Noble Redman

In Short

Set in a future where Earth is a radioactive, forbidden wasteland, the story follows Cyril Wallingford, a bottom-feeding Martian guide who encounters a man named Noble Redman. Redman possesses a fortune in gold and a dangerous secret: he is a survivor from Earth with latent telepathic abilities. Their uneasy alliance turns into a desperate flight from the Galactic Patrol and local crime bosses. The narrative is a sharp, bleak exploration of human selfishness and the unintended consequences of isolation, remembered by a narrator who remains trapped by his own avarice.

The Story

Cyril Wallingford is a petty crook and failed guide on Mars, surviving by his wits and a lack of moral scruples. His life changes when he meets Noble Redman in a local bar. Redman is a giant with inflamed red skin, eyes, and teeth, spending refined gold—a metal nonexistent on the Martian surface. Recognizing the mark of a "tourist," Wallingford maneuvers to align himself with the man, hoping for a payday. He discovers Redman is an Earthman, a representative of a civilization thought extinct, shielded from radiation by a mutation that gives him his distinct hue.

Redman is on Mars to steal technology and secure a future for his dying people. After a violent confrontation with local thugs at a gambling den, Wallingford—driven by the promise of wealth—helps Redman escape the planet on a stolen yacht. As they flee, Redman reveals his true nature: the survivors of Earth’s final war are not merely radioactive refugees but evolved telepaths and telekinetics, capable of manipulating their environment with their minds.

The chase intensifies as the Galactic Patrol pursues the ship. Wallingford, realizing the magnitude of the secret he carries, attempts to sabotage Redman to collect a massive government bounty. The two men struggle for control of the yacht, a conflict that ends when Redman uses his telepathic abilities to disable Wallingford and abandon him on a desolate asteroid.

Though Wallingford is eventually rescued by the Patrol and collects the reward, his greed is his undoing. The crime boss he betrayed, Abie Feldstein, seizes every credit, leaving Wallingford perpetually indebted and bitter. Years later, Wallingford remains a broken man, obsessed with the idea that he has gained the ability to read the minds of other disguised Earthmen. He haunts spaceports, waiting to corner any traveler who might be a descendant of the man who outwitted him, still hoping to collect on a debt that can never truly be paid.

How It Unfolds

A chance meeting at the bar Wallingford spots Redman spending refined gold, a commodity that shouldn't exist in the Martian Drylands. He senses a con and inserts himself into the stranger's confidence, hoping to exploit the man's apparent naivety.

The gambling den showdown The two join a rigged game at Abie’s, where Redman’s gambling prowess draws unwanted attention. A near-fatal ambush forces the pair to flee, cementing an alliance based entirely on mutual exploitation.

The flight from Mars Using a stolen yacht, the two men blast off as the Galactic Patrol begins an investigation into the presence of an Earthman. The tension spikes when Wallingford discovers the truth about Redman’s home and his possession of a nuclear weapon.

The struggle for control In the vacuum of space, Wallingford attempts to turn on his passenger for the bounty. Redman subdues him using telekinesis, leaving the narrator stranded on a rock while he continues his mission.

The long-term fallout Rescued but destitute, Wallingford recounts his miserable trajectory of failed schemes and financial ruin. He concludes by watching new arrivals, convinced that his brief connection to Redman granted him a lingering, ghostly sensitivity to the thoughts of others.

The People

Cyril Wallingford The narrator is a self-described "repulsive little weasel" who views every person as a potential source of profit. His desire for wealth consistently overrides his survival instincts, keeping him shackled to his own failures.

Noble Redman A physically imposing, red-skinned man whose name—a grim joke by his father—belies his true nature. He is intelligent and desperate, representing the remnants of Earth. Unlike Wallingford, he is driven by a collective purpose: saving his people from extinction.

Abie Feldstein A local crime boss who acts as the primary antagonist to Wallingford’s bank account. He is the personification of the brutal, unforgiving nature of Martian society, serving as the constant force that keeps the narrator in poverty.

In Its Own Voice

A pair of words I heartily detest are noble and redman, particularly when they occur together.

The narrator introduces the stranger with his characteristically cynical and dismissive tone.

You're a repulsive little weasel, Cyril, and I would distrust you thoroughly except that I know you as well as you know me.

Redman cuts through the narrator's feigned friendliness with a blunt assessment of their shared, base humanity.

It took an entire planet working together to get me on Mars to learn your secrets.

Redman explains the gravity of his mission, emphasizing the collective desperation of Earth's last survivors.

What It's Really About

The book functions as a dark study of the "runner" mentality—the tendency of colonial societies to view their origins with shame and fear. It interrogates the nature of humanity, suggesting that while Earthmen have evolved into something beyond the "Runners" of the outer planets, they remain tethered to their birthplace by a profound, almost primal attachment. The story argues that greed blinds individuals to their own obsolescence; Wallingford is so consumed by his "main chance" that he fails to recognize he is witnessing the rise of a superior successor species. The irony is that by trying to hunt down his former partner, Wallingford has only trapped himself in a cycle of haunting, unfulfilled desire.

Why Read It Today

This story is a punchy, mid-century piece of pulp science fiction that favors tight pacing over grand world-building. Readers who enjoy a cynical, unreliable narrator will likely appreciate Wallingford’s voice; he is refreshingly honest about his own flaws, even as he tries to justify his miserable life. The writing is evocative of its era, reflecting 1960s tropes about "space-faring colonies" and the cold, bureaucratic indifference of galactic authorities.

However, modern readers should be prepared for the period-typical attitudes regarding gender and the harsh, transactional nature of the dialogue. The racial metaphor—using "red skin" as a marker for a marginalized, radioactive survivor class—is a blunt, heavy-handed device common to the science fiction of the time. There is little room for sentimentality here; the emotional weight is found in the claustrophobia of the tiny space-yachts and the endless, dusty strip of Martian cities. If you enjoy stories where nobody is a hero and the ending offers no redemption, this will linger in your mind. It is a sharp reminder of how quickly a life can be hollowed out by the pursuit of easy money and the failure to recognize when one has encountered something truly epochal.