er was sent out at once. We saw
him start toward the direction of your lines. We covered him until he
was out of sight."

"Alex Radrivsky. We both knew him. He disappeared about six o'clock.
The sun had just come up. About noon Klaus and I had an hour relief.
We crept off, away from the bunkers. No one was watching. We came
here. There used to be a town here, a few houses, a street. This
cellar was part of a big farmhouse. We knew Tasso would be here,
hiding down in her little place. We had come here before. Others from
the bunkers came here. Today happened to be our turn."

"So we were saved," Klaus said. "Chance. It might have been others.
We--we finished, and then we came up to the surface and started back
along the ridge. That was when we saw them, the Davids. We understood
right away. We had seen the photos of the First Variety, the Wounded
Soldier. Our Commissar distributed them to us with an explanation. If
we had gone another step they would have seen us. As it was we had to
blast two Davids before we got back. There were hundreds of them, all
around. Like ants. We took pictures and slipped back here, bolting the
lid tight."

"They're not so much when you catch them alone. We moved faster than
they did. But they're inexorable. Not like living things. They came
right at us. And we blasted them."

Major Hendricks rested against the edge of the lid, adjusting his eyes
to the darkness. "Is it safe to have the lid up at all?"

"If we're careful. How else can you operate your transmitter?"

Hendricks lifted the small belt transmitter slowly. He pressed it
against his ear. The metal was cold and damp. He blew against the
mike, raising up the short antenna. A faint hum sounded in his ear.
"That's true, I suppose."

But he still hesitated.

"We'll pull you under if anything happens," Klaus said.

"Thanks." Hendricks waited a moment, resting the transmitter against
his shoulder. "Interesting, isn't it?"

"What?"

"This, the new types. The new varieties of claws. We're completely at
their mercy, aren't we? By now they've probably gotten into the UN
lines, too. It makes me wonder if we're not seeing the beginning of a
now species. _The_ new species. Evolution. The race to come after
man."

* * * * *

Rudi grunted. "There is no race after man."

"No? Why not? Maybe we're seeing it now the end of human beings, the
beginning of the new society."

"They're not a race. They're