CHAPTER VIII
_Unknown Friend_
"Sit down." Tarrano motioned us to feather hassocks and stretchedhimself indolently upon our pillowed divan. With an elbow and handsupporting his head he regarded us with his sombre black eyes, his faceimpassive, an inscrutable smile playing about his thin lips.
"I wish to speak with you three. The Lady Elza----" His glance went toher briefly, then to Georg. "She has told you, perhaps, what I had tosay to her?"
"Yes," said Georg shortly.
Elza had indeed told us. And with sinking heart I had listened, for itdid not seem to me that any maiden could resist so dominant a man asthis. But I had made no comment, nor had Georg. Elza had seemedunwilling to discuss it, had flushed when her brother's eyes had keenlysearched 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 generalnews, I assume? I provided you with it." He rolled a little cylinder ofthe arrant-leaf, and lighted it.
"Yes," said Georg.
Georg was waiting for our captor to lay his cards before us. Tarranoknew it; his smile broadened. "I shall not mince words, Georg Brende.Between men, that is not necessary. And we are isolated here--no onebeyond Venia can listen. As you know, I am already Master of Venus. InMars--that will shortly come. They will hand themselves over to me--or Ishall conquer them." He shrugged. "It is quite immaterial." He addedcontemptuously: "People are fools--almost everyone--it is no great featto 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 beseen. Well, you heard the ultimatum they sent me? What do you think ofit?"
"I think you'd best obey it," I burst out impulsively.
"I was not speaking to you." He did not change the level intonation ofhis voice, nor even look my way. "You are to die tomorrow, JacHallen----"
Elza gave a low cry; instantly his gaze swung to her. "So? That strikesat _you_, Lady Elza?"
She flushed even deeper than before, and the flush, with her instinctivelook to me that accompanied it, made my heart leap. Tarrano's face haddarkened. "You would not have me put him to death, Lady Elza?"
She was struggling to guard from him her emotions; struggling to matchher 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. Astrength came to her voice. Georg and I watched her--and watchedTarrano--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 amusementthere. "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 agirl? Was he trying to cover from us the knowledge of his defeat? Andthen again the bigness of him made itself manifest. He acknowledgedsoberly:
"You have bested me, Lady Elza. And you've made me realize thatI--Tarrano--have almost lowered myself to admit this Jac Hallen myrival." He laughed harshly. "Not so! A rival? Pah! He shall live if youwish it--live close by you and me--as an insect might live on a twig bythe rim of the eagle's nest.... Enough!... I was asking you, GeorgBrende, of this ultimatum. Should I yield to it?" He had suppressed hisother emotions; he was amusing himself with us again.
"Yes," said Georg.
"But I have already refused--today in the garden. Would you have mechange? 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 declarewar against me just now. I have no defense, here in Venia. Scarce thearmament for my handful of men. Your vessels of war would sweep downhere 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 Washingtonwith the Brende model--deliver it over to them. Yet--that does notappeal to me. Tomorrow I shall have to bargain with them further. Icould not deliver to them the Brende model." He was chuckling at his ownphrasing. "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 rememberher, the Lady Elza's maid for so long? She is here in Venia; she tellsme 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 itssecret."
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 facewith its silver glow. "I've a proposition for you, Georg Brende. Betweenmen, such things can be put bruskly. Your sister--her personal decisionwill take time. I would not force it. But meanwhile--I do not like tohold you and her as captives."
The shadow of a smile crossed Georg's face. "We shall be glad to haveyou 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 yourmedical knowledge--you can be of great use to me. Suppose I offer you aplace by my side always? To share with me--and with the Lady Elza--theseconquests.... Wait! It is not the part of wisdom to decide until youhave all the facts. I shall confide in you one of my plans. The publicsof Venus, Mars and the Earth--they think this everlasting life, as theycall it, is to be shared with them."
His chuckle was the rasp of a file on a block of adamant. "Sharedwith 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 havea maiden already at hand, picked out for you.... But that can comelater.... Everlasting life? Nonsense! Your father's discovery cannotconfer that. But we shall live two centuries or more. Four of us. Tosee the generations come and go--frail mortals, while we live on toconquer and to rule the worlds.... Come, what do you say?"
"I say no."
Tarrano showed no emotion, save perhaps a flicker of admiration. "Youare decisive. You have many good qualities, Georg Brende. I wonder ifyou have any good reasons?"
"Because you are an enemy of my world," Georg declared, with more heatthan he had yet displayed.
"Ah! Patriotism! A good lure for the ignorant masses, that thing theycall patriotism. For rulers, a good mask with which to hide theirunscrupulous schemes. That's all it is, Georg Brende. Cannot you give mea better reason? You think perhaps I am not sincere? You think I wouldnot share longevity with you--that I would play you false?"
"No," Georg declared. "But my father's work was for the people. I'm nottalking patriotism--only humanitarianism. The strife, suffering in ourworlds--you would avoid it yourself--and gloat while others bore it.You----"
"Youth!" Tarrano interrupted. "Altruism! It is very pretty intheory--but quite nonsensical. Man lifts himself--the individual mustlook out for himself--not for others. Each man to his destiny--and theweak go down and the strong go up. It is the way of all life--animal andhuman. It always has been--and it always will be. The way of theuniverse. You are very young, Georg Brende."
"Perhaps," Georg said, and fell silent.
Tarrano abruptly rose to h
is feet. "Calm thought is better thanargument. You have imagination--you can picture what I offer. Think itover. And if youth is your trouble----" His eyes were twinkling. "Ishall have to wait until you grow up. We have a long road totravel--empires cannot be built in a day."
He paused before Elza with a grave, dignified bow. "Goodnight, LadyElza."
"Goodnight," she said.
He left us. We stood listening to his footsteps as he quietly descendedthe 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 hisheels. As they vanished into the yawning mouth of an arcade beyond thebridge, again came that rose-glow in the other tower. We saw again thegirl with flowing white hair standing there. And now she was waving usback.
"She wants us inside, where we can't be seen," Georg murmured. We drewback into the room, standing where we still could see the girl. Iwondered then--and we had discussed it several times these lasthours--if the interior of our tower were under observation by somedistant guard. We felt that probably it was, visibly and audibly; and wehad been very careful of what we said aloud.
But now, if we were watched, we could not help it; we would have to takethe chance. The figure of the girl showed plainly down there through theother casement. And again, with slow-moving white arms she began tosemaphore. A queer application of the Secondary Code, which always isused officially with coral-light beams over considerable distances. Butit 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 theglorious waves of her white hair with a toss of her head. Then, at agesture from Georg that he understood, she began again:
_"Escape tonight----"_
I half expected that any moment Tarrano or one of his men would burst into stop this. But the signals continued.
_"I am sending you a friend--tonight--soon--he will come to you. Withplans 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 wasthe 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, wecrouched together, whispering excitedly. But cautiously, for weknew that the microphonic ears of a jailor might be upon us. ThePrincess Maida--here in Tarrano's hands! She was sending us afriend--tonight--soon; a friend who would help us all to escape.
"By the code!" Georg exclaimed. "If we could get to Washington--if Icould be there now in this crisis--with my knowledge of the Brendelight----"
Far above our personal safety, our lives, lay the importance of Georg'sknowledge. With the Brende secret--through him--in the hands of theEarth Council, Tarrano's greatest lever to power would be broken. OurEarth public would sway back to patriotic loyalty. The Little People ofMars unquestionably would remain friendly with us, with the Brende lightto be developed on Earth and shared with them. They would see Tarranoperhaps, for what he was--a dangerous, unscrupulous enemy.... If onlyGeorg could escape....
An hour went by with murmured thoughts like these. A friend coming tohelp us? How could he reach us? And how help us to escape?
We crouched there, waiting. Argo--obviously on night guard--still pacedthe bridge. The city was comparatively dark and silent; yet even so,there seemed more activity than we felt was normal. Occasional beamsflashed across the narrow segment of our sky. The crescent terraces,visible through a shallow canyon of buildings to the left, were a blazeof colored lights with the dark figures of people thronging them. Themingled hum of instruments was in the night air; sometimes the snap ofan aerial; and the steady, clicking whir of the night escalators on thecity street levels and inclines.
It seemed hours that we waited. The green flash of the second hour pastmidnight bathed the city in its split-second lurid glare. Elza hadfallen asleep, beside us on the feathered hassock of our balcony corner.But Georg and I were fully alert--waiting for this unknown friend. Georghad smoked innumerable arrant-leaf cylinders. Through the insulatedtube, from a public cookery occasional hot dishes were passing ourdining room for us to take if we wished. But we had touched none ofthem. 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 withsteaming cups of taro. We drank it silently, still waiting. Argo stillpaced the bridge on guard. Presently we saw the figure of Wolfgar joinhim. The two spoke together a moment; then Argo disappeared; Wolfgarpaced back and forth on guard in his place.
At 2:30 the Inter-Allied announcer--for half an hour past quitesilent--brought us to our feet, his monotone droning from the disc inour instrument room:
_"Greater New York, Inter-Allied Unofficial 2:27 A. M. Tarrano repliesto 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 isunofficially reported that Tarrano has sent his note in answer. Itstext, we are reliably informed, is now in the hands of our Governmentsat Great London, Greater New York, Tokyohama and Mombozo. Helios of italso have been sent to Tarrano's own government of Venus and to theLittle People of Mars. We have as yet no further details...."_
A buzz came as he ended, with only the click of the tape continuing asit printed his words. A period of silence, then again his voice:
_"Official 2:32 A. M. Inter-Allied News: Tarrano rejects Ultimatum. Hisnote 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 hedeliver himself in Washington for trial. In the suave, courteouslanguage of diplomacy, he deplored the unreasonable attitude of theEarth leaders. Ironically, he suggested that they declare war. He wouldbe overwhelmed in Venia, of course. He had no means of defending himselfagainst their aggression. But at the first flash of hostile rays, theBrende model would be destroyed forever. And Georg Brende--the onlyliving person who had the knowledge to replace the model--would dieinstantly. The Brende secret would be lost irrevocably. It wasunfortunate that humanity on Earth, Venus and Mars, should be deniedtheir chance for immortality. Unfortunate that the Earth leaders were soheadstrong. They were enemies, in reality, of their own people--andenemies of the peoples of Venus and Mars. But if the Earth Councilwished war with Tarrano--then war let it be.
"A bluff," I exclaimed. "He would lose everything himself. It'ssuicide--"
"Not suicide," Georg said soberly. "Propaganda. Can't you see it? Heknows the Earth Council will make no move until the ultimatum time hasexpired. Hours yet. And in those hours, he is working upon the publicsof the three worlds."
The announcer was silent again. Below us, in our tower, we heard afootstep. The barrage had been lifted to admit someone, then thrown onagain. Measured footsteps were coming up our incline. We stoodmotionless, breathless. A moment; then into the room came Wolfgar. Hedid not speak. Advancing close to us as we stood transfixed, he jerkedan instrument from his belt. It whirred and hummed in his hand. The roomaround us went black--a barrage of blackness and silence, with ourselvesand Wolfgar in a pale glow standing within it as in a cylinder. Theisolation-barrage. I had never been within one before, though upondrastic occasion they were in official use.
Wolfgar said swiftly: "We cannot be seen or heard. I have been in chargeof the mirror observing you--I have thrown it out of use. The PrincessMaida--"
"You are--the friend?" Georg whispered tensely. Elza was trembling and Iput my arm about her.
Wolfgar's face lightened with a brief smile; then went intenselys
erious. "Yes. A spy, trusted by Tarrano for years--but my heart is withthe Princess Maida. We must escape--all of us--now, or it will be toolate."
He stopped abruptly, and a look of consternation came to him. The blacksilence enveloping us had without warning begun to crackle. The metalcone in Wolfgar's hand glowed red with interference-heat--but he clungto it, though it burned him. Sparks were snapping in the blacknessaround us. Our isolation was dissolving. Someone--something--wasbreaking it down, struggling to get at us!