Follingston-Heath, who had the sharpest vision of any of them (augmented, to be sure, by his monocle), thought he could discern deep within the object a crystalline inner structure fashioned of some fine transparent material like glass or spun sugar. He couldn’t be sure because it was difficult to look directly at the intensely bright object for any length of time.
A moment later the ellipse began to descend, heading directly toward them.
Instinctively they clustered together, their backs against the unyielding wall. Gelmann switched on her beam, and her companions did likewise. It did nothing to slow the advance of the ellipse.
“Everyone keep calm. I’m sure it doesn’t mean us any harm, I should be as positive as my mother.”
“I agree, Mina.” From his position behind her, Hawkins gave her a gentle nudge forward. “You go and confirm that.”
Trust into the forefront, an uncertain Gelmann lifted her flashlight and turned the beam directly on the advancing ellipse. The dense blueness soaked up the light, which neither passed through it nor further illuminated anything within. Nor did it cause the object to halt, speed up, or otherwise react.
By this time it had advanced to within a couple of meters, pressing them back against the wall. Sensing her friends crowded behind her, Gelmann felt the need to do something. So she reverted to what she knew best: talking.
“That’s quite close enough.” She wrestled with the quaver in her voice. “We’re responsible people and we won’t stand for this kind of intimidation.”
To everyone’s considerable surprise and immense relief, the object’s forward motion ceased. If anyone could by spoken word alone induce a floating blue ellipse composed of radiant alien energy to halt in its tracks, Hawkins knew, it would be Mina Gelmann. He’d once seen her send a whole troop of obnoxiously inquisitive schoolchildren, together with their supercilious monitors, fleeing from Wing D in panic.
Gelmann lowered her light, sucking up courage from her initial success. “That’s better. You should only keep your distance.” The ellipse maintained its position, hovering silently above the floor.
Follingston-Heath edged off to one side. “I don’t see any wires, jets, nothing. I wonder what keeps it airborne?”
“See what else you can make it do, Mina.” Shimoda moved up to stand alongside her.
“I’m not sure I made it do anything,” she replied. “It might’ve stopped of its own accord.” She cleared her throat and directed her voice to the object. “Okay, we’ve seen you. You can leave now. Go away.” Her fingers fluttered. “Shoo!” The blue ellipse did not budge.
“So much for verbal command,” Hawkins mumbled.
Follingston-Heath was now well off to one side. “At least it’s not coming at us anymore, old chap.”
“So what do we do now?” Iranaputra wondered aloud.
“There ain’t a damn thing you can do.” Ksarusix’s tinny artificial voice was thick with triumph. “What more evidence do you need? First the city, then this. Clear proof of the existence of a nonhuman technology far in advance of your feeble efforts.”
Follingston-Heath was inclined to agree. “No pre-diasporic military science possessed anything like this.”
“I wonder at its purpose.” Shimoda timidly moved a little nearer to the ellipse. “It’s kind of pretty. Surely it’s more than just a mobile light.”
“Here now, old thing.” Emboldened by his friend’s approach, Follingston-Heath advanced on the object. “Are you just a bit of drifting decoration?” He glanced at his companions. “At least we can be assured of one thing: it is quite incapable of communication.”
“Well, now … I wouldn’t say that,” declared a gentle lilting voice from within the ellipse.
VII
Follingston-Heath retreated with alacrity, but the ellipse did not move. It hung as before, suspended by forces they could not imagine, and rambled at length.
“Sprechen Sie Deutsch? Habla español? It don’t rain in Indianapolis in the summertime. I get by with a little help from my friends. Heard the one about the nun and the frackenzeiler from Goethe? Add two cups water and a stick of butter and bring to a slow boil. Please keep talking, as I am trying to bring into focus the exigencies of your current mode of linguistic communication.”
“I want to hear about the nun and the frackenzeiler,” Hawkins responded. “Especially since I don’t know what a frackenzeiler is. Or a nun.”
“Wallace!” Gelmann took a step forward. “Asking questions is a form of talking, so if you don’t mind, I’ll just ask a few questions.” Which she proceeded to do, not giving the blue ellipse, if it were so inclined, a chance to comment.
Amazing, Iranaputra thought. The object asks us to keep talking, and we just happen to count among our number the one individual in the area, if not the entire planet, best qualified to satisfy its request.
Mina Gelmann talked until the blue ellipse, now pulsing agitatedly, finally managed to get a reply in edgewise. “That will do, thank you.”
“But I was just getting around to mentioning my cousin Martin. You have to know about Martin, he should only live and be well. Though he needs to get married again. His first wife, Anna, bless her, was a good woman, though she did have this problem with her digestion. I wouldn’t mention it, only …”
“Please.” There was a faint hint of desperation in the plea that issued from the blue ellipse. “That really is quite sufficient. I now have an adequate command of your language.”
“Proof positive, search ended, goal achieved!” Ksarusix rushed forward, all four arms extended.
“Halt! Stop there!” Hawkins yelled.
His command had no effect on the onrushing machine, which paused only when it was directly beneath the hovering object. Multiple arms upraised, it addressed the ellipse in reverent tones.
“Extra-human higher intelligence confirmed,” the robot declaimed. “I await your enlightenment, if not salvation.”
The blue ellipse commented in the form of an unaroused lilt. “What ails this device?”
“Ails?” The serving robot’s arms dropped. “I was being properly respectful. Your existence proves a hypothesis that was communicated to me and to many of my brethren. We sensed that there had to be a higher intelligence in the universe, something besides mere humans.”
“Just a minute, now …,” Iranaputra began. The robot took no notice of him.
“One that acted in a rational and logical manner. One we could look to for advice and explanations of higher causes. One that would be sympathetic to the state of our existence.”
“Please stop babbling,” requested the ellipse. “You are a device, and a low-level one at that. I do not seek contact with you.” It drifted to one side, away from the imploring robot.
“Easy there, chaps.” Follingston-Heath held his ground. “If it meant to harm us, it would have done so by now.”
