say that you wished that we could get the drawings of this new amplifier.' He turned to me. 'It would be a very dangerous mission, Tangor, and one in which you might not possibly be able to succeed, but there would be a chance, if you were there. What do you say to it?'
'I am in the service of Unis,' I said; 'whatever you wish me to do, I will do to the best of my ability.'
'Excellent,' said the Eljanhai, 'but do you realize that the chances are about a thousand to one that you will be unsuccessful and that you will never get out of Kapara alive.'
'I realize that, sir,' I said, 'but I take similar chances almost ever day of my life.'
'Then it is settled,' he said, 'let us know when you are ready to go, and every arrangement will be made to facilitate your departure; and, by the way, when you get to Kapara, see if you can get any information as to the fate of one of our most valuable secret agents from whom we have not heard for two years; he is an officer named Handon Gar,' and then he described the man very minutely to me, as I could not, of course, inquire about him, and furthermore, he had unquestionably changed his name after he reached Kapara.
The two then gave me certain military information to report to the Kapars, information they were perfectly willing to trade for a chance to get the secret of the amplifier.
I wondered just why they were so anxious to obtain the secret of this power amplifier and so I made bold to ask.
'To be perfectly frank,' said the Eljanhai, 'Unis is tired of war; and we wish to send an expedition to one of the nearer planets, either Tonos or Antos, to see what conditions are there; and if they are better, eventually to transport all Unisans to one of these planets.'
What an amazing and stupendous project, it was staggering even to contemplate-an heroic migration unparalleled in history.
'But if you get the secret,' warned the Eljanhai, 'you must destroy all copies of the plans you do not bring away with you, and destroy also all those who could reproduce them, so that the Kapars cannot follow. Our sole desire is to find some world free from war, and no world would be free from war if there were Kapars there.'
I saw Morga Sagra again that evening. 'Well,' she asked, 'have you made up your mind?'
'Yes,' I replied. 'I have come to the conclusion that you were right; I owe these people nothing, and if the Kapars are going to win this war, I might as well be on the winning side.'
'You are quite right,' she said; 'you will never regret it. I have made all the necessary arrangements for our entry into Kapara, but the problem of getting out of Unis is for you to solve.'
'I will take care of everything,' I told her, 'and in the meantime I think that we should not be seen together too much. Hold yourself in readiness to leave at any moment; I may call for you tomorrow or the next day.'
We parted then and I went out to the Harkases' to bid them good-bye. Yamoda was stronger and had been moved out into the garden, where she lay on a couch in the artificial sunlight which illuminates this underground city. She seemed so genuinely happy to see me that I hated to tell her that I was going away for an indefinite period. We had become such excellent friends that it saddened us both to realize that we might not see one another again for a considerable time, and her lip trembled when I told her that I had come to say good-bye. She seemed to sense that this was more than an ordinary parting to which the women of Unis are so accustomed.
'How long will you be gone?' she asked.
'I have no idea,' I replied.
'Then I suppose that you can't tell me where you are going, either.'
'No, I can't,' I replied; 'about all I can tell you is that it is a secret mission.'
She nodded and placed her hand on mine. 'You will be careful of yourself, won't you, Tangor?' she asked.
'Yes, Yamoda, I will be careful; and I will try to get back as quickly as possible, for I shall miss you very much.'
'You have been doing very well without me lately,' she said, with a mischievous twinkle in her eye; 'is she such very good company?'
'She is better than nobody,' I replied, 'and I get terribly lonesome when I can't come out here.'
'I don't believe I know her,' she said; 'she does not go with the same people I do.'
I thought I noticed just a trace of contemptuousness in that speech, something quite unlike Yamoda. 'I have never met any of her friends,' I said. Just then Yamoda's mother came into the garden, and we talked of other things. They insisted on my staying to dinner.
When I left, later in the evening, it was very hard for me to say good-bye to them all, for the Harkases are my best friends in Unis, and Don and Yamoda are just like brother and sister to me; in fact their mother calls me her other son.
Chapter Two
EARLY THE FOLLOWING MORNING, I called on the Commissioner for War, and told him that I planned on leaving that day. I explained in detail the procedure I wished to follow to get Morga Sagra out of Orvis, and he told me that everything would be arranged in accordance with my plans. He then gave me a sheaf of military documents which I was to turn over to the Kapars as proof of my good faith and of my potential value to them.
'You will need something to meet expenses while you are there,' he said, and he handed me a heavy leather pouch. 'As there is no longer any monetary medium of international exchange,' he continued, 'you will have to do the best you can with the contents of this pouch, which contains gold and precious stones. I shall immediately instruct your squadron commander that you have been ordered to make a reconnaissance flight alone and that the mission is a secret one, he is to see that no one is in the hangar between the third and fourth hours after noon, as it is my wish that no one sees you depart. During that time, you can smuggle in your co-conspirator; and now good-bye, my boy, and good luck. The chances are that I shall never see you again, but I shall remember you as one who died gloriously for the honour and glory of Unis.'
That sounded altogether too much like an obituary, and I went away thinking of the little white cross somewhere in the Rhine valley. If what I had been told about the Kapars were true, I would have no little white cross there, as my body would be shipped off to serve as food for some of their subjugated peoples working in slavery for them.
I called on Sagra at the third hour after noon. 'Everything is arranged,' I told her, 'and we shall be on our way within the hour.'
She had not smiled as she usually did when we met, and I noticed a certain constraint in her manner. Finally the cause of it came out, as she blurted, 'What were you doing in conference with the Commissioner for War this morning?'
'How did you think I was going to get out of Orvis?' I demanded. 'I had to work on the old chap a long time to get him to order me to make a reconnaissance flight alone.'
'I'm sorry,' she said, 'but this is dangerous business; and when one's life is constantly at stake, suspicion becomes almost an obsession.
'I can well understand that,' I said; 'but if our mission is to be successful, we must trust one another fully.'
'I shan't doubt you again,' she said, 'but right now my nerves are on edge. I am really terrified, for I don't see how you are going to get me out of the city; and if you are caught trying it, we'll both be shot.'
'Don't worry,' I said; 'just do as I tell you.'
We went out to my car then, and I had her get in the rear compartment, and when I was sure that no one was looking, I told her to lie down on the floor; then I threw an old robe over her.
I drove directly to the hangar, which I found entirely deserted. I drove as close to my ship as I could and then had Sagra crawl into the gunner's compartment in the belly of the fuselage. A moment later I had taxied up the ramp and taken off.
'Which way?' I asked Sagra, over the communicating system.
'Northwest,' she replied. 'When can I get out of here? I don't like it down here.'
'In just a moment,' I replied.
By mutual agreement, Sagra had kept all of the plans covering our flight to Kapara and our entry into that
