A world to die for
Date: 2024-04-08T00:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Science fiction; Short stories; Space ships -- Fiction; Human-alien encounters -- Fiction

The Project Gutenberg eBook of A world to die for

This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.

Title: A world to die for

Author: Sam Carson

Release date: April 8, 2024 [eBook #73354]

Language: English

Original publication: New York, NY: King-Size Publications, Inc, 1954

Credits: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A WORLD TO DIE FOR ***

A world to die for

By Sam Carson

Titans respect men who create,
and add to the betterment of
others. Surely it is brave to be
a Titan and muchly in love.

Another new name for these pages. Here's Sam Carson, veteran writer, TV and Radio editor, former roving newspaperman, and a father who is now "going through an involuntary course in nuclear physics" as he keeps up with his son, a chemical engineer and physicist at the University of Tennessee. And when Sam Carson sets foot on an alien planet the hills and valleys as well as the people seem to pulse with light and vitality. It's truly rarely that a writer seated behind his desk can summon such travel magic.

[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Fantastic Universe July 1954.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]

They cut the Markab out of hyper space three parsecs from Deneb, on the North Galactic Polar course. Three men were aboard the space yacht. The alien ship they expected to find was a thousand times greater. By standards of the Galactic Service, the Markab was on a suicide mission.

Rik Guelf, the Markab's pilot, conned sync parallax tapes, the robot master controls and set the screen charts. In came Captain Rodolph, stout and weary from twenty years of patrol service. Behind was Pere Danold, thin and lithe, with feral eyes and tight lips.

"I'm tossing out telar screens. If they're breaking out of hyper, as the outposts charted, we won't wait long."

"You hope," Danold's sardonic voice jeered. "Your phantom ship paralyzes five ships of the line beyond Altair, so they send for us to blast it."

Captain Rodolph looked the younger man over thoughtfully. "You volunteered back at Fleet Base Eighty."

Danold settled to a bench, legs outstretched. "Why not? When the brass installs the newest trinogen gun in this dinky yacht," he laughed mirthlessly, "one that can blast the ears off a cruiser at a thousand miles—well, I wanted a crack. Trouble was," he added, "I thought we were after a Vegan, making a sneak attack."

"You were told it was a mission beyond the call of duty," Rodolph said sternly. "None of the ships meeting the alien had a trinogen battery. We can't carry but one. We've got the fast drive. They figure we can get in one shot and duck."

"I still say it would make sense to arm a fleet with trinogens," Danold grumbled. "If that alien has a transparent ship five miles long, which I gravely doubt on both counts."

Rik Guelf or Captain Rodolph could have pointed out that fully two hundred Galactic Service crewmen had seen the ship, that beams passed through it and only telar caught its outlines. And there was no doubt of the alien's fire power. It had paralyzed electronic systems for hours, leaving the fleet marooned while it moved majestically onward.

The Markab was Guelf's, the gift of his mother's family. They had influence and power, enough to provide as fleet a small space craft as the Galaxy could boast, and to borrow Captain Rodolph from patrol service.

There was a reason for all this. Eiler Guelf, Rik's father, ranked foremost among explorers, had been lost with his ship, the Perseid, five years before. That was in the Rigel sector. And a half dozen outposts had caught the strange message Eiler Guelf sent before he vanished.

"... Met crystal woman ... alien ship ... am—"

Telar screens reached out by means of meshed beams. Streaks showed the path of meteors, leaving ghostly streaks. Once a freighter broke out of hyper, vanished after making a period check.

"Met crystal woman ..." Well, out of reports by the Galactic Service ships crippled by the great alien visitor, there were two which were responsible for the Markab's presence here, attempting to intercept. Two observers had seen—or thought they had—the titan-like outlines of a woman aboard the ship.

Was she the crystal woman? Captain Rodolph thought so. Danold wasn't consulted. He was the gift of Galactic Service, and that organization was curious to know if a trinogen gun could stand up against the strange but powerful blue beams the alien possessed.

Rik Guelf had to know if his father was alive. And there was a chance....

For centuries, since Earthmen had left their own solar system and penetrated the galaxy with hyper space drive, there had been rumors of a giant race, the Titans.

The strange, cold intelligent life-forms of the Rigellian cluster had their version of Titans, but they seemed afraid, or at least uninterested, in passing information to Galactic Service. Rigellians abhorred Earthmen. They traded, kept diplomatic contacts. Beyond that, they refused all contact.

It was in territory of the Rigel federation that the elder Guelf had traveled, nearing the end of a five year charting voyage. And he had said in his last report that bits of information gained along his route bore out reports of a giant ship crossing the galaxy. The Perseid had tried to intercept the visitor.

Rik Guelf was acting more on a hunch than on logic. He believed the Perseid was captured, that the aliens—Titans or not—came into the galaxy hunting specimens.

Maybe it was logical after all. Captain Rodolph was inclined to accept Rik's theory, with reservations. He had agreed to let Rik try his hand at making contact should they meet the alien. But he also told Danold to be ready.

Danold was ready. He believed the trinogen gun, with an area of destruction so great that at extreme range error of one hundred miles was negligible, was master of space warships. And he was eager to try out his belief.

On the third day, the robot scanners idling, alarm bells rang suddenly. Rik was in his bunk. He collided with Danold in the corridor, racing to the scanning room.

Captain Rodolph came in slowly, breathing hard. He stared, as did Rik and Danold, at the incredible sight. On all screens a ship showed, oval in shape, tremendous in length. Its substance could not be determined for skeleton girders, even machines, showed vaguely. And moving slowly on the screen, strode a woman in white robes!

"By the grace of Polaris," Captain Rodolph whispered, "it's five miles long, if it's a meter."

Danold recovered first. "She's inside fifty miles. Let's blast." He whirled, headed for the gunnery room. "Danold," Rodolph shouted. "Hold it!"

For a moment Danold seemed about to defy orders. Then discipline told. "May I remind you, sir," he snapped, "that surprise is the element, the factor if we're attacking."

Rodolph didn't answer. He nodded to Rik. "Use all frequencies. Challenge in service code."

Rik called. The huge ship, moving slowly, disdained to answer. The woman was dimly visible, staring their way. Rik drew in a long breath. "Whoever you are," he said, "please acknowledge."

Danold slammed the door of the gunnery room. Even then Captain Rodolph wasn't prepared for his insubordinate act. Too late he felt the shudder, the roar of the trinogen gun.

"The fool!" Rodolph cried. He reached for a switch which cut off power to the gunnery room. But he was too late. As his hand touched the button a series of crimson patches splashed along the alien ship's hull.

For a moment Guelf believed that the trinogen gun had made a hit. Then the splashes faded into nothingness and there stood the ship, hull as semi-transparent as ever.

"We're in for it now!" Rodolph shouted. "The fool didn't touch her!"

The woman stood rigid, her figure was clearer now. Slowly she moved an arm and a column of intense brilliant blue, shot toward the Markab.... And darkness enveloped them....

Gravity fled the Markab. Tumbling, Guelf caromed into Rodolph. They were moving, but Rik Guelf never knew even that for his head crashed against the wall and he blacked out....

When he came to, lights were on again. Guelf felt a heaviness as he lifted his body. He saw Captain Rodolph standing, gazing at a row of machines that were gliding into the control room from the passage-way.

The machines were small, like canisters on struts, with tiny casters beneath them. And each canister had four tentacles. They emitted intense, bluish light.

Captain Rodolph looked down at Guelf. "Take it easy," he said. "We've been captured. And these things"—he pointed to the machines—"are It."

Guelf's head ached. He staggered to his feet. "Danold?" he gasped.

"They took him away right after opening our lock. I don't know why—or why they didn't take us, too."

A voice, low and compelling, spoke in Rik Guelf's brain. "You and Captain Rodolph will quit your ship. I advise you not to resist."

Rodolph jumped and Guelf knew he had received the order too. The robots wheeled aside, let them pass. "We're in her ship," Rodolph said. "She hooked us—lassoed us is a better word. Here we are."

The compartment was awe-inspiring in size. A blue vaulted ceiling rose a thousand feet overhead. From wall to wall was the same distance. The floor beneath them was metallic, not translucent. It appeared as solid as any Earth metal.

Huge conduits ran to machines that the squat robots were tending. The equipment rose a hundred feet high.

Then they saw Danold. He was walking slowly toward a moving runway. Robots stepped on and off the runway as they went about what seemed to be routine matters. And the same calm voice which had spoken soundlessly into their minds, now bade them step on the runway.

They did so, traveled toward a screen and through it into a long, dim corridor.

And at the end of the corridor stood the Crystal Woman.

She was a giantess—a Titan—. She sat in a chair, white robe trailing from her shoulders and fully a hundred feet beyond her sandaled feet. And the three men stood like midgets before her, stared, rendered silent with awe as the runway slowed to a full stop.

They waited, Danold with legs outspread, defiant, hands on blasters which he carried in holsters. Rodolph and Guelf were unarmed. Rodolph folded his arms and tried to give the look of a man unafraid.

Guelf wasn't thinking of the woman's size, nor of what she represented. "Beautiful!" raced through his mind. "With a beauty which hurts like a sharp, twisting blade."

The woman's dark eyes stopped on Guelf. "Thank you," she said pleasantly. A shiver ran through Guelf, and he had no time to wonder at her knowledge of his own tongue.

Now the woman looked at Danold. She rested an elbow on a knee, cupping her chin. "Little man?" she asked softly, "why did you try to destroy the Avol—my ship?"

"You are my enemy," Danold answered. "You fired on Galactic Service ships. You destroyed the Perseid and its crew. It was my duty to try and down you."

"Your Galactic Service attacked first. When I fled to hyper space they followed. When I emerged, they were on all sides. I had no quarrel with them."

"What do you want?" Danold said harshly. "This is our Galaxy. It—"

"Little men from one planet? And you claim a Galaxy?"

Danold nodded, looked stubborn. "You've got us," he admitted. "But somehow, some time, we'll destroy you. Unless," he added, "you recognize our authority and confess your trespassing."

The woman regarded Danold and there was a look of sadness in her beautiful eyes. "In your minds you call me a Titan," she mused. "Perhaps I am. But I am not a race, such as you assume. I am not disputing space with any life-form. The Avol is mine and I have a mission, little men. If your Galactic Service forbids my traveling where I choose, I am sorry. But nothing your race can do shall stop me."

Danold reached for his guns. Rodolph and Guelf acted as one to stop him. But Danold fired straight at the heart of the woman before they could reach him.

Nothing happened. That is, nothing happened to the woman—but Danold vanished!

"And you," the woman addressed Captain Rodolph, "you had a different reason for intercepting me."

"I am a soldier," Rodolph answered. "I think you know my reason—I was on no mission of destruction."

"Only if your trinogen gun could have matched my weapons," she said drily. "But you withheld your 'destruction' until you were sure. Your Markab is undamaged, Captain Rodolph. It will carry you back to your home port. And you will find your impetuous gunner in his quarters.

"Tell your Galactic Service superiors that I am called Shellon," she added. "When I have completed my mission I shall probably never revisit your Galaxy.... You may go, Captain Rodolph."

Rodolph turned and strode to the runway. "Come on Rik," he called.

"Rik Guelf stays," the woman said.

Rodolph turned, said, "He's not like Danold. He—"

"I mean no harm to your friend, Captain. I merely wish to talk with him alone." She smiled slightly.

From nowhere a row of squat robots materialized. Gently they thrust Rodolph onto the runway. "Rik," he called, "I won't leave till she turns you loose. They'll have to kill me to make me go without you...."

Rik somehow had no fear at all, but this emotional display from Rodolph was warming.

"Thanks, Rodolph," he said. "But I am not afraid. I feel sure no harm will come to me." He turned back to the fascinating creature on the throne-like chair.

Rigellians were life-forms, no larger than Earthmen. Vegans were smaller. But this Titan—she was amazing.

Rik Guelf waited. He felt no anger, no sense of antagonism. Rather, he had a sense of relief now that he faced her.

The riddle of Space beyond the perimeter of the Galaxy was beyond his comprehension. But somehow Rik Guelf knew he stood before a Being, not an Enemy.

"I know the question in your mind," the woman who called herself Shellon said softly. "You wish news of Eiler Guelf, your father."

Rik Guelf nodded, feeling excited, trying not to show his feelings.

"He is well, and with his command. His Perseid I had to destroy. But I built your father another ship." She smiled. "He is placed with his new craft and his new assignment."

He stared at her, amazement filling him now.

"Where is he? And what is his new assignment? Why did he desert Galactic?"

Shellon considered his questions. There was a faraway look in her eyes. Finally she said, "He is so far away that your hyper space drive cannot reach him. He is beyond the reach of Galactic Service."

Anger gripped Rik suddenly. "He took the oath to serve Galactic unto death. And my father is no deserter."

Shellon regarded him thoughtfully. "Your mind tells me that Eiler Guelf was your hero, and after your mother died both of you were lonely. Would it hurt if I told you he has mated with a woman of my race, that he is now a Titan?"

Rik gasped. It was incredible. Yet Eiler Guelf had believed in such a race as the Titans. Wherever spacemen met, sooner or later talk of a giant race would crop up. But until the crystal ship had appeared, there had been no real evidence of such a race. Unless they were Vegans, Rigellians. "How could my father become a Titan?" he said.

"Between your world and ours there stands a barrier," she explained. "Where the Markab is docked there is a barrier which is within my touch, but is your dimension. This side of the barrier, where I am sitting is our dimension—what you call 'Titan' world.

"Eiler Guelf," she added, "decided to come through that barrier. It was his own choice."

Rik felt like sitting down. He felt confused. Why should the woman alter the truth? "Why—what do you want of men like my father? Of Earthmen?"

She rose to her feet deliberately. The white robe, gossamer despite its tremendous width and length, fell from her shoulders. As the mass of sheen dropped to the floor the woman let her hair down, a golden, shimmering screen about her white body. And as Rik Guelf watched, a great trembling seized him and he sank weakly to the floor....

A dream is without substance, incoherent in pattern. Rik Guelf knew this was no dream, but he felt as helpless now as he would have been in a dream as there came to him a vision....

A great city, stretching to infinity, grew from the space behind the woman. There were towers of many hues, all connected by runways. There were peaks in the distance, and on either side of a vast plain. He saw a stretch of green water. And above it the sky was also green.

From a copper disk above the city came light. It was a mammoth sun but without the hot intensity of Rik's home sun. This was the home of the Titans....

There were ships on the water, air vehicles, land machines, people in loose, thin clothing. There was verdure, trees, flowers in gardens surrounding the entire city....

And the woman was talking to him, through the vision. It was her home, this city. It had the same name as her ship—Avol. And Avol was the center of Titan culture, with schools, technical institutes, great temples of learning....

And no military organization of any kind.

There was no war here for struggle between the life forms was not necessary. Only from the archives did they know of war.

The Titans interfered with no one. When they traveled outside their galaxy, they were prepared to defend themselves, but they did not desire conflict. And only space police kept the vigil....

Shellon was telling him this mentally and Rik understood....

For a thousand years there had been a pattern of slowing up in the Titans' Time-stream. The women remained unchanged. But in comparisons-of-ability charts which were kept for every individual, the near retrogression of males was discovered.

Titan males were healthy and amiable—but with less and less driving force. And as the male drive lessened drastically, a picked group of women left Avol in search of males with the forceful characteristics Titans must regain to stop their drift backwards. Shellon was one of those women....

She had left her dimension to seek such a male, but after a century of fruitless search—for the life-form to which Titan and Earthmen belonged, was rare, as Rik's galaxy already had learned—she was returning to Titan when they had met the Perseid.

"Six men," Shellon said to Rik Guelf, "were aboard the Perseid. My friend, Berna, was with me when we found her helpless, her piles miniature suns. And of the six aboard, only Eiler Guelf was alive."

Rik felt a sudden release from the force which had rendered him so weak. Now he stood erect again. And Shellon was seated again, the robe drawn over her shoulders once more. "The atomic piles of the Perseid's drive had overheated. There was no chance to jettison them before the life-boats fused to their compartments. We had great difficulty in rescuing your father. He was seriously injured.

"When we knew that we should not be able to treat your father there, we turned our ship back to Avol." She paused. "Here we had to change him to our dimension to treat him. When he recovered, he chose to stay a Titan."

Shellon smiled. "It could be that Berna was the influence that caused him to make that decision. But aside from that, Eiler Guelf is doing many things he had longed to do in your Galaxy but was never able to do. Creative things. Titans respect men who create, who add to the betterment of others. Such creativeness is encouraged here.

"We live in peace on Titan and Titans do not have any urge to ruthlessness of any sort. And our span of life is ten thousand years."

Now she paused. Rik Guelf was trembling.

"If I become a Titan ..." raced through his mind. Then he thought of Galactic Service and his years with it, of the years spent preparing for the service, of men who had spent their lives serving it.

He had never seen Earth, but many of the men he had served with had been demoted at the whim of some sector director or other political bigwig down there on Earth. There was outlawry aplenty there, they knew. And the Galaxy Service had the job of fighting Earth's battles—some of them battles against organized outlaws. And the outlaws were renegade Earthmen.

Space men talked of the good old days, when their forefathers met other life-forms in the Galaxy. There was the showdown with Vegans, which lasted five centuries. Galactic Service had to have sporadic conflicts, skirmishes if not battles, in order to expand. Always the service was expanding. The trinogen gun was developed for colonizing expeditions in hundreds of sectors where life-forms had outgunned Galactic Service in the past.

"I should like to live the sort of life my father chose," Rik said abruptly. "Is it possible for me to become a Titan, too?"

Shellon smiled. "You must first tell your Captain Rodolph of your decision." She was studying him, her eyes bright now. "After that," she added, "I shall be waiting for you at the barrier—here."

"You know why I want to be a Titan?" Rik asked slowly.

"Hurry," she said softly, "and tell Rodolph." Her cheeks were flushed, her face alive. "Yes, I know. I know, darling—"

*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A WORLD TO DIE FOR ***

Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will be renamed.

Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away—you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark license, especially commercial redistribution.

START: FULL LICENSE

THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE

PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK

To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project Gutenberg™ License available with this file or online at www.gutenberg.org/license.

Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works

1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg™ electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in your possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project Gutenberg™ electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.

1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg™ electronic works even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project Gutenberg™ electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.

1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the United States and you are located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg™ works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg™ name associated with the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg™ License when you share it without charge with others.

1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project Gutenberg™ work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any country other than the United States.

1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:

1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must appear prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg™ work (any work on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, copied or distributed:

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.

1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg™ trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.

1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is posted with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked to the Project Gutenberg™ License for all works posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.

1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg™ License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg™.

1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project Gutenberg™ License.

1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg™ work in a format other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official version posted on the official Project Gutenberg™ website (www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg™ License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.

1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™ works unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.

1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing access to or distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works provided that:

- • You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the method you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, but he has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in Section 4, “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.”

- • You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™ License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™ works.

- • You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of receipt of the work.

- • You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works.

1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.

1.F.

1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg™ electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment.

1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a Project Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further opportunities to fix the problem.

1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.

1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.

1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg™ work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any Defect you cause.

Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg™

Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from people in all walks of life.

Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™’s goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure and permanent future for Project Gutenberg™ and future generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org.

Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation

The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws.

The Foundation’s business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s website and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact

Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation

Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without widespread public support and donations to carry out its mission of increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt status with the IRS.

The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate.

While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who approach us with offers to donate.

International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.

Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate.

Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg™ electronic works

Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg™ concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and distributed Project Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.

Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.

Most people start at our website which has the main PG search facility: www.gutenberg.org.

This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™, including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.

Table of Contents

- A world to die for

- THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE