The men began
passing it around, drinking deeply. Joe dug in again and brought out
another box. He opened it and held it up so that others could see. It
contained several layers of items like large crackers.
"Where did it come from, Joe?" Zip asked.
"I don't know, Zip! I woke up before anyone else and noticed these
crates. I jumped up, looked around but didn't see anybody. I opened the
first one and saw the fruit. That's the whole story."
"You don't know it's safe! You took a chance, Joe!"
"What kind of chance, David? Where were we going to find water, much
less food? We were done for without this."
"Not too much of a chance, I think, Zip," whispered Mark to the
red-haired Starman. Zip turned his head and looked at Mark curiously.
"The food's okay. Let the men distribute it and I'll tell you what I
know."
"Okay," Zip nodded. He turned to George. "Let the men take the crates
apart and see what we've got here. We'll eat and then we'll make
plans." George took over operations while the three Starmen stepped
aside.
"What do you know, Mark?" asked Zip. Mark told the other Starmen what
he had seen in the middle of the night.
"Hmmm. Hard to credit it, that the original builders of this wonder are
still here," mused Zip. "Why would they let Earthmen come in and take
over? I gather from what we've learned and what we've overheard that
the pirates have been active here for over a dozen years, and George
found this place over fifteen years ago.
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