t of the mountains. Surprisingly, there was a tribe of the small people living there, and they gave us some surprises. They used hang gliders and flew, and they lived there with those one hundred silos as if they didn't even mind them. And they had to have seen the launch. Our big question was, who fired those missiles? We rigged a protective ship for the Old Earth's Far Seer and took him down into the valley. We picked a time when the entire tribe was gathered so that the Far Seer's mind could control all of them. At the end of Eban's tale you can see where we entered, and the Far Seer's mind took over. After that it was simple. We merely probed all of them. We found that the leader, who called himself Eban the Hunter, knew more than the others, so their stories were not presented to this board. Thus, from Eban, we learned that he himself had launched the strike on the other landmass with no idea of what he had done. It was a diabolical thing, the way those people, who from what we were able to learn must have been humanoid and very much like the Old Ones of our race, reached up from their graves and coaxed Eban into killing more people than he'd ever seen, people he didn't even know existed. Revenge from the grave. Having wiped each other out, returning themselves to a stone age, the dying ones rigged the complex. Their thinking must have been colored by the knowledge that they were dying, that their entire race was wiped out and that only mutants or severely weakened members would survive. And they reached up from the grave to smite the poor mutated remnants of their enemies and, as «God» told Eban, to give the earth to their own mutated descendants. We searched, using the most delicate instruments and all the senses of Power Giver, Far Seer and Healer, to find other hidden missiles, and there were none. Only the people of Eban's landmass had seen into the future and the possibility of one last blow at the enemy. Prof. Gore: Thank you, admiral. I'd like some general observations now. It is my conclusion that Eban's people are basically peaceful. Any comment? Sec. Anne Barker: To me, Eban showed a great potential for violence. He killed two «inbreeders» without qualms— Moil the Power Giver: Pardon me. He did have qualms. He regretted it. Sec. Anne Barker: He was the stronger. He could have overpowered them without killing them. And he could certainly have overpowered the woman, Yuree, rather than kill her with an ax. No. I think he showed primitive tendencies toward violence, and it is my contention that his race is several thousand years away from being developed into civilized beings. Moil the Power Giver: He abolished death. He resolved to preach peace to all his people. I think he is gentle and sensitive and worth contacting. Degan the Far Seer: That brings us to the central issue. Contact or no? At this level of development I am not sure contact would be beneficial to Eban's people. As I understand it they have a certain resistance to the levels of radioactivity on the planet. It is unfortunate that we did not discover them in time to prevent the last salvo of thermonuclear weapons, which killed so many, but we did not. We can in no way hold Eban responsible for that. The question is, is Eban the result, the product, of a race with built-in killer senses? Would he—of course, I speak of his race in general—become a useful part of the U.P., or would the killer come out in him in the future? Together, using the lesson of old earth as an example, we have abolished war, and such is our society that even individual killings are extremely rare. Would Eban's people bring back to our society, as the integration took place and they were advanced to our level of education and technology, the kill syndrome? Amb. John Zees: One question, please. I simply wonder if Eban's people have the intelligence to become part of our society. Prof. Gore: I call your attention to the extent of Eban's vocabulary. Of course, you have all read a translation, but I assure you, as somewhat of an expert on language, that his language is rich, varied and quite expressive. Much was retained—no technological words, of course—from the original language. The race also retained the art of counting, and Eban quickly learned numbers, simple arithmetic and even basic reading. Yes, I think he shows a basic intelligence and an ability to learn. Sec. Anne Barker: So the question is twofold. One, would it be best for Eban's people? Two, would contact be in the best interest of the U.P? Adm. Talltree: I remind myself that man has always felt lonely, has spent much of his energy and his resources in the search for other intelligent beings. Eban's people fit the description. Moil the Power Giver: Eban's people are fairly happy. They live well, by primitive standards. Given a choice, I'm not sure whether they would desert their way of life, their customs. But I think of the others, the ones Eban calls the inbreeders, living in the devastated areas, without Eban's gift of sensing deadly radiation. They could be helped. Degan the Far Seer: True. The lifespan of an inbreeder is about twenty-five old years. Only the fact that their reproduction systems seem to have been affected toward multiple births keeps their population static. Over half the births are malformed and are killed without question. There is widespread cancer. But with the residues of radiation firmly planted in their bodies, it would take generations to breed a clean form. Moil the Power Giver: One problem has been solved, probably without your knowledge, Degan. It is now possible to leach the long-lasting radioactives from bone marrow. Indeed, we dosed Eban's daughter, Margan, with the leaching agent while she was under hypno. It would take a massive effort, but many of the inbreeders could be saved, and a generation without radioactives would result. Capt. T. Willis: If we can do that I think we'd be less than human if we didn't help them. Sec. Anne Barker: Such a program would require a life-zone planet, massive removals, huge medical expenses. Should it be decided to move the population without their knowledge, under hypno, the expenses would be staggering. Moil the Power Giver: So we just forget them, let them continue to die of hunger, cancer, radiation sickness? Sec. Anne Barker: I have merely stated the facts. Adm. Talltree: There is one other aspect of the problem. If we should decide to do anything, what would be done with the «monsters» which Eban encountered in the east? We saw those beings. They're mutants. Once man. They're manlike, and they're horrible. Even more horrible in appearance than a Healer or a Far Seer. Prof. Gore: But are they human? Adm. Talltree: I was in the thoughts of one. Low level of intelligence, say like a domestic dog. But human in form. They know pain and hunger and lust. Prof. Gore: Nothing is ever simple. We have three phases of this problem: Eban's people, the inbreeders, the mutants. Sec. Anne Barker: I'm as human as anyone, but I don't see why we have to concern ourselves with the mutants. I'm sure we don't have some magic agent to leach them into being healthy human beings. Degan the Far Seer: I think I am ready to state my opinion. I would classify both Eban's people and the inbreeders as intelligent beings worthy of our help. I am not yet ready to state whether I advise open or covert contact, but I do advise you all that we have a responsibility, as fellow thinking beings with more advantages, to help the people of Tom Thumb. I would advise a further study on the scene, and a decision by a higher authority as to the direction and extent of our help, but it should certainly include medical attentions, however expensive. Prof. Gore: Any further discussion?… There being none, we will hear the opinions, one by one. Admiral Talltree: I endorse Degan's views. Moil the Power Giver: And I, with one request. I request that I be assigned to the study team. Capt. J. Willis: That Eban is quite a guy. Imagine a little runt like him going up against that thing which is translated as bear. That animal makes a Trajan bearcat look small, and he killed one with a spear. I don't think we could lose with people like Eban. I wouldn't mind having men like him in my crew, even if they are runts. I vote for study and help as quickly as possible. Amb. John Zees: While in general I am sympathetic to the view of Degan, I withhold my recommendation for the moment. Sec. Barker: I go along with further study, with a definite limit on spending, and only covert contact. Prof. Gore: Thank you, all of you. A copy of the minutes of this meeting and its recommendations will be forwarded by urgent blinkstat to U.P. headquarters, where final action will be decided upon. I, too, favor the views of Degan the Far Seer. There are many possibilities. The research activities on old earth have taught us much about cleaning up the lingering radiation of a nuclear war. Perhaps the U.P. Council might see fit to covertly lessen the radiation on Tom Thumb. I am not familiar with the costs of such an operation. Perhaps the population of the planet will be moved to another life-zone planet. But I am sure that something will be done. Any further discussion? Meeting adjourned. X&A Code Personal-Personal Blink Priority Urgent-Personal Origin: Tom Thumb, Lightning Sector To: Prof. A. Bradley Gore Dept. of Liberal Education Xanthos University Xanthos, Sector Home L-l From: Lt. Moil the Power Giver Knowing you, my dear and respected teacher, I'm sure that your curiosity is killing you, so I'm going to squander half a week's pay to bring you up to date on the story of Eban the Hunter. First, thank you for your help in having me assigned to the study team. We've been on Tom Thumb for three months now. The radiation from the last salvo has settled, and it's very clean here now, with only traces of bad stuff. We're camped on the hills overlooking Eban's valley. We had to disable some of his «dragons» to move about freely, and we operate, of course, behind a hypnoshield. These are fascinating little people. They're as brave as a Pharos lion. Eban killed a bear last week, but I'm getting ahead of my story. The dragons are interesting. They are all that remains of the vast and complicated technology of the old civilization. This planet must have been a very rich one, for the noncorrosive metals are used heavily, platinum and gold and silver. The heavy armor is an alloy of steel which is interesting. It shows signs of rust— that's Eban's blood—but does not rust away, like ordinary steel or iron. We dismantled one dragon and found the electronics to be unimpressive but efficient. There is heavy use of rather antique resistors and capacitors. (Yes, as you guessed, the dragon's guts were, indeed, color-coded electronic components.) After our study, we moved away from that dragon and left it, split open, for Eban's people to discover, and there was much happiness in the valley and now all of them wear necklaces of dragon's guts. The population is growing rapidly. The widows— and, old dear, you goofed on that word, for I suspect the proper translation is «widow"— have exercised their rights, and to their «walkers» have been added a new crop of babies. It keeps Eban and the other two hunters busy, for after the salvo, the «cave» closed itself down, blew itself up, and buried the entrance, leaving the family to their own provisions. But game is plentiful and the family lives well. The other half of the team, running tests in the low slopes, is having great success in leaching radioactives from the bone marrow of the inbreeders. An investigation of the «monsters» of the east reveals a new possibility—not man at all, but a mutated form of another and lower anthropoid. Their numbers are limited and their range is small, thus we are not faced with a large problem there. It was interesting to me to find that the western half of this landmass is totally devastated. Our archaeological teams are learning a little bit about the old civilization—very human, very tech, very deadly, very sick and now dead. A few art works have been recovered. They were very much like you Old Ones, but had a tendency toward, if you can believe the images, monstrous mammary glands in the female and bald heads in the men. I'm doing this deliberately, old dear, knowing that you're burning to know about Eban, but knowing also that you won't cheat and look ahead. Eban, poor thing, is sure that God brought another miracle, for in his mind just as he started away from the camp bound to search for Ouree, she came walking toward him, carrying her wings. There was, however, some confusion, and I have to report that our team goofed down here before. This year is known to Eban as the Year Which Lost Three Days, for that's how long we kept the family under hypnoprobe, and the time totem, whereon the Seer of Things Unseen strikes off the passing days, does not agree with Ouree's passage of time, for she was walking home during those three days. Moreover, Ouree arrived in the valley in time to see our scout lift off, and she told Eban that she saw God leave as she watched, and that God had been speaking to him. Thus, Eban is now considered a Holy Man, and, as he promised, went preaching peace to the surrounding families. As for Eban himself, although he still grieves for his Mar, he is a man, with man's needs, and he has taken as pairmate the daughter of the Seer, once known as Ouree the Unclaimed and now called Ouree the Flyer, for she loves to hang-glide. She and Eban often climb the hill and fly. Incidentally, we had to destroy a hunter-killer missile. All of them were not used up in the big battle of the salvo; at least one stray was left. We detected it coming, high, one day when the males of the family were soaring, and shot it down before they saw it. We made a probe of near space and found several dead satellites and a few hunter-killers which were malfunctioned and wiped them out, too. During his travels preaching peace, Eban recruited three young males, and they have now pairmated with three of the «widows.» The family prospers. The fame of Eban is spreading, and there have been two delegations from neighboring families come to hear his tales and to see the water-filled silos from which the killbirds flew. The futures of the children are assured, for alliances have been made. Margan is a lovely child and the leaching was successful. She has none of the «sickness» in her bones now and my only fear is that something went wrong in the process, for she shows signs of being near the size of an Old Onechild at her age, which makes her almost as big as her mother, or her stepmother, Ouree. Have we got a mutation back toward the original race of «giants»? The inbreeders showed signs of it, as did Eban, who was considered a freak among his people. In my last report, I said that I have never known a more gentle and more likable people than these. I urge you to throw your support toward full contact, for I think they have the intelligence to accept us without fatal cultural shock. They're very adaptable, these little people. And still, I have, especially alone in my bed at night, some doubts, for I have seen the virulent sickness in the form of those dragons. The old race, in dying, fortified their land, and programmed their weapons to slay anything that moved, friend or foe. And the hunter-killer missiles, heat seekers, were so sensitive that we've found evidence, in the form of wreckage and animal remains, that they would attack large birds. There must have been thousands of them originally, for the large-bird population of the landmass is nonexistent. There are many things to be learned here, and I'm sure studies will go on forever before a decision is made. For example, a scientific team just arrived whose sole mission is to find out how a semblance of technology, in the form of the hang gliders, survived the cataclysm. Experiments are going on in cleaning up radiation, and they're practical, if expensive, for they allow our teams to operate in the highly radioactive areas along the two oceans where the old population was concentrated. I will keep you informed, and I ask the same of you, you being near U.P. center and able to keep up to date with the sometimes-wise and sometimes not so wise action of the politicians. I am out of time and will have to save the story of Eban's bear, killed to give Ouree a warm bed, for the next blinkstat.