Certainty

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“No, you didn’t think,” Wharton said acidly. “O. K., let’s have the rest of the story. You sent warnings to the ship, I hope.”

Crosley nodded. “We beamed them wide-channel in Terran, General Galactic, Dormirani, Leesor, and Fawd. We sent the same message in each language: telling them that this is a Terran observation outpost, that they can’t land here without prior permission, that they would have to depart at once, By this time they had completed their landing. We estimate their position at about one hundred twenty miles northeast of here, on the Creston Plateau.”

“And did you get an answer?”

“A few minutes ago. It was in what Breckenridge says is a Fawdese dialect. They said, in effect, that they didn’t recognize Terran sovereignty over this planet, for one thing, and for another they had come here to make certain scientific observations. They said they’d leave here in a week or two, after they’ve completed their observations.”

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