"Trouble with the personnel?" King broke in sharply.
"Personnel, yes; but not trouble in the sense you mean—we have had none of that. It is only that there are four more of us now than there were...."
"Huh? How come?" demanded Brandon, in astonishment.
"Four babies have been born to us here so far, and several more are coming. They are the ones I'm worried about. Most normal adults can stand it here without any serious effects, but this thin atmosphere and weak gravity are certain to result in abnormal development of children. However, there may be another way out of it. Are you using normal acceleration, or have you Martians aboard?"
"Both," replied Brandon. "We are carrying two inhabitants of Mars, but Alcantro and Fedanzo are not ordinary Martians. They have been in constant training ever since we left Tellus, and now they can stand as high an acceleration as a weak Tellurian. We're riding at normal."
"Good! As you already know, there has been no communication of late between here and Callisto. It had already been decided, however, that one more voyage must be risked, in order to bring back material which is most urgently needed. Since the vessel will leave here light and is large enough to carry about thirty passengers on a short trip with some crowding, the Council will probably approve of having it carry some of our passengers out to the Sirius—especially now, since a vessel must visit you, anyway, to get Captain Czuv and the specifications of the new armament. All these things can be done with one vessel in one trip."
"That sounds fine!" boomed King. "It will give me a chance to get back there where I belong, too. Whom are you sending out?"
"The seven couples who either have babies already or who will have them in the next few months; and some of our young who aren't standing the gaff any too well. You won't be in the red very deeply on the deal, either—while two or three of the passengers I am sending you will certainly be a nuisance; anybody could use, anywhere, such men as Commander Sanderson and Lieut..."
"Sanderson!" interrupted King. "Why, he wasn't—when did he get married?"
"The day after we arrived here," replied the surgeon. "His fiancee was aboard the Arcturus, and when they found out how long we would have to be here, they very sensibly decided not to wait."