As light as the fabric square was, weighing
no more than a pound, under the intense heat of the sun it felt like a
woolen blanket where it touched him. Astro rolled over and opened his
eyes.
"What time is it, Tom?"
"Must be about noon. How do you feel?"
"I'm not sure yet. I had a dream." The big cadet rubbed his eyes and
wiped the sweat from his forehead. "I dreamed I was being shoved into an
oven--like Hansel and Gretel in that old fairy tale."
"Personally," mumbled Roger, without opening his eyes, "I'll take Hansel
and Gretel. They might be a little more tender."
"I could do with a drink," said Astro, looking at Tom.
Tom hesitated. He felt that as hot as it was, it would get still hotter
and there had to be strict control of the remainder of the water.
"Try to hold out a little longer, Astro," said Tom. "This heat hasn't
really begun yet. You could drink the whole thing and still want more."
"That's right, Astro," said Roger, sitting up. "Best thing to do is just
wet your tongue and lips a little. Drinking won't do much good now."
"O.K. by me," said Astro. "Well, what do we do now?"
"We sit here and we wait," answered Tom. He sat up and held the space
cloth up on his side.
"You get in the middle, Astro," suggested Roger. "Your head is up higher
than mine and Tom's. You can be the tent pole under this big top."
Astro grunted and changed places with the smaller cadet.
Pages:
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226