2
s. Air puffed out ... and Nelson and Ramos were fighting for their lives...
*... A Million Miles Beyond the Moon!*
THE PLANET STRAPPERS
Raymond Z. Gallun
PYRAMID BOOKS, 444 Madison Avenue, New York 22, New York
*THE PLANET STRAPPERS,* by Raymond Z. Gallun
This book is fiction. No resemblance is intended between any character herein and any person (Here or Out There), living or dead; any such resemblance is purely coincidental.
Published by Pyramid Books First printing: October 1961
Printed in the United States of America
I
The Archer Five came in a big packing box, bound with steel ribbons and marked, This end up--handle with care. It was delivered at a subsidized government surplus price of fifty dollars to Hendricks' Sports and Hobbies Center, a store in Jarviston, Minnesota, that used to deal mostly in skin diving equipment, model plane kits, parts for souping up old cars, and the like. The Archer Five was a bit obsolete for the elegant U.S. Space Force boys--hence the fantastic drop in price from two thousand dollars since only last June. It was still a plenty-good piece of equipment, however; and the cost change was a real break for the Bunch.
By 4:30 that bright October afternoon, those members who were attending regular astronautics classes at Jarviston Technical College had gathered at Hendricks' store. Ramos and Tiflin, two wild characters with seldom-cut hair and pipe stem pants, who didn't look as if they could be trusted with a delicate unpacking operation, broke the Archer out with a care born of love, there in Paul Hendricks' big backroom shop, while the more stolid members--and old Paul, silent in his swivel chair--watched like hawks.
"So who tries it on first?" Ramos challenged. "Dumb question. You, Eileen--naturally."
Most Bunches have a small, hard, ponytailed member, dungareed like the rest.
Still kidding around, Ramos dropped an arm across Eileen