“Hell, I don’t know. I just feel so helpless.”

A car came out of the trees in the north, the direction of the harbor. It swung into the parking lot. Three of the islanders got out, walked to the front of the temple, and went inside. Moments later, two more cars came in from the opposite direction. It gradually became a stream, vehicles arriving from both sides. And a few pedestrians emerged out of the forest. The islanders seemed a bit better dressed than they’d been in the past. The drab, wrinkled clothing was gone, replaced by pressed shirts and trousers. Some wore cloth caps with brims.

A few noticed the two strangers on the front deck of the cottage. But unlike the response of the previous day, Derek and Hutch didn’t draw much attention. The visitors lifted their hands in a friendly gesture, and then turned and proceeded toward the front entrance of the temple, where they climbed the stone steps and went inside.

“Religious service, I guess,” said Derek.

“Incredible,” said Hutch.

“How do you mean?”

“They have temples, cars, houses, ships, parking lots. If the vehicles looked a little better and these guys didn’t look like dolphins, I’d think we were back in the twentieth century.”

Derek shrugged. “How else could their development happen, Priscilla? I’d be willing to bet that every technological culture we find is going to look like this in its early stages. You need all this stuff.”

The door behind them opened and Ken looked out.

“What?” said Derek.

“I was thinking I’d like to go over to the temple and watch.”

“That’s probably not a good idea. We’ve no way of knowing what it might lead to.”

“Oh no, I’m not dumb enough to try it. But I’d love to see what goes on.” He stayed and watched until the cars stopped coming and the last of the islanders had gone inside. A few minutes later, music began. It was string instruments and they were joined quickly by a chorus. It wasn’t like listening to the Washington Symphony, but they were good, the music flowed, and most remarkable of all, the harmony was there. Or maybe it wasn’t so remarkable. Maybe there wasn’t more than one way to build an ear.

Derek excused himself and went inside. The temple music changed tone, the singing faded, and Hutch assumed a ceremony had started. Another car arrived and three more islanders got out and hurried inside. Shortly after that, the building went silent, except for an occasional voice. Then, after a while, the choral group was back.

“We haven’t found much yet in the way of civilizations,” Ken said. “But so far, every one of them had religion.”