The thing at the control board tittered in sardonic mockery.
“Your creeds are all in error,” it said. “There is nothing but evil.”
Stephen Lathrop said wearily: “I’ve seen enough.”
“I’ve tried to show you the human race is something that never should have been,” declared the thing. “Maybe an experiment that went sour. By some queer quirk it took the wrong step, followed the wrong path. It became benevolent. There is no room for benevolence in the Universe. It’s not the accepted way of life. I think I’ve proven that.”
“Why did you bother?” Lathrop demanded.
The thing regarded him with fishy eyes. “There was another race. A race that found the answer—”
“We’ll find ours, too,” growled the human being. “By the time they reach us we’ll have the answer. We’ll fight them in our own way.”
“You can’t fight them,” said the thing. “There is no way to fight universal evil. The best you can do is hide from it.”
The Earthman shrugged. “None of them will reach us for a long time. Now that we know about them, we’ll be ready.”