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LUCKY&039;S EXPRESSION REMAINED IMPASSIVE Not by SO

much as an eye flicker did he betray any concern "Details, please," he said

Morriss was sain, half his mouth hidden by his preposterous Venusian mustache "Not here, I&039;m afraid"

"Name your place, then"

"One moment" Morriss looked at his watch "In just about aby sealight"

"Sealight?"

"The globe above will shine diet up with theh we are in danger at the ravely, "You are I assure you that since you entered Aphrodite, our enial voice rang out suddenly It seemed to come from the crystal centerpiece on the table From the direction in which other diners turned their attention, it obviously came from the crystal centerpiece on every table

It said, "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Green Rooenetonic rhythms of Tobe Tobias and his-"

As the voice spoke, the lights went out and the reh of wonder that cauests, lobe in the ceiling was suddenly a luloas sharply brilliant The globe assu shadows circled the room in a soft, almost hypnotic fashion The sound of music, drawn almost entirely fronetonic instrurew louder The notes were produced by rods of various shapes being netic field that surrounded each instru to dance There was the rustle ofwhispers A touch on Lucky&039;s sleeve brought first hiures fell in behind the out of the draperies They reh away to look innocent, but each, Lucky felt sure, had his hand near the butt of a blaster No mistake about it Mel Morriss of the Venusian section of the Council of Science took the situation very much in earnest

Lucky looked about Morriss&039;s aparth it was coet that a hundred yards above was a translucent dome beyond which was a hundred yards of shallow, carbonated ocean, followed by a hundred miles of alien, unbreathable atmosphere

What actually pleased Lucky most was the collection of book films that overflowed one alcove

He said, "You&039;re a biophysicist, Dr Morriss?" Automatically, he used the professional title

Morriss said, "Yes"

"I did biophysical work myself at the academy," said Lucky

"I know," said Morriss "I read your paper It was good work May I call you David, by the way?"

"It&039;s my first name," conceded the Earthman, meanwhile, had opened one of the filht He shuddered and replaced it

He said belligerently to Morriss, "You sure don&039;t look like a scientist"

"I iine not," said Morriss, unoffended "That helps, you know"

Lucky knehat he meant In these days, when science really perer restrict themselves to their laboratories It was for that reason that the Council of Science had been born Originally it was intended only as an advisory body to help the governalactic importance, where only trained scientists could have sufficient inforent decisions More and e syste h its activities there reat Eht live in peace and harmony

So it came about that, as members of the Council had to fulfill many duties far removed from pure science, it was better for their success if they didn&039;t look par- ticularly like scientists-as long, that is, as they had the brains of scientists

Lucky said, "Would you begin, sir, by filling me in on the details of the troubles here?"

"How much were you told on Earth?"

"The barest sketch I would prefer to trust the man on the scene for the rest"

Morriss smiled with more than a trace of irony "Trust the man on the scene? That&039;s not the usual attitude of the men in the central office They send their own trouble shooters, and men such as Evans arrive"

"And myself, too," said Lucky

"Your case is a little different We all know of your accoood piece of work you&039;ve just finished in the asteroids" [2]

Bigman crowed, "You should have been with Mm if you think you know allabout it"

Lucky reddened slightly He said hastily, "Never man Let&039;s not have any of your yarns"

They were all in large armchairs, Earth- about the reflected sound of their voices that, to Lucky&039;s practiced ear, was good evidence that the apartment was insulated and spy-shielded

Morriss lit a cigarette and offered one to the others but was refused "How much do you know about Venus, Lucky?"

Lucky so over a few things quickly, it&039;s the second closest planet to the sun and is about sixty-seven million miles from it It&039;s the closest world to Earth and can come to within twenty-six million miles of the home planet It&039;s just a little sravity about five sixths Earth-noroes around the sun in about seven and a halfIt&039;s surface teher than Earth&039;s but not much, because of the clouds Also because of the clouds, it has no seasons to speak of It is covered by ocean, which is, in turn, covered with seaweed Its aten and is unbreathable How is that, Dr Morriss?"

"You pass with highabout Venusian society rather than about the planet itself"

"Well, now, that&039;s more difficult I know, of course, that humans live in domed cities in the shallower parts of the ocean, and, as I can see for myself, Venusian city life is quite advanced-far beyond Martian city life, for instance"

Bigman yelled, "Hey!"