Assignment on Venus By CARL JACOBI Simms had the toughest assignment of his career. He must fight his way through Venusian intrigue to deliver a sealed cylinder--a cylinder that held his dishonorable discharge from the service. [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Planet Stories Fall 1943. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] Simms rested his paddle across the thwart and let the clumsy _jagua_ drift. Ahead, where the indigo swamp growth thinned, an abuttment of white metal projected from the water, its near end forming a wafer-like conning tower. Half-way Jetty at last! Two grueling weeks through Venus' Blue Mold Swamp were behind him. Even if he knew that this station marked the half way point to his final disgrace and humiliation, he could at least rest here, free from the incredible dangers of the marsh. He swung the dugout to a landing, wearily stretched cramped legs and headed down the catwalk. Before him the door of the jetty opened and three men appeared in the entrance. Earthmen! "Halleck! Gately! Sterns!" Simms cried. "What the devil are you doing here?" The taller of the men held the door open wider. "Come in, Simms," he said. "We've been expecting you." Inside the spherical room the air was warm and dry. Simms unhooked his dehydration mask and surveyed the three quietly. They weren't a lovely trio. Halleck was tall and swarthy with dark eyes and thin lips. He wore a stained rain-helmet and flexible swamp boots. Gately undoubtedly had Martian blood in his veins. And Sterns, a typical space-rat from the slums of Venus City, bore an old heat-gun scar across his face. "I thought the Halleck Development Company was heading north," Simms said. "That's what you told the Commandante at Post One." Halleck smiled. "We told your Commandante a lot of things that suited our purpose." Simms stirred uneasily. "You also said you were geologists, looking for sedimentary deposits." "Part of which is quite true." Halleck lit a cigarette deliberately, then nodded to Gately who drew from his pocket a small bag. The man jerked the draw string and permitted a dozen yellowish lumps to spill out on the table. "_Deleon_ Salts," Halleck said shortly. Ice touched Simms' spine. He had of course seen these ochre crystals before, while on patrol duty in native Kamali villages. But in the possession of Earth men.... "_Deleon_ Salts," Halleck said again, blowing a shaft of smoke ceilingward. "The stuff that holds the secret of rejuvenation for the Kamalis. We're going to get a lot of it, ship it back to Earth and sell it for a high price." "But ... but good Lord, you can't do that...."