Part 2, The Crazy Eddie Point: Chapter 24, Brownies Summary

Rod begins the meeting by asking questions about the Moties and he records all the responses for the record. Rod reveals that the record may be evidence used for his court martial trial for failing to protect Imperial military secrets. He believes the small Moties loose on his ship have had every opportunity to discover these secrets.

It turns out that the ship is in an epidemic of "brownie" encounters—small beings who fix things if left a gift. Regardless of any other logic or needs, the ship will be sterilized to vacuum in a very short time. Rod instructs everyone to get ready to open the ship, by sections, to hard vacuum. Further conversation reveals that the legend of Crazy Eddie is attributed to anything that is crazy or...