lived with
Lani for two years. But she's not stupid."

"What are your plans?"

"After we establish her humanity legally," Kennon said, "I'm going to
send her to school."

"For twenty years?"

"If necessary. But I don't think it will take that long. She has some
schooling."

"But no training--and what of the Lani in the meantime?"

"I have plans for that. I'm going back to Kardon and give Alexander a
chance to make restitution. I think he is an honorable man. Slavery may
be as revolting to him as it is to any civilized human. He deserves a
chance to rectify his grandfather's error."

"That is reasonable--and in the best traditions of the Brotherhood."

"Furthermore, it's practical," Kennon said. "Alexander is the only one
fully qualified to handle the problems of enfranchisement. He's known
the Lani all his life, and he is an executive type. A Brotherhood
committee would probably botch the whole affair. What with colonial
jurisdiction, territorial rights, and all the legal quibbling that
committees love, the Lani would get a poor deal. And there's no reason
to wreck the lives of a couple of hundred million Kardonians because
the rightful owners of Kardon were illegally enslaved. That happened
too long ago to have any practical meaning. There are other and better
solutions."

"What?"

"How should I know?" Kennon asked. "But I'm sure Alexander will. That's
his field."

"All you have to worry about is whether he'll co-operate," Brainard
said.

"He'll co-operate once he knows the score," Kennon said confidently.
"And he'll have to make some form of restitution. But it shouldn't
involve Kardon. Actually the Lani were never in a position to develop
that world. They'd probably have remained on Flora indefinitely. The old
court records showed no tendency for their culture to expand. They
were an inbred group, a static, balanced society in harmony with their
environment. In nearly thirty-five hundred years their numbers increased
only to a few thousand. Actually there is a good possibility that the
race would ultimately have died out if Old Alexander hadn't enslaved
them and instituted a controlled breeding program. There are more Lani
alive today than there were at the height of their power. So in a way
Old Alexander did them a favor. He kept their race alive. All we can
expect is a fair and just settlement."

"But if Alexander doesn't co-operate?"

"That's where you come in. You'll be a watchdog. If you don'