The Project Gutenberg EBook of Bright Islands, by Frank Riley
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll
have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using
this ebook.
Title: Bright Islands
Author: Frank Riley
Release Date: April 18, 2019 [EBook #59304]
Language: English
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BRIGHT ISLANDS ***
Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
BRIGHT ISLANDS
BY FRANK RILEY
_The future enters into us, in order
to transform itself in us, long before
it happens._--RAINER MARIA RILKE
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Worlds of If Science Fiction, June 1955.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
When the two Geno-Doctors were gone, Miryam took the red capsule from
under the base of the bedlamp and slipped it between her dry lips.
Reason told her to swallow the capsule quickly, but instead she held it
under her tongue, clinging, against her will, to the last few moments
of life.
She knew she was being weak, that she was still seeking hope where
there was no hope, and she prayed to the ancient God of the Ghetto that
the gelatin coating would dissolve quickly.
Pain interrupted the prayer, spreading like slow fire from deep within
her young body, where the unwanted child of Genetics Center stirred so
restlessly, so impatient to be born.
The white walls of her Center room blurred in and out of focus. Shadows
merged together in brief, uncertain patterns. Lights flickered where
there were no lights, and the darkness was so intense it had a glare of
its own.
At the worst of the pain cycle, Miryam bit down on her under lip until
the flesh showed as white as her teeth. She fought off temptation to
crunch the capsule and put an end to all pain, all fear.
No, she would not go that way. She would go in a moment of blinding
clarity, knowing why, savoring the last bitter sweet second of her
triumph.
With a subconscious gesture of femininity, Miryam brushed the dark,
damp hair from her forehead, and wiped the perspiration from her lips.
"Pretty little thing," one of the Geno-Service agents had called her,
when she was arrested last fall in the Warsaw suburb where she had
taught nursery school since escaping from the Ghetto.
"Doesn't look a bit like one of her kind," another agent had said,
putting his hand under her chin and turning her face to the glare of
his flashlight. "No wonder she fooled the Psycho and Chemico squads....
Lucky for us!"
"What's the matter, little one?" the first agent had spoken again.
"Didn't you know we were coming? I thought all of you people were
supposed to be telepaths.... Or doesn't it work when you're asleep?"
He flipped the covers off her trembling body and whistled.
"Hands off!" the Geno-Sergeant had warned sharply. "She's for Center!"
Now the capsule under her tongue was moist and soft. Time fled on
swift, fluttering wings. Soon the horror would be done.
But the stubborn spark still glowed, and Miryam allowed her mind to
drift down the long, shining corridor to the room where the younger of
the two Geno-Doctors was changing into a white coat. The older man, who
wore the gold trefoil of Geno-Sar on his collar, tilted back in his
chair.
"She should be just about due," he said cheerfully.
"Yes, Sir," replied the young doctor, sounding the proper note of
deference for a man who communed daily with the political elite.
"What do you think of her?"
"Well, Sir, frankly--I was surprised--" The young doctor twisted
muscular arms to button the back of his jacket. He had but recently
come from the Genetics Sanitarium on the Black Sea, and his face was
tanned deep brown. "From reading the weekly reports of your staff, I
didn't know she was that--that young--"
Miryam trembled with a hope she dared not recognize, but it was crushed
out of her by the Geno-Sar's booming voice.
"Not only one of the youngest--but one of the very best specimens we've
had to work with at Center! You read her psi rating?"
"Yes, Sir. Seventy-two point four, wasn't it?"
"Seventy-two point six! Absolutely phenomenal! Closest thing to a pure
telepath our agents have ever turned up for us! This could be a big
night for Center, my boy.... A big night!"
The young doctor shook his head to clear away the lingering image of a
tragic, lovely face against a tear-stained pillow. Miryam was startled
to find this image in his mind, and her pulse leaped again.
In a carefully professional tone, the young doctor asked:
"What was her rating after insemination? Did the emotional shock...?"
"Not at all! Oh, naturally, she was uncooperative in the tests, but
pentathol and our cross-references gave us a true picture!"
"And the spermatozoa?"
"Best we could get! Refrigerated about thirty years ago from a specimen
that tested forty-seven point eight."
The Geno-Sar paused, and because a comment was obviously in order, the
young doctor said:
"This certainly could be a big night for Center!"
The Geno-Sar snapped his cigarette lighter with an expansive flourish.
"All the sciences have been taking a crack at psi--ever since the last
Politbureau directive gave it number one priority. You should have
heard the talk at Sar-Bureau meeting this afternoon! The Math-Sar
actually laughed at Genetics ... told us to stick to our white mice!"
The young doctor made a polite cluck of disapproval.
"Those stupid mathematicians could learn something of heredity from
their own ancients," the Geno-Sar continued, growing heated. "Think of
Liebnitz, gifted at 14--Galois, a genius before he was 21!"
The Geno-Sar recovered his temper, and winked.
"Of course, I didn't say that at the meeting--the Bureau chief is very
partial to Math--but I did remind them, most pointedly, of the known
data on inherited sensory differences between individuals. And you
should have seen the squirming! Especially when I got into the taste
studies and the phenyl-thio-carbamide tests! Then, when I told of
Genetics research on sense of time--sense of direction--sensitivity to
pain, sound and smells--Well, the Chief was hanging on my every word!
The Psycho-Sar became desperate to the point of rashness, and he jibed
at me about our ancient master, Profim Lysenko." The Geno-Sar's head
inclined slightly as he pronounced the name. "But the Chief himself
gave the correct answer! He quoted from a Bureau directive which stated
clearly that sensory characteristics, like any others, could well have
been acquired in the first place, and then passed on through heredity!
Oh, I tell you, it was a heart-warming afternoon!"
The younger man had been paying him only half attention.
"It's strange we should find some cases of psi among her people," he
mused. "When I was at the University I always meant to study something
about the--" he hesitated and searched for the approved term, "--the
specimen races, but I never had time...."
For an instant the Geno-Sar's steel-blue eyes narrowed, and Miryam was
shocked to find him appraising the young man for possible heresy. She
had always regarded the scientific mind as something remote, cold, but
never as something that could commit a heresy.
However, the Geno-Sar decided to table the subject.
"Of course you didn't!" he boomed. "You couldn't have made such a
splendid record without total specialization! Each to his own, that's
how science has prospered under the benevolence of our party!" He
glanced up at the clock. "Well, aren't we just about ready for this
delivery?"
* * * * *
Miryam drew back her mind. What a fool she was to go on seeking!
The child resumed its inexorable turning within her swollen body,
and she knew she could never give to the world a life conceived so
terribly, so coldly, without love or passion or tenderness.
Even in these final moments, with the gelatin melting under her tongue,
Miryam shuddered with the remembered anguish of struggling up from the
depths of anaesthesia to find herself bearing the seed of a child, from
a faceless man who had died long ago.
Often, during the carefully guarded months of pregnancy, she had
wondered about that man, who he had been, how his talent had compared
with hers.
Miryam knew little about genetics, or any other science. The scientific
mind had always frightened her, and she had feared to explore it.
But she knew there was no truth to the folklore that psi was a
characteristic of her people. She knew of only a few cases outside
her own family, although within her family it seemed to have been a
characteristic that had recurred frequently for many generations. Her
father had cautioned her about selecting a husband, and pleaded with
her not to flee the Ghetto.
For the past three days, since the nurse had momentarily left the
cabinet at the end of the corridor unlocked and unguarded, Miryam had
known that she need not be concerned about the success or failure of
this terrible experiment. From the nurse's mind she had plucked the
essential facts about the potency of the red capsule. This knowledge,
for all its loneliness, had been something to cherish, to press to her
full breasts, as she would never hold that child of horror.
Tears filled her eyes, squeezed in droplets between the closed lids.
Tears because she was so alone. Tears of unbearable sadness and pity,
for her people, for her youth and her young body, for the warmth that
would be eternally cold, for the unnatural child that squirmed and
turned, and would never cry.
In a last forlorn gesture, in a final seeking before the darkness
closed, Miryam let her mind stray out of the white room, out of the
marble magnificence of Center. She let her thoughts escape on the soft
breeze of the early summer evening.
How beautiful it was, even here in the city, amid the science buildings
that formed bright islands of light around the minarets and vaulted
domes of Government Square.
Even these awesome buildings were lovely in the purple dusk. Their
windows were like scattered emeralds of light.
How could there be so much beauty without compassion? So much knowledge
without understanding? So much human genius without humanity?
And what a battering of thoughts in the mild air around the centers of
science! What a discordance! What a tumult of theories, each of them
nurtured within its own walls by the zealous Sars.
There were the Departments of Chemistry and Physics. There was the
glass-walled tower of Astronomy! There was the Institute of Psychology,
with all its many bureaus. And the new Electronics Building, alabaster
even in the dusk.
They were all there, extending in stately splendor along the main
avenues, and along the park, where the gossamer mist was rising.
How intolerant were the thoughts they radiated! How sure!
Electronics said: "Quite obviously the answer to psi is in the
electrical currents of the brain. Our newest electro-encephalograph has
demonstrated...."
Chemistry said: "Solution to psi inevitably will be found in the
chemical balance of the cells...."
Parapsychology said: "We must continue to ignore those who insist upon
attributing physical properties to a non-physical characteristic...."
And underneath this learned babble, Miryam heard the moth-like
whispering of her own people, starving in the Ghetto, or hidden
throughout the city, disguised, furtive, tense.
Her mind came close to Government Square, and she cringed, as she
had cringed all her young life. The somatics were unbearable. Hatred
and fear, blind prejudice, jealousy, cunning, ceaseless intrigue and
plotting, setting Sar against Sar, using the genius of each science,
dividing and ruling.
No, there was nothing left. No hope, no promise. This was the end of
time. This was the night of the world.
Withdrawing again, retreating into itself, Miryam's mind brushed the
fragment of a thought. It was a half-formed thought, more a groping,
more a question, than an idea. It was delicate, fragile, a wraith and a
wisp. But it came to her as clear as the note from a silver bell.
Startled, she hesitated in her withdrawal, and perceived the young
Geno-Doctor in the corridor near her room. He had paused by the
casement window, and was staring out at the twinkling islands of light
around Government Square.
And as his gaze wandered moodily from Tech, to Psycho, to Chemico, to
all the incandescent, isolated centers of genius, the idle speculation
had formed.
"Wouldn't it be an unusual view if all those bright islands were
connected by strings of light...?"
Once formed, the speculation had fanned the ember of a thought:
"Wonder if psi will build those strings of lights?"
Then the young doctor turned almost guiltily from the window to
meet the Geno-Sar coming down the corridor. And he said with crisp
efficiency,
"I'll check out 12-A for delivery."
"Good boy! I'll go on up and check the staff...." The Geno-Sar rubbed
his hands together, and walked off, repeating nervously, "Two psi
characteristics must be the answer--two psi--"
"Maybe they are," the young doctor murmured softly. "Maybe they are...."
* * * * *
Delivery, Miryam thought. The life within her throbbed and prodded.
There was an ebbing of pain for a moment, and in that moment she saw
with the blinding clarity she had sought that this child of hers might
bring new hope to the world. That psi ability might be the answer to
many things for the race of mankind. What did it matter that it was
conceived without love and emotion. What did it matter that she was
being used as an experiment ... if this child within her could fulfill
the promise.
Miryam spat the soft capsule between her quivering lips. She watched it
roll and bounce across the polished tile floor, toward the door.
Pain returned, and its fire was warm. There were no shadows on the
wall. Pain returned, and it had purpose and promise. Wonderingly, she
beheld the concept that science, too, lived with fear, each science in
its own Ghetto. And if the young doctor was right, if psi....
As the doctor stepped into the room, he bent over and picked up the
red capsule. His thumb and forefinger felt the warmth, the moisture,
and he looked long and thoughtfully into Miryam's dark, glowing eyes.
His fingers shook as he wrapped the capsule in a piece of tissue and
dropped it into the pocket of his white jacket. He picked up the chart
from the foot of the bed.
"Miryam--" His voice was not under complete control, and he began
again, with an effort at lightness. "Miryam--that's a strange name.
What does it mean?"
"It is an ancient spelling," she whispered, her eyes deep and dark,
filled with pain and wonder. "You may find it easier to call me--Mary."
End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Bright Islands, by Frank Riley
*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BRIGHT ISLANDS ***
***** This file should be named 59304.txt or 59304.zip *****
This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
http://www.gutenberg.org/5/9/3/0/59304/
Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will
be renamed.
Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright
law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works,
so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United
States without permission and without paying copyright
royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part
of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm
concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark,
and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive
specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this
eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook
for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports,
performances and research. They 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-tm 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-tm License available with this file or online at
www.gutenberg.org/license.
Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic works
1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
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-tm electronic works in your
possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a
Project Gutenberg-tm 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-tm 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-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this
agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm
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-tm 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-tm mission of promoting
free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm
works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the
Project Gutenberg-tm 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-tm 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-tm work. The Foundation makes no
representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any
country outside 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-tm License must appear
prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm 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'll have to check the laws of the country where you
are located before using this ebook.
1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm 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-tm
trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm 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-tm 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-tm
License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
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-tm 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-tm work in a format
other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official
version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site
(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-tm 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-tm 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-tm electronic works
provided that
* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed
to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm 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-tm
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-tm
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-tm works.
1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than
are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing
from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The
Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm
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-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm
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-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
Gutenberg-tm 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-tm electronic works in
accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the
production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm
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-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or
additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any
Defect you cause.
Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
Project Gutenberg-tm 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-tm's
goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm 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-tm 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 principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the
mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its
volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous
locations. Its 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 web site and
official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact
For additional contact information:
Dr. Gregory B. Newby
Chief Executive and Director
[email protected]
Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation
Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
spread 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-tm electronic works.
Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project
Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be
freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and
distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of
volunteer support.
Project Gutenberg-tm 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 Web site which has the main PG search
facility: www.gutenberg.org
This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
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.
