ut they're eager to enjoy the fruits of Terran assimilation."

Stryker, grinning, brought Farrell a frosted drink that tinkled
invitingly. "An unusually fortunate ending to a Hymenop experiment," he
said. "These people progressed normally because they've been let alone.
Reorienting them will be a simple matter; they'll be properly spoiled
colonists within another generation."

Farrell sipped his drink appreciatively.

"But I don't see why the Bees should go to such trouble to deceive these
people. Why did they sit back and let them grow as they pleased, Gib? It
doesn't make sense!"

"But it does, for once," Gibson said. "The Bees set up this colony as a
control unit to study the species they were invading, and they had to
give their specimens a normal--if obsolete--background in order to
determine their capabilities. The fact that their experiment didn't tell
them what they wanted to know may have had a direct bearing on their
decision to pull out."

Farrell shook his head. "It's a reverse application, isn't it of the old
saw about Terrans being incapable of understanding an alien culture?"

"Of course," said Gibson, surprised. "It's obvious enough, surely--hard
as they tried, the Bees never understood us either."

THE END

[Illustration]

Transcriber's Note:

This etext was produced from _Amazing Science Fiction Stories_
January 1960. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed. Minor spelling
and typographical errors have been corrected without note.

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Control Group, by Roger Dee

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