Page 53 of 108
We left this kitchen and entered a lounge fully as luxurious as the beautiful one in the Venusian carrier, where couches and single seats in several styles were scattered about. In comfortable proximity were the same kind of occasional tables with transparent tops. On these were beautiful little ornaments. Zulu said that the crew members whiled away many hours in this room during observation trips through the atmosphere of whatever planet they might be studying. He also explained that, even as Earth men, they played many games, which they thoroughly enjoyed, and also entertained guests here. | saw no books, papers or reading matter of any kind, nor did | see any shelves or cases in which something of this kind might be kept. But | do not question that such things were present. The floor-covering in this room, as well as throughout the ship, was yellow-gray in color. There was no particu1ar design in itand although the surface appeared very firm, it felt similar to thick sponge rubber as | walked on it. We stopped only a moment in this inviting lounge. Returning to the center corridor, we continued on to the first one by which we had entered the Scout. Although so much had been shown and explained to me in this fascinating craft, | was not allowed more than a quick glance into the control room, and no explanation was given concerning the power that operated any of the mechanical equipment. While | knew that they traveled by utilizing the natural forces in space, transformed into motivating power, | did not understand the how, and admit | was hoping for information. But with an almost apologetic smile, Zulu told me that they still could not fully trust any Earth man to the extent of revealing certain things. ?For,? he said, ?you on Earth have not yet learned control of your emotions.. which often causes you to speak before you think. In so doing, you could be led into giving information unwisely to an unworthy mind who might pervert its use. | could not deny the truth of this. Our journey through the Scout had been a rapid one, and explanations were given en route. In spite of this, we had scarcely completed our tour when Zulu announced, ?We have reached our carrier and are ready to enter.? Although they did not tell me how far out we were, | had a definite feeling that this carrier was much farther from Earth than the Venusian ship had been. Neither wee elal Deedee ab Ae A ne eee Pe be Ieee ee 2 eee eee AI te could | watch the entrance of our craft into the larger one, as we were close to the center of the Scout with no view out. Yet in many ways there was a feeling of likeness to the former experience, although at the same time a difference which | es ee ere Den was unable to explain. As we lowered into the interior of the waiting craft there was again the sensation of dropping in an elevator, but no feeling of losing balance. When the Scout came to a standstill on its rails and the door was opened onto a platform as in the other carrier, no one was there to meet us and attach clamps over the flange and the rail as had been done on the Venusian ship for the smaller Scout. Stepping out of this Scout and onto the platform within this carrier from Saturn, | immediately sensed that this ship was different in almost every respect from the Venusian carrier. | wondered what adventures awaited me here, but at no time