"Not me," Lt. Chandler said. "I've had it, dad. I'm going to sell my life story to the movies and spend the rest of my life eating popcorn and watching what an idiot I was. A man can get hurt up here." "So you want to be a civilian?" "You're damned right I do," Lt. Chandler said. "We're about there," Capt. Lawler cut in. "You still okay, Charlie?" "Fine." "Here's the little ridge, then. Hold on, we're taking the angle up. You riding okay, Charlie?" "Fine, Skip." After a moment, Capt. Lawler said, "I see the base now. The top. Hey!" He slammed on the brakes. "Oh, _no_! Those ... those fools! Those idiots." "What's wrong?" Major Winship demanded. "Skip--_what's wrong?_" "The second little dome is down. It wasn't that way a couple of hours ago. And they've block-and-tackled a drum of calking compound up on the main dome." "_We've got to stop them!_" Major Winship cried. "Skip! Skip!" "Charlie, there's nothing we can do. The drum's just starting to turn red." There was silence for a while. "It's melting through, now. There it goes. Down through the dome. Out of sight." After a moment, Capt. Lawler continued. "Funny how things fall so slowly under this low gravity. It floated through their dome just like a feather. You should have seen it." Eventually, Lt. Chandler said, "Boys, this is my last hitch." There was more silence. Capt. Wilkins mused, "I guess they didn't have a little scale either." Someone was breathing loudly. At length, Major Winship said reflectively, "Why do you suppose they would try to calk it from the outside?" Again silence. Major Winship asked the question. "Okay. Let's have it. How's the other little dome?" "Other one? Oh, sorry," Capt. Lawler said. "It looks all right." "It better _be_ all right," Lt. Chandler said. * * * * * In the end, the eleven of them were crowded into the one remaining operational structure of the four available on the moon at sunrise. For perhaps the tenth time, General Finogenov offered his apologies. He and Major Winship were huddled side by side in a corner. They were drinking vodka. "Plenty of everything," General Finogenov said. "Don't concern yourself, Major. Air, food, water, we have more than enough for a prolonged siege." "Accidents will happen." "Exactly," said General Finogenov, pouring more vodka for himself. "Glad you understand." He put the empty bottle down. "We will have another one next week. In the meantime--I very much regret the inconvenience. Plenty of food, water, air, though. Pinov! Pinov! Vodka!" Pinov answered in Russian. General Finogenov frowned. "Dear, dear," he said. "I'm afraid this must be our last one, Major. You see, while we have plenty of everything else, we are, you see.... The truth of the matter is, we didn't foresee visitors. Unfortunately, we have no more vodka."