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The Stutterer, by R.R. Merliss
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Title: The Stutterer
Author: R.R. Merliss
Illustrator: Riley
Release Date: September 5, 2007 [EBook #22512]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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THE STUTTERER
BY R. R. MERLISS
A man can be killed by a toy gun--he can die of fright, for heart attacks can kill. What, then, is the deadly thing that must be sealed away, forever locked in buried concrete--a thing or an idea?
Illustrated by Riley
[Illustration]
Out of the twenty only one managed to escape the planet. And he did it very simply, merely by walking up to the crowded ticket window at one of the rocket ports and buying passage to Earth. His Army identification papers passed the harassed inspection of the agent, and he gratefully and silently pocketed the small plastic stub that was handed him in exchange for his money.
He picked his way with infinite care through the hordes of ex-soldiers clamoring for passage back to the multitudinous planets from which they had come. Then he slowly climbed the heavy ramp into the waiting rocket.
He saw with relief that the seats were strongly constructed, built to su