Terra was ever full. This
brute runs forty feet when allowed, in size, that is. A giant
carnivorous fish, very tough."

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

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

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

"A tiny shark," said Powers, "about three and a half feet in size. They
school in thousands on Terra and eat anything that swims. Just blind
agile 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 much
about it."

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

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

"Read the names," said Powers. He was staring out of the Club window at
the stars. "They fed us our own dirt, because we hadn't eliminated all
our competitors. Disease means microorganisms, so you choose the
largest animal possible with efficiency, that is. Just read the list.
My grandparents died, you know, but it had to be done, or we'd have
destroyed ourselves. The Combine was a far greater blessing to us than
it 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 comparison
with many other worlds is terribly tough because we have so many
different environments