QUEST ON IO
By ROBERT MOORE WILLIAMS
Radium-seeking Andy Horn and his talking
honey-bear believed they were alone on
Jupiter's bleak satellite. Then out of
nowhere dropped the space-girl trailing
a fateful comet of piracy and death.
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Planet Stories Fall 1940.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
"Os—car"
Assistant Navigator Andy Horn cocked an attentive ear and listened foran answer, but only the soft eternal moan of Io's restless winds cameto his straining ears.
"Dern that perfidious imp of Satan to hell and gone and back again,"he muttered, stretching his red neck out like a turkey gobbler andsquawking again.
"Os—car.... Dern your flea-bitten hide. You better turn up."
Gravel grated on a rock ledge not five feet above him and a Ganymedianhoney bear stepped daintily into view. It was about the size of a fox,had sleek, heavy brown wool interspersed with longer black hairs, anda round, intelligent face. It sat down on the ledge and eyed him asguilelessly as if it hadn't heard him calling all the time.
"Hi, Bub," it said.
Andy reached decisively for a rock. "Dern you, Oscar, I've told younot to call me Bub." He let go with the rock, but Oscar had slippedblithely to cover. Andy grabbed another rock and waited and pretty soonthe round face peeked over the ledge at him. It eyed the stone he hadin his hand and was very contrite.
"Aw, Boss, put down that rock. I was only foolin'."
Andy maintained his belligerent attitude.
"I'm very sorry, Mr. Horn."
"That's better," Andy answered. "I didn't raise you on a bottle fromthe time you were three weeks old to have you sass me when you're grownup. Show some respect. Come on down from up there. We're going to eat."
Andy had brought food with him from Ganymede, for Io produced nothingthat human beings liked, except mineral wealth, and he was prospectingfor that, taking advantage of the two months' forced vacation whilethe Golden Stag was being repaired. A stern jet had jammed whenshe was landing, and she had sat down heavily on her tail, shearingoff her stern rocket tubes and knocking a hole in her hull. In twomonths, if fate was kind, he might possibly locate a claim that wouldprovide him with enough money to purchase the dream of his life, a neatprivate space yacht lying at the docks on Luna where her millionaireowner had left her after a narrow escape from a meteor had convincedhim that space travel was not for amateurs. The ship could be boughtfor a hundred thousand, which was a give-away, and Andy had come toIo prospecting, for with the ship he could earn a comfortable livingprospecting around the world. He had brought his honey-bear along forcompany.
"Ah, food!" Oscar licked his chops, and started to descend, buthesitated and looked doubtfully over his shoulder up the twisted,rock-ribbed ravine.
"Boss," he said hesitatingly, "I think you ought to know and I wasgoing to tell you when you got so free with that rock, but there'sanother of you blood-thirsty humans prospecting up this ravine,and he's got a gun, and when you started shouting for me, he quitprospecting and grabbed that gun, and started looking."
"The devil!" Andy ejaculated. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I have. Duck, Boss...." Oscar flattened himself out of sight.
Andy needed no further urging. He squeezed his lithe six-feet downbehind a boulder just as a heat