AIML wild card example not working

<aiml>
    <category>
        <pattern>* HELLO *</pattern>
        <template>Hello to you too</template>
    </category>
</aiml>

Should "Hello" respond with "Hello to you too" or should it only give the response when you have "randomWord hello randomWord" because the latter is what i experiencing with a blank slate bot. Should the * also man nothing? Also this bot simply repeats anything you tell it, how can i stop it doing that and give it a library of sentences to use in the event of no valid programmed response?

Thankyou