Page 90 - Astounding Pulp V2

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no second pilot to punch the stadimetcr against tlw ,1,il ni ~hl' :\ltH\11 ,u1d ~ n~-
t h<' c.,rnJiti•Jll uf hi-; stomach. He was :,crenely happy in a fashion for him. In his anxiety lo make it gen- ing the n1riou:-;ly hghr p n•, ~un' o t ht·
Tlwn.: it was, all a:, he had imagined not gi\'cn to mo·t men, even in a long tle he missed his destination hy sonw hoch· :tj.!:tin;-;t tlw $.!fl1l111d. \ t h\11~ b ,t
it '-O many times. The :.f 0011 :;wung lifetime. l le felt as ii he were every thirty miles, but he did his cold-:>obcr thl't~c "a, JW:lCt.' in h i;; hl',lrt. 11 i, hurt,
m:i jc:-,tical ly p a s t 1he ,·ic:wport, t wice as man who had e,·er li,·ecl, and lool,ecl up best. At that, it was rather bumpy. had n :a;;t.'d w pain him. l k -;c'1s " l11..·r·t.·
wide a s lw had en:1· seen it bd0re, all at the stars, and longed. As they scooted along to a stop. Jw h:t<l Jnn j'.!t.'d tn lw - he h:1d il,lhn n•d
of he1· fa111 ilia1· features ca111e0-d car. She J\t least once he must ha Ye f alien into throwing up powdery pumice on cad1 hi;-; need. ( ,·t•rhead h ung- tlw F.arth i11
gave way to the J·:anh as the sh ip con - deep sk cp, or possibly delirium. for he side, Charlie came up to the control third quarter. a g-ret'n -ltlw.' g-i::int moon.
1 inu ed its s low :,\\"ing, the Earth itself, 1.:a111c t0 with a . tart, thinking that his station. The ~·u11·::; :-11ppt.'r li111h t.·n1wned the
a. he had ·11\'is i,m ed hc1·, app earing lik e wife, Charlotte, wa: callin~ to hi1ll. "How's our passenger?"' ?\fac de- crags tif .\rchi111eck;-; tn hi:- ld_t. _-\ th.I
a noble 111orJ11, eight times as w ide a·s "Delos!" the YOice had . aid. "Delo ! manded. undcnH':llh- thc :'\fonn: the , c11 I ot the
1lw -:\1 0011 appear s to the Earthbound, Come in from there ! You ·11 catch your 'TU see, but I woulcln ·t make any loon it ·l'li. l k wa:-; ('11 tltt' ~h1on !
~nd 111<H"e lu sciou s , 1,1,,1·c scnsuou ·ly death of cold in 1hat night air." bets. That landing stunk. Mac." He J:w hack st ill whik a hath nf co n -
h •autifu l tha n the s il n:1· ~loon could be. Poor Charlotte ! . "he had been a (Tood "Damn it, I did my best." tent 110 ,;.cd oYcr hilll like :1 tide a t flood.
Jt was s unset 11ea1· the .'\ t lantic seaboard wife to him, a good wife. H e wa · ~uite "I know you did. skipper. Forget it." and soaked into his ,·cry marrow. .
-the line o f s h ad ow ra n down Hu<lson sure that he1· only regret in dying had But the passenger was alive and con- His attention strayed m o mentanly.
Bay, s lashed th roug h th e eas tern coast been he1· fear that he would not take and he thought once a~ain that hi.~ name
scious, though bleeding from the nose.
line o f ~orth A m e rica, touched C uba, prope1· <;:are of him. elf. It had not been was called. - illy. he tho ught : l m get-
and with a pink foam on his lips. Ile
and o b sctll"ed the eastern bulge o [ South her fault that she had not hared his was feebly trying to get himself out of ting old-m y mind wander:--.
A 111e1·ica. 1-T e savore d the m ellow blue dream and his need.
his cocoon. They helped him, working
of t h e Pacific Ocean, felt the textu1·e o f BACK in the cabin ·1iarlic and fac
together.
·
the soft o-rcen -and brown o f the conti- CHARLIE rigged the hammock in . uch ··10-a-1110- shoulde r yokes on a
::::. . aWhere are the vacuum suits?" was were 1 i:,i:, ~ • d •· l\1
nents, admi1·e tl th e blue -w hite cold of a fashion that Harriman could watch stretcher. " There. Thal wil 1 o . a
th e p o la 1· cap s. Can a da a nd the g reat from the sta rboard port when they his first remark. commented. "\\"c'd better ~tir I o p out:
North west we1·e obscured by cloud, a swung a 1·ound the far face of the •Moon. "Steady, Mr. Harriman. You can ·t we ought to be going .' . "I'll
v ast low-pre ssure a r ea that spread across H e picked out the landmarks made fa- go out there yet. ·w e've got to give you ·T B get him,'' Charlie replied.
the con t in en t. It sh one with an even some first aid."
m iliar to_ him by _a thou:and photo· just picl~ him Ul: at;? carry h im. He
m o r e satis facto ry d a zzling white than the graphs w ith nostalg ic plea ure, a if he "Get me that su-il! First aid can don't weig h n othmg.
pola1· caps. . were returning to his own country. 1Jc· wait." t 1· as a-one lono·er th an Mc-
I-T
C11a r 1c w
i:,
i:,
As the ship swung slowly around·, Intyre brought her slowly down as they Silently they did as he ordered. His Inty rc had expected him to be. I . e r e-
Earth w ou ld pass from v iew , and the came back around to the Farthward face, left leg was practically useless, and they 1\,1 ·a.ited fo 1· 11 m to
star s w ould m a rch ac1oss the port- the turned alone. i v ac " . _ . . _
·
and prepared to land in Mare Imbriu1n had to help him through the lock, one close the lock and s wmg back hi:. hc l
sam e stars h e h ad always knO\vn, but between 1\ ristillus and Archimede·, on each side. But ·with his in~onsider- '1~ bl ? "
st eady, brighte1·, and unwinking against about ten miles from Luna City. able mass having a lunar weight of only m et . rou e . l .
"Never mind the stretcl~1e r. s _~1pper.
a screen o f p e d ect, li ve black. Then th e . b di·n• it "\ eah. I m ean
' Moon would swim in to view ag ain to It. was not a bad landing, all thing' twenty pounds, he was no burden. They Vv e won t e nee ·
considered. H c had to land without found a place some fifty yards frnm the it" he continued. " I did w hat was n ee-
cbim hi s thou ghts.
'
~oaching · from the ground, and he h:111 ship where they could prop him up and cssary. " • l
1
let him look, a chunk of scoria support- McInty re bent clown wit 1out a w ~rc
, / 'c, <;URE EACH 80TTL , ing his head. and commenced to strap on the w id e
-, {'l\f>..\"- '3\GGER.-12 OUNces~ S ,. ---- Mclntyfe put his helmet against the skis necessary to negotiate ~he powdery
. FULL.:
---- old man's and spoke. "We'll leave you Charlie followed his example .
h
as . . b l
here to enjoy the view while we get Then they swung spare a ir ott es o ver
\.OW
ready for the trek into ~own. It's a their shoulders and passed o ut thro ug h
forty-miler, pretty near, and we'll have the lock.
to break out spare air bottles and rations They didn't ba the ~· to close the o ute i-
r>--+ -<...~c, &0 and stuff. We'll be back soon." door of the lock behmd them.
.. , ,<,,,f>-e, Cha rlie looked toward the rela xed fig-
Ha,ri:i1~1an nodded without answering, ·
u re propped up on the bed o[ Luna r
and squeezed their gauntlets with a grip
that was surprisingly strong. . pumice, face fixed .,tow3:rd the Ea.rt~;
"Well." he grunted, he hit t h e Moon-
He sat ~ery quiet, rubbing his hands