"Yes," said Venard, "we know now." He saw Larson stagger a little as he emerged from a tunnel mouth into the cavern with a half-emptied plastic bottle of stihn in one hand. Hanging on the little man's other arm was a rather shapely girl. She was looking at Larson with curiosity more than interest.
When Larson saw Jhongan, dead, the bottle of stihn bounced on the stone floor. The girl whirled away from him, uttering a sharp cry of protest that died as she saw Larson's violent reaction.
Then he came up close to Venard, cold sober now, and waited. He was ready now, ready for anything.
Abruptly, Venard said, "We're going to Venus. Tonight. Come on!"
"Okay, just a minute while I—what? Venus? Why?" Larson stared. His little eyes shifted to Jhongan. "About that plan of his, huh? I'm ready. Let's go."
Venard told him everything he knew, with intermittent injections from La Crue.
"It's about as clear as that Venusian mud's gonna be," said Larson.
"You need a left hand. That'll get us inside S.S.C. or rather get you inside. We hope. A few have taken advantage of their body bank facilities; but S.S.C. doesn't encourage it. There are stories of horror coming out of S.S.C. And you know the one I was telling you about the concept of an alien God."
"Yeah," breathed Larson. "That alien god. I don't like that."
La Crue cut in, "A small Scouter's ready to blast off from a subterranean cradle near here. The Underground has several of them cradled at strategic points for emergencies."