"Good Lord, Arthur, don't you see that if they did, they'd have a still greater advantage? The moment they close in on us, and nuclear weapons are out, we don't stand a chance. As individuals they're too small to make good targets, and too tenacious to be easily killed even if they are hit." "And they have _no_ weaknesses?" * * * * * The bell tinkled again, and the secretary's voice said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Everson, but there's a report that requires your attention. With regard to the surrender on Venus--" "Go ahead." He listened, and at the end, said simply, "Have McReady take Mauvernon's place. The plans are ready for him. Tell him to carry them through as they stand." He turned to face his son again. "I asked if they had no weaknesses, dad." "Several. But none that we can take advantage of at the moment. Don't think our decision to surrender was an easy one, Arthur. During the entire period of negotiation, we've had our spies out. We've managed, with difficulty, to learn a few things about them. "The Hops have come out of another galaxy. For a great many centuries they've been able to move their entire planet, to attach it as a temporary satellite to some star, and to release it again, without expending too much energy, when conditions became unfavorable for a longer stay. "Wherever they have come across a planet suitable for Hop habitation, they've left sizable colonies. But they've never run across anything as good as their original home. "They were originally about three feet high. They've been deliberately bred to diminish their size, so that more of them might be supported at a given standard of nutrition. But overpopulation has always been a problem nonetheless, and has driven them on continually to look for new planets. That's why they're so interested in our system." "And that," said Arthur, "is also why, once we've handed over everything we have, they'll exterminate us, and proceed to colonize as if they had never signed an agreement." "Possibly." "You say that very calmly, dad. As if the extinction of the race meant nothing to you." "Because we have no choice. However, I was going to tell you about their weaknesses. These derive from their lack of height. As the Hops shrank in size from generation to generation, they became shorter-lived. At present, they live on an average only five of our years, of which at most three can be considered years of maturity, with full adult powers. "They might have done something about it originally by changing the direction of their own evolution. But the shorter their lives, the less pressing the problem of overpopulation. And at a time when they were engaged in continual wars, they preferred to have replacements made as quickly as possible--which meant a shorter period of infancy, and again a shorter total life.