"Because the Rhinestead was tracked, for one thing, on both flights, to and from Mars. Moonbase has an indisputable record of it. And besides, the instruments on the ship itself show—" He found the report he had been searching for. "Oh, never mind."
"All right," she said defiantly. "Maybe he did get to Mars. Maybe he did away with the crew after he got there. He knew the ship was built so that one man could handle it in an emergency. Maybe he—"
"Look," said Jonathan patiently. "He didn't do anything of the sort. Easton has been checked so thoroughly that it's impossible to assume anything except, (a) he is sane, (b) he reached Mars and made contact with the Martians, (c) this linguistic barrier is a result of that contact."
argery shook her head, sucking in her breath. "When I think of all those fine young men," she murmured. "Heaven only knows what happened to them!"
"You," Jonathan accused, "have been reading that columnist—what's-his-name? The one that's been writing such claptrap ever since Easton brought the Rhinestead back alone."
"Cuddlehorn," said his wife. "Roger Cuddlehorn, and it's not claptrap."
"The other members of the crew are all alive, all—"
"I suppose Easton told you that?" she interrupted.