Commander H.M. Kellesy

HISTORY

Lieutanat Dan Hastings travels to the planet Mercury with his Mercurian butler, Exal. The lieutenant checks into the Earth-American Hotel there under the identity of Jim Post. Dan sends out a message addressed to Post’s mother, who likely was not a real person.

Hastings goes to the gambling room, beginning strongly but alternating between wins and losses. R.P. Rocco, the hotel manager, encourages him to keep playing. When Hastings seems intent on leaving, Rocco invites him to a private game. There, Rocco cleans Dan out. The lieutenant then reveals his true intention, to investigate individuals who disappeared at the hotel.

Pulling a laser pistol, R.P. then reveals that he’d been forewarned of the investigation by Bill Sever, an assistant to Commander Bridges. Rocco then forces Hastings to a place near the shore of a river of lava running beneath the hotel to dispose of the lieutenant in the same fashion as he’d done with the two earlier victims. Dan explains that he knew that Bill Sever had betrayed the plan all along and that he’d already warned Commander H.M. Kellesy of the Mercury police force. Somebody starts hammering on the door, confirming Dan’s words.

Rocco fights with Dan and ends up losing the fight, with the lieutenant saving the hotel manager from a fiery death in the lava. After R.P. is subdued, it’s revealed that Exal used a metal bar to create the illusion of police officers.