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Spaceways, v. 3, issue 5, whole no. 21, June 1941
11
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SPACEWAYS 11 THE DARK BEASTS by BILL ESTOLZE Out of the darkness they came; beasts of all shapes and sizes-and Jim Lindbow was afraif. . . . It was night on Ceres. The scarlet fringe of the faded sun had touched the solitary little dome in the shadowy valley, had vanished under the horizon. Winter was only two earth days off. Jim Lindbow, an outcast on the dreary little planetoid because of a crime he had not committed, stared out the visi-glas window, into the darkness beyond--where, he knew, lurked things set on driving a person mad. Yes, Jim Lindbow was afraid; afraid not of the darkness, but of those imaginary shadows that took form in the pale light of dawn. Imaginary? Lindbow did not think so. And now they were restless; from what, he did not know. As he looked, they moved. They moved with scintillating shades that contrated with the deepening darkness. He did not cry out, but bit his lips and waited. There was no sound, no color, no odor, only the dread of the unknown that made him shiver. He glanced at the pile of duranite in its compartment on one side of the room, accumulated through those five long months of anguish and despair; duranite, the light metal, which could afford him little protection, since it weighed less, in proportion, than the lightest metal on earth. And then they came. They uttered a sound then, a weird, unearthly gnawing at the outer airlock, the first sound heard by Lindbow since he had come, with the exception of his small etherline set, which itself was not used very frequently. He ran to his space suit and wriggled in, for he knew he could not breathe long when the air-lock was opened, admitting Ceres' poisonous atmosphere. His radium gun was useless, from using it to break down deposits of duranite. The outer lock came open, then the inner one, and Lindbow saw them. There were scores of semi-human beasts emitting strange waves of electricity from twin sets of antennae on their bodies, due, no doubt, to contact with the highly-charged atmosphere of Ceres. Then, as the vibrations, strengthened by the combined mass of the beasts, passed through his space suit, he fell into a silvery vortex od uncolored light. . . . . He awoke, not knowing what to expect, with the realization that he was alnoe, unharmed. He glanced at the duranite compartment. It was empty! Then he remembered some of the tales he had heard from old space veterans before he had been sent away, about the strange traits of the dark beasts- "They feed on nothing but ores from the ground until winter. "In winter they creep out on the white turf and eat anything they can digest, since the ores are covered with deep snow." Suddenly, another sound invaded his ears, breaking in on his reverie. The call dial on the small, compact etherline set on food cabinet was flickering. Dazedly, he plugged the connections and listened. The voice of the New York operator came faintly: "Message to Jim Lindbow, Ceres-You have been found innocent; a space ship has been dispatched to bring you home. It will arrive in about six days-Signed, and slowly cut the connections. Yes, a ship w o u l d come, but winter was only teo days off. And the beasts would aldo return, and find no more ore-while he must wait. . .and wait. . .and wait. . . . ................................................................. Attention! You don't want to miss the next issue of Spaceways-of course you don't. But if the word "expired" appears in the space to the left, you're going to-if you don't renew your subscription. For "expired" means it's run out, and you'll get no more issues until you cough up with some coin of the realm!
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SPACEWAYS 11 THE DARK BEASTS by BILL ESTOLZE Out of the darkness they came; beasts of all shapes and sizes-and Jim Lindbow was afraif. . . . It was night on Ceres. The scarlet fringe of the faded sun had touched the solitary little dome in the shadowy valley, had vanished under the horizon. Winter was only two earth days off. Jim Lindbow, an outcast on the dreary little planetoid because of a crime he had not committed, stared out the visi-glas window, into the darkness beyond--where, he knew, lurked things set on driving a person mad. Yes, Jim Lindbow was afraid; afraid not of the darkness, but of those imaginary shadows that took form in the pale light of dawn. Imaginary? Lindbow did not think so. And now they were restless; from what, he did not know. As he looked, they moved. They moved with scintillating shades that contrated with the deepening darkness. He did not cry out, but bit his lips and waited. There was no sound, no color, no odor, only the dread of the unknown that made him shiver. He glanced at the pile of duranite in its compartment on one side of the room, accumulated through those five long months of anguish and despair; duranite, the light metal, which could afford him little protection, since it weighed less, in proportion, than the lightest metal on earth. And then they came. They uttered a sound then, a weird, unearthly gnawing at the outer airlock, the first sound heard by Lindbow since he had come, with the exception of his small etherline set, which itself was not used very frequently. He ran to his space suit and wriggled in, for he knew he could not breathe long when the air-lock was opened, admitting Ceres' poisonous atmosphere. His radium gun was useless, from using it to break down deposits of duranite. The outer lock came open, then the inner one, and Lindbow saw them. There were scores of semi-human beasts emitting strange waves of electricity from twin sets of antennae on their bodies, due, no doubt, to contact with the highly-charged atmosphere of Ceres. Then, as the vibrations, strengthened by the combined mass of the beasts, passed through his space suit, he fell into a silvery vortex od uncolored light. . . . . He awoke, not knowing what to expect, with the realization that he was alnoe, unharmed. He glanced at the duranite compartment. It was empty! Then he remembered some of the tales he had heard from old space veterans before he had been sent away, about the strange traits of the dark beasts- "They feed on nothing but ores from the ground until winter. "In winter they creep out on the white turf and eat anything they can digest, since the ores are covered with deep snow." Suddenly, another sound invaded his ears, breaking in on his reverie. The call dial on the small, compact etherline set on food cabinet was flickering. Dazedly, he plugged the connections and listened. The voice of the New York operator came faintly: "Message to Jim Lindbow, Ceres-You have been found innocent; a space ship has been dispatched to bring you home. It will arrive in about six days-Signed, and slowly cut the connections. Yes, a ship w o u l d come, but winter was only teo days off. And the beasts would aldo return, and find no more ore-while he must wait. . .and wait. . .and wait. . . . ................................................................. Attention! You don't want to miss the next issue of Spaceways-of course you don't. But if the word "expired" appears in the space to the left, you're going to-if you don't renew your subscription. For "expired" means it's run out, and you'll get no more issues until you cough up with some coin of the realm!
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