Monsoons of Death
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MONSOONS OF DEATH
By GERALD VANCE
[Transcriber Note: This etext was produced from Amazing Stories December1942. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S.copyright on this publication was renewed.]
Dreadful weaving shapes slithered through the stormtoward him]
[Sidenote: Ward Harrison got himself into a barrel of trouble when heaccepted a job at the Martian Observation Station. There were fearful"things" on Mars....]
The gleaming insignia stripes on Lieutenant Ward Harrison's broadshoulders were less than two days old when he received his firstassignment.
"Lieutenant Harrison," his commanding officer said, glancing from thepapers he held in his hands to the young man who stood at attentionbefore his desk, "this will be your first touch of action since you werecommissioned. A lot depends on how you handle yourself."
"Yes sir," Ward answered. He straightened his already poker-straightspine. His face was young and serious and intent. There was a blaze ofzeal in his blue eyes and grimness in the tightness of his jaw. But alock of blonde hair that fell over his forehead lent an incongruouslyboyish cast to his grimly set features.
His commander, a Planetary Colonel, with thirty years of void experiencebehind him, smiled slightly and looked down at the papers in his handsagain.
"Your training record has been excellent, Harrison," he said, "and I amgratified to note that you apparently realize the seriousness of ourwork." He leaned back in his chair, looked up at the young Lieutenant."It took science hundreds of years to lick the problem of crossing thevoid of space to the outer planets. Now, that that much has beenaccomplished, the task of exploring and possibly developing andcolonizing those planets is ahead of us. The most important part of thatwork is up to men like you, Lieutenant Harrison. You are attached to themeteorology department with the job of doing the preliminary analysisand exploration on the various planets whose raw materials are essentialto Earth. Never for a minute underestimate the importance of that work."
Ward cleared his throat. "I won't sir."
"Good. There are other branches of the service that might seem moreglamorous, but all of them are dependent on your research and findings.Without meteorological survey the entire network of space stations wehave established would have been impossible. And the need today foraccurate and thorough research on atmospheric conditions in the Universeis greater than ever before. Always keep that in mind."
"I will, sir," Ward answered.
"Good," the colonel said. He ran a heavy hand through his silver-dustedhair and then picked up again the sheaf of papers from his desk.
"Your first assignment is to one of our established observation stationson Mars," he said.
* * * * *
Ward kept his face woodenly expressionless; but it was hard to concealhis disappointment. He wanted adventure and danger. He wanted to provehis courage and loyalty on some perilous journey to an uncharted,unexplored area, and there was little hope for such action on anestablished base.
"The station to which you are being sent," the colonel went on, "wasestablished three years ago by the man who is still in command there, acivilian by the name of Thomas Halliday. He is alone there, now. Hisassistant died about six months ago. You will act as Halliday'sassistant in atmospheric experimentation and in the collection ofmeteorologic data. Despite the fact that he is a civilian you will takeyour orders from him. Is that much clear?"
"Yes," Ward said. He had to fight to keep the bitterness he was feelingfrom showing in his voice. He had been prepared for anything, but thiswas too much to accept cheerfully. Serving on a dull, one-man base,under the domination of a civilian, who had probably been rejected bythe regular service for timidity or incompetence, was a bitter pill toswallow. Ward found a real, though illogical, resentment welling in him.And the object of this resentment was Thomas Halliday.
"Thomas Halliday," the colonel said, "is a very careful, painstakingmeteorologist. He is completely dependable and reliable. The informationhe has sent us to date is accurate and thorough. Moreover he isextremely cautious." The colonel paused and frowned and his thick strongfingers drummed irritably on the top of his desk.
"Damn it!" he said with sudden explosive impatience. "Sometimes I thinkthe man is too cautious. He's been there three years now and he stillhasn't sent us a complete report on conditions there. Caution and careare fine qualities but, like all things, they can be overdone. We'replanning on erecting a large special base in his locality when wefinally get all the information. But we can't make a move until Hallidaycomes through."
"Is there any reason why the research might have been delayed?" Wardasked.
The colonel shook his head.
"Not as far as we know. Now don't get me wrong. I'm not damning any manuntil I know all the facts. I'm not a pot-bellied, arm-chair admiral.I've been in the void myself long enough to realize that you can't passjudgment on a man's work until you've actually seen the situation he'sup against. You can't get the complete picture from a three hundred wordreport. There may be other factors to consider that we here don't knowabout. But Halliday's data isn't coming in fast enough and I'm takingsteps to get at the bottom of the trouble. I'm sending you there,Harrison, because your record indicates that you're a go-getter. Maybewhat Halliday needs is a little more recklessness, a little moreimpulsiveness and a lot less caution. I'm hoping that you will act as aspur to Halliday. Think you're up to the job?"
Ward's eyes were flashing with excitement. His bitter disappointment hadvanished.
"I'll do my absolute best, sir," he said. The colonel's words hadcrystallized his swiftly-formed animosity for this Thomas Halliday. Theman was obviously a timid creature without sufficient guts to do a man'sjob. Ward felt an itching impatience to get started on this assignment.He wanted to meet Thomas Halliday. He was very anxious to begin his newduties as a spur to the man.
"Halliday hasn't given us much information about what he's discovered onthat section of Mars," the colonel said. "He's confined his reportsexclusively to atmospheric data. In his first report he mentioned thatthe area was inhabited and I got the impression that he hadn't found thenatives particularly friendly. But since he hasn't mentioned them since,I gather that he hasn't had any trouble with them....
"I guess that's about all, Lieutenant. This is an important job. And ifyou find any reason for Halliday's delay in getting that job done, Iwant you to flash me a message immediately. I'm putting a lot ofconfidence in you, young man, but I don't think it's misplaced."
The colonel stood up and extended his hand.
"Good luck, son."
Ward took the older man's hand in a firm grip.
"Thank you, sir. I'll do everything I can to justify your confidence inme."
He saluted, right-about-faced smartly and strode toward the door. Thecolonel followed his straight young back with his eyes and there was asmile of pride on his face. Lieutenant Ward Harrison, in the opinion ofthe colonel, was definitely an excellent addition to the forces ofEarth.
Lieutenant Ward Harrison thought so himself, but he would have sufferedhis tongue to be torn out before admitting it.
* * * * *
Three days later, at 24:40 inter-Stellar time, Ward Harrison arrived atthe Earth observation base located in the uncharted, inaccessible areaon the southern plane of the planet, Mars.
As he flashed into the atmosphere of the planet he cut the rearpropulsion rockets of his slim single-seater and prepared to land. Hesighted the base's small cluster of buildings and the mooring tower inhis fore vi
si-screen and he made quick rapid adjustments on hisinstrument panel as his slender ship slanted toward them in a screamingdive....
When the nose of his ship made contact with a mooring socket, he set allinstruments at zero. He climbed to his feet and stretched wearily. Thenhe walked to the sliding side door of the ship, released the air lockand stepped out onto the ramp that flanked the mooring tower.
From this position, some two hundred feet above the ground, he had hisfirst look at the terrain of Mars. Great gray wastelands spreadendlessly in all four directions and the only break in this monotony wasa low ridge of hills on the far-distant eastern horizon.
Ward shivered slightly. He hadn't been prepared for