It's so hard to see where we are."

"Shall I light something?" Jan said.

"No. There may be patrols around who--"

He halted abruptly. Jan and Mara stopped beside him. "What--" Mara
began.

A light glimmered. Something stirred in the darkness. There was a sound.

"Quick!" Erick rasped. He dropped, throwing the case far away from him,
into the bushes. He straightened up tensely.

A figure loomed up, moving through the darkness, and behind it came more
figures, men, soldiers in uniform. The light flashed up brightly,
blinding them. Erick closed his eyes. The light left him, touching Mara
and Jan, standing silently together, clasping hands. Then it flicked
down to the ground and around in a circle.

A Leiter stepped forward, a tall figure in black, with his soldiers
close behind him, their guns ready. "You three," the Leiter said. "Who
are you? Don't move. Stand where you are."

He came up to Erick, peering at him intently, his hard Martian face
without expression. He went all around Erick, examining his robes, his
sleeves.

"Please--" Erick began in a quavering voice, but the Leiter cut him off.

"I'll do the talking. Who are you three? What are you doing here? Speak
up."

"We--we are going back to our village," Erick muttered, staring down,
his hands folded. "We were in the City, and now we are going home."

One of the soldiers spoke into a mouthpiece. He clicked it off and put
it away.

"Come with me," the Leiter said. "We're taking you in. Hurry along."

"In? Back to the City?"

One of the soldiers laughed. "The City is gone," he said. "All that's
left of it you can put in the palm of your hand."

"But what happened?" Mara said.

"No one knows. Come on, hurry it up!"

There was a sound. A soldier came quickly out of the darkness. "A Senior
Leiter," he said. "Coming this way." He disappeared again.

* * * * *

"A Senior Leiter." The soldiers stood waiting, standing at a respectful
attention. A moment later the Senior Leiter stepped into the light, a
black-clad old man, his ancient face thin and hard, like a bird's, eyes
bright and alert. He looked from Erick to Jan.

"Who are these people?" he demanded.

"Villagers going back home."

"No, they're not. They don't stand like villagers. Villagers slump--diet,
poor food. These people are not villagers. I myself came from the hills,
and I know."

He stepped close to Erick, looking keenly into his face. "Who are yo