Jim and Babe exchanged anxious glances but did not speak as Babe left the compartment. Jim wondered if his secret had been discovered at this last moment. His concern was more for Babe than for himself. It would be an awful thing for Babe to have to pay the penalty for helping him.
To take his mind off his concern, Jim went to the side port for his first sight of Venus. Although the upper layers of the atmosphere were impenetrably dense, the air at ground level was clear except for occasional wisps of vapor floating by. The intense rising heat gave a shimmering effect to the canyon landscape. When Babe returned, he eased Jim’s mind with a grin.
“How’d you like to make the cable-car tour with me, Jim?” he asked.
“I’m all for it!” Jim said, greatly relieved that Babe had nothing bad to report.
“One of the regular cable-car drivers is sick and can’t make the trip,” Babe went on. “Captain Coppard knew I’d had experience driving the car a few times before and asked me if I wanted to make some overtime pay.”
“When do we start?” Jim asked eagerly.
“In a few hours—after the tourists have had time to rest up from the landing.”
Five hours later, Jim and Babe were helping tourists into breathing outfits. There wasn’t enough oxygen in Venus’ atmosphere to support life from Earth, although the planet had animal life of its own. The apparatus was a light helmet with an attachment covering the nose of the wearer. The gadget contained two slender tubes which fitted into the nostrils and supplied them with oxygen from shoulder tanks. Also attached to the helmet were dark lenses for protecting the eyes from the extreme brilliance.
As they left the ship, Jim saw that almost all of the many buildings of the settlement were clustered about the rim of the space harbor. Venus was still in the pioneer stage of development; the only persons living permanently on the planet were scientists, engineers, and tourist workers. The harbor lay on a broad, high plateau. On three sides of it, precipices dropped away sharply into deep canyons.
It took Jim a while to get used to the oppressive hotness of the atmosphere. It was like breathing fire each time he took a breath through his mouth. Babe instructed him and the others to breathe only through their noses in order to avoid the discomfort.