“We went on a walk that took us past the post office. They were loading the automated postal rockets. But I didn’t pay it any attention. You see them more than a hundred times a day!”

But ten minutes later, when a Martian flyer brought Alice in, everything became clear.

“I went inside to get your letter, Papa.” Alice said.

“What letter?”

“Papa, you said that mama was going to write us a letter. So I went inside the rocket to see if it was there.”

“You just got inside?”

“Of course. The door was open, and there were a lot of letters there…”

“And then…”

“As soon as I got inside the door closed, and the rocket took off. I started to press buttons to stop it. There were a lot of buttons. When I pressed the last one the rocket went down and then the door opened. I went out, but it was all sand around everywhere, and Auntie Tanya wasn’t there, and the other kids weren’t there…”

“She hit the emergency landing button.” The Martian in the blue tunic said with admiration in his voice.

“I cried a lot, then I decided to walk home.”

“But how did you decide which way to go?

“I went up on a small hill to look around. And there was a door in the hill. I couldn’t see anything at all from the hill. So I went inside the room and sat down there.”

“What door?” The Martian was amazed. “That region is completely empty.”

“No, there was a door, and room. And in the room there’s a big stone. Like an Egyptian pyramid. Only small. Remember, Papa, you read me that book on Egyptian pyramids.”

Alice’s unexpected revelation produced consternation among the Martians and Nazaryan, the Rescue Chief.

“The Tewteqs!” They shouted.

“Where did you find the girl? The map coordinates!”

And half those present vanished in a puff of smoke.