Cargo to Callisto
By JAY B. DREXEL
Four Aarnian criminals—vicious and
deadly—fled silently into the Martian night;
and grimly the Patrol threw out an airtight
dragnet. Nothing human could have escaped ...
but what's human about an Aarnian?
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Planet Stories November 1950.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
Sarah emerged from the surface of the Great Canal as sleek and brownas a seal. Laughing and sputtering, she jerked her head once over eachround shoulder, parting her soaked hair and revealing her face.
"Try that once again!" she flung at Joe.
Joe Caradac ducked her again, and Kent shouted something from the bankthat wasn't quite audible over the squeals and splashes.
"What?" Joe held his wife's head firmly between his knees. "What'd yousay, Kent?"
His Senior Intendant's grin widened as he cupped his hands over it toshout again:
"I said—you'll drown the poor thing!"
Joe grunted as Sarah cold-bloodedly located a nerve-center in histhigh and bit it. "Not this thing—" he released her and she bobbed upswearing in sand-coast Martian—"they had to rope it out of a canal toteach it to walk!"
He narrowed his grey eyes humorously and poised for the attack, butSarah had conceded and was swimming toward the bank. The setting sunstruck a series of glowing V's in her wake. Joe rubbed his tingling legand followed. They reached the green slope at the same time and bigKent handed them up with ease.
"Ray's watching the franks," he said, "and I've been watching Ray andI think we'd better get up there or he won't be able to hold off muchlonger. His inner man is showing through."
The pianist's dark, saturnine face peered at them over the fire as theycame up and he rose, wiping his hands carelessly on his sport tunic.He had evidently gone into the canal-skimmer and changed out of hisbathing suit.
"How do," he greeted dourly; "the damned thing itched so I took it off."
Joe gave himself a last swipe with the towel and tossed it throughthe open hatch of the skimmer. Sarah carried her towel into the boatand came out presently in a suede skirt and bolero, looking rubbeddown and delectable. Joe's wife was half Martian, and it showed in herlong, slender eyebrows and delicately cleft nose and chin. She lookedworriedly at the three men busy with the frankfurters.
"There's something on the telaudio," she said. "Come in and listen."
"What is it?" Joe asked.
"Something about somebody escaping from Mars Detain."
Ray's humming stopped. He'd been practicing wrist octaves on a flatrock and his long hand hung motionless for a moment as if he werereaching for something. Kent set his frank across the top of his coffeecup—he was always careful about everything—and stood up.
Joe looked at his wife, looked at her eyes. They were frightened.
"That's pretty near here, isn't it?" Sarah said. She moved back to letthe three men into the boat. They grouped around the telaudio.
"I don't think there's anything to worry about," Kent said slowly."They're bound to catch the men—"
"They aren't men."
The four listened.
"—ruthless Aarnians. This warning cannot be taken too seriously.Detain is doing everything in its power to recapture the four criminalsbut, as is known, the Aarnian psyche is able to leave its body atwill and inhabit the body