hy, yes," Blaine stammered, looking deep into the earnest eyes
of Tiedus. "You--you know of the fate of Tiedor?"

"I do." The young Rulan fell silent; then shook his head as if to clear
it of unwelcome thoughts. "There are but few of us left, oh Earth man,"
he said then, "and all expect a like fate sooner or later. But that is
beside the point. We have important work to do: work that brooks no
delay. We leave now for the Tritu Anu, with your consent."

Tom Farley was examining the machinery of the car with interest. "This
one of the monorail cars?" he inquired, when Dantus had seated himself
at the controls.

"Indeed not. The Llotta do not even know of the existence of this
vehicle. We could not get right of way on the rails, so this gravity
car was developed in secrecy. It is provided with variable repulsion
energies that can be adjusted to keep it at a fixed distance from the
inner surface of the copper shell. Thus it misses cross beams and
braces. It is drawn forward by similar energies, or more exactly, by
the component of a number of attracting forces. We do not display
lights, so are thus comparatively safe from discovery. They'll catch us
sooner or later, though, of course." Dantus indulged in a fatalistic
shrug of his shoulders as he concluded.

* * * * *

At his manipulation of a number of tiny levers that were set into the
control panels like the stops of an organ, the car lurched forward.
Silently, swiftly, they sped on through the gloom under the great
copper shell.

Through the viewing glass of a periscope arrangement that let no
betraying light escape to the outside, they watched the endless lines
of illuminating globes slip by beneath them. Weirdly vast and shadowy
in the upper reaches, the latticed supporting columns on either side
merged into continuous semi-transparent walls as the car gathered
speed.

The city of Ilen-dar was left far behind. Patches of jungle flashed by;
other cities. And always the endless rows of blue-white lights. There
was neither night nor day in the sealed-in world; only the artificial
suns that never set. Continuous subjection to the ultra-violet and
visible rays of the vast lighting system was necessary to the growth
and reproduction of the plant life that was so essential in keeping the
atmosphere breathable.

Tommy had forgotten everything save his interest in the mechanism of
the car. He and Dantus were fast friends alread