The Project Gutenberg EBook of Instinct, by George Oliver Smith

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Title: Instinct

Author: George Oliver Smith

Illustrator: Martinez

Release Date: December 20, 2007 [EBook #23931]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK INSTINCT ***

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INSTINCT

[Illustration]

BY GEORGE O. SMITH

_You can keep a good man down, if
you've got enough headstart, are alert
and persistent ... so long as he limits
himself to acting like a good man...._

Illustrated by Martinez

It was 047-63-10 when he opened the door. Before his superior could chew
him for prepunctuality, Huvane said as the chief looked up and opened
his mouth to start:

"Sorry, but you should know. Terra is at it again."

Chelan's jaw snapped shut. He passed a hand over his face and asked in a
tone of pure exasperation. "The same?" and as Huvane nodded, Chelan went
on, "Why can't they make a mistake and blow themselves out of our hair?
How far did they get this time?"

"All the way."

"And out?"

Huvane sat down shaking his head slowly. "Not yet, but they're over the
hump, you know." Huvane's face brightened ever so slightly. "I can't be
criticized for not counting them, chief. But I'll estimate that there
must be at least a couple of hundred atoms of 109 already. And you know
that nobody could _make_ 109 if they hadn't already evolved methods of
measuring the properties of individual atoms. So as soon as they find
that their boom-sample doesn't behave like the standard mess out of a
bombardment chamber, they won't rest until they find out why. They'll
find out. Then it'll be 109, 109, 109 until we're forced to clobber them
again."

Bitterly Chelan looked up. "I don't think I need the lecture. I admire
their tenacity. I admire their ambition. I admire their blasphemous,
consignatory, obscenity attitude of acting as if the Great Creator had
concocted the whole glorious Universe for their own playground. Yes,"
said the chief wearily, "singly they aren't bad traits. Boiled down into
the self-este