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"You'll be all right," said the doctor

"What happened?"

"The air's pretty thin Soo back to Earth"

"No!" He sat up and almost immediately felt his eyes darken and Mars revolve twice around under his to drink in deep nothingness "I'll be all right I've got to stay here!"

They let hiht, Air, air, air They're sending me back because of air And he turned his head to look across the Martian fields and hills He brought the he noticed was that there were no trees, no trees at all, as far as you could look in any direction The land was down upon itself, a land of black loaht, the thin stuff whistling in his nostrils Air, air And on top of hills, or in their shadows, or even by little creeks, not a tree and not a single green blade of grass Of course! He felt the answer cas and his throat And the thought was like a sudden gust of pure oxygen, raising hirass He looked down at his hands and turned therass That would be his job, to fight against the very thing thathere He would have a private horticultural ith Mars There lay the old soil, and the plants of it so ancient they had worn themselves out But what if new for s and nificent eucalyptus What then? There was no guessing what mineral wealth hid in the soil, untapped because the old ferns, flowers, bushes, and trees had tired themselves to death

"Let ot to see the Co-ordinator!"

He and the Co-ordinator had talked an entire reen It would be an So far, frosted food was brought froreening up in hydroponic plants

"Meanwhile," said the Co-ordinator, "it's your job We'll get what seed we can for you, a little equiphty precious now I' co--"

"But you'll let me do it?"

They let hile motorcycle, its bin full of rich seeds and sprouts, he had parked his vehicle in the valley wilderness and struck out on foot over the land

That had been thirty days ago, and he had never glanced back For looking back would have been sickening to the heart The weather was excessively dry; it was doubtful if any seeds had sprouted yet Perhaps his entire ca were lost He kept his eyes only ahead of hi on down this wide shallow valley under the sun, away fro for the rains to come

Clouds were gathering over the dry mountains now as he drew his blanket over his shoulders Mars was a place as unpredictable as tiht, and he thought of the rich, inky soil, a soil so black and shiny it almost crawled and stirred in your fist, a rank soil froantic beanstalks froiants

The fire fluttered into sleepy ash The air tremored to the distant roll of a cartwheel Thunder A sudden odor of water Tonight, he thought, and put his hand out to feel for rain Tonight

He awoke to a tap on his brow

Water ran down his nose into his lips Another drop hit his eye, blurring it, Another splashed his chin