Uxlu sighed. "The royal parks are at your disposal. You will undoubtedly require servants?"
"We have a robot, thanks."
"A robot is a mechanical man who does all our housework," Hammond, more courteous than his superior, explained. Zen wondered how he could ever have felt a moment's uneasiness concerning these wonderful strangers.
"Zen will be interested to hear of this," the prime minister said cannily. He and the king nodded at one another.
"Who did you say?" Kendrick asked eagerly.
"Zen the Terrible," the king repeated, "Zen the All-Powerful, Zen the Encyclopedic. Surely you have heard of him?" he asked in some surprise. "He's Uxen's own particular, personal and private god, exclusive to our planet."
"Yes, yes, of course I've heard about him," Kendrick said, trembling with hardly repressed excitement.
What a correct attitude! Zen thought. One rarely finds such religious respect among foreigners.
"In fact, I've heard a great deal about him and I should like to know even more!" Kendrick spoke almost reverently.
"He is an extremely interesting divinity," the king replied complacently. "And if your robot cannot teleport or requires a hand with the heavy work, do not hesitate to call on Zen the Accommodating. We'll detail a priest to summon—"