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+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.
+
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #66590 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66590)
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-The Project Gutenberg eBook of Problem Planet, by Russ Winterbotham
-
-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: Problem Planet
-
-Author: Russ Winterbotham
-
-Release Date: October 22, 2021 [eBook #66590]
-
-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 PROBLEM PLANET ***
-
-
-
-
-
- PROBLEM PLANET
-
- By Russ Winterbotham
-
- A spacewreck presents many complications
- not in the rule book. Take survival--it's quite
- a basic instinct--but to some, so is politics!
-
- [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
- Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy
- June 1955
- Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
- the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
-
-
-Quibblers may shove dictionaries in my face till the end of the
-universe and I will always maintain that almost anything you can name
-is a matter of good luck or bad. Every great man owes his success to
-luck of some sort. What made him great is what he did with his luck
-after he got it.
-
-Had I been born eleven years before Senator Clive Littlebrook, I might
-have been brilliant to the point of stupidity, as he was. Nobody
-planned that I should be 24 when he was 35, and a space pilot instead
-of a senator. He had eleven years to get smarter than me. But all of
-his brilliance and all of my youthful innocence couldn't have prevented
-our being spacewrecked on a lonely, uninhabited planet. We knew it was
-lonely and thought it was uninhabited, as it almost was. It was the
-second planet of an unimportant sun, Yuga 16, which lay unexpectedly in
-our path through hyperspace while I drove him to an important committee
-meeting on Arcturus III. As a result I had to dump our fuel to alter
-our mass in order to avoid a direct collision. And naturally there was
-nothing else to do but land on II Yuga 16.
-
-So we were marooned and even if our radio had been powerful enough to
-send out an S O S it would take years for our message to get anywhere.
-
-Clive was philosophical about it. After cussing me for three hours, he
-decided that we'd better make the best of our situation. We could fight
-when we had less important things to do.
-
-"I have always maintained," he said, "that even in its smallest
-detail, a human settlement must be political. And I've also believed
-that politics must be designed to fit environment."
-
-He always talked like that, so I wasn't particularly impressed till he
-had talked a few minutes more, expanding his point.
-
-"--so on this planet we will have a one-party, autocratic rule. I will
-be the head of the government, and you will be my constituency."
-
-"Huh?"
-
-"It is perfectly clear. Dave," said Clive. "I have had experience in
-political matters, therefore I'm more suited to governing the planet.
-You follow my orders and do all the work, and I'll do the planning and
-thinking."
-
-These might not have been his exact words, but that was what he said.
-I was mad enough to want to sock him right there. But I knew that we
-might get rescued someday and he could throw his weight around almost
-anywhere. The only time I had the authority to shove Clive Littlebrook
-around was when he was a passenger on my spaceship, which he certainly
-wasn't now.
-
-"The first thing to do will be to find shelter, food and water," he
-said.
-
-"Don't be silly," I said, "we've got all those things on our spaceship."
-
-"We don't know how long we'll be here," said Clive. "Since the supplies
-on our ship are limited, we must try to be self-supporting."
-
-I've always liked that fable about the oak and the willow trees. One
-was big and strong, the other wasn't, but the willow tree lasted
-longest because it bent and swayed before the wind. So with Senator
-Clive Littlebrook, I made like a willow tree. I humored him.
-
- * * * * *
-
-I started out to explore the spot where our ship landed. A couple of
-miles away were some rolling hills, covered with trees. Since we had
-seen a number of small animals, I figured there would be game there,
-probably water too.
-
-Clive came with me, not to explore, but because he couldn't order me
-around at long distance and there's nothing worse to a politician than
-not being able to do any politicking. I was stuck with him.
-
-We hit a jackpot. Not only was there a clear stream running through
-a valley in the hills, but there was an abundance of small game. And
-there was a ruined city.
-
-Sometime in the past, this planet had been inhabited. Then something
-happened. Epidemic, war, famine, drought or something we didn't know
-about had wiped out the intelligent life to a man. This had happened so
-long ago that even the bones had turned to dust. But the shell of his
-cities remained.
-
-"Too bad," said Clive, "this is going to make your task more difficult."
-
-"Why?"
-
-"You'll have the added duties of being the police force, the sanitary
-commission and the city council," he said.
-
-"But there's no need for those things," I protested. "There's nobody
-to govern."
-
-"You will also have to be the populace."
-
-I could see that I was going to have the splittingest personality in
-the galaxy.
-
-"We'll also have to establish a monetary system," Clive went on.
-"Unless there's trade, our city will perish."
-
-"That's one thing we don't have to do," I said. We had been standing in
-the stone framework of a building and I had kicked a pile of dust with
-the toe of my boot. Under the dust was a mound of square, flat objects
-of gold. Coins.
-
-"We've already got money."
-
-Clive pounced on them. "My word," he explained. "We're wealthy!"
-
-"Nuts," I said. "What can you buy with it?"
-
-"It's gold," he said. "There may be a bank in these ruins!"
-
-"You were talking awhile ago about food, shelter and water," I said.
-"We've got the shelter and water, but we still got to have food, unless
-we want those little rabbits for a steady diet." The animals weren't
-rabbits, but they were about rabbit-size.
-
-"We've got to have economics," said Clive. "I'll pay you for all the
-food you bring in, and you can buy your food from me."
-
-It sounded crazy, but I made like a willow again.
-
-In order for him to have enough money to pay me to work, I had to find
-a bank. A good candidate seemed to be a building larger than the others
-that nestled against a hillside, surrounded by trees. It had a facade
-supported by fluted columns and it was in pretty good shape since the
-hill probably sheltered it from a lot of the weather that had taken
-such a toll from the other buildings.
-
-With Clive at my heels, I went inside. It was light, since the roof had
-rotted away. It was a temple with a hollow square sacrificial altar in
-the center of a large hall. And it was better than a bank.
-
-Scattered everywhere were gold coins, such as we had already found. In
-addition there were bars of blackened silver, glass jugs filled with
-precious stones, solid gold candlesticks, ornaments and jewelry.
-
-"You will be well paid, my subject," said Clive. "People of every
-planet in the universe will envy the people of this planet."
-
-"What's the name of our planet, by the way?" I asked.
-
-The answer came in a different voice: "Up to now it's been Lonesome."
-
- * * * * *
-
-I had my hands full of coins, but as I heard the voice they slipped out
-of my fingers and fell to the stone floor with a clanking sound. I
-wheeled around and in the red sunlight that streamed through the broken
-roof, I saw a human figure. A woman.
-
-At first I thought she was smiling, and then I saw that her lips were
-grim and tense. What made her look more formidable than anything was
-what she held in her hand. A large-size, old fashioned thirty-eight on
-a forty-five frame.
-
-She wasn't the ghost of a vanished race. She was real, from the top of
-her wavy, black hair, to the crude hand-made sandals on her feet. Her
-eyes were soft and brown, but they glinted like the flash of polished
-steel. Her figure was well proportioned and graceful in its curves, but
-there was no mistaking hardened muscles. Her clothing, which included
-shorts and a sack-like blouse, seemed to have been woven from grass
-fibers, and animal skins.
-
-I got tired of trying to watch the gun and her curves at the same time,
-so I forgot about the gun, since she wasn't pulling the trigger.
-
-"Yes," she said, "it used to be Lonesome, but now it looks like we'll
-have to call it the Problem Planet."
-
-"Good heavens," said Dave. "A fifty-percent increase in population!"
-
-"Let's not talk about increasing the population just yet," said the
-girl. "Let's get acquainted." She smiled and it made her look lots
-nicer than when she was grim. She spoke to me. "Drop your pistol
-holster on the floor and then frisk your friend."
-
-I'd been so used to acting like a willow that it was no trouble at all
-to obey. Besides, I figured it was only custom that made a king outrank
-a queen. On a new planet a little change might work wonders.
-
-"My name's Rosemary," she said, when I had finished. "This is my planet
-and you're trespassing."
-
-"Fiddlesticks," said Clive. "This is not your planet. I'll admit you
-might have squatter's rights on a limited portion of it, but you can't
-possibly claim it all."
-
-"Here's my deed," she said, waving the gun. "Who are you?"
-
-"He's Senator Clive Littlebrook," I explained. "I'm Dave Camptain, a
-space pilot."
-
-"I'm also the supreme court on this planet," said Clive, "and I'm
-handing down a decision right now. Your claim to the whole planet is
-invalid." While Rosemary looked as if she wanted to pull the trigger,
-he turned to me. "You're the clerk of the court, so write down my
-decision: State vs. Rosemary--uh, what's your last name, my dear?"
-
-"None of your business," said Rosemary.
-
-"Oh well," said Clive. "Adam and Eve didn't have last names, and until
-the population is heavier, we won't need last names here."
-
-"Here it's going to be Eve and Adam--if things progress that far," said
-Rosemary.
-
-"My dear," said Clive, "you must realize that you belong to the
-minority party. It will give us a chance to practice democracy in its
-simplest form. The first thing we'll vote on is disarmament. All in
-favor, say Aye!"
-
-"Aye!" I said.
-
-"All opposed, signify by the usual sign."
-
-"No!" said Rosemary.
-
-"I shall have to cast the deciding vote," said Clive. "In view of
-peaceful relations, I shall have to vote Aye." He smiled and extended
-his hand. "Give me the gun, my dear."
-
-"No," said Rosemary.
-
-"My dear, you are establishing a bad precedent. Your stand may lead to
-war later on. You wouldn't want the blood of millions to be on your
-head?"
-
-"I don't want my blood to be on yours either," said Rosemary.
-
-Clive turned to me. "Dave, as chief of the police, it is your duty to
-disarm the woman. She is violating the law by possessing firearms."
-
-"We won't harm you, Rosemary," I said. I could see her point of view,
-but on the other hand nobody likes to have a gun pointed at him.
-
-"No," said Rosemary.
-
-"Listen to reason," I said. "There are two of us and only one of you.
-Sooner or later you're going to have to sleep, while we can take turns
-sleeping. You can't keep that gun pointed at us forever. So you might
-as well be a good sport."
-
-"Uh-uh," said Rosemary.
-
-"My dear," said Clive, "you are an earthling, certainly your instincts
-must be for the democratic way of life. A gun speaks of tyranny."
-
-It wasn't hard to figure she was an earthling. She spoke perfect
-English and a thirty-eight on a forty-five frame isn't found on other
-planets, unless earthmen brought them there. While I was curious about
-her origin, I figured that at the moment there were more important
-problems to solve.
-
-This one looked near solution. As I recovered from my initial shock of
-seeing a beautiful girl pointing a gun at me, I noticed the gun more
-than I did at first. There were unmistakable signs of rust, and a rusty
-gun is often more dangerous to the shooter than to the shootee. It was
-so rusty, in fact, that I doubted if it would fire.
-
-So I simply stepped forward and grabbed it.
-
- * * * * *
-
-She seemed to have been waiting for this move. No sooner had I jerked
-the gun out of her hand, than she seized my wrists, turned, and pulled
-me over her shoulder in a snap mare. The next thing I knew, I had
-landed in a heap.
-
-"Want to try two falls out of three?" she asked.
-
-"No thanks," I said. I got up and examined my bruises.
-
-"As long as Rosemary is disarmed," said Clive, "we'll go ahead with our
-plans for a democracy. The first step is a free election. I'll nominate
-myself for president and general manager of the planet."
-
-"I'll nominate--" Rosemary began.
-
-"Sorry," said Clive, "nominations are closed. Since there is no
-opposition, I'll move and second that I'm elected unanimously. May I
-congratulate you on your wisdom, since I'm the only one of our group
-who has had political experience."
-
-"Hey," I said, "aren't you pushing this thing a little fast?"
-
-"It is necessary to establish a civilized government quickly," said
-Clive. "And I assure you, I'll be bi-partisan in my government.
-I'll appoint you, Dave, as secretary of state, and you, Rosemary, as
-secretary of--hmm, let's see--how about secretary of labor?"
-
-"No," said Rosemary.
-
-Clive didn't seem to be upset. "Well, we must expect opposition from
-the minority party. It's your privilege to refuse the nomination."
-
-"Comes the revolution," said Rosemary.
-
-"I was hoping we'd have no subversion," said Clive, "but if there is,
-it will be dealt with promptly." He turned to me. "Now I think we'd
-better go about checking our national resources." He leaned over and
-picked up a handful of gold coins and stuffed them into his pocket.
-Then he helped himself to some diamonds, emeralds and rubies.
-
-Rosemary turned on her heel and walked toward the door. When she
-reached it, she turned a moment: "When you get hungry, or need me, I'll
-be around." Then she was gone.
-
-"That reminds me," said Clive. "We'd better look for food."
-
-He stooped and picked his gun off the floor.
-
-"Uh-uh," I said. "You ruled against armament."
-
-Clive hesitated. "But we should protect ourselves against wild
-animals."
-
-"Rosemary has been living here for quite a while," I said. "She
-admitted her gun was useless, so I don't think there are any dangerous
-animals. And I'm certainly not going to let her laugh at me by carrying
-a gun to protect myself from her, even--even if she is a lady wrestler."
-
-Clive nodded. "I see your point. But if we leave the guns here, she may
-get them."
-
-"I'll take care of that." I picked up both weapons and hunted till I
-found what probably had been a well. I dropped them into it, albeit
-with misgivings. Still, a woman's laughter is something that masculine
-pride would rather die than face. Women do laugh at men, but they do it
-politely, or where men can't hear them. Maybe Rosemary was laughing now.
-
-Without the guns, though, we had a more difficult food problem. We
-would have to trap animals, or depend on fish, if fish existed in the
-stream that ran through the ruined city. And there were.
-
-I sharpened a couple of sticks with my knife and we tried spearing
-fish. We decided that it would take a lot of skill, and probably days
-of practice. We'd have to weave some nets, and this would take time
-too. I was about to suggest that we go back to the spaceship and live
-on what we had, when Clive found a clam.
-
-It was different from the terrestrial clam, in that it was almost
-egg-shaped, but there was no mistaking what it was. Presently Clive had
-dug up quite a pile of them from the stream and I had a little fire
-glowing under some stones. On top of the stones, I piled wet moss to
-steam the clams and I was just about ready to have a clam bake, when
-Clive started to groan.
-
-"What's the matter?" I asked.
-
-"I ate a clam," he said. "Raw. It-it's poisoning me!"
-
-Presently he was lying on the ground, writhing.
-
- * * * * *
-
-I was trying to stick my fingers down his throat when Rosemary
-appeared. "He won't die," she said. "But I wouldn't advise eating those
-clams. Nearly all of the fish are poisonous. He'll be all right in a
-few minutes."
-
-"What are we going to eat?" I asked. "Not that we're starving, but the
-supply of food on our spaceship won't last forever."
-
-"I have a garden," said Rosemary, "and I've domesticated some
-livestock."
-
-"My--uh--dear," said Clive, between groans. "I appoint you Secretary of
-Agriculture."
-
-"Let's get some things straight," said Rosemary. "This planet is not
-going to be like the earth."
-
-"But a democracy, my dear--"
-
-"Okay, it's a democracy. I'm not opposed to freedom of government, but
-there are a lot of things outside government that need changing. Back
-on earth, man is the dominant sex. On this planet, woman will be."
-
-"But there are two men, only one woman," Clive said. He was breathing a
-little easier now and I judged he was recovering.
-
-"All the more reason why woman should be dominant," said Rosemary. "I'm
-more valuable."
-
-"We're stronger. Women must have men to protect them."
-
-"Any time you want to test your theory that you're stronger than I am,
-I'm willing," said Rosemary. And she looked perfectly able to take care
-of herself. I didn't know then how long she had been on the planet,
-but she was hard as a rock. She'd taken care of herself in all kinds
-of weather, done everything a man could do in fighting against nature.
-Being a spaceman is no way to develop your biceps and neither is being
-a senator.
-
-"Hmm," said Clive. "Perhaps there should be more equality between
-the sexes. But most of the things that women misinterpret are not
-discrimination, but adoration."
-
-"I don't care what it was," said Rosemary, "and I didn't say anything
-about equality. Starting tomorrow, you boys will do what I tell you
-to."
-
-"But I'm the President!" Clive protested.
-
-"And I'm the boss," said Rosemary.
-
- * * * * *
-
-We fixed up some of the better preserved buildings into houses.
-
-We made tools out of sticks, stones, gold and silver. We trapped
-animals and domesticated them and we planted gardens and wove clothing
-out of grass and fur.
-
-Rosemary showed us how to do most of the things and then left us to do
-them while she explored the ruins and dug up items that told how the
-vanished race lived.
-
-"They were humanoid," she told us once. "I found a frieze that pictured
-the inhabitants. While the art was primitive, it was easy to see that
-they were a great deal like men. Probably their civilization would
-compare favorably with that of Rome in Caesar's time, although I
-haven't found much bronze. Probably they had iron which has rusted
-away. I still haven't found what killed them, but for that matter no
-one really knows what killed the dinosaur. It's probably due to the
-fact that there's a critical point in the development of any species,
-when that point is reached, the species dies."
-
-"But man went farther on earth than here," I said.
-
-"Sure, because the critical point on the earth is higher than on
-Problem planet." She paused, and added: "At least that's what my father
-thought."
-
-"Your father?"
-
-"Yes. He was an astro-archeologist," she explained. "He brought me here
-when I was a little girl, only twelve years old, and he died here. I've
-lived alone in this ruined city ever since."
-
-"Didn't he have a spaceship?"
-
-"Sure. But I didn't know how to run it."
-
-"You mean it's still here? Can it operate?"
-
-"I suppose so. I don't know anything about spaceships."
-
-I almost yelled. "Why didn't you say so? We could have been on our way
-to civilization long ago!"
-
-She nodded toward Clive. "He's so happy here, being the President of
-Everything."
-
-"Good heavens, girl!" I said, "Clive's a politician. He's got to have
-people. A whole planetful of people to really be happy. Right now
-he's--"
-
-I stopped. Rosemary had tears in her eyes.
-
-Clive had been busy grinding some nuts into a sort of flour and when he
-noticed Rosemary wiping her eyes, he rose and came over to where I'd
-been weaving while I talked to her.
-
-"What's the matter?" he asked.
-
-I decided to break the news by easy stages. "Supposing we had a way to
-get off this planet. To go to the earth, or III Arcturus, or somewhere
-we could live like human beings again. Wouldn't you want to go?"
-
-Clive laughed. "I've never had so much fun in my life," he said. "Here
-I'm everything I wanted to be. I've got a nice political boss, and I'm
-the chief executive of a whole planet. I'm also the Supreme Court and
-one third of the voters. I've got more wealth than a nabob, and no
-pressing appointments with people I don't like."
-
-Rosemary looked up at him.
-
-"You like me?"
-
-"Certainly," Clive said. "Woman has always been the dominant sex--the
-stronger sex if you like. On earth she invented the idea that man
-was the Big Shot, but that was to keep men from being discontented.
-Equality of the sexes always has been a myth, but I didn't realize it
-until civilization was reduced to its simplest form."
-
-"What about you, Dave?" Rosemary asked.
-
-"Personally, I like life on easier terms," I said. "Not that it isn't
-pleasant here, but we have to work so hard. And we've been lucky not
-to have had any real sickness, except for the time Clive ate a clam
-and that wasn't serious. But sooner or later we're going to need the
-science of medicine. And if we don't need that, we're going to have to
-have something else that civilization has and we haven't. Furthermore,
-man is a gregarious animal. He may kid himself about how nice it would
-be to live on a desert island, but no matter how anti-social he is, he
-doesn't feel right without others around him. Even if it's only to be
-disagreeable with them."
-
-"Isn't civilization a lot like the gold and precious stones in the
-temple?" asked Clive. "The stuff is no good unless we need it."
-
-"But it's wrong to have useful things and not use them," I said. "It's
-miserly."
-
-"Okay," said Clive. "But we have no other choice."
-
-"But we have," Rosemary broke in. "I just told Dave that I have a
-spaceship. You can go away if you wish, or stay. It's up to you. I
-didn't tell you before, because I hadn't made up my own mind. Now I
-have."
-
-"It's my mind that has to be made up," I said. "I'm the only one of
-us who can pilot a spaceship. No matter what you want to do, I've got
-quite a say in the matter."
-
- * * * * *
-
-Clive sat down on the ground beside me. "So you're the most important
-one. You're the king for a day. If we want to go back to civilization,
-you're the only one who can take us."
-
-"Right," I said. "When we landed, you were top man because you were
-a big wheel. Right away Rosemary took the sceptre because she was a
-woman, and women are scarce. Now I'm President of Everything."
-
-"It's a democracy," said Rosemary. "We'll vote on it."
-
-"In view of the importance of the occasion, we should have a debate
-first," said Clive.
-
-"You first, Dave," said Rosemary.
-
-"Okay," I said. "We've shared everything and since you've both probably
-guessed it anyhow, I'll admit that I'm in love with Rosemary. She
-hasn't given me the chance to tell her alone, so I'll tell the world.
-Here I've got a 50-50 chance of getting her, maybe better, because
-I'm nearer her own age. But away from here the odds go down. I'll go
-if Rosemary goes, and if she'll have me. Otherwise, we'll stay. Maybe
-Clive and I will have to fight for you, Rosemary."
-
-"You next, Clive," said Rosemary.
-
-"If Rosemary goes with you, Dave," said Clive, "we'll fight. We're
-about evenly matched. Perhaps you're a little younger, but I'm still in
-my prime and I've got experience. If Rosemary stays with me, and lets
-you go away, there'll be no fight. In either event, it looks like I'm
-stuck here, because I can't imagine you taking Rosemary and I back to
-civilization if you lost her."
-
-I looked at Rosemary. "Your vote," I said.
-
-"You see, Dave," she said, "I'm still the most important person on this
-planet. I can have almost anything happen, just by the decision I make."
-
-"What is your decision?" asked Clive.
-
-She looked at me, then at Clive. "You started out playing politics,"
-she said, "and it all comes back to the same old thing. Man and woman.
-Maybe that's politics, because nations are based on the family. But
-we have proved one thing anyhow. Even in a civilization of only three
-people, each one has his moments of supremacy. And there must always be
-compromise, or bloodshed. If we stay, the compromise must be polyandry.
-I must accept both of you as mates. If we go, one of you must be
-compensated for losing me. Supposing one takes all the gold we can
-carry away, the other takes me?"
-
-"If Clive will take the gold," I said.
-
-"If Dave will take the gold," said Clive.
-
-"See?" she smiled. "Gold isn't the most important thing in the world.
-I'm much more valuable than all the gold you can ever use."
-
-"There must be other women in the galaxy that Dave can console himself
-with," Clive said. "That gold would certainly help him find her."
-
-"I was just about to suggest the same thing, pertaining to you," I
-said. "But as far as I'm concerned, Rosemary is my choice. She doesn't
-care whether I'm wealthy or not."
-
-"There must be a solution to this problem," Clive said.
-
-"There is," said Rosemary.
-
-Clive rose to his feet and I did too. Rosemary didn't seem to expect
-this and she was late getting up.
-
-"In politics," said Clive, "it is known as the coup d'etat."
-
-He swung and I swung. Then we both swung while Rosemary screamed.
-Suddenly everything got black.
-
-When I woke up, I thought I had underestimated Clive, but I saw him
-sleeping peacefully and I also observed he had a lump on his head, like
-I had. Rosemary was sitting on a chunk of marble watching us, holding a
-small stout club in her hand.
-
-"As soon as you feel strong enough," she said, "you can start loading
-gold onto my spaceship. It's over in the next valley. We're all going
-back to civilization. The wars there are more impersonal."
-
-"You've made your choice?" I asked.
-
-"I have," she said, "but to avoid bloodshed, I'll not reveal it till we
-get home--unless one of you figures it out."
-
-"What happens then?"
-
-"The loser gets locked up or placed under guard. I don't think,
-if you're the loser you'd do anything silly, like cracking up the
-spaceship. After all, there'll be a fortune in gold and consolation
-with another girl. I'm sure there is another girl in the universe."
-
-At the time, though I didn't think there was.
-
- * * * * *
-
-When we landed on Earth, we divided the spoils three ways because
-Rosemary decided not to take either of us.
-
-"Neither of you asked me to choose between you," she said, "and that
-was the way to decide. You should have said: 'Take one of us and
-the other will abide by your decision.' That is what is known as
-compromise, even if it doesn't seem that way. The trouble with men is
-that few of them can lose gracefully. They've got to start a war rather
-than a compromise."
-
-"But losing isn't compromising," I pointed out. "If you give up
-something and gain something, that's a compromise."
-
-"How do you know you haven't gained by losing me," she said.
-
-I often wonder which of us she preferred back on Problem Planet. But
-considering the fact that we were probably the first men she got to
-know after her father died, I think she made a wise choice. Clive
-married a woman lawyer, and I married a chorus girl.
-
-Rosemary? She married a wrestler that could throw her.
-
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- <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=us-ascii" />
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-<p style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Problem Planet, by Russ Winterbotham</p>
-<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>
-
-<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Problem Planet</p>
- <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Russ Winterbotham</p>
-<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: October 22, 2021 [eBook #66590]</p>
-<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p>
- <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net</p>
-<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PROBLEM PLANET ***</div>
-
-<div class="titlepage">
-
-<h1>PROBLEM PLANET</h1>
-
-<h2>By Russ Winterbotham</h2>
-
-<p>A spacewreck presents many complications<br />
-not in the rule book. Take survival&mdash;it's quite<br />
-a basic instinct&mdash;but to some, so is politics!</p>
-
-<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br />
-Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy<br />
-June 1955<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>Quibblers may shove dictionaries in my face till the end of the
-universe and I will always maintain that almost anything you can name
-is a matter of good luck or bad. Every great man owes his success to
-luck of some sort. What made him great is what he did with his luck
-after he got it.</p>
-
-<p>Had I been born eleven years before Senator Clive Littlebrook, I might
-have been brilliant to the point of stupidity, as he was. Nobody
-planned that I should be 24 when he was 35, and a space pilot instead
-of a senator. He had eleven years to get smarter than me. But all of
-his brilliance and all of my youthful innocence couldn't have prevented
-our being spacewrecked on a lonely, uninhabited planet. We knew it was
-lonely and thought it was uninhabited, as it almost was. It was the
-second planet of an unimportant sun, Yuga 16, which lay unexpectedly in
-our path through hyperspace while I drove him to an important committee
-meeting on Arcturus III. As a result I had to dump our fuel to alter
-our mass in order to avoid a direct collision. And naturally there was
-nothing else to do but land on II Yuga 16.</p>
-
-<p>So we were marooned and even if our radio had been powerful enough to
-send out an S O S it would take years for our message to get anywhere.</p>
-
-<p>Clive was philosophical about it. After cussing me for three hours, he
-decided that we'd better make the best of our situation. We could fight
-when we had less important things to do.</p>
-
-<p>"I have always maintained," he said, "that even in its smallest
-detail, a human settlement must be political. And I've also believed
-that politics must be designed to fit environment."</p>
-
-<p>He always talked like that, so I wasn't particularly impressed till he
-had talked a few minutes more, expanding his point.</p>
-
-<p>"&mdash;so on this planet we will have a one-party, autocratic rule. I will
-be the head of the government, and you will be my constituency."</p>
-
-<p>"Huh?"</p>
-
-<p>"It is perfectly clear. Dave," said Clive. "I have had experience in
-political matters, therefore I'm more suited to governing the planet.
-You follow my orders and do all the work, and I'll do the planning and
-thinking."</p>
-
-<p>These might not have been his exact words, but that was what he said.
-I was mad enough to want to sock him right there. But I knew that we
-might get rescued someday and he could throw his weight around almost
-anywhere. The only time I had the authority to shove Clive Littlebrook
-around was when he was a passenger on my spaceship, which he certainly
-wasn't now.</p>
-
-<p>"The first thing to do will be to find shelter, food and water," he
-said.</p>
-
-<p>"Don't be silly," I said, "we've got all those things on our spaceship."</p>
-
-<p>"We don't know how long we'll be here," said Clive. "Since the supplies
-on our ship are limited, we must try to be self-supporting."</p>
-
-<p>I've always liked that fable about the oak and the willow trees. One
-was big and strong, the other wasn't, but the willow tree lasted
-longest because it bent and swayed before the wind. So with Senator
-Clive Littlebrook, I made like a willow tree. I humored him.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>I started out to explore the spot where our ship landed. A couple of
-miles away were some rolling hills, covered with trees. Since we had
-seen a number of small animals, I figured there would be game there,
-probably water too.</p>
-
-<p>Clive came with me, not to explore, but because he couldn't order me
-around at long distance and there's nothing worse to a politician than
-not being able to do any politicking. I was stuck with him.</p>
-
-<p>We hit a jackpot. Not only was there a clear stream running through
-a valley in the hills, but there was an abundance of small game. And
-there was a ruined city.</p>
-
-<p>Sometime in the past, this planet had been inhabited. Then something
-happened. Epidemic, war, famine, drought or something we didn't know
-about had wiped out the intelligent life to a man. This had happened so
-long ago that even the bones had turned to dust. But the shell of his
-cities remained.</p>
-
-<p>"Too bad," said Clive, "this is going to make your task more difficult."</p>
-
-<p>"Why?"</p>
-
-<p>"You'll have the added duties of being the police force, the sanitary
-commission and the city council," he said.</p>
-
-<p>"But there's no need for those things," I protested. "There's nobody
-to govern."</p>
-
-<p>"You will also have to be the populace."</p>
-
-<p>I could see that I was going to have the splittingest personality in
-the galaxy.</p>
-
-<p>"We'll also have to establish a monetary system," Clive went on.
-"Unless there's trade, our city will perish."</p>
-
-<p>"That's one thing we don't have to do," I said. We had been standing in
-the stone framework of a building and I had kicked a pile of dust with
-the toe of my boot. Under the dust was a mound of square, flat objects
-of gold. Coins.</p>
-
-<p>"We've already got money."</p>
-
-<p>Clive pounced on them. "My word," he explained. "We're wealthy!"</p>
-
-<p>"Nuts," I said. "What can you buy with it?"</p>
-
-<p>"It's gold," he said. "There may be a bank in these ruins!"</p>
-
-<p>"You were talking awhile ago about food, shelter and water," I said.
-"We've got the shelter and water, but we still got to have food, unless
-we want those little rabbits for a steady diet." The animals weren't
-rabbits, but they were about rabbit-size.</p>
-
-<p>"We've got to have economics," said Clive. "I'll pay you for all the
-food you bring in, and you can buy your food from me."</p>
-
-<p>It sounded crazy, but I made like a willow again.</p>
-
-<p>In order for him to have enough money to pay me to work, I had to find
-a bank. A good candidate seemed to be a building larger than the others
-that nestled against a hillside, surrounded by trees. It had a facade
-supported by fluted columns and it was in pretty good shape since the
-hill probably sheltered it from a lot of the weather that had taken
-such a toll from the other buildings.</p>
-
-<p>With Clive at my heels, I went inside. It was light, since the roof had
-rotted away. It was a temple with a hollow square sacrificial altar in
-the center of a large hall. And it was better than a bank.</p>
-
-<p>Scattered everywhere were gold coins, such as we had already found. In
-addition there were bars of blackened silver, glass jugs filled with
-precious stones, solid gold candlesticks, ornaments and jewelry.</p>
-
-<p>"You will be well paid, my subject," said Clive. "People of every
-planet in the universe will envy the people of this planet."</p>
-
-<p>"What's the name of our planet, by the way?" I asked.</p>
-
-<p>The answer came in a different voice: "Up to now it's been Lonesome."</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>I had my hands full of coins, but as I heard the voice they slipped out
-of my fingers and fell to the stone floor with a clanking sound. I
-wheeled around and in the red sunlight that streamed through the broken
-roof, I saw a human figure. A woman.</p>
-
-<p>At first I thought she was smiling, and then I saw that her lips were
-grim and tense. What made her look more formidable than anything was
-what she held in her hand. A large-size, old fashioned thirty-eight on
-a forty-five frame.</p>
-
-<p>She wasn't the ghost of a vanished race. She was real, from the top of
-her wavy, black hair, to the crude hand-made sandals on her feet. Her
-eyes were soft and brown, but they glinted like the flash of polished
-steel. Her figure was well proportioned and graceful in its curves, but
-there was no mistaking hardened muscles. Her clothing, which included
-shorts and a sack-like blouse, seemed to have been woven from grass
-fibers, and animal skins.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<div class="figcenter">
- <img src="images/illus.jpg" alt=""/>
-</div>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<p>I got tired of trying to watch the gun and her curves at the same time,
-so I forgot about the gun, since she wasn't pulling the trigger.</p>
-
-<p>"Yes," she said, "it used to be Lonesome, but now it looks like we'll
-have to call it the Problem Planet."</p>
-
-<p>"Good heavens," said Dave. "A fifty-percent increase in population!"</p>
-
-<p>"Let's not talk about increasing the population just yet," said the
-girl. "Let's get acquainted." She smiled and it made her look lots
-nicer than when she was grim. She spoke to me. "Drop your pistol
-holster on the floor and then frisk your friend."</p>
-
-<p>I'd been so used to acting like a willow that it was no trouble at all
-to obey. Besides, I figured it was only custom that made a king outrank
-a queen. On a new planet a little change might work wonders.</p>
-
-<p>"My name's Rosemary," she said, when I had finished. "This is my planet
-and you're trespassing."</p>
-
-<p>"Fiddlesticks," said Clive. "This is not your planet. I'll admit you
-might have squatter's rights on a limited portion of it, but you can't
-possibly claim it all."</p>
-
-<p>"Here's my deed," she said, waving the gun. "Who are you?"</p>
-
-<p>"He's Senator Clive Littlebrook," I explained. "I'm Dave Camptain, a
-space pilot."</p>
-
-<p>"I'm also the supreme court on this planet," said Clive, "and I'm
-handing down a decision right now. Your claim to the whole planet is
-invalid." While Rosemary looked as if she wanted to pull the trigger,
-he turned to me. "You're the clerk of the court, so write down my
-decision: State vs. Rosemary&mdash;uh, what's your last name, my dear?"</p>
-
-<p>"None of your business," said Rosemary.</p>
-
-<p>"Oh well," said Clive. "Adam and Eve didn't have last names, and until
-the population is heavier, we won't need last names here."</p>
-
-<p>"Here it's going to be Eve and Adam&mdash;if things progress that far," said
-Rosemary.</p>
-
-<p>"My dear," said Clive, "you must realize that you belong to the
-minority party. It will give us a chance to practice democracy in its
-simplest form. The first thing we'll vote on is disarmament. All in
-favor, say Aye!"</p>
-
-<p>"Aye!" I said.</p>
-
-<p>"All opposed, signify by the usual sign."</p>
-
-<p>"No!" said Rosemary.</p>
-
-<p>"I shall have to cast the deciding vote," said Clive. "In view of
-peaceful relations, I shall have to vote Aye." He smiled and extended
-his hand. "Give me the gun, my dear."</p>
-
-<p>"No," said Rosemary.</p>
-
-<p>"My dear, you are establishing a bad precedent. Your stand may lead to
-war later on. You wouldn't want the blood of millions to be on your
-head?"</p>
-
-<p>"I don't want my blood to be on yours either," said Rosemary.</p>
-
-<p>Clive turned to me. "Dave, as chief of the police, it is your duty to
-disarm the woman. She is violating the law by possessing firearms."</p>
-
-<p>"We won't harm you, Rosemary," I said. I could see her point of view,
-but on the other hand nobody likes to have a gun pointed at him.</p>
-
-<p>"No," said Rosemary.</p>
-
-<p>"Listen to reason," I said. "There are two of us and only one of you.
-Sooner or later you're going to have to sleep, while we can take turns
-sleeping. You can't keep that gun pointed at us forever. So you might
-as well be a good sport."</p>
-
-<p>"Uh-uh," said Rosemary.</p>
-
-<p>"My dear," said Clive, "you are an earthling, certainly your instincts
-must be for the democratic way of life. A gun speaks of tyranny."</p>
-
-<p>It wasn't hard to figure she was an earthling. She spoke perfect
-English and a thirty-eight on a forty-five frame isn't found on other
-planets, unless earthmen brought them there. While I was curious about
-her origin, I figured that at the moment there were more important
-problems to solve.</p>
-
-<p>This one looked near solution. As I recovered from my initial shock of
-seeing a beautiful girl pointing a gun at me, I noticed the gun more
-than I did at first. There were unmistakable signs of rust, and a rusty
-gun is often more dangerous to the shooter than to the shootee. It was
-so rusty, in fact, that I doubted if it would fire.</p>
-
-<p>So I simply stepped forward and grabbed it.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>She seemed to have been waiting for this move. No sooner had I jerked
-the gun out of her hand, than she seized my wrists, turned, and pulled
-me over her shoulder in a snap mare. The next thing I knew, I had
-landed in a heap.</p>
-
-<p>"Want to try two falls out of three?" she asked.</p>
-
-<p>"No thanks," I said. I got up and examined my bruises.</p>
-
-<p>"As long as Rosemary is disarmed," said Clive, "we'll go ahead with our
-plans for a democracy. The first step is a free election. I'll nominate
-myself for president and general manager of the planet."</p>
-
-<p>"I'll nominate&mdash;" Rosemary began.</p>
-
-<p>"Sorry," said Clive, "nominations are closed. Since there is no
-opposition, I'll move and second that I'm elected unanimously. May I
-congratulate you on your wisdom, since I'm the only one of our group
-who has had political experience."</p>
-
-<p>"Hey," I said, "aren't you pushing this thing a little fast?"</p>
-
-<p>"It is necessary to establish a civilized government quickly," said
-Clive. "And I assure you, I'll be bi-partisan in my government.
-I'll appoint you, Dave, as secretary of state, and you, Rosemary, as
-secretary of&mdash;hmm, let's see&mdash;how about secretary of labor?"</p>
-
-<p>"No," said Rosemary.</p>
-
-<p>Clive didn't seem to be upset. "Well, we must expect opposition from
-the minority party. It's your privilege to refuse the nomination."</p>
-
-<p>"Comes the revolution," said Rosemary.</p>
-
-<p>"I was hoping we'd have no subversion," said Clive, "but if there is,
-it will be dealt with promptly." He turned to me. "Now I think we'd
-better go about checking our national resources." He leaned over and
-picked up a handful of gold coins and stuffed them into his pocket.
-Then he helped himself to some diamonds, emeralds and rubies.</p>
-
-<p>Rosemary turned on her heel and walked toward the door. When she
-reached it, she turned a moment: "When you get hungry, or need me, I'll
-be around." Then she was gone.</p>
-
-<p>"That reminds me," said Clive. "We'd better look for food."</p>
-
-<p>He stooped and picked his gun off the floor.</p>
-
-<p>"Uh-uh," I said. "You ruled against armament."</p>
-
-<p>Clive hesitated. "But we should protect ourselves against wild
-animals."</p>
-
-<p>"Rosemary has been living here for quite a while," I said. "She
-admitted her gun was useless, so I don't think there are any dangerous
-animals. And I'm certainly not going to let her laugh at me by carrying
-a gun to protect myself from her, even&mdash;even if she is a lady wrestler."</p>
-
-<p>Clive nodded. "I see your point. But if we leave the guns here, she may
-get them."</p>
-
-<p>"I'll take care of that." I picked up both weapons and hunted till I
-found what probably had been a well. I dropped them into it, albeit
-with misgivings. Still, a woman's laughter is something that masculine
-pride would rather die than face. Women do laugh at men, but they do it
-politely, or where men can't hear them. Maybe Rosemary was laughing now.</p>
-
-<p>Without the guns, though, we had a more difficult food problem. We
-would have to trap animals, or depend on fish, if fish existed in the
-stream that ran through the ruined city. And there were.</p>
-
-<p>I sharpened a couple of sticks with my knife and we tried spearing
-fish. We decided that it would take a lot of skill, and probably days
-of practice. We'd have to weave some nets, and this would take time
-too. I was about to suggest that we go back to the spaceship and live
-on what we had, when Clive found a clam.</p>
-
-<p>It was different from the terrestrial clam, in that it was almost
-egg-shaped, but there was no mistaking what it was. Presently Clive had
-dug up quite a pile of them from the stream and I had a little fire
-glowing under some stones. On top of the stones, I piled wet moss to
-steam the clams and I was just about ready to have a clam bake, when
-Clive started to groan.</p>
-
-<p>"What's the matter?" I asked.</p>
-
-<p>"I ate a clam," he said. "Raw. It-it's poisoning me!"</p>
-
-<p>Presently he was lying on the ground, writhing.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>I was trying to stick my fingers down his throat when Rosemary
-appeared. "He won't die," she said. "But I wouldn't advise eating those
-clams. Nearly all of the fish are poisonous. He'll be all right in a
-few minutes."</p>
-
-<p>"What are we going to eat?" I asked. "Not that we're starving, but the
-supply of food on our spaceship won't last forever."</p>
-
-<p>"I have a garden," said Rosemary, "and I've domesticated some
-livestock."</p>
-
-<p>"My&mdash;uh&mdash;dear," said Clive, between groans. "I appoint you Secretary of
-Agriculture."</p>
-
-<p>"Let's get some things straight," said Rosemary. "This planet is not
-going to be like the earth."</p>
-
-<p>"But a democracy, my dear&mdash;"</p>
-
-<p>"Okay, it's a democracy. I'm not opposed to freedom of government, but
-there are a lot of things outside government that need changing. Back
-on earth, man is the dominant sex. On this planet, woman will be."</p>
-
-<p>"But there are two men, only one woman," Clive said. He was breathing a
-little easier now and I judged he was recovering.</p>
-
-<p>"All the more reason why woman should be dominant," said Rosemary. "I'm
-more valuable."</p>
-
-<p>"We're stronger. Women must have men to protect them."</p>
-
-<p>"Any time you want to test your theory that you're stronger than I am,
-I'm willing," said Rosemary. And she looked perfectly able to take care
-of herself. I didn't know then how long she had been on the planet,
-but she was hard as a rock. She'd taken care of herself in all kinds
-of weather, done everything a man could do in fighting against nature.
-Being a spaceman is no way to develop your biceps and neither is being
-a senator.</p>
-
-<p>"Hmm," said Clive. "Perhaps there should be more equality between
-the sexes. But most of the things that women misinterpret are not
-discrimination, but adoration."</p>
-
-<p>"I don't care what it was," said Rosemary, "and I didn't say anything
-about equality. Starting tomorrow, you boys will do what I tell you
-to."</p>
-
-<p>"But I'm the President!" Clive protested.</p>
-
-<p>"And I'm the boss," said Rosemary.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>We fixed up some of the better preserved buildings into houses.</p>
-
-<p>We made tools out of sticks, stones, gold and silver. We trapped
-animals and domesticated them and we planted gardens and wove clothing
-out of grass and fur.</p>
-
-<p>Rosemary showed us how to do most of the things and then left us to do
-them while she explored the ruins and dug up items that told how the
-vanished race lived.</p>
-
-<p>"They were humanoid," she told us once. "I found a frieze that pictured
-the inhabitants. While the art was primitive, it was easy to see that
-they were a great deal like men. Probably their civilization would
-compare favorably with that of Rome in Caesar's time, although I
-haven't found much bronze. Probably they had iron which has rusted
-away. I still haven't found what killed them, but for that matter no
-one really knows what killed the dinosaur. It's probably due to the
-fact that there's a critical point in the development of any species,
-when that point is reached, the species dies."</p>
-
-<p>"But man went farther on earth than here," I said.</p>
-
-<p>"Sure, because the critical point on the earth is higher than on
-Problem planet." She paused, and added: "At least that's what my father
-thought."</p>
-
-<p>"Your father?"</p>
-
-<p>"Yes. He was an astro-archeologist," she explained. "He brought me here
-when I was a little girl, only twelve years old, and he died here. I've
-lived alone in this ruined city ever since."</p>
-
-<p>"Didn't he have a spaceship?"</p>
-
-<p>"Sure. But I didn't know how to run it."</p>
-
-<p>"You mean it's still here? Can it operate?"</p>
-
-<p>"I suppose so. I don't know anything about spaceships."</p>
-
-<p>I almost yelled. "Why didn't you say so? We could have been on our way
-to civilization long ago!"</p>
-
-<p>She nodded toward Clive. "He's so happy here, being the President of
-Everything."</p>
-
-<p>"Good heavens, girl!" I said, "Clive's a politician. He's got to have
-people. A whole planetful of people to really be happy. Right now
-he's&mdash;"</p>
-
-<p>I stopped. Rosemary had tears in her eyes.</p>
-
-<p>Clive had been busy grinding some nuts into a sort of flour and when he
-noticed Rosemary wiping her eyes, he rose and came over to where I'd
-been weaving while I talked to her.</p>
-
-<p>"What's the matter?" he asked.</p>
-
-<p>I decided to break the news by easy stages. "Supposing we had a way to
-get off this planet. To go to the earth, or III Arcturus, or somewhere
-we could live like human beings again. Wouldn't you want to go?"</p>
-
-<p>Clive laughed. "I've never had so much fun in my life," he said. "Here
-I'm everything I wanted to be. I've got a nice political boss, and I'm
-the chief executive of a whole planet. I'm also the Supreme Court and
-one third of the voters. I've got more wealth than a nabob, and no
-pressing appointments with people I don't like."</p>
-
-<p>Rosemary looked up at him.</p>
-
-<p>"You like me?"</p>
-
-<p>"Certainly," Clive said. "Woman has always been the dominant sex&mdash;the
-stronger sex if you like. On earth she invented the idea that man
-was the Big Shot, but that was to keep men from being discontented.
-Equality of the sexes always has been a myth, but I didn't realize it
-until civilization was reduced to its simplest form."</p>
-
-<p>"What about you, Dave?" Rosemary asked.</p>
-
-<p>"Personally, I like life on easier terms," I said. "Not that it isn't
-pleasant here, but we have to work so hard. And we've been lucky not
-to have had any real sickness, except for the time Clive ate a clam
-and that wasn't serious. But sooner or later we're going to need the
-science of medicine. And if we don't need that, we're going to have to
-have something else that civilization has and we haven't. Furthermore,
-man is a gregarious animal. He may kid himself about how nice it would
-be to live on a desert island, but no matter how anti-social he is, he
-doesn't feel right without others around him. Even if it's only to be
-disagreeable with them."</p>
-
-<p>"Isn't civilization a lot like the gold and precious stones in the
-temple?" asked Clive. "The stuff is no good unless we need it."</p>
-
-<p>"But it's wrong to have useful things and not use them," I said. "It's
-miserly."</p>
-
-<p>"Okay," said Clive. "But we have no other choice."</p>
-
-<p>"But we have," Rosemary broke in. "I just told Dave that I have a
-spaceship. You can go away if you wish, or stay. It's up to you. I
-didn't tell you before, because I hadn't made up my own mind. Now I
-have."</p>
-
-<p>"It's my mind that has to be made up," I said. "I'm the only one of
-us who can pilot a spaceship. No matter what you want to do, I've got
-quite a say in the matter."</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>Clive sat down on the ground beside me. "So you're the most important
-one. You're the king for a day. If we want to go back to civilization,
-you're the only one who can take us."</p>
-
-<p>"Right," I said. "When we landed, you were top man because you were
-a big wheel. Right away Rosemary took the sceptre because she was a
-woman, and women are scarce. Now I'm President of Everything."</p>
-
-<p>"It's a democracy," said Rosemary. "We'll vote on it."</p>
-
-<p>"In view of the importance of the occasion, we should have a debate
-first," said Clive.</p>
-
-<p>"You first, Dave," said Rosemary.</p>
-
-<p>"Okay," I said. "We've shared everything and since you've both probably
-guessed it anyhow, I'll admit that I'm in love with Rosemary. She
-hasn't given me the chance to tell her alone, so I'll tell the world.
-Here I've got a 50-50 chance of getting her, maybe better, because
-I'm nearer her own age. But away from here the odds go down. I'll go
-if Rosemary goes, and if she'll have me. Otherwise, we'll stay. Maybe
-Clive and I will have to fight for you, Rosemary."</p>
-
-<p>"You next, Clive," said Rosemary.</p>
-
-<p>"If Rosemary goes with you, Dave," said Clive, "we'll fight. We're
-about evenly matched. Perhaps you're a little younger, but I'm still in
-my prime and I've got experience. If Rosemary stays with me, and lets
-you go away, there'll be no fight. In either event, it looks like I'm
-stuck here, because I can't imagine you taking Rosemary and I back to
-civilization if you lost her."</p>
-
-<p>I looked at Rosemary. "Your vote," I said.</p>
-
-<p>"You see, Dave," she said, "I'm still the most important person on this
-planet. I can have almost anything happen, just by the decision I make."</p>
-
-<p>"What is your decision?" asked Clive.</p>
-
-<p>She looked at me, then at Clive. "You started out playing politics,"
-she said, "and it all comes back to the same old thing. Man and woman.
-Maybe that's politics, because nations are based on the family. But
-we have proved one thing anyhow. Even in a civilization of only three
-people, each one has his moments of supremacy. And there must always be
-compromise, or bloodshed. If we stay, the compromise must be polyandry.
-I must accept both of you as mates. If we go, one of you must be
-compensated for losing me. Supposing one takes all the gold we can
-carry away, the other takes me?"</p>
-
-<p>"If Clive will take the gold," I said.</p>
-
-<p>"If Dave will take the gold," said Clive.</p>
-
-<p>"See?" she smiled. "Gold isn't the most important thing in the world.
-I'm much more valuable than all the gold you can ever use."</p>
-
-<p>"There must be other women in the galaxy that Dave can console himself
-with," Clive said. "That gold would certainly help him find her."</p>
-
-<p>"I was just about to suggest the same thing, pertaining to you," I
-said. "But as far as I'm concerned, Rosemary is my choice. She doesn't
-care whether I'm wealthy or not."</p>
-
-<p>"There must be a solution to this problem," Clive said.</p>
-
-<p>"There is," said Rosemary.</p>
-
-<p>Clive rose to his feet and I did too. Rosemary didn't seem to expect
-this and she was late getting up.</p>
-
-<p>"In politics," said Clive, "it is known as the coup d'etat."</p>
-
-<p>He swung and I swung. Then we both swung while Rosemary screamed.
-Suddenly everything got black.</p>
-
-<p>When I woke up, I thought I had underestimated Clive, but I saw him
-sleeping peacefully and I also observed he had a lump on his head, like
-I had. Rosemary was sitting on a chunk of marble watching us, holding a
-small stout club in her hand.</p>
-
-<p>"As soon as you feel strong enough," she said, "you can start loading
-gold onto my spaceship. It's over in the next valley. We're all going
-back to civilization. The wars there are more impersonal."</p>
-
-<p>"You've made your choice?" I asked.</p>
-
-<p>"I have," she said, "but to avoid bloodshed, I'll not reveal it till we
-get home&mdash;unless one of you figures it out."</p>
-
-<p>"What happens then?"</p>
-
-<p>"The loser gets locked up or placed under guard. I don't think,
-if you're the loser you'd do anything silly, like cracking up the
-spaceship. After all, there'll be a fortune in gold and consolation
-with another girl. I'm sure there is another girl in the universe."</p>
-
-<p>At the time, though I didn't think there was.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>When we landed on Earth, we divided the spoils three ways because
-Rosemary decided not to take either of us.</p>
-
-<p>"Neither of you asked me to choose between you," she said, "and that
-was the way to decide. You should have said: 'Take one of us and
-the other will abide by your decision.' That is what is known as
-compromise, even if it doesn't seem that way. The trouble with men is
-that few of them can lose gracefully. They've got to start a war rather
-than a compromise."</p>
-
-<p>"But losing isn't compromising," I pointed out. "If you give up
-something and gain something, that's a compromise."</p>
-
-<p>"How do you know you haven't gained by losing me," she said.</p>
-
-<p>I often wonder which of us she preferred back on Problem Planet. But
-considering the fact that we were probably the first men she got to
-know after her father died, I think she made a wise choice. Clive
-married a woman lawyer, and I married a chorus girl.</p>
-
-<p>Rosemary? She married a wrestler that could throw her.</p>
-
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