“I just want to get a reaction I can learn from,” said Anthropologist Wheaton.

“I think Professor Wheaton here,” as Noxon indicated their host, “has a good suggestion. Why don’t we skip ahead to when the ship we call the Visitors departs from Earth, and then wait out the time till they return? If we can’t learn what we need to at that time, we can always come back. And in the meantime, I can make some jaunts back in time and compile a decent fortune by buying a few shares of Xerox, Microsoft, Apple, a few others. Or even earlier, in the heyday of untaxed capitalism. We don’t need a huge amount—just enough in a Swiss account that no matter what time period we need to visit, we’ll have contemporary funds we can draw on.”

“Deborah’s been briefing you,” said Anthropologist Wheaton.

“He’s so ignorant,” said Deborah. “It seemed the least I could do.”

Philologist Wheaton took Deborah’s shopping list to the grocery store, while Noxon, Ram, Deborah, and Anthropologist Wheaton busied themselves with glancing through the bookshelves and scanning their host’s publications. “He writes very well,” said Anthropologist Wheaton. “Clear prose, opinionated but with plenty of grounding in sources.”

“Why does this sound like self-praise?” asked Ram.

“It’s not,” said Anthropologist Wheaton. “And if I had chosen to pursue philology, I can’t help but hope I would have refrained from some of his stranger speculations.”

“Because you never speculated in your anthropological work,” said Deborah.

“Ah, but I can prove myself right, now. At least to my own satisfaction. Basketweaving Erectids! Ropes and twines! Deliberately planted and cultivated yams! Continuing communication between the alpha-centered forest group and the monogamous savannah group.”

“Not monogamous,” said Deborah. “We weren’t there long enough to know that.”

“Monogamy-ready, then,” said her father.

“Don’t you have a memory card with all your publications on it?” asked Ram.

“I do,” said Anthropologist Wheaton.

“As do I,” said Deborah. “I didn’t think he’d be happy to leave all those behind.”

“My darling girl,” said her father.

“You are a darling,” said Noxon, allowing no trace of irony to enter his tone. “I need a blind clerk with a good memory.”

“And I need a facemask,” said Deborah. “Maybe we can work out a trade.”

“Let’s see what the future brings,” said Ram Odin.

After a few days, Noxon and Ram followed their host’s suggestion, skipping ahead a few months at a time. Deborah and her father stayed behind, ostensibly to research worldwide public opinion and government actions, but mostly, Noxon believed, for the professors Wheaton to read each other’s work and criticize it in a most friendly, collegial, and sarcastic manner.