The Gentle Giants of Ganymede

interested in and most other Ganymeans preferred to forget.'

'Yes, I know that.'

'Well, Ganymean biologists had, of course, studied the workings of evolution and reconstructed the story of how their own race originated. Although layman #146;s thinking was largely governed by the concept of some divinely ordained natural order, as I mentioned earlier, many scientists recognized the chance aspect of the scheme that had established itself on our world. Purely from the scientific viewpoint, they could see no reason why things had to be the way they were. So, being scientists, they began to ask what might have happened if things had been different. . . for example, if carnivorous fish had not migrated to midocean depths, but had remained in coastal waters.'

'You mean if amphibian and land-dwelling carnivores had evolved,' Hunt supplied.

'Exactly. Some scientists maintained that it was just a quirk of fate that led to Minerva being the way it was #151;nothing to do with any divine laws at all. So they began constructing hypothetical models of ecological systems that included carnivores . . . more as intellectual exercise, I suppose.'

'Mmm . . . interesting. How did they turn out?'

'They were hopelessly wrong,' Shilohin told him. She made a gesture of emphasis. 'Most of the models predicted the whole evolutionary system slowing down and degenerating into a stagnant dead end, much as happened in our own oceans. They hadn #146;t managed to separate out the limitations imposed by an aquatic environment, and attributed the result to the fundamentally destructive nature of the way of life there. You can imagine their surprise when the first Ganymean expedition reached Earth and found just such a land-based ecology in action. They were amazed at how advanced and how specialized the animals had become. . . and the birds! That was something none of them had dreamed of. Now you can see why many of us were stunned by the sight of the animals that you showed us at Pithead. We had heard of such creatures, but none of us had actually seen one.'

Hunt nodded slowly and began to comprehend fully at last. To a race that had grown up surrounded by Danchekker #146;s cartoons, the sight of Trilophodon , the four-tusked walking tank, or of the saber-toothed killing machine Smilodon , must have been awesome. What kind of picture had the Ganymeans formed of the ferocious arena that had molded and shaped such gladiators, he wondered.

'So, they had to change their ideas on that subject in a hurry as well,' he said.

'They did. . . . They revised all their theories on the strength of the evidence from Earth, and they worked out a completely new model. But, I #146;m afraid, they got it all wrong again.'

Hunt couldn #146;t suppress a short laugh.

'Really? What went wrong this time?'

'Your level of civilization and your technology,' she told him. 'All our scientists were convinced that an advanced race could never emerge from the pattern of life that they saw on Earth twenty-five million years ago. They argued that intelligence could never appear in any stable form in such an environment, and even if it did it would destroy itself as soon as it had the power to do so. Certainly any kind of sociable living or communal society was out of the question and, since the acquisition of knowledge depends on communication and cooperation, the sciences could never be developed.'

'But we proved that was all baloney, eh?'

'It #146;s incredible!' Shilohin indicated bewilderment. 'All our models showed that any progression from the life forms of your Miocene period toward greater intelligence would depend on selection for greater cunning and more sophisticated methods of violence; no coherent civilization could possibly develop from a background like that. And yet . . . we have returned and found not only a civilized and technologically advanced culture, but one that is accelerating all the time. It seemed impossible. That was why we took so much convincing that you came from the third planet from the Sun #151;the Nightmare Planet.'

These remarks made Hunt feel flattered, but at the same time he remembered how close the Ganymean prophecies had come to being true.

'But you were so nearly right, weren #146;t you,' he said soberly. 'Don #146;t forget the Lunarians. They did destroy themselves in just the way that your model predicted, although it looks as if they too advanced further than you thought they would. It was only the fact that a handful of them survived it that we #146;re here at all, and they only made it on a million-to-one shot.' He shook his head and exhaled a cloud of smoke sharply. 'I wouldn #146;t feel too bad about what your models said; they came far too near the truth for comfort as far as I #146;m concerned . . . far too near. If whatever it was that made the Lunarians the way they were hadn #146;t modified itself somehow and become diluted in the course of time, we #146;d be going the same way and your model would be proved right again. With luck though, we #146;re over that hump now.'

'And that #146;s the most incredible thing of all,' Shilohin said, picking up the point immediately. 'The very thing that we believed would prove an insurmountable barrier to progress has turned out to be your biggest advantage.'

'How do you mean?'

'The aggressiveness, the determination #151;the refusal to let anything defeat you. All that is built deep into the basic Earthman character. It #146;s a relic from your origins, modified, refined, and adapted. But that #146;s where it comes from. You maybe don #146;t see it that way, but we can. We #146;re astounded by it. Try to understand, we #146;ve never seen or imagined anything like it before.'

'Danchekker said something like that,' Hunt mumbled, but Shilohin continued, apparently not having heard him.

'Our instincts are to avoid any form of danger, because of the way we originated . . . certainly not to seek it deliberately. We are a cautious people. But Earthmen . . . ! They climb mountains, sail tiny boats around a planet alone, jump out of aircraft for fun! All their games are simulated combat; this thing you call #145;business #146; reenacts the survival struggle of your evolutionary system and the power-lust of your wars; your #145;politics #146; is based on the principle of meeting force with force and matching strength with strength.' She paused for a moment, and then went on. 'These are completely new to Ganymeans. The idea of a race that will actually rise up and answer threats with defiance is . . . unbelievable. We have studied large portions of your planet #146;s history. Much of it is horrifying to us, but also, beneath the superficial story of events, some of us see something deeper #151;something stirring. The difficulties that Man has faced are appalling, but the way in which he has always fought back at them and always won in the end #151;I must confess there is something about it that is strangely magnificent.'

'But why should that be?' Hunt asked. 'Why should the Ganymeans feel that we have some unique advantage, especially with their different background? They achieved the same things . . .and more.'

'Because of the time it #146;s taken you to do it,' she said.

'Time?'

'Your rate of advancement. It #146;s stupendous! Haven #146;t Earthmen realized? No, I don #146;t suppose there #146;s any reason why they should.' She looked at him again, seemingly at a loss for a second. 'How long ago did Man harness steam? It took you less than seventy years from learning to fly to reach your Moon. Twenty years after you invented transistors half your world was being run by computers. . . .'

'That #146;s good, compared to Minerva?'

'Good! It #146;s miraculous! It makes our own development pale into insignificance. And it #146;s getting faster all the time! It #146;s because you attack Nature with the same innate aggressiveness that you hurl at anything that stands in your way. You don #146;t hack each other to pieces or bomb whole cities anymore, but the same instinct is still there in your scientists, engineers . . . your businessmen, your politicians. They all love a good fight. They thrive on it. That #146;s the difference between us. The Ganymean learns for knowledge and finds that he solves problems as a by-product; the Earthman takes on a problem and finds that he #146;s learned something when he #146;s solved it, but it #146;s the kick he gets out of fighting and winning that matters. Garuth summed it up fairly well when I was talking to him yesterday. I asked him if he thought that any of the Earthmen really believed in this God they talk about. Know what he said?'

'What #146;d he say?'

' #145;They will once they #146;ve made Him. #146;'

Hunt couldn #146;t help grinning at Garuth #146;s bemusement that was at the same time a compliment. He was about to reply when ZORAC spoke into his ear in its own voice: