exploration party, was in thelounge listening to them. Chandler was a nice kid, clean-cut and rightout of the finest tradition of Earth, but Chandler was, like all boysbarely out of their teens, impressionable. He was particularlyimpressionable in these, his first months in space.
"When you're cautious it's as much to protect the natives as yourself,"Purcell went on, and then put into simple words what Glaudot andChandler should have learned at the Academy for Exploration, anyway.
When he finished, Glaudot shrugged and asked: "What do you think, EnsignChandler?"
Chandler blushed slowly. "I--I'd rather not say," he told them. "CaptainPurcell is--the captain."
Glaudot smiled his triumph at Purcell. It was then, for the first time,that Purcell's dislike for the man became intense. Purcell wondered howlong he'd been poisoning the youth's mind against the doctrines of theAcademy.
Just then a light glowed in the bulkhead and a metallic voice intoned:"Prepare for landing. Prepare for landing at once."
Purcell, striding to his blast-hammock, told Glaudot, who was theexpedition's exec, "I'll want the landing party ready to move half anhour after planetfall."
"Yes, sir," said Glaudot eagerly. At least there was something theyagreed on.
* * * * *
"Men," Purcell told the small landing party as they assembled near themain airlock thirty-five minutes later, "we have an obligation to ourcivilization which I hope all of you understand. While here on thisunknown world we must do nothing to bring discredit to the name of Earthand the galactic culture which Earth represents."
They had all seen the bleak moon-like landscape through the viewports.They were eager to get out there and plant the flag of Earth anddetermine what the new world was like. There were only eight of them inthe first landing party: others would follow once the eight establisheda preliminary base of operations. The eight were wearing the new-style,light-weight spacesuits which all exploration parties used even thoughthe temperature and atmosphere of the new world seemed close enough toEarth-norm. It had long ago been decided at the Academy that chancescouldn't be taken with some unknown factor, possibly toxic, fatal andirreversible, in an unknown atmosphere. After a day or two of thoroughlaboratory analysis of the air they'd be able to chuck their spacesuitsif all went well.
They filed through the airlock silently, Purcell first with the flag ofEarth, then Glaudot, then the others. White faces watched from theviewport as they clomped across the convoluted terrain.
"Nobody here but us chickens!" Glaudot said, and he laughed, after theyhad walked some way across the desolate landscape. "But then, what didyou expect? Captain took us clear of all the more promising places."
The man's only motive, Purcell decided, was his colossal ego. He made noreply: that would be descending to Glaudot's level.
After they walked almost entirely across the low-walled crater in whichthe exploration ship had come down, and after Purcell had planted theflag on the highest pinnacle within the low crater walls, Glaudot said:
"How's about taking a look-see over the top, Captain? At least thatmuch."
Purcell wasn't in favor of the idea. It would mean leaving sight of theship too soon. But the radio voices of most of the men indicated thatthey agreed with Glaudot, so Purcell shrugged and said a pair ofvolunteers could go, if they promised to rejoin the main party withintwo hours.
Glaudot immediately volunteered. That at least made sense. Glaudot hadthe courage of his convictions. Several others volunteered, but thefirst hand up had been Ensign Chandler's.
"I don't want to sound like a martinet," Purcell told them. "But youunderstand that by two hours I mean two hours. Not a minute more."
"Yes, sir," Chandler said.
"Glaudot?"
"Yes, sir," the Executive Officer replied.
"All right," Purcell said. He walked over to the first of the bigmagna-sleds piled high with equipment. "We'll be setting up the basecamp over here. I know the men still in the ship will want to stretchtheir legs soon as possible. We don't want to have to go looking foryou, Glaudot."
"Not me, Captain," Glaudot assured him, and walked off toward the craterrim with young Ensign Chandler.
* * * * *
"What the devil was that?" Chandler said forty-five minutes later.
"Stop jumping at every shadow you see. Relax."
"I thought I saw something moving behind that rock."
"So, go take a look."
"But--"
"Hell, boy, don't let that Purcell put the fear of the unknown into youon your very first trip out. Huh, what do you say?"
"Yes, sir, Mr. Glaudot," Ensign Chandler replied.
"After all," Glaudot went on, "we have nothing to be afraid of. We'restill within sight of the ship."
Chandler turned around. "I don't see it," he said.
"From the top of that rock you could."
"Think so?"
"Sure I do. Why don't you take a look if it will make you feel better?"
"All right," Chandler said, and smiled at his own temerity. But he knewvaguely that he'd been caught in a crossfire between the cautiousPurcell and the bold, arrogant Glaudot. Sometimes he really thought thatthe Captain's caution made sense: on Wulcreston, he'd learned at theAcademy, a whole Earth expedition had been slaughtered before contactbecause the natives mistook hand telescopes for weapons. And surely onany world a spacesuited man looked more like a monster than a manalthough he was vulnerable in a spacesuit, even more vulnerable than anaked man because he could only run awkwardly.
All this Chandler thought as he climbed the high rock rampart. He'd senda subspace letter back to the folks tonight, sure enough, he toldhimself. Not only had he been chosen for the preliminary explorationparty, he'd made the first trip out of sight of the spaceship. Itcertainly was something to write home about, and Mom would be veryproud ...
He was on top of the rock now. The vast tortuous landscape spread outbelow him like a relief map in a mapmaker's nightmare. Far to his left,beyond Glaudot's spacesuited figure, he could see the projectile-shapedspaceship resting on its tail fins. And to his right--
He stared. He gawked.
At the last moment he tried to get down from the rock, but his spacebootcaught on an outcropping and his fatal mistake was standing upright inan attempt to free it.
Then all at once in a blinding burst of pain he was clutching atsomething in his chest but knew as his life ebbed rapidly from his youngbody that it would not matter if he was able to pull the cruel shaftout....
* * * * *
Glaudot went rushing up the side of the rock. He still couldn't believehis eyes. Ensign Chandler had been impaled by two long feathered shafts,two arrows. The force of the first one had spun Chandler around and helay now with his back arched across the topmost ramparts of the rock,two arrows protruding from his chest and his life blood, starkly crimsonagainst the white of the spacesuit, pouring out.
Reaching the top of the rock in an attempt to drag the dying boy down,Glaudot saw the Indians rushing up the other side of the crater wall.Indians, he thought incredulously. Indians, as in the American Westhundreds of years ago. Indians ... But just what the hell were theydoing here?
A muscular brave notched an arrow, his right hand drawing the featheredshaft back to his ear. Quickly Glaudot flung his arms skyward, hopingthat the universal gesture of surrender would be understood. The bravestood statue-still. His lips opened. He was speaking to another of thehalf-dozen Indians in the raiding band, but Glaudot could not hear thewords through his space helmet. He knew his life hung in the balance.
He watched, fascinated and helpless, as the Indian who had slain EnsignChandler came toward him.
* * * * *
Tashtu said: "Two raiding bands, Lord. One go north. Other south. Wefollow?"
They had reached the advance Indian camp on the fringe of the WildCountry. So far they had seen nothing of the C
yclopes who lived in thispart of the world. Of all their creations, Charlie and Robin feared andavoided only the Cyclopes, the enormous one-eyed giants which had sointrigued Robin in the encyclopedia that she'd had a compulsion tocreate them, and had done so.
"We can't follow both bands," Charlie said, looking troubled.
"Why can't we?" Robin asked. "You go north with some of the braves,Charlie. I'll go south. We ought to be able to overtake the raidingparties before anything happens."
"I can't let you go alone."
"All right. I'll take Tashtu with me. Don't you think Tashtu can takecare of me as well as you can?"
"Well, I just don't
A World Called Crimson Page 4