The Return of Sathanas | Page 3

have no effect onthe bodies of the passengers.
A 'zone of weightlessness'--neutralized gravity--exists between any two
bodies in space. These zones would be used by space ships as starting

points for all long, fast voyages.--Author.
CHAPTER II

Whence Came Sathanas?
This Arch-Angle, Sathanas, is not of the race of Nor. Being of Earth
myself, it pains me to say that his ancestors first breathed the then
untainted air of the third planet. Sathanas sprang from a vari-form
family, originating among the Angles of Earth, which we call Mu. The
Angles had originally been a blond, blue-eyed family of
normal-appearing Earthmen. Then, some time in the past, Sathanas'
bloodline had been crossed with some dark, hairy, cloven-hooved race
of space. Long before the migration which emptied most of the Sun's
planets of intelligent life, his family had taken over a dark planet--by
name, Satana--on the outer rims of the Nor Empire. In time, their
ability had won them the administration of the affairs of the planet from
the Rulers of Nor. And, from that one planet, eventually, they were
given the Rulership of all the little planets in the small system of which
Satana was the dominant world. The "Angles" and their leaders were
variously designated--a separate political group under their "Monitor
Angles--Arch-Angles--and their supreme head, their Ruler and
representative in the God Council on Nor--Elder Angle Fontal.
There were some dozen of the Arch-Angles with some dozen small
planets in their administration. One of these was the Arch-Angle
Sathanas, Ruler of the Home planet of the Angles in their group, the
planet Satana. Being the first planet that the family had settled on after
they left Mu, they had, in accordance with the customs of the God-Race,
taken the name of the planet that they ruled as their family name. The
rest of these planets were colonized with Angles from the cities of
Earth... a numerous, systemwide clan.
Sathanas' family had been well liked for a long time... and being just
and wise rulers, they, as well as the peoples under them, prospered.
And so, Sathanas had the best education that Nor could provide.

As I remember Sathanas, he was a fellow of some fifty feet in height,
dark visaged, with the horns that indicated a crossing of the blood line
with that of some Titans (which wasn't uncommon in ancient Mu) . I
had seen him first at a council meeting some centuries ago, when I first
acquired the status of a Ruler by my acquisition of the tiny planet of
Callay. It was after concluding most of the formal ceremony incidental
to the investiture of several new rulers that someone first introduced us.
I can still picture the scene as he first greeted me with the accepted
ceremony of Nor's tradition. A score of usLemurians, Titans, Atlans,
variforms and a few from planets I'd never heard of--had found the
favor of the Elders of the Council of Nor and were being made rulers of
certain planets of the Nor Empire. Not big, important planets, true... but
still, we were all pleased that we should be so honored by the Elders.
Not all became rulers as they grew older and bigger--even of small
planets and planetoids.
Finally, the long ceremonies of creating a new ruler of a provincial
planet were over and we could relax for a brief time before the
festivities began in celebration of the event. Several of us newly
invested rulers had gathered together slightly apart from the
tremendous bulk of swarming Elders--gathered in a laughing,
harmlessly excited little circle. We kept congratulating one another and
with mock solemnity addressed each other with all the titles we'd ever
heard and remembered. That was one of the best moments of my life. I
recall that I laughed, and raising my right arm in a formal Nortan salute,
had addressed a great golden-haired Titan, though he was one of us,
addressed him with as solemn a look and as impressive voice as I could
manage.
"O Mighty Zeus, Grand Lord of the Thirtieth Tender Fleet, Conqueror
of Limitless Cow Pastures, Ruler of the Lately Discovered World of
Olympia, Greetings! Grant... "
"My Lords!" At the strange sound of someone addressing us so, we
turned startled and looked up into the smiling understanding eyes of
one of the Elders of Nor--one of the younger ones. He couldn't have
been more than a few centuries older than we. For a moment we didn't

know what to say, but the Elder continued before we became
embarrassed.
"My Lords, may I present the Lord Sathanas, Arch-Angle and Ruler of
the Planet Satana?"
We returned his salute and noticed this 'Lord Sathanas' that he'd
presented. Accustomed as I am to life in all its varied forms and colors,
the dark, ominous appearance of 'Lord Sathanas'