Quickly Arcot snapped open the control that had kept the rockets flaming, turning the ship to the planet--driving it into the atmosphere. Now they could get their power from the air that each instant grew more dense about them. "Wade--in the power room--emergency control post--Morey--control board there--hang on, for we'll have to use some husky accelerations." Instantly the two men sprang for their posts--literally diving, for they were still almost weightless. Arcot pulled another lever--there was a dull snap as a relay in the power room responded--the lights wavered--dimmed--then the generator was once more humming smoothly--working on the atmosphere of Venus! In a moment the power units were again operating, and now as they sucked a plentitude of power from the surrounding air, they produced a force that made the men cling to their holds with almost frantic force. Around them the rapidly increasing density of the air made the whine grow to a roar; the temperature within the ship rose slowly, warmed by friction with the air, despite the extreme cold at this altitude, more than seventy-five miles above the surface of the planet. They began dropping rapidly now--their radio-speedometer had fallen from ten to nine--then slowly, but faster and faster as more heat could be extracted from the air, it had fallen 8--7--6--5--4. Now they were well below orbital speed, falling under the influence of the planet. The struggle was over--the men relaxed. The ship ran quietly now, the smooth hum of the air rushing over the great power units coming softly through the speaker to their ears, a humming melody--the song of a new world. IV Suddenly the blazing sun was gone and they were floating in a vast world of rolling mists--mists that brushed the car with tiny clicks, which, with the millions of particles that struck simultaneously, merged into a steady roar. "Ice--ice clouds!" Morey exclaimed. Arcot nodded. "We'll drop below the clouds; they're probably miles deep. Look, already they're changing--snow now--in a moment it will be water--then it'll clear away and we'll actually see Venus!" For ten miles--an endless distance it seemed--they dropped through clouds utterly impenetrable to the eye. Then gradually the clouds thinned; there appeared brief clear spots, spots into which they could see short distances--then here and there they caught glimpses of green below. Was it water--or land? With a suddenness that startled them, they were out of the clouds, shooting smoothly and swiftly above a broad plain. It seemed to stretch for endless miles across the globe, to be lost in the far distance to east and west; but to the north they saw a low range of hills that rose blue and misty in the distance.