Full Download (eBook PDF) Macroeconomics: Principles, Applications, and Tools 9th Edition PDF DOCX
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(eBook PDF) Economics Principles, Applications and Tools,
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Brief Contents
Part 1 Introduction and Key Principles 11 The Income-Expenditure Model 218
2 The Key Principles of Economics 26 Part 5 Money, Banking, and Monetary Policy
3 Exchange and Markets 45
13 Money and the Banking System 268
4 Demand, Supply, and Market
Equilibrium 60 14 The Federal Reserve and Monetary
Policy 288
Part 2 The Basic Concepts in Macroeconomics
Part 6 Inflation, Unemployment, and Economic
5 Measuring a Nation’s Production Policy
and Income 89
15 Modern Macroeconomics: From the
6 Unemployment and Inflation 112 Short Run to the Long Run 307
Part 3 The Economy in the Long Run 16 The Dynamics of Inflation and
Unemployment 325
7 The Economy at Full Employment 132 17 Macroeconomic Policy Debates 344
8 Why Do Economies Grow? 152
Part 7 The International Economy
Part 4 Economic Fluctuations and Fiscal Policy
18 International Trade and Public
9 Aggregate Demand and Aggregate Policy 360
Supply 180
19 The World of International
10 Fiscal Policy 200 Finance 380
vii
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Contents
Preface xix Using Macroeconomics to Make Informed
Business Decisions 11
ix
x
Application 2 How Fast to Sail? 34 Market Failure and the Role of Government 54
Application 2 The Market for Meteorites 53 Increases in Demand Shift the Demand Curve 72
xi
A Decrease in Demand Decreases the Equilibrium Putting It All Together: The GDP Equation 97
Price 75
Application 2 Comparing Recoveries From
Application 4 Chinese Demand and Pecan Recessions 98
Prices 75
The Income Approach: Measuring a Nation’s
Market Effects of Changes in Supply 76 Macroeconomic Activity Using National
Income 98
Change in Quantity Supplied versus Change in
Supply 76 Measuring National Income 98
Increases in Supply Shift the Supply Curve 76 Measuring National Income through Value
Added 99
An Increase in Supply Decreases the Equilibrium
Price 78 An Expanded Circular Flow 100
Decreases in Supply Shift the Supply Curve 79 Application 3 The Links Between Self-Reported
Happiness and GDP 101
A Decrease in Supply Increases the Equilibrium
Price 79 A Closer Examination of Nominal and Real
Simultaneous Changes in Demand and Supply 80 GDP 101
Measuring Real versus Nominal GDP 102
Application 5 The Harmattan and the Price
of Chocolate 82 How to Use the GDP Def lator 103
The Consumer Price Index and the Cost Application 2 Do European Soccer Stars Change
of Living 122 Clubs to Reduce Their Taxes? 143
The CPI versus the Chain Index for GDP 123 Application 3 Government Policies and Savings
Rates 144
Application 4 The Introduction of Cell Phones
and the Bias in the Cpi 124 Dividing Output among Competing Demands
Problems in Measuring Changes in Prices 124
for GDP at Full Employment 144
International Comparisons 145
Inflation 124
Crowding Out in a Closed Economy 145
Historical U.S. Inf lation Rates 125
Crowding Out in an Open Economy 147
The Perils of Def lation 126
Crowding In 147
The Costs of Inflation 127 * Summary 148 * Key Terms 148
* Exercises 148
Anticipated Inf lation 127
Changes in Demand and Supply 137 The Key Role of Technological Progress 162
How Do We Measure Technological Progress? 162
Application 1 The Black Death and Living
Standards in Old England 138 Using Growth Accounting 163
xiii
Monopolies That Spur Innovation 166 Shifts in the Aggregate Demand Curve 185
The Scale of the Market 166 How the Multiplier Makes the Shift Bigger 186
Fiscal Policy in U.S. History 211 Application 4 The Locomotive Effect: How Foreign
Demand Affects a Country’s Output 238
The Depression Era 211
Changes in the Consumption Function 223 Real and Nominal Interest Rates 254
Application 1 Falling Home Prices, the Wealth Application 2 The Value of an Annuity 255
Effect, and Decreased Consumer Spending 224
Understanding Investment Decisions 256
Equilibrium Output and the Consumption
Function 225 Investment and the Stock Market 257
Application 1 Cash as a Sign of Trust 272 How Interest Rates Are Determined: Combining
the Demand and Supply of Money 295
How Banks Create Money 273
A Bank’s Balance Sheet: Where the Money Comes Interest Rates and Bond Prices 296
from and Where It Goes 273
Application 3 The Effectiveness of
How Banks Create Money 274 Committees 298
How the Money Multiplier Works 274
Interest Rates and How They Change
How the Money Multiplier Works in Reverse 276 Investment and Output (GDP) 298
Application 2 The Growth In Excess Reserves 277 Monetary Policy and International Trade 300
A Banker’s Bank: The Federal Reserve 278 Monetary Policy Challenges for the Fed 302
Functions of the Federal Reserve 278 Lags in Monetary Policy 302
The Structure of the Federal Reserve 278
Inf luencing Market Expectations: From the
The Independence of the Federal Reserve 280 Federal Funds Rate to Interest Rates on Long-
Term Bonds 303
What the Federal Reserve Does during a
Financial Crisis 280 * Summary 304 * Key Terms 304
* Exercises 305
Application 3 Stress Tests for the Financial
System 281
14 The Federal Reserve and Monetary Linking the Short Run and the Long Run 308
Policy 288 The Difference between the Short and Long
Run 308
The Money Market 289
Wages and Prices and Their Adjustment over
The Demand for Money 289 Time 308
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xvi
Political Business Cycles 314 How the Credibility of a Nation’s Central Bank
Affects Inflation 333
Application 2 Elections, Political Parties, and Voter
Expectations 314 Application 3 The Ends of Hyperinflations 335
The Economics Behind the Adjustment Inflation and the Velocity of Money 336
Process 315
The Long-Run Neutrality of Money 316 Hyperinflation 338
Crowding Out in the Long Run 318 How Budget Deficits Lead to
Hyperinf lation 339
Application 3 Increasing Health-Care
* Summary 340 * Key Terms 341
Expenditures and Crowding Out 319
* Exercises 341
Classical Economics in Historical
* Economic Experiment 343
Perspective 320
Say’s Law 320
17 Macroeconomic Policy
Keynesian and Classical Debates 321
Debates 344
* Summary 321 * Key Terms 322
* Exercises 322 Should We Balance the Federal
Budget? 345
The Budget in Recent Decades 345
16 The Dynamics of Inflation
and Unemployment 325 Five Debates about Deficits 347
Money Growth, Inflation, and Interest Application 1 Creating The U.S. Federal Fiscal
Rates 326 System Through Debt Policy 351
Inf lation in a Steady State 326 Should the Fed Target Both Inflation
and Employment? 351
How Changes in the Growth Rate of Money
Affect the Steady State 327 Two Debates about Targeting 352
Application 1 Shifts in the Natural Rate Application 2 Would a Policy Rule have Prevented
of Unemployment 328 the Housing Boom? 354
xvii
Should We Tax Consumption Rather than A Brief History of International Tariff and Trade
Income? 354 Agreements 370
Two Debates about Consumption Taxation 355 Recent Policy Debates and Trade
Agreements 371
Application 3 Is A Vat in Our Future? 357
Are Foreign Producers Dumping Their
* Summary 357 * Key Terms 358
Products? 371
* Exercises 358
Application 3 Does Losing in the Wto Really
Matter? 372
Part 7 Do Trade Laws Inhibit Environmental
The International Economy Protection? 373
Fixing the Exchange Rate 392 Application 4 The Argentine Financial Crisis 398
Fixed versus Flexible Exchange Rates 393 * Summary 398 * Key Terms 399
* Exercises 399
The U.S. Experience with Fixed and Flexible
Exchange Rates 394 * Economic Experiment 401
In preparing this ninth edition, we had three primary goals. • We discuss in Chapter 13 the rationale and application
First, we wanted to incorporate the sweeping changes in of “stress tests” as a new tool for financial regulation.
the United States and world economies we have all wit- • We introduce Janet Yellen, the new Chair of the
nessed in the last several years, and the difficulties that the Federal Reserve, in Chapter 14, and discuss her prior
world economics have continued to experience in recover- experience before she assumed her current role
ing from the severe economic downturn. Second, we strived
• We revised and expanded our discussion of the euro
to update this edition to reflect the latest exciting develop-
in Chapter 19, reflecting the serious challenges now
ments in economic thinking and make these accessible to
facing the European Monetary Union, particularly
new students of economics. Finally, we wanted to stay true
with the experience of Greece.
to the philosophy of the textbook—using basic concepts of
economics to explain a wide variety of timely and interesting • We also incorporated a total of 27 exciting new Appli
economic applications. cations into this edition. In addition, we incorporated a
total of eight new chapter-opening stories. These fresh
c What’s New To This Edition applications and chapter openers show the widespread
relevance of economic analysis.
In addition to updating all the figures and data, we made a
number of other key changes in this edition. They include • In the opening chapters, the new applications include
the following: housing prices in Cuba (Chapter 1), property rights in
urban slums (Chapter 3), and the effects of winds from
• At the beginning of each chapter, we carefully refined the Sahara Desert on the price of chocolate (Chapter 4).
our Learning Objectives to match the contents of the • In the core macroeconomics chapters, the new applica-
chapter closely. These give the students a preview of tions include understanding the links between unem-
what they will learn in each section of the chapter, ployment and unemployment insurance (Chapter 6),
facilitating their learning. how the government promotes high levels of savings
• We discuss in Chapter 6 whether the recent major reces- in Singapore (Chapter 7), how Greek citizens hoarded
sion permanently affected labor force participation. euros as the talk of crisis grew (Chapter 13), new
research on “ underwater” homeowners (Chapter 12),
• We discuss in Chapter 8 the position of the pessimists the debate on secular stagnation (Chapter 15), and how
who think that technological progress has slowed down. accounting for “missing” international financial flows
• We also introduce in Chapter 8 the idea of controlled changes our thinking of global investment patterns
experiments in economic policy, as these experiments (Chapter 19).
have been very influential in recent policy developments.
xix
xx
Application 1
The market demand is negatively sloped, reflecting the law of demand. This is
sensible, because if each consumer obeys the law of demand, consumers as a group
will too. When the price increases from $4 to $8, there is a change in quantity
demanded as we move along the demand curve from point f to point c. The move-
ment along the demand curve occurs if the price of pizza is the only variable that has
c Why Five Key Principles? of Economics,” introduces the five principles we return to
throughout the book. Chapter 3, “Exchange and Markets,”
In Chapter 2, “The Key Principles of Economics,” we intro-
is devoted entirely to exchange and trade. We discuss the
duce the following five key principles and then apply them
fundamental rationale for exchange and introduce some
throughout the book:
of the institutions modern societies developed to facilitate
trade.
1. The Principle of Opportunity Cost. The opportunity
Students need to have a solid understanding of demand
cost of something is what you sacrifice to get it.
and supply to be successful in the course. Many students
2. The Marginal Principle. Increase the level of an activ- have difficulty understanding movement along a curve ver-
ity as long as its marginal benefit exceeds its marginal sus shifts of a curve. To address this difficulty, we developed
cost. Choose the level at which the marginal benefit an innovative way to organize topics in Chapter 4, “Demand,
equals the marginal cost. Supply, and Market Equilibrium.” We examine the law of
3. The Principle of Voluntary Exchange. A voluntary demand and changes in quantity demanded, the law of sup-
exchange between two people makes both people bet- ply and changes in quantity supplied, and then the notion
ter off. of market equilibrium. After students have a firm grasp of
4. The Principle of Diminishing Returns. If we increase equilibrium concepts, we explore the effects of changes in
one input while holding the other inputs fixed, output demand and supply on equilibrium prices and quantities.
will increase, but at a decreasing rate. Summary of the Macroeconomics Chapters
5. The Real-Nominal Principle. What matters to people Part 2, “The Basic Concepts of Macroeconomics” (Chapters
is the real value of money or income—its purchasing 5 and 6), introduces students to the key concepts—GDP,
power—not the face value of money or income. inflation, unemployment—that are used throughout the text
and in everyday economic discussion. The two chapters in
This approach of repeating five key principles gives students this section provide the building blocks for the rest of the
the big picture—the framework of economic reasoning. We book. Part 3, “The Economy in the Long Run” (Chapters 7
make the key concepts unforgettable by using them repeat- and 8), analyzes how the economy operates at full employ-
edly, illustrating them with intriguing examples, and giv- ment and explores the causes and consequences of economic
ing students many opportunities to practice what they’ve growth.
learned. Throughout the text, economic concepts are con- Next we turn to the short run. We begin the discussion
nected to the five key principles when the following callout of business cycles, economic fluctuations, and the role of gov-
is provided for each principle: ernment in Part 4, “Economic Fluctuations and Fiscal Policy”
(Chapters 9 through 12). We devote an entire chapter to the
structure of government spending and revenues and the role
P RINCI P LE OF O P P ORTUNITY COST
The opportunity cost of something is what you sacrifice to get it.
of fiscal policy. In Part 5, “Money, Banking, and Monetary
Policy” (Chapters 13 and 14), we introduce the key elements
of both monetary theory and policy into our economic mod-
els. Part 6, “Inflation, Unemployment, and Economic Policy”
c How Is The Book Organized? (Chapters 15 through 17), brings the important questions of
Chapter 1, “Introduction: What Is Economics?” uses the dynamics of inflation and unemployment into our analy-
three current policy issues—traffic congestion, poverty in sis. Finally, the last two chapters in Part 7, “The International
Africa, and Japan’s prolonged recession—to explain the Economy” (Chapter 18 and 19), provide an in-depth analysis
economic way of thinking. Chapter 2, “The Key Principles of both international trade and finance.
xxii
A Few Features of Our Macroeconomics standards are determined and why some countries
Chapters prosper while others do not. This is the essence of eco-
nomic growth. As Nobel Laureate Robert E. Lucas, Jr.,
The following are a few features of our macroeconomics
once wrote, “Once you start thinking about growth, it
chapters:
is hard to think of anything else.”
• Flexibility. A key dilemma confronting economics pro- • Short Run. The great economic expansion of the
fessors has always been how much time to devote to 1990s came to an end in 2001, as the economy started
long-run topics, such as growth and production, versus to contract. The recession beginning in 2007 was
short-run topics, such as economic fluctuations and busi- the worst downturn since World War II. Difficult
ness cycles. Our book is designed to let professors choose. economic times remind us that macroeconomics is
It works like this: To pursue a long-run approach, profes- also concerned with understanding the causes and
sors should initially concentrate on Chapters 1 through 4, consequences of economic fluctuations. Why do
followed by Chapters 5 through 8. e conomies experience recessions and depressions,
and what steps can policymakers take to stabilize the
• To focus on economic fluctuations, start with
economy and ease the devastation people suffer from
Chapters 1 through 4, present Chapter 5, “Measuring
them? This has been a constant theme of macroeco-
a Nation’s Production and Income,” and Chapter 6,
nomics throughout its entire history and is covered
“Unemployment and Inflation,” and then turn to
extensively in the text.
Chapter 9, “Aggregate Demand and Aggregate Supply.”
• Policy. Macroeconomics is a policy-oriented subject,
• Chapter 11, “The Income-Expenditure Model,” is self-
and we treat economic policy in virtually every chapter.
contained, so instructors can either skip it completely
We discuss both important historical and more recent
or cover it as a foundation for aggregate demand.
macroeconomic events in conjunction with the theory.
• Long Run. Throughout most of the 1990s, the U.S. In addition, we devote Chapter 17, “Macroeconomic
economy performed very well—low inflation, low Policy Debates,” to three important policy topics that
unemployment, and rapid economic growth. This recur frequently in macroeconomic debates: the role
robust performance led to economists’ increasing of government deficits, whether the Federal Reserve
interest in trying to understand the processes of eco- should target inflation or other objectives, and whether
nomic growth. Our discussion of economic growth in income or consumption should be taxed.
Chapter 8, “Why Do Economies Grow?” addresses
the fundamental question of how long-term living
xxiii
• Current News Exercises provide a turnkey way to important economic concepts. Pearson’s Experiments
assign gradable news-based exercises in MyEconLab. program is flexible, easy-to-assign, auto-graded, and
Each week, Pearson scours the news, finds a current available in Single and Multiplayer versions.
microeconomics and macroeconomics article, creates • Single-player experiments allow your students to play
exercises around these news articles, and then automat-
against virtual players from anywhere at any time so
ically adds them to MyEconLab. Assigning and grading
long as they have an Internet connection.
current news-based exercises that deal with the latest
micro and macro events and policy issues has never • Multiplayer experiments allow you to assign and man-
been more convenient. age a real-time experiment with your class.
• Experiments in MyEconLab are a fun and engag- • Pre- and post-questions for each experiment are avail-
ing way to promote active learning and mastery of able for assignment in MyEconLab.
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The vendor struck the gong. "An Earthman, my friends; a fighting
man—powerful, surging with life in spite of his wounds. Who'll start
it—?"
Coldly, Shane swept the auction room with his glance.
Here, in front, on one side, were the slaves—a motley assortment,
dragged to this final degradation from a dozen far-flung planets. One
by one, they were thrust upon the block, exposed to the ghoulish
appraisal of the crowd that filled the room.
The crowd. A crowd of silver men and women, with gleaming hair
and violet eyes and pale, translucent skins. A hundred hungry-eyed,
avid brothers and sisters of Shi Kyrsis.
Even the room itself was strange. The materials resembled nothing
known anywhere in all the void. The lush decor followed an alien
theme.
"This man is good for long-time use!" exhorted the vendor. "See the
strength of him—the fire and vigor! You cannot pass him by...."
A door to Shane's right opened. A woman came in, a silver woman.
The woman.
Kyrsis.
An old man close to the block called eagerly, "I'll give a hundred,
vendor!" in a thin, cracking voice.
"A hundred I'm offered! Now who'll make it a hundred and fifty? No
one can afford to let this strong man go at a mere hundred—"
"Hundred and ten!" someone shouted.
Kyrsis turned. For the first time, her eyes met Shane's, and she
stopped suddenly, staring as if paralyzed.
"Hundred twenty!"
"Hundred thirty!"
"Do I hear a hundred forty? Surely no fine, strapping fighting man
can go for less—"
"Two hundred," Kyrsis said.
"Two hundred! The Lady Kyrsis bids two hundred—"
"Two fifty, vendor!" cried the old man by the block.
"Three hundred," came back Kyrsis.
"Do I hear three fifty—?"
"With his wounds, he is worth no more than three," the old man
mumbled.
"Three twenty-five then! Do I hear three twenty-five?"
"Three ten—"
"Three fifty," echoed Kyrsis.
The vendor paused and looked about. "Three fifty is bid...." He
struck the gong. "Sold to the Lady Kyrsis for three fifty."
Shane left the block, strode to the silver woman's side; and for a
moment they stood there in vibrant silence, alone in the crowd,
duelling with their eyes.
Then Kyrsis asked: "What dark fate brought you here, Gar Shane?
When I last saw you, you were hewing a path through the Malya
horde at the arena...."
"And you were in the prisoners' cage." The Earthman ignored the
strange tremor in the silver woman's voice. His words were clipped.
"Talu and I escaped and fled Amara in a flyer. But one of Quos
Reggar's slavers sucked us in and brought us here."
"The slavers came to rescue Reggar," Kyrsis said. "They swept
Amara clean." She looked down, breathing deep as if to still some
inner tension. And then: "Talu was with you? They brought her here
—?"
"—and put here aside. Her hair was cropped, so they knew she
already had a master." Shane laughed harshly. "Me—I'd worn no
yoke, so they sent me to the block."
"Then ... let us go. I have already done my other buying." The
tremor in Kyrsis' voice was stronger, now—a sort of undercurrent of
strange excitement.
"Your 'other buying'—?"
"A few young slaves to ... to train for household use." The silver
woman's fingers trembled, cold as ice, upon Shane's arm. "Come!
Let us go now—quickly—"
She led Shane out, through other rooms, where other vendors
hawked their wares, and other slaves stood shamed or sobbing,
bared to the eager, weirdly-lusting eyes of the silver people.
Then they reached a sort of transit station, and an attendant
brought a car of a type Shane had never seen before, and they got
in.
Three frightened children, a Malya boy of perhaps twelve and two
Chonya girls even younger, huddled at the back, their dark eyes big
with panic.
"Your slaves, Lady Kyrsis?" Shane asked coldly. The barb in his voice
would have slashed through the scales of a zanth.
The silver woman kept her eyes on the controls. The car hurtled off
through a tube-like passage. She did not answer.
Then the car halted. They got out—Shane, Kyrsis, children—and
entered rooms, rooms luxuriously furnished in the alien style of the
silver people.
"And now?" Shane inquired thinly.
Kyrsis' breathing was fast and shallow, her face even more pale than
before. She spoke too rapidly, in a ragged, uneven voice. "You are
weary, Shane, so weary. You must rest now. Here—let me take off
your shackles. There is a room here you will like—a quiet room...."
She unlocked the cuffs on his wrists and tossed them aside, then led
him swiftly to an adjoining sleep chamber. Foam-soft cushioning a
foot thick blanketed a dais along one wall, big enough for a dozen
men. A lingering perfume filled the air. Soft lights cast a silvery glow.
From somewhere came faint strains of elfin music.
"Rest here, Earthman," the silver woman said softly. "Rest until I call
you...."
For a moment her icy fingers touched his cheek. Then she left the
room, closing the door behind her.
Shane stared after her, a frown furrowing his brow. After a moment,
he stepped to the door, tried the handle.
It was locked.
The door to the room in which Kyrsis had been, opened and closed.
The silver woman passed down the hall, out of sight.
Tense, silent, Shane made for the room from which she'd come.
The door was unlocked now. Swiftly, he slipped inside and stepped
to the couch where the Chonya child still lay, so very still. He
touched the soft hand. Lifted it with trembling fingers.
Behind him, the door-latch clicked.
Shane turned.
Kyrsis stood watching him. "You come unannounced, Earthman," she
murmured coolly.
"I came in as you left," Shane said, and of a sudden his hands, his
voice, his whole body, were shaking uncontrollably, gripped in a
paroxysm of surging fury. "I saw you here, with the child! Do you
hear me? I saw you—!"
"So...?" Kyrsis' face was still calm, the violet eyes unfathomable.
The veins at Shane's temples stood out, throbbing. With a
tremendous effort, he brought his voice under a semblance of
control.
He said: "This child is dead!"
CHAPTER XI
They stood there thus for a long, taut, echoing moment.
Then Kyrsis said: "You leave me no choice, Earthman. I see I must
tell you Gadar's secret."
"Gadar—?"
Her lips twitched. "Yes, Earthman. Gadar, the dark star—the star
hurled into your solar system from across the void: cold, bleak,
barren, uninhabited Gadar."
"You mean that you—your people—are of Gadar?"
The silver woman nodded. "Yes. When our star cooled, in the course
of that endless voyage across the void, we had no choice but to
burrow deeper and deeper, like animals—cutting ourselves away
from the awful cold of outer space, hunting desperately for the last
dim vestiges of warmth at our planet's core. Then, when at last we
had come into the family of your sun, we saw no reason to let it be
known that we existed. For we knew the thing we had to do if we
were still to live, and we knew that if you knew it, Gadar would be
doomed."
"Then—this is Gadar? We are inside it now—deep down below the
surface?"
"So deep that even the echographs of your Federation's exploration
parties did not find us. Here, for a million years, we have built our
civilization." A new glint came to the woman's violet eyes, a note of
excitement to her voice. "The things we have done, Shane! The
incredible things! You will never believe them until you see them. We
have conquered time and space and matter—"
"And the child is dead," Shane said.
"The child—" Kyrsis broke off, and a shadow crossed her face. "Yes,
the child is dead."
Shane shifted; stared down at the dead child for a long, long
moment, then back at the woman again.
"You are thinking, 'Is there no other way?'" Kyrsis whispered. Her
pale hand touched the Earthman's arm. "I tell you, Shane: there is
none. How many years have our scientists sought it? How many
eons of spatial time? But always, the answer is no. We must have
life itself—humanoid life, like that of this girl here. No other can be
transmuted to our bodies."
"If life is an element, as you say, a thing that wells up with creation,
out of the birth of a planet, then you could have moved to another
planet," Shane said in a dull, flat voice. "If life is gone from Gadar,
then you could have migrated, picked a new home."
"It sounds so easy, does it not?" the silver woman taunted. "But
where life exists, there life forms evolve. We could have taken such
a planet only by conquest. Would your worlds have liked that,
Shane? Would they have been willing to see us come in and seize
their homelands? You fought out of pride, for the belt the Chonya
chieftains gave you. Would the worlds of your system do less if we
tried to invade them?"
Shane stood mute.
Kyrsis' arm slipped about him. The rich purple lips came close to his.
"Come with us, Shane! Join us!" she whispered. "For a million aching
years I have sought a man like you. Do not leave me, now that I've
found you...."
A weakness crept through Shane's body.
With a tremendous, savage effort, he hurled the silver woman from
him.
"You'd steal my life as Quos Reggar stole my belt!" he shouted. Stark
murder was in his eyes.
"No, Shane—! No!"
"Words!" the Earthman lashed fiercely. "Words, to lull me as you
lulled that Chonya child!" He caught Kyrsis' arm, dragged her up
from the place where she had fallen. "You talk of life as if you, your
people, were the only ones who knew the way to live it. But life
belongs to each man, alone—his precious own, to waste or hoard as
he sees fit—"
The woman asked: "And what will you do, now that you have
decided?"
"Decided—?"
The look she threw him was a study in contempt. "I can see it in
your eyes, Earthman. For a moment you hung, unsure, caught up by
the vision of the wealth and power that might be yours; of me at
your side, and endless years for us together. But then it dawned
upon you of a sudden that I might suck your life out, as we suck
those of the other slaves we take, though such was not my plan.
The thought brought fear, and in the same instant you became the
great Gar Shane, who would strike down Gadar and save your solar
system." She laughed, and the sound was chill as outer space. "You
are as much a child as that dead lump there beside you. Do you
think to pit yourself against my people—scientists who could plot
your every thought ten million years before your birth? You are but a
fool, and you will die as all the others have died, and Quos Reggar
will wear your belt and serve us!"
"There comes a time for every man to die," Shane said. "If this is
mine, I'll face it." He picked a heavy, club-like, metal ornament from
a table, and his face had the rugged lines of carven stone. "We go
now, Kyrsis. And if I can die—remember, so can you!"
"But where—?"
Shane bared his teeth in a death's-head grin. "To your ramps, Shi
Kyrsis. Even slavers carry a fleet alarm."
"A fleet alarm—?"
"When a space ship wallows through the void, out of control, a
crewman throws the switch on the fleet alarm box. It sends out a
distress call on a Federation beam—a call so strong that it can reach
to the farthest star."
"And then—?"
"The fleet command sends aid." The Earthman laughed thinly. "They
send a patrol most often, or even a single ship. But when they get a
call straight out of the core of Gadar, they'll waste no time on mere
patrols or squadrons. There'll be a fleet, the whole great Federation
fleet, sweeping down upon your planet."
"Indeed?" the woman mocked. "So your Federation's fleet will come.
What can they do to us, burrowed here deep within the solid rock of
Gadar? And we have weapons, Earthman—weapons the like of
which you've never seen."
"Then roll them out," Shane said. "This will be your chance to use
them." He pushed her through the doorway; on past the other
rooms and out into the car.
She asked, "What can you do if I will not aid you?"
Shane shrugged. "I'd have no choice but to go my way alone, I
suppose ..."—and then, sinking in the barb with a savage twist
—"after I'd beaten your brains out, killed you so dead that not even
your people's science could ever put you back together!"
Bleakly, Shane stared into the screen, through a moment that lasted
all eternity.
Then, in one explosive motion, he snatched the space-phones from
their rack. His voice crackled out into the void: "Chonyas ... Chonyas
... Shane, your gar, is calling—"
And taut-drawn Chonya words came back: "We stand by for your
orders—"
"I want a ship," Shane answered tightly, "a single fast Chonya ship,
equipped with Abaquist repellers, to try to break through the meteor
swarm and come down to Gadar to me on the fleet alarm beam."
"We come, Gar Shane—"
Even with the words, a slim, sleek craft was breaking from the
milling fleet, swerving through the sky in a monstrous arc.
Then it was coming round again—striking its course, plunging down
on Gadar. Straight into the blazing meteor swarm it sped, and even
on the screen Shane could see it tossing—careening, staggering,
lurching with shock.
And then it was through the swarm and out again. Its hull was
ripped, its hatches battered, but still it plummeted down towards
Gadar.
Kyrsis cried: "Now I know you are truly mad, not just a fool, if you
think you can fight both my people and Quos Reggar here on Gadar
with the crew of a single ship!"
Shane said: "We're leaving now," and levered back the hatches.
Again he fired a burst from the proton cannon to clear the way ...
saw the shaft's walls vibrate with its violence.
The Chonya ship hurtled down the huge volcanic pipe like a shooting
star. Barely in time, it braked and based upon the ramp.
Before she could read his thoughts, Shane snatched up Kyrsis bodily
and raced through the smouldering pronic rubble to the Chonya
craft.
"Blast!" he shouted, and swung aboard; and almost before the
hatches were shut, the ship was in the air again, lancing up into the
sky.
The commander said: "Where now, Gar Shane? What are your
orders?"
The Earthman laughed harshly. "Send out the word to break the
Federation fleet into squadrons, each to stay far from the others,
and all to strike at Gadar. We'll see how many meteor swarms our
friends down there can muster!"
"And the rest of us—the Malyas, Chonyas—?"
"You'll follow me," Shane said. He took the jet-globe. "I'll set the
course."
Kyrsis' eyes were like great violet flames. "Pay him no heed,
Chonya!" she cried hoarsely. "Kill him! Lock him away! He is of
Earth, and he has gone mad with fear for his homeland! He takes
you there to try to battle another, greater meteor swarm! It will be
the death of all of you!"
The Chonya glanced curiously at her in her disarray, then looked into
the visiscreen, the jet-globe. "A Chonya holds no fear of death, Silver
One," he observed, iron-steady. "Besides, our course is set for
Jupiter, not Earth."
"Jupiter—!" the woman cried, and now a new note of panic was in
her voice. She clutched Shane's arm. "Why Jupiter, Earthman?
Why?"
"Not Jupiter, Kyrsis, but one of Jupiter's moons," Shane answered
thinly. "You see? There it lies in the visiscreen."
"Jupiter V—!" the silver woman whispered. "No, Shane! No—!"
"Yes, Kyrsis!" the Earthman came back coldly. "Jupiter V, the place
where Reggar held me prisoner. And the satellite closest to the
planet, a satellite heaped twelve levels deep with power converters."
"No, no—"
Relentlessly, Shane hammered on: "Who was it wanted all that
power? Who built that great Paulsini unit? Not any slaver, surely! No,
that took skill and science and years of work. And when it was done,
your people had more power than the world had ever known—power
drawn from the endless seas of energy of Jupiter's great Red Spot,
the heat of oceans of flaming hydrogen, the force that lies congealed
in gases held under such pressures that they turn to solids, all
turned somehow to your use by those new converters that I saw
there."
The silver woman looked at him. A little of the wildness left her eyes,
replaced by something that might have been cunning. Her voice
came down to its former liquid murmur. "And what will you do when
you get to this moon, Earthman? Will it bring back the cities of your
native planet?"
"Say what you mean," Shane came back tightly.
"Perhaps Earth could be spared—for your aid against the other
worlds of the Federation."
Shane's eyes blazed. "You do think me a fool, Shi Kyrsis! After all
that has gone, can you believe I would trust you?"
"It is a chance you must take, if you would save Earth's cities."
Strain showed in Shane's voice, his face. But his jaw stayed hard, his
blue eyes steady. "If Earth must go, then go it will, Shi Kyrsis. For all
I know, the meteors may this moment be hurtling down. But even if
they are, and though it costs me my life and my homeland, I'll still
take the chance in order to break your life-sucking people's power."
"But you cannot destroy that power—"
The Chonya commander broke in: "More meteors, Gar! They gather
between us and the satellite!"
And Kyrsis jeered. "You see, Earthman? You have lost already!"
Shane said to the Chonya: "We're going through."
"Through the swarm?" The commander's face lost a little of its color,
but his voice stayed firm. He picked up his space-phones. "I shall
give the order."
"We're going through," Shane repeated grimly, "and some of us—
those who have repellers—may get there. There will not be many,
but only a handful of workers can be on that moon, with Reggar's
crew withdrawn, so even a few ships will be enough."
"Yes, Gar," the Chonya nodded coolly. He spoke into the space-
phones, gave the order.
The ship lanced into the swarm.
There was a nightmare quality to those endless moments. Space
was suddenly ablaze about them with a thousand screaming lights
that slashed at them from all directions. Off to the right, a great ball
of fire appeared from nowhere and blotted out a ship. A streak of
flame speared through another, and it exploded in mid-flight.
And still they drove on through the tempest, tossed and jostled,
beaten, butchered.
An alarm bell clanged fiercely.
"A rip in the hull, upper port," the Chonya reported grimly.
Jupiter V was very large in the screens now. It loomed like a
monstrous metal ball, glistening with the hood of structure that
encased it.
"The swarm is following us now," the commander said. "It moves
with us, traveling even faster than are we." His lips twisted wryly.
"Their control is getting better all the time."
Shane stared into the visiscreen. It was as if the satellite were
hurtling up to meet them. The exploding speed of it made the
screen seem almost to whirl.
And still the meteors swarmed and blazed around them.
"Thirty seconds more," the Chonya said. "We must brake by then, or
crash instead of ramp."
Jupiter V now extended past the edges of the screen. They could
see but a segment of it—a segment that raced ever upward, ever
towards them, dividing into a thousand and finer details every
second.
"Twenty seconds," the Chonya reported.
The meteor swarm seemed to close in about them—tighter, tighter.
"Fifteen seconds."
The meteors' light was stunning, blinding.
Shane's teeth were clenched, his lips parted, his eyes glued tight to
the viewer of the visiscreen. The muscles stood out along his neck.
The tension about him was a living thing.
"Ten seconds."
A sort of paralysis seemed to grip the Earthman. He stood frozen,
still staring like one in a trance.
The ribs in the satellite's casing stood out, now—the ports, the
vents.
The meteors seemed to have grown to blazing suns.
"Five seconds."
Shane's paralysis broke. He snatched the phones, and of a sudden
his eyes were blazing like the nightmare scene beyond their hull.
"Veer!" he shouted. "Don't land! Veer—!"
The Chonya commander's hand struck the jet-globe with a crack like
a whip. It spun till it sang, racing round and round.
The ship swung out in a wild gyration. Reeling, slashing crazily
across the moon's perimeter, it hurtled off through space.
Behind them, the other ships, too, were peeling clear.
But not the meteor swarm. Down it plunged, down, in the course
the ships had followed, straight at the hundred-mile ball that was
Jupiter V.
"They'll crash—!" the Chonya cried, and jubilation was in his voice.
"They did not know we were so close! Now it's too late to turn
them!"
The explosive flash of the meteors bursting through the satellite's
casing came like an exclamation point. Great cracks appeared—
monstrous fissures, spewing flame.
And still more meteors hurtled down—the whole, vast, captive
swarm. The planetoid's casing glowed red-hot, then white, till the
moon was a fiery, radiant sphere.
Then suddenly, it seemed to shiver. A gigantic explosion ripped one
side, sent the planetoid spinning over. A huge, wedge-shaped chunk
tore loose and blasted off through space; then another ... another.
The giant mongrel stood in the corner, behind the door through
which Shane had entered. A light-pistol gleamed in one webbed
hand, and the great lobed eyes were hot with hate.
And about the creature's waist still was drawn the iron-linked belt—
Shane's Chonya belt, the belt of the asteroids.
"Welcome, Earthman!" the mongrel rasped, just as on the other
night that now seemed so far away, so long ago. "Welcome to
death!"
Shane froze in his tracks—statue-like, taut-muscled. His eyes alone
moved ... gauging Quos Reggar, measuring the distance, weighing
the light-gun against his own draw.
And the mongrel saw the things in the cold blue eyes—the death,
the decision; and he snapped sharply, "No, chitza! Wait—!"
"Why?" clipped the Earthman. "Why put it off?" And there was
recklessness in his voice; a fierce exaltation.
"Because it may be you need not die!" the mongrel came back
swiftly. "Because there are things you do not know—things that still
may save your life and make it worth living."
Shane still stood taut, motionless, waiting. He did not answer.
"I thought you would come to Talu's name," the hybrid told him, and
now the creature's tone held a gloating note. "I planned it well—and
you, fool that you are, came to the trap as on wings of fire."
"Get on with it!" Shane slashed harshly. "We both know what is
between us. Why waste this time?"
"The time is not wasted," Reggar answered. "Your coming here as
you did proves something ... a fine point on which much may hang,
for you as well as me."
Shane bared his teeth. His left hand moved in a savage,
contemptuous gesture. "Get on with it!" he slashed again. "What is it
you seek to say?"
A sly smile of sorts came to Reggar's lips. He called: "Talu—"
"Here, Sha Reggar." She stepped through the doorway, lithely
graceful as always, garbed in a ban-dong of scarlet and gold. A gold
clip held the midnight hair, and a gleaming fire-ruby of Neptune
hung by a golden chain in the hollow of her throat.
Her eyes met the Earthman's, poised and calm. "Sha Shane...."