The wall speaker in the control tower was crackling softly with space static when the voice first cut in. "Lorelei calling Venusport for landing. Over." Even across ten thousand miles of space the sharp New England twang clearly showed the origin of its owner. Joe flicked the transmitting stud and winked at the radar man. "Venusport to Lorelei. Come on in, you old space pirate. Use Ramp Four. Out." He glanced at the green spot on the radar sweep screen that was the Lorelei, entered a set of figu