and myship. Pick me up later, but get him now!"
I didn't know whether my message was received or not, because Redmandidn't leave me any receiver other than the spacesuit intercom in myhelmet. It was, I suspected, a deliberate piece of meanness on hispart. So I kept talking until my voice was a hoarse croak, calling thePatrol, calling--calling--calling, until a black shark shape blottedout the stars overhead and a couple of Patrolmen in jetsuits homed inon me.
"Did you get him?" I asked.
The Patrolman bending over me shrugged his shoulders. "They haven'ttold me," he said.
* * * * *
They hauled me back to Marsport, put my leg in a cast, ran me throughthe lie detector, and then tossed me in jail for safekeeping. I beefedabout the jail, but not too loud. As I figured it I was lucky to beout of Abie's hands.
Two days later, a Patrolman with the insignia of a Commander on hiscollar tabs showed up at my cell. He was apologetic. I was a hero, hesaid. Seems like the Patrol caught Redman trying to sneak through theasteroid belt on standard drive and blasted him out of space.
So they gave me the reward and turned me loose.
But it didn't do me any good. After taxes, it only came to twentythousand, and Abie grabbed that before I could get out of town. LikeI said, Abie's unforgiving where money's concerned, and Redman hadtaken him for over thirty kilos, which, according to Abie was my faultfor lifting him and getting him out of town. After he got my twentykilos he still figured I owed him twelve--and so I've never made itback. Every time I get a stake he grabs it, and what with theinterest, I still owe him twelve.
But I still keep trying, because there's still a chance. You see, whenRedman probed around in my mind to learn how to run the spaceship, hewas in a hurry. He must have done something to my brain, because whenhe left me on that asteroid, as he turned and waved at me, I couldhear him thinking that the Patrol would not be able to stophyperships, and if he made it to Earth his people could emigrate tosome clean world and stop having to inject their kids, and while theycouldn't make the grade themselves, their kids could crash the Galaxywithout any trouble. I got the impression that it wouldn't be too muchtrouble to empty Earth. Seems as though there wasn't many more than amillion people left. The red color wasn't complete protectionapparently.
And there's another thing. About a month after I got the reward, therewas a minor complaint from Centaurus V about one of their officialswho disappeared on a vacation trip to Mars. His ship was a Starfliteclass, Serial CY 122439. Get the idea?
So I keep watching all the incoming tourists like you. Someday Ifigure I'm going to run into a decolorized Earthman. They won't beable to stay away any more than the other peoples of the Galaxy. OldMother Earth keeps dragging them back even though they've been gonefor over a thousand years. Don't get the idea they want to see Mars.It's Earth that draws them. And it'll draw an Earthman's kids. And Ifigure that if I could read Redman's mind, I can read theirs, too eventhough I haven't read a thought since. It figures, does it not?
Hey! Hold on! There's no need to run. All I want to do is collect afifty year old bill--plus interest. Your folks owe me that much.
THE END
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