"Don't," I advised.
"What are we going to do with them?" Ven asked.
"I was going to analyze them and construct a proxy, but they're far too
big to duplicate with our limited resources. I suppose the only thing
we can do is to insert control circuits and use them as they are."
"Won't that be painful?"
"Only psychically. Physically they shouldn't suffer a bit. The brain,
you know, feels no pain. It merely interprets stimuli from elsewhere."
"In mammals too?"
I shrugged. "I suppose so. Besides, what difference does it make?
Once we're through with them we can destroy them if they're too badly
damaged."
"That seems unfair."
"It's not a question of fairness. It's survival. If they don't perform
properly, we shall have to dispose of them or they'll be back here
with a whole herd. Of course, if they operate under control, we'll turn
them loose when we're through with them. I doubt that their technology
is advanced enough to recognize a bio-circuit if they saw one. And if
it is, they will have learned nothing new."
"But why can't we keep them--take them back to Thalassa? They'd make an
unusual contribution to the Central Zoo."
"I'm afraid not," I said. "I doubt if they'd survive space. The only
part of the ship large enough to hold them would be the cargo storage
compartment, and that's not shielded. A hyperjump would kill them. You
wouldn't want even them to die _that_ way, would you?"