Birthright

“Well, what rare beastie am I to make sense out of for your department?” asked Consuela.

“Have you ever heard of the planet Beelzebub?” “Sounds like something right out ofParadise Lost ,” commented Consuela. “I very much doubt that it was ever a candidate for Paradise,” said Tanayoka. “It's about forty-five light-years from here. I won't go into all its physical features, but it's pretty valuable. The place is simply lousy with gold, platinum, silver, and even uranium.” “I don't see the problem,” said Consuela. “The problem is that there happens to be a resident alien population on Beelzebub. We've been mining there for about eight months. They never tried to contact us or communicate with us, but they didn't hide their presence from us either. At any rate, we had no problems for thirty weeks. Then, eighteen days ago, when we began to load the processed ores onto our ship prior to moving to another area, they began ripping our miners to shreds. The Federation of Miners has gone on strike, and they won't go back to Beelzebub until the Republic can guarantee their safety.” “It's a big galaxy,” said Consuela. “Why not do your mining on some other planet?” “It's not generally known,” said Tanayoka, “but the Republic is having more than a little difficulty backing its currency these days. We still use rare metals, you know, and though the days of gold-backed currency are definitely numbered, they're not over yet. We need what Beelzebub has to offer, Mrs. Orta, and we need it badly.”

“Badly enough to exterminate an entire native population if it should turn out that they aren't sentient?” asked Consuela, a gleam of understanding coming to her eyes. Tanayoka nodded. “Your primary job is to determine whether or not they're intelligent. We don't want another Doradus IV.”

Consuela nodded. Ever since Doradus IV, when the Navy had destroyed an entire sentient population while defoliating the world prior to mining it—from the air Doradusians bore a striking resemblance to cabbages—a number of alien worlds had closed their doors to the Republic's commerce. The government had suddenly grown very sensitive about its public image, not without cause, and needed no new disasters.

“You mentioned my primary job as if there is a secondary one as well,” said Consuela. “Is there?” “Absolutely,” said Tanayoka. “If theyare sentient, we want you to try to convince them to let us perform our mining operations in peace.”

“And if I can't?”

“Why consider unattractive alternatives?” said Tanayoka. “You're the best in your field. Let's just assume that you're going to get the job done.” Consuela suddenly remembered why she had devoted her life to dealing with nonhuman beings possessed of nonhuman motivations.