sitting down on the edge of the table.
"What are you thinking?" Dorle said.
"I? Nothing."
"Are you sure?"
"I was thinking that there must have been a time when this planet wasquite different, when there was life on it."
"I suppose there was. It's unfortunate that no ships from our systemcame this far, but then we had no reason to suspect intelligent lifeuntil we saw the fission glow in the sky."
"And then it was too late."
"Not quite too late. After all, their possessions, their music, books,their pictures, all of that will survive. We'll take them home and studythem, and they'll change us. We won't be the same afterwards. Theirsculpturing, especially. Did you see the one of the great wingedcreature, without a head or arms? Broken off, I suppose. But thosewings-- It looked very old. It will change us a great deal."
"When we come back we won't find the gun waiting for us," Nasha said."Next time it won't be there to shoot us down. We can land and take thetreasure, as you call it." She smiled up at Dorle. "You'll lead us backthere, as a good captain should."
"Captain?" Dorle grinned. "Then you've decided."
Nasha shrugged. "Fomar argues with me too much. I think, all in all, Ireally prefer you."
"Then let's go," Dorle said. "Let's go back home."
The ship roared up, flying over the ruins of the city. It turned in ahuge arc and then shot off beyond the horizon, heading into outer space.
* * * * *
Down below, in the center of the ruined city, a single half-brokendetector vane moved slightly, catching the roar of the ship. The base ofthe great gun throbbed painfully, straining to turn. After a moment ared warning light flashed on down inside its destroyed works.
And a long way off, a hundred miles from the city, another warning lightflashed on, far underground. Automatic relays flew into action. Gearsturned, belts whined. On the ground above a section of metal slagslipped back. A ramp appeared.
A moment later a small cart rushed to the surface.
The cart turned toward the city. A second cart appeared behind it. Itwas loaded with wiring cables. Behind it a third cart came, loaded withtelescopic tube sights. And behind came more carts, some with relays,some with firing controls, some with tools and parts, screws and bolts,pins and nuts. The final one contained atomic warheads.
The carts lined up behind the first one, the lead cart. The lead cartstarted off, across the frozen ground, bumping calmly along, followed bythe others. Moving toward the city.
To the damaged gun.
Transcriber's Note:
This etext was produced from _Planet Stories_ September 1952. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed. Minor spelling and typographical errors have been corrected without note.
The Gun Page 4