“Even the decadence of Rome was valuable in its way, and so are the curfew and Night Police. If they lasted, it would be genuine decadence. It’s almost over. The day of the barbarians and pioneers will begin again when the first rocket reaches Mars. But we’ve accomplished something.” Lal pointed to the recruiting sign on the office wall, which Kerry and the others had taken so much for granted that they had not even noticed it. AN EARTH DIVIDED IS AN EARTH CONQUERED! “That sign means something,” the commander said. “Even Ben Thrusher would have admitted that. Although he died fighting it.” And Kerry left with the first lines of the obituary already ringing in his head: “A martyr to the desire for freedom, Benedict Thrusher, listed as a dead man for eight years, died today after wresting from the Pharigs the secret of the space drive that will mean their eventual extermination from Earth....” And all the rest is written in history. Transcriber’s Note: This etext was produced from Fantastic Universe, July 1956 (Vol. 5, No. 6). Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed. Obvious errors have been silently corrected in this version, but minor inconsistencies have been retained as printed.