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Jupiter was alht, half the apparent diameter of the htly lit because of its great distance froht

Lucky Starr gazed at it thoughtfully The lights in the control room were out and Jupiter was centered on the visiplate, its di more than man, you could dump thirteen hundred planets the size of Earth into it and still not quite fill it up It weighs ether"

John Bigman, and as five feet two inches tall if he stretched a little, disapproved of anything that was big, except Lucky He said, "And what good is all of it? No one can land on it No one can come near it"

"We&039;ll never land on it, perhaps," said Lucky, "but we&039;ll be corav ships are developed"

"With the Sirians on the job," said Big to take ht fist into the open pal do we have to wait here?"

They were in Lucky&039;s ship, the Shooting Starr, which was in an orbit about Jupiter, having iant planet&039;s outer stationary a thousand miles away Officially, its naest and closest, Jupiter&039;s satellites were hty-nine miles in diaer than distant Jupiter, fifteen ray and forbidding in the sun&039;s weak light, and scarcely worth interest Both Lucky and Bights in the asteroid belt

In one way, however, it was different Under its skin a thousand men and billions of dollars labored to produce ships that would be iravity

Nevertheless, Lucky preferred watching Jupiter Even at its present distance from the ship (actually three fifths of the distance of Venus froe enough to reveal its colored zones to the naked eye They showed in fault pink and greenish-blue, as though a child had dipped Ms fingers in a watery paint and trailed theot the deadliness of Jupiter in its beauty Bigman had to repeat his question in a louder voice

"Hey, Lucky, how long do we have to wait here?"

"You know the answer to that, Bigman Until Commander Donahue comes to pick us up"

"I know that part What I want to knoe have to wait for him"

"Because he&039;s asked us to"

"Oh, he has Who does the cobber think he is?"

"The head of the Agrav project," Lucky said patiently

"You don&039;t have to do what he says, you know, even if he is"

Bigman had a sharp and deep realization of Lucky&039;s powers As full member of the Council of Science, that selfless and brilliant organization that fought the enemies of Earth within and without the solar systeainst the

But Lucky was not quite ready to do that Jupiter was a known danger, a planet of poison and unbearable gravity; but the situation on Jupiter Nine was er were unknown-and until Lucky could know a bithis way forward carefully

"Be patient, Bigru at Jupiter all day, are we?"

He walked over to the s up and down in its enclosed water-filled cage in the corner of the pilot roo with pleasure The V-frog always had that effect on Big was a native of the Venusian oceans, [1] a tiny thing that seelike and but six inches long His twa big eyes protruded like glealy curved beak opened and closed at irregular intervals At the ed the bottoman tapped the top cover, they unfolded like a carpenter&039;s rule and becaman loved it when he was near it He couldn&039;t help it Anyone else would feel the sa&039;s water well saturated and healthful and e was at ninety-five (The warm oceans of Venus were bathed by and saturated with an aten, nonexistent on Venus except in the man-made domed cities at the bottom of its ocean shalloould have been h?" and as though the V-frog heard the rereen tendril off the native Venusian weed that spread through the cage, and chewed slowly

Lucky said, "It will hold till we land on Jupiter Nine," and then both nal sounded its un face was centered on the visiplate after Lucky&039;s fingers had quickly made the necessary adjustments

"Donahue at this end," said a voice briskly

"Yes, Co for you"

"Clear locks for tube attachment, then"

On the comh it consisted of letters the size of Class I rown accustomed to just that expression on men&039;s faces in these past weeks On Chief Councilman Hector Conway&039;s for instance To the chief councilman, Lucky was almost a son and the older man felt no need to assume any pretense of confidence

Conway &039;s rosy face, usually amiable and self-assured under its crown of pure white hair, was set in a troubled frown &039;&039;I&039;ve been waiting for a chance to talk to you for months"

&039;Trouble?" Lucky asked quietly He had just returned fro tiet any calls froruffly "I wish I could afford to let it continue longer"

"Just what is it, Uncle Hector?"

The chief councilman&039;s old eyes stared firster before him and seemed to find comfort in those calm, brown ones "Sirius!" he said

Lucky felt a stir of excitereat enemy at last?

It had been centuries since the pioneering expedi- tions from Earth had colonized the planets of the nearer stars New societies had grown up on those worlds outside the solar system Independent societies that scarcely rein

The Sirian planets forest of those societies The society had grown up on neorlds where an advanced science was brought to bear on untapped resources It was no secret that the Sirianss strong in the belief that they represented the best of ht rule all men everywhere; and that they considered Earth, the old reatest enemy

In the past they had done what they could to support the enemies of Earth at hoh to risk open war

But now?

"What&039; s this about Sinus?" asked Lucky

Conway leaned back His fingers druer each year We know that But their worlds are underpopulated; they have only a few s in our solar systealaxy besides We have e But, by Space, on&039;t keep that edge if things keep on as they&039;ve been going"

"In ay?"