AFTER A LONG MINUTE, Scanton said: “What about atomic energy?”
“At least two million years ago. I do not think they have had the interstellar drive more than fifty thousand years.”
“No wonder our pet Nipe is so patient,” Stanton said wonderingly. “I wonder what their individual life span is.”
“Not long, in comparison,” said Yoritomo. “Perhaps no longer than our own, perhaps five hundred years. Considering their handicaps, they have done quite well. Quite well, indeed, for a race of illiterate cannibals.”
“How’s that again?” Stanton realized that the scientist was quite serious.
“Hadn’t it occurred to you, my friend, that they must be cannibals? And that they are very nearly illiterate?”
“No,” Stanton admitted, “it hadn’t.”
“The Nipe, like Man, is omnivorous. Specialization tends to
