n a long tongue. He looked at the first headline:

VENUSIAN OBSERVERS ADMITTED TO WORLD CONGRESS

Well, that was a step in the right direction. Maybe one of these days
they'd get around to a Solar Congress, as they ought to. The recent open
war with Venus had taught both Earthmen and Venusians a lot about space
travel, and it was probably possible to explore the solar system further
right now. No one had yet gone beyond the asteroids. Recent observations
from the telescope stations here on the moon had found what seemed to be
geometrical markings on some of Jupiter's satellites. Life there? Could
be. Candidates for a brotherhood of the zodiac--if both Terrans and
Venusians could get the concept of brotherhood pounded through their
still partially savage skulls.

Another headline:

'WE CAN LICK UNIVERSE'--WAR SEC

Not so good, that. Loose talk. Actually it was an Undersecretary of War
who had said it. Pell ran over the rest of the article quickly and came
to what seemed to him a significant excerpt. "_Certain patriotic groups
in the world today are ready and willing to make the necessary
sacrifices to get it over with. There is a fundamental difference
between Earthmen and other creatures of the system, and this difference
can be resolved only by the dominance of one over the other._"

Supremist stuff. Strictly. If this Undersecretary were not actually a
member he was at least a supporter of the Supremist line. And that line
had an appeal for the unthinking, Pell had to admit. It was pleasant to
convince yourself that you were a superior specimen, that you were
chosen....

VENUSIAN SPY SUSPECTS HELD ON MARS

Pell frowned deeply at that one and read the story. A couple of Venusian
miners on Mars had wandered too close to one of the Earth military
outposts, and had been nabbed. He doubted that they were spies; he
doubted that the authorities holding them thought so. But it seemed to
make a better story with a slight scare angle. He thought about how Mars
was divided at an arbitrary meridian--half to Venus, half to Earth. The
division solved nothing, pleased nobody. Joe Citizen, the man in the
tunnels could see these things, why couldn't these so-called trained
diplomats?

Pell finished his report, questioned the Postmaster a little on routine
facts concerning the town, and went back to the hotel.

* * * * *

Ciel was waiting for him. She was in a smart, frontless f