It was apparent that to remain where I was would be useless, since though I might escape discovery for a short time it would inevitably come. It would be better to make an effort at least, to find the others and the cruiser, even though such an effort would be stamped from the first as hopeless. To attempt to pass through the streets of this city seemed insane, yet to do so held the one slender chance of finding the others; so I summoned all my courage and crept out through the wide door and into the smooth-paved street outside.
There, pausing helplessly in the darkness, I listened intently. From all along the street came the flopping steps of the creatures moving this way or that. It seemed to me that it was along the edges of the street that fewest of the creatures moved; so, hugging the smooth walls of the buildings, I began to creep forward.
As flopping steps approached me though the darkness ahead I halted, for I knew that the sound of my own steps would betray me to the keen hearing of these creatures. In a moment the approaching creature had passed me and again I took up my careful progress forward. Again I halted as there came other steps near me. Slowly I made my way along the street, crouching motionless whenever any of the creatures neared me, praying that they might not collide with me. Blindly I felt my way forward through this city of awful night.
At last I felt myself at the street's end, with no more of the smooth-walled buildings beside me. I seemed emerging into a great open space, across which came a tremendous bustle of activity. I moved out a little into it, crouching every few instants as flopping steps came and went about me, until I struck something like a great smoothly curving wall of metal before me. For an instant I felt of it and then was motionless in amazement, for it took but that instant for me to recognize what was before me. It was a great interstellar ship, like those that plied the galaxy in countless thousands, and like those that had been drawn into this cosmic cloud in thousands!
For a moment astonishment held me to the exclusion of all else. That this before me was one of the thousands of ships that had been drawn into the cloud I could not doubt.
Had all then been captured like our own by these creatures of darkness? What could it mean?
I was aware that a tremendous activity was going on far around and before me, and as I made my way cautiously through the darkness along the hull of the ship I heard a stream of creatures pouring in and out of its space-doors, busy carrying in things of metal that clanked against the doors as they went through them. Avoiding them, I moved to the side and in moments had come to another great interstellar ship that was the center of a similar scene of activity. Evidently there were a great number of them in the open space before me, and as evidently they were being prepared and fitted by these creatures of darkness for some great enterprise. But that enterprise-what could it be?
I stifled the wonder and amazement that were strong in me, though, for I realized that this swarming place was one of the most dangerous I could encounter. It was inevitable that some of the creatures would collide with me in the darkness, if I stayed there long, so reluctantly I crept back toward the street from which I had emerged.
It did not seem that street which I entered again, though, but a narrower one. There were in it fewer of the city's creatures than in the other street, though I heard still the flopping steps of many of them hastening to and from the open space and interstellar ships which I had just left. I started along it, blindly and aimlessly, not knowing whether I was going back in the direction from which I had come, and not caring greatly. For by that time it seemed clear to me that I was destined to wander blindly through the darkness of the city until discovered and captured, so slender seemed any hope that remained to me.
Still I observed all caution, crouching low each time the sound of approaching creatures came to my ears, not moving until they had passed. Once as I flattened myself thus the flap-like limb or foot of the passing thing actually touched my hand, so close did it come to me, but as I did not move the thing passed on.