“I will, Daddy,” Jeff replied. He paused for a moment, then added thoughtfully, “I think I’ll try and go there again.”
“A blue sun?” said Karellen, not many hours later. “That must have made identification fairly easy.”
“Yes,” Rashaverak answered. “It is undoubtedly Alphanidon 2. The Sulphur Mountains confirm the fact. And it’s interesting to notice the distortion of the time scale. The planet rotates fairly slowly, so he must have observed many hours in a few minutes.”
“That’s all you can discover?”
“Yes, without questioning the child directly.”
“We dare not do that. Events must take their natural course without our interference. When his parents approach us — then, perhaps, we can question him.”
“They may never come to us. And when they do, it may be too late.”
“That, I am afraid, cannot be helped. We should never forget this fact — that in these matters our curiosity is of no importance. It is no more important, even, than the happiness of mankind.” His hand reached out to break the connection.
“Continue the surveillance, of course, and report all results to me. But do not interfere in any way.”
Yet when he was awake, Jeff still seemed just the same.