The Cosmic Computer
by H. Beam Piper
During the war of the states of the system, Poiktesme was the general staff and supply depot for the final offensive against the enemy. When the war ended, buildings, ammunition, freeze-dried food supplies - all this was thrown away without thinking. Now the world colony is a poor agrarian society with only two exports: fermented products of unique world grapes and salvaged military equipment, which are currently sold for about 1% of their true value. And the myth of MERLIN, a decades-old supercomputer, is said to be planning a grand strategy that successfully ends the war. "I wish we could find Merlin," the residents said to each other, "all our problems would be solved." Then the young Conn Maxwell returned from Earth with a few clues about his college education and Merlin's whereabouts and true nature. And the confident knowledge that finding a Space Computer would be the worst thing that could happen to his world.
