"The entire passenger list of the _Martian Princess_ is accounted for," replied Garth, "except six persons. And the missing life-boat is one of the very small ones, accommodating but six. Draw your own conclusions." "Sure, that's what I'm trying to do. But it just don't add up. Look here, Hype, those life-boats are all provisioned about the same, ain't they? Oxygen for three or four days, and food for a day or two at the most?" "That's about right. Close enough." "Then _you_ add it up. The _Martian Princess_ was wrecked twenty-one days ago. Three weeks to the very day. How do you figure a party of six could have survived that long?" Garth shook his head sadly. "You jump to conclusions like a Venusian Polywog. Nobody's said that the six, or that any of them, have survived. A light was seen, that's all; maybe it was a meteor. Anyway it's not for us to believe it or doubt it, our job is to find out." "Still, it's damn funny where that life-boat could have got to," Prokle growled. "The way this whole section's been scoured. Our own detector would have picked it out anywhere in a thousand-mile radius." "Yes, I've been thinking of that. And I sort of lean to the belief they landed somewhere; Captain Lambert was probably right about that light he saw." "But after three weeks," Prokle protested, "and only a few days' oxygen and provisions? For six that'd be impossible, and even for one man--well, that's a long stretch on oxygen and food." Garth turned to his partner and said, "You know, Prokle, that's one thing I like about you. You're unimaginative. You're always yourself. You never can put yourself in the other fellow's place. You and me, we don't put a high value on our lives anymore, but other people still value life highly, they cling to it tenaciously. Isn't that quaint?" "Skip the sarcasm," Prokle said. "I know what you mean. The oldest story in the world, the survival of the fittest." "Exactly. They can't all have survived. But I'm sure someone did." * * * * * They reached the edge of their half-mile world and stepped into the lock where the two-man cruiser waited, Garth having decided against the solo cruisers. Something told him they ought to stick together on this venture.