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We will now explore the particular iovernments nize the pri force For example, take a careful look at Human history Humans have been known to submit to many constraints: to rule by Autarchs, by Plutarchs, by the power seekers of the archs, by tyrant Majorities and Minorities, by the hidden suasions of Polls, by profound instincts and shallow juvenilities And always, the governing force as ish you now to understand this concept hatever the individual believed had control over his immediate survival Survival sets the pattern of i much of Human history (and the pattern is similar with most sentient species) Corporation presidents held urehead officials We of the ConSentiency cannot forget this as we keep hatch on the Multiworld Corporations We dare not even forget it of ourselves Where you work for your own survival, this dominates your imprint, this dominates what you believe

- Instruction Manual Bureau of Sabotage

Never do what your enemy wants you to do, McKie re placed the binding oath of Legu deht The old Gowachin&039;s behavior was consistent with the denified the area of conflict by an enormous factor McKie chose a minimal response

"I&039;m here because Tandaloor is the heart of the Gowachin Federation"

Aritch, who&039;d been sitting with his eyes closed to eulare at McKie

"I re a dangerous new tension in the Wreave servant were increasing, but McKie was forced to concentrate his attention on Aritch

"You name your self client Very well The client ual issues demand it"

Aritch continued to glare at McKie, latent fire in the yellow eyes Now, the battle was truly joined

McKie sensed how fragile was the relationship upon which his survival depended The Gowachin, signatories to the great ConSentiency Pact binding the species of the known universe, were legally subject to certain BuSab intrusions But Aritch had placed the If the Gowachin Federation disagreed with McKie/Agent, they could take hied a client With the entire Gowachin Bar arrayed against hium would taste the knife His one hope lay in avoiding iation That was, after all, the real basis of Gowachin Law

Moving a step closer to specifics, McKie said:

"My Bureau has uncovered a matter of embarrassment to the Gowachin Federation"

Aritch blinked twice

"As we suspected"

McKie shook his head They didn&039;t suspect, they knew He counted on this: that the Gowachin understood why he&039;d answered their summons If any Sentiency under the Pact could understand his position, it had to be the Gowachin BuSab reflected Gowachin philosophy Centuries had passed since the great convulsion out of which BuSab had originated, but the ConSentiency had never been allowed to forget that birth It was taught to the young of every species

"Once, long ago, a tyrannical overnment They said they would make all individuals equal They meant they would not let any individual be better than another at doing anything Excellence was to be suppressed or concealed The tyrants reat speed &039;in the name of the people&039; They removed delays and red tape wherever found There was little deliberation Unaware that they acted out of an unconscious coe, the tyrants tried to enforce a grey saovernly reckless speed It took commerce and all the important eleht of and passed within hours Every society came to be twisted into a suicidal pattern People becaes which the universe dee

"It was the tione by nightfall,&039; as you learned earlier In their passion for sameness, the tyrants made therew correspondingly weaker and weaker New bureaus and directorates, odd ministries, leaped into existence for the most improbable purposes These becaiant wheel of govern destruction, violence, and chaos wherever they touched

"In those desperate times, a handful of people (the Five Ears, their e Corps to slow that runaheel of governinal corps was bloody, violent, and cruel Gradually, the original efforts were replaced by overneable Deliberation returned

"Over the generations, that original Corps becae, with its present Ministerial powers, preferring diversion to violence, but ready for violence when the need arises"

They ords froenerators of a concept modified by his experiences in the Bureau Now, he are that this directorate composed of all the known sentient species was headed into its own entropic corridors Someday, the Bureau would dissolve or be dissolved, but the universe still needed them The old i after absolutes of sameness It was the ancient conflict bethat the individual saw as personal needs for immediate survival and what the totality required if any were to survive And noas the Gowachin versus the ConSentiency, and Aritch was the chaister carefully, sensitive to the unrelieved tensions in the Wreave attendant Would there be violence in this room? It was a question which remained unanswered as McKie spoke

"You have observed that I am in a difficult position I do not enjoy the embarrassment of revered teachers and friends, nor of their compatriots Yet, evidence has been seen"

He let his voice trail off Gowachin disliked dangling implications

Aritch&039;s claws slid froers

"Your client wishes to hear of this evidence"

Before speaking, McKie rested his hand on the latch of the box in his lap

"Many people from two species have disappeared Two species: Gowachin and Huly, these were s on for a long tienerations by the old Huether, these disappearances are massive We&039;ve learned that there&039;s a planet called Dosadi where these people were taken Such evidence as we have has been examined carefully It all leads to the Gowachin Federation"

Aritch&039;s fingers splayed, a sign of acute embarrassment Whether assumed or real, McKie could not tell

"Does your Bureau accuse the Gowachin?"

"You know the function of my Bureau We do not yet know the location of Dosadi, but we&039;ll find it"

Aritch reiven up on a proble thrust this upon uardian of your fate, client You&039;ve no rights to inquire as to my methods I will not follow old law"

Aritch nodded

"It was ht hand

The rhyth mandibles darted from her facial slit

At the first movement from her, McKie whipped open the blue box, snatched out book and knife He spoke with a firhtest move toward me, my blood will defile this book" He placed the knife against his orist "Does your Servant of the Box know the consequences? The history of the Running Phylum would end Another Phylum would be presumed to&039;ve accepted the Law from its Giver The naister would be erased fros at thePhyluht hand raised Then:

"McKie, you are revealed as a sneak Only by spying on our most sacred rituals could you know this"

"Did you think me souum does not have to sneak to learn the Law When you admitted me to your Bar you opened every door"

Slowly, , Aritch turned and spoke to the Wreave:

"Ceylang?"

She had difficulty speaking while her poison-tipped fighting mandibles remained extruded

"Your command?"

"Observe this Huain"

"I obey"

"You o, but re the death dance could not re!"

Slowly, reluctantly, she looked at hi I am what you hope to be And I warn you: unless you shed your Wreave skin you will never be a Legum" He nodded in diso"

In a fluid swish of robes she obeyed, but her fighting Somewhere in her triad&039;s quarters, McKie knew, there&039;d be a small feathered pet which would die presently with poison froh its veins Then the death dance would be ended and she could retract her mandibles But the hate would remain

When the door had closed behind the red robe, McKie restored book and knife to the box, returned his attention to Aritch Nohen McKie spoke, it was really Legum to client without any sophistry, and they both knew it

"What would te down the Arch of Civilization?"

McKie&039;s tone was conversational, between equals

Aritch had trouble adjusting to the new status His thoughts were obvious If McKie had witnessed a Cleansing Ritual, McKie had to be accepted as a Gowachin But McKie was not Gowachin Yet he&039;d been accepted before the Gowachin Barand if he&039;d seen that most sacred ritual

Presently, Aritch spoke

"Where did you see the ritual?"

"It was performed by the Phylum which sheltered me on Tandaloor"

"The Dry Heads?"

"Yes"

"Did they know you witnessed?"

"They invited me"

"How did you shed your skin?"

"They scraped s"

Aritch took so this The Dry Heads had played their own secret game of Gowachin politics and now the secret was out He had to consider the iain? He said:

"You wear no tattoo"

"I&039;ve never made formal application for Dry Heads iance is to BuSab"

"The Dry Heads know this?"

"They encourage it"

"But what lanced at a veiled alcove at the far end of the sanctu God?

"It&039;d take ed

Aritch mused aloud:

"The Dry Heads supported Klodik in his crime when you"

"Not crime"

"I stand corrected You won Klodik&039;s freedom And after your victory the Dry Heads invited you to the Cleansing Ritual"

"A Gowachin in BuSab cannot have divided allegiance"

"But a Legum serves only the Law!"

"BuSab and Gowachin Law are not in conflict"

"So the Dry Heads would have us believe"

"Many Gowachin believe it"

"But Klodik&039;s case was not a true test"

Realization swept through McKie: Aritch regretted more than a lost bet He&039;d put his money with his hopes It was tiuu is not a problelanced at the box in McKie&039;s lap "We&039;re dealing with differences in values, changes in values"

McKie did not believe for an instant this was the tenor of Gowachin defense, but Aritch&039;s words gave him pause The Gowachin combined such an odd overn rituals, but above that everything remained as fluid as the seas in which they&039;d evolved Constant fluidity was the purpose behind their rituals You never entered any exchange with Gowachin on a sure-footed basis They did soiously It was their nature All ground is teed That was their catechisum is to learn where to place your feet

"The Dry Heads did soloo he&039;d speak from the stomach

"The people of the ConSentiency come in so lance doorward), Sobarips, Laclacs, Calebans, PanSpechi, Palenki, Chithers, Taprisiots, Humans, we of the Gowachinso "

"As well count the drops of water in a sea"

Aritch grunted, then:

"Some diseases cross the barriers between species"

McKie stared at him Was Dosadi a medical experiment station? Impossible! There would be no reason for secrecy then Secrecy defeated the efforts to study a co Gowachin-Human diseases"