The Hulk and Spider-Man Murder - Paul Kupperberg, ebook, CALIBRE SFF 1970s, Temp 2
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A NOVEL BY PAUL KUPPERBERGMURDER MOONPackaged and edited byLen Wein and Marv WolfmanPUBLISHED BY POCKET BOOKS NEW YORKAnother Original publication of POCKET BOOK'SPOCKET BOOKS, a Simon & Schuster division o£GULF & WESTERN CORPORATION1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, N.Y. 10020Copyright © 1979 by Marvel Comics Group,a division of Cadence Industries CorporationAll rights reserved, including the right to reproducethis book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever*For information address Pocket Books, 1230 Avenueof the Americas, New York, N.Y. 10020ISBN: 0-671-82094-XFirst Pocket Book printing November, 197910 987654321Trademarks registered m the United States and other countrie;Printed in the U.S.A.To Aim DeLarye-Gold and Mike Goldandtheir dining room table.Chapter"GAMMA BASE, THIS IS SKY SPY ABLE.We've spotted your bogey, headed due south in SectorCharlie. Over."The army helicopter swept out of the sky from thesoutheast, its rotors beating a deafening tattoo in thestill, dry air over the New Mexican desert. Beforethe two men in the military aircraft stretched a seem-ingly endless expanse of sand, shimmering golden yel-low in the glare of the midday sun. For as far as theycould see there was nothing but the sand, bleak andforeboding and devoid of even the slightest sign ofcivilization, of life—save for the lone figure thattrudged wearily through the stifling heat far below thespeeding chopper!"Roger, Sky Spy Able. Can, you confirm bogey asTarget Green? Over."Captain William Martin squinted through his green-10 MURDERMOONtinted sunglasses at the solitary figure moving steadilyinto the distance. "Can't be sure from here, GammaBase," he said into his microphone. "Hold while Itake her down for a better look. Over.""We read you. Sky Spy Able. We're holding onAlert Minus One."Martin pushed down on the control stick and sentthe chopper into a sharp descent toward the barrenlandscape. "Think it's him, Max?" he shouted to hiscompanion over the din of the whirling rotor blades."Let you know in a sec, Cap'n," Lieutenant MaxWilson shouted back. He raised his binoculars andpeered through them, focusing on the figure below."Well, it's a guy, all right," Wilson muttered. "Bigfella, too. And he's—he's—""He's what?"". .. green?"Martin's head jerked up in surprise and his handtightened on the throttle. "Green? You sure. Max?"he asked, his voice tense with expectation.Wilson shook his head in uncertainty. "Hard to say,sir, what with the heat distortion and ... holy cow!"The big man had stopped dead in his tracks as thehelicopter passed over his head. He was a giant of aman, clad in the tattered remains of a pair of purpletrousers, fully seven feet tall, with thick, rippling sin-ews. As he stared up at the aircraft, his eyes were dulland brutish beneath a protruding brow.And his skin was a deep emerald green.The Incredible Hulk's lips curled into a savagesnarl of rage at the copter. Though his thoughts weremuddled, confused, the sight above sparked a hint ofrecognition in his bestial mind. He dimly rememberedthat thing in the sky, or things just like it, and he re-membered it with hatred. Many times in the past theyhad come after him when he desired nothing morethan to be left in peace.But always they attacked him.Always they hounded him.MURDERMOON 11'Wo/" he roared. "Everywhere Hulk goes punymen follow."The Hulk flexed his thickly muscled legs and pro-pelled himself into the sky toward the speeding air-craft as effortlessly as a normal man might step uponto a curb."But no more! Hulk will smash!"Lt. Wilson saw the green-hued man-monster growin his field of vision through his binoculars. Hewhipped them away from his eyes and stared, at theapproaching figure in awe. It just wasn't possible!"Come in, Gamma Base," he shouted hoarsely intothe mike. "We confirm bogey in Sector Charlie isTarget Green! Repeat, we have the Hulk in ...""You mean he's got us," Martin cried.The helicopter shuddered, its nose dipping suddenlytoward the ground a hundred yards below as theHulk's massive hands wrapped around the craft'slanding gear. "Jeez," Martin hissed through clenchedteeth. "H-he's pulling us down, Gamma Base. I can'tstay aloft!" The army pilot wrestled frantically withthe controls, but it was a fight he could not hope towin. All he could do was watch in wide-eyed terroras the ground seemed to rush up toward the serviceship, dragged down by the Hulk's ponderous weight."We copy. Sky Spy. We have gone to Alert Zero.Reinforcements are on their way. Over."With a spine-wrenching jolt, the Hulk landed, hold-ing the copter above his head. The machine struggledagainst the green giant's hold, its rotors beating use-lessly against the air."Stupid men try to stop Hulk with stupid ma-chines," the man-brute .growled.Martin and Wilson clawed desperately at the buck-les of their safety harnesses and released them. Theyleaped from the cockpit to the relative safety of theburning sand. Wilson grunted and scrambled to hisfeet. With a trembling hand, he pulled the pistol fromthe holster at his side and leveled it at the monstrous12 MURDERMOON- being that held the helicopter like a small, frightenedbird."Cap'n . . . ?"Bill Martin rose slowly to one knee and gesturedat the other man. "Put that damned thing away, Wil-son!" he ordered harshly. "You can't hurt him with itbut you can make him madder'n hell."The Hulk stared with emerald eyes full of rage atthe man with the gun. "Puny man," he grunted. "Punyman wants to hurt Hulk with toys, but Hulk cannotbe hurt by you!"Casually, the man-monster tipped the helicopter tothe sand, then dashed it against the ground like a toy.The still-whirling rotors dug into the sand with a loudscreeching before breaking off and flying through theair. The Hulk turned to face Wilson with the twistedremains of the landing gear gripped like a club inhis mighty green fist. With a snarl, he advanced to-ward the frightened army officer.Wilson blanched and screamed incoherently ^infear. His finger tightened spasmodically on the trig-ger.Bang! Bang!The green Goliath growled in annoyance as thebullets bounced harmlessly off his thick, virtually in-vulnerable hide."Now it is Hulk's turn, little man!"Suddenly, the desert calm was shattered by the dis-tant scream of approaching sirens and the steady, loudchopping of propellers in the sky overhead. Like anarmy of invading locusts, the closely grouped horde ofapproaching helicopters darkened the distant sky. Thespeeding military vehicles on the ground kicked up abillowing cloud of sand in their wake.The Hulk growled menacingly.Wilson backed away from the man-brute, his breathleaving his lungs in a shuddering sigh of relief. Thecavalry had arrived!His bestial mind quickly forgot about the two armymen in the face of this newer, more potent foe, andMURDERMOON 13the big green man absently brushed Wilson aside. Thelieutenant sprawled in the sand several yards fromthe Hulk, bruised, but otherwise uninjured."Go away!" the Hulk roared to the skies.But they kept on coming.Captain Martin rushed to his comrade's side. "Youall right?" he whispered quickly.Wilson shook his head. "I'm still breathing," hesaid."Good." Martin yanked the other man to his feet."If you want to keep breathing, though, we'd betterget the hell out of the area. 'Cause any second now,those guys are going to start lobbing everythingthey've got at the Hulk and I sure as hell don't wantto be caught in the middle of that shooting match!"C'mon!"All the emerald-skinned mammoth's attention wasriveted on the approaching helicopters. He did not no-tice the two men scrambling for safety.The lead helicopter swooped over the Hulk."Dr. Banner!" A voice was calling to him from thechopper's PA system. "We do not wish to harm you,Dr. Banner. Repeat, we will not hurt you if you sur-render to us now.""Bah! Don't talk of puny Banner to Hulk! TheHulk is not puny Banner, Hulk is Hulk!" the behe-moth roared, shaking his emerald fist threateningly atthe heavens."I ask you one more time, Dr. Banner! Surrenderyourself to one of our helicopters and we will nothurt you!"With a savage snarl of defiance, the green Goliathwhirled and loped over to Martin's downed chopper.He dug his thick, powerful fingers into the twistedmetal body and with scarcely a sign of effort, heftedit above his head."Hulk said Banner is gone and Hulk knows!" he-bellowed. "Because Hulk is the strongest one thereis!"With a grunt, he heaved the wreckage at the hov-14 MURDERMOONering chopper. The pilot shouted in surprise and triedto wheel his craft out of the speeding missile's path.But the Hulk's aim was true and, with a scream oftearing metal, the wreckage sheared the tail sectionfrom the copter.The Hulk's emerald lips curled with a growl ofsatisfaction as the damaged aircraft, struggling to re-main airborne, spun like a wounded bird to land witha crash in the sand.The clank of machinery caught the green mam-moth's attention next and he turned to see a huge,specially modified military tank wheeling steadily to-ward him. The mounted cannon swiveled on thetank's turret and took aim at the man-brute."When will stupid men learn to leave Hulk alone?"he yelled angrily a...
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