Fuzzy Sapiens 7
John Scalzi
NOTE: This is a reboot of the series started by H Beam Piper with Little Fuzzy. I read this as a stand-alone novel, not as part of a series.
1. Jack Holloway is a contract surveyor working on an uninhabited planet called Zara XXIII with his dog Carl. Earlier in the day, he set acoustical blasting putty onto a cliff face. He goes through the safety procedures for the detonation and then lets Carl push the button. Holloway gives him a zararaptor bone. He gets a warning beep from his panel and then the ground shakes. When the dust settles, Holloway can see part of the cliff face where he put the explosive charges has collapsed. People are no longer buying that uninhabited planets can handle and recover from more damage than inhabited ones. ZaraCorp, the company he is contracted to, has been trying to clean up their image and appear environmentally friendly on all planets. The Colonial Environmental Protection Agency gives them tax breaks for doing so. Chad Bourne, his representative to the company, threatens to end his contract and have him brought in if he destroyed the cliff. He knows Holloway doesn’t have the best reputation and brings up they have a witness that saw him have his dog push the detonator button. He denies it and says she is lying. He sees something shiny and as dark as coal in the cliff. Bourne says he has five minutes before he deletes his contract. Holloway gets Carl into his crate and starts driving his skimmer towards the cliff.
2. Holloway calls up Bourne, who was delighted to have already deleted his file because Holloway is more difficult than all his other contractors. Holloway tells him to look at his hand. Bourne uses the satellite to see he is holding a Sunstone (shiny gemstone that changes color to match what is around it). Since there is no sentient life on the planet, ZaraCorp classifies it as Class III (Class IIIa has sentient life) and is allowed to use the planet for the resources Earth has run out of long ago. On this particular planet, it used to be covered in oceans with jellyfish like creatures. When they died, they drifted to the bottom of the seas, were covered, and eventually became sunstones. When they were discovered, ZaraCorp treated them like diamonds saying there were rare and only found on one planet. People went crazy for them and the price skyrocketed. Holloway points out that he now owns the excavation site since he is no longer contracted to ZaraCorp. When Bourne tries to argue, Holloway gives him the case law that says he was dropped off on planet as a ZaraCorp contractor, but he used his own equipment and then his contract was deleted. Since he is an individual and not a company, he owns the sunstones. Bourne agrees to write him a new contract saying he won’t be fined for the destruction of the cliff and he gets .4% of profits (standard is .25%). After he hangs up with Bourne, he goes over the paperwork and approves it. He puts the sunstone in his pocket and knows just who to give it to.
3. As he starts driving the skimmer home, Holloway gets an alert that his house is being broken into. He sets the skimmer to autopilot through the jungle and checks the camera. He’s never really had much use for the security camera and ended up using it as a hat rack. He can’t see anything and whoever is in the house has been quiet. He sees Mount Isabel in the distance. He got a nice payout for the discoveries in that one and he figures they have a couple years left of mining it. When he hears a crash from the security camera, he decides to dive himself and picks up the pace. His home is a prefabricated house put up in four spike trees. There are too many predators in the jungle for anyone to have walked to his house, so the lack of a skimmer in the parking spot makes him think a critter got into his house. Carl is able to use the dog door first because he has a chip in his shoulder that senses when he is close and unlocks it. Through a window, Holloway can see a cat-like creature. There is a bunch of crashing and barking inside and Holloway tries to get in as quickly as possible. The creature was heading for the door, but stops and turns directions when it sees him. Carl slams into the door, which slams into Holloway’s face. Carl ends up treeing the creature on a book shelf. Holloway looks at the window in his sleeping cove and realizes he forgot to close it. He goes over and closes it realizing it would be easy for the creature to get in that way, but near impossible for it to get back out. He takes Carl outside and locks him out.
4. Holloway goes to the kitchen and cuts up a piece of a local bindi fruit. He eats the first piece to show the creature it is okay. He puts the second piece on the corner of the shelf. After a while, the creature eats it. Holloway makes him take the third piece from his hand. He puts the last piece on his desk and sets his spare info panel up next to it. He puts a chair next to the desk so the creature can get to it. He slips out the door and goes to his skimmer to watch what happens through the security camera. The creature comes down off the shelf. When it gets into the desk, it is originally frightened by its image reflected in the info panel, but quickly realizes what it is. It starts eating the fruit with its human-like teeth and it’s legs hanging over the desk. Holloway slips back inside and Carl watches them from the window. The creature takes the fruit over to the window to deliberately eat it in front of Carl. Holloway grabs Carl’s collar and leash and takes them outside. He shows the creature a quick run of Carl’s training and then brings Carl inside. He had Carl lay down and the creature comes over to pet Carl. Holloway left the door open and it runs out. Carl chases it, but it is king gone in the trees. He can’t recall a mammal that large ever being discovered on that planet and knows who would be interested to know about it. He just hopes she is willing to see him.
5. Zara XXIII doesn’t have much of a population. Most of the people that live there are humans (occasionally other races, but not for very long) that work in the Exploration and Exploitation (E & E) Camps. There are a few other key people in Aubreytown, which is the only city. Holloway goes to Aubreytown and lets Carl off his leash when he sees Isabel. Carl runs up to her and she is happy to see him. She is less happy to see Holloway. He tries to apologize to her and gives her the sunstone. She isn’t interested in the stone. She liked when he named a hill after her, but was sad at how the hill was destroyed for mining. He asks her if she is studying anything specific and she says she will probably end up with nothing to do (like the xenologist) soon. He gives her a data card and promises her it will keep her busy. He tries to apologize again, but she has moved on. She tells him she has to get to a lunch appointment and leaves him and Carl watching her.
6. With Carl in the skimmer with the air circulator going, Holloway heads to the Zarathustra Corporation building in town. It is function and isn’t as big and impressive as the main headquarters in Dayton, Ohio. When Hollow gets to the room he needs, Bourne is already there. He told Holloway to be there 20 minutes earlier than he really needed to be so he wouldn’t be late. Bourne makes Holloway promise to behave. He agrees and once they enter the room, he sees why. All of the executives from Zara XXIII are present. Wheaton Aubrey VII is also there. He looks at Holloway’s file and sees he went to Duke Law, same as him. He makes a comment about Holloway being disbarred. Gruber starts to explain they did some extra surveying of the sunstone seam Holloway found. He stops them to inquire why they would do that without him present when they know that is required. Aubrey pipes in to tell him they found it to be an emergency because he was supposed to be leaving the planet. He mentions that Holloway will get a bonus .10% for his share and says it will be .35% total. Holloway corrects this by letting him know his contract was renegotiated and it will be .5% total. Aubrey tries to make up for it by saying part of cleanup will be taken out of his cut, but Holloway corrects him on that too. Aubrey says he will speak to the hiring manager later. Gruber goes on to explain the seam is much bigger than they anticipated and they might have trouble getting to some of it because it goes under part of the jungle and CEPA environment protection policies would prevent deforestation. Aubrey is determined to get it all and asks for an estimate. Gruber thinks it will be worth $800 billion to $1.2 trillion. He wants them to get to work immediately and promises to bury their hopes of ever having a job again if they aren’t seriously started on excavation in a month.
7. Holloway wakes up to the cat-like creature poking it. He jumps up in surprise, but the creature just watches him. Isabel calls to tell him she wants to come out and try to find the mammal. While still talking to her, he figures out that creature used Carl to get into the house. It goes over to the fruit container and points at it. Holloway gives it another bindi, but it looks at him expectantly. He cuts it up and puts the plate in front of it. It takes two slices and carries them to the door. Carl goes out the door and the creature sneaks out under it. Holloway follows. He sees the creature go to the tree it left by before and move aside some brush to reveal more of its kind. It shares the fruit. Isabel explains she has to complete an impact report for the sunstone seam before she can come out and research the creature. He says that works for him. She asks if he needs anything from town and he says he needs a lot more bindi.
8. It isn’t long before the fuzzy family moves into Holloway’s cabin. He calls the originally one Papa Fuzzy and its apparent mate Mama Fuzzy. Their is one that appears older and he thinks might be Mama Fuzzy’s father and so calls it Grandpa Fuzzy. The two adolescents he names Pinto (more masculine personality) and Baby (more feminine personality). They spend the next few days taking over his place and watching him do things. When Isabel arrives, he has them distracted watching Return of the Jedi because he thinks they will like the small, fuzzy Ewoks. She is able to view them through the window and scolds Holloway for interfering in their natural behavior. Baby comes up to the window to see her and the others eventually join her. Carl comes through the dog door halfway and stops. Isabel calls to him, but he doesn’t budge. He waits for all five Fuzzies to come out before going the rest of the way through the dog door. They all rush up to greet Isabel. Holloway checks his info panel and sees he has a message from Bourne. He says Aubrey has put a hold on all payments to him because he has a business proposition he want to discuss with him personally.
9. Holloway goes out to his surveying site to meet with Aubrey. He is flying his skimmer when a voice tells him to identify himself or be blast out of the sky. Holloway asks the voice to identify themselves as they are on his claim. Holloway is given permission to land and is met by a security guard he is not particularly fond of named DeLise and Aubrey’s personal assistant, Landon. When Holloway and DeLise get into a petty argument about who is right, Landon says they both technically are and takes Holloway to where Aubrey is working on one of the machines that helps put up protective fencing. Holloway’s ears hurt like they need to pop. When Aubrey comes down from the machine to meet with him, he explains they are trying to use a high frequency to keep the zararaptors away as an alternative to automated killing machines. They go inside away from the fence and Holloway points out how this base of operations has come together quickly without him being informed or involved. He cites a case where a surveyor was cut out for not participating and that he knows that is what Aubrey is trying to do. Aubrey tries to give him an offer of $35 million a year for him to give up his claim. Holloway take it as an insult. When they offer a lump sum of $500 million to give up his claim and leave the planet, he refuses still. He promises Aubrey he will be a PR nightmare if he tries to cut him out. Aubrey had a felling Holloway would turn down the offer. He says when his contract is up in five months, he will make sure no one hires him as a surveyor again. He is going to have him working in the jungle surveying and hoping he gets attacked. When Holloway starts back to his skimmer, DeLise seems smug. Holloway says he isn’t going anywhere yet.
10. When Holloway gets back to his cabin, he instantly picks a fight with Isabel by asking her to stop telling people he lets his dog push the detonate button. She tells him she only told someone once when she was directly asked about his odd practices as part of an investigation. Isabel says she needs to show him something. She gets out the sandwich ingredients and Papa makes the same sandwich Holloway make the other day. He the. Cuts it into six equal pieces and distributes them to the other Fuzzies and Carl. Isabel thinks the creatures are sapient. Holloway wishes she had told him her suspicions before he turned down the deal from Aubrey. He tells her to be very sure before she makes the claim because if they are sapient, it would make Zara XXIII into a Class IIIa planner. They would have to stop stripping the seam of the sunstones. The Zarathrusta Corporstion might take their loss of profits out on her. He reminds her there a defined factors to determine sapient life and they might not qualify because they don’t speak (but they do communicate). She asks him what would have happened if aliens had come to their planet a few thousand years earlier and taken their resources. They wouldn’t my have made it nearly as far as they have. She wants to make sure they are not stripping a sapient species from their chance at living full lives in their own planet.
11. Out over the jungle, Holloway uses drones to go in and plant the acoustic explosives because he cannot fit his skimmer between the trees. Suddenly, the rotors go out. This not a very uncommon problem, but for both to go out at the same time is very unusual. He is able to use his emergency landing setting to get to the ground while taking a few tree branches with him. He gets out of the skimmer and we’re up his small protective emergency fence around the vehicle. He is glad he always keeps it charged. When he gets it set and turns on the power, the battery that should last 12 hours is dead. He closes himself inside the skimmer and gets his shotgun, but when he reaches for the shells to load into it, they are gone (he never removes them). The Zararaptors (like dinosaurs with feline feature and opposable digits) come, they try to get into the skimmer. One walks away to find a rock and throws it at the window causing a small crack. It retrieved the rock and start to hit the same spot with it. Holloway is grateful he overpaid for a stereo system that was supposed to be an “experience” of the whole sound on multiple frequencies. He uses the stereo’s frequency tester to create a sound to scare off the zararaptors. He records it on his info panel and has it play in a loop. He works through the headache the sound is giving him to look for changes in his skimmer’s programming. He finds two that are new and don’t belong. He has the skimmer do a reset to original settings. Two hours later, it is complete and he is able to take off with a bloody nose and a migraine. He calls Isabel (who has been staying at his cabin for a week) and tells her he needs to head into town. He tells her to get a hold of her lawyer friend if she doesn’t hear from her by midnight.
12. Holloway struts into the bar he knows DeLise will be drinking at. He is sitting on his usual stool (he beats up people if they don’t give it up when he walks in) at Warren’s Warren. Holloway goes right up to him and punches him in the face. He publically accuses DeLise of messing with his skimmer in an attempt to kill him. As Holloway is walking out, he notices the security camera he needed to record the accusation is missing from its mount. The bartender says it broke about a week earlier. DeLise hits Holloway upside the head with a pool cue from behind. Holloway wakes up in a ZaraCorp holding cell. His head hurts and his vision is blurry. DeLise says he is going to say Holloway resisted and the. He will kill him. Holloway doesn’t seem to care and goes to sleep. When he wakes up, ZaraCorp attorney Mark Sullivan is there telling DeLise he has to leave Holloway alone because if anything happens to him, the Colonial Authority will open an investigation against ZaraCorp and possibly delay the mining of the sunstones. Holloway suggests they say the story is that he got drunk and picked a fight with DeLise. They all agree to it. Once outside and away from the security officers, Mark tells Holloway he did this for Isabel. He asks if Holloway is going to be an issue in that respect. Holloway knows he blew it with her and she would never give him another chance. Marks says he is taking him to the hospital to be checked for a concussion and then he can spend the night in his couch. Isabel asked that Holloway bring Mark back to his cabin the next day so Isabel can show him something as ZaraCorp attorney. Holloway says his skimmer is in the shop and should be fixed by noon.
13. Sullivan sits on the side bench seat as Holloway drives the skimmer back to his cabin. Sullivan asks how he got disbarred. Holloway used to work for a pharmaceutical company, Alestria, that came up with a sleep aid/anxiety medication for children. They ended up outsourcing the lab-created medication to a Tajik vendor that changed the active ingredients. Hundreds of children died and more went to sleep and their brains were never able to wake up. Holloway was working the defense and the CEO, Jonas Stern, kept making jokes and laughing at the families of the dead children. Holloway got fed up and punched him in the face. He was disbarred and asked to leave the planet. Sullivan then asks why he lied about Isabel making up he let his dog set off explosives. If he admitted to it, he would have lost his contract and been sent off planet with nowhere to go since he couldn’t go back to North Carolina. When they get to the cabin, Holloway introduces Sullivan to Carl and the Fuzzies. After interacting with them for a bit, Isabel starts to explain why she thinks they are sapient. She points out they are Uni sexual. They do have to mate (unless extremely stressful situations change the coating on their reproductive parts, they cannot reproduce individually), but there is only one sex like the other species on Zara XXIII. She thinks this proves they are native to the planet. Sullivan points out that any argument for the Fuzzies being sapient will have to go through court and be decided by a judge and /or jury rather than in a lab. He says if she files the report, she will get buried because they don’t speak like every other Sapient species so far discovered. He suggests they ask for an inquiry on evidence of sapience. The company will do the original investigation overseen by the Colonial Authority and determine sapient, non-sapient, or more research needed. He thinks the “more research needed” option should give them all a nice compromise. ZaraCorp will get to keep operating as usual while the inquiry is going, but will be required to put 10% aside for the potentially sapient species. Holloway will still get millions (but not nearly as much as he would if they are deemed non-sapient). Pinto jumps on Grandpa (whose name seems ridiculous now) and they start running around with baby with Carl chasing them. Sullivan points out they aren’t exactly geniuses, but Isabel and Holloway appreciate the comedic timing of the Fuzzies.
14. Bourne calls Holloway and says he needs to come out to see the Fuzzies. When he arrives with a skimmer full of people, Holloway immediately notices DeLise is one of the passengers. He refuses to let him onto his property and insists he wait in the skimmer. Once that is settled, he invites Aubrey, Landon, and Bourne inside. They tell him the inquiry about the sapience of the Fuzzies could cause them a lot of problems. They tell him they are stating a new project where one contracted surveyor will take on the entire currently untouched continent on Zara XXIII. He would still be able to make his fortune and would be able to contract the surveying. He could even go back to earth and run things from there. Holloway asks what would happen to the Fuzzies. They say he can start a reservation on the new content and they will even have a fund set up for people to donate to. Holloway asks what he will have to do for this amazing offer. They explain they will have to discredit Isabel. He will have to tell them he trained the Fuzzies to do the things she videoed and say it was all just a practical joke gone wrong. Afterwards, Isabel will be promoted to head a lab on Earth. Holloway asks about Bourne. They suggest that Holloway hire him to do what he is doing now. Hollow confirms he understands their offer and all of the conditions.
15. After everyone leaves, Holloway goes to check in the recording from the camera. He is disappointed to find the audio did not record and figures he must have accidentally muted it when he adjusted it to point at DeLise. He watches the video and sees that DeLise had a visit from Pinto. It came down onto the skimmer hood and went right up to the glass . DeLise tried to scare it off by banging on the glass. Pinto put its butt against the glass and DeLise was so furious he kicked the windshield. Pinto calls out to Grandpa. When the older fuzzy gets onto the skimmer as well, Pinto shows it DeLise’s reaction to it putting its bit against the window. Grandpa hits Pinto upside the head and Pinto takes off into the trees. Grandpa goes to check out DeLise for itself. When DeLise hits the windshield again, Grandpa puts its butt into the glass before taking off into the trees. When the other three men come out to join DeLise, he tells them about the visit he got from the Fuzzies. They try to look for it, but don’t see anything and leave. Carl opens the door for the Fuzzies and they return. Papa Fuzzy brings Holloway over to the cooler and gestures for him to open it. Holloway does and Papa retrieves the cold cuts. Holloway stops him saying it is about to go bad. He feeds it to Carl and pulls out the bacon. He cooks six strips at a time and leaves Carl out of the first round. Grandpa shares his piece with Carl. It opens its mouth and Carl does tricks. Then Grandpa gives him some bacon. After the second round of bacon is dispersed, Holloway cleans up and goes to his info panel. He pulls up the copy of Isabel’s videos she left with him and starts fiddling with them.
16. When Holloway arrives outside the courtroom, Sullivan is there to explain how it will work. Holloway sums it up as they are on defense in a trial. Sullivan corrects him to say the Fuzzies are the defense and Holloway and Isabel are just witnesses. Holloway points out there isn’t anyone representing the Fuzzies. Sullivan’s ambitious boss, Meyer, will be the one handling the questioning. When she walks up to them, Sullivan suggests the go in so they can get started. Judge Solran arrives and has them all sit. Isabel is questioned first. Every question asked is about her rather than the Fuzzies. Meyer establishes Isabel is not an expert in Xenosapience. The same comparison Holloway used of a podiatrist examining a liver was used and he realizes it is all a scripted play. Meyer goes on to ask about Isabel’s former relationship with Holloway. Isabel admits they broke up because he lied about her during the last trial they were involved in together. Meyer states Isabel’s judgment might be impaired by friendly or romantic feelings. She asks Isabel if it is possible Holloway trained the Fuzzies as a joke. Isabel doesn’t believe it possible. When she is let off the stand, Isabel understands the entire inquiry is a formality and the decision has already been made against the Fuzzies. She stares ahead knowing she is defeated.
17. Holloway takes the stand next and promises to tell the whole truth. He looks directly at Landon as he swears to. While on the stand, Meyers starts her questioning. Holloway says that as a scientist, he knows Isabel got too excited about the discovery and had a few over-sites. He had gendered the creatures based on behavior and she had accepted it until she checked them a few days later to find they were unisexual creature. He points out that he is embarrassed about the other over-site, but will need her info panel to show what it was. She gives him her info panel and he pulls up video while he explains he wanted hers because it is secured and tamper-proof. He uses an audio filter to lower the frequency of the video and they can all hear the Fuzzies conversing in their own language. He shows more clips with the effect. In one particular clip, Mamma Fuzzy is singing and baby joins in to sing harmony. He says he doesn’t know how Isabel could overlook this when they already knew the Zararaptors were sensitive to higher frequencies humans cannot hear. He apologizes to her for letting her come into the inquiry thinking he didn’t believe the Fuzzies are sapient.
18. Meyers attempts to follow the “prank” path, but Holloway points out how unrealistic it would be for him to fetch them to speak in a frequency he couldn’t even hear. Holloway points out it is not only ZaraCorp that stands to loose a fortune on the Fuzzy’s sapience, but himself as welll. Meyers switched tactics and says they have no way of knowing if what the Fuzzys are saying constitutes a language. Holloway points out a xenolinguist was accidentally sent to Zara XXIII and asks Soltan to send one of her clerks for him rather than a ZaraCorp employee that might attempt to coach him. Soltan calls for a 15 minute break while Dr. Chen is brought in. Holloway is allowed off the stand and Isabel greats him with a hug. She says she accepts his apology. When she leaves, Sullivan says they are going to need to talk about everything else that is going on. Holloway points out they don’t have the time for it right then. When Dr Chen is brought in, he is out on the witness stand and he looks tired. He thinks he is there for something different and admits he had too much to drink the other night, but wasn’t part of anything else. Soltan makes sure he isn’t under the influence of anything currently. When he confirms he’s sober, Chen is given Isabel’s info panel. Holloway shows him the video of Grandpa, Papa, and Mama seemingly having a conversation around some bindi fruit. Chen is immediately excited. He points out the repeating sounds they make in different ways and combinations. Meyer questions if it is like a birdsong or cat’s level of speech. Chen points out how birds rarely vary in their songs. While cats have different sounds for different things, they don’t have any complex meaning. Soltan asks if he thinks it is a language. He says he can’t be sure, but if he had to guess based on what he has seen, he would say yes. When he asks where the creatures are from, Holloway tells him they are local. Chen realizes the complications involved. Soltan says they will need to do more research to determine sapience. ZaraCorp will need to follow CEPA guidelines during their exploitation processes. She plans on posting the inquiry ruling later in the day.
19. Holloway is walking Carl when Aubrey comes up to him. He outraged that Holloway didn’t stick to their agreement. Holloway points out he never agreed to the terms they gave him. He also knows they can’t take him to court for a verbal agreement to commit perjury that he never actually agreed to. Aubrey says they will never find the Fuzzys to be sapient. Holloway understands ZaraCorp will throw money at the problem and at least tie it up for a few years at best. But the cost will be a fraction of the profits they will get and they will still have a monopoly on sunstones until the Fuzzys have the capacity for interplanetary business dealings, which is clearly at least several decades in the future. He suggests Aubrey work quickly. Aubrey thinks this was all part of Holloway’s plan to get rich quicker and storms off. Holloway goes to Sullivan’s apartment and is surprised it is smaller than his cabin. Sullivan says the continental gig contract he was asked to write was clearly for Holloway. He is surprised he didn’t take it and points out a large bonus was given to Holloway before he punched Stern in the face causing his disbarment. He asks if Holloway actually cares about the Fuzzys. Holloway says nothing was ever proven about him being bribed to cause a mistrial and the oddly large bonus was from a different settlement. He says he does care about the Fuzzys. Sullivan admits he wishes Holloway would have taken the deal. In the Cheng versus BlueSky Corp case, the Nimbus Fooaters could never actually be determined sapient because they were extinct before the conclusion could be made. People started hunting them. Sullivan thinks the same thing will happen to the Fuzzys because a protective authority called a Special Master is only sent if the SSR is filed. Since they have to do more research to determine if an SSR needs to be filed, it will be open season in the Fuzzys. Holloway gets an alert in his info panel that his house is on fire.
20. Holloway can see the smoke rising up from his cabin. When he gets there, he has the skimmer hover over the landing pad and slowly tests the stability of the structure. He goes inside and sees everything inside is ruined. He checks where he stores the surveying explosives and sees they were dropped out of a trap door to prevent the destruction of the surrounding area. He takes the skimmer under the house and sees Pinto staring at him. He yells at him about helping while he loads the explosives back up and starts getting ready to move them with the high pitch frequency turned up. When he feels something hit him, he thinks it is Pinto spitting at him. He quickly realizes it is the Fuzzy’s blood and rushes to him. He pulls out the first aid kit to clean a wound to Pinto’s stomach, but he quickly realizes Pinto is dead. Mama, Papa, and Grandpa are there. Holloway goes to find Baby and finds its body burnt up. He knows there was no way for Baby to get into the house while he was gone. He goes back to the skimmer and plays the feed from his security camera. He sees someone land a skimmer there and when they get out, they are wearing a ski mask. Baby trustingly goes up to the man and he gets her to come close enough to step in her. Pinto attacks and the man ends up getting shot. The feed cuts out shortly after and he assumes it is from the camera dying in the fire. Holloway checks Pinto’s fingernails and sees there are pieces of human skin under them. Hollloway lays in the skimmer and cries swearing to make the man that killed Baby and Pinto pay. When he looks up, the trees are full of Fuzzys. The capuchin monkey from the illiterate surveyor (Sam) that died when he crashed and didn’t have a security fence is with them. The Fuzzy’s bring him Sam’s solar powered info panel and he sees it is open to software to teach English. Holloway starts to get an idea.
21. When DeLise comes into Warren’s Warren, Holloway is already on his stool. DeLise immediately starts threatening Holloway. Holloway tells him he knows it was him who burned down his house. Sullivan is playing pool and chimes in to let him know he must have done it on his own time and that ZaraCorp won’t represent him for things he’s done on his own time. Before he leaves, Holloway takes a picture of DeLise’s scratched up face and tells him to prepare for a preliminary hearing. Holloway has Bourne come out of work to walk Carl with him. He warns Bourne that while he had brought Aubrey, Landon, and DeLise out to Holloway’s house and left DeLise alone with his key fob to his skimmer, DeLise likely made a copy. Bourne’s company skimmer will likely be impounded as evidence (fire suppressant as well as other planted evidence) by the time Bourne gets back to it. Holloway asks if Bourne has an alibi for the day his house burned down. Bourne admits it was his day off and he wasn’t feeling well. He stayed home alone and slept. Holloway warns him they are going to try to create reasonable doubt and screw over Bourne. Holloway tells him to find out who is trying to frame him and find some dirt on him. Just because he might lose, doesn’t my mean the other guy has to win. They part ways when they get back to the ZaraCorp administration building. Holloway crosses the street to meet up with Sullivan and Isabel. It was part of their plan to scare Bourne. Isabel feels bad for him. They both tell him they are being transferred in three days as well as the Xenolinguist, Chen. They have all been locked out of their files (Holloway still has a copy of Isabel’s). ZaraCorp want anyone that could help the Fuzzys gone by the time CEPA officials arrive. Holloway tells them they have a lot of work to do in those three days before the preliminary hearing starts.
22. When the preliminary hearing starts, Soltan is not too thrilled to see the same group of characters in her courtroom as with the Fuzzys hearing. Meyers is representing DeLise and Holloway is representing himself. Soltan reminds them it is a preliminary hearing and evidence might not be shared between sides before being shown to her and her decision will hold until a trial is completed. They agree and Holloway starts showing his evidence. He uses his info panel to show the footage from his security camera. Soltan agrees it looks like he has a case for arson and damage to personal property. Meyer has him show the skimmer in the video and points out it isn’t a security guard’s skimmer. They bring in Bourne to question him. He admits Holloway is a pain and they don’t really get along. When asked for his alibi, he says he was home sick that day, but he did venture out when he realized Holloway’s contract was never signed off on by the ZaraCorp lawyers. Bourne had flagged the kicker as needing approval, but it got caught up and was never signed. He visited Holloway in town to inform him he actually owns the seam. Meyer points out it is odd the plaintiff is the only alibi, but Holloway points out Sullivan was there was well as it was his place where Bourne found him, but they can’t get Sullivan in there because he is leaving for another planet. Meyers said he has already left, but Holloway corrects Sullivan doesn’t doesn’t actually leave for another three hours. Soltan sends someone to fetch Sullivan and calls a recess in the meantime. Meyer asks to approach the bench and Soltan reluctantly allows it. Meyers points out that it is on record that Holloway owns the seam and a hearing should he held for that immediately. Soltan says she will put it on the docket and should come to them in a year. Holloway says he would like a quick decision in it as well. They meet in the judges chambers with Aubrey, Bourne, and Landon added. Bourne explains the situation and Soltan rules that Holloway cannot be held to a contract that did not exist just because he thought it did. Holloway says he is willing to allow work in the seam continue under his supervision as long as he gets half the profit. ZaraCorp has no choice but to agree and eat the cost of labor since only their employees are allowed on planet. Back in the courtroom, the preliminary hearing continues. Sullivan corroborates Bourne’s story and is dismissed. He asks to stay for the rest of the hearing since his new ticket to leave planet isn’t for another 12 hours. Soltan allows him and asks for Holloway’s next piece of evidence
23. Holloway presents Soltan with a secure picture of the scratches on DeLise’s face taken a few days prior. DeLise says he was drunk and fell into a bush. Holloway pulls out a sheet of the results of the DNA testing from what the arsonist left behind. Meyers points out any blood on the ground would have been contaminated by the fire suppressant. Holloway agrees and pulls Pinto’s body from a cooler by his desk. He takes it to Soltan and shows her there is human skin and blood under the fingernails. He had ZaraCorp’s biologist do the testing and remove the bullet. He gives the evidence to Sullivan and asks DeLise’s guns be checked. Soltan asks to send for the biologist and Holloway points out she is also being sent off planet. It is not lost on Soltan that Holloway’s Allie’s are all being sent off planet. Soltan decides to keep the evidence to prevent tampering pending a trial. She has Isabel sent for and during the recess, Meter tries to get Holloway to settle. He listens to her offer and declines. Isabel’s testimony is quick and she does confirm what Holloway told her. He then has Sullivan go out to his skimmer to retrieve his witness: Papa Fuzzy.
24. Judge Soltan is very upset and threatens to put Holloway in contempt of court. Meyers accuses Holloway of training Papa to answer questions, but Holloway points out how that could never work. He convinces Soltan to asks Papa questions to convince herself it can indeed understand and speak English. She is about to throw the book at him when Papa asks if it will be speaking or not. It speaks in the lowest register of its voice and they are able to hear his high pitch voice. Soltan asks questions and Papa answers. He explains they found the info panel (they call a flat rock) in a surveyor’s, Sam, downed skimmer and took it. His monkey followed them. A few of the Fuzzys used the children’s literacy applications to learn English before they met Holloway. Usually, when they found people, they would observe them to determine if they were good or bad. They had only observed bad men until they came to Holloway. The men would take their food and other resources so the Fuzzys would have to move. Papa was the only one that could speak the language of the ones that visited Holloway. It was sent as a spy to find out if Holloway was good or bad. It stayed with him because it thought a man would not destroy his own home. Holloway points out how the creature has not only learned their language, but was able to use cognitive thought to use the human’s home for its own advantage. Meters tries to say Papa’s testimony can’t count because it cannot be proven it is sentient. Soltan has already decided it is sentient and will put it on the stand. Meyers asks for a recess to prepare, and once it is granted, runs out of the courtroom.
25. Meyers returns with every available ZaraCorp lawyer as well as Aubrey and Landon. When Soltan returns into the courtroom from her chambers, Meyers immediately approaches the bench without permission and slaps down several motions, including one to remove Soltan from the case for incompetence. Soltan tells her she is already too late. During the recess, she updated the decision on the hearing for the Fuzzy’s sapience and is requiring ZaraCorp to file a Suspected Sapience Report by end of day. When Meyers refuses to continue the hearing, Soltan points out the camera over her head. She says there is a live feed of all proceedings that goes directly to the Colonial Authority to keep the judges honest while bribery is so tempting. Before she came back into the courtroom, she pushed a button that sends the feed directly into a judges chambers for the Colonial Authority. She denies all of Meyer’s motions and tells her she can file the one to have her removed with her clerk, but it will take a while to get where it needs to go and they will proceed with the hearing. If Meyers refuses, she will have her in contempt (which will likely lead to her disbarment and jail time) and will go after ZaraCorp for obstructing the hearing. Meyers agrees to continue. Papa is out in the stand and tells them what happened. When Holloway would leave, they would go back to their people and discuss their findings. When Baby, Papa’s child, heard the skimmer, she raced back to Holloway’s house to see Carl. Pinto, it’s intended mate, called back that it wasn’t Holloway. Papa came along in time to see DeLise stomp its child and shoot Pinto. DeLise shouted “Jesus Christ! My goddamn face” and Papa recognized the voice from when DeLise was there with the other men previously. Holloway shows the video of DeLise yelling at Pinto while it rubbed its but on the skimmer’s glass. Soltan asks about the reasoning for the visit and Holloway (after originally saying it wasn’t relevant) tells her Aubrey, Landon, and DeLise (as security detail) used Bourne as a guise to come out and attempt to bribe him. Meters pulls them back in track and says she doesn’t think Papa would be able to recognize a voice it heard only once before. Holloway suggests a lineup to have Papa pick out the voice without looking. Soltan has each representative pick out four men and she adds DeLise and Aubrey to the lineup. Without looking, Papa recognizes Aubrey’s voice as one of the men that visited, but not the one that killed its child. When it comes to DeLise he instantly knows the voice. It asks the judge if she has children and if she would know everything about the person that murdered her child. Soltan says the testimony stands.
26. Once Soltan has determined Papa is sapient, Holloway reminds them that would mean DeLise is now on the hook for two counts of murder as well. He says it is not only murder, but a hate crime on the third only other sapient species they have yet to find. He tells DeLise he is going to get the death penalty. DeLise attacks Holloway and it takes Sullivan and several other lawyers to get him off Holloway, who doesn’t fight back. DeLise says he wants to make a deal. He was sent out to Holloway’s by ZaraCorp kill as many of the creatures as he could. Meyers withdraws as his legal council. Sullivan, having just quit working for ZaraCorp, agrees to step in as a sort of public defender. Soltan says they have enough to move forward with trial. She also recognizes she is the only Colonial Authority judge on the planet and named herself Master Specialist. She asks Papa who it would like to select to represent its people and Papa chooses Holloway. Soltan tells ZaraCorp they have 30 days to get off the planet. Anything they want will have to go through Holloway. In two days, Colonial Authority security will be there to relieve all ZaraCorp security. She ends the hearing and leaves the courtroom. The next day, Holloway brings Papa and Carl into a ZaraCorp conference room with him. Sullivan is there to represent DeLise and Meyers is there with Aubrey and Landon to represent them. Holloway tells them he has discussed an offer with the Fuzzys. They will let ZaraCorp taper off their involvement by finishing processing what they have already collected on the planet over the next six months. Holloway will settle with DeLise for one credit. In exchange, ZaraCorp will not try to overturn Soltan’s decision on the Fuzzy’s sapience. They will leave the planet and never come back. DeLise is immediately okay with this deal. He tells Holloway ZaraCorp is the one that messed with his skimmer to try to get him out of the way. Aubrey argues that he doesn’t want to give up the company’s potential revenues, but Landon says they will take the deal. He admits the Aubrey family hasn’t had a decent leader in several generations and they only keep them around to promote trust of the company to the general populous. They had hopes for this one, but he obviously blew his chances. Holloway tells them there is a transport for them at the beanstalk to take them off planet immediately. They are a bit shocked. Papa Fuzzy explains DeLise killed his child, but Aubrey is the one who ordered it. He doesn’t want them on his planet breathing the air his child should be breathing.
Epilogue
Holloway has Papa give Carl the signal to press the detonate button on his panel to set off fireworks. The last of the ZaraCorp people and equipment were finally hauled off the planet and it now belongs to the Fuzzys officially. Holloway remains as Minister Plenipotentiary for the Nation of Fuzzy People. He has also arranged to keep Isabel, Sullivan, Bourne, and Chen on planet in official capacities as well. When Holloway gets back to the celebration, Isabel asks him to fetch her husband. Holloway finds Sullivan in his office (formerly Meyer’s office) and says his wife is looking for him. Sullivan was just wrapping up a call to deny independent miners access to the seam. They have stated the Fuzzys will consider exploiting their resources, but not for another 20 years. They have already caught some individuals trying to sneak on planet as academics and then taking off to go to the seam. The Zararaptors have taken care of them though. More groups are asking about jungle tours or zararaptor hunting tours. Sullivan lets Holloway know he was reinstated to the North Carolina bar. Sullivan asks Holloway why he doesn’t feel bad about the two of them commuting our very about seeing Bourne the day of Baby and Pinto’s murder while it has been eating at him. Holloway explains he mostly acts in his own self interest. He fought for the Fuzzys at first to see where it would get him. He isn’t the good man they think he is, but he was the right man to get them their planet and lead them to the good people like Sullivan, Isabel, Bourne, and Chen. They drink their beers in a toast to the “right man.”