Ron Goulart

“ I proceeded to explain where the planet Earth was in relation to Mars and then where Egypt had been. I told of our great love on that spot. "No wonder I haven't been able to find you again," I concluded. "You've been reincarnating here on another planet. Be that as it may, Isis, we are together again."
"As you talk and as I look at your handsome face it comes upon me more strongly that I am fond of you. Isis, however, I am not. Dina Taurus, a simple shopgirl, is who I am. As Dina Taurus I sincerely hope you will find your way clear to love me." ”

“ In my student days in Paris I had astounded my teachers with my ability as a foilsman. Fortunately, on Mars they fence in the Parisian manner and I was soon able to run the pleasure-bent Yax-Tarkas through and then dispose of his body in a pit beneath the ruins.
When I returned to the heavy-breathing girl I suddenly gasped. "Isis!" I cried. ”

“ Holman stopped as the lion crossed the kitchen between him and Nancy. "Don't panic, Nancy," he said in a calm voice. "If nobody moves, it'll go away."
Nancy smiled. "Why should he go away? It's only Shandy."
The lion nuzzled his head over the backs of Nancy's knees and made a growling, purring sound. The tip of his tail flipped against the smooth white stove.
Holman frowned at the lion and dropped back into his chair. "Shandy? The last time I saw him he was a St. Bernard dog."
Nancy rumpled the lion's mane. "Well, you know how Shandy is. He doesn't stay one thing for long. ”

“ Before I could reflect more the creature had pulled at me so forcefully that my head, the hair of which I wore in a somewhat long though manly fashion, was yanked below the breath stopping waters of the ocean in which I had so recently found myself. I fought bravely, being an excellent boxer. An old ring axiom has it that a good big man can beat a good little man. However, most rules of honest boxing were not made with giant clams in mind. ”

“ Holman kept his back to the lion while he assembled his tent. And when he had it finished he went inside and didn't come out until Nancy called him for dinner.
The sky, up through the yellow-green leaves, was clear. The afternoon was warm, with a slight feel of coming rain. Holman locked his hands behind his head and half-closed his eyes. "And living alone by the woods is dangerous," he said.
Nancy laughed. "You've just eaten lunch in it."
Holman closed his eyes. "And how do you know what Shandy is? Maybe he's why this place got a bad name in the first place." ”

“ I encouraged, being anxious to learn more of this enigmatic man who apparently lived contentedly here among savages and giant clams.
"I can tell by your look," he began, "that you are a man of science and that you may at first be a bit skeptical. Let me begin by saying that for the past five years I have been in close radio contact with a man living inside the planet Venus." ”

“ The fire flared up, brightening the ground around Holman's tent. Nancy hugged her knees up close to her and rested her head on them. "He would be out of place at the settlement," she said.
Holman dropped a log on the campfire and came back to sit beside the girl. "He'd probably be happier running around out here in the woods."
Nancy nodded slowly. "Probably."
The stairs out of the old ship rattled once off in the darkness. Holman looked away from the fire and toward the ship.
Coming across the grass toward them was a giant teddy bear.
Laughing, Nancy rose. "It's Shandy." She glanced at Holman. ”

“ I like living here. We've always lived here. Since we came out to Enoch."
"All right." He paused to look across the table at her. "You want to keep arguing or will you let me propose now?"
Nancy shook her head. "Don't now, Ken. Later sometime."
"You do know, though, that I want you. And you know I want you with me at the settlement."
Nancy folded her hands on the white tablecloth. "Oh, yes."
Holman drank the hot coffee fast. "And, really, Nancy, I don't see how we could keep something like Shandy in the settlement." ”

“ The blood-thirsty citizens of Maroom flock to a large stadium and there witness various fellows fighting one another and also great and ferocious beasts, of which there are many on this depression-torn planet. Should a poor mendicant triumph in one of these gruesome contests he is awarded a cash prize. This explains why the down-and-out of Mars flock to Maroom. ”

“ With her head against Shandy's chest Nancy said, "Poor Shandy. Poor Shandy." She made him sit down again. Then she patted him fondly on the head. "Stay right there, Shandy." Nancy hurried from the room.
Holman followed her. "Listen, are you sure he isn't intelligent? Because, my God, the scientists down at the settlement—"
Nancy said, "Oh, no, Ken. He just copies things he's heard people say. Wait a minute." She disappeared into the storeroom. When she returned she was holding a dusty album in her hand. Holman followed her back into the kitchen. ”

“ Still I was taken aback when seven youths fell upon me with baseball bats. You have perhaps found, as I did that night, that even a superb physical being is no match for seven men with little respect for the correct way of life, and large clubs. ”

“ This present story belongs with Beemis' planet adventure yarns. It was in the winter months of 1929 that Arthur Wright Beemis penned the first of his many scientifiction novels. In an era when space travel was little known or speculated on Beemis had his likeable two-fisted hero, Hyacinth Robinson, travel between planets with ease. Hyacinth Robinson, as you may remember, had been standing too near a reservoir in upstate New York and when the water evaporated he went with it, eventually drifting to Venus where most of Vandals Of Venus takes place. ”