THIS TIME THE GREEN chieftain’s speech was longer, more dramatic. He postured, gestured; once he strode to the edge of his raised platform and pointed majestically down into the chasm below. Then, concluding his words with a tone of finality, he folded his arms across his chest.
Chip noticed that a few rods away Amborg’s Uranian companion was interpreting his decision to Blaze. Salvation performed the same function.
“He says,” explained Salvation, “we must walk into this cave of fearful flame. It leads through burning corridors to the valley below. In that valley is the life-skiff which brought Amborg and his men here.
“If we are good men, gods, and guiltless, the flame will not destroy us. There was one not long ago who walked unscathed through the fires, he says. That man was surely a
