Astounding Science Fiction, British Edition — page 14: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

12 ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION then it was safer to wait, consolidate his victories. ‘ But it wouldn’t take much to occupy Umung. Not if its natives were as docile as all reports had it. And then he could show some real progress to those fat money barons. Already the war would have begun to pay off, and they’d support him in further schemes, let him build up his own power and prestige until the day he turned on them and broke them.. Umung, yes. By all the hells, yes! Imagine a creature somewhat like an ant—only in general outline, to be sure. It stands a meter tall on two horny legs whose cilia, rubbed to- gether, are its voice organs. There is one pair of tentacles, ending in supple boneless fingers; above them are the true arms, and there is a small stalk on the wrist of each arm holding an eye with microscopic vision. The head is faceless, little more than a set of jaws and a pair of larger eye-stalks for normal seeing. The creature is utterly obedient to the mass-mind of its hivelike community, a patient, tireless, delicate worker. Apart from food and reproduction, its only need is work. Once you have persuaded the mass- mind—embodied in the queen—that it is to its advantage to do as you say, a hundred thousand little brown arti- sans are ready to slave to the death for ou. f Umung is not a large planet. Its atmosphere is thin and dry, its land- scape mostly dreary plains. The Ulu- gani soldiers stationed there grumbled about its dullness. But not many were needed, and soldiers have always com- plained; it is a healthy sign. Technicians were required in large numbers, to educate the Umungi in the use of machine tools. But the hive dwellers learned fast. Goln of Alde- baran was invaluable, he knew the ins and outs of native ways. Before long, a good part of the entire planet was ready to start producing for Ulugan. It produced! “All right colonel, don’t just stand there! Give me your report.” “If it please you, lord, my scout Squadron was investigating the Jun- nuzhik System as per orders—” “I know! We have to watch every planet of this cluster now, we never know where the Patrol may sneak in next—Well, what is it? Don’t tell me they’re trying to build another base!” “No, lord. Our intelligence unit cap- tured some leading natives of Ilwar for questioning—”’ “Ilwar! What do you mean? I can’t remember every stinking native name for every worthless little area of a thousand inhabited planets.” “The world is Junnuzhik III, lord, the only inhabited one in the system. The natives are centauroids—big scaly fellows, beaked heads, crests—Oh, yes, I see that my lord remembers now. Well, Ilwar is the leading nation on the planet. They’ve attained a petroleum technology, are pretty good metallurgists, and so on. Under pres- sure, it was found out that the Patrol has been dickering with them. Wants them to supply several million troops, presumably for an invasion of our lanet.”’ “Patrol have any luck?” ‘Well, lord, the natives are thor- oughly anti-Ulugan. They assume that if we aren’t stopped, we’ll conquer them.” | “True enough. But... oh, blast and damn! We’ll just have to take over the planet.” ‘“‘They’re tough warriors, lord.” “I know. And occupying a whole planet is a major operation. But we can’t simply sterilize; we'll need it ourselves in the long run. And we must take over the entire world now, colonel. At the very least, we must Cconniclooolkks.c© nn