The Project Gutenberg eBook of Flowering Evil, by Margaret St. Clair
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: Flowering Evil
Author: Margaret St. Clair
Release Date: March 07, 2021 [eBook #64745]
Language: English
Character set encoding: UTF-8
Produced by: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FLOWERING EVIL ***
Flowering Evil
by MARGARET ST. CLAIR
Like all her other plants from far-off
worlds, Aunt Amy hoped the Venusian Rambler
would win a prize. It hoped so too.
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Planet Stories Summer 1950.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
Captain Bjornson shook a grizzled head. "I never saw a plant I liked
the looks of less," he said. "I don't know how he got it through the
planetary plant quarantine. You take my advice, Amy, and watch out for
it." He took another of the little geela nut cookies from the quaint
old lucite platter, and bit into it appreciatively.
Mrs. Dinsmore sniffed, "I don't know what you're driving at," she said
coldly, "or why you're so prejudiced against my poor little Rambler.
You know perfectly well that Robert would never send me anything the
least bit dangerous."
Captain Bjornson paused with another cookie half-way to his lips and
looked at her. "Wouldn't send you anything dangerous!" he exclaimed.
"Why, Amy, have you forgotten how your face was swelled up for two
weeks from that tree cutting he sent you? The doctor said it was a
contact poison worse than sumach, and he tried to get you to go to the
hospital. What about the time that cactus from the Blue Desert went
to seed, and I spent thirty-six hours picking spines out of you? What
about—" Mrs. Dinsmore gave a warning sniff.
"Well, all right," Bjornson said. "I know how fond you are of Bob, and
I know you don't like me to mention his mistakes. I'll grant you he
means well. So what? He's flighty, scatter-brained, and brash. To use
an expression that was current when I was a boy, Bob is a twerp."
Mrs. Dinsmore pulled the lucite platter so far over to her own side
of the table that Bjornson couldn't get another cookie from it
without getting up and stretching out along the table cloth. "I don't
agree with you," she said distantly. "Robert is a splendid fellow,
so thoughtful and considerate. He takes a real interest in my soap
carvings, and how many young men with an important position like his,
third mate on a space freighter with a regularly scheduled run, would
remember to send back plants from every port of call to an aunt on
earth? I shouldn't be surprised if I won a blue ribbon at the flower
show again this year; my Golden Rain plant is about to bloom. Robert
tells me it's a lovely thing."
The captain cast a wistful look at the cookie plate. "Well, don't say I
didn't warn you," he replied. "When's Bob due in port?"
Mrs. Dinsmore's face relaxed. "Around the twenty-fifth," she said, "he
sent me a 'gram. Here, have another cookie. I must think up some little
thing to cook for him as a surprise."
The captain snaffled a handful of cookies from the plate and stood up
to go. "Your ordinary cooking's good enough for me," he declared, "but,
if you mean something like those little shrimps fried in batter you
had the last time he was here, go ahead. And watch for that plant." He
stalked off across the lawn.
He's getting old, thought Amy Dinsmore, watching the gruff old codger
limp around a flower bed (Bjornson had had prosthetic surgery after he
lost his foot and, though it had been successful, grafts were never
as flexible as natural members), positively old. He ought to see a
geriatrician right away. She'd tell him so the next time he came to see
her. Talking about Robert that way!
She set the dial on the robot gardener on the front lawn to "Weeding:
dandelions" and started along the path that led to the little hothouse
where most of the plants Robert had sent her were growing; even in
the deep tropics Terra was, with few exceptions, too cold and dry for
them. The Martian subjects, on the other hand, were in a psychroplex
lean-to, with hygro-scopes and a battery of infra-red lamps to keep the
temperature up during the day.
The heavy moist air of the hothouse made Amy Dinsmore pant a little as
she entered it—but how interesting it was! Even the leaves of her
Venusian plants were fascinating, thick and leatherlike, thin and dry
and hard like parchment, hanging in heavy serpentine coils or bristling
pointed and sharp as so many spears. And their coloring ranged from
cerise through a silky taupe and indigo around to an angry bright
metallic blue. As for their flowers—oh, my. Amy Dinsmore had never
seen anything like them. All you could do was stand in front of them
with your mouth open and stare. When she wasn't looking at her Martian
succulents, they were her favorites of anything she grew.
She halted in front of the plant Robert had sent her last. Yes, Hjalmar
Bjornson was getting definitely senile. How could anybody think that
this poor little dried-up thing could be harmful? It was a mere bundle
of desiccated stems, with only a tiny new leaf or two to indicate that
it was alive. It looked a little better than it had yesterday, though;
the colchine solution must have been good for it. Amy brushed a few
dead flies from the ledge behind it into her hand and threw them into
the composter. She liked to have things neat.
Now, what should she cook as a surprise for Robert? He was fond of
sweet things, of course, but it always seemed to her that he praised
her meat dishes and entrees most. He liked her cooking so much
because her roast turkeys and grilled steaks had a crust on them;
electronically cooked food was quick to prepare and it might be as good
for you as they said it was, but the outside looked like the inside,
and it all tasted flavorless and grey. What was the use of saving time
in cooking if you ended up with food that wasn't any fun to eat?
"You aren't looking well, Amy," Captain Bjornson said three or four
weeks later. He looked at her with the critical attention of an old
friend. "You've got on a lot of cosmi-lac, but you still look peaked.
What's the matter, worried about Bob? Ships don't get hurt in meteor
swarms any more." He looked down at his grafted foot reminiscently.
"Not like it was when I was a third mate."
Amy Dinsmore shook her head. She picked up one of the brightly-colored
hexagons—they had been playing a desultory game of Maroola in the airy
coolness of the side stoa—and fiddled with it.
"I haven't been sleeping well," she confessed at last. "I've had such
unpleasant dreams. Horrid things."
"What about?" Bjornson asked. "That blasted plant? Honestly, Amy, it
looks like some kind of spider to me."
"No! I don't know why you can't leave my Venusian Rambler alone! Robert
told me it was a very valuable plant, rare even in its own habitat.
It's doing so nicely, too. A spider! I wish you'd stop trying to spoil
it for me."
"I'm sorry," Bjornson apologized. "Forget it. Go on, tell me about your
dreams."
"Well, on Tuesday—or was it Wednesday?—no, it must have been Tuesday
because that was the day after I flew over to Hartford—I was down by
the hothouse and I found the most unpleasant thing beside the path."
She shuddered. "I've been dreaming about it ever since."
"What was it?" Bjornson urged.
"Oh, a—I guess it must have been a rabbit once. One of the wild ones.
Only it was nothing except some fur and some bones. Not decayed,
Hjalmar, you understand, just gone. I can't imagine what had happened
to it."
"Better see a mental hygienist," the Captain advised after a pause.
"Nightmares can be very serious."
"I suppose so. I really dread going to sleep."
The next morning, very early, Amy turned on the fluor with unsteady
fingers. What a horrid dream it had been! She could hardly believe that
it hadn't been real and that she was safe and sound in her own bedroom
after all.
Outside, the noise that had wakened her—the jagged, unearthly
caterwauling of a couple of tomcats promenading in the moonlight—came
again. Ordinarily it was a noise Amy disliked very much—the poor
things always sounded as if they were in deadly agony—but now she
was glad to hear it. Heavens, if it hadn't been for those cats crying
and waking her up, she might still be asleep and dreaming. Dreaming
about—about—blood....
She turned the ceiling selector to "summer sky," lay back on her
pillow, and tried to relax. It was her favorite of all the ceilings
her bedroom had, so lovely and calm and blue, and right now she needed
something lovely and calm. One thing was sure, she wasn't going to
stand this much longer. She didn't believe in pampering herself, but,
if she had that dream once more she was going to take Bjornson's advice
and see a mental hygienist.
She'd think about something pleasant. Amy tried to fix her mind on her
gardening, on how well her plants were doing, but it wasn't a success.
When she tried to keep her thoughts on her Venusian Rambler (why did
they call it a Rambler?—it was turning into a large, stocky, compact
bush more like an outsized Camellia than anything else Amy Dinsmore
could think of), they kept veering back to her dream and all that—all
that—
Well, then she'd think about Robert. She was a lucky woman to have
a nephew like him. She'd worked out several menus, all the things
he liked best, but she wished she could think of something a little
different. There were so few kinds of meat, when everything was said
and done. Lamb and beef and musk ox and bollo and pork. And she always
thought bollo was stringy and tough.
Gradually Amy's nerves began to quiet. The cats had grown quiet too,
except for an occasional outburst that sounded like lightning made
audible. Her thoughts drifted lazily from Robert to her soap carving.
After a while she went to sleep....
The morning was sunny and bright, and she felt almost ashamed of
herself for having let a dream affect her so seriously. She had
finished her matutinal inspection of the hothouse and the succulent
growing-shed and had started back to the house when she came on a
bundle lying by the hothouse wall. At first she didn't recognize it for
what it was, and stooped over it, poking at it with a stick.
After an instant she straightened, nauseated, remembering where she had
last seen that ginger-colored fur. The bundle was the not very bulky
remains—bones, and some patches of hide—of a cat. Hadn't there been
some pieces of white fur too?—of two cats.
She'd better call Hjalmar. It might be dangerous. There must be some
wild animal living near her hothouse, a lynx or ferret or wildcat or
stoat. Mrs. Dinsmore wasn't strong on zoology, but she knew exactly
what sort of an animal she had in mind—something lithe and dark and
blood-thirsty. Goodness. It was quite frightening.
On the other hand, Robert would be in port in a couple of days. If
she asked Hjalmar to help her, he'd either make an enormous masculine
fuss over it (she still remembered the time she'd asked him to put up
a towel rack for her and he'd arrived with a set of socket wrenches, a
hand electric drill, four pairs of pliers, and a portable arc welding
outfit) or he'd pooh-pooh and pish-tush her into silence. Either way,
it wouldn't be satisfactory. She'd wait for Robert; Robert was so
comforting. If only she didn't have more of those dreams!
Despite her apprehensions, her next night's slumber was profound and
sweet. She hadn't felt so rested and refreshed in weeks. She put the
somni-spray (maybe if she'd thought to use it before she wouldn't have
had those horrid nightmares) back in the closet and decided that she'd
do some soap carving after breakfast. She felt in the mood for it, and
Robert would be disappointed if she didn't have something new to show
him that she'd carved since he had last been in port. Besides, she
might be able to think of the special dish she wanted to make for him
while she was working: she'd found from experience that some of her
best culinary ideas came to her while she was making a statuette or
plaque out of soap.
The meal concluded, she got out her set of modeling knives and a couple
of cakes of soap. Soap was rather hard to get, since most people used
synthetic detergents nowadays, but she knew a little store in Perth
Amboy that carried it. This last batch had a lovely texture.
Amy rotated the living room on its axis until the light was exactly
right, and then sat down in front of her carving desk. What should she
make? A statuette? A plaque? A plaque in low relief, a plaque of a
flower. Somehow, she didn't want to think about animals right now.
She had sketched in the conventionalized Hermodactylus and was
beginning to pick it out carefully from the background when it occurred
to her that she hadn't been down to the hothouse this morning to see
her plants.
Why, that would never do, she mustn't neglect them, it was terribly
important. Important. (Her head hurt; how dizzy she felt!) She'd better
go at once, she'd better ... go.... Cake of soap in one hand, knife
in the other, panting a little, Amy set out toward her plants in a
stumbling run.
She was half-way to the hothouse before it occurred to her to question
the impulse which had taken her incontinently from her carving and
set her in blind motion toward the hothouse, and by then it was too
late. She was no longer a free agent in any sense of the term. The
mental grip which had taken the rabbit and the cats to their death
had tightened on her inescapably. Remote from her body, in a glassy
paralysis of fear and impotence, Amy watched her feet moving briskly
down the path.
Oh, if she could only cry out, call Hjalmar! She felt the muscles of
her throat straining, but no sound came. And now she was standing
before the hothouse, and her hand had opened the door.
The Rambler was waiting for her. Very slowly, like a man flexing his
arm, it reached out one of the stocky branches toward her. Amy saw that
at the end of the branch, well hidden under the dark green, glossy
leaves, was a slender, translucent, hollow thorn. It was about the size
of the hypodermic needle the doctor had used when, in her last year's
physical examination, he'd taken a sample of blood.
Amy knew exactly what was going to happen. First the hollow thorn,
until her veins were dry, and then the slowly opening maw, gaping above
the big, swollen, meter-wide base the thick leaves of the Rambler had
served to conceal. It would take a long time, but Hjalmar would never
miss her before it was too late.
She knew exactly what was going to happen.
The Rambler's branch moved delicately over the surface of Amy's right
wrist, the one with the modeling knife. The other branches were
drooping limply away from the purple-pink of its swollen base, waiting,
while it hunted the exact spot. It hesitated for an instant and
then—Amy's mouth drew into a soundless Oh of pain—struck home.
A dark fluid began to stain the hollow thorn. For just a fraction
of a second the Rambler's mental grip on Amy Dinsmore relaxed; she
could feel its blind concentration on its own black enjoyment. And in
that fraction of a second Amy threw the cake of soap in her left hand
straight into the Rambler's fleshy maw.
The Rambler gripped at her mind again, but it was a disturbed and
feeble grip. Its branches began to move around the fleshy bole they
had shielded, slowly, and then in a furious heaving. The thorn which
had entered her wrist was jaggedly withdrawn. Amy, her wrist streaming
blood, stared at the Rambler for a moment and then lunged at it with
the menacing knife.
Sitting outside on the ground beside the hothouse afterward, her
forehead on her hands, feeling sick and faint, Amy had an idea. At
first she pushed it from her; it was far-fetched, silly, even a little
repulsive.
But was it so silly after all? And as to being unpleasant, well, bollo
meat commanded enormous prices in the market and, from everything she'd
ever heard, the bollo was the very reverse of a fastidious feeder. Even
pigs certainly weren't dainty in their eating habits. If she parboiled
it in several waters and then braised it slowly, with a hint of ginger
in the sauce.... Well, after all, why not?
Amy, the modeling knife in her hand, went into the hothouse again....
... "Gee, Aunt Amy, this meat's good," Robert said. He was talking with
his mouth full. "I've eaten indigenous chow on three planets—four, if
you call the stuff they serve you on Uranus food—and it's my opinion
that there isn't a better cook anywhere in the system than you. Fact.
How do you do it, anyhow?"
Amy Dinsmore lowered her eyes. She could feel herself blushing through
her cosmi-lac. "Oh ... thank you, Robert."
"She sure is, Bob," Hjalmar Bjornson said expansively. "That gravy!
She's the best cook on Terra all the time, but when you're in port she
gets sort of inspired."
"What kind of meat is this, though, Amy? And could I have some more?"
"Of course," Amy said. She refilled Hjamar's plate. "It's something new
I found in the big auto-market in the city," she said vaguely.
"By the way, Aunt Amy," Bob said, laying down his fork, "after I sent
you that plant I heard it was supposed to be carnivorous. I forgot to
mention it in my last 'gram. You didn't get into any trouble with it,
did you?"
"No, it died," Amy said smoothly. "I had to throw it out. Too bad." She
brightened. "Pass your plate, Robert dear," she said.
*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FLOWERING EVIL ***
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.