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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..18b8f16 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #63867 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/63867) diff --git a/old/63867-0.txt b/old/63867-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 75cbccb..0000000 --- a/old/63867-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1003 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Captain Midas, by Alfred Coppel - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this ebook. - -Title: Captain Midas - -Author: Alfred Coppel - -Release Date: December 05, 2020 [EBook #63867] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CAPTAIN MIDAS *** - - - - - CAPTAIN MIDAS - - By ALFRED COPPEL, JR. - - The captain of the Martian Maid stared avidly at - the torn derelict floating against the velvet void. - Here was treasure beyond his wildest dreams! How - could he know his dreams should have been nightmares? - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Planet Stories Fall 1949. - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - -Gold! A magic word, even today, isn't it? Lust and gold ... they go -hand in hand. Like the horsemen of the Apocalypse. And, of course, -there's another word needed to make up the trilogy. You don't get -any thing for nothing. So add this: Cost. Or you might call it pain, -sorrow, agony. Call it what you like. It's what you pay for great -treasure.... - -These things were true when fabled Jason sailed the Argo beyond Colchis -seeking the Fleece. They were true when men sailed the southern oceans -in wooden ships. And the conquest of space hasn't changed us a bit. -We're still a greedy lot.... - -I'm a queer one to be saying these things, but then, who has more -right? Look at me. My hair is gray and my face ... my face is a mask. -The flesh hangs on my bones like a yellow cloth on a rickety frame. I -am old, old. And I wait here on my hospital cot--wait for the weight of -years I never lived to drag me under and let me forget the awful things -my eyes have seen. - -I'm poor, too, or else I wouldn't be here in this place of dying for -old spacemen. I haven't a dime except for the pittance the Holcomb -Foundation calls a spaceman's pension. Yet I had millions in my hands. -Treasure beyond your wildest dreams! Cursed treasure.... - -You smile. You are thinking that I'm just an old man, beached -earthside, spinning tall tales to impress the youngsters. Maybe, -thinking about the kind of spacemen my generation produced, you have -the idea that if ever we'd so much as laid a hand on anything of value -out in space we'd not let go until Hell froze over! Well, you're -right about that. We didn't seek the spaceways for the advancement of -civilization or any of that Foundation bushwah, you can be certain of -that. We did it for _us_ ... for Number One. That's the kind of men we -were, and we were proud of it. We hung onto what we found because the -risks were high and we were entitled to keep what we could out there. -But there are strange things in the sky. Things that don't respond to -all of our neat little Laws and Theories. There are things that are no -part of the world of men, thick with danger--and horror. - - * * * * * - -If you doubt that--and I can see you do--just look at me. I suppose -you've never heard of the Martian Maid, and so you don't know the story -of what happened to her crew or her skipper. I can give you this much -of an answer. _I_ was her skipper. And her crew? They ride high in the -sky ... dust by this time. And all because they were men, and men are -greedy and hasty and full of an unreasoning, unthinking love for gold. -They ride a golden ship that they paid for with all the years of their -lives. It's all theirs now. Bought and paid for. - -It wasn't too long ago that I lifted the Maid off Solis Lacus on -that last flight. Not many of you will remember her class of ship, -so many advances have been made in the last few years. The Maid was -two hundred feet from tip to tail, and as sleek a spacer as ever came -out of the Foundation Yards. Chemical fueled, she was nothing at all -like the spherical hyperdrives we see today. She was armed, too. The -Foundation still thought of space as a possible stamping ground for -alien creatures though no evidence of any extra-terrestrial life had -ever been found ... then. - -My crew was a rough bunch, like all those early crews. I remember them -so well. Lean, hungry men with hell in their eyes and a great lust for -high pay and hard living. Spinelli, Shelley, Cohn, Marvin, Zaleski. -There wasn't a man on board who wouldn't have traded his immortal soul -for a few solar dollars, and I don't claim that I was any different. -That's the kind of men that opened up the spaceways, too. Don't believe -all this talk about the noble pioneering spirit of man. That's tripe. -There never has been such a thing as a noble pioneer. Not in space or -anywhere else. It is the malcontent and the adventuring mercenary that -pushes the frontier outward. - -I didn't know, that night as I stood in the valve of the Maid, watching -the loading cranes pull away, that I was starting out on my last -flight. I don't think any of the others could have guessed, either. -It was the sort of night that you only see on Mars. The sort of night -that makes a spaceman wonder why in hell he wants to leave the relative -security of the Earth-Mars-Venus Triangle to go jetting across the belt -into deep space and the drab desolation of the outer System. - -I stood there, watching the lights of Canalopolis in the distance. For -just a moment I was ... well, touched. It looked beautiful and unreal -under the racing moons. The lights of the gin mills and houses made a -sparkling filigree pattern on the dark waters of the ancient canal, and -the moons cast their shifting shadows across the silted banks. I was -too far away to see the space-fevered bums and smell the shanties, and -for a little while I felt the wonder of standing on the soil of a world -that man had made his own with his rapacity and his sheer guts and -gimme. - -I thought of our half empty cargo hold and the sweet payload we would -pick up on Callisto. And I counted the extra cash my packets of snow -would bring from those lonely men up there on the barren moonlets of -the outer Systems. There were plenty of cargoes carried on the Maid -that the Holcomb Foundation snoopers never heard about, you can be sure -of that. - -In those days the asteroid belt was _the_ primary danger and menace to -astrogation. For a long while it held men back from deep space, but as -fuels improved a few ships were sent out over the top. A few million -miles up out of the ecliptic plane brings you to a region of space -that's pretty thinly strewn with asteroids, and that's the way we used -to make the flight between the outer systems and the EMV Triangle. It -took a long while for hyperdrives to be developed and of course atomics -never panned out because of the weight problem. - -So that's the orbit the Maid took on that last trip of mine. High -and clear into the supra-solar void. And out there in that primeval -blackness is where we found the derelict. - - * * * * * - -I didn't realize it was a derelict when Spinelli first reported -it from the forward scope position. I assumed it was a Foundation -ship. The Holcomb Foundation was founded for the purpose of -developing spaceflight, and as the years went by it took on the whole -responsibility for the building and dispatching of space ships. Never -in history had there been any real evidence of extra-terrestrial -intelligent life, and when the EMV Triangle proved barren, we all just -assumed that the Universe was man's own particular oyster. That kind of -unreasoning arrogance is as hard to explain as it is to correct. - -There were plenty of ships being lost in space, and immediately that -Spinelli's report from up forward got noised about the Maid every one -of us started mentally counting up his share of the salvage money. All -this before we were within ten thousand miles of the hulk! - -All spaceships look pretty much alike, but as I sat at the telescope -I saw that there was something different about this one. At such a -distance I couldn't get too much detail in our small three inch glass, -but I could see that the hulk was big--bigger than any ship I'd ever -seen before. I had the radar fixed on her and then I retired with my -slide rule to Control. It wasn't long before I discovered that the -derelict ship was on a near collision course, but there was something -about its orbit that was strange. I called Cohn, the Metering Officer, -and showed him my figures. - -"Mister Cohn," I said, chart in hand, "do these figures look right to -you?" - -Cohn's dark eyes lit up as they always did when he worked with figures. -It didn't take him long to check me. "The math is quite correct, -Captain," he said. I could see that he hadn't missed the inference of -those figures on the chart. - -"Assemble the ship's company, Mister Cohn," I ordered. - -The assembly horn sounded throughout the Maid and I could feel the tug -of the automatics taking over as the crew left their stations. Soon -they were assembled in Control. - -"You have all heard about Mister Spinelli's find," I said, "I have -computed the orbit and inspected the object through the glass. It seems -to be a spacer ... either abandoned or in distress...." Reaching into -the book rack above my desk I took down a copy of the Foundation's -_Space Regulations_ and opened it to the section concerning salvage. - -"Sections XVIII, Paragraph 8 of the Code Regulating Interplanetary -Astrogation and Commerce," I read, "Any vessel or part of vessel found -in an abandoned or totally disabled condition in any region of space -not subject to the sovereignty of any planet of the Earth-Venus-Mars -Triangle shall be considered to be the property of the crew of the -vessel locating said abandoned or disabled vessel except in such cases -as the ownership of said abandoned or disabled vessel may be readily -ascertained...." I looked up and closed the book. "Simply stated, that -means that if that thing ahead of us is a derelict we are entitled to -claim it as salvage." - -"Unless it already belongs to someone?" asked Spinelli. - -"That's correct Mister Spinelli, but I don't think there is much danger -of that," I replied quietly. "My figures show that hulk out there came -in from the direction of Coma Berenices...." - -There was a long silence before Zaleski shifted his two hundred pounds -uneasily and gave a form to the muted fear inside me. "You think ... -you think it came from the _stars_, Captain?" - -"Maybe even from beyond the stars," Cohn said in a low voice. - -Looking at that circle of faces I saw the beginnings of greed. The -first impact of the Metering Officer's words wore off quickly and soon -every man of my crew was thinking that anything from the stars would be -worth money ... lots of money. - -Spinelli said, "Do we look her over, Captain?" - -They all looked at me, waiting for my answer. I knew it would be worth -plenty, and money hunger was like a fever inside me. - -"Certainly we look it over, Mister Spinelli," I said sharply. -"Certainly!" - - * * * * * - -The first thing about the derelict that struck us as we drew near was -her size. No ship ever built in the Foundation Yards had ever attained -such gargantuan proportions. She must have stretched a full thousand -feet from bow to stern, a sleek torpedo shape of somehow unspeakable -alienness. Against the backdrop of the Milky Way, she gleamed fitfully -in the light of the faraway sun, the metal of her flanks grained with -something like tiny, glittering whorls. It was as though the stuff -were somehow unstable ... seeking balance ... maybe even alive in some -strange and alien way. - -It was readily apparent to all of us that she had never been built for -inter-planetary flight. She was a starship. Origin unknown. An aura of -mystery surrounded her like a shroud, protecting the world that gave -her birth mutely but effectively. The distance she must have come was -unthinkable. And the time it had taken...? Aeons. Millennia. For she -was drifting, dead in space, slowly spinning end over end as she swung -about Sol in a hyperbolic orbit that would soon take her out and away -again into the inter-stellar deeps. - -Something had wounded her ... perhaps ten million years ago ... perhaps -yesterday. She was gashed deeply from stem to stern with a jagged rip -that bared her mangled innards. A wandering asteroid? A meteor? We -would never know. It gave me an uncomfortable feeling of things beyond -the ken of men as I looked at her through the port. I would never know -what killed her, or where she was going, or whence she came. Yet she -was mine. It made me feel like an upstart. And it made me afraid ... -but of what? - -We should have reported her to the nearest EMV base, but that would -have meant that we'd lose her. Scientists would be sent out. Men better -equipped than we to investigate the first extrasolar artifact found by -men. But I didn't report her. She was ours. She was money in the bank. -Let the scientists take over after we'd put a prize crew aboard and -brought her into Callisto for salvage.... That's the way I had things -figured. - -The Maid hove to about a hundred yards from her and hung there, dwarfed -by the mighty glistening ship. I called for volunteers and we prepared -a boarding party. I was thinking that her drives alone would be worth -millions. Cohn took charge and he and three of the men suited up and -crossed to her. - -In an hour they were back, disappointment largely written on their -faces. - -"There's nothing left of her, Captain," Cohn reported, "Whatever hit -her tore up the innards so badly we couldn't even find the drives. -She's a mess inside. Nothing left but the hull and a few storage -compartments that are still unbroken." - -She was never built to carry humanoids he told us, and there was -nothing that could give us a hint of where she had come from. The hull -alone was left. - -He dropped two chunks of metal on my desk. "I brought back some samples -of her pressure hull," he said, "The whole thing is made of this -stuff...." - -"We'll still take her in," I said, hiding my disappointment. "The -carcass will be worth money in Callisto. Have Mister Marvin and -Zaleski assemble a spare pulse-jet. We'll jury-rig her and bring her -down under her own power. You take charge of provisioning her. Check -those compartments you found and install oxy-generators aboard. When -it's done report to me in my quarters." - -I picked up the two samples of gleaming metal and called for a -metallurgical testing kit. "I'm going to try and find out if this stuff -is worth anything...." - -The metal was heavy--too heavy, it seemed to me, for spaceship -construction. But then, who was to say what conditions existed on that -distant world where this metal was made? - -Under the bright fluorescent over my work-table, the chunks of metal -torn from a random bulkhead of the starship gleamed like pale silver; -those strange little whorls that I had noticed on the outer hull were -there too, like tiny magnetic lines of force, making the surface of -the metal seem to dance. I held the stuff in my bare hand. _It had a -yellowish tinge, and it was heavier_.... - -Even as I watched, the metal grew yellower, and the hand that held -it grew bone weary, little tongues of fatigue licking up my forearm. -Suddenly terrified, I dropped the chunk as though it were white hot. It -struck the table with a dull thud and lay there, a rich yellow lump of -metallic lustre. - -For a long while I just sat and stared. Then I began testing, trying -all the while to quiet the trembling of my hands. I weighed it on a -balance. I tested it with acids. It had changed unquestionably. It -was no longer the same as when I had carried it into my quarters. The -whorls of force were gone. It was no longer alive with a questing -vibrancy ... it was inert, stable. From somewhere, somehow, it had -drawn the energy necessary for transmutation. The unknown metal--the -stuff of which that whole mammoth spaceship from the stars was -built--was now.... - -_Gold!_ - -I scarcely dared believe it, but there it was staring at me from my -table-top. _Gold!_ - -I searched my mind for an explanation. Contra-terrene matter, perhaps, -from some distant island universe where matter reacted differently ... -drawing energy from somewhere, the energy it needed to find stability -in its new environment. Stability as a terrene element--wonderfully, -miraculously gold! - -And outside, in the void beyond the Maid's ports there were tons of -this metal that could be turned into treasure. My laughter must have -been a wild sound in those moments of discovery.... - - * * * * * - -A slight sound behind me made me spin around in my chair. Framed in the -doorway was the heavy figure of my Third Officer, Spinelli. His black -eyes were fastened hungrily on the lump of yellow metal on the table. -He needed no explanation to tell him what it was, and it seemed to me -that his very soul reached out for the stuff, so sharp and clear was -the meaning of the expression on his heavy face. - -"Mister Spinelli!" I snapped, "In the future knock before entering my -quarters!" - -Reluctantly his eyes left the lump of gold and met mine. "From the -derelict, Captain?" There was an imperceptible pause between the last -two words. - -I ignored his question and made a mental note to keep a close hand on -the rein with him. Spinelli was big and dangerous. - -"Speak your piece, Mister," I ordered sharply. - -"Mister Cohn reports the derelict ready to take aboard the prize -crew ... sir," he said slowly. "I'd like to volunteer for that detail." - -I might have let him go under ordinary circumstances, for he was a -first class spaceman and the handling of a jury-rigged hulk would -need good men. But the gold-hunger I had seen in his eyes warned me -to beware. I shook my head. "You will stay on board the Maid with me, -Spinelli. Cohn and Zaleski will handle the starship." - -Stark suspicion leaped into his eyes. I could see the wheels turning -slowly in his mind. Somehow, he was thinking, I was planning to cheat -him of his rightful share of the derelict treasure ship. - -"We will say nothing to the rest of the crew about the gold, Mister -Spinelli," I said deliberately, "Or you'll go to Callisto in irons. Is -that clear?" - -"Aye, sir," murmured Spinelli. The black expression had left his face -and there was a faintly scornful smile playing about his mouth as he -turned away. I began wondering then what he had in mind. It wasn't like -him to let it go at that. - -Suddenly I became conscious of being very tired. My mind wasn't -functioning quite clearly. And my arm and hand ached painfully. I -rubbed the fingers to get some life back into them, still wondering -about Spinelli. - -Spinelli talked. I saw him murmuring something to big Zaleski, and -after that there was tension in the air. Distrust. - -For a few moments I pondered the advisability of making good my threat -to clap Spinelli into irons, but I decided against it. In the first -place I couldn't prove he had told Zaleski about the gold and in the -second place I needed Spinelli to help run the Maid. - -I felt that the Third Officer and Zaleski were planning something, and -I was just as sure that Spinelli was watching Zaleski to see to it that -there was no double-cross. - -I figured that I could handle the Third Officer alone so I assigned the -rest, Marvin and Chelly, to accompany Cohn and Zaleski onto the hulk. -That way Zaleski would be outnumbered if he tried to skip with the -treasure ship. But, of course, I couldn't risk telling them that they -were to be handling a vessel practically made of gold. - -I was in agony. I didn't want to let anyone get out of my sight with -that starship, and at the same time I couldn't leave the Maid. Finally -I had to let Cohn take command of the prize crew, but not before I had -set the radar finder on the Maid's prow squarely on the derelict. - - * * * * * - -Together, Spinelli and I watched the Maid's crew vanish into the maw -of the alien ship and get her under way. There was a flicker of bluish -fire from her jury-rigged tubes astern, and then she was vanishing in a -great arc toward the bright gleam of Jupiter, far below us. The Maid -followed under a steady one G of acceleration with most of her controls -on automatic. - -Boats of the Martian Maid's class, you may remember, carried a six -inch supersonic projector abaft the astrogation turret. These were -nasty weapons for use against organic life only. They would reduce a -man to jelly at fifty thousand yards. Let it be said to my credit that -it wasn't I who thought of hooking the gun into the radar finder and -keeping it aimed dead at the derelict. That was Spinelli's insurance -against Zaleski. - -When I discovered it I felt the rage mount in me. He was willing to -blast every one of his shipmates into pulp should the hulk vary from -the orbit we'd laid out for her. He wasn't letting anything come -between him and that mountain of gold. - -Then I began thinking about it. Suppose now, just suppose, that Zaleski -told the rest of the crew about the gold. It wouldn't be too hard -for the derelict to break away from the Maid, and there were plenty -of places in the EMV Triangle where a renegade crew with a thousand -tons of gold would be welcomed with open arms and no questions asked. -Suspicion began to eat at me. Could Zaleski and Cohn have dreamed up -a little switch to keep the treasure ship for themselves? It hadn't -seemed likely before, but now-- - -The gun-pointer remained as it was. - -As the days passed and we reached turn-over with the hulk still well -within visual range, I noticed a definite decrease in the number of -messages from Cohn. The Aldis Lamps no longer blinked back at the Maid -eight or ten times a day, and I began to really regret not having taken -the time to equip the starship with UHF radio communicators. - -Each night I slept with a hunk of yellow gold under my bunk, and -ridiculously I fondled the stuff and dreamed of all the things I would -have when the starship was cut up and sold. - -My weariness grew. It became almost chronic, and I soon wondered if -I hadn't picked up a touch of space-radiation fever. The flesh of my -hands seemed paler than it had been. My arms felt heavy. I determined -to report myself to the Foundation medics on Callisto. There's no -telling what can happen to a man in space.... - -Two days past turn-over the messages from the derelict came through -garbled. Spinelli cursed and said that he couldn't read their signal. -Taking the Aldis from him I tried to raise them and failed. Two hours -later I was still failing and Spinelli's black eyes glittered with an -animal suspicion. - -"They're faking!" - -"Like hell they are!" I snapped irritably, "Something's gone wrong...." - -"Zaleski's gone wrong, that's what!" - -I turned to face him, fury snapping inside of me. "Then you did disobey -my orders. You told him about the gold!" - -"Sure I did," he sneered. "Did you expect me to shut up and let you -land the ship yourself and claim Captain's share? _I_ found her, and -she's mine!" - -I fought to control my temper and said: "Let's see what's going on in -her before deciding who gets what, Mister Spinelli." - -Spinelli bit his thick lips and did not reply. His eyes were fixed on -the image of the starship on the viewplate. - -A light blinked erratically within the dark cut of its wounded side. - -"Get this down, Spinelli!" - -The habit of taking orders was still in him, and he muttered: "Aye ... -sir." - -The light was winking out a message, but feebly, as though the hand -that held the lamp were shaking and the mind conceiving the words were -failing. - -"CONTROL ... LOST ... CAN'T ... NO ... STRENGTH ... LEFT ... SHIP ... -WALLS ... ALL ... ALL GOLD ... GOLD ... SOMETHING ... HAPPENING ... -CAN'T ... UNDERSTAND ... WHA...." The light stopped flashing, abruptly, -in mid-word. - -"What the hell?" demanded Spinelli thickly. - -"Order them to heave to, Mister," I ordered. - -He clicked the Aldis at them. The only response was a wild swerve in -the star-ship's course. She left the orbit we had set for her as though -the hands that guided her had fallen away from the control. - -Spinelli dropped the Aldis and rushed to the control panel to make the -corrections in the Maid's course that were needed to keep the hulk in -sight. - -"Those skunks! Double crossing rats!" he breathed furiously. "They -won't shake loose that easy!" His hands started down for the firing -console of the supersonic rifle. - -I caught the movement from the corner of my eye. - -"_Spinelli!_" - -My shout hung in the still air of the control room as I knocked him -away from the panel. - -"Get to your quarters!" I cracked. - -He didn't say a thing, but his big shoulders hunched angrily and -he moved across the deck toward me, his hands opening and closing -spasmodically. His eyes were wild with rage and avarice. - -"You'll hang for mutiny, Spinelli!" I said. - - * * * * * - -He spat out a foul name and leaped for me. I side-stepped his charge -and brought my joined fists down hard on the back of his neck. He -stumbled against the bulkhead and his eyes were glazed. He charged -again, roaring. I stepped aside and smashed him in the mouth with my -right fist, then crossing with an open-handed left to the throat. He -staggered, spun and came for me again. I sank a hard left into his -stomach and nailed him on the point of the jaw with a right from my -shoe-tops. He straightened up and sprawled heavily to the deck, still -trying to get at me. I aimed a hard kick at his temple and let it go. -My metal shod boot caught him squarely and he rolled over on his face -and lay still. - -[Illustration: _I nailed him with a right from my shoe-tops._] - -Breathing heavily, I rolled him back face up. His eyes were open, -glassy with an implacable hate. I knelt at his side and listened for -his breathing. There was none. I knew then that I had killed him. I -felt sick inside, and dizzy. - -I wasn't myself as I turned away from Spinelli's body there on the -steel deck. Some of the greed died out of me, and my exertions had -increased my sense of fatigue to an almost numbing weariness. My arms -ached terribly and my hands felt as though they had been sucked dry of -their substance. Like a man in a nightmare, I held them up before my -face and looked at them. They were wrinkled and grey, with the veins -standing out a sickly purple. And I could see that my arms were taking -on that same aged look. - -I was suddenly fully aware of my fear. Nothing fought against the -flood of terror that welled through me. I was terrified of that yellow -gold in my cabin, and of that ship of devil's metal out there in space -that held my shipmates. There was something unnatural about that -contra-terrene thing ... something obscene. - -I located the hulk in the radar finder and swung the Maid after it, -piling on acceleration until my vision flickered. We caught her, the -Maid and I. But we couldn't stop her short of using the rifle on her, -and I couldn't bring myself to add to my depravity by killing the rest -of my men. It would have been better if I had! - -I laid the Maid alongside the thousand foot hull of the derelict and -set the controls on automatic. It was dangerous, but I was beyond -caring. Then I was struggling to get myself into a pressure suit with -my wrinkled, failing hands.... Then I was outside, headed for that dark -hole. - -I sank down into the stillness of her interior, my helmet light casting -long, fey shadows across the littered decks. Decks that had a yellowish -cast ... decks that no longer danced with tiny questing force-whorls.... - -As I approached the airlock of the compartment set aside as living -quarters for the prize crew, the saffron of the walls deepened. Crazy -little thoughts began spinning around in my brain. Words out of the -distant past loomed up with a new and suddenly terrifying -perspective ... alchemy ... transmutation ... energy. I'm a spaceman, -not a scientist. But in those moments I think I was discovering what -had happened to my crew and why the walls were turning into yellow -metal. - -The lock was closed, but I swung it open and let the pressure in the -chamber rise. I couldn't wait for it to reach fourteen pounds ... -at eleven, I swung the inner door and stumbled eagerly through. The -brilliant light, reflected from gleaming walls blinded me for a moment. - -And then I saw them! They huddled, almost naked in a corner, skeletal -things with skull-like faces that leered at me with the vacuous -obscenity of old age. Even their voices were raw and cracked with the -rusty decay of years. They babbled stupidly, caressing the walls with -claw-like hands. They were old, old! - -I understood then. I knew what my wrinkled aged hands meant. That -devil-metal from beyond the stars had drawn the energy it needed -from ... _us_! - -My laughter was a crazy shriek inside my helmet. I looked wildly at the -gleaming walls that had sucked the youth and strength from these men. -The walls were stable, at rest. They were purest gold ... gold ... gold! - -I ran from that place still screaming with the horror of it. My hands -burned like fire! Age was in them, creeping like molten lead through my -veins, ghastly and sure.... - -I reached the Maid and threw every scrap of that alien metal into space -as I streaked madly away from that golden terror in the sky and its -load of ancient evil.... - - * * * * * - -On Callisto I was relieved of my command. The Admiralty Court acquitted -me of the charges of negligence, but the Foundation refused me another -ship. It was my ... illness. It spread from my hands, as you can see. -Slowly, very slowly. So what remains for me? A hospital cot and a -spaceman's pension. Those tons of gold in the sky are cursed, like most -great treasures. Somewhere, out in the deeps between the stars, the -dust of my crew guards that golden derelict. It belongs to them now ... -all of it. - -But the price we pay for treasure is this. Look at me. I look eighty! -I'm thirty two. And the bitterest part of the story is that people -laugh at me when I tell what happened. They laugh and call me my -nickname. Have you heard it? - -It's ... Captain Midas. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CAPTAIN MIDAS *** - -***** This file should be named 63867-0.txt or 63867-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/3/8/6/63867/ - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive -specific permission. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this ebook. - -Title: Captain Midas - -Author: Alfred Coppel - -Release Date: December 05, 2020 [EBook #63867] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CAPTAIN MIDAS *** -</pre> -<div class="titlepage"> - -<h1>CAPTAIN MIDAS</h1> - -<h2>By ALFRED COPPEL, JR.</h2> - -<p>The captain of the Martian Maid stared avidly at<br /> -the torn derelict floating against the velvet void.<br /> -Here was treasure beyond his wildest dreams! How<br /> -could he know his dreams should have been nightmares?</p> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Planet Stories Fall 1949.<br /> -Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that<br /> -the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]</p> - -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>Gold! A magic word, even today, isn't it? Lust and gold ... they go -hand in hand. Like the horsemen of the Apocalypse. And, of course, -there's another word needed to make up the trilogy. You don't get -any thing for nothing. So add this: Cost. Or you might call it pain, -sorrow, agony. Call it what you like. It's what you pay for great -treasure....</p> - -<p>These things were true when fabled Jason sailed the Argo beyond Colchis -seeking the Fleece. They were true when men sailed the southern oceans -in wooden ships. And the conquest of space hasn't changed us a bit. -We're still a greedy lot....</p> - -<p>I'm a queer one to be saying these things, but then, who has more -right? Look at me. My hair is gray and my face ... my face is a mask. -The flesh hangs on my bones like a yellow cloth on a rickety frame. I -am old, old. And I wait here on my hospital cot—wait for the weight of -years I never lived to drag me under and let me forget the awful things -my eyes have seen.</p> - -<p>I'm poor, too, or else I wouldn't be here in this place of dying for -old spacemen. I haven't a dime except for the pittance the Holcomb -Foundation calls a spaceman's pension. Yet I had millions in my hands. -Treasure beyond your wildest dreams! Cursed treasure....</p> - -<p>You smile. You are thinking that I'm just an old man, beached -earthside, spinning tall tales to impress the youngsters. Maybe, -thinking about the kind of spacemen my generation produced, you have -the idea that if ever we'd so much as laid a hand on anything of value -out in space we'd not let go until Hell froze over! Well, you're -right about that. We didn't seek the spaceways for the advancement of -civilization or any of that Foundation bushwah, you can be certain of -that. We did it for <i>us</i> ... for Number One. That's the kind of men we -were, and we were proud of it. We hung onto what we found because the -risks were high and we were entitled to keep what we could out there. -But there are strange things in the sky. Things that don't respond to -all of our neat little Laws and Theories. There are things that are no -part of the world of men, thick with danger—and horror.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>If you doubt that—and I can see you do—just look at me. I suppose -you've never heard of the Martian Maid, and so you don't know the story -of what happened to her crew or her skipper. I can give you this much -of an answer. <i>I</i> was her skipper. And her crew? They ride high in the -sky ... dust by this time. And all because they were men, and men are -greedy and hasty and full of an unreasoning, unthinking love for gold. -They ride a golden ship that they paid for with all the years of their -lives. It's all theirs now. Bought and paid for.</p> - -<p>It wasn't too long ago that I lifted the Maid off Solis Lacus on -that last flight. Not many of you will remember her class of ship, -so many advances have been made in the last few years. The Maid was -two hundred feet from tip to tail, and as sleek a spacer as ever came -out of the Foundation Yards. Chemical fueled, she was nothing at all -like the spherical hyperdrives we see today. She was armed, too. The -Foundation still thought of space as a possible stamping ground for -alien creatures though no evidence of any extra-terrestrial life had -ever been found ... then.</p> - -<p>My crew was a rough bunch, like all those early crews. I remember them -so well. Lean, hungry men with hell in their eyes and a great lust for -high pay and hard living. Spinelli, Shelley, Cohn, Marvin, Zaleski. -There wasn't a man on board who wouldn't have traded his immortal soul -for a few solar dollars, and I don't claim that I was any different. -That's the kind of men that opened up the spaceways, too. Don't believe -all this talk about the noble pioneering spirit of man. That's tripe. -There never has been such a thing as a noble pioneer. Not in space or -anywhere else. It is the malcontent and the adventuring mercenary that -pushes the frontier outward.</p> - -<p>I didn't know, that night as I stood in the valve of the Maid, watching -the loading cranes pull away, that I was starting out on my last -flight. I don't think any of the others could have guessed, either. -It was the sort of night that you only see on Mars. The sort of night -that makes a spaceman wonder why in hell he wants to leave the relative -security of the Earth-Mars-Venus Triangle to go jetting across the belt -into deep space and the drab desolation of the outer System.</p> - -<p>I stood there, watching the lights of Canalopolis in the distance. For -just a moment I was ... well, touched. It looked beautiful and unreal -under the racing moons. The lights of the gin mills and houses made a -sparkling filigree pattern on the dark waters of the ancient canal, and -the moons cast their shifting shadows across the silted banks. I was -too far away to see the space-fevered bums and smell the shanties, and -for a little while I felt the wonder of standing on the soil of a world -that man had made his own with his rapacity and his sheer guts and -gimme.</p> - -<p>I thought of our half empty cargo hold and the sweet payload we would -pick up on Callisto. And I counted the extra cash my packets of snow -would bring from those lonely men up there on the barren moonlets of -the outer Systems. There were plenty of cargoes carried on the Maid -that the Holcomb Foundation snoopers never heard about, you can be sure -of that.</p> - -<p>In those days the asteroid belt was <i>the</i> primary danger and menace to -astrogation. For a long while it held men back from deep space, but as -fuels improved a few ships were sent out over the top. A few million -miles up out of the ecliptic plane brings you to a region of space -that's pretty thinly strewn with asteroids, and that's the way we used -to make the flight between the outer systems and the EMV Triangle. It -took a long while for hyperdrives to be developed and of course atomics -never panned out because of the weight problem.</p> - -<p>So that's the orbit the Maid took on that last trip of mine. High -and clear into the supra-solar void. And out there in that primeval -blackness is where we found the derelict.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>I didn't realize it was a derelict when Spinelli first reported -it from the forward scope position. I assumed it was a Foundation -ship. The Holcomb Foundation was founded for the purpose of -developing spaceflight, and as the years went by it took on the whole -responsibility for the building and dispatching of space ships. Never -in history had there been any real evidence of extra-terrestrial -intelligent life, and when the EMV Triangle proved barren, we all just -assumed that the Universe was man's own particular oyster. That kind of -unreasoning arrogance is as hard to explain as it is to correct.</p> - -<p>There were plenty of ships being lost in space, and immediately that -Spinelli's report from up forward got noised about the Maid every one -of us started mentally counting up his share of the salvage money. All -this before we were within ten thousand miles of the hulk!</p> - -<p>All spaceships look pretty much alike, but as I sat at the telescope -I saw that there was something different about this one. At such a -distance I couldn't get too much detail in our small three inch glass, -but I could see that the hulk was big—bigger than any ship I'd ever -seen before. I had the radar fixed on her and then I retired with my -slide rule to Control. It wasn't long before I discovered that the -derelict ship was on a near collision course, but there was something -about its orbit that was strange. I called Cohn, the Metering Officer, -and showed him my figures.</p> - -<p>"Mister Cohn," I said, chart in hand, "do these figures look right to -you?"</p> - -<p>Cohn's dark eyes lit up as they always did when he worked with figures. -It didn't take him long to check me. "The math is quite correct, -Captain," he said. I could see that he hadn't missed the inference of -those figures on the chart.</p> - -<p>"Assemble the ship's company, Mister Cohn," I ordered.</p> - -<p>The assembly horn sounded throughout the Maid and I could feel the tug -of the automatics taking over as the crew left their stations. Soon -they were assembled in Control.</p> - -<p>"You have all heard about Mister Spinelli's find," I said, "I have -computed the orbit and inspected the object through the glass. It seems -to be a spacer ... either abandoned or in distress...." Reaching into -the book rack above my desk I took down a copy of the Foundation's -<i>Space Regulations</i> and opened it to the section concerning salvage.</p> - -<p>"Sections XVIII, Paragraph 8 of the Code Regulating Interplanetary -Astrogation and Commerce," I read, "Any vessel or part of vessel found -in an abandoned or totally disabled condition in any region of space -not subject to the sovereignty of any planet of the Earth-Venus-Mars -Triangle shall be considered to be the property of the crew of the -vessel locating said abandoned or disabled vessel except in such cases -as the ownership of said abandoned or disabled vessel may be readily -ascertained...." I looked up and closed the book. "Simply stated, that -means that if that thing ahead of us is a derelict we are entitled to -claim it as salvage."</p> - -<p>"Unless it already belongs to someone?" asked Spinelli.</p> - -<p>"That's correct Mister Spinelli, but I don't think there is much danger -of that," I replied quietly. "My figures show that hulk out there came -in from the direction of Coma Berenices...."</p> - -<p>There was a long silence before Zaleski shifted his two hundred pounds -uneasily and gave a form to the muted fear inside me. "You think ... -you think it came from the <i>stars</i>, Captain?"</p> - -<p>"Maybe even from beyond the stars," Cohn said in a low voice.</p> - -<p>Looking at that circle of faces I saw the beginnings of greed. The -first impact of the Metering Officer's words wore off quickly and soon -every man of my crew was thinking that anything from the stars would be -worth money ... lots of money.</p> - -<p>Spinelli said, "Do we look her over, Captain?"</p> - -<p>They all looked at me, waiting for my answer. I knew it would be worth -plenty, and money hunger was like a fever inside me.</p> - -<p>"Certainly we look it over, Mister Spinelli," I said sharply. -"Certainly!"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The first thing about the derelict that struck us as we drew near was -her size. No ship ever built in the Foundation Yards had ever attained -such gargantuan proportions. She must have stretched a full thousand -feet from bow to stern, a sleek torpedo shape of somehow unspeakable -alienness. Against the backdrop of the Milky Way, she gleamed fitfully -in the light of the faraway sun, the metal of her flanks grained with -something like tiny, glittering whorls. It was as though the stuff -were somehow unstable ... seeking balance ... maybe even alive in some -strange and alien way.</p> - -<p>It was readily apparent to all of us that she had never been built for -inter-planetary flight. She was a starship. Origin unknown. An aura of -mystery surrounded her like a shroud, protecting the world that gave -her birth mutely but effectively. The distance she must have come was -unthinkable. And the time it had taken...? Aeons. Millennia. For she -was drifting, dead in space, slowly spinning end over end as she swung -about Sol in a hyperbolic orbit that would soon take her out and away -again into the inter-stellar deeps.</p> - -<p>Something had wounded her ... perhaps ten million years ago ... perhaps -yesterday. She was gashed deeply from stem to stern with a jagged rip -that bared her mangled innards. A wandering asteroid? A meteor? We -would never know. It gave me an uncomfortable feeling of things beyond -the ken of men as I looked at her through the port. I would never know -what killed her, or where she was going, or whence she came. Yet she -was mine. It made me feel like an upstart. And it made me afraid ... -but of what?</p> - -<p>We should have reported her to the nearest EMV base, but that would -have meant that we'd lose her. Scientists would be sent out. Men better -equipped than we to investigate the first extrasolar artifact found by -men. But I didn't report her. She was ours. She was money in the bank. -Let the scientists take over after we'd put a prize crew aboard and -brought her into Callisto for salvage.... That's the way I had things -figured.</p> - -<p>The Maid hove to about a hundred yards from her and hung there, dwarfed -by the mighty glistening ship. I called for volunteers and we prepared -a boarding party. I was thinking that her drives alone would be worth -millions. Cohn took charge and he and three of the men suited up and -crossed to her.</p> - -<p>In an hour they were back, disappointment largely written on their -faces.</p> - -<p>"There's nothing left of her, Captain," Cohn reported, "Whatever hit -her tore up the innards so badly we couldn't even find the drives. -She's a mess inside. Nothing left but the hull and a few storage -compartments that are still unbroken."</p> - -<p>She was never built to carry humanoids he told us, and there was -nothing that could give us a hint of where she had come from. The hull -alone was left.</p> - -<p>He dropped two chunks of metal on my desk. "I brought back some samples -of her pressure hull," he said, "The whole thing is made of this -stuff...."</p> - -<p>"We'll still take her in," I said, hiding my disappointment. "The -carcass will be worth money in Callisto. Have Mister Marvin and -Zaleski assemble a spare pulse-jet. We'll jury-rig her and bring her -down under her own power. You take charge of provisioning her. Check -those compartments you found and install oxy-generators aboard. When -it's done report to me in my quarters."</p> - -<p>I picked up the two samples of gleaming metal and called for a -metallurgical testing kit. "I'm going to try and find out if this stuff -is worth anything...."</p> - -<p>The metal was heavy—too heavy, it seemed to me, for spaceship -construction. But then, who was to say what conditions existed on that -distant world where this metal was made?</p> - -<p>Under the bright fluorescent over my work-table, the chunks of metal -torn from a random bulkhead of the starship gleamed like pale silver; -those strange little whorls that I had noticed on the outer hull were -there too, like tiny magnetic lines of force, making the surface of -the metal seem to dance. I held the stuff in my bare hand. <i>It had a -yellowish tinge, and it was heavier</i>....</p> - -<p>Even as I watched, the metal grew yellower, and the hand that held -it grew bone weary, little tongues of fatigue licking up my forearm. -Suddenly terrified, I dropped the chunk as though it were white hot. It -struck the table with a dull thud and lay there, a rich yellow lump of -metallic lustre.</p> - -<p>For a long while I just sat and stared. Then I began testing, trying -all the while to quiet the trembling of my hands. I weighed it on a -balance. I tested it with acids. It had changed unquestionably. It -was no longer the same as when I had carried it into my quarters. The -whorls of force were gone. It was no longer alive with a questing -vibrancy ... it was inert, stable. From somewhere, somehow, it had -drawn the energy necessary for transmutation. The unknown metal—the -stuff of which that whole mammoth spaceship from the stars was -built—was now....</p> - -<p><i>Gold!</i></p> - -<p>I scarcely dared believe it, but there it was staring at me from my -table-top. <i>Gold!</i></p> - -<p>I searched my mind for an explanation. Contra-terrene matter, perhaps, -from some distant island universe where matter reacted differently ... -drawing energy from somewhere, the energy it needed to find stability -in its new environment. Stability as a terrene element—wonderfully, -miraculously gold!</p> - -<p>And outside, in the void beyond the Maid's ports there were tons of -this metal that could be turned into treasure. My laughter must have -been a wild sound in those moments of discovery....</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>A slight sound behind me made me spin around in my chair. Framed in the -doorway was the heavy figure of my Third Officer, Spinelli. His black -eyes were fastened hungrily on the lump of yellow metal on the table. -He needed no explanation to tell him what it was, and it seemed to me -that his very soul reached out for the stuff, so sharp and clear was -the meaning of the expression on his heavy face.</p> - -<p>"Mister Spinelli!" I snapped, "In the future knock before entering my -quarters!"</p> - -<p>Reluctantly his eyes left the lump of gold and met mine. "From the -derelict, Captain?" There was an imperceptible pause between the last -two words.</p> - -<p>I ignored his question and made a mental note to keep a close hand on -the rein with him. Spinelli was big and dangerous.</p> - -<p>"Speak your piece, Mister," I ordered sharply.</p> - -<p>"Mister Cohn reports the derelict ready to take aboard the prize -crew ... sir," he said slowly. "I'd like to volunteer for that detail."</p> - -<p>I might have let him go under ordinary circumstances, for he was a -first class spaceman and the handling of a jury-rigged hulk would -need good men. But the gold-hunger I had seen in his eyes warned me -to beware. I shook my head. "You will stay on board the Maid with me, -Spinelli. Cohn and Zaleski will handle the starship."</p> - -<p>Stark suspicion leaped into his eyes. I could see the wheels turning -slowly in his mind. Somehow, he was thinking, I was planning to cheat -him of his rightful share of the derelict treasure ship.</p> - -<p>"We will say nothing to the rest of the crew about the gold, Mister -Spinelli," I said deliberately, "Or you'll go to Callisto in irons. Is -that clear?"</p> - -<p>"Aye, sir," murmured Spinelli. The black expression had left his face -and there was a faintly scornful smile playing about his mouth as he -turned away. I began wondering then what he had in mind. It wasn't like -him to let it go at that.</p> - -<p>Suddenly I became conscious of being very tired. My mind wasn't -functioning quite clearly. And my arm and hand ached painfully. I -rubbed the fingers to get some life back into them, still wondering -about Spinelli.</p> - -<p>Spinelli talked. I saw him murmuring something to big Zaleski, and -after that there was tension in the air. Distrust.</p> - -<p>For a few moments I pondered the advisability of making good my threat -to clap Spinelli into irons, but I decided against it. In the first -place I couldn't prove he had told Zaleski about the gold and in the -second place I needed Spinelli to help run the Maid.</p> - -<p>I felt that the Third Officer and Zaleski were planning something, and -I was just as sure that Spinelli was watching Zaleski to see to it that -there was no double-cross.</p> - -<p>I figured that I could handle the Third Officer alone so I assigned the -rest, Marvin and Chelly, to accompany Cohn and Zaleski onto the hulk. -That way Zaleski would be outnumbered if he tried to skip with the -treasure ship. But, of course, I couldn't risk telling them that they -were to be handling a vessel practically made of gold.</p> - -<p>I was in agony. I didn't want to let anyone get out of my sight with -that starship, and at the same time I couldn't leave the Maid. Finally -I had to let Cohn take command of the prize crew, but not before I had -set the radar finder on the Maid's prow squarely on the derelict.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Together, Spinelli and I watched the Maid's crew vanish into the maw -of the alien ship and get her under way. There was a flicker of bluish -fire from her jury-rigged tubes astern, and then she was vanishing in a -great arc toward the bright gleam of Jupiter, far below us. The Maid -followed under a steady one G of acceleration with most of her controls -on automatic.</p> - -<p>Boats of the Martian Maid's class, you may remember, carried a six -inch supersonic projector abaft the astrogation turret. These were -nasty weapons for use against organic life only. They would reduce a -man to jelly at fifty thousand yards. Let it be said to my credit that -it wasn't I who thought of hooking the gun into the radar finder and -keeping it aimed dead at the derelict. That was Spinelli's insurance -against Zaleski.</p> - -<p>When I discovered it I felt the rage mount in me. He was willing to -blast every one of his shipmates into pulp should the hulk vary from -the orbit we'd laid out for her. He wasn't letting anything come -between him and that mountain of gold.</p> - -<p>Then I began thinking about it. Suppose now, just suppose, that Zaleski -told the rest of the crew about the gold. It wouldn't be too hard -for the derelict to break away from the Maid, and there were plenty -of places in the EMV Triangle where a renegade crew with a thousand -tons of gold would be welcomed with open arms and no questions asked. -Suspicion began to eat at me. Could Zaleski and Cohn have dreamed up -a little switch to keep the treasure ship for themselves? It hadn't -seemed likely before, but now—</p> - -<p>The gun-pointer remained as it was.</p> - -<p>As the days passed and we reached turn-over with the hulk still well -within visual range, I noticed a definite decrease in the number of -messages from Cohn. The Aldis Lamps no longer blinked back at the Maid -eight or ten times a day, and I began to really regret not having taken -the time to equip the starship with UHF radio communicators.</p> - -<p>Each night I slept with a hunk of yellow gold under my bunk, and -ridiculously I fondled the stuff and dreamed of all the things I would -have when the starship was cut up and sold.</p> - -<p>My weariness grew. It became almost chronic, and I soon wondered if -I hadn't picked up a touch of space-radiation fever. The flesh of my -hands seemed paler than it had been. My arms felt heavy. I determined -to report myself to the Foundation medics on Callisto. There's no -telling what can happen to a man in space....</p> - -<p>Two days past turn-over the messages from the derelict came through -garbled. Spinelli cursed and said that he couldn't read their signal. -Taking the Aldis from him I tried to raise them and failed. Two hours -later I was still failing and Spinelli's black eyes glittered with an -animal suspicion.</p> - -<p>"They're faking!"</p> - -<p>"Like hell they are!" I snapped irritably, "Something's gone wrong...."</p> - -<p>"Zaleski's gone wrong, that's what!"</p> - -<p>I turned to face him, fury snapping inside of me. "Then you did disobey -my orders. You told him about the gold!"</p> - -<p>"Sure I did," he sneered. "Did you expect me to shut up and let you -land the ship yourself and claim Captain's share? <i>I</i> found her, and -she's mine!"</p> - -<p>I fought to control my temper and said: "Let's see what's going on in -her before deciding who gets what, Mister Spinelli."</p> - -<p>Spinelli bit his thick lips and did not reply. His eyes were fixed on -the image of the starship on the viewplate.</p> - -<p>A light blinked erratically within the dark cut of its wounded side.</p> - -<p>"Get this down, Spinelli!"</p> - -<p>The habit of taking orders was still in him, and he muttered: "Aye ... -sir."</p> - -<p>The light was winking out a message, but feebly, as though the hand -that held the lamp were shaking and the mind conceiving the words were -failing.</p> - -<p>"CONTROL ... LOST ... CAN'T ... NO ... STRENGTH ... LEFT ... SHIP ... -WALLS ... ALL ... ALL GOLD ... GOLD ... SOMETHING ... HAPPENING ... -CAN'T ... UNDERSTAND ... WHA...." The light stopped flashing, abruptly, -in mid-word.</p> - -<p>"What the hell?" demanded Spinelli thickly.</p> - -<p>"Order them to heave to, Mister," I ordered.</p> - -<p>He clicked the Aldis at them. The only response was a wild swerve in -the star-ship's course. She left the orbit we had set for her as though -the hands that guided her had fallen away from the control.</p> - -<p>Spinelli dropped the Aldis and rushed to the control panel to make the -corrections in the Maid's course that were needed to keep the hulk in -sight.</p> - -<p>"Those skunks! Double crossing rats!" he breathed furiously. "They -won't shake loose that easy!" His hands started down for the firing -console of the supersonic rifle.</p> - -<p>I caught the movement from the corner of my eye.</p> - -<p>"<i>Spinelli!</i>"</p> - -<p>My shout hung in the still air of the control room as I knocked him -away from the panel.</p> - -<p>"Get to your quarters!" I cracked.</p> - -<p>He didn't say a thing, but his big shoulders hunched angrily and -he moved across the deck toward me, his hands opening and closing -spasmodically. His eyes were wild with rage and avarice.</p> - -<p>"You'll hang for mutiny, Spinelli!" I said.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>He spat out a foul name and leaped for me. I side-stepped his charge -and brought my joined fists down hard on the back of his neck. He -stumbled against the bulkhead and his eyes were glazed. He charged -again, roaring. I stepped aside and smashed him in the mouth with my -right fist, then crossing with an open-handed left to the throat. He -staggered, spun and came for me again. I sank a hard left into his -stomach and nailed him on the point of the jaw with a right from my -shoe-tops. He straightened up and sprawled heavily to the deck, still -trying to get at me. I aimed a hard kick at his temple and let it go. -My metal shod boot caught him squarely and he rolled over on his face -and lay still.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus.jpg" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p><i>I nailed him with a right from my shoe-tops.</i></p> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>Breathing heavily, I rolled him back face up. His eyes were open, -glassy with an implacable hate. I knelt at his side and listened for -his breathing. There was none. I knew then that I had killed him. I -felt sick inside, and dizzy.</p> - -<p>I wasn't myself as I turned away from Spinelli's body there on the -steel deck. Some of the greed died out of me, and my exertions had -increased my sense of fatigue to an almost numbing weariness. My arms -ached terribly and my hands felt as though they had been sucked dry of -their substance. Like a man in a nightmare, I held them up before my -face and looked at them. They were wrinkled and grey, with the veins -standing out a sickly purple. And I could see that my arms were taking -on that same aged look.</p> - -<p>I was suddenly fully aware of my fear. Nothing fought against the -flood of terror that welled through me. I was terrified of that yellow -gold in my cabin, and of that ship of devil's metal out there in space -that held my shipmates. There was something unnatural about that -contra-terrene thing ... something obscene.</p> - -<p>I located the hulk in the radar finder and swung the Maid after it, -piling on acceleration until my vision flickered. We caught her, the -Maid and I. But we couldn't stop her short of using the rifle on her, -and I couldn't bring myself to add to my depravity by killing the rest -of my men. It would have been better if I had!</p> - -<p>I laid the Maid alongside the thousand foot hull of the derelict and -set the controls on automatic. It was dangerous, but I was beyond -caring. Then I was struggling to get myself into a pressure suit with -my wrinkled, failing hands.... Then I was outside, headed for that dark -hole.</p> - -<p>I sank down into the stillness of her interior, my helmet light casting -long, fey shadows across the littered decks. Decks that had a yellowish -cast ... decks that no longer danced with tiny questing force-whorls....</p> - -<p>As I approached the airlock of the compartment set aside as living -quarters for the prize crew, the saffron of the walls deepened. Crazy -little thoughts began spinning around in my brain. Words out of the -distant past loomed up with a new and suddenly terrifying -perspective ... alchemy ... transmutation ... energy. I'm a spaceman, -not a scientist. But in those moments I think I was discovering what -had happened to my crew and why the walls were turning into yellow -metal.</p> - -<p>The lock was closed, but I swung it open and let the pressure in the -chamber rise. I couldn't wait for it to reach fourteen pounds ... -at eleven, I swung the inner door and stumbled eagerly through. The -brilliant light, reflected from gleaming walls blinded me for a moment.</p> - -<p>And then I saw them! They huddled, almost naked in a corner, skeletal -things with skull-like faces that leered at me with the vacuous -obscenity of old age. Even their voices were raw and cracked with the -rusty decay of years. They babbled stupidly, caressing the walls with -claw-like hands. They were old, old!</p> - -<p>I understood then. I knew what my wrinkled aged hands meant. That -devil-metal from beyond the stars had drawn the energy it needed -from ... <i>us</i>!</p> - -<p>My laughter was a crazy shriek inside my helmet. I looked wildly at the -gleaming walls that had sucked the youth and strength from these men. -The walls were stable, at rest. They were purest gold ... gold ... gold!</p> - -<p>I ran from that place still screaming with the horror of it. My hands -burned like fire! Age was in them, creeping like molten lead through my -veins, ghastly and sure....</p> - -<p>I reached the Maid and threw every scrap of that alien metal into space -as I streaked madly away from that golden terror in the sky and its -load of ancient evil....</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>On Callisto I was relieved of my command. The Admiralty Court acquitted -me of the charges of negligence, but the Foundation refused me another -ship. It was my ... illness. It spread from my hands, as you can see. -Slowly, very slowly. So what remains for me? A hospital cot and a -spaceman's pension. Those tons of gold in the sky are cursed, like most -great treasures. Somewhere, out in the deeps between the stars, the -dust of my crew guards that golden derelict. It belongs to them now ... -all of it.</p> - -<p>But the price we pay for treasure is this. Look at me. I look eighty! -I'm thirty two. And the bitterest part of the story is that people -laugh at me when I tell what happened. They laugh and call me my -nickname. Have you heard it?</p> - -<p>It's ... Captain Midas.</p> - -<pre style='margin-top:6em'> -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CAPTAIN MIDAS *** - -This file should be named 63867-h.htm or 63867-h.zip - -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: -http://www.gutenberg.org/6/3/8/6/63867/ - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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