"Why," exclaimed Fuller in startled surprise, "they look almost like us!" "Why not?" laughed Arcot. "Is there any particular reason why they shouldn't look like us? Venus and Earth are very nearly the same size, and are planets of the same parent sun. Physical conditions here appear to be very similar to conditions back home, and if there's anything to Svend Arrehenius' theory of life spores being sent from world to world by sunlight, there's no reason why humanoid races cannot be found throughout the universe. On worlds, that is, suitable for the development of such life forms." "Look at the size of 'em," Fuller commented. Their size was certainly worth noting, for in all that crowd only the obviously young were less than six feet tall. The average seemed to be seven feet--well-built men and women with unusually large chests, who would have seemed very human indeed, but for a ghastly, death-like blue tinge to their skin. Even their lips were as bright a blue as man's lips are red. The teeth seemed to be as white as any human's, but their mouths were blue. "They look as if they'd all been eating blueberries!" laughed Wade. "I wonder what makes their blood blue? I've heard of blue-blooded families, but these are the first I've ever seen!" "I think I can answer that," said Morey slowly. "It seems odd to us--but those people evidently have their blood based on hemocyanin. In us, the oxygen is carried to the tissues, and the carbon dioxide carried away by an iron compound, hemoglobin, but in many animals of Earth, the same function is performed by a copper compound, hemocyanin, which is an intense blue. I am sure that that is the explanation for these strange people. By the way, did you notice their hands?" "Yes, I had. They strike me as having one too many fingers--look there--that fellow is pointing--why--his hand hasn't too many fingers, but too many thumbs! He has one on each side of his palm! Say, that would be handy in placing nuts and bolts, and such fine work, wouldn't it?" Suddenly a lane opened in the crowd, and from the great black and gold building there came a file of men in tight-fitting green uniforms; a file of seven-foot giants. Obviously they were soldiers of some particular branch, for in the crowd there were a number of men dressed in similar uniforms of deep blue. "I think they want one or more of us to accompany them," Arcot said. "Let's flip a coin to decide who goes--two better stay here, and two go. If we don't come back inside of a reasonable period of time, one of you might start making inquiries; the other can send a message to Earth, and get out of harm's way till help can come. I imagine these people are friendly now, however--else I wouldn't go." The leader of the troop stepped up to the door of the _Solarite_, and coming to what was obviously a position of attention, put his left hand over his right breast in an equally obvious salute, and waited.