"We will, Grandpa, we will. They're good bikes."
The thuttle swooped to a landing on the Grand Canal and was towed into a slip, rocking gently the while. The twins were glad to climb out; they had never before been in a water-borne vehicle and it seemed to them an undependable if not outright dangerous mode of travel. The little ship was unsealed with a soft sigh and they were breathing the air of Mars. It was thin but the pressure was not noticeably lower than that they had maintained in the Rolling Stone - a generation of the atmosphere project had made skin suits and respirators unnecessary. It was not cold; the Sun was right at the zenith. Meade sniffed as she climbed to the dock. "What's the funny smell, Hazel?"
"Fresh air. Odd stuff, isn't it? Come on, Lowell." They all went inside the Hall of Welcome, that being the only exit. from the dock. Hazel looked around, spotted a desk marked 'Visas' and headed for it. "Come on, kids Let's stick together."
The clerk looked over their papers as if he had never seen anything of the sort before and didn't want to now. "You had your physical examinations at Phohos port?" he said doubtfully.
"See for yourself. They're all endorsed."
"Well... you don't have your property declaration filled out for immigration."
"We're not imrnjgrants; we're visitors."
"Why didn't you say so? You haven't posted a bond; all terrestrial citizens have to post bonds."
Pollux looked at Castor and shook his head. Hazel counted up to ten and replied, "We're not terrestrials; we're citizens of Luna Free State - and entitled to full reciprocity under the treaty of '07. Look it up and see."
"Oh.'. The clerk looked baffled and endorsed and stamped their papers. He stuck them in the stat machine, then handed them back. "That'll be five pounds."
"Five pounds?"
" Pounds Martian, of course. If you apply for citizenship it's returnable."
Hazel counted it out. Pollux converted the figure into System credit in his head and swore under his breath; he was beginning to think that Mars was the Land of the Fee. The clerk. recounted the money, then reached for a pile of pamphlets, handed them each one. "Welcome to Mars," he said, smiling frigidly. "I know you'll like it here."
"I was beginning to wonder," Hazel answered, accepting a pamphlet
"Eh?"
"Never mind. Thank you."
They turned away. Castor glanced at his pamphlet; it was titled:
WELCOME TO MARS! ! !
Compliments
of the Marsport
Chamber of Commerce &
Booster Club
He skimmed the table of contents: What to See - Where to Eat - And Now to Sleep - "When in Rome-" - In Ancient Times - Souvenirs? of course - Business Opportunities - Facts & Figures about Marsport, Fastest Growing City in the System.
The inside, he found, contained more advertising space than copy. None of the pictures were stereo. Still, it was free; he stuck it in his pouch.
They had not gotten more than ten steps away when the clerk suddenly called out, "Hey! Madam! Just a moment, please-comeback!"
Hazel turned around and advanced on him, her mouth set grimly. "What's biting you, bub?"
He pointed to her holster. "That gun. You can't wear that - not in the city limits."
"I can't, eh?" She drew it, opened the charge chamber, and offered it to him with a sudden grin. "Have a cough drop?"
A very pleasant lady at the Travellers' Aid desk, after determining that they really did not want to rent an ancient Martian tower believed to be at least a million years old but sealed and airconditioned nevertheless, made out for them a list of housekeeping apartments for rent. Hazel had vetoed going to any of the tourist hotels even for one night, after telephoning three and getting their rates. They tramped through a large part of the city, searching. There was no public transit system; many of the inhabitants used powered roller skates, most of them walked. The city was laid out in an oblong checkerboard with the main streets parallel to the canal. Except for a few remaining pressurised domes in 'Old Town' the buildings were all one-storey prefabricated boxlike structures without eaves or windows, all of depressing monotony.
The first apartment turned out to be two little stalls in the back of a private home - share refresher with family. The second was large enough but was in sniffing range of a large plastics plant; one of its exhalations seemed to be butyl mersaptan though Hazel insisted it put her more in mind of a dead goat The third - but none of them approached the standard of comfort they had enjoyed on the Moon, nor even that of the Rolling Stone.
Hazel came out of the last one they had jooked at, jumped back suddenly to keep from being run over by a delivery boy pulling a large hand truck, caught her breath and said, "What'll it be, children? Pitch a tent, or go back up to the Stone?"
Pollux protested, "But we can't do that We've got to sell our bicycles."
"Shut up, Junior," his brother told him 'Hazel, I thought there was one more? "Casa" something?"
"Casa Mañana Apartments, way out south along the canal - and likely no better than the rest Okay, troops, mush on!"
The buildings thinned out and they saw some of the heliotropic Martian vegetation, spreading greedy hands to the Sun. Lowell began to complain at the walk. "Carry me, Grandma Hazel!"
"Nothing doing, pet," she said emphatically, "your legs are younger than mine."
Meade stopped. "My feet hurt, too."
"Nonsense! This is just a shade over one-third gravity."
"Maybe so, but it's twice what it is back home and we've been in free fall for half a year and more. Is it much farther?"
"Sissy!"
The twins' feet hurt, too, but they would not admit it They alternated taking Buster piggy-back the rest of the way. Casa Mañana turned out to be quite new and, by their suddenly altered standards, acceptable. The walls were of compacted sand, doubled against the bitter nights; the roof was of sheet metal sandwich with glass-wool core for insulation. It was a long, low building which made Hazel think of chicken coops but she kept the thought to herself. It had no windows but there were sufficient glow tubes and passable air ducting.
The apartment which the owner and manager showed to them consisted of two tiny cubicles, a refresher, and a general room. Hazel looked them over. "Mr. d'Avril, don't you have something a bit larger?"
"Well, yes, ma'am, I do - but I hate to rent larger ones to such a small family with the tourist season just opening up: I'll bring in a cot for the youngster."
She explained that two more adults would be coming. He considered this. "You dbn't know how long the War God will be quarantined?
"Not the slightest"
"Then why don't we play that hand after it's dealt? We'll accomodate you somehow; that's a promise."
Hazel decided to close the deal; her feet were killing her. "How much?"
"Four hundred and fifty a month - four and a quarter if you take a lease for the whole season."
At first Hazel was too surprised to protest She had not inquired rents at the other places since she had not considered renting them. "Pounds or credits?" she said feebly.
"Why, pounds, of course."
"See here, I don't want to buy this du - this place. I just want to use it for a while."
Mr. d'Avril looked hurt. "You needn't do either one, ma'am. With ships arriving every day now I'll have my pick of tenants. My prices are considered very reasonable. The Property Owner's Association has tried to get me to up 'em - and that's a fact"