"Huh?"
Mike didn't answer. He just sat there thinking into the Hustic.
An hour passed that way. Then I heard a sound like a whole forest full of infuriated parrots. It came from the direction of T'lith, and it grew louder by the minute.
Mike looked up. "Bill should be here soon."
He was right. I heard the sandcycle, and then the squeal of its brakes below the entry port.
"Olsen!" Bill was yelling as he scrambled in. "Hell is loose out there! The Marties—"
I was at the mercy of a lunatic—and the Marties waiting outside!