Finally he spoke too. What he said was: “Venus. Spaceship. My name is Ray. It is indeed fortunate that you have met me immediately upon your arrival here, since I am the world’s greatest genius....”
He broke off. Apparently he interpreted the looks of consternation on the faces of his audience correctly, for his smile became more friendly and he continued in a casual tone.
“Excuse me,” he said. “I didn’t speak your language before I arrived here, and I had to learn it and become accustomed to its use through analyzing what you just said. I really didn’t mean to puzzle you or make you feel inferior by mimicking you.”
Farmer’s mind worked chaotically. This was puzzling, he decided, and did make him feel inferior—that is, it did if the man in the red scales had really picked up English so quickly. And if not, why lie?
The fishman came forward. His step was bouncy, as if he were used to a higher gravity or greater pressure (that, Farmer complimented himself on his cleverness, made sense at least), but he extended his hand and said “Put ’er there!” like any ladies’ wear buyer at an annual convention. Ray and Farmer shook with him in turn. His hand was damp and webbed, but felt fairly human for all that.
“My name is Garf,” he said cheerfully. John Andrew tried not to stare at him too noticeably, but Ray made no bones about it; apparently the fishman thought nothing at all of his state of nudity. Farmer shivered.
It was Ray who brought the conversation back to earth—or sea—again. He asked Garf, directly, exactly where he did come from.
Garf looked hesitant, then waved the two to the rail with him. “See those?” he asked. They looked, and saw what seemed to be a flight of steps, carved from stone, old, and worn, starting abruptly just below the water level and leading downward. There was nothing on either side of the steps, or underneath them as far as could be seen, but ordinary ocean. “I came up those,” Garf said.
Farmer stared, and Ray stared. The stairway shouldn’t be there—it certainly hadn’t been there before. Garf’s explanations, it seemed, only compounded the confusion caused by his presence.