twenty-five-year gap in
my memory," he said. "It seems to me that it has been less than a month
ago that Goat and I were together, with other refugees from the
government edict, in the Icaria Desert. Why did you ask me about Goat?"

"Because the government brought him back to Mars City not three months
ago," answered the Chief. "None of us had any idea where he was, but it
turns out that the government has had him working under surveillance
some place in the Xanthe Desert north of Solis Lacus. Since it was not
far from Solis Lacus that you were picked up, I wondered if you had had
any contact with him."

"Not that I remember," said Dark. "Do you have another of those cigars?"

"Why, yes," answered the Chief, startled. He produced another Hadriacum
cigar and handed it to Dark. Dark lit it and puffed the fragrant smoke
with evident enjoyment.

"As I say, the last time I remember seeing Goat was in the Icaria
Desert, in a dome we had set up there," said Dark. "The next thing I
remember is waking up in the midst of some sort of cave in a different
part of Icaria, surrounded by Martians.

"I could communicate with them in a fashion--something I was never able
to do before--and they were able to write the name of the Childress
Barber College so I could read it. But they evidently don't
differentiate our dome cities by name. I had no idea the college was
here in Mars City until your men contacted me; I just assumed it was at
Solis Lacus."

"You'd have waged a merry search for it, clear on the other side of
Mars," remarked the Chief. "What was your purpose in finding it?"

"I don't know that I had any specific purpose," replied Dark easily. "I
gathered from the Martians that here I could find someone who concurred
with my philosophy of resisting the government edict against seeking
self-sufficiency on Mars, and this was more or less confirmed by your
two men who contacted me at Solis Lacus."

"I'll see to it that in the future they're not quite so frank until
they're sure of their man," said the Chief darkly. He looked quizzically
at Fancher, and Fancher nodded slightly. "But it's true. As a matter of
fact, the Phoenix follows the path toward self-sufficiency that you
recommended, rather than the one sought by Goat Hennessey."

"That's the wrong way to approach it," said Dark promptly. "Goat and the
other scientists were following a line offering valid possibilities in
their genetic research. The only reason the rest