BIRTHRIGHT
BY APRIL SMITH
Why was Cyril Kirk, highest man in his
class, assigned to such an enigmatic place
as Nemar? Of what value was it—if anything?
No one could tell him the answer. He
wouldn't have believed them....
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Worlds of If Science Fiction, August 1955.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
Cyril Kirk's first sight of the planet from the spaceship did nothingto abate the anger seething within him. He stared at it in disgust,glad there were no other passengers left to witness his arrival.
All during the long trip, he had felt their curious stares and excitedwhispers everywhere he passed, and he had felt a small wave of reliefwhenever a large batch of them had been unloaded on some planet alongthe way. None of them had come this far—which was hardly surprising,he thought; the last of them had been taken off two-thirds of the wayto Nemar. He was very glad to see them go, though by that time they hadstopped making their cautious, deferential attempts to draw him intoconversation and elicit some clue about his mission and destination.
He had let them wonder. He knew that his aloofness was being taken assnobbishness, but he was past caring. They all recognized that he wasa Planetary Administrator by the blazing gold insignia on the darkuniform, insignia calling for awe and respect all over the galaxy. Theyguessed that this was his first appointment, but the thing that reallyaroused their curiosity was the bitter, angry look that went with whatthey considered his arrogant reserve.
Since polite efforts at conversation by the braver or more confidentamong the company were met with icy monosyllables that cut off furtherattempts, they were left with a wide range of controversy. Some of themheld, though they had never actually seen a Planetary Administratorbefore in the flesh, that all PA's were like this. They argued thatthe long, grueling years of study, the ascetic, disciplined life fromchildhood, and the constant pressure of competition, knowing that onlya small percentage would finally make the grade, made them kind ofinhuman by the time they finished. Besides, they were near-geniusesor they wouldn't have been selected in the first place—and everybodyknows geniuses are sort of peculiar.
One of the bolder and more beautiful girls on board had been arguedinto making a carefully planned attempt to draw information out of him,and bets had been placed on the results. She was eager enough to tryher hand at this rich prize, and her self-confidence was justified bya long trail of broken hearts in high places, but the attempt came tonothing. Kirk was aware of her efforts and aware that in another moodhe would have appreciated her charm, but he felt too sick and miserableto respond.
Remembering her piquant, laughing face later in his cabin, Kirkthought morosely of the long train of girls he had known in the past.Many of them had been lovely—a fledgling PA was considered a highlydesirable date, even though the chances were always that he wouldn'tmake it in the end. But Kirk had always been filled with an irondetermination that he was going to make it in the end, and this meantno distractions. If he began to feel he might get really emotionallyentangled with a girl, he stopped seeing her at once. He saw themseldom enough, anyway. The regulations of the PA Institute gave him afair amount of free time, but the study requirements made the app