Black Eyes and the Daily Grind.
by Milton Lesser.
_The little house pet from Venus didn"t like New York, so New York had to change._
He liked the flat cracking sound of the gun. He liked the way it slapped back against his shoulder when he fired. Somehow it did not seem a part of the dank, steaming Venusian jungle. Probably, he realized with a smile, it was the only old-fashioned recoil rifle on the entire planet.
As if anyone else would want to use one of those old bone-cracking relics today! But they all failed to realize it made sport much more interesting.
"I haven"t seen anything for a while," his wife said. She had a young, pretty face and a strong young body. If you have money these days, you could really keep a thirty-five-year-old woman looking trim.
Not on Venus, of course. Venus was an outpost, a frontier, a hot, wet, evil-smelling place that beckoned only the big-game hunter. He said, "That"s true. Yesterday we could bag them one after the other, as fast as I could fire this contraption. Today, if there"s anything bigger than a mouse, it"s hiding in a hole somewhere. You know what I think, Lindy?"
"What?"
"I think there"s a reason for it. A lot of the early Venusian hunters said there were days like this. An area filled with big lizards and cats and everything else the day before suddenly seems to clear out, for no reason. It doesn"t make sense."
"Why not? Why couldn"t they all just decide to make tracks for someplace else on the same day?"
He slapped at an insect that was buzzing around his right ear, then mopped his sweating brow with a handkerchief. His name was Judd Whitney, and people said he had a lot of money. Now he laughed, patting his wife"s trim shoulder under the white tunic. "No, Lindy. It just doesn"t work that way. Not on Earth and not on Venus, either. You think there"s a pied-piper or something which calls all the animals away?"
"Maybe. I don"t know much about those things."
"No. I don"t think they went anyplace. They"re just quiet. They didn"t come out of their holes or hovels or down from the trees. But why?"
"Well, let"s forget it. Let"s go back to camp. We can try again tomor--look! Look, there"s something!"
Judd followed her pointing finger with his eyes. Half-hidden by the creepers and vines clinging to an old tree-stump, something was watching them. It wasn"t very big and it seemed in no hurry to get away.
"What is it?" Lindy wanted to know.
"Don"t know. Never saw anything like it before. Venus is still an unknown frontier; the books only name a couple dozen of the biggest animals. But h.e.l.l, Lindy, that"s not _game_. I don"t think it weighs five pounds."
"It"s cute, and it has a lovely skin."
Judd couldn"t argue with that. Squatting on its haunches, the creature was about twenty inches tall. It had a pointed snout and two thin, long ears. Its eyes were very big and very round and quite black. They looked something like the eyes of an Earthian tarsier, but the tarsier were b.l.o.o.d.y little beasts. The skin was short and stiff and was a kind of silvery white. Under the sheen, however, it seemed to glow. A diamond is colorless, Judd thought, but when you see it under light a whole rainbow of colors sparkle deep within it. This creature"s skin was like that, Judd decided.
"If we could get enough of them," Lindy was saying, "I"d have the most unusual coat! Do you think we could find enough, Judd?"
"I doubt it. Never saw anything like it before, never heard of anything like it. You"d need fifty of "em, anyway. Let"s forget about it--too small to shoot, anyway."
"No, Judd. I want it."
"Well, I"m not going to stalk a five-pound--hey, wait a minute! I taught you how to use this rifle, so why don"t you bag it?"
Lindy grinned. "That"s a fine idea. I was a little scared of some of those big lizards and cats and everything, but now I"m going to take you up on it. Here, give me your gun."
Judd removed the leather thong from his shoulder and handed the weapon to her. She looked at it a little uncertainly, then took the clip of sh.e.l.ls which Judd offered and slammed it into the chamber. The little creature sat unmoving.
"Isn"t it peculiar that it doesn"t run away, Judd?"
"Sure is. Nothing formidable about that animal, so unless it has a hidden poison somewhere, just about anything in this swamp could do it in. To survive it would have to be fast as h.e.l.l and it would have to keep running all the time. Beats me, Lindy."
"Well, I"m going to get myself one pelt toward that coat, anyway. Watch, Judd: is this the way?" She lifted the rifle to her shoulder and squinted down the sights toward the shining creature.
"Yeah, that"s the way. Only relax. Relax. Shoulder"s so tense you"re liable to dislocate it with the kick. There--that"s better."
Now Lindy"s finger was wrapped around the trigger and she remembered Judd had told her to squeeze it, not to pull it. If you pulled the trigger you jerked the rifle and spoiled your aim. You had to squeeze it slowly....
The animal seemed politely interested.
Suddenly, a delicious languor stole over Lindy. It possessed her all at once and she had no idea where it came from. Her legs had been stiff and tired from the all-morning trek through the swamp, but now they felt fine. Her whole body was suffused in a warm, satisfied glow of well-being. And laziness. It was an utterly new sensation and she could even feel it tingling at the roots of her hair. She sighed and lowered the rifle.
"I don"t want to shoot it," she said.
"You just told me you did."
"I know, but I changed my mind. What"s the matter, can"t I change my mind?"
"Of course you can change your mind. But I thought you wanted a coat of those things."
"Yes, I suppose I do. But I don"t want to shoot it, that"s all."
Judd snorted. "I think you have a streak of softness someplace in that pretty head of yours!"
"Maybe. I don"t know. But I"d still like the pelt. Funny, isn"t it?"
"Okay, okay! But don"t ask to use the gun again." Judd s.n.a.t.c.hed it from her hands. "If you don"t want to shoot it, then I will. Maybe we can make you a pair of gloves or something from the pelt."
And Judd pointed his ancient rifle at the little animal preparing to snap off a quick shot. It would be a cinch at this distance. Even Lindy wouldn"t have missed, if she hadn"t changed her mind.
Judd yawned. He"d failed to realize he was so tired. Not an aching kind of tiredness, but the kind that makes you feel good all over. He yawned again and lowered the rifle. "Changed my mind," he said. "I don"t want to shoot it, either. What say we head back for camp?"
Lindy gripped his hand impulsively. "All right, Judd--but I had a brainstorm! I want it for a pet!"
"A pet?"
"Yes. I think it would be the cutest thing. Everyone would look and wonder and I"ll adore it!"
"We don"t know anything about it. Maybe Earth would be too cold, or too dry, or maybe we don"t have anything it can eat. There are liable to be a hundred different strains of bacteria that can kill it."
"I said I want it for a pet. See? Look at it! We can call it Black Eyes."
"Black Eyes--" Judd groaned.
"Yes, Black Eyes. If you don"t do this one thing for me, Judd--"
"Okay--okay. But I"m not going to do anything. You want it, you take it."