of a genius," murmured Ggaran.

"All right, then, genius, here I am," said Crownwall. "So what's the
pitch?"

"Ggaran, you explain it to the Earthling," said His Effulgence.

* * * * *

Ggaran bowed. "The crustaceans on Sunda--the lobsterlike creatures that
rule the Galaxy--are usurpers. They have no rights to their position of
power. Our race is much older than theirs. We were alone when we found
the Sundans--a primitive tribe, grubbing in the mud at the edge of their
shallow seas, unable even to reason. In those days we were desperately
lonely. We needed companionship among the stars, and we helped them
develop to the point where, in their inferior way, they were able to
reason, almost as well as we, The People, can. And then they cheated us
of our rightful place.

"The Emperor at Sunda is one of them. They provide sixty-eight of the
hundred Viceroys; we provide only seventeen. It is a preposterous and
intolerable situation.

"For more than two million years we have waited for the opportunity for
revenge. And now that you have entered space, that opportunity is at
hand."

"If you haven't been able to help yourselves for two million years,"
asked Crownwall, "how does the sight of me give you so much gumption all
of a sudden?"

Ggaran's tentacles writhed, and he slavered in fury, but the clashing of
his teeth subsided instantly at a soothing wave from His Effulgence.

"War in space is almost an impossibility," said the aged ruler. "We can
destroy planets, of course, but with few exceptions, we cannot conquer
them. I rule a total of seven races in my Sector. I rule them, but I
don't let them intermingle. Each race settles on the planets that best
suit it. Each of those planets is quite capable of defending itself from
raids, or even large-scale assaults that would result in its capture and
subjugation--just as your little Earth can defend itself.

"Naturally, each is vulnerable to economic blockade--trade provides a
small but vital portion of the goods each planet uses. All that a world
requires for a healthy and comfortable life cannot be provided from the
resources of that single world alone, and that gives us a very
considerable measure of control.

"And it is true that we can always exterminate any planet that refuses
to obey the just and legal orders of its Viceroy. So we achieve a
working balance in our Empire. We control it adequately, and we live in
peace.

"The Sund