"Something wrong?"
The reptile shook his head soberly, saying, "You will learn, in time."
A thick glassine door slid noiselessly apart as Jonathan and the Neeoornian neared it. They passed into cool halls of veined green marble lighted so brilliantly that Jonathan remarked it.
"Filaments of glass containing electrified carbon-dioxide gases exuded by specially reared plants. Carbon dioxide emits a light much like ordinary daylight. We have perfected that until our inner and outer light is the same."
A rounded chamber whose cool blue walls reflected heat and absorbed moisture contained chairs and tables so similar to Earth products that Jonathan started.
"They look like a futurist's dream, but they're remarkably like our own," he acknowledged.
"This is the Court of Counsellors for bipeds. The other courts are different, naturally, being suited to the individual needs of the various visitors Neeoorna plays host to. Were you or a Zarathzan to enter some of them, you would die instantly from cold and deadly gases, or terrific heat. That is, unless you were forewarned as to what to expect."
Jonathan puzzled over that for a moment. No amount of foreknowledge made deadly cold any hotter, nor did it turn noxious fumes into pure air. He shrugged. He must be tired, after all. Maybe a rest was what he needed.
The reptile gestured Jonathan to a glassine couch covered with the spotted fur of some jungle beast. It looked soft. It invited him, dumbly. Jonathan dropped on it and stretched out his legs.
"Neeoornians call me Shar Bytu," said the reptile, gazing down at him. "If you need aught, mention my name. Tell them you are the representative of Earth."