yon stretched
before him. And it seemed to the big cadet that every square inch of the
canyon floor was occupied by buildings and spaceships. Hundreds of
green-clad men were moving around the ships and buildings.

"By the craters of Luna!" gasped Astro as the patrol paused in the mouth
of the tunnel. "What--what is this?"

"The first city of Venus. True Venus. Built by Venusians with Venusian
materials only!" said the leader proudly. "There's the answer to your
Solar Guard!"

"I don't understand," said Astro. "What are you going to do?"

"You'll see." The man chuckled. "You'll see. Move on!"

As they trooped out of the tunnel and down into the canyon they passed
groups of men working on the many ships. The cadet recognized what they
were doing at once. The unmistakable outlines of gun ports were being
cut into the sides of several bulky space freighters. Elsewhere, the
steady pounding of metal and grinding of machinery told the cadet that
machine shops were going at full blast. He noticed a difference between
the men of the patrol and the workers. Neither spoke to the other. In
fact, Astro saw that it was rarely that a worker even glanced at them as
they passed by.

Up ahead, Astro saw a huge building, wide and sprawling but only a few
stories high. It was nearly dark now and lights began to wink on in the
many windows. He guessed that he was being taken to the building and was
not surprised when the leader pulled him by the arm, guiding him toward
a small side door. There was a curious look about the building and the
cadet couldn't figure out what it was. Glancing quickly at the wall as
he passed through the door, he nearly burst out laughing. The building
was made of wood! He guessed that the rebels were using materials at
hand rather than importing anything from outside planets. And since
Venus was largely a planet of jungles and vegetation, with few large
mineral deposits, wood would be the easiest thing to use.

The inside of the building was handsomely decorated and designed. He saw
walls covered with carvings, depicting old legends about the first
colonists. He shook his head. "Boy," he thought, "they sure go for the
Venusian stuff in a big way!"

"All right!" snapped the leader. "Stop here!"

Astro stood before a huge double door that had been polished to a
brilliant luster. The cadet waited for the leader to enter, but the
Nationalist stood perfectly still, eyes straight ahead. Suddenly the
doors swu