keep him informed of the
situation?

* * * * *

Hafner seemed to guess his thoughts. "At night we'll floodlight the
supplies we remove from the warehouse. We'll post a guard armed with
decharged rifles until we can move the food into the new warehouse.
That'll take about ten days. Meanwhile, our fast crops are ripening.
It's my guess the rats will turn to them for food. In order to protect
our future food supply, you'll have to activate your animals."

The biologist started. "But it's against regulations to loose any
animal on a planet until a complete investigation of the possible ill
effects is made."

"That takes ten or twenty years. This is an emergency and I'll be
responsible--in writing, if you want."

The biologist was effectively countermanded. Another rabbit-infested
Australia or the planet that the snails took over might be in the
making, but there was nothing he could do about it.

"I hardly think they'll be of any use against rats this size," he
protested.

"You've got hormones. Apply them." The executive turned and began
discussing construction with the engineer.

* * * * *

Marin had the dead rats gathered up and placed in the freezer for
further study.

After that, he retired to the laboratory and worked out a course of
treatment for the domesticated animals that the colonists had brought
with them. He gave them the first injections and watched them
carefully until they were safely through the initial shock phase of
growth. As soon as he saw they were going to survive, he bred them.

Next he turned to the rats. Of note was the wide variation in size.
Internally, the same thing was true. They had the usual organs, but
the proportions of each varied greatly, more than is normal. Nor were
their teeth uniform. Some carried huge fangs set in delicate jaws;
others had tiny teeth that didn't match the massive bone structure. As
a species, they were the most scrambled the biologist had ever
encountered.

He turned the microscope on their tissues and tabulated the results.
There was less difference here between individual specimens, but it
was enough to set him pondering. The reproductive cells were
especially baffling.

Late in the day, he felt rather than heard the soundless whoosh of the
construction machinery. He looked out of the laboratory and saw smoke
rolling upward. As soon as the vegetation was charred, the smoke
ceased and