Sutton answered it. "Thank you, Johnny," he said. "Thank you very much."
And was astonished that he could answer Johnny when he could not answer all the others.
The machines went on with their clicking.
LII
The silvery ship roared down the launching ramp, slammed into the upcurve and hurled itself into the sky, a breath of fire that blazed against the blue.
"He doesn't know,” said Herkimer, "that we arranged it for him. He does not know we managed him to the last, that we sent Buster out many years ago to establish refuge for him, knowing that someday he might need that refuge."
"Herkimer," said Eva. "Herkimer…"
Her voice choked. "He asked me to go with him, Herkimer. He said he needed me. And I couldn't go. And I couldn't explain."
She kept her head tilted, watching the tiny pinpoint of fire that was fleeing spaceward.
"He had to keep on thinking," Eva said, "that there were some humans he had helped, that there were some humans who still believed in him."