The Project Gutenberg EBook of Space-Wolf, by Ray Cummings
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere 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/license
Title: Space-Wolf
Author: Ray Cummings
Release Date: April 22, 2020 [EBook #61895]
Language: English
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SPACE-WOLF ***
Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
SPACE-WOLF
By RAY CUMMINGS
The lure of precious zolonite drew Morgan
to barren Titan--to find a weird beast-empire
ruled by a cold-eyed Earth-girl queen.
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Planet Stories Summer 1941.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
Solo Morgan laid his small portable spectroscope on the rock and sat
down beside it to rest. He was panting, breathless from the climb up
to these precipitous heights, even though the gravity here on Titan
was less than that of Earth. It was night. The pallid little Sun had
swiftly set behind a distant line of jagged mountain peaks. At the
other horizon Saturn was rising, a monstrous glowing ball with a
foreshortened segment of the rings spreading in a great iridescent
flame of pale prismatic color across half the sky.
From here, Solo Morgan could just see the tiny blob of his one-man
space-ship where he had left it down in the hollow. "He travels fastest
who travels alone," had always been Solo Morgan's motto. But now at
the age of twenty-eight, a big, rangy, handsome fellow with curly,
crisp brown hair, it seemed to Morgan that he was somewhat a failure.
So far he had failed to strike it rich; and a single big strike had
always been what he was after. He set his jaw grimly as he thought of
it. Well, now was the time. There was a lode of Zolonite here on this
moon of Saturn. The spectroscopic evidence of it had been faint, yet
unmistakable. Doubtless it was a single, small concentration; Zolonite
perhaps in an almost pure state. Immensely more valuable than radium;
more valuable, than any other radioactive substance known to earth.
Morgan stood up, rested, to continue his climb. By all that he had
been able to determine from the faint spectroscopic bands, and the
intensity registers which he had so carefully used in that circling
flight around the bleak, uninhabited satellite, the Zolonite deposit
must be somewhere in this neighborhood. The radiometer had seemed to
indicate gathering strength as he climbed. Perhaps it would be beyond
this next rise, where now he could see a ragged plateau thick with a
lush, fantastic blue-gray vegetation.
He started forward; and suddenly from nearby there was a sharp crack,
an explosive report with a stab of yellow-red flame that mingled with
the iridescent sheen of Saturn's glow. And there was a ping, a tanging
whistle past his head with a thud against one of the nearby rocks where
a leaden pellet flattened itself and dropped beside him.
An old-fashioned bullet! Morgan dropped to the rocks, into a shadow
from which in a moment he cautiously raised his head. There was nothing
to be seen, except that from a distant clump a little spiral of smoke
was rising. What in the devil was this? Titan, so far as anyone knew,
was uninhabited. For a second it had flashed to Morgan that it might
be a band of space-pirates who had followed him here.
But an old-fashioned bullet-projector! Modern space-pirates would
laugh at such a thing! They had nothing but the most modern electronic
flash-guns, as Morgan himself in several classes could well testify.
Explosive bullet-projectors were museum pieces now. Yet here was one on
Titan, handled by somebody, trying to drill him!
Thoughts are instant things. Morgan was flat in the rock hollow. And
as he cautiously raised his head there came another crack. The bullet
thudded into the metal of his tri-cornered hat, knocking it off. Too
close for comfort. His flash-cylinder was in his hand. He sent a bolt
sizzling against the distant rocks. It hit nothing but the rocks; but
now, abruptly to one side of where he had struck, he saw a flutter--a
blue-white drape fluttering in the iridescent light. And in the silence
there was a frightened, startled cry. A girl's voice! In that second
she had dropped back into the rock-clump. But Morgan had seen her; a
white-limbed girl clad in blue drapes, with dark hair flowing down over
her shoulders.
Amazement was on Morgan's rugged bronzed face. But his grim lips
twitched into a vague, startled smile. Holding the metal hat-brim,
he raised the hat. A bullet thudded into it. Her aim was certainly
too good to trifle with! Cautiously he stared out over the glowing
iridescent rocks. There was no sign of movement; no sound save the
distant reverberations of the girl's last shot. Morgan quietly
discarded his equipment; his cylinders of synthetic food, water, the
radiometer and the big insulated leaden cylinder in which he hoped to
take home the Zolonite-concentrate. Thus unburdened he hitched himself
back into a deeper hollow. Then he stood half erect, with his gun
clipped to his belt, tensing his leg muscles for a jump. She might be
able to wing him in the air during the arc of his leap, but he doubted
it.
There was a rock-ledge some thirty feet away over a little chasm.
The crouching Morgan eyed it, took a few running, crouching steps,
straightened and leaped. His body sailed in a great flattened arc over
the chasm. There was another startled exclamation from the girl;
another explosive report, but the bullet went wide. Morgan, chuckling,
landed in a heap on the ledge, behind a little line of intervening
rocks. He could stand erect here, unseen by the girl. The line of rocks
extended diagonally toward her. Morgan ducked along behind them. He ran
perhaps a hundred feet, crouched down again where there was a break in
his rocky shield.
* * * * *
He could see her plainly now. She was a huddled blob with a
long-barreled bullet-gun resting in a rock crevice as she peered out at
the line of rocks behind which his leap had carried him. He was much
nearer to her now; not over twenty feet. And he cautiously peered,
more amazed than ever. The pearly, glowing sheen of the Saturn-light
glistened on her skin. Her oval face, framed by her flowing black hair,
was set and grim, but he could see that it was a beautiful face.
"What the devil," Morgan muttered to himself. He had clipped his gun to
his broad leather belt. Still grimly smiling, he picked up a huge chunk
of the porous gray-black Titan rock and heaved it. The rock sailed over
the girl; fell with a clatter behind her. It made her give another
startled cry as she aimed toward the sound.
And simultaneously, Morgan leaped again--with a bound that carried him
back over the gully, and landed him almost at the girl's side. She
screamed, tried to struggle to her feet, with the gun jerking around.
But Morgan gripped the barrel.
"Easy," he murmured. "Don't get excited; I won't hurt you." He thought
that his tone, if perhaps not his words, would quiet her. And then she
gasped,
"You--you let me alone!"
She spoke English! Morgan was beyond being amazed at anything now.
He snatched the rusty old gun from her and tossed it away. She stood
docile within his grip, terrified, but defiant. She was younger than
he had thought, not over sixteen or seventeen probably. Her single,
blue-gray garment, he could see now, was tattered, frayed. It had
the look of a fabric fragile with age. It fell from her pink-white
shoulders to her thighs. A crudely fashioned animal-skin belt girdled
her slender waist. Leather thongs crossed her breast, modeling the
dress, and her long black hair lay there in a tangle. Her feet were
bare, with toughened soles from long walking on these jagged rocks.
"Let me alone," she was muttering. She stood swaying backward in his
grip, her dark eyes watchful, alert. He could not miss now the wildness
upon her, a weird mixture of savagery and civilization. She looked as
though she were figuring only how she could kill him.
"Well," he said, "I don't get this at all. What's your name?"
"Nada," she gasped.
"Nothing else? You speak English so you're from Earth. Now how in the
devil--"
She suddenly twitched away from him, but he caught her and again she
stood panting.
"Now listen, take it easy," he said. He drew her down to the rock, and
sat beside her, still holding her. "So your name's Nada? Well, Nada,
let's talk about this. But first, the main idea is, I'm not going to
hurt you, an' I damn' sure won't let you kill me. Get the idea?"
"Yes. I understand."
"Well, in a nutshell, I'm Morgan--Solo Morgan. Here alone. You might
want to call me Tom; that was my original name. I'm here looking
for a precious metal. I hope I find it, because it'll make me rich
back on earth. And the last thing I did expect to find, here on this
God-forsaken little satellite, was a pretty girl like you."
It somewhat startled Solo Morgan that his heart seemed beating faster
as he stared at her and felt her resisting arms within his grip. An
interest in the opposite sex had never been one of his failings. It was
completely contrary to his theory that he travels fastest who travels
alone.
But this somehow was different, startlingly different. "That's my
story," he finished. "Now it's your turn."
Normally, Solo Morgan always had been alert, under all circumstances,
to possible danger. But he was absorbed now. He hadn't noticed the
faint sound of flapping wings behind him, nor noticed the weird-looking
bird-shape which passed over his head, and vanished as it dropped down
into a rock-clump a hundred feet away.
But Nada saw it. Her gaze, like the gaze of a trapped animal, was
darting around the iridescent darkness. Her hearing, far keener than
Morgan's, heard a faint cawing call, as though a parrot were chattering.
She tensed in Morgan's grip. "Stop it," he said. "You can't get away
from me. What other name have you got besides Nada?"
"Nada Livingston. I was from Nairobi."
He stared. The name was vaguely familiar. "Dr. Carter Livingston?" he
murmured.
"Yes. That was my father."
* * * * *
Morgan remembered now. He had been a boy of ten or eleven when the name
of Dr. Carter Livingston had been notorious all over the world. He was
a cracked old scientist living in East Africa. As Morgan remembered
it, Carter Livingston had had some theory that the wild animals of
earth should be protected from the cruelty of man. He wanted laws that
no animals should be hunted. Then he had gone to Africa, with new
theories that animals were only different forms of humans; undeveloped,
untaught, but with a latent ability for learning which no human had yet
recognized. Then there were rumors that in the African jungle, Carter
Livingston and his young wife had established a trained-animal zoo.
Wild tales. Parrots, with their pseudo-human vocal cords, not only
chattering English words, but putting a childish but human intelligence
into them. Apes that could mouth human words, and think human thoughts.
Then Livingston's wife had died, leaving him an infant daughter.
There had been some incidents of violence--Livingston's trained apes
accused of raiding a nearby Masai village, and killing some of the
black children whose fathers had been hunting wild animals in the
neighborhood. Livingston had denied the thing as fantastic. But the
British authorities had descended upon his animal-colony and cleaned it
out. In a rage, Livingston, with his infant daughter, had disappeared.
Morgan had been murmuring the story. "That was your father?" he said.
"Yes. We came here. He died just a little while ago."
Morgan drew in his breath. "And now you're living alone here on Titan?"
"Alone? Why--"
He heard the flapping wings this time. Startled, his hands dropped
from the girl's shoulders as he turned around. A great birdlike shape
was fluttering past overhead; a blue thing like a big flamingo. A
grotesque bird. Its body seemed feathered, but its huge wings were
naked membrane, pointed like a bat's. Its head was round, with a little
glistening skull and a great hawked nose.
"Caw--caw--coming, Nada--coming, Nada."
In that second Morgan sucked in his breath at the gruesome, chattering
cry. Just a monstrous parrot? It seemed more than that. It darted down,
swooping on as though it were about to attack. Then it suddenly darted
up, dropped back of a nearby rock.
"Coming--help--Nada--"
Its eerie cackled words still sounded. Morgan had snatched out his
flash gun. Nada was clutching at him now.
"Don't!" she murmured. "That's my friend. You--you must not."
Hairy shapes abruptly were materializing from the rocks behind Morgan.
He heard a low whining bark; whirled to see a monstrous, shaggy,
red-haired animal coming at him. It suggested an ape, yet was unlike
one. A large body on two long shaggy legs, with long, dangling arms.
A bushy tail, wildly swishing. A round head, with the shaggy red hair
dangling over its face where eyes were shining and a mouth was growling.
Morgan's gun flashed. But with a cry Nada had knocked up his arm. The
bolt went sizzling into the air, with its tiny crack of thunder rolling
in muffled reverberations out through the shining night. He had no
chance to fire again. The shaggy, oncoming thing pounced. Morgan was
aware only that behind it there were others like it. The shaggy body
knocked him backward. From its padded paws, fingers like claws came
out--bluish fingers like the hands of an ape, clutching at his throat,
strangling him. Then he heard the whizz of a thrown chunk of rock. It
cracked on his skull so that all the shining darkness burst into a
roaring glare of light in his head. Then the light swiftly faded as he
sank into the soundless abyss of unconsciousness.
* * * * *
"You're better now?"
He was vaguely aware that cool water was running down his face from his
hair and that Nada's voice was softly murmuring to him.
"You are better now? Don't die. Tamo is sorry that he hit you."
His eyelids had fluttered up. He knew now that she was sponging a wound
in his scalp. And all he could see was a blurred interior, and the
blurred blob of Nada bending over him. Then her outline clarified. He
was lying on something soft, and she was sitting beside him.
"All right," he murmured. He grinned. "That was some crack somebody or
something gave me."
Her face lighted with relief. "One of my goths," she said. "He's
sorry.... No, you lie quiet now." He was trying to struggle up on one
elbow, but she shoved him back. Beside him there was a cracked old
china wash basin. The water in it with which she was sponging his head
was red with his blood.
"Guess I'm all right now," he muttered. His hand went to his belt. His
gun was gone.
"Just lie quiet. You'll be all right in a few minutes."
He was weak and dizzy; his body bathed in cold sweat. For another
minute he closed his eyes and she went on silently sponging his head.
He remembered now, vaguely, that he had been conscious enough to
realize that he had been dragged here by the weird red-haired animals.
It had evidently not been far. Dimly he seemed to recall that they had
plunged underground, where there were phosphorescent rocks to light up
the subterranean passages with an eerie glow.
He opened his eyes again. He could see that phosphorescent glow through
the window-openings here. He was in a room--a little grotto with
tattered, faded fabric drapes on its walls, a rug on its floor. And two
or three pieces of weird-looking, old-fashioned earth-style furniture.
Presently he was sitting up. "I'm all right," he declared. "Thanks,
Nada." His hand went to his head. "I guess it's stopped bleeding."
"Yes. I think so." She was gazing at him with interest now, and Morgan
realized he was the only man she had ever seen, except her father. Her
bosom rose and fell under the bodice of her tattered dress with her
emotion.
Morgan understood that faded, old-fashioned earth-dress now. They had
been her mother's clothes. And he understood the furnishings. He saw
now that a bookcase in a corner of the cave-room contained half a dozen
shelves of books. And on a rickety table stood a small portable sewing
machine; a hoop with embroidery; needles and thread and a garment in
process of mending.
Her little world. Solo Morgan gazed around him, from where he lay on a
camp cot, and was astonished at the thoughts he was thinking and the
emotion he was feeling.
"Tell me about yourself," he said gently. "This is your home, eh?"
"Yes," she agreed. She told him how her father had brought her up here,
how he had taught her from the books which he had brought with them.
Queer that there on this moon of Saturn, the wandering, embittered
Carter Livingston had found no humans, but an animal, bird and insect
life. Yet it was no coincidence, for Livingston had journeyed until
he found what he wanted. Himself an educated human, he would give
the animals the advantages he had had through the centuries of human
advancement. Breed God's creatures upward, some day perhaps to reach
the intelligence of man.
Morgan stared at the girl as she so earnestly described it. Rot, of
course. And yet that flying, flamingo-like thing had certainly talked,
and talked much more intelligently than any parrot. It had called
for help, and the red-haired ape things had come on the run. Morgan
grimaced with the memory. One of those round-headed goths had throttled
him with its ape-like hands, while another of them cracked him on the
head with a rock. He gazed around the room uneasily now, but none of
them was in sight.
"Can those goths talk, too?" he demanded.
"Yes. A little, but it's hard to understand. A growling mumble. But
they're very intelligent. You see, their life-span is nearly ten
years, so we only have a few generations that father taught. He said
that with use, the vocal cords and the larynx were getting more
adapted. Tamo is my best one. And he makes the others understand.
They're very gentle."
"With you," Morgan supplemented wryly.
"Yes. Cah called them for help."
"Cah? You mean that big bird?"
"Yes. Father bred six generations of his family. And nature made his
talking apparatus very adequate for human words."
"No argument on that," Morgan agreed. He was gazing through the glowing
window-opening of the cave-room. There was vegetation outside. It
was like a great lush subterranean forest. Gnarled, fantastic-shaped
trees with bluish vines lacing them together. Huge pods hung on them,
and monstrous pallid flowers that opened and closed their petals
rhythmically as though breathing.
* * * * *
Gruesome damn things. Morgan was about to ask if what looked like
vegetation here might not be more animal than vegetable, when suddenly
his attention was caught by a little round red thing that was on the
ledge of the rocky window-opening. It was no bigger than the end of
his finger--a round, glistening, red-shelled thing with jointed legs
protruding from it. Tiny antenna were weaving in front of its single
eye, which seemed glaring at him balefully.
He made a startled gesture. "What the devil is that?" he demanded.
Nada smiled. "One of our insects. Father used to call them rollers. He
said on earth you'd consider them of the ant family. They're remarkable
little things. Well, I guess you'd say that about earth ants, too,
wouldn't you? Terribly strong for their size, with a nasty bite. They
build their own houses. They're highly organized, with workers and
leaders, and their own armies."
"And you can talk to them, too?" Morgan muttered.
"Well, no," she said. "Not exactly. But Cah seems to be able to make
them understand."
The little red-shelled, ball-like thing on the window ledge suddenly
hitched out a leg and rolled itself backward; then picked itself up and
scurried away like a tiny round crab.
"Well," Morgan said, "your father's theories, here on Titan--"
A sudden distant growl made him check himself. It was outside; muttered
growls, growing louder. He stared inquiringly at Nada.
"The goths," she murmured. "Something wrong?"
They came in a moment; two of the weird, round-headed animals, dragging
something between them. In the background a pack of the others lurked,
shaggy red blobs half hidden by the fantastic tangle of vines, their
peering eyes like little lanterns among the foliage and the pallid
flowers.
It was a dead goth which was being dragged here to Nada. With Morgan
after her, she ran outside. The huge dead goth lay crumpled. Its
companions were mumbling at Nada. Queer form of speech, half animal,
half human, so that the mouthed, snarled words of anger now, to Morgan,
seemed almost but not quite intelligible.
"What happened?" he demanded.
The dead goth's face was leprous. Burned into a noisome, pulpy mass as
though by a flash bolt.
"They found him, lying like that," Nada said. Terror was on her face.
"Something--someone with a strange gun of lightning, like the one I
took from you."
It was dawning on Morgan. Then a flapping of wings sounded. "Coming,
Nada. Cah comes."
The beaked-nosed, feathered shape of Cah came fluttering; landed by
Nada. Weird chattering bird. "Cah saw it, Nada. Men like this one.
Out beyond the tunnels, they killed Tagaro. Cah saw them. Cah sees
everything--"
It fluttered away, excited, like an imbecilic child, chattering with
its excitement.
Space-pirates! Prowling here, looking for the Zolonite. Doubtless they
had seen Morgan's little space-ship; knew he was here, and were looking
for him.
"They were outside?" Morgan demanded swiftly. "Out near where I found
you? Is that what the parrot-thing tried to say?"
"Yes," she gasped. "Oh, who could it be? Other earthmen here? You--you
said you came alone."
"I did. But I can make a pretty darn good guess who it is all right.
Nada, listen!"
The ring of goths here were all eyeing Morgan suspiciously with weird,
baleful eyes set in wrinkled, bluish, ape-like faces.
"Tell them I didn't do it," Morgan said hastily. "Tell them bad men did
it, if they can manage to understand that much from you."
Would the damned growling things jump on him now? "Listen," he added
swiftly to the girl. "That's a band of earthmen--space-pirates. They're
here to try and steal the Zolonite I came after. Nada, where's that gun
of mine you took away from me?"
"What--what are you going to do?" she stammered.
His eyes hardened.
"I don't want them to find you. Understand that!"
Morgan knew perfectly well what he was going to try to do--get the girl
out of here, into his space-ship. Zolonite or not, he had no intention
of trying to fight the space-pirates with this girl as the stake for
success or victory.
"Get that gun of mine," he commanded. "Hurry it now."
* * * * *
The girl ran into the cave-room; came back with it. She was trembling;
white-faced. "Will--will they really kill you?"
"I hope not," Morgan said grimly. "We're not going to stick around
here and let them try it. Nada, listen: you show me the way into those
tunnels. Tell the goths to stay here, as they'll only complicate
things."
The goths were sullenly watching, listening. At Nada's vehement command
they slunk back, but they still watched Morgan suspiciously.
"Into the tunnels?" she stammered. "But why?"
He seized her arm.
"Yes. Come on." No use telling her that he was going to get her back to
earth. She might put up an argument at leaving her animals. He ran with
her, through the little cave-room, into a dim, glowing tunnel.
"This was the way you brought me in, wasn't it?" he presently demanded
as they ran.
She nodded.
"Yes. The outer surface, not so far ahead."
Good enough. He'd slam her into the ship and tell her what it was all
about afterward. The tunnel was dark, with just a faint eerie glow of
phosphorescence that seemed inherent to the rocks themselves. It was
a narrow passage, seeming to wind upward. At intervals, other little
corridors crossed it. Occasionally it widened into grottos. They came
to a large one with a jagged rocky floor, broken, rocky walls.
Here they halted.
"Not so far now," Nada was saying. Her face in the dimness was turned
toward Morgan, and she was trying to smile--a frightened, puzzled
smile. And suddenly he sucked in his breath. Her teeth were shining
with blue-green iridescence; luminous with a blue-green light streaming
from them! Radioactive, stroboscopic light! The treasure of Zolonite he
had come here to find. It must be here close at hand!
Morgan gripped the girl and stood still, peering around.
"What is it?" she murmured with new terror.
"Wait! I'm looking around for something."
And then he saw it. Zolonite in almost its pure state. The vein of its
out-cropping was a crescent curve diagonally up the wall; and beneath
it, shining chunks had crumbled and were lying strewn. Swiftly Morgan
stooped, gathered up handfuls, stuffed them into his pockets. Samples,
and then he would bring back a mining crew to open this up. And even
the samples would be worth a sizable fortune. But the space-pirates
wanted this, too.
Solo Morgan, at that instant, was not quite clear in his mind what he
would try to do. But the feel of the girl's pliant waist within his arm
as they ran, decided him. She was certainly more important than the
Zolonite.
"I'm taking you to my ship," he murmured suddenly. "Don't bother to
put up any argument now. That's where you're going."
He saw her turn and stare at him. They had come abruptly to the end of
the tunnel; the sheen of Saturn-light was on her face, shining in her
misted eyes as she regarded him.
"Taking me to earth?" she said uncertainly.
"I sure am. You can't live out your life here, just for a bunch of
weird animals."
"But some time you'd bring me back?" she murmured tremulously.
"Sure I would. Got to come anyway to mine the Zolonite."
Here was the clump of rocks where he had been when first he saw Nada.
His leaden cylinder was lying here. He stuffed the Zolonite samples
carefully into it. Sealed it.
"Now we go down the mountain, Nada, to my ship down there."
A sizzling flash with a tiny crack of thunder interrupted him. The bolt
from nearby sizzled over their heads as Morgan, with a sweep of his
arm, knocked the girl to the ground and flung himself beside her.
"That's them," he muttered grimly. "Keep down, Nada."
Another bolt cracked with a prismatic shower of sparks on the rocks in
front of them. Morgan and the girl were lying in a little depression
now, protected by a broken line of rocks with a cliff close behind
them. He could see where the pirates were gathered, at the bottom of a
small gully some fifty feet away. And then in the silence, an ironic
chuckling voice floated over.
"Got you, Morgan. No use putting up a fight. Toss out your gun an' we
won't kill you."
Morgan, watchful for the chance to drill one of them if he showed
himself, lay quiet with the huddled girl trembling beside him.
"Got your wife with you?" the voice drawled. "That who it is? Come on
out and let's have a look at her. We won't hurt her." There was a burst
of raucous laughter from the other pirates.
Morgan did not reply. His brain was busy trying to find an out.
* * * * *
Morgan could see that there was no chance for him and the girl to move
from where they were lying. He had chanced a leap from here against
Nada's old-fashioned explosive-gun with its single small bullet, but he
couldn't take such a chance against modern bolt-weapons. The least move
would expose them in the full sheen of Saturn-light.
They lay still.
"So you just want to stay where you are?" the voice called. "Okay,
we'll get you."
They were invisible; but back down the distant little gully Morgan
suddenly saw the blob of a creeping figure; one of the pirates trying
to get to where he could chance a leap. Morgan tensed; raised his gun.
The shadowed blob moved again; straightened a little. Morgan's flash
spat its bolt. A scream mingled with the tiny thunder-crack, and the
blob leaped into the air, turned over and crashed down again, inert
upon the rocks.
It brought a fusillade of shots; but they splattered harmlessly with
a great shower of sparks on the blackened rocks. And suddenly the
trembling girl gripped Morgan.
"Look! Cah is flying over there." She pointed.
There was a flapping of wings in the Saturn-light. And the bird's
eerie, cawing, chattering voice. "Cah sees them. There they are!"
The excited bird's fluttering shape was visible. "Cah sees them! Cah
sees everything!" it chattered.
A bolt from one of the pirates mingled with its cries. The flash shot
up. The huge bird, its weirdly childish voice stilled forever, came
wavering down, turning end over end until it thudded heavily on the
rocks.
"Oh poor Cah," Nada murmured. Then she gasped: "Oh look! There by the
little gully."
The rocks on the upper lip of the small gully where the crouching
pirates were gathered were splashed pale-white by the Saturn-light. And
in the glow there now, a thin little red line was visible. A moving
line. It stretched back over the rocks, down into another hollow and up
again. Morgan caught his breath as he stared. It was a line of tiny,
moving red figures. Myriads of them; round things small as the end of
his finger.
The rolling, red ants. They came hitching themselves, scuttling; a vast
little army. And then he saw other lines of them converging on the
gully; marching grimly, silently to battle, summoned perhaps by Cah's
excited calls.
Breathlessly Morgan and the girl watched. The pirates undoubtedly
didn't notice the marching red hordes of tiny insects behind them. A
dozen thin red moving lines now. Silently but inexorably they crawled
over the rocks, down into the gully.
Then there was a startled cry. "What in hell!" And one of the pirates
incautiously straightened, his arms flailing wildly, his hands plucking
at his clothing, at his face.
Morgan raised his gun, but Nada shoved it down. "No need," she
murmured. "The bites of those red ants are quite poisonous."
Silently then, they stood and watched the strange battle.
It was a ghastly attack. Within a minute the space-pirates were
screaming, staggering. Half a dozen of their frenzied bolts went wild
into the air. And then they had flung their guns away, frenzied,
demoniac as they fought the swarming, viciously biting little insects
crawling upon them. There were four of the men. Morgan could have
shot them all as they staggered out into the open, but there was no
need. In another minute they were rolling in agony on the ground,
with yet more thin red lines converging upon them. And then at last
their blood-chilling screams were silent. In the Saturn-light they lay
motionless, red with their blood and red with the swarming hordes that
crawled over them.
Morgan was standing now, with the horrified, shuddering girl trembling
against him. The lead cylinder with its treasure of Zolonite was
clipped to his belt. But with his arm around Nada he knew that she was
the real treasure he had found upon Titan. He held her closer. Nobody
would ever be able to call him Solo Morgan again.
End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Space-Wolf, by Ray Cummings
*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SPACE-WOLF ***
***** This file should be named 61895.txt or 61895.zip *****
This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
http://www.gutenberg.org/6/1/8/9/61895/
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 public domain print editions 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 with public domain eBooks. 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
http://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 in the public domain 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 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/license
1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
from the public domain (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 Michael
Hart, 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
public domain works 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 web page at http://www.pglaf.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. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
http://pglaf.org/fundraising. 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 located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
Fairbanks, AK, 99712., 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
[email protected]. Email contact links and up to date contact
information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
page at http://pglaf.org
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 http://pglaf.org
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: http://pglaf.org/donate
Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
works.
Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
with anyone. For thirty 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 Public Domain 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:
http://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.
