* * * * *
They went up a wooden ladder. It was suddenly getting hot. Campbell
guessed that Romany was in the sun again. The Martian opened a door at
the top, very, very slowly.
A young, vibrant voice sang out, "All clear!" They piled out of the
doorway. Four or five husky young Paniki barbarians from Venus stood
grinning beside two bound and slumbering Earthmen.
Campbell stared past them. The air was still and hot, hung with veils
of steamy mist. There was mossy earth dotted with warm pools. There
were _liha_-trees, sultry green under a pearly light that was still
brightening out of indigo gloom.
A slow, hot breath of wind stirred the mist and _liha_-trees. It smelt
of warm still water and growing things, and--freedom.
Campbell drew a long breath. His eyes stung and the veins in his
neck hurt. He knew it was a dead hulk, with an iron sky above the
pearl-grey mist. But it smelt of freedom.