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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/31174-h.zip b/31174-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4656d1b --- /dev/null +++ b/31174-h.zip diff --git a/31174-h/31174-h.htm b/31174-h/31174-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e754e82 --- /dev/null +++ b/31174-h/31174-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1734 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Planet with No Nightmare, by Jim Harmon + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + p {margin-top: .75em; text-align: justify; margin-bottom: .75em;} + h1 {display: none;} + h2 {padding-top: 250px;} + h3 {margin: 2em auto 1em; text-align: center;} + hr {width: 45%; margin: 2em auto; visibility: hidden;} + body {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .rgt,h2,.bk2 {text-align: right;} + .figr {float: right; clear: right; margin: 1em 0 1em 1em; padding: 0; width: 355px;} + .trn {border: solid 1px; margin: 3em 15%; padding: 1em; text-align: justify;} + img {border: none;} + p.cap:first-letter {float: left; margin-right: .05em; padding-top: .05em; font-size: 300%; line-height: .8em; width: auto;} + .dcap {text-transform: uppercase;} + .bk1 {float: right; background: url("images/001.png") top left no-repeat; width: 348px; height: 450px; margin: 0; overflow: hidden;} + .bk2 {padding-top: 75px; padding-left: 185px;} + .bk3 {float: left; clear: right; width: 14em; margin: 0 2em 2em 0; line-height: 2; text-align: justify;} + + </style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Planet with No Nightmare, by Jim Harmon + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere 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 + + +Title: The Planet with No Nightmare + +Author: Jim Harmon + +Illustrator: Wallace Wood + +Release Date: February 3, 2010 [EBook #31174] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PLANET WITH NO NIGHTMARE *** + + + + +Produced by Robert Cicconetti, Stephen Blundell and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + <h1> + THE PLANET WITH NO NIGHTMARE + </h1> + <div class="bk1"> + <div class="bk2"> + <small><b>Illustrated by Wood</b></small> + </div> + </div> + <h2> + BY JIM HARMON + </h2> + <div class="bk3"> + <big>The creatures on the little planet were real bafflers. The first + puzzler about them was that they died so easily. The second was that they + didn't die at all.</big> + </div> + <h3 style="clear: right;"> + I + </h3> + <p class="cap"> + <span class="dcap">Tension</span> eased away as the spaceship settled down + on its metallic haunches and they savored a safe planetfall. + </p> + <p> + Ekstrohm fingered loose the cinches of his deceleration couch. He sighed. + An exploration camp would mean things would be simpler for him. He could + hide his problem from the others more easily. Trying to keep secret what + he did alone at night was very difficult under the close conditions on + board a ship in space. + </p> + <p> + Ryan hefted his bulk up and supported it on one elbow. He rubbed his eyes + sleepily with one huge paw. "Ekstrohm, Nogol, you guys okay?" + </p> + <p> + "Nothing wrong with me that couldn't be cured," Nogol said. He didn't say + what would cure him; he had been explaining all during the trip what he + needed to make him feel like himself. His small black eyes darted inside + the olive oval of his face. + </p> + <p> + "Ekstrohm?" Ryan insisted. + </p> + <p> + "Okay." + </p> + <p> + "Well, let's take a ground-level look at the country around here." + </p> + <p> + The facsiport rolled open on the landscape. A range of bluffs hugged the + horizon, the color of decaying moss. Above them, the sky was the black of + space, or the almost equal black of the winter sky above Minneapolis, seen + against neon-lit snow. That cold, empty sky was full of fire and light. It + seemed almost a magnification of the Galaxy itself, of the Milky Way, + blown up by some master photographer. + </p> + <p> + This fiery swath was actually only a belt of minor planets, almost like + the asteroid belt in the original Solar System. These planets were much + bigger, nearly all capable of holding an atmosphere. But to the + infuriation of scientists, for no known reason not all of them did. This + would be the fifth mapping expedition to the planetoids of Yancy-6 in + three generations. They lay months away from the nearest Earth star by + jump drive, and no one knew what they were good for, although it was felt + that they would probably be good for something if it could only be + discovered—much like the continent of Antarctica in ancient history. + </p> + <p> + "How can a planet with so many neighbors be so lonely?" Ryan asked. He was + the captain, so he could ask questions like that. + </p> + <p> + "Some can be lonely in a crowd," Nogol said elaborately. + </p> + <hr /> + <p class="cap"> + <span class="dcap">"What</span> will we need outside, Ryan?" Ekstrohm + asked. + </p> + <p> + "No helmets," the captain answered. "We can breathe out there, all right. + It just won't be easy. This old world lost all of its helium and trace + gases long ago. Nitrogen and oxygen are about it." + </p> + <p> + "Ryan, look over there," Nogol said. "Animals. Ringing the ship. Think + they're intelligent, maybe hostile?" + </p> + <p> + "I think they're dead," Ekstrohm interjected quietly. "I get no readings + from them at all. Sonic, electronic, galvanic—all blank. According + to these needles, they're stone dead." + </p> + <p> + "Ekstrohm, you and I will have a look," Ryan said. "You hold down the + fort, Nogol. Take it easy." + </p> + <p> + "Easy," Nogol confirmed. "I heard a story once about a rookie who got + excited when the captain stepped outside and he couldn't get an + encephalographic reading on him. Me, I know the mind of an officer works + in a strange and unfathomable manner." + </p> + <p> + "I'm not worried about you mis-reading the dials, Nogol, just about a lug + like you reading them at all. Remember, when the little hand is straight + up that's negative. Positive results start when it goes towards the hand + you use to make your mark." + </p> + <p> + "But I'm ambidextrous." + </p> + <p> + Ryan told him what he could do then. + </p> + <p> + Ekstrohm smiled, and followed the captain through the airlock with only a + glance at the lapel gauge on his coverall. The strong negative field his + suit set up would help to repel bacteria and insects. + </p> + <p> + Actually, the types of infection that could attack a warm-blooded mammal + were not infinite, and over the course of the last few hundred years + adequate defenses had been found for all basic categories. He wasn't + likely to come down with hot chills and puzzling striped fever. + </p> + <p> + They ignored the ladder down to the planet surface and, with only a glance + at the seismological gauge to judge surface resistance, dropped to the + ground. + </p> + <p> + It was day, but in the thin atmosphere contrasts were sharp between light + and shadow. They walked from midnight to noon, noon to midnight, and came + to the beast sprawled on its side. + </p> + <p> + Ekstrohm nudged it with a boot. "Hey, this is pretty close to a wart-hog." + </p> + <p> + "Uh-huh," Ryan admitted. "One of the best matches I've ever found. Well, + it has to happen. Statistical average and all. Still, it sometimes gives + you a creepy feeling to find a rabbit or a snapping turtle on some strange + world. It makes you wonder if this exploration business isn't all some big + joke, and somebody has been <i>everywhere</i> before you even started." + </p> + <hr /> + <p class="cap"> + <span class="dcap">The</span> surveyor looked sidewise at the captain. The + big man seldom gave out with such thoughts. Ekstrohm cleared his throat. + "What shall we do with this one? Dissect it?" + </p> + <p> + Ryan nudged it with his toe, following Ekstrohm's example. "I don't know, + Stormy. It sure as hell doesn't look like any dominant intelligent species + to me. No hands, for one thing. Of course, that's not definite proof." + </p> + <p> + "No, it isn't," Ekstrohm said. + </p> + <p> + "I think we'd better let it lay until we get a clearer picture of the + ecological setup around here. In the meantime, we might be thinking on the + problem all these dead beasts represent. What killed them?" + </p> + <p> + "It looks like we did, when we made blastdown." + </p> + <p> + "But <i>what</i> about our landing was lethal to the creatures?" + </p> + <p> + "Radiation?" Ekstrohm suggested. "The planet is very low in radiation from + mineral deposits, and the atmosphere seems to shield out most of the solar + output. Any little dose of radiation might knock off these critters." + </p> + <p> + "I don't know about that. Maybe it would work the other way. Maybe because + they have had virtually no radioactive exposure and don't have any R's + stored up, they could take a <i>lot</i> without harm." + </p> + <p> + "Then maybe it was the shockwave we set up. Or maybe it's sheer + xenophobia. They curl up and die at the sight of something strange and + alien—like a spaceship." + </p> + <p> + "Maybe," the captain admitted. "At this stage of the game anything could + be possible. But there's one possibility I particularly don't like." + </p> + <p> + "And that is?" + </p> + <p> + "Suppose it was <i>not</i> us that killed these aliens. Suppose it is + something right on the planet, native to it. I just hope it doesn't work + on Earthmen too. These critters went real sudden." + </p> + <hr /> + <p class="cap"> + <span class="dcap">Ekstrohm</span> lay in his bunk and thought, the camp + is quiet. + </p> + <p> + The Earthmen made camp outside the spaceship. There was no reason to leave + the comfortable quarters inside the ship, except that, faced with a + possibility of sleeping on solid ground, they simply had to get out. + </p> + <p> + The camp was a cluster of aluminum bubbles, ringed with a spy web to alert + the Earthmen to the approach of any being. + </p> + <p> + Each man had a bubble to himself, privacy after the long period of + enforced intimacy on board the ship. + </p> + <p> + Ekstrohm lay in his bunk and listened to the sounds of the night on + Yancy-6 138. There was a keening of wind, and a cracking of the frozen + ground. Insects there were on the world, but they were frozen solid during + the night, only to revive and thaw in the morning sun. + </p> + <p> + The bunk he lay on was much more uncomfortable than the acceleration + couches on board. Yet he knew the others were sleeping more soundly, now + that they had renewed their contact with the matter that had birthed them + to send them riding high vacuum. + </p> + <p> + Ekstrohm was not asleep. + </p> + <p> + Now there could be an end to pretending. + </p> + <p> + He threw off the light blanket and swung his feet off the bunk, to the + floor. Ekstrohm stood up. + </p> + <p> + There was no longer any need to hide. But what was there to do? What had + changed for him? + </p> + <p> + He no longer had to lie in his bunk all night, his eyes closed, pretending + to sleep. In privacy he could walk around, leave the light on, read. + </p> + <p> + It was small comfort for insomnia. + </p> + <p> + Ekstrohm never slept. Some doctors had informed him he was mistaken about + this. Actually, they said, he did sleep, but so shortly and fitfully that + he forgot. Others admitted he was absolutely correct—he <i>never</i> + slept. His body processes only slowed down enough for him to dispel + fatigue poisons. Occasionally he fell into a waking, gritty-eyed stupor; + but he never slept. + </p> + <p> + Never at all. + </p> + <p> + Naturally, he couldn't let his shipmates know this. Insomnia would ground + him from the Exploration Service, on physiological if not psychological + grounds. He had to hide it. + </p> + <hr /> + <p class="cap"> + <span class="dcap">Over</span> the years, he had had buddies in space in + whom he thought he could confide. The buddies invariably took advantage of + him. Since he couldn't sleep anyway, he might as well stand their watches + for them or write their reports. Where the hell did he get off threatening + to report any laxness on their part to the captain? A man with insomnia + had better avoid bad dreams of that kind if he knew what was good for him. + </p> + <p> + Ekstrohm had to hide his secret. + </p> + <p> + In a camp, instead of shipboard, hiding the secret was easier. But the + secret itself was just as hard. + </p> + <p> + Ekstrohm picked up a lightweight no-back from the ship's library, a book + by Bloch, the famous twentieth-century expert on sex. He scanned a few + lines on the social repercussions of a celebrated nineteenth-century sex + murderer, but he couldn't seem to concentrate on the weighty, pontifical, + ponderous style. + </p> + <p> + On impulse, he flipped up the heat control on his coverall and slid back + the hatch of the bubble. + </p> + <p> + Ekstrohm walked through the alien grass and looked up at the unfamiliar + constellations, smelling the frozen sterility of the thin air. + </p> + <p> + Behind him, his mates stirred without waking. + </p> + <h3> + II + </h3> + <p class="cap"> + <span class="dcap">Ekstrohm</span> was startled in the morning by a + banging on the hatch of his bubble. It took him a few seconds to put his + thoughts in order, and then he got up from the bunk where he had been + resting, sleeplessly. + </p> + <p> + The angry burnt-red face of Ryan greeted him. "Okay, Stormy, this isn't + the place for fun and games. What did you do with them?" + </p> + <p> + "Do with what?" + </p> + <p> + "The dead beasties. All the dead animals laying around the ship." + </p> + <p> + "What are you talking about, Ryan? What do you think I did with them?" + </p> + <p> + "I don't know. All I know is that they are gone." + </p> + <p> + "<i>Gone?</i>" + </p> + <p> + Ekstrohm shouldered his way outside and scanned the veldt. + </p> + <p> + There was no ring of animal corpses. Nothing. Nothing but wispy grass + whipping in the keen breeze. + </p> + <p> + "I'll be damned," Ekstrohm said. + </p> + <p> + "You are right now, buddy. ExPe doesn't like anybody mucking up primary + evidence." + </p> + <p> + "Where do you get off, Ryan?" Ekstrohm demanded. "Why pick me for your + patsy? This has got to be some kind of local phenomenon. Why accuse a + shipmate of being behind this?" + </p> + <p> + "Listen, Ekstrohm, I want to give you the benefit of every doubt. But you + aren't exactly the model of a surveyor, you know. You've been riding on a + pink ticket for six years, you know that." + </p> + <p> + "No," Ekstrohm said. "No, I didn't know that." + </p> + <p> + "You've been hiding things from me and Nogol every jump we've made with + you. Now comes this! It fits the pattern of secrecy and stealth you've + been involved in." + </p> + <p> + "What could I do with your lousy dead bodies? What would I want with + them?" + </p> + <p> + "All I know is that you were outside the bubbles last night, and you were + the only sentient being who came in or out of our alarm web. The tapes + show that. Now all the bodies are missing, like they got up and walked + away." + </p> + <p> + It was not a new experience to Ekstrohm. No. Suspicion wasn't new to him + at all. + </p> + <p> + "Ryan, there are other explanations for the disappearance of the bodies. + Look for them, will you? I give you my word I'm not trying to pull some + stupid kind of joke, or to deliberately foul up the expedition. Take my + word, can't you?" + </p> + <p> + Ryan shook his head. "I don't think I can. There's still such a thing as + mental illness. You may not be responsible." + </p> + <p> + Ekstrohm scowled. + </p> + <p> + "Don't try anything violent, Stormy. I outweigh you fifty pounds and I'm + fast for a big man." + </p> + <p> + "I wasn't planning on jumping you. Why do you have to jump me the first + time something goes wrong? You've only got a lot of formless suspicions." + </p> + <p> + "Look, Ekstrohm, do you think I looked out the door and saw a lot of dead + animals missing and immediately decided you did it to bedevil me? I've + been up for hours—thinking—looking into this. You're the only + possibility that's left." + </p> + <p> + "Why?" + </p> + <hr /> + <p class="cap"> + <span class="dcap">"The</span> bodies are missing. What could it be? + Scavengers? The web gives us a complete census on everything inside it. + The only animals inside the ring are more wart-hogs and, despite their + appearance, they aren't carnivorous. Strictly grass-eaters. Besides, no + animal, no insect, no process of decay could <i>completely</i> consume + animals without a trace. There are no bones, no hide, no nothing." + </p> + <p> + "You don't know the way bacteria works on this planet. Radiation is so + low, it may be particularly virulent." + </p> + <p> + "That's a possible explanation, although it runs counter to all the + evidence we've established so far. There's a much simpler explanation, + Ekstrohm. You. You hid the bodies for some reason. What other reason could + you have for prowling around out here at night?" + </p> + <p> + <i>I couldn't sleep.</i> The words were in his throat, but he didn't use + them. They weren't an explanation. They would open more questions than + they would answer. + </p> + <p> + "You're closing your eyes to the possibility of natural phenomenon, laying + this on me. You haven't adequate proof and you know it." + </p> + <p> + "Ekstrohm, when something's stolen, you always suspect a suspicious + character before you get around to the possibility that the stolen goods + melted into thin air." + </p> + <p> + "What," Ekstrohm said with deadly patience, "what do you think I could + have possibly done with your precious dead bodies?" + </p> + <p> + "You could have buried them. This is a big territory. We haven't been able + to search every square foot of it." + </p> + <p> + "Ryan, it was thirty or forty below zero last night. How the devil could I + dig holes in this ground to bury anything?" + </p> + <p> + "At forty below, how could your bacteria function to rot them away?" + </p> + <p> + Ekstrohm could see he was facing prejudice. There was no need to keep + talking, and no use in it. Still, some reflex made him continue to frame + reasonable answers. + </p> + <p> + "I don't know what bacteria on <i>this</i> planet can do. Besides, that + was only <i>one</i> example of a natural phenomenon." + </p> + <p> + "Look, Ekstrohm, you don't have anything to worry about if you're not + responsible. We're going to give you a fair test." + </p> + <p> + What kind of a test would it be? He wondered. And how fair? + </p> + <p> + Nogol came trotting up lightly. + </p> + <p> + "Ryan, I found some more wart-hogs and they keeled over as soon as they + saw me." + </p> + <p> + "So it <i>was</i> xenophobia," Ekstrohm ventured. + </p> + <p> + "The important thing," Ryan said, with a sidelong glance at the surveyor, + "is that now we've got what it takes to see if Ekstrohm has been + deliberately sabotaging this expedition." + </p> + <hr /> + <p class="cap"> + <span class="dcap">The</span> body heat of the three men caused the + air-conditioner of the tiny bubble to labor. + </p> + <p> + "Okay," Ryan breathed. "We've got our eyes on you, Ekstrohm, and the video + circuits are wide open on the dead beasts. All we have to do is wait." + </p> + <p> + "We'll have a long wait," Nogol ventured. "With Ekstrohm here, and the + corpses out there, nothing is going to happen." + </p> + <p> + That would be all the proof they needed, Ekstrohm knew. Negative results + would be positive proof to them. His pink ticket would turn pure red and + he would be grounded for life—<i>if</i> he got off without a + rehabilitation sentence. + </p> + <p> + But if nothing happened, it wouldn't really prove anything. There was no + way to say that the conditions tonight were identical to the conditions + the previous night. What had swept away those bodies might be comparable + to a flash flood. Something that occurred once a year, or once in a + century. + </p> + <p> + And perhaps his presence outside <i>was</i> required in some subtle + cause-and-effect relationship. + </p> + <p> + All this test would prove, if the bodies didn't disappear, was only that + conditions were not identical to conditions under which they did + disappear. + </p> + <p> + Ryan and Nogol were prepared to accept him, Ekstrohm, as the missing + element, the one ingredient needed to vanish the corpses. But it could + very well be something else. + </p> + <p> + Only Ekstrohm knew that it <i>had</i> to be something else that caused the + disappearances. + </p> + <p> + <i>Or did it?</i> + </p> + <p> + He faced up to the question. How did he know he was sane? How could he be + sure that he hadn't stolen and hid the bodies for some murky reason of his + own? There was a large question as to how long a man could go without + sleep, dreams and oblivion, and remain sane. + </p> + <p> + Ekstrohm forced his mind to consider the possibility. Could he remember + every step he had taken the night before? + </p> + <p> + It seemed to him that he could remember walking past the creature lying in + the grass, then walking in a circle, and coming back to the base. It + seemed like that to him. But how could he know that it was true? + </p> + <p> + He couldn't. + </p> + <hr /> + <p class="cap"> + <span class="dcap">There</span> was no way he could prove, even to + himself, that he had not disposed of those alien remains and then come + back to his bubble, contented and happy at the thought of fooling those + smug idiots who could sleep at night. + </p> + <p> + "How much longer do we have to wait?" Nogol asked. "We've been here nine + hours. Half a day. The bodies are right where I left them outside. There + doesn't seem to be any more question." + </p> + <p> + Ekstrohm frowned. There was one question. He was sure there was one + question.... Oh, yes. The question was: How did he know he was sane? + </p> + <p> + He didn't know, of course. That was as good an answer as any. Might as + well accept it; might as well let them do what they wanted with him. Maybe + if he just gave up, gave in, maybe he could sleep then. Maybe he could ... + </p> + <p> + Ekstrohm sat upright in his chair. + </p> + <p> + No. That wasn't the answer. He couldn't know that he was sane, but then + neither could anybody else. The point was, you had to go ahead living as + if you were sane. That was the only way of living. + </p> + <p> + "Cosmos," Ryan gasped. "Would you look at that!" + </p> + <p> + Ekstrohm followed the staring gaze of the two men. + </p> + <p> + On the video grid, one of the "dead" animals was slowly rising, getting + up, walking away. + </p> + <p> + "A natural phenomenon!" Ekstrohm said. + </p> + <p> + "Suspended animation!" Nogol ventured. + </p> + <p> + "Playing possum!" Ryan concluded. + </p> + <p> + Now came the time for apologies. + </p> + <p> + Ekstrohm had been through similar situations before, ever since he had + been found walking the corridors at college the night one of the girls had + been attacked. He didn't want to hear their apologies; they meant nothing + to him. It was not a matter of forgiving them. He knew the situation had + not changed. + </p> + <p> + They would suspect him just as quickly a second time. + </p> + <p> + "We're supposed to be an exploration team," Ekstrohm said quickly. "Let's + get down to business. Why do you suppose these alien creatures fake + death?" + </p> + <div class="figr"> + <img src="images/002.png" width="355" height="550" alt="" title="" /> + </div> + <p> + Nogol shrugged his wiry shoulders. "Playing dead is easier than fighting." + </p> + <p> + "More likely it's a method of fighting," Ryan suggested. "They play dead + until they see an opening. Then—<i>ripppp</i>." + </p> + <p> + "I think they're trying to hide some secret," Ekstrohm said. + </p> + <p> + "What secret?" Ryan demanded. + </p> + <p> + "I don't know," he answered. "Maybe I'd better—sleep on it." + </p> + <h3> + III + </h3> + <p class="cap"> + <span class="dcap">Ryan</span> observed his two crewmen confidently the + next morning. "I did some thinking last night." + </p> + <p> + <i>Great</i>, Ekstrohm thought. <i>For that you should get a Hazardous + Duty bonus.</i> + </p> + <p> + "This business is pretty simple," the captain went on, "these pigs simply + play possum. They go into a state of suspended animation, when faced by a + strange situation. Xenophobia! I don't see there's much more to it." + </p> + <p> + "Well, if you don't see that there's more to it, Ryan—" Nogol began + complacently. + </p> + <p> + "Wait a minute," Ekstrohm interjected. "That's a good theory. It may even + be the correct one, but where's your <i>proof</i>?" + </p> + <p> + "Look, Stormy, we don't have to have proof. Hell, we don't even have to + have theories. We're explorers. We just make reports of primary evidence + and let the scientists back home in the System figure them out." + </p> + <p> + "I want this thing cleared up, Ryan. Yesterday, you were accusing me of + being some kind of psycho who was lousing up the expedition out of pure—pure—" + he searched for a term currently in use in mentology—"<i>demonia</i>. + Maybe the boys back home will think the same thing. I want to be cleared." + </p> + <p> + "I guess you were cleared last night, Stormy boy," Nogol put in. "We saw + one of the 'dead' pigs get up and walk away." + </p> + <p> + "<i>That didn't clear me</i>," Ekstrohm said. + </p> + <p> + The other two looked like they had caught him cleaning wax out of his ear + in public. + </p> + <p> + "No," Ekstrohm went on. "We still have no proof of what caused the + suspended animation of the pigs. Whatever caused it before caused it last + night. You thought of accusing me, but you didn't think it through about + how I could have disposed of the bodies. Or, after you found out about the + pseudo-death, how I might have caused <i>that</i>. If I had some drug or + something to cause it the first time, I could have a smaller dose, or a + slowly dissolving capsule for delayed effect." + </p> + <p> + The two men stared at him, their eyes beginning to narrow. + </p> + <p> + "I could have done that. <i>Or either of you could have done the same + thing.</i>" + </p> + <p> + "Me?" Nogol protested. "Where would my profit be in that?" + </p> + <p> + "You both have an admitted motive. You hate my guts. I'm 'strange,' + 'different,' 'suspicious.' You could be trying to frame me." + </p> + <p> + "That's insubordination," Ryan grated. "Accusations against a superior + officer ..." + </p> + <p> + "Come off it, Ryan," Nogol sighed. "I never saw a three-man spaceship that + was run very taut. Besides, he's right." + </p> + <p> + Beet-juice flowed out of Ryan's swollen face. "So where does that leave + us?" + </p> + <p> + "Looking for <i>proof</i> of the <i>cause</i> of the pig's pseudo-death. + Remember, I'll have to make counter-accusations against you two out of + self-defense." + </p> + <p> + "Be reasonable, Stormy," Ryan pleaded. "This might be some deep scientific + mystery we could never discover in our lifetime. We might never get off + this planet." + </p> + <p> + That was probably behind his thinking all along, why he had been so quick + to find a scapegoat to explain it all away. Explorers didn't <i>have</i> + to have all the answers, or even theories. But, if they ever wanted to get + anyplace in the Service, they damned well <i>better</i>. + </p> + <p> + "So what?" Ekstrohm asked. "The Service rates us as expendable, doesn't + it?" + </p> + <hr /> + <p class="cap"> + <span class="dcap">By</span> Ekstrohm's suggestion, they divided the work. + </p> + <p> + Nogol killed pigs. All day he did nothing but scare the wart-hogs to death + by coming near them. + </p> + <p> + Ryan ran as faithful a check on the corpses as he could, both by eyeball + observation and by radar, video and Pro-Tect circuits. They lacked the + equipment to program every corpse for every second, but a representative + job could be done. + </p> + <p> + Finally, Ekstrohm went scouting for Something Else. He didn't know what he + expected to find, but he somehow knew he would find <i>something</i>. + </p> + <p> + He rode the traction-scooter (so-called because it had no traction at all—no + wheels, no slides, no contact with the ground or air) and he reflected + that he was a suspicious character. + </p> + <p> + All through life, he was going around suspecting everybody and now <i>everything</i> + of having some dark secret they were trying to hide. + </p> + <p> + A simple case of transference, he diagnosed, in long-discredited + terminology. He had something to hide—his insomnia. So he thought + everybody else had their guilty secret too. + </p> + <p> + How could there be any deep secret to the pseudo-death on this world? It + was no doubt a simple fear reaction, a retreat from a terrifying reality. + How could he ever <i>prove</i> that it was more? Or even exactly that? + </p> + <p> + Internal glandular actions would be too subtle for a team of explorers to + establish. They could only go on behavior. What more in the way of + behavior could he really hope to establish? The pattern was clear. The + pigs keeled over at any unfamiliar sight or sound, and recovered when they + thought the coast was clear. That was it. All there was! Why did he + stubbornly, stupidly insist there was more to it? + </p> + <p> + Actually, by his insistence, he was giving weight to the idea of the + others that he was strange and suspicious himself. Under the normal, sane + conditions of planetfall the phobias and preoccupations of a space crew, + nurtured in the close confines of a scout ship, wouldn't be taken + seriously by competent men. But hadn't his subsequent behavior given + weight to Ryan's unfounded accusations of irrational sabotage? Wouldn't it + seem that he was actually <i>daring</i> the others to prove his guilt? If + he went on with unorthodox behavior— + </p> + <p> + That was when Ekstrohm saw the flying whale. + </p> + <hr /> + <p class="cap"> + <span class="dcap">Tension</span> gripped Ekstrohm tighter than he gripped + the handlebars of his scooter. He was only vaguely aware of the passing + scenery. He knew he should switch on the homing beacon and ride in on + automatic, but it seemed like too much of an effort to flick his finger. + As the tension rose, the capillaries of his eyes swelled, and things began + to white out for him. The rush of landscape became blurred streaks of + light and dark, now mostly faceless light. + </p> + <p> + The flying whale. He had seen it. + </p> + <p> + Moreover, he had heard it, smelt and felt it. It had released a jet of air + with a distinctive sound and odor. It had blown against his skin, ruffled + his hair. It had been real. + </p> + <p> + But the flying whale <i>couldn't</i> have been real. Conditions on this + planetoid were impossible for it. He knew planets and their life + possibilities. A creature with a skeleton like that could have evolved + here, but the atmosphere would never have supported his flesh and hide. + Water bodies were of insufficient size. No, the whale was not native to + this world. + </p> + <p> + Then what, if anything, did this flying alien behemoth have to do with the + pseudo-death of the local pig creatures? + </p> + <p> + I'll never know, Ekstrohm told himself. Never. Ryan and Nogol will never + believe me, they will never believe in the flying whale. They're + explorers, simple men of action, unimaginative. Of course, I'm an explorer + too. But I'm different, I'm sensitive— + </p> + <p> + Ekstrohm was riding for a fall. + </p> + <p> + The traction-scooter was going up a slope that had been eroded concave. It + was at the very top of the half-moon angle, upside down, standing Ekstrohm + on his head. Since he was not strapped into his seat, he fell. + </p> + <p> + As he fell he thought ruefully that he had contrived to have an accident + in the only way possible with a traction-scooter. + </p> + <p> + Ekstrohm's cranium collided with the ground, and he stopped thinking.... + </p> + <hr /> + <p class="cap"> + <span class="dcap">Ekstrohm</span> blinked open his eyes, wondering. He + saw light, then sky, then pigs. + </p> + <p> + Live pigs. + </p> + <p> + But—the pigs shouldn't be alive. When he was this close they should + be dead. + </p> + <p> + Only they weren't. + </p> + <p> + Why ... why ... + </p> + <p> + He moved slightly and the nearest pig fell dead. The others went on with + their business, roaming the plain. Ekstrohm expected the dropping of the + pig to stampede the rest into dropping dead, but they didn't seem to pay + any attention to their fallen member. + </p> + <p> + I've been lying here for hours, he realized. I didn't move in on them. The + pigs moved in on me while I was lying still. If I keep still I can get a + close look at them in action. + </p> + <p> + So far, even with video, it had been difficult to get much of an idea of + the way these creatures lived—when they weren't dead. + </p> + <p> + Observe, observe, he told himself. + </p> + <p> + There might be some relationship between the flying whale and the pigs. + </p> + <p> + Could it be the whales were intelligent alien masters of these herds of + pigs? + </p> + <p> + Ekstrohm lay still and observed. + </p> + <p> + Item: the pigs ate the soft, mosslike grass. + </p> + <p> + Item: the pigs eliminated almost constantly. + </p> + <p> + Item: the pigs fought regularly. + </p> + <p> + Fought? + </p> + <p> + <i>Fought?</i> + </p> + <p> + Here was something, Ekstrohm realized. + </p> + <p> + Why did animals fight? + </p> + <p> + Rationalizations of nature-lovers aside, some fought because they had + plain mean nasty dispositions—like some people. That didn't fit the + pigs. They were indolent grazers. They hadn't the energy left over for + sheer-cussedness. There had to be a definite goal to their battles. + </p> + <p> + It wasn't food. That was abundant. The grassy veldt reached to all + horizons. + </p> + <p> + Sex. They had to be fighting for mates! + </p> + <p> + He became so excited he twitched a foot slightly. Two more pigs dropped + dead, but the others paid no heed. + </p> + <p> + He watched the lazily milling herd intently, at the same time keeping an + eye out for the flying whales. Back on Earth porpoises had been taught to + herd schools of fish and of whales. It was not impossible an intelligent + species of whale had learned to herd masses of land animals. + </p> + <p> + But Ekstrohm knew he needed proof. He had to have something to link the + pseudo-death of the wart-hogs to the inexplicable presence of the whales. + Perhaps, he thought, the "death" of the pigs was the whales' way of + putting them into cold storage—a method of making the meat seem + unattractive to other animals, on a world perhaps without carrion + scavengers.... + </p> + <p> + Something was stirring among the pigs. + </p> + <hr /> + <p class="cap"> + <span class="dcap">One</span> under-sized beastie was pawing the dirt, a + red eye set on the fattest animal in sight. Then Shortie charged Fatso. + But abruptly a large raw-boned critter was in Shortie's path, barring him + from Fatso. + </p> + <p> + Faced by Big Boy, Shortie trembled with rage and went into a terrible + temper tantrum, rolling on the ground, pawing it in frenzy, squealing in + maddened rage. Then Shortie was on his feet, desperate determination + showing in every line of his body. With heedless, desperate, foolhardy + courage he charged Big Boy. + </p> + <p> + Big Boy took the headlong charge in his side with only a trifling grunt. + </p> + <p> + Shortie bounced ten feet in the light gravity, and grimly wallowed to his + feet. He leveled an eye at Big Boy, and his legs were pumping in frenzied + fury again. + </p> + <p> + Big Boy shifted his kilos of weight casually and met Shortie head on. + </p> + <p> + The tremendous <i>ker-rack</i> reverberated from the bluff behind + Ekstrohm. + </p> + <p> + Shortie lay on the ground. + </p> + <p> + No, Ekstrohm thought, he isn't dead. His sides were pumping in and out. + But he was knocked cold. + </p> + <p> + Ekstrohm had to sympathize with him. He had never seen a more valiant try + against insurmountable odds. + </p> + <p> + Big Boy was ambling over towards Fatso, apparently to claim his prize. + Fatso apparently was the sow. + </p> + <p> + But Big Boy stalked on past Fatso. She squealed after him tentatively, but + he turned and blasted her back with a bellowing snort. + </p> + <p> + Ekstrohm watched the scene repeated with other actors several times before + he was sure. + </p> + <p> + The older males, the Big Boys, <i>never</i> collected the favors of the + harem for themselves. + </p> + <p> + Instinctively, the pigs were practicing <i>birth control</i>. The older + males abstained, and forced the younger males to do the same. + </p> + <p> + On a world like this, Ekstrohm's first thought was of death. + </p> + <p> + He thought, these pigs must be like lemmings, deliberately trying to + destroy their own race, to commit geno-suicide. + </p> + <p> + But that didn't answer any of the other questions, about the <i>pseudo</i>-death, + the alien whales ... + </p> + <p> + And then Ekstrohm thought not of death but of <i>life</i>. + </p> + <h3> + IV + </h3> + <p class="cap"> + <span class="dcap">The</span> traction-scooter was where he had left it, + hanging upside down on the underside of the concave slope. It had stopped + automatically when his weight had left the seat. He reached up, toggled + the OVERRIDE switch and put it manually into reverse. + </p> + <p> + Once straightened out, he was on his way back to the base. + </p> + <p> + I feel good, he thought. I feel like I could lick my weight in spacemen. + </p> + <p> + Only then did he realize why he felt so good. + </p> + <p> + What had happened had been so strange for him, he couldn't realize what it + had been until now. + </p> + <p> + While he had been knocked out, he had been asleep. + </p> + <p> + Asleep. + </p> + <p> + For the first time in years. + </p> + <p> + Sleep. He felt wonderful. He felt like he could lick all of his + problems.... + </p> + <p> + Ekstrohm roared back into the base. The motor was silent on the + traction-scooter, of course, but the air he kicked up made its own racket. + </p> + <p> + Ryan and Nogol came out to greet him sullenly. + </p> + <p> + "Listen," he told them, "I've got the answer to all of this." + </p> + <p> + "So have we," Ryan said ugly. "The first answer was the right one. We've + been scaring pigs to death and watching them, scaring and watching. We + learned nothing. You knew we wouldn't. You set us up for this. It's like + you said. You fed all of these beasts your stuff in advance, something + that acts when they get excited...." + </p> + <p> + It didn't make sense, but then it never had. You couldn't argue with + prejudice. He was "different." He didn't act like they did. He didn't + believe the same things. He was the outsider, therefore suspect. The alien + on an alien world. + </p> + <p> + Ekstrohm sighed. Man would always be the final alien, the creature man + would never understand, sympathize with or even tolerate. + </p> + <p> + There was no point in trying to argue further, Ekstrohm realized. + </p> + <p> + "You'll never understand, Ryan. You could have seen all the things I saw + if you'd bothered to look, but you were too anxious to blame me. But if I + can't make you understand, I can at least beat you into acceptance." + </p> + <p> + "Huh?" Ryan ventured. + </p> + <p> + "I said," Ekstrohm repeated, "that I'm going to beat some sense into your + thick skull." + </p> + <p> + Ryan grinned, rippled his massive shoulders and charged. + </p> + <hr /> + <p class="cap"> + <span class="dcap">Ekstrohm</span> remembered the lesson Shortie had + taught him with Big Boy. He didn't meet the captain's charge head on. He + sidestepped and caught Ryan behind the ear with his fist. The big man + halted, puzzled. Ekstrohm sank his fist into the thick, solid belly. + </p> + <p> + Slowly, Ryan's knees gave way and he sank towards the ground. + </p> + <p> + When his chin was at the right level of convenience, Ekstrohm put his + weight behind his right. + </p> + <p> + Ryan swayed dreamily backward. + </p> + <p> + But he threw himself forward and one ham of a fist connected high on + Ekstrohm's cheek. He was shaken to his toes, and the several hours' old + pain in the back of his head throbbed sickeningly. One more like that + would do for him. + </p> + <p> + Ekstrohm stood and drove in a lot of short punches to Ryan's body, punches + without much power behind them because he didn't have it. But he knew + better than to try a massive attack on a massive target. + </p> + <p> + When he couldn't lift his arms any more, Ekstrohm stopped punching. He + realized Ryan had fallen on his face a few seconds before. + </p> + <p> + Then he remembered, and whirled. He had left his back exposed to Nogol. + </p> + <p> + Nogol smiled. "I'm not drawing Hazard Pay." + </p> + <p> + After a while, Ekstrohm stopped panting and faced Nogol and the captain + who was now sitting, rubbing his jaw. "Okay," he said, "now you'll listen + or I'll beat your skulls in. I know what's behind all of this on this + planet." + </p> + <p> + "Yeah? What do you think it is, Stormy?" Ryan asked. + </p> + <p> + "First of all, I think there's a basic difference between this world and + any other the ExPe has investigated." + </p> + <p> + "Now what could that be?" Nogol wanted to know with a tiny smile. + </p> + <p> + "These worlds are <i>close</i>. The gravity is low. You wouldn't need much + more than a jet plane to get from one of these planetoids to another. Some + animals have developed with the power to travel from one of these + planetoids to another—like a squid jetting out water. They harnessed + some natural power system." + </p> + <p> + "What does that prove?" Ryan wanted to know. + </p> + <p> + "It proves that this world and others in this belt are <i>prepared</i> for + interplanetary travel. It's probably a part of their basic evolutional + structure, unlike that of heavy, independent planets. This false 'dying' + is part of their preparation for interplanetary visitors." + </p> + <p> + "Why would these aliens want others to think that they were dead?" Ryan + asked. + </p> + <p> + "Correction, captain. They want visitors to believe that they <i>can</i> + die." + </p> + <hr /> + <p class="cap"> + <span class="dcap">Ryan</span> blinked. "Meaning that they <i>can't</i> + die?" + </p> + <p> + "That's right. I think everything on this planet has immortality," + Ekstrohm said. "I'm not exactly sure how. Maybe it has to do with the low + radiation. Every individual cell has a 'memory' of the whole creature. But + as we age that 'memory' becomes faulty, our cells 'forget' how to + reproduce themselves exactly. Here, that cell 'memory' never fades. Bodies + renew themselves indefinitely." + </p> + <p> + "But why hide it?" Nogol asked. + </p> + <p> + "This planetoid can just support so many creatures. They practice birth + control among themselves," the surveyor said. "The natives naturally want + to discourage colonization." + </p> + <p> + Ryan whistled. "Once we report this, every rich and powerful man in the + Federation will want to come here to live. There's not enough space to go + around. There will be wars over this little hunk of rock." + </p> + <p> + Nogol's hard, dark eyes were staring into space. "There's only one + sensible thing to do. We'll keep the world to ourselves." + </p> + <p> + "I don't like that kind of talk," Ryan growled. + </p> + <p> + "Ryan, this little ball of dirt isn't going to do the Federation as a + whole any good. But it can be of value to us. We can make ourselves + comfortable here. Later on, we can bring in some women. Any women we want. + Who wouldn't want to come here?" + </p> + <p> + Ryan began to argue, but Ekstrohm could see he was hooked. The man who + risked his life, the man who sought something new and different, the + explorer, was basically an unstable type removed from the mainstream of + civilization. Nothing was liable to change that. + </p> + <p> + By nightfall, Ryan and Ekstrohm had agreed. + </p> + <p> + "We'll have to keep a constant watch," Ryan was saying. "We'll have to + watch out for ExPe scouts looking for us. Or, after a few generations, + another ship may come to complete the mapping." + </p> + <p> + Nogol smiled. "We'll have to keep an eye on each other too, you know. One + of us may get to wanting more room for more women. Or to have children, a + normal biological urge. Death by violence isn't ruled out here." + </p> + <p> + "I don't like that kind of talk," Ryan blustered. + </p> + <p> + Nogol smiled. + </p> + <p> + Ekstrohm thought of the others, of the sleepless, watchful nights ahead of + them. That was probably his trouble, all of his life. He didn't trust + people; he had to stay awake and keep an eye on everybody. Well, he would + be one ahead here. + </p> + <p> + Of course, it was wrong not to trust anybody, but Ekstrohm knew habit + patterns were hard to break. + </p> + <p> + Sleep is a habit. + </p> + <hr /> + <p class="cap"> + <span class="dcap">Ryan</span> and Nogol were jarred awake in the night by + the spaceship blasting off without them. They ran out and shook their tiny + fists in fury at the rising flame. + </p> + <p> + Operating a spaceship alone was no cinch but it could be done. Ekstrohm + would get back to the nearest Federation base and report the planetoid + without death. He didn't have absolute confidence in any government, no. + But he suspected the Federation could do more with the world than two men + like Ryan and Nogol. + </p> + <p> + Ekstrohm took his fingers off the punchboard and lay back on his couch. + </p> + <p> + He yawned. + </p> + <p> + Ryan and Nogol were slow, but in time they might have learned to do + without sleep, and to guard their treasure night and day. + </p> + <p> + Fortunately, Ekstrohm knew from long experience what the two others + didn't. + </p> + <p> + An eternity without sleep isn't worth the price. + </p> + <p class="rgt"> + —END + </p> + <div class="trn"> + <b>Transcriber's Note:</b> This etext was produced from <i>If: Worlds of + Science Fiction</i> July 1961. Extensive research did not uncover any + evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed. Minor + spelling and typographical errors have been corrected without note. + </div> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Planet with No Nightmare, by Jim Harmon + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PLANET WITH NO NIGHTMARE *** + +***** This file should be named 31174-h.htm or 31174-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/1/7/31174/ + +Produced by Robert Cicconetti, Stephen Blundell and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Planet with No Nightmare + +Author: Jim Harmon + +Illustrator: Wallace Wood + +Release Date: February 3, 2010 [EBook #31174] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PLANET WITH NO NIGHTMARE *** + + + + +Produced by Robert Cicconetti, Stephen Blundell and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + THE + PLANET + WITH + NO + NIGHTMARE + + +Illustrated by Wood + +BY JIM HARMON + + + The creatures on the little planet were real bafflers. The first + puzzler about them was that they died so easily. The second was that + they didn't die at all. + + +I + +Tension eased away as the spaceship settled down on its metallic +haunches and they savored a safe planetfall. + +Ekstrohm fingered loose the cinches of his deceleration couch. He +sighed. An exploration camp would mean things would be simpler for him. +He could hide his problem from the others more easily. Trying to keep +secret what he did alone at night was very difficult under the close +conditions on board a ship in space. + +Ryan hefted his bulk up and supported it on one elbow. He rubbed his +eyes sleepily with one huge paw. "Ekstrohm, Nogol, you guys okay?" + +"Nothing wrong with me that couldn't be cured," Nogol said. He didn't +say what would cure him; he had been explaining all during the trip what +he needed to make him feel like himself. His small black eyes darted +inside the olive oval of his face. + +"Ekstrohm?" Ryan insisted. + +"Okay." + +"Well, let's take a ground-level look at the country around here." + +The facsiport rolled open on the landscape. A range of bluffs hugged the +horizon, the color of decaying moss. Above them, the sky was the black +of space, or the almost equal black of the winter sky above Minneapolis, +seen against neon-lit snow. That cold, empty sky was full of fire and +light. It seemed almost a magnification of the Galaxy itself, of the +Milky Way, blown up by some master photographer. + +This fiery swath was actually only a belt of minor planets, almost like +the asteroid belt in the original Solar System. These planets were much +bigger, nearly all capable of holding an atmosphere. But to the +infuriation of scientists, for no known reason not all of them did. This +would be the fifth mapping expedition to the planetoids of Yancy-6 in +three generations. They lay months away from the nearest Earth star by +jump drive, and no one knew what they were good for, although it was +felt that they would probably be good for something if it could only be +discovered--much like the continent of Antarctica in ancient history. + +"How can a planet with so many neighbors be so lonely?" Ryan asked. He +was the captain, so he could ask questions like that. + +"Some can be lonely in a crowd," Nogol said elaborately. + + * * * * * + +"What will we need outside, Ryan?" Ekstrohm asked. + +"No helmets," the captain answered. "We can breathe out there, all +right. It just won't be easy. This old world lost all of its helium and +trace gases long ago. Nitrogen and oxygen are about it." + +"Ryan, look over there," Nogol said. "Animals. Ringing the ship. Think +they're intelligent, maybe hostile?" + +"I think they're dead," Ekstrohm interjected quietly. "I get no readings +from them at all. Sonic, electronic, galvanic--all blank. According to +these needles, they're stone dead." + +"Ekstrohm, you and I will have a look," Ryan said. "You hold down the +fort, Nogol. Take it easy." + +"Easy," Nogol confirmed. "I heard a story once about a rookie who got +excited when the captain stepped outside and he couldn't get an +encephalographic reading on him. Me, I know the mind of an officer works +in a strange and unfathomable manner." + +"I'm not worried about you mis-reading the dials, Nogol, just about a +lug like you reading them at all. Remember, when the little hand is +straight up that's negative. Positive results start when it goes towards +the hand you use to make your mark." + +"But I'm ambidextrous." + +Ryan told him what he could do then. + +Ekstrohm smiled, and followed the captain through the airlock with only +a glance at the lapel gauge on his coverall. The strong negative field +his suit set up would help to repel bacteria and insects. + +Actually, the types of infection that could attack a warm-blooded mammal +were not infinite, and over the course of the last few hundred years +adequate defenses had been found for all basic categories. He wasn't +likely to come down with hot chills and puzzling striped fever. + +They ignored the ladder down to the planet surface and, with only a +glance at the seismological gauge to judge surface resistance, dropped +to the ground. + +It was day, but in the thin atmosphere contrasts were sharp between +light and shadow. They walked from midnight to noon, noon to midnight, +and came to the beast sprawled on its side. + +Ekstrohm nudged it with a boot. "Hey, this is pretty close to a +wart-hog." + +"Uh-huh," Ryan admitted. "One of the best matches I've ever found. Well, +it has to happen. Statistical average and all. Still, it sometimes gives +you a creepy feeling to find a rabbit or a snapping turtle on some +strange world. It makes you wonder if this exploration business isn't +all some big joke, and somebody has been _everywhere_ before you even +started." + + * * * * * + +The surveyor looked sidewise at the captain. The big man seldom gave out +with such thoughts. Ekstrohm cleared his throat. "What shall we do with +this one? Dissect it?" + +Ryan nudged it with his toe, following Ekstrohm's example. "I don't +know, Stormy. It sure as hell doesn't look like any dominant intelligent +species to me. No hands, for one thing. Of course, that's not definite +proof." + +"No, it isn't," Ekstrohm said. + +"I think we'd better let it lay until we get a clearer picture of the +ecological setup around here. In the meantime, we might be thinking on +the problem all these dead beasts represent. What killed them?" + +"It looks like we did, when we made blastdown." + +"But _what_ about our landing was lethal to the creatures?" + +"Radiation?" Ekstrohm suggested. "The planet is very low in radiation +from mineral deposits, and the atmosphere seems to shield out most of +the solar output. Any little dose of radiation might knock off these +critters." + +"I don't know about that. Maybe it would work the other way. Maybe +because they have had virtually no radioactive exposure and don't have +any R's stored up, they could take a _lot_ without harm." + +"Then maybe it was the shockwave we set up. Or maybe it's sheer +xenophobia. They curl up and die at the sight of something strange and +alien--like a spaceship." + +"Maybe," the captain admitted. "At this stage of the game anything could +be possible. But there's one possibility I particularly don't like." + +"And that is?" + +"Suppose it was _not_ us that killed these aliens. Suppose it is +something right on the planet, native to it. I just hope it doesn't work +on Earthmen too. These critters went real sudden." + + * * * * * + +Ekstrohm lay in his bunk and thought, the camp is quiet. + +The Earthmen made camp outside the spaceship. There was no reason to +leave the comfortable quarters inside the ship, except that, faced with +a possibility of sleeping on solid ground, they simply had to get out. + +The camp was a cluster of aluminum bubbles, ringed with a spy web to +alert the Earthmen to the approach of any being. + +Each man had a bubble to himself, privacy after the long period of +enforced intimacy on board the ship. + +Ekstrohm lay in his bunk and listened to the sounds of the night on +Yancy-6 138. There was a keening of wind, and a cracking of the frozen +ground. Insects there were on the world, but they were frozen solid +during the night, only to revive and thaw in the morning sun. + +The bunk he lay on was much more uncomfortable than the acceleration +couches on board. Yet he knew the others were sleeping more soundly, now +that they had renewed their contact with the matter that had birthed +them to send them riding high vacuum. + +Ekstrohm was not asleep. + +Now there could be an end to pretending. + +He threw off the light blanket and swung his feet off the bunk, to the +floor. Ekstrohm stood up. + +There was no longer any need to hide. But what was there to do? What had +changed for him? + +He no longer had to lie in his bunk all night, his eyes closed, +pretending to sleep. In privacy he could walk around, leave the light +on, read. + +It was small comfort for insomnia. + +Ekstrohm never slept. Some doctors had informed him he was mistaken +about this. Actually, they said, he did sleep, but so shortly and +fitfully that he forgot. Others admitted he was absolutely correct--he +_never_ slept. His body processes only slowed down enough for him to +dispel fatigue poisons. Occasionally he fell into a waking, gritty-eyed +stupor; but he never slept. + +Never at all. + +Naturally, he couldn't let his shipmates know this. Insomnia would +ground him from the Exploration Service, on physiological if not +psychological grounds. He had to hide it. + + * * * * * + +Over the years, he had had buddies in space in whom he thought he could +confide. The buddies invariably took advantage of him. Since he couldn't +sleep anyway, he might as well stand their watches for them or write +their reports. Where the hell did he get off threatening to report any +laxness on their part to the captain? A man with insomnia had better +avoid bad dreams of that kind if he knew what was good for him. + +Ekstrohm had to hide his secret. + +In a camp, instead of shipboard, hiding the secret was easier. But the +secret itself was just as hard. + +Ekstrohm picked up a lightweight no-back from the ship's library, a book +by Bloch, the famous twentieth-century expert on sex. He scanned a few +lines on the social repercussions of a celebrated nineteenth-century sex +murderer, but he couldn't seem to concentrate on the weighty, +pontifical, ponderous style. + +On impulse, he flipped up the heat control on his coverall and slid back +the hatch of the bubble. + +Ekstrohm walked through the alien grass and looked up at the unfamiliar +constellations, smelling the frozen sterility of the thin air. + +Behind him, his mates stirred without waking. + + +II + +Ekstrohm was startled in the morning by a banging on the hatch of his +bubble. It took him a few seconds to put his thoughts in order, and then +he got up from the bunk where he had been resting, sleeplessly. + +The angry burnt-red face of Ryan greeted him. "Okay, Stormy, this isn't +the place for fun and games. What did you do with them?" + +"Do with what?" + +"The dead beasties. All the dead animals laying around the ship." + +"What are you talking about, Ryan? What do you think I did with them?" + +"I don't know. All I know is that they are gone." + +"_Gone?_" + +Ekstrohm shouldered his way outside and scanned the veldt. + +There was no ring of animal corpses. Nothing. Nothing but wispy grass +whipping in the keen breeze. + +"I'll be damned," Ekstrohm said. + +"You are right now, buddy. ExPe doesn't like anybody mucking up primary +evidence." + +"Where do you get off, Ryan?" Ekstrohm demanded. "Why pick me for your +patsy? This has got to be some kind of local phenomenon. Why accuse a +shipmate of being behind this?" + +"Listen, Ekstrohm, I want to give you the benefit of every doubt. But +you aren't exactly the model of a surveyor, you know. You've been riding +on a pink ticket for six years, you know that." + +"No," Ekstrohm said. "No, I didn't know that." + +"You've been hiding things from me and Nogol every jump we've made with +you. Now comes this! It fits the pattern of secrecy and stealth you've +been involved in." + +"What could I do with your lousy dead bodies? What would I want with +them?" + +"All I know is that you were outside the bubbles last night, and you +were the only sentient being who came in or out of our alarm web. The +tapes show that. Now all the bodies are missing, like they got up and +walked away." + +It was not a new experience to Ekstrohm. No. Suspicion wasn't new to him +at all. + +"Ryan, there are other explanations for the disappearance of the bodies. +Look for them, will you? I give you my word I'm not trying to pull some +stupid kind of joke, or to deliberately foul up the expedition. Take my +word, can't you?" + +Ryan shook his head. "I don't think I can. There's still such a thing as +mental illness. You may not be responsible." + +Ekstrohm scowled. + +"Don't try anything violent, Stormy. I outweigh you fifty pounds and I'm +fast for a big man." + +"I wasn't planning on jumping you. Why do you have to jump me the first +time something goes wrong? You've only got a lot of formless +suspicions." + +"Look, Ekstrohm, do you think I looked out the door and saw a lot of +dead animals missing and immediately decided you did it to bedevil me? +I've been up for hours--thinking--looking into this. You're the only +possibility that's left." + +"Why?" + + * * * * * + +"The bodies are missing. What could it be? Scavengers? The web gives us +a complete census on everything inside it. The only animals inside the +ring are more wart-hogs and, despite their appearance, they aren't +carnivorous. Strictly grass-eaters. Besides, no animal, no insect, no +process of decay could _completely_ consume animals without a trace. +There are no bones, no hide, no nothing." + +"You don't know the way bacteria works on this planet. Radiation is so +low, it may be particularly virulent." + +"That's a possible explanation, although it runs counter to all the +evidence we've established so far. There's a much simpler explanation, +Ekstrohm. You. You hid the bodies for some reason. What other reason +could you have for prowling around out here at night?" + +_I couldn't sleep._ The words were in his throat, but he didn't use +them. They weren't an explanation. They would open more questions than +they would answer. + +"You're closing your eyes to the possibility of natural phenomenon, +laying this on me. You haven't adequate proof and you know it." + +"Ekstrohm, when something's stolen, you always suspect a suspicious +character before you get around to the possibility that the stolen goods +melted into thin air." + +"What," Ekstrohm said with deadly patience, "what do you think I could +have possibly done with your precious dead bodies?" + +"You could have buried them. This is a big territory. We haven't been +able to search every square foot of it." + +"Ryan, it was thirty or forty below zero last night. How the devil could +I dig holes in this ground to bury anything?" + +"At forty below, how could your bacteria function to rot them away?" + +Ekstrohm could see he was facing prejudice. There was no need to keep +talking, and no use in it. Still, some reflex made him continue to +frame reasonable answers. + +"I don't know what bacteria on _this_ planet can do. Besides, that was +only _one_ example of a natural phenomenon." + +"Look, Ekstrohm, you don't have anything to worry about if you're not +responsible. We're going to give you a fair test." + +What kind of a test would it be? He wondered. And how fair? + +Nogol came trotting up lightly. + +"Ryan, I found some more wart-hogs and they keeled over as soon as they +saw me." + +"So it _was_ xenophobia," Ekstrohm ventured. + +"The important thing," Ryan said, with a sidelong glance at the +surveyor, "is that now we've got what it takes to see if Ekstrohm has +been deliberately sabotaging this expedition." + + * * * * * + +The body heat of the three men caused the air-conditioner of the tiny +bubble to labor. + +"Okay," Ryan breathed. "We've got our eyes on you, Ekstrohm, and the +video circuits are wide open on the dead beasts. All we have to do is +wait." + +"We'll have a long wait," Nogol ventured. "With Ekstrohm here, and the +corpses out there, nothing is going to happen." + +That would be all the proof they needed, Ekstrohm knew. Negative +results would be positive proof to them. His pink ticket would turn pure +red and he would be grounded for life--_if_ he got off without a +rehabilitation sentence. + +But if nothing happened, it wouldn't really prove anything. There was no +way to say that the conditions tonight were identical to the conditions +the previous night. What had swept away those bodies might be comparable +to a flash flood. Something that occurred once a year, or once in a +century. + +And perhaps his presence outside _was_ required in some subtle +cause-and-effect relationship. + +All this test would prove, if the bodies didn't disappear, was only that +conditions were not identical to conditions under which they did +disappear. + +Ryan and Nogol were prepared to accept him, Ekstrohm, as the missing +element, the one ingredient needed to vanish the corpses. But it could +very well be something else. + +Only Ekstrohm knew that it _had_ to be something else that caused the +disappearances. + +_Or did it?_ + +He faced up to the question. How did he know he was sane? How could he +be sure that he hadn't stolen and hid the bodies for some murky reason +of his own? There was a large question as to how long a man could go +without sleep, dreams and oblivion, and remain sane. + +Ekstrohm forced his mind to consider the possibility. Could he remember +every step he had taken the night before? + +It seemed to him that he could remember walking past the creature lying +in the grass, then walking in a circle, and coming back to the base. It +seemed like that to him. But how could he know that it was true? + +He couldn't. + + * * * * * + +There was no way he could prove, even to himself, that he had not +disposed of those alien remains and then come back to his bubble, +contented and happy at the thought of fooling those smug idiots who +could sleep at night. + +"How much longer do we have to wait?" Nogol asked. "We've been here nine +hours. Half a day. The bodies are right where I left them outside. There +doesn't seem to be any more question." + +Ekstrohm frowned. There was one question. He was sure there was one +question.... Oh, yes. The question was: How did he know he was sane? + +He didn't know, of course. That was as good an answer as any. Might as +well accept it; might as well let them do what they wanted with him. +Maybe if he just gave up, gave in, maybe he could sleep then. Maybe he +could ... + +Ekstrohm sat upright in his chair. + +No. That wasn't the answer. He couldn't know that he was sane, but then +neither could anybody else. The point was, you had to go ahead living as +if you were sane. That was the only way of living. + +"Cosmos," Ryan gasped. "Would you look at that!" + +Ekstrohm followed the staring gaze of the two men. + +On the video grid, one of the "dead" animals was slowly rising, getting +up, walking away. + +"A natural phenomenon!" Ekstrohm said. + +"Suspended animation!" Nogol ventured. + +"Playing possum!" Ryan concluded. + +Now came the time for apologies. + +Ekstrohm had been through similar situations before, ever since he had +been found walking the corridors at college the night one of the girls +had been attacked. He didn't want to hear their apologies; they meant +nothing to him. It was not a matter of forgiving them. He knew the +situation had not changed. + +They would suspect him just as quickly a second time. + +"We're supposed to be an exploration team," Ekstrohm said quickly. +"Let's get down to business. Why do you suppose these alien creatures +fake death?" + +[Illustration] + +Nogol shrugged his wiry shoulders. "Playing dead is easier than +fighting." + +"More likely it's a method of fighting," Ryan suggested. "They play dead +until they see an opening. Then--_ripppp_." + +"I think they're trying to hide some secret," Ekstrohm said. + +"What secret?" Ryan demanded. + +"I don't know," he answered. "Maybe I'd better--sleep on it." + + +III + +Ryan observed his two crewmen confidently the next morning. "I did some +thinking last night." + +_Great_, Ekstrohm thought. _For that you should get a Hazardous Duty +bonus._ + +"This business is pretty simple," the captain went on, "these pigs +simply play possum. They go into a state of suspended animation, when +faced by a strange situation. Xenophobia! I don't see there's much more +to it." + +"Well, if you don't see that there's more to it, Ryan--" Nogol began +complacently. + +"Wait a minute," Ekstrohm interjected. "That's a good theory. It may +even be the correct one, but where's your _proof_?" + +"Look, Stormy, we don't have to have proof. Hell, we don't even have to +have theories. We're explorers. We just make reports of primary evidence +and let the scientists back home in the System figure them out." + +"I want this thing cleared up, Ryan. Yesterday, you were accusing +me of being some kind of psycho who was lousing up the expedition +out of pure--pure--" he searched for a term currently in use in +mentology--"_demonia_. Maybe the boys back home will think the +same thing. I want to be cleared." + +"I guess you were cleared last night, Stormy boy," Nogol put in. "We saw +one of the 'dead' pigs get up and walk away." + +"_That didn't clear me_," Ekstrohm said. + +The other two looked like they had caught him cleaning wax out of his +ear in public. + +"No," Ekstrohm went on. "We still have no proof of what caused the +suspended animation of the pigs. Whatever caused it before caused it +last night. You thought of accusing me, but you didn't think it through +about how I could have disposed of the bodies. Or, after you found out +about the pseudo-death, how I might have caused _that_. If I had some +drug or something to cause it the first time, I could have a smaller +dose, or a slowly dissolving capsule for delayed effect." + +The two men stared at him, their eyes beginning to narrow. + +"I could have done that. _Or either of you could have done the same +thing._" + +"Me?" Nogol protested. "Where would my profit be in that?" + +"You both have an admitted motive. You hate my guts. I'm 'strange,' +'different,' 'suspicious.' You could be trying to frame me." + +"That's insubordination," Ryan grated. "Accusations against a superior +officer ..." + +"Come off it, Ryan," Nogol sighed. "I never saw a three-man spaceship +that was run very taut. Besides, he's right." + +Beet-juice flowed out of Ryan's swollen face. "So where does that leave +us?" + +"Looking for _proof_ of the _cause_ of the pig's pseudo-death. Remember, +I'll have to make counter-accusations against you two out of +self-defense." + +"Be reasonable, Stormy," Ryan pleaded. "This might be some deep +scientific mystery we could never discover in our lifetime. We might +never get off this planet." + +That was probably behind his thinking all along, why he had been so +quick to find a scapegoat to explain it all away. Explorers didn't +_have_ to have all the answers, or even theories. But, if they ever +wanted to get anyplace in the Service, they damned well _better_. + +"So what?" Ekstrohm asked. "The Service rates us as expendable, doesn't +it?" + + * * * * * + +By Ekstrohm's suggestion, they divided the work. + +Nogol killed pigs. All day he did nothing but scare the wart-hogs to +death by coming near them. + +Ryan ran as faithful a check on the corpses as he could, both by eyeball +observation and by radar, video and Pro-Tect circuits. They lacked the +equipment to program every corpse for every second, but a representative +job could be done. + +Finally, Ekstrohm went scouting for Something Else. He didn't know what +he expected to find, but he somehow knew he would find _something_. + +He rode the traction-scooter (so-called because it had no traction at +all--no wheels, no slides, no contact with the ground or air) and he +reflected that he was a suspicious character. + +All through life, he was going around suspecting everybody and now +_everything_ of having some dark secret they were trying to hide. + +A simple case of transference, he diagnosed, in long-discredited +terminology. He had something to hide--his insomnia. So he thought +everybody else had their guilty secret too. + +How could there be any deep secret to the pseudo-death on this world? It +was no doubt a simple fear reaction, a retreat from a terrifying +reality. How could he ever _prove_ that it was more? Or even exactly +that? + +Internal glandular actions would be too subtle for a team of explorers +to establish. They could only go on behavior. What more in the way of +behavior could he really hope to establish? The pattern was clear. The +pigs keeled over at any unfamiliar sight or sound, and recovered when +they thought the coast was clear. That was it. All there was! Why did he +stubbornly, stupidly insist there was more to it? + +Actually, by his insistence, he was giving weight to the idea of the +others that he was strange and suspicious himself. Under the normal, +sane conditions of planetfall the phobias and preoccupations of a space +crew, nurtured in the close confines of a scout ship, wouldn't be taken +seriously by competent men. But hadn't his subsequent behavior given +weight to Ryan's unfounded accusations of irrational sabotage? Wouldn't +it seem that he was actually _daring_ the others to prove his guilt? If +he went on with unorthodox behavior-- + +That was when Ekstrohm saw the flying whale. + + * * * * * + +Tension gripped Ekstrohm tighter than he gripped the handlebars of his +scooter. He was only vaguely aware of the passing scenery. He knew he +should switch on the homing beacon and ride in on automatic, but it +seemed like too much of an effort to flick his finger. As the tension +rose, the capillaries of his eyes swelled, and things began to white out +for him. The rush of landscape became blurred streaks of light and dark, +now mostly faceless light. + +The flying whale. He had seen it. + +Moreover, he had heard it, smelt and felt it. It had released a jet of +air with a distinctive sound and odor. It had blown against his skin, +ruffled his hair. It had been real. + +But the flying whale _couldn't_ have been real. Conditions on this +planetoid were impossible for it. He knew planets and their life +possibilities. A creature with a skeleton like that could have evolved +here, but the atmosphere would never have supported his flesh and hide. +Water bodies were of insufficient size. No, the whale was not native to +this world. + +Then what, if anything, did this flying alien behemoth have to do with +the pseudo-death of the local pig creatures? + +I'll never know, Ekstrohm told himself. Never. Ryan and Nogol will never +believe me, they will never believe in the flying whale. They're +explorers, simple men of action, unimaginative. Of course, I'm an +explorer too. But I'm different, I'm sensitive-- + +Ekstrohm was riding for a fall. + +The traction-scooter was going up a slope that had been eroded concave. +It was at the very top of the half-moon angle, upside down, standing +Ekstrohm on his head. Since he was not strapped into his seat, he fell. + +As he fell he thought ruefully that he had contrived to have an accident +in the only way possible with a traction-scooter. + +Ekstrohm's cranium collided with the ground, and he stopped thinking.... + + * * * * * + +Ekstrohm blinked open his eyes, wondering. He saw light, then sky, then +pigs. + +Live pigs. + +But--the pigs shouldn't be alive. When he was this close they should be +dead. + +Only they weren't. + +Why ... why ... + +He moved slightly and the nearest pig fell dead. The others went on with +their business, roaming the plain. Ekstrohm expected the dropping of the +pig to stampede the rest into dropping dead, but they didn't seem to +pay any attention to their fallen member. + +I've been lying here for hours, he realized. I didn't move in on them. +The pigs moved in on me while I was lying still. If I keep still I can +get a close look at them in action. + +So far, even with video, it had been difficult to get much of an idea of +the way these creatures lived--when they weren't dead. + +Observe, observe, he told himself. + +There might be some relationship between the flying whale and the pigs. + +Could it be the whales were intelligent alien masters of these herds of +pigs? + +Ekstrohm lay still and observed. + +Item: the pigs ate the soft, mosslike grass. + +Item: the pigs eliminated almost constantly. + +Item: the pigs fought regularly. + +Fought? + +_Fought?_ + +Here was something, Ekstrohm realized. + +Why did animals fight? + +Rationalizations of nature-lovers aside, some fought because they had +plain mean nasty dispositions--like some people. That didn't fit the +pigs. They were indolent grazers. They hadn't the energy left over for +sheer-cussedness. There had to be a definite goal to their battles. + +It wasn't food. That was abundant. The grassy veldt reached to all +horizons. + +Sex. They had to be fighting for mates! + +He became so excited he twitched a foot slightly. Two more pigs dropped +dead, but the others paid no heed. + +He watched the lazily milling herd intently, at the same time keeping an +eye out for the flying whales. Back on Earth porpoises had been taught +to herd schools of fish and of whales. It was not impossible an +intelligent species of whale had learned to herd masses of land animals. + +But Ekstrohm knew he needed proof. He had to have something to link the +pseudo-death of the wart-hogs to the inexplicable presence of the +whales. Perhaps, he thought, the "death" of the pigs was the whales' way +of putting them into cold storage--a method of making the meat seem +unattractive to other animals, on a world perhaps without carrion +scavengers.... + +Something was stirring among the pigs. + + * * * * * + +One under-sized beastie was pawing the dirt, a red eye set on the +fattest animal in sight. Then Shortie charged Fatso. But abruptly a +large raw-boned critter was in Shortie's path, barring him from Fatso. + +Faced by Big Boy, Shortie trembled with rage and went into a terrible +temper tantrum, rolling on the ground, pawing it in frenzy, squealing in +maddened rage. Then Shortie was on his feet, desperate determination +showing in every line of his body. With heedless, desperate, foolhardy +courage he charged Big Boy. + +Big Boy took the headlong charge in his side with only a trifling grunt. + +Shortie bounced ten feet in the light gravity, and grimly wallowed to +his feet. He leveled an eye at Big Boy, and his legs were pumping in +frenzied fury again. + +Big Boy shifted his kilos of weight casually and met Shortie head on. + +The tremendous _ker-rack_ reverberated from the bluff behind Ekstrohm. + +Shortie lay on the ground. + +No, Ekstrohm thought, he isn't dead. His sides were pumping in and out. +But he was knocked cold. + +Ekstrohm had to sympathize with him. He had never seen a more valiant +try against insurmountable odds. + +Big Boy was ambling over towards Fatso, apparently to claim his prize. +Fatso apparently was the sow. + +But Big Boy stalked on past Fatso. She squealed after him tentatively, +but he turned and blasted her back with a bellowing snort. + +Ekstrohm watched the scene repeated with other actors several times +before he was sure. + +The older males, the Big Boys, _never_ collected the favors of the harem +for themselves. + +Instinctively, the pigs were practicing _birth control_. The older males +abstained, and forced the younger males to do the same. + +On a world like this, Ekstrohm's first thought was of death. + +He thought, these pigs must be like lemmings, deliberately trying to +destroy their own race, to commit geno-suicide. + +But that didn't answer any of the other questions, about the +_pseudo_-death, the alien whales ... + +And then Ekstrohm thought not of death but of _life_. + + +IV + +The traction-scooter was where he had left it, hanging upside down on +the underside of the concave slope. It had stopped automatically when +his weight had left the seat. He reached up, toggled the OVERRIDE switch +and put it manually into reverse. + +Once straightened out, he was on his way back to the base. + +I feel good, he thought. I feel like I could lick my weight in +spacemen. + +Only then did he realize why he felt so good. + +What had happened had been so strange for him, he couldn't realize what +it had been until now. + +While he had been knocked out, he had been asleep. + +Asleep. + +For the first time in years. + +Sleep. He felt wonderful. He felt like he could lick all of his +problems.... + +Ekstrohm roared back into the base. The motor was silent on the +traction-scooter, of course, but the air he kicked up made its own +racket. + +Ryan and Nogol came out to greet him sullenly. + +"Listen," he told them, "I've got the answer to all of this." + +"So have we," Ryan said ugly. "The first answer was the right one. We've +been scaring pigs to death and watching them, scaring and watching. We +learned nothing. You knew we wouldn't. You set us up for this. It's like +you said. You fed all of these beasts your stuff in advance, something +that acts when they get excited...." + +It didn't make sense, but then it never had. You couldn't argue with +prejudice. He was "different." He didn't act like they did. He didn't +believe the same things. He was the outsider, therefore suspect. The +alien on an alien world. + +Ekstrohm sighed. Man would always be the final alien, the creature man +would never understand, sympathize with or even tolerate. + +There was no point in trying to argue further, Ekstrohm realized. + +"You'll never understand, Ryan. You could have seen all the things I saw +if you'd bothered to look, but you were too anxious to blame me. But if +I can't make you understand, I can at least beat you into acceptance." + +"Huh?" Ryan ventured. + +"I said," Ekstrohm repeated, "that I'm going to beat some sense into +your thick skull." + +Ryan grinned, rippled his massive shoulders and charged. + + * * * * * + +Ekstrohm remembered the lesson Shortie had taught him with Big Boy. He +didn't meet the captain's charge head on. He sidestepped and caught Ryan +behind the ear with his fist. The big man halted, puzzled. Ekstrohm sank +his fist into the thick, solid belly. + +Slowly, Ryan's knees gave way and he sank towards the ground. + +When his chin was at the right level of convenience, Ekstrohm put his +weight behind his right. + +Ryan swayed dreamily backward. + +But he threw himself forward and one ham of a fist connected high on +Ekstrohm's cheek. He was shaken to his toes, and the several hours' old +pain in the back of his head throbbed sickeningly. One more like that +would do for him. + +Ekstrohm stood and drove in a lot of short punches to Ryan's body, +punches without much power behind them because he didn't have it. But he +knew better than to try a massive attack on a massive target. + +When he couldn't lift his arms any more, Ekstrohm stopped punching. He +realized Ryan had fallen on his face a few seconds before. + +Then he remembered, and whirled. He had left his back exposed to Nogol. + +Nogol smiled. "I'm not drawing Hazard Pay." + +After a while, Ekstrohm stopped panting and faced Nogol and the captain +who was now sitting, rubbing his jaw. "Okay," he said, "now you'll +listen or I'll beat your skulls in. I know what's behind all of this on +this planet." + +"Yeah? What do you think it is, Stormy?" Ryan asked. + +"First of all, I think there's a basic difference between this world and +any other the ExPe has investigated." + +"Now what could that be?" Nogol wanted to know with a tiny smile. + +"These worlds are _close_. The gravity is low. You wouldn't need much +more than a jet plane to get from one of these planetoids to another. +Some animals have developed with the power to travel from one of these +planetoids to another--like a squid jetting out water. They harnessed +some natural power system." + +"What does that prove?" Ryan wanted to know. + +"It proves that this world and others in this belt are _prepared_ for +interplanetary travel. It's probably a part of their basic evolutional +structure, unlike that of heavy, independent planets. This false 'dying' +is part of their preparation for interplanetary visitors." + +"Why would these aliens want others to think that they were dead?" Ryan +asked. + +"Correction, captain. They want visitors to believe that they _can_ +die." + + * * * * * + +Ryan blinked. "Meaning that they _can't_ die?" + +"That's right. I think everything on this planet has immortality," +Ekstrohm said. "I'm not exactly sure how. Maybe it has to do with the +low radiation. Every individual cell has a 'memory' of the whole +creature. But as we age that 'memory' becomes faulty, our cells 'forget' +how to reproduce themselves exactly. Here, that cell 'memory' never +fades. Bodies renew themselves indefinitely." + +"But why hide it?" Nogol asked. + +"This planetoid can just support so many creatures. They practice birth +control among themselves," the surveyor said. "The natives naturally +want to discourage colonization." + +Ryan whistled. "Once we report this, every rich and powerful man in the +Federation will want to come here to live. There's not enough space to +go around. There will be wars over this little hunk of rock." + +Nogol's hard, dark eyes were staring into space. "There's only one +sensible thing to do. We'll keep the world to ourselves." + +"I don't like that kind of talk," Ryan growled. + +"Ryan, this little ball of dirt isn't going to do the Federation as a +whole any good. But it can be of value to us. We can make ourselves +comfortable here. Later on, we can bring in some women. Any women we +want. Who wouldn't want to come here?" + +Ryan began to argue, but Ekstrohm could see he was hooked. The man who +risked his life, the man who sought something new and different, the +explorer, was basically an unstable type removed from the mainstream of +civilization. Nothing was liable to change that. + +By nightfall, Ryan and Ekstrohm had agreed. + +"We'll have to keep a constant watch," Ryan was saying. "We'll have to +watch out for ExPe scouts looking for us. Or, after a few generations, +another ship may come to complete the mapping." + +Nogol smiled. "We'll have to keep an eye on each other too, you know. +One of us may get to wanting more room for more women. Or to have +children, a normal biological urge. Death by violence isn't ruled out +here." + +"I don't like that kind of talk," Ryan blustered. + +Nogol smiled. + +Ekstrohm thought of the others, of the sleepless, watchful nights ahead +of them. That was probably his trouble, all of his life. He didn't trust +people; he had to stay awake and keep an eye on everybody. Well, he +would be one ahead here. + +Of course, it was wrong not to trust anybody, but Ekstrohm knew habit +patterns were hard to break. + +Sleep is a habit. + + * * * * * + +Ryan and Nogol were jarred awake in the night by the spaceship blasting +off without them. They ran out and shook their tiny fists in fury at the +rising flame. + +Operating a spaceship alone was no cinch but it could be done. Ekstrohm +would get back to the nearest Federation base and report the planetoid +without death. He didn't have absolute confidence in any government, no. +But he suspected the Federation could do more with the world than two +men like Ryan and Nogol. + +Ekstrohm took his fingers off the punchboard and lay back on his couch. + +He yawned. + +Ryan and Nogol were slow, but in time they might have learned to do +without sleep, and to guard their treasure night and day. + +Fortunately, Ekstrohm knew from long experience what the two others +didn't. + +An eternity without sleep isn't worth the price. + + --END + + + + +Transcriber's Note: + + This etext was produced from _If: Worlds of Science Fiction_ July + 1961. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. + copyright on this publication was renewed. Minor spelling and + typographical errors have been corrected without note. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Planet with No Nightmare, by Jim Harmon + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PLANET WITH NO NIGHTMARE *** + +***** This file should be named 31174.txt or 31174.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/1/7/31174/ + +Produced by Robert Cicconetti, Stephen Blundell and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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