Clifford Simak - The Visitors (v1.0)

"You're very eloquent on the subject, Marcus," said Hammond. "Do the other nations, the men you have talked with so informally and so unofficially, recognize all the factors that you have outlined for us?"

"I would say they do," said State. "At least, their thinking runs in that direction."

"But the tests," cried Whiteside. "‘We are onto something. Do we have to give up everything? Can't we, somehow, hold back on what we found?"

The President said, quietly, "I don't think we can, Henry. You have heard what the man said—a new kind of world and a new way to live in it. It comes hard for old battle-scarred dogs such as you and I, but I can glimpse some of the logic in it. I suppose that some of us, maybe the most of us, have been thinking something like this all along, but couldn't bring ourselves to say so."

"How the hell we'll ever work it out," said Hammond, "I don't know.~~

"Not us alone," said State. "The world. It's not up to us alone; it's up to all the others. If the world doesn't pull together on this one, all of us are sunk."

Gold was reading copy on the Norton story. He lifted his head and looked across the desk at Garrison.

"This last paragraph," he said.

"What about the last paragraph?"

"Where he tells about seeing shadows in the kitchen, as if there were people in the kitchen. And he thinks, ‘My God, are they making people, too? "

"There's nothing wrong with it. It's a honey of a line. It makes cold shivers up your spine."

"Did you tell Lathrop about this? Mention it particularly to him?"

"No, I guess I didn't. I forgot. There were a lot of other.

"And Porter?"

"No, I didn't tell Porter. It would have scared the pants off him."

"It could have been Norton's imagination. He didn't see any people. All he saw, or thought he saw, were shadows. Maybe he imagined shadows."

"Let me see it," said Garrison, holding cut his hand. Gold handed him the sheet.

Garrison read the paragraph carefully, read it through again. Then he picked up a heavy, black editorial pencil and methodically crossed out the paragraph.