class of vessel and each direction of traffic having its own level.
Eagerly the three men studied the craft, which ranged in size from
one-man helicopters, little more than single chairs flying about in the
air, up to tremendous multiplane freighters, capable of carrying
thousands of tons.

Flying high over the city to avoid its congested air-lanes, the fleet
descended toward an immense building just outside the city proper, and
all landed upon its roof save the flagship, which led the Skylark to a
landing-dock nearby--a massive pile of metal and stone, upon which
Nalboon and his retinue stood to welcome the guests. After Seaton had
anchored the vessel immovably by means of the attractor, the party
disembarked, Seaton remarking with a grin:

"Don't be surprised at anything I do, folks. I'm a walking storehouse of
junk of all kinds, so that if occasion arises I can put on a real
exhibition."

As they turned toward their host, a soldier, in his eagerness to see the
strangers, jostled another. Without a word two keen swords flew from
their scabbards and a duel to the death ensued. The visitors stared in
amazement, but no one else paid any attention to the combat, which was
soon over; the victor turning away from the body of his opponent and
resuming his place without creating a ripple of interest.

Nalboon led the way into an elevator, which dropped rapidly to the
ground-floor level. Massive gates were thrown open, and through ranks of
people prostrate upon their faces the party went out into the palace
grounds of the Domak, or Emperor, of the great nation of Mardonale.

Never before had Earthly eyes rested upon such scenes of splendor. Every
color and gradation of their peculiar spectrum was present, in solid,
liquid, and gas. The carefully-tended trees were all colors of the
rainbow, as were the grasses and flowers along the walks. The fountains
played streams of many and constantly-changing hues, and even the air
was tinted and perfumed, swirling through metal arches in billows of
ever-varying colors and scents. Colors and combinations of colors
impossible to describe were upon every hand, fantastically beautiful in
that peculiar, livid light. Diamonds and rubies, their colors so
distorted by the green radiance as to be almost unrecognizable; emeralds
glowing with an intense green impossible in earthly light, together with
strange gems peculiar to this strange world, sparkled and flashed from
railings, statues, an