Soths we had on the ship. They are more fragile than we humanoids."

"They don't look it," I said. "And what do you mean by _you_ humanoids?
What's he?"

"You would call him--a robot, I believe."

My astonished reaction must have satisfied the Ollie, because he allowed
his eyes to leave me and seek the carpet again, where they evidently
were more comfortable.

"You mean you--you _make_ these people?" I gasped.

He nodded. "We can reproduce them, given materials and facilities. Of
course, your own robots must be vastly superior--" a hypocritical sop to
my vanity--"but still we hope you may find a use for the Soths."

I got up and walked around the big lunker, trying to look blase. "Well,
yes," I lied. "Our robots probably have considerably better intellectual
abilities--our cybernetic units, that is. However, you do have something
in form and mobility."

That was the understatement of my career.

I finally pulled my face together, and said as casually as I could,
"Would you like to license us to manufacture these--Soths?"

The Ollie fluttered his hands. "But that would require our working and
mingling with your personnel," he said. "We wouldn't consider imposing
in such a gross manner."

"No imposition at all," I assured him.

But he would have none of it: "We have studied your economics and have
found that your firm is an outstanding leader in what you term
'business.' You have a superb distribution organization. It is our
intention to offer you the exclusive--" he hesitated, then dragged the
word from his amazing vocabulary--"franchise for the sale of our Soths.
If you agree, we will not burden you with their manufacture. Our own
little plant will produce and ship. You may then place them with your
customers."

I studied the magnificent piece of animated sculpturing, stunned at the
possibilities. "You say a Soth is strong. How strong?"

The huge creature startled me by answering the question himself. He bent
flowingly from the waist, gripped my massive steel desk by one of its
thick, overlapping top edges, and raised it a few inches from the
floor--with the fingers of one hand. When he put it down, I stood up and
hefted one edge myself. By throwing my back into it, I could just budge
one side of the clumsy thing--four hundred pounds if it was an ounce!

* * * * *

Ollie Johnson modestly refrained from comment. He said, "The Department
of Commerce has been helpful. They