Tuning William - Fuzzy Bones

Napier looked around the room. "No more questions on this portion of the briefing?" There was silence. "Very well," he said. "The next portion of the briefing will be conducted by Dr. Gerd van Riebeek, director and chief xeno-naturalist of Fuzzy Institute. Dr. van Riebeek . . ."

He sat.

Hmmmmmm, Holloway was thinking. Napier is keeping all this on a close leash.

But, why not? If anything goes haywire out here, he's the guy who's going to have to stand good for it. Federation Constitution; Federation Citizen Colonists; legally defined sapient natives. I wouldn't have his job for all the honey-rum on Baldur.

There followed some rather complex comparisons by Gerd between the metabolisms of Zarathustran Fuzzies and the other eight extrasolar races of established sapience. He concluded on an explanation of how the difference between an antigen and an antibody had bearing on NFMp utilization in Fuzzy biochemistry and mentation. Jack didn 't understand most of it. Then, Gerd asked for questions.

This time, George Lunt stood. He made no pretense at formality. "I don't get it, Gerd," he said. "How could the Fuzzies have dropped back so far? How could they have just forgotten everything?"

Gerd smiled. "What you're saying, I suppose," he said, "is that you 're a little alarmed about the fragility of civilization, advanced though it may seem at a given moment?" George nodded. "I suppose that might be it." "Well,"

Gerd said, staring thoughtfully out over the room,' "put yourself and a bunch of other Terran humans on a desert island for a couple of hundred years, during which time everything begins to wear out and what you can use is nothing more than what you can make with your hands. Then, bring along a

typhoon, or something, and wipe out everything you have-all your tools. If you stay alive long enough to make a few simple weapons so you can get enough to eat, and if your natural enemies-most of whom are three times your size-don't snap you up for breakfast, where do you think the thrust of your daily activity is going to be? What will be more important to you-showing the flag or getting a decent lunch; one which will provide you with the energy to get a decent dinner?

"You'll keep alive some stories about the old days, but nothing more than can be passed by word of mouth. You don't have anything to write on, and you don't have anything to write with, and you can "t spare the time to do it if you had the equipment-you're too busy staying alive.

"So, your stories become legends, and your legends become myths, and your myths gradually become fiction, and your fiction gradually becomes fairy tales.

"Finally, you become Little Fuzzy, and you're damned glad to find zHagga who is a strange and powerful creature, who lives in theHoksu-mitto, and who is willing to help you for nothing.

"So you will love theHagga and do everything you can to help him-because there is a dim memory buried in you of a time when you didn't have to kick, bite, and scratch, and run from your enemies-just to keep breathing.

"Does that answer your question, George?" Gerd said.

George nodded, but did not say anything.

There were no more questions. A few people in the room had handkerchief tissues concealed in their hands and were dabbing unobtrusively at their faces. Jack Holloway was one of them.

Suddenly a little hand-holding a little, smoldering pipe-shot up from the front row.

When he was acknowledged, Little Fuzzy stood, realized that almost no one in the room could see him, and vaulted into a sitting position on the edge of the conference table, facing the assembled People Who Counted.

There was a murmur from the fifty or so persons in the conference room. Little Fuzzy held up his hand for silence. Jack Holloway suppressed a grin. Ghu! He's the original Herr Doktor Professor Fuzzy, all right.

"Fuzzies," Little Fuzzy said, indicating Diamond and Starwatcher, "heeva gashta so-washa. We so-say things we have found at Place where jump-so-high. I so-say for all Fuzzies: we do best can do to help; any way can. We must know who Fuzzies are, where come from . . ."His voice broke a little bit. " . . .

what Fuzzy mean. Fuzzies make do learn anything-eve' thing. So much for Fuzzies to leam. We so-say want to begin-now."

Holloway got slowly to his feet, favoring his left arm. "As a duly appointed official of the Colonial Government," he said,"I here and now specify for the record of these proceedings that this verbal petition is to be duly noted as a legitimate request from the other human race, id est Fuzzy f- holloway zarathustra, and I solemnly pledge the assets of my office to the fulfillment of the said request. Much for Big Ones to learn, as well. Big Ones must learn to be like Fuzzies-more and more. If we do not, the galaxy itself can drive us crazy." He paused. "So log it."

There was a moment of silence. Then, Little Fuzzy came dashing down the aisle and flung his arms around Holloway's knee. "Pa-pee Jaaak! Pa-pee Jaaak!" he said, in the same tone he had used at the sapience trial-the first time Jack had ever heard him speak Lingua Terra within the range of human hearing.

He picked Little Fuzzy up and hoisted him onto his own shoulder*

Ben Rainsford jammed his pipe in his jacket pocket and thumped the arm of his chair. "Concur!" he said. "So log it."

There was a few seconds' pause.

"Concur!" Victor Grego said. Christiana squeezed his arm warmly. (Grego had refused to attend the briefing if Christiana wasn 't included.) Diamond abandoned his chair in the front row, rushed back to Grego's seat, leaped on his lap and began to pummel his stomach playfully. When he got his breath back, Grego said, "So log it."

From then on, the concurrences had to be taken in order by show of hands by the recording yeoman. The military all abstained, according to regulation.

Frederic Pendarvis abstained, according to the oath of his office.

Chapter 47

"Well, I certainly have no objection to Napier's suggestions."

"The meeting after the briefing seemed to go all right as far as I was concerned."

"Actually, he's got a pretty good idea, there-an interim government, by the common consent of all involved-with a three-way authority involving the Navy, the CZC, and the Colonial Government."

"Sure will put a stop to all this jockeying for power that's been going on in the Constitutional Convention."

"What'd he mean with 'troika,' anyway?"

"Oh, that's some kind of three-headed animal from Old Terran mythology."

"It certainly cuts down on my paperwork. We won't know what's really happening until the whole thing has run through the courts, anyway. . ."

"That's going to take years, you bet."

"Besides, there's commonality of assets-and the Terran Federation Navy has sols to burn."

"For a case with no precedents in Colonial Law, they do, you bet."

Gus Brannhard was standing with Jack Holloway as they listened to the conversations swirling around them on the terrace. Gus rumbled quietly as he quaffed a rather large belt of brandy. "Damned fools," he muttered in Jack's ear. "There's nothing that has no precedent in Colonial Law. Well, Nifflheim with it-it's certainly going to be the most interesting case I was ever a noble pleader for."

Holloway took a small sip of his highball. He was still so full of chemicals from surgery that he didn't want to try anything too chancy. "So, Gus,"hesaid,

"you want to stick to the limit?"

"Are you kidding?" Brannhard asked incredulously. "Jack, this suit that's coming up is a lawyer's dream. I don't even know for sure which side I 'm going to be on-and won't until I spend about four months poring over the body of case law. Does the Charterless Zarathustra Company get back its charter?

Can it be demonstrated that sapient beings, to wit, Fuzzies who are not native to Zarathustra, but who have been living here for a thousand years-with de facto proof thereof-can be said to be natives dejure. Oh, Jack; young lawyers lay awake at night dreaming of a case like this one is going to be-and praying that they never get into it until they are old, experienced, cynical, and sodden appropriately." He laughed a great, phlegmy laugh that seemed to shake the windows.