"They're just what they appear to be," said Zor Ala solemnly. He looked at Randall, and his fine eyes were bleak. "They are a species of insect which has apparently progressed both in size and in intellect far beyond any other life form of this period. And unlike the insects of my time, and undoubtedly of yours, these things act through intelligent reasoning rather than through a set pattern of instincts."
"But," interrupted Doctor Gerard, "according to the theory of most Entomologists of my time, it would be impossible for an insect to attain the size of these creatures! Their bodily structure is wrong. They couldn't support their own weight. And if they could, their inefficient breathing tubes and trachea couldn't furnish their bodies with sufficient oxygen, nor remove the waste products!"
Zor Ala smiled tolerantly. "The proof of possibility is their existence," he said. "Your contemporaries' theory is obviously incorrect.
"How can one deny the possibility of huge insects without knowing the strength of materials in their supporting structure? Do the gigantic Sequoias in North America collapse because of their almost four hundred foot height, as a Balsa undoubtedly would if it attained the same size?
"Is it philosophically logical that, because insects of your day possessed an exoskeleton incapable of supporting larger creatures, that these creatures must also possess those exact characteristics? Such an argument is absurd. Evolution fits the strength of the supporting structure to the weight it must support. And naturally the means for oxygenation and elimination are likewise accommodated."
Doctor Gerard was still unconvinced, but Randall got in the next word.
"How many more of you are there?" he asked. "Have you any more companions from your own Age?"
Zor Ala shook his head. "No more from my own time, but there are more than a hundred humans from other ages," he said. "Come, they are anxious to meet the new arrivals."
He led them to a large structure which bulked in a central position, surrounded by the smaller buildings.
An oddly-assorted but unquestionably colorful group of humans greeted their entrance in a dozen different tongues. They gathered around the new arrivals with a hundred excited queries.