Obviously, Abel Freeman's words were also being broadcast. Meanwhile the star ship glided into the sunset. Someone spoke briefly from her by radio. Harwell? "I hope you convince everybody, Freeman. I believe it does make sense. Not a cinch, though, even for us." That, too, came out of the address system, as the ship headed back toward its base. In his newer self, here on Earth, Ed breathed again, and his breathing was rapid. Once more the unseen future was a thrill. Yet he must not let glamour gild harsh uncertainties too much. He looked at the faces around him. Some were stern, some grinned in bravado under Abel Freeman's challenging sarcasm, but in most of them there was a special, eager light, almost avid. It looked as if Freeman's talk and the great craft that had come with it were turning the trick. But these were trivial dramatics, too. The real source of success--if it was that--was in a basic kinship of android vigor with the stars. Awakened, it could relinquish the Earth without regret. These people could feel a little like lesser gods now. Their strength and endurance matched the next step of progress. Now the fantastic gulf of distance didn't seem as wide as Freeman had once thought. From scattered android camps, messages came in, pointing generally toward deeper space. Yes, doubts were expressed. "Shall we leave our homes without even an argument? Are we complete fools?" "Yes, fools if we don't leave. We _can_ make a mass departure. And remember that this is the _only_ solution. Are they still too primitive for us to live with? The same fault might be ours. I wonder what they will say to our proposition?" Communications also flashed back and forth among the old race: "... They look like us but aren't. Their disguise and their powers hold a warning. No wonder so many of us think of them as something like medieval demons. Can we trust what they say? Or is it a trick to disarm us? How can we know? Yet they intrigue us. Man has always sought to borrow strength and permanence from the rocks and hills. Are they that achievement? And we ourselves have wanted the stars."