edded down gratefully.

"Strange, isn't it? The war over. The invaders blasted from the earth.
All peril gone. And yet--men disappear."

Jarvis stared at the ruins around them. "I can't take much more, Mark.
Twelve years of war is enough. Are we never to have a life--have our
home and women back, and--_peace_?"

"Sure, it's been tough. But think of the women and children isolated on
that sub-satellite. It's tougher for them--just waiting." Stretched on
his back, Mark stared at the cloudless, evening sky. "But pretty soon
we'll get this planet cleaned up and bring them in. Christ! Four years
without even seeing a woman. I remember the last time--"

"Okay!" Jarvis interrupted impatiently. "Let's get to sleep."

"Sure, pal. Goodnight."

They fell asleep to dream of green hills, corn ripening, apples roasting
over an open fire. Peace, and home, and girls, their firm legs flashing
in the sun.

Soldierlike, Mark was suddenly awake. He lay without motion, sensitive
to some subtle change in the surroundings. From the corner of his eye he
could see Jarvis wrapped in sleep. The silence seemed eternal.

Then, whisper-soft, came a murmur, a sound, a voice. A girl's voice,
sighing and singing, from deep in that devastated spot.

A woman!

* * * * *

Instantly, Mark was on his feet. No need to wake Jarvis. Plenty of time
for Jarvis to find out--afterwards. But not yet! A miracle that a girl
had survived in all that wreckage. But a miracle he wanted to savour
alone!

Ahead, the path turned and Mark followed it as it went forward again,
downhill, between the massed walls of rubble. Now the voice swelled, a
melancholy song. Well, she won't be melancholy for long, Mark thought.
Her solitary ordeal was over.

"Mark!" Jarvis stood on an upturned lintel, ten feet above Mark's head.
As Mark jerked to a stop at the cry, Jarvis jumped into his path. "You
fool! Don't you know it's a trap?"

"So that's how you want to play it? The noble friend, protecting me from
myself!" He slammed a fist into the side of Jarvis' head. "Well, I won't
bite! She's mine! I found her!"

* * * * *

In silence, in the narrow passage between the rocks, the two fought.
Suddenly, above the sound of fist on flesh, came the voice of the girl
again, clear, young. "She _is_ there," thought Jarvis. He could almost
taste her lips on his. The sensation came as a shock. How did he know?
He'd neve