* * * * *
Kari nodded. "I know. I know the legends, anyway. About John Starr and
Lorna. The great rebels who first defied the Aesir when the tyranny
began. But they may have been only legendary figures. Even if they were
real--they failed."
"Yes, they failed. And they're a thousand years dead. But it shows
something--to me at least. Man wasn't meant to be a slave to these
monsters. Rebellion--"
Kari watched him. Stuart's eyes were shadowed.
"John Starr and Lorna," he whispered. "I wonder what their world was
like, a thousand years ago? We've got all the worlds now, all the
planets of the System from Jupiter to the smallest asteroid. But we
don't rule them, as men owned their own Earth in those days. We're
slaves to the Aesir."
"The Aesir are--are gods."
"John Starr didn't think so," Stuart said. "Neither do I. And at worst
I can always die, as he did. Listen, Kari." He gripped her arms.
"Think. You've lived here for a while. Is there any weapon against
those devils?"