When the sun rose out of the desert on the morning of the ninth day, they stopped, ate a light breakfast of preserved figs, divided the juice evenly among them, and, ripping the space cloth into three sections, wrapped it around themselves like Arabs and continued to walk.
By noon, with the sun directly overhead, they were staggering. At two-thirty the sun and the heat were so overpowering that they stopped involuntarily and tried to sit on the hot sand only to find that they couldn't and so they stumbled on.
Neither Roger nor Astro asked for water. Finally Tom stopped and faced his two unit-mates wobbling on unsteady legs.
"I've gone as far as I can without water. I--I don't think I can go another step. So come on, we'll finish what we've got."
Astro and Roger nodded in quiet agreement. They watched with dull eyes as Tom carefully opened the plastic container of water. He gave each a cup and slowly, cautiously, measured out the remaining water into three equal parts. He held the container up for a full minute allowing the last drop to run out before tossing the empty bottle to one side.
"Here goes," said Tom. He wet his lips, placed a wet finger on his temples and sipped the liquid slowly, allowing it to trickle down his parched throat.
Roger and Astro did the same. After he had wet his lips, Astro took the full amount in his mouth and washed it around, before swallowing it.
Roger brought the cup up slowly to his mouth with trembling hands, tipped it shakily, and then before Astro or Tom could catch him, fell to the ground. The precious water spilled into the sand.
Tom and Astro watched dumfounded as the dry sand sucked away the water until nothing remained but a damp spot six inches wide.
"I guess--" began Tom, "I guess that about does it!"
"We'll have to carry him," said Astro simply.
Tom looked up into the eyes of his unit-mate. There he saw a determination that would not be defeated. He nodded his head and stooped over to grapple with Roger's legs. He got one leg under each arm and then tried to straighten up. He fell to the sand and rolled to one side.
Astro watched him get up slowly, wearily, his space-cloth covering remaining on the ground, and then, with gritted teeth, try once more to pick Roger's legs up.
Astro put out his hand and touched Tom on the shoulder. His voice was low, hardly above a whisper. "You lead the way, Tom. I'll carry him."
[Illustration: "_You lead the way, Tom. I'll carry him._"]
Tom looked up at the big Venusian. Their eyes locked for a moment and then he nodded his head and turned away. He pulled out the pocket compass and through blurred vision read the course beneath its wavering needle. He waved an arm in a direction to the right of them and staggered off.
Astro stooped down, picked Roger up in his arms and slowly got him across his shoulders. Then steadying himself, he walked after Tom.
Suddenly a blast of wind, hot as fire, swept across the sandy plains, whipping the sand up and around the two walking figures, biting into exposed hands and faces. Tom tried to adjust his goggles when the sand began to penetrate around the edges but his fingers shook and he dropped them. In a flash, the sand drove into his eyes, blinding him.
"I can't see, Astro," said Tom in a hoarse whisper when Astro staggered up. "You'll have to guide."
Astro took the compass out of Tom's hand and then placed his unit-mate's hand on his back. Tom gripped the loose folds of the space cloth and uniform beneath and struggled blindly after the big cadet.
The hot sun bore down. The wind kept blowing and Astro, with Roger slung across his back like a sack of potatoes and Tom clinging blindly to his uniform, walked steadily on.
He felt each step would be his last, but with each step he told himself through gritted teeth that he could do ten more--and then ten more--ten more.
He walked, he staggered, and once he fell to the ground, Tom slumping behind him and Roger being tossed limply to the scorching sand. Slowly Astro recovered, helped Tom to his feet, then with the last of his great strength, picked up Roger again. This time, he was unable to get him to his shoulder so he carried him like a baby in his arms.
At last the sun began to drop in the red sky. Astro felt Roger's limp body slipping from his grip. By now, Tom had lost all but the very last ounce of his strength and was simply being pulled along.
"Tom--" gasped Astro with great effort, "I'm going to count to a thousand and then--I'm going to stop."
Tom didn't answer.
Astro began to count. "One--two--three--four--five--six--" He tried to make each number become a step forward. He closed his eyes. It wasn't important which way he went. It was only important that he walk those thousand steps, "five hundred eleven--five hundred twelve--five hundred thirteen--"
Involuntarily he opened his eyes when he felt himself climbing up a small rise in the sand. He opened his eyes and ten feet away was the flat blue surface of the canal they had been searching for.
"You can let go now, Tom," said Astro in a voice hardly above a whisper.
"We made it. We're on the bank of the canal."
"Hey, Roger," yelled Astro from the middle of the canal, "ever see a guy make like a submarine?"
Tom and Roger sat on the top of the low bank of the canal drying off from a swim, while Astro still splashed around luxuriating in the cool water.
"Go on," yelled Roger, "let's see you drown yourself!"
"Not me, hot-shot," yelled Astro. "After that walk, all I'd have to do is open my mouth and start drinking."
Finally tiring of his sport, the big Venusian pulled himself up onto the bank of the canal and quickly dressed. Pulling on his space boots, he turned to Tom and Roger, who were breaking out the last two containers of food.
"You know, Astro," said Roger quietly, "I'll never be able to repay you for carrying me."
Tom was quiet for a moment, and then added, "Same here, Astro."
Astro grinned from ear to ear. "Answer me this one question, both of you. Would you have done it for me?"
The two boys nodded.
"Then you paid me. As long as I know I'm backed up by two guys like you, then I'm paid. Carrying you, Roger, was just something I could do for you at that particular time. One of these days, when we get out of this oven, there'll come a time when you or Tom will do something for me--and that's the way it should be."
"Thanks, Astro," said Roger. He reached over and put his hand on top of Astro's, and then Tom placed his hand on top of theirs. The three boys were quiet for a moment. There was an understanding in each of them that they had accomplished more than just survival in a desert. They had learned to respect each other. They were a unit at last.
"What do we do next?" asked Roger.
"Start walking that way," said Tom, pointing to his left along the bank of the canal that stretched off in a straight line to the very horizon.
"If we're lucky, we might be able to find something to use as a raft and then we can ride."
"Think there are any fish in this canal?" asked Astro, gazing out over the cool blue water.
"Doubt it. At least I've never heard of there being any," replied Tom.
"Well," said Roger, standing up, "you can go a lot farther without food than you can without water. And we still have that big container of ham left."
"Yeah, as soon as it gets hot, we just swim instead of walk," said Astro. "And, believe me, there's going to be a lot of swimming done!"
"Think we might strike anything down that way," asked Roger. He looked down the canal in the direction Tom had indicated.
"That's the direction of the nearest atmosphere booster station. At least that was the way it looked on the chart. All of them were built near the canals."
"How far away do you think it is?" asked Astro.