to us. Like poor Black-Kupperman."</p> - -<p>They were in a fair-sized machine shop at the end of a slight upward -incline. It was cold. Rogge-Smith pushed a button that started a motor, -and a flood of arctic light poured in as the roof parted slowly. It -showed a small spaceship with the door open.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Barlow gaped as Rogge-Smith took him by the elbow and his other boys -appeared: Swenson-Swenson, the engineer; Tsutsugimushi-Duncan, his -propellants man; Kalb-French, advertising.</p> - -<p>"In you go, Chief," said Tsutsugimushi-Duncan. "This is Poprobterm."</p> - -<p>"But I'm the world Dictator!"</p> - -<p>"You bet, Chief. You'll be in history, all right—but this is -necessary, I'm afraid."</p> - -<p>The door was closed. Acceleration slammed Barlow cruelly to the metal -floor. Something broke and warm, wet stuff, salty-tasting, ran from his -mouth to his chin. Arctic sunlight through a port suddenly became a -fierce lancet stabbing at his eyes; he was out of the atmosphere.</p> - -<p>Lying twisted and broken under the acceleration, Barlow realized that -some things had not changed, that Jack Ketch was never asked to dinner -however many shillings you paid him to do your dirty work, that murder -will out, that crime pays only temporarily.</p> - -<p>The last thing he learned was that death is the end of pain.</p> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Marching Morons, by C.M. Kornbluth - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MARCHING MORONS *** - -***** This file should be named 51233-h.htm or 51233-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/1/2/3/51233/ - -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. Special rules, -set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to -copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to -protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project -Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you -charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you -do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the -rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose -such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and -research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do -practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is -subject to the trademark license, especially commercial -redistribution. - - - -*** START: FULL LICENSE *** - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project -Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at -http://gutenberg.org/license). - - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy -all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. -If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the -terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or -entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. - -1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement -and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic -works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" -or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the -collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an -individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are -located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from -copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative -works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg -are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project -Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by -freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of -this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with -the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by -keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project -Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in -a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check -the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement -before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or -creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project -Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning -the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United -States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate -access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently -whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the -phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project -Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, -copied or distributed: - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived -from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is -posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied -and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees -or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work -with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the -work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 -through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the -Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or -1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional -terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked -to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the -permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any -word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or -distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than -"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version -posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), -you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a -copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon -request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other -form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided -that - -- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is - owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he - has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the - Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments - must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you - prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax - returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and - sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the - address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to - the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." - -- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or - destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium - and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of - Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any - money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days - of receipt of the work. - -- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set -forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from -both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael -Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the -Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm -collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic -works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain -"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or -corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual -property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a -computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by -your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right -of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with -your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with -the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a -refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity -providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to -receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy -is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further -opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER -WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO -WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. -If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the -law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be -interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by -the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any -provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance -with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, -promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, -harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, -that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do -or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm -work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any -Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. - - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers -including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists -because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from -people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need, are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. -To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation -and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 -and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. - - -Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive -Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at -http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent -permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. -Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered -throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at -809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email -business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact -information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official -page at http://pglaf.org - -For additional contact information: - Dr. Gregory B. Newby - Chief Executive and Director - gbnewby@pglaf.org - - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide -spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To -SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any -particular state visit http://pglaf.org - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. -To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate - - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic -works. - -Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm -concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared -with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project -Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. - - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. -unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily -keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. - - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: - - http://www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. - - -</pre> - -</body> -</html> diff --git a/old/51233-h/images/cover.jpg b/old/51233-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 97b6dd5..0000000 --- a/old/51233-h/images/cover.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/51233-h/images/illus1.jpg b/old/51233-h/images/illus1.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 2c6e005..0000000 --- a/old/51233-h/images/illus1.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/51233-h/images/illus2.jpg b/old/51233-h/images/illus2.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index a4a8f06..0000000 --- a/old/51233-h/images/illus2.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/51233-h/images/illus3.jpg b/old/51233-h/images/illus3.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index ab3512a..0000000 --- a/old/51233-h/images/illus3.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/51233.txt b/old/51233.txt deleted file mode 100644 index edd1d7c..0000000 --- a/old/51233.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1926 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Marching Morons, by C.M. Kornbluth - -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 Marching Morons - -Author: C.M. Kornbluth - -Release Date: February 16, 2016 [EBook #51233] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MARCHING MORONS *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - The Marching Morons - - By C. M. KORNBLUTH - - Illustrated by DON SIBLEY - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Galaxy Science Fiction April 1951. - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - - - - In the country of the blind, the one-eyed man, of - course, is king. But how about a live wire, a smart - businessman, in a civilization of 100% pure chumps? - - -Some things had not changed. A potter's wheel was still a potter's -wheel and clay was still clay. Efim Hawkins had built his shop near -Goose Lake, which had a narrow band of good fat clay and a narrow beach -of white sand. He fired three bottle-nosed kilns with willow charcoal -from the wood lot. The wood lot was also useful for long walks while -the kilns were cooling; if he let himself stay within sight of them, -he would open them prematurely, impatient to see how some new shape or -glaze had come through the fire, and--_ping!_--the new shape or glaze -would be good for nothing but the shard pile back of his slip tanks. - -A business conference was in full swing in his shop, a modest cube -of brick, tile-roofed, as the Chicago-Los Angeles "rocket" thundered -overhead--very noisy, very swept-back, very fiery jets, shaped as -sleekly swift-looking as an airborne barracuda. - -The buyer from Marshall Fields was turning over a black-glazed one -liter carafe, nodding approval with his massive, handsome head. "This -is real pretty," he told Hawkins and his own secretary, Gomez-Laplace. -"This has got lots of what ya call real est'etic principles. Yeah, it -is real pretty." - -"How much?" the secretary asked the potter. - -"Seven-fifty each in dozen lots," said Hawkins. "I ran up fifteen dozen -last month." - -"They are real est'etic," repeated the buyer from Fields. "I will take -them all." - -"I don't think we can do that, doctor," said the secretary. "They'd -cost us $1,350. That would leave only $532 in our quarter's budget. -And we still have to run down to East Liverpool to pick up some cheap -dinner sets." - -"Dinner sets?" asked the buyer, his big face full of wonder. - -"Dinner sets. The department's been out of them for two months now. Mr. -Garvy-Seabright got pretty nasty about it yesterday. Remember?" - -"Garvy-Seabright, that meat-headed bluenose," the buyer said -contemptuously. "He don't know nothin' about est'etics. Why for don't -he lemme run my own department?" His eye fell on a stray copy of -_Whambozambo Comix_ and he sat down with it. An occasional deep chuckle -or grunt of surprise escaped him as he turned the pages. - -Uninterrupted, the potter and the buyer's secretary quickly closed a -deal for two dozen of the liter carafes. "I wish we could take more," -said the secretary, "but you heard what I told him. We've had to -turn away customers for ordinary dinnerware because he shot the last -quarter's budget on some Mexican piggy banks some equally enthusiastic -importer stuck him with. The fifth floor is packed solid with them." - -"I'll bet they look mighty est'etic." - -"They're painted with purple cacti." - - * * * * * - -The potter shuddered and caressed the glaze of the sample carafe. - -The buyer looked up and rumbled, "Ain't you dummies through yakkin' -yet? What good's a seckertary for if'n he don't take the burden of -_de_-tail off'n my back, harh?" - -"We're all through, doctor. Are you ready to go?" - -The buyer grunted peevishly, dropped _Whambozambo Comix_ on the floor -and led the way out of the building and down the log corduroy road to -the highway. His car was waiting on the concrete. It was, like all -contemporary cars, too low-slung to get over the logs. He climbed down -into the car and started the motor with a tremendous sparkle and roar. - -"Gomez-Laplace," called out the potter under cover of the noise, "did -anything come of the radiation program they were working on the last -time I was on duty at the Pole?" - -"The same old fallacy," said the secretary gloomily. "It stopped us on -mutation, it stopped us on culling, it stopped us on segregation, and -now it's stopped us on hypnosis." - -"Well, I'm scheduled back to the grind in nine days. Time for another -firing right now. I've got a new luster to try...." - -"I'll miss you. I shall be 'vacationing'--running the drafting room of -the New Century Engineering Corporation in Denver. They're going to put -up a two hundred-story office building, and naturally somebody's got to -be on hand." - -"Naturally," said Hawkins with a sour smile. - -There was an ear-piercingly sweet blast as the buyer leaned on the horn -button. Also, a yard-tall jet of what looked like flame spurted up from -the car's radiator cap; the car's power plant was a gas turbine, and -had no radiator. - -"I'm coming, doctor," said the secretary dispiritedly. He climbed down -into the car and it whooshed off with much flame and noise. - -The potter, depressed, wandered back up the corduroy road and -contemplated his cooling kilns. The rustling wind in the boughs was -obscuring the creak and mutter of the shrinking refractory brick. -Hawkins wondered about the number two kiln--a reduction fire on a load -of lusterware mugs. Had the clay chinking excluded the air? Had it -been a properly smoky blaze? Would it do any harm if he just took one -close--? - - * * * * * - -Common sense took Hawkins by the scruff of the neck and yanked him -over to the tool shed. He got out his pick and resolutely set off on a -prospecting jaunt to a hummocky field that might yield some oxides. He -was especially low on coppers. - -The long walk left him sweating hard, with his lust for a peek into the -kiln quiet in his breast. He swung his pick almost at random into one -of the hummocks; it clanged on a stone which he excavated. A largely -obliterated inscription said: - - ERSITY OF CHIC - OGICAL LABO - ELOVED MEMORY OF - KILLED IN ACT - -The potter swore mildly. He had hoped the field would turn out to be a -cemetery, preferably a once-fashionable cemetery full of once-massive -bronze caskets moldered into oxides of tin and copper. - - * * * * * - -Well, hell, maybe there was some around anyway. - -He headed lackadaisically for the second largest hillock and sliced -into it with his pick. There was a stone to undercut and topple into -a trench, and then the potter was very glad he'd stuck at it. His -nostrils were filled with the bitter smell and the dirt was tinged with -the exciting blue of copper salts. The pick went _clang_! - -Hawkins, puffing, pried up a stainless steel plate that was quite badly -stained and was also marked with incised letters. It seemed to have -pulled loose from rotting bronze; there were rivets on the back that -brought up flakes of green patina. The potter wiped off the surface -dirt with his sleeve, turned it to catch the sunlight obliquely and -read: - - "HONEST JOHN BARLOW - - "Honest John," famed in university annals, represents a challenge - which medical science has not yet answered: revival of a human being - accidentally thrown into a state of suspended animation. - - In 1988 Mr. Barlow, a leading Evanston real estate dealer, visited - his dentist for treatment of an impacted wisdom tooth. His dentist - requested and received permission to use the experimental anesthetic - Cycloparadimethanol-B-7, developed at the University. - - After administration of the anesthetic, the dentist resorted to his - drill. By freakish mischance, a short circuit in his machine - delivered 220 volts of 60-cycle current into the patient. (In a - damage suit instituted by Mrs. Barlow against the dentist, the - University and the makers of the drill, a jury found for the - defendants.) Mr. Barlow never got up from the dentist's chair and - was assumed to have died of poisoning, electrocution or both. - - Morticians preparing him for embalming discovered, however, that - their subject was--though certainly not living--just as certainly - not dead. The University was notified and a series of exhaustive - tests was begun, including attempts to duplicate the trance state - on volunteers. After a bad run of seven cases which ended fatally, - the attempts were abandoned. - - Honest John was long an exhibit at the University museum, and - livened many a football game as mascot of the University's Blue - Crushers. The bounds of taste were overstepped, however, when a - pledge to Sigma Delta Chi was ordered in '03 to "kidnap" Honest - John from his loosely guarded glass museum case and introduce him - into the Rachel Swanson Memorial Girls' Gymnasium shower room. - - On May 22nd, 2003, the University Board of Regents issued the - following order: "By unanimous vote, it is directed that the remains - of Honest John Barlow be removed from the University museum and - conveyed to the University's Lieutenant James Scott III Memorial - Biological Laboratories and there be securely locked in a specially - prepared vault. It is further directed that all possible measures - for the preservation of these remains be taken by the Laboratory - administration and that access to these remains be denied to all - persons except qualified scholars authorized in writing by the - Board. The Board reluctantly takes this action in view of recent - notices and photographs in the nation's press which, to say the - least, reflect but small credit upon the University." - - * * * * * - -It was far from his field, but Hawkins understood what had happened--an -early and accidental blundering onto the bare bones of the Levantman -shock anesthesia, which had since been replaced by other methods. To -bring subjects out of Levantman shock, you let them have a squirt of -simple saline in the trigeminal nerve. Interesting. And now about that -bronze-- - -He heaved the pick into the rotting green salts, expecting no -resistence and almost fractured his wrist. _Something_ down there was -_solid_. He began to flake off the oxides. - -A half hour of work brought him down to phosphor bronze, a huge casting -of the almost incorruptible metal. It had weakened structurally over -the centuries; he could fit the point of his pick under a corroded boss -and pry off great creaking and grumbling striae of the stuff. - -Hawkins wished he had an archeologist with him, but didn't dream of -returning to his shop and calling one to take over the find. He was an -all-around man: by choice and in his free time, an artist in clay and -glaze; by necessity, an automotive, electronics and atomic engineer -who could also swing a project in traffic control, individual and -group psychology, architecture or tool design. He didn't yell for a -specialist every time something out of his line came up; there were so -few with so much to do.... - -He trenched around his find, discovering that it was a great -brick-shaped bronze mass with an excitingly hollow sound. A long strip -of moldering metal from one of the long vertical faces pulled away, -exposing red rust that went _whoosh_ and was sucked into the interior -of the mass. - -It had been de-aired, thought Hawkins, and there must have been an -inner jacket of glass which had crystalized through the centuries and -quietly crumbled at the first clang of his pick. He didn't know what a -vacuum would do to a subject of Levantman shock, but he had hopes, nor -did he quite understand what a real estate dealer was, but it might -have something to do with pottery. And _anything_ might have a bearing -on Topic Number One. - - * * * * * - -He flung his pick out of the trench, climbed out and set off at a -dog-trot for his shop. A little rummaging turned up a hypo and there -was a plasticontainer of salt in the kitchen. - -Back at his dig, he chipped for another half hour to expose the -juncture of lid and body. The hinges were hopeless; he smashed them off. - -Hawkins extended the telescopic handle of the pick for the best -leverage, fitted its point into a deep pit, set its built-in fulcrum, -and heaved. Five more heaves and he could see, inside the vault, what -looked like a dusty marble statue. Ten more and he could see that it -was the naked body of Honest John Barlow, Evanston real estate dealer, -uncorrupted by time. - -The potter found the apex of the trigeminal nerve with his needle's -point and gave him 60 cc. - -In an hour Barlow's chest began to pump. - -In another hour, he rasped, "Did it work?" - -"_Did_ it!" muttered Hawkins. - -Barlow opened his eyes and stirred, looked down, turned his hands -before his eyes-- - -"I'll sue!" he screamed. "My clothes! My fingernails!" A horrid -suspicion came over his face and he clapped his hands to his hairless -scalp. "My hair!" he wailed. "I'll sue you for every penny you've got! -That release won't mean a damned thing in court--I didn't sign away my -hair and clothes and fingernails!" - -"They'll grow back," said Hawkins casually. "Also your epidermis. Those -parts of you weren't alive, you know, so they weren't preserved like -the rest of you. I'm afraid the clothes are gone, though." - -"What is this--the University hospital?" demanded Barlow. "I want -a phone. No, you phone. Tell my wife I'm all right and tell Sam -Immerman--he's my lawyer--to get over here right away. Greenleaf -7-4022. Ow!" He had tried to sit up, and a portion of his pink skin -rubbed against the inner surface of the casket, which was powdered by -the ancient crystalized glass. "What the hell did you guys do, boil me -alive? Oh, you're going to pay for this!" - -"You're all right," said Hawkins, wishing now he had a reference book -to clear up several obscure terms. "Your epidermis will start growing -immediately. You're not in the hospital. Look here." - - * * * * * - -He handed Barlow the stainless steel plate that had labeled the casket. -After a suspicious glance, the man started to read. Finishing, he laid -the plate carefully on the edge of the vault and was silent for a -spell. - -"Poor Verna," he said at last. "It doesn't say whether she was stuck -with the court costs. Do you happen to know--" - -"No," said the potter. "All I know is what was on the plate, and how to -revive you. The dentist accidentally gave you a dose of what we call -Levantman shock anesthesia. We haven't used it for centuries; it was -powerful, but too dangerous." - -"Centuries ..." brooded the man. "Centuries ... I'll bet Sam swindled -her out of her eyeteeth. Poor Verna. How long ago was it? What year is -this?" - -Hawkins shrugged. "We call it 7-B-936. That's no help to you. It takes -a long time for these metals to oxidize." - -"Like that movie," Barlow muttered. "Who would have thought it? Poor -Verna!" He blubbered and sniffled, reminding Hawkins powerfully of the -fact that he had been found under a flat rock. - -Almost angrily, the potter demanded, "How many children did you have?" - -"None yet," sniffed Barlow. "My first wife didn't want them. But Verna -wants one--wanted one--but we're going to wait until--we _were_ going -to wait until--" - -"Of course," said the potter, feeling a savage desire to tell him off, -blast him to hell and gone for his work. But he choked it down. There -was The Problem to think of; there was always The Problem to think of, -and this poor blubberer might unexpectedly supply a clue. Hawkins would -have to pass him on. - - * * * * * - -"Come along," Hawkins said. "My time is short." - -Barlow looked up, outraged. "How can you be so unfeeling? I'm a human -being like--" - -The Los Angeles-Chicago "rocket" thundered overhead and Barlow broke -off in mid-complaint. "Beautiful!" he breathed, following it with his -eyes. "Beautiful!" - -He climbed out of the vault, too interested to be pained by its -roughness against his infantile skin. "After all," he said briskly, -"this should have its sunny side. I never was much for reading, but -this is just like one of those stories. And I ought to make some money -out of it, shouldn't I?" He gave Hawkins a shrewd glance. - -"You want money?" asked the potter. "Here." He handed over a fistful -of change and bills. "You'd better put my shoes on. It'll be about a -quarter-mile. Oh, and you're--uh, modest?--yes, that was the word. -Here." Hawkins gave him his pants, but Barlow was excitedly counting -the money. - -"Eighty-five, eighty-six--and it's dollars, too! I thought it'd -be credits or whatever they call them. 'E Pluribus Unum' and -'Liberty'--just different faces. Say, is there a catch to this? Are -these real, genuine, honest twenty-two-cent dollars like we had or -just wallpaper?" - -"They're quite all right, I assure you," said the potter. "I wish you'd -come along. I'm in a hurry." - - * * * * * - -The man babbled as they stumped toward the shop. "Where are we -going--The Council of Scientists, the World Coordinator or something -like that?" - -"Who? Oh, no. We call them 'President' and 'Congress.' No, that -wouldn't do any good at all. I'm just taking you to see some people." - -"I ought to make plenty out of this. _Plenty!_ I could write books. -Get some smart young fellow to put it into words for me and I'll bet I -could turn out a best-seller. What's the setup on things like that?" - -"It's about like that. Smart young fellows. But there aren't any -best-sellers any more. People don't read much nowadays. We'll find -something equally profitable for you to do." - -Back in the shop, Hawkins gave Barlow a suit of clothes, deposited him -in the waiting room and called Central in Chicago. "Take him away," he -pleaded. "I have time for one more firing and he blathers and blathers. -I haven't told him anything. Perhaps we should just turn him loose and -let him find his own level, but there's a chance--" - -"The Problem," agreed Central. "Yes, there's a chance." - -The potter delighted Barlow by making him a cup of coffee with a cube -that not only dissolved in cold water but heated the water to boiling -point. Killing time, Hawkins chatted about the "rocket" Barlow had -admired, and had to haul himself up short; he had almost told the real -estate man what its top speed really was--almost, indeed, revealed that -it was not a rocket. - -He regretted, too, that he had so casually handed Barlow a couple of -hundred dollars. The man seemed obsessed with fear that they were -worthless since Hawkins refused to take a note or I.O.U. or even a -definite promise of repayment. But Hawkins couldn't go into details, -and was very glad when a stranger arrived from Central. - -"Tinny-Peete, from Algeciras," the stranger told him swiftly as the -two of them met at the door. "Psychist for Poprob. Polasigned special -overtake Barlow." - -"Thank Heaven," said Hawkins. "Barlow," he told the man from the past, -"this is Tinny-Peete. He's going to take care of you and help you make -lots of money." - -The psychist stayed for a cup of the coffee whose preparation had -delighted Barlow, and then conducted the real estate man down the -corduroy road to his car, leaving the potter to speculate on whether he -could at last crack his kilns. - -Hawkins, abruptly dismissing Barlow and the Problem, happily picked -the chinking from around the door of the number two kiln, prying it -open a trifle. A blast of heat and the heady, smoky scent of the -reduction fire delighted him. He peered and saw a corner of a shelf -glowing cherry-red, becoming obscured by wavering black areas as it -lost heat through the opened door. He slipped a charred wood paddle -under a mug on the shelf and pulled it out as a sample, the hairs on -the back of his hand curling and scorching. The mug crackled and pinged -and Hawkins sighed happily. - -The bismuth resinate luster had fired to perfection, a haunting film -of silvery-black metal with strange bluish lights in it as it turned -before the eyes, and the Problem of Population seemed very far away to -Hawkins then. - - * * * * * - -Barlow and Tinny-Peete arrived at the concrete highway where the -psychist's car was parked in a safety bay. - -"What--a--_boat_!" gasped the man from the past. - -"Boat? No, that's my car." - -Barlow surveyed it with awe. Swept-back lines, deep-drawn compound -curves, kilograms of chrome. He ran his hands futilely over the -door--or was it the door?--in a futile search for a handle, and asked -respectfully, "How fast does it go?" - -The psychist gave him a keen look and said slowly, "Two hundred and -fifty. You can tell by the speedometer." - -"Wow! My old Chevvy could hit a hundred on a straightaway, but you're -out of my class, mister!" - -Tinny-Peete somehow got a huge, low door open and Barlow descended -three steps into immense cushions, floundering over to the right. He -was too fascinated to pay serious attention to his flayed dermis. The -dashboard was a lovely wilderness of dials, plugs, indicators, lights, -scales and switches. - -The psychist climbed down into the driver's seat and did something with -his feet. The motor started like lighting a blowtorch as big as a silo. -Wallowing around in the cushions, Barlow saw through a rear-view mirror -a tremendous exhaust filled with brilliant white sparkles. - -"Do you like it?" yelled the psychist. - -"It's terrific!" Barlow yelled back. "It's--" - -He was shut up as the car pulled out from the bay into the road with -a great _voo-ooo-ooom_! A gale roared past Barlow's head, though the -windows seemed to be closed; the impression of speed was terrific. He -located the speedometer on the dashboard and saw it climb past 90, 100, -150, 200. - -"Fast enough for me," yelled the psychist, noting that Barlow's face -fell in response. "Radio?" - -He passed over a surprisingly light object like a football helmet, -with no trailing wires, and pointed to a row of buttons. Barlow put -on the helmet, glad to have the roar of air stilled, and pushed a -pushbutton. It lit up satisfyingly and Barlow settled back even farther -for a sample of the brave new world's super-modern taste in ingenious -entertainment. - -"TAKE IT AND STICK IT!" a voice roared in his ears. - - * * * * * - -He snatched off the helmet and gave the psychist an injured look. -Tinny-Peete grinned and turned a dial associated with the pushbutton -layout. The man from the past donned the helmet again and found the -voice had lowered to normal. - -"The show of shows! The super-show! The super-duper show! The quiz of -quizzes! _Take it and stick it!_" - -There were shrieks of laughter in the background. - -"Here we got the contes-tants all ready to go. You know how we work it. -I hand a contes-tant a triangle-shaped cut-out and like that down the -line. Now we got these here boards, they got cut-out places the same -shape as the triangles and things, only they're all different shapes, -and the first contes-tant that sticks the cutouts into the board, he -wins. - -"Now I'm gonna innaview the first contes-tant. Right here, honey. -What's your name?" - -"Name? Uh--" - -"Hoddaya like that, folks? She don't remember her name! Hah? _Would -you buy that for a quarter?_" The question was spoken with arch -significance, and the audience shrieked, howled and whistled its -appreciation. - -It was dull listening when you didn't know the punch lines and catch -lines. Barlow pushed another button, with his free hand ready at the -volume control. - -"--latest from Washington. It's about Senator Hull-Mendoza. He is still -attacking the Bureau of Fisheries. The North California Syndicalist -says he got affidavits that John Kingsley-Schultz is a bluenose from -way back. He didn't publistat the affydavits, but he says they say that -Kingsley-Schultz was saw at bluenose meetings in Oregon State College -and later at Florida University. Kingsley-Schultz says he gotta confess -he did major in fly-casting at Oregon and got his Ph.D. in game-fish at -Florida. - -"And here is a quote from Kingsley-Schultz: 'Hull-Mendoza don't know -what he's talking about. He should drop dead.' Unquote. Hull-Mendoza -says he won't publistat the affydavits to pertect his sources. He says -they was sworn by three former employes of the Bureau which was fired -for in-com-petence and in-com-pat-ibility by Kingsley-Schultz. - -"Elsewhere they was the usual run of traffic accidents. A three-way -pileup of cars on Route 66 going outta Chicago took twelve lives. -The Chicago-Los Angeles morning rocket crashed and exploded in the -Mo-have--Mo-javvy--what-ever-you-call-it Desert. All the 94 people -aboard got killed. A Civil Aeronautics Authority investigator on the -scene says that the pilot was buzzing herds of sheep and didn't pull -out in time. - -"Hey! Here's a hot one from New York! A Diesel tug run wild in the -harbor while the crew was below and shoved in the port bow of the -luck-shury liner _S. S. Placentia_. It says the ship filled and sank -taking the lives of an es-ti-mated 180 passengers and 50 crew members. -Six divers was sent down to study the wreckage, but they died, too, -when their suits turned out to be fulla little holes. - -"And here is a bulletin I just got from Denver. It seems--" - - * * * * * - -Barlow took off the headset uncomprehendingly. "He seemed so callous," -he yelled at the driver. "I was listening to a newscast--" - -Tinny-Peete shook his head and pointed at his ears. The roar of air was -deafening. Barlow frowned baffledly and stared out of the window. - -A glowing sign said: - - MOOGS! - WOULD YOU BUY IT - FOR A QUARTER? - -He didn't know what Moogs was or were; the illustration showed -an incredibly proportioned girl, 99.9 per cent naked, writhing -passionately in animated full color. - -The roadside jingle was still with him, but with a new feature. Radar -or something spotted the car and alerted the lines of the jingle. Each -in turn sped along a roadside track, even with the car, so it could be -read before the next line was alerted. - - IF THERE'S A GIRL - YOU WANT TO GET - DEFLOCCULIZE - UNROMANTIC SWEAT. - "A*R*M*P*I*T*T*O" - -Another animated job, in two panels, the familiar "Before and After." -The first said, "Just Any Cigar?" and was illustrated with a two-person -domestic tragedy of a wife holding her nose while her coarse and -red-faced husband puffed a slimy-looking rope. The second panel glowed, -"Or a VUELTA ABAJO?" and was illustrated with-- - -Barlow blushed and looked at his feet until they had passed the sign. - -"Coming into Chicago!" bawled Tinny-Peete. - -Other cars were showing up, all of them dreamboats. - -Watching them, Barlow began to wonder if he knew what a kilometer -was, exactly. They seemed to be traveling so slowly, if you ignored -the roaring air past your ears and didn't let the speedy lines of the -dreamboats fool you. He would have sworn they were really crawling -along at twenty-five, with occasional spurts up to thirty. How much -was a kilometer, anyway? - -The city loomed ahead, and it was just what it ought to be: towering -skyscrapers, overhead ramps, landing platforms for helicopters-- - -He clutched at the cushions. Those two 'copters. They were going -to--they were going to--they-- - -He didn't see what happened because their apparent collision courses -took them behind a giant building. - - * * * * * - -Screamingly sweet blasts of sound surrounded them as they stopped for a -red light. "What the hell is going on here?" said Barlow in a shrill, -frightened voice, because the braking time was just about zero, he -wasn't hurled against the dashboard. "Who's kidding who?" - -"Why, what's the matter?" demanded the driver. - -The light changed to green and he started the pickup. Barlow stiffened -as he realized that the rush of air past his ears began just a brief, -unreal split-second before the car was actually moving. He grabbed for -the door handle on his side. - -The city grew on them slowly: scattered buildings, denser buildings, -taller buildings, and a red light ahead. The car rolled to a stop in -zero braking time, the rush of air cut off an instant after it stopped, -and Barlow was out of the car and running frenziedly down a sidewalk -one instant after that. - -_They'll track me down_, he thought, panting. _It's a secret police -thing. They'll get you--mind-reading machines, television eyes -everywhere, afraid you'll tell their slaves about freedom and stuff. -They don't let anybody cross them, like that story I once read._ - -Winded, he slowed to a walk and congratulated himself that he had guts -enough not to turn around. That was what they always watched for. -Walking, he was just another business-suited back among hundreds. He -would be safe, he would be safe-- - -A hand tumbled from a large, coarse, handsome face thrust close to his: -"Wassamatta bumpinninna people likeya owna sidewalk gotta miner slamya -inna mushya bassar!" It was neither the mad potter nor the mad driver. - -"Excuse me," said Barlow. "What did you say?" - -"Oh, yeah?" yelled the stranger dangerously, and waited for an answer. - -Barlow, with the feeling that he had somehow been suckered into -the short end of an intricate land-title deal, heard himself reply -belligerently, "Yeah!" - -The stranger let go of his shoulder and snarled, "Oh, yeah?" - -"Yeah!" said Barlow, yanking his jacket back into shape. - -"Aaah!" snarled the stranger, with more contempt and disgust than -ferocity. He added an obscenity current in Barlow's time, a standard -but physiologically impossible directive, and strutted off hulking his -shoulders and balling his fists. - - * * * * * - -Barlow walked on, trembling. Evidently he had handled it well enough. -He stopped at a red light while the long, low dreamboats roared before -him and pedestrians in the sidewalk flow with him threaded their ways -through the stream of cars. Brakes screamed, fenders clanged and -dented, hoarse cries flew back and forth between drivers and walkers. -He leaped backward frantically as one car swerved over an arc of -sidewalk to miss another. - -The signal changed to green, the cars kept on coming for about thirty -seconds and then dwindled to an occasional light-runner. Barlow crossed -warily and leaned against a vending machine, blowing big breaths. - -_Look natural_, he told himself. _Do something normal. Buy something -from the machine._ - -He fumbled out some change, got a newspaper for a dime, a handkerchief -for a quarter and a candy bar for another quarter. - -The faint chocolate smell made him ravenous suddenly. He clawed at the -glassy wrapper printed "CRIGGLIES" quite futilely for a few seconds, -and then it divided neatly by itself. The bar made three good bites, -and he bought two more and gobbled them down. - -Thirsty, he drew a carbonated orange drink in another one of the glassy -wrappers from the machine for another dime. When he fumbled with it, it -divided neatly and spilled all over his knees. Barlow decided he had -been there long enough and walked on. - -The shop windows were--shop windows. People still wore and bought -clothes, still smoked and bought tobacco, still ate and bought food. -And they still went to the movies, he saw with pleased surprise as he -passed and then returned to a glittering place whose sign said it was -THE BIJOU. - -The place seemed to be showing a quintuple feature, _Babies Are -Terrible_, _Don't Have Children_, and _The Canali Kid_. - -It was irresistible; he paid a dollar and went in. - -He caught the tail-end of _The Canali Kid_ in three-dimensional, -full-color, full-scent production. It appeared to be an interplanetary -saga winding up with a chase scene and a reconciliation between -estranged hero and heroine. _Babies Are Terrible_ and _Don't Have -Children_ were fantastic arguments against parenthood--the grotesquely -exaggerated dangers of painfully graphic childbirth, vicious children, -old parents beaten and starved by their sadistic offspring. The -audience, Barlow astoundedly noted, was placidly champing sweets and -showing no particular signs of revulsion. - -The _Coming Attractions_ drove him into the lobby. The fanfares -were shattering, the blazing colors blinding, and the added scents -stomach-heaving. - - * * * * * - -When his eyes again became accustomed to the moderate lighting of the -lobby, he groped his way to a bench and opened the newspaper he had -bought. It turned out to be _The Racing Sheet_, which afflicted him -with a crushing sense of loss. The familiar boxed index in the lower -left hand corner of the front page showed almost unbearably that -Churchill Downs and Empire City were still in business-- - -Blinking back tears, he turned to the Past Performances at Churchill. -They weren't using abbreviations any more, and the pages because of -that were single-column instead of double. But it was all the same--or -was it? - -He squinted at the first race, a three-quarter-mile maiden claimer for -thirteen hundred dollars. Incredibly, the track record was two minutes, -ten and three-fifths seconds. Any beetle in his time could have knocked -off the three-quarter in one-fifteen. It was the same for the other -distances, much worse for route events. - -_What the hell had happened to everything?_ - -He studied the form of a five-year-old brown mare in the second and -couldn't make head or tail of it. She'd won and lost and placed and -showed and lost and placed without rhyme or reason. She looked like a -front-runner for a couple of races and then she looked like a no-good -pig and then she looked like a mudder but the next time it rained she -wasn't and then she was a stayer and then she was a pig again. In a -good five-thousand-dollar allowances event, too! - -Barlow looked at the other entries and it slowly dawned on him that -they were all like the five-year-old brown mare. Not a single damned -horse running had the slightest trace of class. - -Somebody sat down beside him and said, "That's the story." - - * * * * * - -Barlow whirled to his feet and saw it was Tinny-Peete, his driver. - -"I was in doubts about telling you," said the psychist, "but I see you -have some growing suspicions of the truth. Please don't get excited. -It's all right, I tell you." - -"So you've got me," said Barlow. - -"_Got_ you?" - -"Don't pretend. I can put two and two together. You're the secret -police. You and the rest of the aristocrats live in luxury on the sweat -of these oppressed slaves. You're afraid of me because you have to keep -them ignorant." - -There was a bellow of bright laughter from the psychist that got them -blank looks from other patrons of the lobby. The laughter didn't sound -at all sinister. - -"Let's get out of here," said Tinny-Peete, still chuckling. "You -couldn't possibly have it more wrong." He engaged Barlow's arm and led -him to the street. "The actual truth is that the millions of workers -live in luxury on the sweat of the handful of aristocrats. I shall -probably die before my time of overwork unless--" He gave Barlow a -speculative look. "You may be able to help us." - -"I know that gag," sneered Barlow. "I made money in my time and to make -money you have to get people on your side. Go ahead and shoot me if you -want, but you're not going to make a fool out of me." - -"You nasty little ingrate!" snapped the psychist, with a kaleidoscopic -change of mood. "This damned mess is all your fault and the fault of -people like you! Now come along and no more of your nonsense." - -He yanked Barlow into an office building lobby and an elevator that, -disconcertingly, went _whoosh_ loudly as it rose. The real estate man's -knees were wobbly as the psychist pushed him from the elevator, down a -corridor and into an office. - -A hawk-faced man rose from a plain chair as the door closed behind -them. After an angry look at Barlow, he asked the psychist, "Was I -called from the Pole to inspect this--this--?" - -"Unget updandered. I've dee-probed etfind quasichance exhim -Poprobattackline," said the psychist soothingly. - -"Doubt," grunted the hawk-faced man. - -"Try," suggested Tinny-Peete. - -"Very well. Mr. Barlow, I understand you and your lamented had no -children." - -"What of it?" - -"This of it. You were a blind, selfish stupid ass to tolerate economic -and social conditions which penalized child-bearing by the prudent and -foresighted. You made us what we are today, and I want you to know that -we are far from satisfied. Damn-fool rockets! Damn-fool automobiles! -Damn-fool cities with overhead ramps!" - -"As far as I can see," said Barlow, "you're running down the best -features of time. Are you crazy?" - -"The rockets aren't rockets. They're turbo-jets--good turbo-jets, but -the fancy shell around them makes for a bad drag. The automobiles -have a top speed of one hundred kilometers per hour--a kilometer is, -if I recall my paleolinguistics, three-fifths of a mile--and the -speedometers are all rigged accordingly so the drivers will think -they're going two hundred and fifty. The cities are ridiculous, -expensive, unsanitary, wasteful conglomerations of people who'd -be better off and more productive if they were spread over the -countryside. - -"We need the rockets and trick speedometers and cities because, while -you and your kind were being prudent and foresighted and not having -children, the migrant workers, slum dwellers and tenant farmers were -shiftlessly and short-sightedly having children--breeding, breeding. My -God, how they bred!" - - * * * * * - -"Wait a minute," objected Barlow. "There were lots of people in our -crowd who had two or three children." - -"The attrition of accidents, illness, wars and such took care of that. -Your intelligence was bred out. It is gone. Children that should have -been born never were. The just-average, they'll-get-along majority took -over the population. The average IQ now is 45." - -"But that's far in the future--" - -"So are you," grunted the hawk-faced man sourly. - -"But who are _you_ people?" - -"Just people--real people. Some generations ago, the geneticists -realized at last that nobody was going to pay any attention to what -they said, so they abandoned words for deeds. Specifically, they formed -and recruited for a closed corporation intended to maintain and improve -the breed. We are their descendants, about three million of us. There -are five billion of the others, so we are their slaves. - -"During the past couple of years I've designed a skyscraper, kept -Billings Memorial Hospital here in Chicago running, headed off war with -Mexico and directed traffic at LaGuardia Field in New York." - -"I don't understand! Why don't you let them go to hell in their own -way?" - -The man grimaced. "We tried it once for three months. We holed up at -the South Pole and waited. They didn't notice it. Some drafting-room -people were missing, some chief nurses didn't show up, minor government -people on the non-policy level couldn't be located. It didn't seem to -matter. - -"In a week there was hunger. In two weeks there were famine and plague, -in three weeks war and anarchy. We called off the experiment; it took -us most of the next generation to get things squared away again." - -"But why _didn't_ you let them kill each other off?" - -"Five billion corpses mean about five hundred million tons of rotting -flesh." - -Barlow had another idea. "Why don't you sterilize them?" - -"Two and one-half billion operations is a lot of operations. Because -they breed continuously, the job would never be done." - -"I see. Like the marching Chinese!" - -"Who the devil are they?" - -"It was a--uh--paradox of my time. Somebody figured out that if all -the Chinese in the world were to line up four abreast, I think it was, -and start marching past a given point, they'd never stop because of the -babies that would be born and grow up before they passed the point." - -"That's right. Only instead of 'a given point,' make it 'the largest -conceivable number of operating rooms that we could build and staff.' -There could never be enough." - -"Say!" said Barlow. "Those movies about babies--was that your -propaganda?" - -"It was. It doesn't seem to mean a thing to them. We have abandoned the -idea of attempting propaganda contrary to a biological drive." - -"So if you work _with_ a biological drive--?" - -"I know of none which is consistent with inhibition of fertility." - - * * * * * - -Barlow's face went poker-blank, the result of years of careful -discipline. "You don't, huh? You're the great brains and you can't -think of any?" - -"Why, no," said the psychist innocently. "Can you?" - -"That depends. I sold ten thousand acres of Siberian tundra--through -a dummy firm, of course--after the partition of Russia. The buyers -thought they were getting improved building lots on the outskirts of -Kiev. I'd say that was a lot tougher than this job." - -"How so?" asked the hawk-faced man. - -"Those were normal, suspicious customers and these are morons, born -suckers. You just figure out a con they'll fall for; they won't know -enough to do any smart checking." - -The psychist and the hawk-faced man had also had training; they kept -themselves from looking with sudden hope at each other. - -"You seem to have something in mind," said the psychist. - -Barlow's poker face went blanker still. "Maybe I have. I haven't heard -any offer yet." - -"There's the satisfaction of knowing that you've prevented Earth's -resources from being so plundered," the hawk-faced man pointed out, -"that the race will soon become extinct." - -"I don't know that," Barlow said bluntly. "All I have is your word." - -"If you really have a method, I don't think any price would be too -great," the psychist offered. - -"Money," said Barlow. - -"All you want." - -"More than you want," the hawk-faced man corrected. - -"Prestige," added Barlow. "Plenty of publicity. My picture and my name -in the papers and over TV every day, statues to me, parks and cities -and streets and other things named after me. A whole chapter in the -history books." - -The psychist made a facial sign to the hawk-faced man that meant, "Oh, -brother!" - -The hawk-faced man signaled back, "Steady, boy!" - -"It's not too much to ask," the psychist agreed. - -Barlow, sensing a seller's market, said, "Power!" - -"Power?" the hawk-faced man repeated puzzledly. "Your own hydro station -or nuclear pile?" - -"I mean a world dictatorship with me as dictator!" - -"Well, now--" said the psychist, but the hawk-faced man interrupted, -"It would take a special emergency act of Congress but the situation -warrants it. I think that can be guaranteed." - -"Could you give us some indication of your plan?" the psychist asked. - -"Ever hear of lemmings?" - -"No." - -"They are--were, I guess, since you haven't heard of them--little -animals in Norway, and every few years they'd swarm to the coast and -swim out to sea until they drowned. I figure on putting some lemming -urge into the population." - -"How?" - -"I'll save that till I get the right signatures on the deal." - - * * * * * - -The hawk-faced man said, "I'd like to work with you on it, Barlow. My -name's Ryan-Ngana." He put out his hand. - -Barlow looked closely at the hand, then at the man's face. "Ryan what?" - -"Ngana." - -"That sounds like an African name." - -"It is. My mother's father was a Watusi." - -Barlow didn't take the hand. "I thought you looked pretty dark. I don't -want to hurt your feelings, but I don't think I'd be at my best working -with you. There must be somebody else just as well qualified, I'm sure." - -The psychist made a facial sign to Ryan-Ngana that meant, "Steady -_yourself_, boy!" - -"Very well," Ryan-Ngana told Barlow. "We'll see what arrangement can be -made." - -"It's not that I'm prejudiced, you understand. Some of my best -friends--" - -"Mr. Barlow, don't give it another thought. Anybody who could pick on -the lemming analogy is going to be useful to us." - -And so he would, thought Ryan-Ngana, alone in the office after -Tinny-Peete had taken Barlow up to the helicopter stage. So he -would. Poprob had exhausted every rational attempt and the new -Poprobattacklines would have to be irrational or sub-rational. This -creature from the past with his lemming legends and his improved -building lots would be a fountain of precious vicious self-interest. - -Ryan-Ngana sighed and stretched. He had to go and run the San -Francisco subway. Summoned early from the Pole to study Barlow, he'd -left unfinished a nice little theorem. Between interruptions, he was -slowly constructing an n-dimensional geometry whose foundations and -superstructure owed no debt whatsoever to intuition. - - * * * * * - -Upstairs, waiting for a helicopter, Barlow was explaining to -Tinny-Peete that he had nothing against Negroes, and Tinny-Peete wished -he had some of Ryan-Ngana's imperturbability and humor for the ordeal. - -The helicopter took them to International Airport where, Tinny-Peete -explained, Barlow would leave for the Pole. - -The man from the past wasn't sure he'd like a dreary waste of ice and -cold. - -"It's all right," said the psychist. "A civilized layout. Warm, -pleasant. You'll be able to work more efficiently there. All the facts -at your fingertips, a good secretary--" - -"I'll need a pretty big staff," said Barlow, who had learned from -thousands of deals never to take the first offer. - -"I meant a private, confidential one," said Tinny-Peete readily, "but -you can have as many as you want. You'll naturally have top-primary-top -priority if you really have a workable plan." - -"Let's not forget this dictatorship angle," said Barlow. - -He didn't know that the psychist would just as readily have promised -him deification to get him happily on the "rocket" for the Pole. -Tinny-Peete had no wish to be torn limb from limb; he knew very -well that it would end that way if the population learned from this -anachronism that there was a small elite which considered itself -head, shoulders, trunk and groin above the rest. The fact that this -assumption was perfectly true and the fact that the elite was condemned -by its superiority to a life of the most grinding toil would not be -considered; the difference would. - -The psychist finally put Barlow aboard the "rocket" with some thirty -people--real people--headed for the Pole. - - * * * * * - -Barlow was airsick all the way because of a post-hypnotic suggestion -Tinny-Peete had planted in him. One idea was to make him as averse as -possible to a return trip, and another idea was to spare the other -passengers from his aggressive, talkative company. - -Barlow during the first day at the pole was reminded -of his first day in the Army. It was the same -now-where-the-hell-are-we-going-to-put-_you_? business until he took a -firm line with them. Then instead of acting like supply sergeants they -acted like hotel clerks. - -It was a wonderful, wonderfully calculated buildup, and one that he -failed to suspect. After all, in his time a visitor from the past would -have been lionized. - -At day's end he reclined in a snug underground billet with the 60-mile -gales roaring yards overhead, and tried to put two and two together. - -It was like old times, he thought--like a coup in real estate where -you had the competition by the throat, like a 50-per cent rent boost -when you knew damned well there was no place for the tenants to move, -like smiling when you read over the breakfast orange juice that the -city council had decided to build a school on the ground you had -acquired by a deal with the city council. And it was simple. He would -just sell tundra building lots to eagerly suicidal lemmings, and that -was absolutely all there was to solving the Problem that had these -double-domes spinning. - -They'd have to work out most of the details, naturally, but what the -hell, that was what subordinates were for. He'd need specialists in -advertising, engineering, communications--did they know anything about -hypnotism? That might be helpful. If not, there'd have to be a lot of -bribery done, but he'd make sure--damned sure--there were unlimited -funds. - -Just selling building lots to lemmings.... - -He wished, as he fell asleep, that poor Verna could have been in on -this. It was his biggest, most stupendous deal. Verna--that sharp -shyster Sam Immerman must have swindled her.... - - * * * * * - -It began the next day with people coming to visit him. He knew the -approach. They merely wanted to be helpful to their illustrious visitor -from the past and would he help fill them in about his era, which -unfortunately was somewhat obscure historically, and what did he think -could be done about the Problem? He told them he was too old to be -roped any more, and they wouldn't get any information out of him until -he got a letter of intent from at least the Polar President, and a -session of the Polar Congress empowered to make him dictator. - -He got the letter and the session. He presented his program, was asked -whether his conscience didn't revolt at its callousness, explained -succinctly that a deal was a deal and anybody who wasn't smart enough -to protect himself didn't deserve protection--"Caveat emptor," he threw -in for scholarship, and had to translate it to "Let the buyer beware." -He didn't, he stated, give a damn about either the morons or their -intelligent slaves; he'd told them his price and that was all he was -interested in. - -Would they meet it or wouldn't they? - -The Polar President offered to resign in his favor, with certain -temporary emergency powers that the Polar Congress would vote him if -he thought them necessary. Barlow demanded the title of World Dictator, -complete control of world finances, salary to be decided by himself, -and the publicity campaign and historical writeup to begin at once. - -"As for the emergency powers," he added, "they are neither to be -temporary nor limited." - -Somebody wanted the floor to discuss the matter, with the declared hope -that perhaps Barlow would modify his demands. - -"You've got the proposition," Barlow said. "I'm not knocking off even -ten per cent." - -"But what if the Congress refuses, sir?" the President asked. - -"Then you can stay up here at the Pole and try to work it out -yourselves. I'll get what I want from the morons. A shrewd operator -like me doesn't have to compromise; I haven't got a single competitor -in this whole cockeyed moronic era." - -Congress waived debate and voted by show of hands. Barlow won -unanimously. - -"You don't know how close you came to losing me," he said in his first -official address to the joint Houses. "I'm not the boy to haggle; -either I get what I ask or I go elsewhere. The first thing I want is -to see designs for a new palace for me--nothing _un_ostentatious, -either--and your best painters and sculptors to start working on my -portraits and statues. Meanwhile, I'll get my staff together." - -He dismissed the Polar President and the Polar Congress, telling them -that he'd let them know when the next meeting would be. - -A week later, the program started with North America the first target. - -Mrs. Garvy was resting after dinner before the ordeal of turning on -the dishwasher. The TV, of course, was on and it said: "Oooh!"--long, -shuddery and ecstatic, the cue for the _Parfum Assault Criminale_ spot -commercial. "Girls," said the announcer hoarsely, "do you want your -man? It's easy to get him--easy as a trip to Venus." - -"Huh?" said Mrs. Garvy. - -"Wassamatter?" snorted her husband, starting out of a doze. - -"Ja hear that?" - -"Wha'?" - -"He said 'easy like a trip to Venus.'" - -"So?" - -"Well, I thought ya couldn't get to Venus. I thought they just had that -one rocket thing that crashed on the Moon." - -"Aah, women don't keep up with the news," said Garvy righteously, -subsiding again. - -"Oh," said his wife uncertainly. - -And the next day, on _Henry's Other Mistress_, there was a new -character who had just breezed in: Buzz Rentshaw, Master Rocket Pilot -of the Venus run. On _Henry's Other Mistress_, "the broadcast drama -about you and your neighbors, _folksy_ people, _ordinary_ people, -_real_ people"! Mrs. Garvy listened with amazement over a cooling cup -of coffee as Buzz made hay of her hazy convictions. - -MONA: Darling, it's so good to see you again! - -BUZZ: You don't know how I've missed you on that dreary Venus run. - -SOUND: _Venetian blind run down, key turned in door lock._ - -MONA: Was it _very_ dull, dearest? - -BUZZ: Let's not talk about my humdrum job, darling. Let's talk about us. - -SOUND: _Creaking bed._ - -Well, the program was back to normal at last. That evening Mrs. Garvy -tried to ask again whether her husband was sure about those rockets, -but he was dozing right through _Take It and Stick It_, so she watched -the screen and forgot the puzzle. - -She was still rocking with laughter at the gag line, "Would you buy it -for a quarter?" when the commercial went on for the detergent powder -she always faithfully loaded her dishwasher with on the first of every -month. - - * * * * * - -The announcer displayed mountains of suds from a tiny piece of the -stuff and coyly added: "Of course, Cleano don't lay around for you to -pick up like the soap root on Venus, but it's pretty cheap and it's -almost pretty near just as good. So for us plain folks who ain't lucky -enough to live up there on Venus, Cleano is the real cleaning stuff!" - -Then the chorus went into their "Cleano-is-the-stuff" jingle, but Mrs. -Garvy didn't hear it. She was a stubborn woman, but it occurred to her -that she was very sick indeed. She didn't want to worry her husband. -The next day she quietly made an appointment with her family freud. - -In the waiting room she picked up a fresh new copy of _Readers Pablum_ -and put it down with a faint palpitation. The lead article, according -to the table of contents on the cover, was titled "The Most Memorable -Venusian I Ever Met." - -"The freud will see you now," said the nurse, and Mrs. Garvy tottered -into his office. - -His traditional glasses and whiskers were reassuring. She choked out -the ritual: "Freud, forgive me, for I have neuroses." - -He chanted the antiphonal: "Tut, my dear girl, what seems to be the -trouble?" - -"I got like a hole in the head," she quavered. "I seem to forget all -kinds of things. Things like everybody seems to know and I don't." - -"Well, that happens to everybody occasionally, my dear. I suggest a -vacation on Venus." - -The freud stared, open-mouthed, at the empty chair. His nurse came in -and demanded, "Hey, you see how she scrammed? What was the matter with -_her_?" - -He took off his glasses and whiskers meditatively. "You can search -me. I told her she should maybe try a vacation on Venus." A momentary -bafflement came into his face and he dug through his desk drawers -until he found a copy of the four-color, profusely illustrated journal -of his profession. It had come that morning and he had lip-read it, -though looking mostly at the pictures. He leafed through to the article -_Advantages of the Planet Venus in Rest Cures_. - -"It's right there," he said. - -The nurse looked. "It sure is," she agreed. "Why shouldn't it be?" - -"The trouble with these here neurotics," decided the freud, "is that -they all the time got to fight reality. Show in the next twitch." - -He put on his glasses and whiskers again and forgot Mrs. Garvy and her -strange behavior. - -"Freud, forgive me, for I have neuroses." - -"Tut, my dear girl, what seems to be the trouble?" - - * * * * * - -Like many cures of mental disorders, Mrs. Garvy's was achieved largely -by self-treatment. She disciplined herself sternly out of the crazy -notion that there had been only one rocket ship and that one a failure. -She could join without wincing, eventually, in any conversation on the -desirability of Venus as a place to retire, on its fabulous floral -profusion. Finally she went to Venus. - -All her friends were trying to book passage with the Evening Star -Travel and Real Estate Corporation, but naturally the demand was -crushing. She considered herself lucky to get a seat at last for the -two-week summer cruise. The space ship took off from a place called -Los Alamos, New Mexico. It looked just like all the spaceships on -television and in the picture magazines, but was more comfortable than -you would expect. - -Mrs. Garvy was delighted with the fifty or so fellow-passengers -assembled before takeoff. They were from all over the country and -she had a distinct impression that they were on the brainy side. The -captain, a tall, hawk-faced, impressive fellow named Ryan-Something -or other, welcomed them aboard and trusted that their trip would be a -memorable one. He regretted that there would be nothing to see because, -"due to the meteorite season," the ports would be dogged down. It was -disappointing, yet reassuring that the line was taking no chances. - -There was the expected momentary discomfort at takeoff and then two -monotonous days of droning travel through space to be whiled away in -the lounge at cards or craps. The landing was a routine bump and the -voyagers were issued tablets to swallow to immunize them against any -minor ailments. When the tablets took effect, the lock was opened and -Venus was theirs. - -It looked much like a tropical island on Earth, except for a blanket -of cloud overhead. But it had a heady, other-worldly quality that was -intoxicating and glamorous. - -The ten days of the vacation were suffused with a hazy magic. The soap -root, as advertised, was free and sudsy. The fruits, mostly tropical -varieties transplanted from Earth, were delightful. The simple shelters -provided by the travel company were more than adequate for the balmy -days and nights. - -It was with sincere regret that the voyagers filed again into the ship, -and swallowed more tablets doled out to counteract and sterilize any -Venus illnesses they might unwittingly communicate to Earth. - - * * * * * - -Vacationing was one thing. Power politics was another. - -At the Pole, a small man was in a soundproof room, his face deathly -pale and his body limp in a straight chair. - -In the American Senate Chamber, Senator Hull-Mendoza (Synd., N. Cal.) -was saying: "Mr. President and gentlemen, I would be remiss in my duty -as a legislature if'n I didn't bring to the attention of the au-gust -body I see here a perilous situation which is fraught with peril. -As is well known to members of this au-gust body, the perfection of -space flight has brought with it a situation I can only describe -as fraught with peril. Mr. President and gentlemen, now that swift -American rockets now traverse the trackless void of space between this -planet and our nearest planetarial neighbor in space--and, gentlemen, I -refer to Venus, the star of dawn, the brightest jewel in fair Vulcan's -diadome--now, I say, I want to inquire what steps are being taken -to colonize Venus with a vanguard of patriotic citizens like those -minutemen of yore. - -"Mr. President and gentlemen! There are in this world nations, envious -nations--I do not name Mexico--who by fair means or foul may seek to -wrest from Columbia's grasp the torch of freedom of space; nations -whose low living standards and innate depravity give them an unfair -advantage over the citizens of our fair republic. - -"This is my program: I suggest that a city of more than 100,000 -population be selected by lot. The citizens of the fortunate city -are to be awarded choice lands on Venus free and clear, to have and -to hold and convey to their descendants. And the national government -shall provide free transportation to Venus for these citizens. And this -program shall continue, city by city, until there has been deposited on -Venus a sufficient vanguard of citizens to protect our manifest rights -in that planet. - -"Objections will be raised, for carping critics we have always with -us. They will say there isn't enough steel. They will call it a cheap -giveaway. I say there _is_ enough steel for _one_ city's population to -be transferred to Venus, and that is all that is needed. For when the -time comes for the second city to be transferred, the first, emptied -city can be wrecked for the needed steel! And is it a giveaway? Yes! It -is the most glorious giveaway in the history of mankind! Mr. President -and gentlemen, there is no time to waste--Venus must be American!" - - * * * * * - -Black-Kupperman, at the Pole, opened his eyes and said feebly, "The -style was a little uneven. Do you think anybody'll notice?" - -"You did fine, boy; just fine," Barlow reassured him. - -Hull-Mendoza's bill became law. - -Drafting machines at the South Pole were busy around the clock and the -Pittsburgh steel mills spewed millions of plates into the Los Alamos -spaceport of the Evening Star Travel and Real Estate Corporation. It -was going to be Los Angeles, for logistic reasons, and the three most -accomplished psycho-kineticists went to Washington and mingled in the -crowd at the drawing to make certain that the Los Angeles capsule -slithered into the fingers of the blind-folded Senator. - -Los Angeles loved the idea and a forest of spaceships began to blossom -in the desert. They weren't very good space ships, but they didn't have -to be. - -A team at the Pole worked at Barlow's direction on a mail setup. There -would have to be letters to and from Venus to keep the slightest -taint of suspicion from arising. Luckily Barlow remembered that the -problem had been solved once before--by Hitler. Relatives of persons -incinerated in the furnaces of Lublin or Majdanek continued to get -cheery postal cards. - - * * * * * - -The Los Angeles flight went off on schedule, under tremendous press, -newsreel and television coverage. The world cheered the gallant -Angelenos who were setting off on their patriotic voyage to the land -of milk and honey. The forest of spaceships thundered up, and up, and -out of sight without untoward incident. Billions envied the Angelenos, -cramped and on short rations though they were. - -Wreckers from San Francisco, whose capsule came up second, moved -immediately into the city of the angels for the scrap steel their own -flight would require. Senator Hull-Mendoza's constituents could do no -less. - -The president of Mexico, hypnotically alarmed at this extension of -_yanqui imperialismo_ beyond the stratosphere, launched his own -Venus-colony program. - -Across the water it was England versus Ireland, France versus Germany, -China versus Russia, India versus Indonesia. Ancient hatreds grew into -the flames that were rocket ships assailing the air by hundreds daily. - - Dear Ed, how are you? Sam and I are fine and hope you are fine. Is - it nice up there like they say with food and close grone on trees? - I drove by Springfield yesterday and it sure looked funny all the - buildings down but of coarse it is worth it we have to keep the - greasers in their place. Do you have any truble with them on Venus? - Drop me a line some time. Your loving sister, Alma. - - Dear Alma, I am fine and hope you are fine. It is a fine place here - fine climate and easy living. The doctor told me today that I seem - to be ten years younger. He thinks there is something in the air - here keeps people young. We do not have much trouble with the - greasers here they keep to theirselves it is just a question of us - outnumbering them and staking out the best places for the Americans. - In South Bay I know a nice little island that I have been saving - for you and Sam with lots of blanket trees and ham bushes. Hoping - to see you and Sam soon, your loving brother, Ed. - -Sam and Alma were on their way shortly. - -Poprob got a dividend in every nation after the emigration had passed -the halfway mark. The lonesome stay-at-homes were unable to bear the -melancholy of a low population density; their conditioning had been to -swarms of their kin. After that point it was possible to foist off the -crudest stripped-down accommodations on would-be emigrants; they didn't -care. - -Black-Kupperman did a final job on President Hull-Mendoza, the last -job that genius of hypnotics would ever do on any moron, important or -otherwise. - -Hull-Mendoza, panic-stricken by his presidency over an emptying nation, -joined his constituents. The _Independence_, aboard which traveled -the national government of America, was the most elaborate of all the -spaceships--bigger, more comfortable, with a lounge that was handsome, -though cramped, and cloakrooms for Senators and Representatives. It -went, however, to the same place as the others and Black-Kupperman -killed himself, leaving a note that stated he "couldn't live with my -conscience." - - * * * * * - -The day after the American President departed, Barlow flew into a rage. -Across his specially built desk were supposed to flow all Poprob -high-level documents and this thing--this outrageous thing--called -Poprob_term_ apparently had got into the executive stage before he had -even had a glimpse of it! - -He buzzed for Rogge-Smith, his statistician. Rogge-Smith seemed to be -at the bottom of it. Poprobterm seemed to be about first and second and -third derivatives, whatever they were. Barlow had a deep distrust of -anything more complex than what he called an "average." - -While Rogge-Smith was still at the door, Barlow snapped, "What's the -meaning of this? Why haven't I been consulted? How far have you people -got and why have you been working on something I haven't authorized?" - -"Didn't want to bother you, Chief," said Rogge-Smith. "It was really -a technical matter, kind of a final cleanup. Want to come and see the -work?" - -Mollified, Barlow followed his statistician down the corridor. - -"You still shouldn't have gone ahead without my okay," he grumbled. -"Where the hell would you people have been without me?" - -"That's right, Chief. We couldn't have swung it ourselves; our minds -just don't work that way. And all that stuff you knew from Hitler--it -wouldn't have occurred to us. Like poor Black-Kupperman." - -They were in a fair-sized machine shop at the end of a slight upward -incline. It was cold. Rogge-Smith pushed a button that started a motor, -and a flood of arctic light poured in as the roof parted slowly. It -showed a small spaceship with the door open. - - * * * * * - -Barlow gaped as Rogge-Smith took him by the elbow and his other boys -appeared: Swenson-Swenson, the engineer; Tsutsugimushi-Duncan, his -propellants man; Kalb-French, advertising. - -"In you go, Chief," said Tsutsugimushi-Duncan. "This is Poprobterm." - -"But I'm the world Dictator!" - -"You bet, Chief. You'll be in history, all right--but this is -necessary, I'm afraid." - -The door was closed. Acceleration slammed Barlow cruelly to the metal -floor. Something broke and warm, wet stuff, salty-tasting, ran from his -mouth to his chin. Arctic sunlight through a port suddenly became a -fierce lancet stabbing at his eyes; he was out of the atmosphere. - -Lying twisted and broken under the acceleration, Barlow realized that -some things had not changed, that Jack Ketch was never asked to dinner -however many shillings you paid him to do your dirty work, that murder -will out, that crime pays only temporarily. - -The last thing he learned was that death is the end of pain. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Marching Morons, by C.M. Kornbluth - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MARCHING MORONS *** - -***** This file should be named 51233.txt or 51233.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/1/2/3/51233/ - -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. Special rules, -set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to -copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to -protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project -Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you -charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you -do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the -rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose -such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and -research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do -practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is -subject to the trademark license, especially commercial -redistribution. - - - -*** START: FULL LICENSE *** - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project -Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at -http://gutenberg.org/license). - - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy -all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. -If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the -terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or -entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. - -1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement -and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic -works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" -or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the -collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an -individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are -located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from -copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative -works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg -are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project -Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by -freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of -this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with -the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by -keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project -Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in -a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check -the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement -before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or -creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project -Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning -the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United -States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate -access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently -whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the -phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project -Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, -copied or distributed: - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived -from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is -posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied -and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees -or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work -with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the -work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 -through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the -Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or -1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional -terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked -to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the -permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any -word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or -distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than -"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version -posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), -you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a -copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon -request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other -form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided -that - -- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is - owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he - has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the - Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments - must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you - prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax - returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and - sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the - address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to - the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." - -- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or - destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium - and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of - Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any - money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days - of receipt of the work. - -- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set -forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from -both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael -Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the -Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm -collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic -works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain -"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or -corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual -property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a -computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by -your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right -of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with -your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with -the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a -refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity -providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to -receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy -is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further -opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER -WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO -WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. -If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the -law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be -interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by -the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any -provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance -with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, -promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, -harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, -that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do -or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm -work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any -Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. - - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers -including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists -because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from -people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need, are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. -To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation -and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 -and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. - - -Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive -Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at -http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent -permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. -Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered -throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at -809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email -business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact -information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official -page at http://pglaf.org - -For additional contact information: - Dr. Gregory B. Newby - Chief Executive and Director - gbnewby@pglaf.org - - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide -spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To -SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any -particular state visit http://pglaf.org - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. -To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate - - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic -works. - -Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm -concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared -with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project -Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. - - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. -unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily -keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. - - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: - - http://www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/old/51233.zip b/old/51233.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 5ffc444..0000000 --- a/old/51233.zip +++ /dev/null |
