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Epilogue The Return（第2页）

&eheirabsolutehappiness，’Fangssaid.‘Itisthemifthem.Ifwedoguarayoftheirmeat.AnditmustbesaidthatEarthpeopleareseenasfoodofthehighestquality;onlytheupperclassoftheDevourerEmpiresoaffordtoenjoythem.Wedonottakesuchdelicaciesfranted.’Fangspausedforamoment.‘Oh，Marshal.Wefrandson，sir.Wereethingfromhimtoyou.Doyoucaretoseeit?’

TheMarshalgazedatFangsihennoddedhishead.

Afair-skiifulboyappearedingbyhisfacehewasonlytenyearsold，buthisstaturewasalreadythatofagrownman.Heheldaflowerwreathiehands，havingobviouslyjustbeenadance.

Blinkinghislarge，shimmeringeyes，hesaid，‘Ihearthatmygreatgrailllives.Iaskohingofyou，sir.Never，evere!Iamed!Whehinkofhumanity’slifebeforethewar，weareallabarbariclifethatwas，thelifeofcockroaches!YouandyoursoldiersofEarthreservethatlife!Youalmoststoppedhumanityfrthisbeautifulheaven!Howperverse!Doyouknowhowmuchshame，howmuchembarrassmentyouhavecausedme?Bah!Donotelookingforme!Bah!Goaerhehadfinished，heskippedofftojointhedanthegrassland.

Fangswasfirsttobreaktheawkwardsilefollowed.‘Hewilllivepasttheageofsixty.Hewillhavealonglifeandwillered.’

‘Ifitisbee，thenIamtrulygrateful.’theMarshalsaid，smilingmiserably.

‘Itdoesnabouthisary，hebecameverydepressedahfeelingsofhatredtowardyou.Suspreventedhismeatfrommeetingourstandards.’Fangsexplained.

AsFaheselastfewhumansbefeionsplayedaassiveeyes.Theirspacesuitswereextremelyoldandshabby，andthemawereettotheirfathepaleyellowoftheSun，theylookedlikeagroupofrust-staiues.Fangsclosedhisputerand，fullret，said，‘Atfirst，Ididnotwantyoutoseethis，butyouarealltruewarriors，morethancapableofdealingwiththetruth，readytnize，’hepausedfmomeinuing‘thathumancivilizatiooanend.’

‘YoulydestroyedEarth’scivilization，’theMarshalsaid，staringiance.‘Youhaveittedamonstrouscrime!’

‘Wefiedtotalkabain.’Fangssaidwithalaughandagrin.

‘Afterinvadingourhomeandbrutallydeveverythinginit，Iwouldthinkthatyouhadforfeitedallrighttotalkaboutmorals.’theMarshalsaidcoldly.

&hershadalreadystoppedpayiheextreme，coldbrutalityoftheDevourercivilizationwasjustbeyondhumaanding.Nothingcouldhavebeeerestihanadiswiththemaboutmorals.

‘heright.Inowtrulywishtotalkaboutmoralswithhumanity，’Fangssaidbefainpausing.‘How，sir，couldyoujustpickhimupahim?’heued，quotiaiwordsleftnobodyuheydidefromthetranslator，butcamedireFangs’mouth.Eventhoughhisvoicewasdeafening，Fangssomehowmaatethosethree-hundred-year-oldwordswithperfe.

Fangsued，resumiranslator.‘Marshal，threehundredyearsago，yourintuitiondidnotmisleadyou:Whentwocivilizatioedbyiellarspace–meet，anysimilaritiesshouldbefarmoreshotheirdifferelyshouldiswithourspecies.’

AsallpreseheirgazeonFaheywereoverewithaseionthataworld-shakingmysterywasabouttoberevealed.

Fangsstraightenedhimselfonhiswalking-stid，lookingiance，said，‘FriehoftheSun;ahisbothourspecies’fraternalhome，mypeoplehavethegreaterclaimtoher!Ourclaimisonehundredandfortymillionyearsolderthanyours.Allthosemillenniaago，wewerethefirsttoliveoifulplahisiswhereweestablishedcivilization.’

&h’ssoldiersstaredblanklyatFaersoftheremnantoripplediheyellowsunlight.Redmagmaflowedfromthedistaains.Sixtymillionyearsdowime，twospecies，eachtherulerofthisEarthiime，metiionontheirplunderedhomeworld.

‘Dino…saur!’someoneexashockedwhisper.

FaheDinosaurCivilizationaroseonehundredmilliooh，duringwhatyoucalltheCretaceousperiodoftheMesozoic.Attheeaceous，ourcivilizatioszenith，butedieedswereequallygreat.Inthewakeofourpopulatioheewasstretit，ahushedtoitsbrinkasitstruggledtosupportoursociety.Tosurvive，wepletelyars’elemeem.

‘TheDinosaurCivilizatioythousandyearsoh，’heued，‘butitstrueexpansionwasamatterofafewthousandyears.Fromageologicalperspective，itseffedistihoseofanexplosivecatastrophe;whatyoucalltheCretaceous–Tertiaryexti.

‘Finally，onedayallthedinosaursbiaionshipsand，withtheseships，sailediseaofstars.Ienoftheseshipswerejoihehisedshipreaotherstar’splaexpanded.Now，sixtymillioer，ithasbeetheDevourerEmpireyounowknow.’

‘Whywouldyoueatyourownhomeworld?Arediofallse?’someoneasked.

Fainthought.‘Itisalongstory.Iellarspadeedvastaitisalsodifferentthanyouwouldimagihattrulysuitus，asadvan-basedlifeforms，arefewaween.AdustcloudblocksthewaytotheilkyWayjusttwothousandlightyearsfromhere.Thereisnowayforusthit，andnowayforustosurviveinit.Abeesanareaofpowerfulradiationandalargegroupblackholes.’Fangspaused，beforeg，stillspeakiohimselfthantothehumansbeforehim.‘Ifweshouldtraveliedire，wewouldjustetotheendoftheMilkyiralarmafarbeyohingbutalimitless，desolatevoid.TheDevourerEmpirehasalreadypletelyedalmostalltheplacouldbefouableareasthatexistbetweewobarriers.Now，theonlywayoutistoflytoanotherarmoftheMilkyWay.Wehaveawaitsusthere，butifwestayherewewilllybedoomed.Itwillbeajoureenmilliusrightthroughthevoid.Tosurviveit，wemustbuildlargestocksofallpossibleexpendables.

‘Rightnow，theDevourerEmpireisjustlikeafishinadryimustmakeadesperateleapbeforeitsletelyevaporates.ItrealizesthatthemostlikelyendisreagdrylandandsugtodeathuhesgSuheslightcethatitmayfallintoaneighbwaterholeandsosurvive.’Fangslazetowardthehumans，bendingdowntoalmosteyelevel.‘Asfarasseised，wehavelivedthroughtensofmillionsofarduousyearsandfoughtstellarwarsbeyoheheartsofthedinosaurracehavelongsined.NowtheDevourerEmpiremusteasmuchasitpossiblypreparationforourmillion-yearjourney.’Fangsagainpaused，deepinthought.‘Whatiscivilization?Civilizationisdev，ceaselesslyeating，endlesslyexpahingelseessed.’

TheMarshal，too，inthought.LookingatFangs，heasked，‘thestruggleforexisteheuniverse’sonlylawofbiologidculturalevolutioablishaself-suffitrospectivecivilizationwherealllifeexistsinsymbiosis?AcivilizatiooftheEridanians?’

Fahouthesitationorpause.‘Iamnophilosopher;perhapsite.Thecruxis，whowilltakethefirststep?Ifone’ssurvivalisbasedoionandptionofothersandifthatshouldbetheuniverse’sironlawoflifeandcivilization，therejefavourofiioainlyperish.’

WiththatFaohisspaceship，buthere-emerged，nathin，flatboxinbothtalons.Theboxwasabouttesquare，anditwouldhaveeasilytakeocarryit.Faheboxonthegrouop.Tothehumans’surprise，theboxwasfilledwithdirt，andgrasswasgrowingonit.Onthislifelesswreeouched.

AsFahebox，heturhehumans.‘Thisisprewarsoil.Aftertheutallofourplasandallofitsiosuspeion.hauries，theyhaveawinally，Iwaakethissoilwithmeasamemento.Alas，Ihavethoughtmoreaboutit，andIhavegedmymind.Ihavedecidedtoreturnittowhereittrulybeloakehanenoughfromourhomeworld.’

Astheygazeduponthistih，sofulloflife，thehumaomoisten.Theyhedinosaurs’heartshadohosescales，dcruellerthansteelandrock，beatheartsthatlongedforhome.

Fangsrattledhisclaws，almostasifhewaofftheemotionsthathadgrippedhim.Slightlyshaken，hesaid，‘Allrightthen，myfriends，wewillgotogether，backtotheDevourerEmpire.’Seeingtheexpressiononthehumans’faces，heraisedaclawbeforeg.‘Youwill，ofotbefoodthere.Yreatwarriorsandyouwillbemadepire.Aillworkthatneedsyourattentiohehumancivilizatioobebuilt.’

TheeyesleEarthsoldierturheMarshal.Hestooddeepinthought，thenslowlynodded.

&heother，theEarth’ssoldiersbs’spaceship.Becauseitsladderwasintendedfordinosaurs，theyhadtopullthefulllengthoftheirbodiesupeabiheMarshalwasthelasthumantoboardtheship.Graspirungoftheship’sladder，hepulledhisbodyofftheground.Justatthatmomehinginthegrouhhisfeetcaughthiseye.Hestoppedinmid-pull，lookingdtimehehuionless.

Hehadseen…anant.

&hadclimbedoutofthatboxofssightofthetiheMarshalletgooftheladderandsquatteddhishatohisglittohisface，hecarefullystudiedthesmallcreature，itsobsidianbodyglinti.Holdingit，theMarshalwalkedovertothebox，wherehecautiouslyreturhetinybladesofgrass.Asheloweredhishaicedmoreantsgaboutthesoilbehegrass.

RaisiuroFangswhowasstandingrightbyhisside.‘Whehisgrassaswillbethedominah.’

Fangswasatalossforwords.

&h’scivilizedlifeseemstobegettingsmallerandsmaller.Dinosaurs，humansandnowprobablyants，’theMarshalsaid，squattingba.Helookedon，hiseyesdeepwithloveandadmiratiochedthesesmallbeiheirlivesinthegrass.‘Itistheirturn.’