Inside the room was a tremendous array of complex electrical apparatus. Ronson had never seen anything as good as this in even the best laboratories back on Earth. He could not even guess the purpose of most of the equipment, it had been designed by a Martian mind and constructed by Martian hands--with a Martian goal in view. Set in the middle of the room were the control panels of the equipment. Directly above the panels was a smoky visio screen that revealed dimly what was happening in the cavern. Just rising from his place at the controls was--the Messenger. He looked up and into the muzzle of the needle gun Ronson was holding. A tiny startled reaction played across his poised face, disturbing the many wrinkles there, then was gone. A smile replaced it. "Ah, yes. I had just discovered you were missing and I was starting to look for you." Behind him, Ronson heard Jennie Ware catch her breath. He knew she was thinking that they should have run while they had the chance. "We saved you the trouble, Les Ro," Ronson said. The startled reaction was more pronounced this time. "You guessed?" "That Les Ro and his Messenger were one and the same? It was obvious when you did not need to communicate what I had said to Les Ro. How many others are here with you?" The question was important. Their own survival depended on the number of Martians here. The startled reaction was very real this time. "No one else is here?" "You are alone!" "I am alone. Many times I have longed--" "Watch him Jim." Crick whispered. "This doesn't smell right to me." "Do you mean to tell me that you alone built this apparatus?" Ronson gestured toward the array of equipment in the room. "This? This is only a part. It was a long task. Many weary years I have spent here--" "He's telling the truth, Jim," Jennie Ware whispered. "But one pair of hands, to build all of this." Shock was in Ronson, perhaps even greater shock than he had experienced in the cavern. He stared at Les Ro. Respect was in him and admiration, if not liking. "Then you are indeed a genius. The rumors were partly right, after all." "Thank you." "But why couldn't you get someone to help you?" Sadness showed on Les Ro's face. "You have seen the people in the drinking room below. Which of them could understand how an electron circles in its orbit? Many times I have tried to train the brightest of them. The result was inevitable failure. That is why, when you came--" Longing came into Les Ro's eyes. "Watch him, Jim," Crick whispered.