Sull, wearing the resplendent garments which only a Chief Coordinator
new to his high station and completely sure of himself would have
dared to flaunt in the face of envious subordinates, stepped into the
compartment where Loring and Janice stood waiting and slightly inclined
his head.
"We are taking you both back to Earth," he said. "You have convinced
me that you have a strong bargaining point. Five of our ships made
the very stupid mistake of flying in mass formation within range of
an air-alerted missile and bombing plane base in the Eastern United
States. Three of the ships have been destroyed and eight hundred
Martians have been taken captive. Our only desire now is to depart from
Earth as quickly as possible and never return.
"But, as I have said, eight hundred Martians have been taken captive.
We should like to see them released and returned to us. We should also
like to have a man like yourself plead our cause with the men and
women who are in a position to make decisions on Earth, and institute
measures which will give us at least a reasonable assurance that those
decisions will be carried out and remain binding."
Loring nodded and looked Sull straight in the eye. "We would be fools
to trust you to keep any pledge," he said. "But if you withdraw
your ships we will have won at least a temporary victory. When you
return--and you will, with another dangerous plan--you may find that
our resistance may still be more than you had bargained for.
"There is one supreme glory in life which men do not hold lightly.
That glory is unknown to you. You will never understand it. It turns
night into day for us and transforms every aspect of reality. If men
and women could not love, they would be as crippled as Martians in body
and mind, for what you call love is a hollow mockery. A surrender to
passion is only the beginning. It must grow and brighten until it fills
the world with its creative splendor."