Between me and the aliens lay no such barrier.
"Obviously intelligent," the other agreed. "Feel those gamma radiations? Too bad they're so weak. It would be interesting if he could communicate with us."
I stammered aloud, "But—but I can communicate with you. I understand every—"
They were paying no attention to my raspy words. "Yes, that's typical of these ancient, organic life-forms. As I recall, they use some form of physical vibration of their gaseous medium for communicating among themselves—"
"Speaking of which," the other interrupted, "this particular gaseous medium seems to contain oxygen. We'd best not remain overlong or we'll corrode and catch hell when we return."
"Exude a little nickel if it irritates you. We'll catch hell anyway when mother—"
Yes, that's the word that came to me!
"—discovers when we've been. I'm curious about these flesh and blood creatures. I wonder who invented this clumsy monstrosity."
He meant me. He rolled a foot nearer, and the other followed with an uncertain wobble. "I turned out better in the third grade."