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tion of the Sun-tap station was actually within a Martian city!
"Do you suppose," Lockhart queried the others, "that the Martians themselves are the builders of this setup that this is their project that they are the criminals and not the victims?"
There was no answer. The evidence was apparent, but it made no sense. If the Martians had created this thing, it was destroying them. And yet, if they had not created it, why did they so clearly a race that had attained a high level of engineering ability tolerate its continual existence?
As the ship descended, they saw the city emerge. It consisted of hundreds of gray mounds buildings laid out in the form of neat hemispherical structures, like skyscraper igloos, with rows of circular windows. Each building was like the next, and they fitted together in a series of great circles, radiating outward from the meeting spot of the canals, The explorer crew waited at the ship's rocket launchers for an attack. The tail of the teardrop housed the built-in armament the rocket tubes which could send forth destruction to an enemy. But though Haines sat with his finger on the launcher button, no aircraft rose to meet them from the city below. No guns barked at them. No panic started in the streets.
They could see tiny dots of living beings moving about, but no sign of alarm, no evidence that they had been noticed.
Even here, at the equator, there were streaks of white snow in the streets and rings of rime along the bases of the buildings.
Directly below them lay the Sun-tap station. The lines converged here, and the rings of distortion could be seen in the atmosphere, causing the city to flicker as if from the presence of invisible waves.
Then they saw the masts and their shining accumulators projecting about a cleared spot near the outskirts of the city. The customary walled ring and the open machinery were not visible.
"The Sun-tap station is under the city!" said Lockhart, shocked. "It's been built beneath the streets some