The older man looked at him, wiping blood from his lips. Kuna said
something in Martian, retched, choked on his own blood, and fell over.
Tex knew he was dead.
"What did he say, Breska?"
The Martian's teeth showed briefly white.
"He said he wished he'd had my guts." His expression changed abruptly.
He caught Tex's shoulder.
"Look, Tex! Look at the water!"
* * * * *
Where there had been nearly a full tub, there was now only a little
moisture left in the bottom. While Tex watched, that too disappeared,
leaving the wood dry.
Tex picked up an undershirt. It was as dry as any he'd ever hung in
the prairie air, back in Texas. He touched his face. The skin was like
sun-cured leather. His hair had not a drop of fog on it.
Yet the mist hung as heavy as ever.
Captain Smith came out of the radio room, looking up at the net and the
guns. Tex heard him mutter, quite unconsciously.
"It's the rust that'll beat us. It's the rust that'll lose us Jupiter
in the end."