The Nebula came to rest upon a bare plain not far from the nearest city. As he turned to the scanner upon it, Odin saw that while it looked familiar enough there was one exotic thing about it. Toward the outskirts of the city, in the bend of a wide river, was the Taj Mahal. He felt nearly as bewildered as he had been when Nea explained her theories of the Time-Space Concept to him. They had hardly landed before one of Ato's scientists announced that there was good clean air outside. Oxygen and nitrogen with good old water held as moisture within it. The city sat there upon the plain and stared at them. The Nebula looked back. At length a procession of cars moved toward them. Grim Hagen's voice came thundering over the loud-speakers. "A truce, Ato. I offer you a week's truce in return for a few meetings. This world has seen enough destruction--" Gunnar and his crew leveled their death-gun at the advancing party. Odin kept them on the screen. Ato and a few of his captains got ready to disembark. As Odin watched, he kept puzzling over that voice. It certainly was Grim Hagen's. But it was different. Perhaps it was a bit lower, a bit more commanding. But there was just a bit of weariness in it. And the answer came to him suddenly--although he never knew why. The voice was older! * * * * * Then Grim Hagen and his staff were below The Nebula. They were dressed in white and gold uniforms. That was not surprising, either. Ato and his men advanced for a parley. Odin watched and listened. At first he could not get a clear look at the man for Ato's broad shoulders. Then Ato turned aside, and Grim Hagen's head and shoulders filled the screen. Odin gasped in amazement. Grim Hagen was nearly twenty years older than when he had seen him last. The shoulders and arms were larger although there appeared to be little fat upon Grim Hagen. The dark hair was streaked with gray. The face was seamed, and though the black eyes still blazed they now burned with a fanatic hate and desperation. Where pride and ambition had once made a face coldly handsome, there was now nothing but seamed lines like scars and blazing eyes. It was an evil face. Grim Hagen had become a devil. Hagen looked at the much younger Ato and laughed. "So, the cub comes to fight with the tiger? Didn't you know? Didn't you guess? While you came galloping after me, I had already landed within this system. And time began its old alnage. These were a peaceful people. We wrecked them. We enslaved them and built the nine worlds in our own fashion. Nearly nineteen years, Ato! No Caesar ever dreamed of a larger kingdom. I even gave them a new goddess--for I did not want them to do much thinking. Yonder." He pointed to the duplicate Taj Mahal in the distance. "She sleeps. My only failure. No older. And sometimes I go there and look at her, and my youth seems to walk beside me--"