but
it will be done."

[Illustration]

* * * * *

The Russians halted and they faced each other with raw hostility.

"I am Colonel Borodoy and I regret giving up our guns," the senior
Russian said. "You could have been the first Americans to be killed in
almost eight years."

"Or the first Americans to kill," Franks corrected.

"No one would know of it except yourselves," the leady pointed out. "It
would be useless heroism. Your real concern should be surviving on the
surface. We have no food for you, you know."

Taylor put his gun in its holster. "They've done a neat job of
neutralizing us, damn them. I propose we move into a city, start raising
crops with the help of some leadys, and generally make ourselves
comfortable." Drawing his lips tight over his teeth, he glared at the
A-class leady. "Until our families can come up from undersurface, it's
going to be pretty lonesome, but we'll have to manage."

"If I may make a suggestion," said another Russian uneasily. "We tried
living in a city. It is too empty. It is also too hard to maintain for
so few people. We finally settled in the most modern village we could
find."

"Here in this country," a third Russian blurted. "We have much to learn
from you."

The Americans abruptly found themselves laughing.

"You probably have a thing or two to teach us yourselves," said Taylor
generously, "though I can't imagine what."

The Russian colonel grinned. "Would you join us in our village? It would
make our work easier and give us company."

"Your village?" snapped Franks. "It's American, isn't it? It's ours!"

The leady stepped between them. "When our plans are completed, the term
will be interchangeable. 'Ours' will eventually mean mankind's." It
pointed at the aircraft, which was warming up. "The ship is waiting.
Will you join each other in making a new home?"

The Russians waited while the Americans made up their minds.

"I see what the leadys mean about diplomacy becoming outmoded," Franks
said at last. "People who work together don't need diplomats. They solve
their problems on the operational level instead of at a conference
table."

The leady led them toward the ship. "It is the goal of history, unifying
the world. From family to tribe to city-state to nation to hemisphere,
the direction has been toward unification. Now the hemispheres will be
joined and--"

Taylor stopped listening and glanced back at the location of