Chapter 22

It was nearly five hours later, with Eden's sun nearing the horizon, when the four arose. Igwanda, whose focus on them had been unwavering, came to full alert, but it was evident that terms among them remained amicable. There were the same almost ceremonial bows and touching of limbs, and Meiersdottir and Lee turned back to the lander. In virtually the same instant the two aliens likewise began moving back toward their waiting companions.

"We can go back inside now, Carlos," said Meiersdottir as she passed him.

"You and Dr. Lee precede us, please," replied Igwanda. "I wish it to be seen that we are your protectors." The colonel motioned his troops to follow them, picked up the two discarded weapons and helmets and, as he had been first out of the lander, so was he last on the ramp.The five who'd remained on board burst out in a spontaneous cheer as the airlock cycled them in. Lee looked slightly startled, but Meiersdottir gave a glowing smile and raised her arms in an exultant vee. An outburst of questions poured over her.

"Wait, wait," she said, still smiling broadly. "I'm famished. What's for dinner, honey?" The group burst into laughter; even Igwanda smiled. "And how about a drink, too?"

So eager were the others to serve her that they literally stumbled over one another reaching the lander's tiny galley. After watching the confusion for a moment with evident amusement, Shaw pushed them aside and efficiently extracted two food packages. While they heated he poured a stiff measure of whisky, added ice and handed it to her. He raised his eyebrows at Lee, who asked for water. Then, to Igwanda's surprise, he turned to the colonel and the four soldiers. "May I take your orders, ladies and gentlemen?" They opted for food and water as well, and he set five more packages to heat as he served Meiersdottir and Lee with a flourish.

Meiersdottir finished her meal and swallowed the last of her whisky quickly. She waved away Shaw's gestured invitation for a refill and sat back in her seat with a satisfied exhalation.

"Now," she said. "Where to begin?"

"At the beginning is perhaps best," said Heisinger indulgently.

"Yes. Well. The walk out there was a little intimidating, especially as I got closer to Joe. That's the native; he has a name, but it's long and unpronounceable and I gave up. The first syllable sounds something like 'gho'" (the sound was a throaty guttural with a long o) "so I started using that and he was OK with it. He calls me something like 'gnanga.'

"Actually I have no idea whether Joe's really male, or female, or something else. Even close up I can see nothing resembling superficial sexual organs. They look like sexually incorrect store mannequins.

"Anyhow. They don't seem to have much in the way of variation in facial expressions, either. Joe loosened up a little in time, but I suppose he was as nervous as I was; his face, as we approached, was a mask. Stony. Sort of like Carlos." Igwanda joined in the laughter this evoked, albeit a bit uncomfortably.

"I really had no idea what to do once we were within reaching distance," she continued. "The last time one of them touched a human it was a restraint while they stabbed away with a weapon in the other ... well, hand. It is kind of a hand, although there aren't any fingers—an irregularly shaped and fairly flexible pad with a slightly stiffer and smaller opposable surface. I think the Argo survivors described it as something like the tip of an elephant's trunk, and that was my impression, too, although there's no central opening. The grip's a good solid one, but I don't think it's overwhelming even at full strength, which of course he didn't use."

She paused and laughed self-consciously. "I'm sorry, this is very disorganized. I'll get it better structured for my report, but of course you want to hear now."

"Never mind," said Toshimura, "it's fascinating. Go on. You reached out to this native, and?"

"Yes," she said. "I wasn't sure how he'd take it after the last time, so I moved very slowly and unthreateningly, saying 'we come in peace' again. He did the same. We just touched at first, and then we both gripped gently. I thought about smiling at him, but I wasn't sure how he'd take any change in my facial expression. But it seemed right to give him a little bow of greeting, so I did. I don't think it's a natural gesture with them, but he seemed to take it the way I meant it and returned the same bow.

"Well, just standing there didn't strike me as the best idea. An erect posture in almost any species means, among other things, fight-or-flight ready. Sitting implies more trust. So I slowly sat down on the ground. Naturally they don't sit the way we do because of the leg configuration, but he went back on his haunches.

"We'd both been deadpan up to then. So I thought the first thing to do was get him used to normal changes in expression. We humans have remarkably animated faces, you know, even for our own world. Maybe it's because our faces are usually bare, just skin, no fur or feathers or scales—have you noticed that most people are naturally more distrustful of bearded men?—or maybe it's just a social adaptation.

"I'm babbling. Anyhow, what I was thinking was that it would eliminate some unnecessary strain if I could get him used to normal variations in my expression and not have to remember to keep a poker face the whole time. So I smiled slowly, keeping my mouth closed so as not to show teeth. Then, still while I was smiling, I pointed to myself and said 'Amanda.' He got the idea right away. He did the best he could to return a smile, although he was pretty clearly just imitating, and he pointed to himself and said his own name. Janet has it recorded from later. We repeated that a couple of times, or anyhow I tried to. Finally I shook my head slightly, and pointed very carefully at him and said 'Joe.' Or really, more like— well, I told you. He pointed back to me and said my name the best he could.

"We tried a few other words with each other. 'Grass, ' 'ground, ' 'sky, ' things like that. We got to 'clothes, ' and that was when I asked for Janet. Joe seemed to get more comfortable as we went on; I noticed him really kind of settle back, and he seemed a lot easier with me as time passed. But we were making only a little progress, and I wasn't able to do much with what he was saying, either in his own language or Standard, so I thought it was time to call in expertise.

"I have to tell you I was a little nervous about it. I made gestures at the lander and held up one finger, hoping to tell him one other person would be joining us. He seemed to get the idea, though I thought he was surprised; at least his face actually changed expression. Then he pointed to his group over by the edge of the woods or whatever, and raised whatever passes for his thumb, which I figured meant he also wanted one other ... individual. I nodded to him, up and down, and smiled when I did to give him the best idea I could that I understood, and I made a big point out of speaking into my hand when I asked Carlos to have Janet come out."

There were several nods.

"It got a little confusing for a moment when Janet and the other native showed up. I went through the hand-touching and bowing and 'we come in peace' with the new native, and pointed to myself and said my name and pointed to Janet and said hers and then pointed very carefully to Joe and introduced her. The new one seemed to get the idea very quickly, but then he pointed to himself and started to say what sounded like the same name as Joe told me. Then he stopped and looked—well, it seemed as though he was uncertain for a minute, and he pointed to himself again and said something much shorter, sort of like 'khukh.' I think maybe the long word that Joe spoke may be what they call their species rather than a personal name, though I'm not sure. Anyhow, Janet and I wound up sticking with Joe for the first one; the second is Gus.

"The rest of the time was mostly a language lesson. Janet's much better than I am about that, I don't think I picked up many of their words, so why don't you tell them about it, Janet?"

"They're remarkable, these two at least," began Lee. "Colonel, you said yesterday—was it only yesterday?—you said they seem to have long memories. I know you meant it differently, but I guess what they did today shows they really do. And both Joe and Gus seem to have just about perfect memories, too. Mine is pretty good naturally, and I've trained it for years so I can pick up languages quickly, but they leave me way behind. Sometimes it was a little difficult to get an idea across about a particular word, but once they caught on they never seemed to forget. If the others are anything like those two, our communication is going to be in Standard rather than their language."