CHAPTER VHow long I slept I had no way of knowing. A vision of Venus Base was before me. I had my arm about the slim waist of a girl, and she was pressing close to me, and I could hear her excited breathing.
“Look down there, John,” she whispered. “Kiss me first—then look.”
A vision of Venus Base, and a woman’s lips on mine. “Look down there, John. The men have courage, I’ll grant you that; and the women are very beautiful. But they are traitors to society, and must be punished.”
I saw her arm go out, white and slim. She was pointing downward, but I had eyes only for the whiteness of her flesh. I wanted to tell her how beautiful she was, and I was angry because she kept insisting that I concern myself with other matters.
“John, look down,” she pleaded. “There are at least five thousand
