.. -*- encoding: utf-8 -*-

.. meta::
  :PG.Id: 38302
  :PG.Title: The Lonely Ones
  :PG.Released: 2011-12-12
  :PG.Rights: Public Domain
  :PG.Producer: Frank van Drogen
  :PG.Producer: Greg Weeks
  :PG.Producer: the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
  :DC.Creator: Edward W. Ludwig
  :DC.Title: The Lonely Ones
  :DC.Language: en
  :DC.Created: 1953
  :coverpage: images/cover.jpg



================================
   The Lonely Ones
================================

.. _pg-header:

.. container:: pgheader language-en

   .. style:: paragraph
      :class: noindent

   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
   http://www.gutenberg.org/license.

   

   |

   .. _pg-machine-header:

   .. container::

      Title: The Lonely Ones
      
      Author: Edward W. Ludwig
      
      Release Date: December 12, 2011 [EBook #38302]
      
      Language: English
      
      Character set encoding: UTF-8

      |

      .. _pg-start-line:

      \*\*\* START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LONELY ONES \*\*\*

   |
   |
   |
   |

   .. _pg-produced-by:

   .. container::

      Produced by Frank van Drogen, Greg Weeks, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net.

      |

      


.. role:: xl
   :class: x-large

.. role:: small-caps
     :class: small-caps

.. class:: center


.. image:: images/cover.jpg
   :align: center

..



..

   | :xl:`The Lonely Ones`
   |
   | By Edward W. Ludwig
   |
   | Illustrated by PAUL ORBAN




.. epigraph::

    *The line between noble dreams and madness is
    thin, and loneliness can push men past it....*



Onward sped the *Wanderer*, onward
through cold, silent infinity, on
and on, an insignificant pencil
of silver lost in the terrible,
brooding blackness.

But even more awful than the
blackness was the loneliness of the
six men who inhabited the silver
rocket. They moved in loneliness as
fish move in water. Their lives revolved
in loneliness as planets revolve
in space and time. They bore
their loneliness like a shroud, and
it was as much a part of them as
sight in their eyes. Loneliness was
both their brother and their god.

Yet, like a tiny flame in the darkness,
there was hope, a savage, desperate
hope that grew with the
passing of each day, each month,
and each year.

And at last....

"Lord," breathed Captain Sam
Wiley.

Lieutenant Gunderson nodded.
"It's a big one, isn't it?"

"It's a big one," repeated Captain
Wiley.

They stared at the image in the
*Wanderer's* forward visi-screen, at
the great, shining gray ball. They
stared hard, for it was like an enchanted,
God-given fruit handed
them on a star-flecked platter of
midnight. It was like the answer to
a thousand prayers, a shining symbol
of hope which could mean the
end of loneliness.

"It's ten times as big as Earth,"
mused Lieutenant Gunderson. "Do
you think this'll be it, Captain?"

"I'm afraid to think."

A thoughtful silence.

"Captain."

"Yes?"

"Do you hear my heart pounding?"

Captain Wiley smiled. "No. No,
of course not."

"It seems like everybody should
be hearing it. But we shouldn't get
excited, should we? We mustn't
hope too hard." He bit his lip.
"But there *should* be life there,
don't you think, Captain?"

.. image:: images/im1.png
   :align: center

"There may be."

"Nine years, Captain. Think of
it. It's taken us nine years to get
here. There's *got* to be life."

"Prepare for deceleration, Lieutenant."

Lieutenant Gunderson's tall,
slim body sagged for an instant.
Then his eyes brightened.

"Yes, sir!"

-----

Captain Sam Wiley continued
to stare at the beautiful gray
globe in the visi-screen. He was not
like Gunderson, with boyish eagerness
and anxiety flowing out of him
in a ceaseless babble. His emotion
was as great, or greater, but it was
imprisoned within him, like swirling,
foaming liquid inside a corked
jug.

It wouldn't do to encourage the
men too much. Because, if they
were disappointed....

He shook his silver-thatched
head. There it was, he thought. A
new world. A world that, perhaps,
held life.

Life. It was a word uttered only
with reverence, for throughout the
Solar System, with the exception
of on Earth, there had been only
death.

First it was the Moon, airless and
lifeless. That had been expected, of
course.

But Mars. For centuries men had
dreamed of Mars and written of
Mars with its canals and dead
cities, with its ancient men and
strange animals. Everyone *knew*
there was or had been life on Mars.

The flaming rockets reached
Mars, and the canals became volcanic
crevices, and the dead cities
became jagged peaks of red stone,
and the endless sands were smooth,
smooth, smooth, untouched by feet
of living creatures. There was
plant-life, a species of green-red
lichen in the Polar regions. But nowhere
was there real life.

Then Venus, with its dust and
wind. No life there. Not even the
stars to make one think of home.
Only the dust and wind, a dark veil
of death screaming eternally over
hot dry land.

And Jupiter, with its seas of ice;
and hot Mercury, a cracked, withered
mummy of a planet, baked as
hard and dry as an ancient walnut
in a furnace.

Next, the airless, rocky asteroids,
and frozen Saturn with its swirling
ammonia snows. And last, the
white, silent worlds, Uranus, Neptune,
and Pluto.

World after world, all dead,
with no sign of life, no reminder of
life, and no promise of life.

Thus the loneliness had grown. It
was not a child of Earth. It was
not born in the hearts of those who
scurried along city pavements or of
those in the green fields or of those
in the cool, clean houses.

It was a child of the incredible
distances, of the infinite night, of
emptiness and silence. It was born
in the hearts of the slit-eyed men,
the oldish young men, the spacemen.

For without life on other worlds,
where was the sky's challenge? Why
go on and on to discover only
worlds of death?

The dream of the spacemen
turned from the planets to the stars.
Somewhere in the galaxy or in
other galaxies there *had* to be life.
Life was a wonderful and precious
thing. It wasn't right that it should
be confined to a single, tiny planet.
If it were, then life would seem
meaningless. Mankind would be a
freak, a cosmic accident.

And now the *Wanderer* was on
the first interstellar flight, hurtling
through the dark spaces to Proxima
Centauri. Moving silently, as if motionless,
yet at a speed of 160,000
miles a second. And ahead loomed
the great, gray planet, the only
planet of the sun, growing larger,
larger, each instant....

-----

A gentle, murmuring hum
filled the ship. The indicator
lights on the control panel glowed
like a swarm of pink eyes.

"Deceleration compensator adjusted
for 12 G's, sir," reported
Lieutenant Gunderson.

Captain Wiley nodded, still
studying the image of the planet.

"There—there's something else,
Captain."

"Yes?"

"It's Brown, sir. He's drunk."

Captain Wiley turned, a scowl
on his hard, lined face. "Drunk?
Where'd he get the stuff?"

"He saved it, sir, saved it for
nine years. Said he was going to
drink it when we discovered life."

"We haven't discovered life yet."

"I know. He said he wouldn't set
foot on the planet if he was sober.
Said if there isn't life there, he
couldn't take it—unless he was
drunk."

Captain Wiley grunted. "All
right."

They looked at the world.

"Wouldn't it be wonderful, Captain?
Just think—to meet another
race. It wouldn't matter what they
were like, would it? If they were
primitive, we could teach them
things. If they were ahead of us,
they could teach us. You know
what I'd like? To have someone
meet us, to gather around us. It
wouldn't matter if they were afraid
of us or even if they tried to kill us.
We'd know that we aren't alone."

"I know what you mean," said
Captain Wiley. Some of his emotion
overflowed the prison of his
body. "There's no thrill in landing
on dead worlds. If no one's there to
see you, you don't feel like a hero."

"That's it, Captain! That's why
I came on this crazy trip. I guess
that's why we all came. I...."

Captain Wiley cleared his throat.
"Lieutenant, commence deceleration.
6 G's."

"Yes, sir!"

The planet grew bigger, filling
the entire visi-screen.

Someone coughed behind Captain
Wiley.

"Sir, the men would like to look
at the screen. They can't see the
planet out of the ports yet." The
speaker was Doyle, the ship's Engineer,
a dry, tight-skinned little
man.

"Sure." Captain Wiley stepped
aside.

Doyle looked, then Parker and
Fong. Just three of them, for Watkins
had sliced his wrists the fourth
year out. And Brown was drunk.

As they looked, a realization
came to Captain Wiley. The men
were getting old. The years had
passed so gradually that he'd never
really noticed it before. Lieutenant
Gunderson had been a kid just out
of Space Academy. Parker and
Doyle and Fong, too, had been in
their twenties. They had been boys.
And now something was gone—the
sharp eyes and sure movements
of youth, the smooth skin and thick,
soft hair.

Now they had become men. And
yet for a few moments, as they
gazed at the screen, they seemed
like happy, expectant children.

"I wish Brown could see this,"
Doyle murmured. "He says now he
isn't going to get off his couch till
we land and discover life. Says he
won't dare look for himself."

"The planet's right for life," said
Fong, the dark-faced astro-physicist.
"Atmosphere forty per cent
oxygen, lots of water vapor. No
poisonous gases, according to spectroscopic
analyses. It should be
ideal for life."

"There *is* life there," said Parker,
the radarman. "You know why?
Because we've given up eighteen
years of our lives. Nine years to get
here, nine to get back. I'm thirty
now. I was twenty-one when we left
Earth. I gave up all those good
years. They say that you can have
something if you pay enough for it.
Well, we've paid for this. There has
to be a—a sort of universal justice.
That's why I know there's life here,
life that moves and thinks—maybe
even life we can talk to."

"You need a drink," said Fong.

"It's getting bigger," murmured
Lieutenant Gunderson.

"The Centaurians," mused
Doyle, half to himself. "What'll
they be like? Monsters or men? If
Parker's right about universal justice,
they'll be men."

"Hey, where there's men, there's
women!" yelled Parker. "A Centaurian
woman! Say!"

"Look at those clouds!" exclaimed
Doyle. "Damn it, we can't
see the surface."

"Hey, there! Look there, to the
right! See it? It's silver, down in a
hole in the clouds. It's like a city!"

"Maybe it's just water."

"No, it's a city!"

"Bring 'er down, Captain. God,
Captain, bring 'er down fast!"

"Drag Brown in here! He ought
to see this!"

"Can't you bring 'er down faster,
Captain?"

"Damn it, it *is* a city!"

"Why doesn't someone get
Brown?"

"Take to your couches, men,"
said Captain Wiley. "Landing's apt
to be a bit bumpy. Better strap
yourselves in."

-----

Down went the rocket, more
slowly now, great plumes of
scarlet thundering from its forward
braking jets. Down, down into soft,
cotton-like clouds, the whiteness
sliding silently past the ports.

Suddenly, a droning voice:

"To those in the ship from the
planet called Earth: Please refrain
from landing at this moment. You
will await landing instructions."

Parker leaped off his couch,
grasping a stanchion for support.
"That voice! It was human!"

Captain Wiley's trembling hand
moved over the jet-control panel.
The ship slowed in its descent. The
clouds outside the portholes became
motionless, a milky whiteness
pressed against the ship.

"The voice!" Parker cried again.
"Am I crazy? Did everyone hear
it?"

Captain Wiley turned away from
the panel. "We heard it, Parker. It
was in our minds. Telepathy."

He smiled. "Yes, the planet is inhabited.
There are intelligent beings
on it. Perhaps they're more intelligent
than we are."

It was strange. The men had
hoped, dreamed, prayed for this
moment. Now they sat stunned, unable
to comprehend, their tongues
frozen.

"We'll see them very soon," said
Captain Wiley, his voice quivering.
"We'll wait for their directions."

Breathlessly, they waited.

Captain Wiley's fingers drummed
nervously on the base of the control
panel. Lieutenant Gunderson
rose from his couch, stood in the
center of the cabin, then returned
to his couch.

Silence, save for the constant,
rumbling roar of the jets which
held the ship aloft.

"I wonder how long it'll be,"
murmured Fong at last.

"It seems like a long time!" burst
Parker.

"We've waited nine years," said
Captain Wiley. "We can wait a
few more minutes."

They waited.

"Good Lord!" said Parker.
"How long is it going to be? What
time is it? We've been waiting an
hour! What kind of people are they
down there?"

"Maybe they've forgotten about
us," said Fong.

"That's it!" cried Parker.
"They've forgotten about us! Hey,
you! Down there—you that talked
to us! We're still here, damn it! We
want to land!"

"Parker," said Captain Wiley,
sternly.

Parker sat down on his couch, his
lips quivering.

Then came the voice:

"We regret that a landing is impossible
at this moment. Our field
is overcrowded, and your vessel is
without priority. You must wait
your turn."

Captain Wiley stared forward at
nothing. "Whoever you are," he
whispered, "please understand that
we have come a long way to reach
your planet. Our trip...."

"We do not wish to discuss your
trip. You will be notified when
landing space is available."

Captain Wiley's body shook.
"Wait, tell us who you are. What
do you look like? Tell us...."

"Talking to you is quite difficult.
We must form our thoughts so as
to form word-patterns in your
minds. You will be notified."

"Wait a minute!" called Captain
Wiley.

No answer.

Captain Wiley straightened in an
effort to maintain dignity.

They waited....

-----

It was night.

The darkness was an impenetrable
blanket, a solid thing, like
thick black velvet glued over the
ports. It was worse than the darkness
of space.

Captain Wiley sat before the
control panel, slowly beating his
fists against the arms of his chair, a
human metronome ticking off the
slow seconds.

Parker stood before a porthole.

"Hey, look, Captain! There's a
streak of red, like a meteor. And
there's another!"

Captain Wiley rose, looked out.
"They're rockets. They're going to
land. These people are highly advanced."

His face became grim. Below
them lay a planet, an intelligent
race hidden beneath clouds and
darkness. What manner of creatures
were they? How great was their
civilization? What marvelous secrets
had their scientists discovered?
What was their food like, their
women, their whiskey?

The questions darted endlessly
through his mind like teasing
needle-points. All these wondrous
things lay below them, and here
they sat, like starving men, their
hands tied, gazing upon a steaming
but unobtainable dinner. So near
and yet so far.

He trembled. The emotion grew
within him until it burst out as water
bursts through the cracked wall
of a dam. He became like Parker.

"Why should we wait?" he
yelled. "Why must we land in their
field? Parker! Prepare to release
flares! We're going down! We'll
land anywhere—in a street, in the
country. We don't have to wait for
orders!"

Parker bounced off his couch.
Someone called, "Brown, we're going
to land!"

A scurrying of feet, the rush of
taut-muscled bodies, the babble of
excited voices.

"We're going down!"

"*We're going down!*"

The grumble of the *Wanderer's*
jets loudened, softened, spluttered,
loudened again. Vibration filled the
ship as it sank downward.

Suddenly it lurched upward, like
a child's ball caught in a stream of
rising water. The jolt staggered the
men. They seized stanchions and
bulkhead railings to keep their balance.

"What the hell?"

Abruptly, the strange movement
ceased. The ship seemed motionless.
There was no vibration.

"Captain," said Lieutenant Gunderson.
"There's no change in altitude.
We're still at 35,000 feet, no
more, no less."

"We *must* be going down," said
Captain Wiley, puzzled. "Kill jets
4 and 6."

The Lieutenant's hands flicked
off two switches. A moment later:
"There's no change, Captain."

Then came the voice:

"To those in the vessel from the
planet Earth: Please do not oppose
orders of the Landing Council. You
are the first visitors in the history of
our world whom we have had to
restrain with physical force. You
will be notified when landing space
is available."

-----

Morning.

The warm sunlight streamed
into the clouds, washing away the
last shadows and filtering through
the portholes.

The men breakfasted, bathed,
shaved, smoked, sat, twisted their
fingers, looked out the ports. They
were silent men, with dark shadows
about their eyes and with tight,
white-lipped mouths.

Frequently, the clouds near them
were cut by swift, dark shapes
swooping downward. The shapes
were indistinct in the cotton-like
whiteness, but obviously they were
huge, like a dozen *Wanderers* made
into one.

"Those ships are big," someone
murmured, without enthusiasm.

"It's a busy spaceport," grumbled
Captain Wiley.

Thoughts, words, movements
came so slowly it was like walking
under water. Enthusiasm was dead.
The men were automatons, sitting,
waiting, eating, sitting, waiting.

A day passed, and a night.

"Maybe they've forgotten us,"
said Fong.

No one answered. The thought
had been voiced before, a hundred
times.

Then, at last, the droning words:

"To those in the vessel from the
planet Earth: You will now land.
We will carry you directly over the
field. Then you will descend
straight down. The atmosphere is
suitable to your type of life and is
free of germs. You will not need
protection."

The men stared at one another.

"Hey," Doyle said, "did you hear
that? He says we can go down."

The men blinked. Captain Wiley
swallowed hard. He rose with a
stiff, slow, nervous hesitancy.

"We're going down," he mumbled,
as if repeating the words over
and over in his mind and trying to
believe them.

The men stirred as realization
sprouted and grew. They stirred
like lethargic animals aroused from
the long, dreamless sleep of hibernation.

"We're going to land," breathed
Parker, unbelievingly.

The *Wanderer* moved as though
caught in the grip of a giant, invisible
hand.

The voice said:

"You may now descend."

Captain Wiley moved to the jet-control
panel. "Lieutenant!" he
snapped. "Wake up. Let's go!"

The ship sank downward through
the thick sea of clouds. The men
walked to the ports. A tenseness, an
excitement grew in their faces, like
dying flame being fanned into its
former brilliancy.

Out of the clouds loomed monstrous,
shining, silver spires and
towers, Cyclopean bridges, gigantic
lake-like mirrors, immense golden
spheres. It was a nightmare world,
a jungle of fantastic shape and
color.

The men gasped, whispered,
murmured, the flame of their excitement
growing, growing.

"The whole planet is a city!"
breathed Parker.

-----

Thump!

The *Wanderer* came to rest
on a broad landing field of light
blue stone. The jets coughed, spluttered,
died. The ship quivered, then
lay still, its interior charged with
an electric, pregnant silence.

"You first, Captain." Lieutenant
Gunderson's voice cracked, and his
face was flushed. "You be the first
to go outside."

Captain Wiley stepped through
the airlock, his heart pounding. It
was over now—all the bewilderment,
the numbness.

And his eyes were shining. He'd
waited so long that it was hard to
believe the waiting was over. But it
was, he told himself. The journey
was over, and the waiting, and now
the loneliness would soon be over.
Mankind was not alone. It was a
good universe after all!

He stepped outside, followed by
Lieutenant Gunderson, then by
Parker, Doyle and Fong.

He rubbed his eyes. This couldn't
be! A world like this couldn't exist!
He shook his head, blinked furiously.

"It—it can't be true," he mumbled
to Lieutenant Gunderson.
"We're still on the ship—dreaming."

The landing field was huge, perhaps
ten miles across, and its sides
were lined with incredible ships,
the smallest of which seemed forty
times as large as the *Wanderer*.
There were silver ships, golden
ships, black ships, round ships,
transparent ships, cigar-shaped
ships, flat-topped ships.

And scattered over the field were—creatures.

A few were the size of men, but
most were giants by comparison.
Some were humanoid, some reptilian.
Some were naked, some clad
in helmeted suits, some enveloped
with a shimmering, water-like luminescence.
The creatures walked,
slithered, floated, crawled.

Beyond the ships and the field lay
the great city, its web-work of towers,
minarets, spheres and bridges
like the peaks of an enormous
mountain range stretching up into
space itself. The structures were
like the colors of a rainbow mixed
in a cosmic paint pot, molded and
solidified into fantastic shapes by a
mad god.

"I—I'm going back to the ship,"
stammered Parker. The whiteness
of death was in his face. "I'm going
to stay with Brown."

He turned, and then he
screamed.

"Captain, the ship's moving!"

Silently, the *Wanderer* was drifting
to the side of the field.

The toneless voice said:

"We are removing your vessel so
that other descending ships will not
damage it."

Captain Wiley shouted into the
air. "Wait! Don't go away! Help
us! Where can we see you?"

The voice seemed to hesitate. "It
is difficult for us to speak in
thoughts that you understand."

-----

Silence.

Captain Wiley studied the
faces of his men. They were not
faces of conquerors or of triumphant
spacemen. They were the
faces of dazed, frightened children
who had caught a glimpse of Hell.
He attempted, feebly, to smile.

"All right," he said loudly, "so
it isn't like we expected. So no one
came to meet us with brass bands
and ten cent flags. We've still succeeded,
haven't we? We've found
life that's intelligent beyond our
comprehension. What if our own
civilization is insignificant by comparison?
Look at those beings.
Think of what we can learn from
them. Why, their ships might have
exceeded the speed of light. They
might be from other galaxies!"

"Let's find out," said Parker.

They strode to the nearest ship,
an immense, smooth, bluish sphere.
Two creatures stood before it,
shaped like men and yet twice the
size of men. They wore white, skin-tight
garments that revealed muscular
bodies like those of gods.

They looked at Captain Wiley
and smiled.

One of them pointed toward the
*Wanderer*. Their smiles widened
and then they laughed.

They laughed gently, understandingly,
but they *laughed*.

And then they turned away.

"Talk to them," Parker urged.

"How?" Beads of perspiration
shone on Captain Wiley's face.

"Any way. Go ahead."

Captain Wiley wiped his forehead.
"We are from Earth, the
third planet...."

The two god-like men seemed annoyed.
They walked away, ignoring
the Earthmen.

Captain Wiley spat. "All right, so
they won't talk to us. Look at that
city! Think of the things we can see
there and tell the folks on Earth
about! Why, we'll be heroes!"

"Let's go," said Parker, his voice
quavering around the edges.

They walked toward a large, oval
opening in a side of the field, a
hole between mountainous, conical
structures that seemed like the entrance
to a street.

Suddenly breath exploded from
Captain Wiley's lungs. His body
jerked back. He fell to the blue
stone pavement.

Then he scrambled erect, scowling,
his hands outstretched. He felt
a soft, rubbery, invisible substance.

"It's a wall!" he exclaimed.

The voice droned:

"To those of Earth: Beings under
the 4th stage of Galactic Development
are restricted to the area
of the landing field. We are sorry.
In your primitive stage it would be
unwise for you to learn the nature
of our civilization. Knowledge of
our science would be abused by
your people, and used for the thing
you call war. We hope that you
have been inspired by what you
have seen. However, neither we nor
the other visitors to our planet are
permitted to hold contact with you.
It is suggested that you and your
vessel depart."

"Listen, you!" screamed Parker.
"We've been nine years getting
here! By Heaven, we won't leave
now! We're...."

"We have no time to discuss the
matter. Beings under the 4th stage
of Galactic...."

"Never mind!" spat Captain
Wiley.

Madness flamed in Parker's
eyes. "We won't go! I tell you, we
*won't*, we *won't*!"

His fists streaked through the air
as if at an invisible enemy. He ran
toward the wall.

He collided with a jolt that sent
him staggering backward, crying,
sobbing, screaming, all at once.

Captain Wiley stepped forward,
struck him on the chin. Parker
crumpled.

They stood looking at his body,
which lay motionless except for the
slow rising and falling of his chest.

"What now, Captain?" asked
Lieutenant Gunderson.

Captain Wiley thought for a few
seconds.

Then he said, "We're ignorant
country bumpkins, Lieutenant, riding
into the city in a chugging jalopy.
We're stupid savages, trying
to discuss the making of fire with
the creators of atomic energy. We're
children racing a paper glider
against an atomic-powered jet.
We're too ridiculous to be noticed.
We're tolerated—but nothing
more."

"Shall we go home?" asked
Fong, a weariness in his voice.

Lieutenant Gunderson scratched
his neck. "I don't think I'd want to
go home now. Could you bear to
tell the truth about what happened?"

Fong looked wistfully at the shining
city. "If we told the truth, they
probably wouldn't believe us.
We've failed. It sounds crazy. We
reached Proxima Centauri and
found life, and yet somehow we
failed. No, I wouldn't like to go
home."

"Still, we learned something,"
said Doyle. "We know now that
there is life on worlds beside our
own. Somewhere there must be
other races like ours."

They looked at each other,
strangely, for a long, long moment.

At last Lieutenant Gunderson
asked, "How far is Alpha Centauri?"

Captain Wiley frowned. "*Alpha*
Centauri?" Through his mind
swirled chaotic visions of colossal
distances, eternal night, and lonely
years. He sought hard to find a
seed of hope in his mind, and yet
there was no seed. There were only
a coldness and an emptiness.

Suddenly, the voice:

"Yes, Men of Earth, we suggest
that you try Alpha Centauri."

The men stood silent and numb,
like bewildered children, as the implication
of those incredible words
sifted into their consciousness.

Finally Fong said, "Did—did you
hear that? He said..."

Captain Sam Wiley nodded, very
slowly. "Yes. Alpha Centauri.
*Alpha* Centauri."

His eyes began to twinkle, and
then he smiled....

-----

Onward sped the *Wanderer*,
onward through cold, silent infinity,
on and on, an insignificant
pencil of silver lost in the terrible,
brooding blackness.

Yet even greater than the blackness
was the flaming hope in the
six men who inhabited the silver
rocket. They moved in hope as fish
move in water. Their lives revolved
in hope as planets revolve in space
and time. They bore their hope
like a jeweled crown, and it was as
much a part of them as sight in
their eyes. Hope was both their
brother and their god.

And there was no loneliness.

THE END

.. image:: images/back.jpg
   :align: center

| :small-caps:`Transcribers note`: This etext was produced from Galaxy Science Fiction July 1953. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.


|
|
|
|
|

.. _pg_end_line:

\*\*\* END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LONELY ONES \*\*\*

.. backmatter::

.. toc-entry::
   :depth: 0

.. _pg-footer:

.. class:: pgfooter language-en

A Word from Project Gutenberg
=============================

We will update this book if we find any errors.

This book can be found under: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/38302

Creating the works from public domain print editions 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 the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you do not
charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the rules is
very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as
creation of derivative works, reports, performances and research.
They may be modified and printed and given away – you may do
practically *anything* with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
redistribution.


.. _Project Gutenberg 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
http://www.gutenberg.org/license.


Section 1. General Terms of Use & 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 in the public domain 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 outside 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 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 http://www.gutenberg.org

**1.E.2.** If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is
derived from the public domain (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™ web site
(http://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

.. class:: open

- 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 both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and
Michael Hart, the owner 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 public domain works 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 MERCHANTIBILITY 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, is 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 web page at http://www.pglaf.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. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf . 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 principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr.
S. Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are
scattered throughout numerous locations. Its business office is
located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801)
596-1887, email business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date
contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and
official page at http://www.pglaf.org

For additional contact information:

 | Dr. Gregory B. Newby
 | Chief Executive and Director
 | gbnewby@pglaf.org


Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without wide spread
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 http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/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: http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate


Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg™ electronic works.
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````


Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg™
concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
with anyone. For thirty 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 Public Domain in the
U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not
necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper
edition.

Each eBook is in a subdirectory of the same number as the eBook's
eBook number, often in several formats including plain vanilla ASCII,
compressed (zipped), HTML and others.

Corrected *editions* of our eBooks replace the old file and take over
the old filename and etext number. The replaced older file is
renamed. *Versions* based on separate sources are treated as new
eBooks receiving new filenames and etext numbers.

Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search
facility:

  http://www.gutenberg.org
            
This Web site 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.

