The next was the last.
It was nearly noon when one of the Zan came. After the ritual, he stood in the doorway, looking more alien than ever. It would be interesting to describe him for you, but there aren’t words.
He said, “We go. Our coun-cil met and de-cid-ed,”
“Another of you died?”
“Last night. This is pla-net of death ”
Walter nodded. “You did your share. You’re leaving two hundred and thirteen creatures alive, out of quite a few billion. Don’t hurry back.”
“Is there an-y-thing we can do?”
“Yes. You can hurry. And you can leave our door unlocked, but not the others. We’ll take care of the others.”
Something clicked on the door; the Zan left.
Grace Evans was standing, her eyes shining.