The sun came up that morning to shine on the helicopters hanging low over the trees, already hard at work. The villagers awoke early; many had not slept. The children were oddly quiet, tense, speaking in low hushed tones, not playing or laughing. Many of the women sat together by the pools, speaking occasionally, dipping their feet in the cool water. Some, with faint tears in their eyes, cleaned out their huts, sweeping, fingering loved items, remembering. The men, helpless now, ambled around the village, some helping their wives, some sitting alone to brood. All the while the outsiders laughed and worked, running cables, eating hot dogs and talking about next week's game.

Sung-Hoi and the elders spent the morning in the temple, reading scriptures and making last-minute preparations. Finally, they came out and began to gather the villagers, talking with them, reassuring them.

It was late in the afternoon when the final disc was to be moved. The entire village gathered at the clearing, waiting. Sung-Hoi read passages from ancient scrolls, and the people repeated with soft voices.

Simms and Hastings stood away, useless now, waiting with the rest. Hastings punched Simms on the arm and said, "Hey, kid, a few hours from now we'll be on our way out of this hell-hole with enough gold to buy a country, huh?"

"Yeah," said Simms, and rubbed his arm. He didn't look at Hastings at all.

Finally they heard the far away sounds of helicopters approaching, and Simms felt a knot rise in his throat. A wave of excitement rippled through the crowd, and the two engineers moved to stand near the front for a better view. Men stood around the base of the tower, securing cables, glancing up at the sky. The noise grew louder, then louder still, until suddenly, up through the branches and leaves, they could see a huge disc floating majestically overhead, swinging slowly toward the golden spire. The people surged forward, out to the clearing, children looking up and pointing, adults saying prayers. Amidst all this, Simms saw the young high-priest, standing firm like a statue, calm. But his eyes shone like the sun, and his face glowed with triumph - Moses has brought his people from the wilderness, thought Simms. His eyes met the priest's for an instant, and he saw in them again that deep and questioning expression. But then all eyes were on the disc and the spire and the machines that lowered it so slowly down...

The men around the base began to clear away, moving the villagers back; lives would be lost if the disc fell. Yet finally, inexorably, the disc was lowered, lowered, until the golden spire stuck straight up through the hole. Now even the workers were caught up in the excitement, even Hastings twitched his fingers and wiped his brow, frowning nervously. The helicopters hovered for seconds that lasted an eternity, then suddenly the lines were cut. The machines, freed of their enormous burden, sprung away into the sky. The people watched the disc slide, as if in slow-motion, down the spire, down, down... and with a metallic clunk it came to rest on top of the tower. The earth trembled with the impact, and people stiffened, waiting. Helicopter whup-whupping faded into the distance, now gone, ignored, all eyes were on the silver tower.

An incredible silence settled on the clearing, an eerie silence. The universe seemed to draw in a breath, hold it, unsure... Simms stole a glance at Sung-Hoi. He stood motionless as a rock, face upturned, hands at his sides.

There was a great silence.

Simms heard the words, etched and burned into his mind like fire:

Like the closing of a book.

He waited.

Like lightning. No pain, no fear, no sorrow. It will simply end.

Simms waited for the book to close.

Nothing happened.

He waited for the sun to go out.

It did not.

He waited for the earth to rip away under his feet, for the sky to split, crack down the center, become blackness, for the world to fall into an eternal, endless void.

It will simply end.

Silence.

No one moved for an eternity, an eternity of eternities, waiting.

Then finally, something happened.

The noise was far off, faint, hard to hear, strangely alien, yet coming close, louder...

Finally, Simms realized what it was.

It was the sound of the wind blowing in the treetops.

Everyone stood for a long time. Then, one by one, the villagers turned and walked away, back into the forest.