ance that the extra
pressure would scarcely inconvenience him. King tore off his helmet,
issued a brief order, and soon every speaker in the _Arcturus_
announced:

"All passengers and all members of the crew except lookouts on duty will
assemble immediately in Saloon Three to discuss a possible immediate
rescue."

The subject being one of paramount interest, it was a matter of minutes
until the full complement of two hundred men and women were in the main
saloon, clinging to hastily rigged hand lines, closely packed before the
raised platform upon which were King and Czuv, wired together with the
peculiar Callistonian harness. To most of the passengers, familiar with
the humanity of three planets, the appearance of the stranger brought
no surprise; but many of them stared in undisguised amazement at his
childish body, his pale, almost colorless skin, his small, weak legs and
arms, and his massive head.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Captain King opened the meeting. "I introduce to
you Captain Czuv, of the scout cruiser _Bzarvk_, of the only human race
now living upon the fourth large satellite of Jupiter, which satellite
we know as Callisto. I am avoiding their own names as much as possible,
because they are almost unpronounceable in English or Interplanetarian.
This device that you see connecting us is a Callistonian thought
transformer, by means of which any two intelligent beings can converse
without language. Our situation is peculiar, and in order that you may
understand fully what lies ahead of us, the captain will now speak to
you, through me--that is, what follows will be spoken by Captain Czuv,
of the _Bzarvk_, but he will be using my vocal organs."

"Friends from distant Tellus," King's voice went on, almost without a
break, "I greet you. I am glad, for your sake as well as our own, that
your vessel was able to destroy the hexan ship holding you captive, and
whose crew would have killed you all as soon as they had landed your
vessel and had read your minds. I regret bitterly that we can do so
little for you, for only the representatives of a human civilization
being exterminated by a race of highly intelligent monsters can fully
realize how desirable it is for all the various races of humanity to
assist and support each other. In order that you may understand the
situation, it is necessary that I delve at some length into ancient
history, but we have ample time. In about ..." he broke off, realizing
that the tw