For two days, the Ancient Mariner in the hills. It was visible all that time, but at least two of the men were the sky every hour of the day. Torlos himself was, they knew, perfectly trustworthy, but they did not know his people were as as he them to be.
Arcot and Wade were in the room on the of the second day—not Earth days, but the forty-hour Nansalian days—and they had been the themselves and the of this planet.
Suddenly, Wade saw a slowly moving in the sky.
"Look, Arcot! There's Torlos!"
They waited, for any action as the ship approached rapidly, slowly as it came nearer. It a hundred away, and Torlos emerged, toward the Earth ship. Arcot let him in through the airlock.
Torlos broadly. "I had in the Council that my was true. When I told them that you go than light, they objected. But they had to admit that you had been able to tear the very effectively, and they had reports of the of the Satorian capitol.
"It you visited the city of Thanso when you came here. The people were nearly panic-stricken when they saw you that and the magnetic station. No one ship had done that before!
"But the that had me out of thin air, plus the that they you make yourselves invisible, them that my was true.
"They want to talk to you, and they say that they will your requests. But you must promise them one thing—you must away from any of our people, for they are of disease. Bacteria that do not you very much might be to us. The Supreme Council of Three is to take the risk, but they will not allow anyone else to be exposed."
"We will keep from your people if the Council wishes," Arcot agreed, "but there is no danger. We are so different from you that it will be for you to our diseases, or for us to yours. However, if the Council wants it, we will do as they ask."
Torlos at once to his ship and toward the city.
Arcot in the Ancient Mariner, about three hundred to the rear.
When they the magnetic screen of the city, one of the cut its power for a moments, a for the two ships to through.
On the of the buildings, men and were collected, the shining, of the ship as it moved above them.
Torlos them to the great and to the landing it. All around them, in regular rows, the great of the Nansal were arranged. Arcot the Ancient Mariner and off the power.
"I think Wade is the man to go with me this time," Arcot said. "He has learned to with Torlos well. We will each pistols and wear our power suits. And we'll be in radio with you at all times.
"I don't think they'll start anything we don't like this time, but I'm not as as I was, and I'm not going to take any chances. This time I'm going to make arrangements. If I die here, there's going to be a very funeral, and these men are going to pay the costs!
"I'll call you every three minutes, Morey. If I don't, check up on me. If you still don't an answer, take this place you won't be able to us then.
"I'm going to tell Torlos about our precautions. If the the radio, I'll be for you and I'll my steps until I can you again. Right? Then come on, Wade!" Arcot, equipped, the to the airlock.
Torlos was waiting for them with another man, Torlos was a high-ranking officer of the fleet. Torlos, it seemed, was without official rank. He was a service agent without official status, and therefore an officer had been to the Earthmen.
Torlos to be in the soft, warm of his native world. It had been years since he had that yellow sun from the of a space flier. Now he walk around in the clear air of the of his birth.
Arcot to him the they had taken against trouble here, and Torlos smiled. "You have learned caution. I can't you. We little different from the men of Sator; we can only on trial. But I know you will be safe."
They walked across the great court, which was with a soft, of green. The sun on them, the colors of the buildings, the of the they were approaching, and, them, the of the Ancient Mariner set among the dark, needle-shaped Nansalian ships, all to make a picture that would in their minds for a long time.
Here, there were no them as they were to the meeting of the Supreme Council of Three.
They into the main entrance of the government and into the great on the ground floor. It was like the of an Gothic cathedral, and dignified. Great of green rose in graceful, columns, out like the of some tree to meet in that rose high in to a point four pillars. The were of a dark green as a background; on them had been designs in tile.
The whole was a thing of beauty; the color gave it life, as the yellow gave life to the trees of the mountains.
They the great and came at last to the elevator. Its door was of narrow of metal, so together that the whole a flexible, but sheet. In principle, the doors like the of an roll-top desk. The idea was old, but these men had their doors very by the of color. In no way did they from the of the hall.
Torlos to Arcot. "I wonder if it would not be wise to off your radio as we enter the elevator. Might not the magnetic affect it?"
"Probably," Arcot agreed. He Morey and told him that the radio would be cut off for a while. "But it won't be more than three minutes," Arcot finished. "If it is—you know what to do."
As they entered the elevator, Torlos at the two Earthmen. "We will more this time, so that the won't be so to you." He moved the carefully, and by steps they rose to the sixty-third of the building.
As they out of the elevator, Torlos pointed toward an open window that across one wall. Below them, they see the Ancient Mariner.
"Your radio should be good," Torlos commented.
Wade put in a call to Morey, and to his relief, he immediately.
The officer was leading them a green toward a door. He opened it, and they entered the room beyond.
In the center of the room was a large table. At a place at the center of each sat one man on a chair, while on each of him sat a number of other men.
Torlos stopped at the door and saluted. Then he spoke in rapid, liquid to the men at the table, once or twice and as he did so.
He paused, and one of the three men in in a voice that had none of the that Arcot had noticed in the voice of the Satorian Commanding One. Arcot liked the voice and the man.
Judging by Earth standards, he was past middle age—whatever that might be on Nansal—with black that was slightly. His the of worry that the making of always leaves, but although the was with authority, there was a that comes with a of power.
Wade was talking into the radio, the them to Morey. He the great table of dark wood, and the men about it, some in the of the military, and some in the loose, soft of the civilian. Their fabrics, in good taste and harmony, were out of with the of a neighbor, a this clothing.
Torlos to Arcot. "The Supreme that you be seated at the table, in the places left for you." He paused, then added: "I have told them of your precautions, and they have said: 'A wise man, having been once, will not again be trapped.' They approve of your policy of caution.
"The men who at the of the table are the Supreme Three; the others are their who know the of Science, Business, and War. No one man can know all the of endeavor, and this is but a meeting place of those who know best the lines. The Supreme Three are elected from the in case of the death of one of the Three, and they act as co-ordinators for the rest.
"The man of Science is to your left; directly you is the man of Business, and to your right is the Commander of the Military.
"To do you wish to speak first?"
Arcot for a moment, then: "I must tell the Scientist what it is I have, then tell the Commander how he can use it, and I will tell the Businessman what will be needed."
Arcot had noticed that the officers all for their pneumatic pistols, but they were empty. He was pleased and embarrassed. What should he do—he, who two pistols. He on the least and left them where they were.
Arcot his at Torlos. "We have come a across space, from another galaxy. Let your tell them what that represents."
Arcot paused while Torlos put the into the of the Nansalian language. A moment later, one of the scientists, a tall, powerfully man, for these men of strength, rose and spoke to the others. When he was seated, a second rose and spoke also, with an of puzzled wonder.
"He says," Torlos translated, "that his science has him that a speed such as you say you have is impossible, but the that you are here proves his science wrong.
"He that since your live on no of this system, you must come from another star. Since his science says that this is just as as from another galaxy, he is of the in the theories."
Arcot smiled. The was creditable; the man did not label as "impossible" something which was proven by the presence of the two Earthmen.
Arcot to the physical his space-strain drive, but rapidly; Torlos, a warrior, not a scientist, not the ideas, and was unable to them into his own language.
"The Chief Physicist that you think directly at him," Torlos told Arcot. "He that the might be more familiar to him than to me." He grinned. "And they aren't clear to me!"
Arcot his directly toward the physicist; to his surprise, the man was a perfect receiver. He had a natural gift for it. Quickly, Arcot the that had his possible.
The physicist when Arcot was finished, and to reply, but he was not a good transmitter. Torlos him.
"He says that the science of your people is ahead of us. The are totally to his mind, and he can only the of the idea of that you have him. He says, however, that he can the possibility that you have him. He has your message to the Three, and they are to of the you have."
Arcot the pistol, and it up for all to see, the of its operation toward the physicist.
To the Chief Physicist of Nansal, the idea of energy was an old one; he had been making use of it all his life, and it was well that the used the of air to do their work. He well how it worked, but not until Arcot into his mind the of how the Earthmen had one sun into another did he the power of the ray.
Awed, the man the idea to his fellows.
Then Arcot the pistol and how the of it was into pure by the lens.
"I will you how they work," Arcot continued. "Could we have a of metal of some kind?"
The Scientist spoke into an microphone, and a minutes, a large of iron—a casting—was in. Arcot it on the while Wade melted it with the beam. It melted and into a that and as its surface in the of the air. Wade cut off his ray, and the under the of the until Arcot it to the floor, a perfect with ice and frost.
Arcot for the part of an hour to to the Council what he had, how they be used, and what materials and were needed to make them.
When he was finished, the Supreme Three for minutes. Then the Scientist asked, through Torlos: "How can we you for these you have us?"
"First, we need lead to fuel our ship." Arcot gave them the exact for the lead wire they needed.
He his answer from the man of Business and Manufacturing. "We can give you that easily, for lead is cheap. Indeed, it to you."
"The second thing we need," Arcot continued, "is information. We in space and are unable to our way home. I would like to the case to the Astronomer."
The Astronomer proved to be a man of powerful as well as powerful physique, and was a than receiver. It took every of Arcot's powerful mind to project his to the man.
He the that he and his friends were in, and told him how he the Galaxy on his plates. The Astronomer said he he of such a nebula, but he would like to his own with Arcot's to make sure.
"In return," Arcot told him, "we will give you another weapon—a weapon, this time, to the astronomer's enemy, distance. It is an which will permit you to see life on every of this system. With it, you can see a man at a ten times as great as the from Nansal to your sun!"
Eagerly, the Astronomer questioned Arcot the telectroscope, but others were for Arcot's attention.
The Biologist was among the contenders; he about the possibility of the Earthmen pathogenic bacteria.
"Torlos has told us that you have an different organization. What is it that is different? I can't that he has you."
Arcot the as as possible. By the time he was finished, the Biologist sure that any such was from them to be biologically, but he wanted to study the Man of Earth further.
Arcot had along a of medical books as a possible in case of accident. He offered to give these to Nansal in for a of Nansalian medical texts. The English would have to be out with the of a and a which Arcot would supply. Arcot also asked for a to take with him, and the Biologist agreed.
"We'd like to give you one in return," Arcot grinned, "But we only four along, and, unfortunately, we are using them at the moment."
The Biologist and him that they would not think of taking a piece of so necessary to the Earthmen.
The Military Leader was the man who attention next. Arcot had a long with him, and they that the best way for the Military Leader to learn the of the Ancient Mariner was to personally see a of its powers.
The Council that the Three would go on the trip. The Military Commander two of his to go, and the Scientist the Astronomer and the Physicist. The of Business and Manufacturing to any of his advisors.
"We would learn nothing," he told Arcot, "and would only be in the way. I, myself, am going only I am one of the Three."
"Very well," said Arcot. "Let's started."
