"Certainly. Didn't the first man tell how he instructed us?"
"Yes, yes, of course," Ingomar said, confused. "But I didn't remem ...
that is.... Well, I didn't believe it."
The birds eyed each other again. "I like him," one said. "If there's
anything I hate, it's a completely honest person."
The other gave him a vicious peck on his back. "Shut up!" it said, "Do
you want him to think we condone dishonesty?"
"Of course not," the other retorted hotly, "I just meant that,
considering social protocol, it is sometimes kind to tell a very small
lie."
* * * * *
Ingomar was speechless. He looked back at his ship, standing tall and
straight, ready to blast itself into the sky again. He glanced around
at the lonely landscape. Finally he said, "It is difficult to see a
difference between you two. Do you have names that I might be able to
use?"
"Oh, yes. We beg your pardon. How uncivil of us. Our name, translated
into your tongue, is Pisces."
"The fish?"
"Well," they said, "from our home planet the constellation does not
look like a fish."
"Oh. Well, are both of you named Pisces? Oh, I see. That is your
species. I am called Man; you are called Pisces."
"Of course not," they said, "You were right the first time. Pisces is
our name. You can say, 'Pisces, get me that ship.' And we would do so."
"How can both of you have the same name? Are you actually one
intelligence? And see that you keep your hands ... I mean, see that you
leave my ship alone."
One said, "We wouldn't think of touching your ship." The other said,
"No, we are two separate entities."
Ingomar passed a hand over his face, thinking. The two very
Earth-looking birds stood quietly before him, their feet buried in the
sand so that it looked like their legs were two stilts shoved into the
ground. At last he said, "Well, I know what we'll do. I will call you
Pisces I," he pointed to the bird on his left, "and your companion
Pisces II."
The identical birds glanced at each other, then leapt into the air.
They circled high above his head. They swooped low. They engaged in
marvelous aerial gymnastics wonderful to see. Ingomar made notes in his
book concerning their agility. Finally they came to rest before him
again, so suddenly that he stepped backward quickly, frightened.
"Now," they said, "which one of us is Pisces I and which is Pisces II?"
Puzzled, Ingomar studied them carefully. The one with the quick temper
might show this characteristic in some way. He pointed to the bird on
his right. "You," he said, "are Pisces I."
They laughed. It was a verbal sound only. No expression showed in their
eyes.
* * * * *
"All right," Ingomar said, after some thought. "I can fix that." He
entered his ship and rummaged around in his clothes locker, then
emerged with a brilliant red ribbon of plastic. "I'll tie this to your
leg. That way I'll know that you are Pisces I. If you promise not to
move it from one to the other."
"We promise."
He stooped over to tie the plastic on the leg of the one he thought was
Pisces I, and was almost caught in the sudden flurry of slashing beaks
and raking claws, like a mating fight in an aviary.
"_I_ am Pisces I," one screamed, administering a resounding peck on the
other's back.
"No, you're not. I am." This one leapt into the air and landed on the
other's back. He raked vicious, long talons across the well-groomed
feathers. "I am more intelligent than you. _I_ should be Pisces I."
From a safe ten feet away, Ingomar threw the ribbon at them. "Stop it!"
he yelled.
They obeyed instantly, and stood quietly side by side facing him.
Ingomar drew his hand gun and pointed it at them. "Now stop your
fighting, or I'll blow you to kingdom come."
"Fine," they said. "Anything to get off this miserable planet. How far
is it?"
Ingomar smiled, in spite of his anger. "It's an expression. It means I
will destroy you."
One of the birds quickly picked up the plastic ribbon and carried it
to the other, and dropped it near the leg. Then both took it in their
beaks and together they tied it around the leg. It was done so quickly
that Ingomar stood there aghast, surprised into immobility. He had
never before seen birds tie knots.
"It would not be wise to destroy us," Pisces I said. "We can help you."
"How?"
"You need help," Pisces II said. "A storm is coming."
"A cosmic storm?" Ingomar asked. "I'm not worried about that. I'll stay
here until it moves on."