Adventures in the Far Future & Tales of Outer Space — page 75: what you’re looking at

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

Savage asked, and laughed. Collins pressed closer, his heart pulsing in his throat. What did this man know? ‘The tanks, the air tanks,” Owens hissed, his eyes wild and bright. “You think we don’t know where the air comes from? We do know, and the tanks are in our part of the world — we’re going to seal you off from your air, and the work has already begun.” Collins floated back, stunned. The air-Before he had a chance to recover himself, the door to the room burst open. Young Lanson hurtled through, his body quivering with excitement. “There he is, there he is!” Lanson screamed, pointing at Owens. “Kill him!” “Calm down,” Collins snapped. “What’s the matter?“ “Matter?” whispered Lanson hoarsely. “You fool, it’s the captain, the captain!” Collins just stared at him, unable to speak. “Your father is dead,” Lanson said, his voice breaking with hysteria. “He’s been murdered.” Slowly, inexorably, Collins felt the fury creep through his veins. Not rage, not hot, blinding madness, but fury—cold, chill fury that seeped like ice through his body, into his heart, his mind. The captain, Shielded now by a wall of ice, his mind took command. He gestured toward Owens. “Bring him,” he said shortly, and launched himself into the dark corridor. He left his torch with Lanson and hurtled through the darkness that was his home, his mind refusing even to think of what the captain’s death meant to them now. He must think ahead, keep moving ... He swam into the control room, and there was the captain. His chest was red where they had pulled the knife out, and he was very still. His people were clustered around him in the control room and the torch cast broken shadows on the walls, but the captain could not see them. His dead eyes looked outward, out to the silver stars, and now he was alone. CORniclooo SS CO