"Recently," went on the moderator, "we tried an experiment in
our biological laboratories which we hoped would speed up the
trial-and-error formula.
"By exposing the germ plasm of a semi-intelligent anthropoid inhabiting
the fourth planet of this system to hard radiations, we succeeded in
creating a mutant, a biologic sport who's life span was only an instant
of time. It matured, mated and died in an incredibly brief period.
"They were startlingly prolific as well; they multiplied like--like--"
he groped for a simile--"like guinea pigs or rats.
"Furthermore, they early exhibited the most amazing ingenuity. In
twenty generations they had fire; in thirty, crude implement of stone."
Saxon, unable to restrain his impatience longer, cried, "The point,
man--get to the point."
The old man gave Saxon a steely look. "We recognized," he went
on stiffly, "the significance of our mutation. As soon as the
semi-intelligent sports developed a science, we could expect the trial
and error method to be speeded up. A life-time of experiment to them
was only a moment to us.
"We isolated them on the fifth planet of our sun. But it soon became
apparent that they constituted a dangerous menace even that close.
They were so fecund, and their ferocity was appalling. Wars broke out
between various tribes. They murdered each other by the thousands."
Gradually Saxon's interest had been caught by the history of the
semi-reasoning mutants whose ferocity and proliferation had constituted
a menace to their creators. He glanced at Ileth, discovered her
spellbound.
The Moderator's voice was growing thinner.
"Luckily," he was saying, "stellar travel was accomplished at this
time. We exported several thousand of the creatures to another star
system and destroyed the rest.
"The environment on the planet where we transplanted our colony of
humanoids was ideal for our purpose--harsh and savage. Several species
of bipeds with rudimentary intelligence already inhabited the planet,
but our own culture speedily wiped them out and were happily warring
among themselves...."
A suspicion began to grow in Saxon's mind. He blurted, "On what planet
did you introduce this culture?"
The Moderator paused, stared Saxon coolly in the eye.
"Earth!" he said.
* * * * *
Saxon and Ileth looked at each other incredulously, unable to
comprehend the significance of the Moderator's answer.
"Earth?" repeated Saxon. "I don't understand."
The Moderator wrinkled his brow, and said, "I don't know how to put
it any more clearly. We transplanted our biological sports to Earth.
The two sub-human races which our humanoids exterminated were the
Cro-Magnards and the Neanderthalers."
Saxon's brain reeled. "Do you mean that man as we know him, homo
sapiens, originated in your laboratories as--an experiment?"
He heard Ileth laugh hysterically.
"Precisely," replied the Moderator. "And I might add that the
experiment has proven successful. During the last thousand years they
have supplied us with hundreds of discoveries and developments. The
real nature of the space-time continuum, for example.
"The creatures are inordinately clever at the physical sciences--as was
to be expected from an emotionally unstable, rationalizing mammal under
the pressure of such an antagonistic environment. Our own laboratories
have become, for all practical purposes, unnecessary!"
Ileth was staring at the Moderator with wide horrified eyes. "I," she
gasped. "I am a humanoid? I don't live but a moment? I'm prolific and
savage and--and clever like a monkey? Why, you shriveled up old bag of
bones, that's the most stupid pack of lies I've ever heard!"
The Moderator regarded her compassionately. "You haven't changed
because I've told you the truth. Your life expectation is no shorter.
It's a matter of relativity. To us our ten thousand years seems no
longer than your three score and ten does to you."
"Ten thousand years?" exploded Saxon. The sum was so staggering that it
was only a figure to him. "Then--" he began, but the Moderator answered
before he could speak.
"No. I was not born when the experiment with the humanoids began. They
were developed some twenty-five thousand years ago."
Ileth began to laugh crazily, unable to stop. In a moment she would be
hysterical. Saxon shook her roughly. "Stop it!"
"I--I--I can't," she giggled. "Either he's mad or I am." Her words
ended in a flood of tears.
Saxon put his arm around the girl, turned back to the Moderator. "It
was done with hard radiations?"
"Yes. In the resultant mutants their metabolism had been accelerated
beyond our wildest expectation. Their life cycle geared to their
metabolism passed through its different phases like--like ..." again he
fished in Saxon's mind for a simile. "Like a meteor. By artificially
slowing down their metabolism they returned to their normal life span.
"You've been very curious about the replica of New York II which you
saw when you landed."
Saxon nodded, trying to conceal a thought which had begun to take shape
in the back of his mind.
"It's just that. A replica of a city built during the Atomic Age by
the humanoids. Their constant implacable wars are so savage that we've
found it necessary to duplicate their work here, if we hope to preserve
any of it for study."
Saxon narrowed his eyes, asked, "You spoke of the menace of having such
savage neighbors. Just how serious was such a threat?"
* * * * *
The Moderator smiled and glanced at his constituents. Saxon strained to
grasp the thoughts flowing between them, but failed utterly.
"Admirable!" the Moderator commented suddenly. "Your reactions, my son,
are leading us to hope we may turn in the most optimistic report."
Saxon stared at him as if he were crazy. Ileth's tears had subsided to
a sniffle.
"Now for your question," said the Moderator and coughed again.
"The menace was real, not imaginary. We had created a monster that
would be either a marvelous scientific instrument, or--the means of our
destruction.
"Remember, my son, time is relative. These creatures lived, fought,
loved, begat children, carried on scientific research and died, all in
seventy short years. They existed at fever intensity. Their metabolism
burns them up.
"Our lives are adjusted to a span of ten thousand years. We have a
total population of little over a million. We are neither a war-like
people, nor a highly-industrialized people.
"In one of their generations the humanoids accomplish almost as much as
we do in one of ours. Think, my son, they perform in seventy years what
it takes us ten thousand to do.
"If it ever came to hostilities between us we'd be doomed, overwhelmed
almost before we realized what was happening."
Saxon listened in astonishment. The thought in the back of his mind
kept trying to push to the fore, but he repressed it, afraid that the
Aliens might see it.
"Their amazing fecundity," the Moderator was saying, "their short life
spans, their ingenuity and ferocity made them a very real menace even
isolated outside our stellar system. Fortunately, we also foresaw the
inevitable crisis and prepared for it."
"Crisis?" Saxon echoed.
"The time when the humanoids would reach our scientific level and
surpass us," said the Moderator in a grim voice. "That time has
arrived!"