was probably driven in the way we were. He'd go
to ground somewhere. And I have this--" Ross touched the sonic on his
belt. "I'll set it on his call; you do the same with yours. Then if we
get within distance, he'll pick us up. Back here in two hours--"

"Yes." Karara kicked free of the weed, was already wading down to where
the dolphins circled in the cave pool waiting for her. Ross followed,
and the four swam for the open sea.

It could not be much after dawn, Ross thought, as he clung by one hand
to a rock and watched Karara and the dolphins on their way. Then he
paddled along the shore northward for his own survey of the coast. There
was a rose cast in the sky, warming the silver along the far reaches of
the horizon. And about him bobbed storm flotsam, so that he had to pick
a careful way through floating debris.

On the reef one of the wrecked ships had vanished entirely. Perhaps it
had been battered to death by the waves, ground to splinters against the
rocks. The other still held, its prow well out of the now receding
waves, jagged holes in its sides through which spurts of water cascaded
now and then.

The wreck which had been driven landward was composed of planks, boxes,
and containers rolled by the waves' force. Much of this was already free
of the sea, and on the beach figures moved examining it. In spite of the
danger of chance discovery, Ross edged along rocks, seeking a vantage
point from which he could watch that activity.

He was flat against a sea-girt boulder, a swell of floating weed draped
about him, when the nearest of the foraging parties moved into good
view.

Men ... at least they had the outward appearance of men much like
himself, though their skin was dark and their limbs appeared
disproportionately long and thin. There were two groups of them, four
wearing only a scanty loincloth, busy turning over and hunting through
the debris under the direction of the other two.

The workers had thick growths of hair which not only covered their
heads, but down their spines and the outer sides of their thin arms and
legs to elbow and knee. The hair was a pallid yellow-white in vivid
contrast to their dark skins, and their chins protruded sharply,
allowing the lower line of their faces to take on a vaguely disturbing
likeness to an animal's muzzle.

Their overseers were more fully clothed, wearing not only helmets on
their heads, whose helms had a protective visor over the face, but also
breast-