Or maybe I just have a knack for alien languages. Out of all the kids at Damon Knight Middle School, I’m the best in my class at speaking it, which is why my teacher told me I should apply for a chance to be an exchange student. So I went online and filled out all the forms. And I got accepted. I’ll be spending a whole marking period on the nearest planet colonized by the Xlatspanzy. I’m on the ship now. It only takes two weeks—336 Earth hours—to get there, even though it’s a couple dozen light-years away. I don’t understand that part. Not yet. But one of the classes I’ll be taking is called Muon Drive Physics. Actually, it’s called K’etch chzwad metma metmo. That’s how they say it. I’m also taking History of the Xlatspanzy Empire, Alien Biology, and Contemporary Art Forms. I’ve already seen some amazing art, both from the Xlatspanzy and from some of the other races they’ve met in their explorations. The Xlatspanzy are sort of scary when you first meet them.
