A grim silence reigned for a long time. A faraway look came over Shilohin as she turned over again in her mind the things that Garuth had said. And then the look changed gradually into a frown. Her eyes cleared and swung slowly upward to meet Garuth’s.
“Garuth,” she said. Her voice was curiously calm and composed. All traces of the emotions she had felt previously were gone. “I’ve never said this to you ever before, but. . . I don’t believe you.” Jassilane and Monchar looked up abruptly. Garuth seemed strangely unsurprised, almost as if he had been expecting her to say that. He leaned back in his chair and contemplated the tapestry on the wall. Then he swung his eyes slowly back toward her.
“What don’t you believe, Shilohin?”
“Your reasons – . . everything you’ve been saying for the last few weeks. It’s just not . . . you. It’s a rationalization of something else. . . something deeper.” Garuth said nothing, but continued to regard her steadfastly. “Earth is maturing rapidly,” she continued. “We’ve mixed with them and been accepted by them in ways that far exceeded our wildest hopes. There’s no evidence to support the predictions you made. There’s no evidence that we could never coexist, even if our numbers did grow. You would never sacrifice your people just on the off-chance that things might not work out. You’d try it first. . . for a while at least. There has
to be another reason. I won’t be able to support your decision until I know what that reason is. You talked about the burden of us who command and lead. If we carry that burden, then surely we’ve a right to know why.”
Garuth continued staring at her thoughtfully for a long time after she had finished speaking. Then he transferred his gaze, still with the same thoughtful expression, to Jassilane and Monchar. The look in their eyes echoed Shilobin’s words. Then, abruptly, he seemed to make up his mind.
Without speaking, he rose from the chair, walked over to the control panel, and operated the switch to restore normal communications facilities to the room.
“ZORAC,” he called.
“Yes, Commander?”
“You recall the discussion that we had about a month ago concerning the data that the human scientists have collected on the genetics of the Oligocene species discovered in the ship at Pithead?”
“Yes.”
“I’d like you to present the results of your analysis of that data to us. This information is not to be made accessible to anyone other than myself and the three people who are in this room at present.”
chapter twenty-two
The crowds that came to Ganyville to see the Shapieron depart were as large as those that had greeted its arrival, but their mood was a very different one. This time there was no jubilation or wild excitement. The people of Earth would miss the gentle Giants that they had come to know so well, and it showed.
The governments of Earth had again sent their ambassadors and, on the concrete apron below the towering ship, two groups of Earthmen and aliens faced each other for the last time. After the final formalities had been exchanged and the last farewell speeches had been uttered, the spokesman for each of the two races presented his parting gift.
The Chairman of the United Nations, acting on behalf of all of the peoples and nations of Earth, handed over two ornamental metal caskets, heavily inscribed on their outside faces and decorated with precious stones. The first contained a selection of seeds of many terrestrial trees, shrubs and flowering plants. The second, somewhat larger, contained the national flag of every one of the world’s states. The seeds, he said, were to be planted at a selected place when the Giants arrived at their new home; the plants that grew from them would symbolize all of terrestrial life and provide a lasting reminder that henceforth both worlds would always be a home to Man and Ganymean equally. The flags were to be flown above that place on some as yet unknown future day when the first ship from Earth reached The Giants’ Star. Thus, when Man came at last to launch himself into the void between the stars, he would find a small part of Earth waiting to greet him on the other side.