She rose lightly, as did the others, meeting his gaze with eyes steady
and unafraid. "Toom does not yield. Earn your victory if you can; we
are ready." A chorus of assents indicated that she spoke for all.
Aald bowed with an exaggerated gesture, swept a final lecherous glance
in her direction, then withdrew as Danuth rang a bell signaling
attendants. Once the other had gone, he sank back into the chair, his
eyes passing from one official to another. She gripped his hand.
"Do you think he can do as he claims?"
"I greatly fear so. The reports from our agents sound
incredible--almost like wizardry. A projector that casts an invisible
light, causing whomsoever it touches to die at once, as if boiling to
death. If they be true, then Toom is lost."
* * * * *
Down below, in another part of the palace, the emissaries of Nimbor
prepared to depart. Aald was whispering to one. What he said was
scarcely understood, but the smiles on the faces of both could be taken
as indicative.
"We will be waiting at the Corian Gate," said Aald in departing. The
other bowed, and beckoned to two attendants of Nimbor.
An hour passed. At the Corian Gate to the palace grounds, facing the
wide smooth road that led to Nimbor, a thousand miles away, rested a
black, torpedo-shaped two-wheeled vehicle, now balanced by temporary
legs set out from it. Painted on the door to its single cabin was the
Imperial Shield of Nimbor.
Seated within, at the controls, was a man of Nimbor's party. Occasional
puffs of smoke emitted from the rocket tubes at the rear as the ship
was being kept ready for instant use. Aald himself waited impatiently
in the road, fretting under the watchful eyes of the commonwealth
guards at the gate. Finally he caught sight of something, and addressed
the guards.
"They are my companions. Open the gate, guards, and let them through."
He seemed to stare a moment at the oncomers, then called. "What's the
matter with Eldh? Why are you carrying him?"
One of the two men approaching answered: "He slipped on a staircase and
fell, Your Highness. He is unconscious and seems to have broken his
leg. We thought it best to give temporary treatment now then bring him
back with us; it is why we were late, Your Highness."
The prince nodded approval, motioned them to hasten. As they went
through the gates, one of the Toomian guards looked down at the face of
the black-covered body and checked it off his list. The men of Nimbor
entered the rocketmobile, shut the door. A terrific roar as the vehicle
got under way, then it had vanished down the long road.
Inside the conveyance Aald bent over the unconscious figure, looked
down at the scarred masculine features of one of the soldiers who had
accompanied him. Then, with a chuckle, he put his hand on the yellow
hair and pulled. The entire face seemed to fall apart. Beneath the
extremely convincing mask was the face of Oomith, lying unconscious.
"It worked beautifully," he commented. "What of Eldh? Did he make his
escape through the merchants' entrance as planned?"
"Yes, Highness. They suspected nothing. Nor did we have any trouble in
kidnaping the _mataiya_. There were no guards by her room, and she had
succumbed before she suspected the presence of a gas-tube. They won't
know she is missing before we have arrived in the city."
Within the hour, the rocketmobile had passed the border and was in the
capital of Nimbor.
* * * * *
It was noon on the day set for attack. Aald and the commanders of the
staff awaited the emperor's coming within a small enclosure just inside
the walls of Nimbor. Outside, in the road beyond the open gate, a
rocket vehicle awaited in readiness to take them to the front. Oomith
was there as well.
"You see," drawled Aald, "we make good our boast. Very soon you will be
joined by Danuth and the other commonwealth officials as our prisoner.
You really should have married me when you had the chance; it would
have saved many lives."
Oomith stared at him frostily. "The people of Toom would never have
yielded to such filth as you, even had we betrayed them. It would have
made no difference. We of Toom have self respect and honor to a degree
that I fear is outside of your understanding."
His laugh was not pleasant. "Still prattling over your little
foolishness. Honor, respect--what are they to the destinies of nations
and dynasties? Such delusions are hardly worthy of the Oomith I might
have married."
He seized a scroll from one of the officers standing nearby, shook it
before her. "Here! Here is honor and respect. Here is such a thing as
makes greatness. These are the designs of our war machines; this is
what will teach the Toomians respect."
Without answering, Oomith snatched the paper cylinder out of Aald's
hand and darted forward. Straight toward the open gate she fled, toward
the rocketmobile outside. A wild, insane scheme of seizing this and
escaping to her own land in time possessed her.
Caught off guard, the men were already at a disadvantage; they knew
even as they raced she could not be caught before reaching the gate.
With energy born of desperation, she hurled herself forward. But, just
as she was upon it, two soldiers stepped through and dashed at her.
At this point occurred what has gone down in history as the miracle
that saved Toom. It is something for which no parallel in all history
can be found. It caused Oomith to rise from the status of a beautiful
and capable _mataiya_ to that of a goddess.
Oomith stated later what were her feelings and experiences. She saw
the two oncoming soldiers quite clearly. Her only thought then was to
dash between them. Then, there came a terrible shock. An awful jolting
as if she had been struck by a thunderbolt. The scene before her eyes
dissolved instantaneously into a featureless gray; she felt herself
seemingly detached as one might feel in the throes of delirium. For
only a few seconds the strange sensation lasted. The only thing that
she remembered seeing was the momentary impression of a single vision
hanging before her eyes.
What she saw was a man. She does not recollect how he was clad. He
seemed to be sitting on a bench. Behind him she saw distinctly a blue
wall, in nature, metallic. In the wall was an open door through which
only grayness could be seen. The face of the man was held close to
hers; he seemed to be staring at her. It was the face of a middle-aged
man, of one powerful. Two clear brown eyes looked into hers; a mass
of wavy chestnut hair surmounted the godlike brow. And the figure was
smiling.
For only the minutest fraction of a second this lasted, then the
grayness returned. Yet, in a few seconds, it, too, had cleared away.
The terrible blankness and queer feeling vanished abruptly as it had
come. She could again see about her.
The castle of Aald and the men of Nimbor apparently had dissolved.
Above her rose the sides of the palace of the Directors of Toom. And
about her were the men of Toom. For a moment, Oomith and the men stared
at one another, each mutually startled and disbelieving what they saw.
Finally one of them recovered sufficiently to speak.
"_Mataiya_ Oomith! We thought you were being held captive in Nimbor;
what do you here? How did you get here?"
She could only reply hesitatingly: "I don't know. I was at Nimbor,
trying to escape. Then everything went dark, and I found myself
standing here." She started to put a hand to her forehead, then saw she
was holding something. The scroll! Her eyes flashed.
"Quick! Summon the council. I have here the plans for the death machine
of Nimbor. Bid them hurry. We have no time to lose!"
* * * * *
Joris, military director of Toom, pounded the table with his fist.
"Damn! We know everything the enemy knows, now. We have the plans so
that we can meet them on their own terms. But they're on their way to
attack us now, and we haven't even a working model. It's all here--but
only on paper.
"We can save Toom, yes--but we cannot prevent the devastation of our
fields and towns, nor the slaughter of our helpless non-combatants. We
can only exact a vengeance and prevent a final triumph on the part of
the enemy!"
Before Danuth could speak, a man burst into the chamber, hair
disheveled, gasping for breath. On his face was an expression of
amazement and joy commingled. Twice he tried to speak and could emit
only gasps for breath. He clasped the shoulders of Joris, turned to
the others. At length speech returned to him, and he spoke slowly,
deliberately.
"The weapons of Nimbor are ours. They are here, within the walls of the
palace. I cannot tell you how they came, nor can any of the guards.
But we have all seen them, have examined their workings. We do not yet
understand their principles--"
At this point, another man burst in, equally distrait and out of
breath. "Directors!" he cried. "Toom is saved!" He fell to rapid, heavy
breathing while his eyes sought first one, then another of those
assembled. He waved his hand reassuringly as Danuth started to speak.
"No, Directors, I speak truly. I am one of the prison guards. We
suddenly heard noises from one of the unoccupied cells. Naturally, we
hurried over and looked in. Inside, we saw Aald and the Emperor of
Nimbor, with his entire staff. They don't know how they got there--I
presumed that you would not want us to release them immediately."
A roar of laughter from Joris greeted the speaker. He smote the
guard on the back with the palm of his huge hand, so that the fellow
staggered against the table.
"No, not _immediately_! We have other things to do first. But we're not
too busy to vote you the order of the commonwealth. And see if there
isn't a better position for you to fill than that of prison guard."
He turned to the others. "The enemy will be completely disorganized
and demoralized by this. I propose we move at once upon Nimbor, attack
strategic points and refrain as much as possible from such destruction
as will make miserable the lot of the Nimborian people, who are not
responsible for their degenerate rulers. I propose we make contacts
with the Nimborian commoners and urge them immediately to revolt
against what is left of the Aald-Rhankur regime, strike for their own
freedom."
* * * * *
(_And now, we must go back in time, must travel to another part of
space. We must leave Planet P, where lie Nimbor and Toom, for a return
to Earth-time. Only thus can we have a logical understanding of the
events related above._)