"I'll go along with a joke as well as anyone," said Rodkey, "but gentlemen, we've only got twelve minutes till we go on the air. Now let's cut out this nonsense about destroying Earth and talk about something pleasant."
"Certainly," said Dr. Bruber. "What planet did you come from?"
"Xvik," said Olbu. "It's the fourth planet of a star you call GC1242."
"Good old GC1242!" said Dr. Bruber.
"Oh, you know that star?"
"Yes, it's a minor variable loosely attached to Lyra."
"There's nothing loose about my star," said Olbu.
"I'm sure Dr. Bruber didn't mean it that way," said Rodkey hastily. He looked nervously at Dr. Bruber. "Did you, doctor?"
"That's one of the things I don't know," he said, wiping his glasses on his handkerchief. "Tell me, Olbu, if you should decide we aren't worth saving, how would you communicate with your superiors, considering they're 32 light years away. Wouldn't it take 64 years—thirty-two going and thirty-two coming—to get a message through?"
"Oh, no! I communicate by instantaneous telepathy," said Olbu. "It's much faster than energy forms of communication."