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The TERRIBLE ANSWER
They came down to Mars ahead of the rest because Larkin had bought an unfair advantage--a copy of the Primary Report. There were seven of them, all varying in appearance, but with one thing in common; in the eyes of each glowed the greed for Empire. They came down in a flash of orange tail-fire and they looked first at the Martians.
"Green," marveled Evans. "What a queer shade of green!"
"Not important," Cleve, the psychologist, replied. "Merely a matter of pigmentation. White, yellow, black, green. It proves only that God loves variety."
"And lord how they grin!"
Cleve peered learnedly. "Doesn't indicate a thing. They were born with those grins. They'll die with them."
Of the seven strong men, Larkin exuded the most power. Thus, his role of leader was a natural one. No man would ever stand in front of Larkin. He said, "To hell with color or the shape of their mouths. What we're after lies inside. Come on. Let's set up a camp."
"For the time being," Cleve cautioned, "we must ignore them. Later--we know what to do. I'll give the nod."
They brought what they needed out of the ship. They brought the plastic tents, broke the small, attached cylinders, and watched the tents bulge up into living quarters. They set up the vapor condenser and it began filling the water tank from the air about them. They plugged a line into the ship and attached it to the tent-line. Immediately the gasses in the plastic tents began to glow and give off both light and heat.
They did many things while the Martians stood silently by with their arms hanging, their splay-feet flat on the ground, their slash-mouths grinning.
The seven sat down to their first meal under the Martian stars and while they ate the rich, delicate foods, they listened to the words of Larkin. "A new empire waiting to be built. A whole planet--virgin--new."
"Not new," Dane, the archeologist, said. "It's older than Earth. It's been worked before."
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