"Positive," said Gwann. "Favorable for immediate possession and colonization."
"It's a good little planet." Jorik nodded. "But why do you suppose the Earthmen all vanished?"
"We'll probably never know," Volval sighed.
"Not unless," said Klendro, indicating a bale of salvaged Earth materials, "our linguists and archeologists can make some sense out of this junk here."
"Let's hope so," Gwann said. "The mysteriousness of this whole thing is going to drive me crazy if they don't."
"Well, sir," said Drog, consulting his charts, "if we're going to take advantage of juxtaposition of the two planets—"
"Right," said Gwann, turning and making his way toward the pilot's compartment. "We'll depart from Earth in ten minutes. Secure all hatches and loose objects until we get into space."
The crew hurried to their tasks.
Halfway to Venus, Volval, paging idly through one of the rotting books from Earth, gave a shout.