Read the following passage and questions, then choose the right answer from options, the answer should be one of A, B, C, D.

<passage>:
JAMES BARON was not pleased to hear that he had had a visitor when he reached the Red Lion that evening. He had no stomach for mysteries, vast or trifling, and there were pressing things to think about at this time. Yet the doorman had flagged him as he came in from the street: “A thousand pardons, Mr. Baron. The gentleman—he would leave no think so, too. McIvers’ restlessness was beginning to grate on our nerves. number. Across to the right was a group that Baron knew he grew quieter with returned his smile with a nod. Then he settled back and I figured that it would pass off after a while. I was apprehensive enough myself waited impatiently for the intruder who demanded his time down at Baron’s table. He was short and wiry. His face held I just managed to hide it better. without justifying it. each stop, more reserved and apprehensive. I didn’t like it, but Presently a small, grizzled man crossed the room and sat forehead were twisted and brown, with scars that were still healing. The stranger said, “I’m glad you waited. I’ve heard you’re The grizzled man searched Baron’s face for a moment not going to make the Crossing.” “Say, who are you, if you don’t mind?” Baron demanded. of a Bug an old-fashioned half-track model of the sort that where have you been hiding? We’ve been trying to contact you for months!” “I know. I was hoping you’d quit looking and chuck the whole idea.” friend, we’d given up hope, but we’ve never quit looking. It looked the same, but every now and then it felt different. want to hear.” “But you’ve got On two occasions I felt my wheels spin, with a howl of protest miscalculate? What were the trouble spots?” Baron jabbed a lead, steaming under a soft layer of concealing ash. Why? What was wrong with your glass? Your filters? We’ve got to know those things. If you can tell us, we can make I picked my way more cautiously then. We were getting into I caught myself wishing that the Major had okayed “Of course we want to know. We have to know.” like it. One error in judgment could sink us all, but I wasn’t thinking much about the others. I was worried about me “Nonsense,” Baron declared. “We will.” , plenty McIvers’ scheme for an advanced scout more dangerous for worried. I kept thinking, better McIvers should go than me. It wasn’t healthy thinking and I knew it, but I couldn’t get the thought out of my mind. that whipped us, that and the Sun “Never,” said Baron. It was the planet I think. I followed the news stories like a tri-V serial and then I was heartbroken when they just disappeared. I know now that they were a pair of idiots, starting off without proper equipment, with practically no knowledge of surface the sort of guy who always had things figured a little further ahead than anyone else and always knew what to do in a tight of personality that could take a crew of wild men and make them work like a well-oiled machine across a thousand miles of Venus jungle. I liked him and I trusted him. He contacted me in New York and he was very casual at first. We spent an evening here at the Red Lion, talking about old times been out to see Sanderson and the Twilight Lab on Mercury, and how he preferred a hot trek to a cold one any day of the year—and then he wanted to know what I’d been doing since Venus and what my plans were. “No particular plans,” I told him. “Why?” heat.” Then I began to get it. “You’re planning a trip.” “That’s right. A hot trip.” He grinned at me. “Might be dangerous, too.” “What trip?” Mercury. I want Mercury—but I’ll need help getting it.” I’d thought of it a thousand times and never dared consider it. Nobody had, since Wyatt and Carpenter disappeared. Mercury just how hellish and they never came back to tell about it. It would cross it. I wanted to be along. Poor Jack met us at the rocket landing almost bawling, Sanderson exploring too much, but he thought Mikuta was God, followed him around like a puppy. It didn’t matter to me as long as he knew what he was getting in for. You don’t go asking people in this game why they do it—they’re liable to get awfully uneasy and none of them can ever give you an answer that makes sense. Anyway, Stone had borrowed three men from the Lab, and had the supplies and equipment all lined up when we got there, ready to check and test. The Major went over them like a kid at the circus. Then he said, “Have you heard anything from McIvers?” “Who’s he?” Stone wanted to know. “He’ll be joining us. He’s a good man—got quite a name probably heard of him.” I’d heard plenty of stories about Ted McIvers and I wasn’t too happy to hear that he was joining us. “Kind of a daredevil, isn’t he?” “Maybe. He’s lucky and skillful. Where do you draw the line? We’ll need plenty of both.” “Have you ever worked with him?” I asked. “No. Are you worried?” could be active. Seismograph shifting.” Stone nodded. “Sanderson told me there was probably constant surface activity.” It seemed that the more we considered the problem, the further we got from a solution. We knew there were active 2 , and nitrogen, and traces of analysis, we were barely scraping the surface. The only way we would find out what was happening where was to be there. in hopes of getting a hop from there. He didn’t seem too upset about it, as though this were his usual way of doing things and he couldn’t see why everyone should get so excited. He was a tall, rangy man with long, wavy hair prematurely gray, and the sort of eyes that looked like a climber’s—half-closed, sleepy, almost indolent, but capable of abrupt alertness. something with his hands, or talking, or pacing about. Evidently the Major decided not to press the issue of his “Of course.” Claney shrugged, glanced at the small quiet tables around them. “There are lots of bizarre personalities around a place like this, and some of the best wouldn’t seem to be the most reliable at first glance. Anyway, personality problems weren’t our big problem right then. Equipment worried us first and route Baron nodded in agreement. “What kind of suits did you “You weren’t!” Baron exclaimed. “Why not?” Baron licked his lips. His fingers stroked the cool, wet glass it across where your attempt failed—” “You want to know why we failed?” asked Claney. an area of recent surface activity closely. Peter’s job is to pick the passage at any given point. If there’s any doubt of safe passage, we’ll all explore ahead the individual, maybe, but I was driving blind now and I didn’t to do the advance scouting?” “It sounds like I am,” I cut in. “We want to keep the lead Bug light as possible.” He stared at the Major. “I mean, how can we tell what sort of a hole we may be moving into, unless we have a scout up ahead?” detail work. We don’t need to reconnaissance, keep five, maybe ten miles ahead of the column. I can stay on good solid ground, of course, but scan the gave a sullen nod. “Okay. If you say so.” “Well, I say so and I mean it. I don’t want any fancy stuff. I kept my eyes pasted to the big polaroid binocs, picking out the track the early research teams had made out into the edge we’d have drunk ourselves into nephritis in a week otherwise. We were constantly, unceasingly thirsty. Ask the physiologists and psychiatrists why—they can give you have a dozen interesting reasons—but all we knew, or cared about, was that it happened to be so. for one ice-cold bottle of beer. After a few driving periods, I began to get my bearings at

<question>:
Which word least describes Baron?

<options>:
A confident
B realistic
C enthusiastic
D curious

<answer>:

B