aw the surface of Venus. They
were over water. An ocean stretched below them as far as the eye could
see, with neither a rock nor an island. Venus was a water world!

Chapter 9. _The Ocean Primeval_

The _Magellan_ hung in the air while the men studied the surface of this
world that had so long been a mystery. The air was not the clear air of
Earth; rather, it was the kind that precedes the coming of a fog, thick,
heavy with moisture, the horizons fading into gray. Below them lay a
mottled expanse of water, reflecting the gray sky, and verging almost to
a deep brown. The water was still, occasionally stirred by a slight
wave. "No tides have ever moved these waters," commented Russ quietly to
Burl. "There is no moon to pull and sway them. The motion of this world,
so slow in the passage of its day, hardly disturbs the water."

"It looks shallow to me," said Burl. "The darker sections look as if the
bottom must be close."

"I imagine it is. We'll take soundings," Russ answered. "I have a
feeling the whole world may be like this ... one vast, shallow, swampy
sea. See the scum floating on it?"

"See it? Now that you mention it, there's hardly a part that hasn't
something on it," was Burl's reply. "There're patches of muck all over
it, like floating oil, or even drifting masses of weeds."

It was true. The water showed on its surface a strange filth unlike
anything one would expect on the surface of a Terrestrial sea. There
were wide areas of brownish-gray slime and little floating blobs of
green. Shining flecks of yellow, like bright oil drops, seemed to flow
through and between the masses of scum.

At the radar, Haines began to call out figures. As Russ had guessed, it
was a shallow sea. In places, the bottom was only a dozen feet beneath.
For a while, all the men of the crew were quiet, watching the silent
waters beneath them.

"Unclean, the whole place looks unclean," Lockhart said finally. "We've
got work to do. Let's find the Sun-tap station."

The rest of the crew came to action. The spaceship began to move slowly,
while Oberfield and Caton probed for the lines of force which would lead
to the station.

Now a long, low bank appeared, a ridge of mud protruding above the
water. Here and there stretched other low mud bars, and once a ridge of
rock.

"I've seen no animals or birds," said Burl. "Do you suppose there are
any?"

Russ pursed his lips. "I don't think so. From the look of this world,
lif