Join Our Gang? Page 3

put down his glass. "Remember, as usual, thebirth rate has been at least tripled. An increased metabolism meansincreased food consumption, and no shark on Terra was ever full. Thisbrute runs forty feet when allowed, in size, that is. A giantcarnivorous fish, very tough."

  "Number two is Architeuthis, or Giant Squid," continued the Lyran. "Isthat a fish? Sorry, but on my world, well, fish are curiosities."

  "It's an eyed, carnivorous mollusk with enormous arms, ten of them andit reaches eighty feet long at least. Swims well, too."

  There was a moment of silence, then Mazechazz continued. "Smoothdogfish."

  "A tiny shark," said Powers, "about three and a half feet in size. Theyschool in thousands on Terra and eat anything that swims. Just blindagile appetite. They have a high _normal_ breeding rate."

  "Finally we have a Baleran Salamander, so you're free of one curse,anyway. Balera, I believe, is hellishly wet, although I don't know muchabout it."

  Powers rose and stretched. "He's a little fellow with six legs and aleathery hide. A nuisance on Balera, which is the equivalent of aTerran swamp. He eats every vegetable known, dry or fresh, and, beingonly two inches long is hard to see. He doesn't bite, just eats thingsand breeds. There must be millions by now, on each island of Mureess.Then the eggs get carried about. They're tough and adhesive. You canguess what their warehouses looked like."

  "At least two million starved before the Council gave in," resumed theLyran sadly. "But they gave in all the way and abolished casteprivilege before the first relief ship even arrived. They'll be fullmembers shortly. And this older report?"

  "Read the names," said Powers. He was staring out of the Club window atthe stars. "They fed us our own dirt, because we hadn't eliminated allour competitors. Disease means microorganisms, so you choose thelargest animal possible with efficiency, that is. Just read the list.My grandparents died, you know, but it had to be done, or we'd havedestroyed ourselves. The Combine was a far greater blessing to us thanit ever was to Mureess, I can assure you of that!"

  He listened in silence as the Lyran read.

  "Desmodus, the vampire bat, Rattus Norvegicus, the common rat, Mus Domesticus, the common mouse, The Common Locust, Sylvilagus, the Cottontail Rabbit, Passer Domesticus, the House Sparrow, Sturnus Vulgarus, the European Starling."

  Powers sat down and stared at his friend. "Terran life by comparisonwith many other worlds is terribly tough because we have so manydifferent environments, I suppose. Hence its use on Mureess. Of course,the Combine increased breeding rates again, but adapting that bat tostand cold was the last straw," he said. "The rest of them were allready and waiting, but the bat was tropical. We'll start with him.Desmodus is a small flying mammal about...."

  THE END

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