Madelaine swore under her breath and followed.
“Jack,” she hissed, low enough that only he could hear. “Be careful.”
“Always am.”
Madelaine huffed. “That is not true.”
“Perhaps not emotionally, but socially? I excel. Also, just to clarify,” he said quietly, “I’m making this up as I go along.”
“Actually, that has worked surprisingly well so far.”
Jack sighed.
“Right. Alien marketplace. Creepy archivists. Secret locker key. Got it.”
He squared his shoulders and approached the curved counter all the other strange beings here had scurried away from and avoided, hoping he wasn’t going to regret anything.
Up close, the Archivists were even more unsettling. Their features were smooth, almost featureless, their expressions unreadable.
Jack leaned one elbow casually against the counter. “Hey, there,” he said.
The nearest Archivist slowly raised its head.
Its face was almost perfectly smooth except for the pale glowing eyes beneath translucent skin.
Nothing. No reaction. No acknowledgment.
Jack nodded slowly. “All right. Tough crowd.”
Madelaine shifted behind him. “I told you—” she said in a fierce whisper.
“Hang on,” he murmured.
He straightened, tapping the counter lightly with his fingers.
“Okay, let’s try this again. Hi. My name’s Jack. I’m from Earth. Specifically, a small town you probably haven’t heardof, but it’s got a great diner called the Cosmos Café, with a surprisingly strong pie game, if you know what I mean.”
One of the Archivists moved.
Barely.
But enough.
Jack caught it.
“Ah,” he said, pointing. “There we go. I saw that. Pie is a language you must speak.”
But they didn’t say anything else to him. They looked at him like he was the odd one in this conversation. Huh.
Jack looked from the silver-skinned Archivists to Madelaine. Then back to the Archivists. Then back to Madelaine.
They stared at him. Jack stared back. Nothing happened. The silence stretched. Then stretched some more. It was becoming uncomfortable.
Finally, Jack cleared his throat. Time to try something new.
“Let’s try this again. Hello. As I said, my name is Jack. May I ask you a question?"
The Archivist blinked once.
