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“Not a chance,” Jensen said. “Fuel, food, water, everything was calculated for a ten-day stay. That’s three days longer than Polaris had. We’re taking off this evening.”

The men nodded. They had no reason to complain. As the second to land on Mars, they were sure of a small but respectable footnote in the history books. They put their equipment through the sterilizer vent, sealed it, and climbed the ladder to the lock. Once they were inside, Vayne closed and dogged the hatch, and started to open the inside pressure door.

“Hold it!” Jensen called out.

“What’s the matter?”

“I thought I saw something on your boot,” Jensen said. “Something like a big bug.”

Vayne quickly ran his hands down the sides of his boots. The two men circled him, examining his clothing.

“Shut that inner door,” the captain said. “Wilks, did you see anything?”

“Not a thing,” the navigator said. “Are you sure, Cap? We haven’t found anything that looks like animal or insect life here. Only a few plants.”

“I could have sworn I saw something,” Jensen said. “Maybe I was wrong.... Anyhow, we’ll fumigate our clothes before we enter the ship proper. No sense taking any chance of bringing back some kind of Martian bug.”