wly downward as it came nearer. It landed a few
hundred feet away, and Torlos emerged, running rapidly toward the Earth
ship. Arcot let him in through the airlock.

Torlos smiled broadly. "I had difficulty in convincing the Council that
my story was true. When I told them that you could go faster than light,
they strongly objected. But they had to admit that you had certainly
been able to tear down the mountain very effectively, and they had
received reports of the destruction of the Satorian capitol.

"It seems you first visited the city of Thanso when you came here. The
people were nearly panic-stricken when they saw you rip that mountain
down and uproot the magnetic ray station. No one ship had ever done that
before!

"But the fact that several guards had seen me materialize out of thin
air, plus the fact that they knew you could make yourselves invisible,
convinced them that my story was true.

"They want to talk to you, and they say that they will gladly grant your
requests. But you must promise them one thing--you must stay away from
any of our people, for they are afraid of disease. Bacteria that do not
bother you very much might be deadly to us. The Supreme Council of Three
is willing to take the risk, but they will not allow anyone else to be
exposed."

"We will keep apart from your people if the Council wishes," Arcot
agreed, "but there is no real danger. We are so vastly different from
you that it will be impossible for you to get our diseases, or for us to
contract yours. However, if the Council wants it, we will do as they
ask."

Torlos at once went back to his ship and headed toward the city.

Arcot followed in the _Ancient Mariner_, keeping about three hundred
feet to the rear.

When they reached the magnetic screen of the city, one of the beam
stations cut its power for a few moments, leaving a gap for the two
ships to glide smoothly through.

On the roofs of the buildings, men and women were collected, watching
the shining, polished hull of the strange ship as it moved silently
above them.

Torlos led them to the great central building and dropped to the huge
landing field beside it. All around them, in regular rows, the great
hulls of the Nansal battleships were arranged. Arcot landed the _Ancient
Mariner_ and shut off the power.

"I think Wade is the man to go with me this time," Arcot said. "He has
learned to communicate with Torlos quite well. We will each carry both
pistols and wear