THE TIME OF COLD
BY MARY CARLSON
Queer creatures! They fled the life-giving
sun and hid where even tin froze solid!
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Worlds of If Science Fiction, September 1963.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
Curt felt the airship going out of control as he passed over a rockspattered stretch of sand. Automatically he looked for a smooth placeto land and steered the bucking ship for it. The jolt of the landingtriggered the ejector seat and in a second he was hurtling through theair away from the explosion of the damaged vehicle. Just before heblacked out, he thought—almost calmly—"a good hundred and fifty milesfrom the colony."
When he regained consciousness, night was passing and the first of thethree suns was peeking over the horizon. Curt lay still for a while,afraid to find out what might be wrong with him. And the rescue shipcould take anything from an hour to a week to find him. He moved hishead to discover if there might be anything left of his ship; he sawnothing but pieces.
"Well," he said aloud, "so much for that." He reached back gingerlyand undid the seat straps. Carefully, he sat up and began to ease hisweight onto his feet. A sharp twinge of pain in his knee dropped himback to a sitting position. He probed at the knee but found no brokenbones.
"Well," he said again, quietly. The colony leaders had had very littleto offer in the way of survival. Rule number 1: Mark the crash site andyour direction of travel. Number 2: Get into shade before the combinedheat of the three suns boils your blood. Number 3: Carry your pistolfor protection against liquid scorpions, and always save the lastpellet for yourself.
Curt glanced about nervously at the thought of the liquidscorpions—the one form of animal life the colonist had found on thismineral-rich planet. Liquid scorpions were enormous masses of clear,jellyish liquid that oozed forward across the rock and sand withremarkable speed. A liquid scorpion changed shape constantly, its massshooting out legs wherever they were needed. Only the eyes, fixed in abulge over the center of its mass, and the almost-solid, curved stingerthat arched over its back remained the same.
The first landing party had stood transfixed while one of the crew wasattacked and absorbed before their eyes. Clear, the scorpion had beenalmost invisible to them until it flowed about the navigator's legs andparalyzed him with the swaying stinger. When his frantic struggles hadceased, the creature flowed over his body and absorbed it. As the partywatched, the clearness slowly became a thin, dark red, and the bodycould no longer be seen.
Avengers had poured out of the ship after the giant scorpion, whichreared back, tripling its height and halving its width. At the apex,the two protruding eyes bulged at them and the stinger swayed back andforth, reaching out and retreating. Explosive pellets fired into itsflesh were absorbed with a slurping sound. The captain in the end, hadknelt and taken careful aim at the right eye, behind which was theonly unreddened sector of the mass. When the right eye disappeared,the clear area spurted out of the hole and drained over the jelly-likesurface. Slowly, silently, the first of the liquid scorpions died.
Curt counted the pellets in his belt—an even hundred. Enough ... ifhe managed to keep out of sight and had good enough aim. He surveyedthe surrounding countryside. Farther along the valley were shad