Trapped on Venus Read Online Free

held. The scaly clay was
firm, yet rustled beneath his boot. He stepped down with the other foot, and
held his breath. Marty and millions of others listened, waited, hushed to
silence as his weight shifted entirely to the surface. He was now standing on
the planet Venus!
      Scott slowly released
his hands from the ladder then turned to look back in the direction of Earth.
He was filled with emotion as he looked over the landscape, noting its soft
knolls and gentle ridges, and the words he then spoke resounded with the awe of
his vision. They were the first words ever uttered from the planet’s surface.
    “Without sword I come to this noble place; staring with awe at that which is so
magnanimous, so rich in beauty and spirit so free from pain and bitterness.
     
    “Yet, I come not as conqueror but as discoverer and
friend. And, always the skies shall be my goal; their beauty my measure, their
freedom my quest, for, now, I am a traveler of the stars.”
     
      Many months earlier,
these words from Davis Trevor’s famous poem, “The Voyager”, had been selected
as the first to be spoken from the planet’s surface. It was a tribute to a man
who had not only seen beauty on Earth and in the Heavens, but who had brought
beauty to millions, as well, before his death. It seemed almost as if he had
written them for this purpose, for this moment, with this vision in mind.
      The words echoed
through television sets, radios, and over newspaper presses around the world.
Even a live stream from the internet kept millions informed of their progress.
Scott was but one man, an American at that, but through the concern of all
races, creeds, and nationalities – the unshakable concern of all people for the
safety of a fellow human being willing to risk his life, his future, perhaps
his very existence for the advancement of science – he represented the first
infant steps of all men who seek to reach beyond the boundaries of their world.
The moon had been the touchstone, then Mars which had only been visited by unmanned
landings, but Venus was now a giant stride forward toward manned interplanetary
travel. Man was now a creature of the skies as well as of the Earth.
      Marty looked out over
the Venusian terrain from the hatch of the ship, lingering momentarily before beginning
his descent. His steps were carefully chosen, slow and meticulous, yet as he
approached the last few rungs, Scott cautioned him further.
      “Watch that last step,
Marty. There’s some of this powder on it, and it’s a little slippery.”
      Fisk stepped carefully
over the rung and onto the planet’s surface. He shuffled to where Scott was
standing, and the two of them looked out over the barren landscape ahead. They
were astounded by its bleak, hostile, and lifeless features.
      “Sure doesn’t look
like much, does it?” Scott said, panning the area in front of him. They both
swiveled to their sides in a slow, encumbered rotation, then turned to one
another. It was a desolate feeling, knowing that they were the only living
things for millions of miles, and they shared the seclusion of the moment in a
breathless undertone. Nothing moved, nothing stirred, only the steady hiss of
oxygen into their suits filled the vacancy of solitude.
      “Well, if this is home
for the next couple of weeks, I guess we’d better get organized,” Marty
remarked in a breathy, humid tone. “Let’s get the equipment set up, Scott. I’ve
got to run some tests on this stuff – it’s really got me baffled. I can’t tell
if it’s some kind of rock, clay, or what it is. See how it bends when we walk
through it?” He pointed down at Scott’s feet moving through the powdery
substance. “It bends, but it really isn’t soft. It... it’s almost like a
reaction to our weight, or the friction of our boots. But, I can’t be sure
until I run some tests. Still... it seems almost like... well, like copper...
the way copper reacts when you heat it. It sort of bends, or