Tarrano the Conqueror | Page 6

like that; and it was a
relief when Elza arrived with my dainty little meal.
"Any word from Mars, Elza?" her father asked.
She sat down beside me, helping me to the food.

"I did not look," she answered.
She did not look, because she was busy preparing my meal! Dear little
Elza! And because of my accursed extravagance--my poverty--no word
of love had ever passed between us!
I thought I had never seen Elza so beautiful as this moment. A slim
little thing, perfectly formed and matured, and inches shorter than I.
Thick brown hair braided, and hanging below her waist. A face--pretty
as her mother's must have been--yet intellectual as her father's.
I had taken Elza to the great music festivals of the city, and counted her
the best dressed girl in all the vast throng. Tonight she was dressed
simply. A grey-blue, tubular sort of skirt, clinging close to the lines of
her figure and split at the side for walking; a tight-fitting bodice, light
in color (a man knows little of the technicalities of such things); throat
bare, with a flaring rolled collar behind--a throat like a rose-petal with
the moonlight on it; arms bare, save for the upper, triangular sleeves.
It must suffice; I can only say she was adorable. Almost in silence I ate
my meal, with her beside me.
Georg went into the house once, to consult the news-tape. It was
crowded with Earth events--excitement, confusion
everywhere--inconsequential reports, they seemed, by comparison with
what had gone before. But of helios from Mars, or Venus, there were
none reported. Of Venus, the tape said nothing save that each of our
westward stations was vainly calling in turn, as the planet dropped
toward its horizon.
I finished my meal--too leisurely for Georg and the doctor; and then we
all went into the house, to the insulated room where at last we could
talk openly.
As we entered the main corridor, we heard the low voice of the
Inter-Allied news-announcer, coming from the disc in a room nearby.
"And Venus----"

The words caught our attention. We hurried in, and stood by the
Inter-Allied equipment. Georg picked up the pile of tape whereon the
announcer's words were being printed. He ran back over it.
"Another helio from Venus!" he exclaimed. "Ten minutes ago."
And then I saw his lips go tight together. He made no move to hide the
tape from Elza, but she was beside him and already reading it. Her
fingers switched off the announcer's droning voice.
"Pacific Coastal Station," Elza read. In the sudden silence of the room
her voice was low, clear, and steady, though her hands were trembling.
"P.C.S. 10.42 Venus helio. 'Defeat! Beware Tarrano! Notify your Dr.
Brende in Eurasia, danger.'"
We men stared at each other. But Elza went on reading.
"P.C.S. 10.44 Venus helio. 'Lost! No more! Smashing apparatus!' The
Venus sending station went dark at 10.44.30. Hawaiian station will call
later, but have little hope of re-establishing connection. Tokyohama
10.46 Official, via Potomac National Headquarters. Excitement here
continues. Levels crowded----"
Elza dropped the tape. "That's all of importance. Venus Central Station
warning you, father."
A buzz across the room called the doctor to his personal receiver. It
was a message in code from Potomac National Headquarters. We
watched the queer-looking characters printing on the tape. Very softly,
in a voice hardly above a whisper, Georg decoded it.
"Dr. Brende, see P.C.S. 10.42, warning you, probably of Venus
immigrants now here. Do you need guard? Or will you come to
Washington at once for personal safety?"
"Father!" cried Elza.
Georg burst out. "Enough of this. We cannot--dare not talk in here.

Father, come----"
We went out into the corridor again, across which was the small room
insulated from all aerial vibrations. In the corridor a figure was
standing--the one other member of the Brende household--the
maid-servant, a girl about Elza's age. I knew her well, of course, but
this evening I had forgotten her existence. She was standing in the
corridor. Did I imagine it, or had she been gazing up at the mechanism
ten feet above the floor--the mechanism controlling the insulated room?
"You wish me, Miss Elza? I thought I heard you call."
"No, Ahla, not 'til later."
With a gesture of respect, the girl withdrew, passing from our sight
down the incline which led to the lower part of the house.
It was a very small incident, but in view of what was transpiring, it
gave me a shock nevertheless.
For Elza's maid was a Venus girl!
CHAPTER III
Spy in the House
The insulated room was small, with a dome-shaped ceiling, no
windows, and but one small, heavy door through which we entered,
closing it carefully behind us.
"At last," Dr. Brende exclaimed. "Now we can talk freely."