THE AIR WAS heavy with bloodshed. It hung in the huge underground meeting hall of the Titan colony; it echoed from the dark walls, and dripped from the dead rock carved generations before; it hung on every face, every grim-faced man and woman in the hall. Bloodshed hovered in the room like a ghost as the men and women gathered, muttering to each other in low tones. The faces were bitter faces, with their violence barely repressed; the mutterings were the noises of an angry crowd, driven to its limit, and when Colonel Benedict and Anson Torm walked down the center aisle to the front of the room, the muttering rumbled at their heels like a gathering storm. Their eyes were turned toward Torm and the Colonel, sullen eyes that carried the savage gleam of desperation and hatred.
And then the guards entered with John Cortell — a surly-faced Cortell, face red with anger, eyes that carried an underlying tinge of fear. The colonists saw him, half-dragged to the front of the room, and the angry muttering broke into an uproar that drowned words in a fever of cries and gestures. Fists were shaken in Anson Torm’s face. A voice cried out, “Let him go!” and a hundred shouts of approval rose like a tide in the tension-laden room.
Then Anson Torm stood up, his face grim, sweat standing out on his forehead as he faced the angry crowd. “I want every man and woman in the colony down here,” he shouted above the tumult. “Is everybody here?”
Somebody shouted, “Everybody’s here — get on with it!”
“Then let’s have it quiet!” The uproar stilled slightly, as all eyes turned to Torm’s face. “The Colonel from Security told us to have Cortell in his hands by sundown,” Torm cried. “All right. Cortell is in his hands, as directed.” He turned cold eyes to Cortell’s face as a pandemonium of protest broke loose from the crowd. “Let’s have it quiet!” he cried again. “Cortell has some things to tell you — before he’s turned over to Earth courts on charges of treason!”
The uproar burst out again, angrily. A man jumped up in the back of the room, shaking his fist in the air. “Anson Torm is the only traitor in this room — ”
A cheer went up, and for an instant it looked as if the colonists would rise up and mob the colony leader. The crewmen around Cortell turned to face the crowd, guns raised defensively. And then, like a cat, Cortell caught the nearest guard a brutal blow to the side of the neck, wrenched his gun from his hand as he fell. Cortell jumped up on a chair, gun raised above his head, and a cheer went up from the crowd as the gun lowered straight for Colonel Benedict’s head. “One move, and the Earth spy will be dead!” Cortell shouted above the uproar.
A hush fell on the room, a sudden, breathless stillness. The sullenness died on the colonists’ faces, and a cheer went up. “You tell ‘em, John! You tell ‘em who the traitor is!”
Cortell’s voice was an angry rasp as his eyes shot around to one of the Earth ship’s crewmen who was moving slowly back behind him. “Not a move! I warn you! Even if you could shoot me, your precious Colonel would never escape this room. And as for our fine colony leader — ” He turned his eyes to Torm, jubilantly. “The shoe is on the other foot now, and you’d better not forget it. You’re through with your yellow-bellied deals and your lies, Torm — as of now!”
The room was full of cheers now. Some of the men were on their feet, ready to move forward at a glance from Cortell. But others hesitated, and waited —
And then, very slowly, Anson Torm walked to the table, and leaped up on top of it, high above the group, so that every man in the room could see him. “He’s a very brave man with a gun — yes, a very brave man.” Torm’s eyes flashed about the room. “Well, I have no gun. Take a look — my hands are empty. But I’ve got something to say, and you’re going to listen — ”
“Nobody wants to hear you,” somebody snarled, and there were cheers and threatening fists. Cortell’s face darkened with anger; he started to speak, and then caught Torm’s eye. And something held him. He sneered, and stuck his hand in his pocket as Anson Torm started to speak.
“Cortell talks about yellow deals — well, listen to the deal I’ve made. We’ve won our fight — do you hear that? The Colonel came here as an enemy of all of us — he’s sitting here now as a friend. We’ve asked for equality — he’ll fight to give us equality. We’ve fought for representation, for education, for the right to go back to Earth as men, to be regarded as men — all right, he’ll fight to give us those rights.” Torm’s voice rose sharply. “We’ve fought against the lies and propaganda that have reduced us to the level of slaves — he’ll stop that propaganda, and tell the truth about Titan to the ends of the Earth! The Colonel has pledged us these things, and he’ll keep his promises.”
A mutter went up from the crowd, but Torm cut them off sharply. “But Cortell here has told you that these things will never happen. No Earthman can be trusted, he says, the time for rebellion has come, the best solution to our problems is to go aboard the ship which waits for us, leave Titan, leave our homes, leave the Solar System, take what providence will offer us and our great-great-grandchildren who remain at the end of such a voyage. This is what Cortell has been telling you, isn’t it? It wouldn’t be suicide, he says, there would be freedom for all of us, he says — isn’t that what he says?” Torm’s eyes turned to Cortell, bitterly. Cortell’s face had gone dead white, and a smile appeared on Torm’s lips. “How about that, John? Did you mean freedom for everybody? Or for just a few of your friends? Tell them about your plan, John! Tell them how you figured that the fewer people who embarked on the journey, the greater the chances for success. Tell them why you planned to leave secretly, to gather your four close friends and their wives together and leave. Why don’t you speak up, John? Why don’t you tell them how you planned to blast off with the ship and leave them here to die when you ignited the mines — ”
There was bewilderment on the faces of the crowd now, and disbelief. Eyes were wide, turned to John Cortell. They turned, and saw Cortell’s face, a white, frightened mask, and realization began to dawn —
“It’s a lie!” Cortell screamed. “Don’t listen to him! He’s afraid, he’s cornered and he knows it, and he’s lying — ”
“Well, who are you going to believe?” Torm cried to the colonists. He pointed an accusing finger at Cortell. “Look at him! And then look at me. Think back, and try to remember the last time I’ve lied to you in the last thirty years — think! Cortell says I’m afraid — well, look at him, and then look at me, and see who’s afraid — and then remember how many times you’ve seen me afraid — ” Torm’s eyes were blazing now, and his head was high. “Count the times you’ve seen me cower and cringe and go white with fear — go ahead, name the times! Name the times you’ve seen me a coward. Count the lies you’ve heard from my lips — and then look at the man who accuses me!”
The faces were turned to John Cortell now, white faces, faces with the truth dawning in them. A hundred faces turned to him, two hundred, and voices began to rise. “Listen!” Torm cried. “I told you he’s betrayed you — that he planned to leave in secret with Carver and Taggart and Strang and Yeakel, to take your ship and leave you behind. He was all ready to go when we caught him — ” He glanced narrowly at the rear of the room, and said, “Will, we can prove it! Look around you! Who is missing from the room right now?”
Eyes looked around, wide, frightened eyes, eyes filling with sudden suspicion. There was a hush over the room; then a woman let out a gasp and cried, “Their wives! Where are their wives?”
There was silence, as though a huge curtain had fallen over the room. Then Torm said, “Bring ‘em in, Ned. Show the people who we found on board the star-ship!”
There was a scuffle on the stairs, and then four figures were pushed down the center aisle, figures still clad in pressure suits. The room was still as death as they marched forward — Dan Carver’s wife, Johnny Taggart’s wife, Rog Strang’s wife, John Cortell’s wife. They moved forward like people condemned, their hands covering their faces —
And then, as the crowd rose in fury, Cortell jumped down from the chair with a roar, gun tight in his fist. Slowly he backed toward the stairs, covered on either side by Pete Yeakel and Rog Strang. His face was a mask of fear now, and when he reached the stairs he broke and ran as the mob fell upon his lieutenants. One of the Earth ship’s crewmen was up the stairs in a flash, jerking his gun from its holster as he ran. Cortell was heading for the main tunnels; his footfalls rang out on the cold rock ground, until a shot rang out, and he fell, arms flung out, and lay kicking helplessly, blood streaming from his leg. And then the crewmen were around him, keeping back the colonists, waving down the bitter shouts, until stretcher-bearers came from the infirmary, and Doc Taber took over, and Cortell was taken away. And then they turned again, and went back to the hall.
• • •
It was much later when Ned Miller appeared at the door to Anson Torm’s cabin, just as the Colonel and Tuck were finishing supper. He stood in the doorway, awkwardly, rubbing his stubbled chin, twisting his mining cap in his hands. Then finally he stepped inside, nodded uncomfortably at the Earth Colonel.
“You did a fine job, Ned,” Anson Torm said. “The timing was perfect — and I thought you’d find the women aboard the ship, especially when I couldn’t spot a one of them in the crowd — ”
Ned nodded uneasily. “Anson,” he said, “I’ve got to say something — ”
Torm looked up. “What is it, Ned?”
The little miner shifted from one foot to the other. “I’ve been delegated,” he blurted finally. “Some of the men got together, after the meeting was over. They want me to talk for them — ” He looked up, his eyes unreadable.
Torm stood up in alarm. “What’s the trouble?”
“We want to go,” said Ned Miller softly. “We want to take the ship and go — ”
Torm’s jaw sagged. “Ned! What are you saying?”
“We mean it, Anson. The Colonel’s given us promises — I know that. But we’ve heard promises from Earthmen before. Many promises, wonderful promises. And always, in the end, we were worse off than before — ”
“Ned, this is different now!”
“I know you believe that,” the little man said doggedly. “We — we’d like to. But we can’t.”
Torm’s face was white. “What are you trying to say, Ned?”
“I’m saying we’ve worked on the ship for years. I’ve worked on it, without knowing what I was working on — until today. But I knew it was a hope against hope, something we could count on, something we could build our faith into. There’s nothing here for me, not any more, not with my faith built into that ship. And there are a lot of men who feel the same way. They’re afraid the Earthman will go aboard his ship tomorrow and take it up, and bomb our star-ship to smithereens. And then where would our hope be? Then what would prevent him from coming back down, and throwing us all into chains — even you? Or if not this Earthman, then the next, or the next after him. It would be the end, the bitter end of four generations of work — ”
Torm sat silent for a long time. Then he said, “What do your men want to do, Ned?”
“There are a hundred and forty of us — men, women and children. We talked, and we all feel the same. We want to take the ship and go.”
Torm’s face was gray. “You know the chances of ever finding a landing — ”
“We know. But it’s a hope. We can have faith in it. The star-ship is the only answer, for us. If the others want to stay, take their chances, that’s their choice. For us, we want to take the ship while we can.”
Torm looked at him, the weariness of long years written on his face. “I — I can’t give you permission, Ned. That’s the man who can give you permission, or not, as he sees fit.” He looked sadly at Colonel Benedict.
Ned turned to the Colonel, a desperate light in his eyes. “If you mean the promises you’ve made to Anson, then prove your faith. Give us permission to go.”
Colonel Benedict stared at the man. “Why, to allow you to take that ship would be to violate every principle of the Earth Security Commission. I’d be liable to a general court-martial. It’s unthinkable — ” He stood up, a strange light in his eyes. “It would be the biggest scandal Security has had on its hands for a hundred years — Anson, do you realize what it could mean? It would bring a wholesale, total investigation of the whole Earth-Titan relationship!” He stared at the colony leader, excitedly. “It would bring this colony under the spotlight like never before. People could see what’s been happening out here; they could see the truth about the colony, instead of the lies they’ve been hearing! Why, Security would be turned inside out with investigation, and in a court-martial I could tell the truth, and there would be no brushing my report aside — they’d have to listen!”
“Then you’ll let us go?” Ned Miller’s voice was eager.
“Let you? You have my full, official permission — I’ll give it to you in writing, with an Earth Security seal!”
Ned turned to Anson Torm. “We have Security’s permission, Anson,” he said. “We want our leader’s permission.”
Torm sighed. “Make me a listing of passengers,” he said. “We’ll help you finish supplying the ship and make it ready. And as for us who remain — ” He looked proudly at Colonel Benedict. “We’ve got a fight on our hands. The sooner we make our plans, the better — ”