The Project Gutenberg eBook of Clutch of Morpheus
    
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: Clutch of Morpheus

Author: Larry Sternig

Release date: November 1, 2022 [eBook #69278]

Language: English

Original publication: United States: Standard Magazines, Inc, 1945

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


*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CLUTCH OF MORPHEUS ***





                          CLUTCH OF MORPHEUS

                           By LARRY STERNIG

           [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
                 Thrilling Wonder Stories Winter 1946.
         Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
         the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]


At the doorway of the building that combined the home and laboratory of
Dr. Felder, Wayne Randall almost changed his mind. Then he said, "What
the devil. Why not?" and rang the bell. It would, he hoped, embark him
on a great adventure--an adventure into a strange world he had never
known.

A red-headed girl in a white uniform answered the ring. Wayne caught
his breath at the fresh clean beauty of the face framed by the sleek,
wavy, auburn hair. At the contrast of that hair with the blue eyes. And
at the slim but rounded figure.

Then he was aware that she had spoken, and flushed slightly at the
realization of how hard he must have been staring.

"Is Doctor Felder in?" he asked, with embarrassment.

She nodded.

"Do you have an appointment? Dad is retired from active practice, you
know. Doing research in anesthesia."

"I'm not a patient--exactly," Wayne assured her. "It's in connection
with his research that I'd like to see him. My name is Wayne Randall."

She opened the door wider.

"Come in, Mr. Randall. I'll see if he's busy."

[Illustration: "Will you wait?" the doctor's daughter asked Randall.]

He waited near a window and watched the comet that hung low in the
western sky. And in common with the other millions of people who were
watching Rackam's comet of 1954, Wayne wondered whether the scientists
were correct in stating that it would not affect conditions on earth.

But probably the astronomers knew what they were talking about.

The comet had changed amazingly since its first appearance. From a long
graceful curve, its tail had now shortened to a broad-based triangle.
In another day or so, comet and tail alike would be invisible from
earth. For it was passing between earth and sun, on an orbital plane
almost coinciding with the earth. The comet would be lost in the glare
of the sun. Even now it was visible for only an hour or two of early
evening. Earth would pass through its gaseous tail, was even now
entering the outer fringe of those gasses.

Wayne Randall shrugged, and turned from the window. After all, the
astrophysicists knew more than he. True, they disagreed as to the exact
chemical composition of the comet's tail, but they were unanimous in
saying that it was too tenuous, too insubstantial, to affect earth or
its organic life. It would take hundreds of thousands of cubic feet of
the comet's gasses to equal in density a cubic inch of air, they said.

Well, thought Wayne, if they were that thin, probably the physicists
were right. He put the unimportant matter of the comet far back in his
mind as the girl reappeared and escorted him to the laboratory.

Dr. Felder, a volatile little man with a pointed sandy beard and heavy
shell-rimmed glasses, leaped up from a chair in which he had been
sitting before a bench lined with cages.

He pumped Wayne's hand vigorously.

"Glad to meet you, Doctor Randall," he said in a voice that matched his
handshake. "I can't recall your name, but so many are doing excellent
research in narcosis today. Everybody but me." He turned back toward
the work bench, ran an excited hand through his thinning hair, and then
grimaced humorously. "My subjects seem too sleepy. None of these darned
guinea pigs will stay awake long enough to act as controls."

Wayne Randall grinned. He decided he was going to like this excitable
little man as well, or almost as well as he could like his
auburn-haired daughter.

"But I'm not _Doctor_ Randall, sir," he explained. "Just plain Wayne
Randall, and I've done no research in narcosis, except on the guinea
pig side. My trouble is the opposite of theirs. They can't stay awake,
and I can't sleep."

Dr. Felder's face fell.

"You mean you have insomnia, Mr. Randall? But that's not in my line. I
don't--"

"Not insomnia, Doctor," Wayne cut in. "I've never slept. Not once. _Not
in my whole life._"

       *       *       *       *       *

Felder's eyes widened in amazement. "You mean you're _that_ Randall?
The chap Opdycke wrote a monograph about, and about whom Gneiss wrote a
whole chapter in his _Anatomy of Sleep_? And that Leowenstein--"

Wayne nodded.

"When I was a kid back in Oshkosh my parents took me to a good many
medicos. They sent me to New York for study. I got write-ups all over
the country. Then it died down, and they let me alone a while. In
college, I was discovered all over again. Once more they tried to make
me into a guinea pig. And after college--"

"You disappeared," finished Dr. Felder accusingly. "Why? Man, your
case is unique in medical annals! You're invaluable, but you simply
disappeared. Why?"

"Possibly, Father," volunteered the girl, "Mr. Randall didn't _want_ to
be a guinea pig."

Wayne smiled at her gratefully. It wasn't hard to smile at Marcia
Felder.

"That's about the size of it, Miss Felder," he stated. "People looked
at me as a sort of freak. A person who didn't even know what sleep was,
rather frightened them. I had to conceal my identity in order to be
accepted by other people and to have friends. I've been living under an
assumed name ever since my parents died."

"Hmmm." Dr. Felder looked thoughtful. "Yes, I can see that. What have
you been doing with yourself since then?"

"For a while I held two jobs, so I'd have only eight hours a day to
kill. Then I got interested in radio and built myself a short-wave set.
Got so interested, in fact, that I gave up my night job so I'd have
plenty of time to experiment."

"Ever feel tired?"

Wayne shook his head energetically.

"Not a bit, ordinarily. Of course if I do a lot of physical work, my
muscles feel slightly weary. But a few hours of rest every couple of
days, just sitting still, rests them up. And my brain--well, it doesn't
even need that."

"Quite understandable. It is doubtful if the brain of a normal human
ever completely rests. During sleep, it dreams. The mind goes on,
but it is divorced from sensual contact with reality through normal
nerve impulses, and imagines its own pseudo-impulses in order to--But
the puzzling thing about your case, of course, is the ability of your
muscles to revive without sleep.

"But I'm forgetting my duty as a host. Let's go into my office where we
can sit down. Come along, Marcia, if you wish. That is, Mr. Randall, if
you don't mind. You see, my daughter helps me in my work."

Wayne smiled assent. It would be better, he thought, to have Marcia
Felder interested in him as an abnormal specimen, than not at all.

"My reason for coming to see you, Doctor," Wayne explained when they
were seated in the office, "is that I've read about your new anesthetic
you developed, novether. Do you think it would make me unconscious? All
other known anesthetics have failed."

Dr. Felder knitted his fingers together and pondered.

"If I recall correctly the verdict of the doctors who studied you, the
consensus was that you are a mutant, that the mutation consists of the
restoration to activity of a gland of which man's ancestors lost the
use, somewhere in the evolutionary scale, when they formed the habit of
sleep."

Wayne nodded agreement.

"Many lower animals, of course, don't sleep. Their glands secrete into
the blood something which renews cells of the vasomotor mechanism.
Forms of life which got the habit of hibernating during certain hours
of the day or night gradually became more and more torpid during those
periods. The dendrites learned to contract in an ameboid manner,
shutting off the mind from nerve impulses. The gland became vestigial
or was lost through lack of use, because the cells formed the habit of
using this period of torpor for refreshment and--"

He broke off with a grin.

"But here I am lecturing someone who knows a thousand times more about
anatomy than I do. Forgive me, Doctor."

"Nothing to forgive. Your statement was correct, if not technically
expressed. But why do you wish to be anesthetized?"

Wayne leaned forward eagerly.

"Curiosity, Doctor. No other anesthetic does any more to me than make
my head buzz a trifle. I'd like to sleep just _once_, out of sheer
cussed curiosity to find out what it's like. I'd give anything to
be unconscious just for a moment. To me it would be as momentous an
experience as--as going to the moon would be to you!"

Dr. Felder wavered between a frown and a smile.

"Unethical, of course. But you've got me curious, too. If no other
anesthetic has worked--Well, take off your shirt and lie down on the
table over there. Marcia, get the machine."

Ten minutes later there was amazement on Dr. Felder's face as he lifted
the cone and signaled Marcia to stop the machine. Wayne's eyes, wide
open, stared up at him.

"You felt nothing at all?" Dr. Felder asked, completely incredulous. "I
gave you enough novether to knock out a herd of elephants!"

Wayne sat up and grinned ruefully.

"Well, there's a slight ringing in my ears, if that's any satisfaction.
I guess Rackam's comet would have to hit me to make me unconscious." He
reached for his shirt. "By the way, Doctor, do you agree with the other
scientists that the comet gasses won't have any effect on conditions
here, on the atmosphere, I mean?"

The little doctor looked up from his recording of the data on the
experiment.

"Atmosphere's still normal," he observed. "We are in the outer
fringe of the tail now. But one of my instruments has noted a slight
electrical disturbance of a peculiar nature."

His eyes held a mild puzzlement as Marcia reappeared in the doorway
after wheeling the novether machine back into the lab.

"I've asked the cook to send us in some coffee," she told them. She
smiled at Wayne. "I hope it won't keep you awake, Mr. Randall."

Wayne laughed appreciatively at the joke--and promptly pushed the comet
out of his mind.

It was almost midnight when he left the Felders. Marcia--he hoped she
had maneuvered it deliberately--escorted him to the door alone.

"You'll come to see us again, won't you?" she invited as she offered
her hand.

       *       *       *       *       *

It was on the bus, homeward bound, that Wayne first noticed it. There
seemed to be an unusual degree of sleepiness among the people about
him. In fact, everyone on the bus looked almost as if they were
drugged, so soundly were they slumbering. The driver yawned frequently,
and shook his head, presumably to help him stay awake.

Suddenly Wayne remembered Dr. Felder's trouble with his guinea pigs.
They, too, had difficulty staying awake. Could there be any connection
between them and the unseemly drowsiness of these people seated about
him? He remembered now that the Felders, too, had seemed tired. And
that when Marcia had gone for more coffee, she had joked about the fact
that the cook had been sound asleep in the kitchen.

Back in his own quarters, Wayne was restless, unreasonably disturbed.
His short-wave set was almost completely dismantled in the process
of trying a new idea of his in combined radio-audio frequency
amplification. It would take all night to get it working again, he
thought, and somehow he couldn't get himself started at the task this
evening.

Abruptly he grabbed his hat and went out into the almost deserted
Chicago streets. On Michigan Boulevard he caught a cruising taxicab
with a sleepy driver.

"Where's the best night spot?" Wayne asked impatiently.

The driver pondered, rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"Most of 'em are closing early tonight, mister. Not many customers,
for some reason. Air's muggy or something and people all seem to wanna
go home. The 601 Club's still open though. Or was half hour ago." His
mouth gaped into an enormous yawn. "Take ya there?"

His mind seething with possibilities, Wayne climbed into the cab. Could
it be that--

The 601 Club was dark.

"'Sfunny," drawled the taxi driver sleepily. "Never knew this joint
to close before six in the mornin'. And it's only two. What-ta night.
Heck, wish I could knock off early myself. Back home, mister?"

Wayne shook his head slowly, and his face became grimly resolute.

"If you can stay awake, pal, take me to the office of the Chicago
_Blade_."

Ten minutes later he dropped his hat on a corner of the night editor's
desk.

"Your gang sleepy tonight?" Wayne asked sharply, an undertone of
excitement in his voice.

The editor looked at him incuriously and nodded.

"Me too. So what? We get out a paper anyway. What you want?"

Wayne gripped the edge of the desk and leaned forward, his body tense.

"Listen, this is important. _Everybody_--in Chicago at least--is
abnormally sleepy tonight. Every night club in town is closed for lack
of customers. Even the regulars went home to bed. And you should see
the people who have to be out whether they want to or not."

The man's eyes opened wider.

"You sure? Say, that would mean--"

"The comet," snapped Wayne tersely. "The astrophysicists said it
wouldn't have any effect, but they could have been wrong. We're in the
fringe, and--"

The editor, with a visible effort, straightened up.

"Mister, if this is an exclusive, you'll get paid for the tip-off. What
a story!"

Wayne smiled grimly.

"And what bank would I cash the check at, with all the tellers asleep?
This is serious, I tell you! It might mean the end of the human race!
If those gasses of the comet's tail--"

The editor grabbed a phone with unsteady hands.

"Hey, George," he barked into the mouthpiece, "put the whole staff
on this. Have them call New York, Frisco, Los Angeles. Have them ask
whether...."

A tired-looking reporter shuffled in, and leaned against the desk.

"Say, Bill," he said sluggishly, after the editor had replaced the
receiver, "there's an epidemic of people driving cars off the roads and
into poles and what-not tonight, like they fell asleep at the wheel.
Want me to do a feature on it?" He caught the horror-stricken eyes of
the editor and snapped out of his lethargic stance. "What's up?"

Wayne's eyes narrowed and he leaned again across the desk.

"That proves it," he exclaimed excitedly. "No need to wait for the
answers to those calls. We know what they'll be. Let's get going."

The editor's face was pale, and now he could scarcely control the
trembling of his hands.

"But what can we do?" he asked distraughtly.

"Call the observatories," snapped Wayne. "Wake up some physicists and
get new air tests. Find out where whatever gas masks this country has
are kept. Blast it, man, call the President!..."

The hands of the clock stood at three-ten. Crowded into the editor's
office and overflowing out into the corridor was the entire staff of
the _Blade_. The editor wiped sweat off his bald head and looked at
them dazedly.

"Okay," he said. "I've been through to the White House. The President's
declaring a state of emergency, whatever good that'll do. We've learned
gas masks won't do any good. We've learned the air is one hundred
percent normal. We've learned this thing is world-wide. Now on those
other calls some of you've made--anybody got anything?"

"I got Ramsey, the biologist, Chief," one of the reporters volunteered.
"He spotted something before we did. Been dissecting rabbits and stuff
since midnight. Says something about dendrites. Want me to read his
statement?"

The editor nodded, his facial muscles twitching uncontrollably.

"He said, 'Conscious co-operation of mind and body depends on
neighboring nerve units being in contact with one another so nerve
impulses can pass from neuron to neuron to reach the brain. In sleep
the dendrites retract and separate, and the result is unconsciousness.
Some influence whose nature we do not yet understand is causing the
nerve dendrites of earth's mammalian life to retract, bringing sleep.
The action is not chemical, as air is normal. It may be electrical
although we have yet found nothing to indicate that is the case. The
effect, however, is not lethal."

Someone drew a sharp sigh of relief.

"Not lethal! And here I thought I wouldn't have to finish paying for my
helicopter." A murmur of amusement rippled through the crowd and helped
to relieve some of the tension. But some of the men noticed that their
chief had remained unmoved.

"S'matter, Bill?" one of them asked. "It won't hurt to sleep a day or
so. Gosh, the way I feel now, I could--"

Wayne answered the question, his voice flat and gray.

"A day or so? We've checked the observatories, can't you understand?
That comet is rounding the sun in the same direction as Earth, and in
the same plane. We'll be within the comet's tail for two and a half
months. And the world will starve to death in its sleep!"

A thunderbolt silence struck the room.

"Maybe it isn't the comet," someone ventured presently.

But there was no conviction in the voice. What hope was there that it
wasn't? Nothing like this had ever happened before. But now it was
happening exactly coincidental with the fact that Earth was entering
the tail of Rackam's comet.

Suddenly the night editor galvanized into action.

"Hey, you guys, we're getting out a paper here. An extra at that! Get
busy. Stop moping! You, Callahan, write--"

       *       *       *       *       *

Quietly, Wayne Randall slipped through to the corridor and went down
to the deserted street. There was no cab or for that matter no moving
vehicle of any kind in sight. He started walking, his thoughts filled
with dark foreboding.

Wayne knew now that there was something worse than fear of death. Of
all the people on earth, he suddenly realized, only he would not feel
the effect of this unknown sleep-producing agency. His dendrites didn't
contract, they had said. Maybe he didn't have any dendrites, whatever
they were.

Yes, worse than the fear of death was the stark, overwhelming fear of
being completely, utterly alone. Probably within a few hours, a day
at most, he would be the only person awake in Chicago, in the United
States, in the world! Left awake to watch humanity die. Even sweet,
radiant Marcia, whom he had just found.

Resolutely, he thrust the thought away. He must keep his mind clear,
until he was certain there was nothing he could do. There would be
time for demoralization, madness. Plenty of time.

He must think coldly, logically. The air was normal. It was suspected
the influence possessed electrical properties. A field, perhaps? Some
sort of electro-magnetic field that affected neurons? Why not? What man
didn't know about electrobiology would fill volumes.

Even in radio, his own field, there was plenty of scope for research.
A sudden hope shot swiftly through Wayne's mind. There were powerful
broadcasting stations scattered all over Earth, and their waves covered
all of the globe. Would it be possible to send out waves, short or
long, which would damper or neutralize the menacing field?

It seemed such a desperately slim chance, there was so little time in
which to work--but it was a chance, nonetheless. And Wayne determined
to exhaust it thoroughly.

Spotting a cab parked across the street, he yelled at the driver,
and ran toward him. Loud snoring came from the front seat. Wayne tried
frantically to wake the cabbie, but hard and repeated slaps on the back
only changed the tempo of the snores. Finally Wayne pushed him to one
side, slid behind the wheel and a moment later was speeding through the
desolate streets toward Station WRV.

WRV, he knew, would be the best bet. Not only was it one of the
most powerful stations in the country, but there was an excellent
experimental laboratory equipped for research. And perhaps it was even
possible that one of the technicians or research men had struck upon
the same idea.

It was dawn when he parked the cab in front of the big building that
housed the broadcasting station. The policeman on guard at the doorway
was--sound asleep. Wayne ran past him and up the stairs. He'd been here
before, as a visitor, and knew where the laboratory and workshop were
located.

A haggard, red-eyed man in overalls that had been pulled on over
pajamas met him at the open doorway of the lab.

"Thought I heard someone coming. You a research man? I'm Grayson.
Look"--he waved a hand that pointed first to one part of the spacious
laboratory and then another--"all asleep. I'm holding out on caffeine
citrate. Took ten grains."

Wayne peeled off his coat, tossed it on a chair, and stepped across a
figure lying prone on the floor.

"Got anything yet?" he asked tensely.

"Not much." Grayson swayed on his feet as he spoke. "Guess it's too
late, but I'm going out trying. You look fresh, maybe you can carry on.
Here, let me show you."

He led the way across the room to a huge mechanism.

"Burkewell super-microscope. Living nerve-tissue in a nutrient solution
in focus. There's the projection. See those curly little things,
retracted? Rogers, the biologist, set it up for us before he passed
out."

"Any clues as to the nature of the field?"

Grayson lighted a cigaret with trembling fingers.

"We can't even prove there is one. None of our instruments show a
thing. It's only living tissue that shows any effect. We deduce a field
just because it _can't_ be chemical. Good old Chicago air. Checked
fifty ways. Qualitative and quantitative tests."

Wayne bent over the chassis of a small transmitter that was already
plugged into operation, tubes glowing brightly.

"I suppose you've tried all bands straight. How about super-hetting for
a beat note. Maybe you can synchronize--"

Abruptly, there was a soft, scraping sound behind him and he turned
swiftly. Grayson had leaned or fallen back against the wall and was
sliding down to the floor. Before Wayne could reach him, his knees
buckled under and he fell, lay breathing heavily.

Knowing it would be futile to attempt reviving Grayson, Wayne turned
back to the set. Now he was alone in the laboratory, except for a dozen
men who slept where they had fallen during their efforts to combat the
unknown.

Even as he worked, changing wires almost haphazardly, Wayne realized
the utter million-to-oneness of his chance of success. He didn't know
a single concrete fact about the nature of the electrical or magnetic
field he was trying to neutralize. He couldn't even be sure there was
one. None of the instruments--

Suddenly Wayne stopped working and his eyes lit up with excitement.
The word "instruments" stirred something in his memory, something that
might be important.

He had it! Dr. Felder--it seemed like ages ago but it had been last
night--had said, "... one of my instruments has noted a slight
electrical disturbance of a peculiar nature." And that had been before
the confirmation of the soporific effect of the comet's tail. And Dr.
Felder's guinea pigs--

       *       *       *       *       *

Even as his mind whirled with this new thought, Wayne was running out
of the building into the street. Had Dr. Felder left any notes on that
"disturbance of a peculiar nature"? If he had, it would prove a real
lead. Something to work on. Even searching Dr. Felder's home for a
strange instrument that had reacted where others failed, was better
than hunting blindly here in the laboratory.

The taxicab with its slumbering driver was still where he had parked
it. Excitement running high within him, Wayne jumped in and gunned
northward. He was astonished to discover that the sun was almost
straight overhead. He'd been at the WRV laboratory a good six hours.

Along Michigan Boulevard there was no sign of life, save for people
sleeping in parked cars or on the sidewalk. Some vehicles were stalled
in the middle of the street, but others Wayne noted grimly had smashed
into store fronts or light poles.

It was a world of vast, motionless silence in which nothing stirred
save Wayne and the taxicab he had commandeered. In all of Chicago,
probably in all the world, Wayne Randall, who had never experienced the
sensation of sleep in his life, was the only person awake.

The tires squealed protestingly as he swung in to the curb in front of
the Felder home. Impatiently, Wayne dashed up the steps. The iron bonds
of habit made him ring a doorbell he knew wouldn't be answered, but he
stalked into the house without the formality of waiting.

"Doctor Felder!" he called out loudly. There was only the hollow echo
of his own voice for answer.

Swiftly Wayne began to search the house. There was little chance of
finding anyone awake or being able to awaken them when found, but at
least he'd make certain before searching the laboratory.

Frantically he ran from room to room. But the house was ominously
vacant, deserted.

He rushed with mounting desperation to the laboratory. It too was
deserted. Then Wayne's eyes riveted on the microscope, much smaller
than the one at the WRV lab, but constructed on the same principle.

Hope skyrocketed his spirit when he saw what lay beneath the microscope
lens. Nerve tissue in a nutrient solution. Perhaps this was the clue!
But when he peered closer he saw that the tissue was dead, had long ago
exhausted the solution. It must have been some time last night that Dr.
Felder had put it there.

But he had been working on the problem then, independently! Surely,
somewhere, there must be notes on the experiment. Hastily, Wayne
riffled through the papers in both the office desk and the one in the
laboratory. Nothing, not a single paper seemed to have any bearing on
whatever research Dr. Felder had been conducting. Wayne turned away
with a sinking heart.

Had the doctor truly solved the problem? And started somewhere with his
answer? Suddenly Wayne remembered that there was a garage beside the
house. If Dr. Felder had gone somewhere, his car would be missing.
Quickly Wayne ran out the back way and through the side door of the
garage.

The car was there! And seated in the gray sedan were two slumbering
figures--Dr. Felder and his daughter, Marcia. What had happened was
obvious. Dr. Felder had succumbed to sleep the instant he had settled
behind the wheel, before he had even turned the ignition switch.
Probably Marcia had tried to awaken him, and then fallen back, unable
to stay awake any longer herself.

But it was the leather portfolio on the seat that magnetized Wayne's
attention. His hands trembled as he opened it and began scanning the
several sheets of scribbled notes, and a diagram. A hook-up diagram for
a radio transmitter!

It was midnight when Wayne Randall stumbled from the control room of
WRV into the laboratory. On the floor, figures were beginning to stir.
Grayson, the head technician, opened his eyes. He stared at Wayne
blankly for a moment, then scrambled to his feet.

"Man alive!" he cried exultantly, "you've done it!"

Staggering with weariness Wayne fell into a chair.

"It was Doctor Felder," he said in a voice leaden with exhaustion.
"Give him the credit. He and his daughter are asleep, in the reception
room. I brought them there. Guess they'll be waking up any minute."

Other men in the laboratory were now beginning to sit up and stare.
Wearily, Wayne handed the diagram and notes to Grayson.

"This station should cover the Middle West. As soon as you can get in
touch with other stations, Cincinnati, Louisville, Montreal, and the
others, give them this dope. They'll be able to pass it on to stations
in _their_ range as soon as they're changed over. They can pass it on
east, west, north, and south. New York can reach Europe, and--"

He closed his eyes to rest them a moment, then felt a curious sensation
of limpness, relaxation flow over him. Grayson started for the control
room but before he reached the door, two figures appeared in it--a
short wiry man with sandy hair and beard, and a beautiful auburn-haired
girl.

Dr. Felder spotted Wayne immediately and rushed across to him. He
addressed him and when Wayne didn't move, didn't answer, the doctor
hurriedly felt his pulse, then peeled up an eyelid and examined the
pupil.

"Dad!" Marcia's voice was frantic. "Is he--"

Dr. Felder turned and looked at her understandingly.

"He's all right, my dear. And he'll be all right if we take him home
and give him care and intravenous feeding. But"--the doctor chuckled
softly--"I'm afraid that the damper wave that will keep everyone else
normal has finally made him sleep. He's in for a ten-weeks' stretch of
it, until the comet's gone and we can convert the transmitters back to
normal."



*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CLUTCH OF MORPHEUS ***


    

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.