Atoms -- Fiction; Chemists -- Fiction; Love stories; Science fiction
As he went down, with the packages of food flying in all directions, the
Very Young Man gripped the naked body of his antagonist tightly. He
twisted round as he fell and lay with his foe partly on top of him. He
knew instinctively that his situation was desperate. The man's huge
torso, with its powerful muscles that his arms encircled, told him that
in a contest of strength such as this, inevitably he would find himself
overcome.
The man raised his fist to strike, and the Very Young Man caught him by
the wrist. Over his foe's shoulder now he could see the open doorway
leading into the garden, not more than six or eight feet away. Beyond it
lay safety; that he knew. He gave a mighty lunge and succeeded in
rolling over toward the doorway. But he could not stay above his
opponent, for the man's greater strength lifted him up and over, and
again pinned him to the floor.
He was nearer the door now, and just beyond it he caught a glimpse of
the white flesh of Aura's ankle as she stood beside the house. The man
put a hand on the Very Young Man's throat. The Very Young Man caught it
by the wrist, but he could feel the growing pressure of its fingers
cutting off his breath. He tried to pull the hand back, but could not;
he tried to twist his body free, but the weight of his foe held him
tightly against the floor. A great roaring filled his ears; the hallway
began fading from his sight. With a last despairing breath, he gave a
choking cry: "Aura! Aura!"
The man's fingers at his throat loosened a little; he drew another
breath, and his head cleared. His eyes were fixed on the strip of garden
he could see beyond the doorway. Suddenly Aura's enormous body came into
view, as she stooped and then lay prone upon the ground. Her face was
close to the door; she was looking in. The Very Young Man gave another
cry, half stifled. And then into the hallway he saw come swiftly a huge
hand, whose fingers gripped him and his antagonist and jerked them
hurriedly down the hall and out into the garden.
As they lay struggling on the ground outside, the Very Young Man felt
himself held less closely. He wrenched himself free and sprang to his
feet, standing close beside Aura's face. The man was up almost as
quickly, preparing again to spring upon his victim. Something moved
behind the Very Young Man, and he looked up into the air hurriedly. The
Big Business Man stood behind him; the Very Young Man met his anxious
glance.
"I'm all right," he shouted. His antagonist leaped forward and at the
same instant a huge, flat object, that was the Big Business Man's foot,
swept through the air and mashed the man down into the dirt of the
garden. The Very Young Man turned suddenly sick as he heard the agonized
shriek and the crunching of the breaking bones. The Big Business Man
lifted his foot, and the mangled figure lay still. The Very Young Man
sat down suddenly in the garden path and covered his face with his
hands.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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