"Thanks." Nolan walked over, eyeing the pallid, short-bodied Venusian indicated. The man was staring glumly out of the observation panel. "You the second on the ship out there?" Nolan asked. The man turned slowly and looked him up and down. "Yeah," he said finally. "What about it?" Nolan allowed his eyes to narrow conspiratorially. "I hear you're bound for Mars," he said, lowering his voice. "Any chance of taking a passenger?" "No." Nolan tapped a pocket. "Listen," he said, "it isn't just that I want a ride. I have to get to Mars. I'll pay." The Venusian laughed sharply and Nolan thought, not for the first time, how superior environment is to heredity. The Venusians, like most of the System's intelligent life, were descended from Earthmen all right, but the adjective that described them best was "fishy." The second said, "Pay? You haven't got enough money to get you into the lock of that ship." "Oh, I don't know," Nolan said easily. He took the money belt out of his pocket, flashed the contents for a second. "I meant it," he said. "I have to get to Mars. Name your price--I've got it." The Venusian's eyes widened. Nolan saw, from the corner of his eye, a skid rocketing across the field. It halted by the _Dragonfly_, and the ship's lock opened. Two bulky, heat-suited figures hurried out of the skid, into the ship. "What do you say?" Nolan persisted, accelerated by the sight of the figures. One of them would be Woller's thug with the apparently vital papers. That would be the big one--the smaller might be a clerk from his office. "Okay," the mate capitulated. "Tell you what. It'll cost you ten thousand credits. If it's worth that to you, all right." Nolan shrugged wryly. "It's worth my neck," he grinned confidentially. The Venusian grinned moistly back. "Payable in advance," he specified. "Now. Give it to me and I'll go out and arrange the deal with the captain." _Keeping a percentage of course_, Nolan thought; but he only nodded and silently counted out the money. The Venusian grabbed it without checking the count. He said, "Okay, I'll be back in a minute," and left. Nolan watched him struggle into his suit and clamber across the frigid soil of the field. The lock opened for him, then closed again. Nolan sensed a sudden uneasiness. He almost jumped when the port officer came up behind him and said: "Wouldn't take you, huh?" Nolan turned. "Sure," he said. "He had to go arrange it with the captain. I'll go out with him when he comes back for his clearance papers." "Clearance papers!" the official barked. "Good Lord, man, they've had those for hours. That man isn't coming back!" III