Then the Varn asked, very quietly:
"Why is the Plan failing?"
"You already know," he said. "Because of the barrier—the communication barrier that causes aliens to misunderstand the intentions of Exploration men and fear them."
"There is no communication barrier between you and I—yet you fear me and are going to kill me."
"I have to kill you. You represent a danger to my race."
"Isn't that the same reason why aliens kill Exploration men?"
He did not answer and its thought came, quickly, "How does an Exploration man appear to the natives of alien worlds?"
How did he appear?... He landed on their world in a ship that could smash it into oblivion; he stepped out of his ship carrying weapons that could level a city; he represented irresistible power for destruction and he trusted no one and nothing.
And in return he hoped to find welcome and friendship and co-operation....
"There," the Varn said, "is your true barrier—your own distrust and suspicion. You, yourselves, create it on each new world. Now you are going to erect it between my race and yours by killing me and advising the Exploration Board to quarantine my world and never let another ship land there."