Lani

“ 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, green-faced, 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, strong-stomached as he was, could feel his viscera twitch in sympathy with the caged sufferers. ”

“ She shook her head. “I have seen nothing but you reading this ancient book, yet you turn to me with the look in your eyes that the redes say Ulf had for Lyssa.”
“You’re human!”
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 thousands of years ago.”
“Then there is no reason why you cannot love me.”
Kennon shook his head. “No,” he said. “There is no reason.”
Copper laughed. It was a sound so merry and gay that Kennon looked at her in surprise. ”

“ 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 began.
“I’m not a lady,” Copper interrupted before he could continue. “Ladies are human. I’m a Lani.”
“All right,” Kennon growled. “Lani or human, who cares? But do you have to break into a man’s bedroom and wake him in the middle of the night?” ”

“ Alexander crossed his legs and settled back in his chair. “Shocks you, doesn’t it?”
Kennon nodded. “Yes,” he admitted. “It does.”
“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. ”

“ They tried to prolong Lani life and met with failure. Our plants are mutant forms.”
“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 Alexander will have plenty to answer for.” ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ But I am a Lani. You are a man.”
“You’re as human as I am,” Kennon said abruptly.
“That is what you say,” Copper replied. “I am not so sure. I need more proof than this.” She waved her hand at the ship.
“What proof do you need?”
“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. Can’t you understand that?” ”

“ Kennon felt an odd sympathy for the entrepreneur. It wasn’t a nice feeling, he suspected, to have the beliefs of a lifetime ripped apart and sent to the disposal chute.
“So the Lani are a human variant,” Alexander said dully.
“The proof is here,” Kennon said, “and the supporting evidence is conclusive.”
“Which makes me—what? A murderer? A slaver? A tyrant?” Alexander clutched his head with lean-fingered hands. “What am I?”
“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.” ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 money you’re sinking into this project.” ”

“ 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 fight.”
Douglas returned with a gas capsule and a set of shackles. “All right,” he said. “We’re ready for him.” He handed Kennon the shackles and a key to the cell door—and drew his Burkholtz.
“See,” the Lani growled. “It is as I say. Men are cowards.”
“You know gun?” Douglas asked as he pointed the muzzle of the Burkholtz at the Lani. ”

“ Kennon’s mind leaped to the obvious conclusion. Pseudo-pregnancy. 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 it 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 would be all right. ”

“ 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 animals.”
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. ”

“ Can you imagine anything much better than George—from a physical viewpoint?”
“He is a magnificent animal,” Kennon admitted as he eyed the Lani. “But it seems to me that you could train some obedience into him.”
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 self-esteem. They think that we use them because we are afraid, and it satisfies their egos.” ”

“ 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 human ancestry.
“Humanoids!” he gasped. “For a moment I thought-”
“Gave you a start-eh?” Alexander chuckled. “It always does when a stranger sees a Lani for the first time. Well—now you’ve seen some of the livestock what do you think of them?”
“I think you should have hired a medic.”
Alexander shook his head. “No—it wouldn’t be reason able or legal. You’re the man for the job.” ”

“ He nodded and the Lani led the way to a door which opened into a good-sized office, liberally covered with bookshelves. An old-fashioned 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 redhead. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Lani had a very sweet voice and accompanied her singing with a guitar, which she played very sweetly and many an evening we passed about the campfire very comfortably. She could yodel like an inhabitant of the Swiss Alps and often we would hear her singing and yodeling as she came up the valley to cross up to the tableland where we were cutting the large koa trees, preparatory to hauling them to the mill to turn into the handsome lumber so much sought after for making fine furniture. There was not a man in the camp who was not charmed with her. ”

“ Then you may learn of love.
“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 pleasure-pain the Old Ones knew, that world which is now denied us.
“But remember always that you are a Lani. A man may be kind to you. He may treat you gently. ”

“ 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 dispassionate objectivity. ”

“ Kennon eyed the caged Lani dubiously. “This is going to be difficult. I must examine them and treat them, but if they’re all as homicidal as this one—”
“You fight me man,” George interrupted, his face twisted into lines of transparent guile. “I am boss and others do as I say. You beat me, then you are boss.”
“Is this true?” Kennon asked.
“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.” ”

“ It took two sexes to develop a civilization.
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 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 protect them even while we’re using them.”
“Man’s burden?’ Kennon said, repeating the old cliche.
“Exactly.” Blalok scowled. “I wish I had guts enough to give the Boss-man 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.” ”

“ All of these weapons Alexander can command. Don’t you realize he’s an entrepreneur?—one of the most powerful men in this sector?”
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 she is pregnant by a man?”
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. ”

“ What job wouldn’t be with a bunch of goofballs like these I’ve got working on it.
“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 far as I’m concerned he can take this job and—”
“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. ”