Richard M. Elam

“ While the mud was washing down the drain Ted began to see what a beautiful creature the color bear really was. His soft fur was white next to the body, then merged into reddish brown at the tip. To make him even more colorful, his paws, legs, and head had a bluish tinge. “What a patriotic creature he would be on Earth,” Ted thought. He had all the colors of the American flag. ”

“ Nearly two days later Mars was a giant world dead ahead. Ted looked out the window with Jill and Randy and saw a close-up view of the strange land that was to be their new home. A great network of deep, straight gorges split the boundless stretches of red desert. ”

“ Dr. Kenton explained that the comet appeared to move slowly because it was coming practically head on. Steadily it blossomed wider, like an opening flower bud. In the center was a brilliant light, which was the head, or nucleus.
“Why won’t the gravitation of the comet pull us into it?” Ted asked.
“That’s because a comet has very little mass, or what we’d call real body, to it. It’s mostly a big lump of widely scattered gas particles.”
“How big is it?” Jill asked.
“The head is almost as big as Luna, and it has a tail many thousands of miles long,” her father answered. ”

“ Ted wanted to know.
“That’s frost,” Randy answered. “The sun never melts it completely. It never even gets up to zero in this latitude.”
Dr. Kenton, whose interest was beyond Mars at the moment, said, “Look, kids, there’s our comet again!”
He pointed it out to them in the heavens. It was a long streak across the sky. The nucleus burned brightly, like a heavenly torch.
“Now it really looks like a comet!” Ted declared.
“It’s beautiful!” Jill murmured.
“We’ll be able to see it from Mars for several days,” Dr. Kenton told them. “Then it’ll gradually disappear from view.” ”

“ But always there were canals, and more canals, draining the great icecaps and supplying the entire planet.
“Isn’t the sky pretty?” Jill said to Ted and Randy who were sitting behind her. “It seems we’re closer to the stars when we’re off the ground.”
Ted had to agree with her. The heavens were a deep gorgeous violet, with the starlight pulsing softly through. They traced the slow movement of Phobos, the timeteller, and they could also pick out the distant tiny moon, Deimos, that resembled a white arc light. ”

“ Hearing this, Ted felt even worse. “Maybe a wild animal got him,” he murmured. “If it hasn’t already, it probably will sooner or later. By the way, what kind of wild animals do they have here?”
“None of them ever come close to the colony,” Randy answered. “Hundreds of miles away, there’s the Great Martian Forest where all kinds of them live. One of the fiercest kinds are the elephant ants. Big herds of blue rovers run across the desert closer by. There are different kinds of birds here, too.”
“I’ve heard of a dangerous plant in the Great Forest,” Ted said. ”

“ As they waited, they stood before the big window looking out on the rugged globe of Luna. Dr. Kenton pressed a button on the sill that slid a darkening filter over the window. In this way, the blinding glare of the full moon was cut down considerably.
“Those big craters look just like eyes!” Ted exclaimed.
“It’s all so terribly rough-looking down there, I don’t see where we can land!” Mrs. Kenton said.
The scientist pointed. “See that large gray plain down there?” he said. “It’s the Sea of Serenity, and the Moon colony is located on one edge of it. We’re too far away yet to see it.” ”

“ It was natural that girls should be scared of things connected with space travel, he thought. “Thousands of miles an hour isn’t much,” he said lightly.
“But what if we should hit something!” Jill complained. “It would be an awful crash!”
“The only things we have to worry about hitting are meteors,” Ted told her. “The Shooting Star has radar instruments that tell us when they’re headed straight at us.”
“Father says that sometimes meteors come so fast that space ships can’t get out of the way of them,” Jill returned, with solemn eyes. ”

“ Ted and Jill were so enthusiastic over the proposed trip that they grabbed Yank’s paws and began dancing around with him. Randy stood watching them, not quite sharing their high spirits. When Ted saw him, he grabbed Randy’s hand and made him join in the celebration. A moment later Randy was enjoying himself as much as the rest.
Dr. Kenton said to Randy’s father: “They are in need of some space-port engineers back on Earth. If Randy would like to go with Ted and Jill, would you consider a job like that?” ”

“ Randy said. “Let’s brace ourselves and each take one of his paws.”
The black mud pulled strongly against them. After a few moments the boys’ arms ached from the tug of war, but they appeared to be winning the battle. Slowly the bear rose out of his trap. Just as Ted thought his own arms would be pulled off from the strain, the animal sucked free of the clutching slime and came tumbling up over Ted and Randy. ”

“ A moment later Randy and Jill came running up! He was never so glad to see two people in his life as he was then.
“What happened to you?” he asked them.
“The wind carried us down into the forest a little way,” Jill answered. “Oh, Ted, I was scared to death! Those whip plants throw out arms like an octopus at anything that comes near them! I almost got caught by one!”
Ted showed them the chutes that held spare air cartridges and food. Unfortunately, Mr. Garland had thrown out only a few supply chutes, not all of them. ”

“ Ted noticed that Dad seemed reluctant to leave Mom by herself, but she did not seem to mind.
“Don’t worry about me,” Mrs. Kenton said merrily. “I’ll have plenty to do unpacking our clothes and things that they dumped in the living room yesterday. I won’t even miss you four children!”
When the young folks and Dr. Kenton went outside in their space suits, Ted saw that the sun was just a little above the horizon. He had learned that men rose early on Mars to take advantage of the warmth and illumination of daylight. ”

“ At the center was the largest building of all. Ted asked his father what it was.
“That’s the headquarters building,” the scientist answered. “It’s called the Hub, and it acts as a central control for all the other buildings around the circle.”
“Why are the buildings connected with one another?” Jill wanted to know.
“That’s so the people inside can go from one to the other without having to put on space suits. You see, all the buildings and connecting corridors are filled with compressed air. The Moon has no air of its own, so it has to be manufactured just as it is on the Shooting Star.” ”

“ But when Ted told him of the danger, Randy bounced out of bed with no further prompting. Ted switched on a light, and just as he was reading the air-pressure gauge on the wall, he heard a shrill whistle in the house. It was the air alarm that had gone off automatically. Ted could see that the gauge read dangerously low.
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If he and Randy and the others did not get into space suits in a hurry they would suffer serious consequences, one of which could be an attack of the “bends.” At worst, they would lose consciousness and die of anoxia—oxygen starvation. ”

“ Here they meet Randy Matthews, whose father is missing on another Martian expedition, and arrangements are made for Randy to join the Kentons. The ship is repaired and takes off to continue the flight to Mars.
There new and exciting adventures befall Jill, Ted, and Randy. They rescue a color bear who becomes their pet; they discover an air leak in their space suits and barely escape with their lives; and eventually after encountering hitherto unknown dangers, they find the lost caves of the early Martians and open the way to research of the earlier civilization. ”

“ Ted saw the wisdom of her remark and gave up an impulse to look over the exciting story in pictures. Another flight of stairs was the only way out of the shrine, and without delay the three hurried up. They made a final turn on the stairs and then the subdued glare of Martian sunlight struck their faces. They were finally above ground.
They appeared to have walked into a sporting arena which was surrounded by tiers of stone seats, much in the manner of the ancient Roman Coliseum. ”

“ Ted got to his feet and helped Jill up.
“Will we ever get used to these funny shoes?” Jill complained.
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“We’ll have to,” Ted said. “If we didn’t wear them we’d go floating around in the air like a feather. That’s another disadvantage of leaving Earth. We don’t have any weight at all in space. If we wanted to, we could take off our shoes and stretch out in the air just like on a soft couch.” ”

“ As Mrs. Kenton switched off the phone, she said, “The nurse said that Jill should be put to bed and kept warm. Come on, Honey,” she added, helping Jill to her feet and leading her toward the guest room.
“Is the disease serious?” Ted asked Randy worriedly.
“It can be,” Randy answered soberly. “We’ll probably have to be quarantined,” he added.
“How long does bog fever last?” Ted asked.
“The crisis comes pretty quickly after the first attack,” Randy answered. “I remember, because a friend of mine had it. If they pass the crisis, they’re usually well in a few days.” ”

“ Jill asked.
“The most precious article in the house,” her father answered. “It’s our oxygen drum. The air from it enters a blower that carries it evenly through the building.”
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The last room was the most surprising of all. Dr. Kenton opened a heavy door, and Ted, standing in front of it, gasped as a blast of frigid air hit him. He saw his father grinning. “That gives you an idea of how cold the ground is,” Dr. Kenton said. “This is a natural deepfreeze. It never varies more than a few degrees all year ’round.” ”

“ Ted handed the glasses to Randy.
“It’s a color bear,” Randy whispered. “He’s stuck in the bog. He’ll never get out by himself.”
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Ted saw a wistful look on Randy’s face. “I sure hate to see anything happen to those little fellows. They’re so friendly.”
“You mean they make good pets?” Ted wanted to know.
“They sure do,” Randy answered. “I owned one once, until he fell into a bog. It seems they always end up in one sooner or later.” ”

“ They tried to shoo him off. This only made him hesitate momentarily and then start following again. Finally they gave up, permitting him to trail along at a distance.
When they reached the air lock, they opened the door. As they waited for the pressure to come up, the color bear stood outside looking in at them. Ted thought he had the most plaintive expression he had ever seen. It was almost human.
“We can’t let him stand out there like that all night,” Ted said. “He might wake up the whole house with his cries. They do cry, don’t they?”
“Just like babies,” Randy said. ”

“ They were not recognizable in their space dress, for even their helmets were too dark to show their faces.
“Gentlemen,” the TV announcer said to the survivors, “I’m sure every television set, at the colony and on faraway Earth too, is tuned to this spot. Of course, the big question in all the people’s minds is which of the men who were lost are among you alive. Will each of you pass before our camera and give your name?”
Ted felt his nerves tighten as the men, one by one, faced the screen. Two, three, then four bearded men passed and gave their names. Randy’s father was not one of them. ”

“ Suddenly a round face appeared at the side of the telescope. The face reminded Ted of a circus clown’s, with its wild, wispy hair and broad grin.
“John Kenton!” cried the little man, as he ran out and embraced Ted’s dad. The elderly scientist asked, “What in the world are you doing on Luna? And who are these young folks with you?”
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Dr. Kenton explained that he was on a stop-over to Mars, and he introduced the children to the funny little scientist, whose name was Dr. Beeler.
“We had some time to kill so we decided to visit the observatory,” Dr. Kenton finished. ”

“ Mr. Matthews laughed. “I’m afraid that’s carrying hospitality too far. No, we’ll build us a house of our own, as close by as we can. Until we get an allotment of housing material, we’ll get a room in headquarters.”
“There’s no use both of you living there,” Mrs. Kenton said. “Why not led Randy stay on here until your house is ready to move into?”
“Sure,” Ted put in. “Why can’t Randy do that?” He had been saddened at the thought of Randy leaving the household. It had seemed as though Randy was going to be with them always, for he had not believed that Randy’s father was ever coming back. ”

“ Matthews over the exciting things they would see. Randy had been quite as interested as Ted and Jill about the coming adventure.
Suddenly Ted said: “Take Jill’s and my name off the list too, Mr. Garland. I don’t think two of us should go if the third one can’t.”
“That’s right,” Jill agreed.
“That doesn’t make sense, you two,” Randy protested.
Mr. Garland looked up. “There’s no sense both of you missing the trip for the sake of one. It’s the educational opportunity of a lifetime.” ”

“ All the furniture was of beautiful colored plastic, and waterproof, much like the styles that were popular back on Earth. The floor likewise was of poured plastic, so that the whole interior could be cleaned with a hose.
Mr. Cooper prepared to take his leave. “The things you brought from Earth and your months’ food supply will be sent out in a little while. New oxygen drums are brought around once a week. If you ever need to call the headquarters building, just use the radiophone over there on the wall. Every home has its own broadcast band.” ”

“ Ted and Jill Kenton and their parents are en route by space ship to Mars where Dr. Kenton is to pursue scientific research. As they are guided around the flying space ship, a crisis develops. Another space ship is bearing down on their own craft. The ships just manage to scrape by each other, but the Kenton ship is slightly damaged and must make an emergency landing on the moon for repairs. ”

“ Before leaving Earth, Dr. Kenton had explained to his family about the transportation system that connected the people with the main headquarters building of Lowell Harbor. When the colony had first been built, it was figured that the cost of fuel and cars for each individual family could be saved by making use of the natural waterways. A simple aluminum boat could run on cheaper fuel. ”

“ He reached out to pet the little Martian animal, but Yank drew back. “I can’t understand your attitude, young fellow.”
Ted thought this the proper moment to bring up a very important matter. “Dad,” he began, “Jill and Randy and I have signed up for a sight-seeing plane tour of Mars with our school class. Mom says it’s all right for us to go if you agree.”
Dr. Kenton thought a moment, and Ted felt doubtful. Then his father said, “I think it would be a grand thing for you. You can get a lot better picture of this planet from the air than you ever can from the ground.” ”