"You're going to get away from these Skygors?"
Again Disbro waved the words away. "Why should I? I'll run them, too. Look, we landed safely, didn't we? Observations on Earth will show that, won't they?"
"Right," agreed Planter, mystified. "There'll be more ships coming, to look for us and maybe set up a colony."
"That's it. We'll ambush those ships."
"Ambush?" repeated Planter sharply. "Losing your mind, Disbro?"
"No. I'm only thinking for all of us. Ships will come, I say. Loaded with supplies, valuables all sorts of things. We can overwhelm them as they land. Some of their crews will join us—the others can be rubbed out. And the law can't touch us, Planter! Not for a minute!"
"What are you driving at?" Planter demanded.
"I'm the law," said Disbro, tapping his chest. "Just now I string with the Skygors. Later I may knock 'em off. But anyway, I'm the commander of the first expedition to land on Venus. I have a right to take possession, in my own name." He got up, his voice rising clear and proud. "Possession, like Columbus! Not of a continent—of a whole world!"
Planter, leaning forward on his stool, clutched the edge of the table so strongly that his knuckles whitened.