Henry Slesar

“ Shura said, "is what the Earth-race calls a Baby. Unlike ourselves, the Earth-creatures are mammals, bearing their young within the womb and expelling it after nine months of gestation. The creature that emerges is called a Baby, or Infant, and it undergoes a process of cell growth until it becomes an Earth-adult. But at no point in this entire growth process is the Earth-creature more adored, more pampered, and most important—more trusted—than the time when it bears the name of Baby." ”

“ From the corner of the room, Lotha, the ex-chairman of the Nahrla War Council, twisted his features bitterly and said:
"And just how does Shura propose to introduce this agent to the planet? Can we place him in the very womb of some Earth-creature?"
"No," Shura said. "That cannot be done. But infiltrating an agent in the form of a human Baby will be no problem. The Earth-creatures readily accept Babies, without question as to parentage or identity. There are thousands of such Babies born every day on the planet, and special institutions have been created for their care." ”

“ Shura said, "the Man is a relatively ineffective creature. As an individual, he is usually inclined to be emotionally unstable, petty, given to a sense of self-importance, greedy, acquisitive, slothful, and often cruel. At times, he is capable of unselfish and even noble actions, but even these are questioned by his fellow-creatures as having hidden, base motivations. If our agent were to take the form of this Man, his ability to uncover the type of information we seek would be hampered by the same distrust that affects all men of the planet Earth. ”