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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #62171 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/62171)
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-The Project Gutenberg EBook of Out of This World, by Henry Hasse
-
-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
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-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: Out of This World
-
-Author: Henry Hasse
-
-Release Date: May 18, 2020 [EBook #62171]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OUT OF THIS WORLD ***
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-
-                           OUT OF THIS WORLD
-
-                            By HENRY HASSE
-
-                     There was no escape but death
-                     from that fetid prison planet
-                  and its crazed, sadistic overseer.
-
-           [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
-                      Planet Stories Summer 1942.
-         Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
-         the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
-
-
-_When the Earth supply ship set down upon prison planet Number Seven
-last week, a curious state of affairs was found: the prisoners below
-mining the ore as usual, the overseer dead, and every indication of
-some stark drama having taken place. In the study of the overseer's
-house one man was found dead, apparently by his own hand, and beside
-him on the desk was a hastily scribbled document which is herewith
-published._
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-We hated Marnick.
-
-Because he was an Earthman and because he laughed, we hated him.
-Awake and asleep, at our daily drudge of labor and in the throes of
-sluggish nightmare, with a fierce tenacity from the very depths of our
-souls--those of us who still had souls--we hated him. And there was
-not a man among us who had not sworn to kill him if given the chance,
-who did not dream of being _the one_. For we knew that some day it was
-going to happen.
-
-But when? It seemed impossible. Daily that is what I thought as I
-trudged wearily to my place in B-Tunnel two miles below. We were
-forty men against him, Martians and Earthmen alike. Once there had
-been Venusians here, too, but they died too easily, and now Venusian
-criminals were sent elsewhere. Forty against Marnick, but still he was
-Law here on the tiny barren satellite of Jupiter--the seventh or eighth
-in orbit, I have long since forgotten which. The Tri-Planet Federation
-had appointed him overseer, then had immediately forgotten him and us.
-Out of our way, you criminal scum! Out of the sight and memory of men!
-Thus it was.
-
-Yes, Marnick was law and lord and master of all he surveyed, and
-believe me he surveyed us well. He used to come down the central
-vertical shaft in his little case of special glassite, and hover there
-above us, watching; sometimes unbeknownst by us; and heaven help any
-worker who fell under his gaze, who he thought might be shirking.
-Marnick reserved a very special fate for shirkers, a certain torture,
-so I had heard.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Now all that I had heard came rushing back to flood my brain, as I
-stood tensely alert, listening to the raucous, inhuman laughter that
-surged down the central shaft to reach our ears. Again it came and yet
-again, rising to insane pitch.
-
-I rested my short-handled hand-pick against the little heap of radite
-ore. I wiped my sweated brow with fingers that burned and tingled from
-contact with the radite. I peered covertly around at the many tunnels
-converging into the central place, and saw the other workers, Martians,
-and Earthmen, cowering under that sound of laughter. I wondered if I
-looked to them as they looked to me. I knew I was afraid. That was
-Marnick's laughter, I had heard it before. His special torture was
-going on again. Would I be next? So far I had luckily escaped.
-
-I tried to straighten up into a semblance of courage, but again that
-shrieking laughter came drifting down to cower me. At the same time
-McGowan left his tunnel next to mine, and came strolling over to me.
-I was aghast. For any man to so much as leave his post, meant that he
-would receive the same punishment that some poor devil up there was now
-receiving. But McGowan always was a reckless one. Tall, brutish, dark
-and always scowling, a light of indomitable spirit shone perpetually
-out of his contrasting gray eyes. Those eyes were now hate-filled as he
-cocked his head and listened to that laughter.
-
-"If only he wouldn't laugh," McGowan said in a voice so calm that it
-was doubly terrible. "If only he would go ahead with his torture, and
-watch it if he wished. But to laugh! And to let us know that he laughs!
-That is the crowning touch. Some day, Reed, I swear to you--"
-
-"Yes, I know," I whispered fearfully. "Some day one of us is going to
-kill him. A favorite dream here."
-
-"Not someone, Reed. Me! That is a privilege I reserve. And I shall not
-kill him. At least not in the usual way. I have a very special revenge
-planned for Mr. Marnick."
-
-That was a story I had heard before, too; but now something in
-McGowan's voice caused me to look sharply up at him. And the hate
-that smouldered in those eyes was such as I cared not to look upon. I
-glanced quickly away, and then I heard a smooth familiar hum from the
-central shaft. I knew what it was. I swooped for my hand-pick and began
-to ply it industriously.
-
-"Quick, McGowan, get back to your work!" I whispered. "Marnick's coming
-down again!" I'm sure McGowan knew that as well as I did, but he simply
-stood there, gazing almost expectantly at the place where the shaft
-led up through the cave roof. "You damn fool!" I whispered, but there
-was a tight little smile on McGowan's lips as he stood there.
-
-The hum continued. Even as I continued to hack at the hard-grained
-rock I shot a sidelong glance up at the shaft. Marnick's vehicle
-appeared suddenly there, seemingly suspended in the air. It was simply
-a glassite-enclosed, rounded cage, large enough to contain Marnick and
-the two lumbering, Jovian brutes he kept always with him. A pale violet
-halo hovered around the entire structure. It hung there just below the
-cave roof.
-
-I could glimpse Marnick standing there erect, arms folded, peering
-haughtily down at us. Naturally a tall man, he always seemed taller
-and more forbidding in that posture. His hair was gray, but no grayer
-than his face; and against that grayness his eyes were dull black and
-quite expressionless, as if at one time he had seen some sight that had
-burned them out.
-
-But now his arms unfolded and he leaned tensely forward. His thin
-colorless lips twitched as if in disbelief. A second later his rasping
-voice went bounding about the walls: "You! Earthman, over there! Get
-back to your work!"
-
-He was speaking to McGowan and we all knew it. McGowan stood only
-a few feet from me, but I dared not even glance up at him now. I
-glimpsed him, however, bending down slowly, deliberately, and I saw
-his right hand seize a good-sized lump of radite ore from my pile. He
-straightened just as deliberately, turned to face Marnick and then
-said: "Go to hell!" With those words, McGowan drew back his hand and
-hurled the radite lump at Marnick's cage.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-All of us in that moment paused to watch, and all of us were aghast at
-McGowan's futile bravado. We knew that not even an atom-blast, much
-less a lump of rock, could penetrate that mysterious force-barrier
-Marnick had erected around himself. That's what made the act so
-terrible, for McGowan knew it, too. And he wore a satisfied little
-smile as he did it.
-
-[Illustration: _Straight at the glittering machine McGowan hurled the
-heavy boulder._]
-
-The rock didn't come within a yard of Marnick's cage. It struck against
-the violet force-halo, bounded back and clattered to the floor.
-Marnick's lips split into what might have been a grin; he touched
-a button beside him and the cage dropped the rest of the way to the
-cave floor. Its door opened and the two Jovian brutes stepped quickly
-out. Grinning through thick, blubbery lips, with huge powerful hands
-reaching out, they strode purposefully toward McGowan.
-
-McGowan made no defensive gesture. He stood there still smiling a
-little, as though hugely satisfied with what he had done. The Jovians
-seized him ungently, hurried him back to the cage and into it. The door
-closed and the cage slowly began to rise. The Jovians released his arms
-then, and McGowan acted with customary deliberateness as his right fist
-lashed up and crashed into Marnick's mouth. Marnick staggered back, his
-face a gushing well of red; but with a seeming flick of the wrist his
-paralyzer tube was in his hand, its pale beam spurting out. McGowan
-sank down in a huddled little heap, but even so, his very attitude as
-he lay there unconscious seemed one of satisfaction. The cage rose
-swiftly up and out of sight.
-
-I didn't allow myself to think of the fate that would be McGowan's
-now. As we worked we listened again for the sound of Marnick's insane
-laughter. But it never came. He knew that we hated him, and he loved
-it. It was a sort of little game he played with us. He knew that we
-would be listening for his laughter now, so he chose not to let us hear
-it; to make us wonder. Psychologically it was much more terrible.
-
-That Marnick was a devil.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Four days later McGowan came back to us.
-
-Rumor among us had it that Marnick maintained special quarters up on
-the surface of this satellite, a stone house against the barren rock;
-and that in this house was a certain room into which Marnick thrust
-the men who displeased him. Beyond this even rumor failed to go, but
-we often hazarded guesses. The most prevalent guess was that Marnick
-released hordes of Callistan Gnishii into this room, then stood at a
-glass-paned door and shrieked with insane laughter at the antics of the
-unfortunate victims. The Gnishii are tiny little sharp-tipped devils,
-scarcely three inches in length. Hard-shelled, blazing red in color,
-they surely must be a spawn of hell; for they are quite harmless except
-when in the presence of human flesh, and then they seem to go wild.
-
-We guessed that Marnick might be employing these Gnishii, because
-several of his victims who came back to us had hundreds of fresh scars
-covering their legs from ankles to knees. But these men seemed to
-prefer not to speak of what they had undergone, and the rest of us
-weren't too anxious to know.
-
-So now, four days later, McGowan came back to us. He stumbled into our
-quarters along the murky tunnel just above the vein we were at present
-working. I rose up out of restless sleep and saw McGowan going along
-the tunnel to certain of the men, silently rousing them. Kueelo and
-V'Narik, both Martians, joined him; as well as Smith and Blakely and
-Wilkinson, Earthmen. These five, together with McGowan, had formed a
-special little cliche among themselves, and almost daily went off for
-a secret meeting somewhere during our sleep period. Innumerable times
-I had seen them do that, but I didn't much care, feeling that whatever
-they might be planning would be futile in the end.
-
-Now I rolled over in my bunk, turned my face to the stone wall and
-tried to get back to sleep; I needed much sleep in preparation for the
-morrow, because lately the radite emanations had been fast sapping my
-strength. Then, to my amazement, I felt a light hand on my shoulder and
-I knew it was McGowan. I heard his voice in my ear, scarcely a whisper:
-
-"Reed! You awake? Come on and go with us; we need you!"
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-They needed me! Wondering and doubting, I rose silently up and followed
-the six of them toward the dead end of the tunnel. Blakely carried an
-electric lantern, carefully shaded. A quarter of a mile further we came
-to the tunnel's end. There in the dim light I gazed around me at the
-worked-out rock. The radite vein here, I knew, had been exhausted years
-ago, even before I had come.
-
-As I stood apart, watching, the six of them seized upon a protruding
-rock and pushed with a certain unison that could only have come with
-long practice. The rock rolled smoothly away and revealed a ragged
-little ravine leading up and into the tunnel wall. We entered, and they
-pulled the huge rock back into place. We began to climb. The ravine was
-scarcely shoulder-width. A few minutes later, however, it widened out
-into a large, natural cave!
-
-Blakely placed the light in the center, and we sat in a circle around
-it. We could only see each other's faces dimly. The two Martians' were
-dark and leathery, with thick-lidded expressionless eyes. The three
-Earthmen appeared a little anxious as they glanced at McGowan. I knew
-what they were thinking, wondering; I was wondering myself.
-
-As though reading our thoughts McGowan said: "Yes, it--it was pretty
-terrible." But by the look in his eyes alone, dim as it was, we knew
-that was a masterpiece of understatement. "But that's beside the
-point," he went on. "Whatever I went through up there, it was worth it.
-And it had to be done. For your information, Reed"--he turned his head
-to look at me--"we're going to escape from these tunnels. Then we're
-going to kill Marnick. When that's accomplished, we'll think about
-escaping from this planet."
-
-"But--but how--" I stammered. "You know you can't possibly--"
-
-McGowan gestured impatiently. "I know everything you're going to say.
-We've gone over it thoroughly. Let's see, you've been here only two
-years, isn't it, Reed? And the average life here is five; and I have
-already been here seven. Yes, I've clung on here longer than most men
-do, knowing that some day my chance would come; and now it is near.
-For the moment we will not think of escape. If only I can succeed in
-getting rid of that monster up there, and doing it in my own special
-way, all this will have been worth while. Do you agree?"
-
-I most emphatically agreed, and said so.
-
-McGowan arose and led me to the other side of the cave. There I saw
-a small, dark opening, perhaps four feet in diameter. A tunnel! A
-man-made tunnel leading steeply upward through solid rock!
-
-"For about four years we've worked on this," McGowan said with a tinge
-of pride in his voice. "We've hacked our way inches at a time with
-whatever crude implements we could smuggle here. More than a mile of
-solid rock lies between us and the surface, and we've gone more than
-three-quarters of the way already."
-
-"But why didn't you let me in on this!" I gasped, a sudden surge of
-hope welling up in my throat so that I could hardly speak. I could
-hardly even think! My brain was churning crazily. To get out of these
-tunnels, to even glimpse a star again against the black night sky,
-or breathe fresh air once more--those were hopes that many of us had
-abandoned, as we gradually became living automatons and the radite ore
-took its insidious toll of us.
-
-McGowan looked at me steadily and answered my question: "Because
-we don't trust everyone. Marnick has certain methods up there of
-extracting information, and if ever--Well, anyway, you've been rather a
-baffling entity since you came here. You still are. Right now we don't
-know whether to trust you, but we have to because we need you."
-
-"But you can trust me!" I exclaimed in an excess of anxiety.
-
-"We need you," McGowan went on coldly, "because we understand you're
-something of an expert with directional beam finders. We suspected
-that Marnick might have a network of beams raying downward, to detect
-any such escape attempt as this. We had to make sure, and that's why I
-had to get to the surface, although it meant torture. And I did find
-out, never mind how. He has a battery of directional beams. They won't
-reach through rock very far, but we can't be too careful now that we're
-getting near the surface. So, Reed: do you think you could detect any
-such beams, before we break through into them?"
-
-"Yes, I'm sure I could," I answered, perhaps a little too eagerly.
-
-"Good. Then you're in with us to the finish." He turned to the others.
-"Wilkinson--I think it's your turn tonight? Reed here will go up with
-you. Incidentally, you might veer a few degrees to the right; as
-near as I could judge, we're coming a little too close to Marnick's
-quarters. And you, Reed, keep a sharp lookout for those beams."
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-I entered the dark little tunnel behind Wilkinson, and we began the
-climb. He carried the lantern. It was rather precarious. The tunnel, I
-judged, was on a forty-five-degree angle, but wisely they had leveled
-out little hand and foot holds, so that we could rest occasionally.
-
-Three-quarters of a mile, McGowan had said. It seemed more like five,
-but I didn't mind at all. All my weariness and sleepiness had left
-me now; every time I scraped a knee or elbow against the rock it was
-a pleasure, now that a new hope was born in me. At last we reached
-the top, and I cautioned Wilkinson to remain still while I tried to
-determine if any of the magnetic finder beams were near us. First I
-stripped myself to the waist, then pressed my body against the rock
-wall in various spots. Wilkinson watched the process curiously.
-
-"No," I told him at last. "I can't feel a thing yet. Probably we're
-still too far down."
-
-"How come you can feel those beams when other men can't?" Wilkinson
-asked.
-
-So I told him the story. "Years ago I worked in one of the electrical
-laboratories where these beams were being developed. One day I was
-accidentally locked in the testing room--a small chamber where the
-beams were projected upon metal plates to test their intensity. Luckily
-for me, the beams that day were of a very low intensity, or I wouldn't
-be here now. But the power kept increasing by slow degrees, until I
-could feel the vibration tearing through every fiber of my body. At
-last, and just in time, I managed to attract attention. I was violently
-ill for weeks. But after that, I seemed to be hyper-sensitive to such
-beams."
-
-Wilkinson continued digging at the rock with a small metal implement.
-Bit by bit the rock came out, in powdery dust and tiny chunks. I
-noticed that his hands were scarred and roughened from day after day of
-this work.
-
-"When we first began," he explained, "we made much faster progress. But
-now a man can't work more than two or three hours up here, for the air
-gets pretty stale. We take turns, of course, day after day. It's going
-to be pretty tough on you from now to the finish, because you'll have
-to be up here _every_ day for a couple of hours. We're counting on you."
-
-Yes, they were counting on me. Now for the first time I began to
-realize how much; and I began to doubt myself. I wasn't really sure
-that I could still detect those finder beams. It had been a long time
-since I had experienced it. Besides, the radite ore emanations had
-effected my body in that curious tingling way, just as it had every man
-here. So perhaps that would prevent--?
-
-I only knew that if we ever blundered into one of those directional
-finder beams, which McGowan said were raying down, it would instantly
-set off an alarm in Marnick's quarters. I tried not to imagine what
-would happen after that. In a sort of panic I pressed my sweating
-body against the rocky wall, but all I could feel was the familiar
-radite-tingling crawling through my skin.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-So we worked day after day until they lengthened into weeks. My daily
-labor at the radite vein was almost a pleasure now as I anticipated the
-few hours of work that would come later in our secret tunnel. Daily I
-accompanied a different one of our group. I wanted to take my own turn
-at the digging, but McGowan wouldn't stand for this, preferring that I
-direct all my attention toward the detector beams.
-
-Weeks passed and still I detected no beams.
-
-Kueelo, I found, was sullen and silent. The other Martian, V'Narik,
-talked to me only on a few occasions. "I have a curious presentiment,"
-he told me once, "that I shall never escape from here. You others,
-perhaps, but not me. I am with you on this only because there is
-nothing better to do. But if I can only reach the surface, and glimpse
-the stars once again--especially the redness of Mars--this will have
-been worth while."
-
-The Martians are a strange race. I never could understand them. I tried
-to cheer V'Narik, but he only shook his head solemnly.
-
-From the others I gradually learned much that I had often wondered
-about, especially concerning Marnick. "There are various stories about
-him," McGowan told me once. "The one I'm inclined to believe is that
-Marnick incurred his hatred of men long ago, during the early years of
-the Mars mines. He was one of the earliest pioneers there. He brought
-his wife and child from Earth. He struck a rich iridium vein and worked
-it slowly, alone. Then certain Earth corporations stepped in, as you
-know. They wanted Marnick to sell but he would not. He defied them to
-the end, which was foolish. Well, one day Marnick came back to his mine
-to find his wife dead, rayed mercilessly by a heat-gun, and his young
-son missing, probably lost in the Martian wastes."
-
-"You don't mean," I gasped, "that the Earth corporations would--"
-
-"Would do a thing like that? They would hire it done. That's the way
-they worked in the early days, they always got what they wanted, in
-one way or another. Well, Marnick must have sworn a terrible vengeance
-then. He fought them and plagued them, for years he pirated the
-spaceways until the Tri-Planet Patrol was formed and became too strong
-for him."
-
-I pondered this story. "So now," I mused, "he's come to this. As
-overseer of this penal planet, he must be--"
-
-"He is assuredly insane," McGowan finished for me. "But he is still
-vengeful. He was never certain whether they were Martians or Earthmen
-who killed his loved ones--those men hired by the Earth corporation.
-But ever since, I believe, Marnick has had a brooding hate for both
-races, especially the criminal element. That's why he's devised his
-tortures here. That's why he laughs as he indulges in his wholesale
-revenge. A sort of revenge by proxy, as it were."
-
-I was aghast as I glanced at McGowan, wondering just how close to the
-truth about Marnick he had come. McGowan's eyes were steel hard again
-with hate as he went on:
-
-"And that's why, Reed, we must put an end to Marnick's mad reign here.
-He was done a terrible injustice in the past, yes; but he's had his
-revenge many times over, on the unfortunate men who have passed through
-his hands. That's why I hate him, and that's why I shall have my own
-revenge, in my own way."
-
-McGowan's face was not a thing I liked to look upon, in that moment.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Then came the day when I felt the first detector beam. I had been
-wondering and doubting, but when it came it was unmistakable; a single
-sharp pain through every fiber of my body, like the exposed nerve of
-a tooth when it's unexpectedly touched; and then a strong, steady
-tingling utterly different from that of the radite ore.
-
-I was with Blakely at the time. He stopped his work instantly. "We'd
-better go down and get McGowan," he said.
-
-McGowan came back up with us. "What would you say, Reed? Think we're
-enough into that beam to have set off an alarm?"
-
-"How close would you say we are?" I asked.
-
-"According to my estimates, there must be at least another hundred
-yards of rock."
-
-"Then I'd say we're safe. We must be on the very fringe of this beam.
-But if it weren't for me--"
-
-"Yes, I know. But now your work's only beginning. We're going to have
-to cut parallel to the surface and get beyond range of the furthest
-beam before we can go up again."
-
-McGowan was right. And this took several more weeks. We were very
-impatient now, but he impressed upon us the need for extreme caution.
-At last, however, we reached a point where I was definitely sure
-we were beyond the range. It had been agony for me, that constant
-proximity to the beams that seemed to tear at my every nerve-center;
-but I endured it and said nothing.
-
-"This doesn't mean we're safe yet," McGowan cautioned us, when we
-began the vertical climb again. "To get near Marnick's house will be a
-problem in itself; he's sure to have it barricaded with beams, and we
-have to watch out for those two Jovian brutes of his."
-
-I wonder if it could have been quite by chance that we broke through
-the surface during McGowan's turn? He must have had our distance
-calculated to the very foot. I felt a sudden current of fresh night
-air that nearly overwhelmed me, and then I saw that he had broken
-through.
-
-We simply lay there for a long while, not speaking, breathing in that
-intoxicating air. I had never really known how I missed it until now;
-never had I known that the stars could be so close and so brilliant,
-until I glimpsed a handful of them through those few square inches of
-space.
-
-At last McGowan carefully plugged that opening with a few bits of rock.
-He turned to me and said: "We must wait 'til tomorrow; we will bring
-the others."
-
-It seemed to me that tomorrow would never come. At last, however,
-our next sleep period rolled around, and we met in our secret place.
-McGowan held a special, final little conclave.
-
-"There is something," he said, "that I have withheld from you until
-now. As you all undoubtedly know, we are not entirely abandoned here;
-that is to say, twice a year an official Earth ship sets down to leave
-supplies and take aboard the radite we have mined. And I know what
-most of you have been thinking: that if we can once reach the surface,
-and get Marnick out of the way, we can hide out until that Earth ship
-comes, then overpower the crew and escape."
-
-Murmurs of approval came from the six of us, especially from the group
-of Earthmen.
-
-"I'm sorry," McGowan went on, "but that's not the way the thing's going
-to work out."
-
-Sounds of discontent arose.
-
-"Because I have a better plan. The Earth ship won't arrive here for
-two more months. Its crew outnumbers us, and they are well armed.
-Therefore, we won't wait for it at all; instead we'll take Marnick's
-own ship.
-
-"Yes!" he exclaimed, smiling at the amazement on our faces, "he has
-a cruiser here. That's what I didn't want you to know until the last
-moment, for there is a difficulty. There are seven of us here, and
-the cruiser will accommodate only five at the most; it will take five
-across to Callisto, and there I can make connections that will mean
-safety for us."
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-We looked blankly around at each other, and no man knew what the other
-was thinking. McGowan smiled in a way I did not like, as if he somehow
-knew which five it would be.
-
-"Furthermore," he went on, "there will soon be eight of us. For now
-Elson's got to come along."
-
-"Elson!" exclaimed a chorus of voices, mine among them.
-
-"Yes." McGowan's eyes narrowed infinitesimally. "I haven't steered you
-wrong yet, have I? I've worked out this entire plan, so believe me when
-I say that Elson is very necessary to our endeavor."
-
-I thought of Elson, and wondered why he was necessary. He, to put it
-cruelly, was the least among us; the butt of all our jokes; for even
-hopeless men such as we must sometimes have amusement. Elson had been
-here probably as long as McGowan, but he had suffered much more. Elson
-always seemed to suffer Marnick's wrath when the latter couldn't decide
-upon a more suitable victim. Elson was twisted and misshapen now,
-the result of a fall through the shaft, so I had heard; and he was
-blank-eyed and feeble-witted.
-
-Now McGowan sent for him, and he came shuffling into our cave with a
-bewildered look. Tersely McGowan explained the situation. Elson smiled
-crookedly; he had always had a special fondness for McGowan, and obeyed
-him implicitly in everything.
-
-We began the climb. An hour later we stood panting but unbowed upon the
-surface, staring at stars most of us had not seen in years! We were
-eight men, determined, but armed only with the short metal hook we had
-used for digging out the rock. McGowan carried it. He gestured with it
-to the left, as he whispered:
-
-"This way. We must be about a mile from the ravine where Marnick's
-located. Stay in sight of each other now, and watch your step--no
-noise!"
-
-The terrain was rocky and rough; the horizon of the tiny planet seemed
-very near, and curved sharply down. The night was pitch black and
-boundless, with only the pinpoints of stars to guide us.
-
-Hours later, it seemed, we glimpsed another pinpoint of light that was
-not a star. It was too low against the blackness for that; we knew it
-was a light from Marnick's abode, at the entrance of a rocky little
-canyon perhaps a quarter of a mile away. We proceeded with infinite
-caution.
-
-Suddenly, I felt that awful agony through every nerve again, and I knew
-we had stumbled into more of Marnick's detector beams. This time we may
-have blundered far enough to set off an alarm, but I didn't especially
-care. I fell to the ground as the warning along my nerves persisted.
-For a minute I was almost violently ill. Luckily, the others stopped
-instantly. McGowan dragged me back and waited until I had recovered.
-
-"Our human beam detector. Lucky we've got you with us, Reed!" But there
-was no humor in his voice, in fact I caught a note of pity. I think he
-already realized, just as I was slowly beginning to--
-
-But I shall not think of that. McGowan spoke a few words to Elson that
-we could not hear. Elson nodded obediently. We moved away at a sharp
-angle to the right, but now I noticed Elson did not accompany us.
-
-I was still dizzy and weak, but I clenched my teeth and determined
-to see this thing through to the finish. I guided us away from those
-beams. As near as I could determine, they rayed out in a sort of
-semi-circular barrier, invisible, of course. Carefully we skirted the
-edge of it, toward the far wall of the canyon that sheltered Marnick's
-house. How I stayed on my feet I cannot understand, for every step was
-an agony as the faintest out-reaches of those rays stabbed fiercely
-through me. The others, of course, felt nothing.
-
-"We've got to get past it," McGowan whispered tensely to me, "or we're
-finished!"
-
-I nodded curtly. I didn't know what McGowan had in mind, but I realized
-we had to get closer to Marnick's house. We came nearer and nearer
-to the canyon and then the power of the beams began to diminish.
-We pressed flat against the rocky walls and moved swiftly forward.
-Suddenly we were beyond the barrier. The squat stone dwelling was a
-bare fifty yards from us now, and we could see a little square of light
-from the side window.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-We paused there in a huddled little group, wondering what McGowan's
-next move would be. Apparently he was waiting for something. And a
-second later we knew what it was, as a ringing alarm shattered the
-silence! I knew it must have been Elson out there who had set it off,
-according to McGowan's instructions. I glanced sharply at McGowan and
-he seemed satisfied, as he cautioned us to silence.
-
-Another square of light appeared and we glimpsed the tall form of
-Marnick in the open doorway. But he knew better than to remain there
-long against the light. He stepped quickly outside, but not before we
-glimpsed an atom-pistol in his hand.
-
-"This is it!" McGowan whispered. "I only wanted to get him outside." We
-moved silently across the space toward the side of the house that hid
-us from Marnick. There we could peer into the lighted window. I saw a
-large room quite like a library, and I was amazed at how richly it was
-furnished, with books and tables and tapestries and a fireplace at one
-end. It seemed utterly incongruous here on this dark, mad planet.
-
-But I didn't have much time to think about it. McGowan was fumbling
-at the window, and at last it swung silently open. "I've got to get
-hold of a weapon!" he whispered. "The rest of you wait here. I don't
-think Marnick will come around to this side, but keep a sharp lookout
-anyway." With that he climbed through the window and moved silently
-across the room.
-
-Anxiously, I watched him, expecting Marnick to return at any moment.
-McGowan searched the room thoroughly, opening drawers and tumbling
-books in disarray, but no weapon was forthcoming. He did find a small
-flashlight, however, and with it in hand he moved into another dark
-room leading off this one, there to continue his search. He was out of
-my sight now, but I glimpsed his light flashing around cautiously. The
-seconds seemed like eternities.
-
-I was so interested in watching the inside of the house that I had
-almost forgotten my companions behind me. Suddenly, I heard a muffled
-commotion near by, and whirled quickly around.
-
-The two Jovians had crept silently upon us out of the darkness; perhaps
-Marnick, as a cautionary measure, had sent them out to scout around
-the house. At any rate, there was a silent struggle of bodies behind
-me, and all I could distinguish clearly was one of the Jovians who had
-seized V'Narik's neck in his two powerful hands. Blakely was standing
-there with the heavy metal hook upraised, and it seemed to me that he
-hesitated about ten seconds too long before he brought it crashing
-down on the Jovian's skull. But by that time V'Narik was dead, and it
-suddenly dawned on me that Blakely's hesitation had been deliberate;
-and that left only seven of us instead of eight.
-
-The other Jovian was more than holding his own, and Blakely seemed
-content to watch. I seized the heavy bar from him and leaped into the
-mêlée, waiting for an opening. I brought the bar wildly down, and by
-pure luck it landed on the Jovian skull, crushing it like an eggshell.
-The others staggered weakly up.
-
-I leaped back to the window, for I thought surely Marnick must have
-returned; what I didn't realize then was that scarcely a minute had yet
-elapsed since the alarm had sounded. But McGowan had found his weapon.
-He held an atom-pistol in his hand as he crossed the lighted room to
-the window, and climbed back out to us.
-
-It was not until that moment that I had my curious foreboding. McGowan,
-if he had wanted to kill Marnick, could easily have crossed that room
-to the front door that was still open, and rayed Marnick down from
-behind. He wanted to kill Marnick all right, but in his own way. He had
-his own special revenge mapped out. I suddenly remembered that, and I
-knew that McGowan was going to carry it through.
-
-"So far so good," he murmured as he rejoined us. He weighed the
-atom-pistol familiarly in his hand. "Now, if only Elson out there comes
-through all right--Come on, let's see where Marnick is. Not too far
-from the house, I hope. And remember, all of you, this is strictly my
-party; so no interference."
-
-Those last words struck an ominous note in me, but I said nothing,
-nor did the others as we followed McGowan along to the far corner of
-the house. There we could see the long, dim rectangle of light from
-the room streaming out onto the barren rock. Marnick was not in sight
-but we knew he must be somewhere very near, waiting in the darkness,
-watching for whoever had set off that alarm.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Seemingly, for a long while we waited, but it couldn't have been more
-than a minute; we crowded close to each other, staring, trying to
-accustom our eyes to the night. Then McGowan pointed, and we saw a
-darker shape very near the house, and we knew it was Marnick, waiting.
-
-Again that curious feeling of impending drama overwhelmed me, and I
-wanted to act to prevent something, but I didn't know how--or what--
-
-McGowan's gesture shifted imperiously, and we saw another vague blur
-of a figure out there and we knew it was Elson. McGowan, in that
-moment, reminded me of a stage director, proud of his work and trying
-to impress its subtleties upon us. My gaze went back to the slouching
-figure of Elson, and I realized he was moving toward us.
-
-Marnick saw him at the same time. Marnick straightened up, leaned
-tautly forward and seemed to be peering. Then Marnick's hated voice
-came stabbing through the darkness to us, but not directed at us:
-
-"I see you out there. Whoever you are, it was foolish of you to try
-to come near my house, for you have set off a detector beam. Stop
-immediately or I will blast you. I have an atom-pistol trained on you
-at this moment."
-
-For a single instant everything seemed to stand still. Elson stood
-still. McGowan, close beside me, caught his breath sharply in his
-throat. Then Elson moved forward again, and McGowan breathed a slow
-sigh of relief.
-
-"Good," he murmured in my ear, though I am sure he was not conscious
-that I was there. "I knew Elson would obey me. Elson obeys me in
-everything." And then: "Poor Elson."
-
-In that sudden moment I realized what was going to happen; I knew
-McGowan had planned this step by step from start to finish, and I knew
-_Elson was going to die_! I started forward with a cry in my throat,
-but McGowan's hand clamped roughly over my mouth and his fingers dug
-cruelly into my arm.
-
-I could see, though, and I saw Elson come forward in his slouching,
-ungainly gait, arms dangling at his side and an idiotic grin on his
-face. I heard Marnick's warning once more, and I saw the almost
-invisible beam of his atom-pistol slashing the darkness. I saw Elson
-stumble and plough forward on his face and lay still. And not until
-then did McGowan release me.
-
-But then it was too late. Elson was dead, and I heard a sound that
-was almost a chuckle deep in McGowan's throat. Then his voice slashed
-through the darkness and I realized that here was the acme of triumph
-in all his years of planning:
-
-"Drop your pistol, Marnick."
-
-Marnick whirled toward his voice and took a tense step toward us;
-but McGowan's pistol rayed across the rock and slashed dangerously
-near Marnick's feet. Marnick's pistol dropped from his fingers with a
-clanging sound.
-
-"That's better. You're a madman, Marnick, but not too mad to fail to
-realize when the game is over. I'm going to kill you, I want you to
-know that; and I want you to know who is speaking. This is McGowan.
-But before I kill you I want you to realize what you've done tonight.
-You've killed a man. Know who it is? Go take a look."
-
-Marnick stood there hesitant. I could almost picture the indecision on
-his face. But McGowan's pistol rayed again, very close to his feet, and
-Marnick stumbled out to where Elson lay.
-
-"Good," McGowan went on. "Now look at 'im. It's Elson, you see?"
-McGowan's voice seemed different now than I had ever heard it. It
-wasn't his voice at all. But it went on inexorably, and I felt chills
-chasing up and down my spine.
-
-"Do you know who Elson really is, Marnick? No, of course, you don't. I
-saw to that. He came to this prison planet about the same time I did.
-He was tall and straight and youthful then, but somehow you couldn't
-stand that; you made him your special victim, you tortured and maimed
-him and now you've killed him. Look very closely, Marnick. You still
-do not know? Then I suggest you turn him over--that's right. And I
-suggest you look very closely on the outer part of his left thigh. A
-curious blemish is there, an unmistakable birthmark. You realize now?
-Yes, I see that you do.
-
-"Your son, Marnick, never died on Mars. I was one of that party of men
-who--Well, I don't care to think about that now. The others left him
-there beside his mother, thinking him dead, but I knew better. I went
-back and took him, and kept him with me until he was sixteen, when
-we parted. Perhaps he inherited some of his criminal ways from his
-association with me. Anyway, when I was sentenced here, and he came a
-little later, I knew what I must do!"
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-It was a nightmare. I couldn't believe it. I glimpsed Marnick out there
-huddling over the body of the man he had just slain ... his own son ...
-and even at that distance and through that dimness there was something
-that made me feel sorry for him.
-
-He arose very slowly, turned to face McGowan and tried to speak
-something but could not. He took a few faltering steps in our direction
-and then McGowan rayed him down. There was still a satisfied little
-smile on McGowan's lips as he did it. I hated McGowan in that moment as
-much as I had ever hated Marnick, but I could do nothing, for my mind
-was a little numbed.
-
-"I waited seven years for that," McGowan said, and he breathed very
-deeply. Then he walked through us and strode back to where the two
-Jovians lay, and V'Narik.
-
-"V'Narik's dead," he said as if he'd just discovered it. "He always had
-a hunch he wouldn't get away from here, didn't he? But he got to see
-the stars and Mars again, just as he wanted to. And Elson's dead, of
-course. That still leaves six of us." He looked at me significantly.
-
-I knew what he meant. I had known all the time that I would never set
-foot on Earth again, and McGowan had known it, too. "Make it five," I
-said, "for I'm staying."
-
-The others didn't quite understand, and they didn't much care. They
-went rushing off to find Marnick's cruiser that would bear them safely
-to Callisto. McGowan stepped forward with that enigmatic smile on his
-lips, and seized my hand.
-
-"Thanks," he said simply. "Thanks for all you've done for us, and don't
-hate me too much."
-
-"Just go away," I said, "and leave me alone. I want to think. You might
-leave me that atom-pistol if you want to."
-
-It is a good thing they left as quickly as they did, or I would have
-killed McGowan. I watched their cruiser blast up and away into the
-dark void. I said I wanted to think, and I have thought. And whenever
-I remember that terrible revenge, I must decide that McGowan was the
-madman, not Marnick. Perhaps they were both mad. Anyway, it does not
-matter any more.
-
-I only know that I shall soon die; for my constant proximity to those
-detector beams in the past several weeks, in conjunction with these
-radite emanations, has produced a curious illness in me from which I
-know I should never recover. The symptoms become stronger hourly, and
-the agony is almost unbearable. Perhaps soon, if it continues, I shall--
-
-But I must finish this document first. I have been writing it, here
-in Marnick's study, for the past twenty-four hours. I hope it will be
-found when the next Earth supply ship comes. I think it even likely
-that those other unfortunate men, in the tunnels below, will continue
-to work as usual until then, unknowing of what has taken place up here;
-for they have become automatons.
-
-I can only hope that this document will serve, in the future, to make
-the fate of such men a little less severe.
-
-Well, now I think it is finished.
-
-
-
-
-
-End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Out of This World, by Henry Hasse
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-The Project Gutenberg EBook of Out of This World, by Henry Hasse
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-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
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-to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
-
-
-
-Title: Out of This World
-
-Author: Henry Hasse
-
-Release Date: May 18, 2020 [EBook #62171]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OUT OF THIS WORLD ***
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-
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-  <img src="images/cover.jpg" width="349" height="500" alt=""/>
-</div>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<div class="titlepage">
-
-<h1>OUT OF THIS WORLD</h1>
-
-<h2>By HENRY HASSE</h2>
-
-<p>There was no escape but death<br />
-from that fetid prison planet<br />
-and its crazed, sadistic overseer.</p>
-
-<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br />
-Planet Stories Summer 1942.<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><i>When the Earth supply ship set down upon prison planet Number Seven
-last week, a curious state of affairs was found: the prisoners below
-mining the ore as usual, the overseer dead, and every indication of
-some stark drama having taken place. In the study of the overseer's
-house one man was found dead, apparently by his own hand, and beside
-him on the desk was a hastily scribbled document which is herewith
-published.</i></p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>We hated Marnick.</p>
-
-<p>Because he was an Earthman and because he laughed, we hated him.
-Awake and asleep, at our daily drudge of labor and in the throes of
-sluggish nightmare, with a fierce tenacity from the very depths of our
-souls&mdash;those of us who still had souls&mdash;we hated him. And there was
-not a man among us who had not sworn to kill him if given the chance,
-who did not dream of being <i>the one</i>. For we knew that some day it was
-going to happen.</p>
-
-<p>But when? It seemed impossible. Daily that is what I thought as I
-trudged wearily to my place in B-Tunnel two miles below. We were
-forty men against him, Martians and Earthmen alike. Once there had
-been Venusians here, too, but they died too easily, and now Venusian
-criminals were sent elsewhere. Forty against Marnick, but still he was
-Law here on the tiny barren satellite of Jupiter&mdash;the seventh or eighth
-in orbit, I have long since forgotten which. The Tri-Planet Federation
-had appointed him overseer, then had immediately forgotten him and us.
-Out of our way, you criminal scum! Out of the sight and memory of men!
-Thus it was.</p>
-
-<p>Yes, Marnick was law and lord and master of all he surveyed, and
-believe me he surveyed us well. He used to come down the central
-vertical shaft in his little case of special glassite, and hover there
-above us, watching; sometimes unbeknownst by us; and heaven help any
-worker who fell under his gaze, who he thought might be shirking.
-Marnick reserved a very special fate for shirkers, a certain torture,
-so I had heard.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>Now all that I had heard came rushing back to flood my brain, as I
-stood tensely alert, listening to the raucous, inhuman laughter that
-surged down the central shaft to reach our ears. Again it came and yet
-again, rising to insane pitch.</p>
-
-<p>I rested my short-handled hand-pick against the little heap of radite
-ore. I wiped my sweated brow with fingers that burned and tingled from
-contact with the radite. I peered covertly around at the many tunnels
-converging into the central place, and saw the other workers, Martians,
-and Earthmen, cowering under that sound of laughter. I wondered if I
-looked to them as they looked to me. I knew I was afraid. That was
-Marnick's laughter, I had heard it before. His special torture was
-going on again. Would I be next? So far I had luckily escaped.</p>
-
-<p>I tried to straighten up into a semblance of courage, but again that
-shrieking laughter came drifting down to cower me. At the same time
-McGowan left his tunnel next to mine, and came strolling over to me.
-I was aghast. For any man to so much as leave his post, meant that he
-would receive the same punishment that some poor devil up there was now
-receiving. But McGowan always was a reckless one. Tall, brutish, dark
-and always scowling, a light of indomitable spirit shone perpetually
-out of his contrasting gray eyes. Those eyes were now hate-filled as he
-cocked his head and listened to that laughter.</p>
-
-<p>"If only he wouldn't laugh," McGowan said in a voice so calm that it
-was doubly terrible. "If only he would go ahead with his torture, and
-watch it if he wished. But to laugh! And to let us know that he laughs!
-That is the crowning touch. Some day, Reed, I swear to you&mdash;"</p>
-
-<p>"Yes, I know," I whispered fearfully. "Some day one of us is going to
-kill him. A favorite dream here."</p>
-
-<p>"Not someone, Reed. Me! That is a privilege I reserve. And I shall not
-kill him. At least not in the usual way. I have a very special revenge
-planned for Mr. Marnick."</p>
-
-<p>That was a story I had heard before, too; but now something in
-McGowan's voice caused me to look sharply up at him. And the hate
-that smouldered in those eyes was such as I cared not to look upon. I
-glanced quickly away, and then I heard a smooth familiar hum from the
-central shaft. I knew what it was. I swooped for my hand-pick and began
-to ply it industriously.</p>
-
-<p>"Quick, McGowan, get back to your work!" I whispered. "Marnick's coming
-down again!" I'm sure McGowan knew that as well as I did, but he simply
-stood there, gazing almost expectantly at the place where the shaft
-led up through the cave roof. "You damn fool!" I whispered, but there
-was a tight little smile on McGowan's lips as he stood there.</p>
-
-<p>The hum continued. Even as I continued to hack at the hard-grained
-rock I shot a sidelong glance up at the shaft. Marnick's vehicle
-appeared suddenly there, seemingly suspended in the air. It was simply
-a glassite-enclosed, rounded cage, large enough to contain Marnick and
-the two lumbering, Jovian brutes he kept always with him. A pale violet
-halo hovered around the entire structure. It hung there just below the
-cave roof.</p>
-
-<p>I could glimpse Marnick standing there erect, arms folded, peering
-haughtily down at us. Naturally a tall man, he always seemed taller
-and more forbidding in that posture. His hair was gray, but no grayer
-than his face; and against that grayness his eyes were dull black and
-quite expressionless, as if at one time he had seen some sight that had
-burned them out.</p>
-
-<p>But now his arms unfolded and he leaned tensely forward. His thin
-colorless lips twitched as if in disbelief. A second later his rasping
-voice went bounding about the walls: "You! Earthman, over there! Get
-back to your work!"</p>
-
-<p>He was speaking to McGowan and we all knew it. McGowan stood only
-a few feet from me, but I dared not even glance up at him now. I
-glimpsed him, however, bending down slowly, deliberately, and I saw
-his right hand seize a good-sized lump of radite ore from my pile. He
-straightened just as deliberately, turned to face Marnick and then
-said: "Go to hell!" With those words, McGowan drew back his hand and
-hurled the radite lump at Marnick's cage.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>All of us in that moment paused to watch, and all of us were aghast at
-McGowan's futile bravado. We knew that not even an atom-blast, much
-less a lump of rock, could penetrate that mysterious force-barrier
-Marnick had erected around himself. That's what made the act so
-terrible, for McGowan knew it, too. And he wore a satisfied little
-smile as he did it.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-  <img src="images/illus.jpg" width="635" height="500" alt=""/>
-  <div class="caption">
-    <p><i>Straight at the glittering machine McGowan hurled the
-heavy boulder.</i></p>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<p>The rock didn't come within a yard of Marnick's cage. It struck against
-the violet force-halo, bounded back and clattered to the floor.
-Marnick's lips split into what might have been a grin; he touched
-a button beside him and the cage dropped the rest of the way to the
-cave floor. Its door opened and the two Jovian brutes stepped quickly
-out. Grinning through thick, blubbery lips, with huge powerful hands
-reaching out, they strode purposefully toward McGowan.</p>
-
-<p>McGowan made no defensive gesture. He stood there still smiling a
-little, as though hugely satisfied with what he had done. The Jovians
-seized him ungently, hurried him back to the cage and into it. The door
-closed and the cage slowly began to rise. The Jovians released his arms
-then, and McGowan acted with customary deliberateness as his right fist
-lashed up and crashed into Marnick's mouth. Marnick staggered back, his
-face a gushing well of red; but with a seeming flick of the wrist his
-paralyzer tube was in his hand, its pale beam spurting out. McGowan
-sank down in a huddled little heap, but even so, his very attitude as
-he lay there unconscious seemed one of satisfaction. The cage rose
-swiftly up and out of sight.</p>
-
-<p>I didn't allow myself to think of the fate that would be McGowan's
-now. As we worked we listened again for the sound of Marnick's insane
-laughter. But it never came. He knew that we hated him, and he loved
-it. It was a sort of little game he played with us. He knew that we
-would be listening for his laughter now, so he chose not to let us hear
-it; to make us wonder. Psychologically it was much more terrible.</p>
-
-<p>That Marnick was a devil.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>Four days later McGowan came back to us.</p>
-
-<p>Rumor among us had it that Marnick maintained special quarters up on
-the surface of this satellite, a stone house against the barren rock;
-and that in this house was a certain room into which Marnick thrust
-the men who displeased him. Beyond this even rumor failed to go, but
-we often hazarded guesses. The most prevalent guess was that Marnick
-released hordes of Callistan Gnishii into this room, then stood at a
-glass-paned door and shrieked with insane laughter at the antics of the
-unfortunate victims. The Gnishii are tiny little sharp-tipped devils,
-scarcely three inches in length. Hard-shelled, blazing red in color,
-they surely must be a spawn of hell; for they are quite harmless except
-when in the presence of human flesh, and then they seem to go wild.</p>
-
-<p>We guessed that Marnick might be employing these Gnishii, because
-several of his victims who came back to us had hundreds of fresh scars
-covering their legs from ankles to knees. But these men seemed to
-prefer not to speak of what they had undergone, and the rest of us
-weren't too anxious to know.</p>
-
-<p>So now, four days later, McGowan came back to us. He stumbled into our
-quarters along the murky tunnel just above the vein we were at present
-working. I rose up out of restless sleep and saw McGowan going along
-the tunnel to certain of the men, silently rousing them. Kueelo and
-V'Narik, both Martians, joined him; as well as Smith and Blakely and
-Wilkinson, Earthmen. These five, together with McGowan, had formed a
-special little cliche among themselves, and almost daily went off for
-a secret meeting somewhere during our sleep period. Innumerable times
-I had seen them do that, but I didn't much care, feeling that whatever
-they might be planning would be futile in the end.</p>
-
-<p>Now I rolled over in my bunk, turned my face to the stone wall and
-tried to get back to sleep; I needed much sleep in preparation for the
-morrow, because lately the radite emanations had been fast sapping my
-strength. Then, to my amazement, I felt a light hand on my shoulder and
-I knew it was McGowan. I heard his voice in my ear, scarcely a whisper:</p>
-
-<p>"Reed! You awake? Come on and go with us; we need you!"</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>They needed me! Wondering and doubting, I rose silently up and followed
-the six of them toward the dead end of the tunnel. Blakely carried an
-electric lantern, carefully shaded. A quarter of a mile further we came
-to the tunnel's end. There in the dim light I gazed around me at the
-worked-out rock. The radite vein here, I knew, had been exhausted years
-ago, even before I had come.</p>
-
-<p>As I stood apart, watching, the six of them seized upon a protruding
-rock and pushed with a certain unison that could only have come with
-long practice. The rock rolled smoothly away and revealed a ragged
-little ravine leading up and into the tunnel wall. We entered, and they
-pulled the huge rock back into place. We began to climb. The ravine was
-scarcely shoulder-width. A few minutes later, however, it widened out
-into a large, natural cave!</p>
-
-<p>Blakely placed the light in the center, and we sat in a circle around
-it. We could only see each other's faces dimly. The two Martians' were
-dark and leathery, with thick-lidded expressionless eyes. The three
-Earthmen appeared a little anxious as they glanced at McGowan. I knew
-what they were thinking, wondering; I was wondering myself.</p>
-
-<p>As though reading our thoughts McGowan said: "Yes, it&mdash;it was pretty
-terrible." But by the look in his eyes alone, dim as it was, we knew
-that was a masterpiece of understatement. "But that's beside the
-point," he went on. "Whatever I went through up there, it was worth it.
-And it had to be done. For your information, Reed"&mdash;he turned his head
-to look at me&mdash;"we're going to escape from these tunnels. Then we're
-going to kill Marnick. When that's accomplished, we'll think about
-escaping from this planet."</p>
-
-<p>"But&mdash;but how&mdash;" I stammered. "You know you can't possibly&mdash;"</p>
-
-<p>McGowan gestured impatiently. "I know everything you're going to say.
-We've gone over it thoroughly. Let's see, you've been here only two
-years, isn't it, Reed? And the average life here is five; and I have
-already been here seven. Yes, I've clung on here longer than most men
-do, knowing that some day my chance would come; and now it is near.
-For the moment we will not think of escape. If only I can succeed in
-getting rid of that monster up there, and doing it in my own special
-way, all this will have been worth while. Do you agree?"</p>
-
-<p>I most emphatically agreed, and said so.</p>
-
-<p>McGowan arose and led me to the other side of the cave. There I saw
-a small, dark opening, perhaps four feet in diameter. A tunnel! A
-man-made tunnel leading steeply upward through solid rock!</p>
-
-<p>"For about four years we've worked on this," McGowan said with a tinge
-of pride in his voice. "We've hacked our way inches at a time with
-whatever crude implements we could smuggle here. More than a mile of
-solid rock lies between us and the surface, and we've gone more than
-three-quarters of the way already."</p>
-
-<p>"But why didn't you let me in on this!" I gasped, a sudden surge of
-hope welling up in my throat so that I could hardly speak. I could
-hardly even think! My brain was churning crazily. To get out of these
-tunnels, to even glimpse a star again against the black night sky,
-or breathe fresh air once more&mdash;those were hopes that many of us had
-abandoned, as we gradually became living automatons and the radite ore
-took its insidious toll of us.</p>
-
-<p>McGowan looked at me steadily and answered my question: "Because
-we don't trust everyone. Marnick has certain methods up there of
-extracting information, and if ever&mdash;Well, anyway, you've been rather a
-baffling entity since you came here. You still are. Right now we don't
-know whether to trust you, but we have to because we need you."</p>
-
-<p>"But you can trust me!" I exclaimed in an excess of anxiety.</p>
-
-<p>"We need you," McGowan went on coldly, "because we understand you're
-something of an expert with directional beam finders. We suspected
-that Marnick might have a network of beams raying downward, to detect
-any such escape attempt as this. We had to make sure, and that's why I
-had to get to the surface, although it meant torture. And I did find
-out, never mind how. He has a battery of directional beams. They won't
-reach through rock very far, but we can't be too careful now that we're
-getting near the surface. So, Reed: do you think you could detect any
-such beams, before we break through into them?"</p>
-
-<p>"Yes, I'm sure I could," I answered, perhaps a little too eagerly.</p>
-
-<p>"Good. Then you're in with us to the finish." He turned to the others.
-"Wilkinson&mdash;I think it's your turn tonight? Reed here will go up with
-you. Incidentally, you might veer a few degrees to the right; as
-near as I could judge, we're coming a little too close to Marnick's
-quarters. And you, Reed, keep a sharp lookout for those beams."</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>I entered the dark little tunnel behind Wilkinson, and we began the
-climb. He carried the lantern. It was rather precarious. The tunnel, I
-judged, was on a forty-five-degree angle, but wisely they had leveled
-out little hand and foot holds, so that we could rest occasionally.</p>
-
-<p>Three-quarters of a mile, McGowan had said. It seemed more like five,
-but I didn't mind at all. All my weariness and sleepiness had left
-me now; every time I scraped a knee or elbow against the rock it was
-a pleasure, now that a new hope was born in me. At last we reached
-the top, and I cautioned Wilkinson to remain still while I tried to
-determine if any of the magnetic finder beams were near us. First I
-stripped myself to the waist, then pressed my body against the rock
-wall in various spots. Wilkinson watched the process curiously.</p>
-
-<p>"No," I told him at last. "I can't feel a thing yet. Probably we're
-still too far down."</p>
-
-<p>"How come you can feel those beams when other men can't?" Wilkinson
-asked.</p>
-
-<p>So I told him the story. "Years ago I worked in one of the electrical
-laboratories where these beams were being developed. One day I was
-accidentally locked in the testing room&mdash;a small chamber where the
-beams were projected upon metal plates to test their intensity. Luckily
-for me, the beams that day were of a very low intensity, or I wouldn't
-be here now. But the power kept increasing by slow degrees, until I
-could feel the vibration tearing through every fiber of my body. At
-last, and just in time, I managed to attract attention. I was violently
-ill for weeks. But after that, I seemed to be hyper-sensitive to such
-beams."</p>
-
-<p>Wilkinson continued digging at the rock with a small metal implement.
-Bit by bit the rock came out, in powdery dust and tiny chunks. I
-noticed that his hands were scarred and roughened from day after day of
-this work.</p>
-
-<p>"When we first began," he explained, "we made much faster progress. But
-now a man can't work more than two or three hours up here, for the air
-gets pretty stale. We take turns, of course, day after day. It's going
-to be pretty tough on you from now to the finish, because you'll have
-to be up here <i>every</i> day for a couple of hours. We're counting on you."</p>
-
-<p>Yes, they were counting on me. Now for the first time I began to
-realize how much; and I began to doubt myself. I wasn't really sure
-that I could still detect those finder beams. It had been a long time
-since I had experienced it. Besides, the radite ore emanations had
-effected my body in that curious tingling way, just as it had every man
-here. So perhaps that would prevent&mdash;?</p>
-
-<p>I only knew that if we ever blundered into one of those directional
-finder beams, which McGowan said were raying down, it would instantly
-set off an alarm in Marnick's quarters. I tried not to imagine what
-would happen after that. In a sort of panic I pressed my sweating
-body against the rocky wall, but all I could feel was the familiar
-radite-tingling crawling through my skin.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>So we worked day after day until they lengthened into weeks. My daily
-labor at the radite vein was almost a pleasure now as I anticipated the
-few hours of work that would come later in our secret tunnel. Daily I
-accompanied a different one of our group. I wanted to take my own turn
-at the digging, but McGowan wouldn't stand for this, preferring that I
-direct all my attention toward the detector beams.</p>
-
-<p>Weeks passed and still I detected no beams.</p>
-
-<p>Kueelo, I found, was sullen and silent. The other Martian, V'Narik,
-talked to me only on a few occasions. "I have a curious presentiment,"
-he told me once, "that I shall never escape from here. You others,
-perhaps, but not me. I am with you on this only because there is
-nothing better to do. But if I can only reach the surface, and glimpse
-the stars once again&mdash;especially the redness of Mars&mdash;this will have
-been worth while."</p>
-
-<p>The Martians are a strange race. I never could understand them. I tried
-to cheer V'Narik, but he only shook his head solemnly.</p>
-
-<p>From the others I gradually learned much that I had often wondered
-about, especially concerning Marnick. "There are various stories about
-him," McGowan told me once. "The one I'm inclined to believe is that
-Marnick incurred his hatred of men long ago, during the early years of
-the Mars mines. He was one of the earliest pioneers there. He brought
-his wife and child from Earth. He struck a rich iridium vein and worked
-it slowly, alone. Then certain Earth corporations stepped in, as you
-know. They wanted Marnick to sell but he would not. He defied them to
-the end, which was foolish. Well, one day Marnick came back to his mine
-to find his wife dead, rayed mercilessly by a heat-gun, and his young
-son missing, probably lost in the Martian wastes."</p>
-
-<p>"You don't mean," I gasped, "that the Earth corporations would&mdash;"</p>
-
-<p>"Would do a thing like that? They would hire it done. That's the way
-they worked in the early days, they always got what they wanted, in
-one way or another. Well, Marnick must have sworn a terrible vengeance
-then. He fought them and plagued them, for years he pirated the
-spaceways until the Tri-Planet Patrol was formed and became too strong
-for him."</p>
-
-<p>I pondered this story. "So now," I mused, "he's come to this. As
-overseer of this penal planet, he must be&mdash;"</p>
-
-<p>"He is assuredly insane," McGowan finished for me. "But he is still
-vengeful. He was never certain whether they were Martians or Earthmen
-who killed his loved ones&mdash;those men hired by the Earth corporation.
-But ever since, I believe, Marnick has had a brooding hate for both
-races, especially the criminal element. That's why he's devised his
-tortures here. That's why he laughs as he indulges in his wholesale
-revenge. A sort of revenge by proxy, as it were."</p>
-
-<p>I was aghast as I glanced at McGowan, wondering just how close to the
-truth about Marnick he had come. McGowan's eyes were steel hard again
-with hate as he went on:</p>
-
-<p>"And that's why, Reed, we must put an end to Marnick's mad reign here.
-He was done a terrible injustice in the past, yes; but he's had his
-revenge many times over, on the unfortunate men who have passed through
-his hands. That's why I hate him, and that's why I shall have my own
-revenge, in my own way."</p>
-
-<p>McGowan's face was not a thing I liked to look upon, in that moment.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>Then came the day when I felt the first detector beam. I had been
-wondering and doubting, but when it came it was unmistakable; a single
-sharp pain through every fiber of my body, like the exposed nerve of
-a tooth when it's unexpectedly touched; and then a strong, steady
-tingling utterly different from that of the radite ore.</p>
-
-<p>I was with Blakely at the time. He stopped his work instantly. "We'd
-better go down and get McGowan," he said.</p>
-
-<p>McGowan came back up with us. "What would you say, Reed? Think we're
-enough into that beam to have set off an alarm?"</p>
-
-<p>"How close would you say we are?" I asked.</p>
-
-<p>"According to my estimates, there must be at least another hundred
-yards of rock."</p>
-
-<p>"Then I'd say we're safe. We must be on the very fringe of this beam.
-But if it weren't for me&mdash;"</p>
-
-<p>"Yes, I know. But now your work's only beginning. We're going to have
-to cut parallel to the surface and get beyond range of the furthest
-beam before we can go up again."</p>
-
-<p>McGowan was right. And this took several more weeks. We were very
-impatient now, but he impressed upon us the need for extreme caution.
-At last, however, we reached a point where I was definitely sure
-we were beyond the range. It had been agony for me, that constant
-proximity to the beams that seemed to tear at my every nerve-center;
-but I endured it and said nothing.</p>
-
-<p>"This doesn't mean we're safe yet," McGowan cautioned us, when we
-began the vertical climb again. "To get near Marnick's house will be a
-problem in itself; he's sure to have it barricaded with beams, and we
-have to watch out for those two Jovian brutes of his."</p>
-
-<p>I wonder if it could have been quite by chance that we broke through
-the surface during McGowan's turn? He must have had our distance
-calculated to the very foot. I felt a sudden current of fresh night
-air that nearly overwhelmed me, and then I saw that he had broken
-through.</p>
-
-<p>We simply lay there for a long while, not speaking, breathing in that
-intoxicating air. I had never really known how I missed it until now;
-never had I known that the stars could be so close and so brilliant,
-until I glimpsed a handful of them through those few square inches of
-space.</p>
-
-<p>At last McGowan carefully plugged that opening with a few bits of rock.
-He turned to me and said: "We must wait 'til tomorrow; we will bring
-the others."</p>
-
-<p>It seemed to me that tomorrow would never come. At last, however,
-our next sleep period rolled around, and we met in our secret place.
-McGowan held a special, final little conclave.</p>
-
-<p>"There is something," he said, "that I have withheld from you until
-now. As you all undoubtedly know, we are not entirely abandoned here;
-that is to say, twice a year an official Earth ship sets down to leave
-supplies and take aboard the radite we have mined. And I know what
-most of you have been thinking: that if we can once reach the surface,
-and get Marnick out of the way, we can hide out until that Earth ship
-comes, then overpower the crew and escape."</p>
-
-<p>Murmurs of approval came from the six of us, especially from the group
-of Earthmen.</p>
-
-<p>"I'm sorry," McGowan went on, "but that's not the way the thing's going
-to work out."</p>
-
-<p>Sounds of discontent arose.</p>
-
-<p>"Because I have a better plan. The Earth ship won't arrive here for
-two more months. Its crew outnumbers us, and they are well armed.
-Therefore, we won't wait for it at all; instead we'll take Marnick's
-own ship.</p>
-
-<p>"Yes!" he exclaimed, smiling at the amazement on our faces, "he has
-a cruiser here. That's what I didn't want you to know until the last
-moment, for there is a difficulty. There are seven of us here, and
-the cruiser will accommodate only five at the most; it will take five
-across to Callisto, and there I can make connections that will mean
-safety for us."</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>We looked blankly around at each other, and no man knew what the other
-was thinking. McGowan smiled in a way I did not like, as if he somehow
-knew which five it would be.</p>
-
-<p>"Furthermore," he went on, "there will soon be eight of us. For now
-Elson's got to come along."</p>
-
-<p>"Elson!" exclaimed a chorus of voices, mine among them.</p>
-
-<p>"Yes." McGowan's eyes narrowed infinitesimally. "I haven't steered you
-wrong yet, have I? I've worked out this entire plan, so believe me when
-I say that Elson is very necessary to our endeavor."</p>
-
-<p>I thought of Elson, and wondered why he was necessary. He, to put it
-cruelly, was the least among us; the butt of all our jokes; for even
-hopeless men such as we must sometimes have amusement. Elson had been
-here probably as long as McGowan, but he had suffered much more. Elson
-always seemed to suffer Marnick's wrath when the latter couldn't decide
-upon a more suitable victim. Elson was twisted and misshapen now,
-the result of a fall through the shaft, so I had heard; and he was
-blank-eyed and feeble-witted.</p>
-
-<p>Now McGowan sent for him, and he came shuffling into our cave with a
-bewildered look. Tersely McGowan explained the situation. Elson smiled
-crookedly; he had always had a special fondness for McGowan, and obeyed
-him implicitly in everything.</p>
-
-<p>We began the climb. An hour later we stood panting but unbowed upon the
-surface, staring at stars most of us had not seen in years! We were
-eight men, determined, but armed only with the short metal hook we had
-used for digging out the rock. McGowan carried it. He gestured with it
-to the left, as he whispered:</p>
-
-<p>"This way. We must be about a mile from the ravine where Marnick's
-located. Stay in sight of each other now, and watch your step&mdash;no
-noise!"</p>
-
-<p>The terrain was rocky and rough; the horizon of the tiny planet seemed
-very near, and curved sharply down. The night was pitch black and
-boundless, with only the pinpoints of stars to guide us.</p>
-
-<p>Hours later, it seemed, we glimpsed another pinpoint of light that was
-not a star. It was too low against the blackness for that; we knew it
-was a light from Marnick's abode, at the entrance of a rocky little
-canyon perhaps a quarter of a mile away. We proceeded with infinite
-caution.</p>
-
-<p>Suddenly, I felt that awful agony through every nerve again, and I knew
-we had stumbled into more of Marnick's detector beams. This time we may
-have blundered far enough to set off an alarm, but I didn't especially
-care. I fell to the ground as the warning along my nerves persisted.
-For a minute I was almost violently ill. Luckily, the others stopped
-instantly. McGowan dragged me back and waited until I had recovered.</p>
-
-<p>"Our human beam detector. Lucky we've got you with us, Reed!" But there
-was no humor in his voice, in fact I caught a note of pity. I think he
-already realized, just as I was slowly beginning to&mdash;</p>
-
-<p>But I shall not think of that. McGowan spoke a few words to Elson that
-we could not hear. Elson nodded obediently. We moved away at a sharp
-angle to the right, but now I noticed Elson did not accompany us.</p>
-
-<p>I was still dizzy and weak, but I clenched my teeth and determined
-to see this thing through to the finish. I guided us away from those
-beams. As near as I could determine, they rayed out in a sort of
-semi-circular barrier, invisible, of course. Carefully we skirted the
-edge of it, toward the far wall of the canyon that sheltered Marnick's
-house. How I stayed on my feet I cannot understand, for every step was
-an agony as the faintest out-reaches of those rays stabbed fiercely
-through me. The others, of course, felt nothing.</p>
-
-<p>"We've got to get past it," McGowan whispered tensely to me, "or we're
-finished!"</p>
-
-<p>I nodded curtly. I didn't know what McGowan had in mind, but I realized
-we had to get closer to Marnick's house. We came nearer and nearer
-to the canyon and then the power of the beams began to diminish.
-We pressed flat against the rocky walls and moved swiftly forward.
-Suddenly we were beyond the barrier. The squat stone dwelling was a
-bare fifty yards from us now, and we could see a little square of light
-from the side window.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>We paused there in a huddled little group, wondering what McGowan's
-next move would be. Apparently he was waiting for something. And a
-second later we knew what it was, as a ringing alarm shattered the
-silence! I knew it must have been Elson out there who had set it off,
-according to McGowan's instructions. I glanced sharply at McGowan and
-he seemed satisfied, as he cautioned us to silence.</p>
-
-<p>Another square of light appeared and we glimpsed the tall form of
-Marnick in the open doorway. But he knew better than to remain there
-long against the light. He stepped quickly outside, but not before we
-glimpsed an atom-pistol in his hand.</p>
-
-<p>"This is it!" McGowan whispered. "I only wanted to get him outside." We
-moved silently across the space toward the side of the house that hid
-us from Marnick. There we could peer into the lighted window. I saw a
-large room quite like a library, and I was amazed at how richly it was
-furnished, with books and tables and tapestries and a fireplace at one
-end. It seemed utterly incongruous here on this dark, mad planet.</p>
-
-<p>But I didn't have much time to think about it. McGowan was fumbling
-at the window, and at last it swung silently open. "I've got to get
-hold of a weapon!" he whispered. "The rest of you wait here. I don't
-think Marnick will come around to this side, but keep a sharp lookout
-anyway." With that he climbed through the window and moved silently
-across the room.</p>
-
-<p>Anxiously, I watched him, expecting Marnick to return at any moment.
-McGowan searched the room thoroughly, opening drawers and tumbling
-books in disarray, but no weapon was forthcoming. He did find a small
-flashlight, however, and with it in hand he moved into another dark
-room leading off this one, there to continue his search. He was out of
-my sight now, but I glimpsed his light flashing around cautiously. The
-seconds seemed like eternities.</p>
-
-<p>I was so interested in watching the inside of the house that I had
-almost forgotten my companions behind me. Suddenly, I heard a muffled
-commotion near by, and whirled quickly around.</p>
-
-<p>The two Jovians had crept silently upon us out of the darkness; perhaps
-Marnick, as a cautionary measure, had sent them out to scout around
-the house. At any rate, there was a silent struggle of bodies behind
-me, and all I could distinguish clearly was one of the Jovians who had
-seized V'Narik's neck in his two powerful hands. Blakely was standing
-there with the heavy metal hook upraised, and it seemed to me that he
-hesitated about ten seconds too long before he brought it crashing
-down on the Jovian's skull. But by that time V'Narik was dead, and it
-suddenly dawned on me that Blakely's hesitation had been deliberate;
-and that left only seven of us instead of eight.</p>
-
-<p>The other Jovian was more than holding his own, and Blakely seemed
-content to watch. I seized the heavy bar from him and leaped into the
-mêlée, waiting for an opening. I brought the bar wildly down, and by
-pure luck it landed on the Jovian skull, crushing it like an eggshell.
-The others staggered weakly up.</p>
-
-<p>I leaped back to the window, for I thought surely Marnick must have
-returned; what I didn't realize then was that scarcely a minute had yet
-elapsed since the alarm had sounded. But McGowan had found his weapon.
-He held an atom-pistol in his hand as he crossed the lighted room to
-the window, and climbed back out to us.</p>
-
-<p>It was not until that moment that I had my curious foreboding. McGowan,
-if he had wanted to kill Marnick, could easily have crossed that room
-to the front door that was still open, and rayed Marnick down from
-behind. He wanted to kill Marnick all right, but in his own way. He had
-his own special revenge mapped out. I suddenly remembered that, and I
-knew that McGowan was going to carry it through.</p>
-
-<p>"So far so good," he murmured as he rejoined us. He weighed the
-atom-pistol familiarly in his hand. "Now, if only Elson out there comes
-through all right&mdash;Come on, let's see where Marnick is. Not too far
-from the house, I hope. And remember, all of you, this is strictly my
-party; so no interference."</p>
-
-<p>Those last words struck an ominous note in me, but I said nothing,
-nor did the others as we followed McGowan along to the far corner of
-the house. There we could see the long, dim rectangle of light from
-the room streaming out onto the barren rock. Marnick was not in sight
-but we knew he must be somewhere very near, waiting in the darkness,
-watching for whoever had set off that alarm.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>Seemingly, for a long while we waited, but it couldn't have been more
-than a minute; we crowded close to each other, staring, trying to
-accustom our eyes to the night. Then McGowan pointed, and we saw a
-darker shape very near the house, and we knew it was Marnick, waiting.</p>
-
-<p>Again that curious feeling of impending drama overwhelmed me, and I
-wanted to act to prevent something, but I didn't know how&mdash;or what&mdash;</p>
-
-<p>McGowan's gesture shifted imperiously, and we saw another vague blur
-of a figure out there and we knew it was Elson. McGowan, in that
-moment, reminded me of a stage director, proud of his work and trying
-to impress its subtleties upon us. My gaze went back to the slouching
-figure of Elson, and I realized he was moving toward us.</p>
-
-<p>Marnick saw him at the same time. Marnick straightened up, leaned
-tautly forward and seemed to be peering. Then Marnick's hated voice
-came stabbing through the darkness to us, but not directed at us:</p>
-
-<p>"I see you out there. Whoever you are, it was foolish of you to try
-to come near my house, for you have set off a detector beam. Stop
-immediately or I will blast you. I have an atom-pistol trained on you
-at this moment."</p>
-
-<p>For a single instant everything seemed to stand still. Elson stood
-still. McGowan, close beside me, caught his breath sharply in his
-throat. Then Elson moved forward again, and McGowan breathed a slow
-sigh of relief.</p>
-
-<p>"Good," he murmured in my ear, though I am sure he was not conscious
-that I was there. "I knew Elson would obey me. Elson obeys me in
-everything." And then: "Poor Elson."</p>
-
-<p>In that sudden moment I realized what was going to happen; I knew
-McGowan had planned this step by step from start to finish, and I knew
-<i>Elson was going to die</i>! I started forward with a cry in my throat,
-but McGowan's hand clamped roughly over my mouth and his fingers dug
-cruelly into my arm.</p>
-
-<p>I could see, though, and I saw Elson come forward in his slouching,
-ungainly gait, arms dangling at his side and an idiotic grin on his
-face. I heard Marnick's warning once more, and I saw the almost
-invisible beam of his atom-pistol slashing the darkness. I saw Elson
-stumble and plough forward on his face and lay still. And not until
-then did McGowan release me.</p>
-
-<p>But then it was too late. Elson was dead, and I heard a sound that
-was almost a chuckle deep in McGowan's throat. Then his voice slashed
-through the darkness and I realized that here was the acme of triumph
-in all his years of planning:</p>
-
-<p>"Drop your pistol, Marnick."</p>
-
-<p>Marnick whirled toward his voice and took a tense step toward us;
-but McGowan's pistol rayed across the rock and slashed dangerously
-near Marnick's feet. Marnick's pistol dropped from his fingers with a
-clanging sound.</p>
-
-<p>"That's better. You're a madman, Marnick, but not too mad to fail to
-realize when the game is over. I'm going to kill you, I want you to
-know that; and I want you to know who is speaking. This is McGowan.
-But before I kill you I want you to realize what you've done tonight.
-You've killed a man. Know who it is? Go take a look."</p>
-
-<p>Marnick stood there hesitant. I could almost picture the indecision on
-his face. But McGowan's pistol rayed again, very close to his feet, and
-Marnick stumbled out to where Elson lay.</p>
-
-<p>"Good," McGowan went on. "Now look at 'im. It's Elson, you see?"
-McGowan's voice seemed different now than I had ever heard it. It
-wasn't his voice at all. But it went on inexorably, and I felt chills
-chasing up and down my spine.</p>
-
-<p>"Do you know who Elson really is, Marnick? No, of course, you don't. I
-saw to that. He came to this prison planet about the same time I did.
-He was tall and straight and youthful then, but somehow you couldn't
-stand that; you made him your special victim, you tortured and maimed
-him and now you've killed him. Look very closely, Marnick. You still
-do not know? Then I suggest you turn him over&mdash;that's right. And I
-suggest you look very closely on the outer part of his left thigh. A
-curious blemish is there, an unmistakable birthmark. You realize now?
-Yes, I see that you do.</p>
-
-<p>"Your son, Marnick, never died on Mars. I was one of that party of men
-who&mdash;Well, I don't care to think about that now. The others left him
-there beside his mother, thinking him dead, but I knew better. I went
-back and took him, and kept him with me until he was sixteen, when
-we parted. Perhaps he inherited some of his criminal ways from his
-association with me. Anyway, when I was sentenced here, and he came a
-little later, I knew what I must do!"</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>It was a nightmare. I couldn't believe it. I glimpsed Marnick out there
-huddling over the body of the man he had just slain ... his own son ...
-and even at that distance and through that dimness there was something
-that made me feel sorry for him.</p>
-
-<p>He arose very slowly, turned to face McGowan and tried to speak
-something but could not. He took a few faltering steps in our direction
-and then McGowan rayed him down. There was still a satisfied little
-smile on McGowan's lips as he did it. I hated McGowan in that moment as
-much as I had ever hated Marnick, but I could do nothing, for my mind
-was a little numbed.</p>
-
-<p>"I waited seven years for that," McGowan said, and he breathed very
-deeply. Then he walked through us and strode back to where the two
-Jovians lay, and V'Narik.</p>
-
-<p>"V'Narik's dead," he said as if he'd just discovered it. "He always had
-a hunch he wouldn't get away from here, didn't he? But he got to see
-the stars and Mars again, just as he wanted to. And Elson's dead, of
-course. That still leaves six of us." He looked at me significantly.</p>
-
-<p>I knew what he meant. I had known all the time that I would never set
-foot on Earth again, and McGowan had known it, too. "Make it five," I
-said, "for I'm staying."</p>
-
-<p>The others didn't quite understand, and they didn't much care. They
-went rushing off to find Marnick's cruiser that would bear them safely
-to Callisto. McGowan stepped forward with that enigmatic smile on his
-lips, and seized my hand.</p>
-
-<p>"Thanks," he said simply. "Thanks for all you've done for us, and don't
-hate me too much."</p>
-
-<p>"Just go away," I said, "and leave me alone. I want to think. You might
-leave me that atom-pistol if you want to."</p>
-
-<p>It is a good thing they left as quickly as they did, or I would have
-killed McGowan. I watched their cruiser blast up and away into the
-dark void. I said I wanted to think, and I have thought. And whenever
-I remember that terrible revenge, I must decide that McGowan was the
-madman, not Marnick. Perhaps they were both mad. Anyway, it does not
-matter any more.</p>
-
-<p>I only know that I shall soon die; for my constant proximity to those
-detector beams in the past several weeks, in conjunction with these
-radite emanations, has produced a curious illness in me from which I
-know I should never recover. The symptoms become stronger hourly, and
-the agony is almost unbearable. Perhaps soon, if it continues, I shall&mdash;</p>
-
-<p>But I must finish this document first. I have been writing it, here
-in Marnick's study, for the past twenty-four hours. I hope it will be
-found when the next Earth supply ship comes. I think it even likely
-that those other unfortunate men, in the tunnels below, will continue
-to work as usual until then, unknowing of what has taken place up here;
-for they have become automatons.</p>
-
-<p>I can only hope that this document will serve, in the future, to make
-the fate of such men a little less severe.</p>
-
-<p>Well, now I think it is finished.</p>
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-<pre>
-
-
-
-
-
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-The Project Gutenberg EBook of Out of This World, by Henry Hasse
-
-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: Out of This World
-
-Author: Henry Hasse
-
-Release Date: May 18, 2020 [EBook #62171]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: ASCII
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OUT OF THIS WORLD ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online
-Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
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-
-
-                           OUT OF THIS WORLD
-
-                            By HENRY HASSE
-
-                     There was no escape but death
-                     from that fetid prison planet
-                  and its crazed, sadistic overseer.
-
-           [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
-                      Planet Stories Summer 1942.
-         Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
-         the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
-
-
-_When the Earth supply ship set down upon prison planet Number Seven
-last week, a curious state of affairs was found: the prisoners below
-mining the ore as usual, the overseer dead, and every indication of
-some stark drama having taken place. In the study of the overseer's
-house one man was found dead, apparently by his own hand, and beside
-him on the desk was a hastily scribbled document which is herewith
-published._
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-We hated Marnick.
-
-Because he was an Earthman and because he laughed, we hated him.
-Awake and asleep, at our daily drudge of labor and in the throes of
-sluggish nightmare, with a fierce tenacity from the very depths of our
-souls--those of us who still had souls--we hated him. And there was
-not a man among us who had not sworn to kill him if given the chance,
-who did not dream of being _the one_. For we knew that some day it was
-going to happen.
-
-But when? It seemed impossible. Daily that is what I thought as I
-trudged wearily to my place in B-Tunnel two miles below. We were
-forty men against him, Martians and Earthmen alike. Once there had
-been Venusians here, too, but they died too easily, and now Venusian
-criminals were sent elsewhere. Forty against Marnick, but still he was
-Law here on the tiny barren satellite of Jupiter--the seventh or eighth
-in orbit, I have long since forgotten which. The Tri-Planet Federation
-had appointed him overseer, then had immediately forgotten him and us.
-Out of our way, you criminal scum! Out of the sight and memory of men!
-Thus it was.
-
-Yes, Marnick was law and lord and master of all he surveyed, and
-believe me he surveyed us well. He used to come down the central
-vertical shaft in his little case of special glassite, and hover there
-above us, watching; sometimes unbeknownst by us; and heaven help any
-worker who fell under his gaze, who he thought might be shirking.
-Marnick reserved a very special fate for shirkers, a certain torture,
-so I had heard.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Now all that I had heard came rushing back to flood my brain, as I
-stood tensely alert, listening to the raucous, inhuman laughter that
-surged down the central shaft to reach our ears. Again it came and yet
-again, rising to insane pitch.
-
-I rested my short-handled hand-pick against the little heap of radite
-ore. I wiped my sweated brow with fingers that burned and tingled from
-contact with the radite. I peered covertly around at the many tunnels
-converging into the central place, and saw the other workers, Martians,
-and Earthmen, cowering under that sound of laughter. I wondered if I
-looked to them as they looked to me. I knew I was afraid. That was
-Marnick's laughter, I had heard it before. His special torture was
-going on again. Would I be next? So far I had luckily escaped.
-
-I tried to straighten up into a semblance of courage, but again that
-shrieking laughter came drifting down to cower me. At the same time
-McGowan left his tunnel next to mine, and came strolling over to me.
-I was aghast. For any man to so much as leave his post, meant that he
-would receive the same punishment that some poor devil up there was now
-receiving. But McGowan always was a reckless one. Tall, brutish, dark
-and always scowling, a light of indomitable spirit shone perpetually
-out of his contrasting gray eyes. Those eyes were now hate-filled as he
-cocked his head and listened to that laughter.
-
-"If only he wouldn't laugh," McGowan said in a voice so calm that it
-was doubly terrible. "If only he would go ahead with his torture, and
-watch it if he wished. But to laugh! And to let us know that he laughs!
-That is the crowning touch. Some day, Reed, I swear to you--"
-
-"Yes, I know," I whispered fearfully. "Some day one of us is going to
-kill him. A favorite dream here."
-
-"Not someone, Reed. Me! That is a privilege I reserve. And I shall not
-kill him. At least not in the usual way. I have a very special revenge
-planned for Mr. Marnick."
-
-That was a story I had heard before, too; but now something in
-McGowan's voice caused me to look sharply up at him. And the hate
-that smouldered in those eyes was such as I cared not to look upon. I
-glanced quickly away, and then I heard a smooth familiar hum from the
-central shaft. I knew what it was. I swooped for my hand-pick and began
-to ply it industriously.
-
-"Quick, McGowan, get back to your work!" I whispered. "Marnick's coming
-down again!" I'm sure McGowan knew that as well as I did, but he simply
-stood there, gazing almost expectantly at the place where the shaft
-led up through the cave roof. "You damn fool!" I whispered, but there
-was a tight little smile on McGowan's lips as he stood there.
-
-The hum continued. Even as I continued to hack at the hard-grained
-rock I shot a sidelong glance up at the shaft. Marnick's vehicle
-appeared suddenly there, seemingly suspended in the air. It was simply
-a glassite-enclosed, rounded cage, large enough to contain Marnick and
-the two lumbering, Jovian brutes he kept always with him. A pale violet
-halo hovered around the entire structure. It hung there just below the
-cave roof.
-
-I could glimpse Marnick standing there erect, arms folded, peering
-haughtily down at us. Naturally a tall man, he always seemed taller
-and more forbidding in that posture. His hair was gray, but no grayer
-than his face; and against that grayness his eyes were dull black and
-quite expressionless, as if at one time he had seen some sight that had
-burned them out.
-
-But now his arms unfolded and he leaned tensely forward. His thin
-colorless lips twitched as if in disbelief. A second later his rasping
-voice went bounding about the walls: "You! Earthman, over there! Get
-back to your work!"
-
-He was speaking to McGowan and we all knew it. McGowan stood only
-a few feet from me, but I dared not even glance up at him now. I
-glimpsed him, however, bending down slowly, deliberately, and I saw
-his right hand seize a good-sized lump of radite ore from my pile. He
-straightened just as deliberately, turned to face Marnick and then
-said: "Go to hell!" With those words, McGowan drew back his hand and
-hurled the radite lump at Marnick's cage.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-All of us in that moment paused to watch, and all of us were aghast at
-McGowan's futile bravado. We knew that not even an atom-blast, much
-less a lump of rock, could penetrate that mysterious force-barrier
-Marnick had erected around himself. That's what made the act so
-terrible, for McGowan knew it, too. And he wore a satisfied little
-smile as he did it.
-
-[Illustration: _Straight at the glittering machine McGowan hurled the
-heavy boulder._]
-
-The rock didn't come within a yard of Marnick's cage. It struck against
-the violet force-halo, bounded back and clattered to the floor.
-Marnick's lips split into what might have been a grin; he touched
-a button beside him and the cage dropped the rest of the way to the
-cave floor. Its door opened and the two Jovian brutes stepped quickly
-out. Grinning through thick, blubbery lips, with huge powerful hands
-reaching out, they strode purposefully toward McGowan.
-
-McGowan made no defensive gesture. He stood there still smiling a
-little, as though hugely satisfied with what he had done. The Jovians
-seized him ungently, hurried him back to the cage and into it. The door
-closed and the cage slowly began to rise. The Jovians released his arms
-then, and McGowan acted with customary deliberateness as his right fist
-lashed up and crashed into Marnick's mouth. Marnick staggered back, his
-face a gushing well of red; but with a seeming flick of the wrist his
-paralyzer tube was in his hand, its pale beam spurting out. McGowan
-sank down in a huddled little heap, but even so, his very attitude as
-he lay there unconscious seemed one of satisfaction. The cage rose
-swiftly up and out of sight.
-
-I didn't allow myself to think of the fate that would be McGowan's
-now. As we worked we listened again for the sound of Marnick's insane
-laughter. But it never came. He knew that we hated him, and he loved
-it. It was a sort of little game he played with us. He knew that we
-would be listening for his laughter now, so he chose not to let us hear
-it; to make us wonder. Psychologically it was much more terrible.
-
-That Marnick was a devil.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Four days later McGowan came back to us.
-
-Rumor among us had it that Marnick maintained special quarters up on
-the surface of this satellite, a stone house against the barren rock;
-and that in this house was a certain room into which Marnick thrust
-the men who displeased him. Beyond this even rumor failed to go, but
-we often hazarded guesses. The most prevalent guess was that Marnick
-released hordes of Callistan Gnishii into this room, then stood at a
-glass-paned door and shrieked with insane laughter at the antics of the
-unfortunate victims. The Gnishii are tiny little sharp-tipped devils,
-scarcely three inches in length. Hard-shelled, blazing red in color,
-they surely must be a spawn of hell; for they are quite harmless except
-when in the presence of human flesh, and then they seem to go wild.
-
-We guessed that Marnick might be employing these Gnishii, because
-several of his victims who came back to us had hundreds of fresh scars
-covering their legs from ankles to knees. But these men seemed to
-prefer not to speak of what they had undergone, and the rest of us
-weren't too anxious to know.
-
-So now, four days later, McGowan came back to us. He stumbled into our
-quarters along the murky tunnel just above the vein we were at present
-working. I rose up out of restless sleep and saw McGowan going along
-the tunnel to certain of the men, silently rousing them. Kueelo and
-V'Narik, both Martians, joined him; as well as Smith and Blakely and
-Wilkinson, Earthmen. These five, together with McGowan, had formed a
-special little cliche among themselves, and almost daily went off for
-a secret meeting somewhere during our sleep period. Innumerable times
-I had seen them do that, but I didn't much care, feeling that whatever
-they might be planning would be futile in the end.
-
-Now I rolled over in my bunk, turned my face to the stone wall and
-tried to get back to sleep; I needed much sleep in preparation for the
-morrow, because lately the radite emanations had been fast sapping my
-strength. Then, to my amazement, I felt a light hand on my shoulder and
-I knew it was McGowan. I heard his voice in my ear, scarcely a whisper:
-
-"Reed! You awake? Come on and go with us; we need you!"
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-They needed me! Wondering and doubting, I rose silently up and followed
-the six of them toward the dead end of the tunnel. Blakely carried an
-electric lantern, carefully shaded. A quarter of a mile further we came
-to the tunnel's end. There in the dim light I gazed around me at the
-worked-out rock. The radite vein here, I knew, had been exhausted years
-ago, even before I had come.
-
-As I stood apart, watching, the six of them seized upon a protruding
-rock and pushed with a certain unison that could only have come with
-long practice. The rock rolled smoothly away and revealed a ragged
-little ravine leading up and into the tunnel wall. We entered, and they
-pulled the huge rock back into place. We began to climb. The ravine was
-scarcely shoulder-width. A few minutes later, however, it widened out
-into a large, natural cave!
-
-Blakely placed the light in the center, and we sat in a circle around
-it. We could only see each other's faces dimly. The two Martians' were
-dark and leathery, with thick-lidded expressionless eyes. The three
-Earthmen appeared a little anxious as they glanced at McGowan. I knew
-what they were thinking, wondering; I was wondering myself.
-
-As though reading our thoughts McGowan said: "Yes, it--it was pretty
-terrible." But by the look in his eyes alone, dim as it was, we knew
-that was a masterpiece of understatement. "But that's beside the
-point," he went on. "Whatever I went through up there, it was worth it.
-And it had to be done. For your information, Reed"--he turned his head
-to look at me--"we're going to escape from these tunnels. Then we're
-going to kill Marnick. When that's accomplished, we'll think about
-escaping from this planet."
-
-"But--but how--" I stammered. "You know you can't possibly--"
-
-McGowan gestured impatiently. "I know everything you're going to say.
-We've gone over it thoroughly. Let's see, you've been here only two
-years, isn't it, Reed? And the average life here is five; and I have
-already been here seven. Yes, I've clung on here longer than most men
-do, knowing that some day my chance would come; and now it is near.
-For the moment we will not think of escape. If only I can succeed in
-getting rid of that monster up there, and doing it in my own special
-way, all this will have been worth while. Do you agree?"
-
-I most emphatically agreed, and said so.
-
-McGowan arose and led me to the other side of the cave. There I saw
-a small, dark opening, perhaps four feet in diameter. A tunnel! A
-man-made tunnel leading steeply upward through solid rock!
-
-"For about four years we've worked on this," McGowan said with a tinge
-of pride in his voice. "We've hacked our way inches at a time with
-whatever crude implements we could smuggle here. More than a mile of
-solid rock lies between us and the surface, and we've gone more than
-three-quarters of the way already."
-
-"But why didn't you let me in on this!" I gasped, a sudden surge of
-hope welling up in my throat so that I could hardly speak. I could
-hardly even think! My brain was churning crazily. To get out of these
-tunnels, to even glimpse a star again against the black night sky,
-or breathe fresh air once more--those were hopes that many of us had
-abandoned, as we gradually became living automatons and the radite ore
-took its insidious toll of us.
-
-McGowan looked at me steadily and answered my question: "Because
-we don't trust everyone. Marnick has certain methods up there of
-extracting information, and if ever--Well, anyway, you've been rather a
-baffling entity since you came here. You still are. Right now we don't
-know whether to trust you, but we have to because we need you."
-
-"But you can trust me!" I exclaimed in an excess of anxiety.
-
-"We need you," McGowan went on coldly, "because we understand you're
-something of an expert with directional beam finders. We suspected
-that Marnick might have a network of beams raying downward, to detect
-any such escape attempt as this. We had to make sure, and that's why I
-had to get to the surface, although it meant torture. And I did find
-out, never mind how. He has a battery of directional beams. They won't
-reach through rock very far, but we can't be too careful now that we're
-getting near the surface. So, Reed: do you think you could detect any
-such beams, before we break through into them?"
-
-"Yes, I'm sure I could," I answered, perhaps a little too eagerly.
-
-"Good. Then you're in with us to the finish." He turned to the others.
-"Wilkinson--I think it's your turn tonight? Reed here will go up with
-you. Incidentally, you might veer a few degrees to the right; as
-near as I could judge, we're coming a little too close to Marnick's
-quarters. And you, Reed, keep a sharp lookout for those beams."
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-I entered the dark little tunnel behind Wilkinson, and we began the
-climb. He carried the lantern. It was rather precarious. The tunnel, I
-judged, was on a forty-five-degree angle, but wisely they had leveled
-out little hand and foot holds, so that we could rest occasionally.
-
-Three-quarters of a mile, McGowan had said. It seemed more like five,
-but I didn't mind at all. All my weariness and sleepiness had left
-me now; every time I scraped a knee or elbow against the rock it was
-a pleasure, now that a new hope was born in me. At last we reached
-the top, and I cautioned Wilkinson to remain still while I tried to
-determine if any of the magnetic finder beams were near us. First I
-stripped myself to the waist, then pressed my body against the rock
-wall in various spots. Wilkinson watched the process curiously.
-
-"No," I told him at last. "I can't feel a thing yet. Probably we're
-still too far down."
-
-"How come you can feel those beams when other men can't?" Wilkinson
-asked.
-
-So I told him the story. "Years ago I worked in one of the electrical
-laboratories where these beams were being developed. One day I was
-accidentally locked in the testing room--a small chamber where the
-beams were projected upon metal plates to test their intensity. Luckily
-for me, the beams that day were of a very low intensity, or I wouldn't
-be here now. But the power kept increasing by slow degrees, until I
-could feel the vibration tearing through every fiber of my body. At
-last, and just in time, I managed to attract attention. I was violently
-ill for weeks. But after that, I seemed to be hyper-sensitive to such
-beams."
-
-Wilkinson continued digging at the rock with a small metal implement.
-Bit by bit the rock came out, in powdery dust and tiny chunks. I
-noticed that his hands were scarred and roughened from day after day of
-this work.
-
-"When we first began," he explained, "we made much faster progress. But
-now a man can't work more than two or three hours up here, for the air
-gets pretty stale. We take turns, of course, day after day. It's going
-to be pretty tough on you from now to the finish, because you'll have
-to be up here _every_ day for a couple of hours. We're counting on you."
-
-Yes, they were counting on me. Now for the first time I began to
-realize how much; and I began to doubt myself. I wasn't really sure
-that I could still detect those finder beams. It had been a long time
-since I had experienced it. Besides, the radite ore emanations had
-effected my body in that curious tingling way, just as it had every man
-here. So perhaps that would prevent--?
-
-I only knew that if we ever blundered into one of those directional
-finder beams, which McGowan said were raying down, it would instantly
-set off an alarm in Marnick's quarters. I tried not to imagine what
-would happen after that. In a sort of panic I pressed my sweating
-body against the rocky wall, but all I could feel was the familiar
-radite-tingling crawling through my skin.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-So we worked day after day until they lengthened into weeks. My daily
-labor at the radite vein was almost a pleasure now as I anticipated the
-few hours of work that would come later in our secret tunnel. Daily I
-accompanied a different one of our group. I wanted to take my own turn
-at the digging, but McGowan wouldn't stand for this, preferring that I
-direct all my attention toward the detector beams.
-
-Weeks passed and still I detected no beams.
-
-Kueelo, I found, was sullen and silent. The other Martian, V'Narik,
-talked to me only on a few occasions. "I have a curious presentiment,"
-he told me once, "that I shall never escape from here. You others,
-perhaps, but not me. I am with you on this only because there is
-nothing better to do. But if I can only reach the surface, and glimpse
-the stars once again--especially the redness of Mars--this will have
-been worth while."
-
-The Martians are a strange race. I never could understand them. I tried
-to cheer V'Narik, but he only shook his head solemnly.
-
-From the others I gradually learned much that I had often wondered
-about, especially concerning Marnick. "There are various stories about
-him," McGowan told me once. "The one I'm inclined to believe is that
-Marnick incurred his hatred of men long ago, during the early years of
-the Mars mines. He was one of the earliest pioneers there. He brought
-his wife and child from Earth. He struck a rich iridium vein and worked
-it slowly, alone. Then certain Earth corporations stepped in, as you
-know. They wanted Marnick to sell but he would not. He defied them to
-the end, which was foolish. Well, one day Marnick came back to his mine
-to find his wife dead, rayed mercilessly by a heat-gun, and his young
-son missing, probably lost in the Martian wastes."
-
-"You don't mean," I gasped, "that the Earth corporations would--"
-
-"Would do a thing like that? They would hire it done. That's the way
-they worked in the early days, they always got what they wanted, in
-one way or another. Well, Marnick must have sworn a terrible vengeance
-then. He fought them and plagued them, for years he pirated the
-spaceways until the Tri-Planet Patrol was formed and became too strong
-for him."
-
-I pondered this story. "So now," I mused, "he's come to this. As
-overseer of this penal planet, he must be--"
-
-"He is assuredly insane," McGowan finished for me. "But he is still
-vengeful. He was never certain whether they were Martians or Earthmen
-who killed his loved ones--those men hired by the Earth corporation.
-But ever since, I believe, Marnick has had a brooding hate for both
-races, especially the criminal element. That's why he's devised his
-tortures here. That's why he laughs as he indulges in his wholesale
-revenge. A sort of revenge by proxy, as it were."
-
-I was aghast as I glanced at McGowan, wondering just how close to the
-truth about Marnick he had come. McGowan's eyes were steel hard again
-with hate as he went on:
-
-"And that's why, Reed, we must put an end to Marnick's mad reign here.
-He was done a terrible injustice in the past, yes; but he's had his
-revenge many times over, on the unfortunate men who have passed through
-his hands. That's why I hate him, and that's why I shall have my own
-revenge, in my own way."
-
-McGowan's face was not a thing I liked to look upon, in that moment.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Then came the day when I felt the first detector beam. I had been
-wondering and doubting, but when it came it was unmistakable; a single
-sharp pain through every fiber of my body, like the exposed nerve of
-a tooth when it's unexpectedly touched; and then a strong, steady
-tingling utterly different from that of the radite ore.
-
-I was with Blakely at the time. He stopped his work instantly. "We'd
-better go down and get McGowan," he said.
-
-McGowan came back up with us. "What would you say, Reed? Think we're
-enough into that beam to have set off an alarm?"
-
-"How close would you say we are?" I asked.
-
-"According to my estimates, there must be at least another hundred
-yards of rock."
-
-"Then I'd say we're safe. We must be on the very fringe of this beam.
-But if it weren't for me--"
-
-"Yes, I know. But now your work's only beginning. We're going to have
-to cut parallel to the surface and get beyond range of the furthest
-beam before we can go up again."
-
-McGowan was right. And this took several more weeks. We were very
-impatient now, but he impressed upon us the need for extreme caution.
-At last, however, we reached a point where I was definitely sure
-we were beyond the range. It had been agony for me, that constant
-proximity to the beams that seemed to tear at my every nerve-center;
-but I endured it and said nothing.
-
-"This doesn't mean we're safe yet," McGowan cautioned us, when we
-began the vertical climb again. "To get near Marnick's house will be a
-problem in itself; he's sure to have it barricaded with beams, and we
-have to watch out for those two Jovian brutes of his."
-
-I wonder if it could have been quite by chance that we broke through
-the surface during McGowan's turn? He must have had our distance
-calculated to the very foot. I felt a sudden current of fresh night
-air that nearly overwhelmed me, and then I saw that he had broken
-through.
-
-We simply lay there for a long while, not speaking, breathing in that
-intoxicating air. I had never really known how I missed it until now;
-never had I known that the stars could be so close and so brilliant,
-until I glimpsed a handful of them through those few square inches of
-space.
-
-At last McGowan carefully plugged that opening with a few bits of rock.
-He turned to me and said: "We must wait 'til tomorrow; we will bring
-the others."
-
-It seemed to me that tomorrow would never come. At last, however,
-our next sleep period rolled around, and we met in our secret place.
-McGowan held a special, final little conclave.
-
-"There is something," he said, "that I have withheld from you until
-now. As you all undoubtedly know, we are not entirely abandoned here;
-that is to say, twice a year an official Earth ship sets down to leave
-supplies and take aboard the radite we have mined. And I know what
-most of you have been thinking: that if we can once reach the surface,
-and get Marnick out of the way, we can hide out until that Earth ship
-comes, then overpower the crew and escape."
-
-Murmurs of approval came from the six of us, especially from the group
-of Earthmen.
-
-"I'm sorry," McGowan went on, "but that's not the way the thing's going
-to work out."
-
-Sounds of discontent arose.
-
-"Because I have a better plan. The Earth ship won't arrive here for
-two more months. Its crew outnumbers us, and they are well armed.
-Therefore, we won't wait for it at all; instead we'll take Marnick's
-own ship.
-
-"Yes!" he exclaimed, smiling at the amazement on our faces, "he has
-a cruiser here. That's what I didn't want you to know until the last
-moment, for there is a difficulty. There are seven of us here, and
-the cruiser will accommodate only five at the most; it will take five
-across to Callisto, and there I can make connections that will mean
-safety for us."
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-We looked blankly around at each other, and no man knew what the other
-was thinking. McGowan smiled in a way I did not like, as if he somehow
-knew which five it would be.
-
-"Furthermore," he went on, "there will soon be eight of us. For now
-Elson's got to come along."
-
-"Elson!" exclaimed a chorus of voices, mine among them.
-
-"Yes." McGowan's eyes narrowed infinitesimally. "I haven't steered you
-wrong yet, have I? I've worked out this entire plan, so believe me when
-I say that Elson is very necessary to our endeavor."
-
-I thought of Elson, and wondered why he was necessary. He, to put it
-cruelly, was the least among us; the butt of all our jokes; for even
-hopeless men such as we must sometimes have amusement. Elson had been
-here probably as long as McGowan, but he had suffered much more. Elson
-always seemed to suffer Marnick's wrath when the latter couldn't decide
-upon a more suitable victim. Elson was twisted and misshapen now,
-the result of a fall through the shaft, so I had heard; and he was
-blank-eyed and feeble-witted.
-
-Now McGowan sent for him, and he came shuffling into our cave with a
-bewildered look. Tersely McGowan explained the situation. Elson smiled
-crookedly; he had always had a special fondness for McGowan, and obeyed
-him implicitly in everything.
-
-We began the climb. An hour later we stood panting but unbowed upon the
-surface, staring at stars most of us had not seen in years! We were
-eight men, determined, but armed only with the short metal hook we had
-used for digging out the rock. McGowan carried it. He gestured with it
-to the left, as he whispered:
-
-"This way. We must be about a mile from the ravine where Marnick's
-located. Stay in sight of each other now, and watch your step--no
-noise!"
-
-The terrain was rocky and rough; the horizon of the tiny planet seemed
-very near, and curved sharply down. The night was pitch black and
-boundless, with only the pinpoints of stars to guide us.
-
-Hours later, it seemed, we glimpsed another pinpoint of light that was
-not a star. It was too low against the blackness for that; we knew it
-was a light from Marnick's abode, at the entrance of a rocky little
-canyon perhaps a quarter of a mile away. We proceeded with infinite
-caution.
-
-Suddenly, I felt that awful agony through every nerve again, and I knew
-we had stumbled into more of Marnick's detector beams. This time we may
-have blundered far enough to set off an alarm, but I didn't especially
-care. I fell to the ground as the warning along my nerves persisted.
-For a minute I was almost violently ill. Luckily, the others stopped
-instantly. McGowan dragged me back and waited until I had recovered.
-
-"Our human beam detector. Lucky we've got you with us, Reed!" But there
-was no humor in his voice, in fact I caught a note of pity. I think he
-already realized, just as I was slowly beginning to--
-
-But I shall not think of that. McGowan spoke a few words to Elson that
-we could not hear. Elson nodded obediently. We moved away at a sharp
-angle to the right, but now I noticed Elson did not accompany us.
-
-I was still dizzy and weak, but I clenched my teeth and determined
-to see this thing through to the finish. I guided us away from those
-beams. As near as I could determine, they rayed out in a sort of
-semi-circular barrier, invisible, of course. Carefully we skirted the
-edge of it, toward the far wall of the canyon that sheltered Marnick's
-house. How I stayed on my feet I cannot understand, for every step was
-an agony as the faintest out-reaches of those rays stabbed fiercely
-through me. The others, of course, felt nothing.
-
-"We've got to get past it," McGowan whispered tensely to me, "or we're
-finished!"
-
-I nodded curtly. I didn't know what McGowan had in mind, but I realized
-we had to get closer to Marnick's house. We came nearer and nearer
-to the canyon and then the power of the beams began to diminish.
-We pressed flat against the rocky walls and moved swiftly forward.
-Suddenly we were beyond the barrier. The squat stone dwelling was a
-bare fifty yards from us now, and we could see a little square of light
-from the side window.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-We paused there in a huddled little group, wondering what McGowan's
-next move would be. Apparently he was waiting for something. And a
-second later we knew what it was, as a ringing alarm shattered the
-silence! I knew it must have been Elson out there who had set it off,
-according to McGowan's instructions. I glanced sharply at McGowan and
-he seemed satisfied, as he cautioned us to silence.
-
-Another square of light appeared and we glimpsed the tall form of
-Marnick in the open doorway. But he knew better than to remain there
-long against the light. He stepped quickly outside, but not before we
-glimpsed an atom-pistol in his hand.
-
-"This is it!" McGowan whispered. "I only wanted to get him outside." We
-moved silently across the space toward the side of the house that hid
-us from Marnick. There we could peer into the lighted window. I saw a
-large room quite like a library, and I was amazed at how richly it was
-furnished, with books and tables and tapestries and a fireplace at one
-end. It seemed utterly incongruous here on this dark, mad planet.
-
-But I didn't have much time to think about it. McGowan was fumbling
-at the window, and at last it swung silently open. "I've got to get
-hold of a weapon!" he whispered. "The rest of you wait here. I don't
-think Marnick will come around to this side, but keep a sharp lookout
-anyway." With that he climbed through the window and moved silently
-across the room.
-
-Anxiously, I watched him, expecting Marnick to return at any moment.
-McGowan searched the room thoroughly, opening drawers and tumbling
-books in disarray, but no weapon was forthcoming. He did find a small
-flashlight, however, and with it in hand he moved into another dark
-room leading off this one, there to continue his search. He was out of
-my sight now, but I glimpsed his light flashing around cautiously. The
-seconds seemed like eternities.
-
-I was so interested in watching the inside of the house that I had
-almost forgotten my companions behind me. Suddenly, I heard a muffled
-commotion near by, and whirled quickly around.
-
-The two Jovians had crept silently upon us out of the darkness; perhaps
-Marnick, as a cautionary measure, had sent them out to scout around
-the house. At any rate, there was a silent struggle of bodies behind
-me, and all I could distinguish clearly was one of the Jovians who had
-seized V'Narik's neck in his two powerful hands. Blakely was standing
-there with the heavy metal hook upraised, and it seemed to me that he
-hesitated about ten seconds too long before he brought it crashing
-down on the Jovian's skull. But by that time V'Narik was dead, and it
-suddenly dawned on me that Blakely's hesitation had been deliberate;
-and that left only seven of us instead of eight.
-
-The other Jovian was more than holding his own, and Blakely seemed
-content to watch. I seized the heavy bar from him and leaped into the
-melee, waiting for an opening. I brought the bar wildly down, and by
-pure luck it landed on the Jovian skull, crushing it like an eggshell.
-The others staggered weakly up.
-
-I leaped back to the window, for I thought surely Marnick must have
-returned; what I didn't realize then was that scarcely a minute had yet
-elapsed since the alarm had sounded. But McGowan had found his weapon.
-He held an atom-pistol in his hand as he crossed the lighted room to
-the window, and climbed back out to us.
-
-It was not until that moment that I had my curious foreboding. McGowan,
-if he had wanted to kill Marnick, could easily have crossed that room
-to the front door that was still open, and rayed Marnick down from
-behind. He wanted to kill Marnick all right, but in his own way. He had
-his own special revenge mapped out. I suddenly remembered that, and I
-knew that McGowan was going to carry it through.
-
-"So far so good," he murmured as he rejoined us. He weighed the
-atom-pistol familiarly in his hand. "Now, if only Elson out there comes
-through all right--Come on, let's see where Marnick is. Not too far
-from the house, I hope. And remember, all of you, this is strictly my
-party; so no interference."
-
-Those last words struck an ominous note in me, but I said nothing,
-nor did the others as we followed McGowan along to the far corner of
-the house. There we could see the long, dim rectangle of light from
-the room streaming out onto the barren rock. Marnick was not in sight
-but we knew he must be somewhere very near, waiting in the darkness,
-watching for whoever had set off that alarm.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Seemingly, for a long while we waited, but it couldn't have been more
-than a minute; we crowded close to each other, staring, trying to
-accustom our eyes to the night. Then McGowan pointed, and we saw a
-darker shape very near the house, and we knew it was Marnick, waiting.
-
-Again that curious feeling of impending drama overwhelmed me, and I
-wanted to act to prevent something, but I didn't know how--or what--
-
-McGowan's gesture shifted imperiously, and we saw another vague blur
-of a figure out there and we knew it was Elson. McGowan, in that
-moment, reminded me of a stage director, proud of his work and trying
-to impress its subtleties upon us. My gaze went back to the slouching
-figure of Elson, and I realized he was moving toward us.
-
-Marnick saw him at the same time. Marnick straightened up, leaned
-tautly forward and seemed to be peering. Then Marnick's hated voice
-came stabbing through the darkness to us, but not directed at us:
-
-"I see you out there. Whoever you are, it was foolish of you to try
-to come near my house, for you have set off a detector beam. Stop
-immediately or I will blast you. I have an atom-pistol trained on you
-at this moment."
-
-For a single instant everything seemed to stand still. Elson stood
-still. McGowan, close beside me, caught his breath sharply in his
-throat. Then Elson moved forward again, and McGowan breathed a slow
-sigh of relief.
-
-"Good," he murmured in my ear, though I am sure he was not conscious
-that I was there. "I knew Elson would obey me. Elson obeys me in
-everything." And then: "Poor Elson."
-
-In that sudden moment I realized what was going to happen; I knew
-McGowan had planned this step by step from start to finish, and I knew
-_Elson was going to die_! I started forward with a cry in my throat,
-but McGowan's hand clamped roughly over my mouth and his fingers dug
-cruelly into my arm.
-
-I could see, though, and I saw Elson come forward in his slouching,
-ungainly gait, arms dangling at his side and an idiotic grin on his
-face. I heard Marnick's warning once more, and I saw the almost
-invisible beam of his atom-pistol slashing the darkness. I saw Elson
-stumble and plough forward on his face and lay still. And not until
-then did McGowan release me.
-
-But then it was too late. Elson was dead, and I heard a sound that
-was almost a chuckle deep in McGowan's throat. Then his voice slashed
-through the darkness and I realized that here was the acme of triumph
-in all his years of planning:
-
-"Drop your pistol, Marnick."
-
-Marnick whirled toward his voice and took a tense step toward us;
-but McGowan's pistol rayed across the rock and slashed dangerously
-near Marnick's feet. Marnick's pistol dropped from his fingers with a
-clanging sound.
-
-"That's better. You're a madman, Marnick, but not too mad to fail to
-realize when the game is over. I'm going to kill you, I want you to
-know that; and I want you to know who is speaking. This is McGowan.
-But before I kill you I want you to realize what you've done tonight.
-You've killed a man. Know who it is? Go take a look."
-
-Marnick stood there hesitant. I could almost picture the indecision on
-his face. But McGowan's pistol rayed again, very close to his feet, and
-Marnick stumbled out to where Elson lay.
-
-"Good," McGowan went on. "Now look at 'im. It's Elson, you see?"
-McGowan's voice seemed different now than I had ever heard it. It
-wasn't his voice at all. But it went on inexorably, and I felt chills
-chasing up and down my spine.
-
-"Do you know who Elson really is, Marnick? No, of course, you don't. I
-saw to that. He came to this prison planet about the same time I did.
-He was tall and straight and youthful then, but somehow you couldn't
-stand that; you made him your special victim, you tortured and maimed
-him and now you've killed him. Look very closely, Marnick. You still
-do not know? Then I suggest you turn him over--that's right. And I
-suggest you look very closely on the outer part of his left thigh. A
-curious blemish is there, an unmistakable birthmark. You realize now?
-Yes, I see that you do.
-
-"Your son, Marnick, never died on Mars. I was one of that party of men
-who--Well, I don't care to think about that now. The others left him
-there beside his mother, thinking him dead, but I knew better. I went
-back and took him, and kept him with me until he was sixteen, when
-we parted. Perhaps he inherited some of his criminal ways from his
-association with me. Anyway, when I was sentenced here, and he came a
-little later, I knew what I must do!"
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-It was a nightmare. I couldn't believe it. I glimpsed Marnick out there
-huddling over the body of the man he had just slain ... his own son ...
-and even at that distance and through that dimness there was something
-that made me feel sorry for him.
-
-He arose very slowly, turned to face McGowan and tried to speak
-something but could not. He took a few faltering steps in our direction
-and then McGowan rayed him down. There was still a satisfied little
-smile on McGowan's lips as he did it. I hated McGowan in that moment as
-much as I had ever hated Marnick, but I could do nothing, for my mind
-was a little numbed.
-
-"I waited seven years for that," McGowan said, and he breathed very
-deeply. Then he walked through us and strode back to where the two
-Jovians lay, and V'Narik.
-
-"V'Narik's dead," he said as if he'd just discovered it. "He always had
-a hunch he wouldn't get away from here, didn't he? But he got to see
-the stars and Mars again, just as he wanted to. And Elson's dead, of
-course. That still leaves six of us." He looked at me significantly.
-
-I knew what he meant. I had known all the time that I would never set
-foot on Earth again, and McGowan had known it, too. "Make it five," I
-said, "for I'm staying."
-
-The others didn't quite understand, and they didn't much care. They
-went rushing off to find Marnick's cruiser that would bear them safely
-to Callisto. McGowan stepped forward with that enigmatic smile on his
-lips, and seized my hand.
-
-"Thanks," he said simply. "Thanks for all you've done for us, and don't
-hate me too much."
-
-"Just go away," I said, "and leave me alone. I want to think. You might
-leave me that atom-pistol if you want to."
-
-It is a good thing they left as quickly as they did, or I would have
-killed McGowan. I watched their cruiser blast up and away into the
-dark void. I said I wanted to think, and I have thought. And whenever
-I remember that terrible revenge, I must decide that McGowan was the
-madman, not Marnick. Perhaps they were both mad. Anyway, it does not
-matter any more.
-
-I only know that I shall soon die; for my constant proximity to those
-detector beams in the past several weeks, in conjunction with these
-radite emanations, has produced a curious illness in me from which I
-know I should never recover. The symptoms become stronger hourly, and
-the agony is almost unbearable. Perhaps soon, if it continues, I shall--
-
-But I must finish this document first. I have been writing it, here
-in Marnick's study, for the past twenty-four hours. I hope it will be
-found when the next Earth supply ship comes. I think it even likely
-that those other unfortunate men, in the tunnels below, will continue
-to work as usual until then, unknowing of what has taken place up here;
-for they have become automatons.
-
-I can only hope that this document will serve, in the future, to make
-the fate of such men a little less severe.
-
-Well, now I think it is finished.
-
-
-
-
-
-End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Out of This World, by Henry Hasse
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