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                             CONSERVATION

                        BY CHARLES L. FONTENAY

             _The people of Earth had every means of power
            at their command, yet they used none of it. Was
             it due to lack of knowledge and technique; or
              was there a more subtle, dangerous reason?_

           [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
               Worlds of If Science Fiction, April 1958.
         Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
         the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]


The yellow sands of the spaceport stretched, glaring and empty, in
every direction. There was no sign of life from the little group of
buildings a mile away.

In the control room of the tall, round-nosed starship, technicians
labored and officers conferred while the red needles that showed rocket
tube temperat