"It is fortunate, he said, that an experience man of you race was available to take charge. For a while I even considered breaking all the rules and letting Earth know the facts immediately--but at this stage of your society, it would only be a slower damnation for them, extinction is moe merciful. Whether or not the new man can rescue the planet remains to be seen. If he fails, then of course the whole world is lost. At best, it has been retarded two centuries, and several million people are needlessly dead."

From "Details".

By Poul Anderson

1957.