Hinckley nodded. He switched on the rocket motors. Deep within the
spaceship a turbine growled; the growl rose to a whine.
"I still don't like to leave him there. Even though they don't know
what's happening to them, I feel sorry for those people out there." He
switched on the loudspeaker again. "Parker," he said over it. "Last
chance. We're blasting off."
"He's not coming," Compton said shrilly, "he's not coming."
Hinckley touched a button. Flaming rockets drove their fire in to the
ground. The great spaceship shuddered, rose on a column of flame.
"At last," Compton sighed. "At last."
"We'll have to come back, though," Hinckley said. "I knew we'd have to
turn in a report, and now I know we'll have to come back here to find
Parker, to jail him as a deserter, and perhaps worse. I hate to think
of what'll happen to those people down there when the Earthmen come."
They looked into a viewscreen. Below them, the planet dwindled and
became nothing.
* * * * *
From the edge of the forest, Parker watched the spaceship rise into
the sky and disappear. He chuckled contentedly. He had won the game of
hide-and-seek, and the planet was his prize. Earthmen always took what
they could from newly discovered planets, only this time _he_ would
have first choice well ahead of any others. It would be months before
an Earth ship would arrive. But he could last that long easily. Longer
if necessary. During that time he could make up some story to account
for his absence. They'd have to prove him a liar, and that would be
difficult. Any story he made up would certainly be no less fantastic
than this planet certainly was.
Meanwhile, there were things to do.
He took off his cumbersome spacesuit and left it in a clearing in the
forest; he wouldn't need that for awhile, and it would only hamper
him. He was in no mood to be delayed. There were a great many things
to do, but first there was one special thing to do. There was a girl,
he remembered, a young woman in a small hut at the other end of the
village. He licked his lips in anticipation. There was a man with her,
but there was nothing he could do--nothing at all. Parker laughed
loudly into the silence and trotted down the street.
When he reached the other end of the village, he walked eagerly into
the house. The girl sat on the couch. The man stood nearby. The walls
were unmoving and the blue fire cast a cold light about the room.
The Earthman sat down beside the girl, and his hands reached out,
unhesitating.
But suddenly the man said something in an alien tongue, a sound that
was like a whiplash, angry and bitter.