“The network of rods and wires are the television antenna,” was the reply. “That shiny disk on a pole that looks like an oversized dinner plate is your solar mirror.”
Jill wanted to know what the solar mirror was.
“It collects the energy from the sun,” Mr. Cooper answered patiently. “That energy in turn is what runs the generator in your home and gives you electric power.”
While these explanations were going on, Randy stood fidgeting. All this was old stuff to him, and the explanations seemed to bore him.
Mr. Cooper led the party over the few feet of ground that separated the watercourse from the house. They entered a small alcove at the front of the house; this was an air lock. Mr. Cooper closed the outer door and threw a switch on the wall. Ted heard air hissing into the cramped quarters.
When this was done, the inner door was opened and the Kentons looked around the front room of their new home. The house was already oxygen-pressurized for immediate occupancy. All the furniture was of beautiful colored plastic, and waterproof, much like the styles that were popular back on Earth. The floor likewise was of poured plastic, so that the whole interior could be cleaned with a hose.
Mr. Cooper prepared to take his leave. “The things you brought from Earth and your months’ food supply will be sent out in a little while. New oxygen drums are brought around once a week. If you ever need to call the headquarters building, just use the radiophone over there on the wall. Every home has its own broadcast band.”
The Kentons said good-by to their guide and turned with interest to the wonders of their home. Mr. Cooper had offered to show them over the entire house, but Dr. Kenton said he had seen the plans and knew what the rest of the house was like.
There were three bedrooms in the one-floor building. Since Randy had come to live with them, Jill gave up her bedroom to the boys and agreed to take the smaller guest room.
When all had gotten acquainted with their bedrooms, Dr. Kenton took them into the basement, which was just as large as the main floor.
“Down here are all the things that have to do with the running of our home,” the scientist said. “Over there is the water tank that draws from the canal outside. The tank has a purifier in it so that the water is good to drink.”
In the next room Ted found a mass of whirring dynamos and turbines. His father told them that this provided their electricity by drawing on the energy from the solar mirror. They passed down a narrow corridor. Inside one of the walls was a niche containing a large gray tank with dials on it.
“What’s this?” Jill asked.
“The most precious article in the house,” her father answered. “It’s our oxygen drum. The air from it enters a blower that carries it evenly through the building.”
The last room was the most surprising of all. Dr. Kenton opened a heavy door, and Ted, standing in front of it, gasped as a blast of frigid air hit him. He saw his father grinning. “That gives you an idea of how cold the ground is,” Dr. Kenton said. “This is a natural deepfreeze. It never varies more than a few degrees all year ’round.”
His shivering companions took a moment to look inside. Ted saw a room as large as the upstairs living room. It was empty.
“When they bring our food, this place will be a third full,” Dr. Kenton said.
“Do you mean to say I have to come downstairs and go into that cold place every time I want a stick of butter?” Mrs. Kenton asked unhappily.
Dr. Kenton merely grinned at her. He led them back upstairs and into the kitchen. He opened one of several doors built right into the wall. Frigid air seeped out of the compartment just as it had downstairs.
“This is our regular refrigerator,” Dr. Kenton said. “It connects by pipe to the basement freezer.”
“I’m glad to know that,” Mrs. Kenton returned, with a smile of relief. “I thought I’d have to trot myself to death going up and down those basement steps.”
Ted thought what fun it was going to be living in their very own home on this distant planet. Wouldn’t he have exciting things to tell the kids back on Earth when he returned?
CHAPTER NINE
A Cry in the Night
Hours later, Ted lay awake in the upper bunk of the double-deck bed he shared with Randy. The foam-rubber mattress under him was soft as a cloud, and the cool artificial air of the house inflated his lungs satisfyingly.
But though he was comfortable, Ted could not sleep. He had lain awake for an hour. He guessed it was because of the excitement of the past few days and the fact that this was his first night on solid ground after months of life in space.
He climbed down the ladder to the floor, quietly so as not to disturb Randy. He stared through the clear plastic walls of his room at the hushed Martian night. The sky was a glittering canopy of starlight. Phobos, the fleet closer moon, cast a weak light over the landscape. Beyond their desert back yard, Ted saw the dark spreading mass of the sand bog which he had been warned about. It was like quicksand and would draw anything that touched it down to destruction. Ringing the bog Ted saw thick clusters of white flowers, which his father had said was a favorite food of the little Martian color bears.
Ted had also learned that the animals fed at night. He wondered if any of the creatures were in these parts, and if there were any chance he would see one of them. He kept his eyes on the bog for what seemed an hour, but he caught no sign of movement down there. At last his eyes grew blurry and he thought he could sleep. He turned away and climbed the ladder.
Just as his lids closed, something startled him, and he jerked up in bed. He wasn’t sure what had aroused him. He sat there in the semidarkness, his heart bumping rapidly, his ears alerted.
Then he heard a sound. It seemed far off. It was like a wail, a cry. He came down the ladder again. In his haste, he tripped on the bottom rung and went sprawling. He turned anxiously toward the bed and saw Randy sit up.
“I’m sorry, Randy,” Ted said. “I thought I heard something outdoors.”
“I heard it, too,” Randy said.
The two looked outside, straining their eyes to pierce the shadowy night. Suddenly Randy Whispered tensely, “There!”
Ted stared where he pointed. There was a figure at the edge of the bog. They heard the sound repeated. It seemed to be coming from the moving figure. Ted suddenly remembered his father’s field glasses lying on a table in his parents’ room. Before going to bed, all of them had used them to study the stars.
Ted tiptoed down the hall into his parents’ room. Carefully he lifted the glasses from the table and returned to his own room. He could hardly wait to train the glasses on the mysterious thing beside the bog.
“Did you hear it again?” Ted asked as he swept his glasses over the landscape.
Randy nodded. “It sounded like a color bear. He must be in trouble.”
Finally Ted found what he was looking for. He was able to make out a little furry body struggling at the bog’s edge. The animal appeared to be trapped in the marsh. One stubby paw was grasping a root growing out of the bank. Ted handed the glasses to Randy.
“It’s a color bear,” Randy whispered. “He’s stuck in the bog. He’ll never get out by himself.”
Ted saw a wistful look on Randy’s face. “I sure hate to see anything happen to those little fellows. They’re so friendly.”
“You mean they make good pets?” Ted wanted to know.
“They sure do,” Randy answered. “I owned one once, until he fell into a bog. It seems they always end up in one sooner or later.”
“I wonder if we could help him,” Ted suggested.
“It may be dangerous,” Randy warned. “If we should slip....”
“You’ve been around them before, haven’t you?”
“Yes.”
“I’m willing to try it if you are,” Ted said.
“Let’s go then.”
“We’ll have to be careful not to wake the others,” Ted said.
Softly they crept down the hall to the space-suit closet. Silently they dressed and inflated their suits with oxygen. Then they went through the air lock and on outdoors.
Ted had brought a flashlight. The cone of whiteness fanned out ahead of them, leading the way for them over the red sands. As they drew near the sand bog, the wails of the trapped animal became louder and more frantic.
“We’d better hurry,” Randy said. “He may go down any moment.”
They broke into a run and finally reached the side of the little fellow. The only part of him visible now was his round head, from which projected big cup-handle ears. His short forepaws still clung to the root, but even now the boys could see his grip loosening.
As they knelt beside him, they saw his violet button eyes turned pleadingly up to them.
“The bank seems firm,” Randy said. “Let’s brace ourselves and each take one of his paws.”
The black mud pulled strongly against them. After a few moments the boys’ arms ached from the tug of war, but they appeared to be winning the battle. Slowly the bear rose out of his trap. Just as Ted thought his own arms would be pulled off from the strain, the animal sucked free of the clutching slime and came tumbling up over Ted and Randy.
As the boys climbed to their feet, the color bear ran up first to one and then to the other, and licked their helmets gratefully with his long red tongue!
The little creature stood about two and a half feet tall and was so roly-poly, he must have been nearly that wide. The mud caked his body, some of it crawling like thick molasses down into a black puddle around his flat feet. He walked upright just as they did.
“What’ll we do with him?” Randy asked.
“Let him go, I guess,” Ted replied. “I wish we could keep him, but I’m afraid Dad wouldn’t agree. For some reason, he doesn’t like color bears. Besides, there’s no place to keep him.”
They walked back toward the house. Presently Ted turned and saw what he had feared. The bear was trudging along behind. They tried to shoo him off. This only made him hesitate momentarily and then start following again. Finally they gave up, permitting him to trail along at a distance.
When they reached the air lock, they opened the door. As they waited for the pressure to come up, the color bear stood outside looking in at them. Ted thought he had the most plaintive expression he had ever seen. It was almost human.
“We can’t let him stand out there like that all night,” Ted said. “He might wake up the whole house with his cries. They do cry, don’t they?”
“Just like babies,” Randy said.
“I forgot, though,” Ted said. “They can’t breathe our air mixture, can they?”
“Yes, they can.” Randy told him. “They have a valve in their bodies that takes care of that.”
“I believe we can wash that goo off him and leave him in the kitchen until morning,” Ted said. “Maybe he’ll be quiet if he’s clean.”
They let the bear in, and in appreciation he licked their helmets again.
“If you want to stay in here, you’ll have to be quiet,” Randy warned, just as though the animal could understand.
“Hey!” Ted cried. “What’s wrong with him?” The little animal was reeling around as though he could hardly keep his feet, and his eyes were glazed.
“They always do that the first few times they enter our atmosphere,” Randy answered.
The color bear adjusted himself quickly to the change and then seemed all right again. Quietly the boys led him down the hall toward the shower. In the bathroom they shut the door, removed their helmets and turned on the shower in a gentle spray. The bear did not take to water willingly, and the boys had to force him under. When he began squealing and kicking, Ted put his hand over his mouth. As the little animal felt the warm water, however, his broad mouth turned upward in a grin, and he sat down in the middle of the plastic basin to enjoy his bath.
While the mud was washing down the drain Ted began to see what a beautiful creature the color bear really was. His soft fur was white next to the body, then merged into reddish brown at the tip. To make him even more colorful, his paws, legs, and head had a bluish tinge. “What a patriotic creature he would be on Earth,” Ted thought. He had all the colors of the American flag.
When the animal was clean, Ted got out a blotting towel that dried the bear in a matter of seconds. The little fellow looked happy after his bath and grinned at them. When he tried to lick their bare faces, they had to cover up. He seemed hurt by their gesture and pouted for a moment, with his lower lip quivering.
“See what I mean?” Randy said, grinning. “They’re almost human.”
“I wish we could keep him,” Ted said longingly. “He seems like lots of fun. I think I’ll ask Dad about it.”
As they were cleaning up the bathroom, Ted, who was leaning over the shower basin, felt Randy’s hand press sharply on his shoulder. Ted spun around. Standing in the doorway was his father, a stern look on his face.
CHAPTER TEN
School on Mars
“What in the world are you two doing?” Dr. Kenton asked.
Ted told him the whole story of the rescue, ending up with a request that they keep the Martian animal for a pet.
Ted’s father shook his head. “That’s impossible. There’s no place to keep him.” His face grew stern again. “You two did a very foolish thing going out alone near that bog. You might have fallen in. I want you to promise that you won’t go near that place again.”
They promised. Ted knew it was no use arguing about keeping the color bear. When his father made up his mind, he rarely changed it.
As the three walked along the hallway with the bear, Dr. Kenton said, “You kids woke me up with all that splashing in the bathroom, but, fortunately, Mom is still asleep. We must be quiet so that we won’t waken her and Jill.”
The bear was reluctant to be forced out of the house through the air lock. Ted knew the animal felt no worse than he did. He had become quite attached to the little fellow in even this short time.
When the bear was outside in the dark, he looked mournfully through the transparent doors at his former friends who had rejected him. Then he began wailing softly. Ted looked hopefully at his father, wishing that he would have a change of heart. But Dr. Kenton’s expression was set, and Ted knew there was no chance of the color bear coming back inside.
The three of them retired to bed, but Ted was a long time getting to sleep. For almost an hour the Martian creature kept up a soft wail. Ted covered up his ears with his air-filled pillow, and he was finally able to drop off to sleep.
The next morning Ted and Randy went to the front door the first thing after they rose. There was no sign of the color bear.
“I guess he finally gave up,” said Ted unhappily.
“I can’t understand his being alone like he was,” Randy said. “Usually the little bears travel around in families of about ten. I guess this one was an orphan.”
Hearing this, Ted felt even worse. “Maybe a wild animal got him,” he murmured. “If it hasn’t already, it probably will sooner or later. By the way, what kind of wild animals do they have here?”
“None of them ever come close to the colony,” Randy answered. “Hundreds of miles away, there’s the Great Martian Forest where all kinds of them live. One of the fiercest kinds are the elephant ants. Big herds of blue rovers run across the desert closer by. There are different kinds of birds here, too.”
“I’ve heard of a dangerous plant in the Great Forest,” Ted said. “What’s it called?”
“The whip tree,” Randy answered. “It throws tentacles around anything that’s near and draws it into its center mouth.”
Realizing the dangers to the lonely little bear, Ted had not much appetite for breakfast. Neither of the boys nor Dr. Kenton had mentioned the adventure of the night before, but Mrs. Kenton had heard some noises, although they had thought she was asleep. She began asking questions and finally got the whole story.
“I wish we could have kept that little animal!” Jill sighed. “He sounds wonderful!”
“We can’t adopt every stray animal that comes along,” Dr. Kenton said. “I’m sure the color bear will get back to his family all right. He probably just strayed temporarily.”
Dr. Kenton next said that he was going to report to the science organization this morning. He asked the children if they wanted to go along and register in school. They’d have to within the next few days anyhow.
“Are the schools like they are back home?” Jill asked.
“They sure are,” her father said. “Just as modern as you’ll find anywhere.”
Hearing this, the children were eager to go. Schools in the twenty-first century were a combination of wholesome entertainment and instruction. No dry textbooks or cramped wooden desks with hard seats. Ted and Jill had heard about the poor children of the mid-1900’s who had to plod through school with such handicaps as these, and they felt sorry for them.
Ted noticed that Dad seemed reluctant to leave Mom by herself, but she did not seem to mind.
“Don’t worry about me,” Mrs. Kenton said merrily. “I’ll have plenty to do unpacking our clothes and things that they dumped in the living room yesterday. I won’t even miss you four children!”
When the young folks and Dr. Kenton went outside in their space suits, Ted saw that the sun was just a little above the horizon. He had learned that men rose early on Mars to take advantage of the warmth and illumination of daylight.
Dr. Kenton looked into the purple sky through which the stars gleamed. “It’s exactly six-fifteen now,” he said.
“How did you know that?” Ted asked in surprise. “You didn’t look at your watch.”
“I didn’t have to,” his father answered. “That little disk in the sky gives it to me.”
“That’s Phobos,” Ted supplied.
“Right,” his father answered. “It takes only six hours for the moon to go from one horizon to the other, so you can actually see its movement in a few minutes’ time. By judging its distance from the star around it, I can get the time.”
“That sure must take a lot of knowledge of the stars to know just where each one should be at any one time!” Ted said.
“It does,” the scientist replied, “but you’ll learn it in school. I’ll bet Randy knows how to do it now. How about it, Randy?”
“Yes sir,” Randy replied with a grin, “but I guess I’m a little off after being away so long. I thought the time was six-thirty.”
Dr. Kenton took another look, and Ted could see his face redden inside his helmet. “I’m the one who’s a little bit off, Randy!” he admitted. “It is six-thirty.”
Suddenly Jill cried, “Ooo—look!”
A half dozen large birds were swooping down on the boat. Dr. Kenton did not appear alarmed—only amused. “They won’t hurt us,” he said. “They’re whee birds and very friendly.”
The beautiful birds folded their scarlet wings, tipped in yellow, and perched on the sides of the boat. Then they began giving out a peculiar, “Whee-whee,” as though they were enjoying the boat ride.
“Don’t they sound funny!” Ted said.
The birds soared away as the boat turned into Main Canal. A few minutes later, Dr. Kenton drove up to the building they had registered in the day before. But instead of docking at the building, Dr. Kenton continued along the canal beside the building in the direction of the other large building next to it.
“We’re going to the science building today,” the scientist explained.
“Why is that as big as the administration building?” Jill asked.
The birds soared away.
“Don’t forget, Jill, that science and research is our main business on Mars,” Dr. Kenton told her. “Every imaginable research project is carried on there. Your schoolroom is there, too.”
Dr. Kenton docked the boat at the science building, and the four got out and entered. When they had removed their space suits, Dr. Kenton took the children to the school superintendent’s office, where he left them. The superintendent had them fill out cards, and then he took them down a hall.
“We have only a hundred and fifty students enrolled, so we don’t need many classrooms,” he said, and stopped before one of the rooms, knocking on the door.
A dark-haired young man opened it, and the superintendent introduced him to the children as their teacher, Mr. Garland. He assigned the newcomers seats, and since school had already begun for the day, he went on with his lesson.
The room darkened, and a regular three-dimensional color movie flashed on the screen. It was a picture about the wonders of the Earth. Ted felt a lump rise in his throat as he watched. What he was looking at was the Natural Bridge in Virginia, not far from their old home. Ted looked at Jill. A stray pencil of light from the camera showed tears glistening in her eyes. Ted was feeling a wave of homesickness himself. The wonders of Mars were exciting, but there was no substitute in all the universe for their own little plot of ground on Earth where they had been born.
Ted was glad when the movie was over and another subject was taken up. With slides, Mr. Garland demonstrated the geography of Mars. Ted learned that the red planet was mostly a vast stretch of desert through which ran the marvelous network of canals. Mr. Garland likened the climate of Mars to that atop a high mountain on earth—the air thin and cold.
Ted was glad when the recreation period came and he could exercise.
It was his first such opportunity since leaving Earth. In the boys’ gym the athletic instructor was teaching the game of basketball. Some of the students like Randy had been born on Mars and knew nothing at all about the game. Ted said that he had played a lot of it in school back on Earth and volunteered to help the instructor, who was glad of the assistance.
When school was out, the young Kentons and Randy reported to the science-building office, where Dr. Kenton was waiting for them.
“Did you get your assignment?” Jill asked.
“Yes,” he replied. “I’ll be leaving you in a few days. We’re going on an expedition to Hellespontus, where some mysterious fossils have been discovered. They may be bones of the ancient Martians. If so, they could solve the baffling riddle of what happened to those remarkable canal builders.”
After getting into space clothes, they went to their boat and started homeward. As they approached their isolated house at the end of the winding watercourse, Ted rose in his seat and pointed.
“Look!” he exclaimed. “There’s the color bear again!”
Sure enough, seated on the front doorstep, as though waiting for them to return, was the little Martian animal they had rescued the night before.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Yank
“Isn’t he the cutest thing!” exclaimed Jill, as she saw the red-white-and-blue creature.
“I thought we were rid of him,” Dr. Kenton groaned.
He brought the boat to the end of the waterway and tied it up. The children leaped out and ran to the bear, who climbed to his chubby feet to greet them. He licked the suits of Ted and Randy but merely stared at Jill and Dr. Kenton.
“It looks like we just can’t get rid of him,” Ted said, renewing his hope for possession of the animal.
“Oh, Father, can’t we keep him?” Jill pleaded, stroking the color bear.
Randy patted the little round head, and the bear made a sort of purring, contented sound as the children fondled him.
Dr. Kenton threw up his hands helplessly. “I guess I know when I’m licked!” he burst out. “If Mother agrees, we’ll try and keep him. But you kids will have to attend to him yourselves, and mind you keep him out of the sand bog, or you won’t have him long.”
“We will!” Jill said. Now that she had made friends with the bear, he seemed ready to accept her and licked her suit as a sign of friendship.
Randy stayed outside with the bear while the other children went inside to talk persuasively with their mother. She objected at first, but finally yielded to their persistence.
“We’ll have to make out a requisition for plastic material for his outdoor house,” Dr. Kenton said. “Are you children willing to chip in part of your allowance to pay for it?”
They nodded.
“We’ll order it the same time as we do supplies for the garden,” the scientist said.
“We’re going to have a garden?” Jill burst out.
“I thought we’d try it,” her father said. “That’s the only way we can get fresh vegetables.”
When Dr. Kenton went to the study to make out the requisition slip, Ted asked his mother, “Why didn’t Dad want to keep the bear? It seems to me that he doesn’t like those little guys, or is afraid of them, or something.”
“As a matter of fact, he is a little shy of them, I believe,” she answered. “He accidentally hurt a baby one badly in one of his explorations a few years ago, when he crushed its forepaw under his boot and it ran off crying. Your father’s so tender-hearted he’s probably reminded of that painful incident every time he sees one of the animals.”
“Maybe he’ll change after the bear has been around for a while,” Jill put in.
The air-lock door opened, and Randy stuck his head in.
“We’d forgotten all about you, Randy!” Jill exclaimed.
“Are we going to keep him?” Randy asked anxiously.
“We sure are!” Jill piped. “Bring him in and let’s introduce him to Mother.”
Randy let the color bear inside. When he began staggering about, Mrs. Kenton exclaimed with horror: “He’s dying, the poor little fellow.”
Randy assured her he wasn’t really—that he behaved like this because of the extra oxygen in the air. Randy said that before long the bear would be able to go in and out without any bad effects at all.
Ted brought the animal over to his mother. She gingerly patted his blue furry head. In response he licked her dress. “Now we’re friends,” Mrs. Kenton said.
“We’ve got to give him a name,” Jill said. “What’ll we call him?”
“How about Fuzzy?” suggested Mrs. Kenton.
“No. Teddy!” Jill said.
Ted wrinkled his nose. “Then you’d get him mixed up with me. I think he ought to have a patriotic name because of his colors.”
“How about Yank, then?” Mrs. Kenton said.
“That’s a good one!” Jill agreed.
“Yeah, that’s swell!” Ted said. “What do you think, Randy?”
He shrugged and grinned. “It sounds all right to me, but I don’t know what it means.”
Ted explained the word as being sort of a nickname for America and Americans. Randy had learned quite a bit about the United States flag, but the word Yankee was a new one to him. After he learned its meaning, he agreed that Yank was a perfect name for the color bear. When Dr. Kenton returned, Ted felt that the final introduction to the newest member of their family should be made.
“Yank, meet Dr. Kenton,” Ted said formally.
Ted’s father smiled and approached the little animal. “Hi, Yank,” he said.
His hand went out to pat the round head, but to everyone’s surprise, Yank drew back with a cry of fright. Dr. Kenton’s face went red as if he had been snubbed by a human being. Ted felt sorry for his father. Did the bear unconsciously know what the scientist had done to another member of his kind?
“Don’t worry, John,” Mrs. Kenton said soothingly. “He’ll come around to you before long.”
Her husband quickly changed the subject. “I’ve made out the requisitions. I’ll send them over to headquarters now on the video-sender.”
The children watched interestedly as he went to the video-sender, which was connected to the radiophone. He fastened the slips face down on a glass plate and held open a switch for several seconds. About a minute later, a buzz came over the radiophone.
“That means it’s been received,” Dr. Kenton said. “I asked to have it sent to us tomorrow.”
“Why couldn’t you just phone it in?” Ted asked.
“This way there doesn’t have to be anyone on the other end,” his father explained. “The requisition was handled by an automatic machine.”
Yank was given temporary quarters in the basement. Dr. Kenton said he could not live indefinitely inside like this—that an outside shelter was absolutely necessary.
The next afternoon after school, Dr. Kenton brought the children home. Sitting outside the house on the ground were two pieces of specially formed plastic.
“Here are the things we ordered,” Dr. Kenton said. “The manufacturers shaped them on molds they already have on hand.”
The color bear’s house was a rounded dome resembling an Eskimo igloo. The garden shelter was oval and about twenty-five feet long.
“How are we going to lift those things?” Ted asked. “They must be awfully heavy!”
“On the contrary, they’re quite light,” Dr. Kenton said. “Each of you grab a handle on the side of the garden top and I’ll show you.”
They discovered they could lift the large object with ease. They carried it around the house, and Dr. Kenton showed how it would fit close to the wall. The entrance would be by way of the back door.
“The dome is double-walled!” Ted said.
“Of course, it is,” Dr. Kenton answered. “So is our house—and all the buildings on Mars.”
“Why?” Ted asked.
“For insulation against the cold,” was the reply. “The outer wall gets almost as cold as the temperature outside, but the vacuum between it and the inner wall keeps the inside nice and warm.”
“The walls are so clear in the house, I never noticed they were double,” Ted said.
“Shall we get started on the garden?” Dr. Kenton asked. “The sooner we get it in shape, the sooner we can grow tomatoes and beans and dwarf fruit trees.”
They first went into the house, where Mrs. Kenton showed them a large pile of supplies that had been sent along with the shelter tops.
“Here’s a foam-rubber mattress for Yank,” the scientist said, pulling out two bundles, “and a supply of food for him. Everything else is for the garden.”
The first thing the four of them did outside was set up Yank’s house, close to the front door, and lay out his sleeping mat. When this was done, the little animal walked cautiously inside and sniffed all around. Then he curled up on the soft cushion and closed his eyes.
“He seems satisfied with it,” said Jill.
First work on the garden was to air-seal it to the rear of the house. This was done with a strange-looking gun that shot a thick gluey liquid out along the seams between the plastic cover and the house. The rest of the work had to be done under the dome itself. The workers went back indoors and hauled all the equipment under the garden shelter.
“First we bring the warm house atmosphere into here, so that we can remove our space gear,” Dr. Kenton said.
When this was done, and with their space suits off, the workers could move about more efficiently.
“After supper we’ll prepare the ground, and tomorrow we can plant seeds,” Dr. Kenton said.
Ted thumped the hard, cold ground with his shoe. “How can we work this?” he asked. “It’s hard as stone, and it must be awfully cold.”
His father pulled some long steel spikes out of the mass of equipment. Then he took out a sledge hammer. He hammered the spikes at intervals in the ground along the sides of the dome. Then he attached an electrical circuit to each of them and the whole to a generator.
As the generator purred in operation, he said, “Infrared heat rays are being sent out by the spikes into the ground, warming it. After supper the ground will be thawed out so that we can till it.”
When they returned to the garden area after their last meal of the day, they found that the ground could be worked easily. Electric tools made the job quick and efficient. Fertilizer and soil conditioner were worked into the ground after the surface had been loosened up for several feet down.
“Did you say we could plant seeds tomorrow?” Jill asked, when they were through.
“That’s right,” her father replied. “The chemicals we have put in the ground are almost miraculous in the speed with which they work in the soil. They can literally do the job overnight.”
Jill and Ted went to bed tired and untroubled that night. But not Randy. Before Ted dropped off, he heard Randy tossing restlessly in the bunk below. Ted caught some of the words muttered by the boy: “Father ... miss you ... ever come back to me?”
They had been kept so busy during those first days in their new home that Ted had almost forgotten that Randy wasn’t his brother. Randy seemed to have taken to the family very well, Ted thought, but he realized no foster parents could take the place of his real father. As Ted fell asleep, he was thinking what an unhappy day it was going to be for all of them when Randy found out that his father was never going to return.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Illness Strikes
The young folks planted seeds the next afternoon when they came home from school. Then in the next few days, they could scarcely wait to see the first seedlings break through the soil. The little green crooks popped up the morning that Dr. Kenton was to leave on his expedition.
The scientist said that the plants would grow rapidly and produce edible food within the next ten days. He gave the children instructions for tending the crops, and they memorized his directions.
He had showed Jill, Ted, and Randy how to attend to the mechanical functions of the home and also how to run the boat. The three helped him to load his gear into the boat, and then stood by as Dr. Kenton bade farewell to his wife. There were tears in Mrs. Kenton’s eyes as she waved good-by from inside the house.
Yank watched the strange goings-on from in front of his own dwelling. He seemed to understand that Dr. Kenton was leaving, but he still had not made friends with him.
When they were all in the boat, Jill dropped a fuel pill into the tank, and Ted took the steering wheel. He skillfully guided the boat along the winding watercourse to Main Canal and along its length to the science building. They all helped unload the gear on the dock, and Dr. Kenton said that this was where they must part.
“You three will have to run things while I’m away,” the scientist told them. “You shouldn’t have any trouble, but if anything does happen, call headquarters for help. There’s one thing I want you to be sure to attend to. Bring the empty spare air cartridges in the closet down here and have them filled. You never know when you’ll need them.”
“We’ll bring them tomorrow on our way to school,” Ted promised.
Jill hugged her father hard and long. Like her mother, she was tearful at his leaving. Ted, himself, felt a tug of dread. He wondered if the trip into the Martian wilds would be a successful one or whether, as in the case of Randy’s father, it would end in disaster.
The children went on to school. Ted was glad to be going because it would take his and Jill’s minds off the melancholy of their father’s departure.
Ted found the opening lesson particularly interesting. In it he learned facts about the extinct native Martians. Mr. Garland showed slides on some diggings that had unearthed bones of these early people. The bones had been organized to the best of Earth scientists’ ability, but many were missing, and the reconstructed figures were largely guesswork. Ted wondered if his father’s expedition would uncover more information on these mysterious ancient people.
As the young Kentons and Randy started for home in the boat that afternoon, Jill complained of having a headache. Ted told her it was probably due to eyestrain from looking at the slides, and this seemed to satisfy her. But when Ted docked the boat at the house, Jill said she felt worse.
Yank came running out to greet them, but the boys were so concerned over Jill that they paid little attention to him. He stood off sulking and watched Ted help his sister out of the boat and through the air lock of their house.
“Mother, Jill is sick!” Ted called when they were inside.
Mrs. Kenton had been spraying the hose on the plastic floor and furniture. She turned it off and allowed the spring on the hose to pull it back into the wall opening. The water swirled through the drain in the center of the floor and disappeared in a matter of seconds.
“What’s wrong with her?” Mrs. Kenton asked in alarm.