THE GUN By PHILIP K. DICK _Nothing moved or stirred. Everything was silent, dead. Only the gun showed signs of life ... And the trespassers had wrecked that for all time. The return journey to pick up the treasure would be a cinch ... They smiled. _ The Captain peered into the eyepiece of the telescope. He adjusted thefocus quickly. "It was an atomic fission we saw, all right, " he said presently. Hesighed and pushed the eyepiece away. "Any of you who wants to look maydo so. But it's not a pretty sight. " "Let me look, " Tance the archeologist said. He bent down to look, squinting. "Good Lord!" He leaped violently back, knocking againstDorle, the Chief Navigator. "Why did we come all this way, then?" Dorle asked, looking around at theother men. "There's no point even in landing. Let's go back at once. " "Perhaps he's right, " the biologist murmured. "But I'd like to look formyself, if I may. " He pushed past Tance and peered into the sight. He saw a vast expanse, an endless surface of gray, stretching to theedge of the planet. At first he thought it was water but after a momenthe realized that it was slag, pitted, fused slag, broken only by hillsof rock jutting up at intervals. Nothing moved or stirred. Everythingwas silent, dead. "I see, " Fomar said, backing away from the eyepiece. "Well, I won't findany legumes there. " He tried to smile, but his lips stayed unmoved. Hestepped away and stood by himself, staring past the others. "I wonder what the atmospheric sample will show, " Tance said. "I think I can guess, " the Captain answered. "Most of the atmosphere ispoisoned. But didn't we expect all this? I don't see why we're sosurprised. A fission visible as far away as our system must be aterrible thing. " He strode off down the corridor, dignified and expressionless. Theywatched him disappear into the control room. As the Captain closed the door the young woman turned. "What did thetelescope show? Good or bad?" "Bad. No life could possibly exist. Atmosphere poisoned, watervaporized, all the land fused. " "Could they have gone underground?" The Captain slid back the port window so that the surface of the planetunder them was visible. The two of them stared down, silent anddisturbed. Mile after mile of unbroken ruin stretched out, blackenedslag, pitted and scarred, and occasional heaps of rock. Suddenly Nasha jumped. "Look! Over there, at the edge. Do you see it?" They stared. Something rose up, not rock, not an accidental formation. It was round, a circle of dots, white pellets on the dead skin of theplanet. A city? Buildings of some kind? "Please turn the ship, " Nasha said excitedly. She pushed her dark hairfrom her face. "Turn the ship and let's see what it is!" The ship turned, changing its course. As they came over the white dotsthe Captain lowered the ship, dropping it down as much as he dared. "Piers, " he said. "Piers of some sort of stone. Perhaps pouredartificial stone. The remains of a city. " "Oh, dear, " Nasha murmured. "How awful. " She watched the ruins disappearbehind them. In a half-circle the white squares jutted from the slag, chipped and cracked, like broken teeth. "There's nothing alive, " the Captain said at last. "I think we'll goright back; I know most of the crew want to. Get the GovernmentReceiving Station on the sender and tell them what we found, and thatwe--" [Illustration] * * * * * He staggered. The first atomic shell had struck the ship, spinning it around. TheCaptain fell to the floor, crashing into the control table. Papers andinstruments rained down on him. As he started to his feet the secondshell struck. The ceiling cracked open, struts and girders twisted andbent. The ship shuddered, falling suddenly down, then righting itself asautomatic controls took over. The Captain lay on the floor by the smashed control board. In the cornerNasha struggled to free herself from the debris. Outside the men were already sealing the gaping leaks in the side of theship, through which the precious air was rushing, dissipating into thevoid beyond. "Help me!" Dorle was shouting. "Fire over here, wiringignited. " Two men came running. Tance watched helplessly, his eyeglassesbroken and bent. "So there is life here, after all, " he said, half to himself. "But howcould--" "Give us a hand, " Fomar said, hurrying past. "Give us a hand, we've gotto land the ship!" It was night. A few stars glinted above them, winking through thedrifting silt that blew across the surface of the planet. Dorle peered out, frowning. "What a place to be stuck in. " He resumedhis work, hammering the bent metal hull of the ship back into place. Hewas wearing a pressure suit; there were still many small leaks, andradioactive particles from the atmosphere had already found their wayinto the ship. Nasha and Fomar were sitting at the table in the control room, pale andsolemn, studying the inventory lists. "Low on carbohydrates, " Fomar said. "We can break down the stored fatsif we want to, but--" "I wonder if we could find anything outside. " Nasha went to the window. "How uninviting it looks. " She paced back and forth, very slender andsmall, her face dark with fatigue. "What do you suppose an exploringparty would find?" Fomar shrugged. "Not much. Maybe a few weeds growing in cracks here andthere. Nothing we could use. Anything that would adapt to thisenvironment would be toxic, lethal. " Nasha paused, rubbing her cheek. There was a deep scratch there, stillred and swollen. "Then how do you explain--_it_? According to yourtheory the inhabitants must have died in their skins, fried like yams. But who fired on us? Somebody detected us, made a decision, aimed agun. " "And gauged distance, " the Captain said feebly from the cot in thecorner. He turned toward them. "That's the part that worries me. Thefirst shell put us out of commission, the second almost destroyed us. They were well aimed, perfectly aimed. We're not such an easy target. " "True. " Fomar nodded. "Well, perhaps we'll know the answer before weleave here. What a strange situation! All our reasoning tells us that nolife could exist; the whole planet burned dry, the atmosphere itselfgone, completely poisoned. " "The gun that fired the projectiles survived, " Nasha said. "Why notpeople?" "It's not the same. Metal doesn't need air to breathe. Metal doesn't getleukemia from radioactive particles. Metal doesn't need food and water. " There was silence. "A paradox, " Nasha said. "Anyhow, in the morning I think we should sendout a search party. And meanwhile we should keep on trying to get theship in condition for the trip back. " "It'll be days before we can take off, " Fomar said. "We should keepevery man working here. We can't afford to send out a party. " Nasha smiled a little. "We'll send you in the first party. Maybe you candiscover--what was it you were so interested in?" "Legumes. Edible legumes. " "Maybe you can find some of them. Only--" "Only what?" "Only watch out. They fired on us once without even knowing who we wereor what we came for. Do you suppose that they fought with each other?Perhaps they couldn't imagine anyone being friendly, under anycircumstances. What a strange evolutionary trait, inter-species warfare. Fighting within the race!" "We'll know in the morning, " Fomar said. "Let's get some sleep. " * * * * * The sun came up chill and austere. The three people, two men and awoman, stepped through the port, dropping down on the hard ground below. "What a day, " Dorle said grumpily. "I said how glad I'd be to walk onfirm ground again, but--" "Come on, " Nasha said. "Up beside me. I want to say something to you. Will you excuse us, Tance?" Tance nodded gloomily. Dorle caught up with Nasha. They walked together, their metal shoes crunching the ground underfoot. Nasha glanced at him. "Listen. The Captain is dying. No one knows except the two of us. By theend of the day-period of this planet he'll be dead. The shock didsomething to his heart. He was almost sixty, you know. " Dorle nodded. "That's bad. I have a great deal of respect for him. Youwill be captain in his place, of course. Since you're vice-captainnow--" "No. I prefer to see someone else lead, perhaps you or Fomar. I've beenthinking over the situation and it seems to me that I should declaremyself mated to one of you, whichever of you wants to be captain. Then Icould devolve the responsibility. " "Well, I don't want to be captain. Let Fomar do it. " Nasha studied him, tall and blond, striding along beside her in hispressure suit. "I'm rather partial to you, " she said. "We might try itfor a time, at least. But do as you like. Look, we're coming tosomething. " They stopped walking, letting Tance catch up. In front of them was somesort of a ruined building. Dorle stared around thoughtfully. "Do you see? This whole place is a natural bowl, a huge valley. See howthe rock formations rise up on all sides, protecting the floor. Maybesome of the great blast was deflected here. " They wandered around the ruins, picking up rocks and fragments. "I thinkthis was a farm, " Tance said, examining a piece of wood. "This was partof a tower windmill. " "Really?" Nasha took the stick and turned it over. "Interesting. Butlet's go; we don't have much time. " "Look, " Dorle said suddenly. "Off there, a long way off. Isn't thatsomething?" He pointed. Nasha sucked in her breath. "The white stones. " "What?" Nasha looked up at Dorle. "The white stones, the great broken teeth. Wesaw them, the Captain and I, from the control room. " She touched Dorle'sarm gently. "That's where they fired from. I didn't think we had landedso close. " "What is it?" Tance said, coming up to them. "I'm almost blind withoutmy glasses. What do you see?" "The city. Where they fired from. " "Oh. " All three of them stood together. "Well, let's go, " Tance said. "There's no telling what we'll find there. " Dorle frowned at him. "Wait. We don't know what we would be getting into. They must havepatrols. They probably have seen us already, for that matter. " "They probably have seen the ship itself, " Tance said. "They probablyknow right now where they can find it, where they can blow it up. Sowhat difference does it make whether we go closer or not?" "That's true, " Nasha said. "If they really want to get us we haven't achance. We have no armaments at all; you know that. " "I have a hand weapon. " Dorle nodded. "Well, let's go on, then. Isuppose you're right, Tance. " "But let's stay together, " Tance said nervously. "Nasha, you're goingtoo fast. " Nasha looked back. She laughed. "If we expect to get there by nightfallwe must go fast. " * * * * * They reached the outskirts of the city at about the middle of theafternoon. The sun, cold and yellow, hung above them in the colorlesssky. Dorle stopped at the top of a ridge overlooking the city. "Well, there it is. What's left of it. " There was not much left. The huge concrete piers which they had noticedwere not piers at all, but the ruined foundations of buildings. They hadbeen baked by the searing heat, baked and charred almost to the ground. Nothing else remained, only this irregular circle of white squares, perhaps four miles in diameter. Dorle spat in disgust. "More wasted time. A dead skeleton of a city, that's all. " "But it was from here that the firing came, " Tance murmured. "Don'tforget that. " "And by someone with a good eye and a great deal of experience, " Nashaadded. "Let's go. " They walked into the city between the ruined buildings. No one spoke. They walked in silence, listening to the echo of their footsteps. "It's macabre, " Dorle muttered. "I've seen ruined cities before but theydied of old age, old age and fatigue. This was killed, seared to death. This city didn't die--it was murdered. " "I wonder what the city was called, " Nasha said. She turned aside, goingup the remains of a stairway from one of the foundations. "Do you thinkwe might find a signpost? Some kind of plaque?" She peered into the ruins. "There's nothing there, " Dorle said impatiently. "Come on. " "Wait. " Nasha bent down, touching a concrete stone. "There's somethinginscribed on this. " "What is it?" Tance hurried up. He squatted in the dust, running hisgloved fingers over the surface of the stone. "Letters, all right. " Hetook a writing stick from the pocket of his pressure suit and copied theinscription on a bit of paper. Dorle glanced over his shoulder. Theinscription was: FRANKLIN APARTMENTS "That's this city, " Nasha said softly. "That was its name. " Tance put the paper in his pocket and they went on. After a time Dorlesaid, "Nasha, you know, I think we're being watched. But don't lookaround. " The woman stiffened. "Oh? Why do you say that? Did you see something?" "No. I can feel it, though. Don't you?" Nasha smiled a little. "I feel nothing, but perhaps I'm more used tobeing stared at. " She turned her head slightly. "Oh!" Dorle reached for his hand weapon. "What is it? What do you see?" Tancehad stopped dead in his tracks, his mouth half open. "The gun, " Nasha said. "It's the gun. " "Look at the size of it. The size of the thing. " Dorle unfastened hishand weapon slowly. "That's it, all right. " The gun was huge. Stark and immense it pointed up at the sky, a mass ofsteel and glass, set in a huge slab of concrete. Even as they watchedthe gun moved on its swivel base, whirring underneath. A slim vaneturned with the wind, a network of rods atop a high pole. "It's alive, " Nasha whispered. "It's listening to us, watching us. " The gun moved again, this time clockwise. It was mounted so that itcould make a full circle. The barrel lowered a trifle, then resumed itsoriginal position. "But who fires it?" Tance said. Dorle laughed. "No one. No one fires it. " They stared at him. "What do you mean?" "It fires itself. " They couldn't believe him. Nasha came close to him, frowning, looking upat him. "I don't understand. What do you mean, it fires itself?" "Watch, I'll show you. Don't move. " Dorle picked up a rock from theground. He hesitated a moment and then tossed the rock high in the air. The rock passed in front of the gun. Instantly the great barrel moved, the vanes contracted. * * * * * The rock fell to the ground. The gun paused, then resumed its calmswivel, its slow circling. "You see, " Dorle said, "it noticed the rock, as soon as I threw it up inthe air. It's alert to anything that flies or moves above the groundlevel. Probably it detected us as soon as we entered the gravitationalfield of the planet. It probably had a bead on us from the start. Wedon't have a chance. It knows all about the ship. It's just waiting forus to take off again. " "I understand about the rock, " Nasha said, nodding. "The gun noticed it, but not us, since we're on the ground, not above. It's only designed tocombat objects in the sky. The ship is safe until it takes off again, then the end will come. " "But what's this gun for?" Tance put in. "There's no one alive here. Everyone is dead. " "It's a machine, " Dorle said. "A machine that was made to do a job. Andit's doing the job. How it survived the blast I don't know. On it goes, waiting for the enemy. Probably they came by air in some sort ofprojectiles. " "The enemy, " Nasha said. "Their own race. It is hard to believe thatthey really bombed themselves, fired at themselves. " "Well, it's over with. Except right here, where we're standing. This onegun, still alert, ready to kill. It'll go on until it wears out. " "And by that time we'll be dead, " Nasha said bitterly. "There must have been hundreds of guns like this, " Dorle murmured. "Theymust have been used to the sight, guns, weapons, uniforms. Probably theyaccepted it as a natural thing, part of their lives, like eating andsleeping. An institution, like the church and the state. Men trained tofight, to lead armies, a regular profession. Honored, respected. " Tance was walking slowly toward the gun, peering nearsightedly up at it. "Quite complex, isn't it? All those vanes and tubes. I suppose this issome sort of a telescopic sight. " His gloved hand touched the end of along tube. Instantly the gun shifted, the barrel retracting. It swung-- "Don't move!" Dorle cried. The barrel swung past them as they stood, rigid and still. For one terrible moment it hesitated over their heads, clicking and whirring, settling into position. Then the sounds died outand the gun became silent. Tance smiled foolishly inside his helmet. "I must have put my fingerover the lens. I'll be more careful. " He made his way up onto thecircular slab, stepping gingerly behind the body of the gun. Hedisappeared from view. "Where did he go?" Nasha said irritably. "He'll get us all killed. " "Tance, come back!" Dorle shouted. "What's the matter with you?" "In a minute. " There was a long silence. At last the archeologistappeared. "I think I've found something. Come up and I'll show you. " "What is it?" "Dorle, you said the gun was here to keep the enemy off. I think I knowwhy they wanted to keep the enemy off. " They were puzzled. "I think I've found what the gun is supposed to guard. Come and give mea hand. " "All right, " Dorle said abruptly. "Let's go. " He seized Nasha's hand. "Come on. Let's see what he's found. I thought something like this mighthappen when I saw that the gun was--" "Like what?" Nasha pulled her hand away. "What are you talking about?You act as if you knew what he's found. " "I do. " Dorle smiled down at her. "Do you remember the legend that allraces have, the myth of the buried treasure, and the dragon, the serpentthat watches it, guards it, keeping everyone away?" She nodded. "Well?" Dorle pointed up at the gun. "That, " he said, "is the dragon. Come on. " * * * * * Between the three of them they managed to pull up the steel cover andlay it to one side. Dorle was wet with perspiration when they finished. "It isn't worth it, " he grunted. He stared into the dark yawning hole. "Or is it?" Nasha clicked on her hand lamp, shining the beam down the stairs. Thesteps were thick with dust and rubble. At the bottom was a steel door. "Come on, " Tance said excitedly. He started down the stairs. Theywatched him reach the door and pull hopefully on it without success. "Give a hand!" "All right. " They came gingerly after him. Dorle examined the door. Itwas bolted shut, locked. There was an inscription on the door but hecould not read it. "Now what?" Nasha said. Dorle took out his hand weapon. "Stand back. I can't think of any otherway. " He pressed the switch. The bottom of the door glowed red. Presently it began to crumble. Dorle clicked the weapon off. "I think wecan get through. Let's try. " The door came apart easily. In a few minutes they had carried it away inpieces and stacked the pieces on the first step. Then they went on, flashing the light ahead of them. They were in a vault. Dust lay everywhere, on everything, inches thick. Wood crates lined the walls, huge boxes and crates, packages andcontainers. Tance looked around curiously, his eyes bright. "What exactly are all these?" he murmured. "Something valuable, I wouldthink. " He picked up a round drum and opened it. A spool fell to thefloor, unwinding a black ribbon. He examined it, holding it up to thelight. "Look at this!" They came around him. "Pictures, " Nasha said. "Tiny pictures. " "Records of some kind. " Tance closed the spool up in the drum again. "Look, hundreds of drums. " He flashed the light around. "And thosecrates. Let's open one. " Dorle was already prying at the wood. The wood had turned brittle anddry. He managed to pull a section away. It was a picture. A boy in a blue garment, smiling pleasantly, staringahead, young and handsome. He seemed almost alive, ready to move towardthem in the light of the hand lamp. It was one of them, one of theruined race, the race that had perished. For a long time they stared at the picture. At last Dorle replaced theboard. "All these other crates, " Nasha said. "More pictures. And these drums. What are in the boxes?" "This is their treasure, " Tance said, almost to himself. "Here are theirpictures, their records. Probably all their literature is here, theirstories, their myths, their ideas about the universe. " "And their history, " Nasha said. "We'll be able to trace theirdevelopment and find out what it was that made them become what theywere. " Dorle was wandering around the vault. "Odd, " he murmured. "Even at theend, even after they had begun to fight they still knew, someplace downinside them, that their real treasure was this, their books andpictures, their myths. Even after their big cities and buildings andindustries were destroyed they probably hoped to come back and findthis. After everything else was gone. " "When we get back home we can agitate for a mission to come here, " Tancesaid. "All this can be loaded up and taken back. We'll be leavingabout--" He stopped. "Yes, " Dorle said dryly. "We'll be leaving about three day-periods fromnow. We'll fix the ship, then take off. Soon we'll be home, that is, ifnothing happens. Like being shot down by that--" "Oh, stop it!" Nasha said impatiently. "Leave him alone. He's right: allthis must be taken back home, sooner or later. We'll have to solve theproblem of the gun. We have no choice. " Dorle nodded. "What's your solution, then? As soon as we leave theground we'll be shot down. " His face twisted bitterly. "They've guardedtheir treasure too well. Instead of being preserved it will lie hereuntil it rots. It serves them right. " "How?" "Don't you see? This was the only way they knew, building a gun andsetting it up to shoot anything that came along. They were so certainthat everything was hostile, the enemy, coming to take their possessionsaway from them. Well, they can keep them. " Nasha was deep in thought, her mind far away. Suddenly she gasped. "Dorle, " she said. "What's the matter with us? We have no problem. Thegun is no menace at all. " The two men stared at her. "No menace?" Dorle said. "It's already shot us down once. And as soon aswe take off again--" "Don't you see?" Nasha began to laugh. "The poor foolish gun, it'scompletely harmless. Even I could deal with it alone. " "You?" Her eyes were flashing. "With a crowbar. With a hammer or a stick ofwood. Let's go back to the ship and load up. Of course we're at itsmercy in the air: that's the way it was made. It can fire into the sky, shoot down anything that flies. But that's all! Against something on theground it has no defenses. Isn't that right?" Dorle nodded slowly. "The soft underbelly of the dragon. In the legend, the dragon's armor doesn't cover its stomach. " He began to laugh. "That's right. That's perfectly right. " "Let's go, then, " Nasha said. "Let's get back to the ship. We have workto do here. " * * * * * It was early the next morning when they reached the ship. During thenight the Captain had died, and the crew had ignited his body, accordingto custom. They had stood solemnly around it until the last ember died. As they were going back to their work the woman and the two menappeared, dirty and tired, still excited. And presently, from the ship, a line of people came, each carryingsomething in his hands. The line marched across the gray slag, theeternal expanse of fused metal. When they reached the weapon they allfell on the gun at once, with crowbars, hammers, anything that was heavyand hard. The telescopic sights shattered into bits. The wiring was pulled out, torn to shreds. The delicate gears were smashed, dented. Finally the warheads themselves were carried off and the firing pinsremoved. The gun was smashed, the great weapon destroyed. The people went downinto the vault and examined the treasure. With its metal-armoredguardian dead there was no danger any longer. They studied the pictures, the films, the crates of books, the jeweled crowns, the cups, thestatues. At last, as the sun was dipping into the gray mists that drifted acrossthe planet they came back up the stairs again. For a moment they stoodaround the wrecked gun looking at the unmoving outline of it. Then they started back to the ship. There was still much work to bedone. The ship had been badly hurt, much had been damaged and lost. Theimportant thing was to repair it as quickly as possible, to get it intothe air. With all of them working together it took just five more days to make itspaceworthy. * * * * * Nasha stood in the control room, watching the planet fall away behindthem. She folded her arms, sitting down on the edge of the table. "What are you thinking?" Dorle said. "I? Nothing. " "Are you sure?" "I was thinking that there must have been a time when this planet wasquite different, when there was life on it. " "I suppose there was. It's unfortunate that no ships from our systemcame this far, but then we had no reason to suspect intelligent lifeuntil we saw the fission glow in the sky. " "And then it was too late. " "Not quite too late. After all, their possessions, their music, books, their pictures, all of that will survive. We'll take them home and studythem, and they'll change us. We won't be the same afterwards. Theirsculpturing, especially. Did you see the one of the great wingedcreature, without a head or arms? Broken off, I suppose. But thosewings-- It looked very old. It will change us a great deal. " "When we come back we won't find the gun waiting for us, " Nasha said. "Next time it won't be there to shoot us down. We can land and take thetreasure, as you call it. " She smiled up at Dorle. "You'll lead us backthere, as a good captain should. " "Captain?" Dorle grinned. "Then you've decided. " Nasha shrugged. "Fomar argues with me too much. I think, all in all, Ireally prefer you. " "Then let's go, " Dorle said. "Let's go back home. " The ship roared up, flying over the ruins of the city. It turned in ahuge arc and then shot off beyond the horizon, heading into outer space. * * * * * Down below, in the center of the ruined city, a single half-brokendetector vane moved slightly, catching the roar of the ship. The base ofthe great gun throbbed painfully, straining to turn. After a moment ared warning light flashed on down inside its destroyed works. And a long way off, a hundred miles from the city, another warning lightflashed on, far underground. Automatic relays flew into action. Gearsturned, belts whined. On the ground above a section of metal slagslipped back. A ramp appeared. A moment later a small cart rushed to the surface. The cart turned toward the city. A second cart appeared behind it. Itwas loaded with wiring cables. Behind it a third cart came, loaded withtelescopic tube sights. And behind came more carts, some with relays, some with firing controls, some with tools and parts, screws and bolts, pins and nuts. The final one contained atomic warheads. The carts lined up behind the first one, the lead cart. The lead cartstarted off, across the frozen ground, bumping calmly along, followed bythe others. Moving toward the city. To the damaged gun. Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from _Planet Stories_ September 1952. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U. S. Copyright on this publication was renewed. Minor spelling and typographical errors have been corrected without note.