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| author | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-02-03 19:17:53 -0800 |
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| committer | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-02-03 19:17:53 -0800 |
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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6f53e56 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #63046 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/63046) diff --git a/old/63046-h.zip b/old/63046-h.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index c6c9d20..0000000 --- a/old/63046-h.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/63046-h/63046-h.htm b/old/63046-h/63046-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index fb5beee..0000000 --- a/old/63046-h/63046-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1975 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> - <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=us-ascii" /> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> - <title> - The Project Gutenberg eBook of Mr. Meek-musketeer, by Clifford D. Simak. - </title> - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - - <style type="text/css"> - -body { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - - h1,h2 { - text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ - clear: both; -} - -p { - margin-top: .51em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .49em; -} - -hr { - width: 33%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - margin-left: 33.5%; - margin-right: 33.5%; - clear: both; -} - -hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} -hr.tb {width: 45%; margin-left: 27.5%; margin-right: 27.5%;} - -.center {text-align: center;} - -.right {text-align: right;} - -/* Images */ -.figcenter { - margin: auto; - text-align: center; -} - -.caption p -{ - text-align: center; - text-indent: 0; - margin: 0.25em 0; -} - -div.titlepage { - text-align: center; - page-break-before: always; - page-break-after: always; -} - -div.titlepage p { - text-align: center; - text-indent: 0em; - font-weight: bold; - line-height: 1.5; - margin-top: 3em; -} - -.ph1 { text-align: center; text-indent: 0em; } -.ph1 { font-size: medium; margin: .83em auto; } - - </style> - </head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Mr. Meek--Musketeer, by Clifford D. Simak - -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: Mr. Meek--Musketeer - -Author: Clifford D. Simak - -Release Date: August 26, 2020 [EBook #63046] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MR. MEEK--MUSKETEER *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="titlepage"> -<h1>Mr. Meek—Musketeer</h1> - -<h2>By CLIFFORD D. SIMAK</h2> - -<p>Adventure flamed in Mr. Meek's timorous heart,<br /> -the surge of battle and singing blades. And so,<br /> -with a rocket-ship for his steed and a ray-gun<br /> -for his sword, he sallied forth ... carrying<br /> -cavalier justice to the resentful shining stars.</p> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Planet Stories Summer 1944.<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>Now that he'd done it, Oliver Meek found the thing he'd done hard to -explain.</p> - -<p>Under the calm, inquiring eyes of Mr. Richard Belmont, president of -Lunar Exports, Inc., he stammered a little before he could get started.</p> - -<p>"For years," he finally said, "I've been planning a trip...."</p> - -<p>"But, Oliver," said Belmont, "we would give you a leave of absence. -You'll be back. There's no reason to resign."</p> - -<p>Oliver Meek shuffled his feet and looked uncomfortable, a little guilty.</p> - -<p>"Maybe I won't be back," he declared. "You see, it isn't just an -ordinary trip. It may take a long, long time. Something might happen. -I'm going out to see the Solar System."</p> - -<p>Belmont laughed lightly, reared back in his chair, matching fingertips. -"Oh, yes. One of the tours. Nothing dangerous about them. Nothing at -all. You needn't worry about that. I went on one a couple of years -ago. Mighty interesting...."</p> - -<p>"Not one of the tours," interrupted Meek. "Not for me. I have a ship of -my own."</p> - -<p>Belmont thumped forward in his chair, looking almost startled.</p> - -<p>"A ship of your own!"</p> - -<p>"Yes, sir," Oliver admitted, squirming uncomfortably. "Over thirty -years I've saved for it ... for it and the other things I'll need. It -sort of got to be ... well, an obsession, you might say."</p> - -<p>"I see," said Belmont. "You planned it."</p> - -<p>"Yes, sir, I planned it."</p> - -<p>Which was a masterpiece of understatement.</p> - -<p>For Belmont could not know and Oliver Meek, stoop-shouldered, -white-haired bookkeeper, could not tell of those thirty years of thrift -and dreams. Thirty years of watching ships of the void taking off from -the space port, just outside the window where he sat hunched over -ledgers and calculators. Thirty years of catching scraps of talk from -the men who ran those ships. Men and ships with the alien dust of far -off planets still clinging to their skins. Ships with strange marks and -scars upon them, and men with strange words upon their tongues.</p> - -<p>Thirty years of reducing high adventure to cold figures. Thirty years -of recording strange cargoes and stranger tales into accounts. Thirty -years of watching through a window while rockets, outbound, dug molten -pits into the field. Thirty years of being on the edge, the very fringe -of life ... but <i>never</i> in it.</p> - -<p>Nor could Belmont have guessed or Meek formed in words the romanticism -that glowed within the middle-aged bookkeeper's heart ... a thing that -sometimes hurt ... something earthbound that forever cried for space.</p> - -<p>Nor the night classes Oliver Meek had attended to learn the theory of -space navigation and after that more classes to gain an understanding -of the motors and controls that drove the ships between the planets.</p> - -<p>Nor how he had stood before the mirror in his room hour after hour, -practicing, perfecting the art of pistol handling. Nor of the -afternoons he had spent at the shooting gallery.</p> - -<p>Nor of the nights he had read avidly, soaking up the lore and -information and color of those other worlds that seemed to beckon him.</p> - -<p>"How old are you, Oliver?" asked Belmont.</p> - -<p>"Fifty next month, sir," Meek answered.</p> - -<p>"I wish you were taking one of the passenger ships," said Belmont. -"Now, one of those tours aren't so bad. They're comfortable and ..."</p> - -<p>Meek shook his head and there was a stubborn glint in the weak blue -eyes behind the thick lensed glasses.</p> - -<p>"No tour for me, sir. I'm going to some of those places the tours never -take you. I've missed a lot in these thirty years. I've waited a long -time and now I'm going out and see the things I've dreamed about."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Oliver Meek pushed open the swinging doors of the Silver Moon and -stepped timidly inside. Just through the door he stopped and stared, -for the place hit him squarely in the face ... the acrid smoke of -Venusian leaf, the high-pitched laughter of the Martian dancing girls, -the soft whirr of wheels, the click of balls as they bounced around -the spinning wheels, the clatter of poker chips, the odor of strange -liquors, the chirping and growling of a dozen tongues, the strange, -exotic music of Ganymede.</p> - -<p>Meek blinked through his heavy lenses, moved forward cautiously.</p> - -<p>In the far corner of the place stood a table occupied by one man ... an -old, grizzled veteran of the Asteroids with his muzzle in a flagon of -cheap beer.</p> - -<p>Meek sidled toward the table, drew out a chair.</p> - -<p>"Do you mind if I sit here?" he asked and Old Stiffy Grant choked on a -mouthful of beer in his amazement.</p> - -<p>"Go ahead, stranger," he finally croaked. "I don't give a dang. I don't -own the joint."</p> - -<p>Meek sat down on the edge of the chair. His eyes swept the room. He -smelled the smoke, the raw liquor, the sweat-stained clothing of the -men, the cheap perfumery of the dancing girls.</p> - -<p>He shifted his gun belt so the two energy pistols hung more easily, and -cautiously slid farther back upon the chair.</p> - -<p>So this was Asteroid City on Juno. The place he'd read about. The place -the pulp paper writers used as background for their more lurid tales. -This was the place where guns flamed and men were found dead in the -streets and a girl or a game of chance or just one spoken word could -start a fight.</p> - -<p>The tours didn't include places such as this. They took one to the -nice, civilized places ... towns like Gusta Pahn on Mars and Radium -City on Venus and out to Satellite City on Ganymede. Civilized, -polished places ... places hardly different than New York or Chicago -or Denver back home. But this was different ... here one could sense -something that made the blood run faster, made a thrill scamper up -one's spine.</p> - -<p>"You're new here, ain't you?" asked Stiffy.</p> - -<p>Meek jumped, then recovered his composure.</p> - -<p>"Yes," he said. "Yes, I am. I always wanted to see this place. I read -about it."</p> - -<p>"Ever read about an Asteroid Prowler?" asked Stiffy.</p> - -<p>"I believe I have somewhere. In a magazine section. A crazy story...."</p> - -<p>"It ain't crazy," protested Stiffy. "I saw one of them ... this -afternoon. Right here on Juno. None of these dad-blamed fools will -believe me."</p> - -<p>Furtively, Meek studied the man opposite him. He didn't seem to be such -a bad fellow. Almost like any other human being. A little rough, maybe, -but a good fellow just the same.</p> - -<p>"Say," he suggested impulsively, "maybe you'd have a drink with me."</p> - -<p>"You're dang tootin'," agreed Stiffy. "I never turn down no drinks."</p> - -<p>"You order it," said Meek.</p> - -<p>Stiffy bawled across the room. "Hey, Joe, bring us a couple snorts."</p> - -<p>"What kind of an animal was this you were speaking of?" asked Meek.</p> - -<p>"Asteroid Prowler," said Stiffy. "Most of these hoodlums don't think -there is one, but I know different. I saw him this afternoon and he -was the dad-blamest thing I ever laid my eyes on. He boiled right out -from behind a big rock and started coming after me. I let him have one -in the face but that didn't even nick him. Full-power, too. When that -happened I didn't waste no more time. I took it on the lam. Got to my -ship and got out of there."</p> - -<p>"What did he look like?"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Stiffy leaned across the table and wagged a forefinger solemnly. -"Mister, you won't believe me when I tell you. But it's the truth, -so help me. He had a beak. And eyes. Danged if them eyes weren't -something. Like they were reaching out and trying to grab you. Not -really reaching out, you know. But there was something in them that -tried to talk to you. Big as plates and they shimmered like there was -fire inside of them.</p> - -<p>"These dod-rotted rock-blasters here laughed at me when I told them -about it. Insinuated I held the truth lightly, they did. Laughed their -fool heads off.</p> - -<p>"It's pretty near as big as a house ... that animal, and it's got a -body like a barrel. It's got a long neck and a little head with big -teeth. It's got a tail, too, and it's kind of set close to the ground. -You see, I was out looking for the Lost Mine."</p> - -<p>"Lost Mine?"</p> - -<p>"Sure, ain't you ever heard of the Lost Mine?"</p> - -<p>Stiffy blew beer in amazement.</p> - -<p>Oliver Meek shook his head, feeling that probably he was the victim of -tales reserved for the greenest of the tenderfeet, not knowing what he -could do about it if he were.</p> - -<p>Stiffy settled more solidly in his chair.</p> - -<p>"The Lost Mine story," he declared, "has been going around for years. -Seems a couple of fellows found it a few years after the first dome was -built. They came in and told about it, stocked up with grub and went -out. They never did come back."</p> - -<p>He leaned across the table.</p> - -<p>"You know what I think?" he demanded gustily.</p> - -<p>"No," said Meek. "What do you think?"</p> - -<p>"The Prowler got 'em," Stiffy said, triumphantly.</p> - -<p>"But how could there be a lost mine?" asked Meek. "Asteroid City was -one of the first mining domes built out here. There was no prospecting -done until about that time."</p> - -<p>Stiffy shook his head, waggling his beard.</p> - -<p>"How should I know," he defended himself. "Maybe some early space -traveler set down here, dug a mine, never got back to Earth to tell -about it."</p> - -<p>"But Juno is only one hundred and eighteen miles in diameter," Meek -argued. "If there had been a mine someone would have found it."</p> - -<p>Stiffy snorted. "That's all you know about it, stranger. Only one -hundred and eighteen miles, sure ... but one hundred and eighteen miles -of the worst danged country man ever set a boot on. Mostly up and down."</p> - -<p>The drinks came, the bartender slapping them down on the table before -them. Meek gasped first at their price, then choked on the drink -itself. But he smothered the choke manfully and asked:</p> - -<p>"What kind of stuff is this?"</p> - -<p>"<i>Bocca</i>," replied Stiffy. "Good old Martian <i>bocca</i>. Puts hair on your -chest."</p> - -<p>He gulped his drink with gusto, blew noisily through his whiskers, eyed -Meek disapprovingly.</p> - -<p>"Don't you like it?" he demanded.</p> - -<p>"Sure," lied Meek. "Sure I like it."</p> - -<p>He shut his eyes and poured the liquor into his mouth, gulped fiercely, -desperately, almost strangling.</p> - -<p>Said Stiffy: "Tell you what let's do. Let's get into a game."</p> - -<p>Meek opened his mouth to accept the invitation, then closed it, caution -stealing over him. After all, he didn't know much about this place. -Maybe he'd better go a little easy, at least at first.</p> - -<p>He shook his head. "No, I'm not very good at cards. Just a few games of -penny-ante now and then."</p> - -<p>Stiffy looked his disbelief. "Penny ante," he said, then guffawed as if -he sensed humor in what Meek had said. "Say, you're good," he roared. -"Don't s'pose you can use them lightnin' throwers of yours either."</p> - -<p>"Some," admitted Meek. "Practiced in front of a looking glass a little."</p> - -<p>He wondered why Stiffy rolled in his chair with mirth until tears ran -down into his whiskers.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Stiffy held a full house ... aces with kings ... and his eyes had the -look of a cat stalking a saucer full of cream.</p> - -<p>There were only two in the game, Stiffy and an oily gentleman called -Luke. As the stakes mounted and the game grew hotter the others at the -table dropped out.</p> - -<p>Standing behind Stiffy, Oliver Meek watched in awe, scarcely breathing.</p> - -<p>Here was life ... the kind of life one would never dream of back in -the little cubby hole with its calculators and dusty books at Lunar -Exports, Inc.</p> - -<p>In the space of an hour, he had seen more money pass across the -table than he had ever owned in all his life. Pots that climbed and -pyramided, fortunes gambled on the flip of a single card.</p> - -<p>But there was something else too ... something wrong about the dealing. -He couldn't figure quite what it was, but he had read an article about -how gamblers dealt the cards when they didn't aim to give the other -fellow quite an even break. And there had been something about Luke's -dealing ... something that he had read about in that article.</p> - -<p>Across the table Luke grimaced.</p> - -<p>"I'll have to call you," he announced. "I'm afraid you're too strong -for me."</p> - -<p>Stiffy slapped down his hand triumphantly.</p> - -<p>"Match that, dang you!" he exulted. "The kind of cards I been waiting -for all night."</p> - -<p>He reached out a gnarled hand to rake in the coins but Luke stopped him -with a gesture.</p> - -<p>"Sorry," he said.</p> - -<p>He flipped the cards down slowly, one at a time. First a trey, then a -four and then three more fours.</p> - -<p>Stiffy gulped, reached for the bottle.</p> - -<p>But even as he did, Oliver Meek reached out and placed his hand upon -the money on the table, fingers wide spread. He'd remembered what he -had read in that article....</p> - -<p>"Just a minute, gentlemen," he said. "I've remembered something...."</p> - -<p>Silence thudded in the room.</p> - -<p>Meek looked across the table straight into the eyes of Luke.</p> - -<p>Luke said: "You better explain yourself, mister."</p> - -<p>Meek suddenly was flustered. "Why, maybe I acted too hastily. It really -was nothing. I just noticed something about the deal...."</p> - -<p>Luke jerked erect, kicking his chair away with the single motion of -rising. The crowd suddenly surged away, out of the line of fire. The -bartender ducked behind the bar. Stiffy flung himself with a howl out -of his chair, skidded along the floor.</p> - -<p>Meek, suddenly straightening from the table, saw Luke's hand streaking -for the gun at his belt and in a split second he realized that here he -faced a situation that demanded action.</p> - -<p>He didn't think about those days of practice in front of the mirror. He -didn't call upon a single iota of the gun-lore he had read in hundreds -of books. His mind, for a bare instant, was almost a blank, but he -acted as if by instinct.</p> - -<p>His hands moved like driving pistons, snapped the twin guns from their -holsters, heaved them clear of leather, grabbed them in mid-air.</p> - -<p>He saw Luke's gun muzzle swinging up, tilted down the muzzle of his own -left gun, pressed the activator. There was a screeching hiss, a streak -of blue that crackled in the air and the gun that Luke held in his hand -was suddenly red hot.</p> - -<p>But Meek wasn't watching Luke. His eyes were for the crowd and even as -he pressed the firing button he saw a hand pick a bottle off the bar, -lift it to throw. The gun in his right hand shrieked and the bottle -smashed into a million pieces, the liquor turned to steam.</p> - -<p>Slowly Meek backed away, his tread almost cat-like, his weak blue eyes -like cold ice behind the thick-lensed spectacles, his hunched shoulders -still hunched, his lean jaw like a steel trap.</p> - -<p>He felt the wall at his back and stopped.</p> - -<p>Out in the room before him no one stirred. Luke stood like a statue, -gripping his right hand, badly burned by the smoking gun that lay at -his feet. Luke's face was a mask of hatred.</p> - -<p>The rest of them simply stared. Stared at this outlander. A man who -wore clothing such as the Asteroid Belt had never seen before. A man -who looked as if he might be a clerk or even a retired farmer out on a -holiday. A man with glasses and hunched shoulders and a skin that had -never known the touch of sun in space.</p> - -<p>And yet a man who had given Luke Blaine a head start for his gun, had -beaten him to the draw, had burned the gun out of his hand.</p> - -<p>Oliver Meek heard himself speaking, but he couldn't believe it was -himself. It was as if some other person had taken command of his -tongue, was forcing it to speak. He hardly recognized his voice, for it -was hard and brittle and sounded far away.</p> - -<p>It was saying: "Does anyone else want to argue with me?"</p> - -<p>It was immediately apparent no one did.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph1">II</p> - -<p>Oliver Meek tried to explain it carefully, but it was hard when people -were so insistent. Hard, too, to collect his thoughts so early in the -day.</p> - -<p>He sat on the edge of the bed, white hair tousled, his night shirt -wrinkled, his bony legs sticking out beneath it.</p> - -<p>"But I'm not a gun fighter," he declared. "I'm just on a holiday. I -never shot at a man before in all my life. I can't imagine what came -over me."</p> - -<p>The Rev. Harold Brown brushed his argument aside.</p> - -<p>"Don't you see, sir," he insisted, "what you can do for us? These -hoodlums will respect you. You can clean up the town for us. Blacky -Hoffman and his mob run the place. They make decent government and -decent living impossible. They levy protection tribute on every -businessman, they rob and cheat the miners and prospectors who come -here, they maintain vice conditions...."</p> - -<p>"All you have to do," said Andrew Smith brightly, "is run Blacky and -his gang out of town."</p> - -<p>"But," protested Meek, "you don't understand."</p> - -<p>"Five years ago," the Rev. Brown went on, disregarding him, "I would -have hesitated to pit force against force. It is not my way nor the way -of the church ... but for five years I've tried to bring the gospel to -this place, have worked for better conditions and each year I see them -steadily getting worse."</p> - -<p>"This could be a swell place," enthused Smith, "if we could get rid of -the undesirables. Fine opportunities. Capital would come in. Decent -people could settle. We could have some civic improvements. Maybe a -Rotary club."</p> - -<p>Meek wiggled his toes despairingly.</p> - -<p>"You would earn the eternal gratitude of Asteroid City," urged the Rev. -Brown. "We've tried it before but it never worked."</p> - -<p>"They always killed our man," Smith explained, "or he got scared, or -they bought him off."</p> - -<p>"We never had a man like you before," the Rev. Brown declared. "Luke -Blaine is a notorious gunman. No one, ever before, has been able to -beat him to...."</p> - -<p>"There must be some mistake," insisted Meek. "I'm just a bookkeeper. I -don't know a thing...."</p> - -<p>"We'd swear you in as marshal," said Smith. "The office is vacant now. -Has been for three months or more. We can't find anyone to take it."</p> - -<p>"But I'm not staying long," protested Meek. "I'm leaving pretty soon. I -just want to try to get a look at the Asteroid Prowler and scout around -to see if I can't find some old rocks I read about once."</p> - -<p>The two visitors stared open mouthed at him. Meek brightened. "You've -heard about those old rocks, maybe. Some funny inscriptions on them. -Fellow who found them thought they had been made recently, probably -just before Earthmen first came here. But no one can read them. Maybe -some other race ... from somewhere far away."</p> - -<p>"But it won't take you long," pleaded Smith. "We got warrants for all -of them. All you got to do is serve them."</p> - -<p>"Look," said Meek in desperation, "you have got me wrong. It must have -been an accident, shooting that gun out of Mr. Blaine's hand."</p> - -<p>Meek felt dull anger stirring within him. What right did these people -have of insisting that he help them with their troubles? What did they -think he was? A desperado or space runner? Another gangster? Just -because he'd been lucky at the Silver Moon.</p> - -<p>"By gosh," he declared flatly, "I just won't do it!"</p> - -<p>They looked pained, rose reluctantly.</p> - -<p>"I suppose we shouldn't have expected that you would," said the -Reverend Brown bitingly.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The Silver Moon was quiet. The bartender was languidly wiping the top -of the bar. A Venusian boy was as languidly sweeping out. The dancing -girls were gone, the music was silent.</p> - -<p>Stiffy and Oliver Meek were among the few customers.</p> - -<p>Stiffy gulped a drink and blew fiercely through his whiskers.</p> - -<p>"Oliver," he said, "you sure are a ring-tailed bearcat with them guns -of yours. I wonder, would you tell me how you do it?"</p> - -<p>"Look here, Mr. Grant," said Meek. "I wish you'd quit talking about -what I did. It was just an accident, anyhow. What I'm mainly interested -in is this Asteroid Prowler you were telling me about. Is there any -chance I might find him if I went out and looked?"</p> - -<p>Stiffy choked, almost purple with astonishment.</p> - -<p>"Good gravy," he said, "now you want to go out and tangle with the -Prowler!"</p> - -<p>"Not tangle with him," Meek declared. "Just look at him."</p> - -<p>"Mister," Stiffy warned, "the best way to look at that thing is with a -telescope. A good, powerful telescope."</p> - -<p>The swinging doors swung open and a man walked in.</p> - -<p>The newcomer walked directly toward the table occupied by Stiffy and -Meek. He halted beside it, black beard jutting fearsomely, eyes bleakly -cold.</p> - -<p>"I'm Blacky Hoffman," he said. "I suppose you're Meek." He disregarded -Stiffy.</p> - -<p>Meek stood up and held out his hand.</p> - -<p>"Glad to know you, Mr. Hoffman," he said.</p> - -<p>Blacky took the proffered hand in some surprise.</p> - -<p>"Seems I should know you, Meek, but I don't. Should have heard of you -at some time or other. A man like you would get talked about."</p> - -<p>Meek shook his head. "I don't think you ever have. I never did anything -to get talked about."</p> - -<p>"Sit down," said Hoffman and it sounded like a command.</p> - -<p>"I got to be going," Stiffy piped, already halfway to the door.</p> - -<p>Hoffman poured out a drink and shoved the bottle at Meek. Meek gritted -his teeth and poured a short one.</p> - -<p>"No use beating around the bush," said Blacky. "We may as well get down -to cases. I guess we understand one another."</p> - -<p>Oliver Meek didn't know what the other meant, but he had to say -something.</p> - -<p>"I guess we do," he agreed.</p> - -<p>"All right, then," said Hoffman. "I've built up a sweet little racket -here and I don't like fellows butting in."</p> - -<p>Meek essayed to down his liquor, succeeded, gasped for breath.</p> - -<p>"But I could use a man like you," said Hoffman. "Luke tells me you are -handy with the blasters."</p> - -<p>"I practice sometimes," Meek admitted.</p> - -<p>A smile twitched Hoffman's bearded lips. "We have the town just where -we want it. The officials can't do a thing. Scared to. Marshals always -eat rock or skip town. Maybe you would like to throw in with us. Not -much to do, easy pickings."</p> - -<p>"I'm sorry," said Meek, "but I can't do that."</p> - -<p>"Listen, Meek," warned Hoffman, "you're either with us or you aren't. -We don't like chiselers here. We know what to do with guys who try to -muscle in. I don't know who you are or where you come from, but I'm -telling you this ... straight. If you don't come in, all right ... but -if you stick around after tonight I can't promise you protection."</p> - -<p>Meek was silent, mulling the threat.</p> - -<p>"You mean," he finally asked, "that you're ordering me out if I don't -join your gang?"</p> - -<p>Hoffman nodded. "That, big boy, is just exactly what I mean."</p> - -<p>Slow anger and resentment ate at Meek. Who was this Hoffman to order -him out of Asteroid City? This was a free Solar System, wasn't it? No -wonder the Rev. Brown was jittery. No wonder the decent people wanted a -clean-up.</p> - -<p>Meek's anger mounted, a cold deadly anger that shook him like a frigid -hand. An anger that almost frightened him, for very seldom in his life -had he been really angry.</p> - -<p>He rose slowly from the table, hitched his gun belt to a comfortable -position.</p> - -<p>"The town's been without a marshal for a long time, hasn't it?" he -asked.</p> - -<p>Hoffman's laugh boomed out. "You bet it has. And it's going to stay -that way. The last one took it on the lam. The one before that got -killed. The one before that sort of disappeared...."</p> - -<p>Meek spoke slowly, weak eyes burning.</p> - -<p>"Horrible condition," he said. "Something's got to be done about it."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The streets were deserted, quiet, a deadly quiet that lurked and -hovered, waiting for something to happen.</p> - -<p>Oliver Meek polished his marshal's star with his coat sleeve, glanced -up at the dome. Stars glittered, their light distorted by the heavy -quartz. Stars in a dead black sky.</p> - -<p>Bathed in the weak starlight, the mighty walls of the canyon reared -above the dome. A canyon, the only sort of place where a city could -rise on one of the planetoids. For the walls protected the dome against -the deadly barrage of whizzing debris that continually shrieked down -from space. Those mighty cragged mountains and dizzy cliffs were pocked -with the blows dealt, through long eons, by that hail of armor-piercing -projectiles.</p> - -<p>Meek returned his gaze to the street, saw the lights of the Silver -Moon. Nervously he felt of the papers in his inside pocket. Warrants -for the arrest of John Hoffman for murder, Luke Blaine for murder, Jim -Smithers for reckless shooting, Jake Loomis for assault and battery, -Robert Blake for robbery.</p> - -<p>And suddenly, Oliver Meek was afraid. For death waited him, he knew, -inside the swinging doors of the Silver Moon. A death preluded by this -quiet street.</p> - -<p>Almost as if he were awaking from a dream, he found questions filling -his brain. What was he doing here? Why had he gotten himself into a jam -like this? What difference did it make to him what happened to Asteroid -City?</p> - -<p>It had been anger that had made him do it ... that unaccountable anger -which had flared when Hoffman told him to get out.</p> - -<p>After all, what difference would a few days make? He was going to leave -anyhow. He'd seen about all there was to see in Asteroid City. He -wanted to see the Prowler and the stones with the strange inscriptions -on them, but they were sights he could get along without.</p> - -<p>If he turned around and walked the other way he could reach his space -ship in just a few minutes. There was fuel enough to take him to -Ganymede. No one would know until he was already gone. And after he was -gone, what would he care what anybody thought?</p> - -<p>He stood irresolutely, arguing with himself. Then he shook his head, -resumed his march toward the Silver Moon.</p> - -<p>A figure stepped from a dark doorway. Meek saw the threatening gleam of -steel. His hands streaked toward his gun-butts, but something prodded -him in the back and he froze, fingers touching metal.</p> - -<p>"All right, marshal," said a mocking voice. "You just turn around and -walk the other way."</p> - -<p>He felt his guns lifted from their holsters and he turned around and -walked. Footsteps crunched beside him and behind him, but otherwise he -walked in silence.</p> - -<p>"Where are you taking me?" he asked, his voice just a trifle shaky.</p> - -<p>One of the men laughed.</p> - -<p>"Just on a little trip, marshal. Out to take a look at Juno. It's a -right pretty sight at night."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Juno wasn't pretty. For the most part, there was little of it one could -see. The stars shed little light and the depressions were in shadow, -while the cragged mountain tops seemed like shimmering mirages in the -ghostly starlight.</p> - -<p>The ship lay on a plateau between a needle-like range and a deep, -shadowed valley.</p> - -<p>"Now, marshal," said one of the men, "you stay right here. You'll see -the Sun come up over that mountain back there. Interesting. Dawn on -Juno is something to remember."</p> - -<p>Meek started forward, but the other waved him back with his pistol.</p> - -<p>"You're leaving me here?" shrieked Meek.</p> - -<p>"Why sure," the man said. "You wanted to see the Solar System, didn't -you?"</p> - -<p>They backed away from him, guns in hand. Frozen in terror, he watched -them enter the ship, saw the port close. An instant later the ship -roared away, the backwash of its tubes buffeting Meek to the ground.</p> - -<p>He struggled to his feet, watching the blasting tubes until they were -out of sight. Clumsily he stepped forward and then stopped. There was -no place to go ... nothing to do.</p> - -<p>Loneliness and fear swept over him in terrible waves of anguish. Fear -that dwarfed any emotion he had ever felt. Fear of the ghostly shimmer -of the peaks, fear of the shadow-blackened valley, fear of space and -the mad, cold intensity of unwinking stars.</p> - -<p>He fought for a grip on himself. It was fear such as this that -drove men mad in space. He'd read about that, heard about it. Fear -of the loneliness and the terrible depths of space ... fear of the -indifference of endless miles of void, fear of the unknown that always -lurked just at elbow distance.</p> - -<p>"Meek," he told himself, "you should have stayed at home."</p> - -<p>Dawn came shortly, but no such dawn as one would see on Earth. Just a -gradual dimming of the stars, a gradual lifting of the blacker darkness -as a larger star, the Sun, swung above the peaks.</p> - -<p>The stars still shone, but a gray light filtered over the landscape, -made the mountains solid things instead of ghostly shapes.</p> - -<p>Jagged peaks loomed on one side of the plateau, fearsome depths on the -other. A meteor thudded somewhere to his right and Meek shuddered. -There was no sound of the impact but he could feel the vibrations of -the blow as the whizzing mass struck the cliffs.</p> - -<p>But it was foolish to be afraid of meteors, he told himself. He had -greater and more immediate worries.</p> - -<p>There were less than eight hours of air left in the tanks of his space -suit. He had no idea where he was, although he knew that many miles of -rugged, fearsome country stretched between him and Asteroid City.</p> - -<p>The space suit carried no food and no water, but that was of minor -moment, he realized, for his air would give out long before he felt the -pangs of thirst or hunger.</p> - -<p>He sat down on a massive boulder and tried to think. There wasn't much -to think about. Everywhere his thoughts met black walls. The situation, -he told himself, was hopeless.</p> - -<p>If only he hadn't come to Asteroid City in the first place! Or -having come, if he had only minded his business, this never would -have happened. If he hadn't been so anxious to show off what he knew -about card dealing tricks. If only he hadn't agreed to be sworn in as -marshal. If he'd swallowed his pride and left when Hoffman told him to.</p> - -<p>He brushed away such thoughts as futile, took stock of his surroundings.</p> - -<p>The cliff on the right hand side was undercut, overhanging several -hundred feet of level ground.</p> - -<p>Ponderously, he heaved himself off the boulder, wandered aimlessly up -the wider tongue of plateau. The undercut, he saw, grew deeper, forming -a deep cleft, as if someone had furrowed out the mountain side. Heavy -shadows clung within it.</p> - -<p>Suddenly he stopped, riveted to the ground, scarcely daring to breathe.</p> - -<p>Something was moving in the deep shadow of the undercut. Something that -seemed to glint faintly with reflected light.</p> - -<p>The thing lurched forward and, in the fleeting instant before he turned -and ran, Oliver Meek had an impression of a barrel-like body, a long -neck, a cruel mouth, monstrous eyes that glowed with hidden fires.</p> - -<p>There was no speculation in Oliver Meek's mind. From the description -given him by Stiffy, from the very terror of the thing, he knew the -being shambling toward him was the Asteroid Prowler.</p> - -<p>With a shriek of pure fear, Meek turned and fled and behind him came -the Prowler, its head swaying on the end of its whip-like neck.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Meek's legs worked like pistons, his breath gasping in his throat, his -body soaring through space as he covered long distances at each leap -under the influence of lesser gravity.</p> - -<p>Thunderous blasts hammered at the earphones in his helmet and as he ran -he craned his head skyward.</p> - -<p>Shooting down toward the plateau, forward rockets braking, was a small -spaceship!</p> - -<p>Hope rose within him and he glanced back over his shoulder. Hope died -instantly. The Prowler was gaining on him, gaining fast.</p> - -<p>Suddenly his legs gave out. Simply folded up, worn out with the -punishment they had taken. He threw up his arms to shield his helmet -plate and sobbed in panic.</p> - -<p>The Asteroid Prowler would get him now. Sure as shooting. Just at the -minute rescue came, the Prowler would get him.</p> - -<p>But the Prowler didn't get him. Nothing happened at all. Surprised, he -sat up and spun around, crouching.</p> - -<p>The ship had landed, almost at the edge of the plateau and a man was -tumbling out of the port. The Prowler had changed his course, was -galloping toward the ship.</p> - -<p>The man from the ship ran in leaping bounds, a pistol in one gloved -hand, and his yelp of terror rang in Meek's earphones.</p> - -<p>"Run, dang you. Run! That dad-blamed Prowler will be after us any -minute now."</p> - -<p>"Stiffy," yelled Meek. "Stiffy, you came out to get me."</p> - -<p>Stiffy landed beside him, hauled him to his feet.</p> - -<p>"Dang right I came to get you," he panted. "I thought them hoodlums -would be up to some dirty tricks, so I stuck around and watched."</p> - -<p>He jerked at Meek's arm.</p> - -<p>"Come on, Oliver, we got to get along."</p> - -<p>But Meek jerked his arm away.</p> - -<p>"Look what he's doin!" he shouted. "Just look at him!"</p> - -<p>The Prowler seemed to be bent on systematic destruction of the space -ship. His jaws were ripping at the steel plating.... Ripping at it and -tearing it away, peeling it off the frame as one might peel an orange.</p> - -<p>"Hey," howled Stiffy. "You can't do that. Get out of there, you -danged...."</p> - -<p>The Prowler turned to look at them, a heavy power cable in its mouth.</p> - -<p>"You'll be electrocuted," yelped Stiffy. "Danged if it won't serve you -right."</p> - -<p>But, far from being electrocuted, the Prowler seemed to be enjoying -himself. He sucked at the power cable and his eyes eyes glowed -blissfully.</p> - -<p>Stiffy flourished his pistol.</p> - -<p>"Get away," he yelled. "Get away or I'll blister your danged hide."</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus.jpg" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p><i>The Prowler whirled from the shattered ship.</i></p> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>Almost playfully the Prowler minced away from the ship, feet dancing.</p> - -<p>"He did it!" said Meek.</p> - -<p>"Did what?" Stiffy scowled bewilderedly.</p> - -<p>"Got away from that ship, just like you told him to."</p> - -<p>Stiffy snorted. "Don't ever kid yourself he did it because I told him -to. He couldn't even hear me, probably. Living out here like this, -he wouldn't have anything to hear with. Probably he's just trying to -decide which one of us he'll catch first. Better be ready to kick you -up some dust."</p> - -<p>The Prowler trotted toward them, head bobbing up and down.</p> - -<p>"Get going," Stiffy yelled at Meek and brought up his pistol. A blue -shaft of light whipped out, smacked the Prowler in the head, but the -Prowler didn't even falter in his stride. The energy charge seemed to -have no power at all. It didn't even spatter ... it looked as if the -blue pencil of raging death was boring straight into the spread of -forehead between the monstrous eyes.</p> - -<p>"Run, you danged fool," Stiffy screeched at Meek. "I can't hold him -off."</p> - -<p>But Meek didn't run ... instead he sprang straight into the Prowler's -path, arm upraised.</p> - -<p>"Stop!" he yelled.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph1">III</p> - -<p>The Prowler skidded to a stop, his metal hooves leaving scratches on -the solid rock.</p> - -<p>For a moment the three of them stood stock still, Stiffy's jaw hanging -in astonishment.</p> - -<p>Meek reached out a hand and patted the Prowler's massive shoulder.</p> - -<p>"Good boy," he said. "Good boy."</p> - -<p>"Come away from there!" Stiffy yelled in sudden terror. "Just one good -gulp and that guy would have you."</p> - -<p>"Ah, shucks," said Meek, "he won't hurt anybody. He's only hungry, -that's all."</p> - -<p>"That," declared Stiffy, "is just what I'm afraid of."</p> - -<p>"You don't understand," insisted Meek. "He isn't hungry for us. He's -starved for energy. Give him another shot from the gun."</p> - -<p>Stiffy stared at the gun hanging in his hand.</p> - -<p>"You're sure it wouldn't make him sore?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"Gosh, no," said Meek. "That's what he wants. He soaks it up. Didn't -you notice how the beam went right into him, without spattering or -anything. And the way he sucked that power cable. He drained your ship -of every drop of energy it had."</p> - -<p>"He did what?" yelped Stiffy.</p> - -<p>"He drained the ship of energy. That's what he lives on. That's why he -chased you. He wanted you to keep on shooting."</p> - -<p>Stiffy clapped a hand to his forehead.</p> - -<p>"We're sunk for certain, now," he declared. "There might have been a -chance to get back with just a few plates ripped off the ship. But with -all the energy gone...."</p> - -<p>"Hey, Stiffy," yelled Meek, "take a look at this."</p> - -<p>Stiffy moved nearer, cautiously.</p> - -<p>"What you got now?" he demanded irritably.</p> - -<p>"These marks on his shoulder," said Meek. His gloved finger shook -excitedly as he pointed. "They're the same kind of marks as were on -those stones I read about in the book. Marks no one could read. Fellow -who wrote the book figured they were made by some other race that had -visited Juno. Maybe a race from outside the Solar System, even."</p> - -<p>"Good gravy," said Stiffy, in awe, "you don't think...."</p> - -<p>"Sure, I do," Meek declared with the air of a man who is sure of his -knowledge. "A race came here one time and they had the Prowler along. -For some reason they left him. Maybe he was just a robot and they -didn't have room for him, or maybe something happened to them...."</p> - -<p>"Say," said Stiffy, "I bet you that's just what he is. A robot. Attuned -to thought waves. That's why he minds you."</p> - -<p>"That's what I figured," Meek agreed. "Thought waves would be the -same, no matter who thought them ... human being or a ... well ... or -something else."</p> - -<p>A sudden thought struck Stiffy. "Maybe them guys found the Lost Mine! -By cracky, that would be something, wouldn't it? Maybe this critter -could lead us to it."</p> - -<p>"Maybe?" Meek said doubtfully.</p> - -<p>Meek patted the Prowler's rocky shoulder gently, filled with wonder. In -some unguessed time, in some unknown sector of space, the Prowler had -been fashioned by an alien people. For some reason they had made him, -for some reason they had left him here. Abandonment or purpose?</p> - -<p>Meek shook his head. That would be something to puzzle over later, -something to roll around in his brain on some monotonous flight into -the maw of space.</p> - -<p>Space! Startled at the thought clanging on his brain he jerked a quick -glance upward, saw the bleak stars staring at him. Eyes that seemed to -be laughing at him, cruel, ironic laughter.</p> - -<p>"Stiffy," he whispered. "Stiffy, I just thought of something."</p> - -<p>"Yeah, what is it?"</p> - -<p>Stark terror walked in Meek's words. "My oxygen tank is better than -half gone. And the ship is wrecked...."</p> - -<p>"Cripes," said Stiffy, "I guess we just forgot. We sure are behind the -eight ball. Somehow we got to get back to Asteroid City. And we got to -get there quick."</p> - -<p>Meek's eyes brightened. "Stiffy, maybe.... Maybe we could ride the -Prowler."</p> - -<p>Stiffy backed away. But Meek reached out and grasped his arm. "Come on. -It's the only way, Stiffy. We have to get there and the Prowler can -take us."</p> - -<p>"But ... but ... but...." Stiffy stammered.</p> - -<p>"Give me a leg up," Meek ordered.</p> - -<p>Stiffy complied and Meek leaped astride the broad metal back, reached -down and hauled Stiffy aboard.</p> - -<p>"Get going, you flea-bitten nag!" Meek yipped, in sudden elation.</p> - -<p>There was reason for elation. Not until that moment had he stopped to -consider the Prowler might object to being ridden. Might consider it an -insult.</p> - -<p>The Prowler apparently was astonished, but that was all. He shook his -head in bewilderment and weaved his neck around as if he wasn't quite -sure just what to do. But at least he hadn't started to take the place -apart.</p> - -<p>"Giddap!" yelled Stiffy, bringing the butt of his pistol down.</p> - -<p>The Prowler jigged a little, then gathered himself together and -started. The landscape blurred with speed as he leaped a mighty -boulder, skipped along a narrow ledge around a slick-faced mountain, -skidded a hairpin turn.</p> - -<p>Meek and Stiffy fought desperately to hang on. The metal back was slick -and broad and there weren't any handholds. They bounced and thumped, -almost fell off a dozen times.</p> - -<p>"Stiffy," yelled Meek, "how do we know he's taking us to Asteroid City?"</p> - -<p>"Don't fret about that," said Stiffy. "He knows where we want to go. He -read our mind."</p> - -<p>"I hope so," Meek said, prayerfully.</p> - -<p>The Prowler whished around a right angle turn on a narrow ledge and the -distant peaks wheeled sickeningly against the sky.</p> - -<p>Meek lay flat on his belly and hugged the Prowler's sides. The -mountains whistled past. He stole a look at the jagged peaks on the -near horizon and they looked like a tight board fence.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Oliver Meek fought manfully to get back his composure as the Prowler -pranced down the main street of Asteroid City.</p> - -<p>The sidewalks were lined with hundreds of staring faces, faces that -drooped in astonishment and disbelief.</p> - -<p>Stiffy was yelling at someone. "Now, doggone you, will you believe -there is a Prowler?"</p> - -<p>And the man he yelled at didn't have a word to say, just stood and -stared.</p> - -<p>In the swarm of faces, Meek saw those of the Reverend Harold Brown and -Andrew Smith and, almost as if in a dream, he waved jauntily to them. -At least, he hoped the wave was jaunty. Wouldn't do to let them know -his knees were too weak to hold him up.</p> - -<p>Smith waved back and shouted something, but the Reverend Brown's jaw -hung open and he seemed too wonder-struck to move.</p> - -<p>This, thought Meek, is the kind of things you read about. The -conquering hero coming home astride his mighty charger. Only the -conquering hero, he remembered with a sudden twinge, usually was a -young lad who sat straight in the saddle instead of an old man with -shoulders hunched from thirty years of poring over dusty ledgers.</p> - -<p>A man was stepping out into the street, a man who carried a gun in hand -and suddenly Meek realized they were abreast of the Silver Moon.</p> - -<p>The armed man was Blacky Hoffman.</p> - -<p>Here, thought Meek, is where I get it. This is what I get for playing -the big shot ... for being a smart alec, for remembering how cards -shouldn't be dealt and for shooting a man's gun out of his hand and -letting myself be talked into being a marshal.</p> - -<p>But he sat stiff and as straight as he could on the Prowler and kept -his eyes on Hoffman. That was the only way to do. That was the way all -the heroes did in the stories he had read. And doggone, he was a hero. -Whether he liked it or not, he was one.</p> - -<p>The street was hushed with sudden tension and the very air seemed to be -crackling with the threat of direful happenings.</p> - -<p>Hoffman's voice rang crisply through the stillness.</p> - -<p>"Go for your blasters, Meek!"</p> - -<p>"I have no blasters," Meek told him calmly. "Your hoodlums took them -from me."</p> - -<p>"Borrow Stiffy's," snapped Hoffman, and added, with a nasty laugh: "You -won't need them long."</p> - -<p>Meek nodded, watching Hoffman narrowly. Slowly he reached back for -Stiffy's gun. He felt it in his hand, wrapped his fingers tightly -around it.</p> - -<p>Funny, he thought, how calm he was. Like he had been in the Silver Moon -that night. There was something about a gun. It changed him, turned him -into another man.</p> - -<p>He didn't have a chance, he knew. Hoffman would shoot before he could -ever get the gun around. But despite that, he felt foolishly sure....</p> - -<p>Hoffman's gun flashed in the weak sunlight, blooming with blue -brilliance.</p> - -<p>For an instant, a single fraction of a second, Meek saw the flash of -the beam straight in his eyes, but even before he could involuntarily -flinch, the beam had bent. True to its mark, it would have drilled Meek -straight between the eyes ... but it didn't go straight to its mark. -Instead, it bent and slapped itself straight between the Prowler's eyes.</p> - -<p>And the Prowler danced a little jig of happiness as the blue spear of -energy knifed into its metal body.</p> - -<p>"Cripes," gasped Stiffy, "he draws it! He ain't satisfied with just -taking it when you give it to him. He reaches out and gets it. Just -like a lightning rod reaching up and grabbing lightning."</p> - -<p>Puzzlement flashed across Hoffman's face, then incredulity and finally -something that came close to fear. The gun's beam snapped off and his -hands sagged. The gun dropped in the dust. The Prowler stood stock -still.</p> - -<p>"Well, Hoffman?" Meek asked quietly and his voice seemed to run all -along the street.</p> - -<p>Hoffman's face twitched.</p> - -<p>"Get down and fight like a man," he rasped.</p> - -<p>"No," said Meek, "I won't do that. Because it wouldn't be man to man. -It would be me against your entire gang."</p> - -<p>Hoffman started to back away, slowly, step by furtive step. Step by -step the Prowler stalked him there in the silent street.</p> - -<p>Then Hoffman, with a scream of terror, broke and ran.</p> - -<p>"Get him!" Meek roared at the Prowler.</p> - -<p>The Prowler, with one lightning lunge, one flip of its whip-like neck, -got him. Got him, gently, as Meek had meant he should.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Howling in mingled rage and terror, Hoffman dangled by the seat of his -pants from the Prowler's beak. Neatly as any circus horse, the Prowler -wheeled and trotted back to the Silver Moon, carrying Hoffman with a -certain gentle grace that was not lost upon the crowd.</p> - -<p>Hoffman quieted and the crowd's jeers rang against the dome. The -Prowler pranced a bit, jiggled Hoffman up and down.</p> - -<p>Meek raised a hand for silence, spoke to Hoffman. "O.K., Mr. Hoffman, -call out your men. All of them. Out into the middle of the street. -Where we can see them."</p> - -<p>Hoffman swore at him.</p> - -<p>"Jiggle him some," Meek told the Prowler. The Prowler jiggled him and -Hoffman bawled and clawed at empty air.</p> - -<p>"Damn you," shrieked Hoffman, "get out into the street. All of you. -Just like he said."</p> - -<p>No one stirred.</p> - -<p>"Blaine," yelled Hoffman. "Get out there! You, too Smithers. Loomis. -Blake!"</p> - -<p>They came slowly, shame-faced. At a command from Meek they unholstered -their blasters and heaved them in a pile.</p> - -<p>The Prowler deposited Hoffman with them.</p> - -<p>Meek saw Andrew Smith standing at the edge of the sidewalk and nodded -to him. "There you are, Mr. Smith. Rounded up, just like you wanted -them."</p> - -<p>"Neat," said Stiffy, "but not gaudy."</p> - -<p>Slowly, carefully, bones aching, Meek slid from the Prowler's back, was -surprised his legs would hold him up.</p> - -<p>"Come in and have a drink," yelled a dozen voices all at once.</p> - -<p>"Bet your life," agreed Stiffy, licking his chops.</p> - -<p>Men were slapping Meek on the back, yelling at him. Yelling friendly -things, calling him an old he-wolf.</p> - -<p>He tried to thrust out his chest but didn't succeed too well. He hoped -they wouldn't insist on his drinking of lot of <i>bocca</i>.</p> - -<p>A hand tugged at Meek's elbow. It was the Reverend Brown.</p> - -<p>"You aren't going to leave that beast out here all alone?" he asked. -"No telling what he might do."</p> - -<p>"Ah, shucks," protested Stiffy, "he's gentle as a kitten. Stands -without hitching."</p> - -<p>But even as he spoke, the Prowler lifted his head, almost as if he were -sniffing, started down the street at a swinging trot.</p> - -<p>"Hey," yelled Stiffy, "come back here, you cross-eyed crow-bait!"</p> - -<p>The Prowler didn't falter in his stride. He went even faster.</p> - -<p>Cold fear gripped Meek by the throat. He tried to speak and gulped -instead. He'd just thought of something. The power plant that supplied -Asteroid City with its power and light, the very oxygen it breathed, -was down that way.</p> - -<p>A power plant and an alien robot that was starved for energy!</p> - -<p>"My stars!" gasped Meek.</p> - -<p>He shook off the minister's hand and galloped down the street, -shrieking at the Prowler. But the Prowler had no thought of stopping.</p> - -<p>Panting, Meek slowed from a gallop to a trot, then to a labored walk. -Behind him, he heard Stiffy puffing along. Behind Stiffy trailed -practically the entire population of Asteroid City.</p> - -<p>Far ahead came the sound of rending steel and crashing structure as the -Prowler ripped the plant apart to get at the juice.</p> - -<p>Stiffy gained Meek's side and panted at him. "Cripes, they'll crucify -us for this. We got to get him out of there."</p> - -<p>"How?" asked Meek.</p> - -<p>"Danged if I know," said Stiffy.</p> - -<p>One side of the plant was a mass of tangled wreckage, surrounding a -hole out of which protruded the Prowler's hind quarters. Terrified -workers and maintenance men were running for their lives. Live wires -spat and crackled with flaming energy.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph1">IV</p> - -<p>Meek and Stiffy halted a half block away, breath whistling in their -throats. The Prowler's tail, protruding from the hole in the side of -the plant, twitched happily. Meek regarded the scene with doleful -thoughts.</p> - -<p>"I wish," Stiffy declared, "we'd stayed out there and died. It would -have been easier than what's liable to happen to us now."</p> - -<p>Feet thumped behind them and a hand grabbed Meek's shoulder, grabbed -it. It was Andrew Smith, a winded, apoplectic Andrew Smith.</p> - -<p>"What are you going to do?" he shouted at Meek.</p> - -<p>Meek swallowed hard, tried to make his voice even. "Just studying over -the situation, Mr. Smith. I'll figure out something in a minute."</p> - -<p>"Sure he will," insisted Stiffy. "Leave him alone. Give him time. He -always does what he says he'll do. He said he'd round up Blacky for -you, and he did. He went out single-handed and captured the Prowler. -He ..."</p> - -<p>"Yeah," yelled Smith, "and he said the Prowler would stand without -hitching, too. And did he stand? I ask you ..."</p> - -<p>"He didn't say that," Stiffy interrupted, testily, "I said that."</p> - -<p>"It don't make a bit of difference who said it," shrieked Smith. "I -got stock in that plant there. And the Prowler's ruining it. He's -jeopardizing the life of this whole city. And it's all your fault. You -brought him here. I'll sue you, the both of you, so help me...."</p> - -<p>"Ah, shut up," snapped Stiffy. "Who can think with you blabbering -around?"</p> - -<p>Smith danced in rage. "Who's blabbering? I got a good mind to...."</p> - -<p>He doubled up his fist and started toward Stiffy.</p> - -<p>And once again Oliver Meek did something he never would have thought -of doing back on Earth. He put out his gloved hand, deliberately, and -pushed Smith in the face. Pushed hard, so hard that Smith thumped down -in the dust of the street and sat there, silenced by surprise.</p> - -<p>Without even looking back, Meek strode purposefully down the street -toward the Prowler. What he meant to do he did not know. What he -possibly could do he had no idea. But anything was better than standing -there while the crowd screamed at him and men shook their fists at him.</p> - -<p>Why, they might even lynch him! He shivered at the thought. But men -still did things like that. Especially when someone monkeyed around -with the very things they depended on for life out here in naked space. -Maybe they'd turn him out on Juno with only an hour or two of oxygen. -Maybe they'd....</p> - -<p>Stiffy was yelling at him. "Come back, you danged old fool...."</p> - -<p>Suddenly the ground leaped and bucked beneath Meek's feet. The power -plant reeled before his startled eyes and then, somehow, he was on his -back, watching the dome wheel and weave above him.</p> - -<p>Fighting for breath that had been knocked out of him, he clawed his way -to his knees, tried to stand erect, but the ground still was crawling -with motion.</p> - -<p>It was like an earthquake, he told himself, startled that he could even -think. But it couldn't be an earthquake. Juno didn't have earthquakes, -there was no reason for Juno to have earthquakes. The little planetoid -eons ago had cooled through and through, each rock, each strata had -found its place. Juno was dead, dead as the reaches of space itself, -and earthquakes don't happen on dead planets.</p> - -<p>Out of the corner of his eyes he saw the Prowler had backed out of the -hole in the power plant, was standing with four legs spread wide, -bracing himself. His long neck was stretched high in the air and the -ugly, toothy head had the look of quick alertness.</p> - -<p>Meek gained his feet, stood tottering, keeping upright by some fancy -footwork. The Prowler started toward him, legs gathering speed, heading -down the street.</p> - -<p>With a hoarse whoop, Meek steadied himself, half crouched and held his -breath, leaped, leaped so hard he almost vaulted over the beast's broad -back. Sprawling, he scrambled into position astride the running robot, -saw Stiffy leaping at him. Quickly he shot out a hand, grasped Stiffy -and hauled him aboard.</p> - -<p>Ahead of them the crowd rushed for safety, leaving a broad avenue for -the storming Prowler and his two riders.</p> - -<p>"Get the locks open," yelled Stiffy. "Here we come!"</p> - -<p>The crowd took up the shriek. "Get the locks open!"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The Prowler swept down the street, hoofs clattering like hammer blows. -Ahead of them the inner lock swung open. As the Prowler bulleted into -the entrance tunnel, the outer lock swung out and for a few wild -seconds air screamed and howled, rushing from the city into the vacuum -of space.</p> - -<p>In frantic haste, Meek and Stiffy worked with their helmets, getting -them clamped down. Then they were out in the open, the gleaming city -behind them.</p> - -<p>Less than half a mile away loomed a massive boulder towering a hundred -feet or more above the level of the canyon floor. The Prowler made a -beeline for it.</p> - -<p>"Oliver," yelled Stiffy, "that thing wasn't there before. Look, it -almost blocks the canyon!"</p> - -<p>The boulder was black but it crawled with a greenish glow, a faint -network of somber fire.</p> - -<p>The breath caught in Meek's throat.</p> - -<p>"Stiffy," he whispered.</p> - -<p>Behind him, Stiffy almost sobbed in excitement. "Yeah, I know. It's a -meteor. And it's lousy with radium."</p> - -<p>"It just fell," said Meek, voice unsteady. "That's what shook up the -place. Wonder is it didn't crack the dome wide open."</p> - -<p>"We better jump for it," urged Stiffy, "if we don't want to get plumb -burned. Can't go near that thing without lead sheathing."</p> - -<p>Meek flung himself sidewise, throwing up his arms to shield his helmet, -struck on his shoulders and rolled. Slowly, benumbed from the fall, he -crept out of the shadow of a high rock wall into the starlight.</p> - -<p>Stiffy was sitting on the ground, rubbing his shins.</p> - -<p>"Barked them up some," he admitted.</p> - -<p>Up the valley the Prowler was arching its back and rubbing against the -green-glowing boulder.</p> - -<p>"Just like a dad-blamed cat that has found some catnip," said Stiffy. -"Must sort of like that radium."</p> - -<p>He rose slowly, dusted off his suit.</p> - -<p>"Well," he suggested, "let's you and me go into action."</p> - -<p>"Action?"</p> - -<p>"Sure. Let's go back and file us a claim on that meteor. Don't need to -worry about anybody else jumping it, cause every dad-blamed one of them -is scared speechless of the Prowler. They won't go near the meteor long -as he's around."</p> - -<p>Meek stared at the meteor speculatively. "That's worth a lot of money, -isn't it, Stiffy? Filled with radium like that."</p> - -<p>"Bet your boots," said Stiffy cheerfully. "We go fifty-fifty on her. -Split equal ways. We're pardners."</p> - -<p>"Tell you what you do," Meek said slowly. "You take it all. Just take -out enough to fix up the damage back there and call that my share."</p> - -<p>Stiffy's jaw drooped. "Say, what you getting at?"</p> - -<p>"I'm leaving," said Meek.</p> - -<p>"Good gravy! Leaving! And just when we made us a strike."</p> - -<p>"You don't understand," said Meek. "I didn't come out here to find -radium. Or to arrest gangs. Or even to capture an Asteroid Prowler. I -just came out to look around. Nice and quiet. Didn't want to bother -anybody. Didn't want anybody to bother me."</p> - -<p>"Doggone it," said Stiffy, "and I was just figuring maybe, soon as we -cleaned up the radium, we might get that Prowler to lead us to the Lost -Mine."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Meek brightened. "I have a hunch I know where that Lost Mine is, -Stiffy. Remember there was a cut-back in the cliff near where we found -the Prowler. Well, when I first saw him, he was in that place. Got a -hunch maybe that's the mine."</p> - -<p>Stiffy grinned. "So you're sticking with me."</p> - -<p>Meek shook his head. "No, I'm still leaving."</p> - -<p>"Just like that?" said Stiffy.</p> - -<p>Stiffy held out his hand, "O.K., if that's what you want to do. I'll -bank your half in the First Martian back on Earth. Leave my address -there. Might want to get in touch with me some time."</p> - -<p>Meek gripped his hand. "You don't need to do that. Take all of it. Just -see the plant's fixed up."</p> - -<p>Stiffy's eyes shone queerly, moistly in the starlight. "Shucks, there's -enough for both of us. More than enough." His voice was rough. "Now get -along with you."</p> - -<p>Meek started to walk away.</p> - -<p>"Goodbye, Stiffy," he called.</p> - -<p>"So long," Stiffy shouted.</p> - -<p>Meek hesitated. It seemed there should have been more he could have -said. Some way to let Stiffy know he liked him. Some way to tell him he -was a friend in a life which had known few friends.</p> - -<p>He tried to think of ways to put what he felt in words, but there -wasn't any way, none that didn't sound awkward and sentimental.</p> - -<p>He wheeled about, headed for the space port. His feet went faster and -faster, until finally he was running.</p> - -<p>He had to get out of here, he told himself, before he got into another -jam. His luck was stretched too thin already. A fellow just couldn't go -on having luck like that.</p> - -<p>And besides, there was all of space to roam in, other places to see. -That was what he had set out to do. To see the Solar System in his own -ship, to do all the things he'd dreamed about back in the cubby hole at -Lunar Exports, Inc.</p> - -<p>And he was going to do just that, he promised himself. Although he -hoped the next stop would be more peaceable.</p> - -<p>Oliver Meek sighed happily—<i>this was the life</i>.</p> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Mr. Meek--Musketeer, by Clifford D. Simak - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MR. 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Simak - -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: Mr. Meek--Musketeer - -Author: Clifford D. Simak - -Release Date: August 26, 2020 [EBook #63046] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MR. MEEK--MUSKETEER *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - Mr. Meek--Musketeer - - By CLIFFORD D. SIMAK - - Adventure flamed in Mr. Meek's timorous heart, - the surge of battle and singing blades. And so, - with a rocket-ship for his steed and a ray-gun - for his sword, he sallied forth ... carrying - cavalier justice to the resentful shining stars. - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Planet Stories Summer 1944. - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - -Now that he'd done it, Oliver Meek found the thing he'd done hard to -explain. - -Under the calm, inquiring eyes of Mr. Richard Belmont, president of -Lunar Exports, Inc., he stammered a little before he could get started. - -"For years," he finally said, "I've been planning a trip...." - -"But, Oliver," said Belmont, "we would give you a leave of absence. -You'll be back. There's no reason to resign." - -Oliver Meek shuffled his feet and looked uncomfortable, a little guilty. - -"Maybe I won't be back," he declared. "You see, it isn't just an -ordinary trip. It may take a long, long time. Something might happen. -I'm going out to see the Solar System." - -Belmont laughed lightly, reared back in his chair, matching fingertips. -"Oh, yes. One of the tours. Nothing dangerous about them. Nothing at -all. You needn't worry about that. I went on one a couple of years -ago. Mighty interesting...." - -"Not one of the tours," interrupted Meek. "Not for me. I have a ship of -my own." - -Belmont thumped forward in his chair, looking almost startled. - -"A ship of your own!" - -"Yes, sir," Oliver admitted, squirming uncomfortably. "Over thirty -years I've saved for it ... for it and the other things I'll need. It -sort of got to be ... well, an obsession, you might say." - -"I see," said Belmont. "You planned it." - -"Yes, sir, I planned it." - -Which was a masterpiece of understatement. - -For Belmont could not know and Oliver Meek, stoop-shouldered, -white-haired bookkeeper, could not tell of those thirty years of thrift -and dreams. Thirty years of watching ships of the void taking off from -the space port, just outside the window where he sat hunched over -ledgers and calculators. Thirty years of catching scraps of talk from -the men who ran those ships. Men and ships with the alien dust of far -off planets still clinging to their skins. Ships with strange marks and -scars upon them, and men with strange words upon their tongues. - -Thirty years of reducing high adventure to cold figures. Thirty years -of recording strange cargoes and stranger tales into accounts. Thirty -years of watching through a window while rockets, outbound, dug molten -pits into the field. Thirty years of being on the edge, the very fringe -of life ... but _never_ in it. - -Nor could Belmont have guessed or Meek formed in words the romanticism -that glowed within the middle-aged bookkeeper's heart ... a thing that -sometimes hurt ... something earthbound that forever cried for space. - -Nor the night classes Oliver Meek had attended to learn the theory of -space navigation and after that more classes to gain an understanding -of the motors and controls that drove the ships between the planets. - -Nor how he had stood before the mirror in his room hour after hour, -practicing, perfecting the art of pistol handling. Nor of the -afternoons he had spent at the shooting gallery. - -Nor of the nights he had read avidly, soaking up the lore and -information and color of those other worlds that seemed to beckon him. - -"How old are you, Oliver?" asked Belmont. - -"Fifty next month, sir," Meek answered. - -"I wish you were taking one of the passenger ships," said Belmont. -"Now, one of those tours aren't so bad. They're comfortable and ..." - -Meek shook his head and there was a stubborn glint in the weak blue -eyes behind the thick lensed glasses. - -"No tour for me, sir. I'm going to some of those places the tours never -take you. I've missed a lot in these thirty years. I've waited a long -time and now I'm going out and see the things I've dreamed about." - - * * * * * - -Oliver Meek pushed open the swinging doors of the Silver Moon and -stepped timidly inside. Just through the door he stopped and stared, -for the place hit him squarely in the face ... the acrid smoke of -Venusian leaf, the high-pitched laughter of the Martian dancing girls, -the soft whirr of wheels, the click of balls as they bounced around -the spinning wheels, the clatter of poker chips, the odor of strange -liquors, the chirping and growling of a dozen tongues, the strange, -exotic music of Ganymede. - -Meek blinked through his heavy lenses, moved forward cautiously. - -In the far corner of the place stood a table occupied by one man ... an -old, grizzled veteran of the Asteroids with his muzzle in a flagon of -cheap beer. - -Meek sidled toward the table, drew out a chair. - -"Do you mind if I sit here?" he asked and Old Stiffy Grant choked on a -mouthful of beer in his amazement. - -"Go ahead, stranger," he finally croaked. "I don't give a dang. I don't -own the joint." - -Meek sat down on the edge of the chair. His eyes swept the room. He -smelled the smoke, the raw liquor, the sweat-stained clothing of the -men, the cheap perfumery of the dancing girls. - -He shifted his gun belt so the two energy pistols hung more easily, and -cautiously slid farther back upon the chair. - -So this was Asteroid City on Juno. The place he'd read about. The place -the pulp paper writers used as background for their more lurid tales. -This was the place where guns flamed and men were found dead in the -streets and a girl or a game of chance or just one spoken word could -start a fight. - -The tours didn't include places such as this. They took one to the -nice, civilized places ... towns like Gusta Pahn on Mars and Radium -City on Venus and out to Satellite City on Ganymede. Civilized, -polished places ... places hardly different than New York or Chicago -or Denver back home. But this was different ... here one could sense -something that made the blood run faster, made a thrill scamper up -one's spine. - -"You're new here, ain't you?" asked Stiffy. - -Meek jumped, then recovered his composure. - -"Yes," he said. "Yes, I am. I always wanted to see this place. I read -about it." - -"Ever read about an Asteroid Prowler?" asked Stiffy. - -"I believe I have somewhere. In a magazine section. A crazy story...." - -"It ain't crazy," protested Stiffy. "I saw one of them ... this -afternoon. Right here on Juno. None of these dad-blamed fools will -believe me." - -Furtively, Meek studied the man opposite him. He didn't seem to be such -a bad fellow. Almost like any other human being. A little rough, maybe, -but a good fellow just the same. - -"Say," he suggested impulsively, "maybe you'd have a drink with me." - -"You're dang tootin'," agreed Stiffy. "I never turn down no drinks." - -"You order it," said Meek. - -Stiffy bawled across the room. "Hey, Joe, bring us a couple snorts." - -"What kind of an animal was this you were speaking of?" asked Meek. - -"Asteroid Prowler," said Stiffy. "Most of these hoodlums don't think -there is one, but I know different. I saw him this afternoon and he -was the dad-blamest thing I ever laid my eyes on. He boiled right out -from behind a big rock and started coming after me. I let him have one -in the face but that didn't even nick him. Full-power, too. When that -happened I didn't waste no more time. I took it on the lam. Got to my -ship and got out of there." - -"What did he look like?" - - * * * * * - -Stiffy leaned across the table and wagged a forefinger solemnly. -"Mister, you won't believe me when I tell you. But it's the truth, -so help me. He had a beak. And eyes. Danged if them eyes weren't -something. Like they were reaching out and trying to grab you. Not -really reaching out, you know. But there was something in them that -tried to talk to you. Big as plates and they shimmered like there was -fire inside of them. - -"These dod-rotted rock-blasters here laughed at me when I told them -about it. Insinuated I held the truth lightly, they did. Laughed their -fool heads off. - -"It's pretty near as big as a house ... that animal, and it's got a -body like a barrel. It's got a long neck and a little head with big -teeth. It's got a tail, too, and it's kind of set close to the ground. -You see, I was out looking for the Lost Mine." - -"Lost Mine?" - -"Sure, ain't you ever heard of the Lost Mine?" - -Stiffy blew beer in amazement. - -Oliver Meek shook his head, feeling that probably he was the victim of -tales reserved for the greenest of the tenderfeet, not knowing what he -could do about it if he were. - -Stiffy settled more solidly in his chair. - -"The Lost Mine story," he declared, "has been going around for years. -Seems a couple of fellows found it a few years after the first dome was -built. They came in and told about it, stocked up with grub and went -out. They never did come back." - -He leaned across the table. - -"You know what I think?" he demanded gustily. - -"No," said Meek. "What do you think?" - -"The Prowler got 'em," Stiffy said, triumphantly. - -"But how could there be a lost mine?" asked Meek. "Asteroid City was -one of the first mining domes built out here. There was no prospecting -done until about that time." - -Stiffy shook his head, waggling his beard. - -"How should I know," he defended himself. "Maybe some early space -traveler set down here, dug a mine, never got back to Earth to tell -about it." - -"But Juno is only one hundred and eighteen miles in diameter," Meek -argued. "If there had been a mine someone would have found it." - -Stiffy snorted. "That's all you know about it, stranger. Only one -hundred and eighteen miles, sure ... but one hundred and eighteen miles -of the worst danged country man ever set a boot on. Mostly up and down." - -The drinks came, the bartender slapping them down on the table before -them. Meek gasped first at their price, then choked on the drink -itself. But he smothered the choke manfully and asked: - -"What kind of stuff is this?" - -"_Bocca_," replied Stiffy. "Good old Martian _bocca_. Puts hair on your -chest." - -He gulped his drink with gusto, blew noisily through his whiskers, eyed -Meek disapprovingly. - -"Don't you like it?" he demanded. - -"Sure," lied Meek. "Sure I like it." - -He shut his eyes and poured the liquor into his mouth, gulped fiercely, -desperately, almost strangling. - -Said Stiffy: "Tell you what let's do. Let's get into a game." - -Meek opened his mouth to accept the invitation, then closed it, caution -stealing over him. After all, he didn't know much about this place. -Maybe he'd better go a little easy, at least at first. - -He shook his head. "No, I'm not very good at cards. Just a few games of -penny-ante now and then." - -Stiffy looked his disbelief. "Penny ante," he said, then guffawed as if -he sensed humor in what Meek had said. "Say, you're good," he roared. -"Don't s'pose you can use them lightnin' throwers of yours either." - -"Some," admitted Meek. "Practiced in front of a looking glass a little." - -He wondered why Stiffy rolled in his chair with mirth until tears ran -down into his whiskers. - - * * * * * - -Stiffy held a full house ... aces with kings ... and his eyes had the -look of a cat stalking a saucer full of cream. - -There were only two in the game, Stiffy and an oily gentleman called -Luke. As the stakes mounted and the game grew hotter the others at the -table dropped out. - -Standing behind Stiffy, Oliver Meek watched in awe, scarcely breathing. - -Here was life ... the kind of life one would never dream of back in -the little cubby hole with its calculators and dusty books at Lunar -Exports, Inc. - -In the space of an hour, he had seen more money pass across the -table than he had ever owned in all his life. Pots that climbed and -pyramided, fortunes gambled on the flip of a single card. - -But there was something else too ... something wrong about the dealing. -He couldn't figure quite what it was, but he had read an article about -how gamblers dealt the cards when they didn't aim to give the other -fellow quite an even break. And there had been something about Luke's -dealing ... something that he had read about in that article. - -Across the table Luke grimaced. - -"I'll have to call you," he announced. "I'm afraid you're too strong -for me." - -Stiffy slapped down his hand triumphantly. - -"Match that, dang you!" he exulted. "The kind of cards I been waiting -for all night." - -He reached out a gnarled hand to rake in the coins but Luke stopped him -with a gesture. - -"Sorry," he said. - -He flipped the cards down slowly, one at a time. First a trey, then a -four and then three more fours. - -Stiffy gulped, reached for the bottle. - -But even as he did, Oliver Meek reached out and placed his hand upon -the money on the table, fingers wide spread. He'd remembered what he -had read in that article.... - -"Just a minute, gentlemen," he said. "I've remembered something...." - -Silence thudded in the room. - -Meek looked across the table straight into the eyes of Luke. - -Luke said: "You better explain yourself, mister." - -Meek suddenly was flustered. "Why, maybe I acted too hastily. It really -was nothing. I just noticed something about the deal...." - -Luke jerked erect, kicking his chair away with the single motion of -rising. The crowd suddenly surged away, out of the line of fire. The -bartender ducked behind the bar. Stiffy flung himself with a howl out -of his chair, skidded along the floor. - -Meek, suddenly straightening from the table, saw Luke's hand streaking -for the gun at his belt and in a split second he realized that here he -faced a situation that demanded action. - -He didn't think about those days of practice in front of the mirror. He -didn't call upon a single iota of the gun-lore he had read in hundreds -of books. His mind, for a bare instant, was almost a blank, but he -acted as if by instinct. - -His hands moved like driving pistons, snapped the twin guns from their -holsters, heaved them clear of leather, grabbed them in mid-air. - -He saw Luke's gun muzzle swinging up, tilted down the muzzle of his own -left gun, pressed the activator. There was a screeching hiss, a streak -of blue that crackled in the air and the gun that Luke held in his hand -was suddenly red hot. - -But Meek wasn't watching Luke. His eyes were for the crowd and even as -he pressed the firing button he saw a hand pick a bottle off the bar, -lift it to throw. The gun in his right hand shrieked and the bottle -smashed into a million pieces, the liquor turned to steam. - -Slowly Meek backed away, his tread almost cat-like, his weak blue eyes -like cold ice behind the thick-lensed spectacles, his hunched shoulders -still hunched, his lean jaw like a steel trap. - -He felt the wall at his back and stopped. - -Out in the room before him no one stirred. Luke stood like a statue, -gripping his right hand, badly burned by the smoking gun that lay at -his feet. Luke's face was a mask of hatred. - -The rest of them simply stared. Stared at this outlander. A man who -wore clothing such as the Asteroid Belt had never seen before. A man -who looked as if he might be a clerk or even a retired farmer out on a -holiday. A man with glasses and hunched shoulders and a skin that had -never known the touch of sun in space. - -And yet a man who had given Luke Blaine a head start for his gun, had -beaten him to the draw, had burned the gun out of his hand. - -Oliver Meek heard himself speaking, but he couldn't believe it was -himself. It was as if some other person had taken command of his -tongue, was forcing it to speak. He hardly recognized his voice, for it -was hard and brittle and sounded far away. - -It was saying: "Does anyone else want to argue with me?" - -It was immediately apparent no one did. - - - II - -Oliver Meek tried to explain it carefully, but it was hard when people -were so insistent. Hard, too, to collect his thoughts so early in the -day. - -He sat on the edge of the bed, white hair tousled, his night shirt -wrinkled, his bony legs sticking out beneath it. - -"But I'm not a gun fighter," he declared. "I'm just on a holiday. I -never shot at a man before in all my life. I can't imagine what came -over me." - -The Rev. Harold Brown brushed his argument aside. - -"Don't you see, sir," he insisted, "what you can do for us? These -hoodlums will respect you. You can clean up the town for us. Blacky -Hoffman and his mob run the place. They make decent government and -decent living impossible. They levy protection tribute on every -businessman, they rob and cheat the miners and prospectors who come -here, they maintain vice conditions...." - -"All you have to do," said Andrew Smith brightly, "is run Blacky and -his gang out of town." - -"But," protested Meek, "you don't understand." - -"Five years ago," the Rev. Brown went on, disregarding him, "I would -have hesitated to pit force against force. It is not my way nor the way -of the church ... but for five years I've tried to bring the gospel to -this place, have worked for better conditions and each year I see them -steadily getting worse." - -"This could be a swell place," enthused Smith, "if we could get rid of -the undesirables. Fine opportunities. Capital would come in. Decent -people could settle. We could have some civic improvements. Maybe a -Rotary club." - -Meek wiggled his toes despairingly. - -"You would earn the eternal gratitude of Asteroid City," urged the Rev. -Brown. "We've tried it before but it never worked." - -"They always killed our man," Smith explained, "or he got scared, or -they bought him off." - -"We never had a man like you before," the Rev. Brown declared. "Luke -Blaine is a notorious gunman. No one, ever before, has been able to -beat him to...." - -"There must be some mistake," insisted Meek. "I'm just a bookkeeper. I -don't know a thing...." - -"We'd swear you in as marshal," said Smith. "The office is vacant now. -Has been for three months or more. We can't find anyone to take it." - -"But I'm not staying long," protested Meek. "I'm leaving pretty soon. I -just want to try to get a look at the Asteroid Prowler and scout around -to see if I can't find some old rocks I read about once." - -The two visitors stared open mouthed at him. Meek brightened. "You've -heard about those old rocks, maybe. Some funny inscriptions on them. -Fellow who found them thought they had been made recently, probably -just before Earthmen first came here. But no one can read them. Maybe -some other race ... from somewhere far away." - -"But it won't take you long," pleaded Smith. "We got warrants for all -of them. All you got to do is serve them." - -"Look," said Meek in desperation, "you have got me wrong. It must have -been an accident, shooting that gun out of Mr. Blaine's hand." - -Meek felt dull anger stirring within him. What right did these people -have of insisting that he help them with their troubles? What did they -think he was? A desperado or space runner? Another gangster? Just -because he'd been lucky at the Silver Moon. - -"By gosh," he declared flatly, "I just won't do it!" - -They looked pained, rose reluctantly. - -"I suppose we shouldn't have expected that you would," said the -Reverend Brown bitingly. - - * * * * * - -The Silver Moon was quiet. The bartender was languidly wiping the top -of the bar. A Venusian boy was as languidly sweeping out. The dancing -girls were gone, the music was silent. - -Stiffy and Oliver Meek were among the few customers. - -Stiffy gulped a drink and blew fiercely through his whiskers. - -"Oliver," he said, "you sure are a ring-tailed bearcat with them guns -of yours. I wonder, would you tell me how you do it?" - -"Look here, Mr. Grant," said Meek. "I wish you'd quit talking about -what I did. It was just an accident, anyhow. What I'm mainly interested -in is this Asteroid Prowler you were telling me about. Is there any -chance I might find him if I went out and looked?" - -Stiffy choked, almost purple with astonishment. - -"Good gravy," he said, "now you want to go out and tangle with the -Prowler!" - -"Not tangle with him," Meek declared. "Just look at him." - -"Mister," Stiffy warned, "the best way to look at that thing is with a -telescope. A good, powerful telescope." - -The swinging doors swung open and a man walked in. - -The newcomer walked directly toward the table occupied by Stiffy and -Meek. He halted beside it, black beard jutting fearsomely, eyes bleakly -cold. - -"I'm Blacky Hoffman," he said. "I suppose you're Meek." He disregarded -Stiffy. - -Meek stood up and held out his hand. - -"Glad to know you, Mr. Hoffman," he said. - -Blacky took the proffered hand in some surprise. - -"Seems I should know you, Meek, but I don't. Should have heard of you -at some time or other. A man like you would get talked about." - -Meek shook his head. "I don't think you ever have. I never did anything -to get talked about." - -"Sit down," said Hoffman and it sounded like a command. - -"I got to be going," Stiffy piped, already halfway to the door. - -Hoffman poured out a drink and shoved the bottle at Meek. Meek gritted -his teeth and poured a short one. - -"No use beating around the bush," said Blacky. "We may as well get down -to cases. I guess we understand one another." - -Oliver Meek didn't know what the other meant, but he had to say -something. - -"I guess we do," he agreed. - -"All right, then," said Hoffman. "I've built up a sweet little racket -here and I don't like fellows butting in." - -Meek essayed to down his liquor, succeeded, gasped for breath. - -"But I could use a man like you," said Hoffman. "Luke tells me you are -handy with the blasters." - -"I practice sometimes," Meek admitted. - -A smile twitched Hoffman's bearded lips. "We have the town just where -we want it. The officials can't do a thing. Scared to. Marshals always -eat rock or skip town. Maybe you would like to throw in with us. Not -much to do, easy pickings." - -"I'm sorry," said Meek, "but I can't do that." - -"Listen, Meek," warned Hoffman, "you're either with us or you aren't. -We don't like chiselers here. We know what to do with guys who try to -muscle in. I don't know who you are or where you come from, but I'm -telling you this ... straight. If you don't come in, all right ... but -if you stick around after tonight I can't promise you protection." - -Meek was silent, mulling the threat. - -"You mean," he finally asked, "that you're ordering me out if I don't -join your gang?" - -Hoffman nodded. "That, big boy, is just exactly what I mean." - -Slow anger and resentment ate at Meek. Who was this Hoffman to order -him out of Asteroid City? This was a free Solar System, wasn't it? No -wonder the Rev. Brown was jittery. No wonder the decent people wanted a -clean-up. - -Meek's anger mounted, a cold deadly anger that shook him like a frigid -hand. An anger that almost frightened him, for very seldom in his life -had he been really angry. - -He rose slowly from the table, hitched his gun belt to a comfortable -position. - -"The town's been without a marshal for a long time, hasn't it?" he -asked. - -Hoffman's laugh boomed out. "You bet it has. And it's going to stay -that way. The last one took it on the lam. The one before that got -killed. The one before that sort of disappeared...." - -Meek spoke slowly, weak eyes burning. - -"Horrible condition," he said. "Something's got to be done about it." - - * * * * * - -The streets were deserted, quiet, a deadly quiet that lurked and -hovered, waiting for something to happen. - -Oliver Meek polished his marshal's star with his coat sleeve, glanced -up at the dome. Stars glittered, their light distorted by the heavy -quartz. Stars in a dead black sky. - -Bathed in the weak starlight, the mighty walls of the canyon reared -above the dome. A canyon, the only sort of place where a city could -rise on one of the planetoids. For the walls protected the dome against -the deadly barrage of whizzing debris that continually shrieked down -from space. Those mighty cragged mountains and dizzy cliffs were pocked -with the blows dealt, through long eons, by that hail of armor-piercing -projectiles. - -Meek returned his gaze to the street, saw the lights of the Silver -Moon. Nervously he felt of the papers in his inside pocket. Warrants -for the arrest of John Hoffman for murder, Luke Blaine for murder, Jim -Smithers for reckless shooting, Jake Loomis for assault and battery, -Robert Blake for robbery. - -And suddenly, Oliver Meek was afraid. For death waited him, he knew, -inside the swinging doors of the Silver Moon. A death preluded by this -quiet street. - -Almost as if he were awaking from a dream, he found questions filling -his brain. What was he doing here? Why had he gotten himself into a jam -like this? What difference did it make to him what happened to Asteroid -City? - -It had been anger that had made him do it ... that unaccountable anger -which had flared when Hoffman told him to get out. - -After all, what difference would a few days make? He was going to leave -anyhow. He'd seen about all there was to see in Asteroid City. He -wanted to see the Prowler and the stones with the strange inscriptions -on them, but they were sights he could get along without. - -If he turned around and walked the other way he could reach his space -ship in just a few minutes. There was fuel enough to take him to -Ganymede. No one would know until he was already gone. And after he was -gone, what would he care what anybody thought? - -He stood irresolutely, arguing with himself. Then he shook his head, -resumed his march toward the Silver Moon. - -A figure stepped from a dark doorway. Meek saw the threatening gleam of -steel. His hands streaked toward his gun-butts, but something prodded -him in the back and he froze, fingers touching metal. - -"All right, marshal," said a mocking voice. "You just turn around and -walk the other way." - -He felt his guns lifted from their holsters and he turned around and -walked. Footsteps crunched beside him and behind him, but otherwise he -walked in silence. - -"Where are you taking me?" he asked, his voice just a trifle shaky. - -One of the men laughed. - -"Just on a little trip, marshal. Out to take a look at Juno. It's a -right pretty sight at night." - - * * * * * - -Juno wasn't pretty. For the most part, there was little of it one could -see. The stars shed little light and the depressions were in shadow, -while the cragged mountain tops seemed like shimmering mirages in the -ghostly starlight. - -The ship lay on a plateau between a needle-like range and a deep, -shadowed valley. - -"Now, marshal," said one of the men, "you stay right here. You'll see -the Sun come up over that mountain back there. Interesting. Dawn on -Juno is something to remember." - -Meek started forward, but the other waved him back with his pistol. - -"You're leaving me here?" shrieked Meek. - -"Why sure," the man said. "You wanted to see the Solar System, didn't -you?" - -They backed away from him, guns in hand. Frozen in terror, he watched -them enter the ship, saw the port close. An instant later the ship -roared away, the backwash of its tubes buffeting Meek to the ground. - -He struggled to his feet, watching the blasting tubes until they were -out of sight. Clumsily he stepped forward and then stopped. There was -no place to go ... nothing to do. - -Loneliness and fear swept over him in terrible waves of anguish. Fear -that dwarfed any emotion he had ever felt. Fear of the ghostly shimmer -of the peaks, fear of the shadow-blackened valley, fear of space and -the mad, cold intensity of unwinking stars. - -He fought for a grip on himself. It was fear such as this that -drove men mad in space. He'd read about that, heard about it. Fear -of the loneliness and the terrible depths of space ... fear of the -indifference of endless miles of void, fear of the unknown that always -lurked just at elbow distance. - -"Meek," he told himself, "you should have stayed at home." - -Dawn came shortly, but no such dawn as one would see on Earth. Just a -gradual dimming of the stars, a gradual lifting of the blacker darkness -as a larger star, the Sun, swung above the peaks. - -The stars still shone, but a gray light filtered over the landscape, -made the mountains solid things instead of ghostly shapes. - -Jagged peaks loomed on one side of the plateau, fearsome depths on the -other. A meteor thudded somewhere to his right and Meek shuddered. -There was no sound of the impact but he could feel the vibrations of -the blow as the whizzing mass struck the cliffs. - -But it was foolish to be afraid of meteors, he told himself. He had -greater and more immediate worries. - -There were less than eight hours of air left in the tanks of his space -suit. He had no idea where he was, although he knew that many miles of -rugged, fearsome country stretched between him and Asteroid City. - -The space suit carried no food and no water, but that was of minor -moment, he realized, for his air would give out long before he felt the -pangs of thirst or hunger. - -He sat down on a massive boulder and tried to think. There wasn't much -to think about. Everywhere his thoughts met black walls. The situation, -he told himself, was hopeless. - -If only he hadn't come to Asteroid City in the first place! Or -having come, if he had only minded his business, this never would -have happened. If he hadn't been so anxious to show off what he knew -about card dealing tricks. If only he hadn't agreed to be sworn in as -marshal. If he'd swallowed his pride and left when Hoffman told him to. - -He brushed away such thoughts as futile, took stock of his surroundings. - -The cliff on the right hand side was undercut, overhanging several -hundred feet of level ground. - -Ponderously, he heaved himself off the boulder, wandered aimlessly up -the wider tongue of plateau. The undercut, he saw, grew deeper, forming -a deep cleft, as if someone had furrowed out the mountain side. Heavy -shadows clung within it. - -Suddenly he stopped, riveted to the ground, scarcely daring to breathe. - -Something was moving in the deep shadow of the undercut. Something that -seemed to glint faintly with reflected light. - -The thing lurched forward and, in the fleeting instant before he turned -and ran, Oliver Meek had an impression of a barrel-like body, a long -neck, a cruel mouth, monstrous eyes that glowed with hidden fires. - -There was no speculation in Oliver Meek's mind. From the description -given him by Stiffy, from the very terror of the thing, he knew the -being shambling toward him was the Asteroid Prowler. - -With a shriek of pure fear, Meek turned and fled and behind him came -the Prowler, its head swaying on the end of its whip-like neck. - - * * * * * - -Meek's legs worked like pistons, his breath gasping in his throat, his -body soaring through space as he covered long distances at each leap -under the influence of lesser gravity. - -Thunderous blasts hammered at the earphones in his helmet and as he ran -he craned his head skyward. - -Shooting down toward the plateau, forward rockets braking, was a small -spaceship! - -Hope rose within him and he glanced back over his shoulder. Hope died -instantly. The Prowler was gaining on him, gaining fast. - -Suddenly his legs gave out. Simply folded up, worn out with the -punishment they had taken. He threw up his arms to shield his helmet -plate and sobbed in panic. - -The Asteroid Prowler would get him now. Sure as shooting. Just at the -minute rescue came, the Prowler would get him. - -But the Prowler didn't get him. Nothing happened at all. Surprised, he -sat up and spun around, crouching. - -The ship had landed, almost at the edge of the plateau and a man was -tumbling out of the port. The Prowler had changed his course, was -galloping toward the ship. - -The man from the ship ran in leaping bounds, a pistol in one gloved -hand, and his yelp of terror rang in Meek's earphones. - -"Run, dang you. Run! That dad-blamed Prowler will be after us any -minute now." - -"Stiffy," yelled Meek. "Stiffy, you came out to get me." - -Stiffy landed beside him, hauled him to his feet. - -"Dang right I came to get you," he panted. "I thought them hoodlums -would be up to some dirty tricks, so I stuck around and watched." - -He jerked at Meek's arm. - -"Come on, Oliver, we got to get along." - -But Meek jerked his arm away. - -"Look what he's doin!" he shouted. "Just look at him!" - -The Prowler seemed to be bent on systematic destruction of the space -ship. His jaws were ripping at the steel plating.... Ripping at it and -tearing it away, peeling it off the frame as one might peel an orange. - -"Hey," howled Stiffy. "You can't do that. Get out of there, you -danged...." - -The Prowler turned to look at them, a heavy power cable in its mouth. - -"You'll be electrocuted," yelped Stiffy. "Danged if it won't serve you -right." - -But, far from being electrocuted, the Prowler seemed to be enjoying -himself. He sucked at the power cable and his eyes eyes glowed -blissfully. - -Stiffy flourished his pistol. - -"Get away," he yelled. "Get away or I'll blister your danged hide." - -[Illustration: _The Prowler whirled from the shattered ship._] - -Almost playfully the Prowler minced away from the ship, feet dancing. - -"He did it!" said Meek. - -"Did what?" Stiffy scowled bewilderedly. - -"Got away from that ship, just like you told him to." - -Stiffy snorted. "Don't ever kid yourself he did it because I told him -to. He couldn't even hear me, probably. Living out here like this, -he wouldn't have anything to hear with. Probably he's just trying to -decide which one of us he'll catch first. Better be ready to kick you -up some dust." - -The Prowler trotted toward them, head bobbing up and down. - -"Get going," Stiffy yelled at Meek and brought up his pistol. A blue -shaft of light whipped out, smacked the Prowler in the head, but the -Prowler didn't even falter in his stride. The energy charge seemed to -have no power at all. It didn't even spatter ... it looked as if the -blue pencil of raging death was boring straight into the spread of -forehead between the monstrous eyes. - -"Run, you danged fool," Stiffy screeched at Meek. "I can't hold him -off." - -But Meek didn't run ... instead he sprang straight into the Prowler's -path, arm upraised. - -"Stop!" he yelled. - - - III - -The Prowler skidded to a stop, his metal hooves leaving scratches on -the solid rock. - -For a moment the three of them stood stock still, Stiffy's jaw hanging -in astonishment. - -Meek reached out a hand and patted the Prowler's massive shoulder. - -"Good boy," he said. "Good boy." - -"Come away from there!" Stiffy yelled in sudden terror. "Just one good -gulp and that guy would have you." - -"Ah, shucks," said Meek, "he won't hurt anybody. He's only hungry, -that's all." - -"That," declared Stiffy, "is just what I'm afraid of." - -"You don't understand," insisted Meek. "He isn't hungry for us. He's -starved for energy. Give him another shot from the gun." - -Stiffy stared at the gun hanging in his hand. - -"You're sure it wouldn't make him sore?" he asked. - -"Gosh, no," said Meek. "That's what he wants. He soaks it up. Didn't -you notice how the beam went right into him, without spattering or -anything. And the way he sucked that power cable. He drained your ship -of every drop of energy it had." - -"He did what?" yelped Stiffy. - -"He drained the ship of energy. That's what he lives on. That's why he -chased you. He wanted you to keep on shooting." - -Stiffy clapped a hand to his forehead. - -"We're sunk for certain, now," he declared. "There might have been a -chance to get back with just a few plates ripped off the ship. But with -all the energy gone...." - -"Hey, Stiffy," yelled Meek, "take a look at this." - -Stiffy moved nearer, cautiously. - -"What you got now?" he demanded irritably. - -"These marks on his shoulder," said Meek. His gloved finger shook -excitedly as he pointed. "They're the same kind of marks as were on -those stones I read about in the book. Marks no one could read. Fellow -who wrote the book figured they were made by some other race that had -visited Juno. Maybe a race from outside the Solar System, even." - -"Good gravy," said Stiffy, in awe, "you don't think...." - -"Sure, I do," Meek declared with the air of a man who is sure of his -knowledge. "A race came here one time and they had the Prowler along. -For some reason they left him. Maybe he was just a robot and they -didn't have room for him, or maybe something happened to them...." - -"Say," said Stiffy, "I bet you that's just what he is. A robot. Attuned -to thought waves. That's why he minds you." - -"That's what I figured," Meek agreed. "Thought waves would be the -same, no matter who thought them ... human being or a ... well ... or -something else." - -A sudden thought struck Stiffy. "Maybe them guys found the Lost Mine! -By cracky, that would be something, wouldn't it? Maybe this critter -could lead us to it." - -"Maybe?" Meek said doubtfully. - -Meek patted the Prowler's rocky shoulder gently, filled with wonder. In -some unguessed time, in some unknown sector of space, the Prowler had -been fashioned by an alien people. For some reason they had made him, -for some reason they had left him here. Abandonment or purpose? - -Meek shook his head. That would be something to puzzle over later, -something to roll around in his brain on some monotonous flight into -the maw of space. - -Space! Startled at the thought clanging on his brain he jerked a quick -glance upward, saw the bleak stars staring at him. Eyes that seemed to -be laughing at him, cruel, ironic laughter. - -"Stiffy," he whispered. "Stiffy, I just thought of something." - -"Yeah, what is it?" - -Stark terror walked in Meek's words. "My oxygen tank is better than -half gone. And the ship is wrecked...." - -"Cripes," said Stiffy, "I guess we just forgot. We sure are behind the -eight ball. Somehow we got to get back to Asteroid City. And we got to -get there quick." - -Meek's eyes brightened. "Stiffy, maybe.... Maybe we could ride the -Prowler." - -Stiffy backed away. But Meek reached out and grasped his arm. "Come on. -It's the only way, Stiffy. We have to get there and the Prowler can -take us." - -"But ... but ... but...." Stiffy stammered. - -"Give me a leg up," Meek ordered. - -Stiffy complied and Meek leaped astride the broad metal back, reached -down and hauled Stiffy aboard. - -"Get going, you flea-bitten nag!" Meek yipped, in sudden elation. - -There was reason for elation. Not until that moment had he stopped to -consider the Prowler might object to being ridden. Might consider it an -insult. - -The Prowler apparently was astonished, but that was all. He shook his -head in bewilderment and weaved his neck around as if he wasn't quite -sure just what to do. But at least he hadn't started to take the place -apart. - -"Giddap!" yelled Stiffy, bringing the butt of his pistol down. - -The Prowler jigged a little, then gathered himself together and -started. The landscape blurred with speed as he leaped a mighty -boulder, skipped along a narrow ledge around a slick-faced mountain, -skidded a hairpin turn. - -Meek and Stiffy fought desperately to hang on. The metal back was slick -and broad and there weren't any handholds. They bounced and thumped, -almost fell off a dozen times. - -"Stiffy," yelled Meek, "how do we know he's taking us to Asteroid City?" - -"Don't fret about that," said Stiffy. "He knows where we want to go. He -read our mind." - -"I hope so," Meek said, prayerfully. - -The Prowler whished around a right angle turn on a narrow ledge and the -distant peaks wheeled sickeningly against the sky. - -Meek lay flat on his belly and hugged the Prowler's sides. The -mountains whistled past. He stole a look at the jagged peaks on the -near horizon and they looked like a tight board fence. - - * * * * * - -Oliver Meek fought manfully to get back his composure as the Prowler -pranced down the main street of Asteroid City. - -The sidewalks were lined with hundreds of staring faces, faces that -drooped in astonishment and disbelief. - -Stiffy was yelling at someone. "Now, doggone you, will you believe -there is a Prowler?" - -And the man he yelled at didn't have a word to say, just stood and -stared. - -In the swarm of faces, Meek saw those of the Reverend Harold Brown and -Andrew Smith and, almost as if in a dream, he waved jauntily to them. -At least, he hoped the wave was jaunty. Wouldn't do to let them know -his knees were too weak to hold him up. - -Smith waved back and shouted something, but the Reverend Brown's jaw -hung open and he seemed too wonder-struck to move. - -This, thought Meek, is the kind of things you read about. The -conquering hero coming home astride his mighty charger. Only the -conquering hero, he remembered with a sudden twinge, usually was a -young lad who sat straight in the saddle instead of an old man with -shoulders hunched from thirty years of poring over dusty ledgers. - -A man was stepping out into the street, a man who carried a gun in hand -and suddenly Meek realized they were abreast of the Silver Moon. - -The armed man was Blacky Hoffman. - -Here, thought Meek, is where I get it. This is what I get for playing -the big shot ... for being a smart alec, for remembering how cards -shouldn't be dealt and for shooting a man's gun out of his hand and -letting myself be talked into being a marshal. - -But he sat stiff and as straight as he could on the Prowler and kept -his eyes on Hoffman. That was the only way to do. That was the way all -the heroes did in the stories he had read. And doggone, he was a hero. -Whether he liked it or not, he was one. - -The street was hushed with sudden tension and the very air seemed to be -crackling with the threat of direful happenings. - -Hoffman's voice rang crisply through the stillness. - -"Go for your blasters, Meek!" - -"I have no blasters," Meek told him calmly. "Your hoodlums took them -from me." - -"Borrow Stiffy's," snapped Hoffman, and added, with a nasty laugh: "You -won't need them long." - -Meek nodded, watching Hoffman narrowly. Slowly he reached back for -Stiffy's gun. He felt it in his hand, wrapped his fingers tightly -around it. - -Funny, he thought, how calm he was. Like he had been in the Silver Moon -that night. There was something about a gun. It changed him, turned him -into another man. - -He didn't have a chance, he knew. Hoffman would shoot before he could -ever get the gun around. But despite that, he felt foolishly sure.... - -Hoffman's gun flashed in the weak sunlight, blooming with blue -brilliance. - -For an instant, a single fraction of a second, Meek saw the flash of -the beam straight in his eyes, but even before he could involuntarily -flinch, the beam had bent. True to its mark, it would have drilled Meek -straight between the eyes ... but it didn't go straight to its mark. -Instead, it bent and slapped itself straight between the Prowler's eyes. - -And the Prowler danced a little jig of happiness as the blue spear of -energy knifed into its metal body. - -"Cripes," gasped Stiffy, "he draws it! He ain't satisfied with just -taking it when you give it to him. He reaches out and gets it. Just -like a lightning rod reaching up and grabbing lightning." - -Puzzlement flashed across Hoffman's face, then incredulity and finally -something that came close to fear. The gun's beam snapped off and his -hands sagged. The gun dropped in the dust. The Prowler stood stock -still. - -"Well, Hoffman?" Meek asked quietly and his voice seemed to run all -along the street. - -Hoffman's face twitched. - -"Get down and fight like a man," he rasped. - -"No," said Meek, "I won't do that. Because it wouldn't be man to man. -It would be me against your entire gang." - -Hoffman started to back away, slowly, step by furtive step. Step by -step the Prowler stalked him there in the silent street. - -Then Hoffman, with a scream of terror, broke and ran. - -"Get him!" Meek roared at the Prowler. - -The Prowler, with one lightning lunge, one flip of its whip-like neck, -got him. Got him, gently, as Meek had meant he should. - - * * * * * - -Howling in mingled rage and terror, Hoffman dangled by the seat of his -pants from the Prowler's beak. Neatly as any circus horse, the Prowler -wheeled and trotted back to the Silver Moon, carrying Hoffman with a -certain gentle grace that was not lost upon the crowd. - -Hoffman quieted and the crowd's jeers rang against the dome. The -Prowler pranced a bit, jiggled Hoffman up and down. - -Meek raised a hand for silence, spoke to Hoffman. "O.K., Mr. Hoffman, -call out your men. All of them. Out into the middle of the street. -Where we can see them." - -Hoffman swore at him. - -"Jiggle him some," Meek told the Prowler. The Prowler jiggled him and -Hoffman bawled and clawed at empty air. - -"Damn you," shrieked Hoffman, "get out into the street. All of you. -Just like he said." - -No one stirred. - -"Blaine," yelled Hoffman. "Get out there! You, too Smithers. Loomis. -Blake!" - -They came slowly, shame-faced. At a command from Meek they unholstered -their blasters and heaved them in a pile. - -The Prowler deposited Hoffman with them. - -Meek saw Andrew Smith standing at the edge of the sidewalk and nodded -to him. "There you are, Mr. Smith. Rounded up, just like you wanted -them." - -"Neat," said Stiffy, "but not gaudy." - -Slowly, carefully, bones aching, Meek slid from the Prowler's back, was -surprised his legs would hold him up. - -"Come in and have a drink," yelled a dozen voices all at once. - -"Bet your life," agreed Stiffy, licking his chops. - -Men were slapping Meek on the back, yelling at him. Yelling friendly -things, calling him an old he-wolf. - -He tried to thrust out his chest but didn't succeed too well. He hoped -they wouldn't insist on his drinking of lot of _bocca_. - -A hand tugged at Meek's elbow. It was the Reverend Brown. - -"You aren't going to leave that beast out here all alone?" he asked. -"No telling what he might do." - -"Ah, shucks," protested Stiffy, "he's gentle as a kitten. Stands -without hitching." - -But even as he spoke, the Prowler lifted his head, almost as if he were -sniffing, started down the street at a swinging trot. - -"Hey," yelled Stiffy, "come back here, you cross-eyed crow-bait!" - -The Prowler didn't falter in his stride. He went even faster. - -Cold fear gripped Meek by the throat. He tried to speak and gulped -instead. He'd just thought of something. The power plant that supplied -Asteroid City with its power and light, the very oxygen it breathed, -was down that way. - -A power plant and an alien robot that was starved for energy! - -"My stars!" gasped Meek. - -He shook off the minister's hand and galloped down the street, -shrieking at the Prowler. But the Prowler had no thought of stopping. - -Panting, Meek slowed from a gallop to a trot, then to a labored walk. -Behind him, he heard Stiffy puffing along. Behind Stiffy trailed -practically the entire population of Asteroid City. - -Far ahead came the sound of rending steel and crashing structure as the -Prowler ripped the plant apart to get at the juice. - -Stiffy gained Meek's side and panted at him. "Cripes, they'll crucify -us for this. We got to get him out of there." - -"How?" asked Meek. - -"Danged if I know," said Stiffy. - -One side of the plant was a mass of tangled wreckage, surrounding a -hole out of which protruded the Prowler's hind quarters. Terrified -workers and maintenance men were running for their lives. Live wires -spat and crackled with flaming energy. - - - IV - -Meek and Stiffy halted a half block away, breath whistling in their -throats. The Prowler's tail, protruding from the hole in the side of -the plant, twitched happily. Meek regarded the scene with doleful -thoughts. - -"I wish," Stiffy declared, "we'd stayed out there and died. It would -have been easier than what's liable to happen to us now." - -Feet thumped behind them and a hand grabbed Meek's shoulder, grabbed -it. It was Andrew Smith, a winded, apoplectic Andrew Smith. - -"What are you going to do?" he shouted at Meek. - -Meek swallowed hard, tried to make his voice even. "Just studying over -the situation, Mr. Smith. I'll figure out something in a minute." - -"Sure he will," insisted Stiffy. "Leave him alone. Give him time. He -always does what he says he'll do. He said he'd round up Blacky for -you, and he did. He went out single-handed and captured the Prowler. -He ..." - -"Yeah," yelled Smith, "and he said the Prowler would stand without -hitching, too. And did he stand? I ask you ..." - -"He didn't say that," Stiffy interrupted, testily, "I said that." - -"It don't make a bit of difference who said it," shrieked Smith. "I -got stock in that plant there. And the Prowler's ruining it. He's -jeopardizing the life of this whole city. And it's all your fault. You -brought him here. I'll sue you, the both of you, so help me...." - -"Ah, shut up," snapped Stiffy. "Who can think with you blabbering -around?" - -Smith danced in rage. "Who's blabbering? I got a good mind to...." - -He doubled up his fist and started toward Stiffy. - -And once again Oliver Meek did something he never would have thought -of doing back on Earth. He put out his gloved hand, deliberately, and -pushed Smith in the face. Pushed hard, so hard that Smith thumped down -in the dust of the street and sat there, silenced by surprise. - -Without even looking back, Meek strode purposefully down the street -toward the Prowler. What he meant to do he did not know. What he -possibly could do he had no idea. But anything was better than standing -there while the crowd screamed at him and men shook their fists at him. - -Why, they might even lynch him! He shivered at the thought. But men -still did things like that. Especially when someone monkeyed around -with the very things they depended on for life out here in naked space. -Maybe they'd turn him out on Juno with only an hour or two of oxygen. -Maybe they'd.... - -Stiffy was yelling at him. "Come back, you danged old fool...." - -Suddenly the ground leaped and bucked beneath Meek's feet. The power -plant reeled before his startled eyes and then, somehow, he was on his -back, watching the dome wheel and weave above him. - -Fighting for breath that had been knocked out of him, he clawed his way -to his knees, tried to stand erect, but the ground still was crawling -with motion. - -It was like an earthquake, he told himself, startled that he could even -think. But it couldn't be an earthquake. Juno didn't have earthquakes, -there was no reason for Juno to have earthquakes. The little planetoid -eons ago had cooled through and through, each rock, each strata had -found its place. Juno was dead, dead as the reaches of space itself, -and earthquakes don't happen on dead planets. - -Out of the corner of his eyes he saw the Prowler had backed out of the -hole in the power plant, was standing with four legs spread wide, -bracing himself. His long neck was stretched high in the air and the -ugly, toothy head had the look of quick alertness. - -Meek gained his feet, stood tottering, keeping upright by some fancy -footwork. The Prowler started toward him, legs gathering speed, heading -down the street. - -With a hoarse whoop, Meek steadied himself, half crouched and held his -breath, leaped, leaped so hard he almost vaulted over the beast's broad -back. Sprawling, he scrambled into position astride the running robot, -saw Stiffy leaping at him. Quickly he shot out a hand, grasped Stiffy -and hauled him aboard. - -Ahead of them the crowd rushed for safety, leaving a broad avenue for -the storming Prowler and his two riders. - -"Get the locks open," yelled Stiffy. "Here we come!" - -The crowd took up the shriek. "Get the locks open!" - - * * * * * - -The Prowler swept down the street, hoofs clattering like hammer blows. -Ahead of them the inner lock swung open. As the Prowler bulleted into -the entrance tunnel, the outer lock swung out and for a few wild -seconds air screamed and howled, rushing from the city into the vacuum -of space. - -In frantic haste, Meek and Stiffy worked with their helmets, getting -them clamped down. Then they were out in the open, the gleaming city -behind them. - -Less than half a mile away loomed a massive boulder towering a hundred -feet or more above the level of the canyon floor. The Prowler made a -beeline for it. - -"Oliver," yelled Stiffy, "that thing wasn't there before. Look, it -almost blocks the canyon!" - -The boulder was black but it crawled with a greenish glow, a faint -network of somber fire. - -The breath caught in Meek's throat. - -"Stiffy," he whispered. - -Behind him, Stiffy almost sobbed in excitement. "Yeah, I know. It's a -meteor. And it's lousy with radium." - -"It just fell," said Meek, voice unsteady. "That's what shook up the -place. Wonder is it didn't crack the dome wide open." - -"We better jump for it," urged Stiffy, "if we don't want to get plumb -burned. Can't go near that thing without lead sheathing." - -Meek flung himself sidewise, throwing up his arms to shield his helmet, -struck on his shoulders and rolled. Slowly, benumbed from the fall, he -crept out of the shadow of a high rock wall into the starlight. - -Stiffy was sitting on the ground, rubbing his shins. - -"Barked them up some," he admitted. - -Up the valley the Prowler was arching its back and rubbing against the -green-glowing boulder. - -"Just like a dad-blamed cat that has found some catnip," said Stiffy. -"Must sort of like that radium." - -He rose slowly, dusted off his suit. - -"Well," he suggested, "let's you and me go into action." - -"Action?" - -"Sure. Let's go back and file us a claim on that meteor. Don't need to -worry about anybody else jumping it, cause every dad-blamed one of them -is scared speechless of the Prowler. They won't go near the meteor long -as he's around." - -Meek stared at the meteor speculatively. "That's worth a lot of money, -isn't it, Stiffy? Filled with radium like that." - -"Bet your boots," said Stiffy cheerfully. "We go fifty-fifty on her. -Split equal ways. We're pardners." - -"Tell you what you do," Meek said slowly. "You take it all. Just take -out enough to fix up the damage back there and call that my share." - -Stiffy's jaw drooped. "Say, what you getting at?" - -"I'm leaving," said Meek. - -"Good gravy! Leaving! And just when we made us a strike." - -"You don't understand," said Meek. "I didn't come out here to find -radium. Or to arrest gangs. Or even to capture an Asteroid Prowler. I -just came out to look around. Nice and quiet. Didn't want to bother -anybody. Didn't want anybody to bother me." - -"Doggone it," said Stiffy, "and I was just figuring maybe, soon as we -cleaned up the radium, we might get that Prowler to lead us to the Lost -Mine." - - * * * * * - -Meek brightened. "I have a hunch I know where that Lost Mine is, -Stiffy. Remember there was a cut-back in the cliff near where we found -the Prowler. Well, when I first saw him, he was in that place. Got a -hunch maybe that's the mine." - -Stiffy grinned. "So you're sticking with me." - -Meek shook his head. "No, I'm still leaving." - -"Just like that?" said Stiffy. - -Stiffy held out his hand, "O.K., if that's what you want to do. I'll -bank your half in the First Martian back on Earth. Leave my address -there. Might want to get in touch with me some time." - -Meek gripped his hand. "You don't need to do that. Take all of it. Just -see the plant's fixed up." - -Stiffy's eyes shone queerly, moistly in the starlight. "Shucks, there's -enough for both of us. More than enough." His voice was rough. "Now get -along with you." - -Meek started to walk away. - -"Goodbye, Stiffy," he called. - -"So long," Stiffy shouted. - -Meek hesitated. It seemed there should have been more he could have -said. Some way to let Stiffy know he liked him. Some way to tell him he -was a friend in a life which had known few friends. - -He tried to think of ways to put what he felt in words, but there -wasn't any way, none that didn't sound awkward and sentimental. - -He wheeled about, headed for the space port. His feet went faster and -faster, until finally he was running. - -He had to get out of here, he told himself, before he got into another -jam. His luck was stretched too thin already. A fellow just couldn't go -on having luck like that. - -And besides, there was all of space to roam in, other places to see. -That was what he had set out to do. To see the Solar System in his own -ship, to do all the things he'd dreamed about back in the cubby hole at -Lunar Exports, Inc. - -And he was going to do just that, he promised himself. Although he -hoped the next stop would be more peaceable. - -Oliver Meek sighed happily--_this was the life_. - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Mr. Meek--Musketeer, by Clifford D. 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