‘You can’t blame Van,’ Hazel pointed out. ‘It would mean his ticket.’
‘I’m not blaning anybody! I’m just mad, that’s all.’
‘Well, what next?’
He thought about it. ‘The rest of you do what you like for the next hour or so. I’m going to the administration building — it’s that dome back there. I’ll meet you all at the ship — berth thirteen.’
The twins elected to walk on east while Meade and Hazel returned at once to the ship — Buster was getting restless. The boys wanted a really good look at Mars. They had watched it through the Stone’s ports, of course, on the approach — but this was different… more real, somehow — not framed like a television shot. Three more miles brought all of it in sight, or all of it that was illuminated, for the planet was in half phase to them, the Sun being at that point almost overhead.
They studied the ruddy orange deserts, the olive green fertile stretches, the canals stretching straight as truth across her flat landscape. The south polar cap was tipped slightly toward them; it had almost disappeared. Facing them was the great arrowhead of Syrtis Major.
They agreed that it was beautiful, almost as beautiful as Luna — more beautiful perhaps than Earth in spite of Earth’s spectacular and always changing cloud displays. But after a while they grew bored with it and headed back to the ship.
They found berth thirteen without trouble and walked up into the ship. Meade had dinner ready; Hazel was playing with Buster. Their father came in just as they were ready to eat. ‘You,’ announced Hazel, ‘looked as if you had bribed a chair-warmer.’
‘Not quite.’ He hesitated, then said, ‘I’m going into quarantine with Edith. I’ll come out when she does.’
‘But Daddy —’ protested Meade.
‘I’m not through. While I’m gone Hazel takes command. She is also head of this family.’
‘I always have been,’ Hazel said smugly.
‘Please, Mother. Boys, if she finds it necessary to break your arms, please be advised that the action is authorised in advance. You understand me?’
‘Yes sir.’ — ‘Aye aye, sir.’
‘Good. I’m going to pack now and leave.’
‘But Daddy!’ Meade objected, almost in tears, ‘aren’t you going to wait for dinner?’
He stopped and smiled. ‘Yes, sugar pie. You are getting to be a good cook, did you know?’
Castor glanced at Pollux, then said, ‘Uh, Dad, let me get this straight. We are simply to wait here in the ship — on this under-sized medicine ball until you and Mother get out of hock?’
‘Why, yes — no, that isn’t really necessary. I simply hadn’t thought about it. If Hazel is willing, you can close down the ship and go down to Mars. Phone us your address and we’ll join you there. Yes, I guess that’s the best scheme.’
The twins sighed with relief.
XI — ‘WELCOME TO MARS!’
Roger Stone promptly caught the epidemic disease and had to be nursed through it — and thereby extended the quarantine time. It gave the twins that much more time in which to exercise their talent for trouble. The truncated family went from Phobos down to Marsport by shuttle — not the sort of shuttle operating between Pikes Peak and Earth’s station, but little glider rockets hardly more powerful than the ancient German war rockets. Mars’ circular-orbit speed is only a trifle over two miles per second.
Nevertheless the fares were high … and so were freight charges The twins had unloaded their cargo, moved it to the freight lots between the customs shed and the administration building and arranged for it to follow them down, all before they boarded the shuttle. They had been horrified when they were presented with the bill — payable in advance. It had come to more than the amount they had paid their father for the added ship’s costs of boosting the bicycles all the way to Mars.
Castor was still computing their costs and possible profits as the five Stones were strapping down for the trip down to Marsport. ‘Pol, he said fretfully, ‘we’d better by a darn sight get a good price for those bikes.’