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"Enough of this. We cannot dare not talk in here. Father, come " We went out into the corridor again, across which was the small room insulated from all aerial vibrations. In the corridor a figure was standing the one other member of the Brende household the maid-servant, a girl about Elza's age. I knew her well, of course, but this evening I had forgotten her existence.
Tarrano's note was indeed, complete defiance. He would not yield up the Brende light. Nor would he deliver himself in Washington for trial. In the suave, courteous language of diplomacy, he deplored the unreasonable attitude of the Earth leaders. Ironically, he suggested that they declare war. He would be overwhelmed in Venia, of course.
As they came out, with Maida all unsuspecting, from the shadows a group of men pounced upon them dragged Maida away. Tarrano laughed. "Enough!... Show me Georg Brende again.... Hurry!" We saw Georg waver and leap through the window, fall into the snow, where, from the shadows of the building, other men rushed out upon him ... hurried him away after the captive Maida....
But Georg Brende was a silly, conceited young man, flattered by his prominence in the public eye, his head turned by his own importance. Dr. Brende had been a genius. The son was a mere upstart, pretending to a scientific knowledge he did not have. "Trickery!" exclaimed Georg. "But he knows the people may believe it. Some of them undoubtedly will." "And you cannot thwart your public," Maida said.
It must have been nearly nine o'clock when a personal message came for me. Not through the ordinary open airways, but in the National Length, and coded. It came to my desk by official messenger, decoded, printed and sealed. Jac Hallen, Inter-Allied News. Come to me, North-east Island at once, if they can spare you. Important. Answer. Dr. Brende.
Tarrano whispered: "You see, Lady Elza? The orange spots! These men of medicine here have used the Brende secret to its full. Immune from disease!" "Let us treat you, Master. This immortality " On Cretar's face was a triumphant smile, but in his eyes lay a terror. The man who had not been treated stood against the wall watching with interest and curiosity. But the others!
He shall live if you wish it live close by you and me as an insect might live on a twig by the rim of the eagle's nest.... Enough!... I was asking you, Georg Brende, of this ultimatum. Should I yield to it?" He had suppressed his other emotions; he was amusing himself with us again. "Yes," said Georg. "But I have already refused today in the garden. Would you have me change?
But his heavy jacket was open, disclosing a ruffled white shirt, with a low black stock about his throat. A shifty-eyed fellow, this Argo. Smooth-shaven, with a mouth slack-lipped, and small black eyes. But his features were finely chiseled; and with that bronze cast to his skin, I guessed that he was from the Venus Central State. He seemed much perturbed that Dr. Brende was dead.
"And what about these murders?" "Done by emissaries of Tarrano, no doubt. For revenge, because of the Martian and Earth legislation or for " "I think we should not speculate too much," said Georg. "At least, not on that line. They warned you personally, father. We were so careful to keep everything secret " Dr. Brende mopped his forehead.
"If we could get to Washington if I could be there now in this crisis with my knowledge of the Brende light " Far above our personal safety, our lives, lay the importance of Georg's knowledge. With the Brende secret through him in the hands of the Earth Council, Tarrano's greatest lever to power would be broken. Our Earth public would sway back to patriotic loyalty.
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