And it was not only at the receptube that his strange "awareness" was in evidence. He used to tell Prokle an hour or two in advance when a supply ship was arriving at their Station—and they were supposed to arrive in secret! He could uncannily sense the proximity of dangerous chasms on the asteroids they explored. And once, just before boarding a derelict freighter, Garth had told Prokle to wait; they waited, and five minutes later the freighter was torn asunder by a terrific explosion, caused by seeping fumes.
Now, as they crossed over to the safety lock where their cruiser waited, Garth told Prokle the content of the message. But all the latter heard was "uncharted swarm." There was a gleam in his eyes Garth had seen before, which caused him to say abruptly:
"Look here, Prokle, that gold lust is going to be your finish some day. I can see it coming."
"What else is there to live for out here?" Prokle flared up.
"Work. First of all we're going to follow instructions implicitly. Later we'll have plenty of time to explore and prospect; this swarm is our exclusive property. But just remember old man Chiswell's with that missing party, and that might mean plenty, to you anyway, if we can find 'em."
Prokle's mind came back from its flight. "Yeah, that's right. That is an angle." He seemed to consider it for the first time. "That is an angle," he repeated. "Say, how many are supposed to be in that missing party, anyway?"
"The entire passenger list of the Martian Princess is accounted for," replied Garth, "except six persons. And the missing life-boat is one of the very small ones, accommodating but six. Draw your own conclusions."
"Sure, that's what I'm trying to do. But it just don't add up. Look here, Hype, those life-boats are all provisioned about the same, ain't they? Oxygen for three or four days, and food for a day or two at the most?"
"That's about right. Close enough."
"Then you add it up. The Martian Princess was wrecked twenty-one days ago. Three weeks to the very day. How do you figure a party of six could have survived that long?"