Strong and Hawks looked at each other, and then Hawks turned to the young officer. "Send a couple of men outside to clear it."
"Aye, aye, sir," said Claude, and then hesitated. "Shall the men wear lead suits against possible radioactivity, sir?"
Before Hawks could answer, Newton turned to face the three men. The professor was smiling. "No need to take that precaution, Lieutenant. I never did tell you my third opinion, did I, Captain Strong?"
"Why, no, you didn't, sir," said Strong.
The professor held up a sheet of paper. "Here's your answer. Nothing but plain old Venusport topsoil. Pure dirt!"
"What?" exclaimed Hawks hastily, reaching for the paper.
"Well, blast me for a Martian mouse," muttered Strong under his breath. "But how?"
Newton held up his hand. "Don't ask me how it got here. That isn't my line of work. All I know is that, without a doubt, the black cloud is nothing more than dirt. Plain ordinary dirt! And it comes from the area in and around Venusport. As a matter of fact, certain particles I analyzed lead me to believe it came from the exposition site!"
Hawks looked at Newton dumbfounded. "By the craters of Luna, man, we're a thousand miles over the exposition!"
The professor was stubborn. "I can't tell you how it got here, Commissioner Hawks. But I do know it's Venusian dirt. And that's final!"