"Our warriors might not follow you to a direct attack on Vruun. They're still afraid of Kree."
"For heaven's sake, why?" demanded Nick Sloan disgustedly.
Shan Kar explained. "The Guardian of the Brotherhood, as I told you, is reputed to be warder of terrible powers left by the ancients in the Cavern of Creation. That's mostly myth put out by the Guardians during the ages, of course!"
The Humanite paused. "Yet the Guardian does have a few queer powers. He's known to have effected some terrible transformations, to punish those who transgressed the Brotherhood. That's left such a memory of horror in L'Lan that even our own fervent followers might hesitate to attack Kree's city directly."
Nelson exploded. "How can we lead a campaign for you when your own people are poisoned by superstition?"
"Let's pull out of this creepy place," snarled the Cockney.
"Take it easy, you two!" said Nick Sloan. "With a fortune here for the taking, we're not letting a few difficulties rob us of it."
Shan Kar interrupted. "There's one quick way to overcome that difficulty and that's to capture Kree and Nsharra! That would dismay the Brotherhood and remove our own people's lingering doubts."
"Capture them?" asked Van Voss, his colorless, expressionless eyes on the Humanite. "Why not just kill them?"
"That's out!" snapped Nelson. "We're not murderers."