"I guess we're all okay," Capt. Wilkins said.
"Don't we look silly?" Major Winship asked plaintively. "I can't
possibly describe my emotions at this minute."
"You look all right," Capt. Lawler said. "Still hot?"
Major Winship grunted. He said nothing.
"I'll get there as fast as I can."
* * * * *
After about ten minutes jarring across the lunar surface, Major Winship
said, "I'm not appreciably cooler; but then I'm not appreciably hotter,
either."
"Shut up, Charlie. You're a thirty-year man," Lt. Chandler said.
"Old soldiers never die, they just become desiccated."
"I'd like a beer," Major Winship said. "A cold, frosty, foamy beer. Big
collar. Gimme a beer, a little shaker of salt--"
"Finogenov's probably got eight or ten cases."
"For once, I hope you're right. Try to bounce a little easier, Larry."
"Russians don't drink beer," Lt. Chandler said.
"You sure?"
"Vodka," Capt Lawler grunted.
"They drink champagne, you idiots," Capt. Wilkins said.
"Beggars can't be choosers," Major Winship said. "Champagne is okay by
me. If it's just cold."
"Finogenov will have a few hundred pounds of ice."
"Cut it out," Major Winship said.
"Boy, you wait till we get you back to Earth. When it comes time to
reup, I'm going to be there. I'm going to remind you of this one."
"You're a thirty-year man, too, Les," Major Winship said.
"Not me," Lt. Chandler said. "I've had it, dad. I'm going to sell my
life story to the movies and spend the rest of my life eating popcorn
and watching what an idiot I was. A man can get hurt up here."
"So you want to be a civilian?"
"You're damned right I do," Lt. Chandler said.
"We're about there," Capt. Lawler cut in. "You still okay, Charlie?"
"Fine."
"Here's the little ridge, then. Hold on, we're taking the angle up. You
riding okay, Charlie?"
"Fine, Skip."
After a moment, Capt. Lawler said, "I see the base now. The top. Hey!"
He slammed on the brakes. "Oh, _no_! Those ... those fools! Those
idiots."
"What's wrong?" Major Winship demanded. "Skip--_what's wrong?_"
"The second little dome is down. It wasn't that way a couple of hours
ago. And they've block-and-tackled a drum of calking compound up on the
main dome."
"_We've got to stop them!_" Major Winship cried. "Skip! Skip!"
"Charlie, there's nothing we can do. The drum's just starting to turn
red."
There was silence for a while.
"It's melting through, now. There it goes. Down through the dome. Out
of sight." After a moment, Capt. Lawler continued. "Funny how things
fall so slowly under this low gravity. It floated through their dome
just like a feather. You should have seen it."