"Hold it!" Jensen called out.
"What's the matter?"
"I thought I saw something on your boot," Jensen said. "Something like a big bug."
Vayne quickly ran his hands down the sides of his boots. The two men circled him, examining his clothing.
"Shut that inner door," the captain said. "Wilks, did you see anything?"
"Not a thing," the navigator said. "Are you sure, Cap? We haven't found anything that looks like animal or insect life here. Only a few plants."
"I could have sworn I saw something," Jensen said. "Maybe I was wrong.... Anyhow, we'll fumigate our clothes before we enter the ship proper. No sense taking any chance of bringing back some kind of Martian bug."
The men removed their clothing and boots and stuffed them into the chute. They searched the bare steel room carefully.
"Nothing here," Jensen said at last. "OK, let's go inside."
Once inside the ship, they sealed off the lock and fumigated it. The Quedak, who had crept inside earlier through the partially opened pressure door, listened to the distant hiss of gas. After a while he heard the jets begin to fire.