"Exactly."
"You wouldn't settle for a moon maiden, would you? I heard they're cute. And sexy."
"A Martian." He was very adamant. "I'll have the greatest attraction in the world. Nick, I'm the kind who gets what he wants. I've spent over three million dollars on this project and I'm ready to spend another three million. Just get me my Martian and you'll be a rich man. You'll be rich enough to quit working for me and to tell me to go to hell. You'd like that, wouldn't you?"
"I'd like that very much."
Two weeks later we went to Arizona. A week after that we took off. I didn't really think we would. But we did.
Just me and Joe Roane. Two men in a space ship.
A huge metal tube hurtling through the longest and blackest of nights.
Joe Roane was a good-looking chap. Good-looking, young, and excited. He was the first to pilot a ship to Mars. He was looking ahead to the glory that awaited him.
We landed on Mars.