or as there were on all Earthly
and Venerian structures. Even the lines were grimly utilitarian; there
seemed to be no decoration.

Through the great bronze door they walked, and across a small vestibule.
Then they were in a mighty concourse, a giant hallway that went
completely through the structure. All around them great granite pillars
rose to support the mighty building above. Square cut, they lent but
little grace to the huge room, but the floor and walls were made of a
hard, light green stone, almost the same color as foliage.

On one wall there was a giant tablet, a great plaque fifteen feet high,
made of a deep violet stone, and inlaid with a series of characters in
the language of this world. Like English letters, they seemed to read
horizontally, but whether they read from left to right or right to left
there was no way of knowing. The letters themselves were made of some
red metal which Arcot and Morey didn't recognize.

Arcot turned to Torlos and projected a thought: "What is that tablet?"

"Ever since the beginning of the war with the other planet, Nansal, the
names of our mighty leaders have been inscribed on that plaque in the
rarest metal."

The term "rarest metal" was definite to Torlos, and Arcot decided to
question him further on the meaning of it when time permitted.

They crossed the great hall and came to what was evidently an elevator.
The door slid open, and the two Earthmen followed Torlos and his
lieutenant into the cubicle. Torlos pushed a small button. The door slid
shut, and a moment later, Arcot and Morey staggered under the sudden
terrific load as the car shot upward under an acceleration of at least
three gravities!

It continued just long enough for the Earthmen to get used to it, then
it snapped off, and they went flying up toward the ceiling as it
continued upward under its own momentum. It slowed under the influence
of the planet's gravitation and came to a stop exactly opposite the
doorway of a higher floor.

"Wow! Some elevator!" exclaimed Morey as he stepped out, flexing his
knees as he tried to readjust himself. "That's what I call a violent way
of getting upstairs! It wasn't designed by a lazy man or a cripple! I
prefer to walk, thanks! What I want to know is how the old people get
upstairs. Or do they die young from using their elevators?"

"No," mused Arcot. "That's the funny thing. They don't seem to be
bothered by the acceleration. They actually jumped a little off