into darkness.

XXVII

We crouched in the shadows, the Earthlight filtering down to us. The
skulking figure of Miko had vanished; but I was sure he was out there
somewhere on the crags, lurking, maneuvering to where he could strike
us with his ray. Anita's metal-gloved hand was on my arm; in my
ear-diaphragm her voice sounded eager:

"What was the signal, Gregg?"

I told her everything.

"Oh Gregg! The Martian ship coming!"

Her mind clung to that as the most important thing. But not so myself.
To me there was only the realization that Anita was caught out here,
almost at the mercy of Miko's ray. Grantline's men could not get out
to help us, nor could I get Anita into the camp.

She added, "Where do you suppose the ship is?"

"Twenty or thirty thousand miles up, probably."

The stars and the Earth were visible over us. Somewhere up there,
disclosed by Grantline's instruments but not yet discernible to the
naked eye, Miko's reinforcements were hovering.

We lay for a moment in silence. It was horribly nerve straining. Miko
could be creeping up on us. Would he dare chance my sudden fire?
Creeping--or would he make a swift, unexpected rush?

The feeling that he was upon us abruptly swept me. I jumped to my
feet, against Anita's effort to hold me. Where was he now? Was my
imagination playing me tricks?...

I sank back. "That ship should be here in a few hours."

I told her what Grantline's signal had suggested; the ship was
hovering overhead. It must be fairly close; for Grantline's telescope
had revealed its identity as an outlaw flyer, unmarked by any of the
standard code identification lights. It was doubtless too far away as
yet to have located the whereabouts of Grantline's camp. The Martian
brigands knew that we were in the vicinity of Archimedes, but no more
than that. Searching this glowing Moon surface, our tiny local
semaphore beams would certainly pass unnoticed.

But as the brigand ship approached now--dropping close to Archimedes
as it probably would--our danger was that Miko and his men would then
signal it, join it, and reveal the camp's location. And the brigand
attack would be upon us!

I told this now to Anita. "The signal from Grantline said, '_Unless
you can stop them._'"

It was an appeal to me. But how could I stop them? What could I do,
alone out here with Anita, to cope with this enemy?

Anita made no comment.

I added, "That ship will land near Archimedes, within an