Inside the room was a tremendous array of complex electrical apparatus. Ronson had never seen anything as good as this in even the best laboratories back on Earth. He could not even guess the purpose of most of the equipment, it had been designed by a Martian mind and constructed by Martian hands—with a Martian goal in view.
Set in the middle of the room were the control panels of the equipment. Directly above the panels was a smoky visio screen that revealed dimly what was happening in the cavern. Just rising from his place at the controls was—the Messenger.
He looked up and into the muzzle of the needle gun Ronson was holding. A tiny startled reaction played across his poised face, disturbing the many wrinkles there, then was gone. A smile replaced it.
"Ah, yes. I had just discovered you were missing and I was starting to look for you."
Behind him, Ronson heard Jennie Ware catch her breath. He knew she was thinking that they should have run while they had the chance.
"We saved you the trouble, Les Ro," Ronson said.
The startled reaction was more pronounced this time. "You guessed?"
"That Les Ro and his Messenger were one and the same? It was obvious when you did not need to communicate what I had said to Les Ro. How many others are here with you?"
The question was important. Their own survival depended on the number of Martians here.
The startled reaction was very real this time. "No one else is here?"