“A well-made point, hunter. But for the moment we shall just have to assume that they do have a language that they use to communicate with one another. I must not let a single failure stop me—look, the male is moving! It must have smelled the fruit. Masculine reactions are coarser, it cares more for its hunger than our possible threat. But it still watches us, still a wild animal. Look!” She cried out with triumph. “It is eating the fruit. A first success. We can at least feed them now. And there, see that, it is bringing fruit to the female. Altruism—that must denote intelligence.”

Stallan was not convinced. “Wild animals feed their young. I have seen them work together on the hunt. I have seen it. That is no proof.”

“Perhaps not—but I will not permit myself to be dissuaded so quickly. If boats can understand simple commands, why, then creatures like these should at least be able to do the same.”

“You will teach them then, in the same manner that boats are taught?”

“No. I considered that at first, but I want to obtain a better level of communication. Teaching boats involves positive and negative reinforcement of a few commands. An electric shock indicates a wrong action, while a bit of food rewards success. That is good for training boats, but I am not trying to train these animals. I want to talk with them, communicate with them.”

“Talking is a very difficult thing to do. Many of those who emerge from the sea never do learn.”

“You are correct, hunter, but that is a matter of degree. The young may have difficulty in talking as adults, but you must remember that all of the young talk together when they are in the sea.”

“Then teach these beasts the children’s language. They might be able to master that.”

Enge smiled. “It has been many years since you spoke as a child. Do you remember what this means?”

She raised her hand and the palm changed from green to red, then back to green again as she made a signal with her fingers. Stallan smiled.

“Squid—a lot of them.”

“You do remember. But do you notice how important the color of my hand is? What I said would be incomprehensible without that. Can these fur creatures change the color of their palms?”

“I don’t think so. I have never seen them do it. Though their bodies have red and white colors.”

“That may be an important part of their speech—”

“If they have one.”

“Agreed, if they have one. I must watch them more closely when they make their sounds again. But the greater urgency is to have them speak like Yilanè. Beginning with the simplest of expressions. They must learn the completeness of communication.”

Stallan made a gesture of incomprehension. “I do not know what that means.”