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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..29f6e2a --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #63112 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/63112) diff --git a/old/63112-8.txt b/old/63112-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 95afc25..0000000 --- a/old/63112-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1460 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Men Without a World, by Joseph Farrell - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Men Without a World - -Author: Joseph Farrell - -Release Date: September 3, 2020 [EBook #63112] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MEN WITHOUT A WORLD *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - Men Without A World - - By JOSEPH FARRELL - - The Centaurians were making one last effort to - conquer Earth, and their tools were wise-cracking, - space-jaunting O'Dea and Hawthorne--two guys - to whom _freedom_ was more than a word. - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Planet Stories Fall 1944. - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - -The frantic flares of the rockets lit up a murderous landscape as -barrel-chested Paul Hawthorne wrestled with the controls. He fought to -keep the ship from falling too swiftly, anxious eyes searching for a -level spot to set down the partly-crippled vessel. - -Behind him, Lance O'Dea clung to a chart table and growled. - -"Put it down!" O'Dea ordered. "You're the Einstein who got us to this -desert planet of Centauri; now get us landed safely!" - -Hawthorne risked a second to turn his grimy face to the animated bean -pole behind him. Like himself, O'Dea was unshaven and wrapped in the -shapeless coveralls of spacemen. Hawthorne scowled and pushed his hairy -arms back into the controls. - -"If you think you can do any better," he grunted, "take over yourself!" - -"No, thanks." O'Dea bent over to look through the port. The jagged -terrain was closer, and a horrified shudder ran down his bony frame. -"No, I'll let you answer to Saint Peter for the death of us both!" - -His expression as he glared at Hawthorne was distasteful, but the -makings of a grin played on the corners of his lips, and a thinly-hid -concern was in his eyes. - -"This is the end," he said. In one hand he clutched a photograph of a -dark-haired girl. "The end, Mercedes! To think you'll be a widow before -you're even a wife, all because that ape of a Hawthorne lost all our -fuel in Centauri's asteroid belt--" - -"Shut up!" the pilot demanded. One of his hands flipped a wad of -something green back in O'Dea's direction. "Here's the ten _platins_ I -owe you. And get ready--this is it!" - -A roughly level spot swept up at them--an uneven mesa that ended -abruptly a few hundred feet ahead. Hawthorne dropped the vessel in a -cushion of rocket blasts that were starting to cough for lack of fuel. - -The ship bellied along the mesa, dipped into a pocket. O'Dea crashed -into the stocky pilot as the ship turned end over end, then both -struck the control board, smashing fifty thousand _platins_ worth of -instruments as they bounced around. The ship hesitated for a second at -the edge of the mesa, balanced neatly, and decided to stay there. - - * * * * * - -Inside the ship, the lights were gone. For a few seconds there was a -crashing of furniture, then silence. - -"Lance!" Hawthorne's voice trembled slightly. "Are you killed? I -h-hope--" - -But the catch in his throat indicated he meant differently. From the -darkness came O'Dea's answering drawl: - -"No, you ape--I was just hoping the same about you. How about some -light?" - -Hawthorne fumbled around, found a battery-operated light that had -survived the crash. He hobbled to where O'Dea was half buried in a heap -of furniture and extricated him. The two of them rubbed their sore -spots and looked glumly about. - -"Centauri Six," Hawthorne mused. "You have the book l'arnin'. What's -this planet like?" - -O'Dea pressed fingers to his temples. - -"Not inhabited by Centaurs," he said. "Which is one small break. At -least we won't have those monsters--" - -"I asked about the planet." - -"If any Centaurs show up," said O'Dea shortly, "it'll make no -difference about the planet. The Space Guide gives it the name Avignon. -Hardly known by humans, of course--like the rest of this system. It -has no water and no air. We'll die of thirst or suffocation here, but -at least the Centaurs won't get us." - -Hawthorne looked up from the aneroid set beside the airlock. - -"As usual," he said, "you're wrong. We have an atmospheric pressure -of ten pounds. And what's more, the instruments show it's a real -atmosphere--like Earth's!" - -"There's no such planet! Your instruments must be damaged!" - -"No." Hawthorne shook his head. "These instruments don't lie. And they -say we have an atmosphere. It may be thicker in the valleys!" - -"Then," O'Dea insisted, "the Space Guide must be wrong, because my -memory distinctly tells me--" - -"Be damned to your memory! I brought this ship down, and I felt the -atmosphere. What's more, all the planets inside the asteroid belt, -except this one, are inhabited by Centaurs--and we're certainly inside -the asteroid belt." - -"You should know." O'Dea glared at him. "After letting that asteroid -smash through our fuel tanks--" - -"You make me tired," Hawthorne yawned. "We're getting on each other's -nerves. Better get some sleep and cool off." - -He cleared a place on the floor and relaxed. While O'Dea watched, fists -knotted, the burly pilot started to snore. - -O'Dea grinned suddenly and turned away. He stared thoughtfully out the -port. It was dark. A feeble, distant sun was falling below a rugged -horizon; and in the sky above he picked out ruddy Proxima. - -But there should be a "real" sun due to rise soon. Nice thing about -Centauri--there were enough suns to suit anybody. - -His eyes fell on the wad of bills Hawthorne had thrown at him. He -retrieved it happily, also finding the photograph. He gazed fondly -at the deep dark eyes and rich lips of the girl, kissed the picture -happily. - -"Good night, Mercedes," he said. "We'll show him in the morning." - - * * * * * - -Brilliant sunlight flooded the cabin when they awoke. At this distance, -the sun seemed somewhat smaller than Sol as seen from Earth, but it -was brilliant and warm. They ate a fast concentrated breakfast and -studied the airlock. Hawthorne voiced his verdict: - -"We can repair it in a few hours. Get the tools out." - -O'Dea was looking at the gravity indicator. - -"Gravity is .92," he announced. "That's the correct figure for -Avignon--no question about it. But I can't understand that atmosphere! -It doesn't belong!" - -He took the torch Hawthorne shoved at him and they went to work on the -airlock. When they had unjammed the inner door, they found that the -outer had somehow escaped injury. - -They crawled into the lock, an almost vertical climb with the ship -tilted as it was, and closed the inner door behind them. O'Dea shoved -open the outer and pushed his nose over the edge of the ship. His eyes -bulged. - -"Gulp," he said, pointing. - -Hawthorne's head appeared beside O'Dea's, and the two stared at the -caņon floor a thousand feet below. Their space ship was partly hanging -over the edge of the mesa. - -"And I slept last night!" O'Dea marveled. - -He swiveled his head in the other direction. - -"Gulp!" he said again. - -Three Centaurs, dominant beings of the Alpha Centauri system, faced -them with drawn guns. The grinning creatures were vaguely manlike--they -walked on two legs and breathed oxygen. At that point the resemblance -ceased, for they also breathed methane or ammonia or practically -nothing at all. They also had big eyes, a dozen arms, and more fingers -than a moron could count without risking a headache. - -O'Dea closed his eyes and moaned. - -"This is it, Mercedes," he said softly. - -"Shut up!" Hawthorne muttered. "Maybe they're an independent tribe--" -He twisted his homely face into a grin and spoke in South Martian -Vlandian, the _lingua franca_ of space: - -"_Somu amiki ... neura barc s' arik_--" - -"Oh how lovely!" said the largest Centaur, in English. "Such a -delightful ship and what wonderful specimens of _homo sapiens_ we are -find! This auspicious occurrence will aid our plans in the utmost -manner!" - -The creature assumed an expression that passed for a friendly smile -among the Centaurs. This consisted of displaying all his teeth and -snapping them together as he spoke. - -"I am called Morguma," he announced. "In Bridgeport, Connecticut, -I learn the English before comes the war--so sorry, the trouble!" -He smirked apologetically. "It is with the most pleased pleasure I -acquaint myself with you!" - -O'Dea heard Hawthorne's voice, low in his ear. "Now we're in for it! -He's no independent tribesman!" - -The lanky spaceman shrank back from the Centaur, eyeing the gleaming -molars suspiciously. He was remembering that the human race was at -war with these beings, though there had been practically no fighting -for ten years, since the time the Centaurs in the solar system were -exchanged for human hostages held by the enemy. - -While man was learning the rules of space flight, these creatures had -been building their first spaceships. Strange contest! Though neither -human nor Centaur suspected the existence of the other, each progressed -about as rapidly, as if linked by cosmic telepathy. Each race colonized -its own system and gradually built up speeds great enough for -interstellar travel. Indeed, the first human ship had just left for -Centauri when the first vessel of the Centaurs landed on Mars. - -For a time, it seemed that a beneficial union of two races had been -established. Then it was discovered that the aliens had moral standards -so different from humans that life with them was impossible. Though -small groups of them visiting Earth or the planets were well-behaved -and gracious guests, they were likely when they outnumbered their hosts -to turn their thoughts to vivisection. Or to casual massacre, if they -decided that humans annoyed them. - -So outraged humanity had declared war, driven the visitors from the -system. But at that point the war virtually ended. It was impossible -for either Earth or Centauri to send a serious invasion fleet into the -other's home system because of the tremendous distance! In either case, -the defenders would have an advantage that could not be overcome! - - * * * * * - -Lance O'Dea felt perspiration trickling down his face. He studied the -happy aliens. - -Morguma waved his weapon. "You will please to come out, our beloved -brothers of Earth! It will create difficulty to remove your ship to a -more auspicious location if you do not remove yourselves from it first!" - -The two men descended from the lock. Above them a Centaur ship hovered, -darted out pale green seizure beams. In the grip of the beams, the -Earth ship slid back from the mesa edge to more secure ground. - -Behind Morguma, more Centaurs were coming up, their features masked -with broad happy grins. The Centaur leader stepped aside, motioned the -men to precede him. - -Flanked by the armed guards, they marched across the mesa, reached -a broad trail that led into a valley below. O'Dea stopped short in -surprise. - -He stared into the broad valley. - -"Is it not inspiring?" Morguma enthused, behind him. "Our beautiful -rocket center that we created on this formerly barren world! Oh it -makes my heart sing with joy!" - -The two men, eyes wide, looked down at the teeming Centaur life -that filled the immense valley. Great factories sprawled for miles, -apparently engaged in manufacturing and servicing space ships. -Thousands of craft were berthed in neat rows for as far as they could -see. From small one passenger jobs to deadly battle cruisers they were -taking off and landing by the hundreds. - -"There aren't that many ships in the universe," O'Dea mumbled, dazed. -"And millions of Centaurs! Of all the places we could have landed--" - -He felt a polite prodding in his spine. - -"Please to walk, our charming brothers of Earth!" came Morguma's -voice. "It is with pleasure I will explain to you when we reach our -destination." - -Their destination was a sprawling building set in the noisy center of -the rocket base. They were marched into a room where a gigantic Centaur -sat shouting orders to lesser ones. Among the Centaurs, size was -synonymous with rank. In this civilization so alien to human thought, -the largest creature was king, though he should be only an idiot -mentally! - -O'Dea listened, bored, while Morguma explained in his native language -to his chief. The leader stared in surprise at the two humans, then his -mood suddenly became ecstatic. He spoke swiftly to Morguma, who turned -to the men. - -"Oh you fortunate people! It is your remarkable luck to be the first -humans to inhabit this planet we create for our brothers of the solar -system!" - -"What's this all about?" Hawthorne growled. - - * * * * * - -Morguma waved several arms and translated the remarks of his chief: - -"We were so devastated to have a misunderstanding with your wonderful -people! We are so sorry not to associate with you that we are preparing -this planet for human beings to inhabit!" - -O'Dea and Hawthorne stared at each other. - -"Like you people of Earth." Morguma went on, "we too have an asteroid -belt in our system. And in our asteroids are included many delightful -pieces of frozen oxygen, nitrogen, water and other ravishingly -beautiful elements that gladden the heart of a human. We are bringing -these life-giving substances to this planet, Avignon!" - -"I told you!" said O'Dea. "My memory didn't fail me! Paul, maybe these -two-legged crocodiles aren't so bad after all--creating a planet for -us--" - -"When this pleasant operation is concluded," said Morguma, "we will -bring humans to this planet. They will have children, whom we shall -take from their parents and educate in the proper manner--" - -"What!" Hawthorne's fists knotted. He moved a step in Morguma's -direction, stopped when he faced a line of drawn guns. Morguma -continued: - -"Oh it will be such rapturous delight to instruct these little -innocents in such tasks as espionage work on Earth and killing of those -misguided humans who continue to fight us--" - -Morguma's eyes rolled piously--and, chuckled. He displayed his teeth -in a friendly smile. - -"And you two--oh you favorite sons of fortune! We shall allow you to -help us in this gesture of interstellar good will! In your ship you may -aid in securing the necessary elements from our asteroid belt!" - -"In our ship--" O'Dea looked hopeful. "Oh, sure, we'll be glad to help. -We'll go out right after it's patched up and loaded with fuel--" - -"Of course," gurgled Morguma, "I should be overjoyed to enjoy your -charming company; therefore I shall accompany you. Also, it is not -necessary to give you more than enough fuel to reach the asteroid belt -and come back here!" - -"I knew there was a catch," O'Dea grumbled. "What do we do now, Paul?" - -"You can do anything you please," Hawthorne snapped. "I've had enough!" - -The heavy framed spaceman hurled himself at the grinning Centaur. A -fraction of a second later O'Dea followed suit. Before they could cross -the few feet that separated Morguma from them, the shock guns of the -guards barked. The two men sprawled forward unconscious at the feet of -the still grinning alien. - -[Illustration: _O'Dea whirled--to face a lifted shock gun._] - -"Oh how sad!" Morguma cried. "How unfortunate! We must revive these -beautiful persons! I am sure they will see our point of view!" - - - II - -O'Dea and Hawthorne watched their repaired vessel roll out of the -Centaur repair shop. The smashed plates had been neatly straightened; -the vessel gleamed from nose to tail. - -An enthusiastic Centaur foreman accompanied the ship. - -"Oh my intimate friends!" he sprayed in Hawthorne's face. "I too -_parlez-vous_ the English! For men I have the great love! It will give -me tremendous enjoyment to help to populate this planet with human -beings!" - -"You go to Hell," Hawthorne growled. He shivered in Avignon's thin -atmosphere and pulled the rough blanket Morguma had supplied tighter -around him. He and O'Dea looked like a pair of Indian chiefs. - -"Undertake to observe," said the foreman. "Seizure beams!" - -He shouted something in his own language to his workers inside the -ship. The pale green beams lanced out. The foreman's fangs protruded -several inches. - -"And the interior is so dainty!" the creature warbled. "Chenille -curtains over the ports! Pastel wallflower paper! Furnishings of a -luxuriance that would be of pleasure even to the dictator himself!" - -Hawthorne spat disgustedly. "Pastel wallpaper! Chenille curtains! Who -ever heard of curtains in a space ship, much less chenille!" - -His homely face twisted in pain. "Chenille!" he groaned again. - -"You have no soul," grinned O'Dea. "As long as these baboons are -willing to supply us with the finer things of life, you might at least -appreciate it." - -"You know what I think of you," growled Hawthorne. "Chenille -curtains--ugh!" - -He spat disgustedly. - -Morguma appeared and waved them to the open lock. He preceded them, -and when they had mounted to the lock, he shoved them back gently with -his huge paws until they faced a barrage of Centaur camera fiends. The -three of them, Morguma in the middle with a giant smirking grin, stood -framed in the lock while shutters clicked. - -"I wish you wouldn't breathe in my face," O'Dea said. "You smell like -something that forgot to die off in the Mesozoic era." - -Morguma giggled. "All Centauri loves you! Your beautiful faces will be -in all our newspapers now!" - -They went into the control room. Hawthorne stared unbelievingly -at the transformation. Flowers were spread profusely. Embroidered -antimacassars graced the dainty chairs. And the curtains over the ports -were indeed of chenille. The pilot groaned dismally. - -But O'Dea's eyes lighted when he saw the huge portrait over the control -board. - -"Mercedes!" he shouted. - -"Oh how happy I am to see you pleased!" exclaimed Morguma. "We found -this divine female human being's picture and enlarged it as you see. -She is an entrancing thing!" - -"You talk the truth," O'Dea agreed. "But that won't change the fact -that I don't like you. What happens now?" - -Morguma looked mildly apologetic. "Now we must perform labor! The great -task for which this ship has been fitted!" - -The Centaur seated himself at the rear of the control room, produced an -instrument that looked like a whip. It looked like a whip because it -was one. He flicked it experimentally. - -"Oh how devastated I would be," he told them, "if I should be forced -to use this! You will take off and fly to our asteroid belt, following -the intelligent directions I shall give you. We will find a substantial -piece of some agreeable material and bring it back to Avignon." - -The two men looked at each other and then at the whip. The alien -snapped it lightly a few times as if nervous. They turned to the -control board. - - * * * * * - -A few hours later they were in Alpha Centauri's asteroid belt, dodging -debris. For a while they were nervous. It was here, in this field of -small flying particles that was worse even than their Solar System's, -that a baseball-sized rock had eluded their detectors and knifed -through their vessel, passing through all three fuel chambers in its -line of flight and taking a long stream of rocket fuel for its wake. - -But the Centaurs evidently had perfected asteroid navigation; and -when they saw several pieces of matter that were about to strike them -deflected, they stopped worrying. - -O'Dea manned a board lined with instruments the Centaurs had installed. -They were simple to operate. He merely moved a telescope lens until a -piece of cosmic scrap was in the cross hair, then he read a dial. The -telescope was synchronized with a Centaur version of a spectroscope, -and its reading was given in figures on the dial. - -He felt the Centaur looking over his shoulder, checking up on him, -so he had to do his work properly. Not that it made much difference. -Whether he and Hawthorne played the game was of little importance as -far as the Centaur's plans went, except that the creatures liked the -symbolism created by having two humans work on the project. - -"Morguma," he said. "Those spaceships on Avignon can't all be engaged -in this work. There are types there that can be of no use." - -"Oh you are so intelligent to reason that!" Morguma marveled. "This -pretty planet of Avignon is the reservation we have set aside for all -space work. All of our ships are built there and all are based there!" - -O'Dea tracked down a likely looking asteroid. - -"How come?" he asked. - -"We Centaurs are a delicate sensitive people! We love the beautiful -things of life, and dislike such noisy greasy articles as space ships. -So a few years ago it was decided to remove all the dirty factories -from our home planets. Now the only craft that disturb the peace of our -people on the main planets of Centauri are the rockets that transport -materials and workers to and from Avignon!" - -"There's something wrong there." O'Dea centered his instrument on the -asteroid. "_You_ seem to be happy enough. And the other workers on -Avignon--they didn't seem to be disgusted by the dirt and noise." - -"Oh, I am ecstatic!" Morguma raved. "It is my aptitude! Rocket fuel is -my life blood! There are those among us who have a love for this noisy -distasteful life of space!" - -"Sounds logical," O'Dea murmured. "Some humans enjoy doing the dirty -work that nauseates the average person ... unpleasant, but necessary. -As for that remark about rocket fuel's being your life blood, Morguma, -I happen to know it's true!" - -He chuckled at the look of discomfiture that spread over Morguma's -features. The _quintol_ that was a part of rocket fuel was the -equivalent of alcohol to the metabolism of the Centaurs. Several times -he had seen Morguma take a quick pull from a small bottle he kept in -his leathery garment--the Centaur version of a hip flask. - -Morguma changed the subject as O'Dea's throaty chuckle continued. He -pointed to the grayish speck in the telescope. - -"Oh a remarkable find! A lump of solid carbon dioxide, and of such a -size! Oh how fortunate we are to have such fortunate fortune!" - -Their vessel closed in on the chunk of almost pure carbon dioxide, -a piece larger than the ship. Under the Centaur's directions, O'Dea -fed out the seizure beams. He watched the rough mass become gradually -rigid, fixed in space relative to them. - -That seizure beam would interest Earth's scientists. But Earth was -trillions of miles away. - -Morguma clapped his paws together in foolish delight. "Oh how goody! We -must hasten back to Avignon! On the way, we will analyze this precious -find!" - - * * * * * - -As they blasted back toward Centauri's sixth planet, O'Dea learned -from Morguma how the analysis was made by instrument. The figures they -reported would be turned into a central office, along with the results -of other ships engaged in the same task. In that way, the Centaurs -checked the composition of the atmosphere they were creating for the -planet, knew what elements were most necessary at any given moment. - -They swooped low over the planet, on the side opposite the space base. -Other Centaurs were bringing laden ships down, loosing their cargoes -like sticks of bombs. A great plateau was speckled with white, and -below, the ocean bed was filling with water. - -Hawthorne joined the procession of Centaur ships. When they neared the -surface, he barked at O'Dea to loosen their load. The seizure beams -disappeared and the icy chunk splashed over several acres of ground. - -"A successful mission!" Morguma giggled. "Now we return to our lovely -base to rest!" - -O'Dea and Hawthorne glowered. - -The next day was similar to the first, and the one after it, and all -the rest until they had turned in a dozen days of work as slaves in the -asteroid belt. O'Dea became proficient in operating his instruments; -and Hawthorne brushed up on precision bombing until he could have -planted his loads on a dime, if anybody had provided the dime. - -They found out that the Centaurs didn't believe in resting on the -Sabbath. Working hours were roughly from sunup to sundown--about an -eight hour stretch, since Avignon's day was shorter than Earth's. - -At dawn, a skipping troop of young Centaurs invaded their chambers. -The students were learning English, diplomatic French, South Martian -Portuguese, and a score of other languages of which Hawthorne and O'Dea -knew nothing. - -Then Morguma came and led them to a huge boiler factory that was fitted -as a dining room, where they toyed with Centaur food and ate vita-horm -capsules salvaged from their ship. - -After that, it was out to the asteroid belt for another load of frozen -atmosphere. - -"Oh, Hell," said O'Dea. They were going back to their quarters after -another day's work. "If it wasn't for that picture of Mercedes, I'd -throw in my buttons. I'm dying to see a human being again!" - -Hawthorne's homely face turned suspiciously to him. "I'm here, ain't I?" - -O'Dea raised an eyebrow and turned away. A fleet of powerful Centaur -dreadnaughts was landing. They had just performed the fabulous task of -transporting a huge frozen lake to Avignon--a miracle of coordination. - -O'Dea filled his lungs with air. He removed the blanket from his -shoulders, let his chest rise and fall evenly. - -"Almost as good as Earth," he said. "This air is wonderful now, but -it's wasted. Only two humans to breathe it--hey!" - -He stared at the spindly mountain that rose to a dizzy peak at the far -end of the valley. A thin stream of smoke rose from it. - -"I never noticed that before. Morguma--is that a volcano?" - -Morguma, who had paused to watch them enjoy the air, looked toward the -steaming mountain top and uncovered his fangs in a friendly smile. - -"Entirely without harm, my charming friends of Earth! Our great -scientists have performed in full an investigation. There is absolutely -no danger from that volcano!" - -O'Dea peered suspiciously at the distant cone. "If that thing ever goes -off, this valley will be buried!" - -"Oh fear not that this luscious land will be demolished, my beautiful -comrades! Not a hair of your lovely heads will be harmed!" - -Hawthorne growled. O'Dea made a fist of his right hand, rubbed it -thoughtfully. But he shrugged, looking at the Centaur's twelve arms. -They continued into the noisy dining room. - -As they entered, Hawthorne stopped short and glared. Suddenly shaking -with anger, he waved his fist at Morguma. - -"This is the limit! You can kill me, but I don't have to stand -for--this!" - - * * * * * - -His gesture swept the huge room. On every chair was hung bouquets -of riotously colored Centaurian flowers. The walls were padded with -garlands, and huge vases were in the center of each table. From the -ceiling, more streamers of blossoms dipped low. - -O'Dea's lips twitched, trying to hold back a grin. He watched the -solid, plain features of the husky pilot become dark with fury. - -"Wait Paul," he said quickly, "until we find out what it's all about." -He turned to Morguma. "What happens here, my reptilian _amigo_?" - -"A holiday! Tomorrow is the birthday of his supreme magnificence, _The_ -Centaur! On the anniversary of his coming into the world as the son of -a humble fish cleaner, we honor this great person by desisting from all -labor!" - -"Oh--the big shot's birthday." O'Dea held a hand on Hawthorne's arm -as the pilot started to cool off. He stared at the huge portrait of a -giant, moronic Centaur leering unintelligently down at them. - -"A few little glands controlling a whole solar system," he mused. "I'm -glad that rhino never leaves his palace." - -He turned his eyes from the dictator's portrait, took Hawthorne's arm -and guided him away. The two men walked to their customary places. When -they found their chairs, Hawthorne stopped and growled again. He stared -distastefully at the decorations on their chairs. - -They were flowers--flowers from Earth. - -And they were pansies. - -Hawthorne pushed them disgustedly from the arms of his chair and -settled down in glum resignation. - -Morguma took his place at O'Dea's left. O'Dea glanced at Hawthorne on -his right and chuckled. He turned to the Centaur, - -"Terrestrial flowers? How come?" - -"I ecstasize to see your pleasure," Morguma drooled. "One of our brave -captains took a ship to your delightful world, succeeded in plucking -fragrant specimens of fauna and flora to populate this world. There are -now animals and vegetation from Earth thriving happily on this globe!" - -"So ... any humans?" - -A tear trickled down Morguma's leathery cheek. "Oh it was so sad! The -humans resisted--poor misguided creatures! They all lost their valuable -lives and we will have to return for more!" - -O'Dea put down the Centaurian mushroom he had been preparing to taste. -The grin disappeared from his face as he shoved back his chair and -faced Morguma. There was a deadly something in his eyes that seemed out -of place in the usually carefree features. - -"Another of your nonchalant slaughters." His voice was a low monotone. -"Morguma, you'll pay for that--you and your grinning murder pals--" - -His hand closed around the steaming cup of Centaurian coffee and he -flung the liquid into the Centaur's face. - - - III - -An hour later he sat on his bed and rubbed his aching jaw. He peered -through a puffed eye at Hawthorne beside him. The pilot's blunt face -was all grin. - -"So I'm the primitive savage!" Hawthorne doubled in laughter. "You're -the one who acted intelligent like a guinea pig tonight!" - -"Laugh, you ape!" O'Dea groaned and moved his jaw tenderly. "Not -broken, I guess. But Morguma sure packs _quintol_ in those cornerstones -he uses for fists. All twelve of them!" - -"_Quintol_--that's it." Hawthorne pulled a bottle from under his shirt. -He looked patronizingly at O'Dea. "There's enough _quintol_ here to get -four Centaurs blind drunk!" - -"Well, start slopping it up, slop!" - -"This bottle," said Hawthorne patiently, "is our dictator's birthday -present to our friend Morguma. The Centaurs will appreciate such a -gesture of friendship!" - -O'Dea stared through unbelieving black eyes at him. "Why, you--rat!--" - -"Tomorrow," Hawthorne went on, "is a holiday. Nobody works except us. -That's as a token of interstellar good will. We work and the Centaurs -rest--except our good friend Morguma, who will be along to keep an eye -on us. Morguma deserves a little fun, too." - -O'Dea crawled out of his bunk and advanced with hard fists. He was -promptly shoved back by the grinning Hawthorne. - -"Don't you see?" Hawthorne demanded. "We get Morguma so pie-eyed he -won't know what's going on. Then--" - -He drew a stubby forefinger across his throat and made a croaking -noise. O'Dea pried his puffed eyelids apart and beamed in pleased -understanding. His lips parted slowly in a grin that would have done -credit to a Centaur. - -"Oh, I am ecstatic!" he said. - - * * * * * - -Morguma was ecstatic when he received his present. Tears of happiness -gushed down his cheeks as O'Dea presented the vacuum bottle with a -flowery oration. He seemed to have forgotten the incident of the -previous night, and took no notice of O'Dea's bruised features. - -The happy creature crushed O'Dea to his bosom with several bear-like -arms. - -"Oh my dear bosom friends! My heart would swell with song if I were -able to sing! Oh you fortunate humans, to be able to sing!" - -O'Dea broke loose from the embrace and rubbed his ribs. He looked -cheerfully at Hawthorne. - -"As soon as he's _non compos mentis_," he whispered, "we'll slug the -lug, and--" - -"Shut up," Hawthorne growled softly. "You'll queer everything." - -The pilot took his place at the control board and they pushed out -to the asteroid belt. Morguma settled himself in his usual chair at -the rear of the control room and tantalized himself by smelling the -_quintol_. - -"Oh how wonderful!" he enthused. "Aged in the bottle, too! How I love -humans!" - -O'Dea glanced impatiently from the corner of his eye. The Centaur -was in no hurry to consume the _quintol_. They were approaching the -asteroid belt before he had put much inside him. - -The two men stalled by chasing down worthless rocks until half the -liquor was inside the Centaur. Morguma's six eyes gradually became -glassier and glassier. He started to sway a little in his chair. - -"Gonna get the mosh wonnerful piesh of d'lightful oshy--oshygen -you ever shaw!" he announced. "There'sh shtupendous piesh. Oh I am -rap--rapshurous!" - -"It's only a piece of pumice!" O'Dea insisted. - -"Itsh oshygen! Lovely beaut'ful delecbub--delect'ble oshygen!" Morguma -staggered toward them. "Put sheizure beam on lovely oshygen!" - -The seizures clamped on the stone as O'Dea shrugged and threw out the -beams. Morguma took another long nip and let his eyes swim into focus -on the dials. He looked hurt. - -"Not oshygen? Not lovely oshygen? Oh I am eshcruchiated!" - -The creature sobbed and took another drink. He staggered back and fell -into his chair, where he fell into a weeping spree, his head buried in -his hands. - -O'Dea glanced swiftly. His elbow dug into Hawthorne's ribs. - -Hawthorne nodded. They quietly picked up the wrenches they had kept -nearby; started toward Morguma. - -One on each side, they moved cautiously. Silently they moved forward -until they came within striking distance. - -Hawthorne waved O'Dea back, gesturing to his own powerful right arm. -O'Dea nodded, poised his weapon for the follow up swing. Hawthorne -raised the wrench. - -And then Morguma's whip flicked out. - - * * * * * - -Hawthorne's eyes remained fastened to his empty hand as the wrench -clattered into a corner. Again the snap of Centaur leather, and O'Dea's -weapon joined the other. The two men stood foolishly, like a pair of -boys caught stealing apples. Morguma spoke: - -"Oh you bad bad people! Go back to control board; let poor Morguma -alone. Oh I am deshicated to think you would do thish to poor old -frien' Morguma!" - -They slunk back to their posts. O'Dea raised his helpless eyes to the -portrait above the controls. - -"What can I do, Mercedes?" he whispered. "The guy is stiffer than King -Tut and still you can't beat him!" - -They avoided each other's eyes. Each knew what the other was thinking. -Defeat meant that the Centaur had won. There would be no warning to -Earth. - -Avignon would become a planet of slave humans, blindly following the -skillful teachings of the Centaurs. They would infiltrate Earth, tear -down from within.... Generations would be required, but the Centaurs -had time. They thought in long term strategy. - -Hawthorne was staring unbelievingly through the telescope. His -trembling fingers closed on O'Dea's arm. - -"Let go, you ape--" - -O'Dea stopped, impelled by the smoldering hope in the eyes that warned -him to silence. He glanced swiftly to be sure that Morguma was still -hunched stupidly in his chair, then followed Hawthorne's gaze. He -gasped at what they saw. - -In their line of vision was a mass that looked like twisted wire, -coiled up in a planless tangle. O'Dea leaned forward, stared without -belief. - -"Our fuel," he breathed. "If we can get hold of that--" - -Hawthorne waved him frantically, silently, to the seizure beams. O'Dea -tiptoed to the levers, waited with one eye on Morguma while Hawthorne -crept up on the precious fuel. - -O'Dea eyed the dials, hands shaking on the control bars. There was no -mistake! It was indeed their fuel, forced out of the hole in their -tanks by internal pressure. Pressed out into space in a priceless -ribbon, it had frozen into this amorphous mass! - -O'Dea's heart was heavy in his ears. His suddenly feverish eyes darted -to the apparently-sleeping Morguma, then to the smiling portrait of -Mercedes. - -Hawthorne nodded imperatively. The ship jolted slightly as the seizure -beams went on. The fuel was clamped rigid before them. Morguma stirred -and studied them with glazed eyes. His thick voice croaked: - -"Whazzhat? Oshygen? Lovely precious oshygen?" - -"That's right, Morguma. Oshygen--I mean oxygen." O'Dea brought the -chunk closer, trying hard to look natural. "It looks so lovely I'd -like to take a chunk on board and sniff it right now!" - -"Oh whassa lovely ideas!" Morguma, still clutching his whip and his -bottle, navigated by dead-drunk reckoning to the vision plate in the -control room's belly. He peered stupidly at the coiled fuel. O'Dea -feared that the sound of his breathing would sober the Centaur. He held -the breath in his pounding lungs. - -"'s funny oshygen!" Morguma mumbled. "Mosh funniesh oshygen I ever -seen!" He brightened. "Mush be a rare ishotype! Oh mush be lov'liesh -oshygen in whole galaxy!" - -He closed all but one eye and tried to read the dials. Furtively, O'Dea -turned the telescope into the asteroid belt, and the instruments swayed -as badly as Morguma himself. The Centaur shuddered and turned away. - -"Broken! All the metersh mush be drunk! Can't eshamine lovely oshygen!" - -He started sobbing. - -"Oh, come now, old man," said O'Dea, sympathetically. "We can bring a -piece of it inside the ship and look at it first hand--" - -"Wunnerful ideas! Wunnerful!" - -Morguma slapped O'Dea's back affectionately. O'Dea picked himself off -the floor and staggered in a great circle to the control board. - -A thin seizure beam stabbed at a corner of the fuel, broke off a -generous chunk. Under O'Dea's trained fingers, it moved toward the -ship, through the belly lock. - -Then it was in the cabin. - - - IV - -Hawthorne had been doctoring the thermostats. In the heated room the -highly volatile _quintol_-base fuel started swiftly to vaporize. O'Dea -felt his head beginning to reel as the acrid fumes filled his lungs. -His eyes burned. - -But the effect on the Centaur was greater. He became rigid and turned -even more glassy-eyed. He swayed and for a tense second seemed about -to fall over. Then his eyes focussed with a desperate effort, almost -sobered by fear. - -"_Quintol!_" He raised the whip. "Not oshygen!" - -He lost his footing as Hawthorne banked the ship. Ordinarily this would -have been no strain on his Centaur sense of balance. But the _quintol_ -was too much for him. He crashed to the floor. When he picked himself -up, he stood for a few seconds, stiff as rigor mortis, then he pitched -down again on his face. - -O'Dea unwrapped himself from a chenille curtain. He rubbed his head and -stared at the prostrate Centaur. - -"What a skinful! He looks almost as bad as you, Paul! Must be something -he ate. Let's dump him through the lock and hurry back to Earth." - -"Get into a space suit and stow the fuel away," growled Hawthorne. -"I'll chain this critter up and we'll take him home with us. But first, -we'll leave a souvenir to those Centaurs on Avignon!" - -The fuel stowed in the tanks, O'Dea climbed back into the ship -and pulled at his space suit fastenings. He looked happily at the -well-manacled Centaur, still in a drunken stupor. - -"The air is better now," he observed. "Let's get on our way back to -Earth and--hey! What're you up to?" - -Hawthorne was ripping the flowery seat covers and soft curtains from -their fastenings, piling them near the airlock. When they were all -gathered, he shoved them out and watched happily through the vision -plate as they floated away from the ship. - -O'Dea grinned. "You're cooking with _quintol_, at that. The boys would -never let us forget it if we came home furnished like that!" - -Hawthorne grunted and pulled at Morguma's manacles. He went back to the -telescope, studied space ahead for a while. Then he nodded, satisfied. - -"That one should do," he mused. - -"Should do what?" O'Dea wondered. - -"That big rock ahead should be a good farewell gift to the Centaurs. -We'll fly over their camp, and--" - -A knowing smile was on Hawthorne's lips as he nosed up on a tiny -asteroid. When they came close enough, the asteroid proved to be bigger -than the ship. - -Gradually, they trapped it in the seizure beams. Hawthorne fought -grimly against inertia. The asteroid began to pull ahead of its orbit, -and finally it was under full control of their engines. - - * * * * * - -Space was clear all the way back to Avignon. No Centaur ships were off -the ground--there was nothing to challenge them. Hawthorne blasted -straight for the valley of Centaur ships. - -The motors strained, overheated, with the huge asteroid they lugged. -When they entered the atmosphere, the vessel dropped almost like a dead -weight. - -O'Dea looked worried. - -"That big factory, Paul. That's the best objective, and you're way off -from it. Bear right--" - -"Small game!" Hawthorne leered, a superior smile on his lips. "Just do -what I said--keep your fingers one inch above the release key and push -down fast when I give the word!" - -O'Dea stared into the valley below. They were falling fast and the huge -chunk of rock almost cut off the vision. But they were moving forward -as well as down, and the long lines of Centaur ships and factories were -being left far behind. O'Dea shook his head, fingered with one hand -some of his bruises. - -Then his eyes widened. Dead ahead and coming up fast to meet them, was -a mountain. From a pit in its narrow tip rose a trickle of smoke. - -"Get ready!" Hawthorne shouted. - -O'Dea could almost see into the crater. He held his sweating palm ready. - -"Now!" - -Before Hawthorne finished barking the command, O'Dea's hand shot down, -releasing the seizure beams. The ship catapulted skyward as the weight -was suddenly dropped. The pilot fought the pounding rockets. When it -was under control, Hawthorne circled back over the valley. - -They stared at the mass of earth that tumbled down the mountain side in -a gathering avalanche. Their asteroid plunged bouncing into the valley -below, shaking the entire volcano each time it hit. New avalanches -started in its wake. - -Then the volcano exploded. - -A thousand feet of rocky cone disappeared in a fiery murderous cloud. -Flaming lava and flying rock filled the air for miles. Hawthorne worked -frantically for altitude as molten crimson streamers of hell streaked -skyward. - -In Avignon's stratosphere, they looked down through the glaring lava -that hid the valley. - -An anguished voice broke in: - -"Oh I cannot believe it of you!" - -And Morguma started to cry. - -O'Dea pulled the pilot's chair to one side, reached into an opening in -the floor beneath it. He drew forth two bundles of clothing. The two -men stripped off their greasy coveralls, put on the clean clothes. - -Morguma stared unbelievingly at the crisp olive green uniforms of -Earth's space force. The grimy faces of Hawthorne and O'Dea grinned -happily from under the jaunty caps. On the shoulders of each were the -twin platinum bars of space captains. - -"Spies! Oh you unnatural men, to bite the very hand that fed you--" - -"--and cracked the whip," O'Dea finished sharply. "If you want to -be technical, we were in uniform all the time--those coveralls are -regulation work clothes. And all is fair in love and war, you know. We -came to Centauri on a reconnaissance job, and ran into some luck." - -He sighed happily, turned his eyes to the portrait above the control -board. - -Hawthorne chuckled. He was reading a thin tape that ran through his -fingers. - -"I have the ethertype machine running," he said. "News from Earth. And -look at the very first item!" - -He passed it over. O'Dea's grin disappeared as he read. He growled at -the tape, flung it from him. - -"So she married a rocket hand while my back was turned! Well--" - -He frowned for a moment. Then his shoulders rose and fell in a carefree -shrug. - -"I go bigger for blondes, anyway. First thing I'm going to do after we -report is head for Lidice, Venus, and go on the biggest tear in the -history of the space guard. That'll be--" - -There was a faintly disturbed look in Paul Hawthorne's eyes. But he -soothed his conscience with the thought that O'Dea would be just as -well off without Mercedes. So he saw no reason to tell Captain Lance -O'Dea that he had typed out the story on the ethertype himself. Because -all is fair in love as well as in war. - -And Captain Paul Hawthorne was in love with Mercedes, too. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Men Without a World, by Joseph Farrell - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MEN WITHOUT A WORLD *** - -***** This file should be named 63112-8.txt or 63112-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/3/1/1/63112/ - -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 print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Men Without a World - -Author: Joseph Farrell - -Release Date: September 3, 2020 [EBook #63112] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MEN WITHOUT A WORLD *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - -</pre> - - - -<div class="titlepage"> -<h1>Men Without A World</h1> - -<h2>By JOSEPH FARRELL</h2> - -<p>The Centaurians were making one last effort to<br /> -conquer Earth, and their tools were wise-cracking,<br /> -space-jaunting O'Dea and Hawthorne—two guys<br /> -to whom <i>freedom</i> was more than a word.</p> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Planet Stories Fall 1944.<br /> -Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that<br /> -the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]</p> - -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - -<p>The frantic flares of the rockets lit up a murderous landscape as -barrel-chested Paul Hawthorne wrestled with the controls. He fought to -keep the ship from falling too swiftly, anxious eyes searching for a -level spot to set down the partly-crippled vessel.</p> - -<p>Behind him, Lance O'Dea clung to a chart table and growled.</p> - -<p>"Put it down!" O'Dea ordered. "You're the Einstein who got us to this -desert planet of Centauri; now get us landed safely!"</p> - -<p>Hawthorne risked a second to turn his grimy face to the animated bean -pole behind him. Like himself, O'Dea was unshaven and wrapped in the -shapeless coveralls of spacemen. Hawthorne scowled and pushed his hairy -arms back into the controls.</p> - -<p>"If you think you can do any better," he grunted, "take over yourself!"</p> - -<p>"No, thanks." O'Dea bent over to look through the port. The jagged -terrain was closer, and a horrified shudder ran down his bony frame. -"No, I'll let you answer to Saint Peter for the death of us both!"</p> - -<p>His expression as he glared at Hawthorne was distasteful, but the -makings of a grin played on the corners of his lips, and a thinly-hid -concern was in his eyes.</p> - -<p>"This is the end," he said. In one hand he clutched a photograph of a -dark-haired girl. "The end, Mercedes! To think you'll be a widow before -you're even a wife, all because that ape of a Hawthorne lost all our -fuel in Centauri's asteroid belt—"</p> - -<p>"Shut up!" the pilot demanded. One of his hands flipped a wad of -something green back in O'Dea's direction. "Here's the ten <i>platins</i> I -owe you. And get ready—this is it!"</p> - -<p>A roughly level spot swept up at them—an uneven mesa that ended -abruptly a few hundred feet ahead. Hawthorne dropped the vessel in a -cushion of rocket blasts that were starting to cough for lack of fuel.</p> - -<p>The ship bellied along the mesa, dipped into a pocket. O'Dea crashed -into the stocky pilot as the ship turned end over end, then both -struck the control board, smashing fifty thousand <i>platins</i> worth of -instruments as they bounced around. The ship hesitated for a second at -the edge of the mesa, balanced neatly, and decided to stay there.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Inside the ship, the lights were gone. For a few seconds there was a -crashing of furniture, then silence.</p> - -<p>"Lance!" Hawthorne's voice trembled slightly. "Are you killed? I -h-hope—"</p> - -<p>But the catch in his throat indicated he meant differently. From the -darkness came O'Dea's answering drawl:</p> - -<p>"No, you ape—I was just hoping the same about you. How about some -light?"</p> - -<p>Hawthorne fumbled around, found a battery-operated light that had -survived the crash. He hobbled to where O'Dea was half buried in a heap -of furniture and extricated him. The two of them rubbed their sore -spots and looked glumly about.</p> - -<p>"Centauri Six," Hawthorne mused. "You have the book l'arnin'. What's -this planet like?"</p> - -<p>O'Dea pressed fingers to his temples.</p> - -<p>"Not inhabited by Centaurs," he said. "Which is one small break. At -least we won't have those monsters—"</p> - -<p>"I asked about the planet."</p> - -<p>"If any Centaurs show up," said O'Dea shortly, "it'll make no -difference about the planet. The Space Guide gives it the name Avignon. -Hardly known by humans, of course—like the rest of this system. It -has no water and no air. We'll die of thirst or suffocation here, but -at least the Centaurs won't get us."</p> - -<p>Hawthorne looked up from the aneroid set beside the airlock.</p> - -<p>"As usual," he said, "you're wrong. We have an atmospheric pressure -of ten pounds. And what's more, the instruments show it's a real -atmosphere—like Earth's!"</p> - -<p>"There's no such planet! Your instruments must be damaged!"</p> - -<p>"No." Hawthorne shook his head. "These instruments don't lie. And they -say we have an atmosphere. It may be thicker in the valleys!"</p> - -<p>"Then," O'Dea insisted, "the Space Guide must be wrong, because my -memory distinctly tells me—"</p> - -<p>"Be damned to your memory! I brought this ship down, and I felt the -atmosphere. What's more, all the planets inside the asteroid belt, -except this one, are inhabited by Centaurs—and we're certainly inside -the asteroid belt."</p> - -<p>"You should know." O'Dea glared at him. "After letting that asteroid -smash through our fuel tanks—"</p> - -<p>"You make me tired," Hawthorne yawned. "We're getting on each other's -nerves. Better get some sleep and cool off."</p> - -<p>He cleared a place on the floor and relaxed. While O'Dea watched, fists -knotted, the burly pilot started to snore.</p> - -<p>O'Dea grinned suddenly and turned away. He stared thoughtfully out the -port. It was dark. A feeble, distant sun was falling below a rugged -horizon; and in the sky above he picked out ruddy Proxima.</p> - -<p>But there should be a "real" sun due to rise soon. Nice thing about -Centauri—there were enough suns to suit anybody.</p> - -<p>His eyes fell on the wad of bills Hawthorne had thrown at him. He -retrieved it happily, also finding the photograph. He gazed fondly -at the deep dark eyes and rich lips of the girl, kissed the picture -happily.</p> - -<p>"Good night, Mercedes," he said. "We'll show him in the morning."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Brilliant sunlight flooded the cabin when they awoke. At this distance, -the sun seemed somewhat smaller than Sol as seen from Earth, but it -was brilliant and warm. They ate a fast concentrated breakfast and -studied the airlock. Hawthorne voiced his verdict:</p> - -<p>"We can repair it in a few hours. Get the tools out."</p> - -<p>O'Dea was looking at the gravity indicator.</p> - -<p>"Gravity is .92," he announced. "That's the correct figure for -Avignon—no question about it. But I can't understand that atmosphere! -It doesn't belong!"</p> - -<p>He took the torch Hawthorne shoved at him and they went to work on the -airlock. When they had unjammed the inner door, they found that the -outer had somehow escaped injury.</p> - -<p>They crawled into the lock, an almost vertical climb with the ship -tilted as it was, and closed the inner door behind them. O'Dea shoved -open the outer and pushed his nose over the edge of the ship. His eyes -bulged.</p> - -<p>"Gulp," he said, pointing.</p> - -<p>Hawthorne's head appeared beside O'Dea's, and the two stared at the -caņon floor a thousand feet below. Their space ship was partly hanging -over the edge of the mesa.</p> - -<p>"And I slept last night!" O'Dea marveled.</p> - -<p>He swiveled his head in the other direction.</p> - -<p>"Gulp!" he said again.</p> - -<p>Three Centaurs, dominant beings of the Alpha Centauri system, faced -them with drawn guns. The grinning creatures were vaguely manlike—they -walked on two legs and breathed oxygen. At that point the resemblance -ceased, for they also breathed methane or ammonia or practically -nothing at all. They also had big eyes, a dozen arms, and more fingers -than a moron could count without risking a headache.</p> - -<p>O'Dea closed his eyes and moaned.</p> - -<p>"This is it, Mercedes," he said softly.</p> - -<p>"Shut up!" Hawthorne muttered. "Maybe they're an independent tribe—" -He twisted his homely face into a grin and spoke in South Martian -Vlandian, the <i>lingua franca</i> of space:</p> - -<p>"<i>Somu amiki ... neura barc s' arik</i>—"</p> - -<p>"Oh how lovely!" said the largest Centaur, in English. "Such a -delightful ship and what wonderful specimens of <i>homo sapiens</i> we are -find! This auspicious occurrence will aid our plans in the utmost -manner!"</p> - -<p>The creature assumed an expression that passed for a friendly smile -among the Centaurs. This consisted of displaying all his teeth and -snapping them together as he spoke.</p> - -<p>"I am called Morguma," he announced. "In Bridgeport, Connecticut, -I learn the English before comes the war—so sorry, the trouble!" -He smirked apologetically. "It is with the most pleased pleasure I -acquaint myself with you!"</p> - -<p>O'Dea heard Hawthorne's voice, low in his ear. "Now we're in for it! -He's no independent tribesman!"</p> - -<p>The lanky spaceman shrank back from the Centaur, eyeing the gleaming -molars suspiciously. He was remembering that the human race was at -war with these beings, though there had been practically no fighting -for ten years, since the time the Centaurs in the solar system were -exchanged for human hostages held by the enemy.</p> - -<p>While man was learning the rules of space flight, these creatures had -been building their first spaceships. Strange contest! Though neither -human nor Centaur suspected the existence of the other, each progressed -about as rapidly, as if linked by cosmic telepathy. Each race colonized -its own system and gradually built up speeds great enough for -interstellar travel. Indeed, the first human ship had just left for -Centauri when the first vessel of the Centaurs landed on Mars.</p> - -<p>For a time, it seemed that a beneficial union of two races had been -established. Then it was discovered that the aliens had moral standards -so different from humans that life with them was impossible. Though -small groups of them visiting Earth or the planets were well-behaved -and gracious guests, they were likely when they outnumbered their hosts -to turn their thoughts to vivisection. Or to casual massacre, if they -decided that humans annoyed them.</p> - -<p>So outraged humanity had declared war, driven the visitors from the -system. But at that point the war virtually ended. It was impossible -for either Earth or Centauri to send a serious invasion fleet into the -other's home system because of the tremendous distance! In either case, -the defenders would have an advantage that could not be overcome!</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Lance O'Dea felt perspiration trickling down his face. He studied the -happy aliens.</p> - -<p>Morguma waved his weapon. "You will please to come out, our beloved -brothers of Earth! It will create difficulty to remove your ship to a -more auspicious location if you do not remove yourselves from it first!"</p> - -<p>The two men descended from the lock. Above them a Centaur ship hovered, -darted out pale green seizure beams. In the grip of the beams, the -Earth ship slid back from the mesa edge to more secure ground.</p> - -<p>Behind Morguma, more Centaurs were coming up, their features masked -with broad happy grins. The Centaur leader stepped aside, motioned the -men to precede him.</p> - -<p>Flanked by the armed guards, they marched across the mesa, reached -a broad trail that led into a valley below. O'Dea stopped short in -surprise.</p> - -<p>He stared into the broad valley.</p> - -<p>"Is it not inspiring?" Morguma enthused, behind him. "Our beautiful -rocket center that we created on this formerly barren world! Oh it -makes my heart sing with joy!"</p> - -<p>The two men, eyes wide, looked down at the teeming Centaur life -that filled the immense valley. Great factories sprawled for miles, -apparently engaged in manufacturing and servicing space ships. -Thousands of craft were berthed in neat rows for as far as they could -see. From small one passenger jobs to deadly battle cruisers they were -taking off and landing by the hundreds.</p> - -<p>"There aren't that many ships in the universe," O'Dea mumbled, dazed. -"And millions of Centaurs! Of all the places we could have landed—"</p> - -<p>He felt a polite prodding in his spine.</p> - -<p>"Please to walk, our charming brothers of Earth!" came Morguma's -voice. "It is with pleasure I will explain to you when we reach our -destination."</p> - -<p>Their destination was a sprawling building set in the noisy center of -the rocket base. They were marched into a room where a gigantic Centaur -sat shouting orders to lesser ones. Among the Centaurs, size was -synonymous with rank. In this civilization so alien to human thought, -the largest creature was king, though he should be only an idiot -mentally!</p> - -<p>O'Dea listened, bored, while Morguma explained in his native language -to his chief. The leader stared in surprise at the two humans, then his -mood suddenly became ecstatic. He spoke swiftly to Morguma, who turned -to the men.</p> - -<p>"Oh you fortunate people! It is your remarkable luck to be the first -humans to inhabit this planet we create for our brothers of the solar -system!"</p> - -<p>"What's this all about?" Hawthorne growled.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Morguma waved several arms and translated the remarks of his chief:</p> - -<p>"We were so devastated to have a misunderstanding with your wonderful -people! We are so sorry not to associate with you that we are preparing -this planet for human beings to inhabit!"</p> - -<p>O'Dea and Hawthorne stared at each other.</p> - -<p>"Like you people of Earth." Morguma went on, "we too have an asteroid -belt in our system. And in our asteroids are included many delightful -pieces of frozen oxygen, nitrogen, water and other ravishingly -beautiful elements that gladden the heart of a human. We are bringing -these life-giving substances to this planet, Avignon!"</p> - -<p>"I told you!" said O'Dea. "My memory didn't fail me! Paul, maybe these -two-legged crocodiles aren't so bad after all—creating a planet for -us—"</p> - -<p>"When this pleasant operation is concluded," said Morguma, "we will -bring humans to this planet. They will have children, whom we shall -take from their parents and educate in the proper manner—"</p> - -<p>"What!" Hawthorne's fists knotted. He moved a step in Morguma's -direction, stopped when he faced a line of drawn guns. Morguma -continued:</p> - -<p>"Oh it will be such rapturous delight to instruct these little -innocents in such tasks as espionage work on Earth and killing of those -misguided humans who continue to fight us—"</p> - -<p>Morguma's eyes rolled piously—and, chuckled. He displayed his teeth -in a friendly smile.</p> - -<p>"And you two—oh you favorite sons of fortune! We shall allow you to -help us in this gesture of interstellar good will! In your ship you may -aid in securing the necessary elements from our asteroid belt!"</p> - -<p>"In our ship—" O'Dea looked hopeful. "Oh, sure, we'll be glad to help. -We'll go out right after it's patched up and loaded with fuel—"</p> - -<p>"Of course," gurgled Morguma, "I should be overjoyed to enjoy your -charming company; therefore I shall accompany you. Also, it is not -necessary to give you more than enough fuel to reach the asteroid belt -and come back here!"</p> - -<p>"I knew there was a catch," O'Dea grumbled. "What do we do now, Paul?"</p> - -<p>"You can do anything you please," Hawthorne snapped. "I've had enough!"</p> - -<p>The heavy framed spaceman hurled himself at the grinning Centaur. A -fraction of a second later O'Dea followed suit. Before they could cross -the few feet that separated Morguma from them, the shock guns of the -guards barked. The two men sprawled forward unconscious at the feet of -the still grinning alien.</p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus.jpg" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p><i>O'Dea whirled—to face a lifted shock gun.</i></p> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>"Oh how sad!" Morguma cried. "How unfortunate! We must revive these -beautiful persons! I am sure they will see our point of view!"</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph1">II</p> - -<p>O'Dea and Hawthorne watched their repaired vessel roll out of the -Centaur repair shop. The smashed plates had been neatly straightened; -the vessel gleamed from nose to tail.</p> - -<p>An enthusiastic Centaur foreman accompanied the ship.</p> - -<p>"Oh my intimate friends!" he sprayed in Hawthorne's face. "I too -<i>parlez-vous</i> the English! For men I have the great love! It will give -me tremendous enjoyment to help to populate this planet with human -beings!"</p> - -<p>"You go to Hell," Hawthorne growled. He shivered in Avignon's thin -atmosphere and pulled the rough blanket Morguma had supplied tighter -around him. He and O'Dea looked like a pair of Indian chiefs.</p> - -<p>"Undertake to observe," said the foreman. "Seizure beams!"</p> - -<p>He shouted something in his own language to his workers inside the -ship. The pale green beams lanced out. The foreman's fangs protruded -several inches.</p> - -<p>"And the interior is so dainty!" the creature warbled. "Chenille -curtains over the ports! Pastel wallflower paper! Furnishings of a -luxuriance that would be of pleasure even to the dictator himself!"</p> - -<p>Hawthorne spat disgustedly. "Pastel wallpaper! Chenille curtains! Who -ever heard of curtains in a space ship, much less chenille!"</p> - -<p>His homely face twisted in pain. "Chenille!" he groaned again.</p> - -<p>"You have no soul," grinned O'Dea. "As long as these baboons are -willing to supply us with the finer things of life, you might at least -appreciate it."</p> - -<p>"You know what I think of you," growled Hawthorne. "Chenille -curtains—ugh!"</p> - -<p>He spat disgustedly.</p> - -<p>Morguma appeared and waved them to the open lock. He preceded them, -and when they had mounted to the lock, he shoved them back gently with -his huge paws until they faced a barrage of Centaur camera fiends. The -three of them, Morguma in the middle with a giant smirking grin, stood -framed in the lock while shutters clicked.</p> - -<p>"I wish you wouldn't breathe in my face," O'Dea said. "You smell like -something that forgot to die off in the Mesozoic era."</p> - -<p>Morguma giggled. "All Centauri loves you! Your beautiful faces will be -in all our newspapers now!"</p> - -<p>They went into the control room. Hawthorne stared unbelievingly -at the transformation. Flowers were spread profusely. Embroidered -antimacassars graced the dainty chairs. And the curtains over the ports -were indeed of chenille. The pilot groaned dismally.</p> - -<p>But O'Dea's eyes lighted when he saw the huge portrait over the control -board.</p> - -<p>"Mercedes!" he shouted.</p> - -<p>"Oh how happy I am to see you pleased!" exclaimed Morguma. "We found -this divine female human being's picture and enlarged it as you see. -She is an entrancing thing!"</p> - -<p>"You talk the truth," O'Dea agreed. "But that won't change the fact -that I don't like you. What happens now?"</p> - -<p>Morguma looked mildly apologetic. "Now we must perform labor! The great -task for which this ship has been fitted!"</p> - -<p>The Centaur seated himself at the rear of the control room, produced an -instrument that looked like a whip. It looked like a whip because it -was one. He flicked it experimentally.</p> - -<p>"Oh how devastated I would be," he told them, "if I should be forced -to use this! You will take off and fly to our asteroid belt, following -the intelligent directions I shall give you. We will find a substantial -piece of some agreeable material and bring it back to Avignon."</p> - -<p>The two men looked at each other and then at the whip. The alien -snapped it lightly a few times as if nervous. They turned to the -control board.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>A few hours later they were in Alpha Centauri's asteroid belt, dodging -debris. For a while they were nervous. It was here, in this field of -small flying particles that was worse even than their Solar System's, -that a baseball-sized rock had eluded their detectors and knifed -through their vessel, passing through all three fuel chambers in its -line of flight and taking a long stream of rocket fuel for its wake.</p> - -<p>But the Centaurs evidently had perfected asteroid navigation; and -when they saw several pieces of matter that were about to strike them -deflected, they stopped worrying.</p> - -<p>O'Dea manned a board lined with instruments the Centaurs had installed. -They were simple to operate. He merely moved a telescope lens until a -piece of cosmic scrap was in the cross hair, then he read a dial. The -telescope was synchronized with a Centaur version of a spectroscope, -and its reading was given in figures on the dial.</p> - -<p>He felt the Centaur looking over his shoulder, checking up on him, -so he had to do his work properly. Not that it made much difference. -Whether he and Hawthorne played the game was of little importance as -far as the Centaur's plans went, except that the creatures liked the -symbolism created by having two humans work on the project.</p> - -<p>"Morguma," he said. "Those spaceships on Avignon can't all be engaged -in this work. There are types there that can be of no use."</p> - -<p>"Oh you are so intelligent to reason that!" Morguma marveled. "This -pretty planet of Avignon is the reservation we have set aside for all -space work. All of our ships are built there and all are based there!"</p> - -<p>O'Dea tracked down a likely looking asteroid.</p> - -<p>"How come?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"We Centaurs are a delicate sensitive people! We love the beautiful -things of life, and dislike such noisy greasy articles as space ships. -So a few years ago it was decided to remove all the dirty factories -from our home planets. Now the only craft that disturb the peace of our -people on the main planets of Centauri are the rockets that transport -materials and workers to and from Avignon!"</p> - -<p>"There's something wrong there." O'Dea centered his instrument on the -asteroid. "<i>You</i> seem to be happy enough. And the other workers on -Avignon—they didn't seem to be disgusted by the dirt and noise."</p> - -<p>"Oh, I am ecstatic!" Morguma raved. "It is my aptitude! Rocket fuel is -my life blood! There are those among us who have a love for this noisy -distasteful life of space!"</p> - -<p>"Sounds logical," O'Dea murmured. "Some humans enjoy doing the dirty -work that nauseates the average person ... unpleasant, but necessary. -As for that remark about rocket fuel's being your life blood, Morguma, -I happen to know it's true!"</p> - -<p>He chuckled at the look of discomfiture that spread over Morguma's -features. The <i>quintol</i> that was a part of rocket fuel was the -equivalent of alcohol to the metabolism of the Centaurs. Several times -he had seen Morguma take a quick pull from a small bottle he kept in -his leathery garment—the Centaur version of a hip flask.</p> - -<p>Morguma changed the subject as O'Dea's throaty chuckle continued. He -pointed to the grayish speck in the telescope.</p> - -<p>"Oh a remarkable find! A lump of solid carbon dioxide, and of such a -size! Oh how fortunate we are to have such fortunate fortune!"</p> - -<p>Their vessel closed in on the chunk of almost pure carbon dioxide, -a piece larger than the ship. Under the Centaur's directions, O'Dea -fed out the seizure beams. He watched the rough mass become gradually -rigid, fixed in space relative to them.</p> - -<p>That seizure beam would interest Earth's scientists. But Earth was -trillions of miles away.</p> - -<p>Morguma clapped his paws together in foolish delight. "Oh how goody! We -must hasten back to Avignon! On the way, we will analyze this precious -find!"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>As they blasted back toward Centauri's sixth planet, O'Dea learned -from Morguma how the analysis was made by instrument. The figures they -reported would be turned into a central office, along with the results -of other ships engaged in the same task. In that way, the Centaurs -checked the composition of the atmosphere they were creating for the -planet, knew what elements were most necessary at any given moment.</p> - -<p>They swooped low over the planet, on the side opposite the space base. -Other Centaurs were bringing laden ships down, loosing their cargoes -like sticks of bombs. A great plateau was speckled with white, and -below, the ocean bed was filling with water.</p> - -<p>Hawthorne joined the procession of Centaur ships. When they neared the -surface, he barked at O'Dea to loosen their load. The seizure beams -disappeared and the icy chunk splashed over several acres of ground.</p> - -<p>"A successful mission!" Morguma giggled. "Now we return to our lovely -base to rest!"</p> - -<p>O'Dea and Hawthorne glowered.</p> - -<p>The next day was similar to the first, and the one after it, and all -the rest until they had turned in a dozen days of work as slaves in the -asteroid belt. O'Dea became proficient in operating his instruments; -and Hawthorne brushed up on precision bombing until he could have -planted his loads on a dime, if anybody had provided the dime.</p> - -<p>They found out that the Centaurs didn't believe in resting on the -Sabbath. Working hours were roughly from sunup to sundown—about an -eight hour stretch, since Avignon's day was shorter than Earth's.</p> - -<p>At dawn, a skipping troop of young Centaurs invaded their chambers. -The students were learning English, diplomatic French, South Martian -Portuguese, and a score of other languages of which Hawthorne and O'Dea -knew nothing.</p> - -<p>Then Morguma came and led them to a huge boiler factory that was fitted -as a dining room, where they toyed with Centaur food and ate vita-horm -capsules salvaged from their ship.</p> - -<p>After that, it was out to the asteroid belt for another load of frozen -atmosphere.</p> - -<p>"Oh, Hell," said O'Dea. They were going back to their quarters after -another day's work. "If it wasn't for that picture of Mercedes, I'd -throw in my buttons. I'm dying to see a human being again!"</p> - -<p>Hawthorne's homely face turned suspiciously to him. "I'm here, ain't I?"</p> - -<p>O'Dea raised an eyebrow and turned away. A fleet of powerful Centaur -dreadnaughts was landing. They had just performed the fabulous task of -transporting a huge frozen lake to Avignon—a miracle of coordination.</p> - -<p>O'Dea filled his lungs with air. He removed the blanket from his -shoulders, let his chest rise and fall evenly.</p> - -<p>"Almost as good as Earth," he said. "This air is wonderful now, but -it's wasted. Only two humans to breathe it—hey!"</p> - -<p>He stared at the spindly mountain that rose to a dizzy peak at the far -end of the valley. A thin stream of smoke rose from it.</p> - -<p>"I never noticed that before. Morguma—is that a volcano?"</p> - -<p>Morguma, who had paused to watch them enjoy the air, looked toward the -steaming mountain top and uncovered his fangs in a friendly smile.</p> - -<p>"Entirely without harm, my charming friends of Earth! Our great -scientists have performed in full an investigation. There is absolutely -no danger from that volcano!"</p> - -<p>O'Dea peered suspiciously at the distant cone. "If that thing ever goes -off, this valley will be buried!"</p> - -<p>"Oh fear not that this luscious land will be demolished, my beautiful -comrades! Not a hair of your lovely heads will be harmed!"</p> - -<p>Hawthorne growled. O'Dea made a fist of his right hand, rubbed it -thoughtfully. But he shrugged, looking at the Centaur's twelve arms. -They continued into the noisy dining room.</p> - -<p>As they entered, Hawthorne stopped short and glared. Suddenly shaking -with anger, he waved his fist at Morguma.</p> - -<p>"This is the limit! You can kill me, but I don't have to stand -for—this!"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>His gesture swept the huge room. On every chair was hung bouquets -of riotously colored Centaurian flowers. The walls were padded with -garlands, and huge vases were in the center of each table. From the -ceiling, more streamers of blossoms dipped low.</p> - -<p>O'Dea's lips twitched, trying to hold back a grin. He watched the -solid, plain features of the husky pilot become dark with fury.</p> - -<p>"Wait Paul," he said quickly, "until we find out what it's all about." -He turned to Morguma. "What happens here, my reptilian <i>amigo</i>?"</p> - -<p>"A holiday! Tomorrow is the birthday of his supreme magnificence, <i>The</i> -Centaur! On the anniversary of his coming into the world as the son of -a humble fish cleaner, we honor this great person by desisting from all -labor!"</p> - -<p>"Oh—the big shot's birthday." O'Dea held a hand on Hawthorne's arm -as the pilot started to cool off. He stared at the huge portrait of a -giant, moronic Centaur leering unintelligently down at them.</p> - -<p>"A few little glands controlling a whole solar system," he mused. "I'm -glad that rhino never leaves his palace."</p> - -<p>He turned his eyes from the dictator's portrait, took Hawthorne's arm -and guided him away. The two men walked to their customary places. When -they found their chairs, Hawthorne stopped and growled again. He stared -distastefully at the decorations on their chairs.</p> - -<p>They were flowers—flowers from Earth.</p> - -<p>And they were pansies.</p> - -<p>Hawthorne pushed them disgustedly from the arms of his chair and -settled down in glum resignation.</p> - -<p>Morguma took his place at O'Dea's left. O'Dea glanced at Hawthorne on -his right and chuckled. He turned to the Centaur,</p> - -<p>"Terrestrial flowers? How come?"</p> - -<p>"I ecstasize to see your pleasure," Morguma drooled. "One of our brave -captains took a ship to your delightful world, succeeded in plucking -fragrant specimens of fauna and flora to populate this world. There are -now animals and vegetation from Earth thriving happily on this globe!"</p> - -<p>"So ... any humans?"</p> - -<p>A tear trickled down Morguma's leathery cheek. "Oh it was so sad! The -humans resisted—poor misguided creatures! They all lost their valuable -lives and we will have to return for more!"</p> - -<p>O'Dea put down the Centaurian mushroom he had been preparing to taste. -The grin disappeared from his face as he shoved back his chair and -faced Morguma. There was a deadly something in his eyes that seemed out -of place in the usually carefree features.</p> - -<p>"Another of your nonchalant slaughters." His voice was a low monotone. -"Morguma, you'll pay for that—you and your grinning murder pals—"</p> - -<p>His hand closed around the steaming cup of Centaurian coffee and he -flung the liquid into the Centaur's face.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph1">III</p> - -<p>An hour later he sat on his bed and rubbed his aching jaw. He peered -through a puffed eye at Hawthorne beside him. The pilot's blunt face -was all grin.</p> - -<p>"So I'm the primitive savage!" Hawthorne doubled in laughter. "You're -the one who acted intelligent like a guinea pig tonight!"</p> - -<p>"Laugh, you ape!" O'Dea groaned and moved his jaw tenderly. "Not -broken, I guess. But Morguma sure packs <i>quintol</i> in those cornerstones -he uses for fists. All twelve of them!"</p> - -<p>"<i>Quintol</i>—that's it." Hawthorne pulled a bottle from under his shirt. -He looked patronizingly at O'Dea. "There's enough <i>quintol</i> here to get -four Centaurs blind drunk!"</p> - -<p>"Well, start slopping it up, slop!"</p> - -<p>"This bottle," said Hawthorne patiently, "is our dictator's birthday -present to our friend Morguma. The Centaurs will appreciate such a -gesture of friendship!"</p> - -<p>O'Dea stared through unbelieving black eyes at him. "Why, you—rat!—"</p> - -<p>"Tomorrow," Hawthorne went on, "is a holiday. Nobody works except us. -That's as a token of interstellar good will. We work and the Centaurs -rest—except our good friend Morguma, who will be along to keep an eye -on us. Morguma deserves a little fun, too."</p> - -<p>O'Dea crawled out of his bunk and advanced with hard fists. He was -promptly shoved back by the grinning Hawthorne.</p> - -<p>"Don't you see?" Hawthorne demanded. "We get Morguma so pie-eyed he -won't know what's going on. Then—"</p> - -<p>He drew a stubby forefinger across his throat and made a croaking -noise. O'Dea pried his puffed eyelids apart and beamed in pleased -understanding. His lips parted slowly in a grin that would have done -credit to a Centaur.</p> - -<p>"Oh, I am ecstatic!" he said.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Morguma was ecstatic when he received his present. Tears of happiness -gushed down his cheeks as O'Dea presented the vacuum bottle with a -flowery oration. He seemed to have forgotten the incident of the -previous night, and took no notice of O'Dea's bruised features.</p> - -<p>The happy creature crushed O'Dea to his bosom with several bear-like -arms.</p> - -<p>"Oh my dear bosom friends! My heart would swell with song if I were -able to sing! Oh you fortunate humans, to be able to sing!"</p> - -<p>O'Dea broke loose from the embrace and rubbed his ribs. He looked -cheerfully at Hawthorne.</p> - -<p>"As soon as he's <i>non compos mentis</i>," he whispered, "we'll slug the -lug, and—"</p> - -<p>"Shut up," Hawthorne growled softly. "You'll queer everything."</p> - -<p>The pilot took his place at the control board and they pushed out -to the asteroid belt. Morguma settled himself in his usual chair at -the rear of the control room and tantalized himself by smelling the -<i>quintol</i>.</p> - -<p>"Oh how wonderful!" he enthused. "Aged in the bottle, too! How I love -humans!"</p> - -<p>O'Dea glanced impatiently from the corner of his eye. The Centaur -was in no hurry to consume the <i>quintol</i>. They were approaching the -asteroid belt before he had put much inside him.</p> - -<p>The two men stalled by chasing down worthless rocks until half the -liquor was inside the Centaur. Morguma's six eyes gradually became -glassier and glassier. He started to sway a little in his chair.</p> - -<p>"Gonna get the mosh wonnerful piesh of d'lightful oshy—oshygen -you ever shaw!" he announced. "There'sh shtupendous piesh. Oh I am -rap—rapshurous!"</p> - -<p>"It's only a piece of pumice!" O'Dea insisted.</p> - -<p>"Itsh oshygen! Lovely beaut'ful delecbub—delect'ble oshygen!" Morguma -staggered toward them. "Put sheizure beam on lovely oshygen!"</p> - -<p>The seizures clamped on the stone as O'Dea shrugged and threw out the -beams. Morguma took another long nip and let his eyes swim into focus -on the dials. He looked hurt.</p> - -<p>"Not oshygen? Not lovely oshygen? Oh I am eshcruchiated!"</p> - -<p>The creature sobbed and took another drink. He staggered back and fell -into his chair, where he fell into a weeping spree, his head buried in -his hands.</p> - -<p>O'Dea glanced swiftly. His elbow dug into Hawthorne's ribs.</p> - -<p>Hawthorne nodded. They quietly picked up the wrenches they had kept -nearby; started toward Morguma.</p> - -<p>One on each side, they moved cautiously. Silently they moved forward -until they came within striking distance.</p> - -<p>Hawthorne waved O'Dea back, gesturing to his own powerful right arm. -O'Dea nodded, poised his weapon for the follow up swing. Hawthorne -raised the wrench.</p> - -<p>And then Morguma's whip flicked out.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Hawthorne's eyes remained fastened to his empty hand as the wrench -clattered into a corner. Again the snap of Centaur leather, and O'Dea's -weapon joined the other. The two men stood foolishly, like a pair of -boys caught stealing apples. Morguma spoke:</p> - -<p>"Oh you bad bad people! Go back to control board; let poor Morguma -alone. Oh I am deshicated to think you would do thish to poor old -frien' Morguma!"</p> - -<p>They slunk back to their posts. O'Dea raised his helpless eyes to the -portrait above the controls.</p> - -<p>"What can I do, Mercedes?" he whispered. "The guy is stiffer than King -Tut and still you can't beat him!"</p> - -<p>They avoided each other's eyes. Each knew what the other was thinking. -Defeat meant that the Centaur had won. There would be no warning to -Earth.</p> - -<p>Avignon would become a planet of slave humans, blindly following the -skillful teachings of the Centaurs. They would infiltrate Earth, tear -down from within.... Generations would be required, but the Centaurs -had time. They thought in long term strategy.</p> - -<p>Hawthorne was staring unbelievingly through the telescope. His -trembling fingers closed on O'Dea's arm.</p> - -<p>"Let go, you ape—"</p> - -<p>O'Dea stopped, impelled by the smoldering hope in the eyes that warned -him to silence. He glanced swiftly to be sure that Morguma was still -hunched stupidly in his chair, then followed Hawthorne's gaze. He -gasped at what they saw.</p> - -<p>In their line of vision was a mass that looked like twisted wire, -coiled up in a planless tangle. O'Dea leaned forward, stared without -belief.</p> - -<p>"Our fuel," he breathed. "If we can get hold of that—"</p> - -<p>Hawthorne waved him frantically, silently, to the seizure beams. O'Dea -tiptoed to the levers, waited with one eye on Morguma while Hawthorne -crept up on the precious fuel.</p> - -<p>O'Dea eyed the dials, hands shaking on the control bars. There was no -mistake! It was indeed their fuel, forced out of the hole in their -tanks by internal pressure. Pressed out into space in a priceless -ribbon, it had frozen into this amorphous mass!</p> - -<p>O'Dea's heart was heavy in his ears. His suddenly feverish eyes darted -to the apparently-sleeping Morguma, then to the smiling portrait of -Mercedes.</p> - -<p>Hawthorne nodded imperatively. The ship jolted slightly as the seizure -beams went on. The fuel was clamped rigid before them. Morguma stirred -and studied them with glazed eyes. His thick voice croaked:</p> - -<p>"Whazzhat? Oshygen? Lovely precious oshygen?"</p> - -<p>"That's right, Morguma. Oshygen—I mean oxygen." O'Dea brought the -chunk closer, trying hard to look natural. "It looks so lovely I'd -like to take a chunk on board and sniff it right now!"</p> - -<p>"Oh whassa lovely ideas!" Morguma, still clutching his whip and his -bottle, navigated by dead-drunk reckoning to the vision plate in the -control room's belly. He peered stupidly at the coiled fuel. O'Dea -feared that the sound of his breathing would sober the Centaur. He held -the breath in his pounding lungs.</p> - -<p>"'s funny oshygen!" Morguma mumbled. "Mosh funniesh oshygen I ever -seen!" He brightened. "Mush be a rare ishotype! Oh mush be lov'liesh -oshygen in whole galaxy!"</p> - -<p>He closed all but one eye and tried to read the dials. Furtively, O'Dea -turned the telescope into the asteroid belt, and the instruments swayed -as badly as Morguma himself. The Centaur shuddered and turned away.</p> - -<p>"Broken! All the metersh mush be drunk! Can't eshamine lovely oshygen!"</p> - -<p>He started sobbing.</p> - -<p>"Oh, come now, old man," said O'Dea, sympathetically. "We can bring a -piece of it inside the ship and look at it first hand—"</p> - -<p>"Wunnerful ideas! Wunnerful!"</p> - -<p>Morguma slapped O'Dea's back affectionately. O'Dea picked himself off -the floor and staggered in a great circle to the control board.</p> - -<p>A thin seizure beam stabbed at a corner of the fuel, broke off a -generous chunk. Under O'Dea's trained fingers, it moved toward the -ship, through the belly lock.</p> - -<p>Then it was in the cabin.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph1">IV</p> - -<p>Hawthorne had been doctoring the thermostats. In the heated room the -highly volatile <i>quintol</i>-base fuel started swiftly to vaporize. O'Dea -felt his head beginning to reel as the acrid fumes filled his lungs. -His eyes burned.</p> - -<p>But the effect on the Centaur was greater. He became rigid and turned -even more glassy-eyed. He swayed and for a tense second seemed about -to fall over. Then his eyes focussed with a desperate effort, almost -sobered by fear.</p> - -<p>"<i>Quintol!</i>" He raised the whip. "Not oshygen!"</p> - -<p>He lost his footing as Hawthorne banked the ship. Ordinarily this would -have been no strain on his Centaur sense of balance. But the <i>quintol</i> -was too much for him. He crashed to the floor. When he picked himself -up, he stood for a few seconds, stiff as rigor mortis, then he pitched -down again on his face.</p> - -<p>O'Dea unwrapped himself from a chenille curtain. He rubbed his head and -stared at the prostrate Centaur.</p> - -<p>"What a skinful! He looks almost as bad as you, Paul! Must be something -he ate. Let's dump him through the lock and hurry back to Earth."</p> - -<p>"Get into a space suit and stow the fuel away," growled Hawthorne. -"I'll chain this critter up and we'll take him home with us. But first, -we'll leave a souvenir to those Centaurs on Avignon!"</p> - -<p>The fuel stowed in the tanks, O'Dea climbed back into the ship -and pulled at his space suit fastenings. He looked happily at the -well-manacled Centaur, still in a drunken stupor.</p> - -<p>"The air is better now," he observed. "Let's get on our way back to -Earth and—hey! What're you up to?"</p> - -<p>Hawthorne was ripping the flowery seat covers and soft curtains from -their fastenings, piling them near the airlock. When they were all -gathered, he shoved them out and watched happily through the vision -plate as they floated away from the ship.</p> - -<p>O'Dea grinned. "You're cooking with <i>quintol</i>, at that. The boys would -never let us forget it if we came home furnished like that!"</p> - -<p>Hawthorne grunted and pulled at Morguma's manacles. He went back to the -telescope, studied space ahead for a while. Then he nodded, satisfied.</p> - -<p>"That one should do," he mused.</p> - -<p>"Should do what?" O'Dea wondered.</p> - -<p>"That big rock ahead should be a good farewell gift to the Centaurs. -We'll fly over their camp, and—"</p> - -<p>A knowing smile was on Hawthorne's lips as he nosed up on a tiny -asteroid. When they came close enough, the asteroid proved to be bigger -than the ship.</p> - -<p>Gradually, they trapped it in the seizure beams. Hawthorne fought -grimly against inertia. The asteroid began to pull ahead of its orbit, -and finally it was under full control of their engines.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Space was clear all the way back to Avignon. No Centaur ships were off -the ground—there was nothing to challenge them. Hawthorne blasted -straight for the valley of Centaur ships.</p> - -<p>The motors strained, overheated, with the huge asteroid they lugged. -When they entered the atmosphere, the vessel dropped almost like a dead -weight.</p> - -<p>O'Dea looked worried.</p> - -<p>"That big factory, Paul. That's the best objective, and you're way off -from it. Bear right—"</p> - -<p>"Small game!" Hawthorne leered, a superior smile on his lips. "Just do -what I said—keep your fingers one inch above the release key and push -down fast when I give the word!"</p> - -<p>O'Dea stared into the valley below. They were falling fast and the huge -chunk of rock almost cut off the vision. But they were moving forward -as well as down, and the long lines of Centaur ships and factories were -being left far behind. O'Dea shook his head, fingered with one hand -some of his bruises.</p> - -<p>Then his eyes widened. Dead ahead and coming up fast to meet them, was -a mountain. From a pit in its narrow tip rose a trickle of smoke.</p> - -<p>"Get ready!" Hawthorne shouted.</p> - -<p>O'Dea could almost see into the crater. He held his sweating palm ready.</p> - -<p>"Now!"</p> - -<p>Before Hawthorne finished barking the command, O'Dea's hand shot down, -releasing the seizure beams. The ship catapulted skyward as the weight -was suddenly dropped. The pilot fought the pounding rockets. When it -was under control, Hawthorne circled back over the valley.</p> - -<p>They stared at the mass of earth that tumbled down the mountain side in -a gathering avalanche. Their asteroid plunged bouncing into the valley -below, shaking the entire volcano each time it hit. New avalanches -started in its wake.</p> - -<p>Then the volcano exploded.</p> - -<p>A thousand feet of rocky cone disappeared in a fiery murderous cloud. -Flaming lava and flying rock filled the air for miles. Hawthorne worked -frantically for altitude as molten crimson streamers of hell streaked -skyward.</p> - -<p>In Avignon's stratosphere, they looked down through the glaring lava -that hid the valley.</p> - -<p>An anguished voice broke in:</p> - -<p>"Oh I cannot believe it of you!"</p> - -<p>And Morguma started to cry.</p> - -<p>O'Dea pulled the pilot's chair to one side, reached into an opening in -the floor beneath it. He drew forth two bundles of clothing. The two -men stripped off their greasy coveralls, put on the clean clothes.</p> - -<p>Morguma stared unbelievingly at the crisp olive green uniforms of -Earth's space force. The grimy faces of Hawthorne and O'Dea grinned -happily from under the jaunty caps. On the shoulders of each were the -twin platinum bars of space captains.</p> - -<p>"Spies! Oh you unnatural men, to bite the very hand that fed you—"</p> - -<p>"—and cracked the whip," O'Dea finished sharply. "If you want to -be technical, we were in uniform all the time—those coveralls are -regulation work clothes. And all is fair in love and war, you know. We -came to Centauri on a reconnaissance job, and ran into some luck."</p> - -<p>He sighed happily, turned his eyes to the portrait above the control -board.</p> - -<p>Hawthorne chuckled. He was reading a thin tape that ran through his -fingers.</p> - -<p>"I have the ethertype machine running," he said. "News from Earth. And -look at the very first item!"</p> - -<p>He passed it over. O'Dea's grin disappeared as he read. He growled at -the tape, flung it from him.</p> - -<p>"So she married a rocket hand while my back was turned! Well—"</p> - -<p>He frowned for a moment. Then his shoulders rose and fell in a carefree -shrug.</p> - -<p>"I go bigger for blondes, anyway. First thing I'm going to do after we -report is head for Lidice, Venus, and go on the biggest tear in the -history of the space guard. That'll be—"</p> - -<p>There was a faintly disturbed look in Paul Hawthorne's eyes. But he -soothed his conscience with the thought that O'Dea would be just as -well off without Mercedes. So he saw no reason to tell Captain Lance -O'Dea that he had typed out the story on the ethertype himself. Because -all is fair in love as well as in war.</p> - -<p>And Captain Paul Hawthorne was in love with Mercedes, too.</p> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Men Without a World, by Joseph Farrell - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MEN WITHOUT A WORLD *** - -***** This file should be named 63112-h.htm or 63112-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/3/1/1/63112/ - -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 print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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