CHAPTER VIII

_Unknown Friend_

"Sit down." Tarrano motioned us to feather hassocks and stretched

himself indolently upon our pillowed divan. With an elbow and hand

supporting his head he regarded us with his sombre black eyes, his face

impassive, an inscrutable smile playing about his thin lips.

"I wish to speak with you three. The Lady Elza----" His glance went to

her briefly, then to Georg. "She has told you, perhaps, what I had to

say to her?"

"Yes," said Georg shortly.

Elza had indeed told us. And with sinking heart I had listened, for it

did not seem to me that any maiden could resist so dominant a man as

this. But I had made no comment, nor had Georg. Elza had seemed

unwilling to discuss it, had flushed when her brother's eyes had keenly

searched her face.

And she flushed now, but Tarrano dismissed the subject with a gesture.

"That--is between her and me.... You have been following the general

news, I assume? I provided you with it." He rolled a little cylinder of

the arrant-leaf, and lighted it.

"Yes," said Georg.

Georg was waiting for our captor to lay his cards before us. Tarrano

knew it; his smile broadened. "I shall not mince words, Georg Brende.

Between men, that is not necessary. And we are isolated here--no one

beyond Venia can listen. As you know, I am already Master of Venus. In

Mars--that will shortly come. They will hand themselves over to me--or I

shall conquer them." He shrugged. "It is quite immaterial." He added

contemptuously: "People are fools--almost everyone--it is no great feat

to dominate them."

"You'll find our Earth leaders are not fools," Georg said quietly.

Tarrano's heavy brows went up. "So?" He chuckled. "That remains to be

seen. Well, you heard the ultimatum they sent me? What do you think of

it?"

"I think you'd best obey it," I burst out impulsively.

"I was not speaking to you." He did not change the level intonation of

his voice, nor even look my way. "You are to die tomorrow, Jac

Hallen----"

Elza gave a low cry; instantly his gaze swung to her. "So? That strikes

at _you_, Lady Elza?"

She flushed even deeper than before, and the flush, with her instinctive

look to me that accompanied it, made my heart leap. Tarrano's face had

darkened. "You would not have me put him to death, Lady Elza?"

She was struggling to guard from him her emotions; struggling to match

her woman's wit against him.

"I--why no," she stammered.

"No? Because he is--your friend?"

"Yes. I--I would not let you do that."

"Not let me?" Incredulous amusement swept over his face.

"No. I would not--let you do that." Her gaze now held level with his. A

strength came to her voice. Georg and I watched her--and watched

Tarrano--fascinated. She repeated once more: "No. I would not let you."

"How could you stop me?"

"I would--tell you not to do it."

"So?" Admiration leaped into his eyes to mingle with the amusement

there. "You would tell me not to do it?"

"Yes." She did not flinch before him.

"And you think then--I would spare him?"

"Yes. I know you would."

"And why?"

"Because--if you did a thing like that--I should--hate you."

"Hate----"

"Yes. Hate you--always."

He turned suddenly away from her, sitting up with a snap of alertness.

"Enough of this." Did he realize he was defeated in this passage with a

girl? Was he trying to cover from us the knowledge of his defeat? And

then again the bigness of him made itself manifest. He acknowledged

soberly:

"You have bested me, Lady Elza. And you've made me realize that

I--Tarrano--have almost lowered myself to admit this Jac Hallen my

rival." He laughed harshly. "Not so! A rival? Pah! He shall live if you

wish it--live close by you and me--as an insect might live on a twig by

the rim of the eagle's nest.... Enough!... I was asking you, Georg

Brende, of this ultimatum. Should I yield to it?" He had suppressed his

other emotions; he was amusing himself with us again.

"Yes," said Georg.

"But I have already refused--today in the garden. Would you have me

change? I am not one lightly to change a decision already reached."

"You'll have to."

"Perhaps. Perhaps not. Of one thing I am sure. I cannot let them declare

war against me just now. I have no defense, here in Venia. Scarce the

armament for my handful of men. Your vessels of war would sweep down

here and overpower me in a breath--trap me here helpless----"

"Of course," said Georg.

"And so I must not let them do that. They want me to come to Washington

with the Brende model--deliver it over to them. Yet--that does not

appeal to me. Tomorrow I shall have to bargain with them further. I

could not deliver to them the Brende model." He was chuckling at his own

phrasing. "No--no, I could not do that."

"Why?" demanded Georg. "Isn't the model here?"

"It is--where it is," said Tarrano. He became more serious. "You,

Georg--you could build one of those models?"

Georg did not answer.

"You could, of course," Tarrano insisted. "My spy, Ahla--you remember

her, the Lady Elza's maid for so long? She is here in Venia; she tells

me of your knowledge and skill with your father's apparatus. So you see,

I realize I have two to guard--the model itself, and you, who know its

secret."

He now became more openly alert and earnest than I had ever seen him.

The light from the tube along the side wall edged his lean, serious face

with its silver glow. "I've a proposition for you, Georg Brende. Between

men, such things can be put bruskly. Your sister--her personal decision

will take time. I would not force it. But meanwhile--I do not like to

hold you and her as captives."

The shadow of a smile crossed Georg's face. "We shall be glad to have

you set us free."

Tarrano remained grave. "You are a humorist. And a clever young fellow,

Georg Brende. You--as Elza's brother--and as your father's son with your

medical knowledge--you can be of great use to me. Suppose I offer you a

place by my side always? To share with me--and with the Lady Elza--these

conquests.... Wait! It is not the part of wisdom to decide until you

have all the facts. I shall confide in you one of my plans. The publics

of Venus, Mars and the Earth--they think this everlasting life, as they

call it, is to be shared with them."

His chuckle was the rasp of a file on a block of adamant. "Shared

with them! That is the bait I dangle before their noses. In reality,

I shall share it only with the Lady Elza. And with you--her brother,

and the mate you some day will take for yourself. Indeed, I have

a maiden already at hand, picked out for you.... But that can come

later.... Everlasting life? Nonsense! Your father's discovery cannot

confer that. But we shall live two centuries or more. Four of us. To

see the generations come and go--frail mortals, while we live on to

conquer and to rule the worlds.... Come, what do you say?"

"I say no."

Tarrano showed no emotion, save perhaps a flicker of admiration. "You

are decisive. You have many good qualities, Georg Brende. I wonder if

you have any good reasons?"

"Because you are an enemy of my world," Georg declared, with more heat

than he had yet displayed.

"Ah! Patriotism! A good lure for the ignorant masses, that thing they

call patriotism. For rulers, a good mask with which to hide their

unscrupulous schemes. That's all it is, Georg Brende. Cannot you give me

a better reason? You think perhaps I am not sincere? You think I would

not share longevity with you--that I would play you false?"

"No," Georg declared. "But my father's work was for the people. I'm not

talking patriotism--only humanitarianism. The strife, suffering in our

worlds--you would avoid it yourself--and gloat while others bore it.

You----"

"Youth!" Tarrano interrupted. "Altruism! It is very pretty in

theory--but quite nonsensical. Man lifts himself--the individual must

look out for himself--not for others. Each man to his destiny--and the

weak go down and the strong go up. It is the way of all life--animal and

human. It always has been--and it always will be. The way of the

universe. You are very young, Georg Brende."

"Perhaps," Georg said, and fell silent.

Tarrano abruptly rose to his feet. "Calm thought is better than

argument. You have imagination--you can picture what I offer. Think it

over. And if youth is your trouble----" His eyes were twinkling. "I

shall have to wait until you grow up. We have a long road to

travel--empires cannot be built in a day."

He paused before Elza with a grave, dignified bow. "Goodnight, Lady

Elza."

"Goodnight," she said.

He left us. We stood listening to his footsteps as he quietly descended

the tower incline. At his summons, the barrage was lifted. He went out.

From the balcony we saw him cross the spider bridge, with Argo at his

heels. As they vanished into the yawning mouth of an arcade beyond the

bridge, again came that rose-glow in the other tower. We saw again the

girl with flowing white hair standing there. And now she was waving us

back.

"She wants us inside, where we can't be seen," Georg murmured. We drew

back into the room, standing where we still could see the girl. I

wondered then--and we had discussed it several times these last

hours--if the interior of our tower were under observation by some

distant guard. We felt that probably it was, visibly and audibly; and we

had been very careful of what we said aloud.

But now, if we were watched, we could not help it; we would have to take

the chance. The figure of the girl showed plainly down there through the

other casement. And again, with slow-moving white arms she began to

semaphore. A queer application of the Secondary Code, which always is

used officially with coral-light beams over considerable distances. But

it sufficed in this emergency. Slowly she spelled out the letters,

words, phrases.

_"I am Princess Maida----"_

Georg whispered to us: "Hereditary ruler of the Central State----"

I nodded. "Watch, Georg----"

_"Prisoner----"_ came next: _"Like yourselves, and we must escape."_

She paused a moment, letting her arms drop to her sides, shaking the

glorious waves of her white hair with a toss of her head. Then, at a

gesture from Georg that he understood, she began again:

_"Escape tonight----"_

I half expected that any moment Tarrano or one of his men would burst in

to stop this. But the signals continued.

_"I am sending you a friend--tonight--soon--he will come to you. With

plans for our escape. A good friend----"_

Her tower abruptly went dark. Cautiously I gazed down from our balcony.

Argo had appeared on the spider bridge; he was pacing back and forth.

Did he suspect anything? We could not tell, but it seemed not. It was

the midnight hour; a brilliant white flash swept the city to mark it.

In a low corner of the balcony, behind the glow of our barrage, we

crouched together, whispering excitedly. But cautiously, for we

knew that the microphonic ears of a jailor might be upon us. The

Princess Maida--here in Tarrano's hands! She was sending us a

friend--tonight--soon; a friend who would help us all to escape.

"By the code!" Georg exclaimed. "If we could get to Washington--if I

could be there now in this crisis--with my knowledge of the Brende

light----"

Far above our personal safety, our lives, lay the importance of Georg's

knowledge. With the Brende secret--through him--in the hands of the

Earth Council, Tarrano's greatest lever to power would be broken. Our

Earth public would sway back to patriotic loyalty. The Little People of

Mars unquestionably would remain friendly with us, with the Brende light

to be developed on Earth and shared with them. They would see Tarrano

perhaps, for what he was--a dangerous, unscrupulous enemy.... If only

Georg could escape....

An hour went by with murmured thoughts like these. A friend coming to

help us? How could he reach us? And how help us to escape?

We crouched there, waiting. Argo--obviously on night guard--still paced

the bridge. The city was comparatively dark and silent; yet even so,

there seemed more activity than we felt was normal. Occasional beams

flashed across the narrow segment of our sky. The crescent terraces,

visible through a shallow canyon of buildings to the left, were a blaze

of colored lights with the dark figures of people thronging them. The

mingled hum of instruments was in the night air; sometimes the snap of

an aerial; and the steady, clicking whir of the night escalators on the

city street levels and inclines.

It seemed hours that we waited. The green flash of the second hour past

midnight bathed the city in its split-second lurid glare. Elza had

fallen asleep, beside us on the feathered hassock of our balcony corner.

But Georg and I were fully alert--waiting for this unknown friend. Georg

had smoked innumerable arrant-leaf cylinders. Through the insulated

tube, from a public cookery occasional hot dishes were passing our

dining room for us to take if we wished. But we had touched none of

them. From the food stock on hand, Elza had cooked our two simple meals.

But now, with Elza asleep, Georg left me and returned in a moment with

steaming cups of taro. We drank it silently, still waiting. Argo still

paced the bridge on guard. Presently we saw the figure of Wolfgar join

him. The two spoke together a moment; then Argo disappeared; Wolfgar

paced back and forth on guard in his place.

At 2:30 the Inter-Allied announcer--for half an hour past quite

silent--brought us to our feet, his monotone droning from the disc in

our instrument room:

_"Greater New York, Inter-Allied Unofficial 2:27 A. M. Tarrano replies

to the Earth Council Ultimatum...."_

Our start woke up Elza. Together we rushed into the instrument room.

_"With many hours yet before the Earth Council Ultimatum expires, it is

unofficially reported that Tarrano has sent his note in answer. Its

text, we are reliably informed, is now in the hands of our Governments

at Great London, Greater New York, Tokyohama and Mombozo. Helios of it

also have been sent to Tarrano's own government of Venus and to the

Little People of Mars. We have as yet no further details...."_

A buzz came as he ended, with only the click of the tape continuing as

it printed his words. A period of silence, then again his voice:

_"Official 2:32 A. M. Inter-Allied News: Tarrano rejects Ultimatum. His

note to Earth Council complete defiance. Official text follows...."_

We listened, dumb with amazement and awe. Tarrano's note was indeed,

complete defiance. He would not yield up the Brende light. Nor would he

deliver himself in Washington for trial. In the suave, courteous

language of diplomacy, he deplored the unreasonable attitude of the

Earth leaders. Ironically, he suggested that they declare war. He would

be overwhelmed in Venia, of course. He had no means of defending himself

against their aggression. But at the first flash of hostile rays, the

Brende model would be destroyed forever. And Georg Brende--the only

living person who had the knowledge to replace the model--would die

instantly. The Brende secret would be lost irrevocably. It was

unfortunate that humanity on Earth, Venus and Mars, should be denied

their chance for immortality. Unfortunate that the Earth leaders were so

headstrong. They were enemies, in reality, of their own people--and

enemies of the peoples of Venus and Mars. But if the Earth Council

wished war with Tarrano--then war let it be.

"A bluff," I exclaimed. "He would lose everything himself. It's

suicide--"

"Not suicide," Georg said soberly. "Propaganda. Can't you see it? He

knows the Earth Council will make no move until the ultimatum time has

expired. Hours yet. And in those hours, he is working upon the publics

of the three worlds."

The announcer was silent again. Below us, in our tower, we heard a

footstep. The barrage had been lifted to admit someone, then thrown on

again. Measured footsteps were coming up our incline. We stood

motionless, breathless. A moment; then into the room came Wolfgar. He

did not speak. Advancing close to us as we stood transfixed, he jerked

an instrument from his belt. It whirred and hummed in his hand. The room

around us went black--a barrage of blackness and silence, with ourselves

and Wolfgar in a pale glow standing within it as in a cylinder. The

isolation-barrage. I had never been within one before, though upon

drastic occasion they were in official use.

Wolfgar said swiftly: "We cannot be seen or heard. I have been in charge

of the mirror observing you--I have thrown it out of use. The Princess

Maida--"

"You are--the friend?" Georg whispered tensely. Elza was trembling and I

put my arm about her.

Wolfgar's face lightened with a brief smile; then went intensely

serious. "Yes. A spy, trusted by Tarrano for years--but my heart is with

the Princess Maida. We must escape--all of us--now, or it will be too

late."

He stopped abruptly, and a look of consternation came to him. The black

silence enveloping us had without warning begun to crackle. The metal

cone in Wolfgar's hand glowed red with interference-heat--but he clung

to it, though it burned him. Sparks were snapping in the blackness

around us. Our isolation was dissolving. Someone--something--was

breaking it down, struggling to get at us!