"Then there was the matter of the views of Mars," the general went on. "The aerial shots of the 'canals' were regarded as very cleverly done." He turned to Pruffy, who opened his briefcase and handed a couple of photos across. "This is a scene taken from the film," Smale said. It was an 8x10 color shot, showing a row of mounds drifted with pinkish dust, against a blue-black horizon. Smale placed another photo beside the first. "This one," he said, "was taken by automatic cameras in the successful Mars probe of last year." I looked. The second shot was fuzzy, and the color was shifted badly toward the blue, but there was no mistaking the scene. The mounds were drifted a little deeper, and the angle was different, but they were the same mounds. "In the meantime," Smale bored on relentlessly, "a number of novel products appeared on the market. Chemists and physicists alike were dumfounded at the theoretical base implied by the techniques involved. One of the products--a type of pigment--embodied a completely new concept in crystallography." "Progress," I said. "Why, when I was a boy----" "It was an extremely tortuous trail we followed," Smale said. "But we found that all these curious observations making up the 'Martians' file had, in the end, only one factor in common. And that factor, Mr. Legion, was you." CHAPTER IX It was a few minutes after sunrise, and Smale and I were back on the terrace toying with the remains of ham steaks and honeydew. "That's one advantage of being in jail in your own house--the food's good," I commented. "I can understand your feelings," Smale said. "Frankly, I didn't relish this assignment. But it's clear that there are matters here which require explanation. It was my hope that you'd see fit to cooperate voluntarily." "Take your army and sail off into the sunrise, General," I said. "Then maybe I'll be in a position to do something voluntary." "Your patriotism alone----" "My patriotism keeps telling me that where I come from, a citizen has certain legal rights," I said. "This is a matter that transcends legal technicalities," Smale said. "I'll tell you quite frankly, the presence of the task force here only received _ex post facto_ approval by the Peruvian government. They were faced with the _fait accompli_. I mention this only to indicate just how strongly the government feels in this matter." "Seeing you hit the beach with a platoon of infantry was enough of a hint for me," I said. "You're lucky I didn't wipe you out with my disintegrator rays." Smale choked on a bite of melon. "Just kidding," I said. "But I haven't given you any trouble. Why the reinforcements?" Small stared at me. "What reinforcements?" I pointed with a fork. He turned, gazed out to sea. A conning tower was breaking the surface, leaving a white wake behind. It rose higher, water streaming off the deck. A hatch popped open, and men poured out, lining up. Smale got to his feet, his napkin falling to the floor.