n's quarters. The crew and their visitor sat
down to discuss a subject which proved to be of such a terrifying nature
as to scar human souls.

"People on Venus," said Nern, as his eyes took on a worried expression,
"are unable to leave their homes after nightfall due to some strange
nocturnal beast which attacks them and vampirishly drains all blood from
their veins, leaving the dead bodies limp and empty."

"What? How?" questioned Larner leaning far forward over the conference
table.

The others nodded their heads, and in the eyes of the women there was
terror. Larner could not but believe this.

"The beasts, or should I say insects, are as large as your horses and
they fly, actually fly, by night, striking down humans, domestic animals
and all creatures of warm blood. How many there are we have no means of
knowing, and we cannot find their hiding and breeding places. They are
not native to our planet, and where they come from we cannot imagine.
They are actually monstrous flys, or bugs, or some form of insects."

* * * * *

Larner was overcome by incredulity and showed it. "Insects as big as
horses?" he questioned and he could hardly suppress a smile.

"Believe us, in the name of the God of us all," insisted Nern. "They
have a mouth which consists of a large suction disk, in the center of
which is a lancelike tongue. The lance is forced into the body at any
convenient point, and the suction disk drains out the blood. If we only
knew their source! They attack young children and the aged, up to five
hundred years, alike."

"What! Five hundred years?" exploded Larner again.

"I should have explained," said Nern, simply, "that Venus dwellers, due
to our advanced knowledge of sanitation and health conversation, live
about 800 years and then die invariably of old age. The only unnatural
cause of death encountered is this giant insect. Accidents do occur, but
they are rare. There are no deliberate killings on Venus."

Larner did not answer. He only pondered. The more he ran over the
strange happenings of the last week in his mind the more he believed he
was dreaming. His thoughts took a strange turn: "Why do these vain
people go around dressed in jeweled ornaments?"

Nern again anticipated a question. "Diamonds, gold and many of what you
call precious stones are common on Venus," he volunteered. "Talc and
many other things are more valuable."

"Talc?"

"Yes, we use an immense qu