"The guests of Shar Bytu have gathered to meet the barbarian," he snapped. "He sent me to see if he were awake. I see he is. Be good enough to show him the Temple, Adatha Za." He swung on his heel and walked away. Jonathan quivered and took a step after him, but the girl beside him tugged on his arm, saying, "It is always his way. He is abrupt, and so self-controlled that anything like gaiety annoys him." Jonathan grunted. His lips that had been hard, slowly softened. "That baby was just begging for a left hook," he growled. "And something tells me he'll get it, too." "Morka Kar is a great scientist. I came in his retinue from Zarathza, to help fight the flames." "I still don't like him!" Jonathan drew a deep breath and asked, "He--he isn't your husband? Mate, I mean. Or--your fiance?" Adatha Za laughed. "You use quaint expressions. But I follow your thoughts. No, he is not my husband, nor my engaged. But he _does_ want me. You see, on Zarathza I am _tapu_. Sworn to science research, forbidden to wed a Zarathzan." Jonathan reflected on that for a moment. He glanced sidewise at her and grinned, "What about an--Earthman?" Adatha Za pinched his arm and laughed, "Strictly, there's nothing against it. Zarathza never even heard of Earth until recently!" III The Temple of Embassy gleamed in ethereal beauty under the beams of Neeoorna's five moons. Its ivory pillars lifted slender fingers to the black basalt dome. About its periphery an arched court circled to the entrance where its massive metal gates were embossed with crouching griffins. Jonathan and Adatha Za passed along the magnificently marbled corridors and entered a deep council room tiered with seats. He paused in the doorway and stared. On saltwhite benches the representatives of a thousand worlds turned and looked at him. There were reptiles from Neeoorna, lavendar-tinted Zarathzans, blobous creatures from distant Sarboola, thought things of far galaxies, ethereal Tartulians, and queer black beasts that had the intelligence of genius. Against one wall glass enclosures held beings from planets so cold they needed artificial refrigeration to live here. Near the opposite side of the chamber, steamy glass vases held other life forms whose structure needed tremendous heat to exist. There was a tall round rostrum of some glimmering metal raised like a throne in the center of the room. There stood Shar Bytu, towering over the assembled hundreds. There was a flash of his greenish forearm, and Jonathan stepped forward. "Approach us, Jonathan Morgan," Shar Bytu called. "We of Neeoorna and the worlds of our universes have waited for you. You are the only Earth creature we could contact, though we tried many. Come, join us."