Ted was not keen to venture out into the dust storm, but thoughts of his sister lying desperately ill quickly drove all hesitation from his mind. He and Randy climbed into their space suits, and as they approached the front-door air lock, Ted was relieved to find that he could begin to see through the thinning dust.  
“It’ll be over in a few minutes now,” Randy said.
 
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But if Ted expected any easy time of it outdoors, he was mistaken. The storm still had a lot of fight left in it. The wind struck them relentlessly, turning them around and blinding their gaze with whirling dust. They could not even thrust through it to the boat. Ted signaled to Randy that they would have to stand close to the house until the storm had subsided even more.
 
At last the wind died to gusts. The air was clearer now, and the stars were once again visible overhead.
 
“I think we can make it now,” Ted said.
 
They ran over to the boat and climbed in. As Ted dropped a pellet into the tank, Randy said, “Look at these scratches on the boat! That sand must cut like a file!”
 
They jetted off down the waterway, Ted pressing the accelerator pedal down to shove the boat along as fast as it could safely go. They whirled into the Main Canal and sped toward the science building where the doctors had their offices. Along the way, the boys could see that theirs wasn’t the only aerial that had been blown down. They could see space-suited figures on the individual houses working on the webs of wires and poles.
 
149
Some whee birds appeared out of nowhere and flew down to perch on the boat and serenade Ted and Randy with their strange chants. However, the boys were in no mood for them now, and presently the friendly birds flapped off as though they realized they were not wanted.
 
Before reaching the building, the boys saw a boat speeding right at them.
 
“Look out!” Randy warned. “He’s coming straight at us.”
 
But the boat pulled up just beside the craft occupied by Ted and Randy.
 
“Are you the Kenton family?” the single occupant asked over his radio.
 
“Yes, sir!” Ted answered quickly. “Are you the doctor?”
 
“Yes,” the man answered. “The storm has held me up. How’s your sister, Son?”
 
“She’s bad off, sir,” Ted answered. “That’s why I had to come for you.”
 
“Turn your boat around and don’t spare the horses, as they used to say,” the doctor said. “I’ll be right behind you.”
 
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Ted made the fastest trip yet along the waterway back home. True to his word, the doctor arrived right at his heels. The doctor jumped out of his boat at the house, grabbed up a large case, and hurried toward the air lock. The boys went ahead and opened the door for him.
 
When the doctor had met Mrs. Kenton inside, he asked to see the sick girl alone. The boys and Mrs. Kenton paced restlessly in the front room as they waited for the doctor to come out of Jill’s room. Finally, when Ted thought he could not stand the waiting any longer, the doctor came out. He was briskly shaking down a thermometer, and his face was bland.
 
“She’ll be a sick girl for a few days,” he said, “but she’ll be all right. I gave her a shot of some special serum we developed to combat bog fever. It was none too soon, either.”
 
There were tears of joy on Mrs. Kenton’s face, and Ted felt as though he could turn handsprings. Randy, too, looked vastly relieved. Although he was not a true member of the family, it seemed as though Ted and Jill were brother and sister to him, especially since he had no brother or sister of his own.
 
“I’m afraid all of you will have to be quarantined for a week,” the doctor went on.
 
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“What’ll we ever find to do with ourselves staying in the house for a whole week?” Ted thought. Then he remembered the garden that had to be tended, that antenna that had to be repaired, and other mechanical duties that had to do with the running of the house. If they kept busy, the time would pass swiftly, he reasoned. The boys went up on the roof to try to repair the antenna, but there was such a tangle of wires they did not know where to start. The doctor said he would leave word at headquarters for a repairman to come out.
 
“It may be a day or so before he can get out here, though,” the doctor warned. “It looks as though half the aerials in the settlement were blown down.”
 
It was actually two days before a repairman came. By that time, Jill had passed her worst time, and she was able to sit up a little and see the boys.
 
Ted and Randy were amazed at the rapid growth of the plants in the garden. Already they were eighteen inches high. Ted thought he could almost see them growing before his eyes.
 
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As soon as the radiomen had repaired the antenna, the boys sat down to watch the television program in progress. It was a newscast that showed in color the events going on all the way back on Earth and within the settlement as well. The huge five-by-four-foot screen was sharp and clear.
 
Suddenly the regular telecast was interrupted. A local announcer was switched in. He held a paper in his hand, and by the expression on his face, Ted knew he had something v............