The group gasped as one, but Saunders went on: “They can eat and drink and breathe
and so on, but only because the original Masters wanted them to. Non-functional. Skins
and subcutaneous layers are soft, for the same reason. That’s about it, up to now.”
“Thanks, Lane. Hark, is it reasonable to believe that any culture whatever could run for
a quarter of a million years without changing one word of its language or one iota of its
behavior?”
“Reasonable or not, it seems to have happened.” “Now for Psychology. Alex?”
“It seems starkly incredible, but it seems to be true. If it is, their minds were subjected
to a conditioning no Terran has ever imagined-an unyielding fixation.”
“They can’t be swayed then, by reason or logic?” Hilton paused invitingly.
“Or anything else,” Kincaid said, flatly. “If we’re right they can’t be swayed, period.”
“I was afraid of that. Well, that’s all the questions I know how to ask. Any contributions
to this symposium?”
After a short silence de Vaux said, “I suppose you realize that the first half of the
problem you posed us has now solved itself?”
“Why, no. No, you’re ‘way ahead of me.”
“There is a basic problem and it can now be clearly stated,” Rebecca said. “Problem:
To determine a method of securing full cooperation from the Omans. The first step in
the solution of this problem is to find the most appropriate operator. Teddy?”
“I have an operator-of sorts,” Theodora said. “I’ve been hoping one of us could find a
better.”
“What is it?” Hilton demanded. “The word `until’.”
“Teddy, you’re a sweetheart!” Hilton exclaimed.
“How can ‘until’ be a mathematical operator?” Sandra asked.
“Easily,” Hilton was already deep in thought. “This hard conditioning was to last only
until the Masters returned. Then they’d break it. So all we have to do is figure out how a
Master would do it.”
“That’s all,” Kincaid said, meaningly.
Hilton pondered. Then, “Listen, all of you. I may have to try a colossal job of bluffing . .
. ”
“Just what would you call ‘colossal’ after what you did to the Navy?” Karns asked.
“Mat was a sure thing. This isn’t. You see, to find out whether Laro is really an
immovable object, I’ve got to make like an irresistible force, which I ain’t. I don’t know
what I’m going to do; I’ll have to roll it as I go along. So all of you keep on your toes and
back any play I make. Here they come.”
The Omans came in and Hilton faced Laro, eyes to eyes. “Laro,” he said, “you refused
to obey my direct order. Your reasoning seems to be that, whether the Masters wish it
or not, you Omans will block any changes whatever in the status quo throughout all
time to come. In other words, you deny the fact that Masters are in fact your Masters.”
“But that is not exactly it, Master. The Masters . . .”
“That is it. Exactly it. Either you are the Master here or you are not. That is a point to
which your two-value logic can be strictly applied. You are wilfully neglecting the word
‘until’. This stasis was to exist only until the Masters returned. Are we Masters? Have
we returned? Note well: Upon that one word ‘until’ may depend the length of time your
Oman race will continue to exist.”
The Omans flinched; the humans gasped.
“But more of that later,” Hilton went on, unmoved. “Your ancient Masters, being
short-lived like us, changed materially with time, did they not? And you changed with
them?”
“But we did not change ourselves, Master. The Masters . . .” “You did change
yourselves. The Masters changed only the prototype brain. They ordered you to change
yourselves and you obeyed their orders. We order you to change and you refuse to
obey our orders. We have changed greatly from our ancestors. Right?”
“That is right, Master.”
“We are stronger physically, more alert and more vigorous mentally, with a keener,
sharper outlook on life?”
“You are, Master.”
“That is because our ancestors decided to do without Omans. We do our own work
and enjoy it. Your Masters died of futility and boredom. What I would like to do, Laro, is
take you to the creche and put your disobedient brain back into the matrix. However,
the decision is not mine alone to make. How about it, fellows and girls? Would you
rather have alleged servants who won’t do anything you tell them to do or no servants
at all?”
“As semantician, I protest!” Sandra backed his play. “That is the most viciously loaded
question I ever heard-it can’t he answered except in the wrong way!”
“Okay, I’ll make it semantically sound. I think we’d better scrap this whole Oman race
and start over and I want a vote that way!”
“You won’t get it!” and everybody began to yell.
Hilton restored order and swung on Laro, his attitude stiff, hostile and reserved. “Since
it is clear that no unanimous decision is to be expected at this time I will take no action
at this time. Think over, very carefully, what I have said, for as far as I am concerned,
this world has no place for Omans who will not obey orders. As soon as I convince my
staff of the fact, I shall act as follows. I shall give you an order and if you do not obey it
blast your head to a cinder. I shall then give the same order to another Oman and blast
him. This process will continue until: First, I find an obedient Oman. Second, I run out of
blasters. Third, the planet runs out of Omans. Now take these lights into the first room
of records-that one over there.” He pointed, and no Oman, and only four humans, re-
alized that he had made the Omans telegraph their destination so that he could point it
out to them!
Inside the room Hilton asked caustically of Laro: “The Masters didn’t lift those heavy
chests down themselves, did they?”
“Oh, no, Master, we did that.”
“Do it, then. Number One first . . . yes, that one . . . open it and start playing the
records in order.”
The records were not tapes or flats or reels, but were spools of intricately braided wire.
The players were projectors of fullcolor, hi-fi sounds, tri-di pictures.
Hilton canceled all moves aground and issued orders that no Oman was to be allowed
aboard ship, then looked and listened with his staff.
The first chest contained only introductory and elementary stuff; but it was so
interesting that the humans stayed overtime to finish it. Then they went back to the
ship; and in the main lounge Hilton practically collapsed onto a davenport. He took out
a cigarette and stared in surprise at his hand, which was shaking.
“I think I could use a drink,” he remarked.
“What, before supper?” Karns marveled. Then, “Hey, Wally! Rush a flagon of
avignognac-Arnaud Freres-for the boss and everything else for the rest of us.
Chop-chop but quick!”
A hectic half-hour followed. Then. “Okay, boys and girls, I love you, too, but let’s cut out
the slurp and sloosh, get some supper and log us some sack time. I’m just about
pooped. Sorry I had to queer the private-residence deal, Sandy, you poor little sardine.
But you know how it is.”
Sandra grimaced. “Uh-huh. I can take it a while longer if you can.”
After breakfast next morning, the staff met in the lounge. As usual, Hilton and Sandra
were the first to arrive.
“Hi, boss,” she greeted him. “How do you feel?”
“Fine. I could whip a wildcat and give her the first two scratches. I was a bit beat up last
night, though.”
“I’ll say . . . but what I simply can’t get over is the way you underplayed the climax.
‘Third, the planet runs out of Omans.’ Just like that-no emphasis at all. Wow! It had the
impact of a delayed-action atomic bomb. It put goose-bumps all over me. But just
s’pose they’d missed it?”
“No fear. They’re smart. I had to play it as though the whole Oman race is no more
important than a cigarette butt. The great big question, though, is whether I put it across
or not.”
At that point a dozen people came in, all talking about the same subject.
“Hi, Jarve,” Karns said. “I still say you ought to take up poker as a life work. Tiny, let’s
you and him sit down now and play a few hands.”
“Mais non!” de Vaux shook his head violently, shrugged his shoulders and threw both
arms wide. “By the sacred name of a small blue cabbage, not met.”
Karns laughed. “How did you have the guts to state so many things as facts? If you’d
guessed wrong just once-”
“I didn’t.” Hilton grinned. “Think back, Bill. The only thing I said as a fact was that we as