"Have you ever seen a dead mahute, or even one
that was ill? Or anything that looks like a
graveyard?" Tang and Lutscher knew not the
answer ... but maybe Bunzo, the clober, knew.
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Planet Stories September 1953.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
Sometime during the one hundred and seventh day out of Gascol 11 thehourly signal of the tracer beam changed from a tired burp to a sharpping. Sammy Tang knew then that Lutscher had landed and that thelong chase was nearing its end. Over three years on the trail of thesystem's most wanted criminal, and now they would meet for the firsttime.
Tang had dogged his quarry's flight from the first moment his ship'sbeam had picked up its trace. During refueling stops on a dozen worldshe had sometimes been weeks behind, sometimes only hours, but there hadbeen never a glimpse of Lutscher or his ship.
The chase had led, first, across, and then down the long arm of thespiral nebula known as the Milky Way, through the portion occupied byever expanding humanity, and beyond.
Lutscher made his final stop for fuel on Gascol 11, the last occupiedworld at the tip of the arm. When Tang reached there Lutscher hadgone—out into the blackness of deep space.
That way, Tang knew, led to suicide, for in that direction lay nothinguntil the next galaxy, M. 31, and Lutscher had neither the fuel nor theyears of life to reach there. Tang followed. In the beginning he hadexpected that Lutscher's flight would turn out to be only an elusivetactic, and that he would attempt to double back in a dodging curve.
But Tang had underrated his man.
The second week out his ship entered a dust region, or dark nebula,and when it emerged, the third week, he could see ahead a spot ofbrightness that marked an island star cloud. His respect for Lutscher'singenuity and resourcefulness went up several points.
Tang spent the next several hours studying his instrument board andmaking calculations. At the end his forehead was sprinkled with finedrops of perspiration. He had enough fuel to reach the star cloud, butnot enough to return! He kept the ship steady on its beam.
The star cloud expanded during the following days into three starsystems—one with observable planets—and on one of them Lutscher hadlanded.
Tang timed his landing to come in during the late daylight. His landingflares would draw attention during the dark hours, and any intervalearlier in the day would give the possible inhabitants of this world abetter opportunity to investigate before he was ready for them.
He had only time enough to observe that the topography of the planetwas mostly stone and sand, with occasional patches of vegetation—andthat Lutscher's ship rested less than a hundred yards from hisown—before he was enveloped in the swift fall of darkness.
He wasted no time in preparing his ship for possible contingencies.
The first button he pressed on a small wall panel activated theelectric eye and automatic guns in the elevated nose of the ship. Thesecond set in motion the instruments, in the blister at the base of theship, that tested the planet's atmosphere, gravity, moisture content,and temperature. There was nothing more he could do until daylight.
Pulling down his sleeping board he kicked off his shoes and restedhis shoulders against the wall of the compartment. He lit a cigar andseemed thoroughly preoccupied with the smoke that curled up and throughthe air vents.
Even being so near the completion of his task brought Tang no feelingof elation