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Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0970ca5 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #60513 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/60513) diff --git a/old/60513-h.zip b/old/60513-h.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 34718d8..0000000 --- a/old/60513-h.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/60513-h/60513-h.htm b/old/60513-h/60513-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index abc4ff0..0000000 --- a/old/60513-h/60513-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,868 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> - <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=us-ascii" /> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> - <title> - The Project Gutenberg eBook of Rabbits Have Long Ears, by Lawrence F. 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Willard - -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'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Rabbits Have Long Ears - -Author: Lawrence F. Willard - -Release Date: October 17, 2019 [EBook #60513] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RABBITS HAVE LONG EARS *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/cover.jpg" width="350" height="500" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="titlepage"> - -<h1>Rabbits Have LONG Ears</h1> - -<h2>BY LAWRENCE F. WILLARD</h2> - -<p class="ph1"><i>The computer classified it<br /> -"rabbit" and Montresig was not<br /> -one to argue, long ears or not!</i></p> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Worlds of If Science Fiction, August 1958.<br /> -Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that<br /> -the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]</p> - -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>Commander Losure gave orders to his navigator to bring the ship in on -the satellite out of sight of the prying telescopes which no doubt -existed on such an invitingly green planet. He was a cautious man and -didn't intend to lose any more crew members if he could help it. He -could tell by the unusually poor handling of the ship that the crew was -still demoralized from the brush with the high I.Q. slugs on that last -planet which they had approached so directly. They'd lost three men in -that scrap, one of them a highly-valued anthropologist. There were only -two more of those left in the freeze locker. Too bad it couldn't have -been a radio operator, there were plenty of those on ice.</p> - -<p>The Commander's thoughts were interrupted by his second officer who -entered without the customary military burp.</p> - -<p>"I'll forgive you this time, Montresig," said the Commander, "but we -can't relax regulations now, can we. Anything new to report on this -planet?"</p> - -<p>"No, Your Loftiness," said Montresig, after giving a belated burp, -"there's nothing to add to what we already know, but then we've just -come to rest on this clinker of a moon. I don't imagine, however, that -we've located our long lost ancestors or our mythical home planet. -There doesn't seem to be a race in this galaxy that walks upright on -two good legs with two arms, two eyes, nose, mouth and other standard -equipment."</p> - -<p>"Could be we'll find one this time," said the Commander. "We know it's -an oxygen planet, and that there are intelligent beings there, judging -from the cities we can see and their use of radio."</p> - -<p>"Maybe," grumbled Montresig, "but they won't be men. If they're not -slugs they'll be talking fish or intellectual spiders, or something -equally repulsive. And I can tell you one thing, whatever we find, if -it has brains it will want to fight."</p> - -<p>"Now Montresig, don't be bitter. We've only examined a couple hundred -planets. There are many more and you know we'll have to take a look at -as many as we can. I tell you, however, we won't take any more chances. -Unless we find out they're pretty much like us we won't go near the -damn planet."</p> - -<p>"How do you propose to find that out, Your Loftiness? We can't see -anything that small by telescope, we haven't learned much so far -by listening to them, and it's pretty dangerous business using the -dredge...."</p> - -<p>"Ah, my dear Montresig, the crux of the matter is that we <i>can</i> tell -about them, I believe, from listening to them. Judging from the reports -I got from Communications, this is the talkingest planet in the galaxy. -They are utilizing the entire radio spectrum we know and, I suspect, -some portions of it we don't know. All they do is talk. There must be -millions of individuals on that planet jabbering in a dozen different -languages. Our language technicians have decoded two of the major -tongues already and have fed the information to the main computer. All -radio signals in those languages are now being fed directly to the -computer and the information is being classified and cross-referenced."</p> - -<p>Montresig's furry countenance brightened. "Then we won't have to send -down the dredge?"</p> - -<p>"I hope not, Montresig, I do not like to bring strange life forms -aboard the ship. Remember planet 187 in the Dghorzid system?"</p> - -<p>Montresig shuddered. "I'll never forget. When that monster materialized -in the hold I snapped on the stasis field and it had no effect. I -tried every last trick in the bag including seven kinds of poison gas. -Luckily the dredge operator was able to catch him and throw him back -where he came from but the hold was a shambles and two men had to have -extensive repair work."</p> - -<p>"Well," said the Commander, "I don't like the dredge at all, but I -suppose it's better than landing and having to do battle with slugs. I -swear I was certain there was no intelligent life on that planet. By -the way, I'm having an anthropologist thawed out now, that leaves only -one more in the freeze locker and we can't operate without one. Take -care nothing happens to him, Montresig."</p> - -<p>Commander Losure made the sign of dismissal and Montresig burped -gracefully and withdrew. The Commander signaled communications. After -a considerable delay a burp sounded from the speaker on the wall and a -voice announced: "Troniff here. May I serve Your Loftiness?"</p> - -<p>"Troniff," said the Commander, "the delay is inexcusable. Does the -computer have its belly full yet?"</p> - -<p>"Your Loftiness, the reference tapes are full, but the machine is -unable to present a full picture of the dominant life form. It -appears, however, that they are much like us in general body shape. -Unfortunately, we can get no reference point from which to judge their -size. They are exceedingly ferocious and blood thirsty, and apparently -war among themselves continuously."</p> - -<p>"I'm tempted to leave now," said the Commander. "I'll have to use the -dredge, I suppose.... Are you sure it won't do some good to listen to -their communications awhile longer?"</p> - -<p>The speaker was silent for a moment, then Troniff spoke.</p> - -<p>"I don't like to mention this, Your Loftiness, but my engineers have -found several unidentified types of emission besides those carrying -speech frequencies. They think that one particular type characterized -by an extremely broad frequency range just might be transmission of -visual images...."</p> - -<p>"I don't believe it," said the Commander. "We've been trying to do that -for hundreds of years without success and so far as we've been we've -never found another race in the galaxy as far advanced technologically -as ours. These people don't even have space flight."</p> - -<p>"They have artificial satellites up," said Troniff, "We're monitoring -signals from one, and from what I gather they're apt to have something -up on this moon before long."</p> - -<p>"Any chance of finding out how they transmit visual images—if they -really do?"</p> - -<p>"Not a chance," said Troniff. "My engineers can't even conceive of a -device that could convert these signals into a picture."</p> - -<p>"That's all, Troniff. Notify Montresig that he's to meet me immediately -in the dredge room with the anthropologist and a dredge operator."</p> - -<p>The commander sighed. What irony that the only truly peaceful race in -the galaxy should be the only one to discover interstellar flight. For -four thousand years the Kaar had had their ships and had colonized -hundreds of planets until they had lost track of which one they started -from. In all that time they had avoided planets with intelligent life, -had never found any other ships in space. Now, thought the Commander, -we have to go looking for trouble just to satisfy our curiosity as to -where we started from.</p> - -<p>Montresig introduced the newly-thawed anthropologist to him on the -dredge room balcony and Commander Losure briefed him on the importance -of his job.</p> - -<p>"We don't believe this race has any connection with ours," said the -Commander. "It's too savage. And yet, we haven't found another race as -far advanced in science, nor one that appears to be so similar to ours. -Our problem is to find out a little more about them, their physical -size, whether it's safe to contact them, which I personally doubt."</p> - -<p>"Is it your intention to bring back one of these intelligent beings -with the dredge?" asked the anthropologist.</p> - -<p>"You know better than that, or maybe you don't," said the Commander. -"Anyway, you should know that it is against our code of ethics to cause -harm to any intelligent being. That dredge is set to reject any living -creature capable of a high order of thought and that control is sealed -against our use. The idea is to bring back artifacts that might tell us -something about the people of the planet... maybe they have a written -language and have something that approximates our scrolls, maybe they -have drawings. I'd especially like to snag one of the visual image -receptors our communications engineers think they have."</p> - -<p>"The dredge operator is ready," said Montresig. "The computer controls -have been switched to this balcony and the stasis beam has been -checked."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Commander Losure looked up at the dredge operator in his glassed-in -booth high on the opposite wall of the hold. He gave a quick hand -signal and transferred his attention to the floor of the vast hold -below him. A shimmering mistiness began to form in the center of the -floor. Commander Losure could feel the tension of his companions as -they waited. It was a blind grab; the dredge operator had no way of -knowing what would be scooped up at the end of his force beam. Slowly -the mistiness grew more dense, darkening to an impenetrable cloud, and -then vanished with an audible snap leaving a strange alien mechanism -on the floor of the hold. It resembled a huge cylinder resting on -tractor-like treads.</p> - -<p>From the balcony the men scurrying across the floor seemed dwarfed by -the object. Unheeding of any danger they swarmed over it, measuring, -testing, amassing information to be fed to the computer.</p> - -<p>"Holy Ghosts of My Departed Ancestors," gasped Montresig, "what is it?"</p> - -<p>"You know as much about it as I do, my dear fellow," the Commander -said. "As soon as the engineers get through poking at it we'll find out -what the computer thinks it is."</p> - -<p>"I'll bet it's a weapon of some sort," said Montresig. "They're almost -always fighting down there according to the data we have and there's -frequent mention of a device called a hydrogen bomb. If it's what I -think it is I have no desire to visit them in person."</p> - -<p>A figure detached itself from the group of men surrounding the huge -contrivance and came hurrying to the elevator entrance beneath the -balcony. In a moment he appeared on the balcony, burped perfunctorily, -and handed Commander Losure several sheets of script. The Commander -read them into a microphone grill which was part of the remote panel -feeding into the main computer. He waited until a red light glowed, -indicating that the material had been integrated. He pressed a stud -and spoke into the microphone again. "Classify," he said.</p> - -<p>"Information in storage banks reveals object to be a gun," said the -loudspeaker. "Gun: an instrument variously known as revolver, heater, -rod, betsy, automatic, typewriter, gat, which refer to. Carried by -gunmen, cowboys, mobsters, killers, cons, doughboys, cops, G-men, -marines, gangsters and kids, which refer to. Weapon fires projectile -known as bullet, lead, shell, slug, which refer to. Solid projectile -pierces body of individual causing serious injury and death. It is used -with that intention. No information on size of instrument previous to -captured speciman which is nearly fourteen zeng ... about five and a -quarter man-lengths ... long. Sample excerpt demonstrating use: 'Blinky -snapped the gun from his holster and fired from the hip. (sound of -explosion) The big cowpoke grabbed at his chest and blood spurted -between his fingers. With a look of surprise on his face he slumped to -the barroom floor.'"</p> - -<p>"What do you make of that?" asked the Commander.</p> - -<p>"I'd have been surprised, too," said Montresig.</p> - -<p>"They're bloodthirsty giants," said the anthropologist. "If that's a -pocket weapon they'd be so big you couldn't get one into this hold.</p> - -<p>"I don't believe it," said the Commander. "I think there's something -wrong somewhere. Possibly guns come in various sizes. This could be a -stationary weapon, perhaps, to blow buildings apart instead of people, -though I can't figure out why anybody would want to. I'm going to send -the dredge back once more to make sure we aren't being misled."</p> - -<p>"I think you're wrong," said Montresig. "All evidence does point to -a race of giants, evil creatures at best, even if maybe they do have -two eyes, a nose and a mouth like us. Not that I don't think it's a -good idea to send the dredge back," he added hastily at the sight of -Commander Losure's glowering countenance.</p> - -<p>The Commander signaled to the dredge operator again and they waited -while he returned the gun to wherever he got it and fished for -something else from the surface of the green planet.</p> - -<p>The anthropologist cleared his throat. "You can't deny that the -telescope shows us the most gigantic cities to be found anywhere in the -galaxy."</p> - -<p>"That doesn't necessarily mean that the inhabitants are physically -large, only that there may be a lot of them," said the Commander.</p> - -<p>"Or both."</p> - -<p>Their attention turned to the floor of the hold as the opaque cloud -rapidly grew darker and vanished again with a snap.</p> - -<p>Montresig's reaction was the same as before.</p> - -<p>"Great Shades of My Holy Ancestors," he said. "What is it?"</p> - -<p>"It is assuredly an animal," said the Commander, "not unlike some we -have on our own planet. I'll have the biologists and medics examine -it." He turned to the anthropologist. "You go, too, Alfvis."</p> - -<p>The animal, which had appeared stunned when it first appeared, now -began to turn around, making clicking noises on the floor. As the men -approached it from all directions it looked about nervously, opened -its mouth to show some glistening teeth and proceeded to make a long, -harsh noise. Alfvis made the mistake of approaching too closely to -the beast which wheeled and kicked him head over heels some distance -away. Montresig touched a red button on the railing and stasis beams -converged on the animal freezing it instantly. It toppled over and lay -stiffly on the floor of the hold. Alfvis dragged himself to his feet -and shouted up to the balcony. "Ask the computer about animals with -long ears."</p> - -<p>The Commander spoke into the microphone again. "Four-legged animal, -long ears. Classify."</p> - -<p>"Rabbit," said the computer. "An animal variously known as bunny, hare, -coney, peter, uncle wiggly. Strong rear legs. Progresses over ground -erratically. Consumes vegetation. Multiplies with great rapidity. Lays -egg at Easter Time. It is generally considered timid and is hunted for -food. Sample excerpt demonstrating relationship: 'Lon climbed over the -stone wall and continued across the woodlot towards his cabin, the -carcasses of three rabbits slung over his shoulder ... there would be -rabbit stew tonight.'"</p> - -<p>"Holy Gods in Their Celestial Quarters," said Montresig. "Did you -hear that? Is there any question in your mind now about the size and -ferocity of these people?"</p> - -<p>"Considerable," said the Commander. "That computer has made mistakes -before, witness that last planet. Those were supposed to be garden -snails, those slugs that gave us such a walloping. I don't think we get -the right information through to it."</p> - -<p>"But Your Loftiness," wailed Montresig, "everything adds up, you can -see for yourself ... their giant cities, their warring on each other, -the information the computer gave us ... it isn't safe to land on that -planet."</p> - -<p>"No, I suppose not," sighed the Commander. "But do you realize the -implications? Here we have a highly advanced race just ready to take -off into space ... and according to our information they are savage -war-making giants. If I bring that news back our Supreme Goodness is -apt to issue orders to evacuate several hundred planets and move to -some other galaxy—Let's try the dredge once more."</p> - -<p>Commander signaled the dredge operator and waited a reasonable length -of time before he was informed that something was wrong with it and -that it would be some time before repairs could be made.</p> - -<p>"I give up," said Commander Losure. "I have orders not to land on a -questionable planet and I've learned my lesson. Either that computer -has a few loose connections or those people are broadcasting pure -nonsense. I just don't believe in giants, much less in scientific -ones. Get ready to leave, Montresig, and see that you make an accurate -written report of this whole situation."</p> - -<p>"What do we do with the animal, Your Loftiness?"</p> - -<p>"The dredge is busted, so what do you think we can do with it? Heave it -out the airlock. It can stay here on the moon until the first explorers -come up from the planet, which won't be long, and they can have rabbit -stew."</p> - -<p>The great ship lifted from the dark moonscape, leaving behind the -frozen form of the first earth being to have crossed space, a surprise -for the crew of the first manned moon rocket, if not the makings of -rabbit stew.</p> - -<p>Somewhere, a million miles beyond the sun, the ship accelerated -rapidly. The Commander looked up from his desk as Montresig entered -smartly with a precision burp.</p> - -<p>"Alfvis is back in the freeze locker and repairs are going forward on -the dredge, but it'll be a long job."</p> - -<p>"It doesn't matter," said the Commander. "We're going home. I'm -committed to bringing back a report on this planet now, but I don't -like it and will advise further study of it by other expeditions before -any desperate measures are taken such as evacuating the galaxy."</p> - -<p>"It's funny about that rabbit," said Montresig. "I noticed as we shoved -it out the lock that it had semi-circles of some hard metal, probably -iron, nailed to its feet."</p> - -<p>"That is peculiar," said the Commander. "Almost like the shoes we -attach to the feests' hooves before the children ride them. Just for -the fun of it, Montresig, why don't you give that information to the -computer and see what it says?"</p> - -<p>"Can't," said Montresig. "I wiped the memory tanks clean. I don't think -it means much, anyway; a rabbit's a rabbit, shoes or no shoes."</p> - -<p>The Commander nodded and Montresig burped and withdrew.</p> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Rabbits Have Long Ears, by Lawrence F. 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Willard - -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'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Rabbits Have Long Ears - -Author: Lawrence F. Willard - -Release Date: October 17, 2019 [EBook #60513] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RABBITS HAVE LONG EARS *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - Rabbits Have LONG Ears - - BY LAWRENCE F. WILLARD - - _The computer classified it - "rabbit" and Montresig was not - one to argue, long ears or not!_ - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Worlds of If Science Fiction, August 1958. - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - -Commander Losure gave orders to his navigator to bring the ship in on -the satellite out of sight of the prying telescopes which no doubt -existed on such an invitingly green planet. He was a cautious man and -didn't intend to lose any more crew members if he could help it. He -could tell by the unusually poor handling of the ship that the crew was -still demoralized from the brush with the high I.Q. slugs on that last -planet which they had approached so directly. They'd lost three men in -that scrap, one of them a highly-valued anthropologist. There were only -two more of those left in the freeze locker. Too bad it couldn't have -been a radio operator, there were plenty of those on ice. - -The Commander's thoughts were interrupted by his second officer who -entered without the customary military burp. - -"I'll forgive you this time, Montresig," said the Commander, "but we -can't relax regulations now, can we. Anything new to report on this -planet?" - -"No, Your Loftiness," said Montresig, after giving a belated burp, -"there's nothing to add to what we already know, but then we've just -come to rest on this clinker of a moon. I don't imagine, however, that -we've located our long lost ancestors or our mythical home planet. -There doesn't seem to be a race in this galaxy that walks upright on -two good legs with two arms, two eyes, nose, mouth and other standard -equipment." - -"Could be we'll find one this time," said the Commander. "We know it's -an oxygen planet, and that there are intelligent beings there, judging -from the cities we can see and their use of radio." - -"Maybe," grumbled Montresig, "but they won't be men. If they're not -slugs they'll be talking fish or intellectual spiders, or something -equally repulsive. And I can tell you one thing, whatever we find, if -it has brains it will want to fight." - -"Now Montresig, don't be bitter. We've only examined a couple hundred -planets. There are many more and you know we'll have to take a look at -as many as we can. I tell you, however, we won't take any more chances. -Unless we find out they're pretty much like us we won't go near the -damn planet." - -"How do you propose to find that out, Your Loftiness? We can't see -anything that small by telescope, we haven't learned much so far -by listening to them, and it's pretty dangerous business using the -dredge...." - -"Ah, my dear Montresig, the crux of the matter is that we _can_ tell -about them, I believe, from listening to them. Judging from the reports -I got from Communications, this is the talkingest planet in the galaxy. -They are utilizing the entire radio spectrum we know and, I suspect, -some portions of it we don't know. All they do is talk. There must be -millions of individuals on that planet jabbering in a dozen different -languages. Our language technicians have decoded two of the major -tongues already and have fed the information to the main computer. All -radio signals in those languages are now being fed directly to the -computer and the information is being classified and cross-referenced." - -Montresig's furry countenance brightened. "Then we won't have to send -down the dredge?" - -"I hope not, Montresig, I do not like to bring strange life forms -aboard the ship. Remember planet 187 in the Dghorzid system?" - -Montresig shuddered. "I'll never forget. When that monster materialized -in the hold I snapped on the stasis field and it had no effect. I -tried every last trick in the bag including seven kinds of poison gas. -Luckily the dredge operator was able to catch him and throw him back -where he came from but the hold was a shambles and two men had to have -extensive repair work." - -"Well," said the Commander, "I don't like the dredge at all, but I -suppose it's better than landing and having to do battle with slugs. I -swear I was certain there was no intelligent life on that planet. By -the way, I'm having an anthropologist thawed out now, that leaves only -one more in the freeze locker and we can't operate without one. Take -care nothing happens to him, Montresig." - -Commander Losure made the sign of dismissal and Montresig burped -gracefully and withdrew. The Commander signaled communications. After -a considerable delay a burp sounded from the speaker on the wall and a -voice announced: "Troniff here. May I serve Your Loftiness?" - -"Troniff," said the Commander, "the delay is inexcusable. Does the -computer have its belly full yet?" - -"Your Loftiness, the reference tapes are full, but the machine is -unable to present a full picture of the dominant life form. It -appears, however, that they are much like us in general body shape. -Unfortunately, we can get no reference point from which to judge their -size. They are exceedingly ferocious and blood thirsty, and apparently -war among themselves continuously." - -"I'm tempted to leave now," said the Commander. "I'll have to use the -dredge, I suppose.... Are you sure it won't do some good to listen to -their communications awhile longer?" - -The speaker was silent for a moment, then Troniff spoke. - -"I don't like to mention this, Your Loftiness, but my engineers have -found several unidentified types of emission besides those carrying -speech frequencies. They think that one particular type characterized -by an extremely broad frequency range just might be transmission of -visual images...." - -"I don't believe it," said the Commander. "We've been trying to do that -for hundreds of years without success and so far as we've been we've -never found another race in the galaxy as far advanced technologically -as ours. These people don't even have space flight." - -"They have artificial satellites up," said Troniff, "We're monitoring -signals from one, and from what I gather they're apt to have something -up on this moon before long." - -"Any chance of finding out how they transmit visual images--if they -really do?" - -"Not a chance," said Troniff. "My engineers can't even conceive of a -device that could convert these signals into a picture." - -"That's all, Troniff. Notify Montresig that he's to meet me immediately -in the dredge room with the anthropologist and a dredge operator." - -The commander sighed. What irony that the only truly peaceful race in -the galaxy should be the only one to discover interstellar flight. For -four thousand years the Kaar had had their ships and had colonized -hundreds of planets until they had lost track of which one they started -from. In all that time they had avoided planets with intelligent life, -had never found any other ships in space. Now, thought the Commander, -we have to go looking for trouble just to satisfy our curiosity as to -where we started from. - -Montresig introduced the newly-thawed anthropologist to him on the -dredge room balcony and Commander Losure briefed him on the importance -of his job. - -"We don't believe this race has any connection with ours," said the -Commander. "It's too savage. And yet, we haven't found another race as -far advanced in science, nor one that appears to be so similar to ours. -Our problem is to find out a little more about them, their physical -size, whether it's safe to contact them, which I personally doubt." - -"Is it your intention to bring back one of these intelligent beings -with the dredge?" asked the anthropologist. - -"You know better than that, or maybe you don't," said the Commander. -"Anyway, you should know that it is against our code of ethics to cause -harm to any intelligent being. That dredge is set to reject any living -creature capable of a high order of thought and that control is sealed -against our use. The idea is to bring back artifacts that might tell us -something about the people of the planet... maybe they have a written -language and have something that approximates our scrolls, maybe they -have drawings. I'd especially like to snag one of the visual image -receptors our communications engineers think they have." - -"The dredge operator is ready," said Montresig. "The computer controls -have been switched to this balcony and the stasis beam has been -checked." - - * * * * * - -Commander Losure looked up at the dredge operator in his glassed-in -booth high on the opposite wall of the hold. He gave a quick hand -signal and transferred his attention to the floor of the vast hold -below him. A shimmering mistiness began to form in the center of the -floor. Commander Losure could feel the tension of his companions as -they waited. It was a blind grab; the dredge operator had no way of -knowing what would be scooped up at the end of his force beam. Slowly -the mistiness grew more dense, darkening to an impenetrable cloud, and -then vanished with an audible snap leaving a strange alien mechanism -on the floor of the hold. It resembled a huge cylinder resting on -tractor-like treads. - -From the balcony the men scurrying across the floor seemed dwarfed by -the object. Unheeding of any danger they swarmed over it, measuring, -testing, amassing information to be fed to the computer. - -"Holy Ghosts of My Departed Ancestors," gasped Montresig, "what is it?" - -"You know as much about it as I do, my dear fellow," the Commander -said. "As soon as the engineers get through poking at it we'll find out -what the computer thinks it is." - -"I'll bet it's a weapon of some sort," said Montresig. "They're almost -always fighting down there according to the data we have and there's -frequent mention of a device called a hydrogen bomb. If it's what I -think it is I have no desire to visit them in person." - -A figure detached itself from the group of men surrounding the huge -contrivance and came hurrying to the elevator entrance beneath the -balcony. In a moment he appeared on the balcony, burped perfunctorily, -and handed Commander Losure several sheets of script. The Commander -read them into a microphone grill which was part of the remote panel -feeding into the main computer. He waited until a red light glowed, -indicating that the material had been integrated. He pressed a stud -and spoke into the microphone again. "Classify," he said. - -"Information in storage banks reveals object to be a gun," said the -loudspeaker. "Gun: an instrument variously known as revolver, heater, -rod, betsy, automatic, typewriter, gat, which refer to. Carried by -gunmen, cowboys, mobsters, killers, cons, doughboys, cops, G-men, -marines, gangsters and kids, which refer to. Weapon fires projectile -known as bullet, lead, shell, slug, which refer to. Solid projectile -pierces body of individual causing serious injury and death. It is used -with that intention. No information on size of instrument previous to -captured speciman which is nearly fourteen zeng ... about five and a -quarter man-lengths ... long. Sample excerpt demonstrating use: 'Blinky -snapped the gun from his holster and fired from the hip. (sound of -explosion) The big cowpoke grabbed at his chest and blood spurted -between his fingers. With a look of surprise on his face he slumped to -the barroom floor.'" - -"What do you make of that?" asked the Commander. - -"I'd have been surprised, too," said Montresig. - -"They're bloodthirsty giants," said the anthropologist. "If that's a -pocket weapon they'd be so big you couldn't get one into this hold. - -"I don't believe it," said the Commander. "I think there's something -wrong somewhere. Possibly guns come in various sizes. This could be a -stationary weapon, perhaps, to blow buildings apart instead of people, -though I can't figure out why anybody would want to. I'm going to send -the dredge back once more to make sure we aren't being misled." - -"I think you're wrong," said Montresig. "All evidence does point to -a race of giants, evil creatures at best, even if maybe they do have -two eyes, a nose and a mouth like us. Not that I don't think it's a -good idea to send the dredge back," he added hastily at the sight of -Commander Losure's glowering countenance. - -The Commander signaled to the dredge operator again and they waited -while he returned the gun to wherever he got it and fished for -something else from the surface of the green planet. - -The anthropologist cleared his throat. "You can't deny that the -telescope shows us the most gigantic cities to be found anywhere in the -galaxy." - -"That doesn't necessarily mean that the inhabitants are physically -large, only that there may be a lot of them," said the Commander. - -"Or both." - -Their attention turned to the floor of the hold as the opaque cloud -rapidly grew darker and vanished again with a snap. - -Montresig's reaction was the same as before. - -"Great Shades of My Holy Ancestors," he said. "What is it?" - -"It is assuredly an animal," said the Commander, "not unlike some we -have on our own planet. I'll have the biologists and medics examine -it." He turned to the anthropologist. "You go, too, Alfvis." - -The animal, which had appeared stunned when it first appeared, now -began to turn around, making clicking noises on the floor. As the men -approached it from all directions it looked about nervously, opened -its mouth to show some glistening teeth and proceeded to make a long, -harsh noise. Alfvis made the mistake of approaching too closely to -the beast which wheeled and kicked him head over heels some distance -away. Montresig touched a red button on the railing and stasis beams -converged on the animal freezing it instantly. It toppled over and lay -stiffly on the floor of the hold. Alfvis dragged himself to his feet -and shouted up to the balcony. "Ask the computer about animals with -long ears." - -The Commander spoke into the microphone again. "Four-legged animal, -long ears. Classify." - -"Rabbit," said the computer. "An animal variously known as bunny, hare, -coney, peter, uncle wiggly. Strong rear legs. Progresses over ground -erratically. Consumes vegetation. Multiplies with great rapidity. Lays -egg at Easter Time. It is generally considered timid and is hunted for -food. Sample excerpt demonstrating relationship: 'Lon climbed over the -stone wall and continued across the woodlot towards his cabin, the -carcasses of three rabbits slung over his shoulder ... there would be -rabbit stew tonight.'" - -"Holy Gods in Their Celestial Quarters," said Montresig. "Did you -hear that? Is there any question in your mind now about the size and -ferocity of these people?" - -"Considerable," said the Commander. "That computer has made mistakes -before, witness that last planet. Those were supposed to be garden -snails, those slugs that gave us such a walloping. I don't think we get -the right information through to it." - -"But Your Loftiness," wailed Montresig, "everything adds up, you can -see for yourself ... their giant cities, their warring on each other, -the information the computer gave us ... it isn't safe to land on that -planet." - -"No, I suppose not," sighed the Commander. "But do you realize the -implications? Here we have a highly advanced race just ready to take -off into space ... and according to our information they are savage -war-making giants. If I bring that news back our Supreme Goodness is -apt to issue orders to evacuate several hundred planets and move to -some other galaxy--Let's try the dredge once more." - -Commander signaled the dredge operator and waited a reasonable length -of time before he was informed that something was wrong with it and -that it would be some time before repairs could be made. - -"I give up," said Commander Losure. "I have orders not to land on a -questionable planet and I've learned my lesson. Either that computer -has a few loose connections or those people are broadcasting pure -nonsense. I just don't believe in giants, much less in scientific -ones. Get ready to leave, Montresig, and see that you make an accurate -written report of this whole situation." - -"What do we do with the animal, Your Loftiness?" - -"The dredge is busted, so what do you think we can do with it? Heave it -out the airlock. It can stay here on the moon until the first explorers -come up from the planet, which won't be long, and they can have rabbit -stew." - -The great ship lifted from the dark moonscape, leaving behind the -frozen form of the first earth being to have crossed space, a surprise -for the crew of the first manned moon rocket, if not the makings of -rabbit stew. - -Somewhere, a million miles beyond the sun, the ship accelerated -rapidly. The Commander looked up from his desk as Montresig entered -smartly with a precision burp. - -"Alfvis is back in the freeze locker and repairs are going forward on -the dredge, but it'll be a long job." - -"It doesn't matter," said the Commander. "We're going home. I'm -committed to bringing back a report on this planet now, but I don't -like it and will advise further study of it by other expeditions before -any desperate measures are taken such as evacuating the galaxy." - -"It's funny about that rabbit," said Montresig. "I noticed as we shoved -it out the lock that it had semi-circles of some hard metal, probably -iron, nailed to its feet." - -"That is peculiar," said the Commander. "Almost like the shoes we -attach to the feests' hooves before the children ride them. Just for -the fun of it, Montresig, why don't you give that information to the -computer and see what it says?" - -"Can't," said Montresig. "I wiped the memory tanks clean. I don't think -it means much, anyway; a rabbit's a rabbit, shoes or no shoes." - -The Commander nodded and Montresig burped and withdrew. - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Rabbits Have Long Ears, by Lawrence F. 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