Contact - Carl Sagan [152]
Vaygay seemed to be doing well, despite the dearth of cigarettes. "Have you tried opening the door?" she asked.
"Not yet," Xi replied.
She stepped back again, admiring the apparition. "It looks like something by- What's the name of that French surrealist?" Vaygay asked. "Renй Magritte," she answered. "He was Belgian."
"We're agreed, I take it, that this isn't really the Earth," Devi proposed, her gesture encompassing ocean, beach, and sky.
"Unless we're in the Persian Gulf three thousand years ago, and there are djinns about." Ellie laughed. "Aren't you impressed by the care of the construction?"
"All right," Ellie answered. "They're very good, I'll grant them that. But what's it for? Why go to the trouble of all this detail work?"
"Maybe they just have a passion for getting things right."
"Or maybe they're just showing off."
"I don't see," Devi continued, "how they could know our doors so well. Think of how many different ways there are to make a door. How could they know?"
"It could be television," Ellie responded. "Vega has received television signals from Earth up to--let's see-1974 programming. Clearly, they can send the interesting clips here by special delivery in no time flat. Probably there’s been a lot of doors on television between 1936 and 1974. Okay," she continued, as if this were not a change of subject, "what do we think would happen if we opened the door and walked in?"
"If we are here to be tested," said Xi, "on the other side of that door is probably the Test, maybe one for each of us."
He was ready. She wished she were. The shadows of the nearest palms were now falling on the beach. Wordlessly they regarded one another. All four of them seemed eager to open the door and step through. She alone felt some…reluctance. She asked Eda if he would like to go first. We might as well put our best foot forward, she thought. He doffed his cap, made a slight but graceful bow, tinned, and approached the door. Ellie ran to him and kissed him on both cheeks. The others embraced him also. He turned again, opened the door, entered, and disappeared into thin air, his striding foot first, his trailing hand last. With the door ajar, there had seemed to be only the continuation of beach and surf behind him. The door dosed. She ran around it, but there was no trace of Eda.
Xi was next. Ellie found herself struck by how docile they all had been, instantly obliging every anonymous invitation proffered. They could have told us where they were taking us, and what all this was for, she thought. It could have been part of the Message, or information conveyed after the Machine was activated. They could have told us we were docking with a simulation of a beach on Earth. They could have told us to expect the door. True, as accomplished as they are, the extraterrestrials might know English imperfectly, with television as their only tutor. Their knowledge of Russian, Mandarin, Tamil, and Hausa would be even more rudimentary. But they had invented the language introduced in the Message primer. Why not use it? To retain the element of surprise? Vaygay saw her staring at the closed door and asked if she wished to enter next.
`Thanks, Vaygay. I've been thinking. I know it's a little crazy. But it just struck me: Why do we have to jump through every hoop they hold out for us? Suppose we don't do what they ask?"
"Ellie, you are so American. For me, this is just like home. I'm used to doing what the authorities suggest- especially when I have no choice." He smiled and turned smartly on his heel.
"Don't take any crap from the Grand Duke," she called after him.
High above, a gull squawked. Vaygay had left the door ajar. There was still only beach beyond. "Are you all right?" Devi asked her. "I'm okay. Really. I just want a moment to myself. I'll be along."
"Seriously, I'm asking as a doctor. Do you feel all right?"
"I woke up with a headache, and I think I had some very fanciful dreams. I haven't brushed my teeth or had my black coffee. I wouldn't mind reading the morning paper either.