From d870909ccf663b68af503c09562fcd323e1b05e5 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: nfenwick Date: Fri, 17 Jan 2025 14:23:17 -0800 Subject: As captured January 17, 2025 --- 72030-0.txt | 436 +++++++++++++++++----------------- 72030-h/72030-h.htm | 660 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++-------------------------- 2 files changed, 548 insertions(+), 548 deletions(-) diff --git a/72030-0.txt b/72030-0.txt index 0b9111d..18b7ef2 100644 --- a/72030-0.txt +++ b/72030-0.txt @@ -1,219 +1,219 @@ - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AND MILES TO GO BEFORE I SLEEP *** - - - - - - AND MILES TO GO BEFORE I SLEEP - - By WILLIAM F. NOLAN - - Illustrated by RICHARD KLUGA - - _He knew, to the exact minute, when he was - going to die. And Earth was too far away to reach...._ - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Infinity August 1958. - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - -Alone within the humming ship, deep in its honeycombed metal chambers, -Murdock waited for death. While the rocket moved inexorably toward -Earth--an immense silver needle threading the dark fabric of space--he -waited calmly through the final hours, knowing that the verdict was -absolute, that hope no longer existed. - -Electronically self-sufficient, the ship was doing its job perfectly, -the job it had been built to do. After twenty years in space, the ship -was taking Robert Murdock home. - -Home. Earth. Thayerville, a small town in Kansas. Clean air, a shaded -street, and a white, two-story house at the end of the block. -Home--after two decades among the stars. - -Sitting quietly before the round port, seeing and not seeing the -endless darkness surrounding him, Murdock was remembering. - -He remembered the worried face of his mother, her whispered prayers for -his safety as he mounted the rocket ramp those twenty years ago; he -could still feel the final, crushing handshake of his father moments -before the outer airlock slid closed. His mother had been 55 then, his -father 63. It was almost impossible to believe that they were now old -and white-haired. - -And what of himself? - -He was now 41, and space had weathered him as the plains of Kansas -had weathered his father. He, too, had labored as his father had -labored--but on strange, alien worlds, under suns far hotter than Sol. -Murdock's face was square and hard-featured, his eyes dark and deep -under thrusting ledges of bone. He had changed as they had changed. - -He was a stranger going home to strangers. - -Carefully, Murdock unfolded his mother's last letter, written in her -flowery, archaic hand, and received just before Earth take-off. - - _Dearest Bob,_ - - _Oh, we are so excited! Your father and I listened to your voice - on the tape over and over, telling us that you are coming home to - us at last. We are both so eager to see you, son. As you know, we - have not been too well of late. Your father's heart does not allow - him out much any more, and I have had a few fainting spells over - the past month. But Doctor Thom says that we are all right, and you - are_ not _to worry. Just hurry home to us, Bob. We both pray - God you will come back safely._ - - _All our love, - Mother_ - -Robert Murdock put the letter aside and clenched his fists. Only brief -hours remained to him, and the small Kansas town of Thayerville was an -impossible distance across space. He knew he would never reach it alive. - -The lines of an ancient poem by Robert Frost whispered through his mind: - - But I have promises to keep, - And miles to go before I sleep - -He had promised his parents that he would come home--and he meant to -keep that promise. - -The doctors had shown him that it was impossible. They had charted his -death; they had told him when his heart would stop beating, when his -breathing would cease. Death, for Robert Murdock, was a certainty. His -alien disease was incurable. - -But they had listened to his plan. They had listened, and agreed. - -Now, with less than a half-hour of life remaining, Murdock was walking -down one of the ship's long corridors, his boot-heels ringing on the -narrow metal walkway. - -He was ready, at last, to keep his promise. - -Murdock paused before a wall storage locker, twisted a small dial. -A door slid smoothly back. He looked up at the tall man standing -motionless in the darkness. Reaching forward, Murdock made a quick -adjustment. - -The tall man stepped down into the corridor, and the light flashed in -his deep-set eyes, almost hidden behind thrusting ledges of bone. The -man's face was hard and square-featured. - -"My name is Robert Murdock," said the tall figure in the neat patrol -uniform. "I am 41 years of age, a rocket pilot going home to Earth." He -paused. "And I am sound of mind and body." - -Murdock nodded slowly. "Indeed you are," he said. - -"How much longer do you have, sir?" - -"Another ten minutes. Perhaps a few seconds beyond that," replied -Murdock. - -"I--I'm sorry," said the tall figure. - -Murdock smiled. He knew that a machine, however perfect, could not -experience the emotion of sorrow, but it eased him to hear the words. - -You will be fine, he thought. You will serve well in my place and my -parents will never suspect that their son has not come home to them. - -"It must all be perfect," said Murdock. - -"Of course," said the machine. "When the month I am to spend with them -is over they'll see me board a rocket for space--and they'll understand -that I cannot return to them for another twenty years. They will accept -the fact that a spaceman must return to the stars, that he cannot leave -the service before he is 60. Let me assure you, sir, it will all go -well." - -Yes, Murdock told himself, it _will_ go well; every detail has been -considered. My voice is his voice, my habits his own. The tapes I have -pre-recorded will continue to reach them at specified intervals until -their death. They will never know I'm gone. - -"Are you ready now, sir?" the tall figure asked gently. - -Murdock drew in his breath. "Yes," he said, "I'm ready now." - -And they began to walk down the long corridor. - - * * * * * - -Murdock remembered how proud his parents had been when he was finally -accepted for Space Training--the only boy in Thayerville to be chosen. -But then, it was only right that he should have been the one. The other -boys, those who failed, had not _lived_ the dream as he had lived it. -From the moment he'd watched the first moon rocket land he had known, -beyond any possible doubt, that he would become a rocketman. He had -stood there, in that cold December of 1980, a boy of 12, watching the -great rocket fire down from space, watching it thaw and blacken the -frozen earth. He had known that he would one day follow it back to the -stars, to vast and alien horizons, to worlds past imagining. - -He remembered his last night on Earth, twenty long years ago, when -he had felt the pressing immensity of the vast and terrible universe -surrounding him as he lay in his bed. He remembered the sleepless hours -before dawn, when he could feel the tension building within the single -room, within himself lying there in the heated stillness of the small, -white house. He remembered the rain, near morning, drumming the roof, -and the thunder roaring powerfully across the Kansas sky. And then, -somehow, the thunder's roar blended into the deep atomic roar of a -rocket, carrying him away from Earth, away to the burning stars ... -away ... - -_Away._ - - * * * * * - -The tall figure in the neat patrol uniform closed the outer airlock -and watched the body drift into blackness. The ship and the android -were one; two complex and perfect machines doing their job. For Robert -Murdock, the journey was over, the long miles had come to an end. - -Now he would sleep forever in space. - - * * * * * - -When the rocket landed, the crowds were there, waving and shouting out -Murdock's name as he appeared on the silver ramp. He smiled and raised -his hand in salute, standing there tall in the sun, his splendid dress -uniform reflecting the light in a thousand glittering patterns. - -At the far end of the ramp two figures waited. An old man, bowed and -trembling over a cane, and a seamed and wrinkled woman, her hair -blowing white, her eyes shining. - -When the tall spaceman reached them they embraced him feverishly, -clinging tight to his arms. - -Their son had returned. Robert Murdock had come home from space. - - * * * * * - -"Well," said a man at the fringe of the crowd, "there they go." - -His companion sighed and shook his head. "I _still_ don't think it's -right somehow. It just doesn't seem right to me." - -"It's what they wanted, isn't it?" asked the other. "It's what they -wrote in their wills. They vowed their son would never come home to -death. In another month he'll be gone anyway. Back for another twenty -years. Why ruin it all for him?" The man paused, shading his eyes -against the sun. "And they _are_ perfect, aren't they? He'll never -know." - -"I suppose you're right," nodded the second man. "He'll never know." - -And he watched the old man and the old woman and the tall son until -they were out of sight. - - - + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AND MILES TO GO BEFORE I SLEEP *** + + + + + + AND MILES TO GO BEFORE I SLEEP + + By WILLIAM F. NOLAN + + Illustrated by RICHARD KLUGA + + _He knew, to the exact minute, when he was + going to die. And Earth was too far away to reach...._ + + [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from + Infinity August 1958. + Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that + the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] + + +Alone within the humming ship, deep in its honeycombed metal chambers, +Murdock waited for death. While the rocket moved inexorably toward +Earth--an immense silver needle threading the dark fabric of space--he +waited calmly through the final hours, knowing that the verdict was +absolute, that hope no longer existed. + +Electronically self-sufficient, the ship was doing its job perfectly, +the job it had been built to do. After twenty years in space, the ship +was taking Robert Murdock home. + +Home. Earth. Thayerville, a small town in Kansas. Clean air, a shaded +street, and a white, two-story house at the end of the block. +Home--after two decades among the stars. + +Sitting quietly before the round port, seeing and not seeing the +endless darkness surrounding him, Murdock was remembering. + +He remembered the worried face of his mother, her whispered prayers for +his safety as he mounted the rocket ramp those twenty years ago; he +could still feel the final, crushing handshake of his father moments +before the outer airlock slid closed. His mother had been 55 then, his +father 63. It was almost impossible to believe that they were now old +and white-haired. + +And what of himself? + +He was now 41, and space had weathered him as the plains of Kansas +had weathered his father. He, too, had labored as his father had +labored--but on strange, alien worlds, under suns far hotter than Sol. +Murdock's face was square and hard-featured, his eyes dark and deep +under thrusting ledges of bone. He had changed as they had changed. + +He was a stranger going home to strangers. + +Carefully, Murdock unfolded his mother's last letter, written in her +flowery, archaic hand, and received just before Earth take-off. + + _Dearest Bob,_ + + _Oh, we are so excited! Your father and I listened to your voice + on the tape over and over, telling us that you are coming home to + us at last. We are both so eager to see you, son. As you know, we + have not been too well of late. Your father's heart does not allow + him out much any more, and I have had a few fainting spells over + the past month. But Doctor Thom says that we are all right, and you + are_ not _to worry. Just hurry home to us, Bob. We both pray + God you will come back safely._ + + _All our love, + Mother_ + +Robert Murdock put the letter aside and clenched his fists. Only brief +hours remained to him, and the small Kansas town of Thayerville was an +impossible distance across space. He knew he would never reach it alive. + +The lines of an ancient poem by Robert Frost whispered through his mind: + + But I have promises to keep, + And miles to go before I sleep + +He had promised his parents that he would come home--and he meant to +keep that promise. + +The doctors had shown him that it was impossible. They had charted his +death; they had told him when his heart would stop beating, when his +breathing would cease. Death, for Robert Murdock, was a certainty. His +alien disease was incurable. + +But they had listened to his plan. They had listened, and agreed. + +Now, with less than a half-hour of life remaining, Murdock was walking +down one of the ship's long corridors, his boot-heels ringing on the +narrow metal walkway. + +He was ready, at last, to keep his promise. + +Murdock paused before a wall storage locker, twisted a small dial. +A door slid smoothly back. He looked up at the tall man standing +motionless in the darkness. Reaching forward, Murdock made a quick +adjustment. + +The tall man stepped down into the corridor, and the light flashed in +his deep-set eyes, almost hidden behind thrusting ledges of bone. The +man's face was hard and square-featured. + +"My name is Robert Murdock," said the tall figure in the neat patrol +uniform. "I am 41 years of age, a rocket pilot going home to Earth." He +paused. "And I am sound of mind and body." + +Murdock nodded slowly. "Indeed you are," he said. + +"How much longer do you have, sir?" + +"Another ten minutes. Perhaps a few seconds beyond that," replied +Murdock. + +"I--I'm sorry," said the tall figure. + +Murdock smiled. He knew that a machine, however perfect, could not +experience the emotion of sorrow, but it eased him to hear the words. + +You will be fine, he thought. You will serve well in my place and my +parents will never suspect that their son has not come home to them. + +"It must all be perfect," said Murdock. + +"Of course," said the machine. "When the month I am to spend with them +is over they'll see me board a rocket for space--and they'll understand +that I cannot return to them for another twenty years. They will accept +the fact that a spaceman must return to the stars, that he cannot leave +the service before he is 60. Let me assure you, sir, it will all go +well." + +Yes, Murdock told himself, it _will_ go well; every detail has been +considered. My voice is his voice, my habits his own. The tapes I have +pre-recorded will continue to reach them at specified intervals until +their death. They will never know I'm gone. + +"Are you ready now, sir?" the tall figure asked gently. + +Murdock drew in his breath. "Yes," he said, "I'm ready now." + +And they began to walk down the long corridor. + + * * * * * + +Murdock remembered how proud his parents had been when he was finally +accepted for Space Training--the only boy in Thayerville to be chosen. +But then, it was only right that he should have been the one. The other +boys, those who failed, had not _lived_ the dream as he had lived it. +From the moment he'd watched the first moon rocket land he had known, +beyond any possible doubt, that he would become a rocketman. He had +stood there, in that cold December of 1980, a boy of 12, watching the +great rocket fire down from space, watching it thaw and blacken the +frozen earth. He had known that he would one day follow it back to the +stars, to vast and alien horizons, to worlds past imagining. + +He remembered his last night on Earth, twenty long years ago, when +he had felt the pressing immensity of the vast and terrible universe +surrounding him as he lay in his bed. He remembered the sleepless hours +before dawn, when he could feel the tension building within the single +room, within himself lying there in the heated stillness of the small, +white house. He remembered the rain, near morning, drumming the roof, +and the thunder roaring powerfully across the Kansas sky. And then, +somehow, the thunder's roar blended into the deep atomic roar of a +rocket, carrying him away from Earth, away to the burning stars ... +away ... + +_Away._ + + * * * * * + +The tall figure in the neat patrol uniform closed the outer airlock +and watched the body drift into blackness. The ship and the android +were one; two complex and perfect machines doing their job. For Robert +Murdock, the journey was over, the long miles had come to an end. + +Now he would sleep forever in space. + + * * * * * + +When the rocket landed, the crowds were there, waving and shouting out +Murdock's name as he appeared on the silver ramp. He smiled and raised +his hand in salute, standing there tall in the sun, his splendid dress +uniform reflecting the light in a thousand glittering patterns. + +At the far end of the ramp two figures waited. An old man, bowed and +trembling over a cane, and a seamed and wrinkled woman, her hair +blowing white, her eyes shining. + +When the tall spaceman reached them they embraced him feverishly, +clinging tight to his arms. + +Their son had returned. Robert Murdock had come home from space. + + * * * * * + +"Well," said a man at the fringe of the crowd, "there they go." + +His companion sighed and shook his head. "I _still_ don't think it's +right somehow. It just doesn't seem right to me." + +"It's what they wanted, isn't it?" asked the other. "It's what they +wrote in their wills. They vowed their son would never come home to +death. In another month he'll be gone anyway. Back for another twenty +years. Why ruin it all for him?" The man paused, shading his eyes +against the sun. "And they _are_ perfect, aren't they? He'll never +know." + +"I suppose you're right," nodded the second man. "He'll never know." + +And he watched the old man and the old woman and the tall son until +they were out of sight. + + + *** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AND MILES TO GO BEFORE I SLEEP *** \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/72030-h/72030-h.htm b/72030-h/72030-h.htm index 67a720b..151066f 100644 --- a/72030-h/72030-h.htm +++ b/72030-h/72030-h.htm @@ -1,330 +1,330 @@ - - - - - - And Miles to Go Before I Sleep | Project Gutenberg - - - - - -
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AND MILES TO GO BEFORE I SLEEP ***
- -
- -

AND MILES TO GO BEFORE I SLEEP

- -

By WILLIAM F. NOLAN

- -

Illustrated by RICHARD KLUGA

- -

He knew, to the exact minute, when he was
-going to die. And Earth was too far away to reach....

- -

[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
-Infinity August 1958.
-Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
-the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]

- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -

Alone within the humming ship, deep in its honeycombed metal chambers, -Murdock waited for death. While the rocket moved inexorably toward -Earth—an immense silver needle threading the dark fabric of space—he -waited calmly through the final hours, knowing that the verdict was -absolute, that hope no longer existed.

- -

Electronically self-sufficient, the ship was doing its job perfectly, -the job it had been built to do. After twenty years in space, the ship -was taking Robert Murdock home.

- -

Home. Earth. Thayerville, a small town in Kansas. Clean air, a shaded -street, and a white, two-story house at the end of the block. -Home—after two decades among the stars.

- -

Sitting quietly before the round port, seeing and not seeing the -endless darkness surrounding him, Murdock was remembering.

- -

He remembered the worried face of his mother, her whispered prayers for -his safety as he mounted the rocket ramp those twenty years ago; he -could still feel the final, crushing handshake of his father moments -before the outer airlock slid closed. His mother had been 55 then, his -father 63. It was almost impossible to believe that they were now old -and white-haired.

- -

And what of himself?

- -

He was now 41, and space had weathered him as the plains of Kansas -had weathered his father. He, too, had labored as his father had -labored—but on strange, alien worlds, under suns far hotter than Sol. -Murdock's face was square and hard-featured, his eyes dark and deep -under thrusting ledges of bone. He had changed as they had changed.

- -

He was a stranger going home to strangers.

- -

Carefully, Murdock unfolded his mother's last letter, written in her -flowery, archaic hand, and received just before Earth take-off.

- -
- -

Dearest Bob,

- -

Oh, we are so excited! Your father and I listened to your voice -on the tape over and over, telling us that you are coming home to -us at last. We are both so eager to see you, son. As you know, we -have not been too well of late. Your father's heart does not allow -him out much any more, and I have had a few fainting spells over -the past month. But Doctor Thom says that we are all right, and you -are not to worry. Just hurry home to us, Bob. We both pray -God you will come back safely.

- -

All our love,
-Mother

-
- -

Robert Murdock put the letter aside and clenched his fists. Only brief -hours remained to him, and the small Kansas town of Thayerville was an -impossible distance across space. He knew he would never reach it alive.

- -

The lines of an ancient poem by Robert Frost whispered through his mind:

- -
-
-
-
But I have promises to keep,
-
And miles to go before I sleep
-
-
-
- -

He had promised his parents that he would come home—and he meant to -keep that promise.

- -

The doctors had shown him that it was impossible. They had charted his -death; they had told him when his heart would stop beating, when his -breathing would cease. Death, for Robert Murdock, was a certainty. His -alien disease was incurable.

- -

But they had listened to his plan. They had listened, and agreed.

- -

Now, with less than a half-hour of life remaining, Murdock was walking -down one of the ship's long corridors, his boot-heels ringing on the -narrow metal walkway.

- -

He was ready, at last, to keep his promise.

- -

Murdock paused before a wall storage locker, twisted a small dial. -A door slid smoothly back. He looked up at the tall man standing -motionless in the darkness. Reaching forward, Murdock made a quick -adjustment.

- -

The tall man stepped down into the corridor, and the light flashed in -his deep-set eyes, almost hidden behind thrusting ledges of bone. The -man's face was hard and square-featured.

- -

"My name is Robert Murdock," said the tall figure in the neat patrol -uniform. "I am 41 years of age, a rocket pilot going home to Earth." He -paused. "And I am sound of mind and body."

- -

Murdock nodded slowly. "Indeed you are," he said.

- -

"How much longer do you have, sir?"

- -

"Another ten minutes. Perhaps a few seconds beyond that," replied -Murdock.

- -

"I—I'm sorry," said the tall figure.

- -

Murdock smiled. He knew that a machine, however perfect, could not -experience the emotion of sorrow, but it eased him to hear the words.

- -

You will be fine, he thought. You will serve well in my place and my -parents will never suspect that their son has not come home to them.

- -

"It must all be perfect," said Murdock.

- -

"Of course," said the machine. "When the month I am to spend with them -is over they'll see me board a rocket for space—and they'll understand -that I cannot return to them for another twenty years. They will accept -the fact that a spaceman must return to the stars, that he cannot leave -the service before he is 60. Let me assure you, sir, it will all go -well."

- -

Yes, Murdock told himself, it will go well; every detail has been -considered. My voice is his voice, my habits his own. The tapes I have -pre-recorded will continue to reach them at specified intervals until -their death. They will never know I'm gone.

- -

"Are you ready now, sir?" the tall figure asked gently.

- -

Murdock drew in his breath. "Yes," he said, "I'm ready now."

- -

And they began to walk down the long corridor.

- -
- -

Murdock remembered how proud his parents had been when he was finally -accepted for Space Training—the only boy in Thayerville to be chosen. -But then, it was only right that he should have been the one. The other -boys, those who failed, had not lived the dream as he had lived it. -From the moment he'd watched the first moon rocket land he had known, -beyond any possible doubt, that he would become a rocketman. He had -stood there, in that cold December of 1980, a boy of 12, watching the -great rocket fire down from space, watching it thaw and blacken the -frozen earth. He had known that he would one day follow it back to the -stars, to vast and alien horizons, to worlds past imagining.

- -

He remembered his last night on Earth, twenty long years ago, when -he had felt the pressing immensity of the vast and terrible universe -surrounding him as he lay in his bed. He remembered the sleepless hours -before dawn, when he could feel the tension building within the single -room, within himself lying there in the heated stillness of the small, -white house. He remembered the rain, near morning, drumming the roof, -and the thunder roaring powerfully across the Kansas sky. And then, -somehow, the thunder's roar blended into the deep atomic roar of a -rocket, carrying him away from Earth, away to the burning stars ... -away ...

- -

Away.

- -
- -

The tall figure in the neat patrol uniform closed the outer airlock -and watched the body drift into blackness. The ship and the android -were one; two complex and perfect machines doing their job. For Robert -Murdock, the journey was over, the long miles had come to an end.

- -

Now he would sleep forever in space.

- -
- -

When the rocket landed, the crowds were there, waving and shouting out -Murdock's name as he appeared on the silver ramp. He smiled and raised -his hand in salute, standing there tall in the sun, his splendid dress -uniform reflecting the light in a thousand glittering patterns.

- -

At the far end of the ramp two figures waited. An old man, bowed and -trembling over a cane, and a seamed and wrinkled woman, her hair -blowing white, her eyes shining.

- -

When the tall spaceman reached them they embraced him feverishly, -clinging tight to his arms.

- -

Their son had returned. Robert Murdock had come home from space.

- -
- -

"Well," said a man at the fringe of the crowd, "there they go."

- -

His companion sighed and shook his head. "I still don't think it's -right somehow. It just doesn't seem right to me."

- -

"It's what they wanted, isn't it?" asked the other. "It's what they -wrote in their wills. They vowed their son would never come home to -death. In another month he'll be gone anyway. Back for another twenty -years. Why ruin it all for him?" The man paused, shading his eyes -against the sun. "And they are perfect, aren't they? He'll never -know."

- -

"I suppose you're right," nodded the second man. "He'll never know."

- -

And he watched the old man and the old woman and the tall son until -they were out of sight. -

-
*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AND MILES TO GO BEFORE I SLEEP ***
- - + + + + + + And Miles to Go Before I Sleep | Project Gutenberg + + + + + +
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AND MILES TO GO BEFORE I SLEEP ***
+ +
+ +

AND MILES TO GO BEFORE I SLEEP

+ +

By WILLIAM F. NOLAN

+ +

Illustrated by RICHARD KLUGA

+ +

He knew, to the exact minute, when he was
+going to die. And Earth was too far away to reach....

+ +

[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
+Infinity August 1958.
+Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
+the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]

+ +
+ +
+ +
+ +
+ +
+ +

Alone within the humming ship, deep in its honeycombed metal chambers, +Murdock waited for death. While the rocket moved inexorably toward +Earth—an immense silver needle threading the dark fabric of space—he +waited calmly through the final hours, knowing that the verdict was +absolute, that hope no longer existed.

+ +

Electronically self-sufficient, the ship was doing its job perfectly, +the job it had been built to do. After twenty years in space, the ship +was taking Robert Murdock home.

+ +

Home. Earth. Thayerville, a small town in Kansas. Clean air, a shaded +street, and a white, two-story house at the end of the block. +Home—after two decades among the stars.

+ +

Sitting quietly before the round port, seeing and not seeing the +endless darkness surrounding him, Murdock was remembering.

+ +

He remembered the worried face of his mother, her whispered prayers for +his safety as he mounted the rocket ramp those twenty years ago; he +could still feel the final, crushing handshake of his father moments +before the outer airlock slid closed. His mother had been 55 then, his +father 63. It was almost impossible to believe that they were now old +and white-haired.

+ +

And what of himself?

+ +

He was now 41, and space had weathered him as the plains of Kansas +had weathered his father. He, too, had labored as his father had +labored—but on strange, alien worlds, under suns far hotter than Sol. +Murdock's face was square and hard-featured, his eyes dark and deep +under thrusting ledges of bone. He had changed as they had changed.

+ +

He was a stranger going home to strangers.

+ +

Carefully, Murdock unfolded his mother's last letter, written in her +flowery, archaic hand, and received just before Earth take-off.

+ +
+ +

Dearest Bob,

+ +

Oh, we are so excited! Your father and I listened to your voice +on the tape over and over, telling us that you are coming home to +us at last. We are both so eager to see you, son. As you know, we +have not been too well of late. Your father's heart does not allow +him out much any more, and I have had a few fainting spells over +the past month. But Doctor Thom says that we are all right, and you +are not to worry. Just hurry home to us, Bob. We both pray +God you will come back safely.

+ +

All our love,
+Mother

+
+ +

Robert Murdock put the letter aside and clenched his fists. Only brief +hours remained to him, and the small Kansas town of Thayerville was an +impossible distance across space. He knew he would never reach it alive.

+ +

The lines of an ancient poem by Robert Frost whispered through his mind:

+ +
+
+
+
But I have promises to keep,
+
And miles to go before I sleep
+
+
+
+ +

He had promised his parents that he would come home—and he meant to +keep that promise.

+ +

The doctors had shown him that it was impossible. They had charted his +death; they had told him when his heart would stop beating, when his +breathing would cease. Death, for Robert Murdock, was a certainty. His +alien disease was incurable.

+ +

But they had listened to his plan. They had listened, and agreed.

+ +

Now, with less than a half-hour of life remaining, Murdock was walking +down one of the ship's long corridors, his boot-heels ringing on the +narrow metal walkway.

+ +

He was ready, at last, to keep his promise.

+ +

Murdock paused before a wall storage locker, twisted a small dial. +A door slid smoothly back. He looked up at the tall man standing +motionless in the darkness. Reaching forward, Murdock made a quick +adjustment.

+ +

The tall man stepped down into the corridor, and the light flashed in +his deep-set eyes, almost hidden behind thrusting ledges of bone. The +man's face was hard and square-featured.

+ +

"My name is Robert Murdock," said the tall figure in the neat patrol +uniform. "I am 41 years of age, a rocket pilot going home to Earth." He +paused. "And I am sound of mind and body."

+ +

Murdock nodded slowly. "Indeed you are," he said.

+ +

"How much longer do you have, sir?"

+ +

"Another ten minutes. Perhaps a few seconds beyond that," replied +Murdock.

+ +

"I—I'm sorry," said the tall figure.

+ +

Murdock smiled. He knew that a machine, however perfect, could not +experience the emotion of sorrow, but it eased him to hear the words.

+ +

You will be fine, he thought. You will serve well in my place and my +parents will never suspect that their son has not come home to them.

+ +

"It must all be perfect," said Murdock.

+ +

"Of course," said the machine. "When the month I am to spend with them +is over they'll see me board a rocket for space—and they'll understand +that I cannot return to them for another twenty years. They will accept +the fact that a spaceman must return to the stars, that he cannot leave +the service before he is 60. Let me assure you, sir, it will all go +well."

+ +

Yes, Murdock told himself, it will go well; every detail has been +considered. My voice is his voice, my habits his own. The tapes I have +pre-recorded will continue to reach them at specified intervals until +their death. They will never know I'm gone.

+ +

"Are you ready now, sir?" the tall figure asked gently.

+ +

Murdock drew in his breath. "Yes," he said, "I'm ready now."

+ +

And they began to walk down the long corridor.

+ +
+ +

Murdock remembered how proud his parents had been when he was finally +accepted for Space Training—the only boy in Thayerville to be chosen. +But then, it was only right that he should have been the one. The other +boys, those who failed, had not lived the dream as he had lived it. +From the moment he'd watched the first moon rocket land he had known, +beyond any possible doubt, that he would become a rocketman. He had +stood there, in that cold December of 1980, a boy of 12, watching the +great rocket fire down from space, watching it thaw and blacken the +frozen earth. He had known that he would one day follow it back to the +stars, to vast and alien horizons, to worlds past imagining.

+ +

He remembered his last night on Earth, twenty long years ago, when +he had felt the pressing immensity of the vast and terrible universe +surrounding him as he lay in his bed. He remembered the sleepless hours +before dawn, when he could feel the tension building within the single +room, within himself lying there in the heated stillness of the small, +white house. He remembered the rain, near morning, drumming the roof, +and the thunder roaring powerfully across the Kansas sky. And then, +somehow, the thunder's roar blended into the deep atomic roar of a +rocket, carrying him away from Earth, away to the burning stars ... +away ...

+ +

Away.

+ +
+ +

The tall figure in the neat patrol uniform closed the outer airlock +and watched the body drift into blackness. The ship and the android +were one; two complex and perfect machines doing their job. For Robert +Murdock, the journey was over, the long miles had come to an end.

+ +

Now he would sleep forever in space.

+ +
+ +

When the rocket landed, the crowds were there, waving and shouting out +Murdock's name as he appeared on the silver ramp. He smiled and raised +his hand in salute, standing there tall in the sun, his splendid dress +uniform reflecting the light in a thousand glittering patterns.

+ +

At the far end of the ramp two figures waited. An old man, bowed and +trembling over a cane, and a seamed and wrinkled woman, her hair +blowing white, her eyes shining.

+ +

When the tall spaceman reached them they embraced him feverishly, +clinging tight to his arms.

+ +

Their son had returned. Robert Murdock had come home from space.

+ +
+ +

"Well," said a man at the fringe of the crowd, "there they go."

+ +

His companion sighed and shook his head. "I still don't think it's +right somehow. It just doesn't seem right to me."

+ +

"It's what they wanted, isn't it?" asked the other. "It's what they +wrote in their wills. They vowed their son would never come home to +death. In another month he'll be gone anyway. Back for another twenty +years. Why ruin it all for him?" The man paused, shading his eyes +against the sun. "And they are perfect, aren't they? He'll never +know."

+ +

"I suppose you're right," nodded the second man. "He'll never know."

+ +

And he watched the old man and the old woman and the tall son until +they were out of sight. +

+
*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AND MILES TO GO BEFORE I SLEEP ***
+ + -- cgit v1.2.3