* * * * *
His men supplied him with phrases in the languages he asked for, but
the Mercurian remained unresponsive.
McCracken ventured, "He don't look very bright to me, Captain. I can't
understand why Kalinoff said they were intelligent."
"Maybe," suggested Sprott, "it's because they just stand there looking
wise and don't say anything."
Lamoureux shook his head. "Kalinoff wouldn't be impressed by anybody's
just looking wise. And he wouldn't be impressed by anybody's not saying
anything. He didn't go for either stuffed shirts or strong silent men.
That's why I believe that this thing must have a language of its own,
and a fairly decent brain."
The Mercurian closed its two eyes slowly, like a sleepy cat, and opened
them again. Then it poked one of its four feet out from under its body
and scratched on the ground.
"He's nuts," decided McCracken. "Just scrabbling around."
"Hold it," ordered Lamoureux, "I'm beginning to get this."
The Mercurian had scratched nine parallel lines, only a few of
them visible on the rocky ground. Now it scratched other lines,
perpendicular to these.
Lamoureux barked, "A checkerboard! That's what it is! Has anybody got
one?"
Marsden had a pocket chess set. He took it out. The Mercurian's eyes
brightened. It sat down suddenly on the hard ground.
"I'll be damned," said Lamoureux. "He wants to play a game. Go ahead,
Marsden. Entertain our guest."
The men were grinning again. Marsden squatted down on the ground
and began to set up the men. The Mercurian stretched out two of its
paws--three-fingered affairs, the fingers almost human--and seized one
white chessman and one black. It hid the paws behind its back, then
held them out again.
Marsden chose the white, and moved forward the queen's pawn. The
Mercurian countered and the game was on.
It was Kalinoff who must have taught this creature the game, and, if it
did nothing else, the incident showed that the explorer was just as
screwy as ever, and probably alive somewhere on the planet. Or did it
merely show that he _had_ been alive? Lamoureux, undecided, watched the
curious battle of wits.
Half an hour later, Marsden, thoroughly beaten, demanded, "Who says
this thing isn't intelligent?"