Lockley swallowed. He couldn't believe this immediately. He knew
nothing of radar reports or the seismograph record. He'd seen a barely
balanced rock roll down the mountainside below him, and he'd heard a
growling bass rumble behind the horizon, but things like that didn't
add up to a conclusion like this! His first conviction was that Vale
was out of his head.

"Listen," said Lockley carefully. "There's a short wave set over at
the construction camp. They use it all the time for orders and reports
and so on. You go there and report officially what you've seen. To the
Park Service first, and then try to get a connection through to the
Army."

Vale's voice came through again, at once raging and despairing, "_They
won't believe me. They'll think I'm a crackpot. You get the news to
somebody who'll investigate. I see the thing, Lockley. I can see it
now. At this instant. And Jill's over at the construction camp_--"

Lockley was unreasonably relieved. If Jill was at the camp, at least
she wasn't alone with a man gone out of his mind. The reaction was
normal. Lockley had seen nothing out of the ordinary, so Vale's report
seemed insane.

"_Listen here!_" panted Vale again. "_The thing came down. There was a
terrific explosion. It vanished. Nothing happened for a while. Then it
came up and found a place where it could come to shore. Things came
out of it. I can't describe them. They're motes even in my binoculars.
But they aren't human! A lot of them came out. They began to land
things. Equipment. They set it up. I don't know what it is. Some of