ey are talking about the gun ... and the
bombardment ... planning...."

More silent concentration. Then:

"The inland of Bergo," she said, "--remember that! The gun is there ...
a great bore in the earth ... solid rock ... but the casing of
titanite must be reinforced ... and bands shrunk about the muzzle that
projects ... heavy bands ... it shows signs of distortion--the
heat!..."

She was listening to the thoughts, and selecting those that bore upon
gun.

"... Only fifty days ... the bombardment must begin ... Tahnor has
provided a hundred shells; two thousand tals of the green gas-powder
in each one ... the explosive charges ready ... yes--yes!..."

"Oh!" she exclaimed and opened her troubled eyes. "The beast is so
complacent, so sure! And the bombardment will begin in fifty days!
Will it really cause them anguish on your Earth, Tommy?"

"Just plain hell; that's all!"

McGuire's voice was low; his mind was reaching out to find and reject
one plan after another. The gun!... He must disable it; he could do
that much at least. For himself--well, what of it?--he would die, of
course.

The guard he had been taught to place about his own thoughts must have
relaxed, for Althora cried out in distress.

"No--no!" she protested; "you shall not! I have tried to help you,
Tommy dear--say that I have helped you!--but, oh, my beloved, do not
go. Do not risk your life to silence this one weapon. They would still
have their ships. Remember what Djorn has told of their mighty fleets,
their thousands of fighting men. You cannot stop them; you can hardly
hinder them. And you would throw away your life! Oh, please do not
go!"

McGuire was seated beside her. His face was hidden in one hand while
the other was held tight between the white palms of Althora's tense
hands. He said nothing, and he shielded his eyes and locked his mind
against her thought force.

"Tommy," said Althora, and now her voice was all love and softness,
"Tommy, my dear one! You will not go, for what can you do? And if you
stay--oh, my dear!--you can have what you will--the secret of life
shall be yours--to live forever in perpetual youth. You may have that.
And me, Tommy.... Would you throw your life away in a hopeless
attempt, when life might hold so much? Am I offering so little,
Tommy?"

And still the silence and the hand that kept the eyes from meeting
hers; then a long-drawn breath and a slim figure in khaki that stood
unconsciously erect to lo