"Oh!" Nuoy was so startled by this news that he dropped the cigar he was smoking. As he slapped at the coal, the general took the opportunity to hang up. When he got the cigar slapped out and discovered that the general had hung up, Nuoy was infuriated.
"I'll have that stupid fool transferred to Venus!" he thundered.
The general had had good reason for hanging up. Suddenly, an aide had entered with the astonishing news that this ship was responding to radio contact, and that the ship's operator was speaking English.
"Hell on wheels, do they know English in deep space?" the general gasped.
Up in the dome, Craig Randall and Mary Kirkham watched the glows move through the sky as the ship approached. They could hear the clatter of voices coming from the radio room as contact was attempted. Suddenly a new voice came from the loud speaker in the radio room.
"Calling Pluto Station? Calling Pluto Station? Go ahead, please."
They heard the startled operator gasp as he caught his breath. "Holy cats, the ship is talking back to me! This boat is not coming in from deep space, not unless they speak English out there too!"
"Correction, please," the loud speaker answered. "This ship is coming from deep space."
"But—but—but—"