"Hell, no!" the consul said decidedly. "Venus, Mr. Vanning, is not Earth. We've got about two hundred settlements scattered here and there; the rest is swamp and mountains. When a man gets lost, we wait a few days and then write out a death certificate. Because once an Earthman leaves a settlement, his number's up."

"So?"

"So Callahan isn't here. Nobody comes here," Goodenow said bitterly.

"Settlers do," Vanning remarked.

"Bloody fools. They raise herbs and mola. If they didn't come, Venus would be uninhabited except by natives in a few years. The North-Fever ... You'd better watch out for that, by the way. If you start feeling rocky, see a doctor. Not that it'll help. But you can be put under restraint till the fever passes."

Vanning looked up. "I've heard of that. Just what—"

"Nobody knows," Goodenow said, shrugging hopelessly. "A virus. A filterable virus, presumably. Scientists have been working on it ever since Venus was colonized. It hits the natives, too. Some get it, some don't. It works the same way with Earthmen. You feel like you're cracking up—and then, suddenly—you go North. Into the swamp. You never come back. That's the end of you."

"Funny!"

"Sure it is. But—ever heard of the lemmings? Little animals that used to make mass pilgrimages, millions of them. They'd head west till they reached the ocean, and then keep going. Nobody knew the cause of that, either."

"What lies north?"

"Swamp, I suppose. How should I know? We've got no facilities for finding out. We can't fly, and expeditions say there's nothing there but the usual Venusian hell. I wish—"

"Oh-oh!" Vanning sat up, peering into the projector. "Wait a minute, Goodenow. I think—"

"Callahan? No!"

"He's disguised, but ... Lucky this is a three-dimensional movie. Let's hear his voice." Vanning touched a button on the box. A low, musical voice said:

"My name is Jerome Bentley, New York City, Earth. I'm an importer, and am on Venus to investigate the possibilities of buying a steady supply of herbs—"

"Yeah," Vanning said tonelessly. "That's it. Jerome Bentley—nuts! That's Don Callahan! He's 

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