The Last Plunge
By S. J. Sackett
Granting the need for money, a man will do
any dangerous job that comes along; Borgmann was
such a man; air lion diving off Uranus—the job!
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy
October 1955
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
When you are only about ninety degrees from absolute zero, it is nothot, despite the fact that the sun is shining down on you twenty-fourhours a day. The answer to this riddle is that you are on Uranus, inthe arctic circle, where the sun is a bright star almost directlyoverhead. And what are you doing on Uranus? You need the money.
Nils Borgmann, however, was sweating. And the reason was that theheating unit on his space suit, like the heating units on almost allspace suits, was not functioning properly. The breathing mechanism wasin good shape, however, and the oxygenerator on the raft pumped infresh air in satisfying amounts.
Nils needed money badly, for he had a wife and seven children. So hesaid, "Let me down a little farther." For he saw a big, white shapedimly through the murk—an air lion.
Up on the raft, where they heard the message, the drum went round andpaid out another twenty feet of the cable by which Nils Borgmann wassuspended in the Uranian atmosphere. Borgmann took aim and fired.
The shape kept moving. An air lion's hide is so tough that you have tohit it right under the ribs or through the eye in order to kill it, andNils could not see that one clearly enough, despite the headlamp on hishelmet.
"Get it?" came the voice in his earphones.
"I'll tell you when I've got one," Nils said.
"We're sending down Petrone."
"How about running the harpoon down to where I am?"
"Okay, Nils. Sorry," the voice said.
The radio was very comforting to Nils Borgmann. Through it he feltclose to the surface, as if he had friends ready to help him at anymoment. It made him forget the real dangers of his situation.
Nils saw the harpoon come jerking down into his reach. He grabbed itwith his left hand, then held out his right for another shot at the airlion.
"Take it easy," Petrone's voice came into his eardrums. "Don't get mewith that thing."
"Can you see it? It's getting away from me."
"I think so," Petrone said. "I think it's coming my way."
"Oh," Nils said. That was one more bonus he wouldn't get. He lookedaround, hoping to sight another lion.
The sound of a muffled report came in over Nil's earphones. ThenPetrone swore in Italian. Nils always had to laugh because Petronewould never swear in English.
And then the white shape came looming through the murkiness right atNils's pistol. He could even see the animal's eye, whereas usually youwere lucky if you could distinguish the head. He raised his gun andfired and had the satisfaction of seeing the lion flounder and thrashand finally subside, floating aimlessly in the air.
"Got it," Nils said, grinning. That was another bonus, and each timeNils got a bonus, one of his kids had enough money to get throughcollege. He threw the harpoon and snagged the beast just behind it'sright foreflipper. Pulling in the harpoon cable, he made certain thatthe weapon was firmly embedded in the lion's flesh.
"Pull away," he said.
"We think you'd better come up, too," they said on the raft.
"Okay," Nils said. There was only one more child to earn an ed