"And those chopping movements of its hands," said Francine. "The swaying body, the undulations, the facial contortions." She shook her head. "It's almost like a bizarre dance." "What are you driving at?" asked Ohashi. "I've been wondering what would happen if we had a leading choreographer compose a dance to those sounds, and if we put it on for...." "Faaa!" snorted Zakheim. "All right," said Francine. "But we should be using some kind of random stimulation pattern on these Galactics. Why don't we bring in a nightclub singer? Or a circus barker? Or a magician? Or...." "We tried a full-blown schizoid," said Goré. Zakheim grunted. "And you got exactly what such tactics deserve: your schizoid sat there and played with his fingers for an hour!" "The idea of using artists from the entertainment world intrigues me," said Ohashi. "Some _No_ dancers, perhaps." He nodded. "I'd never thought about it. But art is, after all, a form of communication." "So is the croaking of a frog in a swamp," said Zakheim. "Did you ever hear about the Paradox Frog?" asked Francine. "Is this one of your strange jokes?" asked Zakheim. "Of course not. The Paradox Frog is a very real creature. It lives on the island of Trinidad. It's a very small frog, but it has the opposable thumb on a five-fingered hand, and it...." "Just like our visitors," said Zakheim. "Yes. And it uses its hand just like we do--to grasp things, to pick up food, to stuff its mouth, to...." "To make bombs?" asked Zakheim. Francine shrugged, turned away. She felt hurt. "My people believe these Galactics are putting on an elaborate sham," said Zakheim. "We think they are stalling while they secretly study us in preparation for invasion!" Goré said: "So?" His narrow shoulders came up in a Gallic shrug that said as plainly as words: "_Even if this is true, what is there for us to do?_" Francine turned to Ohashi. "What's the favorite theory current with your team?" Her voice sounded bitter, but she was unable to soften the tone. "We are working on the assumption that this is a language of one-syllable root, as in Chinese," said Ohashi. "But what of the vowel harmony?" protested Goré. "Surely that must mean the harmonious vowels are all in the same words." Ohashi adjusted the set of his glasses. "Who knows?" he asked. "Certainly, the back vowels and front vowels come together many times, but...." He shrugged, shook his head. "What's happening with the group that's working on the historical analogy?" asked Goré. "You were going to find out, Ohashi." "They are working on the assumption that all primitive sounds are consonants with non-fixed vowels ... foot-stampers for dancing, you know. Their current guess is that the galactics are missionaries, their language a religious language." "What results?" asked Zakheim. "None." Zakheim nodded. "To be expected." He glanced at Francine. "I beg the forgiveness of the Mrs. Doctor Millar?"