"You saw what they did to me last time!"
Sam shrugged. "Maybe you know a better way."
Jim took his seat at the console and watched the slow progress of the Prospector across the moon's surface. It was winding its way through an area of small, low crags. Ahead was a smooth, level plain. Jim determined to halt there and make the next probe.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Hennesey moving toward them. He could think of nothing that would make the day more unpleasant than Hennesey's presence.
The Project Director scanned the panels and the meters that showed the distance traveled by the Prospector.
"Why have you moved the machine so far?" Hennesey demanded. "You've used up valuable machine time that could have been used in additional probes. We may be approaching the end of the useful life of the Prospector very rapidly."
"I am aware of that," said Jim icily. "The stock of reagents aboard is nearly exhausted. I wanted to make at least one comparison probe at a considerable distance from our original site."
Hennesey grunted and remained silent, watching. Then, suddenly he cried out, "Look out! You fool—!"
Jim had seen it, too. At the edge of the crags was a ten-foot wide fissure spreading darkly on either side of the Prospector. The drives of the machine were upon it before he realized it was there. In fact, the crazy thought echoed in the back of his mind that it wasn't there an instant before.