Four-Day Planet · Bottom Level (2/2)

“Oh, just temporary storage,” Tom said. “It hasn’t been checked in with the Coop yet.”

That wasn’t any answer⁠—or maybe it was. I let it go at that. Then we came to an open space about fifty feet square. There was a jeep, with a 7 mm machine gun mounted on it, and half a dozen men in boat-clothes were playing cards at a table made out of empty ammunition boxes. I noticed they were all wearing pistols, and when a couple of them saw us, they got up and grabbed rifles. Tom let down and got out of the jeep, going over and talking with them for a few minutes. What he had to tell them didn’t seem to bring any noticeable amount of sunlight into their lives. After a while he came back, climbed in at the controls, and lifted the jeep again.