Later, as they talked, they saw that the map had told each of them, individually, the same thing. "They had a star-drive," Tom said. "Whatever kind of creatures they were, and whatever the disaster that threatened their planet, they had a star-drive to take them out of the Solar System to another star."
"But why leave a record?" Greg wanted to know. "If nobody was here to use it...."
"Maybe for the same reason that Earthmen bury time capsules with records of their civilization," Major Briarton said. "I'd guess that the records here will tell, when they have been studied and deciphered. Perhaps there was already some sign of intelligent life developing elsewhere in the Solar System. Perhaps they hoped that some of their own people would survive. But they had a star-drive, so some of them must have escaped. And with the record here...."
"We may be able to follow them," Greg said.
"If we can decipher the record," Johnny Coombs said. "But we don't have any clue to their language."
"Did you have any trouble understanding what the map had to say?" the Major said quietly.
"No...."
"I don't think the rest will be much more difficult. They were intelligent creatures. The record will be understandable, all right." He started to fold the map back into a tube again. "Maybe Roger Hunter tried to use the film projector. We'll never know. But he must have realized that he had discovered the secret of a star-drive. He realized that the United Nations were the ones to explore it and use it, and he gave his life to keep it out of the hands of Tawney and his men...."
"A pity," a cold voice said close behind them, "that he didn't succeed, after all."
They whirled. In the hatchway to the after-cabin, Merrill Tawney was standing, with a smile on his lips and a Markheim stunner trained directly on Major Briarton's chest.