"Most amazing thing I've ever seen," he commented. "The digestive juices of those crab-creatures will eat through glass as fast as water will move through tissue paper." He frowned. "It's just possible," he finished, thoughtfully, "that the liquid is in the nature of a weapon—particularly so, since those animals used it in an effort to reach us within the ship."
Elise shuddered. "Please," she said, "talk about something more cheerful! I can still see those hideous eyes staring at us just the way they did during that attack."
Val Kenton nodded cheerfully, filling his senses with the beauty and radiance of the girl. It came to him now as never before how much he had lost when he had turned traitor to himself and his oath.
"Well, for a starter, what did you discover before you were disabled?"
Johnson came to his feet, picked up a rifle. "I'll take a look at some of those bodies outside," he said. "I'm just a chemist, but maybe I can pick up a few facts that will be of some use to the next expedition to visit here."
He clambered through the port, the sounds of his shoes on the metal strangely loud. Behind him, he left a rather strained silence, which was broken at last by Tony Andrews.
"This is the story," he began quietly. "The trip to Venus was just routine. We dropped through the clouds, following," he nodded at Val Kenton, "your directions. We were over such a sea as we had never seen before. There was no sign of life or land. I dropped floats, to determine the currents, and then swung the ship toward the North. We found the first island within an hour. I landed the ship, intending to explore, and such was our incredible luck landed almost on top of the first expedition ship to touch Venus."
Val Kenton drew in a sharp breath. "What did you find inside?"
Tony Andrews shook his head ruefully. "Not a thing," he admitted, "I searched the ship, which was split and ruptured beyond description, and didn't find a scrap of paper or clothing—or a vestige of human remains."
"The crabs?" Val Kenton asked.