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"I was afraid I'd never make him understand, but I did. And you should have seen him bully that other man into driving the jeep. Are you all right, Popsy?" "Is yo' all right, Cunnel?" Sergeant Williamson was asking. "My leg's broken, I think, but outside of that I'm all right," he answered both of them. "How did you happen to find me, Sergeant?" The old Negro soldier rolled his eyes upward.
Lomac's recruiting office is there. I'll give you the address. However, the base is some distance away, so you'll need transportation. I suggest a jeep. You can pick one up secondhand after you arrive. I'll give you sufficient funds. Also, prepare to hang around Las Vegas for a while. It will take at least a week to process your papers." "Are we supposed to know you once we get there?"
The boys searched methodically, taking in the area far beyond throwing distance, on the assumption that whoever had taken the two essential parts might have walked a distance away from the jeep before throwing them as far as he could. "It's not here," Rick said positively. Now all that remained was the town itself. They walked back to the town, Rick carrying the water bag and Scotty the canteen.
"That does it," Rick said aloud. Scotty turned to watch the departing sedan. "It didn't take them long to complete their business, whatever it was. I didn't hear any talk, did you?" "Not a word. Do you suppose that was Mac and Pancho that came from the base?" "No way of knowing, but it could have been. Come on. Let's find our jeep." The jeep was where they had left it, but the hood was up.
Finally, by impudence and plain foolhardiness, I got the jeep forward a few hundred yards, and found myself looking down on a big derrick with a fifty-foot steel boom tipped with a four-clawed grapple, shielded in front with sheet steel like a gun shield. It was painted with the emblem of the Hunters' Co-operative, but the three men on it looked like shipyard workers. I didn't get that, at all.
Rainsford looked puzzled, but he holstered his pistol and went back to his jeep, returning with a camera. Mallin began insisting that, as a licensed M.D., he had a right to treat Kellogg's injuries. Gerd van Riebeek followed him into the living hut for a first-aid kit.
"I hope so," Blalok said as he braked the jeep to a stop in front of the hospital. "I suppose you'll want to take some things along." "So I will," Kennon said. "I'll be back in a minute." Kennon slid from the seat, leaving Blalok looking peculiarly at his departing back.
Then the jeep rounded a turn with a sheer drop of several hundred feet on Rick's side, and the sidewinders were lost to view. Rick looked down at the steep slope and said, "Nice place to meet a car coming down." "Let's not meet one," Scotty replied. He had to drop back into first gear now, because the climb was very steep. The road cut through a notch and emerged onto a relatively level area.
Rick asked the obvious question. "Was it the Earthman?" And Scotty made the obvious answer. "I didn't have a chance to ask him. Anyway, he didn't wear armor." Rick had been keeping his eye on the road ahead. "Pull over," he said quickly. "Let's get out and be looking at cactus or something. I think Mac and Pancho are coming." Scotty complied quickly and shut off the jeep engine.
"Gittin' soft in de haid, is Ah, yo' ol' wuthless no-'count?" He turned his face, to see the battered jeep from "Greyrock," driven by Arthur, the stableman and gardener, with Sergeant Williamson beside him. The older Negro jumped to the ground and ran toward him. At the same time, he felt Dearest with him again. "We made it, Popsy! We made it!" she was exulting.
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