aspace-ship. There was a brief period of silence, as though men consultedin whispers. Then the voice called him again.
"You there--the leader! The Council of Elders will talk with you. Gofifty paces to your right, to where there are two white stones, and thencome forward between them. Do not be afraid. You will not be harmed."
"Are you going to take the chance, Chief?" Steve whispered. Gerrynodded.
"I'll have to."
About fifty yards to his right Gerry saw two white stones. They were setsome twelve or fifteen feet apart, on the very edge of the invisiblebarrier. Gerry walked over, turned left, and then walked squarely inbetween the stones. He held one arm protectingly in front of him, butthis time his hand did not encounter any barrier. Instead--he foundhimself standing under the arch-way of a gate with a mighty city spreadbefore him!
* * * * *
The city had simply appeared in a flash, with its mighty towers soaringup to the sky, as soon as he stepped over the outer line of the arch.Whatever it was that held the place invisible from outside, it hadceased to function for him as soon as he came within the limits of theouter surface of the walls. Glancing back, he saw that his companionswere still staring blankly at the spot he had just quitted. They wereevidently unable to see either him or any part of the city.
"It's all right, Steve!" he shouted. "Just hold everybody there till Icome back."
Doors of heavily carved glass slid noiselessly out of recesses withinthe wall to close the gate through which Gerry had just entered. Thearch in which he stood was inside the thickness of the wall, faced withwhite marble, inlaid with designs in gold. Ahead, he could see a broadavenue that ran from the gateway down through the center of the city. Itwas tree lined and pleasant, thronged with people. Flowers grew inlittle plots in front of the gold and white houses. Small furry animals,dogs, were evidently kept as pets. They drowsed on the doorsteps orscampered about the neat gardens.
Half a dozen men were standing around Gerry, within the arch of thegate. They were slight in stature though wiry, with heads a littlelarger than normal and exceptionally high foreheads. Their skin bore atawny tinge, similar to that of the Amazons of Savissa. Two of them, whoimmediately took up posts just inside the glass portals of the gate,wore a semi-military uniform that included a gilded helmet. The otherswore white cotton tunics and high leather shoes. It suddenly struckGerry that this was the first place on Venus that he had visited wherethe majority of the citizens did not go heavily armed at all times.Perhaps it was a good omen.
One of the men stepped forward, a bearded and gray-haired man who bore agold-tipped staff.
"I am Gool, chairman of the Council of Elders of Moorn," he said in thedeep voice that Gerry had heard outside. "The Council has decided to seeyou at once. You are the first outsider who has been permitted to enterthe city of Moorn--White Queen of the Outer Isles--in countlessgenerations. It would not have been permitted even now if you had been aman of this planet. Come with me."
* * * * *
They went up a flight of steps and climbed into a metal car that hungfrom an overhead rail supported by columns along the street. Gooltouched a button, and the car shot ahead at high speed along theoverhead mono-rail. The old man, who had settled comfortably back on oneof the upholstered seats, was faintly smiling as he watched Gerry'sface.
"You are puzzled, stranger?" he asked at last.
"Yes. There seemed to be nothing on the plain but a lot of holes boredin the rock, and now...."
"And now you find yourself in the city of Moorn," Gool said. "Aknowledge of dimensional control is one of the reasons why we of thiscity have lived in peace and safety for so many centuries while the restof the planet is torn by constant wars."
"Dimensional control?" Gerry said slowly. Gool nodded.
"Yes. It is hard to put it into language that will be clear to one whohas no knowledge of our science. Perhaps I can explain it by saying thatthe human eye is a three-dimensional organism, and therefore capable ofperceiving only things that fall into that same category. There are agreat many things in the universe, some of the greatest importance, thatthe ordinary man's senses are incapable of perceiving. We have learnedhow to cast a protective screen of fourth-dimension rays about our city,and the effect is that it becomes completely invisible to the human eye.Do I make myself clear?"
"Not entirely," Gerry grinned. "But I do know that your screen works!But, since your science is so far ahead of the other people of Venus,why don't you rule the entire planet?"
"The other races are all barbarians," Gool said with a sort ofdisdainful gravity. "We prefer to live here in our peaceful isolationand not bother with them. That is an essential part of our philosophy."
The speeding mono-rail car mounted higher as it neared the center of thecity. The track seemed to end on the blank wall halfway up the tallestof the buildings, but as the car came near a circular doorway suddenlyopened just in time to let it through. They halted in a circular chamberwhere heavy springs caught and allayed the last of the car's momentum,and a pair of gold-helmeted guards saluted Gool as they helped him toalight.
"The Council is ready and waiting, my Lord," said one. Gool nodded overhis shoulder to Gerry.
"Follow me," he commanded.
The Council of Elders of Moorn sat at a U-shaped table in ahigh-ceilinged room whose walls were hung with heavy and very ancienttapestries. The dozen members of the council were all old men,gray-beards who seemed dwarfed by the high-backed chairs in which theysat. They listened with grave attention to Gerry's account of what hehad seen of conditions on Venus, but their austere faces showed no signof animation when he again suggested that they should intervene in theplanet's affairs.
"We are not interested," Gool said listlessly.
Suddenly the short-wave alarm in Gerry's helmet buzzed loudly. Hepressed the receiving switch.
"Listen, Chief!" Steve Brent's voice was tense and excited as it camefrom the ear-phones, "I just got a message from Tanda back in Larr.There's hell to pay back there! The Scaly Ones have in some way managedto storm one of the barrier forts, and now they're pouring over theborders of Savissa in great hordes. They're armed with supode rays,too!"
Gerry switched off the radio, and leaned forward with his hands on thecarved table.
"Now is the time for you to act!" he snapped. "Lansa is a mad-man. Heplans to overrun all Venus. If you come to the aid of the Amazons atthis time, it will...."
"Our isolation of centuries is not to be broken," Gool interrupted.Watching the emotionless faces of the Council of Elders, he felt asthough he were wading through mud. He was getting nowhere! The inertiaof these gray-beards was a leaden and tangible thing.
"But if Lansa wins he may come after you!" he urged. "Your walls areinvisible, but they're there. I could feel them with my hands. Now thatLansa has the equipment to project the supode ray, he may bring themdown and...."
"We take no part in what goes on outside our walls," Gool repeatedfirmly. "We will give you the metal to repair your own ship. If you andsome of your men wish to return quickly to the mainland in the meantime,we will send you across in our flying cars. That is the most that we cando."
* * * * *
Half a dozen flying cars rested on a broad platform on top of one of thewalls of the city of Moorn. Many bells were tolling the noonday chimesas Gerry Norton led his armored men from the _Viking_ aboard the compactlittle flying machines. There was room for six men in each car, thepilot and five passengers. Only Angus and the necessary assistants hadremained behind to repair the space-ship with the materials supplied bythe men of Moorn. Gerry leaned from his car to shake hands with Gool,who was leaning on his gold-tipped staff.
"Thanks for this much help," Gerry said. "Next time we meet I'll tellyou...."
"We shall not meet again, my friend," Gool said with a half smile. Thewords seemed definitely ominous to Gerry, but before he could sayanything more the old man had bowed cer
emonially and then stepped backoff the landing platform.
The flying cars of Moorn were shallow bowls of some gleaming blue metal,oval in shape and with three comfortably upholstered seats. They had novisible means of propulsion. Curved windshields of heavy glass protectedthe passengers from the air-blast of swift motion. Gerry got in besidethe pilot of the leading car, who was a slight and taciturn Moornianwith the big head and high forehead of his race. A complicated controlboard was fixed in place before him. Closana and Portok were in the seatnext behind, while two more members of the _Viking's_ crew occupied therear seat.
"Ready?" the pilot asked. Gerry nodded.
The pilot touched a switch on the control board before him, and threeglobular dials glowed