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I was appointed a sort of bodyguard to the Lady Elza the little Earth girl whose presence in the Great City would help conciliate the Earth and bring about universal peace with Venus in control. So ran the popular fancy, guided by Tarrano. We were given our pseudo-liberty, watched always by the unseen eyes of Tarrano's guards. And there was nothing we could do but accept our status.
I staggered, but I did not fall; and as Tarrano stood there, still with his slow smile, I recovered myself and was again upon him. Locked together we swayed to the control table. My back was to it. Tarrano's slender fingers with a grip like alemite, had found my throat. Slowly, irresistibly he forced me backward over the table.
His arrival to take possession of Venus had been made the occasion of a great festival. "The Water Festival," they called it, which was held only at times of universal public rejoicing. It was planned now to do honor to Tarrano planned for this same evening. But he postponed it a night; tonight was for Wolfgar. We were still captives in Tarrano's hands, as we had been on Earth in Venia.
Tarrano was feeding sweets to Elza as though they were gay young lovers. Poor little Elza! She was frightened. Her face was a trifle pale, her lips set. But she, too, knew that we were wholly in Tarrano's power, and she made the best of the situation. Sometimes she would laugh gayly; but I could not miss the note of fear in it. The progress of our barge was slow.
We had tried eavesdropping upon it, but to no avail. Tarrano's close-flung barrage checked every wave we could send against it. Time passed a month or more. We were worried over Elza naturally. Yet the saving grace was that we knew Tarrano would treat her kindly; that for the present at least, she was in no danger. Georg and Maida took possession of the Central State.
Tarrano's trickery was not all on the surface. He had written into that note by a code of diabolically ingenious wording a secret message to his own spies in Washington. Commands for them to obey. A dozen of his spies were in the Earth government's most trusted, highest service and some of them were there in Washington, close around Georg and Maida as they made their altruistic plan.
In a corner stood the Brende instrument, fully erected. A light from it seemed penetrating the bared chest of a man who was at that moment standing in its curative rays. He whom Tarrano called Cretar, took a step forward. "Master, we " "Making yourselves immortal?" The anger had left Tarrano's voice; irony was there instead. "Master " "Have you done that?" "Master yes! Yes! We did!
As though by intuition now, she seemed to realize that they were not far from the Great City. Her thoughts leaped to me Jac Hallen there in Maida's palace. Tarrano's grim, sinister purpose was as yet unknown to her. But she guessed that in it, danger impended for me for all of us in the Great City. "Jac! Danger! Jac! Danger!"
And then, one evening when Tara's smouldering jealousy broke forth in Tarrano's presence and Elza uttered an involuntary cry of fear, Tara was summarily removed. Elza was left practically alone; until at length came this night when invading the privacy of her sleeping room, Tarrano awakened her. He sat now upon the edge of her couch. "I have a confession to make to you, Lady Elza."
And the sulphuric smell of the barrage was gone. The air now smelt of earth the heavy, close air of underground. I do not know how far down we went. A thousand feet perhaps. The thing surprised me. Yet in those moments my mind encompassed it; and many of Tarrano's motives which I had not reasoned out before now seemed plain. He had come from Venus to the Earth, possibly several months ago.