Sue hesitated, not understanding.
"Can they pump water up as well as down? Ask him!" Nick barked impatiently.
Suspicion showed in the Martian's manner as Sue made the request.
"He won't answer until he knows what you're planning," she reported. "If the Exploiters found water they'd never leave."
"One of us has to get back to Earth." Nick tried to be as patient as possible. "After everything that happened during the War years you can be damned sure the New Governments would handle Harmon fast and tough—if they knew what he is doing and planning. We need a ship, but when the next supply ship comes out eight weeks from now it will be too late. We've got to get a ship out ahead of schedule, and only one thing will do it. Water!"
"But how can you get—?"
"I'm not sure, yet," he admitted. "But it's worth a chance. Now ask him again."
The Martian looked doubtful. For a moment his hand hovered over the chart in the sand as though to erase it.
"Give him time," Susan advised.
"It's a gamble," Nick admitted. "But the voras—"