The Handicapped
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

"The Handicapped" is a science fiction short story by
Larry Niven Laurence van Cott Niven (; born April 30, 1938) is an American science fiction writer. His best-known works are '' Ringworld'' (1970), which received Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards, and, with Jerry Pournelle, '' The Mote in God's E ...
, originally published in the December 1967 issue of ''
Galaxy Science Fiction ''Galaxy Science Fiction'' was an American digest-size science fiction magazine, published in Boston from 1950 to 1980. It was founded by a French-Italian company, World Editions, which was looking to break into the American market. World Editi ...
'' as "Handicap". Set in the ''
Known Space Known Space is the fictional setting of about a dozen science fiction novels and several collections of short stories written by Larry Niven. It has also become a shared universe in the spin-off ''Man-Kzin Wars'' anthologies. The Internet Spe ...
'' universe, the story introduces the Grogs, the sessile but sentient inhabitants of the planet Down.


Plot

Mr Garvey arrives at the planet Down, having heard about the natives called Grogs. Garvey Limited, a company owned by his father, makes artificial limbs and other tools for the "Handicapped" species; sentient beings that evolved minds but with nothing that would serve as hands, like
dolphins A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea. Dolphin species belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (t ...
. A local reluctantly agrees to show him a living Grog in the desert, but the Grog turns out to be a disappointment. It is sessile enough, being a furry cone living anchored to a rock, but it seems utterly void of sentience. The latter observation is later confirmed by a local exobiologist. The next morning, Garvey has a revelation. Somehow he knows the Grogs are sentient, without knowing why he knows. He returns to the desert and finds another Grog that begins to communicate with Garvey telepathically. It turns out the Grogs are indeed sentient beings with strong telepathic abilities, but for fear of being perceived as a threat for this very reason, they have concealed this until now. But having read Garvey's mind, and seeing that he can help them break their isolation, they are willing to take their chances. Garvey worries that the Grog telepathic power is very like those of the
Thrint This is a list of fictional characters featured in the ''Known Space'' novels by Larry Niven. Individual characters Sigmund Ausfaller Sigmund Ausfaller, a native of Earth, is a member of the Amalgamated Regional Militia ("ARM"), working in the B ...
un (or Slavers). He returns the next day with a typewriter that a Grog can use to communicate non-telepathically, as he does not like the "crystal certainties" placed into his mind. The Grog indicates that life as sessile creatures is very boring. They would like an animal with something like hands that they can control, plus access to human libraries and guest lecturers who would not object to having their minds read. They offer to use their powers to herd livestock, guard Down against invasion, perform police work, and monitor zoo animals. They deny any knowledge of the Slavers and claim that working together the Grogs cannot reach more than halfway across the planet with their minds, so they are no threat to humans. Due to the public relations problems of the Grog power, a campaign is launched to show the Grogs as harmless and useful. But just in case, an old
Bussard ramjet The Bussard ramjet is a theoretical method of spacecraft propulsion proposed in 1960 by the physicist Robert W. Bussard, popularized by Poul Anderson's novel '' Tau Zero'', Larry Niven in his ''Known Space'' series of books, Vernor Vinge in h ...
ship is placed in orbit that can be used to cause the local sun to emit deadly radiation. Garvey still worries that the Grogs might not be truthful regarding the range of their power and be able to defeat that
fail-safe In engineering, a fail-safe is a design feature or practice that in the event of a specific type of failure, inherently responds in a way that will cause minimal or no harm to other equipment, to the environment or to people. Unlike inherent safe ...
.


External links

*
"Handicap"
at the
Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Handicapped, The Short stories by Larry Niven Known Space stories 1967 short stories