nything like a mindprobe, so I can give you everything I know in a
hurry?"

"Not yet," Chavvorth said regretfully. "One is in the development
stage, but it will be several months at least before it is far enough
along to experiment with humans on."

"We do it the hard way, then. Emperor Barton?"

"Yes, Ranger Medart," the ship replied.

"What access level do I have in this universe?"

"Full access, Ranger."

"Good." That was standard in every Empire he'd visited or heard of,
but since neither had applied to this one, it'd seemed best to ask
rather than assume. "Record everything I say about Sandemans, then,
and pass it along to IntelDiv for summary and conversion to a teaching
tape. They should include a caveat that this information comes from
Alpha Prime and may or may not apply to the Zeta Prime Sandemans."

"It will be done, Ranger."

"Thank you." Medart turned his attention back to Captain Chavvorth.
"The Shapers were genetic engineers who left Terra in 2130 and
deliberately lost themselves. Not long after that, they began using
their own germ plasm to create the Sandeman race as improvements on
humanity. The idiots didn't stop with that, though. They designed a
complex of physical and psychological traits that made a percentage of
the males into genetically-determined warriors who not only like to
fight--it's one of their favorite occupations--they have to either
fight or make love at regular intervals just to stay healthy."

Chavvorth stared at him. "Genetically determined warriors? That would
explain much about them--but how could anyone be so stupid?"

Medart shrugged. "We don't know. When our Sandemans overthrew their
Shapers, almost all the Shaper records were destroyed. My personal
opinion is that it was sheer arrogance."

"Which they passed along to their creations," Chavvorth said.

Medart chuckled. "They have some justification, you must admit--they're
stronger, faster, and more intelligent than the standard human norm."

"True," Chavvorth said grudgingly. "They also have greater mage-power,
as you must have deduced from what I told you about their ability to
escape."

"Uh-huh. In my universe, they've got greater than usual Talent,
especially the warriors. So it seems reasonable that here they'd have
more than the normal amount of magical ability." He took a swallow of
coffee, grimacing when he found it was cold. "Just how bad is the
situation?"

"We have lost about a