to report back and is assumed to have been killed. The story begins with his second duplication. He discovers that there are at least two warring factions in the colony (with traitors and double agents) who intend on destroying each other, and that both factions claim his first duplicate had teamed up with one and was killed by the other. He realizes that the only way to force the colonists to work together and build an industrial base that will deal with the disaster is to set himself up as an enemy to all, by attacking and disabling the nuclear weapons of both sides. This will be possible with the superior technology that he has managed to bring with him. "Original Sin" Originally published in Analog Science Fiction Science Fact, 1972. The Shimans are a species whose individuals live only two and a half Earth-years, are extremely intelligent, and experience a ravenous hunger throughout their lives before dying in a parthenogenetic frenzy as their thousands of young devour them from within. They have progressed from paleolithic to industrial age in the two centuries since contact with humanity. Earth's government works to keep the Shimans isolated on their planet because of the belief that the Shimans' hunger and fast life-cycle would cause them to overrun the galaxy. A human researcher is employed to develop a longevity treatment for the Shimans. The organization backing the researcher wants the Shimans to progress in order to provide a worthy competitor to humanity, forcing them to improve and adapt. A policewoman is bribed to shield his activities from the Earth government monitors which detect electronic activity from the air. She turns out to be doing this because she agrees with the Earth government view. Their Shiman conspirator concurs that Shimans are intrinsically evil: despite some of them adopting Christianity and wanting to be "good" in the way that humans can be, they have been unable to overcome their violent and cannibalistic urges towards each other and anything else that can be eaten. The policewoman is helping the researcher as she wants him to develop his treatment but insert a failsafe to prevent the Shimans living long enough to develop space travel and transplant their life-cycle to other planets. "The Blabber" Originally published in Threats... and Other Promises, Baen Books, 1988. On a human colony planet named Middle America, just inside the Slow Zone, lives Hamid,