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diff --git a/old/66188-0.txt b/old/66188-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index cc9a180..0000000 --- a/old/66188-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,644 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Leave, Earthmen--Or Die!, by John -Massie 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: Leave, Earthmen--Or Die! - -Author: John Massie Davis - -Release Date: August 31, 2021 [eBook #66188] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LEAVE, EARTHMEN--OR -DIE! *** - - - - - - "Leave, Earthmen--Or Die!" - - By John Massie Davis - - Murph, Forsyth, and Jamison heard the - alien voice warn them. And to each it sounded - familiar--a sweetheart, a son, a hated enemy! - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy - January 1954 - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - -In a dwindling spiral they circled the planet, and Murph's cold blue -eyes studied the radarscreen. Things looked good: no sign of cities, -social denizens or humanoids. He was scribbling notes on his desk when -the all-wave above him started crackling. - -He watched the green line sweep back and forth along the dial, finally -centering on the wave length which was broadcasting. As it focused, the -speaker sputtered in. - -"... in accordance with Interstellar Code," it sounded like a -recording, "... we repeat. Landings and colonizing efforts have been -previously attempted upon this planet. They are not welcome and have -not been successful. Change course and seek other areas. This warning -is being broadcast upon wavelengths available to you and in language -translatable by you in accordance with Interstellar Code...." Murphy -switched it off and looked at his crew of two. - -"Well?" - -Forsyth grinned at him. "The hell with them! We've heard that from -every race in the solar system--one way or another. I say we land." - -Jamison shrugged. "Put 'er down anywhere. Makes no difference to me." -His scarred lips tightened. - -"Okay," Murph switched the set back on. The same record was playing, -monotonously. - -"Load up with combat equipment, boys. We're going in." - -The deadly silver needle tightened the spiral course around the planet, -and above Murph the speaker crackled again and went dead. - -"Guess they got tired of playing that record," he muttered. - -Another crackling and the mechanism blared again. - -"... we see you intend disregarding our warning. In accordance with -Interstellar Code, it is only fair to warn you...." It clicked off -abruptly as Murph jabbed at the switch. No use listening to this -outworld nonsense--he'd heard it all before and lived through it. - -"Where's the rest of the fleet?" He threw the question out generally. - -"Nine hours behind," Jamison said. "We blast in. They follow us." The -three men were silent as they scanned the radar screen. They whined -above a land mass and Murph juggled the controls and the ship swooped -upward, then settled slowly, riding on the jets. While they waited for -the ground around them to cool, the men climbed into combat gear. The -radar scanned the military hemisphere available and Murph casually -flipped the radio switch again. - -"... have disregarded our warning," the voice said, insistently. "In -accordance with the Interstellar Code, we can not now be further -responsible...." It croaked into silence as Murph slammed the switch -closed again. - -"Nuts!" he said, buckling a belt around his waist. - -"Yeah," said Jamison. "The hell with them--whoever they are." - -"Well," said Forsyth--he was the navigator, "now, I'm not so sure...." - -"Get dressed," Murph was in command, and he showed it. "We are going -out." - -... There was an oddity about the voice, Murph thought, as he dressed. -The voice reminded him of his sweetheart, Sitra, back in Philly on -earth: husky, throaty--and with the soft, vibrant purr of a happy -kitten. - -... It reminded Forsyth of his son's tones, during the family farewell -for this expedition. A twinge of concern tautened his body as he -remembered: one never knew when--or if--crews returned from these grim -expansion campaigns of humanity. - -... Jamison had another impression. He remembered his days as a -professional fighter and that last, rough brawl when he hadn't _quite_ -made champion. It still rankled. The voice was that of his opponent, -in the seventh round--just when Jamison's knees started to buckle. The -sly, calculated insults in the clinches, intended to make him lose his -head. They had accomplished their purpose. He had charged in slugging, -when he should have hung on--or run backward until his wind returned. -From then on he became a has-been, working steadily downward, until the -manpower needs of humanity had offered an opportunity to pick another -career. His scarred lips, remembering, were a tight line and his eyes -cold and uncompromising. - - * * * * * - -They'd finished dressing. Murph flipped on the radio again, grinning in -contempt. The voice still vibrated through the ether. - -"... that you blast off immediately or assume responsibility for -the consequences. Interstellar Code states that invaded peoples are -justified in using any tactics...." It clicked off. Murph had been -annoyed by the resemblance to Sitra's voice: perhaps he was homesick. -Jamison's lips vanished into a white line and Forsyth looked around, -rabbit-eyed with astonishment, expecting to see his son emerge from -the piles of supplies and equipment. Self-conscious, none of them said -anything. - -"Okay," said Murph, "Out we go." - -The precision door swung open quietly and the three descended to the -still-smoking ground. Each set up his rapid fire electro-gun, covering -the entrance and then they sat back, waiting. Nothing happened, and -Murph broke the tense silence. - -"Turn on the radio," he looked at Forsyth. "We can hear it from here. -I'll man both guns." - -Forsyth grunted and vanished into the ship. Murph heard the crackle -as equipment warmed up, and listened to the voice of Sitra. Oddly -enough, Jamison tensed as he heard the voice of the present champion, -and Forsyth nearly cried as his son's tones came through the metallic -speaker. But all the voices said the same thing. - -"... subject to unprincipled attack to resist invasion of our homeland. -This is the last time this warning will be broadcast." The receiver -clicked, then dropped into the monotonous hum of a radio on an unused -but still alert wavelength. - -Forsyth returned and the three men sat, each back of an electro-gun, -alert eyes scanning the alien landscape. From over a slight rise a mile -off, a figure approached the ship. Murph blinked, doubting his senses, -confused, then his roar broke the silence of the strange world. - -"Sitra!" Just one word, but that's all he could do. She looked as she -had when he'd left on this expedition, when they had said goodbye. -Sparkling with sequins in her dressing room, undulating with feathers -in the right places, she walked toward him with the feline grace he'd -learned to love. - -"Sitra!" he shouted again. Astonished, he deserted his position behind -the gun and started running across the plain. Gracefully, daintily, -encountering difficulties because of her spiked heels on the rough -terrain, she smiled bravely and hurried toward him. - -Forsyth saw the approaching figure too. He tensed with disbelief and -surprise and then his voice rose excitedly. - -"Jimmy, _Jimmy!_" What was his boy doing _here_? Reason faded as he -watched his nine-year-old son stumbling toward the ship. He unfastened -his harness and slipped from behind the gun: _his_ boy on an alien -planet, confronting unknown dangers! He must--_must_--get him back to -the ship and the little ring of certainty behind the guns. Forsyth -started across the level space, grateful that the towering hulk of -Murph had recognized his boy and would, on this unknown world, help -bring the kid back to comparative safety. In six hours, now, the -fleet would be here. The boy could be sent home on one of the capital -ships.... - - * * * * * - -Behind him Jamison watched the two figures running away. His face froze -into granite. Rage and resentment surged within him. Across the plain -he saw the man who had stolen, yes, _stolen_, the championship from -him. The fighter loped toward him casually, sneering and confident. -Jamison felt a surge like an electric shock across his shoulders. His -teeth ground together and he could hear their roaring within his ears. -Deliberately he moved from behind his gun, started at a fighter's dog -trot toward his opponent. It occurred to him that Murph and Forsyth -would beat him there. He was glad they were willing to help, but for -the sake of his own integrity he considered this _his_ fight. - -Jamison ran swiftly then. He passed Forsyth and Murph, determined to be -the first to reach the one man he hated. He sprinted eagerly, sucking -the strange air chemicals of this world into his lungs. He was short -of breath. Behind him he heard the heavy thudding of Murph plunging -and plowing toward him, and in addition, the light but rapid steps of -Forsyth. By now he didn't care. He was confronting his opponent. - -Dropping into a crouch, Jamison moved in. Feet wide, tense; there -would be no mistake, no error, this time. His fist lashed out and -his opponent fell on the strange and powdery dust of a strange world -millions of miles from their first fight. - -The man started struggling up--and again flat-footed, tense, fists like -crunching sledge hammers, Jamison dove at him. - -And then it happened. Murph hit Jamison from the side. Raw and choking -with rage, Murph clubbed, groped, kicked, fouled, until the ex-fighter -fell in the pale and strange dust. Murph's voice was hoarse and shaking: - -"Hit my woman, will you!" he screamed in rage. - -Jamison tried to rally, but each time he moved Murph's fists slammed -against his face and head. - -There was a final crash as the back of his head struck against the -rocks on the ground. Jamison lay in the dust on an alien planet and -from behind his right ear gray and reddish matter oozed. He didn't move. - -Murph stood up. He looked again at Sitra. He was choked and tired, -standing there, and as he grasped for breath, Forsyth ran by him, ran -up to her. Angrily he watched. Forsyth running up to _his_ woman! What -was wrong with these men? Murph saw Forsyth put his arms around Sitra, -and say--meaninglessly to Murph--"Jimmy, Jimmy!" - -Again a red rage filled Murph. He dove forward, smashed into Forsyth, -and the navigator reeled backwards. As he fell back, his feet tangled -in the scrubby vegetation of the planet, he reached toward his belt and -his electro-gun jerked free from the holster. He saw the bull shape of -Murph over him, an enraged beast, and as he fell, the twin electrodes -shot out an energy stream. Fear and hatred tensed his nerves, but -despite the emotion, he set the range right. The sparks arced together -just in front of the great bulk of Murph. There was a crackling and -the smell of burning flesh, then a surprised look upon Murph's face. -The surprise turned to rage and the last thing Forsyth saw was Murph -falling down on him, his clothes and his chest burned away until the -ribs showed, animal rage welling from his lips. - -A figure stood fifty feet away and watched this drama. Murph, blood -coughing from his mouth and nose, the great muscles of his chest -nothing but crisp burned meat, reached for Forsyth, picked him up, -holding him over his head as an ape would a man, and slammed him again -and again to the ground. - -The final time Murph tried to lift Forsyth, his strength gave out. He -dropped Forsyth's limp form, coughed in a final paroxysm, and fell -beside Forsyth and Jamison. - -The figure which stood fifty feet away turned and walked leisurely -back over the rise. - -Now, it was not a fighter, and it was not Jimmy, and it was not Sitra. -It was a denizen of the planet and it looked like no human. - -Shortly thereafter the all-wave radio in the deadly, powerful silvery -needle standing serenely on the strange world blared again. - -"... in accordance with Interstellar Code we have asked that we not be -invaded and are warning you that according to Article 19, Section 3, -fleets which invade a peaceful people become subject to unprincipled -attack, even to the use of psychological weapons." - - * * * * * - -Five hours away the main fleet streaked toward the planet. The Admiral -looked at the tape reports from the scout ship and at transcripts of -the recorded warning. - -"Nuts!" he said. "We go in." - -He felt an odd, intuitive twinge. The voice was so much like his -mother's--and she hadn't been well when he'd last seen her. Beside -him the Radioman busily, tersely, sent out landing instructions. He -felt irritable: the voice had sounded just like Peggy--that no-good, -cheating!... He shrugged: just imagination. - -In a diminishing spiral, the fleet swung around the planet while the -Admiral scanned the screen for a free landing site. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LEAVE, EARTHMEN--OR DIE! *** - -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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