Underestimation<\/p>\n
by Alger Rome<\/p>\n
[pseudonym of Algis Budrys & Jerome Bixby]<\/p>\n
Illustrated by Eberle<\/p>\n
Never underestimate the power of a woman, they told him. But when he found the bedraggled waif stowed away on the miserable little ship to Mars, he knew what was waiting for her out there. And he knew she\u2019d underestimated a lot of things.<\/p>\n
RAM-E\/M 3 lifted gravs from Flushing Spaceport and headed Marsward. When the last jet cut out, the girl staggered into the control room. The sound of her unsteady footsteps, together with her sick moan, spun Gerris back from the manual control board.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2019Fraid so,\u201d the girl said. She wiped a smear of blood away from her nostrils and grinned at him.<\/p>\n
Gerris cursed under his breath. \u201cI suppose you know the law on stowaways?\u201d he said, grimacing.<\/p>\n
\u201cUh-huh. So either push me out the airlock or turn around and land me.\u201d Despite the fact that her face was gray and her knees were obviously trembling, the grin widened into a challenge.<\/p>\n
Gerris\u2019s expression had nothing in it of either laughter or response. His mouth set itself in a narrow line.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, you don\u2019t know just exactly what kind of a fix you\u2019re in,\u201d he said. \u201cDo you know where this ship\u2019s headed?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHaven\u2019t got the faintest idea, Handsome,\u201d the girl said, leaning against a bulkhead. \u201cI don\u2019t care much, either. Anything\u2019s better than the House of Correction. I wasn\u2019t doing any picking and choosing when I hit the field last night, believe me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gerris frowned. \u201cThis ship is officially designated as \u2018Robot and\/or Manual\u2014Earth\/Mars Vessel Number 3.\u2019 It\u2019s intended for robot operation at least ninety percent of the time. She\u2019s not equipped with full manual controls. All I can do is duck away from a meteor, or make a few other minor course changes. What\u2019s more, there\u2019s no airlock. I can\u2019t turn around, and I can\u2019t push you out without wasting a shipful of air. Does that make you happy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSure does.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the first time, Gerris smiled\u2014a tough, ironical twitch of his lips. \u201cHow much do you know about the setup on Mars?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot a damn thing. Got a cigarette?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have a talent for bypassing the significant and proceeding forcefully to the irrelevant, haven\u2019t you?\u201d Gerris threw her his pack.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou wouldn\u2019t say that if you\u2019d ever seen me clean out a till,\u201d the girl replied, flashing the same challenging grin.<\/p>\n
In spite of himself, Gerris laughed. The girl broke into a laugh of her own, throwing her head back and parting her lips away from her teeth. Something about the self-confident way in which her hands rode her hips called to a yearning that should have been obscured by the thought of a wife and two children waiting in Marsdome. Perhaps because of this, Gerris\u2019s laugh became a stern frown.<\/p>\n
\u201cListen\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMarilyn.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cListen, Marilyn, you don\u2019t seem to understand what you\u2019ve gotten into.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLook, Handsome, I don\u2019t care what I\u2019ve gotten into. What counts is what I\u2019m out of, and that I\u2019m getting farther away from Earth every minute.\u201d The wild, laughing light that never left her eyes completely, brightened again. \u201cWhat\u2019s more, on a ship with a very cute pilot. The situation bids fair to be one of the most pleasant in months.\u201d She did not change her position against the bulkhead, but the effect was the same as if she moved over to him and run her hand down his cheek.<\/p>\n
He coughed and shifted his weight. \u201cI\u2019ll have you know I\u2019m married,\u201d he said, conscious of his sham dignity. \u201cNot only that, I\u2019ve got two children. Moreover, I\u2019m a meteorologist, and I\u2019ve been one long enough to sublimate any wild urges into involved monographs on altocirrus cloud formations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marilyn raised an eyebrow. \u201cMaybe,\u201d she said. \u201cOn the other hand, you just might be getting bored with it all,\u201d She studied his face. \u201cIn fact\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
She moved up and kissed him with her mouth open and her arms tight. Gerris found himself looking at her short, copper-colored hair with surprisingly limpid eyes. Marilyn moved her head until it rested against his shoulder. \u201cAltocirrus clouds, huh?\u201d she murmured. \u201cPut that in your monograph and publish it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gerris had not been kissed in that way for some years. He discovered that a violent reaction was taking place within him. He turned back to the controls with an abrupt twist of his body. \u201cLet\u2019s cut that out right now,\u201d he said harshly.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnything you say, Handsome,\u201d Marilyn said, her tone of voice implying precisely the opposite. She blew smoke against the back of his head. \u201cWhat\u2019s your name, lover?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cJames Gerris.\u201d He pushed his face against the binocular periscope eyepiece. His fingers were shaking.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat James Gerris, huh? You are weather-controlling Mars, or something, aren\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m drawing up a tentative plan for an experimental attempt on a local scale, if that\u2019s what you mean, yes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, I am in distinguished company.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re going to be in a lot more of it. In fact, you\u2019re going to be extremely close to it.\u201d He was as much intrigued by the thought as he was apprehensive.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJust what do you know about conditions on Mars?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cDamn little. In fact, all I know is that you people on the research staff live in a pressurized dome, and that the twenty adults and few-odd kids of you are all the life there is on Mars.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gerris twitched his mouth. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t sound so bad, when you say it fast, that way. Actually, if you had any idea of what it\u2019s like to live in a dome, you\u2019d know how appalling it was.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow so?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe entire operation is strictly from shoestring. U of K\u2019s a rich school, but even so, it\u2019s terrifically expensive to maintain the dome. Do you have any idea of what it\u2019s costing, just to keep an atmosphere in this ship, heat it, air-condition it, stock it with food, and run a course with no kinks in it a human being couldn\u2019t stand, at an acceleration below the human critical level? It\u2019s roughly double what robot operation costs. It takes three months to set up authorization for a human passenger.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd that\u2019s just an example. The dome itself is about as far removed from a luxury hotel as it can get. It\u2019s split up into two lobes, with the pile in the center. One lobe is crammed full of labs. The other one has ten cubicles in it. Each couple, and their children if they have any, lives in one cubicle. Space is so limited that the larger families sleep in shifts.\u201d<\/p>\n
He turned around to see Marilyn\u2019s reaction. She was displaying no sign of any emotion, or understanding. \u201cThat doesn\u2019t leave me much room, does it?\u201d she said casually.<\/p>\n
Gerris smiled grimly. \u201cIt leaves you no room. Every inch of space is taken up. We live like pigeons in a bank of coops.\u201d<\/p>\n
She shrugged her shoulders. \u201cI\u2019ll sleep in the ship.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, you won\u2019t. The supplies\u2019ll be unloaded the minute we land, our samples and reports will be stowed aboard, and the ship reset to automatic control. She\u2019ll take off again in about six hours.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRig me a shelter somewhere, then. I don\u2019t care.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRig you a shelter? Out of what\u2014cornflakes boxes? We haven\u2019t got any structural materials to spare, and the windstorms will knock anything else flat. Besides, how\u2019d you insulate it? Or are you planning to requisition some of our oxygen to keep a fire going at night? To say nothing of keeping a mask on all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n
This time, it seemed to penetrate. \u201cThere must be someplace for me!\u201d Marilyn said petulantly, grinding her cigarette out on the deck with an angry twist of her foot.<\/p>\n
\u201cSure. Right on top of the pile.\u201d Gerris sighed. \u201cHoney, you got yourself into this. All the vamping in the world isn\u2019t going to change the fact that there is simply no room for you.\u201d He shook his head in frustration. \u201cDon\u2019t worry about it, though. Once we land, twenty highly trained minds are going to have to drop everything else and devote themselves entirely to solving your problem for you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marilyn\u2019s expression brightened, and she raised her hand to push back a strand of hair. \u201cSex appeal has nothing to do with it,\u201d Gerris said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. It just so happens that we\u2019d have to do the same even if you were a hundred and fifty years old and were on your fifth set of false teeth.\u201d He cracked his knuckles savagely. \u201cYou see, woman, we can\u2019t send you back for three months, at the soonest.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t send me back, period. If you think you can, just try it.\u201d Her blue eyes sparkled angrily.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we can, we will, even if it means all of us have to hold you down and strap you in. But before we do, we\u2019ve got to get authorization to run a human-amenable course and passage. I told you that was a tough proposition.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFine. The longer it takes, the better.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGod! No wonder you landed in a reformatory! What a brain\u2014or rather, lack of one!\u201d Gerris clenched a fist and sighed in frustrated anger. \u201cCan\u2019t you understand the basic difficulty? There simply isn\u2019t any place to put you! You can\u2019t stay on the ship, you can\u2019t stay in the dome, you can\u2019t stay on the surface of Mars, and you can\u2019t return to Earth.\u201d He made an angry sound in his throat. \u201cI don\u2019t know what we\u2019re going to do with you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marilyn had had time to recover her shell of bravado. \u201cI know,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll marry one of the men.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gerris stared at her incredulously. Hadn\u2019t she understood, when he described life in the dome? Probably not, he decided. \u201cYou\u2019ll have to arrange a divorce from his wife, first,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
That one staggered the girl for only a minute. She cocked an eyebrow and grinned maliciously. \u201cI might just do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt still wouldn\u2019t solve the problem of finding room for you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHell, it wouldn\u2019t. You\u2019d have to figure out what to do with his ex-wife, though.\u201d She smiled broadly, and looked Gerris over. \u201cI might consider raising the kids myself,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Gerris spent a restless eight hours in the control chair while Marilyn slept in the single bunk. He would drop off to sleep for a few minutes, then wake up again, his brain churning.<\/p>\n
Life on Mars had been hard, and presented a constant battle for survival. Working under those conditions was almost inconceivably difficult\u2014far different from calculations and deductions arrived at in the sheltered quiet of an Earthside lab. Recaps and analyses of preliminary data, too, were more easily accomplished in a hidden office than in a cubicle apartment with two young children to furnish distraction.<\/p>\n
All that, however, was in the line of duty. His skill and training were designed to overcome just such obstacles.<\/p>\n
The problem of Marilyn was something else again. The girl was attractive\u2014he stirred uneasily in the chair\u2014and her impact on the male members of the dome staff would have behind it the combined shock of a new female face, after two to four years of contact with no strange women, and the friction which would undoubtedly be set off immediately between bemused husbands and jealous wives. Particularly if Marilyn actually did make room for herself by what, admittedly, was the best method he could think of, from a practical standpoint. If the girl did set her cap for one of the men…. He felt a quiver of dread.<\/p>\n
He banged his hand on the chair\u2019s arm in frustration. No matter what happened, it was obvious that the staff would be completely disrupted as any sort of an effective research unit.<\/p>\n
He cursed aloud, wondering if Marilyn had meant it when she implied that he was the object of her intentions. Gerris was not accustomed to kidding himself\u2014he could very easily be attracted to the girl, without necessarily losing any affection for his wife. He wondered, however, if he could stand up before the concentrated attack Marilyn could undoubtedly institute, and stand up to it well enough to preserve his home.<\/p>\n
He pushed himself out of the chair and took his wife\u2019s picture from his wallet.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love my wife, but Oh You Kid!\u201d Marilyn jeered from behind him.<\/p>\n
He spun around, pushing the photograph into his pocket. \u201cDon\u2019t sneak up on me like that!\u201d<\/p>\n
Marilyn laughed. \u201cOkay, Simon Pure. Okay. But don\u2019t forget to look at wifey\u2019s snapshot once in a while, just to keep your morale up.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGo on back to your cabin.\u201d Gerris was badly frightened. Marilyn apparently slept in her underwear.<\/p>\n
She grinned lazily. \u201cSure. I just wondered what you were doing out here, all by yourself and lonely.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was thinking of a way to get rid of you,\u201d he snapped.<\/p>\n
\u201cFat chance, Handsome.\u201d She turned slowly and walked away. As she reached the companionway, she looked back over her shoulder. \u201cBut remember\u2014never underestimate the power of a woman.\u201d She stepped into the companionway and disappeared from sight.<\/p>\n
The last day of the passage finally came, and Gerris was a sleepless wreck. Whenever he dozed off, he was liable to be awakened by the feel of Marilyn\u2019s mouth against his lips. When they ate at the one food-unit on the ship, her thigh would press his. He was haunted by the devilish twinkle in her eyes.<\/p>\n
When the ship completed turnover, he was grateful for the excuse it gave him to order the girl to strap herself into the bunk. He lashed himself into the control chair with a definite thankfulness that a few more hours would see them landed, with the problem at least partially off his hands.<\/p>\n
Mars filled the periscope lens, rushed up, resolved from a red haze to a patch of dun ground blotted by vegetation, and finally became the blast-obscured surface of the ravaged landing area. The ship rocked into quiescence, and Gerris cut the switches with a sigh of relief.<\/p>\n
He climbed down to Marilyn\u2019s cabin and unstrapped her. \u201cCome on, Bombshell. Let\u2019s get it over with.\u201d He picked up his suitcase, handed Marilyn a spare mask, and slipped his own down over his nose and mouth. \u201cJust breathe naturally,\u201d he said, his voice rattling through the filter. \u201cThe valve\u2019ll adjust to Mars pressure automatically.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNever fear, Handsome. I always breathe naturally. It\u2019s you that pants once in a while.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCan\u2019t you relax for a minute?\u201d he said wearily. He could picture the look that was going to be on his wife\u2019s face.<\/p>\n
\u201cStowaway, huh?\u201d Margaret would say, two lines appearing at the corners of her nostrils. \u201cAh\u2014huh.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carson, the nominal chief of the dome\u2019s staff, would clamp down hard on the pipe he couldn\u2019t smoke outside, but jammed through his mask\u2019s filter anyway. \u201cWell, what\u2019re you going to do about her?\u201d he\u2019d say, and then it would be up to Gerris to admit he didn\u2019t know, and throw the problem to the entire staff. No matter what happened, he wouldn\u2019t be very popular on Mars any more. He doubted if any of the women would ever speak to him again.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, let\u2019s go, lover,\u201d Marilyn said. Her jawbones showed behind the mask\u2019s edges as she grinned.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll right.\u201d He led her to the hatch, opened it, and dropped the folding ladder. They climbed down, into the cup formed by the semicircle of people who had come out of the dome when the ship landed. The scientists\u2014male and female\u2014stared at Marilyn as she stood there, enjoying the situation. Gerris could feel the awkward expression on his face.<\/p>\n
His wife stepped forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cHello, Madge,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHello.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAren\u2019t you going to introduce us?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUh\u2014sorry. Marilyn, this is Madge. My wife, Madge\u2014Marilyn.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret took Marilyn\u2019s hand. \u201cHow do you do?\u201d<\/p>\n
Marilyn said \u201cHow do you do?\u201d<\/p>\n
Gerris noticed that some of the confidence in her voice was wavering.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t know there was a new staff member coming in on the ship,\u201d Margaret said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis\u2014uh\u2014that is, Marilyn isn\u2019t exactly a staff member. She\u2014well….\u201d He explained the situation as rapidly as possible. Margaret wrinkled her brow. She looked over at Marilyn, who was posing prettily.<\/p>\n
Margaret turned and took one of the other women by the arm. The woman\u2014Carson\u2019s wife\u2014was looking from Marilyn to a slightly dazed Carson with a cryptic expression on her face. The two women moved away from the rest of the group for a moment, held a low-voiced consultation, and returned.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all fixed,\u201d Margaret said brightly.<\/p>\n
Gerris was astonished. \u201cHow? Where\u2019re you going to put her?\u201d he asked, knowing that merely finding a place for Marilyn to stay wasn\u2019t solving more than half the problem.<\/p>\n
\u201cPhil Carson\u2019s going to move into our cubicle with you. I\u2019ll move in with June\u2014they don\u2019t have any children, thank God\u2014and Marilyn moves in with us. One of us will have to sleep in the daytime, of course, but two of us will be awake\u2014\u201d She smiled meaningfully under her mask. \u201cMarilyn, and either June or myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, I\u2019ll be damned,\u201d Gerris said. \u201cThat\u2019s it!\u201d And it was. Until they got authorization to ship the girl back, she\u2019d either be asleep or in the constant company of one of the women.<\/p>\n
\u201cNever underestimate the power of a woman,\u201d he said in an awed voice. \u201cI never thought of that!\u201d<\/p>\n
That fixes everything, he thought happily. Things are fine. He kept right on thinking so, until the first time he tried to kiss his wife.<\/p>\n
Transcriber\u2019s note:<\/p>\n
This etext was produced from Rocket Stories, September 1953 (Vol. 1, No. 3). Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.<\/p>\n
Obvious errors have been silently corrected in this version, but minor inconsistencies have been retained as printed.<\/p>\n
New original cover art included with this eBook is granted to the public domain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A compact 1950s science-fiction story involving Mars and a stowaway.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[5,137],"tags":[160,169,170,171,113],"class_list":["post-900016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pulp-classics","category-science-fiction","tag-1950s-science-fiction","tag-algis-budrys","tag-jerome-bixby","tag-mars","tag-public-domain"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/astoundingoutpost.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/900016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/astoundingoutpost.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/astoundingoutpost.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/astoundingoutpost.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/astoundingoutpost.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=900016"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/astoundingoutpost.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/900016\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":900025,"href":"https:\/\/astoundingoutpost.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/900016\/revisions\/900025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/astoundingoutpost.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=900016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/astoundingoutpost.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=900016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/astoundingoutpost.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=900016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}