THE VICTORY OF KLON
By WILBUR S. PEACOCK
"Behold, I bring my people light!" But
it was a deadly triumph for Klon, wriggling,
slimy lord of eternally-veiled Venus.
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Planet Stories Fall 1941.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
Klon fled from fern to fern like a drifting shadow, circling the newclearing that had been torn in the steamy jungle by the gleamingmonster that had come from the eternal fog that clothed his world. Hehalted now and then, slipped into the stagnant water that covered ninetenths of the planet, and listened for the slightest sound that wouldwarn him of a hidden watcher spying on his movements.
Satisfied that he was alone in the jungle swamp, he edged closer to theclearing whose edge was a charred and ragged circle. His lidless eyegleamed phosphorescently in the darkness that never changed, bringinginto sharp detail the shadows that were two shades of blackness forthere were no colors on his earth.
He slipped over the burned ground, wincing at the bruises given him bythe unaccustomed hardness beneath his body. He hissed a bit in angerthat he should suffer so, then went rigid as the thing happened again.
An amazingly light shadow had suddenly come into being on the roundnessof the gleaming visitor from somewhere above.
Klon wanted that shadow, wanted that thing that was brighter thananything he had ever seen—and his purpose was to gain it in any waypossible. For possession of that light shadow would make him greaterthan anyone else on the planet. Mightier even than Valok.
Klon knew that his time was growing short; the nation would declaretheir new leader within a very short while, and he knew that possessionof that light shadow was the one thing that would assure him of victoryover his rival for leadership.
His gills opened and closed automatically, involuntary muscles workingeven when his lungs worked on the damp air. He winced a bit from thelightness of the shadow, for never had his eye seen one that was sowithout blackness.
And then Klon was at the roundness of the thing, the touch of itscoolness sending a thrill of dread through his heart. He moved slowlyuntil he was just below the circle of lightness, then climbed upwardswith his sucker-discs.
Slowly, carefully, instantly ready for flight to safety, he lifted hishead until his eye was pressed against the light shadow. He felt tinypains running through his eye, back into his head, and down into hisbody, but he gave it no heed.
For he was seeing something that none other of his race had had thecourage to face. He saw things but dimly, and the hideousness of thescene almost made him lose his hold.
For nightmarish creatures moved within the gleaming thing, moving onstiff tentacles, gesturing with others, while above, on a thin neck,fanged mouths opened and closed in sickening motions. And the shadowsof their skins were of shades of lightness and darkness that wereterrifying to Klon's senses that had never met the like before.
He gasped audibly, swung back from the circle of lightness, shakingwith horror at what he had seen.
Inside the gleaming space ship, three men were seated on thecollapsible bunks. Kurt Overland, his muscular body unclad except forshorts, was speaking in his even tone.
"Well," he said cheerfully, even his steady voice failing to concealthe burning eagerness within him, "we're finally ready. I've just made