He sat back in the chair with a sigh. "There, that cuts out a lot of fuss," he remarked to Kroner.
"And the less time spent away from our men, the better."
"Yes," said Lloyd. "How does this thing—well, how does it feel to you?"
"Too easy," said Kroner without hesitation. "Of course, there's no reason why it should feel at all hard, is there?"
"No," Lloyd admitted reluctantly. "No reason at all why we shouldn't establish contact with these Martians, find them friendly, get our information about their city, way of life, and so on, and go back safely to Earth and home. But—"
"Yeah," said Kroner. "'But!'"
"They act friendly."
"Maybe that's all it is, an act. But if they're not going to be chums, why go to all this trouble? You know what I mean, sir?"
Lloyd leaned back in the padded chair and scratched his short-cropped head. "Beats me. And yet I can't help feeling uncomfortable about—There's the blinker. Earth's ready to record." He dropped the conversation and set himself to telling Earth of developments so far.