Contact across the Solar System

Arrival at Venus

As the Aurora traveled from the Earth, the planet shrank in angular size to Carl Sagan's famous pale blue dot, though a very bright one. The Moon also shrank in angular size to a whitish dot. A week later, as it approached Venus, that planet got bigger and bigger in angular size until it occupied much of the field of view. Venus was white with a tinge of yellow and faint belts around it. One of the pilots showed an ultraviolet view from one of the ship's cameras, with its much more prominent belts.

Then an announcement which Reznan translated as "We have permission to land." The ship went closer and closer to Venus, entering its atmosphere and sinking in it until it looked dark blue. The clouds were a smooth, featureless white layer beneath it that looked much more like haze than typical Earth clouds. As the ship reached the top of the clouds, Reznan checked his smartphone and announced "We're at 65 kilometers or 40 miles altitude, 0.1 Earth atmosphere pressure, and -30 Celsius or -20 Fahrenheit temperature", and Brad and Arlene took video of him doing so.

As the ship slowly sank through them, the clouds became thicker and thicker above them and thinner and thinner below them. Reznan told the two travelers that the ship isn't sinking very fast because it's using its protection systems to freeze in place a blanket of air around it to protect it, and that keeps it from being very maneuverable.

In the middle of the clouds, Reznan checked his smartphone and announced "50 kilometers, 30 miles, 1 Earth atmosphere, 75 Celsius, 167 Fahrenheit." As they reached the clouds' base, he announced "30 kilometers, 20 miles, 10 Earth atmospheres, 220 Celsius, 430 Fahrenheit. This is where your Venera 4 made its last transmission."

"So it conked out on its way down?" asked Brad.

"Yeah. It looks like it. The Americans and the Russians had a big argument about that, but the Russians later discovered that the Americans were right."

As the ship sank further, the planet's surface became visible, a rocky wasteland. The sky was now yellowish and only as bright as an overcast day on the Earth. Reznan announced "We're about 100 meters above the surface, 300 feet, 93 Earth atmospheres, 465 Celsius, 870 Fahrenheit."

"No wonder they call Venus a 'hell planet'," said Brad. "We Earth people, at least."

The ship went into a tunnel in a rocky slope. Reznan announced "We should arrive at Saanalokam's spaceport shortly. Saanalokam is the city that we're going to." The tunnel opened up into a cavern and the ship came to rest in a berth in it. A big door then closed behind it. Reznan announced "We're on Venus. We can't leave just yet, because we'll have to set up a passenger tunnel."

"Is that like a jetway?" asked Brad.

"A jetway?"

"It's how you get on an airplane from an airport building. A walkway between them. It's enclosed."

"Yeah, that's pretty much it."

He then reminded the two to upload their latest video before they departed.

When the tunnel was opened, the two travelers and the two tour guides then departed with their luggage on a small cart. Arlene said "This is great. We won't have to worry about losing our luggage!"

She then explained to the tour guides that this is a problem with Earth air travel.

"Neither of us have used Earth air transport," conceded Kurati.

They went to a lounge area in the spaceport, and waiting for them there were the Adamski Gang, Orthon, Kalna, Ilmuth, Firkon, Ramu, and Zuhl, and a special guest, Khessini. She had joined the contact effort not long after the Aurora's capsule drops. Orthon and Zuhl wore jumpsuits, Kalna and Ilmuth wore jeweled-belt long dresses, Firkon and Ramu wore business suits, and Khessini wore a loose white oversized shirt with loose white pants.