Illustrated by Kelly Freas

DISQUALIFIED

BY CHARLES L. FONTENAY

After the morning inspection
tour, Tardo, the Solar Council's
Planetary Aid agent, and his
companion, Peo, were taken to the
castle which stood on a hill overlooking
the area.

Tardo and Peo were entertained
royally at luncheon by Saranta,
their host, who appeared to be the
wealthy overlord of this portion of
the planet. The meal was delicious—tender,
inch-thick steaks served
with delicate wine sauce and half
a dozen of the planet's exotic vegetables,
topped off by a cool fruit
dessert.

"My recommendation will be of
considerable importance to you,"
said Tardo as they ate. "If it is favorable,
there is certain technical
aid aboard ship which will be made
available to you at once. Of course,
you will not receive advanced
equipment from the Solar Council
until there is a more thorough investigation."

"I'm afraid our culture is too
simple and agrarian to win your
approval," said Saranta modestly.

"That isn't a major consideration.
The Council understands the
difficulties that have faced colonies
in other star systems. There are certain
fundamental requirements, of
course: no abnormal religious practices,
no slavery ... well, you understand
what I mean."

"We really feel that we have
done well since we ... our ancestors,
that is ... colonized our world
a thousand years ago," said Saranta,
toying with a wineglass. A smiling
servant filled the glasses of Tardo
and Peo. "You see, there was no
fuel for the ship to explore other
planets in the system, and the ship
just rusted away. Since we are some
distance from the solar system,
yours is the first ship that has landed
here since colonization."

"You seem to have been lucky,
though," said Peo. He was navigator
of the Council ship, and had
asked to accompany Tardo on the
brief inspection trip. "You could
have landed on a barren planet."

"Well, no, the colonizers knew it
was liveable, from the first exploration
expedition," said Saranta.
"There were difficulties, of course.
Luxuriant vegetation, but no animal
life, so we had no animals to
domesticate. Pulling a plow is hard
work for a man."

"But you were able to solve this
situation in a humanitarian way?"
asked Tardo, peering at him keenly.
"That is to say, you didn't resort
to slavery?"

Saranta smiled and spread his
hands slightly.

"Does this look like a slave society
to you?" he countered. "The
colonists were anxious to co-operate
to make the planet liveable. No one
objected to work."

"It's true we've seen no slaves,
that we know about," said Tardo.
"But two days is a short time for inspection.
I must draw most of my
conclusions from the attitudes of
you and the others who are our
hosts. How about the servants
here?"

"They are paid," answered Saranta,
and added ruefully: "There
are those of us who think they are
paid too well. They have a union,
you know."

Tardo laughed.

"A carry-over from Earth, no
doubt," he commented. "An unusual
one, too, for a culture without
technology."

When the meal was over, the
two men from the ship were conducted
on a tour of the area. It was
a neat agricultural community,
with broad fields, well-constructed
buildings and, a short distance from
Saranta's castle-like home, a village
in which artisans and craftsmen
plied their peaceful trades.

Peo tried to notice what he
thought Tardo would look for on
such a short inspection. The Council
agent, he knew, had had intensive
training and many years of
experience. It was hard for Peo to
judge what factors Tardo would
consider significant—probably very
minor ones that the average man
would not notice, he thought.

Tardo had seemed most intent
on the question of slavery, and Peo
looked for signs of it. He could see
none. The people of the planet had
had time to conceal some things, of
course. But the people they saw in
the village wore a proud air of independence
no slave could assume.

Saranta apologized for their having
to walk, explaining that there
was no other means of transportation
on the planet.

"And, without transportation,
you can understand why we have
not been able to develop a technology,"
he added. "We hope transport
will be included in the first
assistance you will give us."

Tardo asked about the fields.

"I see there is no one working
them," he said. "Is that done by
the villagers?"

"Our labor supply is transient,"
answered Saranta after a moment's
hesitation. "The laborers who will
work our fields—for a wage, of
course—are probably in the next
town or the one beyond it now."

Alpha Persei was sinking in the
western sky when Tardo and Peo
took their leave of Saranta and
made their way down the road toward
their planetary landing craft.

"It looks like a good world to
me," said Peo. "If tomorrow's inspection
is as satisfactory, I suppose
you will recommend the beginning
of technical aid?"

"There will be no inspection tour
tomorrow, and I shall recommend
against aid at this time," replied
Tardo. "I've seen enough."

"Why?" asked Peo, surprised.

"There are two classes of people
on this planet, and we've seen only
one," said Tardo. "Those we have
seen are freemen. The others are
no better than animals. We give no
aid that helps men tighten their
hold over their fellows."

"If you haven't seen them, how
do you know there is another class?"
demanded Peo. "There is no evidence
of any such situation."

"The evidence is well hidden.
But if you think your stomach can
take it now, I'll tell you. If you remember
your history, colonizing
ships 1000 years ago had no space
to carry animals along. They had
to depend on native animal life of
the planet, and this planet had
none."

"Saranta said that. But I don't
see ..."

"Those were delicious steaks,
weren't they?" remarked Tardo
quietly.

Transcriber's Note:

This etext was produced from If Worlds of Science Fiction September 1954.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S.
copyright on this publication was renewed. Minor spelling and
typographical errors have been corrected without note.