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    The Second Mack Reynolds MEGAPACK®
    The Second Mack Reynolds MEGAPACK®
    The Second Mack Reynolds MEGAPACK®
    Ebook380 pages5 hours

    The Second Mack Reynolds MEGAPACK®

    By Mack Reynolds

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    About this ebook

    The Second Mack Reynolds MEGAPACK® assembles a stellar collection of rare and classic works by a science fiction master! Here are 21 tales spanning space and time by the author of the Joe Mauser series and the Legrange series. Included are:


    COME IN, SPACEPORT
    COMPOUNDED INTEREST
    THE BUSINESS, AS USUAL
    GOOD INDIAN
    NO RETURN FROM ELBA
    PACIFIST
    EARTHLINGS GO HOME!
    ALBATROSS
    THE ENEMY WITHIN
    SURVIVOR
    FAD
    SPACEMAN ON A SPREE
    THE ADVENTURE OF THE EXTRATERRESTRIAL
    UTOPIAN
    PRONE
    DOWN THE RIVER
    SECOND ADVENT
    ROMP
    FIDO
    ISOLATIONIST
    NOT IN THE RULES


    If you enjoy this ebook, check out the more than 400 other volumes in the MEGAPACK® series by Wildside Press, covering not just science fiction, but mysteries, westerns, horror, romance, and much more. Search on "Wildside Press Megapack" at your favorite ebook store to see all available volumes.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWildside Press
    Release dateSep 5, 2021
    ISBN9781479402960
    The Second Mack Reynolds MEGAPACK®

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      The Second Mack Reynolds MEGAPACK® - Mack Reynolds

      Table of Contents

      COPYRIGHT INFO

      A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER

      THE MEGAPACK SERIES

      COME IN, SPACEPORT

      COMPOUNDED INTEREST

      THE BUSINESS, AS USUAL

      GOOD INDIAN

      NO RETURN FROM ELBA

      PACIFIST

      EARTHLINGS GO HOME!

      ALBATROSS

      THE ENEMY WITHIN

      SURVIVOR

      FAD

      SPACEMAN ON A SPREE

      THE ADVENTURE OF THE EXTRATERRESTRIAL

      UTOPIAN

      PRONE

      DOWN THE RIVER

      SECOND ADVENT

      ROMP

      FIDO

      ISOLATIONIST

      NOT IN THE RULES

      COPYRIGHT INFO

      The Second Mack Reynolds MEGAPACK® is copyright © 2014 by Wildside Press, LLC. All rights reserved.

      The MEGAPACK® name is a registered trademark of Wildside Press LLC.

      * * * *

      Author’s Introductions originally published in The Best of Mack Reynolds. Copyright © 1976 by Mack Reynolds.

      Come In, Spaceport originally appeared in Go: Reading in the Content Areas. Copyright © 1974 by Scholastic Magazine.

      Compounded Interest originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Aug 1956. Copyright © 1956 by Mack Reynolds. Edited version copyright © 2014 by Wildside Press LLC.

      The Business, As Usual originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, June 1952. Copyright © 1952 by Mercury Press. Edited version copyright © 2014 by Wildside Press LLC.

      Good Indian originally appeared in Analog, Sept 1962. Copyright © 1962 by Conde Nast Publications. Copyright renewed 1990 by Mack Reynolds. Renewal B00000987665. Edited version copyright © 2014 by Wildside Press LLC.

      No Return from Elba originally appeared in Fantastic Stories, September-October 1953. Copyright © 1953 by Mack Reynolds. Edited version copyright © 2014 by Wildside Press LLC.

      Pacifist originally appeared in The Magazine of fantasy & science fiction, Jan. 1964. Copyright © 1964 by Mercury Press.

      Earthlings Go Home! originally appeared in Rogue, August 1962. Copyright © 1962 by Mack Reynolds. Edited version copyright © 2014 by Wildside Press LLC.

      Albatross originally appeared in Imagination, April 1955. Copyright © 1955 by Mack Reynolds. Edited version copyright © 2014 by Wildside Press LLC.

      The Enemy Within originally appeared in Analog, April 1967. Copyright © 1967 by Conde Nast Publications.

      Survivor originally appeared in Analog, July 1966. Copyright © 1966 by Conde Nast Publications.

      Fad originally appeared in Analog, April 1965. Copyright © 1965 by Conde Nast Publications.

      Spaceman on a Spree originally appeared in Worlds of Tomorrow, June 1963. Copyright © 1963 by Mack Reynolds. Edited version copyright © 2014 by Wildside Press LLC.

      The Adventure of the Extraterrestrial originally appeared in Analog, July 1965. Copyright © 1965 by Conde Nast Publications.

      Utopian originally appeared in The Year 2000. Copyright © 1970 by Mack Reynolds.

      Prone originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, September 1954. Copyright © 1954 by Mercury Press. Edited version copyright © 2014 by Wildside Press LLC.

      Down the River originally appeared in Startling Stories, September 1950. Edited version copyright © 2014 by Wildside Press LLC.

      Second Advent originally appeared in Worlds of If, May-June 1974. Copyright © 1974 by UPD Publishing Corp.

      Romp originally appeared in Analog, Oct 1966. Copyright © 1966 by Conde Nast Publications.

      Fido originally appeared in Fantastic Adventures, May 1950. Edited version copyright © 2014 by Wildside Press LLC.

      Isolationist originally appeared in Fantastic Adventures, April 1950. Edited version copyright © 2014 by Wildside Press LLC.

      Not in the Rules originally appeared in Imagination, April 1951. Copyright © 1951 by Mack Reynolds. Edited version copyright © 2014 by Wildside Press LLC.

      Romp originally appeared in Analog, October 1966. Copyright © 1966 by Conde Nast Publications.

      Fido originally appeared in Fantastic Adventures, May 1950. Edited version copyright © 2014 by Wildside Press LLC.

      Not in the Rules originally appeared in Imagination, April 1951. Edited version copyright © 2014 by Wildside Press LLC.

      A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER

      Welcome to The Second Mack Reynolds MEGAPACK®, continuing our Mack Reynolds reprint program. When Wildside Press purchased Mack Reynolds’ literary estate from his son, Emil, in 2013, we were far more familiar with his novels than his short stories. That’s undoubtedly because many of those short stories have been undeservedly locked away in dusty old magazines for generations. In fact, as far as we can tell, only one collection of Mack’s shorter works was published in his lifetime—The Best of Mack Reynolds, in 1976 (Pocket Books). [And decidedly not to be confused with another, unauthorized collection of random public domain short stories published under the same title many years later and which we are trying to get renamed to avoid confusion among readers.)

      Anyway, the Pocket Books edition was the source for most of this volume. I have kept Mack’s original introductions, too, which I think add a lot to the stories. I removed several fantasy stories as well as stories which appeared in our first Mack Reynolds Megapack to avoid duplication and to focus this volume more on science fiction. (Don’t worry, those fantasy stories will appear in other Megapacks. Wildside Press wastes no stories!)

      And if after reading the first two Mack Reynolds Megapacks and want still more after reading The Mack Reynolds Megapack and The Second Mack Reynolds MEGAPACK®, I refer you to the latest issue of my fanzine, Adventure Tales #7, which is a Special Mack Reynolds issue and contains 6 more stories plus 2 essays by Mack (plus work by a lot of other great pulp writers). It should be in the same ebook store where you purchased this volume.

      Enjoy!

      —John Betancourt

      Publisher, Wildside Press LLC

      www.wildsidepress.com

      ABOUT THE MEGAPACKS

      Over the last few years, our Megapack series of ebook anthologies has grown to be among our most popular endeavors. (Maybe it helps that we sometimes offer them as premiums to our mailing list!) One question we keep getting asked is, Who’s the editor?

      The Megapacks (except where specifically credited) are a group effort. Everyone at Wildside works on them. This includes John Betancourt (me), Carla Coupe, Steve Coupe, Bonner Menking, Colin Azariah-Kribbs, A.E. Warren, and many of Wildside’s authors…who often suggest stories to include (and not just their own!)

      A NOTE FOR KINDLE READERS

      The Kindle versions of our Megapacks employ active tables of contents for easy navigation…please look for one before writing reviews on Amazon that complain about the lack! (They are sometimes at the ends of ebooks, depending on your reader.)

      RECOMMEND A FAVORITE STORY?

      Do you know a great classic science fiction story, or have a favorite author whom you believe is perfect for the Megapack series? We’d love your suggestions! You can post them on our message board at http://movies.ning.com/forum (there is an area for Wildside Press comments).

      Note: we only consider stories that have already been professionally published. This is not a market for new works.

      TYPOS

      Unfortunately, as hard as we try, a few typos do slip through. We update our ebooks periodically, so make sure you have the current version (or download a fresh copy if it’s been sitting in your ebook reader for months.) It may have already been updated.

      If you spot a new typo, please let us know. We’ll fix it for everyone. You can email the publisher at [email protected] or use the message boards above.

      THE MEGAPACK SERIES

      MYSTERY

      The Achmed Abdullah Megapack

      The Bulldog Drummond Megapack*

      The Charlie Chan Megapack*

      The Craig Kennedy Scientific Detective Megapack

      The Detective Megapack

      The Father Brown Megapack

      The Girl Detective Megapack

      The Second Girl Detective Megapack

      The First R. Austin Freeman Megapack

      The Second R. Austin Freeman Megapack*

      The Third R. Austin Freeman Megapack*

      The Jacques Futrelle Megapack

      The Anna Katharine Green Mystery Megapack

      The First Mystery Megapack

      The Second Mystery Megapack

      The Penny Parker Megapack

      The Philo Vance Megapack*

      The Pulp Fiction Megapack

      The Raffles Megapack

      The Sherlock Holmes Megapack

      The Victorian Mystery Megapack

      The Wilkie Collins Megapack

      GENERAL INTEREST

      The Adventure Megapack

      The Baseball Megapack

      The Cat Story Megapack

      The Second Cat Story Megapack

      The Third Cat Story Megapack

      The Third Cat Story Megapack

      The Christmas Megapack

      The Second Christmas Megapack

      The Classic American Short Stories Megapack, Vol. 1.

      The Classic Humor Megapack

      The Dog Story Megapack

      The Doll Story Megapack

      The Horse Story Megapack

      The Military Megapack

      The Pirate Story Megapack

      The Sea-Story Megapack

      THE GOLDEN AGE OF SCIENCE FICTION MEGAPACKS

      1. Winston K. Marks

      2. Mark Clifton

      3. Poul Anderson

      4. Clifford D. Simak

      SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY

      The Edward Bellamy Megapack

      The First Reginald Bretnor Megapack

      The Fredric Brown Megapack

      The Ray Cummings Megapack

      The Philip K. Dick Megapack

      The Dragon Megapack

      The Randall Garrett Megapack

      The Second Randall Garrett Megapack

      The Edmond Hamilton Megapack

      The C.J. Henderson Megapack

      The Murray Leinster Megapack

      The Second Murray Leinster Megapack

      The Jack London Science Fiction Megapack

      The Martian Megapack

      The A. Merritt Megapack*

      The E. Nesbit Megapack

      The Andre Norton Megapack

      The H. Beam Piper Megapack

      The Pulp Fiction Megapack

      The Mack Reynolds Megapack

      The Darrell Schweitzer Megapack

      The Science-Fantasy Megapack

      The First Science Fiction Megapack

      The Second Science Fiction Megapack

      The Third Science Fiction Megapack

      The Fourth Science Fiction Megapack

      The Fifth Science Fiction Megapack

      The Sixth Science Fiction Megapack

      The Seventh Science Fiction Megapack

      The Eighth Science Fiction Megapack

      The Robert Sheckley Megapack

      The Space Opera Megapack

      The Steampunk Megapack

      The Time Travel Megapack

      The William Hope Hodgson Megapack

      The Wizard of Oz Megapack

      HORROR

      The Achmed Abdullah Megapack

      The Second Achmed Abdullah Megapack

      The E.F. Benson Megapack

      The Second E.F. Benson Megapack

      The Algernon Blackwood Megapack

      The Second Algernon Blackwood Megapack

      The Cthulhu Mythos Megapack

      The Erckmann-Chatrian Megapack

      The Ghost Story Megapack

      The Second Ghost Story Megapack

      The Third Ghost Story Megapack

      The Haunts & Horrors Megapack

      The Horror Megapack

      The Lon Williams Weird Western Megapack

      The M.R. James Megapack

      The Macabre Megapack

      The Second Macabre Megapack

      The Third Macabre Megapack

      The Arthur Machen Megapack**

      The Mummy Megapack

      The Occult Detective Megapack

      The Darrell Schweitzer Megapack

      The Vampire Megapack

      The Weird Fiction Megapack

      The Werewolf Megapack

      The William Hope Hodgson Megapack

      WESTERNS

      The B.M. Bower Megapack

      The Max Brand Megapack

      The Buffalo Bill Megapack

      The Cowboy Megapack

      The Zane Grey Megapack

      The Lon Williams Weird Western Megapack

      The Western Megapack

      The Second Western Megapack

      YOUNG ADULT

      The Boys’ Adventure Megapack

      The Dan Carter, Cub Scout Megapack

      The Dare Boys Megapack

      The Doll Story Megapack

      The G.A. Henty Megapack

      The Girl Detectives Megapack

      The E. Nesbit Megapack

      The Penny Parker Megapack

      The Pinocchio Megapack

      The Rover Boys Megapack

      The Tom Corbett, Space Cadet Megapack

      The Tom Swift Megapack

      The Wizard of Oz Megapack

      AUTHOR MEGAPACKS

      The Achmed Abdullah Megapack

      The H. Bedford-Jones Pulp Fiction Megapack

      The Edward Bellamy Megapack

      The B.M. Bower Megapack

      The E.F. Benson Megapack

      The Second E.F. Benson Megapack

      The Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson Megapack

      The Algernon Blackwood Megapack

      The Second Algernon Blackwood Megapack

      The Max Brand Megapack

      The First Reginald Bretnor Megapack

      The Fredric Brown Megapack

      The Second Fredric Brown Megapack

      The Wilkie Collins Megapack

      The Stephen Crane Megapack

      The Ray Cummings Megapack

      The Guy de Maupassant Megapack

      The Philip K. Dick Megapack

      The Frederick Douglass Megapack

      The Erckmann-Chatrian Megapack

      The F. Scott Fitzgerald Megapack

      The First R. Austin Freeman Megapack

      The Second R. Austin Freeman Megapack*

      The Third R. Austin Freeman Megapack*

      The Jacques Futrelle Megapack

      The Randall Garrett Megapack

      The Second Randall Garrett Megapack

      The Anna Katharine Green Megapack

      The Zane Grey Megapack

      The Edmond Hamilton Megapack

      The Dashiell Hammett Megapack

      The C.J. Henderson Megapack

      The M.R. James Megapack

      The Selma Lagerlof Megapack

      The Harold Lamb Megapack

      The Murray Leinster Megapack***

      The Second Murray Leinster Megapack***

      The Jonas Lie Megapack

      The Arthur Machen Megapack**

      The Katherine Mansfield Megapack

      The George Barr McCutcheon Megapack

      The A. Merritt Megapack*

      The Talbot Mundy Megapack

      The E. Nesbit Megapack

      The Andre Norton Megapack

      The H. Beam Piper Megapack

      The Mack Reynolds Megapack

      The Rafael Sabatini Megapack

      The Saki Megapack

      The Darrell Schweitzer Megapack

      The Robert Sheckley Megapack

      The Bram Stoker Megapack

      The Lon Williams Weird Western Megapack

      The Virginia Woolf Megapack

      The William Hope Hodgson Megapack

      * Not available in the United States

      ** Not available in the European Union

      ***Out of print.

      OTHER COLLECTIONS YOU MAY ENJOY

      The Great Book of Wonder, by Lord Dunsany (it should have been called The Lord Dunsany Megapack)

      The Wildside Book of Fantasy

      The Wildside Book of Science Fiction

      Yondering: The First Borgo Press Book of Science Fiction Stories

      To the Stars—And Beyond! The Second Borgo Press Book of Science Fiction Stories

      Once Upon a Future: The Third Borgo Press Book of Science Fiction Stories

      Whodunit?—The First Borgo Press Book of Crime and Mystery Stories

      More Whodunits—The Second Borgo Press Book of Crime and Mystery Stories

      X is for Xmas: Christmas Mysteries

      COME IN, SPACEPORT

      AUTHOR’S INTRODUCTION

      This is a type of story undreamed of a quarter of a century ago. It’s a juvenile and written on order for a child’s textbook, GO: Reading in the Content Areas, edited by Harold L. Herber of Syracuse University. Heavens to Betsy, who would have thought that science fiction would one day be turning up in children’s textbooks? When I was a lad, we fans used to have to hide our magazines from our parents.

      —Mack Reynolds

      * * * *

      Bruce Camaroon was on duty as repeat man for the monitoring computers when the first call came through. There was precious little to do. He just had to be there, in case something did come up. This job was going to go down the drain one of these days; the computers didn’t really need him. He could have handled the duties, home in bed. All he’d have to do was have an alarm, so they could rouse him up, if anything developed.

      Radio technician Dick MaGruder was sitting across the desk from him, chewing the rag, and Jill Farnsworth, the secretary, who was just about as useful as Bruce was, was on the other side of the control room, using her voco-typer. She was probably doing personal letters.

      One of the computers had evidently picked up something out of the way. His screen clicked.

      A rather high-pitched voice said: ‘‘Emergency, emergency. Please come in. This is Jimmy… uh, James Barry. In Lifeboat 2, of Spaceship Promised Land. There are two of us. My sister and me. She’s hurt. We’re all that’s left. They… they’re all dead. Our parents… and everybody. Jane’s burnt bad. Please have an ambulance at the spaceport. Please put me in contact with a doctor, right away. I have to ask him what to do."

      Bruce Camaroon’s eyes were bugging. "The Promised Land! It blew! There were no survivors!"

      MaGruder snarled, Shut up, listen!

      The voice went on. I smeared all the ointments in the medicine chest on her and bandaged her all up. My father is… my father was, a doctor. I also stuck one, uh, Syrette of, I think, a sedative into her. It said on the tube, Pseudo-Morphine. I don’t know if I should give her any more or not. She’s asleep. She’s not very big. Ten years old. I don’t know if she should have been given a full Syrette or not. Or maybe she even needs another one. She’s burnt pretty bad, all over, almost.

      He took a deep, tear-choked breath, and went on. Anyway, I’m following the space lifeboat instruction book as good as I can. I think I’m doing all right. I think we’re heading for the Northern Hemisphere. The book says there are four spaceports there. So I’m calling New Denver Spaceport. Calling New Denver Spaceport, for landing instructions. Please come in, New Denver Spaceport. Uh, over and out.

      Holy smokes, Bruce yelled. Jill! Get one of the pilots. I think Bill is on standby.

      Jill was ahead of him. He’s on his way already, she snapped. Into her auto-secretary she was saying, Locate Mr. Zimmerman, locate Mr. Barkley, locate Mr. Rykov. Instruct them to check in with control tower immediately.

      Bruce said to Dick MaGruder, who lunged into the seat before the set on the space pick-up, Try to get video on this and more amplification. He sounds pretty far out.

      Right.

      Bruce went back to his own screen and said, "New Denver Spaceport, calling James Barry, Lifeboat 2, of Promised Land. Come in, Barry."

      "Emergency, emergency. Space Lifeboat 2 of Promised Land, calling New Denver Spaceport. Require landing instructions. Require landing instructions."

      Bill Wellingham came bursting into the office. He slid into the pilot’s seat and took over.

      Okay. This is New Denver. We’re getting you fairly clear. Now listen. Right on your left is a small switch painted green and labeled Control Release. Pull it down. We’ll lock in on you.

      Dick MaGruder said, Here’s your video, Bruce. Kind of faint.

      Holy smokes, Bruce Camaroon protested. The face and upper torso that had faded in was that of a thirteen or fourteen year old.

      The youngster was saying, a bit desperately, Calling New Denver Spaceport for landing instructions. Emergency. Emergency.

      Bill Wellingham said urgently, Receiving you loud and clear, son.

      Jill said, Tell him a doctor is on the way to give him instructions about his sister.

      Bill said, A doctor is on the way to give you medical advice. Now listen, boy. Just to your left on that bank of buttons and dials and everything is a green switch. Right under it is a little sign saying Control Release. Now just push it down.

      The boy was peering into the screen before which he sat, listening anxiously. Finally, he shook his head and picked up a booklet from what must have been the radio table before him. He thumbed through it, licking what must have been dry lips.

      He looked into the screen again and said, "Emergency. Emergency. Calling Dundee Spaceport. Calling Dundee Spaceport. Jimmy Barry, Lifeboat 2 of Spaceship Promised Land, calling for emergency landing instructions. Ten-year-old girl aboard, needing… must have… immediate medical attention. Calling Dundee Spaceport."

      The occupants of the control room at Spaceport New Denver slumped back into their chairs, aghast.

      Jill said What… what’s happened?

      Nobody answered her.

      They could hear the Scottish spaceport answering. Calling Jimmy Barry. Calling Jimmy Barry. We are receiving you clearly, Jimmy Barry. You are all right. You’ll be fine, lad. Now, here is what you must do, you know. Turn to your left. There on the bulkhead is a green lever. It is labeled Control Release. Simply press it down and we’ll take over, laddy. Don’t worry. Everything is all right.

      The thin voice came through again. "Calling Dundee Spaceport. Space Lifeboat 2, Promised Land. Please come in. I need landing instructions."

      Dick MaGruder said flatly, He isn’t receiving.

      The boy peered anxiously into the screen. MaGruder had been able to get better amplification by now. The youngster’s face was quite clear.

      After a time he took up his pamphlet again and thumbed through it. He muttered, quite audibly, Maybe at this time of the day they’re on the far side of the planet. Maybe they can’t hear me.

      Bruce groaned. We can hear you, kid. We can hear you.

      The boy looked up and said, obviously very carefully, and as clear as he could make his voice, "Calling Kiev Spaceport. Calling Kiev Spaceport. I do not speak Russian. Lifeboat 2, Spaceship Promised Land. Emergency. Emergency. Please send me landing instructions. Uh, over and out."

      The voice that responded was obviously foreign to the boy’s native language, heavy with accent. But it said, "Kiev Spaceport. We read you, we read you, young James Barry. You are coming in clearly. We can bring you down. The Soviet Complex has been most distressed by the terrible loss of the Promised Land and its refugees. We sorrow with you for the destruction of your parents and your comrades. However, now there is work at hand. What you must do is turn to your left. There on the board of control of your space lifeboat is a switch. It is green in color. You must drop it. Then we will be in control. Then we will bring you down. We have heard your other messages to America and to Great Britain. We will have an ambulance for your sad little sister. All will be well. Drop the switch."

      Calling Kiev Spaceport. Calling Kiev Spaceport.

      Jill rolled her eyes upward in agony.

      After a time. Calling Peking Spaceport. Calling Peking Spaceport. Emergency. Calling Peking Spaceport.

      The voice that answered was in perfect English, and it answered immediately.

      "Peking Spaceport calling Space Lifeboat 2, of the Promised Land. We are familiar with your problem, young Mr. Barry. We are afraid there is something wrong with your receiver. If you can receive us, immediately deflect the small green lever to your left which is labeled Control Release. You are in an American K-13 space lifecraft. We have the specifications, as do all nations which participate in space. We can bring you down quite safely. A China People’s Republic ambulance is awaiting with our most competent doctors specializing in burns for your so sorry little sister."

      There were perhaps fifteen minutes of silence, during which the boy was peering into the screen. Then he said, and there was a weary note in his voice:

      "Mayday, Mayday. I think that’s what it’s called. Calling any Earth spaceport. Emergency, emergency. Space Lifeboat 2. Spaceship Promised Land. I have to have instructions for landing. I don’t know anything about this. There is nothing that makes any sense to me in the direction books. I have to have…I have to be told about coming down to land. I don’t know how to do it. My sister… I’m afraid my sister is dying. I have to have some doctor tell me what to do…I have to be told what to do…"

      Jill said, sickly, What’s involved? If he’s as old as he looks, he should be able to read the pamphlets.

      Bill Wellingham looked at her emptily. You’ve been working here this long and you don’t know the answer to that? Spacecraft are landed from the ground up, not from space down. Sure, a pilot who has studied five years or so can land a specially designed spacecraft on some obscure satellite or something. But the average spacecraft, the liners, the cargo carriers, the lifecraft and all the rest are landed from the spaceports by competent pilots who know how to do it. It isn’t just that that kid up there is in his early teens. Even if he was a gung-ho scientist with a background in space navigation, he couldn’t land a lifeboat. I’d have my work cut out doing it, and I’m a pro.

      The boy’s voice was saying urgently, Emergency, emergency. Calling any Earth Spaceport.

      Bruce Camaroon wearily flicked on his screen and said, New Denver Spaceport calling Jimmy Barry, Space Lifeboat 2. Come in, Jimmy Barry.

      On the office space communications screen, which Dick had thrown on, they could hear the others.

      Dundee Spaceport calling Jimmy Barry...

      Kiev Spaceport calling Space Lifeboat 2...

      Peking Spaceport responding to James Barry. Come in, James Barry...

      There was despair on the boy’s face. Maybe I’m too far out, he muttered. Nobody seems to hear me.

      * * * *

      Later, when the new shift took over, Bruce Camaroon, Dick MaGruder, Bill Wellingham and Jill Farnsworth sat at the administration building’s canteen over coffee. Their expressions were all wan.

      There was a group of fifteen or twenty at the far end of the room gathered about the commercial TV screen. The news commentator was replaying all that had thus far developed, with comments from space pilots, space authorities, and anyone else he could think of to call upon for opinions, including representatives of the foreign spaceports. Bruce Camaroon suspected that every other news commentator on the air, anywhere on Earth, was doing the same. Two women from landing control, watching the broadcast, were openly crying.

      Will Breck came by briskly. He said over his shoulder to Bill, We’ve got a fix on him. He’s about two days out and coming in at maximum. He hurried on.

      Bruce said to Bill Wellingham, What’s maximum for a K-13 lifecraft?

      About twenty thousand space knots.

      Jill bit her underlip. She said, What will happen if he doesn’t throw that switch? Will he crash?

      Bill shook his head, bitterly. If he hits the world, which is unlikely without us to bring him in, he’ll burn up in the atmosphere. At least that would be quick, probably less than a minute. If he misses the world, he’ll go on past and eventually be swallowed up in the sun. But their food and oxygen probably wouldn’t last that long.

      Mark Ellington went by. He called to them, The Russian Orbiting Space Platform is trying to raise him. If they can, they could relay landing instructions.

      Any luck? Bruce said.

      Not so far.

      Dick MaGruder said wearily, If they could raise him, so could we. Something’s wrong with his set.

      Jill said, Perhaps he misread the directions. Maybe he’ll reread them and get it to work correctly.

      Dick shook his head. "They couldn’t be simpler. That set was designed with hysterical, injured, half-crazed victims of a space disaster in mind. The kid might be afraid —I assume he is—but he’s not hysterical and he’s obviously smart enough to have gotten this far. No, he’s read the directions all right. The set’s broken. Probably happened when the Promised Land blew."

      Bruce said to Bill, No possible manner of getting a rescue craft up to him before he enters the atmosphere? Willy said he was still two days out.

      The space pilot was negative. No. I’ve already thought of that. So probably has everybody else. But there’s no way of getting into that lifeboat in space. They’d have to decompress it and there’s no spacesuits in it. It would kill the kids. Besides, I doubt if we could get something up on such short notice.

      Dick MaGruder said sourly, Maybe it’s best for the two of them anyway.

      They all stared at him.

      What do you mean? Jill demanded indignantly.

      Dick shrugged, his face still sour. Look at the position they’re in. No parents. No resources. No country, even.

      Why, why their parents must have been Americans. Bruce knew what Dick was getting at. He said, No. When the Mars Colony was formed about twenty years ago, there was a lot of bitterness. The colonists, to get publicity so they could raise funds, made a lot of dramatic statements about how they were fleeing Earth because of how badly it was being run by the various governments, because of how it had been polluted and its resources stripped by greedy men, because of hot wars, cold wars, bush wars, arms races and all the rest. They heaped scorn all over the place and then, finally, dramatically, they all renounced their citizenships in the countries to which they belonged. Jimmy and Jane Barry have no country. Dick’s right. They have no people, no resources, and no country. If they ever get down, maybe somebody, somewhere, will be kind enough to put them in some sort of charitable institution for orphans. I don’t know. There’s a lot of prejudice in the world against the Martian colonists. After spending all that money they collected, they finally had to give up and start back, their tails between their legs. A lot of people had invested with them, thinking that one day Martian mineral resources and so forth could be exploited. Well, it was all money down the drain. And, as it worked out, they didn’t even get back.

      Jill said, I couldn’t possibly go to bed, or even eat. Let’s go back to the control room and see what’s going on.

      Bruce’s shift was back on duty by the time young Jimmy Barry came onto the radio waves again.

      His face was drawn and it was obvious that he had given up most of his hope. He carefully called each spaceport in turn, using practically identical messages as before, and as before he drew a complete blank. For a time he fiddled with the set’s controls, sometimes fading himself out completely and then fading back in again. But nothing worked.

      I’ll wait a little while and then try again, he muttered.

      Leaving the set on, he came to his feet and they could see him retreat into the background. They were receiving him very clearly now and part of the interior of the space lifeboat as well. He approached a clumsily swathed little figure, stretched out on a bunk set into the bulkhead.

      Jane, Jill Farnsworth said emptily.

      The boy stared down at his sister and shook his head as though in despair. There was some kind of a kit sitting on a table next to the bunk. He reached into it and came up with some object they couldn’t make out.

      Probably another Syrette of Pseudo-Morphine, Dick MaGruder said tightly. What did the docs say?

      Bruce said, It’s all right. The kind they put in the medical kits in those lifeboats are only one quarter grain. But, of course, Jimmy doesn’t know that. He’s afraid an overdose will kill her. He undoubtedly figures that with a body that small she can only take possibly half as much as a full-grown adult.

      The boy evidently came to a

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