ad no military
ambitions. It was not bent on conquest. The solar system had outgrown
military expeditions, war, and the thought of war, and cruisers went out
from it not to fight but to learn. Knowledge was the thing they sought,
all knowledge, so the human race could determine its place in the
cosmos, could know the history of all things past, could possibly
forecast the shape of things to come.

The landing of the Third Interstellar Expedition on this Vegan world had
been a part of a vast evolution, a march that, starting on earth so long
ago that all history of it was forever lost, was now reaching out across
the cosmos. A new evolution! Ron Val had always been talking about this
new evolution. It was one of his favorite subjects.

"What do you make of this world?" Hargraves asked abruptly. "The only
sign of civilization we have seen is this vast grove. No cities, no
industrial plants, no evidence of progress. Yet the spherical ship that
attacked us certainly indicates a highly mechanical civilization. Of
course there may be cities here that we haven't seen, but as we landed
we saw a large land area. No roads were visible, no canals, not even any
cultivated fields. What does all this mean to you, as an archeologist?"

"Nothing," Usher answered promptly. "I would say this country is a
wilderness. But the trees planted in regular rows disprove this. On
earth, at least, centuries would be required for trees as large as these
to grow. Forestry, planned centuries in advance, can only come from a
high and stable culture. However, as you say, all other signs of this
high culture are absent, no cities, no transportation facilities,
apparently damned few inhabitants--we have seen only four. All
civilizations with which we are familiar move through recognized stages,
first the nomadic stage, which involves tending flocks and herds. Then
comes the tilling of the soil, in which farming is the principal
occupation of most of the people. After that, with industrialization, we
have cities developing. If there is another stage we have not reached it
on earth."

"Do you think they might have reached the final stage here?" Hargraves
questioned.

"I don't know what the final stage may be," the archeologist answered.
"Also, and this is more important, I can't begin to guess at the real
nature of the inhabitants of this world. Until I do know their real
nature, what they look like, what they eat, where they sleep, what they
think,