The Visitors

"Oh, well," said Gold, "it was only an idea."

39. IOWA

The river gurgled and lapped against the shore. Dick's Landing, located on a shelf several feet above the river, was made up of several dilapidated buildings. Above the buildings reared the steep heights of the Iowa bluffs. Beyond the river's edge was an island that hemmed in the cha

Jerry stood on the river bank, watching the progress of the small rowboat powered by a small and sputtering motor. The boat made its doubtful, hesitating way up the cha

Opposite the landing, the man angled the boat in toward shore, finally bringing it in against the shaky dock. When he clambered from the boat and tied it, Jerry saw that he was older than he first had thought. His hair was an unruly iron-gray and his shoulders slightly stooped, but when he moved it was with the sprightly spring of a man much younger.

He came along the walkway of the dock and up the bank. When he came close, Jerry asked, "Are you Jimmy Qui

The man halted in his tracks and looked at him with clear blue eyes, the skin at the corners of them wrinkled and squeezed into intricate crows-feet.

"That I am," he said. "Who's asking?"

"The name is Jerry Conklin. I was told you'd be coming in Soon. I understand you know these bottoms."

"Man and boy I've known the Wi

"I understand that some of the visitors have landed somewhere

the area, somewhere in these river bottoms."

"Visitors? Visitors? Oh, yes, now I know. I've heard the name.

You mean those big black boxes folks say came out of the sky."

"That's what I mean," said Jerry. "You sound as if you saw one.~~

"Over on Goose Island," said Qui

"Would you be willing to take me to them?"

"Not now," said Qui

"Tomorrow, then. Or the day after tomorrow, more than likely. There is someone else who will want to go along. It may take me a while to locate this other person and she'll have to drive down from Mi

"A woman?"

"Yes, a woman.

"What would a woman want with them visitors?"

"She just possibly may know more about them than anyone in

the world today."

"I be damned," said Qui

to expect of a woman. Should I take you down there, would there

be something in it for me?"

"We'd pay you."

"Cash money?"

"Cash money," Jerry told him.

"You expect to get up close to these things? If they still are there. They might have left, you know."

"We would want to get close to them," said Jerry.

"I tell you, mister, I'm not getting up close to them. I'll take you there and I'll wait to take you back. But I'm not getting close to them."

"You won't have to come along with us. You just point them out. That's all you'll have to do. And wait to take us back."

"You let me know when you need me. Generally, I'm on river the most of the day. Come in along toward evening."

"I'll let you know," said Jerry.

40. WASHINGTON, D.C

Allen, the presidential science advisor, said, "This is only a preliminary report. Later on, there'll be more."

"You've found something, then," said the President.

"Something," said Allen. "Yes, something. It's hard to believe. I have a hard time making myself believe it. But the analysis is there. The facts are undeniable. There is no ground to quarrel with them."

"Doctor7" said Whiteside, "you look a little pale around the gills."

"I suspect I do," admitted Allen. "This goes against the grain, against all the knowledge that we have. Those damn things are made up of cellulose."

"Cellulose?" asked the President. "That white, fluffy stuff?"

"When the visitors get through with it, it's no longer white or fluffy." Allen looked around the room. "There are only the four of us. 1vVill there be others arriving?"

"Not this time," said the President. "Later on, when we know more, there may be another briefing with other perso

Allen stiffened. "Only four men are involved," he said. "They understand the need of confidentiality."

"But there are a lot more involved than four," said Whiteside.

"The others are field workers," said Allen. "Collecting samples and doing other basic work on the Mi

"O.K., Doctor," said the President. "So go ahead and tell us."

"The creature basically is made up of cellulose," said Allen.

"But not cellulose in the form that we know it. To precisely describe the situation, we have had to make use of highly technical terminology."

"Which we wouldn't understand," said the President. "You'll have to simplify it for us, Doctor."

"I'll do what I can. What I tell you will have to be oversimplified. And because of the oversimplification, perhaps a little short of the exact truth, but it will give you an idea of what we have come up with.

"The i

"You talk about the i

Allen shuddered. "Yes, General, it is different. An entirely different story. It is what you might call a cellulose-silicon polymer involving in some ma