Arthur K. Barnes - Gerry Carlyle 01 - Interplanetary Huntress Returns.pdf

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THE ADVENTURES OF GERRY CARLYLE – VOL. II
THE INTERPLANETARY HUNTRESS RETURNS
By
Arthur K. Barnes
A Futures Past Classic – Selected and Introduced by Jean Marie Stine
A Renaissance E Books publication
ISBN 1-58873-082-4
All rights reserved
This Edition and Special Contents Copyright 2002 by Jean Marie Stine
This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission.
For information contact:
Renaissance E Books
P. O. Box 494
Clemmons, NC 27012-0494
USA
Email comments@renebooks.com
CONTENTS
Introduction
Page 1
 
ASSIGNMENT ONE: The Energy Eaters
Chapter I – Storm Over Gerry
Chapter II – The Prometheans
Chapter III – Panic on the Moon
Chapter IV – The Ark Arrives
Chapter V – Short Circuit
ASSIGNMENT TWO: The Seven Sleepers
Chapter I – Call of the Comet
Chapter II – A Challenge for Gerry
Chapter III – Oil and Water
Chapter IV – Trapped – Alive!
Chapter V – Mad World
Chapter VI – Seven Sleepers
Chapter VII–"Forget the Guns"
Chapter VIII – Double Double – Cross
BONUS BARNES SHORT STORY
The Little Man Who Wasn't There
INTRODUCTION
Page 2
 
This is the second of three e-books gathering together the long out-of-print
adventures of Gerry Carlyle, the bring-'em-back-alive Interplanetary Huntress, on
assignment for the London Interplanetary Zoo. Gerry has been hailed as science
fiction's first heroine, and her exploits featured in the pages of Thrilling Wonder
Stories , a sci-fi pulp magazine of the 1930s whose title suggests the kind of colorful,
exuberant stories that were its trademark. Fearless, intrepid, and occasionally
headstrong, Gerry rocketed from planet to planet in her spaceship, The Ark,
matching her wits against the solar system's most dangerous creatures through seven
unforgettable tales – until World War II, and not alien beasties, cut her career short
(co-opting her chronicler, Arthur K. Barnes, into the army).
It has been said that, with a few notable expressions, pulp writing – and particularly
science fiction – was a young person's game back then. So it should be no surprise
to learn that Mr. Barnes was twenty-five years old when he penned the first Gerry
Carlyle adventure – but he was already a well-established pulp author with dozens of
stories to his credit in what he described as "a gamut of magazines – from detective
and horror, to sports, adventure and science fiction." Perhaps his literary success
shouldn't be considered too surprising, considering Barnes was a member of the
prestigious Phi Beta Kappa, a key he once ruefully remarked, "that I have since
learned unlocks nothing at all."
Barnes detailed the writing process involved in some of the Gerry Carlyle tales for
Thrilling Wonder Stories' readers in a series of articles for a department titled "The
Story behind the Story." These informal essays, which offer unique insights into the
mind of a science fiction author, have languished in the moldering pages of the
pulps, and never been reprinted since. Here, unseen for more than six decades, is
how Barnes described the genesis of four of those stories:
* * *
"'The Dual World' is the result of many small items swelling the main river of the
story. Chief of these was the – to me – amazing reader response to the first Gerry
Carlyle yarn, for which I am duly grateful, indeed, and a good bit of that salad oil
known as kind words and flattery by our editor. During two hilarious evenings while
he visited me on his recent westward trek, we doped out much that will never, alas,
see print, and some stuff that eventually went into the making of the story.
"A clipping concerning the artificial production of multiple births by inducing the
egg cell to divide gave me the idea of an emanation creating a wholesale birth of twin
creatures.
"A philosophical argument I once had with a prof in Psych. 1B – about the
inter-relation of emotion and intelligence, what would happen if we could divorce the
two – gave me the Intellectuals and Emotionals. That fitted, so, I dropped it in the
pot and stirred.
Page 3
 
"The gyradoscope was dignified by an article in the Los Angeles Times, no less, of
some four years back... These and other disparate items made the hodgepodge of
material that took a lot of hard writing to smooth out into a presentable yarn against
the familiar background of strange Venusian life-forms and our hardboiled huntress,
Miss, Carlyle. My, how I'd like to meet that gal!
"As usual, the monsters have terrestrial counterparts which most of the readers will
identify (the Atlas crab grow from the Herclules beetle, the sea-squirrel from the
incredibly oily albatross. etc.). Except the bolasbird. That was just a bit of whimsy
designed to give a chuckle to people whose sense of humor is as cockeyed as
mine... I sincerely hope some of the readers can find a few moments enjoyment in
the yarn. That's my measure of success."
* * *
"The idea germ for 'Satellite Five' was born in what I think I may claim to be unique
circumstances. During the terrible floods of last March I was living in the mountains
not far from Los Angeles, and happened to find myself right in the middle of the
very worst of it. My only near neighbor was completely wiped out – lost home, car,
and everything and his caretaker was killed – and my own place escaped annihilation
only by a miracle. For four days, since my own place was still in a dangerous spot
all those trapped with me in that particular region were forced to live in a one-room
cabin – two women, four men, and two dogs. It was bitterly cold, and all of us
envied the chap with the dogs because they slept close to him and kept him warm,
cussed him out good-naturedly and someone said, 'What we need right now instead
of those pooches is a couple of healthy dragons. They'd warm this place up.'
"In the midst of all that terror and destruction, the old think tank began to function,
and Cacus, the fire-breathing monster, was born. Though the fire-producing
apparatus as revealed in the yarn may seem simple, I assure you it took quite a bit of
digging to make it scientifically possible.
"Later, while still marooned in the mountains, food and messages were dropped to
us from airplanes (whose pilots had an uncanny knack of dropping their sacks right
into the river!). For the most part they were volunteer pilots with ancient crates I
wouldn't dare sneeze at. That gave me the idea for the 'condemned patrol' on
Ganymede.
"The rest of the story was mostly elbow grease and conference with my local
scientific encyclopedia, Al Mussen, whose invaluable assistance certainly rates
notice here."
* * *
"Like most stories of considerable length, 'Trouble on Titan' is the compound of
several ideas. Chiefly, however, it's the result of two ideas.
Page 4
 
"The first of these comes from Frank Buck himself, a gentleman in boots who has
achieved some success as an imitator of Gerry Carlyle. Mr. Buck also writes, and in
his writings I came across a brief article which discussed the most difficult phase of
his profession.
"Believe it or not, catching 'em alive is infinitely easier than keeping 'em alive once
they're caught. Creatures of the wild, whether from Africa or Venus, seldom thrive in
captivity. To maintain their health, it is necessary for the captor to study in great
detail their habits, likes and dislikes, etc.
"This need for thorough knowledge of a hunter's specimens, and the possibilities of
disaster if the rule is ignored, was one of the ideas around which my yarn is built.
"The other springs from the fact that my father is interested in insect pest control,
especially among citrus orchards. Even a casual survey of the woes of raising
oranges brings one face to face with the pestiferous ant, who does more financial
damage in a year than a flock of Nazi bombers.
"The ant, as some readers may know, has developed his own axis, with several
stooges in the form of aphis and what-not. These have been worked into a symbiotic
economic system that is nothing short of amazing.
"It is much too elaborate to discuss here; books are devoted to it. However, I took
some ancient advice ("Go to the ant, thou sluggard!") and found it good; it gave me
material which suggested what Gerry finds in this latest story: trouble. And plenty of
it."
* * *
"'Siren Satellite' is an example of the lengths to which a writer will go in order to
work out an idea with which he has become fascinated. The basic story germ for this
novelette hit me one day as I was reading about the planet Jupiter.
"When I noticed how rapidly this incredible giant spins upon its axis (nine hours
and a few minutes for one rotation) it occurred to me that possibly a centrifugal
thrust is generated which might offset the planet's terrific gravity.
"This, seemingly, was an idea which had never occurred to any other writer, and I
was quite tickled with the thought of throwing this factual bombshell into the ranks
of science, via science fiction.
"However, a bout with a slide-rule showed that such centrifugal thrust, although it
does exist, is insufficient to make any great difference with a person's weight at
Jupiter's equator. Alas disappointment!
"But by that time I was so bedazzled with the idea of blossoming out as a
mathematician that I determined to pick another heavenly body and adapt it, if
Page 5
 

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