Feldman's ticket was work-stamped for the Navaho, and nobody questioned his identity. He suffered through the agony of acceleration3 on the shuttle up to the orbital station, then was sick as acceleration stopped. But he was able to control himself enough to follow other crewmen down a hall of the station toward the Navaho. The big ships never touched a planet, always docking at the stations.
A checker met the crew and reached for their badges. He barely glanced at them, punched a mark for each on his checkoff sheet, and handed them back. "Deckmen forward, tubemen to the rear," he ordered. "Navaho blasts in fifteen minutes. Hey, you! You're tubes."
Feldman grunted4. He should have expected it. Tubemen had the lowest lot of all the crew. Between the killing5 work, the heat of the tubes, and occasional doses of radiation, their lives weren't worth the metal value of their tickets.
He began pulling himself clumsily along a shaft6, dodg[Pg 22]ing freight the loaders were tossing from hand to hand. A bag hit his head, drawing blood, and another caught him in the groin.
"Watch it, bo," a loader yelled at him. "You dent2 that bag and they'll brig you. Cantcha see it's got a special courtesy stripe?"
It had a brilliant green stripe, he saw. It also had a name, printed in block letters that shouted their identity before he could read the words. Dr. Christina Ryan, Southport, Mars.
And he'd had to choose this time to leave Earth!
Suddenly he was glad he was assigned to the tubes. It was the one place on the ship where he'd be least likely to run into her. As a doctor and a courtesy passenger, she'd have complete run of the ship, but she'd hardly bother with the dangerous and unpleasant tube section.
He dragged his way back, beginning to sweat with the effort. The Navaho was an old ship. A lot of the handholds were missing, and he had to throw himself along by erratic7 leaps. He was gaining proficiency8, but not enough to handle himself if the ship blasted off. Time was growing short when he reached the aft bunkroom where the other tubemen were waiting.
"Ben," one husky introduced himself. "Tube chief. Know how to work this?"
Feldman could see that they were assembling a small still. He'd heard of the phenomenal quantities of beer spacemen drank, and now he realized what really happened to it. Hard liquor was supposed to be forbidden, but they made their own. "I can work it," he decided9. "I'm—uh—Dan."
"Okay, Dan." Ben glanced at the clock. "Hit the sacks, boys."
By the time Feldman could settle into the sacklike[Pg 23] hammock, the Navaho began to shake faintly, and weight piled up. It was mild compared to that on the shuttle, since the big ships couldn't take high acceleration. Space had been conquered for more than a century, but the ships were still flimsy tubs that took months to reach Mars, using immense amounts of fuel. Only the valuable plant hormones10 from Mars made commerce possible at the ridiculously high freight rate.
Three hours later he began to find out why spacemen didn't seem to fear dying or turning pariah11. The tube quarters had grown insufferably hot during the long blast, but the main tube-room was blistering12 as Ben led the men into it. The chief handed out spacesuits and motioned for Dan.
"Greenhorn, aincha? Okay, I'll take you with me. We go out in the tubes and pull the lining13. I pry14 up the stuff, you carry it back here and stack it."
They sealed off the tube-room, pumped out the air, and went into the steaming, mildly radioactive tubes, just big enough for a man on hands and knees. Beyond the tube mouth was empty space, waiting for the man who slipped. Ben began ripping out the eroded15 blocks with a special tool. Feldman carried them back and stacked them along with others. A plasma16 furnace melted them down into new blocks. The work grew progressively worse as the distance to the tube-room increased. The tube mouth yawned closer and closer. There were no handholds there—only the friction17 of a man's body in the tube.
Life settled into a dull routine of labor18, sleep, and the brief relief of the crude white mule19 from the still.
They were six weeks out and almost finished with the tube cleaning when Number Two tube blew. Bits of the remaining radioactive fuel must have collected[Pg 24] slowly until they reached blow-point. Feldman in Number One would have gone sailing out into space, but Ben reacted at once. As the ship leaped slightly, Feldman brought up sharply against the chief's braced20 body. For a second their fate hung in the balance. Then it was over, and Ben shoved him back, grinning faintly.
No further comment was made on it, except that they'd have to work harder from now on, since they were shorthanded.
That rest period Feldman came down with a mild attack of space-stomach—which meant no more drinking for him—and was off work for a day. Then the pace picked up. The tubes were cleared and they began laying the new lining for the landing blasts. There was no time for thought after that. Mars' orbital station lay close when the work was finished.
Ben slapped Feldman on the back. "Ya ain't bad for a greenie, Dan. We all get six-day passes on Mars. Hit the sack now so you won't waste time sleeping then. We'll hear it when the ship berths23."
Feldman didn't hear it, but the others did. He felt Ben shaking his shoulder, trying to drag him out of the sack. "Grab your junk, Dan."
Ben picked up Feldman's nearly empty bag and tossed it toward him, before his eyes were fully24 open. He grabbed for it and missed. He grabbed again, with Ben's laughter in his ears. The bag hit the wall and fell open, spilling its contents.
Feldman began gathering25 it up, but the chief was no longer laughing. A big hand grabbed up the space[Pg 25] ticket suddenly, and there was no friendliness26 now on Ben's face.
"Art Billing's card!" Ben told the other tubemen. "Five trips I made with Art. He was saving his money, going to buy a farm on Mars. Five trips and one more to go before he had enough. Now you show up with his ticket!"
The tubemen moved forward toward Feldman. There was no indecision. To them, apparently27, trial had been held and sentence passed.
"Wait a minute," Feldman began. "Billings died of—"
A fist snaked past his raised hand and connected with his jaw28. He bounced off a wall. A wrench29 sailed toward him, glanced off his arm, and ripped at his muscles. Another heavy fist struck.
Abruptly30, Ben's voice cut through their yells. "Hold it!" He shoved through the group, tossing men backwards31. "Stow it! We can take care of him later. Right now, this is captain's business. You fools want to lose your leave?" He indicated two of the others. "You two bring him along—and keep him quiet!"
The two grabbed Feldman's arms and dragged him along as the chief began pulling his way forward through the tubes up towards the control section of the ship. Feldman took a quick glance at their faces and made no effort to resist; they obviously would have enjoyed any chance to subdue32 him.
They were stopped twice by minor33 officers, then sent on. They finally found the captain near the exit lock, apparently assisting the passengers to leave. Most of them went on into the shuttle, but Chris Ryan remained behind as the captain listened to Ben's report and inspected the false ticket.[Pg 26]
Finally the captain turned to Feldman. "You. What's your name?"
Chris' eyes were squarely on Feldman, cold and furious. "He was Doctor Daniel Feldman, Captain Marker," she stated.
Feldman stood paralyzed. He'd been unwilling34 to face Chris. He wanted to avoid all the past. But the idea that she would denounce him had never entered his head. There was no Medical rule involved. She knew that as a pariah he was forbidden to board a passenger ship, of course. But she'd been his wife once!
Marker bowed slightly to her. "Thank you, Dr. Ryan. I should take this criminal back to Earth in chains, I suppose. But he's hardly worth the freightage. You men. Want to take him down to Mars and ground him there?"
Ben grinned and touched his forelock. "Thank you, sir. We'd enjoy that."
He made no other protests as they dragged him into the crew shuttle that took off for Southport. He avoided their eyes and sat hunched38 over. It was Ben who finally broke the silence.
"What happened to Art's money? He had a pile on him."
"Go to hell!"
"Give, I said!" Ben twisted his arm back toward his shoulder, applying increasing pressure.
"A doctor took it for his fee when Billings died of space-stomach. Damn you, I couldn't help him!"
Ben looked at the others. "Med Lobby fee, eh? All the market will take. Umm. It could be, maybe." He[Pg 27] shrugged39. "Okay, reasonable doubt. We won't kill you, bo. Not quite, we won't."
The shuttle landed and Ben handed out the little helmets and aspirators that made life possible in Mars' thin air. Outside, the tubemen took turns holding Feldman and beating him while the passengers disembarked from their shuttle. As he slumped40 into unconsciousness, he had a picture of Chris Ryan's frozen face as she moved steadily41 toward the port station.
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1
compartments
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| n.间隔( compartment的名词复数 )；（列车车厢的）隔间；（家具或设备等的）分隔间；隔层 | |
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dent
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| n.凹痕，凹坑；初步进展 | |
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acceleration
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| n.加速，加速度 | |
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4
grunted
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| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说 | |
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killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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6
shaft
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| n.(工具的)柄，杆状物 | |
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7
erratic
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| adj.古怪的，反复无常的，不稳定的 | |
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proficiency
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| n.精通，熟练，精练 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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hormones
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| n. 荷尔蒙，激素 名词hormone的复数形式 | |
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11
pariah
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| n.被社会抛弃者 | |
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blistering
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| adj.酷热的；猛烈的；使起疱的；可恶的v.起水疱；起气泡；使受暴晒n.[涂料] 起泡 | |
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13
lining
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| n.衬里，衬料 | |
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pry
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| vi.窥(刺)探，打听；vt.撬动(开，起) | |
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15
eroded
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| adj. 被侵蚀的，有蚀痕的 动词erode的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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16
plasma
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| n.血浆，细胞质，乳清 | |
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friction
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| n.摩擦，摩擦力 | |
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labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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mule
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| n.骡子，杂种，执拗的人 | |
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braced
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| adj.拉牢的v.支住( brace的过去式和过去分词 )；撑牢；使自己站稳；振作起来 | |
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briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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charred
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| v.把…烧成炭( char的过去式)；烧焦 | |
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berths
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| n.（船、列车等的）卧铺( berth的名词复数 )；（船舶的）停泊位或锚位；差事；船台vt.v.停泊( berth的第三人称单数 )；占铺位 | |
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24
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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friendliness
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| n.友谊，亲切，亲密 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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wrench
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| v.猛拧；挣脱；使扭伤；n.扳手；痛苦，难受 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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backwards
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| adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地 | |
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subdue
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| vt.制服，使顺从，征服；抑制，克制 | |
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minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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34
unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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reverts
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| 恢复( revert的第三人称单数 )； 重提； 回到…上； 归还 | |
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36
lashed
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| adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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37
savagely
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| adv. 野蛮地，残酷地 | |
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38
hunched
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| （常指因寒冷、生病或愁苦）耸肩弓身的，伏首前倾的 | |
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39
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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40
slumped
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| 大幅度下降，暴跌( slump的过去式和过去分词 )； 沉重或突然地落下[倒下] | |
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41
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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