It is always a beautiful night on Venus Equilateral. The stars shine
forever in a sky that holds a molten ball. Sol flares endlessly in an
absolutely black, star-studded sky. There is no moon. The air is always
soft and warm and unchanging.
And at the moment that Channing was finding out why Arden resigned,
a little man of Northern Venus handed a message to the operator in
the International Hotel in Detroit, Michigan. It went out on the land
wires to Hawaii; to Luna; to Venus Equilateral; to the rotating relay
stations that circle Venus five hundred miles above the planet; down
through the raging heaviside layer to Northern Landing; and across the
Palanortis Country to Yoralen.
Channing was still investigating his secretary's resignation when
Korvus, the Magnificent, read:
TYPE 56-XXD FLIER F. O. B. DETROIT, MICHIGAN, TODAY. WILL BE
DELIVERED ON NEXT FREIGHT SHIP.