Ekstrohm thought of the others, of the sleepless, watchful nights ahead
of them. That was probably his trouble, all of his life. He didn't trust
people; he had to stay awake and keep an eye on everybody. Well, he
would be one ahead here.
Of course, it was wrong not to trust anybody, but Ekstrohm knew habit
patterns were hard to break.
Sleep is a habit.
* * * * *
Ryan and Nogol were jarred awake in the night by the spaceship blasting
off without them. They ran out and shook their tiny fists in fury at the
rising flame.
Operating a spaceship alone was no cinch but it could be done. Ekstrohm
would get back to the nearest Federation base and report the planetoid
without death. He didn't have absolute confidence in any government, no.
But he suspected the Federation could do more with the world than two
men like Ryan and Nogol.
Ekstrohm took his fingers off the punchboard and lay back on his couch.
He yawned.
Ryan and Nogol were slow, but in time they might have learned to do
without sleep, and to guard their treasure night and day.
Fortunately, Ekstrohm knew from long experience what the two others
didn't.
An eternity without sleep isn't worth the price.
--END
Transcriber's Note:
This etext was produced from _If: Worlds of Science Fiction_ July
1961. 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.
End of Project Gutenberg's The Planet with No Nightmare, by Jim Harmon
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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