Ahead of them land reared its head above the horizon. Captain Bonnet wondered if the ship would stop in time, but he did not realize how quickly the craft was coming to a standstill. He turned the rudders and steered for shore. A cry came from Lieutenant Riley.

It was the Golden Gate.

A patrol boat met them in the harbor as the space ship, floating in boiling water, came to a stop.

Captain Bonnet opened the locks and climbed out on the top of the craft. He wore an asbestos space suit to protect himself from the heat of the sides.

"Have you a wireless aboard?" he called to the patrol.

"Of course, captain!" came the reply from the patrol boat, as the rescuers saw the insignia of rank on Bonnet's clothing.

"Send a message to the nearest interplanetary garrison that reinforcements are needed at Outpost 53 on Venus. Lieutenant Riley and myself just came from there—the situation is desperate...."

"You don't mean you came all the way from Venus in a lifeboat?"

"If you're going to waste time asking questions, let us come aboard," Captain Bonnet said. "But get that message in the air at once!"

Lieutenant Riley followed the captain through the locks into the patrol boat. He lifted his hand and showed a bottle to the captain.

"Look what a close shave we had," he said. "This bottle of Martian Zingo was in the lockers all the way from Venus and neither of us suspected it. Lord, if we'd crashed we'd never have been able to sample it!"

 Prev. P 12/12