PART II:

Initial Assessment and Response

Grego convened an emergency meeting with Leslie Coombes, the Company's chief legal counsel, and Leonard Kellogg, head of the Scientific Study and Research Division. The situation required immediate assessment and decisive action. The Company needed to determine whether these Fuzzies actually posed a legal threat, and if so, how to neutralize that threat through proper channels.

Kellogg was dispatched to Beta Continent with Ernst Mallin, the Company's chief psychologist, to investigate Holloway's claims firsthand. Their mission was clear: conduct a rigorous scientific evaluation and, if possible, demonstrate that these so-called Fuzzies were merely clever animals, not sapient beings. The Company's legal position would be strongest if its own scientists could refute the sapience claims before they gained traction in the scientific community or the press.

The timing was critical. Rainsford had not yet filed a formal report with the Institute of Zeno-Sciences on Terra. If the Company's scientists could discredit the sapience theory quickly, the entire matter might be contained at the local level, preventing it from becoming a Federation-wide controversy.

The Tragic Incident

What happened next at Holloway's camp on June 19 became the subject of intense legal scrutiny and fundamentally altered the trajectory of the case. According to the official Company account, Leonard Kellogg was conducting his scientific observations when one of the Fuzzies attacked him without provocation, inflicting a wound on his shin with a small, sharpened implement. Kellogg, acting in self-defense, pushed the creature away. In the ensuing confusion, the Fuzzy was accidentally killed.

Holloway, who had developed an irrational attachment to these animals, responded with violence. He brutally assaulted Kellogg, inflicting serious facial injuries. When Kurt Borch, who was accompanying the Company scientists for security purposes, attempted to intervene and protect Kellogg, Holloway drew his weapon and shot Borch three times, killing him instantly.

From the Company's perspective, this was a clear-cut case of assault and murder. Holloway had nearly killed a respected Company scientist and had definitely killed a Company employee, all over what amounted to a wild animal. The fact that Holloway had been living alone in the wilderness for years, had developed an obsessive attachment to these creatures, and had even given them names and treated them as family members suggested a man who had lost touch with reality.

The Company, through its connections with the colonial government, moved swiftly to bring charges against Holloway. This was not only a matter of justice for its employees but also a strategic necessity. By characterizing the creatures as animals and Holloway's response as murderously disproportionate, the Company could establish in court that these Fuzzies were not sapient beings worthy of legal protection.