But he was instantly sorry, for what Robin One said was: “Thank you. I have no more questions.”
The Callean turned in a great liquid wheel and poured away across the sand dunes at an incredible speed. 12-Upjohn shouted after him, without any clear idea of what it was that he was shoutingbut no matter, for the Callean took no notice. Within seconds, it seemed, he was only a thread-worm in the middle distance, and then he was gone. They were all alone in the chill desert air.
Oberholzer lowered his rifle bewilderedly. “He’s fast,” he said to nobody in particular. “Gripes, but he’s fast. I couldn’t even keep him in the sights.”
“That proves it,” Robin said tightly. He was trembling, but whether with fright or elation, 12-Upjohn could not tell; possibly both.
“It had better prove something,” the Consort of State said, trying hard not to sound portentous. There was something about this bright remote desert that made empty any possible pretense to dignity. “As far as I can see, you’ve just lost us what may have been our only chance to treat with these creatures … just as surely as the sergeant would have done it with his gun. Explain, please.”
“I didn’t really catch on until I realized that he was using the second person singular when he spoke to us,” Robin said. If he had heard any threat implied in 12-Upjohn’s charge, it was not visible; he seemed totally preoccupied.
“There’s no way to tell them apart in modem English. We thought he was referring to us as “you’ plural, but he wasn’t, any more than his 1’ was a plural. He thinks we’re all a part of the same personalityincluding the men from the Dragon, toojust as he is himself. That’s why he left when I said I had no more questions. He can’t comprehend that each of us has an independent ego. For him such a thing doesn’t exist.”