Warren grinned a tight, lopsided grin. "For the same reason I gave the other four leave. Because I knew I'd never be able to convince him I was doing the right thing. He was strong on discipline. He would have wanted no part of this escapade." That was something which had been troubling Dr. Gary Lane. He said thoughtfully, "And you, Hugh? You're not sorry?" "That I cast my lot in with yours? Made your cause mine? No." Warren shook his head decidedly. "Decidedly not. I'm sorry I had to, on the surface at least, play traitor to the uniform I wear. But under the circumstances I believe I did the proper thing. This little emblem--" he touched the small gold rocket pinned above his heart--"is inscribed with the motto of the Solar Space Patrol: '_Order out of Chaos_.' That is the duty to which we are charged above all others. And though for a time it means flying in the face of orders and conventions, I feel the importance of our task justifies my desertion. "If--" his jaw set tightly--"if we succeed in doing that which you say we must, exoneration will follow swiftly and surely." "And," said Gary softly, "if we do not?" Warren shrugged. "The question carries its own answer. If we do not, then according to your own calculations, there will be no Hugh Warren to stand trial, nor court to sit in judgment upon his sins." * * * * * Thus sped the _Liberty_ through space at a rate of speed attained by no other spaceship before her. Each passing hour found Earth dwindling smaller and dimmer behind them; each hour saw Earth's sister planet looming ever larger and brighter before. As they flashed sunward, the Sun grew greater, too. Its radiance, down-pouring upon them with devastating beneficence, was like the molten spuming of gaseous gold. Though the polarized quartzite of the ship's viewpane blacked out its brazen light, nothing could stay the increase of its heat. It grew warmer and ever more sultry in the _Liberty_ despite the labors of the ship's air-conditioning system. Flick Muldoon, shirt plastered wetly to his back, mopped his brow and groaned, "It takes a trip away from home to make you realize what a sweet little old gal Mama Earth is. Boy, I wouldn't live on Venus for all the bubbles in a beauty bath! If it's like this out here in space, what must it be like on the planet itself?" From his seat at the control studs, Lieutenant Angus MacDonald grinned companionably. "Not so bad as you'd think. You see, even though Venus is 25,000,000 miles nearer the sun than Earth, she's protected from the sun's glare by a cloud-layer almost three times as thick as the atmosphere layer of Terra. As a result, the planet has neither a burning hot summer season nor a frigid winter period, but a fairly pleasant and constant temperature all the year 'round." Dr. Anjers said, "I have been fearing recently that we may find something else, too, not quite so pleasant." "What's that?"