Margery snorted. "It's just plain foolish! I knew the Institute was asking for trouble when they sent the _Rhinestead_ off. How do they know Easton ever got to Mars, anyway? Maybe he did away with those other men, cruised around, and then came back to Earth with this made-up story just so he could seem to be a hero and--" "That's nonsense!" "Why?" she demanded stubbornly. "Why is it?" "Because the _Rhinestead_ was tracked, for one thing, on both flights, to and from Mars. Moonbase has an indisputable record of it. And besides, the instruments on the ship itself show--" He found the report he had been searching for. "Oh, never mind." "All right," she said defiantly. "Maybe he did get to Mars. Maybe he did away with the crew after he got there. He knew the ship was built so that one man could handle it in an emergency. Maybe he--" "Look," said Jonathan patiently. "He didn't do anything of the sort. Easton has been checked so thoroughly that it's impossible to assume anything except, (a) he is sane, (b) he reached Mars and made contact with the Martians, (c) this linguistic barrier is a result of that contact." * * * * * Margery shook her head, sucking in her breath. "When I think of all those fine young men," she murmured. "Heaven only knows what happened to them!" "You," Jonathan accused, "have been reading that columnist--what's-his-name? The one that's been writing such claptrap ever since Easton brought the _Rhinestead_ back alone." "Cuddlehorn," said his wife. "Roger Cuddlehorn, and it's not claptrap." "The other members of the crew are all alive, all--" "I suppose Easton told you that?" she interrupted. "Yes, he did." "Using double-talk, of course," said his wife triumphantly. At the look on Jonathan's face, she stood up in guilty haste. "All right, I'll go!" She blew him a kiss from the door. "Richie and I are having lunch at one. Okay? Or would you rather have a tray in here?" "Tray," he said, turning back to his desk and his coffee. "No, on second thought, call me when lunch is ready. I'll need a break." He was barely conscious of the closing of the door as Margery left the room. Naturally he didn't take her remarks seriously, but-- He opened the folder of pictures and studied them again, along with the interpretations by Psych, Stoughton, Ramirez and himself. Easton had drawn the little stick figures on the first day of his return. The interpretations all checked--and they had been done independently, too. There it is, thought Jonathan. Easton lands the _Rhinestead_. He and the others meet the Martians. They are impressed by the Martians. The others stay on Mars. Easton returns to Earth, bearing a message. Question: What is the message? Teeth set, Jonathan put away the pictures and went back to the tape on the recorder. "Yes," said his own voice, in answer to Easton's outburst. "I do--er--blikkel English. But tell me, Mr. Easton, do you understand me?"