Planet Of No Return

“Would it? Did all the machines and weapons help the two men who went before me? Marcill just vanished — but we now have a very good idea of what happened to him. And we know exactly what that killing machine did to Hartig. If you don’t mind, I don’t really want to go the way they went. It’s personal survival, not suicide that I’m thinking about. Before you make a decision I want you to consider two simple facts. Do you remember how Hartig died? The war machine came straight at him, targeted onto him by his radio or his weaponry. It detected him and destroyed him. Am I right?”

“So far,” Lea said. “Is that fact number one?”

“It is. Hartig was detected and destroyed. Fact two are the animals. You will remember that Hartig described them just after he landed. In the distance, bounding away.”

“And the relevance of these two pieces of information?” Carver asked.

“It’s obvious,” Lea told him. “The animals were alive and unbothered by the war machines. While Hartig was killed by them. So nature boy here is going to become an animal and prowl around on foot to sniff out the situation.”

“That’s insanity,” Carver said. “I cannot permit it.”

“You cannot stop it. Your responsibility ended when you got us here. I’m in command of the operation now. Lea stays with the lifeship in orbit. I land by myself.”

“I take back what I said,” Lea told them. “It’s a sound plan. At least for a Winner of the Twenties.” She saw Carver’s blank gaze and laughed. “They couldn’t have briefed you very well. Carver, if you didn’t know that Brion is a world-wide hero. His home planet — which is one of the most uncomfortable in the galaxy — has an annual competition that is not only physical but mental. Twenty different events — everything from fencing to poetry composition, weightlifting to chess. It must be the most gruelling contest that ever existed, an exhausting demonstration of both physical and intellectual skills. You can ask Brion the details, but the result is an incredible sporting event that has only a single Winner at the end of the year’s contests. Can you imagine a year-long athletic contest in which everyone on a planet participates? If you can absorb that — just think what the single victor of that contest must be like. If your imagination balks at that — why then just look at Brion here. He is one of those Winners. Whatever is causing the trouble on Selm-II — there is a very good chance that he will be able to take it on. And win.”

Carver clumped over and dropped into a deep chair, the crutch falling by his side. “I believe you,” he said. “Not that it makes any difference. As you said, what happens from now on is your responsibility. You’re correct, I’m out of it. All I can do now is wish you good luck. Klart will see that you have everything that you might need.”

“Here is a list of recommendations,” Klart said, tearing a sheet from the printer and handing it over. Lea took it before Brion could.

“I’ll be loafing about in the lifeship while you are on the surface, so taking care of the outfitting is my responsibility. You go do some pushups or take some anabolic steroids or whatever it is you do before a fight and I’ll sort this out.”

“What I do is I relax,” Brion said. “Prepare myself mentally for what is to come.”

“Well you just go and do that. I’ll let you see the final list for approval before I order the equipment.”

“No, you don’t have to do that. I leave that up to you and the experts. Just see that the outfitting is as complete as possible. I’ll need some special equipment, but I’ll arrange for that myself. All that I want right now is a detailed copy of the planetary survey. And a quiet spot to look at it.”

“You have private quarters,” Klart told him. “You’ll find all the information you want waiting for you in the terminal there.”

“Good. How soon can the equipment we need be readied?”

“Two, three hours in the most.”

“We’ll take ten. I want to sleep first. “He looked at the distant planet again. “As soon as we have rested and are equipped I want to board our lifeship and put it into a low orbit, then take a closer look at the planet’s surface. I’m very interested in just exactly what kind of animals those were that Hartig saw.”

Brion had been deeply asleep when Lea opened the door, but he awoke instantly. She hesitated, blinking into the darkness, and he called out to her. “Come in. I’ll turn on the light.”

“Do you usually sleep with all your clothes on?” she asked. “And your boots as well?”

“It’s called establishing a body image.” He drew a large glass of water from the dispenser and sipped at it. “I’ll be living in these clothes for some days, so they must be accepted as a part of my body. My body and my reflexes are my major defence, my most important weapon. I will be taking a knife as well. I have considered it carefully and I think the defence it will offer will be worth the gamble of taking it with me.”

“What knife — and what gamble? I don’t understand.”