surface-temperature gauge and then hastily saluted.

"We're reducing speed, sir," he said. "Atmosphere is rather denser than
I had expected. Hendricks reports the air breathable, with a humidity of
one hundred. And--tell me, sir, what do you make of the appearance of
the _Kabit_ now?"

I bent over the hooded television disk anxiously. The _Kabit_ was in the
center of the field, and the image was perhaps a third of the disk's
diameter in length.

Instead of a tiny bright speck, I could see now the fat bulk of the
ship, its bright metal gleaming--but across or around the ship, were
broad spiral bands of black or dark green, as sharp as though they had
been painted there.

"What are the bands, Mr. Correy?" I asked sharply. "Have you formed any
opinion?"

"I have, sir, but I'd rather not offer it at this time," said my first
officer gravely. "Look about the ship, in the immediate vicinity, and
see if you find anything of interest. My eyes may be playing me tricks."

I glanced curiously at Correy, and then bent my attention on the image
in the disk.

* * * * *

It was impossible to make out any details of the background, save that
the country round seemed to be fairly level, with great pools of gray
water standing here and there, and a litter, as of gigantic, wilted
vegetation, spread over everything.

And then, as I looked, it seemed to me that the _Kabit_ shifted position
slightly. At the same time, the spiral bands seemed to move, and upon
the ground around the ship, there was movement also.

I looked up from the disk, feeling Correy's eyes upon me. We stared at
each other, neither wishing to speak--hardly daring to speak. There are
some things too monstrous to put into words.

"You--you saw it, sir?" asked Correy at last, his voice scarcely more
than a whisper.

"I don't know. I think I saw something like a--a snake. Is that what you
mean?"

"Yes. Something like a snake. A snake that has wrapped itself around the
_Kabit_, holding it helpless ... a serpent...." He gestured helplessly,
a sort of horror in his eyes. I think he had convinced himself he had
only imagined the serpent, until I had seen the same thing.

"Have you stopped to think, Mr. Correy," I asked slowly, "how long the
creature would have to be to wrap itself like that around a liner the
size of the _Kabit_? It--it can't be!"

"I know it, sir," nodded Correy. "I know it. And still, I saw it, and
you saw it