Chapter 27

"Joe," Toshimura began, "I must speak to you now about a thing that has been of concern—of trouble in the mind—to me and to all of my people." He paused.

"You speak of before," said Joe in its flat, accented Standard.

"Yes," said Toshimura. "You have met us well, we know that you are good people, we know you are friends. But in the time before, when our people came then—we do not understand. Something happened to make us not-friends, and we—" he made a clashing gesture with his hands.

"Many die," said Joe. "Six you. Many us. Hurt, die. We remember."

"We remember too," Toshimura continued. "We don't wish to do that again. You are friends now, no more fighting." He made the clashing hand motion again. "But we need to understand. I tell you first how it was to us, how we remember. We think you attack"—he gestured with a fist pounding into his other palm—"you try to kill us, make us die, when we offer peace, we come in peace." He extended his arms in the peace gesture both species had used. "But we do not know why, what reason."

The native seemed frozen. It neither spoke nor moved. But Igwanda noticed that its eyes had enlarged significantly and, glancing around unobtrusively, that those of the growing crowd of aliens who had assembled as the discussion began were likewise distended. Without moving a muscle he, too, tensed. Would this conversation become the trigger for another attack?

"Were you afraid?" Toshimura broke the silence. "Did our people frighten the ones of yours who met them?"

Igwanda saw the eyes around him begin to contract. "Yes," said Joe. "Afraid. We have fear."

"Was it because we came so suddenly—so quickly, so unexpectedly?" asked Toshimura. "Because we were so new to you, because our people moved so fast, because we had more science and more things" (technology had been reduced to "things" in the somewhat bare-bones Standard in which the species were trying to communicate) "and we could fly?"

The eyes were almost back to normal, Igwanda observed. "Yes," said Joe almost immediately. "Too fast. Too quick. We never see before, we afraid. Afraid you hurt, you make die. You hurt, you make die, that true."

"But you hurt first, you make die first, do you remember? Or is it too long before?"

"Long before," said the native. The eyes—not only Joe's but all of those around Igwanda—were back to normal. "We remember afraid. We know many hurt, many die, when you come."

"Then why did you meet us when we came this time?"

"One meet you. This one. Only one can die. When you two, then we two; only two can die. Not more. We not afraid many can die. We come in peace."

"We don't wish for any to die," said Toshimura. "None of us. None of you. No-one hurt, no-one die. We come in peace. We know now that you come in peace, too. We do not think of before. We don't speak of it again. Is that good to you?"

"Yes," Joe said. "Good. Not speak again."