HOMO INFERIOR
By Mari Wolf
Illustrated by Rudolph Palais
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from If Worlds of ScienceFiction November 1953. Extensive research did not uncover any evidencethat the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
The starship waited. Cylindrical walls enclosed it, and a transparentplastic dome held it back from the sky and the stars. It waited, whilenight changed to day and back again, while the seasons merged one intoanother, and the years, and the centuries. It towered as gleaming and asuncorroded as it had when it was first built, long ago, when men hadbustled about it and in it, their shouting and their laughter and thesound of their tools ringing against the metallic plates.
Now few men ever came to it. And those who did come merely looked withquiet faces for a few minutes, and then went away again.
The generations kaleidoscoped by. The Starship waited.
Eric met the other children when he was four years old. They were out inthe country, and he'd slipped away from his parents and started wadingalong the edge of a tiny stream, kicking at the water spiders.
His feet were soaked, and his knees were streaked with mud where he'dknelt down to play. His father wouldn't like it later, but right now itdidn't matter. It was fun to be off by himself, splashing along thestream, feeling the sun hot on his back and the water icy against hisfeet.
A water spider scooted past him, heading for the tangled moss along thebank. He bent down, scooped his hand through the water to catch it. Fora moment he had it, then it slipped over his fingers and darted away,out of his reach.
As he stood up, disappointed, he saw them: two boys and a girl, not mucholder than he. They were standing at the edge of the trees, watchinghim.
He'd seen children before, but he'd never met any of them. His parentskept him away from them—and from all strangers. He stood still,watching them, waiting for them to say something. He felt excited anduncomfortable at the same time.
They didn't say anything. They just watched him, very intently.
He felt even more uncomfortable.
The bigger boy laughed. He pointed at Eric and laughed again and lookedover at his companions. They shook their heads.
Eric waded up out of the water. He didn't know whether to go over tothem or run away, back to his mother. He didn't understand the way theywere looking at him.
"Hello," he said.
The big boy laughed again. "See?" he said, pointing at Eric. "He can't."
"Can't what?" Eric said.
The three looked at him, not saying anything. Then they all burst outlaughing. They pointed at him, jumped up and down and clapped theirhands together.
"What's funny?" Eric said, backing away from them, wishing his motherwould come, and yet afraid to turn around and run.
"You," the girl said. "You're funny. Funny, funny, funny! You'restu-pid."
The others took it up. "Stu-pid, stu-pid. You can't talk to us, you'retoo stu-pid...."
They skipped down the bank toward him, laughing and calling. They jumpedup and down and pointed at him, crowded closer and closer.
"Silly, silly. Can't talk. Silly, silly. Can't talk...."
Eric backed away from them. He tried to run, but he couldn't. His knees