The Project Gutenberg EBook of Earthsmith, by Milton Lesser

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere 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

Title: Earthsmith

Author: Milton Lesser

Release Date: June 1, 2010 [EBook #32641]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EARTHSMITH ***

Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

EARTHSMITH

By Milton Lesser

[Transcriber Note: This etext was produced from Imagination Stories of
Science and Fantasy January 1953. Extensive research did not uncover any
evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]

[Sidenote: Nobody at the Interstellar Space School had ever heard of
Earth so naturally they treated Smith with contempt--or was it an innate
fear?...]

Someone in the crowd tittered when the big ungainly creature reached the
head of the line.

"Name?"

The creature swayed back and forth foolishly, supporting the bulk of his
weight first on one extremity and then on the other. His face which had
a slight rosy tint anyway got redder.

"Come, come. Planet? Name?" The registrar was only a machine, but the
registrar could assume an air of feminine petulance. "We want to keep
the line moving, so if you will please--"

The creature drew a deep breath and let the two words come out in a
rush. "Earth, Smith," he said. Being nervous, he could not modulate his
voice. Unable to modulate his voice, he heard the words come out too
deep, too loud.

"Did you hear that voice?" demanded the man who had tittered. "On a cold
wet night they say the karami of Caulo boom like that. And look at
Earthsmith. Just look at him. I ask you, what can they accept at the
school and still call it a school? Hey you, Earthsmith, what courses
will you take?"

"I don't know," the creature confessed. "That's what I'm here for. I
don't even know what they teach at the school."

"He doesn't know." More tittering.

The registrar took all this in impassively, said: "What planet,
Earthsmith?"

The creature was still uncomfortable. "Earth. Only my name is not
Earthsmith. Smith--"

The titterer broke into a loud guff