Coran struck her aside and lunged at Hamlin.
Coran struck her aside and lunged at Hamlin.
Coran struck her aside and lunged at Hamlin.
"Don't shoot, Steve," Gerda wailed.
The shock of the first blaster discharge had loosened the magnetic grapnels which held the ships together. The pirate's craft began to drift away, tearing loose the end of the tube.
Hamlin was on his feet, trying to fire his blaster, but the charge was burned out. It only flickered feebly. He leaped the widening distance between the ships and went up the side like a spider, gripping the shell of theEraniawith the magnetic soles of his space-boots. Coran climbed round the doorway and went up after him, gun in hand.
Hamlin had disappeared round the curve of the hull. It was rough, dangerous work climbing round the outer shell of a space-ship. One slip meant a plunge into the awesome emptiness of the void. Gravity was practically non-existent, but the grip of the soles was slight, and only one foot could be moved at a time.
From the vantage point of his cover behind a dead rocket tube, Hamlin waited. He knew that his time was short. Off across the black gulf of space three flakes of gleaming light resolved themselves into fast patrol cruisers, racing toward the derelictErania. Coran had not seen them, but came on steadily, determined to see his assignment through. Hamlin waited, gun resting on the rocket tube, hoping for a clear shot. Mad with hatred, he blamed Coran for the failure of his whole life, and was viciously resolved to take his enemy with him.
The patrol ships moved in close and warped alongside theAphrodite. Men in space suits poured out of the access hatch and guns were trained on the rocket tube behind which Hamlin held out.
Sick fury possessed Hamlin. With the gesture of a trapped rat, he rammed his blaster-gun up the vents of the rocket tube. If he could ignite the remaining fuel, they would all blow to Kingdom Come in a roaring atomic holocaust.
Coran saw his intent and stood up to fire. His beam went wildly into the darkness as he lost his balance and toppled into space. Another beam whipped out from the patrol cruiser and caught Hamlin full force as he stood up to fire into the tube.
He vanished in a glittering cloud of particles, dispersed instantly by their own radiation.
Lines with magnetic grapnels looped out and snatched Coran reeling him back to the patrol ship like a grotesque fish. For three days, he lay unconscious from space-shock....
Back on the Moon, at Luna Station, three people were waiting for the Martian Express to take-off.
"You see, Steve, Gerda's really my daughter," Paul Jomian explained. "Her mother divorced me fifteen years ago, and a year later married Gartan Mors. She took the children, of course, and Mors raised them as his own. Gerda was young enough to conform but Ken was always wild. He took it for three or four years, then ran away to Venus. Gerda always idolized him, but really she scarcely knew him. If anyone's at fault in all this, I am the one to blame. I was a stubborn fool, and Nell could never stand my job."
Gerda offered her hand to Coran. "I hate long goodbyes," she said. "I'm sorry about everything. I—I don't really blame you for Ken's death. Goodbye, and good luck."
Steve decided it was safe to play out a fond and corny farewell. He took her hand lingeringly. "Don't worry about things, Gerda. I know how you feel. It wouldn't have worked out anyhow. Just let me know when you get the divorce. Let's break this up. I thought that I hated Mars-station, but now that I'm through with the Space Patrol, I can't wait to get back."
Paul Jomian put his arm around his daughter as they watched Coran turn and wave before climbing aboard the express cruiser. On Coran's face was the smug complacency of a man who has neatly avoided being stuck with a dame. He grinned and vanished up the gangplank. Jomian muttered something inaudibly.
"You're a sucker to let a man like Steve get away ... for any reason," he told her. "Such men are hard to find, and still harder to hook once you've found them."
"I know it," she said firmly, though tears brimmed in her eyes. "But I just couldn't love the man who'd killed my brother. I couldn't."
"That's the biggest mistake you ever made. Steve didn't want me to tell you, but he didn't shoot Ken. His beam went wild." Jomian nerved himself for an ordeal. "I killed him."
"Why didn't you tell me—why?" she wailed.
"I should have told you before, but I couldn't. I didn't want you to hate me, now that I'd just found you."
Gerda clung to her father fiercely. "I couldn't hate you, dad. But we mustn't let him go. I might have a chance to win him, but how can I if he's on Mars and I'm here?"
"I'm afraid that's out of our hands. Steve doesn't know it, but he's not through with the space patrol. They refused his resignation. He's just been appointed commander of the Mars-Jupiter sector. Do you think you have the guts to be a spaceman's wife?"
"IknowI have. But how'll I ever convince Steve? You heard him. He said it wouldn't ever work out."
"That's your problem. He's a stubborn man."
Sudden determination shone in her face. "And I'm a stubborn woman," she called back, blowing her father a kiss. She reached the gangplank just in time to grab it and be dragged up with it.
Jomian grinned. "She's my kid. I'll bet she trims his wings, the rat."