Chapter 23 Summary

Karellen shows Jan what has happened to Earth since he last saw it. They are watching the progression of time on a screen, as the evacuated children were returned to land, located together on one continent. No longer human, the children show no emotion, and are involved in some sort of ritual dance, which lasts almost a year. Three years later, their minds have become more closely connected, and they use their power to play with nature, destroying all plant and animal life. The Overlords remain in their ships, studying what they can from space. For some time, the children have been motionless, like statues.

Jan asks Karellen about the ancient fear that man had over the Overlords' devil-like appearance. Karellen explains that there was no past interaction with humans to cause the "boogey-man" type of myths. Thousands of years before, humans with...