A green light flashed on the sending-receiving set. Nathen didn't look
at it, but he stopped talking.
* * * * *
The loudspeaker on the set broke into a voice speaking in the alien's
language. The Senator started and looked nervously at it, straightening
his tie. The voice stopped.
Nathen turned and looked at the loudspeaker. His worry seemed to be
gone.
"What is it?" the _Times_ asked anxiously.
"He says they've slowed enough to enter the atmosphere now. They'll be
here in five to ten minutes, I guess. That's Bud. He's all excited.
He says holy smoke, what a murky-looking planet we live on." Nathen
smiled. "Kidding."
The _Times_ was puzzled. "What does he mean, murky? It can't be
raining over much territory on Earth." Outside, the rain was slowing
and bright blue patches of sky were shining through breaks in the
cloud blanket, glittering blue light from the drops that ran down the
windows. He tried to think of an explanation. "Maybe they're trying to
land on Venus." The thought was ridiculous, he knew. The spaceship was
following Nathen's sending beam. It couldn't miss Earth. "Bud" had to
be kidding.
The green light glowed on the set again, and they stopped speaking,
waiting for the message to be recorded, slowed and replayed. The
cathode screen came to life suddenly with a picture of the young man
sitting at his sending-set, his back turned, watching a screen at one
side which showed a glimpse of a huge dark plain approaching. As the
ship plunged down toward it, the illusion of solidity melted into a
boiling turbulence of black clouds. They expanded in an inky swirl,
looked huge for an instant, and then blackness swallowed the screen.
The young alien swung around to face the camera, speaking a few words
as he moved, made the O of a smile again, then flipped the switch and
the screen went gray.
Nathen's voice was suddenly toneless and strained. "He said something
like break out the drinks, here they come."
"The atmosphere doesn't look like that," the _Times_ said at random,
knowing he was saying something too obvious even to think about. "Not
Earth's atmosphere."