There were no visible surface features; the iodine-colored forms and their connecting shaft had an ancient and alien look.
We held our course steadily, watching the stranger maneuver. Even at this distance it looked huge.
"Captain," Clay said, "I've been making a few rough calculations. The two spheres are about eight hundred yards in diameter, and at the rate the structure is rotating, it's pulling about six gravities."
That settled the question of human origin of the ship. No human crew would choose to work under six gees.
Now, paralleling us at just over two hundred miles, the giant ship spun along, at rest relative to us. It was visible now through the direct observation panel, without magnification.
I left Clay in charge on the Bridge, and I went down to the Com Section.
Joyce sat at his board, reading instruments and keying controls. So he was back on the job. Mannion sat, head bent, monitoring his recorder. The room was filled with the keening staccato of the alien transmission.
"Getting anything on video?" I asked. Joyce shook his head. "Nothing, Captain. I've checked the whole spectrum, and this is all I get. It's coming in on about a dozen different frequencies; no FM."
"Any progress, Mannion?" I said.
He took off his headset. "It's the same thing, repeated over and over, just a short phrase. I'd have better luck if they'd vary it a little."
"Try sending," I said.
Joyce tuned the clatter down to a faint clicking, and switched his transmitter on. "You're on, Captain," he said.
"This is Captain Greylorn, ACV/Galahad; kindly identify yourself." I repeated this slowly, half a dozen times. It occurred to me that this was the first known time in history a human being had addressed a nonhuman intelligence. The last was a guess, but I couldn't interpret our guest's purposeful maneuverings as other than intelligent.
I checked with the Bridge; no change. Suddenly the clatter stopped, leaving only the carrier hum.
"Can't you tune that whine out, Joyce?" I asked.
"No, sir," he replied. "That's a very noisy transmission. Sounds like maybe their equipment is on the blink."
We listened to the hum, waiting. Then the clatter began again.
"This is different," Mannion said. "It's longer."
I went back to the Bridge and waited for the next move from the stranger, or for word from Mannion. Every half hour I transmitted a call identifying us, in Standard, of course. I didn't know why, but somehow I had a faint hope they might understand some of it.
I stayed on the Bridge when the watch changed. I had some food sent up, and slept a few hours on the OD's bunk.
Fine replaced Kramer on his watch when it rolled around. Apparently Kramer was out of circulation. At this point I did not feel inclined to pursue the point.
We had been at General Quarters for twenty-one hours when the squawk box hummed.
"Captain, this is Mannion. I've busted it…"
"I'll be right there," I said, and left at a run.
Mannion was writing as I entered Com Section. He stopped his recorder and offered me a sheet. "This is what I've got so far, Captain," he said.
I read: INVADER; THE MANCJI PRESENCE OPENS COMMUNICATION.
"That's a highly distorted version of early Standard, Captain," Mannion said. "After I taped it, I compensated it to take out the rise-and-fall tone, and then filtered out the static. There were a few sound substitutions to figure out, but I finally caught on. It still doesn't make much sense, but that's what it says. I don't know what 'Mancji' means, but that's what it's saying."
"I wonder what we're invading," I said. "And what is the 'Mancji Presence'?"
"They just repeat that over and over," Mannion said. "They don't answer our call."
"Try translating into old Standard, adding their sound changes, and then feeding their own rise-and-fall routine to it," I said. "Maybe that will get a response."
I waited while Mannion worked out the message, then taped it on top of their whining tone pattern. "Put plenty of horsepower behind it," I said. "If their receivers are as shaky as their transmitter, they might not be hearing us."
We sent for five minutes, then tuned them back in and waited. There was a long silence from their side; then they came back with a long spluttering sing-song.
Mannion worked over it for several minutes. "Here's what I get," he said:
THAT WHICH SWIMS IN THE MANCJI SEA; WE ARE AWARE THAT YOU HAVE THIS TRADE TONGUE. YOU RANGE FAR. IT IS OUR WHIM TO INDULGE YOU; WE ARE AMUSED THAT YOU PRESUME HERE; WE ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR INSOLENT DEMANDS.
"It looks like we're in somebody's back yard," I said. "They acknowledge our insolent demands, but they don't answer them." I thought a moment. "Send this," I said. "We'll out-strut them."
"The mighty warship Galahad rejects your jurisdiction. Tell us the nature of your distress and we may choose to offer aid."
Mannion raised an eyebrow. "That ought to rock them," he said.
"They were eager to talk to us," I said. "That means they want something, in my opinion. And all the big talk sounds like a bluff of our own is our best line."
"Why do you want to antagonize them, Captain?" Joyce asked. "That ship is over a thousand times the size of this one."
"Joyce, I suggest you let me forget you're around," I said.
The Mancji whine was added to my message, and it went out. Moments later this came back:
MANCJI HONOR DICTATES YOUR SAFE CONDUCT; TALK IS WEARYING; WE FIND IT CONVENIENT TO SOLICIT A TRANSFER OF ELECTROSTATIC FORCE.
"What the devil does that mean?" I said. "Tell them to loosen up and explain themselves."
Mannion wrote out a straight query, and sent it. Again we waited for a reply.
It came, in a long windy paragraph stating that the Mancji found electrostatic baths amusing, and that "crystallization" had drained their tanks. They wanted a flow of electrons from us to replenish their supply.
"This sounds like a simple electric current they're talking about, Captain," Mannion said. "They want a battery charge."
"They seem to have power to burn," I said. "Why don't they generate their own juice? Ask them; and find out where they learned Standard."
Mannion sent again; the reply was slow in coming back. Finally we got it:
THE MANCJI DO NOT EMPLOY MASSIVE GENERATION-PIECE WHERE ACCUMULATOR-PIECE IS SUFFICIENT. THIS SIMPLE TRADE SPEECH IS OF OLD KNOWLEDGE. WE SELECT IT FROM SYMBOLS WE ARE PLEASED TO SENSE EMPATTERNED ON YOUR HULL.
That made some sort of sense, but I was intrigued by the reference to Standard as a trade language. I wanted to know where they had learned it. I couldn't help the hope I started building on the idea that this giant knew our colony; the fact that they were using an antique version of the language, out of use for several centuries might mean they'd gotten it from Omega.
I sent another query, but the reply was abrupt and told nothing except that Standard was of "old knowledge."
Then Mannion entered a long technical exchange, getting the details of the kind of electric energy they wanted.
"We can give them what they want, no sweat, Captain," he said after half an hour's talk. "They want DC; 100 volt, 50 amp will do."
"Ask them to describe themselves," I directed. I was beginning to get an idea.
Mannion sent, got his reply. "They're molluscoid, Captain," he said. He looked shocked. "They weigh about two tons each."
"Ask them what they eat," I said.
I turned to Joyce as Mannion worked over the message. "Get Kramer up here, on the double," I ordered.
Kramer came in five minutes later, looking drawn and rumpled. He stared at me sullenly.
"I'm releasing you from arrest temporarily on your own recognizance, Major," I said. "I want you to study the reply to our last transmission, and tell me what you can do about it."