The "nuggets" had been not mineral, but pollen. As for the incredible
thing which Van Emmon had seen on the ground; that living statue; that
head without a body--the body had been buried out of sight beneath the
soil; and the man had been an ordinary human, being punished in this
manner for misconduct.
Instead of being aircraft built in imitation of insects, the machines
had been constructed by nature herself, and there had been nothing
unusual in their size. No; they were the real thing, differing only
slightly from what might have been found anywhere upon the earth.
In short, it had all been simply a matter of view-point. The supreme
creature of Sanus was, not the human, but the bee. A poisonous bee,
superior to every other form of Sanusian life! What was more--
"The damned things are not only supreme; THE HUMANS ARE THEIR SLAVES!"
VI
IMPOSSIBLE, BUT--
The four looked at each other blankly. Not that either was at a loss for
words; each was ready to burst. But the thing was so utterly beyond
their wildest conceptions, so tremendously different in every way, it
left them all a little unwilling to commit themselves.
"Well," said Smith finally, "as I said in the first place, I can't see
how any other than the human form became supreme.
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