Chapter VII · (continued 2)

Now another man appears on the screen, this one is from Saturn.

And here is the third, he is from Jupiter.

At this point our scientist guide steps out of our group, walks over to the screen, pushes two buttons and talks in a language we do not understand, to the individual from Venus who is holding the picture in his hand. This individual is answering. We can hear him but we do not understand what he is saying.

The conversation has finally ended and our guide is telling us that we have a standing invitation to visit Venus. We can accept it and go now from here or we can return some future day and go.

We tell him that we will decide within a short time and let him know.

He asks us why wait?

We answer him that our minds have been so occupied with the beauties and the marvels of the universe as he has been showing them to us, and this invitation has been so unexpected that we don't know just what to answer. We most certainly would enjoy a trip to Venus at this time, but there has been a wondering thought as to whether there might be an evaporation of the fuel for our ship, making us short on our return trip to Earth.

He replied, "you shouldn't worry about that. When the time comes for you to return to Earth we will see that your ship has all the fuel needed. We can make up on short notice, all the fuel you want of the kind you are using."

So without further hesitation we told him we would go to Venus now instead of waiting.

The date was made for two days later because he said, "we are going to groom a ship for that purpose, get it all in readiness for the trip, for we have different types of ships to go to different planets. And," he added, "I am going with you."

After these arrangements had all been made, we are taken to a beach resort along one of the ocean fronts where we will spend the next two days before leaving on our trip to Venus.

There is a beautiful building here, reminding us of some of our most exclusive club buildings in America, yet much more magnificent. In here we are given a suite of rooms containing elegance and comfort beyond our ability to describe. Here, as elsewhere, service is supreme and we are given anything and everything that our hearts can desire. Truly, we are being served as though we are kings of Earth.

After a good rest we venture to the beach along the water front. Many people are bathing in the waters of this ocean, while many others are lying around in the sands of the beach. They are of all ages, pretty much as we see them on Earth, only here we see people of different colors all playing together and having a wonderful time as we can see by their expressions and actions. They are all very carefree. The beauty part of it is that we cannot detect any distinction between the groups, all seem to be one. It is so different than on Earth where you see the poor on one part of a beach, then those a little better off, and very much segregating themselves are the wealthy.

The only distinction that seems to be on this beach is us, for we are of a slightly different structure and they know we are from the Earth planet, but at that we are taken in as though we are one of them, not through curiosity but with a warm feeling of friendliness. No differences in feeling or actions is shown between us and the inhabitants of their own planet.

Their friendliness is so encompassing that we are now talking to a group of citizens who are basking on this beach. To our surprise they too, can speak as well as understand our language, even as their scientists and others have. They are asking us about our Earth and telling us about theirs. All these people are scientifically well learned. Even the little children ask us questions that our scientists on Earth would not think of. Being among such people is beginning to make us feel kind of carefree ourselves, and we like it.

We have been here now one day and one night. During last evening we had a most exhilarating time. We will never forget it as long as we live. In this magnificent building in which we are staying there were many types of entertainment going on. The place was filled with people and all were thoroughly enjoying themselves. Some danced while others only watched. In one large room a drama was being staged to a large and enthusiastic audience. In another section games were being played. Some of them seemed similar to various sports enjoyed on Earth, but others were entirely different than any we had ever seen before. One thing we noticed about those participating in the games. There seemed not the slightest feeling of competition on the part of any of the players, but instead, a whole hearted expression of joy by all. Here, as everywhere else on this planet, we saw some people who were fairly dark, others were white, while still others had an olive color complexion, yet all the body structure is pretty much the same. This showed us that there are at least three races of people here, but the way they mingle together in work and in play, we have been unable to detect the slightest difference of feeling anywhere. And of course all speak the same language which we do not understand. Only when they talk with us they use our language and we can understand them.

Now it is morning of our last day here. We are told that we will be leaving for the airfield during the afternoon in preparation for the trip to Venus.