 Why does the Martian boy speak so many languages?
Everywhere, all you see's spacemen." He was three months out of the Academy at White Sands and the shining uniform was like a key to all the mysteries of the Universe. At fourteen, he'd converted an abandoned shed on the government boarding-school grounds to a retreat which housed his collection of astronomy and rocketry books. There, among the grizzled veterans of the old Moon Patrol, he'd found friends who understood his dream and who later recommended his appointment to the U. S. Academy for the Conquest of Space. And a month ago, he'd signed aboard the Odyssey —the first ship, it was rumored, equipped to venture as far as the asteroids and perhaps beyond. The Martian orchestra slunk with feline stealth to a rear exit.
 He must meet humans from many places, and has only picked up bits of language here and there.
 He must meet humans from many places, and has just taken to learning a little of everything.  Martians have a different perception of Earth culture, and it's what he thinks is appropriate.  He must meet humans from many places, and has only picked up bits of language here and there.  He is trying to confuse Ben, and get him to say something.