The Stellar Legion by E. C. Tubb

Author:E. C. Tubb [Tubb, E. C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780575107472
Publisher: Orion
Published: 2014-01-30T07:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 9

Survival

The march had been the worst yet, fully a hundred miles of slogging torment, and the swollen ball of Capella glared down from the heavens with an eye-searing splendour, sending ripples of heat rising from the gritty sand of the desert, sucking moisture from their bodies almost before it had time to form.

A hundred miles beneath double gravity, seventy hours of continuous advancing into the flaming jaws of hell, and at the end of it they were exhausted and on the verge of collapse.

Five columns set out from the settlement, almost the entire body of trained prisoners, and they had fanned out in different directions so that a tracked vehicle carried armed guards and supplies, and they churned ahead, dust pluming from beneath the wide tracks. They had slept little en route, eaten little and drank less, and thirst was a living torment within them.

Dully Wilson watched the vehicle slew to a halt and the stocky captain climb down onto the sand. He stood before them, his hands on his hips, and a tight smile drawing his lips hard against his teeth.

“Men,” he snapped. “Listen carefully. This is in the nature of a tactical exercise and I don’t intend to explain more than once. You are going to be divided into groups of three, the vehicle will transport each group well away from the others, and the trick is to get back to the settlement.” He grinned. “Each group of three will be given a locator, set to the settlement, and a canteen of water. I’m afraid that we’re short on water. Each canteen will hold plenty for one, maybe enough for two, but not enough for three. You are a hundred miles from home and comfort, water and food. I don’t care how you get back, but if you don’t, then it’s lights out.”

He turned to the vehicle.

“Right. The quicker we get started the sooner we’ll all be home. One other thing. Those who return will receive first rank promotion, that means plenty of food, plenty of rest, and the job of bossing the new intake. Now. Line up and get your gear.”

It was soon done. One after the other groups of three were expelled from the vehicle and stood, half-dazed, on the burning sand. Wilson had Conroy and another man as partners, Conroy holding the water and the other man the locating device. Grimly they began to plod towards the distant settlement.

It wasn’t until then that the diabolical ingenuity of the whole thing struck the young man.

They had water, but not enough for the three of them. They had a locator device that made it certain they would get back to the settlement—but not enough water. Two of them had a chance. Two out of three. The third?

Wilson tried not to think about it.

Conroy was the one who put it into words. He trudged alongside Wilson, the canteen slung over one shoulder and spoke, prison-wise, from the corner of his mouth.

“What about it, Wilson?”

“What about what?”

“The third man.

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