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lounge, Valnadireb provided confirmation as well as explication. As the thranx spoke, his truhands described delicate arcs through the air that even the most knowledgeable of his human colleagues could follow only imperfectly. In any case, the digital punctuation was more reflexive than necessary, as the xenologist’s terranglo was virtually devoid of any accent.
    “It was very interesting. The five of them watched us for a while. Then three, presumably the boldest of the group, came toward us. When I addressed them, they turned and ran. My appearance startled them, perhaps, or something in my voice. One of them expectorated in our direction and—”
    N’kosi interrupted, “One of them spat at you?”
    The thranx xenologist nodded. “Hard to tell if it was a gesture of defiance, an insult, an attempt to open some kind of non-verbal communication, or simply a natural reflex. The forming of the mouth—”
    This time it was Tellenberg’s turn to break in. “Mouth?” Glancing over at N’kosi, he was met by equal bewilderment. “What mouth? From what little we were able to observe, the semifluid, gelatinous nature of the natives’ bodies would seem to preclude—”
    “Semifluid? Gelatinous?” Her appetite beset by her intellect, a confused Haviti pushed the rest of her meal aside. “Are we talking about the same natives here?” Removing her communit from its belt pouch, she thumbed open the tiny integrated tripod and set it on the dining table. Across from her, Valnadireb did likewise.
    “Of course we are talking about the same natives.” Valnadireb hesitated. “Aren’t we?”
    Responding to Haviti’s directions, the compact device she had activated played back the recording it had made earlier. The imagery automatically synched with Valnadireb’s footage. As yet unedited or modified, the encounter at the river was shown in full detail complete with sound. As three-dimensional images materialized above the center of the table, it was as silent in the dining area as it had been noisy and excited only moments earlier. Everyone’s attention was focused on the pooled projection that now dominated the room. Even Araza had paused in his never-ending work to glance in its direction.
    Chosen by integrated AIware, the point of view alternated between thranx and human. In bright sunshine was revealed the river, the forest, the taking of specimens. Then the appearance of the native quintet, their brandishing of primitive weapons, followed by advance and bluster and then retreat. When it was over, the dimensional projection winked out. Picking up and refolding her unit, Haviti looked first at N’kosi, then Tellenberg.
    “Well? The only thing that I can see in the entire combined recording deserving of the designation ‘semifluid’ would be the spittle that the one native spat in our direction.”
    N’kosi was already setting up his communit. Next to him Tellenberg was doing the same. “Have a look at this.” He flicked his device to life. The two playbacks combined.
    Everyone seated at the table was treated to a hovering view of the alien seashore, the pink sky, and the specimens the two xenologists were collecting. Then the scene shifted to the forest’s edge. The trio of stick-jellies emerged. Confrontation was brief but unmistakable, leaving both men stunned by the experience.
    No more stunned than Valnadireb and Haviti as Tellenberg and N’kosi resecured their gear.
    “I think the explanation is as clear and unavoidable as it is hard to believe.” Valnadireb’s truhands were now very active indeed. “Living in close proximity to one another and in a small corner of this world, we have encountered not one but
two
sentient species. Most remarkable.”
    “That’s not the half of it.” N’kosi was checking his unit to make sure it had copied the information previously displayed by his colleagues. “Not only are we presented with the prospect of two native intelligences, physically they are as