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There was a flurry of footsteps outside, a thump of heavy boots as oneof the younger officers burst into the room.

  "Commander!" he yelled. "Commander! Come outside!"

  The commander leaped to his feet. "Another attack?"

  "No, sir! Come look!"

  The commander strode quickly to the door. His sight followed the line ofthe young officer's pointing finger.

  There, outlined against the blue of the sky, was a ship!

  * * * * *

  The news from home was encouraging, but it was a long way from beingwhat the commander wanted. Another hundred men and more carriers hadbeen added to the original company of now hardened veterans, and therecruits, plus the protection of the ship's guns, were enough to enablethe entire party to leave the island for the mainland.

  By this time, the commander had gleaned enough information from thenatives to be able to plan the next step in his campaign. The presentGreatest Noble, having successfully usurped the throne from hispredecessor, was still not in absolute control of the country. He hadwon a civil war, but his rule was still too shaky to allow him to splitup his armies, which accounted for the fact that, thus far, no actionhad been taken by the Imperial troops against the invading Earthmen.

  The commander set up a base on the mainland, near the coast, left aportion of his men there to defend it, and, with the remainder, marchedinland to come to grips with the Greatest Noble himself.

  As they moved in toward the heart of the barbarian empire, the mennoticed a definite change in the degree of civilization of thenatives--or, at least, in the degree of technological advancement.There were large towns, not small villages, to be dealt with, and therewere highways and bridges that showed a knowledge of engineeringequivalent to that of ancient Rome.

  The engineers of the Empire of the Great Nobles were a long way abovethe primitive. They could have, had they had any reason to, erected apyramid the equal of great Khufu's in size, and probably even moreneatly constructed. Militarily speaking, the lack of knowledge of ironhampered them, but it must be kept in mind that a well-disciplined andreasonably large army, armed with bronze-tipped spears, bronze swords,axes, and maces, can make a formidable foe, even against a much betterequipped group.

  The Imperial armies were much better disciplined and much better armedthan any of the natives the commander had thus far dealt with, and therewere reputed to be more than ten thousand of them with the GreatestNoble in his mountain stronghold. Such considerations prompted thecommander to plan his strategy carefully, but they did not deter him inthe least. If he had been able to bring aircraft and perhaps athermonuclear bomb or two for demonstration purposes, the attack mighthave been less risky, but neither had been available to a man of hislimited means, so he had to work without them.

  But now, he avoided fighting if at all possible. Working with FraterVincent, the commander worked to convince the natives on the fertilefarms and in the prosperous villages that he and his company were merelyambassadors of good will--missionaries and traders. He and his men hadcome in peace, and if they were received in peace, well and good. If not... well, they still had their weapons.

  The commander was depending on the vagueness of the information that mayhave filtered down from the north. The news had already come that theinvaders were fierce and powerful fighters, but the commander gave theimpression that the only reason any battles had taken place was becausethe northern tribes had been truculent in the extreme. He succeededfairly well; the natives he now met considered their brethren of thenorthern provinces to be little better than savages, and therefore to beexpected to treat strangers inhospitably and bring about their own ruin.The southern citizens of the empire eyed the strangers withapprehension, but they offered very little resistance. The commander andhis men were welcomed warily at each town, and, when they left, were bidfarewell with great relief.

  It took a little time for the commander to locate the exact spot wherethe Greatest Noble and his retinue were encamped. The real capital ofthe empire was located even farther south, but the Greatest Noble wasstaying, for the nonce, in a city nestled high in the mountains, wellinland from the seacoast. The commander headed for the mountains.

  The passage into the mountains wasn't easy. The passes were narrow anddangerous, and the weather was cold. The air became thinner at everystep. At eight thousand feet, mountain climbing in heavy armor becomesmore than just hard work, and at twelve thousand it becomes exhaustingtorture. But the little company went on, sparked, fueled, and driven bythe personal force of their commander, who stayed in the vanguard, hiseyes ever alert for treachery from the surrounding mountains.

  When the surprise came, it was of an entirely different kind than he hadexpected. The commander's carrier came over a little rise, and hebrought it to an abrupt halt as he saw the valley spread out beneathhim. He left the carrier, walked over to a boulder near the edge of thecliff, and looked down at the valley.

  It was an elongated oval of verdant green, fifteen miles long by fourwide, looking like an emerald set in the rocky granite of thesurrounding peaks that thrust upward toward the sky. The valley ranroughly north-and-south, and to his right, at the southern end, thecommander could see a city, although it was impossible to see anyonemoving in it at this distance.

  To his left, he could see great clouds of billowing vapor that rolledacross the grassy plain--evidently steam from the volcanic hot springswhich he had been told were to be found in this valley.

  But, for the moment, it was neither the springs nor the city thatinterested him most.

  In the heart of the valley, spreading over acre after acre, were thetents and pavilions of a mighty army encampment. From the looks of it,the estimate of thirty thousand troops which had been given him byvarious officials along the way was, if anything, too small.

  It was a moment that might have made an ordinary man stop to think, and,having thought, to turn and go. But the commander was no ordinary man,and the sheer remorseless courage that had brought him this far wouldn'tallow him to turn back. So far, he had kept the Greatest Noble offbalance with his advancing tactics; if he started to retreat, theGreatest Noble would realize that the invaders were not invincible, andwould himself advance to crush the small band of strangers.

  The Greatest Noble had known the commander and his men were coming; hewas simply waiting, to find out what they were up to, confident that hecould dispose of them at his leisure. The commander knew that, and heknew he couldn't retreat now. There was no decision to be made,really--only planning to be done.

  He turned back from the boulder to face the officers who had come totake a look at the valley.

  "We'll go to the city first," he said.

  XIII

  The heavy tread of the invaders' boots as they entered the centralplaza of the walled city awakened nothing but echoes from the stonewalls that surrounded the plaza. Like the small villages they hadentered farther north, the city seemed devoid of life.

  There is nothing quite so depressing and threatening as a deserted city.The windows in the walls of the buildings seemed like blank, darkenedeyes that watched--and waited. Nothing moved, nothing made a sound,except the troopers themselves.

  The men kept close to the walls; there was no point in bunching up inthe middle of the square to be cut down by arrows from the windows ofthe upper floors.

  The commander ordered four squads of men to search the buildings andsmoke out anyone who was there, but they turned up nothing. The entirecity was empty. And there were no traps, no ambushes--nothing.

  The commander, with Lieutenant commander Hernan and another officer,climbed to the top of the central building of the town. In the distance,several miles away, they could see the encampment of the monarch'stroops.

  "The only thing we can do," the commander said, his face hard anddetermined, "is to call their bluff. You two take about three dozen menand go out there with the carriers and give them a show. Go right intocamp, as if you owned the place. Throw a scare into them, but do
n't hurtanyone. Then, very politely, tell the Emperor, or whatever he callshimself, that I would like him to come here for dinner and a littletalk."

  The two officers looked at each other, then at the commander.

  "Just like that?" asked Hernan.

  "Just like that," said the commander.

  * * * * *

  The demonstration and exhibition went well--as far as it had gone. Thenative warriors had evidently been quite impressed by the onslaught ofthe terrifying monsters that had thundered across the plain toward them,right into the great camp, and come to a dead halt directly in front ofthe magnificent pavilion of the Greatest Noble himself.

  The Greatest Noble put up a good face. He had obviously been expectingthe visitors, because he and his lesser nobles were lined up before thepavilion, the Greatest Noble ensconced on a sort of portable throne. Hemanaged to look perfectly calm and somewhat bored by the whole affair,and didn't seem to be particularly effected at all when Lieutenantcommander Hernan bowed low before him and requested his presence in thecity.

  And the Greatest Noble's answer was simple and to the point, although itwas delivered by one of his courtiers.

  "You may tell your commander," said the noble, "that His Effulgence mustattend to certain religious duties tonight, since he is also HighPriest of the Sun. However, His Effulgence will most graciously deign tospeak to your commander tomorrow. In the meantime, you are requested toenjoy His Effulgence's gracious hospitality in the city, which has beenemptied for your convenience. It is yours, for the nonce."

  Which left nothing for the two officers and their men to do but gothundering back across the plain to the city.

  * * * * *

  The Greatest Noble did not bring his whole army with him, but thepageant of barbaric splendor that came tootling and drumming its wayinto the city the next evening was a magnificent sight. His Effulgencehimself was dressed in a scarlet robe and a scarlet, turbanlike headcovering with scarlet fringes all around it. About his throat was anecklace of emerald-green gems, and his clothing was studded with moreof them. Gold gleamed everywhere. He was borne on an ornate, gildedpalanquin, carried high above the crowd on the shoulders of a dozenstalwart nobles, only slightly less gorgeously-dressed than the GreatestNoble. The nobility that followed was scarcely less showy in its finery.

  When they came into the plaza, however, the members of the processioncame to a halt. The singing and music died away.

  The plaza was absolutely empty.

  No one had come out to greet the Emperor.

  There were six thousand natives in the plaza, and not a sign of theinvaders.

  The commander, hiding well back in the shadows in one of the rooms ofthe central building, watched through the window and noted the evidentconsternation of the royal entourage with satisfaction. Frater Vincent,standing beside him, whispered, "Well?"

  "All right," the commander said softly, "they've had a taste of what wegot when we came in. I suppose they've had enough. Let's go out and actlike hosts."

  The commander and a squad of ten men, along with Frater Vincent, strodemajestically out of the door of the building and walked toward theGreatest Noble. They had all polished their armor until it shone, whichwas about all they could do in the way of finery, but they evidentlylooked quite impressive in the eyes of the natives.

  "Greetings, Your Effulgence," said the commander, giving the GreatestNoble a bow that was hardly five degrees from the perpendicular. "Itrust we find you well."

  * * * * *

  In the buildings surrounding the square, hardly daring to move for fearthe clank of metal on metal might give the whole plan away, theremaining members of the company watched the conversation between theircommander and the Greatest Noble. They couldn't hear what was beingsaid, but that didn't matter; they knew what to do as soon as thecommander gave the signal. Every eye was riveted on the commander'sright hand.

  It seemed an eternity before the commander casually reached up to hishelmet and brushed a hand across it--once--twice--three times.

  Then all hell broke loose. The air was split by the sound of powerweapons throwing their lances of flame into the massed ranks of thenative warriors. The gunners, safe behind the walls of the buildings,poured a steady stream of accurately directed fire into the packed mob,while the rest of the men charged in with their blades, thrusting andslashing as they went.

  The aliens, panic-stricken by the sudden, terrifying assault, tried torun, but there was nowhere to run to. Every exit had been cut off tobottle up the Imperial cortege. Within minutes, the entrances to thesquare were choked with the bodies of those who tried to flee.

  As soon as the firing began, the commander and his men began to maketheir way toward the Greatest Noble. They had been forced to stand agood five yards away during the parlay, cut off from direct contact bythe Imperial guards. The commander, sword in hand, began cutting his waythrough to the palanquin.

  The palanquin bearers seemed frozen; they couldn't run, they couldn'tfight, and they didn't dare drop their precious cargo.

  The commander's voice bellowed out over the carnage. "Take him prisoner!I'll personally strangle the idiot who harms him!" And then he was toobusy to yell.

  Two members of the Greatest Noble's personal guard came for him, swordsout, determined to give their lives, if necessary, to preserve thesacred life of their monarch. And give them they did.

  The commander's blade lashed out once, sliding between the ribs of thefirst guard. He toppled and almost took the sword with him, but thecommander wrenched it free in time to parry the downward slash of thesecond guard's bronze sword. It was a narrow thing, because the bronzesword, though of softer stuff than the commander's steel, was alsoheavier, and thus hard to deflect. As it sang past him, the commanderswung a chop at the man's neck, cutting it halfway through. He steppedquickly to one side to avoid the falling body and thrust his bladethrough a third man, who was aiming a blow at the neck of one of thecommander's officers. There were only a dozen feet separating thecommander from his objective, the palanquin of the Greatest Noble, buthe had to wade through blood to get there.

  * * * * *

  The palanquin itself was no longer steady. Three of the twelve nobleswho had been holding it had already fallen, and there were two of thecommander's men already close enough to touch the royal person, but theywere too busy fighting to make any attempt to grab him. The GreatestNoble, unarmed, could only huddle in his seat, terrified, but it wouldtake more than two men to snatch him from his bodyguard. The commanderfought his way in closer.

  Two more of the palanquin bearers went down, and the palanquin itselfbegan to topple. The Greatest Noble screamed as he fell toward thecommander.

  One of the commander's men spun around as he heard the scream so closeto him, and, thinking that the Greatest Noble was attacking hiscommander, lunged out with his blade.

  It was almost a disaster. Moving quickly, the commander threw out hisleft arm to deflect the sword. He succeeded, but he got a bad slashacross his hand for his trouble.

  He yelled angrily at the surprised soldier, not caring what he said.Meanwhile, the others of the squad, seeing that the Greatest Noble hadfallen, hurried to surround him. Two minutes later, the Greatest Noblewas a prisoner, being half carried, half led into the central buildingby four of the men, while the remaining six fought a rear-guard actionto hold off the native warriors who were trying to rescue the sacredperson of the Child of the Sun.

  Once inside, the Greatest Noble was held fast while the doors were swungshut.

  Outside, the slaughter went on. All the resistance seemed to go out ofthe warriors when they saw their sacred monarch dragged away by theinvading Earthmen. It was every man for himself and the Devil take thehindmost. And the Devil, in the form of the commander's troops,certainly did.

  Within half an hour after it had begun, the butchery was over. More thanthree thousand of the n
atives had died, and an unknown number more badlywounded. Those who had managed to get out and get away from the citykept on going. They told the troops who had been left outside what hadhappened, and a mass exodus from the valley began.

  Safely within the fortifications of the central building, the commanderallowed himself one of his rare grins of satisfaction. Not a single oneof his own men had been killed, and the only wound which had beensustained by anyone in the company was the cut on his own hand. Stillsmiling, he went into the room where the Greatest Noble, dazed andshaken, was being held by two of the commander's men. The commanderbowed--this time, very low.

  "I believe, Your Effulgence, that we have an appointment for dinner.Come, the banquet has been laid."

  And, as though he were still playing the gracious host, the commanderled the half-paralyzed Child of the Sun to the room where the banquethad been put on a table in perfect diplomatic array.

  "Your Effulgence may sit at my right hand," said the commanderpleasantly.

  XIV

  As MacDonald said of Robert Wilson, "This is not an account of howBoosterism came to Arcadia." It's a devil of a long way from it. Andonce the high point of a story has been reached and passed, it ispointless to prolong it too much. The capture of the Greatest Noblebroke the power of the Empire of the Great Nobles forever. The loyalsubjects were helpless without a leader, and the disloyal ones, near theperiphery of the Empire, didn't care. The crack Imperial troops simplyfolded up and went home. The Greatest Noble went on issuing orders, andthey were obeyed; the people were too used to taking orders fromauthority to care whether they were really the Greatest Noble's own ideaor not.