After all introductions had been made and greetings had been exchanged between the Martonians and the Moonalites, we were all invited to come into the diner of their ship for a meal which had already been prepared.
In the diner the tables are all set for just the number of people there are present.
The flavor of the food defies description. Most of it is entirely different than anything we have ever eaten on Earth, but there is some kind of fowl served that is similar to Earthly chicken both in taste and appearance. The drink is delicious in flavor and non-intoxicating but we have no idea what it is.
This ship is far larger than the one we had seen in the city. During the conversation at the table, the first pilot remarked that it was in readiness to come to the Moon to meet us as an official ship from Mars when the people there knew that everything was set on the Earth for us to leave the Moon.
In surprise Johnny asked how they knew when we were leaving.
"On Mars we have a big laboratory with all sorts of instruments with which we can pick up anything in our solar system, be it human activities or natural disturbances," explained our host. "We have tried innumerable times to contact the Earth using many means, but your scientists are not well enough developed. They have too many complications in their own minds and their method is not simplified. Every time we have succeeded in reaching the Earth and our messages picked up by your crude instruments, your scientists have always named it something else like cosmic rays and many other things."
"True. There are cosmic rays in space, for each planet radiates outwardly from its own body, intermingling with its neighboring planets, plus the sun radiates to them all. Between these rays are neutral lanes so fine that they are undetectable, and through these we send our messages to Earth and to other planets. Ofttimes our messages are impregnated with these cosmic rays, as you Earth men call it, but if the Earth men had the proper instruments whereby they could screen the cosmic ray out, they would get our messages. Your crude form of transmission which you call radio, crude but good for a beginning, gets interference as you call it, from time to time which is not due to sun interference, as you think it is. It is mostly due to us using tremendous power of transmission to alert the Earth men to our messages, but even then we do not seem to be successful. Yes, there have been some stray messages caught by some of your alert radio operators as they were experimenting just to see what they could get, which were sent from us to Earth, for we can send messages to you in your own language, in your own code, since we are far enough advanced that we can master any and all tongues in our solar system. But the few messages that you have caught have been given absolutely false interpretation. And speaking of sending messages, remember when you shot the Moon with radar? You alerted the inhabitants on the Moon as well as those on every planet in our system, and we all have answered you; but we have received no answer from you, proving that people beyond the Earth are more alert than people on the Earth. However we are daily awaiting that reply which should come in the very near future, for we know that your scientists are working towards that end.
"We even commune with what you call the lower forms of life, like animals and so forth. To us there is no high nor low for all forms are creations of the Creator and are respected alike."
At this, we suddenly awakened to the realization that all this talking which we have been telling of was told to us in our own language. There was no sign language employed. And we were surprised and relieved! For we know now that we will be able to get much information direct and correctly.
Right there and then we asked why the men of the other ship had not talked to us the same so that we could have understood their words, instead of using the sign language as they had done.