Lieutenant Dmitri Petrov pointed toward a flat valley running between the sloping walls of two craters about a thousand meters to the left. "Vehicle tracks and footprints, converging into that shadow below the left crater's rim. I make out three, maybe four small buildings."
"Pressurized greenhouses," said Leuchenko. He set a pair of boxlike binoculars on a small tripod and settled the wide viewing piece around the faceplate of his helmet. "Looks like vapor issuing out of the crater's sloping side." He paused to adjust the focus. "Yes, I can see it clearly now. There's an entrance into the rock, probably an airlock with access to their interior facility. No sign of life. The outer perimeter appears deserted."
"They could be hiding in ambush," said Petrov.
"Hide where?" asked Leuchenko, sweeping the open panorama. "The scattered rocks are too small to shield a man. There are no breaks in the terrain, no indication of defense works. An astronaut in a bulky white lunar
suit would stand out like a snowman in a field of cinders. No, they must be barricaded inside the cave."
"Not a wise defensive position. All to our advantage."
"They still have a rocket launcher."
"That has little effect against men spread in a loose formation."
"True, but we'll have no cover and we can't be sure they don't have other weapons."
"A heavy concentration of fire inside the cave entrance might force their hand," suggested Petrov.
"Our orders are not to cause any unnecessary destruction to the facility," said Leuchenko. "We'll have to move in=
"Something is moving out there!" Petrov cried.
Leuchenko stared through the binoculars. An odd-looking open vehicle had appeared from behind one of the greenhouses and was traveling in their direction. A white flag, attached to an antenna, hung limply in the airless atmosphere. He watched until it stopped fifty meters away and a figure stepped out onto the lunar soil.
"Interesting," said Leuchenko thoughtfully. "The Americans want to parley."
"Might be a trick. A ruse to study our force."
"I don't think so. They wouldn't make contact under a flag of truce if they were acting from a position of strength. Their intelligence people and tracking systems on earth warned them of our arrival, and they must realize they're outgunned. Americans are capitalists. They look at everything from a business viewpoint. If they can't make a fight for it, they'll try to strike a deal."
"You going out?" asked Petrov.
"No harm in talking. He doesn't appear armed. Perhaps they can be persuaded to bargain their lives for an intact colony."
"Our orders were to take no prisoners."
"I haven't forgotten," said Leuchenko tensely. "We'll cross that bridge when we've achieved our objective. Tell the men to keep the American in their sights. If I raise my left hand, give the order to fire."
He handed his automatic weapon to Petrov and rose lightly to his feet. His lunar suit, rifle, and life-support backpack, containing an oxygen recharger and water recharger for cooling, added 194
pounds to Leuchenko's body weight for a total of almost 360 earth pounds. But his lunar weight was only 60 pounds.
He moved toward the lunar vehicle in the half-walking, half-hopping gait typical when moving under the light gravitational pull of the moon. He quickly approached the lunar vehicle and halted about five meters away.
The American moon colonist was leaning unconcernedly against a front wheel. He straightened, knelt on one knee, and wrote a number in the lead-colored dust.
Leuchenko understood and turned his radio receiver to the frequency indicated. Then he nodded.
"Are you receiving me?" the American asked in badly mispronounced Russian.
"I speak English," replied Leuchenko.
"Good. That will save any misunderstanding. My name is Eli Steinmetz."
"You are the United States moon base leader?"
"I head up the project, yes."