"I have, sir, but I'd rather not offer it at this time," said my first officer gravely. "Look about the ship, in the immediate vicinity, and see if you find anything of interest. My eyes may be playing me tricks." I glanced curiously at Correy, and then bent my attention on the image in the disk. * * * * * It was impossible to make out any details of the background, save that the country round seemed to be fairly level, with great pools of gray water standing here and there, and a litter, as of gigantic, wilted vegetation, spread over everything. And then, as I looked, it seemed to me that the _Kabit_ shifted position slightly. At the same time, the spiral bands seemed to move, and upon the ground around the ship, there was movement also. I looked up from the disk, feeling Correy's eyes upon me. We stared at each other, neither wishing to speak--hardly daring to speak. There are some things too monstrous to put into words. "You--you saw it, sir?" asked Correy at last, his voice scarcely more than a whisper. "I don't know. I think I saw something like a--a snake. Is that what you mean?" "Yes. Something like a snake. A snake that has wrapped itself around the _Kabit_, holding it helpless ... a serpent...." He gestured helplessly, a sort of horror in his eyes. I think he had convinced himself he had only imagined the serpent, until I had seen the same thing. "Have you stopped to think, Mr. Correy," I asked slowly, "how long the creature would have to be to wrap itself like that around a liner the size of the _Kabit_? It--it can't be!" "I know it, sir," nodded Correy. "I know it. And still, I saw it, and you saw it." "Yes," I muttered. "I saw it. I--I saw it _move_!" * * * * * We maintained a speed that kept the surface-temperature gauge dangerously close to maximum permissible reading, and despite the forced ventilation of the ship, we were dripping with perspiration. Atmospheric speeds are maddeningly low after the reckless, hurtling speed of space travel, but our vaunted scientists haven't yet found a way of eliminating friction, and we had to make the best of it. With maddening slowness the image in the television disk grew larger and clearer, relentlessly confirming our original conclusion. The _Kabit_ was wrapped in the coils of a mighty serpent; a monster that must have been the height of a man in diameter, and whose length I could not even guess. Four coils were looped tightly about the _Kabit_, and we could now see the terrible tail of the thing, and its head. I have always been glad that the details of that ghastly head became visible gradually: viewed suddenly, in full relief, it was a sight that might well have threatened the reason of any man.