TROUBLE ON TITAN

A COMPLETE TONY QUADE NOVELET

By HENRY KUTTNER

The sub-human denizens of Saturn’s largest moon were said to be harmless—but when the ace director of Nine Planets Films was sent to photograph them, he was in for a shock!

[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Thrilling Wonder Stories, February 1947. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]

CHAPTER IVon Zorn Is Perturbed

Whenever Von Zorn, chief of Nine Planets Films, ran into trouble he automatically started the televisors humming with calls for Anthony Quade. The televisors were humming now. In fact they were shrieking hysterically. Quade’s code number bellowed out through a startled and partially deafened Hollywood on the Moon.

Von Zorn, teetering on the edge of his chair behind the great glass-brick desk, was throwing a fit.

“You can’t do this to me!” he yelped into the transmitter, his scrubby mustache bristling with outrage. “I know you can hear me, Quade! It’s a matter of life and death! Quade!”

A covey of anxious secretaries winced involuntarily as he swung the chair around.

“Get Quade!” he screamed. “Bring me Quade! All you do is stand around with your mouths open. I—” He paused, the light of an unpleasant idea dawning across his face. He was grinning disagreeably as he switched the televisor to a private wavelength.

“I’ll fix him!” he muttered. “I’ll—oh, hello.” This to the face that flashed onto the screen before him. Rapidly Von Zorn spoke to the face. It nodded, smiling grimly.

Afterward Von Zorn leaned back and called for a drink.

“Nine Planets on the brink of ruin,” he growled into the tilted glass, “and Quade runs out on me. I’ll fire him! I’ll blackball him all over the System! But not till he does this job.”

Meanwhile Tony Quade, relaxing comfortably in a seat at the Lunar Bowl, listened to a distant orchestra in the depths of the crater crash into the opening strains of the Star Symphony. Under his coat a pocket televisor was buzzing shrill commands.

Quade 

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