This was a good spot for a nap, he decided. He had been driving for seven straight hours and his eyes were starting to fog. He reached out to turn off the ignition key-- And was knocked back against the side of the car. "What in hell's wrong with you?" he asked indignantly. "All I want to do is--" He reached for the key again, and again he was smacked back. Jackson knew better than to try a third time. He had been listening to the radio and he knew what the watchbirds did to stubborn violators. "You mechanical jerk," he said to the waiting metal bird. "A car's not alive. I'm not trying to kill it." But the watchbird only knew that a certain operation resulted in stopping an organism. The car was certainly a functioning organism. Wasn't it of metal, as were the watchbirds? Didn't it run? * * * * * Macintyre said, "Without repairs they'll run down." He shoved a pile of specification sheets out of his way. "How soon?" Gelsen asked. "Six months to a year. Say a year, barring accidents." "A year," Gelsen said. "In the meantime, everything is stopping dead. Do you know the latest?" "What?" "The watchbirds have decided that the Earth is a living organism. They won't allow farmers to break ground for plowing. And, of course, everything else is a living organism--rabbits, beetles, flies, wolves, mosquitoes, lions, crocodiles, crows, and smaller forms of life such as bacteria." "I know," Macintyre said. "And you tell me they'll wear out in six months or a year. What happens _now_? What are we going to eat in six months?" The engineer rubbed his chin. "We'll have to do something quick and fast. Ecological balance is gone to hell." "Fast isn't the word. Instantaneously would be better." Gelsen lighted his thirty-fifth cigarette for the day. "At least I have the bitter satisfaction of saying, 'I told you so.' Although I'm just as responsible as the rest of the machine-worshipping fools." Macintyre wasn't listening. He was thinking about watchbirds. "Like the rabbit plague in Australia." "The death rate is mounting," Gelsen said. "Famine. Floods. Can't cut down trees. Doctors can't--what was that you said about Australia?" "The rabbits," Macintyre repeated. "Hardly any left in Australia now." "Why? How was it done?" "Oh, found some kind of germ that attacked only rabbits. I think it was propagated by mosquitos--" "Work on that," Gelsen said. "You might have something. I want you to get on the telephone, ask for an emergency hookup with the engineers of the other companies. Hurry it up. Together you may be able to dope out something." "Right," Macintyre said. He grabbed a handful of blank paper and hurried to the telephone. * * * * * "What did I tell you?" Officer Celtrics said. He grinned at the captain. "Didn't I tell you scientists were nuts?" "I didn't say you were wrong, did I?" the captain asked. "No, but you weren't _sure_."