Again, Stark's half-wild senses told him that life within these walls had not been placid. The very stones whispered of age-old violence, the shadows were heavy with the lingering ghosts of passion. He was brought before Delgaun, the lord of Valkis, in the big central room that served as his headquarters. Delgaun was lean and catlike, after the fashion of his race. His black hair showed a stippling of silver, and the hard beauty of his face was strongly marked, the lines drawn deep and all the softness of youth long gone away. He wore a magnificent harness, and his eyes, under fine dark brows, were like drops of hot gold. He looked up as the Earthman came in, one swift penetrating glance. Then he said, "You're Stark." There was something odd about those yellow eyes, bright and keen as a killer hawk's yet somehow secret, as though the true thoughts behind them would never show through. Instinctively, Stark disliked the man. But he nodded and came up to the council table, turning his attention to the others in the room. A handful of Martians--Low-Canallers, chiefs and fighting men from their ornaments and their proud looks--and several outlanders, their conventional garments incongruous in this place. Stark knew them all. Knighton and Walsh of Terra, Themis of Mercury, Arrod of Callisto Colony--and Luhar of Venus. Pirates, thieves, renegades, and each one an expert in his line. Ashton was right. There was something big, something very big and very ugly, shaping between Valkis and the Drylands. But that was only a quick, passing thought in Stark's mind. It was on Luhar that his attention centered. Bitter memory and hatred had come to savage life within him as soon as he saw the Venusian. The man was handsome. A cashiered officer of the crack Venusian Guards, very slim, very elegant, his pale hair cropped short and curling, his dark tunic fitting him like a second skin. He said, "The aborigine! I thought we had enough barbarians here without sending for more." Stark said nothing. He began to walk toward Luhar. Luhar said sharply, "There's no use in getting nasty, Stark. Past scores are past. We're on the same side now." The Earthman spoke, then, with a peculiar gentleness. "We were on the same side once before. Against Terro-Venus Metals. Remember?" "I remember very well!" Luhar was speaking now not to Stark alone, but to everyone in the room. "I remember that your innocent barbarian friends had me tied to the block there in the swamps, and that you were watching the whole thing with honest pleasure. If the Company men hadn't come along, I'd be screaming there yet." "You sold us out," Stark said. "You had it coming." He continued to walk toward Luhar. Delgaun spoke. He did not raise his voice, yet Stark felt the impact of his command. "There will be no fighting here," Delgaun said. "You are both hired mercenaries, and while you take my pay you will forget your private quarrels. Do you understand?"