The World had been excellently designed by the Universal Motivator for
the development and evolution of life. Again, the concept of the
Balance showed in His mighty works. Suppose, for instance, that the
World rotated more rapidly about its axis, thereby exposing the whole
surface periodically to the deadly radiation of the Blue Sun, instead
of having a rotation period that, combined with the eccentricity of
the World's orbit, gave it just enough libration to expose only
sixty-three per cent to the rays, leaving the remaining thirty-seven
per cent in twilight or darkness. Or suppose the orbit were so nearly
circular that there were no perceptible libration at all; one side
would burn eternally, and the other side would freeze, since there
would be no seasonal winds blowing first east, then west, bringing the
warmth of the Blue Sun from the other side.
Or, again, suppose there were no Moon and no Yellow Sun to give light
to the dark side. Who could live in an everlasting night?
Or suppose that the magnetic field of the World were too weak to focus
the majority of the Blue Sun's output of electrons and ions on the
poles. How could life have evolved at all?
Balance. And the Ultimate Universal Motivator had put part of the
responsibility into the hands of His only intelligent species. And a
part of that part had been put into the hands of Dodeth Pell as the
head of Predator Control.
Fry it! Something was niggling at the back of Dodeth's mind, and no
amount of philosophizing would shake it. He reached into the drawer of
the business bench and pulled out the duplicate of Wygor's data
booklet. He flipped it open and looked at the bathygraphs again.
* * * * *
There was no single thing about them that he could pinpoint, but the
beasts just didn't _look_ right. Dodeth Pell had seen many monstrous
animals in his life, but none like this.
Most people disliked and were disgusted by a snith because of the
uncanny resemblance the stupid beast had to the appearance of Dodeth's
own race. There could be no question of the genetic linkage between
the two species, but, in spite of the physical similarities, their
actions were controlled almost entirely by instinct instead of reason.
They were like some sort of idiot parody of intelligent beings.
But it was their similarity which made them loathsome. Why should
Dodeth Pell feel a like emotion when he saw the bathygraphs of the
two-legged thing? Certainly there was no similarity.
Wait a minute!
He looked carefully at the three-dimensional pictures again.
Fry it! He couldn't be sure--
After all, he wasn't a geneticist. Checking the files wouldn't be
enough; he wouldn't know how to ask the proper cross-filing questions.
He lolled his tongue out and absently rasped at a slight itch on the
back of his hand while he thought.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account