“Maybe if they’d remained in friendly contact, there might have been some accommodation. But there was no commerce or even communication between the races. So the Others hit them with one overwhelming blow.”

“As they attempted to do with us,” Paul said.

“No, not at all.” Spy shook its head slowly back and forth. “You have to stop thinking that way. The Others posed a problem for you, and you successfully solved it. This Home planet was too close for them to risk that.”

“If there were no survivors.” Fly- in-Amber said, “where did we come from?”

“There’s no direct line of succession. You were modeled after these Home creatures but independently manufactured. There are various anatomical differences.”

“I’m glad we have the extra hands,” Snowbird said, wiggling fingers.

“And you’re organized differently,” Spy said. “Each one of you is born into a specialty, born with its appropriate language and vocabulary. These Home ones were born dumb, like humans, and had to learn language.”

“But they had freedom to do whatever they wanted?” I asked.

“That isn’t known,” Spy said. “The Others left Home before you humans parted company with the Neanderthals.” There was a barely audible scraping sound. “We’re back.”

“Back where?” There hadn’t been any sensation of movement.

“In orbit, on your iceberg.” I moved to where I could see the ports by the air-lock lips. They showed our lander with the transfer cable.

Namir stepped over and looked out. “So. We go on now? To meet the Others?”

The expression on its face was close to embarrassment. “Actually, not all of you. We discussed this, Other-prime and I, with the Others. All of them.”

“Just now?” Meryl said.

“No, we had time to talk with the Others for about a month before we left to meet you here. They discussed various possible courses of action.

“This one is best. Of course, they can’t have a conversation with you in any sense. So they worked out every probable combination of relevant factors and allowed me, with Other-prime, to make the final evaluation and speak for them. Other-prime gave me a final piece of input a few minutes ago.”

“Telepathy?” Dustin said.

It tapped its ear. “More like radio. We won’t kill you all, which was an option much discussed, and still favored by a minority.”

“But you will kill some of us,” Namir said, almost a whisper.

“No, not killing, not like murder. We must take two of you, a human and a Martian, back to the planet of the Others.”

“For how long?” I asked.

It paused, I think not for drama. “It would be forever. You would be joining the Others, physically.”

“Frozen solid?” Elza said.

“You would have nitrogen, a liquid, in your veins.”

“The Martian would have to be me,” Fly-in-Amber said.

“That’s right,” Spy said. “The human . . .”

There was a lengthy silence. Paul half raised his hand. “I—”