To escape from Mars, all Clayton had to do was the impossible. Break out ofa crack-proof exile camp—get onto a ship that couldn’t beboarded—smash through an impenetrable wall of steel. Perhaps he could doall these things, but he discovered that Mars did evil things to men; that hewasn’t even Clayton any more. He was only—
The Man Who Hated Mars
By RANDALL GARRETT
“I want you to put me in prison!” the big, hairy man said ina trembling voice.
He was addressing his requestto a thin woman sittingbehind a desk that seemedmuch too big for her. Theplaque on the desk said:
LT. PHOEBE HARRIS
TERRAN REHABILITATION SERVICE
Lieutenant Harris glancedat the man before her for onlya moment before she returnedher eyes to the dossier on thedesk; but long enough to verifythe impression his voicehad given. Ron Clayton was abig, ugly, cowardly, dangerousman.
He said: “Well? Dammit,say something!”
The lieutenant raised hereyes again. “Just be patientuntil I’ve read this.” Her voiceand eyes were expressionless,but her hand moved beneaththe desk.
![[Illustration]](https://oldbook.b-cdn.net/kitaplar/3/pg25644-h/images/01.jpg)
The frightful carnage would go down in the bloody history of space.
Clayton froze. She’s yellow!he thought. She’s turned onthe trackers! He could see thepale greenish glow of theirlittle eyes watching him allaround the room. If he madeany fast move, they would cuthim down with a stun beambefore he could get two feet.
She had thought he wasgoing to jump her. Little rat!he thought, somebody oughtto slap her down!
He watched her checkthrough the heavy dossier infront of her. Finally, she lookedup at him again.
“Clayton, your last convictionwas for strong-arm robbery.You were given a choicebetween prison on Earth andfreedom here on Mars. Youpicked Mars.”
He nodded slowly. He’dbeen broke and hungry at thetime. A sneaky little ratnamed Johnson had bilkedClayton out of his fair shareof the Corey payroll job, andClayton had been forced toget the money somehow. Hehadn’t mussed the guy upmuch; besides, it was thesucker’s own fault. If he hadn’ttried to yell—
Lieutenant Harris went on:“I’m afraid you can’t backdown now.”
“But it isn’t fair! The mostI’d have got on that frame-upwould’ve been ten years. I’vebeen here fifteen already!”
“I’m sorry, Clayton. It can’tbe done. You’re here. Period.Forget about trying to getback. Earth doesn’t wantyou.” Her voice soundedchoppy, as though she weretrying to keep it calm.
Clayton broke into a whiningrage. “You can’t do that!It isn’t fair! I never did anythingto you! I’ll go talk to theGovernor! He’ll listen to reason!You’ll see! I’ll—”
“Shut up!” the womansnapped harshly. “I’m gettingsick of it! I personally thinkyou should have been lockedup—permanently. I think thisidea of forced colonization isgoing to breed trouble forEarth someday, but it is aboutthe only way you can get anybodyto colonize this frozenhunk of mud.
“Just keep it in mind thatI don’t like it any better thanyou do—and I didn’t strong-armanybody to deserve theassignment! Now get out ofhere!”
She moved a hand threateninglytoward the manual controlsof the stun beam.
Clayton retreated fast. Thetrackers ignored anyone walkingaway from the desk; theywere set only to spot threateningmovements toward it.