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Read Ebook: Hero From Yesterday by Garrett Randall Silverberg Robert Becker Illustrator
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Ebook has 118 lines and 5867 words, and 3 pages
They were a peaceful people and somehow couldn't stand the thought of executing their only criminal. The answer was to discover a--
HERO FROM YESTERDAY
The day Lugert's criminals gunned down three citizens in a bold broad-daylight robbery, Domnas Karson, Third Speaker of the Council, said, "I think I've got the answer."
"Answer? To what?" asked Murgon Darell Fourth Speaker.
"To Lugert," said Karson. "The weapon we can use against that throwback who's terrorizing us all."
Karson shuddered and said, "No, not me. Of course not. I'm no more capable of violence than anyone else. But Lugert can be stopped. We can get help."
"From where?"
"From the past," said Karson. "From the ugly crime-ridden world we've evolved out of. Dr. Lorence of the Science Council has developed a time-net which...."
"Of course!" Darell exclaimed. "Bring a man out of the past! A man who won't be inhibited by our innate hatred of violence, a man who'll be able to deal with Lugert as he deserves!" He rose and strode around the long councilroom in quick, nervous steps. "Call Lorence, Karson. Get him at work on the project at once. We can't waste any more time. There's no telling when Lugert might...."
The visiphone chimed three times. Karson crossed the room and depressed the receiving stud. On the screen the features of a thick-faced, stocky man appeared.
"Lugert! What do you want?"
"I'm pleased you recognize me so quickly, Speaker Karson," said the stocky man in a slow, deep voice. "My fame must be spreading, then."
"You didn't call to chat with us, Lugert. What is it you want?"
Lugert's face hardened slowly.
"You're right. I didn't call to chat. I called to tell you to get out."
"What's that?"
"I said, get out. Pack up your records and papers and clear out of the Government Building, Karson. You and all the rest of you. I'm taking over."
Karson stared at the thick-featured face framed by the visiscreen. "You've won again," he said after a pause. "We can't fight you, Lugert. How much time do we have to evacuate the Government Building?"
"How much do you need?"
Karson thought for a moment. "A week, at least. Is that all right?"
"One week, no more," Lugert agreed. "My men and I will come up to take over things at noon on 7 September." He chuckled. "7 September, 2531. A day to go down in history, eh, Karson?"
He broke the contact.
Karson turned from the dead screen and looked at Speaker Darell. "Well, there's our ultimatum," he said. "One week to get out and then Lugert takes over."
"That means we'll have to move fast," said Darell. "You'd better call Dr. Lorence. Only a week...."
Karson was already busy punching out Lorence's code number on the visiphone. When the scientist appeared Karson quickly sketched out the situation as it stood. Lorence's eyes widened when Karson told of Lugert's threat. Then the Speaker went on to outline the part Lorence and his time-net would play in the attempt to defeat Lugert.
"I'll see what I can do," Lorence promised. "I'll try to find the man you're looking for."
"Can you do it in two days or less?"
"I hope so," Lorence said.
It took two days. Then Lorence rang the Office of the Council and told Karson, "It's worked!"
"The time-net? You've got the man?"
"I have. I'll bring him right over."
Lorence entered the council room a while later, followed by a tall, thin, lean-faced man dressed in archaic clothing. Karson's heart thumped excitedly; here was the man, he thought! Here was the hero from yesteryear who would put an end to the threat Lugert represented.
"This is Speaker Karson and Speaker Darell of our governing Council," Lorence said.
The man from the past nodded curtly. "You can call me Jack." His voice was cold, flat, with a curious twang of regional accent in it; the vowel-pronunciation was odd, as was to be expected.
Karson eyed the hard-faced stranger. He didn't seem to have an ounce of fat on him; he looked tough, uncompromising. "I think you'll do," he said after a moment's study. "You've got the stuff."
"Thanks," Jack said in a wry voice. "Suppose you line the program out for me now. Give me the picture; tell me what I'm here for."
Karson frowned. "You're here to help us, because we're helpless ourselves. Did Dr. Lorence tell you what the characteristics of this world are?"
"He said a few things. You fill me in."
"It's 300 years since we last had a war of any sort. Crime had been extinct 150 years--until Lugert.
"Lugert. I heard of him. Who is he?"
"He's the man you're going to kill for us," Karson said bluntly.
The man named Jack grinned. "Oh? A rub-out job?"
"I think that's the term," said Karson. "Lugert's a throwback--a man out of the past. A man out of your time, suddenly reborn in our era for God knows what reason. He's cold and hard and utterly ruthless. Nothing stops him; we're powerless. The compulsion against violence is too strong in us."
"Just a bunch of patsies," Jack said. "Lugert snaps the whip and you all lie down and play dead when he says so. That it?"
It took Karson a few moments to digest the strange idioms. Finally he said, "Right. He began small, with petty thefts and burglaries--he took anything he wanted. Then he began branching out. He compelled a scientist to create a serum for him that would instill absolute loyalty to him in anyone who took it; using that serum, he's built up a band of henchmen who shares his violent ways. Two days ago he decided to make the ultimate grab for power: he ordered us to evacuate the Government Building and let him take over."
"And you said yes," Jack remarked.
"What else could we do? But we have a weapon: you. You share Lugert's way of life; we don't. We can strike at him indirectly, through you."
"You want me to kill this Lugert. What's in it for me?"
"What?"
"I said, what's in it for me? What do I get out of it besides the risk of a punctured hide? I don't do these things for my health, Karson."
Karson thought about that for a moment. "Of course; there would have to be some reward, wouldn't there? Well, what would you want? We can supply virtually anything, if you'll do the job properly. Osmiridium? Sapphires? Books? Women?"
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