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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..35dfb3d --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #51148 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/51148) diff --git a/old/51148-h.zip b/old/51148-h.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 69ae304..0000000 --- a/old/51148-h.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/51148-h/51148-h.htm b/old/51148-h/51148-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index 61b4a6e..0000000 --- a/old/51148-h/51148-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,963 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> - <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=us-ascii" /> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> - <title> - The Project Gutenberg eBook of Common Denominator, by John D. 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MacDonald - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Common Denominator - -Author: John D. MacDonald - -Release Date: February 8, 2016 [EBook #51148] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK COMMON DENOMINATOR *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/cover.jpg" width="362" height="500" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="titlepage"> -<h1>Common Denominator</h1> - -<p>BY JOHN D. MacDONALD</p> - -<p>Illustrated by DON HUNTER</p> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Galaxy Science Fiction July 1951.<br /> -Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that<br /> -the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]</p> - -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph3">Advanced races generally are eager to share their knowledge<br /> -with primitive ones. In this case ... with Earthmen!</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>When Scout Group Forty flickered back across half the Galaxy with a -complete culture study of a Class Seven civilization on three planets -of Argus Ten, the Bureau of Stellar Defense had, of course, a priority -claim on all data. Class Sevens were rare and of high potential danger, -so all personnel of Group Forty were placed in tight quarantine during -the thirty days required for a detailed analysis of the thousands of -film spools.</p> - -<p>News of the contact leaked out and professional alarmists predicted -dire things on the news screens of the three home planets of Sol. A -retired admiral of the Space Navy published an article in which he -stated bitterly that the fleet had been weakened by twenty years of -softness in high places.</p> - -<p>On the thirty-first day, B.S.D. reported to System President Mize that -the inhabitants of the three planets of Argus 10 constituted no threat, -that there was no military necessity for alarm, that approval of a -commerce treaty was recommended, that all data was being turned over to -the Bureau of Stellar Trade and Economy for analysis, that personnel of -Scout Group Forty was being given sixty days' leave before reassignment.</p> - -<p>B.S.T.E. released film to all commercial networks at once, and -visions of slavering oily monsters disappeared from the imagination -of mankind. The Argonauts, as they came to be called, were pleasantly -similar to mankind. It was additional proof that only in the rarest -instance was the life-apex on any planet in the home Galaxy an abrupt -divergence from the "human" form. The homogeneousness of planet -elements throughout the Galaxy made homogeneousness of life-apex almost -a truism. The bipedal, oxygen-breathing vertebrate with opposing thumb -seems best suited for survival.</p> - -<p>If was evident that, with training, the average Argonaut could pass -almost unnoticed in the Solar System. The flesh tones were brightly -pink, like that of a sunburned human. Cranial hair was uniformly -taffy-yellow. They were heavier and more fleshy than humans. Their -women had a pronounced Rubens look, a warm, moist, rosy, comfortable -look.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Everyone remarked on the placidity and contentment of facial -expressions, by human standards. The inevitable comparison was made. -The Argonauts looked like a race of inn and beer-garden proprietors in -the Bavarian Alps. With leather pants to slap, stein lids to click, -feathers in Tyrolean hats and peasant skirts on their women, they would -represent a culture and a way of life that had been missing from Earth -for far too many generations.</p> - -<p>Eight months after matters had been turned over to B.S.T.E., the First -Trade Group returned to Earth with a bewildering variety of artifacts -and devices, plus a round dozen Argonauts. The Argonauts had learned -to speak Solian with an amusing guttural accent. They beamed on -everything and everybody. They were great pets until the novelty wore -off. Profitable trade was inaugurated, because the Argonaut devices -all seemed designed to make life more pleasant. The scent-thesizer -became very popular once it was adjusted to meet human tastes. Worn as -a lapel button, it could create the odor of pine, broiled steak, spring -flowers, Scotch whisky, musk—even skunk for the practical jokers who -exist in all ages and eras.</p> - -<p>Any home equipped with an Argonaut static-clean never became dusty. It -used no power and had to be emptied only once a year.</p> - -<p>Technicians altered the Argonaut mechanical game animal so that it -looked like an Earth rabbit. The weapons which shot a harmless beam -were altered to look like rifles. After one experience with the new -game, hunters were almost breathless with excitement. The incredible -agility of the mechanical animal, its ability to take cover, the -fact that, once the beam felled it, you could use it over and over -again—all this made for the promulgation of new non-lethal hunting.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Lambert, chief of the Bureau of Racial Maturity, waited patiently for -his chance at the Argonaut data. The cramped offices in the temporary -wing of the old System Security Building, the meager appropriation, -the obsolete office equipment, the inadequate staff all testified not -only to the Bureau's lack of priority, but also to a lack of knowledge -of its existence on the part of many System officials. Lambert, -crag-faced, sandy, slow-moving, was a historian, anthropologist and -sociologist. He was realist enough to understand that if the Bureau of -Racial Maturity happened to be more important in System Government, -it would probably be headed by a man with fewer academic and more -political qualifications.</p> - -<p>And Lambert knew, beyond any doubt at all, that the B.R.M. was more -important to the race and the future of the race than any other branch -of System Government.</p> - -<p>Set up by President Tolles, an adult and enlightened administrator, -the Bureau was now slowly being strangled by a constantly decreasing -appropriation.</p> - -<p>Lambert knew that mankind had come too far, too fast. Mankind had -dropped out of a tree with all the primordial instincts to rend and -tear and claw. Twenty thousand years later, and with only a few -thousand years of dubiously recorded history, he had reached the stars. -It was too quick.</p> - -<p>Lambert knew that mankind must become mature in order to survive. The -domination of instinct had to be watered down, and rapidly. Selective -breeding might do it, but it was an answer impossible to enforce. He -hoped that one day the records of an alien civilization would give -him the answer. After a year of bureaucratic wriggling, feints and -counter-feints, he had acquired the right of access to Scout Group Data.</p> - -<p>As his patience dwindled he wrote increasingly firm letters to Central -Files and Routing. In the end, when he finally located the data -improperly stored in the closed files of the B.S.T.E., he took no -more chances. He went in person with an assistant named Cooper and a -commandeered electric hand-truck, and bullied a B.S.T.E. storage clerk -into accepting a receipt for the Argonaut data. The clerk's cooperation -was lessened by never having heard of the Bureau of Racial Maturity.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The file contained the dictionary and grammar compiled by the Scout -Group, plus all the films taken on the three planets of Argus 10, plus -micro-films of twelve thousand books written in the language of the -Argonauts. Their written language was ideographic, and thus presented -more than usual difficulties. Lambert knew that translations had been -made, but somewhere along the line they had disappeared.</p> - -<p>Lambert set his whole staff to work on the language. He hired -additional linguists out of his own thin enough pocket. He gave up -all outside activities in order to hasten the progress of his own -knowledge. His wife, respecting Lambert's high order of devotion to his -work, kept their two half-grown children from interfering during those -long evenings when he studied and translated at home.</p> - -<p>Two evenings a week Lambert called on Vonk Poogla, the Argonaut -assigned to Trade Coordination, and improved his conversational -Argonian to the point where he could obtain additional historical -information from the pink wide "man."</p> - -<p>Of the twelve thousand books, the number of special interest to -Lambert were only one hundred and ten. On those he based his master -chart. An animated film of the chart was prepared at Lambert's own -expense, and, when it was done, he requested an appointment with -Simpkin, Secretary for Stellar Affairs, going through all the normal -channels to obtain the interview. He asked an hour of Simpkin's time. -It took two weeks.</p> - -<p>Simpkin was a big florid man with iron-gray hair, skeptical eyes and -that indefinable look of political opportunism.</p> - -<p>He came around his big desk to shake Lambert's hand. "Ah ... Lambert! -Glad to see you, fella. I ought to get around to my Bureau Chiefs more -often, but you know how hectic things are up here."</p> - -<p>"I know, Mr. Secretary. I have something here of the utmost importance -and—"</p> - -<p>"Bureau of Racial Maturity, isn't it? I never did know exactly what you -people do. Sort of progress records or something?"</p> - -<p>"Of the utmost importance," Lambert repeated doggedly.</p> - -<p>Simpkin smiled. "I hear that all day, but go ahead."</p> - -<p>"I want to show you a chart. A historical chart of the Argonaut -civilization." Lambert put the projector in position and plugged it in. -He focused it on the wall screen.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus1.jpg" width="455" height="400" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>"It was decided," Simpkin said firmly, "that the Argonauts are not a -menace to us in any—"</p> - -<p>"I know that, sir. Please look at the chart first and then, when -you've seen it, I think you'll know what I mean."</p> - -<p>"Go ahead," Simpkin agreed resignedly.</p> - -<p>"I can be accused of adding apples and lemons in this presentation, -sir. Note the blank chart. The base line is in years, adjusted to our -calendar so as to give a comparison. Their recorded history covers -twelve thousand of our years. That's better than four times ours. Now -note the red line. That shows the percentage of their total population -involved in wars. It peaked eight thousand years ago. Note how suddenly -it drops after that. In five hundred years it sinks to the base line -and does not appear again.</p> - -<p>"Here comes the second line. Crimes of violence. It also peaks eight -thousand years ago. It drops less quickly than the war line, and never -does actually cut the base line. Some crime still exists there. But a -very, very tiny percentage compared to ours on a population basis, or -to their own past. The third line, the yellow line climbing abruptly, -is the index of insanity. Again a peak during the same approximate -period in their history. Again a drop almost to the base line."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Simpkin pursed his heavy lips. "Odd, isn't it?"</p> - -<p>"Now this fourth line needs some explaining. I winnowed out death -rates by age groups. Their life span is 1.3 times ours, so it had to -be adjusted. I found a strange thing. I took the age group conforming -to our 18 to 24 year group. That green line. Note that by the time -we start getting decent figures, nine thousand years ago, it remains -almost constant, and at a level conforming to our own experience. Now -note what happens when the green line reaches a point eight thousand -years ago. See how it begins to climb? Now steeper, almost vertical. It -remains at a high level for almost a thousand years, way beyond the end -of their history of war, and then descends slowly toward the base line, -leveling out about two thousand years ago."</p> - -<p>Lambert clicked off the projector.</p> - -<p>"Is that all?" Simpkin asked.</p> - -<p>"Isn't it enough? I'm concerned with the future of our own race. -Somehow the Argonauts have found an answer to war, insanity, violence. -We need that answer if we are to survive."</p> - -<p>"Come now, Lambert," Simpkin said wearily.</p> - -<p>"Don't you see it? Their history parallels ours. They had our same -problems. They saw disaster ahead and did something about it. What did -they do? I have to know that."</p> - -<p>"How do you expect to?"</p> - -<p>"I want travel orders to go there."</p> - -<p>"I'm afraid that's quite impossible. There are no funds for that sort -of jaunt, Lambert. And I think you are worrying over nothing."</p> - -<p>"Shall I show you some of our own trends? Shall I show you murder -turning from the most horrid crime into a relative commonplace? Shall I -show you the slow inevitable increase in asylum space?"</p> - -<p>"I know all that, man. But look at the Argonauts! Do you want that sort -of stagnation? Do you want a race of fat, pink, sleepy—"</p> - -<p>"Maybe they had a choice. A species of stagnation, or the end of their -race. Faced with that choice, which would you pick, Mr. Secretary?"</p> - -<p>"There are no funds."</p> - -<p>"All I want is authority. I'll pay my own way."</p> - -<p>And he did.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Rean was the home planet of the Argonauts, the third from their sun. -When the trade ship flickered into three-dimensional existence, ten -thousand miles above Rean, Lambert stretched the space-ache out of his -long bones and muscles and smiled at Vonk Poogla.</p> - -<p>"You could have saved me the trip, you know," Lambert said.</p> - -<p>A grin creased the round pink visage. "Nuddink ventured, nuddink -gained. Bezides, only my cousin can speak aboud this thing you vunder -aboud. My cousin is werry important person. He is one picks me to go to -your planet."</p> - -<p>Vonk Poogla was transported with delight at being able to show the -wonders of the ancient capital city to Lambert. It had been sacked -and burned over eight thousand Earth years before, and now it was -mellowed by eighty-three centuries of unbroken peace. It rested in the -pastel twilight, and there were laughter and soft singing in the broad -streets. Never had Lambert felt such a warm aura of security and ... -love. No other word but that ultimate one seemed right.</p> - -<p>In the morning they went to the squat blue building where Vonk -Soobuknoora, the important person, had his administrative headquarters. -Lambert, knowing enough of Argonaut governmental structure to -understand that Soobuknoora was titular head of the three-planet -government, could not help but compare the lack of protocol with what -he could expect were he to try to take Vonk Poogla for an interview -with President Mize.</p> - -<p>Soobuknoora was a smaller, older edition of Poogla, his pink face -wrinkled, his greening hair retaining only a trace of the original -yellow. Soobuknoora spoke no Solian and he was very pleased to find -that Lambert spoke Argonian.</p> - -<p>Soobuknoora watched the animated chart with considerable interest. -After it was over, he seemed lost in thought.</p> - -<p>"It is something so private with us, Man Lambert, that we seldom speak -of it to each other," Soobuknoora said in Argonian. "It is not written. -Maybe we have shame—a guilt sense. That is hard to say. I have -decided to tell you what took place among us eight thousand years ago."</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus3.jpg" width="449" height="400" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>"I would be grateful."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"We live in contentment. Maybe it is good, maybe it is not so good. -But we continue to live. Where did our trouble come from in the old -days, when we were like your race? Back when we were brash and young -and wickedly cruel? From the individuals, those driven ones who were -motivated to succeed despite all obstacles. They made our paintings, -wrote our music, killed each other, fomented our unrest, our wars. We -live off the bewildering richness of our past."</p> - -<p>He sighed. "It was a problem. To understand our solution, you must -think of an analogy, Man Lambert. Think of a factory where machines are -made. We will call the acceptable machines stable, the unacceptable -ones unstable. They are built with a flywheel which must turn at -a certain speed. If it exceeds that speed, it is no good. But a -machine that is stable can, at any time, become unstable. What is the -solution?" He smiled at Lambert.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus2.jpg" width="186" height="500" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>"I'm a bit confused," Lambert confessed. "You would have to go around -inspecting the machines constantly for stability."</p> - -<p>"And use a gauge? No. Too much trouble. An unstable machine can do -damage. So we do this—we put a little governor on the machine. When -the speed passes the safety mark, the machine breaks."</p> - -<p>"But this is an analogy, Vonk Soobuknoora!" Lambert protested. "You -can't put a governor on a man!"</p> - -<p>"Man is born with a governor, Man Lambert. Look back in both our -histories, when we were not much above the animal level. An unbalanced -man would die. He could not compete for food. He could not organize the -simple things of his life for survival. Man Lambert, did you ever have -a fleeting impulse to kill yourself?"</p> - -<p>Lambert smiled. "Of course. You could almost call that impulse a norm -for intelligent species."</p> - -<p>"Did it ever go far enough so that you considered a method, a weapon?"</p> - -<p>Lambert nodded slowly. "It's hard to remember, but I think I did. Yes, -once I did."</p> - -<p>"And what would have happened," the Argonaut asked softly, "if there -had been available to you in that moment a weapon completely painless, -completely final?"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Lambert's mouth went dry. "I would probably have used it. I was very -young. Wait! I'm beginning to see what you mean, but—"</p> - -<p>"The governor had to be built into the body," Soobuknoora interrupted, -"and yet so designed that there would be no possibility of accidental -activation. Suppose that on this day I start to think of how great and -powerful I am in this position I have. I get an enormous desire to -become even more powerful. I begin to reason emotionally. Soon I have -a setback. I am depressed. I am out of balance, you could say. I have -become dangerous to myself and to our culture.</p> - -<p>"In a moment of depression, I take these two smallest fingers of each -hand. I reach behind me and I press the two fingers, held firmly -together, to a space in the middle of my back. A tiny capsule buried -at the base of my brain is activated and I am dead within a thousandth -part of a second. Vonk Poogla is the same. All of us are the same. The -passing urge for self-destruction happens to be the common denominator -of imbalance. We purged our race of the influence of the neurotic, the -egocentric, the hypersensitive, merely by making self-destruction -very, very easy."</p> - -<p>"Then that death rate—?"</p> - -<p>"At eighteen the operation is performed. It is very quick and very -simple. We saw destruction ahead. We had to force it through. In the -beginning the deaths were frightening, there were so many of them. -The stable ones survived, bred, reproduced. A lesser but still great -percentage of the next generation went—and so on, until now it is -almost static."</p> - -<p>In Argonian Lambert said hotly, "Oh, it sounds fine! But what about -children? What sort of heartless race can plant the seed of death in -its own children?"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Never before had he seen the faintest trace of anger on any Argonaut -face. The single nostril widened and Soobuknoora might have raged -if he had been from Earth. "There are other choices, Man Lambert. -Our children have no expectation of being burned to cinder, blown to -fragments. They are free of that fear. Which is the better love, Man -Lambert?"</p> - -<p>"I have two children. I couldn't bear to—"</p> - -<p>"Wait!" Soobuknoora said. "Think one moment. Suppose you were to know -that when they reached the age of eighteen, both your children were -to be operated on by our methods. How would that affect your present -relationship to them?"</p> - -<p>Lambert was, above all, a realist. He remembered the days of being -"too busy" for the children, of passing off their serious questions -with a joking or curt evasion, of playing with them as though they were -young, pleasing, furry animals.</p> - -<p>"I would do a better job, as a parent," Lambert admitted. "I would -try to give them enough emotional stability so that they would -never—have that urge to kill themselves. But Ann is delicate, moody, -unpredictable, artistic."</p> - -<p>Poogla and Soobuknoora nodded in unison. "You would probably lose that -one; maybe you would lose both," Soobuknoora agreed. "But it is better -to lose more than half the children of a few generations to save the -race."</p> - -<p>Lambert thought some more. He said, "I shall go back and I shall speak -of this plan and what it did for you. But I do not think my race will -like it. I do not want to insult you or your people, but you have -stagnated. You stand still in time."</p> - -<p>Vonk Poogla laughed largely. "Not by a damn sight," he said gleefully. -"Next year we stop giving the operation. We stop for good. It was just -eight thousand years to permit us to catch our breath before going on -more safely. And what is eight thousand years of marking time in the -history of a race? Nothing, my friend. Nothing!"</p> - -<p>When Lambert went back to Earth, he naturally quit his job.</p> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Common Denominator, by John D. MacDonald - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK COMMON DENOMINATOR *** - -***** This file should be named 51148-h.htm or 51148-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/1/1/4/51148/ - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. 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MacDonald - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Common Denominator - -Author: John D. MacDonald - -Release Date: February 8, 2016 [EBook #51148] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK COMMON DENOMINATOR *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - Common Denominator - - BY JOHN D. MacDONALD - - Illustrated by DON HUNTER - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Galaxy Science Fiction July 1951. - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - - - - Advanced races generally are eager to share their knowledge - with primitive ones. In this case ... with Earthmen! - - -When Scout Group Forty flickered back across half the Galaxy with a -complete culture study of a Class Seven civilization on three planets -of Argus Ten, the Bureau of Stellar Defense had, of course, a priority -claim on all data. Class Sevens were rare and of high potential danger, -so all personnel of Group Forty were placed in tight quarantine during -the thirty days required for a detailed analysis of the thousands of -film spools. - -News of the contact leaked out and professional alarmists predicted -dire things on the news screens of the three home planets of Sol. A -retired admiral of the Space Navy published an article in which he -stated bitterly that the fleet had been weakened by twenty years of -softness in high places. - -On the thirty-first day, B.S.D. reported to System President Mize that -the inhabitants of the three planets of Argus 10 constituted no threat, -that there was no military necessity for alarm, that approval of a -commerce treaty was recommended, that all data was being turned over to -the Bureau of Stellar Trade and Economy for analysis, that personnel of -Scout Group Forty was being given sixty days' leave before reassignment. - -B.S.T.E. released film to all commercial networks at once, and -visions of slavering oily monsters disappeared from the imagination -of mankind. The Argonauts, as they came to be called, were pleasantly -similar to mankind. It was additional proof that only in the rarest -instance was the life-apex on any planet in the home Galaxy an abrupt -divergence from the "human" form. The homogeneousness of planet -elements throughout the Galaxy made homogeneousness of life-apex almost -a truism. The bipedal, oxygen-breathing vertebrate with opposing thumb -seems best suited for survival. - -If was evident that, with training, the average Argonaut could pass -almost unnoticed in the Solar System. The flesh tones were brightly -pink, like that of a sunburned human. Cranial hair was uniformly -taffy-yellow. They were heavier and more fleshy than humans. Their -women had a pronounced Rubens look, a warm, moist, rosy, comfortable -look. - - * * * * * - -Everyone remarked on the placidity and contentment of facial -expressions, by human standards. The inevitable comparison was made. -The Argonauts looked like a race of inn and beer-garden proprietors in -the Bavarian Alps. With leather pants to slap, stein lids to click, -feathers in Tyrolean hats and peasant skirts on their women, they would -represent a culture and a way of life that had been missing from Earth -for far too many generations. - -Eight months after matters had been turned over to B.S.T.E., the First -Trade Group returned to Earth with a bewildering variety of artifacts -and devices, plus a round dozen Argonauts. The Argonauts had learned -to speak Solian with an amusing guttural accent. They beamed on -everything and everybody. They were great pets until the novelty wore -off. Profitable trade was inaugurated, because the Argonaut devices -all seemed designed to make life more pleasant. The scent-thesizer -became very popular once it was adjusted to meet human tastes. Worn as -a lapel button, it could create the odor of pine, broiled steak, spring -flowers, Scotch whisky, musk--even skunk for the practical jokers who -exist in all ages and eras. - -Any home equipped with an Argonaut static-clean never became dusty. It -used no power and had to be emptied only once a year. - -Technicians altered the Argonaut mechanical game animal so that it -looked like an Earth rabbit. The weapons which shot a harmless beam -were altered to look like rifles. After one experience with the new -game, hunters were almost breathless with excitement. The incredible -agility of the mechanical animal, its ability to take cover, the -fact that, once the beam felled it, you could use it over and over -again--all this made for the promulgation of new non-lethal hunting. - - * * * * * - -Lambert, chief of the Bureau of Racial Maturity, waited patiently for -his chance at the Argonaut data. The cramped offices in the temporary -wing of the old System Security Building, the meager appropriation, -the obsolete office equipment, the inadequate staff all testified not -only to the Bureau's lack of priority, but also to a lack of knowledge -of its existence on the part of many System officials. Lambert, -crag-faced, sandy, slow-moving, was a historian, anthropologist and -sociologist. He was realist enough to understand that if the Bureau of -Racial Maturity happened to be more important in System Government, -it would probably be headed by a man with fewer academic and more -political qualifications. - -And Lambert knew, beyond any doubt at all, that the B.R.M. was more -important to the race and the future of the race than any other branch -of System Government. - -Set up by President Tolles, an adult and enlightened administrator, -the Bureau was now slowly being strangled by a constantly decreasing -appropriation. - -Lambert knew that mankind had come too far, too fast. Mankind had -dropped out of a tree with all the primordial instincts to rend and -tear and claw. Twenty thousand years later, and with only a few -thousand years of dubiously recorded history, he had reached the stars. -It was too quick. - -Lambert knew that mankind must become mature in order to survive. The -domination of instinct had to be watered down, and rapidly. Selective -breeding might do it, but it was an answer impossible to enforce. He -hoped that one day the records of an alien civilization would give -him the answer. After a year of bureaucratic wriggling, feints and -counter-feints, he had acquired the right of access to Scout Group Data. - -As his patience dwindled he wrote increasingly firm letters to Central -Files and Routing. In the end, when he finally located the data -improperly stored in the closed files of the B.S.T.E., he took no -more chances. He went in person with an assistant named Cooper and a -commandeered electric hand-truck, and bullied a B.S.T.E. storage clerk -into accepting a receipt for the Argonaut data. The clerk's cooperation -was lessened by never having heard of the Bureau of Racial Maturity. - - * * * * * - -The file contained the dictionary and grammar compiled by the Scout -Group, plus all the films taken on the three planets of Argus 10, plus -micro-films of twelve thousand books written in the language of the -Argonauts. Their written language was ideographic, and thus presented -more than usual difficulties. Lambert knew that translations had been -made, but somewhere along the line they had disappeared. - -Lambert set his whole staff to work on the language. He hired -additional linguists out of his own thin enough pocket. He gave up -all outside activities in order to hasten the progress of his own -knowledge. His wife, respecting Lambert's high order of devotion to his -work, kept their two half-grown children from interfering during those -long evenings when he studied and translated at home. - -Two evenings a week Lambert called on Vonk Poogla, the Argonaut -assigned to Trade Coordination, and improved his conversational -Argonian to the point where he could obtain additional historical -information from the pink wide "man." - -Of the twelve thousand books, the number of special interest to -Lambert were only one hundred and ten. On those he based his master -chart. An animated film of the chart was prepared at Lambert's own -expense, and, when it was done, he requested an appointment with -Simpkin, Secretary for Stellar Affairs, going through all the normal -channels to obtain the interview. He asked an hour of Simpkin's time. -It took two weeks. - -Simpkin was a big florid man with iron-gray hair, skeptical eyes and -that indefinable look of political opportunism. - -He came around his big desk to shake Lambert's hand. "Ah ... Lambert! -Glad to see you, fella. I ought to get around to my Bureau Chiefs more -often, but you know how hectic things are up here." - -"I know, Mr. Secretary. I have something here of the utmost importance -and--" - -"Bureau of Racial Maturity, isn't it? I never did know exactly what you -people do. Sort of progress records or something?" - -"Of the utmost importance," Lambert repeated doggedly. - -Simpkin smiled. "I hear that all day, but go ahead." - -"I want to show you a chart. A historical chart of the Argonaut -civilization." Lambert put the projector in position and plugged it in. -He focused it on the wall screen. - -"It was decided," Simpkin said firmly, "that the Argonauts are not a -menace to us in any--" - -"I know that, sir. Please look at the chart first and then, when -you've seen it, I think you'll know what I mean." - -"Go ahead," Simpkin agreed resignedly. - -"I can be accused of adding apples and lemons in this presentation, -sir. Note the blank chart. The base line is in years, adjusted to our -calendar so as to give a comparison. Their recorded history covers -twelve thousand of our years. That's better than four times ours. Now -note the red line. That shows the percentage of their total population -involved in wars. It peaked eight thousand years ago. Note how suddenly -it drops after that. In five hundred years it sinks to the base line -and does not appear again. - -"Here comes the second line. Crimes of violence. It also peaks eight -thousand years ago. It drops less quickly than the war line, and never -does actually cut the base line. Some crime still exists there. But a -very, very tiny percentage compared to ours on a population basis, or -to their own past. The third line, the yellow line climbing abruptly, -is the index of insanity. Again a peak during the same approximate -period in their history. Again a drop almost to the base line." - - * * * * * - -Simpkin pursed his heavy lips. "Odd, isn't it?" - -"Now this fourth line needs some explaining. I winnowed out death -rates by age groups. Their life span is 1.3 times ours, so it had to -be adjusted. I found a strange thing. I took the age group conforming -to our 18 to 24 year group. That green line. Note that by the time -we start getting decent figures, nine thousand years ago, it remains -almost constant, and at a level conforming to our own experience. Now -note what happens when the green line reaches a point eight thousand -years ago. See how it begins to climb? Now steeper, almost vertical. It -remains at a high level for almost a thousand years, way beyond the end -of their history of war, and then descends slowly toward the base line, -leveling out about two thousand years ago." - -Lambert clicked off the projector. - -"Is that all?" Simpkin asked. - -"Isn't it enough? I'm concerned with the future of our own race. -Somehow the Argonauts have found an answer to war, insanity, violence. -We need that answer if we are to survive." - -"Come now, Lambert," Simpkin said wearily. - -"Don't you see it? Their history parallels ours. They had our same -problems. They saw disaster ahead and did something about it. What did -they do? I have to know that." - -"How do you expect to?" - -"I want travel orders to go there." - -"I'm afraid that's quite impossible. There are no funds for that sort -of jaunt, Lambert. And I think you are worrying over nothing." - -"Shall I show you some of our own trends? Shall I show you murder -turning from the most horrid crime into a relative commonplace? Shall I -show you the slow inevitable increase in asylum space?" - -"I know all that, man. But look at the Argonauts! Do you want that sort -of stagnation? Do you want a race of fat, pink, sleepy--" - -"Maybe they had a choice. A species of stagnation, or the end of their -race. Faced with that choice, which would you pick, Mr. Secretary?" - -"There are no funds." - -"All I want is authority. I'll pay my own way." - -And he did. - - * * * * * - -Rean was the home planet of the Argonauts, the third from their sun. -When the trade ship flickered into three-dimensional existence, ten -thousand miles above Rean, Lambert stretched the space-ache out of his -long bones and muscles and smiled at Vonk Poogla. - -"You could have saved me the trip, you know," Lambert said. - -A grin creased the round pink visage. "Nuddink ventured, nuddink -gained. Bezides, only my cousin can speak aboud this thing you vunder -aboud. My cousin is werry important person. He is one picks me to go to -your planet." - -Vonk Poogla was transported with delight at being able to show the -wonders of the ancient capital city to Lambert. It had been sacked -and burned over eight thousand Earth years before, and now it was -mellowed by eighty-three centuries of unbroken peace. It rested in the -pastel twilight, and there were laughter and soft singing in the broad -streets. Never had Lambert felt such a warm aura of security and ... -love. No other word but that ultimate one seemed right. - -In the morning they went to the squat blue building where Vonk -Soobuknoora, the important person, had his administrative headquarters. -Lambert, knowing enough of Argonaut governmental structure to -understand that Soobuknoora was titular head of the three-planet -government, could not help but compare the lack of protocol with what -he could expect were he to try to take Vonk Poogla for an interview -with President Mize. - -Soobuknoora was a smaller, older edition of Poogla, his pink face -wrinkled, his greening hair retaining only a trace of the original -yellow. Soobuknoora spoke no Solian and he was very pleased to find -that Lambert spoke Argonian. - -Soobuknoora watched the animated chart with considerable interest. -After it was over, he seemed lost in thought. - -"It is something so private with us, Man Lambert, that we seldom speak -of it to each other," Soobuknoora said in Argonian. "It is not written. -Maybe we have shame--a guilt sense. That is hard to say. I have -decided to tell you what took place among us eight thousand years ago." - -"I would be grateful." - - * * * * * - -"We live in contentment. Maybe it is good, maybe it is not so good. -But we continue to live. Where did our trouble come from in the old -days, when we were like your race? Back when we were brash and young -and wickedly cruel? From the individuals, those driven ones who were -motivated to succeed despite all obstacles. They made our paintings, -wrote our music, killed each other, fomented our unrest, our wars. We -live off the bewildering richness of our past." - -He sighed. "It was a problem. To understand our solution, you must -think of an analogy, Man Lambert. Think of a factory where machines are -made. We will call the acceptable machines stable, the unacceptable -ones unstable. They are built with a flywheel which must turn at -a certain speed. If it exceeds that speed, it is no good. But a -machine that is stable can, at any time, become unstable. What is the -solution?" He smiled at Lambert. - -"I'm a bit confused," Lambert confessed. "You would have to go around -inspecting the machines constantly for stability." - -"And use a gauge? No. Too much trouble. An unstable machine can do -damage. So we do this--we put a little governor on the machine. When -the speed passes the safety mark, the machine breaks." - -"But this is an analogy, Vonk Soobuknoora!" Lambert protested. "You -can't put a governor on a man!" - -"Man is born with a governor, Man Lambert. Look back in both our -histories, when we were not much above the animal level. An unbalanced -man would die. He could not compete for food. He could not organize the -simple things of his life for survival. Man Lambert, did you ever have -a fleeting impulse to kill yourself?" - -Lambert smiled. "Of course. You could almost call that impulse a norm -for intelligent species." - -"Did it ever go far enough so that you considered a method, a weapon?" - -Lambert nodded slowly. "It's hard to remember, but I think I did. Yes, -once I did." - -"And what would have happened," the Argonaut asked softly, "if there -had been available to you in that moment a weapon completely painless, -completely final?" - - * * * * * - -Lambert's mouth went dry. "I would probably have used it. I was very -young. Wait! I'm beginning to see what you mean, but--" - -"The governor had to be built into the body," Soobuknoora interrupted, -"and yet so designed that there would be no possibility of accidental -activation. Suppose that on this day I start to think of how great and -powerful I am in this position I have. I get an enormous desire to -become even more powerful. I begin to reason emotionally. Soon I have -a setback. I am depressed. I am out of balance, you could say. I have -become dangerous to myself and to our culture. - -"In a moment of depression, I take these two smallest fingers of each -hand. I reach behind me and I press the two fingers, held firmly -together, to a space in the middle of my back. A tiny capsule buried -at the base of my brain is activated and I am dead within a thousandth -part of a second. Vonk Poogla is the same. All of us are the same. The -passing urge for self-destruction happens to be the common denominator -of imbalance. We purged our race of the influence of the neurotic, the -egocentric, the hypersensitive, merely by making self-destruction -very, very easy." - -"Then that death rate--?" - -"At eighteen the operation is performed. It is very quick and very -simple. We saw destruction ahead. We had to force it through. In the -beginning the deaths were frightening, there were so many of them. -The stable ones survived, bred, reproduced. A lesser but still great -percentage of the next generation went--and so on, until now it is -almost static." - -In Argonian Lambert said hotly, "Oh, it sounds fine! But what about -children? What sort of heartless race can plant the seed of death in -its own children?" - - * * * * * - -Never before had he seen the faintest trace of anger on any Argonaut -face. The single nostril widened and Soobuknoora might have raged -if he had been from Earth. "There are other choices, Man Lambert. -Our children have no expectation of being burned to cinder, blown to -fragments. They are free of that fear. Which is the better love, Man -Lambert?" - -"I have two children. I couldn't bear to--" - -"Wait!" Soobuknoora said. "Think one moment. Suppose you were to know -that when they reached the age of eighteen, both your children were -to be operated on by our methods. How would that affect your present -relationship to them?" - -Lambert was, above all, a realist. He remembered the days of being -"too busy" for the children, of passing off their serious questions -with a joking or curt evasion, of playing with them as though they were -young, pleasing, furry animals. - -"I would do a better job, as a parent," Lambert admitted. "I would -try to give them enough emotional stability so that they would -never--have that urge to kill themselves. But Ann is delicate, moody, -unpredictable, artistic." - -Poogla and Soobuknoora nodded in unison. "You would probably lose that -one; maybe you would lose both," Soobuknoora agreed. "But it is better -to lose more than half the children of a few generations to save the -race." - -Lambert thought some more. He said, "I shall go back and I shall speak -of this plan and what it did for you. But I do not think my race will -like it. I do not want to insult you or your people, but you have -stagnated. You stand still in time." - -Vonk Poogla laughed largely. "Not by a damn sight," he said gleefully. -"Next year we stop giving the operation. We stop for good. It was just -eight thousand years to permit us to catch our breath before going on -more safely. And what is eight thousand years of marking time in the -history of a race? Nothing, my friend. Nothing!" - -When Lambert went back to Earth, he naturally quit his job. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Common Denominator, by John D. 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