“We will do that,” he went on in the second reply, his voice sliding into the singsong of childhood lessons, “by regaining the science and knowhow of our forefathers. Man was once Lord of all Creation: his science and knowhow made him supreme. Science and knowhow is what we need to hit back at the Monsters.”

“Now, Eric,” his uncle asked gently. “Please tell me this. What in hell is knowhow?”

That was way off. They were a full corridor’s length from the normal progression of the catechism now.

“Knowhow is—knowhow is—” he stumbled over the unfamiliar verbal terrain. “Well, it’s what our ancestors knew. And what they did with it, I guess. Knowhow is what you need before you can make hydrogen bombs or economic warfare or guided missiles, any of those really big weapons like our ancestors had.”

“Did those weapons do them any good? Against the Monsters, I mean. Did they stop the Monsters?”

Eric looked completely blank for a moment, then brightened. Oh! He knew the way now. He knew how to get back to the catechism: “The suddenness of the attack—”

“Stop it!” his uncle ordered. “Don’t give me any of that garbage! The suddenness of the attack, the treachery of the Monsters—does it sound like an explanation to you? Honestly? If our ancestors were really Lords of Creation and had such great weapons, would the Monsters have been able to conquer them? I’ve led my band on dozens of raids, and I know the value of a surprise attack; but believe me, boy, it’s only good for a flash charge and a quick getaway if you’re facing a superior force. You can knock somebody down when he doesn’t expect it, but if he really has more than you, he won’t stay down. Right?”

“I—I guess so. I wouldn’t know.”

“Well, I know. I know from plenty of battle experience. The thing to remember is that once our ancestors were knocked down, they stayed down. That means their science and knowhow weren’t so much in the first place. And that means”—here he turned his head and looked directly into Eric’s eyes—“that means the science of our ancestors wasn’t worth one good damn against the Monsters and it wouldn’t be worth one good damn to us.”