They followed the native for several miles over a faint game trail that wound leisurely through brush and skimpy, small-leaved trees, before either of the men recovered his composure enough to speak.
"He said 'Come'," Saxton mused. "Yet we're the first humans this far over the Rim. Where did he learn our language?"
Wallace shrugged. "I've been wondering too," he answered.
"Should we try to talk to him?" Saxton asked, glancing ahead at their companion.
The native, apparently, had no interest in their conversation. "Better wait," Wallace suggested.
"I don't understand it." Saxton's tone was querulous. "No one's allowed over the Rim ahead of us. A section has to be surveyed, and worlds declared fit for habitation, before colonists can move in. Yet we land here and find a native speaking our language."
"Perhaps he isn't a native," Wallace said.
"What do you mean?"
"When Earth first discovered spacebridge there were no laws regulating its use. Limits were put on colonizing areas only after some of the earlier expeditions failed to report back. One of them might have been marooned here."