More than ten seconds passed before the voice in his earphones said, "You're sending your troops to their deaths needlessly. We have no quarrel with you. Return to Earth and leave us in peace."

Practically quivering with fury, Munasinghe jabbed the Norwegian lieutenant's shoulder with a gloved finger. "Get your squad moving! If you go fast enough the nanomachines won't have a chance to harm you."

"That's not true," Doug said.

"Go!" Munasinghe screamed. "That's an order!"

The Norwegian scuttled away, gathered his squad, and started them into the garage. The warning sign was almost completely gone, Munasinghe saw; nothing left but a few streaks of red.

"You're making a serious mistake," Doug said in the captain's earphones.

"No," Munasinghe snapped. "You are. I will destroy Moonbase and everyone in it before I leave here."

TOUCHDOWN PLUS 59 MINUTES

Edith was getting it all on her digital recorder and minicams. In addition to the camera fastened to the top of her helmet, which saw whatever she looked at, she held another in her gloved hands, almost forgotten in the excitement of the moment.

She watched, wide-eyed, as the squad of troopers thumped in their heavy boots and spacesuits across the wide expanse of the empty garage.

It would have been funny if it weren't so scary. The Moonbase guy who spoke to them was Douglas Stavenger, the one who carried swarms of nanomachines inside his body. Was he telling the truth? Were the bugs on the garage floor capable of ruining spacesuits? Killing people?

She remembered that Stavenger's father had died on the Moon a quarter-century ago, killed by runaway nanobugs.

This could get hairy, she thought.

Two troopers had outraced the others and reached one of the dulled metal hatches of the airlocks that led into the base proper. They rested their rifles against the wall and started to unpack the grenades they carried on their equipment vests.

"Look at your boots," Doug Stavenger's voice said, with just a touch of urgency in it. "Your boots are being digested by nanomachines."

One of the troopers awkwardly lifted one foot and tried to bend over far enough in his spacesuit to see the sole. His buddy looked down, and dropped the set of grenades she'd been handling.

Edith heard a panicky jabbering in a language she didn't understand.

"Speak English!" Munasinghe's voice demanded.

"The boots… they're coming apart!"

"My glove!"

The other troopers in the garage stopped in their tracks. For an idiotic moment, each of them tried to inspect his or her boots.

"The nanomachines!"

"They'll kill us all!"

Stavenger's voice came through again, strong and calm. "Get out of the garage. Ultraviolet light deactivates the nanobugs. Get out in the sunlight where the solar UV can save your lives."

Munasinghe screamed, "No! No!"

"If you don't get out now,' Stavenger's voice urged,'the nanobugs will eat through your boots and start digesting your flesh. Once that begins there's no way to stop them."

"I order you to blow those hatches!" Munasinghe screeched.