Page 84 - Astounding Pulp V2

84 ASTO UNDING SCIE :NCE-FICTION
RFQl ·1 E. f
ernc and \\7 c:lls and S mith, and I be- ''Charlotte, the day will come when •·\\ hat :1l11111t tht' :-han·~ y,)u h:ld '-'a -
lieved that · we: could do it-that _we men will rise up off the Earth and \Ii it end meet. You've been a g-,,rnl hn\'. • , • I j 111 • TH·lm ( )h,t•n',lll11·y a11d f •l'
and worked hard to hdp 1,ut. I I-mm
-. 014/d do it. 1 set my heart on bem1 the l\loon, eYen the planets. This is you'll understand.'' 111.l r"u . _ ..
till' l Ian i111a11 ~dl<llar:-h1p, ~
0ne of the m<:n to \\·alk the su rface o the beginning." " Oh. \l',. l)ou't :-di th1l:\'. ~t' t up
the: ~1oon , to :,ee her o the1· sid e, a n d to •· ~1 ust you shout?'' '·Yes, mother.'' . 1 . •
· ....;Jwuld ha,·1.• clllllt' ll lung a~,1
a t 111,
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Joc,k back on the face o f the Ea1·tl1, hang- '·I'm sorry, but you- " Tdl '.\Ir. h'.:uncn:- 111 draw 11~~ t It' p.t-
ing in the s ky. '' I feel a headache coming. on. P lease '·Extra! Extra! Str:tlu=-phere .. I I . km,w, what I w:u1t.
.. T t1'--ed to go w ithout my lunches to try to be a little quiet \\'hen you come Rocket Reaches Pari-.. Read aaaaalllllll pl't,. t . . I ..
T he intcn,flin.· ·, 1:-tll" fla:-hl·d tntu ••~•·
,.. 11e1-ica n Rock et
pay 111v dues · 111 t ,e ,, 1 to bed .'' about 't." The thin little man in the
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bifocals snatched at the paper and hm- •·Thl' gcntk1111..·11 arc 111.•n•. ::\Ir. J larn-
Society. because 1 wan ted to believe that H e hndn't gone to bed. He had sat
I was helping to bring the day ~carer out on the Yeranda a ll night long, watch- ricd back LO the office. man. 't'lll in. . . • 11 \ •ht,,
11 l3l s a . . :-
.. .._;end
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when we would reach the ~:f oon. I w ~s ing tlie full :\loon move across the sky. ''Look at this. A. I." · . .. \ hk,· ,n•nt llllt as :'\k-
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alreadv an o ld 111an when that clay a1 ·- T here would be the de,·il to pay in the '·Huh? H111-111-1;1. inlcrl::-,ting. hut ,ct Int::-)- d harltt· c.:ntl'I"l'<I. Tl· .·
,lrt m 1a11
. , J ., 1 ·ve li ,·ed longer than I should, what of it?"
rnec . I ·11 morning. the devil and a thin-lipped I ntyrc a::, trot~ed forward to gore 'l th ·m.
but I w ould n ot let myself <lie- w1 silence. But he'd stick by his guns. ''Can't you sec? The nexL ~tage is to got up a1 . 1>0,·,- (·on1e in. l ·m s) glad
r.ot !-un ti l J haYe set foot on the He'd given in on most things, but not the i\foon !'' . • • o1 nc 111. ~i, dow n . ~ . tt clown. l la, 1.:
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}..loon." on this. The night was his. Tonight "God, but you·re a sucl._c-1·. Dc:los. to sec you. ·
M c ln ty re flood up a nd put ou t his he'd be alone with his old friend. He The trouble with you i9f you read too a cigar." , , . ll
hand. '·You fin d a ship, Nir. Harri- searched her face. \ Vhere was 1\Iare niany of those trashy magazines. :'\o\\'. . .. ~lio-htr pleased tu ::-cc) 0 ~1. :\Ir. :u-
• ~ ,:knowlcdrrccl ·1iarhc. ··Tn fa ·t.
1nan . I'll d ri ve 'er.., I caught my boy reading one o[ 'cm j u ·t nman. 3 .... ~ . .
Crisium? Funny, he couldn·t mal<e it . l -a,· we n eed lll ~cc ) l I.
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.. A tta bo,·. ~r ac ! I told you he would, last week and dressed him do\\'11 proper. VO ll ll11g l - ::"
out. He used to be able to see it plainly ., o111e t rem bl . gent I m c_n. Han-i-
l\,fr . Harr in1an." Your folks should ha ,·e done· you the
when he was a boy. P robably needed sa111c favor." man g I a lll CC . tacc. ".\ k l 11-
, • 1 frolll fa ·c l
new g lasses- this constant office work
I-JARRT :!>.f A N m used a nd dozed during w asn't good for his eyes. Harriman squared his narro\\', mid- tvrc answered h1111. •
t he h o ur's r u n to the no rth into Kansas ,llc-agecl shoulders. "T hey will so reach . ... \ ·ou still n1c:111_y1at a bout a. j b lc,r
But he didn't need to see ; he knew . H arriman ~
C ity, d o zed in the lig h t, troubled sle~p w here they all ,;\,•ere: Crisium, Mare the Moon!" us, fl · ~ ? ·t·:i.inh- T do. Y o u 're
o f o ld age . I nc iden ts out of a long hfe Fecunditatis, M are Tranquillitatis- that His partner laughed. "Have it your " i\,Jean 1t . Ct • ·?:.
1-· o· out on nic ·
.ra n through h is mind in vagrant dream s. one had a satisfying roll !-_- the Apen- own way. If baby wants the M oon, papa not bac dnt:, 11 \Ye need that j ob no ,v.
There was that time--oh , yes, 1910-a n ines, the Carpathians, old Tycho with W!II bring it home for him. But you "Not at a · · ' ti
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h Ca.rrfrce is ly rng 111
little boy o n a warm spring night. its mysterious rays. stick to your discounts and commissions ; You sec, tl c O saue Rive,·. with he r Jet
" What ·s th at, daddy?" lhafs where the money is." iddleoft1c i:, •• • , •
T wo hundred and forty thousand m . , • bacl· to the 111Jectot".
"That's I-Ialley's comet, sonny ." spht c cat ', \ ,.ou weren't hu rt ?"
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"Wh e1e <lid it come from ?'' miles- ten times around the Earth. The big car droned down the Paseo, "Dear tne · .1. l b ·
S urely men could bridge a little oap like 'd f ·0111 sprains anc r u1scs.
"I don 't know, son. Fron1 way out and turned off on Armour Boulevard. "No, ast c 1
in the sky som e w he re." that. Why, he could almost re~ch out Old Harriman stirred uneasily in his cl "
and touch it, nodding there behind the \ Ve jun~pe · ·tled '·I caug ht a catfis h
" Jt ·s be~/ooootif ul, daddy. I w ant. to elm trees. sleep and muttered to himself. C harlie, c 1 101 . "
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touch it ." wit 1 ) , bare teeth. .
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·d . thC)' O'Ot dov,,n to bus t-
"' ·F ra id n ot , son ." N~t that he could help to do it. He "BuT, Mr. Harriman-" The young In short o1 et I:> I .
hadn t the education. "You two will have· to buy a s 11p
man with the notebook was plainly per- ness. 't do it openly; my col-
' ' Delos, do you mean to stand there turbed. The old man grunted. £ . me I can
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"Son, I want to have a little serious · ld fig ure out what 1 m ea n
an<l teJJ me you put the m oney we had talk with you." "You heard me. Sell ·'em. I ·want leagues dwotu p me. I'll supply you w ith
saved fo r t he h ou se into that crazy "Yes, mother." every share I own realized in cash as to' do an so r l
1 you need. y ou go out anc
r ock e t compa n y ?" ''I ~mow you had hoped to go to col- rapidly as possible ; Spaceways, Space- all the cas 1 sort of a ship that can be
.. Now C ha rlotte, p lease ! It's not ways Provisioning Co., A rtemis lVIines, locate some . l
lege next year"-Hoped ! He had lived . the trip. \i\ or" up some
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c ra 7:Y; it,'s a so u n d b usine_ss in vestm: n t. or it. The U niversity of Chicago to study Luna City Recreations, the whole lot refitte d f 0 1 J • ·
cl story about h O\•Y you a1·e Juy mg-
Som e d ay soon rock ets w ill fill the ~ky. u nder Moulton, then on t~ the Yerkes of them." r ~t~or some playboy as ~ stratosp here
S h ip s and t 1a ins w ill be obsolete. Look O bservatn ry to work under the eye of "It will depress the ma rket. You 1 t r that you p lan to try to estab-
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w h at h appen ed to the m en that li~d the Dr. F rost hi111self-"and I had hoped won't realize the full value of your hold- yac 1 Arctic-An tarctic tourist route.
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fo r esight to in vest in Henr?' F ord. ,, so, too. B ut with your father gone, and ings." 1 1 1s 1 a n · .
Anything as long as no one susl?ects
"We've been a11 ovei· this before. the g irls growing up, it's harder to make "Don't you think I know that? I can
affor.d it." that she is being outfitted for space fl1g·h t.