sted.

They located the mess halls, the base movie house, post exchange, and
post office. There was also a laundry and a snack bar. Set off by itself
was a recreation hall, equipped with TV sets, comfortable chairs, card
tables, and pool tables.

Rick followed the map to the laboratory buildings, and was surprised to
find that they were enormous sheds, like hangars. Most of the doors were
wide open, and he caught glimpses of shapes that could only have been
rocket sections. His pulse quickened. There was an atmosphere of
excitement, of big jobs being performed. At least his quick imagination
told him there was.

Then, in one shed he saw the broken remains of a rocket. From its size
he concluded that it must be the Viking that had crashed. The sight
brought sharp realization of the real job he and Scotty were here to do.

Rick checked his map. "Our barracks has space for eighty bunks. And,
according to this, there are twenty-eight barracks."

"Interesting facts about Scarlet Lake," Scotty declaimed. "What about
it?"

"That's over two thousand men."

"A lot of men," Scotty agreed. "What are you getting at?"

"Needles in haystacks. Out of more than two thousand we're supposed to
pick one--the Earthman!"

CHAPTER V

Project Pegasus

Dr. Gerald Gould, known to the staff as "Gee-Gee," looked more like a
high school football coach than a scientist. His blond hair was cropped
short, and his face was boyish except for a beautifully waxed
military-style mustache. His speech was a remarkable combination of
slang and rocket jargon.

He asked, "Do you know vector analysis?"

Rick shook his head. "No, sir."

"Hmmm. Well, boy-oh, we'll plant you with the electronic cooks in the
spaghetti department. It says in your job application that you've had
plenty of experience in circuit wiring. Roger?"

"Yes, sir." Rick understood that he was to join the technicians in the
wiring department. His eyes kept wandering into the huge shed that
housed the project on which he was to work. He identified rocket
sections, and pretty big ones at that. The rocket was not assembled, but
apparently it would tower several stories into the air when assembly was
complete. One thing puzzled, him, however. One section obviously had
wings. They couldn't be anything else, even though they were tiny and
thin as knives. He hadn't heard anything about rockets with wings.

Dr. Gould saw that he was staring with interest at the activity in