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but done with tact and even a little cautious humor.
He lost track of time as he scrolled through the questions that had come from
all over the globe. Skimming back and forth through the questions and clicking
the embedded links to other questions, he jotted occasional notes to ask her
about later, or to include in his book. Eventually, he d have to do it methodically,
but for now it was a revelation, and good recreation.
Q. What do you know about the beings that removed your ancestors from earth to
your present planet? (Antonio Biagini, Affari Milani, Italy)
A. We know very little, unfortunately. It happened several thousand years ago at
least. Our ancestors were not literate, so all that has come down to us began as oral
tradition. We don t know who they were or why they did it, but we do know that
their intentions were not malicious. Perhaps they simply wanted to see how humans
would adapt to a new situation. Our legends say that they taught many things,
including writing and basic technologies. They disappeared at some point, and we
don t know what happened to them.
Q. When are we likely to meet more of your people? (Charles Coetzee, The Star,
Johannesburg, South Africa)
A. I don t know. Probably not soon. As I have said above, I am not here in an offi-
cial capacity and I am not allowed to identify the precise star my planet orbits. But I
can tell you that it took at least several decades for me to get here, traveling at nearly
the speed of light. It would take that long for my reports to reach home, and that long
again for a reply, or for emissaries to travel here. If there is a faster way to travel, we
have not discovered it yet. I regret this as much as you do perhaps more.
Q. By our standards, you are an extraordinary athlete. Are you as outstanding
among your own people? (Frank Chevrier, Sports Illustrated, USA)
A. No. Our people vary about as much as yours do, though the range is probably
wider due to our genetic tweaking. [link]. I would have been terrible in strength
events. Even in speed events like the 100 meters, I had to train hard to overcome my
lack of explosive power.
Q. What do you think of what is evidently your people s original home? (Ian
Deller, Cheshire Chronicles, Cheshire, England)
A. The diversity and richness of earth is wonderful it is such a beautiful planet.
The weather, the smells, tastes, sounds, sights, are all miraculous. The cultures, lan-
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guages, the history I don t think I ll ever get tired of enjoying them. People tend to
take them for granted, but they shouldn t they should cherish them.
Q. What is your native language? (Kimberly Dugat, Jefferson High School, Lake
Charles, Louisiana, USA)
A. Our name for it is Luvit. I have been able to determine that it seems to be a
member of earth s Indo-European language family, as are Greek, English, Persian,
Hindi, French, Russian, and so forth. If you look up Indo-European in a college
desk dictionary, you should see a chart of this family. Currently, I am working with
some of your linguists to try to determine where our language might belong on this
chart.
Actually, the people of my planet speak over thirty different dialects of Luvit, but
we think they all came from the same source, much as Spanish, French, Italian, Por-
tuguese, and others all came from Latin. In a similar way, English, Dutch, German,
and others came from Germanic. Even earlier than that, both Latin and Germanic
came from Proto-Indo-European. The linguists I m working with think that my lan-
guage might be one of the original branches of Proto-Indo-European.
Q. Do you have computers? (Paul Sanderson, Middleton Junior High, Boulder,
Colorado, USA)
A. Yes. They are not unlike your computers: we use monitors, we have keyboards,
and so forth. Our writing system is different, of course [link] but our media works dif-
ferently, being three dimensional and holographic. Your scientists are exploring simi-
lar data storage methods right now. We even use the binary system.
Q. What is your moon base like? (Peter Dietrich, Renssaeler Polytechnic, Dussel-
dorf, Germany)
A. It amounts to a small building, about 1000 square meters. My station chief,
Hleo, takes up no room [link], and all the space I need is a gym, sleeping quarters,
working spaces, and a small living room. It was very cozy. Sometimes I miss it.
Q. What is the main source of energy on your planet? Do you have petroleum?
(Hiroko Kunitake, Asahi Shinbun, Osaka, Japan)
A. We use a variety of energy sources, including wind and hydroelectric, but the
main source is hydrogen, which is non-polluting and replenishing. We also have excel-
lent ways to store energy, not unlike your batteries.
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Q. What is the nature of your people s social structure? (Andy Kuiper, The Boston
Globe, Boston, USA)
A. A thorough description would take volumes, and anyway I m not authorized to
represent my society in any detail. But I can give you a basic idea, perhaps. We are
pretty sure our ancestors were nomads, and lived in tribes. We re no longer nomadic,
but the basic social structure of the tribe is still the fundamental unit of our society,
just as it is among some peoples of earth today. All our people belong to one tribe or
another and the tribes are grouped into larger tribes in an organization that amounts
to a government. Some of our leaders are elected, and some are hereditary. That gives
us what you call might call checks and balances. Counsels of all kinds, where consen-
sus is sought and reached, are very important. Some marriages are personally
arranged, and others are done for political reasons, to unite tribes and share obliga-
tions. It can get very complicated, but that is the basic idea.
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