by Erica Frank

I opened Laurence Janifer's latest novel, Slave Planet with trepidation. Slavery is an intense topic whose abhorrent nature should not be open for debate, but using it in the title implies some kind of conflict related to it. I doubted the plot was, "noble hero discovers planet of slaves, destroys evil masters, frees the oppressed," especially since the tag line is "a world at stake in a deadly game of galactic strategy." Strategy plus slaves means a focus on profits-vs-ethics that any decent person should reject without thinking.

Sure enough, by chapter two, we have the background: Fruyling's world is the source of a rare and valuable metal, and on it lives a race of "uncivilized" aliens who are forced to work to mine that metal. Most of the human Confederation employees on Fruyling's are born and raised there; they cannot leave, lest the general public realize that their beloved government, in which personal rights and liberties are treasured, keeps a whole planet of alien slaves.

The aliens are an obvious homage to Walt Kelly's cartoon alligator:

"They were called Alberts, after a half-forgotten character in a mistily-remembered comic strip dating back before space travel, before the true beginnings of Confederation history. If you ignored the single, Cyclopean eye, the rather musty smell and a few other even more minor details, they looked rather like two-legged alligators four feet tall, green as jewels, with hopeful grins on their faces and an awkward, waddling walk like a penguin’s. Seen without preconceptions they might have been called cute."

The story follows a handful of characters. The most interesting is Dr. Anna Haenlingen, the head of the Psychological Division, who designs the programs that keep the slaves happy. She is ancient and formidable. She's also the only woman who talks about something other than the men: she's focused on the future of the world after the Confederation discovers its unsavory practices.

For the most part, the men talk about how to train the aliens and about the ethics of slavery and servitude. (The women mostly talk about the men; even Dr. Haenlingen's assistant, who speaks with her about Division plans, gets caught up in a romance.) The aliens mostly talk about how good it is to serve the masters, and how hard it would be to live any other way.  It is clear that the author is not promoting this idea, but showing how hard it is to argue against it with simple, easy-to-understand vocabulary.

These are, after all, the same arguments used nearly a hundred years ago to justify human slavery: the proponents claimed that the slaves "had a better life" than they would in their "savage" homelands, and that servitude and "correction" of mistakes or insolence was necessary to be able to keep "helping" the slaves. The fact that the slave owners got profits and the slaves didn't, and that a major industry relied on slave labor, which was cheaper than complex machinery, was conveniently left out of the discussion.

Janifer, fortunately, does not leave that out. It is mentioned that machinery was considered, but rejected for its cost, which would raise the cost of the metal throughout the Confederation. Most of the human characters are uncomfortable with the fact of slavery; however, the book portrays their discomfort as a form of suffering, as if slavery were equally damaging to the humans and the Alberts. Some of the characters in Slave Planet constantly give their justifications for slavery, and the tone is so dry and matter-of-fact that it's impossible to tell if this is intended to be ironic or if Janifer is actually claiming that ownership of sentient beings is a complex issue with many sides.

Some of the on-planet employees believe they're "helping" the natives by providing them with health care and infrastructure they would not otherwise have. Others are pretty sure that no, there is nothing about the company's activities that are motivated by altruism. Some of the Alberts believe that the masters are good since they supply food and shelter, and that following the humans' orders is the natural way of things. Some disagree, but since they have been raised to serve the humans, they don't even have the language to explain why freedom is important to them, nor why they feel slavery is wrong.

Dr. Haenlingen is the only one in the book who does not try to moralize or justify slavery. She is aware that it is an economic arrangement, and not one created for the benefit of the Alberts. At first, she comes across as refreshingly level-headed and quite practical. Later, she seems almost evil: she would be willing to go to great lengths to protect the system on Fruyling's world. Her practicality prevents her from doing so; she is the first to recognize that once the public learns of the Alberts and how they are treated, the entire regime will quickly fall.

Overall, the book was a pleasant read, although the moralizing got a bit heavy-handed in spots. The book kept me interested. Although the ethical issues were straightforward, I could not guess what would happen next, even though there were no last-minute surprises. The world described in the opening chapters continues through the end. This is not a bleak story, but it is also not a cheerful one. The Alberts' philosophies were fascinating: they had arguments both for and against slavery in simple language, without the benefit of a well-rounded education. They did not seem stupid, just woefully lacking in vocabulary and a structure for their thoughts. The writing style is engaging and the characters distinct, but I rolled my eyes more than once at the human masters' claims that they were also victims. Most of the characters were a bit flat, but I would happily read an entire series about Dr. Haenlingen.

Three stars