Steven Lamorak, a sociologist from Earth, is visiting the unique asteroid-world of Elsevere. While there, the man in charge of processing human waste—the very bottom of the totem pole in the rigidly caste-driven society of the worldlet—goes on strike and Lamorak intervenes, to his own grief.
Like Asimov, I consider this to be a cleverer story than other people appear to have, although I admit this is largely because it’s grown on me and I enjoy it now rather more than I did when first I read it. I think the situation is a little obvious, but it’s handled well. Ragusnik, the waste-processor, is actually on stage very briefly, but it’s a marvelous little scene with a kick to it. And one can sympathize well with Lamorak and the dilemma he finds himself in. (One wonders how somebody saddled with Star Trek’s “Prime Directive” would have managed!)
Found In
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Isaac Asimov Presents the Great SF Stories 19, 1957 | |
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Nightfall and Other Stories | |
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Robot Dreams | |
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The Best Science Fiction of Isaac Asimov | |
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Complete Stories, The, Vol. 1 | |