CHAPTER 9Tommy took the key Maxis handed him and started off as directed. The key seemed very heavy. The corridor seemed very long. The task set for him seemed next to impossible.
He reached the cell without trouble. He unlocked the door. Inside, a very old Martian lay in filth and rags on the floor. Tommy knelt beside him, his heart pounding. “You are to come with me,” he said.
The old Martian opened his eyes. “Who are you?”
“I am Tommy Wilks, a Terran, but that doesn’t matter. Maxis, one of your friends, is waiting at the table down the hall. Can you walk, sir?”
A tired smile brightened the old Martian’s face. “Strange indeed are our times—when a Terran juvenile comes to aid the Lord of the North Hemisphere. The times have gone mad and we can only go where destiny directs—or seems to
