A World is Born by Leigh Douglass Brackett
them, and thought of the one hundred and twenty-two souls in thatnarrow Twilight Belt--with the fierce heat of the Sunside before themand the spatial cold of the Shadow side at their backs, fighting againstwind and storm and heat to build a world to replace the ones the War hadtaken from them.
"So much could happen," she whispered. "An accident, an escape...."
The inter-dome telescreen buzzed its signal. Jill, caught in a queermood of premonition, went to it.
The face of Dio the Martian appeared on the screen, still wet and dirtyfrom the storm-soaked fields, disheveled from his battle across theplain in the chaotic winds.
"I want to see you, Miss Moulton," he said. "There's something funny Ithink you ought to know."
"Of course," said Jill, and met her father's eyes. "I think we'll see,now, which one of us is right."
* * * * *
The barracks were quiet, except for the mutter of distant thunder andthe heavy breathing of exhausted men. Tom Ward crouched in the darknessby Mel Gray's bunk.
"You ain't gonna go soft at the last minute, are you?" he whispered."Because I can't afford to take chances."
"Don't worry," Gray returned grimly. "What's your proposition?"
"I can give you the combination to the lock of the hangar passage. Allyou have to do is get into Moulton's office, where the passage door is,and go to it. The ship's a two-seater. You can get her out of the valleyeasy."
Gray's eyes narrowed in the dark. "What's the catch?"
"There ain't none. I swear it."
"Look, Ward. I'm no fool. Who's behind this, and why?"
"That don't make no difference. All you want ... _ow!_"
Gray's fingers had fastened like steel claws on his wrist.
"I get it, now," said Gray slowly. "That's why I was sent here. Somebodywanted me to make trouble for Moulton." His fingers tightenedagonizingly, and his voice sank to a slow drawl.
"I don't like being a pawn in somebody else's chess game."
"Okay, okay! It ain't my fault. Lemme go." Ward rubbed his bruisedwrist. "Sure, somebody--I ain't sayin' who--sent you here, knowin' you'dwant to escape. I'm here to help you. You get free, I get paid, the BigBoy gets what he wants. Okay?"
Gray was silent, scowling in the darkness. Then he said.
"All right. I'll take a chance."
"Then listen. You tell Moulton you have a complaint. I'll...."
Light flooded the dark as the door clanged open. Ward leaped like astartled rabbit, but the light speared him, held him. Ward felt a pulseof excitement beat up in him.
The long ominous shadows of the guards raised elongated guns. Thebarracks stirred and muttered, like a vast aviary waking.
"Ward and Gray," said one of the guards. "Moulton wants you."
Gray rose from his bunk with the lithe, delicate grace of a cat. Themonotony of sleep and labor was ended. Something had broken. Life wasonce again a moving thing.
* * * * *
John Moulton sat behind the untidy desk. Dio the Martian sat grimlyagainst the wall. There was a guard beside him, watching.
Mel Gray noted all this as he and Ward came in. But his cynical blueeyes went beyond, to a door with a ponderous combination lock. Then theywere attracted by something else--the tall, slim figure standing againstthe black quartz panes of the far wall.
It was the first time he had seen Jill Moulton. She looked the perfectsober apostle of righteousness he'd learned to mock. And then he saw thesoft cluster of black curls, the curve of her throat above the darkdress, the red lips that balanced her determined jaw and direct greyeyes.
Moulton spoke, his shaggy head hunched between his shoulders.
"Dio tells me that you, Gray, are not a volunteer."
"Tattletale," said Gray. He was gauging the distance to the hangar door,the positions of the guards, the time it would take to spin out thecombination. And he knew he couldn't do it.
"What were you and Ward up to when the guards came?"
"I couldn't sleep," said Gray amiably. "He was telling me bedtimestories." Jill Moulton was lovely, he couldn't deny that. Lovely, butnot soft. She gave him an idea.
Moulton's jaw clamped. "Cut the comedy, Gray. Are you working for Caronof Mars?"
Caron of Mars, chairman of the board of the Interplanetary PrisonAuthority. Dio had mentioned him. Gray smiled in understanding. Caronof Mars had sent him, Gray, to Mercury. Caron of Mars was helping him,through Ward, to escape. Caron of Mars wanted Mercury for his ownpurposes--and he could have it.
"In a manner of speaking, Mr. Moulton," he said gravely, "Caron of Marsis working for me."
He caught Ward's sharp hiss of remonstrance. Then Jill Moulton steppedforward.
"Perhaps he doesn't understand what he's doing, Father." Her eyes metGray's. "You want to escape, don't you?"
Gray studied her, grinning as the slow rose flushed her skin, thecorners of her mouth tightening with anger.
"Go on," he said. "You have a nice voice."
Her eyes narrowed, but she held her temper.
"You must know what that would mean, Gray. There are thousands ofveterans in the prisons now. Their offenses are mostly trivial, but thePrison Authority can't let them go, because they have no jobs, no homes,no money.
"The valleys here are fertile. There are mines rich in copper andpitchblende. The men have a chance for a home and a job, a part inbuilding a new world. We hope to make Mercury an independent,self-governing member of the League of Worlds."
"With the Moultons as rulers, of course," Gray murmured.
"If they want us," answered Jill, deliberately missing the point. "Doyou think you have the right to destroy all we've worked for?"
Gray was silent. Rather grimly, she went on.
"Caron of Mars would like to see us defeated. He didn't care aboutMercury before radium was discovered. But now he'd like to turn it intoa prison mining community, with convict labor, leasing mine grants tocorporations and cleaning up big fortunes for himself and hisassociates.
"Any trouble here will give him an excuse to say that we've failed, thatthe Project is a menace to the Solar System. If you try to escape, youwreck everything we've done. If you don't tell the truth, you may costthousands of men their futures.
"Do you understand? Will you cooperate?"
Gray said evenly, "I'm my own keeper, now. My brother will have to takecare of himself."
It was ridiculously easy, she was so earnest, so close to him. He had abrief kaleidoscope of impressions--Ward's sullen bewilderment, Moulton'sangry roar, Dio's jerky rise to his feet as the guards grabbed for theirguns.
Then he had his hands around her slim, firm throat, her body pressedclose to his, serving as a shield against bullets.
"Don't be rash," he told them all quietly. "I can break her neck quiteeasily, if I have to. Ward, unlock that door."
In utter silence, Ward darted over and began to spin the dial. At lasthe said, "Okay, c'mon."
Gray realized that he was sweating. Jill was like warm, rigid marble inhis hands. And he had another idea.
"I'm going to take the girl as a hostage," he announced. "If I getsafely away, she'll be turned loose, her health and virtue still intact.Good night."
The clang of the heavy door had a comforting sound behind them.
* * * * *
The ship was a commercial job, fairly slow but sturdy. Gray strappedJill Moulton into one of the bucket seats in the control room and thenchecked the fuel and air gauges. The tanks were full.
"What about you?" he said to Ward. "You can't go back."
"Nah. I'll have to go with you. Warm her up, Duke, while I open thedome."
He darted out. Gray set the atmosphere motors idling. The dome slidopen, showing the flicker of the auroras, where areas of intense heatand cold set up atmospheric tension by rapid fluctuation of adjoiningair masses.
Mercury, cutting the vast magnetic field of the Sun in an eccentricorbit, torture
d by the daily change from blistering heat to freezingcold in the thin atmosphere, was a powerful generator of electricity.
Ward didn't come back.
Swearing under his breath, tense for the sound of pursuit in spite ofthe girl, Gray went to look. Out beyond the hangar, he saw a figurerunning.
Running hard up into the narrowing cleft of the valley, where naturalgalleries in the rock of Mercury led to the places where the coppercables were anchored, and farther, into the unexplored mystery of thecaves.
Gray scowled, his arrogant Roman
"So much could happen," she whispered. "An accident, an escape...."
The inter-dome telescreen buzzed its signal. Jill, caught in a queermood of premonition, went to it.
The face of Dio the Martian appeared on the screen, still wet and dirtyfrom the storm-soaked fields, disheveled from his battle across theplain in the chaotic winds.
"I want to see you, Miss Moulton," he said. "There's something funny Ithink you ought to know."
"Of course," said Jill, and met her father's eyes. "I think we'll see,now, which one of us is right."
* * * * *
The barracks were quiet, except for the mutter of distant thunder andthe heavy breathing of exhausted men. Tom Ward crouched in the darknessby Mel Gray's bunk.
"You ain't gonna go soft at the last minute, are you?" he whispered."Because I can't afford to take chances."
"Don't worry," Gray returned grimly. "What's your proposition?"
"I can give you the combination to the lock of the hangar passage. Allyou have to do is get into Moulton's office, where the passage door is,and go to it. The ship's a two-seater. You can get her out of the valleyeasy."
Gray's eyes narrowed in the dark. "What's the catch?"
"There ain't none. I swear it."
"Look, Ward. I'm no fool. Who's behind this, and why?"
"That don't make no difference. All you want ... _ow!_"
Gray's fingers had fastened like steel claws on his wrist.
"I get it, now," said Gray slowly. "That's why I was sent here. Somebodywanted me to make trouble for Moulton." His fingers tightenedagonizingly, and his voice sank to a slow drawl.
"I don't like being a pawn in somebody else's chess game."
"Okay, okay! It ain't my fault. Lemme go." Ward rubbed his bruisedwrist. "Sure, somebody--I ain't sayin' who--sent you here, knowin' you'dwant to escape. I'm here to help you. You get free, I get paid, the BigBoy gets what he wants. Okay?"
Gray was silent, scowling in the darkness. Then he said.
"All right. I'll take a chance."
"Then listen. You tell Moulton you have a complaint. I'll...."
Light flooded the dark as the door clanged open. Ward leaped like astartled rabbit, but the light speared him, held him. Ward felt a pulseof excitement beat up in him.
The long ominous shadows of the guards raised elongated guns. Thebarracks stirred and muttered, like a vast aviary waking.
"Ward and Gray," said one of the guards. "Moulton wants you."
Gray rose from his bunk with the lithe, delicate grace of a cat. Themonotony of sleep and labor was ended. Something had broken. Life wasonce again a moving thing.
* * * * *
John Moulton sat behind the untidy desk. Dio the Martian sat grimlyagainst the wall. There was a guard beside him, watching.
Mel Gray noted all this as he and Ward came in. But his cynical blueeyes went beyond, to a door with a ponderous combination lock. Then theywere attracted by something else--the tall, slim figure standing againstthe black quartz panes of the far wall.
It was the first time he had seen Jill Moulton. She looked the perfectsober apostle of righteousness he'd learned to mock. And then he saw thesoft cluster of black curls, the curve of her throat above the darkdress, the red lips that balanced her determined jaw and direct greyeyes.
Moulton spoke, his shaggy head hunched between his shoulders.
"Dio tells me that you, Gray, are not a volunteer."
"Tattletale," said Gray. He was gauging the distance to the hangar door,the positions of the guards, the time it would take to spin out thecombination. And he knew he couldn't do it.
"What were you and Ward up to when the guards came?"
"I couldn't sleep," said Gray amiably. "He was telling me bedtimestories." Jill Moulton was lovely, he couldn't deny that. Lovely, butnot soft. She gave him an idea.
Moulton's jaw clamped. "Cut the comedy, Gray. Are you working for Caronof Mars?"
Caron of Mars, chairman of the board of the Interplanetary PrisonAuthority. Dio had mentioned him. Gray smiled in understanding. Caronof Mars had sent him, Gray, to Mercury. Caron of Mars was helping him,through Ward, to escape. Caron of Mars wanted Mercury for his ownpurposes--and he could have it.
"In a manner of speaking, Mr. Moulton," he said gravely, "Caron of Marsis working for me."
He caught Ward's sharp hiss of remonstrance. Then Jill Moulton steppedforward.
"Perhaps he doesn't understand what he's doing, Father." Her eyes metGray's. "You want to escape, don't you?"
Gray studied her, grinning as the slow rose flushed her skin, thecorners of her mouth tightening with anger.
"Go on," he said. "You have a nice voice."
Her eyes narrowed, but she held her temper.
"You must know what that would mean, Gray. There are thousands ofveterans in the prisons now. Their offenses are mostly trivial, but thePrison Authority can't let them go, because they have no jobs, no homes,no money.
"The valleys here are fertile. There are mines rich in copper andpitchblende. The men have a chance for a home and a job, a part inbuilding a new world. We hope to make Mercury an independent,self-governing member of the League of Worlds."
"With the Moultons as rulers, of course," Gray murmured.
"If they want us," answered Jill, deliberately missing the point. "Doyou think you have the right to destroy all we've worked for?"
Gray was silent. Rather grimly, she went on.
"Caron of Mars would like to see us defeated. He didn't care aboutMercury before radium was discovered. But now he'd like to turn it intoa prison mining community, with convict labor, leasing mine grants tocorporations and cleaning up big fortunes for himself and hisassociates.
"Any trouble here will give him an excuse to say that we've failed, thatthe Project is a menace to the Solar System. If you try to escape, youwreck everything we've done. If you don't tell the truth, you may costthousands of men their futures.
"Do you understand? Will you cooperate?"
Gray said evenly, "I'm my own keeper, now. My brother will have to takecare of himself."
It was ridiculously easy, she was so earnest, so close to him. He had abrief kaleidoscope of impressions--Ward's sullen bewilderment, Moulton'sangry roar, Dio's jerky rise to his feet as the guards grabbed for theirguns.
Then he had his hands around her slim, firm throat, her body pressedclose to his, serving as a shield against bullets.
"Don't be rash," he told them all quietly. "I can break her neck quiteeasily, if I have to. Ward, unlock that door."
In utter silence, Ward darted over and began to spin the dial. At lasthe said, "Okay, c'mon."
Gray realized that he was sweating. Jill was like warm, rigid marble inhis hands. And he had another idea.
"I'm going to take the girl as a hostage," he announced. "If I getsafely away, she'll be turned loose, her health and virtue still intact.Good night."
The clang of the heavy door had a comforting sound behind them.
* * * * *
The ship was a commercial job, fairly slow but sturdy. Gray strappedJill Moulton into one of the bucket seats in the control room and thenchecked the fuel and air gauges. The tanks were full.
"What about you?" he said to Ward. "You can't go back."
"Nah. I'll have to go with you. Warm her up, Duke, while I open thedome."
He darted out. Gray set the atmosphere motors idling. The dome slidopen, showing the flicker of the auroras, where areas of intense heatand cold set up atmospheric tension by rapid fluctuation of adjoiningair masses.
Mercury, cutting the vast magnetic field of the Sun in an eccentricorbit, torture
Ward didn't come back.
Swearing under his breath, tense for the sound of pursuit in spite ofthe girl, Gray went to look. Out beyond the hangar, he saw a figurerunning.
Running hard up into the narrowing cleft of the valley, where naturalgalleries in the rock of Mercury led to the places where the coppercables were anchored, and farther, into the unexplored mystery of thecaves.
Gray scowled, his arrogant Roman