ere, Torlos?" Morey asked. "We
haven't seen any ships."

"There's continuous traffic," Torlos replied, "but you have come in far
to the north, well away from the regularly scheduled routes. The
commerce must be densely populated with warships as well, and both
warships and commercial craft are made to look as much alike as possible
so that the enemy can not know when ships of war are present and when
they are not, and their attacks are more easily beaten off. They are
forced to live off our commerce while they are here. Before we invented
the magnetic storage device, they were forced to get fuel from our ships
in order to make the return journey; they could not carry enough for the
round trip."

Suddenly his smile broadened, and he pointed out the forward window.
"Our city is behind that next range of mountains!"

They were flying at a height of twenty miles, and the range Torlos
indicated was far off in the blue distance, almost below the horizon. As
they approached them, the mountains seemed to change slowly as their
perspective shifted. They seemed to crawl about on one another like
living things, growing larger and changing from blue to blue-green, and
then to a rich, verdant emerald.

Soon the ship was rocketing smoothly over them. Ahead and below, in the
rocky gorge of the mountains, lay a great cone city, the largest the
Earthmen had yet seen. As they approached, they could see another cone
behind it--the city was a double cone! They resembled the circus tents
of two centuries earlier, connected by a ridge.

"Ah--home!" smiled Torlos. "See--that twin cone idea is new. It was not
thus when I left it, years ago. It is growing, growing--and in that new
section! See? They have bright colors on all the buildings! And already
they are digging foundations out to the left for a third cone!" He was
so excited that it was difficult for Arcot to read his thoughts
coherently.

"But we won't have to build more fortifications," Torlos continued, "if
you will give us the secret of the rays you use!

"But, Arcot, you must hide in the hills now; drop down and deposit me in
the hills. I will walk to the city on foot.

"I will be able to identify myself, and I will soon be inside the city,
telling the Supreme Three that I have salvation and peace for them!"

"I have a better idea," Arcot told him. "It will save you a long walk.
We'll make the ship invisible, and take you close to the city. You can
drop, say ten feet from