Mystery in Space # 27
August-September, 1955
Interplanetary Parcel of Peril
Writer: Otto Binder
Penciller: Gil Kane
Inker: Joe Giella
Synopsis: Space Cabby, on Mercury, fantasizes about going to the ice world of Khip Vool to cool off. Suddenly, he realizes that someone had left a package in his cab, and that the package is clicking. The writing on the package is smudged, but he can make out the letters DAN(wide space)OUS K(space)P(space)OOL. He guesses that it should say "DANGEROUS KEEP COOL" and worries that it might be something that explodes in high heat, so he leaves Mercury immediately, which does have the effect of stopping the clicking. He scans the airwaves for lost-object reports, skipping over the lost-pet report of Dan Crouse from Khip Vool. Space Cabby flies too close to the sun, eliciting heavy clicks from the box, and he returns to colder space. He hears a report that the police are seeking a criminal with a time bomb in a box and are offering a reward for the capture of the criminal and the bomb, and he assumes that the box he has is the bomb. He looks at his list of the day's fares and visits one of them, but the box isn't his. Space Cabby then passes by a firey meteor and picks up a fare who breathes flame, which sets the box clicking again, and he solves the problem by snagging an ice meteor with his grappling hook, keeping the package cool. Space Cabby is endangered two more times when he parks near a steam geyser and when the cab's engine overheats. Finally, he confronts Dan Crouse of Khip Vool, the last passenger on his list, and accuses him of being the criminal with the bomb. Before Crouse can respond, the package opens and an animal, who Crouse addresses ad Klikky, jumps out. Crouse explains that Klikky is his pet, who clicks in response to heat, and that the markings on the box were his name and location. Crouse then reveals to Space Cabby that what he heard about the criminal with the bomb was actually a radio fiction show, but that he did earn a reward for returning Klikky. Later, Space Cabby again hears clicking in his back seat...but it's only his robotic passenger's clicking heart.
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