Ellis Hart

“ There was certainly no sense of brotherhood with the aliens. But he knew, on a level that defied all doubt, that he must save these people, or never feel at peace with himself again.
Behind him, Shreve heard Teller snort in disgust. The psych officer took two quick steps forward, jerked his head toward the massive bulk of the Wallower. "Children! That's all they are. They think those masks protect them from evil, they think their blind arrogance will protect them if trouble comes! They think they know better than us! They don't know when they need help. ”

“ The robomechs had set out the floodlamps, almost to the edges of the jungle, and the Wallower was bathed in white light, sharply outlining her plate construction, and the clean transparency of the conning bubbles.
Paul Jukovsky, Roboexec, jg, stood behind his control console in the construction bubble, watching the thirty ton robomech carrying its burden. The sixteen-wheeled robomech rolled off the extended cargo hatch ramp, sinking just a bit into the springy ground of Diamore. Jukovsky grinned at his foresight in spreading a primary hardener over the surface before the big boys went to work. ”

“ Shreve pleaded, looking up at the masked Diamoraii, astride their mounts. He had made certain all outside pickup mikes were off. "We only want to help you. Won't you let us re-direct the coming eruptions. Please!" Shreve had plumbed the depths of his mind in an attempt to find reasons for sacrificing such efforts to save the Diamoraii. The only reasons he had found he had not been able to translate—yet there was a sense of identification with the long-legged and stubborn aliens. He wanted to save them! ”

“ Teller soothed him, sitting down beside him on the couch, "don't you see? They're adolescents. They don't know when to call for help. They've been hurt, and with the single-minded purpose of the immature they're bound not to let it happen again. You can't blame yourself for what's happened.
"You had no way of knowing about this power of theirs. Why don't we leave right now. If we lay on all power we can make the schedule still pretty close."
Shreve stood up, flicked on the view-plates. He stared into them a moment, seeing nothing but tangled jungle. ”

“ Shreve turned the plates up to higher magnification, whistling through his teeth. "Wheeew! What magnificent creatures! Did you see the way they ran that jungle like broken-field quarterbacks?"
From beside him the agreeing mutter of the pudgy psych officer blended with the busy clicking of the analyzers, totaling their counts.
"Those look to be the people we have to contact, Karl," Shreve added, motioning toward the Diamoraii who were dragging objects from their pouches.
"A young people," Teller mused, his face flushed. "A young and a virile people. ”

“ We were wrong we have been foolish we have rejected our only salvation we must prepare the group-mind send our plea for aid into space speak to the outsiders ask them to help us.
They thought their instructions away from themselves, to their kin across Diamore's blasted face. Prepare! Join! Speak to the outsiders!
And when they had gathered together every last Diamorai, with more dying as they joined the chain, with the feel of agony radiating through the group-mind, the message weakly rose. Tentatively it probed at the inner surface of Diamore's atmosphere. ”

“ If you're too stupid, or too swollen up with your own importance to realize you need help, we'll help you despite yourselves!"
Why do you think the Kyben left Diamore?
Shreve's words stopped before they could be spoken. His fury checked itself. He hadn't considered that. Why had another race, one that could decimate a planet as the blood pits indicated they could, leave when they seemed to be on the verge of getting what they wanted?
We are not defenseless we can stop you we will hurt you go.
Teller's sharp laugh interrupted before Shreve could get an answer out. "Fools! Pompous adolescents! ”

“ Shreve turned away from the plates, flicking them off. "I can't stand it, Karl! How senseless! Because one race dealt them unfairly, they closed their eyes to help from anyone else."
Teller crossed his legs as he sat on the couch. He did not appear to be disturbed by the sight from below.
"Luther, you can't go on destroying yourself. You did everything you could. You were as resourceful as any man could have been. ”

“ Shreve could tell he was thinking at them, but what he was thinking was impossible to guess. If the aliens understood, they gave no indication. The transmission did not work between the Earthmen, obviously.
When Teller had fallen back, Shreve asked, "What did you say?"
"I told them we were here because volcanic eruptions were going to rip up their planet within five months. I told them the quakes and volcanos would kill off ninety-five percent of their people. I told them we could help them to—"
The aliens rose slowly, and one stepped forward. He looked down at the two Earthmen. ”

“ But were they so young that they could not realize when they needed help?
"Look," he found himself speaking, "you don't seem to understand." The aliens moved back as Shreve approached. They didn't seem to want him near them. "Your planet is a young one. There are internal stresses that are going to rip open your continents. We can set up machines that will re-direct these eruptions—into the ocean, back in the jungle where it's uninhabited—so your people won't die. ”

“ Hear this you are not the first strangers to come here once before strange men came to us from the sky they called themselves the Kyben and they told us they wanted to trade but they did not trade they ate away our land and burned our jungle and took our women and killed our young warriors. ”

“ He drew up a bit, laid his hands flat on the console. "I've got to talk to them once more. To beg them again."
We warned you came the cold, hard tones. The group-mind is infinitely stronger than our individual power now that you have seen our strength will you go? ”

“ We have been as you think burned once and we do not wish to be burned again we cannot say whether or not these things you warn us of really exist but we will take our own destinies in our hands and treat them if they come we have seen no such indications of eruptions and we do not believe you. ”

“ The aliens wouldn't accept help, though their world was
about to explode. They were adolescents. Adolescence is
the time when you aren't smart enough to ask for help....
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Super-Science Fiction February 1957.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
The planet Diamore, hung round and gaudy in the view-plates. As colorfully unchanging as it had been every day for the two weeks since the Wallower had plopped out of inverspace near it. ”

“ The psych officer flipped his plate off, turned, crossing his arms as the aliens had done, and sat on the dead console.
"I don't think they know what's happening down there, Luther. At least," he amended, "they didn't appear to be preparing for evacuation in the threatened areas when we went over them. So I rather suspect they're waiting for us to come out and chat." ”