A moment later they were being whisked up an electric
elevator to the main--or "street"--level. The door opened, and they
stepped out into a large circular area about the size of a city block in
the rear of the station. The area had been broken into smaller sections.
One side of the "street" was devoted to shops, a small stereo house
which was playing the latest Liddy Tamal hit, "Children of Space" (a
sensational drama about the lives of men in the future), restaurants,
and even a curio shop. The Venus space station handled ninety per cent
of the traffic into and out of Venusport. It was a refueling stop for
the jet liners and space freighters bound for the outer planets, and for
those returning to Earth. Some ships went directly to Venusport for
heavy overhaul or supplies, but the station was established primarily
for quick turn arounds. Several ex-enlisted spacemen who had been
injured or retired were given special permission to open shops for the
convenience of the passengers and crews of the ships and the staff of
the station. In twenty years the station had become a place where summer
tourists from Earth and winter tourists from Titan made a point of
stopping.
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