The navigator shrugged his shoulders. "Just photographs of the landscape." "OK," Jensen said. "Dump everything into the sterilizer and let's get going." Wilks looked mournful. "Captain, one quick sweep to the north might turn up something really--" "Not a chance," Jensen said. "Fuel, food, water, everything was calculated for a ten-day stay. That's three days longer than _Polaris_ had. We're taking off this evening." The men nodded. They had no reason to complain. As the second to land on Mars, they were sure of a small but respectable footnote in the history books. They put their equipment through the sterilizer vent, sealed it, and climbed the ladder to the lock. Once they were inside, Vayne closed and dogged the hatch, and started to open the inside pressure door. "Hold it!" Jensen called out. "What's the matter?" "I thought I saw something on your boot," Jensen said. "Something like a big bug." Vayne quickly ran his hands down the sides of his boots. The two men circled him, examining his clothing. "Shut that inner door," the captain said. "Wilks, did you see anything?" "Not a thing," the navigator said. "Are you sure, Cap? We haven't found anything that looks like animal or insect life here. Only a few plants." "I could have sworn I saw something," Jensen said. "Maybe I was wrong.... Anyhow, we'll fumigate our clothes before we enter the ship proper. No sense taking any chance of bringing back some kind of Martian bug." The men removed their clothing and boots and stuffed them into the chute. They searched the bare steel room carefully. "Nothing here," Jensen said at last. "OK, let's go inside." Once inside the ship, they sealed off the lock and fumigated it. The Quedak, who had crept inside earlier through the partially opened pressure door, listened to the distant hiss of gas. After a while he heard the jets begin to fire. The Quedak retreated to the dark rear of the ship. He found a metal shelf and attached himself to the underside of it near the wall. After a while he felt the ship tremble. * * * * * The Quedak clung to the shelf during the long, slow flight through space. He had forgotten what spaceships were like, but now memory revived briefly. He felt blazing heat and freezing cold. Adjusting to the temperature changes drained his small store of vitality, and the Quedak began to wonder if he was going to die. He _refused_ to die. Not while there was still a possibility of accomplishing the Quedak mission. In time he felt the harsh pull of gravity, and felt the main jets firing again. The ship was coming down to its planet. * * * * * After a routine landing, Captain Jensen and his men were taken to Medic Checkpoint, where they were thumped, probed and tested for any sign of disease.