Transcriber's Note:
This etext was produced from Amazing Science Fiction Stories July 1960. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.
NOBLE REDMAN
By J. F. BONE
ILLUSTRATED by GRAYAM
pair of words I heartily detest are noble and redman,particularly when they occur together. Some of my egghead friends fromthe Hub tell me that I shouldn't, since they're merely an ancientcolloquialism used to describe a race of aborigines on the Americanland mass.
The American land mass? Where? Why—on Earth, of course—where wouldancestors come from? Yes—I know it's not nice to mention that word.It's an obscenity. No one likes to be reminded that his ancestors camefrom there. It's like calling a man a son of a sloat. But it's thetruth. Our ancestors came from Earth and nothing we can do is going tochange it. And despite the fact that we're the rulers of a good sizedsegment of the galaxy, we're nothing but transplanted Earthmen.
I suppose I'm no better than most of the citizens you find along theperipheral strips of Martian dome cities. But I might have been if ithadn't been for Noble Redman. No—not the noble redman—just NobleRedman. It's a name, not a description, although as a description hissurname could apply, since he was red. His skin was red, his hairwas red, his eyes had reddish flecks in their irises, and their whiteswere red like they were inflamed. Even his teeth had a reddish tinge.Damndest guy I ever saw. Redman was descriptive enough—but Noble! Ha!that character had all the nobility of a Sand Nan—.
I met him in Marsport. I was fairly well-heeled, having just finishedguiding a couple of Centaurian tourists through the ruins of K'nar.They didn't believe me when I told them to watch out for Sand Nans.Claimed that there were no such things. They were kinda violent aboutit. Superstition—they said. So when the Nan heaved itself up out ofthe sand, they weren't ready at all. They froze long enough for it toget in two shots with its stingers. They were paralyzed of course, butI wasn't, and a Nan isn't quick enough to hit a running target. So Iwas out of range when the Nan turned its attention to the Centauriansand started to feed. I took a few pictures of the Nan finishing offthe second tourist—the female one. It wasn't very pretty, but youlearn to keep a camera handy when you're a guide. It gets you out ofall sorts of legal complications later. The real bad thing about itwas that the woman must have gotten stuck with an unripe stingerbecause she didn't go quietly like her mate. She kept screaming rightup to the end. I felt bad about it, but there wasn't anything I coulddo. You don't argue with a Nan without a blaster, and the Park Servicedoesn't allow weapons in Galactic Parks.
De