said, "I take it he's an outcast because of his job."
"Naturally. Human wastes and - " words failed Blei. After a pause, he said more quietly, "As an Earthman, I suppose you don't understand."
"As a sociologist, I think I do." Lamorak thought of the Untouchables in ancient India, the ones who handled corpses. He thought of the position of swineherds in ancient Judea.
He went on, "I gather Elsevere will not give in to those demands."
"Never," said Blei, energetically. "Never."
"And so?"
"Ragusnik has threatened to cease operations."
"Go on strike, in other words."
"Yes."
"Would that be serious?"
"We have enough food and water to last quite a while; reclamation is not essential in that sense. But the wastes would accumulate; they would infect the planetoid. After generations of careful disease control, we have low natural resistance to germ diseases. Once an epidemic started - and one would - we would drop by the hundred."
"Is Ragusnik aware of this?"
"Yes, of course."
"Do you think he is likely to go through with his threat, then?"
"He is mad. He has already stopped working; there has been no waste reclamation since the day before you landed." Blei's bulbous nose sniffed at the air as though it already caught the whiff of excrement.
Lamorak sniffed mechanically at that, but smelled nothing.
Blei said, "So you see why it might be wise for you to leave. We are humiliated, of course, to have to suggest it."
But Lamorak said, "Wait; not just yet. Good Lord, this is a matter of great interest to me professionally. May I speak to the Ragusnik?"
"On no account," said Blei, alarmed.
"But I would like to understand the situation. The sociological conditions here are unique and not to be duplicated elsewhere. In the name of science - "
"How do you mean, speak? Would image-reception do?"
"Yes."
"I will ask the Council," muttered Blei.
They sat about Lamorak uneasily, their austere and dignified expressions badly marred with anxiety. Blei, seated in the midst of them, studiously avoided the Earthman's eyes.
The Chief Councillor, gray-haired, his face harshly wrinkled, his neck scrawny, said in a soft voice, "If in any way you can persuade him, sir, out of your own convictions, we will welcome that. In no case, however, are you to imply that we will, in any way, yield."
A gauzy curtain fell between the Council and Lamorak. He could make out the individual councillors still, but now he turned sharply toward the receiver before him. It glowed to life.
A head appeared in it, in natural color and with great realism. A strong dark head, with massive chin faintly stubbled, and thick, red lips set into a firm horizontal line.
The image said, suspiciously, "Who are you?"
Lamorak said, "My name is Steven Lamorak; I am an Earthman."
"An Outworlder?"
"That's right. I am visiting Elsevere. You are Ragusnik?"
"Igor Ragusnik, at your service," said the image, mockingly. "Except that there is no service and will be none until my family and I are treated like human beings."
Lamorak said, "Do you realize the danger that Elsevere is in? The possibility of epidemic disease?"
"In twenty-four hours, the situation can be made normal, if they allow me humanity. The situation is theirs to correct."
"You sound like an educated man, Ragusnik."
"So?"
"I am told you're denied of no material comforts. You are housed and clothed and fed better than anyone on Elsevere. Your children are the best educated."
"Granted. But all by servo-mechanism. And motherless girl-babies are sent us to care for until they grow to be our wives. And they die young for loneliness. Why?" There was sudden passion in his voice. "Why must we live in isolation as if we were all monsters, unfit for human beings to be near? Aren't we human beings like others, with the same needs and desires and feelings. Don't we perform an honorable and useful function -?"
There was a rustling of sighs from behind Lamorak. Ragusnik heard it, and raised his voice. "I see you of the Council behind there. Answer me: Isn't it an honorable and useful function? It is your waste made into food for you. Is the man who purifies corruption worse than the man who produces it? - Listen, Councillors, I will not give in. Let all of Elsevere die of disease - including myself and my son, if necessary - but I will not give in. My family will be better dead of disease, than living as now."
Lamorak interrupted. "You've led this life since birth, haven't you?"
"And if I have?"
"Surely