“That will be fine,” Jassilane said. “I will select some of our own engineers for the visit. In the meantime as you say, let’s all go through.” He remained standing while the rest of the Ganymeans hoisted themselves to their feet behind him, forming a hopeless crush at the end of the room.
As the Earthmen also stood up and began moving back to make more space for the giants, Garuth made one final comment. “The other reason we wish to see the ship at Pithead is also very important to us. There is a chance that we might find some clues there which support your theory that the Ganymeans eventually migrated to another star system. If that is true, we might perhaps find something to identify which star it was.”
“I think the stars can wait until tomorrow too,” Jassilane said as he moved past. “Right now I’m more interested in that Earth food. Have you tried that stuff they call pineapple yet? It’s delicious-never anything like that on Minerva.”
Hunt found himself standing beside Garuth in the crowd forming around the door. He looked up at the massive features. “Would you really do it, Garuth. . . go all the way to still an-other star, after all this time?”
The giant stared down and seemed to be weighing the question in his mind.
“Perhaps,” he replied. “Who knows?” Hunt sensed from the tone of the voice in his ear that ZORAC had ceased operating in public-address mode and was now handling separately the different conversations taking place on either side. “For years now my people have lived on a dream. At this time more than any other, it would be wrong to destroy that dream. Today they are tired and think only of rest; tomorrow they will dream again.”
“We’ll see what tomorrow brings at Pithead then,” Hunt said. He caught the eye of Danchekker, who was standing immediately behind them. “Are you going to sit with us at dinner, Chris?”
“With pleasure, provided you are prepared to tolerate my being
unsociable,” the professor replied. “I absolutely refuse to eat with this contraption hanging round my head.”
“Enjoy your meal, Professor,” Garuth urged. “Let the socializing wait until afterward.”
“I’m surprised you heard that,” Hunt said. “How did ZORAC know we were talking in a group of three? I mean, it must have known that to put it through on your audio as well.”
“Oh, ZORAC is very good at things like that. It learns fast. We’re quite proud of ZORAC.”
“It’s an amazing machine.”
“In more ways than you perhaps imagine,” Garuth agreed. “It was ZORAC that saved us at Iscaris. Most of us were overcome by the heat when the ship was caught by the fringe of the nova; that was what caused many of the deaths among us. It was ZORAC that got the Shapieron clear.”
“I really must stop calling its brethren contraptions,” Danchekker murmured. “Wouldn’t want to upset it or anything if it’s sensitive about such matters.”
“That’s okay by me.” A different voice came through on the circuit. “As long as I can still call your brethren monkeys.”
That was when Hunt learned to recognize when a Ganymean was laughing.
When they all sat down to dinner, Hunt was mildly surprised to note that the menu was completely vegetarian. Apparently the Ganymeans had insisted on this.
chapter ten
The period of leave that Hunt and Danchekker had originally in-tended to spend on Jupiter Five had expired anyway, so the two scientists traveled the next day with the mixed party of Earthmen and Ganymeans to Pithead Base. The journey was indeed a mixed affair, with some Ganymeans squeezing into the UNSA medium-haul transporters while the luckier Earthmen traveled as passengers in one of the Shapieron’s daughter vessels.
The first thing the aliens were shown at Pithead was the distress beacon that had brought them across the Solar System to Ganymede; already that event seemed a long time ago. The aliens explained that ordinary electromagnetic transmissions could not be received inside the zone of localized space-time distortion that was generated by the standard form of Ganymean drive, and for this reason most long-range communications were effected by means of modulated gravity pulses instead; the beacon used precisely this principle. The Ganymeans had picked up the signal after they had at last shut down their main drives and entered the Solar System under auxiliary power, which was fine for flitting around between planets but not much good for interstellar marathons. Their subsequent bewilderment at what they found- -Minerva gone and an extra planet where there shouldn’t have been one-could well be imagined; and then they had picked up the signals. As one UNSA officer said to Hunt: “Imagine coming back in twenty-five million years’ time and hearing something out of today’s hit parade. They must have wondered if they hadn’t really been anywhere at all and had dreamed the whole thing.”