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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. 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..df66c29 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #65839 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/65839) diff --git a/old/65839-0.txt b/old/65839-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index a95e451..0000000 --- a/old/65839-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,843 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Stranger, by Gordon R. Dickson - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The Stranger - -Author: Gordon R. Dickson - -Release Date: July 14, 2021 [eBook #65839] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STRANGER *** - - - - - THE STRANGER - - By Gordon R. Dickson - - If the alien space craft was not a rocket - ship, what was it? And an even bigger question: - should they investigate--or run for their lives! - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy - May 1952 - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - -We will not consider the odds involved in their finding the stranger, -for the odds were impossible. - -They came down to rest their tubes on an unnamed planet of a -little-known star in the Buckhorn Cluster. Because they were tired from -weeks in space, they came in without looking. They circled the planet -once and spiraled down to an open patch of sand between two rocky -cliffs. Only then did they see the other ship. - -Jeff Wadley was at the controls and his eyes widened when he saw it. -But his fingers did not hesitate on the controls, for a deep-space -starship is not the kind of vehicle that can change its mind about -landing once it is within half a mile of the ground. He brought the -Emerald Girl in smoothly to a stop not five hundred feet from the -stranger. Then he sat back. - -"Dad," he said flatly, into the intercom, "swing the turret!" - -Peter Wadley, up in the instrument room, had already seen the strange -ship, and the heavy twin barrels of the automatic rifles were -depressing to cover. Jeff leaned forward to the communicator. - -"_Identify yourself!_" The tight beam in Common Code snapped across -the little stretch of open sand to the cliff against which the other -seemed to nestle. "We are the mining ship Emerald Girl, Earth license, -five hundred and eighty-two days out of Arcturus Station. _Identify -yourself!_" - -There were steps behind Jeff, and Peter Wadley came to stand behind his -son's tense back. - -"Do they answer, Jeff?" - -"No." - -"_Identify yourself. Identify yourself! Identify yourself!_" - -The angry demand crackled and arced invisibly across the space between -both vessels. And there was no answer. - - * * * * * - -Jeff sat back from the communicator. The palms of his hands were wet -and he wiped them on the cloth of his breeches. - -"Let's get out of here," he said nervously. - -"And leave _him_?" his father's lean forefinger indicated the strange -silent ship. - -"Why not?" Jeff jerked his face up. "We're no salvage outfit or -Government exploration unit." - -There was a moment of tenseness between them. The older man's face -tightened. - -"We'd better look into it," he said. - -"Are you crazy?" blazed Jeff. "It was here when we came. It'll be here -if we leave. Let's get going. We can report it if you want. Let the -Federal ships investigate." - -"Maybe it just landed," his father said evenly. "Maybe it's in trouble." - -"What if it is?" Jeff insisted. "Don't you realize we're a sitting -target here? And what do you think it is--Aunt Susie's runabout? Look -at it!" And with a savage flip of his hand he shoved the magnification -of the viewing screen up so that the other ship seemed to loom up a -handbreadth beyond their walls. - -It was an unnecessary gesture. There was no mistaking that the lines -of the other ship were foreign to any they had ever seen. It was big: -not outlandishly big, but bigger than the Emerald Girl, and bulb-shaped -with most of its bulk in front. There was no sign of ports or -airlocks, only a few stubby fins, which projected forlornly from the -body at an angle of some thirty degrees. - -And from its silence and immobility, its strange inhuman lines, a cold -air of alien menace seemed to reach out to chill the two watching men. - -"Well?" challenged Jeff. But the older man was not listening. - -"The radarcamera," he said, half to himself. He turned on his heel and -stalked off. Jeff, sitting tensely in his chair, heard his father's -footsteps die away, to be succeeded seconds later by the distant clumsy -sounds of a man getting into a spacesuit. Jeff swore, and jumping to -his feet, ran to the airlock. His father, radarcamera at his feet, was -already half-dressed to go outside. - -"You aren't going out there?" he asked incredulously. - - * * * * * - -The older man nodded and picked up his fishbowl helmet. Jeff's face -twisted in dismay. - -"I won't let you!" he half-shouted. "You're risking your life and I -can't navigate the ship without you." - -Helmet in hand, his father paused, the deep-graved lines of his face -stiffening. - -"I'm still master of this ship!" he said curtly. "Alien or not that -other ship may need assistance. By intraspace law I'm obliged to give -it. If you're worried, cover me from the gun-turret." He dropped the -helmet over his head, cutting Jeff off from further protest. - -Seething with mixed fear and anger, Jeff turned abruptly and climbed -hurriedly to the gun-turret. The twin barrels of the rifles were -already centered on their target, which the aiming screen showed, -together with the area between the two vessels and a portion of the -Emerald Girl's airlock, which projected from her side. As Jeff watched, -the outer lock swung open and a grey, space-suited figure raced for -the protection of the bow. It was a dash of no more than five seconds' -duration, but to Jeff it seemed that his father took an eternity to -reach safety. - -He reached for the microphone on the ship's circuit and pulled it to -him. - -"All right, Dad?" In spite of himself, Jeff's voice was still ragged -with anger. - -"Fine, Jeff," his father's voice came back in unperturbed tones. "I'm -well shielded and I can get good, clean shots at every part of her." - -"Let me know when you're ready to start back," said Jeff, and shoved -the microphone away from him. - -He sat back and lit a cigarette, but his eyes continued to watch the -other ship as a man might watch a dud bomb which has not yet been -disarmed. After a while, he noticed his fingers were shaking, and he -laid the cigarette carefully down in the ashtray. - -When he comes back, thought Jeff, it'll be time. We'll have this thing -out then. He's become some sort of a religious fanatic, and he doesn't -know it. How a man who's been all over hell and seen the worst sides -of fifty different races in as many years can think of them all as -lovable human children, I don't know. But, know it or not, this taking -of chances has got to stop someplace; and right here is the best place -of all. When he gets back--if he gets back, we're taking off. And if he -doesn't get back ... I'll blow that bloody bastard over there into so -many bits.... - -"Coming in, Jeff," his father's voice on the speaker interrupted him. - - * * * * * - -Jeff leaned forward, his hands on the trips of the rifles; the small -grey figure suddenly shot back to the protection of the airlock, -which snapped shut behind it. Then, he took a deep breath, stood up, -and wiped the perspiration from his forehead. He went down to the -instrument room. - -Peter Wadley was already out of his suit and developing the pictures. -Jeff picked them up as they came off the roll, damp and soft to the -touch. - -"I can't tell much," he said, holding them up to the light. - -"There's a great deal of overlap," his father answered. "We're going -to have to section and fit the pieces together like a jigsaw puzzle. -Wait'll I'm through here." - -For about five minutes more, pictures continued to come off the roll. -Then Peter picked up a pair of scissors and arranged the prints in -their proper sequence. - -"Clear the table," he told Jeff, "and fit these together as I hand them -to you." - -For a little while longer, they worked in silence. Then Peter laid down -his scissors. - -"That's all," he said. "Now, what have we got?" - -"I don't know," answered Jeff, bewilderment in his voice. "It looks -like nothing I've ever seen." - -Peter stepped up to the table and squinted at the shadowy films with -eyes practiced in reading rock formations. He shook his head. - -"It is strange," he said, finally. - -"Do you see what I see?" demanded Jeff. "There's no real crew -space. There's this one spot--up front--" he indicated it with his -finger--"that's about as big as a good sized closet. And nothing more -than that--except corridors about twenty inches in diameter running -from it to points all over the ship. She must be flown by a crew of -midgets." - -"Midgets," echoed the older man, thoughtfully. "I never heard of an -intelligent race that small." - -"Then they're something new," said Jeff, with a shrug of his shoulders. - -"No," said his father, slowly. "I don't remember when or where I heard -it, but there's some reason why you couldn't have an intelligent race -much smaller than a good sized dog. It has something to do with the -fact that they grow in size as their developing intelligence gives them -an increasing advantage over their environment." - -"Here's the evidence," Jeff answered, tapping the film with one finger. - -"No," Pete was bending over the picture fragments again. "Look at these -things in the corridor. They're obviously controls." - -Jeff looked. - -"I see what you mean," he said at last. "If there's any similarity -between their mechanical system and ours, these controls are built for -somebody pretty big. But look how they're scattered all over the ship. -There's a good fifteen or twenty different groups of instruments and -other things. That means a number of crew members; and you simply can't -put a number of large crew members in those little corridors." - -"There's a large amount of total space," Pete began. Then, suddenly a -faint tremor ran through the ship. Jeff leaped for the screen and his -father moved over to stand behind him. - -"Good Lord," said Jeff, "look at her." - - * * * * * - -The other ship shook suddenly and rolled slightly to one side. Some -unseen center of gravity pulled her back to her original position. She -hesitated a moment, and then tried again, with the same results. She -lay quiescent. - -Jeff pounced on his radiation drum graph. - -"What does it say?" Peter asked. - -Jeff shook his head in astonishment. "Nothing," he answered, "just -nothing at all." - -"Nothing?" Peter came over to take a look at the graph himself. It was -as Jeff had said. The line tracing the white surface of the graph was -straight and undisturbed. - -"But that's impossible," Peter frowned. - -The two men turned back to the screen. As they watched, one final -shudder shook the strange ship, and then, like a stranded whale who has -given up hope, it lay still. - -"My God!" said Pete, and Jeff turned to him in astonishment. It was the -closest to profanity his father had come in twenty years. "Jeff, do you -know what I think? I think that ship is manned by just one great big -creature--like a giant squid. That's why no radiation registered. He -was trying to move his ship by sheer strength." - -Jeff stared at his father. - -"You're crazy," was all he could manage to say. "Why, something big -enough to shake that ship would have to fill every inch of space inside -it. You can't live in a space ship that way." - -"That's right," Pete answered. He clamped his hand on Jeff's shoulder -excitedly and led him back to the jigsaw puzzle on the table. - -"If I'm right," he said, "that's no ship at all as we understand it, -but some sort of a space-going suit for something terrifically large. -Something like a giant squid, as I said, or some other long-tentacled -creature. His body would lie here--in this space you said was about the -size of a closet--and his tentacles or whatever they are, would reach -out in these corridors to the various groups of instruments." - -Jeff frowned. - -"It sounds sensible," he muttered. "And in any case, he wouldn't be -able to get outside his ship to fix anything that went wrong. And I -take it there is something wrong, or else he wouldn't be jumping around -inside." - -"Jeff," Pete said, "I'm going outside to take a close look at him." - -Jeff's head snapped up from the jigsaw puzzle. The old, sick fear had -come back. It washed over him like a wave. - -"Why?" he demanded harshly. - -"To see if I can find out what's wrong with his ship," said Pete over -his shoulder as he went to the airlock. "Coming?" - -"Wait!" cried Jeff. He stood up and followed his father. For a moment -there, they stood facing each other, two tall men with less apparent -physical difference between them than their ages might indicate, poised -on the brink of an open break. - -"Wait," said Jeff again, and now his voice was lower, more under -control. "Dad, there's no point in playing around any longer. You -aren't going to be satisfied just to look around out there and then -leave. You're going to do something. And if that's it I want to know -now." - - * * * * * - -There was a moment's silence; then Pete turned back to Jeff, his face -set. - -"That's right," he said. "I don't have to look. I know what's wrong. -And I know what I'm going to do about it. There's a living intelligence -trapped in that space-thing as you and I might be trapped. I can set it -free with two of our motor jacks. If you've got one inkling of what it -means to be ignored when you're caught like that, you'll help me. If -not, I'm taking two jacks out the airlock and you can fire the motors -and take off and be damned to you." - -Between the two big men the tension built and strained and broke. Jeff -let out a ragged sigh. - -"All right," he said. "I'm with you." - -"Good," said the older man, and there was new life in his voice. "Get -your suit on. I'll explain as we dress." - -"The trouble with our friend there is that he's fallen over. I see you -don't understand, Jeff. Well, this ship of ours lands on her belly. -We've got booster rockets all over the hull to correct our landing -angle. But ships weren't always that way. They used to have to sit -down on their tail. There's no furrow where that ship landed, only a -circular blasted spot, so it figures. Maybe some of his mechanism went -wrong at the last minute. - -"At any rate, I'm betting that if we get him upright again, he can take -care of himself from there on out. So you and I are going to go out -there with a couple of jacks and see if we can't jack him back up into -position." - - * * * * * - -The sand was thick and heavy. The walk over to the other ship was -tedious, with the heavy jacks weighing them down. They reached the -alien hull, paused a moment to get their breath and then attached the -magnetic grapples to the skin of the ship at two points on opposite -sides of the hull and roughly a fourth of the way up from the rocket -tubes. - -It was hard to anchor the jacks in the soft sand. They finally found -it necessary to dig them in some three or four feet to a layer of rock -that underlay the sand. Then, when everything was ready, they took -their stations, each at a jack, and Pete called to Jeff on the helmet -set. - -"All ready? Start your motor." - -Jeff reached down and flicked a switch. The tiny, powerful jack motor -began to spin, and the jack base settled more solidly against its rocky -bed. When he was sure that it would not slip, he left it, and went -around the rockets to stand by his father. - -His face was grey. - -"Well," said Pete tensely, "up she goes." - -The nose of the alien ship was raising slowly from the sand. It -quivered softly from some motion inside the ship. - -"Yes," said Jeff, "up she goes." His words were flat and dull. Pete -turned to look at him. - -"Scared, son?" he asked. Jeff's lips parted, closed and opened again. - -"You know how we stand," he said, dully. "I've heard what you said from -other men, but never from an alien. Most of the ones we know hit first, -and talk afterward. You know that once this ship is on its feet we're -at his mercy. Just his rocket blasts alone could kill us; and there -won't be time to get back to the Girl." - -The alien was now at an angle of forty-five degrees. The little jacks -stretched steadily, pushing their thin, stiff arms against the strange -hull. Sand dripped from the rising ship. - -"Yes, Jeff," Pete said. "I know. But the important thing isn't what he -does, but what we do. The fact that we've helped him--can't you see it -that way, son?" - -Jeff shook his head in bewilderment. - -"I don't know," he said helplessly. "I just don't know." - -The ship was now nearly upright. Suddenly, with an abruptness that -startled both men, it shook itself free of the jacks and teetered free -for a second, before coming to rest, its nose pointing straight up. - -"Here it goes," said Pete, a tinge of excitement in his voice. They -moved back some yards to be out of the way of the takeoff blast. -Suddenly the ground trembled under their feet. Pete put his hand on the -younger man's shoulder. - -"Here it goes," he repeated, in a whisper. - -Flame burst abruptly from the base of the ship. It was warming up its -tubes. Slowly the flame puffed out from its base and it began to rise. - - * * * * * - -Jeff shook suddenly with an uncontrollable shudder. His voice came to -Pete through the earphones, starkly afraid. - -"Now what?" he cried. "What'll he do now?" - -Pete's grip tightened on his shoulder. - -"Steady boy." - -The ship was rising. Up it went, and up, until it was the size of a -man's little finger, a tiny sliver of silver against the black backdrop -of the sky. Then, inexplicably, it halted and began to reverse itself. - -Slowly it turned, until the blunt nose pointed toward them. Jeff's -hoarse breathing was loud in his helmet. _Now it comes_, he thought, -and his muscles tensed. - -A long minute flowed by and still the alien hung there. Then, abruptly -it went into a series of idiotic gyrations; it twisted and turned, and -spun around, swinging its fiery trail of rocket gases like a luminous -tail in the darkness. Then, just as abruptly, it reversed once more, -so that its head was away from them; in the twinkling of a moment it -was gone. - -Pete sighed, a deep, ragged sigh. - -"Did you see it, boy?" he cried. "Did you see it?" - -"I saw," Jeff's voice was filled with a new awe. "Now I get it. He -wasn't sure--he didn't know we were really trying to help him until we -let him get all the way out there by himself. Then he knew he was free. -That's why he wouldn't answer before." - -"Sure, Jeff, sure," said the older man, a note of triumph in his voice. -"But that's not what I mean. Did you notice all those contortions he -was going through up there? What did they remind you of?" - -There was a moment of silence, then the words came, at first slowly, -then in a rush from Jeff's lips. - -"Like a puppy," he said, haltingly, stumbling over the wonder of it. -"Like a puppy wagging its tail." - -And the light of a new understanding broke suddenly in his eyes. - -"Dad!" said Jeff, turning to his father. "Dad! Do you know what I -think? I think we've made a friend." - -And the two men stood there, side by side, looking into the blackness -of space where an odd-shaped spacecraft had vanished. It, they felt, -was on its way home. - -And they were right. Moreover, It was hurrying. - -For It had a story to tell. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STRANGER *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following -the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use -of the Project Gutenberg trademark. 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Dickson</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Stranger</p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Gordon R. Dickson</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: July 14, 2021 [eBook #65839]</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net</div> - -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STRANGER ***</div> - -<div class="titlepage"> - -<h1>THE STRANGER</h1> - -<h2>By Gordon R. Dickson</h2> - -<p>If the alien space craft was not a rocket<br /> -ship, what was it? And an even bigger question:<br /> -should they investigate—or run for their lives!</p> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy<br /> -May 1952<br /> -Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that<br /> -the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]</p> - -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>We will not consider the odds involved in their finding the stranger, -for the odds were impossible.</p> - -<p>They came down to rest their tubes on an unnamed planet of a -little-known star in the Buckhorn Cluster. Because they were tired from -weeks in space, they came in without looking. They circled the planet -once and spiraled down to an open patch of sand between two rocky -cliffs. Only then did they see the other ship.</p> - -<p>Jeff Wadley was at the controls and his eyes widened when he saw it. -But his fingers did not hesitate on the controls, for a deep-space -starship is not the kind of vehicle that can change its mind about -landing once it is within half a mile of the ground. He brought the -Emerald Girl in smoothly to a stop not five hundred feet from the -stranger. Then he sat back.</p> - -<p>"Dad," he said flatly, into the intercom, "swing the turret!"</p> - -<p>Peter Wadley, up in the instrument room, had already seen the strange -ship, and the heavy twin barrels of the automatic rifles were -depressing to cover. Jeff leaned forward to the communicator.</p> - -<p>"<i>Identify yourself!</i>" The tight beam in Common Code snapped across -the little stretch of open sand to the cliff against which the other -seemed to nestle. "We are the mining ship Emerald Girl, Earth license, -five hundred and eighty-two days out of Arcturus Station. <i>Identify -yourself!</i>"</p> - -<p>There were steps behind Jeff, and Peter Wadley came to stand behind his -son's tense back.</p> - -<p>"Do they answer, Jeff?"</p> - -<p>"No."</p> - -<p>"<i>Identify yourself. Identify yourself! Identify yourself!</i>"</p> - -<p>The angry demand crackled and arced invisibly across the space between -both vessels. And there was no answer.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Jeff sat back from the communicator. The palms of his hands were wet -and he wiped them on the cloth of his breeches.</p> - -<p>"Let's get out of here," he said nervously.</p> - -<p>"And leave <i>him</i>?" his father's lean forefinger indicated the strange -silent ship.</p> - -<p>"Why not?" Jeff jerked his face up. "We're no salvage outfit or -Government exploration unit."</p> - -<p>There was a moment of tenseness between them. The older man's face -tightened.</p> - -<p>"We'd better look into it," he said.</p> - -<p>"Are you crazy?" blazed Jeff. "It was here when we came. It'll be here -if we leave. Let's get going. We can report it if you want. Let the -Federal ships investigate."</p> - -<p>"Maybe it just landed," his father said evenly. "Maybe it's in trouble."</p> - -<p>"What if it is?" Jeff insisted. "Don't you realize we're a sitting -target here? And what do you think it is—Aunt Susie's runabout? Look -at it!" And with a savage flip of his hand he shoved the magnification -of the viewing screen up so that the other ship seemed to loom up a -handbreadth beyond their walls.</p> - -<p>It was an unnecessary gesture. There was no mistaking that the lines -of the other ship were foreign to any they had ever seen. It was big: -not outlandishly big, but bigger than the Emerald Girl, and bulb-shaped -with most of its bulk in front. There was no sign of ports or -airlocks, only a few stubby fins, which projected forlornly from the -body at an angle of some thirty degrees.</p> - -<p>And from its silence and immobility, its strange inhuman lines, a cold -air of alien menace seemed to reach out to chill the two watching men.</p> - -<p>"Well?" challenged Jeff. But the older man was not listening.</p> - -<p>"The radarcamera," he said, half to himself. He turned on his heel and -stalked off. Jeff, sitting tensely in his chair, heard his father's -footsteps die away, to be succeeded seconds later by the distant clumsy -sounds of a man getting into a spacesuit. Jeff swore, and jumping to -his feet, ran to the airlock. His father, radarcamera at his feet, was -already half-dressed to go outside.</p> - -<p>"You aren't going out there?" he asked incredulously.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The older man nodded and picked up his fishbowl helmet. Jeff's face -twisted in dismay.</p> - -<p>"I won't let you!" he half-shouted. "You're risking your life and I -can't navigate the ship without you."</p> - -<p>Helmet in hand, his father paused, the deep-graved lines of his face -stiffening.</p> - -<p>"I'm still master of this ship!" he said curtly. "Alien or not that -other ship may need assistance. By intraspace law I'm obliged to give -it. If you're worried, cover me from the gun-turret." He dropped the -helmet over his head, cutting Jeff off from further protest.</p> - -<p>Seething with mixed fear and anger, Jeff turned abruptly and climbed -hurriedly to the gun-turret. The twin barrels of the rifles were -already centered on their target, which the aiming screen showed, -together with the area between the two vessels and a portion of the -Emerald Girl's airlock, which projected from her side. As Jeff watched, -the outer lock swung open and a grey, space-suited figure raced for -the protection of the bow. It was a dash of no more than five seconds' -duration, but to Jeff it seemed that his father took an eternity to -reach safety.</p> - -<p>He reached for the microphone on the ship's circuit and pulled it to -him.</p> - -<p>"All right, Dad?" In spite of himself, Jeff's voice was still ragged -with anger.</p> - -<p>"Fine, Jeff," his father's voice came back in unperturbed tones. "I'm -well shielded and I can get good, clean shots at every part of her."</p> - -<p>"Let me know when you're ready to start back," said Jeff, and shoved -the microphone away from him.</p> - -<p>He sat back and lit a cigarette, but his eyes continued to watch the -other ship as a man might watch a dud bomb which has not yet been -disarmed. After a while, he noticed his fingers were shaking, and he -laid the cigarette carefully down in the ashtray.</p> - -<p>When he comes back, thought Jeff, it'll be time. We'll have this thing -out then. He's become some sort of a religious fanatic, and he doesn't -know it. How a man who's been all over hell and seen the worst sides -of fifty different races in as many years can think of them all as -lovable human children, I don't know. But, know it or not, this taking -of chances has got to stop someplace; and right here is the best place -of all. When he gets back—if he gets back, we're taking off. And if he -doesn't get back ... I'll blow that bloody bastard over there into so -many bits....</p> - -<p>"Coming in, Jeff," his father's voice on the speaker interrupted him.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Jeff leaned forward, his hands on the trips of the rifles; the small -grey figure suddenly shot back to the protection of the airlock, -which snapped shut behind it. Then, he took a deep breath, stood up, -and wiped the perspiration from his forehead. He went down to the -instrument room.</p> - -<p>Peter Wadley was already out of his suit and developing the pictures. -Jeff picked them up as they came off the roll, damp and soft to the -touch.</p> - -<p>"I can't tell much," he said, holding them up to the light.</p> - -<p>"There's a great deal of overlap," his father answered. "We're going -to have to section and fit the pieces together like a jigsaw puzzle. -Wait'll I'm through here."</p> - -<p>For about five minutes more, pictures continued to come off the roll. -Then Peter picked up a pair of scissors and arranged the prints in -their proper sequence.</p> - -<p>"Clear the table," he told Jeff, "and fit these together as I hand them -to you."</p> - -<p>For a little while longer, they worked in silence. Then Peter laid down -his scissors.</p> - -<p>"That's all," he said. "Now, what have we got?"</p> - -<p>"I don't know," answered Jeff, bewilderment in his voice. "It looks -like nothing I've ever seen."</p> - -<p>Peter stepped up to the table and squinted at the shadowy films with -eyes practiced in reading rock formations. He shook his head.</p> - -<p>"It is strange," he said, finally.</p> - -<p>"Do you see what I see?" demanded Jeff. "There's no real crew -space. There's this one spot—up front—" he indicated it with his -finger—"that's about as big as a good sized closet. And nothing more -than that—except corridors about twenty inches in diameter running -from it to points all over the ship. She must be flown by a crew of -midgets."</p> - -<p>"Midgets," echoed the older man, thoughtfully. "I never heard of an -intelligent race that small."</p> - -<p>"Then they're something new," said Jeff, with a shrug of his shoulders.</p> - -<p>"No," said his father, slowly. "I don't remember when or where I heard -it, but there's some reason why you couldn't have an intelligent race -much smaller than a good sized dog. It has something to do with the -fact that they grow in size as their developing intelligence gives them -an increasing advantage over their environment."</p> - -<p>"Here's the evidence," Jeff answered, tapping the film with one finger.</p> - -<p>"No," Pete was bending over the picture fragments again. "Look at these -things in the corridor. They're obviously controls."</p> - -<p>Jeff looked.</p> - -<p>"I see what you mean," he said at last. "If there's any similarity -between their mechanical system and ours, these controls are built for -somebody pretty big. But look how they're scattered all over the ship. -There's a good fifteen or twenty different groups of instruments and -other things. That means a number of crew members; and you simply can't -put a number of large crew members in those little corridors."</p> - -<p>"There's a large amount of total space," Pete began. Then, suddenly a -faint tremor ran through the ship. Jeff leaped for the screen and his -father moved over to stand behind him.</p> - -<p>"Good Lord," said Jeff, "look at her."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The other ship shook suddenly and rolled slightly to one side. Some -unseen center of gravity pulled her back to her original position. She -hesitated a moment, and then tried again, with the same results. She -lay quiescent.</p> - -<p>Jeff pounced on his radiation drum graph.</p> - -<p>"What does it say?" Peter asked.</p> - -<p>Jeff shook his head in astonishment. "Nothing," he answered, "just -nothing at all."</p> - -<p>"Nothing?" Peter came over to take a look at the graph himself. It was -as Jeff had said. The line tracing the white surface of the graph was -straight and undisturbed.</p> - -<p>"But that's impossible," Peter frowned.</p> - -<p>The two men turned back to the screen. As they watched, one final -shudder shook the strange ship, and then, like a stranded whale who has -given up hope, it lay still.</p> - -<p>"My God!" said Pete, and Jeff turned to him in astonishment. It was the -closest to profanity his father had come in twenty years. "Jeff, do you -know what I think? I think that ship is manned by just one great big -creature—like a giant squid. That's why no radiation registered. He -was trying to move his ship by sheer strength."</p> - -<p>Jeff stared at his father.</p> - -<p>"You're crazy," was all he could manage to say. "Why, something big -enough to shake that ship would have to fill every inch of space inside -it. You can't live in a space ship that way."</p> - -<p>"That's right," Pete answered. He clamped his hand on Jeff's shoulder -excitedly and led him back to the jigsaw puzzle on the table.</p> - -<p>"If I'm right," he said, "that's no ship at all as we understand it, -but some sort of a space-going suit for something terrifically large. -Something like a giant squid, as I said, or some other long-tentacled -creature. His body would lie here—in this space you said was about the -size of a closet—and his tentacles or whatever they are, would reach -out in these corridors to the various groups of instruments."</p> - -<p>Jeff frowned.</p> - -<p>"It sounds sensible," he muttered. "And in any case, he wouldn't be -able to get outside his ship to fix anything that went wrong. And I -take it there is something wrong, or else he wouldn't be jumping around -inside."</p> - -<p>"Jeff," Pete said, "I'm going outside to take a close look at him."</p> - -<p>Jeff's head snapped up from the jigsaw puzzle. The old, sick fear had -come back. It washed over him like a wave.</p> - -<p>"Why?" he demanded harshly.</p> - -<p>"To see if I can find out what's wrong with his ship," said Pete over -his shoulder as he went to the airlock. "Coming?"</p> - -<p>"Wait!" cried Jeff. He stood up and followed his father. For a moment -there, they stood facing each other, two tall men with less apparent -physical difference between them than their ages might indicate, poised -on the brink of an open break.</p> - -<p>"Wait," said Jeff again, and now his voice was lower, more under -control. "Dad, there's no point in playing around any longer. You -aren't going to be satisfied just to look around out there and then -leave. You're going to do something. And if that's it I want to know -now."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>There was a moment's silence; then Pete turned back to Jeff, his face -set.</p> - -<p>"That's right," he said. "I don't have to look. I know what's wrong. -And I know what I'm going to do about it. There's a living intelligence -trapped in that space-thing as you and I might be trapped. I can set it -free with two of our motor jacks. If you've got one inkling of what it -means to be ignored when you're caught like that, you'll help me. If -not, I'm taking two jacks out the airlock and you can fire the motors -and take off and be damned to you."</p> - -<p>Between the two big men the tension built and strained and broke. Jeff -let out a ragged sigh.</p> - -<p>"All right," he said. "I'm with you."</p> - -<p>"Good," said the older man, and there was new life in his voice. "Get -your suit on. I'll explain as we dress."</p> - -<p>"The trouble with our friend there is that he's fallen over. I see you -don't understand, Jeff. Well, this ship of ours lands on her belly. -We've got booster rockets all over the hull to correct our landing -angle. But ships weren't always that way. They used to have to sit -down on their tail. There's no furrow where that ship landed, only a -circular blasted spot, so it figures. Maybe some of his mechanism went -wrong at the last minute.</p> - -<p>"At any rate, I'm betting that if we get him upright again, he can take -care of himself from there on out. So you and I are going to go out -there with a couple of jacks and see if we can't jack him back up into -position."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The sand was thick and heavy. The walk over to the other ship was -tedious, with the heavy jacks weighing them down. They reached the -alien hull, paused a moment to get their breath and then attached the -magnetic grapples to the skin of the ship at two points on opposite -sides of the hull and roughly a fourth of the way up from the rocket -tubes.</p> - -<p>It was hard to anchor the jacks in the soft sand. They finally found -it necessary to dig them in some three or four feet to a layer of rock -that underlay the sand. Then, when everything was ready, they took -their stations, each at a jack, and Pete called to Jeff on the helmet -set.</p> - -<p>"All ready? Start your motor."</p> - -<p>Jeff reached down and flicked a switch. The tiny, powerful jack motor -began to spin, and the jack base settled more solidly against its rocky -bed. When he was sure that it would not slip, he left it, and went -around the rockets to stand by his father.</p> - -<p>His face was grey.</p> - -<p>"Well," said Pete tensely, "up she goes."</p> - -<p>The nose of the alien ship was raising slowly from the sand. It -quivered softly from some motion inside the ship.</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Jeff, "up she goes." His words were flat and dull. Pete -turned to look at him.</p> - -<p>"Scared, son?" he asked. Jeff's lips parted, closed and opened again.</p> - -<p>"You know how we stand," he said, dully. "I've heard what you said from -other men, but never from an alien. Most of the ones we know hit first, -and talk afterward. You know that once this ship is on its feet we're -at his mercy. Just his rocket blasts alone could kill us; and there -won't be time to get back to the Girl."</p> - -<p>The alien was now at an angle of forty-five degrees. The little jacks -stretched steadily, pushing their thin, stiff arms against the strange -hull. Sand dripped from the rising ship.</p> - -<p>"Yes, Jeff," Pete said. "I know. But the important thing isn't what he -does, but what we do. The fact that we've helped him—can't you see it -that way, son?"</p> - -<p>Jeff shook his head in bewilderment.</p> - -<p>"I don't know," he said helplessly. "I just don't know."</p> - -<p>The ship was now nearly upright. Suddenly, with an abruptness that -startled both men, it shook itself free of the jacks and teetered free -for a second, before coming to rest, its nose pointing straight up.</p> - -<p>"Here it goes," said Pete, a tinge of excitement in his voice. They -moved back some yards to be out of the way of the takeoff blast. -Suddenly the ground trembled under their feet. Pete put his hand on the -younger man's shoulder.</p> - -<p>"Here it goes," he repeated, in a whisper.</p> - -<p>Flame burst abruptly from the base of the ship. It was warming up its -tubes. Slowly the flame puffed out from its base and it began to rise.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Jeff shook suddenly with an uncontrollable shudder. His voice came to -Pete through the earphones, starkly afraid.</p> - -<p>"Now what?" he cried. "What'll he do now?"</p> - -<p>Pete's grip tightened on his shoulder.</p> - -<p>"Steady boy."</p> - -<p>The ship was rising. Up it went, and up, until it was the size of a -man's little finger, a tiny sliver of silver against the black backdrop -of the sky. Then, inexplicably, it halted and began to reverse itself.</p> - -<p>Slowly it turned, until the blunt nose pointed toward them. Jeff's -hoarse breathing was loud in his helmet. <i>Now it comes</i>, he thought, -and his muscles tensed.</p> - -<p>A long minute flowed by and still the alien hung there. Then, abruptly -it went into a series of idiotic gyrations; it twisted and turned, and -spun around, swinging its fiery trail of rocket gases like a luminous -tail in the darkness. Then, just as abruptly, it reversed once more, -so that its head was away from them; in the twinkling of a moment it -was gone.</p> - -<p>Pete sighed, a deep, ragged sigh.</p> - -<p>"Did you see it, boy?" he cried. "Did you see it?"</p> - -<p>"I saw," Jeff's voice was filled with a new awe. "Now I get it. He -wasn't sure—he didn't know we were really trying to help him until we -let him get all the way out there by himself. Then he knew he was free. -That's why he wouldn't answer before."</p> - -<p>"Sure, Jeff, sure," said the older man, a note of triumph in his voice. -"But that's not what I mean. Did you notice all those contortions he -was going through up there? What did they remind you of?"</p> - -<p>There was a moment of silence, then the words came, at first slowly, -then in a rush from Jeff's lips.</p> - -<p>"Like a puppy," he said, haltingly, stumbling over the wonder of it. -"Like a puppy wagging its tail."</p> - -<p>And the light of a new understanding broke suddenly in his eyes.</p> - -<p>"Dad!" said Jeff, turning to his father. "Dad! Do you know what I -think? I think we've made a friend."</p> - -<p>And the two men stood there, side by side, looking into the blackness -of space where an odd-shaped spacecraft had vanished. It, they felt, -was on its way home.</p> - -<p>And they were right. 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