 Why are Bal and Ethaniel so cold?
A gentle fancy for the Christmas Season—an oft-told tale with a wistful twistful of Something that left the Earth with a wing and a prayer. Earth was so far away that it wasn't visible. But this vast distance did not mean that isolation could endure forever. Instruments within the ship intercepted radio broadcasts and, within the hour, early TV signals. Machines compiled dictionaries and grammars and began translating the major languages. The history of the planet was tabulated as facts became available. The course of the ship changed slightly; it was not much out of the way to swing nearer Earth. For days the two within the ship listened and watched with little comment. "We've got to make or break," said the first alien. "I can guess," said Ethaniel, who had spoken first. "It's not what they've done," said Bal, the second alien. "The big bomb can destroy them. "I may remind you that in two months twenty-nine days we're due in Willafours," said Bal. "A week," said Ethaniel. They've had two world wars in one generation and that the third and final one is coming up you can't help feeling in everything they do." "It won't take much," said Ethaniel. "The wrong diplomatic move, or a trigger-happy soldier could set it off. A meteor shower could pass over and their clumsy instruments could interpret it as an all-out enemy attack." "We'll just have to forget there ever was such a planet as Earth." "My memory isn't convenient," said Ethaniel. Except for the one thing they lack, and that's quite odd, they seem exactly like us. "It is. "There is. "In a week we can't negate their entire history. "You can't tell," said Ethaniel. "And then what? "Very little," conceded Ethaniel. "And when we get to Willafours we'll be busy. There's nothing in this region of space our people want," said Ethaniel. "And how long can Earth last? They went much closer to Earth, not intending to commit themselves. For a day they circled the planet, avoiding radar detection, which for them was not difficult, testing, and sampling. Finally Ethaniel looked up from the monitor screen. Atmospheric analysis showed that as far away as we were."
 Bal and Ethaniel are cold because it is winter where they have landed on Earth.
 People are mistaking them for the types of angles seen in Renaissance paintings. It is likely they are wearing little or no clothing.  They are cold because the clothing synthesizer on their spaceship was not equipped with the materials needed to make cold-weather gear.  They are cold because the planet they come from has a much warmer climate, and they were not prepared for cold weather.  Bal and Ethaniel are cold because it is winter where they have landed on Earth.