* * * * *
That night, in Cetopolis, he told Cathy all about it. It was a verywarm night--an unusually warm night. They walked along the planksidewalks of the little frontier town--as a new colony, Cetis Gamma Twowas a frontier--and Lon talked extravagantly.
He had meant to explain painfully to Cathy that there was no use intheir being romantic about each other. He'd expected to have to tellher bitterly that he was doomed to spend the rest of his life addingto the profits of the Cetis Gamma Trading Company, with all the lawsof the human race holding him in peonage. He'd thought of some veryelegant descriptions of the sort of people who'd worked out the systemin force on Cetis Gamma Two.
But he didn't. As they strolled under the shiver trees that lined thesmall town's highways, and smelled the _chanel_ bushes beyond thetown's limits, and listened to the thin violinlike strains of whatshould have been night birds--they weren't; the singers were furryinstead of feathered, and they slept in burrows during the day--as theywalked with linked fingers in the warm and starlit night, Lon toldCathy about his invention.
He explained in detail just why wires wound in just that fashion, andcombined with bits of sheet iron twisted in just those shapes, wouldproduce power for free and forever. He explained how it had to be so.He marveled that nobody had ever thought of it before. He explained itso that Cathy could almost understand it.
”It's wonderful!” she said wistfully. ”They'll run spaceships on yourinvention, won't they, Lon? And cities? And everything! I guess you'llbe very rich for inventing it!”
He stopped short and stared at her. He hadn't thought that far ahead.Then he said blankly:
”But I'll have to get back to Earth to patent it! And I haven't got themoney to pay one fare, let alone two!”
”Two?” asked Cathy hopefully. ”Why two?”
”You're going to marry me, aren't you?” he demanded. ”I sort of hopethat was all settled.”
Cathy stamped her foot.
”Hadn't you heard,” she asked indignantly, ”that such things aren'ttaken for granted? Especially when two people are walking in thestarlight and are supposed to be thrilled? It isn't settled--not untilafter you've kissed me, anyhow!”
He remedied his error.
* * * * *
Out on the ninth planet, very far away, Nodalictha blushed slightly.As a bride, she was in that deliciously embarrassing state ofbecoming accustomed to discussions which would previously have beenunconventional.
”They are so quaint!” Then she hesitated and said awkwardly, ”The ideaof putting their--their lips together as a sign of affection--”
Rhadampsicus was amused, as a bridegroom may be by the delightfulinnocences of a new wife. He evinced his amusement in a manner no humanbeing could conceivably have recognized as the tender laugh it was.
”Little goose!” he said fondly. Of course, instead of a fowl, hethought of a creature that had thirty-four legs and scales instead offeathers and was otherwise thoroughly ungooselike. ”Little goose, theydo that because they can't do this!”
And he twined his eye stalks sentimentally about hers.
* * * * *
Days passed on Cetis Gamma Two. Lon Simpson cultivated his _thanar_fields. But he began to worry. His new power source was more than arepair for a broken-down tractor. It was valuable. It was riches! Hehad in it one of those basic, overwhelmingly important discoveries bywhich human beings have climbed up from the status of intelligentEarthbound creatures to galactic colonists--And a lot of good it haddone them!
It was a basic principle for power supply that would relieve mankindpermanently of the burden of fuels. The number of planets availablefor colonization would be multiplied. The cost of every object made byhuman beings would be reduced by the previous cost of power. The priceof haulage from one planet to another would be reduced to a fraction.Every member of the human race would become richer as a result ofthe gadget now attached to Lon Simpson's tractor. He was entitled toroyalties on the wealth he was to distribute. But....
He was a _thanar_ farmer on Cetis Gamma Two. His crop was mortgaged. Hecould not possibly hope to raise enough money to get back to Earth toarrange for the marketing of his invention. Especially, he could notconceivably raise money enough to take Cathy with him. He had riches,but they weren't available. And something else might happen to ruin himat any time.
Something else did. The freezer element of his deep-freeze locker brokedown. He didn't notice it. He had a small kitchen locker in which foodfor week-to-week use was stored. He didn't know anything about thedeep-freeze unit that held a whole growing season's supply of food.The food in it--all imported from Earth and very expensive--thawed,fermented, spoiled, developed evil smelling gases, and waited for anappropriate moment to reveal itself as a catastrophe.
There were other things to worry about at the time. A glacier up atCetis Gamma Two's polar region began to retreat, instead of growingas was normal for the season. There was a remarkable solar prominenceof three days' duration swinging around the equator of the local sun.There was a meeting of directors of the Cetis Gamma Trading Company,at which one of the directors pointed out that the normal curve ofincrease for profits was beginning to flatten out, and something hadto be done to improve the financial position of the company. Uglysun-spots appeared on the northern hemisphere of Cetis Gamma. If therehad been any astronomers on the job, there would have been as muchexcitement as a four alarm fire. But there were no astronomers.
The greatest agitation on the second planet of Cetis Gamma Two was feltby Lon Simpson. Cathy had made friends with a married woman colonistwho would chaperon her on a visit to Lon's farm, and was coming outto visit and see the place that was to be the scene of the ineffable,unparalleled happiness she and Lon would know after they were married.
She came, she saw, she was captivated. Lon blissfully opened the doorof the house she was to share. He had spent the better part of two dayscleaning up so it would be fit for her to look at. Cathy entered. Therewas a dull, booming noise, a hissing, and a bubbling, and then a rankstench swept through the house and strangled them.
* * * * *
The boom, of course, was the bursting open of the deep-freeze lockerfrom the pressure of accumulated gases within it. The smell was thatof the deep-freeze contents, ten days thawed out without Lon knowingit. There are very few smells much worse than frozen fish gone very,very bad in a hot climate. If there are worse smells, they come fromonce-frozen eggs bursting from their shells when pressure outsidethem is relieved. In this case, trimmings were added by fermentingstrawberries, moldy meat and badly decayed vegetables, all triumphantlymaking themselves known at the same instant.
Cathy gasped and choked. Lon got her out of doors, gasping himself. Itwas not difficult to deduce what had happened.
He opened the house windows from the outside, so the smell could goaway. But he knew despair.
”I--can't show you the house, Cathy,” he said numbly. ”My locker wentbad and all the food followed suit.”
”Lon!” wailed Cathy. ”It's terrible! How will you eat?”
Lon began to realize that the matter was more serious than the lossof an opportunity for a sentimental inspection of the house. He haddreamed splendidly, of late. He didn't quite know how he was goingto manage it, but since his tractor was working magnificently he hadcome to picture himself and Cathy in the r?le of successful colonists,zestfully growing _thanar_ leaves for the increasing multitudes ofpeople who needed a milligram a day.
He'd reverted to the pictured dreams in the Cetis Gamma TradingCompany's advertisements. He'd daydreamed of himself and Cathy asgrowing with the colony, thriving as it throve, and ultimately becomingmoderately rich--in children and grandchildren, anyhow--with lifestretching out before them in a sort of rosy glow. He'd negligentlyassumed that somehow they would also be rich from the royalties on hisinvention. But now he came down to reality.
His house was uninhabitable for the time being. He could continueto cultivat
e his fields, but he wouldn't be able to eat. The localplant-life was not suitable for human digestion. He had to live on foodimported from Earth. Now he had to buy a new stock from the Company,and it would bankrupt him.
With an invention worth more--probably--than the Cetis Gamma Companyitself, if he could realize on it, he still was broke. His crop wasmortgaged. If Carson learned about his substitute for a generator, theCompany would immediately clamp down to get it away from him.
He took Cathy back to Cetopolis. He feverishly appealed to othercolonists. He couldn't tell them about his generator substitute. Ifthey knew about it, in time Carson would know. If they used it, Carsonwould eventually get hold of a specimen, to send back to Earth forpirating by the Cetis Gamma Trading Company. All Lon could do was trydesperately to arrange to borrow food to live on until his crop camein, though even then he wouldn't be in any admirable situation.
He couldn't borrow food in quantity. Other colonists had troubles,too. They'd give him a meal, yes, but they couldn't refill his freezerwithout emptying their own. Which would compel them to buy more. Whichwould be charged against their crops. Which would simply hasten the daywhen they would become day-laborers on the Company's _thanar_ farm.
Lon had about two days' food in the kitchen locker. He determined tostretch it to four. Then he'd have to buy more. With each meal, then,his hopes of freedom and prosperity--and Cathy--grew less.
Of course, he could starve....
* * * * *
Rhadampsicus was enormously and pleasantly interested in what went onin Cetis Gamma's photosphere. From the ninth planet, he scanned theprominences with enthusiasm, making notes. Nodalictha tried to takea proper wifely interest in her husband's hobby, but she could notkeep it up indefinitely. She busied herself with her housekeeping.She fashioned a carpet of tufted methane fibres and put up curtainsat the windows. She enlarged the garden Rhadampsicus had made, addingborders of crystallized ammonia and a sort of walkway with a hedgeof monoclinic sulphur which glittered beautifully in the starlight.She knew that this was only a temporary dwelling, but she wantedRhadampsicus to realize that she could make any place a comfortablehome.
He remained absorbed in the phenomena of the local sun. One greatprominence, after five days of spectacular existence, divided into twowhich naturally moved apart and stationed themselves at opposite sidesof the sun's equator. They continued to rotate with the sun itself,giving very much the effect of an incipient pinwheel. Two other minorprominences came into being midway between them. Rhadampsicus watchedin fascination.
Nodalictha came and reposed beside him on a gentle slope of volcanicslag. She waited for him to notice her. She would not let herself besensitive about his interest in his hobby, of course, but she could notreally find it absorbing for herself. A trifle wistfully, she sent herthoughts to the female biped on the second planet.
After a while she said in distress, ”Rhadampsicus! Oh, they are sounhappy!”
Rhadampsicus gallantly turned his attention from the happenings on thesun.
”What's that, darling?”
”Look!” said Nodalictha plaintively. ”They are so much in love,Rhadampsicus! And they can't marry because he hasn't anything edible toshare with her!”
Rhadampsicus scanned. He was an ardent and sentimental husband. If hisnew little wife was distressed about anything at all, Rhadampsicus wassplendidly ready to do something about it.
* * * * *
Lon Simpson looked at his kitchen locker. The big deep-freezer wasrepaired now. Once a season, a truck came out from Cetopolis and filledit. The food was costly. A season's supply was kept in deep-freeze.Once in one or two weeks, one refilled the kitchen locker. It was bestto leave the deep-freeze locker closed as much as possible. But now thebig deep-freeze was empty. He'd cleaned out the ghastly mess in it, andhe had it running again, but he had nothing to put in it. To have itrefilled would put him hopelessly at the Company's mercy, but there wasnothing else to do.
Bitterly, he called the Trading Company office, and Carson answered.
”This is Simpson,” Lon told him. ”How much--”
”The price for a generator,” said Carson, bored, ”is the same asbefore. Do you want it sent out?”
”No! My food locker broke down. My food store spoiled. I need more.”
”I'll figure it,” replied Carson over the beamphone. He didn't seeminterested. After a moment, he said indifferently, ”Fifteen hundredcredits for standard rations to crop time. Then you'll need more.”
”It's robbery!” raged Lon. ”I can't expect more than four thousandcredits for my crop! You've got three thousand charged against me now!”
Carson yawned. ”True. A new generator, fifteen hundred; new foodsupplies fifteen hundred. If your crop turns out all right, you'llstart the new season with two thousand credits charged up as a loanagainst your land.”
Lon Simpson strangled on his fury. ”You'll take all my leaves and I'llstill owe you! Then credit for seed and food and--If I need to buy moremachinery, you'll own my farm _and_ crop next crop time! Even if mycrop is good! Your damned Company will own my farm!”
”That's your lookout,” Carson said without emotion. ”Being a _thanar_farmer was your idea, not mine. Shall I send out the food?”
Lon Simpson bellowed into the beamphone. He heard clicking, thenCathy's voice. It was at once reproachful and sympathetic.
”Lon! Please!”