Five minutes later Calhoun had one would-be a of that once had been a wall. He set the by a blaster-bolt and then sent other all around the man it had when he from the flames. He have killed him ten times over, but it was more to open communication. So he missed, intentionally.
Maril had out that she came from Dara and had word for them, but they did not answer. There were three men with heavy-duty blast-rifles. One was the one Calhoun had out of his hiding-place. That man's when the it. Two remained. One—so Calhoun presently discovered—was his way to a from which he shoot at Calhoun. Calhoun had into a and Maril to at the shot. The second man planned to to a point where he shoot him like a fish in a barrel. The third man had a dozen times and then disappeared. Calhoun that he to around to the rear, in there was no protection from that direction for Calhoun. It would take some time for him to manage it.
So Calhoun his fire on the man trying to above him. He was a boulder, not too to Calhoun's breastwork. Calhoun set fire to the at the point at which the other man aimed. That, then, his useless. Then Calhoun sent a dozen at the other man's shield. It up. Steam rose in a and directly away from Calhoun. He saw that flee. He saw him so that he was positive that there was a of on the right-hand of the of his neck.
He and to the third. That man moved through thick undergrowth, and Calhoun set it on fire in a pattern of flames. Evidently, these men had had no in battle-tactics with blast-rifles. The third man also had to away. He did. But something from him through the smoke. It to the ground directly from Calhoun. White up violently.
It was that Calhoun as he did. He the girl Maril to her and her toward the Med Ship. Smoke from the bomb around him and missed Maril altogether. Calhoun, though, got a of something strange, not or at all. He to breathe and onward. In clear air he his and refilled them. They were then to the ship, with Murgatroyd on ahead.
But then Calhoun's to furiously. His and tense. He like an of agitation. Calhoun was familiar with tear-gas, used by police on some planets. But this was different and worse. Even as he helped and Maril onward, he his sensations, and had it. Panic gas! Police did not use it panic is than rioting. Calhoun all the physical of and of terror. A man mind to terror physical sensations, heart, and muscles, and a to action. A man in those physical are by other means will—ordinarily—find his mind to terror.
Calhoun couldn't his feelings, but his him to act despite them. The three from Weald the of the Med Ship. One of their had his and need not be counted. Another had from and might be for some moments, anyhow. But a blast-bolt the ship's metal only from Calhoun, and he around to the other and let a of fire which the of all its charges.
Then he opened the door, the that he and trembled. He the girl and Murgatroyd in. He the door just as another blaster-bolt hit.
"They—they don't realize," said Maril desperately. "If they only knew—."
"Talk to them, if you like," said Calhoun. His teeth and he raged, the was of terror he denied.
He pushed a on the control-board. He pointed to a microphone. He got at an oxygen-bottle and deeply. Oxygen, obviously, should be an for panic, since the of terror act to the of the blood-stream and muscles, and to make possible if necessary. Breathing ninety-five produced the the terror-inspiring for, so his nearly to normal and his relaxed. He out his hand and it did not tremble.
He to Maril. She hadn't spoken into the yet.
"They—may not be from Dara!" she said shakily. "I just thought! They be somebody else—maybe who planned to the mine for a of its ..."
"Nonsense!" said Calhoun. "I saw one of them to be sure. But they're characters. I'm there may be more on the way here they keep themselves. Anyhow, now we know some of them are in hearing! I'll take of that and we'll go on."
He took the microphone. Instants later his voice in the the ship, through the thin of small creatures.
"This is the Med Ship Aesclipus Twenty," said Calhoun's voice, to a shout. "I left Weald four days ago, one day after the cargo-ship from here with on dead. On Weald they don't know how it happened, but they blueskins. Sooner or later they'll search here. Get away! Cover up your tracks! Hide all that you've been here! Get the away, fast! One more warning! There's talk of fusion-bombing Dara. They're scared! If they your traces, they'll be more still! So up your and—get—away—from—here!"
The many-times-multiplied voice rolled and among the hills. But it was very clear. Where it be it be understood, and it be for miles.
But there was no response to it. Calhoun waited a time. Then he and seated himself at the control-board.
"It isn't easy," he observed, "to men that they've out-smarted themselves! Hold hard, Murgatroyd!"
The bellowed. Then there was a noise to end all noises, and the ship to climb. It up and up and up. By the time it was out of it had to to clear space and Calhoun cut the altogether. He himself with those which with to after a which at its own speed. Then one the to another planet, from the coördinates of the world one is and the one one for. Then,—in this case at any rate—there was the very of out a fourth-magnitude star of one was his destination. He for it with ultra-fine precision.
"Overdrive coming," he said presently. "Hold on!"
Space reeled. There was and and a of in a spiral. Then stillness, and solidity, and the of the Pit the Med Ship. The little was in again.
After a long while, the girl Maril said uneasily.
"I don't know what you plan now—."
"I'm going to Dara," said Calhoun. "On Orede I to the there to going, fast. Maybe I succeeded. I don't know. But this thing's been mishandled! Even if there's a famine, people shouldn't do out of desperation!"
"I know now that I was—very foolish—."
"Forget it," Calhoun. "I wasn't talking about you. Here I into a that the Med Service should have and up ago! But it's not only a Med Service obligation, it's a mess! Before I to at the problem, those on Orede—. It'd I Weald! An by a ship full of men that nobody to kill."
Maril her head.
"Those Darian characters," said Calhoun annoyedly, "shouldn't have gone to Orede in the place. If they there, they should at least have on a where there were no people from Weald a mine and for sport on their off days! They be spotted! I they were! And again, if it had been a long way from the mine installation, they have out the people who them they with the news! But it looks like saw men hunting, and got close to see they were blueskins, and then got to the mine with the news!"
She waited for him to explain.
"I know I'm guessing, but it fits!" he said distastefully. "So something had to be done. Either the settlement had to be out or the that were on Orede had to be discredited. The for both. They used panic-gas on a of and it them and they the settlement like the four-footed they are! And the used panic-gas on the settlement itself as the through. It should have settled the whole nicely. After it was over every man in the settlement would he'd been out of his for a while, and he'd have the of the settlement to think about, and he wouldn't be sure of what he'd or beforehand. They might try to the later, but they wouldn't anything certainly! It should have worked!"
Again she waited. So Calhoun said very indeed;
"Unfortunately, when the panicked, they into the ship. Also unfortunately, panic-gas got into the ship with them. So they while the astrogator—in panic!—took off and for Weald and on the overdrive—which would be set for Weald anyhow—because that would be the way to away from he he feared. But he and all the men on the ship were still with panic from the they were re-breathing until they died!"
Silence. After a long interval, Maril asked;
"You don't think the—Darians to kill?"
"I think they were stupid!" said Calhoun angrily. "Somebody's always the police to use panic-gas in case of public tumult. But it's too dangerous. Nobody what one man will do in a panic. Take a hundred or two or three and panic them all, and there's no limit to their craziness! The whole thing was wrong!"
"But you don't them?"
"For being stupid, yes," said Calhoun fretfully. "But if I'd been in their place, ..."
"Where were you born?" asked Maril suddenly.
Calhoun his around. He said;
"No! Not where you're guessing—or hoping. Not on Dara. Just I act as if Darians were doesn't I have to be one! I'm a Med Service man, and I'm acting as I think I should." His exasperated. "Dammit, I'm to with health situations, and possible of deaths! And if Weald thinks it proof that are in space again and the death of Wealdians it won't be healthy! They're set to fusion-bombs on Dara to it out!"
Maril said fiercely;
"They might as well bombs. It'll be than starvation, at least!"
Calhoun looked at her more than before.
"It is a failure again?" he demanded. When she he said bitterly; "Famine already?" When she again he said drearily; "And of is the great-grandfather of health problems! And that's right in my with all the rest!"
He up. Then he sat again.
"I'm tired!" he said flatly. "I'd like to some sleep."
Maril understood. She up a book and into the other cabin.
Alone in the compartment, he to relax, but it was not possible. He himself into a chair and the of the people of the Dara. Those people were marked by of as an of a of three past. Dara was a of pariahs, from the by those who had been to them.
And now there was on Dara for the second time, and they were of no mind to quietly. There was food on the Orede, of without owners. It was natural for Darians to a ship or ships and try to food to its people. But that necessary enterprise had now Weald to a of apprehension. Weald was if possible more of than before, and more the enemy of the planet's population. Weald itself and prospered. Ironically, it had such an of that it them in space-ships in about itself. Hundreds of thousands of of Weald in sealed-tight hulks, while the people of Dara and only try to steal—it be called stealing—some of the wild of Orede.
The on Orede not trust Calhoun, so they not to hear—or maybe they didn't hear. They'd been and by all of their world. They'd been and by in about them, to shoot any space-craft they might send aloft.
So Calhoun ...
A long time later Calhoun small which were not normal on a Med Ship in overdrive. They were not part of the to keep the of the ship endurable. Calhoun his head. He sharply. No come from outside.
He on the door of the sleeping-cabin. The stopped instantly.
"Come out," he through the door.
"I'm—I'm all right," said Maril's voice. But it was not steady. She paused. "I was just having a dream."
"I wish," said Calhoun, "that you'd tell me the truth occasionally! Come out, please!"
There were stirrings. After a little the door opened and Maril appeared. She looked as if she'd been crying. She said quickly;
"I look queer, but it's I was asleep."
"To the contrary," said Calhoun, fuming, "you've been crying. I don't know why. I've been out here I sleep, I'm frustrated. But since you aren't asleep maybe you can help me with my job. I've some out. For some others I need facts. How about it?"
She swallowed.
"I'll try."
"Coffee?" he asked.
Murgatroyd his out of his sleeping-cabin.
"Chee?" he asked interestedly.
"Go to sleep!" Calhoun.
He to and forth.
"I need to know something about the patches," he said jerkily. "Maybe it to think of such now. First first, you know. But that is a thing! So long as Darians don't look like the people of other worlds, they'll be different. If they look repulsive, they'll be of as evil.... Tell me about those patches. They're different-sized and different-shaped and they appear in different places. You've none on your or hands, anyhow."
"I haven't any at all," said the girl reservedly.
"I thought—"
"Not everybody," she said defensively. "Nearly, yes. But not all. Some people don't have them. Some people are with on their skin, but they out while they're children. When they up they're just like—the people of Weald or any other world. And their children have them."
Calhoun stared.
"You couldn't possibly be proved to be a Darian, then?"
She her head. Calhoun remembered, and started the coffee-maker.
"When you left Dara," he said, "You were a long, long way, to some where they'd of Dara, and where the name meant nothing. You have settled there, or else and about Dara. But you didn't. Why not, since you're not a blueskin?"
"But I am!" she said fiercely. "My parents, my and sisters, and Korvan—."
Then she her lip. Calhoun took note but did not on the name that she had mentioned.
"Then your had the fade, so you had them," he said absorbedly. "Something like that on Tralee, once! There's a virus—a whole group of particles! Normally we are to them. One has to be in physical condition for them to take and produce they do. But once they're they're passed on from mother to child.... And when they die out it's childhood, too!"
He coffee for the two of them. As usual, Murgatroyd to the and said impatiently;
"Chee! Chee! Chee!"
Calhoun Murgatroyd's cup and it to him.
"But this is marvellous!" he said exuberantly. "The appeared after the plague, didn't they? After people recovered—when they recovered?"
Maril at him. His mind was with professional considerations. He was not talking to her as a person. She was purely a of information.
"So I'm told," said Maril reservedly. "Are there any more questions you want to ask?"
He at her. Then he said ruefully;
"I'm stupid, Maril, but you're touchy. There's nothing personal."
"There is to me!" she said fiercely. "I was among blueskins, and they're of my blood, and they're and I'd have been killed on Weald if I'd been as—what I am! And there's Korvan, who for me to be sent away as a and me to do just what you said,—abandon my home world and I about! Including him! It's personal to me!"
Calhoun his helplessly.
"I'm sorry," he repeated, "Drink your coffee!"
"I don't want it," she said bitterly. "I'd like to die!"
"If you around where I am," Calhoun told her, "you may your wish. All right. There'll be no more questions, I promise."
She and moved toward the door to the sleeping-cabin. Calhoun looked after her.
"Maril," he called out to her.
"What?"
"Why were you crying?"
"You wouldn't understand," she said evenly.
Calhoun his almost up to his ears. He was a professional man. In his he was not incompetent. But there is no in which a man to women. Calhoun had to let or or take of Maril's personal problems. He had larger to with.
But he had something to work on, now. He in the tapes. He came up with an of on the he needed. He left the control-room to go into the of the Med Ship's hull. He an ultra-frigid box, were at the temperature of liquid air. He thick gloves, used a special set of tongs, and a of plastic in which a sealed-tight of was embedded. It he took it out, and when the storage-box was closed again the was with a thick and of moisture.
He to the control-room and the which available a small-scale but laboratory. He set the plastic in a which would it very, very to a temperature and it there. It was, obviously, a from which any quantity of the same be bred. Calhoun set the with great exactitude.
"This," he told Murgatroyd, "may be a good day's work. Now I think I can rest."
Then, for a long while, there was no or movement in the Med Ship. The girl Maril may have slept, or maybe not. Calhoun in a chair which at the touch of a the most of sleeping-places. Murgatroyd in his cubbyhole, his over his nose. There were comforting, unheard, easily now and again. They the of life alive in the ship. But for such of sound—carefully recorded for this exact purpose—the of the ship would have been that of a tomb.
But it was otherwise when another ship-day with the of as as but an of their own.
Calhoun the plastic and its contents. He read the which had for it while he slept. He put the block—no longer frosted—in the culture-microscope and saw its enclosed, of life in the of on the food that had been with them when they were to the condition. He beamed. He replaced the in the and the day cheerfully.
Maril him with great reserve. They breakfasted.
"I've been thinking," said Maril evenly. "I think I can you a for—whatever ideas you may have to help Dara."
"Kind of you," Calhoun. "May I ask you'll exert?"
"There's a man," said Maril reservedly, "who—thinks a great of me. I don't know his present official position, but he was to prominent. I'll tell him how you've up to now, and your attitude, and of that you're Med Service. He'll be to help you, I'm sure."
"Splendid!" said Calhoun, nodding. "That will be Korvan."
She started.
"How did you know?"
"Intuition," said Calhoun drily. "All right. I'll count on him."
But he did not. He in the all that ship-day and all the next. The girl quiet.
On the ship-day after, the time for approached. And while the ship was a world all by itself, it was easy to look with to the future. But when and—in a fashion—conflict with other and larger worlds nearer, less bright. Calhoun had plans, now, but there were so many in which they be frustrated! Weald's political not oppose for action against blueskins, after a with no of as for its of corpses. It was that a Dara would to and against enemies.
Calhoun sat at the control-board and the clock.
"I've got up," he told Maril wrily, "if only they work out. If I can make somebody on Dara and my and if Weald doesn't ideas and isn't doing what I it is, maybe something can be done."
"I'm sure you'll do your best," said Maril politely.
Calhoun managed to grin. He the ship-clock. There was no to travel at the and the end. It was now time for the end. He might that anything had while he plans which would be to be hopeless. Weald have sent ships to Dara, or Dara might be in such a of that ...
As it out, Dara was desperate. The Med Ship came out nearly a light-month from the sun about which the Dara revolved. Calhoun into a toward it. Then Dara was on the other of the yellow star. It took time to it. He called down, himself and the ship and for coördinates so his ship be to ground. There was confusion, as if the were so that the were not ready. The grid, too, was on the planet's night side. Presently the ship was locked onto by the grid's force-fields. It without incident.
Calhoun saw that Maril sat tensely, her each other, until the ship actually touched ground.
Then he opened the exit-port, and men in the darkness, with blast-rifles on him. There was a portable on the Med Ship itself.
"Come out!" a voice. "If you try anything you blasted! Your ship and its are by the government!"
