BUT, I DON'T THINK
BY RANDALL GARRETT
Illustrated by Freas
As every thinking man knows, every slave always yearns for the freedomhis master denies him...
But, gentlemen," said the Physician, "I really don't think we canconsider any religion which has human sacrifice as an integral part as ahumane religion."
"At least," added the Painter with a chuckle, "not as far as the victimis concerned."
The Philosopher looked irritated. "Bosh! What if the victim likes itthat way?"
CONTENTS
I
II
III
IV
I
The great merchantship Naipor settled her tens of thousands of tons ofmass into her landing cradle on Viornis as gently as an egg beingsettled into an egg crate, and almost as silently. Then, as theantigravs were cut off, there was a vast, metallic sighing as thegigantic structure of the cradle itself took over the load of holdingthe ship in her hydraulic bath.
At that point, the ship was officially groundside, and the Naipor wasin the hands of the ground officers. Space Captain Humbolt Reed sighed,leaned back in his desk chair, reached out a hand, and casually toucheda trio of sensitized spots on the surface of his desk.
"Have High Lieutenant Blyke bring The Guesser to my office immediately,"he said, in a voice that was obviously accustomed to giving orders thatwould be obeyed.
Then he took his fingers off the spots without waiting for an answer.
In another part of the ship, in his quarters near the Fire ControlSection, sat the man known as The Guesser. He had a name, of course, aregular name, like everyone else; it was down on the ship's books and inthe Main Registry. But he almost never used it; he hardly ever eventhought of it. For twenty of his thirty-five years of life, he had beena trained Guesser, and for fifteen of them he'd been The Guesser ofNaipor.
He was fairly imposing-looking for a Guesser; he had the tall,wide-shouldered build and the blocky face of an Executive, and hisfather had been worried that he wouldn't show the capabilities of aGuesser, while his mother had secretly hoped that he might actuallybecome an Executive. Fortunately for The Guesser, they had both beenwrong.
He was not only a Guesser, but a first-class predictor, and he showedimpatience with those of his underlings who failed to use their abilityin any particular. At the moment of the ship's landing, he was engagedin verbally burning the ears off Kraybo, the young man who wouldpresumably take over The Guesser's job one day—if he ever learned howto handle it.
"You're either a liar or an idiot," said The Guesser harshly, "and Iwish to eternity I knew which!"
Kraybo, standing at attention, merely swallowed and said nothing. He hadfelt the back of The Guesser's hand too often before to expose himselfintentionally to its swing again.