The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Last Supper, by T. D. Hamm

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Title: The Last Supper

Author: T. D. Hamm

Release Date: October 28, 2009 [EBook #30348]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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_Before reading this story, prepare yourself for a
jolt and a chill in capsule form. O. Henry could
have been proud of it. It could well become a
minor classic._

The Last Supper

By T. D. Hamm

Hampered as she was by the child in her arms, the woman was running less
fleetly now. A wave of exultation swept over Guldran, drowning out the
uneasy feeling of guilt at disobeying orders.

The instructions were mandatory and concise: "_No_ capture must be
attempted individually. In the event of sighting any form of human life,
the ship MUST be notified immediately. All small craft must be back at
the landing space not later than one hour before take-off. Anyone not so
reporting will be presumed lost."

Guldran thought uneasily of the great seas of snow and ice sweeping
inexorably toward each other since the Earth had reversed on its axis in
the great catastrophe a millennium ago. Now, summer and winter alike
brought paralyzing gales and blizzards, heralded by the sleety snow in
which the woman's skin-clad feet had left the tracks which led to
discovery.

His trained anthropologist's mind speculated avidly over the little they
had gotten from the younger of the two men found nearly a week before,
nearly frozen and half-starved. The older man had succumbed almost at
once; the other, in the most primitive sign language, had indicated
that, of several humans living in caves to the west, only he and the
other had survived to flee some mysterious terror. Guldran felt a throb
of pity for the woman and her child, left behind by the men, no doubt,
as a hindrance.

But what a stroke of fortune that there should be left a male and female
of the race to carry the seed of Terra to another planet. And what a
triumph if he, Guldran, should be the one to return at the eleven