Page 82 - Astounding Pulp V2

82 ASTOl.i!'-:DIXG SCJENCE-FICTfON REQGIE~{ 8J

it. glanced at :'\IcTntyre, and s l11x,k h is if T did take a couple o' drinks ? Any- "I want to charter her-for you :rncl vour~l'lf a hmcr of company <. I ocs.
~ It'~
head. how, I could have squared that-it was Charlie to take me to the ~loon!:' been clone bdorc."
")Jo go. doc ?'" t he damn persnickety regulations that Charlie sat up with a jerk. ·•D'joo Harriman smiled rud11lly. .. f kno""
"That·s right. captain."' got me fed up. \Vho arc you to talk? hear what he said. :. fac? He w ant~ us it ha. . harlic. but it w,m'L work for inc.
Harriman looked from face lo face, Smuggler !" to fly that old heap to the :--.toon r · You sec. I'm a litllc- too prominent. ~I)'
his disappointm<:nt plain to s<:c. "You "Su re, I smuggled ! Vv'ho wouldn't •. McIntyre shook his head. '·Can't do full name is Delos D. Harriman ..
.
won't take me ~-· "\\.hat? 1·ou an~ old D. T . ? l ut.
-with a ll those bc:auti(ul rocks just ach- it. Mr. Harriman. T he old boat's worn
The doctor shrugged h is shoulders. ing to be taken back to Earth ? I had ?ut. \Ve don't even use ta.11dard juice hell's bells. you own a hig slice of the
"I couldn 't even guarantee that you a diamond once as big as- But if I in he_r-just gasoline and liquid air. company yourscli : you_ ought 10 be abk
would li...-e through the take-off. You hadn't been caught I 'd be in L una City C~arlie spends all of hi time tinkering to do anything you like. rules o r no
sec, s ir,'· he contin ued, not unkindly, tonig ht. A nd so would you, you With her at that. he·s going to blow rules.''
"it s not only that your heart cond it ion up some day." " That i not an unu~ual op1111011. son.
·
drunken blaster- with the boys buying
makes heavy accele rat ion dan gerous, but us drinks and the g irls smiling and mak- but it is incorrect . Rich men are11 ' t
at your age bones a rc b ri ttle, h ig hly cal- ing suggestions-" He put his face "S AY, Mr. Harriman." 11ut in Charlie, more free than other men: the· a1:c les~
cified . an d easily b rok en in the shock down and began to weep quietly. " I . free-a good deal le s £rec. t tried t_
w 1~t s the matter with getting an ex-
of take-off. Rock etry is a young man·s cu~s1on permit and going in a company do what you sugge ·t, but the oth r d1-
game." McIntyre shook him. " He's dntnk." ship?"
''.Never mind." Harriman interposed ·ectors would not permit me. T hey are
McIntyre add ed : " S o rry , sir. I'd a hand. "Tell me, are you really sat- "N o, son, t 1e o c man rephcu, ~f raid of lo ing their franchi It cost~
· ..1 "I
" I
I I
like to. b ut t he B a tes County Fair As- them a good deal in- . ul_1- p ol_iti~a!. con-
is fied not to be on the run any more ?" ca_n't do that. You know the conditions
sociation pays the d octor hc1·e to see to McIntyre chewed his lip. "No-he's Under which Congress granted the com- tact expense to 1etam 1t. a 1t 1~ .
·
it tha t I don 't take up a nyon e w ho might right, of course. T his barnstorming '·\Veil. I'll be a- Can you t 1 that .
b e h u rt by the acceleratio n." pany a monopoly on lunar exploitation Mac ? A guy _w ith lots of do_ugh~ an~!
isn't what it's all cracked up to be. -no one to enter space who was not
T he old m an's sh o ulders drooped We've been hopping junk at every physically qualified to stand up under he can ·t spend 1t the way he " an t::, !o .d
miserably. "I rather exp ected it." Intvre did not answer, but wa1tc
pumpkin <loin's up and down the Mis- tt. Company to take full responsibility M C - •
"Sorry , sir." McIntyre turned to go, for H arriman to contu_me.
b u t Harriman followed him out. sissippi V alley-sleeping in tourist for the safety and health of all citizens "Captam :McIntyre. tf you had a ship,
"Excus e m e , captain- " ca mps, and eating at greaseburners. beyond the stratosphere. The official u·ould you take me • .
?"
"Yes ?" Half the time the 'sheriff has an at- reason for granting the franchise was to " McInty re rub e I . " I t's
st
b d I 11s c 1111.
tachment on the ship, the other half the op the enormous loss of life ,that oc-
"C ould you and your . . . uh . . . acrainst the law.'' . .,
Society for the Prevention of Some- ~urred durring the first few years of
e ngine er h ave dinne r with me a fter your rocket travel." - o "I'd make it worth your , .. ,.lule.
flig ht?" thing or Other gets an injunction to "S he would, 1\/.[r. Harnman. O f
k eep us on the ground. It's no sort of "A d '
ure,
,
T he pilot look ed at him quizzicatiy. n you can t pass the physical course you .. ould Mac. Luna C ity !
"I don 't see why no t. T hanks." a life for a rocket man." exam ?" n '
"Would it help any for you to get lo Barriman shook his head. Oh baby !" M
the · Moon?" ,:\N hy do you ,-vant to go to the oon
.
?"
" C APTA I N 1\11.c I NTYRE, it is difficult ''Well, ,vhat the hell- if you can af- b dly i\1r. I- I arnman.
for m e to see w hy anyone would quit "Well-yes. I couldn't get back on ford to hire us, why don't you just bribe so " ;apt~in, it's the one thing I've. really
the Earth-Moon run," said Harriman a the Earth-M oon run, but if I was in d t do all my life-ever smce I
fe w hours later. Fried chicken and hot Luna City, I could get a job hopping wante b o I don't know whethet· I
ore for the company-they're alwa.ys , was a oy. y
biscuits in a private dining room of the can explain it to you or no~. kott young·
best hotel the little town of Butler af- short of rocket pilots for that, and they
wouldn't mfod my record. If I kept ·f II liave grown up to roe ·et travel
forded, three-star Hennessey, and Co- e ows . · I' m a
my nose clean.) they might even put me t h e wa Y I o-rew up to aviation.
o
ro n a Coronas had produced a friendly
back on the· run, in time." · t deal older than you are; maybe
a tmosphe rf'. in which three m en could grea I was a k"
fifty years older. When
1cl
ta lk freely. Harriman fiddled with a spoon, then
looked up. "Would you young gentle- . t·cally nobody believed that m en
,
y
"Well, I didn't like it." ptac I M
men be open to a business proposition?'' Id ever reach the 0011. ou ve
" Aw, don't g ive him t hat, Mac- you
"Perhaps. What is it?'' :~~ rockets all your lives, and the first
know d a mn weJl it was Rule G that got
"You own the Carefree?" to reach the Moon got there before you
y ou ~" M:cintyre's mechanic poured
"Yeah. That is; Charlie and I do-- were old enough to vote . . ~hen I w as
himself another brandy as be spoke.
barring a couple of liens against he[ boy they laughed at the idea.
M cIntyre looked s ullen. "Well, what What about it?" a "But I believed-I believed. I read
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