ZURK
By Richard O. Lewis
Gentle Marene was next when the black space
cruiser called for its youth-levy. If only
Zurk would spark to life—Zurk, this huge,
part-human war-machine of tubular steel
muscles and blank, mechanical mind.
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Planet Stories Winter 1941.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
There was both agony and defeat etched deeply into Guyard's lean faceas he stood there in the center of the hidden, attic laboratory. Hisfists were clinched tightly at his sides and his hollow eyes werestaring tensely and with supplication at the steel monstrosity beforehim.
"Zurk, you must save her!" he pleaded. "You must save Marene!"
Zurk, the man of steel, made no move. He sat there expressionless, hiselectric-cell eyes staring out through the small window at the far endof the laboratory.
Year after year, the steel giant had sat there staring through thatwindow, staring out into dim, perpetual daylight that always envelopedthat half of the moon which kept its face constantly toward Jupiter.
Week after week and month after month, Guyard had stood before thegiant, had stood there hurling thought-waves into the brain, but to noavail. Something was wrong somewhere within the intricate mechanism,some trouble he could not locate.
Nervous and shaken, he stood there glaring into the expressionlesseyes. There were but a scant two weeks left. Then the evil creaturesfrom the Land of Darkness on the other side of the moon would come toclaim Marene.
Desperation gave power to Guyard's tired brain. "Zurk!" His eyesblazed into the giant's with a final effort. "Move your head!"
For a brief instant, Guyard was certain that a feeble thought-wave hadtried to penetrate his own brain; he thought he caught a faint glow inthe eyes.
Then he wheeled quickly at the sound of a step upon the ladder up tothe trap-door in the floor. His hand flashed to the gun at his belt,and he waited tensely.
His hand relaxed as the door swung slowly upwards and he saw darkcurls and a smiling face. Marene. Marene, his daughter.
He went quickly to her, helped her up into the room and stood for amoment with his arms about her shoulders, holding her to him.
A crazy panorama of thoughts went through his head. He remembered theday of her birth aboard that ill-fated spaceship that had set out tocolonize Mars. That was the same day the commander of the ship hadreported engine trouble.
He remembered the first four years of her life aboard that helplessship, the ship that had finally landed the thousand weary colonists onthis moon of Jupiter's.
And then had come the creatures from the Land of Darkness to claimyouth as a tribute from the helpless Earthians. Once every four years,they came to claim young men and women for some hideous experiment oftheirs on the other side of the moon.
And now Marene was just sixteen, and the creatures would be comingagain in their black spaceship within two weeks! Guyard was thankfulthat death had spared Marene's mother from this greater horror.
He held the girl tightly to him.
She drew away finally and smiled up at him with the bravery of youth."Father," she said, "whatever happens, I'm not afraid." Her voice waslike calm music to his troubled brain. "Anyway, I have news for you!"
"News?"
"Yes. Captain Simms is going to try, maybe trying right this instant toget a radio message th