Part 12 (1/2)

”What?” Isabel said, disbelieving.

”I think you heard me, Isabel,” Sullivan said, not unkindly. ”It seems thin to me.”

”You have a strange definition of thin, thin, then,” Isabel said. then,” Isabel said.

”Actually, my definition of thin thin is very precise in this case,” Sullivan said. ”The reason I think it's thin is because these things don't speak. If they're not speaking to each other-and to us-then you've got a hard sell to make.” is very precise in this case,” Sullivan said. ”The reason I think it's thin is because these things don't speak. If they're not speaking to each other-and to us-then you've got a hard sell to make.”

”Jesus, you sound like Jack,” Isabel said. Holloway smiled wryly at this. ”Speech is only one criterion for sentience. Cheng versus BlueSky Cheng versus BlueSky listed several others as well.” listed several others as well.”

”I know that,” Sullivan said. ”But while I'm a general counsel and not an expert on xenosapient law, I do know this: In the mind of the layman-which will include any judge this case would go in front of-the ability to speak is a prohibitive indicator of sentience. It's not only prohibitive, it's very nearly prejudicial.”

Isabel looked at Sullivan sourly. ”You're telling me that if the fuzzys meet every single other criterion for sentience under Cheng, Cheng, that it won't matter simply because they don't speak.” that it won't matter simply because they don't speak.”

”What I'm saying,” Sullivan said, ”is that to date, we have not discovered a confirmed sentient species that doesn't speak. There are things humans do that Urai don't. There are things Urai do that Negad don't. Things Negad do humans don't. And so on. What we all all do, Isabel, is speak.” do, Isabel, is speak.”

”It doesn't mean it's not possible,” Isabel said.

”No,” Sullivan said. ”It's possible. But your problem here, Isabel, and no offense, is that you're thinking like a biologist, and not a lawyer.”

Isabel smirked. ”I don't really see it as a problem.”

”Normally it's not,” Sullivan said. ”But this is going to be decided in court, not in a lab. And you have to remember this: If your friends here are sentient, then ZaraCorp loses its charter here. That's trillions of credits in mineral losses, including the sunstone seam Jack just found. ZaraCorp's revenues, profits, and stock price will take a huge hit. None of this matters to you, but it matters to ZaraCorp. So if you go and file a Suspected Sapience Report without having evidence that these little guys can speak, the one thing all other sentient species do, I guarantee you that ZaraCorp's lawyers will zero in on the fact and ride it all the way home.”

”I would,” Holloway said.

”And so would I,” Sullivan said.

”But you won't,” Isabel said.

”Wouldn't I?” Sullivan said. ”I represent ZaraCorp, Isabel. Not you or these fuzzys here. If Janice Meyer tells me to argue the case, I'm required to do it.”

”Lovely,” Isabel said, turning away from her boyfriend.

”Not that it would happen,” Sullivan said. ”Because, come on, Isabel. A sentience case is the sort of thing lawyers live to argue, on either side. I know Janice sure as h.e.l.l doesn't want to be general counsel on Zara Twenty-three forever. She'd hit me with a skimmer if I were in her way to try this one. But the reason you asked me out here was to get my perspective on this, right? This is my perspective: If you file an SSR now, you're going to get crushed.”

”So you think I should just keep quiet about the fuzzys,” Isabel said. ”Like Jack.”

”I never said keep quiet,” Holloway said. ”I said be absolutely sure.”

”I am am absolutely sure,” Isabel shot back. ”But what I'm hearing is that being absolutely sure isn't good enough. And by the time I have enough evidence to convince anyone else, ZaraCorp will have this planet entirely mined out. So I might as well just shut up.” absolutely sure,” Isabel shot back. ”But what I'm hearing is that being absolutely sure isn't good enough. And by the time I have enough evidence to convince anyone else, ZaraCorp will have this planet entirely mined out. So I might as well just shut up.”

”Actually, you can't do that now,” Sullivan said.

”What?” Holloway got that out before Isabel did.

”Colonial Authority law requires that any evidence of sentience must be reported by its chartered E and E corporations as soon as it's discovered,” Sullivan said. ”And now that you've spoken to me, a duly recognized legal representative of ZaraCorp, I'm obliged by law and by company regulation to report it to my superiors.”

”You never said anything about that before,” Isabel said.

”You didn't tell me what you wanted me to come out here for,” Sullivan pointed out. ”And besides that, think a minute, Isabel. You asked me to come out in my capacity as a lawyer. I haven't stopped being ZaraCorp's lawyer, any more than you've stopped being ZaraCorp's biologist.”

”But you just said that if I file an SSR, I'm going to lose,” Isabel said. ”The fuzzys will lose.”

”Not to mention every bit of work here will shut right down,” Holloway said.

Sullivan smiled and held up his hand. ”Everyone take a deep breath,” he said. ”Isabel, there's still a way for the fuzzys' sentience to get a hearing without them or you getting squashed. And Jack, there's a way to make it happen without initially putting your royalties at risk.”

Isabel and Holloway looked at each other. ”Well?” Holloway said, to Sullivan. ”Are you going to tell us?”

”I was actually enjoying the dramatic pause,” Sullivan said.

”Don't be a jacka.s.s, Mark,” Isabel said.

”Fine,” Sullivan said. He put down his hand. ”You'll note I said that the E and E corporation is obliged to report any evidence of sentience. That means that the report comes from ZaraCorp, not from you or me.”

”Okay,” Isabel said. ”So what?”

”So what it means is that this allows ZaraCorp to have a process for making the report,” Sullivan said. ”You could file an SSR directly, but as Jack so eagerly points out, it's hugely disruptive. So what we do instead is ask for an inquiry on evidence of sapience instead. The inquiry is essentially the company asking for a ruling to decide if the evidence it has supports filing an SSR. The ruling can decide for filing, against filing, or for further study.”

”What does that last one mean?” Holloway asked.

”It means that the judge orders the evidence examined by Colonial Authority experts on xenosapience, and while they study the issue, the E and E corporation is allowed to do business as usual,” Sullivan said. ”It's the 'everybody wins' scenario.”

”Everybody does not not win,” Isabel said. ”Anything the company takes out of the planet isn't there for the fuzzys to use later.” win,” Isabel said. ”Anything the company takes out of the planet isn't there for the fuzzys to use later.”

”The Colonial Authority requires the company to put a certain amount of the revenue of the planet in escrow pending resolution of the study,” Sullivan said. ”Just in case.”

”How much?” Isabel asked.

”Ten percent,” Sullivan said.

”Ten percent!” Isabel exclaimed. ”That's ridiculous.”

”It's better than nothing, which is what they'll get if you go straight for an SSR right now,” Sullivan said.

”Not that I really want to raise objections to this, but ZaraCorp running an inquiry on whether or not ZaraCorp should stop exploiting a planet seems chock-full of conflict of interest,” Holloway said.

”The inquiry is presided over by a Colonial Authority judge for that very reason,” Sullivan said. ”Which means the ruling has the force of law. So if the judge decides ZaraCorp has to file an SSR, the company has two weeks to file, and two weeks after that to bring all exploitation to a halt pending a ruling.”

”So what we're aiming for here is a 'needs more study' ruling,” Holloway said.

”We're not aiming for anything,” Sullivan said. ”That's up to the judge. But like I said, I think a 'needs more study' ruling is the one where everyone here wins. Isabel, you win because not having evidence of the fuzzys speaking isn't as problematic as it would be with a full SSR court case. At least xenosapient experts would come to make a determination one way or another. Jack, you win because one way or another, you'll get paid. Maybe you won't get billions out of the sunstone seam, but you'll get millions, and I think you can live with that.” not aiming for anything,” Sullivan said. ”That's up to the judge. But like I said, I think a 'needs more study' ruling is the one where everyone here wins. Isabel, you win because not having evidence of the fuzzys speaking isn't as problematic as it would be with a full SSR court case. At least xenosapient experts would come to make a determination one way or another. Jack, you win because one way or another, you'll get paid. Maybe you won't get billions out of the sunstone seam, but you'll get millions, and I think you can live with that.”

”Probably,” Holloway said.

”ZaraCorp wins because it does everything by the book, so no one anywhere can object,” Sullivan said. ”Even if it does have to abandon Zara Twenty-three, the company has time to build the news into its stock price. No huge fluctuations, no major panics, and no surprises, which corporations hate most of all. And as for the fuzzys-”