The Merchants of Venus

A personnel director overseeing a long-term colonization effort confronts mass resignations from a Venus settlement and the recurring collapse of prior outposts. He navigates pressure from a military commander, debates whether to repatriate or compel settlers to remain, and assembles interviewers, psychologists, and records to diagnose why pioneers quit. The account sketches the logistical, psychological, and ethical challenges of selecting hardy colonists, sustaining supplies, and building a self-supporting community, while the project struggles against Earth’s population crisis and the jungle planet’s tendency to reclaim its clearings.