Charles A. Stearns

“ Camilla sensed it. An undercurrent of tenseness about the great table below. The look on Chris's face. A wolf-like watchfulness. Chris always expected the worst, she knew from hard experience, but this was something special.
"They're frightened," she said with sudden inspiration. "Why are they frightened?"
Chris gave her a look of sour disapproval. "You're a reporter," he said accusively. "If I tell you something, can you keep it under your hat until the thing's done with?"
"Sure I can."
He didn't look at her. "There's a rumor going around among the delegates," he said. ”

“ The world is full of madness today."
"Listen," Chris said, "the contrivance is supposed to go off in three minutes. Isn't there any way you can delay it until this girl is in the clear. Surely you have nothing against her."
Gor Jeetl turned disillusioned eyes upon Camilla. "She is a lovely, innocent girl," he said. "Almost a child, I can see that. I am sorry—truly sorry that she must be here to witness my degradation. But there is nothing I can do." There was a tear in his eye. "It will go off at precisely twelve o'clock. I regret to say that the scientists of Saturn build well." ”

“ The kindest thing that can be said of the Saturnians, is that they were exceedingly saturnine. They hadn't a chance, and they knew it. Everyone expected trouble with Saturn.
Earth got it on Earth, with an overwhelming majority of one vote and eighty-three million dollars.
The Friendship Tower spitted the occasionally-blue sky over Capitol City in less than eleven months from the time its corner-stone was laid, and waited in awesome emptiness for the first friendly meeting of worlds within it. ”

“ The people knew that something extraordinary was going on, so they quelled the normal impulse to discuss it in order to satisfy that strongest of human yearnings. If they were quiet there was a bare possibility that they might hear something. ”

“ The Venusians wanted it on Venus because, as they shrewdly noted, Venus is wide open; the vacationer's planet. Low taxes. Moderate building costs, and a diverting variety of entertainment for the visiting delegates when they should meet. Why the derva-girls alone—
Mars wanted it on Mars, because, they said, the world is centrally located, easily accessible, and the dry climate was sure to preserve the masonry of the Friendship Tower forever, an immortal monument to man's amicability. ”

“ Inside him, there'd be room for a whole armoury."
"It was the only practical thing," said Gor Jeetl, with quiet bitterness.
"There is only one thing to do," the Captain of the Guard said, "and that is to clear the area at once. ”

“ A dark-suited group of humanoids, faintly alien in aspect, walking close together. They looked faintly disdainful of the proceedings. Which was Yun Brool? They were identically dressed.
"You can bet the one in the middle is Brool," Camilla said to Chris. "Jovians are always afraid of being assassinated." ”