Children of the Lattice — Leslie Cohen

The tall Tamarin bipeds, tailed and furry, move out from their planet in search of new suitable planets which they can adapt to their needs and then colonize. They study the solar system and discover that Earth is already inhabited by intelligent beings. They erect a communication facility on the Hopi Reservation and send holographic messages to the humans who have gathered around the circular structure.

Six of the aliens transport down to Earth and are hosted on the Reservation by two older Hopis, two young scientists and an anthropologist and his two students. The humans communicate in words; the Tamarins, in strings of buzzing sounds. They cannot understand each other and cannot bridge the gap with their sophisticated electronic speech analyzers.

The breakthrough is accomplished through the efforts of the two alien children who learn to speak English on their own. The tots are able to effect communication between the two groups, and eventually to teach English to their elders. Interests in music also serve to bind the two groups in friendship.

Problems arise when a paranoid senior scientist and a xenophobic general join with a fundamentalist right wing minister to attempt a coup against the Tamarins. The problem reaches a crisis at a UN meeting where the United State President introduces the aliens to the General Assembly. An uprising is quelled, and the United Nations members help the aliens with their colonization problem.

Common interests and problems arise that are religious in nature. Resolution involves a trip to Mt. Sinai by our major characters and the undertaking of a trip back to Tamarinoch, the alien home planet.