The Visitors (v1.0)

42. MINNEAPOLIS

For days, they had kept their vigil, but now the vigil ended. The group of Lovers who, on the day the visitor had landed on the airstrip, had fought their way onto the field, stood in stricken silence and watched the visitor slowly lift off the runway and sail away into the sky.

"We failed," said one of them, a gaunt young man with stringy hair and an ascetic face.

"We did not fail," said the willowy girl who stood beside him. "It felt our love. I know it felt our love."

"But it made no sign. It did not take us up. It took others up…"

An airport guard, one of the many who manned the barricades that had been thrown around the visitor, said, to no one in particular. "Let's break it up. It's ended now. Why don't you all go home."

"Because we are already home," said the youth with the ascetic face. "The Earth is home. The universe is home."

"I can't understand these kids," said the guard to a fellow guard. "Can you understand them? Christ, they been here for days, just hunkering down with sappy expressions on their faces."

"No," said the other guard. "I don't understand them. I never even tried to."

"Now let's clear out," said the first guard to the band of Lovers. "The show is over, folks. There's nothing left for you."

The crowd began breaking up, slowly drifting off the field.

"They should never have let them in," said the second guard. "It was against all rules. Someone could have gotten killed."

"There wasn't any danger," said the first guard. "The strip was closed. If they hadn't been let in, we'd have had a running fight that might have gone on for days to keep them out of here. The commission thought this was the better way. I'll say this much for the kids; once they were let out here, they behaved themselves. They never caused any trouble."

The second guard said, "They were loving it. They were showing it their love. Did you ever hear such goddamn foolishness?"

The other guard grunted in disgust.

By this time, the visitor was a small speck in the western sky.

In the Tribune newsroom, Gold put the phone back in the cradle. He said to Garrison, "The one on Highway 12 is gone, too. Lifted off and left about the same time as the one at the airport."

"Almost as if there were some sort of signal, telling them to go," said Garrison. "I wonder what they're up to."

"This is the second phase," said Gold.

"What do you mean—the second phase?"

"Well, the first phase was when they came and looked us over. They've finished with that. Now they're doing something else."

"How do you reach that conclusion?"

"I don't know, Johnny. I'm just guessing."

"Maybe they are finished with what they came to do. They may be going into space, forming up again, getting set to go off someplace else. This may be the last we will see of them."

Hal Russell, the wire editor, came shuffling up the room. He stopped at the city desk. "A story just came in on the wires," he said. "They're leaving everywhere. It's not only here."

Garrison said to Gold, "Why don't you phone Lone Pine. Find out what's happening there."

Gold picked up the phone and began dialing.

Garrison asked Russell, "Anything else? Any hints? Any speculation?"

"Nothing," said Russell. "Just that they are leaving. Those that have been around for days are leaving."

"Damn!" said Garrison. "How do you handle such a story? There's a story here. Someone has to dig it out and I'd like it to be us. I know there is a story, but how can it be gotten at?"

"Jay and Kathy," said Russell. "They're the ones who know the most about the visitors. They may have some suggestions."

"Kathy's not here," said Garrison. "She's off on some wild goose chase. Phoned me last night. Said she was onto something that might be big. Wouldn't tell me what it was. Said I'd have to trust her. Al will be pissed off. He practically ordered me to get her back from Lone Pine. And here she's gone again."

He looked around the city room. "Where the hell is Jay?" he asked. "He's not at his desk. Is there anyone who might know where he is? How about you, Annie?"

The city desk secretary shook her head. "He's not signed out. I don't know where he is."

"Maybe he's in the can," said Russell.

Gold hung up the phone and said, "The visitors at Lone Pine have disappeared, too. Some of the youngsters are still there, chomping at the bales."

"What does Norton think of it?" asked Garrison.

"I didn't talk with Norton. I talked with Stuffy. He's holding down the office. Norton is out of town. Took off this morning for a canoe trip into the primitive area."