The Planet of the Blind

by Paul Corey

  Sometime I must ask her about those strange creatures, flashed a thought. I could look out over the plain with its orderly pattern of cultivated fields. And she can see none of this, I told myself with pity.

  I eased my hold and she turned in the circle of my arms. Then her lips were on mine and she clung to me with an even greater passion than I had felt that time in my room. Our kiss was the centre of infinity.

  At last she drew her lips away and let her body melt against me, her head on my chest.

  After a moment, she whispered, “There must be something in what you say, darling. I should feel shame, kissing an animal, but I don’t. No one on Grenda can kiss like you. Tye cannot begin to kiss me the way you do.”

  “Tye? Who is Tye?”

  “Doctor Zinzer.”

  “Oh, him. He’s in love with you?”

  “Earth word, love. Another Earth word. Betrothed.”

  I couldn’t work up much feeling of competition with that young pup. “Do you love him?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Are you going to marry him?”

  “I don’t know.”

  I tensed up at this repetition.

  She hurried on, “No. No. I’m in love with an animal. But how am I going to make Grendans understand?” Again she was clinging to me, her lips crushing mine, the tip of her tongue searching.

  TWENTY-NINE

  I half realised her problem, our problem. But it didn’t seem so great. Just explain that I’m really not an animal. As simple as that. Of course, she would have to do it and make the explanation stick.

  When we broke apart I said, “What do we do first?” We faced each other holding hands. The size of the situation seemed to grow, making words difficult.

  At last she said, “We’ll have to work out some plan. Let’s get into the bubble.”

  I went for my gear. “Cat, come along,” I said.

  But Cat crouched, ears flat, slit-eyes watching Ello. “He doesn’t trust you,” I said. “Cat, she’s all right.” Ello made a little whirring sound. Cat’s ears came up. She repeated the sound and he slid silently towards her. With fluid grace he rose on his hind legs and put his front paws on her shoulder, barely pressing the fabric of her blouse. He sniffed her nose.

  She sniffed back. He got down on all fours and rubbed against her leg. Then he came over and rubbed against me, butting his head against my hand.

  Ello stepped into the resting bubble and we followed. Cat sniffed his way to a seat and I felt my way down beside Ello.

  “What did you say to him?” I really found her performance to be something of a joke.

  “I assured him that I was his friend.”

  “You took quite a while to say it.”

  “He took a lot of persuading.”

  The bubble floated free of the ground and climbed above the plain.

  Cat stretched out on the seat opposite. He rolled up on his back, then down to face me. He extended a large fat paw and punched my knee. He sort of leered at me, yawned like a great laugh, then slurrped his tongue at some old wound on his shoulder and pretended to sleep.

  Ello sat silent and thoughtful. Then she asked, “Darling, did you meet some humanoids out there in the wild lands?”

  “I certainly did,” I said. “Last night. And you won’t believe this, but they had eyes. Say, how’d you guess?”

  “Cat said. You mean humanoids with orbs like yours?”

  “Grendans just like those goons at the animal refuge but with eyes. One had had both his eyes plucked out, and several of the others had lost one eye. Most of them were cock-eyed one way or another. Otherwise they were humanoid Grendans.”

  After another pensive moment, she said: “Grendans seldom go into the bush. But we’ve heard stories about strange humanoids in it. Bandits, some say. Folk-tales, most of us think.

  “And we do have cases of deformed birth—Grendan babies born with eyes.” She gave a little gasp. “How horrible. We have hospitals for them, but apparently some have run away into the wild lands. And when such are born to our poorer classes, apparently the parents try to remove the orbs. Oh, how horrible!”

  She became very upset. “They are living out there and mating. They bear normal Grendan children too. Is that where the babies come from we find abandoned on doorsteps? Lal was a doorstep baby, you know.”

  It seemed plain that Grendans weren’t as all-knowing about what went on upon their world as they appeared to be.

  The bubble had floated far out across the plain. Directly ahead I saw a farmyard and buildings that looked familiar.

  “Hey, where are we going?” I demanded.

  “Back to the refuge,” she said.

  “Oh no! I won’t go there.” I stood up and beat my fist on the smooth curve of the bubble. “How do you change the course of this damned thing? I’m not going back there to be groped by a dirty old man and fed hay.”

  Ello laughed. It was a happy sound. “Please, darling. I have no other place to keep you. You have to stay some place until I’ve worked out a way to get you on trial. Besides, things will be different at the refuge now. I promise. In a way, those low-scorers were on your side. They just couldn’t believe that an animal could have two legs only. They just wanted to check you out.”

  “I think Old Groper had something else in mind,” I said.

  “I don’t know what you mean by that,” she said, but didn’t wait for me to explain. “The language teacher hadn’t arrived, so when you bawled like a cow, saying that you were hungry, they didn’t know what else to do but bring you hay.”

  She laughed again.

  “I don’t think that’s funny,” I said. “I was hungry. And I’m hungry now.”

  “I’m sorry, darling.” She rested her head on my shoulder. “You’ll get the best of care now. The one you call Old Groper has been sent away. Boss and Cook have been force-taught your language. Please, darling, be patient. I must find a way to fit you into our way of life acceptable to my people.”

  “Have you come up with anything?”

  “Not enough time. When I got back to the University the other afternoon, the message to you from Earth had my father and the whole staff worried. Then those goons, as you call them, at the refuge mistreated you and you ran away. I’ve spent all the time since, trying to find you.”

  “Now that my identity has been confirmed,” I said, “you people might just let me get into my spacerover and take off back to Earth.”

  She gave a quick little intake of breath. “I can’t let you go,” she said. For a little while she was silent as if reaching a decision. “No, I’m going to marry you.”

  “This is kind of sudden, baby,” I said. “You mean you’ll marry me, an animal?”

  “Yes, and that’s my problem. I must find a way to make my people understand that eyes do not make an animal, or sightlessness someone great.”

  Her words had a vaguely familiar ring. But at the moment I was faced with a more demanding problem. Did she really mean it? To marry me? Well, why not? I was willing.

  “You gave me an idea the other day,” she said. “A trial. If I can somehow get you put on trial, that will bring out all the things about you that make you different from our animals and closer to us. I must have time to work it out.”

  “Simpler,” I said. “Let’s just get married, get on my ship and go back to Earth.”

  “And leave my father?”

  “He’ll get along. Besides, I can’t stay here.”

  “If you love me you can.”

  “I do love you, baby, but I have work to do on Earth. I have test business to attend to. I must get back and right a great wrong. I’ve got to get my daughter’s boy-friend pardoned.”

  “You don’t really love me,” she said. Her voice was low and broken with a tearless sob.

  That was something definitely in the favour of Grendan women. No tears.

  The bubble came down in the yard of the refuge.

  THIRTY

  Before the
bubble even split, I saw the boss-caretaker coming to meet us, cap in hand. The moment we stepped down, he bowed very low.

  “Very sorry for the misunderstanding, sir.”

  “Forget it,” I said. “Right now, I’m hungry. Will you have Cook get me something to eat? And Cat too, if he’s hungry.”

  “Right away, sir.”

  He trotted towards the kitchen wing of the house. Through the walls I saw Cook waiting, his hands twisting and pulling the fabric of his apron.

  The situation had certainly improved here, I assured myself as we crossed the yard. Cat padded just ahead of us, tail straight up, its tip shoulder high. He waited for Ello to split the wall and we went in. Inside, he led the way along the corridor to my quarters.

  The room had been thoroughly tidied up. Ello waved her hand. A seeing person might have concluded that she was calling my attention to it, but she was only checking up.

  “You’ll be all right here,” she said. “Please be patient a little longer.”

  “Baby, let me in on this wall-splitting trick.”

  She hesitated before saying, “I’m not sure your cerebral output of energy is controlled enough to manage it. We would need to make some tests first. You will probably be better off without knowing for a while.”

  Taking my hands she pulled my arms around her. She kissed me and clung a moment.

  “These people will give you what you ask for. If you ask for something there is a doubt about, they are instructed to communicate with me.” Her fingers played with the fabric of my shirt.

  “Your clothes are filthy. Have the cook launder them, darling.” Then she said, “I must get back to Lonwolt. I think Doctor Mun is on our side. He will help me figure out a way to bring you to trial.”

  She kissed me again, hard. “Good-bye, my pet.”

  Cat had already stretched out on my bed. Occasionally he raised his head and washed at himself, pausing to look towards the kitchen. The cook’s frantic preparation of food seemed to interest him.

  At last Cook headed our way carrying a tray. His movements visibly slowed the closer he came to my room. He stopped just inside the split. I’m sure he expected to be clouted any moment. His lips moved several times before he squeezed out, “I am Grums, sir. Here’s your breakfast D-Doctor St-Stone.”

  I watched her go out to the bubble. It floated quickly up and away. The last I saw, she had faced back towards the building and waved. It was meant for me, and I realised that she grasped a little the meaning of sight.

  “Put it on the table,” I said, “and bring something for Cat.”

  “Yes sir.” He hurried out, obviously relieved that he had put on a successful performance.

  I was too hungry to wait for Cat’s food to arrive. He sat on my bed and watched me eat. I knew he had gorged himself on those animals that attacked us, but he was obviously eager for food. I tossed him tidbits.

  The meal consisted of brown biscuits and a sweet sauce, some rather stringy broiled meat and a hot beverage with a caffeine base. By the time Grums got back with a plate of gruel for Cat I had finished the meal he had brought me.

  “I’m still hungry, Grums,” I said. “Bring me another meal.” I had been watching Cat. He sniffed his plate of food, then tried to cover it up. His claws made a terrific racket on the plastic floor. I said. “And Grums, take back that garbage you brought Cat. Bring him the same food you bring me.”

  “But, sir.”

  “That’s an order, Grums.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  He picked up Cat’s plate and split out fast. But he didn’t go to the kitchen. Instead, he went out front and whistled. Almost, at once Boss came running from the barn.

  “Cat,” I said. “We may be in for trouble again.”

  He looked at me, twitched his tail a couple of times, then put both front paws out in an extended stretch on the floor. Pushed to full length and spread wide, he displayed his claws, sharp as vibro-needles, on an arc six inches across. Then a flea, or whatever similar type insect they have on Grenda, nipped him on the inside of the leg. He forgot about his show of strength and dealt with it.

  I expected the boss-caretaker to come directly to my room but he didn’t. He went with Cook to the kitchen. I heard him buzzing past in the hallway and it sounded as if he was bawling out the cook.

  In the kitchen, I saw Cook go into action with Boss standing by. It took him half an hour to whip up another meal for both Cat and me. They brought it in together, each carrying a tray. They placed it before us with appropriate flourishes.

  “Anything else, sir?” Boss asked.

  I didn’t feel like conversation with these clods, so I gave a harsh buzz. Both Grendans jerked to attention and turned a bright pink.

  “Yes, sir. We will, sir,” Boss said.

  They backed slowly towards the wall. Grams waved behind him to split it, and they hurried off to the kitchen buzzing in a perplexed way. I wished I knew what I had said.

  Cat had paid no attention to all this. He finished his meal and began his usual toilet. As I finished my second meal and put down the eating tool. Cat left off washing and stretched. Then he came over to me, put his front paws on my thigh and sniffed my face. The memory of Ello and Cat sniffing noses snapped into my mind. So, on an impulse, I returned his sniffing.

  A wild gleam came into his blue eyes. The pupils grew big, pushing back the iris. With a lightning movement he slapped me on the cheek. His claws were sheathed and his pads soft but a ninety pound cat can pack a husky wallop.

  Dazed, I wondered what the hell I had said wrong this time. Foreign languages just aren’t one of my gifts. Apparently it hadn’t been too bad, because Cat butted his head into my chest, then got down. I whacked him a couple of times hard on the back to show superiority in some way. That didn’t seem to bother him either. He merely pranced across the room, then went to my bed and curled up for a nap.

  I decided to do some cleaning up myself. I took a shower and shaved. Then, rather than let the Grendans launder my clothes, I washed them myself. They would drip dry quickly hanging near the pink wall.

  But I didn’t wait for that to happen. Those nights of bedding down on the ground and not sleeping too well, and now a full stomach, all added up to an overwhelming desire to sleep. I crossed to the bed, pushed Cat over and stretched out beside him naked.

  The house had grown quiet. Just vaguely, I had noticed Grams out working in his salad garden. The Boss had returned to the barn and his work crew.

  Some time, I told myself sleepily, I must really find out more about this planet—geography, climate, people, government. People especially, I thought, remembering Ello’s reaction when I told her about the sighted Grendans. Then I told myself that I hoped she was making progress towards getting me a trial.

  THIRTY-ONE

  It was dark when I awoke. Something had aroused me. I heard Cat’s rumbling purr. He wasn’t on the bed. A hand touched my naked thigh and I went tense, ready for another defense of my honour.

  “Darling, are you awake?” Ello’s soft whisper.

  “Oh.” I was off that bed in a flash. “I haven’t any clothes on, baby.”

  “I know, darling. I know and understand.” Her voice had a throaty purr that matched Cat’s. Her hot fingers caressed me and I shivered.

  “Now, wait, Ello. Baby, this sort of thing can get out of hand.”

  “I won’t let it, darling.”

  I fled, feeling my way into the bathroom. I snatched wildly where I had hung my clothes and felt them, quite dry now. I struggled into my shirt and shorts.

  Ello’s arms found me and her lips met mine. That’s one thing to be said for these unsighted Grendans, darkness has no limitation for them. Some time later we broke apart. I heard her little sigh. Her fingers still played with my ear lobe. The only way to keep something from happening was to talk.

  Awkwardly, I said, “How’d you make out in town, baby?”

  “Not good,” she said. “The University president says that no
animal has ever been given a trial and they are not going to begin with you. He insists, and my father and his associates concur, that you must stay in the refuge away from all good, right-thinking Grendans.”

  No argument seemed forthcoming for such a hard and fast decision. Just the same, I couldn’t really believe that I would have to spend the rest of my life on this farm. An intelligent person just doesn’t accept such a futile situation.

  I returned to an old argument. “Ello, baby, just help me get to my spacerover and get off this planet.”

  “No, darling. I’ve other plans. I’m taking you back to the University to your old room in the Annex.”

  That would at least get me away from this place.

  “But if I’m not supposed to be near good, right-thinking Grendans, won’t that get you into trouble?”

  “Yes. There’ll be trouble.” She spoke thoughtfully. “Trouble is what I’m after.”

  But what sort of trouble could she get into? This began to scare me. “Ello, baby, wouldn’t it all be simpler just to help me escape?”

  “Thur Stone, do you think I am going to let anything get away that makes me feel the way you do?”

  “Come with me, then,” I said. “Let’s leave this planet together.”

  I heard her take a deep breath. This might be it. Maybe this idea didn’t seem so bad to her now.

  “No, darling. I told you I can’t leave Father.”

  There seemed to be nothing I could say to that. I accepted the situation. All wasn’t hopeless. I had learned things to my advantage. Grendans couldn’t use their restraint on me unless they faced me directly. A small fact, but it could be used. They couldn’t pick me up on their body radar if an ordinary solid object was between me and them. That too had uses.

  And when the energy converter failed during the storm the hold on my spacerover came off. That could happen again. Next time, perhaps my signal would get through in its entirety and Earth would know where to find me.