"But I have already refused--today in the garden. Would you have me change? I am not one lightly to change a decision already reached." "You'll have to." "Perhaps. Perhaps not. Of one thing I am sure. I cannot let them declare war against me just now. I have no defense, here in Venia. Scarce the armament for my handful of men. Your vessels of war would sweep down here and overpower me in a breath--trap me here helpless----" "Of course," said Georg. "And so I must not let them do that. They want me to come to Washington with the Brende model--deliver it over to them. Yet--that does not appeal to me. Tomorrow I shall have to bargain with them further. I could not deliver to them the Brende model." He was chuckling at his own phrasing. "No--no, I could not do that." "Why?" demanded Georg. "Isn't the model here?" "It is--where it is," said Tarrano. He became more serious. "You, Georg--you could build one of those models?" Georg did not answer. "You could, of course," Tarrano insisted. "My spy, Ahla--you remember her, the Lady Elza's maid for so long? She is here in Venia; she tells me of your knowledge and skill with your father's apparatus. So you see, I realize I have two to guard--the model itself, and you, who know its secret." He now became more openly alert and earnest than I had ever seen him. The light from the tube along the side wall edged his lean, serious face with its silver glow. "I've a proposition for you, Georg Brende. Between men, such things can be put bruskly. Your sister--her personal decision will take time. I would not force it. But meanwhile--I do not like to hold you and her as captives." The shadow of a smile crossed Georg's face. "We shall be glad to have you set us free." Tarrano remained grave. "You are a humorist. And a clever young fellow, Georg Brende. You--as Elza's brother--and as your father's son with your medical knowledge--you can be of great use to me. Suppose I offer you a place by my side always? To share with me--and with the Lady Elza--these conquests.... Wait! It is not the part of wisdom to decide until you have all the facts. I shall confide in you one of my plans. The publics of Venus, Mars and the Earth--they think this everlasting life, as they call it, is to be shared with them." His chuckle was the rasp of a file on a block of adamant. "Shared with them! That is the bait I dangle before their noses. In reality, I shall share it only with the Lady Elza. And with you--her brother, and the mate you some day will take for yourself. Indeed, I have a maiden already at hand, picked out for you.... But that can come later.... Everlasting life? Nonsense! Your father's discovery cannot confer that. But we shall live two centuries or more. Four of us. To see the generations come and go--frail mortals, while we live on to conquer and to rule the worlds.... Come, what do you say?" "I say no."