There was a silence, then Mercedes said, "So it does. Though I can't
put my finger on it. But that shouldn't be so strange. The creatures
who built it might have been very similar to us. If I could lay my
hands on some of their bones...." She laughed good humoredly. "I could
tell you in a minute what they were like."
"Were?" Saxon thought, but he didn't express it aloud. He was conscious
all the time of the presence of the aliens. It was like being in the
midst of a crowded city street.
The semantics expert, the psycho-historian, and the ethnologist joined
them in a body. They headed for the nearest building, a towering
windowless structure of yellow crystal.
Saxon glanced back uneasily.
The helicopter stood silent and deserted in the center of the square.
The geographer and his helper were disappearing down one of the
canyon-like streets with their equipment.
"Look!" commanded Ileth pointing toward the face of the yellow
structure. "Letters of some sort! There on the building. Maybe it's a
sign."
They quickened their pace until they could describe the letters clearly.
Ileth gasped, "Oh!" and stopped uncertainly.
The rest of them came to a confused halt beside her, staring up at the
sign in utter bewilderment. Saxon felt a chill creep up his spine. The
sign read: