ble, to find a place for our new
colony--somewhere in South America?--and make preliminary arrangements
to receive us. You must be back by Tuesday afternoon at the latest. On
Tuesday, as soon as you have reported back to BureauMed, get to the
Institute as fast as you can."

"Why the deadline?"

"Because by Tuesday afternoon, sometime before evening, probably, I
expect all three of you to be suffering from an attack of Blue Martian
Fever, and I want you to get expert hospital care. You will be the
nucleus of the new regime."

Karl laughed. "I wish you could have picked a base for your SDE that was
less unpleasant than Blue Martian."

"Who's got Blue Martian?" asked Tanya, as the girls came in from the
kitchen with their trays of food. "I'll never forget how sick it made
me."

"You should worry," said Leah. "It kept you young and beautiful, didn't
it?"

"You won't have to envy her, Leah," said David going to the liquor
cabinet. "I'm going to give you and the others a shot of the SDE-Martian
Blue. Sometime Tuesday afternoon you should feel the first symptoms. But
after forty-eight hours in the hospital, you'll be good as new. And you
will all stop growing older."

They watched, fascinated, as he opened the cooling compartment of the
liquor cupboard.

"I always like plenty of ice in my drinks," he remarked, drawing out a
tray of cubes and opening a small door behind the tray. He removed
several small bottles filled with a milky liquid, and a copper box of
sterile needles and syringes.

[Illustration]

"Who'll be first?"

There was a knock at the door, and David stopped.

"What is it?" he called.

"Me," came the watchguard's voice. "Just thought I'd do you a favor and
tell you it's only ten minutes till checkout time. Time to get
yourselves decent!"

They could hear the rumble of his laugh as he moved on down the hall.
Trembling, David picked up a bottle, poured alcohol onto the rubber cap,
and deftly filled the sterile syringe. He reached for a piece of cotton,
dipped it in iodine, and looked up, waiting. Karl Haslam had already
bared his left arm. David swabbed the spot on the upper deltoid.

Karl laughed. "Here I come, Methuselah!"

"All set?" asked David.

He plunged the needle home.

* * * * *

David ran up the steps of the Institute, two at a time, and hurried
toward his office through the echoing corridors, where the usual
watchguard sauntered on patrol.

"M