ems to banish the idea of free thought. We have changed history,
yet history is that which is already done!

"Had I never been born, had--but I _was_ already--I existed fifty-eighty
thousand years before I was born!"

"Let's go out and think about that later. We'll go to a psych hospital,
if we don't stop thinking about problems of space and time for a little
while. We need some kind of relaxation."

"I suggest that we take our weapons with us. These men may have weapons
of chemical nature, such as poisons injected into the flesh on small
sticks hurled either by a spring device or by pneumatic pressure of the
lungs," said Stel Felso Theu as he rose from his seat unstrapping
himself.

"Arrows and blow-guns we call 'em. But it's a good idea, Stel Felso, and
I think we will," replied Arcot. "Let's not all go out at once, and the
first group to go out goes out on foot, so they won't be scared off by
our flying around."

Arcot, Wade, Zezdon Afthen, and Stel Felso Theu went out. The natives
had retreated to a respectful distance, and were now standing about,
looking on, chattering to themselves. They were edging nearer.

"Growing bold," grinned Wade.

"It is the characteristic of intelligent races manifesting
itself--curiosity," pointed out Stel Felso Theu.

"Are these the type of men still living in this valley, or who will be
living there in fifty thousand years?" asked Zezdon Afthen.

"I'd say they weren't Egyptians as we know them, but typical Neolithic
men. It seems they have brains fully as large as some of the men I see
on the streets of New York. I wonder if they have the ability to learn
as much as the average man of--say about 1950?"

The Neolithic men were warming up. There was an orator among them, and
his grunts, growls, snorts and gestures were evidently affecting them.
They had sent the women back (by the simple and direct process of
sweeping them up in one arm and heaving them in the general direction of
home). The men were brandishing polished stone knives and axes, various
instruments of war and peace. One favorite seemed to be a large club.

"Let's forestall trouble," suggested Arcot. He drew his ray pistol, and
turned it on the ground directly in front of them, and about halfway
between them and the Neoliths. A streak of the soil about two feet wide
flashed into intense radiation under the impact of millions on millions
of horsepower of radiant energy. Further, it was fused to a depth of
twent