  Hours later, Ted lay awake in the upper bunk of the double-deck bed he shared with Randy. The foam-rubber mattress under him was soft as a cloud, and the cool artificial air of the house inflated his lungs satisfyingly. But though he was comfortable, Ted could not sleep. He had lain awake for an hour. He guessed it was because of the excitement of the past few days and the fact that this was his first night on solid ground after months of life in space. He climbed down the ladder to the floor, quietly so as not to disturb Randy. He stared through the clear plastic walls of his room at the hushed Martian night. The sky was a glittering canopy of starlight. Phobos, the fleet closer moon, cast a weak light over the landscape. Beyond their desert back yard, Ted saw the dark spreading mass of the sand bog which he had been warned about. It was like quicksand and would draw anything that touched it down to destruction. Ringing the bog Ted saw thick clusters of white flowers, which his father had said was a favorite food of the little Martian color bears. Ted had also learned that the animals fed at night. He wondered if any of the creatures were in these parts, and if there were any chance he would see one of them. He kept his eyes on the bog for what seemed an hour, but he caught no sign of movement down there. At last his eyes grew blurry and he thought he could sleep. He turned away and climbed the ladder. Just as his lids closed, something startled him, and he jerked up in bed. He wasn’t sure what had aroused him. He sat there in the semidarkness, his heart bumping rapidly, his ears alerted. Then he heard a sound. It seemed far off. It was like a wail, a cry. He came down the ladder again. In his haste, he tripped on the bottom rung and went sprawling. He turned anxiously toward the bed and saw Randy sit up. “I’m sorry, Randy,” Ted said. “I thought I heard something outdoors.” (uncaptioned) “I heard it, too,” Randy said. The two looked outside, straining their eyes to pierce the shadowy night. Suddenly Randy Whispered tensely, “There!” Ted stared where he pointed. There was a figure at the edge of the bog. They heard the sound repeated. It seemed to be coming from the moving figure. Ted suddenly remembered his father’s field glasses lying on a table in his parents’ room. Before going to bed, all of them had used them to study the stars. Ted tiptoed down the hall into his parents’ room. Carefully he lifted the glasses from the table and returned to his own room. He could hardly wait to train the glasses on the mysterious thing beside the bog. “Did you hear it again?” Ted asked as he swept his glasses over the landscape. Randy nodded. “It sounded like a color bear. He must be in trouble.” Finally Ted found what he was looking for. He was able to make out a little furry body struggling at the bog’s edge. The animal appeared to be trapped in the marsh. One stubby paw was grasping a root growing out of the bank. Ted handed the glasses to Randy. “It’s a color bear,” Randy whispered. “He’s stuck in the bog. He’ll never get out by himself.” Ted saw a wistful look on Randy’s face. “I sure hate to see anything happen to those little fellows. They’re so friendly.” “You mean they make good pets?” Ted wanted to know. “They sure do,” Randy answered. “I owned one once, until he fell into a bog. It seems they always end up in one sooner or later.” “I wonder if we could help him,” Ted suggested. “It may be dangerous,” Randy warned. “If we should slip....” “You’ve been around them before, haven’t you?” “Yes.” “I’m willing to try it if you are,” Ted said. “Let’s go then.” “We’ll have to be careful not to wake the others,” Ted said. Softly they crept down the hall to the space-suit closet. Silently they dressed and inflated their suits with oxygen. Then they went through the air lock and on outdoors. Ted had brought a flashlight. The cone of whiteness fanned out ahead of them, leading the way for them over the red sands. As they drew near the sand bog, the wails of the trapped animal became louder and more frantic. “We’d better hurry,” Randy said. “He may go down any moment.” They broke into a run and finally reached the side of the little fellow. The only part of him visible now was his round head, from which projected big cup-handle ears. His short forepaws still clung to the root, but even now the boys could see his grip loosening. As they knelt beside him, they saw his violet button eyes turned pleadingly up to them. “The bank seems firm,” Randy said. “Let’s brace ourselves and each take one of his paws.” The black mud pulled strongly against them. After a few moments the boys’ arms ached from the tug of war, but they appeared to be winning the battle. Slowly the bear rose out of his trap. Just as Ted thought his own arms would be pulled off from the strain, the animal sucked free of the clutching slime and came tumbling up over Ted and Randy. As the boys climbed to their feet, the color bear ran up first to one and then to the other, and licked their helmets gratefully with his long red tongue! (uncaptioned) The little creature stood about two and a half feet tall and was so roly-poly, he must have been nearly that wide. The mud caked his body, some of it crawling like thick molasses down into a black puddle around his flat feet. He walked upright just as they did. “What’ll we do with him?” Randy asked. “Let him go, I guess,” Ted replied. “I wish we could keep him, but I’m afraid Dad wouldn’t agree. For some reason, he doesn’t like color bears. Besides, there’s no place to keep him.” They walked back toward the house. Presently Ted turned and saw what he had feared. The bear was trudging along behind. They tried to shoo him off. This only made him hesitate momentarily and then start following again. Finally they gave up, permitting him to trail along at a distance. When they reached the air lock, they opened the door. As they waited for the pressure to come up, the color bear stood outside looking in at them. Ted thought he had the most plaintive expression he had ever seen. It was almost human. “We can’t let him stand out there like that all night,” Ted said. “He might wake up the whole house with his cries. They do cry, don’t they?” “Just like babies,” Randy said. “I forgot, though,” Ted said. “They can’t breathe our air mixture, can they?” “Yes, they can.” Randy told him. “They have a valve in their bodies that takes care of that.” “I believe we can wash that goo off him and leave him in the kitchen until morning,” Ted said. “Maybe he’ll be quiet if he’s clean.” They let the bear in, and in appreciation he licked their helmets again. “If you want to stay in here, you’ll have to be quiet,” Randy warned, just as though the animal could understand. “Hey!” Ted cried. “What’s wrong with him?” The little animal was reeling around as though he could hardly keep his feet, and his eyes were glazed. “They always do that the first few times they enter our atmosphere,” Randy answered. The color bear adjusted himself quickly to the change and then seemed all right again. Quietly the boys led him down the hall toward the shower. In the bathroom they shut the door, removed their helmets and turned on the shower in a gentle spray. The bear did not take to water willingly, and the boys had to force him under. When he began squealing and kicking, Ted put his hand over his mouth. As the little animal felt the warm water, however, his broad mouth turned upward in a grin, and he sat down in the middle of the plastic basin to enjoy his bath. While the mud was washing down the drain Ted began to see what a beautiful creature the color bear really was. His soft fur was white next to the body, then merged into reddish brown at the tip. To make him even more colorful, his paws, legs, and head had a bluish tinge. “What a patriotic creature he would be on Earth,” Ted thought. He had all the colors of the American flag. When the animal was clean, Ted got out a blotting towel that dried the bear in a matter of seconds. The little fellow looked happy after his bath and grinned at them. When he tried to lick their bare faces, they had to cover up. He seemed hurt by their gesture and pouted for a moment, with his lower lip quivering. “See what I mean?” Randy said, grinning. “They’re almost human.” “I wish we could keep him,” Ted said longingly. “He seems like lots of fun. I think I’ll ask Dad about it.” As they were cleaning up the bathroom, Ted, who was leaning over the shower basin, felt Randy’s hand press sharply on his shoulder. Ted spun around. Standing in the doorway was his father, a stern look on his face. |
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