Captain Future 26 - Earthmen No More (March 1951) Read Online Free PDF Page B

thought what it must be like to live and work here.
    “The refinery men get relief at regular intervals,” Curt told him. “And there are a couple of small domed cities around on the other side.”
    Carey nodded. “Even so, Pluto seems a stiff place for them.”
    “It is,” said Curt. “You’ll see.”
    The televisor buzzed. They had been coming in on the automatic beam but now somebody wanted to talk to them. Curt opened the switch.
    A man’s face appeared on the little screen. It wore the expression of one who has been handed a hot wire and doesn’t know how to let go of it. “Lowther Mines speaking,” it said. “Identify yourself.”
    Newton did and the man’s face grew more unhappy. “We can’t very well stop you from landing,” he said. “But keep your distance from the domes — no closer than a hundred yards. There’s a charged barrier.” He added, “We’re well armed.”
    The screen went dark. Curt shook his head. “They’re all set for trouble. Let’s hope it hasn’t already started.”
    Curt set the Comet down at last, on the edge of a vast white plain where it struck against a mountain wall. Carey saw two great dark hulls looming near them with only their mooring lights showing. Well over a hundred yards away, sunk into the living rock of the cliffs so that only the outer bulwarks showed, was a series of steel-and-concrete domes.
    Northward along the plain, in a sector marked off by beacons to warn away incoming ships, were other domes. Here there were rifts and gouges in the barren rock of Pluto, hulks of strange machinery and structures of various sorts whose uses Carey could not be sure of.
    Occasional lights gleamed but nothing moved. The diggers and the ore-carriers were still and no clouds of vapor came from the buried stacks of the refineries.
    “They’re shut down tight,” said Curt. “Regular state of siege.” He looked at the others. “Don’t forget what our friend said about the barrier.”
    They put on protective coveralls — except for Grag and Simon, who needed no such protection. Curt had handed Carey one of the suits. “You’ve come all the way out and you might as well see the fun,” he said.
    Then they went out into the black Plutonian night toward the star-ships. It was intensely dark, colder than anything Carey remembered except that one split-second touch of open space.
    Carey stared at the distant mockery of a Sun, overcome with the feeling that he was indeed on the outer edge of the universe. He was so occupied by his sensations that he was taken completely by surprise when men rose suddenly out of the hollows of the ice and closed around them.
    A torch beam flashed out and struck Curt full in the face. He said, “Burke?” and from beyond the light a voice grunted, “Okay, relax. It’s him.”
    “What’s the idea?” Curt demanded.
    “Well,” said Burke, “we picked up your call but we wanted to be sure it really was you and not one of Lowther’s smart tricks.”
    “Or,” said Curt, “did you hope maybe it was Lowther himself, trying to get behind the barrier before you knew who he was?” He glanced around at the shadow-shapes of the men, who were numerous and armed.
    “Maybe,” said Burke. He switched the beam around the Futuremen and onto Carey. “Who’s this?”
    “He’s not Lowther either. His name is Carey and he’s a friend of mine.”
    Burke nodded briefly. His attention returned to Newton. “What’s the news? What did they say on Earth?”
    “Let’s go on to your ship,” said Curt. “I’ll tell you about it there.”
    Burke and the others must have known from the way he said it what the answer was going to be. But they turned silently and went back across the ice with the Futuremen and Carey into their ship.
    They had the port shutters down but there was light inside. It felt very warm to Carey after the spatial chill. They stripped off their heavy garments and went aft into the main cabin, sorting themselves out so that