The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Ethical Engineer, by Henry Maxwell Dempsey

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Title: The Ethical Engineer

Author: Henry Maxwell Dempsey

Illustrator: John Schoenherr

Release Date: January 14, 2010 [EBook #30964]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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Transcriber's Note:

This etext was produced from Analog Science Fact & Fiction July and
August 1963. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the
U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.

THE ETHICAL ENGINEER

That mores is strictly a matter of local custom cannot be
denied. But that ethics is pure opinion also...? Maybe there
are times for murder, and theft and slavery....

BY HARRY HARRISON

Illustrated by John Schoenherr

[Illustration]

All nature is but art, unknown to thee;
All chance, direction which thou canst not see;
All discord, harmony not understood;
All partial evil, universal good:
And, spite of pride, in erring reasons spite,
One truth is clear, Whatever is, is right.

Alexander Pope
_Essay on Man_

* * * * *

I

Jason dinAlt looked unhappily at the two stretchers as they were
carried by. "Are they at it again?" he asked.

Brucco nodded, the scowl permanently ingrained now on his hawklike
face. "We have only one thing to be thankful for. That is--so far at
least--they haven't used any weapons on each other."

Jason looked down unbelievingly at the shredded clothing, crushed
flesh and broken bones. "The absence of weapons doesn't appear to make
much difference when two Pyrrans start fighting. It seems impossible
that this damage could be administered bare-handed."

"Well it was. Even you should know that much about Pyrrus by now. We
take our fighting very seriou