"Got everything we need?" asked Tom.
"Everything we'll need--and about all we can safely carry without
weighing ourselves down too much," answered Roger. "Enough food for a
week, the rest of the Martian water, space goggles to protect our eyes
from the sun and emergency lights for each of us."
"Not much to walk a hundred and fifty miles on," offered Astro. "Too bad
the sand got in the galley and messed up the rest of that good food."
"We'll have plenty to get us by--if my calculations are right," said
Tom. "One hundred and fifty-four miles to be exact."
"_Exact_ only as far as my sun sight told me," said Roger.
"Do you think it's right?" asked Tom.
"I'll answer you this way," Roger replied. "I took that sight six times
in a half hour and got a mean average on all of them that came out
within a few miles of each other. If I'm wrong, I'm very wrong, but if
I'm right, we're within three to five miles of the position I gave you."
"That's good enough for me," said Astro. "If we're going out there"--he
pointed toward the desert--"instead of sitting around here waiting for
Strong or someone to show up, then I'd just as soon go now!"
"Wait a minute, fellas. Let's get this straight," said Tom. "We're all
agreed that the odds on Captain Strong's showing up here before our
water runs out are too great to risk it, and that we'll try to reach the
nearest canal. The most important thing in this place is water. If we
stay and the water we have runs out, we're done for. If we go, we might
not reach the canal--and the chance of being spotted in the desert is
even smaller than if we wait here at the ship." He paused. "So we move
on?" He looked at the others. Astro nodded and looked at Roger, who
bobbed his head in agreement.
"O.K., then," said Tom, "it's settled. We'll move at night when it's
cool, and try to rest during the day when it's the hottest."
Roger looked up at the blazing white sphere in the pale-blue sky that
burned down relentlessly. "I figure we have about six hours before she
drops for the day," he said.
"Then let's go back inside the ship and get some rest," he said.
Without another word, the three cadets climbed back inside the ship and
made places for themselves amid the littered deck of the control room. A
hot wind blew out of the New Sahara through the open port like a breath
of fire. Stripped to their shorts, the three boys lay around the deck
unable to sleep, each thinking quietly about the task ahead, each
remembering stories of the early pioneers who first reached Mars. In the
mad rush for the uranium-yielding pitchblende, they had swarmed over the
deserts toward the dwarf mountains by the thousands. Greedy, thinking
only of the fortunes that could be torn from the rugged little
mountains, they had come unprepared for the heat of the Martian deserts
and nine out of ten had never returned.
Each boy thought, too, of the dangers they had just faced. This new
danger was different. This was something that couldn't be defeated with
an idea or a sudden lucky break. This danger was ever present--a fight
against nature, man against the elements on an alien planet. It was a
battle of endurance that would wring the last drop of moisture
mercilessly from the body, until it became a dry, brittle husk.
"Getting pretty close to sundown," said Tom finally. He stood beside the
open port and shielded his eyes from the glare of the sun, now slowly
sinking below the Martian horizon.
"I guess we'd better get going," said Roger. "All set, Astro?"
"Ready, Roger," answered the Venusian.
The three boys dressed and arranged the food packs on their backs. Tom
carried the remainder of the Martian water, two quart plastic
containers, and a six-yard square of space cloth, an extremely durable
flyweight fabric that would serve as protection from the sun during the
rest stop of the day. Roger and Astro carried the food in compact packs
on their backs. Each boy wore a makeshift hat of space cloth, along with
space goggles, a clear sheet of colored plastic that fitted snugly
across the face. All three carried emergency lights salvaged from the
wrecked ship.
Tom walked out away from the ship several hundred yards and studied his
pocket compass. He held it steady for a moment, watching the needle
swing around. He turned and walked slowly still watching the needle of
the compass. He waited for it to steady again, then turned back to Roger
and Astro who stood watching from the window port.
"This is the way." Tom pointed away from the ship. "Three degrees south
of east, one hundred and fifty-four miles away, if everything is
correct, should bring us smack on top of a major canal."
"So long, _Lady Venus_," said Astro, as he left the ship.
"Don't think it hasn't been fun," added Roger, "because it hasn't!"
Astro fell in behind Roger, who in turn followed Tom who walked some ten
feet ahead. A light breeze sprang up and blew across the surface of the
powdery sand. Ten minutes later, when they stopped to adjust their
shoulder packs, they looked back. The breeze had obliterated their
tracks and the mountain of sand covering the spaceship appeared to be no
different from any of the other small dunes on the desert. The New
Sahara desert of Mars had claimed another Earth-ship victim.
"If we can't see the _Lady Venus_ standing still, and knowing where to
look," said Astro, "how could a man in a rocket scout ever find it?"
"He wouldn't," said Roger flatly. "And when the water ran out, we'd just
be sitting there."
"We're losing time," said Tom. "Let's move." He lengthened his stride
through the soft sand that sucked at his high space boots and faced the
already dimming horizon. The light breeze felt good on his face.
* * * * *
The three cadets had no fear of running into anything in their march
through the darkness across the shifting sands. And only an occasional
flash of the emergency light to check the compass was necessary to keep
them moving in the right direction.
There wasn't much talk. There wasn't much to talk about. About nine
o'clock the boys stopped and opened one of the containers of food and
ate a quick meal of sandwiches. This was followed by a carefully
measured ounce of water, and fifteen minutes later they resumed their
march across the New Sahara.
About ten o'clock, Deimos, one of the small twin moons of Mars, swung up
overhead, washing the desert with a pale cold light. By morning, when
the cherry-red sun broke the line of the horizon, Tom estimated that
they had walked about twenty miles.
"Think we ought to camp here?" asked Astro.
"If you can show me a better spot," said Roger with a laugh, "I'll be
happy to use it!" He swung his arm in a wide circle, indicating a
wasteland of sand that spread as far as the eyes could see.
"I could go for another hour or so," said Astro, "before it gets too
hot."
"And wait for the heat to reach the top of the thermometer? Uh-huh, not
me," said Roger. "I'll take as much sleep as I can get now--while it's
still a little cool."
"Roger's right," said Tom. "We'd better take it easy now. We won't be
able to get much sleep after noon."
"What do we do from noon until evening?" asked Astro.
"Aside from just sitting under this hunk of space cloth, I guess we'll
come as close to being roasted alive as a human can get."
"You want to eat now?" asked Astro.
Tom and Roger laughed. "I'm not hungry, but you go ahead," said Tom. "I
know that appetite of yours won't wait."
"I'm not too hungry either," said Roger. "Go ahead, you clobber-headed
juice jockey."
Astro grinned sheepishly, and opening one of the containers of food,
quickly wolfed down a breakfast of smoked Venusian fatfish.
Tom and Roger began spreading the space cloth on the sand that was
already hot to the touch. Anchoring the four corners in the sand with
the emergency lights and one of Tom's boots, they propped up the center
with the food packs, one on top of the other. A crude tent was the
result and both boys crawled in under, sprawling on the sand. Astro
finished eating, lay down beside his two unit-mates, and in a moment the
three cadets were sound asleep.
The sun climbed steadily over the desert while the _Polaris_ unit slept.
With each hour, the heat of the desert rose, climbing past the hundred
mark, reaching one hundred and twenty, then one hundred and thirty-five
degrees.
Tom woke up with a start. He felt as if he were inside a blazing
furnace. He rolled over and saw Astro and Roger still asleep, sweat
pouring off them in small rivulets. He started to wake them, but decided
against it and just lay still under the thin sheet of space cloth that
protected him from the sun. As light as the fabric square was, weighing
no more than a pound, under the intense heat of the sun it felt like a
woolen blanket where it touched him. Astro rolled over and opened his
eyes.
"What time is it, Tom?"
"Must be about noon. How do you feel?"
"I'm not sure yet. I had a dream." The big cadet rubbed his eyes and
wiped the sweat from his forehead. "I dreamed I was being shoved into an
oven--like Hansel and Gretel in that old fairy tale."
"Personally," mumbled Roger, without opening his eyes, "I'll take Hansel
and Gretel. They might be a little more tender."
"I could do with a drink," said Astro, looking at Tom.
Tom hesitated. He felt that as hot as it was, it would get still hotter
and there had to be strict control of the remainder of the water.
"Try to hold out a little longer, Astro," said Tom. "This heat hasn't
really begun yet. You could drink the whole thing and still want more."
"That's right, Astro," said Roger, sitting up. "Best thing to do is just
wet your tongue and lips a little. Drinking won't do much good now."
"O.K. by me," said Astro. "Well, what do we do now?"
"We sit here and we wait," answered Tom. He sat up and held the space
cloth up on his side.
"You get in the middle, Astro," suggested Roger. "Your head is up higher
than mine and Tom's. You can be the tent pole under this big top."
Astro grunted and changed places with the smaller cadet.
"Think there might be a breeze if we opened up one side of this thing?"
asked Roger.
"If there was a breeze," answered Tom, "it'd be so hot, it'd be worse
than what we've got inside."
"It sure is going to be a hot day," said Astro softly.
The thin fabric of the space cloth was enough to protect them from the
direct rays of the sun, but offered very little protection against the
heat. Soon the inside of the tent was boiling under the relentless sun.
They sat far apart, their knees pulled up, heads bowed. Once when the
heat seemed unbearable, Tom opened one side of the cloth in a desperate
hope that it might be a little cooler outside. A blast of hot air
entered the makeshift tent and he quickly closed the opening.
About three o'clock Roger suddenly slipped backward and lay sprawled on
the sand.
Tom opened one of the containers of water and dipped his shirttail into
it. Astro watched him moisten Roger's lips and wipe his temples. In a
few moments the cadet stirred and opened his eyes.
"I--I--don't know what happened," he said slowly. "Everything started
swimming and then went black."
"You fainted," said Tom simply.
"What time is it?" asked Astro.
"Sun should be dropping soon now, in another couple of hours."
They were silent again. The sun continued its journey across the sky and
at last began to slip behind the horizon. When the last red rays
stretched across the sandy desert, the three cadets folded back the
space-cloth covering and stood up. A soft evening breeze sprang up,
refreshing them a little, and though none of them was hungry, each boy
ate a light meal.
Tom opened the container of water again and measured out about an ounce
apiece.
"Moisten your tongue, and sip it slowly," ordered Tom.
Roger and Astro took their share of the water and dipped fingers in it,
wiping their lips and eyelids. They continued to do this until finally,
no longer able to resist, they took the precious water and swished it
around in their mouths before swallowing it.
They folded the space cloth, shouldered their packs, and after Tom had
checked the compass, started their long march toward their plotted
destination.
They had survived their first twenty-four hours in the barren wastes of
the New Sahara, with each boy acutely aware that there was at least a
week more of the same in front of them. The sky blackened, and soon
after Deimos rose and started climbing across the dark sky.