 How do the Martians reproduce?
Illustrated by WOOD My agent was the one who got me the job of going along to write up the first trip to Mars. "It'll be just like the public going along vicariously. A you-are-there type of report? So I went on the first trip to Mars. Trip time is supposed to take 260 days (that's one way), so we're aimed toward where Mars will be (had better be, or else). A pilot, co-pilot, navigator and biochemist. I've met all but the pilot (he's very busy today), and they seem friendly enough. Jones (that's the co-pilot; I didn't quite catch his first name) is scarlet-faced, barrel-chested and gives the general appearance of belonging under the spreading chestnut tree, not in a metal bullet flinging itself out into airless space. The inertial gravities didn't bother me so much as the gyroscopic spin they put on the ship so we have a sort of artificial gravity to hold us against the curved floor. They'd have to cover it so I could look out the viewing screen, and they still need it for steering or something. I still don't know Jones' first name, though Pat spoke to him, and it sounded like Flants. Also, I am one of the first five men in the history of the world to see the opposite side of the Moon, with a bluish blurred crescent beyond it that Pat said was the Earth. The back of the Moon isn't much different from the front. As to the space in front of the ship, well, it's all black with white dots in it, and none of the dots move, except in a circle that Pat says is a "torque" result from the gyroscopic spin we're in. Actually, he explained to me, the screen is supposed to keep the image of space locked into place no matter how much we spin. I told him I hoped it didn't mean we'd land on Mars upside down. There's just no awesomeness to it, no sense of depth or immensity. Right now we're using buttons for men. Mary, Mary, quite contrary, How does your garden grow? With Martian rime, Venusian slime, And a radioactive hoe. I saw Mars on the screen today. It seems to be descending from overhead, but Pat says that that's the "torque" doing it. Actually, it's we who are coming in sideways.
 The Martians are covered in red scales. The scales are shed. The discarded scales grow into new aliens.
 The Martians are made of sugar. Once the body dissolves in the water a new body forms, like a phoenix rising from the ashes.  The Martians reproduce the same way humans do.  The red scales the Martians leave behind are like eggs. New Martians hatch out of the scales.  The Martians are covered in red scales. The scales are shed. The discarded scales grow into new aliens.