noon
Once he heard shouting and a group ran across his path , chasing a small rodent . He heard a wild tumult begin , minutes later . When he passed the spot where they had stopped , a fight was going on , apparently over the kill . At noon he stopped to drink sparingly of his water and eat one of the incredibly bad biscuits . What food there was available or which could be received from the Earth freighters was being mixed into them , but it was n't enough . The workers got a little more , and occasionally someone found a few cans under the rubble . The penalty for not turning such food in was revocation of all food allotment , but there was a small black market where unidentified cans could be bought for five Earth dollars , and some found its way there .