The sand no longer smokes and steams by the time two of the Terrans appear. We watch for the Klygha as they lower what he called a helicopter down the side of their shell on a long strand of metal; because it is no longer easy for him to watch through the cat. The Terrans, since they started back, do not always permit the cat to see what they do or hear what they say.
Now, however, the one called Joe Ramirez takes the cat with him inside the helicopter. He makes the branches on top spin around, until the helicopter floats into the air and swims through it toward the hills.
When it approaches the place where we feel the Klygha to be, the cat sees him standing in an open space near the wreck. Joe sees him only when the cat speaks, because he looks at the wreck. We wish the cat would also observe the wreck—for it would give us pleasure to see the Klygha's mistake—but it is not allowed, lest it lose sight of the Klygha. For the first time, we see him through another mind than his own.
He is halfway between the size of a Terran and of one of us. Having only four limbs like them, he still looks different. His skin is loose and baggy, covered with fine, dark gray down; but most of it is hidden by a covering cleverly made to fit around the Klygha's body and limbs. The cat sees this as light gray, but we remember that when the Klygha considered himself in his travelling-shell the covering seemed to him the color of the sky.
For the rest, he resembles the picture he had of himself—he did not trouble to deceive us. His head is flatter and longer than those of the Terrans, and grows from his body in a different way. Because he has two eyes, large and gleaming black, he reminds one of a Terran. That is, the two eyes set right in the head and the four limbs make him look more like a Terran than the small mouth like that of a sucking fish makes him look different. We wonder if all beings from the stars have this general similarity.
He is quite nimble as he runs over to meet the landing helicopter. Now we see what it is to run. At times, no part of the Klygha touches the ground, any more than we touch sand in skimming along the sea bottom. But to do this on land! It must be wonderful.
Joe does not act surprised. We have seen the Terrans walking on the beach but perhaps they can run also. Joe seems more interested in examining the Klygha carefully after he halts beside the helicopter. The Terran then raises a shining thing to his mouth and speaks.
"He looks clean, for all I can see. Somehow, he seems to look worried, too."
Noises answer him, and the cat understands them as the voice of Halloran.