"I bet you would at that," said Herb.
"Only a few of the denizens we called have arrived," said the Engineer.
"More of them should have come. Others may be on their way. We are afraid…”
He must have decided not to say what was on his mind, for thought clicked off, broken in the middle of the sentence.
"Afraid?" asked Kingsley. "Afraid of what?”
"Funny," said Gary, almost to himself. "Funny they should be afraid of anything.”
"Not afraid for ourselves," explained the Engineer. "Afraid that we may be forced to halt our work. Afraid of an interruption. Afraid someone will interfere.”
"But who would interfere?" asked Caroline. "Who could possibly interfere in a thing like this? The danger is a common one. All things within the universe should unite to try to fight it.”
"What you say is right," declared the Engineer. "So right that it seems impossible any could think otherwise. But there are some who do. A race so blinded by ambition and by hatred that they see in this approaching Catastrophe an opportunity to wipe us out, to destroy the Engineers.”
The Earthlings stood stock-still, shocked.