d builders were of near-human intelligence. Unfortunately, their
bodies appeared to have lacked hard and durable parts, since nothing
that could be construed as their remains was found; and what Lieutenant
Vaughn regarded as undeniable artifacts, on the level of very early
Man's work, looked to others like chance shards and lumps of the tough,
shell-like material of which the ruins were composed.

Therefore, while Vaughn was--as Jackson had pointed out--really dizzy
with delight when Ronald Black, that giant of Earth's news media, first
indicated an interest in the ruins and his theories about them, this
feeling soon became mixed with acute anxiety. For such a chance surely
would not come again if the visitors remained unconvinced by what he
showed them, and what--actually--did he have to show? In the morning,
when the party set out, Vaughn was in a noticeably nervous frame of
mind.

Two hours later, he burst into the anteroom of the base commander's
office in Fort Roye, where the warrant on duty almost failed to
recognize him. Lieutenant Vaughn's eyes glittered through their thick
lenses; his face was red and he was grinning from ear to ear. He pounded
past the startled warrant, pulled open the door to the inner office
where Colonel Thayer sat with the visiting Territorial Commissioner, and
plunged inside.

"Sir," the warrant heard him quaver breathlessly, "I have the proof--the
undeniable proof! They _were_ intelligent beings. They did _not_ die of
disease. They were exterminated in war! They were ... but see for
yourself!" There was a thud as he dropped something on the polished
table top between the commissioner and Colonel Thayer. "_That_ was dug
up just now--among their own artifacts!"

Silas Thayer was on his feet, sucking in his breath for the blast that
would hurl his blundering Science Officer back out of the office. What
halted him was an odd, choked exclamation from Commissioner Sanford. The
colonel's gaze flicked over to the visitor, then followed Sanford's
stare to the object on the table.

For an instant, Colonel Thayer froze.

Vaughn was bubbling on. "And, sir, I ..."

"Shut up!" Thayer snapped. He continued immediately, "You say this was
found in the diggings in the ruins?"

[Illustration]

"Yes, sir--just now! It's ..."

Lieutenant Vaughn checked himself under the colonel's stare, some
dawning comprehension of the enormous irregularities he'd committed
showing in his flushed face. He licke