t he said it.

"_Work!_" she yelped. "So that's what's troubling you. Too much work
you say. And what is occupying your time now? Have you even so much as
gone to the forest of Evil Contractions to capture a giant in the past
six months? Not you! You're satisfied with the way things are. You
wouldn't give a hang if I died of boredom. And when I ask for
something like a torture party, all you can say is, it's too much
work."

She started to cry. And after all she had seven pairs of eyes to shed
tears from. It was the biggest crying jag since the invasion from
space a millenium before when the invaders used tear gas....

Hiah-Leugh threw up all the arms he could spare and shouted:

"Okay. _OKAY!_ I'll call a meeting of the Council and we'll plan
something."

* * * * *

"The situation is this," Hiah-Leugh said in opening the meeting, "we
must (get the) right to work and bring some humans up here."

The assembled B. E. M's. stopped looking bored at the words. They had
wondered why their chieftan had called the meeting. Now they knew. One
after the other they repeated the words as if they couldn't believe
their senses. Humans! Here on Planet XYZ268PDQ.

"But mighty chief," one of them said in objection. "Do you realize
what you're asking of us?"

Another said:

"How, when...?"

And a third asked:

"Who?"

"Our scientists, that's who," Hiah-Leugh answered. "What the heck we
got them for anyway? Seems all they do is sleep. Let them wake up and
to work."

But the oldest and wisest of them said:

"Why can't we be normal monsters and not act like we're expected to?
Isn't peace enough for us? Must we look for trouble?"

But their chieftan knew there was no turning back. Not if he wanted
peace. And knowing Sally Patica, he also knew there would be no peace
for him until he brought some humans up for torture.

"Let them construct space ships, terrible weapons of war, plagues and
all the necessary adjuncts to planetary invasion. Let them prepare for
the holocaust," Hiah-Leugh shouted, drowning out the others.

But it was the youngest, a mere youth of ten thousand years, upon
whose head but a single eye showed, who pointed out the path. He was
already bored with this meeting; besides, he had but fallen in love
the day before and wanted to get back to his amorata.

"Why all this fuss?" he asked. "What's more, we don't have scientists,
or mathematicians, or warriors. If the giants