ic bomb they had
carried with them--one of the smallest perfected by the Army during the
past half dozen years. They laid it down in the center of the equipment
and set the timer for a half hour away.

Boulton found the alarm globe and prepared to blow it up. Then Burl took
the control panel and switched off the station. They heard the thud of a
crumbling mast. Boulton fired a shot into the alarm globe which had
begun to turn red. It smashed.

"All right, men," snapped Haines, "let's go!"

As they moved toward the exit, Boulton hesitated. "Hey," he said,
"there's one globe still in action!"

The others turned in time to see Boulton stride over to a very small
globe which was glowing pale yellow against the wall near the doorway.

The Marine captain drew his pistol, aimed and fired. The globe burst,
but as it did so, a level bolt of yellow light shot back along the path
of the bullet. For a split second, Boulton was outlined in yellow fire.
There was a flash like lightning.

Each man reached for his weapons, but the underground station remained
dark and dead. Their flashlights turned on Boulton. The stocky Marine
was lying on the ground.

They ran to him. "He's alive!" cried Haines, as he saw that Boulton was
still breathing, his breath whistling back and forth through the oxygen
mask. Quickly Haines examined him. "His heart's all right. He's just
been knocked unconscious."

Ferrati and Haines picked up the captain by his arms and legs. Though he
would have been heavy on Earth, his weight on Mars was very slight, and
each man knew he was capable of carrying great loads with his
Earth-attuned muscles. Then, in single file, they left the cellar and
came out of the doorway of the building.

As they emerged they were stopped short. Surrounding them was a
tremendous and growing crowd of Martians. A solid wall of shell-like
faces stared at them, and a small forest of short antennae waved and
flickered in great agitation.

As they pushed their way with great difficulty toward the jeep, the
crowd began to sway, as if in anger. Now, for the first time, they heard
the creatures make a noise--a sort of humming and buzzing like angered
bees.

"They see us now," muttered Haines. "I don't like it."

"The Sun-tap builders did it," said Burl. "They must have booby-trapped
the place against intruders. The globe that got Boulton must have set
off some sort of vibration that enrages these creatures. And it looks
as if we're