Our electronic computer worked out the corrections to our line of flight so that we would be caught by Mars' gravitational field. We had already located the three unmanned rockets by radar and we had a small telescope in the control room, plus telescopic lens on the video cameras to help us. This was lucky, because as we approached Phobos, Axel called excitedly from the control room. "We're having trouble with the Martians, Dr. Spartan!" There was nothing on the television screens to indicate an attack by spaceship, but we did see an unusual amount of "snow," as if there were interference. It wasn't until I took my turn in the control room that I found out the trouble. Axel was there then, having remained to check out what he was certain was the truth. "They're jamming our radar," he explained. "It's so fogged up we can't locate the unmanned rockets." "Then they're not friendly," I said. I'd suspected they wouldn't welcome us with open arms, and I think the others had felt the same way. "Maybe playing safe," he said. "If we could only find a way to communicate with them," I said. "Maybe we could make them understand that we're friendly." Axel shook his head. "Would you believe everything a man from outer space told you?" he asked. "With three rocket ships circling their planet, they must expect an invasion, now that a bigger one is approaching." "At least they don't have missiles," I said. Then a sudden thought struck me. "This fogging of the radar may prove something. Maybe they don't have eyes." He gave me a blank look. "How do you figure it?" "They have radar and they must know we'll contact the rest of the 'fleet.' They figure it'll be by radar. Since they don't seem to suspect that we can _see_ the rockets, maybe radar is their only method of seeing." "Even if you brought that in from left field, you're thinking, boy," said Axel. But the fogged radar had given us a distinct message: _Earthmen, you're not welcome because we don't know your reasons for coming here. We don't want you to land._ The message was as plain as if it had been sent in English. There was no thought of turning back. What the hell? We'd come this far, hadn't we? We got a good look at Phobos, a jagged, uneven rock. It wasn't even round. It looked like a chunk of basalt, but Dr. Joel, the geologist, pointed out black streaks which, he said, were outcroppings of meteoric iron. It hadn't originally been a part of Mars, as our moon was once a part of the earth. Phobos was a captured asteroid, and so probably was Deimos. The unmanned rockets were in a group, all within ten miles of each other. They were circling Mars in two hours, inside the orbit of Phobos. We approached them without radar because they were easily seen as bright moving specks in the sky.