Now for the first time the second alien moved. Its nostrils twitched daintily, then its legs shifted, lifting and falling. “Welcome,” it said, abruptly, stopping all motion. “My name is Jonathon. “
“Your name?” asked Reynolds.
“And this is Richard.”
“Oh,” said Reynolds, not contradicting. He understood now. Having learned the language of man, these creatures had learned his names as well.
“We wish to know your star,” Jonathon said respectfully. His voice was a duplicate of the other’s. Did the fact that he had not spoken until after the destruction of the tape recorder indicate that he was the leader of the two? Reynolds almost laughed, listening to the words of his own thoughts. Not he, he reminded himself, it.
“I am willing to tell you whatever you wish to know,” Reynolds said.
“You are a … priest … a reverend of the sun?”
“An astronomer,” Reynolds corrected.
“We would like to know everything you know. And then we would like to visit and converse with your star. “
“Of course. I will gladly help you in any way I can.” Kelly had cautioned him in advance that the aliens were interested in the sun, so none of this came as any surprise to him. But nobody knew what it was in particular that they wanted to know, or why, and Kelly hoped that he might be able to find out. At the moment he could think of only two possible conversational avenues to take; both were questions. He tried the first. “What is it you wish to know? Is our star greatly different from others of its type? If it is, we are unaware of this fact.”
“No two stars are the same,” the alien said. This was Jonathon again. Its voice began to rise in excitement. “What is it? Do you not wish to speak here? Is our craft an unsatisfactory place?”
“No, this is fine,” Reynolds said, wondering if it was wise to continue concealing his puzzlement. “I will tell you what I know. Later, I can bring books.”
“No!” The alien did not shout, but from the way its legs quivered and nostrils trembled, Reynolds gathered he had said something very improper indeed.
“I will tell you,” he said. “In my own words.”
Jonathon stood quietly rigid. “Fine.”
Now it was time for Reynolds to ask his second question. He let it fall within the long silence which had followed Jonathon’s last statement. “Why do you wish to know about our star?”
“It is the reason why we have come here. On our travels, we have visited many stars. But it is yours we have sought the longest. It is so powerful. And benevolent. A rare combination, as you must know.”
“Very rare,” Reynolds said, thinking that this wasn’t making. any sense. But then, why should it? At least he had learned something of the nature of the aliens’ mission, and that alone was more than anyone else had managed to learn during the months the aliens had slowly approached the moon, exploding their hydrogen bombs to decelerate.
A sudden burst of confidence surprised Reynolds. He had not felt this sure of himself in years, and just like before, there was no logical reason for his certainty. “Would you be willing to answer some questions for me? About your star?”
“Certainly, Bradley Reynolds.”
“Can you tell me our name for your star? Its coordinates?”
“No,” Jonathon said, dipping its neck. “I cannot.” It blinked its right eye in a furious fashion. “Our galaxy is not one. It is a galaxy too distant for your instruments.”
“I see,” said Reynolds, because he could not very well call the alien a liar, even if it was. But Jonathon’s hesitancy to reveal the location of its homeworld was not unexpected; Reynolds would have acted the same in similar circumstances.
Richard spoke. “May I pay obeisance?”
Jonathon, turning to Richard, spoke in a series of shrill [chirping] noises. Then Richard replied in kind.
Turning back to Reynolds, Richard again asked, “May I pay obeisance?”
Reynolds could only say, “Yes.” Why not?
Richard acted immediately. Its legs abruptly shot out from beneath its trunk at an angle no giraffe could have managed. Richard sat on its belly, legs spread, and its neck came down, the snout gently scraping the floor.
“Thank you,” Reynolds said, bowing slightly at the waist.. “But there is much we can learn from you, too.” He spoke to hide his embarrassment, directing his words at Jonathon while hoping that they might serve to bring Richard back to its feet as well. When this failed to work, Reynolds launched into the speech he had been sent here to deliver. Knowing what he had to say, he ran through the words as hurriedly as possible. “We are backward people. Compared to you, we are children in the universe. Our travels have carried us no farther than our sister planets, while you have seen stars whose light takes years to reach your home. We realize you have much to teach us, and we approach you as pupils before a grand philosopher. We are gratified at the chance to share our meager knowledge with you and wish only to be granted the privilege of listening to you in return.”
“You wish to know deeply of our star?” Jonathon asked.
“Of many things,” Reynolds said. “Your spacecraft, for instance. It is far beyond our meager knowledge.”
Jonathon began to blink its right eye furiously. As it spoke, the speed of the blinking increased. “You wish to know that?”
“Yes, if you are willing to share your knowledge. We, too, would like to visit the stars.”
Its eye moved faster than ever now. It said, “Sadly, there is nothing we can tell you of this ship. Unfortunately, we know nothing ourselves.”
“Nothing?”
“The ship was a gift.”
“You mean that you did not make it yourself. No. But you must have mechanics, individuals capable of repairing the craft in the event of some emergency.”
“But that has never happened. I do not think the ship could fail.”
“Would you explain?”
“Our race, our world, was once visited by another race of creatures. It was they who presented us with this ship. They had come to us from a distant star in order to make this gift. In return, we have used the ship only to increase the wisdom of our people.
“What can you tell me about this other race?” Reynolds asked.
“Very little, I am afraid. They came from a most ancient star near the true center of the universe.”
“And were they like you? Physically?”
“No, more like you. Like people. But-please-may we be excused to converse about that which is essential. Our time is short. “
Reynolds nodded, and the moment he did, Jonathon ceased to blink. Reynolds gathered that it had grown tired of lying, which wasn’t surprising; Jonathon was a poor liar. Not only were the lies incredible in themselves, but every time it told a lie it blinked like a madman with an ash in his eye.
“If I tell you about our star,” Jonathon said, “will your consent to tell of yours in return?” The alien tilted its head forward, long neck swaying gently from side to side. It was plain that Jonathon attached great significance to Reynolds’ reply.
So Reynolds said, “Yes, gladly,” though he found he could= not conceive of any information about the sun which might come. as a surprise to these creatures. Still, he had been sent here to discover as much about the aliens as possible without revealing anything important about mankind. This sharing of information about stars seemed a safe enough course to pursue.
“I will begin,” Jonathon said, “and you must excuse my impreciseness of expression. My knowledge of your language is limited. I imagine you have a special vocabulary for the subject. “
“A technical vocabulary, yes.”