Darkness descended rapidly on Venus and Renzu did not return. The two spacemen decided it was unnecessary to stand guard and turned in. Renzu knew how to operate the space locks from the outside of the ship and could enter when he returned. Gheal, whose clumsy fingers were too unwieldly even to operate a disintegrator gun, would not be able to operate the locks, nor would any creature like him.
It was still dark when Arlen awakened. The long, fifteen-hour Venusian night was completed and still Renzu had not returned.
The captain awakened McFerson. They ate a light breakfast and did minor chores on the ship until daylight suddenly lighted the landscape.
"Do you suppose we ought to look for them? Maybe Gheal went haywire. Maybe something's happened."
Arlen considered. Renzu was armed, while Gheal was not. Renzu claimed complete mastery over the Venusian, yet something might have happened to give Gheal the upper hand. Not that Renzu didn't deserve it.
"I'll go outside and look around," Arlen said.
Arlen stepped through the locks. The warm Venusian air was invigorating. He took a deep breath.
A shuffling sound behind him caused the captain to turn. There, rounding the end of the ship was a creature, fully naked, staring at him with gland-like eyes and baring his teeth in a vicious snarl.
"Gheal!" Arlen cried. "Gheal! Where's Renzu?"
The creature did not reply. Instead, it advanced slowly with a shuffling crouch, stretching his arms menacingly toward Arlen.