`` sir , '' hoang-ha confided , `` tien and i did decide , sir , between us , sir , up at so-alif base-bethesda , to call for help on this , sir , '' and here his mind went blank , with the blank like a momentary loss of consciousness , at least of the consciousness of his own argument '' on the sighting we 've made of an alien which we 're calling , for want of a better name , '' and he crawled up out of his momentary amnesia '' gilgamesh ! ''