The Project Gutenberg EBook of Jaywalker, by Ross Rocklynne
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: Jaywalker
Author: Ross Rocklynne
Release Date: January 24, 2016 [EBook #51027]
Language: English
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JAYWALKER ***
Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
JAYWALKER
BY ROSS ROCKLYNNE
Illustrated by DON DIBLEY
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Galaxy Science Fiction December 1950.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
Women may be against progress because it means new
pseudo-widowhoods. Space-widowhood, for instance....
At last she was on the gangplank, entering the mouth of the
spaceship--and nothing could ever stop her now. Not unless she broke
down completely in front of all these hurrying, Moon-bound passengers,
in plain sight of the scattered crowd which clustered on the other
side of the space-field barriers. Even that possibility was denied her
when two gently insistent middle-aged ladies indicated she was blocking
the way....
Somehow, dizzily, she was at her seat, led there by a smiling,
brown-clad stewardess; and her azure-tipped fingers were clutching at
the pearl-gray plasta-leather of the chair arm. Her eyes, the azure
of her nails, the azure (so she had been told) of Earth seen from
interplanetary space, grew hot. She closed them, and for a moment
gave herself up to an almost physical yearning for the Toluca Lake
house--the comfort, the safety, the--the _sanity_ of it.
* * * * *
Stubbornly she forced herself back to reality. At any moment Jack,
dark-eyed and scrappy, might come swinging down the long, shining
aisle. Jack--Captain Jack McHenry, if you please--must not know, yet,
what she was doing to patch up their marriage.
She turned her face away from the aisle, covered her cheek with her
hand to hide it. Her gaze went out through the ray-proof glass port to
the field, to the laboring beetle of a red tractor bearing the gangway
on its busy back, to the low, blast-proof administration building. When
her gaze came to the tall sign over the entrance, she hurried it past;
it was too late to think about that now, the square, shouting type that
read:
CAUTION
HAVE YOU PASSED YOUR PHYSICAL EXAMINATION?
_Avoiding It May Cost Your Life!_
"May I see your validation, please?"
Marcia McHenry stiffened. Had she read the sign aloud? She turned
startled eyes up to the smiling stewardess, who was holding out a
well-groomed hand. Marcia responded weakly to the smile, overcame a
sudden urge to blurt out that she had no validation--not her own,
anyway. But her stiff fingers were already holding out the pink card
with Nellie Foster's name on it.
"You're feeling well, Mrs. Foster?"
_Feeling well? Yes, of course. Except for the--usual sickness. But
that's so very normal_.... Her numb lips moved. "I'm fine," she said.
Miss Eagen (which, her neat lapel button attested, was her name) made
a penciled frown as lovely as her machined smile. "Some day," she told
Marcia, "we won't have to ask the passengers if they're well. It's so
easy to come aboard on someone else's validation, and people don't seem
to realize how dangerous that is."
As Miss Eagen moved to the next seat, Marcia shrank into a small
huddle, fumbling with the card until it was crammed shapeless into her
purse. Then from the depths of her guilt came rebellion. It was going
to be all right. She was doing the biggest thing she'd ever done, and
Jack would rise to the occasion, and it would be all right.
It _had_ to be all right....
After this--if this didn't work--there just would be nothing else she
could do. She wasn't a scheming woman. No one would ever know how
difficult it had been for her to think up the whole plan, to find
Nellie Foster (someone Jack had never met) and to persuade Nellie to
register for the trip and take the physical for her. She'd had to lie
to Nellie, to make Nellie think she was brave and adventurous, and that
she was just doing it to surprise Jack.
Oh, he'd be surprised, all right.
The flash walls on the field were being raised to keep the blow-by from
the ship's jets from searing the administration building and the area
beyond. Marcia realized with crushing suddenness that the ship was
about to blast off in seconds. She half-rose, then sank back, biting
her lip. Silly ... Jack had said that--her fear of space was silly.
He'd said it during the quarrel, and he'd roared at her, "And that's
why you want me to come back--ground myself, be an Earth-lubber--so I
can spare you the anguish of sitting home wondering if I'll come back
alive!"
* * * * *
And then he'd been sorry he'd shouted, and he sat by her, taking her
chin in his hand. "Marcia, Marcia," he'd said gently, "you're so
_silly_! It's been nineteen whole years since your father died in the
explosion of a Moon-rocket. Rocket motors just don't explode any more,
honey! Ships travel to the Moon and back on iron-clad, mathematical
orbits that are figured before the ship puffs a jet--"
"The _Elsinore_?" She'd said it viciously, to taunt him, and something
in her had been pleased at the dull flush that rose to his face.
Everyone knew about the _Elsinore_, the 500-foot Moon-ferry that almost
missed the Moon.
"That," he said bitterly, "was human damnfoolishness botching up the
equations. Too many lobbyists have holdings on the Moon and don't
want to risk not being able to go there in a hurry. So they haven't
passed legislation to keep physically unfit people off spaceships.
One of the passengers got aboard the _Elsinore_ on somebody else's
validation--which meant that nobody knew he was taking endocrine
treatments to put hair on his brainless head and restore his--Oh, the
_Jaywalker_!" Jack spat in disgust. "Anyway, he was the kind of idiot
who never realizes that certain glandular conditions are fatal in free
fall."
Even now she distinctly recalled the beginnings of the interplanetary
cold that always seeped into the warm house when he talked about space,
when he was about to leave her for it. And this time it was worse than
ever before.
He went on remorselessly, "Once the _Elsinore_ reached the free-fall
flight, where power could be shut off, the skipper had to put the
ferry into an axial spin under power, creating artificial gravity
to save the worthless life of that fool. So of course he lost his
trajectory, and had to warp her in as best he could, without passing
the Moon or crashing into it. And of course you're not listening."
"It's all so dull!" she had flared, and then, "How can I be interested
in what some blundering space-jockey did?"
"Blun--Marcia, you really don't realize what that skipper did was the
finest piece of shiphandling since mankind got off the ground."
"Was it?" she'd yawned. "Could you do it?"
"I--like to think I could," he said. "I'd hate to have to try."
She'd shrugged. "Then it can't be very difficult, darling."
She hadn't meant to be so cruel. Or so stupid. But when they were
quarreling, or when he talked that repugnant, dedicated, other-world
garble, something always went cold and furious and--lonely inside her,
and made her fight back unfairly.
After he'd gone--for good, he said--her anger had sustained her for a
few weeks. Then, bleakly, she knew she'd go to the ends of Earth for
Jack. Or even to the Moon....
* * * * *
Sitting rigid in the tense stillness of a rocket ship that was about
to leap from Earth, Marcia started as an officer ducked his head into
the passenger compartment from the pilot room's deep glow. But it
wasn't Jack. The officer's lips moved hurriedly as he counted over the
seats. He ducked back out of sight. From the bulk-heads, the overhead,
everywhere, came a deep, quiet rumble. Some of the passengers looked
anxious, some excited, and some just leafed casually through magazines.
Now the brown-clad Miss Eagen was speaking from the head of the aisle.
"Those of you who haven't been in a rocket before won't find it much
different from being in an airplane. At the same time--" She paused,
quiet brown eyes solemn. "What you are about to experience is something
that will make you proud to belong to the human race."
_That_ again! thought Marcia furiously; and then all emotion left her
but cold, ravening fear as the rumble heightened. She tried to close
her eyes, her ears against it, but her mind wouldn't respond. She
squirmed in her chair and found herself staring down at the field.
It looked the way she felt--flat and pale and devoid of life, with a
monstrous structure of terror squatting in it. The scene was abruptly
splashed with a rushing sheet of flame that darkened the daytime sky.
Then it was torn from her vision.
It was snatched away--the buildings, the trees, the roads surrounding
the field seemed to pour in upon it, shrinking as they ran together.
Roads dried up like parched rivers, thinning and vanishing into the
circle of her horrified vision. A great, soft, uniform weight pressed
her down and back; she fought it, but it was too big and too soft.
Now Earth's surface was vague and Sun-splashed. Marcia's sense of loss
tore at her. She put up her hands, heavily, and pressed the glass as
if she could push it out, push herself out, go back, back to Earth
and solidity. Clouds shot by like bullets, fell away until they were
snowflakes roiling in violet haze. Then, in the purling universe that
had grown around the ship, Earth was a mystic circle, a shallow dish
floating darkly and heavily below.
"We are now," said Miss Eagen's calm voice, "thirty-seven miles over
Los Angeles."
After that, there was scarcely room for thought--even for fear, though
it lurked nearby, ready to leap. There was the ascent, the quiet,
sleeplike ascent into space. Marcia very nearly forgot to breathe. She
had been prepared for almost anything except this quality of peace and
awe.
* * * * *
She didn't know how long she had been sitting there, awestruck,
spellbound, when she realized that she had to finish the job she'd
started, and do it right now, this minute. It might already be too
late ... she wished, suddenly, and for the very first time, that she'd
paid more attention to Jack's ramblings about orbits and turn-over
points and correction blasts, and all that gobbledegook. She glanced
outside again and the sky was no longer deep blue, but black. She
pressed herself up out of the soft chair--it was difficult, because of
the one-and-a-half gravities the ship was holding--and plodded heavily
up the aisle. Miss Eagen was just rising from the chair in which she
sat for the take-off.
"Miss Eagen--"
"Yes, Mrs. Fos--why, what's the matter?"
Seeing the startled expression on the stewardess' face, Marcia realized
she must be looking like a ghost. She put a hand to her cheek and found
it clammy.
"Come along," said Miss Eagen cheerfully. She put a firm arm around
Marcia's shoulder. "Just a touch of space-sickness. This way. _That's_
it. We'll have you fixed up in a jiffy."
"It isn't s-space sickness," said Marcia in a very small and very
positive voice. She let herself be led forward, through the door and to
the left, where there was a small and compact ship's hospital.
"Now, now," said Miss Eagen briskly, "just you lie down there, Mrs.
Foster. Does it hurt any special place?"
Marcia lay down gratefully. She closed her eyes tightly and said, "I'm
not Mrs. Foster. It doesn't hurt."
"You're not--" Miss Eagen apparently decided to take one thing at a
time. "How do you feel?"
"Scared," said Marcia.
"Why, what--is there to be scared of?"
"I'm pregnant."
"Well, that's no--You're _what_?"
"I'm Mrs. McHenry. I'm Jack's wife."
There was such a long pause that Marcia opened her eyes. Miss Eagen was
looking at her levelly. She said, "I'll have to examine you."
"I know. Go ahead."
Miss Eagen did, swiftly and thoroughly. "You're so right," she
breathed. She went to the small sink, stripping off her rubber gloves.
With her back to Marcia, she said, "I'll have to tell the captain, you
know."
"I know. I'd rather ... tell him myself."
"Thanks," said Miss Eagen flatly. Marcia felt as if she'd been slapped.
Miss Eagen dried her hands and crossed to an intercom. "Eagen to
Captain."
"McHenry here."
"Captain McHenry, could you come back to the hospital right away?"
"Not right away, Sue." _Sue! No wonder he had found it so easy to walk
out!_ She looked at the trim girl with hating eyes. The intercom said,
"You know I've got course-correction computations from here to yonder.
Give me another forty minutes."
"I think," said Sue Eagen into the mike, "that the computations can
wait."
"The hell you do!" The red contact light on the intercom went out.
"He'll be right here," said Miss Eagen.
* * * * *
Marcia sat up slowly, clumsily. Miss Eagen did not offer to help.
Marcia's hands strayed to her hair, patted it futilely.
He came in, moving fast and purposefully, as always. "Sue, what in time
do you think you--_Marcia!_" His dark face broke into a delighted grin
and he put his arms out. "You--you're here--_here_, on my ship!"
"I'm pregnant, Jack," she said. She put out a hand to ward him off. She
couldn't bear the thought of his realizing what she had done while he
had his arms around her.
"You _are_? You--we--" He turned to Miss Eagen, who nodded once, her
face wooden. "Just find it out?"
This time Miss Eagen didn't react at all, and Marcia knew that she had
to speak up. "No, Jack. I knew weeks ago."
There was no describable change in his face, but the taut skin of his
space-tanned cheek seemed, somehow, to draw inward. His eyebrow ridges
seemed to be more prominent, and he looked older, and very tired.
Softly and slowly he asked, "What in God's name made you get on the
ship?"
"I had to, Jack. I had to."
"Had to kill yourself?" he demanded brutally. "This tears it. This ties
it up in a box with a bloody ribbon-bow. I suppose you know what this
means--what I've got to do now?"
"Spin ship," she replied immediately, and looked up at him pertly, like
a kindergarten child who knows she has the right answer.
He groaned.
"You said you could do it."
"I can ... try," he said hollowly. "But--why, _why_?"
"Because," she said bleakly, "I learned long ago that a man grows to
love what he has to fight for."
"And you were going to make me fight for you and the child--even if the
lives of a hundred and seventy people were involved?"
"You said you could handle it. I thought you could."
"I'll try," he said wearily. "Oh, I'll try." He went out, dragging his
feet, his shoulders down, without looking at her.
There was a stiff silence. Marcia looked up at Miss Eagen. "It's true,
you know," she said. "A man grows to love the things he has to defend,
no matter how he felt about them before."
The stewardess looked at her, her face registering a strange mixture of
detachment and wonder. "You really believe that, don't you?"
Marcia's patience, snapped. "You don't have to look so superior. I know
what's bothering _you_. Well, he's _my_ husband, and don't you forget
it."
* * * * *
Miss Eagen's breath hissed in. Her eyes grew bright and she shook her
head slightly. Then she turned on her heel and went to the intercom.
Marcia thought for a frightened moment that she was going to call Jack
back again. Instead she dialed and said, "Hospital to Maintenance.
Petrucelli?"
"Petrucelli here."
"Come up with a crescent wrench, will you, Pet?"
Another stiff silence. A question curled into Marcia's mind and she
asked it. "Do you work on all these ships at one time or another?"
Miss Eagen did not beat around the bush. "I've been with Captain
McHenry for three years. I hope to work with him always. I think he's
the finest in the Service."
"He--th-thinks as well of you, no doubt."
Petrucelli lounged in, a big man, easy-going, powerful. "What's busted,
muscles?"
"Bolt the bed to the bulkhead, Pet. Mrs. McHenry--I'm sorry, but you'll
have to get up."
Marcia bounced resentfully off the cot and stood aside. Petrucelli
looked at her, cocked an eyebrow, looked at Miss Eagen, and asked,
"Jaywalker?"
"Please hurry, Pet." She turned to Marcia. "I've got to explain to the
passengers that there won't be any free fall. Most of them are looking
forward to it." She went out.
Marcia watched the big man work for a moment. "Why are you putting the
bed on the wall?"
He looked at her and away, quickly. "Because, lady, when we start to
spin, that outside bulkhead is going to be _down_. Centrifugal force,
see?" And before she could answer him he added, "I can't talk and work
at the same time."
Feeling very much put-upon, Marcia waited silently until he was
finished, and the bed hung ludicrously to the wall like a walking fly.
She thanked him timidly, and he ignored it and went out.
Miss Eagen returned.
"That man was very rude," said Marcia.
Miss Eagen looked at her coolly. "I'm sorry," she said, obviously not
meaning sorry at all.
Marcia wet her lips. "I asked you a question before," she said evenly.
"About you and the captain."
"You did," said Sue Eagen. "Please don't."
"And why not?"
"Because," said Miss Eagen, and in that moment she looked almost as
drawn as Jack had, "I'm supposed to be of service to the passengers at
all times no matter what. If I have feelings at all, part of my job is
to keep them to myself."
"Very courteous, I'm sure. However, I want to release you from your
sense of duty. I'm _most_ interested in what you have to say."
Miss Eagen's arched nostrils seemed pinched and white. "You really want
me to speak my piece?"
* * * * *
In answer Marcia leaned back against the bulkhead and folded her arms.
Miss Eagen gazed at her for a moment, nodded as if to herself, and
said, "I suppose there always will be people who don't pay attention
to the rules. Jaywalkers. But out here jaywalkers don't have as much
margin for error as they do crossing against a traffic light on Earth."
She looked Marcia straight in the eye. "What makes a jaywalker isn't
ignorance. It's a combination of stupidity and stubbornness. The
jaywalker does _know_ better. In your case...."
She sighed. "It's well known--even by you--that the free-fall condition
has a weird effect on certain people. The human body is in an
unprecedented situation in free fall. Biologically it has experienced
the condition for very short periods--falling out of trees, or on
delayed parachute jumps. But it isn't constituted to take hour after
hour of fall."
"What about floating in a pool for hours?" asked Marcia sullenly.
"That's quite a different situation. 'Down' exists when you're
swimming. Free-fall means that everything around you is 'up.' The
body's reactions to free-fall go much deeper than space-nausea and a
mild feeling of panic. When there's a glandular imbalance of certain
kinds, the results can be drastic. Apparently some instinctual part
of the mind reacts as if there were a violent emergency, when no
emergency is recognized by the reasoning part of the mind. There
are sudden floods of adrenalin; the 17-kesteroids begin spastic
secretions; the--well, it varies in individuals. But it's pretty well
established that the results can be fatal. It kills men with prostate
trouble--sometimes. It kills women in menopause--often. It kills women
in the early stages of pregnancy--_always_."
"But how?" asked Marcia, interested in spite of her resentment.
"Convulsions. A battle royal between a glandular-level panic and a
violent and useless effort of the will to control the situation.
Muscles tear, working against one another. Lungs rupture and air
is forced into the blood-stream, causing embolism and death. Not
everything is known about it, but I would guess that pregnant women are
especially susceptible because their protective reflexes, through and
through, are much more easily stimulated."
"And the only thing that can be done about it is to supply gravity?"
"Or centrifugal force (or centripetal, depending on where you're
standing, but why be technical?)--or, better yet, keep those people
off the ships."
"So now Jack will spin the ship until I'm pressed against the walls
with the same force as gravity, and then everything will be all right."
"You make it sound so simple."
"There's no need to be sarcastic!" Marcia blurted. "Jack can do it. You
think he can, don't you? Don't you?"
"He can do anything any space skipper has ever done, and more,"
said Sue Eagen, and her face glowed. "But it isn't easy. Right this
minute he's working over the computer--a small, simple, ship-board
computer--working out orbital and positional and blast-intensity data
that would be a hard nut for the giant calculators on Earth to crack.
And he's doing it in half the time--or less--than it would take the
average mathematician, because he has to; because it's a life-and-death
matter if he makes a mistake or takes too long."
* * * * *
"But--but--"
"But what?" Miss Eagen's composure seemed to have been blasted to
shreds by the powerful currents of her indignation. Her eyes flashed.
"You mean, but why doesn't he just work the ship while it's spinning
the same way he does when it isn't?"
Through a growing fear, Marcia nodded mutely.
"He'll spin the ship on its long axis," said the stewardess with
exaggerated patience. "That means that the steering jet tubes in the
nose and tail are spinning, too. You don't just turn with a blast on
one tube or another. The blasts have to be let off in hundreds of short
bursts, timed to the hundredth of a second, to be able to make even a
slight course correction. The sighting instruments are wheeling round
and round while you're checking your position. Your fuel has to be
calculated to the last ounce--because enough fuel for a Moon flight,
with hours of fuelless free-fall, and enough fuel for a power spin
and course corrections while spinning, are two very different things.
Captain McHenry won't be able to maneuver to a landing on the Moon.
He'll do it exactly right the first time, or not at all."
Marcia was white and still. "I--I never--"
"But I haven't told you the toughest part of it yet," Miss Eagen went
on inexorably. "A ship as massive as this, spinning on its long axis,
is a pretty fair gyroscope. It doesn't want to turn. Any force that
tries to make it turn is resisted at right angles to the force applied.
When that force is applied momentarily from jets, as they swing into
position and away again, the firing formulas get--well, complex. And
the ship's course and landing approach are completely new. Instead
of letting the ship fall to the Moon, turning over and approaching
tail-first with the main jets as brakes, Captain McHenry is going to
have to start the spin first and go almost the whole way nose-first.
He'll come up on the Moon obliquely, pass it, stop the spin, turn over
once to check the speed of the ship, and once again to put the tail
down when the Moon's gravity begins to draw us in. There'll be two
short periods of free-fall there, but they won't be long enough to
bother you much. And if we can do all that with the fuel we've got, it
will be a miracle. A miracle from the brain of Captain McHenry."
Marcia forced herself away from the bulkhead with a small whimper of
hurt and hatred--hatred of the stars, of this knowledgeable, inspired
girl, and--even more so--of herself. She darted toward the door.
Miss Eagen was beside her in an instant, a hard small hand on her arm.
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going to stop him. He can't take that chance with his ship, with
these people...."
"He will and he must. You surely know your husband."
"I know him as well as you do."
* * * * *
Miss Eagen's firm lips shut in a thin hard line. "Do as you like," she
whispered. "And while you're doing it--think about whom he's spinning
ship for." She took her hand from Marcia's arm.
Marcia twisted away and went into the corridor.
She found herself at the entrance to the pilot room. In one sweeping
glance she saw a curved, silver board. Before it a man sat tranquilly.
Nearer to her was Jack, hunched over the keyboard of a complex, compact
machine, like a harried bookkeeper on the last day of the month.
Her lips formed his name, but she was silent. She watched him, his
square, competent hands, his detached and distant face. Through the
forward view-plate she saw a harsh, jagged line, the very edge of the
Moon's disc. Next to it, and below, was the rear viewer, holding the
shimmering azure shape of Earth.
"_All Earth watches me when I work, but with your eyes._"
Jack had said that to her once, long ago, when he still loved her.
"... human damnfoolishness botching up the equations...." He had said
that once, too.
Miss Eagen was standing by the hospital door, watching her. When Marcia
turned away without speaking to Jack, Miss Eagen smiled and held out
her hand.
Marcia went to her and took the hand. They went into the hospital. Miss
Eagen didn't speak; she seemed to be waiting.
"Yes, I know who Jack's spinning the ship for," said Marcia.
Miss Eagen looked an unspoken question.
Marcia said, painfully, "He's like the Captain of the _Elsinore_. He's
risking his life for a--a stranger. A jaywalker. Not for me. Not even
for his baby."
"Does it hurt to know that?"
Marcia looked into the smooth, strong face and said with genuine
astonishment, "Hurt? Oh, no! It's so--so big!"
There was a sudden thunder. Over Miss Eagen's shoulder, through the
port, Marcia saw the stars begin to move. Miss Eagen followed her gaze.
"He's started the spin. You'll be all right now."
* * * * *
Marcia could never recall the rest of the details of the trip. There
was the outboard bulkhead that drew her like a magnet, increasingly,
until suddenly it wasn't an attracting wall, but normally and naturally
"down." Then a needle, and another one, and a long period of deep
drowsiness and unreality.
But through and through that drugged, relaxed period, Jack and the
stars, the Moon and Sue Eagen danced and wove. Words slipped in and out
of it like shreds of melody:
"A man comes to love the things he has to fight for." And Jack
fighting--for his ship, for the Moon, for the new-building traditions
of the great ones who would carry humanity out to the stars.
Sue Eagen was there, too, and the thing she shared with Jack. Of course
there was something between them--so big a thing that there was
nothing for her to fear in it.
Jack and Sue Eagen had always had it, and always would have; and now
Marcia had it too. And with understanding replacing fear, Marcia was
free to recall that Jack had worked with Sue Eagen--but it was Marcia
that he had loved and married.
* * * * *
There was a long time of blackness, and then a time of agony, when
she was falling, falling, and her lungs wanted to split, explode,
disintegrate, and someone kept saying, "Hold tight, Marcia; hold tight
to me," and she found Sue Eagen's cool strong hands in hers.
_Marcia. She called me Marcia._
More blackness, more pain--but not so much this time; and then a long,
deep sleep.
A curved ceiling, but a new curve, and soft rose instead of the
gunmetal-and-chrome of the ship. White sheets, a new feeling of "down"
that was unlike either Earth or the ship, a novel and exhilarating
buoyancy. And kneeling by the bed--
"Jack!"
"You're all right, honey."
She raised herself on her elbow and looked out through the unglazed
window at the ordered streets of the great Luna Dome. "The Moon....
Jack, you did it!"
He snapped his fingers. He looked like a high-school kid. "Nothin' to
it." She could see he was very proud. Very tired, too. He reached out
to touch her.
She drew back. "You don't have to be sweet to me," she said quietly. "I
understand how you must feel."
"Don't _have_ to?" He rose, bent over her, and slid his arms around
her. He put his face into the shadowed warmth between her hair and her
neck and said, "Listen, egghead, there's no absolute scale for courage.
We had a bad time, both of us. After it was over, and I had a chance
to think, I used it trying to look at things through your eyes. And
that way I found out that when you walked up that gangway, you did the
bravest thing I've ever known anyone to do. And you did it for me. It
doesn't matter what else happened. Sue told me a lot about you that I
didn't know, darling. You're ... real huge for your size. As for the
bad part of what happened--nothing like it can ever happen again, can
it?"
He hugged her. After a time he reached down and touched her swelling
waist. It was like a benediction. "He'll be born on the Moon," he
whispered, "and he'll have eyes the color of all Earth when it looks
out to the stars."
"_She'll_ be born on the Moon," corrected Marcia, "and her name will be
Sue, and ... and she'll be almost as good as her father."
End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Jaywalker, by Ross Rocklynne
*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JAYWALKER ***
***** This file should be named 51027.txt or 51027.zip *****
This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
http://www.gutenberg.org/5/1/0/2/51027/
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.
