thought. To go below for water was absolutely necessary, but a purely defensive action which could at best only postpone the end. And nothing had ever been won by defensive action alone. Pure defense always meant eventual defeat. He thought some more, then scrambled hurriedly down the rocks just as Klev completed the diagram. "Sue," he panted, still out of breath. "Those creatures bred to tunnel and pump water. Are they still alive? Is there any way to make them work? Ask him!" Sue hesitated, not understanding. "Can they pump water up as well as down? Ask him!" Nick barked impatiently. Suspicion showed in the Martian's manner as Sue made the request. "He won't answer until he knows what you're planning," she reported. "If the Exploiters found water they'd never leave." "One of us has to get back to Earth." Nick tried to be as patient as possible. "After everything that happened during the War years you can be damned sure the New Governments would handle Harmon fast and tough—if they knew what he is doing and planning. We need a ship, but when the next supply ship comes out eight weeks from now it will be too late. We've got to get a ship out ahead of schedule, and only one thing will do it. Water!" "But how can you get—?" "I'm not sure, yet," he admitted. "But it's worth a chance. Now ask him again." The Martian looked doubtful. For a moment his hand hovered over the chart in the sand as though to erase it. "Give him time," Susan advised. "It's a gamble," Nick admitted. "But the voras—" "Live almost forever," she responded. "Whether we could make them work for us—" The sun was almost down before Klev decided, but then he chirped and clicked for a good three hours. The water caves could be reached, he said, but some of the vora burrows through which they must crawl were so small it would be impossible to carry him, and his own strength was insufficient. And the distance from the water caves to the surface was too great for him to reach the water-voras by thought alone, the usual method.
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