The people of Mars were perverse. They did
not want Earth's proffered gift of rich land, much
water, new power. They fought Rehabilitation.
And with them fought Carey, the Earthman, who
wanted only the secret that lay at the end of ...
THE ROAD TO SINHARAT
By LEIGH BRACKETT
Illustrated by FINLAY
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Amazing Stories May 1963.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
The door was low, deep-sunk into the thickness of the wall. Carey knocked and then he waited, stooped a bit under the lintel-stone, fitting his body to the meagre shadow as though he could really hide it there. A few yards away, beyond cracked and tilted paving-blocks, the Jekkara Low-Canal showed its still black water to the still black sky, and both were full of stars.
Nothing moved along the canal-site. The town was closed tight, and this in itself was so unnatural that it made Carey shiver. He had been here before and he knew how it ought to be. The chief industry of the Low-Canal towns is sinning of one sort or another, and they work at it right around the clock. One might have thought that all the people had gone away, but Carey knew they hadn't. He knew that he had not taken a single step unwatched. He had not really believed that they would let him come this far, and he wondered why they had not killed him. Perhaps they remembered him.