Encounter in the Dawn - Arthur C. Clarke, ebook, Temp
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ENCOUTNER AT DAWN
Arthur C. Clarke
( Originallypublished as "Encounter In The Dawn" 1953 by Ziff - Davis Publishing Co.
It was in the last days of the Empire. The tiny ship was far fromhome, and almost a hundred light-years
from the great parent vessel searching through the loosely packed stars at the rim of the Milky Way. But
even here it could not escape from the shadow that lay across civilization: beneath that shadow, pausing
ever and again in their work to wonder how their distant homes were faring, the scientists of the Galactic
Survey still labored at their never-ending task.
The ship held only three occupants, but between them they carried knowledge of many sciences, and the
experience of half a lifetime in space. After the long interstellar night, the star ahead was warming their
spirits as they dropped down toward its fires. A little more golden, a trifle more brilliant than the sun that
now seemed a legend of their childhood. They knew from past experience that the chance of locating
planets here was more than ninety per cent, and for the moment they forgot all else in the excitement of
discovery.
They found the first planet within minutes of coming to rest. It was a giant, of a familiar type, too cold for
protoplasmic life and probably possessing no stable surface. So they turned their search sunward, and
presently were rewarded.
It was a world that made their hearts ache for home, a world where everything was hauntingly familiar,
yet never quite the same. Two great land masses floated in blue-green seas, capped by ice at either pole.
There were some desert regions, but the larger part of the planet was obviously fertile. Even from this
distance, the signs of vegetation were unmistakably clear.
They gazed hungrily at the expanding landscape as they fell down into the atmosphere, heading toward
noon in the subtropics. The ship plummeted through cloudless skies toward a great river, checked its fall
with a surge of soundless power, and came to rest among the long grasses by the water's edge.
Page 1
No one moved: there was nothing to be done until the automatic instruments had finished their work.
Then a bell tinkled softly and the lights on the controlboard flashed in a pattern of meaningful chaos.
Captain Altman rose to his feet with a sigh of relief.
"We're in luck," he said. "We can go outside without protection, if the pathogenic tests are satisfactory.
What did you make of the place as we came in, Bertrond ?"
"Geologically stable-no active volcanoes, at least. I didn't see any trace of cities, but that proves nothing.
If there's a civilization here, it may have passed that stage."
"Or not reached it yet?"
Bertrondshrugged. "Either's just as likely. It may take us some time to find out on a planet this size."
"More time than we've got," said Clindar , glancing at the communications panel that linked them to the
mother ship and thence to the Galaxy's threatened heart. For a moment there was a gloomy silence.
Then Clindar walked to the control board and pressed a pattern of keys with automatic skill.
With a slight jar, a section of the hull slid aside and the fourth member of the crew stepped out onto the
new planet, flexing metal limbs and adjusting servo motors to the unaccustomed gravity. Inside the ship, a
television screen glimmered into life, revealing a long vista of waving grasses, some trees in the middle
distance, and a glimpse of the great river. Clindar punched a button, and the picture flowed steadily
across the screen as the robot turned its head.
"Which way shall we go?" Clindar asked.
"Let's have a look at those trees," Altman replied. "If there's any animal life we'll find it there."
"Look!" cried Bertrond ."A bird!"
Clindar'sfingers flew over the keyboard: the picture centered on the tiny speck that had suddenly
appeared on the left of the screen, and expanded rapidly as the robot's telephoto lens came into action.
"You're right," he said."Feathers-beak-well up the evolutionary ladder. This place looks promising. I'll
start the camera."
The swaying motion of the picture as the robot walked forward did not distract them: they had grown
accustomed to it long ago. But they had never become reconciled to this exploration by proxy when all
their impulses cried out to them to leave the ship, to run through the grass and to feel the wind blowing
against their faces. Yet it was too great a risk to take, even on a world that seemed as fair as this. There
was always a skull hidden behind Nature's most smiling face. Wild beasts, poisonous reptiles,
quagmires-death could come to the unwary explorer in a thousand disguises. And worst of all were the
invisible enemies, the bacteria and viruses against which the only defense might often be a thousand light
years away.
A robot could laugh at all these dangers and even if, as sometimes happened, it encountered a beast
powerful enough to destroy it-well, machines could always be replaced.
They met nothing on the walk across the grasslands. If any small animals were disturbed by the robot's
Page 2
passage, they kept outside its field of vision. Clindar slowed the machine as it approached the trees, and
the watchers in the spaceship flinched involuntarily at the branches that appeared to slash across their
eyes. The picture dimmed for a moment before the controls readjusted themselves to the weaker
illumination; then it came back to normal.
The forest was full of life. It lurked in the undergrowth, clambered among the branches, flew through the
air. It Red chattering and gibbering through the trees as the robot advanced. And all the while the
automatic cameras were recording the pictures that formed on the screen, gathering material for the
biologists to analyze when the ship returned to base.
Clindarbreathed a sigh of relief when the trees suddenly thinned. It was exhausting work, keeping the
robot from smashing into obstacles as it moved through the forest, but on open ground it could take care
of itself. Th6n the picture trembled as if beneath a hammer-blow, there was a grinding metallic thud, and
the whole scene swept vertiginously upward as the robot toppled and fell.
"What's that?" cried Altman. "Did you trip?"
"No," said Clindar grimly, his fingers flying over the keyboard.
"Something attacked from the rear. I hope . . . ah . . . I've still got control."
He brought the robot to a sitting position and swiveled its head.it did not take long to find the cause of
the trouble. Standing a few feet away, and lashing its tail angrily, was a large quadruped with a most
ferocious set of teeth. At the moment it was, fairly obviously, trying to decide whether to attack again.
Slowly, the robot rose to its feet, and as it did so the great beast crouched to spring. A smile flitted
across Clindar's face: he knew how to deal with this situation, His thumb felt for the seldom-used key
labeled "Siren."
The forest echoed with a hideous undulating scream from the robot's concealed speaker, and the
machine advanced to meet its adversary, arms flailing in front of it. The startled beast almost fell over
backward in its effort to turn, and in seconds was gone from sight.
"Now I suppose well have to wait a couple of hours until everything comes out of hiding again," said
Bertrond ruefully.
"I don't know much about animal psychology," interjected Altman, "but is it usual for them to attack
something completely unfamiliar?"
"Some will attack anything that moves, but that's unusual. Normally they attack only for food, or if
they've already been threatened. What are you driving at? Do you suggest that there are other robots on
this planet?"
"Certainly not.But our carnivorous friend may have mistaken our machine for a more edible biped. Don't
you think that this opening in the jungle is rather unnatural? It could easily be a path."
"In that case," said Clindar promptly, "we'll follow it and find out. I'm tired of dodging trees, but I hope
nothing jumps on us again: it's bad for my nerves."
"You were right, Altman," said Bertrond a little later. "It's certainly a path. But that doesn't mean
intelligence. After all, animals-,,
Page 3
He stopped in mid-sentence, and at the same instant Clindar brought the advancing robot to a halt. The
path had suddenly opened out into a wide clearing, almost completely occupied by a village of flimsy
huts. It was ringed by a wooden palisade, obviously defense against an enemy who at the moment
presented no threat.
For the gates were wide open, and beyond them the inhabitants were going peacefully about their ways.
For many minutes the three explorers stared in silence at the screen. Then Clindar shivered a little and
remarked: "It's uncanny. It might be our own planet, a hundred thousand years ago. I feel as if I've gone
back in time."
"There's nothing weird about it," said the practical Altman. "After all, we've discovered nearly a hundred
planets with our type of life on them."
"Yes," retorted Clindar ."A hundred in the whole Galaxy! I still think it's strange it had to happen to us."
"Well, it had to happen to somebody," said Bertrond philosophically. "Meanwhile, we must work out
our contact procedure. If we send the robot into the village it will start a panic."
"That," saidAltman, "is a masterly understatement. What we'll have to do is catch a native by himself and
prove that we're friendly. Hide the robot, Clindar .Somewhere in the woods where it can watch the
village without being spotted. We've a week's practical anthropology ahead of us!"
It was three days before the biological tests showed that it would be safe to leave the ship. Even then
Bertrond insisted on going alone-alone, that is, if one ignored the substantial company of the robot. With
such an ally he was not afraid of this planet's larger beasts, and his body's natural defenses could take
care of the microorganisms . So, at least, the analyzers had assured him; and considering the complexity
of the problem, they made remarkably few mistakes . . .
He stayed outside for an hour, enjoying himself cautiously, while his companions watched with envy. It
would be another three days before they could be quite certain that it was safe to follow Bertrond's
example. Meanwhile, they kept busy enough watching the village through the lenses of the robot, and
recording everything they could with the cameras. They had moved the spaceship at night so that it was
hidden in the depths of the forest, for they did not wish to be discovered until they were ready.
And all the while the news from home grew worse. Though their remoteness here at the edge of the
Universe deadened its impact, it lay heavily on their minds and sometimes overwhelmed them with a
sense of futility. At any moment, they knew, the signal
forrecall might come as the Empire summoned up its last resources in its extremity. But until then they
would continue their work as though pure knowledge were the only thing that mattered.
Seven days after landing, they were ready to make the experiment. They knew now what paths the
villagers used when goinghunting, and Bertrond chose one of the less frequented ways. Then he placed a
chair firmly in the middle of the path and settled down to read a book.
It was not, of course, quite as simple as that: Bertrond had taken-all imaginable precautions. Hidden in
the undergrowth fifty yards away, the robot was watching through its telescopic lenses, and in its hand it
Page 4
held a small but deadly weapon. Controlling it from the spaceship, his fingers poised over the keyboard,
Clindar waited to do what might be necessary.
That was the negative side of the plan: the positive side was more obvious. Lying at Bertrond's feet was
the carcass of a small, homed animal which he hoped would be an acceptable gift to any hunter passing
this way.
Two hours later the radio in his suit harness whispered a warning. Quite calmly, though the blood was
pounding in his veins, Bertrond laid aside his book and looked down the trail. The savage was walking
forward confidently enough, swinging a spear in his right hand. He paused for a moment when he saw
Bertrond , then advanced more cautiously. He could tell that there was nothing to fear, for the stranger
was slightly built and obviously unarmed.
When only twenty feet separated them, Bertrond gave a reassuring smile and rose slowly to his feet. He
bent down, picked up the carcass, and carried it forward as an offering. The gesture would have been
understood by any creature on any world, and it was understood here. The savage reached forward,
took the animal, and threw it effortlessly over his shoulder. For an instant he stared into Bertrond's eyes
with a fathomless expression; then he turned and walked back toward the village. Three times he glanced
round to see if Bertrond was following, and each time Bertrond smiled and waved reassurance. The
whole episode lasted little more than a minute. As the first contact between two races it was completely
without drama, though not without dignity.
Bertronddid not move until the other had vanished from sight. Then he relaxed and spoke into his suit
microphone.
"That was a pretty good beginning," he said jubilantly. "He wasn't in the least frightened, or even
suspicious. I think he'll be back."
"It still seems too good to be true," said Altman's voice in his ear. "I should have thought he'd have been
either scared or hostile. Would you have accepted a lavish gift from a peculiar stranger with such little
fuss?"
Bertrondwas slowly walking back to the ship. The robot had now come out of cover and was keeping
guard a few paces behind him.
"I wouldn't," he replied, "but I belong to a civilized community. Complete savages may react to strangers
in many different ways, according to their past experience. Suppose this tribe has never had any enemies.
That's quite possible on a large but sparsely populated planet. Then we may expect curiosity, but no fear
at all."
"If these people have no enemies," put in Clindar , no longer fully occupied in controlling the robot, "why
have they got a stockade round the village?"
"I meant no human enemies," replied Bertrond . "If that's true, it simplifies our task immensely."
"Do you think he'll come back?"
"Of course.If he's as human as I think, curiosity and greed will make him return. In a couple of days we'll
be bosom friends."
Page 5
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ENCOUTNER AT DAWN
Arthur C. Clarke
( Originallypublished as "Encounter In The Dawn" 1953 by Ziff - Davis Publishing Co.
It was in the last days of the Empire. The tiny ship was far fromhome, and almost a hundred light-years
from the great parent vessel searching through the loosely packed stars at the rim of the Milky Way. But
even here it could not escape from the shadow that lay across civilization: beneath that shadow, pausing
ever and again in their work to wonder how their distant homes were faring, the scientists of the Galactic
Survey still labored at their never-ending task.
The ship held only three occupants, but between them they carried knowledge of many sciences, and the
experience of half a lifetime in space. After the long interstellar night, the star ahead was warming their
spirits as they dropped down toward its fires. A little more golden, a trifle more brilliant than the sun that
now seemed a legend of their childhood. They knew from past experience that the chance of locating
planets here was more than ninety per cent, and for the moment they forgot all else in the excitement of
discovery.
They found the first planet within minutes of coming to rest. It was a giant, of a familiar type, too cold for
protoplasmic life and probably possessing no stable surface. So they turned their search sunward, and
presently were rewarded.
It was a world that made their hearts ache for home, a world where everything was hauntingly familiar,
yet never quite the same. Two great land masses floated in blue-green seas, capped by ice at either pole.
There were some desert regions, but the larger part of the planet was obviously fertile. Even from this
distance, the signs of vegetation were unmistakably clear.
They gazed hungrily at the expanding landscape as they fell down into the atmosphere, heading toward
noon in the subtropics. The ship plummeted through cloudless skies toward a great river, checked its fall
with a surge of soundless power, and came to rest among the long grasses by the water's edge.
Page 1
No one moved: there was nothing to be done until the automatic instruments had finished their work.
Then a bell tinkled softly and the lights on the controlboard flashed in a pattern of meaningful chaos.
Captain Altman rose to his feet with a sigh of relief.
"We're in luck," he said. "We can go outside without protection, if the pathogenic tests are satisfactory.
What did you make of the place as we came in, Bertrond ?"
"Geologically stable-no active volcanoes, at least. I didn't see any trace of cities, but that proves nothing.
If there's a civilization here, it may have passed that stage."
"Or not reached it yet?"
Bertrondshrugged. "Either's just as likely. It may take us some time to find out on a planet this size."
"More time than we've got," said Clindar , glancing at the communications panel that linked them to the
mother ship and thence to the Galaxy's threatened heart. For a moment there was a gloomy silence.
Then Clindar walked to the control board and pressed a pattern of keys with automatic skill.
With a slight jar, a section of the hull slid aside and the fourth member of the crew stepped out onto the
new planet, flexing metal limbs and adjusting servo motors to the unaccustomed gravity. Inside the ship, a
television screen glimmered into life, revealing a long vista of waving grasses, some trees in the middle
distance, and a glimpse of the great river. Clindar punched a button, and the picture flowed steadily
across the screen as the robot turned its head.
"Which way shall we go?" Clindar asked.
"Let's have a look at those trees," Altman replied. "If there's any animal life we'll find it there."
"Look!" cried Bertrond ."A bird!"
Clindar'sfingers flew over the keyboard: the picture centered on the tiny speck that had suddenly
appeared on the left of the screen, and expanded rapidly as the robot's telephoto lens came into action.
"You're right," he said."Feathers-beak-well up the evolutionary ladder. This place looks promising. I'll
start the camera."
The swaying motion of the picture as the robot walked forward did not distract them: they had grown
accustomed to it long ago. But they had never become reconciled to this exploration by proxy when all
their impulses cried out to them to leave the ship, to run through the grass and to feel the wind blowing
against their faces. Yet it was too great a risk to take, even on a world that seemed as fair as this. There
was always a skull hidden behind Nature's most smiling face. Wild beasts, poisonous reptiles,
quagmires-death could come to the unwary explorer in a thousand disguises. And worst of all were the
invisible enemies, the bacteria and viruses against which the only defense might often be a thousand light
years away.
A robot could laugh at all these dangers and even if, as sometimes happened, it encountered a beast
powerful enough to destroy it-well, machines could always be replaced.
They met nothing on the walk across the grasslands. If any small animals were disturbed by the robot's
Page 2
passage, they kept outside its field of vision. Clindar slowed the machine as it approached the trees, and
the watchers in the spaceship flinched involuntarily at the branches that appeared to slash across their
eyes. The picture dimmed for a moment before the controls readjusted themselves to the weaker
illumination; then it came back to normal.
The forest was full of life. It lurked in the undergrowth, clambered among the branches, flew through the
air. It Red chattering and gibbering through the trees as the robot advanced. And all the while the
automatic cameras were recording the pictures that formed on the screen, gathering material for the
biologists to analyze when the ship returned to base.
Clindarbreathed a sigh of relief when the trees suddenly thinned. It was exhausting work, keeping the
robot from smashing into obstacles as it moved through the forest, but on open ground it could take care
of itself. Th6n the picture trembled as if beneath a hammer-blow, there was a grinding metallic thud, and
the whole scene swept vertiginously upward as the robot toppled and fell.
"What's that?" cried Altman. "Did you trip?"
"No," said Clindar grimly, his fingers flying over the keyboard.
"Something attacked from the rear. I hope . . . ah . . . I've still got control."
He brought the robot to a sitting position and swiveled its head.it did not take long to find the cause of
the trouble. Standing a few feet away, and lashing its tail angrily, was a large quadruped with a most
ferocious set of teeth. At the moment it was, fairly obviously, trying to decide whether to attack again.
Slowly, the robot rose to its feet, and as it did so the great beast crouched to spring. A smile flitted
across Clindar's face: he knew how to deal with this situation, His thumb felt for the seldom-used key
labeled "Siren."
The forest echoed with a hideous undulating scream from the robot's concealed speaker, and the
machine advanced to meet its adversary, arms flailing in front of it. The startled beast almost fell over
backward in its effort to turn, and in seconds was gone from sight.
"Now I suppose well have to wait a couple of hours until everything comes out of hiding again," said
Bertrond ruefully.
"I don't know much about animal psychology," interjected Altman, "but is it usual for them to attack
something completely unfamiliar?"
"Some will attack anything that moves, but that's unusual. Normally they attack only for food, or if
they've already been threatened. What are you driving at? Do you suggest that there are other robots on
this planet?"
"Certainly not.But our carnivorous friend may have mistaken our machine for a more edible biped. Don't
you think that this opening in the jungle is rather unnatural? It could easily be a path."
"In that case," said Clindar promptly, "we'll follow it and find out. I'm tired of dodging trees, but I hope
nothing jumps on us again: it's bad for my nerves."
"You were right, Altman," said Bertrond a little later. "It's certainly a path. But that doesn't mean
intelligence. After all, animals-,,
Page 3
He stopped in mid-sentence, and at the same instant Clindar brought the advancing robot to a halt. The
path had suddenly opened out into a wide clearing, almost completely occupied by a village of flimsy
huts. It was ringed by a wooden palisade, obviously defense against an enemy who at the moment
presented no threat.
For the gates were wide open, and beyond them the inhabitants were going peacefully about their ways.
For many minutes the three explorers stared in silence at the screen. Then Clindar shivered a little and
remarked: "It's uncanny. It might be our own planet, a hundred thousand years ago. I feel as if I've gone
back in time."
"There's nothing weird about it," said the practical Altman. "After all, we've discovered nearly a hundred
planets with our type of life on them."
"Yes," retorted Clindar ."A hundred in the whole Galaxy! I still think it's strange it had to happen to us."
"Well, it had to happen to somebody," said Bertrond philosophically. "Meanwhile, we must work out
our contact procedure. If we send the robot into the village it will start a panic."
"That," saidAltman, "is a masterly understatement. What we'll have to do is catch a native by himself and
prove that we're friendly. Hide the robot, Clindar .Somewhere in the woods where it can watch the
village without being spotted. We've a week's practical anthropology ahead of us!"
It was three days before the biological tests showed that it would be safe to leave the ship. Even then
Bertrond insisted on going alone-alone, that is, if one ignored the substantial company of the robot. With
such an ally he was not afraid of this planet's larger beasts, and his body's natural defenses could take
care of the microorganisms . So, at least, the analyzers had assured him; and considering the complexity
of the problem, they made remarkably few mistakes . . .
He stayed outside for an hour, enjoying himself cautiously, while his companions watched with envy. It
would be another three days before they could be quite certain that it was safe to follow Bertrond's
example. Meanwhile, they kept busy enough watching the village through the lenses of the robot, and
recording everything they could with the cameras. They had moved the spaceship at night so that it was
hidden in the depths of the forest, for they did not wish to be discovered until they were ready.
And all the while the news from home grew worse. Though their remoteness here at the edge of the
Universe deadened its impact, it lay heavily on their minds and sometimes overwhelmed them with a
sense of futility. At any moment, they knew, the signal
forrecall might come as the Empire summoned up its last resources in its extremity. But until then they
would continue their work as though pure knowledge were the only thing that mattered.
Seven days after landing, they were ready to make the experiment. They knew now what paths the
villagers used when goinghunting, and Bertrond chose one of the less frequented ways. Then he placed a
chair firmly in the middle of the path and settled down to read a book.
It was not, of course, quite as simple as that: Bertrond had taken-all imaginable precautions. Hidden in
the undergrowth fifty yards away, the robot was watching through its telescopic lenses, and in its hand it
Page 4
held a small but deadly weapon. Controlling it from the spaceship, his fingers poised over the keyboard,
Clindar waited to do what might be necessary.
That was the negative side of the plan: the positive side was more obvious. Lying at Bertrond's feet was
the carcass of a small, homed animal which he hoped would be an acceptable gift to any hunter passing
this way.
Two hours later the radio in his suit harness whispered a warning. Quite calmly, though the blood was
pounding in his veins, Bertrond laid aside his book and looked down the trail. The savage was walking
forward confidently enough, swinging a spear in his right hand. He paused for a moment when he saw
Bertrond , then advanced more cautiously. He could tell that there was nothing to fear, for the stranger
was slightly built and obviously unarmed.
When only twenty feet separated them, Bertrond gave a reassuring smile and rose slowly to his feet. He
bent down, picked up the carcass, and carried it forward as an offering. The gesture would have been
understood by any creature on any world, and it was understood here. The savage reached forward,
took the animal, and threw it effortlessly over his shoulder. For an instant he stared into Bertrond's eyes
with a fathomless expression; then he turned and walked back toward the village. Three times he glanced
round to see if Bertrond was following, and each time Bertrond smiled and waved reassurance. The
whole episode lasted little more than a minute. As the first contact between two races it was completely
without drama, though not without dignity.
Bertronddid not move until the other had vanished from sight. Then he relaxed and spoke into his suit
microphone.
"That was a pretty good beginning," he said jubilantly. "He wasn't in the least frightened, or even
suspicious. I think he'll be back."
"It still seems too good to be true," said Altman's voice in his ear. "I should have thought he'd have been
either scared or hostile. Would you have accepted a lavish gift from a peculiar stranger with such little
fuss?"
Bertrondwas slowly walking back to the ship. The robot had now come out of cover and was keeping
guard a few paces behind him.
"I wouldn't," he replied, "but I belong to a civilized community. Complete savages may react to strangers
in many different ways, according to their past experience. Suppose this tribe has never had any enemies.
That's quite possible on a large but sparsely populated planet. Then we may expect curiosity, but no fear
at all."
"If these people have no enemies," put in Clindar , no longer fully occupied in controlling the robot, "why
have they got a stockade round the village?"
"I meant no human enemies," replied Bertrond . "If that's true, it simplifies our task immensely."
"Do you think he'll come back?"
"Of course.If he's as human as I think, curiosity and greed will make him return. In a couple of days we'll
be bosom friends."
Page 5
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