Finally they led me away in short bounds to a building and up a ramp to a room. There they thrust me and closed the door.
The room was large, partly open to an interior patio. But it had another inhabitant. A girl!
She was standing by the open semi-balcony staring into the courtyard. When I exclaimed, she turned sharply and looked at me.
She was dressed surprisingly like an earth girl, she looked very much like the earth type. I congratulated myself on having picked for my empire a planet which held a race so similar to my own. But my hopes were dashed two seconds later when she opened her mouth and said in perfect English:
"Hello, stranger, how'd you get to Midplanet so soon?"
I recovered my composure and introduced myself modestly, not telling her of the position I had taken upon myself. "And who are you?" I asked.
"Oh, I'm Nadia Landor and I came with the Official I. U. Expedition. Our ship is about thirty miles away and I came here on a geological survey in a single-seater flier. I stopped to say hello but our hosts don't seem to know the meaning of the word."
"Oh," I said and fell silent. What was I to say? I had been so certain that I could get to Midplanet first and now it seemed that the Union had beaten me out again. Then, I squared my shoulders. This was no way for Ajax Calkins, Emperor of at least half Midplanet, to act. My destiny would see me through.
"You need have no fear," I said. "I will find a way for us to escape."
She looked at me oddly and smiled. "Oh, that? That's all settled. We'll escape immediately if you want to. I've fixed things with our buggy friend."