Sphere

by Michael Crichton

Norman sighed. His trouble lay in his assumptions. Norman was assuming that the alien had logical processes similar to his own. But that might not be true. For one thing, Jerry might operate at a much faster metabolic rate, and thus have a different sense of time. Kids played with a toy only until they got tired of it; then they changed to another. The hours that seemed so painfully long to Norman might be only a few seconds in the consciousness of Jerry. He might just be playing with the squid for a few seconds, until he dropped it for another toy. Kids also had a poor idea about breaking things. If Jerry didn’t know about death, then he wouldn’t mind killing Ted, because he would think the death was just a temporary event, a “humorous” manifestation by Ted. He might not realize he was actually breaking his toys. And it was also true, when he thought about it, that Jerry had manifested different things. Assuming that the jellyfish and the shrimps and the sea fans and now the sea snakes were his manifestations. Were they? Or were they just normal parts of the environment? Was there any way to tell? And the Navy seaman, he thought suddenly. Let’s not forget the seaman. Where had he come from? Was that seaman another of Jerry’s manifestations? Could Jerry manifest his playmates at will? In that case, he really wouldn’t care if he killed them all. But I think that’s clear, Norman thought. Jerry doesn’t care if he kills us. He just wants to play, and he doesn’t know his own st...