lanetary policy--and that's
never a very smart thing. They are like men with knives who have
killed all the men who were only armed with stones. Now they are
facing men with guns, and they are going to keep charging and
fighting until they are all dead.

"It's a perfect case of the utter impartiality of the forces of
evolution. Men infected by this Disan life form were the dominant
creatures on this planet. The creature in the magters' brains was a
true symbiote then, giving something and receiving something, making
a union of symbiotes where all were stronger together than any could
be separately. Now this is changed. The magter brain cannot
understand the concept of racial death, in a situation where it must
understand to be able to survive. Therefore the brain-creature is no
longer a symbiote but a parasite."

"And as a parasite it must be destroyed!" Brion broke in. "We're not
fighting shadows any more," he exulted. "We've found the enemy--and
it's not the magter at all. Just a sort of glorified tapeworm that
is too stupid to know when it is killing itself off. Does it have
a brain--can it think?"

"I doubt it very much," Lea said. "A brain would be of absolutely no
use to it. So even if it originally possessed reasoning powers they
would be gone by now. Symbiotes or parasites that live internally
like this always degenerate to an absolute minimum of functions."

"Tell me about it. What is this thing?" Ulv broke in, prodding the
soft form of the brain-symbiote. He had heard all their excited talk
but had not understood a word.

"Explain it to him, will you, Lea, as best you can," Brion said,
looking at her, and he realized how exhausted she was. "And sit down
while you do it; you're long overdue for a rest. I'm going to try--"
He broke off when he looked at his watch.

It was after four in the afternoon--less than eight hours to go.
What was he to do? Enthusiasm faded as he realized that only half of
the problem was solved. The bombs would drop on schedule unless the
Nyjorders could understand the significance of this discovery. Even
if they understood, would it make any difference to them? The threat
of the hidden cobalt bombs would not be changed.

With this thought came the guilty realization that he had forgotten
completely about Telt's death. Even before he contacted the Nyjord
fleet he must tell Hys and his rebel army what had happened to Telt
and his sand car. Also about the radioactive traces. They