Mutiny on Mercury

Story, first published: Wonder Stories, March 1932


Earth maintains crystal-domed mining centers on Mercury; the workers are apparently Selenites and Martians, while the overseers are Earthmen. The Selenites are stupid humanoid hunks. The Martians, who are yellow and have fangs and six arms, are born troublemakers and plotters. Decayed remnants of an ancient civilization, they bitterly resent the newer races of the solar system. Terrestrial policy, however, is to hire a few Martians for each installation, perhaps to avoid political trouble, perhaps to show fairness. The central figure, Tom, does not agree with this policy and would exterminate all Martians.
A revolt has broken out in Universal Ore Mining Company Station Nine. All the Terrestrials except Tom have been killed, and also all the rebels except two Selenites and a Martian. Tom would be at their mercy, except that he has handy an ancient sword an heirloom treasure brought from Earth by one of his murdered friends. Tom uses the sword to good advantage both within the station and outside, later, in space-suited duels. When the story ends, Tom is the sole survivor of the insurrection.
The Martian plot was not aimed at a single mining station, but was coordinated throughout the system. Apparently it failed everywhere. Pulp action material, below Simak's later standard.

Bleiler, Everett F.: Science-Fiction - The Gernsback Years, p.381