Description
In a Solar System far away, there exists a planet where all of the inhabitants are deaf. They have evolved as a community over many millennia and are traders across their solar system. But when humanoids from other planets come telling them that their deafness is a disability and that they can make a lot of money if they get ear implants, the people on this planet must decide what to do. Is deafness their heritage? Or is it holding them back from joining the larger world? The story's main protagonist is Mist whose daughter wants to get the implant because other children are getting them. Mist has always been a fighter and already doesn't fit in because she doesn't fit into her husband's class. She is against the implants. However the rest of her husband's family is. The new change -- brought by outsiders-- will change not only Mist's family but a whole society as well. This story is my most honored, I think. It is taught in classes across the world, in the UK, the US, and in Poland. It was anthologized in the acclaimed anthology So Long Been Dreaming. It is about a world of deaf inhabitants who have to deal with the imperialist Federation.
LINGUA FRANCA
