"Then, father, the invaders killed off all the Earth-lings?" "Not all. They killed many, but many others were enslaved. Just as the humans had used horses and cattle, the newcomers so used the humans. They made workers out of some, others they slaughtered for food." "Papa, what sort of language did these Star-beings talk?" "A very simple language, but the humans were never able to master it. So, the invaders, being so much smarter, mastered all the languages of the globe." "What did the Earth-lings call the invaders, father?" "'An-vils'. Half angels, half devils." "Then, papa, everything was peaceful on Earth after the An-vils enslaved the humans?" * * * * * "For a little while. Then, some of the most daring of the humans, led by a man named Knowall, escaped into the interior of Greenland. This Knowall was a psychiatrist, the foremost on Earth." "What's a psychiatrist?" "A dealer in ideas." "Then, he was very rich?" "He'd been the richest human on Earth. After some profound thought, Knowall figured a way to rid the earth of the An-vils." "How, papa?" "He perfected a method, called the Knowall-Hughes, Ilinski technique, of imbuing these An-vils with human emotions." "What does 'imbuing' mean?" "He filled them full of and made them aware of." Zenia interrupted, "Aren't you talking a bit above the child's understanding, Drake?" "No, mama," said Zoe. "I understand what papa explained. Now, don't interrupt." "So, Knowall," continued Drake, "filled the An-vils with human feelings such as Love, Hate, Ambition, Jealousy, Malice, Envy, Despair, Hope, Fear, Shame and so on. Very soon the An-vils were acting like humans, and in ten days, terrible civil wars wiped out the An-vils' population by two-thirds." "Then, papa, the An-vils finally killed off each other?" "Almost, until among them a being named Zalibar, full of saintliness and persuasion, preached the brotherhood of all An-vils. The invaders, quickly converted, quit their quarrels, and the Earth-lings were even more enslaved." "Oh, papa, weren't Knowall and his followers in Greenland awfully sad the way things had turned out?" "For a while. Then Knowall came up with the final pay-off." "Is that slang, papa? Pay-off?" "Yes. The coup-de-grace. The ace in the hole that he'd saved, if all else failed." "I understand, papa. The idea that would out-trump anything the other side had to offer. What was it, father? What did they have?" "Knowall imbued the An-vils with nostalgia." "What is nostalgia?" "Home sickness." "Oh, papa, wasn't Knowall smart? That meant, the An-vils were all filled with the desire to fly back to the star from where they had started." "Exactly. So, one day, all the An-vils, an immense army, flapping their great green wings, assembled in the Black Hills of North America, and, at a given signal, they all rose up from Earth and all the humans chanted, 'Glory, glory, the day of our deliverance!'"