The Green Helix by E. C. Tubb

The Green Helix by E. C. Tubb

Author:E. C. Tubb [Tubb, E. C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780575107205
Publisher: Orion
Published: 2014-01-30T07:00:00+00:00


Zennor leaned back in the padded pilot’s seat, and stared hungrily at the three men. He was a shell of a man; a man who seemed to have had the life and youth drained out of him. Little red eyes glared from a tangled mass of beard, and his clothing was a stinking mess.

“I saw your ship crash,” he said. “It was sure lucky for me that you were on hand to blast that glow-bug.”

“Glow-bug?” Caleb frowned and gingerly flexed his newly healed hands. The skin was red and thin looking, but the ugly pulpiness had gone.

“Yes. That’s what I call them. I don’t know for sure what they are, but I do know that they can be nasty, very nasty.”

“Is that one of the aliens in the ships?”

“No.” Zennor shuddered and glanced at the masked ports. “I know what they look like; these are something else.”

Caleb nodded, and glanced at Jenner. The big man rose and left the control room; when he returned Wilner was with him.

“Feel better now?” Caleb grinned and motioned towards a chair. “I think that you had better hear this.”

The astrogator grunted and rubbed the side of his jaw. He glared at Jenner. but said nothing.

“I was a doctor on a small trader,” Zennor commenced. He seemed eager to talk, and Caleb guessed that he had been alone for a long time.

“We were making a short hop on hyper-drive when we spotted one of the alien ships. They fired on us, and the next thing we knew was that we were in this universe, very near this planet. They had some sort of a tractor beam on us and we landed close to that big helice on the plain.”

“We saw it,” said Caleb,

“Good, then you know what I’m talking about. For some reason I didn’t like the look of things and so I didn’t leave the ship with the others. All the rest piled out eager to explore, they were armed of course, but it didn’t make a bit of difference.”

“What happened?”

“The aliens got them.” Zennor shuddered. “I don’t like to even think about it. The aliens aren’t human, Caleb, they’re nothing like human. The others didn’t have a chance.”

“What are they like?”

“I didn’t see them clearly—I didn’t want to. The crew suddenly collapsed; they were probably gassed, and the next thing I knew that the area around the ship was swarming with aliens. I took one look, and then I blasted off as fast as I could.” He noticed the expression on Caleb’s face.

“Don’t blame me too much,” he said defiantly. “If you’d have seen what I saw you would have done the same. They fired on me and damaged the ship; I was lucky to have crashed and still remain alive. I’ve been here ever since.”

“How long is that?”

“About five months. I sealed the hull, and the storage packs provided light and power. I go out sometimes: you found me when I’d gone on one of my exploratory trips.” He cackled. “Lucky for me that you did.



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