The Project Gutenberg eBook of Strangers to Straba
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online
at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States,
you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located
before using this eBook.
Title: Strangers to Straba
Author: Carl Jacobi
Release date: August 22, 2024 [eBook #74295]
Language: English
Original publication: New York, NY: King-Size Publications, Inc, 1954
Credits: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STRANGERS TO STRABA ***
Strangers To Straba
By Carl Jacobi
Can a ship hate--and have a
strange hideous life of its own?
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Fantastic Universe October 1954.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
_Like Robert Bloch, Margaret St. Clair, Frank Belknap Long and the
late great Howard P. Lovecraft, Carl Jacobi won his first bright
laurels as a story teller in the "ghoul-haunted woodland of Weir."
He was one of that early group of supernatural horror story writers
who have since turned to science fiction, and achieved in the newer
medium a fame quite as illustrious and quite as enduring. We know
you'll like this somberly exciting yarn._
They sat in Cap Barlow's house on the lonely planet, Straba. It was
early evening and Straba's twin moons were slowly rising from behind
the magenta hills. Outside the window lay Cap's golf course, a study
in toadstool cubism, while opposite the flag of the eighteenth hole
squatted the kid's ship.
The kid had landed there an hour ago. He had introduced himself as
Clarence Raine, field man for Tri-Planet Pharmaceutical, and had
announced urbanely he had come to make a botanical survey. All of which
mildly amused Cap Barlow.
The kid was amused too. From the _Pilot Book_ he had learned that Cap
was the sole inhabitant of Straba, and he regarded him--and rightly
so--as just another hermit nut who preferred the spacial frontiers to
the regular walks of civilization.
The old man packed and lit a meerschaum pipe.
"Yes sir," he said, "efficiency ... regulation ... order ... that's
what's spoiling all life these days. Those addle-headed scientists
aren't satisfied unless they can dovetail everything."
Raine smiled and in the pause that followed cast his eyes about the
room. It was circular and no attempt had been made to conceal its
origin: the bridge-house of some discarded space-going tug. Along the
continuous wall ran a triple tier of bookshelves, but it seemed that
most of the books lay scattered on the table, chairs, and floor.
Above the shelves the wall was decorated with several three-dimensional
water colors, pin-up girls in various stages of undress and mounted
trophies of the rather hideous game Straba provided.
"About this survey," the kid began.
"Only last month," Cap Barlow continued, unmindful of the interruption,
"a salesman stopped off here and wanted to sell me a gadget for my golf
course. Said it would increase the gravitation over the fairways and
prevent the ball from traveling any farther than it does on Earth."
He spat disgustedly. "You'd think any fool would realize it's an ideal
course that can offer a Par three on a thousand yard hole."
But Raine hadn't come this far to listen to the dissertations of an
old man. He was tired from long hours of sitting at the console of his
ship. He stood up wearily.
"If you'll show me where I can stow my gear," he said, "I think I'll
turn in and get some sleep. I've got a lot to do tomorrow."
For a week the kid didn't bother Cap at all. Each morning he went
out with a reference book, a haversack and a canteen, and he didn't
show up again until dark. Cap didn't mention that Straba had been
officially surveyed ten years before or that results of this survey
had been practically negative as far as adding to the _Interplanetary
Pharmacopoeia_ went. If Tri-Planet wanted to train its green personnel
by sending them on a wild goose chase, that was all right with Cap.
But the old man had one thing that interested young Raine: his
telescope mounted in a domed observatory on the top floor. Every night,
Raine spent hours staring through that scope, sighting stars, marking
them on the charts. Cap tried to tell him that those charts were as
perfect as human intellect could make them. Raine had an answer for
that too.
"Those charts are three years old," he said. "In three years a whole
universe could be created or destroyed. Take a look at this star on
Graph 5. I've been watching it, and the way it's acting convinces me
there's another star, probably a Wanderer, approaching it from here."
He indicated a spot on the chart.
He was efficient and persistent. He watched his star, checked and
rechecked his calculation, and in the end, to Cap's amazement sighted
the Wanderer almost exactly where he said it would be.
That discovery only excited him more and after that he spent an even
greater amount of time in the observatory. Then late one night he came
to the top of the stairs and called for Cap.
Cap went up to the scope, and at first he didn't see anything. Then he
did see it: a darker shadow against the interrupted starlight.
"It's a ship," the old man said.
Raine nodded. "My guess too. But what's it doing out of regular space
lanes?"
"You forget you landed here yourself. Straba does occasionally attract
a visitor. Her crew may need water or food."
Raine shook his head. "I hedge-hopped in from asteroid, Torela. This
fellow seems to be coming from deep space."
They continued to watch that approaching shadow, taking turns at
looking through the scope. It seemed to take a long time coming; but
finally there was a roar and a rush of air and a black shape hurtled
out of the eastern sky. The two men ran outside where Cap began to
curse volubly. The ship's anti-gravs were only partially on. It had
hit hard, digging up three hundred yards of the sixteenth fairway and
completely ruined two greens.
Then the dust cleared and the two men stared. The ship was a derelict,
a piece of space flotsam. There was no question about that. It was also
a Cyblla-style coach, one of the first Earth-made passenger freighters
to utilize a power-pile drive, designed when streamlining was thought
to mean following the shape of a cigar. On her bow was a name but
meteorite shrapnel had partially obliterated the letters.
"Jingoes," said Raine, "I never saw a ship like this before. She must
be old--really old!"
The hatches were badly fused and oxidized, and it was evident that
without a blaster it would be impossible to get in. Cap shrugged.
"Let her stay there," he said. "I can make a dog-leg out of the
fifteenth, and keep the course fairly playable. And if I get tired of
seeing that big hulk out of my dining room window I can always plant
some python vines around the nearside of her."
Raine shook his head quickly. "There's no telling what we may find
inside. We've got to find an opening."
He went over the ship like a squirrel looking for a nut. Back under her
stern quarter, just abaft her implosion plates, he found a small refuse
scuttle which seemed movable. He took drills and went to work on it.
Three hours later the two men were inside. There was nothing unusual
about the crew quarters or the adjoining storage space. But when they
reached the control cabin they stood and gaped.
It was like entering a museum. The bulkheads were covered with queer
glass dials, and several panels of manual operating switches. The
power-pile conduits were shielded with lead--lead mind you--and the
lighting was apparently done with some kind of fluorescent tubes
bracketed to the ceiling. It brought Cap back to the time he was a kid
and his grandfather told him stories and legends of the past.
Just above the pilot's old-fashioned cosmoscope was a fancy metal plate
with the ship's name stamped on it. _Perseus!_
"Do you know what ship this is?" demanded Cap, excitedly.
"I can read," said Raine.
"But do you know its history ... the story behind it?"
Raine shook his head without interest.
Cap Barlow was still staring at the nameplate. "_Perseus!_" he repeated
slowly. "It goes back to the First Triad Empire when the planets of
Earth, Venus and Mars were grouped into an Oligarchy, when Venus
was still a frontier. Life there was pretty much a gamble in those
days, and the Oligarchs enforced strict laws of eugenics. They set up
Marriage Boards and all young men and women had to undergo physical
and mental examinations. Couples were paired off only after scientific
scrutiny. In other words it was a cold-blooded system which had no
regard for what we call love."
The old man paused. "Did you ever hear of Mason Stewart?" he asked
suddenly.
Raine shook his head.
"As an individual he's pretty well forgotten today," Cap said. "I
suppose you might call him a promoter. At any rate he figured a way to
make himself a few thousand extra credits. He got hold of two condemned
passenger freighters and with a flair for classical mythology named
them _Perseus_ and _Andromeda_."
Raine, listening, lit a cigarette and blew a shaft of smoke
ceiling-ward.
"The _Perseus_ was moored in North Venus," continued Cap. "The
_Andromeda_, in the South. Stewart managed to spread the word that
these two ships would be heading for Alpha Centauri to start a new
colony. He also let it be known that the passenger lists would be
composed of couples who were in love with each other without scientific
screening or examination."
"Well, what happened?" demanded Raine with an air of acute boredom.
Cap bit off a piece of plug tobacco. "The rumor spread, and berths on
the two ships sold for fabulous prices. Of course, the Constabulary
investigated, but that's where Stewart was clever. The couples were
to be split up: all females in one ship, all men in the other. The
Constabulary warned them that it would take years to cross such an
immense distance--those were the days before the Wellington overdrive,
of course.
"But the couples wouldn't listen, and the two ships took off. People
of three worlds made a big fuss over them. The theme invaded the
teletheater and the popular tape novels of the day. Newscasters went
wild in their extravagant reports.
"And then the truth came out. Stewart got drunk and let slip the fact
that the boosters on the two ships were absolutely worthless and
capable of operating for only a short time. By then the ships were
several hundred thousand miles beyond the System and out of radio
range. Rescue ships were sent out but found nothing though they went as
far as they dared. Stewart was jailed and executed. That's the story of
the _Perseus_."
Raine nodded and ground his cigarette stub against a bulkhead. "Let's
get on with the examination," he said.
They continued down the dark corridors, Raine leading the way with
a magno search lamp. Some of the cabins were in a perfect state of
preservation. Others were mere cubicles of rust and oxidation. Once Cap
touched a chair which apparently had been made of wood or some similar
product; it dissolved into dust on the instant.
This was the _Perseus_, the ship which had carried the male passengers
of that strange and ancient argosy, but as yet they had come upon no
skeletons or human remains. What then had happened to them?
Five minutes later they entered the captain's cabin and found the
answer. On the metal desk, preserved in litnite, lay the rough log. Cap
picked it up, opened it carefully and began to read:
_January 21--All hands and passengers in good health, but God help
us, booster reading: zero-zero. By radio we have learned that our
sister ship, the Andromeda, is also without auxiliary power and
adrift. Such a dual catastrophe would certainly argue for something
other than coincidence._
_Our charts show an asteroid of sizeable proportions to lie
approximately midway between the two ships. Under ordinary
circumstances I would order the lifeboats run out at once and
attempt to reach this planetoid, hoping that by some miracle it
will be capable of supporting life. But the circumstances are far
from ordinary._
_We sighted them at 4:30 P.M., Earth-time, a few moments after
the booster went dead and the ship lost steerageway. Absorbers!
They hover out there in space, clearly visible through the ports,
waiting for us to open the airlock. There are two of them, but even
as I write, one has turned and with unfailing accuracy has headed
in the direction of the Andromeda._
_Absorbers! What a world of myth and legend surrounds them. Are
they organic or inorganic? I do not know. I only know they have
been mortally feared by sailors since the first rocket blasted
through Earth's orbit. They are what their name implies: devourers
of life, with the peculiar, apparently meaningless power of
transforming themselves into a physical facsimile of their victims._
_One of them is out there now, swirling lazily like a miasmic cloud
of saffron dust...._
Cap handed the book to Raine who read it and handed it back without
comment. And at that moment Cap saw the kid in his true light: a
cold-blooded extrovert who was interested in the ship only for what he
could get out of her.
Next day, without asking permission, Raine began the task of
dismantling the _Perseus_. He knew he had a potential fortune at his
fingertips, for every portable object he could transport back to Earth
or Venus would bring a high price from curio-hungry antique hunters.
For a week he worked almost unceasingly at the salvage operation. He
unscrewed the ship's nameplate and made a little plush box for it. He
took down the dials of the cosmoscope, the astrolog and other smaller
instruments and made them ready for shipment. He stripped out the
entire intercom mechanism, the old-fashioned lighting fixtures, to say
nothing of the furniture and personal effects which hadn't spoiled by
time.
It was on a Sunday evening that matters came to a head. In the early
dusk Straba's twin moons were well above the horizon, shining with a
pale light. Cap was in the kitchen brewing himself a cup of coffee when
through the window he saw Raine emerge from the _Perseus_ and carry an
armful of equipment across to the little lean-to shed where he stored
the salvage. He came out of the shed and something prompted him to look
forward. An instant later he ran to the house and took the steps three
at a time to the observatory.
He was up there a quarter of an hour before he came down again, a queer
look on his face.
"Mr. Barlow," he said, "what's that thing that looks like a gun
emplacement on the flat on the other side of the house?"
"That's exactly what it is," Cap told him. "A Dofield atomic defender.
I've had that gun here a long time. When I first set up housekeeping
on Straba, this part of the System was pretty wild. Pirates weren't
unusual."
"What's its range?"
"Well, I don't know exactly. But it has a double trajectory that makes
it a pretty potent weapon."
Raine looked at the old man for a long moment. "You probably don't
believe in coincidences," he said. "But come upstairs. I want to show
you something."
Cap followed him up to the observatory and looked through the scope. At
first he couldn't believe his eyes. If he had been alone he would have
said he was dreaming.
But there it was, a miniature satellite caught helplessly in the
planet's polar attraction, midway between Straba's twin moons. He was
looking at another antiquated space vessel; a ship that almost detail
for detail was a replica of the _Perseus_. The truth dawned on him
gradually.
_It was the Andromeda--the sister ship of the Perseus!_
The kid didn't hurry himself, bringing in the _Andromeda_. For two
nights he did nothing but watch the sister ship through the scope.
Then he carefully removed the preservative covering from the Dofield
defender, cleaned and oiled the barrel and made the gun ready for a
charge.
"If I can put a shot abaft her midsection," he said, "it might spin
her out of polar draw long enough to fall into Straba's linear
attraction...."
"Why don't you take your ship up and tow her in?" Cap said.
Raine shook his head. "Too dangerous. I'd have to come to a dead stop
to fasten my grappler and at that range I'd likely become a satellite
myself."
Meantime the _Perseus_ lay neglected save for the tour of inspection
Cap took through her on Friday morning. Cap hadn't been in the ship
since Raine had started his salvage operations, and the old man was
curious to see how work had progressed.
He entered through the refuse scuttle and proceeded to the control
room. The bulkheads were bare expanses with only a few nests of torn
wires and broken conduits to show where the dials and gauges had been
ripped from their mounting places. The place looked desecrated and
defiled.
Cap left the control room and mounted to the pilot's cuddy. Here, too,
Raine's work was in evidence. The old man stood there, looking at the
dismantled chart screens and thinking about the ship's strange and
tragic past.
Her lifeboats were gone and the inner door of the airlock was still
open. Her passengers and crew must have attempted escape in the end.
Had they managed to slip by the Absorber and reached the asteroid, the
name or chart number of which the captain had neglected to mention in
the log? And were there such things as Absorbers or had the captain
under stress of the situation given in to his emotions and flights of
fancy.
Cap had heard the usual sailors' stories, of course. How a freighter
had come upon one of them off Saturn's rim and sent out a gig to
investigate. How the gig and all men in it had simply dissolved and
become a part of the writhing cloud of mist. And how that cloud had
then slowly coalesced into the shape of the six men and the gig.
As he stood there, Cap abruptly became aware of a vague pulsation, a
rhythmic thudding from far off. He put his ear to the wall. The sound
lost some of its vagueness but was still undeterminable as to source.
He went down the port ladder to the 'tween deck. Here the sound faded
into nothingness, only to return as he descended the catwalk to the
engine room. But in that cavern-like chamber he became conscious of
something else.
He had a feeling he was surrounded by life as if he stood within the
body of a living intelligence whose material form included the ship
itself.
Clearly audible now was that distant thud ... thud ... thud ... like
the beating of a great heart.
Saturday Raine announced he was ready to "shoot down" the _Andromeda_.
Unfortunately Cap figured he wouldn't be there to see the show. He had
had a signal from one of his weather-robots on the dark side of the
planet that morning, reporting that a cold front was moving down and
the migration of the Artoks was about to begin. The Artoks could be
mighty troublesome when they came en masse. If Cap didn't want his golf
course eaten to the roots he'd have to stop them before they started.
The generators which powered the barrier wires across the Pass would
have to be turned on and the relay stations set in order.
It was late before he made his return. Dusk had set in and the Straba's
twin moons were riding high when he reached the hill over-looking
the house. On the flat below him he could see the moonlight glint on
the barrel of the Dofield defender, and he could see Clarence Raine
standing by the gun as he made preparations to fire.
* * * * *
For a moment Cap stood there, drinking in the scene: his golf course
spread out in the blue light like a big carpet and in the center of it
the black cigar-shaped _Perseus_. There was something virile about that
antiquated ship, something different from the _Andromeda_ he had seen
through scope. It was as if the _Perseus_ were all masculine, while the
_Andromeda_ were its daintier feminine counterpart.
And then Raine touched the trigger. There was an ellipse of yellow
flame, a mushroom of white smoke and a dull roar. Cap was flung
backward by the shockwave. The hills fielded the explosion, flung it
back, and the thunder went grumbling over the countryside.
In the empty silence that followed, Cap's wrist watch ticked off the
passing minutes. The moonlight returned from behind a passing cloud,
to reveal Raine by the Dofield defender, binoculars to his eyes. Time
snailed by. The night was passing.
And then the roar came again, this time from above. Cap saw a great
cylindrical shadow slanting down from the sky. The _Andromeda_ struck
far out on the flat beyond the house. It struck with a crash of
grinding metal and crumbling girders.
For an instant after that a hush fell over everything. And then from
the _Perseus_ in the golf course came a sound, low at first, growing
louder and louder. To Cap it sounded like a moan of anguish, of hatred
and despair that seemed to issue from a hundred throats.
The _Perseus_ trembled, began to move.
Cap stared. The ship moved on its belly across the fairway. Like
a timeless juggernaut it entered the flat and slid out across the
tableland toward the crumpled wreckage of its sister vessel.
Raine twisted about as he heard the thunder of that advancing hulk.
Fear and disbelief contorted his face. He uttered a cry, leaped from
the mount of the Dofield and began to run wildly across the flat. For
an instant Cap thought he was going to reach the first low hillock
that led to higher ground and safety. But Cap had reckoned without the
terrific drive of that vessel.
Was it the Absorber--that strange creature of outer space--which had
transposed its own inexplicable life into the shell of the dismantled
_Perseus_ and now _was_ that ship _alive_ with all the ship's hates,
joys and sorrows? Organic into inorganic--a transmutation of a
supernormal life into a materialistic structure of metal ... cosmic
metempsychosis too tremendous for the finite mind to grasp.
The _Perseus_ came on, bowling across the flat like a monster of metal
gone mad, grinding over rock outcrop and gravel, throwing up a thick
cloud of dust. It came on with a terrible fixation of purpose, with a
relentless compulsion that knew no halting. It met and engulfed the
helpless figure of Clarence Raine and a cry of mingled hate and triumph
seemed to rise up from its metal body.
The _Perseus_ continued along the moonlit plateau, heading straight for
the wreckage of the _Andromeda_. Not until it had reached that formless
mass did it stop. Then it shuddered to a standstill and ever so gently
touched its prow to the prow of the sister ship.
For a long moment Cap stood there motionless. Then, head down, he
slowly made his way down the hill toward his house.
*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STRANGERS TO STRABA ***
Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will
be renamed.
Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright
law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works,
so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United
States without permission and without paying copyright
royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part
of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project
Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™
concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark,
and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following
the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use
of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for
copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very
easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation
of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project
Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away—you may
do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected
by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark
license, especially commercial redistribution.
START: FULL LICENSE
THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free
distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project
Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full
Project Gutenberg™ License available with this file or online at
www.gutenberg.org/license.
Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg™
electronic works
1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg™
electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all
the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or
destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in your
possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a
Project Gutenberg™ electronic work and you do not agree to be bound
by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person
or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be
used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few
things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg™ electronic works
even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See
paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project
Gutenberg™ electronic works if you follow the terms of this
agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg™
electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.
1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the
Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection
of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the individual
works in the collection are in the public domain in the United
States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the
United States and you are located in the United States, we do not
claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing,
displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as
all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope
that you will support the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting
free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg™
works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the
Project Gutenberg™ name associated with the work. You can easily
comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the
same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg™ License when
you share it without charge with others.
1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are
in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States,
check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this
agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing,
distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any
other Project Gutenberg™ work. The Foundation makes no
representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any
country other than the United States.
1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other
immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must appear
prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg™ work (any work
on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the
phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed,
performed, viewed, copied or distributed:
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online
at www.gutenberg.org. If you
are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws
of the country where you are located before using this eBook.
1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is
derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not
contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the
copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in
the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are
redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project
Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply
either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or
obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg™
trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is posted
with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any
additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms
will be linked to the Project Gutenberg™ License for all works
posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the
beginning of this work.
1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg™
License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg™.
1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
Gutenberg™ License.
1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including
any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access
to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg™ work in a format
other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official
version posted on the official Project Gutenberg™ website
(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense
to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means
of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original “Plain
Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include the
full Project Gutenberg™ License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™ works
unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
access to or distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works
provided that:
• You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the method
you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed
to the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, but he has
agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid
within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are
legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty
payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in
Section 4, “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation.”
• You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™
License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all
copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue
all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™
works.
• You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of
any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of
receipt of the work.
• You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works.
1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project
Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different terms than
are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing
from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of
the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set
forth in Section 3 below.
1.F.
1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project
Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg™
electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may
contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate
or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other
intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or
other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or
cannot be read by your equipment.
1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right
of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
DAMAGE.
1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you
received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium
with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you
with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in
lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person
or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second
opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If
the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing
without further opportunities to fix the problem.
1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO
OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT
LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of
damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement
violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the
agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or
limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or
unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the
remaining provisions.
1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in
accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the
production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™
electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses,
including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of
the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this
or any Project Gutenberg™ work, (b) alteration, modification, or
additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any
Defect you cause.
Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg™
Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of
electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of
computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It
exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations
from people in all walks of life.
Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™’s
goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will
remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
and permanent future for Project Gutenberg™ and future
generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see
Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org.
Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit
501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification
number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by
U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws.
The Foundation’s business office is located at 809 North 1500 West,
Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up
to date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s website
and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact
Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation
Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without widespread
public support and donations to carry out its mission of
increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest
array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations
($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
status with the IRS.
The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations
where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND
DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state
visit www.gutenberg.org/donate.
While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
approach us with offers to donate.
International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation
methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other
ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To
donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate.
Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg™ electronic works
Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project
Gutenberg™ concept of a library of electronic works that could be
freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and
distributed Project Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose network of
volunteer support.
Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed
editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in
the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not
necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper
edition.
Most people start at our website which has the main PG search
facility: www.gutenberg.org.
This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™,
including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
