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That day, during their meal, Richards managed, with the help of the rest of the crew, to slip a sedative into Lu’s meager portion. They watched Lu with great attention, but he seemed oblivious, and acted far calmer than he had in many days.

After the meal, they went to their compartments to sleep. A little more than two hours later, Back slid Lu’s door open. Lu was strapped into his bunk, sleeping. He did not stir. The sedative had done its work. Back pulled himself into the chamber, and shut the door. Already determined as to what he would do, he clasped a firm hand over Lu’s mouth. Some part of Lu struggled to waken, but he was too sluggish to react before Back drew his knife deeply across Lu’s throat.

Thick ropes of blood wriggled out of the wound. Lu’s eyes finally opened and grew wider, staring at Back. Back moved quickly. He knew that most of the meat was on the buttocks and thighs, and some around the chest, but he also knew that meat wasn’t the most important thing a body had to offer. He tugged his knife down Lu’s belly, gutting him. Reaching his hand into the gaping wound, he seized the sloppy tubing he found there. The blood seemed to crawl out of Lu’s body, clinging to Back’s hand and forearm. Even though Back knew it was simply the surface tension, the life-like movements of the vermilion bubbles almost caused him to lose his nerve. He knew, however, that there was no going back now. He pulled out as much of Lu’s stomach and other organs as he could, and slashed them free with his knife. He was salivating wildly, and couldn’t help drooling, and it looked to the dying Lu like water was running out of his mouth.¹ Back’s appetite was so keen that he ate the raw intestines on the spot, and they proved to be excellent.²

Hence it is I believe that those who have once preyed upon their fellows ever after feel a great desire for the same nourishment. And they are not so scrupulous about the means of procuring it.³ Beyond his previous adventures in cannibalism, though, Back’s behavior is not surprising since the typical personality of the Martians of this time was such that most of them should be expected to have deeply hidden cannibalistic impulses.⁴

Back allowed himself this small satisfaction of his hunger, but he knew that he needed to keep working He cut the length of Lu’s pants and pulled the material away between the sleep straps that held the body in its bunk. He began to flense the meat from Lu’s thigh bones, and stuffed it into his waterproof shower bag, which he had brought for the purpose.

He removed as much muscle tissue as he could from Lu’s legs, chest, and arms, as well as the organs from his torso. When he was finished, Back released the body from the sleep straps. He cut the straps away from their anchors and tied them into a single length. He made a slip knot at one end of this and placed it over Lu’s head, tightening it around his neck. The other end he threaded through a handhold at the foot of the bunk, and then back to Lu’s hands.

Back began to wipe himself down with Lu’s blanket, trying to remove as much of the blood as he could. The compartment was awash with bobbing globules of blood. As he wiped himself, he continually got more blood on his body. Until this moment, Back had been fairly calm. But as he began to realize the futility of these efforts to clean the blood off of his skin, he became frantic. Quite a lot of time had passed.

Back made a decision. He stripped off all his clothes and stuffed them into the shower bag on top of the meat. As quickly as he could, he opened the door, and slipped out.

The corridor was empty and quiet. Back launched himself toward the door to Flinders’ sleeping chamber, where the evil cat resided. He slid the door open slightly, and pushed off again aiming for the shower. He missed the handle, and before he could get the door open, Greenstockings came out of her chamber. She looked at the naked Back, blankly.

‘Shower,’ said Back, his voice hoarse. ‘Didn’t think anyone would be up.’

Greenstockings slid past him, without noticing the bloody smears that covered Back’s skin, and vanished into the bathroom.

Back cleaned himself thoroughly in the shower. When he was finished, he returned to his chamber. He dressed in fresh clothes, and ate again, being careful not to get blood anywhere, and then fell asleep and rested well.