"You ... no?"
"Me ... yes."
"Me ... yes!" agreed Delya.
Sandra put both palms against her cheeks and gave vent to a yell of sheer frustration. Then she calmed once more. "Did every one of you that knows a word of Terran go?"
"Tonla, I think she's asking about Thani and the rest."
"But how can we tell her?"
"Do we want to? If all are like her—this Terra must be a bad, bad place indeed. And she is but a female. What must the males be?"
At this point it must be recorded that the first Interstellar incident was averted by Sandra Drake's refusal to work in learning the Telfan language. Drake's possible actions if she had been able to understand Delya's remark might have led to the First Interplanetary War. Amicable relations resulted from Sandra Drake's ignorance.
"After all," said Tonla, "they went because there isn't much of her language between all of them. All together they may be able to converse with the Terrans."