VIRGIN GROUND
BY ROSEL GEORGE BROWN
Annie signed on a bride ship for Mars.
There were forty brides. And when she
got there, thirty-nine men were waiting.
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Worlds of If Science Fiction, February 1959.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
The pilot shoved open the airlock and kicked the stairs down.
"Okay, girls. Carry your suitcases and I'll give each of you an oxygenmask as you go out. The air's been breathable for fifteen years, butit's still thin to newcomers. If you feel dizzy, take a whiff ofoxygen."
The forty women just stood there and looked at each other. Nobodywanted to be first.
Annie moved forward, her bulky suitcase practically floating in herhand. She was a big woman with that wholesome expression which somewomen have to substitute for sex appeal. She'd made a great seniorleader at summer camps.
"I'll go first," she said, grinning confidence into the others. "I'mnot likely to bring out the beast in them." She waved herself out,letting the grin set and jell.
It was odd to feel light. She'd felt too heavy as far back as she couldremember. Not fat heavy. Bone heavy.
The sweat on her face dried suddenly. She could feel it, likesomething being peeled off her skin. Arid climate.
It was cold. But she had the warmth to meet it.
There they were! Forty men. There were supposed to be forty. What ifone of them had died! Who would go back?
"Not me," Annie prayed to herself. "Dear God, not me." She tried tocount them. But they moved around so!
They were looking at something. Not Annie. The girl coming down theramp behind Annie.
It was Sally, with the blonde hair on her shoulders. That's all they'dbe able to see from there. The blonde hair.
But a man was coming forward. He had a tam-like hat pulled low togood-humored eyes, and an easy stride.
"Wait, Ben," one of the other men said. "See the others."
"I pulled first, didn't I?"
"Yeah. But you ain't seen but two yet."
"I want that blonde one. Let Gary see the others."
And he led Sally away.
He didn't feel her muscles or look at her teeth or measure her pelvicspan.
After Sally came Nora. Nora giggled and waved, making a shape under theshapeless clothes. Wasn't that just like Nora? Okay. So she was cute.
Second man took Nora. He didn't wait for the others.
Third man took Regina. Regina looked scared, but you could see thosebig cow eyes a mile off. Regina obviously needed somebody to protecther.
The other girls came out. Annie counted and her heart hit bottom.Someone was going to be left over.
Four women, three men. They all felt embarrassed. It was the kind ofthing the colonists would talk about for years. Who was last. Who wassecond to last. Spiteful people would remember, and in a tight littlecommunity, spite took root and throve on the least misinterpretedexpression or—But then, this wouldn't be a tight little community,Annie remembered. The lichen farms were spread out over the wholetemperate belt of the world. Because the lichens were grown only onhills, where the sand would not cover them. And because they did a moreefficient job of oxygenating the atmosphere when they were spread overa wide area.
One man, hat in hand, even in the cold. A little shriveled man with aspike of dust-colored hair, but kind-looking.
"Aw...." he drawled in embarrassment. He clicked hi