Tráfico inhumano

"Tráfico Inhumano" by W. Sampas This science-fiction novella, published by Ediciones Toray in 1960, depicts a uranium mining colony on Venus where Japanese workers extract radioactive ore under hazardous conditions. The protagonist Nakuda, an elite extractor, endures six-hour shifts in radiation-protective suits despite strict safety protocols including decontamination showers and monitoring with Geiger counters. The colony's central tragedy emerges through Nakuda's anguished realization: eighty-three percent of miners' infants are stillborn, likely due to radiation exposure that persists even two hundred miles away where families live. Despite high wages and the dedicated efforts of Dr. Wideman, a compassionate female physician, the workers remain trapped in eight-year contracts, unable to escape the "curse" afflicting their children. When Nakuda's own child is stillborn, his grief transforms into cold rage. After viewing his dead son, he steals a surgical knife from the hospital, his impassive face masking murderous intent as he walks into the city.