have a form of ESP--or perhaps a
recognition of danger would be a better term--and we know its range is
somewhat over a third of a mile. We know that they're telekinetic. The
lack of visible controls in their ship would tell us that, even if we
hadn't seen them move small objects at a distance. We know that they
have eidetic memories, and that they can reason on an extremely high
level. Other than that we know nothing. We don't even know their
physical structure. We've tried X-ray but they're radio-opaque. We've
tried using some human sensitives from the Rhine Institute, but
they're unable to get anywhere. They just turn empathic in the aliens'
presence, and when we get them back, they do nothing but babble about
the beauty of the Aztlan soul."

"Considering the difficulties, you haven't done too badly," the
President said. "I take it then, that you're convinced that they are
an advanced life form. But do you think they're sincere in their
attitude toward us?"

"Oh, they're sincere enough," Matson said. "The only trouble is that
we don't know just what they're sincere about. You see, sir, we are in
the position of a savage to whom a trader brings the luxuries of
civilization. To the savage, the trader may represent purest altruism,
giving away such valuable things as glass beads and machine made cloth
for useless pieces of yellow rock and the skins of some native pest.
The savage hasn't the slightest inkling that he's being exploited. By
the time he realizes he's been had, and the yellow rock is gold and
the skins are mink, he has become so dependent upon the goods for
which the trader has whetted his appetite that he inevitably becomes
an economic slave.

"Of course you can argue that the cloth and beads are far more
valuable to the savage than the gold or mink. But in the last
analysis, value is determined by the higher culture, and by that
standard, the savage gets taken. And ultimately civilization moves in
and the superior culture of the trader's race determines how the
savage will act.

"Still, the savage has a basis for his acts. He is giving something
for something--making a trade. But we're not even in that position.
The aliens apparently want nothing from us. They have asked for
nothing except our good will, and that isn't a tradable item."

"But they're altruists!" the President protested.

"Sir, do you think that they're insane?" Matson asked curiously. "Do
they appear like fanatics to you?"

"But