



Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net









                             VIRGIN GROUND

                         BY ROSEL GEORGE BROWN

                _Annie signed on a bride ship for Mars.
                 There were forty brides. And when she
               got there, thirty-nine men were waiting._

           [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
             Worlds of If Science Fiction, February 1959.
         Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
         the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]


The pilot shoved open the airlock and kicked the stairs down.

"Okay, girls. Carry your suitcases and I'll give each of you an oxygen
mask as you go out. The air's been breathable for fifteen years, but
it's still thin to newcomers. If you feel dizzy, take a whiff of
oxygen."

The forty women just stood there and looked at each other. Nobody
wanted to be first.

Annie moved 