noon
An important bulletin has just come in from Nagorabar , Home Time Line , on the Indian subcontinent -- '' `` You can stop swearing , now , Karf , '' Dalgroth Sorn grinned . `` I think this is it . '' * * * * * Kostran Galth sat on the edge of the couch , with one arm around Zinganna 's waist ; on the other side of him , Hadron Dalla lay at full length , her elbows propped and her chin in her hands . The screen in front of them showed a fading sunset , although it was only a little past noon at Dhergabar Equivalent . A dark ship was coming slowly in against the red sky ; in the center of a wire-fenced compound a hundred-foot conveyer hung on antigrav twenty feet from the ground , and beyond , a long metal prefab-shed was spilling light from open doors and windows . `` That crowd that was just taken in wo n't be finished for a couple of hours , '' a voice was saying . `` I do n't know how much they 'll be able to tell ; the psychists say they 're all telling about the same stories .