However, a group of six thousand space-ships was organized for the attempt, ranging in size and model from small scouts such as were included in Commander Raws' squadron to huge and powerful dreadnaughts of space. Since these larger, heavier craft were less fitted for long journeys, the start of the expedition was delayed until the middle of January, 2676. Should the group start from Earth at that time, computations showed, the Martian asteroid would be met at a point some seventy million miles away, shortly after the first of March. Even for that comparatively short journey the big ships would have to be refitted with special tanks for reserve fuel and the crews would have to be cut down accordingly. In the end, barely three hundred thousand men were included in the plans.
CHAPTER III
The Deserter
Yaxa, the prisoner, was of course ignorant of all these things as he sat alone in his secret prison. Food came to him by dumbwaiter and he did not see a human face. It was not until the middle of January that the door of his cell opened and admitted a Terrestrial—a Terrestrial whom he recognized as one of the three who had captured him.
"Courage!" said Neil Andresson. "We're getting out of here."
Yaxa looked at him levely. They made a striking contrast; the saddle-colored Martian—with his puffy body, his spidery legs and his head that, except for the brilliant eyes, seemed to be a high-craniumed skull covered only with skin—looked like a weird cartoon of the Terrestrial with his fine, muscular proportions, his smooth cheeks and his smiling countenance.
"Are you going to torture me further?" demanded Yaxa.
"Not I," said Neil. "If you'll remember, I never offered you violence at any time. I was not in sympathy with the measures taken to wring information from you, though I was in the minority and had to countenance them. For that matter, I'm not in sympathy with the Terrestrial cause at all."
"Then what are you doing here?" asked the Martian.