I.

Guy Maynard left the Bureau of Exploration Building at Sahara Base andwalked right into trouble. It came more or less of a surprise; not thetrouble as a condition but the manner and place of its coming was theshocking quality. Guy Maynard was used to trouble but like all men whohold commissions in the Terran Space Patrol, he was used to trouble inthe proper places and in the proper doses.

But to find trouble in the middle of Sahara Base was definitelystunning. Sahara Base was as restricted an area as had ever beenguarded and yet trouble had come for Guy.

The trouble was a MacMillan held in the clawlike hand of a Martian. Thebad business end was dead-center for the pit of Guy's stomach and thesteadiness of the weapon's aim indicated that the Martian who held theopposite end of the ugly weapon knew his MacMillans.

Maynard's stomach crawled, not because of the aim on said midriff, butat the idea of a MacMillan being aimed at any portion of the anatomy.His mind raced through several possibilities as he recalled previousmental theories on what he would do if and when such a thing happened.

In his mind's eye, Guy Maynard had met MacMillan-holding Martiansbefore and in that mental playlet, Guy had gone into swift action usinghis physical prowess to best the weapon-holding enemy. In all of histhoughts, Guy had succeeded in erasing the menace though at one timeit ended in death to the enemy and at other times Guy had used theenemy's own weapon to march him swiftly to the Intelligence Bureaufor questioning. The latter always resulted in the uncovering of somemalignant plot for which Maynard received plaudits, decorations, and anincrease in rank.

Now Guy Maynard was no youngster. He was twenty-four, and welleducated. He had seen action before this and had come through theMartio-Terran incident unscathed. Openly he admitted that he had beenlucky during those weeks of trouble but in his own mind, Maynardsecretly believed that it was his ability and his brain that broughthim through without a scratch.

His dreaming of action above and beyond the call of duty was normal forany young man of intelligence and imagination.

But as his mind raced on and on, it also came to the conclusion thatthe law of survival was higher than the desire to die for a theory.

Therefore it was with inward sickness that Guy Maynard stopped short onthe sidewalk before the Bureau of Exploration Building and did nothing.He did not look around because the fact that this Martian was able tostand before him in Sahara Base with a MacMillan pointed at his stomachwas evidence enough that they were alone on the street. Had anyoneseen them, the Martian would have been literally torn to bits by thesemi-permanent MacMillan mounts that lined the roof tops.

The Martian had everything his own way, and so Maynard waited. It wasthe Martian's move.

"Guy Maynard?"

Maynard did not feel that such an unnecessary question required ananswer. The Martian would not have been menacing him if he hadn't knownwhom he wanted.