ained her
maximum speed of fifty thousand miles an hour as the ceaseless drive of
her great rocket motors forced her ahead, a speed possible in the void
of outer space where there was no air to create friction. For all her
great speed by Earthly standards, she was but crawling slowly across the
vastness of Interplanetary space.

Life on board had settled down to a smooth routine. Now and then alarm
bells would suddenly ring a warning of the approach of a small
planetesimal or some other vagrant wanderer of outer space, and the ship
would change course to avoid a collision. Otherwise there was little
excitement. Astern, the familiar Earth had dwindled to a shining
disc--like the button on an airman's uniform. Ahead, the cloud-veiled
planet of Venus drew steadily nearer.

Passing along one of B-deck corridors one day, Gerry met Olga Stark
coming out of the recreation rooms. She was off duty at the moment, and
instead of her uniform she wore a long gown of green silk. Her dark hair
was surmounted by a polished metal cap, and a thin gauze veil hung to
her chin. Gerry stopped her with a gesture.

"Very decorative, Lieutenant," he said with a twitch of his lips, "but
this is supposed to be a scientific expedition. I must ask that you wear
your uniform outside of your cabin."

"I am off duty!" she retorted, her dark eyes suddenly angry and sullen.

"It's true that you're not on watch at this moment, but everybody is on
duty twenty-four hours a day till this expedition is over. Resume your
uniform."

"And if I refuse?" she asked.

"You'll go into double irons. When I'm commanding a ship, I do just
that!"

For a moment their glances met, the woman's hot and angry, the man's
cold and unyielding. Then, without another word, she swept away to her
cabin. Gerry Norton sighed, and went on his way. He had never become
entirely reconciled to the presence of women in the Interplanetary
Fleet. They made good officers most of the time, but occasionally they
had fits of feminine temperament.

* * * * *

At last there came the day when the yellowish, cloud-veiled mass of
Venus filled half the sky ahead. Watches were doubled up. Rocket motors
were cut down as the attraction of the planet pulled them onward. Then
the forward rocket-tubes began to let go for the braking effect, and the
flame of the discharges filled the control room with a flickering yellow
light.

As they entered the outer atmosphe