"Let's look the place over," he suggested.
They located the mess halls, the base movie house, post exchange, and post office. There was also a laundry and a snack bar. Set off by itself was a recreation hall, equipped with TV sets, comfortable chairs, card tables, and pool tables.
Rick followed the map to the laboratory buildings, and was surprised to find that they were enormous sheds, like hangars. Most of the doors were wide open, and he caught glimpses of shapes that could only have been rocket sections. His pulse quickened. There was an atmosphere of excitement, of big jobs being performed. At least his quick imagination told him there was.
Then, in one shed he saw the broken remains of a rocket. From its size he concluded that it must be the Viking that had crashed. The sight brought sharp realization of the real job he and Scotty were here to do.
Rick checked his map. "Our barracks has space for eighty bunks. And, according to this, there are twenty-eight barracks."
"Interesting facts about Scarlet Lake," Scotty declaimed. "What about it?"
"That's over two thousand men."
"A lot of men," Scotty agreed. "What are you getting at?"
"Needles in haystacks. Out of more than two thousand we're supposed to pick one—the Earthman!"