"I'm taking your gun," I said. "Just to make sure you won't try
anything."
He stood up and I made him turn around. Then I took his gun. "You'll
sleep in the lower cabin tonight," I told him. "Gail and I will take
turns doing guard duty."
* * * * *
The next morning, Dr. Joel was a very subdued man. He ate breakfast
silently and then volunteered to tidy up the cabin. He went about his
tasks eagerly, anxious to please. All of the truckling he had done for
Dr. Spartan now seemed to be transferred to Gail and me.
About noon the Mars-car rolled in. I had been waiting for the arrival
in my spacesuit and, as soon as it came within view, I slipped my
helmet over my shoulders, sealed it and went out to meet them.
The car bumped over the causeway and came to a stop at the base of
the ramp. Spartan, holding the rifle in his hand, was standing in the
locks. Axel was at the controls, putting on his helmet.
Presently Axel entered the locks. Then both men jumped out to the
ground.
"Help Ludson with the samples, Drake," Spartan ordered.
As he turned his head to gesture, I brought my automatic into view.
"You're under arrest, Dr. Spartan," I said.
Axel's mouth, which I could see through the glass of his helmet, gaped
with surprise as he heard my words in his earphones.
"What's the meaning of this?" Spartan cried.
"Just what I said, Dr. Spartan," I told him. "You're under arrest for
the murder of Morrie Grover. And if that isn't enough, for killing
Willie Zinder and trying to kill me."
"You're talking nonsense, Drake. This is mutiny, punishable by death,
Axel!"
I don't know what he expected Axel to do. I think he wanted me to turn
my head so he could attack, or draw his own pistol, but I refused to be
taken in by that old dodge.
"He's right, sir," said Axel. His habit of addressing Spartan by the
title "sir" couldn't be shaken in a moment. "I found the paper in the
valve of Morrie's helmet before you removed it."
"Lies!" said Spartan. "Now listen. If you put away that gun, Drake,
I'll forget this. It's just another case of over-wrought nerves--the
same thing that affected Grover--"
"And cause you to kill him because that was the easiest way to handle
him?"
This seemed to hit Spartan because he didn't realize how well we knew
his motives. He seemed to quiver. "I'm to be killed so you'll have
enough water--"
"That's one reason you would have killed me, probably," I said, "but
we're a different sort, Spartan. We're taking you back to the earth.
And you'll share our rationed water all the way. We won't kill you.
What happens to you after your trial on earth is not up to us."
His shoulders seemed to sag. "And I was the first man to walk on Mars!"
He seemed to think that ought to atone for everything. "Now you're
gutting the whole expedition."
"You're wrong on that score, Spartan," I said. "We'll complete the
mission. You'll be under guard, but the rest of us can carry it out.
We're doing this now to defend ourselves."
I heard Axel's sigh in my earphones. "I'm glad you said that, Bill," he
said. "I didn't quite know what was coming off."
We took Spartan into the ship after disarming him. We removed his
helmet and spacesuit and tied his hands. He said nothing, showed no
emotion except anger.
Dr. Joel came into the room. He saw Spartan and avoided his eyes.
"You're in on this too, Warner?" Spartan asked. "You, the one man I
believed was my friend?"
Joel turned to me without answering his former chief. "There's quite a
bit of Martian chatter over the radio, Drake. I got a directional fix.
It's coming from the south."
"South?"
"Yes, and it's strange, too. There's nothing but sand in that
direction."
"There's Pnyx," said Axel.
"We thought Umbra was the nearest city," I said. "That's east, in Lacus
Major."
Joel shook his head. "I tried to pick up the jargon from Major. Not
much sound there."
Axel stared at the floor for a moment. "Doc and I saw some things at
Minor that may be the answer. There was a big area where the vegetation
had been cut away. We decided that the Martians had been there and
harvested a crop. If that's true, Umbra might be a farming town and,
like most farming communities, a peaceful place. Pnyx, on the other
hand, is larger and might be a place where troops could be assembled. A
sort of military base. See what it means?"
He didn't have to draw a picture. Mars was mobilizing to defend itself
against the invaders from Earth.
"Ah!" said Spartan. "What you need is an astute leader. Release me.
I'll take charge in this emergency and we'll forget these silly things
you've been saying--"
"Shuddup," said Axel. He turned to me. "What does a good commander do
in a case like this, Bill?"
Even though I'd been in the Army, the generals had never confided their
methods to me. But you do pick up a few military principles, even as a
buck private. "Send out a patrol," I said.
"What good does that do?"
"Well, if we sit here like lame ducks, we won't know when they're
coming, how many, and we certainly won't find out what they have in
mind," I said. "But if we scout them, and view their potential, maybe
we could figure out some way of defending ourselves."
"You don't think we could fight a whole planet? Or even a small company
of armed soldiers, do you?" Joel asked nervously.
"If it looks like they're coming to get us real quick, we can lift
off," I said. "Maybe they figure they'll need a pretty big force which
will take a couple of weeks to organize. If that's the case, we can do
a lot of scientific work before we leave."
"Okay, Bill," said Axel. "You're the patrol."
"Now?"
"The sooner the better," said Axel.
I got my helmet. Then I picked up the rifle Spartan had carried on his
trip. It was loaded with two rounds of explosive shells and eighteen
rounds of ordinary bullets. I slipped a couple of spare clips for my
automatic into my pocket. Then I went into the locks.
Axel followed me. "Just a minute before you put on your helmet, Bill,"
he said.