midnight
During the evening Vas Kor announced that on the morrow they should depart north toward Dusar , picking up recruits at various stations along the way . In a great field behind the house a flier lay -- a fair-sized cruiser-transport that would accommodate many men , yet swift and well armed also . Here Carthoris slept , and Kar Komak , too , with the other recruits , under guard of the regular Dusarian warriors that manned the craft . Toward midnight Vas Kor returned to the vessel from his son 's house , repairing at once to his cabin . Carthoris , with one of the Dusarians , was on watch . It was with difficulty that the Heliumite repressed a cold smile as the noble passed within a foot of him -- within a foot of the long , slim , Heliumitic blade that swung in his harness . How easy it would have been !