THEY WERE HAVING a party at the Pendarvis home. Jack Holloway
sat on his heels on the floor, smoking his pipe and interpreting,
while the judge and his wife, in a low easy-chair and on a
drum-shaped hassock respectively, were getting acquainted with the
guests of honor, the two Fuzzies Juan Jimenez had brought in from
Beta Continent that evening. Gus Brannhard, who had come along from
Government House, was sprawled in one of the larger chairs,
chuckling in his beard. Juna Jimenez and Ahmed Khadra had removed
their hearing aids and carried their drinks to the other side of
the room, where they were talking about Jimenez’s visit, with
a couple of George Lunt’s troopers, to the site of his former
camp.
“They were back, after we left,” Jimenez was saying.
“We could see where they’d set a car down. There
wasn’t much to see; they policed everything up very neatly
after they left, the second time. Didn’t leave any litter
around.”
“Or any evidence,” Khadra added.
“That was what Yorimitsu and Calderon said when they saw
it. I gather they take a dim view of neatness.”
“Around where they’re investigating, sure. Tidying
up around the scene of a crime’s gotten more criminals off
than all the crooked lawyers in the Galaxy. In this case it
doesn’t matter. Herekerd and Novaes brought those Fuzzies in;
we know that. We have a witness.”
“Can you veridicate a Fuzzy?” Brannhard asked, over
his shoulder. “If you can’t, the defense’ll
object.”
Pendarvis looked up and around. “Mr. Brannhard, I’m
afraid I’d have to sustain such an objection. I suspect that
Judge Janiver, who’d be hearing the case, would, too. If I
were you, I’d find out. Have you ever been
veridicated?” he asked the Fuzzy on his lap.
The Fuzzy—the male member of the couple, who was trying to work
the zipper of his jacket—said, “Unnh?” The judge
scratched the back of his head, which the Fuzzy, like most furry
people, liked, and wondered how long it would take to learn the
language.
“Not too long,” Jack told him. “It only took
me a day to learn everything the people on Xerxes learned; by the
time we were starting for home, after the trial, I could talk to
them. What are you going to call them?”
“Don’t they have names of their own, Mr.
Holloway?” the judge’s wife asked.
“They don’t seem to. In the woods, there are never
more than six or eight in a family, if that’s what the groups
are. I guess all the natives names are things like
‘me,’ and ‘you,’ and ‘this
one,’ and ‘that one’. ”
“You’ll have to have names for them, for the
adoption papers,” Brannhard said.
“At the camp, we just called them ‘the
Newlyweds,’ ” Khadra said.
“How about Pierrot and Columbine?” Mrs. Pendarvis
asked.
Her husband nodded. “I think that would be fine.” He
pointed to himself.
“Aki Pappy Frederic. So Pierrot. “
“Aki Py’hot? Py’hot siggo Pappy
F’ed’ik. “
“He accepts the name. He says he likes you. What are you
going to do with them tomorrow, Mrs. Pendarvis? Do you have any
human servants here?”
“No, everything’s robotic, and I oughtn’t to
leave them alone with robots. Not till they get used to
them.”
“Drop them off at Government House; they can play with
Flora and Fauna,” Brannhard suggested. “And I’ll
call Victor Grego and invite his Diamond over, and they can have a
real party. First Fuzzy social event of the season.”
A mellow-toned bell began chiming. The Judge set Pierrot on the
floor and excused himself; Pierrot trotted after him. In a moment,
both were back.
“Chief Earlie’s on screen,” he said. “He
wants to talk either to Captain Khadra or Mr. Holloway.”
That was the new Mallorysport chief of police. Jack nodded to
Khadra, who left the room.
“Probably found something out about Herckerd and
Novaes,” Brannhard said.
“Will you really charge them with enslavement?” Mrs.
Pendarvis asked. “That’s mandatory death.”
“You catch people, deprive them of their freedom, make
property of them,” Brannhard said. “What else can you
call it? A pet slave is still a slave, if he belongs to somebody
else. I don’t know how a Fuzzy could be made to work . . . ”
“Nightclub entertainers, attractions in bars, sideshow acts . . . ”
Khadra came back; he had his beret on, and was buckling on his
pistol.
“Earlie says he has a report on a Fuzzy being seen in an
apartment-unit over on the north side of the city,” he said.
“Informant says a Fuzzy is being kept by a family on one of
the upper floors. He’s sending men there now.”
That would probably be one of the five Herckerd and Novaes had
brought in. He could see what had happened. The two former Company
employees had sold them all to somebody here in Mallorysport, some
racketeer who was selling them individually. There was somebody who
really did need shooting. And by this time, Herckerd and Novaes
would be back on Beta Continent, trapping more. Get the people who
had bought this Fuzzy under veridication, the police had plenty of
ways to make people want to talk, and work back from there.
“I’ll go see what it is,” Khadra was saying.
“I’ll call in as soon as I can. I don’t know how
long I’ll be gone. In case I don’t get back, thanks for
a nice evening, Judge, Mrs. Pendarvis.”
He hurried out, and for a moment nobody said anything. Then
Jimenez suggested that if this were one of the Herckerd-Novaes lot,
Diamond ought to see him as soon as possible; he’d be able to
identify him. Khadra would think of that. Mrs. Pendarvis hoped
there wouldn’t be any shooting. Mallorysport city police were
notoriously trigger-happy. The conversation continued by jerks and
starts; the two Fuzzies seemed to be the only ones unconcerned.
After about an hour, Khadra returned; he had left his belt and
beret in the hall.
“What was it?” Brannhard asked. Jack was wanting to
know if the Fuzzy was all right.
“It wasn’t a Fuzzy,” Khadra said disgustedly.
“It was a Terran marmoset; these people have had it for a
couple of years; brought it from Terra. The people who own it have
had a wire screen around their terrace to keep it, ever since they
moved in. Somebody in an aircar saw it outside and thought it was a
Fuzzy. I wonder how much more of this we’re going to
get.”
It was a wonder he hadn’t gotten that, himself, when his
own family was lost and he was hunting for them.
THEY WERE HAVING a party at the Pendarvis home. Jack Holloway
sat on his heels on the floor, smoking his pipe and interpreting,
while the judge and his wife, in a low easy-chair and on a
drum-shaped hassock respectively, were getting acquainted with the
guests of honor, the two Fuzzies Juan Jimenez had brought in from
Beta Continent that evening. Gus Brannhard, who had come along from
Government House, was sprawled in one of the larger chairs,
chuckling in his beard. Juna Jimenez and Ahmed Khadra had removed
their hearing aids and carried their drinks to the other side of
the room, where they were talking about Jimenez’s visit, with
a couple of George Lunt’s troopers, to the site of his former
camp.
“They were back, after we left,” Jimenez was saying.
“We could see where they’d set a car down. There
wasn’t much to see; they policed everything up very neatly
after they left, the second time. Didn’t leave any litter
around.”
“Or any evidence,” Khadra added.
“That was what Yorimitsu and Calderon said when they saw
it. I gather they take a dim view of neatness.”
“Around where they’re investigating, sure. Tidying
up around the scene of a crime’s gotten more criminals off
than all the crooked lawyers in the Galaxy. In this case it
doesn’t matter. Herekerd and Novaes brought those Fuzzies in;
we know that. We have a witness.”
“Can you veridicate a Fuzzy?” Brannhard asked, over
his shoulder. “If you can’t, the defense’ll
object.”
Pendarvis looked up and around. “Mr. Brannhard, I’m
afraid I’d have to sustain such an objection. I suspect that
Judge Janiver, who’d be hearing the case, would, too. If I
were you, I’d find out. Have you ever been
veridicated?” he asked the Fuzzy on his lap.
The Fuzzy—the male member of the couple, who was trying to work
the zipper of his jacket—said, “Unnh?” The judge
scratched the back of his head, which the Fuzzy, like most furry
people, liked, and wondered how long it would take to learn the
language.
“Not too long,” Jack told him. “It only took
me a day to learn everything the people on Xerxes learned; by the
time we were starting for home, after the trial, I could talk to
them. What are you going to call them?”
“Don’t they have names of their own, Mr.
Holloway?” the judge’s wife asked.
“They don’t seem to. In the woods, there are never
more than six or eight in a family, if that’s what the groups
are. I guess all the natives names are things like
‘me,’ and ‘you,’ and ‘this
one,’ and ‘that one’. ”
“You’ll have to have names for them, for the
adoption papers,” Brannhard said.
“At the camp, we just called them ‘the
Newlyweds,’ ” Khadra said.
“How about Pierrot and Columbine?” Mrs. Pendarvis
asked.
Her husband nodded. “I think that would be fine.” He
pointed to himself.
“Aki Pappy Frederic. So Pierrot. “
“Aki Py’hot? Py’hot siggo Pappy
F’ed’ik. “
“He accepts the name. He says he likes you. What are you
going to do with them tomorrow, Mrs. Pendarvis? Do you have any
human servants here?”
“No, everything’s robotic, and I oughtn’t to
leave them alone with robots. Not till they get used to
them.”
“Drop them off at Government House; they can play with
Flora and Fauna,” Brannhard suggested. “And I’ll
call Victor Grego and invite his Diamond over, and they can have a
real party. First Fuzzy social event of the season.”
A mellow-toned bell began chiming. The Judge set Pierrot on the
floor and excused himself; Pierrot trotted after him. In a moment,
both were back.
“Chief Earlie’s on screen,” he said. “He
wants to talk either to Captain Khadra or Mr. Holloway.”
That was the new Mallorysport chief of police. Jack nodded to
Khadra, who left the room.
“Probably found something out about Herckerd and
Novaes,” Brannhard said.
“Will you really charge them with enslavement?” Mrs.
Pendarvis asked. “That’s mandatory death.”
“You catch people, deprive them of their freedom, make
property of them,” Brannhard said. “What else can you
call it? A pet slave is still a slave, if he belongs to somebody
else. I don’t know how a Fuzzy could be made to work . . . ”
“Nightclub entertainers, attractions in bars, sideshow acts . . . ”
Khadra came back; he had his beret on, and was buckling on his
pistol.
“Earlie says he has a report on a Fuzzy being seen in an
apartment-unit over on the north side of the city,” he said.
“Informant says a Fuzzy is being kept by a family on one of
the upper floors. He’s sending men there now.”
That would probably be one of the five Herckerd and Novaes had
brought in. He could see what had happened. The two former Company
employees had sold them all to somebody here in Mallorysport, some
racketeer who was selling them individually. There was somebody who
really did need shooting. And by this time, Herckerd and Novaes
would be back on Beta Continent, trapping more. Get the people who
had bought this Fuzzy under veridication, the police had plenty of
ways to make people want to talk, and work back from there.
“I’ll go see what it is,” Khadra was saying.
“I’ll call in as soon as I can. I don’t know how
long I’ll be gone. In case I don’t get back, thanks for
a nice evening, Judge, Mrs. Pendarvis.”
He hurried out, and for a moment nobody said anything. Then
Jimenez suggested that if this were one of the Herckerd-Novaes lot,
Diamond ought to see him as soon as possible; he’d be able to
identify him. Khadra would think of that. Mrs. Pendarvis hoped
there wouldn’t be any shooting. Mallorysport city police were
notoriously trigger-happy. The conversation continued by jerks and
starts; the two Fuzzies seemed to be the only ones unconcerned.
After about an hour, Khadra returned; he had left his belt and
beret in the hall.
“What was it?” Brannhard asked. Jack was wanting to
know if the Fuzzy was all right.
“It wasn’t a Fuzzy,” Khadra said disgustedly.
“It was a Terran marmoset; these people have had it for a
couple of years; brought it from Terra. The people who own it have
had a wire screen around their terrace to keep it, ever since they
moved in. Somebody in an aircar saw it outside and thought it was a
Fuzzy. I wonder how much more of this we’re going to
get.”
It was a wonder he hadn’t gotten that, himself, when his
own family was lost and he was hunting for them.