the galaxy primes edward elmer smith

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Title% The Galaxy Primes

&uthor% Edward Elmer Smith

'elease (ate% )arch *+, *- .EBook /*0102

$anguage% English

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555 ST&'T 67 T84S P'69E3T G:TE;BE'G EB66< T8E G&$&=! P'4)ES 555

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5 5 5 5 5

T8E G&$&=! P'4)ES

By E E S)4T8

They were four of the greatest minds in the :niverse% Two men, two women, lost in an ex"erimental s"aceshi" billions of "arsecs from home &nd as they mentally charted the 3osmos to find their way back to earth, their own loves and hates were as startling as the worlds they encountered 8ere is E E SmithAs great new novel



.4llustration%

The guardian struggled to immobilie the beastAs gigantic talons as the frightened girl lea"ed to the safety of GarlockAs arms2

38&PTE' C

8er hair was a brilliant green So was her s"ectacularly filled halterSo were her tight short#shorts, her li"stick, and the lacDuer on herfinger#and toe#nails &s she strolled into the )ain of the starshi",followed hesitantly by the other girl, she drove a mental "robe at theblack#haired, "owerfully#built man seated at the instrument#bankedconsole

Blocked

Then at the other, slenderer man who was rising to his feet from the"ilotAs bucket seat 8is guard was "artially down he was tele"athing a"leasant, if somewhat reserved greeting to both newcomers

She turned to her com"anion and s"oke aloud FSo these are thesystemAs bestF The em"hasis was somewhere between condescension andsneer F;ot much to choose between, 4Ad say A"ort me a tenth#"iece,3leeH 8eads, 4 take the tow#headF

She fli""ed the coin dexterously F8eads it is, $ola, so 4 get9im##9ames 9ames 9ames the ;inth himself !ou have the honor of "airingwith 3lee##or should 4 say 8is $earnedness 'ight the 8onorable (irector

(octor 3leander Simmsworth Garlock, (octor of Philoso"hy, (octor ofScience, Prime 6"erator, President and 7irst 7ellow of the GalaxianSociety, 7irst 7ellow of the Gunther Society, 7ellow of the 4nstitute ofPara"hysics, of the 4nstitute of ;uclear Physics, of the 3ollege of)athematics, of the 3ongress of Psionicists, and of all the otherto"#bracket brain#gangs you ever heard ofH &lso, for your information,his men have given him a cou"le of informal degrees##P(I and S6BF

The big "sionicistAs ex"ression of saturnine, almost contem"tuousamusement had not changed his voice came flat and cold FThe less yousay, (octor Bellamy, the better 6bstinate, swell#headed women give mean acute rectal "ain Pitching your curves over all the viies in s"acegot you aboard, but it wonAt get you a thing from here on &nd for your

information, (octor Bellamy, one more crack like that and 4 take youover my knee and blister your fannyF

FTry it, you big, clumsy, muscle#bound gorillaJF she jeered FThat 4want to seeJ &ny time you want to get both arms broken at the elbows,just try itJF

F;owAs as good a time as any 4 like your s"irit, babe, but 4 canAt saya thing for your judgmentF 8e got u" and started "ur"osefully towardher, but both non#combatants came between



F9et back, 3leeJF 9ames "rotested, both hands against the heavier manAschest F>hat the hell kind of show is that to "ut onHF &nd,simultaneously%

FBelleJ Shame on youJ Picking a fight already, and with nobody knows howmany million "eo"le looking onJ !ou know as well as 4 do that we mayhave to s"end the rest of our lives together, so act like civiliedbeings##"lease##both of youJ &nd donAtF

F;obodyAs watching this but us,F Garlock interru"ted F>hen "ussy therestarted using her claws 4 cut the gunF

FThatAs what you think,F 9ames said shar"ly, Fbut 7atso and his numberone girl friend are coming in on the tight beamF

F6hHF Garlock whirled toward the hitherto dark and silentthree#dimensional communications instrument The face of a bossy#lookingwoman was already bright

FGarlockJ 8ow dare you try to cut 3hancellor 7erber offHF shedemanded 8er voice was dee"#"itched, blatant with authority F8ere you

are, sirF

The womanAs face shifted to one side and a manAs a""eared##a face tojustify in full the nickname F7atsoF

FA7atsoA, ehHF 3hancellor 7erber snarled Pale eyes glared from the fatface FThat costs you exactly one thousand credits, 9amesF

F8ow much will this cost me, 7atsoHF Garlock asked

F7ive thousand##and, since nobody can call me that deliberately,demotion three grades and "robation for three years )ake a note, )iss7osterF

F;oted, sirF

FStill sure we arenAt going anywhere,F Garlock said F>hat a brainJF

FSure 4Am sureJF 7erber gloated F4n a cou"le of hours 4Am going to buyyour "recious starshi" in as junk 4n the meantime, whether you like itor not, 4Am going to watch your ex"ression while you "ush all those"retty buttons and nothing ha""ensF

FThe trouble with you, 7atso,F Garlock said dis"assionately, as heo"ened a drawer and took out a "air of cutting "liers, Fis that all yourstrength is in your glands and none in your alleged brain There are a

lot of things##including a lot of tests##you know nothing about 8owmuch will you see after 4Ave cut one wireHF

F!ou wouldnAt dareJF the fat man shouted F4Ad fire you##blacklist youall over the sysF

?oice and images died away and Garlock turned to the two women in the)ain 8e began to smile, but his mental shield did not weaken

F!ouAve got a "oint there, $ola,F he said, going on as though 7erberAsinterru"tion had not occurred F;ot that 4 blame either Belle or myself



4f anything was ever calculated to drive a man nuts, this farce was &sthe only female Prime in the system, Belle should have been inautomatically##she had no com"etition &nd to anybody with three braincells working the other "lace lay between you, $ola, and the other threefemale 6"s in the age grou"

FBut no 7erber and the rest of the Board##stu"idity uberallesJ##think all us 6"s and Primes are "sycho and that the shi" will

never even lift So they made a Grand 3ircus of it But they succeededin one thing##with such abysmal stu"idity so ram"ant 4Am getting moreand more reconciled to the idea of our not getting back##at least, for along, long timeF

F>hy, they said we had a very good chanceF $ola began

F!eah, and they said a lot of even bigger damn lies than that one 8aveyou read any of my "a"ersHF

F4Am sorry 4Am not a mathematicianF

F6ur motion will be "urely at random 4f it isnAt, 4All eat this whole

shi" >e wonAt get back until 9im and 4 work out something to steer uswith But they must be wondering no end, outside, what the score is, so4Am willing to call it a draw##tem"orarily##and let Aem in again 8owabout it, BelleHF

F& draw it is##tem"orarilyF ;either, however, even offered to shakehands

FSmile "retty, everybody,F Garlock said, and "ressed a stud

F the matterH >hatAs the matterH 6hF the worried voice of theSystemAs ace newscaster came in FPower failure alreadyHF

F;o,F Garlock re"lied F4 figured we had a cou"le of minutes of "rivacycoming, if you can understand the meaning of the word ;ow all four ofus tell everybody who is watching or listening au revoir or good#bye,whichever it may turn out to beF 8e reached for the switch

F>ait a minuteJF the newscaster demanded F$eave it on until the last"ossF 8is voice broke off shar"ly

FTurn it back onJF Belle ordered

F;ixF

FScaredHF she sneered

F!ou chir"ed it, bird#brain 4Am scared "ur"le So would you be, if youhad three brain cells working in that glory#houndAs head of yours Getset, everybody, and weAll take offF

FSto" it, both of youJF $ola exclaimed F>here do you want us to sit,and do we stra" downHF

F!ou sit here Belle at that "late beside 9im !es, stra" down There"robably wonAt be any shock, and we should land right side u", butthereAs no sense in taking chances Sure your stuffAs all aboardHF



F!es, itAs in our roomsF

The four secured themselves the two men checked, for the doenth time,their instruments The "ilot donned his scanner The shi" liftedeffortlessly, noiselessly Through the atmos"here through and farbeyond the stratos"here 4t sto""ed

F'eady, 3leeHF 9ames licked his li"s

F&s ready as 4 ever will be, 4 guess ShootJF

The "ilotAs right hand, forefinger outstretched, movedunenthusiastically toward a red button on his "anel slowed sto""ed 8e stared into his scanner at the Earth so far below

F8it it, 9imJF Garlock sna""ed F8it it, for goodness sake, before weall lose our nerveJF

9ames stabbed convulsively at the button, and in the very instant ofcontact##instantaneously without a fractional microsecond of

time#la"se##their familiar surroundings disa""eared 6r, rather, andwithout any sensation of motion, of dis"lacement, or of the "assage ofany time whatsoever, the "lanet beneath them was no longer theirfamiliar Earth The "lates showed no familiar stars nor "atterns ofheavenly bodies The brightly#shining sun was very evidently not theirfamiliar Sol

F>ell##we went somewhere but not to &l"ha 3entauri, not much toour sur"riseF 9ames gul"ed twice then went on, s"eaking almostjauntily now that the attem"t had been made and had failed FSo now itAsu" to you, 3lee, as (irector of Project Gunther and ca"tain of the goodshi" Pleiades, to boss the more#or#less sim"le##more, 4 ho"e##job ofgetting us back to TellusF

Science, both "hysical and "ara"hysical, had done its best GuntherAsTheorems, which define the electromagnetic and electrogravitic"arameters "ertaining to the annihilation of distance, had been studied,tested, and a""lied to the full So had the Psionic 3orollaries which,while not having the status of "ara"hysical laws, do allow com"utationof the Dualities and magnitudes of the stresses reDuired for any givena""lication of the Gunther Effect

The "lanning of the starshi" Pleiades had been difficult in theextreme its construction almost im"ossible >hile it was "ractically aforegone conclusion that any man of the reDuisite caliber would alreadybe a member of the Galaxian Society, the three "lanets and eight

satellites were screened, "sionicist by "sionicist, to select the twostrongest and most versatile of their breed

These two, Garlock and 9ames, were heads of de"artments of, and underiron#clad contract to, vast Solar System Enter"rises, 4nc, the onlyconcern able and willing to attem"t the building of the first starshi"

&lono P 7erber, 3hancellor of SSE, however, would not risk atenth#"iece of the com"anyAs money on such a bird#brained scheme8imself a Gunther 7irst, he believed im"licitly that 7irsts were in factto"s in Gunther ability that these few self#styled F6"eratorsF and



FPrime 6"eratorsF were either charlatans or self#deluded crack"otsSince he could not feel that so#called F6"erator 7ield,F no such thingdid or could exist ;o Gunther starshi" could ever, "ossibly, work

8e did loan Garlock and 9ames to the Galaxians, but that was as far ashe would go 7or salaries and for labor, for research and material, fortrials and for errors the Society "aid and "aid and "aid

Thus the starshi" Pleiades had cost the Galaxian Society almost athousand million credits

Garlock and 9ames had worked on the shi" since its ince"tion They wereto be of the crew for over a year it had been taken for granted thatwould be its only crew

&s the Pleiades neared com"letion, however, it became clearer andclearer that the dis"lacement#control "resented an unsolved, and Duite"ossibly an insoluble, "roblem 4t was mathematically certain that, whenthe Gunther field went on, the shi" would be dis"laced instantaneouslyto some location in s"ace having "recisely the Gunther coordinatesreDuired by that "articular field 6ne im"eccably rigorous analysis

showed that the shi" would shift into the nearest solar system"ossessing an Earth#ty"e "lanet which was believed to be &l"ha 3entauriand which was close enough to Sol so that orientation would be automaticand the return to Earth a sim"le matter

Since the Gunther Effect did in fact annihilate distance, however,another grou" of mathematicians, led by Garlock and 9ames, "roved witheDual rigor that the "oint of destination was no more likely to be anyone given Gunther "oint than any other one of the myriads of billions ofeDuiguntherial "oints undoubtedly existent throughout the length,breadth, and thickness of our entire normal s"ace#time continuum

The two men would go anyway, of course 3arefully#calculated "ressures

would make them go 4t was neither necessary nor desirable, however, forthem to go alone

>herefore the "lanets and satellites were combed again this time toselect two women##the two most highly#gifted "sionicists in theeighteen#to#twenty#five age grou" Thus, if the Pleiades returnedsuccessfully to Earth, well and good 4f she did not, the four selecteeswould found, u"on some far#off world, a race much abler than thehumanity of Earth since eighty#three "ercent of EarthAs dwellers had"sionic grades lower than 7our

This search, with its attendant fanfare and studiedly blatant "ublicity,was so "lanned and engineered that two selected women did not arrive at

the s"ace"ort until a bare fifteen minutes before the scheduled time oftake#off Thus it made no difference whether the women liked the men ornot, or vice versa or whether or not any of them really wanted to makethe tri" Pressures were such that each of them had to go, whether he orshe wanted to or not

F3ut the ro"e, 9im, and let the old bucket dro",F Garlock said F;ot tooclose Before we make any kind of contact weAll have to do someorganiing These instruments,F he waved at his console, Fshow that oursis the only 6"erator 7ield in this whole region of s"ace 8ence, thereare no 6"erators and no Primes That means that from now until we get



back to TellusF

F4f we get back to Tellus,F Belle corrected, sweetly

F:ntil we get back to Tellus there will be no Gunthering aboard thisshi"F

F>hatHF Belle broke in again F8ave you lost your mindHF

FThere will be little if any le""ing, and nothing else at all &t thetable, if we want sugar, we will reach for it or have it "assed >e will"ick u" things, such as cigarettes, with our fingers >e will carrylighters and use them >hen we go from "lace to "lace, we will walk 4sthat clearHF

F!ou seem to be talking English,F Belle sneered, Fbut the words donAtmake senseF

F4 didnAt think you were that stu"idF Eyes locked and held ThenGarlock grinned savagely F6kay !ou tell her, $ola, in words of as fewsyllables as "ossibleF

F>hy, to get used to it, of course,F $ola ex"lained, while Belle glaredat Garlock in frustrated anger FSo as not to reveal anything we donAthave toF

FThank you, )iss )ontandon, you may go to the head of the class &llmonosyllables exce"t two That should make it clear, even to )issBellamyF

F!ou you beastJF Belle drove a tight#beamed thought F4 was neverso insulted in my lifeJF

F!ou asked for it <ee" on asking for it and youAll kee" on getting itF

Then, aloud, to all three, F4n emergencies, of course, anything goes >ewill now "roceed with businessF 8e "aused, then went on, bitingly, F4f"ossibleF

F6ne minute, "leaseJF Belle sna""ed F9ust why, 3a"tain Garlock, are youinsisting on oral communication, when le""ing is so much faster andbetterH 4tAs stu"id##reactionary (onAt you ever le"HF

F>ith 9im, on business, yes with women, no more than 4 have to >hat 4think is nobodyAs business but mineF

F>hat a way to run a shi"J 6r a "rojectJF

F'unning this "roject is my business, not yours and if thereAs any onething in the entire universe it does not need, itAs a femaleexhibitionist Besides your obvious Dualifications to be one of the Evesin case of :ltimate 3ontingencyF he broke off and stared at her, hiscontem"tuous gae traveling slowly, dissectingly, from her toes to theto"most wave of her hair#do

F7orty#two, twenty, fortyHF he sneered

F!ou flatter meF 8er glare was an almost tangible force her voice wascontrolled fury



FThirty#nine, twenty#two, thirty#five 7ive seven 6ne thirty#five 4fany of itAs any of your business, which it isnAt !ou should bediscussing brains and ability, not vital statisticsF

FBrainsH !ouH ;o, 4All take that back &s a Prime, you have got abrain##one that really works >hat do you think youAre good for onthis "rojectH >hat can you doHF

F4 can do anything any man ever born can do, and do it betterJF

F6kay 3om"ute a Gunther field that will "ut us two hundred thousandfeet directly above the "eak of that mountainF

FThat isnAt fair##not that 4 ex"ected fairness from you##and you knowit That doesnAt take either brains or abilityF

F6h, noHF

F;o )erely highly s"ecialied training that you know 4 havenAt hadGive me a five#ta"e course on it and 4All come closer than either you or

9ames for a hundred credits a shotF

F4All do just that Something you are su""osed to know, then 8owwould you go about making first contactHF

F>ell, 4 wouldnAt do it the way you would##by knocking down the firstnative 4 saw, "utting my foot on his face, and yelling ABow down, youstu"id, ignorant beasts, and worshi" me, the Su"reme God of the)acrocosmic :niverseAJF

FTry again, Belle, that one missed me byF

F8old it, both of youJF 9ames broke in F>hat the hell are you trying to

"roveH 8ow about cutting out this cat#and#dog act and getting some workdoneHF

F!ouAve got a "oint there,F Garlock admitted, holding his tem"er by avisible effort FSorry, 9im Belle, what were you briefed forHF

FTo understudy youF She, too, fought her tem"er down FTo learneverything about Project Gunther 4 have a whole box of ta"es in myroom, including advanced Gunther math and first#contact techniDues 4Amto study them during all my on#watch time unless you assign otherdutiesF

F;o matter what your duties may be, youAll have to have time to study

4f you donAt find what you want in your own ta"es##and you "robablywonAt, since 7erber and his )iss 7oster ran the selections##use ourlibrary 4tAs good##designed to carry on our civiliation )iss)ontandonH ;o, thatAs silly, the way weAre fixed $olaHF

F4Am to learn how to be (octor 9amesAF

F9im, "lease, $ola,F 9ames said F&nd call him 3leeF

F4Ad like thatF She smiled winningly F&nd my friends call meABrownieAF



F4 see why they would 4t fits like a coat of lacDuerF

4t did 8er hair was a dark, lustrous brown, as were her eyebrows 8ereyes were brown 8er skin, too##her dark red "laysuit left little to theimagination##was a rich and even brown 6riginally fairly dark, it hadbeen tanned to a more#than#fashionable de"th of color by nakedsun#bathing and by "ractically#naked outdoor s"orts & cou"le of inches

shorter than the green#haired girl, she too had a figure to make anyscul"tor drool

F4Am to be (r 9imAs assistant 4 have a thousand ta"es, more or less,to study, too 4tAll be Duite a while, 4Am afraid, before 4 can be ofmuch use, but 4All do the best 4 canF

F4f we had hit &l"ha 3entauri that arrangement would have been good, butas we are, it isnAtF Garlock frowned in thought, his heavy blackeyebrows almost meeting above his finely#chiseled aDuiline nose FSinceneither 9im nor 4 need an assistant any more than we need tails, it wasdesigned to give you girls something to do But out here, lost, thereAswork for a doen trained s"ecialists and there are only four of us So

we shouldnAt du"licate effort 'ightH !ou first, BelleF

F&re you asking me or telling meHF she asked F&nd thatAs a fairDuestion (onAt read anything into it that isnAt there >ith yourattitude, 4 want informationF

F4 am asking you,F he re"lied, carefully F7or your information, when 4know what should be done, 4 give orders >hen 4 donAt know, as now, 4ask advice 4f 4 like it, 4 follow it 7air enoughHF

F7air enough >eAre a"t to need any number of s"ecialistsF

F$olaHF

F6f course we shouldnAt du"licate >hat shall 4 studyHF

FThatAs what we must figure out >e canAt do it exactly, of course allwe can do now is to set u" a rough scheme 9imAs job is the only onethatAs definite 8eAll have to work full time on nebular configurations4f we hit inhabited "lanets heAll have to add their star#charts to hisown That leaves three of us to do all the other work of a survey4deally, we would cover all the factors that would be of use in gettingus back to Tellus, but since we donAt know what those factors are7ound out anything yet, 9imHF

F& little Tellus#ty"e "lanet, a""arently strictly so 6ceans and

continents $ots of inhabitants##farms, villages, all sies of cities;ot close enough to say definitely, but inhabitants seem to be humanoid,if not humanF

F8old her here Besides astronomy, which is all yours, what do we needmostHF

F>e should have enough to classify "lanets and inhabitants, so as tochart a s"ace#trend if there is any 4Ad say the most im"ortant oneswould be geology, stratigra"hy, "aleontology, oceanogra"hy, xenology,anthro"ology, ethnology, vertebrate biology, botany, and at least some



ecologyF

FThatAs about the list 4 was afraid of But there are only three of usThe fields you mention number much moreF

FEach of you will have to be a lot of s"ecialists in one, then 4Ad saythe best s"lit would be "lanetology, xenology, and anthro"ology##each,of course, stretched all out of sha"e to cover doens of related and

non#related s"ecialtiesF

FGood enough =enology, of course, is mine 3ontacts, liaison, "olitics,correlation, and so on, as well as studying the non#human lifeforms##including as many lower animals and "lants as "ossible 4All makea stab at it ;ow, Belle, since youAre a Prime and $olaAs an 6"erator,you get the next toughest job Planetogra"hyF

F>hy notHF Belle smiled and began to act as one of the "arty F&ll 4know about it is a hay idea of what the word means, but 4All startstudying as soon as we get sDuared awayF

FThanks That leaves anthro"ology to you, $ola Besides, thatAs your

line, isnAt itHF

F!es Sociological &nthro"ology 4 have my )S in it, and am##was, 4mean##working for my Ph( But as 9im said, it isnAt only the ones"ecialty !ou want me, 4 take it, to cover humanoid races, tooHF

F3heck !ou and 9im both, then, will know what youAre doing, while Belleand 4 are trying to "lay ours by earF

F>here do we draw the line between humanoid and non#humanHF

F4n case of doubt weAll confer That covers it as much as we can, 4think Take us down, 9im##and be on your toes to take evasive action

fastF

The shi" dro""ed ra"idly toward an air"ort just outside a fairly largecity 7ifty thousand##forty thousand##thirty thousand feet

F3alling strange s"aceshi"##you must be a s"aceshi", in s"ite of yourtremendous, hitherto#considered#im"ossible mass##F a thought im"inged onall four Tellurian minds, Fdo you read meHF

F4 read you clearly This is the Tellurian s"aceshi" Pleiades, 3a"tainGarlock commanding, asking "ermission to land and information as tolanding conventionsF 8e did not have to tell 9ames to sto" the shi"9ames had already done so

F4 was about to ask you to hold "osition 4 thank you for having doneso 8old for ins"ection and ty"e#test, "lease >e will not blast unlessyou fire first & few minutes, "leaseF

& grou" of twelve jet fighters took off "ractically vertically u"wardand climbed with fantastic s"eed They leveled off a thousand feet belowthe Pleiades and made a flying circle :" and into the ring thusformed there lumbered a large, clumsy#looking helico"ter

F>e have no record of any "lanet named ATellusA nor of any such shi" as



yours 6f such incredible mass and with no visible or detectable meansof su""ort or of "ro"ulsion ;ot from this "art of the galaxy, certainly could it be that intergalactic travel is actually "ossibleH Butexcuse me, 3a"tain Garlock, none of that is any of my business which isto determine whether or not you four Tellurian human beings arecom"atible with, and thus acce"table to, our humanity of 8odell butyou do not seem to have a standard televideo testing#box aboardF

F;o, sir only our own tri#di and teeveeF

F!ou must be examined by means of a standard box 4 will rise to yourlevel and tele"ort one across to you 4t is self#"owered and fullyautomaticF

F!ou neednAt rise, sir 9ust toss the box out of your Aco"ter into theair >eAll take it from thereF Then, to 9ames, FTake it, 9imF

F6hH !ou can lift large masses against much gravityHF The alien was allattention F4 have not known that such "ower existed 4 will observewith keen interestF

F4 have it,F 9ames said F8ere it isF

FThank you, sir,F Garlock said to the alien Then, to $ola% F!ouAve beenreading these##these 8odelliansHF

FThe officer in the helico"ter and those in the fighters, yes )ost ofthem are Gunther 7irstsF

FGood girl The setAs coming to life##watch itF

The likeness of the alien being became clear u"on the alien screenvisible from the waist u" >hile humanoid, the creature was very farindeed from being human 8e##at least, it had masculine rudimentary

ni""les##had double shoulders and four arms 8is skin was a vividlyintense cobalt blue 8is ears were black, long, and highly dirigible8is eyes, a flaming red in color, were large and vertically#slitted,like a catAs 8e had no hair at all 8is nose was large and 'oman hisjaw was sDuare, almost jutting his bright#yellow teeth were clean andshar"

&fter a minute of study the alien said% F&lthough your vessel is soentirely alien that nothing even remotely like it is on record, you fourare com"letely human and, if of com"atible ty"e, acce"table &re thereany other living beings aboard with youHF

FExce"ting micro#organisms, noneF

FSuch life is of no im"ortance &""roach, "lease, one of you, and gras"with a hand the "rojecting metal knobF

>ith a little tre"idation, Garlock did so 8e felt no unusual sensationat the contact

F&ll four of you are com"atible and we acce"t you This finding issur"rising in the extreme, as you are the first human beings of recordwho grade higher than what you call Gunther Two or Gunther SecondHF



FEither one the terms are interchangeableF

F!ou have minds of tremendous develo"ment and "ower definitely su"erioreven to my own 8owever, there is no doubt that "hysically you are"erfectly com"atible with our humanity !our blood will be of greatbenefit to it !ou may land GoodbyeF

F>ait, "lease 8ow about landing conventionsH &nd visiting restrictions

and so onH &nd may we kee" this boxH >e will be glad to trade yousomething for it, if we have anything you would like to haveHF

F&h, 4 should have realied that your customs would be widely differentfrom ours Since you have been examined and acce"ted, there are norestrictions !ou will not act against humanityAs good $and where you"lease, go where you "lease, do what you "lease as long as you "leaseTake u" "ermanent residence or leave as soon as you "lease )arry if youlike, or sim"ly breed##your unions with this "lanetAs humanity will befertile <ee" the box without "ayment &s Guardians of 8umanity we&r"alones do whatever small favors we can 8ave 4 made myself clearHF

F&bundantly so Thank you, sirF

F;ow 4 really must go GoodbyeF

Garlock glanced into his "late The jets had disa""eared, the helico"terwas falling ra"idly away 8e wi"ed his brow

F>ell, 4All be damned,F he said

>hen his amaement subsided he turned to the business at hand F$ola, doyou check me that this "lanet is named 8odell, that it is "o"ulated bycreatures exactly like usH &r"alonesHF

FExactly, exce"t they arenAt AcreaturesA They are humanoids, and very

fine "eo"leF

F!ouAd think so, of course correction acce"ted >ell, letAs takeadvantage of their extraordinarily hos"itable invitation and go down3ut the ro"e, 9imF

The air"ort was very large, and was divided into several sections, eachof which was eDui""ed with runways and@or other landing facilities tosuit one class of craft##"ro"ellor jobs, jets, or helico"ters Therewere even a few structures that looked like rocket "its

F>here are you going to sit down, 9imH >ith the Aco"ters or over by theblast#"itsHF

F>ith the Aco"ters, 4 think Since 4 can "lace her to within a cou"le ofinches 4All "ut her sDuarely into that far corner, where sheAll be outof everybodyAs wayF

F;o concrete out there,F Garlock said FBut the ground seems good andsolidF

F>eAd better not land on concrete,F 9ames grinned F:nless itAs terrificstuff weAd smash it 6n bare ground, the worst we can do is sink in afoot or so, and that wonAt hurt anythingF



F3heck & few tons to the sDuare foot, is all Shall we stra" down andhang onto our teethHF

F>ho do you think youAre kidding, bossH Even though 4Ave got to do thison manual, 4 wonAt ti" over a half#"iece standing on edgeF

9ames sto""ed talking, "ulled out his scanner, stuck his face into it

The immense starshi" settled downward toward the selected corner Therewas no noise, no blast, no flame, no slightest visible or detectablesign of whatever force it was that was braking the thousands of tons ofthe vesselAs mass in its miles#long, almost#vertical "lunge to ground

>hen the Pleiades struck ground the im"act was scarcely to be felt>hen she came to rest, after settling into the ground her allotted Ffootor so,F there was no jar at all

F&tmos"here, tem"erature, and so on, a""roximately Earth#normal,FGarlock said F9ust as our friend said it would beF

9ames scanned the city and the field F6ur visit is kicking u" a lot of

excitement Shall we go outHF

F;ot yetJF Belle exclaimed F4 want to see how the women are dressed,firstF

FSo do 4,F $ola added, Fand some other things besidesF

Both women##$ola through her 6"eratorAs scanner Belle by mani"ulatingthe shi"As tremendous 6"erator 7ield by the sheer "ower of her Prime6"eratorAs mind##stared eagerly at the crowd of "eo"le now beginning tostream across the field

F&s an anthro"ologist,F $ola announced, F4Am not only sur"rised 4 am

shocked, annoyed, and disgruntled >hy, theyAre exactly like whiteTellurian human beingsJF

FBut look at their clothesJF Belle insisted FTheyAre wearinganything and everything, from bikinis to coverallsJF

F!es, but noticeF This was the anthro"ological scientist s"eaking nowFBreasts and loins, covered 7aces, uncovered 8eads and feet and hands,either bare or covered (itto for legs u" to there, backs, arms, necksand shoulders down to here, and torsos clear down to there >eAll notviolate any conventions by going out as we are ;ot even you, Belle !oufirst, 3hief !ours the high honor of setting first foot##the biggestfoot weAve got, too##on alien soilF

FTo hell with that >eAll go out togetherF

F>ait a minute,F $ola went on FThereAs a funny#looking automobile justcoming through the gate The Press Three men and two women Twocameras, one walkie#talkie, and two micro"hones The "hotog in the"ur"le shirt is really a shar"ie at le""ing 3lass Three, atleast##"ossibly a TwoF

F8ow about screens down enough to le", bossHF Belle suggested F7aster>e may need itF



F3heck 4Am too busy to record, anyway##4All log this stuff u" tonight,Fand thoughts flew

F3heck me, 9im,F Garlock flashed FTele"athy, very good 6n Gunther, theguy was right##no signs at all of any 7irst activity, and very fewSecondsF

F3heck,F 9ames agreed

F&nd $ola, those AGuardiansA out there 4 thought they were the same asthe &r"alone we talked to They arenAt ;ot even tele"athic Same colorscheme, is allF

F'ight )uch more brutish )uch flatter cranium $ong, tearing canineteeth 3arnivorous 4All call them just AguardiansA until we find outwhat they really areF

The "ress car arrived and the Tellurians disembarked##and, accidentallyor not, it was BelleAs green sli""er that first touched ground Therewas a terrific babel of thought, worse, even, than voices in similar

case, in being so much faster The re"orters, all of them, wanted toknow everything at once 8ow, what, where, when, and why &lso who &ndall about Tellus and the Tellurian solar system 8ow did the visitorslike 8odellH &nd all about BelleAs green hair &nd the "hotogra"herswere "rodigal of film, shooting everything from all "ossible angles

F8old itJF Garlock loosed a blast of thought that FsilencedF almost thewhole field F>e will have order, "lease $ola )ontandon, ouranthro"ologist, will take charge <ee" it orderly, $ola, if you have tothrow half of them off the field 4Am going over to &dministration andcheck in 6ne of you re"orters can come with me, if you likeF

The man in the "ur"le shirt got his bid in first &s the two men walked

away together, Garlock noted that the man was in fact a Second##his flowof lucid, cogent thought did not interfere at all with the steady streamof s"eech going into his "ortable recorder Garlock also noticed that inany grou" of more than a doen "eo"le there was always at least oneguardian They "aid no attention whatever to the "eo"le, who in turnignored them com"letely Garlock wondered briefly GuardiansH The&r"alones, out in s"ace, yes But these creatures, naked and unarmed onthe groundH The &r"alones were non#human "eo"le These thingswere##whatH

&t the door of the 7ield 6ffice the re"orter, after turningGarlock over to a startlingly beautiful, leggy, breasty, blonderece"tionist#usherette, hurried away

8e flecked a feeler at her mind and stiffened 8ow could a Two##a highTwo, at that##be working as an usherH &nd with her guard down clear tothe floorH 8e "robed##and saw

F$olaJF 8e flashed a tight#beamed thought F!ou arenAt "utting outanything about our sexual customs, family life, and so onF

F6f course not >e must know their mores firstF

FGood girl <ee" your shield u"F



F6h, weAre so glad to see you, 3a"tain Garlock, sirJF The blonde, whowas dressed little more heavily than the cigarette girls in ?enusbergAs3artier 'oom, seied his left hand in both of hers and held itconsiderably longer than was necessary 8er daling smile, her laughingeyes, her flashing white teeth, the many ex"osed inches of her skin, andher com"letely unshielded mind all waved banners of welcome

F3a"tain Garlock, sir, Governor &tterlin has been most anxious to seeyou ever since you were first detected This way, "lease, sirF Sheturned, brushing her bare hi" against his leg in the "rocess, and ledhim by the hand along a hallway 8er thoughts flowed F4 have been, too,sir, and 4Am sim"ly delighted to see you close u", and 4 ho"e to see alot more of you !ouAre a wonderfully "leasant sur"rise, sir 4Ave neverseen a man like you before 4 donAt think 8odell ever saw a man like youbefore, sir >ith such a really terrific mind and yet so big and strongand well#built and handsome and clean#looking and blackish !ouArewonderful, 3a"tain Garlock, sir !ouAll be here a long time, 4 ho"eH8ere we are, sirF

She o"ened a door, walked across the room, sat down in an overstuffed

chair, and crossed her legs meticulously Then, still smiling ha""ily,she followed with eager eyes and mind GarlockAs every move

Garlock had been reading Governor &tterlin knew why it was the governorwho was in that office instead of the "ort manager 8e knew that&tterlin had been reading him##as much as he had allowed They hadalready discussed many things, and were still discussing

The room was much more like a library than an office The governor, amiddle#aged, red#headed man a trifle inclined to "ortliness, had beenseated in a huge reclining chair facing a teevee screen, but got u" toshake hands

F>elcome, friend 3a"tain Garlock ;ow, to continue &s to exchange )anyshi"s visiting us have nothing we need or can use 7or such, allservices are free##or rather, are "aid by the city 6ur currency isbased u"on "latinum, but gold, silver, and co""er are valuable 3ertainjewels, alsoF

FThatAs far enough >e will "ay our way##we have "lenty of metal >hatare your ratios of value for the four metals here on 8odellHF

FTodayAs Duotations areF 8e glanced at a screen, and his fingersflashed over the keys of a com"uter beside his chair F6ne weight of"latinum is eDual in value to seven "oint three four sixF

F(ecimals are not necessary, sirF

FSeven "lus, then, weights of gold 6ne of gold to eleven of silver 6neof silver to four of co""erF

FThank you >eAll use "latinum 4All bring some bullion tomorrow morningand exchange it for your currency Shall 4 bring it here, or to a bankin the cityHF

FEither 6r we can have an armored truck visit your shi"F



FThat would be better yet 8ave them bring about five thousand tanesThank you very much, Governor &tterlin, and good afternoon to you, sirF

F&nd good afternoon to you, sir :ntil tomorrow, thenF

Garlock turned to leave

F6h, may 4 go with you to your shi", sir, to take just a little look at

itHF the girl asked, winningly

F6f course, Grand $ady ;eldine, 4Ad like to have your com"anyF

She seied his elbow and hugged it Duickly against her breast Then,taking his hand, she walked##almost ski""ed##along beside him F&nd 4want to see Pilot 9ames close u", too, sir##heAs not nearly as wonderfulas you are, sir##and 4 wonder why Planetogra"her BellamyAs hair isgreenH ?ery striking, of course, sir, but 4 donAt think 4Ad care for itmuch on me##unless youAd think 4 should, sirHF

Belle knew, of course, that they were coming and Garlock knew thatBelleAs hackles were very much on the rise She could not read him,

exce"t very su"erficially, but she was reading the strange girl like abook and was not liking anything she read >herefore, when Garlock andhis joyous com"anion reached the great s"aceshi"##

F8ow come you "icked u" that little man#eating sharkHF she sent,venomously, on a tight band

F4t wasnAt a case of "icking her u"F Garlock grinned F4 havenAt beenable to find any urbane way of scra"ing her off 7irst 3ontact, youknowF

FShe wants altogether too much 3ontact for a 7irst##4All scra"e her off,even if she is one of the nobler class on this worldF Belle changed

her tactics even before Garlock began his re"rimand F4 shouldnAt havesaid that, 3lee, of courseF She laughed lightly F4t was just theshock there wasnAt anything in any of my 7irst 3ontact ta"es coveringwhat to do about beautiful and enticing girls who try to seduce our menShe doesnAt know, though, of course, that sheAs su""osed to be abug#eyed monster and not human at all >onAt =enology be in for a roughride when we check inH >owJF

F!ou can "lay that in s"ades, sisterF &nd for the rest of the dayBelle "layed flawlessly the role of "erfect hostess

4t was full dark before the 8odellians could be "ersuaded to leave thePleiades and the locks were closed

F4 have refused one hundred seventy#eight invitations,F $ola re"ortedthen F&ll of us, individually and collectively, have been invited toeat everything, everywhere in town To see shows in a doen differenttheaters and eighteen night s"ots To dance all night in twenty#onedifferent "laces, ranging from dives to strictly sou"#and#fish 4 wasnice about it, of course##just begged off because we were dead from ourbelts both ways from our long, hard tri" )y thought, of course, is thatweAd better eat our own food and take it slowly at first 3heck, 3leeHF

F6n the beam, dead center &nd you werenAt lying much, either 4 feel as



though 4Ad done a dayAs work &fter su""er thereAs a thing 4Ave got todiscuss with all three of youF

Su""er was soon over Then%

F>eAve got to make a mighty im"ortant decision,F Garlock began,abru"tly FGrand $ady ;eldine##that title isnAt exact, butclose##wondered why 4 didnAt res"ond at all, either way 8owever, she

didnAt make a "oint of it, and 4 let her wonder but weAll have todecide by tomorrow morning what to do, and itAll have to be airtightThese 8odellians ex"ect 9im and me to im"regnate as many as "ossible oftheir highest#rated women before we leave By their 3ode itAs mandatory,since we canAt hide the fact that we rate much higher than theydo##their highest rating is only Grade Two by our standards##and all the"lanets hereabouts u"#grade themselves with the highest#grade new bloodthey can find 6rdinarily, theyAd ex"ect you two girls to become"regnant by your choices of the to" men of the "lanet but they know youwouldnAt breed down and donAt ex"ect you to But how in all hell can 9imand 4 refuse to breed them u" without dealing out the deadliest insultthey knowHF

There was a minute of silence F>e canAt,F 9ames said then & grin beganto s"read over his face F4t might not be too bad an idea, at that, cometo think of it That ball of fire they "icked out for you would be ablue#ribbon dish in anybodyAs cook#book &nd Grand $ady $em"hi##F 8ekissed the ti"s of two fingers and waved them in the air FStrictly Big$eague )aterial in ca"ital lettersF

F4s that nice, you back#alley tomcatHF Belle asked, "laintively then"aused in thought and went on slowly, F4 wonAt "retend to like it, but 4wonAt do any "ublic screaming about itF

F&ny anthro"ologist would say youAll have to,F $ola declared withouthesitation F4 donAt like it, either 4 think itAs horrible but itAs

excellent genetics and we cannot and must not violate systems#widemoresF

F!ouAre all missing the "ointJF Garlock sna""ed 8e got u", jammed hishands into his "ockets, and began to "ace the floor F4 didnAt think anyone of you was that stu"idJ 4f that was all there were to it weAd doit as a matter of course But think, damn itJ ThereAs nothing higherthan Gunther Two in the humanity of this "lanet Tele"athy is the onlyESP they have 8igh Gunther uses hitherto unused "ortions of the brain4tAs transmitted through genes, which are dominant, cumulative, andself#multi"lying by interaction 9im and 4 carry more, stronger, andhigher Gunther genes than any other two men known to live 3anwe##dare we##"lant such genes where none have ever been known beforeHF

Two full minutes of silence

FThat one has really got a bone in it,F 9ames said, unhel"fully

Three minutes more of silence

F4tAs u" to you, $ola,F Garlock said then F4tAs your fieldF

F4 was afraid of that ThereAs a way Personally, 4 like it less eventhan the other, but itAs the only one 4Ave been able to think u" 7irst,



are you absolutely sure that our refusal##BelleAs and mine, 4 mean##tobreed down will be valid with themHF

FPositiveF

FThen the whole society from which we come will have to be strictlymonogamous, in the narrowest, most literal sense of the term ;oexce"tions whatever &dultery, anything illicit, has always been not

only unimaginable, but in fact im"ossible >e "air##or marry, orwhatever they do here##once only 7or life (esire and "otency can existonly within the "air never outside it $ike eagles 4f a manAs wifedies, even, he loses all desire and all "otency That would make it"hysically im"ossible for you two to follow the 8odellian 3ode !ouAdboth be com"letely im"otent with any women whatever exce"t yourmates##Belle and meF

FThat will work,F Belle said F8ow it will workJF She "aused Then,suddenly, she whistled the loud, full#bodied, ear#"iercing,tongue#and#teeth whistle which so few women ever master 8er eyess"arkled and she began to laugh with unrestrained glee FBut do you knowwhat youAve done, $olaHF

F;othing, exce"t to suggest a solution >hatAs so funny about thatHF

F!ouAre wonderful, $ola##sim"ly "ricelessJ !ouAve created somethingbrand#new to science##an im"otent tomcatJ &nd the more 4 think aboutitF Belle was rocking back and forth with laughter She could not"ossibly talk, but her thought flowed on, F4 just love you all to"iecesJ &n im"otent tomcat, and heAll have to stay true to me##6h,this is sim"ly killing me##4All never live through itJF

F4t does "ut us on the s"ot##es"ecially 9im,F came GarlockAs thought

8e, too, began to laugh and $ola, as soon as she sto""ed thinking about

the thing only as a "roblem in anthro"ology, joined in 9ames, however,did not think it was very funny

F&nd thatAs less than half of itJF Belle went on, still unable to talkFThink of 3lee, $ola Six two##over two hundred##hard as nails##a"erfect hunk of hard red meat##telling this whole damn cockeyed regionof s"ace that heAs im"otent, tooJ &nd with a "erfectly straight faceJ&nd it ties in so beautifully with his making no res"onse, yes or no,when she "ro"ositioned him The "oor, innocent, im"otent lamb justsim"ly didnAt have even the faintest inkling of what she meantJ 6h,myF

F$isten##listen##listenJF 9ames managed finally to break in F;ot

that 4 want to be "romiscuous, butF

FThere, there, my "recious little im"otent tomcat,F Belle soothed himaloud, between giggles and snorts F:s Earth#girls will take care of ourlover#boys, see if we donAt !ou wonAt need any nasty littleF Bellecould not hold the "ose, but went off again into whoo"s of laughterF>hat a brain youAve got, $olaJ 4 thought 4 could imagine anything,but to make these two guys of ours##the two absolute to"s of the wholeSolar System##itAs a stroke of geniusF

FShut u", will you, you human hyena, and listenJF 9ames roared aloud



FThere ought to be some better way than thatF

FBetterH Than sheer "erfectionHF Belle was still laughing but could nowtalk coherently

F4f you can think of another way, 9im, the meeting is still o"enFGarlock was wi"ing his eyes FBut itAll have to be a dilly 4Am notexactly enamored of $olaAs idea, either, but as the answer itAs one

hundred "ercent to as many decimal "laces as you want to take time towrite eroesF

There was more talk, but no im"rovement could be made u"on $olaAs idea

F>ell, weAve got until morning,F Garlock said, finally F4f anybodycomes u" with anything by then, let me know 4f not, it goes into effectthe minute we o"en the locks The meeting is adjournedF

Belle and 9ames left the room and, a few minutes later, Garlock wentout $ola followed him into his room and closed the door behind her Shesat down on the edge of a chair, lighted a cigarette, and began to smokein short, nervous "uffs She o"ened her mouth to say something, but shut

it without making a sound

F!ouAre afraid of me, $olaHF he asked, Duietly

F6h, 4 donAt >ell, that isF She wouldnAt lie, and she wouldnAtadmit the truth F!ou see, 4Ave never 4 mean, 4 havenAt had verymuch ex"erienceF

F!ou neednAt be afraid of me at all 4Am not going to "air with youF

F!ouAre notHF 8er mouth dro""ed o"en and the cigarette fell out of itShe took a few seconds to recover it F>hy notH (onAt you think 4 coulddo a good enough jobHF

She stood u" and stretched, to show her s"lendid figure to its bestadvantage

Garlock laughed F;othing like that, $ola you have "lenty of sexa""eal 4tAs just that 4 donAt like the conditions 4 never have "aired4 never have had much to do with women, and that little has been urbane,logical, and strictly en "assant on the level of mutual "hysicaldesire Thus, 4 have never taken a virgin Pairing with one is verydefinitely not my idea of urbanity and thereAs altogether too muchobligation to suit me 7or all of which good reasons 4 am not going to"air with you, now or everF

F8ow do you know whether 4Am a virgin or notH !ouAve never read me thatdee" ;obody can ;ot even you, unless 4 let youF

F'eading isnAt necessary##you flaunt it like a bannerF

F4 donAt know what you mean 4 certainly donAt do it intentionallyBut 4 ought to "air with you, 3leeJF $ola had lost all of hernervousness, most of her fear F4tAs "art of the job 4 was chosen for4f 4Ad known, 4AdAve gone out and got some ex"erience 'eally 4 wouldhaveF



F4 believe that 4 think you would have been silly enough to have donejust that &nd you have a very high regard for your virginity, too,donAt youHF

F>ell, 4 4 used to But weAd better go ahead with it 4Ave gottoF

F;o such thing Permissible, but not obligatoryF

FBut it was assumed &s a matter of course &nyway well, when thatgirl started making "asses at you, 4 thought you could have just as muchfun, or even more##sheAs charming a real darling, isnAt sheH##without"airing with me, and then 4 had to o"en my big mouth and be the one tokee" you from "laying games with anyone exce"t me, and 4 certainly amnot going to let you sufferF

FBunkJF Garlock snorted FSheer fla"doodleJ Pure "sychological"ro"#wash, started and maintained by men who are either too weak todirect and control their drives or who havenAt any real work to occu"ytheir minds 4t a""lies to many men, of course, "ossibly to most 4tdoes not, however, a""ly to all, and, it lacks one whole hell of a lot

of a""lying to me (oes that make you feel betterHF

F6h, it does it does Thanks, 3lee !ou know, 4 like you, a lotF

F(o youH <iss meF

She did so

FSeeHF

F!ou tricked meJF

F4 did not 4 want you to see the truth and face it !our idealism is

admirable, "ermanent, and shatter#"roof but your starry#eyedschoolgirlAs mawkishness is none of the three !ouAll have to grow u",some day 4n my o"inion, forcing yourself to give u" one of yourhardest#held ideals##virginity##merely because of the utter bilge thatthose idiot head#shrinkers stuffed you with, is sheer, "lain idiocy 4su""ose that makes you like me even less, but 4Am laying it right on thelineF

F;o more 4All argue with you, when we have time, about some of your"oints, but the last one##if itAs valid##has tremendous force 4 didnAtknow men felt that way But no matter what my feeling for you really is,4Am really grateful to you for the re"rieve and you know, 3lee, 4Am"retty sure youAre going to get us back home 4f anyone can, you canF

F4Am going to try to Even if 4 canAt, it will be Belle, not you, that4All take for the long "ull &nd not because youAd rather have9im##which you would, of courseF

FTo be honest, 4 think 4 wouldF

F3ertainly 8eAs your ty"e !ouAre not mine Belle is >ell, thatbuttons it u", Brownie, exce"t for one thing To 9im and Belle andeveryone else, weAre "airedF



F6f course :rbanity, as well as to "resent a united front to any andall worldsF

F3heck So watch your shieldF

F4 always do That stuff is Away, Away down 4Am awfully glad you calledme ABrownie,A 3lee 4 didnAt think you ever wouldF

F4 didnAt ex"ect to##but 4 never talked to a woman this way before,either )aybe it had a mellowing effectF

F!ou donAt need mellowing##4 do like you a lot, just exactly as youareF

F4f true, 4Am very glad of it But donAt strain yourself and 4 meanthat literally, not as sarcasmF

F4 know 4Am not straining a bit, and thisAll "rove itF

She kissed him again, and this time it was a "roduction

FThat was an eminently convincing demonstration, Brownie, but donAt doit too oftenF

F4 wonAtF She laughed, gayly and ha""ily F4f thereAs any next time,youAll have to kiss me firstF

She "aused and sobered FBut remember 4f you should change your mind,any time you really want to to kiss me, come right in 4 wonAt be assilly and nervous and afraid as 4 was just now ThatAs a "romise Goodnight, 3leeF

FGood night, BrownieF

38&PTE' *

;ext morning, Garlock was the last one, by a fraction of a minute, intothe )ain FGood morning, all,F he said, with a slight smile

F8uhH 8ow comeHF 9ames demanded, as all four started toward the diningnook

GarlockAs smile widened F$ola She brought me a "ot of coffee and

wouldnAt let me out until 4 drank itF

FBroughtHF

F!eah They havenAt read their room#ta"es yet, so they donAt know thatroom#service is "ractically unlimitedF

F>hy didnAt 4 think of that coffee business a cou"le of years agoHF

F>ell, why didnAt 4 think of it myself, ten years agoHF



BelleAs eyes had been going from one, man to the other F9ust what areyou two talking aboutH 4f itAs anybodyAs business exce"t your ownHF

F8e is an early#morning grouch,F 9ames ex"lained, as they sat down atthe table F;ot fit to associate with man or beast##not even his owndog, if he had one##when he first gets u" 8ow come you were smartenough to get the answer so Duick, BrownieHF

F6h, the "attern isnAt too rareF She shrugged daintily, swee"ing thecom"liment aside FEs"ecially among men on big jobs who work undertremendous "ressureF

FThen how about 9imHF Belle asked

F3leeAs the Big Brain, not me,F 9ames said

F!ouAre a lot Bigger Brain than any of the men $olaAs talking about,FBelle insisted

FThatAs true,F $ola agreed, Fbut 9im "robably is##must be##an iceboxraider Eats in the middle of the night 3lee "robably doesnAt 4tAs a

good bet that he doesnAt nibble between meals at all 3heck, 3leeHF

F3heck But what has an em"ty stomach got to do with the caseHF

FEverything ;obody knows how $ots of theories##enymes, blood sugar,endocrine balance, what have you##but no "roof 4t isnAt always true8owever, six or seven hours of em"ty stomach, in a man who takes his jobto bed with him, is very a"t to uglify his "re#breakfast dis"ositionF

Breakfast over and out in the )ain%

FBut when a manAs dis"osition is ugly all the time, how can you tell thedifferenceHF Belle asked, innocently

F4All let that "ass,F GarlockAs smile disa""eared, Fbecause weAve gotwork to do 8ave any of you thought of any im"rovement on $olaAsmonogamous societyHF

;o one had 4n fact##

FThere may be a loo"#hole in it,F $ola said, thoughtfully F(id any ofyou ha""en to notice whether they know anything about artificialinseminationHF

F(Ayou think 4Ad stand for thatHF Belle blaed, before Garlock couldbegin to search his mind F4Ad scratch anybodyAs eyes out##if youAd

thought of that idea as a woman instead of as a near#Ph( inanthro"ology youAdAve thrown it into the converter before it evenhatchedJF

F4nvasion of "rivacyH That covers it, of course, but 4 didnAt think itwould bother you a bitF $ola "aused, studying the other girl intentlyF!ouAre Duite a "roblem yourself 3allous##utterly savage humor##yetvery sensitive in some ways##fastidiousF

F4Am not on the table for dissectionJF Belle sna""ed FStudy me all you"lease, but kee" the notes in your notebook 4Ad suggest you study



3leeF

F6h, 4 have been 8e baffles me, too 4Am not very good yet, youF

FThatAs the undersF

F3ut itJF Garlock ordered, shar"ly F4 said we had work to do 9im,youAre hunting u" the nearest observatoryF

F8ow about trans"ortationH ;o tele"ortationHF

F6ut 'ent a car or hire a "lane, or both 7ill your wallet##better havetoo much money than not enough 4f youAre too far away tonight to makeit feasible to come back here, send me a flash Brownie, youAll workthis town first Belle and 4 will have to work in the library for awhile >eAll all want to com"are notes tonightF

F!eah,F 9ames said into the "ause, F4 could tune in remote, but 4 donAtknow where 4All be, so it might not be so goodF

F3heck !ou can A"ort, but be damn sure nobody sees or senses you

doing it That buttons it u", 4 guessF

9ames and $ola left the shi" Garlock and Belle went into the library

F4f 4 didnAt know you were im"otent, 3lee,F Belle shivered affectedlyand began to laugh, F4Ad be scared to death to be alone with you in thisgreat big s"aceshi" $ola hasnAt realied yet what she really hatchedout##the screamingest screamer ever "ulled on anybodyJF

F4t isnAt that funny !ou have got a savage sense of humorF

FPerha"sF She shrugged her shoulders FBut you were on the receivingend, which makes a big difference SheAs a "eculiar sort of duck

Brainy, but im"ersonal##academic She knows all the words and all theirmeanings, all the Duestions and all the answers, but she doesnAt a""lyany of them to herself SheAs always the observer, never the"artici"ant Pure egg#head "ureH ThatAs it She looks, acts,talks, and thinks like a virgin >ell, if thatAs all, she isnAtany##or is sheH Even though youAve started calling her ABrownie,A likemy now#tamed tomcat, you might notF She stared at him

FGo ahead ProbeF

F>hy waste energy trying to crack a PrimeAs shieldH But just out ofcuriosity, are you two "airing, or notHF

FTut#tut donAt be inurbane $etAs talk about 9im instead 4 thoughtheAd be gibberingF

F;o, 4Am working under double wra"s##full dam"ers 4 donAt want him inlove with me !ou want to know whyHF

F4 think 4 know whyF

FBecause having him mooning around underfoot would weaken the team and 4want to get back to TellusF



F4 was wrong, then 4 thought you were out after bigger gameF

BelleAs face went stiff and still F>hat do you mean by thatHF

FPlain enough, 4 would think >herever you are, youAve got to be theBoss !ouAve never been in any kind of a "arty for fifteen minuteswithout taking it over >hen you sna" the whi" everybody jum"s##orelse##and you swing a wicked knife 7or your information 4 donAt jum", 4

am familiar with knives, and you will never run this "roject or any "artof itF

BelleAs face set her eyes hardened F>hile weAre "utting outinformation, take note that 4Am just as good with actual knives as withfigurative ones 4f youAre still thinking of blistering my fanny, donAttry it !ouAll find a rawhide haft sticking u" out of one of thosemuscles youAre so "roud of##clear enough )r GarlockF

F>hy donAt you talk sense, instead of such yak#yakHF

F8uhHF

F4 know youAre a Prime, too, but donAt let it go to your head 4Ave gotmore stuff than you have, so you canAt Gunther me !ou weigh onethirty#five to my two seventeen 4Am harder, stronger, and faster thanyou are !ouAre "robably a bit limberer##not too much##but 4Aveforgotten more judo than you ever will know So whatAs the answerHF

Belle was breathing hard FThen why donAt you do it right nowHF

FSeveral reasons 4 couldnAt brag much about licking anybody 4 outweighby eighty#two "ounds 4 canAt figure out your logic##if any##but 4Am"retty sure now it wouldnAt do either of us any good 9ust theo""ositeF

F7rom your stand"oint, would that be badHF

F>hat a hell of a logicJ !ou have got the finest brain of any womanliving !ouAre stronger than 9im is by a lot more than thePrime#to#6"erator ratio##youAve got more initiative, more drive, moreguts !ou know as well as 4 do what your brain may mean before we getback >hy in all hell donAt you start using itHF

F!ou are com"limenting meHF

F;o 4tAs the truth, isnAt itHF

F>hat difference does that makeH 3lee Garlock, 4 sim"ly canAt understand

you at allF

FThat makes it mutual 4 canAt understand a geometry in which thecrookedest line between any two given "oints is the best line $etAs getto work, shall weHF

F:h#huh, letAs 6ne more bit of information, though, first &ny suchidea as taking the Project away from you sim"ly never entered mymindJF She gave him a warm and friendly smile as she walked over to thefile#cabinets



7or hours, then, they worked each scanning ta"e after ta"e &t mid#daythey ate a light lunch Shortly thereafter, Garlock "ut away his readerand all his loose ta"es F&re you getting anywhere, BelleH 4Am notmaking any "rogressF

F!es, but of course "lanets are "robably "retty much the sameeverywhere##Tellus#ty"e ones, 4 mean, of course 4s all the =enology ascockeyed as 4Am afraid it must beHF

F3heck The one basic assum"tion was that there are no human beingsother than Tellurians 7rom that they derive the secondary assum"tionthat humanoid ty"es will be scarce 7rom there they scatter out in alldirections So 4All have to roll my own 4Ave got to see &tterlin,anyway 4All be back for su""er So longF

&t the Port 6ffice, Grand $ady ;eldine met him even moreenthusiastically than before taking both his hands and "ressing themagainst her firm, almost#bare breasts She tried to hold back as Garlockled her along the corridor

F4 have an ex"lanation, and in a sense an a"ology, for you, Grand $ady

;eldine, and for you, Governor &tterlin,F he thought carefully F4 wouldhave ex"lained yesterday, but 4 had no understanding of the situationhere until our anthro"ologist, $ola )ontandon, elucidated it verylaboriously to me She herself, a scientist highly trained in thats"ecialty, could gras" it only by referring back to somewhat similarsituations which may have existed in the remote "ast##so remote a "astthat the conce"t is known only to s"ecialists and is more than halfmythical, even to themF

8e went on to give in detail the sexual customs, obligations, andlimitations of $olaAs "urely imaginary civiliation

FThen it isnAt that you donAt want to, but you canAtHF the lady asked,

incredulously

F)entally, 4 can have no desire Physically, the act is im"ossible,F heassured her

F>hat a shameJF 8er thought was a "eculiar mixture of disa""ointment andrelief% disa""ointment in that she was not to bear this manAssu"er#child relief in that, after all, she had not "ersonallyfailed##if she couldnAt have this "erfectly wonderful man herself, noother woman exce"t his wife could ever have him, either But what ashame to waste such a man as that on any one womanJ 4t was really toobad

F4 see 4 see##wonderfulJF &tterlinAs thought was not at allincredulous, but vastly awed F4t is of course logical that as the "owerof mind increases, "hysical matters become less and less im"ortant Butyou will have much to give us we may "erha"s have some small things togive you 4f we could visit your Tellus, "erha"sHF

FThat also is im"ossible >e four in the Pleiades are lost in s"aceThis is the first "lanet we have visited on our first trial of a newmethod##new to us, at least##of interstellar travel >e missed ourobjective, "robably by many millions of "arsecs, and it is Duite"ossible that we four will never be able to find our way back >e are



trying now, by charting the galaxies throughout billions of cubic"arsecs of s"ace, to find merely the direction in which our own galaxyliesF

F>hat a conce"tJ >hat stu"endous mindsJ But such immense distances, sir what can you "ossibly be using for a s"ace#driveHF

F;one, as you understand the term >e travel by instantaneous

translation, by means of something we call AGuntherA 4 am not at allsure that 4 can ex"lain it to you satisfactorily, but 4 will try to doso, if you wishF

FPlease do so, sir, by all meansF

Garlock o"ened the highest Gunther cells of his mind There was nothingas elementary as tele"athy, tele"ortation, telekinesis, or the like itwas the "ure, raw Gunther of the Gunther (rive, which even he himselfmade no "retense of understanding fully 8e o"ened those cells and"ushed that knowledge at the two 8odellian minds

The result was just as instantaneous and just as catastro"hic as Garlock

had ex"ected Both blocks went u" almost instantly

F6h, noJF &tterlin exclaimed, his face turning white

The girl shrieked once, covered her face with her hands, and colla"sedon the floor

F6h, 4Am so sorry excuse my ignorance, "leaseJF Garlock im"lored,as he "icked the girl u", carried her across the room to a sofa, andassured himself that she had not been really hurt She recoveredDuickly F4Am very sorry, Grand $ady ;eldine and Governor &tterlin, but4 didnAt know that is, 4 didnAt realieF

F!ou are trying to break it gentlyF &tterlin was both shocked anddes"ondent FThis being the first "lanet you have visited, you sim"lydid not realie how feeble our minds really areF

F6h, not at all, really, sir and ladyF Garlock began deftly to re"airthe morale he had shattered F)erely younger >ith your system ofgenetics, so much more logical and efficient than our strict monogamy,your race will undoubtedly make more "rogress in a few centuries than wemade in many millennia &nd in a few centuries more you will "assus##will master this only "artially#known Gunther (rive

FEsthetically, $ady ;eldine, 4 would like very much to father you achildF 8e allowed his coldly unmoved gae to survey her charms F4 am

sorry indeed that it cannot be 4 trust that you, Governor &tterlin,will be kind enough to s"read word of our "hysical shortcomings, and sos"are us further embarrassmentHF

F;ot shortcomings, sir, and, 4 truly ho"e, no embarrassment,F &tterlin"rotested F>e are immensely glad to have seen you, since your veryexistence gives us so much ho"e for the future 4 will s"read word, andevery 8odellian will do whatever he can to hel" you in your DuestF

FThank you, sir and lady,F and Garlock took his leave



F>hat an act, my male#looking but im"otent darlingJF came BelleAs clear,incisive thought, bubbling with unrestrained merriment F7or our (octorGarlock, the Prime Ex"onent and 7irst (isci"le of Truth, what an actJEsthetically, heAd like to father her a child, it says here in fine"rint##Boy, if she only knewJ 6ne tiny grain of truth and sheAd chaseyou from here to &ndromedaJ 3lee, 4 swear this thing is going to killme yetJF

F&nything that would do that 4Am very much in favor ofJF Garlock growledthe thought and sna""ed u" his shield

This one was, Duite definitely, BelleAs round

Garlock took the 8odellian eDuivalent of a bus to the center of thecity, then set out aimlessly to walk The buildings and theirarrangement, he noted##not much to his sur"rise now##were not toodifferent from those of the cities of Earth

>ith his guard down to about the sixth level, highly rece"tive but notat all selective, he strolled u" one street and down another 8e was notattentive to detail yet he was trying to get the broad as"ects, the

FfeelF of this hitherto unknown civiliation

The ether was "ractically saturated with thought &""arently this wasthe afternoon rush hour, as the sidewalks were crowded with "eo"le andthe streets were full of cars 4t did not seem as though anyone, whetherin the buildings, on the sidewalks, or in the cars, was doing anyblocking at all 4f there were any such things as secrets on 8odell,they were scarce Each "erson, man, woman, or child, went about his ownbusiness, radiating full blast ;o one "aid any attention to thethoughts of anyone else exce"t in the case of cou"les or grou"s, theunits of which were engaged in conversation 4t reminded Garlock of abig Tellurian "arty when the "unch#bowls were running low##everybodytalking at the to" of his voice and nobody listening

This whole gale of thought was blowing over GarlockAs rece"tors like aGreat Plains wind over miles#wide fields of corn 8e did not addressanyone directly no one addressed him &t first, Duite a few youngwomen, at sight of his unusual "hysiDue, had sent out tentative feelersof thought and some men had wondered, in the same tentative andindirect fashion, who he was and where he came from 8owever, when theinformation he had given &tterlin s"read throughout the city##and it didnot take long##no one "aid any more attention to him than they did toeach other

Probing into and through various buildings, he learned that grou"s of"eo"le were Duitting work at intervals of about fifteen minutes There

were thoughts of tidying u" desks of letting the rest of this junk gountil tomorrow of "utting away and@or covering u" office machines ofvarious sorts There were thoughts of "owdering noses and of re"airingmake#u"

8e "ulled in his rece"tors and scanned the crowded ways forguardians##heAd have to call them that until either he or $ola found outtheir real name Same as at the air"ort##the more "eo"le, the moreguardians >hat were theyH 8owH &nd whyH

8e "robed carefully but thoroughly >hen he had talked to the &r"alone



he had read him easily enough, but here there was nothing whatever toread The creature sim"ly was not thinking at all But that didnAt makesenseJ Garlock tuned, first down, then u" and finally, at the very to"of his range, he found something, but he did not at first know what itwas 4t seemed to be a mass#detector no, two of them, "aired andbalanced 6h, that was itJ 6ne tuned to humanity, one to the otherguardians##balanced across a sort of bridge##that was how they ke"tthe ratio so constantJ But whyH There seemed to be some wide#range

rece"tors there, too, but nothing seemed to be coming in

>hile he was still studying and still baffled, some kind of stimulus,which was so high and so faint and so alien that he could neitheridentify nor inter"ret it, touched the &r"aloneAs far#flung rece"tors4nstantly the creature jum"ed, his "owerful, widely#bowed legs sendinghim high above the heads of the crowd and, it seemed to Garlock,directly toward him Simultaneously there was an insistent, low#"itched,whistling scream, somewhat like the noise made by an air"lane in ano#"ower dive and Garlock saw, out of the corner of one eye, ayellowish something flashing downward through the air

&t the same moment the woman immediately in front of Garlock stifled a

scream and jum"ed backward, bum"ing into him and almost knocking himdown 8e staggered, caught his balance, and automatically "ut his armaround his assailant, to kee" her from falling to the sidewalk

4n the meantime the guardian, having landed very close to the s"ot thewoman had occu"ied a moment before, lea"ed again this time verticallyu"ward The thing, whatever it was, was now braking frantically withwings, tail, and body trying madly to get away Too late There was abone#crushing im"act as the two bodies came together in mid#air ajarring thud as the two creatures, inextricably intertwined, struck the"avement as one

The thing varied in color, Garlock now saw, shading from bright orange

at the head to "ale yellow at the tail 4t had a savagely#tearing curvedbeak tremendously "owerful wings its short, thick legs ended inhawk#like talons

The guardianAs bowed legs had already immobilied the yellow wings byclam"ing them solidly against the yellow body 8is two lower arms wereholding the frightful talons out of action 8is third hand gri""ed theorange throat, his fourth was exerting tremendous force against thejointure of neck and body The neck, originally short, was beginning tostretch

7or several seconds Garlock had been half#conscious that his accidentalcom"anion was trying, with more and more energy, to disengage his

encircling left arm from her waist 8e wrenched his attention away fromthe s"ectacular fight##to which no one else, not even the near#victim,had "aid the slightest attention##and now saw that he had his arm aroundthe bare waist of a statuesDue matron whose entire costume would havemade "erha"s half of a Tellurian sun#suit 8e dro""ed his arm with aDuick and abject a"ology

F4 should a"ologie to you instead, 3a"tain Garlock,F she thought, witha wide and friendly smile, Ffor knocking you down, and 4 thank you forcatching me before 4 fell 4 should not have been startled, of course 4would not have been, exce"t that this is the first time that 4,



"ersonally, have been attackedF

FBut what are theyHF Garlock blurted

F4 donAt knowF The woman turned her head and glanced, in com"letedisinterest, at the two furiously#battling creatures Garlock knew nowthat this was the first time, exce"t for that instantly#dismissed thrillof sur"rise at being the actual target of an attack, that she had

thought of either of them F6range#yellowH 4t could be a a fuma"ty,"erha"s, but 4Ave no idea, really !ou see, such things are none of ourbusinessF

She thought at him, a half#shrug, half#grimace of mild distaste##not atthe "ersonal contact with the man nor at the savage duel but at eventhinking of either the guardian or the yellow monster##and walked awayinto the crowd

GarlockAs attention flashed back to the fighters The yellow thingAsneck had been stretched to twice its natural length and the guardian hadeaten almost through it There was a terrific crunch, a cou"le ofsmacking, gobbling swallows, and head "arted from body The orange beak

still clashed o"en and shut, however, and the body still thrashedviolently

Shifting his gri"s, the guardian "roceeded to tear a hole into hisvictimAs body, just below its breast#bone Thrusting two arms into theo"ening, he yanked out two organs##one of which, Garlock thought, couldhave been the heart##and ate them both if not with extreme gusto, atleast in a workmanlike and thoroughly com"etent fashion 8e then "ickedu" the head in one hand, grabbed the ti" of a wing with another, andmarched u" the street for half a block, dragging the body behind him

8e lifted a manhole cover with his two unoccu"ied hands, dro""ed theremains down the hole thus ex"osed, and let the cover slam back into

"lace 8e then sDuatted down, licked himself meticulously clean with along, black, extremely agile tongue, and went on about his enigmaticbusiness Duite as though nothing had ha""ened

Garlock strolled around a few minutes longer, but could not reca"tureany interest in the doings of the human beings around him 8e had filedaway every detail of what had just ha""ened, and it had so many biarreas"ects that he could not think of anything else >herefore he flaggeddown a FtaxiF and was taken out to the Pleiades Belle and $ola werein the )ain

F4 saw the damndest thing, 3leeJF $ola exclaimed F4Ave been gnawingmy fingernails off u" to the knuckles, waiting for youJF

$olaAs ex"erience had been very similar to GarlockAs own, exce"t in thather monster was an intense green in color and looked something like abat about four feet long, with six#inch canine teeth and severalstingers

F(id you find out the name of the thingHF Garlock asked

F;o 4 asked half#a#doen "eo"le, but nobody would even listen to meexce"t one half#grown boy, and the best he could do was that it might besomething he had heard another boy say somebody had told him might be a



AlemartA &nd as to those lower#case &r"alones, the best 4 could dig outof anybody was just AguardiansA (id you do any betterHF

F;o, 4 didnAt do as well,F and he told the girls about his ownex"erience

FBut 4 didnAt find any detectors or rece"tors, 3lee,F $ola frownedF>here were theyHF

FA>ay u"##u" here,F he showed her F4All make a full ta"e tonight oneverything 4 found out about the guardians and the &r"alones##besides myregular re"ort, 4 mean##since theyAre yours, and you can make me oneabout your friend the green batF

F8ey, 4 like thatJF Belle broke in FThat could be taken amiss, youknow, by such a sensitive soul as 4JF

F3heckF Garlock chuckled F4All have to file that one, in case 4 wantto use it sometime 8owAre you coming, BelleHF

F;iceJF BelleAs voracious mind had been so busy absorbing new

knowledge that she had tem"orarily forgotten about her fight withher ca"tain F4Am just about done here 4All be ready tomorrow, 4think, to visit their library and ta"e u" some "lanetological and"lanetogra"hical##notice how insouciantly 4 toss off those two#creditwordsH##data on this here "lanet 8odellF

FGood going !ouAve been listening to this stuff $ola and 4 were chewingon##does any of it make sense to youHF

F4t does not 4 never heard anything to com"are with itF

FExcuse me for changing the subject,F $ola "ut in, "laintively, Fbutwhen, if ever, do we eatH (o we have to wait until that confounded

9ames boy gets back from wherever it was he wentHF

F4f youAre hungry, weAll eat nowF

F8ungryH $ookJF $ola turned herself sidewise, "laced one hand in thesmall of her back, and "ressed hard with the other her flat, taut bellyFSeeH 6nly a cou"le of inches from belt#buckle to backbone##dangerouslyclose to the "oint of utter colla"seF

F!ou "oor, abused little thingJF Garlock laughed and all three crossedthe room to the dining alcove >hile they were still ordering, 9amesa""eared beside them

F7ind out anythingHF Garlock asked

F!es and no !es, in that they have an excellent observatory, with ahundred#eighty#inch reflector, on a mountain only seventy#five milesfrom here ;o, in that 4 didnAt find any du"lication of nebularyconfigurations with the stuff 4 had with me 8owever, it was relativelycoarse Tomorrow 4All take a lot of fine stuff along 4tAll take sometime##a full day, at leastF

F4 ex"ected that Good going, 9imJF



&ll four ate heartily, and, after eating, they ta"ed u" the dayAsre"orts Then, tired from their first real dayAs work in weeks, all wentto their rooms

& few minutes later, Garlock ta""ed lightly at $olaAs door

F3ome inF She stiffened involuntarily, then relaxed and smiled F6h,yes, 3lee% of course !ouAreF

F;o, 4Am not 4Ave been doing a lot of thinking about you since lastnight, and 4 may have come u" with an answer or two &lso, Belle knowswe arenAt "airing, and if we donAt hide behind a screen at least once ina while, sheAll know we arenAt going toF

FScreenHF

FScreen (idnAt you know these four "rivate rooms are solidH 8avenAt youread your house#ta"e yetHF

F;o But do you think Belle would actually "eekHF

F(o you think she wouldnAtHF

F>ell, 4 donAt like her very much, but 4 wouldnAt think she would doanything like that, 3lee 4t isnAt urbaneF

FShe isnAt urbane, either, whenever she thinks it might be advantageousnot to beF

F>hat a terrible thing to sayJF

FTake it from me, if Belle Bellamy doesnAt know everything that goes onit isnAt from lack of trying !ou wouldnAt know about room service,either, then##better scan that ta"e before you go to slee"

tonight##whatAll you have in the line of a drink to while away enoughtime so she will know weAve been "laying gamesHF

FGinger ale, "leaseF

F4All have ginger beer !ou do it like soF 8e slid a "anel aside, hisfingers "layed briefly on a ty"ewriter#like keyboard (rinks and icea""eared F&nything you want##details of the ta"eF

8e lighted two cigarettes, handed her one, stirred his drink F;ow, fairlady##or should 4 say beauteous dark ladyH##we will follow the "rece"tof that immortal 3hinese "hiloso"her, 3hin 6nF

F!ou are a Prime 6"erator, arenAt youHF She laughed, but soberedDuickly F4Am worried !ou said 4 flaunted virginity like a banner, andnow Belle >hat am 4 doing wrongHF

FThereAs a lot wrong ;ot so much what youAre doing as what you arenAtdoing !ouAre too aloof##detached##egg#headish !ou know the score,words and music, but you donAt sing &ll you do is listen Belle thinksyouAre not only a "hysical virgin, but a "sychic#blocked "rude 4 knowbetter !ouAre so full of conflict between what you want to do##what youknow is right##and what those three#cell#brained nincom"oo"s made youthink you ought to do that you have got no more degrees of freedom than



a "iston#rod !ou havenAt been yourself for a minute since you cameaboard 3heckHF

F!ou have been thinking, havenAt youH !ou may be right exce"t thatitAs been longer than that ever since the first "reliminaries, 4think But what can 4 do about it, 3leeHF

F3ontact Three#Duarters full, say enough for me to give you what 4

think is the truthF

FBut you said you never went screens down with a womanHF

FThereAs a first time for everything 3ome inF

She did so, held contact for almost a minute, then "ulled herself loose

F:g#gh#ghF She shivered F4Am glad 4 havenAt got a mind like thatF

F&nd the same from me to you 6f course the real truth may lie somewherein between 4 may be as far off the beam on one side as you are on theotherF

F4 ho"e so But it cleared things u" no end##it untied a million knotsEven that other thing##brotherly loveH 4tAs a very nice conce"t##yousee, 4 never had any brothersF

FThatAs "robably one thing that was the matter with you ;othing warmerthan that, certainly, and never will beF

F&nd 4 su""ose you got the thought##it must have jum"ed u" and smackedyou##F $olaAs hot blush was visible even through her heavy tan, Fhowmany times 4Ave felt like running my fingers u" and down your ribs andgrabbing a handful of those terrific muscles of yours, just to see iftheyAre as hard as they lookHF

F4Am glad you brought that u" 4 donAt know whether 4 would have daredto or not !ouAve got to sto" acting like a Third instead of an6"erator and youAve got to sto" acting as though you had never beenwithin ten feet of me ;owAs as good a time as anyF 8e took off hisshirt and struck a strong#manAs "ose F3ome aheadF

FBy golly, 4Am going toJF Then, a moment later, F>hy, theyAre evenharderJ 8ow do you, a scientist, "sionicist, and scholar, kee" in suchhard sha"e as thatHF

F&n hour a day in the gym, three hundred sixty#five days a year )anyare better##but a hell of a lot are worseF

F4All sayF She finished her ginger ale, sat down in her chair, leanedback and "ut her legs u" on the bed FThat was a relief of tension ifthere ever was one 4 havenAt felt so good since they "icked me ashome#town candidate##and that was a mighty small town and eight monthsago Bring on your dragons, 3lee, and 4All slay Aem far and wide But 4canAt actually be like she isF

FThank God for that (eliver me from two such "retel#benders aboardone shi"F



F but 4 could have been a "retty good actress, 4 thinkF

F3orrection, "lease A6utstandingA is the wordF

FThank you, kind sir &nd women##men, too, of course##do bring u"certain memories, to toF

FTo roll Aem around on their tongues and give their taste#buds a treatF

FExactly So where 4 donAt have any a""ro"riate actual memories to bringu", 4All make like an actress 3heckHF

FGood girlJ ;ow youAre rolling##weAre in like 7lynn >ell, weAve been inscreen long enough, 4 guess 7are thee well, little sister Brownie,until we meet againF 8e tossed the remains of their refreshments, traysand all, into the chute, "icked u" his shirt, and started out

FPut it on, 3leeJF she whis"ered, intensely

F>hyHF 8e grinned cheerfully F4tAd look still better if 4 "eeled downto the altogetherF

F!ouAre incorrigible,F she said, but her answering grin was wide and"erfectly natural F!ou know, if 4 had had a brother something like youit would have saved me a lot of wear and tear 4All see you in themorning before breakfastF

&nd she did They strolled together to breakfast not holding hands, butwith hi" almost touching hi" 'elaxed, friendly, on very cordial andsatisfactory terms $ola "unched breakfast orders for them both Belledrove a "robe, which bounced##$olaAs screen was tight, although herbrown eyes were innocent and bland

But during the meal, in res"onse to a double#edged, wickedly#barbed

remark of BelleAs, a memory flashed into being above $olaAs shield 4twas the veriest flash, instantly su""ressed 8er eyes held clear andsteady if she blushed at all it did not show

Belle caught it, of course, and winked trium"hantly at GarlockShe knew, now, what she had wanted to know &nd, Prime 6"eratorthough he was, it was all he could do to make no sign for thatfleetingly#revealed memory was a "erfect job 8e would not have##couldnot have##Duestioned it himself, exce"t for one highly startling fact4t was of an event that had not ha""ened and never wouldJ

&nd after breakfast, at some distance from the others, FThat is my girl,BrownieJ !ouAre firing on all forty barrels !ouAre an 6"erator, all

right and it takes a damn good one to lie like that with her mindJF

FThanks to you, 3lee &nd thanks a million, really 4Am me again##4thinkF

Then, since Belle was looking, she took him by both ears, "ulled hishead down, and kissed him lightly on the li"s The s"ontaneity andtenderness were "erfect at that moment 3leeAs a""reciation was obvious

F4 know 4 said youAd have to kiss me next time,F $ola said, very low,Fbut this act needs just this much of an extra touch &nyway, such



little, tiny, sisterly ones as this, and out in "ublic, donAt countF

38&PTE' K

$ola and Garlock went to town in the same taxi &s they were about tose"arate, Garlock said%

F4 donAt like those hell#divers, yellow, green, or any other color andyou, Brownie, are very definitely not ex"endable &re you any good atmind#bombingHF

F>hy, 4 never heard of such a thingF

F!ou isolate a little energy in the 6" field, remembering of course,that youAre handling a hundred thousand gunts Trans"ose it into"latinum or uranium##anything good and heavy 7or one of these monstersyouAd need two or three micrograms 7or a battleshi", u" to maybe a gram

or so APort it to the exact "lace you want it to detonate 'econvertand release instantaneously 6ne#hundred#"ercent#conversion atomic bomb,tailored exactly to fit the job ?ery effectiveF

F4t would be )y God, 3lee, can you do thatHF

FSure##so can you &ny 6"erator canF

F>ell, 4 wonAt 4 never will Besides, 4Ad "robably kill too many"eo"le, besides the monster ;o, 4All A"ort back to the )ain if anythingattacks me 4Am chain lightning at thatF

F(o that, then &nd if anything very unusual ha""ens give me a flashF

F4All do that ABye, 3leeF She turned to the left 8e walked straighton, toward the business center, to resume his study at the "oint wherehe had left off the evening before

7or over an hour he wandered aimlessly about the city receiving,classifying, and filing away information 8e saw several duels betweenguardians and yellow and green#bat monsters, to none of which he "aidany more attention than did the "eo"le around him Then a third kind ofenemy a""eared##two of them at once, flying wing#and#wing##and Garlocksto""ed and watched

?ivid, clear#cut stri"es of red and black, even on the tremendously

long, strong wings (istinctly feline as to heads, teeth, and claws>hile they did not at all closely resemble flying saber#toothed tigers,that was the first im"ression that lea"ed into GarlockAs mind

Two bow#legged guardians came lea"ing as usual, but one of them was afraction of a second too late That fraction was enough >hile the firstguardian was still high in air, gra""ling with one tiger, the otherswung on a dime##the blast of air from his right wing blowing "eo"le inthe crowd below thither and yon and knocking four of them flat##and tookthe guardianAs head off his body with one savage swi"e of afrightfully#armed "aw (isregarding the carcass both attackers whirled



shar"ly at the second guardian, meeting him in such fashion that hecould not come to firm gri"s with either of them, and that battle wasvery brief indeed )ore and more guardians were lea"ing in from alldirections, however, and the two tigers were forced to the ground andslaughtered

Since six guardians had been killed, eight guardians marched u" thestreet, dragging grisly loads Eight bodies, friend and foe alike, were

dum"ed into a manhole eight creatures sDuatted down and cleanedthemselves meticulously before resuming their various "atrols

Ten or fifteen minutes later, Garlock felt $olaAs half#excited,half#frightened thought F3lee, do you read meHF

F$oud and clearF

FThereAs something coming thatAs certainly none of my business##maybenot even yoursF

F3oming,F and with the thought he was there F>hereHF

She "ointed a thought, he followed it 7ar away yet, but coming fast,was an immense flock of flying tigersJ

$ola licked her li"s F4Am going home, if you donAt mindF

FBeat itF

She disa""eared

F9imJF Garlock thought F>here are youHF

F6bservatory ;eed meHF

F!es Bombing Two "oint four microgram loads 7ocus s"ot on myright##tele"ort inF

F3oming in on your rightF

F&nd 4 on your leftJF BelleAs thought drove in as he had never beforefelt it driven Being a Prime, she did not need a focus s"ot anda""eared the veriest instant later than did 9ames

F3an you bombHF Garlock sna""ed

F>hat do you thinkHF she sna""ed back

& moment of flashing thought and the three Tellurians disa""eared,materialiing five hundred feet in air, two hundred feet ahead of thevan of that horrible flight of monsters, drifting before it

Belle got in the first shot ;ot only did the victim disa""ear##a cou"leof doen around it were torn to fragments and the force of the blaststaggered all three Tellurians

F(amn it, Belle, cut down or get to hell outJF Garlock yel"ed F4 saidtwo "oint four micrograms, not milligrams 9ust kill Aem, donAtscatter Aem all over hellAs half acre##less mess to clean u" and 4



donAt want you to kill "eo"le down below Es"ecially 4 donAt want youto kill us##not even yourselfF

FAScuse, "lease, 4 guess 4 was a bit enthusiastic in my weighingF

There began a series of muffled ex"losions along the front eachfollowed by the "lunge of a tiger#stri"ed body to the ground 7aster andfaster the ex"losions came as the 6"erator and the Primes learned the

routine and the rhythm of the job

;or were they long alone The roaring, screaming howl of jets came u"from behind them four &r"alones a""eared at their left, strung outalong the front Each held an extraordinarily heavy#duty blaster in eachof his four hands sixteen terrific wea"ons were hurling death into theflying horde

FSlide over, Terrestrials,F came a calm thought F!ou three take theirleft front, weAll take their right and centerF

&s they obeyed the instructions, FThey donAt give a damn where the"ieces flyJF Belle "rotested F>hy should we be fussy about their

street#cleaning de"artmentH 4Am starting to use fivesF

F6kay >eAll have to hit Aem harder, anyway, to kee" u" 7ive or maybesix##just be damn sure not to knock us or the &r"alones out of the airF

3arnage went on The battle#front, while inside the city limits, was nowalmost stationary

F8aJ 8el"##4 hear footste"s a""roaching on jet#back,F Garlock announcedFGive Aem hell, boys##shovel on the coalJF

& flight of fighter#"lanes, eight abreast and wing#ti"s almost touching,howled close overhead and along the line of invasion They could not

fire, of course, until they reached the city limits There they o"enedu" as one, and the air below became literally filled with fallingmonsters Some had only broken wings some were dead, but more or lesswhole many were blown to unrecogniable bits and scra"s of flesh

&nother flight screamed into "lace immediately behind the first thenanother and another and another until six flights had "assed Then camefour helico"ters, darting and hovering, whose gunners "icked offindividually whatever survivors had managed to esca"e all six waves offighters

FThatAs better,F came a thought from the &r"alone nearest GarlockFSituation under control, thanks to you Tellurians Su""osed to be two

sDuads of us gunners, but the other sDuad was busy on another job>ithout you, this could have develo"ed into a fairly nasty littleinfection 4 donAt know what youAre doing or how youAre doing it##wewere told that you werenAt like any other humans, and how true thatis##but 4Am in favor of it 4 thought there were four of youHF

F6ne of us is not a fighterF

F6h !ou can knock off now, if you like >eAll "olish off Thanks muchF

FBut donAt the boys on the ground need some hel"HF



FThe &r"alesH Those idiots you have been thinking of as AguardiansAH>hich they are, of course :h#uh Besides, weAre air#fighters Groundwork is none of our business &lso, these guns would raise altogethertoo much hell down there Bound to hit some humansF

F3heck Those &r"ales arenAt very intelligent, you &r"alones areextremely so &ny connectionHF

FA>ay back, they say 3ommon ancestry, and doing two "arts of the samejob <illing these fuma"ties and lemarts and sencors and what#have#you4 donAt know what humanityAs job is and donAt give a damn Probablyfairly im"ortant, some way or other, though, since itAs our job to seethat the silly, gutless things kee" on living >e have nothing to dowith Aem, ever The only reason 4Am talking to you is youAre not reallyhuman at all !ouAre a fighter, too, and a damn good oneF

F4 know what you mean,F and the three Tellurians turned their attentiondownward to the scene on the ground

The heaviest fighting had been over a large "ark at the cityAs edge,

which was now literally a shambles ?ery few "eo"le were to be seen, andthose few more moving unconcernedly away from the center of violence&ll over the "ark thousands of &r"ales were fighting furiously andhundreds of them were dying 7or hundreds of the sencors had sufferedonly wing injuries, the long fall to ground had not harmed them further,and their tremendous fighting ability had been lessened very little ifat all

FBut 4Ad think, just for efficiency if nothing else,F Garlock argued,FyouAd su""ort the &r"ales some way $ighter guns or something >hy,thousands of them must have been killed, just in this last hour or soF

F!eah, but thatAs their business They breed fast and die fast

Everything has to balance, you knowF

FPerha"s soF Garlock was silenced, if not convinced F>ell, itAs aboutover >hat ha""ens to the bodies theyAre dum"ing down manholesH TheycanAt go down a sewer that wayHF

F6h, you didnAt knowH 7oodF

F7oodH 7or whatHF

FThe &r"ales and us, of courseF

F>hatH !ou donAt mean##you canAt mean that they##and by your thought,

you &r"alones, too##are cannibalsJF

F3annibalsH Ex"lain, "leaseH 6h, eaters#of#our#own#s"ecies 6fcourse##certainly >hy notHF

F>hy, self#res"ect common decency res"ect for oneAs fellow#man family tiesF Garlock was floundering to be called u"on toex"lain his ingrained anti"athy to such a custom was new to hisex"erience

F!ou are silly >orse, sDueamish >orst, su"remely illogicalF The



&r"alone "aused, then went on as though trying to educate a ho"elesslyillogical inferior, F>hile we do not kill &r"ales "ur"osely##exce"t whenthey over#breed##why waste good meat as fertilierH 4f a diet iswholesome, nutritious, well#balanced, and tasty, what shred ofdifference can it "ossibly make what its ingredients once wereHF

F>ell, 4All be damnedF Garlock Duit

Belle agreed FThis whole deal makes me sick at the stomach and 4 thinkmy face is turning green too But 4Am devilishly and gleefully glad,3lee, that 4 was here to hear somebody give you cards, s"aces, and bigcasino and still beat the lights and liver out of you at your own gameof cold#blooded logicJF

F>e gunners must go now >ould you like to come along with us and seethe end of this "articular breeding#hole of sencorsHF

&t high s"eed the seven flew back along the line of advance of theflying#tiger horde across a barren valley, toward and to the side of amountain

&n area almost a mile sDuare of that mountainAs side was a burned,blasted, churned, "ocked, cratered and flaming waste and the fourhelico"ters were still working on it 8igh#energy beams blasted, fairlyvolatiliing the ground as they struck in as dee" as they could bedriven 8igh#ex"losive shells bored dee" and detonated, hurlingshattered rock and soil and yellow smoke far and wide establishing newcraters by destroying the ones existing a moment before

>hile it seemed incredible that any living thing larger than a microbecould emerge under its own "ower from such a hell of energy, many flyingtigers did a""arently being blown aloft along with the hithertoundisturbed volume of soil in which the creatures had been )ost of themwere not fully grown some were so immature as to be unrecogniable to

an untrained eye but from all four helico"ters hand#guns sna""ed andcracked ;othing##but nothing##was leaving that field of carnagealive

F>hat are you gunners su""osed to be doing hereHF Garlock asked

F6h, the Aco"ters will be leaving "retty soon##theyAve got other "lacesto go But they wonAt get them all##some of the hatches are too dee"##sous four gunners will stick around for two#three days to kill thelate#hatchers as they come outF

F4 see,F and Garlock "robed FThere are four cells they wonAt reachShall 4 bomb Aem outHF

F4All askF The slitted red eyes widened and he sent a call F3ommander<nahr, can you ho" over here a minuteH 4 want you to meet these thingsweAve been hearing about They look human, but they really arenAtTheyAre killers, with more stuff and more brains than any of us everheard ofF

&nother &r"alone a""eared, indistinguishable to Tellurian eyes from anyone of the others

FBut why do you want to mix into something thatAs none of your



businessHF <nahr was neither officious nor condemnatory 8e sim"ly couldnot understand

FSince you have no conce"t of our Duality of curiosity, just call iteducation The Duestion is, do or do you not want those fourdee"ly#buried cells blasted out of existenceHF

F6f course 4 doF

F6kay !ouAve got all of Aem youAre going to get Tell your Aco"ters togive us about five miles clearance, and weAll all fall back, tooF

They drew back, and there were four closely#s"aced ex"losions of suchviolence that one raggedly mushroom#sha"ed cloud went into thestratos"here and one huge, ragged crater yawned where once churnedground had been

FBut thatAs atomicJF <nahr gas"ed the thought F7all#outJF

F;o fall#out 3om"lete conversion 8ave you got a counterHF

They had They tested There was nothing exce"t the usual backgroundcount

FThereAs no life left underground, so you neednAt kee" this sDuad ofgunners tied u" here,F Garlock told the commander FBefore we go, 4 wantto ask a Duestion !ou have visitors once in a while from other solarsystems, so you must have a faster#than#light drive 3an you tell meanything about itHF

F;o ;othing like that would be any of my businessF <nahr and the fourgunners disa""eared the helico"ters began to lumber away

F>ell, that hel"s##4 donAt think,F Garlock thought, glumly F>hat a

worldJ Back to the )ainHF

4n the )ain, after a long and fruitless discussion, Garlock calledGovernor &tterlin, who did not know anything about a faster#than#lightdrive, either There was one, of course, since it took only a few daysor a few weeks to go from one system to another but 8odell didnAt haveany such shi"s ;o ordinary "lanet did They were owned and o"erated by"eo"le who called themselves FEngineersF 8e had no idea where theEngineers came from they didnAt say

Garlock then tried to get in touch with the &r"alone 4ns"ector who hadchecked the Pleiades in, and could not find out even who it had beenThe 4ns"ector then on duty neither knew or cared anything about either

faster#than#light drives or Engineers Such things were none of hisbusiness

F>hat difference would it make, anywayHF 9ames asked F;o drive thattakes Aa few weeksA for an intra#galaxy ho" is ever going to get us backto TellusF

FTrue enough but if there is such a thing 4 want to know how it works8ow are you coming with your calculationsHF

F4All finish u" tomorrow easily enoughF



Tomorrow came, and 9ames finished u", but he did not find any familiar"attern of Galactic arrangement The other three watched 9ames set u"for another try for Earth

F!ou donAt think weAll ever get back, do you, 3leeHF Belle asked

F'ight away, no Some day, yes 4Ave got the germ of an idea )aybe

three or four more ho"s will give me something to work onF

F4 ho"e so,F 9ames said, Fbecause here goes nothing,F and he sna""ed thered switch

4t was not nothing ;umber Two was another guardian 4ns"ector andanother "lanet very much like 8odell 4t "roved to be so far from bothEarth and 8odell, however, that no useful similarities were found in anytwo of the three sets of charts

;umber Three was eDually un"roductive of hel"ful results 9ames did,however, im"rove his techniDue of making galactic charts and he andGarlock designed and built a high#s"eed com"arator Thus the time

reDuired "er sto" was reduced from days to hours

;umber 7our "roduced a sur"rise >hen Garlock touched the knob of thetesting#box he yanked his hand away before it had really made contact4t was like touching a high#voltage wire

F!ou are incom"atible with our humanity and must not land,F the4ns"ector ruled

FSu""ose we blast you and your jets out of the air and land anywayHFGarlock asked

FThat is "erha"s "ossible,F the 4ns"ector agreed, eDuably enough F>e

are not invincible 8owever, it would do you no good 4f any one of youfour leaves that so#heavily#insulated vessel in the atmos"here of this"lanet you will die ;ot Duickly, but slowly and with difficultyF

FBut you havenAt tested meJF Belle said F(o you mean theyAll attackus on sightHF

FThere is no need to test more than one &nyone who could live near anyof you could not live on this "lanet ;or will they attack you (onAtyou know what the thought Aincom"atibleA meansHF

F>ith us it does not mean deathF

F8ere it does, since it refers to life forces The ty"es are mutually,irreconcilably antagonistic !our life forces are very strong Thus, nomatter how "eaceable your intentions may be, many of our human beingswould die before you would, but you will not live to get back to yourshi" if you land it and leave its "rotective insulationF

F>hyH >hat is itH 8ow does it workHF Belle demanded

F4t is not my business to know only to tell 4 have told !ou will goaway nowF



GarlockAs eyes narrowed in concentration FBelle, can you blastH 4 mean,could you if you wanted toHF

F3ertainly why, 4 donAt want to, 3leeJF

F4 donAt, either##and 4All file that one away to chew on when 4Am hungrysome night, too Take her u", 9im, and try another shotF

;umbers 7ive to ;ine, inclusive, were neither "roductive nor eventful&ll were, like the others, 8odell all over again, in everythingfundamental 6ne was so far advanced that almost all of its humanitywere Seconds one so backward##or so much younger##that its strongesttele"aths were only 7ours The Tellurians became acDuainted with, andu"on occasion fought with, various ty"es of man#sied monsters inaddition to the three varieties they had seen on 8odell

Every "lanet they visited had &r"alones and &r"ales ;ot by those names,of course $ocal names for "lanets, guardians, nations, cities, and"ersons went into the starshi"As ta"es, but that welter of names neednot be given here this is not a catalogue Every "lanet they visitedwas "eo"led by 8omo Sa"iens ca"able of inter#breeding with the

Tellurians and eager to do so##es"ecially with the Tellurian men Theirstrict monogamy was really tested more than once but it held Each hadbeen visited re"eatedly by starshi"s but all Garlock could find outabout them was that they "robably came from a world somewhere that wasinhabited by com"atible human beings of Grade Two 8e could learnnothing about the faster#than#light drive

;umber Ten was another Dueer##the Tellurians were found incom"atible

F$etAs go down anywayF Belle suggested F6vercome this unwillingness ofours and find out >hat do you think theyAve got down there, 3leeGarlock, that could "ossibly handle you and me bothHF

F4 donAt think itAs a case of AhandlingA at all 4 donAt know what itis, but 4 believe itAs fatal >e wonAt go downF

FBut it doesnAt make senseJF Belle "rotested

F;ot yet, no but itAs a datum Enough data and weAll be able toformulate a theoryF

F!ou and your theoriesJ 4 wish we could get some factsJF

F!ou can call that a fact But 4 want you and 9im to do somemath >e know that weAre making mighty long jum"s &ssuming that theyAreat "erfect random, and of a""roximately the same length, the "robability

is greater than one#half that weAre getting farther and farther awayfrom Tellus 4s there a jum" number, ;, at which the "robability isone#half that we land nearer Tellus instead of farther awayH )yjum"#at#conclusions guess is that there isnAt That the first jum" setu" a biasF

F6uch That isnAt in any of the books,F 9ames said F4n other words,do we or do we not attain a maximumH !ouAre making some bum assum"tionsamong others that s"ace isnAt curved and that the dimensions of theuniverse are very large com"ared to the length of our jum"s 4All see if4 can "ut it into sha"e to feed to 3om"y !ouAve always held that these



generators work at random##the rest of those assum"tions are based onyour theoryHF

F3heck 4Am not getting anywhere studying my alleged =enology, so 4Amgoing to work full time on designing a generator that will steerF

F!ou tried to before So did everybody elseF

F4 know it, but 4Ave got a lot more data now &nd 4Am not "romising,just trying 6kayH >orth a tryHF

FSure##4Am in favor of anything that has any chance at all of workingF

9um"ing went on and Garlock, instead of going abroad on the "lanets,stayed in the Pleiades and worked

&t ;umber 7orty#three, their rece"tion was of a new kind They werecom"atible with the "eo"le of this world, but the 4ns"ector advised themagainst landing

F4 do not forbid you,F he ex"lained, carefully F6ur humans are about to

destroy themselves with fission and fusion bombs They send missiles,without warning, against visitors Thus, the last starshi" to visit ushere disregarded my warning and sent down a sensing device asusual##Engineers do not land on non#tele"athic worlds, you know##and itwas destroyedF

F!ouAre a Guardian of 8umanity,F Garlock said F3anAt you straighten"eo"le outHF

F6f course notJF The &r"alone was outraged F>e guard humanity againstincom"atibles and non#humans but it is not our business to interferewith humanity if it wishes to destroy itself That is its "rivilege andits own businessJF

Garlock "robed down F;o tele"athy, even##not even a Seven This "lanetis backward##back to !ear 6ne &nd nothing but firecrackers##weAregoing down, arenAt weHF

F4All say we areJF Belle said FThis will break the monotony, at least,Fand the others agreed

F!ou wonAt object, 4 take it,F Garlock said to the 4ns"ector, Fif we tryto straighten them out >e can "ost"one the blow#u" a few years, atleastF

F;o objections, of course 4n fact, 4 can say that we Guardians of

8umanity would a""rove such actionF

(own the Pleiades went, into the air of the nation known as theF&llied 'e"ublican (emocracies of the >orld,F and an atomic#warheadedrocket came flaming u"

F8m m m 4ngenious little gadget, at that,F 9ames re"orted,after studying it thoroughly F7ilthy thing for fall#out, though, if itgoes off >hereAll 4 fli" it, 3leeH 6ne of their moonsHF

F3heck Third one out##no chance of any contamination from thereF



The missile vanished and had any astronomer been looking at thatworldAs third and outermost moon at the moment, he might have seen atremendous flash of light, a cloud of dust, and the formation of a newand different crater among the hundreds already there

F;o use waiting for Aem, 9im &ll three of you toss everything theyAvegot out onto that same moon, being sure not to hurt anybody##yet 4All

start asking DuestionsF

The ca"tain who had fired the first missile a""eared in the )ain 8ereached for his "istol, to find that he did not have one 8e tensed hismuscles to lea" at Garlock, to find that he could not move

Garlock drove his "robe F>ho is your su"erior officerHF and before theman could formulate a denial, that su"erior stood hel"less beside him

Then three##and four &t the fifth%

F6h, you are the man 4 want Prime )inister##eu"hemism for(ictator##Sovig )issile launching stations and missile storageH !ou

donAt knowH >ho doesHF

&nother man a""eared, and for twenty minutes the Pleiades darted aboutthe continent

F;ow submarines, atomic and otherwise, and all surface vessels ca"ableof launching missilesF &nother man a""eared

This job took a little longer, since the crew of each vessel had to betele"orted back to their bases &n immense scra"#"ile, "robably visiblewith a telesco"e of even moderate "ower, built u" ra"idly on the thirdmoon

F;ow a com"lete list of your uranium#refining "lants, your militaryreactors, heavy#water and heavy#hydrogen "lants, and so onF &nother mana""eared, but the starshi" did not move

F8ere is a list of "lants,F and Garlock named them, coldly F!ou willremember them 4 will return you to your office, and you may##or maynot, as you "lease##order them evacuated $ook at your watch >e startdestroying them in exactly seventy#two of your hours from this moment&ny and all "ersons on the "ro"erties will be killed any within aradius of ten of your miles may be killed 6ur ex"losives are extremely"owerful, but there is no radioactivity and no danger from the fall#outThe danger is from flash#blindness, flash#burn, sheer heat, shock#wave,concussion, and flying debris of all kindsF

The officer vanished and Garlock turned back to the Prime )inister

F!ou have an ally, a nation known as the ABrotherhood of Peo"leAs'e"ublicsA >here is its ca"italH Slide us over there, 9im ;ow, Prime)inister Sovig, you and your ally, the second and first most "o"ulousnations of your world, are combining to destroy##a "incers movement, letus sayH##the third largest nation, or rather, grou" of nations##the;ations of the ;orth 6h, 4 see Third only in "o"ulation, but firstin "roductive ca"acity and technology They should be destroyed becausetheir ideology does not agree with yours They are too idealistic to



strike first, so you will &fter you strike, they will not be able to>hereu"on you, "ersonally, will rule the world 4 will add to thatsomething you are not thinking, but should% !ou will rule it until oneof your friends "uts his "istol to the back of your neck and blows yourbrains outF

They were now over the allyAs ca"itol which launched five missilesinstead of one Garlock collected four more men and studied them

F9ust as bad##if "ossible, worse >ho, $ingonor, is the leader of youro""osition, if anyHF &nother man, very evidently of the same race,a""eared

F4dealistic, in a way, but s"ineless and corru"t,F Garlock announced toall F8is administration was one of the most corru"t ever known on thisworld >eAll disarm them, tooF

They did The o"eration did not take very long as this nation##orgrou", it was not very clear exactly what it was##while very high inman"ower, was very low in technology

The starshi" moved to a station high above the 3a"itol Building of the;ations of the ;orth and moved slowly downward until it hung "oised onescant mile over the building )issiles, jets, and heavy guns were setand ready, but no attack was made Therefore Garlock introduced himselfto various "ersonages and invited them aboard instead of snatching themnor did he immobilie them after they had been tele"orted aboard

FThe "resident, the chief of staff, the 3hief 9ustice, the most eminentscientist, the head of a church, the leaders of the legislative body andfour "olitical bosses, the biggest business man, biggest labor leader,and biggest gangster 7ourteen menF &s Garlock studied them his facehardened F4 thought to leave your ;ations armed, to entrust thisworldAs future to you, but no 6nly two of you are really concerned

about the welfare of your "eo"les, and one of those two is very weak)ost of you are of no higher motivation than are the two dictators andyour gangster 3lyden !ou are much better than those we have alreadydisarmed, but you are not good enoughF

GarlockAs hard eyes swe"t over the grou" for two minutes before he wenton%

F4 am o"ening all of your minds, friend and foe alike, to each other, sothat you may all see for yourselves what de"ths of rottenness existthere and just how unfit your world is to associate with the decentworlds of this or any other galaxy 4t would take God 8imself to doanything with such material, and 4 am not God Therefore, when we have

rid this world of atomics we will leave and you will start all overagain 4f you really try, you can not only kill all animal life on your"lanet, but make it absolutely uninhabitable forF

FSto" it, 3leeJF $ola jum"ed u", her eyes flashing Garlock dro""ed thetuned grou", but Belle took it over Everyone there understood everythought F(onAt you see, youAve done enoughH That now youAre going toofarH That these twenty#odd men, having had their minds o"ened and havingbeen given insight into what is "ossible, will go forward instead ofbackwardHF



F7orwardH >ith such "eo"le as the Prime )inisters, the labor andbusiness leaders, the bosses and the gangsters to co"e withH (o youthink theyAve got s"ines stiff enough for the jobHF

F4Am sure of it 6ur world did it with no better )illions and millionsof other worlds did it >hy canAt this one do itH 6f course it canF

F)ay 4 ask a cou"le of DuestionsHF This thought came from the tall,

trim, soldierly 3hief of Staff

F6f course, General 3ordeenF

F>e have all been taking it for granted that you four belong to somesu"er#human race some kind or other of 8omo Su"erior (o 4 understandcorrectly your thought that your race is 8omo Sa"iens, the same asoursHF

F>hy, of course it is,F $ola answered in sur"rise FThe only differenceis that we are a few thousand years older than you areF

F!ou said also that there were Amillions and millionsA of worlds that

have solved the "roblems facing us >ere all these worlds also "eo"ledby 8omo Sa"iensH 4t seems incredibleF

FTrue, nevertheless 6n any and every world of this ty"e humanity isidentical "hysically and the mental differences are due only to theirbeing in different stages of develo"ment 4n fact, every "lanet we havevisited exce"t this one makes a regular custom of breeding its bestblood with the best blood of other solar systems &nd as to theAmillions and millions,A 4 meant only a very large but indefinitenumber &s far as 4 know, not even a rough estimate has ever beenmade##has there, 3leeHF

F;o, but it will "robably turn out to be millions of millions, instead

of millions and millions and sDuared and then cubed at that )y guessis that itAll take another ten thousand years of "reliminary surveyingsuch as weAre doing, by all the crews the various Galaxian Societies can"ut out, before even the roughest kind of an estimate can be made as tohow many "lanets are inhabited by mutually fertile human "eo"lesF

7or a moment the grou" was stunned Then%

F(o you mean to say,F asked the merchant "rince, Fthat you Galaxians arenot the only ones who have interstellar travelHF

F7ar from it 4n fact, yours is the only world we have seen that doesnot have it, in one form or anotherF

F6hH )ore than one wayH That makes it still worse >ould you be willingto sell us "lans, or lease us shi"sHF

FSo that you could ex"loit other "lanetsH >e will not !ou would getnowhere, even if you had an interstellar drive right now !ou,"ersonally, are a "erfect exam"le of what is wrong with this "lanet'a"acious, insatiable you violate every conce"t of ethics, commondecency, and social res"onsibility !our worldAs technology is so farahead of its sociology that you not only should be, but actually arebeing, held in DuarantineF



F>hatHF

FExactly 6ne race 4 know of has been ins"ecting you regularly forseveral hundreds of your years They will not make contact with you, orallow you to leave your own world, until you grow u" to something beyondthe irres"onsible#baby stage Thus, about two and one#half of your yearsago, a starshi" of that race sent down a sensing element##unmanned, of

course##to check your state of develo"ment Brother Sovig volatilied itwith an atomic missileF

F>e did not do it,F the dictator declared F4t was the war#mongeringca"italistsF

F!ou brainless, mindless, contem"tible idiot,F Garlock sneered F&reeven you actually stu"id enough to try to lie with your mindH To mindslinked to your own and to mineHF

F>e did do it, then, but it was only a flying saucerF

F9ust as this shi" was, to you, only a flying saucer, 4 su""ose So

hereAs something else for you to think about, Brother Sovig, withwhatever "ower your alleged brain is able to generate >hen you shotdown that sensor, the starshi" did not retaliate, but went on withouttaking any notice of you >hen you tried to shoot us down, we tooksome slight action, but did not kill anyone and are now discussing thesituation $isten carefully now, and remember##it is very "ossible thatthe next craft you attack in such utterly idiotic fashion will, withoutany more warning than you gave, blow this whole "lanet into a ball ofincandescent gasF

F3an that actually be doneHF the scientist asked 7or the first time, hebecame really interested in the "roceedings

F?ery easily, (octor 3heswick,F Garlock re"lied F>e could do itourselves with scarcely any effort and at very small cost !ou arefamiliar, 4 su""ose, with the "henomenon of ball lightningHF

FSomewhat 4ts mechanism has never been elucidated in any verysatisfactory mathematicsF

F>ell, we have at our dis"osal a field someF

F8old it, 3lee,F 9ames warned F(o you want to "ut out that kind ofstuff around hereHF

F:m m m >hat do you thinkHF

9ames studied 3heswickAs mind FBetter than 4 thought,F he decided F8ehas made two really worthwhile intuitions##a genius ty"e 8eAs beenworking on what amounts almost to the 3ou"ler Theory for ten years 8eAsalmost got it, but you know intuitions of that caliber canAt bescheduled 8e might get it tomorrow##or never 4Ad say "ush him over thehum"F

F6kay with me >eAll take a vote##one blackball kills it BrownieH 9ustthe link, of course & few hints, "erha"s, at a""lication, but notechnological dataF



F4 say give it to him 8eAs earned it Besides, he isnAt young and maydie before he gets it, and that would lose them two or three hundredyearsF

FBelleHF

F4n favor Shall 4 dro" the linkageH ;o,F she answered her own Duestion

F;o other minds here will have any idea of what it means, and it may dosome of them a bit of good to see one of their own minds firing on morethan one barrelF

FThank you, GalaxiansF The scientistAs mind had been Duivering witheagerness F4 am inex"ressibly glad that you have found me worthy of somuch hel"F

Garlock entered 3heswickAs mind 7irst he im"ressed, indelibly, sixsymbols and their meanings Second, a long and intricate eDuation whichthe scientist studied avidly

(uring the ensuing "ause, Garlock cut the President and 3hief of Staff

out of the linkage F>e have just given 3heswick a basic formula 4n acou"le of hundred years it will give you full tele"athy, and then youwill begin really to go u" ThereAs nothing secret about it##in fact,4Ad advise full "ublication##but even so it might be a smart idea togive him both "rotection and good working conditions Brains like hisare a"t to be centuries a"art on any worldF

FBut this is it could be it must beJF 3heswick exclaimed F4never would have formulated thatJ 4t isnAt Duite im"licit, ofcourse, but from this there derives the existence of, and the necessityfor, electrograviticsJ &n entirely new field of reality and ex"erimentin scienceJF

FThere does indeed,F Garlock admitted, Fand it is far indeed from beingim"licit !ou lea"ed a tremendous ga" &nd yes, the resultant is morehumanistic than technologicalF

BelleAs ear#s"litting whistle resounded throughout the )ain F8ow do youlike them tid#bits, 3leeHF she asked FTwo hundred years inseventy#eight secondsH !ou folks will have tele"athy by the time your"resent cro" of babies grows u" 3lee, arenAt you sorry you got mad andblew your to" and wanted to "ick u" your marbles and go homeH Threesuch intuitions in one manAs lifetime beats "ar, even for the geniuscourseF

F4t sure does,F Garlock admitted, ruefully F4 should have studied these

minds##"articularly his##before jum"ing at conclusionsF

F)ay 4 say a few wordsHF the "resident asked

F!ou may indeed, sir 4 was ho"ing you wouldF

F>e have been discouraged faced with an insoluble "roblem Sovig and$ingonor, knowing that their own lives were forfeit anyway, were"erfectly willing to destroy all the life on this world to make usyield ;ow, however, with the insight and the encouragement youGalaxians have given us, the situation has changed 'educed to ordinary



high ex"losives, they cannot conDuer usF

FEs"ecially without an airforce,F $ola "ut in F4, "ersonally, will seeto it that every bomber and fighter "lane they now have goes to thethird moon 4t will be your res"onsibility to see to it that they do notrebuildF

FThank you, )iss )ontandon >e will see to it &s for our internal

difficulties##4 think, under certain conditions, they can be handled6ur lawless element,F he glanced at the gangster, Fcan be made im"otentThe corru"t "ractices of both ca"ital and labor can be sto""ed >e havelaws,F here he looked at the members of 3ongress and the judge, Fwhichcan be enforced The conditions 4 mentioned would be difficult at themoment, since so few of us are here and it is manifest that few if anyof our "eo"le will believe that such "eo"le as you Galaxians reallyexist >ould it be "ossible for you, )iss )ontandon, to s"end a fewdays##or whatever time you can s"are##in showing our 3ongress, and asmany other grou"s as "ossible, what humanity may ho"e to becomeHF

F6f course, sir 4 was "lanning on itF

F4Am afraid that is im"ossible,F the 3hief of Staff said

F>hy, General 3ardeenHF $ola asked

FBecause youAd be shot,F 3ardeen said, bluntly F>e have a very goodSecret Service, it is true, and we would give you every "rotection"ossible but such an all#out effort as would be made to assassinate youwould almost certainly succeedF

FShotHF Garlock asked in sur"rise F>hat withH !ou havenAt anything thatcould even begin to crack an 6"eratorAs ShieldF

F>ith this, sirF 3ardeen held out his automatic "istol for ins"ection

F6h, 4 hadnAt studied it a "ellet#"rojectorF

FPelletJ (o you call a four#seventy#five slug a "elletHF

F;ot much of that, really it shoots eight times##shoot all eight ofthem at her ;one of them will touch herF

F>hatH 4 will notJ 6ne of those slugs will go through three womenlike her, front to back in lineF

F4 will, thenF The "istol lea"ed into GarlockAs hand F8old u" onehand, Brownie, and catch Aem (onAt let Aem s"lash##no deformation, so

he can recognie his own "elletsF

8olding the unfamiliar wea"on in a clumsy, highly unorthodoxgri"##something like a schoolgirlAs first attem"t##Garlock glanced onceat $olaAs u"raised "alm and eight shots roared out as fast as the gasesof ex"losion could o"erate the mechanism The "istolAs barrel remainedrigidly motionless under all the stress of ultra#ra"id fire $olaAsslim, dee"ly#tanned arm did not even Duiver under the im"act of thatstorm of heavy bullets against her a""arently unsu""orted hand ;o onesaw those bullets strike that gently#curved right "alm, but everyone sawthem dro" into her cu""ed left hand, like dro"s of water dri""ing



ra"idly from the end of an icicle into a bowl

F8ere are your "ellets, General 3ardeenF $ola handed them to him with asmile

F8oly##9um"ing##SnakesJF the general said, and%

F>otta tor"edoJF came the gangsterAs envious thought

F!ou see, 4 am "erfectly safe from being Ashot,A as you call it,F $olasaid FSo 4All come down and work with you !ou might have your newsservices "ut out a bulletin, though 4 never have killed anyone, and amnot going to here, but anyone who tries to shoot me or bomb me oranything will lose both hands at the wrists just before he fires Thatwould kee" them from killing anyone standing near me, donAt you thinkHF

F4 should think it would,F General 3ordeen thought, and a "all of awecovered the linked minds The im"lications of the naively frank remarkjust uttered by this a""arently inoffensive and defenseless young womanwere sim"ly too overwhelming to be discussed

F&nything else on the agenda, 3leeHF $ola asked

There was not, and the starshi"As guests were returned, each to his ownhome "lace

&nd not one of them, it may be said, was exactly the same as he hadbeen

.4llustration%

The dee"est Gunther block was at last "enetrated and Belle became conscious of a heretofore unknown mental alignment with the shi"2

38&PTE' L

F4 think 4All come along with you and bodyguard you, $ola,F Belle said,the following morning after breakfast F3leeAs going to be seventhousand miles dee" in mathematics and 9imAs doing his stuff at theobservatory, and 4 canAt hel" either of Aem at the moment !ouAd do abetter job, wouldnAt you, if you could concentrate on itHF

F6f course Thanks, Belle But remember, itAs already been announced##nodeath 9ust hands 4 canAt really believe that 4All be attacked, butthey seem "retty sure of itF

F4Ad like to se"arate anyone like that from his head instead of hishands, but as it is "ublished so it will be "erformedF

F8ow about wearing some kind of half#way#comfortable shoes instead ofthose sli""ersHF Garlock asked FThat could turn out to be a long, toughbrawl, and your dogsAll be begging for mercy before you get back hereF



F:h#uh ?ery comfortable and a "erfect fit Besides, if 4 have to sufferjust a little bit for good a""earanceAs sake in a matter ofintergalactic amityF

F& matter of showing off, you meanF

F>hy, 3leeJF Belle widened her eyes at him F8ow you talkJ But theyAreready, $ola##letAs goF

The two girls disa""eared from the )ain, to a""ear on the s"eakersAstand in front of the 3a"itol Building President Benton was there, withhis cabinet and certain other "ersonages General 3ordeen and his staff&nd many others

F6h, )iss Bellamy, tooH 4Am very glad you are here,F Benton said, ashe shook hands cordially with both

FThank you 4 came along as bodyguard )ay 4 meet your Secret Service3hief, "leaseHF

F>hy, of course )iss Bellamy, may 4 "resent )r &vengordHF

F!ou have the hos"ital room readyH >here is it, "leaseHF

FBack of us, in the wingF

F9ust think of it, "lease, and 4 will follow your thought &h, yes,there it is 4 ho"e it will not be used !ou agree with General 3ordeenthat there will be one or more attem"ts at assassinationHF

F4Am very much afraid so This town is literally riddled with enemyagents, and of course we donAt know all of them##es"ecially the bestones They know that if these meetings go through, theyAre sunk sotheyAre des"erate >eAve got this whole area covered like dew##weAve

arrested sixteen sus"ects already this morning##but all the advantage istheirs,F &vengord finished glumly

F;ot all of it, sir,F Belle smiled at him cheerfully F!ou have me, and4 am a Prime 6"erator That is, a wielder of "ower of no small ability6h, you are right There is an attem"t now being "re"aredF

>hile Belle had been greeting and conversing, she had also beenscanning 8er range, her sensitivity, and her "ower were immenselygreater than $olaAs were "robably eDual to GarlockAs own She scannedby miles against the scant yards covered by the Secret Service

F>hereHF

FGive me your thoughtF The Secret Service man did not know what shemeant##tele"athy was of course new to him##so she seied his attentionand directed it to a certain window in a building a cou"le of miles awayon a hill

FBut they couldnAt, from thereJF

FBut they can They have a Duite efficient engine of destruction##aArifleA is their thought $arge, and long, with a very good telesco"e onit##with crosshairs 4f 4 scan their minds more "recisely you may know



the wea"on &h, they think of it as a ABuford )ark 7orty&nti#&ircraft 'ifleAF

F& BufordJ )y God, they can hit any button on her clothes##get her away,DuickJF 8e tried to jum", but could not move

F&s you were,F she directed FThere was another Buford there, andanother over thereF She guided his thought FTwo men to each Buford

There are now six handless men in your hos"ital room 4f you will sendmen to those three "laces you will find the Bufords and the hands !oursurgeon will have no difficulty in matching the hands to the men 4f anyseek to remove either Bufords or hands before your men get there, 4 willde#hand them, alsoF

To say that the Secret Service man was flabbergasted is to "ut it verymildly indeed 3ordeen had told him, with much "ounding on his desk andin searing, air#blueing language, what to ex"ect#or, rather, to ex"ectanything, no matter what and with no limits whatever##but he hadnAtbelieved it then and sim"ly could not believe it now Goddamn it, suchthings couldnAt ha""en &nd this beautiful, beautifully#stacked,half#naked woman##girl, rather, she couldnAt be a day over

twenty#five##even if it had been their black#browed, to"lofty leader,3a"tain Garlock himself

F4 am twenty#three of your years old, not twenty#five,F she informedhim, coldly, Fand 4 will "ermit no distinction of sex 4n your "rimitiveculture the women may still be allowing you men to believe in thefallacy of the su"eriority of the male, but know right now that 4 can doanything any man ever born can do and do it betterF

F6h, 4Am 4Am sure certainlyF &vengordAs thought wasincoherent

F4f you want me to work with you you had better start believing right

now that there are a lot of things you donAt know,F Belle went onrelentlessly FSto" believing that just because a thing has not alreadyha""ened on this "rimitive, backward, mudball "lanet of yours, it canAtha""en anywhere or anywhen !ou do believe, however, whether you want toor not, things you see with your own eyesHF

F!es 4 can not be hy"notiedF

F4Am very glad you believe that muchF &vengord did not notice that sheneither confirmed nor denied the truth of his statement FTo that endyou will go now into the hos"ital room and see the bandaging going on!ou will see and hear the news broadcast going out as 4 "re"ared itF

8e went, and came back a badly shaken man

FBut theyAre sending it out exactly as it ha""enedJF he "rotestedFTheyAll all scatter out so fast and so far weAll never catch themJF

FBy no means !ou see, the am"utees didnAt believe that they would losetheir hands Their su"eriors didnAt believe it, either they assuredeach other and their underlings that it was just ca"italistic bluff andnonsense &nd since they are all even more materialistic and hideboundand unbelieving than you are, they all are now highly confused##at acom"lete lossF



F!ou can say that again 4f 4, working with you and having you"ounding it into my head, couldnAt more than half believe itF

FSo they are now very frightened, as well as confused, and the directorof their whole s"y system is now violating rule and "recedent by sendingout messengers to summon certain high agents to confer with him in hissecret "laceF

F4f youAll tell me where, 4All get over to my officeF

F;o >eAll both be in your office in "lenty of time >eAll watch $olaget started 4t will be highly instructive for you to watch a reallyca"able 6"erator at workF

President Benton had been introduced had in turn finished introducing$ola The crowd, many thousands strong, was cheering $ola was ste""inginto the carefully marked s"eakerAs "lace

F!ou may disconnect these,F she waved a hand at the battery ofmicro"hones, Fsince 4 do not use s"eech ;ot only do 4 not know any of

your various languages, but no one language would suffice )y thoughtwill go to every "erson on this, your worldF

F>orldHF the President asked in sur"rise FSurely not behind the3urtainsH They will jam you, 4Am afraidF

F)y thought, as 4 shall drive it, will not be sto""ed,F $ola assuredhim FSince this world has no tele"athy, it has no mind#blocks and 4 cancover the "lanet as easily as one mind ;or does it matter whether it beday or night, or whether anyone is awake or aslee" &ll will receive mymessage Since you wish a record, the cameras may run, although they areneither necessary nor desirable for me Everyone will see me in hismind, much better than on the surface of any teevee tubeF

F&nd 4 was going to have her address 3ongressJF the Presidentwhis"ered, aside, to General 3ordeen

Then $ola "ut her whole fine "ersonality into a smile, directeda""arently not only at each se"arate individual within sight, but alsoindividually at every "erson on the globe and when Brownie )ontandonset out to make a "roduction of a smile, it had the im"act of a"ile#driver Then came her smooth, gently#flowing, friendly thought%

F)y name, friends of this world 6rmolan, is $ola )ontandon Those of youwho are now looking at teevee screens can see my imaged likeness &ll ofyou can see me very much better within your own minds

F4 am not here as an invader in any sense, but only as a citien of the7irst Galaxy of this, our common universe 4 have attuned my mind toeach of yours in order to give you a message from the :nited GalaxianSocieties

FThere are four of us Galaxians in this Ex"loration Team &s Galaxiansit is our "ur"ose here and our duty here to o"en your minds to certainbasic truths, to be of hel" to you in clearing your minds of fallacies,of lies, and of undefensible "rejudices to the end that you will morera"idly become Galaxians yourselvesF



F6kay This will go on and on ThatAs enough to give you an idea of whata trained and "olished "erformer can do >hat do you think of themcomfits, 3hiefHF Belle deliberately knocked the Secret Service man outof his $ola#induced mood

F8uhH 6h, yesF &vengord was still groggy FSheAs "henomenal##good##4donAt mean goody#goody, but sincere and reallyF

F!eah, but donAt fall in love with her Everybody does and it doesnAt doany of them a bit of good ThatAs her s"ecialty and sheAs very good atit 4 told you sheAs a smooth, smooth workerF

F!ou can say that againF &vengord did not know that he was re"eatinghimself FBut it isnAt an act She means it and itAs trueF

F6f course she means it and of course itAs true 6therwise even she,with all her training, couldnAt sell such a big bill of goodsF Then, inanswer to the manAs uns"oken Duestion, F!es, weAre all different SheAsthe contactor, the s"reader of the good old oil, the shining exam"le of"urity and sweetness and light##in short, the Greaser of the >ays 4Am a

fighter, myself (o you think she could actually have de#handed thosemenH :h#uh &t the last minute she would have weakened and brought themin whole )y job in this o"eration is to knock hell out of the ones $olacanAt convince, such as those s"ies you and 4 are going to interview"retty DuickF

FEven they ought to be convinced 4 donAt see how anybody could hel" butbeF

F:h#uh 4tAll bounce off like hailstones off of a tin roof The onlything to do to that kind of scum is kill them 4f youAll give me athought as to where your office is weAll ho" over andF

Belle and &vengord disa""eared from the stand and, such was $olaAshold, no one on the "latform or in the throng even noticed that theywere gone They materialied in &vengordAs "rivate office he sitting asusual at his desk, she reclining in legs#crossed ease in a big leatherchair

F get to workF BelleAs thought had not been interru"ted by any"assage of time whatever F>hat do you want to do firstHF

FBut 4 thought you were covering )iss )ontandonHF

F4 am $ike a blanket 9ust as well here as anywhere 4 will be, untilshe gets back to the Pleiades >hat firstHF

F6h >ell, since 4 donAt know what your limits are##if you have any##youmight as well do whatever you think best and 4All watch you do itF

FThatAs the way to talk !ouAre going to get a shock when you see whothe 8ead )an is George T BasilF

FBasilJ 4All say itAs a shockJF &vengord steadied, frowned inconcentration F3ould be, though 8e would never be sus"ected##buttheyAre very good at thatF



F!eah 8is name used to be Baslovkowit 8e was trained for years, then"lanted ;one of this can be "roved, as his record is "erfect Borncitien, highest standing in business and social circles :nlimitedentry and to" security clearance 'ightHF

F'ight and getting enough evidence, in such cases as that, is "ure,unadulterated hellF

F4 su""ose 4 could kill him, after weAve recorded everything he knows,FBelle suggested

F;oJF 8e sna""ed FToo many "eo"le think of us as a strong#arm sDuadnow &nyway, 4Ad rather kill him myself than wish the job off onto##youdonAt like killing, do youHF

FThatAs the understatement of the century ;o civilied "erson does 4na hot fight, yes but killing anyone who is hel"less to fight back##incold blood##ughJ 4t makes me sick in my stomach even to think of itF

F>ith the way you can read minds, we can get evidence enough to sendthem all to jail, and that weAll have to doF

F8ow about thisHF Belle grinned as another solution came to mind F7romthose first eight to" men, weAll find out a lot of others lower down,and so on, until we have Aem all locked u" here >eAll announce thatexactly so many s"ies and agents##giving names, addresses, and facts, ofcourse##got "anicky after $olaAs address They fired u" their hidden"lanes and flew back behind the 3urtain Then, when weAve scanned theirminds and recorded everything you want, 4All "ack them all, very snuglyand carefully, into SovigAs "rivate office >ith the world situationwhat it then will be, he wonAt dare kill them##he sim"ly wonAt know whatto do when faced with itF

&vengord agreed ha""ily 8e reached out and fli""ed the switch of his

intercom F)iss <imling, come in, "leaseF

The door burst o"en F>hy, it is youJ But you were on the rostrum justa minute 6hJF She saw Belle, and backed, eyes wide, toward the doorshe had just entered FShe was there, too, and itAs fifteenmilesF

FSteady, 7ram 4Ad like to "resent you to Prime 6"erator Belle Bellamy,who is cleaning out the entire 3urtain organiation for usF

FBut how did youF

F;ever mind that Tele"ortation 4t took her half an hour to "ound it

into me, and we canAt take time to ex"lain anything now 4All telleverybody everything 4 know as soon as 4 can 4n the meantime, donAt besur"rised at anything that ha""ens, and by that 4 mean anything Suchas solid "eo"le a""earing on this car"et##on that s"ot rightthere##instantaneously 4 want you to "ay close attention to everythingyour mind receives, "ut your "henomenal memory into high gear, listen toeverything 4 record, sto" me any time 4Am wrong, and be sure 4 geteverything we needF

F4 donAt know exactly what youAre talking about, sir, but 4All tryF



F7rankly, 4 donAt, either##weAll just have to roll it as we go along>eAre ready for George T Basil now, )iss Bellamy##4 ho"e (onAt jum",7ramF

Basil a""eared and 7ram jum"ed She did not scream, however, and did notrun out of the office The master s"y was a big, self#assured, affluentty"e 8e had not the slightest idea of how he had been s"irited out ofhis ultra#secret sub#basement and into this room but he knew where he

was and, after one glance at Belle, he knew why 8e decided instantlywhat to do about it

FThis is an outrageJF he bellowed, hammering with his fist on &vengordAsdesk F& stu"id, high#handed violation of the rightsF

Belle silenced him and straightened him u"

F8igh#handedH !es,F she admitted Duite seriously F8owever, from theGalaxian stand"oint, you have no rights at all and you are going to beextremely sur"rised at just how high#handed 4 am going to be 4 am goingto read your mind to its very bottom##layer by layer, like "eeling anonion##and everything you know and everything you think is going down in

)r &vengordAs Big Black BookF

Belle linked all four minds together and directed the search, makingsure that no item, however small, was missed &vengord recorded every"ertinent item 7ram <imling memoried and correlated anddouble#checked

Soon it was done, and Basil, shouting even louder about this last andworst violation of his rights##those of his own "rivate mind##was ledaway by two men and F"ut away where he would kee"F

FBut this is a flagrant violation of lawF )iss <imling began

F!ou can say that againJF her boss gloated F&nd if you only knew howtickled 4 am to do it, after the way theyAve been kicking me aroundJ

FBut 4 wonder are you sure we can get away with itHF

F3ertainly,F Belle "ut in F>e Galaxians are doing it, not yourgovernment or your Secret Service >eAll start you clean##but itAll beu" to you to kee" it clean, and that will be no easy jobF

F;o, it wonAt but weAll do it 3ome around again, say in five or sixyears, and seeF

F!ou know, 4 might take you u" on thatH )aybe not this same team, but

4Ave got a notion to ta"e a recommendation for a re#visit, just to seehow you get along 4tAd be interestingF

F4 wish you would 4t might hel", too, if everybody thought youAd comeback to check Su""ose you couldHF

F4Ave no idea, really 4Ad like to, though, and 4All see what 4 can doBut letAs get on with the job TheyAre all in what you call the AtankAnow >hich one do you want nextHF

The work went on That evening there was of course a rece"tion and then



a ball &nd BelleAs feet did hurt when she got back to the Pleiades,but of course she would not admit the fact##most es"ecially not toGarlock

Exactly at the ex"iration of the sti"ulated seventy#two hours, theGalaxians began to destroy military atomic "lants and, shortlythereafter, the starshi"As crew was again ready to go

&nd 9ames rammed home the red button that would send them##all fourwondered##whereH

4t turned out to be another 8odell#ty"e world and, even with thehigh#s"eed com"arator, it took longer to check the charts than it did tomake them

The next "lanet was similar So was the next, and the next The timereDuired for checking grew longer and longer

F8ow about cutting out this checking entirely, 3leeHF 9ames asked thenF>hat good does it doH Even if we find a similarity, what could we doabout itH >eAve got enough stuff now to kee" a crew of astronomers busy

for five years making a tank of itF

F6kay >e "robably are so far away now, anyway, that the chance offinding a similarity is vanishingly small <ee" on taking the shots,though theyAll "rove, 4 think, that the universe is one whole hell of alot bigger than anybody has ever thought it was That reminds me##areyou getting anywhere on that ;#"roblemH 4Am notF

F4Am getting nowhere, fast !ou should have been a math "rof in a gradschool, 3lee !ou could flunk every advanced student you had with thatone Belle and 4 together canAt feed it to 3om"y in such sha"e as to geta definite answer >e think, though, that your guess was right##if weever stabilie anywhere it will "robably be relative to 8odell, not to

Tellus But the cold fact of how far away we must be by this time justscares the "ants off of meF

F!ou and me both, my ri"e and old >eAre a long ways from homeF

9um"ing went on and, two or three "lanets later, they encountered an&r"alone 4ns"ector who did not test them for com"atibility with thehumanity of his world

F(o not land,F the creature said, mournfully FThis world is dying, andif you leave the "rotection of your shi", you too will dieF

FBut worlds donAt die, surelyHF Garlock "rotested FPeo"le, yes##but

worldsHF

F>orlds die 4t is the (ili"ic The humans die, too, of course, but itis the world itself that is attacked, not the "eo"le Some of them, infact, will live through itF

Garlock drove his attention downward and scanned

F!ou &r"alones are doing what looks like a mighty good job of fighting3anAt you winHF



F;o, it is too late 4t was already too late when they first a""eared,two days ago >hen the (ili"ics strike in such small force that none oftheir##agentsH##devicesH##whatever they areH##can land against ourbeaming, a world can be saved but such cases are very fewF

FBut this thought, A(ili"icAHF Garlock asked, im"atiently F4t is merelya symbol##it doesnAt mean anything##to me, at least >hat are theyH>here do they come fromHF

F;o one knows anything about them,F came the sur"rising answer F;oteven their "hysical sha"e##if they have any ;or where they come from,or how they do what they doF

FThey canAt be very common,F Garlock "ondered F>e have never heard ofthem beforeF

F7ortunately, they are not,F the 4ns"ector agreed FScarcely one worldin five hundred is ever attacked by them##this is the first (ili"icinvasion 4 have seenF

F6h, you &r"alones donAt die with your worlds, thenHF $ola asked She

was badly shaken FBut 4 su""ose the &r"ales do, of courseF

FPractically all of the &r"ales will die, of course )ost of us&r"alones will also die, in the battles now going on Those of us whosurvive, however, will stay aloft until the rehabilitation fleetarrives, then we will continue our regular workF

F'ehabHF Belle exclaimed F!ou mean you can restore "lanets so badlyruined that all the "eo"le dieHF

F6h, yes 4t is a long and difficult work, but the "lanet is alwaysre#"eo"ledF

F$etAs go down,F Garlock said F4 want to get all of this on ta"eF

They went down, over what had been one of that worldAs largest citiesThe air, the stratos"here, and all nearby s"ace were full of battlingvessels of all sha"es and sies ranging from the tremendous globulars"aceshi"s of the invaders down to the tiny, one#man jet#fighters of the&r"alones

The (ili"ics were using "rojectile wea"ons only##ranging in sie,with the sie of the vessels, from heavy machine guns u" toseventy#five#millimeter Duick#firing rifles They were also launchingthousands of guided missiles of fantastic s"eed and of tremendousex"losive "ower

The &r"alones were not using anything solid at all Each defendingvessel, de"ending u"on its ty"e and class, carried from four u" to ahundred or so burnished#metal reflectors some four feet in diametereach with a small black device at its o"tical center and each "ouringout a tight beam of highly effective energy 4t was at these reflectors,and "articularly at these tiny devices, that the small#arms fire wasdirected, and the marksmanshi" of the (ili"ics was very good indeed8owever, each "rojector was oscillating irregularly and eachfighter#"lane was taking evasive action and, since a few bullet#holesin any reflector did not reduce its efficiency very much, and since the



central mechanisms were so small and were moving so erratically, a goodthree#Duarters of the &r"alonian beams were still in action

There was no doubt at all that those beams were highly effective4nvisible for the most "art, whenever one struck a (ili"ic shi" or "laneeverything in its "ath flared almost instantly into va"or and the beamglared incandescently, blindingly white or violet or high blue##neveranything lower than blue &lmost everything material, that is for guns,

ammunition, and missiles were not affected They did not even ex"lode>hen whatever fabric it was that su""orted them was blasted away, allsuch things sim"ly dro""ed sim"ly fell through thousands or hundreds ofthousands of feet of air to crash unheeded u"on whatever ha""ened to bebelow

The invading task force was arranged in a whirling, swirling, almostcylindrical cone, more or less like an Earthly tornado The largestvessels were high above the stratos"here the smallest fighters werehedge#ho""ingly close to ground Each (ili"ic unit seemed madly,suicidally determined that nothing would get through that furious wallto interfere with whatever it was that was coming down from s"ace to theground through##alongH##the relatively Duiet FeyeF of the

"seudo#hurricane

6n the other hand, the &r"alones were madly, suicidally determined tobreak through that vortex wall, to get into the Feye,F to wreak all"ossible damage there Grou" after grou" after grou" of fivejet#fighters each came driving in and, occasionally, the combinedblasts of all five made enough of o"ening in the wall so that the centerfighter could get through 6nce inside, each "ilot stood his little,stubby#winged craft sDuarely on her tail, o"ened his "rojectors toabsolute maximum of "ower and of s"read, and climbed straight u" thes"out until he was shot down

&nd the &r"alones were winning the battle $arger and larger ga"s were

being o"ened in the vortex wall ga"s which it became increasinglydifficult for the (ili"ics to fill )ore and more &r"alone fighters weregetting inside They were lasting longer and doing more damage all thetime The tube was growing narrower and narrower

&ll four Galaxians "erceived all this in seconds Garlock weighed outand detonated a terrific matter#conversion bomb in the exact center ofone of the largest vessels of the attacking fleet 4t had no effectThen a larger one Then another, still heavier 7inally, at over ahundred megatons eDuivalent, he did get results##of a sort TheinvadersA guns, ammunition, and missiles were blown out of the shi" andscattered outward for miles in all directions but the structure of the(ili"ic shi" itself was not harmed

Belle had been studying, analying, "robing the things that were comingdown through that hellish tube

F3leeJF She drove a thought F3ut out the monkey#business with thosedamn firecrackers of yours and look here##"ure, solid force, like balllightning or our 6" field, but entirely different##see if you cananalye the stuffJF

F&liveHF Garlock asked, as he drove a "robe into one of the things##theywere furiously#radiating s"heres some seven feet in diameter##and began



to tune to it

F4 donAt know##donAt think so##if they are, theyAre a form of life thatno sane human being could even imagineJF

F$etAs see what they actually do,F Garlock suggested, still trying totune in with the thing, whatever it was, and still following it down

This "articular force#ball ha""ened to hit the to" of a six#storybuilding 4t was not going very fast##fifteen or twenty miles anhour##but when it struck the roof it did not even slow down >ithout anyeffort at all, a""arently, it continued downward through the concreteand steel and glass of the building and everything in its "ath becamemonstrously, sickeningly, revoltingly changed

F4 sim"ly canAt stand any more of this,F $ola gas"ed F4f you donAtmind, 4Am going to my room, set all the Gunther blocks it has, and burymy head under a "illowF

FGo ahead, Brownie,F 9ames said FThis is too tough for anybody towatch 4Ad do the same, exce"t 4Ave got to run these camerasF

$ola disa""eared

Garlock and Belle ke"t on studying ;either had "aid any attention atall to either $ola or 9ames

4nstead of the structural material it had once been, the bore that thething had traversed was now full of a s"arkling, bubbling, writhing,"artly#fluid#"artly#viscous, obscenely re"ulsive mass of somethingunknown and unknowable on Earth a something which, Garlock nowrecalled, had been thought of by the &r"alone 4ns"ector as Fgolo"F

&s that unsto""able globe descended through office after office, it

neither sought out "eo"le nor avoided them >alls, doors, windows,ceilings, floors and rugs, office furniture and office "ersonnel allalike were absorbed into and made a "art of that indescribably horridbrew

;or did the track of that hellishly wanton globe remain a bore 4nstead,it s"read That devilAs brew ate into and dissolved everything ittouched like a stream of boiling water being "oured into aloosely#hea"ed "ile of granulated sugar By the time the ravening s"herehad reached the second floor, the entire roof of the building was goneand the writhing, racing flood of corru"tion had flowed down the outerwalls and across the street, engulfing and transforming sidewalks,"eo"le, "avement, "oles, wires, automobiles, "eo"le#anything and

everything it touched

The globe went on down, through basement and sub#basement, until itreached solid, natural ground Then, with its to" a few inches below thelevel of natural ground, it came to a full sto" and##a""arently##didnothing at all By this time, the ravening flood outside had eaten farinto the lower floors of the buildings across the street, as well asalong all four sides of the block, and tremendous masses of masonry andsteel, their su""orting structures devoured, were subsiding, crumbling,and crashing down into the noisome flood of golo"##and were beingtransformed almost as fast as they could fall



6ne tremendous mass, weighing hundreds or "erha"s thousands of tons,to""led almost as a whole s"lashing the stuff in all directions forhundreds of yards >herever each s"lash struck, however, a new center ofattack came into being, and the "eculiarly disgusting, abhorrentliDuidation went on

F3an you do anything with it, 3leeHF Belle demanded

F;ot too much##itAs a mess,F Garlock re"lied FBesides, it wouldnAt getus far, 4 donAt think 4tAll be more "roductive to analye the beams the&r"alones are using to break them u", donAt you thinkHF

Then, for twenty solid minutes, the two Prime 6"erators worked on thoseenigmatic beams

F>e canAt assemble that kind of stuff with our minds,F Belle decidedthen

F4All say we canAt,F Garlock agreed FTen megacycles, and cycling onlytwenty "er secondF 8e whistled raucously through his teeth F)y guess

is itAd take four months to design and build a generator to "ut out thatkind of stuff 4tAs worse than our 6" fieldF

F4Am not sure 4 could ever design one,F Belle said, thoughtfully, Fbutof course 4Am not the engineer you areF Then, she could not hel"adding, F yetF

F;o, and you never will be,F he said, flatly

F;oH ThatAs what you thinkJF Even in such circumstances as those,Belle Bellamy was eager to carry on her warfare with her Project 3hief

FThatAs exactly what 4 think##and 4Am so close to knowing it for a

fact that the difference is indetectibleF

Belle almost##but not Duite##blew u" F>ell, what are you going todoHF

F:nless and until 4 can figure out something effective to do, 4Am notgoing to try to do anything 4f you, with your vaunted and flauntedbelief in the inherent su"eriority of the female over the male, can do"eout something useful before 4 do, 4All eat crow and hel" you do it &sfor arguing with you, 4Am all done for the momentF

Belle gritted her teeth, flounced away, and "lum"ed herself down into achair She shut her eyes and "ut every iota of her mind to work on the

"roblem of finding something##anything##that could be done to hel"this doomed world and to show that big, overbearing jerk of a Garlockthat she was a better man than he was >hich of the two objectivesloomed more im"ortant, she herself could not have told, to save herlife

&nd Garlock looked around The air and the sky over the now#vanishedcity were both clear of (ili"ic craft The surviving &r"alone fightersand other small craft were making no attem"t to land, anywhere on theworldAs surface 4nstead, they were flying u"ward toward, and were beingdrawn one by one into the bowels of, huge &r"alonian s"ace#freighters



>hen each such vessel was filled to ca"acity, it flew u"ward and setitself into a more#or#less#circular orbit around the "lanet

&round and around and around the ruined world the Pleiades wentrecording, observing, charting 7ifty#eight of those atrocious (ili"icvortices had been driven to ground Every large land#mass surrounded bylarge bodies of water had been struck once, and only once from thetremendous area of the largest continent down to the relatively tiny

ex"anses of the largest islands 6ne land#mass, one vortex 6ne only

F>hat dAyou su""ose that meansHF 9ames asked F&fraid of waterHF

F(amfino 3ould be $etAs check mountains, too Ski" us back towhere we started##oceans and mountains both fairly close thereF

The city had disa""eared long since for hundreds of almost#level sDuaremiles there extended a s"arkling, seething, writhing ex"anse of##ofwhatH The edge of that devouring flood had almost reached thefoot#hills, and over that gnawing, dissolving edge the Pleiades"aused

Small lakes and ordinary rivers bothered the golo" very little if atall There was "erha"s a slightly increased s"arkling, a slightstiffening, a little darkening, some freeing and breaking off of solidblocks but the thingAs forward motion was not noticeably slowed down4t drank a fairly large river and a lake one mile wide by ten miles longwhile the two men watched

The golo" made no attem"t to climb either foot#hills or mountains 4tleveled them 4t ate into their bases at its own level the underminedmasses, small and large, colla"sed into the foul, corrosive semi#liDuidand were consumed ;or was there much raising of the golo"As level, evenwhen the highest mountains were reached and miles#high masses of solidrock broke off and to""led There was some raising, of course but the

stuff was fluid enough so that its slo"e was not a""arent to the eye

Then the Pleiades went back, over the "lace where the city had beenand on to what had once been an ocean beach The original wave ofdegradation had reached that shore long since, had attacked its sandsout into dee" water, and there it had been sto""ed The corru"t floodwas now being reinforced, however, by an ever#rising tide of materialthat had once been mountains &nd the slo"e, which had not been evennoticeable at the mountains or over the "lain, was here very evident

&s the ra"idly#flowing golo" struck water, the water shivered, came to aweirdly unforgettable cold boil, and ex"loded into dro"s and streamersand jagged#edged chunks of something that was neither water nor land or

rock or soil or sand or SatanAs unholy brew ;evertheless, the waterwon There was so much of itJ Each barrel of water that was destroyedwas re"laced instantly and enthusiastically with no lowering of levelor of "ressure

&nd when water struck the golo", the golo" also shivered violently, thens"arkled even more violently, then sto""ed s"arkling and turned dark,then froe solid The froen surface, however, was neither thick enoughnor strong enough to form an effective wall

&gain and again the wave of golo" built u" high enough to crack and to



shatter that feeble wall again and again golo" and water met inultimately furious, if insensate, battle 4nch by inch the oceanAsshoreline was driven backward toward oceanAs de"ths but every inch theocean lost was to its tactical advantage, since the advancing front wasby now "ractically filled with hard, solid, dead blocks of its ownsubstance which it could neither assimilate nor remove from the scene ofconflict

8ence the wall grew ever thicker and solider the advance became slowerand slower

Then, finally, ocean waves of ever#increasing height and violence rolledin against the new#formed shore >hat caused those tremendouswaves##earthDuakes, "erha"s, due to the shifting of the mountainsAmassesH##no Tellurian ever surely knew >hatever the cause, however,those waves o"erated to "in the golo" down >henever and wherever one ofthose monstrous waves whiteca""ed in, hurling hundreds of thousands oftons of water inland for hundreds of yards, the battle#front stabiliedthen and there

&ll over that world the story was the same >herever there was water

enough, the water won &nd the total Duantity of water in that worldAsoceans remained "ractically unchanged

FGood & lot of "eo"le esca"ed,F 9ames said, ex"elling a long#heldbreath FEverybody who lives on or could be flown to all the islandssmaller than the biggest ones if they can find enough to eat and ifthe air isnAt "oisonedF

F&irAs okay##soAs the water##and theyAll get food,F Garlock said FThe&r"alones will handle things, including distribution >hat 4Am thinkingabout is how theyAre going to rehabilitate it That, as an engineering"roject, is a feat to end all featsF

FBrotherJ !ou can "lay that in s"adesJF 9ames agreed FExce"t thatitAll take too many months before they can even start the job, 4Ad liketo stick around and see how they go about it 8ow does this kind ofstuff fit into that theory youAre not admitting is a theoryHF

F;ot worth a damn 8owever, itAs a datum##and, as 4Ave said before andmay say again, if we can get enough data we can build a theory out ofitF

Then it began to rain 7or many minutes the clouds had been "ilingu"##black, far#flung, thick and high 4mmense bolts of lightning flashedand sna""ed and crackled thunder crashed and rolled and rumbled rainfell, and continued to fall, like a cloud#burst in 3olorado &nd shortly

thereafter##first by sDuare feet and then by acres and then by sDuaremiles##the surface of the golo" began to die To die, that is, if it hadever been even "artially alive &t least it sto""ed s"arkling, darkened,and froe into thick skins which broke u" into blocks which in turnsank##thus ex"osing an ever#renewed surface to the driving, "elting,relentlessly cascading rain

F>ell, 4 donAt know that thereAs anything to hold us here any longer,FGarlock said, finally FShall we goHF

They went but it was several days before any of the wanderers really



felt like smiling and $ola did not recover from her de"ression for overa week

38&PTE' +

Su""er was over, but the four were still at the table, si""ing coffeeand smoking (uring a "ause in the casual conversation, 9ames suddenlystraightened u"

F4 want an official decision, 3lee,F he said, abru"tly F>hile weAre outof touch with :nited >orlds you, as ca"tain of the shi" and director ofthe "roject, are Boss, with a ca"ital B The $ord of 9ustice, 8igh and$ow The >orks 3heckHF

F6n "a"er, yes with my decisions subject to a""eal and@or review whenwe get back to Base 4n "ractice, 4 didnAt ex"ect to have to make anyvery gravid rulingsF

F4 never thought youAd have to, either, but Belle fed me one with a bonein it, soF

F9ust a minute 8ow official do you want itH 7ull formal, screens downand recordedHF

F;ot unless we have to $etAs ex"lore it first &s of right now, are weunder the 3ode or notHF

F6f course we areF

F;ot necessarily,F Belle "ut in, shar"ly F;ot slavishly to the letter

>eAre so far away and our chance of getting back is so slight that itshould be inter"reted in the light of common senseF

Garlock stared at Belle and she stared back, her eyes as clear andinnocent as a babyAs

FThe 3ode is neither long enough nor com"licated enough to reDuireinter"retation,F Garlock stated, finally F4t either a""lies in full andexactly or not at all )y ruling is that the 3ode a""lies, strictly,until 4 declare the state of :ltimate 3ontingency &re you ready, Belle,to abandon the "roject, find an uninhabited Tellurian world, and beginto "o"ulate itHF

F>ell, not Duite, "erha"sF

F!es or no, "leaseF

F;oF

F>e are under the 3ode, then Go ahead, 9imF

F4 broke "airing with Belle and she refused to confirmF

F3ertainly 4 refused 8e had no reason to break with meF



F4 had "lenty of reasonJF 9ames sna""ed F4Am fed u" to here##F he drewhis right forefinger across his forehead, F##with making so#called loveto a woman who can never think of anything exce"t cutting another manAsthroat SheAs a heartless conniverF

F!ou both know that reasons are unnecessary and are not discussed in"ublic,F Garlock said, flatly F;ow as to confirmation of a break 4n

sim"le "airing there is no marriage, no registration, no declaration ofintent or of "ermanence Thus, legally or logically, there is noobligation )orally, however, there is always some obligation 8ence, asa matter of urbanity, in cases where no injury exists exce"t as concernschastity, the 3ode calls for agreement without rancor 4f either "arty"ersists in refusal to confirm, and cannot show injury, that "artyAsbehavior is declared inurbane 3onfirmation is declared and theoffending "arty is ignoredF

F9ust how would you go about ignoring Prime 6"erator Belle BellamyHF

F!ouAve got a "oint there, 9im 8owever, she hasnAt "ersisted very longin her refusal &s a matter of information, Belle, why did you take 9im

in the first "laceHF

F4 didnAtF She shrugged her shoulders F4t was "ure chance !ou saw mefli" the tenth#"ieceF

F&m 4 to ignore the fact that you are one of the best telekineticistslivingHF

F4 donAt have to control things unless 4 want toJF She stam"ed herfoot F3anAt you conceive of me fli""ing a coin honestlyHF

F;o 8owever, since this is not a screens#down inDuiry, 4All giveyou##orally, at least##the benefit of the doubt The next ste", 4

"resume, is for $ola to break with me $olaHF

F>ell 4 hate to say this, 3lee 4 thought that mutual consentwould be better, butF $ola "aused, flushing in embarrassment

FShe feels,F 9ames said, steadily, Fas 4 do, that there should be muchmore to the sexual relation than merely releasing the biologicaltensions of two "ieces of human machinery ThatAs hardly civiliedF

F4 confirm, $ola, of course,F Garlock said then went on, "artlythinking aloud, "artly addressing the grou" at large F8a 'easonsagain, and very well "ut##not off the cuff Evasions 7lat liesSomething very unfunny here##as Dueer as a nine#credit bill 4n sum,

indefensible actions based u"on unwarranted conclusions drawn fromerroneous assum"tions The "attern is not clear but 4 wonAt orderscreens down until 4 have to if the reason had come from BelleF

F)eHF Belle flared F>hy from meHF

F instead of 9imF 4gnoring BelleAs interru"tion, Garlock frownedin thought &fter a minute or so his face cleared

F9im,F he said, shar"ly, Fhave you been consciously aware of BelleAsmani"ulationHF



F>hy, no, of course not She couldnAtJF

FThatAs really a brainstorm, 3lee,F Belle sneered F!ouAd better turnyourself in for an overhaulF

F;ice scheme, Belle,F Garlock said F4 underestimated##at least, didnAtconsider carefully enough##your "ower and overestimated your ethics and

urbanityF

F>hat are you talking about, 3hiefHF 9ames asked F!ou lost me ten"arsecs backF

F9ust this Belle is behind this whole o"eration working under a"erfectly beautiful smokescreenF

F4Am afraid the boss is cracking u", kids,F Belle said F$isten to him,if you like, but use your own judgmentF

FBut nobody could make 9im and me really love each other,F $ola argued,Fand we really do 4tAs real loveF

F&dmitted,F Garlock said FBut she could have hel"ed it along and sheAsall set to take every "ossible advantage of the situation thus createdF

F4 still donAt see it,F 9ames objected F>hy, she wouldnAt even confirmour break She hasnAt yetF

FShe would have, at the exactly correct "sychological moment afterholding out long enough to "ut you both under obligation to her Therewould have, also, been certain strings attached 8er "lan was, afterswitching the "airingsF

F4 wouldnAt "air with you,F Belle broke in viciously, Fif you were the

only man left in the macrocosmic universeJF

FPart of the smokescreen,F Garlock ex"lained FThe re#"airings wouldgive her two lines of attack on me, to be used simultaneously 7irst, towork on me in bedF

FSeeHF Belle interru"ted F8e doesnAt think 4Ave got any heart at allF

F6h, you may have one, but itAs no softer than your head, and that couldscratch a diamond Second, to work on you two, with no holds barred, toform a three#unit team against me 8er charges that 4 am losing my gri"made a very smart o"ening leadF

F(o you think 4Ad let her work on meHF 9ames demanded

FSheAs a Prime##you wouldnAt know anything about it 8owever, nothingwill ha""en ;or am 4 going to let her confuse the real issue Belle,you are either inside the 3ode or a free agent outside it >hichHF

F4 have made my "osition clearF

FTo me, yes To 9im and $ola, decidedly unclearF

F:nclear, then !ou can not coerce meJF



F4f you follow the 3ode, no 4f you donAt, 4 can and will 4f you makeany kind of a "ass at 9im 9ames from now on, 4All lock you into yourroom with a Gunther blockF

F!ou wouldnAt dareJF she breathed FBesides, you couldnAt, not toanother "rimeF

F(onAt bet on it,F he advised

&fter a full minute of silence GarlockAs attitude changed suddenly tohis usual one of casual friendliness F>hy not let this one dro" righthere, BelleH 4 can marry them, with all the official trimmings >hy notlet Aem really enjoy their honeymoonHF

F>hy notHF BelleAs manner changed to match GarlockAs and she smiledwarmly F4 confirm, 9im !ou two are really serious, arenAt youH)arriage, declarations, registration, and everythingH 4 wish##4sincerely and really wish you##every ha""iness "ossibleF

F>e really are serious,F 9ames said, "utting his arm around $olaAs

waist F&nd you wonAt wonAt interfereHF

F;ot a bit 4 couldnAt, now, even if 4 wanted toF Belle grinned wrylyF!ou see, you kids missed the main feature of the show, since you canAtknow exactly what a Prime 6"erator is Es"ecially you canAt know what3leander Simmsworth Garlock really is##heAs an out#and#out tiger onwheels The three of us could have smacked him bow#legged, but of courseall chance of that blew u" just now So if you two want to take the bigjum" you can do it with my blessing as well as 3leeAs 4All clear thetableF

That small chore taken care of##a Duick folding#u" of everything intothe tablecloth and a heave into the chute did it##Belle set u" the

recorder

F&re you both fully certain that you want the full treatmentHF Garlockasked

Both were certain, and Garlock read the brief but solemn marriage lines

&s the newlyweds left the room, Belle turned to Garlock with a Duiicalsmile F&re you going to ask me to "air with you, 3leeHF

F4 certainly amF 8e grinned back at her F4 owe you that much revenge,at least But seriously, 4Ad like it immensely and we fit like Grace andPoise $ook at that mirror (id you ever see a better#matched cou"leH

>ill you give me a try, BelleHF

F4 will not,F she said, em"hatically 4All take back what 4 said a whileago##if you were really the only man left, 4 would##but as it is, theanswer is a definite, resounding, and final A;oAF

FA(efiniteA and Aresounding,A yes A7inal,A 4 wonAt acce"t 4All waitF

F!ouAll wait a long time, Buster )y door will be locked from now onGood night, (octor Garlock, 4Am going to bedF



FSo am 4F 8e walked with her along the corridor to their rooms, thedoors of which were o""osite each other F4n view of the 3ode, lockingyour door is a meaningless gesture )ine will remain unlocked 4 inviteyou to come in whenever you like, and assure you formally that no suchentry will be regarded as an invasion of "rivacyF

>ithout a word she went into her room and closed the door with afirmness just short of violence 8er lock clicked shar"ly

The next morning, after breakfast, 9ames followed Garlock into his roomand shut the door

F3lee, 4 want to tell you 4 donAt want to get slo""y butF

F>ant to le" itHF

F8ell, noJF

F4tAs about Brownie, thenF

F:h#huh 4Ave always liked you immensely &dmired you 8ero, sort

ofF

F!eah 4 Duote A8arder than PharaohAs heartA A3older than froenhelium,A and all the rest But this thing about BrownieF 8e reachedout two hard hands met in a crushing gri" F8ow could you "ossibly layoffH 9ust the strain, if nothing elseF

F& little strain doesnAt hurt a man unless he lets it 4Ave done withoutfor months at a stretch, with it running around loose on all sides ofmeF

FBut sheAs so sheAs got everythingJF

FThere s"eaketh the ensorcelled bridegroom 7or my taste, she hasnAtShe told you, 4 su""ose, when ex"laining a certain fact, that 4 told hershe wasnAt my ty"eHF

F!es, butF

FShe still isnAt SheAs a very fine "erson, with a very fine"ersonality She is one of the two most nearly "erfect young women ofher race 8er face is beautiful 8er body is an artistAs dream 8er mindis one of the very best Besides all that, sheAs a very good egg and amighty tasty dish But "ut yourself in my "lace

F8ereAs this "aragon we have just described She has extremely high

ideals and sheAs a virgin never really aroused &lso, sheAs so full ofthis sickening cra" theyAve been "ouring into us##"ro"aganda,rocket#oil, "ro"#wash, and "sychological gobbledygook##that itAs runningout of her ears SheAs so stuffed with it that sheAs going to "air withyou, ideals and virginity be damned, even if it kills her even thoughsheAs shaking, clear down to her shoes##scared yellow &lso, she is andalways will be scared half to death of you##she thinks youAre some kindof robot SheAs a starry#eyed, soft#headed sissy & sa"adilla & suckerfor a smooth line of balloon#juice and fla"doodle ;o s"ine no bottom& gutless doll#baby Strictly a "et##you could no more love her, ever,than you could a half#grown kittenF



FThatAs a hell of a "ictureJF 9ames broke in savagely FEven with yourcold#blooded re"utationF

FPeo"le in love canAt be objective, is all 4f 4 saw her through thesame set of filters you do, 4Ad be in love with her, too So letAs seeif you can use your brain instead of your outraged sensibilities toanswer a hy"othetical Duestion 4f the foregoing were true, what would

you do, 9uniorHF

F4Ad "ass, 4 guess 4Ad have to, if 4 wanted to look at myself in themirror next morning But thatAs such an ungodly cockeyed "icture,3lee But if thatAs actually your "icture of Brownie##and youAre no"art of a liar##just what kind of a woman could you loveH 4f anyHF

FBelleF

FBelleJ Belle BellamyH 8ellAs flaming furiesJ That icebergH ThategomaniacH That 9eebelH SheAs the hardest#boiled babe that ever wentunhungF

F'ight, on all counts &lso sheAs crooked and treacherous SheAs aground#and#lofty liar by instinct and training 4 could add a lot moreBut sheAs got brains, ability, and guts##guts enough to su""ly the>omenAs &rmy 3or"s SheAs got the s"ine and the bottom and the drive Sojust imagine her thawed out and really shoveling on the coal##blastingwide o"en on all forty torches Back to back with you when youAresurrounded she wouldnAt cave and she wouldnAt give 6r wing andwing##holding the beam come hell or s"ace#war"s 'oll that one around onyour tongue, 9im, and give your taste#buds a treatF

F>ell, maybe if 4Ave got that much imagination thatAs a toughblue"rint to read 4 canAt Duite visualie the finished article8owever, youAre as hard as she is##even harder !ouAve got more of what

it takes )aybe you can make a 3hristian out of her 4f so, you mighthave something but 4Am damned if 4 can see exactly what >hatever itturned out to be, 4 wouldnAt care for any "art of it !ou could have itallF

FExactly and you can have your BrownieF

F4Am beginning to see 4 didnAt think you had anything like that in yourchilled#steel carcass &nd 4 want to a"oloF

F(onAt do it, boy 4f the time ever comes when you go so soft on me asto Duit laying it on the line and start sifting out your languageFGarlock "aused 7or one of the very few times in his life, he was at a

loss for words 8e thrust his hands into his "ockets and shrugged hisshoulders F8ell, 4 donAt want to get maudlin, either so well,how many men, do you think, could have gone the route with me on thishellish job without killing me or me killing themHF

F6h, thatAs notF

F$ay it on the line, 9im 4 know what 4 am 9ust one !ou 6ne man insix thousand million 6kay how many women could live with me for a yearwithout going crayHF



F$ots of Aem but, being masochists, theyAd "robably drive you nuts&nd you canAt stand Astu"idityA which, by definition, lets everybodyout ;o"e, itAs a tough order to fillF

F3heck SheAd have to be strong enough and hard enough not to be afraidof me, by any trace &ble and eager to stand u" to me and slug it outTo "in my ears back flat against my skull whenever she thinks 4Am offthe beam (o it with skill and "recision and nicety, with "ower and

control yet without doing herself any damage and without changing herbasic feeling for me 4n short, a female 9im 9ames ;ineF

F8uhH 8ellAs blowtorchesJ !ou think 4Am like Belle BellamyHF

F;ot by nine thousand megacycles $ike Belle Bellamy could be and shouldbe $ike 4 ho"e she will be 4Ad have to give, too, of course##maybe wecan make 3hristians out of each other 4tAs Duite a dream, 4 admit, butitAll be Belle or nobody But 4Am not used to slo""ing over thisway##letAs goF

F4Am glad you did, big fellow##once in a lifetime is good for the soul4Ad say you were in love with her right now##exce"t that if you were,

you couldnAt "ossibly dissect her like a s"ecimen on the table, the wayyouAve just been doing &re you or arenAt youHF

F4All be damned if 4 know !ou and Brownie believe that the "oetsAconce"t of love is valid 4n fact, you make a case for its validity 4never have, and donAt now but under certain conditions 4 sim"lydonAt know &sk me again sometime say in about a monthHF

FThatAs the surest thing you know 6h, brotherJ This is a thing 4Amgoing to watch with my eyes out on stalksJF

7or the next week, Belle locked her door every night 7or another fewnights, she did not lock it Then, one night, she left it ajar The

following evening, the two again walked together to their doors

F4 left my door o"en last nightF

F4 know you didF

F>ellHF

F&nd have you scream to high heaven that 4 o"ened itH &nd "ut me on ata"e for willful inurbanityH 7or deliberate intersexual invasion of"rivacyHF

FBlast and damnJ !ou know "erfectly well, 3lee Garlock, 4 wouldnAt "ull

such a dirty, lousy trick as thatF

F)aybe 4 should a"ologie, then, but as a matter of fact 4 have no ideawhatever as to what you wouldnAt doF 8e stared at her, his face hard inthought F&s you "robably know, 4 have had very little to do with womenThat little has always been on a logical level !ou are such acom"letely new ex"erience that 4 canAt figure out what makes you tickF

FSo youAre afraid of me,F she sneered F4s that itHF

F3lose enoughF



F&nd 4 su""ose itAs you that cartoonist whatAs#his#name is using as amodel for ATimorous TimmyAHF

FSince youAve guessed it, yesF

F!ou you weaselJF She took three Duick ste"s u" the corridor, thenback F!ou say my logic is cockeyed >hat system are you using nowHF

F4Am trying to develo" one to match yoursF

F6h 4 invited that one, 4 guess, since 4 know you arenAt afraid ofGod, man, woman, or devil and youAre big enough so you donAt have tobe "roving it all the timeF She laughed suddenly, her face softeningmarkedly F$isten, you big lug >hy donAt you ever knock me into anoutside loo"H 4f 4 were you and you were me, 4AdAve busted me loose frommy front teeth long agoF

F4Am not sure whether 4 know better or am afraid to &nyway, 4Am notrocking any boat so far from shoreF

FSays you !ouAre wonderful, 3lee##sim"ly "riceless (o you know youArethe only man 4 ever met that 4 couldnAt make fall for me like a rockfalling down a cliffH &nd that the falling is altogether too a"t to bethe other wayHF

FThe first, 4 have sus"ected The second is chemically#"ure rocket#oilF

F4 ho"e it is 4 wish 4 could be as certain of it as you are!ou see, 3lee, 4 really ex"ected you to come in, last night, and therereally wasnAt any bone in it Surely, you donAt think 4Am going toinvite you into my room, do youHF

F4 canAt see why not 8owever, since no valid system of logic seems to

a""ly, 4 acce"t your decision as a fact By the same reasoning##howeverinvalid##if 4 ask you again you will again refuse So all thatAs left, 4guess, is for me to drag you into my room by forceF

8e "ut his left arm around her and a""lied a tiny "ressure against herside under which she began to move slowly toward his door

F!ou admit that youAre using forceHF she asked 8er face was unreadableher mental block was at its fullest force FThat 4Am being coercedH(efinitelyHF

F(efinitely,F he agreed F&t least ten dynes of sheer brute force ;otenough to affect a ta"e, but enough, 4 ho"e, to affect you 4f it isnAt,

4All use moreF

F6h, ten dynes is enough 9ust so itAs forceF

She raised her face toward his and threw both arms around his neck 8isright arm went into action with his left, and 3leander Garlock forgotall about dynes and ta"es

&fter a time she disengaged one arm reached out o"ened his door 8egathered her u" and, li"s still locked to li"s, carried her over thethreshold



& few jum"s later they met their first really old &r"alone This4ns"ector was so old that his skin, instead of the usual bright, clearcobalt blue, was dull and tending toward gray The old fellow wasstrangely garrulous, for a Guardian he wanted them to "ause a while andgossi"

F!es, 4 am lonesome,F he admitted F4t has been a long time since 4

exchanged thoughts with anyone !ou see, nobody has visited this"lanet##Groobe, its name is##since almost all our humanity was killed, afew "eriods agoF

F<illedH 8owHF Garlock asked shar"ly F;ot (ili"icHF

F6h, you have seen themH 4 never have, myself ;o, nothing nearly thatbad )erely the 6obes The world itself was scarcely harmed at all'ehabilitation will be a sim"le matter, so thereAs no real reason whysome of those EngineersF

FThe beastJF $ola shot a tight#beam thought at her husband F>ho caresanything about the rock and dirt of a "lanetH 4tAs the "eo"le that

count and his are dead and heAs "erfectly com"laisant about it##justlonesomeJF

F(onAt let it throw you, "et,F 9ames soothed F8eAs an &r"alone, youknow not a sociological anthro"ologistF

F shouldnAt come out here and s"end a few hours once in a while, butthey donAt Too busy with their own business, they say But while youare "hysically human, mentally you are not !ouAre all too too 4canAt "ut my thought exactly on it, but more as though you werehuman fighters, if such a thing could be "ossibleF

F>e are fighters >here we come from, most human beings are fightersF

F6hH 4 never heard of such a thing >here can you be fromHF

This took much ex"lanation, since the &r"alone had never heard ofinter#galactic travel F!ou are willing, then, to fight side by sidewith us &r"alones against the enemies of humanityH !ou have actuallydone so, at times, and wonHF

F>e certainly haveF

F4 am glad 4 am ex"ecting a call for hel" any time now >ill you "leasegive me enough of your mental "attern, (octor Garlock, so that 4 cancall you in case of needH Thank youF

F>hat makes you think youAre going to get an S6S so soonH >herefromHF

FBecause these 6obe invasions come in cycles, years a"art, but thereare always several "lanets attacked at very nearly the same time >ewere the first, this time so there will be one or two others veryshortlyF

F(o they always kill all the "eo"leHF $ola asked



F6h, no Scarcely half of the time (e"ends on how many fighters the"lanet has, and how much outside hel" can get there soon enoughF

F!our call could come from any of the other solar systems in thisneighborhood, thenHF Garlock asked

F!es There are fifteen inhabited "lanets within about six light#yearsof us, and we form a close#knit grou"F

F>hat are these 6obesHF

F&nimals >arm#blooded, but egg#layers, not mammals $ike this,F and the4ns"ector s"read in their minds a "icture of a creature somewhat likethe flying tigers of 8odell, exce"t that the color was black, shadingoff to iridescent green at the extremities &lso, it was armed with ashort and heavy, but very shar", sting

FThey say that they come from s"ace, but 4 donAt believe it,F the oldfellow went on F>hat would a warm#blood be doing out in s"aceH Besides,they couldnAt find anybody to lay their eggs in out there ;o, sir, 4think they live right here on Groobe somewhere, maybe holed u" in caves

or something for ten or thirteen years but that wouldnAt make sense,either, would itH 4 just donAt knowF

Garlock finally broke away from the lonesome 4ns"ector and thePleiades started down

FThatAs the most utterly horrible thing 4 ever heard of in my lifeJF$ola burst out F$ike was"s##only worse##"eo"le arenAt bugsJ >hy donAtall the "lanets get together and develo" something to kill every 6obein every system of the grou"HF

FThat one has got too many bones in it for me to answer,F 9ames said

F4Am going to get hold of that Engineer as soon as we land,F $ola said,darkly, Fand stick a "in into himF

They found the Engineering 6ffice easily enough, in a snug cam" welloutside a large city They grounded the starshi" and went out on footenjoying contact with solid ground The 8ead Engineer was an &r"alone,too##Engineers were not a se"arate race, but dwellers on a "lanet ofextremely high technology##but he did know anything about s"ace#drives8is s"ecialty was rehabilitation he was to" boss of a rehab crew

Then $ola "ushed Garlock aside !es, the 6obes came from s"ace 8e wassure of it !es, they laid eggs in human bodies !es, they "robablystayed alive Duite a while##or might, exce"t for the rehab crew ;o, he

didnAt know what would hatch out##heAd never let one live that long,but what the hell else could hatch exce"t 6obesH ;o, not one ;ot onesingle damn one 4f just one ever did, on any world where he bossed thejob, heAd lose his job as boss and go to the mines for half a year

F'idiculousJF $ola sna""ed F4f 6obes hatched, they couldnAt "ossiblyhave come from s"ace 4f they did come from s"ace, the adult formwould have to be something able to get back into s"ace, some way orother That is sim"le elementary biology (onAt you see thatHF

8e didnAt see it 8e didnAt give a damn, either 4t was none of his



business he was a rehab man

$ola ran back to the shi" in disgust

FSomething else is even more ridiculous, and is your business,F 9amestold the 8ead Engineer FGarlock and 4 are both engineers##to" ones >eknow definitely that a one#hundred#"ercent clean#u" on such a job asthis##millions##sim"ly canAt be done Ever :nder any conditions &re

you lying in your teeth or are you dumb enough to believe it yourselfHF

F;either one,F the Engineer insisted, stubbornly F4Ave wondered,myself, at how 4 could get Aem all, but 4 always do##every time so farThatAs why they give me the big job 4Am good at itF

F6h##$olaAs right, 9im,F Garlock said F4tAs the adult form thathatches something so different they donAt even recognie it Somethingable to get into s"ace Enough survivors to "roduce the nextgenerationF

FSure 4All tell Brownie##sheAll be tickledF

FSheAll be more than tickled##sheAll want to hunt u" somebody aroundhere with three brain cells working and give Aem an earfulF Then, tothe Engineer, F(o you know how they rehab a "lanet thatAs been leveledflat by the golo"HF

F!ouAve seen oneH 4 never have, but of course 4Ave studied it Slow,but not too difficult &fter killing, the stuff weathers down in a fewyears##wonderful soil it makes##what makes it slow is that you have towait fifty or a hundred years for the mountains to get built u" againand for the earthDuakes to DuitF

FExcuse me, "lease##4Ave got a call##we have to leave, right nowF

The call was from the 4ns"ector The nearest "lanet, 3lamer, was beinginvaded by the 6obes and needed all the hel" they could get

4n seconds the Pleiades was at the Port of Entry

F>here is this 3lamerHF Garlock asked

The 4ns"ector "ointed a thought all four followed it

F$etAs go, 9im )aybeF

F9ust a minuteJF $ola sna""ed She was breathing hard, her eyes werealmost shooting s"arks as she turned to the old &r"alone and drove a

thought so forcibly that he winced

F(o you so#called AGuardians of 8umanityA care at all about the humanityyouAre su""osed to be "rotectingHF she demanded viciously, the thoughtboring in and twisting, For are you just loafing on the job and doing aslittle as you "ossibly can without getting firedHF

Belle and Garlock looked at each other and grinned 9ames was sur"risedand shocked This woman blowing her to" was no Brownie )ontandon any ofthem knew



F>e do everything we "ossibly can,F the 4ns"ector was not only shocked,but injured and abused F4f thereAs any one "ossible thing we havenAtdone, even the tiniestF

FThereAs "lentyJF she sna""ed FPlain, dumb stu"idity, then, it must beThere must be somebody around here who has been at least ex"osed toelementary biologyJ !ou should have exterminated these 6obe vermin agesago &ll you have to do is find out what its life cycle is 8ow many

stages and what they are 8ow the adults get into s"ace and where theygo,F and she went on, in flashing thoughts, to ex"lain in full detail

F&re you smart enough to understand thatHF

F6h, yes !our thought may be the truth, at thatF

F&nd are you interested enough to find out whose business it would be,and follow through on itHF

F!es, of course 4f it works, 4All be Duite famous for suggesting it4All give you "art of the creditF

F<ee" the credit##just see to it that it gets doneJF She whirled on9ames FThis loss of human life is so a""allingly unnecessaryJ Thistime weAre going to 3lamer, and nowhere else Push the button, 9imF

F&ll 4 can do is set u" for it, "et >hether weF

F>eAll get thereJF she blaed F4tAs high time we got a break PunchitJ This time the shi"As going to 3lamer, if we have to all get outand "ush it thereJ ;ow "unch that buttonJF

9ames "ushed the button, glanced into his scanner, and froe eyesstaring 8e did not even whistle Belle, however, did withear#shattering volume GarlockAs mouth fell o"en in the biggest sur"rise

of his life They were in the same galaxyJ

&ll three had studied charts of nebular configurations so long and sointensely that recognition of a full#s"here identity was automatic andinstantaneous

$ola, head buried in scanner, had already checked in with the Port4ns"ector

F4t is 3lamerJF she shrieked aloud F4 told you it was time for ourluck to change, if we "ulled hard enoughJ They are being invaded by6obes and they did call for hel" and they didnAt think we could"ossibly get here this fast and we donAt need to be ins"ected because

weAre com"atible or we couldnAt have landed on GroobeJF

7or five long minutes Garlock held the starshi" motionless while hestudied the entire situation Then he drove a "robe through the mentalshield of the general in charge of the whole defense o"eration

FBattle#3ruiser Pleiades, 3a"tain Garlock commanding, re"orting forduty in res"onse to your S6S received on GroobeF

The general, furiously busy as he was, dro""ed all other business FButyouAre humanJ !ou canAt fightJF



F>atch us !ou donAt know, a""arently, that the 6obe bases are on thefar side of your moon TheyAre bringing their fighters in most of theway in trans"ortsF

F>hy, they canAt beJ TheyAre coming in from all directions from dee"s"aceJF

FThatAs what they want you to think TheyAre built to stand many hoursof ero "ressure and almost absolute ero cold Iuestion% if we destroyall their trans"ort, say in three hours, can you handle all the fighterswho will be in the air or in nearby s"ace at that timeHF

F?ery easily TheyAve hardly started yet 4 a""oint you &dmiral#"ro#temGarlock, in command of S"ace 6"erations, and will refer to you any others"ace#fighters who may come 4 thank you, sir Good luckF

The general returned his attention to his boiling office 8is mind wasseething with Duestions as to what these not#human beings were, how orif they knew so much, and so on but he forced them out of his mind andwent, fast and efficient, back to work 9ames shot the Pleiades u" to

within a thousand miles or so of the moon

F8ow long does it take to learn this bombing business, 9imHF $ola asked

F&bout fifteen seconds &ll you have to do is want to (o you,reallyHF

F4 really do 4f 4 donAt do something to hel" these "eo"le,F it did notoccur to her that she had already done a tremendous job, F4All neverforgive myselfF

9ames showed her and, much to her sur"rise, she found it very easy todo

The vessels trans"orting the invading forces were huge, s"herical shellseDui""ed with short#range drives##and with nothing else ;oaccommodations, no facilities, no food, no water, not even any air Eachtrans"ort, when filled to the bursting#"oint with as#yet#docile cargo,darted away swinging around to a""roach 3lamer from some"reviously#assigned direction 4t did not, however, a""roach the"lanetAs surface &t about two thousand miles out, great "orts o"enedand the load was dum"ed out into s"ace, to fall the rest of the way bygravity Then the em"ty shell, with only its one "ilot aboard, rushedback for another load

F8ow heavy shots, 3leeHF 9ames asked 8e and $ola were getting into

their scanners F>ouldnAt take as much as a kiloton eDuivalent, woulditHF

F8alf a kilo is "lenty, but no use being too fussy about "recision outhereF

Garlock and Belle were already bombing 9ames and $ola began Slow andawkward at first, $ola soon "icked u" the techniDue and was firing blastfor blast with the others ;o more loaded trans"ort vessels left themoon ;o em"ty one, returning toward the moon, reached there 4n muchless than the three hours Garlock had mentioned, every 6obian trans"ort



craft had been destroyed

F&nd now the real job begins,F Garlock said, as 9ames dro""ed thestarshi" down to within a few miles of the moonAs surface

That surface was cratered and jagged, exactly like that of the halfalways facing 3lamer ;o sign of activity could be seen by eye, noranything unusual Even the immense tra"#doors, all closed now, matched

exactly their surroundings :nderground, however, activity was violentlyintense and, now, confused in the extreme

F>hy, there isnAt a single adult anywhereJF $ola exclaimed F4 thoughtthe whole "lace would be full of AemJF

FSo did 4,F Belle said F8owever, by hindsight, itAs "lain enough Theirjob done, they were killed and eaten $ast meal, "erha"sF

F4Am afraid so >hatever they were, they had hands and brains 9ustlook at those sho"s and machinesJF

F>hat do we do, bossHF 9ames asked F'un a search "attern firstHF

F>eAll have to, 4 guess, before we can lay the job outF

4t was run and Garlock frowned in thought F&lmost half the mooncovered##honeycombed >eAll have to fine#tooth it &round the "eri"heryfirst, then s"iral into the center This moon isnAt very big, but evenso this is going to be a hell of a long job &ny suggestions, anybodyH9imHF

FThe only way, 4 guess !ou canAt do it hit#or#miss 4Am damn gladweAve got "lenty of stuff in our 6" field and "lenty of hydride for theengines The horses will all know theyAve been at work before they getthe field filled u" againF

FSo will you, 9unior, believe me 'eady, allH Start blastingF

Then, for three hours, the Pleiades moved slowly##for her##along a"lotted and automatically#controlled course 4t was very easy to tellwhere she had been the shar"ly#cut, evenly#s"aced, symmetrical "itsleft by the GalaxianAs full#conversion blasts were entirely differentfrom the irregularly#cratered, ages#old original surface

F<nock off, Brownie,F Garlock said then FGo eat all you can hold andget some slee" 3ome back in three hours 9im, cut our s"eed toseventy#five "ercentF

$ola shed her scanner, heaved a tremendous sigh of relief, anddisa""eared

Three silent hours later##all three were too intensely busy to think ofanything exce"t the work in hand##$ola came back

FTake BelleAs swath, Brownie 6kay, Belle, you can lay off ThreehoursF

F4All stay,F Belle declared FGo yourself or send 9imF



F(onAt be any more of a damn fool than you have to 4 said beat itF

F&nd 4 said 4 wouldnAt 4Am just as goodF

F3ho" it offJF Garlock sna""ed F4t isnAt a case of being just as goodas 4tAs a matter of "hysical reserves 9im and 4 have more to draw onfor the long shifts than you have So get the hell out of here or 4Allsto" the shi" and sla" you even sillier than you are nowF

Belle threw u" her head, tossing her shoulder#length green mo" in hercharacteristic gesture of defiance but after holding GarlockAs hardstare for a moment she relaxed and smiled

F6kay, 3lee##and thanks for the kind wordsF

She disa""eared and the work went on

&nd finally, when all four were so groggy that they could scarcelythink, the job was done and checked 3lamerAs moon was as devoid of lifeas any moon had ever been

$ola "itched her scanner at its rack and threw herself face#down on adaven"ort, sobbing uncontrollably 9ames sat down beside her and soothedher until she Duieted down

F!ouAd better eat something, sweetheart, and then for a good, longslee"F

FEatH >hy, 4 couldnAt, 9im, not "ossiblyF

F$et her slee" first, 4 think, 9im,F Belle said, and followed with hereyes as 9im "icked his wife u" and carried her into the corridor

F>eAd better eat something, 4 su""ose,F Belle said, thoughtfully F4

donAt feel like eating, either, but 4 never realied until this minutejust how much this has taken out of me and 4Ad better start "utting itback in She did a wonderful job, 3lee, even if she couldnAt take itfull shift toward the lastF

F4All say she did 4 hated like the devil to let her work that way, but you knew 4 was scared witless every second until we to""ed offF

Exhausted and haggard as she was, Belle laughed F4 know damn#blastedwell you werenAt but 4 know what you mean 7ighting something you donAtknow anything about, and canAt guess what may ha""en next, is toughSeconds countF Side by side, they strolled toward the alcove

F4 sim"ly didnAt think she had it in her,F Belle marveled

FShe didnAt She hasnAt 4tAll take her a week to get back into sha"eF

F'ight She was going on "ure nerve at the last##nothing else butshe did a job, and sheAs so sweet and fine 4 wonder, 3lee, if if4Ave been missing the boatF

F!ou have notF Garlock sent the thought so solidly that Belle jum"edF4f youAd just let yourself be, youAd be worth a million of her, just asyou standF



F!esH !ou lie in your teeth, 3leander, but 4 love it 6h, 4 donAtknow what 4 want to eat##if anythingF

F4All think u" yours, too, along with mineF

FPlease Something light, and just a littleF

F!eah Sit down 9ust a light snack##a two#"ound steak, rare a bowl ofmushrooms fried in butter 7rench fries, french di"s, salad, and a Duartof coffee The same for me, exce"t more of each 8ere we areF

F>hy, 3lee, 4 couldnAt "ossibly eat half of thatF Then, after aDuarter of it was gone, F4 am hungry, at that##sim"ly ravenous 4could eat a horse and saddle, and chase the riderF

FThatAs what 4 thought 4 knew 4 could, and figured you accordinglyF

They ate those tremendous meals slowly, enjoying every bite and si" inan atmos"here of friendliness and good fellowshi" chatting on a widevariety of subjects as they ate ;either was aware of the fact that this

was the first time they had ever been on really friendly terms &ndfinally every dish and container was em"ty, almost "olished clean

F6ne hundred "ercent ca"acity##can chew but canAt swallow,F Garlock saidthen, lighting two cigarettes and giving Belle one F8owAs that for amasterly job of calibrationHF

F)e, too 4tAll "assF Belle sighed in re"letion F!our ability toestimate the exact ca"acity of containers is exceeded only by your goodlooks and by the sie of your feet &nd now to hit the good old sack foran indefinite but very long "eriod of timeF

F!ou chir"ed it, birdieF Still eminently friendly, the two walked

together to their doors Belle "ut u" a solid block and "aused,irresolute, twisting the toe of one sli""er into the car"et

F3lee, 4 4 wonder ifF 8er voice died away

F4 know what you meanF 8e "ut his arms around her gently, tenderly, andlooked dee" into her eyes F4 want to tell you something, Belle !ouArea woman, not in seven thousand million women, but in that many "lanetsfull of women >hat it takes, you very definitely and very abundantlyhave got &nd you arenAt the only one thatAs "oo"ed 4 donAt needcom"any tonight, either 4Am going to slee" until 4 wake u", if it takesall day 6r say, if you wake u" first, why not "unch me and weAll havebreakfast togetherHF

FThatAs a thought (o the same for me Good night, 3leeF

FGood night, aceF 8e kissed her, as gently as he had been holding her,o"ened her door, closed it after her, and ste""ed across the corridorinto his own room

F>hat a manJF Belle breathed to herself, behind the solid screens ofher room F8e thought 4 was too tired, not just scared to death too>hat a manJ Belle Bellamy, you ought to be kicked from here toTellusF Then she threw back her head, drove a hard little fist into



F4 think weAve "roved that my school of mathematics was right##the thingwas built to o"erate "urely at random 7otheringham was wrong 8owever,4 missed the "oint that if control is "ossible, the controller must be amind Such a "ossibility never occurred to me or anyone working with me6r to 7otheringham or to anybody elseF

F4 canAt say 4Am sold, but itAs easy to test and the results canAt be

any worse $etAs goF

F8ow would you test itHF

FSame way you would 6nly way 7irst, each one of us alone Then "airsand threes Then all four together 7ifteen tests in all ;o Threedestinations for each set#u" near, medium, and far Exce"t Tellus, ofcourse weAd better save that shot until we learn all we can find outEverybody not in the set should screen u" as solidly as they can settheir blocks##eyes shut, even, and concentrating on something else3heckHF

9ames did not ex"ress the thought that Tellus must by now be so far away

that no "ossible effort could reach it but he could not re"ress theim"lication

F3heck 4All concentrate on a series of transfinite numbers Belle, youwork on the "ossible number of shades of the color green $ola, on howmany different "erfumes you can identify by smell 9im, hit the buttonF

38&PTE' M

Since the tests took much time, and were strictly routine in nature,there is no need to go into them in detail &t their conclusion, Garlocksaid%

F7irst% either 9im alone, or $ola alone, or 9im and $ola together, canhit any destination within any galaxy, but canAt go from one galaxy toanother

FSecond% either Belle or 4, or any combination containing either of uswithout the other, has no control at all

FThird% Belle and 4 together, or any combination containing both of us,can go intergalactic under control

F4n s"ite of confession being su""osed to be good for the soul, 4 donAtlike to admit that weAve "ut gravel in the gear#box##do you, BelleHFGarlockAs smile was both rueful and forced

F!ou can "lay that in s"adesF Belle licked her li"s for the firsttime since boarding the starshi" she was acutely embarrassed F>eAllhave to, of course 4t was all my fault##it makes me look like a damnedstu"id juvenile delinDuentF

F;ot by nineteen thousand kilocycles, since neither of us had any idea



4All be glad to settle for half the blameF

F>ill you "lease sto" talking SanskritHF 9ames asked F6r le" it, so wetwo innocent bystanders can understand itHF

F>ill do,F and Garlock went on in thought F'emember what 4 said aboutthis drive not being conditioned to anythingH 4 was wrong Belle and 4have conditioned it, but badly >eAve been fighting so much that

something or other in that mess down there has become conditioned toher something else to me )y "art will "lay along with anyone exce"tBelle hers with anybody exce"t me &nti#conditioning, you might callit &nyway, they lay back their ears and balkF

F6h, hellJF 9ames snorted FTalk about gobbledygookJ !ou are stillsaying that that conglomeration of co""er and silver and steel andinsulation that we built ourselves has got intelligence, and 4 stillwonAt buy itF

FBy no means 'emember, 9im, that this conce"t of mechanicaltele"ortation, and that the mind is the only "ossible controller, areabsolutely new >eAve got to throw out all "revious ideas and start new

from scratch 4 "ostulate, as a working hy"othesis drawn from originaldata as modified by these tests, that that "articular conglomeration ofmaterials generates at least two fields about the "ro"erties of which weknow nothing at all That one of those "ro"erties is the tendency tobecome "referentially resonant with one mind and "referentiallynon#resonant with another 3lear so farHF

F&s mud 4tAs a mighty tough blue"rint to readF 9ames scowled inthought F8owever, itAs no harder to swallow than SandersonAs Theory ofTele"ortation 6r, for that matter, the actual basic cou"ling betweenmind and ordinary muscular action (oes that mean weAll have to rebuildhalf a million creditsA worth of no, you and Belle can work it,togetherF

F4 donAt knowF Garlock "aced the floor F4 sim"ly canAt see any"ossible mechanism of cou"lingF

FSubconscious, "erha"s,F Belle suggested

F7or my money that whole conce"t is invalid,F Garlock said F4t merelychanges A4 donAt knowA to A4 canAt knowA and 4 donAt want any "art ofthat 8owever, AunconsciousA could be the answer if so, we may havea lever Belle, are you willing to bury your hatchet for about fiveminutes##work with me like a "artner ought toHF

F4 certainly am, 3lee 8onestly Screens down flat, if you say soF

F8alf#wayAs enough, 4 think##youAll know when we get down thereF 8ermind joined his and he went on, F4gnore the machines themselvescom"letely 3onsider only the fields 7eel around with me##kee"tunedJ##see if thereAs anything at all here that we can grab hold of andmani"ulate, like an 6" field exce"t "robably very much finer 4All becom"letely damned if 4 can see how this ty"e of Gunther generator can"ut out a mani"ulable field, but it must ThatAs the only##6#>#'#3#8#8JF

This last was a yell of "ure mental agony Both hands flew to his head,his face turned white, sweat "oured, and he slum"ed down unconscious



figures for exactly five hundred miles u"HF

F4All "unch Aem##got Aem in my headF 9ames did so FShall Brownie and 4set our blocksHF

F;o,F Belle said F;othing can interfere with us nowF

F'eadyF Garlock sat down in the "ilotAs seat F3luster Around, chumF

Belle leaned against the back of the chair and "ut both arms aroundGarlockAs neck F4Am clusteredF

FThe s"ot weAre shooting at is exactly over the exact center of themiddle blast#"it at Port Gunther 4n syncHF

FTo a skillionth of a whillionth of a micro"hase 4Am exactly on andlocked ShootF

F;ow, you sheet#iron bucket of nuts and bolts, jum"JF and Garlocksna""ed the red switch

Earth lay beneath them So did Port Gunther

F8u#u#u#uhJF GarlockAs huge sigh held much more of relief than oftrium"h

FThey did itJ >eAre homeJF $ola shrieked and, breaking into unashamedand unrestrained tears, went into her husbandAs extended arms

F3ry ahead, sweet 4Ad bawl myself if Garlock wasnAt looking )aybe 4will, anyway,F 9ames said Then, extending his right arm to Garlock andto Belle, F4 was scared to death you couldnAt make it exce"t by backtracking Good going, you two Primes,F but his thoughts said vastly morethan his words

BelleAs eyes, too, were wet GarlockAs own were not Duite dry

F!ou werenAt as sure as you looked, then, that we could do it the hardway,F Belle said F&ll inside, 4 was one Duivering mass of jellyF

F&fterward, you mean !ou were solid as Gibraltar when 4 fired thecharge !ouAre the kind of woman a man wants with him when the goingAstough Slide around here a little, so 4 can get hold of youF

Garlock released Belle##finally##and turned to the "ilot, who was just"ulling a data#sheet from 3om"y the 3om"uter F8ow far did we misstarget, 9imHF

9ames held u" his right hand, thumb and forefinger forming a circleF!ouAre one "oint eight seven inches high, and off center "oint fivethree inches to the north northeast by east 4 hereby award each of youthe brone medal of )arksman 7irst Shall 4 take her down now or do youwant to check in from here firstHF

F;either 4 think >hat do you think, BelleHF

F'ight ;ot until you#know#whatF



F3heck :ntil we decide whether or not to let them know just yet that wecan handle the shi" 4f we do, how many of our ta"ed re"orts we turn inand how many we toss down the chuteF

F4 get itJF 9ames exclaimed, with a s"reading grin FThat, my dear"eo"le, is something 4 never ex"ected to live long enough to see##ourstraight#laced (octor Garlock a""lying the Bugger 7actor to a research"roblemJF

F4 "refer the term A)onkAs 3oefficient,A myself,F Garlock said, Ffromthe stand"oint of mathematical rigorF

F&t Polytech we called it A7inagleAs 7ormulaA,F Belle commented FThemost widely a""licable o"erator knownF

F8ave you three lost your mindsHF $ola demanded FThatAs nothing to jokeabout##you wouldnAt destroy official re"ortsJ &ll that astronomy andanthro"ology that nobody ever even dreamed of beforeH !ou couldnAtJ;ot "ossiblyJF

FEach of us knows just as well as you do how much data we have, exactly

how new and startling it is but weAve thought ahead farther than youhave ;one of us likes the idea of destroying it a bit better than youdo >e wonAt, either, without your full, unreserved, wholeheartedconsent, nor without your fixed, iron#clad, unshakable determinationnever to reveal any least bit of itF

FThat language is far too strong for me 4Ad like to be able to go alongwith you, but on those terms, 4 sim"ly canAtF

F4 think you can, when youAve thought it through !ouAve met &lono P7erber, havenAt youH 'ead himHF

F6ne glim"se that was all 4 could stand 8e "awed me mentally and

wanted to "aw me "hysically, the first time 4 ever saw himF

F3heck So 4Am going to ask you two Duestions, which you may answer asan anthro"ologist, as $ola )ontandon, as )rs 9ames 9ames 9ames the;inth, as a member of our team, or as any other character you choose toassume 'emembering that 7erberAs a Gunther 7irst##and "retends to be an6"erator whenever he can get away with it##should he, or anyone likehim, ever be allowed to visit 8odellH Second Duestion% if there is any"ossible way for him to get there, can he be made to stay awayHF

F6h Grand $ady ;eldine and that "erfectly stunning Grand $ady $em"hithey "icked out for 9im theyAre such nice "eo"le and theGunther genesF &s $ola thought on, her ex"ressive face showed a

variety of conflicting emotions before it hardened into decision FTheanswer to both Duestions##the only "ossible answer##is no 4 subscribeon the exact terms you sti"ulated &nd you donAt believe, 3lee, that mythesis had anything to do with my holding out at firstHF

F3ertainly 4 donAt BesidesF

F>hat thesisHF Belle asked

F7or my Ph( in anthro"ology 4 thought 4 had it made, but it just wentdown the chute &nd 4 donAt know if any of you realie just how nearly



im"ossible it is to make a really worthwhile original contribution toscience in that fieldF

F&s 4 started to tell you, Brownie,F Garlock said, F4 donAt think youAvelost a thing ThereAs a bigger and better one coming u"F

F>hatHF

FSh#h#h#h,F Belle stage#whis"ered F8eAs got a theory##such a weirdiethat he wonAt talk about it to anybodyF

F4t isnAt a theory yet##at least, not ri"e enough to "ick##but itAssomething more than a hunch,F Garlock said

FBut what could "ossibly make as good a thesis as those extra#galacticta"esHF $ola wailed FThey would have made my thesis a summer breeeF

F)ore like a hurricane##the hottest thing since doctorate dis"utationsfirst started,F Garlock said F8owever, as 4 started to say twicebefore, it still will be 4ntra#galactic ta"es will be just as good 4nthis case, betterF

F>#e#l#l "ossibly But we havenAt anyF

FThat is what this conference is about >e canAt destroy the stuff wehave unless we can re"lace it with something better )y idea is that weshould visit a few##say fifty##Tellus#ty"e "lanets in this galaxy theones closest to Tellus 4Am "retty sure theyAll be inhabited by 8omoSa"iens ThereAs a chance, of course, that theyAll be like 8odell andthe others weAve seen in which case 4 donAt see how we can kee" Gunthergenes confined to Earth 8owever, 4Am "retty sure in my own mind thatweAll find them all very much like Tellus, Gunther and all >hat wouldyou think of that for a thesis, $olaHF

F6h, wonderfulJF

F6kay ;ow to get back to whether we want to check in or not 4 donAtlike to duck out without letting them know we can handle thishea"##after a fashion, that is they donAt need to know we can reallyhandle it##but weAve got nothing we can re"ort and 7atso will blow hisstack##6h#ohJ ShouldAve remembered Tellus isnAt 8odell the tri#diAssetting u"J Belle, you take it SheAd give me 7atso, because he wants tochew me out, but she wonAt "ut him on for you 3ut her throat, but goodJBrownie, hide somewhereJ 9im, set u" for Beta 3entauri##not &l"ha, butBeta##and fastJ Give her hell, BelleJF Garlock sent this last thoughtfrom behind a daven"ort, from which hiding#"lace he could see the tri#discreen and both Belle and 9ames but anyone on the screen could not see

him

)iss 7osterAs likeness a""eared u"on the screen 3hancellor 7erberAssecretary was a big woman, but not fat middle#aged, gray#haired,wearing consciously the aura and the domineering, overbearing ex"ressionof a woman who has great "ower and an even greater drive to exert herauthority

F>hy havenAt you re"orted inHF )iss 7oster sna""ed, with a glare thatwas "ure frost F!ou arrived thirteen minutes ago Such delay isinexcusable Get GarlockF



F3a"tain Garlock is off#watch aslee" 4, 3ommander Bellamy, am incommandF Standing stiffly at attention, Belle "aused to exchange glareswith the woman across the big desk 4f )iss 7osterAs was frost,3ommander BellamyAs was helium ice

F'eady to go, 9imHF Belle flashed the thought

F8alf a minute yetF

F&ny time after 4 sign off Pick your own s"otF Then aloud into thescreen% F4 will re"ort to 3hancellor 7erber 4 will not re"ort to3hancellor 7erberAs secretaryF

F(octor 9amesJF )iss 7osterAs voice was neither as cold nor as steady asit had been FBring that shi" down at onceJF

9ames made no sign that he had heard the order Belle stood changelesslystiff She had not for an instant taken her coldly com"etent eyes fromthose of the woman on the ground 8er emotionless, ultra#refrigeratedvoice went, as ever, directly into the screen

F4 trust that this conversation is being recordedHF

F4t certainly isJF

FGood 4 want it on record that we, the "ersonnel of the starshi"Pleiades, are not subject to the verbal orders of the 3hancellorAssecretary !ou will now connect me with 3hancellor 7erber, "leaseF

FThe 3hancellor is in conference and is not to be disturbed 4 haveauthority to act for him !ou will re"ort to me, and do it right nowF7osterAs voice rose almost to a scream

FThat ground has been covered Since you have taken it u"on yourself toexceed your authority to such an extent as to refuse to connect theofficer in command of the Pleiades with the 3hancellor, 4 cannotre"ort to him either the reasons why we are not landing at this time orwhen we ex"ect to return to Tellus !ou are advised that we may leave atany instant, just like thatJF Belle sna""ed her finger under the imagednose F!ou may inform the 3hancellor, or not inform him if you "refer,that our control of the starshi" Pleiades is something less than"erfect 4 do not know exactly how many seconds longer we will be here3ommander Bellamy signing off 6ver and outF

F3ommander Bellamy, indeedJ 3ommander my left footJF )iss 7oster wasscreaming now, in thwarted fury F!ouAre no more a commander than my

lowest office#girl isJ 9ust wait Atill you get down here, yougreen#haired hussy, you shameless notorF The set wentinstantaneously from full volume to ero sound as 9ames drove the redbutton home

FBelle, you honeyJF Garlock scrambled out from behind the daven"ort,seied her around the waist, and swung her, feet high in air, throughfour full circles before he let her down and kissed her vigorously F!oulittle sweetheartJ !ouAre the first living human being ever to really"ull 7osterAs corkJF



F>hat a goat#gettingJF 9ames a""lauded FThat will go down in historyas the star#s"angled act of the centuryF

Belle was, however, unusually diffident F4 stuck my neck out amile##worse, 3leeAs 4Am sorry, 3lee 4 had to have some weight to throwaround, and 4 had only a second to think, and that was the first thing 4thought of, and after half a minute she made me so damn mad that 4went entirely too farF

F:h#uh 9ust far enough That was a "erfect jobF

FBut sheAll never forget that, and sheAll crucify you, as well as me,when we land She knows 4Am not a commanderF

FShe just thinks you ainAt The official log will show, though, thatafter only one day out 4 discovered that we should all be officers##oneca"tain and three commanders##with "ay and "erDuisites of rank 4Allthink u" good and sufficient reasons for it between now and when 4 makeu" the logF

FBut you canAtJ 6r can you, reallyHF

F>ell, nobody told me 4 couldnAt, so 4 assumed the right Besides, youdidnAt tell her commander of what, so 4All make it stick, too##see if 4donAt 6r else 4All tear two or three offices a"art finding out why 4canAt !ou can be sure of thatF

F&ll that may not be necessary,F $ola said FThat ta"e will never beheard 4All bet sheAs erased it alreadyF

FPerha"s but ours isnAt going to be erased##it will be heard exactlywhere it will do the most goodF

F4Am awfully glad you donAt think weAre on the hook &ll thatAs left,

then, is that second#in#command business Both of you know, of course,that that was just window#dressingF

F!ou were telling the truth and didnAt know it,F 9ames said, cheerfullyF!ou have actually been second#in#command ever since the drive testsF

F4 havenAt, and 4 wonAt Surely you donAt think 4Am enough of a heel,9im, to ste" on your toes like thatHF

F;othing like that involved !ou tell her, 3leeF

FGunther ability is what counts !ouAre a Prime, 9imAs an 6"erator so,now that we can handle the hea", youAll have to be second#in#command

whether you like it or not &ny time you can out#Gunther me weAll trade"laces &nd you wonAt have to take the job away from me##4All give it toyouF

FBut no hard feelings, 9imH ;o reservationsH Screens downHF

F;one whatever 4n fact, 4Am relieved 4Am Gunthered for this boardhere##for that one 4Am not 3ome in and look and shake on itF

Belle looked and while they were shaking hands, she flashed a thoughtat $ola F(o you know that weAve got two of the finest men that ever



livedHF

F4Ave known that for a long time,F $ola flashed back, Fbut youAve hardlystarted to realie what they really areF

F>ell, shall we start earning our "ay and "erDuisites by getting to workon this "lanet, that we havenAt even looked##wait a minuteJ >eAre justabout to o"en u" the galaxy, arenAt weHF

They were

FThen thereAll have to be some kind of a unifying and correlatingauthority##a Galactic 3ouncil or something##and the Duicker itAs set u"the better the less confusion and turmoil and jockeying#for#"ositionthere will be Iuestion% should this authority be "oliticalHF

F4t should notJF 9ames declared F4t takes :nited >orlds seven soliddays of debate to decide whether or not to buy one lead "encilF

F)ilitary##or naval, 4 su""ose itAd be##thatAs what 3leeAs driving at,FBelle said F!ouAre wonderful, 3lee##sim"ly "ricelessJ >eAre officers of

the brand#new Galactic ;avy Subject to civilian control, of course, butthe civilians will be the :nited Galaxian Societies of the Galaxy, andnobody else Beautiful, 3leeJ There are ten 6"erators, 9im 'ightHF

F3heck Brownie and 4 are here the other eight are running the GalaxianSociety under 3lee &nd the whole Society eats out of his handF

F4 donAt know about that, but Belle and 4 together could swing it, 4thinkF

F4All say we could,F Belle breathed F&nd 4 sim"ly canAt wait to see youkick 7atsoAs teeth in with this oneJF

F4 donAt like the word A;avyA,F Garlock said F4tAs tied definitely towarfare 8ow about calling it the AGalactic ServiceAH &""licable toeither war or "eace Brass 8ats will think of us in terms of war, eventhough we will actually work for "eace &ny objectionsHF

There were no objections

F&bout the uniforms,F $ola said, eagerly FS"ace#black and star#white,with chromium comets and things on the shouldersF

FTo hell with uniforms,F Garlock broke in F>hy do women have to go offthe dee" end on clothesHF

FSheAs right##youAre wrong, 3lee,F 9ames said F>ithout a uniform youwonAt get off the ground, not even with the Society &nd youAll betalking to To" Planetary Brass &lso, theyAre Gunthered "lenty##you canfeel their 6" field clear out hereF

F3ould be,F Garlock conceded F6kay, you girls do"e it out to suityourselves But think you can stand it, Belle, to wear more than twelvesDuare inches of clothesHF

F>ait Atil you see it, chum 4Ave been designing a uniform for myselffor "ositively yearsF



F4 canAt wait &nd youAre a ca"tain, of courseF

F8uhH !ou canAt have two ca" 6h, 4 see Primes 4 a""reciate that,3lee ThanksF

F8old on, both of you,F 9ames said F!ou havenAt thought this throughfar enough Su""ose we meet forces already organiedH Better start high

than low !ouAve got to be to" admiral, 3leeF

F'ocket#oilJ Su""ose we donAt find anything at allHF

F!ouAre right, 9im,F Belle said F3lee, you talk like a man with a "a"ernose 4tAs you whoAs been yowling for two solid years about beingready for anything >eAve got to do just thatF

F3orrection acce"ted Brief meF

F'anks should be different from those of :nited >orlds They should bedescri"tive, but im"ressive To"s could be Galactic &dmiral ThatAs you?ice Galactic &dmiral meF

FGalactic ?ice &dmiral would be better,F $ola said

F&cce"ted Those two weAll make stick come hell or s"ace#war"s 'ightHF

Garlock did not re"ly immediately F:" to either one of two "oints,F heagreed, finally

F>hat "ointsHF

F>ar, or being out#Gunthered To" Gunther takes to" "lace man, woman,bird, beast, fish, or bug#eyed monsterF

F6hF Belle was staggered for a moment F;o war, of course &s to theother 4 hadnAt thought of thatF

FThere are a lot of things none of us has thought of, but as amended4All buy itF

FThen several 'egional &dmirals, each with his 'egional ?ice &dmiralThen System &dmirals and ?ices, and >orld or Planetary##naming the"lanet, you know##&dmirals and ?ices $et the various Galaxian Societiestake over from there down 8ow do you like them "otatoes, BusterHF

F;ice &nd formal address, intra#shi", will be )ister and )iss 9im andBrownieHF

They liked it F>here do we fit inHF 9ames asked

FPick your own s"ots,F Garlock said

F4f we stick to the Solar System we arenAt so a"t to get bum"ed byPrimes So make me Solar System &dmiral and Brownie my ?iceF

F6kay 8ow long will it take you, Belle, to materialie those uniformsHF

F7ifteen seconds longer than it takes the converter to scan us $olaAs



color scheme is right, and 4Ave got everything else down to the lastcurlicue of chrome $etAs goF

They went% and came back into the )ain in uniform Belle had really donea job

That of the men, while something on the s"ectacular side, was more orless conventional, with stiff#visored, screened, heavily#chromed ca"s

but the womenAsJ Sli""ers, overseas ca"s, shorts and jackets##but whatjacketsJ

F>ellF Garlock said, after examining the two girls s"eechlessly fora good half minute F4t doesnAt look exactly like a s"ray#on job butif you ever take a dee" breath itAll s"lit from here to there 7lyoff##leave you naked as a jay#birdF

F6h, no The fabric stretches a little SeeH ;othing like a sweater, buta similar effect##"erha"s a bit more soF

FIuite a bit more so, 4Ad say 8owever, since 6"erators and Primes areautomatically stacked like Tennick Towers, 4 donAt su""ose your recruits

will be unduly "erturbed at, or will sDuawk too much about,overex"osure &re we finally ready to go down and get to workHF

F4 am,F 9ames said F8ow do you want to handle itHF

F'un a search "attern Belle and 4 will center their 6" field and checkon 6"s and Primes !ou two "robe at willF

&round and around the "lanet, in brief bursts of com"letelyincom"rehensible s"eed, the huge shi" darted the biggest, solidest, yetmost elusive and fantastic Fflying saucerF ever to visit that world Thetremendous oceans and six great continents were traversed the ice#ca"sthe frigid, the tem"erate, and the torrid ones >herever she went,

"owerful and efficient radar scanned and tracked her wherever she went,excitement seethed

FBeta 3entauri 7ive,F Garlock re"orted, after a few minutes F)argonia,they call it Biggest continent and nation named ;argoda 3a"ital city)argon )argon Base on coast nearby $ots of Gunther 7irsts &ll thereal Gunther, though, is clear across the continent TheyAre building astarshi" 7ourteen 6"s and two Primes##man and woman (eggi (elcam"As abig bruiser, with a God#awful lot of stuff :gly as hell, though 8eAs abossy ty"eF

F4Am amaed,F 9ames "layed it straight F4 thought all male Primes wouldbe just like you Timorous TimmiesF

F8uhH 6hF Garlock was taken slightly aback, but went on Duickly,F>hat do you think of your o""osite number, BelleHF 8e whistled awolf#call and made hour#glass motions with his hands F4Ad thought oftrading you in on a new model, but 7ao Talaho is no bargain, either##andnobodyAs "ush#overF

FTradeJ !ou tomcatJF BelleAs nostrils flared F!ou know what thatbleached#blonde tried to doH 8igh#hat meJF

F4 noticed >hen we four get down to business, face to face, there



should be some interesting by#"roductsF

F!ou chir"ed it, boss Primes seem to be such nice "eo"leF 9amesrolled his eyes u"ward and stee"led his hands F4f youAve got all thedo"e, no use finishing this search "atternF

FGo ahead >indow dressing The Brass hasnAt any idea of whatAs goingon, any more than ours didF

The search went on until, FThis is it,F 9ames re"orted F>hereH 6ver)argon BaseHF

F3heck <ick us over there, ten or twelve hundred miles u"F

F6n the way, boss $ooks like your theory is about ready to "ickF

F4t isnAt much of a theory yet just that cultural and evolutionary"atterns should be more or less homogeneous within galaxies :ntil itcan ex"lain why so many out#galaxies are just alike it doesnAt amount tomuch By the way, 4Am glad you "eo"le insisted on organiation and rankand uniforms The Brass is going to take a certain amount of convincing

Take over, Brownie##this is your dishF

F4 was afraid of thatF

The others watched $ola drive her "robe##a diamond#clear, raor#shar"bolt of thought that no Gunther 7irst could "ossibly either wield orsto"##down into the innermost "rivate office of that immense andfar#flung base Through $olaAs inner eyes they saw a tall, trim,handsome, fiftyish man in a res"lendent uniform of "ur"le and gold theywatched her brush aside that officerAs hard#held mental block

F4 greet you, Su"reme Grand )arshal Entlore, 8ighest 3ommander of the&rmed 7orces of ;argoda This is the starshi" Pleiades, of System Sol,

Planet Tellus 4 am Sol#System ?ice#&dmiral $ola )ontandon 4 have withme as guests three of my su"erior officers of the Galactic Service,including the Galactic &dmiral himself >e are making a good#will tourof the Tellus#Ty"e "lanets of this region of s"ace 4 reDuest "ermissionto land and information as to your landing conventions The landing"ad##bottom##of the Pleiades is flat sixty feet wide by one hundredtwenty feet long &rea loading is a""roximately eight tons "er sDuarefoot Solid, dry ground is "erfectly satisfactory >hile we landvertically, with little or no shock im"act, 4 "refer not to riskdamaging your "avementF

They all felt the )arshalAs thoughts race FStarshi"J Tellus##Sol, thatinsignificant Ty"e G dwarfJ 4nterstellar travel a common"laceJ & shi"

that sie and weight##an organied, uniformed, functioning Galaxy#wide;avy and they donAt want to damage my "avementJ )y GodJF

FGood going, BrownieJ <iss her for me, 9imF Garlock flashed thethought

Entlore, realiing that his every thought was being read, "ulled himselftogether F4 admit that 4 was shocked, &dmiral )ontandon Butlanding##really, 4 have nothing to do with landings They are handledbyF



F4 realie that, sir but you realie that no underling could "ossiblyauthorie my landing That is why 4 always start at the to" Besides, 4do not like to waste time on officers of much lower rank than my own,and,F $ola allowed a strong tinge of good humor to cree" into herthought, Fthe bigger they are, the less a"t they are to "ass thewell#known buckF

F!ou have had ex"erience, 4 see,F the )arshal laughed 8e did have a

sense of humor F>hile landing here is forbidden##to" secret, youknow##would my refusal mean much to youHF

F8aving made satisfactory contact, 4 introduce you to Galactic &dmiralGarlock Take over, sir, "leaseF

Entlore winced, for the "robe Garlock used then com"ared to $olaAs verymuch as a diamond drill com"ares to a "iece of soft brass "i"e

F4t would mean everything to us,F Garlock assured him F6ur mission is a"erfectly friendly one >e will have a friendly visit or none 4f you donot care for our friendshi", another nation willF

FThat wouldnAt do, either, of courseF Entlore "aused in thought F4tboils down to this% 4 must either welcome you or destroy youF

F!ou may tryF Garlock grinned in frankly self#satisfied amusementF8owever, the best you can do is lithium#hydride fusion missiles in thehundreds#of#megatons range 7irecrackers Every once in a while a "lanethas to try a few such things on us before it will believe that we are"owerful as well as friendly >ould you like to test our defensesH 4fso, 4 will neither take offense nor retaliateF

Su"reme Grand )arshal Entlore was floored F>hy er not at all 4read in your mindF 8e broke off, to Duell an invasion into his own"rivate office F(amn it, kee" stillJF all four FheardF him yell F4

know they ran a search "attern 4 know that, too 4 know everythingabout it, 4 tell youJ 4Am in full ra""ort with their Su"reme Grand&dmiral ThereAs only the one shi", theyAre friendly, and 4Am invitingthem to land here on )argon Base Give that to the "ress Say also thatentrance restrictions to )argon Base will not be relaxed at "resentGrand )arshal 8olson and 3om6ff 7lurnoy, stay here and tune in The restof you get out and stay outJ Throw all re"orts about any alien vesselor flying saucer or what#have#you into the waste#basketJF

F'esume command, "lease, )iss )ontandon,F Garlock directed and withdrewhis "robe from EntloreAs mind

F4 thank you, Su"reme Grand )arshal Entlore, for your welcome,F $ola

sent F4Am sorry that our visits cause so much disturbance, but 4su""ose it canAt be hel"ed 6ur Gunther blocks are down >ould you andyour two assistants like to tele"ort out here to us, and con us downyourselvesHF $ola knew instantly that they could not, and covered deftlyfor them FBut of course you canAt, without knowing a focus s"ot here inthe )ain Shall 4 tele"ort you aboardHF

3om6ff 7lurnoyAs face##she was an attractive, nicely#built red#headwearing throat#mike, ear"hone, and recorder##turned so "ale that a faintline of freckles stood out across the bridge of her nose She veryevidently wanted to scream a "rotest, but would not Both men, strangely



memory banks >hen youAre ready for us to land 4All show you##itAs myturn to workF

F)iss 7lurnoy, have they cleared the air over Pylon SixHF

F!es, sir 3learance came through five minutes ago They are holding itclear for usF

FThank you )iss )ontandon, you may land at your convenienceF

FThank you, sirF $ola took the "ilotAs chair FThis is the scanner 4"ull it over my face and head, so Since 4 am always in tune with thefieldF

F>hat does that meanHF Entlore asked, dark foreboding in his mind

F4 was afraid of that !ou canAt feel an 6"erator 7ield 4Am sorry, sir,but that means you canAt handle these forces and never will be able to3ertain Gunther areas of your brain are ino"erative 6n our scale youare a Gunther 7irstF

F6n ours, 4Am an Es"er Ten, the highest rating in the world##exce"t fora few theoretical crack"ots who Excuse me, "lease, 4 shouldnAt havesaid that, in view of what 4 see ha""ening hereF

F;o offense taken, sir Those who develo"ed the Gunther (rive werecrack"ots until they got the first starshi" out into s"ace But withthis scanner on, 4 think of where 4 want to look and 4 can see it 4then think the shi" a few miles sidewise##so##and we are now directlyover your Pylon Six 4Am starting down, but 4 wonAt go into free fallF

&""arent weight grew less and less, until% FThis is about enough foryou, )iss 7lurnoyHF

F9ust,F the 3om6ff agreed, with a gul" F6ne "ound less and 4Am afraid4All u"chuck that lovely lunch 4 just ateF

F>eAre going fast enough now Everyone sitting downH Brace yourselves,"lease !ouAll be about fifty "ercent overweight for a whileF

&s bodies settled dee"er into cushions Entlore sent Garlock athought F>e three weigh about five hundred "ounds !ou liftedus##instantaneously or nearly so, but 4All "ass the Duestion ofacceleration for the moment##eleven hundred miles straight u" 8ow didyou re"eal the $aw of 3onservationHF

F>e didnAt >e have fusion engines of twenty million horse"ower 6ur

6"erator 7ield, which has a radius of fifteen thousand miles and ischarged to an electrogravitic "otential of one hundred thousand gunts,stores energy 4ts action is not exactly like that of an electricalcondenser or of a storage battery, but is more or less analogous toboth Thus, the energy reDuired to lift you three came from the field,but the amount was so small that it did not lower the "otential of thefield by any measurable amount Setting this shi" down##call it sixtythousand tons for a thousand miles at one gravity##will increase thefieldAs "otential by a""roximately one#tenth of one gunt 8ave youstudied "ara"hysicsHF



F;oF

F4t wasnAt "ractical, ehHF Garlock smiled FThen 4 canAt make even astab at ex"laining instantaneous translation to you 4All just say thatthere is no acceleration involved, no time la"se There is no violationof the $aw of 3onservation since de"arture and arrival "oints areeDui#Guntherial But what 4 am really interested in is that small grou"of high es"ers you mentionedF

F!es, 4 inferred that from )iss )ontandonAs commentsF Entlore fellsilent and Garlock watched his somber thoughts "icture )argon Base andhis nationAs ca"ital being attacked and destroyed by a fleet ofinvincible and invulnerable starshi"s like this Pleiades

F!ou are wrong, sir,F Garlock "ut in, Duietly FThe Galactic Service hasnot had, does not and will not have, anything to do with intra#"lanetaryaffairs >e have no connection with, and no res"onsibility to, any worldor any grou" of worlds >e are an arm of the :nited Galaxian Societiesof the Galaxy 6ur function is to control s"ace To forbid, to "revent,to rectify any inter"lanetary or interstellar aggression &bove all, to"revent, by means of "rocedures u" to and including total destruction of

"lanets if necessary, any attem"t whatever to form any multi#worldem"ireF

The three ;argodians gas"ed as one, as much at the sco"e of the thing asat the calmly cold certainty of ability carried by the thought

F!ou are transmitting this "recisely, )iss 7lurnoyHF Entlore asked

FPrecisely, sir including background, fringes, connotations, andim"lications just as he is giving it to usF

F$et us assume that your ;argodian government decides to conDuer all theother nations of your "lanet )argonia &ssume farther that it succeeds

>e will not object in fact, we will, as a usual thing, not even beinformed of it 4f then, however, your government decides that one worldis not enough for it to rule and "re"ares to conDuer, or take aggressiveaction against, any other world, we will be informed and we will ste"in 7irst, warning will be given Second, any and all vessels dis"atchedon such a mission will be annihilated Third, if the offense iscontinued or re"eated, trial will be held before the Galactic 3ounciland any sentence im"osed will be carried outF

4n s"ite of GarlockAs manner and message, both marshals were highlyrelieved F!ouAre in "lenty of time, with us, sir,F Entlore said F>ehave just sent our first rocket to our nearer moon that is, unlessthat grou" of##of es"ers gets their shi" off the groundF

F8ow far along are theyHF

FThe shi" itself is built, but they are having trouble with their driveThe hull is s"herical, and much smaller than this one 4t has atomicengines, but no blasts or ion#"lates but neither has this oneJF

FExactly they may be "retty well along 4Ad like to get in touch withthem as soon as "ossible )ay 4 borrow a AtalkerA like )iss 7lurnoy fora few daysH !ou have others, 4 su""oseHF



F!es, but 4All let you have her it is of the essence that you have thebest one available )iss 7lurnoyHF

F!es, sirHF Besides re"orting, she had been conversing busily with 9amesand Belle

F>ould you like to be assigned to )r Garlock for the duration of hisstay on )argoniaHF

F6h, yes, sirJF she re"lied, excitedly

F!ou are so assigned Take orders from him or from any designate asthough 4 myself were issuing themF

FThank you, sir but what limitsH &nd do 4 transmit to and@or recordfor you, sirHF

F;o limit These four Galaxians are hereby granted nation#wide to"clearance Transmit as usual whatever is "ermittedF

F7ull re"orting is not only "ermitted, but urged,F Garlock said FThere

is nothing secret about our missionF

&s the Pleiades landed% F4f you will give us your focus s"ot, )rEntlore, we can all A"ort to your office and save calling staff carsF

F&nd cause a revolutionHF Entlore laughed F&""arently you havenAt beenchecking outsideF

F&fraid 4 havenAt 4Ave been thinkingF

FTake a look 4 got orders from the 3abinet to "ut guards wherever"eo"le absolutely must not go, and o"en everything else to the "ublic 4ho"e there are enough guards to kee" a lane o"en for us, but 4

wouldnAt bet on itF Garlock was very glad that the military menAs stiffformality had disa""eared F!ou Galaxians took this whole "lanet bystorm while you were still above the stratos"hereF

There is no need to go into detail concerning the rece"tion andcelebration 6n Earth, one inauguration of a "resident and onecoronation of a monarch were each almost as well covered bybroadcasters, if not as turbulently and enthusiastically "rolonged 7romthe Pleiades they went to the &dministration Building, where aninformal rece"tion was held Thence to the 3a"itol, where the rece"tionwas very formal indeed Thence to the Grand Ballroom of the cityAslargest hotel, where a tremendous##and long#winded##banDuet was served

&t GarlockAs reDuest, all sixteen members of the Fcrack"otF grou"##themost active members of the (ee" S"ace 3lub##had been invited to thebanDuet &nd, even though Garlock was a very busy man, his talker tunedin to each one of the sixteen, tuned them all to the Galactic &dmiral,and in odd moments a great deal of business was done

&fter being told most of the story##in tight#beamed thoughts that 3om6ff7lurnoy could not receive##the whole grou" was wildly enthusiastic Theywould change the name of their club forthwith to The Galaxian Society 6f)argonia They laid "lans for a world#wide organiation which would havetremendous "restige and tremendous income They already had a



field##Garlock knew about their shi"##they wanted the Pleiades to moveover to it as soon as "ossible##!es, Garlock thought he could do it thefollowing day##if not, as soon as he could

The Pleiades had landed at ten oAclock in the forenoon, local timethe banDuet did not come to an end until long after midnight Throughoutall this time the four Galaxians carried on, without a sli", the actthat all this was, to them, old stuff

4t was just a little before daylight when they returned, exhausted, tothe shi" 3om6ff 7lurnoy went with them She was still agog at thewonder of it all as Belle and Brownie showed her to her Duarters

38&PTE' -

Since everyone, including the ebullient 3om6ff, sle"t late the followingmorning, they all had brunch instead of breakfast and lunch &ll during

the meal Garlock was "reoccu"ied and stern

F8old everything for a while, 9im,F he said, when everyone had eatenFBefore we move, Belle and 4 have got to have a conferenceF

F;ot a 7atso 7erber nine#oAclock ty"e, 4 ho"eF 9ames frowned in mockre"roach and 3om6ff 7lurnoy cocked an eyebrow in sur"riseF)onkey#business on com"any time is only for Big Shots like him not forsmall fry such as youF

F>ell, it wonAt be exclusively monkey#business, anyway >hile weAre goneyou might clear with the control tower and take us u" into take#off"osition 3ome on, BelleF 8e took her by one elbow and led her away

F>hy, (octor GarlockF )incing along beside him, "retending highreluctance, she looked u" at him wide#eyed F4Am sur"rised, 4 reallyam 4Am shocked, too 4Am not that kind of a girl, and if 4 wasnAtafraid of losing my job 4 would scream 4 never even sus"ectedthat you would use your "osition as my boss to force yourunwelcome attentions on a "oor and young and innocent andsufferingF

.4llustration%

4n an un"aralleled blast of Gunther "ower the "rimes of many worlds head toward the meeting on Tellus2

4nside his room Garlock, who had been grinning, sobered down and checkedevery Gunther block##a most unusual "roceeding

Belle sto""ed joking in the middle of the sentence

F!eah, how you suffer,F he said F4 was just checking to be sure weAre"rime#"roof 4Am not ready for (eggi (elcam" yet That guy, Belle, asyou "robably noticed, has got one God#awful load of stuffF

F;ot as much as you have, 3lee ;or as much "ush behind what he has got



&nd his shield wouldnAt make "atches for yoursF

F8uhH 8ow sure are you of thatHF

F4Am "ositive 4Am the one who is going to get bum"ed, 4Am afraid That7ao Talaho is a hard#hitting, hard#boiled hellcat on wheelsF

F4All be damned !ouAre wrong 4 checked her from stem to gudgeon and

you lay over her like a circus tent >hatAs the answerHF

F6hH (o 4H 4Am mighty glad funny, both of us being wrong it mustbe, 3lee, that itAs sex#based differences >eAre used to each other, butneither of us has ever felt a Prime of the same sex before, and theremust be more difference between 6"s and Primes than we realiedSu""oseHF

F3ould be##4 ho"e But that doesnAt change the fact that we arenAtready >e havenAt got enough data 4f we start out with this grandioseGalactic Service thing and find only two or three "lanets Gunthered, wemake jackasses of ourselves 6n the other hand, if we start out with asmall organiation or none, and find a lot of "lanets, itAll be one

continuous cat#fight 6n the third handF

FThree hands, 3leeH >hat are you, an octo"ussy or an &r"aloneHF

F<ee" your beautiful tra" shut a minute 6n the third hand, weAve gotto start somewhere &ny ideasHF

F4 never thought of it that way 8m#m#m#m 4 seeF She thought fora minute, then went on, F>eAll have to start without starting, then Duite a trick But how about thisH Su""ose we take a fast tour, withyou and 4 taking Duick "eeks, without the "eekees ever knowing weAvebeen "eekingHF

FThatAs using the brain, Belle $etAs goF Then, out in the )ain, F9im,we want to hit a few high s"ots, as far out as you can reach withoutlosing orientation Beta 3entauri here is "retty bright, 'igel and3ano"us are real lanterns >ith those three as a grid, you could reachfifteen hundred or two thousand light#years, couldnAt youHF

F)ore than that That many "arsecs, at leastF

FGood Belle and 4 want to make a fast, random#sam"ling check of Primesand 6"s around here >eAll need five minutes at each "lanet##Duite aways out So set u" as big a globe as you can and still be dead sure ofyour locations then sam"le itF

F;ot enough data 8ow many sam"les do you wantHF

F&s many as we can get in the rest of today Six or seven hours,say##eight hours maxF

F3all it seven Brownie on the guns, me on 3om"y 7ive minutes foryou 4 should be able to lock down the next shot in five oneminute extra, say, for safety factor thatAd be ten an hour Seventy"lanets enoughHF

FThatAll be fineF



FGood night, aceF

&nd the next morning, early, Garlock and Belle tele"orted themselves##byarrangement and a""ointment, of course##across almost the full width ofa nation and into the "rivate office in which (eggi (elcam" and 7aoTalaho awaited them

7or a time which would not have been considered "olite in Telluriansocial circles the four Primes stood still, each cou"le facing the otherwith blocks set tight, studying each other with their eyes (elcam" was,as Garlock had said, a big bruiser 8e was shorter and heavier than theTellurian 8eavily muscled, s"lendidly "ro"ortioned, he was a man oftremendous "hysical as well as mental strength 8is hair, cli""ed closeall over his head, was blonde his eyes were a clear, keen, cold darkblue

7ao Talaho was a cou"le of inches shorter than Belle and a good fifteen"ounds heavier She was in no sense fat, however, or even"lum"##actually, she was almost lean She was wider and thicker than wasthe Earthwoman with heavier bones forming a wider and dee"er frame

She, too, was beautifully##yes, s"ectacularly##built 8er hair, fully asthick as BelleAs own and worn in a free#falling bob three or four incheslonger than BelleAs, was bleached almost white 8er eyes were not reallys"eckled, nor really mottled, but were regularly "atterned in lighterand darker shades of hael She was, Garlock decided, a reallyremarkable hunk of woman

Both ;argodians wore sandals without either socks or stockings Bothwere dressed##insofar as they were dressed at all##in yellow 7aoAssingle garment was of a thin, closely#knitted fabric, elastic and sleek&bove the waist it was neckless, backless, and almost frontless below,it was a very short, very tight and clinging skirt (elcam" wore asleeveless jersey and a "air of almost legless shorts

Garlock lowered his shield enough to send and to receive a thin layer ofsu"erficial thought (elcam" did the same

FSo far, 4 like what 4 see,F Garlock said then F>e are well ahead ofyou, hence 4 can hel" you a lot if you want me to and if you want to befriendly about it 4f you donAt, on either count, we leave now 7airenoughHF

F7air enough 4, too, like what 4 have seen so far >e need hel", and 4a""reciate your offer Thanks, immensely 4 can "romise full coo"erationand friendshi" for myself and for most of our grou" and 4 assure youthat 4 can and will handle any non#coo"eration that may come u"F

F;icely "ut, (eggiF Garlock smiled broadly and let his guard down to acomfortable le""ing level F4 was going to bring that u"##the fasteritAs cleared the better Belle and 4 are "aired Some day##unless wekill each other first##we may marry 8owever, 4Am no bargain and sheAsone#third wildcat, one#third vixen, and one#third cobra 8ow do you twostandHF

F!ou took the thought right out of my own mind !our custom of "airingis not what you call AurbaneA on this world ;evertheless, 7ao and 4 are"aired >e had to ;o one else has ever interested either of us no one



else ever will >e should not fight, but we do, furiously But no matterhow vigorously we fly a"art, we inevitably fly together again just asfast ;o one understands it, but you two are "retty much the sameF

F3heck 9ust one more condition, then, and we can "ull those women ofours a"artF Belle and 7ao were still staring at each other, both stillsealed tight FThe first time 7ao Talaho starts throwing her weight atme, 4Am not going to wait for you to take care of her##4Am going to give

her the sur"rise of her lifeF

F4tAd tickle me silly if it could be done,F (elcam" smiled and was"erfectly frank, FBut the man doesnAt live that can do it 8ow would yougo about trying itHF

FSet your block solidF

(elcam" did so, and through that block##the su""osedly im"enetrableshield of a Prime 6"erator##Garlock insinuated a "robe 8e did not crackthe screen or break it down by force he neutralied and counter#"hased,"ainlessly and almost im"erce"tibly, its every com"onent and layer

F$ike this,F Garlock said, in the de"ths of the )argonianAs mind

F)y GodJ !ou can do thatHF

F4f 4 tell her, this dee", to "lay ball or else, do you think sheAd needtwo treatmentsHF

FShe certainly oughtnAt to This makes you Galactic &dmiral, noDuestion 4Ad thought, of course, of trying you out for To" Gunther, butthis settles that >e will su""ort you, sir, wholeheartedly##and myheartfelt thanks for coming hereF

F4 have your "ermission, then, to give 7ao a little disci"line when she

starts rocking the boatHF

F4 wish you would, sir 4Am not too easy to get along with, 4 admit, but4Ave tried to meet her a lot more than half#way SheAs just too damnedcocky for anybodyAs goodF

F3heck 4 wish somebody would come along who could knock hell out ofBelleF Then, aloud, FBelle, (elcam" and 4 have the thing going (o youwant in on itHF

(elcam" s"oke to 7ao, and the two women slowly, reluctantly, loweredtheir shields to match those of the men

F!our Galaxian shaking of the hands##handshake, 4 mean##is very good,F(elcam" said, and he and Garlock shook vigorously

Then the crossed "airs, and lastly the two girls##although neither "utmuch effort into the gesture

FSna" out of it, BelleJF Garlock sent a tight#beamed thought FShe isnAtgoing to bite youJF

FSheAs been trying to, damn her, and 4Am going to bite her rightback##see if 4 donAtF



FSo, on a one#"lanet basis and right out of your own little fat head,F7ao sneered, Fyou have set yourself u" as Grand 8igh 3hief )ogul, andall the rest of us are to crawl u" to you on our bellies and kiss yourfeetHF

F4f thatAs the way you want to ex"ress it, yes 8owever, 4 donAt knowhow long 4 "ersonally will be in the "ilotAs bucket &s 4 told you, 4will enforce the basic tenet that to" Gunther is to" boss##man, woman,

snake, fish, or monsterF

FTo" Gunther be damnedJF 7ao blaed F4 donAt and wonAt take orders fromany man##in hell or in heaven or on this Earth or on any "lanet ofanyF

F7aoJF (elcam" exclaimed, FPlease kee" still##"leaseJF

F$et her rave,F Garlock said, coldly FThis is just a three#year#oldbabyAs tantrum 4f she kee"s it u", 4All give her the damnedest jolt sheever got in all her s"oiled lifeF

Belle whistled shar"ly to call 7aoAs attention, then tight#beamed a

thought F4f youAve got any "art of a brain, slick chick, youAd betterstart using it The boy friend not only "lays rough, but he doesnAtbluffF

FTo hell with all thatJF 7ao rushed on F>e donAt have anything to dowith your organiation##go on back home or anywhere else you want to>eAll finish our own shi" and build our own organiation and run it tosuit ourselves >eAllF

FThatAs enough of thatF Garlock "enetrated her shield as easily as hehad the manAs, and held her in lock F!ou are not going to wreck this"roject !ou will start behaving yourself right now or 4All s"read yourmind wide o"en for Belle and (eggi to look at and see exactly what kind

of a half#baked jerk you are 4f that doesnAt work, 4All "ut you into aGunther#blocked cell aboard the Pleiades and kee" you there until theshi" is finished and we leave )argonia 8ow do you want itHF

7ao was shocked as she had never been shocked before &t first she triedviciously to fight but, finding that useless against the a""alling"ower of the mind holding hers, she sto""ed struggling and began reallyto think

FThatAs better !ouAve got what it takes to think with Go ahead and doitF

&nd 7ao Talaho did have it Plenty of it She learned

F4All be good,F she said, finally F8onestly 4Am ashamed, really, butafter 4 got started 4 couldnAt sto" But 4 can now, 4Am sureF

F4Am sure you can, too 4 know exactly how it is &ll us Primes have toget hell knocked out of us before we amount to a whoo" in 8ades (eggigot his one way, 4 got mine another, you got yours this way ;o, neitherof the others knows anything about this conversation and they wonAtThis is strictly between you and meF

F4Am awfully glad of that &nd 4 think 4 yes, damn you, thanksJF



F6h, 4 didnAt mean "hysicallyF

FThrough my blocksH & PrimeAs blocksH (onAt be ridiculous, 7aoJF

F>hat do you mean, AridiculousAHF 7ao sna""ed F!ou tried my blocks>hat did they feel like to you##mosDuito nettingH >hat 4 thought was6h, all he really said was that all Primes had to have hell knocked out

of them before they could be any good That he had had it one way, (eggianother, and me a third 4 see##you havenAt had yours yetF

F4 certainly havenAt &nd if he ever tries it, 4AllF

F6h, he wonAt 8e couldnAt, very well, because after youAre married, itwouldF

F(id the big lug tell you 4 was going to marry himHF

F6f course not ;o fringes, even But who else are you going to marryH4f the whole universe was clear full of the finest men imaginable##"uredreamboats, no less##can you even conceive of you marrying any one of

them exce"t himHF

F4Am not going to marry anybody EverF

F;oH !ou, with your PrimeAs mind and your PrimeAs body, not have anychildrenH &nd you tell me not to be ridiculousHF

That sto""ed Belle cold, but she wouldnAt admit it 4nstead##F4 donAtget it >hat did he do to you, anywayHF

7aoAs block set itself so tight that it took her a full minute to softenit down enough for even the thinnest thought to get through FThatAssomething nobody will ever know But anyway, unless unless you find

another Prime as strong as 3lee is##and 4 donAt really think there areany, do youHF

F6f course there arenAt ThereAs only one of his class, anywhere 8eAsit,F Belle said, with "rofound conviction

FThat makes it tough for you !ouAll have the toughest job imaginableThe very toughest 4 knowF

F8uhH >hat jobHF

FSince 3lee wonAt do it for you, and since nobody else can, youAll haveto just sim"ly knock hell out of yourselfF

&nd in GarlockAs room that night, getting ready for bed, Belle askedsuddenly, F3lee, what in hell did you do to 7ao TalahoHF

F;othing much SheAs a mighty good egg, reallyF

F3ould you do it, whatever it was, to meHF

F4 donAt know 4 never tried itF

F>ould you, then, if 4 asked you toHF



F;oF

F>hy notHF

F&nswer that yourselfF

F&nd it was Anothing much,A it says here in fine "rint But 4 think 4

know just about what it was (onAt 4HF

F4 wouldnAt be sur"risedF

F!ou knocked hell out of yourself, didnAt youHF

F4 lied to her about that 4Am still trying toF

FSo 4Ave got to do it to myself &nd 4 havenAt started yetHF

F3heck But youAre several years younger than 4 am, you knowF

Belle thought it over for a minute, then stubbed out her cigarette and

shrugged her shoulders F;o sale Put it back on the shelf 4 like mebetter the way 4 am That is, 4 think 4 do 4n a way, though, 4Amsorry, 3lee darlingF

F(arlingH Something new has been added 4 wish you really meant that,aceF

F4Am still AaceA after what 4 just saidH 4Am glad, 3lee A&ceA is everso much nicer than AchumAF

F&ce The to" of the deck !ou are, and always will beF

F&s for meaning it, 4 wish 4 didnAtF 'eady for bed, Belle was much more

com"letely and much less revealingly dressed than during her workinghours She slid into bed beside him, "ulled the covers u" to her chin,and turned off the light by glancing at the switch F4f 4 thoughtanything could ever come of it, though, 4Ad do it if 4 had to "oundmyself unconscious with a club But 4 wouldnAt be here, then,either##4Ad scoot into my own room so fast my head would s"inF

F!ou wouldnAt have to !ou wouldnAt be hereF

F4 wouldnAt, at that ThatAs one of the things 4 like so much about youBut honestly, 3lee##seriously, screens#down honestly##can you see any"ossible future in itHF

F;o ;either of us would give that much ;either of us can &nd thereAsnothing one#sided about it 4Am no more fit to be a husband than you areto be a wife &nd God hel" our children##theyAd certainly need itF

F>eAd never have any 4 canAt "icture us living in marriage for ninemonths without committing at least mayhem >hy, in just the little timeweAve been "aired, how many times have you thrown me out of this veryroom, with the fervent ho"e that 4Ad drown in dee" s"ace before you eversaw me againHF

F&t a guess, about the same number of times as you have stormed out



7ao threw back her silvery head and glared, but (elcam" jum"ed at thechance F>ould you, 9imHF

FSure##unless )iss Talaho objectsF

FShe wonAtF (elcam"As eyes locked with 7aoAs, and 7ao ke"t stillFThanks immensely, 9im &nd 4 know what you meanF 8e went over to acabinet of wide, flat drawers and brought back a sheaf of drawings ;ot

blue"rints, but original drawings in "encil FSuch as this 4 havenAteven got it designed yet, to say nothing of building itF

9ames began to leaf through the stack of drawings They were full oferasures, re#drawings, and such notations as FSee sheets C-#B, *C#&, and*-#7F 8alfway through the "ile he "aused, turned backward three sheets,and studied for minutes Then, holding that one sheet by a corner, hewent ra"idly through the rest of the stack

FThis is it,F he said then, "ulling the one sheet out and s"reading itflat F>hat we call :nit Eight##the heart of the driveF Then,tight#beamed to Garlock%

FThis is the thing that you designed in toto and that 4 never couldunderstand any "art of &ll 4 did was build it 4t must generate thosePrime fieldsF

FProbably,F Garlock flashed back F4 didnAt understand it any too wellmyself 8ow does it lookHF

F8e isnAt even close 8eAs got only half of the constants down, and halfof the ones he has got down are wrong $ook at this mess hereF

F4All take your word for it 4 havenAt your affinity for blue"rints, youknow, or your eidetic memory for themF

F(o you want me to give him the whole worksHF

F>eAll have to, 4 think 6r the shi" might not work at allF

F3ould be##but how about intergalactic ho"sHF

F8e couldnAt do it with the Pleiades, so he wonAt be able to withthis Besides, if we change it in any "articular he might !ou see, 4donAt know very much more about :nit Eight than you doF

FThat could be, tooF Then, as though just emerging from hisconcentration on the drawings, 9ames thought at (elcam" and 7ao, but onthe o"en, general band

F& good many errors and a lot of blanks, but in general youAre on theright track 4 can finish u" this drawing in a cou"le of hours, and wecan build the unit in a cou"le of days >ith that in "lace, the rest ofthe shi" will go fast

F4f )iss Talaho wants me to,F he concluded, "ointedly

F6h, 4 do, 9im##really 4 doJF &t long last, stiff#backed 7ao softenedand bent She seied both his hands F4f you can, itAd be too wonderfulfor wordsJF



F6kay 6ne Duestion >hy are you building your shi" so smallHF

F>hy, itAs "lenty big enough for two,F (elcam" said F7or four, in a"inch >hy did you make yours so bigH !our )ain is big enough almost fora convention hallF

FThatAs what we figured it might have to be, at times,F Garlock said

FBut thatAs a very minor "oint >ith yours so nearly ready to flit, nochange in sie is indicated now But Belle and 4 have got to haveanother conference with the legal eagle So if you and Brownie, 9im,will A"ort whatever you need out of the Pleiades, weAll be on our way

FSo long##see you in a few days,F he added, and the Pleiades vanishedto a""ear instantaneously high above the stratos"here over what was tobecome the Galaxian 7ield of Earth

FGot a minute, GeneHF he sent a thought

F7or you two Primes, as many as you like >e havenAt started building orfencing yet, as you suggested, but we have bought all the real estate

So land the shi" anywhere out there and 4All send a jee" out after youF

FThanks, but no jee" ;obody but you knows that weAve really got controlof the Pleiades, and 4 want everybody else to kee" on thinking itAsstrictly for the birds >eAll A"ort in to your office whenever you sayF

F4 say nowF

4n no time at all the two Primes were seated in the "rivate office ofEugene Evans, 8ead of the $egal (e"artment of the newly re#incor"oratedGalaxian Society of Sol, 4nc Evans was a tall man, slightly thin,slightly stoo"ed, whose thick tri#focals did nothing whatever to hidethe keenness of his steel#gray eyes

FThe first thing, Gene,F Garlock said, Fis this em"loyment contractthing 8ave you figured out a way to break itHF

F4t canAt be brokenF The lawyer shook his head

F8uhH 4 thought you to"#bracket legal eagles could break anything, ifyou really triedF

F& good many things, yes, es"ecially if theyAre long and com"licatedThe Standard Em"loyment 3ontract, however, is short, ex"licit, andiron#clad The em"loyer can discharge the em"loyee for any one of anumber of offenses, including insubordination which, as a matter of

fact, the em"loyer himself is allowed to define 6n the other hand, theem"loyee cannot Duit exce"t for some such fantastic reason as thenon#tendering##not non#"ayment, mind you, but non#tendering##ofsalaryF

F4 didnAt ex"ect that##it kicks us in the teeth before we get startedFGarlock got u", lighted a cigarette, and "rowled about the big roomF6kay 9im and 4 will have to get ourselves fired, thenF

F7iredJF Belle snorted F3lee, you talk like a man with a "a"er noseJ>ho else could run the ProjectH That is,F her whole manner changed Fhe



doesnAt know 4 can run it as well as you can##or better##but 4 couldtell him##and maybe you think 4 wouldnAtJF

F!ou wonAt have to Gene, you can start s"reading the news that BelleBellamy is a real, honest#to#God Prime 6"erator in every res"ect Thatshe knows more about Project Gunther than 4 do and could run it better7erber undoubtedly knows that Belle and 4 have been at loggerheads eversince we first met##s"read it thick that weAre fighting worse than ever

>hich, by the way, is the truthF

F7ightingH >hy, you seemed friendly enoughF

F!eah, we can be friendly for about fifteen minutes if we try real hard,as now The cold fact is, though, that sheAs just as much three#Duartershellcat and one#Duarter "otassium cyanide as sheF

F4 like thatJF Belle stormed She lea"ed to her feet, her eyesshooting s"arks F&ll my faultJ >hy, you self#centered, egotistical,domineering jerk, 4 could write a bookF

FThatAs enough##let it go##"leaseJF Evans "leaded 8e jum"ed u", took

each of the combatants by a shoulder, sat them down into the chairs theyhad vacated, and resumed his own seat FThe demonstration was eminentlysuccessful 4 will s"read the word, through several channels 3hancellor7erber will get it all, rest assuredF

F&nd 4All get the jobJF Belle sna""ed F&nd maybe you think 4 wonAttake itJF

F!eahHF came GarlockAs searing thought F!ouAd do anything to get it andto kee" it !eah 4 do thinkF

F6hHF BelleAs body stiffened, her face hardened F4Ave heard stories, ofcourse, but 4 couldnAt Duite but surely, he canAt be that

stu"id##to think he can buy me like so many "ounds of calf#liverHF

F8e surely is 8e does &nd it works That is, if heAs ever missed,nobody ever heard of itF

FBut how could a man in such a big job "ossibly get away with suchfoul stuff as thatHF

FBecause all the SSE is interested in is money, and &lono P 7erber isa tremendously able to" executive 4n the big black#and#red money booksheAs always Away, Away u" in the black, and nobody cares about hisconductF

Belle, even though she was already convinced, glanced Duestioningly atEvans

FThatAs it, )iss Bellamy ThatAs it, in a "recise, if somewhat crude,nutshellF

FThatAs that, then But just how, 3lee##if heAs as smart as you say heis##do you think you can make him fire youHF

F4 donAt know##havenAt thought about it yet But 4 could be "rettyinsubordinate if 4 really triedF



FThatAs the understatement of the centuryF

F4All devote the im"onderable force of the intellect to the "roblem andcheck with you later ;ow, Gene, about the "ro"osed Galactic Service,the 3ouncil, and so on >hat is the reactionH !ours, "ersonally, andothersHF

F)y "ersonal reaction is immensely favorable 4 think it the greatestadvance that humanity has ever made 4 have been very cautious, ofcourse, in discussing, or even mentioning the matter, but the reactionof everyone 4 have sounded##good men big men in their res"ectivefields##has been as enthusiastic as my ownF

FGood 4t wonAt sur"rise you, "robably, to be told that you are to bethis systemAs councillor and##if we can swing it and 4 think we can##thefirst President of the Galactic 3ouncilHF

Evans was so sur"rised that it was almost a minute before he could re"lycoherently Then% F4 am sur"rised##very much so 4 thought, of course,that you yourself wouldF

F7ar from itJF Garlock said, "ositively F4Am not the ty"e !ou are!ouAre better than anyone else of the Galaxians##which means than anyoneelse "eriod >ith the "ossible exce"tion of $ola, and she fits better onour ex"loration team 3heck, BelleHF

F3heck 7or once, 4 agree with you without reservation ThatAs a jobwe can work at all the rest of our lives, and scarcely start itF

FTrue##indubitably true 4 a""reciate your confidence in me, and if thevote so falls 4 will do whatever 4 canF

F>e know you will, and thank you 8ow long will it take to organieH &

cou"le of weeksH &nd is there anything else we have to cover nowHF

F& cou"le of weeksJF Evans was shocked F!ou are naive indeed, youngman, to think anything of this magnitude can even be started in such ashort time as that &nd yes, there are doens of matters##hundreds##thatshould be discussed before 4 can even start to work intelligentlyF

8ence discussions went on and on and on 4t was three days beforeGarlock and Belle A"orted themselves u" into the Pleiades and thestarshi" dis"laced itself instantaneously to )argonia

)eanwhile, on )argonia, 9ames 9ames 9ames the ;inth went directly to theheart of his job by leading $ola and 7ao into (elcam"As office and

setting u" its Gunther blocks

F!ou said you want me to build your starshi" 6kay, but 4 want youboth##7ao es"ecially##to realie exactly what that means 4 know what todo and how to do it 4 can handle your 6"erators and get the job done8owever, 4 canAt handle either of you, since you both out#Gunther me,and 4Am not going to try to But there canAt be two bosses on any onejob, to say nothing of three or seventeen So either 4 run the job or 4donAt 4f either of you ste"s in, 4 ste" out and donAt come back in &ndremember that youAre not doing us any favors##itAs strictly vice versaF



F9imJF $ola "rotested 7aoAs hackles were very evidently on the rise(elcam"As face was hardening F(onAt be so rough, 9im, "lease ThatAsno way toF

F4f you can "retty this u", "et, 4All be glad to have you say it for me8ereAs what you have to work on 4f 4 do the job theyAll have theirstarshi" in a few weeks The way theyAve been going, they wonAt have itin twenty#five years &nd the only way to get that bunch out there to

really work is to tell each one of them to coo"erate or else##andenforce the Aor elseAF

FBut theyAd DuitJF (elcam" "rotested FTheyAll all DuitJF

F>ith sus"ension or ex"ulsion from the Society the conseDuencesH8ardlyF 9ames said

FBut you wouldnAt do that##you couldnAtF

F4 wouldnAtHF

F6f course he wouldnAt,F $ola "ut in, soothingly, Fexce"t as a very last

resort &nd, even at worst, 9im could build it almost as easily withcommon labor !ou Primes donAt really have to have any 6"erators atall, you know but all your 6"erators together would be "erfectlyhel"less without at least one PrimeF

F8ow comeHF and F4n what wayHF (elcam" and 7ao demanded together

F6h, didnAt you knowH &fter the shi" is built and the fields are chargedand so on, everything has to be activated##the hundred and one thingsthat make it so nearly alive##and that is strictly a PrimeAs job Even9im canAt do itF

F4 see or, rather, 4 donAt see at all,F 7ao said, thoughtfully She

was no longer either excited or angry F& few weeks against twenty#fiveyears what do you think of his time estimate, (eg my dearHF

F4 hadnAt thought it would take nearly that long but this AactivationAthing scares me ;othing in my theory even hints at any such thingSo##if thereAs so much 4 donAt know yet, even in theory, it would take along time )aybe 4Ad never get itF

F>ell, anyway, 4 want our 3elestial Iueen done in weeks, not years,F7ao said, extending her hand to 9ames and shaking his vigorously FSo 4"romise not to interfere a bit 4f 4 feel any such urge coming on, 4Alldash home and lock myself u" in a closet until it dies 7air enoughHF

Since 7ao really meant it, that was fair enough

7or a whole day 9ames did nothing exce"t study blue"rints going over indetail and "ractically memoriing every drawing that had been made 8ethen went over the shi", studying minutely every "art, "late, member,machine and instrument that had been installed 8e noted what each manand woman was doing and what they intended to do 8e went over materialon hand and material on order, "aying "articular attention to times ofdelivery 8e then sent a few##sur"risingly few##telegrams

7inally he called all fourteen 6"erators together 8e told them exactly



what the revised situation was and exactly what he was going to do aboutit 8e invited comments

There was of course a riot of "rotest but##in view of what 9ames hadsaid anent sus"ensions and ex"ulsions from the Galaxian Society##not oneof them actually did Duit 7our of them, however, did a""eal to (elcam",considerably to his sur"rise, to oust the interlo"er and to "ut thingsback where they had been but they did not get much satisfaction

F9ames says that he can finish building this starshi" in a few weeks,F(elcam" told them, flatly FS"ecifically, three weeks, if we can get thes"ecial stuff made fast enough 7ao and 4 believe him Therefore, wehave "ut him in full charge 8e will remain in charge unless and untilhe fails in "erformance !ou are all good friends of 7aoAs and mine, andwe ho"e that all of you will stay with the "roject 4f, however, we mustchoose now between you##any one of you or all of you##and 9ames, thereis no need to tell you what the choice will beF

>herefore all fourteen went back to work grudgingly at first anddragging their feet 4n a very few hours, however, it became evident toall that 9ames did in fact know what he was doing and that the work was

going faster and smoother than ever before whereu"on all o""osition andall malingering disa""eared They were 6"erators, and they were allintensely interested in their shi" )orale was at a high

Thus, when the Pleiades landed beside the now seething 3elestialIueen, Garlock found 9ames with feet on desk, hands in "ockets, andscanner on head doing##a""arently##nothing at all ;evertheless, he wasa very busy man

F8ey, 9imJF & so"rano shriek of thought emanated from a gorgeousseventeen#year#old blonde F4 canAt read this funny#"icture, itAs beenfolded too many times >here does this lead go toHF

F(ata insufficient 3areful, ?ingie 4Ad hate to have to send you backto schoolF

FAScuse, "lease, 9unior :nit Six, Sub#&ssembly Tee (ash ;i#yunTerminal 7o#wer 7rom said terminal, thereAs a lead##Bee Subsomething#or#other##goes somewhere >hereHF

FB sub 7our 4t goes to :nit Seven, Sub#&ssembly I dash Three, TerminalTwo &nd watch your insulation##thatAs a mighty hot leadF

F:h#huh, 4 got that (ouble Sink )ill )ill 3lass &lbert (og <ittensThanks, bossJF

F8i, 9im,F Garlock said Then, to (elcam" F4 see youAre rollingF

F8eAs rolling, you meanF (elcam" had not yet recovered fully from astate of near#shock FSo thatAs what an eidetic memory isH 8e knowsevery nut, bolt, lead, and coil in the shi"JF

F)ore than that 8eAs checking every move everybody makes >hen theyAredone, you wonAt have to just ho"e everything was "ut togetherright##youAll know it wasF

9im was their man



&nd 7ao sidled over toward Belle There was something new about thesilver#haired girl, Belle decided instantly The difference wasslight##Belle couldnAt "ut her finger on it at first Sheseemed##DuieterH SofterH )ore subduedH ;o, definitely )ore feminineH;o that would be im"ossible )ore more adultH Belle hated to admitit, even to herself, but that was what it was

F(eg and 4 got married day before yesterday,F 7ao confided, via tightbeam

F6h##so youAre "regnantJF

F6f course 4 saw to that the first thing 4 knew youAd want to be thefirst one to know 6h, isnAt it wonderfulHF She seied BelleAs arm andhugged it ecstatically against her side F9ust too "erfectly marvelousfor anythingHF

F6h, 4Am sure it is and 4Am so ha""y for you, 7aoJF &nd it would havetaken the mind of a Garlock to "erceive anything either false or forcedin thought or bearing

;evertheless, when Belle went into GarlockAs room that night, stormsignals were flying high in her almost#to"a eyes

F7ao Talaho#(elcam" is "regnantJF she stormed, Fand itAs all yourfaultJF

F:h#huh,F he demurred, trying to sna" her out of her obviously savagemood F;ot me, ace ;ot a chance in the world 4t was (eggiF

F!ou you weaselJ !ou know very well, 3lee Garlock, what 4 meant4f you hadnAt given her that treatment sheAd have ke"t on fighting withhim and they wouldnAt have been married and had any children for

"ositively years So now sheAll have the first double#Prime baby andit ought to be mine 4Am older than she is##our grou" is Away ahead oftheirs##we have the first and only starshi"##and then you do that&nd you wouldnAt give me that treatment 6h, no##just to her, thatbleached#blondeJ 4Ad like to strangle you to death with my own barehandsJF

F>hat a hell of a logicJF Garlock had been trying to kee" his own tem"erin leash, but the leash was sli""ing F&ssume 4 tried to work onyou##assume 4 succeeded##what would you beH >hat would 4 haveH >hat agedo you think this is##that of the ?ikingsH >hen S6P in getting a wifewas to beat her unconscious with a club and drag her into the longboatby her hairH 8ardlyJ 4 do not want and will not have a conDuered woman

;or a s"oiled#rotten, mentally#retarded bratF

F!ou unbearable, conceited, overbearing jerkJ >hy, 4Ad ratherF

FGet outJ &nd this time, stay outJF

Belle got out##and if door and frame had not been built of su"er#steel,both would have been wrecked by the blast of energy she loosed inclosing the door behind her

4n her own room, with Gunther blocks full on, she threw herself face



FThus, sim"ly because you have lived a few years on one single "lanetand havenAt encountered anyone able to stand u" to you, youAve soldyourself on the idea that thereAs nobody, anywhere, who can !ouArewrong##you couldnAt be more so if you had an army to hel" you

F>hat, actually, have you doneH >hat, actually, have you gotHPractically nothing !ou havenAt even started a starshi" youAve

scarcely started making "lans !ou realie dimly that the theory is notin any of the books, that youAll have to slug it out for yourself, butthat is work So youAre still just "osing and throwing your weightaround

F&s a matter of fact, youAre merely a dro" in a lake There arethousands of millions of "lanets, and thousands of millions of Prime6"erators )ost of them are "robably a lot stronger than you are manyof them may be stronger than my "artner and 4 are 4 am not at allcertain that you will "ass even the first screening but since you arewithout Duestion a Prime 6"erator, 4 will deliver the message we came todeliver )iss )itala, do you want to listen or shall we drive it intoyou, tooHF

F4 want to listen to anyone or anything who has a working starshi" andwho can do what you have just doneF

F?ery well,F and Garlock told the general#distribution version of thestory of the Galactic Service

FIuite interesting,F Semolo said loftily, at its end F>hether or not 4would be interested de"ends, of course, on whether thereAs a "ositionhigh enough forF

F4 doubt very much if thereAs one low enough,F Garlock cut in shar"lyF8owever, since itAs "art of my job, 4All get in touch with you later

6kay, BelleF

&nd in the )ain##F>hat a jerkJF Belle exclaimed F>hat a half#cooked,half#digested "illJ 4 sim"ly marvel at your forbearance, 3lee !oushould have turned him inside out and hung him u" to dry##es"eciallybehind the earsJF Then, suddenly, she giggled FBut do you know what 4didHF

F4 can guess & cou"le of shots in the armHF

F:h#huh ;ext time he "itches into her sheAll sla" his ears right off6h, brotherJF

F3heck and double#check But letAs ho" to ;umber Two 8ere it isF

F6h, yes,F came a smooth, clear, diamond#shar" thought in re"ly toGarlockAs introductory call FThis world, as you have "erceived, is7alne 4 am indeed Baver CL>(*-, my com"anion Prime is indeed GlarreC*>(1C !ou are, we "erceive, Bearers of the Truth of great skill andof high advancement !our visit here will, 4 am sure, be of immensebenefit to us and "ossibly, 4 ho"e, of some small benefit to you >ewill both be delighted to have you both A"ort yourselves to us at onceF

The Tellurians did so##and in the very instant of a""earance Garlock was



They fired##and hit the mark dead center To"#lofty and arrogant andbelligerent as ever, the $iorian Prime took the call F4 thought allthe time you wanted something >ell, 4 neither want nor needF

F3ut it, you unlicked cub, until you can begin to use that half#liter ofgolo" you call a brain,F Garlock said, harshly F>eAre just trying out anew ultra#communicator Thanks for your hel"F

6n the fourth day they worked eleven "lanets the fifth day saw theforty#sixth "lanet done and the immediate job finished &ll duringsu""er, it was very evident that Belle had something on her mind

&fter eating, she went out into the )ain and slum"ed down on adaven"ort Garlock followed her & cigarette lea"ed out of a closed boxand into "lace between her li"s 4t came alight She smoked it slowly,without relish almost as though she did not know that she was smoking

F)ight as well get it out of your system, Belle,F Garlock said aloudF>hat are you thinking about at the momentHF

Belle exhaled the half#smoked butt vanished F&t the moment 4 was

thinking about Gunther blocks S"ecifically, their total inability toco"e with that new Prime "robe of yoursF She stared at him,narrow#eyed F4t goes through them just like nothing at allF She"aused eyed him Duestioningly

F;o commentF

F&nd yet you gave it to me 7reely, of your own accord Even before 4needed it >hyHF

FStill no commentF

F!ouAd better comment, Buster, before 4 blow my to"F

FThere is such a thing as urbanityF

F4Ave heard of it, yes even though you never did believe 4 ever hadany !ou talk a good game of urbanity, but your brand of it wouldnever carry you that farF

She "aused 8e remained silent She went on

F6f course, it does "ut a lot of "ressure on me to develo" myselfF

F4Am glad you used the word Adevelo"A instead of AtreatAF

F6h, sometimes##at rare intervals##4Am not exactly dumb But youknew##you must have known##what a horrible risk you took in making meas tremendously "owerful as you areF

FSome, "erha"s, but very definitely less risky than not doing itF

FGetting information out of you is harder than "ulling teeth 3leeGarlock, 4 want you to tell me whyJF

F?ery wellF GarlockAs jaw set F!ouAve had it in mind all along thatthis is some kind of a lark that you and 4 are Gunther To"s of the



you really loved That was why you were so glad to break ours off !oucanAt deny itF

F4 wonAt try to deny it But you canAt bluff me, Belle, so "lease Duittrying Basically, your code is the same as mine >hy else did youinitiate our breakHF

BelleAs block went solid, and Garlock said hastily, aloud, FExcuse it,

"lease 3ancel 4Ave just said, and know as an em"irical fact, thatyouAve got to do the job alone##but 4 canAt seem to hel" "utting my big,flat foot in it by blundering in anyway $etAs get to work, shall weHF

F>hat atH 4nterview the Primes, 4Ad say##tell them to hold themselves inreadiness to attendF

F6n very short noticeF

F!es To attend the big meeting on Tellus >eAll have to make aschedule 4t shouldnAt be held until after 7ao and (eggi get their shi"built##it canAt be held, of course, until after you and 9im are out ofSSE 8ave you got that figured out yetHF

FPretty muchF 8e told her his "lan

Belle giggled, then burst into laughter FSo 4Am in it, tooH>onderfulJF

F!ou have to be 4f we make him mad enough, heAll fire you, tooF

F>ithout hiring me firstH 8e couldnAtF

F8e could, very easily 8e doesnAt know one#tenth of one "ercent of his"eo"le 4f we work it right heAll assume that youAre one of uswage#slaves, too $ola, too, for that matterF

F3areful, 3lee !ou and 4 think this is funny, but $ola wouldnAt SheAdbe shocked to her sweet little core, and sheAd louse u" the whole dealSo be very sure she doesnAt get in on itF

F4 guess youAre right well, shall we go out and insult our touchyyoung friend SemoloH 'eady GoJF

F6h, itAs you again 4 tell youF the $iorian began

F!ou will tell me nothing !ou will listen $ink your mind to )italaAs,Fand the linked Tellurian minds enforced the order F4n about two weeksthe Primes of many worlds will meet in "erson on Tellus &rrange your

affairs so that on ten minutesA notice you both can leave $ioria forTellus aboard our starshi", the Pleiades That is allF

F8eAll come, too,F Belle chortled F8eAll writhe and scream, but heAllcomeF

F!ou couldnAt kee" him away,F Garlock agreed

6n the next "lanet, 7alne, the "rocedure was a little different Theinformation was the same, but##F6ne word of warning,F Garlock added F4tis to be a meeting of minds not a contest to set u" a "ecking#order 4f



you try any such business you will be disci"lined shar"ly and in"ublicF

FSu""ose that, under such conditions, we refuse to attend the meetingHF

FThat is your right There is no coercion whatever >hether or not youcome will de"end u"on whether or not you two are in reality Seekersafter Truth :ntil a dayF

&nd so it went Planet after "lanet 6n not one of those worlds had anyPrime changed his thinking ;ot one was really interested in theGalactic Service as an instrument for the good of all mankind Therewere almost as many attitudes as there were Primes but all wereessentially self#centered and selfish

FThat tears it, Belle##busts it wide o"en 4 can##4 mean we together cando either job That is, either be to" boss and run the thing or "ut infull time beating some sense into those hard skulls >e canAt do bothF

F6n "a"er, we should,F Belle said, thoughtfully F!ouAre Galactic&dmiral 4Am your ?ice 6ne job a"iece But weAre not going to be

se"arated BesidesF

FTwo NmindsO NbrainsO are much better than one,F both said, exce"t forone word, in unison

Belle laughed FThat settles that The Garlock#Bellamy fusion isGalactic &dmiral##so we need a good ?ice >hoH (eggi and 7aoH TheyArecoo"erative and idealistic enough, but 6h, 4 donAt know exactly whatit is they lack (o youHF

F;o 4 canAt "ut it into words or thoughts Probably the conce"t is toonew for "igeon#holing 4t isnAt exactly strength or hardness ortoughness or resilience or brisance##maybe a combination of all five

>hat we need is a "air like us but betterF

FThere arenAt anyF

F(onAt be too sureF Belle glanced at him in sur"rise and he went on%F;ot that weAve seen, no But each of those worlds centers a volume ofs"ace containing thousands of "lanets 4ncluding the Tellurian and the)argonian, we now have forty#eight regions defined $etAs run a veryfast search#"attern of 'egion 7orty#nine and see what we come u" withF

F&ll right but su""ose we do find somebody who out#Gunthers usHF

F4Ad a lot rather have it that way than the way it is now 4All do the

ho""ing, you the checking 8ereAs the first one##what do you readHF

F; GF

F&nd this oneHF

FThe sameF

F&nd thisHF

F(ittoF



F!our shi" should work and doesnAt,F Garlock said FShow me in detailF

&lsyne showed him

F6h, 4 see !ou didnAt work out Duite all the theory 4t has to beactivated $ike thisF Garlock showed &lsyne

F4 see ThanksF &lsyne disa""eared and was gone for some ten minutes8e rea""eared, grinning hugely behind his flaming wilderness of beardF4t works "erfectly for which our heartfelt thanks &nd now that mymind is at com"lete "eace with the universe, we will consider theutterly fascinating subject of your "ro"osed Galactic Service !ou twoTellurians, immature although you are, have made two tremendouscontributions to the advancement of the Scheme of Things##three, if youcount the starshi", which is com"aratively unim"ortant##each of suchim"ort that no human mind can foresee any fraction of its conseDuences7irst, your Prime 7ield, the "robe and its screenF

F3leeJF Belle drove the thought F!ou didnAt give him that, surelyJF

FTut#tut, my child,F Therea soothed her F!ou are alarming yourselfabout nothingF

FThe only trouble with you two youngsters is that you arenAt Duite##verynearly, of course, but very definitely not Duite##grown u"F &lsynesmiled again not only with mouth and eyes, but with his whole hairyface FTo the mature mind there is no such thing as status Each knowswhat he can do best and does it as a matter of course 'ank is notnecessary

FSecond, the unimaginably im"ortant contribution of the ability tocombine two dissimilar but intimately com"atible minds into onetremendously effective fusion >hile Therea and 4 have had only a few

moments to "lay with it, we realie some of its "ossibilities Thus,since she is a (octor of 8umanitiesF

F6h,F Belle interru"ted FThatAs why you knew what 4 was thinkingabout, even though 4 tight#beamed the thought and my screens weretightHF

FExactly so But to continue >ith her sym"athy and em"athy, and mydriving force and so on, the job of licking these young Primes intosha"e is, as your idiom has it, Astrictly our dishA 4t is a trulydelicious thought

F!ou two, on the other hand, have much that we lack Breadth and de"th

and sco"e of imagination and of vision yet almost incredible will#"owerand stamina and resolveF

FThatAs the word 4 was trying to think of##will#"ower,F Belle flasheda thought at Garlock

F Dualities virtually always mutually exclusive but the combinationof which makes your fusion uniDuely Dualified to lead and direct thisnew and magnificent movement But Therea and 4 have been idle andfrustrated far too long >e can be of most use, at the moment, on)argonia working with the 7ao#(eggi unit Therefore, with renewed dee"



thanks, we goF

)an and wife disa""eared and, ten seconds later, the Thakern starshi"vanished from its world

F>ell, what do you think of thatHF Belle gas"ed F4 was actuallyafraid to think, even behind a Prime screen 4 donAt know yet whether4 want to kiss Aem or kill AemF

F4 do That guy is really a Prime, Belle 8eAs older, bigger, and a lotbetter than 4 amF

F:h#uh,F she demurred, "ositively F6lder, yes )ore mature##you baby,youJF She snickered gleefully F4f he hadnAt included you in that crack4AdAve stabbed him, so hel" me, even though it wasnAt true 8e saidhimself itAs you who has got what it takes to lead and direct, nothimF

F:s >e, 4 mean,F he corrected, absently

F:h#huh us#we 6ne, now and forever 8ot (ogJ &nyway, he wants us to

and we want to so everythingAs lovely and so letAs get to work on 7atsoand his 7oster 4 think we ought to have some fun for a change andthatAll be a lot >hen do we want to hit himHF

F&ny day )onday through 7riday ;ine#fifteen &) Eastern (aylight timePlus or minus one minuteF

F;iceJ 3atch him in flagrante delicto $ovely##shovel on the coal, myintre"id engineerJF

6n a >ednesday morning, then, at twelve minutes "ast nine E(T, thePleiades hung "oised, high over the 3hancellery of Solar SystemEnter"rises, 4ncor"orated

F'emember, BelleJF Garlock was "acing the )ain FTo kee" Aem staggeringweAll have to land slugging and beat Aem to every "unch !ou did awonderful job on her last time, and itAs been eating on her ever sinceSheAs "robably been rehearsing in front of a mirror just how sheAs goingto tear you a"art next time and just how sheAs going to s"it out the"ieces $ast time, you were cold, stiff, rigidly formal, and "olite Sothis time itAll be me, and 4All be hot and bothered, dirty, low, coarse,lewd, and very, very roughF

Belle threw back her head and laughed F'oughH !es ?icious,contem"tuous, or ugly yes & master of fluent, biting, and "yrotechnic"rofanity yes But low or dirty or coarse or lewd, 3leeH 6r any one of

the four, to say nothing of them allH :h#uh 7erberAs a filthy beast, ofcourse but even he knows youAre one of the cleanest men that everlived TheyAd know it was an actF

F;ot unless 4 give Aem time to think##or unless you do, before he fires9im##in which case weAll lose the game anyway But how about youH 4f 4can knock Aem too groggy to think, will you carry on and kee" Aem thatwayHF

F>atch my blastsJF Belle giggled gleefully F4 never tried anything likethat##any more than you have##but 4All guarantee to be just as low,



dirty, coarse, lewd, and crude as you are Probably more so, because inthis "articular case itAll be fun !ou see, youAre a man##you canAt"ossibly des"ise and detest that slimy stinker either in the same way oras much as 4 doF

FThis ought to be good 3ut the ro"e, 9imF

Even before the starshi" came to rest, Garlock drove a "robe into the

sanctum sanctorum of the 3hancellery##an utterly unheard#of act ofinsolence

F7osterJ This is the Pleiades coming in Garlock calling 8ot u" thetri#di and the recorder, Toots Put 7atso on, and sna" into it 4said shake a legJF

F>hy, 4 !ouF

FSto" stuttering and come to life, you half#witted bagJ Gimme 7erber andhurry it u"##this shi"As trickyF

F>hy, you 4 neverF 7erberAs outraged 7irst Secretary could

scarcely talk F8e he isF

F4 know, Babe, 4 know##4 could set that to music and sing it, withgestures A3hancellor 7erber is in conference and cannot be disturbed,AFhe mimicked, savagely FPut him on now##but DuickJF

The tri#di tank brightened u" 3hancellor 7erberAs image a""eared 8ewas disheveled, sur"rised and angry, but Garlock gave him no chance tos"eak

F>ell, 7atso##at lastJ >here the hell have you been all morningH 4want some stuff, just as fast as God will let you get it together,F andhe began to read off, as fast as he could talk, a long list of highly

technical items

7erber tried for many seconds to break in, and Garlock finally allowedhim to do so

F&re you cray, GarlockHF he shouted F>hat in hellAs name are youbothering me with that stuff forH !ou know better than that##makeout your reDuisitions and send them through channelsJF

F3hannels, hellJF Garlock shouted back F8asnAt it got through yourfour#inch#thick skull into your idiotAs brain yet that 4Am in a hurryH 4donAt want this stuff today 4 want it day before yesterday##this damnedjunk#hea" is a"t to fall a"art any minute So Duit goggling and

slobbering at me, you wall#eyed, slimy, fat toad Get that three hundredweight of suet into action 8um" yourselfJF

F!ou you >hy, 4 was never so insultedF

F4nsultedH !ouHF Garlock out#roared him F$isten, 7atso 4f 4 ever setout to really insult you, youAll know it##itAll blister all the "aintoff the walls &ll 4Am trying to do now is get you off that fat butt ofyours and get some actionF

7erber became "ur"le and "ounded his desk in consuming anger



whole galaxy is fairly crawling with double#PrimesF

FThatAs funny##so does 3lee But there are other things##strictly notangles##that she hasnAt thought of, too 4f those coveralls were half aninch tighter theyAd choke her to death !ouAd think sheAdF

F8uhHF 7ao interru"ted F!ou should scream##oh, that ridiculousTellurian "rudF

F4t isnAt ridiculousJF Belle sna""ed F&nd it isnAt "rudishness,either##not with me, anyway 4tAs just that,F she ran an indicativeglance over 7aoAs lean, trim flanks and hard, flat abdomen, Fit s"oilsyour figure 4tAs only tem"orary, of course, butF

FS"oils itJ >hy, how utterly idioticJ >hy, itAs magnificentJ 9ust assoon as it starts to show on me, Belle, 4Am going to start wearing onlyhalf as many clothes as 4Ave got on nowF

F!ou couldnAtF Belle eyed the other girlAs bathing#suit#like garmentExce"t for being blue instead of yellow, it was the same as the one shehad worn before F;ot without the $eague for Public (ecency sending the

wagon out after youF

F6h, )iss Ex"erienceH >ell, three#Duarters, maybeF

F8ey, you twoJF came (elcam"As hail F8ow about cutting the gab andgetting some work doneHF

F3oming, bossJ AScuse it, "leaseJF and two fast and skillful women wentefficiently to work

>ith six Prime 6"erators on the job the work went on very ra"idly, yetwithout error The 3elestial Iueen was finished, tested, and found"erfect, one full day ahead of 9amesA most o"timistic estimate for

construction alone The six Primes conferred

F(o you want us to hel" you "ick u" the other PrimesHF (elcam" askedF!our )ain, big as it is, will be crowded, and we have three shi"s herenow instead of oneF

F4 donAt think so no,F Garlock decided F>e told Aem weAd do it, andin the Pleiades, so weAd better :nless, &lsyne, you donAt agreeHF

F4 agree The "oint, while of course minor, is very well taken >e andour 6"erators##we brought six along ex"erts in their variousfields##can serve best by working on Tellus with its Galaxian Society ingetting ready for the meetingF

F6h, of course,F 7ao said FProbably (eg and 4 should do the samethingHF

FThat would be our thoughtF The two Thakerns were thinking##andle""ing##in fusion F8owever,F they went on carefully, Fit must not beand is not our intent to sway you in any action or decision >hile notall of you four, "erha"s, are as yet fully mature, not one of you shouldbe subjected to any additional exterior stressesF

F4 ho"e you donAt think that way about all Primes,F Garlock said,



>herefore the undertaking was neither easy nor "leasant and bothTellurians were tremendously relieved when, the last "air "icked u",they flashed the starshi" back to Tellus and (elcam", 7ao, and theThakerns A"orted themselves aboard

FGive me your attention, "lease,F Garlock said, cris"ly Then, after amoment, F&ny and all who are not tuned to me in five seconds will bereturned immediately to their home "lanets and will lose all contact

with this grou"

FThatAs better 7or some of you this has been a very long day 7or allof you it has been a very trying day !ou were all informed "reviouslyas to what we had in mind 8owever, since you are young and callow, andwere thoroughly convinced of your own omniscience and omni"otence, it isnatural enough that you derived little or no benefit from thatinformation !ou are now facing reality, not your own fantasies

FEach "air of you has been assigned a suite of rooms in Galaxian 8allEach suite is furnished a""ro"riately each is fully Gunthered forself#service

FThis meeting has not been announced to the "ublic and, at least for the"resent, will not be Therefore none of you will attem"t to communicatewith anyone outside Galaxian 8all &nyone making any such attem"t willbe sur"rised

FThe meeting will o"en at eight oAclock tomorrow morning in theauditorium The Thakerns and the )argonians will now inform you as toyour DuartersF There was a moment of flashing thought F(ismissedF

&t one second before eight oAclock the auditorium was em"ty &t eightoAclock, ninety#eight human beings a""eared in it six on the stage, therest occu"ying the first few rows of seats

FGood morning, everybody,F Garlock said, "leasantly FEveryone beingrested, fed, and having had some time in which to consider the changedreality faced by us all, 4 ho"e and am inclined to believe that we canattain friendshi" and accord >e will s"end the next hour in becomingacDuainted with each other >e will walk around, not tele"ort >e willmeet each other "hysically, as well as mentally >e will learn eachotherAs forms of greeting and we will use them This meeting isadjourned until nine oAclock##or, rather, the meeting will begin thenF

7or several minutes no one moved &ll blocks were locked at maximumEach Prime used only his eyes

Physically, it was a scene of almost over"owering "erfection The men

were, without exce"tion, handsome, strong, and magnificently male Thewomen, from heroically#framed 7ao Talaho u"##or downH##to sur"risinglyslender )irea )itala, all were arrestingly beautiful breathtakingly"ro"ortioned s"ectacularly female

3lothing varied from com"lete absence to almost com"lete coverage, witha bewildering variety of intermediate conditions 3olor was ram"ant

8air##or lack of it##was also an individual and highly variant matterSome of the women, like Belle and 7ao, were content with one solid butunnatural shade 6ne shaven head##)irea )italaAs##was dee"ly tanned, but



unadorned, even though the rest of her body was almost covered by"recious stones &nother was decorated with geometrical and esotericdesigns in eye#searing colors & third su""orted a structure##it couldnot "ossibly be called a hat##of s"un metal and gems

&mong the medium#and long#hairs there were two#, three#, and multi#tonedjobs galore Some of the color#combinations were harmonious some wereshar"ly contrasting, such as black and white some looked as though

their wearers had used the most violently#clashing colors they couldfind

The "rie#winner, however, was Therea of ThakerAs enormous, inex"licablemo" and it was that "henomenon that first broke the ice

The girl with the decorated scal" had been glancing Duestioningly atneighbor after neighbor, only to be met by uncom"romising stares7inally, however, her gae met another, as interested as her own Thissecond girl, whose coiffure was a high#"iled confection of black, white,yellow, red, blue, and green, half#masted her screen and said%

F6h, thanks, 9ethay of $odie#!ann 4Am glad everybody isnAt going to

stay locked u" all day 4Am Ginseona of PasDuerone They call me A9inAwhenever they want to call me anything "rintable &nd this,F she dug aknuckle into her com"anionAs short ribs, whereu"on he jum"ed, whirledaround, lowered his screen, and grinned, Fis my the boy friend,Parleof &lso of PasDuerone, of course Par, both 9ethay and 4F

F3all me A9etA##everybody does,F 9ethay said% almost shyly, for a Prime

FBoth 9et and 4 have been wondering about that womanAs hair##over there8ow could you "ossibly give a head of hair a static charge of fifty ora hundred kilovolts and not have it leak offHF

F!ou couldnAt, unless it was a "erfectly#insulated wig but it looks

as though she did, at thatF and Parleof "aused in thought

F)aybe Byuk would have an idea or two,F and 9et uttered aloud a doen orso crackling syllables that sounded as though they could have beenladylike "rofanity >hatever they were, Byuk jum"ed, too, and tuned inwith the other three

F6h, itAs Duite easy, really,F Therea said then F$ookF 8er mass ofhair cascaded gracefully down around her neck and shoulders F$ookagainF Each hair stood fiercely out all by itself, exactly as beforeF&ll you young "eo"le will learn much more difficult and much moreim"ortant things before this meeting is over 4 cannot tell you how glad4 am that so many of you are hereF

&nd so it went, all over the auditorium 6nce cracked, the ice broke u"fast

7ao and (elcam" worked hard so did Belle and Garlock &lsyne was a"otent force indeed##his abounding vitality and his tremendous smilebroke down barriers that logic could not affect &nd Therea workednear#miracles did more than the other five combined 8er sym"athy, herem"athy, her understanding and feeling, were as great as $olaAs own hero"erative ability was as much greater than $olaAs as $olaAs was greaterthan that of a bobby#soxed babysitter



F>hat do you think, ThakerHF Belle asked F!ouAre smarter than we areF

F>hat Thaker thinks has no bearing,F Garlock said

Belle, 7ao, and (elcam" all began to "rotest at once, but they weresilenced by Thaker himself

FGarlock is right )y "eo"le are not your "eo"le 4 know not at all how

your "eo"le think or what they will or will not believe 4 goF

FThat lets (eg and me out too then, double#"lus,F 7ao said with a grin,Fso weAll leave that baby on your la"s >e go, tooF

F>ell, little )iss >eisenheimer,F Garlock smiled Duiically at Belle,F!ou grabbed the ball##what are you going to do with itHF

F;othing, 4 guessF Belle thought for a minute F>e couldnAt stuffany "art of that down the throat of a sim"le#minded six#year#old >ehavenAt really got anything, anyway Time enough, 4 think, when wehave six or seven hundred "lanets in each region, instead of only one"lanet )aybe weAll know something by then (oes that make senseHF

F4t does to me,F Garlock said, and the others agreed

FThat Thakern Awe goA business sounds rough at first, but itAscontagious 7ao and (eggi caught it, and 4 feel like 4Am coming downwith it myself 8ow about you, 3leeHF

F>e go,F Belle and Garlock said in unison, and vanished

&board the Pleiades, the next few days "assed Duietly enough 9amesset u", in the starshi"As memory banks, a seDuence to mass#"roduceinstruction ta"es and blue"rints Garlock and Belle began systematicallyto ex"lore the Tellurian 'egion ;ow, however, their techniDue was

different 4f either Prime of any world was not enthusiastic about the"roject##

F?ery well Think it over,F they would say F>e will get in touch withyou again in about a year,F and the starshi" would go on to the next"lanet

6n Earth, however, things became less and less tranDuil with every daythat "assed 7or, in deciding not to "ublish anything, Garlock had notconsidered at all the basic function and the tremendous ability, "ower,and sco"e of The Press &nd Galaxian 8all had never before been closedto the "ublic not for any hour of any day of any year of its existence& non#"rofit organiation, de"endent u"on the "ublic for its tremendous

income, the Galaxian Society had always courted that "ublic in every"ossible ethical way

Thus, in the first hour of closure, a bored re"orter came out, read thesmoothly#"hrased notice, and le""ed it in to the desk 4t might beworth, he thought, half an inch

$ater in the day, however, the worldAs most sensitive news#nose began toitch (id, or did not, this Duiet, unannounced closing smellever#so#slightly of cheeseH >herefore, Benjamin Bundy, the newscasterwho had covered the starshi"As maiden flight, went out himself to look



joy when the four wanderers came back to s"end the week end on Earth

F4All talk to Aem,F Garlock decided, after the long story had been toldF8ave somebody get hold of Bundy and ask him to come outF

FGet hold of himJF Banks snorted F8eAs here Twenty#four hours a dayEating sandwiches and cat#na""ing on chairs in the lobby &ll you haveto do is unseal that doorF

Garlock flung the door wide Bundy rushed in, followed by a more#or#lesssteady stream of some fifty other to"#bracket news"eo"le, both men andwomen

F>ell, Garlock, "erha"s you will give us some screens#down factsHFBundy asked, angrily

F4All give you all the screens#downF

F3leeJF F!ouAre crayJF F!ou canAtJF F(onAtJF Belle and all the6"erators "rotested at once

4gnoring the objections, Garlock cut his shield to half and gave thewhole grou" a true account of everything that had ha""ened in thegalaxy Then, while they were all too stunned to s"eak, a grin ofsaturnine amusement s"read over his dark, five#oAclock#shadowed face

F!ou "estiferous gnats insisted on grabbing the ball,F he sneered F;owletAs see you run with itF

Bundy came out of his trance F>hat a storyJF he yelled F>eAll"laster itF

F!eah,F Garlock said, dryly F>hat a story ExactlyF

F6hF Bundy deflated suddenly F!ouAll have to "rove it##demonstrateit##of courseF

F6f courseH !ou tickle me ;ot only do 4 not have to "rove it, 4 wonAt4 wonAt even confirm itF

Bundy glared at Garlock, then whirled on Banks F4f you donAt give methis in sha"e to use, youAll never get another line or mentionanywhereJF

F6h, noHF 7or the first time in his "rofessional life Banks gloated,o"enly and avidly F7rom now on, my friend, who is in the saddleH >ho isgoing to come to whomH 6h, brotherJF

>hen the fuming newsmen had gone, Garlock said, F4tAll leak, of courseF

F6f course,F Banks agreed FA4t is rumored A Afrom a usually reliablesource A and so on ;othing definite, but each one of them will wantto "ut out the first and biggestF

FThatAs what 4 figured 4tAll have to break sometime and 4 thoughteasing it out would be best but wait a minuteF he thought fortwo solid minutes FBut weAre going to need a lot of money, and weArejust about broke, arenAt weHF This thought was addressed to 7rank )acey,



the GalaxiansA treasurer

F>orse than broke##much worseF

F4 could loan you a cou"le of credits, 7rank,F Belle said, brightlyFBut go ahead, 3leeF

FPeo"le like to be sidewalk su"erintendents Su""ose they could watch

the construction of an out"ost so far away that nobody ever dreamed ofever getting there 3ould you do anything with that, 9erryHF

F3ould 4J 9ustJF and Banks, went into a rha"sody

FThatAs the first good idea any one of you crack"ots has had for fiveyears,F )acey said, suddenly FBut wouldnAt trans"ortation of materialand so on "resent "roblemsHF

F;o just buying it,F Garlock said, soberly F6h, rather, "aying foritF

F;o trouble thereF

F>hatHF Belle exclaimed FA;o trouble,A it says here in fine "rintH 8owthe old skinflint has changed##instead of screaming his head off abouts"ending money heAs actually offering to 7rank, 4All loan you threecreditsJF

F8ush, honey#chile, the men#folks are talking man#business $ook, 3lee>eAll use the Pleiades at first, while weAre building a regulartrans"ort & hundred "assengers "er tri", one thousand credits onewayF

F>owJF Belle "ut in F6ur ex#skinflint is now a bare#faced,legally#"rotected robberF

FBy no means, Belle,F Evans said F8ow much would that be "er mileHF

FSay ten round tri"s "er day That would be twenty million a day grossfor a small shi" not intended for "assenger service >hen we get shi"sbuilt and the extrasF The money#man went into a financial revelof his own

F$ots of extras,F Banks agreed F&nd oh, brother, what a"ublic#relations dream of heavenJF

F)aybe 4Am dumb,F Garlock broke in, Fbut just what are you going to usefor money to get startedHF

FThe minute we confirm any "art of the story, the credit of the GalaxianSociety will jum" from =#6 to &&#&CF

F6h So Belle and 4 will have to lose our Pleiades for a while 4donAt like that, but we do need the money but we can have her forthis coming weekHF

F6f courseF

FSo maybe weAd better break the story now, instead of letting it leakF



F3an you, after what you just told themHF

FSure 4 canF 8e set his mind and searched FBundy, this is GarlockF

FSo what am 4 su""osed to do##burst into tears of joyHF

FSave it 4 changed my mind !ou can break it as fast and as hard as you

like 4All "lay alongF

F!eahH >hy the switchH >hatAs the angleHF

FStrictly commercial Get it from BanksF

F&nd youAll##"ersonally##go on my hour with itHF

F!es &lso, weAll demonstrate##take you to any star#system in thegalaxy !ou and all the rest of the newshawks who were here and anyfifty ?4PAs you want to invite Tomorrow morning all right with youHF

F!ou, "ersonally, in the PleiadesHF Bundy insisted

FBetter than that The other two starshi"s, too !ouAve gotthem##"articularly those four Primes##clearly in mindHF

F;ot exactly, there was so much of it S"read it on me now, huhHFGarlock did so FThanks, "al, for the scoo" 4All crash it right now,and follow u" with Banks AByeJF

FThink you can deliver on that, 3leeHF Banks asked

FSure Both (eggi and &lsyne will need a lot of extra money, fastTheyAll "lay alongF

They did and that three#starshi" tour##which visited twenty solarsystems instead of one##was the most sensational thing old Earth hadever s"awned

Belle and Garlock did not s"end that week end on Earth F>e go,F theysaid, as soon as the Pleiades was em"ty of "ressmen, and they took9ames and $ola along F4f we never see another such brawl as this isgoing to be,F Belle told Banks, who was basking in glory and entreatingthem to stay on for the show, Fit will be exactly twenty minutes toosoonF

Thus it came about that EarthAs first four dee"#s"acemen were com"letelyout of reach when unex"ected develo"ments began

&lono P 7erber was one of the ?4PAs on BundyAs "ersonally#conductedtour of the stars &s has been said, he was a very able executive 8ehad an extremely keen "rofit#sense This new thing smelled##sim"lyreeked##of money SSE would have to get in on it

7erber was not thin#skinned where money was concerned it would nevereven occur to him to cherish grudges or to retain animosities >hereforeSSEAs "urchasing de"artment suggested to the Galaxian Society thatnegotiations be o"ened concerning licenses, franchises, royalties, andso on These suggestions were "olitely but firmly brushed off Then



emissaries were sent, of ever#increasing caliber and weight ;ext,7erber himself tried the tri#di and finally, he came in "erson

'ebuffed, he made such legally#sound threats that Evans and )acey agreedto a meeting stating flatly, however, that no commitments could"ossibly be made without the knowledge and a""roval of the SocietyAs"resident, 3leander Garlock Thus, at the meeting, the Galaxians madeonly two statements that were even a""roximately definite 6ne was that

Garlock would "robably return to Earth during the afternoon or eveningof the following 7riday the other that they would take the matter u"with Garlock as soon as they could

&fter that meeting )acey was un"erturbed, but Evans was a dee"ly worriedman

F!ou see,F he ex"lained, Fthe real crux was not even mentionedF

F;oH >hat is it, thenHF

F6"erators, Primes, and the "ractically non#existent laws "ertaining totheir whatH $aborH SkillH GeniusH 7or instance, could Garlock be

forced to do whatever it is that he doesH 6n the other hand, if 7erberoffered Belle Bellamy five million credits a year to AworkA for SSE, isthere anything we could do about itHF

F6h 4 thought all there was to it was that youAd delay Aem for a yearor so and thatAd be itF

F7ar from it To date 4 have listed fifty#eight "oints for which, as faras we can learn, there are no "recedents,F and the lawyer called ameeting of his staff

7or Belle and Garlock, the week went fast 6n 7riday afternoon, highabove EarthAs Galaxian 7ield, Garlock said, more than half regretfully,

F;o more fun Back to the desk Back to the salt#minesF

F4 wee" for you,F Belle snickered FSob, sob Shed him a tear, $olaF

F6ne tear coming u" 6h, woe oh, woeF

F6h, whoaJF 9ames snorted F>hy the sob#and#moan routine, 3lee, from aguy whoAs going to be monarch of all he surveysHF

F8is conscience aches him,F Belle ex"lained FThis monarching businessis tough if you havenAt thought about how to monarch, and he hasnAt8ave you, 3leeHF

F;ot a lickF Garlock smiled slightly F4 been busyF

F!ou better start to,F she advised, darkly F!ou arenAt busy now and wehave an hour >e better confer##4All make like a slave#driverF

They A"orted into his room and he set the blocks 8is attitude changedinstantly F;ice act, Belle >hat was it all aboutHF

FThat theory of yours !our "redictions are too uncannily accurate to beguesswork, and the more times you dead#center the bullseye the worsescared 4 get 4 really want to know, 3leeF



F8old itJF Garlock sna""ed 8is face hardened into intenseconcentration Then% F(o you think youAre kidding, BelleHF

F>hy, of course 4Am kidding, you bigF

F$ook here, thenF 8e "icked u" a "encil and filled in blank after blankafter blank F4Am making one unjustifiable assum"tion##that thePleiades is the first intergalactic starshi" The su"er#being is a

female, and she is just becoming "regnantF

F7la"doodleJ There are no blood cells in a s"erm, and 4 donAt thinkthere are any in an ovumF

F4 didnAt mention either s"erm or ovum The analogy is so loose herethat it holds only in the broadest, most general terms The actual"rocess of re"roduction is unknowable But wherever we went, we changedthings ;ot only by what we actually did, but also as acatalyst##noF

F;o, not a catalyst & hormoneF

FExactly Each of these changes would cause others, and so on &ninfinite series 3alling the first three terms al"ha, beta, and gamma,we o"erate like thisF GarlockAs "encil was flying now F7ollowingmeHF

F6n your tailF Belle was breathing hard as the blank s"aces becamefewer and fewer her face began to turn white

F7rom this we get that and that makes the whole bracket tie intothe same conclusion 4 had before So, exce"t for that one assum"tion,itAs solidF

F)y $ord, 3leeJF Belle studied the chart F4 mentioned ;ewton and

Einstein add to that Athe brain of a Garlock, better than eitherAFThen, seeing his reaction, F!ouAre blushing 4 didnAt thinkF

F3ut the comedy !ou know 4 couldnAt carry either of their hats to adog#fightF

F&nd 4 would never have believed that you are basically modestF

F4 said cut out the kidding, BelleF

F4Am deadly serious & brain that could do that,F she waved at thechart, F well, even 4 am not enough of a heel to belittle one of themost tremendous intuitions ever achieved by man ;ot that 4 like it

4tAs horrible 4t denies mankind everything that made him come u" fromthe slime##everything that made him manF

F;ot at all ;othing is changed, in manAs own frame of reference 4tmerely takes our thinking one ste" farther That ste", of course, isnAteasyF

FThat is the understatement of all time >hat it will do, though, isset u" an inferiority com"lex that would wi"e out the whole human raceF

FThere might be some slight tendency &lso, since my basic assum"tion



canAt be justified, the whole thing may be fallacious So 4Am not goingto "ublish itF 8e glanced at the chart and it vanished

F3leeJF Belle stared, almost goggle#eyed F>ith your nameH Thetremendous s"lash 4 see !ouAre really grown u"F

F;ot all the way, "robably but "retty nearly##4 ho"eF

FBut some of the not exactly corollaries, butF BelleAs face,which had regained some of its color, began again to "ale

F>hich one of the manyHF

FThe most shattering one, to me, concerns intelligence 4f it is truethat our vaunted mentality is only that of one blood cell com"ared tothat of a whole brain and that intelligence is banked, level u"onlevel well, itAs sim"ly mind#wrecking 4Ave been trying madly not tothink of that conce"t, at all, but 4 canAt "ut it off much longerF

F;owAs as good a time as any 4All hold your handF

F!ouAd better hold more of me than that, 4 thinkF

F4All do even that, in a good causeF 8e "ut his arms around her heldher close FGo ahead 7ace it &ll the way down and all the way u"!ouAve got what it takes !ouAll come back sane and itAll never botheryou againF

She closed her eyes, "ut her head on his shoulder 8er every muscle wenttense

;either of them ever knew how long they stood there, close#clas"ed andmotionless in silence but finally her muscles loosened She lifted herhead raised her brimming eyes

F&ll the way downHF he asked

FTo almost a geometrical "ointF

F&nd all the way u"HF

F4 touched the fringe of infinityF

F4ntelligence all the wayHF

F&ll the way 4 couldnAt understand any of them, of course, but 4 lookedeach one sDuarely in the eyeF

FGood girl &nd youAre still saneF

F&s much so as ever more so, maybeF She disengaged herself, satdown on the bed, lighted a cigarette, and smoked half of it Then shestood u" F3lee, if anything in the whole universe ever knocked hell outof anything, that did out of me 4Am going to do something that willtake about ten minutes >ill you wait right hereHF

F6f course Take all the time you wantF



F6r what a life it would be So letAs cho" this and get back to you andmeF

F:h#huh, letAs,F she agreed, but in a severely "ractical tone F!ouAvegot li"stick even on your shirt So change it and 4All go "ut on a newface and bring over some stuff and clean you u"F

>hile she cleaned, she talked F4 told you our next kiss would be

different, but 4 had no idea wowJ That will be as much different,too, 4Am sure 8m#h#h#nhHF &gain she "ressed herself against himthis time in a somewhat different fashion

FSto" that, you little devil, or 4AllF 8is arms came u" ofthemselves, but he forced them back down F ;o, 4 wonAt >eAll savethat for tonight, tooF

F4All behave myselfJF She laughed, "ure joy in voice, eyes, and smileF4 bet myself you wouldnAt and 4 wonJ !ouAre tall, solid gold, 3leedarling##the absolute to"F

FThanks, sweetheart 4 wish that were true,F he said, soberly FBut 4

canAt hel" wondering if two such hellions as you and 4 are can make a goof marriage##no, cancel that >eAll do it##all we have to figure out ishowF

F4 know what you mean ;ot at first##itAll be "urely wonderful then&fter five years, say, when the glamor has worn off and 4Ave had threeof our six children and two of them are in bed with the e"iootic and4Am all fraled out and youAre strung u" tight as a bowstring withoverwork andF

F8old itJ :h#uh ;o 4f we can live together six months##or even sixweeks##without killing each other, weAll have it made 4tAs at firstthat itAll be rugged ;o matter how rugged it gets, though, weAll know

one thing for certain sure >e couldnAt live a"art ThatAll give usenough leverage 3heckHF

F&nd double checkF She giggled sunnily F4All take care of any and allsituations, whatever they are, that arise in the first six months!ouAll be res"onsible for the next sixty years ThatAs a "erfectly fairand eDuitable division of res"onsibility ;ow kiss me and weAll goF

>hen Garlock cut the Gunther blocks, however, 9amesA thought cameinstantly in FBeen trying to get you for twenty minutes,F and in acou"le of seconds he brought Garlock and Belle u" to date FSo 7atsoAsbeen waiting in EvansA office 8eAs throwing fits all over the "lace andEvans and )acey are going Duietly madF

F8eAll have to wait,F Garlock decided instantly F;o matter how manyfits he has, no such decision is going to be made until thereAs enoughof a Galactic 3ouncil to make itF

F>ell, youAll have to tell him that yourself 4n "ersonF

F4All do just that, and tell him so heAll stay toldF

F6kay, but shake aF



Belle and Garlock A"orted out into the )ain, arms around each other likea cou"le of college freshmen

F leg#g##ug##gugF 9ames gurgled

FBelleJF $ola shrieked F>hy##Belle##BellamyJF

F>hat goes on hereHF 9ames demanded

F;othing much,F Garlock re"lied, although he blushed almost as dee"ly asBelle did F>e just decided to Duit fighting, is all 3ut the ro"e,9unior, and let the old bucket dro"F

T8E E;(

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