Miss Tweedham took the bum-bum gun.

"Do you know how to operate it?" Sanderson said.

She turned the weapon in her fingers. "Yes, I know how to use it."

"Eh?" Sanderson seemed startled.

"Move on, Baby," Big Marie said again. Miss Tweedham moved on. Big Marie took a bum-bum gun. In addition, she requested a knife. From another box Sanderson supplied her with a blade ten inches long. She tested the edge on her thumb. "I'll have to hone it," she said.

"Be sure you remember whose throat you are to cut," Sanderson said.

"I won't forget that."

"It isn't my throat," Sanderson said.

"Isn't it?" Big Marie answered.

When the guns and knives had been distributed, Sanderson opened another box. Maps were in it. They were crudely but clearly drawn. He distributed them to a number of key men. "You will find detailed instructions here for you and your group. I don't suppose I need to remind you of the consequences of failure."

Again the buzz ran through the room.

"You seem to have everything well organized," Miss Tweedham said:

"Organization was my line before I came to Mars," Sanderson answered. He lifted his voice. "Deimos is the signal. When it rises above the horizon tonight, we go into action."

The buzz grew louder. To Miss Tweedham, it sounded like a swarm of angry hornets.

Seeming to be a part of the night, four figures crouched against the wall beside the closed door. Bright stars twinkled overhead. In this thin air there seemed to be millions of stars sprinkled like arc lights in the sky.

Miss Tweedham clutched the bum-bum gun and listened to the sound of her own heart. Beside her, Big Marie leaned against the wall in nonchalant ease. On the other side of her, Sanderson and the Martian L'Sor whispered quietly.

"Is that Martian all right?" Miss Tweedham said to Big Marie.

"If he ain't, we're in the soup."

"But how do we know?"

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