The four looked at each other blankly. Not that either was at a loss
for words; each was ready to burst. But the thing was so utterly
beyond their wildest conceptions, so tremendously different in every
way, it left them all a little unwilling to commit themselves.
"Well," said Smith finally, "as I said in the first place, I can't
see how any other than the human form became supreme. As I
understand biology--"
"What gets me," interrupted Van Emmon; "what gets me is, WHY the
humans have allowed such an infernal thing to happen!"
Billie smiled somewhat sardonically. "I thought," she remarked,
cuttingly, "that you were always in sympathy with the upper dog, Mr.
Van Emmon!"
"I am!" hotly. Then, with the memory of what he had just seen
rushing back upon him: "I mean, I was until I saw--saw that--" He
stopped, flushing deeply; and before he could collect himself Smith
had broken in again:
"I just happened to remember, doc; didn't you say that the
Venusians, in those books of yours, say that Sanus is ruled by the
workers?"
"Just what I was wondering about," from Van Emmon. "The humans seem
to do all the work, and the bees the bossing!"
The doctor expected this. "The Venusians had our viewpoint--the
viewpoint of people on the earth, when they said that the workers
rule. We consider the bee as a great worker, don't we? 'As busy as a
bee,' you know. None of the so-called lower animals show greater
industry."
"You don't mean to say," demanded Smith, "that these Sanusian bees
owe their position to the fact that they are, or were, such great
workers?"
Before the doctor could reply, Van Emmon broke in. It seemed as
though his mind refused to get past this particular point. "Now, why
the dickens have the humans allowed the bees to dominate them? Why?"
"We'll have to go at this a little more systematically," remarked
Kinney, "if we want to understand the situation."
"In the first place, suppose we note a thing or two about conditions
as we find them here on the earth. We, the humans, are accustomed to
rank ourselves far above the rest. It is taken for granted.
"Now, note this: the human supremacy was not always taken for
granted." He paused to let it sink in. "Not always. There was a time
in prehistoric days when man ranked no higher than others. I feel
sure of this," he insisted, seeing that Smith was opposed to the
idea; "and I think I know just what occurred to make man supreme."
"What?" from Billie.
"Never mind now. I rather imagine we shall learn more on this score
as we go on with our work.
"At any rate, we may be sure of this: whatever it was that caused
man to become supreme on the earth, that condition is lacking on
Sanus!"
Van Emmon did not agree to this. "The condition may be there, doc,
but there is some other factor which overbalances it; a factor such
as is--well, more favorable to the bees."
The doctor looked around the circle. "What do you think? 'A factor
more favorable to the bees.' Shall we let it go at that?" There was
no remark, even from Smith; and the doctor went an:
"Coming back to the bees, then, we note that they are remarkable for
several points of great value. First, as we have seen, they are very
industrious by nature. Second, all bees possess wings and on that
count alone they are far superior to humans.
"Third--and to me, the most important--the bees possess a remarkable
combination of community life and specialization. Of course, when
you come to analyze these two points, you see that they really
belong to one another. The bees we know, for instance, are either
queens, whose only function is to fertilize the eggs; or workers,
who are unsexed females, and whose sole occupations are the
collecting of honey, the building of hives, and the care of the
young.
"Now," speaking carefully, "apparently these Sanusian bees have
developed something that is not unknown to certain forms of earth's
insect life. I mean, a soldier type. A kind of bee which specializes
on fighting!"
Van Emmon was listening closely, yet he had got another idea:
"Perhaps this soldier type is simply the plain worker bee, all gone
to sting! It may be that these bees have given up labor altogether!"
"Still," muttered Smith, under his breath, "all this doesn't solve
the real problem. Why aren't the HUMANS supreme?" For once he became
emphatic. "That's what gets me! Why aren't the humans the rulers,
doc?" Kinney waited until he felt sure the others were depending
upon him. "Smith, the humans on Sanus are not supreme now because
they were NEVER supreme."