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19 - A Kiss for the Conqueror · Space Odyssey Sci-Fi Anthology

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  Speaker 1: A Kiss for the Conqueror by Clyde Mitchell. This is
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  Speaker 1: a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox accordings are in the public domain.
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  Speaker 1: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
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  Speaker 1: Read by Jesse Percival. A Kiss for the Conqueror by
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  Speaker 1: Clyde Mitchell. From our innermost Planet to the farthest reaches
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  Speaker 1: of Space. One man plus one woman equals well. Read
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  Speaker 1: mister Mitchell's story to Night's The night Bulger said. He
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  Speaker 1: ducked his head to catch a glimpse of his face
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  Speaker 1: in the particle of mirror hanging on the barrack wall.
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  Speaker 1: It was a lean and hungry face, the hollows in
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  Speaker 1: the thin cheeks disguised by the three day growth of stubble.
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  Speaker 1: He could see Sergeant Pullye's sneer reflected in the glass.
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  Speaker 1: You think I'm joking? Bulgar pushed the long black hair
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  Speaker 1: over his ears with the palms of his hands. There
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  Speaker 1: were few combs in the world. I think your nuts,
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  Speaker 1: Polly said from his bunk. He was wearing a ragged
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  Speaker 1: t shirt. The metal with its shrieking eagle green with rust,
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  Speaker 1: looked ludicrous. Pinned to his chest, but Pully wouldn't part
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  Speaker 1: with it. We'll see, Bulgar said grimly. Can I use
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  Speaker 1: your razor? Bully shrugged once more. Won't matter. I'd give
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  Speaker 1: a thousand credits for a straight edge and a straw,
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  Speaker 1: fat chance, Bulgar said. He peeled off the coat of
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  Speaker 1: his gun metal gray uniform and flung it on the bed.
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  Speaker 1: Then he went to the brown spotted sink and turned
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  Speaker 1: the only faucet that worked. The trickle of icy water
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  Speaker 1: that emerged ran copper ion gun, he said crisply. Pully
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  Speaker 1: extracted the device from his waist and tossed it to
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  Speaker 1: his barrack mate. Bulgar ran a count on the water.
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  Speaker 1: It was clear razor, he said. Pully threw that too.
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  Speaker 1: The metal was as rotten green as the man's eternal metal.
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  Speaker 1: Bulgar looked at it disgustedly, running the thumb along the
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  Speaker 1: blade without breaking skin. Couldn't cut lard, he said, with
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  Speaker 1: a snort, But he started the painful shaving process. Pully
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  Speaker 1: watched in fascination. You really got it bad, he said, wonderingly,
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  Speaker 1: taking a chance like that for one lousy kiss. What's
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  Speaker 1: so hot about this dame? I can't explain it. She's
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  Speaker 1: a looker. But it's more than that. I've been watching
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  Speaker 1: her parade around, swinging her a little. He cut himself
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  Speaker 1: and swore I stopped to speak to her once. There
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  Speaker 1: was something in her face, that same kind of thing
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  Speaker 1: you see in all their faces. Yeah, Polly said bitterly,
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  Speaker 1: I know the look, do you? The other man turned around?
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  Speaker 1: What do you see? Hate? Yeah? What else? No? Bulger
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  Speaker 1: shook his head and stared moodily at himself in the
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  Speaker 1: sliver of glass. It's not hate any more, Pulley. The
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  Speaker 1: hate died out of him a long time ago, right
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  Speaker 1: after the war, right after the contamination. They hate us,
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  Speaker 1: Polly said flatly. I don't think so. I think it's
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  Speaker 1: something different now, something worse. He began to shave again, contempt,
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  Speaker 1: he said. Pully's right hand bawled into a fist and
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  Speaker 1: struck his knee. We should have killed em all, We
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  Speaker 1: should have wiped him out. I asked her for a match,
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  Speaker 1: Bulger said, dreamily, just a lousy match. She stared at
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  Speaker 1: me like I was some kind of microbe. Then she
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  Speaker 1: wraps her damn cape around her face, like she didn't
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  Speaker 1: want to let me breathe on her. His growing anger
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  Speaker 1: caused his hand to tremble. He cut himself a second time.
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  Speaker 1: So you're gonna kiss her? Police sneered, why don't you
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  Speaker 1: throttle the gal? Why don't you beat her up? Or
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  Speaker 1: haven't you got the guts? Bulger turned the anger on him.
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  Speaker 1: Watch yourself, sergeant pulling rank. It was a jeer. Shut up,
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  Speaker 1: pollye swung his boots to the bed. Okay, pal, he chuckled,
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  Speaker 1: have it your own way. You're asking for the same
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  Speaker 1: amount of trouble whether you kiss her or killer. I'm
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  Speaker 1: gonna kiss her, Bulger said, vacantly, dabbing out his face
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  Speaker 1: with a grimy cloth. I'm gonna wait for her by
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  Speaker 1: the mess hall. She comes out of quarters on Barton
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  Speaker 1: Street every night around ten o'clock. She cuts across the
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  Speaker 1: square over to pit. It's pretty deserted there that time.
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  Speaker 1: I'm going to jump out and operation kiss, Polly laughed,
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  Speaker 1: toying with the metal on his chest. The last victory
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  Speaker 1: of the war. Bulgar slipped into his coat. The unbleached
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  Speaker 1: cloth was shabby and threadbare, but the buttons were still
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  Speaker 1: bright and gleaming. The insignia of the five hundred and
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  Speaker 1: fifth Army caught the light in the room brazenly, the
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  Speaker 1: iron hand clutching forked lightning. He had metals, too, and
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  Speaker 1: they jangled as he buttoned the coat up to its
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  Speaker 1: tight collar. At least he thought his metals were worn
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  Speaker 1: where they belonged. My Pulley said, mockingly, you look pretty, lieutenant.
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  Speaker 1: Where's my cap? Unhooked behind you? Bulgar put the cap
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  Speaker 1: on his head, squaring it. He stepped back from the
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  Speaker 1: glass to determine its correctness. Beautiful Polly said, all right,
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  Speaker 1: knock it off. What time is it? Twenty to ten?
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  Speaker 1: Better get going, your girl friend's waiting. I'm going, Bulgar said,
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  Speaker 1: Strapping on his watch, He clanked to the doorway of
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  Speaker 1: the barrack, but turned before going out. This place stinks,
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  Speaker 1: he said. We had to clean it up one of
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  Speaker 1: these days. Sure, police said lazily. He flopped over on
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  Speaker 1: the saging bunk and turned his head to the wall.
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  Speaker 1: Have a good time, lieutenant. His chuckle ended in a yawn.
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  Speaker 1: The area was deserted, just as Bulger knew it would be.
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  Speaker 1: He walked quick march towards the mess hall, hoping that
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  Speaker 1: he would be unobserved. Regretting now, the cluster of metals
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  Speaker 1: on his uniform. He knew that these tokens of battle
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  Speaker 1: were officially frowned upon, but he also knew that there
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  Speaker 1: would be added satisfaction in crushing the hard bits of
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  Speaker 1: brass and iron against the girl's heaving chest. He ducked
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  Speaker 1: behind a building when he heard footsteps. Two women passed him,
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  Speaker 1: speaking in low tones, their skirts rustling in the silence
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  Speaker 1: of the night. He held his breath until they were gone,
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  Speaker 1: and darted out from concealment, walking more rapidly towards his destination.
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  Speaker 1: The mess hall wasn't a hundred yards away from the
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  Speaker 1: wire fence that marked the safety limit. Even from where
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  Speaker 1: he was he could see the red lettered sign that
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  Speaker 1: warned conqueror and vanquished alike, away from the radiation contaminated
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  Speaker 1: its own. Bulgar suddenly remembered that he had forgotten his
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  Speaker 1: eye on gun. The thought troubled him only slightly. He
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  Speaker 1: had more vital things on his mind. It was an
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  Speaker 1: odd revenge she was after. The mess hall was a
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  Speaker 1: looming black shadow, facing the rows of sagging roofed shacks
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  Speaker 1: that stretched out for a third of a mile. It
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  Speaker 1: was there quarters, seedier, uglier, far less equipped to withstand
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  Speaker 1: the brutal weather than the barracks, yet somehow warmer, friendlier,
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  Speaker 1: happier looking. He hated the sight of them. He dived
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  Speaker 1: into the enveloping darkness behind the mess hall, stealing a
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  Speaker 1: look at the illuminated dial of his watch, he began
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  Speaker 1: his vigil. In a few minutes she would appear. Time
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  Speaker 1: went slowly. Then he saw her. She was giving murmured
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  Speaker 1: good byes to the people with whom she visited night
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  Speaker 1: after night. Now it was time to go, half an
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  Speaker 1: hour before the sound of curfew. He saw her arms
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  Speaker 1: adjusting her cape over her head in the age old
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  Speaker 1: motion of women. Now she was walking hurriedly away from
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  Speaker 1: the shack across the square, her low heels slipping on
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  Speaker 1: the loose gravel. There was a moon, and its light
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  Speaker 1: struck her face gently, softly, highlighting the sad loveliness of
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  Speaker 1: her features. When she was some twenty yards away, Bulgar
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  Speaker 1: started after her. He walked lightly on his toes. She
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  Speaker 1: didn't hear him until it was too late. His hand
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  Speaker 1: went out and his fingers whipped the cape from her
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  Speaker 1: shoulders to the ground. One arm snaked her waist, the
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  Speaker 1: other arched smoothly in front of her, but She was struggling,
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  Speaker 1: her foot, kicking out forcefully. Just a kiss, baby. He
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  Speaker 1: leaned over her, laughing, and replaced the hand over her
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  Speaker 1: lips with his own, hungry mouth. The kiss was savage,
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  Speaker 1: beyond the force of love or sexual appetite. It was
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  Speaker 1: a blow, a crushing onslaught, a blitz of the emotions.
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  Speaker 1: You animal, she cried. Listen, help, she screamed. No, you
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  Speaker 1: don't understand. Stop, she shouted. He turned around, frantic at
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  Speaker 1: the sounds that were gathering behind him. He saw the
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  Speaker 1: figures coming towards him. When the hands closed round him,
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  Speaker 1: he went limp and silence, and allowed himself to be
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  Speaker 1: led away. The tribunal took action quickly. The guards, with
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  Speaker 1: their rifles firm against their chests, looked at him with
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  Speaker 1: neither hate nor animosity. The judges were less dispassionate. Lieutenant Bulgar,
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  Speaker 1: he stared over their heads. Janice Damon, The girl stepped forward,
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  Speaker 1: still sobbing. Yes, she said, he's the one. He's been
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  Speaker 1: watching me. I know it, I've seen him hanging around
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  Speaker 1: the quarters. The woman in the silken uniform looked solemn.
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  Speaker 1: You were given many privileges, Lieutenant, she said crisply, but
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  Speaker 1: it would seem that men, she said the word with loathing,
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  Speaker 1: must always take advantage of their privileges. Do you have
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  Speaker 1: anything to say? He shook his head. It's greed, you know,
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  Speaker 1: the woman said confidently. The other women of the tribunal
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  Speaker 1: nodded in agreement. Greed's the downfall of all men. How
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  Speaker 1: many wars do you have to lose before you realize that?
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  Speaker 1: He said nothing. Send him to the breeding camp, the
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  Speaker 1: woman said, carelessly. He'll pay for his kiss. She looked
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  Speaker 1: at the girl sympathetically. Elipsic, much deary, and of a
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  Speaker 1: kiss for the conqueror. By Clyde Mitchell