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“Be careful of your sister,” said Dad, and nobody knehat he meant until later

They hurried into the great pink-stoned city, whispering a you want to whisper, to watch the sun go down

“In about five days,” said Dad quietly, “I’ll go back down to where our rocket was and collect the food hidden in the ruins there and bring it here; and I’ll hunt for Bert Edwards and his wife and daughters there”

“Daughters?” asked Timothy “How many?”

“Four”

“I can see that’ll cause trouble later” Mom nodded slowly

“Girls” Michael e “Girls”

“Are they co in a rocket too?”

“Yes If they make it Family rockets are ot through”

“Where did you get the rocket?” whispered Ti ahead

“I saved it I saved it for twenty years, Ti I’d never have to use it I suppose I should have given it to the govern about Mars”

“And a picnic!”

“Right This is between you andon Earth, after I’d waited until the last moment, I packed us up Bert Edwards had a ship hidden, too, but we decided it would be safer to take off separately, in case anyone tried to shoot us down”

“Why’d you blow up the rocket, Dad?”

“So we can’t go back, ever And so if any of those evil men ever come to Mars they won’t knoe’re here”