“Nevertheless I'm convinced that either Willis or Trail was planted here to stop us from succeeding.”
The idea that both the men were genuinely scared and wanted only to get back to Earth had never struck him. I saw no reason to let it.
“Anyway,” he added, “we've settled with the murdering swine now – at the cost of three good honest men.”
He took some charts from a drawer. “Now come along, Gratz. We must get to work on this navigation. Who knows but that all our lives may soon depend on you.”
“Who indeed, sir,” I agreed.
STEALING THE SHIP
Another fortnight passed before the Nuntia at last dipped her nose into the clouds which had always made the nature of Venus' surface a matter for surmise. By circling the planet several times, Captain Tanner contrived to reduce our headlong hurtling to a manageable speed.
After I had taken a sample of the atmosphere – (which proved almost identical with that of Earth) – I took my place close beside him, gaining a knowledge of how the ship must be handled in the air. When the clouds closed in on our windows to obscure the universe we were travelling at a little more than two hundred miles an hour. Despite our extended wings we required the additional support of vertical rockets.
The Captain dropped cautiously upon a long slant. This, he told me, would be the most nerve-racking part of the entire trip. There was no telling how far the undersides of the clouds were from the planet's surface. He could depend on nothing but luck to keep the ship clear of mountains which might lurk unseen in our path.
He sat tensely at the control board, peering into the baffling mist, ready at a moment's notice to change his course although we both knew that the sight of an obstacle would mean that it was too late. The few minutes we spent in the clouds seemed interminable.
My senses drew so taut that it seemed they must snap. And then, when I felt that I could not stand it a moment longer, the vapours thinned, dropped behind and we swept down at last upon a Venusian landscape.
Only it was not a landscape, for in every direction stretched the sea — a grey, miserable waste. Even our relief could not make the scene anything but dreary. Heavy rain drove across the view in thick rods, slashing at the windows and pitting the troubled water.
Lead-grey clouds, heavy with unshed moisture, seemed to press down like great, gorged sponges which would wipe everything clean. Nowhere was there a darkling line to suggest land. The featureless horizon which we saw dimly through the rain was a watery circle.
The Captain levelled out and continued straight ahead at a height of a few hundred feet above the surface. There was nothing for it but to go on and hope that we should strike land of some kind. For hours we did, and for the difference it made to the scene we might have been stationary. It was just a matter of luck.
Unknowingly, we must have taken a line on which the open sea lay straight before us for thousands of miles. The rain, the vastness of the ocean and the reaction from our journey combined to drive us into depression. Was Venus, we began to ask ourselves, nothing but a sphere of water and clouds?
At last I caught a glimpse of a dark speck away to starboard. With visibility so low I could not be certain what it was. We had all but passed it before I drew the Captain's attention. Without hesitating he swerved towards it and we both fixed our eyes on it and anxiously watched it grow.
As we drew closer it proved to be a hill of no great size, rising from an island of some five or six square miles. It was not such a spot as one would have chosen for a first landing but he decided to make it. We were all thoroughly tired of our cramped quarters. A few days of rest and exercise in the open air would put new heart in us.
It would be absurd for an Earthman to describe Venus to Venusians but there are differences between your district of Takon and the island where we landed which I find very puzzling. Moreover, the conditions which I found elsewhere also differ from those which abide here. I know nothing about the latitude of these places but it seems that they must be far removed from here to be so unalike.
For instance, our island was permanently blanketed beneath thick clouds. One never saw the sun at all, but for all that the heat was intense and the rain, which seldom ceased, was warm. Here in Takon, on the other hand, you have a climate not unlike that of our temperate regions – occasional clouds, occasional rain, warmth that is not too oppressive.
When I look round and observe your planets and trees I find it hard to believe that they can exist on the same planet with the queer jumble of growths we found on the island. I know nothing of botany, so I can only tell you that I was struck by the quantities of ferns and palms and the almost entire absence of hardwood trees.
Two days were occupied in minor repairs and necessary adjustments, varied by occasional explorations. These were not pleasure trips, for the rain fell without ceasing, but they served to give us some much-needed exercise and to improve our spirits.
On the third day the Captain proposed an expedition to the top of the central hill and we agreed to accompany him. We were all armed, for though the only animals we had seen were small timid creatures which scuttled from our approach, there was no telling what we might encounter in the deeper forest which lay between the hill and the beach where Nuntia rested.
We assembled shortly after dawn, almost in a state of nudity. Since the heat rendered heavy waterproofs intolerable we had decided that the less we wore the better. It would be hard enough work carrying heavy rifles and rucksacks of supplies in such a climate.
The Captain shepherded us out into the steady rain, pushed the outer door to behind us and we began our tramp up the beach. We had all but crossed the foreshore scrub which bordered the forest proper when I stopped abruptly.
“What is it?” asked the Captain. “Ammunition,” I told him. “I put it aside, ready to pack, and forgot to put it in.”
“Are you sure?”
I hauled the rucksack off my back and looked through the contents. There was no sign of the packet of cartridges he had given me. In order to travel light we had only a few rounds each. I could not expect the others to share theirs with me in the circumstances. There was only one thing to be done.
“I'll go back for them. It will only take a few seconds,” I said.
The Captain grudgingly agreed. He disliked inefficiency but could not afford to weaken his party by taking a member of it unarmed into possible dangers. I hurried back to the ship, stumbling along through the sand and shingle. As I pulled open the air-lock door I glanced back. The three, I could dimly see, had reached the edge of the forest and were standing under such shelter as they could find, watching me.
I jumped inside and threw down my rifle and rucksack with a clatter. First I rushed for the engines and turned on the fuel taps, then I went forward to the navigation room. Hurriedly I set the controls as I had been shown and pulled over the ignition switch.
With my fingers above the first bunch of firing keys, I looked once more out of the windows. The Captain was pounding across the beach, followed by the others. How he had guessed that there was anything wrong I cannot say. Perhaps his glasses enabled him to see that I was in the control room. Anyway, he meant business.
He passed out of my line of sight and a moment later I pressed the firing keys. The Nuntia trembled, lurched and began to slither forward across the sand. I saw the other two wave despairing arms. It was impossible to tell whether the Captain had managed to scramble aboard or not.