"Nonsense!" rapped the first advisor. "Okuno is too soft-hearted! Let us have an end of this; make an example of these temerarious humans—"
"Silence, Malgro. I make the decisions here." And she turned to Steve again. "Tell us, Steve of Emmeity—did you, perchance, in your travels pass through a village known as 'Fautnox'?"
"Fautnox!" exclaimed Chuck. "Why—"
But Steve, a warning bell clamoring deep within him, silenced his friend with a swift, stabbing glare. He repeated the name wonderingly.
"Fautnox? Nay, Princess of Beauty. That name is new to me. Was it upon our route? We did not see it."
And—unexpectedly, Stephen Duane learned much about the Venusian race. Or, rather, about the Daan women ... Loala in particular. For the term of respect which had come to his lips instinctively proved that to Venusian womankind, as to their Earthly sisters, flattery was a potent weapon. At the words, "Princess of Beauty," Loala's alabaster features softened, her gray-green eyes widened appreciatively, and to her lips came the faintest suggestion of a smile. When she spoke again, her voice was even more mellow.
"Nay? That is too bad ... human called Steve—"
"He lies!" interrupted the advisor Malgro. "Fautnox must be along that route somewhere. All reports tell us—"
