DIY History | Transcribe | Hevelin Fanzines | Astronaut, v. 1, issue 1, September 1947

Transcribe
Translate

Astronaut, v. 1, issue 1, September 1947

Page 13

13
Short Story

THE QUESTION
By Hal Byrne, Jr.

"GOOD-BYE, DAD," he said, but he clung to his mother. Clung to her silently till the spaceship commander put a firm hand on the youth's shoulder and pushed him, not unkindly, up the ramp into the craft that waited with hot tubes.

He stood at the airlock hatch, unconsciously posed, a tall, eager-eyed eighteen-year-old with an awry crest of auburn hair, trying to be brave, as half of Regalsburg, Venus, waved and shouted their farewells to him. From the ex-swampbuster mayor of Regalsburg to the last red-lipped school-girl standing on the spaceport hardstands, the townspeople knew that some day they would acclaim this youth as one of Tellus' greatest sons. In a grudging small-town way, they were already proud of him.

"Seems a shame to be sending him to Earth, Marty -- Karin," remarked the mayor to the stricken parents as the spaceship flared away and disappeared into the fog driving steadily toward outer darkness and Mother Earth. "That boy's a born swampie."

"He's been appointed a cadet. He couldn't back out now," said Martin tightly.

"He's just the age when he'd be some help to you out on the rocktree plantation."

"He's always been a help" said Martin, a trifle belligerently. "The boy's stronger'n I am, and no one can deny he's one of the smartest youngsters on Venus after he passed that Galactic Patrol examination with flying colors."

The mayor chuckled, "I was just tellin' the missus last night that no parent ever worshiped a son like you do, Marty -- unless it's Karin here. Well, it'll be tough without him, but I expect you're right, Marty. Venus is too small for a young'un like him. He'll make his mark in the universe, or my name ain't Slappey."

Karin's dim eyes were still on the spot the fading spaceship had burned in the low-lying fog. Now, Martin took her arm, and her gaze fell to the mud of Venus as they walked rigidly toward their waiting airsled. There were tears clogging her throat, but they refused to rise to her eyes, and fall.

The streamlined flyer lanced away into the fog, radar-guided toward the rocktree plantation beyond the great swamps that circled Regalsburg spaceport. The woman was silent, while Martin soliloquized about the times he and his son had hunted pad-footed "widgies" in the steamy swamps below them.

Then, as Martin fell silent, the woman's own silence became 

(Concluded on next page)

Saving...

13 Short Story THE QUESTION By Hal Byrne, Jr. "GOOD-BYE, DAD," he said, but he clung to his mother. Clung to her silently till the spaceship commander put a firm hand on the youth's shoulder and pushed him, not unkindly, up the ramp into the craft that waited with hot tubes. He stood at the airlock hatch, unconsciously posed, a tall, eager-eyed eighteen-year-old with an awry crest of auburn hair, trying to be brave, as half of Regalsburg, Venus, waved and shouted their farewells to him. From the ex-swampbuster mayor of Regalsburg to the last red-lipped school-girl standing on the spaceport hardstands, the townspeople knew that some day they would acclaim this youth as one of Tellus' greatest sons. In a grudging small-town way, they were already proud of him. "Seems a shame to be sending him to Earth, Marty -- Karin," remarked the mayor to the stricken parents as the spaceship flared away and disappeared into the fog driving steadily toward outer darkness and Mother Earth. "That boy's a born swampie." "He's been appointed a cadet. He couldn't back out now," said Martin tightly. "He's just the age when he'd be some help to you out on the rocktree plantation." "He's always been a help" said Martin, a trifle belligerently. "The boy's stronger'n I am, and no one can deny he's one of the smartest youngsters on Venus after he passed that Galactic Patrol examination with flying colors." The mayor chuckled, "I was just tellin' the missus last night that no parent ever worshiped a son like you do, Marty -- unless it's Karin here. Well, it'll be tough without him, but I expect you're right, Marty. Venus is too small for a young'un like him. He'll make his mark in the universe, or my name ain't Slappey." Karin's dim eyes were still on the spot the fading spaceship had burned in the low-lying fog. Now, Martin took her arm, and her gaze fell to the mud of Venus as they walked rigidly toward their waiting airsled. There were tears clogging her throat, but they refused to rise to her eyes, and fall. The streamlined flyer lanced away into the fog, radar-guided toward the rocktree plantation beyond the great swamps that circled Regalsburg spaceport. The woman was silent, while Martin soliloquized about the times he and his son had hunted pad-footed "widgies" in the steamy swamps below them. Then, as Martin fell silent, the woman's own silence became (Concluded on next page)