Robert Silverberg: Planet of Death

“This man is guilty,” the prosecutor finished. “I demand the full punishment!”

Then Hork Kliskan got up to speak in Crawford’s defense. He insisted that Crawford did not own such a knife and had never known the dead man. He denied that Crawford was the murderer. But that was about all that he could say. He said each thing three or four different ways, hoping to convince the judge. Then he sat down.

Next the witnesses were called. They were Vellirani who had been in the street at the time of the murder. There were five of them. All five agreed that they had seen Crawford holding the bloody knife right after the murder. Two of them even thought they had seen him commit the crime. The other three were not so sure of that.

The last witness was Crawford himself. He felt uneasy as he took the stand. Things were going badly for him. He began to wish he didn’t have a reputation for being a violent man. That reputation was hurting him now.

He said, “I didn’t kill him. This is some kind of frameup. I blanked out for a second on the street, and someone must have put the knife in my hand.”

The judge’s mouth-corners went even higher. It was certain that he didn’t believe Crawford’s story. Even Crawford had to admit that his tale didn’t sound very convincing. It was true, though. He was sure he hadn’t killed anyone.

The two lawyers spoke again. The judge hardly seemed to be paying attention while Hork Kliskan summed up the defense.

There was a long moment of silence.

Then the judge looked at Crawford. “Defendant, this court finds you guilty of murder. You have killed a Vellirani in broad daylight.”

“It isn’t true!” Crawford cried out.

His lawyer poked him in the ribs. It wouldn’t do any good to yell at the judge, Crawford realized. The trial was over. Now he would be sentenced.

He didn’t think that the sentence would be too serious. Velliran, like most civilized planets, didn’t put people to death for crimes. The worst that he could get would be a long time in jail.

The judge said, “Do you have any explanation for your crime, before you are sentenced?”

“None. I’m innocent, so how could there be any explanation?”

Letting that remark go, the judge went on, “I will now pronounce sentence. A man who has murdered another must not be allowed to stay in society. I sentence you to imprisonment for the rest of your life. You will be taken to Velliran Main Prison on the island of Tharkor.”

Crawford’s heart sank. This was all like a bad dream—but now it was getting worse and worse. Life imprisonment? To rot for the rest of his life in a jail on a lonely island?

Hork Kliskan was on his feet. The little lawyer waved his hands wildly in the air.

“Your Honor, I object! The sentence is much too heavy! Even if he did kill the man, he doesn’t deserve life imprisonment. He—”

The judge glared at Hork Kliskan. “I am not through pronouncing sentence,” he said in a frosty voice.

Hork Kliskan sank back into his seat.

The judge said, “Since the guilty man in not a native of our planet, I offer him another choice. Instead of going to jail, he can leave Velliran forever. He must be gone within three days and never set foot on this world again. Otherwise he must go to jail.”

“But that isn’t fair either!” Crawford muttered. “There aren’t any starships due to leave Velliran in the next three days! How can I possibly—”

“The sentence has been given,” said the judge. “The trial is over! Court is adjourned!”

Three days to leave the planet! And no way to depart!

Roy Crawford was dazed by it all. His life was in ruins. He had been walking down the street on a bright, sunny day, minding his own business. And then—first the murder, then the trial. Now he was a condemned man.

Leave Velliran forever—or go to jail for life!

Everything he had worked for now was crumbling.

He’d have to give up his yangskin business and start all over again on some other world. That is, if he could manage to leave at all. Starships didn’t blast off every day. Maybe the judge had known that. Maybe it was his idea of a joke. He had offered Crawford a second choice that was really impossible. That was no choice at all.

Crawford sat gloomily in his office, wondering what to do. A pair of Vellirani policemen stood downstairs in front. Two days from now, they would take him away and put him in jail—if he couldn’t think up some way of getting off the planet before then.

Mr. Brewster’s job was to help Earthmen in trouble, and he was doing his best. He had been making calls all day, trying to arrange for a ship to take Crawford away from Velliran. But so far he was having no luck.

Crawford didn’t want to leave. He liked it here. He wanted to stay right here and go on hunting yangs.

But if he stayed, he’d have to go to jail for the rest of his life. That meant he had to leave. But it wasn’t fair. It simply wasn’t fair.

There was a knock on the door, and Jeff Hallam came in. The short, thin scientist looked very pleased with himself. His face wore a broad smile.

Crawford gave him a sour look. “What are you so happy about?”

“Plenty. I’ve got everything fixed up, Roy.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve found a way to get you off Velliran by tomorrow night.”

Crawford sat up in surprise. “How? There’s no ship leaving for days!”

“There’s one,” said Hallam. “That Exploration Corps ship. The scientific expedition that’s been stopping here a few days. You’ll leave on that ship.”

“But the Exploration Corps doesn’t take passengers,” Crawford objected. “How am I going to get aboard?”

“Simple. You’ll go as a scientist.”

Crawford’s mouth opened wide in amazement. “A scientist? You’re joking!”

“I’m perfectly serious. It’s all arranged. You know why they stopped here in the first place?”

“Mostly because one of their men was sick,” Crawford said.

“Right. Well, the hospital decided that he’s too sick to go exploring. He’s being sent back to Earth. So the expedition is one man short.”

“But I’m not a—”

“Wait, will you?” Hallam said. “I happen to be friendly with the explorers. They told me their problem. They’ve asked for a new scientist to be sent to them. He’s coming from another planet near Velliran. He’s supposed to arrive tomorrow. Okay. When he gets here, I see to it that he doesn’t report to the expedition. You report instead. Simple?”

Crawford began to laugh in spite of himself. He had wanted so badly to go on that exploring trip! It was very funny, in a strange way.

Crawford said, “Who’s this scientist I’m supposed to be?”

“His name is Paul Markham. He’s an ecologist.”

“A what?”

“An ecologist,” Hallam repeated. “That’s a man who studies the way one living thing ties in with another. He looks at all the plants and animals in one place and sees how they get along with each other.”

Crawford knotted his hands together nervously. “If I don’t even know what an ecologist is, how can I pretend to be one?”

“Don’t worry about that. You don’t have to. All you need to do is get aboard that ship. If you can bluff your way until it blasts off, you’ll be all right.”

“Well, if you think so.”

“I’m sure of it. Look, you won’t be asked to do anything scientific until you reach the unexplored planet. By then it’ll be much too late for them to do anything about you. They won’t turn back once they’ve arrived.” Hallam grinned. “They’ll probably decide that a trained hunter like you is useful. They’ll put you to work.”