The Project Gutenberg eBook of The satellite-keeper's daughter
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online
at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States,
you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located
before using this eBook.
Title: The satellite-keeper's daughter
Author: Mark Reinsberg
Release date: November 17, 2023 [eBook #72148]
Language: English
Original publication: New York, NY: King-Size Publications, Inc, 1956
Credits: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SATELLITE-KEEPER'S DAUGHTER ***
the satellite-keeper's daughter
By MARK REINSBERG
It isn't advisable to get that gleam in your eye when
you're out in space. It can lead to complications....
_Chicago's own Mark Reinsberg, associated with Shasta Publishers,
the SF house, there, makes a first appearance in these pages
with this quiet little story of a susceptible trucker--galactic
style--who once swore by Mattapenny's otherwise so dependable
GALACTIC GUIDEBOOK._
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Fantastic Universe December 1956.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
Sex and space don't mix. And Mattapenny's _Galactic Guidebook_ can't be
trusted.
If you doubt either proposition, ask Bill Brack. It's hard to tell
what he thought about women, but all space truckers used to look upon
Mattapenny's little red book as a sort of interstellar Bible.
"Looking for a planet to stop over at?" they'd say. "Place to get good
meals? Decent room for the night? You can't go wrong with Mattapenny!"
Brack did.
You see, the _Galactic Guidebook_ lists Corbie as one of the five small
fuel stations sharing the outer-most orbit of the Dryodean planetary
system. The latest edition still gives Hotel Eros two asterisks.
Now, two asterisks (**) is supposed to mean "Plain but fairly
comfortable".
"Sure," says Brack, "the hotel may lack an up-to-date Dreamawake or a
Time-conditioner, but at least you expect your room to have a Vibrobath
and controllable gravity."
None of this at the Hotel Eros. Brack shakes his head complainingly.
"You sleep in a primitive 7/8G-bed. You wash yourself with
old-fashioned magnetic water. And oxygen service costs 10% extra."
Some people ask: "Then why in the world did you stay there?"
"Had to," Bill answers. "I was hauling out of Dryod-7 with a cargo
of deluplasm. Damn valuable stuff, consigned to Hesdin-2. Well, I'd
figured the time a little wrong, and it left me with twelve hours
to kill before our convoy jumped off. And you know how it is. I was
facing three weeks of interstellar rations, and I had a sudden yen
for nonsynthetic food. So I looked in the guidebook, and there was
Corbie...."
* * * * *
Brack was disappointed from the start. When he sat at a table of the
hotel restaurant and studied the menu, he saw it was all synthetics.
"Blast it!" he barked into the table phone, "haven't you anything else?"
"I understand how you feel, mister." It was a live human female voice
that answered, not the usual robot. "Hold on. I'll come out and see if
I can help you."
Through the kitchen door emerged a young girl, short and white-skinned,
but very well proportioned.
"Outbound?" she queried. Her pretty face was clouded by an unhappy
expression.
"Yes, and I wanted something with a little taste to it, a little
substance."
"Such as what?" said the girl, tossing her long blond hair.
Brack looked at the girl carnivorously. "A steak."
She smiled sympathetically. "We haven't anything of that sort. Sorry."
She stared at him with light blue eyes the color of moonstones. "How do
you happen to land at this miserable place? Fuel?"
"I'm early for my convoy."
Brack stared at the girl's face and he could see it was the mask of
some hidden, tragic emotion.
"You weren't thinking of staying at the Hotel Eros?" she inquired in a
voice edged with repugnance.
"Well, I do have about twelve hours."
The girl was emphatic. "Take my advice, mister. Spend them in your
ship."
A man's voice crackled over the table phone. "Esther!"
She looked startled. "Yes?" she said, leaning over the table to speak
into the phone.
('Beautiful!' thought Brack. 'She must have some Earth-blood in her
veins.')
The man's voice was angry, strident. "Don't gab with the customers!"
Esther stood up, a blush of embarrassment on her milky-white cheeks.
"Your order, please?" she said to Brack, stiffly.
The trucker put his big, brown-colored hand over the phone. "Who's
that character?" he asked with distaste. "The boss?"
The girl nodded unhappily. "I didn't realize he was listening."
"Sounds like a tyrant." Brack uncovered the phone. "What's the closest
thing you have to beefsteak?"
"Why don't you try some of our roasted pradolan? It's quite good," she
added for the boss's benefit. "Specialty of the house."
"There's just one thing I want to know," said Brack. "Is it synthetic?"
The girl smiled sadly. "I'd do anything for some real food myself. I
haven't left Corbie in seven years."
"What makes you stick around a place like this? Married?"
"No. My father owns the Eros."
"You're free, brown and twenty-one," said Brack somewhat inaccurately.
"He can't make you stay if you want to leave."
Esther waved warningly at the table phone and Brack again covered it
with his hand.
"Maybe he can't legally, but there's only one passenger ship between
here and the planets every year, and they've refused me a ticket twice
now."
"Sounds pretty rotten to me," said the trucker. "Well, what if you got
married to some guy? Then he couldn't--"
A heavy-set white man, bald and bullet-headed, strode out of the
kitchen and seized the girl roughly by the arm.
"Now I told you not to gab with the customers and I meant it!" he
snarled. "You get back there in the kitchen where you belong!"
She tried to wrench free of his grip. "Take your hands off me!"
Slap! He batted her across the cheek with his open hand and she
staggered from the blow. "No back talk, young lady! Now, git!"
The trucker half rose from his seat, his fists clenched, but it was
over too quickly for him to intervene. And after all, he reflected
later while eating the pradolan roast, the man was her father.
* * * * *
With some misgivings, Brack checked into the hotel. It was a tiny
installation--perhaps nine or ten rooms. His own cubicle was a drab
affair, with neither entertainment screen nor sleep-inducer.
He had just tested the 7/8G-bed with disgust when there was a buzz at
the door. It was Esther, holding some linens.
"They have you doing everything around here," Brack said with empathy.
"What are these?"
"Towels. You use them after you wash."
"Boy, this sure is ancient!"
Esther's eyes betrayed deep torment. "I know. I would do anything to
get away from this place."
She put the towels in a rack. The trucker was lying on the bed,
contemplating the girl's deft, graceful movements.
"Listen," he said, "why wait for a passenger ship? Why not arrange
secretly with one of the cargo ships that stop here? I know if I was
inbound--"
"Don't even say it!" she expostulated. "It's very kind of you, but
certainly you've heard of the Pledge Act? My father could prosecute
any cargo ship, no matter where it landed in the planets. You know,
unlicensed transport of people."
She paused to look at herself in a mirror above the washstand. Brack's
eyes were on her bare, marble-white shoulders, her finely sculptured
bosom. She sighed.
"No, my only chance is to get away from the Dryodean System altogether.
If I go to another star--where the Pledge Act wasn't even heard of--"
She brushed back her long blond hair with an unconscious gesture, like
a maiden getting out of a degravity pool.
Brack said thoughtfully: "Esther, if you're really determined to get
away from here, maybe I can help you. I'm taking a cargo to Hesdin.
Your old man couldn't reach you there, or prove anything against me,
either."
The girl's moonstone eyes flared up in hope, but she hesitated. "I
don't have very much money. I couldn't make it worth your while,
financially."
"That part is unimportant. The thing for you to consider is the
situation on Hesdin-2. It's a new colony; life there is pretty
primitive."
Esther waved at the room. "Any more so than here?"
Brack grinned. "Not much more. But then also, you've got to remember
that it's a three-week trip. Pretty monotonous. Just the two of us."
She looked him in the eyes with understanding.
"I'd try not to get in the way."
* * * * *
They met in the middle of the night at Brack's ship. Working slowly,
soundlessly, they opened a cargo case and removed enough unit boxes to
make room for the girl.
Esther settled down in the container.
"I'm afraid that isn't too comfortable," Brack apologized, "but you'll
only have to put up with it four hours. I take off at seven."
"That's all right, Bill. Just so there's no delay. My father expects me
to open the dining room at seven."
"We'll be ten million miles away before he misses you," said Brack. He
put the top on loosely, faking the straps across the cover, so the
girl could breathe.
In his room again, Brack lay with arms folded under his head, thinking
honeyed thoughts. He would have Esther's pleasant company. His cargo
was a valuable one. Two-thirds of the receipts on Hesdin-2 would
represent sheer profit. Perhaps it would be enough to establish him
in some kind of a local freight business. Esther could make a man a
wonderful partner. Lovely, delectable girl!
He reminded himself that they were not safely away from Corbie yet, and
he passed the remaining hours in the Hotel Eros sleeplessly anxious.
Brack delayed going to his ship until the last minute before takeoff
time. Then, as he half-feared, he saw a customs officer standing beside
the airlock.
The trucker tried taking the offensive. "Gosh, I'll be late for my
convoy if I don't leave right away."
"Sorry, sir, but I'll have to inspect your ship." He was a burly,
tough-looking character in pale green uniform, blocking the doorway
with a flatfooted, wrestling stance.
Brack sensed that a contest of fists might not end in his favor. He
unlocked the entrance and waved the official in with reluctance. "Take
a look, but I've already gone through customs on Dryod-7. I can show
you my clearance."
"This isn't customs exactly," said the man. "We're searching for a
person."
"A person?" (The old man sure kept a close watch on his daughter.) "I'm
the only person aboard this ship."
The customs official remained polite. "Yes, I understand that, sir. But
Mr. Eros' daughter is missing. He thinks she may have stowed away on
your ship."
"Impossible! I had the ship locked."
They stepped into the pilot's cabin, a tetrahexahedron-shaped room
crowded with multiple-monitor screens of an astrogation-computer. Brack
threw the ignition switch to start the buildup in the ship's nuclear
engine.
"What is your cargo?" the customs man demanded.
"Fifteen cases of deluplasm," said Brack with unfeigned anxiety.
The official debated with himself. "I believe it would be best if I
opened the cases."
Brack looked at his watch with desperation. "But we don't have time!
That would take at least a half-hour! I'd miss the other ships! And
you know what that would mean. I couldn't navigate interstellar space
alone, not at a hundred times the speed of light. I'd be stuck here in
the Dryodean System until the next fleet left. That might be months!"
He grabbed the official's arm. "Please, fellow, give me a break!"
The customs man considered. "Well, since the ship was locked, it
does seem unlikely that the girl has hidden herself here. I certainly
wouldn't want you to lose your convoy."
Brack smiled in relief and started the rocket engine secondaries.
"Thanks a million."
"But just to protect me in case the girl has run off somewhere--I want
you to sign this form."
Brack felt a twinge of suspicion, but more of a twinge of haste. "Sure.
What kind of a form is this?"
"It simply says that I inspected each case in your presence and found
the contents identical with your bill of lading. This girl has made
several attempts to leave Corbie in the past. This is my protection in
case she's finally succeeded."
The customs officer made the slightest perceptible wink. Brack signed.
He took off immediately. He was already ten minutes late. He had to
blast at top speed for the next hour, continually correcting his
navigation. There was no time to go back and let Esther out of the
cargo room. He had to remain at the controls, feeding data into the
computer, modifying course as solutions flashed on the screens.
Finally, Brack sighted the convoy and maneuvered into pattern just as
the fleet was dematerializing into supra-space. He set his ship on
pantagraph-automatic with the lead navigator, then hastened to the
cargo hold.
Esther was not there. Neither were ten of the fifteen cases of
deluplasm. Two-thirds of his cargo had been hijacked.
It was of course pointless for Brack to turn around and raise hell on
Corbie. With the waiver he'd signed for the customs officer, he'd only
look ridiculous. All he could do was continue to Hesdin-2 with his
one-third cargo. At least he'd break even on the trip; Esther and her
co-workers had been that considerate.
No, sex and space don't mix.
And it's high time that Mr. Mattapenny deleted the Hotel Eros (**) from
his little red guidebook.
*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SATELLITE-KEEPER'S DAUGHTER ***
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.
