From that time on the four did not hold any more formal discussions
of what they learned. This was due to a most extraordinary
discovery.
They found that they could keep in touch with each other while they
were "visiting"! It was a tremendous help; it enabled them to
communicate and compare notes as they went along. The doctor
declared that the Venusians themselves had not been able to do more.
Thus, when Powart called on Mona a few days after she had declined
his ring, Billie was able to tell the other three all that took
place, as fast as it happened. As usual, Powart's stay was a brief
one.
"I hope you have recovered your former self-confidence," said he,
consciously repressing the masterful note in his voice. "Not that I
am unwilling to wait, Mona."
"You are very patient," she assured him. "I am glad to say that I am
no longer troubled with any doubts of myself. Something else worries
me now."
He frowned at the implication. "What is it?" coldly.
"Frankly, it is your record." She knew she was jarring him terribly,
but she went on with evident relish, "You are the most important man
in the world. Odd, isn't it, that I should find fault with that? But
it is a serious objection. You are still a very young man; you have
become one of the commission; for a year, you are its head. The
point is, what's before you?" She paused to let this take effect.
"You've already accomplished all that any man can possible
accomplish in the political field. You haven't any future!"
Powart grasped the thought with his usual instant decision. "I
understand. You are right, too. I had not thought of it before." A
slight pause. "You fear that you may come to tire of me; is that
it?"
She nodded emphatically. "If you had asked me a few years ago,
before you had reached the top--it would have been different."
He remained standing, frowning hard. Presently he glanced at his
watch, and said he would have to be going.
"I will see what can be done about it," he stated. "I have a plan
which should get results."
"Are you going to take up a hobby?" eagerly.
"Not a new one; but a hobby I have always had." And with this
enigmatic reply he was off.
Van Emmon kept track of his further movements, and reported
everything to the other three. Powart had not been in flight long
before he sent off a wireless despatch, to which he received a most
extraordinary reply. It was from the expedition which he had sent to
Alma a week before:
People of Alma give us warm welcome. Invite us to stay. We propose
to do so. The planet infinitely preferable to either Hafen or Holl.
Accept our resignations or not, as you please, and be damned to you!
Powart made no comment upon this, which he read in privacy after
carefully decoding it. Van Emmon had no idea what he was thinking,
of course, but wondered mightily how the chairman was going to deal
with the situation. He could scarcely read that aerogram to the
commission. For some time he paced the cabin of his yacht, and at
the end he behaved like a man whose mind had been pretty strongly
made up.
The commission met, it seems, in a central part of Hafen. Powart
reached the place some hours after leaving Mona. He arrived to find
the other nine members waiting for him; and without the least delay
he took his place at the head of the table.
"We will postpone the usual routine until the next session if you
like," said he. There was no objection; whereupon Powart produced a
message from his pocket.
"You will recall the expedition to Alma. I have just received their
first report since reaching the planet." And then, to the vast
amazement of the people on the earth, he read--not what Van Emmon
had seen him receive, but this, in his strong, matter-of-fact voice:
"People of Alma facing starvation, due to overpopulation and
land-exhaustion. Have disabled our boat and will not permit us to
return, although allowing us to use wireless, which they do not
understand.
"They are constructing a fleet of huge space-boats, all heavily
armed, intending to cross over to Hafen and Holl, and conquer the
Capellans."
Powart glanced keenly around the table. "This is all that has been
received. Evidently our men were prevented from sending any more. I
expect nothing further. It remains for us to decide, at once, what
we should do."
The silence of the next few minutes was largely due to
consternation. To most of the commissioners the problem was
staggering. They looked up in eager relief as the shock-headed man
broke the silence.
"It seems to me that war is not inevitable. Apparently the thing
that Alma needs is food. We still have a good deal of underdeveloped
land on Holl; why not make a bargain with them?"
"You mean present them with enough land to raise the food they
need?" from the former chairman.
"Yes, in exchange for whatever manufactured goods they can supply,
and which we need. I see no reason for an invasion."
Powart coughed slightly. "I do. We must not think that Alma is the
same sort of a world as ours. It is a much older planet, and
somewhat smaller. Yet it is more than eight times as densely
populated as Holl. What land we could spare would be only a fraction
of what they need. They intend not merely to invade and conquer us,
but to destroy us just as we destroyed the Ammians!" [Footnote:
Doubtless referring to some aboriginal tribe or race, such as the
Indians of America.]
The nine sat for an instant in stunned silence at this amazing
fabrication. Then the big man with the aggressive face leaped to his
feet, brought his fist down upon the table with a thump, and
shouted:
"Well, then, if it's war, it's war!"
"Aye!" cried Powart's uncle; and in a flash the whole council was on
its feet. "War be it!" they shouted.
In another moment the excitement had abated as suddenly as it had
arisen. They got back into their seats, looking slightly abashed.
Powart still remained standing.
"Then the only question is, shall we make preparations at once, or
wait until we have thought the matter over further?" His tone was
one of scientific indifference; and the discussion of the next few
minutes was all in favor of his scheme. It ended in a motion to
resolve the commission into a ways and means committee for the
purpose of common defense.
"Second the motion!" cried the aggressive man; and the response was
unanimous. Powart directed that a memorandum be made of the vote;
then pressed one of a row of pushbuttons at his hand. An attendant
immediately entered.
"Bring File 6, Folio 1,164, Sheet 10," ordered Powart with his usual
decisive exactness. The attendant disappeared, and in less than a
minute returned with a large sheet of parchment. Powart immediately
located the passage he desired.
"The action you have just taken," he stated, "amounts to a
declaration that a state of war exists. Under such circumstances,
the law explicitly states the function of the chair. Read!" and he
handed the parchment to the nearest commissioner. Within ten minutes
the law had been read by every man present. Powart instantly
continued with his statement:
"This commission is hereby automatically converted into a general
staff, with myself, the chairman, as supreme commander. Your
functions, while this state of war endures, will consist partly in
proposing what steps I shall take, partly, in advising me regarding
my decisions, and partly in carrying out whatever orders I may
give."
He pressed another button, and when the attendant responded, Powart
made a signal with his hand. The attendant turned on his heel,
saluting, faced the door he had left open behind him, and ordered:
"In single file--march!"
A company of guards trooped straight into the hall, and formed a
hollow square about the table. The nine men stared at Powart in
astonishment and perplexity. He did not keep them waiting.
"Pursuant to the authority vested in me by these acts, I hereby
declare that a state of war exists between us and the people of
Alma. I also declare the International Commission dissolved as such;
the same is now my general staff, and will remain where it now
is--indefinitely!"
The nine looked at each other blankly. Were they under arrest?
"And further, I hereby declare that martial law now exists
throughout all the domain formerly under the rule of the commission!
Until peace is declared, my word"--he paused ominously--"is the sole
and only lawl"