The Lani People ...................................................................................................................................................1

J. F. Bone.................................................................................................................................................1

The boxed ad in the opportunities section of the Kardon Journal of Allied Medical Sciences stood out like a

cut diamond in a handful of gravel. "Wanted," it read, "Veterinarian for residency in active livestock

operation. Single recent graduate preferred. Quarters and service furnished. Wellequipped hospital.

Fiveyear contract, renewal option, starting salary 15,000 cr./annum with periodic increases. State age,

school, marital status, and enclose recent tridi with application. Address Box V9, this journal."

Jac Kennon read the box a second time. There must be a catch to it. Nothing that paid a salary that large

could possibly be on the level. Fifteen thousand a year was top pay even on Beta, and an offer like this for a

new graduate was unheard of unless Kardon was in the middle of an inflation. But Kardon wasn't. The

planet's financial status was A1. He knew. He'd checked that immediately after landing. Whatever might be

A fiveyear contract hmm that would the seventyfive thousand. Figure three thousand a year for living

expenses, that would leave sixtyplenty of capital to start a clinic. The banks couldn't turn him down if he

Kennon chuckled wryly. He'd better get the job before he started spending the money he didn't have. He had

231 credits plus a few halves, tenths, and hundredths, a diploma in veterinary medicine, some textbooks, a

few instruments, and a firstclass spaceman's ticket. By watching his expenses he had enough money to live

here for a month and if nothing came of his efforts to find a job on this planet, there was always his

Another world! There were over six thousand planets in the Brotherhood of Man. At two months per planet,

not figuring transit time, it would take more than a thousand Galactic Standard years to visit them all, and a

man could look forward to scarcely more than five hundred at best. The habitat of Man had become too large.

But a man could have certain standards, and look until he found a position that fitted. The trouble was if the

standards were too high the jobs were too scarce. Despite the chronic shortage of veterinarians throughout the

Brotherhood, there was a peculiar reluctance on the part of established practitioners to welcome recent

graduates. Most of the ads in the professional journals read "State salary desired," which was nothing more

than economic blackmail a baldfaced attempt to get as much for as little as possible. Kennon grimaced

wryly. He'd be damned if he'd sell his training for six thousand a year. Slave labor, that's what it was. There

were a dozen ads like that in the Journal. Well, he'd give them a trial, but he'd ask eight thousand and full

GEA benefits. Eight years of school and two more as an intern were worth at least that.

He pulled the portable voicewrite to a comfortable position in front of the view wall and began composing

another of the series of letters that had begun months ago in time and parsecs away in space. His voice was a

And as he dictated, his eyes took in the vista through the view wall. Albertsville was a nice town, too young

for slums, too new for overpopulation. The white buildings were the color of winter butter in the warm

yellow sunlight as the city drowsed in the noonday heat. It nestled snugly in the center of a bowlshaped

valley whose surrounding forest clad hills gave mute confirmation to the fact that Kardon was still primitive,

an unsettled world that had not yet reached the explosive stage of population growth that presaged maturity.

But that was no disadvantage. In fact, Kennon liked it. Living could be fun on a planet like this.

It was abysmally crude compared to Beta, but the Brotherhood had opened Kardon less than five hundred

years ago, and in such a short time one couldn't expect all the comforts of civilization.

It required a high population density to supply them, and while Kardon was integrated its population was

scarcely more than two hundred million. It would be some time yet before this world would achieve a Class I

status. However, a Class II planet had some advantages. What it lacked in conveniences it made up in

A normal Betan would have despised this world, but Kennon wasn't normal, although to the casual eye he

was a typical representative of the MedicoTechnological Civilization, long legged, fair haired, and short

bodied with the typical Betan squint that left his eyes mere slits behind thick lashes and heavy brows. The

Possibly it was due to the fact that his father was the commander of a Shortliner and most of his formative

years had been spent in space. To Kennon, accustomed to the timeless horror of hyper space, all planets were

good, broad open places where a man could breathe unfiltered air and look for miles across distances

unbroken by dually bulk heads and safety shields. On a planet there were spaciousness and freedom and after

the claustrophobic confinement of a hyper ship any world was paradise. Kennon sighed, finished his letters,

and placed them in the mail chute. Perhaps, this time, there would be a favorable reply.

Kennon was startled by the speed with which his letters were answered. Accustomed to the slower pace of

Beta he had expected a week would elapse before the first reply, but within twentyfour hours nine of his

twelve inquiries were returned. Five expressed the expected "Thank you but I feel that your asking salary is a

bit high in view of your lack of experience." Three were frankly interested and requested a personal

interview. And the last was the letter, outstanding in its quietly ostentatious folderthe reply from Box V9.

"Would Dr. Kennon call at 10 A.M. tomorrow at the offices of Outworld Enterprises Incorporated and bring

this letter and suitable identifications? Kennon chuckled. Would he? There was no question about it. The

address, 200 Central Avenue, was only a few blocks away. In fact, he could see the building from his

window, a tall functional block of durilium and plastic, soaring above the others on the street, the sunlight

gleaming off its clean square lines. He eyed it curiously, wondering what he would find inside.

The receptionist took his I.D. and the letter, scanned them briefly, and slipped them into one of the message

tubes beside her desk. "It will only be a moment, Doctor," she said impersonally. "Would you care to sit

Thank you," he said. The minute, reflected, could easily be an hour. But she was right. It was only a minute

until the message tube clicked and popped a capsule onto the girl's desk. She opened it, and removed

Kennon's I.D. and a small yellow plastic rectangle. Her eyes widened at the sight of the plastic card.

"Here you are, Doctor. Take shaft number one. Slip the card into the scanner slot and you'll be taken to the

correct floor. The offices you want will be at the end of the corridor to the left. You'll find any other data you

may need on the card in case you get lost." She looked at him with a curious mixture of surprise and respect

Kennon murmured an acknowledgment, took the card and his I.D., and entered the gravshaft. There was the

usual moment of heaviness as the shaft whisked him upward and deposited him in front of a thickly carpeted

Executive level, Kennon thought as he followed the receptionist's directions. No wonder she had looked

respectful. But what was he doing here? The employment of a veterinarian wasn't important enough to

demand the attention of a senior executive. The personnel section could handle the details of his application

as well as not. He shrugged. Perhaps veterinarians were more important on Kardon. He didn't know a thing

He opened the unmarked door at the end of the corridor, entered a small reception room, smiled uncertainly

Alexander! The entrepreneur himself! Why? Numb with surprise Kennon watched the woman open the

"Bring him in," a smooth voice replied from the speaker. Alexander X. M. Alexander, President of Outsold

Enterprises a lean, dark, wolfish man in his early sixties eyed Kennon with a flat predatory intentness that

was oddly disquieting. His stare combined the analytical inspection of the pathologist, the probing curiosity

of the psychiatrist, and the weighing appraisal of the butcher. Kennon's thoughts about Alexander's youth

vanished that instant. Those eyes belonged to a leader on the battlefield of galactic business.

Kennon felt the conditioned respect for authority surge through him in a smothering wave. Grimly he fought

it down, knowing it was a sign of weakness that would do him no good in the interview which lay ahead.

"So you're Kennon," Alexander said. His lingua franca was clean and accentless. "I expected someone older."

Alexander smiled, an oddly pleasant smile that transformed the hard straight lines in his face into friendly

"A fact most of us outsiders find hard to believe," Alexander said. "I picture your world as an ironclad society

"You would be wrong to do so," Kennon said. "Even though we are cultural introverts there is plenty of

"I never said I was like my society," Kennon grinned. "Actually I suppose I'm one of the proverbial bad

"There's more to it than that," Alexander said. "Your early years probably influenced you."

Kennon looked sharply at the entrepreneur. How much did the man really know about him? "I suppose so,"

Alexander looked pleased. "But even with your childhood experiences there must be an atavistic streak in

Kennon shrugged. "Perhaps you're right. I really don't know. Actually, I've never thought about it. It merely

"It does," Alexander said. "But it also offers more work. If you're figuring that you can get along on the

minimum physical effort required on the Central Worlds, you have a shock coming."

"I'm not that innocent," Kennon said. "But I am not so stupid that I can't apply modifications of Betan

Alexander chuckled. "I like you," he said. suddenly. "Here read this and see if you'd care to work for me." He

picked a contract form from one of the piles of paper on his desk and handed it to Kennon. "This is one of our

standard work contracts. Take it back to your hotel and check it over. I'll expect to see you at this time

"Why waste time?" Kennon said. "The rapidreading technique originated on Beta. I can tell you in fifteen

"Hmm. Certainly. Read it here if you wish. I like to get things settled the sooner the better. Sit down, young

man and read. You can rouse me when you're finished." He turned his attention to the papers on his desk and

within seconds was completely oblivious of Kennon, his face set in the rapt trancelike expression of a trained

Kennon watched for a moment as sheets of paper passed through Alexander's hands to be added to the pile at

the opposite end of the desk. The man would do better, he thought, if he would have his staff transcribe the

papers to microfilm that could be read through an intervaltimed scanner. He might suggest that later. As for

now, he shrugged and seated himself in the chair beside the desk. The quiet was broken only by the rustle of

paper as the two raptfaced men turned page after page with mechanical regularity.

Finally Kennon turned the last page, paused, blinked, and performed the necessary mental gymnastics to

orient his time sense. Alexander, he noticed, was still engrossed, sunk in his autohypnotic trance. Kennon

waited until he had finished the legal folder which he was reading and then gently intruded upon Alexander's

Alexander looked up blankly and then went through the same mental gyrations Kennon had performed a few

"I think it's the damnedest, trickiest, most unilateral piece of legalistics I've ever seen," Kennon said bluntly.

"If that's the best you can offer, I wouldn't touch the job with a pair of forceps."

Alexander smiled. "I see you read the fine print," he said. There was quiet amusement in his voice. "So you

"No sensible man would. I'm damned if I'll sign commitment papers just to get a job. No wonder you're

having trouble getting professional help. If your contracts are all like that it's' a wonder anyone works for

"How could you? If they signed that contract you'd have a perfect right to muzzle them."

"A spaceman's ticket is a good thing to have," Alexander said idly. "It's a useful ace in the hole. Besides, you

have had three other job offers all of which are good even though they don't pay fifteen Ems a year."

Kennon did a quick double take. Alexander's investigative staff was better than good. It was uncanny.

"But seriously, Dr. Kennon, I am pleased that you do not like that contract. Frankly, I wouldn't consider

"That contract is a screen. It weeds out the careless, the fools, and the unfit in one operation. A man who

would sign a thing like that has no place in my organization." Alexander chuckled at Kennon's blank

"I haven't," Kennon admitted. "On Beta the tests are formal. The MedicoPsych Division supervises them."

"Different worlds, different methods," Alexander observed. "But they're all directed toward the same goal.

Here we aren't so civilized. We depend more on personal judgment." He took another contract from one of

the drawers of his desk. "Take a look at this. I think you'll be more satisfied."

"I'll leave it," Kennon said. "Thank you for your time." He rose to his feet, smiled at Alexander, and turned to

the door. "Don't bother to call your receptionist," he said. "I can find my way out."

"Just a minute, Doctor," Alexander said. He was standing behind the desk, holding out his hand.

"No, sir. They're pretty rigid, but for the salary you are paying I figure you should have some rights. Certainly

you have the right to protect your interests. But that Article Twelve is a direct violation of everything a

human being should hold sacred besides being a violation of the Peeper Laws. I'd never sign a contract that

"That's the minimum," Kennon corrected. "Naturally, I won't object to mnemonic erasure of matters

pertaining to your business once my contract's completed and I leave your employment. But until then there

will be no conditioning, no erasures, no taps, no snoopers, and no checkups other than the regular periodic

psychans. I'll consult with you on vacation time and will arrange it to suit your convenience. I'll even agree to

"You realize I'm agreeing to give you a great deal of personal liberty," Alexander said. "How can I protect

"I'll sign a contingency rider," Kennon said, "if you will specify precisely what security matters I am not to

"I accept," Alexander said. "Consider yourself hired." He touched a button on his desk. "Prepare a standard

2A contract for Dr. Jac Kennon's signature. And attach two riders, a full PPyes, no exceptions and a

securityleak contingency, Form 287C. Yes that's right that one. And strike out all provisions of Article

Twelve which conflict with the Peeper Laws. Yes. Now and finish it as soon as you can." He touched

another button. "Well, that's that," he said. "I hope you'll enjoy being a member of our group."

"I think I shall," Kennon said. "You know, sir, I would have waived part of that last demand if you had cared

"I know it," Alexander said. "But what concessions I could have wrung from you would be relatively

unimportant beside the fact that you would be unhappy about them later. What little I could have won here,

"I see," Kennon said. Actually he didn't see at all. He looked curiously at the entrepreneur. Alexander

couldn't be as easy as he seemed. Objectivity and dispassionate weighing and balancing were nice traits and

very helpful ones, but in the bear pit of galactic business they wouldn't keep their owner alive for five

minutes. The interworld trade sharks would have skinned him long ago and divided the stripped carcass of his

But Outworld was a "respected" company. The exchange reports said so which made Alexander a different

breed of cat entirely. Still, his surface was perfect polished and impenetrable as a duralloy turret on one of

the latest Brotherhood battleships. Kennon regretted he wasn't a sensitive. It would be nice to know what

"Tell me, sir," Kennon asked. "What are the real reasons that make you think I'm the man you want?"

"And you're the young man who's so insistent on a personal privacy rider," Alexander chuckled. "However,

"You're from a culture whose name is a byword for moral integrity. That makes you a good risk so far as

your ethics are concerned. In addition you're the product of one of the finest educational systems in the

galaxyand you have proven your intelligence to my satisfaction. You also showed me that you weren't a

spineless 'yes man.' And finally, you have a spirit of adventure. Not one in a million of your people would do

what you have done. What more could an entrepreneur ask of a prospective employee?"

"All I hope," Alexander continued affably, "is that you'll find Outworld Enterprises as attractive as did your

predecessor Dr. Williamson. He was with us until he died last month better than a hundred years."

"Not exactly, he was nearly four hundred when he joined us. My grandfather was essentially conservative. He

liked older men, and Old Doc was one of his choices a good one, too. He was worth every credit we paid

"I'll try to do as well," Kennon said, "but I'd like to warn you that I have no intention of staying as long as he

did. I want to build a clinic and I figure sixty thousand is about enough to get started."

"When will you veterinarians ever learn to be organization men?" Alexander asked. "You're as independent

Alexander shrugged. "Perhaps you'll change your mind after you've worked for us."

"Tell me that five years from now," Alexander said "Ah here are the contracts." He smiled at the trim

"Not at all. And when you're through, just leave them on the desk except for your copy, of course."

Alexander scrawled his signature on the bottom of each contract. "Don't disturb me. I'll be in contact with

you. Leave your whereabouts with your hotel." He turned to the papers in front of him, and then looked up

for the last time. "Just one more thing," he said. "You impress me as a cautious man. It would be just as well

"I'd never have guessed yesterday that I'd be here today," Kennon said as he looked down at the yellow

waters of the Xantline Sea flashing to the rear of the airboat at a steady thousand kilometers per hour as they

sped westward in the middle traffic level. The water, some ten thousand meters below, had been completely

"We have to move fast to stay ahead of our ulcers," Alexander said with a wry smile. "Besides, I wanted to

"You had nothing to keep you in the city, and neither did I at least nothing important. There are plenty of

females where we are going and I need you on Flora not in Albertsville. Besides I can get you there faster

"Judging from those empty sea lanes below, Flora must be an outoftheway place," Kennon said.

"It is. It's out of the trade lanes. Most of the commercial traffic is in the southern hemisphere. The northern

hemisphere is practically all water. Except for Flora and the Otpens there isn't a land area for nearly three

thousand kilometers in any direction, and since the company owns Flora and the surrounding island groups

there's no reason for shipping to come there. We have our own supply vessels, a Discovery Charter, and a

desire for privacy. Ah! It won't be long now. There's the Otpens!" Alexander pointed at a smudge on the

horizon that quickly resolved into an irregular chain of tiny islets that slipped below them. Kennon got a

glimpse of gray concrete on one of the larger islands, a smudge of green trees, and white beaches against

"Most of them are deserted. Two support search and warning stations and automatic interceptors to protect

our property. Look! there's Flora." Alexander gestured at the land mass that appeared below.

Flora was a great green oval two hundred kilometers long and about a hundred wide.

"Pretty, isn't it?" Alexander said as they sped over the low range of hills and the single gaunt volcano filling

the eastward end of the island and swept over a broad green valley dotted with fields and orchards

"Our farms," Alexander said redundantly. The airboat crossed a fairsized river. "That's the Styx," Alexander

said. "Grandfather named it. He was a classicist in his way spent a lot of his time reading books most

people never heard of. Things like the Iliad and Gone with the Wind. The mountains he called the Apennines,

and that volcano's Mount Olympus. The marshland to the north is called the Pontine Marshes our main road

is the Camino Real." Alexander grinned. "There's a lot of Earth on Flora. You'll find it in every name.

Grandfather was an Earthman and he used to get nostalgic for the homeworld. Well there's Alexandria

Kennon stared down at the huge graygreen citadel resting on a small hill in the center of an open plain. It

was a Class II Fortalice built on the efficient starshaped plan of half a millennium ago an ugly spiky pile

of durilium, squat and massive with defensive shields and weapons which could still withstand hours of

"Alexandria? well, we had trouble with the natives when we first came, and Grandfather had a synthesizer

and tapes for a Fortalice in his ship. So he built it. It serves the dual purpose of base and house. It's mostly

The airboat braked sharply and settled with a smooth, sickeningly swift rush that left Kennon gasping

feeling that his stomach was still floating above him in the middle level. He never had become accustomed to

an arbutus landing characteristics. Spacers were slower and steadier. The ship landed gently on a pitted

concrete slab near the massive radiation shields of the barricaded entranceway to the fortress. Projectors in

polished dually turrets swivelled to point their ugly noses at them. It gave Kennon a queasy feeling. He never

liked to trust his future to automatic machinery. If the analyzers failed to decode the ship's I.D. properly,

Kennon, Alexander, the ship, and a fair slice of surrounding territory would become an incandescent mass of

"Grandfather was a good builder," Alexander, said proudly. "Those projectors have been mounted nearly four

"I can see that," Kennon said uncomfortably. "You ought to dismantle them. They're enough to give a man

Alexander chuckled. "Oh they're safe. The firing mechanism's safetied. But we keep them in operating

"I knew Kardon was primitive, but I didn't think it was that bad. What's the trouble?"

"None right now," Alexander said obliquely, "and since we've shown we can handle ourselves there

"You must raise some pretty valuable stock if the competition tried to rustle them in the face of that

"We do." Alexander said. "Now if you'll follow me" the entrepreneur opened the cabin door letting in a

"It's hot out here on the strip," Alexander admitted, "but its cool enough inside. Besides, you'll get used to this

quickly enough and the nights are wonderful. The evening rains cool things off. Well come along." He

began walking toward the arched entrance to the great building some hundred meters away. Kennon followed

looking around curiously. So this was to be his home for the next five years? It didn't look particularly

inviting. There was a forbidding air about the place that was in stark contrast to its pleasant surroundings.

They were only a few meters from the archway when a stir of movement came from its shadow the first life

Kennon had seen since they descended from the ship. In this furnace heat even the air was quiet. Two women

came out of the darkness, moving with quiet graceful steps across the blistering hot concrete. They were

naked except for a loincloth, halter, and sandals and so nearly identical in form and feature that Kennon took

them to be twins. Their skins were burned a deep brown that glistened in the yellow sun light.

Kennon shrugged. It was none of his business how his employer ran his household or what his servants wore

or didn't wear. Santos was a planet of nudists, and certainly this hot sun was fully as brilliant as the one which

warmed that tropical planet In fact, he could see some virtue in wearing as little as possible. Already he was

The two women walked past them toward the airboat. Kennon turned to look at them and noticed with

surprise that they weren't human. The long tails curled below their spinal bases were adequate denials of

"Gave you a starteh?" Alexander chuckled. "It always does when a stranger sees a Lani for the first time.

Alexander shook his head. "No it wouldn't be reason able or legal. You're the man for the job."

"But I've no experience with humanoid types. We didn't cover that phase in our studies and from their

"They're far more similar than you think," Alexander said. "It just goes to show what parallel evolution can

"I never knew that there was indigenous humanoid life on Kardon," Kennon continued. "The manual says

"That's impossible. Species as highly organized as that simply don't originate on isolated islands."

"This was a subcontinent once," Alexander said. "Most of it has been inundated. Less than a quarter of a

million years ago there was over a hundred times the land area in this region than exists today. Then the

ocean rose. Now all that's left is the mid continent plateau and a few mountain tops. You noted, I suppose,

that this is mature topography except for that range of hills to the east. The whole land area at the time of

flooding was virtually a peneplain. A rise of a few hundred feet in the ocean level was all that was needed to

"I see. Yes, it's possible that life could have developed here under those conditions. A peneplain topography

"You have studied geology?" Alexander asked curiously. "Only as part of my cultural base," Kennon said.

"We think the Lani were survivors of that catastrophe and with their primitive culture they were unable to

reach the other land masses," Alexander shrugged. "At any rate they never established themselves anywhere

"I was born here," Alexander said. "My grandfather discovered this world better than four hundred years ago.

He picked this area because it all could be comfortably included in Discovery Rights. It wasn't until years

"There was plenty of opportunity. The plants and animals here are different from others in this world. Like

Kennon looked blank, and Alexander chuckled. "Australia was a subcontinent on Earth," he explained. "Its

ecology, however, was exceedingly primitive when compared with the rest of the planet. Flora's on the

contrary, was and is exceedingly advanced when compared with other native life forms on Kardon."

"For which I'm grateful," Alexander grinned. "It's made me the biggest operator in this sector of the galaxy.

For practical purposes I own an independent nation. There's about a thousand humans here, and nearly six

thousand Lani. We're increasing the Lani now, since we found they have commercial possibilities. Up to

Kennon didn't speculate on what Alexander meant. He knew. For practical purposes, his employer was a

slave trader or would have been if the natives were human. As it was, the analogy was so close that it

They entered the fortress, passed through a decontamination chamber that would have done credit to an

exploration ship, and emerged dressed in tunics and sandals that were far more appropriate and comfortable

"That's one of Old Doc's ideas," Alexander said, gesturing at the door from which they had emerged. "He was

a hound for sanitation and he infected us with the habit." He turned and led the way down an arched corridor

Kennon sucked his breath in with a low gasp of amazement. The room was a gem of exquisite beauty. The

parquet floor was inlaid with rare hardwoods from a hundred different worlds. Parthian marble veneer

covered with lacy Van tapestries from Santos formed the walls. Delicate ceramics, sculpture, and bronzes

reflected the art of a score of different civilizations. A circular pool, festooned with lacelike Halsite ferns,

stood in the center of the room, surrounding a polished black granite pedestal on which stood an exquisite

bronze of four Lani females industriously and eternally pouring golden water from vases held in their shapely

"Oh yes I forgot to tell you about the Family," Alexander said grimly. "I run Outworld, and own fifty per

cent of it. The Family owns the other fifty. There are eight of them the finest collection of parasites in the

entire galaxy. At the moment they can't block me since I also control my cousin Douglas's shares. But when

Douglas comes of age they will be troublesome. Therefore I defer to them. I don't want to build a united

opposition. Usually I can get one or more of them to vote with me on critical deals, but I always have to pay

for their support." Alexander's voice was bitter as he touched the dilate button on the iris door beside him.

"That isn't in the contract," Kennon said. He was appalled at Alexander. Civilized people didn't speak of

"It can't be helped. You must meet them. It's part of the job." Alexander's voice was grim. "Mother, Cousin

Anne, Douglas, and Eloise like to play lord of the manor. Cousin Harold doesn't care for which you should

The door dilated, and Alexander ushered Kennon into the room. The Lani sitting on the couch opposite the

door leaped to her feet, her mouth opening in an 0 of surprise. Her soft snowwhite hair, creamy skin, and

bright china blue eyes were a startling contrast to her black loincloth and halter. Kennon stared

Her effect on Alexander, however, was entirely different. His face darkened. "You!" he snapped. "What are

Alexander groaned. "You see," he said, turning to Kennon. "We need someone here with a little sense. Like I

was telling you, the Family'd" he stopped abruptly and turned back to the Lani. "Your name and pedigree,"

"You're terminated. Report to Goldie and tell her that Man Alexander wants you sent back to your group."

"Get moving," Alexander snapped, "and tell Goldie to report to me in my quarters."

"Yes, sir, right away, sir!" The Lath ran, disappearing through the door they had entered with a flash of

"That Douglas!" Alexander growled. "Leave that young fool alone here for six months and he'd disrupt the

entire operation. The nerve of that young pup requisitioning an experimental type for household labor. Just

The question obviously didn't demand a reply, so Kennon kept discreetly silent as Alexander crossed the

room to the two doors flanking the couch on which the Lani had sat. He opened the lefthand one revealing a

modern gravshaft that carried them swiftly to the uppermost level. They walked down a short corridor and

stopped before another door. It opened into a suite furnished with stark functional simplicity. It fitted the

entrepreneur's outward personality so exactly that Kennon had no doubt that this was Alexander's quarters.

"Sit down, Kennon. Relax while you can," Alexander said as he dropped into a chair and crossed his sandaled

You might as well get some rest. You'll have little enough later. The Family will probably put you through

the meat grinder, but remember that they don't control this business. You're my man."

Kennon had hardly seated himself in another chair when the door opened and a plump pinkskinned Lani

entered. She was considerably older than the silverhaired one he had seen earlier, and her round face was

"Ah, Goldie," Alexander said. "I understand Man Douglas has been giving you quite a time."

"It's high time you came back, sir," she said. "Since Old Doc died, Man Douglas has been impossible. He's

been culling the staff and replacing them with emptyheaded fillies whose only claim to usefulness is that

"I'll take care of that," Alexander promised. "Now I'd like you to meet Old Doc's replacement. This is Dr.

"He is," Alexander said, "but he's just as hard as Old Doc and he'll have the same powers. Goldie's the head

housekeeper," Alexander added. "She's an expert, and you'd do well to take her advice on assignments."

"Have a maid bring us a light meal and something to drink," Alexander said. "Have a couple of porters take

Dr. Kennon's things to Old Doc's house. Find Man Douglas and tell him I want to see him at once. Tell the

Family that I've arrived and will see them in the Main Lounge at eight tonight. Tell Blalok I'll be seeing him

"A good Lani," Alexander commented. "One of the best. Loyal, trustworthy, intelligent. She's been running

"Wrong life scale. Lani only live about one tenth as long as we do. They're mature at twelve and dead at

Alexander sighed. "That's another difference. Even without agerone we'd live to be a hundred."

"Once. They produced death in about two days. Killed five Lani with them." Alexander's face darkened at an

unpleasant memory. "So we don't try any more," he said. "There are too many differences." He stretched. "I'd

tell you more about them but it'll be better to hear it from Evald Blalok. He's our superintendent. Steve Jordan

can tell you a lot, too. He runs the Lani Division. But right now let's wait for Cousin Douglas. The pup will

"I'd rather not," Kennon said. "It's poor manners to be injected into a family affair especially when I'm just

"You're not just one of the employees. You are the Station Veterinarian, and as such you hold an authority

second only to Blalok and myself. You and Blalok are my hands, ears, and eyes on Flora. You are responsible

to me and to me alone. While I defer at times to the desires of the Family, I do not have to. I run Outworld

Enterprises and all the extensions of that organization. I possess control and the Family knows it. My men

are respected and furthermore they know everything that goes on." He smiled icily. "In a way it's quite a

healthy situation. It keeps my relatives under control. Somehow they dislike being disciplined before

outsiders. Now think no more about it." Alexander stood up and walked over to one of the windows opening

"Odd, isn't it," Alexander said, "how beautiful nature is and how simple things are in a state of nature. It's

only when man interjects himself onto a scene that things get complicated. Take Flora for instance. Before

Grandfather came here, it must have been a pleasant place with the simple natives happy in their paradise.

But that's all changed now. We have taken over and they, like other lesser creatures on other worlds, have

been bent to our will and uses. I could pity them, but being human I cannot afford that luxury."

Kennon understood. He, too, had felt that sensation, that odd tightening of the throat when he first saw a Varl

on Santos. The Varl had been the dominant life form there until men had come. Now they were just another

animal added to humanity's growing list of pets and livestock. The little Varl with their softfurred bodies

and clever sixfingered hands made excellent pets and precision workmen. The products of those clever

hands, the tiny instruments, the delicate microminiaturized control circuits, the incredibly fine lacework and

He had owned a Varl once and had delighted in its almost human intelligence. But the Varl weren't human

and there lay their tragedy. Two thousand years of human domination had left them completely dependent on

their conquerors. They were merely intelligent animals and that was all they would ever be until the human

race changed its cultural pattern or was overthrown. The one alternative was as unlikely as the other.

Humanity had met some fierce competitors, but none with its explosive acquisitive nature, and none with its

The little Varl were one race among hundreds that had fallen before the fierceness and the greed of men. But

Yet had it been necessary to reduce them to slavery? They would never be a threat. Not only were they

essentially gentle and noncombative, but their delicate bodies could not stand the strains of spaceflight. They

were trapped on their world. Why should they be forced into so subordinate a role? Why was humanity so

jealous of its dominance that no other species could exist except by sufferance? Why after five thousand

years of exploration, invasion, and colonization did the human race still consider the galaxy as its oyster, and

themselves uniquely qualified to hold the knife? He hadn't thought this way since he had given the Varl to his

girl friend of the moment, and had blasted off for Beta. Now the questions returned to haunt him. As a Betan,

the haunting was even more acute, since Beta had a related problem that was already troublesome and would

He shrugged and laid the thought aside as a slim, darkhaired Lani entered pushing a service cart ahead of

her. The two men ate silently, each busy with his own thoughts. And behind the view wall of Alexander's

apartment Kardon's brilliant yellow sun sank slowly toward the horizon, filling the sky with flaming colors of

red and gold, rimmed by the blues and purples of approaching night. The sunset was gaudy and blatant,

Kennon thought with mild distaste, unlike the restful dayend displays of his homeworld.

Douglas Alexander was a puffyfaced youngster with small intolerant eyes set in folds of fat above a button

nose and a looselipped sensual mouth. There was an odd expression of defiance overlaid with fear on his

pudgy features. Looking at him, Kennon was reminded of a frightened dog, ready either to bite or cower.

But it wasn't Douglas who held his eye. It was the two Lani who followed him into the room. Every line of

their bodies was perfection that spoke volumes about generations of breeding for physical elegance. They

moved with a coordinated grace that made Douglas look even more clumsy by contrast. And they were

identical, twin creamandgold works of art. They were completely nude and Kennon for the first time in

his life fully appreciated the beauty of an unclad female. To cover them would be sacrilege, and ornaments

Kennon knew that he was staring like an idiot. Alexander's amused smile told him that much. With an effort

The pair looked at him with soft violet eyes and it was as though some psychic bathhouse attendant had

poured ice water down his spine. For he had seen that look before, that liquid introspective look in the velvet

eyes of cattle. He shivered. For a moment he had been thinking of them as human. And somehow the lack of

that indefinable some thing called humanity robbed them of much of their glamour. They were still beautiful,

"Don't take these as representative of the Lani," Alexander said suddenly. "They're a special case, a very

special case." He glared at his cousin. "Damn your impudence," he said without beat. "I sent for you not

Douglas sulkily thrust out his lower lip. "You can't talk to me like that, Cousin Alex," he began. "I'm just a"

"You head me, Douglas. Out!" Alexander's voice didn't rise but it cut like a whip.

"Oh, very well," Douglas said. "I can't fight you yet." He turned to the humanoids. "You heard the

The two nodded in unison and departed quickly. Somehow Kennon got the impression that they were happy

"Just wait," Douglas said. "You can't boss me forever. Just wait. I'll reach my majority in five years. I can

vote my shares then and then I'll fix you. You won't be so high and mighty then, Mr. Big. I'll throw in with

"Don't hold your breath waiting for the Family to help you," Alexander said. "They wouldn't have anyone

else but me handle the finances. They love money too much. And until you get your inheritance remember

"I know it," Douglas said, and then curiously "Who's the oddball?" He gestured at Kennon with a pudgy

"There's nothing like making a good first impression," Alexander said with ironic emphasis. "I hope he cuts

you off from the Lani. He'll have the authority to do it, since he's taking Old Doc's place."

"You own nothing. You're a minor. And under the terms of Grandfather's will, you'll own nothing except an

allowance until you reach legal age. And that brings me to the reason I brought you here. Just when did you

gain the right to reorganize the household staff? Just when did you get the power to interfere with the

Douglas flushed dull red and bit his lip. "Do we have to go into this in front of strangers?"

"Kennon's my agent," Alexander said coldly, "and he might as well learn about you and the others from the

"Well what do you want him to do watch me crawl?" Douglas asked bitterly. "You'll make me do it. You

always do. Do you want me to beg, to say I was wrong, to promise I won't do it again?"

"You've done that already," Alexander said. "Several times. You need a lesson. I won't have you meddling

"Put you where you can do no more damage. As of tomorrow you'll go to Otpen One."

Douglas paled. His lips quivered, and his eyes flicked uneasily as he watched Alexander's granite face. "You

"I already have their consent," Alexander said. "I obtained it after your last escapade. You'll be happy out

there. You can play tin god all you like. Master of life and death on a twoacre island. No one will mind. You

can also go to work. No one will mind that, either. And Mullins won't mind as long as you leave the troops

Douglas turned and shambled out of the room. His ego was thoroughly deflated and he seemed more

frightened than before. Obviously the Otpens weren't the pleasantest place in this world.

"They're a military post," Alexander said. "And Commander Mullins doesn't like Douglas. Can't say that I

blame him. Douglas is a thoroughly unpleasant specimen, and incidentally quite typical of the rest of the

Family." Alexander sighed and spread his hands in a gesture that combined disgust and resignation.

Kennon nodded. The implications behind the empty eyes of Douglas's Lani sickened him. There were several

ways to produce that expression, all of them unpleasant. Hypnoconditioning, the Quiet Treatment,

brainburning, transorbital leukotomy, lobectomy all of the products of that diseased period of humanity's

thinking when men tampered with the brains of other men in an effort to cure psychic states. Psychiatry had

passed that period, at least on the civilized worlds, where even animal experiments were frowned upon as

"You saw those two Lani," Alexander said. "Grandfather had them made that way as a birthday present for

Douglas. He was getting senile. He died a year later. You'd think a man would be ashamed to keep things like

that around but not Douglas. He likes them." Alexander's voice was tinged with contempt. "He knows

"I wondered about it. I wouldn't like to work for a man who permitted such things."

"That was done before I took over. For the past three years there have been no dockings, no mutilations. I

"Understand me," Alexander said. "I'm always opposed to senseless cruelty and waste particularly when

it's dangerous. Docked Lani are the height of stupidity. Just because someone wants a pet that is an exact

duplicate of a human being is no reason to risk a court action. Those Lani, and a few others whose tails have

Kennon was jolted. He had been thinking of mental mutilation and Alexander had been talking physical.

Naturally they would be dangerous property. Anyone attempting to sell a docked Lani would probably be

"Did you ever figure the cost of taking a legal action through our court system?" Alexander asked. "Even the

small ones set you back four or five thousand, and a firstclass action like a Humanity Trial could cost over a

million. Grandfather found that out. Sure, there are differences between Lani and humans, but a smart lawyer

can make them seem trivial until the final test and that would drag on for nearly two years until all the

requirements were satisfied and by that time the unfavorable publicity would drop sales to zero. The

Family would be on my neck for lost dividends, and I'd lose much of the control I hold over them.

"Sure, it's possible that prehensile tails could be produced by mutation, but so far as we know it hasn't

happened in human history. As a result, the tail serves as a trademark something that can be easily

recognized by anyone. So we sell them intact." Alexander crossed his legs and settled back in his chair.

"I know. You can't help it. Most of our new employees think the Lani are human at first. They learn better,

but adjustment is always a strain. They keep confusing external appearances with the true article. But

remember this Lani are not human. They're animals. And on this island they're treated as what they are

no more, no less. They are a part of our economics and are bred, fed, and managed according to sound

livestock principles. Despite some of the things you may see here in Alexandria, don't forget that. You are a

veterinarian. Your job is to handle disease problems in animals. Lani are animals. Therefore you will be

doing your job. I was disappointed in your reaction when you first saw them, but I suppose it was natural. At

"It does intellectually," Kennon admitted. "But the physical resemblance is so close that it is difficult to

Alexander smiled. "Don't worry. You'll accept it in time. Now I think it's time that you met the Family."

The main salon was crowded. The huge room, glittering with mirrors and crystal, floored with thick carpets,

and hung with rich drapes, had something of the appearance of a Sarkian harem. Although there were only

five of the Alexander family present, there were at least twenty Lani whose costumes ranged from the black

G string and halter of the household staff to the utter nudity of Douglas's playthings. They were all female,

Besides Alexander, there were two men and three women: Douglas, still with his sulky expression, an older

man in his late nineties who looked like Douglas's eider brother, two mature women who could be any age

from fifty to three hundred, and a girl. She might have been thirty perhaps younger, perhaps older, a lean

feminine edition of Alexander, with the same intriguing face and veiled predatory look. There was a hardness

about her that was absent in the others. Kennon had the feeling that whatever this girl did, she didn't do it half

"My sister Eloise," Alexander said in a low voice. "Watch out for her. She's as deadly as a puff adder and she

collects men. The other man is Douglas's father, Henry. The plump redhead beside him is his wife, Anne. The

other woman is my mother, Clara, even though Eloise and I don't look like her. We take after Father."

"I'd like to present Dr. Jac Kennon, our new veterinarian," Alexander said into the hush that followed their

entrance. The introductions that followed were in proper form, and Kennon was beginning to feel more at

ease until Eloise sent one of her Lani with a summons. He looked around for Alexander, but the entrepreneur

was the center of a threecornered argument, hemmed in by Douglas, Henry, and Anne. Henry's voice was

raised in bitter protest that Alexander was exceeding his authority. He shrugged. There was no help there.

"Yes, Doctor," the Lani said, "but the Woman Eloise says for you to come, and she is not accustomed to

"Tell her what I said," Kennon replied. "I shall be there directly." He crossed to the table and examined it,

selecting a cluster of odd purple fruit which looked more interesting than it tasted. When he had finished he

She looked at him angrily. "I am accustomed to being obeyed by my employees," she said coldly. Her dark

He returned her appraising stare with one of his own. "I'm not your employee," he said bluntly. "I was hired

by your brother, and there's a full peeper rider on my contract." His eyes traveled slowly over her carefully

arranged hair, her makeup, her jewelry at throat and arms, her painted finger and toenails, and then across

the slim smallbreasted lines of her body half revealed under her thin anklelength tunic of Lyranian silk.

"On Beta," he said bluntly, "your appearance would qualify you for a parasite camp. Six months of hard labor

"And perhaps next time you'll learn to be polite," Kennon continued imperturbably. "After all, the superficial

To his surprise, Eloise giggled. "You bite, don't you?" she asked. "Remind me to remember that."

"Admitted but I've never pretended to be what I'm not. I'm the son of a spaceship skipper, and I'm a

"That's not all. You are also a man." Her face was sober, "It's been some time since I've met one. I'd almost

"That's what you think." Eloise's eyes were frankly appraising. "I think I could become interested in you."

"I have a job here. I don't think I would have time to give you the attention you'd demand."

"I get bored easily. It probably wouldn't be long before I would be tired of you."

"At that, you might be right. I remember the first officer of"she let the thought die. "But I became tired of

"Tomorrow then? Alex will be leaving in the morning. He never stays more than a few hours." Eloise's eyes

"I'll pick the time," Kennon said and added to himself, "If ever." Despite her wealth Eloise was no

different from the portofcall girls. If anything, she was worse since she had enough money to implement

her desires. They were merely in the trade for business reasons. No Eloise would be something to steer

clear of. Alexander was right. She was a mantrap. He stood up and bowed Betan fashion. "I see your brother

is free now. He wants to brief me on my duties here. We were discussing it before we entered."

"You said yourself that Alexander never stays here very long. I would be a poor employee if I delayed him."

Kennon steered Alexander over to an open window that led to a balcony. "Whew! he said. "I see what you

"You suspect?" Kennon asked. "By this time you should know. Let's get out of here. I've had about all of

"Can't say as I blame you. I'll show you to your quarters. Maybe Old Doc left a bottle or two, although I

"If he had to put up with your relatives as a steady diet, I can't say that I blame him," Kennon said.

"Careful, Doctor. You're talking about my kinfolk," Alexander said wryly. "At that, though, you have a

point." The two men slipped quietly from the room. Apparently none of the Family was conscious of their

departure except Eloise, who watched them leave with an enigmatic expression on her narrow face.

They left the fortress through the rear gate and walked slowly down the winding path that led to the cluster of

buildings in the valley below. It was a beautiful night, calm and clear with the stars shining down from the

dark vault of the heavens. The constellations were strange, and Kennon missed the moons. Beta had three,

two of which were always in the sky, but Kardon was moonless. Somehow it gave the sky an empty look.

A damp coolness rose from the ground as the evening rain evaporated mistily into the still air. Kennon sniffed

the odor of soil and growing vegetation, clean pleasant odors in contrast to what he had left. In the distance a

bird called sleepily from one of the fortress turrets and was answered by some creature Kennon couldn't

identify. A murmur of blended sound came from the valley below, punctuated by highpitched laughter.

Someone was singing, or perhaps chanting would be a better description. The melody was strange and the

words unrecognizable. The thin whine of an atomotor in the fortress's generating plant slowly built up to a

"Nice, isn't it?" Alexander remarked as they rounded another turn on the switchback path.

"Yes. You can't hear a sound from back there except for that generator. It's almost as though we shut those

"I wish it were that simple," Alexander said. "But doors that can be closed can also be opened. Well think

"They'll all be gone tomorrow except for Eloise," Alexander said with mock comfort. "Douglas is on the

"I hoped you'd help me get organized. This whole thing has been something of a shock. I was expecting

"Sorry someone has to run the business. But Blalok'll brief you. Actually he's more qualified than I. He

knows everything worth knowing about this place. We're going past his house in a minutewant to stop in

"Well in a sense you are too. At least in the veterinary end of this business." Alexander swung sharply to

the left and climbed a short flight of stairs that led to the nearest house. Lights flared on the deep porch, and

the oldfashioned iris door dilated to frame the black silhouette of a stocky, broadshouldered man.

"Your pipeline's still working, I see," Alexander said. "Yes, this is Dr. Kennon Evald Blalok I wanted

Kennon liked the gray middleaged man. He looked honest and competent, a solid quiet man with a craggy

face and the deepset eyes of a Mystic. His skin had the typical thickness and pore prominence of the

dwellers on that foggy world from which he came. But unlike the natives of Myst, his skin was burned a dark

brown by Kardon's sun. He seemed out of place on this tropic world, but Kennon reflected wryly that there

"I've been going over Station Fourteen's records with Jordan,'' Blalok said as he ushered them into the house.

"Skip the formality, Jordan. Sit down," Alexander said, "and meet Dr. Kennon Steve Jordan Jordan

Kennon nodded acknowledgment as Alexander continued, "What's this trouble at Fourteen?"

"I don't know. We've got an epizootic of something. Another youngster died this morning, and there's three

more that look pretty bad, jaundice, no appetite, complaining of muscular pains. Same symptoms as took the

others. The one this morning makes the fourth this month, and we're only half through it."

"This isn't Jordan's fault, sir," Blalok said quickly. "As you know, we haven't had a vet for three months."

"Three Old Doc wasn't around at all the month before he died," Blalok said. "As a result we've got a

"Well here he is use him," Alexander said. He looked at Kennon, a trace of amusement on his face.

"Particularly when one comes into them stone cold," Kennon added. "It's a poor way to start a career."

"Every one of them," Jordan said. "They're in the hospital in the autopsy room."

Blalok sighed with relief and turned to Alexander. "We could check the records while those two are about

"I'd rather check a long strong drink," Alexander replied. "What with the Family and this, it's too much to

Kennon hid a smile. Alexander had a weak spot. He was squeamish. That was a good thing to know.

Jordan opened the door of the twostory building below Blalok's house. "This is it," he said, "just outside

There was a stir of movement in the darkness, the lights flashed on, and a sleepyeyed Lani blinked at them

in the sudden glare. She looked blankly at Kennon and then brightened as she saw Jordan. "What's the

"Nothing. We want to look at the Lani I sent down this morning Dr. Kennon would like to inspect the

"You're the new doctor?" the Lani asked. "Thank goodness you've come! I'll get the staff. I'll be back in a

moment." She stepped quickly over to the switchboard beside the door and punched five buttons. Four more

"More females," Kennon muttered to himself. He turned to Jordan. "Aren't there any males in this crew?"

Jordan stared at him with mild surprise. "No, sir didn't you know? There are no male Lani."

"Just that," Jordan said. "Only females. There hasn't been a male on the island since Old Man Alexander took

"Sure but that's a dead end. The offspring are haploids and they're sterile. The line would die out in a

"Not the Laniyou can see for yourself. We've been using the technique here for better than four centuries,

and we're still doing all right. Over forty generations so far, and from the looks of things we can go on

"I don't know. That's Alexander's secret. The Bossman doesn't tell us everything. All I know is that we get

results. Old Doc knew how it was done, and I suppose you will too, but don't ask me. I'm dumb."

Kennon shrugged. Maybe maybe not. At any rate there was no sense in belaboring the point. He turned to

the staff. Five of them were the same bigboned heavyframed type that apparently did most of the manual

labor. The sixth, the late arrival, was an elegant creature, a bronzeskinned, greeneyed minx with an elfin

face half hidden under a wavy mass of redbrown hair. Unlike the others, she had been docked and in

contrast to their heavy eyes and sleeppuffed features she was alert and lively. She flashed him an impish

Kennon smiled back. He couldn't help it. And suddenly the tension and strangeness was broken. He felt oddly

"All of us," the redhead replied, "if it's necessary. What do you want us to do?"

"He's already told me. He wants that last carcass prepped for a postmortem," the nightcall Lani said.

"Good," the redhead said. "It'll be nice to get to work again." She turned to face Kennon. "Now, Doctor

would you like to see your office? Old Doc left a fine collection of notes on Lani anatomy and perhaps you

"I could do with a lot of it," Kennon admitted. "Unless the inner structure of a Lani is as similar to human as

"There are differences," the redhead admitted. "After all, we aren't quite alike."

"Good. I'll get back. Frankly, I don't like this any better than Blalok or the boss, but I'm low man on that pole.

Kennon chuckled as Jordan left. "Now, let's get ready for that cadaver," he said.

"Carcass, doctor," the redhead corrected. "A cadaver is a dead human body." She accented the "human."

Even in death there is no equality, Kennon thought. He nodded and the Lani led the way to a door which

opened into a goodsized office, liberally covered with bookshelves. An oldfashioned plastic desk, some

office cybernetics, a battered voicewriter, and a few chairs completed the furnishings. The redhead placed

several large folio volumes in front of him and stepped back from the desk as he leafed rapidly through the

color plates. It was an excellent atlas. Dr. Williamson had been a careful and competent workman.

Half an hour later, well fortified with a positional knowledge of Lani viscera, Kennon looked up at the

The body of the dead Lani lay on the steel table, waxy and yellowish in the pitiless light of the fluorescents.

She had been hardly more than a child. Kennon felt a twinge of pity so young so young to die. And as he

It had been an open secret among his classmates that he had refused an offer to study human medicine

because of his aversion to dissecting cadavers. The sarcoplastic models were all right, but when it came to

flesh, Kennon didn't have the stomach for it. And now, the sight of the dead humanoid brought back the same

cold sweat and gutwrenching nausea that had caused him to turn to veterinary medicine eight years ago.

He fought the spasms back as he approached the table and made the external examination. Icterus and a

swollen abdomen the rest was essentially normal. And he knew with cold certainty that he could not lay a

"Are you ready, Doctor?" the Lani standing across the table from him asked. "Shall I expose the viscera?"

Kennon's stomach froze. Of course! He should have realized! No pathologist did his own dissection. He

examined. And that he could do. It was the tactile, not the visual sensations that upset him. He nodded. "The

The Lani laid back the skin and musculature with bold, sure strokes. An excellent prosectress, Kennon

thought. Kennon pointed at the swollen liver and the Lani deftly severed its attachments and laid the organ

out for inspection. The cause of death was obvious. The youngster had succumbed to a massive liverfluke

infestation. It was the worst he had ever seen. The bile ducts were thick, calcified and choked with literally

Two more postmortems confirmed the diagnosis. Except for minor differences, the lesions were identical.

He had found the criminal, and now the problem assumed the fascinating qualities of a crime hunt. Now he

must act to prevent further murders, to reconstruct the crime, to find the modus operandi, to track the fluke to

Photographs and tridis would have to be taken, the parasite would have to be identified and its sensitivity to

therapy determined. Studies would have to be made on its life cycle, and the means by which it gained

entrance to its host. It wouldn't be simple, because this trematode was probably Hepatodirus hominis, and it

Kennon leaned back from the microscope and studied the illustrations in the parasitology text. No matter how

much Hepatodirus changed its life cycle, it could not change its adult form. The arrangements of the suckers

and genital structures were typical. Old Doc's library on parasites was too inadequate for more than diagnosis.

He would have to wait for his own books to be uncrated before he could do more than apply symptomatic

treatment. He sighed and rose slowly to his feet. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day.

The door opened behind Mm and Copper slipped quietly into the office. She looked at him curiously, a faint

"No, you're not," she admitted. "You're much younger and far more beautiful. Old Doc was a fat, gray old

man." She paused and eyed Kennon appraisingly with a look on her pointed face that was the virtual twin of

Eloise's. "I think I'll like working for you if you're as nice as you are pretty."

"You're a funny human," she said. "I called Old Doc beautiful, and he didn't mind."

She stiffened. "I'm sorry, Doctor. I won't do it again." She looked down at him, head cocked sideways. "I

guess I have a lot to learn about you. You're much different from Old Doc. He didn't snap at me." She paused

"About that report," she said. "Regulations require that each postmortem be reported promptly and that a

record of the Lani concerned be posted in the death book together with all pertinent autopsy data. Man Blalok

is very fussy about proper records." She drew one of the chairs to a spot beside the desk and sat down,

Kennon's mouth was suddenly dry. This situation was impossible. How in the name of Sir Arthur Fleming

could he dictate a coldly precise report with a naked redhead sitting beside him? "Look," he said. "I won't

need you. I can operate a voicewriter. You can pick up the material later and transcribe it."

Her face fell. "You don't like me," she said, her green eyes filling with quick tears. "Old Doc never"

"Oh, damn Old Doc!" Kennon snapped. "And stop that sniveling or get out. Better yet get out and stop

Kennon swore. There was no reason for him to act that way. He had been more brutal than necessary. But the

girl no, the Lani was disconcerting. He felt ashamed of himself. He had behaved like a primitive rather

than a member of one of the oldest human civilizations in the galaxy. He wouldn't bark at a dog that way. He

shook his head. Probably he was tired. Certainly he was irritable, and unclad females virtually

He wondered if his exasperation was real or merely a defense mechanism. First Eloise, and then this!

Confound it! He was surrounded! He felt trapped. And it wasn't because he'd been away from women too

long. A week was hardly that. He grinned as he recalled the blonde from Thule aboard the starship. Now

there was a woman, even though her ears were pointed and her arms were too long. She didn't pressure a

He grinned. That was it. He was on the defensive. He was the one who was being pursued and his male

ego had revolted. He shrugged and turned his attention to the autopsy report, but it was hopeless. He couldn't

concentrate. He jotted a few notes and dropped them on the desk tomorrow would be time enough. What

Kennon stopped at Blalok's house long enough to tell the superintendent what was causing the trouble. Blalok

scowled. "We've never had flukes here before," he said. "Why should they appear now?"

"They've been introduced," Kennon said. "The thing that bothers me is how Dr. Williamson missed them."

"The old man was senile," Blalok said. "He was nearly blind the last six months of his life. I wouldn't doubt

that he let his assistants do most of his work, and they could have missed them."

"Possibly, but the lesions are easy to see. At any rate, the culprit is known now."

"Hepatodirus hominis the human liver fluke. He's a tricky little fellow travels almost as far as men do."

"I'm glad it's your problem, not mine. All I can remember about flukes is that they're hard to eradicate."

"You can tell me about it later. Right now Mr. Alexander's over at Old your house. Probably he's looking

"I'm glad you're here. It's a load off my shoulders. See you tomorrow." Blalok waved a friendly good night

Alexander was seated in a heavily upholstered chair listening to a taped symphony in the stereo, his eyes half

closed, an expression of peace on his face. An elderly Lani stood beside him. It was a comfortable picture.

The humanoid saw Kennon and gasped, a tiny indrawn sound of surprise. Alexander's eyes snapped open.

"I should have known you at once, Doctor. There's talk about you all over the yards, ever since you arrived."

"They know what is going on around here better than any of us," Alexander chuckled. "The grapevine is

"I think it can be stopped. I looked at the records. It doesn't seem to have been here too long."

"Several months, maybe a year, maybe more. I can't say. But I'll try to clean it up as quickly as possible. I'm

"Yes. It originated on Santos. Parasitized the Varl originally, but liked humans better. It's adapted to a

hundred different planetary environments, and it keeps spreading. It's a real cutie almost intelligent the way

"Fine I thought you'd be the right man. Kara! Fix the doctor a drink. We might as well have a nightcap

then I'll go back to the house and listen to Henry and Anne's screams about poor mistreated Douglas, and then

With mild surprise, Kennon realized that Alexander was drunk. Not obnoxiously, but enough to change his

character. Intoxicated, he was a friendlier person. If there was any truth in the ancient cliche about alcohol

bringing out a man's true character, then Alexander was basically a very nice person indeed.

"Well here's your home for the next five years," Alexander said. "Eight rooms, two baths, a freshener, and

"Perhaps we'll see when we tackle this fluke infestation. Personally, I don't think I'm going to have an

easy time. Tomorrow I'm going to be up to my neck in trouble trying to save your profits."

"This isn't all of your job," Alexander said. "And besides I can't afford to do it. Oh not the money, but it

might be admitting that the Lani might be human. And we've gone to a great deal of trouble to prove they're

"Maybe it'd be better if I told it. It goes back over four centuries. Grandfather was a clever man. After he had

secured this island he became worried about the surviving Lani. He didn't want to be accused of genocide,

since the Lani were so human in appearance. So he had his medical officer make a few autopsies. The M.D.

"That was enough for Grandfather. He requested a Court of Inquiry. The court was sitting in Halsey and the

hearing was private. Even so, it leaked and Grandfather was highly unpopular for a time until the lab reports

came in. It cost him over eight hundred Ems and nearly two years' time to finish the case, but when it was

over the Lani were declared alien, and Grandfather had ironclad discovery rights.

"They really put him through the mill. Grandfather furnished the bodies and three courtappointed M.O.'s

went through them with microscopes. They didn't miss a thing. Their reports are so detailed that they're

classics of their kind. They're almost required reading for anyone who wants to learn Lani structure and

function. The court rendered an interim decision that the Lani were nonhuman, and armed with this,

Grandfather prepared the final tests which were run by a team of courtappointed medics and biologists, who

made in vitro and live tests on a number of Lani female prisoners. The tests ran for over two years and were

totally negative. So the Alexander family acquired Flora and the Otpens, and a legal status." Alexander stood

up. "Well that's a capsule summary. The records are in the library if you'd care to check them."

"Just to prove we're honest." He moved carefully toward the door, opened it, and disappeared into the night.

Silently Kennon watched him descend the porch steps. He seemed steady enough. For a moment Kennon

debated whether he should see him home and then decided against it. If Alexander needed help he'd have

asked for it. As it was, it was better to leave things alone. Certainly he didn't know Alexander well enough to

act as a guardian. He turned back to the living area. The stereo was playing something soft and nostalgic as

Kennon sank into the chair Alexander had vacated. He let his body relax. It had been as full a day as he had

ever spent filled with changes so abrupt that they were exhausting. He felt confused. There were no

precedents he could apply. Neither his studies nor his travels had prepared him for living in a situation like

Legally and biologically the Lani weren't human. But they were intelligent, upright, bipedal mammals whose

morphology was so close to man's that it had taken the ultimate test to settle their status. And being a Betan,

But the Brotherhood of Man was based upon it. The feeling of unity that pervaded mankind's expanding

empire was its product. From almost the beginning of mankind's leap to the stars it had been recognized that

men must help each other or perish. The spirit of cooperation against the common enmity of alien worlds

and cultures transcended the old petty rivalries on Earth. Men all men were brothers in arms.

And so the Brotherhood was born and the concept born of necessity developed its muscles in a thousand

battles on a thousand hostile worlds. And ultimately it evolved into the only form of central authority that

men would accept. Yet basically it was not a government. It was an attitude of mind. Men accepted its

decisions as they would accept the rulings of a family council, and for the same reasons.

The Brotherhood laid down certain rules but it did not attempt to enforce them. After all, it didn't need to. It

also arbitrated disputes, admitted new worlds to membership, and organized concerted human effort against

dangerous enemies. And that was all. Yet in its sphere the authority of the Brotherhood was absolute.

There was only one criterion for membership in the Brotherhood membership in the human race. No

matter how decadent or primitive a population might be, if it was human it was automatically eligible for

Kennon doubted that any nonhuman race had ever entered the select circle of humanity, although individuals

might have done so. A docked Lani, for instance, would probably pass unquestioned as a human, but the Lani

race would not. In consequence they and their world were fair prey, and had been attacked and subjugated.

Of course, proof of inhumanity was seldom a problem. Most alien life forms were obviously alien. But there

were a few like the Laniwhere similarities were so close that it was impossible to determine their status

Essentially it was based upon species compatibility on the concept that like can interbreed with like. Tests

conducted on every inhabited world in the Brotherhood had proven this conclusively. Whatever changes had

taken place in the somatic characteristics of mankind since the Exodus, they had not altered the compatibility

of human germ plasm. Man could interbreed with man aliens could not. The test was simple. The results

were observable. And what was more important, everyone could understand it. No definition of humanity

Like other Betans, Kennon wondered. It was so far probably. The qualifying phrases were those of the

scientist, that strange breed that refuses to accept anything as an established fact until it is proven beyond a

shadow of a doubt. After all, the human race had been spaceborne for only six thousand years scarcely

time for any real differences to develop. But physical changes had already appeared and it would only be

a question of time before these would probably be followed by genetic changes. And in some groups the

changes might be extensive enough to make them genetic strangers to the rest of humanity.

What would happen then? No one knew. Actually no one bothered to think about it except for a few

Four words. But because of them the Betans were slowly withdrawing from the rest of humanity. Already the

radiations of Beta's variantG sun had produced changes in the population. Little things like tougher

epidermis and depilation of body hair little things that held alarming implications to Beta's scientists, and

to Beta's people. Not too many generations hence a Betan outside his home system would be a rarity, and in a

few millennia the Betan system itself would be a closed enclave peopled by humans who had deviated too far

Of course, the Brotherhood itself might be changed by that time, but there was no assurance that this would

happen. And mankind had a history of dealing harshly with its mutants. So Beta would play it safe.

Kennon wondered if there were other worlds in the Brotherhood that had come to the same conclusion.

Possibly there were. And possibly there were worlds where marked deviations had occurred. There wasn't a

year that passed that didn't bring some new human world into the Brotherhood, and many of these had

developed from that cultural explosion during the First Millennium known as the Exodus, where small groups

of colonists in inadequate ships set out for unannounced goals to homestead new worlds for man. Some of

these survived, and many were being discovered even at this late date. But so far none had any difficulty in

The Lani, conceivably, could have been descendants of one of these groups, which probably explained the

extreme care the Brotherhood courts had taken with their case. But they had failed the test, and were declared

animals. Yet it was possible that they had mutated beyond genetic compatibility. If they had, and if it were

proved, here was a test case that could rock the galaxy that could shake the Brotherhood to its very

Kennon grinned. He was a fine employee. Here he was, less than a full day on the job, dreaming how he

could ruin his employer, shake the foundation of human civilization, and force ten thousand billion humans to

change their comfortable habit patterns and their belief in the unchangeable sameness of men. He was, he

"Wake up, Doctor, it's six A.M." A pleasant voice cut through Kennon's slumber. He opened one eye and

looked at the room. For a moment the strange surroundings bothered him, then memory took over. He stirred

"You have your morning calls at seven, and there's a full day ahead," the voice went on. "I'm sorry, sir, but

It was behind him, Kennon decided. He rolled over with a groan of protest and looked at his tormentor. A

gasp of dismay left his lips, for standing beside the bed, a half smile on her pointed face, was Copper

It wasn't right, Kennon thought bitterly, to be awakened from a sound sleep by a naked humanoid who looked

"I'm supposed to be here," Copper said. "I'm your secretary.'' She grinned and flexed a few curves of her

For a moment Kennon was tempted to tell her what was wrong but he held his tongue. She probably

wouldn't understand. But there was one thing he'd better settle right now. "Now look here, young lady" he

"I'm not a lady," Copper interrupted before he could continue. "Ladies are human. I'm a Lani."

But do you have to break into a man's bedroom and wake him in the middle of the night?"

"I didn't break in," she said, "and it isn't the middle of the night. It's morning."

"All right so it's morning and you didn't break in. Then how in Halstead's sacred name did you get here?"

"I sleep next door," she said jerking a thumb in the direction of an open door in the side wall. "I've been there

The explanation left Kennon cold. The old cliche about doing as the Santosians do flicked through his mind.

Well, perhaps he would in time but not yet. The habits of a lifetime couldn't be overturned overnight.

"You will not! I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I've been dressing myself for years. I'm not

"My what a strange world you must come from. Haven't you ever had a Lani before?"

"You poor man." Her voice was curiously pitying. "No one to make you feel like the gods. No one to serve

"Primitive!" Kennon's voice was outraged. "Beta has one of the highest civilizations in the Brotherhood!"

"Naturally, isn't it obvious? You can't possibly be civilized unless you take responsibility for intelligent life

other than your own race. Until you face up to your responsibilities you are merely a member of a dominant

Kennon's reply caught in his throat. His eyes widened as he looked at her, and what he was about to say

"Forget it," Kennon said wildly. "Leave me alone. Go put on some clothes. You embarrass me."

"I'll go," Copper said, "but you'll have to be embarrassed. Only household Lani wear cloth." She frowned,

two vertical furrows dividing her dark brows. "I've never understood why inhouse Lani have to be disfigured

that way, but I suppose there's some reason for it. Men seldom do anything without a reason."

Kennon shook his head. Either she was grossly ignorant, which he doubted, or she was conditioned to the

The latter was more probable. But even that was doubtful. Her trenchant remark about civilization wasn't the

product of a conditioned mind. But why was he worrying about her attitudes? They weren't important she

wasn't even human. He shook his head. That was a sophistry. The fact that she wasn't human had nothing to

do with the importance of her attitude. "I suppose there is a reason," he agreed. "But I don't know it. I haven't

She nodded. "That does make a difference," she admitted. "Many new men are bothered at first by the fact

that we Lani are naked, but they adjust quickly. So will you." She smiled as she turned away. "You see," she

added over her shoulder as she left the room, "we're not human. We're just another of your domestic

Was there laughter in her voice? Kennon wasn't sure. His sigh was composed of equal parts of relief and

exasperation as he slipped out of bed and began to dress. He'd forgo the shower this morning. He had no

desire for Copper to appear and offer to scrub his back. In his present state of mind he couldn't take it.

Possibly he'd get used to it in time. Perhaps he might even like it. But right now he wasn't acclimatized.

"Man Blalok called," Copper said as she removed the breakfast dishes. "He said that he'd be right over to pick

"About ten minutes ago. I told him that you were at breakfast. He said he'd wait." She disappeared in the

"There's a nightmare quality to this," Kennon muttered as he slipped his arms into the sleeves of his tunic and

closed the seam tabs. "I have the feeling that I'm going to wake up any minute." He looked at his reflection in

the dresser mirror, and his reflection looked worriedly back. "This whole thing has an air of plausible

unreality: the advertisement, the contract, this impossible island that raises humanoids as part of the

livestock." He shrugged and his mirrored image shrugged back. "But it's real, all right. No dream could

possibly be this detailed. I wonder how I'm going to take it for the next five years? Probably not too well," he

mused silently. "Already I'm talking to myself. Without even trying, that Lani Copper can make me feel like

The Sarkian analogy was almost perfect, he decided. For on that grimly backward world females were as

close to slaves as the Brotherhood would permit; raised from birth under an iron regimen designed to produce

complaisant mates for the dominant males. Probably that was the reason Sark was so backward. The men,

having achieved domestic tranquillity, had no desire to do anything that would disturb the status quo. And

since no Sarkian woman under any conceivable circumstances would annoy her lordly master with demands

to produce better mousetraps, household gadgetry, and more money, the technological development of Sark

Kennon shrugged. Worlds developed as they did because people were as they were, and while passing

judgment was still a major human pursuit, no native of one world had a right to force his customs down the

unwilling throat of another. It would be better to accept his present situation and live with it rather than trying

to impose his Betan conception of morality upon Lani that neither understood nor appreciated it. His business

was to treat and prevent animal disease. What happened to the animals before infection or after recovery was

Blalok was waiting for him, sitting behind the wheel of a square boxy vehicle that squatted with an air of

unpolished efficiency on the graveled drive behind his house. He smiled a quick greeting as Kennon

approached. "It's about time you showed up," he said. "You'll have to get into the habit of rising early on this

place. We do most of our work early in the morning and late in the afternoon. During the day it's too hot to

breathe, let alone work. Well, let's get going. There's still time to visit the outer stations."

Kennon climbed in and Blalok started the vehicle. "I thought we'd take a jeep today," he said. "They aren't

very pretty, but they get around." He turned onto the surfaced road that ran down the hill toward the hospital

and the complex of redroofed buildings clustered about it. "About those flukes," he said. "You have any

"Not yet. I'll have to look the place over. There's more detective work than medicine involved in this."

"Sure we know the criminal, but to squelch him we have to learn his hangouts, study his modus operandi,

and learn how to make his victims secure from his activities. Unless we do that, we can treat individuals from

now to infinity and all we'll have is more cases. We have to apply modern criminology tactics eliminate

the source of crime stop up the soft spots. In other words, kill the flukes before they enter the Lani."

"Probably he never knew about it. I was looking over the herd books last night, and I saw nothing about

trematodes, or anything that looked like a parasite pattern until the last few months."

"Preferentially," Kennon said. "It's strange, too, because it originated on Santos so far as we know. In fact,

some people think that the Varl bred it for a weapon to use against us before we conquered them. They could

"I wouldn't knowunless you've hired a Santosian or someone else who was affected."

"We did have a man from Santos. Fellow called Joe Kryla. We had to let him go because he was a nudist. It

"That's about the right time to build up a good reservoir of infection. The fatal cases usually don't show up

"Well, there's one thing in our favor. The Lani are pretty well concentrated into groups. And so far there

doesn't seem to be any infestation outside of Hillside Station except for two deaths in Lani recently sent

from there. If we quarantine those stations and work fast, may be we can stop this before it spreads all over

"Treat those that show symptoms. There should be some Trematox capsules at the hospital. If there aren't

we'll get them. We'll take the sick ones back to the hospital area and push therapy and supportive treatment.

"But it's going to mess up our operations. We're using the ward buildings to finish training the Lani scheduled

"It's convenient. Most of the ward space is filled right now." Blalok said. There was a touch of disgust in his

"You told me nothing. The hospital area is needed for something more than a training center. Perhaps Old

Doc was trained in outcall work, but I'm not. I work from a hospital. The only things I do on outcalls are

diagnoses, vaccinations, and emergencies. The rest of the patients come to the hospital."

"That's not my concern," Kennon said. "I run my business in the best way possible. The patients are of more

concern than the personal comfort of any straw boss or administrator. You're the administrator you calm

"You have the authority," Blalok admitted. "But my advice to you is to go slow."

"I can't," Kennon said. "Not if we want to prevent any more losses. There simply won't be time to run all over

the island dosing with Trematox and taking temperatures, and while that sort of thing is routine, it should be

"I hope so," Blalok said as he braked the jeep to a stop in front of the hospital. "I suppose you'll want to take

"So I will," Kennon said. "I'll be back in a minute." Kennon slid from the seat, leaving Blalok looking

The minute stretched to nearly ten before Kennon returned followed by two Lani carrying bags which they

loaded into the back of the jeep. "I had to reorganize a little," Kennon apologized, "some things were

"Not this time. I'm having them fit up an ambulance. They should be busy most of the day."

Blalok grunted and started the turbine. He moved a lever and the jeep floated off the ground.

"It's a multipurpose vehicle," Blalok said. "We need them around here for fast transport. Most of the roads

aren't so good." He engaged the drive and the jeep began to move. "We'll go cross country," he said.

The air began whistling past the boxlike body of the jeep as Blalok increased the power to the drive and set

the machine on automatic. "We'll get a pretty good crosssection of our operations on this trip," he said over

They were passing across a series of fenced pastures and Kennon was impressed. The size of this operation

was beginning to sink in. It hadn't looked so big from the substratosphere in Alexander's ship, but down here

close to the ground it was enormous. Fields of grain, wide orchards, extensive gardens. Once they were

forced to detour a huge supply boat that rose heavily in front of them. Working in the fields were dozens of

brownskinned Lani who paused to look up and wave as the jeep sped by. Occasional clusters of farm

buildings and the low barrackslike stations appeared and disappeared behind them.

"There's about twenty Lani at each of these stations," Blalok said, "They work the farm area under the

"Of course. Usually he's a graduate of an agricultural school, hut we have a few who are descendants of the

crew of the first Alexander, and there's one old codger who was actually with him during the conquest. Most

of our stationmasters are family men. We feel that a wife and children add to a man's stability and

A series of fenced pastures containing hundreds of huge grayishwhite quadrupeds slipped past.

"Yes Earth strain. That's why they're so big. We also have sheep and swine, but you won't see them on this

"A few and some which are native to other worlds. But they're luxurytrade items. The big sale items are

beef, pork, and mutton." Blalok chuckled. "Did you think that the Lani were our principal export?"

"They're only a drop in the bucket. Agriculture Earthstyle agriculture is our main source of income.

The Lani are valuable principally to keep down the cost of overhead. Virtually all of them work right here on

the island. We don't sell more than a hundred a year less than five per cent of our total. And those are surplus

"There's two hundred million people here, and quite a few billion more in spacetrain range. We can produce

more cheaply than any competitor, and we can undersell any competition, even full automation." Blalok

chuckled. "There are some things that a computer can't do as well as a human being, and one of them is farm

the foods on which humanity is accustomed to feed. A man'll pay two credits for a steak. He could get a

Chlorella substitute for half a credit, but he'll still buy the steak if he can afford it. Same thing goes for fruit,

vegetables, grain, and garden truck. Man's eating habits have only changed from necessity. Those who can

pay will still pay well for natural foods." Blalok chuckled. "We've put quite a dent in the algae and synthetics

Kennon had to agree that Blalok was right. He, too, liked the real thing far better than its imitations.

"It's the Family's idea. Actually since the export type is surplus it does us no harm. We keep enough for

servants and the others would be inefficient for most farm work. So disposal by sale is a logical and

profitable way of culling. But now the Bossman is being pressured into breeding an export type. And this I

"Sure but that doesn't mean I like slavery. Oh, I know some of those fatheaded Brotherhood economists

call our system economic slavery and I'll admit that it's pretty hard to crack out of a spherical trust. But

that doesn't mean that we have to stay where we are. Mystics aren't owned by their entrepreneurs. Sure, it's a

tough haul to beat the boss, but it can be done. I did it, and others do it all the time. The situation isn't

"Of course. That's why they should be protected. What chance does a Lani have? Without us they can't even

keep going as a race. They're technological morons. They don't live long enough to understand modern

civilization. To turn those poor helpless humanoids out into human society would be criminal. It's our duty to

"Exactly." Blalok scowled. "I wish I had guts enough to give the Bossman the facts but I can't get nerve

enough to try. I've a good job here a wife and two kids and I don't want to jeopardize my future."

Blalok glanced over the side. "Well, here we are," he said, and began descending into the center of a

"It should be," Blalok replied. "It furnishes all of our Lani for replacement and export. It can turn out over a

thousand a year at full capacity. Of course we don't run at that rate, or Flora would be overpopulated. But this

is a big layout, like you said. It can maintain a population of at least forty thousand. Old Alexander had big

Jordan came up as the jeep settled to the ground. "Been expecting you for the past half hour," he said. "Your

office said you were on your way. Good to see you, too, Doc. I've been going over the records with Hank

"You're an Earthman, eh?" Kennon asked as he grasped the outstretched hand. The gesture was as old as man,

"No Marsborn a neighbor world," Jordan said. "But our customs and Earth's are the same."

"No farther than you, Doc." Jordan looked uncomfortable. "But we can compare origins later. Right now,

"There are twelve bays to this station," Jordan said. "Under our present setup two are used for breeding and

the other ten for maturation. We rotate the youngsters around the bay a different bay each year until

they're age eleven. Then they're sorted according to type and sent out for a year of further specialized training

"Now here's the peculiar part. There's no trouble in Bays One through Nine, but Bay Ten has had all our

"That's good news," Kennon said. "Our parasite can't have had time to migrate too far. We have him

"Quarantine them," Kennon replied. "Right now. Nothing goes in or out until we've checked them and

"I want to get any carriers. We can check them with antigen, and then give Trematox."

Kennon grinned. "All right, you asked for it. The parasite that's doing the damage is a flatworm, a trematode

called Hepatodirus hominis. As I've told Blalok, it's a tricky thing. Like all trematodes it has a threestage life

cycle, but unlike every other fluke, its life cycle is not fixed to definite intermediate hosts. Depending upon

where it is, the fluke adapts. It still must pass through its life cycle, but its intermediate host need not be one

species of snail, fish, or copepod. Any coldblooded host will do. What you have here is a Kardonian variant

which has adapted to some particular intermediate host on this world. Until now, its final host was either man

or Varl. Now we have a third, the Lani. And apparently they are the most susceptible of the three. It never

kills Varl. And humans, while they're more susceptible, only occasionally succumb, but the Lani appear to be

the most susceptible of all. I've never seen an infestation like those Lani had. Their livers were literally

crawling with flukes." Kennon paused and looked at Jordan. "You following me?" he asked.

"Slowly and poorly," Jordan said. "You're assuming too much knowledge on my part."

"Well I'm really interested in only one thing how do you break the parasite up in business?"

"There's only one sure way and that's to break the life cycle. The technique is thousands of years old, but

"We have to learn the beastie's life cycle before we can break it, and like I said, it adapts. Its intermediate host

"Sure, in the body of the final host, or on its final encysting place. But that won't eliminate the bug."

"It'll still survive in its infective form and enough Lani will get subacute dosage to propagate it until the time

is right for another epizootic. We have to kill its intermediate host or hosts if it has more than one. That

"It is. It's so complicated that once the fluke becomes well established it's virtually impossible to eradicate."

"We can give it the old college try. But it's going to take some detective work."

"With Bay Ten. We look it over real well. Then we check the diet and habits of the Lani. Then we check each

individual Lani. Then we check the life cycle of the parasite. Somewhere along the line if we're lucky we'll

"It can't be helped. That's the way it is. Of course, we're lucky that we're on an isolated land mass. That gives

"It depends on how well the fluke is established. Six months at the minimum and I wouldn't care to guess

"Of course it will interrupt it," Kennon replied. "It can't help it. Get the idea in your head that you're facing

something here that can cripple you maybe abort your whole operation. You have a choice interrupt

now or abort later. And half measures won't work. To eradicate this pest requires an allout effort."

"Take my word for it," Kennon said. "You can't. There's no accurate way of telling how far this spreads until

the death losses occur. Our tests for fluke infestation aren't that good. We have to work thoroughly and

carefully. We can't be butting heads over this either we all cooperate or this whole operation will blow

"Look at the record. Six months ago you ended a year with no deaths from disease. Five months ago Old Doc

and two Lani were ill. Four months ago one of the two Lani was dead and Old Doc was too ill to be effective.

Three months ago Old Doc and the other Lani were dead, and before the end of the month two more followed

them. Two months ago six died, last month eight, and so far this month you've lost four and you have over

two weeks to go. Up to now they've all been from here, but two this month were at other stations. In six

months if nothing is done, we'll be having losses there unless we're lucky. And the losses will keep on

increasing. Apparently you don't know what it is to live with parasites so let me tell you. It isn't pleasant!"

Blalok shrugged. "You needn't get hot about it," he said. "After all, you're the Doc and we'll cooperate."

There is a special providence that looks over recent veterinary graduates, Kennon reflected as he checked the

monthly reports from the Stations. Since the time he had laid down the law to Judson and Blalok, he had had

no trouble from the production staff. And for the past four months there had been no further trouble with

Hepatodirus. That unwanted visitor had apparently been evicted. At that, they had been lucky. The parasite

had been concentrated at Hillside Station and had failed to establish itself in the training area. The

intermediate host, it had turned out, was a small amphibian that was susceptible to commercial insecticide. It

had been no trouble to eradicate. Systemic treatment and cooking of all food had cleaned up the infective

cercaria and individual infections, and after six months of intensive search, quarantine, and investigation,

Kennon was morally certain that the disease had been eradicated. The last four reports confirmed his belief.

He sighed as he leaned back in his chair. Blalok was at last convinced that his ideas were right. The hospital

was operating as a hospital should, with a staff of twelve Lani kept busy checking the full wards. Actually, it

was working better than it should, since stationmasters all over the island were now shipping in sick animals

"Hi, Doc," Blalok said as he pushed the door open and looked into the office. "You doing anything?"

Blalok shook his head. "This is Kardon," he said. "There's only three hundred and two days in our year, ten

Kennon shrugged. "My contract is Galactic Standard. I still have two months to go. But how come the

tenmonth year? Most other planets have twelve, regardless of the number of days."

"You'll find a lot more peculiar things about Flora when you get to know her better. This year has just been a

Kennon chuckled. "It's damn near broken me," he admitted. "You know, I thought that the Lani'd be my

"You didn't figure that right. They're the easiest part. They're intelligent and cooperative."

"Which is more than one can say about the others." Kennon wiped the sweat from his face. "What with this

"I had to. Your hog business was living mostly on luck, and the sheep and shrakes were almost as bad. You

can't get away from soil saprophytes no matter how clean you are. Under a pasture setup there's always a

chance of contamination. And that old cliche about an ounce of prevention is truer of livestock raising than

"I have some more good news for you," Blalok said. "That's why I came over. We're going to have another

"Poultry." Blalok's voice was disgusted. "Personally I think it's a mess, but Alexander thinks it's profitable.

Someone's told him that pound for pound chickens are the most efficient feed converters of all the domestic

animals. So we're getting a pilot plant: eggs, incubator, and a knockeddown broiler battery so we can try the

idea out. The Bossman is always hot on new ideas to increase efficiency and production. The only trouble is

"You're so right. I'll have to brush up on pullorum, ornithosis, coccidosis, leukosis, perosis, and Ochsner

knows how many other osises and itises. I was never too strong on fowl practice in school, and I'd be

"And he's forgotten something else," Blalok added. "Poultry need concentrated feed. We're going to have to

"He thinks we can use local labor," Blalok said gloomily. "I wish he'd realize that Lani are technological

"I suppose so but it isn't easy. And besides, Allworth is the only man with feedmill experience, and he's

"I never did get the reason for that. After we complained about the slavery implications and got the

"Didn't you know? His sister's finally decided to try marriage. Found herself some overmuscled Halsite who

looked good to her but she couldn't crack his moral barrier." Blalok grinned. "I thought you'd be the first

Kennon chuckled. "You could call it that. Interested like the way a dog's interested in a beefsteak. It's a

good thing we had that fluke problem or I'd have been chewed up and digested long ago. That woman

"I could be scared by uglier things," Blalok said. "With the Bossman's sister on my side I wouldn't worry."

He did he certainly did. That first month had been one of the worst he had ever spent, Kennon reflected.

Between Eloise and the flukes, he had nearly collapsed and when it had come to the final showdown, he

thought for a while that he'd be looking for another job. But Alexander had been more than passably

understanding and had refused his sister's passionate pleas for a Betan scalp. He owed a debt of gratitude to

"That all depends on what you mean," Blalok said as he grinned and walked to the door. The parting shot

missed its mark entirely as Kennon looked at him with blank incomprehension. "You should have been a

Mystic," Blalok said. "A knowledge of the sacred books would do you no end of good." And with that cryptic

"That had all the elements of a snide remark," Kennon murmured to himself, "but my education's been

neglected somewhere along the line. I don't get it." He shrugged and buzzed for Copper. The veterinary report

would have to be added to the pile already before him, and the Bossman liked to have his reports on time.

Copper watched Kennon as he dictated the covering letter, her slim fingers dancing over the stenotype. He

had been here a full year but instead of becoming a familiar object, he had grown so gigantic that he filled

her world. And it wasn't merely because he was young and beautiful. He was kind, too.

Yet she couldn't approach him, and she wanted to so desperately that it was a physical pain. Other Lani had

told her about men and what they could do. Even her old preceptress at Hillside Station had given her some

advice when Man Allworth had tattooed the tiny V on her thigh that meant she had been selected for the

veterinary staff. And when Old Doc had brought her from the Training Station to the hospital and removed

her tail, she was certain that she was one of the lucky ones who would know love.

But love wasn't a pain in the chest, an ache in the belly and thighs, an unfulfilled longing that destroyed sleep

and made food tasteless. Love was supposed to be pleasant and exciting. She could remember every word her

"My little one," the old Lani had said, "you now wear the doctor's mark. And soon no one will be able to tell

you from a human. You will look like our masters. You will share in their work. And there may be times

"Love," the old voice was soft in Copper's ears. "The word is almost a stranger to us now, known only to the

few who serve our masters. It was not always so. The Old Ones knew love before Man Alexander came. And

our young were the fruit of love rather than the product of our masters' cunning. But you may know the

flower even though you cannot bear its fruit. You may enter that world of pleasurepain the Old Ones knew,

"But remember always that you are a Lani. A man may be kind to you. He may treat you gently. He may

show you love. Yet you never will be his equal. Nor must you become too attached to him, for you are not

human. You are not his natural mate. You cannot bear his young. You cannot completely share. You can only

"So if love should come to you, take it and enjoy it, but do not try to possess it. For there lies heartache rather

than happiness. And it is a world of heartache, my little one, to long for something which you cannot have."

To long for something which one cannot have! Copper knew that feeling. It had been with her ever since

Kennon had come into her life that night a year ago. And it had grown until it had become gigantic. He was

kind yes. He was harsh occasionally. Yet he had shown her no more affection than he would have

He laughed, but she was not a part of his laughter. He needed her, but the need was that of a builder for a

tool. He liked her and sometimes shared his problems and triumphs with her, and sometimes his defeats, but

he did not love. There had never been for her the bright fierce look he had bent upon the Woman Eloise those

times when she had come to him, the look men gave to those who found favor in their eyes.

Had he looked at her but once with that expression she would have come to him though fire barred the way.

Copper looked at him across the corner of the desk, the yellow hair, the bronze skin, firm chin, soft lips and

long straight nose, the narrowed eyes, hooded beneath thick brows, scanning the papers in his leantendoned

She thought of how his hands would feel upon her. He had touched her once, and that touch had burned like

hot iron. For hours she had felt it. He looked up. Her heart choked her with its beating. She would die for him

if he would but once run his fingers over her tingling skin, and stroke her hair.

The naked emotion in Copper's face was readable enough, Kennon thought. One didn't need Sorovkin

techniques to interpret what was in her mind. And it would have been amusing if it weren't so sad. For what

she wanted, he couldn't give. Yet if she were human it would be easy. A hundred generations of Betan moral

code said "never," yet when he looked at her their voices faded. He was a man a member of the ruling

race. She was an animal a beast a humanoid near human but not near enough. To like her was easy

but to love her was impossible. It would be bestiality. Yet his body, less discerning than his mind,

He sighed. It was a pleasant unpleasantness, a mixed emotion he could not analyze. In a way it was poetry

the fierce, vaguely disquieting poetry of the sensual Santosian bards the lyrics that sung of the joys of flesh.

He had never really liked them, yet they filled him with a vague longing, an odd uneasiness just the sort

"I could use a cup of coffee," he said. "These reports are getting me down." The banality amused him

sitting here thinking of Copper and talking about coffee. Banality was at once the curse and the saving grace

of mankind. It kept men from the emotional peaks and valleys that could destroy them. He chuckled shakily.

The only alternative would be to get rid of her and he couldn't (or wouldn't? the question intruded

Copper returned with a steaming cup which she set before him. Truly, this coffee was a man's drink. She had

tried it once but the hot bitterness scalded her mouth and flooded her body with its heat. And she had felt so

lightheaded. Not like herself at all. It wasn't a drink for Lani. Of that she was certain.

Yet he enjoyed it. He looked at her and smiled. He was pleased with her. Perhaps yet she might find

favor in his eyes. The hope was always there within her a hope that was at once fear and prayer. And if

Kennon looked up. Copper's face was convulsed with a bright mixture of hope and pain. Never, he swore,

had he saw anything more beautiful or sad. Involuntarily he placed his hand upon her arm. She flinched, her

muscles tensing under his finger tips. It was though his fingers carried a galvanic current that backlashed up

There it was again, the calm friendly curiosity that was worse than a bath in ice water. Her heart sank. She

shivered. She would never find her desire here. He was cold cold cold! He wouldn't see. He didn't care.

All right so that was how it had to be. But first she would tell him. Then he could do with her as he

wished. "I hoped for the past year that you would see me. That you would think of me not as a Lani, but

as a beloved." The words came faster now, tumbling over one another. "That you would desire me and take

me to those worlds we cannot know unless you humans show us. I have hoped so much, but I suppose it's

wrong for you you are so very human, and I well, I'm not!" The last three words held all the sadness

She looked at him, but her eyes could not focus on his face, for his hands were on her shoulders and the

nearness of him drove the breath from her body. From a distance she heard a hard tight voice that was her

The hands withdrew, leaving emptiness but her heartbeat slowed and the pink haze cleared and she could

And with a surge of terror and triumph she realized what she saw! That hard bright look that encompassed

and possessed her! The curved lips drawn over white, white teeth! The flared nostrils! The hungry demand

upon his face that answered the demand in her heart! And she knew at last with a knowledge that turned

Mixed emotion! Ha! The author of that cliche didn't even know its meaning! Kennon strode furiously down

the dusty road toward Station One trying to sublimate his inner conflict into action. It was useless, of course,

for once he stopped moving the grim tugofwar between training and desire would begin again, and no

matter how it ended the result would be unsatisfactory. As long as he had been able to delude himself that he

was fond of Copper the way a man is fond of some lesser species, it had been all right. But he knew now that

he was fond of her as a man is of a woman and it was hell! For no rationalization in the universe would

allow him to define her as human. Copper was humanoid something like human. And to live with her and

love her would not be miscegenation, which was bad enough, but bestiality which was a thousand times

Although throughout most of the Brotherhood miscegenation was an unknown word, and even bestiality had

become a loose definition on many worlds with humanoid populations, the words had definite meaning and

moral force to a Betan. And God help him he was a Betan. A lifetime of training in a moral code that

frowned upon mixed marriages and shrank appalled from even the thought of mixing species was nothing to

It was odd, Kennon reflected bitterly, that humans could do with animals what their customs and codes

prohibited them from doing to themselves. For thousands of years back to the very dawn of history when

men had bred horses and asses to produce mules men had been mixing species to produce useful hybrids.

Yet a Betan who could hybridize plants or animals with complete equanimity shrank with horror from the

What was there about a human being that was so sacrosanct? He shook his head angrily. He didn't know.

There was no answer. But the idea the belief was there, ingrained into his attitudes, a part of his

outlook, built carefully block by block from infancy until it now towered into a mighty wall that barred him

It would be an easier hurdle if he had been born anywhere except on Beta. In the rest of the Brotherhood, the

color of a man's skin, the shape of his face, the quality and color of his hair and eyes made no difference. All

men were brothers. But on Beta, where a variantG sun had already caused genetic divergence, the

brotherhood of man was a term that was merely given lip service. Betans were different and from birth they

were taught to accept the difference and to live with it. Mixing of Betan stock with other human species,

while not actually forbidden, was so encircled with conditioning that it was a rare Betan indeed who would

risk selfopprobrium and the contempt of his fellows to mate with an outsider. And as for humanoids

Kennon shuddered. He couldn't break the attitudes of a lifetime. Yet he loved Copper.

And that was an even greater horror. He had fled from the office, from the glad light in her eyes, as a burned

child flees fire. He needed time to think, time to plan. Yet his body and his surface thoughts wanted no plans

or time. Living with a Lani wasn't frowned upon on Flora. Many of the staff did, nor did anyone seem to

think less of them for doing so. Even Alexander himself had halfconfessed to a more than platonic affection

Yet this was no excuse, nor would it silence the cold still voice in his mind that kept repeating sodomite

sodomite sodomite with a passionless inflection that was even more terrible than anger.

The five kilometers to Station One disappeared unnoticed beneath his feet as he walked, and he looked up in

surprise to see the white walls and red roofs of the station looming before him.

"Good Lord! Doc! What's got into you?" the stationmaster said. "You look like you'd seen a ghost. And out in

Kennon chuckled without humor. "Getting sunstroke is the least of my worries, Al," he said, but he allowed

"It's odd that you showed up right now," Al said, his dark face showing the curiosity that filled him. "I just

had a call from Message Center not five minutes ago, telling me to have you call in if you showed up."

Kennon sighed. "On this island you can't get away from the phone," he said wryly. "O.K., where is it?"

"And maybe it's an emergency," Kennon interrupted. "And probably it is because the staff can handle routine

"One moment please," the Message Center operator said. There were a few clicks in the background. "Here's

"Douglas Douglas Alexander. The Lani are dying! It's an emergency! Cousin Alex'll skin us alive if we let

Douglas! Kennon hadn't thought of him since the one time they had met in Alexandria. That was a year ago.

It seemed much longer. Since the Bossman had exiled his cousin to that bleak rock to the east of Flora there

had been no word of him. And now he laughed a sharp bark of humorless annoyance Douglas couldn't

"That's obvious," Kennon snapped. "Otherwise you wouldn't be calling. Can't you tell me any more than

"That's a practitioner's life," Kennon said. "Full of interruptions. Can I borrow your jeep?"

"To the hospital," Kennon said. "I'll have to pick up my gear. It's an emergency all right."

"You're a tough one," Al said admiringly. "I'd hate to walk five kilos in this heat without a hat and then go

Kennon shrugged. "It's not necessarily toughness. I believe in doing one job at a time and my contract

reads veterinary service, not personal problems. The job comes first and there's work to do."

Copper wasn't in sight when Kennon came back to the hospital a fact for which he was grateful. He

packed quickly, threw his bags into the jeep, and took off with almost guilty haste. He'd contact the Hospital

from the Otpens. Right now all he wanted was to put distance between himself and Copper. Absence might

make the heart grow fonder, but at the moment propinquity was by far the more dangerous thing. He pointed

the blunt nose of the jeep toward Mount Olympus, set the autopilot, opened the throttle, and relaxed as best

he could as the little vehicle sped at top speed for the outer islands. A vague curiosity filled him. He'd never

Otpen One was a rocky treeclad islet crowned with the stellate mass of a Class II Fortalice. But this one

"Airboat!" a voice crackled from the dashboard speaker of the jeep, "Identify yourself! You are being

"Thank you, sir. You are expected and are clear to land. Bring your vehicle down in the marked area." A

section of the roof turned a garish yellow as Kennon circled the building. He brought the jeep in lightly,

"Leave your vehicle," the speaker chattered. "If you are armed leave your weapon behind."

Kennon left the jeep and instantly felt the probing tingle of a search beam. He looked around curiously at the

flat roof of the fortress with its domed turrets and ugly snouts of the main battery projectors pointing

skyward. Beside him, the long metal doors of a missile launcher made a rectangular trace on the smooth

surface of the roof. Behind him the central tower poked its gaunt ferromorph and durilium outline into the

darkening sky bearing its crown of spiderweb radar antennae turning steadily on their gimbals covering a vast

From the base of the tower a man emerged. He was tall, taller even than Kennon, and the muscles of his body

showed through the tightness of his battle dress. His face was harsh, and in his hands he carried a Burkholtz

Kennon handed it over and the big man scanned the card with practiced eyes. "Check," he said. "Follow me,

Kennon shrugged and followed the man into the tower. A modern gravshaft lowered them to the ground

floor. They passed through a gloomy caricature of the Great Hall in Alexandria, through an iris, and down a

"Another practice alert." The trooper's voice was bored. "It gets so that you'd almost wish for a fight to

A trooper and several Lani came down the corridor, running in disciplined formation. Steel clanged on steel

as they turned the corner and moments later the whine of servos came faintly to their ears. From somewhere

deep in the pile a rising crescendo of generators under full battle load sent out vibrations that could be sensed

rather than heard. A klaxon squawked briefly. There was another clash of metal, and a harsh voice boomed

The corridor ended abruptly at an iris flanked by two sentries. They conferred briefly with Kennon's guide,

dilated the iris, and motioned for Kennon to enter. The pastel interior of the modern office was a shocking

Douglas Alexander was standing behind the desk. He was much the same. His pudgy face was haggard with

uncertainty and his eyes darted back and forth as his fingers caressed the knobby grip of a small Burkholtz

jutting from a holster at his waist. There were new, unpleasant furrows between his eyes. He looked older and

the indefinable air of cruelty was more pronounced. He had been frightened the last time Kennon had seen

"I'm not sure whether I am glad to see you, Kennon," he said uncertainly. "But I suppose I have to be."

"Not too bad until this afternoon. Things have been going pretty well." He shifted uncomfortably from one

foot to another. "I suppose Cousin Alex will skin me for this, but there's nothing else I can do." He licked his

lips. "You've been here long enough and you'll have to know eventually." He fidgeted and finally sat

down behind the desk. "We have trouble. Half the Lani were stricken about four hours ago. It was sudden. No

"Well what are we waiting for? Get someone to bring my bags down here and we'll look them over."

Kennon smiled. "I hardly think that's the way to do it. Even though your description might be accurate, you

Douglas sighed. "I thought that's what you'd say," he said. "Oh very well you might as well see what

"You can't possibly believe that I don't already know," Kennon said. "You have male Lani."

Douglas looked at him, his face blank with surprise. "But how did you know? No one on the main island

does except the Family. And we never talk about it. Did Eloise tell you? I noticed she was struck with you the

day you came, and the Lani who have come out here since have been talking about you two. Did she do it?"

"I'm not stupid," Kennon said. "That story you've spread about artificial fertilization has more holes in it than

a sieve. That technique has been investigated a thousand times. And it has never worked past the first

generation. If you had been using it, the Lani would long ago have been extinct. Haploids don't reproduce,

and the only way the diploid number of chromosomes can be kept is to replace those lost by maturation

division of the ovum. You might be able to keep the diploid number by using immature ova, but the

fertilization technique would be far more complex than the simple uterine injections you use at Hillside

"Besides," Kennon added, "I have a microscope. I checked your socalled fertilizing solution. I found

spermatozoa, and spermatozoa only come from males. What's more, the males have to be the same species as

the females or fertilization will not take place. So there must be male Lani. Nothing else fits. You've been

using artificial insemination on the mainisland Lani. And from the way this place is guarded, it's obvious

Douglas shrugged and spread his hands in a gesture of resignation. "I suppose," he said, "that's the way Old

Doc found out too. We never told him, but he knew before he ever came out here."

"The only thing that puzzles me," Kennon went on, "is how you managed to eliminate the Ychromosome

"The male sexdeterminant. Half the sperm carry it, but so far as I know, there's never been a male born on

"Oh that. It's something that's done in the labs here. Probably one of the technicians could tell you. It's

Douglas nodded. "That sounds like it. I don't know anything about it. One of Grandfather's men did the basic

work. We just follow instructions." He shrugged. "Well since you know the secret there's no sense in hiding

It was a peculiar feeling to walk down the row of cubical rooms with their barred doors. The whole area

reminded him of a historical novel, of the prisons of early human history where men confined other men for

infractions of social customs. The grimness of the place was appalling. The male Lani impressive in their

physical development were in miserable condition, nauseated, greenfaced, retching. The sickening odors

of vomit and diarrhea hung heavily on the air. Douglas coughed and held a square of cloth to his face, and

even Kennon, strongstomached as he was, could feel his viscera twitch in sympathy with the caged

"Great Fleming, man!" Kennon exploded. "You can't keep them here. Get them out! Give them some fresh

Douglas looked at him, "I wouldn't take one of them out unless I had him shackled and there was an armed

guard to help me. Those males are the most vicious, cunning, and dangerous animals on Kardon. They exist

Kennon looked curiously through a barred door at one of the Lani. He lay on a bare cot, a magnificently

muscled figure with a ragged black beard hiding his face. There were dozens of scars on his body and one

angry purple area on his thick right forearm where flesh had been torn away not too long ago. Beads of sweat

stood out on his forehead and soft moaning noises came from his tight lips as he pressed his abdomen with

"Watch it!" Douglas warned. "Don't get too close!" But the warning was too late. Kennon touched the bars,

and as he did, the Lani moved with fluid speed, one huge hand clutching Kennon's sleeve and pulling him

against the bars while the other darted for his throat. Fingers bit into Kennon's neck and tightened in a

viselike grip. Kennon reacted automatically. His arms came up inside the Lani's and crashed down, elbows

out, tearing the Lani loose. He jumped back, rubbing his bruised throat. "That fellow's not sick!" he gasped.

The Lani glared at him through the bars, disappointment written on his scarred and bearded face.

"I warned you," Douglas said. His voice held an undertone of malicious laughter. "He must be sick or he

Kennon looked into the cubicle. The Lani glared back and growled. There was a beastlike note in his voice

"Ha! man! you afraid!" the Lani taunted. His voice was thick and harsh. "All men fear me. All Lani,

"That's his training. All his life he has fought. From childhood his life has been based on his ability to survive

in an environment where every male is his enemy. You see here the sublimation of individuality. He cannot

cooperate with another male. He hates them, and they in turn hate him. George, here, is a perfect example of

"His whole history is one of complete lack of control. As an infant, being a male, his mother thought she was

favored by the gods and she denied him nothing. In fact we were quite insistent that she gave him everything

he wanted. By the time he was able to walk and take care of himself, he was completely spoiled, selfish, and

"Then we took him and a dozen others exactly like him and put them together." Douglas grinned. "You

should see what happens when a dozen spoiled brats are forced to live together. It's more fun. The little beasts

hate each other on sight. And we stimulate them to compete for toys, food, and drink. Never quite enough to

go around. You can imagine what happens. Instead of sharing, each little selfish individualist fights to get

everything he can grab. Except for one thing we don't punish them no matter what they do. If anyone shows

signs of cooperating he is disciplined severely, the first time. The next time, he is culled. But other than that,

we leave them alone. They develop their personalities and their muscles and if one proves to be too much

for his fellows we transfer him to a more advanced class where the competition is keener, and he learns what

"At puberty we add sex drive to the basics, and by the time our male reaches maturity we have something like

George. Actually, George is more mature than either you or I. He has all the answers he needs. He's strong,

solitary, authoritative, and selfish. He has no curiosity and resents encroachment. He's a complete

"Look at it objectively," Douglas said. "We're trying to select the best physical type we can in the hope that

he'll pass his qualities to his offspring, and there's no better practical way to select the strongest and hardiest

than by natural selection. We control their environment as little as possible and let Nature do our educating

"Naturally, there are some things which we cannot provide, such as exposure to disease, to the elements, and

to predators. The one isn't selective about whom it infects, while the others would tend to produce

"Not as much as you might expect. It's about twenty per cent. And there is a great deal of compensation from

a management viewpoint. We get essentially the same physical end product as we would from a closely

managed operation, plus a great saving in labor. Males, you see, are fairly expendable. We only need a few a

"So it is, but life is brutal. Still, it's efficient for our purposes. We merely take advantage of natural impulses

to produce a better product. Grandfather got the idea out of an old book something about the noble

savage, natural selection and survival of the fittest. He thought it was great said there was nothing like

relentless competition to bring out the strongest and hardiest types. And he's been right for centuries. Can you

"He is a magnificent animal," Kennon admitted as he eyed the Lani. "But it seems to me that you could train

Douglas shook his head. "That would introduce a modifying factor, something bigger and more powerful

than the male himself. And that would modify the results. We can control them well enough with knockout

gas and shackles. And those things, oddly enough, don't destroy their pride or selfesteem. They think that

Kennon eyed the caged Lani dubiously. "This is going to be difficult. I must examine them and treat them,

"You fight me man," George interrupted, his face twisted into lines of transparent guile. "I am boss and

"Oh, it's true enough," Douglas said. "George is the leader and if you beat him you'd be top male until some

other one got courage enough to challenge you. But he's just trying to get his hands on you. He'd like to kill."

Kennon looked at the big humanoid appraisingly. George was huge, at least five centimeters taller and fifteen

kilograms heavier than himself. And he was all muscle. "I don't think I'd care to accept that challenge unless I

Kennon sighed. "It looks like we are going to need reinforcements to get these brutes under control. I'm not

"Oh, we can hold them all right. Paralysis gas and shackles will keep them quiet. There's no need to bother

"I do," Douglas said confidently. "Wait here until I get the gas capsules and the equipment.'' He turned and

walked back to the entrance to the cell block. At the iris he turned. "Be careful," he said.

"Don't worry, I will." Kennon looked at George through the bars and the humanoid glared back, his eyes

bright with hatred. Kennon felt the short hairs prickle along the back of his neck. George roused a primal

emotion an elemental dislike that was deeper than reason an antagonism intensely physical, almost

overpowering a purely adrenal response that had no business in the makeup of a civilized human.

He had thought the Lani had a number of human traits until he had encountered George. But if George was a

typical male then the Lani were alien. He flexed his muscles and stared coldly into the burning blue eyes

behind the bars. There would be considerable satisfaction in beating this monstrosity to a quivering pulp.

Millennia of human preeminence of belief that nothing, no matter how big or muscular, should fail to

recognize that a man's person was inviolate fed the fuel of his anger. The most ferocious beasts on ten

thousand worlds had learned this lesson. And yet this animal had laid hands on him with intent to kill. A cold

corner of his mind kept telling him that he wasn't behaving rationally, but he disregarded it. George was a

"Don't get the idea that I'm afraid of you you overmuscled oaf," Kennon snapped. "I can handle you or

anyone like you. And if you put your hands on me again I'll beat you within an inch of your worthless life."

The Lani snarled. "Let me out and I kill you. But you are like all men. You use gun and iron not fair

Douglas returned with a gas capsule and a set of shackles. "All right," he said. "We're ready for him." He

"You know gun?" Douglas asked as he pointed the muzzle of the Burkholtz at the Lani.

"I'll count three," Douglas said, "and if you're not back by then I'll burn you down. You'll obey even if you

"Now face the wall." Douglas tossed the gas capsule into the cell. The thinwalled container broke, releasing

a cloud of vapor. George crumpled to the floor. "Now we wait a couple of minutes for the gas to dissipate,"

Douglas said. "After that he's all yours. You can go in and put the irons on him."

"About five minutes. After that he'll have muscular control." Douglas chuckled. "They're stupid," he said.

"They know what gas does to them, but they never have sense enough to hold their breath. They could be

twice as much trouble as they are. All right, it's safe to go in now." Douglas let the gun dangle in his hand.

And George rolled over, muscles bunched and driving! He hit the door with such force that Kennon was

slammed against the wall, dazed half stunned by the speed of the attack. George he had time to think

in one brief flash wasn't stupid. He had held his breath for the necessary two minutes!

Douglas jerked the blaster up and fired, but his target was too quick. George dropped and rolled. The sizzling

streak of violet flashed inches above his body and tore a sixinch hole through the back of the cell. And then

George was on him! The huge, marvelously fast hands of the humanoid wrenched the blaster out of Douglas's

hands and jerked him forward. A scream burst from Douglas as George's hands closed around his neck.

Muscles sprang into writhing life in the humanoid's huge forearms. There was a soft, brittle crack, and

"Faugh!" George grunted. He dropped Douglas as Kennon pushed the door back and came out into the

passageway. "Maybe you make better fight," George said as he lowered his head into the muscular mass of

This time the Lani didn't charge. He moved slowly, half crouched, long arms held slightly forward. Kennon

backed away, watching the humanoid's eyes for that telltale flicker of the pupils that gives warning of attack.

The expression on George's face never changed. It was satisfied smug almost reflecting the feelings of

a brute conditioned to kill and given an opportunity to do so. The Lani radiated confidence.

Kennon shivered involuntarily. He wasn't frightened, but he had never met an opponent like this. A chill

raced up the back of his legs and spread over his stomach and chest. His mouth was dry and his muscles

quivered with tense anticipation. But his concentration never wavered. His hard blue eyes never left George's,

searching with microscopic intentness for the faintest sign of the Lani's intentions.

George charged hands reaching for Kennon's throat, face twisted in a snarl of rage and hate. But even as

he charged Kennon moved. He ducked beneath the Lani's outstretched hands and drove his left fist deep into

Air whistled out of the Lani's gaping mouth as he bent double from the power of the blow. Kennon clipped

him on the chin with a driving knee, snapping George's head back and smashed the bearded face with the

shackles. Blood spurted and George screamed with rage. One of the Lani's big hands wrapped around the

The Lani threw the irons at Kennon, but his aim was poor. One of the handcuff rings scraped across Kennon's

cheek, but did nothing more than break the skin. Half paralyzed by the blows to his solar plexus, George's

coordination was badly impaired. But he kept trying. Kennon wrapped lean fingers about one of George's

outstretched hands, bent, pivoted, and slammed the Lani with bonecrushing force against the bars of a

nearby cell. But George didn't go down. "He's more brute than man," Kennon thought. "No man could take a

beating like that!" He moved aside from George's stumbling rush, feeling a twinge of pity for the battered

humanoid. It was no contest. Strong as he was, George didn't know the rudiments of handtohand fighting.

His reactions were those of an animal, to close, clutch, bite, and tear. Even if he were completely well, the

results would have been the same. It would merely have taken longer. Kennon drove a vicious judo chop to

the junction of the Lani's neck and shoulder. Brute strength was no match for the highly evolved mayhem that

every spaceman learns as a necessary part of his trade. George had never been on planet leave in a spaceport

town. He knew nothing about the dives, the crimps, the hostile port police. His idea of fighting was that of a

beast, but Kennon was a civilized man to whom fighting was an art perfected by millennia of warfare. And

Even so it took longer than Kennon expected because George was big, George was strong, and George had

courage and pride that kept him coming as long as the blazing will behind his blazing eyes could drive his

Kennon looked at his bloody arm where George's teeth had reached their mark. It was hardly more than a

scratch, but it had been close. George had his lesson and Kennon felt oddly degraded. He sighed, dragged

Then he turned to Douglas. The howls of hate from the caged Lani died to a sullen silence as Kennon gently

Douglas wasn't dead. His neck was dislocated, not broken, but he was in serious condition. Kennon was still

bending over Douglas wondering how to call for help when three guards burst through the door, faces grim,

"What's going on here?" the leader demanded. "The board showed an open door down here." He saw the

body "Mr. Douglas!" he gasped. "The commandant will have to know about this!" He took a

communicator from his waist belt and spoke rapidly into it. "Arleson in stud cell block," he said. "Attempted

escape. One casualty Douglas Alexander yes, that's right. No he's not dead. Send a litter and bearers.

Inform the commandant. I am making investigation on the spot. Out." He turned to look coldly at Kennon.

The soldier looked and then turned hack to Kennon. There was awed respect in his hard brown eyes. "You

A stretcher detail manned by two soberfaced Lani females came in, loaded Douglas's body on the stretcher,

"Douglas was a fool," Arleson said. "He knew we never handle this kind without maximum restraint. I

"He knew better. These Lani know gas capsules. All George bad to do was hold his breath. In that cell

Kennon shrugged. Maybe that was what Douglas had wanted. Kennon sighed. He didn't have the answer.

And it could just be that Douglas had tried to show off. Well, he would pay for it. He'd have a stiff neck for

Commander Mullins, a thin grayfaced man with the hard cold eyes of a professional soldier, came into the

His eyes took in the wreckage that had been George, the split lips, the smashed nose, the puffed eyes, the cuts

Kennon nodded. "I was once. I'm station veterinarian now. Douglas called me over said it was an

"I have to examine them," Kennon said gesturing at the cells. "And I don't want any more trouble like this."

"Don't worry. You won't have it. Now that you've beaten George, you'll have no trouble at all. You're top

dog." Mullins gestured at the cages. "They'll be good for a while. Now you'd better get on with your work.

Kennon checked in at the commandant's office before he left for the main island.

"He's alive," Mullins said. "We flew him to Albertsville and good riddance. How are the Lani?"

"They'll be all right," Kennon said. "It's just food poisoning. I suggest you check your kitchen and your food

handlers. There's a break in sanitation that could incapacitate your whole command. I found a few things

"I'll check on it and thanks for the advice," Mullins said. "Sit down, Doctor. Your airboat won't be

serviced for another few minutes. Tell me how things are on the main island. How's Blalok?"

"Of course. I used to be a frequent visitor there. But with that young pup here, I couldn't leave. I didn't dare

to. He'd have disrupted routine in a single day. Look what he did in half an hour. Frankly, I owe you a debt

"That's a fine thing to say," Kennon grinned. "But I can sympathize. It took us two months to straighten out

"They'll be better here," Mullins said. "Now that Douglas is gone." He shrugged. "I hope the Boss doesn't

"Could you tell meor would it be violating security?" Kennon said. "Why do you have a Class II

Mullins chuckled. It's no secret," he said. "There was a commercial raid on this place about fifty years ago.

Seems as though one of our competitors didn't like us. Alexandria was on a war footing then and managed to

hold them off. But it scared the Old Man. You see, our competitive position is based on Lani labor. Our

competitors didn't know that. Their intelligence wasn't so good. Up until that time, we'd been keeping the

males out here in what was hardly more than a stockade. Those people could have taken a few dozen females

and a couple of males and they'd have been in business. But they didn't know. They tried to smash Alexandria

instead. Naturally they didn't have a chance. And after it was over the Old Man got smart. He still had the

tapes for Alexandria so he built a duplicate out here and spent a few millions on modern armament. The way

"It's a moot question. But it won't do them any good. They can't crack this place, and without males, all the

females on Flora wouldn't do them enough longterm good to pay for the force they'd need to be successful."

"There's another reason two of them in fact. One is physical. Even the best male is a dangerous beast.

They have a flair for violence that makes them useless as labor and their training doesn't help matters. And

the other is mental. The females on the main island believe that we humans are responsible for the

continuation of their breed. This tends to keep them in line. We have a great deal more trouble with them out

here once they know the truth. We've had a number of cases of females trying to engineer a male's escape.

But they're never repeated," Mullins said grimly. "Actually, it would be an interesting life out here, except for

"You know," Kennon said, "I've never thought of what happened to aged Lani. Sure, I've never seen one, but

"You'll get used to the idea," Mullins said. "They aren't human, and except for a few, they aren't as intelligent

as a Santosian Varl. I know that they look like us except for those tails, but that's as far as it goes. I've spent

Kennon stood up. "I've given instructions for treatment to your corpsman," he said. "Now I think I'd better be

Mullins smiled grimly. "You know," he said, "I get the feeling that you don't approve of this operation."

"Frankly, I don't," Kennon said, "but I signed a contract." He turned toward the door and gestured to the two

Lani who waited outside with his bags. "I can find my way to the roof," he said.

"Do that," Kennon replied. He wanted to leave, to get away from this place and back to the main island. He

wanted to see Copper. He'd be damned if anyone was going to butcher her. If he had to stay here until she

Kennon wondered if his colleagues in human medicine felt toward their patients as he did toward the Lani, or

if they ultimately lost their individuality and became mere hosts for diseases, parasites, and tumors

vehicles for the practice of surgical and medical skills economic units whose wellbeing meant a certain

amount of credits. Probably not, he decided. They were human and their very humanity made them persons

But the possession of individuality was not an asset in the practice of animal medicine where economics was

the main factor and the satisfaction of the owner the principal personality problem. The normal farm animals,

the shrakes, cattle, sheep, morks, and swine were no problem. They were merely a job. But the Lani were

different. They weren't human, but they were intelligent and they did have personality even though they didn't

possess that indefinable quality that separated man from the beasts. It was hard to treat them with

And this lack of objectivity annoyed him. Should he be this way? Was he right to identify them as individuals

and treat them as persons rather than things? The passing months had failed to rob them of their personalities:

they had not become the faceless mass of a herd of cattle or a flock of sheep. They were still not essentially

different from humans and wouldn't men themselves lose many of their human characteristics if they were

herded into barracks and treated as property for forty generations? Wouldn't men, too, approach the animal

condition if they were bred and treated as beasts, their pedigrees recorded, their types winnowed and

It would be better, Kennon reflected, if he didn't have time to think, if he were so busy he could drop to his

bed exhausted each night and sleep without dreaming, if he could keep on the run so fast that he wouldn't

have time to sit and reflect. But he had done his work too well. He had trained his staff too thoroughly. They

could handle the petty routines of minor treatment and laboratory tests as well as he. He had only the

intellectual stimulation of atypical cases and these were all too rare. The routine inspections were boring, yet

he forced himself to make them because the filled the time. The hospital wards were virtually empty of

patients, the work was up to date, the whole island was enjoying a carnival of health, and Kennon was still

impaled upon the horns of his dilemma. It wasn't so bad now that the first shock was over, but it was bad

enough and showed no signs of getting better. Now that Copper realized he wanted her, she did nothing to

make his life easier. Instead she did her best to get underfoot, usually in some provocative position. It was

enough to try the patience of a marble statue Kennon reflected grimly. But it did have its humorous side and

were it not for the fact that Copper wasn't human could have been thoroughly enjoyable. That, however, was

the real hell of it. He couldn't relax and enjoy the contest his feet were on too slippery ground. And Copper

with her unerring female instinct knew just what to do to make the footing slipperier. Sooner or later, she was

certain that he would fall. It was only a question of applying sufficient pressure at the right spot and the right

time. Now that she knew he desired her, she was content to wait. The only thing that had bothered her was

the uncertainty whether he cared or not. For Copper the future was a simple thing and she was lighthearted

about it. But not so Kennon. Even after the initial shock had passed there still remained the moral customs,

the conditioning, and the prohibitions. But Copper was Copper and somehow the conditioning lost its

force in her presence. Perhaps, he thought wryly, it was a symptom of the gradual erosion of his moral

"I'm getting stale," he confided to Copper as he sat in his office idly turning the pages of the Kardon Journal

"You could help me," Copper said as she looked up from the pile of cards she was sorting. He had given her

the thankless task of reorganizing the files, and she was barely half through the project.

"There's nothing to do that's interesting," he repeated. He cocked his head to one side. From this angle

Copper looked decidedly intriguing as she bent over the file drawer and replaced a stack of cards.

"A picnic. Take a lunch and go somewhere in the jeep. Maybe up into the hills. I think it might be fun."

"Why not?" Kennon agreed. "At least it would break the monotony. Tell you what. You run up to the house

"Good! I hoped you'd say that. I'm getting tired of these dirty old cards." She stood up and sidled past the

desk. Kennon resisted the impulse to slap as she went past, and congratulated himself on his selfcontrol as

she looked at him with a halfdisappointed expression on her face. She had expected it, he thought gleefully.

He smiled. Whatever the other Lani might be, Copper was different. Quick, volatile, intelligent, she was a

constant delight, a flashing kaleidoscope of unexpected facets. Perhaps the others were the same if he knew

them better. But he didn't know them and avoided learning. In that direction lay ulcers.

"That's the virtue of being a man. Even if I'm wrong, I'm right." He chuckled at the peculiar expression on her

She bowed. "Yes, master. Your slave flies on winged feet to execute your commands."

Kennon chuckled. Copper had been reading Old Doc's romances again. He recognized the florid style.

Kennon landed the jeep in a mountain meadow halfway up the slope of the peacefully slumbering volcano. It

was quiet and cool, and the light breeze was blowing Olympus's smoky cap away from them to the west.

Copper unpacked the lunch. She moved slowly. After all, there was plenty of time, and she wasn't very

"Let's go for a walk," Copper said. "The woods look cool and maybe we can work up an appetite."

"Good idea. I could use some exercise. That lunch looks big enough to choke a horse and I'd like to do it

They walked through the woods, skirting scant patches of underbrush, slowly moving higher on the mountain

slopes. The trees, unlike those of Beta, did not end abruptly at a snow line, but pushed green fingers upward

through passages between old lava flows, on whose black wrinkled surfaces nothing grew. The faint hum of

insects and the piping calls of the birdlike mammals added to the impression of remoteness. It was hard to

believe that scarcely twenty kilometers from this primitive microcosm was the border of the highly organized

"Do you think we can see the hospital if we go high enough?" Copper said. She panted a little, unaccustomed

"Possibly," Kennon said. "It is a long distance away. But we should be able to see Alexandria," he added.

"That's high enough and big enough." He looked at her curiously. "How is it that you're so breathless?" he

"Nonsense," Kennon chuckled. "It's just fat. Come to think of it you are plumper. Not that I mind, but if

"You're darn right I am. Well let's get going. Exercise is always good for the waistline, and I'd like to see

Scarcely a kilometer ahead they came to a wall of lava that barred their path. "Oh, oh," Kennon said. "We

can't go over that." He looked at the wrinkled and shattered rock with its knifelike edges.

"No not quite," Kennon said. "There seems to be a path here." He pointed to a narrow cleft in the black

Copper hung back. "I don't think I want to," she said doubtfully. "It looks awfully dark and narrow."

Unwillingly Copper allowed herself to be led forward. "There's something about this place that frightens me,"

she said uncomfortably as the high black wails closed in, narrowing until only a slit of yellow sky was visible

overhead. The path underfoot was surprisingly smooth and free from rocks, but the narrow corridor, steeped

in shadows, was gloomy and depressingly silent. It even bothered Kennon, although he wouldn't admit it.

What forces had sliced this razorthin cleft in the dense rock around them? Earthquake probably. And if it

happened once it could happen again. He would hate to be trapped here entombed in shattered rock.

Gradually the passage widened, then abruptly it ended. A bleak vista of volcanic ash dotted with sputter

cones opened before them. It was a flat tableland, roughly circular, scarcely half a kilometer across, a

desolation of black rock, stunted trees and underbrush, and gray volcanic ash. A crater, somewhat larger than

the rest, lay with its nearest edge about two hundred meters away. The rock edges were fire polished,

gleaming in the yellow sunshine, and the thin margin of trees and brush surrounding the depression were

"Hey! what's this?" Kennon asked curiously. "That crater looks peculiar, like a meteor had struck here but

those stunted plants hmm there must have been some radioactivity too." He looked at the crater

Copper had turned a sickly white. "No!" she said in a halfstrangled voice"oh, no!'

"But I don't know." Copper wailed. "I'm only guessing. I've never seen this place before in my life! Please!

"I think it's the Pit," Copper said. 'The redes don't say where it is. But the description fits the Circle of

"Redes? what are redes? And what is this business about circles of death? There's something here that's

"It's nothing. Truly. Just let's go back. Let's leave this place. It's no good. It's tabu."

"The Gods the Old Ones. It is not for Lani. Nor for you." Her voice was harsh. "Come away before it is

"Don't be foolish. There's nothing here that can hurt me. See those trees and plants growing right up to the

crater's edge. If they can take it permanently, I can stand it for a few moments. If there's any radioactivity

"Oh, forget those redes. I know what I'm doing. Besides, I'm a Betan and can stand more radiation than most

"I tell you I won't be hurt. And one quick look isn't going to bother whatever's down there."

"That's what Roga the Foolish said when he opened Lyssa's tower. But he brought men to Flora. And your

He turned to order her back, but the words died on his tips as he saw the terror and determination on her face.

Neither commands nor pleas would move her. If he went she would follow. The only way he could stop her

would be with violence, and he didn't want to manhandle her. He felt an odd mixture of pride, tenderness, and

admiration for her. Were their situations reversed, he doubted whether he would have the courage she was

showing. He sighed. Perhaps she was right. Perhaps he did need an antiradiation suit.

"All right," he said. "You win. I'll get some protective clothing and look at it later."

Her knees sagged, but he caught her before she fell, and held her erect until her strength returned. Belatedly

he understood the emotional strain that had been gripping her. "If you come back later, sir, you'll take me

She grimaced with distaste and he chuckled. Clothing and Copper simply didn't get along together.

"That you tell me about this place. You obviously know something about it, and with all your talking, you've

"It is forbidden to talk of these things to men," Copper said and then, perversely, "Do you want me to tell

"No it can wait. We have come a long way and I am hungry. I listen poorly on an empty stomach. Let's go

"I was a poor learner of the redes," Copper confessed. "And I'll have to skip the Mysteries. I never even tried

to learn them. Somehow I was sure I'd never be a preceptress." She settled herself more comfortably on the

"It isn't exactly religion," Copper said. "It's more like history, we learn it to remember that we were once a

great race and that we may be again. Someday there will come a male, a leader to bring us out of bondage,

and our race will be free of dependence on men. There will be pairings again, and freedom to live as we

please." She looked thoughtfully at Kennon. "You might even be the one even though you are human.

"You're prejudiced." Kennon smiled. "I'm no different. Well not very different at any rate."

"That is not my thought," Copper said. "You are very different indeed. No man has ever resisted a Lani as

"I remember the beginning fairly well," she said. "It goes back to the time before Flora when everything was

Without warning her voice changed to a rhythmic, cadenced chant that was almost a song. Her face became

rapt and introspective as she rocked slowly from side to side. The rhythm was familiar and then he

recognized it the unintelligible music he had often heard coming from the barracks late at night when no

Verse, Kennon thought. That was logical. People remember poetry better than prose. But the form was not

what he'd normally expect. It was advanced, a style that was past primitive blank verse or heroic pentameter.

"That's a great deal like Genesis," Kennon said with mild astonishment. "Where could you have picked that

"From the beginning of our race," Copper said. "It came to us with Ulf and Lyssa but what is Genesis?"

"A part of an ancient religion one that is still followed on some of the Central Worlds. Its followers call

"Our faith has no name. We are children of Lyssa, who was a daughter of the Master."

"It is an odd similarity," Kennon said. "But other races have had stories of the Creation. And possibly there

may be another explanation. Your ancestors could have picked this up from Alexander's men. They came

"No," Cooper said. "This rede is long before Man Alexander. It is the origin of our world, even before Ulf

and Lyssa. It is the first Book the Book of the Godspell. Man Alexander came in the sixth Book the

"It's going to be a long story," Copper said. "Even though I have forgotten some of it, I can chant the redes

Kennon braced his back against one of the fat tires of the jeep. "I'm a good listener," he said.

She chuckled. "You asked for this," she said and took up the verses where she had left off. And Kennon

learned the Lani version of creation, of the first man and woman, cast out of Heaven for loving each other

despite the Master's objection, of how they came to Flora and founded the race of the Lani. He learned how

the Lani grew in numbers and power, how they split into two warring groups over the theological point of

whether Ulf or Lyssa was the principal deity, how Roga the Foolish opened Lyssa's tower to find out whether

He heard the trial of Roga and the details of his torture by the priests of Ulf and the priests of Lyssa united

by this greatest sacrilege. And he heard the Lani version of the landing of Alexander's ship and man's

It was a story of savagery and superstition, of blood and intolerance, of bravery and cowardice, of love and

beauty. Yet through it all, even through the redes that described the Conquest, there was a curious

remoteness, a lack of emotion that made the verses more terrible as they flowed in passionless rhythm from

"We begin to learn them as soon as we can talk. We know the redes almost our entire lives." Copper was

silent for a moment. "There's lots more," she said, "but it's all about our lives since the Man Alexander the

old one took possession of us. And most of the newer redes are pretty dull. Our life hasn't changed much

since the men came. The Book of Man is boring." Copper sighed. "I have dared a great deal by telling you

A wave of tenderness swept over him. She would give her life for him and what would he give? Nothing.

Not even his prejudices. His face twisted. If she was only human, If she wasn't just an animal. If he wasn't a

Betan. If, if, if. Resentment gorged his throat. It was unfair so damned unfair. He had no business coming

here. He should have stayed on Beta or at least on a human world where he would never have met Copper.

He loved her, but he couldn't have her. It was Tantalus and Sisyphus rolled into one unsightly package and

fastened to his soul. With a muttered curse he rose to his feet, and as he did he stopped frozen staring at

"How did you say that Roga was judged responsible for Alexander coming here?" he demanded.

"He went into Lyssa's tower where Ulf and Lyssa tried to call Heaven and with his foolish meddling

set the tower alight with a glow that all could see. Less than a week later the Man Alexander came."

"Where Alexandria now stands. Man Alexander destroyed it and built his house upon its ruins."

"The Shrine of Ulf where the GodEgg struck Flora. It is buried in the pit, but the Silent Death has

protected it from blasphemy and besides Man Alexander never learned about it. We feared that he would

"And we're going to get a pair of radiation suits and then we're coming back. We'll have a good look at

that Pit, and if what's in there is what I think it is" his face was a mixture of grimness and eagerness

"Superstition!" Kennon scoffed. "If that Egg is what I think, it was made by men, and you are their

"Perhaps you're right, but I can't help thinking you are wrong," she said soberly. "Look at the trouble that

"And if I'm right you're just as human as I. And you're capable of living as long as I do."

"Yes, sir," Copper said. Her voice was unconvinced, her expression noncommittal.

"You females," Kennon said in quick exasperation. "You drive a man crazy. Get an idea in your head and it

Two hours brought them back to the volcanic area, and knowing what to look for, Kennon located the

pockmarked mountain valley. From the air it looked completely ordinary. Kennon was amazed at the

perfection of the natural camouflage. The Pit was merely another crater in the pitted ground. He dropped to a

Below them was the crater of the Pit and in its center a smooth bluishblack hemisphere protruded from the

crater floor. It would have passed unnoticed by the casual eye nearly concealed by two gigantic blocks of

"Egg ha! that's a spacer! I thought it would be. I'd recognize durilium anywhere. Let's go down and look

this over, but first we want a couple of pictures." He pointed a camera at the crater and snapped the shutter.

"Do you expect me to get into that thing?" Copper said distastefully as she prodded the shapeless green

coveralls with a bare toe. She eyed the helmet, gloves and boots with equal distaste. "I'd suffocate."

"If you want to come with me, you'll wear it," Kennon said. "Otherwise you won't come near that pit. Try it

"All right show me how to put it on. I'd rather be with you than worry about what you are doing."

The suit was several sizes too large but it covered her adequately. Too adequately, Kennon decided. She

She glared. "So I'm funny," she said. "Let me tell you something else that's funny. I'm hot. I'm sweating. I

They approached the edge of the Pit carefully. Kennon kept checking tho radiation counter. The needle

slowly rose and steadied at onehalf roentgen per hour as he thrust the probe over the rim of the depression.

"It's fine, so far," he said encouragingly. "We could take this much for quite a while even without suits." He

"Fine barely over one roentgen per hour. With these suits we could stay here indefinitely." The sigh of

"I mean radiation warm," Kennon said. "Stay up there and watch me. I may need some things."

"All right." Copper squirmed inside the hot suit. The thing was an oven. She hoped that Kennon didn't plan to

Kennon gingerly approached the ship. It was half buried in the loose debris and ash that had fallen or blown

into the pit during the centuries it had rested there. It was old incredibly old. The hull design was ancient

riveted sheets of millimeterthick durilium. Ships hadn't been built like that in over two thousand years.

And the ovoid shape was reminiscent of the even more ancient spindizzy design. A hyperspace converter like

that couldn't be less than four millennia old. It was a museum piece, but the blueblack hull was as smooth

Space travel would have gotten nowhere without durilium, Kennon reflected. For five thousand years men

had used the incredibly tough synthetic to build their spacecraft. It had given man his empire. Kennon gave

the hull one quick glance. That part of the ship didn't worry him. It was what he would find inside that

bothered him. How much damage had occurred from two thousand or more years of disuse? How much had

the original travelers cannibalized? How much could be salvaged? What sort of records remained? There

were a thousand questions that the interior of that enigmatic hull might answer.

The upper segment of the airlock was visible. It was closed, which was a good sign. A few hours' work with a

"Copper," he said, "we're going to have to dig this out. There's a small excavator in the cargo bed of the jeep.

"Good girl!" Kennon turned back to the ship. He was eager to enter it. There might be things inside that

would settle the question of the Lani. The original crew had probably recognized the value of the hull as a

repository as well as he did. But in the meantime there would be work lots of it. And every step must be

It was the rest of the day's work to expose the emergency airlock. The little excavator toiled over the loose

ash for hours before it displaced enough to make the port visible, and the ash was not yet cleared away

It would be impossible to unearth the spaceship with their lowcapacity digger, Kennon decided. It would be

difficult enough to clear the emergency airlock in the nose. But if the tubes and drive were still all right, by

careful handling it should be possible to use the drive to blast out the loose ash and cinders which surrounded

Kennon reluctantly gave up the idea of entering the spaceship. That would have to wait until tomorrow. Now

they would have to conceal the work and call it a day. A few branches and the big blocks of pumice would

suffice for temporary camouflage. Later they could make something better. Anything in the jeep which might

be useful was cached along with the radiation suits in the passageway through the lava wall and in a

Kennon was not too displeased. Tomorrow they would be able to enter the ship. Tomorrow they would

probably have some of the answers to his questions. He looked ahead into the gathering night. The gray mass

of the abandoned Olympus Station slipped below them as he lined the jeep along the path indicated by the

luminous arrow atop the main building, set the controls on automatic, and locked the craft on the guide

Kennon was morally certain that the Lani were of human stock. Evolved, of course. Mutated. Genetic

strangers to the rest of humanity. But human. The spaceship and the redes proved it as far as he was

concerned. But moral certainty and legal certainty were two different things. What he believed might be good

enough to hold up in a Brotherhood court, but he doubted it. Ulf and Lyssa might be the founders of the Lani

race, but they had come to Kardon nearly four thousand years ago and no records existed to prove that the

Lani weren't here before they came. Redes passed by word of mouth through hundreds of generations were

not evidence. Even the spaceship wasn't the absolute proof that would be needed to overturn the earlier legal

decision. Other and better proof was needed something that would stand up in any court in the

But Kennon's eagerness to find out what was inside the ancient spacer was tempered by hard practicality. Too

much depended on what he might find inside that hull. Every step of the work must be documented beyond

any refutation. Some method of establishing date, time, and location had to be prepared. There must be a

record of every action. And that would require equipment and planning. There must be no mistake that could

He had no doubt that the Family would fight. Too much money and prestige were involved. To prove the

Lani human would destroy Outworld Enterprises on Kardon. Yet this thought did not bother him. To his

surprise he had no qualms of conscience. He was perfectly willing to violate his contract, break faith with his

employers, and plot their ruin. The higher duty came first the duty to the human race.

He smiled wryly. It wasn't all higher duty. There were some personal desires that leavened the nobility. To

prove Copper human was enough motivation actually it was better than his sense of duty. Events, Kennon

reflected, cause a great deal of change in one's attitude. Although not by nature a plotter, schemes had been

flitting through his mind with machinelike regularity, to be examined and discarded, or to be set aside for

He rejected the direct approach. It was too dangerous, depended too much on personalities, and had too little

chance for success. He considered the possibility of letters to the Brotherhood Council but ultimately rejected

it. Not only was the proof legally insufficient to establish humanity in the Lani, but he also remembered

Alexander's incredible knowledge of his activities, and there was no reason to suppose that his present didn't

receive the same scrutiny as the past. And if he, who hadn't written a letter in over a year, suddenly began to

write, the correspondence would undoubtedly be regarded with suspicion and would probably be examined,

He could take a vacation and while he was away from the island he could inform the Brotherhood. Leaving

Flora wouldn't be particularly difficult, but leaving Kardon would be virtually impossible. His contract called

for vacations, but it expressly provided that they would be taken on Kardon. And again, there would be no

assurance that his activities would not be watched. In fact, it was probable that they would be.

There was nothing that could be done immediately. But there were certain longrange measures that could be

started. He could begin preparing a case that could be presented to the Council. And Beta, when it knew,

would help him. The situation of the Lani was so close to Beta's own that its obvious merit as a test case

simply could not be ignored. If he could get the evidence to Beta, it would be easy to enlist the aid of the

entire MedicoTechnological Civilization. It would take time and attention to detail; the case, the evidence,

everything would have to be prepared with every safeguard and contingency provided, so that there would

And perhaps the best method of bringing the evidence would be to transport it under its own power. The

thought intrigued him. Actually it wouldn't be too difficult. Externally the Egg wasn't in bad shape. The

virtually indestructible durilium hull was still intact. The controls and the engines, hermetically sealed inside

the hull, were probably as good as the day they stopped running. The circuitry would undoubtedly be bad but

it could be repaired and restored, and new fuel slugs could be obtained for the engine and the converter. But

The immediate problem was to get into the ship in a properly documented fashion.

It took nearly two months, but finally, under the impersonal lenses of cameras and recorders, the entrance

port of the GodEgg swung open and revealed the dark interior. Kennon moved carefully, recording every

step as he entered the black orifice in the spaceship's side. His handtorch gave plenty of light for the recorders

as he moved inside Copper at his heels, both of them physically unrecognizable in antiradiation suits.

"Why are we moving so slowly?" Copper said. "Let's go ahead and find out what's beyond this passageway."

"From a superstitious coward you've certainly become a reckless explorer," he said.

"The Egg hasn't hurt us, and we've been around it many times," she said. "Either the curse has become too old

to hurt us, or there never was any in the first place. So let's see what is ahead. I'm curious."

Kennon shook his head. "In this business we must hurry slowly very slowly. You know why."

"Patience, girl. Simmer down. You'll see soon enough," Kennon said. "Now help me set up this camera."

"I'm bubbling over with it," Kennon admitted, "but I manage to keep it under control."

"No I'm sensible. We want to nail this down. My future, yours, and that of your people depend upon how

carefully we work. You wouldn't want to let us all down by being too eager, would you?"

"Ah!" Kennon said with satisfaction. "I hoped for this, but I didn't dare expect it."

"Nothing but an empty room. It's shaped like half an orange, and it has a lot of funny instruments and dials on

the walls, and a video screen overhead. But that's all. Why what's so unusual about it? It looks just like

"That's the point. There's nothing essential that's missing. They didn't cannibalize the instruments and they

"Not now. The heat's practically gone, but when whoever flew this crate came here, the whole shell could

"Not with this kind of heat. The hull was probably too radioactive to approach from the outside. And

radioactivity cools off slowly. It might take several lifetimes for its level to become low enough to approach

Kennon nodded. "Now let's check oh! oh! what's this?" He pointed to a metalbacked book lying on the

"Yes the ship's log. It's possible. And if it is, we may have all the evidence we need Copper! Don't

"Because its position has to be recorded first. Wait until we get the camera and recorders set up."

Gingerly Kennon opened the ancient book. The sheets inside were brittle crumbling with age but he

could make out the title U.N.S.S. Wanderer with the date of launching and a lower line which read "Ship's

Log." Kennon was thankful for his medical training. The four years of Classical English that he had despised

so much were essential now. Stumbling over unfamiliar words and phrases, he moved slowly through the log

tracing the old ship's history from .pleasure craft to shorthaul freight tractor to obsolescence m a space dump

There was a gap of nearly ten years indicated by a blank page before the entries resumed.

"Of course you can't. It's in English a language that became obsolete during the Interregnum. I had to

"What is an Interregnum?" Copper interrupted. I've never heard that word before."

"It's a period of confusion when there is no stable government. The last one came after the Second Galactic

War but never mind that it happened long ago and isn't important now. The important thing that did

"A religious revival and a tremendous desire to see what was happening beyond the next star. During that

century men traveled wider and farther then they ever have before or since. In that outward explosion with its

mixed motivations of religion and practicality, colonists and missionaries went starward to find new worlds

to tame, and new races to be rescued from the darkness of idolatry and hell. Almost any sort of vehicle

capable of mounting a spindizzy converter was pressed into service. The old spindizzies were soundly

engineered converters of almost childlike simplicity that could and did carry ships enormous distances if their

"And that's what happened to this ship. According to this log it was bought by Alfred and Melissa Weygand

a missionary couple with the idea of spreading the Christian faith to the heathen.

"Alfred and Melissa Ulf and Lyssa they were a part of this ancient explosion that scattered human seed

across parsecs of interstellar space. It seems that they were a unit in a missionary fleet that had gone out to

the stars with flame in their hearts and Gospel on their lips to bring the Word to the benighted heathen on

other worlds." Kennon's lips curled with mild contempt at their stupid foolhardiness even as his pulse

quickened to their bravery. They had been fanatics, true enough, but theirs was a selfless fanaticism that

would risk torture and death for what they believed a fanaticism that was more sublime than the concept

of Brotherhood which had evolved from it. They knew nothing of the enmity of race, of the incessant struggle

man had since waged with alien intelligences all too willing to destroy intruders who encroached upon their

worlds. Mankind's early selflessness had long ago been discarded for frank expansionism and dominance

The ship's log, meticulously kept in neat round English script, told a story that was more than the bare bones

of flight. There was passion and tenderness and a spiritual quality that was shocking to a modern man steeped

in millennia of conquest and selfinterest. There was a greatness to it, a depth of faith that had since been

lost. And as Kennon slowly deciphered the ancient script he admired the courage even as his mind winced

The Weygands had lost contact with the others, and had searched for them in hyperspace, doubling and

twisting upon their course until they had become hopelessly lost, and then, with their fuel nearly exhausted,

had broken out into the normal threespace continuum to find Kardon's sun and the world they called Flora.

It was only by the grace of their God that they had found this world before their fuel was exhausted. And it

was only by further grace that the planet was habitable and not populated with intelligent life. They had more

luck than people were entitled to in a dozen lifetimes. Against odds of a million to one they had survived.

The last entry read: "We have circled this world and have seen no buildings no sign of intelligent life. We

are lost, marooned on this empty world. Our fuel supplies are too low for us to attempt to find the others. Nor

could we. The constellations in the sky are strange. We do not know which way to go. Therefore we shall

land upon the great island in the center of the yellow sea. And perhaps someday men will come to us since

we cannot return to them. Melissa thinks that this is an example of Divine Providence, that the Lord's mercy

has been shown to us that were lost in the vastness of the deep that we have been chosen, like Eve and

Adam, to spread the seed of man to yet another world. I hope she is right, yet I fear the radiation level of the

ship has become inordinately high. We may well be Eve and Adam, yet an Adam that cannot beget and an

Eve that is not fruitful. I am trimming the ship for landing, and we shall leave it immediately after we have

landed, taking with us only what we absolutely need. There is too much radiation from the spindizzy and the

And that was all. Presumptive evidence yes. Reasonable certainty yes. But not proof. Lawyers could

argue that since no direct exploration was made there was no valid reason to assume that the Lani did not

already inhabit Kardon. But Kennon knew. His body, more perceptive than his mind, had realized a truth that

his brain would not accept until he read the log. It was at once joy and frustration. Joy that Copper was

human, frustration that he could not obtain for her and her race the rights to which they were entitled. But the

immediate problem was solved. His conditioning was broken now he was convinced that Copper was a

member of the human race. It was no violation of his code to love her. The greatest barrier was broken, and

with it gone the lesser ones would yield. Relief that was almost pain washed through him and left him weak

"What is it?" Copper asked as he turned to her. "What is this thing that has turned your face to joy?"

She shook her head. "I have seen nothing but you reading this ancient book, yet you turn to me with the look

Copper shrugged. "You're mad. I'm a Lani. I was born a Lani and I shall die one."

"Don't you understand? All Lani are human. You all are the descendants of two humans who came here

Copper laughed. It was a sound so merry and gay that Kennon looked at her in surprise. She looked as happy

Simple and savage, Kennon thought. She cared nothing for the future, and probably very little about the

injustice of her present. The thing that mattered was that what had kept them apart was gone. She was

probably offering mental sacrifices to the Old Ones who had caused this change in the man she loved. She

didn't really care about what had caused the change. To her it was sufficient that it had happened.

For a moment Kennon wished that it could be as simple for him as it apparently was for her. The fact that

Copper was human posed a greater problem than the one it solved. The one had been personal. The other was

infinitely greater. He could not let it lie. The very morality which had kept him from doing what he wished

when he thought she was a humanoid now forced him to do what he did not wish. Every instinct said to leave

it alone. The problem was too great for one man to solve, the situation too complicated, the evidence too

inconclusive, the opposition too powerful. It would be far better to take his happiness and enjoy it. It was not

his problem to solve. He could turn the evidence over to the Brotherhood once his contract was over, and

better and more capable people than he could settle the Lani legal status. But the inner voice that had called

him bestial now called him shirker, coward, and slacker. And this, too, could not be borne. The case of the

Lani would have to be pursued as vigorously as he could do it. They were entitled to human rights

His first idea of making the spacer operational was a good one, Kennon decided as they finished the

inspection of the ship. Even if it was never used it would make a good means of retreat. He grinned wryly. In

a guerrilla operation such as the one he was considering it would be wise to have a way out if things got too

hot. The heavy parts, the engines and the controls, were in workable condition and would merely require

cleaning and oiling. Some of the optical equipment would have to be replaced and fuel slugs would have to

be obtained for the drive but none of these would be too hard to accomplish. The slugs from any of the

power reactors on the island would serve nicely. All that would have to be done would be to modify the fuel

ports on the ship's engine. The spindizzy would have to be disassembled and checked, and the main leads,

embedded in timeresistant plastic, would have to be examined. The most serious problem, however,

wouldn't involve these things. The control board wiring and circuitry was where the trouble would lie.

Normal insulation and printed circuitry wasn't designed to last for thousands of years. Each wired circuit

would have to be removed, duplicated, and replaced. Every printed panel would have to be cleaned and

receive a new coat of insulating varnish. Working full time, a fourman electronics team could do the job in a

week. Working parttime the two of them might get it done in three months. And the other jobs would take at

least another. Add a month for errors in judgment, lack of materials, and mistakes and another for

unavoidable delays it would be at least six months before the Egg would be spaceworthy.

Not too long if everything went well, but far too long if there were any mistakes. He would have to be

careful, yet he must not give the impression of being careful. He shook his head. Being a subversive was

going to require a greater amount of acting ability than he had ever been called upon to display.

And what of Copper? How would she behave under the double strain of knowledge that she was human and

knowledge of the spaceship? Women weren't noted for their tightlipped reticence. Would she tell the other

Lani? Would she crack under the pressure? Did she have the qualities of a good conspirator?

As it turned out, he didn't need to worry. As a partner in crime, Copper was all that could be wished.

Everything was normal. She was still obedient, helpful, and gay as ever. To watch her, no one would ever

think that her bright head was full of knowledge that could rock Flora to its foundations. Never by look or

And in her other moments she was ecstatic in her love and helpful with the repair work on the Egg whenever

"You amaze me," Kennon said as they eased the cover of the spindizzy in place and spun the bolts on the lugs

that held it to the outer shielding. He picked up a heavy wrench and began methodically to seat the bolts as

"The way you hide your knowledge of this ship from the others. I know you better than anyone else on this

"We Lani are used to hiding things. You men have been our masters for centuries, yet you do not know our

redes. Nor do you know what we think, We obey you, but there are parts of us you do not own. It is easy to

Kennon nodded. It figured. He seated another bolt. Three more and the drive room would be restored and

they could start on the control circuits. "I wish you were as clever about adopting human customs as you are

Copper laughed. "You mean those silly things you have been teaching me? Why should I learn them? I'm

"It's not all that matters. Can't you get it through your head that civilized customs are necessary in a civilized

society?" He gave the nexttolast bolt an extravicious wrench. "You'll have to know them if you expect to

"So long? Well we can think of it then, but I don't think Man Alexander will let you take me."

She smiled. "It would be easier to stay here. In another fifteen years I will be old and you will not want me."

"You swear too easily," she said gently. "You men live forever. We Lani are a shortlived race."

"It's been tried, my love and those who were treated died. Man Alexander tried many years ago to make

"Let us think no more of it. Let us enjoy what we have and be grateful to the Gods for the love we enjoy

"Two are better. More, anyway. And besides, Ulf and Lyssa and the GodEgg are responsible for our joy."

"Then why should you think of leaving the place where they rule? You should stay here. There will be other

"That is what you say," Copper replied. "I am not so sure. I need more proof than this." She waved her hand

"The same as the proof you men require. If I should have your child, then I would believe that I was human."

"I've told you a thousand times that the radiation on this ship must have affected Ulf and Lyssa's germ plasm.

"I can understand it all right, but it does not change things. Ulf and Lyssa may have been human before they

came here, but they were not when they landed. They were Lani, and their children were Lani."

Copper sighed. "Is it not enough for us to love? Must you try to run through a wall?"

Copper looked at him with pity in her green eyes. "This I do not understand. I know nothing of right and

justice. What are these things? Just words. Yet you will endanger our happiness for them. If it is my

happiness you wish then leave this foolishness alone. I have fifteen years I can live with you before I am

"But I can't," Kennon said. "Call me selfish if you wish, but I want you with me as long as I live. I don't want

"You want too much," Copper said softly. "But if it makes you happy to try to get it, I shall help. And if we

do not succeed you will at least be happier for trying. And if you are happy" she shrugged "then the

That was the crux of the matter, Kennon reflected bitterly. He was convinced she was human. She was not.

And until her mind could be changed on that point she would help him but her heart wouldn't be in it. And

the only thing that would convince her that she was human would be a child a child of his begetting. He

could perhaps trick her with an artificial insemination of Lani sperm. There were drugs that could suspend

consciousness, hypnotics that would make her believe anything she was told while under their influence.

But in the end it would do no good. All witnesses in Brotherhood court actions were examined under

psychoprobe, and a hypnotic was of no value against a lie detector that could extract the deepest buried truth.

And he would be examined too. The truth would outand nothing would be gained. In fact everything

would be lost. The attempt at trickery would prejudice any court against the honest evidence they had so

He sighed. The only thing to do was to go on as they were and hope that the evidence would hold. With

Betan legal talent at their back it might. And, of course, they could try to produce a child as nature had

Copper had been acting strangely of late, Kennon thought as he rolled over in his bed and watched her

standing before the fulllength mirror on the bathroom door. She pivoted slowly before the glass, eying

herself critically, raising her arms over her head, holding them at her sides, flexing her supple spine and

She whirled, a crimson blush deepening the tan of her face. "You were supposed to be asleep," she said.

"I'm an unregenerate heel," he replied, "and I don't sleep too well nowadays unless you're beside me."

"Well I suppose you might as well know now as later," she said. "You'll know in any event."

"And what brought on this sudden change of" He stopped abruptly, his eyes widening.

She shook her head. "It's a miracle perhaps, but it's not impossible. It's happened. Can't you see the

"I suppose you can't see it yet," she admitted. "But I am with child. I'm two weeks past my time."

Kennon's mind leaped to the obvious conclusion. Pseudopregnancy. He had seen it before among Lani at

Hillside Farm. It was an odd syndrome which occasionally occurred in humans and animals. The brain,

desiring children, made demands upon the body and the body responded to its desire by tricking the brain.

Lani were fairly subject to its probably because they had better imaginations. He would run a few tests when

they went down to the hospital, and once she realized the practical joke her body was playing everything

"We'll find out about that later," he said equably. "We'll settle this when we get back to the hospital."

Copper smiled confidently and patted her stomach. "I know what you are thinking, but you're wrong. We

Lani know about these things. In forty generations I am the first to conceive as the Master intended."

"I hope you haven't," Kennon said with such bitter sincerity that Copper looked at him wideeyed. "Not now.

"The Alexanders. Do you think they'll take it lying down? We're not ready for them yet. They'll fight, and the

first thing they'll do is kill you and erase me so we would never be able to talk. You have been declared an

"In a week every Lani on the island would know it. There would be revolt. For the Lani would no longer be

dependent upon Men to survive. Their greatest hold on us would be gone. And we would be free again on our

"You would not!" Kennon said. "That sort of thinking is foolishness. Alexander would have men here within

a week, and a week after that you would be smashed. Don't you realize that there are thousands of millions of

men in the galaxy and to every one of them you would be animals. You know nothing about what you

would face. Your puny hundreds couldn't even stand against a fraction of the power Alexander could mount

against you. Have you seen a Burkholtz blaster work? Have you seen remotecontrol antipersonnel missiles?

Have you pushpull projectors, atomic warheads? All of these weapons Alexander can command. Don't you

Copper shook her head. "No," she said in a small voice. "I know nothing about these things."

"And do you think forty generations of absolute obedience to men can be overcome because one Lani says

Copper frowned. "You put that in a different way. You talk as if it were my belief rather than the truth."

"What is truth?" Kennon said heavily. "Who would believe you? There are hundreds of others with child.

"Sure you're human. You know it. I know it. I've been trying to convince you for the past two months. You're

just as human as I am. But pray that you're not pregnant. We can't get out of here in less than four months and

by then everybody will know about you. Someone will certainly check the records. And after that will come

the psychoprobes. Everything will come to light. The Egg will be destroyed. I will be erased. You will be

dead. And that will be the end of it." He looked down at her with an odd expression of pity on his face. "You

Copper nodded. "I didn't understand," she said. "Don't be angry with me. I shouldn't have told you. I thought

"I was never angry with you, but I am with myself. I was stupid. I didn't figure on the remote possibility that

we might be genetically compatible. I should have my head examined for putting you in such danger.

However there's the possibility the probability that your body is playing a trick upon you."

She shook her head. "You are wrong. I am not mistaken. I am with child and the child is yours. But the fault

is no more yours than mine. I wanted you before you looked on me. I still do and I do not feel at fault. That I

am yours, that my child is yours is a thing of wonder and joy. Never could I have expected so much."

Kennon looked down at her smudged face, streaked with the sudden rivulets of tears, and bitterness galled his

throat. Dear God let her be wrong, he prayed silently. Let it be pseudopregnancy this time. Let the tests be

But they weren't. Unequivocally they confirmed Copper's diagnosis. Here was the proof he needed. The final

test that would prove the Lani human. And he had no way of getting it where it would do any good. It would

take at least four months of steady labor before the ship was ready, and he didn't have that sort of time. He

was needed here and his prolonged absence would cause suspicion and investigation. Something would have

to be done but what? He couldn't take Copper off the island in an airboat. They were checked with

microscopic care by Otpen One's IFF. A jeep didn't have enough range to take them to the mainland. And

even if they got there they couldn't get off the planet. Alexander knew everything that happened on Kardon's

two spaceports. The Egg was the only way, but the Egg was unfinished and unspaceworthy.

Frantically Kennon considered concealing Copper. He shook his head. It wouldn't work. It would be

impossible, to hide a baby on a place where every birth was recorded. Nor could one hide evidence of

pregnancy in a Lani. Childbearing leaves telltale marks upon the body, and Copper, even if she could be

concealed for the duration of her pregnancy, could never survive the sharpeyed scrutiny of her fellows or

There had to be a solution. He rubbed his forehead wearily. It was strange how so little a thing as the union of

a spermatozoon and an ovum could produce so much trouble. He looked across the office at Copper placidly

filing case cards. She wasn't worrying. With sublime faith, she was sure that he would find the answer, the

one that would solve everything. He shuddered. The only logical solution was abortion and that was

unthinkable! He would not murder his child nor would Copper permit it if he was capable of doing so.

It was almost a relief when his phone rang and Blalok's voice came cheerfully across the wire.

"Tried to get you about an hour ago," the superintendent said, "but your girl said you were busy."

"Well, get up to the fortress. Alexander just flew in and he's calling a meeting. Something important has

Something important! A wave of ice rattled down Kennon's spine, and then he grinned feebly. Alexander

Kennon couldn't help comparing this meeting with the one a year ago. The location was different the

conference room in Alexandria was more formal than Blalok's parlor but the same people were present:

Alexander, Blalok, Jordan, and himself. Somehow Alexander seemed to have shrunk. He was no longer as

impressive as he had been. But the man still radiated force, even though it didn't seem quite so overpowering.

The year, Kennon thought, had done much to build his selfconfidence. He felt assured rather than nervous.

"Good to see you, Kennon," Alexander said. "Reports say you're doing a good job."

"I can't claim the credit," Kennon said. "Eightyfive per cent of our success is due to cooperation from the

operating staff. And that's Blalok's doing he knocked the heads of the division managers together and they

"I've darn near motivated myself out of a job," Kennon said. "They cooperate all too well nowadays."

"Which goes to prove that my theories on preventive medicine are right," Alexander said, turning to Blalok.

"It looks that way," Blalok admitted, "but that could be because you picked a good man."

"He's good in more ways than one," Alexander said. "Or did he tell you he saved Douglas's life out on Otpen

Alexander smiled. "Another point in his favor. He knows how to keep his mouth shut."

"Better and better. I was sure that he was the one we needed when we first met."

"But that's not the reason I brought you here. This isn't a Jac Kennon admiration society. I called you because

Blalok stiffened. "You know my feeling about that, sir. I've never liked the idea of selling them. If that's

Alexander shook his head. "Simmer down," he said, as he seated himself at the head of the table. "There's

going to be no selling. The Lani are too valuable for that. We'll need them more than the money they'd bring

on the market. You see I've acquired a planet out on the periphery. A place called Phoebe. One of our

ships found it, and I staked a discovery claim on the major land mass, and the crew made lesser claims that

covered all the available land. Last month the Brotherhood allowed the claims. Last week the crewmen sold

me their land. Phoebe's a lovely place quite a bit like Flora and the ecological tests show it's capable of

supporting mammalian life. Just before I came here I sent three shiploads of exterminators to clean it up and

"Not that it makes any difference," Alexander said, "but it's mainly reptilian. Nothing over Group I. We'll

Jordan sighed. "Since that's the way it is, it doesn't make any difference," he said. "But it could have. The

Lani are sensitive to things like that. If they thought that they were walking in over a pile of bodies they'd do

badly. It'd be like Olympus all over again. And we couldn't keep them from knowing. We talk and we forget,

"I know," Alexander said, "somehow they've never forgotten that Grandfather trapped the last of the Lani

Jordan nodded. "They can't stand the place. That's why we had to abandon the station."

"No they're too small to hold air. But men could live there in domes but why do you? oh! I see! I

hadn't considered that point." Alexander's hand darted to the phone beside him. "Get me Albertsville," he

snapped. "Yes, my offices I want Mr. Oliver in purchasing and contracting. Hello Ward? Alexander

here. Yes everything's fine. I have a job for you use your scrambler pattern two." Alexander dialed

the scrambler code on the second dial at the base of the phone, effectively preventing eavesdropping by beam

tappers. "Yes," he went on. "It's Project Phoebe. Have you secured title to the moons? You haven't? Well

you'd better do it before some of our competitors get bright ideas. Sure they know about the project do

you think they're stupid? Warren over at Consolidated practically told me that he was onto our scheme. So

get title to those moons. Since they're uninhabitable and within the planet's primary field they come under the

Spatial Debris Act and you should be able to get Kardonian title without any great amount of trouble.

Naturally we want them. For defense what else? We'll have most of our eggs in that basket. No I

don't know how we overlooked that point. But if it wasn't for a bright young man out here we'd have left

ourselves wide open. Now get cracking get that leak plugged!" Alexander dropped the phone back in its

Kennon looked at Alexander's grinning face, his own impassive, but a shattering certainty exploded in his

mind Alexander was a telepath! That was his difference! That was the thing that made him feared and

respected by his business associates. It wouldn't have been enough on the Central Worlds, where men knew

of sensitives and took precautions against them. But out here on the periphery it was a deadly advantage.

"So I gave it away," Alexander said. "I suppose I was careless, but your thoughts about the moons shocked

"You practically told me once before, when you hired me," Kennon said, "but I never realized it."

"I wouldn't know," Kennon said. "At any rate I didn't add the facts correctly." From somewhere deep in his

memory an old quip came floating to the surface: "An executive is a man who picks brains others' brains."

By that definition Alexander was an executive of the first class. Alexander chuckled.

Suddenly Kennon wanted to run. Panic flooded him! What had he been thinking about? Had he thought of

two times two are four, four times four are sixteen, sixteen times sixteen are let's see, six times sixteen is

ninetysix, one times sixteen is six, five, carry one two two hundred fiftysix. Two hundred

"I'm angry," Kennon said. "I told you the conditions I'd sign that contract, and you wrote a Peeper Clause into

it. And then you peep in the worst way possible. There's no defense against a Telep unless you know about

him; you've had my whole mind bare! You've violated my personal privacy like no man has done before.

Sure I'm mad. I expected honesty from you and you peep!" The anger was stronger now a wave of raw

emotion based on a lifetime of training in mutual respect of a man's privacy a feeling intensified by his

childhood environment of a crowded planetary ecology and the cramped crew quarters on a spaceship. To

"I can see I made a mistake by not telling you," Alexander said. His voice was cold. "But you have no right to

"I'm not saying it, am I?" Kennon snapped. The moonflower on the bookcase behind Alexander was a thing

of beauty. Alexander liked beauty. He had said so, and the Great Hall below them bore it out. It was a lovely

room. Those four bronze Lani in the fountain were works of art. One of them looked remarkably like Copper.

Copper in bronze. The little witch had probably posed for the casting. Maybe it had even been made from her

"They're all of Susy," Alexander said. "I can see why you are angry, and I don't blame you. But remember I

Copper Kennon wrenched his thoughts back to the moonflower. It had twelve petals, limpid white on the

borders shading to deep blue in the centerfrom which the creamcolored stamen surrounded by transparent

pistils sprang to burst into a golden glory of pollen that dripped in tiny yellow flecks to the broad petals

below. It was a magnificent flower. There was nothing like it on Beta. That was a marvelous thing about

flowers wherever one went in the universe, plants used the same methods to fertilize their seed and spread

their germ plasm. It was too bad that Kennon jerked his attention to Alexander's face. He detested the

thought that his mind was common property. A man should have something he can call his own. There had

been a clinics instructor in Year Six who was a sensitive. The classes had protected themselves against his

prying with a circlet a thought screen he had done it too. Maybe he had brought the circlet with him. If

he did, no one was going to catch him without it. It was a dirty business, this reading of others' thought. Now

where had he put that circlet? Was it among his old books or was it with his instruments?

"Why don't you go back to your house and find it?" Alexander snapped. "As you are, you're nothing but a

"I'm not going to act any other way until I get some protection from peeping," Kennon said grimly. "And if

"Be quiet," Alexander snapped. "This isn't your problem. Kennon is behaving like a spoiled child!"

"I'm a Mystic, not a Betan," Blalok said. "I don't have your insane desire for privacy."

"Go find that thought screen if you still have if!" Alexander said. "I don't want any more of this. You're

Kennon grinned thinly as he rose to his feet. It was a good thing he remembered Alexander was squeamish

and didn't like anatomy. The door was to his left, an iris door with eight leaves terribly oldfashioned.

Alexander sighed as Kennon left the room. "I certainly pushed the panic button on that young man," he said.

"He has a pathological attitude toward telepathy. Wonder what he has to hide that he wants privacy so badly?

"Oh, I don't know. He's a pretty emotional sort. Maybe he hates to look like a fool. He's gotten himself mixed

"Oh that's it. I thought that was what he was hiding. A picture of a girl kept popping up." Alexander

chuckled. "I suppose that's the trouble. A man hardly likes to look a fool, particularly to someone who has

warned him. At that, I don't blame him. They are beautiful and affectionate. And even with their superstitions

"They're not better at anything," Jordan demurred. "They can't be man is the best and always will be."

"The eternal racial chauvinist," Alexander murmured. He turned his attention to Blalok. "But for awhile,

Evald, I'd suggest you keep an eye on our young man. I still don't like his reaction. It was too violent too

defensive. I don't feel right about it. Perhaps Betans are more sensitive than most people but it seems to me

that he's trying to conceal something. There was an undertone of fear and something else beneath his

"Couldn't you get any more than that?" Blalok asked. "You're pretty good at this mindreading business."

Well he'd done it now, Kennon thought. He found the thoughtscreen circlet sandwiched between two books

on comparative neuroanatomy which he hadn't bothered to unpack. He slipped it on and connected the lead

wires to a portable battery pack. There was a halfforgotten tingling as the weak field heterodyned his

thought waves. Kennon sighed. If Alexander wasn't suspicious of him now the man was a fool. He'd done as

well as he could with confusion and outrage, but it was hardly possible to hide behind superficialities. Even

the most disciplined mind couldn't do that without some preparation. Undoubtedly his concern about Copper

had leaked through. He could only hope that other and more important things had not.

Well he could go back to the conference now, but he would have to be doubly careful from now on. He

couldn't make daily trips to Olympus. His reaction had killed that plan. Alexander would be suspicious now

and unusual actions would crystallize suspicion to certainty. Now he needed a reason to be in that area.

And then he grinned. He had a reason a good one one that would fit in with Alexander's plans and his

own. The only problem would be to make Alexander buy it and that might be difficult. He'd have to work

carefully but with normal luck he could put the idea across. He crossed his fingers as he trudged back up

The conference dragged on. Unlike most meetings, this one accomplished things which was a tribute to

Alexander's ability to keep the subject in hand. Details of the expansion program presented by Alexander

were rapidly reduced to workable plans. They involved some rearrangement of existlng facilities, and the

construction of others. But the obvious snags were rapidly disposed of, and the whole revamped operation

was outlined on paper in surprisingly few hours. A deadline date was set, construction was authorized, and in

the morning the first steps in the practical implementation of the new program would be taken.

"Well, that's that," Alexander said with a sigh. "I think this calls for a drink."

"There's one more thing," Kennon said. "I know it isn't much, but Jordan's remark started me thinking."

"The one you made at the beginning about Phoebe possibly being like the Olympus Station. I've often

wondered why that particular location has been so difficult to operate. Sure, I know the accepted explanation,

but I think we should learn why it works and how to break a tabu. If we don't, we might be in for trouble."

"That's a good thought," Alexander said. "I tried to find out once, but all I could discover was that it was tabu.

The Lani simply didn't like it. And despite the fact that I can read minds, I didn't learn any more than that.

"All I could discover was that their dislike of Olympus was a basic emotion rather than reasoned thought.

They were nervous, irritable, disobedient, and uncooperative while they were there and even they didn't

know why. It was merely tabu. We even tried youngsters but the attitude was the same. I'd like to know

"We should understand it," Kennon agreed. "If we transship a large number of Lani to a strange world, we

should know their deepest motivations. We cannot take the chance that the transplant won't take, with all the

"You have a point there. Have you any suggestions about how to accomplish this?" Alexander's voice was

"Not if you apply experimental procedure," Kennon said. "Divide the place into a number of separate units in

which groups of say ten Lani of various ages are kept. Let every group know where they are, but don't

let them come in contact with one another. Observe them constantly. Put spy cells in the units. Couple them

to recorders. Prepare a set of test situations and observe how each group performs. Question individuals

under narcosynthesis. Observe and record any changes in physical condition give them the works. Maybe

"I think you're right, Kennon," Blalok said. "We should know everything we can."

"What would you do first if you were heading this program?" Alexander asked. He eyed Kennon critically.

"Nothing," Kennon said promptly. "I'm not qualified to run an investigation like this. You need a specialist. I

"Naturally but I do not have the training to prepare a program or evaluate its results. The only thing I

"Possibly I'd need a set of plans of the station, and I couldn't guarantee that the specialist wouldn't want to

make changes. But the physical arrangements should be simple enough to construct."

"If you can do it by then I'll stay over. I'd like to examine this proposal more closely. It has merit. That's the

second constructive suggestion you've made tonight. Despite your peculiar desire for privacy, I'm glad you

Kennon smiled back. Apparently the entrepreneur had taken the bait. But it was too early to tell whether he

had swallowed it without reservation. It all depended upon how much had been given away before he had

discovered that Alexander was a telepath. Perhaps Alexander was merely leading him on. There were too

many intangibles, and there was no way of predicting how it would turn out. But he felt mildly optimistic.

Alexander closed the meeting, and Kennon left promptly. He had a good excuse. There was plenty of work to

do if he was going to prepare an adequate plan for utilizing Olympus Station. Jordan went with him, but

Blalok stayed behind. It was natural enough. Blalok was the administrator, but Kennon felt uneasy. Nor

would he have felt any better if he could have heard what went on after he left.

Alexander looked quizzically at Blalok after the door closed behind the two men.

"Well, Evald, what do you think? Does it strike you that Kennon's sincere or does it sound as though he

"If he does," Blalok said, "I don't know what it could be. I wouldn't take a job on Olympus if you gave it to

"If he doesn't know about the place," Alexander said thoughtfully, "it's probable that his suggestion was

honest. I think it is but I'm not sure. He worries me now that I can't read him. I think I'll send Douglas back

"Why? In my book that'd be a poor choice. After all, you said Kennon saved his life. He should be grateful."

"You don't know Douglas," Alexander said. "He hates Kennon's guts for what he did."

"He made Douglas feel inferior. And there's no surer way to gain my cousin's undying enmity." Alexander

"But in the meantime I want you to keep an eye on Kennon. If his outline is all right, I'm going to authorize

him to set up this experiment. I want to give him every possible chance. I like him and he's done good

Alexander smiled. "Actually," he said with equal dryness, "I distrust everyone."

"If you think this job is easy, you have another think coming," Kennon said bitterly. "I hired out as a

veterinarian, not as a nursemaid for a bunch of psychoneurotic humans and superstitious Lani. The place is

jinxed, they tell me. Ha! Jinxed! Sure it's jinxed! What job wouldn't be with a bunch of goofballs like

"I can't keep a Lani here for two weeks without having her throw a catfit, and the superstitious idiots are

affecting the men who ought to know better! I wish I'd never have opened my big mouth to Alexander! As

"Hey take it easy, man!" Blalok said. "You're heading straight for a nervous breakdown."

"And why shouldn't I?" Kennon asked. "Nothing goes right. There's always trouble. I order materials they

don't arrive. There's worker trouble, equipment trouble, installation trouble. Everybody's cutting corners,

trying to get done faster and away sooner and all they do is mess up work that should have been done

right the first time. We should have been finished last week, but we have another week to go, at least unless

some bumblefingered beanbrain gets another bright idea that sets us back again. I'm sick to death of it!"

"Sorry? What good is that? You and Jordan come up here in relays. Just what do you think you'll find? Or has

Alexander dragged you into keeping an eye on me because I don't like someone snooping inside my skull?"

"Oh, don't make excuses. You know and I know the Bossman is suspicious." Kennon shrugged. "Normally I

wouldn't blame him but it's a damned nuisance with things the way they are. All we have is one more bay and

"Now wait a minute," Blalok said. "Get the kink out of your neck and simmer down. Sure the Bossman

"I don't know." Blalok's face wore the noncommittal look it always wore when he was taking liberties with

"You're probably the worst liar in the galaxy," Kennon chuckled. "He's here to breathe down my neck, isn't

"Keep him off my back for another week and he can breathe all he wants to. I'll be done then."

"That's enough for me." Kennon grinned. "Has he turned Alexandria into a shambles yet?"

"I can't blame them. That young fellow's undiluted poison. By the way, how does he look?"

"The Bossman shipped him to Beta for treatment," Blalok said. "He didn't trust the docs out here."

"I'm sorry, Evald. Even if you knew, I couldn't talk about it. What I know about Douglas is classified!"

"Well Douglas is doing plenty of talking. Claims his stay in the hospital was all your fault."

Kennon shrugged. "That's his opinion. And as long as he stays out of my way he's welcome to it."

Blalok looked at Kennon's haggard face with mild concern, "Doc," he said, "you'd better take it easy. You're

Kennon chuckled wearily. "Sometimes I feel like one. But I'd like to get this job finished."

"Well, I'll do what I can," Blalok said. "I'll try to keep him down at Alexandria for a few days."

"It'll be enough," Kennon said. More than enough he added mentally. The coils of fuel wire were ready to

load, and the power slugs for the ship's reactor were already stored in the power plant building here at

Olympus. Three more days and the old spacer would be as ready to fly as she would ever be. And after that, it

"I'm getting to be a firstclass liar," he remarked wryly to himself as he turned back to the temporary quarters

he was occupying at the station. "And the bad thing about it is that I'm actually enjoying it."

A few weeks ago an admission like that would have been inconceivable. It was odd, he thought, how one

thing led to another and produced an end that could not be foreseen. Now he could lie and dissemble with the

best. He had no compunction about falsifying a requisition, or stealing what he could not obtain with

apparent honesty. His character had sunk to an alltime low, he reflected with grim humor as he walked into

the shadow of the main building. Neither Blalok's nor Jordan's frequent visits bothered him. Both men were

creatures of habit and both were married. They stayed home at night and it was nighttime that he worked

on the spacer. The project afforded him a perfect cover and it was only minutes by jeep away from the crater.

Even so, the double duty was an appalling task. And it would have been impossible if it wasn't for Copper.

Her quick fingers, keen eyesight, and uncanny memory made the work seem simple, and neither the

tediousness of repairing miles of circuitry nor the depressing environment of Olympus Station seemed to

bother her. While he worked with the men on the project she restored and reassembled circuits in his quarters

and at night they replaced them in the old ship. And the GodEgg was rapidly becoming operational.

Kennon wondered what it was about Copper that made her so different from the rest. Olympus didn't bother

her at all. In fact she seemed to thrive on the depressing atmosphere that filled the Station. Perhaps it was

because she had violated the tabu about the GodEgg so often that ordinary superstition had no effect upon

her. He shrugged. He had troubles enough without worrying about Copper's motivations, and not the least of

Kennon looked forward to blastoff with distinct misgivings. There was too much about the ancient spacer

Basically the ship was an ionjet job with atomic primaries and a spindizzy converter that might possibly

take her up as high as middle yellow Cth far enough to give her a good turn of speed, but not enough to

compensate for timelag. Her screens were monstrosities, double polyphase lattices that looked about as

spacetight as so many sieves. There were no acceleration dampers, no temporal compensators, no autopilot,

no fourspace computer, and the primaries operated on nuclear rather than binding energy. The control chairs

weren't equipped with forcefields, but instead had incredibly primitive safety webs that held one in place by

sheer tensile strength. Taking a ship like that into space was an open invitation to suicide. A man needed a

combination of foolhardy bravery and incredible fatalism to blast off in a can like this. He had the stimulus,

but the knowledge of what he would face troubled him more than he cared to admit. More and more, as he

understood the ship, he was amazed at the courage of the ancients who had blithely leaped into hyperspace in

these flying coffins with no more motivation than to see what was beyond the nearest star. And in ships more

primitive than this men had swept through the star systems nearest Earth in the outward expansion of the First

He sighed. The breed of man must have been tough in the old days and he'd soon be finding out if any of

Copper was sitting in his favorite chair, a pile of completed assemblies neatly stacked beside her, and a

disorderly file of crumpled cloth at her feet. Her face was sullen as she looked up at him. "I've had about all

of this I'm going to take," she said mutinously as she stirred the heap of cloth with a bare foot. "Not even you

Kennon sighed. It was the same old story. For months he had been trying patiently to indoctrinate Copper

with a minimum of civilized habits, but she was quite literally a savage. In her entire lifetime she had never

worn clothing, and to encase her body in hose, kilts, blouse, and sandals was a form of torture. She scratched,

wiggled, and twisted at the garments until she looked as bad as she felt, and would usually finish a session by

"You must act like a civilized human being," Kennon said mildly. "You're simply going to have to learn to

"That's not the point. You are going to be living in human society and you must act human. The only planet

"I've explained it time and again. We'll have to go to Beta. That's the only place I know where you'll have a

fair hearlng. And on Beta people wear clothes. They have to. It's cold, even in summer, and in the wintertime,

She looked at him with mutiny on her face. "All right, slave driver," she muttered as she picked up the

"And try to wear those garments more gracefully. You make them look like a sack."

"You haven't much time to get used to them," Kennon said. "We're leaving this week."

"Yes and you'll wear those things to the ship, into the ship, and all the time we're on the ship. You'll keep

Copper giggled. The sound was utterly unexpected, and completely incongruous. That was the wonder of her,

Kennon reflected. Her mercurial temperament made life something that was continually exciting She was a

It was the last trip. Kennon loaded the jeep with the lastminute items he would need. The four reactor cores

in their lead cases went aboard last and were packed inside a pile of leadblock shielding.

He helped Copper in and looked back without regret as the bulk of Olympus Station vanished below him in

the dusk. The last of the work crew had left that afternoon. The station was ready for occupancy. His

assignment had been completed. He felt an odd pleasure at having finished the job. Alexander might not be

happy about his subsequent actions, but he could have no complaint about what he did while he was here.

"All right scared. We're going to try to make the GodEgg fly again. Not only is it sacrilege, but as you've

"I know you've pointed them out often enough," Copper said. "And since you decided to go I'd go with

"You're quite a girl," Kennon said admiringly. "Did I ever tell you that I love you?"

"Not nearly often enough," Copper said. "You could do it every day and I'd never get tired of hearing it."

The jeep settled over the lava wall. "We'll leave it in the passageway when we're through," Kennon said.

"And since we have plenty of time, we might as well be neat about our departure."

Douglas Alexander checked the radarscope and whistled in surprise at the picture it revealed. "So that's where

he's going," he said softly to himself. "Cousin Alex was right as usual." He grimaced unpleasantly. "He's up

to something that's for sure." His face twisted into an expression that was half sneer, half triumph. "This is

going to be fun." He moved the control, and his airboat, hovering silently at five thousand meters, dropped

toward the ground in free fall as Douglas loosened the Burkholtz in the holster at his waist. "But what is he

doing?" he muttered. The question hung unanswered in the still air of the cabin as the airboat dropped

Douglas hadn't been impressed with Blalok's attempt at a delaying action. Normally he might have been, but

his fear of his cousin was greater than his respect for Blalok. The superintendent had only succeeded in

accomplishing something he had not intended when he had tried to dissuade Douglas from visiting Kennon.

He had made Douglas cautious. The airboat and longrange surveillance had been the result. For the past two

nights Douglas had hung over Olympus Station, checking the place to leave at dawn when the new day's

work began. For two nights Kennon had been lucky. He had departed for the Egg shortly before Douglas took

up his station, and had returned after the watcher had called it a night and had returned home. But this last

"Wonder who's the girl with him?" Douglas said as the boat plunged down. "Well, I'll be finding out in a

Kennon's head jerked upward at the sound of air whistling past the airboat's hull, and a wave of icy coldness

swept through his chest. There was no question that he was discovered. His shoulders sagged.

"Well it was a good try," he said bitterly as Copper looked at him with sudden terror on her face.

The airboat settled softly on the ash in front of him, the door snapped open and Douglas dropped to the

"My, my," Douglas said, "what have we here? Dr. Kennon and a woman! I thought better of you than that,

Doctor. And all dressed up in antiradiation suits. This is interesting. Just what are you doing up here on the

"You might call it that," Kennon said. His body sagged with relief. Douglas thank Ochsner it was Douglas!

Douglas jerked his head toward Copper, standing a few feet to his left. "Who is she?"

"None of your business," Kennon snapped, hoping that his outburst covered Copper's gasp of surprise and

Kennon blinked. Could it be that Douglas didn't know? Had he been watching them on radar? Durilium was

radartransparent. It absorbed and dissipated electromagnetic waves rather than reflecting them. For a second

"Stand where you are," Douglas said as he stepped over to the halfparalyzed Copper and jerked the hood

back from her face. For a moment he looked puzzled. "Just who are you?" he demanded. "I don't recall seeing

Douglas laughed. It wasn't a nice sound. "All dressed up?" he asked. "Nice work."

"Go ahead," Kennon said, "but if you do, you'll never find out what we're doing up here."

"There's a reason why Copper's wearing that suit," Kennon continued, "and you won't know that either."

The Burkholtz swiveled around to point at Kennon's belly. "I've had about enough of this. Let's have it. Tell

"I'll do better than that," Kennon said promptly. "I'll show you. You'll be surprised at what we've uncovered."

He made his muscles relax, and forced himself to speak naturally. Copper, he noted, was still rigid with

terror. The Alexanders any of them were everything he had said they were. They were the masters

here. And despite Copper's boast, she was as susceptible to their influence as any other Lani.

"All right," Douglas said, "show me this thing I'd never be able to find without your help." He half turned to

"Yes, Man Douglas," Copper replied. Her voice was flat, colorless, and submissive.

Kennon shuddered. He had never heard precisely that tone from her before. One word from Douglas and she

had become a zombie a mindless muscle preparation that existed only to obey. Anger filled him anger

that one he loved could be ordered by someone who wasn't worth a third of her anger that she obeyed

anger at his own impotence and frustration. It wasn't a clean anger. It was a dark, redsplashed thing that

struggled and writhed inside him, a fierce unreasoning rage that seethed and bubbled yet could not break free.

For an instant, with blinding clarity, Kennon understood the feelings of the caged male Lani on Otpen One.

Kennon walked straight up to the pit and pointed down at the dark bulk of the Egg., concealed in the shadows

"No you don't! I know that trick. You're not going to blind me. Take that torch loose carefully that's it

now hand it to me." Douglas' hand closed over the smooth plastic. Cautiously he turned on the beam and

"A spacer!" he gasped. "How did that get here?" He leaned forward to look into the pit as a dark shadow

Kennon choked back the involuntary cry of warning that rose in his throat. Copper! His muscles tensed as her

arm came up and down a shadow almost invisible in the starlight. The leaning figure of Douglas collapsed

like a puppet whose strings had been suddenly released. The torch dropped from his hand and went bouncing

and winking down the wall of the pit, followed by Douglas a limp bundle of arms and legs that rotated

grotesquely as he disappeared down the slope. Starlight gleamed on the Burkholtz lying on the lip of the

"I told you that not even Man Alexander could order me since I gave my love to you," Copper said smugly as

she peered over the edge of the pit, a chunk of lava gripped in one small capable hand. "Maybe this proves

"Douglas isn't Alexander," Kennon said slowly as he picked up the blaster, "but I believe you."

"I told you," Kennon said, "that I never destroy things unnecessarily not even things like Douglas."

"That's no excuse for murder. Now go back to the jeep and fetch a rope. I'll go down and get him out."

"Do we have to bother with him?" Copper asked, and then shrugged. It was an eloquent gesture expressing

disgust, resignation, and unwilling compliance in one lift of smoothly muscled shoulders.

"There's no question about it," Kennon said. "You're becoming more human every day."

He chuckled as he slid over the edge of the pit following the path Douglas had taken a moment before. He

"Copper hit you on the head with a rock," Kennon said as he bent over and retrieved the torch, still burning

"Maybe this spacer's a lie too. Her ancestors came in it a pair of humans named Alfred and Melissa

Weygand. They were Christian missionaries from a planet called Heaven out in Ophiuchus Sector. Went out

to convert aliens and landed here when their fuel ran out." Kennon paused. "That was about four millennia

ago. Their descendants, naturally, reverted to barbarism in a few generations, but there's enough evidence in

"Mutation," Kennon replied. "Those old spindizzy converters weren't too choosy about how they scattered

radiation. And they had come a long way." He paused, looking down at Douglas, feeling a twinge of pity for

the man. His world was crumbling. "And there was no other human blood available to filter out their

peculiarities. It might have been done during the first couple of generations, but constant inbreeding fixed the

"Sorry to disappoint you. Your grandfather used the wrong sort of sperm. Now if there had been a Betan in

Kennon nodded. "There's been mutation on Beta," he said. "And it's apparently a similar one to hers.

Douglas's shoulders sagged, and then straightened. "I don't believe it," he said. "You're just a damned

sneaking spy. Somehow or other you got a spacer in here after you wormed your way into Cousin Alex's

confidence and now you're going to space out with the nucleus of a new farm. Just wait. When Alex

"Don't babble like a fool!" Kennon said with disgust. "How could I land a spacer here without being spotted?

You sound like a twocredit novel. And even if I did would it be a can like this?" Kennon played the

Douglas' eyes widened as he took in the details of construction. "What an antique!" he blurted. "Where did

"You won't believe," Kennon said flatly, "because you don't dare believe. You have a mental block. You've

killed, maimed, tortured treated them like animals and now your mind shrinks from admitting they're

human. You know what will happen if the old court decision is reversed. It will wreck your little empire, dry

up your money, break you and you can't stand the thought of that. You don't dare let us leave, yet you

can't stop us because I have your blaster and I'd just as soon shoot you as look at your rotten face. Now get on

your feet and start climbing if you want to stay alive. We're getting out of here, and you'll fry inside this pit."

"Back to your airboat. I'm going to tie you up and set you off on autopilot. You'll be able to get loose quickly

enough but it'll be too late to stop us. We'll be gone, and you can think of how you'll manage to face the

"We might. But you'll never know for sure. But mark this if I live I'll be back with the Brotherhood. You

They struggled up the side of the pit and halted, panting, on the rim. "How much radiation was down there?"

"That's good." Douglas accepted the statement at face value, a fact which failed to surprise Kennon. "You

know," he said, "I've been around Lani all my life. And I know that they're not human. No selfrespecting

"Their ancestors didn't," Kennon said. "They fought to the end. But your Grandfather was a smart man even

"He realized," Kennon went on, "that he'd never succeed in enslaving the Lani unless he separated the sexes.

And since women are more subjective in their outlook and more pliable he picked them for his slaves.

The males he retired to stud. Probably the fact that there were more women than men helped him make up his

"In every society," Kennon went on inexorably, "there are potential freeman and potential slaves. The latter

invariably outnumber the former. They're cowards: the timid, the unsacrificing the ones that want peace at

any price the ones who will trade freedom for security. Those were the ones who hid rather than risk their

lives fighting the aggressor. Those were the ones who survived. Old Alexander had a readymade slave cadre

when be finished off the last of the warriors. For four centuries the survivors have been bred and selected to

perpetuate slave traits. And the system works. The men don't want freedom they want liberty to kill each

other. The women don't want freedom they want males. And they'd serve them precisely as the Sarkian

women serve their menfolk. You've killed any chance they had to become a civilization. It's going to take

generations perhaps before they're reoriented. There's plenty you Alexanders should answer for."

"If there's any fault, it's yours," Douglas snarled. "We were doing all right until you came here. We'd still be

doing all right if I had shot you both." His shoulders sagged. "I should have killed you when I had the

"But you didn't," Kennon said, "and to show my gratitude I'm letting you get away with a whole skin. I don't

expect you to be grateful, but at least you'll not be on my conscience. I don't enjoy killing, not even things

"Yet you'd destroy the family, wreck Outworld Enterprises, and throw a whole world into chaos over a few

"Not ours," Douglas said promptly. "If there is any fault it's that of the court who decided they were

"Why should we? Does one treat a shrake like a brother? or a varl? or a dog? We treat them like the

animals they are. And we've done no worse with the Lani. Our consciences are clear."

Kennon laughed humorlessly. "Yet this clear conscience makes you want to kill me, so you can keep on

"I know nothing of the sort. But you're right about the killing, I'd kill you cheerfully if I had the chance. It's

our necks if you get away with this. Of course, you probably won't, but why take the chance. I like my neck

"You're honest at any rate," Kennon admitted. "And in a way I don't blame you. To you it's probably better to

be a rich slaver living off the legacy of a Degrader than a penniless humanitarian. But you've lost your

Douglas screamed with rage. He whirled on Kennon, his face a distorted mask of hate.

"Hold it!" Kennon barked. "I don't want to kill you, but I'll burn a hole clear through your rotten carcass if

Douglas spat contemptuously. "You haven't got the guts," he snarled. But he didn't move.

"Just stand still very still," Kennon said softly. The iron in his voice was not hidden by the quiet tone.

Douglas shivered. "I'll get you yet," he said, but there was no force in the threat.

"Here's the rope you wanted," Copper said as she emerged abruptly from the darkness. "I had a hard time

"You haven't been too long," Kennon said. "Now tie Douglas' hands behind him while I keep him covered."

"I'm frightened," Copper said, twisting uncomfortably in the shock chair beside Kennon's.

"After you have been so brave?" Kennon asked. "That's nonsense. It's just nervous reaction. Now web in like

"All right but I have a feeling that this isn't right. Something is going to go wrong."

"I hope you don't have precognition." Kennon smiled. "I've checked everything. The ship is as good as she'll

He flipped the switches that would send the fuel rods into the reactor. Below them a soft, barely audible

whine ascended the sonic scale to a point of irritating inaudibility. Kennon smiled. The spindizzy was

functioning properly. He flipped a second bank of switches and a dull roar came from the buried stem. Ashes

and pumice heated to incandescence were blown through the air. Molten drops of radioactive lava skittered

across the durilium hull as Kennon advanced the power. The whole stem of the ship was immersed in a

seething lake of bolling rock as the Egg lifted slowly with ponderous dignity into the night sky.

"Hang on!" Kennon said. "I'm going to hyper." His hand moved a red lever and the Egg shimmered and

vanished with a peculiar wrenching motion into an impossible direction that the mind could not grasp. And

the interceptor missile from Otpen One nosed through the space the Egg had occupied.

"We made it!" Kennon said, looking across the writhing semifluid control board, shifting oddly in the harsh

yellow monochromatic light that pervaded the cabin. The screens were leaking like sieves, but they were

holding well enough to keep Cth yellow from being anything more than an annoyance. He glanced over at

Copper, a fantastically elongated Copper who looked like a madman's dream of chaos.

And Copper screamed! The sound echoed and reechoed, dying away with a lingering discordant

Copper screamed again and her elongated figure suddenly foreshortened and collapsed into a small writhing

ball from which two small pink hands emerged clutching at a gelid mass of air that flowed sluggishly around

And Kennon knew what he had forgotten! Hyperspace with leaky screens was nothing to inflict upon an

unprepared mind. It is one thing to endure partial exposure after months of training, with experienced medics

standing by to help you through the shock phase, but quite another to be thrust from a safe and sheltered

The Egg was old. Her screens, never good at best, were hardly more than filters. Through the hull, through

the drive lattice, the viciously distorted Cth environment seeped into the ship turning prosaic shapes of

controls and instruments into writhing masses of obscene horror that sent extensions wiggling off into

nothingness at eyeaching angles. A spaceman could take this knowing it wasn't real but a tyro could

Copper collapsed. Her mind, assaulted by sensations no untrained person should experience, went into shock.

But she wasn't granted the mercy of unconsciousness. Terrified by a pseudo reality that surpassed her wildest

nightmares, she stared wideeyed at the control room and the thing that had been Kennon. She screamed

until her throat was raw, until the monster beside her touched her with Kennon's hands. Then, mercifully, she

Kennon stared glumly at the controls. Fleming alone knew how many objective years were passing outside as

they hurtled through fourspace. Subjectively it would only be hours aboard the Egg, but a decade or

maybe a century might pass outside this mad universe where neither time nor speed had meaning. The old

ships didn't have temporal compensators, nor could they travel through upper bands of Cth where subjective

and objective time were more nearly equal. They were trapped in a semistasis of time as the ship fled on

The Egg slipped smoothly out of the hyper jump, back into the normal universe. Beta floated above them, the

"Couldn't hit it that good again in a hundred tries," Kennon gloated. "Halfway across the galaxy and right

on the nose." He looked at the shock chair beside him. Copper was curled into a tight ball inside the confining

safety web, knees drawn up, back bent, head down arms wrapped protectingly around her legs the fetal

He shook her shoulder no response. Her pulse was thready and irregular. Her breathing was shallow. Her

lips were blue. Her condition was obvious space shock extreme grade. She'd need medical attention if

"Just why, you educated nitwit," he snarled at himself, "didn't you have sense enough to give her that

injection of Sonmol before we hypered! You haven't the sense of a decerebrate Capellan grackle!"

He turned on the radio. "Emergency!" he said. "Any station! Spaceshock case aboard. Extreme urgency."

"Pilot Kennon, Jac, Beta 47M 26429. I have no I.D. for the ship and you'll see why when I land. Over."

"Hunterstown Port to Kennon. You are not repeat not cleared to land. Go into orbit and report your

"Sorry, Hunterstown. You wouldn't have checked in if you didn't have room, and a hospital. This is an

"All right we have you on the scope. But this is a class one violation. You may come in on Landing Beam

"I'm matching intrinsics over your port. Talk me in when I break through the overcast."

Kennon lowered the Egg through the overcast. Ground control picked him up smoothly and took him down

as though it had been rehearsed. The Egg touched down in the radioactive area of the port. Decontamination

"Ochsner! what sort of a ship is that?" Ground Control's startled voice came over the annunciator.

Kennon opened the airlock and two radiationsuited men entered. "At least you had sense enough to wear

protective clothing in this hotbox," one said as they carefully unwebbed Copper and carried her out of the

"What should you care? You've nearly killed her. The idea of taking a pregnant woman up in this death trap!

"I had to," Kennon said. "I had to. It was a matter of life and death." For once, he thought wryly, the cliche

The Betan's face behind the transparent helmet was disgusted and unbelieving. "I hear that sort of thing every

"You'd believe it if you'd have been where I was," Kennon muttered. "Now whe're are you taking her?" he

The man arched blond eyebrows. "To the local Medical Center where else? There's only one in this area."

He watched the ambulance flit off as he waited for the Spaceport Patrol. There was no further need for the

protection suit, so he peeled it off and hung it in the controlroom locker. Copper was right, he mused. It did

The Port Captain's men were late as usual moving gingerly through the radiation area. A noncom gestured

The noncom's face sobered. "Why didn't you say so? All you said was that it was an emergency."

They drove to the Port Office, where Kennon expected and got a bad time from the port officials. He

filled out numerous forms, signed affidavits, explained his unauthorized landing, showed his spaceman's

ticket, defended his act of piloting without an uptodate license, signed more forms, entered a claim for

salvage rights to the Egg, and finally when the Legal Division, the Traffic Control Division, the Spaceport

Safety Office, Customs, Immigration, and Travelers Aid had finished with him, he was ushered into the

The redfaced chunky officer eyed him with a cold stare. "You'll be lucky, young man, if you get out of this

It didn't, Kennon thought. But there was no sense telling all of it to a Port Captain. Under no circumstances

could the man be any help to him. He had neither the power nor the prestige to request a Brotherhood Board

of Inquiry. In rank, he was hardly more than a glorified Traffic Control officer. It would do no good to tell

him an improbable tale of slavery on a distant planet. The only thing to do was wait out the storm and hope it

would pass. If worst came to worst he'd use his rank, but he'd made enough stir already. He doubted if the

Captain had authority to order him into Detention but he was certain to get a lecture. These minor officials

loved to tell someone off. He gritted his teeth. He'd endure it for Copper's sake and to get out of here

quietly. Alexander would undoubtedly have agents posted by now, and his only chance for temporary

He sat quietly, his flushed face and tight jaw muscles betraying his impatience as the Captain paced up and

down and talked on and on. The man sounded like he could go for hours. With increasing impatience Kennon

listened to the cadenced flow of complaint and condemnation, occasionally inserting a "Yes, sir" or "Sorry,

However, there had to be a breaking point somewhere, and the monotony was beginning to wear his temper

"Come in," the Port Captain said, breaking off in midtirade. The change in his manner was so abrupt that

"You never let me tell you," Kennon said mildly, "that my landing here was a matter of medicine.

"Against your gale of wind I would be but a faint breeze," Kennon said coldly. He turned to the interne. 'Tm

"I'm Smalley, sir, from the medical center. Dr. Brainard sends his compliments and requests that you join him

"Don't worry about it, Doctor. I'll relinquish responsibility to Dr. Brainard," the Captain said.

"I have placed a formal written request with your office," Smalley said stiffly. "You are relieved of further

The Captain looked relieved. On Beta it was poor policy to interfere with the doings of doctors and engineers

"Very well. He's yours and I'm glad to be rid of him." The Port Captain bowed to Kennon and Smalley

"Oh you know these Administrative people," the interne said depreciatingly. "One mustn't mind them.

They're necessary nuisances." He eyed Kennon curiously. "How is it that you didn't stand on your

"Manners, Doctor manners." Kennon's voice was gentle but the interne flushed a dull red.

"Don't mention it. It's normal for a graduate to confuse liberty with license." Kennon smiled. "Don't worry. I

"That's good of you, sir." Smalley's face registered relief. Demerits were difficult to erase particularly

Kennon wondered if the young man would report himself. He doubted it. The interne didn't look the type

probably he was dated for some obscure job, like a general practitioner. He shrugged. It took all kinds to

"That girl you brought in," Smalley said as they entered a white car emblazoned with the three crosses, red,

blue, and green, that represented the three fields of medicine. "She's an interesting case. I've never seen space

shock before. And the patient herself one would hardly believe she was a Betan."

"So?" Blond eyebrows rose in inverted U's of surprise. "But that's hardly possible. Our tests indicate"

"Don't you think that this is a matter for Dr. Brainard?" Kennon said icily. "Protocol"

"Of course. Stupid of me but the case is so interesting. Half the center staff have seen her already. I wasn't

proposing to discuss the case. It wouldn't be proper. Even though you are only a veterinarian."

"Only?" Kennon's voice was hard. "I shouldn't have to remind you of this, Mr. Smalley but I have been

for the past two years on a world of bad manners. I expected better here at home."

Smalley flushed to the roots of his strawcolored hair. "Sorry, Doctor," he muttered. "I don't know what's the

Kennon nodded. Ten years lost. Not bad not bad at all. But Alexander could have done a lot in ten years.

"I know it. But if you intend to practice on Beta, you'd better polish your professional manner. Now where I

"It was impossible to discourage them," Kennon said. "After all, when the man who hires you"

The car stopped in front of the Medical Center's staff entrance. "This way, sir," Smalley said. He led the way

down a greentiled corridor to an elevator then down another corridor past a pair of softfooted nurses

who eyed them curiously looking at Kennon's tunic and sandals with mild disapproval in their eyes.

Kennon liked the man instantly. A plump, pinkcheeked man of middle age, with prematurely white hair, Dr.

Will Brainard combined a fatherly appearance with an impression of quick intelligence. The fat that sheathed

his stocky body had obviously not touched his mind. Brainard rose from the deep chair near the window

where he had been sitting, knocked the ashes from his pipe, and bowed stiffly. His eyes sharp points of

"So you're the young man who takes untrained pregnant women for rides in oldfashioned spacers," he said.

"Obviously. Now tell me about it." Brainard looked at the eagerfaced interne standing behind Kennon.

Kennon waited until the door closed. "Ordinarily," he said, "I'd never have done a thing like that, but there

were some very pressing reasons. However, I should have given her an injection of Somnol before we started.

I'm criminally liable. If anything happens to her" His voice was tight with worry.

"Oh, she'll be fine. A little mental therapy and plenty of rest are all she needs. She's a remarkably healthy

young woman. But this is beside the point. There are a number of unusual features about this case that need

investigation." Brainard took a standard hospital form from his desk. "Mind if I ask you some questions,

"Not at all but you are due for some unpleasant shocks as you go through that form."

"This is the most amazing tale I've ever heard," Brainard said slowly. "Are you certain you are telling the

Kennon grinned. "I don't blame you for not believing me but the evidence is conclusive, and there is

enough documentary evidence in the space ship and in the fact of the ship itself to prove what I am

saying. Laboratory tests here will establish the fact that Copper's child is also mine. And as for Flora, a

Brainard smiled. "That wasn't hard. Her sun tan and the condition of her feet proved she was a practicing

nudist. No Betan girl ever practices nudism to my knowledge. Besides, the I.D. tattoo under her left arm and

the V on her hip are no marks of our culture. Then there was another thing the serological analysis

revealed no gerontal antibodies. She had never received an injection of longevity compound in her life. This

might occur, but it's highly improbable. The evidence indicates that she's extraBetan."

"But this business of her being fifteen years old! That's impossible. She has the development of a woman of

"Of course oh I see! It could be something like that. Certainly strong yellow Gtype sun an

isolated colony serviced at twentyyear intervals there was a marked physical precocity."

"Hmm I see. Yes, it's possible. On Alpha V the colonists grew from infancy to maturity in fifteen years."

"Yes it was established after the Great Schism near the end of the First Millennium when science and

religion split irrevocably on this world. We packed the whole lot of them off to a world of their own where

they could develop as they pleased. They called it Heaven odd name for a fogworld but there's no

"I thought that was the case, but I couldn't remember. My ancient history is pretty weak."

"You should read more," Brainard said. "But as I see it this girl is of Betan ancestry providing your theory

"Which could also explain why an outworld species of agerone would be toxic. They tried to prolong Lani

"Just as we are a mutant race," Brainard said, "or partly mutant." He sighed. "You have brought us a great

deal of trouble, Kennon. You are bringing matters to a head. If our investigations prove your statements, we

are morally bound to open the Lani question. And if those people are of Betan origin that fellow

"I don't believe it is really his fault," Kennon said slowly. "I don't think he has ever known the truth."

"The answer to that should be obvious. Even though I trusted him completely, I could never be sure. He has a

Free Trader background and those people can't he trusted where money's concerned. The whole Kardonian

culture is an outgrowth of Free Traderism: small business, independent corporation, linear trusts, and all the

cutthroat competition such a culture would naturally have. It's a regular jungle of Free Enterprise. I couldn't

predict how he would react. He could either act in a moral manner and make restitution, or he could quietly

"Disgusting utterly uncivilized! Under the circumstances you had no other course. Still, they have no

"There is always the element of doubt. Maybe they didn't know. After all, an impartial court declared the

"One doesn't go around broadcasting data on the variations of one's germ plasm," Brainard said. "That's a

Brainard nodded. "We're no more courageous than any other civilization. We have no desire to borrow

"That's the trouble," Kennon said. "We're all content to leave things alone. If I hadn't found the spaceship I'd

not have been able to lay aside my moral conditioning. And if I had not, Copper would not have become

pregnant and forced me into these drastic actions. It's even possible that I would have done nothing." He

grimaced. "And when I left Alexander's employment mnemonic erasure would have removed all memory of

the Lani's human origin." He shrugged. "I still am not certain that it wouldn't have been the wiser course.

"Naturally," Brainard said. "Humanity reaches the heights when it faces questions of moral responsibility."

"To mankind," Kennon added heavily. "We have a convenient blind spot regarding our moral responsibility

"A harsh fact, but true and who is to judge whether it is right or wrong? We achieved dominance of Earth

by our moral responsibility to family, tribe, and nation and we nearly exterminated ourselves when we

forgot that this responsibility went beyond nations and embraced all mankind. We learned that after the

Exodus. As for the other races perhaps someday we will learn moral responsibility for all intelligence

but we are not ready for that yet. That's too big a mental hurdle." Brainard sighed. "We are what we are, and

"I know. I'll have to make a transcript of this discussion, have it witnessed, and make a sealed record. I have

to arrange for the reposition of the evidence inside the Egg, and a complete recording of the Egg itself."

"And to be safe you'll need several facsimiles, properly attested. The arms of these outworld entrepreneurs

"Let me help you,"Brainard said. "I have a little influence in this area and your cause interests me." He

"Formalize our mating as soon as she is able to get out of bed," Kennon replied.

"She is an ignorant, untrained savage!" Brainard protested. "You should hear the stories the nurses tell about

Kennon chuckled. "You don't have to tell me about those. I've lived with Lani for two years. But she's not

"After we establish her humanity legally," Kennon said, "I'm going to send her to school."

"If necessary. But I don't think it will take that long. She has some schooling."

"I have plans for that. I'm going back to Kardon and give Alexander a chance to make restitution. I think he is

an honorable man. Slavery may be as revolting to him as it is to any civilized human. He deserves a chance to

"Furthermore, it's practical," Kennon said. "Alexander is the only one fully qualified to handle the problems

of enfranchisement. He's known the Lani all his life, and he is an executive type. A Brotherhood committee

would probably botch the whole affair. What with colonial jurisdiction, territorial rights, and all the legal

quibbling that committees love, the Lani would get a poor deal. And there's no reason to wreck the lives of a

couple of hundred million Kardonians because the rightful owners of Kardon were illegally enslaved. That

happened too long ago to have any practical meaning. There are other and better solutions."

"How should I know?" Kennon asked. "But I'm sure Alexander will. That's his field."

"He'll cooperate once he knows the score," Kennon said confidently. "And he'll have to make some form of

restitution. But it shouldn't involve Kardon. Actually the Lani were never in a position to develop that world.

They'd probably have remained on Flora indefinitely. The old court records showed no tendency for their

culture to expand. They were an inbred group, a static, balanced society in harmony with their environment.

In nearly thirtyfive hundred years their numbers increased only to a few thousand. Actually there is a good

possibility that the race would ultimately have died out if Old Alexander hadn't enslaved them and instituted

a controlled breeding program. There are more Lani alive today than there were at the height of their power.

So in a way Old Alexander did them a favor. He kept their race alive. All we can expect is a fair and just

"That's where you come in. You'll be a watchdog. If you don't receive annual progress reports from me

and see or talk to me personally every second year, you are released from our bond and can do what you wish

"We'd better get this into Private Record," Brainard said. "We can transcribe an agreement and place it in the

"A good idea and we'd better waste no time. Alexander might still be looking for me and if he is, it's

"Ten years have passed. It's doubtful. But we could keep you here at the Center."

Kennon shook his head. "Too dangerous. And besides it would compromise you. No we'll get everything

possible done to make the Lani's case airtight, and then I'll return to Kardon. It will put our case in a better

light if it ever comes to trial, if I go back voluntarily. Anyway I'm morally bound to return. Now let's

"It's your decision," Brainard said. "And it's your neck but I must admit that I agree with you."

"Of course. I'll give her personal attention, and after she has her child I'll see that she is sent to you."

"It's my moral responsibility," Brainard said as he slipped a new tape into the recorder.

Copper responded quickly to rest and therapy. The space shock cleared up quickly. The gerontological

treatments put her to bed again, but within a month she was completely normal, and her lifespan was now that

of a normal human. She could look forward to some four hundred years with Kennon and the prospect

was not unpleasant. The Center fascinated her. Never before had she seen a hospital devoted to the care and

treatment of humans. It was a far cry, in its polished steel and stone magnificence, from the tiny primitive

structure over which Kennon had presided. Yet both places served the same purpose. Perhaps Kennon was

right that there was no difference between man and Lani. The idea was not nearly as unbelievable as it

"I never realized what it meant to be human," Copper said as she held Kennon's hand. "It is nice to feel

important and to know that our child is a member of the race that rules the galaxy."

"Well," Copper smiled, "I didn't think you wanted a stupid woman. I can read and since you are around so

seldom nowadays, there is little else to do. I've been reading history, medicine, and novels," she finished

"A fine catholic selection," Kennon said, "Now if you add mathematics, sociology, and philosophy you'll

"Dr. Brainard has been trying something he calls 'hypno.' He says it will help me learn faster. But I can't see

"That technique is only good for implanting basic knowledge, and much of that will merely supplement or

"Of course, you'll have to continue your formal education. There's a great deal for you to learn. It should keep

"I think not. After all, ten years have elapsed since we left there and he's had plenty of time to think. Douglas

must have told him about us. I wouldn't be surprised if he has already done something about your people."

She shivered. "He might but the question is what would he do? He could have killed them all!"

Kennon shook his head. "I don't think so. He never struck me as a mass murderer."

She shook her head. "You don't know the Alexanders like I do. I was raised by them. They're capable of

anything. But what is this business of ten years? That's silly. I haven't had my child yet and it doesn't take

"It's the difference between subjective and objective time," Kennon said. "We traveled here through

hyperspace low Cth in an uncompensated ship, and there is little temporal flow in the levels below the

Kennon chuckled. "That would have been Greek to you a couple of weeks ago. See where that basic data

Copper shook her head. "It's very strange," she said. "But that's not important. This idea of going back to

"I have to do it. Not only because it's a personal moral obligation but also because of the Lani. They must

"Stop being a calamity howler. Whatever Alexander may be, he's not a butcher. He even loved a Lani once.

She nodded. "I suppose you're right, but I've never lost my fear of the Man Alexander. He held the power of

life and death over me. But if you must go then I should go too. My obligation is greater than yours."

"Later," Kennon said. "You're not ready to return. It will be time enough after you have learned some

Copper's face lengthened. "You mean like wrapping myself in cloth like these people do?"

"Why can't they be sensible or are they so ashamed of what the gods gave them that they must hide

"No, it's not that. At least not exactly. It's custom. And you must learn to conform to customs outwardly at

"Isn't that strange. Your society exalts truth, honor, morality, and intelligence yet you lie about your

"It's called diplomacy," Kennon said. "It's part of respect for others' attitudes and beliefs, a necessary part of

"Of course even though I think it isn't proper, I couldn't inflict my ideas and attitudes on the customs of an

"I'll try to be civilized," Copper said. "But if you go to Kardon I'm going with you."

"To be honest no," Kennon said. "You're safe here, and until your status is cleared by a Brotherhood

court, I wouldn't care to place you in Alexander's hands. And clearing your status is going to take time."

"Yes. But there is a legal doubt that will prevent him from exercising his claim as long as you stay on Beta. In

the area where he has power, that doubt might not hold. So until your status is definitely proven to be human,

"Then we appeal to the Council. However, with the evidence we have, your claim cannot reasonably be

denied. The only question is one of time. It may take years. Still, I don't think there is anything to worry

about. I don't think Alexander will give us any trouble, but there's no sense in taking chances."

"That isn't hard. I think you should stay here until I get this business straightened out."

"That's all?" she asked suspiciously. "After all, I know I'm not very pretty now. And there's lots of Lani on

Oh, for Ochsner's sake! Do you think that I'm" He paused, speechless. "Just what do you think I am?"

"Sometimes I wonder why men ever finalize their status with women," Kennon murmured. "It does no good.

It doesn't convince the woman. She's still fearful, jealous, and suspicious always belittling her ability to

hold what she has, always alert for competition, clinging, holding, absorbing when she should be working

Kennon shrugged. There was no sense arguing. The only thing to do was make his plans and leave quietly. If

she was faced with an established fact, she might be more reasonable. He doubted it, but alone, she could do

nothing and Brainard would see that she was comfortable. The salvage money from the Egg would keep

her from being a public charge. And he had more banked in Albertsville which he could send her once he got

Copper looked up at him as he stood above her bed. Slowly she reached out and placed one slim hand in his.

"I know what you are thinking," she said, "and" her face twisted in a grimace of pain, and the hand in his

"Nothing it's perfectly normal," she said. "I'm just going to give you a son. Now if you'd call for the

doctor, perhaps we can get this over. That pain was only twenty minutes from the last. I think it's about time."

Kennon who had attended several hundred Lani births and had developed a certain callousness about them

was suddenly frightened and helpless as he pushed the call button. He could feel the cold sweat form on

his forehead. He had started this. It was his fault if anything went wrong. He wished that it was someone else

rather than Copper who was going through this trial. He was nervous, unsure, and guilty. In a word, he felt

Kennon winced at the cliche It was so ancient that it had lost all meaning. Most Betans didn't know what a

horse was, let alone whether it was healthy or not. From what Kennon could remember of veterinary history,

"How is the child?" Kennon asked. It took a little courage to ask this question. The baby could be anything

"Perfectly normal," Brainard said. "A true Betan type even down to the vestigial tail. We amputated that, of

"Of course you were," Brainard said. "Do you want to see them now? When I left, Copper was asking for

Kennon sighed. Leaving, he realized, wasn't going to be as easy as he had thought.

"We'll have to keep them here for a couple of months," Brainard said. "We must take exhaustive tests if we

"I expected that," Kennon said. He shrugged, "It's probably best," he said. "Now show me where Copper is."

Longliners, Kennon reflected, didn't make Beta a port of call, and the Shortliner connections with other

worlds were 'infrequent. Beta had done a good job separating from the rest of the Brotherhood. Too good.

The spaceline schedules showed only one departure in the next month, a Shortliner for Earth, and from Earth

the road to Kardon was long and tortuous, involving a series of short jumps from world to world and a final

mediumrange hop from Halsey to Kardon. If everything went right and he made every connection he would

be in Kardon four months after he left Beta. Kennon sighed as he left Travelers Aid. Morality was a heavy

He walked slowly down the road from the spaceport toward the Cooperative where he had been staying. He

had left Huntersville and Copper a week ago, after he had seen his child. His child! The thought of being a

father was oddly dismaying. It distorted his sense of values. But one thing was certain. He was returning to

Kardon, and Copper was not coming with him. She had a duty to their son and he had a duty to his contract

with Alexander, to the Lani on Flora, and to Copper and none of these could be satisfied by further

A tall man in a conservative yellowandblack suit was waiting patiently in front of his room. "My name is

"Thank you, Doctor. It was just a formality anyway. You see, I know you by sight." He sighed. "One has to

observe the formalities in this business." He drew a long white envelope from his tunic and handed it to

"It's a refreshing change to find an honest man." He bowed formally. "I really thought this would be harder,

"Now what was that?" Kennon muttered as he opened the envelope. The man Richter was undoubtedly a

process server but who had hired him? He unfolded the sheet and scanned the charges coercion,

larceny, livestock theft, and breach of contract. He shrugged. This was Alexander's work. What was the man

thinking of? It was insanity to bring the Lani matter into open court. Hadn't Douglas told him what had

happened? Couldn't Alexander guess that he had fled with Copper for a good reason one that would stand

up in court? Didn't he know about the spacer? Or had Douglas turned on his cousin? The pup had so many

hates that it was possible. He was a natural troublemaker. Maybe Alexander didn't know. Maybe he was

working in the dark. Kennon scanned the sheet quickly. Ah! here it was. Complaint Mr. Alexander X. M.

Alexander! Here on Beta! Kennon opened the door of his room, went straight to the phone beside the bed. He

lifted the handset from its cradle and dialed the operator. "Get me Huntersville THU 21408. I want to speak

to Dr. Brainard, Dr. Will Brainard. This is a priority call my name is Kennon. Dr. Jac Kennon D.V.M. I'm

in the registry 47M 26429 yes of course, and thank you." He waited a moment. "Hello Dr.

Brainard? Kennon here. I've just had some news. Alexander's on Beta! Yes he served me with a

summons. Can you get a restraining order to prevent him from leaving? You can? Good! Here's his address."

Kennon rattled off the location. "Yes I'm taking the next airboat to Beta City. This should simplify things

considerably. Of course it should. He was a fool to have come here. Yes I suppose you should tell

Copper. Oh! She is? I'm sorry to hear that, but there's no reason for her to be angry. She should realize that I

did this for her not to make her miserable. Hmm. She she has? You think she should come with me?

Yes, I realize she can be a problem when she wants to be. All right then tell her to pack a toothbrush

and a few spare diapers. And see if you can get me a couple of tickets on the next flight to Beta City. I'll be

over in a couple of hours and pick her up." He cradled the phone and dialed the operator again.

"I want the phone number of Skyline Tower 1024, Beta City, Mr. Alexander. Yes. I'll wait. This number is

HUV 21278 and my name is Kennon, Dr. Jac Kennon 47M 26429. I called you before. No, I'm a transient. I

can refer you to Dr. James Brainard, Huntersville Medical Center. Yes, I'll accept charges. Now will you give

"Hello," he said. "Mr. Alexander? This is Dr. Kennon. Yes I suppose you do, but I've been trying to get

back to Kardon for the past month. You are? Well, that's your privilege, but I'd advise you to go easy until I

see you. Naturally I'm coming as soon as I can get there. We'll be seeing you tomorrow morning at the

Kennon wiped his forehead. Alexander sounded angry and dangerous. Ten years hadn't served to cool him

off. What had happened on Kardon after he had left? Kennon shook his head. There was something here he

didn't understand. The entrepreneur should have been covering his tracks, not threatening jail and

disaccreditation. It was obvious that a personal visit was more necessary than he had thought.

Alexander was waiting. His eyebrows rose at the sight of Copper in formal Betan dress and lifted a trifle

"Trouble," Kennon said. He took off his hat. "I came here to settle things before you took this case to court.

You obviously do not understand what has happened. I suppose Douglas has doublecrossed you. It would be

characteristic of him. But before we go any further I think we should clear the air and let each other know

where we stand. I don't want to make trouble if it's not necessary. You'll notice I'm not wearing a thought

screen, so you'll be able to check everything I say, and know I'm telling the truth."

"It had better be good," Alexander said grimly. "I've been looking for you for ten years. I intend to throw the

"I don't know whether my reason is good or not. Technically I'm guilty of breach of contract and larceny of

Alexander chuckled mirthlessly. "There are a few other charges. And quite probably I can think of more if

you beat these. I'm going to make an example of you, Kennon. I'm going to drag you down and stamp on you.

You're going to be a horrible example to all smart operators who think they can break contracts. It's taken a

million credits and ten years' time to hunt you down, but it's going to be worth it."

Kennon nodded. "You see the extenuating circumstance?" he asked. "Suppression of human slavery!"

Alexander sat down. It was as though some unseen hand had pulled his legs from under him. "You believe

it," he said. " No you've proved it! Why why didn't you tell me? What sort of a man do you think I

"I didn't know. I couldn't take the chance until Copper was protected. You see, sir, I love her."

"That isn't hard to do with Lani," Alexander said. He sank back in his chair, his face clouded, his expression

Kennon felt an odd sympathy for the entrepreneur. It wasn't a nice feeling, he suspected, to have the beliefs of

"Which makes me what? A murderer? A slaver? A tyrant?" Alexander clutched his head with

"An innocent victim of circumstances," Kennon said. "You didn't know. None of us knew. And we still

wouldn't know if the Lani weren't of Betan extraction." He grimaced painfully. "I've done some

"But it's nothing like mine," Alexander said in a low voice. "I suspected they were human when I was

younger, but I denied my suspicions and accepted false facts instead of investigating."

"Unfortunately, that's not true. We discovered quite a bit from the experimental station you left us when you

disappeared ten years ago. But we stopped when we found the age that was being indoctrinated with Lani

"Didn't Douglas tell you?" Kennon asked curiously. "I told him when I turned him loose."

"Douglas didn't tell anything except that you had somehow gotten a spaceship. I assumed it was one of those

that were involved in that commercial raid a few decades ago, but I see it wasn't. No I knew nothing about

this development. And Douglas, I guess, wanted to keep it hidden. He gave your coordinates and ordered

Mullins to launch a missile. But he apparently forgot to turn on his IFF. At any rate the missile lost you

"I doubt it. He ordered the missile first. He was trying to destroy you before you could destroy Outworld

His motives were selfish as usual." Alexander looked at Kennon with a haggard eye. "I owe you an apology,"

he said. "I've considered you responsible for Douglas's death for ten years. I've searched for you on a hundred

worlds. My agents in every branch office have had standing orders to report any unusual arrivals. I have

"I've never forgotten it," Kennon said. "That was one of the principal reasons I came here. I wanted to see

"And I suppose you gloat no you're not doing that. But you are right. I could have checked it further.

But I didn't. Outworld Enterprises is far bigger than Flora and I was busy. Galactic trade is a snakepit.

And, after all, there was Douglas's death and the Family with their neverending clamor for money and

their threats when it didn't come promptly. I like being an entrepreneur, but until I made Outworld

independent of Family control, I couldn't do anything except run the business to their wishes. Actually the

island was only a small part of the corporation. I tried to run it as humanely as possible under the

"Well what are you going to do about it?" Copper interjected. "You can beat yourself until you're blue, but

"Me?" Copper asked. "I have nothing. This is between you men." She lapsed into silence.

Alexander turned back to Kennon. "You have undoubtedly made some arrangements. You wouldn't come

here oh! I see. Congratulations. Handling the evidence that way was a wise course. You have my

admiration. But then I should have known that I was not dealing with a fool." He smiled wryly.

"That's one consolation," Kennon grinned. "To be thought a rascal is bad enough, but to be considered a fool

"But your decision not to use the evidence unless you were forced to that's poor business."

"But good morals," Kennon said. "Neither the Brotherhood nor I could settle this affair. It is a matter only

you can handle. There is no sense in killing Outworld or throwing Kardon into centuries of litigation. The

Lani never were numerous enough to lay claim to an entire world. I'll admit the club is there, but I'll never

"I'm a professional not a businessman. And besides, I haven't the moral right to return evil for good. You

"I wouldn't go so far as to say that," Kennon said. "Honorable, yes civilized, no. But none of us are really

"We haven't changed much, despite our development. Perhaps we've varied a little physically and we've

learned to use new tools, but our minds are still the minds of barbarians blood brothers against the enemy,

and everything not of us is enemy. Savages hiding under a thin veneer of superficial culture. Savages with

spaceships and the atom." Kennon looked down at Copper. Apparently her thoughts were miles away in an

introspective world that was all her own. She had said her piece and having done that was content to let the

two men develop it. Kennon looked at her with odd respect. Alexander eyed her with a mildly startled

expression on his lean face. And both men smiled, but the smiles were not amused.

"Judging from Copper," Alexander said, "I don't think we'll have to worry about how the Lani will turn out."

He looked at Kennon with mild sympathy. "You are going to have quite a time with her," he said.

"I suppose so. I'll probably never know whether I'm guided or whether I'm doing the guiding. I've changed a

Copper looked up and smiled at them. It was an odd smile, hinting at secrets neither of them would ever

know. Alexander chuckled. "It serves you right." He crossed his legs and looked up at Kennon standing

before him. By some uncanny legerdemain he had gotten control of himself and the situation at the same

"You were equally unfair with your accusation," Alexander said. "Sure humanity makes mistakes, and

like this one they're sometimes brutal mistakes. But we are capable of atonement. Morally we have come a

long way from the brutality of the Interregnum. I shouldn't have to use examples, but look at that" he

waved at the view wall at the panorama of gleaming fairy towers and greenery that made Beta City one of the

most beautiful in the Brotherhood. "Don't tell me that five thousand years of peace and development haven't

"It isn't," Kennon said flatly. "Sure, it's pretty clean and beautifully designed for art and utility but

it isn't civilization. You're confusing technology with culture. You look at this and say, 'What a great

civilization man has built,' when you really mean, 'What a great technology mankind has developed.' There's

all the difference in the world. Technology is of the mind and hands. Civilization is of the spirit and

"We conquer, kill, loot, and enslave. We establish standards to keep humanity a closed corporation, a special

club in which men can live but aliens can't. We've made the standards for admission so rigid that we even

enslave our own kind and call them animals. That's not civilization that's savagery!

"For nearly five hundred years your family has run a slave pen. Your fortune is based upon it. And you have

perpetuated this traffic in flesh on the specious reasoning that a court judgment of half a millennium ago is as

good today as when it was handed down. Never once did anyone have the moral courage to reexamine that

old decision. Never once did any human question the rightness of that decision. None of us are immune. We

all based our conduct upon an antiquated law and searched no further. Everyone was happy with the status

quo or at least not so unhappy that they wanted to change it. Even I would have been content had it not

"Yet I do not feel that it was bad that I hired you," Alexander said. "Even though you have shown me that I

am a slaver, and made me see faults I never knew I had." His face was drawn harsh lines reached from

nose to lips, from eyes to chin. Suddenly he looked old. "I can accept censure if censure is just. And this is

just. No I'm not sorry I hired you even though the thought of what I have helped do to the Lani makes me

"I don't know," Alexander said. "At the first smell of trouble, the Family will turn tail and run. You can break

the company, and I won't stand in your way. It's only just. You're the one who's carrying the ball. Now run

"That damned blind spot," Kennon said. "You realize, of course, that you're not legally liable. It was a

mistake. All you have to do is admit the error and start from there. Naturally no reasonable intelligence

would expect that you change the older Lani. They're too old for either agerone or change. It would be both

cruel and inhuman to turn them loose. It's with the youngsters that you can work those who are physically

"Why should I? I'm not one of these starryeyed reformers who expect to change things overnight. It's the

future of the Lani race that's important, And Brainard agrees with me. A phaseout is the proper solution.

Change the education, let males be born teach the young to think instead of to obey. Give them Phoebe for

a home they never owned all of Kardon anyway. And within a century or two we will have a new group

Kennon looked inquiringly at Copper. She smiled and nodded. "It would cause less trouble that way," she

Kennon shuddered, thinking of the euthanasia chambers on Otpen One. "There will be more from now on,"

"Outworld can afford it. It'll bend us a little but we won't break and besides, the Lani will need our help

for some time to come." Alexander looked at Kennon. "Can we make an agreement that all parties will

It was a private ceremony. The Family, sulky and unwilling, faced with a choice of drastically reduced

income or outright confiscation and preferring a portion of a loaf to none. Alexander grim but oddly

peaceful of expression. Brainard pinkcheeked and emotionless. Kennon and Copper happily

conscious that it was at last finished. It was an oddly assorted group of conspirators who planned to restore a

Kennon signed last, and as he did, Alexander looked at him with a sly grin distorting the smooth pallor of his

"You wouldn't care to work for me to help rebuild the wreckage you've helped create? I'll need a manager

"You just think you have," Alexander said gleefully. "That's what you have forgotten. You've gotten your

agreement now you will satisfy me. As I see it you have breached your contract by leaving Flora without

"That is right," Kennon said. A small lump of lead began to grow rapidly larger in his stomach. Brainard was

grinning and Copper's eyes were shining. "You've been jobbed!" his mind told him. He sighed. He knew what

"The punitive clause for breach of contract," Alexander went on inexorably, "is very broad. Discretion is

vested in the entrepreneur. I can obtain judgment against you in any court on any planet."

"But I am going to be civilized," Alexander said. "I am going to be merciful. I am going to extend your

contract until phaseout has been completed. You are going to have control of the entire Kardon phase of the

"Humanity has nothing to do with it. It's justice," Alexander said. He smiled at Copper's radiant face. The

thought of going home was good to her. "Good luck on your new job, Dr. Kennon," he said. "And welcome