"You can be on our side. The way I'll tell it on Earth you were just stringing Serono along till I could get clear."
McHague shook his head. "I wouldn't live for a day if I helped you. You don't know Zeburzac. His family ran Venus in the old days. He means to restore that rule with himself as absolute dictator. I wouldn't be safe even on Earth."
"You'll just have to take that chance."
"We're wasting time," Crystal cut in sharply anxious. "Come on."
Her words brought McHague reluctantly to his feet. "I'll do it," he muttered thickly. "Come with me."
The misty gloom of a Venusian night shrouded the jungle as three figures forced their way along an almost completely overgrown trail. The lights of Venus City gleamed dimly through the night murk behind them. McHague stumbled and swore in the lead as the trail twisted down the steepness of the ridge. He came to a halt on a long, level bench.
"This is the place."
"I don't see anything," Crystal said doubtfully.
"You didn't think I was going to leave the ship where Zeburzac could find it, did you?"