midnight
And if you lose that case , it may mean the end of U.N. authority on Mars . '' `` Then there 's just one thing to do , '' Johnny Coombs said . `` We 've got to find Roger Hunter 's bonanza . '' * * * * * It was almost midnight when they left the Major 's office , a gloomy trio , walking silently up the ramp to the Main Concourse , heading toward the living quarters . They had been talking with the Major for hours , going over every facet of the story , wracking their brains for the answer ... but the answer had not come . Roger Hunter had found something , and hidden it so well that three groups of searchers had failed to discover it . After seeing the gun , the Major was convinced that there had indeed been a discovery made .