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"With these instructions," the doctor declared, "any one could do as the Venusians do visit other worlds in spirit!" Just then Estra and Myrin returned. They were moving at what was, for them, a rapid pace; and to all appearances they were rather excited.
Smith put in: "That being the case, there is no chance to start a wave- motor industry here. Neither," as he thought further, "neither for water-power. Having no rain in your mountains, Estra, where do you get your power?" But it was Myrin who answered. "I suppose you are all familiar with radium?
"You say that machinery does your work for you. I presume you do not mean that literally; there must be some duties which cannot be performed without human direction, at least. How do you get these duties accomplished, if you have no government to compel your people to do them?" Myrin looked at a loss, either for the answer itself or for the most suitable words.
The doctor eyed him thoughtfully. "I'm not so sure, Van. This is a tremendous thing; we ought to " "Van is right!" exploded Billie. Her voice rose to a shriek as a crash shook the house. Next instant Myrin, for once in a hurry, broke into the room.
Both Venusians replaced their sets, and smiled afresh at the explorers' astonishment. "Teeth will soon be a thing of the past with you on the Earth, too," commented Myrin. "Dr. Kinney will surely testify to that. Your use of soft, cooked foods, instead of the coarse, hard articles provided by nature, is bound to have this effect in time.
Just as they were about to start again, both Estra and Myrin stopped short in their tracks, with that odd hesitation that had mystified the four all along; and after perhaps five seconds of silence turned to one another with grave faces. It was Estra who explained. "It is curious how things do pile up," said he, a little conscious of having employed an idiom.
"What you see are schools." But most observers would have considered the structures severely plain for their purpose. After a long silence: "I'm still looking for streams," said Van Emmon to Myrin. "Are your rivers as large as ours?" "We have no rivers," was the calm reply. "Rivers are entirely too wasteful of water. All our drainage is carried off through underground canals."
"You haven't even a congress, then?" Myrin shook her head. "All questions such as a congress would deal with, were settled ages ago. You must remember that the material features of our civilization have not changed for thousands of generations. The only questions that come up now are purely personal ones, which each must settle for himself." Van Emmon, as before, was not at all satisfied.
They varied even more as to color, ranging from actual transparency to a deep chocolate. "Now, I warn you not to be shocked," said Myrin, "although I fully expect that you will be. The fact is that we have no other kind of food than what you see; there are thousands upon thousands of different kinds and flavors, but they are all fluids. We have nothing whatever in solid form.
For it consisted of a silver bibb, something like the nozzle of a soda- water fountain above which was a board containing a large number of tiny, numbered push buttons. Below the bibb was a space in which a cup might be set, and projecting from a tube at one side was a solid block of telescoping, transparent cups. "This," said Myrin, "is the Venusian Nutrition System.
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