John rubbed his hands together and moved to my side. "Dave knows what he's doing," he said gruffly.
"Forget it, John. Don't make me pull rank, Paul. You may be out of military jurisdiction but I'm still in charge of this mission. If I thought you were responsible for bringing her...."
"Don't threaten me, Captain," he said. They were all specialists in their respective fields, enjoying a loose immunity from the routine of the base. Here they were even more independent and my job was to get them here, nothing more.
"Don't argue because of me," Karen said abruptly. "Go out and claim your blue world in the name of science."
"Thank you," I said. "We'll be back for you."
John's bulk was a comforting presence. We stood on the rim of the scorched circle of thick vegetation watching the unbroken monotony of the bluish growth. Nothing moved except the bushes as the wind skipped across the flowery tops of the plants.
"I've never seen anything like this," John said.
"I don't think there is anything like this," I breathed. It was hard to believe the color and delicate structure of the landscape was not a setting, painted with bright blues and greens, daubed with light and darks of all colors where clusters of flowering plants shone in the sunlight.
"It's good, very good," he said.