Upon their arrival in the palace, Robert and his companions found the royal household in an uproar. The emperor’s army, vastly superior in numbers and weapons, had already fought its way round two sides of the city and was fast surrounding it. Striking with unexpected promptness, and transported swiftly the greater part of the distance by rail, the advance forces had appeared before the city shortly after the _Sphere’s_ departure for the pole. Thus did the emperor elect to reply to Hakon’s ultimatum. In another day the Svergadians expected to be in a state of absolute siege. It must not be supposed that the Martians had done away with arms and soldiers, even though they enjoyed one universal government. Rebellions were not unknown, and the central government had its hands full keeping all factions quiet. Emperor Kharnov, himself a usurper, maintained a strong army, ostensibly for policing and preserving order, but in reality to protect himself against the aspirations of his numerous enemies. With but some seventy hours of food supply within the city boundaries, the situation seemed desperate. So far, Kharnov had made no specific demands, but it was expected that the conditions which he would dictate after encircling the city would hinge upon the possession of Zola. It was in this hour of impending disaster that Robert had greatness thrust upon him. With implicit confidence in Robert’s ability, Hakon begged him to take charge of his forces to resist the invader. Zola’s trustful belief in him and her urging decided Robert. He became chief commander of the besieged forces. Immediately upon his appointment Robert in turn appointed Taggert as his aid and placed Professor Palmer in charge of the palace defenses. His next step was to organize an immediate surprize counter-attack upon the invaders. Though he had not slept in many hours, during which time he had endured much, Robert felt no desire for sleep. The excitement and emergency confronting him buoyed him up for the time. He refused to rest until forced to. Another hasty ascent in the _Sphere_ revealed to them the exact situation. The emperor’s main army had pushed northward along the fertile region of one of the two great parallel canals. It had stopped south of the metropolis, sending out smaller contingents in either direction to begin the encircling movement. This movement had already made considerable progress, encountering little resistance in the nearly deserted, small outlying towns whose loyal defenders had all rallied to Hakon’s main forces in Svergad. The right spur of the invaders had made the most progress, having succeeded in pushing more than half-way round the metropolis.