"
Manning stared at him, and the expression on his face was not quite
anger. Something like it, but not anger.
"The ruins we've found here were built by the Hirlaji," Rynason said. "I
saw them building when I was linked with Horng, and these are the same
structures. But the design was copied from older buildings, and I don't
know how far back I'd have to search the memories before I found where
they originally got that kind of approach to design. Maybe back before
they developed telepathy. But this race simply isn't as old as the
Outsiders; they came out of barbarism thousands of years after the
Outsiders had left those dead cities we've been finding. The chances are
that if the Hirlaji were influenced by the Outsiders it was sometime
around thirty thousand years ago ... which means the Outsiders came this
way when they left those cities. That would mean that we're following
them ... and we might catch up at any time."
He stopped for a moment, then said, "We're moving faster than they were,
and we have no idea where they may have settled again.
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