TEX HEARD THE HARD-caught breaths as the news took the men like a jolt in the belly. And he saw the eyes sliding furtively aside to the dense black smoke pouring up from the incinerator, to the water tanks, and to the broken grating.
Somebody whimpered. Tex heard Breska snarl, "Shut up!" The whimperer was Kuna, the young Martian who had stared white-faced at the captain a short while before.
Captain Smith went on.
"Our situation is serious. However, we can hold out another fortnight. Supplies will have to be rationed still further, and we must conserve ammunition and man-power as much as possible. But we must all remember this.
"Help is coming. Headquarters are doing all they can."
"With the money they have," said Breska sourly, in Tex's ear. "Damn the taxpayers!"
". . . and we've on
