Virgin Ground
Unknown
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Description
Rosel George Brown wrote this short story, printed in Worlds of If Science Fiction in February 1959. Annie has signed on a bride ship for Mars. Forty brides sail, and the hook of the tale is plain: when they land, only thirty-nine men wait. The pilot hands out oxygen masks as the women step down, since the air, though fit to breathe for fifteen years, runs thin for new throats.
Annie goes first, big, plain, and brave, with a grin set hard for the rest. She had led girls at summer camps and knows how to steady a crowd. Light gravity lifts her heavy suitcase. Then she spots the men counting the women, and prays the short count will not fall on her.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Unknown |
|---|---|
| COLLECTION | BOOKS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 18 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | Public Domain |
| RIGHTS | PUBLIC DOMAIN |
| SOURCE | Project Gutenberg |