The echoes rolled through the ship without answer.
When the dead silence renewed itself, Capt. Jock Warren lifted his narcol flask and drank deeply. The skag watched with impassionate curiosity.
Failing in his search for Rigel on the star charts, K'Gol tried to contact his companions who were exploring and making secure the remainder of the vessel. The skag concluded that the only hope lay to negotiate a truce with the monsters who had built the ship. His companions replied:
"That's your task, K'Gol. We must learn the language of these hideous creatures or teach them ours."
"I have captured one here, who appears to guide the vessel," beamed K'Gol. "Let me attempt it with him, first."
Blue light flamed from the skag, bathing Mark Caldwell's head and throat. Discovering the paralysis lifted, the astrogator rotated his head to exercise stiffened muscles. K'Gol pointed at the individual white dots on a star chart: "Kuuuh-gu." The tones were like a goat chewing tin plate.
"Kuuuh-gu," echoed Mark Caldwell. "Oh, you mean stars. Stars."
The skag waved to include the bulkheads and deck. "Saaah-gos."
The astrogator repeated: "Saaah-gos. Must be ship."