by Paul Corey
“Yes, to know is to understand,” I repeated. “But to see is to believe.”
“The people of Grenda do not believe,” he said. “We know and understand. People who believe, believe many things that are false. If they know and understand, they can never be wrong.”
“Ridiculous, sir. Your associate tried to skewer me a few minutes ago. Was that knowing and understanding? If so, it seems to me he was damned well knowing something wrong.”
“Not at all. Doctor Stone. You had invaded the privacy of my daughter. Doctor Zinzer resented it.”
I glanced at Ello and realised that perhaps Zinzer did know and understand.
“But to continue, Doctor Stone. The authorities on Grenda decided to place all animals in special areas. Some of the smaller species are kept as household pets.”
“Yes, on Earth we have a saying, ‘A cat may look at a king’,” I couldn’t help being sarcastic.
He considered. “I suppose it could be said that here some animals are permitted to use their orbs on a person of Grenda. However, most of our animals have been segregated. They can use their orbs, ‘see’, ‘look at’, as you say, those of our people of lower intelligence who are given the task of caring for them. Thus, as a similar animal, we cannot permit you freedom amongst us.”
I took a deep breath and let it out.
“This is absurd, sir. You are forgetting that I am an alien. You have no cosmic right to treat men as one of your lower forms of life.”
For an instant, I considered telling them who I really was, but decided to play it another way.
“Doctor Rhoa,” I continued. “Earlier, I remember your saying that the people of Grenda respected intelligence. Why don’t you test mine?”
That got them buzzing again full throttle. It was my guess from Zinzer’s manner that he opposed something. Ello was right in there buzzing too. She looked mighty pretty pursing her lips to shrill an argument. Finally they came down to Earth language.
“All animals have very low intelligence,” Doctor Rhoa said. “However, tomorrow we will test yours.”
This quibble about eyes making an animal and no eyes making something superior, reminded me of Earth history. Several centuries ago it was considered a fact that any person who was not a Caucasian was an inferior being, while one with a white skin was superior.
It took a long struggle to straighten that out. Now Terrans have good healthy tan complexions. Of course, albinos are still born. And they’d set themselves up as superior beings if given half a chance. But tests take care of them.
And tomorrow, I thought, we’ll see what tests do here. Let them try to stump MR. TEST himself. The eyes have it, I thought and grinned at my cleverness.
My hosts or captors, whichever, buzzed among themselves, and over Zinzer’s objection again, apparently, came to another decision.
Doctor Rhoa said, “My daughter is doing her Doctor’s thesis in the field of Animal Behaviour—rat psychology, I believe you call it on your planet. We have decided to put you in her care. She will show you to your quarters.”
That arrangement sounded fine to me. I slipped into my shirt and shorts.
“Follow me, Doctor Stone, please,” she said.
I did. From the rear she looked like any well-built Earth woman. I resisted an impulse to give her behind a little pat. I knew I couldn’t pass it off as just a fatherly caress. I wasn’t that much older than she. Besides, I remembered that damned beam.
NINE
Ello split the wall into a corridor. I stayed directly behind her. The view was better from there and I didn’t want to bang into anything. We turned and twisted and finally came out of the building. The Grendan sun was going down. We took a gravel walk to another building. An Annex, I concluded. It seemed empty. Perhaps the Grendans had gone home for the day.
Day? Yes, I concluded that even the blind would know when the day was ending, when their overhead heat source disappeared.
At last, after another split and a closure behind me, Ello said: “This is your room, Doctor Stone. I hope you will be comfortable here.”
It seemed to me that I was in an empty space, surrounded by the usual filminess of transparent walls. Finally my eyes made out the presence of couch, chair, table. I even made out the faint outline of a bathroom with all the usual fixtures. Transparent, of course.
Private bath? Private indeed. Enclosed in transparent walls? I had to remind myself again that this was the planet of the blind.
“Do you like it?” she asked.
“I think I will be quite comfortable, Miss Rhoa.”
Although I could see a considerable distance through the walls, even back into the Science Building, where other Grendans still went about their jobs, I realised that as soon as Ello left, I would be very much alone. To keep her with me, I made conversation.
“Do you really believe that beings with eyes—orbs as you call them—are a lower order of life than beings without eyes?”
“Yes,” she said without hesitation.
“And you really believe that I am of such a lower order of life? That I am an animal?”
“Yes.”
“Aren’t you afraid to be alone with an animal?”
“Oh no. I like animals. I’ve worked with them, studied them, tested them. As my father told you, my thesis is in the field of Animal Behaviour. It is about the contentment of our milk-producing animals and the relationship of contentment to production. I’ve analysed their language and have given it an alphabet.”
Fantastic, I thought. She can’t be serious.
“You mean you—you converse with these animals?”
“Oh yes. Of course they have a very simple language. It’s a—a lot of fun talking with them.”
Well, if she wanted to play games, I’d go along just to keep from being alone.
“Will you say something in their language, please? I’m curious about it.”
She laughed. Then she made a bawling sound.
“Cows!” I yelled. “Do you have cows on Grenda?”
“Do you have such animals on Earth?” Her voice became suddenly excited. “Cows? Is that your name for them?”
“Sure. A cow is a mature female of any bovine Earth animal. But tell me, what did you say in cow language?”
“I said,” she repeated the sound, “I’m hungry.”
I laughed. I suspected that she was putting me on. But she certainly sounded perfectly serious.
I searched for another subject to hold her.
“Please, what is this transparent material used for the walls of my room, and for all of your houses?”
“Transparent material?” She puzzled that over for a while. “Walls, yes. The nearest I can come in translation is a synthetic plastic. It is the only material we use on Grenda. It is used for everything. The difference in form depends upon the arrangement of the molecules.”
“You mean the walls of my room and the couch and your clothing are of the same stuff?”
“Yes. Basically.”
“Isn’t there any metal on your planet?”
“Metal? Explain, please.”
“Iron, steel, aluminum, copper, gold.”
She made an ’’mmmmmmm” sound, then, “We have met those words in your language. We didn’t understand. Just what is a metal, please?”
How does one explain metal to a blind person? “A hard substance,” I said. “Those tools of mine. That hatchet and knife are made of steel.”
Again the “mmmmm” sound. “We thought they were made of,” she hesitated as if searching for a word, “of covrolite. That’s as near as I can come to naming that hard form of our plastic in your language.” Then she said, “Thank you for your explanation.”
Not to let her get away, I said quickly, “What about the pale green ceiling? I mean the covering overhead?”
“Pale green? Overhead?” She made a little gesture upward with her hand. “Oh. You mean 479mm shield. Then 479mm is what you call green.”
“But wha
t has 479mm got to do with it?”
“That is the wave length of that particular arrangement of molecules. The shield, in that form, takes certain of the rays from our heat source—sun to you—and changes them into purifying vibrations so that the air in this room is always clean.”
“Chlorophyll. Very interesting.”
“That word. The first one. What is that word?”
“Another way to say 479mm, I guess.”
“Your language could be very confusing.”
“An animal’s language couldn’t be complicated, could it?”
She seemed about to answer but didn’t. Maybe what I had just said gave her something to think about.
My attention focused on the trick ceiling. We had nothing as good as that on Earth. That was something to find out about before returning home. If the Grendans ever let me go home, that is.
Ello turned as if to leave. Her presence seemed to bring in on me how lonesome I had been these past weeks with Karen gone.
I said, “Your heat source has gone behind his mountain. It’s getting dark here. What am I supposed to use for light?”
“Dark? Light?” She puzzled the words.
“I explained over in the lab. Remember? Your heat source gives off vibrations that my eyes record as light. When this heat source is hidden by the edge of your planet, this light, which you feel as heat, disappears and my eyes are left in darkness. Just as you are left without a feeling of heat.”
“You have a facility for clarification, Doctor Stone. I begin to understand some of the limitations of sight.”
“Oh sure, there are limitations. We make up for that one by using artificial light. You know, like that sun-torch I have with my stuff. If my survival kit and other personal effects were returned to me, that would solve my problem of seeing in the dark.”
“Of course, your things.” She tipped her face up, smiling. “One moment, I’ll get them for you.”
She split the wall and was gone in the dusk.
TEN
How quickly and gracefully she moved. In the dim light it was easy to forget that she had no eyes. It came as a shock to me to realise that the thought of making love to her was in my mind.
Then it occurred to me that dusk hadn’t affected her actions. The way Grendans moved about without blundering into things fascinated me. Their entire bodies must be a kind of radar system. Their skin must have a sensitivity so acute that it would be beyond Earth imagination.
Whatever this faculty was, it certainly offered advantages for night activity. Day and night need not affect them. Yet in the waning light I saw Grendans leaving the Science Building as if going home after a day’s work.
Of course. On Earth, day was judged by the coming and going of natural light. On Grenda, day was determined by the coming and going of natural heat.
I could still see faintly through the walls and into the other building. Although none of it was very clear I saw that Ello had joined the others in the lab. The indistinct movement of arms led me to believe that another argument was in progress. Maybe they didn’t want to let Ello bring me my gear.
The light faded almost completely and I could see nothing but dim shadows.
I’m alone here, I thought to myself, why can’t I just split open this wall and walk out?
I went to the spot where Ello had gone through. I waved my arm. Nothing happened. I felt the surface. It was smooth, completely seamless. I pushed. There was no evidence of it moving, or bending. I gave it a punch with my fist. It resisted but didn’t bruise my knuckles. I kicked it hard. My foot merely bounded back.
But I was aware that a couple of students passing the Annex had stopped and faced in my direction. My kick had hardly made a sound but the vibrations set up by the blow had apparently attracted their attention.
That confirmed my belief that Grendans were walking antennae. On an instant, their bodies or skins could interpret any sort of vibration.
But the closed wall still baffled me. As long as the Grendans planned to hold me they weren’t likely to let me in on the secret of wall splitting.
The form of a person entering the Annex caught my attention. It was Ello returning, the loop of my survival kit slung over her shoulder. She didn’t have my stunner or my Boy Scout knife and hatchet.
She split into the room and swung the kit to the table.
“There you are, Doctor Stone.”
“Thank you, Ello.”
Neither of us mentioned the things she hadn’t brought.
“Now for some light around here,” I said. I picked up the sun-torch and snapped it on.
Its powerful beam came to life. With the transparent walls I had a terrifying feeling of being isolated, exposed a perfect target. I snapped it off and the accompanying darkness was equally startling.
“May I examine it, please?” Ello said. “I was too busy taking notes when the others studied it.”
She took the torch from me. In the process she flipped the switch again and the light came on.
“Oh.” It startled her. “Only one degree above room temperature,” she said. Her slender fingers went over it with amazing swiftness. Then she set it on the table still lit.
Once more I could see that she was ready to leave and I would be alone in a spot of light on a strange planet. “Would you tell me something?” I said.
“Of course.”
“How does it happen that you and the others know Earth talk so well?”
“We’ve worked at it a long time,” she said. “About ten years ago we completed our first large astroscope and picked up unmistakable sounds from deep space. It took several years to refine reception.
“We realised that we were getting a spoken language. We learned to pronounce the words. As we told you during our interview there were many words we did not understand. They were meaningless to us. But there were enough to which we could attach meaning that we could use to communicate with. We took these and made them into language.
“Then it was decided that we should study an inhabitant of this place called Earth at the first opportunity. We kept a strong probe in space waiting for the first ship from Earth that came in reach. Yours was the ship.”
“And you knew that Earth people were humanoid?”
“Yes. We knew that you were humanoid in shape. But all the words in your language pertaining to your orbs we did not understand. We didn’t understand until today that Earth people are animals in humanoid shape.”
Back to animalism again. I felt depressed. No one can be so blind as a person who cannot see.
Then she turned. “I’ll leave you. Rest well.”
I lacked the spirit to try to keep her longer.
Then I realised that I hadn’t had anything to eat since my cup of coffee in the spacerover this morning. I was hungry. And those Grendan scientists had gobbled up my food rations.
Were they just going to shut me up here without food? Didn’t Grendans have regular meals, or had they worked out a way to absorb energy without eating? Or, maybe dinner would appear at some prescribed time. Was I supposed to take that for granted?
Then I got an idea. I imitated the bawl of a cow Ello had made earlier.
She whirled on me, her mouth wide in amazement.
I repeated the bawling sound.
Then she laughed. It was gay and clear and pleasant to hear. She brushed the area on her face where we have eyes. It was to all appearances like a wildly laughing Terran wiping at the tears of laughter welling up. It reminded me of Karen when she was happy.
“Oh, you’re hungry?” she said. Again the laughter, which gradually slowed. “I’m sorry. I forgot about your food. I’ll send a waiter over from the commissariat with your dinner.”
Struggling to regain seriousness, she turned toward the wall and it split. But halfway through, she faced back.
“I don’t believe you are the animal my father and his associates believe you to be.”
The wall closed after her.
ELEVEN
>
Alone. I sat down on the edge of the couch. It was soft, not too soft. Just right for comfort, it seemed to me. Leaning back, I wondered where this situation was leading.
Of course, tomorrow, after the tests, they would have reason to doubt their cock-eyed theory that I was a lower form of life, just because I had eyes. But that still wouldn’t necessarily get me off this sightless planet.
What if they decided to keep me as a sideshow exhibit, or whatever sort of public entertainment the Grendans had? “GET THE FEEL OF AN ANIMAL FROM OUTER SPACE. THE ONLY ONE IN CAPTIVITY.”
My staff in TERRA-TESTING knew where I had gone. The tower at Tejon Sands knew. But my SOS had been inhibited and Earth wouldn’t know anything was wrong until I didn’t return at the end of my field space flight.
Of course, once I failed to complete the flight pattern, a patrol would be sent over the same course. The Interstellar Community would be alerted. I could hear the news reports: “MR. TEST IS LOST IN SPACE.”
But what if these Grendan scientists wouldn’t let me go, and Space Rescue didn’t find me?
If that happened then Talcott Jones and his Creativists would be blamed. Every low-score, whether creative or stupid, would be sent to the ceranium mines. To finish it all off, Earth authorities would probably execute Jones.
And that would serve him damned well right, I thought. But where did that leave me? Here on this blind planet.
Then I thought of Karen. She wouldn’t have Jones and she wouldn’t have her father. But when I tried to picture her in my mind the image was of Ello.
I leaned forward and locked my arms around one knee, rocking a little on the couch. Tomorrow, after I’ve proven myself with the tests. I’ll tell Rhoa and his associates who I am. Once they know my score there will be no question of holding me longer.
I guess it was because I was hungry. Anyhow I pictured them honouring me at a huge academic banquet.
Into the edge of the light spread by my torch appeared a Grendan. The grey colour of his pyjamas led to conclude that it was a servant, a male servant, carrying a covered tray, bringing my dinner.