“Niaga, people don’t—that is—” He floundered badly. Intellectually he knew he could not apply the code of his culture to hers; emotionally it was a difficult concept to accept. If his standards were invalid, his definitions might be, too. Perhaps this society was no more primitive than—No! A mature people would always develop more or less the same mechanical techniques, and these people had nothing remotely like a machine.
“You sent us a gift,” she said. “It is only proper for us to return the kindness.”
“You have made a rather miraculous use of the language machine in a remarkably short period of time.”
“We applied it to everyone in the village. We knew it would help your people feel at ease, if we could talk together in a common tongue.”
“You go to great pains to welcome a shipload of strangers.”
“Naturally. Consideration for others is the first law of humanity.” After a pause, she added very slowly, with her eyes fixed on his, “Mr. Lord, do you plan to make a colony here?”
“Eventually. After we repair the ship, I hope to negotiate a trade treaty with your government.”
“But you don’t intend to stay here yourself?”
“I couldn’t.”
“Have we failed in our welcome? Is there something more—”