“I think you can help us,” he said politely. “We find it very difficult to make ourselves understood here. You see, we’ve just landed on this planet from space and we want to get in touch with your government.”
“Oh,” said Jimmy Williams, not yet fully returned to Earth from his vicarious adventures among the outer moons of Saturn. “Where’s your spaceship?”
“It’s up in the hills; we didn’t want to frighten anyone.”
“Is it a rocket?”
“Good gracious no. They’ve been obsolete for thousands of years.”
“Then how does it work? Does it use atomic power?”
“I suppose so,” said Danstor, who was pretty shaky on physics. “Is there any other kind of power?”
“This is getting us nowhere,” said Crysteel, impatient for once. “We’ve got to ask him questions. Try and find where there are some officials we can meet.”
Before Danstor could answer, a stentorian voice came from inside the house.
“Jimmy! Who’s there?”