But not for long. She came erect suddenly. Biddy was not home yet! She was out there in the desert. A drunken mob was moving out there somewhere. With a choked cry, Jane Parker ran off into the night. After a while she began calling—"Biddy—Biddy baby—where are you? Where are you?"
But the stars were silent and the night was silent too....
Joe had heard the sounds of the approaching crowd. He came from the cave where he had just got the report of zero-minute two hours away and waited in front of the cave. He looked up into the heavens from where, very shortly, a small, dark ship would arc in and settle quietly down.
The headlights of the car leading the crowd cut two paths through the night and he stepped out into their radiance. Instantly an unpleasant voice barked, "You there! Stand still. Don't move. I've got you covered."
From curiosity rather than fear, Joe remained where he was. The voice and the harsh discordant vibrations from the crowd in the background fascinated him. What sort of a demonstration was this? What strange primitive motivations generated the black aura about these people?
A scowling figure emerged from the gloom and peered over his shoulder into the cave. "What you got in there?"
"The equipment I brought with me."
"Where'd you bring it from?"
The mob was straining forward to hear and a baleful silence waited to be broken by Joe's answer. "From the Galaxy—well, the Galaxy Capital I suppose you'd call it."