The Protector

In Short

Joe, an opportunistic fight manager, brings his star heavyweight, Pierre, back to his home planet of Gorlin after reading alarming reports that the native Anestha are dying out. The Anestha possess no physical sense of pain, but they are exceptionally sensitive to the thoughts and feelings of others. They are currently being exploited by a tyrannical human mining boss whose harsh, demoralizing insults destroy their will to live. When Pierre confronts the boss in the ring and knocks him out with a single punch, the operation is dismantled, and Joe settles down as the official morale protector of a deeply affectionate species.

The Story

The story opens with Joe explaining his unusual permanent residence on the planet Gorlin. He manages Pierre, an Anesthon heavyweight boxer whom Joe stabled on Venus long enough to secure a legal fighting license. The Anestha are a gentle, pleasure-loving people with slick black hair and gold skin who feel no physical pain whatsoever. Because they absorb the emotions and thoughts of everyone around them, they require constant kindness and encouragement to survive. When a Sunday supplement article reports that the Anestha are mysteriously dying out, Pierre gets deeply upset about his endangered race and insists on returning home to investigate.

Before heading back, Joe and Pierre visit a Smithsonian scientist in Washington. The scientist confirms that while the native population is dwindling due to industrial accidents and carelessness, a major Earth corporation is currently operating large targ mines on Gorlin, employing local workers with cheap trade goods like cigarettes and liquor. Concerned for his family, Pierre resolves to make the trip. Joe decides to accompany him to ensure the fragile fighter does not accidentally starve or injure himself along the way.

Upon landing on Gorlin, the pair checks into a luxurious tourist hotel. To avoid suspicion, they soon slip into native cloaks and venture out into the woods to find the mines. Along the trail, they encounter Noor, a young local engaged to Pierre's sister, Jennel. Noor is utterly defeated and miserable, lamenting that he is not man enough to carry Jennel to his house. Moving further down the path, they find Jennel, who is similarly slumped, dejected, and convinced that her life is worthless because her boss dislikes her. When Joe accidentally scrapes his knee on a rock, Jennel bursts into tears, expressing profound sorrow that the rock harbors unloving feelings toward him.

Guided toward the mine owner's estate, the trio approaches the house just as a booming voice from within berates a pair of local foremen. The abusive boss is loudly screaming that his workers are miserable, gutless idiots who keep getting themselves killed and failing to meet production quotas. Recognizing the voice of their tormentor, Jennel weeps as she recounts how the boss demeans her daily and tells her she is ugly. Realizing that the boss's psychological cruelty is the actual cause of the mysterious native deaths, Joe pushes Pierre through the window with instructions to defend his people.

When the large, red-faced boss turns and bellows at them, he attempts to intimidate Pierre by claiming the fighter is a weak, worthless coward. Encouraged by Joe and driven by a sudden surge of righteous purpose, Pierre delivers a clean left to the boss's jaw, knocking him out cold. Joe immediately uses the house tele-viz to contact the port chief, summoning official help and medical authorities. The boss is arrested and taken back to Earth to stand trial for psychological coercion. In the aftermath, the investigating commission appoints Joe as the official Protector of Morale for the Anestha, a lucrative position that leaves him perpetually surrounded by grateful locals eager to shield him from every minor bump and bruise.

How It Unfolds

• The voyage begins — Joe and Pierre leave Earth for Gorlin via Venus after reading reports that the native Anesthon population is rapidly dying out from mysterious industrial accidents.
• The scientific consult — A Smithsonian scientist explains that a massive mining operation is employing native workers on Gorlin, using cheap trade goods instead of fair wages.
• The homecoming — Arriving on Gorlin in native disguise, the pair encounters Noor and Jennel, both paralyzed by deep depression caused by their harsh employer.
• The confrontation — Peering through the windows of the boss's estate, Joe and Pierre listen to him verbally abuse local foremen and reduce Jennel to tears.
• The decisive blow — Encouraged by Joe, Pierre steps through the window and knocks the abusive mining boss unconscious with a single left hook.
• The new assignment — Authorities arrest the tyrant, and Joe accepts a permanent role as the planet's protector of morale while enjoying the constant affection of the locals.

The People

• Joe is a pragmatic, sharp-witted fight manager who genuinely cares for his fighter. He wants a profitable career and a dependable athlete, but his underlying protectiveness drives him to expose the mining operation, ending up as the planet's well-paid morale guardian.
• Pierre is a gentle Anesthon heavyweight boxer who cannot comprehend violence for its own sake. He wants to save his endangered race from extinction, and though he initially lacks fighting spirit, he overcomes his conditioning to defend his family.
• Jennel is Pierre’s sensitive sister who wears floral garments and looks for validation. She is beaten down by the constant emotional cruelty of her boss, ending the story restored and deeply grateful for her brother's intervention.
• Noor is Jennel’s dispirited fiancé who struggles with deep feelings of inadequacy. He wants to build a home with Jennel, but the toxic environment leaves him paralyzed until justice is restored.
• The unnamed mining boss is a blustering, abusive corporate manager who relies on psychological cruelty. He wants maximum mineral output with minimal cost, and his relentless insults ultimately lead to his arrest.

In Its Own Voice

There's a fortune in a boxer who feels no pain.

Joe explains the unique athletic advantage and underlying vulnerability that first drew him to manage an Anesthon fighter.

If you are like them and your body don't feel any pain any time, you need a nursemaid around to keep you from doing dumb things, like walking in front of a truck or starving to death.

Joe describes the physiological reality of the Anestha, whose lack of physical pain makes everyday survival entirely dependent on external care.

That rock don't like you at all.

Jennel reacts to Joe's scraped knee, perfectly illustrating the unique worldview of a people who perceive emotional intent in physical objects.

What It's Really About

The story explores the devastating impact of psychological abuse and emotional manipulation. While early science fiction often framed alien extinction through physical disease or evolutionary failure, this narrative exposes a subtler mechanism of destruction: verbal degradation. Because the Anestha absorb the emotional reality projected onto them by outsiders, the harsh insults of a capitalist manager become a literal death sentence. The narrative also subverts the traditional sports-fiction trope, contrasting the brutal culture of professional boxing with a gentle species whose strength emerges not from malice, but from mutual affection and solidarity.

Why Read It Today

Readers who appreciate classic mid-century science fiction with a sharp satirical edge and a genuinely warm heart will find much to love here. Betsy Curtis crafts a unique alien culture that feels distinct from standard pulp tropes, driven by a narrator whose vernacular voice is both humorous and endearing. Reading the story feels like listening to an old-school fight manager recount a tall tale over drinks at a spaceport bar, balancing cynical humor with genuine emotional tenderness. While the mid-century slang and the simplified framing of colonial labor reflect the pulp magazines of 1951, the core message about the destructive power of verbal cruelty and the healing nature of empathy remains entirely fresh and resonant today.

What aspect of the Anestha's unique emotional sensitivity interests you most?