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Lucky starr and john bigravity-free Space Station No 2 and drifted toward the planetary coaster that waited for therace of long practice under non-gravity conditions, despite the fact that their bodies seerotesque in the space suits they wore

Bigman arched his back as he ain at Venus His voice sounded loudly in Lucky&039;s ear through the suit&039;sf radio "Space! Look at that rock, will you?" Every inch of Big-ht

Bigman had been born and bred on Mars and had never in his life been so close to Venus He was used to ruddy planets and rocky asteroids He had even visited green and blue Earth But here, noas soray and white

Venus filled over half the sky It was only two thousand miles away from the space station they were on Another space station was on the opposite side of the planet These two stations, acting as receiving depots for Venus-bound spaceships, streaked about the planet in a three-hour period of revolution, following one another&039;s tracks like little puppies forever chasing their tails

Yet froh they were to Venus, nothing could be seen of the planet&039;s surface No continents showed, no oceans, no deserts or reen valleys Whiteness, only brilliant whiteness, interspersed with shifting lines of gray

The whiteness was the turbulent cloud layer that hovered eternally over all of Venus, and the gray lines marked the boundaries where cloud masses met and clashed Vapor ray lines, on Venus&039;s invisible surface, it rained

Lucky Starr said, "No use looking at Venus, Big plenty of it, close up, for a while It&039;s the sun you ought to be saying good-by to"

Bigman snorted To his Mars-accustoht The sun, as seen from Venus&039;s orbit, was a bloated ht as Earth&039;s sun, four tilad that Venus&039;s clouds would hide its sun He was glad that the space station always arranged its vanes in such a way as to block off the sunlight

Lucky Starr said, "Well, you crazy Martian, are you getting in?"

Bight himself to a halt at the lip of the open lock by the casual pressure of one hand He was still looking at Venus The visible half was in the full glare of the sun, but at the eastern side the night shadoas creeping in,quickly as the space station raced on in its orbit

Lucky, still ht the lip of the lock in his turn and brought his other space-suited hand flat against Big slowly inward, while Lucky&039;s figure bobbed outward

Lucky&039;s arm muscle contracted, and he floated up and inith an easy, flowing ht heart at the auntleted finger against the inner lock holding hih

Big out on you and you can get yourself another"

Air hissed into the small rooh, dodging Big- feet The one in the lead, a stocky felloith dark hair and a surprisingly large entlemen?"

The second hter hair but a e, said, "Can we help you?"

Big us rooet our suits off" He had flicked hi his suit as he spoke Lucky had already shucked his

The h the inner lock It, too, closed behind them The space suits, their outer surface cold with the cold of space, were frosting over as ealed upon theman tossed them out of the coaster&039;s warht melt

The dark-haired man said, "Let&039;s see, now You two are Williaht?"

Lucky said, "I&039; that alias under ordinary conditions was second nature to Lucky by now It was customary for Council of Science members to shun publicity at all times It was particularly advisable noith the situation on Venus as confused and uncertain as it was

Lucky went on, "Our papers are in order, I believe, and our luggage is aboard"

"Everything&039;s all right," the dark-haired one said, "I&039;e Reval, pilot, and this is Tor Johnson,off in a fewyou want, let us know"

The two passengers were shown to their shly comfortable in space except on his own speed cruiser, the Shooting Starr, now at rest in the space station&039;s hangar

Tor Johnson said in a deep voice, "Let et out of the space station&039;s orbit, on&039;t be in free fall any et space-sick"

Bigravity changes when I was a baby that you couldn&039;t take right now" He flicked his finger against the wall, turned a slow soain, and ended with his feet just a half-inch above the floor "Try that someday when you feel real , "you squeeze a lot of brash into half a pint, don&039;t you?"

Bigman flushed instantly "Half a pint! Why, you

soup-straining cobber" he screamed, but Lucky&039;s

hand was on his shoulder and he sed the rest of the sentence "See you on Venus," the little MartianHe followed his chief into the control rooer gone at once, said to Lucky curiously, "Say, how about those "

Lucky said, "It&039;s just a Venusian custorows theered his lip, stroking its bareness "Wonder how I&039;d look in one"

"With one that big?" smiled Lucky "It would drown your whole face"

He dodged the punch Bightly beneath their feet and the Venus Marvel lifted off the space station The coaster turned its nose into the contracting spiral trajectory that would carry it "down" to Venus

Lucky Starr felt the beginnings of a long-overdue relaxation flooding hihtful, and his keen, fine-featured face was in repose He was tall and looked slim, but beneath that deceptive sliiven ood and evil He had lost Ms parents while still a child, lost them in a pirate attack near the very Venus he was now approaching He had been brought up by his father&039;s dearest friends, Hector Conway, now chief of the Council of Science, and Augustus Henree, section director of the saanization

Lucky had been educated and trained with but one thought in mind: Someday he was to enter that very Council of Science, whose powers and functions alaxy

It was only a year ago, upon his graduation from the academy, that he had entered into full membership and become dedicated to the advancement of man and the destruction of the eneest member of the Council and probably would remain so for years

Yet already he had won his first battles On the deserts of Mars and a the dimlit rocks of the asteroid belt, he had ainst crime and evil is not a short-ter for trouble, a trouble that was particularly disturbing since its details were misty

Chief of the Council Hector Conway had pinched his lip and said, "I&039;ainst the Solar Confederation, or just petty racketeering Our local men there tend to view it seriously"

Lucky said, "Have you sent any of our trouble shooters?" He was not long back fro to this with concern

Conway said, "Yes: Evans"

"Lou Evans?" asked Lucky, his dark eyes lighting with pleasure "He was one of ood"