Deathworld Read online

  III.

  The building they stopped at was one of the finer residences inCassylia. As they had driven, Jason counted the money and separated hisshare. Almost sixteen million credits. It still didn't seem quite real.When they got out in front of the building he gave Kerk the rest.

  "Here's your three billion, don't think it was easy," he said.

  "It could have been worse," was his only answer.

  The recorded voice scratched in the speaker over the door.

  "Sire Ellus has retired for the night, would you please call again inthe morning. All appointments are made in advan--"

  The voice broke off as Kerk pushed the door open. He did it almosteffortlessly with the flat of his hand. As they went in Jason looked atthe remnants of torn and twisted metal that hung in the lock andwondered again about his companion.

  _Strength--more than physical strength--he's like an elemental force. Ihave the feeling that nothing can stop him._

  It made him angry--and at the same time fascinated him. He didn't wantout of the deal until he found out more about Kerk and his planet. And"they" who had died for the money he gambled.

  Sire Ellus was old, balding and angry, not at all used to having hisrest disturbed. His complaints stopped suddenly when Kerk threw themoney down on the table.

  "Is the ship being loaded yet, Ellus? Here's the balance due." Ellusonly fumbled the bills for a moment before he could answer Kerk'squestion.

  "The ship--but, of course. We began loading when you gave us thedeposit. You'll have to excuse my confusion, this is a little irregular.We never handle transactions of this size in cash."

  "That's the way I like to do business," Kerk answered him, "I'vecanceled the deposit, this is the total sum. Now how about a receipt."

  Ellus had made out the receipt before his senses returned. He held ittightly while he looked uncomfortably at the three billion spread outbefore him.

  "Wait--I can't take it now, you'll have to return in the morning, to thebank. In normal business fashion," Ellus decided firmly.

  Kerk reached over and gently drew the paper out of Ellus' hand.

  "Thanks for the receipt," he said. "I won't be here in the morning sothis will be satisfactory. And if you're worried about the money Isuggest you get in touch with some of your plant guards or privatepolice. You'll feel a lot safer."

  When they left through the shattered door Ellus was frantically dialingnumbers on his screen. Kerk answered Jason's next question before hecould ask it.

  "I imagine you would like to live to spend that money in your pocket, soI've booked two seats on an interplanetary ship," he glanced at the carclock. "It leaves in about two hours so we have plenty of time. I'mhungry, let's find a restaurant. I hope you have nothing at the hotelworth going back for. It would be a little difficult."

  "Nothing worth getting killed for," Jason said. "Now where can we go toeat--there are a few questions I would like to ask you."

  * * * * *

  They circled carefully down to the transport levels until they were surethey hadn't been followed. Kerk nosed the car into a darkened loadingdock where they abandoned it.

  "We can always get another car," he said, "and they probably have thisone spotted. Let's walk back to the freightway, I saw a restaurant thereas we came by."

  Dark and looming shapes of overland freight carriers filled the parkinglot. They picked their way around the man-high wheels and into the hotand noisy restaurant. The drivers and early morning workers took nonotice of them as they found a booth in the back and dialed a meal.

  Kerk chiseled a chunk of meat off the slab in front of him and popped itcheerfully into his mouth. "Ask your questions," he said. "I'm feelingmuch better already."

  "What's in this ship you arranged for tonight--what kind of a cargo wasI risking my neck for?"

  "I thought you were risking your neck for money," Kerk said dryly. "Butbe assured it was in a good cause. That cargo means the survival of aworld. Guns, ammunition, mines, explosives and such."

  Jason choked over a mouthful of food. "Gun-running! What are you doing,financing a private war? And how can you talk about survival with alethal cargo like that? Don't try and tell me they have a peaceful use.Who are you killing?"

  Most of the big man's humor had vanished, he had that grim look Jasonknew well.

  "Yes, peaceful would be the right word. Because that is basically all wewant. Just to live in peace. And it is not _who_ are we killing--it is_what_ we are killing."

  Jason pushed his plate away with an angry gesture. "You're talking inriddles," he said. "What you say has no meaning."

  "It has meaning enough," Kerk told him, "but only on one planet in theuniverse. Just how much do you know about Pyrrus?"

  "Absolutely nothing."

  For a moment Kerk sat wrapped in memory, scowling distantly. Then hewent on.

  "Mankind doesn't belong on Pyrrus--yet has been there for almost threehundred years now. The age expectancy of my people is sixteen years. Ofcourse most adults live beyond that, but the high child mortality bringsthe average down.

  "It is everything that a humanoid world should not be. The gravity isnearly twice Earth normal. The temperature can vary daily from arctic totropic. The climate--well you have to experience it to believe it. Likenothing you've seen anywhere else in the galaxy."

  "I'm frightened," Jason said dryly. "What do you have--methane orchlorine reactions? I've been down on planets like that--"

  * * * * *

  Kerk slammed his hand down hard on the table. The dishes bounced and thetable legs creaked. "Laboratory reactions!" he growled. "They look greaton a bench--but what happens when you have a world filled with thosecompounds? In an eye-wink of galactic time all the violence is locked upin nice, stable compounds. The atmosphere may be poisonous for an oxygenbreather, but taken by itself it's as harmless as weak beer.

  "There is only one setup that is pure poison as a planetary atmosphere.Plenty of H{2}O, the most universal solvent you can find, plus freeoxygen to work on--"

  "Water and oxygen!" Jason broke in. "You mean Earth--or a planet likeCassylia here? That's preposterous."

  "Not at all. Because you were born in this kind of environment youaccept it as right and natural. You take it for granted that metalscorrode, coastlines change, and storms interfere with communication.These are normal occurrences on oxygen-water worlds. On Pyrrus theseconditions are carried to the nth degree.

  "The planet has an axial tilt of almost forty-two degrees, so there is atremendous change in temperature from season to season. This is one ofthe prime causes of a constantly changing icecap. The weather generatedby this is spectacular to say the least."

  "If that's all," Jason said, "I don't see why--"

  "That's _not_ all--it's barely the beginning. The open seas perform thedual destructive function of supplying water vapor to keep the weathergoing, and building up gigantic tides. Pyrrus' two satellites, Samas andBessos, combine at times to pull the oceans up into thirty meter tides.And until you've seen one of these tides lap over into an active volcanoyou've seen nothing.

  "Heavy elements are what brought us to Pyrrus--and these same elementskeep the planet at a volcanic boil. There have been at least thirteensuper-novas in the immediate stellar neighborhood. Heavy elements can befound on most of their planets of course--as well as completelyunbreathable atmospheres. Long-term mining and exploitation can't bedone by anything but a self-sustaining colony. Which meant Pyrrus. Wherethe radioactive elements are locked in the planetary core, surrounded bya shell of lighter ones. While this allows for the atmosphere men need,it also provides unceasing volcanic activity as the molten plasma forcesits way to the surface."

  For the first time Jason was silent. Trying to imagine what life couldbe like on a planet constantly at war with itself.

  "I've saved the best for last," Kerk said with grim humor. "Now that youhave an idea of what the environment is like--think of the kind of l
ifeforms that would populate it. I doubt if there is one off-world speciesthat would live a minute. Plants and animals on Pyrrus are _tough_. Theyfight the world and they fight each other. Hundreds of thousands ofyears of genetic weeding-out have produced things that would give evenan electronic brain nightmares. Armor-plated, poisonous, claw-tipped andfanged-mouthed. That describes everything that walks, flaps or just sitsand grows. Ever see a plant with teeth--that bite? I don't think youwant to. You'd have to be on Pyrrus and that means you would be deadwithin seconds of leaving the ship. Even I'll have to take a refreshercourse before I'll be able to go outside the landing buildings. Theunending war for survival keeps the life forms competing and changing.Death is simple, but the ways of dealing it too numerous to list."

  Unhappiness rode like a weight on Kerk's broad shoulders. After longmoments of thought he moved visibly to shake it off. Returning hisattention to his food and mopping the gravy from his plate, he voicedpart of his feelings.

  "I suppose there is no logical reason why we should stay and fight thisendless war. Except that Pyrrus is our home." The last piece ofgravy-soaked bread vanished and he waved the empty fork at Jason.

  "Be happy you're an off-worlder and will never have to see it."

  "That's where you're wrong." Jason said as calmly as he could. "You see,I'm going back with you."