That would certainly be an undiplomatic spectacle, Duncan told himself-unique even in this city, which had probably seen everything.

“I’ve been here three days now, and this is the first time I’ve had the energy-and the inclination-and the opportunity-to put my thoughts in order.

But from now on, I swear, I’ll do this every day…. “The first morning after my arrival, General George-that’s what everyone calls him-took me to the Embassy, which is only a few hundred meters from the hotel. Ambassador Robert Farrell apologized because he couldn’t come to the spaceport. He said, “I knew you’d be in good hands with George-he’s the world’s greatest organizer.” Then the General left us, and we had a long private talk.

“I met Bob Farrell on his last visit to Titan, three years ago, and he remembers me well-at least, he gave that impression, which I suppose is

an art all diplomats have to acquire. He was very helpful and friendly, but I got the feeling that he was sounding me out, and not telling me everything he knew. I realize that he’s in an ambiguous position, being a Terran yet having to represent our interests. One day this may cause difficulties, but I don’t know what we can do about it, since no native-born

Titanian can ever Eve on Earth…. “Luckily, there are no urgent problems, as the Hydrogen Agreement isn’t due for renegotiation until ‘80. But there were dozens of little items on my shopping list, and I left him with plenty to think about. Such as: why can’t we get quicker deliveries of equipment, can anything be done to improve shipping schedules, what went wrong with the new student exchange? and similar Galaxy-shaking questions. He promised to set up appointments for me with all the people who could straighten these things out, but I tried to hint that I wanted to spend some time looking at Earth. And after all, he’s not only our man in Washington but also our representative on

Terra…. “He seemed quite surprised when I told him that I expected to stay on Earth for almost a year, but at this stage I thought it best not to give him the main reason. I’m sure he’ll guess it quickly enough. When he tactfully asked about my budget, I explained that the Centennial Committee had been a great help, and there was still some Makenzie money in the World Bank which I was determined to use. “I understand,” he said, “Old Malcolm’s over a hundred and twenty now, isn’t he? Even on Earth, leaving as little as possible for the Community Fund to grab is a popular pastime.” Then he added, not very hopefully, that any personal balances could be legally bequeathed to the Embassy for its running expenses. I said that was a Very interesting point and I’d bear it in mind….

“He volunteered to give me any assistance on my speech, which was kind of him. When I said I was still working on it, he reminded me that it was essential to have a final draft by the end of June so that all the important commentators could study it in advance. Otherwise, it would be drowned in the flood of verbiage on July Fourth. That was a very

good point, which I hadn’t thought of; but then I said, “Won’t the other speakers do exactly the sam eT And he answered, “Of course, but

I’ve got good friends in all the media, and there’s a great interest in

Titan. You’re still intrepid pioneers at the edge of the Solar System, carving out a new civilization in the wilderness. There may not be many volunteer carvers around here, but we like to hear about such things.” By that time I felt we’d got to understand each other, and so I risked teasing him: “You mean it’s true-Earth is getting decadentT And he looked at me with a grin and answered quickly: “Oh no-we aren’t decadent.” Then he paused, and added: “But the next generation will be.” I wonder how far he was joking…. “Then we talked for ten minutes about mutual friends like the Helmers and the Wongs and the Morgans and the Lees—oh, he seems to know everyone important on Titan. And finally he asked about Grandma Ellen, and I told him that she was just the same as ever, which he understood perfectly. And then George came back and took me to his farm. It was the first chance I had of seeing the open countryside I in full daylight. I’m still trying to get over it. 21

MOUNT VERNON

“Don’t take this program too seriously,” said General George Washington.

“It’s still being changed every day. But your main appointmentsI’ve marked them-aren’t going to be altered. Especially on July Fourth.”

Duncan leafed through the small brochure that the other had handed to him when they entered President Bernstein’s limousine. It was a daunting document stuffed full of Addresses and Receptions and Balls and Processions and Concerts. Nobody in the capital was going to get

much sleep during the first few 110 days in July, and Duncan felt sorry for poor President Claire Hansen.

As a gesture of courtesy, in this Centennial year she was President not only of the United States, but also of Earth. And, of course, she had not asked for either job; if she had done so-or even if she had been suspected of such a faux pas-she would have been automatically eliminated. For the last century, almost all top political appointments on Terra had been made by random computer selection from the pool of individuals who had the necessary qualifications. It had taken the human race several thousand years to realize that there were some jobs that should never be given to the people who volunteered for them, especially if they showed too much enthusiasm. As on shrewd political commentator had remarked: “We want a

President who has to be carried screaming and kicking into the White

House-but will then do the best job he possibly can, so that he’ll get time off for good behavior.”

Duncan put the program away; there would be plenty of opportunity to study it later. Now he had eyes only for his first real look at Planet Earth, on a bright sunny day.

And that was the first problem. Never before in his life had he been exposed to such a glare. Though he had been warned, he was still taken aback by the sheer blazing ferocity of a sun almost one hundred times brighter than the star that shone gently on his own world. As the car whispered automatically through the outskirts of Washington, he kept readjusting the transmission of his dark glasses to find a comfortable level. It was appalling to think that there were places on Earth where the sun was even more brilliant than this, and he remembered another warning that had now suddenly become very real. Where the light fell directly on his exposed skin, he could actually feel the heat. On Titan, the very concept of 64 sunburn” was ludicrous; now, it was all too easy to imagine, especially for skin as dark as his.

He was like a newborn child, seeing the world for the first time. Almost every single object in his field of vision was unfamiliar, or recognizable only

III

from the recordings he had studied. Impressions flowed in upon him at such a rate that he felt utterly confused, until he decided that the only thing to do was to concentrate on a single category of objects and to ignore all the rest-even though they were clamoring for his attention.

Trees, for example. There were millions of them but he had expected that.

What he had not anticipated was the enormous variety of their shape, size, and color. And he had no words for any of them. Indeed, as he realized with shame, he could not have identified the few trees in his own Meridian Park.

Here was a whole complex universe, part of everyday life for most of mankind since the beginning of history; and he could not utter one meaningful sentence about it, for lack of a vocabulary. When he searched his mind, he could think of only four words that had anything to do with trees-“leaf,” “branch,” “root,” and stem.” And all these he had learned in a totally different context.