of me.”
“I—I’m not frightened,” Steve heard himself say. “It’s just that it h-happened so long ago.”
“Really? In your time, you mean?”
Steve could only nod, and Jay said, “I suppose I should have thought of it. Details like that always escape me.” The shadowy darkness left his eyes and the brightness returned, greater than before. “Then the crouch style of riding is now being used in racing horses?”
Steve nodded in still greater bewilderment.
“Oh, how I wish I could see them go! To think that I have to stay near the ship. The pity of it!” And then the man’s eyes were no longer bright but blood-red in sudden anger. “It was Flick who insisted that we visit
Mao
rather than
Earth
. He said so little had changed here since my last visit. The blackguard!” he shouted bitterly. “The scoundrel! No doubt he knew of this all along! So what did he do, Steve? What did he do?…”
Steve’s face had whitened; his head seemed too heavy to move.
“I’ll tell you what he did,” Jay went on. “He excited my interest in Mao by telling me of some horses that inhabited that planet. And what did I find? Scraggly, flea-bitten animals that were no more horse than I …
or you are
, Steve,” he added hastily. “Oh, the imbecile he is, not to know a horse when he sees one! And then he takes me on a great tour of the oceans of Mao, the most boring trip of my life. Nothing but colored water! And when I think what was awaiting me here, why, Steve, I could just …”
He stopped and the anger left his eyes while he studied the boy’s face. Finally he said, “Why, you’re
surprised
, aren’t you, Steve? After yesterday I just took it for granted that you had figured out who we were.”
Steve’s tongue felt too thick for speech.
“Not that Flick or the others would approve of my telling you this in so many words,” Jay went on. “They’re always worried that people will be frightened if they know about us, and then we won’t be able to come back again. I think that’s all rather silly, don’t you?”
When Steve did not answer, Jay continued. “Oh, I’ll admit that if you saw us as we really are you’d probably be frightened. Of course there wouldn’t be any good reason for your fear, but that’s the way you are.Sometimes I find it difficult to understand, and I try.… I really do, Steve. It seems you’re always jumping to conclusions without thinking things out. Oh, I don’t mean you personally, Steve,” he added quickly. “You’re doing fine, just fine. It’s your people I’m talking about … your
adults
.”
Jay glanced toward the valley where he could see Flame. “And I don’t mean to infer that this is true only so far as we are concerned. Take your own kind. Take Billy Sims. His was only a difference of skin color, as I understand it.” Jay’s gaze returned to Steve. “But, as you’ve reminded me, that was all many years ago. I’m sure the people of your world must be more understanding of each other in every way now. Aren’t they, Steve?”
Steve looked at the face before him, but no words came.
Then it wasn’t real
. And yet the eyes that weren’t eyes at all found his own, holding him forever. Would they make him accept all of this that he was being told in the most casual way, as one friend talking to another? He stared back into the glowing, bottomless pits and an eternity seemed to pass.
Meanwhile he was asking himself, “Is what I’ve heard more fearful than what I dreaded last night, the secret weapons of war and foreign enemies? Isn’t what I know to be
real
more dangerous, more deadly and vicious than this, which I consider
unreal
?”
Jay said, “Don’t think about it any more, Steve. I have your answer, and I’m sorry to hear it.”
It was the overpowering disappointment in Jay’s voice that startled Steve even more than his rememberingthat nothing could be kept from this man, not even one’s thoughts.
But Jay wasn’t a
“I—I’m not frightened,” Steve heard himself say. “It’s just that it h-happened so long ago.”
“Really? In your time, you mean?”
Steve could only nod, and Jay said, “I suppose I should have thought of it. Details like that always escape me.” The shadowy darkness left his eyes and the brightness returned, greater than before. “Then the crouch style of riding is now being used in racing horses?”
Steve nodded in still greater bewilderment.
“Oh, how I wish I could see them go! To think that I have to stay near the ship. The pity of it!” And then the man’s eyes were no longer bright but blood-red in sudden anger. “It was Flick who insisted that we visit
Mao
rather than
Earth
. He said so little had changed here since my last visit. The blackguard!” he shouted bitterly. “The scoundrel! No doubt he knew of this all along! So what did he do, Steve? What did he do?…”
Steve’s face had whitened; his head seemed too heavy to move.
“I’ll tell you what he did,” Jay went on. “He excited my interest in Mao by telling me of some horses that inhabited that planet. And what did I find? Scraggly, flea-bitten animals that were no more horse than I …
or you are
, Steve,” he added hastily. “Oh, the imbecile he is, not to know a horse when he sees one! And then he takes me on a great tour of the oceans of Mao, the most boring trip of my life. Nothing but colored water! And when I think what was awaiting me here, why, Steve, I could just …”
He stopped and the anger left his eyes while he studied the boy’s face. Finally he said, “Why, you’re
surprised
, aren’t you, Steve? After yesterday I just took it for granted that you had figured out who we were.”
Steve’s tongue felt too thick for speech.
“Not that Flick or the others would approve of my telling you this in so many words,” Jay went on. “They’re always worried that people will be frightened if they know about us, and then we won’t be able to come back again. I think that’s all rather silly, don’t you?”
When Steve did not answer, Jay continued. “Oh, I’ll admit that if you saw us as we really are you’d probably be frightened. Of course there wouldn’t be any good reason for your fear, but that’s the way you are.Sometimes I find it difficult to understand, and I try.… I really do, Steve. It seems you’re always jumping to conclusions without thinking things out. Oh, I don’t mean you personally, Steve,” he added quickly. “You’re doing fine, just fine. It’s your people I’m talking about … your
adults
.”
Jay glanced toward the valley where he could see Flame. “And I don’t mean to infer that this is true only so far as we are concerned. Take your own kind. Take Billy Sims. His was only a difference of skin color, as I understand it.” Jay’s gaze returned to Steve. “But, as you’ve reminded me, that was all many years ago. I’m sure the people of your world must be more understanding of each other in every way now. Aren’t they, Steve?”
Steve looked at the face before him, but no words came.
Then it wasn’t real
. And yet the eyes that weren’t eyes at all found his own, holding him forever. Would they make him accept all of this that he was being told in the most casual way, as one friend talking to another? He stared back into the glowing, bottomless pits and an eternity seemed to pass.
Meanwhile he was asking himself, “Is what I’ve heard more fearful than what I dreaded last night, the secret weapons of war and foreign enemies? Isn’t what I know to be
real
more dangerous, more deadly and vicious than this, which I consider
unreal
?”
Jay said, “Don’t think about it any more, Steve. I have your answer, and I’m sorry to hear it.”
It was the overpowering disappointment in Jay’s voice that startled Steve even more than his rememberingthat nothing could be kept from this man, not even one’s thoughts.
But Jay wasn’t a
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