 accidental death this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org accidental death by Peter Bailey the most dangerous of weapons is the one you don't know is loaded the wind howled out of the Northwest blind with snow and barbed with ice crystals all the way up the half-mile precipice it fingered and wrenched away at groaning ice slabs it screamed over the top world snow in a dervish dance around the hollow there piled snow into the long furrow plowed ruler straight through streamlined hummocks of snow the sun glinted on black rock glazed by ice chasms and ridges and bridges of ice it lit the snow slope to a frozen glare penciled black shadow down the long furrow and flashed at the furrow's end on a thing of metal and plastics an artifact thrown down in the dead wilderness nothing grew nothing flew nothing walked nothing talked but the thing in the hollow was stirring in stiff jerks like a snake with its back broken or a clockwork toy running down when the movement stopped there was a click and a strange sound began thin scratchy inaudible more than a yard away weary but still cocky there leaked from the shape in the hollow the sound of a human voice I've tried my hands and arms and they seem to work it began I've wiggled my toes with entire success it's well on the cards that I'm all in one piece and not broken up at all though I don't see how it could happen right now I don't feel like struggling up and finding out I'm fine where I am I'll just lie here for a while and relax and get some of the story on tape this suits got a built-in recorder I might as well use it that way even if I'm not as well as I feel I'll leave a message you probably know we're back and wonder what went wrong I suppose I'm in a state of shock that's why I can't seem to get up who wouldn't be shocked after luck like that I've always been lucky I guess luck got me a place in the whale sure I'm a good astronomers but so are lots of other guys if I were 10 years older it would have been an honor being picked for the first long jump in the first Starship ever at my age it was luck you'll want to know if the ship worked well she did went like a bomb we got lined up between Earth and Mars you'll remember and James pushed the button marked jump took his finger off the button and there we were Alpha Centauri two months later your time one second later by us we covered our whole survey assignment like that smooth as a pint of old and mild which right now I could certainly use better yet would be a pint of hot black coffee with sugar in failing that I could even go for a long drink of cold water there was never anything wrong with the whale till right at the end and even then I doubt if it was the ship itself that fell things up that was some survey assignment we astronomers really lived wait till you see but of course you won't I could weep when I think of those miles of lovely color film all gone up in smoke I'm shocked all right I never said who I was Matt Hennessy from Farsight Observatory back of the moon just back from a proving flight whom astronomical survey in the Starship whale whoever you are who finds this tape you're made take it to any radio station or newspaper office you'll find you can name your price and don't take any wooden nickels where had I got to I told you how we happen to find Chang didn't I that's what the natives call it walking talking natives on a blue sky planet with 1.1g gravity and a 20% oxygen atmosphere at 15 psi the odds against finding Chang on a six sun survey on the first star jump ever must be up in the Googles we certainly were lucky the Chang natives aren't very technical haven't got space travel for instance they're good astronomers though we were able to show them our son in their telescopes in their way they're a highly civilized people look more like cats than people but they're people all right if you doubt it chew these facts over one they learned our language in four weeks when I say they I mean a 10 man team of them to they brew a near beer that's a lot nearer than the canned stuff we had aboard the whale three they've got a great sense of humor ran rather to silly practical jokes but still can't say I care for that hot foot and belly laugh stuff myself but taste differ for the 10 man language team also learn chess and table tennis but why go on people who talk English drink beer like jokes and beat me at chess or table tennis or people for my money even if they look like tigers in trousers it was funny the way they won all the time at table tennis they certainly weren't so hot at it maybe that 10% extra gravity put us off our strokes as for chess Svendlove was our champion he won sometimes the rest of us seemed to lose whichever jinxie we played there again it wasn't so much that they were good how could they be in the time it was more that we all seem to make silly mistakes when we played them and that's fatal in chess of course it's a screwy situation playing chess was something that grows its own fur coat has yellow eyes an inch and a half long and long white whiskers could you have kept your mind on the game and don't think I fell victim to their feline charm the children were pets but you didn't feel like patting the adults on their big grinning heads personally I didn't like the one I knew best he was called well we called him Charlie and he was the ethnologist ambassador contact man or whatever you like to call him who came back with us why I disliked him was because he was always trying to get the edge on you all the time he had to be top great sense of humor of course I nearly broke my neck on that butterslide he fixed up in the metal alleyway to the whales engine room Charlie laughed fit the bust everybody laughed I even laughed myself though doing it hurt me more than the tumblehead yes life and soul of the party old Charlie my last side of the minnow was a cabin full of dead and dying men the Swedish stink of burned flesh and the choking reek of scorching insulation the bolt jolting and shuddering and beginning to break up and in the middle of the flames still unhurt was Charlie he was laughing my god it's dark out here wonder how high I am must be all of 50 miles and doing 800 miles an hour at least I'll be doing more than that when I land what's final velocity for a 50 mile fall same as a 50,000 mile fall I suppose same as escape 24,000 miles an hour I'll make a mess that's better why didn't I close my eyes before those star streaks made me dizzy I'll make a nice shooting star when I hit air come to think of it I must be deep in air now let's take a look it's getting lighter look at those peaks down there like great knives I don't seem to be falling as fast as I expected though almost seem to be floating let's switch on the radio and tell the world hello hello earth hello again and goodbye sorry about that I passed out I don't know what I said if anything and the suit recorder has no playback or eraser what must have happened is that the suit ran out of oxygen and I lost consciousness due to anoxia I dreamed I switched on the radio but I actually switched on the emergency tank thank the Lord and that brought me round come to think of it why not crack the suit and breathe fresh air instead of bottled no I'd have to get up to do that I think I'll just lie here a little bit longer and get properly rested up before I try anything big like standing up I was telling about the return journey was not the long jump back home which should have dumped us between the orbits of earth and Mars instead of which when James took his finger off the button the mass detector showed nothing except the noise level of the universe we were out in that no place for a day we astronomers had to establish our exact position relative to the solar system the crew had to find out exactly what went wrong the physicists had to make mystic passes in front of meters and mother about residual folds in stress-free space our task was easy because we were about half a light year from the sun the crew's job was also easy they found out what went wrong in less than half an hour it still seems incredible to program the ship for a star jump you merely told it where you were and where you wanted to go in practical terms that entailed first a series of exact measurements which had to be translated into the somewhat abtruse coordinate system we used based on the topological order of mass points in the galaxy then you cut a tape on the computer and hit the button nothing was wrong with the computer nothing was wrong with the engines we'd hit the right button and we'd gone to the place we'd aim for all we'd done was aim for the wrong place it hurts me to tell you this and I'm just attached personnel with no space flight tradition in practical terms one highly trained crew member had punched a wrong pattern of holes on tape another equally skilled had failed to notice this when reading back a childish error highly improbable twice repeated thus squaring the improbability incredible but that's what happened anyway we took good care with the next lot of measurements that's why we were out there so long they were cross-checked about five times I got sick so I climbed into a spaceship and went outside and took some photographs of the sun which I hoped would help to determine hydrogen density in the outer regions when I got back everything was ready we disposed ourselves about the control room and relaxed for all we were worth we were all praying that this time nothing would go wrong and all looking forward to seeing earth again after four months subjective time away except for Charlie who is still chuckling and shaking his head and Captain James who is glaring at Charlie and obviously wishing human dignity permitted him to tear Charlie limb from limb then James pressed the button everything twang like a bow string I felt myself turned inside out passed through a small sieve and poured back into shape the entire bow wall screen was full of earth something was wrong all right and this time it was much much worse we come out of the jump about 200 miles above the Pacific pointed straight down traveling at a relative speed of about 2000 miles an hour it was a fantastic situation here is the whale the most powerful ship ever built which could cover 50 light years in a subjective time of one second and it was helpless for as of course you know the star drive couldn't be used again for at least two hours the whale also had ion rockets of course the standard deuterium fusion thing with direct conversion as again you know this is good for interplanetary flight because you can run it continuously and it has extremely high exhaust velocity but in our situation it was no good because it has rather a low thrust it would have taken more time than we had to deflect us enough to avoid a smash we had five minutes to abandon ship James got us all into the minnow at a dead run there was no time to take anything at all except the close we stood in the minnow was meant for short heavy hops to planets or asteroids in addition to the ion drive it had emergency atomic rockets using steam for reaction mass we thank God for that when Kazamian canceled our downward velocity with them in a few seconds we curved up away over China and from about 50 miles high we saw the whale hit the Pacific 600 tons of mass at well over 2,000 miles an hour makes an all mighty splash by now you'll have divers down but I doubt they'll salvage much you can use I wonder why James went down with the ship as a saying is not that it made any difference it must have broken his heart to know that his lovely ship was getting the chopper or did he suspect another human error we didn't have time to think about that or even to get the radio working the steam rockets blew up for Kazamian was burnt to a crisp the only thing that saved me was a space shoot I was still wearing I snapped the face plate down because the cabin was filling with fumes I saw Charlie coming out of the toilet that's how he did skate and I saw him beginning to laugh then the port side collapsed and I fell out I saw the launch spinning away glowing red against the purplish black sky I tumbled head over heels towards a huge curved shield of earth 50 miles below I shut my eyes and that's about all I remember I don't see how any of us could have survived I think we're all dead I'll have to get up and crack this suit and let some air in but I can't I fell 50 miles without a parachute I'm dead so I can't stand up there was silence for a while except for the vicious howl of the wind then snow began to shift on the ledge a man crawled stiffly out and came shakily to his feet he moved slowly around for some time after about two hours he returned to the hollow squatted down and switched on the recorder the voice began again considerably rear rear hello there I'm in the bleakest wilderness I've ever seen this place makes the moon look cozy there's precipice around me every way but one and that's up so it's up I'll have to go till I find a way to go down I've been chewing snow to quench my thirst but I could eat a horse I picked up a shortwave broadcast on my suit but couldn't understand a word not English not French and there I stick listen to it for 15 minutes just to hear a human voice again I haven't much hope of reaching anyone with my five milliwatt suit transmitter but I'll keep trying just before I start to climb there are two things I want to get on tape the first is how I got here I've remembered something from my military training when I did some parachute jumps terminal velocity for a human body falling through air is about 120 miles per hour falling 50 miles is no worse than falling 500 feet you'd be lucky to live through a 500 foot fall true but I've been lucky the suit is bulky but light and probably slowed my fall I hit a 60 mile an hour updraft this side of the mountain skidded downhill through about half a mile of snow and fetched up in a drift the suit is part worn but still operational I'm fine the second thing I want to say is about the ching see and here it is watch out for them those jokers are dangerous I'm not telling how because I've got a scientific reputation to watch you'll have to figure it out for yourselves here are the clues number one the ching see talk and laugh but after all they aren't human on an alien world a hundred light years away why shouldn't alien talents develop a talent that's so uncertain and rudimentary here that most people don't believe it might be highly developed out there number two the whale expedition did find till it found Chang then it hit a seam of bad luck real stinking bad luck that went on and on till it looks fishy we lost the ship we lost the launch all but one of us lost our lives we couldn't even win a game ping-pong so what is luck good or bad scientifically speaking future chance events are by definition chance they can turn out favorable or not when a preponderance of chance events has occurred unfavorably you've got bad luck it's a fancy name for a lot of chance results that didn't go your way but the gambler defines it differently for him luck refers to the future and you've got bad luck when future chance events won't go your way scientific investigations into this have been inconclusive but everyone knows that some people are lucky and others aren't all we've got are hints and glimmers the fumbling touch of a rudimentary talent there's the evil eye legend and the Jonah bad luck bringers superstition maybe but ask the insurance companies about accident prones what's in a name call a man unlucky and you're superstitious call him accident prone and that sound business sense i've said enough all the same search the spaceflight records talk to the actuaries when a ship is working perfectly and is operated by a handpicked crew of highly trained men in perfect condition how often is it wrecked by a series of silly errors happening one after another in defiance of probability i'll sign off with two thoughts one depressing and one cheering a single ching see wrecked our ship and our launch what could a whole planet full of them do on the other hand the talent that manipulates chance events is bound to be chancey no matter how highly developed it can't be sure fire the proof is i've survived the tale at twenty below zero and fifty miles an hour the wind ravaged the mountain peering through his polarized visor at the white waist and the snow filled air howling over it sliding and stumbling with every step on a slope that gradually got steeper and seemed to go on forever mad hennessey began to inch his way up the north face of mount everest the end of accidental death by peter bailey this is a liber vox recording all liber vox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit liber vox.org after a few words by gordon randall garrett this is a science fiction story history is a science the other part is as all americans know the most fictional field we have today he settled himself comfortably in his seat and carefully put the helmet on pulling it down firmly until it was properly seated for a moment he could see nothing then his hand moved up and with a flick of the wrist lifted the visor ahead of him in sered array with lance's erect and penance flying was the forward part of the column far ahead he knew were the knights templars who had taken the advance behind the templars rode the mailed knights of britney and anju these were followed by king guy of jerusalem and the host of poitou he himself sir robert debouane was riding with the norman and english troops just behind the men of poitou sir robert turned slightly in his saddle to his right he could see the brilliant red and gold banner of the lion-hearted richard of england ghouls in pale three lines pasankar dot oar behind the standard bearer his great warhorse moving with a steady measured pace his cornet of gold on his steel helm gleaming in the glaring desert sun the lions of england on his firm held shield was the king himself further behind the knights hospitalers protected the rear guarding the column of the host of christendom from harassment by the bedowings bow a lady came a voice from his left three days out from ake ansia costed saras in stila ludas sir robert debouane twisted again in his saddle to look at the knight riding alongside him sir gayton de la tome b sat tall and straight in his saddle his visor up his blue eyes narrowed against the glare of the sun sir robert slips formed a smile they're not far off sir gayton they have been following us as we march parallel to the sea coast so they have been marching with us in those hills to the east less the jackals they are said sir gayton they're fearless from the rear and they set up traps in our path ahead our spies tell us that the turks lie ahead of us in countless numbers and yet they fear to face us in open battle is it fear or are they merely gathering their forces both said sir gayton flatly they fear us as they would not daily to amass so fearsome a force if as our informers tell us they're uncounted to expose the foyer and if as we are aware our rear is being dogged by the bedouin and the black horsemen of egypt it would seem that zaladin has at hand more than enough to overcome us was they are truly christian knights give them time we must wait for their attacks tonight it were foolhardy to attempt to seek them in their own hills and yet they must stop us they will attack before we reach Jerusalem fear not we've got going if you know he's a muslim sir gayton ground it's the zele sheet that is driving me mad he pointed toward the eastern hills the sun is yet low and already the heat is unbearable sir robert heard his own laugh echo holly within his helmet perhaps to her better to be mad when the assault comes madmen fight better than men of cooler blood he knew that the others were baking inside their heavy armor although he himself was not too uncomfortable sir gaton looked at him with a smile that held both irony and respect in truth zernayd it is apparent that you'll fear neither men nor heat nor is your own blood too cool true i ride with your normans and your english and your king richard or zernayan side but i am a gas one and have no fealty to him but to side with the duke of burgundy against king richard he gave a short parking lot i fear no man he went on but if i had to via one it would be richard of england sir robert's voice came like a sword steely flat cold and sharp my lord the king spoke in haste he has reason to be bitter against philippe of france as do we all philippe has deserted the field he has returned to france in haste leaving the rest of us to fight the saracen for the holy land leaving only the contingent of his vassal the duke of burgundy to remain with us richard of england has never been on the best of terms with philip agustus said sir gaton no and with good cause but he allowed his anger against philip to color his judgment when he spoke harshly against the duke of burgundy the duke is no coward and richard plantagenet well knows it as i said he spoke in haste and you intervened said sir gaton it was my duty sir robert's voice was stubborn could we have permitted a quarrel to develop between the two finest knights and war leaders in christendom at this crucial point the desertion of philip of france has cost us dearly could we permit the desertion of burgundy too you did what must be done in honor the gaskin concluded but you have not gained the love of richard by doing so sir robert felt his jaw set firmly my king knows i'm loyal sir gaton said nothing more but there was a look in his eyes that showed he felt that richard of england might even doubt the loyalty of sir robert debouane sir robert rode on in silence feeling the movement of the horse beneath him there was a sudden sound to the rear like a wash of the tide from the sea came the sound of sarasen war cries and the clash of steel on steel mingled with the sounds of horses in agony and anger sir robert turned his horse to look the negro troops of saladin's egyptian contingent were thundering down upon the rear they clashed with the hospitalers slamming in like a rain of heavy stones too close in for the use of bows there was only the sword against armor like the sound of a thousand hammers against a thousand anfils stand fast stand fast hold them off it was the voice of king richard sounding like a clarion over the din of battle sir robert felt his horse move as though it were urging him on toward the battle but his hand held to the reins keeping the great charger in check the king had said stand fast and this was no time to disobey the orders of richard the sarasen troops were coming in from the rear and the hospitalers were taking the brunt of the charge they fought like madmen but they were slowly being forced back the master of the hospitalers rode to the rear to the king's standard which hardly moved in the still desert air now that the column had stopped moving the voice of the duke of burgundy came to sir robert's use stand fast the king bids you all to stand fast said the duke his voice fading as he rode on up the column toward the nights of poitou and the night's templars the master of the hospitalers was speaking in a low urgent voice to the king my lord we are pressed on by the enemy and in danger of eternal infamy we're losing our horses one after the other good master sin richard it is you who must sustain their attack no one can be everywhere at once the master of the hospitalers nodded curtly and charged back into the fray the king turned to sir baldwin de correo who sat a horse nearby and pointed toward the eastern hills they will come from there hitting us in the flank we cannot afford to amass a rearward charge to do so would be to fall directly into the hands of the sarasen a voice very close to sir robert said richard is right it goes to the aid of the hospitalers we really exposed the column to a flank attack it was surgaeton my lord the king sir robert heard his voice say is right in all but one thing if we allow the egyptians to take us from the rear there will be no need for saladin and his turks to come down on our flank and the hospitalers cannot hold for long at this rate a charge at four gallop would break the egyptian line and give the hospitalers breathing time are you with me against the orders of the king the king cannot see everything there are times when a man must use his own judgment you said you were afraid of no man are you with me after a moment's hesitation surgaeton couched his lance i'm with you sir knight live or die i follow strike and strike hard forward then sir robert heard himself shouting forward for saint george and for england saint george and england the gaskin echoed two great war horses began to move ponderously forward toward the battle lines gaining momentum as they went moving in unison the two knights their horses now at a fast trot lowered their lances picking their saracen targets with care larger and larger loomed the egyptian cavalrymen as the horses changed pace to a thundering gallop the egyptians tried to dodge as they saw too late the approach of the christian knights sir robert felt the shock against himself and his horse as the steel tip of the long ash lance struck the saracen horseman in the chest out of the corner of his eye he saw that sir gaton too had scored the saracen impaled on sir robert's lens shot from the saddle as he died his lighter armor had hardly impeded the incoming spear point and now his body dragged it down as he dropped toward the desert sand another muslim cavalryman was charging in now swinging his curved saber taking advantage of sir robert's sagging lance there was nothing else to do but drop the lance and draw his heavy broadsword his hand grasped it and it came singing from its scabbard the egyptians curved sword clanged against sir robert's helm setting his head ringing in return the knight's broadsword came about in a sweeping arc and the egyptian's horse rode on with the rider's headless body behind him sir robert heard further cries of saint george and england the hospitalers taking heart at the charge were going in behind them came the count of champagne the earl of lester and the bishop of bovet who carried a great war hammer in order that he might not break church law by shedding blood sir robert's own sword rose and fell cutting and hacking at the enemy he himself felt a dreamlike detachment as though he were watching the battle rather than participating in it but he could see that the muslims were falling back before the christian onslaught and then quite suddenly there seemed to be no foeman to swing at breathing heavily sir robert sheathed his broadsword beside him sir gaten did the same saying it will be a few minutes before they can regroup sir knight we may have routed them completely i but king richard will not approve my breaking ranks and disobeying orders i may win the battle and lose my head in the end there is no time to worry about the future said the gaskin let's devour a moment and relax that you may be stronger later here have an old gings he took a pack of cigarettes in his gauntleted hand which he proffered to sir robert there were three cigarettes protruding from it one slightly farther than the others sir robert's hand reached out and took that one thanks when the going gets rough i really enjoy an old king's he put one end of the cigarette in his mouth and let the other from the lighter in sir gaten's hand yes sir said sir gaten after lighting his own cigarette old kings are the greatest they give a man real deep down smoking pleasure there's no doubt about it old kings are a man's cigarette sir robert could feel the soothing smoke in his lungs as he inhaled deeply that's great when i want a cigarette i don't want just any cigarette nor i agreed the gaskin old kings is the only area of cigarette when you are doing our real man's work that's for sure sir robert watched his smoke ring expand in the air there was a sudden clash of arms off to their left sir robert dropped his cigarette to the ground the trouble is that doing a real he-man's work doesn't always allow you to enjoy the fine rich tobaccos of old kings right down to the very end no but you can always light another later said the gaskin knight king richard on seeing his army moving suddenly toward the harassed rear had realized the danger and had charged through the hospitalers to get into the thick of the fray now the turks were charging down from the hills hitting not the flank as he had expected but the rear saladin had expected him to hold fast sir robert and sir gaton spurred their chargers toward the flapping banner of england the fierce warrior king of england his mighty sword in hand was cutting down turks as though they were grain stalks but still the saras and horde pressed on more and more of the terrible turks came boiling down out of the hills their glittering scimitar swinging sir robert lost all track of time there was nothing to do but keep his own great broadsword moving swinging like some gigantic metronome as he hacked down the muslim foes and then suddenly he found himself surrounded by the saracens he was isolated and alone cut off from the rest of the christian forces he glanced quickly around as he slashed another saracen from paint to breastbone where was sir gaton where were the others where was the red and gold banner of richard he caught a glimpse of the fluttering banner far to the rear and started to fall back and then he saw another night nearby a huge man who swung his sparkling blade with power and force on his steel helm glimmed a golden cornet richard and the great king in spite of his prowess was outnumbered heavily and would within seconds be cut down by the saracen horde without hesitation sir robert plunged his horse toward the surrounded monarch his great blade cutting a path before him he saw richard go down falling from the saddle of his charger but by that time his own sword was cutting into the screaming saracens and they had no time to attempt any further mischief to the king they had their hands full with sir robert debuwaying he did not know how long he fought there holding his charger emotionless over the inert body of the fallen king hewing down the screaming enemy but presently he heard the familiar cry of for st george and for england behind him the norman and english troops were charging in bringing with them the banner of england and then richard was on his feet cleaving the air about him with his own broadsword its bright edge besmeared with saracen blood was biting viciously into the the turks began to fall back within seconds the christian knights were boiling around the embattled pair forcing the turks into retreat and for the second time sir robert found himself with no one to fight and then a voice was saying you have done well this day sir knight richard plantagenet will not forget sir robert turned in his saddle to face the smiling king my lord king be assured that i would never forget my loyalty to my sovereign and liege lord my sword and my life are yours whenever you call king richards gauntlet in hand grasped his own if it please god i shall never ask your life an earldom awaits you when we return to england sir knight and then the king mounted his horse and was running full gallop after the retreating saracens robert took off his helmet he blinked for a second to adjust his eyes to the relative dimness of the studio after the brightness of the desert that the televicarian helmet had projected into his eyes the studio seemed strangely cave-like how'd you like it bob asked one of the two producers of the show robert bowen nodded briskly and padded the televike helmet it was okay he said good show a little talky at the beginning and it needs a better fade out but the action scenes were fine the sponsor ought to like it for a while at least what do you mean for a while robert bowen sighed if this thing goes on the air the way it is he'll lose sales why commercial not good enough too good man i've smoked old kings and believe me the real thing never tasted as good as that cigarette did in the commercial end of after a few words by gordon randall garrett the diamond maker this is a libra vox recording all libra vox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit libra vox.org recording by gerome lossen april 2008 the diamond maker by hg wells some business had detained me in chancery lane nine in the evening and thereafter having some inkling of a headache i was disinclined either for entertainment or further work so much of the sky as the high cliffs of that narrow cannon of traffic left visible spoke of a serene night and i determined to make my way down to the embankment and rest my eyes and cool my head by watching the variegated lights upon the river beyond comparison the night is the best time for this place immersive all darkness hides the dirt of the waters and the lights of this transitional age red glaring orange gas yellow and electric white are set in shadowy outlines of every possible shade between gray and deep purple through the arches of waterloo bridge a hundred points of light mark the sweep of the embankment and above its parapets rise the towers of west minster warm gray against the starlight the black river goes by with only a rare ripple breaking its silence and disturbing the reflections of the lights that swim upon its surface a one night said a voice at my side i turned my head and saw the profile of a man who was leaning over the parapet beside me it was a refined face not unhandsome though pinched and pale enough and the coat collar turned up and pinned round the throat marked his status in life as sharply as a uniform i felt i was committed to the price of a bed and breakfast if i answered him i looked at him curiously would he have anything to tell me worth the money or we see the comment incapable incapable even of telling his own story there was a quality of intelligence in his forehead and eyes and a certain tremulousness in his nether lip that decided me very warm said i but not too warm for us here no he said still looking across the water it is pleasant enough here just now it is good he continued after a pause to find anything so restful as this in london after one has been fretting about business all day about getting on meeting obligations and perrying dangers i do not know what one would do if it were not for such specific corners he spoke with long pauses between the sentences you must know a little of the irksome labor of the world or you would not be here but i doubt if you can be so brain weary and foot sore as i am but sometimes i doubt if the game is worth the candle i feel inclined to throw the whole thing over name wealth and position and take to some more modest trade but i know if i abandon my ambition hardly as she uses me i should have nothing but remorse left for the rest of my days he became silent i looked at him in astonishment if ever i saw a man hopelessly hard up it was the man in front of me he was ragged and he was dirty unshaven and unkempt he looked as though he had been left in a dustbin for a week and he was talking to me of the irksome worries of a large business i almost laughed outright either he was mad or playing a sorry jest on his own poverty if high aims and high positions said i have their drawbacks of hard work and anxiety they have their compensations influence the power of doing good of assisting those weaker and poorer than ourselves and there is even a certain gratification in display my banter under the circumstances was in very vile taste i spoke on the spur of the contrast of his appearance and speech i was sorry even while i was speaking he turned a haggard but very composed face upon me said he i forgot myself of course he would not understand he measured me for a moment no doubt it is very absurd you will not believe me even when i tell you so that it is fairly safe to tell you and it will be a comfort to tell someone i really have a big business in hand a very big business but there are troubles just now the fact is i make diamonds i suppose said i you are out of work just to present i'm sick of being disbelieved he said impatiently and suddenly unbuttoning his wretched coat he pulled out a little canvas bag that was hanging by a cord around his neck from this he produced a brown pebble i wonder if you know enough to know what that is he handed it to me now a year or so ago i had occupied my leisure in taking a london science degree so that i have a smattering of physics and mineralogy the thing was not unlike an uncut diamond of the darker sort though far too large being almost as big as the top of my thumb i took it and saw it had the form of a regular octahedron with the curved faces peculiar to the most precious of minerals i took out my pen knife and tried to scratch it vainly leaning forward towards the gas lamp i tried the thing on my watch glass and scored a white line across that with the greatest ease i looked at my interlocutor with rising curiosity it certainly is rather like a diamond but if so it's a behemoth of diamonds where did you get it i tell you i made it he said give it back to me you replaced it hastily and buttoned his jacket i will sell it to you for a hundred pounds he suddenly whispered eagerly with that my suspicions returned the thing might after all be merely a lump of that almost equally hard substance carrandom with an accidental resemblance in shape to the diamond or if it was diamond how came he buy it and why should he offer it at a hundred pounds we looked into one another's eyes he seemed eager but honestly eager at that moment i believed it was a diamond he was trying to sell yet i am a poor man a hundred pounds would leave a visible gap in my fortunes and no sane man would buy a diamond by gaslight from a ragged tramp on his personal warranty only still a diamond that size conjured up a vision of many thousands of pounds then thought i such a stone could scarcely exist without being mentioned in every book on gems and again i called to mind the stories of contraband and light fingered cafes at the cape i put the question of purchase on one side how did you get it said i i made it i had heard something of my son but i knew his artificial diamonds were very small i shook my head you seem to know something of this kind of thing i will tell you a little about myself perhaps then you may think better of the purchase he turned round with his back to the river and put his hands in his pockets he sighed i know you will not believe me diamonds he began and as he spoke his voice lost its faint flavor of the tramp and assumed something of the easy tone of an educated man ought to be made by throwing carbon out of combination in a suitable flux and under a suitable pressure the carbon crystallizes out not as black lead or charcoal powder but as small diamonds so much has been known to chemist for years but no one yet it hit upon exactly the right flux in which to melt up the carbon or exactly the right pressure for the best results consequently the diamonds made by chemists are small and dark and worthless as jewels now i you know have given up my life to this problem given my life to it i began to work on the conditions of diamond making when i was 17 and now i am 32 it seemed to me that it might take all the thoughts and energies of a man for 10 years or 20 years but even if it did the game was still worth the candle suppose one to have at last just hit the right trick before the secret got out and diamonds became as common as coal one might realize millions millions he paused and looked for my sympathy his eyes shone hungrily to think said he that i am on the verge of it all and here i had he proceeded about a thousand pounds when i was 21 and this i thought eaked out by a little teaching will keep my research is going a euro two was spent in study at berlin chiefly and then i continued on my own account the trouble was the secrecy you see if once i had let out what i was doing other men might have been spurred on by my belief in the practicability of the idea and i do not pretend to be such a genius as to have been sure of coming in first in the case of a race for the discovery and you see it was important that if i really meant to make a pile people should not know it was an artificial process and capable of turning out diamonds by the ton so i had to work all alone at first i had a little laboratory but as my resources began to run out i had to conduct my experiments in a wretched unfinished room in kentish town where i slipped at last on a straw mattress on the floor among all my apparatus the money simply flowed away i grudged myself everything except scientific appliances i tried to keep things going by a little teaching but i'm not a very good teacher and i have no university degree nor very much education accepting chemistry and i found i had to give a lot of time and labor for precious little money but i got nearer and nearer the thing three years ago i settled the problem of the composition of the flux and got near the pressure by putting this flux of mine and a certain carbon composition into a closed up gun barrel filling up with water sealing tightly and heating he paused rather risky said i yes it burst and smashed all my windows and a lot of my apparatus but i got a kind of diamond powder nonetheless following out the problem of getting a big pressure upon the molten mixture from which the things were to crystallize i hit upon some researchers of dowbris at the paris laboratory de powdray a solpitre he exploded dynamite in a tightly screwed steel cylinder too strong to burst and i found he could crush rocks into a muck not unlike the south african bed in which diamonds are found it was a tremendous strain on my resources but i got a steel cylinder made for my purpose after his pattern i put all my stuff and my explosives built up a fire in my furnace but the whole concern in and went out for a walk i cannot help laughing in his manner of fact manner did you not think it would blow up the house or are there other people in the place it was in the interest of science he said ultimately there was a cost among the family on the floor below a begging letter writer in the room behind mine and two flower women were upstairs perhaps it was a bit thoughtless but possibly some of them were out when i came back the thing was just where i left it among the whiteheart coals the explosive hadn't burst the case and then i had a problem to face you know time is an important element in crystallization if you hurry the process the crystals are small it is only by prolonged standing that they grow to any size i resolved to let this apparatus cool for two years letting the temperature go down slowly during the time and i was now quite out of money and with a big fire in the rent of my room as well as my hunger to satisfy i had scarcely a penny in the world i can hardly tell you all the shifts i was put to while i was making the diamonds i've sold newspapers held horses open cab doors for many weeks i addressed envelopes i had a place as assistant to a man who owned a barrow i used to call down one side of the road while he called down the other once for a week i had absolutely nothing to do so i begged what a week that was one day the fire was going out and i'd eaten nothing all day and a little chap taking his girl out gave me six months to show off thank heaven for vanity how the fish shop smelt but i went and spent it all on coals and had the furnace bright red again and then well hunger makes a fool of a man at last three weeks ago i let the fire out i took my cylinder and unscrewed it while it was still so hot that it punished my hands and i scraped out the crumbling lava-like mass with a chisel and hammered it into a powder upon an iron plate and i found three big diamonds and five small ones as i sat on the floor hammering my door opened and my neighbor the baking letter writer came in he was drunk as he usually is nerkist said he you're drunk said i destructive scoundrel said he go to your father said i meaning the father of lies never you mind said he and gave me a cunning wink and hiccuped and leaning up against the door where there's other eye against the doorpost began to babble of how he had been prying in my room and how he had gone to the police that morning and how they had taken on everything he had to say say if i was a gentleman said he then i suddenly realized i was in a hole either i should have to tell these police my little secret and get the whole thing blown upon or be lagged as an anarchist so i went up to my neighbor and took him by the collar and rolled him about a bit and then i gathered up my diamonds and cleared out the evening newspapers called my den the kentish town bomb factory and now i cannot part with the things for love or money if i go into respectable jewelers they ask me to wait and go and whisper to a clerk to fetch a policeman and then i say i cannot wait and i found out a receiver of stolen goods and he simply stuck to the one i gave him and told me to prosecute if i wanted it back i am going about now with several hundred thousand pounds worth of diamonds around my neck and without either food or shelter you were the first person i've taken into my confidence but i like your face and i am hard driven he looked into my eyes it would be madness said i for me to buy a diamond under the circumstances besides i did not carry hundreds of pounds about in my pocket yet i more than half believe your story i will if you like do this come to my office tomorrow you think i am a thief said he keenly you will tell the police i'm not coming into a trap somehow i am assured you are no thief here's my card take that anyhow you need not come to any appointment come when you will he took the card and in earnest of my good will think better of it and come said i he shook his head doubtfully i will pay back your half crown with interest someday such interest as will amaze you said he anyhow you will keep the secret don't follow me he crossed the road and went into the darkness toward the little steps under the archway leading into esic street then i let him go and that was the last i ever saw of him afterwards i had two letters from him asking me to send banknotes not checks to certain addresses i weighed the matter over and took what i conceived to be the wisest course once he called upon me when i was out my urchin described him as a very thin dirty and ragged man with a dreadful cough he left no message that was the finish of him so far as my story goes i wonder sometimes what has become of him was he an ingenious monomaniac or a fraudulent dealer in pebbles or has he really made diamonds as he asserted the latter is just sufficiently credible to make me think at times that i have missed the most brilliant opportunity of my life he may of course be dead and his diamonds carelessly thrown aside one i repeat was almost as big as my thumb or he may be still wondering about trying to sell the things it is just possible he may yet emerge upon society and passing a thwart my heavens in the serene altitude sacred to the wealthy and the well advertised reproach me silently for my want of enterprise i sometimes think i might have at least risked five pounds end of The Diamond Maker by H. G. Wells recording by Jerome Lawson April 2008 this is a LibriVox recording and all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information more LibriVox recordings or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org this recording read for you by Perry Clayton egocentric orbit by John Corey it took a long time for human beings to accept that our little piece of meteoric rubble wasn't the exact and absolute center of the universe it does appear that way doesn't it it may not take so long for a spaceman to learn near the end of his 15th orbit as greenland slipped by noiselessly below he made the routine measurements that tested the operation of his space capsule and checked the automatic instruments which would transmit their stored data to earth on his next pass over control everything normal all mechanical devices were operating perfectly this information didn't surprise him in fact he really didn't even think about it the previous orbits and the long simulated flights on earth during training had made such checks routine and perfect results expected the capsules were developed by exhaustive testing both on the ground and as empty satellites before entrusting them to carry animals and then the first human he returned to contemplation of the panorama passing below and above although as he noted idly above and below had lost some of their usual meaning since his capsule like all heavenly bodies was stable in position with respect to the entire universe and thanks to Sir Isaac Newton and his laws never changed the earth and the stars altered over his head during each orbit uh now met whatever was in the direction of his head he remembered that even during his initial orbit when the earth first appeared overhead he accepted the fact as normal he wondered if the other two had accepted it as easily for there had been two men hurled into orbit before he had ventured into space two others who had also passed the rigorous three year training period and were selected on the basis of overall performance to proceed him he'd known them both well and wondered again what had happened on their flights of course they had both returned depending upon what your definition of return was the capsules in which they had ventured beyond earth had returned them living but this was to be expected for even the considerable hazards of the descent through the atmosphere and the terrible heating which occurred were successfully surmounted by the capsule naturally it had not been expected that the satellites would have to be brought down by command from the ground but this too was part of the careful planning radio control of the retro rockets that moved the satellite out of orbit by reducing its velocity of course ground control was to be used only if the astronaut failed to ignite the retro rockets himself he remembered everyone's surprise and relief when the first capsule was recovered and its occupant found to be alive they had assumed that in spite of all precautions he was dead because he had not fired the rockets on the 50th orbit and it was necessary to bring him down on the 65th recovery alive only partially solved the mystery for the rescuers and all others were met by a haughty stony silence from the occupant batteries of tests confirmed an early diagnosis complete and utter withdrawal absolute refusal to communicate therapy was unsuccessful the second attempt was similar in most respects except that command return was made on the 31st orbit after the astronaut's failure to de-orbit at the end of the 30th his incoherent babble of moons stars and worlds was no more helpful than the first test after test confirmed that no obvious organic damage had been incurred by exposure outside of the earth's protective atmosphere biopsy of even selected brain tissue seemed to show that microscopic cellular changes due to prolonged weightlessness or primary cosmic ray bombardment which had been suggested by some authorities were unimportant somewhat reluctantly it was decided to repeat the experiment a third time the launching was uneventful he was sent into space with the precision he expected the experience was exhilarating and although he had anticipated each event in advance he could not possibly have foreseen the overpowering feeling that came over him weightlessness he had experienced for brief periods during training but nothing could match the heedy impression of continuous freedom from gravity earth passing overhead was also to be expected from the simple laws of celestial mechanics but his feeling as he watched it now was inexpressible it occurred to him that perhaps this was indeed why he was here because he could appreciate the experience as best he had been told the stars would be bright unblinking and an infinitude and extent but can mere descriptions or photographs convey the true seeing on his 21st orbit he completed his overseeing the entire service of the planet and daylight he had seen more earth than anyone able to tell about it but only he had the true feeling of it the continents were clearly visible as were the oceans in both polar ice caps the shapes were familiar but in only a remote way a vague indistinctness born of distance served to modify the outlines and he alone was seeing and understanding on the dark side of the planet large cities were marked by indistinct light areas which pale to insignificance compared to the stars and his son he speculated about the others who had only briefly experienced these sites undoubtedly they weren't as capable of fully grasping or appreciating any of these things as he was it was quite clear that no one else but he could encompass the towering feeling of power and importance generated by being alone in the universe at the end of his 25th orbit he disabled the radio control of the retro rockets and set back with satisfaction to await the next circuit of his earth around him the end of egocentric orbit by john quarry read for you by perry clayton flight from tomorrow this is a liver vox recording all liver vox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit liver vox.org recording by gerome lawson july 2008 flight from tomorrow by h beam piper hunted and hated in two worlds haratska dreamed of a monomaniac's glory strained in the past with his knowledge of the future but he didn't know the past quite well enough one but yesterday a whole planet had shouted hail haratska hail the leader today they were screaming death to haratska kill the tyrant the palace where haratska surrounded by his sook of ants and guards had lorded it over a solar system was now an inferno those who had been too closely identified with the dictator's rule to hope for forgiveness were fighting to the last seeking only a quick death in combat one by one their isolated points of resistance were being wiped out the corridors and chambers of the huge palace were thronged with rubbles loud with their shouts and with the rasping hiss of heat beams and the crash of blasters reeking with the stench of scorched plastic and burned flesh of hot metal and charred fabric the living quarters were overrun the mumps smashed down walls and tore up floors in search of secret hiding places they found strange things the spaceship that had been built under one of the domes in readiness for flight to the still loyal colonies of mars or the asteroid belt for instance but haratska himself they could not find at last the search reached the new tower which reared its head five thousand feet above the palace the highest thing in the city they've lasted down the huge steel doors cut the power from the energy screens they landed from anti-graph cars on the upper levels but except for barriers the metal and concrete and energy they met with no opposition finally they came to a spiral stairway which led up to the great metal sphere which capped the whole structure general zarvis the army commander who would placed himself at the head of the revolt stood with his foot on the lowest step his followers behind him there was prince bervani the leader of the old nobility and gorsesco orm the merchant and between them stood tobe the chieftain of the mutinous slaves there were clerks laborers poor but haughty nobles and wealthy merchants who had long been forced to hide the riches from the dictator's tax gatherers and soldiers and spacemen you better let one of us go first sir general zarvis orderly a bloodstained bandage about his head his uniform and rags suggested you don't know what might be up there the general shook his head i'll go first zarvis pole was not the man to send subordinates into danger ahead of himself to tell the truth i'm afraid we won't find anything at all up there you mean gorsesco orm began the time machine zarvis pole replied if he's managed to get it finished the great mind only knows where he may be now or when he loosened the blaster in his holster and started up the long spiral his followers spread out below sharpshooters took position to cover his assent prince pervani and tobe the slave started to follow him they hesitated as each motion the other to proceed him then the nobleman followed the general his blaster drawn and the brawny slave behind him the door the top was open and zarvis pole stepped through but there was nothing in the great spherical room except a raised deus some 50 feet in diameter its polished metal top strangely clean and empty and a crumpled heap of burned cloth and charred flesh that had been not long ago a man an old man with a white beard and the seven-pointed star of the learned brothers on his breast advanced to meet the armed intruders so he is gone crudzy zago zarvis pole said while stirring his weapon got in the time machine to hide in yesterday or tomorrow and you let him go the old one nodded he had a blaster and i had none he indicated the body on the floor it's only jarv had no blaster either but he tried to stop pratska see he squandered his life as a fool squanders his money getting nothing for it and a man's life is not money zarvis pole i do not blame you crudzy zago general zarvis said but now you must get to work and build us another time machine so that we can hunt him down does revenge mean so much to you then the soldier made an impatient gesture revenge is for fools like that screaming pack of beasts below i do not kill for revenge i kill because dead men do no harm harajito will do us no more harm the old scientist replied he is a thing of yesterday of a time long past and have lost in the mists of legend no matter as long as he exists at any point in space time haratska is still a threat revenge means much to haratska he will return for it when we least expect him the old man shook his head no zarvis pole haratska will not return haratska hold out his blaster through the switch that sealed the time machine put on the anti-grab unit and started the time shift unit he reached out and set the destination dial for the mid 52nd century of the atomic era that would land him in the ninth age of chaos following the two-century war and the collapse of the world theocracy a good time for his purpose the world would be slipping back into barbarism and yet possessed the technology of former civilizations a hundred little national states would be trying to gain social stability competing and warring with each other haratska glanced back over his shoulder at the cases of books record spools tridimensional pictures and scale models these people of the past would welcome him in his science of the future would make him their leader he would start in a small way by taking over the local feudal or tribal government would arm his followers with weapons of the future then he would impose his rule upon neighboring tribes or princetums or communes or whatever and build a strong sovereignty from that he envisioned a world empire a solar system empire then he would build time machines many time machines he would recruit an army such as the universe had never seen a swarm of men from every age in the past at that point he would return to the hundredth century of the atomic era to wreak vengeance upon those who had risen against him a thin smile grew on haratska's thin lips as he thought of the tortures with which he would put zarvis pole to death he glanced up at the great disc of the indicator unfriomed already he was back to the year 7500 a.e and the temporal displacement had begun to slow the disc was turning even more rapidly 7000 6000 5500 he gasped slightly then he had passed his destination he was now in the 40th century but the indicator was slowing the hairline crossed the 30th century the 20th the 15th the 10th he wondered what had gone wrong but he had recovered from his fright by this time when the insane machine stopped as it muster on the first century of the atomic era he would investigate make repairs then shift forward to his target point haratska was determined upon the 52nd century he had made a special study of the history of that period had learned the language spoken then and he understood the methods necessary to gain power over the natives of that time the indicator disc came to a stop in the first century he switched on the magnifier and leaned forward to look he had emerged into normal time in the year 10 of the atomic era a decade after the first uranium pile had gone into operation and seven years after the first atomic bombs had been exploded in warfare the altimeter showed that he was hovering at 8 000 feet above ground level slowly he cut out the anti-graph letting the time machine down easily he knew that there had been no danger of materializing inside anything the new tower had been built to put it above anything that had occupied that space point at any moment within history or legend or even the geological knowledge of man what lay below however was uncertain it was night the visa screen showed only a stardusted moonless sky and dark shadows below he snapped another switch for a few microseconds a beam of intense light was turned on automatically photographing the landscape under him a second later the developed picture was projected upon another screen it showed only wooded mountains and a barren brush-grown valley the time machine came to rest with a soft jar and a crashing of broken bushes that was audible through the sound pickup haratzka pulled the main switch there was a click as the shielding went out and the door opened a breath of cool night air drew into the hollow sphere then there was a loud bang inside the mechanism and a flash of blue white light which turned pinkish flame with a nasty crackling curls of smoke began to rise from the square black box that housed the timeshift mechanism and from behind the instrument board in a moment everything was glowing hot driblets of aluminum and silver were running down the instruments then the whole interior of the time machine was a fire it was barely time for haratzka to leap through the open door the brush outside impeded him and he used his blaster to clear a path for himself away from the big sphere which was now glowing faintly on the outside the heat drew in intensity and the brush outside was taking fire it was not until he had gotten 200 yards from the machine that he stopped realizing what had happened the machine of course had been sabotaged that would have been young zoldy whom he had killed or that old billy goat crudzy zago the latter most likely he cursed both of them for having marooned him in this savage age at the very beginning of atomic civilization with all his printed and recorded knowledge destroyed oh he could still gain mastery over these barbarians he knew enough to fashion a crude blaster or a heat beam gun or an atomic electric conversion unit but without his books and records he could never build an anti-grav unit and the secret of the temporal shift was lost for time is not an object or a medium which can be traveled along the time machine was not a vehicle it was a mechanical process for displacement within the spacetime continuum and those who constructed it knew that it could not be used with the sort of accuracy that the dials indicated haratzka had ordered his scientists to produce a time machine and they had combined the possible displacement within the spacetime continuum with the sort of fiction the dictator demanded for their own well-being even had there been no sabotage his return to his own time was nearly of zero probability the fire spreading from the time machine was blowing toward him he observed the wind direction and hurried around out of the path of the flames the light enabled him to pick his way through the brush and after crossing a small stream he found a rutted road and followed it up the mountain side until he came to a place where he could rest conceal until morning two it was broad daylight when he woke and there was a strange throbbing sound haratzka lay motionless under the brush where he had slept his blaster ready in a few minutes a vehicle came into sight following the road down the mountain side it was a large thing four-wheeled with a projection in front which probably housed the engine and a cab for the operator the body of the vehicle was simply an open rectangular box there were two men in the cab and about 20 or 30 more crowded into the box body these were dressed in faded and nondescript garments of blue and gray and brown all were armed with crude weapons axes bill hooks long-handed instruments with serrated edges and what looked like broad bladed spears the vehicle itself which seemed to have been propelled by some sort of chemical explosion engine was dingy and mud splattered the men in it were ragged and unchaven haratzka snorted and contempt they were probably warriors of the local tribe going to the fire in the belief that it had been started by raiding enemies when they found the wreckage of the time machine they would no doubt believe that it was the chariot of some god and drag it home to be venerated a plan of action was taking shape in his mind first he must get clothing of the sort worn by these people and find a safe hiding place for his own things then pretending to be a deaf mute he would go among them to learn something of their customs and pick up the language when he had done that he would move to another tribe or village able to tell a credible story for himself for a while it would be necessary for him to do menial work but in the end he would establish himself among these people then he could gather around him a faction of those who were dissatisfied with whatever conditions existed organize a conspiracy make arms for his followers and start his program of power seizure the matter of clothing was attended to shortly after he had crossed the mountain and descended into the valley on the other side hearing a clinking sound some distance from the road as of metal striking stone harasca stole cautiously through the woods until he came with inside of a man who is digging with a mattock uprooting small bushes of a particular sort with rough gray bark and three pointed leaves when he had dug one up he would cut off the roots and then slice away the root bark with a knife putting it into a sack harasca's lip curled contemptuously the fellow was gathering stuff for medical use he had heard of the use of roots and herbs for such purposes by the ancient savages the blaster would be no use here it was too powerful and would destroy the clothing that the man was wearing he unfastened a strap from his belt and attached it to his stone to form a hand loop then inched forward behind the lone herb gatherer when he was close enough he straightened and rushed forward swinging his improvised weapon the man heard him and turned too late after addressing his victim harasca used the mattock to finish him and then to dig a grave the fugitive buried his own clothes with the murdered man and donned the faded blue shirt rough shoes warm trousers and jacket the blaster he concealed under the jacket and he kept a few other hundred century gadgets these he would hide somewhere closer to his center of operations he had kept among other things a small box of food concentrate capsules and in one pocket of the newly acquired jacket he found a package containing food it was rough and unappetizing fare slices of cold cooked meat between slices of some cereal substance he ate these before filling in the grave and put the paper wrappings in with the dead man then his work finished he threw the mattock into the brush and set out again grimacing disgustedly and scratching himself the clothing he had appropriated was verminous crossing another mountain he descended into a second valley and for a time lost his way among a tangle of narrow ravines it was dark by the time he mounted a hill and found himself looking down in another valley in which a few scattered lights gave evidence of human habitations not wishing to arouse suspicion by approaching these in the nighttime he found a place among some young evergreens where he could sleep the next morning having breakfasted on a concentrate capsule he found a hiding place for his blaster in a hollow tree it was in a sufficiently prominent position so that he could easily find it again and at the same time unlikely to be discovered by some native then he went down into the inhabited valley he was surprised at the ease with which he established contact with the natives the first dwelling which he approached a cluster of farm buildings at the upper end of the valley gave him shelter there was a man clad in the same sort of rough garment saratska had taken from the body of the herb gatherer and a woman in a faded and shapeless dress the man was thin and work bent the woman short and heavy both were past middle age he made inarticulate sounds to attract their attention then gestured to his mouth and ears to indicate his assumed affliction he rubbed his stomach to portray hunger looking about he saw an axe sticking in a chopping block and a pile of wood near it probably the fuel used by these people he took the axe split up some of the wood then repeated the hunger signs the man and the woman both nodded laughing he was shown a pile of tree limbs and the man picked up a short billet of wood and used it like a measuring rule to indicate that all the wood was to be cut to that length haratska fell to work and by mid morning he had all the wood cut he had seen a circular stone mounted on a trestle with a metal axle through it and judged it to be some sort of grinding wheel since it was fitted with a foot pedal and a rusty metal can was set above it to spill water onto the grinding edge after chopping the wood he carefully sharpened the axe handing it to the man for inspection this seemed to please the man he clapped haratska on the back making commendatory sounds it required considerable time and ingenuity to make himself more or less a permanent member of the household haratska had made a survey of the farmyard noting the sorts of work that would normally be performed on the farm and he pantomime this work in its simpler operations he pointed to the east where the sun would rise and to the zenith and to the west he made signs indicative of eating and of sleeping and of rising and of working at length he succeeded in conveying his meaning there was considerable argument between the man and the woman but his proposal was accepted as he expected that it would be it was easy to see that the work of the farm was hard for this aging couple now for a place to sleep in a little food they were able to acquire a strong and intelligent slave it was not long before he picked up a few words which he had heard his employers using and related them to the things or acts spoken of and he began to notice that these people in spite of the crudities of their own life enjoyed some of the advantages of a fairly complex civilization their implements were not handcraft products but showed machine workmanship there were two objects hanging on hooks on the kitchen wall which he was sure were weapons both had wooden shoulder stocks and wooden four pieces they had long tubes extending to the front and triggers like blasters one had double tubes mounted side by side and double triggers the other had an octagonal tube mounted over a round tube and a loop extension on the trigger guard then there was a box on the kitchen wall with a mouthpiece and a cylindrical tube on a cord sometimes a bell would ring out of the box and the woman would go to this instrument take down the tube and hold it to her ear and talk into the mouthpiece there was another box from which voices would issue of people conversing or of orators or of singing and sometimes instrumental music none of these objects were made by savages these people probably traded with some fairly high civilization they were not a literate for a found printed matter indicating the use of some phonetic alphabet and paper pamphlets containing reproductions of photographs as well as verbal text there was also a vehicle on the farm powered like the one he had seen on the road by an engine in which a hydrocarbon liquid fuel was exploded he made it his business to examine this minutely and to study its construction and operation until he was thoroughly familiar with it it was not until the third day after his arrival that the chickens began to die in the morning haratzka found three of them dead when he went to feed them the rest drooping unhealthily he summoned the man and showed him what he had found the next morning they were all dead and the cow was sick she gave bloody milk that evening and the next morning she lay in her stall and would knock it up the man and the woman were also beginning to sicken although both of them tried to continue their work it was the woman who first noticed that the plants around the farmhouse were withering and turning yellow the farmer went to this stable with haratzka and looked at the cow shaking his head he limped back to the house and returned carrying one of the weapons from the kitchen the one with the single trigger and the octagonal tube as he entered the stable he jerked down and up on the loop extension of the trigger guard then put the weapon to his shoulder and pointed it at the cow it made a flash and roared louder even than a hand blaster and the cow jerked convulsively and was dead the man then indicated by signs that haratzka was to drag the dead cow out of the stable dig a hole and bury it this haratzka did carefully examining the wound in the cow's head the weapon he decided was not an energy weapon but a simple solid missile projector by evening neither the man nor the woman were able to eat and both seemed to be suffering intensely the man used the communicating instrument on the wall probably calling on his friends for help haratzka did what he could to make them comfortable cooked his own meal washed the dishes as he had seen the woman doing and tidied up the kitchen it was not long before people men and women whom he had seen on the road who had stopped at the farmhouse while he had been there began arriving some carrying baskets of food and shortly after haratzka had eaten a vehicle like the farmers but in better condition and a better quality arrived and a young man got out of it and entered the house carrying a leather bag he was apparently some sort of scientist he examined the man and his wife asked many questions and administered drugs he also took samples for blood tests and urinalysis this haratzka considered was another of the many contradictions he had encountered among these people this man behaved like an educated scientist and seemingly had nothing in common with the peasant herb gatherer on the mountain side the fact was that haratzka was worried the strange death of the animals the blight which had smitten the trees and vegetables around the farm and the sickness of the farmer and his woman all mystified him he did not know of any disease which would affect plants and animals and humans he wondered if some poisonous gas might not be escaping from the earth near the farmhouse however he had not himself been affected he also disliked the way in which the doctor and the neighbors seem to be talking about him while he had come to a considerable revision of his original opinion about the culture level of these people it was possible that they might suspect him of having caused the whole thing by witchcraft at any moment they might fall upon him and put him to death in any case there was no longer any use in his staying here and it might be wise if you left at once accordingly he filled his pockets with food from the pantry and slipped out of the farmhouse before his absence was discovered he was well on his way down the road three that night haratzka slipped under a bridge across a fairly wide stream the next morning he followed the road until he came to a town it was not a large place there were perhaps four or five hundred houses and other buildings in it most of these were dwellings like the farmhouse where he had been staying but some were much larger and seemed to be places of business one of these ladder was a concrete structure with wide doors at the front inside he could seem men working on the internal combustion vehicles which seemed to be in almost universal use haratzka decided to obtain employment there it would be best he decided to continuous pretense of being a deaf mute he did not know whether a world language were in use at this time or not and even if not the pretense of being a foreigner unable to speak the local dialect might be dangerous so we entered the vehicle repair shop and accosted a man in a clean shirt who seemed to be issuing instructions to the workers going into his pantomime of the homeless mute seeking employment the master of the repair shop merely laughed at him however haratzka became more insistent in his manner making signs to indicate his hunger and willingness to work the other men in the shop left their tasks and gathered around there was much laughter and unmistakably rybal than derogatory remarks haratzka was beginning to give up hope of getting employment here when one of the workmen approached the master and whispered something to him the two of them walked away conversing in low voices haratzka thought he understood the situation no doubt the workman thinking to lighten his own labor was urging that the vagrant be employed for no other pay than food and lodging at length the master assented to his employees urgings he returned showing haratzka a hose in a bucket and sponges and cloths and said him to work cleaning the mud from one of the vehicles then after seeing that the work was being done properly he went away entering a room at one side of the shop about 20 minutes later another man entered the shop he was not dressed like any of the other people whom haratzka had seen he wore a gray tunic and breeches black polished boots and a cap with a visor and a metal insignia on it on a belt he carried a holstered weapon like a blaster after speaking to one of the workers who pointed haratzka out to him he approached the fugitive and said something haratzka made gestures at his mouth and ears and made gargling sounds the newcomer shrugged and motioned him to come with him at the same time producing a pair of handcuffs from his belt and jingling them suggestively in a few seconds haratzka tried to analyze the situation and estimate its possibilities the newcomer was a soldier or more likely a policeman since manacles were a part of his equipment evidently since the evening before a warning had been made public by means of communication devices such as he had seen at the farm advising people that a man of his description pretending to be a deaf mute should be detained and the police notified it had been for that reason that the workman had persuaded his master to employ haratzka no doubt he would be accused of causing the conditions at the farm by sorcery haratzka shrugged and nodded then went to the water tap to turn off the hose he had been using he disconnected it coiled it and hung it up and then picked up the water bucket then without warning he hurled the water into the policeman's face spraying forward swinging the bucket by the bale and hit the man on the head releasing his grip on the bucket he tore the blaster or whatever it was from the holster one of the workers swung a hammer as though to throw it haratzka aimed the weapon at him and pulled the trigger the thing belched fire and kicked back painfully in his hand and the man fell he used it again to drop the policeman then thrust it into the waistband of his trousers and ran outside the thing was not a blaster at all he realized only a missile projector like the big weapons at the farm using the force of some chemical explosive the policeman's vehicle was standing outside it was a small single seat to wield a fair having become familiar with the principles of these hydrocarbon engines from examination of the vehicle of the farm and accustomed as he was to far more complex mechanisms than this crude affair haratzka could see at a glance how to operate it springing onto the saddle he kicked away the folding support and started the engine just as he did the master of the repair shop ran outside one of the small hand weapons in his hand and fired several shots they all missed but haratzka heard the whining sound of the missiles passing uncomfortably close to him it was imperative that he recover the blaster he hidden in the hollow tree at the head of the valley by this time there would be a concerted search underway for him and he needed a better weapon than the solid missile projector he had taken from the policeman he did not know how many shots the things contained but if it propelled solid missiles by chemical explosion there could not have been more than five or six such cartridges in the cylindrical part of the weapon which he had soon to be the charge holder on the other hand his blaster a weapon of much greater power contained enough energy for 500 blasts and with it were eight extra energy capsules giving him a total of 4500 blasts handling the two-wheeled vehicle was no particular problem although he had never ridden on anything of the sort before it was child's play compared to controlling a hundred century strato rocket and haratzka was a skilled rocket pilot several times he passed vehicles on the road the passenger vehicles with enclosed cabins and cargo vehicles piled high with farm produce once he encountered a large number of children gathered in front of a big red building with a flagstaff in front from which a queer flag with horizontal red and white stripes and a white spotted blue device in the corner flew they scattered off the road in terror at his approach fortunately he hit none of them for at the speed at which he was traveling such a collision would have wrecked his light vehicle as he approached the farm where he had spent the past few days he saw two passenger vehicles standing by the road one was a black one similar to the one in which the physician had come to the farm and the other was white with black trimmings and bore the same device he had seen on the cap of the policeman a policeman was sitting in the driver's seat of his vehicle and another policeman was standing beside it breathing smoke with one of the white pepper cylinders these people used in the farm yard two men were going about with a square black box to this box a tube was connected by a wire and they were passing the tube about over the ground the policeman who was standing beside the vehicle saw him approach and blew his whistle then drew the weapon from his belt rotska who had been expecting some attempt to halt him had let go of the right hand steering handle and drawn his own weapon as the policeman fired he fired at him without observing the effect of the shot he spread on before he had rounded the bend above the farm several shots were fired after him a mile beyond he came to the place where he had hidden the blaster he stopped the vehicle and jumped off plunging into the brush and racing toward the hollow tree just as he reached it he heard a vehicle approach and stop and the door of the police vehicle slammed rotska's fingers found the belt of his blaster he dragged it out and buckle it on tossing away the missile weapon he had been carrying then crouching behind the tree he waited a few moments later he caught a movement in the brush toward the road he brought up the blaster aimed and squeezed the trigger there was a faint bluish glow with the muzzle and a blast of energy tore through the brush smashing the molecular structure of everything that stood in the way there was an involuntary shout of alarm from the direction of the road at least one of the policemen had escaped the blast rotska holstered his weapon and crept away for some distance keeping undercover then turned and waited for some sign of the presence of his enemies for some time nothing happened he decided to turn hunter against the man who were hunting him he started back in the direction of the road making a wide circle flitting silently from rock to bush and from bush to tree stopping often to look and listen this finally brought him upon one of the policeman and almost terminated his flight at the same time he must have grown overconfident and careless suddenly a weapon roared and a missile smashed through the brush inches from his face the shot had come from his left and a little to the rear whirling he blasted four times in rapid succession then turned and fled for a few yards dropping and crawling behind a rock when he looked back he could see wisps of smoke rising from the shattered trees and bushes which had absorbed the energy output of his weapon and he caught a faint odor of burned flesh one of his pursuers at least would pursue him no longer he slipped away down into the tangle of ravines and hollows in which he had wandered the day before his arrival on the farm for the time being he felt safe and finally confident that he was not being pursued he stopped to rest the place where he had stopped seemed familiar and he looked about in a moment he recognized the little stream the pool where he had bathed his feet the clump of seedling vines under which he had slept he even found the silver foil wrapping from the food concentric capsule but there had been a change since the night when he had slept there then the young pines had been green and alive now they were blighted and their needles had turned brown rotska stood for a long time looking at them it was the same blight that had touched the plants around the farmhouse and here among the pine needles on the ground lay a dead bird it took some time for him to admit to himself the implications the vegetation the chickens the cow the farmer and his wife had all sickened and died he had been in this place and now when he had returned he found that death had followed him here too during the early centuries of the atomic era he knew there have been great wars the stories of which had survived even to the hundredth century among the weapons that have been used there have been artificial plagues and epidemics caused by new types of bacteria developed in laboratories against which the victims had possessed no protection those germs and viruses had persisted for centuries and gradually had lost their power to harm mankind suppose now that he had brought some of them back with him to a century before they had been developed suppose that he were now a human plague carrier he thought of the vermin that had infested the clothing he had taken from the man he had killed on the other side of the mountain they had not troubled him after the first day there was a throbbing mechanical sound somewhere in the air he looked about and finally identified its source a small aircraft had come over the valley from the other side of the mountain and was circling lazily overhead he froze shrinking back under a pine tree as long as he remained motionless he would not be seen and soon the thing would go away he was beginning to understand why the search for him was being pressed so relentlessly as long as he remained alive he was a menace to everybody in this first century world he got out his supply of food concentrates saw that he only had three capsules left and put them away again for a long time he sat under the dying tree chewing on a twig and thinking there must be some way in which he could overcome or even utilize his inherent deadliness to these people he might find some isolated community conceal himself near it invaded at night and infected and then when everybody was dead move in and take it for himself but was there any such isolated community the farmhouse where he had worked had been fairly remote yet its inhabitants had been in communication with the outside world and the physician had come immediately in response to their call for help the little aircraft had been circling overhead directly above the place where he lay hidden for a while haratska was afraid it had spotted him and was debating the advisability of using his blaster on it then it banked turned and went away he watched it circle over the valley on the other side of the mountain and got to his feet four almost at once there was a new sound a multiple throbbing at a quick snarling tempo that hinted an enormous power growing louder each second haratska stiffened and drew his blaster as he did five more aircraft swooped over the crest of the mountain and came rushing down toward him not aimlessly but as though they knew exactly where he was as they approached the leading edges of the wing sparkled with light branches began flying from the trees about him and there was a loud hammering noise he aimed a little in front of them and began blasting a wing flew from one of the aircraft and it plunged downward another came apart in the air a third burst into flames the other two zoomed upward quickly haratska swung his blaster after them blasting again and again he hit a fourth with a blast of energy knocking it to pieces and then the fifth was out of range he blasted at it twice but without effect a hand blaster was only good for a thousand yards at the most holstering his weapon he hurried away following the stream and keeping undercover of trees the last of the attacking aircraft had gone away but the little scout plane was still circling about well out of blaster range once or twice haratska was compelled to stay hidden for some time not knowing the nature of the pilot's ability to detect him he was during one of those waits that the next days of the attack developed it began like the last one with a distant roar that swelled in volume until it seemed to fill the whole world then 15 or 20 thousand feet out of blaster range the new attackers swept into site there must have been 50 of them huge tapering things with widespread wings flying in close formation wave after v-shaped wave he stood and stared at them amazed he had never imagined that such aircraft existed in the first century then a high-pitched screaming sound cut through the roar of the propellers and for an instant he saw countless small specks in the sky falling downward the first bomb salvo landed in young pines where he had fought against the first air attack great gouts of flame shot upward and smoke and flying earth and debris haratska turned and started to run another salvo fell in front of him he veered to the left and plunged on through the undergrowth now the bombs were falling all about him deafening him with their thunder shaking him with concussion he dodged frightened as the trunk of a tree came crashing down beside him then something hit him across the back knocking him flat for a moment he lay stunned then tried to rise as he did a searing light filled his eyes and a wave of intolerable heat swept over him then darkness no zavis pole kradzi zago repeated ratska will not return the time machine was sabotaged so by you the soldier asked the scientist nodded i knew the purpose for which he intended it ratska was not content with having enslaved a whole solar system he hungered to bring tyranny and serfdom to all the past and all the future as well he wanted to be master not only of the present but of the centuries that were and were to be as well i never took part in politics salvos pole i had no hand in this revolt but i could not be a party to such a crime as ratska contemplated when it lay within my power to prevent it the machine will take him out of our spacetime continuum or back to a time when this planet was a swirling cloud of flaming gas zavis pole asked kradzi zago shook his head no the unit is not powerful enough for that it will only take him about 10 000 years into the past but then when it stops the machine will destroy itself it may destroy ratska with it or he may escape but if he does he will be left stranded 10 000 years ago where he can do us no harm actually it did not operate as he imagined and there is an infinitely small chance that he could have returned to our time in any event but i wanted to ensure against even so small a chance we can't be sure of that zavis pole objected he may know more about the machine than you think enough more to build another like it so you must build me a machine and i'll take back a party of volunteers and hunt him down that will not be necessary and you would only share his fate then apparently changing the subject kradzi zago asked tell me zavis pole have you never heard the legends of the deadly radiations general zavis smiled who was not every cadet of the officer's college dreams of rediscovering them to use as a weapon nobody ever has we heard these tales of how in the early days atomic engines and piles and fission bombs emitted particles which were utterly deadly which would make anything in which they came in contact deadly which would bring a horrible death to any human being but these are only myths all the ancient experiments have been duplicated time and time again and the deadly radiation effect has never been observed some say that it's a mere old wife's terror tale some say that the deaths were caused by fear of atomic energy when it was still unfamiliar others contend that the fundamental nature of atomic energy is altered but the degeneration of the fissionable matter for my own part i'm not enough of a scientist to have an opinion the old one smiled warnly none of these theories are correct in the beginning of the atomic era the deadly radiations existed they still exist but they're no longer deadly because all life on this planet has adapted itself to such radiations and all living things are now immune to them and rotska has returned to a time when such immunity did not exist but would that not be to his advantage remember general that man has been using atomic energy for 10 000 years our whole world has become drenched with radioactivity the planet the seas the atmosphere and every living thing are all radioactive now radioactivity is as natural to us as the air we breathe now you remember hearing of the great wars of the first centuries of the atomic era in which whole nations were wiped out leaving only hundreds of survivors out of millions you no doubt think that such tales are products of ignorant and barbaric imaginations but i assure you they are literally true it was not the blast effect of a few bombs which created such holocausts but the radiations released by the bombs and those who survived to carry on the race were men and women who systems resisted the radiations and they transmitted to their progeny that power of resistance in many cases the children were mutants not monsters although there were many of them too which did not survive but humans who were immune to radioactivity an interesting theory krautsi zago the soldier commented and one which conforms both to what we know of atomic energy and the ancient legends then would you say that those radiations are still deadly to the non-immune exactly and radska his body emitting those radiations has returned to the first century of the atomic era to a world without immunity general zarvis smile vanished man he cried in horror you have lost a carrier of death among those innocent people of the past krautsi zago nodded that is true i estimate that radska will probably cause the death of a hundred people or so before he is dealt with but dealt with he will be tell me general if a man should appear now out of nowhere spreading a strange and horrible plague wherever he went what would you do why i'd hunt him down and kill him general zarvis replied not for anything he did but for the menace he was and then i'd cover his body with a mass of concrete bigger than this palace precisely krautsi zago smiled and the military commanders and political leaders in the first century were no less ruthless or efficient than you you know how atomic energy was first used there was an ancient nation upon the ruins of whose cities we have built our own which was famed for its idealistic humanitarianism yet that nation treacherously attacked created the first atomic bombs in self-defense and used them there is among the people of that nation that radska has emerged but would they recognize him as the cause of the calamity he brings among them of course he will emerge at the time when atomic energy is first being used they will have detectors for the deadly radiations detectors we know nothing of today for a detection instrument must be free from the thing it is intended to detect and today everything is radioactive it will be a day or so before they discover what is happening to them and not a few will die in that time i fear but once they have found out what is killing their people radska's days no his hours will be numbered a mass of concrete bigger than this place told the slave repeated general's office's words the ancient spaceport prince bravani clapped him on the shoulder told man you've hit it you mean krautsi zago began yes you all know of it it stood for nobody knows how many millennia and nobody's ever decided what it was to begin with accept that somebody wants fill the valley with concrete level from mountaintop to mountaintop the accepted theory is that it was done for a firing stand for the first moon rocket but gentlemen our friend tobes explained it it is the tomb of ratska and it has been the tomb of ratska for 10 000 years before ratska was born end of flight from tomorrow by h being piper