diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'old/68726-0.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | old/68726-0.txt | 1657 |
1 files changed, 0 insertions, 1657 deletions
diff --git a/old/68726-0.txt b/old/68726-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index f163b80..0000000 --- a/old/68726-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1657 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Crystal Circe, by Henry Kuttner - -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: The Crystal Circe - -Author: Henry Kuttner - -Release Date: August 11, 2022 [eBook #68726] - -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 THE CRYSTAL CIRCE *** - - - - - - THE CRYSTAL CIRCE - - By Henry Kuttner - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Astonishing Stories, June 1942. - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - - - - _Prologue_ - - -The stratoship from Cairo was late, and I was wondering whether the -newsreel theatre or a couple of drinks would make time pass faster. -It was early dusk. Through the immense, curved wall-window of the -Manhattan Port Room I could see the landing field, with a silvery ship -being rolled over the tarmac, and the skyscrapers of New York beyond. - -Then I saw Arnsen. - -It was Steve Arnsen, of course. No doubt about that. No other man had -his great breadth of shoulders, his Herculean build. Ten years ago we -had been classmates at Midwestern. I remembered rakehell, laughing, -handsome Steve Arnsen very well, with his penchant for getting into -trouble and out of it again, usually dragging Douglas O'Brien, his -room-mate, along with him like the helpless tail of a kite. Poor Doug! -He was the antithesis of Arnsen, a thoughtful, studious boy with the -shadow of a dream lurking always in his dark eyes. An idealist was -Douglas O'Brien, as his Celtic ancestors had been. Strong friendship -had existed between the two men--the mental communion of laughter and a -dream. - -Arnsen was looking up into the darkening sky, a queer tensity in his -posture. He turned abruptly, came to a table near me, and sat down. -From his pocket he took a small box. It snapped open. His gaze probed -into the unknown thing that was hidden by his cupped hands. - -I picked up my drink and went to Arnsen's table. All I could see was -the back of his sleek, massive head. Then he looked up-- - -If ever I saw hell in a man's face, I saw it in Arnsen's then. There -was a dreadful longing, and an equally horrible hopelessness, the -expression one might see on the face of a damned soul looking up from -the pit at the shining gates forever beyond his reach. - -And Arnsen's face had been--ravaged. - -The searing mark of some experience lay there, branded into his -furrowed cheeks, his tightened lips, into his eyes where a sickness -dwelt. No--this was not Steve Arnsen, the boy I had known at -Midwestern. Youth had left him, and hope as well. - -"Vail!" he said, smiling crookedly. "Good Lord, of all people! Sit down -and have a drink. What are you doing here?" - -I sought for words as I dropped into a chair. Arnsen watched me for a -moment, and then shrugged. "You might as well say it. I've changed. -Yeah--I know that." - -"What happened?" There was no need to fence. - -His gaze went beyond me, to the dark sky above the landing field. "What -happened? Why don't you ask where Doug is? We always stuck together, -didn't we? Surprising to see me alone--" - - * * * * * - -He lit a cigarette and crushed it out with an impatient gesture. "You -know, Vail, I've been hoping I'd run into you. This thing that's been -boiling inside of me--I haven't been able to tell a soul. No one would -have believed me. You may. The three of us kicked around together a -lot, in the old days." - -"In trouble?" I asked. "Can I help?" - -"You can listen," he said. "I came back to Earth thinking I might be -able to forget. It hasn't worked. I'm waiting for the airliner to take -me to Kansas Spaceport. I'm going to Callisto--Mars--somewhere. Earth -isn't the right place any more. But I'm glad we ran into each other, -Vail. I want to talk. I want you to answer a question that's been -driving me almost insane." - -I signalled the waiter and got more drinks. Arnsen was silent till we -were alone once more. Then he opened his cupped hands and showed me -a small shagreen box. It clicked open. Nestling in blue velvet was a -crystal, not large, but lovelier than any gem I had ever seen before. - -Light drifted from it like the flow of slow water. The dim shining -pulsed and waned. In the heart of the jewel was-- - -I tore my eyes away, staring at Arnsen. "What is it? Where did you get -the thing? Not on Earth!" - -He was watching the jewel, sick hopelessness on his face. "No--not on -Earth. It came from a little asteroid out there--somewhere." He waved -vaguely toward the sky. "It isn't charted. I took no reckonings. So I -can never go back. Not that I want to, now. Poor Doug!" - -"He's dead, isn't he?" I asked. - -Arnsen looked at me strangely as he closed the box and slipped it back -into his pocket. "Dead? I wonder. Wait till you know the story, Vail. -About Doug's lucky charm, and the dreams, and the Crystal Circe...." - -The slow horror of remembrance crept across his face. Out there, in -space, something had happened. I thought: It must have been frightful -to leave such traces on Arnsen. - -He read my thought. "Frightful? Perhaps. It was quite lovely, too. You -remember the old days, when I thought of nothing but raising hell...." - -After a long pause, I said, "Who was--the Crystal Circe?" - -"I never knew her name. She told me, but my brain couldn't understand -it. She wasn't human, of course. I called her Circe, after the -enchantress who changed her lovers to swine." Again he looked at the -darkening sky. "Well--it began more than two years ago, in Maine. Doug -and I were on a fishing trip when we ran into the meteorite. Little -fishing we got done then! You know how Doug was--like a kid reading a -fairy tale for the first time. And that meteorite--" - - - - - CHAPTER ONE - - The Star-Gem - - -It lay in the crater it had dug for itself, a rounded arc visible about -the brown earth. Already sumac and vines were mending the broken soil. -Warm fall sunlight slanted down through the trees as Douglas O'Brien -and Steve Arnsen plodded toward the distant gurgling of the stream, -thoughts intent on catching the limit. No fingering tendril of menace -thrust out to warn them. - -"Mind your step," Arnsen said, seeing the pit. He detoured around it -and turned, realizing that O'Brien had not followed. "Come on, Doug. -It's getting late." - -O'Brien's tanned young face was intent as he peered down into the -hollow. "Wait a bit," he said absently. "This looks--say! I'll bet -there's a meteor down there!" - -"So there's a meteor. We're not fishing for meteors, professor. They're -mostly iron, anyway. Gold, now, would be a different matter." - -O'Brien dropped lightly into the hole, scraping at the dirt with his -fingers. "Wonder how long it's been here? You run along, Steve. I'll -catch up with you." - -Arnsen sighed. O'Brien, with his vast enthusiasm for everything under -the sun, was off again. There would be no stopping him now till he had -satisfied his curiosity about the meteorite. Well, Arnsen had a new fly -he was anxious to use, and it would soon be too late for good fishing. -With a grunt he turned and pushed on toward the stream. - -The fly proved excellent. In a surprisingly short time Arnsen had -bagged the limit. There was no sign of O'Brien, and hunger made itself -evident. Arnsen retraced his steps. - -The younger man was sitting cross-legged beside the crater, holding -something in his cupped hands and staring down at it. A swift glance -showed Arnsen that the meteorite had been uncovered, and, apparently, -cracked in two, each piece the size of a football. He stepped closer, -to see what O'Brien held. - -It was a gray crystal, egg-sized, filled with cloudy, frozen mists. It -had been cut into a diamond-shaped, multifaced gem. - -"Where'd you get that?" Arnsen asked. - -O'Brien jumped, turning up a startled face. "Oh--hello, Steve. It was -in the meteorite. Damnedest thing I ever saw. I saw the meteorite had -a line of fission all around it, so I smacked the thing with a rock. It -fell apart, and this was in the middle. Impossible, isn't it?" - -"Let's see." Arnsen reached for the jewel. O'Brien showed an odd -reluctance in giving it up, but finally dropped it into the other's -outstretched hand. - -The gem was cold, and yet not unpleasantly so. A tingling raced up -Arnsen's arm to his shoulder. He felt an abrupt, tiny shock. - -O'Brien snatched the jewel. Arnsen stared at him. - -"I'm not going to eat it. What--" - -The boy grinned. "It's my luck piece, Steve. My lucky charm. I'm going -to have it pierced." - -"Better take it to a jeweler first," Arnsen suggested. "It may be -valuable." - -"No--I'll keep it." He slipped the gem into his pocket. "Any luck?" - -"The limit, and I'm starving. Let's get back to camp." - - * * * * * - -Over their meal of fried trout, O'Brien fingered the find, staring into -the cloudy depths of the gem as though he expected to find something -there. Arnsen could sense a strange air of withdrawal about him. That -night O'Brien fell asleep holding the jewel in his hand. - -His sleep was troubled. O'Brien watched the boy, the vaguest hint of -worry in his blue eyes. Once Doug lifted his hand and let it fall -reluctantly. And once a flash of light seemed to lance out from the -gem, brief and vivid as lightning. Imagination, perhaps.... - -The moon sank. O'Brien stirred and sat up. Arnsen felt the other's eyes -upon him. He said softly, "Doug?" - -"Yes. I wondered if you were awake." - -"Anything wrong?" - -"There's a girl...." O'Brien said, and fell silent. After what seemed a -long time, he went on: "Remember you said once that I'd never find a -girl perfect enough to love?" - -"I remember." - -"You were wrong. She's like Deirdre of the Tuatha Dé, like Freya, like -Ran of the northern seas. She has red hair, red as dying suns are red, -and she's a goddess like Deirdre, too. The Song of Solomon was made for -her. 'Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee.... I sleep, -but my heart waketh; it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh.' -Steve," he said, and his voice broke sharply. "It wasn't a dream. I -know it wasn't. She exists, somewhere." He stirred; Arnsen guessed that -he was peering at the gray jewel. - -There was nothing to say. The frosty brilliance of the stars gleamed -through the laced branches above. A curious breath of the unearthly -seemed to drop down from the vast abyss of the sky, chilling Arnsen's -heart. - -In that moment he knew that his friend was ensorcelled. - -Superstition--foolishness! He shook the thought away. But all the blood -of his Northern ancestors rose up in him, the Vikings who had believed -in Queen Ran of Ocean, in trolls and warlocks and the water-maidens who -guard sunken gold. - -"You're dreaming," he said stubbornly, more loudly than he thought. -"It's time we got back to the city. We've been here long enough." - -To his surprise, O'Brien agreed. "I think so. I've an idea I want to -work on." And the boy shut up like a clam, relaxing almost instantly -into peaceful slumber. - -But Arnsen did not sleep for a long time. The stars seemed too close -and, somehow, menacing. From the black void, eyes watched--not human -eyes, for all their loveliness. They were pools of darkest night, and -stars glimmered within them. - -He wished that O'Brien had not found the meteorite. - - - - - CHAPTER TWO - - Lure of the Crystal - - -There was a change in the boy after that. The dream in his eyes did not -fade, but he worked now with an intensity of purpose that had never -existed before. Previously, the two had held routine jobs in a huge -commercial organization. Without warning O'Brien quit. Arnsen followed -suit, feeling the necessity for staying close to the younger man. Yet -in the days to come, he amounted to little more than excess baggage. - -O'Brien had plans. He borrowed money, scraped together enough to equip -a small laboratory, and there he worked long hours. Arnsen helped when -he could, though that was not often. He seldom knew exactly what the -boy was trying to accomplish. - -Once O'Brien said a queer thing. They were in the laboratory, awaiting -the result of an experiment, and Arnsen was pacing back and forth -nervously. - -"I wish I knew what was up, Doug," he said almost with anger. "We've -been at this for months now. What do you expect, anyway? You've had no -more than an ordinary training in physics." - -"The jewel helps," O'Brien said. He took the gem from its suede bag and -stared into the cloudy depths. "I catch--thoughts from it." - -Arnsen stopped short, staring. His face changed. - -"You kidding?" he demanded. - -O'Brien flushed. "Okay, try it," he said, thrusting the stone at -Arnsen, who took it rather reluctantly. "Shut your eyes and let your -mind go blank. That does it, sometimes." - -"I--all right." Arnsen squeezed his eyes closed and thought of nothing. -Instantly a sick, horrible feeling swept through him--a terrible -yearning such as he had never known before. So might the Assassins -feel, deprived of the magic drug that took them to Paradise. An -Assassin exiled, cast into outer darkness. - -A face swam into view, lovely and strange beyond imagination. Only a -glimpse he had, blotted out by rainbow, coruscating lights that darted -and flashed like elfin fireflies. Then darkness, once more, and the -frightful longing--for what? - -He let go of the gem; O'Brien caught it as it fell. The boy smiled -wryly. - -"I wondered if you'd get it, too. Did you see her?" - -"I saw nothing," Arnsen snarled, whirling toward the door. "I felt -nothing!" - -"Yet you're afraid. Why? I don't fear her, or the stone." - -"The more fool you," Arnsen cast over his shoulder as he went out. He -felt sick and weak, as though unnameable vistas had opened before him. -There was no explanation for what he had felt--no sane explanation, at -least. - - * * * * * - -And yet there might be, he thought, as he paced about the yard, smoking -an endless chain of cigarettes. Telepathy, thought-transference--he had -simply caught what was in O'Brien's mind. But it was horrible to know -that Doug was feeling that soul-sick craving for the goddess-girl who -could not exist. - -O'Brien came out of the laboratory, eyes aglow. "It's done," he said, -trying to repress his triumph. "We've got the alloy at last. That last -treatment did the trick." - -Arnsen felt vague apprehension. He tried to congratulate O'Brien, but -his tone rang false to his own ears. The boy smiled understandingly. - -"It's been good of you to string along, Steve. The thing will pay off -now. Only--I'll need a lot of money." - -"You'll have a lot. Plenty of companies will be bidding for the -process." - -O'Brien said, "I want enough to buy a spaceship." - -Arnsen whistled. "That's a lot. Even for a small boat." His eyes -narrowed. "Why do you want it?" - -"I'm going to find Deirdre," the other said simply. "She's out there, -somewhere." He tilted his head back. "And I'll find her." - -"Space is pretty big." - -"I've a guide." O'Brien took out the gray gem. "It wants to go to her, -too. It wants to go back. It isn't really alive here on Earth, you -know. And I'm not just dreaming, Steve. How do you suppose I managed -to make this alloy--the perfect plastic, tougher than beryllium steel, -lighter than aluminum, a conductor or non-conductor of electricity -depending on the mix.... You know I couldn't have done it alone." - -"You did it." - -O'Brien touched the jewel. "I found out how to do it. There's life in -here, Steve. Not earthly life, but intelligent. I could understand a -little, not much. Enough to work out the alloy. I had to do that first, -so I could get money enough to buy a spaceship." - -"You don't know how to pilot in space." - -"We'll hire a pilot." - -"We?" - -He grinned. "I'm going to prove my point. You don't believe in Deirdre. -But you'll see her, Steve. The jewel will guide us. It wants to go -home--so we'll take it there." - -Arnsen scowled and turned away, his big shoulders tense with -unreasoning anger. He found himself hating the imaginary being O'Brien -had created. Deirdre! His fists clenched. - -She did not exist. The major planets and satellites had been explored; -the inhabited ones held nothing remotely human. Martians were -huge-headed, spindle-legged horrors; Venusians were scaled amphibians, -living in a state of feudalism and constant warfare. The other -planets ... the avian, hollow-boned Callistans were closest to -humanity, but by no stretch of the imagination could they be called -beautiful. And Deirdre was beautiful. Imaginary or not, she was lovely -as a goddess. - -_Damn her!_ - -But that did no good. O'Brien was not to be turned from his purpose. -With relentless, swift intensity he patented the alloy process, sold -it to the highest bidder, and purchased a light space cruiser. He -found a pilot, a leather-skinned, tough, tobacco-chewing man named Tex -Hastings, who could be depended on to do what he was told and keep his -mouth shut. - - * * * * * - -O'Brien chafed with impatience till the cruiser jetted off from the -spaceport. The closer he came to achieving his goal, the more nervous -he grew. The jewel he kept clenched in one hand most of the time. -Arnsen noticed that a dim brilliance was beginning to glow within it as -the ship plunged farther out toward the void. - -Hastings cast quizzical glances at O'Brien, but did what he was told. -He confided in Arnsen. - -"We haven't even bothered with charts. It's screwy, but I'm not -kicking. Only this isn't piloting. Your friend just points at a -star-sector and says, 'Go there.' Funny." He scratched his leathery -cheek, faded eyes intent on Arnsen's face. - -The big man nodded. "I know. But it isn't up to me, Hastings. I'm -super-cargo." - -"Yeah. Well, if you--want any help--you can count on me. I've seen -space-madness before." - -Arnsen snorted. "Space-madness!" - -Hastings' eyes were steady. "I may be wrong, sure. But anything can -happen out here. We're not on Earth, Mr. Arnsen. Earth laws don't -apply. Neither does logic. We're on the edge of the unknown." - -"I never thought you were superstitious." - -"I'm not. Only I've been around, and seen a lot. That crystal Mr. -O'Brien lugs around with him--I never saw anything like that before." -He waited, but Arnsen didn't speak. "All right, then. I've known things -to drift in from Outside. Funny things, damn funny. The Solar System's -like a Sargasso. It catches flotsam from other systems, even other -universes, for all I know. One rule I've learned--when you can't guess -the answer, it's a good idea to stay clear." - -Arnsen grunted moodily, staring out a port at the glaring brilliance of -the stars. - -"Ever heard any stories about jewels like that one?" - -Hastings shook his closely-cropped head. "No. But I saw a wreck once, -Sunside of Pluto--a ship that hadn't been designed in this System. It -was deserted; God knows how long it had been out there. Or where it -came from. Inside, it wasn't designed for human beings at all. It came -from Outside, of course, and Outside is a big place. That jewel, now--" -He bit the end off a quid of tobacco. - -"What about it?" - -"It's an Outside sort of thing. And your friend isn't acting normal. It -may add up to trouble. It may not. My point is that I'm going to keep -my eyes open, and you'd be wise to do the same thing." - -Arnsen went back to the galley and fried eggs, angry with himself for -listening to Hastings' hints. He was more than ever uncomfortable. Back -on Earth, it had been easier to disbelieve in any unknown powers that -the gray jewel might possess; here, it was different. Space was the -hinterland, the waste that bordered the cryptic Outside. The forward -step in science that threw open the gates of interplanetary travel had, -in a way, taken man back in time to a day when he cowered in a cave, -fearing the powers of the dark that lurked in the unknown jungle. -Space travel had broken barriers. It opened a door that, perhaps, -should have remained forever closed. - -On the shores of space strange flotsam was cast. Arnsen's gaze probed -out through the port, to the red globe of Mars, the blinding brilliance -of the Milky Way, the enigmatic shadow of the Coal Sack. Out there -anything might lie. Life grown from a matrix neither Earthly nor even -three-dimensional. Charles Fort had hinted at it; scientists had -hazarded wild guesses. The cosmic womb of space, from which blasphemous -abortions might be cast. - -So they went on, day after day, skirting Mars and plunging on into the -thick of the asteroid belt. It was uncharted country now, a Sargasso of -remnants from an exploded planet that had existed here eons ago. Sounds -rang loudly in the narrow confines of the space ship. Nervousness -gripped all three of the men. But O'Brien found comfort in the gray -crystal. His eyes held a glowing light of triumph. - -"We are coming closer, Steve," he said. "Deirdre isn't far away now." - -"Damn Deirdre," Arnsen said--but not aloud. - -The ship went on, following the blind course O'Brien pointed. Hastings -shook his head in grim silence, and trained his passengers in the use -of the space-suits. Few of the asteroids had atmosphere, and it became -increasingly evident that the destination was an asteroid.... - - - - - CHAPTER THREE - - The Singing Crystals - - -They found it at last, a jagged, slowly revolving ball that looked -incredibly desolate, slag from some solar furnace. The telescope showed -no life. The ball had hardened as it whirled, and the molten rock -had frozen instantly, in frigid space, into spiky, giant crags and -stalagmites. No atmosphere, no water, no sign of life in any form. - -The crystal O'Brien held had changed. A pale light streamed from it. -O'Brien's face was tensely eager. - -"This is it. Set the ship down, Hastings." - -The pilot made a grimace, but bent toward the controls. It was a -ticklish task at best, for he had to match the ship's speed to the -speed of the asteroid's revolution and circle in, describing a -narrowing spiral. Rocket ships are not built for maneuverability. They -blast their way to ground and up again through sheer roaring power. - -She settled bumpily on the iron-hard surface of the asteroid, and -Arnsen looked through the thick visiglass at desolation that struck -a chill to his heart. Life had never existed here. It was a world -damned in the making, a tiny planetoid forever condemned to unbearable -night and silence. It was one with the darkness. The sun-glare, in -the absence of atmosphere, made sharp contrasts between light and jet -shadow. The fingers of rock reached up hungrily, as though searching -for warmth. There was nothing menacing about the picture. It was -horrible in its lifelessness; that was all. - -It was not intended for life. Arnsen felt himself an intruder. - -O'Brien met his glance. The boy was smiling, rather wryly. - -"I know," he said. "It doesn't look very promising, does it? But this -is the place." - -"Maybe--a million years ago," Arnsen said skeptically. "There's nothing -here now." - -Silently O'Brien put the crystal in the giant's hand. - -From it a pulse of triumph burst out! Exultation! The psychic wave -shook Arnsen with its intensity, wiped doubt from his face. Invisibly -and intangibly, the jewel shouted its delight! - -The glow within it waxed brighter. - -Hastings said abruptly, "Time to eat. Metabolism's higher in space. We -can't afford to miss a meal." - -"I'm going out," O'Brien said. - -But Arnsen seconded the pilot. "We're here now. You can afford to wait -an hour or so. And I'm hungry." - -They opened thermocans in the galley and gulped the hot food standing. -The ship had suddenly become a prison. Even Hastings was touched with -the thirst to know what awaited them outside. - -"We circled the asteroid," he said at last, his voice argumentative. -"There's nothing here, Mr. O'Brien. We _saw_ that." - -But O'Brien was hurrying back to the control cabin. - -The suits were cumbersome, even in the slight gravity. Hastings tested -the oxygen tanks strapped on the backs, and checked the equipment with -stringent care. A leak would be fatal on this airless world. - - * * * * * - -So they went out through the airlock, and Arnsen, for one, felt his -middle tightening with the expectation of the unknown. His breathing -sounded loud and harsh within the helmet. The tri-polarized faceplates -of the helmets were proof against sun-glare, but they could not -minimize the horrible desolation of the scene. - -A world untouched--more lifeless, more terrible, than frigid Jotunheim, -where the Frost Giants dwelt. Arnsen's heavily-leaded boots thumped -solidly on the slag. There was no dust here, no sign of erosion, for -there was no air. - -In O'Brien's hand the crystal flamed with milky pallor. The boy's face -was thin and haggard with desire. Arnsen, watching, felt hot fury -against the incubus that had worked its dark spell on the other. - -He could do nothing--only follow and wait. His hand crept to the -weighted blackjack in his belt. - -He saw the hope slowly fade from O'Brien's eyes. Against his will he -said, "We're only on the surface, Doug. Underground--" - -"That's right. Maybe there's an entrance, somewhere. But I don't know. -We may be a thousand years too late, Steve." His gaze clung to the -crystal. - -It pulsed triumphantly. Pale flame lanced joyously from it. Alive it -was; Arnsen had no doubt of that now. Alive, and exulting to be home -once more. - -Years too late? There was not the slightest trace of any artifact on -this airless planetoid. The bleakness of outer space itself cast a veil -over the nameless world. The three men plodded on. - -In the end, they went back to the ship. - -The quick night of the tiny world had fallen. The flaming corona of the -sun had vanished; stars leaped into hard, jeweled brilliance against -utter blackness. The sky blazed with cold fires. - -Lifeless, alien, strange. It was the edge of the unknown. - -They slept at last; metabolism was high, and they needed to restore -their tissues. Hours later Arnsen came to half wakefulness. In his -bunk he rose on one elbow, wondering what had roused him. His mind felt -dulled. He could scarcely tell whether or not he was dreaming. - -Across the ship a man's head and shoulders were silhouetted against a -port, grotesquely large and distorted. Beyond, the stars blazed. - -They moved. They swirled in a witch-dance of goblin lanterns, dancing, -whirling, spiraling. Blue, yellow, amethyst and milky pearl, streaks of -light golden as the eye of a lioness--and nameless colors, not earthly, -made a patterned arabesque as they danced their elfin saraband there in -the airless dark. - -The dark swallowed Arnsen. Slumber took him.... - - * * * * * - -Slowly, exhaustedly, he came back to consciousness. His head ached; his -tongue was thick. For a moment he lay quietly, trying to remember. - -Dream? Arnsen cursed, threw his blankets aside, and sprang from the -bunk. - -O'Brien was gone. Tex Hastings was gone. Two space-suits had vanished -from their racks. - -Arnsen's face twisted into a savage mask. He knew, now, what had been -so wrong about his vision of the night. The man he had glimpsed at the -port had been _outside_ the ship. Doug? - -Or Hastings. It did not matter. Both men were gone. He was alone, on -the mystery world. - -Arnsen set his jaw, gulped caffeine tablets to clear his head, and -wrenched a space-suit from its hooks. He donned it, realizing that -sunlight once more was pouring down from the distant sun. - -Soon he was ready. He went out of the ship, climbed atop it, and stared -around. Nothing. The bleak, light-and-shadow pattern of the asteroid -stretched to the sharply curving horizon all around. There was nothing -else. - -Nor were there tracks in the iron-hard slag. He would have to search -at random, by pure guesswork. In the low gravity his leap to the -ground scarcely jarred him. He gripped the billy at his left and moved -forward, toward a high pinnacle in the distance. - -He found nothing. - -Worst of all, perhaps, was the horrible loneliness that oppressed -him. He was too close to Outside now. He was the only living thing -in a place never meant for human life. The ghastly bleakness of the -asteroid sank like knife-blades into his mind, searing it coldly. There -was no relief when he looked up. The distant sun, with its corona, -was infinitely far away. The rest of the sky held stars, remote, not -twinkling as on Earth, but shining with a cold intensity, a pale fury -relentless and eternal. In the light the heat seared him through his -armor; in the shadows he shivered with cold. - -He went on, sick with hate, seeking the unknown thing that had taken -Doug. - -The boy was a poet, a dreamer, a fool, easy victim for the terror that -haunted the asteroid. - -Exhausted, he turned back. His air supply was running low, and there -was no sign of either Doug or Hastings. He headed for the ship.... - -It was further than he had thought. He sighted it at last, beneath a -towering stalagmite that thrust up into the harsh sunlight, and his -steps quickened. Why hadn't he thought to bring extra cylinders of -oxygen? - -The lock stuck under his gloved, awkward fingers; he wrenched at it -savagely. At last the great valve swung open. He went through the -airlock, opened his visiplate, and took great breaths of the fresher -air. Oxygen cylinders were racked near by; he swung several into -position on his back and clamped them into place. He gulped more -caffeine tablets. - -Some instinct made him turn and look back through the port. Over the -uneven ground a space-suited figure was staggering, a quarter of a mile -distant.... - -Arnsen's heart jumped. In one swift motion he clamped shut his -visiplate and leaped for the airlock. It seemed an eternity before he -was outside, leaping, racing, straining toward the man who had fallen -helpless, a motionless shadow amid the glare. Doug? Hastings? - - * * * * * - -It was O'Brien, his young face gray with exhaustion and flushed with -oxygen-thirst. For a moment Arnsen thought the boy was dead. He -thrust one arm under O'Brien's back, lifting him; with the other hand -he fumbled at an auxiliary air-hose, thrusting it into the valve in -O'Brien's chin-plate as he ripped away the useless hose. Oxygen flowed -into the boy's suit. - -His nostrils distended as he drank in the precious air. Arnsen watched, -teeth bared in a mirthless grin. Good! Color came back to O'Brien's -cheeks--a healthy flush under the deep tan. His eyes opened, looked -into Arnsen's. - -"Couldn't find her," he whispered, his voice hollow through the -audiophone. "Deirdre--I couldn't find her, Steve." - -Arnsen said, "What happened, Doug?" - -O'Brien took a deep breath and shook his head. "I woke up--something -warned me. This." He unclasped his gloved hand and showed the milky -crystal. "It knew--she--was close. I felt it. I woke up, went to a -port, and saw the--the lights. Hastings was out there. She'd called -him, I guess. He was running after the lights.... I had sense enough to -put on my suit. Then I followed. But Hastings was too fast for me. I -followed till I lost him. Miles--hours. Then I saw my oxygen was low. I -tried to get back to the ship--" - -He tried to smile. "Why did she call Hastings, Steve? Why not me?" - -Arnsen felt cold. "We're getting off this asteroid. Right away." - -"Leaving Hastings?" - -"We--I'll look for him myself. There's life here, malignant life. -Plenty dangerous." - -"Not evil. No. Beyond evil, beyond good. I'm not going, Steve." - -"You're going if I have to hog-tie you." - -O'Brien's gloved hand tightened on the milky crystal. "Deirdre!" he -said. - -And, in the emptiness above them, a glow brightened. - -There was no other warning. Arnsen tilted back his head to see--the -incredible. - -_Deirdre_, he thought. Then, unbidden, another name leaped into his -mind. - -_Circe!_ - -Circe of Colchis, goddess of Aea--Circe, Daughter of the Day, who -changed men to swine! Circe--more than human! - -For this was no human figure that hovered above them. It seemed to be -a girl, unclad, reclining in nothingness, her floating hair tinted -like the rays of a dying sun. Her body swept in lines of pure beauty, -long-limbed and gracious. Her eyes were veiled; long lashes hid them. - -There was tenderness in her face, and aloofness, and alienage. There -was beauty there--not entirely human beauty. - -Rainbow crystals garmented her. - -Some large, some small, multi-faceted gems danced and shimmered -against the blackness of the sky and the whiteness of Circe's body. -Moon-yellow, amber-gold, blue as the sea off Capri, green as the -pine-clad hills of Earth--angry scarlet and lambent dragon-green! - -With some distantly sane corner of his mind, Arnsen realized that it -was impossible for any living being to exist without protection on the -frigid, airless surface of the asteroid. Then he knew that both air and -warmth surrounded the girl. - -The crystals protected her. He knew that, somehow. - -O'Brien twisted in his arms. He saw the girl, tried to spring free. -Arnsen gripped him. - -The boy swung a jolting blow that jarred the giant's helmet. His mailed -glove smashed against the metal plate. Dazed and giddy, Arnsen fell -back, clawing at O'Brien. His fingers slipped along the other's arm; he -felt something drop into his hand, and clutched it. - -Then O'Brien was free. He wrenched an oxygen-tank from Arnsen's -shoulders, whirled, and took a step toward the girl. She was further -away now.... - -Arnsen staggered up. His head was throbbing furiously. Too late he -realized that, in the scuffle, his air-valve had fouled. He fumbled at -it with clumsy fingers--and fell. - -His helmet thudded solidly against hard slag. Blackness took him.... - - - - -CHAPTER FOUR - -Circe the Immortal - - -It was dark when he woke. Oxygen was once more pouring into his suit; -he had managed to open the valve before falling. Far above, the -distant, corona-crowned sun flamed against the starry backdrop. The -ship lay beneath its crag. - -But of O'Brien there was no trace whatever. - -After that, something akin to madness came to Arnsen. Again the utter -loneliness of space crushed down on him, with suffocating terror. Doug -was gone, like Hastings. Where? - -He searched, then, and in the days thereafter. He grew haggard and -gaunt, drugging himself with stimulants so he could drive himself -beyond his limit. Hour after hour he searched the tiny world, squinting -against sun-glare, peering into black shadow, shouting O'Brien's name, -cursing bitter, searing oaths that sounded futile to his ears. Time -dragged on into an eternity. He had been here forever. He could not -remember a time when he had not been plodding across the asteroid, -watching for a glimpse of a space-suited figure, of dancing jewels of -fire, of a slim white body.... - -Who was she? _What_ was she? Not human--no. And the crystals, what were -they? - -He returned to the ship one day, shoulders slumping, and passed the -spot where he had seen the girl. Something on the ground caught his -eye. A pearly, shining gem. - -He remembered his scuffle with O'Brien, and the thing that had dropped -into his glove. - -The jewel, of course. It had lain here, unnoticed, for many revolutions -of the asteroid. - -He picked it up, staring into the milky depths. A pulse tingled up his -arm, fingering into his mind. A pulse of longing-- - -The girl had appeared when O'Brien summoned her. - -Perhaps it would work again. There was no other hope. - -But he could not call her Deirdre. He gripped the hard crystal. His -thought probed out, forceful and summoning. - -"_Circe!_" - -Nothing. The eternal silence, the cold blaze of the stars.... - -"_Circe!_" - -The gem in his hand leaped with eagerness. In emptiness above him a -rainbow glitter of coruscating light flamed. The crystals--and, within -them, the girl! - -She had not changed. Lovely and alien, she lay among her dancing, -shining gems, and her lashes still veiled the cryptic depth of her -eyes. Arnsen stumbled forward. - -"Where's O'Brien?" His voice cracked, harsh and inhuman. "Damn you! -Where is he?" - -She did not look at him. Her body seemed to recede. The jewels swirled -into swift motion about her. - -Arnsen lurched on. His mind felt on fire. He whipped out his elastic -billy and plunged toward the girl. - -She was not there. She had drifted back amid the rainbow crystals. - -Arnsen could not overtake her. It was like following a -will-o'-the-wisp, a torch of St. Elmo's fire. But he did not take his -eyes from the girl. More than once he fell. She was leading him away -from the ship, he knew. That did not matter. Not if she also led him to -Doug. - -What had she done with the boy? He hated her, hated her relentless -inhumanity, her incredible beauty. Teeth bared, red-rimmed eyes -glaring, Arnsen plunged on in a nightmare race across the face of the -silent asteroid. - -Hours later, it seemed, she vanished in black shadow under a thrusting -pinnacle of slag. Arnsen followed, reeling with fatigue, expecting to -cannon into a rock wall. But the darkness remained intangible. The -ground sloped down beneath his leaded boots. Suddenly light shone -through a cleft at his side. - -Pale, warm, liquid light, it drifted up from a slanting corridor in -the rock. Far down the passage Arnsen could see the cloud of dancing -flames that marked the girl's crystal attendants. He stumbled on. - -Down he went, and down, till at last the passage turned again in the -distance. He rounded the bend--and stopped, blinded and dazed. - - * * * * * - -As his vision adjusted itself, Arnsen made out a pillar of fire that -rose from floor to ceiling of the cavern before him. Yet it was not -fire. It was something beyond human knowledge. Pure energy, perhaps, -wrenched from the locked heart of the atom itself, silently thundering -and pouring up like a geyser. The pillar shook. It wavered and rocked, -coldly white, intensely brilliant, like a living thing blazing with a -power inconceivable. - -Walls and floor and roof of the cavern were crusted with jewels. The -rainbow crystals clung quivering, thousands of them, some tiny, others -huge. They watched. - -They were alive. - -The girl stood near Arnsen. A score of the jewels pressed against her -lovingly. They caressed her. The veiled eyes did not meet Arnsen's. But -she lifted her arm. - -There was a movement in Arnsen's gloved hand. The milky gem stirred; a -pulse of eagerness beat out from it. - -It leaped free--raced toward Circe. - -She caught it, flung it at the shaking tower of flame. - -Into the pillar's blazing heart the crystal darted. - -The fires sank--rose again. Spewed forth the jewel. - -No longer milky--no longer dulled. It blazed with fantastic brilliance! -Vital energy streamed from it; it whirled and danced joyously with -sheer delight. It was like a sleeper suddenly awakened. - -It spun toward Circe, pulsed madly with the intoxication of life. - -The girl rose, featherlight, without gravity, drifting across the -cavern to a passage-mouth that gaped in the wall. The jewels clustered -around it swayed toward her. Some broke free, rushing in her train. - -She vanished into the portal. - -The spell that held Arnsen broke. He flung himself after her, too late. -Already she was gone. But along the corridor jewels floated, bright, -shining, alive. - -And suddenly strong arms were around Arnsen. The face of O'Brien -was before him. O'Brien, no longer wearing his space-suit, haggard, -and yet aflame with a vital something that glowed in his dark eyes. -O'Brien--laughing. - -"Steve!" His voice shook. "So you followed me. I'm glad. Come in -here--it's all right." - -The energy went out of Arnsen, leaving him weak and exhausted. He -cast one glance up the empty corridor and followed O'Brien through a -cave-opening into a little room cut out of solid rock. He felt the -other's fingers loosening his helmet, removing the bulky space-suit. -Some remnant of caution returned. - -"The oxygen--" - -"There's air here. It's a place of wonders, Steve!" - -There was air. Cool, sweet, and refreshing, it crept into Arnsen's -lungs. He looked around. The little cavern was empty, save for dozens -of the rainbow crystals clinging to the walls. - -They watched alertly. - -O'Brien pressed him back, made a quick gesture. A jewel floated -forward, hovering over Arnsen's face. He felt water trickling between -his lips, and, too exhausted for wonder, swallowed gratefully. - -"You need sleep," O'Brien said. "But it's all right, Steve. It's all -right, I tell you. You'll hear all about it when you wake up. Time -enough then. You'll see Deirdre." - -Arnsen tried to struggle up. "I won't--" - -O'Brien signalled again. Another gem drifted close. From it a gray -breath of cloud floated, perfume-sweet, soporific. It crept into -Arnsen's nostrils.... - -And he slept. - - - - - CHAPTER FIVE - - The Jewel-Folk - - -The room was unchanged when he woke once more. O'Brien sat -cross-legged, looking into space. His face had altered, had acquired a -new peace and maturity. - -He heard Arnsen's slight movement and turned. - -"Awake? How do you feel?" - -"All right. Well enough to hear explanations," Arnsen said with a flash -of temper. "I've been nearly crazy--looking for you all over this -damned asteroid. I still think I'm crazy after all this." - -O'Brien chuckled. "I can imagine. I felt pretty upset for a while, till -the crystals explained." - -"The crystals _what_?" - -"They're alive, Steve. The ultimate product of evolution, perhaps. -Crystalline life. Perfect machines. They can do almost anything. You -saw how one created drinkable water, and--well, look here." He beckoned. - -A jewel floated close. From it a jet of flame shot, red and brilliant. -O'Brien waved his hand; the gem drifted back to its place. - -"They can convert energy into matter, you see. It's logical, when you -forget about hide-bound science. All matter's made up of energy. It's -simply locked in certain patterns--certain matrixes. But inside the -atom--the framework of matter--you've got nothing but energy. These -crystals build patterns out of basic energy." - -Arnsen shook his head. "I don't see it." - -O'Brien's voice grew deeper, stronger. "Long ago--very long ago, and -in another galaxy, light-years away, there was a civilization far -beyond ours. Deirdre is a child of that race. It was--mighty. It passed -through our culture-level and went far beyond. Till machines were no -longer needed. Instead, the race made the crystals--super-machines, -super-robots, with incredible powers locked in them. They supplied all -the needs of Deirdre's race." - -"Well?" - -"This asteroid doesn't belong to our family of planets. It's from -that other system, in the neighboring galaxy. It drifted here by -accident, I think. I don't quite know the facts of it. It came under -the gravitational pull of a comet, or a wandering planet, and was -yanked out into space. Eventually it settled into this orbit. Deirdre -didn't care. Her mind isn't like ours. The crystals supplied all her -needs--made air, gave her food and water. Everything she desired." - -Arnsen said, "How long has this been going on?" - -"Forever, perhaps," O'Brien said quietly. "I think Deirdre's immortal. -At least she is a goddess. Do you remember the crystal I found in that -meteorite?" - -"Yeah. I remember." - -"It came from here. It was one of Deirdre's servants. Somehow it was -lost--wandered away. Cosmic dust collected on it as it moved in an -orbit around the sun--for thousands of years, perhaps. Iron atoms. At -last it was a meteorite, with the crystal at its heart. So it fell on -Earth, and I found it, and it wanted to go home, back to Deirdre. It -told me that. I felt its thoughts. It drew me here, Steve--" - -Arnsen shivered. "It's unbelievable. And that girl isn't human." - -"Have you looked into her eyes?" - -"No--" - -"She isn't human. She is a goddess." - -A new thought came to Arnsen. "Where's Tex Hastings? Here?" - -"I haven't seen him," O'Brien said. "I don't know where he is." - -"Uh-huh. What have you been doing?" - -"She brought me here. The crystals took care of me. And Deirdre--" He -stood up. "She's summoning me. Wait, Steve--I'll be back." - -Arnsen put out a detaining hand; it was useless. O'Brien stepped -through the portal and was gone. A dozen crystals swept after him. - - * * * * * - -Arnsen followed, refusing to admit that he, too, wanted another glimpse -of the girl. Down the passage he went in O'Brien's trail, till the -boy vanished from sight. Arnsen increased his pace. He halted on the -threshold of the cavern where the pillar of flame swept up to the roof. - -He had thought it thundered. It did not--it rushed up in utter silence, -shaking and swaying with the surcharged intensity of its power. The -walls were crusted with the dancing, watching crystals. Now Arnsen saw -that some were dull gray, motionless and dead. These were sprinkled -among the others, and there were thousands of them. - -O'Brien paced forward--and suddenly Circe was standing with her back to -Arnsen, the gems clustering about her caressingly. She lifted her arms, -and O'Brien turned. - -A great hunger leaped into his face. The girl did not move, and O'Brien -came into the circle of her arms. - -So swift was her movement that Arnsen did not realize it till too late. -The slender arms slid free; Circe stepped back a pace--and thrust -O'Brien toward the tower of flame! - -He stumbled, off balance, and the crystals leaped from Circe's body. -They were no longer a garment. They pressed against O'Brien, forcing -him away, thrusting, pushing. Arnsen cried out and sprang forward-- - -O'Brien reeled, was engulfed by the flame-pillar. The pouring torrent -swallowed him. - -Simultaneously from the farther wall a gray, dead jewel detached itself -and shot toward the tower of fire. Into the blazing heart it fled and -vanished. - -The pillar sank down. It pulsed--thundered up again, silently streaming -like a torrent toward the roof. And out of its depths the jewel came -transformed. - -Sentiment, blazing, shining with a myriad hues, it swirled toward -Circe. Scintillant with delight, it hovered about her caressingly. - -It was alive! - -Arnsen cried out, flung himself forward. Circe turned to face him. -Still her eyes were hidden; her face was aloofly lovely and inhuman. - -The crystal swept toward Arnsen, cupping itself into his outthrust -hand. From it a wave of mad delight rushed into his brain. - -It was Doug--_it was Doug!_ Frozen with sick horror, Arnsen halted, -while thoughts poured from the sentient crystal into his mind. - -"The--the gray jewel--" His tongue fumbled thickly with the words. He -looked up to where the dull gems clung among the shining ones. - -"Machines, Steve." The thought lanced into him from the living -thing he held. "Robots, not energized. Only one thing can energize -them--life-force, vital energy. The flame-pillar does that, through -atomic transmutation. It's not earthly science--it was created in -another galaxy. There, Deirdre's race had slave people to energize the -crystals." - -"Doug--she's killed you--" - -"I'm not dead. I'm alive, Steve, more alive than I ever have been. -All the crystals--Martians, Venusians, beings from other systems and -galaxies that landed on this asteroid. Deirdre took them for her own. -As she took Hastings. As she has taken me. We serve her now--" - -The jewel tore free from Arnsen's grip. It fled back to Circe, brushing -her lips, caressing her hair. The other gems, scores of them, danced -about the girl like elfin lovers. - - * * * * * - -Arnsen stood there, sick and nauseated. He understood now. The -intricate crystal machines were too complicated to work unless -life-force energized them. Circe, who took the minds of living beings -and prisoned them in silicate robot-forms. - -They felt no resentment. They were content to serve. - -"Damn you!" Arnsen mouthed, and took a step forward. His fists balled. -His fingers ached to curl about the girl's slender neck and snap it -with sharp, vicious pressure. - -Her lashes swept up. Her eyes looked into his. - -They were black as space, with stars prisoned in their depths. They -were not human eyes. - -Now Arnsen knew why O'Brien had asked if he had looked into Deirdre's -eyes. They were her secret and her power. Her human form was not enough -to enchant and enslave the beings of a hundred worlds. It was the -soul-shaking alienage that looked out of Circe's eyes. - -Through those dark windows Arnsen saw the Outside. He saw the gulf -between the stars, and no longer did he fear it. For Circe was a -goddess. - -She was above and beyond humanity. A great void opened between her -and the man, the void of countless evolutionary cycles, and a million -light-years of space. But across that gulf something reached and met -and clung, and Arnsen's senses drowned in a soul-shaking longing for -Circe. - -It was her power. She could control emotion, as she could control the -crystals, and the power of her mind reached into Arnsen and wrung -sanity and self from it. Only in outer semblance was she even slightly -human. Beside her Arnsen was an animal, and like an animal he could be -controlled. - -She blazed like a flame before him. He forgot O'Brien, forgot Hastings -and Earth and his purpose. Her power clutched him and left him helpless. - -The grip upon his mind relaxed. Circe, confident of her triumph, let -her eyelids droop. - -And Arnsen's mind came back in a long, slow cycle from the gulfs -between the stars, drifted leisurely back into the crystalline cavern -and the presence of the goddess--and woke. - -Not wholly. He would never be whole again. But he felt the crowding -vibrations of the countless prisoners in crystal who had gone the way -his own feet were walking now, bewildered, drunken and drowning in -emotions without name, sacrificing identity without knowing what they -sacrificed. Flung into eternity at the whim of a careless goddess to -whom all life-forms were one.... - -She was turning half away as realization came back to Arnsen. She had -lifted one round white arm to let the crystals cascade along it. She -did not even see him lurch forward. - -What he did was without thought. The emotions she had called up in him -drowned all thought. He only knew that he must do what he did--he could -not yet think why. - -The breath hissed between his lips as he stumbled forward and thrust -Circe into the flame.... - - * * * * * - -From the roof a gray jewel dropped. The tower of fire paused in its -rhythm--beat out strongly again. From it a crystal leaped. It hung -motionless in the air, and Arnsen seized it with shaking fingers. He -felt great, racking sobs shake him. His fingers caressed the jewel, -pressed it to his lips. - -"Circe!" he whispered, eyes blind with tears. "Circe--" - - - - - _Epilogue_ - - -Arnsen had not spoken for a long time. Through the window I could see -the Cairo stratoship being wheeled into place. Beyond, the lights of -New York glowed yellow. - -"And so you came back," I said. - -He nodded. "And so I came back. I put on my space-suit and went back -to the ship. The crystals didn't try to stop me. They seemed to be -waiting. I don't know for what. I blasted off and headed Sunward. I -knew enough to do that. After a while I began to send out S.O.S. -signals, and a patrol boat picked me up. That was all." - -"Doug--" - -"Still there, I suppose. With all the others. Vail, why did I do it? -Was I right?" He didn't wait for an answer, but cupped the little -shagreen box in his hand. He didn't open it. - -"No," he went on, "you can't answer me; nobody can. Circe took the soul -out of my body, and I'm empty now. There's no peace for me on Earth, -or in the space-ways. And out there, somewhere, on that asteroid, the -crystals are waiting--waiting for Circe to come back-- - -"But she will never come back. She will stay with me till I die, and -then she'll be buried with me in space. In the meantime--Circe doesn't -like it here on Earth. So I'm going out again. Sometime, perhaps, I'll -take her back Outside, to the unknown place from which she came. I -don't know--" - -An audio announced the plane for Kansas. Arnsen stood up, gave me a -smile from his ravaged face, and without a word went out. - -I never saw him again. - -I think that beyond Pluto, beyond the farthest limits of the system, -a little cruiser may be fleeing into the void, controls set, racing, -perhaps, for the darkness of the Coal Sack. In the ship is a man and a -jewel. He will die, but I do not think that even in death his hand will -relax its grip on that jewel. - -And the ship will go on, into the blackness which has no name. - - * * * * * - -[Transcriber's Note: The orginal publication had no Chapter Four -heading and two Chapter Five headings. The first Chapter Five heading -has been renamed Chapter Four.] - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CRYSTAL CIRCE *** - -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. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following -the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use -of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for -copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very -easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation -of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project -Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away--you may -do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected -by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark -license, especially commercial redistribution. - -START: FULL LICENSE - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full -Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at -www.gutenberg.org/license. - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or -destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your -possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a -Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound -by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the -person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph -1.E.8. - -1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this -agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the -Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection -of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual -works in the collection are in the public domain in the United -States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the -United States and you are located in the United States, we do not -claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, -displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as -all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope -that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting -free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm -works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the -Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily -comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the -same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when -you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are -in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, -check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this -agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, -distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any -other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no -representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any -country other than the United States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other -immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear -prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work -on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the -phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, -performed, viewed, copied or distributed: - - 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. - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is -derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not -contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the -copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in -the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are -redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply -either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or -obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any -additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms -will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works -posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the -beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including -any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access -to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format -other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official -version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm website -(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense -to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means -of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain -Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the -full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -provided that: - -* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed - to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has - agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid - within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are - legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty - payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in - Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg - Literary Archive Foundation." - -* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all - copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue - all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm - works. - -* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of - any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of - receipt of the work. - -* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than -are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing -from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of -the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the Foundation as set -forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project -Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may -contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate -or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other -intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or -other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or -cannot be read by your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right -of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium -with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you -with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in -lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person -or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second -opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If -the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing -without further opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO -OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT -LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of -damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement -violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the -agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or -limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or -unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the -remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in -accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the -production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, -including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of -the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this -or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or -additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any -Defect you cause. - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of -computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It -exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations -from people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future -generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see -Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at -www.gutenberg.org - -Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by -U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, -Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up -to date contact information can be found at the Foundation's website -and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without -widespread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND -DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular -state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To -donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works - -Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project -Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be -freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and -distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of -volunteer support. - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in -the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. - -Most people start at our website which has the main PG search -facility: www.gutenberg.org - -This website 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. |