Colonizing Mars was hell, because of one
thing—large, hungry critters. They flew,
crawled, snarled, howled, burrowed up under
the floors, chewed at doors and windows. And
then, to make things worse, came the Monster....
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Planet Stories July 1951.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
There was a faint scratching at the door, so faint that Alice Kidd,who had been listening fearfully for precisely that sound, was at firstnot certain that she heard it. But, as she came close to the doorway,it was no longer possible to doubt, and a chill went through her atthe thought of the creature panting eagerly on the other side. Now shecould hear it whine, and, despite her knowledge that the gesture wasan idle one, she could not help once more feeling the bolt behind thedoor. Then she made sure that the shutters too were securely barred,although these were usually in less danger; most of the animals couldnot apply pressure very far above the ground.
Small was staring at her, not particularly frightened, but very muchinterested. Her face, she thought, must be pale through the radiationtan. Ordinarily, there was nothing timid or fragile about her, or shewould never have accompanied her husband to Mars; but all the same,she felt weak and helpless before the danger that threatened. And sheshuddered as her five-year-old son asked, "Can it get in, Mommy?"
"I hope not, darling. Come, let's go into the other room and bolt theconnecting door. And then I'll call up Daddy."
"Does it want to eat us, Mommy?"
Alice shuddered again. "Don't talk about it," she said, and carried himquickly into the next room. When the door was bolted, she pressed thecontact button, asked for Mr. Kidd, and almost at once was speaking toAnthony.
He listened quietly, his dark face in the visor as grave as if he wereconcerned with some problem of engineering, and then said in a toneof reassurance, "Don't worry, it can't get in. Not under a couple ofhours, anyway. And even if it does, you have that gun."
"That explosive thing?"
"It'll do, if you keep your nerve. But I don't think you'll have to putit to the test. I'm coming home now, anyway, and I'll take care of ourfriend. Have any idea what it is?"
"I haven't seen it. It just whines a little, and keeps scratching, veryquietly."
"Probably a badgerine. Hope it doesn't try to tunnel under the floor.All right, sugar, keep your shirt on, and the Mars Marines will bethere to the rescue."
"Take care of yourself."
"And how. Think I want you to be left with all that insurance money andfall victim to some fortune-hunter who sees nothing in you but yourbeautiful bank account?"
He hung up, and Alice waited, trembling. In the room where she was,she could no longer hear the straining animal, but she knew that ithadn't gone away. She tried to get interested in some of Small'schildish treasures. The blocks he had long outgrown, and they kept thethings only because there was no one to give them to, and it seemedsilly to throw anything away here. Besides, Alice had the idea thather son might have a brother or a sister some day soon, if they everdecided it was possible to raise a baby here, and toys were difficultto import. As for Small's magic hypno-ray ring, his imitation teleportbracelet, and his genuine imitation home teleset and similar objects,all obtained either by sending away one quarter credit in stampsplus a cereal box-top or by selling a special perfumed soap to hisneighbors—which in this case meant his parents—she had always foundit difficult to arouse any