The Hunted Heroes Read online

indicated theempty space at his thighs. "So I got off lightly." He gestured at thewheelchair blanket.

  I still didn't understand. "But why kill us Geigs? _We_ had nothing todo with it."

  "You're just in this by accident," he said. "You see, after theexplosion and the amputation, my fellow-members on the board of LedmanAtomics decided that a semi-basket case like myself was a poor risk asHead of the Board, and they took my company away. All quite legal, Iassure you. They left me almost a pauper!" Then he snapped the punchlineat me.

  "They renamed Ledman Atomics. Who did you say you worked for?"

  I began, "Uran--"

  "Don't bother. A more inventive title than Ledman Atomics, but notquite as much heart, wouldn't you say?" He grinned. "I saved for years;then I came to Mars, lost myself, built this Dome, and swore to geteven. There's not a great deal of uranium on this planet, but enough tokeep me in a style to which, unfortunately, I'm no longer accustomed."

  * * * * *

  He consulted his wrist watch. "Time for my injection." He pulled out thetanglegun and sprayed us again, just to make doubly certain. "That'sanother little souvenir of Sadlerville. I'm short on red bloodcorpuscles."

  He rolled over to a wall table and fumbled in a container among a pileof hypodermics. "There are other injections, too. Adrenalin, insulin.Others. The Blast turned me into a walking pin-cushion. But I'll pay itall back," he said. He plunged the needle into his arm.

  My eyes widened. It was too nightmarish to be real. I wasn't seriouslyworried about his threat to wipe out the entire Geig Corps, since it wasunlikely that one man in a wheelchair could pick us all off. No, itwasn't the threat that disturbed me, so much as the whole concept, sostrange to me, that the human mind could be as warped and twisted asLedman's.

  I saw the horror on Val's face, and I knew she felt the same way I did.

  "Do you really think you can succeed?" I taunted him. "Really think youcan kill every Earthman on Mars? Of all the insane, cockeyed--"

  Val's quick, worried head-shake cut me off. But Ledman had felt mywords, all right.

  "Yes! I'll get even with every one of you for taking away my legs! If wehadn't meddled with the atom in the first place, I'd be as tall andpowerful as you, today--instead of a useless cripple in a wheelchair."

  "You're sick, Gregory Ledman," Val said quietly. "You've conceived animpossible scheme of revenge and now you're taking it out on innocentpeople who've done nothing, nothing at all to you. That's not sane!"

  His eyes blazed. "Who are you to talk of sanity?"

  * * * * *

  Uneasily I caught Val's glance from a corner of my eye. Sweat wasrolling down her smooth forehead faster than the auto-wiper could swabit away.

  "Why don't you do something? What are you waiting for, Ron?"

  "Easy, baby," I said. I knew what our ace in the hole was. But I had toget Ledman within reach of me first.

  "Enough," he said. "I'm going to turn you loose outside, right after--"

  "_Get sick!_" I hissed to Val, low. She began immediately to coughviolently, emitting harsh, choking sobs. "Can't breathe!" She began toyell, writhing in her bonds.

  That did it. Ledman hadn't much humanity left in him, but there was alittle. He lowered the blaster a bit and wheeled one-hand over to seewhat was wrong with Val. She continued to retch and moan most horribly.It almost convinced me. I saw Val's pale, frightened face turn to me.

  He approached and peered down at her. He opened his mouth to saysomething, and at that moment I snapped my leg up hard, tearing thetangle-cord with a snicking rasp, and kicked his wheelchair over.

  The blaster went off, burning a hole through the Dome roof. Theautomatic sealers glued-in instantly. Ledman went sprawling helplesslyout into the middle of the floor, the wheelchair upended next to him,its wheels slowly revolving in the air. The blaster flew from his handsat the impact of landing and spun out near me. In one quick motion Irolled over and covered it with my body.

  * * * * *

  Ledman clawed his way to me with tremendous effort and tried wildly topry the blaster out from under me, but without success. I twisted a bit,reached out with my free leg, and booted him across the floor. Hefetched up against the wall of the Dome and lay there.

  Val rolled over to me.

  "Now if I could get free of this stuff," I said, "I could get himcovered before he comes to. But how?"

  "Teamwork," Val said. She swivelled around on the floor until her headwas near my boot. "Push my oxymask off with your foot, if you can."

  I searched for the clamp and tried to flip it. No luck, with my heavy,clumsy boot. I tried again, and this time it snapped open. I got the tipof my boot in and pried upward. The oxymask came off, slowly, scraping ajagged red scratch up the side of Val's neck as it came.

  "There," she breathed. "That's that."

  I looked uneasily at Ledman. He was groaning and beginning to stir.

  Val rolled on the floor and her face lay near my right arm. I saw whatshe had in mind. She began to nibble the vile-tasting tangle-cord,running her teeth up and down it until it started to give. She continuedunfailingly.

  Finally one strand snapped. Then another. At last I had enough use of myhand to reach out and grasp the blaster. Then I pulled myself across thefloor to Ledman, removed the tanglegun, and melted the remainingtangle-cord off.

  My muscles were stiff and bunched, and rising made me wince. I turnedand freed Val. Then I turned and faced Ledman.

  "I suppose you'll kill me now," he said.

  "No. That's the difference between sane people and insane," I told him."I'm not going to kill you at all. I'm going to see to it that you'resent back to Earth."

  "_No!_" he shouted. "No! Anything but back there. I don't want to facethem again--not after what they did to me--"

  "Not so loud," I broke in. "They'll help you on Earth. They'll take allthe hatred and sickness out of you, and turn you into a useful member ofsociety again."

  "I hate Earthmen," he spat out. "I hate all of them."

  "I know," I said sarcastically. "You're just all full of hate. You hatedus so much that you couldn't bear to hang around on Earth for as much asa year after the Sadlerville Blast. You had to take right off for Marswithout a moment's delay, didn't you? You hated Earth so much you _had_to leave."

  "Why are you telling all this to me?"

  "Because if you'd stayed long enough, you'd have used some of yourpension money to buy yourself a pair of prosthetic legs, and then youwouldn't need this wheelchair."

  Ledman scowled, and then his face went belligerent again. "They told meI was paralyzed below the waist. That I'd never walk again, even withprosthetic legs, because I had no muscles to fit them to."

  "You left Earth too quickly," Val said.

  "It was the only way," he protested. "I had to get off--"

  "She's right," I told him. "The atom can take away, but it can give aswell. Soon after you left they developed _atomic-powered_prosthetics--amazing things, virtually robot legs. All the survivors ofthe Sadlerville Blast were given the necessary replacement limbs free ofcharge. All except you. You were so sick you had to get away from theworld you despised and come here."

  "You're lying," he said. "It's not true!"

  "Oh, but it is," Val smiled.

  I saw him wilt visibly, and for a moment I almost felt sorry for him, apathetic legless figure propped up against the wall of the Dome atblaster-point. But then I remembered he'd killed twelve Geigs--ormore--and would have added Val to the number had he had the chance.

  * * * * *

  "You're a very sick man, Ledman," I said. "All this time you could havebeen happy, useful on Earth, instead of being holed up here nursing yourhatred. You might have been useful, on Earth. But you decided to channeleverything out as revenge."

  "I still don't believe it--those legs. I might have walked again.No--no, it's all a lie. They told me I'd never w
alk," he said, weaklybut stubbornly still.

  I could see his whole structure of hate starting to topple, and Idecided to give it the final push.

  "Haven't you wondered how I managed to break the tangle-cord when Ikicked you over?"

  "Yes--human legs aren't strong enough to break tangle-cord that way."

  "Of course not," I said. I gave Val the blaster and slipped out of myoxysuit. "Look," I said. I pointed to