o 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 remember
her, the Lady Elza's maid for so long? She is here in Venia; she tells
me 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 its
secret."

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 face
with its silver glow. "I've a proposition for you, Georg Brende. Between
men, such things can be put bruskly. Your sister--her personal decision
will take time. I would not force it. But meanwhile--I do not like to
hold you and her as captives."

The shadow of a smile crossed Georg's face. "We shall be glad to have
you 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 your
medical knowledge--you can be of great use to me. Suppose I offer you a
place by my side always? To share with me--and with the Lady Elza--these
conquests.... Wait! It is not the part of wisdom to decide until you
have all the facts. I shall confide in you one of my plans. The publics
of Venus, Mars and the Earth--they think this everlasting life, as they
call it, is to be shared with them."

His chuckle was the rasp of a file on a block of adamant. "Shared
with 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 have
a maiden already at hand, picked out for you.... But that can come
later.... Everlasting life? Nonsense! Your father's discovery cannot
confer that. But we shall live two centuries or more. Four of us. To
see the generations come and go--frail mortals, while we live on to
conquer and to rule the worlds.... Come, what do you say?"

"I say no."

Tarrano showed no emotion, save perhaps a flicker of admiration. "You
are decisive. You have many good qualities, Georg Brende. I wonder if
you have any good reasons?"

"Because you are an enemy of my world," Georg declared, with more heat
than he had yet displayed.

"Ah! Patriotism! A good lure for the ignorant masses, th