“Is he thinking?”
“Who knows what he’s doing?”
“Why isn’t he answering?”
“Let’s give him a chance, Hal, okay?”
The reply finally came:
YES. = 0004212232 2322124000 = SEY
“Uh-uh. He thinks we’re showing him mirror images.”
“Stupid,” Barnes said. “I knew it.”
“What do we do now?”
“Let’s try a more complete statement,” Harry said. “Give him more to work with.”
Harry typed:
0004212232 = 0004212232, YES. = YES. 0004212232 = YES.
“A syllogism,” Ted said. “Very good.”
“A what?” Barnes said.
“A logical proposition,” Ted said. The reply came back: ,=,
“What the hell is that?” Barnes said.
Harry smiled. “I think he’s playing with us.”
“Playing with us? You call that playing?”
“Yes, I do,” Harry said.
“What you really mean is that he’s testing us-testing our responses to a pressure situation.” Barnes narrowed his eyes. “He’s only pretending to be stupid.”
“Maybe he’s testing how smart we are,” Ted said. “Maybe he thinks we’re stupid, Hal.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Barnes said.
“No,” Harry said. “The point is, he’s acting like a kid trying to make friends. And when kids try to make friends, they start playing together. Let’s try something playful.”
Harry sat at the console, typed: -=
The reply quickly came back: „,
“Cute,” Harry said. “This guy is very cute.”
He quickly typed: =,=
The reply came: 7 amp; 7
“Are you enjoying yourself?” Barnes said. “Because I don’t know what the hell you are doing.”
“He understands me fine,” Harry said. “I’m glad somebody does.”
Harry typed:
PpP
The reply came:
HELLO. = 00032125252632
“Okay,” Harry said. “He’s getting bored. Playtime’s over. Let’s switch to straight English.”
Harry typed:
YES.
The reply came back:
0004212232
Harry typed:
HELLO .
There was a pause, then:
I AM DELIGHTED TO MAKE YOUR ACQUAINTANCE. THE PLEASURE IS ENTIRELY MINE I ASSURE YOU.
There was a long silence. Nobody spoke.
“Okay,” Barnes said, finally. “Let’s get down to business.”
“He’s polite,” Ted said. “Very friendly.”
“Unless it’s an act.”
“Why should it be an act?”
“Don’t be naive,” Barnes said.
Norman looked at the lines on the screen. He had a different reaction from the others-he was surprised to find an expression of emotion. Did this alien have emotions? Probably not, he suspected. The flowery, rather archaic words suggested an adopted tone: Jerry was talking like a character from a historical romance.
“Well, ladies and gentlemen,” Harry said, “for the first time in human history, you are on-line with an alien. What do you want to ask him?”
“His name,” Barnes said promptly.
“Besides his name, Hal.”
“There are certainly more profound questions than his name,” Ted said.
“I don’t understand why you won’t ask him-”
The screen printed:
ARE YOU THE ENTITY HECHO IN MEXICO?
“Jesus, where’d he get that?”
“Maybe there are things on the ship fabricated in Mexico.”
“Like what?”
“Chips, maybe.”
ARE YOU THE ENTITY MADE IN THE U.S.A.?
“The guy doesn’t wait for an answer.”
“Who says he’s a guy?” Beth said.
“Oh, Beth.”
“Maybe Jerry is short for Geraldine.”
“Not now, Beth.”
ARE YOU THE ENTITY MADE IN THE U.S.A.?
“Answer him,” Barnes said.
YES WE ARE. WHO ARE YOU?
A long pause, then:
WE ARE.
“We are what?” Barnes said, staring at the screen.
“Hal, take it easy.”
Harry typed, WE ARE THE ENTITIES FROM THE U.S.A. WHO ARE YOU?
ENTITIES=ENTITY?
“It’s too bad,” Ted said, “that we have to speak English. How’re we going to teach him plurals?”
Harry typed, NO.
YOU ARE A MANY ENTITY?
“I see what he’s asking. He thinks we may be multiple parts of a single entity.”
“Well, straighten him out.”
NO. WE ARE MANY SEPARATE ENTITIES.
“You can say that again,” Beth said.
I UNDERSTAND. IS THERE ONE CONTROL ENTITY?
Ted started laughing. “Look what he’s asking!”
“I don’t get it,” Barnes said.
Harry said, “He’s saying, ‘Take me to your leader.’ He’s asking who’s in charge.”
“I’m in charge,” Barnes said. “You tell him.”
Harry typed, YES. THE CONTROL ENTITY IS CAPTAIN HARALD C. BARNES.
I UNDERSTAND.
“With an ‘o,’ “Barnes said irritably. “Harold with an ‘o.’ ”
“You want me to retype it?”
“Never mind. Just ask him who he is.”
WHO ARE YOU?
I AM ONE.
“Good,” Barnes said. “So there’s only one. Ask him where he’s from.”
WHERE ARE YOU FROM?
I AM FROM A LOCATION.
“Ask him the name,” Barnes said. “The name of the location.”
“Hal, names are confusing.”
“We have to pin this guy down!”
WHERE IS THE LOCATION YOU ARE FROM?
I AM HERE.
“We know that. Ask again.”
WHERE IS THE LOCATION FROM WHERE YOU BEGAN?
Ted said, “That isn’t even good English, ‘from where you began.’ It’s going to look foolish when we publish this exchange.”
“We’ll clean it up for publication,” Barnes said.
“But you can’t do that,” Ted said, horrified. “You can’t alter this priceless scientific interaction.”
“Happens all the time. What do you guys call it? ‘Massaging the data.’ ”
Harry was typing again.
WHERE IS THE LOCATION FROM WHERE YOU BEGAN?
I BEGAN AT AWARENESS.
“Awareness? Is that a planet or what?”
WHERE IS AWARENESS?
AWARENESS IS.
“He’s making us look like fools,” Barnes said.
Ted said, “Let me try.”
Harry stepped aside, and Ted typed, DID YOU MAKE A JOURNEY?
YES. DID YOU MAKE A JOURNEY?
YES , Ted typed.