Conn drank some more brandy, hoping he could get his courage up without
getting drunk. After all, they had a right to a full report; all of them
had contributed something toward sending him to Terra.

"The main purpose in my going to the University was to learn computer
theory and practice. It wouldn't do any good for us to find the Brain if
none of us are able to use it. Well, I learned enough to be able to
operate, program and service any computer in existence, and train
assistants. During my last year at the University, I had a part-time
paid job programming the big positron-neutrino-photon computer in the
astrophysics department. When I graduated, I was offered a position as
instructor in positronic computer theory."

"You never mentioned that in your letters, son," his father said.

"It was too late for any letter except one that would come on the same
ship I did. Beside, it wasn't very important."

"I think it was." There was a catch in old Professor Kellton's voice.
"One of my boys, from the Academy, offered a place on the faculty of the
University of Montevideo, on Terra!" He poured himself a second drink,
something he almost never did.

"Conn means it wasn't important because it didn't have anything to do
with the Brain," Fawzi explained and then looked at Conn expectantly.

All right; now he'd tell them. "I went over all the records of the Third
Fleet-Army Force's occupation of Poictesme that are open to the public.
On one pretext or another, I got permission to examine the
non-classified files that aren't open to public examination. I even got
a few peeps at some of the stuff that's still classified secret. I have
maps and plans of all the installations that were built on this
planet--literally thousands of them, many still undiscovered. Why, we
haven't more than scratched the surface of what the Federation left
behind here. For instance, all the important installations exist in
duplicate, some even in triplicate, as a precaution against Alliance
space attack."

"Space attack!" Colonel Zareff was indignant. "There never was a time
when the Alliance could have taken the offensive against Poictesme, even
if an offensive outside our own space-area had been part of our policy.
We just didn't have the ships. It took over a year to move a million and
a half troops from Ashmodai to Marduk, and the fleet that was based on
Amaterasu was blasted out of existence in the spaceports and in orbit.
Hell, at the t