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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..968436b --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #64064 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/64064) diff --git a/old/64064-0.txt b/old/64064-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 59fccad..0000000 --- a/old/64064-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,945 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Blind Play, by Chan Davis - -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: Blind Play - -Author: Chan Davis - -Release Date: December 22, 2020 [eBook #64064] - -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 BLIND PLAY *** - - - - - Blind Play - - By CHAN DAVIS - - _Nick Pappas, hired-killer from Callisto, was - strictly out for Pappas--out for Number One, as - they used to say. And now those fools in the - vanishing spaceship thought that number was up!_ - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Planet Stories May 1951. - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - -Nick Pappas had just crossed to the instrument panel of the _Tang -Chuh-Chih's_ lifeboat when he heard a sound behind him. He turned -quickly. - -He had left the airlock between the lifeboat and the ship open. That -had been stupid, he realized, but it was too late to correct it now. -One of the _Tang's_ two other crew members was approaching down the -corridor just beyond the airlock; if he saw the doors slide shut now -he'd be immediately suspicious. That would leave Pappas inside the -lifeboat, and before he could drain enough fuel from the ship's tanks -into the lifeboat's, the other two could have the airlock cut open. - -He still had a chance to hide--but before he could propel himself to -the other end of the lifeboat, out of sight, Arne Birkerod appeared at -the other side of the open airlock. - -Birkerod smiled. Pappas stood still, gripping the pilot's seat in front -of him. - -"Hello, Arne," said Pappas. "I was just checking over the--" - -"Good morning, Nick--or good evening, if you like. Let's go up to the -control cabin and see Garcia." - -For a very brief moment, Pappas considered. Although the _Tang_ -was in free fall, he was very conscious of the weight of the gun -concealed inside his jacket. He might use it now, but the sound would -bring Garcia. Better to bluff it through. The other two might not be -suspicious yet, and in a pinch he had the advantage that they weren't -armed. "Sure," he said, and pushed himself across to where Birkerod -stood. - -"After you," said Birkerod, much more politely than usual. - - * * * * * - -Pappas smiled uncertainly. He planted both feet against the side of the -airlock opening, then jumped off. He floated down the ship's corridor -to where it took a sharp bend; there he grabbed a rung of a ladder -bolted to the corridor wall. - -Birkerod had pushed off harder than Pappas had; he arrived at the -ladder at the same time. "After you," he said again. - -Pappas saw, at the end of the long corridor ahead, the open door to the -control cabin. He pushed off in that direction. - -Yusuf Garcia was in the ship's pilot's seat. Garcia was half Brazilian -and half Malagasy. His eyes had a strong green tint which looked -strange against the deep brown-black of his face. Pappas had always -been a little afraid of him and the present situation didn't help that -any; there was a gun in Garcia's hand. - -Birkerod followed Pappas in, taking a seat facing Garcia. "What did you -find, Yusuf?" he asked casually. - -"Well, Arne, I haven't finished checking up on our little conjecture; -the calculator over there is still working on it. But while I was -waiting I looked through our friend Pappas's locker. You may already -have noticed what I found." He waved the gun. "Where did you find our -friend, by the way?" - -Birkerod smiled. "First place I looked." - -"The lifeboat?" - -"Yeah." - -"What was he doing?" - -"Nothing. I think I know how our little conjecture's going to turn out, -though." He turned to Pappas, who had followed the exchange tensely. -"You know, Nick, my father was a fellow-countryman of yours back on -Earth." - -"Countryman?" - -"That's right. He lived just north of Winnipeg. My mother was a -Canadian, too. Both of them were in the second batch of colonists that -left for Callisto. But it doesn't mean much to call you a Canadian any -more, does it? Garcia and you and I, we're all Callistans now." - -"Sure," said Pappas, wondering. - - * * * * * - -Callisto: A cold world. A small new world, and a cold world, and -incredibly distant from the planet that had evolved its settlers. - -In the thirty years since the exploration of Jupiter's satellites had -begun, Callisto had had a very different history from the rest. On -Ganymede, a hundred or so engineers had been working all that time on -the tremendous task of raising the satellite's mean temperature to the -point where an atmosphere could be provided and open-air cities and -farms built in which Earthmen could live. The smaller satellites had -been largely ignored. But it had been found that Callisto had large -deposits of ore of such quality that, in spite of the tremendously long -haul required to carry anything from there to the inner planets, it -was worth while beginning mining operations. Up went the insulated, -airtight domes, out came the colonists, down went the mine shafts. - -It was a hard life. Crystalline rock was cut by machines at the -mine-faces, and by the time other machines had brought it up the shafts -to the surface-level in the domes, it had become amorphous and powdery, -its crystalline structure destroyed by being heated to twenty degrees -below zero Centigrade. When you repaired machinery below the surface, -you wore sixty kilograms of spacesuit (Earth weight), and a failure of -any item of equipment or a fumble by any member of your crew might mean -sudden death. The walls of the dome shut you in from the sky, for the -vacuum out there was death too; when you did get up to the observatory -to see the sky, you saw Jupiter, weirdly streaked with brilliant -color--if your dome was on the side of Callisto toward Jupiter. -Otherwise, you looked across twenty million kilometers of vacuum to the -nearest star. - -It was a hard life, and no life for a lone wolf. There were no -homestead farms to be settled by lonely pioneer families. Callisto was -a sterile place, and to keep life going there at all men had to work -together. Cooperation was a lesson Earth civilization had learned only -after thousands of years of oppression and war; a lesson that had to -be learned before men could cross space; and a lesson that was very -difficult to forget on Callisto. At least for most people. - -Rita and Cliff Belden had control of the trade between Callisto and the -inner planets. It didn't start as control, though; the way it began was -this: Once the colony had been well established, its operation was left -completely up to the Callistans, who shipped as much of their goods to -Earth as they could manage, and requisitioned as much food and supplies -from Earth as they needed--which was really the best way. The inner -planets could not very well take part in the planning of Callisto's -activities, since there was no radio contact and the trip took over two -months by freighter even when the relative positions of the planets -in their orbits was most favorable. One freighter shuttled back and -forth between No. 2 Dome on Callisto at one end and any of several -inner-planet ports at the other. Rita and Cliff Belden were the two -Callistans whose job it was to run that freighter. - -The little colony was absolutely dependent on the supplies they -brought. This fact was obvious to everybody, but the Beldens made a -deduction from it which was unprecedented on Callisto: they could -threaten to withhold the supplies and thereby force the rest of the -colonists to agree to whatever they asked--provided they could make -the threat stick. They made the attempt. On one of their trips back -from Earth, they put the ship into an orbit around Callisto instead -of landing, and announced they would not land until their henchmen on -Callisto were in control. - -And the henchmen did a thorough job of taking control. All the details -were taken care of: They quickly seized the radio transmitters that -maintained contact with Ganymede, they confiscated all the reserves of -spaceship fuel they could find, they clamped down as tightly as they -could on communication between the domes; then they started keeping a -close check on every tool that could be used as a weapon. There was -just one place they slipped up. Their search for fuel wasn't good -enough. - -The people of No. 4 Dome pooled the fuel they had hidden from the -Beldens; they seized from the Beldens' guards the Dome's tiny -spaceship, which had been assembled on Callisto and which had never -been intended to leave the Jupiter system; and they sent the ship off -for Venus, with Garcia and Birkerod aboard. Venus was the only possible -destination, with the planets' positions in their orbits as they were -then: to reach Earth or Mars would have taken either more fuel than -they had, or much more time than they could spare. - -As it was, the trip took eight months. - -On Venus there was no hitch. Garcia and Birkerod went to the Liaison -Office in Kreingrad, as planned, and were provided with the _Tang -Chuh-Chih_, with a load of supplies--and with Nick Pappas, a former -Callistan who wanted to return there. They followed the Liaison -Office's suggestion and took Pappas aboard. - - * * * * * - -"We're all Callistans now," Birkerod repeated. "I wonder, Nick. How -did you happen to leave Callisto in the first place? Just felt like -visiting good old Saskatchewan? I doubt it. Let's see--you left before -that business started with the Beldens, didn't you?" - -Pappas licked his lips nervously. Garcia answered for him: "Yes, about -ten months before, according to what they told us on Venus." - -"Yeah," Birkerod mused. "You know the Beldens, of course." - -"Yes," said Pappas, "of course. I came to Earth on their freighter." - -"Not _their_ freighter," Garcia put in. "Callisto's freighter, which -they were operating. It's only more recently that it's become _their_ -freighter." - -Birkerod smiled and went on, "It's interesting, Mr. Pappas, that you -left Callisto about the time the Beldens' plans must have been taking -shape. I wonder why you did?" - -Pappas ignored the question. A moment before, the red signal light -had flashed on above the calculator set in the opposite bulkhead. -The computations had been finished on Garcia and Birkerod's "little -conjecture." - -Garcia, who was closest to the machine, filled in the silence. "Let's -find out what the calculator has to say. It may clear things up a -little." - -There was a row of spring-clamps set in the bulkhead next to him for -holding objects stationary while the ship was in free fall. Garcia put -his gun in one of these, slipped out of the "safety belt" that had held -him in the pilot's seat in spite of the lack of gravity, and turned to -the calculator. - -Pappas sprang. Not toward Garcia--but toward the side of the cabin that -would have been the ceiling if there had been an "up." He snatched his -gun from his jacket. - -Something crashed into Pappas, spun him around. Birkerod had jumped -too, hitting him hard in midair. - - * * * * * - -The cabin whirled about them. He felt Birkerod's powerful grip around -the hand which held the gun. Simultaneously they reached the ceiling; -Pappas's head hit metal with a crack. The gun fell free. Weightless, -the two of them wrestled desperately. - -[Illustration: The cabin whirled around them ... the gun fell -free....] - -Suddenly Birkerod pulled loose and jumped away. Pappas found himself -alone in the middle of the cabin, drifting slowly from the pilot's seat. - -In the pilot's seat Garcia was again sitting calmly, his gun leveled. -Birkerod had the other gun. There was silence while Pappas reached the -bulkhead, pushed back to his seat, and belted himself in. - -Garcia said, "Suppose I try answering some of these questions. When -Arne and I left Callisto, the Beldens learned our orbit and high-tailed -in to the inner planets. With plenty of fuel, they arrived before us, -and got you, their agent, on the job. You got yourself included in our -return trip on the _Tang_. Then you calculated an orbit for us that -would run us smack into Earth at a relative velocity of thirty-odd -kilometers a second! - -"The next thing was to divert the fuel from the _Tang's_ tanks to the -lifeboat's, and take off yourself in the lifeboat. That would have left -us in a collision orbit, with no fuel to pull ourselves out of it. - -"Not such a good plan, Nick. You should have planned just to kill us -both as soon as the _Tang_ was in space; you'd have had a better chance -that way. Your overeagerness to compute our orbit just didn't look -natural." - -"No, listen," Pappas protested feebly. "I didn't calculate a collision -orbit. I--" - -"Sorry," said Garcia. "That's what the machine just finished checking -for us. The orbit we're on meets Earth dead center, and it wouldn't -take us to Callisto even if Earth wasn't there. Arne--_what'll we do -with this character?_" - -Birkerod smiled. "I like the suggestion you made when we discussed it -before." - -"I was just joking!" - -"No, I think it's the best idea." He turned to Pappas, who flinched in -spite of himself. "Look, Nick, the Beldens have no chance of winning on -Callisto. No chance. Men had to learn to cooperate before they could -get to the planets at all, and by this time they've learned good and -thoroughly. The individual who's out for himself is an anachronism. You -and the Beldens--a hundred years ago you'd have felt right at home. -Then everybody was 'out for a fast buck,' as they used to say. In this -century everybody works together, and darn near everybody likes it that -way. - -"But, Nick, the Beldens are still dangerous. They can't win; but -they can hold up the development of Callisto for years, and make the -Callistans plenty miserable in the process. The inner planets won't -interfere. Their policy for years has been this: Callisto is so far -away that it's their concern how they run things; we'll send them -supplies, they'll send us minerals, and that's that. - -"So the people of Callisto have got to lick the Beldens. This ship is -absolutely essential, because it's the means of breaking the Beldens' -monopoly. We have to get to Callisto, and when we get there we'll be in -the middle of a pretty critical situation; the _Tang_ will be just as -essential to the Beldens as to us, for the opposite reason." - -"Therefore," Garcia put in, "we can't afford to have you around." - -"What are you going to do?" Pappas murmured. - -"To you?" said Birkerod. "Well, we can't take you with us; we don't -want to kill you if we can help it; we can't turn you loose in the -lifeboat, even if we keep most of the fuel, because we may need the -lifeboat on Callisto. There's one thing left. - -"If it's all right with Yusuf, we're going to put you altogether, -completely on your own. You're not going to be working for anybody -else, not even for stinkers like the Beldens. You're going to be all -by yourself, and you're going to have to do a good job of looking out -for yourself. Not for anyone else, just for Nick Pappas--'Number One,' -as people used to say. We're not going to give you a word of advice, -either. If we did, you wouldn't be independent enough. How does it -sound, Yusuf? Appropriate?" - -Garcia smiled. "Sounds about right, Arne. Maybe I'm too angry at the -Beldens to think straight, but it sounds like a pretty appropriate -way to handle Mr. Pappas. He'll be all on his own, and if he doesn't -work things out just right--he'll get the most spectacular finish any -individualist could ask for!" - - * * * * * - -Nick Pappas hung weightless in interplanetary space. - -Ten meters away floated the _Tang Chuh-Chih_. One side of it glared -white in the sunlight, the other side was jet black, visible only as -a shadow across the stars. It floated there motionless, very close to -him, but he knew he didn't dare to try to reach it, because it was -going to start accelerating any second. - -The faceplate of Pappas's spacesuit fogged slightly; he moved a hand -inside the suit, adjusted the humidity control. When the faceplate had -cleared, he saw that the _Tang's_ rockets were already firing. - -The ship still floated there, within shouting distance if there -had been an atmosphere; but now from its jets there extended long, -perfectly straight streaks of shimmering blue-violet. It seemed to -Pappas as though he was drifting slowly parallel to the ship, in the -direction of the jets. He shook his head to get rid of the illusion. He -was remaining perfectly still, the ship's hull was sliding past him. -When the jets were abreast of him, they cut off. He watched the ship -receding, rapidly now. A minute or so later there were two short blasts -on the steering jets; Pappas realized they were swinging the ship -around so he wouldn't be caught in the rocket blast. Then the main jets -started up again. - -Pappas followed the ship with his eyes as long as he could distinguish -it--which wasn't long. Then, he was _alone_. - -Not only were there no walls around him, there wasn't even anything -under his feet. There was nothing, anywhere. - -"So this was what all that talk added up to," Pappas thought. "They -simply set me out here in the middle of the vacuum to stay until the -suit's food and air give out." - -He thought he might as well make himself at home. He checked over the -suit. It was nicely equipped. In addition to standard items, there were -several things strapped onto the back of the suit on the outside which -pleased him until he realized how little difference they made: There -was a reel of light, strong cable with magnetic grapples which could be -clamped onto it. There was a hand reaction motor the size of a Stillson -wrench, and ten containers of fuel, each the size of a fountain pen. -There was a large mirror, for signaling. Also for the same purpose, -there was a powerful, highly directional searchlight. He checked the -cells which powered it; they were low, but he knew they were charging -at that moment from the sunlight falling on them. The searchlight would -work. For what that was worth. - -So much for his suit. Next, where was he? His position couldn't be -given in latitude and longitude, because there wasn't anything for it -to be latitude and longitude _on_. He was somewhere between the orbits -of Venus and Earth. The direction of the Sun he could tell by glancing -at the arm of his spacesuit and seeing where the sunlight fell--the Sun -was behind him and to the right, and a little "downward." - -As for the Earth, that would be the next brightest body in his sky. He -craned his head in all directions, searching. Then he took out the hand -reaction motor and gave a blast to start himself spinning, so he could -search in the directions he hadn't been able to see in before. Even -the short blast he used made the motor tug at his hand and started the -universe whirling around him frighteningly. He turned the control on -the motor down as low as it would go, then pressed the button several -more times. Finally he had canceled out most of his rotation, and the -Milky Way was wheeling calmly about him. He got himself oriented again -and after a short time had identified Earth, which was close enough to -appear as a blue-green disk. - - * * * * * - -Earth! A thought suddenly struck him. The _Tang_ had been heading -straight for Earth when it had let him off; he was still going exactly -in the _Tang's_ former orbit. He would reach Earth! There was one more -thing he should check--yes, he had a parachute. It was on the back of -his spacesuit, underneath the gear he'd investigated before. Now if he -could land safely he was all set! Birkerod and Garcia must not have -thought of this. - -One thing still bothered him: He had been headed for Earth when he -was put off the _Tang_, but had anything happened since to put him -off course? How about those times he'd used the reaction motor to set -himself spinning? Well, the several small blasts would probably not -have had any net effect on his direction of motion, and if they had -there wasn't anything to be done about it. But the single strong blast -at the beginning--he could remember which constellation he'd been -facing at the time, where he'd held the reaction motor, and how strong -a blast he'd given. That meant he could give an approximately equal -blast now in the opposite direction. This he did, being careful to aim -directly away from his center of gravity, so as not to start spinning -again. - -Now he should be back on course, he figured. Assuming, that is, that -he'd ever been off. The small thrust of his reaction motor, applied -for such a short time, might not be enough to make any appreciable -difference as to where he ended up. He didn't bother trying to -calculate it. - -Nothing to do now but wait. He spent the time thinking about what he'd -do when he got to Earth. It was hard to figure. He'd had a racket on -Earth for the year-and-a-half after the Beldens brought him there; -everyone had assumed he was doing something important to Callisto's -welfare, and all he'd had to do was go through the motions. Now, he -didn't know. It was probably true that the Beldens were through; with -the _Tang Chuh-Chih_ arriving on Callisto, the odds were against them. - -He'd have to find something else, Pappas decided. This whole Belden -business was pretty provincial, anyway. And as for Birkerod, Garcia, -and those people--! Pappas dismissed Callisto from his thoughts -completely. There would have to be some angle on the inner planets. - -After several hours of thought on the subject, he took stock of his -situation again. The disk of Earth was a little larger, he thought, but -not enough so you'd notice it. He pulled the semi-opaque visor over his -faceplate and went to sleep. - - * * * * * - -He slept for ten days. - -Not Earth days, however. When Pappas went to sleep the Sun was behind -him. He thought he had eliminated his rotation, but actually he was -tumbling head over heels, extremely slowly. Thus, for him, the Sun rose -between his feet and set directly "above" him. - -The eleventh of these "sunrises" woke him. He stayed awake, because -as soon as he flipped his visor up and looked around him the Earth -caught his eye. It was much closer. He did not know how to measure its -angular diameter, so he couldn't calculate his distance from it even -approximately, but it _looked_ enormous. - -How long had his nap lasted? The spacesuit's chronometer was running. -Its minute hand indicated 37; its hour hand, 15; its day hand, 3. That -would have told him how long he'd slept, if he'd read the chronometer -before he went to sleep; but he hadn't. All he knew was that he'd slept -much longer than he'd expected, and long enough to get painfully stiff. - -In any case, he'd covered a lot of distance. As much as the _Tang_ -would have covered in the same time, he realized. He was approaching -Earth pretty fast. - -"_Too_ fast," he added aloud, nervously. He'd have to decelerate before -he got there or the parachute wouldn't do him any good. Now, was it -time yet to start decelerating? If he directed the hand reaction -motor in the wrong direction now, could it cause him to miss Earth? -He guessed not: the planet looked so close, any small "sidewise" push -he gave himself could hardly hurt. Once he killed his speed, Earth's -gravitational field would gather him in. - -Pappas took out the reaction motor. Using low power, he turned himself -till he faced Earth. The planet seemed to have swelled just in the time -since he'd waked up. He set the reaction motor to full power, grasped -it with both hands, held it in front of his chest, and pointed it -straight at Earth. Then he pressed the button and held it down. - -The force of the hand jet pushed in at his midriff, made his legs and -head swing forward. Well, that was okay as long as they didn't get into -the exhaust. He stopped blasting a moment to get a better grip on the -reaction motor, then fired continuously. Occasionally he would find -he'd started himself spinning; then he'd shift the motor just a trifle -to keep himself facing the planet. He kept the button firmly pressed -down, and the cylinder in his hands sent a continuous jet of intense -blue toward Earth. When the first fuel cartridge was exhausted, he put -in the second and kept it up. - -Twice he stopped for a food pellet and a little water. The rests were -welcome: his arms and chest were stiff and aching. But he didn't rest -long, because he was getting really scared now. He was sure he was -dangerously close to his destination, and his speed hadn't been cut -enough. The continents and oceans of Earth's day side were clearly -visible, and grew noticeably larger as he looked at them. - -He now thought of the direction he was going as _down_; he thought of -himself as _falling_. - -Something bothered him: America had not been in sight a while ago, but -now he could see a corner of Brazil appearing at the edge of the disk -of Earth. Did that mean he was passing by Earth instead of falling -straight at it? No, he realized in a moment, it just meant Earth was -rotating; for he could see that the sunset line, the line between night -side and day side, had not changed its apparent position on the disk. - -No, he was still falling. And he was _falling too fast_. - -A suspicion began to form that Birkerod and Garcia _had_ anticipated -this. And suddenly, terrifyingly, he thought of what Garcia's last -remark might have meant! - -Still, they'd said there was a way he could save himself. And the only -way he could think of was to break his fall. He had a certain quantity -of fuel to do it with, and he was using it. He was using it for all it -was worth, no matter how much his body ached with fatigue. If those two -on the _Tang_ had figured this all out ahead of time, then they must -have left him enough fuel to avoid being killed. Otherwise they might -as well have shot him on the _Tang_. Okay, if he had enough fuel he'd -use it all. - - * * * * * - -One after another the fuel cartridges burned out. Pappas longed for -another rest, but he didn't dare take one now. He kept firing, and -still the Earth kept growing larger and brighter below him. Finally, -there was no more fuel. - -After a short breather, Pappas took the reaction motor, detached it -from the cord which bound it to his spacesuit, and flung it downward -with all his strength. Then he did the same with the mirror, the -searchlight, and the reel of cable. It was all he could do. - -Then there was an instant when he saw where he had gone wrong. He had -not had enough fuel to do what he'd tried to do. That was clear by one -look at Earth's face, which still grew alarmingly fast below him; and -he could probably have figured it out before. But there had been a way -which _would_ have given him some chance. He should have used his fuel, -not in a hopeless attempt to decelerate, but in deflecting himself so -he would miss Earth! He would have passed by Earth, relatively close. -He'd have passed fast, but not too fast to signal with his mirror to -Earth's several satellites, natural and artificial. The spaceports on -those satellites kept twenty-four-hour watches for signals of distress; -when they saw a faint blinking light they would send out a ship which -would try to locate its source. They were good at it, too, and if he'd -kept his mirror spinning they might have picked him up. - -But he hadn't thought of it. It had never occurred to him that even -when he was alone, as thoroughly alone as anyone can ever be, his life -could depend on dozens of other people. He'd thought only of reaching -safety by himself. And, seeing only the one possibility, he'd played it -blindly. - -There was that instant of sickening realization, then a little later -came an instant when Earth ballooned out grotesquely below him, -suddenly filling most of his field of vision, and he saw lakes, -islands, deserts. He felt all over him an abrupt, final flash of heat, -and _Nick Pappas became a meteor_. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLIND PLAY *** - -***** This file should be named 64064-0.txt or 64064-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - https://www.gutenberg.org/6/4/0/6/64064/ - -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. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. 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Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search -facility: www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/old/64064-0.zip b/old/64064-0.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 7576bee..0000000 --- a/old/64064-0.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/64064-h.zip b/old/64064-h.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 689b578..0000000 --- a/old/64064-h.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/64064-h/64064-h.htm b/old/64064-h/64064-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index 5d3dea5..0000000 --- a/old/64064-h/64064-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1121 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> - <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=us-ascii" /> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> - <title> - The Project Gutenberg eBook of Blind Play, by Chan Davis. - </title> - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - - <style type="text/css"> - -body { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - - h1,h2 { - text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ - clear: both; -} - -p { - margin-top: .51em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .49em; -} - -hr { - width: 33%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - margin-left: 33.5%; - margin-right: 33.5%; - clear: both; -} - -hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} -hr.tb {width: 45%; margin-left: 27.5%; margin-right: 27.5%;} - -.center {text-align: center;} - -.right {text-align: right;} - -/* Images */ -.figcenter { - margin: auto; - text-align: center; -} - -.caption p -{ - text-align: center; - text-indent: 0; - margin: 0.25em 0; -} - -div.titlepage { - text-align: center; - page-break-before: always; - page-break-after: always; -} - -div.titlepage p { - text-align: center; - text-indent: 0em; - font-weight: bold; - line-height: 1.5; - margin-top: 3em; -} - - - </style> - </head> -<body> -<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold;'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Blind Play, by Chan Davis</div> -<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'> -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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. 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. -</div> -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Blind Play</div> -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Chan Davis</div> -<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>Release Date: December 22, 2020 [eBook #64064]</div> -<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> -<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> -<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net</div> -<div style='margin-top:2em;margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLIND PLAY ***</div> - -<div class="titlepage"> - -<h1>Blind Play</h1> - -<h2>By CHAN DAVIS</h2> - -<p><i>Nick Pappas, hired-killer from Callisto, was<br /> -strictly out for Pappas—out for Number One, as<br /> -they used to say. And now those fools in the<br /> -vanishing spaceship thought that number was up!</i></p> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Planet Stories May 1951.<br /> -Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that<br /> -the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]</p> - -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>Nick Pappas had just crossed to the instrument panel of the <i>Tang -Chuh-Chih's</i> lifeboat when he heard a sound behind him. He turned -quickly.</p> - -<p>He had left the airlock between the lifeboat and the ship open. That -had been stupid, he realized, but it was too late to correct it now. -One of the <i>Tang's</i> two other crew members was approaching down the -corridor just beyond the airlock; if he saw the doors slide shut now -he'd be immediately suspicious. That would leave Pappas inside the -lifeboat, and before he could drain enough fuel from the ship's tanks -into the lifeboat's, the other two could have the airlock cut open.</p> - -<p>He still had a chance to hide—but before he could propel himself to -the other end of the lifeboat, out of sight, Arne Birkerod appeared at -the other side of the open airlock.</p> - -<p>Birkerod smiled. Pappas stood still, gripping the pilot's seat in front -of him.</p> - -<p>"Hello, Arne," said Pappas. "I was just checking over the—"</p> - -<p>"Good morning, Nick—or good evening, if you like. Let's go up to the -control cabin and see Garcia."</p> - -<p>For a very brief moment, Pappas considered. Although the <i>Tang</i> -was in free fall, he was very conscious of the weight of the gun -concealed inside his jacket. He might use it now, but the sound would -bring Garcia. Better to bluff it through. The other two might not be -suspicious yet, and in a pinch he had the advantage that they weren't -armed. "Sure," he said, and pushed himself across to where Birkerod -stood.</p> - -<p>"After you," said Birkerod, much more politely than usual.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Pappas smiled uncertainly. He planted both feet against the side of the -airlock opening, then jumped off. He floated down the ship's corridor -to where it took a sharp bend; there he grabbed a rung of a ladder -bolted to the corridor wall.</p> - -<p>Birkerod had pushed off harder than Pappas had; he arrived at the -ladder at the same time. "After you," he said again.</p> - -<p>Pappas saw, at the end of the long corridor ahead, the open door to the -control cabin. He pushed off in that direction.</p> - -<p>Yusuf Garcia was in the ship's pilot's seat. Garcia was half Brazilian -and half Malagasy. His eyes had a strong green tint which looked -strange against the deep brown-black of his face. Pappas had always -been a little afraid of him and the present situation didn't help that -any; there was a gun in Garcia's hand.</p> - -<p>Birkerod followed Pappas in, taking a seat facing Garcia. "What did you -find, Yusuf?" he asked casually.</p> - -<p>"Well, Arne, I haven't finished checking up on our little conjecture; -the calculator over there is still working on it. But while I was -waiting I looked through our friend Pappas's locker. You may already -have noticed what I found." He waved the gun. "Where did you find our -friend, by the way?"</p> - -<p>Birkerod smiled. "First place I looked."</p> - -<p>"The lifeboat?"</p> - -<p>"Yeah."</p> - -<p>"What was he doing?"</p> - -<p>"Nothing. I think I know how our little conjecture's going to turn out, -though." He turned to Pappas, who had followed the exchange tensely. -"You know, Nick, my father was a fellow-countryman of yours back on -Earth."</p> - -<p>"Countryman?"</p> - -<p>"That's right. He lived just north of Winnipeg. My mother was a -Canadian, too. Both of them were in the second batch of colonists that -left for Callisto. But it doesn't mean much to call you a Canadian any -more, does it? Garcia and you and I, we're all Callistans now."</p> - -<p>"Sure," said Pappas, wondering.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Callisto: A cold world. A small new world, and a cold world, and -incredibly distant from the planet that had evolved its settlers.</p> - -<p>In the thirty years since the exploration of Jupiter's satellites had -begun, Callisto had had a very different history from the rest. On -Ganymede, a hundred or so engineers had been working all that time on -the tremendous task of raising the satellite's mean temperature to the -point where an atmosphere could be provided and open-air cities and -farms built in which Earthmen could live. The smaller satellites had -been largely ignored. But it had been found that Callisto had large -deposits of ore of such quality that, in spite of the tremendously long -haul required to carry anything from there to the inner planets, it -was worth while beginning mining operations. Up went the insulated, -airtight domes, out came the colonists, down went the mine shafts.</p> - -<p>It was a hard life. Crystalline rock was cut by machines at the -mine-faces, and by the time other machines had brought it up the shafts -to the surface-level in the domes, it had become amorphous and powdery, -its crystalline structure destroyed by being heated to twenty degrees -below zero Centigrade. When you repaired machinery below the surface, -you wore sixty kilograms of spacesuit (Earth weight), and a failure of -any item of equipment or a fumble by any member of your crew might mean -sudden death. The walls of the dome shut you in from the sky, for the -vacuum out there was death too; when you did get up to the observatory -to see the sky, you saw Jupiter, weirdly streaked with brilliant -color—if your dome was on the side of Callisto toward Jupiter. -Otherwise, you looked across twenty million kilometers of vacuum to the -nearest star.</p> - -<p>It was a hard life, and no life for a lone wolf. There were no -homestead farms to be settled by lonely pioneer families. Callisto was -a sterile place, and to keep life going there at all men had to work -together. Cooperation was a lesson Earth civilization had learned only -after thousands of years of oppression and war; a lesson that had to -be learned before men could cross space; and a lesson that was very -difficult to forget on Callisto. At least for most people.</p> - -<p>Rita and Cliff Belden had control of the trade between Callisto and the -inner planets. It didn't start as control, though; the way it began was -this: Once the colony had been well established, its operation was left -completely up to the Callistans, who shipped as much of their goods to -Earth as they could manage, and requisitioned as much food and supplies -from Earth as they needed—which was really the best way. The inner -planets could not very well take part in the planning of Callisto's -activities, since there was no radio contact and the trip took over two -months by freighter even when the relative positions of the planets -in their orbits was most favorable. One freighter shuttled back and -forth between No. 2 Dome on Callisto at one end and any of several -inner-planet ports at the other. Rita and Cliff Belden were the two -Callistans whose job it was to run that freighter.</p> - -<p>The little colony was absolutely dependent on the supplies they -brought. This fact was obvious to everybody, but the Beldens made a -deduction from it which was unprecedented on Callisto: they could -threaten to withhold the supplies and thereby force the rest of the -colonists to agree to whatever they asked—provided they could make -the threat stick. They made the attempt. On one of their trips back -from Earth, they put the ship into an orbit around Callisto instead -of landing, and announced they would not land until their henchmen on -Callisto were in control.</p> - -<p>And the henchmen did a thorough job of taking control. All the details -were taken care of: They quickly seized the radio transmitters that -maintained contact with Ganymede, they confiscated all the reserves of -spaceship fuel they could find, they clamped down as tightly as they -could on communication between the domes; then they started keeping a -close check on every tool that could be used as a weapon. There was -just one place they slipped up. Their search for fuel wasn't good -enough.</p> - -<p>The people of No. 4 Dome pooled the fuel they had hidden from the -Beldens; they seized from the Beldens' guards the Dome's tiny -spaceship, which had been assembled on Callisto and which had never -been intended to leave the Jupiter system; and they sent the ship off -for Venus, with Garcia and Birkerod aboard. Venus was the only possible -destination, with the planets' positions in their orbits as they were -then: to reach Earth or Mars would have taken either more fuel than -they had, or much more time than they could spare.</p> - -<p>As it was, the trip took eight months.</p> - -<p>On Venus there was no hitch. Garcia and Birkerod went to the Liaison -Office in Kreingrad, as planned, and were provided with the <i>Tang -Chuh-Chih</i>, with a load of supplies—and with Nick Pappas, a former -Callistan who wanted to return there. They followed the Liaison -Office's suggestion and took Pappas aboard.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"We're all Callistans now," Birkerod repeated. "I wonder, Nick. How -did you happen to leave Callisto in the first place? Just felt like -visiting good old Saskatchewan? I doubt it. Let's see—you left before -that business started with the Beldens, didn't you?"</p> - -<p>Pappas licked his lips nervously. Garcia answered for him: "Yes, about -ten months before, according to what they told us on Venus."</p> - -<p>"Yeah," Birkerod mused. "You know the Beldens, of course."</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Pappas, "of course. I came to Earth on their freighter."</p> - -<p>"Not <i>their</i> freighter," Garcia put in. "Callisto's freighter, which -they were operating. It's only more recently that it's become <i>their</i> -freighter."</p> - -<p>Birkerod smiled and went on, "It's interesting, Mr. Pappas, that you -left Callisto about the time the Beldens' plans must have been taking -shape. I wonder why you did?"</p> - -<p>Pappas ignored the question. A moment before, the red signal light -had flashed on above the calculator set in the opposite bulkhead. -The computations had been finished on Garcia and Birkerod's "little -conjecture."</p> - -<p>Garcia, who was closest to the machine, filled in the silence. "Let's -find out what the calculator has to say. It may clear things up a -little."</p> - -<p>There was a row of spring-clamps set in the bulkhead next to him for -holding objects stationary while the ship was in free fall. Garcia put -his gun in one of these, slipped out of the "safety belt" that had held -him in the pilot's seat in spite of the lack of gravity, and turned to -the calculator.</p> - -<p>Pappas sprang. Not toward Garcia—but toward the side of the cabin that -would have been the ceiling if there had been an "up." He snatched his -gun from his jacket.</p> - -<p>Something crashed into Pappas, spun him around. Birkerod had jumped -too, hitting him hard in midair.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The cabin whirled about them. He felt Birkerod's powerful grip around -the hand which held the gun. Simultaneously they reached the ceiling; -Pappas's head hit metal with a crack. The gun fell free. Weightless, -the two of them wrestled desperately.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus.jpg" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>The cabin whirled around them ... the gun fell free....</p> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>Suddenly Birkerod pulled loose and jumped away. Pappas found himself -alone in the middle of the cabin, drifting slowly from the pilot's seat.</p> - -<p>In the pilot's seat Garcia was again sitting calmly, his gun leveled. -Birkerod had the other gun. There was silence while Pappas reached the -bulkhead, pushed back to his seat, and belted himself in.</p> - -<p>Garcia said, "Suppose I try answering some of these questions. When -Arne and I left Callisto, the Beldens learned our orbit and high-tailed -in to the inner planets. With plenty of fuel, they arrived before us, -and got you, their agent, on the job. You got yourself included in our -return trip on the <i>Tang</i>. Then you calculated an orbit for us that -would run us smack into Earth at a relative velocity of thirty-odd -kilometers a second!</p> - -<p>"The next thing was to divert the fuel from the <i>Tang's</i> tanks to the -lifeboat's, and take off yourself in the lifeboat. That would have left -us in a collision orbit, with no fuel to pull ourselves out of it.</p> - -<p>"Not such a good plan, Nick. You should have planned just to kill us -both as soon as the <i>Tang</i> was in space; you'd have had a better chance -that way. Your overeagerness to compute our orbit just didn't look -natural."</p> - -<p>"No, listen," Pappas protested feebly. "I didn't calculate a collision -orbit. I—"</p> - -<p>"Sorry," said Garcia. "That's what the machine just finished checking -for us. The orbit we're on meets Earth dead center, and it wouldn't -take us to Callisto even if Earth wasn't there. Arne—<i>what'll we do -with this character?</i>"</p> - -<p>Birkerod smiled. "I like the suggestion you made when we discussed it -before."</p> - -<p>"I was just joking!"</p> - -<p>"No, I think it's the best idea." He turned to Pappas, who flinched in -spite of himself. "Look, Nick, the Beldens have no chance of winning on -Callisto. No chance. Men had to learn to cooperate before they could -get to the planets at all, and by this time they've learned good and -thoroughly. The individual who's out for himself is an anachronism. You -and the Beldens—a hundred years ago you'd have felt right at home. -Then everybody was 'out for a fast buck,' as they used to say. In this -century everybody works together, and darn near everybody likes it that -way.</p> - -<p>"But, Nick, the Beldens are still dangerous. They can't win; but -they can hold up the development of Callisto for years, and make the -Callistans plenty miserable in the process. The inner planets won't -interfere. Their policy for years has been this: Callisto is so far -away that it's their concern how they run things; we'll send them -supplies, they'll send us minerals, and that's that.</p> - -<p>"So the people of Callisto have got to lick the Beldens. This ship is -absolutely essential, because it's the means of breaking the Beldens' -monopoly. We have to get to Callisto, and when we get there we'll be in -the middle of a pretty critical situation; the <i>Tang</i> will be just as -essential to the Beldens as to us, for the opposite reason."</p> - -<p>"Therefore," Garcia put in, "we can't afford to have you around."</p> - -<p>"What are you going to do?" Pappas murmured.</p> - -<p>"To you?" said Birkerod. "Well, we can't take you with us; we don't -want to kill you if we can help it; we can't turn you loose in the -lifeboat, even if we keep most of the fuel, because we may need the -lifeboat on Callisto. There's one thing left.</p> - -<p>"If it's all right with Yusuf, we're going to put you altogether, -completely on your own. You're not going to be working for anybody -else, not even for stinkers like the Beldens. You're going to be all -by yourself, and you're going to have to do a good job of looking out -for yourself. Not for anyone else, just for Nick Pappas—'Number One,' -as people used to say. We're not going to give you a word of advice, -either. If we did, you wouldn't be independent enough. How does it -sound, Yusuf? Appropriate?"</p> - -<p>Garcia smiled. "Sounds about right, Arne. Maybe I'm too angry at the -Beldens to think straight, but it sounds like a pretty appropriate -way to handle Mr. Pappas. He'll be all on his own, and if he doesn't -work things out just right—he'll get the most spectacular finish any -individualist could ask for!"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Nick Pappas hung weightless in interplanetary space.</p> - -<p>Ten meters away floated the <i>Tang Chuh-Chih</i>. One side of it glared -white in the sunlight, the other side was jet black, visible only as -a shadow across the stars. It floated there motionless, very close to -him, but he knew he didn't dare to try to reach it, because it was -going to start accelerating any second.</p> - -<p>The faceplate of Pappas's spacesuit fogged slightly; he moved a hand -inside the suit, adjusted the humidity control. When the faceplate had -cleared, he saw that the <i>Tang's</i> rockets were already firing.</p> - -<p>The ship still floated there, within shouting distance if there -had been an atmosphere; but now from its jets there extended long, -perfectly straight streaks of shimmering blue-violet. It seemed to -Pappas as though he was drifting slowly parallel to the ship, in the -direction of the jets. He shook his head to get rid of the illusion. He -was remaining perfectly still, the ship's hull was sliding past him. -When the jets were abreast of him, they cut off. He watched the ship -receding, rapidly now. A minute or so later there were two short blasts -on the steering jets; Pappas realized they were swinging the ship -around so he wouldn't be caught in the rocket blast. Then the main jets -started up again.</p> - -<p>Pappas followed the ship with his eyes as long as he could distinguish -it—which wasn't long. Then, he was <i>alone</i>.</p> - -<p>Not only were there no walls around him, there wasn't even anything -under his feet. There was nothing, anywhere.</p> - -<p>"So this was what all that talk added up to," Pappas thought. "They -simply set me out here in the middle of the vacuum to stay until the -suit's food and air give out."</p> - -<p>He thought he might as well make himself at home. He checked over the -suit. It was nicely equipped. In addition to standard items, there were -several things strapped onto the back of the suit on the outside which -pleased him until he realized how little difference they made: There -was a reel of light, strong cable with magnetic grapples which could be -clamped onto it. There was a hand reaction motor the size of a Stillson -wrench, and ten containers of fuel, each the size of a fountain pen. -There was a large mirror, for signaling. Also for the same purpose, -there was a powerful, highly directional searchlight. He checked the -cells which powered it; they were low, but he knew they were charging -at that moment from the sunlight falling on them. The searchlight would -work. For what that was worth.</p> - -<p>So much for his suit. Next, where was he? His position couldn't be -given in latitude and longitude, because there wasn't anything for it -to be latitude and longitude <i>on</i>. He was somewhere between the orbits -of Venus and Earth. The direction of the Sun he could tell by glancing -at the arm of his spacesuit and seeing where the sunlight fell—the Sun -was behind him and to the right, and a little "downward."</p> - -<p>As for the Earth, that would be the next brightest body in his sky. He -craned his head in all directions, searching. Then he took out the hand -reaction motor and gave a blast to start himself spinning, so he could -search in the directions he hadn't been able to see in before. Even -the short blast he used made the motor tug at his hand and started the -universe whirling around him frighteningly. He turned the control on -the motor down as low as it would go, then pressed the button several -more times. Finally he had canceled out most of his rotation, and the -Milky Way was wheeling calmly about him. He got himself oriented again -and after a short time had identified Earth, which was close enough to -appear as a blue-green disk.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Earth! A thought suddenly struck him. The <i>Tang</i> had been heading -straight for Earth when it had let him off; he was still going exactly -in the <i>Tang's</i> former orbit. He would reach Earth! There was one more -thing he should check—yes, he had a parachute. It was on the back of -his spacesuit, underneath the gear he'd investigated before. Now if he -could land safely he was all set! Birkerod and Garcia must not have -thought of this.</p> - -<p>One thing still bothered him: He had been headed for Earth when he -was put off the <i>Tang</i>, but had anything happened since to put him -off course? How about those times he'd used the reaction motor to set -himself spinning? Well, the several small blasts would probably not -have had any net effect on his direction of motion, and if they had -there wasn't anything to be done about it. But the single strong blast -at the beginning—he could remember which constellation he'd been -facing at the time, where he'd held the reaction motor, and how strong -a blast he'd given. That meant he could give an approximately equal -blast now in the opposite direction. This he did, being careful to aim -directly away from his center of gravity, so as not to start spinning -again.</p> - -<p>Now he should be back on course, he figured. Assuming, that is, that -he'd ever been off. The small thrust of his reaction motor, applied -for such a short time, might not be enough to make any appreciable -difference as to where he ended up. He didn't bother trying to -calculate it.</p> - -<p>Nothing to do now but wait. He spent the time thinking about what he'd -do when he got to Earth. It was hard to figure. He'd had a racket on -Earth for the year-and-a-half after the Beldens brought him there; -everyone had assumed he was doing something important to Callisto's -welfare, and all he'd had to do was go through the motions. Now, he -didn't know. It was probably true that the Beldens were through; with -the <i>Tang Chuh-Chih</i> arriving on Callisto, the odds were against them.</p> - -<p>He'd have to find something else, Pappas decided. This whole Belden -business was pretty provincial, anyway. And as for Birkerod, Garcia, -and those people—! Pappas dismissed Callisto from his thoughts -completely. There would have to be some angle on the inner planets.</p> - -<p>After several hours of thought on the subject, he took stock of his -situation again. The disk of Earth was a little larger, he thought, but -not enough so you'd notice it. He pulled the semi-opaque visor over his -faceplate and went to sleep.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>He slept for ten days.</p> - -<p>Not Earth days, however. When Pappas went to sleep the Sun was behind -him. He thought he had eliminated his rotation, but actually he was -tumbling head over heels, extremely slowly. Thus, for him, the Sun rose -between his feet and set directly "above" him.</p> - -<p>The eleventh of these "sunrises" woke him. He stayed awake, because -as soon as he flipped his visor up and looked around him the Earth -caught his eye. It was much closer. He did not know how to measure its -angular diameter, so he couldn't calculate his distance from it even -approximately, but it <i>looked</i> enormous.</p> - -<p>How long had his nap lasted? The spacesuit's chronometer was running. -Its minute hand indicated 37; its hour hand, 15; its day hand, 3. That -would have told him how long he'd slept, if he'd read the chronometer -before he went to sleep; but he hadn't. All he knew was that he'd slept -much longer than he'd expected, and long enough to get painfully stiff.</p> - -<p>In any case, he'd covered a lot of distance. As much as the <i>Tang</i> -would have covered in the same time, he realized. He was approaching -Earth pretty fast.</p> - -<p>"<i>Too</i> fast," he added aloud, nervously. He'd have to decelerate before -he got there or the parachute wouldn't do him any good. Now, was it -time yet to start decelerating? If he directed the hand reaction -motor in the wrong direction now, could it cause him to miss Earth? -He guessed not: the planet looked so close, any small "sidewise" push -he gave himself could hardly hurt. Once he killed his speed, Earth's -gravitational field would gather him in.</p> - -<p>Pappas took out the reaction motor. Using low power, he turned himself -till he faced Earth. The planet seemed to have swelled just in the time -since he'd waked up. He set the reaction motor to full power, grasped -it with both hands, held it in front of his chest, and pointed it -straight at Earth. Then he pressed the button and held it down.</p> - -<p>The force of the hand jet pushed in at his midriff, made his legs and -head swing forward. Well, that was okay as long as they didn't get into -the exhaust. He stopped blasting a moment to get a better grip on the -reaction motor, then fired continuously. Occasionally he would find -he'd started himself spinning; then he'd shift the motor just a trifle -to keep himself facing the planet. He kept the button firmly pressed -down, and the cylinder in his hands sent a continuous jet of intense -blue toward Earth. When the first fuel cartridge was exhausted, he put -in the second and kept it up.</p> - -<p>Twice he stopped for a food pellet and a little water. The rests were -welcome: his arms and chest were stiff and aching. But he didn't rest -long, because he was getting really scared now. He was sure he was -dangerously close to his destination, and his speed hadn't been cut -enough. The continents and oceans of Earth's day side were clearly -visible, and grew noticeably larger as he looked at them.</p> - -<p>He now thought of the direction he was going as <i>down</i>; he thought of -himself as <i>falling</i>.</p> - -<p>Something bothered him: America had not been in sight a while ago, but -now he could see a corner of Brazil appearing at the edge of the disk -of Earth. Did that mean he was passing by Earth instead of falling -straight at it? No, he realized in a moment, it just meant Earth was -rotating; for he could see that the sunset line, the line between night -side and day side, had not changed its apparent position on the disk.</p> - -<p>No, he was still falling. And he was <i>falling too fast</i>.</p> - -<p>A suspicion began to form that Birkerod and Garcia <i>had</i> anticipated -this. And suddenly, terrifyingly, he thought of what Garcia's last -remark might have meant!</p> - -<p>Still, they'd said there was a way he could save himself. And the only -way he could think of was to break his fall. He had a certain quantity -of fuel to do it with, and he was using it. He was using it for all it -was worth, no matter how much his body ached with fatigue. If those two -on the <i>Tang</i> had figured this all out ahead of time, then they must -have left him enough fuel to avoid being killed. Otherwise they might -as well have shot him on the <i>Tang</i>. Okay, if he had enough fuel he'd -use it all.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>One after another the fuel cartridges burned out. Pappas longed for -another rest, but he didn't dare take one now. He kept firing, and -still the Earth kept growing larger and brighter below him. Finally, -there was no more fuel.</p> - -<p>After a short breather, Pappas took the reaction motor, detached it -from the cord which bound it to his spacesuit, and flung it downward -with all his strength. Then he did the same with the mirror, the -searchlight, and the reel of cable. It was all he could do.</p> - -<p>Then there was an instant when he saw where he had gone wrong. He had -not had enough fuel to do what he'd tried to do. That was clear by one -look at Earth's face, which still grew alarmingly fast below him; and -he could probably have figured it out before. But there had been a way -which <i>would</i> have given him some chance. He should have used his fuel, -not in a hopeless attempt to decelerate, but in deflecting himself so -he would miss Earth! He would have passed by Earth, relatively close. -He'd have passed fast, but not too fast to signal with his mirror to -Earth's several satellites, natural and artificial. The spaceports on -those satellites kept twenty-four-hour watches for signals of distress; -when they saw a faint blinking light they would send out a ship which -would try to locate its source. They were good at it, too, and if he'd -kept his mirror spinning they might have picked him up.</p> - -<p>But he hadn't thought of it. It had never occurred to him that even -when he was alone, as thoroughly alone as anyone can ever be, his life -could depend on dozens of other people. He'd thought only of reaching -safety by himself. And, seeing only the one possibility, he'd played it -blindly.</p> - -<p>There was that instant of sickening realization, then a little later -came an instant when Earth ballooned out grotesquely below him, -suddenly filling most of his field of vision, and he saw lakes, -islands, deserts. He felt all over him an abrupt, final flash of heat, -and <i>Nick Pappas became a meteor</i>.</p> - -<div style='display:block;margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLIND PLAY ***</div> -<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0;'>This file should be named 64064-h.htm or 64064-h.zip</div> -<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0;'>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in https://www.gutenberg.org/6/4/0/6/64064/</div> -<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'> -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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