Radchev rumbled like an incipient Krakatoa, then subsided to a querulous, “But if this is so, how are we going to combat it?” And Rolf and Lynne, thinking in concert, spoke in unison, “We aren’t going to try to combat it. We’re going to put it to use.” VI Rolf flew back to Nampura Depot with Lynne in the runabout but they were unable to enjoy their brief respite alone together. In the first place, Lynne was still too severely bruised from her bout with Goldberg’s poison to endure an embrace--and in the second, they were too preoccupied with her discovery of the entity and its possible consequences for even the lighter aspects of love-making. _Think we’ll ever make it_, VINRAL_?_ Rolf projected wryly as the runabout settled down on the fluorescent-lit landing field. _You just wait till I get over this_, Lynne replied. Then they were in the restored Rec Room, with its translucent walls and recorder and amplification devices and other aids to telepathic relay extension. Revere joined them there, as did Rana, for a long and intensive conference. After all, along with Lynne and Rolf they had had closer contact with the entity than any of the other telepaths in the depot. It was Lynne who summed the problem up for them, speaking aloud for the benefit of the recorder. “What do we know about E-for-Entity and its properties?” she began quietly. “In the first place, since we have discovered that E exists and have made contact with it, Problem Outpost must be considered a success. It was set up to establish contact with life-forms hitherto unreached by mechanical means of communication. And certainly, we have learned enough to feel certain E is a life-form.” She paused to marshal her thoughts, then went on with, “Admitting that E exists and is a form of life, what do we know of its properties? We know that E exists on both Mars and Callisto and, by inference, on other planets and satellites throughout the universe. We know that its various units are in constant intercommunication with one another and that while it has taken a mineral form, it is highly sentient both mentally and physically. “We know that it has a definite effect upon humans who attain even remote contact with it through the mind. It has an inhibiting effect upon the control centers of the human mind, causing the man or woman in contact with it to lose self restraint and become in some ways childish. If E effects non-telepaths in a similar way, we have no clear record to prove it. But, in view of human behavior throughout history, there is every reason to suspect that such effects can be ascribed to it.