Pearce shrugged, and after a moment his face brightened. "Anyway, we now have one less to divide with." He reached into a pocket, placing upon the table seven of the large crimson gems. I added the four that I had found, and for some seconds we gazed dreamily at our hoard.
"People on Earth are going to fight like mad to own one of these gems," Pearce said softly. "By selling the gems slowly, playing one buyer against another, our profits will be plenty big."
I nodded. "It won't make us very popular, but the end justifies the means."
"I wish we had some means of protection against those butterfly things, so that we could look for more of the gems," Pearce said. "They're dangerous, and we don't seem to be able to harm them."
"We could move the ship over to the ascent," I suggested. "Then it would be near enough for us to jump in whenever any of the things got too close."
Pearce grinned in delight. "That's the answer!"
I moved the ship the next day. The stratagem worked satisfactorily enough, enabling us to find almost a dozen more of the crimson jewels. But the need for constant watchfulness proved to be an increasing strain upon our nerves. And the number of the butterfly-creatures seemed to be growing. It seemed to be a season for the things, as late Spring brings the appearance of butterflies on Earth.
At last our treasure hunt became too dangerous to continue. The butterfly-creatures were too numerous, and in addition the gems had grown too hard to find. Pearce and I decided on one last trip, and this on his own argumentative insistence.
It was during that final search that I made the discovery which led to Pearce's death. I'd been probing among the rocks for an hour or so, meanwhile keeping a wary eye upon a group of butterfly-creatures circling in the sky some distance away. Suddenly I detected the telltale, reddish glitter of a gem. As I reached for it, a thin, tinkling sound startled me. I jerked erect, my senses flaring in alarm. But I saw nothing near me that indicated danger, and reached once more for the gem.