Wreck Off Triton
By ALFRED COPPEL
His plans were thorough. Every risk had been
closely considered. Now Ron Carnavon, ruthless
convict, was ready to loot the wrecked spaceship
of its sapphire treasure, and thrust his warped power
around the entire, antagonistic EMV triangle.
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Planet Stories November 1951.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
Ron Carnavon had been the skipper of the late Thunderbird, and itwas common knowledge in every port of the EMV triangle that he hadscuttled her. There was a price on his head, and the High Space Guardwas combing the spacelanes for him—and for the Thunderbird. For theThunderbird was a treasure ship.
But Carnavon was a cautious man and no fool, for all that he'dcommitted barratry. He left the Thunderbird in a Trojan orbit amillion miles off Triton, ruptured and spilling corpses into space. Hetook a spaceboat and jetted sunward to the Holcomb Foundation Outposton Oberon. Then he stowed away on the mail ship to Canalopolis, stillcarrying the chart that showed the Thunderbird's position. In theCanal City, Carnavon evaded the lax Guard cordons and found himself arenegade Martian hypnosurgeon to change his face and fingerprints.
From then on it was easy. Across Syrtis Major by sand-ski to Marsportposing as a prospector. And from Marsport down the Grand Canal to thespaceman's boneyard at Yakki. It was there that he met and hired PopWills and the Carefree.
Ron Carnavon acted with characteristic caution when he chose Pop andthe Carefree to do the ghoul work on the ship he had murdered. Pop'sship was a rusty bucket, but well enough fixed to reach Triton wherethe Thunderbird's corpse orbited, her vault heavy with Plutoniansapphires. And Pop needed work badly. He was almost too broke to outfithis ship for the flight. Carnavon noted with curling lip that most ofPop's assets had long ago been liquidated to buy gin. The long yearsin space had taken a toll on the old man. Actually a greater toll thaneven Carnavon could have imagined.
Pop and the Carefree fitted in with Carnavon's plans to perfection.Pop had been in trouble more than once with the High Space Guard. Popwas an old soak who wouldn't be missed. When something happened to theCarefree, the rest of the beached wrecks in Yakki would only shaketheir heads and agree that Pop had pushed the old bucket a few Gs toohard somewhere. That was just the end the wrecker had in mind for Popwhen his job was finished, too.
It was only reasonable. He couldn't let Pop live to tell the Guard thatRon Carnavon had had a hypnosurgical metamorphosis. Even a fortune insapphires couldn't buy the High Space Guard. It was far too well-heeledwith Holcomb Foundation money, and it took its duties to theinhabitants of the Earth-Mars-Venus Triangle seriously. A cautious manwould realize this and take the proper steps. In this case the propersteps would be the elimination of Pop Wills when his job was done.
But everyone makes mistakes. Carnavon made one when he selected Popand the Carefree. With all the rusty hulks dotting the ramps ofYakki, and with all the even rustier skippers there, he should havehired someone else. Anyone else. Ron Carnavon should have connectedPop Wills with the twelve-year-old cabin boy of the Thunderbird. Theyoungster's name had been Wills, too. But of course, Carnavon couldn'thave been expected to remember everything. Just coincidence—but thosethings do happen.
So these two lifted from Mars together. A captain who had wrecked hisown ship and a gin-s