Mars Mich

'Alright,' came a somewhat troubled voice. 'We won't arrest you. What are you doing here? According to our records, that ship belongs to Salzo Comh. Did you steal it?'

'No! He told me to take it! He was being fired upon by a character by the name of Ashbot. I don't know the man, and I hope I don't ever have to meet him. He killed Salzo, and Salzo, as far as I'm concerned, was the best man on this entire crazy planet. I didn't even know you idiots existed until about three days ago, and I've had enough of all of you to last me the rest of my life!' He sounded like he was going to burst, and got angrier the more he talked.

'You have, eh?'

'Yes, I have!'

'we've had enough out of you, too, whoever you are. Now you listen to me, and let me give you instructions. Pick up your landing probe, and move that old ship over about fifty yards to the right. And don'e worry, the area's clear. We have an important vessell coming in where you're now sitting.'

'Um . . . okay, sir.' Marshall toned down about three octaves.

'And be quick about it.'

'Yes, sir. I will.' Marshall activated the rods again, and threw the stick that sucked in the probe. He used the screens and moved the ship -- he hoped -- some fifty to sixty yards, or spanets, to his right. When he put the ship down, he noticed that the little horizontal line wavered a bit, or else he was tired and excited and thought he saw it waver. The ship heaved a little, too, and kept heaving, as if it was floating. Of course, Marshall could not see outside, as most of the big ships were operted by instrumentation only.

'I don't know what's going on now, Football.' He patted the pet phini on its back. 'But it somehow doesn't feel right. Doggone all this, anyway. Sure wish I knew how to take this thing to earth. I'll bet Salzo would take my offer to let him have Lasan if he would take me home.'

He shut off the power, and it didn't take long for the rods to cool.

'Let's see what it looks like outside. Maybe we'll get an education in this Connizol place.' He picked up the pet.

Soon after, as he opened the outer hatch, he saw an expanse of water stretching away to the far horizon and lapping just below his shoes! He was astounded, and with some momentum left in his walking, he almost fell out into an ocean.

'What in the . . . ?'

'Whoont!' The phini leaped out of his arms and dashed back into the ship, skidding around the corners.

Marshall saw three very large ships hovering just above the water, motionless. One of the ships, the middle one, had a yellow banner waving above on a tall taff. The other two had blue banners. There was no one in sight. Everything else was water -- a gigantic ocean on the planet Connizol!

A wave or two sent water inside the corridor, and washed back into the ship. Marshall felt the cold water in his shoes and had a strange feeling of defeat and disappointment. He knew immediatley he should have done something to allow the ship to hover above the water as the others. He ran and half slipped back through the corridors, hopping over the junk piled everywhere. When he reached the cabin, still dry, he snatched the coder and punched the yellow bar.

'Hey! I'm sinking! What do I do? This is the Zatapher!'