oken,
windowless expanses of metal, merging into and supporting a massive
roof of the same silvery metal. Walls and roof alike reflected a soft,
yet intense, white light. Soon a sliding switch ahead of them shot in
and simultaneously an opening appeared in the blank metal wall of a
building. Through the opening the street-car flew, and as the pilot
slowed the canoe to a halt, the door slid smoothly shut behind them.
Parking the car beside a row of its fellows, the Callistonian driver
indicated that the Terrestrials were to follow him and led the way into
a large hall. There the others from the _Arcturus_ were assembled,
facing Captain King, who was standing upon a table.

"Fellow travelers," King addressed them, "our course of action has
been decided. There are two hundred three of us. There will be twenty
sections of ten persons, each section being in charge of one of the
officers of the _Arcturus_. Doctor Penfield, our surgeon, a man whose
intelligence, fairness, and integrity are unquestioned, will be in
supreme command. His power and authority will be absolute, limited only
by the Callistonian Council. He will work in harmony with the engineer,
who is to direct the entire project of building the new vessel. Each of
you will be expected to do whatever he can--the work you will be asked
to do will be well within your powers, and you will each have ample
leisure for recreation, study, and amusement, of all of which you will
find unsuspected stores in this underground community. You will each
be registered and studied by physicians, surgeons, and psychologists;
and each of you will have prescribed for him the exact diet that is
necessary for his best development. You will find this diet somewhat
monotonous, compared to our normal fare of natural products, since it
is wholly synthetic; but that is one of the minor drawbacks that must
be endured. Chief Pilot Breckenridge and I will not be with you. In
some small and partial recompense for what they are doing for us all,
he and I are going with Captain Czuv to Callisto, there to see whether
or not we can aid them in any way in the fight against the hexans. One
last word--Doctor Penfield's rulings will be the products of his own
well-ordered mind after consultation and agreement with the Council of
this city, and will be for the best good of all. I do not anticipate any
refusal to cooperate with him. If, however, such refusal should occur,
please remember that he is a despo