The Project Gutenberg EBook of Divinity, by William Morrison

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Title: Divinity

Author: William Morrison

Illustrator: Freas

Release Date: September 16, 2007 [EBook #22623]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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DIVINITY

BY WILLIAM MORRISON

ILLUSTRATED BY FREAS

Bradley had one fear in his life. He had to escape
regeneration. To do that, he was willing to take
any chance, coward though he was--even if it meant
that he had to become a god!

Bradley seemed to have escaped regeneration. Now he had only death to
worry about.

Ten minutes before, he had been tumbling through the air head over
heels, helpless and despairing. And before that--

He remembered how his heart had been in his mouth as he had crept down
the corridor of the speeding ship. He could hear Malevski's voice coming
faintly through one of the walls, and had been tempted to run back,
fearful of being shot down on the spot if he were caught. He had fought
back the temptation and kept on. No one had seen him as he crept into
the lifeboat.

"This is your one chance," he told himself. "You have to take it. If
they get you back to port, you're finished."

Luck had been with him. They were broadcasting the results of the
Mars-Earth matches at the time, and most of the crew were grouped around
the visors. He had picked the moment when news came of a sensational
upset, and for a minute or two after the lifeboat blasted off, no one
realized what had happened. When the truth did penetrate, they had a
hard time swinging the ship around, and by then the lifeboat was out of
radar range. He was free.

He had exulted wildly for a moment, until it struck him that freedom in
space might be a doubtful gift. He would have to get to some civilized
port, convince the port authorities that he had been shipwrecked and
somehow separated from the other crew members, and then lose him