At that moment, the massed intellects of Thaar gave a soundless cry of triumph, and the wall in front of Bill slowly dissolved into a swirling mist. He appeared to be looking down a tunnel that stretched to infinity. As a matter of fact, he was.

Bill studied the phenomenon with mild interest. It had a certain novelty, but was not up to the standard of previous hallucinations. And when the voice started to speak in his mind, he let it ramble on for some time before he did anything about it. Even when drunk, he had an old-fashioned prejudice against starting conversations with himself.

“Bill,” the voice began, “listen carefully. We have had great difficulty in contacting you, and this is extremely important.”

Bill doubted this on general principles. Nothing was important any more.

“We are speaking to you from a very distant planet,” continued the voice in a tone of urgent friendliness. “You are the only human being we have been able to contact, so you must understand what we are saying.”

Bill felt mildly worried, though in an impersonal sort of way, since it was now rather hard to focus on his own problems. How serious was it, he wondered, when you started to hear voices? Well, it was best not to get excited. You can take it or leave it, Dr Cross, he told himself. Let’s take it until it gets to be a nuisance.

“O.K.,” he answered with bored indifference. “Go right ahead and talk to me. I won’t mind as long as it’s interesting.”

There was a pause. Then the voice continued, in a slightly worried fashion.

“We don’t quite understand. Our message isn’t merely interesting. It’s vital to your entire race, and you must notify your government immediately.”

I’m waiting,” said Bill. “It helps to pass the time.”

Five hundred light-years away, the Thaams conferred hastily among themselves. Something seemed to be wrong, but they could not decide precisely what. There was no doubt that they had established contact, yet this was not the sort of reaction they had expected. Well, they could only proceed and hope for the best.