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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..b042ee1 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #63702 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/63702) diff --git a/old/63702-0.txt b/old/63702-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 47ddcf5..0000000 --- a/old/63702-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1278 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Mary Anonymous, by Bryce Walton - -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 -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this ebook. - -Title: Mary Anonymous - -Author: Bryce Walton - -Release Date: November 10, 2020 [EBook #63702] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARY ANONYMOUS *** - - - - - - MARY ANONYMOUS - - By BRYCE WALTON - - _There wasn't one person on all of Earth to - even suspect. No worry about security, saboteurs - or spies in this interspatial war with Mars. - Earth was firmly united this time ... that is, - of course, if you just happened to overlook - Mary--the sweetest, most incongruous little - girl ever to hang around a launching site._ - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Planet Stories Summer 1954. - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - -Ten miles out of New Washington the duralium observation tower was a -slim needle stuck in the ground. Three officers of the UN High Command -waited at the top of it, within view of the rocket. They waited for -zero hour. They were Major-General Engstrand, Lt. Colonel Morgenson, -and Major Schauffer. - -At 0500, Professor Michelson entered. He still wore a chemical-stained -smock, a faded shirt and a pair of baggy trousers. He sat down in a -dissolving way indicating a vast accumulated weariness. He felt old, -very old, now that the last big project was finished. - -"The G-Agent's all loaded," he finally said. "Three tons." He looked -out the window. "You may give the firing orders, sir," he said to -Major-General Engstrand. - -Relief sighed voicelessly in the tower room. - -Schauffer also looked out the window. Morgenson contemplated his -fingernails. Engstrand stood very straight, filled with the magnitude -of this moment's promise of final victory. Then he grabbed up the -phone. "All right, Burkson. Everything's set. The rocket will go as -scheduled." - -He sat down and wiped slowly at his puffy but somehow powerful face. - -The slim and calm Schauffer turned, got a bottle out of the liquor -cabinet, poured four drinks. "We've worked long and hard," he said. "A -toast to a well earned victory, gentlemen." - -They drank. - -Michelson was thinking, not of a well earned victory, but of retirement -and rest. Forty years he had worked. For victory over the Eurasians. -After that, for victory over the Martians. He wanted to sleep late, -fish and rest in the sun. - -"Three tons of G-Agent," Engstrand said softly. - -The rocket would hit Mars. Countless other rockets would fly out of it, -each directed, each exploding and casting out its deadly sprays and -gases of the G-agent. - -"Within an hour," Morgenson said, "after the rocket hits, there won't -be a bug, a germ, a piece of lichen left alive. Unless somebody sends -it there, there won't be anything alive on Mars again for a long time." - -"I'd still like to know what kind of life it is," Schauffer said. - -Michelson looked at the floor. "Now we'll never know." - -"But we'll stay alive to speculate about it, and some day maybe they'll -figure how to get a man across space. And then we'll know what died up -there." - -There was a chance, Michelson knew, but a very slim one, that something -might go wrong. The rocket might crash on the Earth somewhere. But no -one else probably even dared to think about it. None of them were as -old nor as tired as Michelson. A lot of people would die. Just in case -the Martians might have something in the way of gases as deadly as the -G-agent, the population had been supplied with hypos of antidote, gas -masks, and suiting. But still, so many people would die. However such a -thing was very highly improbable. - -They drank again. - -Engstrand put his hand on Michelson's bowed shoulders. "Again you've -done a magnificent job, old friend." His voice was low. "Three weeks -ahead of schedule. That time advantage may have saved us all. God -knows what the Martians are getting ready to send now!" - -"One thing we can be thankful for," Schauffer said. "No spies. No -worry about security, no saboteurs. Of course the Martians are lucky -too--or were--in that respect." He looked thoughtfully into his -glass. "The Martians did us a favor really. They created world unity. -A psychologist couldn't have predicted it. But think of that--since -the war with Mars, no human being has ever tried to sabotage anything -directed at defeating the Martians!" - -"It's natural enough. This time it's humans against--well--God knows -what! But nothing human." Engstrand poured himself another drink. "No -human being has had anything to identify with in the enemy's camp. -You're right, Major. In a way, the Martians did us a favor. And now -we'll do them one--one last favor. They're too damn evil to live, and -they'll sure be glad, somewhere in their guts, to be finished off!" - -Schauffer turned to Michelson, and grinned. "Where's Mary?" - -"She wasn't feeling well," Michelson said. "I left her out at Lake -House." He stood up. Quietly, he said. "Good-bye, gentleman. I'm going -home, to Lake House. I'm tired." - -"Aren't you going to watch the rocket blast?" - -Michelson shook his head. "I think not." - -They all shook hands with Michelson. "Write us, will you, Mike," -Engstrand said. "Let us hear from you often." - -"Of course," Michelson said. At the door he turned, an old man, stooped -by years of devotion to more and more deadly chemicals. "If you need -me, I'll still be at Lake House." - - * * * * * - -He went out of the observation room and stood for a moment looking at -the elevator that waited with an open mouth. He had always been with -G-2. Back when they had started over again in the ruins of World War -III he had been in charge of various space-going projects aimed at a -quick defeat of the Eurasians, and this always included the latest -complex developments in bacteriological warfare, and the use of liquid -and atmospheric gases. He had sent the first New Era test rocket into -space, the first one to the moon, the first ones to Mars. - -Instruments far in advance of the original telemetering and servomotor -devices, had measured temperature, radiation, chemical makeup of -atmosphere, minerals, various field effects, measured and catalogued -all life, even to its cultural development, then sent back their -measurements and evaluations on ultra-high-frequency to ground -observers on Earth. - -He had sent out the first rockets with monkeys, rats, guinea pigs and -birds to test the effects of alien conditions on living organisms. No -human being had ever survived. They stopped trying. - -But the Martians had been carrying on a program much the same. They -had been frightened. They had sent deadly rockets. The war had begun, -a fantastic push-button operation between worlds millions of miles -apart. This Earth rocket loaded with three tons of G-agent was what the -UN hoped would be the last retaliatory gesture in a number of years of -interspatial bickering. For it was also evident now that no Martian -could get across space to Earth. - -Michelson sighed, stepped into the elevator and started home. Home to -rest, fish, lie in the sun. Home to Mary who kept him occupied and -entertained in his loneliness. - -But Mary had not been ill. She had not stayed at Lake House either. She -had been aboard Michelson's helio, hiding in the luggage compartment. -She had the key to Michelson's office and she was there. - -But her head ached now. She hadn't slept for two days, thinking about -what had to be done. Her head ached worse now as the wave directives -came again and again, bringing new bursts of coercive pain with any -deep emotional hint of possible resistance. - -Now, in fact, there was doubt in Mary's mind that there was any desire -to resist the directives, or if there ever had been. Now even those -lingering wonderings about the possibility of doubt brought pain. - -Better just to act. And it was time. - -The clock gave her exactly one hour, she knew, to destroy the central -building sector, the heart of the giant UN Research Foundation, and -also wreck the rocket due to blast for Mars. She had heard Daddy Mike -say what time the rocket would blast if he got the G-Agent loaded on -schedule, and she knew he had done that. - -There was little if any caution exercised at the Foundation. It had -been well established by years of precedent that humans just didn't -sabotage an effort directed at aliens. Especially Martians who, time -and time again, had almost brought destruction to earth in innumerable -unexpected ways. Added to that was the fact that no Martian could get -across the void to take care of it directly, any more than an Earthman -could to Mars for a similar purpose. - -Mary had the advantage of this freedom. But the immediacy with which -she could be identified by all the personnel about the Foundation -might be a handicap as well as a possible advantage. She would have to -exercise extreme caution herself. - -The directives had stopped. She was on her own as long as she didn't -resist the preceding orders. From this point on it was strictly Mary's -responsibility. - -She checked the electrodoor. No one was approaching Daddy Mike's -office. She wasn't sure whether or not he would return to his office -before going to Lake House. She wondered what he would do, how sad he -would be, to find her gone. - -From behind the rearmost, long unused files in the filing cabinet, she -took the capsule of G-Agent. There was enough of the nerve gas in the -ten ounce container to destroy everyone in the building, within half an -hour after it was thrown into the ventilator shaft. - -She went to the wall, pressed the button, and the opening was revealed -by a sliding panel. Without hesitation, she tossed in the capsule of -G-Agent. Dimly, she remembered how she had collected it, painfully -over a period of months, drop by drop and stored it in the special -non-corrosive alloy of the container. She had access to all of Daddy's -laboratory equipment. - -The container would explode in half an hour. Thirty minutes to get -outside the buildings and over to the pits and the lethal rocket. - -She felt nothing but a kind of depersonalized tension of responsibility -as she removed her hat and took the small deadly neutron beam gun from -the tiny sling she had fixed inside. She put the hat back on and tied -the ribbon under her chin. The hat had caused much amused reaction from -those friends of Daddy Mike who had become accustomed to her being -constantly with the old man. - -She ran into the bright shine of the tubular metal hall. She hoped with -a flash of unexpected feeling that Daddy Mike would leave the building -before the G-Agent was activated. - -He loved her. Her heart throbbed painfully as she remembered how -much Daddy loved her. How he had held her on his lap and stroked her -hair and philosophized endlessly to her, not caring that she was not -supposed to understand such complexity. But sharing this as he did all -things with her in his aging loneliness. - -She crouched there in the hall and thought of that, how she would love -Daddy as Daddy loved her. Except that she was incapable of love. Dimly -she remembered that once, long, very long ago, there had been a kind of -spontaneous expression of physical desire, and sensuous pleasure, from -the contact with others. But since then there had been the experiments, -endless, too painful to recall. The bursting of blood and the repair, -the brain slicing and the laying open of cells, and the sewing up. -Years, a lifetime, a foreverness of pain, and the apparent making good -as new again. But the scars were too deep too show, and too deep to -mend. - -Such pain for so long, the cold objective testing, had killed any -capacity for love. Mary was convinced of that. - -She held the gun to her left side and ran in nakedness and silence down -the glowing tube. - -An overweight guard in his brown UN uniform eased around the curve in -the tube and stood with his back to her. It was a good place for him to -walk what was to him a useless beat. There was nothing to guard against -but boredom. This was the building's left wing and fairly isolated, and -he could merely stand here and wait for the far end of his shift. - -She slid along the wall. Her feet moved with a vague whispering -silence, the silence of unconscious stealth. But then the guard turned -to place his heel more comfortably on the inward-sloping bottom of the -tube. And he saw her. - -He grinned. "Mary!" he said. Everyone knew her. And everyone loved -Mary. "What are you doing out here?" - -He could never guess the truth, she thought. Even if someone told you, -you would never believe it. - -The good humor spontaneously beginning to bubble from the fat guard was -changed into a kind of gasping cough of unbelieving fear. Desperate -words filtered out through his teeth. A white line moved around his -lips. His hands reached out and hung suspended. - -"Mary--Oh God, Mary--the gun, that's--that's a real gun, Mary--" - -The charge was light. It contacted the Guard's face just above the -chin. It dissolved instantly all of his face and most of his brain. It -left only a smeared shell of bone behind, like a bowl tipped up. - -She ran on down the slightly curving tube. _They were never never so -kind to me. For he is free from the directives that pull and push and -pry and pick at the brain. He is free from pain._ - -When this was done, she would be free. As free as the guard. - -Once near the rocket, the long task would be ended. She would then -theoretically be free from the complex thought which her body was -incapable of handling without pain. Free from the pain of an imbalanced -body and nervous system. And free of the coercion bands, the directive -waves that could sometimes rip the cells apart. - -She pressed the down button of the elevator. At that moment the high -scream of the alarm sirens shrieked in her ears. She cowered a moment. -It came from all around. It bathed her in painful sound. It became a -pervading throb that seemed to come from the metal everywhere. - -They had discovered the guard already. That was one of those -unpredictable elements. Purely chance that anyone would have passed -there just after the guard was killed. That could be the only reason -for the alarm! - -She had to get outside the buildings. She had to get over there near -enough to the rocket to blast the firing tubes! She wasn't even off -the tenth floor. - -There was nothing to fear except failure. Death itself would be a -welcome if not a preferred kind of freedom for her. But if she failed -and lived, there would be torture. And the misty worlds of pain, not -only in the labs but from the coercion directives. As far as she knew, -perhaps the directive rocket buried somewhere high in the pines near -the lake would contain even more duties for her, if this failed. Except -that now she would be known and they would hunt her down and--but so -far they did not know who had killed the guard. - -No, if they caught her they wouldn't kill her. That was sure enough. -There would be the labs again. They would probe, cut her open, try to -find out why. She had long been a living instrument for finding out why. - -As the elevator dropped, the walls pulsed with the screams of the -alarms. - -She had one advantage she realized that she had been doubtful of -earlier. She was Mary, and everyone knew and loved her. Though it was -definite now that a saboteur was loose inside the Foundation, there was -nothing so far to connect Mary with such a fact. - -She concealed the gun in the sling inside her cap, and tied the ribbon -firmly under her chin. When the elevator reached the first floor, the -panel slid back. She was tensed to run out, but a group of Foundation -guards were running for the opening. Their faces were twisted into -various expressions of tense terror. They were all inside a gigantic -gas capsule, they knew that, one of terrible potential lethality. -Evidently it was suspected that the G-Agent might be used. - -Mary ran out, turned, leaped for the narrowing gap between the guards -and the arched opening that led into the court. Most of the guards -scarcely noticed her at all, and if they did they evidently figured it -was hardly anything to cause diversion from the awful emergency. - -But one of them, a man named Jonothan who had often caressed her and -expressed his love for her, smiled. It was a kind of conditioned -reaction that broke the frozen fear of his mouth and cheeks. He leaned -toward her, his hand outstretched. - -"Mary--this is no place for you, baby. You'd better come back up with -us." - -The invisible mouth of the intercom spoke. "The saboteur may be -heading for the rocket which must blast on schedule. Already deadly -gases may have been released inside the Foundation. Sections five -and six will establish instant cordon around the rocket pits. Anyone -not obeying security instructions will be shot instantly. Anyone -entering or leaving the Foundation buildings or grounds without proper -identification will be shot. All guards will immediately put on masks, -and protective suiting, and will prepare antidote injections. Sections -seven and eight will search the main wing. Sections nine and ten--" - -"Come on, John!" someone yelled from the elevator. Kits were falling -open. Masks were unfolding. Suit capsules were exploding under -compressed air, and the special suits were breaking out in fluffs of -green. - -"Hey, for God's sake, Johnny, come on!" The voices were ragged with -fear. - -A warning would also, Mary knew, be going out to all civilians made -susceptible immediately by inversion, movements of predictable winds. -But Mary knew that many would die, many many would die, when the rocket -crashed. If she could succeed. - -Only for that inevitable percentage who would die in great pain did she -have any recognizable sympathy. She had a duty, else she herself would -experience greater and greater pain. - -"You'd better come along with us, Mary baby," Jonothan said. He reached -for her, while the others yelled at him. The intercom itself was toned -with terror that was in the walls and in every man's eyes and his voice -and the stance of his body. - -Mary giggled. She started a kind of disarming dance. But this time it -did not excite the laughter and general response it usually did. - -Her stomach turned sickeningly as she felt the release, the ribbon -fluttering and the cap falling. The thud and the bright shining spin of -the gun over the mosaicked floor. The sling had broken. - -She danced toward it. - -Jonothan yelled, but the voices of the others snapped off into a -pulsing silence. Then an incredulous murmur trickled over the floor. - -"Mary--what are you doing with that? Mary--stop--wait, Mary--" - -Desperately, Jonothan dived to the floor. He clawed. He kicked with his -frantic feet for traction on the floor. He screamed at her as he pawed -to reach the gun. But she leaped over him and turned with the gun ready. - -Jonothan was slowly standing up. His face was white. His lips moved. -His throat trembled. But no words came out. - -Behind him, a voice shivered. "Give us the gun, Mary." - -Pleading, cajoling, shaking, other voices joined. - -"Mary--give us the gun now!" - -"Please, Mary, you can kill people--" - -"You just give Uncle Patrick the gun now, honey, and--" - -She was backing away toward the arched opening. Beyond that were the -gardens, the fountains the pretty landscape of the courts. Beyond that -were the helio landings, and then the pits. It wasn't so far. - -Jonothan was trying to smile at her as he reached again for the gun. -Behind him, the others stood immobile and without any more words. The -intercom had words, but no one was listening now. - - * * * * * - -She fired a much heavier charge than that against the guard on the -tenth floor. Between Jonothan's outstretched arms which had held her -with love, his torso and head disappeared. His arms fell and the legs -toppled like parts of a mannequin. Beyond the vacancy that had been -Jonothan, several others tried to draw their guns. All were abruptly -reduced to jellied and smoking anonymity. Mary ran for the courts. - -She heard herself giggling without recognizable meaning as she ran -under the rainbowed fountains, leaped the flower hedges, and skimmed -over the carefully designed green of lawn patches. - -She still had that initial advantage. No one still could logically -connect her with what was happening. So far there were no living -witnesses. At least it was unlikely that there were. - -She was a little behind her schedule and every second was now -important. Where before there had been allowed some margin for error, -now there was none. - -She wanted to get a helio. She wanted to get as far up wind and as -far into the air as possible when the G-Agent began drifting over the -land. She wanted to live for the reasons she had thought about before, -many times. She couldn't say that her life was important to her now -any more than it ever had been. It had never been her life, not in her -memory. Always she had been the instrument of others. She could blast -the rocket back to earth from inside a helio, and keep on from there to -some degree of personal safety. - -That was the plan. - -As she ran she wondered with a kind of dull throbbing hope if after -this task was fulfilled, she would be free of the Martian directives. -She didn't know. She could only hope. - -Long after the high degree of intelligence she now possessed came -to her, (that too having been something imposed to increase her -effectiveness as an instrument) she had prayed to be free of pain and -imprisonment. Even where there was not the capacity to formulate any -awareness of her merely being used, or of being a prisoner of others, -she had felt the primitive cellular discontent that had now become open -and passionate desire for freedom. - -Maybe after this was done, she would be free for the first time that -she could really remember. What she could do with it, where she could -go, where she could hide with it, whether she could even live to enjoy -it, if in fact she could enjoy something she had never had, was really -not of much consequence to her as she ran and thought about it. Even -one brief flare of freedom would be its own exultant reward. - -Figures made a scrambling chaos of unreality out of the area which -usually displayed such a paradoxical atmosphere of quiet peacefulness. -Sirens shrieked. Helios hummed and hovered nervously, then darted off -in angled desperation through the slanting rays of dusk. Evidently -there were a fortunate few whose emergency obligations were taking -them elsewhere. And a few others, undoubtedly, who were escaping in -guilt-ridden cowardice from an intolerable suspense. - -She jumped, slid the cowl back, crawled into the plastoid bubble before -the two-seated passenger helio. The controls were simple. She had -watched Daddy Mike many times as he commuted to and from Lake House. -Jokingly he had let her sit on his lap and play with the controls, not -being able even to suspect what she was really learning, and what the -end result would be. - -As the helio whirred to lifting life, Mary did not bother with -altitude. That would come later. She sent the helio skimming low over -the courts and the landing plots, over the monuments and fountains, -toward the pits. - -Warnings would be going out across the decentralized populations of the -nation. Terror would be creeping over the land as the G-Agent would -creep over it soon, very soon now. - -One thing she was still sure of--no one knew, or could even suspect, -the identity of the saboteur they were searching for. - -She heard the gasp, then a sort of whimpering moan, and that changed -even as she turned with tense sharpness, to hoarse and spasmodic -laughter. - -She seemed geared to any emergency, so that nothing, such as this, -could be a surprise. A surprise would mean temporary indecision. She -could not afford that. She turned, keeping the controls level, and -raised the gun. - -A man was on his knees, his hands gripping one another. His eyes -and teeth protruded, and saliva ran out of the corner of his mouth. -Evidently he was a civilian employee, a clerk with his anonymous brown -suit and his shaven head. Someone who had felt no strong identification -with the plant except that it was a job, it was security. So now that -it had turned into a giant gas capsule, he had only wanted to get away -from it. His eyes kept bulging as they stared at Mary. They didn't -believe in Mary. He was trying to laugh away what wasn't logical. But -he couldn't laugh it away. - -"I was told to lay off the neuro-tabs," he whispered. "The medic -told me I'd start flipping--flip, flip--he said--if I took too many -neuro-tabs. He was right. I've flipped. I'm gone." Then the laughter -that was not laughter really broke out all over him like a rash, and -it filled the interior of the helio. "I've run away from my job when -the alarm sounded!" He started screaming. "I can't go back anyway. No -job--hell--I'm finished no matter what!" - -He bent forward and groped for the button that would open the rear -helio door. Mary lowered the gun, hoping this man's own madness would -make it easier for her. Adjusting the blast so that it would kill him -without releasing too much deadly kinetic energy within so small a -space would be a delicate thing. It was highly dangerous. - -He turned while the wind sucked at him and flapped his brown suit -around his bony legs. He blinked slowly at Mary and tears ran down his -cheeks. "Even if you're not real, you're the last I'll see, the last -thing. So good-bye!" - -The air pulled him abruptly out into its deceptive nowhere. For an -instant, she felt drawn to his lonely pathway of escape. She wanted to -say after him, "Good-bye," but she couldn't. - -As the helio swung to the left, the rocket lifted with strange -slowness, heavy and steady, on its column of fire. Reality compressed -to only the helio and a narrowly restricted line between the gun and -the lifting rocket. - -A few other helios moved in the area, but none nearly this close to the -rocket. Observers would know. Once the thing was done, she wondered if -she could possibly escape. They would know that the destructive blast -came from this helio. - -[Illustration: A section of the cowling slid back. The helio slowed, -hung suspended. Mary aimed slightly upward. She felt the automatic -sight adjuster clicking delicately, the slight tug as the mags tilted -the barrel directly into the meticulous balance of the firing jets.] - -As she fired, she sent the helio straight up at maximum speed and the -cowling slid closed. - - * * * * * - -This was the end of her assignment. The gun's full charge had been -exhausted. It was no longer of any use. She dropped it. She knew the -hit had been direct. A glance showed the rocket already curving in -a terrible kind of deceptive gentleness away to the right over New -Washington. Soon its parabola would become a screaming plunge. Nothing -could divert it. To try to destroy it in the air would mean nothing, -for in any case, its deadly tons of G-Agent would be spread on the -winds over the land. - -The Foundation and everything in it would by now be thoroughly -contaminated by the G-Agent she had released inside. It would take a -long time to decontaminate, to rebuild. And a lot of people were going -to die, would be dying now. The antidote would save many from death. It -would preserve others short of death in a state she could not envy, for -to her it would be far worse than dying. - -But Mary could hardly concern herself with the wrecking of the -Foundation, or the people who would die. Her concern was intense--to -escape, to hide. And to know for certain whether or not, now that her -task was done, the agonizing coercive directions from the Martian -rocket would continue. - -So far there was no hint of this. She only wanted to get away. There -were no invisible fingers probing in there, none of the drawing to -tautness that had so many times ended in torture. Maybe, somehow, the -directive rocket with its intricate mechanism was delicately equipped -to know when her job was successfully done. - -She would soon know. - -The helio whined with strain. A shiver racked the metal. A scream burst -from Mary's lips. She concentrated on her hands, forced the controls, -drove the helio at maximum speed, trying to head across the park -reserve toward the river and the great National Forest area. - -But already they were in close pursuit. Figures were running in all -directions far below. - -The stars were breaking out and it was night now except for the glare -of the exploding rocket far to the left. Now below the forest area -shifted into view and the winding shine of the river. - -Night was the best time for the spreading of the G-Agent. Inversion -was right. The stuff swept along close to the ground which cooled more -slowly than the air. That, too, had been planned. The timing was -right. Everything had been worked out right. - -But now--what was to happen to her? - -She felt none of the probing demands from the direction rocket. She -felt not even a hint of them. Perhaps they had gone away forever and -she was free. Free! FREE! - -They wanted her alive, or her helio with her as part of it, would have -been disintegrated long before this. She could understand why. The -worst that she could do she had done. There was no need in killing -her to prevent more sabotage. They wanted her alive. They wanted to -know who she was, what she was, what organization or organizations -she represented, if any. They had no idea who she was. Or at least -it seemed unlikely yet that they had found out. Perhaps they even -thought she was a Martian. Whatever they thought, they didn't know. She -realized how desperately they had to know. - -The helio dropped straight down toward the deceptive softness of the -forest sea. The wind sighed around the helio as the green darkness -loomed up, seeming to rush up from all sides, its softness changing -suddenly into the harshness of jagged limbs and bulging trunks. She -clung to the dead controls as though there were some kind of promise in -them, some solidity. But everything dropped from under her, a sickening -dislocation, as she clung as though she had no support, as though the -earth itself were falling away. - -The tearing impact was like a thousand echos of her terrors. - -And the forest and the wet shine of harsh wood that tore metal and -ripped like flashes of hot light, the blanket of crushing leaves, and -the cooling shadows rushed smothering in around her. - -Lights fingered through the leaves. She could hear footsteps, -stealthy and invisible, flowing among the lights. The lights moved -around, streaming in from all directions, like the shifting bars of a -tightening cage. - -She wasn't dead! When she moved slightly in the twisted shine of metal, -a beam of light glanced from it in a blinding glare. She felt the pain -from her torn leg. Her right side seemed crushed. She felt the hotness -of blood burning her ribs. - -She heard voices murmuring through wet leaves, caught the slight -movement of protective green suiting and the shining leer of gas masks. -They were far upwind now from where the rocket had crashed to spew out -its lethal loads. She didn't know as she squirmed desperately through -the jagged hole in the metal, whether or not one of the many subsidiary -rockets had exploded up wind from this location. - -It was something to look forward to. - -She tried to suppress the whimpering moan as the torn leg scraped over -the metal. Then she dropped to the damp leaves and crouched there and -wondered which way to go. The light beams moved in, criss-crossed now -like a tightening wire mesh. She crawled, digging her fingers into the -leaves. The leaves whispered a call to her from above. - -The light swung. Its beam flooded full and blindingly in her face. A -gun came into view over the edge of the beam and feet smashed toward -her through the brush. - -Her only weapon was the oldest one of all. She sprang up. The beam -flashed upward in a wavering circle as her hands closed on the man's -throat. Her weight carried him scrambling back. His heels caught. He -fell. His hands stabbed around with the gun as his breath choked off -and his muscles worked with panicky power. With her left hand she dug -into his windpipe. She released the other hand and tore the mask away, -ripping the tough fiber like rotten cloth. - -She flung the flashbeam away, dragged the guard into the brush. Light -beams slashed around as she crouched among the leaves. The man no -longer struggled. When she took her hand away from his throat, he still -did not struggle. - -A beam flashed full over her, held. Someone yelled wildly: "The guy who -fell out of the helio! He was right. Oh God--he wasn't crazy!" - -"Don't shoot! Don't shoot, you idiot!" - -"I tell you he was right! It's Mary! The man was right--" - -"Don't shoot! That's an order!" - -She leaped up, caught the limb. She went on up among the thick sweet -concealment of a thousand leaves. She swung into the next tree, then -the next, faster and faster she moved. The leaves skimmed past her -face. - -Her breath came in ecstatic gasps as the light beams faded behind, and -the damp dark freedom of the trees spread away in all directions. - -She knew which way to go. And she was going there a long time before -she even realized the fact. She wondered vaguely for a moment then -how it was that she knew where to go, for it was a long way, over the -river, and through the hills and the forest. - -Guards in helios whirred everywhere in the night clouds. Cars whined -through the narrow roads around her. A net formed through the forest. A -net of men, guns, lights, cars, helios, and many kinds of detectors. - -For what seemed much longer than it was, her strength held. - - * * * * * - -It enabled her to pierce the net again and again when they were sure -she was trapped. She went over it, under it, through it, part of the -thick night in the trees and the brush. The river was the worst, for -she hated water. - -But she could no longer climb through the comparative safe corridors of -the trees. She could no longer run. Air sucked between her teeth. One -leg dragged behind her as she crawled slowly through the dark, along -the lake, up the winding path. She could only crawl. Finally crawling -became a hitching dragging effort that slowed with each attempt. - -Blood and dirt had formed a sticky mud over her leg and ribs and chest. -Damp leaves stuck to her, and the bitter rocks of the path leading -up to the cabin had cut her flesh. There were lights in the windows -of Lake House. The windows and the door were open to the warm night. -Beyond the cabin she could see Daddy Mike's helio on the landing. - -How quiet and peaceful it is, she thought, here by the lake in the -forest in the night. The moon moved from behind the clouds and spread a -warm golden mist over the ground. Frogs sang from the lake below. And -from all around came the insistent humming and stirrings and singings -of life, but all muted and peaceful and subdued to make the night -peaceful and quiet. - -She dug her fingers into the rock of the path. Her body dragged on a -little at a time. She whimpered again, but not very loud. Her body -flattened in a weariness that was only a little above defeat. Her face -pressed to the cool stone. - -"Daddy," the inexpressible thought was a whisper in her mind. "Help me, -Daddy. You love me--" - -She remembered the warmth inside, the old man with his warm laughter, -taking her on his lap, caressing her, swinging her up on his shoulders -and walking with her along the lake in the evening. She thought of the -old man who loved her. - -The thought gave her enough strength to reach the open door. She lay -there sighing in her chest, her face pressed against the wood. - -She raised her eyes to the interior of the cabin. - -She tried to move nearer, tried to lift her hand up into the shaft of -light. She wanted to call out, say something. Only a low inaudible moan -strained through her clenched teeth. - -She rolled half over. Inside then, she saw Daddy Mike. He was sitting -near the big radio panel, his head bowed and resting on his hands. On -the other side, through the open door, she could see the gleam of glass -and metal from the big laboratory. A spasm went through her. She could -hear the sounds of caged life in there. - -Lights blinked on the radio panel. Michelson slowly raised his head and -twisted a dial. "Yes," he said. She could hardly hear him. He seemed -very tired, more tired than she had ever seen him. And much older too. -Old and thin and tired. - -"Mike--" - -"Hello, Engstrand." - -"I've got Guards on the way up there, Mike! Has that damn thing showed -up yet?" - -"No--not yet." - -"I don't know why I never figured it would try to get back there. But -that's where it's heading, we're sure of it now. Listen, Mike--if -it does get up there before my men do, remember, don't kill it! Do -anything you can think of, but keep it there and don't kill it! -Apparently it's wounded anyway!" - -"Yes, yes," Michelson said. He brushed at his eyes. - -Mary lay there, half inside the open cabin door, imprisoned by her -inability to speak. She stared into the laboratory, then at Michelson. - -"We're set back at least five years, Mike! It's a hellish thing! But -who could have anticipated a thing like that?" - -"I guess nobody could." - -"We're getting things under control, but it's hell down here! We don't -know yet how many people have died." - -"How could it be," Michelson said. "I've tried to figure out--" - -Engstrand's voice was loud. It seemed to Mary that he was right there -in the cabin with Michelson. "It's obvious what happened, Mike! Those -first experimental rockets we sent up there. The damn Martians got hold -of one of those chimps and worked on it. Sent it back and we didn't -suspect the difference. They made it intelligent enough to plan and -execute this whole thing! They must have put one of their own brains -into it or something. Only a damn Martian would think of a thing like -that!" - -Michelson's head raised quickly. From the side, Mary could see his eyes -suddenly widen. Then he wiped his hand across his lips. - -The hand trembled. "Of course," he whispered then. "But who could ever -have suspected it?" - -"That's the only explanation," Engstrand said. "We've got to have that -chimp alive! We can learn plenty from it. We'll cut in there and put -that brain under observation...." - -"I'll do what I can, if Mary shows up here," Michelson said. "But those -Guards should get here!" - -"They will, Mike! They will! They're on their way." - -Mary dug her fingers into the floor. She moved slightly, and one hand -fell with a slight thud. Michelson looked down. He kept on staring. -His lips moved without saying anything a few times, then he stammered. -"Engstrand--she's here!" - -"What? What?" - -"She's here--here on the floor. She just--just crawled in through the -door!" - -"Don't kill her! Get a hypo or something--" - -Michelson slowly stood up. "There's no danger," he finally said, still -looking down at her. "She's wounded all right. She looks almost dead -now." - -"Don't let her die!" Engstrand's voice filled the room. "You've got to -keep her alive!" - -"All right, I'll do what I can," Michelson said. "You'd better come up -now. Bring the medics. We may have to work on her fast." - -"I will. I'm on my way!" - - * * * * * - -She wanted to say no. She wanted to scream out no and tell him it was -all wrong. If the Martians had given her the ability to speak, she -could have explained everything long before this, and they could have -helped her, and none of this would have happened. She could explain how -she was forced to kill and destroy. - -Michelson backed away from her, haltingly, then ran into the lab. He -came back out and knelt down. He had a long hypodermic needle. The -needle came down. It looked bigger and bigger. - -She had thought maybe he would understand. But he didn't. He couldn't. -Nobody could. - -A few words could have made all the difference. But she could not speak. - -What she wanted to explain most of all was that it was no kind of -Martian intelligence that had been given to her. The Martians had no -familiar kind of intelligence. They had worked on her, developed her -own brain to its capacity. If they only knew that here it would be so -different. I'm more like you, she wanted to explain, more like you than -you could possibly guess. She could say nothing. - -She could only whimper as the needle went in. Dimly, she saw the table -wheeled out, the shiny familiar gleam of the instruments, the septic -chrome containers and the rising cleansing waves of steam. - -She felt herself being lifted to the table. The wheels turned -inexorably under her. The ceiling swam in a blur above her. The gray -aging tired face bent over her. She could roll her eyes back and see -the dark mouth of the laboratory door opening wider and wider as she -was wheeled toward it, through it-- - -You said you loved me, she thought, as he bent over her and she could -hear the clinking of glass. But you never did because if you did you -would understand, even though I cannot speak. - -She closed her eyes. Around her were the familiar smells, the -antiseptic, the chemicals, the odor of animals waiting to die or be -experimented on in their cages. She could hear the chattering of -the monkeys, the coughing of dogs, the squealing of rats. She could -remember how the placid guinea pigs would be seeking one anothers' -warmth in the corner of a cage. - -It was all beginning again, and there would never never, she knew, be -an ending to it. - -She clutched at his hand, squeezed it between her hands and pressed it -against her cheek. - -"Daddy," the thought whispered unheard, "Daddy Mike--" - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARY ANONYMOUS *** - -***** This file should be named 63702-0.txt or 63702-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/3/7/0/63702/ - -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 -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this ebook. - -Title: Mary Anonymous - -Author: Bryce Walton - -Release Date: November 10, 2020 [EBook #63702] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARY ANONYMOUS *** -</pre> -<div class="titlepage"> - -<h1>MARY ANONYMOUS</h1> - -<h2>By BRYCE WALTON</h2> - -<p><i>There wasn't one person on all of Earth to<br /> -even suspect. No worry about security, saboteurs<br /> -or spies in this interspatial war with Mars.<br /> -Earth was firmly united this time ... that is,<br /> -of course, if you just happened to overlook<br /> -Mary—the sweetest, most incongruous little<br /> -girl ever to hang around a launching site.</i></p> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Planet Stories Summer 1954.<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>Ten miles out of New Washington the duralium observation tower was a -slim needle stuck in the ground. Three officers of the UN High Command -waited at the top of it, within view of the rocket. They waited for -zero hour. They were Major-General Engstrand, Lt. Colonel Morgenson, -and Major Schauffer.</p> - -<p>At 0500, Professor Michelson entered. He still wore a chemical-stained -smock, a faded shirt and a pair of baggy trousers. He sat down in a -dissolving way indicating a vast accumulated weariness. He felt old, -very old, now that the last big project was finished.</p> - -<p>"The G-Agent's all loaded," he finally said. "Three tons." He looked -out the window. "You may give the firing orders, sir," he said to -Major-General Engstrand.</p> - -<p>Relief sighed voicelessly in the tower room.</p> - -<p>Schauffer also looked out the window. Morgenson contemplated his -fingernails. Engstrand stood very straight, filled with the magnitude -of this moment's promise of final victory. Then he grabbed up the -phone. "All right, Burkson. Everything's set. The rocket will go as -scheduled."</p> - -<p>He sat down and wiped slowly at his puffy but somehow powerful face.</p> - -<p>The slim and calm Schauffer turned, got a bottle out of the liquor -cabinet, poured four drinks. "We've worked long and hard," he said. "A -toast to a well earned victory, gentlemen."</p> - -<p>They drank.</p> - -<p>Michelson was thinking, not of a well earned victory, but of retirement -and rest. Forty years he had worked. For victory over the Eurasians. -After that, for victory over the Martians. He wanted to sleep late, -fish and rest in the sun.</p> - -<p>"Three tons of G-Agent," Engstrand said softly.</p> - -<p>The rocket would hit Mars. Countless other rockets would fly out of it, -each directed, each exploding and casting out its deadly sprays and -gases of the G-agent.</p> - -<p>"Within an hour," Morgenson said, "after the rocket hits, there won't -be a bug, a germ, a piece of lichen left alive. Unless somebody sends -it there, there won't be anything alive on Mars again for a long time."</p> - -<p>"I'd still like to know what kind of life it is," Schauffer said.</p> - -<p>Michelson looked at the floor. "Now we'll never know."</p> - -<p>"But we'll stay alive to speculate about it, and some day maybe they'll -figure how to get a man across space. And then we'll know what died up -there."</p> - -<p>There was a chance, Michelson knew, but a very slim one, that something -might go wrong. The rocket might crash on the Earth somewhere. But no -one else probably even dared to think about it. None of them were as -old nor as tired as Michelson. A lot of people would die. Just in case -the Martians might have something in the way of gases as deadly as the -G-agent, the population had been supplied with hypos of antidote, gas -masks, and suiting. But still, so many people would die. However such a -thing was very highly improbable.</p> - -<p>They drank again.</p> - -<p>Engstrand put his hand on Michelson's bowed shoulders. "Again you've -done a magnificent job, old friend." His voice was low. "Three weeks -ahead of schedule. That time advantage may have saved us all. God -knows what the Martians are getting ready to send now!"</p> - -<p>"One thing we can be thankful for," Schauffer said. "No spies. No -worry about security, no saboteurs. Of course the Martians are lucky -too—or were—in that respect." He looked thoughtfully into his -glass. "The Martians did us a favor really. They created world unity. -A psychologist couldn't have predicted it. But think of that—since -the war with Mars, no human being has ever tried to sabotage anything -directed at defeating the Martians!"</p> - -<p>"It's natural enough. This time it's humans against—well—God knows -what! But nothing human." Engstrand poured himself another drink. "No -human being has had anything to identify with in the enemy's camp. -You're right, Major. In a way, the Martians did us a favor. And now -we'll do them one—one last favor. They're too damn evil to live, and -they'll sure be glad, somewhere in their guts, to be finished off!"</p> - -<p>Schauffer turned to Michelson, and grinned. "Where's Mary?"</p> - -<p>"She wasn't feeling well," Michelson said. "I left her out at Lake -House." He stood up. Quietly, he said. "Good-bye, gentleman. I'm going -home, to Lake House. I'm tired."</p> - -<p>"Aren't you going to watch the rocket blast?"</p> - -<p>Michelson shook his head. "I think not."</p> - -<p>They all shook hands with Michelson. "Write us, will you, Mike," -Engstrand said. "Let us hear from you often."</p> - -<p>"Of course," Michelson said. At the door he turned, an old man, stooped -by years of devotion to more and more deadly chemicals. "If you need -me, I'll still be at Lake House."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>He went out of the observation room and stood for a moment looking at -the elevator that waited with an open mouth. He had always been with -G-2. Back when they had started over again in the ruins of World War -III he had been in charge of various space-going projects aimed at a -quick defeat of the Eurasians, and this always included the latest -complex developments in bacteriological warfare, and the use of liquid -and atmospheric gases. He had sent the first New Era test rocket into -space, the first one to the moon, the first ones to Mars.</p> - -<p>Instruments far in advance of the original telemetering and servomotor -devices, had measured temperature, radiation, chemical makeup of -atmosphere, minerals, various field effects, measured and catalogued -all life, even to its cultural development, then sent back their -measurements and evaluations on ultra-high-frequency to ground -observers on Earth.</p> - -<p>He had sent out the first rockets with monkeys, rats, guinea pigs and -birds to test the effects of alien conditions on living organisms. No -human being had ever survived. They stopped trying.</p> - -<p>But the Martians had been carrying on a program much the same. They -had been frightened. They had sent deadly rockets. The war had begun, -a fantastic push-button operation between worlds millions of miles -apart. This Earth rocket loaded with three tons of G-agent was what the -UN hoped would be the last retaliatory gesture in a number of years of -interspatial bickering. For it was also evident now that no Martian -could get across space to Earth.</p> - -<p>Michelson sighed, stepped into the elevator and started home. Home to -rest, fish, lie in the sun. Home to Mary who kept him occupied and -entertained in his loneliness.</p> - -<p>But Mary had not been ill. She had not stayed at Lake House either. She -had been aboard Michelson's helio, hiding in the luggage compartment. -She had the key to Michelson's office and she was there.</p> - -<p>But her head ached now. She hadn't slept for two days, thinking about -what had to be done. Her head ached worse now as the wave directives -came again and again, bringing new bursts of coercive pain with any -deep emotional hint of possible resistance.</p> - -<p>Now, in fact, there was doubt in Mary's mind that there was any desire -to resist the directives, or if there ever had been. Now even those -lingering wonderings about the possibility of doubt brought pain.</p> - -<p>Better just to act. And it was time.</p> - -<p>The clock gave her exactly one hour, she knew, to destroy the central -building sector, the heart of the giant UN Research Foundation, and -also wreck the rocket due to blast for Mars. She had heard Daddy Mike -say what time the rocket would blast if he got the G-Agent loaded on -schedule, and she knew he had done that.</p> - -<p>There was little if any caution exercised at the Foundation. It had -been well established by years of precedent that humans just didn't -sabotage an effort directed at aliens. Especially Martians who, time -and time again, had almost brought destruction to earth in innumerable -unexpected ways. Added to that was the fact that no Martian could get -across the void to take care of it directly, any more than an Earthman -could to Mars for a similar purpose.</p> - -<p>Mary had the advantage of this freedom. But the immediacy with which -she could be identified by all the personnel about the Foundation -might be a handicap as well as a possible advantage. She would have to -exercise extreme caution herself.</p> - -<p>The directives had stopped. She was on her own as long as she didn't -resist the preceding orders. From this point on it was strictly Mary's -responsibility.</p> - -<p>She checked the electrodoor. No one was approaching Daddy Mike's -office. She wasn't sure whether or not he would return to his office -before going to Lake House. She wondered what he would do, how sad he -would be, to find her gone.</p> - -<p>From behind the rearmost, long unused files in the filing cabinet, she -took the capsule of G-Agent. There was enough of the nerve gas in the -ten ounce container to destroy everyone in the building, within half an -hour after it was thrown into the ventilator shaft.</p> - -<p>She went to the wall, pressed the button, and the opening was revealed -by a sliding panel. Without hesitation, she tossed in the capsule of -G-Agent. Dimly, she remembered how she had collected it, painfully -over a period of months, drop by drop and stored it in the special -non-corrosive alloy of the container. She had access to all of Daddy's -laboratory equipment.</p> - -<p>The container would explode in half an hour. Thirty minutes to get -outside the buildings and over to the pits and the lethal rocket.</p> - -<p>She felt nothing but a kind of depersonalized tension of responsibility -as she removed her hat and took the small deadly neutron beam gun from -the tiny sling she had fixed inside. She put the hat back on and tied -the ribbon under her chin. The hat had caused much amused reaction from -those friends of Daddy Mike who had become accustomed to her being -constantly with the old man.</p> - -<p>She ran into the bright shine of the tubular metal hall. She hoped with -a flash of unexpected feeling that Daddy Mike would leave the building -before the G-Agent was activated.</p> - -<p>He loved her. Her heart throbbed painfully as she remembered how -much Daddy loved her. How he had held her on his lap and stroked her -hair and philosophized endlessly to her, not caring that she was not -supposed to understand such complexity. But sharing this as he did all -things with her in his aging loneliness.</p> - -<p>She crouched there in the hall and thought of that, how she would love -Daddy as Daddy loved her. Except that she was incapable of love. Dimly -she remembered that once, long, very long ago, there had been a kind of -spontaneous expression of physical desire, and sensuous pleasure, from -the contact with others. But since then there had been the experiments, -endless, too painful to recall. The bursting of blood and the repair, -the brain slicing and the laying open of cells, and the sewing up. -Years, a lifetime, a foreverness of pain, and the apparent making good -as new again. But the scars were too deep too show, and too deep to -mend.</p> - -<p>Such pain for so long, the cold objective testing, had killed any -capacity for love. Mary was convinced of that.</p> - -<p>She held the gun to her left side and ran in nakedness and silence down -the glowing tube.</p> - -<p>An overweight guard in his brown UN uniform eased around the curve in -the tube and stood with his back to her. It was a good place for him to -walk what was to him a useless beat. There was nothing to guard against -but boredom. This was the building's left wing and fairly isolated, and -he could merely stand here and wait for the far end of his shift.</p> - -<p>She slid along the wall. Her feet moved with a vague whispering -silence, the silence of unconscious stealth. But then the guard turned -to place his heel more comfortably on the inward-sloping bottom of the -tube. And he saw her.</p> - -<p>He grinned. "Mary!" he said. Everyone knew her. And everyone loved -Mary. "What are you doing out here?"</p> - -<p>He could never guess the truth, she thought. Even if someone told you, -you would never believe it.</p> - -<p>The good humor spontaneously beginning to bubble from the fat guard was -changed into a kind of gasping cough of unbelieving fear. Desperate -words filtered out through his teeth. A white line moved around his -lips. His hands reached out and hung suspended.</p> - -<p>"Mary—Oh God, Mary—the gun, that's—that's a real gun, Mary—"</p> - -<p>The charge was light. It contacted the Guard's face just above the -chin. It dissolved instantly all of his face and most of his brain. It -left only a smeared shell of bone behind, like a bowl tipped up.</p> - -<p>She ran on down the slightly curving tube. <i>They were never never so -kind to me. For he is free from the directives that pull and push and -pry and pick at the brain. He is free from pain.</i></p> - -<p>When this was done, she would be free. As free as the guard.</p> - -<p>Once near the rocket, the long task would be ended. She would then -theoretically be free from the complex thought which her body was -incapable of handling without pain. Free from the pain of an imbalanced -body and nervous system. And free of the coercion bands, the directive -waves that could sometimes rip the cells apart.</p> - -<p>She pressed the down button of the elevator. At that moment the high -scream of the alarm sirens shrieked in her ears. She cowered a moment. -It came from all around. It bathed her in painful sound. It became a -pervading throb that seemed to come from the metal everywhere.</p> - -<p>They had discovered the guard already. That was one of those -unpredictable elements. Purely chance that anyone would have passed -there just after the guard was killed. That could be the only reason -for the alarm!</p> - -<p>She had to get outside the buildings. She had to get over there near -enough to the rocket to blast the firing tubes! She wasn't even off -the tenth floor.</p> - -<p>There was nothing to fear except failure. Death itself would be a -welcome if not a preferred kind of freedom for her. But if she failed -and lived, there would be torture. And the misty worlds of pain, not -only in the labs but from the coercion directives. As far as she knew, -perhaps the directive rocket buried somewhere high in the pines near -the lake would contain even more duties for her, if this failed. Except -that now she would be known and they would hunt her down and—but so -far they did not know who had killed the guard.</p> - -<p>No, if they caught her they wouldn't kill her. That was sure enough. -There would be the labs again. They would probe, cut her open, try to -find out why. She had long been a living instrument for finding out why.</p> - -<p>As the elevator dropped, the walls pulsed with the screams of the -alarms.</p> - -<p>She had one advantage she realized that she had been doubtful of -earlier. She was Mary, and everyone knew and loved her. Though it was -definite now that a saboteur was loose inside the Foundation, there was -nothing so far to connect Mary with such a fact.</p> - -<p>She concealed the gun in the sling inside her cap, and tied the ribbon -firmly under her chin. When the elevator reached the first floor, the -panel slid back. She was tensed to run out, but a group of Foundation -guards were running for the opening. Their faces were twisted into -various expressions of tense terror. They were all inside a gigantic -gas capsule, they knew that, one of terrible potential lethality. -Evidently it was suspected that the G-Agent might be used.</p> - -<p>Mary ran out, turned, leaped for the narrowing gap between the guards -and the arched opening that led into the court. Most of the guards -scarcely noticed her at all, and if they did they evidently figured it -was hardly anything to cause diversion from the awful emergency.</p> - -<p>But one of them, a man named Jonothan who had often caressed her and -expressed his love for her, smiled. It was a kind of conditioned -reaction that broke the frozen fear of his mouth and cheeks. He leaned -toward her, his hand outstretched.</p> - -<p>"Mary—this is no place for you, baby. You'd better come back up with -us."</p> - -<p>The invisible mouth of the intercom spoke. "The saboteur may be -heading for the rocket which must blast on schedule. Already deadly -gases may have been released inside the Foundation. Sections five -and six will establish instant cordon around the rocket pits. Anyone -not obeying security instructions will be shot instantly. Anyone -entering or leaving the Foundation buildings or grounds without proper -identification will be shot. All guards will immediately put on masks, -and protective suiting, and will prepare antidote injections. Sections -seven and eight will search the main wing. Sections nine and ten—"</p> - -<p>"Come on, John!" someone yelled from the elevator. Kits were falling -open. Masks were unfolding. Suit capsules were exploding under -compressed air, and the special suits were breaking out in fluffs of -green.</p> - -<p>"Hey, for God's sake, Johnny, come on!" The voices were ragged with -fear.</p> - -<p>A warning would also, Mary knew, be going out to all civilians made -susceptible immediately by inversion, movements of predictable winds. -But Mary knew that many would die, many many would die, when the rocket -crashed. If she could succeed.</p> - -<p>Only for that inevitable percentage who would die in great pain did she -have any recognizable sympathy. She had a duty, else she herself would -experience greater and greater pain.</p> - -<p>"You'd better come along with us, Mary baby," Jonothan said. He reached -for her, while the others yelled at him. The intercom itself was toned -with terror that was in the walls and in every man's eyes and his voice -and the stance of his body.</p> - -<p>Mary giggled. She started a kind of disarming dance. But this time it -did not excite the laughter and general response it usually did.</p> - -<p>Her stomach turned sickeningly as she felt the release, the ribbon -fluttering and the cap falling. The thud and the bright shining spin of -the gun over the mosaicked floor. The sling had broken.</p> - -<p>She danced toward it.</p> - -<p>Jonothan yelled, but the voices of the others snapped off into a -pulsing silence. Then an incredulous murmur trickled over the floor.</p> - -<p>"Mary—what are you doing with that? Mary—stop—wait, Mary—"</p> - -<p>Desperately, Jonothan dived to the floor. He clawed. He kicked with his -frantic feet for traction on the floor. He screamed at her as he pawed -to reach the gun. But she leaped over him and turned with the gun ready.</p> - -<p>Jonothan was slowly standing up. His face was white. His lips moved. -His throat trembled. But no words came out.</p> - -<p>Behind him, a voice shivered. "Give us the gun, Mary."</p> - -<p>Pleading, cajoling, shaking, other voices joined.</p> - -<p>"Mary—give us the gun now!"</p> - -<p>"Please, Mary, you can kill people—"</p> - -<p>"You just give Uncle Patrick the gun now, honey, and—"</p> - -<p>She was backing away toward the arched opening. Beyond that were the -gardens, the fountains the pretty landscape of the courts. Beyond that -were the helio landings, and then the pits. It wasn't so far.</p> - -<p>Jonothan was trying to smile at her as he reached again for the gun. -Behind him, the others stood immobile and without any more words. The -intercom had words, but no one was listening now.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>She fired a much heavier charge than that against the guard on the -tenth floor. Between Jonothan's outstretched arms which had held her -with love, his torso and head disappeared. His arms fell and the legs -toppled like parts of a mannequin. Beyond the vacancy that had been -Jonothan, several others tried to draw their guns. All were abruptly -reduced to jellied and smoking anonymity. Mary ran for the courts.</p> - -<p>She heard herself giggling without recognizable meaning as she ran -under the rainbowed fountains, leaped the flower hedges, and skimmed -over the carefully designed green of lawn patches.</p> - -<p>She still had that initial advantage. No one still could logically -connect her with what was happening. So far there were no living -witnesses. At least it was unlikely that there were.</p> - -<p>She was a little behind her schedule and every second was now -important. Where before there had been allowed some margin for error, -now there was none.</p> - -<p>She wanted to get a helio. She wanted to get as far up wind and as -far into the air as possible when the G-Agent began drifting over the -land. She wanted to live for the reasons she had thought about before, -many times. She couldn't say that her life was important to her now -any more than it ever had been. It had never been her life, not in her -memory. Always she had been the instrument of others. She could blast -the rocket back to earth from inside a helio, and keep on from there to -some degree of personal safety.</p> - -<p>That was the plan.</p> - -<p>As she ran she wondered with a kind of dull throbbing hope if after -this task was fulfilled, she would be free of the Martian directives. -She didn't know. She could only hope.</p> - -<p>Long after the high degree of intelligence she now possessed came -to her, (that too having been something imposed to increase her -effectiveness as an instrument) she had prayed to be free of pain and -imprisonment. Even where there was not the capacity to formulate any -awareness of her merely being used, or of being a prisoner of others, -she had felt the primitive cellular discontent that had now become open -and passionate desire for freedom.</p> - -<p>Maybe after this was done, she would be free for the first time that -she could really remember. What she could do with it, where she could -go, where she could hide with it, whether she could even live to enjoy -it, if in fact she could enjoy something she had never had, was really -not of much consequence to her as she ran and thought about it. Even -one brief flare of freedom would be its own exultant reward.</p> - -<p>Figures made a scrambling chaos of unreality out of the area which -usually displayed such a paradoxical atmosphere of quiet peacefulness. -Sirens shrieked. Helios hummed and hovered nervously, then darted off -in angled desperation through the slanting rays of dusk. Evidently -there were a fortunate few whose emergency obligations were taking -them elsewhere. And a few others, undoubtedly, who were escaping in -guilt-ridden cowardice from an intolerable suspense.</p> - -<p>She jumped, slid the cowl back, crawled into the plastoid bubble before -the two-seated passenger helio. The controls were simple. She had -watched Daddy Mike many times as he commuted to and from Lake House. -Jokingly he had let her sit on his lap and play with the controls, not -being able even to suspect what she was really learning, and what the -end result would be.</p> - -<p>As the helio whirred to lifting life, Mary did not bother with -altitude. That would come later. She sent the helio skimming low over -the courts and the landing plots, over the monuments and fountains, -toward the pits.</p> - -<p>Warnings would be going out across the decentralized populations of the -nation. Terror would be creeping over the land as the G-Agent would -creep over it soon, very soon now.</p> - -<p>One thing she was still sure of—no one knew, or could even suspect, -the identity of the saboteur they were searching for.</p> - -<p>She heard the gasp, then a sort of whimpering moan, and that changed -even as she turned with tense sharpness, to hoarse and spasmodic -laughter.</p> - -<p>She seemed geared to any emergency, so that nothing, such as this, -could be a surprise. A surprise would mean temporary indecision. She -could not afford that. She turned, keeping the controls level, and -raised the gun.</p> - -<p>A man was on his knees, his hands gripping one another. His eyes -and teeth protruded, and saliva ran out of the corner of his mouth. -Evidently he was a civilian employee, a clerk with his anonymous brown -suit and his shaven head. Someone who had felt no strong identification -with the plant except that it was a job, it was security. So now that -it had turned into a giant gas capsule, he had only wanted to get away -from it. His eyes kept bulging as they stared at Mary. They didn't -believe in Mary. He was trying to laugh away what wasn't logical. But -he couldn't laugh it away.</p> - -<p>"I was told to lay off the neuro-tabs," he whispered. "The medic -told me I'd start flipping—flip, flip—he said—if I took too many -neuro-tabs. He was right. I've flipped. I'm gone." Then the laughter -that was not laughter really broke out all over him like a rash, and -it filled the interior of the helio. "I've run away from my job when -the alarm sounded!" He started screaming. "I can't go back anyway. No -job—hell—I'm finished no matter what!"</p> - -<p>He bent forward and groped for the button that would open the rear -helio door. Mary lowered the gun, hoping this man's own madness would -make it easier for her. Adjusting the blast so that it would kill him -without releasing too much deadly kinetic energy within so small a -space would be a delicate thing. It was highly dangerous.</p> - -<p>He turned while the wind sucked at him and flapped his brown suit -around his bony legs. He blinked slowly at Mary and tears ran down his -cheeks. "Even if you're not real, you're the last I'll see, the last -thing. So good-bye!"</p> - -<p>The air pulled him abruptly out into its deceptive nowhere. For an -instant, she felt drawn to his lonely pathway of escape. She wanted to -say after him, "Good-bye," but she couldn't.</p> - -<p>As the helio swung to the left, the rocket lifted with strange -slowness, heavy and steady, on its column of fire. Reality compressed -to only the helio and a narrowly restricted line between the gun and -the lifting rocket.</p> - -<p>A few other helios moved in the area, but none nearly this close to the -rocket. Observers would know. Once the thing was done, she wondered if -she could possibly escape. They would know that the destructive blast -came from this helio.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>A section of the cowling slid back. The helio slowed, hung suspended. -Mary aimed slightly upward. She felt the automatic sight adjuster -clicking delicately, the slight tug as the mags tilted the barrel -directly into the meticulous balance of the firing jets.</p> - -<p>As she fired, she sent the helio straight up at maximum speed and the -cowling slid closed.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>This was the end of her assignment. The gun's full charge had been -exhausted. It was no longer of any use. She dropped it. She knew the -hit had been direct. A glance showed the rocket already curving in -a terrible kind of deceptive gentleness away to the right over New -Washington. Soon its parabola would become a screaming plunge. Nothing -could divert it. To try to destroy it in the air would mean nothing, -for in any case, its deadly tons of G-Agent would be spread on the -winds over the land.</p> - -<p>The Foundation and everything in it would by now be thoroughly -contaminated by the G-Agent she had released inside. It would take a -long time to decontaminate, to rebuild. And a lot of people were going -to die, would be dying now. The antidote would save many from death. It -would preserve others short of death in a state she could not envy, for -to her it would be far worse than dying.</p> - -<p>But Mary could hardly concern herself with the wrecking of the -Foundation, or the people who would die. Her concern was intense—to -escape, to hide. And to know for certain whether or not, now that her -task was done, the agonizing coercive directions from the Martian -rocket would continue.</p> - -<p>So far there was no hint of this. She only wanted to get away. There -were no invisible fingers probing in there, none of the drawing to -tautness that had so many times ended in torture. Maybe, somehow, the -directive rocket with its intricate mechanism was delicately equipped -to know when her job was successfully done.</p> - -<p>She would soon know.</p> - -<p>The helio whined with strain. A shiver racked the metal. A scream burst -from Mary's lips. She concentrated on her hands, forced the controls, -drove the helio at maximum speed, trying to head across the park -reserve toward the river and the great National Forest area.</p> - -<p>But already they were in close pursuit. Figures were running in all -directions far below.</p> - -<p>The stars were breaking out and it was night now except for the glare -of the exploding rocket far to the left. Now below the forest area -shifted into view and the winding shine of the river.</p> - -<p>Night was the best time for the spreading of the G-Agent. Inversion -was right. The stuff swept along close to the ground which cooled more -slowly than the air. That, too, had been planned. The timing was -right. Everything had been worked out right.</p> - -<p>But now—what was to happen to her?</p> - -<p>She felt none of the probing demands from the direction rocket. She -felt not even a hint of them. Perhaps they had gone away forever and -she was free. Free! FREE!</p> - -<p>They wanted her alive, or her helio with her as part of it, would have -been disintegrated long before this. She could understand why. The -worst that she could do she had done. There was no need in killing -her to prevent more sabotage. They wanted her alive. They wanted to -know who she was, what she was, what organization or organizations -she represented, if any. They had no idea who she was. Or at least -it seemed unlikely yet that they had found out. Perhaps they even -thought she was a Martian. Whatever they thought, they didn't know. She -realized how desperately they had to know.</p> - -<p>The helio dropped straight down toward the deceptive softness of the -forest sea. The wind sighed around the helio as the green darkness -loomed up, seeming to rush up from all sides, its softness changing -suddenly into the harshness of jagged limbs and bulging trunks. She -clung to the dead controls as though there were some kind of promise in -them, some solidity. But everything dropped from under her, a sickening -dislocation, as she clung as though she had no support, as though the -earth itself were falling away.</p> - -<p>The tearing impact was like a thousand echos of her terrors.</p> - -<p>And the forest and the wet shine of harsh wood that tore metal and -ripped like flashes of hot light, the blanket of crushing leaves, and -the cooling shadows rushed smothering in around her.</p> - -<p>Lights fingered through the leaves. She could hear footsteps, -stealthy and invisible, flowing among the lights. The lights moved -around, streaming in from all directions, like the shifting bars of a -tightening cage.</p> - -<p>She wasn't dead! When she moved slightly in the twisted shine of metal, -a beam of light glanced from it in a blinding glare. She felt the pain -from her torn leg. Her right side seemed crushed. She felt the hotness -of blood burning her ribs.</p> - -<p>She heard voices murmuring through wet leaves, caught the slight -movement of protective green suiting and the shining leer of gas masks. -They were far upwind now from where the rocket had crashed to spew out -its lethal loads. She didn't know as she squirmed desperately through -the jagged hole in the metal, whether or not one of the many subsidiary -rockets had exploded up wind from this location.</p> - -<p>It was something to look forward to.</p> - -<p>She tried to suppress the whimpering moan as the torn leg scraped over -the metal. Then she dropped to the damp leaves and crouched there and -wondered which way to go. The light beams moved in, criss-crossed now -like a tightening wire mesh. She crawled, digging her fingers into the -leaves. The leaves whispered a call to her from above.</p> - -<p>The light swung. Its beam flooded full and blindingly in her face. A -gun came into view over the edge of the beam and feet smashed toward -her through the brush.</p> - -<p>Her only weapon was the oldest one of all. She sprang up. The beam -flashed upward in a wavering circle as her hands closed on the man's -throat. Her weight carried him scrambling back. His heels caught. He -fell. His hands stabbed around with the gun as his breath choked off -and his muscles worked with panicky power. With her left hand she dug -into his windpipe. She released the other hand and tore the mask away, -ripping the tough fiber like rotten cloth.</p> - -<p>She flung the flashbeam away, dragged the guard into the brush. Light -beams slashed around as she crouched among the leaves. The man no -longer struggled. When she took her hand away from his throat, he still -did not struggle.</p> - -<p>A beam flashed full over her, held. Someone yelled wildly: "The guy who -fell out of the helio! He was right. Oh God—he wasn't crazy!"</p> - -<p>"Don't shoot! Don't shoot, you idiot!"</p> - -<p>"I tell you he was right! It's Mary! The man was right—"</p> - -<p>"Don't shoot! That's an order!"</p> - -<p>She leaped up, caught the limb. She went on up among the thick sweet -concealment of a thousand leaves. She swung into the next tree, then -the next, faster and faster she moved. The leaves skimmed past her -face.</p> - -<p>Her breath came in ecstatic gasps as the light beams faded behind, and -the damp dark freedom of the trees spread away in all directions.</p> - -<p>She knew which way to go. And she was going there a long time before -she even realized the fact. She wondered vaguely for a moment then -how it was that she knew where to go, for it was a long way, over the -river, and through the hills and the forest.</p> - -<p>Guards in helios whirred everywhere in the night clouds. Cars whined -through the narrow roads around her. A net formed through the forest. A -net of men, guns, lights, cars, helios, and many kinds of detectors.</p> - -<p>For what seemed much longer than it was, her strength held.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>It enabled her to pierce the net again and again when they were sure -she was trapped. She went over it, under it, through it, part of the -thick night in the trees and the brush. The river was the worst, for -she hated water.</p> - -<p>But she could no longer climb through the comparative safe corridors of -the trees. She could no longer run. Air sucked between her teeth. One -leg dragged behind her as she crawled slowly through the dark, along -the lake, up the winding path. She could only crawl. Finally crawling -became a hitching dragging effort that slowed with each attempt.</p> - -<p>Blood and dirt had formed a sticky mud over her leg and ribs and chest. -Damp leaves stuck to her, and the bitter rocks of the path leading -up to the cabin had cut her flesh. There were lights in the windows -of Lake House. The windows and the door were open to the warm night. -Beyond the cabin she could see Daddy Mike's helio on the landing.</p> - -<p>How quiet and peaceful it is, she thought, here by the lake in the -forest in the night. The moon moved from behind the clouds and spread a -warm golden mist over the ground. Frogs sang from the lake below. And -from all around came the insistent humming and stirrings and singings -of life, but all muted and peaceful and subdued to make the night -peaceful and quiet.</p> - -<p>She dug her fingers into the rock of the path. Her body dragged on a -little at a time. She whimpered again, but not very loud. Her body -flattened in a weariness that was only a little above defeat. Her face -pressed to the cool stone.</p> - -<p>"Daddy," the inexpressible thought was a whisper in her mind. "Help me, -Daddy. You love me—"</p> - -<p>She remembered the warmth inside, the old man with his warm laughter, -taking her on his lap, caressing her, swinging her up on his shoulders -and walking with her along the lake in the evening. She thought of the -old man who loved her.</p> - -<p>The thought gave her enough strength to reach the open door. She lay -there sighing in her chest, her face pressed against the wood.</p> - -<p>She raised her eyes to the interior of the cabin.</p> - -<p>She tried to move nearer, tried to lift her hand up into the shaft of -light. She wanted to call out, say something. Only a low inaudible moan -strained through her clenched teeth.</p> - -<p>She rolled half over. Inside then, she saw Daddy Mike. He was sitting -near the big radio panel, his head bowed and resting on his hands. On -the other side, through the open door, she could see the gleam of glass -and metal from the big laboratory. A spasm went through her. She could -hear the sounds of caged life in there.</p> - -<p>Lights blinked on the radio panel. Michelson slowly raised his head and -twisted a dial. "Yes," he said. She could hardly hear him. He seemed -very tired, more tired than she had ever seen him. And much older too. -Old and thin and tired.</p> - -<p>"Mike—"</p> - -<p>"Hello, Engstrand."</p> - -<p>"I've got Guards on the way up there, Mike! Has that damn thing showed -up yet?"</p> - -<p>"No—not yet."</p> - -<p>"I don't know why I never figured it would try to get back there. But -that's where it's heading, we're sure of it now. Listen, Mike—if -it does get up there before my men do, remember, don't kill it! Do -anything you can think of, but keep it there and don't kill it! -Apparently it's wounded anyway!"</p> - -<p>"Yes, yes," Michelson said. He brushed at his eyes.</p> - -<p>Mary lay there, half inside the open cabin door, imprisoned by her -inability to speak. She stared into the laboratory, then at Michelson.</p> - -<p>"We're set back at least five years, Mike! It's a hellish thing! But -who could have anticipated a thing like that?"</p> - -<p>"I guess nobody could."</p> - -<p>"We're getting things under control, but it's hell down here! We don't -know yet how many people have died."</p> - -<p>"How could it be," Michelson said. "I've tried to figure out—"</p> - -<p>Engstrand's voice was loud. It seemed to Mary that he was right there -in the cabin with Michelson. "It's obvious what happened, Mike! Those -first experimental rockets we sent up there. The damn Martians got hold -of one of those chimps and worked on it. Sent it back and we didn't -suspect the difference. They made it intelligent enough to plan and -execute this whole thing! They must have put one of their own brains -into it or something. Only a damn Martian would think of a thing like -that!"</p> - -<p>Michelson's head raised quickly. From the side, Mary could see his eyes -suddenly widen. Then he wiped his hand across his lips.</p> - -<p>The hand trembled. "Of course," he whispered then. "But who could ever -have suspected it?"</p> - -<p>"That's the only explanation," Engstrand said. "We've got to have that -chimp alive! We can learn plenty from it. We'll cut in there and put -that brain under observation...."</p> - -<p>"I'll do what I can, if Mary shows up here," Michelson said. "But those -Guards should get here!"</p> - -<p>"They will, Mike! They will! They're on their way."</p> - -<p>Mary dug her fingers into the floor. She moved slightly, and one hand -fell with a slight thud. Michelson looked down. He kept on staring. -His lips moved without saying anything a few times, then he stammered. -"Engstrand—she's here!"</p> - -<p>"What? What?"</p> - -<p>"She's here—here on the floor. She just—just crawled in through the -door!"</p> - -<p>"Don't kill her! Get a hypo or something—"</p> - -<p>Michelson slowly stood up. "There's no danger," he finally said, still -looking down at her. "She's wounded all right. She looks almost dead -now."</p> - -<p>"Don't let her die!" Engstrand's voice filled the room. "You've got to -keep her alive!"</p> - -<p>"All right, I'll do what I can," Michelson said. "You'd better come up -now. Bring the medics. We may have to work on her fast."</p> - -<p>"I will. I'm on my way!"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>She wanted to say no. She wanted to scream out no and tell him it was -all wrong. If the Martians had given her the ability to speak, she -could have explained everything long before this, and they could have -helped her, and none of this would have happened. She could explain how -she was forced to kill and destroy.</p> - -<p>Michelson backed away from her, haltingly, then ran into the lab. He -came back out and knelt down. He had a long hypodermic needle. The -needle came down. It looked bigger and bigger.</p> - -<p>She had thought maybe he would understand. But he didn't. He couldn't. -Nobody could.</p> - -<p>A few words could have made all the difference. But she could not speak.</p> - -<p>What she wanted to explain most of all was that it was no kind of -Martian intelligence that had been given to her. The Martians had no -familiar kind of intelligence. They had worked on her, developed her -own brain to its capacity. If they only knew that here it would be so -different. I'm more like you, she wanted to explain, more like you than -you could possibly guess. She could say nothing.</p> - -<p>She could only whimper as the needle went in. Dimly, she saw the table -wheeled out, the shiny familiar gleam of the instruments, the septic -chrome containers and the rising cleansing waves of steam.</p> - -<p>She felt herself being lifted to the table. The wheels turned -inexorably under her. The ceiling swam in a blur above her. The gray -aging tired face bent over her. She could roll her eyes back and see -the dark mouth of the laboratory door opening wider and wider as she -was wheeled toward it, through it—</p> - -<p>You said you loved me, she thought, as he bent over her and she could -hear the clinking of glass. But you never did because if you did you -would understand, even though I cannot speak.</p> - -<p>She closed her eyes. Around her were the familiar smells, the -antiseptic, the chemicals, the odor of animals waiting to die or be -experimented on in their cages. She could hear the chattering of -the monkeys, the coughing of dogs, the squealing of rats. She could -remember how the placid guinea pigs would be seeking one anothers' -warmth in the corner of a cage.</p> - -<p>It was all beginning again, and there would never never, she knew, be -an ending to it.</p> - -<p>She clutched at his hand, squeezed it between her hands and pressed it -against her cheek.</p> - -<p>"Daddy," the thought whispered unheard, "Daddy Mike—"</p> - -<pre style='margin-top:6em'> -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARY ANONYMOUS *** - -This file should be named 63702-h.htm or 63702-h.zip - -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: -http://www.gutenberg.org/6/3/7/0/63702/ - -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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