Astounding British Edition, Volume 8, No. 11 — page 59: what you’re looking at

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

BLUFF-STAINED TRANSACTION 57 the humid breeze stirred sluggishly. At infrequent intervals, a flicker of lemon yellow revealed the hue of his shirt. “Better keep it on,” he told Taylor. “No use advertising yet that we’re wearing guns.” “I thought we were supposed to advertise it 3” “Wait'll we see how to make the best impression,” insisted the dark man. “No sense in scarin’ one of these pioneer yokels an’ then findin’ out he don’t count.” “I got a good mind to slug the first man or monster I meet?” growled Taylor. “If I close my eyes, itll feel the same’s if it was J. Gilbert Fuller!” “You slug when an’ if I tell you!” ordered Ferris, starting down the ladder. “Here comes somebody now. Let me do the Te Ne Vee a Te ea * UOAG ion ae “You gotta be let?” grumbled Taylor, but he followed down to the ground. This was firm—somehow the general appearance of the island had suggested mud -—and was covered by rocket scarred traces _of a growth not unlike seaweed. At a dis- tance around the wide field and partly screening the low buildings visible beyond one end of it, were stunted, treelike growths with bushy branches. Taylor examined their faded, olive-green color with an expression of distate. : He joined Ferris, who had advanced a few strides to watch a battered ground-car _ approaching from the direction of the build- _ Ings. As it came nearer, they could see that it was an open truck. When the vehicle drew up before them with a squeal of brakes, Ferris twitched his shoulders slightly at the hostile looks of the four Terrans riding in it. The four wore no jackets, and most of . thé colors seemed to have been bleached out of their sweat-dampened shirts. One carried a dart pistol tucked into his waistband, and the hands of the others lingered near a collection of tools like long-handled machetes, All four were deeply tanned. “Thought you were Lrymians,” said the driver, as if to explain his haste. The beefy man beside him patted his dart pistol and grunted in disappointment. ae “No room for more Terrans here either,” he told them ungraciously. = tohkine plantations now for the shipping - quotas. We let in any more, the price will go down.” “Too many “Um-m-m. That the city over there?” asked Ferris, with a jerk of his head. “That’s right,” replied the driver, prepar- ing to turn his truck. “We'll ride back with you, then,” said Ferris. The man with the dart gun took that ill. “If you know what’s good for you, you'll climb back in your star-wagon and kick off,” he said. “Who asked you to come around Rerv anyway?” “News gets around,” said Ferris evenly. He used his left elbow to edge back Taylor, who showed signs of desiring a closer look at the beefy one. “We heard Rerv IV needed a little organizing.” “Are you with that slimy slicker from the B. S. T. that got here last week?” demanded the driver. “Maybe; maybe not,” “What slicker?” “That J. Whatsisname Fuller!” snarled the man beside the driver. “That one with the big talk about Terra annexing this place and controlling the tohkine trade. By Sol, if you’re friends of his—!” “I wouldn’t say we were friends of the Bureau of Special Trading,” Ferris told “Well, then, get back in that space bottle and kick off! We have enough space tramps here now.” He started to get out of the truck when Ferris showed no sign of moving, and the two behind him stirred. “Gerry!” said Ferris without raising his voice. The beefy one jumped down, landing with feet widely spread and knees flexed to spring. Taylor moved to meet him like a tack to a magnet. To the echo of a smacking thud, the man jerked upward to the tips of his toes and flipped backward. He bounced once on his shoulders before coming inertly to rest beside the truck. The pair about to step down crouched where they were, staring open-mouth at a Taylor who had changed in a fleeting instant from a hulking, blond lout to a big cat. The spaceman fixed them with a blue glare and stooped to pluck the dart pistol from the waistband of the unconscious man. Ferris removed his hand from under. his jacket as his partner slipped the weapon and its load of deadly, poisoned needles into a hip pocket. “You fellows oughta be careful with those illegal guns,” he commented conversa- — tionally. “I guess you do need organizin’, Like I say, we'll ride.back with you. Throw him in back, sored parried Ferris. (CEOPMIE IOOKSEeEO