by Zach Hughes
test? What kind of people are you to allow a thing like the Eater to prey on other life forms?» «Your status then was not the same. We were, and I admit it, unaware of the facts.» «You were very human,» Plank said. The woman looked at him questioningly. «You were not infallible.» «You may express it that way.» «I think my grandfather asked you this same question,» Plank said. «Who are you to judge us?» «You ask the question with even more right than your grandfather,» she replied. A wall misted, shimmered. The room darkened. Images began to appear in the shimmering space: worlds of cities marched by and worlds without cities and worlds with objects that defied description; varied life forms, some manlike, some so alien as to cause shudders, some so beautiful that Plank would feel a pain of admiration in his throat. It
continued for a timeless period, a capsule look at a universe so diverse, so fantastic that he was numbed. When it ended the woman smiled. «You have much to learn, man from Earth. Will you join us?» «That is for our governments to decide,» Plank said. «Of course,» the woman said, smiling. «I'm sure that your leaders will decide that you have much to gain.» «I believe they will,» Plank said. «Our discussion is ended, then,» the woman said. «Now may I offer you the hospitality of our coalition?» Over food and wine they talked of many things, the tone friendly, the mood one of cautious optimism. As evening came to the landscaped and tailored world, the beautiful woman, feeling mellow, looked at Plank and said, «We look forward to your becoming a part of our little community.» A wave of her hand showed that she was being facetious in referring to the vast stretch of the peopled universe as small. «You won't, will you, come out here and take over immediately?» She smiled. «Not for at least 100 or so years,» Plank said, laughing; but in his mind he heard a roar, a familiar roar, beginning low and rising into the gutty, coughing call of a jungle beast. He looked swiftly at Ellen. There was a
pixie gleam in her eyes as the tiger's roar in Plank's mind trailed off into a small and mewling whine.
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