"I was afraid they had killed you," she whispered. "Bad time for us all, my Earth-friend. I—I did very badly on my adventure to Earth."
She told us then that her father had built the little cylinder, intending to send one of his men in it. But Nereid, who had learned its operation, had stolen it.
Then suddenly she was whispering to us, that the Gorts in the turret might not hear. "I have a brother—my twin—his name is Leh. Tollgamo does not know there is such a person." She shot a furtive glance around the turret. "For several years he has been living with the Gorts. Pretending he is one of them. From him, father has gotten much information of Tollgamo's plans. It would be death to Leh if who he is were known. And now I will tell you—Leh is—"
A guttural shout from Rhool at the control table checked her.
"He says, stop whispering," she murmured. "That other thing I will tell you later.... I speak the English," she said to Rhool. "You speak it too? Then we talk it here, so that these Earthmen may understand?"
Rhool laughed. His heavy dark gaze roved her. "You very beautiful," he said. "See—I talk English. Come sit by me. The starshine makes you beautiful, girl of Arron."
I tensed, with my heart pounding as I saw his darkly leering gaze rove over her again.
"Easy!" whispered Allen. "Don't start anything."
Then at last Venus had grown to a full-round, glowing silver disk before our bow. After the next time of sleep it was a monstrous ball, filling half the firmament, mottled with clouds so that its surface configurations were only vaguely apparent. Heavy, thick Venus atmosphere. Within another day of our living routine we dropped into it, sliding diagonally downward, with slackening velocity now and rocket streams of fluorescent gases to check and guide us.
With Rhool and Nereid I was in the starlit turret. It was night here, the Venus night of atmospheric fog. Rhool had been drinking from a little gourd at his belt, and was flushed with his triumph and the liquor.