Nick Nelson of the Space Patrol and his Martian co-pilot, Kodi, track a notorious space criminal to Venus. They observe a spaceship in the Venusian clouds, Kodi identifies it as belonging to Owen Kosterman, the criminal they're tracking. Nick orders Kodi to shoot down Kosterman's ship. They investigate where the ship landed, Nick thinking Kosterman may have survived the wreck. The ship crashed into a jungle. Nick lands the Space Patrol ship in a clearing. Nick and Kodi alight from their craft wearing spacesuits to protect them from the poisonous volcanic gasses on Venus.