"Kalinoff didn't mention any."
Lamoureux emitted a laugh that sounded like an angry bark. "Kalinoff wouldn't know. He was friendly with them. He did report that they were an intelligent race. It'll be too bad if they use their intelligence against us."
McCracken thrust out his jaw. There was a streak of stubbornness in him, and he was not going to take too many dirty cracks lying down. He growled, "I think you're making a mountain out of an anthill."
"Molehill," corrected Lamoureux.
"Whatever it is. What if Kalinoff did say the Mercurians would help us? You can't take his word for it. Everybody knows what Kalinoff is."
Lamoureux frowned. "Kalinoff is a great man and a great explorer."
"They call him the interplanetary screwball."
"Not on this expedition, they don't, McCracken. You will please keep a civil tongue in your head."
"There's nothing wrong in what I'm saying. Kalinoff is a screwball, and you know it, Captain. He's always playing practical jokes. Look at how he got that Martian senator into the same cage with a moon-snake, and locked the door on him. The senator had a fit. How was he to know the snake was harmless?"
"You don't think Kalinoff would play jokes when his own life was at stake, do you?"