Ga-Marr stook his head. "I do not understand the science of it myself. It is something in the black metal. It is an electon-stripped element, I believe, tremendously heavy and impregnable to any weapon of cosmic warfare."
They reached the last doorway and entered the royal quarters. The Emperor and his son sat down before a circular table and motioned Standish to a chair opposite. The older man removed his helmet and closed his eyes as if in weariness.
"Earthman," he said at length, "you come at a time when my planet is sorely in need of help. I don't know how much my son has told you, but if you will listen I will tell you the history of Lyra. But first I have something to show you."
He touched a button on the table, and a chime sounded melodiously in the outer corridor. A servant appeared in the doorway.
"Tell Thalia I would see her at once," the Emperor said.
A moment later light steps sounded and Standish looked up curiously. What he saw brought him out of his chair with a cry of pleasure and amazement.
The figure of a girl—an Earth girl of his own race stood there on the threshold.
VI
For a full moment as their eyes met, man and girl stared speechless. To Standish, who a few short weeks ago had thought himself cut off forever from his people, she was a vision of loveliness. Her hair was dark, and her face was a delicate one of natural beauty.