Tom rolled over and opened his eyes. Roger sat in bewilderment.
"I watched him—I was watching him and then he went away. And then I held my hand over the side of the raft and he came snooping around and—well, I just grabbed him!"
He held the fish in the viselike grip of his right hand until it stopped moving.
"You know," said Tom weakly, "I just remembered. When we were in the Science Building in Atom City, one of their projects was to breed both Earth and Venus fish in the canals."
"I am going to shake, personally, the hand of the man who started this project when we get back to Atom City," said Astro.
Suddenly Roger gripped Tom's arms. He was staring in the direction the raft was going. "Tom—" he breathed, "Astro—look!"
They turned and peered into the dusk. In the distance, not a mile away, was the huge crystal-clear dome of the atmosphere booster station, its roaring atomic motors sending a steady purring sound out across the desert.
"We made it," said Tom, choking back the tears. "We made it!"
"Well, blast my jets," said Astro. "We sure did!"