It was done. On that fantastic little world anything seemed possible. If the proper specifications and details were had, it seemed, anything might be wished for—and acquired.
At last everything was ready. Thettumir called Kasthel to his cabin. "Kasthel, we have now to make an important decision. We have the mightiest battle fleet in the history of Urgoll—in the history of any world, for that matter. Shall we continue on to Urgoll, or return to the Solarian System? I move that we return to the Solarian System. The Errthmen, though victorious, have been greatly weakened. They have not had time to recover, and with our present strength conquering them will be easy."
"I agree," Kasthel said. He grinned craftily. "The Executive Council will not run away, eh?"
Thettumir nodded his crest. "It will be there when we are ready for it. This is just the beginning, Kasthel. There are other inhabited worlds—and we will find them. With this planet to aid us in materializing ships and weapons, we can conquer the entire Universe!"
Many toasts of fiery glath were drunk to the decisions. Thettumir and Kasthel became quite drunk—and whether from glath or power, it was hard to tell.
The fleet began the long voyage back to the Solarian System. The crews were drilled repeatedly until they functioned as perfectly co-ordinated units. The old, now obsolete ships had been left behind and the Urgollians, both real and duplicate needed a shake-down cruise in their mighty new ships.
For Thettumir, however, there was little to do except to drink glath—which he did copiously and with relish. Each ship-day he impatiently counted off the miles which brought them closer to Errth.
Vandumonn finally made the long-awaited announcement that the Solarian System was in sight. Thettumir hurried to the control room, where he peered eagerly into the telescopic scanner. There was the familiar yellow sun, magnified to a tiny disc, though they were still far away. And by straining intently, Thettumir could discern two of its nine planets.
Elation filled him at the thought of his coming triumph. Already he was envisioning himself as master of Errth.
Closer and closer, ship-day by ship-day, hour by hour, the yellow sun became a fiery star, visible to the naked eye.