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Chapter 02: Data Models
True / False
2. An implementation-ready data model needn't necessarily contain enforceable rules to guarantee the integrity of the data.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False
DIFFICULTY: Difficulty: Moderate
REFERENCES: 2-1 Data Modeling and Data Models
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: 02.01 - Discuss data modeling and why data models are important
3. An implementation-ready data model should contain a description of the data structure that will store the end-user data.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True
DIFFICULTY: Difficulty: Easy
REFERENCES: 2-1 Data Modeling and Data Models
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: 02.01 - Discuss data modeling and why data models are important
4. Within the database environment, a data model represents data structures with the purpose of supporting a specific
problem domain.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True
DIFFICULTY: Difficulty: Easy
REFERENCES: 2-1 Data Modeling and Data Models
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: 02.01 - Discuss data modeling and why data models are important
5. Even when a good database blueprint is available, an applications programmer’s view of the data should match that of
the manager and the end user.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False
DIFFICULTY: Difficulty: Moderate
REFERENCES: 2-2 The Importance of Data Models
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: 02.01 - Discuss data modeling and why data models are important
6. In the context of data models, an entity is a person, place, thing, or event about which data will be collected and stored.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True
DIFFICULTY: Difficulty: Easy
REFERENCES: 2-3 Data Model Basic Building Blocks
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: 02.02 - Describe the basic data-modeling building blocks
7. Database designers determine the data and information that yield the required understanding of the entire business.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False
DIFFICULTY: Difficulty: Easy
REFERENCES: 2-4 Business Rules
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: 02.03 - Define what business rules are and how they influence database design
8. Business rules apply to businesses and government groups, but not to other types of organizations such as religious
groups or research laboratories.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False
DIFFICULTY: Difficulty: Moderate
REFERENCES: 2-4 Business Rules
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: 02.03 - Define what business rules are and how they influence database design
10. A disadvantage of the relational database management system (RDBMS) is its inability to hide the complexities of the
relational model from the user.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False
DIFFICULTY: Difficulty: Moderate
Copyright Cengage Learning. Powered by Cognero. Page 2
Chapter 02: Data Models
11. In an SQL-based relational database, each table is dependent on every other table.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False
DIFFICULTY: Difficulty: Easy
REFERENCES: 2-5b The Relational Model
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: 02.04 - Understand how the major data models evolved
12. In an SQL-based relational database, rows in different tables are related based on common values in common
attributes.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True
DIFFICULTY: Difficulty: Easy
REFERENCES: 2-5b The Relational Model
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: 02.04 - Understand how the major data models evolved
13. Each row in the relational table is known as an entity instance or entity occurrence in the ER model.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True
DIFFICULTY: Difficulty: Easy
REFERENCES: 2-5c The Entity Relationship Model
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: 02.04 - Understand how the major data models evolved
15. In Chen notation, entities and relationships have to be oriented horizontally; not vertically.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False
DIFFICULTY: Difficulty: Easy
REFERENCES: 2-5c The Entity Relationship Model
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: 02.04 - Understand how the major data models evolved
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True
DIFFICULTY: Difficulty: Easy
REFERENCES: 2-5e Object/Relational and XML
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: 02.04 - Understand how the major data models evolved
18. The external model is the representation of the database as “seen” by the DBMS.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False
DIFFICULTY: Difficulty: Easy
REFERENCES: 2-6a The External Model
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: 02.06 - Explain how data models can be classified by their level of abstraction
Multiple Choice
21. A(n) _____’s main function is to help one understand the complexities of the real-world environment.
a. node b. entity
c. model d. database
ANSWER: c
Copyright Cengage Learning. Powered by Cognero. Page 4
Chapter 02: Data Models
22. A(n) _____ is anything about which data are to be collected and stored.
a. attribute b. entity
c. relationship d. constraint
ANSWER: b
DIFFICULTY: Difficulty: Easy
REFERENCES: 2-3 Data Model Basic Building Blocks
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: 02.02 - Describe the basic data-modeling building blocks
23. A(n) _____ represents a particular type of object in the real world.
a. attribute b. entity
c. relationship d. node
ANSWER: b
DIFFICULTY: Difficulty: Easy
REFERENCES: 2-3 Data Model Basic Building Blocks
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: 02.02 - Describe the basic data-modeling building blocks
27. _____ are important because they help to ensure data integrity.
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Chapter 02: Data Models
a. Attributes b. Entities
c. Relationships d. Constraints
ANSWER: d
DIFFICULTY: Difficulty: Easy
REFERENCES: 2-3 Data Model Basic Building Blocks
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: 02.02 - Describe the basic data-modeling building blocks
31. A noun in a business rule translates to a(n) _____ in the data model.
a. entity b. attribute
c. relationship d. constraint
ANSWER: a
DIFFICULTY: Difficulty: Easy
REFERENCES: 2-4b Translating Business Rules into Data Model Components
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: 02.03 - Define what business rules are and how they influence database design
32. A verb associating two nouns in a business rule translates to a(n) _____ in the data model.
a. entity b. attribute
c. relationship d. constraint
ANSWER: c
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Chapter 02: Data Models
33. In the _____ model, the basic logical structure is represented as an upside-down tree.
a. hierarchical b. network
c. relational d. entity relationship
ANSWER: a
DIFFICULTY: Difficulty: Easy
REFERENCES: 2-5a Hierarchical and Network Models
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: 02.04 - Understand how the major data models evolved
34. In the _____ model, each parent can have many children, but each child has only one parent.
a. hierarchical b. network
c. relational d. entity relationship
ANSWER: a
DIFFICULTY: Difficulty: Easy
REFERENCES: 2-5a Hierarchical and Network Models
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: 02.04 - Understand how the major data models evolved
36. In the _____ model, the user perceives the database as a collection of records in 1:M relationships, where each record
can have more than one parent.
a. hierarchical b. network
c. object-oriented d. entity relationship
ANSWER: b
DIFFICULTY: Difficulty: Easy
REFERENCES: 2-5a Hierarchical and Network Models
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: 02.04 - Understand how the major data models evolved
39. Oracle 12c, MS SQL Server, and Tamino are examples of _____ data models.
a. hierarchical b. file system
c. relational d. XML Hybrid
ANSWER: d
DIFFICULTY: Difficulty: Easy
REFERENCES: 2-5a Hierarchical and Network Models
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: 02.04 - Understand how the major data models evolved
43. The _____ model was developed to allow designers to use a graphical tool to examine structures rather than
describing them with text.
a. hierarchical b. network
c. object-oriented d. entity relationship
ANSWER: d
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Chapter 02: Data Models
45. The _____ model uses the term connectivity to label the relationship types.
a. relational b. network
c. object-oriented d. entity relationship
ANSWER: d
DIFFICULTY: Difficulty: Easy
REFERENCES: 2-5c The Entity Relationship Model
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: 02.04 - Understand how the major data models evolved
48. Which of the following types of HDFS nodes stores all the metadata about a file system?
a. Data node b. Client node
c. Name node d. Map node
ANSWER: c
DIFFICULTY: Difficulty: Moderate
REFERENCES: 2-5f Emerging Data Models: Big Data and NoSQL
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: 02.05 - List emerging alternative data models and the needs they fulfill
a. They do not support distributed database architectures. b. They are not based on the relational model.
c. They are geared toward transaction consistency rather than d. They do not support very large amounts of
performance. sparse data.
ANSWER: b
DIFFICULTY: Difficulty: Moderate
REFERENCES: 2-5f Emerging Data Models: Big Data and NoSQL
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: 02.05 - List emerging alternative data models and the needs they fulfill
50. Which of the following types of HDFS nodes acts as the interface between the user application and the HDFS?
a. Data node b. Client node
c. Name node d. Map node
ANSWER: b
DIFFICULTY: Difficulty: Easy
REFERENCES: 2-5f Emerging Data Models: Big Data and NoSQL
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: 02.05 - List emerging alternative data models and the needs they fulfill
Completion
51. A(n) _____ is a relatively simple representation of more complex real-world data structures.
ANSWER: data model
DIFFICULTY: Difficulty: Easy
REFERENCES: 2-1 Data Modeling and Data Models
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: 02.01 - Discuss data modeling and why data models are important
52. A(n) _____ is a brief, precise, and unambiguous description of a policy, procedure, or principle within a specific
organization.
ANSWER: business rule
DIFFICULTY: Difficulty: Easy
REFERENCES: 2-4 Business Rules
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: 02.03 - Define what business rules are and how they influence database design
53. A(n) _____ in a hierarchical model is the equivalent of a record in a file system.
ANSWER: segment
DIFFICULTY: Difficulty: Easy
REFERENCES: 2-5 The Evolution of Data Models
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: 02.04 - Understand how the major data models evolved
54. A(n) _____ is the conceptual organization of an entire database as viewed by a database administrator.
ANSWER: schema
DIFFICULTY: Difficulty: Easy
REFERENCES: 2-5a Hierarchical and Network Models
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: 02.04 - Understand how the major data models evolved
55. A(n) _____ defines the environment in which data can be managed and is used to work with the data in the database.
ANSWER: data manipulation language (DML)
DIFFICULTY: Difficulty: Easy
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Chapter 02: Data Models
56. The relational model’s foundation is a mathematical concept known as a(n) _____.
ANSWER: relation
DIFFICULTY: Difficulty: Easy
REFERENCES: 2-5b The Relational Model
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: 02.04 - Understand how the major data models evolved
60. In _____, a three-pronged symbol represents the “many” side of the relationship.
ANSWER: Crow’s Foot notation
DIFFICULTY: Difficulty: Easy
REFERENCES: 2-5c The Entity Relationship Model
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: 02.04 - Understand how the major data models evolved
61. A(n) _____ is a collection of similar objects with a shared structure and behavior.
ANSWER: class
DIFFICULTY: Difficulty: Easy
REFERENCES: 2-5d The Object-Oriented Model
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: 02.04 - Understand how the major data models evolved
64. The term _____ is used to refer to the task of creating a conceptual data model that could be implemented in any
DBMS.
ANSWER: logical design
DIFFICULTY: Difficulty: Easy
REFERENCES: 2-6b The Conceptual Model
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: 02.06 - Explain how data models can be classified by their level of abstraction
66. One of the limitations of the _____ model is that there is a lack of standards.
ANSWER: hierarchical
DIFFICULTY: Easy
REFERENCES: 2-5g Data Models: A Summary
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: 02.04 - Understand how the major data models evolved
67. The _____ model is the end users’ view of the data environment.
ANSWER: external
DIFFICULTY: Easy
REFERENCES: 2-6a The External Model
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: 02.06 - Explain how data models can be classified by their level of abstraction
68. An internal _____ refers to a specific representation of an internal model, using the database constructs supported by
the chosen database.
ANSWER: schema
DIFFICULTY: Easy
REFERENCES: 2-6c The Internal Model
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: 02.06 - Explain how data models can be classified by their level of abstraction
69. From a database point of view, the collection of data becomes meaningful only when it reflects properly defined
_____.
ANSWER: business rules
DIFFICULTY: Moderate
REFERENCES: 2-4 Business Rules
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Chapter 02: Data Models
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: 02.03 - Define what business rules are and how they influence database design
70. The movement to find new and better ways to manage large amounts of web- and sensor-generated data and derive
business insight from it, while simultaneously providing high performance and scalability at a reasonable cost is referred
to as "_____."
ANSWER: Big Data
DIFFICULTY: Easy
REFERENCES: 2-5f Emerging Data Models: Big Data and NoSQL
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: 02.05 - List emerging alternative data models and the needs they fulfill
Essay
73. What are the sources of business rules, and what is the database designer’s role with regard to business rules?
ANSWER: The main sources of business rules are company managers, policy makers, department
managers, and written documentation such as a company’s procedures, standards, and
operations manuals. A faster and more direct source of business rules is direct interviews
with end users. Unfortunately, because perceptions differ, end users are sometimes a less
reliable source when it comes to specifying business rules. For example, a maintenance
department mechanic might believe that any mechanic can initiate a maintenance procedure,
when actually only mechanics with inspection authorization can perform such a task. Such a
distinction might seem trivial, but it can have major legal consequences. Although end users
are crucial contributors to the development of business rules, it pays to verify end-user
perceptions. Too often, interviews with several people who perform the same job yield very
different perceptions of what the job components are. While such a discovery may point to
“management problems,” that general diagnosis does not help the database designer. The
database designer’s job is to reconcile such differences and verify the results of the
reconciliation to ensure that the business rules are appropriate and accurate.
DIFFICULTY: Difficulty: Moderate
REFERENCES: 2-4a Discovering Business Rules
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: 02.03 - Define what business rules are and how they influence database design
1. The end-user interface. Basically, the interface allows the end user to interact with
the data (by automatically generating SQL code). Each interface is a product of the
software vendor’s idea of meaningful interaction with the data. You can also design
your own customized interface with the help of application generators that are now
standard fare in the database software arena.
2. A collection of tables stored in the database. In a relational database, all data are
perceived to be stored in tables. The tables simply “present” the data to the end user
in a way that is easy to understand. Each table is independent. Rows in different
tables are related by common values in common attributes.
3. SQL engine. Largely hidden from the end user, the SQL engine executes all queries,
or data requests. Keep in mind that the SQL engine is part of the DBMS software.
The end user uses SQL to create table structures and to perform data access and table
maintenance. The SQL engine processes all user requests—largely behind the scenes
and without the end user’s knowledge. Hence, SQL is said to be a declarative
language that tells what must be done but not how.
IV
There are no adventures in space. Either a space-flight is safe
monotony, or quick death. But as the two Guardsmen approached
the vast mysterious dome of S.S.C. somewhere in the Mesozoic
nightmare, the vaporous, steaming, endlessly stretching rain-forest
of Venus, they stumbled with wracking weariness. Reptile-infested
swamps and steaming seas, foul-smelling, rotten—it was an
incredibly perilous planet.
For five hours they had burned their way through giant flora and
fauna and sweat, H-guns hot with almost steady usage. And then
Venard finally parted some phosphorescent, glowing lichen and there
the gigantic dome rose up and up and lost itself in thick mist. But
between them and their goal was a hellish nightmare barrier, spilling
stinking muck into a placidly steaming sea.
Larson mopped at mud and sweat-slimed face, stared in fearful awe.
Venard swore. They were blocked by a moat, a green, oozing mud-
river, flowing oilily. From out of it, projected huge spines, ribs, and
warts covering towering, brilliant, multi-colored mounds—that
moved! Scaly mountains of shifting, radioactive lime. "Giant mollusc
bed!" gasped Venard. Low tide now, but during high tide the sea on
their right would back up this far. But high tide was hours distant.
There were thousands of the molluscs, every size, shape and color.
Venard's head went quickly to either side. "It goes out of sight both
ways, Kewpie Doll. Into the sea and into the swamp. Trapped!"
Larson squirmed, muttering, "Them bivalves are flesh-eaters. Look!"
A gruoon, a flying reptile, had started a dive across the thick air
toward the fungus-covered dome of S.S.C. A giant bivalve, at least
fifty meters wide, snapped open. Its lifting shell-half dripped an
avalanche of tendrils and muddy slime. A pliable snout whipped
upwards. On its end, a formless pliant mouth full of row after row of
rasp-like teeth, closed on the gruoon, sucked it into the pallid grey
pulsating interior of the bivalve. Its shells closed with slow certainty
on the writhing, screaming gruoon.
"We can't make that trek on foot, Kewpie Doll. Got to get back to the
ship. We landed on the wrong side. Got to rush things though, and
get the Zharkon's brain before the Marties try illegal entry and ruin
everything. Come on. I'll get you inside S.S.C., don't worry."
"I'll worry either way—hey, listen!" He froze. His eyes rolled up and
followed the sound droning invisibly above the impenetrable
envelope of mist—the long hissshowwww of a decelerating Martian
war-ship.
"That's the boys," growled Venard darkly. His jaw knotted. "Not time
to go back to the ship. Probably five hours—if we made it at all." His
eyes studied the hundred meter-wide barrier of quivering, snapping,
hungry molluscs. "I wonder," he murmured, "if we could do it?"
But Larson, moaning and trembling, was already waist-deep in the
iridescent slime. Venard grinned and followed jerkily. "We'll try to
crawl from one to the other," he managed to say. "So keep your
remaining hand free. Don't draw your blaster unless you have to."
Followed by Larson, now behind him, Venard started climbing
gingerly up the jagged, weirdly-glowing mollusc. Larson puffed
painfully, swearing. They were half way across the shell before it
shifted. They crouched down, hanging on desperately. Around them,
shells snapped open and shut hungrily. Mouthed probosci were
snaking about, dragging things out of the air.
"If we can stay on these things," gasped Venard. "Haven't seen any
of them interested in each other. This baby has a keen sense of
taste and smell; not much sense of touch, though."
Their shell suddenly rocked violently. The two Guardsmen squeezed
themselves between two roughly porous spines for support, drew
their blasters. The top half of the bivalve was slowly lifting.
They clung precariously by friction alone while the shell shook, rose
higher and higher. It shifted, and fell so that its hinge was
uppermost. Larson yelped, slipped, almost fell within reach of the
pulsing pink-tissued maw. His face was dead white.
The gigantic pinkish foot of the mollusc was oozing out and out,
away from them toward the opposite embankment. It stopped
almost across the bed; and when it withdrew toward them, in short
contracting jerks, it left behind, cemented against the shell of
another mollusc, a long strand of fleshy cable as big around as
Larson's arm.
The mussel's foot contained a narrow groove ending at a gland
which exuded a sticky substance, much like liquid glue. This
hardened almost instantly when exposed to air. Their shell had
placed this foot against the other mollusc, and the sticky material
was forced along the groove, touched the other mollusc, adhered
and hardened. Then by slowly drawing back the foot, their own shell
had, with astounding speed, spun a strong cable almost across the
moat.
"An anchor," shuddered Larson. "It's put out an anchor just like a
ship."
"That cable's more than just an anchor, Kewpie Doll. Evolution's
given him such a weak foot compared to its body weight; it has to
throw out a cable and drag itself from one place to another."
The cable was tightening. The pitted shell to which they miraculously
clung began to shift slightly as the cable stretched taunt. "This is too
lucky a break," groaned Larson. "Getting a free ride across like this.
There's a catch to it, somewhere. Venus ain't operatin' no free ferry
service."
"And that's the catch!" Venard pointed. "We fastened to that other
mollusc. Instead of us moving, we're pulling that other oyster out of
its bed!"
Their living anchor base lifted upward slowly with a long sucking
sound. Their own mollusc wasn't making enough headway even to
pull himself up over other shells. Its anchor base was too weak. But
not passive. It reacted violently.
"Watch out!" screamed Larson, shrinking.
The mollusc to which the cable was fastened suddenly opened its
giant shells, snapped them shut with a thunderous crack. The effect
was to send its great weight in a flying jump to the right about
fifteen meters. The cable parted with a sighing whine, whipped out,
round and back in a deadly arc. Larson screamed again. Only once.
The cable swept him away into the mud. Multicolored, squid-like
faces sprouting thousands of powerful filaments, writhed hungrily
toward him as he struggled briefly.
A choking, helpless horror went through Venard as he saw the
bivalve snap open, and then, a snaking proboscis with the
filamented mouth whip out and close on Larson's twisting body to
jerk him down with lightning swiftness into that pulsating abyss of
hungry flesh.
It had happened awfully fast to the toughest little guy in the System.
Too fast for Venard even to try against invincible odds to avert his
death. Eaten alive by a clam. He tried to think of things that would
compensate as the mollusc spun another cable. He concentrated his
eyes and thought on the taut flesh cable the bivalve had spun, the
one remaining link with S.S.C. and the fulfillment of Jhongan's
unknown plan. First Jhongan, then the Kewpie Doll.... He had to
keep on to make their sacrifice seem worth while. Theirs and billions
of others throughout the System.
The mollusc had reached the end of the cable. Its unpredictable
nerve centers had decided, however, to settle down right there. Its
migration was over, maybe for years. And Venard was still about fifty
feet from the other side of the moat.
Acting on impulse, Venard hooked his arms over the cable and
leaped toward the bank. He slid wildly, with little friction, along the
new slickness of the cable strands, plopped into the mud. He
crawled frantically up onto the thick vegetation just as a univalvular
mouth missed him by inches, tried again. He burned it and the
charred snout curled away.
He was across, lying against the mossy slimy uprising shell of S.S.C.
But so what? He had two hands. Larson, their entry ticket, was
gone. He steeled himself, didn't let himself think about it anymore.
He brought the H-gun on down in a quick savage gesture across his
left wrist....
He didn't lose consciousness. It was just a quick, jabbing, burning
agony. He looked at the charred stub—and then quickly swallowed
five para-pills. They calmed him, enabled him to climb to his feet
and follow the elevated ramp until he came to the ingress to the
scanning chamber.
He stood inside, before the wall, his legality being checked. The
chromoplex room was barren except for the telescreen and the
opening of the tubecar that would plunge him through the
magnetized vacuum tube into the heart of S.S.C.—and to what?
Tendrils of a vague fear oozed insidiously into his mind. He couldn't
shake free from a superstitious sensing of evil hidden danger. He
heard the faint murmuring of concealed photo-electric mechanisms
and relays. He was being thoroughly scanned.
A milky opalescense filled the screen, and coalesced; a misty outline
solidified, looked stoically at Venard. Recognition shocked the
Guardsman. It was Bronlen, greatest Solar physicist Terra had ever
produced. Bronlen had been summoned to S.S.C. ten years ago to
become its Director. Consequently, like all who came here, he had
dropped out of all sight and sound. But how he had changed! Only a
few among the allied worlds had ever come to S.S.C. for a long time
now, even for such a vitally needed thing as a body part
transplantation. S.S.C. had become a place of mystery and strange
fear. A place shunned and hated.
The austere, smoothly-aged face seemed, somehow, not human.
Unalive, a dull conscienceless face that shouldn't be Bronlen at all.
The bloodless lips parted.
"You may enter, barbarian. You are entitled to have your left hand
replaced, thought it's too bad you decided to annoy us, and didn't
resign yourself to your barbaric fate of one-handedness like most
other barbarians of the System have wisely decided to do. However,
upon completion of the transplantation, you will be transported
immediately and directly back out of S.S.C. Now the tubecar will take
you directly to the hetero-transplant ward."
The screen faded and Venard, boiling with inner rage and hatred,
entered the tubecar. Then, desperate helplessness as he felt the
tingling numbness settling over his brain. Concealed hypnotic
frequencies. They were blanking him out!
Then he knew. Without that clue from poor Vale, he might never
have found out the truth until it was too late. If it wasn't already
much too late.
"Jo—Jo—" just what she had been trying to tell him. The menace to
the Solar System that made even the Martians only insignificant
pawns were the unknown completely ignored Jovians!
The Martians pawns of these little—impossible. No, not impossible.
The Jovians were mysteriously uncatalogued. They possessed
telepathic power by which they communicated with each other. But
no being of any other planet had ever been able to communicate
with a Jovian—as far as anyone knew. It was said that it demanded
some time for a Jovian to familiarise itself with highly individualized
brain-wave patterns.
But when they did, they were supposed to be able to control that
mind—
Venard shivered, uncontrollably. The horrible implication, the
tremendous scope of possibility flooded open, poured fear in
Venard's desperate, groping brain. Having never entered in Solar
politics, having always been withdrawn, unobtrusive, and silent on
their dim dark world, they had been theoretically harmless. But what
if they secretly controlled key figures in the System? Here, in S.S.C.,
they could have enslaved the greatest weapons and knowledges of
science of the entire Solar System, and from there—
Vale had stiffened in his arms, fell away from him. She was standing
there coldly watching him with no warmth and no feeling, suddenly
an alien antagonistic being. The others ringed him, silently waiting
and watching.
Venard's semantically-trained mind reacted quickly and efficiently.
The Jovian needed a certain unspecified time to solve the intricacies
of Venard's highly individualized brain patterns. In that uncertain
interim, he had to get the brain of Zharkon I out of S.S.C. to the
waiting Martians. If they were waiting. And, if this Jovian mentality
in a cube controlled S.S.C., there was only one possible action.
Capture the Jovian. With the dark world being in his power, he could
control S.S.C.—that is, until the Jovian familiarized itself with his
brain waves, and all the complex inter-relations of the incredibly
intricate switch-board of his cerebrum.
Nothing could comprehend all the circuits in its entire complexity.
The Jovian power lay in its specialized ability to probe into key
centers and control them. If Venard did control the Jovian, it would
be only until it grasped his individualized peculiarities of rhythm and
circuits. It had taken quite long, seven days, to renew its control of
Vale's big I.Q. even when it had already controlled it once. But his—
how long? Maybe days, hours. Maybe only minutes. He was no
complex cerebral organism.
Anyway, his H-gun suddenly in his hand, he leaped for the Martian
who held the Jovian. Venard had gambled often.
A wave of evil and rather horrid thought struck him along with a
snarl of material resistance from the polyglot of beings who opposed
him. The Jovian knew his purpose; its sycophants were resisting him
madly. Sycophants—the greatest mentalities of the System, pawns of
a six-inch cube!
Venard, too late, tried to avoid the Martian's appendage raking at his
H-gun; but it struck savagely downward and the H-gun fell away
under the whip-like force, clattered across the plastic floor. He buried
a fist in the body sac, and the Martian toppled away. Venard drove
after it, clutching at the Jovian in its tentacles; and he felt it against
his hands. He pulled, strained, swore. The little metallic Mercurian
whined thinly and swirled its filaments at Venard. He pulled the
Jovian under one arm, hugged it against his side, shivering; and
then he grabbed a shocking electrifying handful of the Mercurian and
wrenched savagely. A hot, leadish fluid boiled from the gaping hole
as the Mercurian slumped.
Venard fell away from the Martian, holding the Jovian frantically,
crawled dizzily along the floor as he scrabbled for the H-gun. Two
other figures were diving for it. Vale, and the Neptunian spiderman.
It wasn't really Vale now. It was just a segment of the Jovian's mind,
but it wasn't easy to swing a short solid blow that connected
scientifically with her small delicate jaw so that she slumped
soundless. His hand went on around, gripped the grey furred neck of
the spiderman, twisted it. Mandibles jerked apart, and a poisonous
green juice streamed outward, missed Venard's face by inches.
Then he had the H-gun in his hand; he pressed it against the black
faceless cube. He sent out quick stabbing thought messages and
commands at random. He didn't know whether the H-gun's electri-
power unit would effect the Jovian's shell or not. But he soon found
the potentiality. "Call them off, or I'll destroy you," he kept thinking
frantically.
Others had been summoned; a number of weird beings jammed the
door into the operating room. But it was plain that the Jovian was
vulnerable to the H-gun. Its one weapon was thought control. It had
no others at all. Until it could solve the enigmatic intricacies of
Venard's neuro-cerebral circuits, it was helpless. Until then, Venard
controlled S.S.C. Until—then?
The minions of the Jovian were frozen in tense silent waiting;
motivated by a single thought command, they stood taut, watching
him dully.
Already he sensed the dark hate and growing frenzy of the Jovian
rising. Evidently it was figuring out its problem.
Holding the Jovian tightly, the H-gun trained directly on it, Venard
ran out the door while the knot of Solar beings parted before him in
a jerky weaving enslavement. He shuddered. These were
superminds—these wolfish, silently waiting ghouls. Every
conceivable size and form that crawled, hopped, floated and
wobbled, every type of Solar intellect from ingenious plant life to
pure energy entities pulsing whitely in mid-air. All equally helpless to
act until the Jovian could act.
The Martian medic had recovered and was tottering blearily on its
four contracting legs. "You," Venard gestured at the Martian, at the
same time jiggling the Jovian suggestively. "Lead me to the body
bank section. I'm after the brain half of Zharkon I. Quick, on the
double! Or I blast your Jovian dictator in a million pieces."
The Martie started down the vaulted hall, with Venard close behind
him. And the rustling progress of all the others followed expectantly.
A sharp, jolting shock rocketed between his temples; the Jovian had
connected with a sneak punch. How long would the Jovian need? It
would be easier to work against time if he knew how much time he
had.
They passed massive walls lined with huge, sealed and refrigerated
sterile banks containing spare body parts of every intellectual type of
being among all the Solar Worlds. Bank after bank filled with
fantastic arrays of alien body parts. One bank contained, for
example, every variety of articulation; among these were every kind
of human hand. Doubtless his hand had come from here. Then his
reluctant Martie medic guide paused before one bank especially
reserved for the synthetically developed mass of convoluted tissue
known as the double-brain of Zharkon I, three times larger than a
human brain. It boasted two completely separated brain sections,
the thalamic and the cortical. The lack of ability to integrate these
two seats of pure primitive emotion and pure reason resulted in the
variable, unpredictable, unstable actions of most humans or other
intellects. The Zharkon could turn on either and create desired levels
of reaction—almost an ultimate free agency, or free will set-up. This
was one of the first developed Zharkon double-brains. A thousand
years old.
The Martie opened the bank at Venard's command, lifted it out in its
sealed, self-containing unit. The Martie adjusted temperature and
self-feeding gauges that would keep the brain preserved in transit
for an unspecified length of time.
Venard staggered then, and grabbed for support where there was
none. A thick slimy blackness closed in. The damn Jovian! He could
feel the dark, vast depths of its alien mind opening, then merging
with his own. A vaulted abyss of mental perils loomed that were
thought-shattering. He felt himself falling, falling through mental
parsecs. White-hot knives slashed deep into his flashing brain,
wrenching, stabbing. He sobbed for air, staggered through a veiled
mist in some strange and hideous mental land.
There were moaning forces of evil screaming through tortured
nerves. And somehow, he was crawling through this thick, swirling
evil mental land. A red roaring throbbed in his ears. His heart
pumped desperately as he crawled toward something that fought
him with all the strength of fear, black hate, and a massive, evil will.
Huge, surrealistic, he saw his hand before his burning eyes; they
were like disembodied parts of himself. Far out ahead of him,
digging, clawing futilely toward some goal he had to attain. He
couldn't remember what it was.
His hands gripped white-hot metal, but he couldn't let go or he
would fall back away from the thing he must reach. Stench of
burning flesh clouded his eyes. Pain rocketed back into his face. He
couldn't fight it! He was losing, failing, sinking back and down. Then
his hands were beating empty space, and he was toppling into a
black well with a bottom of—there was no bottom. With a hopeless,
despairing cry, he writhed frantically, found a jagged edge and hung
on, straining, every nerve screaming, at a scaly wall that shivered,
heavily alive.
But his hands were slipping; he knew he would fall into the well. And
once he fell into that blackness, he was gone forever. He was in a
world of thought, and in that world he had no defenses, not against
such a highly specialized entity of thought as the Jovian. Yes—that
was the goal—he was trying to reach the Jovian. That was the
symbol. But he could never reach it. The pain was too great. Pain
could kill. Shock could stop his brain and heart.
"Vale!"
His voice was harsh, despairing. Had he called? Had he sent that
wild cry ringing out toward someone, anyone—?
"Vale!"
But she could not help him now! She was even further down in this
black hell of the Jovian's. She was already lost....
"Vale...."
The voice was weak, now, weak as is the voice of one dying. Black
horror rose about him—
Then, in an abrupt flooding surge of joyous change, the blackness
was blotted out by light.
VI
Venard was leaning wearily against the wall and the Martian medic
was lifting the first Zharkon's brain-sac into the refrigerated bank
when Larson and Vale came running down the hall. Larson was a
spectacle for sore eyes. His uniform was waving tatters, his skin a
splotched mass from digestive acids of the carnivorous clam. Vale
wrapped unforgotten arms around Venard's neck and for a while he
forgot Larson, the Zharkon's brain. He forgot almost everything.
"You defeated it," she breathed proudly, eyes shining. "You defeated
it! We couldn't help here in S.S.C. We were powerless. But, for that
few days when I was free, you would never have known about it."
"He defeated it?" howled Larson from a raw, flaming face. "I
defeated it. Me and the Sea People did, that is. But we ain't got any
time to argue about who gets the medals. The Martians are outside
with a couple of Battlewagons. They're setting up electro-cannons,
vibratory beams, oxo-hydro guns, and God alone knows what they
got in secret. They're gonna break in here or bust."
The Martian medic said, "They can't, of course. The force fields and
—"
Larson bawled out an ungentlemanly, "Don't be so smug! Comin' all
the way here I bet they've got some secret weapon."
Venard said curtly, "Contact them! I suggest we tell them we'll give
them their Zharkon the First's blasted brain. I'm beginning to get
brains on the brain!"
They hurried to a nearby room containing an inner-S.S.C
communication set. The Martian medic nervously switched through
to S.S.C. control study. "This is Yhongar in the Transplant Wards," he
said. "Lieutenant Venard of the Guards and an—er—Mr. Larson have
defeated the Jovian, as you probably know. Director Bronlen, are
you all right, sir?"
Director Bronlen's austere face swam into view, changed now. It was
the face of a man who has learned the ultimate meanings of slavery
and freedom of thought. It smiled with new hope, and with gentle,
but firm strength. "Everything is all right now, Yhongar. However,
two Martian warships have been reported just outside S.S.C."
"Yes, Director Bronlen," said the Martian. "They intend to attack
S.S.C. in an attempt to obtain the brain of Zharkon I. Lieutenant
Venard says we should give them the brain. Lieutenant Venard,
could you explain to S.S.C. Director H. Bronlen the reason for this
proposed action?"
Venard hesitated, flushed weakly. "I—really don't know, exactly, that
is. A Martian subversive, Jhongan, working with the Allies, said to
give the Martian High Priests every possible assistance in obtaining
the Brain. He said that if the replacement in the present Zharkon is
accomplished, complete peace would return to the System."
Bronlen's face remained puzzled, groping. "There must be some
explanation. We owe you and Sergeant Larson an infinite debt of
gratitude, but unless some logical reason is given for this unorthodox
procedure, I'm afraid—"
Vale stepped forward. "I think I can explain Jhongan's purpose in
wanting this transplantation to succeed."
"I.Q. Saunders," smiled Venard wryly.
"Speak," said Bronlen. "But hurry. The Martians are preparing to
attack. For all we know, they may have developed some kind of
atomic-penetrator."
"Well," began Vale, "the fanatical Zharkonian Royalists thought they
had all authentic Martian historical documents destroyed and
forgotten. But they didn't. Their own interpretation of history is
based on primitive myth, legends of race and ancestor worship—the
old war gods of slaughter and conflict, the hero-worship of victorious
armies and of individuals killed in battle. Greatly similar to the old
Nazi and Norse ideologies. So, naturally, they didn't want the newly
conditioned masses acquainted with true Martian history which is
just the opposite, being one of steady progress and peaceful aims
designed for the betterment of all peoples. But Jhongan's
underground faithfuls on Mars made it a point to preserve key
historical Martian documents, evidently, so that they have known all
the time the exact nature of the thousand-year-old brain of Zharkon
I."
She paused, while Venard lit up a para-ette to steady his shaky
nerves. He grinned at her thinly. "I bet you could quote the whole
Solar Encyclopedia," he snapped.
She smiled at him and continued. "The amazing part is that the
Zharkonian leaders forgot real history themselves. Fell for their own
propaganda, which is so often the case. They believe in the myths
and legends they've resurrected—in part. It's obvious they've
forgotten or they certainly wouldn't be attempting this
transplantation. You see, we've studied that incredible double-brain
thoroughly in connection with socio-economic history of Zharkon the
First's era. It was one of the first double-brain experiments and
wasn't entirely successful. There was an uncontrollable influence of
the thalamic half over the cortex half. You see, Zharkon I was
beneficently pathological as a ruler."
"Pathological," exclaimed Director Bronlen.
"Yes. A fanatical pacifist, who went into daily trances and preached
the sacred brotherhood of all races, creeds and colors. But the
methods he used were impractical and revealed unintegration of his
brain sections. So you can see what will happen if that kind of cortex
gets in control of the present militaristic Martian government."
"A pacifist! Fanatical—pathological—" Venard grinned broadly. Larson
laughed hoarsely. The Martian swelled his body sac with pride and
renewed hope. Bronlen's face appeared to glow with admiration for
Vale's analysis, sharpened to sudden decision. "I am going to
contact the Martians immediately," he said. "I'll inform them that
rather than have conflict here within the cloistered halls of science,
we'll give them the brain of Zharkon I—without question. This will
probably inflate their paranoic egos considerably."
The teleaudio faded and almost immediately, several attendants of
as many planetary types in interne's gowns came down the long hall
and took the huge Martian double-brain away to the arrogantly and
triumphantly waiting Martian Priests. Their warships blasted off
without delay, atomic-interplanetary drives at full acceleration, to
transplant the brain into the body of their incapacitated war leader—
to transform him into an incurable, pathological, fanatical lover of
peace at any cost—a mind that regarded war for any cause at any
time more terrible than a cosmic plague.
Meanwhile, the Solar Federation was made acquainted with the real
and far more terrifying threat existing on the obscure, dark and
mysterious world of the Jovians. Panic swept over these worlds,
realizing as they did that there was no way to combat the pure
thought power of the Jovians.
However, the Venusian Sea People had found out via S.S.C. about
the thralldom of that citadel by the Jovian there, and, realizing the
tremendous threat to the System, they retreated into their strange,
deep laboratories to manufacture the memory-crystals by the
thousands. The mystic little globes would enable other than Jovian
minds to achieve a unity of mental strength. In the hands of millions
of Solarians, they would mean inevitable defeat for the outnumbered
Jovians.
Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will
be renamed.