smooth clay. Then, as the desert rose
from smooth plain to mountains, the ground became simply broken rock,
sparsely dotted with creosote bush and cholla.

Once or twice he turned and looked back at the road over which they had
come. The jeep left a trail of dust behind it, but he could see no dust
from any other vehicle. Apparently they were well ahead of Big Mac and
Pancho. He hoped they would stay ahead.

"If Mac and Pancho do catch up," he said thoughtfully, "we can always
say we just came out for the ride, to see a little of the country."

Scotty gave him a sideways glance. "Think they'd buy it?"

"Could be. They have no reason to suspect us. We're just a couple of
kids who work on the base."

The road was steep now, and Scotty shifted into second to take some of
the strain off the engine.

Careless Mesa loomed ahead. Rick wondered if the road led all the way to
the top. Apparently it did, because the trail twisted and turned,
climbing constantly. He closed his eyes and visualized the map.
Somewhere up there the road split.

Suddenly Scotty pointed. "Look!"

In a shady spot just off the road two sidewinders were coiled on a rock,
beady eyes watching the jeep's passage. The snakes were the color of
mottled sand, the "horns" on their diamond-shaped heads clearly
identifiable. Their tails were a blur, and he knew they were rattling a
warning, but the distinctive buzz couldn't be heard above the jeep's
engine noise.

Rick restrained a shudder. Although he had no particular fear of snakes,
he had an inborn dislike of the creatures. He had read that the
sidewinder, or "horned" rattlesnake, was common in the Western deserts.

Then the jeep rounded a turn with a sheer drop of several hundred feet
on Rick's side, and the sidewinders were lost to view. Rick looked down
at the steep slope and said, "Nice place to meet a car coming down."

"Let's not meet one," Scotty replied. He had to drop back into first
gear now, because the climb was very steep.

The road cut through a notch and emerged onto a relatively level area.
Rick tried to get his bearings. The road had twisted and turned so much
he had lost his sense of direction. The sun's position helped him to get
oriented again, and he realized they were high on the side of Careless
Mesa, overlooking the road across which they had just traveled.

"Clearing ahead," Scotty said. "Bet we've reached the station."

He was right. The road led across a wide shelf, per