OUTSIDE THE DAY WAS beginning to wane. The Venusians, apparently unawed by the presence of the space ship, had already started a fire and erected the tents. We left the vessel to find a spell of brooding desolation heavy over the improvised camp. And the evening meal this time was a gloomy affair. When it was finished, Ezra Karn lit his pipe and switched on the portable visi set. A moment later the silence of the march was broken by the opening fanfare of the Doctor Universe program.
“Great stuff,” Karn commented. “I sent in a couple of questions once, but I never did win nothin’. This Doctor Universe is a great guy. Ought to make him king or somethin’.”
For a moment none of us made reply. Then suddenly Grannie Annie leaped to her feet.
“Say that again!” she cried.
The old prospector l
