He took a large bite. Mmmm. . . not too bad-bland and sticky, no particular flavor. Not good eithet~but could be swallowed. Grimly determined to uphold the hon of his race, he ate on, while promising himself a proper meal in the near future. When lie’ (cit that to swallow another mouthful would be to invite physical and social diaaster.
***$~ed Up sl.~Ze h**dM st~ha *m~ uite$bmsndc~d IttoSssfoo ,kWasIn.pired dljdmflitey For Ike zest of the mast Lazarus fe4 Sexton, fed bun until bin anne were tired until he m~ at ha host’s ability ~o tuck it away***
After eating they slept and Lazarus slept with the famiy *** lIte**ly~*** They slept where they had eaten, without beds, disposed as casually as leaves on a path or puppies. To his aurprise, Lazarus slept well and did not awoke until false suns in the cavern roof glowed in ***mysse,~âs s~rmpath~c to-***new dawn. Sarloo was still asleep near him and giving out most humanlike snores. Lazarus found that one infant Jockaira was cuddled spoon fashion against his own stomach. He felt a movement behind his back~ a rustle at his thigh. He turned cautiously and found that another Jockaira-a six-year-old in human equivalence- had extracted his blaster from its holster and was now gazing curiously into its muzzle.
With hasty caution Lazarus removed the deadly toy from the child’s unwilling fingers, noted with relief that the safety was still on and reholstered it. Lazarus received a reproach for look; the kid seemed about to cry. “Hush,” whispered Lazarus, “you’ll wake your o1d man. Here–“- He gathered the child into his left arm, and cradled it against his side. The little Jockaira snuggled up to him, laid a soft moist mouth against his side, and promptly went to sleep.
Lazarus looked down at him. “You’re a cute little devil,” he said softly. “I-could grow right fond of you if 1 could ever get used to your smell.”
Some of the incidents between the two races would bave been funny bad they not been charged with potential trouble: for example, the case of Eleanor Johnson’s son Hubert This gangling adolescent was a confirmed sidewalk-superintendent. One day he was watching two technicians, one human and one Jockaira, adapt a Jockaira power source to the feed of Earth-type machinery. Tbe Jockaira was apparently amused by the boy and, in an obviously friendly spirit, picked him up.
Hubert began to scream.
His mother, never far from him, joined battle. She lacked strength and skill to do the utter destruction she was bent on; the big nonhuman was unhurt, but it created a nasty situation.
Administrator Ford and Oliver Johnson tried very hard to explain the incident to the amazed Jockaira. Fortunately, they seemed grieved rather than vengeful.
Ford then called in Eleanor Johnson. “You have endangered the entire colony by your stupidity-”
“But I-”
“Keep quiet! If you hadn’t spoiled the boy rotten, he would have behaved himself. If you weren’t a maudlin fool. you would have kept your hands to yourself. The boy goes to the regular development classes henceforth and you are to let him alone. At the lightest sign of animosity on your part toward any of the natives, I’ll have you subjected to a few years’ cold-rest. Now get out!”
Ford was forced to use almost as strong measures on Janice Schmidt. The interest shown in Hans Weatheral by the Jockaira extended to all the telepathic defectives. The natives seemed to be reduced to a state of quivering adoration by the mere fact that these could communicate with them directly. Kreel Sarloo informed Ford that he wanted the sensitives to be housed separately from the other defectives in the evacuated temple of the Earthmen’s city and that the Jockaira wished to wait on them personally. It was more of an order than a request.
Janice Schmidt submitted ungracefully to Ford’s insistence that the Jockaira be humored in the matter in return for all that they had done, and Jockaira nurses took over under her jealous eyes.
Every sensitive of intelligence level higher than the semimoronic Hans Weatheral promptly developed spontaneous and extreme psychoses while being attended by Jockaira.
So Ford had another headache to straighten out. Janice Schmidt was more powerfully and more intelligently vindictive than was Eleanor Johnson. Ford was s-tpr~d to bind Janice over to keep the peace under the threat of retiring her completely from the care of her beloved “children.” Kreel Sarloo, distressed and apparently shaken to his core, accepted a compromise whereby Janice and her junior nurses resumed care of the poor psychotics while Jockaira continued to minister to sensitives of moron level and below.