ICE PLANET

by CARL SELWYN

He saw the huge ball that was Neptune circle below, like a weak green light bulb.

[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Comet May 41. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]

"If it's going to happen," thought Bill Ricker, "it's got to be quick." Lounging deep in his red-leather chair, he peered out of the port as the sleek space ship streamed through the darkness. He could see nothing outside but a big, humorous-eyed young man who was his own reflection and the pale green globe that was Neptune. The great planet hung like a ghostly emerald in the void, sinister in its loneliness. But bleak, desolate, a snowball of frozen gases, it was hardly the place for an ambush....

"Pretty, ain't she?" said the whiskery old fellow across the aisle.

"Neptune?" Ricker glanced at the sourdough, then followed his gaze down the narrow aisle. "Oh—her!"

There were twelve seats but only five passengers. Further down was a tubercular-looking Martian and near the pilot room sat a fat man with a woman. The fat man chewed sleepily on a dead cigar and the woman stared out of the window. They were handcuffed together.

"Ever seen the orchids on Amor?" said Ricker. "Well, she's just as beautiful—and just as dangerous...." She was obviously Venusian but her skin wasn't exactly yellow, he decided. It was golden brown, little different from a deeply-tanned Earth girl.

"They say she shot his head plumb off," said the old codger.

"Yep, she certainly mowed him down."

The sourdough lifted a bony finger toward Ricker's brief case. "I noticed th' tag on yer kit there," he ventured. "Says th' Planetary Times. Be you one o' them telenews fellows?"

Ricker grinned. "Shore am, podner," he said.

"Gonna write about this here murderess arriving on Pluto?"

Ricker nodded good-humoredly. "That's my job."

Slowly a faint siren hum penetrated the cabin, not unlike the sound of a power plant. A power plant it was too, the ship digging in full blast as it skirted the pull of Neptune. 

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