Roberds shook his head. "He didn't take part in it. But Rat was
attached to a very important office at the time, the outpost watch.
And when Mad Barry Sansan and his gang of thugs swooped down on the
Ganymedean colony, there was no warning. Our friend Rat was AWOL.
"As to who he is ... well, just one of those freaks from up around
Centauria somewhere. He's been hanging around all the fields and dumps
on Mars a long time, finally landed up here."
"But," protested Miss Gray, "I don't understand? I always thought that
leaving one's post under such circumstances meant execution."
The Chief Consul nodded. "It does, usually. But this was a freak case.
It would take hours to explain. However, I'll just sum it up in one
word: politics. Politics, with which Rat had no connection saved him."
The girl shook her head, more in sympathy than condemnation.
"Are you expecting the others in soon?" she asked. "It wouldn't be
right to leave Peterson."
"They will be in, in a day or two. Peterson will beat it over to Base
station for repairs, and to notify Earth we're coming. He'll be all
right."