ng cavern, filled
it, and piled mountainously above it; receding and piling up, again and
again; causing tidal waves which swept a full half of Nevia's mighty,
watery globe. That city was silenced--forever.

"MY ... GOD!" Cleveland was the first to break the awed, the stunned,
silence. He licked his lips. "But we had it to do ... and at that, it's
not as bad as what they did to Pittsburgh--they would have evacuated all
except military personnel."

"Of course ... what next?" asked Rodebush. "Look around, I suppose, to
see if they have any more...."

"Oh, no, Conway--no! Don't let them!" Clio was sobbing openly. "I'm
going to my room and crawl under the bed--I'll see that sight all the
rest of my life!"

"Steady, Clio." Costigan's arm tightened around her. "We'll have to
look, but we won't find any more. One--if they could have finished
it--would have been enough."

Again and again the _Boise_ circled the world. No more super-powered
installations were being built. And, surprisingly enough, the Nevians
made no demonstration of hostility.

"I wonder why?" Rodebush mused. "Of course, we aren't attacking them,
either, but you'd think ... do you suppose that they are waiting for
Nerado?"

"Probably." Costigan paused in thought. "We'd better wait for him, too.
We can't leave things this way."

"But if we can't force engagement ... a stalemate...." Cleveland's voice
was troubled.

"We'll do _something_!" Costigan declared. "This thing has got to be
settled, some way or other, before we leave here. First, try talking.
I've got an idea that ... anyway, it can't do any harm, and I know that
he can hear and understand you."

Nerado arrived. Instead of attacking, his ship hung quietly poised, a
mile or two away from the equally undemonstrative _Boise_. Rodebush
directed a beam.

"Captain Nerado, I am Rodebush of Triplanetary. What do you wish to do
about this situation?"

"I wish to talk to you." The Nevian's voice came clearly from the
speaker. "You are, I now perceive, a much higher form of life than any
of us had thought possible; a form perhaps as high in evolution as our
own. It is a pity that we did not take the time for a full meeting of
minds when we first neared your planet, so that much life, both
Tellurian and Nevian, might have been spared. But what is past cannot be
recalled. As reasoning beings, however, you will see the futility of
continuing a combat in which neither is capable of winning victory ove