h-uh, not _me_." Sandra shivered in distaste. "I _never_ want to see
brains and livers and things swimming around in nutrient solution if I
can help it."

"Okay. It's all yours. I'll be back sometime," and Hilton went out onto
the dock, where the dejected Laro was waiting for him.

"Hi, Laro. Get the car and take me to the Hall of Records." The android
brightened up immediately and hurried to obey.

At the Hall, Hilton's first care was to see how the work was going on.
Eight of the huge rooms were now open and brightly lighted--operating
the lamps had been one of the first items on the first spool of
instructions--with a cold, pure-white, sourceless light.

* * * * *

Every team had found its objective and was working on it. Some of them
were doing nicely, but the First Team could not even get started. Its
primary record would advance a fraction of an inch and stop; while Omans
and humans sought out other records and other projectors in an attempt
to elucidate some concept that simply could not be translated into any
words or symbols known to Terran science. At the moment there were
seventeen of those peculiar--projectors? Viewers? Playbacks--in use, and
all of them were stopped.

"You know what we've got to _do_ Jarve?" Karns, the team captain,
exploded. "Go back to being college freshmen--or maybe grade school or
kindergarten, we don't know yet--and learn a whole new system of
mathematics before we can even begin to _touch_ this stuff!"

"And you're bellyaching about that?" Hilton marveled. "I wish I could
join you. That'd be fun." Then, as Karns started a snappy rejoinder--

"But I got troubles of my own," he added hastily. "'Bye, now," and beat
a rejoinder--

Out in the hall again, Hilton took his chance. After all, the odds were
about two to one that he would win.

"I want a couple of things, Laro. First, a thought screen."

He won!

"Very well, Master. They are in a distant room, Department Four Six
Nine. Will you wait here on this cushioned bench, Master?"

"No, we don't like to rest too much. I'll go with you." Then, walking
along, he went on thoughtfully. "I've been thinking since last night,
Laro. There are tremendous advantages in having Omans ..."

"I am very glad you think so, Master. I want to serve you. It is my
greatest need."

"... if they could be kept from smothering us to death. Thus, if our
ancestors had kept their Omans, I would have known all about