A thick glassine door slid noiselessly apart as Jonathan and the
Neeoornian neared it. They passed into cool halls of veined green
marble lighted so brilliantly that Jonathan remarked it.
"Filaments of glass containing electrified carbon dioxide gases exuded
by specially reared plants. Carbon dioxide emits a light much like
ordinary daylight. We have perfected that until our inner and outer
light is the same."
A rounded chamber whose cool blue walls reflected heat and absorbed
moisture contained chairs and tables so similar to Earth products that
Jonathan started.
"They look like a futurist's dream, but they're remarkably like our
own," he acknowledged.
"This is the Court of Counsellors for bipeds. The other courts are
different, naturally, being suited to the individual needs of the
various visitors Neeoorna plays host to. Were you or a Zarathzan to
enter some of them, you would die instantly from cold and deadly gases,
or terrific heat. That is, unless you were forewarned as to what to
expect."
Jonathan puzzled over that for a moment. No amount of foreknowledge
made deadly cold any hotter, nor did it turn noxious fumes into pure
air. He shrugged. He must be tired, after all. Maybe a rest was what he
needed.
The reptile gestured Jonathan to a glassine couch covered with the
spotted fur of some jungle beast. It looked soft. It invited him,
dumbly. Jonathan dropped on it and stretched out his legs.
"Neeoornians call me Shar Bytu," said the reptile, gazing down at
him. "If you need aught, mention my name. Tell them you are the
representative of Earth."
Jonathan knew his eyelids were blotting out sight of the great lizard.
He tried to mumble thanks, but a gentle torpor crept about him,
embracing his brain, his tired, tired brain. He was _so_ tired....
A soft hand on his forearm awakened him; brought him up sharply,
alarmed, like a panther.
The girl who bent above him drew back in alarm, her violet eyes wide,
thin nostrils flared, a cry hovering on her wet red mouth. She looked
at Jonathan again and read the swift admiration in his eyes, and smiled.
"You frightened me," she accused softly, her lips undecided between a
pout and a smile. "You are so big, so strong--like a dappled claw-thing
of my native Zarathza."
So this was a Zarathzan. Jonathan found her good to look at. Her
skin was a pale lavender, so delicately flushed that it seemed some
strange, rare satin. Her hair was black, and coiled in coronas about
her intelligent, shapely head. Her deeply glowing eyes were bright with
laughter, and Jonathan thought her mouth would be perfect for kisses.
"We are not fighters, we Zarathzans. At least with our bodies, like you
Earthlings," she said, looking at him sidewise. "It has been long since
our kind were--beasts."
Jonathan grinned hugely.
"It's been a long time since a girl called me that. Must be something
about me."
"Oh," whispered the girl hurriedly, putting a soft hand to his arm, "I
do not mean to offend. Sometimes I admire the--beasts."
Well, he was getting on. He was keenly aware of her warm hand on his
forearm. The girl felt his thought; flushed a little and stood up.
"Shar Bytu sent me to you," she informed him.
"My thanks to Shar Bytu," replied Jonathan, throwing aside the fur and
rising. Someone had clothed him while he slept. He wore thin trousers
that clung to his ankles and bellied outward as they went up. A broad
leathern belt fitted snugly around his waist. His great chest was
naked. Fur sandals protected his feet.
The girl was likewise clad, with bare midriff and a halter of white fur
about her breasts.
"This is the universal garb for counsellors of our make," the girl
said. "Others wear different clothes. Still others wear none, having
no sex."
"I'm Jonathan Morgan. Do Zarathzans--er--have any names?"
"Silly. Of course. I'm Adatha Za."
Jonathan grinned and said, "Glad to know you. And now that
introductions are over, suppose you let me in on the big secret around
here. Just what am I doing on Neeoorna?"
* * * * *
Adatha Za was startled.
"You do not know? Didn't Shar Bytu tell--but perhaps he left that to
me, seeing that I am not a--reptile."
Jonathan looked her over and laughed, "I'm mighty glad you're not," and
he noticed that Adatha Za--whose civilization was eons beyond that of
Earth--looked pleased.
They walked toward a balcony overlooking a bed of scarlet flowers
patterned between strips of green grass. Great lights beamed into the
blackness of the Neeoornian night from high on the parapets, lighting
the scene before them. And high in the heavens, black and moving
against the blue of the starry sky, strange shadows chased one another
between the stars.
Adatha Za lifted a bare arm and pointed to that great blotch in the
heavens. Her arm trembled against Jonathan even as she pointed, and he
read stark fear in her eyes and in the drooping corners of her scarlet
mouth.
"You see those black flames? No one knows what they are. They kill us,
one by one, when we attempt to fight them. They are growing. Already
they have eaten one of the moons of this planet. Soon they will reach
Neeoorna itself--indeed, they are past the fringe of the heavenside.
And after Neeoorna they will eat the twin suns, and other suns and
other planets. Zarathza and Earth, too. There will be nothing beyond
the black flames, Earthling. It will eat our entire universe!"
Jonathan was aware that his spine tingled, looking up. He felt deep
inside him, the _alienness_ of those dancing darknesses. They were not
of the known universe. They came from somewhere outside, from another
world. So different from Earth that their mere presence spelled doom
for anything normal to his world. Unhidden, they had emerged from some
deeper space, and were voyaging across his, advancing inexorably, like
flames of fire lapping across thin paper.
The girl's bare shoulder pressed his, trembling.
"I'm frightened, Earthman," she whispered. "When I think of Zarathza in
the path of that--those blights from hell, I--oh, I don't know how to
say it!"
"Yes," he answered soberly. "It isn't nice to think of Earth waiting
her turn, either. Not knowing. Happy until realization comes--"
Earth! It was so far away, so secure and homey. Unaware of this
danger growing millions of light years from it, a danger threatening
extinction to men and the pursuits of men, eating like a living monster
into the suns and planets. Jonathan put an arm around the girl; held
her against him. Lonely, they stood together, awed.
The girl lifted her head and smiled tremulously. She tossed her head
and her hair brushed her shoulders.
"Let's forget them," she brightened. "I succeed pretty well. It's
just--at times--that I feel low down."
"I feel low myself. Don't anyone know anything about them? Can't
somebody think of something?"
Adatha Za leaned back against the marble rail of the balcony and
looked at him and said, "You are big and strong. What would you do to
something that was threatening you?"
"I'd fight," he grunted.
"We fight, too. But our opponent always wins. And when we fight, we
always die."
Adatha Za sighed. Looking down at her, seeing the sweetly curved mouth
that not quite pouted and the straight thin nostrils and deep, dark
eyes fringed with long lashes, Jonathan realized she was a rarely
beautiful girl. He felt suddenly as though he had been jabbed sharply
under the ribs.
"Seeing you makes me want to fight something," he grinned, laughing a
little. "Funny, I haven't felt like this since I was in high school.
It's like the little boy who turns somersaults before the pretty little
girl who's just moved next door. I guess I never noticed the little
girl before."
Adatha Za looked at him, her dark eyes alight; but her thin brows
raised, faintly questioning.
"Some-somersaults? What is that?"
"Oh, just a way of showing off. Putting your head down and--here, I'll
show you."
He dropped to the tiled flooring of the balcony and tumbled. Halfway
over, he found himself looking upside-down at a tall figure who glared
down at him incredulously. Jonathan flushed hotly and landed hard.
He sat there and felt foolish.
Adatha Za started up, catching her breath in her throat.
Jonathan drew a deep breath. There was a strange malignancy in the eyes
of this man who stood in the arched entranceway and looked down at
him. Malignancy and contempt, and his thin lips sneered with the livid
disdain that moved him.
"You're just asking for trouble, mac," he said quietly, getting to his
feet. "I'm not used to being looked at like that."
The man stood straight and haughty, but his eyes blazed. Jonathan felt
as though he had been spat at. He started forward; felt Adatha Za's
hand on his arm, squeezing him hard.
"This is Morka Kar, Jonathan. He is from Zarathza. This is the
Earthling, Jonathan Morgan."
The Zarathzan did not incline his head. He flashed an irritated look at
Adatha Za, then looked back at Jonathan.
"The guests of Shar Bytu have gathered to meet the barbarian," he
snapped. "He sent me to see if he were awake. I see he is. Be good
enough to show him the Temple, Adatha Za."
He swung on his heel and walked away. Jonathan quivered and took a step
after him, but the girl beside him tugged on his arm, saying, "It is
always his way. He is abrupt, and so self-controlled that anything like
gaiety annoys him."
Jonathan grunted. His lips that had been hard, slowly softened.
"That baby was just begging for a left hook," he growled. "And
something tells me he'll get it, too."
"Morka Kar is a great scientist. I came in his retinue from Zarathza,
to help fight the flames."
"I still don't like him!" Jonathan drew a deep breath and asked,
"He--he isn't your husband? Mate, I mean. Or--your fiance?"
Adatha Za laughed.
"You use quaint expressions. But I follow your thoughts. No, he is not
my husband, nor my engaged. But he _does_ want me. You see, on Zarathza
I am _tapu_. Sworn to science research, forbidden to wed a Zarathzan."
Jonathan reflected on that for a moment. He glanced sidewise at her and
grinned, "What about an--Earthman?"
Adatha Za pinched his arm and laughed, "Strictly, there's nothing
against it. Zarathza never even heard of Earth until recently!"