Blish,James – And all the Stars a Stage

created even more damage in the long run. Dr. Chase-Huebner thinks so,

that’s sure.”

“That’s true enough, but it’s only one such expedition,” Jorn insisted. “If

that one wouldn’t have done it, there are lots of others that might have

been possible. After all, it’s only a technical problem, and there are

always solutions for those if you look hard enough.”

Us not a technical problem, ies an ecological problem, which is something

entirely different,” Ailiss said. “It wasn’t only the insects, it was the

whole planet. You can’t approach a problem like that one on a piecemeal

basis. Look: Supposing I grant you that we might well have come through,

after years and years, even though a good many of us were killed or

crippled in the process. Now you grant me this: supposing we didn’t? No

other ship has made a planetfall yet, and the javelin contains a big

fraction of all that there’s left of the whole of humanity. It simply isn’t

permissible that risks be taken with that, on nothing better than

speculation and boldness. Of course some chances will have to be taken,

there’s no way around that and I wouldn’t want to catch anybody thinking

that there might be. But at least they ought to look like good chances-not

just blind gambles.”

136 fames Blish

Jorn could see that there was justice in this argument, which be bad beard

advanced before, in more condensed form, by Ertak; but nevertheless be did

not feel compelled to agree with it. He was realistic enough to grant that

since the die had been cast, that ended the debate, at least for this time.