Birthright

“Good morning,” repeated Consuela.

The Madcap raced twice around the room, turned over its water bowl, and began licking the liquid up from the floor. Consuela closed the door behind her and stepped out into the hallway to join the man who had been observing her through a one-way mirror. “That one's crazier than most of them, isn't he?” asked the man. “It's well-named,” agreed Consuela, walking toward the commissary. “It's a fascinating creature!” said the man enthusiastically. “Just fascinating! Sometimes I think I went into the wrong field.”

“And just whatis your field, Mr. Tanayoka?” asked Consuela. “I was told to show you our facilities and extend every conceivable courtesy to you, but no one has yet told me why.”

“I'll come to that in just a moment, Ms. Orta,” said the small, black-haired man. “Mrs.Orta,” she corrected him.

“My mistake. Now, about the Madcap: Is it intelligent?” “That is a very chancy question.” Consuela smiled. “I have known many humans that I didn't think were intelligent. If you mean, is it sentient, I suspect that it probably is. No nonsentient life form could possibly come up with so many different aberrant reactions to the same stimuli. A life form incapable of all creative thought would fall into a set pattern, whereas yesterday, for example, the Madcap drank the water immediately, gravely shook hands with me, and then tried to stand on the ceiling.” “Maybe it wasn't thirsty today,” suggested Tanayoka. “Given its history of behavior, I'd suggest that it's just as likely that it wasn't thirsty yesterday and was dying of thirst today. No, the more I think about it, the more convinced I am that it's probably sentient. Unbalanced, perhaps, but sentient. Now all I have to do is make some degree of sense out of what it does.” She uttered a grim laugh.

“If anyone can do it, I'm told you're the one,” said Tanayoka. “You've succeeded in almost thirty-five percent of your cases; that's more than twice the norm.” “That's me: surrogate mother to the galaxy.” Consuela paused, then turned to Tanayoka. “How did you know that?”

“I told your superiors that I needed their best alien psychologist. And with these credentials"—he flashed a metal card before Consuela's eyes—"I usually get what I want.” “And you want me.”

“So I'm told,” agreed Tanayoka cheerfully.