he Martian looked keenly at his friend. "Oh, is that so?" he said. "No kick, eh? Well, let me tell you, Carr Parker, you come with me and we'll find something you'll get a kick out of. Ever seen the Sargasso Sea of the solar system? Ever been on one of the asteroids? Ever seen the other side of the Moon—Uranus—Neptune—Planet 9, the farthest out from the sun?"
"No-o." Carr's eyes brightened somewhat.
"Then you haven't seen anything or been anywhere. Trouble with you is you've been in the rut too long. Thinking there's nothing left in the universe but the commonplace. Right, too, if you stick to the regular routes of travel. But the Nomad's different. I'm just a rover when I'm at her controls, a vagabond in space—free as the ether that surrounds her air-tight hull. And, take it from me, there's something to see and do out there in space. Off the usual lanes, perhaps, but it's there."
"You've been out—how long?" Carr hesitated.
"Eighty Martian days. Seen plenty too." He waved his arm in a gesture that seemed to take in the entire universe.
"Why come here, with so much to be seen out there?"
"Came to visit you, old stick-in-the-mud," grinned Mado, "and to try and persuade you to join me. I find you footloose already. You're itching for adventure; excitement. Will you come?"
Carr listened spellbound. "Right now?" he asked.
"This very minute. Come on."
"My bag," objected Carr, "it must be packed. I'll need funds too."