The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Pluto Lamp
    
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: The Pluto Lamp

Author: Charles A. Stearns

Illustrator: Herman B. Vestal

Release date: November 8, 2020 [eBook #63676]
                Most recently updated: October 18, 2024

Language: English

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


*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PLUTO LAMP ***

                            THE PLUTO LAMP

                          By CHAS. A. STEARNS

            _It was the most outrageous kind of irony that
           fate, and the Commission of Galactic Astrography,
           should select such a prime misfit as Knucklebone
                  Smith to light the lamp of Pluto._

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


This is really two stories. The first is solar history; the second, the
mostly true legend of a misfit called Knucklebone Smith.

Knucklebone, so far as anyone could ever determine, was his real
name--the sin of prankish, or perhaps disillusioned parents. He was
exactly six feet eight inches tall from the insulated soles of his
engineering boots to the top of his planeteer's helmet. He never in
his life weighed more than one hundred sixty-five pounds. His face was
angular and horse-like, and it had never, within the memory of anyone
who knew him, contained the slightest vestige of a smile.

He was not nature's first error, nor her last, but he differed from the
unexceptional many in that he believed in Destiny ... with a capital
'L.' Throughout a lifetime of unfortunate ventures he remained firm in
the conviction that sooner or later he would find his own metier and
become famous. At last he did, and that is the story of Knucklebone
Smith.

The Pluto Lamp, a relic of the pioneering days of interstellar flight,
is harder to explain, but easier to believe. It was once as well known
to spacemen as Rafferty Shoals to the ancient China clippers.

The gulf between the stars was vast and uncharted in those days; still
a thing of superstitious dread for the planet-bound. But it was no more
unknown than the solitary planet which tails all the others in its
dark, millennial path about our own sun. The planetary freighters went
as far as Uranus and no farther. For the black little planet whose very
namesake is Hell had nothing to attract them that could not be gotten
at more conveniently.

The starships passed it by warily, giving it a wide berth, for it had
an evil reputation. The old scanners were unreliable at best, what with
the confusing debris that fills space, and more than one ship, through
miscalculation, swerved from its course, brushing through the magnetic
field of the unillumined wasteland, and crashed on the hard frozen
surface of Pluto.

It was inevitable that someone would give birth to the idea of the
Lamp. It was to be a permanent, unmanned beacon, strategically placed
on the Dead Planet to warn ships that should have passed in the night,
but didn't always make it.

A magnificent idea, everyone thought. Everyone, that is, excepting
Knucklebone Smith.

The very idea of Pluto made him ill. He had set his number twelve
size feet on all the inner planets at one time or another in the
disillusioning search for fortune. He had starved and thirsted, baked
and bled for his dream. But he had always hated and avoided cold. He
had, in fact, the look of a man born cold, and never entirely warmed.

It was the most outrageous kind of irony, therefore, that fate, and the
Commission of Galactic Astrography, should select him to light the Lamp.

The latter, at least, was innocent of paradoxical motive. They needed
a man like Smith. A man planet-wise enough to do the job, and not
intelligent enough to decline it. There would be another man along, of
course, to direct, but he presented no problem, for he was Professor
Salvor-Jones, who had invented the Light, and insisted upon being along
when it was installed. He was a dedicated man.

Knucklebone Smith, however, was dedicated to something else, and it
was only his pressing need for money that prodded him into acceptance
of the offer. He didn't care a fig for the safety of starships. This
would be a dangerous job at best, decidedly unpleasant at worst. Smith
didn't mind the danger; he had seen much of it in his wanderings; but
of unpleasantness he had experienced even more, and being a sybarite
by nature, in spite of his hard life, he preferred real (but painless)
peril. He was sure that he would be cold on Pluto. He was right.

       *       *       *       *       *

The lamp was not really a light, of course, nor did it faintly resemble
one. What it did, in fact, resemble, was a sleek space cruiser. This
was wholly misleading, for though it was designed for interplanetary
travel, it was to be a one-way voyage. Once in the orbit of Pluto
it would nose down, smash a few feet into the crystalline surface
of frozen ammonia, and remain there forever, standing on end like a
lighthouse. It was at this point that it would cease to be a spaceship
and become a beacon.

At least that was what Professor Salvor-Jones said.

The beacon was three hundred feet long, white in color, for some
mysterious reason, and had cost the government of Earth something less
than seventeen million dollars. It was packed with expensive robotic
equipment, and was designed to be completely self-sustaining, once its
controls were properly set. It did everything for passing starships
that could possibly be expected of a well-reared beacon. It cheered
them on the outward passage, making them feel less lonely. It greeted
them, like a remote, cold Statue of Liberty upon their return, warned
them of lurking meteorite storms within the vicinity of their course,
and advised them of their position with relation to their destination
when they contacted its sensitive radio. But most important, it warned
them to steer clear of Pluto.

It very nearly failed before it had begun all this show of monkish
wayside hospitality, however. It would have failed if it hadn't been
for Knucklebone Smith.

They cut the beaconship loose from its convoy five hundred miles out,
which was sufficient for it to spiral in on the minimum of power it
carried and land safely.

Salvor-Jones and Smith had only to lie in their safety hammocks in the
cramped temporary passenger cubicle. The ship would land by itself.
Their duties began once it had established itself firmly on the bleak
expanse of dark planet below them. They were to adjust the automatic
controls, make tests, and generally see that the thing was as it should
be for the lonely vigil that lay ahead.

Three weeks, Salvor-Jones indicated, should be plenty of time for all
this. When it was finished, they could send a patrol cruiser from
Ganymede to pick them up.

That was what he said but he was a very zealous man, and doted on
thoroughness.

The fact was that they were finished with the tests in seven and a half
hours, and there was nothing to do, unhappily, for the remaining twenty
days except to entertain themselves as best they could, and wait. It
might be said that things went too smoothly.

Professor Salvor-Jones was a smallish man with a square mustache of
regulation black, and a lock of jet hair that hung at times over his
left eye. He had a perpetual motion machine built into him, and a
profound contempt for the normal pace of life.

But worst of all, in view of his predicament, he had Knucklebone Smith.

Salvor-Jones finished his checking at 1800 star time and came into the
living compartment from the chill outer ship, or beacon, as it had now
become. He blew on his hands, put away his check-sheet board, and stood
uncertainly, gnawing his thumb and gazing at the spectacle of Smith
hunkered silently in front of a portable radiant heater. Knucklebone
was, as usual, the picture of contemplative suicide.

"Well, well," said Salvor-Jones briskly.

Smith made no answer. He swallowed thoughtfully, his Adam's apple
convulsing, and continued to stare into the glowing sun of the heater.

"We've not much to do from now on, I'm afraid," Salvor-Jones said,
"until a starship passes within range. Then we'll be able to see how
well it works."

Smith nodded glumly. He was sulking. He had been assigned to assist,
but this little man insisted on doing everything himself. Didn't trust
a damn soul but himself. Pick up a tool and like as not he'd snatch it
from your hand and leave you standing there watching him. Smith hated
people like that.

"Play chess?" Salvor-Jones asked.

"I never played chess," Knucklebone Smith said.

"Quite an assortment of games on board," Salvor-Jones said. "Checkers.
Maybe you'd rather play checkers."

"Never tried it."

"Poker?"

"No."

Salvor-Jones sighed. He got out the animated slide pictures, set up the
screen, and amused himself at length. The slides were mostly those of
lightly clad females in warm climates, doing pleasantly idle things.

After the second slide, Knucklebone switched his chair around so that
his back was to the screen. The girls made him feel too sentimental.
The blue skies and golden beaches made him homesick.

       *       *       *       *       *

On the fifth day Knucklebone Smith was fiddling with a power switch
and blew out a safety fuse. It required some three hours for Professor
Salvor-Jones to repair it, but he was glad for the diversion.

On the eighth day Smith was pottering in the pile room with an electric
torch, making himself a wire bookrack. A lubrication reservoir caught
on fire and a minor generator was ruined.

On the eleventh day he dropped a hammer from the fidley of the power
room to the floor, a hundred feet below. A gas line was smashed.
Salvor-Jones put on a gas mask and went down to fix it. It took quite a
long while.

On the fourteenth day, without the slightest pretext, Salvor-Jones
called Knucklebone Smith a meddling fool. Smith hit him once and that
was that. They didn't speak to each other for four days.

The meteor storm came only three days before their exile was to end. On
Pluto, where the frozen atmosphere lies inert on the surface, there was
nothing to stop the rain of debris from space. It sounded like sporadic
hail on the tough metal hull of the beacon, and their scopes showed the
mass to be more than a million miles in width, streaming in from the
direction of Orion.

Salvor-Jones was worried. There was a tiny blip in the lower corner
of the solar coordinate on the radar screen; a blip that occulted
with alternating brightness and dimness, in a pattern of unnatural
regularity. A ship!

Her radio came in an hour later. She announced her name, _Luna Star_,
and destination, Alpha Centauri. The hail of stones from space was
getting worse. The beacon was built to stand such stress, but a
starship, meeting them head on--!

It was a dangerous situation.

Within the Pluto Lamp a hundred relays clicked and buzzed. Automatic
switches closed. The power pack, deep in the body of the beacon hummed
with sudden power. Even Knucklebone Smith seemed slightly interested.
But nothing happened.

The ship's signal came in loud and clear once more. "This is _Luna
Star_. Come in, robot station Pluto Lamp. Come in Pluto Lamp."

Salvor-Jones sprang for the manual switch and flicked it on. "_Luna
Star_," he screamed, "Do you read me? This is Pluto Lamp. Do you read
me?"

"This is _Luna Star_. We understand the robot station is now in
operation, but manned. Come in if you are there."

"_Luna Star_, do you read me?" They waited a long, tense minute. There
was no answer. "We're not getting through," Salvor-Jones said.

Knucklebone cleared his throat. "There's a red light on over at the
emergency panel. Would that have anything to do with it?"

"You imbecile!" Salvor-Jones said, "Why didn't you say so. It's the
antenna. I knew it. I knew there'd be trouble with the antenna! A
meteorite must have damaged it."

"I guess this thing ain't going to work," Knucklebone said. "We've been
here only a couple of weeks, and look what happens. I never thought it
would be any good anyway."

Salvor-Jones bared his teeth. "There isn't a storm like this one every
twenty-five years," he growled. "Don't sit there; we've got to go up on
the dome. No! Stay where you are. I don't want this job botched." He
began to struggle into his exposure suit.

"If the _Star_ hits it head-on there'll be hell to pay," Knucklebone
said diffidently. "I was in one of these storms once before on an
old crate out in the Belt." He got up and stretched his spidery frame
languidly. Then he went over and took down his impossibly long exposure
suit from its hook.

"What are you doing?" Salvor-Jones said.

"Guess I'll go with you."

"You're going to play hell," Professor Salvor-Jones said in an
unscholarly manner. "What good could you possibly be?"

There was a steely glint in Knucklebone Smith's eyes. Later on, at the
inquiry, Salvor-Jones testified concerning that glint. "Listen," Smith
said, "I guess I'm sick and tired of you trying to play the big hero
all alone on this here tub. A body would think I was a moron. They
picked me out of millions, didn't they? That's Destiny. I guess you
haven't thought about it, but everybody's got a Destiny--something they
can do better than anybody else. Everybody's good at something." It was
a long speech for Knucklebone Smith. There were two red spots of anger
on his sallow cheeks.

"So I've heard," Salvor-Jones said wryly. "Well, come along, but don't
say I didn't warn you. It may be the end of us, you know."

Knucklebone snorted. He had walked in the shadow of death before. A man
had his destiny. Something worthwhile to perform before he kicked off.
And if he had ever done anything worthwhile he couldn't remember it. He
zipped up his suit and reached for his helmet.

The roof hatch, massively armored, opened noiselessly on its hydraulic
supports. The coldness rushed at them, and could not be entirely shut
out by the suits. Smith shivered throughout his long, skinny body.

Clambering out on the roof of the beacon they became aware of what
seemed like a strong wind, but what was, in reality, microscopic
interstellar dust from the storm, traveling at supersonic speed,
flattening their suits against them.

Here and there a pea-sized pebble clanged against the metal hull like a
bullet. Crouching in the shelter of the antenna tower, they scanned its
naked ribs of steel alloy for a break.

At last Salvor-Jones, who knew what he was looking for, found it, six
feet up, where a meteorite had smashed into the coaxial and shorted it
against the frame. He climbed up and went to work, cursing to himself
in his helmet as the death missiles hurtled about him.

It seemed to Salvor-Jones that he had been up there forever, with one
leg draped over a brace, clumsily working with his heavy gloves. The
cold was seeping in more and more in spite of the fact that it could
not have been more than half an hour from the time of his ascent.

He clambered down at last, beating his hands together to restore
circulation.

Knucklebone Smith, who had done nothing, leaned against the tower
on the storm side. He was staring fixedly at something out in that
perpetual night. But there was nothing to see. Only the faint glow of
the bluish-white methane crystals, swirling through the frozen gullies
of the rugged terrain; sweeping around the dark ridges as they were
agitated by the driving stellar dust.

"You'll be killed out there," Salvor-Jones said into his mike. "Get
behind something, quick!"

Smith said nothing. He just stood there, with his back to Salvor-Jones,
contemplating the horizon as the storm rippled his uniform. His
position had not shifted a fraction of an inch. It was this fact
that frightened Salvor-Jones suddenly. He caught his breath, and
crept around the edge of the shelter. He reached out and shook his
assistant's arm.

Knucklebone Smith did not move. There was a gaping hole in the side of
his helmet where a rock had struck. He had frozen to death, standing up.

       *       *       *       *       *

A sudden flurry of unseen particles buffeted Salvor-Jones and bowled
him over. Something big smashed against the roof hatch with such force
that the entire beacon shuddered. The lid of the hatch, its braces torn
from under it, clanged shut. Then the sudden gust abated.

Salvor-Jones crawled over to the escape hatch and looked at it. It was
slightly askew; there was plenty of room to get his hands under the
edge of it. He tugged manfully in an effort to slide it aside enough to
admit him, but in vain. It weighed more than half a ton.

He pried at it with his adjustable wrench but it wouldn't budge. He
looked around for something longer. There was nothing.

Professor Salvor-Jones realized that he was going to die on Pluto. He
wished that he believed in prayer.

He read the gage of his heating unit. Not much longer.

He sat down on the hatch, heedless of the silent flak about him. He
envied Knucklebone Smith over there; the man had never known what hit
him.

Knucklebone was still standing there, tall against the night, rigidly
leaning against the superstructure, an impossible caricature of death.

Something clicked in Salvor-Jones's brain. One faint, mad hope. He
crawled over and tugged at Smith's legs. The tall corpse came crashing
down on top of him.

He seized one unyielding foot, a big, all-important, boot-clad foot
that stuck out at just the right angle, and began to drag Knucklebone
across the width of the dome.

The _Lunar Star_ got through safely. It was turned aside by a last
minute warning from the Pluto Lamp beacon. This impressed the
importance of the Lamp in the minds of the authorities, as is attested
to by history, for it was in service well over one hundred years after
Salvor-Jones's ordeal.

In Selena City there is a small monument, equally dedicated to the
two heroes, Salvor-Jones and Smith. For the professor declared that
Smith had been as much responsible for the success of the Lamp as he,
himself. Hadn't he saved the day, there at the very last?

As for Knucklebone Smith, his frozen body still lies in simple state on
Pluto. There is a faint, fixed smile on his face; or presumably there
is, for Salvor-Jones attests that it was there that night. And it can
hardly have escaped him now.

For it was just as Knucklebone had always said. Every man is good for
something.

Even if it is only to be used for a lever.



*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PLUTO LAMP ***


    

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.