"I? Nothing." "Are you sure?" "I was thinking that there must have been a time when this planet was quite different, when there was life on it." "I suppose there was. It's unfortunate that no ships from our system came this far, but then we had no reason to suspect intelligent life until we saw the fission glow in the sky." "And then it was too late." "Not quite too late. After all, their possessions, their music, books, their pictures, all of that will survive. We'll take them home and study them, and they'll change us. We won't be the same afterwards. Their sculpturing, especially. Did you see the one of the great winged creature, without a head or arms? Broken off, I suppose. But those wings— It looked very old. It will change us a great deal." "When we come back we won't find the gun waiting for us," Nasha said. "Next time it won't be there to shoot us down. We can land and take the treasure, as you call it." She smiled up at Dorle. "You'll lead us back there, as a good captain should." "Captain?" Dorle grinned. "Then you've decided." Nasha shrugged. "Fomar argues with me too much. I think, all in all, I really prefer you." "Then let's go," Dorle said. "Let's go back home." The ship roared up, flying over the ruins of the city. It turned in a huge arc and then shot off beyond the horizon, heading into outer space. Down below, in the center of the ruined city, a single half-broken detector vane moved slightly, catching the roar of the ship. The base of the great gun throbbed painfully, straining to turn. After a moment a red warning light flashed on down inside its destroyed works. Down And a long way off, a hundred miles from the city, another warning light flashed on, far underground. Automatic relays flew into action. Gears turned, belts whined. On the ground above a section of metal slag slipped back. A ramp appeared. A moment later a small cart rushed to the surface. The cart turned toward the city. A second cart appeared behind it. It was loaded with wiring cables. Behind it a
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