The Raciv and his officials had gazed in wonder through the ports as the ship rose thousands of feet into the air. Strangely enough they displayed no visible signs of fear (possibly the fact that there was little danger in falling on this world obviated that fear) but nevertheless the novelty of the experience did not escape them.
One of the little men directed his course. They were riding a wave of telepathic radiations, as spaceships follow a radio beam into port. And the occasion was destined to be a memorable one—one of great consequence. For the first time in centuries the peoples of two cities were to meet one another!
Contact between the cities had always been maintained thanks to the development of long range telepathy. Thus they were similar in culture, development and habits, but inter-city relations had been impossible due to the long distance between cities and the dread danger of being devoured by Griffs en route.
It was soul-inspiring to witness the embraces, the thoughts of tearful thankfulness, as the golden people saw their first opportunity in hundreds of years to be reunited in fact as well as spirit.
The second city's greatest sculptor, the finest the city of Malopa had ever known, fashioned a golden image of Michel Drawers, which was placed in one of the largest squares. The ensuing weeks were ones of great celebration.
Drawers would never forget the looks on the faces of the returning party as they rocketed back to Saeve. He knew they would never forget what he had done for them; that they envisaged a greater world of tomorrow, where the seven cities were united in a common bond of understanding and continued progress.
Even the original object of his voyage, the obtaining of Roxite, was consummated. One morning, accompanied by many of the nation's leading scientists, he strode to his star-ship, patted it affectionately and then withdrew the great atom blaster. A few minutes of calculating with the Roxitometer and he located the exact position of the deposit of Roxite.
The little people watched in awe as he held the powerful blast firmly in his two capable hands and guided its probings down into the bowels of the planet. After many hours of prodigious labor he had drawn enough Roxite from the cavity to sustain him comfortably for the rest of his natural life back on Earth.
He thought often of Earth now. For though this planet was very beautiful, a peculiar sort of a homesickness plagued him, and he longed more and more to return and view again the world of his birth.
He was strolling through one of the gorgeous forest paths with Trajores one day when the urge to confide in her finally beat down his barrier of timidity. He stopped her with a touch of his hand and told her.