THE BEAST-JEWEL OF MARS
By LEIGH BRACKETT
Burk Winters was a panting, shambling ape,
fleeting through dark and echoing pits of
horror. Behind him hissed the lashes of
the jeering mob, savagely exultant at
having debauched still another proud
Terran into something that crawled.
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Planet Stories Winter 1948.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
Burk Winters remained in the passenger section while the Starflightmade her landing at Kahora Port. He did not think that he could bearto see another man, not even one he liked as much as he did JohnnyNiles, handle the controls of the ship that had been his for so long.
He did not wish even to say good bye to Johnny, but there was noavoiding it. The young officer was waiting for him as he came down theramp, and the deep concern he felt was not hidden in the least by hiscasually hearty grin.
Johnny held out his hand. "So long, Burk. You've earned this leave.Have fun with it."
Burk Winters looked out over the vast tarmac that spread for milesacross the ochre desert. An orderly, roaring confusion of trucks andflat-cars and men and ships—ore ships, freighters, tramps, sleekliners like the Starflight, bearing the colours of three planets anda dozen colonies, but still arrogantly and predominantly Terran.
Johnny followed his gaze and said softly, "It always gives you athrill, doesn't it?"
Winters did not answer. Miles away, safe from the thundering rocketblasts, the glassite dome of Kahora, Trade City for Mars, rosejewel-like out of the red sand. The little sun stared wearily downand the ancient hills considered it, and the old, old wandering windpassed over it, and it seemed as though the planet bore Kahora and itsspace-port with patience, as though it were a small local infectionthat would soon be gone.
He had forgotten Johnny Niles. He had forgotten everything but his owndark thoughts. The young officer studied him with covert pity, and hedid not know it.
Burk Winters was a big man, and a tough man, tempered by years ofdeep-space flying. The same glare of naked light that had burned hisskin so dark had bleached his hair until it was almost white, and justin the last few months his grey eyes seemed to have caught and helda spark of that pitiless radiance. The easy good nature was gone outof them, and the lines that laughter had shaped around his mouth haddeepened now into bitter scars.
A big man, a hard man, but a man who was no longer in control ofhimself. All during the voyage out from Earth he had chain-smoked thelittle Venusian cigarets that have a sedative effect. He was smokingone now, and even so he could not keep his hands steady nor stop theeverlasting tic in his right cheek.
"Burk." Johnny's voice came to him from a great distance. "Burk, it'snone of my business, but...." He hesitated, then blurted out, "Do youthink Mars is good for you, now?"
Quite abruptly, Winters said, "Take good care of the Starflight,Johnny. Good bye."
He went away, down the ramp. The pilot stared after him.
The Second Officer came up to Johnny. "That guy has sure gone topieces," he said.
Johnny nodded. He was angry, because he had come up under Winters andhe loved him.
"The damn fool," he said. "He shouldn't have come here." He looked outover the mocking immensity of Mars and added, "His girl was lost outthere, somewhere. They never found her body."
A space-port taxi took Burk Winters into Kahora, and Mars vanished. Hewas back in the world of the Trade Cities, which belong to all planets,and none.
Vhia on V