When the curtain of fury dissolved, Fred found himself in the recreation area. Unknowingly, he'd wandered there. Unknowingly, he'd arrived at a course of action—
You won't have a chance to carry it out.
That voice again! It was inside his head. This time, however, Fred straightened, unconsciously, said, "So I was wrong, and we did find intelligent life."
But not the sort you expected.
"Admitted. It's difficult to believe that a planet is alive."
Why so? Logically, you animals are the difficult beliefs. Nearly all else in the universe is direct—energy conversion, formation of elements, and the like. You animals require many things to get started: a planet; a fluid medium such as water; and the delicate balance of conditions for food input and waste removal. In a sense, you're parasites.