Текст книги "Fuzzy Nation"

Автор книги: John Scalzi

Соавторы: John Scalzi
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Текущая страница: 10 (всего у книги 17 страниц)

Chapter Sixteen

“This is how the inquiry works,” Sullivan said to Holloway. The two of them were standing outside Aubreytown’s single, and cramped, courtroom. “The judge enters and makes a few prefatory statements. Then there’s a presentation of the materials. Isabel is handling that. It’s mostly pro forma because the judge already has all of Isabel’s records and recordings, but if she wants to ask Isabel questions about any of it, this is when she’ll do it. Then a representative from ZaraCorp will question the experts, which in this case are Isabel and you. The judge can also ask questions during this period. At the end of it, the judge will issue a ruling.” Holloway frowned. “So ZaraCorp gets to question me and Isabel. Who’s representing us?” “No one’s representing you. It’s an inquiry, not a trial,” Sullivan said.

“There’s an official legal ruling issued at the end of it,” Holloway said. “Sounds like a trial to me.” “But you’re not accused of a crime, Jack,” Sullivan said. “You and Isabel are like witnesses, not defendants.” “Right,” Holloway said. “It’s the fuzzys who are the defendants.”

“In a manner of speaking,” Sullivan said.

“So who’s representing them?” Holloway asked.

Sullivan sighed. “Just promise me you won’t antagonize the judge,” he said.

“I swear to you that I am not here to antagonize the judge,” Holloway said.

“Good,” Sullivan said.

“So what is your role in this inquiry?” Holloway asked.

“I have no role,” Sullivan said. “I recused myself because it involves Isabel, and my boss was fine with that. I told you she was hot for this inquiry. She thinks it’s her ticket off this rock. And look, here she comes now.” Sullivan nodded down the hallway of the Aubreytown administrative building, where Janice Meyer was striding toward the two of them and the courtroom. Behind her, a young assistant was carrying her case files.

“What’s she like?” Holloway asked.

“What do you mean?” Sullivan said.

“As a human being,” Holloway said.

“I haven’t the slightest idea,” Sullivan said, murmuring now that his boss had gotten close up.

She stopped in front of the two men. “Mark,” she said, by way of greeting, and then looked at Holloway. “And Mr. Holloway. Good to see you again.” She held out her hand; Holloway took it and shook.

“Interesting new species you’ve found,” Meyer said.

“They are full of surprises,” Holloway said.

“Has Mark here explained to you how today’s inquiry is going to work?” Meyer asked.

“He has,” Holloway said.

“It’s not a trial,” Meyer said. “So remember that there’s no need to feel hesitant about answering the questions I’m going to ask you.” “I promise to tell the whole truth,” Holloway said. Meyer smiled at this, which made Holloway wonder if she knew anything about Aubrey’s secret trip out to his compound. She turned to Sullivan, nodded, and entered the courtroom, assistant trailing behind.

“As a boss, she’s ambitious,” Sullivan concluded.

“It’s not bad for you,” Holloway said. “Ambitious bosses leave vacant jobs behind them.” “True enough,” Sullivan said, and then smiled broadly as he saw another person down the hall: Isabel. She smiled in return and when she came up to Sullivan, gave him a warm but publicly decorous kiss on the cheek. She turned to Holloway.

He held out his hand. “Jack Holloway,” he said. “I’m your fellow expert witness.” “Very cute, Jack,” Isabel said, and gave him a peck on the cheek. “Are you nervous about this?” “No,” Holloway said. “Are you?”

“I’m terrified,” Isabel said. “What I tell the judge here could mean the fuzzys are recognized as people. I don’t want to screw it up. I don’t think I’ve been this nervous since my doctoral defense.” “Well, that turned out all right, didn’t it?” Holloway said. “So you have a track record.” “When did you get in?” Isabel asked.

“Carl and I landed about an hour ago,” Holloway said.

“Where’s Carl?” Isabel asked.

“He’s in the skimmer,” Holloway said. “Relax,” he added, catching Isabel’s expression. “The skimmer has autonomous climate control. He’s cool as a cucumber. You can see him after the inquiry just to be sure.” “Speaking of which,” Sullivan said, “it’s time for the two of you to get in there. This thing starts in a few minutes, and Judge Soltan isn’t the sort to be kept waiting.” *

Judge Nedra Soltan came in and took her seat without preamble; there was no bailiff to announce her arrival or to tell everyone to stand. By the time everyone had stood up, Soltan had already sat down.

“Let’s get through this as quickly as possible,” Soltan said, and then looked at her inquiry timetable. “Dr. Wangai?” “Yes, Your Honor?” Isabel stood. Holloway sat next to her, at the table generally reserved for the defense. Janice Meyer and her assistant sat at the table usually reserved for the prosecution . Not a trial my ass,Holloway thought. The audience portion of the courtroom was empty save for Brad Landon, in the back row, whose expression was one of polite boredom, and Sullivan, who sat directly behind Isabel.

“Our schedule calls for you to give an overview of the research materials,” Soltan said.

“Yes, Your Honor,” Isabel said.

“Is there anything new that you’re going to add to the materials that wasn’t in the package you sent to me?” Soltan asked. “Because if there’s not, I’d just as soon skip it.” Isabel blinked at this. “Skip it?” she said. She glanced over at the large monitor that had been brought in for her presentation.

“Yes,” Soltan said. “Your report was comprehensive to the point of exhausting, Dr. Wangai. If all we’re going to do here is get a recap, I’d rather not.” “The point of the presentation was to give you time to ask any questions you might have on the material,” Isabel said. “I’m sure you have questions.” “Not really, no,” Soltan said, blandly. “So, shall we move forward?”

Isabel glanced over at Holloway, who arched his eyebrows an infinitesimally small amount, and then back at Sullivan, who was utterly blank. “I suppose,” she said finally, turning back to Soltan.

“Good,” Soltan said. She looked over at Meyer. “That’s fine with you as well, Ms. Meyer?” “Not a problem, Your Honor,” Meyer said.

“Excellent,” Soltan said. “Two hours off the schedule already. We may be out of here before lunch. You may sit, Dr. Wangai.” Isabel sat, looking a little numb.

“Now—” Soltan picked up her schedule again. “—Ms. Meyer, I believe it’s time for you to question the experts. Which would you like to question first?” “I believe Dr. Wangai is the first on the schedule,” Meyer said.

“Very well,” Soltan said. “Dr. Wangai, go ahead and sit in the witness stand.” Isabel got up from the table, walked over to the witness stand, and sat down. “Normally I’d place you under oath, but this is an inquiry and thus more informal,” Soltan said. “You are however still required to tell the truth and to answer questions as fully as possible. Do you understand?” “I do,” Isabel said.

“You’re on,” Soltan said to Meyer.

Meyer stood. “Dr. Wangai, please state your full name and occupation.”

“I am Dr. Isabel Njeru Wangai, and I am the Zarathustra Corporation’s chief biologist for Zara Twenty-three,” Isabel said.

“And where did you receive your doctorate, Dr. Wangai?” Meyer asked.

“The University of Oxford,” Isabel said.

“I hear that’s a good school,” Meyer said.

Isabel smiled. “It’s all right,” she said.

“And so you studied xenosapience there,” Meyer said.

“No,” Isabel said. “My research there focused on the sarcomonad Cercozoa.” “You’ve lost me,” Meyer said.

“They’re protists,” Isabel said. “Very small one-celled organisms.”

“What planet are these protists from?” Meyer asked.

“They’re from Earth,” Isabel said.

“So your training in biology, while from a very good school indeed, is grounded in terrestrial biology—creatures from Earth. Is that accurate?” Meyer asked.

“It is,” Isabel said. “But I have been chief biologist here on Zara Twenty-three for close to five years now. I have a substantial amount of practical experience working with and studying extraterrestrial biology.” “Any of it relating specifically to xenosapience?” Meyer asked.

“Not until recently, no,” Isabel said.

“So you’re new to the field,” Meyer said. “Very new.”

“Yes,” Isabel said. “However, the evaluation I performed on the fuzzys was done using criteria well established in the xenosapience field. The criteria are designed to be useful without regard to experience.” “Do you really believe that?” Meyer asked. “As a scientist, do you really believe that people who are not trained in a particular field are as able to make assessments as experts in that field? Especially when all they are armed with is a checklist?” “I am however not anyone,” Isabel said. “I am a trained biologist with years of practical experience in xenobiological study.” “So experience does matter,” Meyer said. “Even so, Dr. Wangai. I don’t doubt your experience and knowledge in your particular field is considerable, but I have to wonder if your assessing these creatures for xenosapience isn’t like a podiatrist advising a patient on whether his liver needs to be replaced.” Holloway shifted in his chair suddenly; he recognized the analogy as his own. When Chad Bourne showed up with Aubrey and the others in tow, Holloway assumed as a matter of course that his conversation with Bourne had been listened in on. Having his own words used to smack Isabel around, however, was a signal to Holloway that this inquiry had been choreographed top to bottom; it was the very essence of a show trial. The only person who didn’t know it was Isabel.

“I don’t think your analogy is as accurate as you think it is,” Isabel said.

Meyer smiled. “Perhaps not,” she said. “Let’s move on from that, then. Dr. Wangai, please tell us how you came to learn of the fuzzys.” “Jack Holloway told me about them and gave me a video recording he’d made of one of them,” Isabel said. “The video was interesting, but it wasn’t secure, so I wanted to be able to see them for myself and to get them on secure video, so there would be no concern of tampering or altering of the data.” “After Mr. Holloway gave you that first recording, how long was it until you went to see the creatures?” Meyer asked.

“Five days in total, I think,” Isabel said.

“You said that when Mr. Holloway gave you the first recording, you had concerns about the data being tampered with or altered,” Meyer said. “Was there a reason you were concerned about that?” “That’s not an accurate representation of my statement,” Isabel said.

“We could have the court reporter play back your statement if you like,” Meyer said.

“That’s not necessary,” Isabel said, the tiniest bit of frustration creeping into her voice. Holloway wondered if anyone but he would notice it there. Sullivan might, he decided. He glanced over to the other man, but his expression was unreadable. “What I meant was that Jack’s video was not recorded on a secure device,” Isabel continued. “Even if it was genuine—which I did not doubt it was—it would not be something I could use as evidence in, for example, an inquiry like this.” “You called Mr. Holloway ‘Jack’ just now,” Meyer said. “Are you familiar with him?” “We’re friends, yes,” Isabel said.

“Have you ever been more than friends?” Meyer asked.

Isabel paused. “I’m not entirely sure that’s relevant,” she said.

“I’m not entirely sure it is, either,” said Soltan.

“I assure you, Your Honor, I’m going somewhere with this,” Meyer said.

Soltan pursed her lips for a second, considering. “Fine,” she said. “But get where you’re going quickly, Ms. Meyer.” Meyer turned back to Isabel. “Dr. Wangai,” she prompted.

Isabel looked at Meyer coolly. “We were in a relationship,” she said. Her words had become decidedly more clipped, as they did when she was exceptionally pissed off.

“But no longer,” Meyer said.

“No,” Isabel said. “We broke it off some time ago.”

“Any particular reason?” Meyer asked.

“We had different memories of a certain event,” Isabel said.

“Would this be a reference to a previous Zarathustra Corporation inquiry, in which you claimed Mr. Holloway had taught his dog to set off explosives, among other things, and Mr. Holloway claimed that you were lying about the account?” Meyer asked.

“Yes,” Isabel said.

“Who was lying during that inquiry, Dr. Wangai?” Meyer asked.

“The inquiry’s ruling regarding the allegations was ‘not proven,’” Isabel said.

“That’s not what I’m asking,” Meyer said. “I know what the ruling was. I’m asking for your opinion here, and for the record, your answer here will in no way have an effect on your current or future employment with ZaraCorp. So, Dr. Wangai, who was lying in that inquiry?” “It wasn’t me,” Isabel said, looking directly at Holloway.

“So, Mr. Holloway lied,” Meyer said.

Isabel looked back over at Meyer. “I believe my answer was sufficiently clear,” she said.

“Yes,” Meyer said. “Yes it was. And it’s also true that as a result of this ruling, you received a note in your employment record, correct?” “You said you were going somewhere with this,” Soltan said, interrupting Meyer.

“I’m there,” Meyer said. “Dr. Wangai is an excellent scientist who has made a major discovery with these fuzzys, as she calls them. There is no doubt either in her competence in her particular field or in the valuable service she’s done for the science of biology in recording and describing these creatures.

“But it’s also true she is not trained in xenosapience,” Meyer continued. She pointed at Holloway. “It’s true that the person from whom she learned about the creatures, Jack Holloway, is a former romantic partner with whom she had a bad breakup. It’s true that she believes that Mr. Holloway has lied about her before, in a situation where there was actual professional damage to her career. And finally it’s true that we know Mr. Holloway is at least alleged to be able to teach animals how to do relatively complex tricks.

“So: Mr. Holloway discovers these very clever little animals and decides to share the discovery with his former girlfriend. When she gets excited about them, Mr. Holloway decides to have a little fun and teaches them a few tricks which to the untrained observerlook like evidence of sapience. It takes Dr. Wangai several days to get to Mr. Holloway’s home; he has time to train these creatures. She arrives and she gets gulled. Simple as that.” Soltan frowned at this. “You’re suggesting this entire thing is nothing more than Mr. Holloway’s malicious attempt to damage an ex-girlfriend’s professional reputation, Ms. Meyer.” “I don’t think you have to ascribe actual maliciousness to Mr. Holloway,” Meyer said. “Dr. Wangai calls him a friend now. It’s possible that Mr. Holloway was simply trying to have a little bit of fun with someone he knew would already be excited by the discovery of a major new species.” Soltan gazed over at Holloway; this made him uncomfortable. “It doesn’t strike me as a particularly amusing joke,” the judge said.

“Perhaps not,” Meyer said. “But it’s a better theory than professional sabotage. Or at least a nicer one.” Soltan turned to Isabel. “Dr. Wangai,” she said. “Is it possible that Mr. Holloway tricked you?” “No,” Isabel said.

“Why is that?” Soltan asked. “Because you’re too competent to be fooled or because Mr. Holloway wouldn’t do such a thing?” “Both,” Isabel said.

“It’s been established that your training isn’t in xenosapience,” Soltan said. “It’s also been established that you believe that not only has Mr. Holloway lied to you, he’s lied aboutyou during an official inquiry.” Isabel said nothing to this, and stared again at Holloway.

“If I may,” Meyer said, after it became clear Isabel wasn’t going to answer. “The note added to Dr. Wangai’s file is of some relevance.” “Go on,” Soltan said, to Meyer.

“Dr. Wangai,” Meyer said, gently. “Do you remember what the note that was added to your employment record states?” “Yes,” Isabel said. Her voice had a note of resignation Holloway hadn’t ever heard in it before.

“What does it say, Dr. Wangai?” Meyer asked.

“It says that my judgment might be impaired due to close or romantic relationships,” Isabel said.

Meyer nodded and looked over to Soltan. “I have no other questions for this expert,” she said. Soltan nodded and told Isabel that she could step down.

Holloway found it hard to look at Isabel as she walked back to the table. Meyer’s line of questioning was nothing at all about the fuzzys and everything about her: her competence, her professional ability, her personal judgment, and her relationships with others. She had been made to look like a fool in all of them.

Isabel sat in her chair and looked straight ahead, pointedly not looking at Holloway. Sullivan reached over and put his hand on her shoulder, to comfort her. Isabel took it and held it, but didn’t look back at him. She kept staring forward, with a look on her face. Holloway knew what the look meant. It meant that Isabel, finally, understood what all the other players knew: that this inquiry didn’t really matter. The decision about the fuzzys had already been made, and these were just the motions they had to go through to get there.

Isabel knew that she had been demolished up there on the stand. Holloway knew that his role in the play was to deliver the coup de grâce.

Chapter Seventeen

When Judge Soltan called his name, Holloway got up from the defense table and installed himself at the witness stand. The judge reminded him that he would have to speak the truth. Holloway looked into the courtroom at Brad Landon, and said he would. Landon gave him an almost imperceptible nod.

Isabel followed Holloway’s gaze and saw Landon. She turned back to Holloway, her expression unreadable.

“Mr. Holloway, please state your full name and occupation,” Janice Meyer said to Holloway.

“I’m Jack Holloway, and I’ve been a contract surveyor and prospector here on Zara Twenty-three for over eight years,” he said.

“How long have you known Dr. Wangai?” Meyer asked.

“I met her briefly when she arrived on Zara Twenty-three,” Holloway said. “I made better acquaintance of her a year later, when she and I were guests at Chad Bourne’s annual holiday party for the surveyors he represents. We started a relationship several months after that, which lasted for about two years, at which point we broke up for reasons already noted today.”

“What is your current relationship with Dr. Wangai?” Meyer asked.

Holloway looked at Isabel, whose expression now was blank. “We’re friends, but I have things to apologize for,” he said.

Meyer nodded. “Now, you discovered these creatures that you and Dr. Wangai call ‘fuzzys’ recently, is that correct?”

“About a month ago now, yes,” Holloway said. “One of them got into my cabin.”

“And Dr. Wangai has spent how much time with them during this period?” Meyer asked.

“She spent about a week studying them at my compound,” Holloway said.

“It doesn’t seem like a very large amount of time,” Meyer observed. “Especially to make a determination that these creatures are sapient.”

“Isabel’s a scientist and believes she knows what to look for,” Holloway said. “I suspect she believes she observed enough to know, otherwise she wouldn’t make the claim.”

“Do you support her claim?” Meyer asked.

“Isabel is aware that she and I have had differing opinions on the matter,” Holloway said, “and the last time we spoke about it, I repeated that I did not believe the fuzzys were sentient.”

“Why do you think you two have such a difference of opinion?” Meyer asked.

“You mean, aside from the fact that I discovered a sunstone seam that will be worth billions of credits to me so long as the fuzzys are determined not to be sentient,” Holloway said.

Meyer blinked at this. “I think we’re all aware you’re a ZaraCorp contractor,” she said.

“Well, besides that, I had observed the fuzzys longer than Isabel had,” Holloway said. “And while I am not a scientist and can speak only as a self-interested layman, the fuzzys initially struck me as nothing more than clever animals, like monkeys or perhaps the universe’s smartest cats.”

“Are they smart enough to be trained?” Meyer asked.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt about that,” Holloway said. “I’ve trained my dog to do all sorts of tricks, and each of the fuzzys is smarter than my dog.”

“Smart enough to learn enough tricks that could fool a biologist?” Meyer asked.

“If the biologist in this case was not an expert on xenosapience, and if her own excitement about the discovery kept her from observing certain obvious things, sure,” Holloway said.

“You’re suggesting Dr. Wangai was not observant,” Meyer prompted.

“She was observant, but I know there were some lapses,” Holloway said.

“That’s not an accusation to be made lightly against Zara Twenty-three’s chief biologist,” Meyer said.

“I’ll give you an example,” Holloway said. “After I met the fuzzys, I assigned them gender roles, based on certain assumptions I made: Males would be aggressive and boisterous, females nurturing and sweet. So I called them Papa Fuzzy and Mama Fuzzy and so on. For several days, Isabel assumed that the fuzzys were actually male and female, even though as the planet’s biologist, she knew that most animals on the planet didn’t have genders like they do back on Earth. She admitted to me that she initially assumed the fuzzys were male and female because I had told her so, and she assumed I had checked.”

“That’s a pretty substantial lapse in observation,” Meyer said. “I don’t suppose you have any evidence of this aside from your word on it.”

Holloway pointed past Isabel. “Mr. Sullivan over there heard her say it,” he said. “To be clear, Isabel did figure it out eventually. It just took a few days.”

“Because you told her otherwise,” Meyer said.

“Yes,” Holloway said. “I didn’t intend to mislead Isabel; it was just my own assumption. It was innocent. But I did end up misleading her.”

“No one’s blaming you for intentionally causing damage to Dr. Wangai’s professional standing,” Meyer assured him. “But, Mr. Holloway, is there possibly another way you misled Dr. Wangai? Not by what you told her, but by what you didn’ttell her?”

Holloway looked uncomfortable. “Yes,” he said, finally. “I suppose I did. And up here now, I’m quite embarrassed about it. I wish I didn’t have to admit to it.”

“You dohave to admit to it, Mr. Holloway,” said Judge Soltan.

“I know,” Holloway said. “Of course. I think it would be easier to explain, however, if I could use the monitor Isabel set up to give you her briefing. Would that be all right?”

“How long will this take?” Soltan asked.

“I will be as brief as I possibly can,” Holloway said. “Trust me, I want to get this over as quickly as you do.”

“All right,” Soltan said.

Holloway pointed to the defense table. “There’s data that I need on the infopanel.”

“You may leave the witness stand, but you are still providing testimony and must tell the truth,” Soltan said.

“I understand,” Holloway said. He stood up, exited the stand, and walked over to the defense table, where his infopanel lay. He ignored it and went to Isabel, who couldn’t stand to look at him.

“Isabel,” he said.

“Please don’t talk to the other expert at this time, Mr. Holloway,” Soltan said.

“I’m sorry, Your Honor,” Holloway said. “But I don’t need the data on my infopanel. I need the data on hers.”

“I don’t understand,” Soltan said.

“Nor do I,” Meyer said.

“The data in Isabel’s infopanel is secure video, taken with cameras and recorders designed for scientific and legal verifiability,” Holloway said. “I am well aware that my own truth on the stand has been challenged, not the least by Isabel here. I want to be sure everyone can believe what I’m going to say, and that I haven’t tampered with the evidence I’m going to show you.”

Soltan nodded. “Dr. Wangai, please give Mr. Holloway your infopanel,” she said.

Isabel handed over the machine.

“Thank you,” Holloway said. “Are all your video records accessible?”

“I’m signed in,” Isabel said, tightly. She was avoiding saying any more to Holloway than she absolutely needed to.

“Did you change the file names of the videos?” Holloway asked.

“No,” Isabel said.

“Okay,” Holloway said. “Thanks.” Isabel didn’t respond. Holloway glanced over to Sullivan, whose own expression didn’t appear to be particularly friendly. He too had figured out the show trial nature of the inquiry.

Holloway tapped the infopanel and opened a pipe between it and the monitor. The monitor flicked on and awaited input.

“We’ve already established that Dr. Wangai, despite her considerable competence and talent as a scientist, does sometimes allow her assumptions to overrule her skills as an observer and her knowledge of this planet’s faunasphere,” Holloway said. His voice had become animated and precise; it was the voice Holloway used as a trial lawyer. Both Soltan and Meyer jumped a little at the change in tone. Holloway noted that but didn’t let the notation show on his face. “Taking my word for the fuzzys being gendered is the obvious example. But there’s another one that she missed.”

Holloway tapped the panel again, and a video played out on it: an image of Papa, Mama, and Grandpa Fuzzy sitting together in a semicircle, eating bindi fruit.

“As we all know, one of the major signifiers for sapience is the capacity for speech. Per the Chengruling, this means ‘meaningful communication that conveys more than the immediate and presently imminent.’ To date, three species are known to communicate at a level that satisfies Cheng: humans, Urai, and Negad. It is what each of these species have in common.

“But there is another thing that humans, Urai, and Negad also share in common: Their speech is vocalized, and the vocalization for each falls within a range that is perceivable by the human ear. In fact, it’s the humans who have the greatest range of frequencies in their speech, while the Negad have the least. The point is, we can hearwhen humans, Urai, and Negad are speaking.”

Holloway paused the video. “A couple of weeks ago I was visiting the new camp ZaraCorp is building to exploit the sunstone seam I discovered. While I was there, I was shown these large speakers posted around the fence line. They were blasting sound at an incredibly high decibel level in order to scare away the zararaptors and other large predators of the jungle—but while I could feelthe speakers pounding away, I couldn’t hear them, because they were emitting their sound at twenty-five kilohertz. That’s higher than human hearing can register.”

“I’m waiting to hear relevance, Mr. Holloway,” Soltan said.

“Exactly,”Holloway said. “You’re waiting to hear relevance, but you can’t, because you’re listening too low. We all have been. The loudspeakers on the fence line work because the predators of Zara Twenty-three hear higher frequencies than we do. And they hear higher frequencies not for some random reason, but because it makes evolutionary sense for them to do so. Say, because their prey and other small animals make sounds in that range.”

Holloway reset the video and popped up a settings overlay on top of it. “One of the nice things about the research-level camera Dr. Wangai used to record the fuzzys is that unlike most commercial cameras, it records data humans don’t perceive on their own,” he said. “For example, in addition to recording the visible color spectrum, it records into the infrared and ultraviolet frequencies. You have to use filters to see these data, of course, but the data are there. It also records sounds above and below human hearing. You have to use filters for them, too.”

Holloway flipped through the overlay’s menus and reset the video’s audio filters to bring sounds above human hearing range into audibility. He started the video again.

It was the same image of Papa, Mama, and Grandpa Fuzzy sitting in a semicircle. Only now it sounded as if they were talking to each other.

“Look,” Holloway said, quietly, and pointed. “Look how they wait their turn to speak. Look how they respond to whatever the other is saying.” He turned up the volume of the monitor; the chittering between the fuzzys got louder. “You can hear the structure of the language.”

After a few more moments Holloway paused the video, closed it, and pulled up another one, this one of Grandpa Fuzzy and Pinto. Now beside the head-smacking was a constant stream of noise from Grandpa, interrupted occasionally by a squeak from Pinto. The squeak sounded, of all things, petulant.

Pause, close, open another video. In this one Mama Fuzzy was grooming Baby Fuzzy. The noises coming from Mama Fuzzy in this one were different from the noises in the other videos: softer, more sibilant.

“My god,” Isabel said. “Mama’s singing.”

In the video Baby Fuzzy added its voice to Mama Fuzzy’s, the two creatures joined in harmony. Everyone watched and listened to the video for a moment.

Then Holloway paused the video and looked over to Isabel. “I’m sorry, Dr. Wangai,” he said, walking to her. “But this is yet another case of your observational skills failing you. You knew, I presume, that Zara Twenty-three creatures could hear above the human hearing range, which implies quite strongly that they or other creatures make noises above that range as well. Yet, just as you let my assertion of the fuzzys’ genders get past you, so you also worked from the implicit assumption that speech for the fuzzys would be like speech for any other sentient species—something you could hear. And thus, the most important part of your argument for the fuzzys’ sentience—their ability to speak—went unheard and unobserved.”

Holloway held out Isabel’s infopanel to her. She took it, shaking.

Holloway turned to Meyer, who was looking at him with the same expression she might have if he had stripped naked right there in the courtroom. “And this is how I misled Isabel, Ms. Meyer, Your Honor,” he said, turning briefly to nod in the direction of the similarly shocked-looking Judge Soltan. “I mentioned that the last time I spoke to her I told her I didn’t believe the fuzzys were sentient, because I didn’t. But then I saw one of the fuzzys make my dog sit and lie down and roll over—vocal commands. I couldn’t hear them, but I remembered that other animals here heard higher frequencies, just like my dog could. So I went back through the data and found the fuzzys had been speaking all along.