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"Your world is vastly different from ours," Arcot commented. He told Tonlos of the different metals of Earth, the non-metals, and their occurrence. But try as he would, he could not place the metal Tonlos had given him. Morey's arrival interrupted their discussion. He looked very tired, and very serious. His head ached from his unwonted mental strain, just as Arcot's had.
Back at the Capital the Solarite again settled into the broad avenue that had been cut off to traffic now, and allotted to it as its resting place. Tonlos met them shortly after they had settled into place, and with him were five men, each carrying two large bottles.
The few people they met seemed intent on their own business, paying little attention to them. At last they seated themselves in the office where Arcot had first met his escort; and there he listened to a new history the history of another planet. "My name is Tonlos," the old man said. "I am a leader of my people though my title and position are unimportant.
It seemed fairly dense, about as heavy as iron, but it had a remarkably bluish tint. Obviously, it was the element that composed the wings of the airplane they had seen that afternoon. Arcot examined it carefully, handicapped somewhat by its heat. He picked up a small copper rod and tried to scratch it but there was no noticeable effect. "You cannot scratch it with copper," said Tonlos.
"Why, we have no radium salts whatever on Earth that we could use for that purpose. Radium is exceedingly rare!" "Radium is by no means plentiful here," Tonlos replied, "but we seldom have to test for morlus, and we have plenty of radium salts for that purpose.
It was near midnight, Venerian time, when they turned in. The following day they planned to start for the Kaxorian construction camp. They had learned from Tonlos that there were but five of the giant planes completed now, but there were fifteen more under construction, to make up the fleet of twenty that was to attack Earth. These fifteen others would be ready in a week or less.
To explain would entail a prolonged discussion of our social structure, and there is no time for that. Later, perhaps but now to our history. "Twenty centuries ago," Tonlos continued, "there were two great rival nations on this planet. The planet Turo is naturally divided so that there would be a tendency toward such division.
Most of the other metallic elements were present in quantities approximating those of Earth, except for an element called "morlus". When Tonlos mentioned this, Arcot said: "Morlus I have the word in your language but I do not know the element. What is it?" "Why here is some!" Tonlos handed Arcot a small block of metal that had been used as a weight on a table in one corner of the room.
"There is, of course, no adequate reward for this service; we can in no way repay you, but in a measure we may show our appreciation. We have learned from the greatest psychologist of our nation, Tonlos, that in your world aluminum is plentiful, but gold and platinum are rare, and that morlus is unknown. I have had a small token made for you, and your friends.
"Ah-co," as Tonlos pronounced the Terrestrian name, "we have not been able to make very much of the materials needed for your gas, but before we made any very great amount, we tried it out on an animal, whose blood structure is the same as ours, and found it had the same effect, but that in our case the iodide of potassium is not as effective in awakening the victim as is the sorlus.
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