Fuzzy Nation

by John Scalzi

Little Fuzzy, the 1962 Hugo-nominated novel by H. Beam Piper.

The public was no longer buying the argument that uninhabited planets had higher ecological tolerances than inhabited ones, or that these ecosystems would quickly restore natural equilibriums once ZaraCorp had moved on. As far as they were concerned, strip-mining was strip-mining, regardless of whether you were doing it in the

mountains of Pennsylvania or the hills of Zara XXIII.

“You could have taught him to do that,” Holloway said. “I once taught a dog to detonate explosives.” “Not to take anything away from Carl, whom I love,” Isabel said, “but it’s

one thing to teach an animal to step on a detonator panel to get a treat. It’s another thing to teach it how to make a sandwich. Much less then divide it equally among five other animals.” “A monkey could do it,” Holloway said. “Name one,” Isabel said. “I’m not the biologist,” Holloway said. “Really,” Isabel said, mildly. “There’s also the small matter that even if I could have trained Papa to

make a sandwich, I didn’t. I came in here not long after you left for your meeting and found Papa making one. Either he saw you making one or he’s even more clever than I thought. Which would go to my point.” “He saw me make one,” Holloway said. He started putting away the sandwich fixings. “So what we’re...

remember where the ingredients were, retrieved them, organized them, and re-created a sandwich recipe from memory, not once, not twice, but three times,” Isabel said. “Three times?” Holloway said. “After I caught him doing it, I made him do it again, just to be sure,” Isabel said. “You’re going to make them fat...

“How sweet,” Holloway said, dryly. He took another swig of his beer. “Which in itself shows higher-order cognitive function,” Isabel said. “It’s called theory of mind. Papa assumed that when I asked him to make another sandwich, that I was asking him to make it for me, because I was hungry. He was attributing intent and ...

theory of mind? Monkeys. And some species of squid. Even Carl here tries to figure out what I’m thinking.” From the floor, Carl, hearing his name, thumped his tail on the floor a couple of times. “Squids don’t make sandwiches,” Isabel said. “I doubt there’s been a scientific study on that matter,” Holloway said. “The bread ...

certainly none of them could do it from seeing you do it once. These aren’t just animals, Jack.” She bent down again to get a beer for herself. “But it doesn’t mean they’re sapient,” Holloway said. “I know these things are smart, Isabel. That’s why I recorded Papa in the first place and gave you the recording. These little guys are a big find. I k...

people.’ Have you ever heard them speak?” “They definitely communicate,” Isabel began. Holloway held up his hand. “Not in contention,” Holloway said. “They squeak and squeal with the best of them, and they definitely have animal-level communication down pat. Given. But is there evidence they have sp...

in other very smart animals?” Isabel was quiet for a moment. “No,” she said, finally. She took a drink of her beer. “You know that matters,” Holloway said. “I was required to take a class in xenosapient law at Duke. I don’t remember that much of it, because it wasn’t going to be my specialty anyway....

biologist maintained the Nimbus Floaters of BlueSky Six were sapient and went to court in their behalf to stop the exploitation of the planet. The court ended up having to develop a checklist of criteria to judge the sapience of a creature, and speech—or ‘meaningful communication that conveys more than t...

“It’s not the only thing on the list,” Isabel said. “No, but it’s a big one,” Holloway said. “It’s what tripped up Cheng. He couldn’t prove the floaters spoke.” “You’re not exactly an impartial party on this,” Isabel said. “No, I’m not,” Holloway said. He motioned out toward the Fuzzys, who had finished their meals and ...

friends here are just really smart animals, then I get to be a billionaire. If they’re people, then I’m just another schmuck out of a job, and I have a very good reason to believe that I’d have trouble getting another prospector gig. So yes, I’d say I’m a pretty interested party.” “Glad you know it,” Isabel said. “I do,” Holloway...

you’ve got is what you think it is. Because the minute you file a Suspected Sapience Report, ZaraCorp is required by law to suspend all activity on this planet. Everything comes to a screeching halt while a court decides on our fuzzy friends’ sapience. It won’t just be me you’ll cost billions. And if the ruling goes against the fuzzys, you’re going ...

anyone, you need to be absolutely sure. Are you absolutely sure, Isabel?” Another moment of silence from Isabel. Then, “No. No, I’m not absolutely sure. I’m not saying I am. I need to study them more.” “All right, then,” Holloway said. “So study them some more. Take your video and make your observations and do whatever it is yo...

time.” Isabel snorted. “Enough time for you to become a billionaire, you mean,” she said. “That would be nice,” Holloway said. “I could very happily live with that.” “I know you could,” Isabel said, and then motioned to the Fuzzys. “But could they?” “I don’t follow you,” Holloway said. “T...

take out of this world is a little less for them to use for themselves. Maybe you’re not aware of how efficient ZaraCorp is at stripping a planet of its easily accessible resources—or maybe you don’t want to be aware—but I know. I read the biological impact reports on all the planets ZaraCorp exploits. Some of the first planets ZaraCorp received its E ...

metals and minerals. Even common ores are being pulled out of the ground at hugely accelerated rates. That’s just a few decades of work. And ZaraCorp is much better now at doing this than it was even a decade ago.” Holloway thought of how quickly the camp was springing up at the sunstone seam. He took another s...

year or two, think of how much less they would have to work with,” Isabel said. “Taken before they can use it for themselves.” “They’re at the level where they’ve just discovered sandwiches,” Holloway said. “Working a sunstone seam is not high on their agenda.” “You’re missing the point,” Isabel said. She set down her bee...

is the result of millions of years of heat and pressure. ZaraCorp is going to pull it all out of the ground in a decade, if it takes even that long. And that’s it for the sunstones; the creatures whose bodies made them are extinct. And then there are the other ores and minerals. It’ll take millions of years for the planet to replenish these miner...

saying,” Holloway said. “And you’re probably right. I still think you should be sure before you try to claim sapience. Not saying you shouldn’t make the claim. Just saying you should be sure. This is me trying to talk to you as a friend, here.” “Thanks,” Isabel said. “I know. I’m just thinking, is all. Do you ever stop to think how luck...

smart first?” “It’s crossed my mind,” Holloway said. Isabel nodded. “Now,” she said, “imagine what would have happened if half a million years ago, some alien creature landed on our planet, looked at our ancestors, decided that they weren’t actually people, and just ...