Winston K. Marks

“ We knelt down obediently, and before Daphne's head disappeared he turned and shouted back, "If the wampus gets by me, remember, no gut shots, Frost."
I muttered to Annellica, "The man has nerve, anyway."
"You confuse bravery with selfishness. He insists on the first shot—won't trust another member of a hunting party to hold his fire. He always stalks out ahead like this," Annellica explained tensely.
I had noticed that the niece carried no weapon. Which brought up another question. "Does he always mix his pleasures?" ”

“ I got over my impulse to gut-shoot everything that ran at me." He showed me a wrinkled red scar on one shoulder at the base of his bull-neck. "You never want to gut-shoot a lion. He keeps coming. Lead has plenty of impact, but it mushes up and loses its shocking effect in the entrails. You got to break a bone to be sure on these fast beasties. Same thing's true with most of these Wampuses."
"Wampuses?" I asked.
"It's what I call any fast moving game that wears its skeleton on the inside," he explained. "Some on every planet. ”

“ Coupled with the low-gravity, Tigursh II induced a mild euphoria on its human visitors. My planet was small and dense, and the rapid rotation—once every seven and a half hours—made for violent, capricious air currents and weather.
"I'll hike over to the compound and check on my crew," I told Daphne as the three of us bounced down the ramp.
"Don't bother," he said imperiously. "We passed them on the way in. Meant to tell you. I've been checking on them. You've got a nice thorium deposit, but it's a mile under that mud down there in the jungle." He waved carelessly to the south. ”

“ I was still feeling weak. Having your only planet jerked from beneath your feet was not an experience I especially savored, in spite of the profit I realized. It gave me a better insight to Annellica's answer to my question. "Love? What has that to do with—anything?"
What Daphne wanted was his. He didn't need the minerals, and he was here at my invitation for the hunting. But—let's not have any unpleasantness. Spend a billion, and keep things friendly!
He spotted a herd of heavy animals grazing a quarter of a mile away. Squatting, he waved us down in the deep grass. "We'll eat here," he said. ”

“ She turned to face me. "What has love to do with—anything?" That was cue enough for me.
I couldn't convince myself she was as frigid as the Major asserted. And I was right. She came into my arms like a hungry tigress. After the most interesting moment of its kind in my eventful bachelorhood, she peeled herself away and went back to her chores. ”

“ A man can get his belly full of anything, even promiscuity, and Daphne's little hunting party did me that favor.
I'm still stuck with Tigursh II and its mile-under-mud thorium deposit and orange-colored wampuses but I have prospects. If the courts clear up the Daphne estate my wife will own more planets than I have golf balls.
So, if you ever go big game hunting again don't forget the Major's advice. I pass it on to you for what it's worth, although you may never aim at anything but a lion. Never gut-shoot a wampus. It's better even if you're only shooting blanks! ”

“ Daphne insisted. "Be in free flight for a bit, and you want to keep up your strength. I can't eat well in free flight. Makes me gassy."
I forced down a few mouthfuls of the exotic rations, wondering why a steward hadn't served us instead of Annellica. After the meal the girls began to perform for us—three of them, singing, dancing and producing weird music on tiny instruments they inserted in their mouths. The other three, Daphne told me, were strictly free flight artists from low gee planets. ”

“ He threw back his head and roared into the concealed microphone over-head, "Ease off to one gee, captain. A man can't enjoy his food."
After a brief pause a man's voice answered, "We'll have to replot the orbit, and it will cost us several days at lower acceleration, Major."
"Ease off while we eat, then pick it up again," Daphne snapped, oblivious to the work he was creating for the navigator. "And don't make me heave when you do it, either!"
The pressure gradually diminished to normal earth gravity. Daphne belched with relief. "That's better."
Annellica was back. ”

“ When I failed to respond he continued, "Let's not spoil the trip over it. Tell you what. I'll buy the mineral rights from you. How's that?"
"For a cold billion dollars," I said without thinking. He didn't bat a lash.
"Throw in the exclusive hunting rights and it's a deal," he said.
"She's yours to the core," I said quickly, "minerals, animals and vegetables." The cost of mining the thorium was completely beyond my means and my previous efforts to sell the whole planet had met with offers of less than a tenth of this amount.
He tilted his head back to glance at Annellica. "Get that? ”