The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Talkative Tree, by Horace Brown Fyfe

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Title: The Talkative Tree

Author: Horace Brown Fyfe

Release Date: December 8, 2007 [EBook #23767]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TALKATIVE TREE ***

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By H. B. Fyfe

THE TALKATIVE TREE

Dang vines! Beats all how some plants
have no manners--but what do you expect,
when they used to be men!

All things considered--the obscure star, the undetermined damage to the
stellar drive and the way the small planet's murky atmosphere defied
precision scanners--the pilot made a reasonably good landing. Despite
sour feelings for the space service of Haurtoz, steward Peter Kolin had
to admit that casualties might have been far worse.

Chief Steward Slichow led his little command, less two third-class
ration keepers thought to have been trapped in the lower hold, to a
point two hundred meters from the steaming hull of the _Peace State_. He
lined them up as if on parade. Kolin made himself inconspicuous.

"Since the crew will be on emergency watches repairing the damage,"
announced the Chief in clipped, aggressive tones, "I have volunteered my
section for preliminary scouting, as is suitable. It may be useful to
discover temporary sources in this area of natural foods."

_Volunteered HIS section!_ thought Kolin rebelliously.

_Like the Supreme Director of Haurtoz! Being conscripted into this
idiotic space fleet that never fights is bad enough without a tin god on
jets like Slichow!_

Prudently, he did not express this resentment overtly.

His well-schooled features revealed no trace of the idea--or of any
other idea. The Planetary State of Haurtoz had been organized some
fifteen light-years from old Earth, but many of the home world's less
kindly techniques had been employed. Lack of complete loyalty to the
state was likely to result in a siege of treatment that left the subject
suitably "re-personalized." Kolin had heard of instances wherein mere
unenthusiastic posture had betrayed intent