rking on the atmosphere of Venus! In a
moment the power units were again operating, and now as they sucked a
plentitude of power from the surrounding air, they produced a force that
made the men cling to their holds with almost frantic force. Around them
the rapidly increasing density of the air made the whine grow to a roar;
the temperature within the ship rose slowly, warmed by friction with
the air, despite the extreme cold at this altitude, more than
seventy-five miles above the surface of the planet.

They began dropping rapidly now--their radio-speedometer had fallen from
ten to nine--then slowly, but faster and faster as more heat could be
extracted from the air, it had fallen 8--7--6--5--4. Now they were well
below orbital speed, falling under the influence of the planet. The
struggle was over--the men relaxed. The ship ran quietly now, the smooth
hum of the air rushing over the great power units coming softly through
the speaker to their ears, a humming melody--the song of a new world.

IV

Suddenly the blazing sun was gone and they were floating in a vast world
of rolling mists--mists that brushed the car with tiny clicks, which,
with the millions of particles that struck simultaneously, merged into a
steady roar.

"Ice--ice clouds!" Morey exclaimed.

Arcot nodded. "We'll drop below the clouds; they're probably miles deep.
Look, already they're changing--snow now--in a moment it will be
water--then it'll clear away and we'll actually see Venus!"

For ten miles--an endless distance it seemed--they dropped through
clouds utterly impenetrable to the eye. Then gradually the clouds
thinned; there appeared brief clear spots, spots into which they could
see short distances--then here and there they caught glimpses of green
below. Was it water--or land?

With a suddenness that startled them, they were out of the clouds,
shooting smoothly and swiftly above a broad plain. It seemed to stretch
for endless miles across the globe, to be lost in the far distance to
east and west; but to the north they saw a low range of hills that rose
blue and misty in the distance.

"Venus! We made it!" Morey cried jubilantly. "The first men ever to
leave Earth--I'm going to start the old sender and radio back home!
Man--look at that stretch of plain!" He jumped to his feet and started
across the control room. "Lord--I feel like of ton of lead now--I sure
am out of condition for walking after all that time just floating!"