cannot be! I must die!—by the grey mold. It is him from the ground. Steve could do nothing
my duty! I—”
but writhe and kick furiously. The monster
Something attracted the madman’s
quickly caught Claire Melconne, tore the attention; for his train of thought stopped weapon from his grasp, and hurled it far to
abruptly, and he began to curse.
one side.
Steve’s dimming vision saw the space-
They heard again Garth’s rattling, boat swing erratically from its course, and go malicious laugh. “You tried to resist my wobbling away from them across the sky. It people!” he screamed. “You tried to resist me!
was losing altitude. Presently it dropped
But the plant-man will have his pay for his
behind a jutting crater wall.
fallen comrades. I shall tell him to take his Tortured though he was, old Steve was
Moon Plague
11
exultant. Garth had suffered a mishap of some fairly cried out for revenge.
kind; and he felt that it was not necessarily an The plant-man came to a precipitous
accidental one. He knew that Professor slope that slanted sharply down for a distance Melconne was aboard the vessel. Melconne
of several hundred feet. It was strewn with
could be depended upon to take every chance
jagged volcanic rocks. With careful steps, the that was offered.
lunarian started to descend.
The plant-man slackened his
constricting grip somewhat, as he hurried SOMETHING seemed to snap in the old forward in the direction of the place where the sailor’s mind. As he dangled from the plant-space-boat had evidently landed. Steve could
man’s grasp, his feet were about on a level
breathe again; but after a minute the lunar
with the mid-portions of the monster’s legs.
monster found new means of tormenting his
Steve saw his chance, measured its slim
captives. He began to twist Steve’s arms, possibilities and its great hazards, then took it.
slowly, never quite to the point of dislocating He swung his body inward, and grasped one
the joints or fracturing the bones; yet the pain of his captor’s legs firmly with his knees, at was maddening. Silently, Steve endured it,
the same time struggling violently.
biting his lip to force back the outcry. Steve It was over in a moment. Tripped and
was thankful for one thing. Claire was thrown off balance, the ungainly lunarian unconscious, and the plant-man was not pitched forward, releasing his grasp on his two bothering to do him any further harm.
captives. As the monster rolled and tumbled
What had happened to Garth and the
down the slope, amid a shower of ash and
space-boat? The question in Steve’s mind was
rock fragments, Steve caught hold of a firmly answered presently, when his brother spoke:
embedded piece of hardened lava, and saved
“Do you hear me, earth-men?” he asked. himself. He had the advantage of lightness,
“Yes, you are there, for I can detect your
and vastly superior agility. The limp body of heavy breathing. I have had a little mishap.
Claire Melconne had started, less
The good professor freed one hand, and tossed precipitately, to follow the plant-man; but
a piece of metal into the stabilizing Steve darted to it, and caught him in time.
mechanism. But the damage is slight; I shall
“Now,” old Steve muttered, very softly
have it repaired in a few minutes. Then I shall to himself. His eyes fairly blazed in his
attend to the professor. I am trusting my glistening, sweat-streaked face. Brother or no henchman to bring you here.”
brother, Garth Jubiston would pay, and pay
A maddening fury was surging up dear.
within old Steve’s breast. Yet, by exerting a Tossing Claire to his shoulder, he
fierce effort, he managed to check the flood of descended the rocky slope. Picking out the
hate that was trying to come to his lips. To
crater behind which the flier had disappeared, voice it would have been worse than useless.
he hurried forward. Garth couldn’t be more
That Garth had lost his reason through the
than a mile distant from him.
ravages of some dread lunar disease, no longer But he’d have to hurry. He’d have to
was an adequate excuse for the man. Steve’s
arrive before his brother could finish fixing rage was beyond the power of excuses to
the stabilizer. The task might already be
lessen. God! If he could only get his hands on completed. If it was, Garth would be leaving
that skunk for a few seconds! His aching,
the ground in a second or two; then it would
pain-racked muscles and his throbbing brain
be too late for Steve to act, to gratify the dark
Wonder Stories
12
thoughts in his mind.
of a blazing automatic. The opportunity came.
A grim smile creased the old sailor’s
Soundlessly, he hurtled forward. His crooked
hard face. It did not detract any from the
fingers were almost upon their prey before the fiendishness of his expression; rather it added man became aware of his presence.
to it. If he could attract Garth’s attention to Some moments later a voice checked
him by talking, he might delay the take-off of the seething fury that possessed old Steve. It the flier for a few moments. Then—Steve’s
was Claire Melconne crying hoarsely from the
metal-cased fingers crooked suggestively.
ridge. “Steady, Steve, for God’s sake!
He began to curse, to groan, to cry out
Remember; he’s probably the only person
for mercy, as though he were being who knows where we can get another supply unbearably tortured. The sounds he made of air. Maybe it’s too late already!” Claire was were realistic enough, and they were all for
approaching with tottering steps.
Garth’s benefit.
Steve dragged the limp form of his
All through those histrionic evolutions,
brother to the airlock of the space-boat. He
Steve’s terrible smile persisted. He advanced entered the cabin with Claire. They found
more like some huge, vengeful beast than a
Professor Melconne firmly secured with metal
human being.
cords to one of the vessel’s heavy duralumin
His ruse was having its effect. He ribs.
heard Garth Jubiston’s voice cursing him,
taunting him, laughing at him with that
horrible, harsh laugh. In a way, the sound was CHAPTER V The Scorch for the Crystal
pitiable, but there was no room in old Steve
Mountain
Jubiston’s heart for pity now. Irony! It was too bad Garth didn’t know that he, Steve, was
hastening toward him with murder in his When they had released the professor, he heart. But Garth was still clever, with the
immediately closed the switches which put the cunning of the maniac he had become.
radio of his space-suit into action. “Thank
Panting and sweating with exertion,
God you’re safe,” he cried. “It was almost too and because of his tumultuous emotions, much to hope that you would be able to get Steve topped a rise in the ground. He peeped
here!” His thin old face was working with
cautiously over the summit. The flier rested
emotion. Briefly, they told him what had
down there among the volcanic
ash and happened to them. His tone changed when he debris. It seemed deserted. No, something saw Garth. “You didn’t kill him, did you, moved out of the long ebony shadow it cast.
Steve?” he questioned quietly; but his words
Garth was walking unsteadily around the were heavy with meaning.
vessel, apparently making a tentative survey
Steve shook his head. “I should have,”
of its outer mechanisms.
he said fiercely. “Say—where is this place
Steve deposited Claire on the ground
called the Crystal Mountain, Mr. Melconne?”
in the shelter of the rocks. The boy was
“I don’t know,” the professor replied
muttering feebly. His consciousness was ruefully. “I’ve been a captive in this space-returning.
boat since the attack. Most of the time,
Crouching down like some jungle cat,
something opaque was wrapped around my
Steve waited for Garth to turn his back. It
helmet. I could feel the vessel climbing,
would be foolhardy to charge into the muzzle
descending, and zigzagging tortuously; but I
Moon Plague
13
couldn’t see.”
to his brother, who, he knew, was near death.
“Which means?” Steve cut in.
“Garth,” he called softly. “Garth!”
Professor Melconne completed the Gently he grasped the younger Jubiston’s phrase: “That unless we can get the location
emaciated shoulders, and shook them.
from your brother, or find the way ourselves, Garth’s cloudy gaze wavered. In a
we are doomed to smother within an hour. The
foggy way, as though he were being aroused
ship’s oxygen is all but used up, and I can
from a hashish dream, he began to be vaguely
guess that your supply is not so large either.”
aware of his surroundings. His eyes turned
“Maybe it’s better than to die by the
toward Steve; remained there for a long
grey mold, Dad,” Claire suggested.
moment—puzzled. There was no malice in
“Perhaps,” Mr. Melconne returned. them.
“But it’s human nature to fight for your life.
“Why, Steve—old fellow. I’m sorry. Is
Garth sprinkled my skin with the spores a
it time for my watch? I shouldn’t have slept so short time ago. The itching and burning is bad, long. Now—” A vague, fearful expression
but I’m not going to crack yet. Hang on, boy!”
came to his features, doubtless due to the
Still protected by their own armor, rasping, unnatural sound of his own voice.
they removed the space-suit from Garth
Steve winced. His watch. A fragment
Jubiston, and placed him in a bunk. Part of the of Garth’s old, sane, likable self—a fleeting fabric of his clothing, rotten with the grey
fragment.
mold, crumbled in their fingers as they sought
“Where is this place which you call the
to peel it from him. Presently, he lay there
Crystal Mountain?” Steve asked with level
naked. There were large, irregular areas of a quietness.
grey, silky substance scattered over his
He knew immediately that he had
body—his arms, legs, torso and head. The
made a mistake. Garth’s eyes widened in
stuff was like mole’s fur, except that when
understanding; then his lips twisted into a leer, one touched it, it rubbed away, leaving and he began to laugh ....
hideous areas of raw, purulent flesh. Garth’s Steve had been only vaguely aware of
skin was hot and feverish. He panted heavily, the presence of the two Melconnes who
yet his half-open eyes were fixed and crouched beside him. But now he felt hands motionless, and seemed to see nothing. The
clutching fiercely at his metal-clad shoulders.
whites were very bloodshot, and a fine, grey
They were Claire Melconne’s fingers. “It’s
fuzz clung to the lids. There was fuzz, too, in your fault!” he was screaming, “He’s your
his nostrils, and there was a large, red-rimmed brother, Steve Jubiston. You let him do this to patch of furry mold along his jaw-bone, us! I’ll be like that! Furry! Moldy! Like a beneath one ear. Some of the more hideous
piece of rotten food! I’ll kill you!”
sores were bandaged with dirty, crumbling
The kid was cracking. Steve knew it at
gauze from Garth’s first-aid kit, evidently. once. The poisons which were in his blood During his more lucid moments, he had tried
were already acting on the boy’s nerves and
to combat the disease.
brain. The sight of Garth’s hideous, diseased Steve was kneeling beside him. His
body, was the straw that was breaking him.
cheeks had paled a trifle, but his face was still Steve arose, grappling with Claire, clutching grim. Unmindful of the danger of contracting
at his flailing arms, trying as gently as
the plague, he had opened the vents in the
possible to restrain him. Professor Melconne
forepart of his helmet, so that he could speak was helping.
Wonder Stories
14
Their attention was drawn to Garth,
Old Steve went to work. He had no
With a sudden burst of strength, he arose to
plan other than to search the lunar terrain until his feet and raced to the airlock. Before Steve he found some clue, or until the last dregs of and the professor had an opportunity to oxygen were gone. Forty minutes was all the prevent it, he had unbolted the inner airtight time he had.
door, and had darted through. They heard his
A small black notebook lying on the
mocking, maniacal scream, as the automatic
floor beside Garth’s clothing, caught his eye.
safety device reclosed the panel. They knew
Hurriedly he picked it up and began to thumb
that Garth was racing naked out over the through it. It contained Garth’s notes, some airless lunar terrain. Yes, now they could see taken before he had left camp. He skimmed
him through a window. His bare feet were
quickly through these, coming to several
pounding fiercely at the chalky ground, in that pages on which many capital R’s and G’s,
mad sprint to death. His head was uplifted to arranged in groups appeared. After each was a the stars; his lips were gasping. They saw him brief explanation: RRGR—Come this way!
stumble at the brink of a steep slope, and go RRRG—kill! Steve understood. Here were
tumbling like a battered and discarded rag-
Garth’s notes on the plant-men’s language.
doll.
The R’s stood for flashes of red light, and the G’s for flashes of green. A strange,
IT WAS useless to make any attempt to save
paradoxical thrill of pride came over him.
him. For a long minute, they stood staring
Even during his sickness, when he played god
after him.
to the plant-men, Garth had been the scholar
Claire was the first to speak. “I’m and the delver after knowledge. He’d had his sorry, Steve,” he panted. “I know it isn’t much fairly lucid moments, of course. But the key
of an excuse, but—”
wouldn’t do any good now.
“I know, kid,” Steve said dully. “Now
In quest of some possible clue to the
we’ve got to look for our own air.” He had
location of the place he sought, he scanned
turned away, and for a moment seemed deep
each page. He found nothing. However, on the
in thought. “As the only really well man on
last of the written leaves was a brief note
this boat,” he continued carefully, “I believe which immediately riveted his attention. He
that it is both my right and duty to assume
read it avidly. Then a wild look, half of
command. I can handle the flier alone. triumph and half of despair, flickered briefly Therefore, I think it would be best if you both on his rugged features. If he could only
took a hypodermic and went to sleep.”
somehow find his way to the Crystal
Professor Melconne seemed about to
Mountain! It would mean so much! God!
remonstrate, then, sensing Steve’s unspoken
Seated before the control panel, he
meaning, thought better of it “You’re right,
closed the starting switches. The generators
Steve,” he said. “We’re not to be regarded as that fed power to the levitator and repulsion trustworthy, and it will be much better to have plates began to whine ....
us out of the way temporarily at least. Good
From an altitude of a thousand feet,
luck!”
Steve looked down upon the moon. Night had
Without asking any questions about
almost come. Except for one frosty wing of
what he intended to do, Mr. Melconne and his
her corona, the sun was almost invisible. Only son retired from the control room to the small a small segment of her disc still peeped above chamber behind it.
the serrated horizon. These last thin rays
Moon Plague
15
gilded only the mountain peaks, and the tops
quest, guiding his craft in ever-widening
Pulp - Wonder Stories.34.01.Moon Plague - Raymond Z. Gallun (pdf) Page 3