Suddenly I remembered. There had been a pattern there all the time. We didn't much talk about it; we chalked it off as occupational hazards. There had been a pattern of disappearances on the desert. I could think of six, eight names now. None of them had been particularly close friends. You don't get time to make close friends out here. But we'd vowed it wouldn't happen to us. It had. "You've been hunting Geigs?" I asked. "_Why?_ What've they ever done to you?" He smiled, as calmly as if I'd just praised his house-keeping. "Because I hate you," he said blandly. "I intend to wipe every last one of you out, one by one." I stared at him. I'd never seen a man like this before; I thought all his kind had died at the time of the atomic wars. I heard Val sob, "He's a madman!" "No," Ledman said evenly. "I'm quite sane, believe me. But I'm determined to drive the Geigs--and UranCo--off Mars. Eventually I'll scare you all away." "Just pick us off in the desert?" "Exactly," replied Ledman. "And I have no fears of an armed attack. This place is well fortified. I've devoted years to building it. And I'm back against those hills. They couldn't pry me out." He let his pale hand run up into his gnarled hair. "I've devoted years to this. Ever since--ever since I landed here on Mars." * * * * * "What are you going to do with us?" Val finally asked, after a long silence. He didn't smile this time. "Kill you," he told her. "Not your husband. I want him as an envoy, to go back and tell the others to clear off." He rocked back and forth in his wheelchair, toying with the gleaming, deadly blaster in his hand. We stared in horror. It was a nightmare--sitting there, placidly rocking back and forth, a nightmare. I found myself fervently wishing I was back out there on the infinitely safer desert. "Do I shock you?" he asked. "I shouldn't--not when you see my motives." "We don't see them," I snapped. "Well, let me show you. You're on Mars hunting uranium, right? To mine and ship the radioactives back to Earth to keep the atomic engines going. Right?" I nodded over at our geiger counters. "We volunteered to come to Mars," Val said irrelevantly. "Ah--two young heroes," Ledman said acidly. "How sad. I could almost feel sorry for you. Almost." "Just what is it you're after?" I said, stalling, stalling. "Atomics cost me my legs," he said. "You remember the Sadlerville Blast?" he asked. "Of course." And I did, too. I'd never forget it. No one would. How could I forget that great accident--killing hundreds, injuring thousands more, sterilizing forty miles of Mississippi land--when the Sadlerville pile went up? "I was there on business at the time," Ledman said. "I represented Ledman Atomics. I was there to sign a new contract for my company. You know who I am, now?" I nodded.