midnight
It had been difficult to convince them that someone on Venus was getting ready to send a force to Earth to destroy them ; but the weight of their scientific reputation had turned the trick . The ships now under construction would be ready in three weeks . They would be unable to go into space , but they would be very fast , and capable of carrying large tanks of the gas-producing chemicals . It was near midnight , Venerian time , when they turned in . The following day they planned to start for the Kaxorian construction camp . They had learned from Tonlos that there were but five of the giant planes completed now , but there were fifteen more under construction , to make up the fleet of twenty that was to attack Earth . These fifteen others would be ready in a week -- or less .