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The Gun, by Philip K. Dick
The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Gun, by Philip K. Dick This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere 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.net
Title: The Gun
Author: Philip K. Dick
Illustrator: Herman Vestal
Release Date: June 15, 2009 [EBook #29132]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
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THE GUN
By PHILIP K. DICK
Nothing moved or stirred. Everything was silent, dead. Only the gun showed signs of life ... and the trespassers had wrecked that for all time. The return journey to pick up the treasure would be a cinch ... they smiled.
The Captain peered into the eyepiece of the telescope. He adjusted the focus quickly.
"It was an atomic fission we saw, all right," he said presently. He sighed and pushed the eyepiece away. "Any of you who wants to look may do so. But it's not a pretty sight."
"Let me look," Tance the archeologist said. He bent down to look, squinting. "Good Lord!" He leaped violently back, knocking against Dorle, the Chief Navigator.
"Why did we come all this way, then?" Dorle asked, looking around at the other men. "There's no point even in landing. Let's go back at once."
"Perhaps he's right," the biologist murmured. "But I'd like to look for myself, if I may." He pushed past Tance and peered into the sight.
He saw a