e and shine, mighty hunter. We're getting ready to land."

Scotty was wide awake instantly. "About time," he muttered. "Show me
this famous Hong Kong."

"Can't yet," Rick replied. "But we've passed a couple of islands. Look,
there's another."

They were dropping rapidly now. The big plane suddenly banked, leveled,
then banked again. As they rocked up, Rick looked down into a cove,
crowded with Chinese junks. The brief glimpse sent a thrill through him,
as new scenes always did. They were the first junks he had seen outside
of pictures.

The plane banked again, the other way. Rick realized with a sudden
feeling of discomfort that they were actually weaving their way through
mountain peaks! He had heard that the approach to Hong Kong was crooked
as a corkscrew; now he knew the reports didn't exaggerate.

Zircon was leaning across the aisle. He pointed to a strip of curved
beach. "Repulse Bay," he boomed. "We're almost in." The scientist had
been to the Far East before, and he knew Hong Kong.

They were close to the top of abrupt hills. Rick saw a road curving
through the hills and valleys, then they were over water again, and the
water was dotted with modern ships as well as junks. The plane rocked
far over in a tight bank, and there was a howl as the flaps were
lowered. Rick and Scotty buckled safety belts and sat back as the plane
leveled off.

In a few moments they were collecting their luggage and walking across a
concrete apron to the customs building. Inside, a Chinese clerk, under
the supervision of a British officer, gave their effects a cursory
glance, stamped their passports, and handed them police forms to fill
out. They did so as rapidly as possible, turned them in, and left the
customs room. Outside, they picked up the bags they had checked, gave
them to a Chinese coolie, who appeared from nowhere, and followed him to
a taxi.

It was a small car of English make. Zircon looked at it with
disapproval. "Am I supposed to fit into that thing?" he demanded.

Rick hid a grin. The car wasn't much bigger than the scientist. Zircon
squeezed in gingerly, Scotty behind him. Rick got into the front seat
with the driver.

"Peninsular Hotel," Zircon directed.

"Funny," Scotty said. "I never expected to find an airport on Hong Kong.
All the pictures I've seen of it show mountains. It doesn't look as
though there were room for an airport."

"There isn't," Zircon said. "We're not on Hong Kong. This is Kowloon.