Douglas Alexander was a puffy-faced youngster with small intolerant
eyes set in folds of fat above a button nose and a loose-lipped 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 co-ordinated grace that made Douglas look even more clumsy by
contrast. And they were identical, twin cream-and-gold 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 would only detract from their exquisite
perfection.
Kennon knew that he was staring like an idiot. Alexander’s amused smile
told him that much. With an effort he composed his startled features.
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, but their beauty had become impersonal.
“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 your toys. Send them away.”
Douglas sulkily thrust out his lower lip. “You can’t talk to me like
that, Cousin Alex,” he began. “I’m just a--”
“You heard 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 Boss-man. Go home.”
The two nodded in unison and departed quickly. Somehow Kennon got the
impression that they were happy to leave.
“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 the rest of the Family. They don’t like you too much.”
“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 one
thing--I’m master here.”
“I know it,” Douglas said, and then curiously--“Who’s the oddball?” He
gestured at Kennon with a pudgy thumb.
“Our new veterinarian, Dr. Kennon.”
“Oh--great! Now you tell me!”
“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.”
“He can’t. I’m an owner. I own-”
“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 experimental program?”
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 start.”
“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 with valuable animals.”
“And what are you going to do about it?”
“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 don’t mean that,” he said
finally. “You’re joking.”
“I never joke about business.”
“But you can’t do that! I’ll tell the Family. They won’t let 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 two-acre 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 alone. Now get out of
here and get packed. You’re leaving tomorrow morning.”
“But cousin Alex--”
“Move! I’m tired of the sight of you!” Alexander said.
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. “Sometimes I wonder why I have
been cursed with my relatives.”
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 unnecessary cruelty.
“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 they disgust me--so he parades them in.
I could strangle that pup sometimes!”
“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 can’t see treating a helpless animal
like that.”
“I feel better about it,” Kennon said. “I didn’t think you were that
sort.”
“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 been docked, could be a legal
bombshell if they ever left Flora.”
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
thrown in Detention and charged with slave trading.
“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 first-class 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 trade-mark--something that can be easily
recognized by anyone. So we sell them intact.” 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. 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 any rate this should clear
the air.”
“It does--intellectually,” Kennon admitted. “But the physical
resemblance is so close that it is difficult to accept.”
Alexander smiled. “Don’t worry. You’ll accept it in time. Now I think
it’s time that you met the Family.”