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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0b32ff2 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #61467 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/61467) diff --git a/old/61467-h.zip b/old/61467-h.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 03f1ef1..0000000 --- a/old/61467-h.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/61467-h/61467-h.htm b/old/61467-h/61467-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index b2f7ba3..0000000 --- a/old/61467-h/61467-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1362 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> - <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=us-ascii" /> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> - <title> - The Project Gutenberg eBook of Muck Man, by Fremont Dodge. - </title> - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - - <style type="text/css"> - -body { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - - h1,h2 { - text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ - clear: both; -} - -p { - margin-top: .51em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .49em; -} - -hr { - width: 33%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - margin-left: 33.5%; - margin-right: 33.5%; - clear: both; -} - -hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} -hr.tb {width: 45%; margin-left: 27.5%; margin-right: 27.5%;} - -.center {text-align: center;} - -.right {text-align: right;} - -.figcenter { - margin: auto; - text-align: center; -} - -.caption p -{ - text-align: center; - text-indent: 0; - margin: 0.25em 0; -} - -div.titlepage { - text-align: center; - page-break-before: always; - page-break-after: always; -} - -div.titlepage p { - text-align: center; - text-indent: 0em; - font-weight: bold; - line-height: 1.5; - margin-top: 3em; -} - -.ph1 { text-align: center; text-indent: 0em; font-weight: bold; } -.ph1 { font-size: large; margin: .83em auto; } - -.ph2 { text-align: center; text-indent: 0em; } -.ph2 { font-size: medium; margin: .83em auto; } - - </style> - </head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Muck Man, by Fremont Dodge - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll -have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using -this ebook. - - - -Title: Muck Man - -Author: Fremont Dodge - -Release Date: February 21, 2020 [EBook #61467] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MUCK MAN *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/cover.jpg" width="355" height="500" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="titlepage"> - -<h1>MUCK MAN</h1> - -<h2>BY FREMONT DODGE</h2> - -<p class="ph1">The work wasn't hard, but there were some sacrifices.<br /> -You had to give up hope and freedom—and being human!</p> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Worlds of If Science Fiction, November 1963.<br /> -Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that<br /> -the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]</p> - -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph2">I</p> - -<p>The girl with the Slider egg glittering in her hair watched the -bailiff lead Asa Graybar out of the courtroom. He recognized her as -old Hazeltyne's daughter Harriet, no doubt come to see justice done. -She didn't have the hothouse-flower look Asa would have expected in a -girl whose father owned the most valuable of the planetary franchises. -She was not afraid to meet his eye, the eye of a judicially certified -criminal. There was, perhaps, a crease of puzzlement in her brow, as if -she had thought crimes were committed by shriveled, rat-faced types, -and not by young biological engineers who still affected crewcuts.</p> - -<p>Tom Dorr, Hazeltyne's general manager, was her escort. Asa felt -certain, without proof, that Dorr was the man who had framed him for -the charge of grand theft by secreting a fresh Slider egg in his -laboratory. The older man stared at Asa coldly as he was led out of -the courtroom and down the corridor back to jail.</p> - -<p>Jumpy, Asa's cellmate, took one look at his face as he was put back -behind bars.</p> - -<p>"Guilty," Jumpy said.</p> - -<p>Asa glared at him.</p> - -<p>"I know, I know," Jumpy said hastily. "You were framed. But what's the -rap?"</p> - -<p>"Five or one."</p> - -<p>"Take the five," Jumpy advised. "Learn basket-weaving in a nice -air-conditioned rehab clinic. A year on a changeling deal will seem a -lot longer, even if you're lucky enough to live through it."</p> - -<p>Asa took four steps to the far wall of the cell, stood there briefly -with his head bent and turned to face Jumpy.</p> - -<p>"Nope," Asa said softly. "I'm going into a conversion tank. I'm going -to be a muck man, Jumpy. I'm going out to Jordan's Planet and hunt -Slider eggs."</p> - -<p>"Smuggling? It won't work."</p> - -<p>Asa didn't answer. The Hazeltyne company had gone after him because -he had been working on a method of keeping Slider eggs alive. The -Hazeltyne company would be happy to see him mark time for five years -of so-called social reorientation. But if he could get out to Jordan's -Planet, with his physiology adapted to the environment of that wretched -world, he could study the eggs under conditions no laboratory could -duplicate. He might even be able to cause trouble for Hazeltyne.</p> - -<p>His only problem would be staying alive for a year.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>An interview with a doctor from the Conversion Corps was required -for all persons who elected changeling status. The law stated that -potential changelings must be fully informed of the rights and hazards -of altered shape before they signed a release. The requirement held -whether or not the individual, like Asa, was already experienced.</p> - -<p>By the time humanity traveled to the stars, medical biology had made -it possible to regenerate damaged or deficient organs of the body. -Regeneration was limited only by advanced age. Sometime after a man's -two hundredth year his body lost the ability to be coaxed into growing -new cells. A fifth set of teeth was usually one's last. As long as -senescence could be staved off, however, any man could have bulging -biceps and a pencil waist, if he could pay for the treatment.</p> - -<p>Until the medical associations declared such treatments unethical there -was even a short fad of deliberate deformities, with horns at the -temples particularly popular.</p> - -<p>From regeneration it was a short step to specialized regrowth. The -techniques were perfected to adapt humans to the dozen barely habitable -worlds man had discovered. Even on Mars, the only planet outside Earth -in the solar system where the human anatomy was remotely suitable, a -man could work more efficiently with redesigned lungs and temperature -controls than he could inside a pressure suit. On more bizarre planets -a few light-years away the advantages of changeling bodies were -greater.</p> - -<p>Unfortunately for planetary development companies, hardly anyone -wanted to become a changeling. High pay lured few. So a law was passed -permitting a convicted criminal to earn his freedom by putting in one -year as a changeling for every five years he would otherwise have had -to spend in rehabilitation.</p> - -<p>"What types of changelings do you have orders for right now, doctor?" -Asa asked the man assigned to his case. It would look suspicious if he -asked for Jordan's Planet without some preliminary questions.</p> - -<p>"Four," answered the doctor.</p> - -<p>"Squiffs for New Arcady. Adapted for climbing the skycraper trees and -with the arm structure modified into pseudo-wings or gliding. Then we -need spiderinos for Von Neumann Two. If you want the nearest thing we -have to Earth, there's Caesar's Moon, where we'd just have to double -your tolerance for carbon monoxide and make you a bigger and better -gorilla than the natives. Last, of course, there's always a need for -muck men on Jordan's Planet."</p> - -<p>The doctor shrugged, as if naturally no one could be expected to -choose Jordan's Planet. Asa frowned in apparent consideration of the -alternatives.</p> - -<p>"What's the pay range?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"Ten dollars a day on Caesar's Moon. Fifteen on New Arcady or Von -Neumann Two. Twenty-five on Jordan's."</p> - -<p>Asa raised his eyebrows.</p> - -<p>"Why such a difference? Everyone knows about muck men living in the -mud while they hunt Slider eggs. But don't your conversions make the -changeling comfortable in his new environment?"</p> - -<p>"Sure they do," said the doctor. "We can make you think mud feels -better than chinchilla fur and we can have you jumping like a -grasshopper despite the double gravity. But we can't make you like the -sight of yourself. And we can't guarantee that a Slider won't kill you."</p> - -<p>"Still," Asa mused aloud, "it would mean a nice bankroll waiting at the -end of the year."</p> - -<p>He leaned forward to fill in the necessary form.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Since it was cheaper to transport a normal human than to rig special -environments in a spaceship, every planet operated its own conversion -chambers. On the space freighter that carried him from Earth Asa -Graybar was confined to a small cabin that was opened only for a guard -to bring meals and take out dirty dishes. He was still a prisoner.</p> - -<p>Sometimes he could hear voices in the passageway outside, and once -one of them sounded like a woman's. But since women neither served on -spaceships nor worked in the dome settlements on harsher worlds, he -decided it was his imagination. He might have been dead cargo for all -he learned about space travel.</p> - -<p>Nevertheless his time was not wasted. He had as a companion, or -cellmate, another convict who had elected conversion to muck man. More -important, his companion had done time on Jordan's Planet before and -had wanted to return.</p> - -<p>"It's the Slider eggs," explained Kershaw, the two-time loser. "The -ones you see on Earth knock your eyes out, but they've already begun -to die. There's nothing like a fresh one. And I'm not the first to -go crazy over them. When I was reconverted and got home I had nine -thousand dollars waiting for me. That'll buy a two-year-old egg that -flashes maybe four times a day. So I stole a new one and got caught."</p> - -<p>Asa had held a Slider egg in his hand as he gazed into it. He could -understand. The shell was clear as crystal, taut but elastic, while -the albumen was just as clear around the sparkling network of organic -filaments that served as a yolk. Along these interior threads played -tiny flashes of lightning, part of some unexplained process of life. -Electrical instruments picked up static discharges from the egg, but -the phenomenon remained a mystery.</p> - -<p>Hardly anyone faced with the beauty of a Slider's egg bothered to -question its workings. For a few expectant moments there would be only -random, fitful gleamings, and then there would be a wild coruscation of -light, dancing from one filament to the next in a frenzy of brilliance.</p> - -<p>It took about four years for a Slider egg to die. Beauty, rarity and -fading value made the eggs a luxury item like nothing the world had -ever seen. If Asa had found a means of keeping them alive it would have -made him wealthy at the expense of the Hazeltyne monopoly.</p> - -<p>"You know what I think?" Kershaw asked. "I think those flashes are -the egg calling its momma. They sparkle like a million diamonds when -you scoop one out of the muck, and right away a Slider always comes -swooping out of nowhere at you."</p> - -<p>"I've been meaning to ask you," Asa said. "How do you handle the -Sliders?"</p> - -<p>Kershaw grinned.</p> - -<p>"First you try to catch it with a rocket. If you miss you start leaping -for home. All this time you're broadcasting for help, you understand. -When the Slider catches you, you leap up while it buries its jaws in -the mud where you were just standing. You dig your claws in its back -and hang on while it rolls around in the mud. Finally, if the 'copter -comes—and if they don't shoot off your head by mistake—you live to -tell the tale."</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph2">II</p> - -<p>Asa Graybar kept his normal form on Jordan's Planet just long enough to -learn the discomfort of double gravity. He was told he needed another -physical examination and was taken right in to a doctor. His heart was -pounding to keep his blood circulating on this massive world, but the -doctor had apparently learned to make allowances.</p> - -<p>"Swallow this," said the doctor after making a series of tests.</p> - -<p>Asa swallowed the capsule. Two minutes later he felt himself beginning -to lose consciousness.</p> - -<p>"This is it!" he thought in panic.</p> - -<p>He felt someone ease him back down onto a wheeled stretcher. Before -consciousness faded completely he realized that no one got a chance -to back out of becoming a changeling, that he was on his way to the -conversion tank right now.</p> - -<p>When he finally awoke he felt well rested and very comfortable. But for -a long time he was afraid to open his eyes.</p> - -<p>"Come on, Graybar," said a deep, booming voice. "Let's test our wings."</p> - -<p>It was not Kershaw's voice, but it had to be Kershaw. Asa opened his -eyes.</p> - -<p>Everyone had seen pictures of muck men. It was different having one -stand beside you. Kershaw looked much like an enormous frog except that -his head was still mostly human. He was sitting on webbed feet, his -lower legs bent double under huge thighs, and his trunk tilted forward -so that his arms dangled to the ground. The arms were as thick around -as an ordinary man's legs. The hands had become efficient scoops, with -broad fingers webbed to the first joint and tipped with spade-like -claws. The skin was still pinkish but had become scaly. Not a thread of -hair showed anywhere on the body, not even on the head.</p> - -<p>This, Asa realized, was what he looked like himself.</p> - -<p>It would have been more bearable if the head had not retained strong -traces of humanity. The nostrils flared wide and the jaws hardly -emerged from the neck, but the ears were human ears and the eyes, under -those horny ridges, were human eyes. Asa felt sure that the eyes could -still weep.</p> - -<p>He started to walk forward and tipped over on his side. Kershaw laughed.</p> - -<p>"Come to daddy, babykins," Kershaw said, holding out his hands. "Only -try hopping this time. And take it easy."</p> - -<p>Asa pushed himself upright with one arm and tried a small hop. Nerve -and muscle coordination was perfect. He found himself leaping as high -as Kershaw's head.</p> - -<p>"That's the way," Kershaw said approvingly. "Now get this on and we'll -go outside."</p> - -<p>Asa snapped on a belt and breech cloth combination that had flaps of -fabric dangling from the belt in front and behind. He followed as -Kershaw pushed open a sliding door to lead the way out of the room -where they had been left to revive from conversion.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>They went into a courtyard partly covered by a roof projecting from -the Hazeltyne company's dome settlement. The far half of the courtyard -was open to the gray drizzle that fell almost ceaselessly from the sky -of Jordan's Planet and turned most of its surface into marsh and mud -flats. A high wall enclosed the far portion of the courtyard. Ranged -along the wall were thirty stalls for muck men.</p> - -<p>From fifty yards across the courtyard a muck man bounded over to them -in two leaps. Attached to a harness across his shoulders and chest were -a gun and a long knife.</p> - -<p>"Names?" he growled. He was a foot taller than Graybar and big -everywhere in proportion.</p> - -<p>"Kershaw. I'm back, Furston."</p> - -<p>"I'm Graybar."</p> - -<p>"Kershaw again? Just start in where you left off, sucker. Come on, -you." He pointed to Asa and leaped to the open portion of the courtyard.</p> - -<p>"Do what he says," Kershaw whispered to Graybar. "He's sort of a trusty -and warden and parole officer rolled into one."</p> - -<p>Asa was put through a series of exercises to get him used to his -distorted body, to teach him how to leap and how to dig. He was shown -how to operate the radio he would carry and how to fire the pencil-slim -rockets of this gun. Finally he was told to eat a few berries from a -native vine. He did so and immediately vomited.</p> - -<p>Furston laughed.</p> - -<p>"That's to remind you you're still a man," Furston said, grinning. -"Everything that grows on this planet is poison. So if you got any -ideas of hiding out till your term is up, forget 'em. Right here is -where you eat."</p> - -<p>Asa turned without a word and hopped feebly away from Furston. He -lifted his head to breathe deeply and saw two humans watching him from -an observation tower on the roof.</p> - -<p>He leaped twenty feet into the air for a closer look.</p> - -<p>Gazing at him with repugnance, after witnessing the end of his session -with Furston, were Harriet Hazeltyne and general manager Tom Dorr.</p> - -<p>The girl's presence merely puzzled Asa, but Dorr's being here worried -him. Dorr had tried to get rid of him once and was now in an excellent -position to make the riddance permanent.</p> - -<p>At supper that night, squatting on the ground beside a low table with -the dozen other muck men operating from the dome, Asa asked what the -two were doing out here.</p> - -<p>"The girl will inherit this racket some day, won't she?" asked one of -the others. "She wants to see what kind of suckers are making her rich."</p> - -<p>"Maybe that guy Dorr brought her along to show her what a big wheel -he is," said one of the others. "Just hope he doesn't take over the -operations."</p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph2">III</p> - -<p>Next morning Furston passed out guns, knives, radios, and pouches to -carry any eggs the muck men found. He gave each man a compass and -assigned the sectors to be worked during the day. Finally he called -Graybar aside.</p> - -<p>"In case you don't like it here," Furston said, "you can get a week -knocked off your sentence for every egg you bring in. Now get out there -and work that muck."</p> - -<p>Furston sent Graybar and Kershaw out together so that the veteran could -show Asa the ropes. Asa had already learned that the wall around the -courtyard was to keep Sliders out, not muck men in. He leaped over it -and hopped along after Kershaw.</p> - -<p>Feet slapping against the mud, they went about five miles from the -Hazeltyne station, swimming easily across ponds too broad to jump. The -mud, if not precisely as pleasant to the touch as chinchilla fur, was -not at all uncomfortable, and the dripping air caressed their skins -like a summer breeze back on Earth. Tiny, slippery creatures skidded -and splashed out of their way. Finally Kershaw stopped. His experienced -eye had seen a trail of swamp weeds crushed low into the mud.</p> - -<p>"Keep your eyes open," Kershaw said. "There's a Slider been around here -lately. If you see something like an express train headed our way, -start shooting."</p> - -<p>At each leap along the trail they peered quickly around. They saw no -Sliders, but this meant little, for the beasts lived under the mud as -much as on top of it.</p> - -<p>Kershaw halted again when they came to a roughly circular area some ten -yards in diameter where the weeds had been torn out and lay rotting in -the muck.</p> - -<p>"We're in luck," he said as Asa skidded to a stop at his side. "An egg -was laid somewhere here within the last week. These places are hard to -spot when the new weeds start growing."</p> - -<p>Kershaw took a long look around.</p> - -<p>"No trouble in sight. We dig."</p> - -<p>They started at the center of the cleared area, shoveling up great gobs -of mud with their hands and flinging them out of the clearing. Usually -a muck man dug in a spiral out from the center, but Graybar and Kershaw -dug in gradually widening semi-circles opposite each other. They had -to dig four feet deep, and it was slow going until they had a pit -big enough to stand in. Each handful of mud had to be squeezed gently -before it was thrown away, to make sure it didn't conceal an egg. As he -worked, Asa kept thinking what an inefficient system it was. Everything -about the operation was wrong.</p> - -<p>"Got it!" Kershaw shouted. He leaped out of the pit and started wiping -slime off a round object the size of a baseball. Asa jumped out to -watch.</p> - -<p>"A big one," Kershaw said. He held it, still smeared with traces of -mud, lovingly to his cheek, and then lifted it to eye level. "Just look -at it."</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus2.jpg" width="650" height="437" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>A SLIDER EGG</p> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>The egg was flashing with a mad radiance, like a thousand diamonds -being splintered under a brilliant sun. Static crackled in Asa's -earphones and he thought of what Kershaw had said, that the -scintillation of an egg was an effect of its calls to a mother Slider -for help. Asa looked around.</p> - -<p>"Jump!" he shouted.</p> - -<p>At the edge of the clearing a segmented length of greenish black -scales, some two feet thick and six feet high, had reared up out of the -weeds. The top segment was almost all mouth, already opened to show row -upon row of teeth. Before Asa could draw his gun the Slider lowered -its head to the ground, dug two front flippers into the mud and shot -forward.</p> - -<p>Asa leaped with all his strength, sailing far out of the clearing. -While he was still in the air he snapped the mouthpiece of his radio -down from where it was hinged over his head. As he landed he turned -instantly, his gun in his hand.</p> - -<p>"Calling the 'copter!" he spoke rapidly into the mouthpiece. "Kershaw -and Graybar, sector eight, five miles out. Hurry!"</p> - -<p>"Graybar?" asked a voice in his earphone. "What's up?"</p> - -<p>"We've got an egg but a Slider wants it back."</p> - -<p>"On the way."</p> - -<p>Asa hopped back to the clearing. Kershaw must have been bowled over by -the Slider's first rush, for he was trying to hop on one leg as if the -other had been broken. The egg lay flickering on top of the mud where -Kershaw had dropped it. The Slider, eight flippers on each side working -madly, was twisting its thirty feet of wormlike body around for another -charge.</p> - -<p>Aiming hastily, Asa fired a rocket at the monster's middle segment. The -rocket smashed through hard scales and exploded in a fountain of gray -flesh. The Slider writhed, coating its wound in mud, and twisted toward -Asa. He leaped to one side, firing from the air and missing, and saw -the Slider turn toward the patch of weeds where he would land. His legs -were tensed to leap again the moment he hit the mud, but he saw the -Slider would be on top of him before he could escape. As he landed he -thrust his gun forward almost into the mouth of the creature and fired -again.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus1.jpg" width="337" height="500" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>Even as he was knocked aside into the muck, Asa's body was showered -with shreds of alien flesh scattered by the rocket's explosion. -Desperately pushing himself to his feet, he saw the long headless body -shiver and lie still.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Asa took a deep breath and looked around.</p> - -<p>"Kershaw!" he called. "Where are you?"</p> - -<p>"Over here." Kershaw stood briefly above the weeds and fell back again. -Asa leaped over to him.</p> - -<p>"Thanks," Kershaw said. "Muck men stick together. You'll make a good -one. I wouldn't have had a chance. My leg's busted."</p> - -<p>"The helicopter ought to be here pretty soon," Asa said. He looked over -at the dead Slider and shook his head. "Tell me, what are the odds on -getting killed doing this?"</p> - -<p>"Last time I was here there was about one mucker killed for every six -eggs brought out. Of course you're not supposed to stand there admiring -the eggs like I did while a Slider comes up on you."</p> - -<p>Asa hopped over to the egg, which was still full of a dancing radiance -where it rested on the mud. He scooped a hole in the muck and buried -the egg.</p> - -<p>"Just in case there are any more Sliders around," he explained.</p> - -<p>"Makes no difference," said Kershaw, pointing upward. "Here comes the -'copter, late as usual."</p> - -<p>The big machine circled them, hovered to inspect the dead Slider, and -settled down on broad skids. Through the transparent nose Asa could see -Tom Dorr and Harriet Hazeltyne. The company manager swung the door open -and leaned out.</p> - -<p>"I see you took care of the Slider," he said. "Hand over the egg."</p> - -<p>"Kershaw has a broken leg," Asa said. "I'll help him in and then I'll -get the egg."</p> - -<p>While Kershaw grabbed the door frame to help pull himself into the -helicopter, Asa got under his companion's belly and lifted him by the -waist. He hadn't realized before just how strong his new body was. -Kershaw, as a muck man, would have weighed close to three hundred -pounds on Earth, close to six hundred here.</p> - -<p>Dorr made no move to help, but the girl reached under Kershaw's -shoulder and strained to get him in. Once he was inside, Asa saw, the -cabin was crowded.</p> - -<p>"Are you going to have room for me too?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"Not this trip," Dorr answered. "Now give me the egg."</p> - -<p>Asa didn't hesitate. "The egg stays with me," he said softly.</p> - -<p>"You do what I tell you, mucker," said Dorr.</p> - -<p>"Nope. I want to make sure you come back." Asa turned his head to -Harriet. "You see, Miss Hazeltyne, I don't trust your friend. You might -ask him to tell you about it."</p> - -<p>Dorr stared at him with narrowed eyes. Suddenly he smiled in a way that -worried Asa.</p> - -<p>"Whatever you say, Graybar," Dorr said. He turned to the controls. In -another minute the helicopter was in the sky.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>A round trip for the helicopter should have taken no more than twenty -minutes, allowing time for Kershaw to be taken out at the settlement.</p> - -<p>After an hour passed Asa began to worry. He was sure Dorr would return -for the egg. Finally he realized that Dorr could locate the egg -approximately by the body of the dead Slider. Dorr could return for the -egg any time with some other muck man to dig for it.</p> - -<p>Asa pulled down the mouthpiece of his radio.</p> - -<p>"This is Graybar, calling the helicopter," he said. "When are you -coming?"</p> - -<p>There was no answer except the hum of carrier wave.</p> - -<p>If he tried to carry the egg back, Asa knew, Sliders would attack him -all along the way. A man had no chance of getting five miles with an -egg by himself. He could leave the egg here, of course. Even so he -would be lucky if he got back, following a hazy compass course from -which he and Kershaw had certainly deviated on their outward trip. -There were no landmarks in this wilderness of bog to help him find his -way. The workers were supposed to home in on radio signals, if they -lost their bearings, but Dorr would deny him that help.</p> - -<p>What was the night like on Jordan's Planet? Maybe Sliders slept at -night. If he could stay awake, and if he didn't faint from hunger in -this strange new body, and if the Sliders left him alone....</p> - -<p>A whirring noise made Asa jump in alarm.</p> - -<p>Then he smiled in relief, for it was the helicopter, the blessed -helicopter, coming in over the swamp. But what if it was Dorr, coming -back alone to dispose of him without any witnesses? Asa leaped for the -carcass of the dead Slider and took shelter behind it.</p> - -<p>No machine-gun blast of rockets came from the helicopter. The big -machine swooped low dizzily, tilted back in an inexpert attempt to -hover, thumped down upon the mud and slid forward. As Asa jumped aside, -the landing skids caught against the Slider's body and the helicopter -flipped forward on its nose, one of the rotor blades plunging deep into -the mud.</p> - -<p>Asa leaped forward in consternation. Not only was his chance of safe -passage back to the settlement wrecked, but now he would have the -extra burden of taking care of the pilot. When he reached the nose -of the helicopter he saw that the pilot, untangling herself from the -controls to get up, was Harriet Hazeltyne.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph2">IV</p> - -<p>"Are you hurt?" Asa asked her. She reached for his shoulder to steady -herself as she climbed out of the machine.</p> - -<p>"I guess not," she said. "But taking a fall in this gravity is no fun. -From the way my face feels I ought to be getting a black eye pretty -soon."</p> - -<p>"What happened?"</p> - -<p>"I made a fool of myself." She made a face back in the direction of -the settlement. "Dorr wasn't going to come after you. He said anyone -who talked back to him should try arguing with the Sliders."</p> - -<p>She looked up at the machine-gun on the helicopter.</p> - -<p>"They feed at night, you know. And they eat their own kind," she said. -"The Slider you killed would draw them like ants to jam."</p> - -<p>Asa glanced around quickly to make sure no Sliders had already come. He -eyed the helicopter with distaste at the thought of what a flimsy fort -it would make.</p> - -<p>"Anyway," Harriet said, "I told him he couldn't just leave you here -and we started arguing. I lost my temper. He thought he had brought me -to Jordan's Planet on a fancy tour. I told him the real reason I was -here was to check up for my father on the way he was running things and -there seemed to be a lot wrong. So he told me very politely I could run -things to suit myself and he walked off."</p> - -<p>She shrugged, as if to indicate that she had made a mess of things.</p> - -<p>"And you took the helicopter by yourself," Asa said, as if he could -hardly believe it yet.</p> - -<p>"Oh, back on Earth I can make a helicopter do stunts. But I wasn't used -to this gravity. I don't suppose you could make this machine stand up -straight?"</p> - -<p>Asa tugged at the body of the Slider until he got it off the skids of -the plane. He pulled with all his strength at the rotor blade sunk in -the mud, but the weight of the helicopter was upon it and the mud held -it with a suction of its own. After a few minutes he had to give up.</p> - -<p>"We fight off the Sliders, then," she said, as matter of factly as if -that problem was settled. "If it's any comfort, I know how to handle -the machine-gun."</p> - -<p>"Nope. In this drizzle, at night, the Sliders would be on us before -we could see them. We've got to try to get back." He stood in thought -while she stared at him patiently. "What happened to the other muck men -who went out today?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"They were called in when the 'copter came out the first time. Some of -them may not have got back yet."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Asa started talking into his radio.</p> - -<p>"Calling all muck men. This is Asa Graybar. All muck men, listen. This -is Graybar. I am five miles out with Miss Hazeltyne, who came to rescue -me after I saved Kershaw from a Slider. The helicopter is smashed. -We're slogging in."</p> - -<p>He looked at her for a nod of confirmation and repeated the message.</p> - -<p>"Graybar?" came a voice in his earphones. "What do you want?"</p> - -<p>Asa grinned at Harriet as he continued.</p> - -<p>"Go on back to the settlement. Tell the others. Then organize a party -to come help us. Bearing 150 degrees."</p> - -<p>"Right," said the unidentified voice.</p> - -<p>"I got it too," said another voice in the headset. "Muck men stick -together."</p> - -<p>Good, Asa thought. At least two muckers were still out. They would -tell the others.</p> - -<p>"Cancel all that," said a third voice. "This is Dorr speaking. Nobody -goes out until I give the word."</p> - -<p>Asa didn't fancy waiting.</p> - -<p>"By authority of Miss Hazeltyne," he said rapidly, "Dorr is no longer -manager. I am acting manager." He saw Harriet's eyebrows go up, for she -couldn't hear the other end of what was going on. "Disregard Dorr," -he continued. "If you can help us get back, Miss Hazeltyne will make -changes to benefit all of us."</p> - -<p>Before he could say any more his ear was stricken with the noise of -loud static. Dorr was making sure no more radio messages got through. -Asa quickly told Harriet what had happened.</p> - -<p>The girl smiled with one side of her mouth.</p> - -<p>"Fine," she said, "but how am I supposed to cross the muck?"</p> - -<p>"On my back," Asa turned and entered the helicopter cabin. All the time -he had been talking he had been worrying about the fact that he had -only three rockets left for his gun. Quickly he checked the ammunition -for the machine-gun, found it was the same caliber, and felt that at -last one break had gone his way. He took the plastic ammunition belts -outside.</p> - -<p>"Load your pockets with these," he told the girl, pulling the rockets -from their loops. Then, tying the plastic belts together, he fashioned -a sling she could sit in with her legs at his sides. Finally he handed -her his gun.</p> - -<p>"If you see a Slider," he said, "shoot for the head. Now climb on and -hold tight to my gun harness and we'll try our luck."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>When she was astride his back Asa checked his compass and started -jumping. At once he knew that the going would be much harder than he -had imagined. Alone he could leap twenty-five yards, but her weight cut -him down to about five yards. He kept going, realizing that the task -was almost beyond his strength and not daring to tell her that even if -his strength held out they might not even find the settlement in this -drizzle.</p> - -<p>Hopping, sometimes staggering, skirting the wider pools in the swamp. -Asa managed to go about a mile before he had to stop and rest. Harriet -climbed out of the sling and settled down on a patch of weeds, a wet -and slippery mat upon the mud.</p> - -<p>"We're going to make it," she said cheerfully.</p> - -<p>"I hope so," he said. "Not just for ourselves. A lot of changes should -be made. There must be millions of eggs on this planet. You're getting -only a couple hundred a year."</p> - -<p>He was panting between sentences and stopped talking until he could -catch his breath.</p> - -<p>"For one thing," he continued, "rockets are the wrong weapon against -the Sliders. Flame throwers would be better. Of course they're a -lot heavier than guns. But everything about the way you go after -eggs is wrong. It's criminal to send one man out alone. It's utterly -irresponsible to have only one helicopter. You're putting a price on -eggs in terms of human lives. Muck men are human, you know, no matter -what we look like."</p> - -<p>"You are very human," she said softly, "and very brave."</p> - -<p>He returned her smile, adding, "And we'll both be very dead unless we -get going."</p> - -<p>They had traveled considerably less than a mile when he had to stop -again.</p> - -<p>"How would you run things here?" Harriet asked.</p> - -<p>"Start with new premises. There's no need to make monsters out of the -muck men. Double their strength, and perhaps give them web feet, but -why legs like a frog? If I could walk normally I could be pulling you -on a sled. And why shovel hands instead of proper tools? Of course you -would still have to give them a skin for this weather."</p> - -<p>Harriet's clothing was sodden and streaked with mud, and her hair -was hanging down her head in wet, dark tangles that looked like so -much boiled spinach. The bump when the helicopter fell had raised a -blue-black swelling around her left eye. Yet, it occurred to Asa, she -hadn't voiced the slightest complaint. She was listening intently to -his advice.</p> - -<p>"I would send parties of three men out in a helicopter," he continued. -"One would guard the ship while the other two hunted eggs. As soon as -they found an egg they'd hop into the ship and be safe."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>They started off again. At the first leap Asa saw a Slider a hundred -yards away. As soon as his feet hit the ground he whispered to Harriet. -She climbed out of the sling and held her gun ready while he drew his -knife to wait. Long minutes passed before he decided they had not been -seen and it was safe to continue.</p> - -<p>Next time they stopped the girl turned to Asa with a frown and asked, -"Just how does Dorr think he can get away with this?"</p> - -<p>"Simple." Asa shrugged. "He'll say the Sliders got us despite all he -could do. No muck man who could tell a different story will live long -enough to get back to Earth."</p> - -<p>The sound of a rocket explosion came from somewhere off to their right. -It was the loveliest sound Asa had ever heard.</p> - -<p>"The rescue party!" he shouted. "Let's go!"</p> - -<p>Knowing that rockets meant Sliders, but knowing also that no Slider was -a match for a team of armed men, Asa leaped forward with renewed vigor. -Once he misjudged his strength and landed in a puddle, splashing both -of them with slimy water, but the girl on his back only laughed. They -heard the sound of another rocket, and Harriet fired three shots of -her own to attract attention. In a few more minutes they were happily -welcoming six muck men.</p> - -<p>"I heard your message," said one of them, "and back at the settlement -Kershaw told us what had happened. Furston tried to stop us and wound -up with a knife in his belly. A couple of the others were afraid to -come, and two were shot from the tower by Dorr, but the rest are with -you."</p> - -<p>"Tom Dorr will be tried for murder," Harriet promised grimly.</p> - -<p>With different men taking turns carrying Harriet for short distances -they began to make progress rapidly. The Slider the men had been firing -at was dead and no more were sighted before they came to the settlement.</p> - -<p>Dorr was waiting for them. He fired from the tower, his machine-gun -burst of rockets cutting through one man in mid-leap. Asa's party -hugged the mud and fired back. Plastic showered from the tower window, -and dust spurted from the concrete around it.</p> - -<p>"Keep me covered," Asa shouted. He took the gun from Harriet and leaped -madly forward until he was under the shelter of the side of the dome. -He waited for one more salvo from his party and jumped to the tower -itself.</p> - -<p>Dorr had vanished, driven out of the tower by the rockets. Asa waved -to the others to come forward and hopped into the main quarters of the -dome.</p> - -<p>He had never been in this part of the settlement. Dorr could be lying -in ambush for him. Asa moved cautiously, but he was confident that -his own adjustment to the gravity of the planet would give him the -advantage in any sudden meeting.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>He looked around the corner and down some stairs just in time to see -the discredited manager, holding a sack in one hands, struggle to open -a door. Asa fired and missed. The next moment Dorr was outside. Asa -leaped to the floor below.</p> - -<p>One of the normal humans who lived in the settlement came out of -another room, saw Asa and dodged back out of sight.</p> - -<p>Outside, Asa could see Dorr laboring to run along the paved road that -led to the spaceship a quarter of a mile away. The fugitive turned once -and fired wildly as Asa leaped after him. The mist was turning into -heavy rain, and it was getting harder to see.</p> - -<p>Another rocket exploded somewhere out in front of Asa. The sound was -followed by a scream. One more leap and Asa began firing himself.</p> - -<p>A Slider was gently taking into its mouth three eggs spilled from the -sack lying beside what was left of Tom Dorr.</p> - -<p>One of Asa's shots destroyed the Slider, destroying the eggs, too as -the monster's head exploded. Asa didn't think the eggs mattered much -right now.</p> - -<p>He shuffled slowly back to the settlement, deciding to accept when -Harriet offered him the managership. Some day, if he had his way, -Slider eggs would be as common on Earth as diamonds.</p> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Muck Man, by Fremont Dodge - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MUCK MAN *** - -***** This file should be named 61467-h.htm or 61467-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/1/4/6/61467/ - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll -have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using -this ebook. - - - -Title: Muck Man - -Author: Fremont Dodge - -Release Date: February 21, 2020 [EBook #61467] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MUCK MAN *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - -MUCK MAN - -BY FREMONT DODGE - -The work wasn't hard, but there were some sacrifices. -You had to give up hope and freedom--and being human! - -[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from -Worlds of If Science Fiction, November 1963. -Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that -the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - -I - -The girl with the Slider egg glittering in her hair watched the -bailiff lead Asa Graybar out of the courtroom. He recognized her as -old Hazeltyne's daughter Harriet, no doubt come to see justice done. -She didn't have the hothouse-flower look Asa would have expected in a -girl whose father owned the most valuable of the planetary franchises. -She was not afraid to meet his eye, the eye of a judicially certified -criminal. There was, perhaps, a crease of puzzlement in her brow, as if -she had thought crimes were committed by shriveled, rat-faced types, -and not by young biological engineers who still affected crewcuts. - -Tom Dorr, Hazeltyne's general manager, was her escort. Asa felt -certain, without proof, that Dorr was the man who had framed him for -the charge of grand theft by secreting a fresh Slider egg in his -laboratory. The older man stared at Asa coldly as he was led out of -the courtroom and down the corridor back to jail. - -Jumpy, Asa's cellmate, took one look at his face as he was put back -behind bars. - -"Guilty," Jumpy said. - -Asa glared at him. - -"I know, I know," Jumpy said hastily. "You were framed. But what's the -rap?" - -"Five or one." - -"Take the five," Jumpy advised. "Learn basket-weaving in a nice -air-conditioned rehab clinic. A year on a changeling deal will seem a -lot longer, even if you're lucky enough to live through it." - -Asa took four steps to the far wall of the cell, stood there briefly -with his head bent and turned to face Jumpy. - -"Nope," Asa said softly. "I'm going into a conversion tank. I'm going -to be a muck man, Jumpy. I'm going out to Jordan's Planet and hunt -Slider eggs." - -"Smuggling? It won't work." - -Asa didn't answer. The Hazeltyne company had gone after him because -he had been working on a method of keeping Slider eggs alive. The -Hazeltyne company would be happy to see him mark time for five years -of so-called social reorientation. But if he could get out to Jordan's -Planet, with his physiology adapted to the environment of that wretched -world, he could study the eggs under conditions no laboratory could -duplicate. He might even be able to cause trouble for Hazeltyne. - -His only problem would be staying alive for a year. - - - -An interview with a doctor from the Conversion Corps was required -for all persons who elected changeling status. The law stated that -potential changelings must be fully informed of the rights and hazards -of altered shape before they signed a release. The requirement held -whether or not the individual, like Asa, was already experienced. - -By the time humanity traveled to the stars, medical biology had made -it possible to regenerate damaged or deficient organs of the body. -Regeneration was limited only by advanced age. Sometime after a man's -two hundredth year his body lost the ability to be coaxed into growing -new cells. A fifth set of teeth was usually one's last. As long as -senescence could be staved off, however, any man could have bulging -biceps and a pencil waist, if he could pay for the treatment. - -Until the medical associations declared such treatments unethical there -was even a short fad of deliberate deformities, with horns at the -temples particularly popular. - -From regeneration it was a short step to specialized regrowth. The -techniques were perfected to adapt humans to the dozen barely habitable -worlds man had discovered. Even on Mars, the only planet outside Earth -in the solar system where the human anatomy was remotely suitable, a -man could work more efficiently with redesigned lungs and temperature -controls than he could inside a pressure suit. On more bizarre planets -a few light-years away the advantages of changeling bodies were -greater. - -Unfortunately for planetary development companies, hardly anyone -wanted to become a changeling. High pay lured few. So a law was passed -permitting a convicted criminal to earn his freedom by putting in one -year as a changeling for every five years he would otherwise have had -to spend in rehabilitation. - -"What types of changelings do you have orders for right now, doctor?" -Asa asked the man assigned to his case. It would look suspicious if he -asked for Jordan's Planet without some preliminary questions. - -"Four," answered the doctor. - -"Squiffs for New Arcady. Adapted for climbing the skycraper trees and -with the arm structure modified into pseudo-wings or gliding. Then we -need spiderinos for Von Neumann Two. If you want the nearest thing we -have to Earth, there's Caesar's Moon, where we'd just have to double -your tolerance for carbon monoxide and make you a bigger and better -gorilla than the natives. Last, of course, there's always a need for -muck men on Jordan's Planet." - -The doctor shrugged, as if naturally no one could be expected to -choose Jordan's Planet. Asa frowned in apparent consideration of the -alternatives. - -"What's the pay range?" he asked. - -"Ten dollars a day on Caesar's Moon. Fifteen on New Arcady or Von -Neumann Two. Twenty-five on Jordan's." - -Asa raised his eyebrows. - -"Why such a difference? Everyone knows about muck men living in the -mud while they hunt Slider eggs. But don't your conversions make the -changeling comfortable in his new environment?" - -"Sure they do," said the doctor. "We can make you think mud feels -better than chinchilla fur and we can have you jumping like a -grasshopper despite the double gravity. But we can't make you like the -sight of yourself. And we can't guarantee that a Slider won't kill you." - -"Still," Asa mused aloud, "it would mean a nice bankroll waiting at the -end of the year." - -He leaned forward to fill in the necessary form. - - - -Since it was cheaper to transport a normal human than to rig special -environments in a spaceship, every planet operated its own conversion -chambers. On the space freighter that carried him from Earth Asa -Graybar was confined to a small cabin that was opened only for a guard -to bring meals and take out dirty dishes. He was still a prisoner. - -Sometimes he could hear voices in the passageway outside, and once -one of them sounded like a woman's. But since women neither served on -spaceships nor worked in the dome settlements on harsher worlds, he -decided it was his imagination. He might have been dead cargo for all -he learned about space travel. - -Nevertheless his time was not wasted. He had as a companion, or -cellmate, another convict who had elected conversion to muck man. More -important, his companion had done time on Jordan's Planet before and -had wanted to return. - -"It's the Slider eggs," explained Kershaw, the two-time loser. "The -ones you see on Earth knock your eyes out, but they've already begun -to die. There's nothing like a fresh one. And I'm not the first to -go crazy over them. When I was reconverted and got home I had nine -thousand dollars waiting for me. That'll buy a two-year-old egg that -flashes maybe four times a day. So I stole a new one and got caught." - -Asa had held a Slider egg in his hand as he gazed into it. He could -understand. The shell was clear as crystal, taut but elastic, while -the albumen was just as clear around the sparkling network of organic -filaments that served as a yolk. Along these interior threads played -tiny flashes of lightning, part of some unexplained process of life. -Electrical instruments picked up static discharges from the egg, but -the phenomenon remained a mystery. - -Hardly anyone faced with the beauty of a Slider's egg bothered to -question its workings. For a few expectant moments there would be only -random, fitful gleamings, and then there would be a wild coruscation of -light, dancing from one filament to the next in a frenzy of brilliance. - -It took about four years for a Slider egg to die. Beauty, rarity and -fading value made the eggs a luxury item like nothing the world had -ever seen. If Asa had found a means of keeping them alive it would have -made him wealthy at the expense of the Hazeltyne monopoly. - -"You know what I think?" Kershaw asked. "I think those flashes are -the egg calling its momma. They sparkle like a million diamonds when -you scoop one out of the muck, and right away a Slider always comes -swooping out of nowhere at you." - -"I've been meaning to ask you," Asa said. "How do you handle the -Sliders?" - -Kershaw grinned. - -"First you try to catch it with a rocket. If you miss you start leaping -for home. All this time you're broadcasting for help, you understand. -When the Slider catches you, you leap up while it buries its jaws in -the mud where you were just standing. You dig your claws in its back -and hang on while it rolls around in the mud. Finally, if the 'copter -comes--and if they don't shoot off your head by mistake--you live to -tell the tale." - - -II - -Asa Graybar kept his normal form on Jordan's Planet just long enough to -learn the discomfort of double gravity. He was told he needed another -physical examination and was taken right in to a doctor. His heart was -pounding to keep his blood circulating on this massive world, but the -doctor had apparently learned to make allowances. - -"Swallow this," said the doctor after making a series of tests. - -Asa swallowed the capsule. Two minutes later he felt himself beginning -to lose consciousness. - -"This is it!" he thought in panic. - -He felt someone ease him back down onto a wheeled stretcher. Before -consciousness faded completely he realized that no one got a chance -to back out of becoming a changeling, that he was on his way to the -conversion tank right now. - -When he finally awoke he felt well rested and very comfortable. But for -a long time he was afraid to open his eyes. - -"Come on, Graybar," said a deep, booming voice. "Let's test our wings." - -It was not Kershaw's voice, but it had to be Kershaw. Asa opened his -eyes. - -Everyone had seen pictures of muck men. It was different having one -stand beside you. Kershaw looked much like an enormous frog except that -his head was still mostly human. He was sitting on webbed feet, his -lower legs bent double under huge thighs, and his trunk tilted forward -so that his arms dangled to the ground. The arms were as thick around -as an ordinary man's legs. The hands had become efficient scoops, with -broad fingers webbed to the first joint and tipped with spade-like -claws. The skin was still pinkish but had become scaly. Not a thread of -hair showed anywhere on the body, not even on the head. - -This, Asa realized, was what he looked like himself. - -It would have been more bearable if the head had not retained strong -traces of humanity. The nostrils flared wide and the jaws hardly -emerged from the neck, but the ears were human ears and the eyes, under -those horny ridges, were human eyes. Asa felt sure that the eyes could -still weep. - -He started to walk forward and tipped over on his side. Kershaw laughed. - -"Come to daddy, babykins," Kershaw said, holding out his hands. "Only -try hopping this time. And take it easy." - -Asa pushed himself upright with one arm and tried a small hop. Nerve -and muscle coordination was perfect. He found himself leaping as high -as Kershaw's head. - -"That's the way," Kershaw said approvingly. "Now get this on and we'll -go outside." - -Asa snapped on a belt and breech cloth combination that had flaps of -fabric dangling from the belt in front and behind. He followed as -Kershaw pushed open a sliding door to lead the way out of the room -where they had been left to revive from conversion. - - - -They went into a courtyard partly covered by a roof projecting from -the Hazeltyne company's dome settlement. The far half of the courtyard -was open to the gray drizzle that fell almost ceaselessly from the sky -of Jordan's Planet and turned most of its surface into marsh and mud -flats. A high wall enclosed the far portion of the courtyard. Ranged -along the wall were thirty stalls for muck men. - -From fifty yards across the courtyard a muck man bounded over to them -in two leaps. Attached to a harness across his shoulders and chest were -a gun and a long knife. - -"Names?" he growled. He was a foot taller than Graybar and big -everywhere in proportion. - -"Kershaw. I'm back, Furston." - -"I'm Graybar." - -"Kershaw again? Just start in where you left off, sucker. Come on, -you." He pointed to Asa and leaped to the open portion of the courtyard. - -"Do what he says," Kershaw whispered to Graybar. "He's sort of a trusty -and warden and parole officer rolled into one." - -Asa was put through a series of exercises to get him used to his -distorted body, to teach him how to leap and how to dig. He was shown -how to operate the radio he would carry and how to fire the pencil-slim -rockets of this gun. Finally he was told to eat a few berries from a -native vine. He did so and immediately vomited. - -Furston laughed. - -"That's to remind you you're still a man," Furston said, grinning. -"Everything that grows on this planet is poison. So if you got any -ideas of hiding out till your term is up, forget 'em. Right here is -where you eat." - -Asa turned without a word and hopped feebly away from Furston. He -lifted his head to breathe deeply and saw two humans watching him from -an observation tower on the roof. - -He leaped twenty feet into the air for a closer look. - -Gazing at him with repugnance, after witnessing the end of his session -with Furston, were Harriet Hazeltyne and general manager Tom Dorr. - -The girl's presence merely puzzled Asa, but Dorr's being here worried -him. Dorr had tried to get rid of him once and was now in an excellent -position to make the riddance permanent. - -At supper that night, squatting on the ground beside a low table with -the dozen other muck men operating from the dome, Asa asked what the -two were doing out here. - -"The girl will inherit this racket some day, won't she?" asked one of -the others. "She wants to see what kind of suckers are making her rich." - -"Maybe that guy Dorr brought her along to show her what a big wheel -he is," said one of the others. "Just hope he doesn't take over the -operations." - - -III - -Next morning Furston passed out guns, knives, radios, and pouches to -carry any eggs the muck men found. He gave each man a compass and -assigned the sectors to be worked during the day. Finally he called -Graybar aside. - -"In case you don't like it here," Furston said, "you can get a week -knocked off your sentence for every egg you bring in. Now get out there -and work that muck." - -Furston sent Graybar and Kershaw out together so that the veteran could -show Asa the ropes. Asa had already learned that the wall around the -courtyard was to keep Sliders out, not muck men in. He leaped over it -and hopped along after Kershaw. - -Feet slapping against the mud, they went about five miles from the -Hazeltyne station, swimming easily across ponds too broad to jump. The -mud, if not precisely as pleasant to the touch as chinchilla fur, was -not at all uncomfortable, and the dripping air caressed their skins -like a summer breeze back on Earth. Tiny, slippery creatures skidded -and splashed out of their way. Finally Kershaw stopped. His experienced -eye had seen a trail of swamp weeds crushed low into the mud. - -"Keep your eyes open," Kershaw said. "There's a Slider been around here -lately. If you see something like an express train headed our way, -start shooting." - -At each leap along the trail they peered quickly around. They saw no -Sliders, but this meant little, for the beasts lived under the mud as -much as on top of it. - -Kershaw halted again when they came to a roughly circular area some ten -yards in diameter where the weeds had been torn out and lay rotting in -the muck. - -"We're in luck," he said as Asa skidded to a stop at his side. "An egg -was laid somewhere here within the last week. These places are hard to -spot when the new weeds start growing." - -Kershaw took a long look around. - -"No trouble in sight. We dig." - -They started at the center of the cleared area, shoveling up great gobs -of mud with their hands and flinging them out of the clearing. Usually -a muck man dug in a spiral out from the center, but Graybar and Kershaw -dug in gradually widening semi-circles opposite each other. They had -to dig four feet deep, and it was slow going until they had a pit -big enough to stand in. Each handful of mud had to be squeezed gently -before it was thrown away, to make sure it didn't conceal an egg. As he -worked, Asa kept thinking what an inefficient system it was. Everything -about the operation was wrong. - -"Got it!" Kershaw shouted. He leaped out of the pit and started wiping -slime off a round object the size of a baseball. Asa jumped out to -watch. - -"A big one," Kershaw said. He held it, still smeared with traces of -mud, lovingly to his cheek, and then lifted it to eye level. "Just look -at it." - - - -The egg was flashing with a mad radiance, like a thousand diamonds -being splintered under a brilliant sun. Static crackled in Asa's -earphones and he thought of what Kershaw had said, that the -scintillation of an egg was an effect of its calls to a mother Slider -for help. Asa looked around. - -"Jump!" he shouted. - -At the edge of the clearing a segmented length of greenish black -scales, some two feet thick and six feet high, had reared up out of the -weeds. The top segment was almost all mouth, already opened to show row -upon row of teeth. Before Asa could draw his gun the Slider lowered -its head to the ground, dug two front flippers into the mud and shot -forward. - -Asa leaped with all his strength, sailing far out of the clearing. -While he was still in the air he snapped the mouthpiece of his radio -down from where it was hinged over his head. As he landed he turned -instantly, his gun in his hand. - -"Calling the 'copter!" he spoke rapidly into the mouthpiece. "Kershaw -and Graybar, sector eight, five miles out. Hurry!" - -"Graybar?" asked a voice in his earphone. "What's up?" - -"We've got an egg but a Slider wants it back." - -"On the way." - -Asa hopped back to the clearing. Kershaw must have been bowled over by -the Slider's first rush, for he was trying to hop on one leg as if the -other had been broken. The egg lay flickering on top of the mud where -Kershaw had dropped it. The Slider, eight flippers on each side working -madly, was twisting its thirty feet of wormlike body around for another -charge. - -Aiming hastily, Asa fired a rocket at the monster's middle segment. The -rocket smashed through hard scales and exploded in a fountain of gray -flesh. The Slider writhed, coating its wound in mud, and twisted toward -Asa. He leaped to one side, firing from the air and missing, and saw -the Slider turn toward the patch of weeds where he would land. His legs -were tensed to leap again the moment he hit the mud, but he saw the -Slider would be on top of him before he could escape. As he landed he -thrust his gun forward almost into the mouth of the creature and fired -again. - -Even as he was knocked aside into the muck, Asa's body was showered -with shreds of alien flesh scattered by the rocket's explosion. -Desperately pushing himself to his feet, he saw the long headless body -shiver and lie still. - - - -Asa took a deep breath and looked around. - -"Kershaw!" he called. "Where are you?" - -"Over here." Kershaw stood briefly above the weeds and fell back again. -Asa leaped over to him. - -"Thanks," Kershaw said. "Muck men stick together. You'll make a good -one. I wouldn't have had a chance. My leg's busted." - -"The helicopter ought to be here pretty soon," Asa said. He looked over -at the dead Slider and shook his head. "Tell me, what are the odds on -getting killed doing this?" - -"Last time I was here there was about one mucker killed for every six -eggs brought out. Of course you're not supposed to stand there admiring -the eggs like I did while a Slider comes up on you." - -Asa hopped over to the egg, which was still full of a dancing radiance -where it rested on the mud. He scooped a hole in the muck and buried -the egg. - -"Just in case there are any more Sliders around," he explained. - -"Makes no difference," said Kershaw, pointing upward. "Here comes the -'copter, late as usual." - -The big machine circled them, hovered to inspect the dead Slider, and -settled down on broad skids. Through the transparent nose Asa could see -Tom Dorr and Harriet Hazeltyne. The company manager swung the door open -and leaned out. - -"I see you took care of the Slider," he said. "Hand over the egg." - -"Kershaw has a broken leg," Asa said. "I'll help him in and then I'll -get the egg." - -While Kershaw grabbed the door frame to help pull himself into the -helicopter, Asa got under his companion's belly and lifted him by the -waist. He hadn't realized before just how strong his new body was. -Kershaw, as a muck man, would have weighed close to three hundred -pounds on Earth, close to six hundred here. - -Dorr made no move to help, but the girl reached under Kershaw's -shoulder and strained to get him in. Once he was inside, Asa saw, the -cabin was crowded. - -"Are you going to have room for me too?" he asked. - -"Not this trip," Dorr answered. "Now give me the egg." - -Asa didn't hesitate. "The egg stays with me," he said softly. - -"You do what I tell you, mucker," said Dorr. - -"Nope. I want to make sure you come back." Asa turned his head to -Harriet. "You see, Miss Hazeltyne, I don't trust your friend. You might -ask him to tell you about it." - -Dorr stared at him with narrowed eyes. Suddenly he smiled in a way that -worried Asa. - -"Whatever you say, Graybar," Dorr said. He turned to the controls. In -another minute the helicopter was in the sky. - - - -A round trip for the helicopter should have taken no more than twenty -minutes, allowing time for Kershaw to be taken out at the settlement. - -After an hour passed Asa began to worry. He was sure Dorr would return -for the egg. Finally he realized that Dorr could locate the egg -approximately by the body of the dead Slider. Dorr could return for the -egg any time with some other muck man to dig for it. - -Asa pulled down the mouthpiece of his radio. - -"This is Graybar, calling the helicopter," he said. "When are you -coming?" - -There was no answer except the hum of carrier wave. - -If he tried to carry the egg back, Asa knew, Sliders would attack him -all along the way. A man had no chance of getting five miles with an -egg by himself. He could leave the egg here, of course. Even so he -would be lucky if he got back, following a hazy compass course from -which he and Kershaw had certainly deviated on their outward trip. -There were no landmarks in this wilderness of bog to help him find his -way. The workers were supposed to home in on radio signals, if they -lost their bearings, but Dorr would deny him that help. - -What was the night like on Jordan's Planet? Maybe Sliders slept at -night. If he could stay awake, and if he didn't faint from hunger in -this strange new body, and if the Sliders left him alone.... - -A whirring noise made Asa jump in alarm. - -[Illustration: A SLIDER EGG] - -Then he smiled in relief, for it was the helicopter, the blessed -helicopter, coming in over the swamp. But what if it was Dorr, coming -back alone to dispose of him without any witnesses? Asa leaped for the -carcass of the dead Slider and took shelter behind it. - -No machine-gun blast of rockets came from the helicopter. The big -machine swooped low dizzily, tilted back in an inexpert attempt to -hover, thumped down upon the mud and slid forward. As Asa jumped aside, -the landing skids caught against the Slider's body and the helicopter -flipped forward on its nose, one of the rotor blades plunging deep into -the mud. - -Asa leaped forward in consternation. Not only was his chance of safe -passage back to the settlement wrecked, but now he would have the -extra burden of taking care of the pilot. When he reached the nose -of the helicopter he saw that the pilot, untangling herself from the -controls to get up, was Harriet Hazeltyne. - - -IV - -"Are you hurt?" Asa asked her. She reached for his shoulder to steady -herself as she climbed out of the machine. - -"I guess not," she said. "But taking a fall in this gravity is no fun. -From the way my face feels I ought to be getting a black eye pretty -soon." - -"What happened?" - -"I made a fool of myself." She made a face back in the direction of -the settlement. "Dorr wasn't going to come after you. He said anyone -who talked back to him should try arguing with the Sliders." - -She looked up at the machine-gun on the helicopter. - -"They feed at night, you know. And they eat their own kind," she said. -"The Slider you killed would draw them like ants to jam." - -Asa glanced around quickly to make sure no Sliders had already come. He -eyed the helicopter with distaste at the thought of what a flimsy fort -it would make. - -"Anyway," Harriet said, "I told him he couldn't just leave you here -and we started arguing. I lost my temper. He thought he had brought me -to Jordan's Planet on a fancy tour. I told him the real reason I was -here was to check up for my father on the way he was running things and -there seemed to be a lot wrong. So he told me very politely I could run -things to suit myself and he walked off." - -She shrugged, as if to indicate that she had made a mess of things. - -"And you took the helicopter by yourself," Asa said, as if he could -hardly believe it yet. - -"Oh, back on Earth I can make a helicopter do stunts. But I wasn't used -to this gravity. I don't suppose you could make this machine stand up -straight?" - -Asa tugged at the body of the Slider until he got it off the skids of -the plane. He pulled with all his strength at the rotor blade sunk in -the mud, but the weight of the helicopter was upon it and the mud held -it with a suction of its own. After a few minutes he had to give up. - -"We fight off the Sliders, then," she said, as matter of factly as if -that problem was settled. "If it's any comfort, I know how to handle -the machine-gun." - -"Nope. In this drizzle, at night, the Sliders would be on us before -we could see them. We've got to try to get back." He stood in thought -while she stared at him patiently. "What happened to the other muck men -who went out today?" he asked. - -"They were called in when the 'copter came out the first time. Some of -them may not have got back yet." - - - -Asa started talking into his radio. - -"Calling all muck men. This is Asa Graybar. All muck men, listen. This -is Graybar. I am five miles out with Miss Hazeltyne, who came to rescue -me after I saved Kershaw from a Slider. The helicopter is smashed. -We're slogging in." - -He looked at her for a nod of confirmation and repeated the message. - -"Graybar?" came a voice in his earphones. "What do you want?" - -Asa grinned at Harriet as he continued. - -"Go on back to the settlement. Tell the others. Then organize a party -to come help us. Bearing 150 degrees." - -"Right," said the unidentified voice. - -"I got it too," said another voice in the headset. "Muck men stick -together." - -Good, Asa thought. At least two muckers were still out. They would -tell the others. - -"Cancel all that," said a third voice. "This is Dorr speaking. Nobody -goes out until I give the word." - -Asa didn't fancy waiting. - -"By authority of Miss Hazeltyne," he said rapidly, "Dorr is no longer -manager. I am acting manager." He saw Harriet's eyebrows go up, for she -couldn't hear the other end of what was going on. "Disregard Dorr," -he continued. "If you can help us get back, Miss Hazeltyne will make -changes to benefit all of us." - -Before he could say any more his ear was stricken with the noise of -loud static. Dorr was making sure no more radio messages got through. -Asa quickly told Harriet what had happened. - -The girl smiled with one side of her mouth. - -"Fine," she said, "but how am I supposed to cross the muck?" - -"On my back," Asa turned and entered the helicopter cabin. All the time -he had been talking he had been worrying about the fact that he had -only three rockets left for his gun. Quickly he checked the ammunition -for the machine-gun, found it was the same caliber, and felt that at -last one break had gone his way. He took the plastic ammunition belts -outside. - -"Load your pockets with these," he told the girl, pulling the rockets -from their loops. Then, tying the plastic belts together, he fashioned -a sling she could sit in with her legs at his sides. Finally he handed -her his gun. - -"If you see a Slider," he said, "shoot for the head. Now climb on and -hold tight to my gun harness and we'll try our luck." - - - -When she was astride his back Asa checked his compass and started -jumping. At once he knew that the going would be much harder than he -had imagined. Alone he could leap twenty-five yards, but her weight cut -him down to about five yards. He kept going, realizing that the task -was almost beyond his strength and not daring to tell her that even if -his strength held out they might not even find the settlement in this -drizzle. - -Hopping, sometimes staggering, skirting the wider pools in the swamp. -Asa managed to go about a mile before he had to stop and rest. Harriet -climbed out of the sling and settled down on a patch of weeds, a wet -and slippery mat upon the mud. - -"We're going to make it," she said cheerfully. - -"I hope so," he said. "Not just for ourselves. A lot of changes should -be made. There must be millions of eggs on this planet. You're getting -only a couple hundred a year." - -He was panting between sentences and stopped talking until he could -catch his breath. - -"For one thing," he continued, "rockets are the wrong weapon against -the Sliders. Flame throwers would be better. Of course they're a -lot heavier than guns. But everything about the way you go after -eggs is wrong. It's criminal to send one man out alone. It's utterly -irresponsible to have only one helicopter. You're putting a price on -eggs in terms of human lives. Muck men are human, you know, no matter -what we look like." - -"You are very human," she said softly, "and very brave." - -He returned her smile, adding, "And we'll both be very dead unless we -get going." - -They had traveled considerably less than a mile when he had to stop -again. - -"How would you run things here?" Harriet asked. - -"Start with new premises. There's no need to make monsters out of the -muck men. Double their strength, and perhaps give them web feet, but -why legs like a frog? If I could walk normally I could be pulling you -on a sled. And why shovel hands instead of proper tools? Of course you -would still have to give them a skin for this weather." - -Harriet's clothing was sodden and streaked with mud, and her hair -was hanging down her head in wet, dark tangles that looked like so -much boiled spinach. The bump when the helicopter fell had raised a -blue-black swelling around her left eye. Yet, it occurred to Asa, she -hadn't voiced the slightest complaint. She was listening intently to -his advice. - -"I would send parties of three men out in a helicopter," he continued. -"One would guard the ship while the other two hunted eggs. As soon as -they found an egg they'd hop into the ship and be safe." - - - -They started off again. At the first leap Asa saw a Slider a hundred -yards away. As soon as his feet hit the ground he whispered to Harriet. -She climbed out of the sling and held her gun ready while he drew his -knife to wait. Long minutes passed before he decided they had not been -seen and it was safe to continue. - -Next time they stopped the girl turned to Asa with a frown and asked, -"Just how does Dorr think he can get away with this?" - -"Simple." Asa shrugged. "He'll say the Sliders got us despite all he -could do. No muck man who could tell a different story will live long -enough to get back to Earth." - -The sound of a rocket explosion came from somewhere off to their right. -It was the loveliest sound Asa had ever heard. - -"The rescue party!" he shouted. "Let's go!" - -Knowing that rockets meant Sliders, but knowing also that no Slider was -a match for a team of armed men, Asa leaped forward with renewed vigor. -Once he misjudged his strength and landed in a puddle, splashing both -of them with slimy water, but the girl on his back only laughed. They -heard the sound of another rocket, and Harriet fired three shots of -her own to attract attention. In a few more minutes they were happily -welcoming six muck men. - -"I heard your message," said one of them, "and back at the settlement -Kershaw told us what had happened. Furston tried to stop us and wound -up with a knife in his belly. A couple of the others were afraid to -come, and two were shot from the tower by Dorr, but the rest are with -you." - -"Tom Dorr will be tried for murder," Harriet promised grimly. - -With different men taking turns carrying Harriet for short distances -they began to make progress rapidly. The Slider the men had been firing -at was dead and no more were sighted before they came to the settlement. - -Dorr was waiting for them. He fired from the tower, his machine-gun -burst of rockets cutting through one man in mid-leap. Asa's party -hugged the mud and fired back. Plastic showered from the tower window, -and dust spurted from the concrete around it. - -"Keep me covered," Asa shouted. He took the gun from Harriet and leaped -madly forward until he was under the shelter of the side of the dome. -He waited for one more salvo from his party and jumped to the tower -itself. - -Dorr had vanished, driven out of the tower by the rockets. Asa waved -to the others to come forward and hopped into the main quarters of the -dome. - -He had never been in this part of the settlement. Dorr could be lying -in ambush for him. Asa moved cautiously, but he was confident that -his own adjustment to the gravity of the planet would give him the -advantage in any sudden meeting. - - - -He looked around the corner and down some stairs just in time to see -the discredited manager, holding a sack in one hands, struggle to open -a door. Asa fired and missed. The next moment Dorr was outside. Asa -leaped to the floor below. - -One of the normal humans who lived in the settlement came out of -another room, saw Asa and dodged back out of sight. - -Outside, Asa could see Dorr laboring to run along the paved road that -led to the spaceship a quarter of a mile away. The fugitive turned once -and fired wildly as Asa leaped after him. The mist was turning into -heavy rain, and it was getting harder to see. - -Another rocket exploded somewhere out in front of Asa. The sound was -followed by a scream. One more leap and Asa began firing himself. - -A Slider was gently taking into its mouth three eggs spilled from the -sack lying beside what was left of Tom Dorr. - -One of Asa's shots destroyed the Slider, destroying the eggs, too as -the monster's head exploded. Asa didn't think the eggs mattered much -right now. - -He shuffled slowly back to the settlement, deciding to accept when -Harriet offered him the managership. Some day, if he had his way, -Slider eggs would be as common on Earth as diamonds. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Muck Man, by Fremont Dodge - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MUCK MAN *** - -***** This file should be named 61467.txt or 61467.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/1/4/6/61467/ - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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