Robert Silverberg: Planet of Death

One yang fell. A second one came around the snow-bank right in front of Crawford. They could move fast when they were upset. Teeth and claws seemed to surround him. He fired. The yang was dead.

The hunt went on for another two hours. Then Crawford decided that they had killed enough yangs. They had twenty yangs on the truck. It was bad business to kill too many. The price for yangskin coats was high because the fur was so scarce. If they hunted too many, the price would come down.

It had been a good trip. They drove back to town from the yang grounds.

On the way, they saw many natives of Velliran. The local people were not human beings. They were small, blue-skinned folk with long double-jointed arms. They had eight fingers on their hands and strange flat faces.

Bryce said, “It’s a good thing they don’t like to go hunting themselves.”

“It sure is. It leaves a good business open for us,” Crawford replied.

The Velliran people allowed Earthmen to come and live on their planet. Some of the Earthmen were businessmen. Others were hunters.

Roy Crawford was a hunter who was becoming a businessman. When he started out on Velliran, he hunted yangs and sold the furs to other Earthmen. Now he ran his own business. He hired other Earthmen to hunt with him. He had six hunters on his payroll, and three men to skin the yangs. Then there were two men who prepared the fur for shipment to Earth, and two who packed up the prepared furs. It was a good business. Crawford was glad he had come to Velliran.

When they reached town, Crawford paid his men and told them when the next hunting trip would be. Then he headed for the little building on the edge of town where he lived.

Soon after he got there, Crawford had a visitor. The man who came to see him was another Earthman, a friend of his named Jeff Hallam.

Hallam was a scientist doing research on Velliran. There was much to study here. The native people had invented many unusual things. They were particularly good at inventing medicines. The Vellirani, as they were called, had created all sorts of useful drugs. They had one to cure headaches and one that could cure some types of cancer. They had a drug that would make a man’s eyesight five times as good and a drug that could knock a man out in a fraction of a second.

Jeff Hallam had been studying Vellirani medicines for the past two years. He did not have an easy time, because the Vellirani liked to keep their secrets to themselves. It was hard for an Earthman to learn anything from them. But Hallam kept trying.

Hallam said, “How was the hunting trip?”

“Fine,” Crawford answered. “We bagged twenty yangs.”

“The rich keep getting richer, eh?”

Crawford chuckled. “I work hard for my money. Do you think it’s fun out there on the ice fields?”

“It’s fun for you,” said Hallam. “It wouldn’t be for me.”

Hallam and Crawford were different in many ways. Crawford was a big man, with thick black hair and skin that was tanned from being outdoors. Hallam was short and slender, with very white skin and mild-looking eyes. He didn’t have much in the way of muscle. Yet the tall, rugged Crawford and the thin, studious Hallam were good friends.

Crawford said, “What’s new since I went on my hunting trip?”

“Well, a scientific team from Earth is in town.”

“Oh? What are they here to study?”

“They aren’t going to stay here,” said Hallam. “They’re just stopping off on Velliran for a few days. They need to buy some supplies. And one of their men is sick. He’s been taken to the hospital.”

“Where are they heading when they leave here?” Crawford asked.

“They’re going to explore a planet that’s never been explored before. I don’t know where it is. It doesn’t even have a name yet. It’s just called World Seven of Star System Z-16.”

“What kind of a place is it?”

Hallam said, “Well, no one really knows much about it. That’s why this Exploration Corps team is going there. A scout ship has viewed it from orbit a hundred miles up. He says it’s one big tropical jungle. But nobody’s ever landed on it.”

Crawford grinned. “Man, that’s what I’d like! To go on the first expedition to an unknown planet! To belong to the Exploration Corps! I’ve read so many stories about them, I could practically do the things they do.”

“You should have become a scientist, then. A dumb hunter like you can’t get into the Exploration Corps.”

Crawford felt a hot burst of anger. He didn’t like people calling him a dumb hunter. Almost without realizing it, he reached out and grabbed Hallam.

“Easy! Easy! Hey, go easy!” Hallam yelped.

Crawford got control of himself and let go.

“Sorry,” he said.

Hallam rubbed his throat. “You lose that temper of yours too fast, Roy!”

“Maybe so. But you hit me on a sore place. You know I never got much of an education when I was on Earth. Schoolbooks and I just didn’t get along. So how could I have ever joined the Exploration Corps? All I could do was dream about it. You have to be a scientist. What kind of scientist would a guy like me make?”

“I didn’t mean to poke fun,” Hallam said. “I know how much you’d like to tackle an unexplored world.”

“Well, I guess I’m just not going to go. Hey—wait! Do you think these scientists need an experienced hunter? If it’s a jungle planet, it might be dangerous.”

“They’re trained to deal with dangers, Roy. They can take care of themselves.”

“But couldn’t you ask them to take me along? The yangskin business can get along without me for a few weeks. If I—”

“It wouldn’t work,” Hallam said. “It just wouldn’t work. It’s a scientific expedition, and only Exploration Corps people can go. Scientists. They can’t take anybody else.”

Crawford frowned. “So a little guy like you could go, but a trained hunter like me has to stay back.”

“More or less. But I can’t go either.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m not a member of the Exploration Corps. I’ve got the right training, but I never signed up. Besides, I’ve got plenty of work to do right here on Velliran. You ought to see some of the new drugs I’ve collected. Come over to the laboratory and I’ll give you the rundown.”

“As soon as I’ve got these yangskins ready to go,” Crawford promised. “I’ll see you then.”

The next week was a busy one for Roy Crawford. A starship was going to leave Velliran, bound for Earth, in a short time. He had to have his yangskins packed and ready. If the cargo missed the ship, it would be a month before he’d have another chance to send the skins.

So it meant working day and night. Crawford supervised, and his men skinned the yangs and prepared the furs. While they worked he made the arrangements for shipping. He got everything set up just in time.

The system for selling the yangskins was a good one, he thought. He got paid as soon as his cargo went aboard a starship. When the furs landed on Earth, they were sold to dealers. But Crawford didn’t have to worry about that. He got his money when the yangskins left Velliran.

On the day the starship left, Crawford saw to it that the yangskins were loaded aboard. Then he got his money from the agent of the yangskin buyer on Earth. He drove back from the spaceport and went downtown to deposit his money in the bank.

It was a bright, clear morning. The sky had a beautiful blue-green look. Crawford was in a good mood. He was tired, because he had worked hard all week. He hadn’t even had time to visit with the men from that scientific expedition. Jeff Hallam had invited Crawford to meet the scientists before they left for the unexplored world. But Crawford had been too busy getting his yangskins ready.