“Sometimes.”
“And Earthmen make wars too?”
“There have been many wars on Earth, but there have been none for a long time.”
“Do the Earthmen wish to kill the Ganymeans?”
“No! No . . . of course not. There is no reason . . .” Hunt protested violently.
“There can never be a reason,” ZORAC stated. “The Lunarians had no reason. The things that you said are not reasons since they do the opposite to what is wanted-so they are not reasonable. The Earthmen must have evolved brain problems from the Lunarians. Very sick.”
Danchekker had theorized that the extraordinary aggressiveness and powers of determination exhibited by Man, compared to other terrestrial species, had originated as a mutation among the anthropoids left on Minerva after the decline of the Ganymeans. It had accounted for the startling rapidity of the emergence and development of the Lunarian civilization, which had attained spaceffight while the most advanced species on Earth were represented only by primitive stone-working cultures. As ZORAC had surmised, this formidable Lunarian trait had indeed been passed on to their terrestrial descendants (although becoming somewhat diluted in the process), and had in turn constituted the most potent factor in the subsequent emergence and rise of the human race. Could that trait after all turn out to be the unique aberration that Danchekker had sometimes speculated?
“Were there never wars on Minerva?” Hunt asked. “Even in
the early history of the Ganymean people, did groups never fight?”
“No. There can be no reason. Such ideas would never occur.”
“Individuals-did they never fight? Were they never violent?”
“Sometimes a Ganymean would try to harm another Ganymean, but only if he was very sick. Brain problems did occur. Very sad. On most occasions the doctors could fix the problems. Sometimes one with problems would have to be kept away from other Ganymeans and helped. But very few were like that.”
Mercifully, ZORAC did not seem disposed to pass moral judgments, but all the same Hunt was beginning to feel distinctly uncomfortable, like a Papuan headhunter facing a missionary.
ZORAC quickly made the situation worse. “If all Lunarians were sick and the doctors were sick too, anything could happen. It then becomes computable that they blew the planet up. If Earthmen are all sick and can make machines and come to Ganymede, they can make a war and blow up planets too. I must warn Garuth of the possibility. He might not want to stick around. Other places would be safer than a Solar System full of sick Earthmen.”
“There will be no war,” Hunt told ZORAC firmly. “Those things happened a long time ago. Earthmen are different now. We do not fight today. The Ganymeans are safe here-they are our friends.”
“I see.” The machine sounded unconvinced. “To compute the probability of the truth of that, I must know more about the Earthmen and how they have evolved. Can I ask more questions?”
“Ask them some other time,” Hunt said, suddenly feeling weary of it all. He had much to think about and discuss with others before taking the conversation any further. “I think we’ve talked enough for now. I need some sleep.”
“I must get lost then?”
“Yes, I’m afraid so, ZORAC old pal. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“Very well. In that case, good afternoon.”
“You got that wrong. I’m going to bed. It’s night now.”
“I know. It was a joke.”
“Good afternoon.” Hunt smiled as he pressed a button on the wrist unit to break the connection. A computer with a sense of humor; now he had seen everything. He carefully arranged the various items that made up the communications kit on top of his
locker and settled back to finish his cigarette while he reflected on the astonishing conversation. How ludicrous and tragically comical all their fears and precautions seemed now. The Ganymeans not only had no word for war, they had not the faintest concept of it. He was beginning to feel like something that had lived its whole grubby life beneath a stone that had just been turned over.
He was just about to switch off the light when the chime on the bedside wall panel sounded. Absently he reached out and flipped a switch to accept the call. It was an announcement via the audio channel.