At last a light moving across his field of view against the underside of the ship broke the hypnotic trance that had taken hold of him. The figures that had been frozen into immobility around him began stirring as they saw it too. Something was coming down, and was already much nearer than the ship; it had to have been descending for some time, and had only just become visible. It moved swiftly and silently on a direct line toward the center of the base and turned into a flattened, highly elongated ellipsoid of pure gold, completely smooth except for two low, sharply swept fins projecting from its upper surface. It landed without a sound a short distance away, its nose pointing to where Hunt and the others were standing. For perhaps ten seconds not a sound or a movement disturbed the total stillness that had enveloped the base.
And then the forward section of the underside hinged slowly downward to form a broad, shallow ramp leading down to the ground. The point where the ramp entered the body was lost in a glow of brilliant yellow light. Lyn’s fingers found Hunt’s and squeezed as the first eight-foot-tall shapes appeared a dozen or so abreast out of the light and began moving down the ramp. At the bottom of the ramp, they halted to survey the waiting lines of Terrans.
In the center was Calazar, easily recognizable even without his familiar short silver cape and green tunic, and on one side of him were Frenua Showm, Porthik Eesyan, and Eesyan’s deputy, Morizal. Garuth was at Calazar’s other side, with Shilohin, Monchar, and other Ganymeans from the Shapieron whose light gray skins set them apart as a group from the darker, less heavily built Thuriens. The team that had gone to McClusky had been waiting a long time for this moment. For the first time since the perceptron’s landing and their first hesitant entry into it, they were not seeing the Thuriens via neural stimulations transmitted from light-years away. This time the Thuriens were real.
Massed bands had begun playing in the background. The crowd, still overwhelmed by the spectacle filling the sky above their heads, was quiet. Then with orderly, unhurried dignity the Ganymeans started moving again, and Caldwell stepped forward to lead the McClusky team to meet them at the halfway point.
"It was a bit scary at times, but I think Earth has made it," Lyn whispered as they began moving.
"You’re making it sound as if it’s all over," Hunt murmured beside her. "This is just the start of it."
And it was. For the Ganymeans, it was the end of a task they had been working on for millennia; for the inhabitants of Jevlen, it was a change of heart and direction; and for VISAR, it was a new phase of existence.
But for Homo sapiens , it was a whole new beginning.
The heirs to the stars were about to claim their inheritance.
Appendix 1: Crossword
1 Watery Irish flower (7)
5 Find the meaning of a poem to Digital Equipment Corporation (6)
9 Guilty of having no money after the pub? Quite the opposite! (8)
10 A guiding light in what could be a confused voyage (6)
12 Writer, jumping into action, arrives at a profound conclusion (4, 3)
13 The ultimate in text remedies (7)
14 Oriental rule changed by Swiss mathematician (5)
16 Wild riot about the point of a short preamble, colloquially speaking (5)
17 Expert loses two-thirds but takes back art for something more (5)
18 A separated piece (5)
20 Continental one-fan car, maybe (7)
21 Ringing around to abolish a right (7)
23 Keep the elephant’s head and tail in the rain (6)
24 Dianna’s lock causes heartache (8)
25 After six months, men also find a type of Arab(6)
26 Surrounds North Carolina with ease, to a point (7)
1 Win in a sled, perhaps? It’s not fair! (7)
2 But the arms this noted lady was advised to get wouldn’t have been much good to Venus! (5)
3 Powerful response, right from the heart? (7, 8)
4 Possibly did on gin? Can’t-it’s not habit-forming (3-9)
6 A wave from a charge of the Light Brigade (15)
7 Hydrogen makes harmony in turbulent star-core (9)
8 Norman’s head in the lake? No-some other guy (5)
11 Let’s fit a date to reorganize the experimental results (4, 4, 4)
15 It sounds like a lumberjack’s musical number (9)
19 Hoover, initially in trust over the South, urges progress (7)
20 Argon beam matrix (5)
22 Deposit nothing in the smaller amount (5)
Appendix 2: Answers to Crossword
1 SHANNON-Irish river. (flow-er, not flower).
5 DECODE-find the meaning of. "Ode" (poem) added to "DEC."
9 INNOCENT-opposite of "guilty." "O" (zero) "cent" (money) after "inn" (pub).
10 BEACON-guiding light. Literally in "could (be a con)-fused".
12 DEEP END-profound conclusion. "Pen" (writer) jumping into (hint) "deed" (action).
13 EXTREME-ultimate. Literally in "t"(ext reme)dies.
14 EULER-Swiss mathematician. "E" (east, i.e. oriental) plus changed (anagram of) "rule."
16 INTRO-colloquial short form of "introduction," i.e. preamble. Wild (anagram of) "riot" about (around) "N" (compass point).
17 EXTRA-something more. "Ex" ("expert" less four letters of six) plus "tra," i.e. "art" back(ward).
18 APART-separated. A-part (piece).
20 AFRICAN-continental. Maybe (anagram of) "i" (one) "fan car."
21 ANNULAR-ring-shaped, around. Annul (abolish) a (right).
23 RETAIN-keep. "E" and "T" (head and tail of "elephant") in(side) "rain."
24 DISTRESS-heartache. Di’s (Dianna’s) tress (lock of hair).
25 YEMENI-type of Arab. "Men" and "I" after "ye" (half of "year," i.e. six months).
26 ENCASES-surrounds. "Ease" surrounding (double use) "NC" added to "S" (compass point).
1 SWINDLE-something not fair. "Win" in(side) perhaps (anagram of) "sled."
2 ANNIE-noted (musical) lady. Advised to get a gun (arms).
3 NUCLEAR REACTION-powerful reaction (response) from nucleus (heart). Extra hint: "r" (right) taken from "heart" gives "heat."
4 NON-ADDICTING-not habit-forming. Possibly (anagram of) "did on gin can’t."
6 ELECTROMAGNETIC-a (kind of) wave. Generated from charges of the kind (brigade) that produce light (i.e., accelerating electric ones).
7 ORCHESTRA-something that makes harmony. "H" (chemical symbol for hydrogen) in(side) turbulent (anagram of) "star core."
8 ERNIE-man’s name. "N" (head of "Norman") in(side) "Erie" (lake).
11 TEST DATA FILE-experimental results. Reorganized (anagram of) "let’s fit a date."
15 LOGARITHM-type of number. Phonetically similar to "logger" (lumberjack) "rhythm" (music).
19 THRUSTS-urges progress (mechanically, not politically). "H" (initial of "Hoover") in(side) "trust," over (literally) "S" (South).
20 ARRAY-matrix. "Ar" (chemical symbol for argon) plus "ray" (beam).
22 LOESS-geological deposit. "0" (nothing) in(side) "less" (smaller amount).