s there any reference to the violence
of the period. They went back two hundred--five hundred years--beyond
the time when Council members first made contact with the Nucleus.

There was nothing.

Cameron sat back in complete puzzlement as it became apparent that it
was useless to go back further. "The normal thing would be for them to
brag all over the place about their great conquests. Even races who
become comparatively civilized citizens ordinarily let themselves go
when it comes to history. If they've had a long record of conquest and
bloodshed, they say so with plenty of chest pounding. Of course, it's
padded out to reflect their righteous conquest over tyranny, but it's
always there in _some_ form.

"But nothing up to now has been normal about the development of the
Markovian problem and this really tops it off--the complete omission of
any reference to their armed conquests."

"Maybe this planet didn't participate very much. Perhaps only a small
number of the Nucleus worlds were responsible for it," said Joyce.

Cameron shook his head. "No. The Council records show that the Nucleus
as a unit was responsible, and that virtually all the worlds are
specifically mentioned. And even if this one had been out of it
completely you could still expect references to it because there was
constant interchange with most of the other planets. We can try another
one, though--"

They tried one more, then a half dozen in quick scanning. They swept
through a summarization of the Nucleus as a whole during that critical
period.

There was nothing to show that the Markovians had ever been anything but
peace-loving citizens intent on pursuit of science, commerce, and the
arts.

"This could have been rigged for our special benefit," said Joyce
thoughtfully as they ended the day's futile search. "They didn't want to
apply enough pressure to keep us from coming, but they did want to make
sure we wouldn't find out anything about their past."

Cameron shook his head slowly. "It couldn't have been done in the time
they've had. Simply cutting out what they didn't want to show us
wouldn't have done it. There's too much cross reference to all periods
involved. It's a complete phony, but it's not something done on the spur
of the moment just for our benefit. It's too good for that."

"Maybe they've had it for a _long_ time--just in case somebody like us
should come along."

"It's possible, but I don't think that's right either," sa