kers, who had spent lifetimes in ecological service and had shown
their capabilities many times over.

"And that's the situation, sirs," he said, after a significant pause.
"The moving and still bathygraphs, the data sheets, and the samplings
of the area all tell the same story. I do not feel that I, alone, can
make the decision. Emotionally, I must admit, I am tempted to destroy
all twenty of the monsters. Intellectually, I realize that we should
attempt to capture at least one family group--if we can discover what
constitutes a family group in this species. Unfortunately, we cannot
tell the sexes apart by visual inspection; the sex organs themselves
must be hidden in the folds of that gray hide. And this is evidently
not their breeding season, for we have seen no sign of sexual
activity.

"We have very little time, sirs, it seems to me. The damage they have
already done will take years to repair, and the danger of upsetting
the Balance irreparably grows exponentially greater with every passing
work period.

"Sirs, I ask your advice and your decision."

There was a murmur of approval for his presentation as he came down
from the speakers bench. Then the Keepers went into their respective
committee meetings so discuss the various problems of detail that had
arisen out of the one great problem.

Dodeth went into an anteroom and tried to relax and get a little
sleep--though he doubted he'd get any. His nerves were too much on
edge.

Ardan woke him gently. "Your breakfast, sir."

Dodeth blinked and jerked his head up. "Oh. Uhum. Ardan! Have the
Keepers reached any decision yet?"

"No, sir; not yet. The data are still coming in."

It was three more work periods before the Keepers called Dodeth Pell
before them again. Dodeth could almost read the decision on their
faces--there was both sadness and determination there.

"It was an uncomfortable decision, Dodeth Pell," said the Eldest
Keeper without preliminary, "but a necessary one. We can find no place
in the Ecological Balance for this species. We have already ordered a
patrol column of two hundred fully-armed pesticide robots to destroy
the animals. Two are to be captured alive, if possible, but, if not,
the bodies will be brought to the biological laboratories for study.
Within a few hours, the species will be nearly or completely extinct.

"By the way, you may tell your assistant, Wygor, that the animal will
go down in the files as _wygorex_. A unique disti