The seven sat down to their first meal under the Martian stars and while
they ate the rich, delicate foods, they listened to the words of Larkin.
"A new empire waiting to be built. A whole planet--virgin--new."

"Not new," Dane, the archeologist, said. "It's older than Earth. It's
been worked before."

Larkin waved an impatient hand. "But hardly scratched. It can have risen
and fallen a thousand times for all we care. The important thing is the
vital ingredient of empire. Is it here? Can it be harnessed? Are we or
are we not, on the threshold of wealth, splendor, and progress so great
as to take away the breath?"

And as Larkin spoke, all seven men looked at the Martians; looked
covertly while appearing to study the rolling plain and the purple
ridges far away; the texture of the soil; the color of the sky; the food
on their plates; the steaming fragrance of their coffee. They looked at
all these things but they studied the Martians.

"Stupid-looking animals," Evans muttered. "Odd though. So like us--yet
so different."

At first there had been only a handful of Martians to grin at the
landing of the ship. Now they numbered over a hundred, their ranks
augmented by stragglers who came to stare with their fellows in happy
silence.

"The prospects are excellent," Cleve said. Then he jerked his attention
back to Larkin from whom it had momentarily wandered. When Larkin spoke,
one listened.

* * * * *

Larkin had been directing his words toward a young man named Smith.
Smith had inherited a great deal of money which was fine. But Larkin
wasn't too sure of his qualifications otherwise. "--the pyramids,"
Larkin was saying. "Would they have ever been built if the men up
above--the men with vision--had had to worry about a payroll?"

Smith regarded the Martians with not quite the impersonal stare of the
other six Earthlings. Once or twice he grinned back at them. "I'll grant
the truth of what you say," he told Larkin, "but what good were the
pyramids? They're something I could never figure."

Smith had a sardonic twist of mouth that annoyed Larkin. "Let's not
quibble, man. I merely used the pyramids as an example. Call them
Empire; call them any Empire on Earth from the beginning of known
history and let's face facts."

"Facts?" Smith asked. He had been looking at a six-foot-six Martian,
thinking what a magnificent specimen he was. If only they'd wipe off
those silly grins.

"Yes,