“We were, without seeing the fact, crippled both at the beginning and the end; we had only the middle. We could not conceive of characteristics to breed toward—goals—which were not already presented to us, and already understood by us. That was the proper end, however—truly new characteristics. And the beginning was, necessarily, truly new genes, and gene-combinations.

“The problem was stated long ago; we deceived ourselves that the statement was not meaningful. Simply, it is this; could a congress of gorillas, gathered to plan the breeding of the supergorilla, plan a human being? Discard the line of development of mightier muscles, stronger and longer teeth, greater specialization to master their tropical environment?

“Manipulation of the race from within the race is a circular process. What we can do, the valuable thing we can do, is to stabilize, conserve, and spread the valuable genetic gifts that come to us from outside our own domain.

“William—and you must have known this better than anyone else, Anea—belongs to that small and select group of men who have been the conquerors of history. There’s a name, you know, for this rare and freakish individual—but a name means nothing by itself. It’s only a tag hung on something we never completely understood. Such men are unopposable—they can do great good. But also, usually, an equally great deal of harm, because they are uncontrolled. I’m trying to make you understand something rather complex. We, on the Exotics, spotted William for what he was when he was still in his early twenties. At that time the decision was taken to select the genes that would result in you.”

“Me!” She stiffened suddenly, staring at him.

“You.” Sayona bent his head to her briefly. ‘‘Didn’t you ever wonder that you were so instinctively opposed to William in everything he did? Or why he was so perversely insistent on possessing your contract? Or why we, back on Kultis, allowed such an apparently unhappy relationship to continue?”

Anea shook her head slowly. ‘‘I . . . I must have. But I don’t remember—”

“You were intended as William’s complement, in a psychological sense.” Sayona sighed. “Where his instincts were for control for the sake of controlling, yours were toward goals, purposes, and you did not care who controlled so long as the control was directed toward that purpose. Your eventual marriage— which we aimed for—would have, we hoped, blended the two natures. You would have acted as the governor William’s personality needed. The result would have beneficial . . . we thought.”

She shuddered.

“I’d never have married him.”