He must also have studied all his surroundings. He had reached the city's end. The wall ahead of him was without a gate. He had been sent on a foredoomed errand. Though I had been acting under orders, I felt a kind of shame at the part I had played in the deception.
Even then, however, he was not defeated. He struck out without delay to his right where there were few sentries, using his rooftop technique when needed, and reached a side gate within an hour. He dispatched the final sentry by dropping on him from a convenient balcony—he was probably too exhausted to risk a fight—and let himself out through the gate.
He walked with jaded steps back the way he had come, skirting the outside wall closely. At last he reached the meadow for which he had started seven hours earlier.
He must have guessed before this that the story of the waiting space ship was a hoax. But, giving the last of his strength, and hoping against hope, he had fought his way there. When the first rays of the morning sun showed him that the meadow was bare and empty his raw courage deserted him. He fell face forward on the red sand.
"I suggest we conclude our project with a final vote before we leave," Srtes said, a few minutes after we watched the alien come to the end of his resources. "I am certain no one of you can have any doubts as to what our decision must be." His passive face betrayed no emotion.
"Our plan, decided on soon after we learned of the Humans' existence," Srtes' voice droned on, "was to make an early contact. If the Humans proved a race whose physical and mental strength equaled or surpassed our own, prudence would indicate that we seek peace. If we found them weak, we would exterminate them, and take over their world. The dominant factor in our decision was to be our study of the specimen we brought back, and how he conducted himself in the Big Run. We have all seen the results of that experiment."
Srtes looked about the room. "Are we all agreed that the only wise course—in view of our observations—is to do everything in our power to establish peaceful relations with the Earthmen?"
There was no dissenting vote.
"When our envoys leave for Earth an honored place will be made for our visitor," Srtes added.