Monsoons of Death Read online

nervous tension of beinghere all alone, thinking...."

  His voice trailed off and his hand moved nervously toward his glassesand then fell back limply in his lap.

  "About the work here," he said in a mild, controlled voice, "we areforced to work on a definitely limited schedule. I have field apparatuslocated at points several miles distant from here. But we can't ventureout to take the necessary readings until the weather is propitious."

  "What's the weather got to do with our taking readings?" Ward demanded.

  "Simply this: There are certain periods of intense precipitation on thisarea of Mars. These periods are accompanied by high velocity winds. Theatmospheric disturbance reaches monsoon proportions. During suchperiods, for some reason, the Raspers are exceptionally active.Something in the nature of the monsoon reacts on them with very savageresults. They seem to feed on the electric disturbances in theatmosphere. They go wild during these changes in the weather and searchfor any moving thing to destroy. In some manner they are able to coverenormous distances during the monsoon and they can travel withincredible speed. When a monsoon is threatening I never leave thestation."

  Ward listened in growing irritation to this explanation.

  "How often do you have monsoons here?" he demanded.

  "Unfortunately, quite often," Halliday answered. "All of my instrumentsindicate now that one is brewing. I haven't been able to do more than afew hours of work in the last two months. I've been waiting for theweather to break, but so far it hasn't."

  "Do you mean to tell me," Ward said incredulously, "that you've beensitting here, twiddling your thumbs for the past two months becauseyou're afraid to take a chance on a wind blowing up?"

  "That is exactly what I mean," Halliday said. "But it isn't the wind I'mafraid of. It's the things that come with the wind that make any fieldwork impossible. I've learned a few things about the Raspers in my threeyears and one is that it doesn't pay to give them a chance. That's allthey need. That's all they're waiting for."

  Ward stood up impatiently and jammed his fists into his pockets. It tookall of his self control not to let his anger and contempt for the manexplode in roaring fury.

  "I can't understand your attitude," he said at last, through tight lips."I'm green and new here. I don't know anything about the set-up exceptwhat you've told me. But I know from your own admission that you'venever seen these things you're so mortally afraid of, you've never stoodup to them and given them a taste of ray juice to think about, you don'treally know anything about them, except that you're terrified of thevery thought of them. That isn't a reasonable attitude. Only one kind ofman thinks that way, and that's a man without a touch of starch in hisbackbone, or a bit of honest-to-goodness guts in his make-up. If youwant to hug this place like a scared school-girl that's all right, butI'll be double-damned if I'm going to let any superstitious nonsensekeep me from doing the job I was sent here to do."

  "That is a very brave speech, Lieutenant," Halliday said, "and I admireyou for it. But you are going to do as I say in spite of your ownopinions. We will stay here and take no unnecessary chances until ourinstruments indicate that the monsoon weather has passed. That is anorder."

  * * * * *

  Ward choked back his wrath. He glared at Halliday for an instant, thenwheeled and strode into the small storeroom that was to serve as hissleeping quarters. He banged the door shut and sat down on the edge ofthe cot, his fingers opening and closing nervously.

  He wasn't sure just what he'd do, but he didn't intend to stand forHalliday's craven policy of hiding in a locked room, instead of doingthe work his country expected him to do. Halliday was a psychopathiccase; his mind was full of a hundred and one imagined horrors and theykept him from doing his job. There was little wonder that he had beenthree years attempting to compile the information that should have beengathered in three months.

  The man was so terrified of imagined dangers that he was helpless toact. Ward felt a moment of pity for him, the pity the brave invariablyfeel for the weak and cowardly. But he also felt a cold and bittercontempt for the man who had allowed his own fear and timidity to holdup the important work of accumulating data on this section of theplanet. If he wasn't man enough to do the job, he should have at leastbeen man enough to admit it.

  Ward decided that the next day he'd have the thing out. He undressedslowly and stretched out on the narrow cot, but sleep was a long time incoming.

  When he stepped from his room the next day he saw that Halliday wasstanding in the doorway gazing out over the dull gray Martian landscape.

  "Aren't you taking quite a chance?" he asked, with heavy sarcasm.

  Halliday ignored the gibe. "No. I made a careful check before I releasedthe door lock and opened up. Did you sleep well?"

  "Fair," Ward said. "How can you tell the days and nights here? Is thereever any change in the sky?"

  Halliday shook his head. "Sometimes it gets a little darker, sometimesit's lighter. When you're tired you go to bed. That's the only standardwe have." He shaded his eyes with his hand and stared for a long momentat the bleak, depressing horizon.

  Looking over his shoulder, Ward noticed swirling humid mists drifting inthe air and, above, huge massive clouds of dense blackness weregathering. He felt a peculiar electric tightness in the atmosphere.

  Halliday closed and locked the door carefully.

  "Might as well have breakfast," he said. "There's nothing else we can dotoday."

  "Do we have to stay cooped up here all day?" Ward asked.

  "I'm afraid so. This weather is ready to break any minute now, and whenit does I intend to be behind a well-locked door."

  Ward's lips curled slightly.

  "Okay," he said quietly, "we'll wait for the monsoon to blow over. Then,Raspers or not, I'm going to work."

  * * * * *

  But four long days dragged by and there was no indication that themonsoon weather was prepared to break. Low dense clouds were massedoverhead and the air was gusty with flurries of humid wind.

  Halliday grew increasingly nervous. He spent every waking hour at theperiscope in a constant study of the dark horizons and he said little toWard.

  Ward's impatience grew with every inactive moment.

  "How much longer are we going to hide in here like scared rats?" heblazed finally. He paced furiously up and down the small room, glaringin rage at Halliday's stooped figure.

  Halliday smiled nervously and removed his glasses. His fingers weretrembling so violently that he almost dropped them to the floor.

  "I can't even guess," he said shakily. "I was hoping that the monsoonwould blow over, but I'm afraid we're in for it."

  "You've been saying that ever since I arrived," Ward said bitterly.

  Halliday was studying a _aerograph_ on the wall. When he turned to Ward,his face was gray. His lips were more tightly clamped than ever.

  "If anything should happen to our front door lock," he said, "there's anexit we can use in the kitchen. Possibly you've noticed the small doorbeside the refrigeration and oxygen unit. That leads to a small roomthat can be locked from the inside. There are supplies there to last aweek. I didn't tell you this before because I was afraid it might alarmyou."

  "Thanks for sparing my feelings," Ward snapped. "But I don't think I'llbe needing your cosy little refuge. I've stalled just about enough. Iwas sent here to do a job and by Heaven I'm going to try and finish it."

  He jerked his tunic from the back of a chair and scooped up his raytubeand belt. Halliday regarded him in silence as he buckled on the weapon.

  "What do you think you're going to do?" he asked at last.

  "First I'm going to flash a message to Earth, asking that I be placed incommand here," Ward said. He buttoned his tunic swiftly, and his eyeswere cold slits of anger as he looked at Halliday nervously fumblingwith his glasses. "I was sent here with instructions to find out whatthe delay was in getting the work done. I've found out to mysatisfaction. You've done abou
t one day's work for every month you'vespent cooped up in here, trembling every time the wind howled. When Icome back I'll have an authorization from GHQ to take over hereimmediately. Then you and I are going to work and damn the weather. Ifyou don't want to cooperate," Ward slapped the weapon at his hip, "I'lluse what force is necessary to make you."

  "Please listen to me," Halliday said desperately. "You're impulsive andreckless and I admire you for it. Sometimes I wish I were more likethat. But I know