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Coogan said, "Pack rats?"

The little brown man smiled "That&039;s e call you," he said "And with some justification evidently You&039;re packed with the kind of useless material a rodent would adan He said, "The pack rat, also known as the trade rat, was a rodent indigenous to this planet It&039;s now extinct here, but there are exa planets The pack rat lived in forest land and was known for his habit of stealing s it took, the pack rat left an itelass, a rock In all of that useless et of a precious-- was randoht leave the precious e for a bottle top"

Pchak got to his feet, walked across the rooh the projection "Re his voice "This is supposed to be a nugget?"

"More likely a twig," said Coogan

Pchak turned back, faced Coogan

What else do you hide in this rat&039;s nest? Any nuggets?"

Coogan looked down at Patterson on the floor There was a stillness about the thin old figure "First, eneral kept his eyes on Coogan "No Answer an With a slow, controlled movement, he shifted a lever on the box at his belt The Procyon zoologist vanished and the wall becae of a book Here&039;s the bait, thought Coogan, and I hope it poisons you He said, "This is an early account ofsome methods that succeeded and others that failed"

Pchak turned to the screen, put his hands behind hie?"

"Ancient English of Terra," said Coogan "We have a scanner that&039;ll give you an oral translation if you&039;d like"

The general kept his eyes on the screen "How do I know this account is accurate?" "The Library Code does not peran "Our oath is to preserve the present for the future" He glanced at Pchak, back to the screen "We have other battle records, the tactics of every species encountered by humans For example, we have the entire war history of the Praean shifted his belt controls and the screen took up a history of warfare which had been asseeneral sixteen centuries dead Pchak watched as the record went from clubs and rocks to spears and an blanked the screen

Pchak&039;s head snapped up "Why did you stop that?"

Hooked hiht rather view this at your leisure If you wish, I&039;ll set up a viewing room and show you how to order the records when there are side issues you&039;d like to study" Coogan held his breath Noe learn if he&039;s really caught, he thought

The general continued to study the blank screen "I have orders to ation," he said "I believe this co roouards

"It&039;s down on the sixty-ninth level," said Coogan "Viewing rooet you all set up and --"

"You will re Roolanced back "You do have an assistant, do you not?"

"I&039;ll send Toris Sil-Chan," said Coogan and then re the hotheads anted to do battle He would have bitten off his tongue to retract the words, but knew he dared not change now or it would arouse Pchak&039;s suspicions He returned to the desk, had central-routing find Toris and send hi rash, he prayed

"Is this assistant your successor?" asked Pchak, looking down at Patterson

"No," said Coogan

"You uards