just a little peculiar."
"Ha, ha," Curl replied noncommittally.
"Oh, one thing further. What about the privacy screen set up around thealiens?"
"That was dropped months ago," Curl laughed. "Can you imagine theCouncil sustaining anything like that for long?"
"It doesn't require any effort."
"Yes, but it looks like it ought to, and you know how that affects acivilized man. You can go any time you like."
Tensor nodded and withdrew.
* * * * *
Abruptly, he was hovering over the delightful green-and-orange-streakedsands of the central landscape. This was one of Prime's favorites, andthe network of drainage channels was the most effective on the planet.Tensor approved. It really was beautiful.
He gazed around, pleasurably appreciating the esthetic beauty of thecolorful, arid scene.
Then he saw the aliens. That was astonishing, he thought. The alienswere known to have grouped on the other side of the planet, and he hadintended to do some sightseeing on the way around. Now two of them werehere. Most unpredictable. They were standing near the horizon,apparently examining one of the channels.
Tensor moved toward them slowly, sending futile probes for their mindsand finding, as before, nothing but chaotic splashes. It was reallyunfortunate that they could not communicate.
He moved higher as he approached, for the better view it afforded. Thealiens were animal, all right. A species similar to human beings butgrotesquely primitive. He observed that the creatures had noticed himand were running madly across the surface toward a small, shinystructure.
The structure interested him. It looked very much as if it had beenfabricated. He wondered how the savages could construct without beingable to control, and watched them as they actually entered the thing.
And then, incredibly, it rose from the ferrous sands and dashed offtoward the east, a faint, disgustingly moist vapor trailing out behindit.
Quickly Tensor moved up parallel to it, while he speculated on what itmeant. Apparently the savages were in full control of it. For a momenthe thought it might be an alien focus, but dismissed the idea. If itwere a focus, there would be no purpose in moving it spatially.
Feeling more curious, he projected himself inside and was immediatelydelighted, despite its obvious mechanical character. It was metallic andsmooth and there were numerous incomprehensible devices piled up againstthe walls of the tiny, circular room. Seated at a panel, their backstoward him, the two creatures were busily manipulating little spots ofbrilliant color, and one was creating a weird but soft cacophony withits mouth.
Tensor was amused as well as interested. He listened, and managed todecipher a pattern to the speech, even though only confused scatteringsof intelligence came from the chaotic minds. He again observed theastonishing similarity of appearance between the aliens and humanbeings.
From a small orifice in the panel, a reply issued; cold and rasping intonal quality.
"Control to Scout Three. Roger on the presumed alien. Lieutenant. I knewthat civilian with you would get you into trouble."
"Well, it wasn't exactly the fault of--"
"Enough. Bear away from the base until certain you are not beingfollowed."
While one of them played with the moving color spots on the panel, theother twisted a knob, and all segments of the outside becamesuccessively visible in a viewer.
"Scout Three to Control. Nothing in sight."
"Very well. The orders are to stay there until dark, after which you mayreturn."
"But that's two hundred hours away," the other savage hissed. "We don'thave enough oxygen."
"You'll just have to work it out somehow," the panel replied coldly. "Wecan't endanger the whole military base for one useless civilianbiologist."
This was a fascinating exchange to Tensor, as he puzzled out the curiousrelationships and their purposes. He floated near the ceiling,listening, face set in civilized impassivity.
One of the creatures grumbled, leaned back and swung around in itschair. It jerked erect when it saw the man at the ceiling.
Tensor smiled at the poor, dumb creature and was rewarded by adisgustingly loud noise from its mouth and a mad rush back to the panel.The other had seen him, too, and was staring wide-eyed at him. Tensormoved closer to observe, but the one who had seen him first continuedshouting shrill, ear-splitting noises at its companion, who seemed to betrying unsuccessfully to obey. Petulantly, Tensor disintegrated thenoisy one and also some ugly cables that led from the panel to the wall.That improved the esthetic situation immeasurably, he felt.
There was a quick sucking of breath from the remaining savage as itlooked wildly about for a moment, as if searching for its vanishedcompanion, and then stared at the place where the cables had been.
"Well--" It made a hopeless gesture with its shoulders and slumped backinto its chair. "That does it. No pilot. No radio. Damn. Even the Leaderwould have trouble with this situation." It looked uneasily at Tensor,and remained perfectly, cautiously still.
"What do you call yourselves?" Tensor asked without difficulty, usingsound patterns similar to what they had employed.
"You speak English!" the creature blurted out in amazement, and Tensorfelt rather irritated by its crude facial expression. He made a smalladjustment, however, bringing his own somatic state into a closerharmony with that of the creature, and the desired level of contentedappreciation rose.
"Are--are you a native?" it asked hesitantly.
"Yes," Tensor replied.
It gazed at him with half closed, calculating eyes, starting at thehead, running slowly to his feet and back again.
"You look human," it muttered.
"Naturally," Tensor replied cheerfully. The appreciation was growingsubtly now, and he found that the creature's mouth interested him. Itwas a strikingly lovely shade of red--always Tensor's favorite color.And although there was a heavy and awkward sheath of artificial fabricabout the alien, he observed with a rising fascination that the bulgingof the thoracic sheathing indicated that it was female.
Tensor became uncomfortably aware that he had better be careful of hisinduced somatic sympathy.
After a moment of speculative silence, he said, "You haven't told mewhat you savages consider yourselves."
"Don't call me a savage, you naked beast," she snapped back.
"I beg your pardon," he murmured politely. "Merely a semanticdifficulty. I'm sure. I assume that you consider yourselves humanbeings, then. Where do you come from?"
"Earth--the third planet."
"I see. And you used mechanical devices such as this little metal egg toget here. Most curious." Tensor contemplated the thought with greatinterest, for obviously they used mechanical skill to compensate forlack of direct control. An exceedingly poor substitute, of course; butit explained everything he wanted to know.
"Are there many of you natives?" she asked him cautiously.
"Not like there used to be," Tensor admitted. "But still quite afew--though not so many we get on each other's nerves."
"How many in round numbers?"
That was a silly question, Tensor thought. Nevertheless he told her,"Oh, I suppose about thirty or a hundred. We haven't counted forcenturies. Nobody's interested."
She appeared to be deeply absorbed in thought, gazing at him in analmost detached fashion. Finally she said. "Your civilization is basedon the mind, isn't it? You do things with an act of will instead of withyour hands."
"Naturally. That is the essential mark of civilization. At least," headded politely, "from our point of view."
"Are you--telepathic?"
"Only with other telepaths," he said simply.
"Then how did you learn my language?"
"Oh, after you talk it a bit. I can see certain relationships. But themental pictures are so discontinuous and nonspecific that it takes alittle time before the pattern emerges."
"That means you don't actually know what I am thinking?"
"Corre
ct. You have the potential, but you don't have the controlnecessary to permit it."
A small, satisfied smile curved about her lips.
Tensor found it oddly disconcerting. Despite the ugly sheathing, therewas something about her that was quite pleasant.
He began to feel that she was even beautiful, and as he disintegratedthe sheath in order to appreciate her better, he realized that it wasundoubtedly the strange endocrine balance he had created in himself thatwas responsible for the attitude. Because there was nothing particularlywell-designed about her. She looked unprepossessingly like a civilizedwoman, except a good deal fatter in places, which hardly helped mattersfrom an abstract point of view.
Tensor could only assume that his point