A short time later his efforts gained their recompense. The gray veil thinned, then parted, and once again the _Liberty_ was scudding through clear atmosphere, sunless and damply gray, but not unpleasant. Above the virgin surface of a planet not unlike jungle-strewn Venus, great rivers sprawled through chains of rolling hills. The brown soil was resplendent with wild, brilliantly multicolored foliage. The rest was simple. Pangré, capital city, lay at the north polar extremity of Jupiter. They had but to follow their compass to reach it. So in a space of time measurable by minutes the _Liberty_ had attained and hovered over the fourth of the great world capitals that they had visited on their flight. A bustle of activity on the spaceport below greeted their arrival. They asked and were given clearance. Smoothly Hugh Warren dropped the whippet craft into the designated cradle. And as the hypatomics spluttered into silence, the spacefarers prepared to leave their ship. A great throng was gathered at the rocketdrome. That was understandable, for of all the civilized planets, Jupiter was least visited by Earth's commercemen, and it was a rare occasion indeed which saw a sleek cruiser of the Space Patrol dropping jets on the faraway world. That many of the assemblage were bearing arms was also evident to those aboard the _Liberty_, but Gary Lane found no cause for alarm in this fact. It was only natural that since suspicion and a degree of animosity existed amongst the governments of all the planets the Jovians should come to meet their visitors prepared for any eventuality. On every planet so far his mission had been greeted with distrust. He did not expect it to be otherwise here. He only hoped that candor and a complete explanation of the crisis would here win him the last of those four needed secrets. "Nevertheless," said Dr. Kang, "it is written: 'The wise man treads the unknown path with drawn sword'. It would be well for us to approach the Jovians as cautiously as they await our coming. Therefore, while you go out I shall remain within the ship, watching carefully. At the first sign of hostile movement I shall depress the force-shield button, surrounding you and the _Liberty_, with an impenetrable field. Good luck, my friends." "And since," added Dr. Anjers, "it would not look well for the crew to remain aboard, if we are to give an appearance of frankness and amity, I shall go to the engine room and there keep the hypos running for immediate departure ... if such should be necessary." Thus it was arranged. And so, a few minutes later, young Dr. Lane headed a company numbering a score which clambered from the _Liberty's_ airlock to the surface of the planet Jupiter. * * * * *