{"product_id":"2940013740440","title":"Carson of Venus","description":"Everyone who has ever flown will recall the thrill of his first flight\u003cbr\u003eover familiar terrain, viewing the old scenes from a new angle that\u003cbr\u003eimparted a strangeness and a mystery to them as of a new world; but\u003cbr\u003ealways there was the comforting knowledge that the airport was not too\u003cbr\u003efar away and that even in the event of a forced landing one would know\u003cbr\u003epretty well where he was and how to get home.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut that dawn that Duare and I took off from Havatoo to the\u003cbr\u003eaccompaniment of the staccato hum of Amtorian rifles, I was actually\u003cbr\u003eflying over an unknown world; and there was no landing field and no\u003cbr\u003ehome. I believe that this was the happiest and most thrilling moment of\u003cbr\u003emy life. The woman I love had just told me that she loved me, I was once\u003cbr\u003eagain at the controls of a ship, I was free, I was flying in safety\u003cbr\u003eabove the innumerable menaces that haunt the Amtorian scene.\u003cbr\u003eUndoubtedly, other dangers lay ahead of us in our seemingly hopeless\u003cbr\u003equest for Vepaja, but for the moment there was nothing to mar our\u003cbr\u003ehappiness or arouse forebodings. At least, not in me. With Duare it may\u003cbr\u003ehave been a little different. She may have had forebodings of disaster.\u003cbr\u003eIt would not be strange if she had, for up until the very instant that\u003cbr\u003ewe rose to top the walls of Havatoo, she had had no conception that there\u003cbr\u003emight exist any contrivance in which man might leave the ground and fly\u003cbr\u003ethrough the air. It was naturally something of a shock to her; but she\u003cbr\u003ewas very brave, and content, too, to accept my word that we were safe.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe ship was a model of perfection, such a ship as will one day be\u003cbr\u003ecommon along the airways of old Earth when science has progressed there\u003cbr\u003eas far as it has in Havatoo. Synthetic materials of extreme strength and\u003cbr\u003elightness entered into her construction. The scientists of Havatoo\u003cbr\u003eassured me that she would have a life of at least fifty years without\u003cbr\u003eoverhaul or repairs other than what might be required because of\u003cbr\u003eaccident. The engine was noiseless and efficient beyond the dreams of\u003cbr\u003eEarth men. Fuel for the life of the ship was aboard; and it took up very\u003cbr\u003elittle space, for it could all be held in the palm of one hand. This\u003cbr\u003eapparent miracle is scientifically simple of explanation. Our own\u003cbr\u003escientists are aware of the fact that the energy released by combustion\u003cbr\u003eis only an infinitesimal fraction of that which might be generated by\u003cbr\u003ethe total annihilation of a substance. In the case of coal it is as\u003cbr\u003eeighteen thousand millions are to one. The fuel for my engine consists\u003cbr\u003eof a substance known as lor, which contains an element called yor-san,\u003cbr\u003eas yet unknown to Earth men, and another element, vik-ro, the action of\u003cbr\u003ewhich upon yor-san results in absolute annihilation of the lor. Insofar\u003cbr\u003eas the operation of the ship was concerned, we might have flown on for\u003cbr\u003efifty years, barring adverse weather conditions; but our weakness lay in\u003cbr\u003ethe fact that we had no provisions. The precipitancy of our departure\u003cbr\u003ehad precluded any possibility of provisioning the ship. We had escaped\u003cbr\u003ewith our lives and what we had on, and that was all; but we were very\u003cbr\u003ehappy. I didn't want to spoil it by questioning the future. But, really,\u003cbr\u003ewe had a great many questions to ask of the future; and Duare presently\u003cbr\u003eraised one quite innocently enough.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Where are we going?\" she asked.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"To look for Vepaja,\" I told her. \"I am going to try to take you home.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShe shook her head. \"No, we can't go there.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"But that is the one place you have been longing to go ever since you\u003cbr\u003ewere kidnaped by the klangan,\" I reminded her.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"But not now, Carson. My father, the jong, would have you destroyed. We\u003cbr\u003ehave spoken of love to one another, and no man may speak of love to the\u003cbr\u003edaughter of the jong of Vepaja before she is twenty. You know that well\u003cbr\u003eenough.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I certainly should,\" I teased her; \"you have told me often enough.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I did it for your own safety, but nevertheless I always liked to hear\u003cbr\u003eyou say it,\" she admitted.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"From the first?\" I asked.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"From the first. I have loved you from the first, Carson.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"You are an adept at dissimulation. I thought you hated me; and yet,\u003cbr\u003esometimes I wondered.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"And because I love you, you must never fall into the hands of my\u003cbr\u003efather.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"But where can we go, Duare? Do you know a single spot in all this world\u003cbr\u003ewhere we should be safe? There is none; and in Vepaja you, at least,\u003cbr\u003ewill be safe. I shall have to take the chance of winning your father\u003cbr\u003eover.\"","brand":"WDS Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47070308860144,"sku":"2940013740440","price":2.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013740440_p0.jpg?v=1763589610","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013740440","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}