"Is this one of your strange jokes?" asked Zakheim.
"Of course not. The Paradox Frog is a very real creature. It lives on the island of Trinidad. It's a very small frog, but it has the opposable thumb on a five-fingered hand, and it...."
"Just like our visitors," said Zakheim.
"Yes. And it uses its hand just like we do—to grasp things, to pick up food, to stuff its mouth, to...."
"To make bombs?" asked Zakheim.
Francine shrugged, turned away. She felt hurt.
"My people believe these Galactics are putting on an elaborate sham," said Zakheim. "We think they are stalling while they secretly study us in preparation for invasion!"
Goré said: "So?" His narrow shoulders came up in a Gallic shrug that said as plainly as words: "Even if this is true, what is there for us to do?"
Francine turned to Ohashi. "What's the favorite theory current with your team?" Her voice sounded bitter, but she was unable to soften the tone.
"We are working on the assumption that this is a language of one-syllable root, as in Chinese," said Ohashi.