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Contents

Acknowledgements.......................................................vIntroduction...........................................................ixMommy, Why Am I Here?..................................................1Man's Pride............................................................7The Colonists..........................................................16The Domes..............................................................36The Prisoner's Dilemma.................................................44I Am of Man............................................................61Intelitan the Destructor...............................................85And Where Does the Five-Hundred-Pound Alien Sleep?.....................118Technology, Or, Fact-Finding in Mark V Power Armor.....................168The Ticket Out.........................................................181Conclusion.............................................................259

Chapter One

This is a story about one way to make interstellar exploration faster and cheaper, but the savings come with a twist.

"Mommy, why am I here?" Mary asked with the innocence of a six-year-old. It was a pleasant spring day. The sun shone through the window over the kitchen sink. Janet, her mother, took a moment from washing dishes to bend down and face her.

"You're here because God wants you to be here, Mary."

"Yes, Mommy. But why am I here? What am I supposed to do ... when I grow up?"

"God has something very special in mind for you, Mary, I'm sure," answered Janet. "In the meantime, have you done your studies?"

"Yes."

"In that case why don't you run outside and play for a while."

Mary ran outside. The house was at the center of a farm couched in rolling hills of spring-lush green and covered with a canopy of intense blue sky and low-flying white cottony clouds. Mary skirted the hog pens and ran to the barn. Uncle Gustav was there half under the tractor working on the engine.

"Mary, please fetch me the 5/8" wrench, please, from the toolbox on top of the tractor."

Mary clambered up and reached for it. As she did, she sent the toolbox clattering down. It fell solidly on Gustav's hip.

Gustav howled. "Mary! Please be more careful." He scrambled out from under the tractor and checked the motion of his leg. "Rats," he said, "something's broken. I'm going to have to go to the hospital."

"I'm sorry, Uncle Gustav."

"And well you should be, my dear," he said, only slightly angry. "Please be more careful next time."

"I will, I promise."

Gustav limped out of the barn muttering. "If I don't get this tractor done soon, we won't finish the plowing in time."

Mary wandered further into the barn where the milking was going on. Bill, her brother, and Frank, her dad, were industriously attaching milkers to the cows as the cows contentedly ate their morning meal.

Frank asked, "Was that Gustav I heard yelling in the front?"

"Yes, he had an accident."

"What happened?" asked Bill.

"I dropped a tool box on his hip and it broke. He's going to the hospital now. I told him I was sorry, Daddy."

"Very good, dear," said Frank. He turned back to the cows.

"Daddy?" she said, "Why am I here?"

Frank turned from the cows; bent down and said, "You're here because God put you here."

"That's what Mommy said, but why am I here now?"

Frank looked at her. "You're six now."

She pouted. "Daddy. You forgot."

He smiled at her. "No I didn't. You're almost seven, aren't you, and tomorrow is your birthday."

Mary brightened again. "That's right. I'm going to be seven years old and you said that when I got to be seven years old, why something very special would happen."

Frank grinned at her. "That's right, dear. Something very special."

Mary pleaded. "What is it, Daddy? I'm almost seven, now. You can tell me. What's going to be special?"

Frank looked at her, paused. His stare went blank a moment, then he said, "Well, I can't tell you everything, but I can tell you this: Tomorrow at your birthday party, you're going to meet somebody very special."

"Wow," said Mary. "Who's it going to be?"

"Somebody you've never met before, but somebody who's had a tremendous amount to do with your life."

"Wow, is it God?"

"No," he laughed. "It's not God. But it is somebody very close to God for you. But that's all I'm going to tell you. Now, how would you like to help Bill and me get these cows hooked up to the milkers."

"Can I?"

"Well, you learned how last week, didn't you?"

"We're not teaching you these things for nothing," said Bill.

Mary started attaching milkers to the cows. She was a bit clumsy and some of the cows protested. But when they did Bill came over and continued to correct Mary so she rapidly was doing her part to help out.

School time came shortly. "Mary, Mary!" Janet yelled from the front of the barn, just loud enough to be heard over the din. "Mr. Corvax is here." Reluctantly Mary handed off her work to Bill, came in from the barn, and went to her study room with Mr. Corvax, her tutor.

Mr. Corvax reviewed her studies. "Well, Mary, you're doing excellently. Your arithmetic, your English, your science, your social studies are all progressing very nicely."

"Why thank you, Mr. Corvax," Mary said, "And you know something, Mr. Corvax? Something very special is going to happen tomorrow."

"What is that, Mary?" he said.

"My Birthday!"

"Why that's right! And you'll be seven years old, won't you."

"That's right. And Dad tells me I'll meet someone very special at my birthday. Do you know who that could be?"

Mr. Corvax paused, had a blank stare for a moment much as Frank had done earlier, and then said, "I understand that it's going to be Mr. Metzarkin."

"Who's that? I've never heard of him before."

"You haven't heard of him, Mary, but he's been very important in your life."

"Dad tells me he's sort of like God."

"He's sort of like it. He's had a lot to do with arranging this whole place. Now let's continue with your studies. There are still a few more things you should know if you're going to be a seven-year old."

That evening at dinner, Uncle Gustav came back.

"How are you feeling?" asked Frank.

"Oh, fine. Just fine."

"Understand you took quite a hit from that toolbox."

"Yeah, it was quite a clunk, but the hospital got it all fixed up. I'll work on the tractor this evening after dinner and she should be all fixed up and ready to go first thing tomorrow."

"That's good to hear. The weather's just right."

Mary said to Uncle Gustav. "Did you hear? Mr. Metzarkin is coming tomorrow to my birthday party."

"Mr. M is coming? That's really special, my dear. That means there'll be some big changes coming. You're really growing up fast."

"Have you ever met Mr. M?"

"No. None of us have, I reckon." He looked around, and there were nods of agreement. "But we know all about him, dear."

"How come I don't know all about him?"

They all went blank for a...