Adventures in the Far Future & Tales of Outer Space — page 307: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Savage light of exploding electricity from the arc cannon. The horde reached far, a moving, seemingly insensate sea, pushing forward into the glare of battle. A convict private scuttled into the dome from the turret, beating out the flame which charred his tunic. He saw Gedso and started, but then saw no insignia and relaxed. “Damn fuses. Six billion kilo-volts,” volunteered the private, gazing ruefully at his burned hands. He was a snub- nosed little fellow, slight of build, hard-boiled in a go-to-hell sort of way. He fixed a curious eye on Gedso. “What are you doin’ around here? You ain’t a tourist, are you?” “Well—” hesitated Gedso. “Heard a party of tourists came here once. Thought it'd be fun. Two died of shock and the rest took the same ship back. Friend of somebody?” “No,” said Gedso. “I guess not. You must have been around this place for a long while.” “Four solar years and a butt,” he pointed with a grin at his black collar. “Stripe soldier ever since | put ten passengers and an officer into Uranus on the Jupiter shuttle. They got wings. | got a dog collar. | gotta be gettin’ back to the gun before some sergeant spots me and hands out some black-and- blue drill. There’s worse things than fightin’ them ‘things.’ You got a gun when you're up here. | gotta get back to that gun.” “Have you any ideas on how to stop the ‘things,’ ” asked Gedso. “Me? Hell, if | had any ideas it would be on the subject of desertion or mayhem to noncoms. Look at them ‘things,’ would you? By die bats of Belerion, | killed a hundred today if | killed one and there they are gone and live ones in their places.” “You mean they eat their own dead?” CORniclooo SS CO