Mute (2 page)

“Pep talk,” Flas said. “I have heard it before.”

“You will perceive new meaning in it. This is not a junkyard enclave; this is a viable economic society. What are your skills?”

Despite his superficial reserve, Flas smiled, responding to Knot’s enthusiasm. “I am good with my hands. I have made hundreds of baskets in my day.”

“A basket case!” Knot snorted. “Where is the future in baskets?” The mutant shrugged. “When I asked them that, they sent me here.”

“You have a questioning mind and an independent spirit. They don’t like that in some places. We do like it here.” Knot considered. “It is my job to find the ideal situation for you, considering your physical, mental and social propensities. You will not be assigned anywhere against your will; if you don’t like what I suggest, I’ll look for something else. Sometimes I get too innovative and miss the mark embarrassingly. Sometimes something sounds good, but doesn’t work out in practice. If there were not such problems, there would be no point in my job, would there?”

“You’re working up to something awkward,” Flas said.

“Astute observation. We have a local animal we call the snird, a kind of cross between a snake and a bird in the Earth-book listing. It lays eggs in the dark, and these eggs contain a chemical of value in stellar photography. The elevated radiation of space interferes with conventional processes, as we mutants well know, but this chemical is resistant. The problem is that in the raw state it is hypersensitive to light. Even an instant’s exposure ruins it. So we must collect the eggs in complete darkness. Unfortunately the snirds are protective of their eggs, and their bite is poisonous.”

“Take the eggs with pincers, or wearing gauntlets,” Flas suggested, interested.

“The eggs are extremely delicate, and of odd shapes and sizes. Careless or mechanical handling breaks them. They must be kept warm and intact until brought to the laboratory. In addition, they must be harvested at the right moment; only a ‘ripe’ egg, distinguished by a slightly hardened surface, possesses the necessary quality. A green one is useless. Only an expert human touch suffices to distinguish between them—but for some reason most of our sighted people are reluctant.”

The mutant laughed. “I can well believe!”

“We have elevated the incentive bonus, to no avail. A good snird-egg harvester can arrange his own hours of work, has a twenty percent extra food ration, and a generous personal expense allowance. It is possible to develop a comfortable savings account that permits early retirement.”

“If he survives that long!”

“Yet the snird gives fair warning. A faint buzz before striking—” Knot paused. “How good is your hearing?”

“Excellent. And my courage. How bad is a snird-strike?”

“Not fatal, if treated in time. We do have excellent treatment facilities, and an alert, attractive and solicitous nurse. But it is better to avoid it—which an experienced harvester can normally do.”

“You figure I’ll rise to the challenge?”

“You do strike me as that sort of man.”

“You play me like a violin,” Flas said. Then he decided. “I’ll give it a try.”

“Excellent.” Knot activated the intercom. This was a redundant gesture, as it was already on, but he preferred not to advertise that fact. “Have a courier conduct Mutant Flas to the Foraging Unit, and notify them that he will essay the egg harvesting, snird division.”

“He’s got nerve,” York remarked.

“The women of MM58 appreciate nerve,” Knot told Flas. “I believe you will like it here. The Foraging foreman will brief you thoroughly, of course.”

The courier entered the office. She was a young lady whose arms were linked together by fused hands; she could move them only as a unit. They could not be surgically separated because the bones were merged, palm to palm; she would have to have both hands on one arm, and nothing on the other, and the hand would not have functioned well enough to be worthwhile.

Flas stood, tracking her by the sound. “This way, mutant,” the girl said. Her voice was dulcet, and her pronunciation of “mutant” made it sound like a badge of honor.

Knot relaxed. He had put together a good crew, trained to make clients respond positively and feel welcome. Nevertheless, there was always a certain tension, and the first interview of the day was the worst. This one had gone very well. The Foraging Unit had been bugging him for another harvester for some time.

The next client entered. This was an older woman. She had large bright eyes, but instead of ears her head sprouted a stout pair of horns. The lower part of her face projected forward, like the muzzle of a sheep, and her mouth was obviously unsuitable for human speech. She wore a rather voluminous robe that concealed any other mutations she might have, except for hands that were callused and hooflike.

Knot held up his right fist in the clubfoot signal of greeting. A number of mutants had problems with their extremities, so this sub-language was useful. Knot was familiar with a great many forms of communication.

The woman perked up when she recognized the gesture. She brought up her own fist.

Knot introduced himself, speaking aloud at the same time as he signaled, so York could transcribe it, “I am Knot, the placement officer of MM58.” There was no problem with the pronunciation of the name in sign language. “You are—” He read the signals she returned. “Greta, transferred here at your request because—” He smiled warmly. “—because you received news of our stature and wanted to participate.” He made an expansive gesture. “That is a very positive attitude, Greta. What do you have in mind to do here?”

Now Greta was doubtful. She had been employed before as a water carrier, but had not been very efficient because it was hard for her to pick up the buckets. Also, there had been no need for the service, since water was pumped in to central locations of that enclave. Thus it had been mere make-work, useless. She preferred to find better employment before she met with a UA—Untimely Accident—but did not know what that might be. Yet she had heard that MM58 seemed to be charmed that way, with everyone there finding good jobs.

Knot pondered briefly. She had paid him a considerable compliment, unknowingly—but it also showed the challenge. He had a high level to maintain, and not every mutant could be made useful. His chief skill was the ability to align mutants with employments no one else would have thought of, but a certain amount of luck was important.

“Most of our tasks are menial, but they are necessary to our best functioning as an enclave,” Knot said/signaled. “You don’t object to routine physical labor, so long as you know it is productive?”

Greta agreed with a forceful motion of her hoofed fist.

“Let me see your foot,” Knot said.

Surprised, she showed her feet. Her legs were human, and fairly good ones at that, but the extremities were indeed like hooves. They were cloven in three or four places, marking where the toes should be, but the nails were so gross as to dominate the entire digits.

“We have a local winery,” Knot said/signaled. “We don’t like the tax burden on imported beverages, but we have to process all our water anyway, and we do like our relaxation. So we do for ourselves. Perhaps some year MM58 vintage will be renowned in the galaxy. But since at the moment the authorities governing the good planet of Nelson frown on such activity, we operate quietly. We use no power equipment, no foreign additives. We just press the grapes—they’re not really grapes, but we like to call them that—we press them in ancient and time-honored fashion.”

“Trample out the vintage?” she asked, catching on.

“Your feet would seem to be admirably suited to the labor. Our grapes have small spines that make it difficult for ordinary human feet to press them properly, and of course we don’t use footwear for this. So if you don’t find it offensive or morally objectionable—”

“I’m thrilled!” she signaled. “It’s much better than carrying buckets of water nowhere!”

Knot tapped the intercom. He had made another good placement. “After a day’s hard work, our men grow lusty and thirsty,” he concluded. “They like anything associated with their drink.”

Greta, obviously starved for male companionship, seemed to be considering the prospects as she left. Knot never neglected the social angle; here where every person was mutant, deformities and differences that were prohibitive elsewhere became negligible. In general, the more closely a person approached human norm, the more attractive he or she was considered to be—but there was an extremely broad middle ground, and almost anyone could find a partner if he or she really wanted to.

“PC Knot scores again,” York murmured over the intercom in the moment Knot was alone. It was a standing joke between them. CC was the abbreviation of the Coordination Computer, which fitted mutants to specialized positions on a galactic scale. Knot did it only for this enclave. But there was a similarity between their jobs. York teased him because she knew he did not like the Coordination Computer.

The third client was indeed special. She was young and pretty and so completely normal in appearance that he was startled. But there were many non-apparent forms of mutation. She could have an exotic chemical imbalance that prevented her from functioning normally. She might have eyeballs in her belly, concealed by her clothing. She might have brain tissue in her chest and a spleen in her head. York had no note on any such thing, but York was not infallible. He would simply have to fathom her mutancy for himself, by observation and careful questioning, and proceed from there.

Knot started his routine introduction, but the girl leaned forward and turned off his intercom. In the process her blouse separated from her torso in the fashion blouses had been designed to do for thousands of years, showing that there were certainly no eyeballs or brain tissue in that portion of her anatomy. Her breasts were fully as firm and shapely as York’s, and there were only two, so that there was no undue crowding.

Knot forced his attention back to business. He started to protest her action, though he really would not have minded if she had leaned forward similarly ten more times.

But before he spoke, she brought out a printed card. It said AUDITOR.

Oh no! A surprise audit of the enclave! And he had just placed a client in a quasi-legal position, making moonshine wine. Also, more insidious: This meant this woman was in fact a normal, so that all of her visible and suggested attributes were genuine. That provided a retroactive luster to his recent glimpse, exciting him and embarrassing him simultaneously.

The woman watched him with calm amusement. She had certainly turned the tables on him! Knot nodded with rueful resignation. He activated his intercom. “York, this client poses special problems. I’ll have to take her on a tour of the premises before I can make a placement.”

“Understood,” the secretary answered. Her tone was disapproving; she was evidently suspicious that he wanted to get an especially attractive min-mute into a truly private nook for a seduction. His office made such things feasible, for those mutants who did not get suitably placed were not permitted to remain in the enclave beyond a reasonable grace period. Knot wished York’s suspicion were true; he did have an eye for the women. He knew that York felt that if he wanted to seduce anyone today, she should be first in line. But now, not only did he have no chance with this luscious client, he would incur York’s wrath anyway. It would be hard to convince her of the truth.

“We can’t be overheard outside,” Knot murmured as they emerged from the office. The sky was now completely clear; day was well established. “Do you want the full tour, or shall I fill you in on the enclave indiscretions at the outset and save us both time?”

She smiled. Knot, accustomed to the efforts of mutants who often had strange faces, was surprised again; she was beautiful. Even after allowing for the fact of her normalcy, the humanoid ideal. Normals differed from each other less than mutants did, but this one had to be close to the positive ex
t
reme. “Show me the leadmuter.”

Knot grimaced, surprised a third time
.
“You have a better source of information than we thought.”

“Much better,” she agreed with a smugness that would have been objectionable in anyone else. She held out her petite, five-digited hand. “My name is Finesse.”

He shrugged and took the hand in his huge right. She drew him in toward her, leaning forward to plant a light kiss on his cheek. She smelled refreshingly of pine needles.

“Finesse,” he said. “Is that literal or allegorical?’’

“Yes.” She shifted to his small left hand, neatly interlocking her four fingers with his three and capturing his thumb with her own, and walked beside him. The mutants that they passed glanced enviously, not recognizing either of then but wishing they did.

“I presume this is a friendly audit,” Knot said, “Or are you merely making sure I cannot slip away?” he gave his hand a token shake, as though hefting shackles. He did not care to admit how exciting it was to have a lovely normal turn on to him as if he were attractive to her. She had an ulterior motive, of course—but what was it? She could have required the leadmuter information of him without ever touching his hand.

“Never trust an auditor,” she said, squeezing his hand. She had to have noticed his disparity of fingers, but gave no sign of aversion. “Every one of then will deceive you.”

Fair warning! But she really hadn’t provided any information yet, straight or deceiving. It seemed he would have to wait on her convenience.

“The leadmuter is separate from the main enclave,” he said. “In an isolated region, with a difficult approach. Not suitable for clothing like yours.”

“You wish me to remove it?”

Yes!
he thought. And said aloud: “I was hinting that you night prefer to come back at another time, dressed for the occasion. Boots, leather breeches, outdoor gloves—”

“During which period of delay the exhibit would disappear?” she asked, smiling to disarm the charge.

Knot essayed a gesture of denial—and found he could not, for she still held his hand captive. The enclave had been audited before, many times, for the powers that existed on the planetary level were suspicious of success. But never an audit like this. Knot became reluctantly more suspicious. “May I see your credentials?”