a galaxy?" the thin man said. Walden could perceive that he
really didn't know.

Eric's fear lessened. These men weren't laughing at him. They weren't
being just polite, either. They were interested. He smiled at them,
shyly, and told them about the books and the wonderful, strange tales of
the past that the books told. The men listened, nodding from time to
time. But he knew that they didn't understand. The world of the books
was his alone....

"Well?" Walden looked at the others. They looked back. Their emotions
were a welter of doubt, of indecision.

"You've heard the boy," Walden said quietly, thrusting his own
uneasiness down, out of his thoughts.

"Yes." Abbot hesitated. "He seems bright enough--quite different from
what I'd expected. At least he's not like the ones who grew up wild in
the hills. This boy isn't a savage."

Walden shrugged. "Maybe they weren't savages either," he suggested.
"After all, it's been fifty years since the last of them died. And a lot
of legends can spring up in fifty years."

"Perhaps we have been worrying unnecessarily." Abbot got up to go, but
his eyes still held Walden's. "But," he added, "it's up to you to watch
him. If he reverts, becomes dangerous in any way, he'll have to be
locked up. That's final."

The others nodded.

"I'll watch him," Walden told them. "Just stop worrying."

He stood at the door and waited until they were out of sight. Then and
only then did he allow himself to sigh and taste the fear he'd kept
hidden. The old men, the men with authority, were the dangerous ones.

Walden snorted. Even with perception, men could be fools.

* * * * *

The summer that Eric was sixteen Walden took him to the museum. The
aircar made the trip in just a few hours--but it was farther than Eric
had ever traveled in his life, and farther than most people ever
bothered traveling.

The museum lay on an open plain where there weren't many houses. At
first glance it was far from impressive. Just a few big buildings,
housing the artifacts, and a few old ruins of ancient constructions,
leveled now and half buried in the sands.

"It's nothing." Eric looked down at it, disappointed. "Nothing at all."

"What did you expect?" Walden set the aircar down between the two
largest buildings. "You knew it wouldn't be like the pictures in the
books. You knew that none of the old race's cities are left."

"I know," Eric said. "But I expected more than