I found Venza seated alone in a starlit corner of the secluded deck. A porthole, with the black heavens and the blazing stars was before her. There was an empty seat nearby.
She greeted me with the Venus form of jocular, intimate greeting:
"Hola-lo, Gregg! Sit here with me. I have been wondering when you would come after me."
I sat down beside her. "Why are you going to Mars, Venza? I'm glad to see you."
"Many thanks. But I am glad to see you, Gregg. So handsome a man. Do you know, from Venus to Earth, and I have no doubt on all of Mars, no man will please me more."
"Glib tongue," I laughed. "Born to flatter the male—every girl of your world." And I added seriously, "You don't answer my question. What takes you to Mars?"
"Contract. By the stars, what else? Of course, a chance to make a voyage with you—"
"Don't be silly, Venza."
I enjoyed her. I gazed at her small, slim figure reclining in the deck chair. Her long, gray robe parted by design, I have no doubt, to display her shapely, satin-sheathed legs. Her black hair was coiled in a heavy knot at the back of her neck; her carmine lips were parted with a mocking, alluring smile. The exotic perfume of her enveloped me.
She glanced at me sidewise from beneath her sweeping black lashes.