"... disease among them for fifty thousand years. They now do very little medical research since, in the absence of disease, none is required. Those suffering from organic malfunctions are either cured by surgery or exterminated. There is no question but that their medical skill is of a very high order. They have arrived at a point which we will probably never be...." Doctor Trask snorted. Yeah, they were great doctors all right. No wonder. With no animals to experiment on they simply used each other. When a Uranian doctor needed a guinea pig he merely stepped outside his laboratory and snagged the first passerby. And many of their diseases in the old days had been wiped out by killing off all the victims. Medical students learned anatomy by cutting open their fellow-citizens alive. New foods and liquids were tested by observing the reactions of those who swallowed them. Yes, sir. Their medical skill was of a very high order. "... only possible because their nervous system does not register pain. In fact, their nervous system is such that they are completely emotionless. There is no possibility for a Uranian to feel any of the Earthly emotions such as love, hate, rage, or pride. They approach the status of vegetation in that respect. They...." That was something that had always puzzled Johnson. He couldn't understand how it was possible for a reasoning creature to be such a cold fish. He remembered the day he had landed the _Vaga_. Just before the ship settled to the surface three Uranians had blithely strolled into the rocket's blast and fried themselves. Johnson had been horror-struck. But it didn't bother the other Uranians in the vicinity. They calmly disposed of their countrymen's cinders as though they were throwing away a burned-out match. They were completely disinterested in the whole incident. * * * * * Bolton, too, had faced that disinterestedness, but from a different angle. Bolton had been with the Group that tried to find out if the Uranians had wanted anything that the Earth could supply. He had tried to show the Uranians something about Earth foods and Earth science. But the Uranians weren't interested. Often right in the middle of a difficult conversation the Uranian would just up and walk off. It wasn't that he was annoyed. He wasn't capable of being annoyed. It was just that he'd thought of something better to do. It was frustrating as hell.