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composed entirely of memories handed down over the millennia. I have been
assured of their accuracy, but archeo-logical evidence to support them is not
available. The culture has, therefore, no presapient history, and in this
respect my report must be deductive rather than factual."
"Then by all means," O'Mara said, "deduce."
No early historical records had been kept on the mineral-starved swamp and
ocean world of the Groalterri, because the life span of its people was longer
and their memories clearer and more trustworthy than any marks placed upon
animal skins or layers of woven vegetation that would fade and rot long before
the lives of the writers would be ended. Groalter was a large world that
orbited its small, hot sun once every two and one-quarter Standard Years, and
one of its gigantic intelligent life-forms would have had to be unhealthy or
unfortunate indeed not to have witnessed five hundred such rotations.
It was only with the recent advent recent as the Groalterri measured the
passage of time of Small technology that permanent written records had been
kept. These were concerned principally with the discoveries and observations
made by the scientific bases that had been established, with great difficulty
and loss of
Small life, in the heavy-gravity conditions of the polar regions. Groalter's
rapid rotation gave low levels of gravity only in a broad band above and below
the equator, where the tidal effects of its large satellite kept the vast,
inhabited oceans and swamps constantly in motion, and this continuing tidal
action had long since eroded away its few equatorial landmasses.
In time a long time even as the Groalterri measured it their great,
uninhabited moon would spin closer until it and the mother planet collided in
mutual destruction.
The Small made such advances in technology as were possible in their
impermanent environment. And every day of their young lives they tried to
control the animal nature within them so that they might arrive more quickly
at the mental maturity of the Parents, who spent their long lives thinking
great thoughts while they controlled and conserved the resources of the only
world that, because of their great size, they could ever know.
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"There are two distinct cultures on Groalter," Lioren continued. "There are
the
Small, of which our overlarge patient is a member, and the Parents, of whom
even their own children know little."
Within their first Groalter year the Small were forced to leave the Parents,
to be cared for and educated by slightly more senior children. This seeming
act of cruelty was necessary to the mental health and continued survival of
the Parents because, during their years of immaturity, the Small were
considered to be little more than savage animals whose quality of mentation
and behavior made them utterly repellent to the adults.
In spite of being unable to bear their violent and unsettling presence, the
Parents loved them dearly and watched over their welfare at a distance.
But the mind of a Small of the Groalterri, when compared with the level of
intelligence and social behavior possessed by the average member species of
the
Federation, was neither savage nor stupid. For many thousands of
Earth-standard years, during their long wait between birth and achieving
adulthood, they had been solely responsible for the development of Groalterri
physical science and technology. During that period they had no communication
with their elders, and their physical contacts were incredibly violent and
restricted to surgical interventions aimed at prolonging the Parents' lives.
"This behavior," Lioren continued, "is beyond my experience. Apparently the
Small hold the Parents in high regard, and they respect and obey and try to
help
them as much as they are able, but the Parents do not respond in any way other
than by passively and at times reluctantly submitting to their surgery.
"The Small use a spoken and written language, and the Parents are said to have
great but unspecified mental powers which include wideband telepathy. They use
them to exchange thoughts among themselves, and for the control and
conservation of every nonintelligent living creature in Groalter's ocean. For
some reason they will not use telepathy to talk to their own young or, for
that matter, to the Monitor Corps contact specialists presently in orbit above
their planet.
"Such behavior is totally without precedent," Lioren ended helplessly, "and
beyond my understanding."
O'Mara showed its teeth. "It is beyond your present understanding.
Nevertheless, your report is of great interest to me and of greater value to
the contact specialists. Their ignorance of the Groalterri is no longer total,
and the Corps will be grateful and pleased with their onetime Surgeon-Captain.
I, however, am impressed but not pleased because the report of the
lowest-ranking member of my department, Trainee Lioren, is far from complete.
You are still trying to hide important information from me."
Clearly the the Chief Psychologist was better at reading Tarlan facial and
tonal expressions than Lioren was at reading those of an Earth-human. It was
Lioren's turn to remain silent.
"Let me remind you," O'Mara said in a louder voice, "that Hellishomar is a
patient and this hospital, which includes Seldal and you and myself, is
charged with the responsibility for solving its medical problem. Clearly
Seldal suspected that there might be a psychological component to this
clinical problem and, having observed the results of your talks with Mannen
and knowing that it could not approach me officially because this department's
responsibility lies only with the mental health of the staff, it asked you to
talk to the patient.
This may not be a psychiatric hospital, but Hellishomar is a special case. It
is the first Groalterri ever to have spoken with us, or more accurately, with
you.
I want to help it as much as you do, and I have greater experience than you in
tinkering with other-species mentalities. My interest in the case is entirely
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professional, as is my curiosity regarding any personal information it may
have disclosed to you, information which will be used therapeutically and not
discussed with anyone else. Do you understand my position?"
"Yes," Lioren said.
"Very well," O'Mara said when it was obvious that Lioren would say nothing
more.
"If you are too stupid and insubordinate to accede to a superior's request,
perhaps you are intelligent enough to take suggestions. Ask the patient how it
came by its injuries, if you haven't already done so and are hiding the answer
from me. And ask whether it was Hellishomar or someone else who broke the
Groalterri silence to request medical assistance. The contact specialists are
puzzled by the circumstances of the distress call and wish clarification."
"I did try to ask those questions," Lioren said. "The patient became agitated
and gave no answers other than to say that it personally had not requested
assistance."
"What did it say?" O'Mara said quickly. "What were its exact words?"
Lioren remained silent.
The Chief Psychologist made a short, untranslatable sound and sat back in its
chair. "The Seldal investigation you were given is not in itself important,
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