Dodeth suddenly felt as though his eyes had suddenly focused after being unfocused for a long time. He gestured toward the clearing. "You mean those ... those things ... are ... human?"
"Yes sir," said Arvam solidly.
"But they don't even talk!"
"Pardon me for correcting you sir, but they do. I cannot understand their speech, but the pattern is clearly recognizable as speech. Most of their conversation is carried on in tones of subsonic frequency, so your ears cannot hear it. Apparently, your voices are supersonic to them."
"Well, I'll be fried," said Dodeth. He looked at the Elder Keeper. "That's why the robots reported they couldn't find any animal of that description in the vicinity."
"Certainly. There weren't any."
"And we were so fooled by their monstrous appearance that we didn't pay any attention to their actions," said Dodeth.
"Exactly."
"But this makes the puzzle even worse," said Dodeth. "How could such a creature evolve?"
"Look!" interrupted one of the other Keepers, pointing. "Up there in the sky!"