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book.?Editor.) http://web.archive.org/web/20010905033016/http://www.universe- people.com/ Like the door by which we had entered, their coverings fitted so closely as to be undetectable when closed. Recalling what my photos had shown, | reasoned that there must be four portholes on each side, making a total of eight. ?That is correct,? Orthon nodded in corroboration, ?and the touch of a button can open them all or singly? and of course they are closed in the same manner. As the pilot alerted us to our impending landing, the Martian said, ?You will be interested to watch this!? At the prospect of actually landing on a mother ship, my emotion rose to a point impossible to describe. Fighting for composure, my mind framed the question as to where the mother ship was waiting, and in what manner we would make the [nn Le landing. Instantly Orthon answered both unspoken questions. ?This is the same large mother ship that alerted you and your party on the desert last year at our first meeting. She has been waiting for us up here and is at the moment about forty thousand feet above your Earth. Watch and you will see how these small ships land and enter into their carriers.? Fascinated, | peered out through the portholes. There, below, | was able to make out a gigantic black shadow motionless beneath us. As we came nearer, its huge bulk seemed to stretch away almost out of sight, and | could see its vast sides curving outward and downward. Slowly, very slowly, we drew nearer until we were almost on top of the great carrier. | was not astonished when my companion told me that she was about one hundred and fifty feet in diameter and close to two thousand feet in length. The spectacle of that gigantic cigar-shaped carrier ship hanging there motionless in the stratosphere will never dim in my memory. Our little craft glided down toward the top of the mother ship, very much like an aircraft coming in to land on the deck of an aircraft carrier. As | watched, a curved hatch or opening appeared, reminding me of a great gaping whale. Those who have seen the photographs of this ship will recall that it has a blunt nose sloping slightly downward. This hatch was situated at the far end of the main cylindrical body just before the slope of the nose became perceptible. As we touched down, the Scout moved forward into the hatch, tilting downward as it began its journey into the interior of this mighty ship. Here for the first time | had a feeling of dropping in the pit of my stomach. | imagine this was due to the fact that the Saucer was no longer using its own power but was now subject to the gravity of the mother ship. We traveled on down at not too steep an angle, the flange of the Scout running on two rails slowly and smoothly, its rate of descent controlled by friction and the THE VENUSIAN MOTHER SHIP