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suicide." "All right. How much do you outweigh me?" "A hundred pounds," said Urteil
contemptuously. "A hundred pounds of fat," squeaked Bigman, his gnomish face screwed
into a ferocious scowl. "Tell you what. Let's fight under Mercurian gravity. That makes your
advantage forty pounds. And you keep your inertia advantage. Fair enough?" Urteil said,
"Space, I'd like to give you one smash, just to plaster your big mouth over your miserable
little face." "You've got your chance. Is it a deal?" "By Earth, it's a deal. I'll try not to kill you,
but that's as far as I'll go. You've asked for this, you've begged for it." "Right. Now let's go.
Let's go." And Bigman was so anxious that he hopped about as he talked, sparring a little
with rapid birdlike motions of his fists. In fact, such was his eagerness for this duel that not
once did he give a specific thought to Lucky nor suffer any presentiment of disaster. He had
no way of telling that, some time before, Lucky had fought a more deadly duel than the one
Bigman now proposed. The power-level had its tremendous generators and heavy
equipment, but it also had its broad level space suitable for gatherings of personnel. It was
the oldest 131 part of the Dome. In the first days, before even a single mine shaft had been
blasted into Mercurian soil, the original construction engineers had slept on cots in that
space between the generators. Even now it was still occasionally used for trifilm
entertainment. Now it served as a ring, and Cook, together with half a dozen or so
technicians, remained dubiously on the side lines. "Is this all?" demanded Bigman. Cook
said, "Mindes and his men are out Sun-side. There are ten men in the mines looking for your
ropes, and the rest are mostly at their instruments." He looked apprehensively at Urteil and
said, "Are you sure you know what you're doing, Bigman?" Urteil was stripped to the waist.
He had a thick growth of hair over his chest and shoulders, and he moved his muscles with
an athletic joy. Bigman looked in Urteil's direction indifferently. "All set with the gravity?"
"We'll have it off at the signal. I've rigged the controls so the rest of the Dome won't be
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affected. Has Urteil agreed?" "Sure." Bigman smiled. "It's all right, pal." "I hope so," said
Cook fervently. Urteil called out, "When do we get started?" Then looking about the small
group of spectators, he asked, "Anyone care to bet on the monkey?" One of the technicians
looked at Bigman with an uneasy grin. Bigman, now also stripped to his waist, looked
surprisingly wiry, but the difference in size gave the match a grotesque appearance. "No bet
here," said the technician. "Are we ready?" called Cook. 132 "I am," said Urteil. Cook licked
his pale lips and flicked the master switch. There was a change in the pitch of the subdued
droning of the generators. Bigman swayed with the sudden loss of weight. So did all the
rest. Urteil stumbled but recovered rapidly and advanced gingerly into the middle of the clear
space. He did not bother to lift his arms but stood waiting in a posture of complete
relaxation. "Start something, bug," he said.
13 Results of a Duel For his part, Bigman advanced with gentle movements of his legs that
translated themselves into slow and graceful steps, almost as though he were on springs. In
a way he was. Mercurian surface gravity was almost precisely equal to Martian surface
gravity, and it was something he was at home with thoroughly. His cool, gray eyes, watching
sharply, noticed every sway in Urteil's body, every knotting of a sudden muscle as he worked
to keep erect. Small misjudgments even in merely keeping one's balance were inevitable
when working in a gravity to which one was unaccustomed. Bigman moved in suddenly,
springing from foot to foot and side to side in a broken motion that was at once amusingly
dancelike and completely confusing. "What is this?" growled Urteil in exasperation. "A
Martian waltz?" "Kind of," said Bigman. His arm lunged outward, and his bare knuckles [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]