The footprints all ended against the invisible wall. Moonlight shed its brilliance over everything, and we could see far out beyond the invisible wall, into the eerie area of sand dunes, stunted brush, to a horizon which offered no hope whatever.
"We couldn't have come from out there!" said Matzuku wonderingly. "We came out of the Guamian jungles, but our footprints don't start until we reach this invisible barricade." Matzuku turned on me. "I have no right to ask, but what kind of a concentration camp is this? We Japanese have much experience in camps, but we use barbed wire, high rock walls with broken glass embedded in their tops, or dungeons and caves."
I grinned at the little corporal.
"You don't use energy domes, then," I said, "or compress invisibility into a solid?"
"No," said Matzuku, "do you?"
He had guessed we were prisoners also. I didn't explain. After all, how could I? We three went back to the LCVP. I ordered the Japanese into the LCVP on our right flank, placed a guard over them, not because we had any fear of them, but so they would not hear our discussion. They showed no interest whatever. They sprawled out on the deck of the LCVP and were asleep, and raucously snoring, before we met in plenary session—save for the single guard over the Japanese—near the grave of Yount's skeleton.
"Could we really be in the Kalahari Desert?" asked Haggerty.
"We could," I said. "The Japs could also be decoys, deliberately sent to us to make us believe whatever we're supposed to believe. I'm only sure of one thing: we're not on Yataritas Beach, Cuba!"
"Are we really sure of that, even?" asked Captain Haggerty. I had to admit that we were sure of nothing.
"We seem to be unmolested for the time being," I said. "But we can't just sit here and brood. Those of you who want to sleep, turn in wherever you like. Those who want to help figure out what has happened to us, assemble here with me and we'll see if we can get anywhere."