Transcriber's Note:
This etext was produced from Imagination April 1956. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.
The Beasts In The Void
by
Paul W. Fairman
Illustrated by W. E. Terry
Holloway was used to big game hunters and their expeditionsto other worlds. But this trip was sheer madness—a spaceship stalking among—
he examiner looked doubtful and said, "But Mr. Holloway, regulationsrequire that I read your log before I take verbal testimony."
Holloway's face was drawn and ravaged. His bloodshot eyes sat inblack pits. They were trained on the Examiner but looked through himrather than at him.
Holloway said, "But, I must talk! I've got to tell you about it. Ihave to keep talking."
"But—"
Holloway's words tumbled out. "It started in the control cabin therein deep space. When Mrs. Kelvey came in. She was the blonde one. Iturned around and she said, 'Captain, there's a great big tiger in thecompanionway.'"
The desperate Holloway, fearful of being stopped or running out ofwords, went into minute detail. "She made the statement as a poutingcomplaint, almost casually. Then, before I could speak, she realizedwhat she'd said and her face changed. A kind of horrified double-take.'A tiger? In the companionway of a space ship?' This last was anincredulous question she asked herself. Then she fainted. I lookedoutside. I thought I saw something blurred and indistinct but itvanished quickly if it was really there at all. The companionway wasempty. No tiger. No animal of any kind—"
The Examiner, holding up a hand of protest, looked like a mandirecting traffic. "Please, Mr. Holloway—please. We must rememberregulations."
Holloway's eyes closed for a moment but he resolutely forced them openas though afraid of something.
The scene was Holloway's two-room suite in the Space Port Hotel. Therewere three men present—Holloway, skipper of the Space King, JohnMason, Port Resident, and Merle Kennedy, Section Examiner for theSpace Authority people. Kennedy regarded Holloway with frank concern.Good heavens—the man was a complete mess. Looked ready to collapse.Kennedy turned to Mason. "This can be postponed, you know."
Mason was regarding Holloway also. Strange, he thought; Holloway hadleft in a fanfare of publicity. Now it appeared his return would beeven more dramatic. Maybe Holloway was that kind of a chap; the kindthings just happened to.
He was quite young though he certainly didn't look it now. He'd beenknown as a playboy ever since his father struck it big in Venusianoil. But good-looking, personable, he had worn the label well. He'dbeen good copy because the public regarded him with patronizingaffection. To them, he'd been a nice kid having fun; not a youngwastrel wasting his father's money.
Naturally he would pick a glamour girl to play the romantic femininerole and Melody Hayden had filled the bill perfectly. Together, theyhad enchanted the public. Princess and Prince Char