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_There was a boy and a girl and a strange new planet; the planet was alive with hideous dangers. But the boy and girl were very young and all Robin wanted to know was: "Who stole my doll?"_
A WORLD CALLED CRIMSON
By DARIUS JOHN GRANGER
_When the starship _Star of Fire_ collided with a meteor swarm sixparsecs stellar north of the galactic hub in the year A.D. 2278, it lostits atmosphere within forty-five minutes. At first it was thought thatevery man, woman and child of the four thousand, one hundred andsixty-six aboard were lost, in this the greatest of all interstellardisasters. But as was discovered twenty years later in the Purcellexploration, this was not quite the case. (See PURCELL)_
_--from The ANNALS OF SPACE, Vol. 12_
* * * * *
The Cyclops--not hungry at the moment--regarded Robin asa new toy.]
It was the nasty little boy from B Deck who had stolen her doll. Shehated him. He was horrid. She slipped out of their stateroom while herMom and Dad were dressing for dinner. She'd find that horrid little boyon B Deck. She'd scratch his eyes out.
Her name was Robin Sinclair and she was five years old and mad enough tothrow the boy from B Deck out into space, only she didn't know how to goabout that.
She went down the companionway to B Deck, where the people dresseddifferently. The colors weren't as bright, somehow, the cloth not sofine. It was a major distinction in the eyes of a five-year-old girl,especially one who loved to run her fingers over fine synthetics and whoeven had a favorite color. Her favorite color was crimson.
"'Scuse me, mister. Didja see a little boy with a doll with a crimsondress on?"
A smile. But she was deadly serious. "Not me, young lady."
She walked for a while aimlessly on B Deck. She saw two little boys, butthey weren't the right ones. Pouting now, almost in tears, she was onthe verge of giving up. Mom and Dad could buy her a new doll. Mom andDad were richer than anybody, weren't they?
Then, all of a sudden, she saw him. He was just ducking out of sight upahead. Under his arm was tucked the doll with the crimson dress, herfavorite doll.
"Hey!" she cried. "Hey, wait for me!"
Her little feet pounding, she raced down the companionway. As shereached the irising door in the bulkhead, an electric eye opened it forher. She had never come this way before. It was not as bright and cleanas the rest of the ship. She had not even seen the sign which saidPASSENGERS NOT PERMITTED BEYOND THIS POINT. But then, she could barelyread, anyway.
She caught a quick second glimpse of the boy, and started running as herounded a turn in the corridor. Shouting for him to stop, she reachedthe turn and saw him up ahead. He looked back at her and stuck out histongue and kept running.
* * * * *
It was then that the whole world shuddered, like it was trying to shakeitself to pieces.
Alarm bells clanged everywhere. Whistles shrilled. Pretty soonuniformed men were running in all directions. Robin Sinclair wassuddenly very frightened. She wanted to go back to A Deck, to her Momand Dad, but she had followed the boy through so many twisting, turningcorridors that she knew she would be lost if she tried. She lookedahead. The boy seemed confident as he made his way. She followed him.But she was really mad at him now. It was his fault she was so far fromMom and Dad when a thing like this happened.
* * * * *
Uniformed members of the crew continued rushing by. She heard snatchesof conversation she didn't understand.
"Trying to patch it ..."
"The whole stern section of the ship. Losing air fast ..."
"The lifeboats. I was just down there. Every last one of 'em. Gone. Themeteor took 'em right off into space."
"If the damage can't be repaired ..."
And one man, finally, with a face awful to behold: "Patches won't hold.We're losing air faster'n it can be replaced. Better tell the Captain."
A man in a lot of gold braid rushed into view. He wasdistinguished-looking, but old. Boy, he was old, Robin thought. Helooked as old as her grandfather.
"Captain! We're losing too much air. It can't be replaced."
"Then prepare to abandon ship."
"But, sir, every lifeboat is gone!"
"No lifeboats? No lifeboats!"
The boy stuck his tongue out again. She ran after him, shaking herlittle fist. They were completely absorbed in their private enmity whilethe word went out that the situation was hopeless and almost fivethousand people prepared to die.
"I've got you now!"
He had run up against a blank wall. She came toward him, holding herhands out for the doll with the crimson dress. He held it behind hisback. She reached around to get it but he pushed her and she fell down.
"I'll fix you!" she threatened, getting up and rushing toward him again.Big arms came down, and big hands grabbed her.
"There now, little miss," a voice said. "Why aren't you with your folks?Time like this, you ought to be with your folks. What is it, B Deck?"
"A Deck," Robin said haughtily. "_He's_ from B. Why is everybody runningaround so?"
He was a tall, slat-thin man with a kind-looking face. "Say, wait aminute!" he suddenly said, looking perplexed. "They all the time said Iwas nuts, building that damn thing. Well, I can't fit into it, but maybethese here kids can."
He scooped Robin up with one hand, got the boy with the other. "I wantmy doll!" Robin cried, but the boy held it away from her.
"Take it easy now," the man said. "Take it easy. We'll take care ofyou."
* * * * *
He ran with them to one of the repair bays of the great, doom-boundstarship. In one corner, beyond the now useless patching equipment, wasa table. On the table stood a model of the _Star of Fire_. It was sixfeet long and perfect in every external detail. He hadn't got around tothe inside yet. The inside was completely empty. It had rockets andeverything. There was no reason why it wouldn't be perfectlyspace-worthy. Why, it would even hold an atmosphere ...
"In you go!" he said.
The little boy was suddenly scared. "I want my Mother," he said. "Iwant my Dad."
"In you go."
Robin felt herself lifted, and thrust inside something. It was dark inthere. She moved around and bumped into something. She moved around somemore and bumped against the little boy from B Deck.
"How do you get out of here?" she asked.
"I don't know," he said.
"I want my doll back," she said.
"Oh yeah?"
"You better give it to me."
He said nothing. There was a hissing sound, and a faint roar. Far away,something slid ponderously.
"Pleasant voyage, little ones!" a voice boomed.
Something sat on her chest all at once, squeezing all the air from her.It was a great weight holding her motionless, squeezing. She wanted tocry, but couldn't get the sound out. She wanted her Mom. Mom would knowwhat to do.
She was crushed and flattened into a tunnel of blackness.
Thirty minutes later, the starship _Star of Fire_, outworld-bound fromSol to the starswarms beyond Ophiuchus, lost all its remaining air. Itbecame an enormous coffin spinning end over end in space amid the blazeof starlight near the center of the galaxy.
One tiny spaceship, a small model of the huge liner, sped away. If itwent two days finding no planet, its two occupants would perish when thesmall oxygen supply gave out. If it found a planet it would circle andland automatically. The possibility of this was small, but not remote.For here a
t the center of the galaxy, stellar distances are more nearlyplanetary and most of the stars have attendant planets. But even then,it would have to be a world capable of supporting their lives ...
They sped on, in all innocence. She was five. He was six. His name wasCharlie Fullerton. He had her doll. She hated him.
* * * * *
Two hours after the tiny model spaceship landed on a planet with threesuns in the sky, Robin Sinclair awoke. She felt cramped anduncomfortable. It took her a while to orient herself. She had some kindof a dream. A dream was a funny thing. Mom said it wasn't real. But itsure was real to her.
She got up and pushed with her hands. A section of the tiny spaceshipsprang away at her touch, admitting blinding light. She lay there withher eyes tightly shut, but after a while