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We are plagued by a corrupt polity which promotes unlawful and/or immoral behavior Public interest has no practical significance in everyday behavior a factions The real proble confronted by those in power In the guise of public service, they use whatever coain They are insane with and for power

- From a clandestine docuuised Jedrik and undisguised McKie eed onto the streets She led thes McKie had revealed Jedrik wore a blonde wig and puff-out disguise which made her appear heavy and hunched

As they passed an open courtyard, McKie heard music He almost stumbled The music cas, and a rich chorus of wind instrunize the melody, but it moved him more deeply than any other h the music were played only for hi about such ed the streets in numbers which astonished him But now they appeared to pay him little notice

Jedrik kept part of her attention on McKie, noting the fools with theirho people there were on the streets - little more than her own patrols in this quarter She&039;d expected that, but the actuality held an eerie hted corners

She had debated providing McKie with a crude disguise, but he obviously didn&039;t have the cunning to carry off the double deception she required She&039;d begun to sense a real intelligence in hima Why had he never encountered the opportunities to sharpen that intelligence? Sensing the sharpness in hiht that she hadvital in his accounts of that social entity which he called the ConSentiency Whether this failure cah his inadequacies, she was not yet willing to judge The enige And theto ease her elad when they crossed the line into the area completely controlled by her own personal cell

The bait having been trailed through the streets by one ould appear a taht relaxation Broey would have learned by this tient He would react to that and to the new bait It was aln for Broey

McKie followed her without question, acutely aware of every strange glance cast their way He was e he could not survive if he failed to follow Jedrik through the smelly, repellent darkness of her streets

The food from the restaurant sat heavily in his stomach It had been tasty: a stew of odd shapes full of shredded greenery, and stea hot But he could not shake the realization that his stew had been coe

Jedrik had left him very little She hadn&039;t learned of the Taprisiot, or the bead in his stomach which probably would not link him to the powers of the ConSentiency if he died She had not learned of the standard BuSab implantation devices which amplified his senses And, oddly, she had not explored many of his revelations about BuSab She&039;d seemed much more interested in the money hidden about his person and had taken possession of all of it She&039;d examined the currency carefully

"This is real"

He wasn&039;t sure, but he thought she&039;d been surprised

"This was given to you before you were sent to Dosadi?"

"Yes"

She was a while absorbing the iiven him a few small currency tokens from her own pockets

"Nobody&039;ll bother you for these If you need anything, ask We ratify sohted only by illuht Grey light suffused the street A young Huainst the stone wall at the building&039;s corner As Jedrik and McKie approached, he sprang up, alert He nodded once to Jedrik

She did not acknowledge, but by soe He relaxed once ainst the wall

When McKie looked back a few paces beyond where the boy had signaled, he was gone No sound, no sign just gone

Jedrik stopped at a shadowed entryway It was barred by an openwork uards opened the gate without words Beyond the gate there was a large, covered courtyard illuht and left Three of its sides were piled to the courtyard cover with boxes of various sizes - some taller than a Human and narrow, others short and fat Set into the stacks as though part of the courtyard&039;s walls was one narrow passage leading to a ateway

McKie touched Jedrik&039;s arm

"What&039;s in the boxes?"

"Weapons" She spoke as though to a cretin

The metal door was opened froe rooed shut behind the the courtyard wall on both sides of hi else

Doe suspended fro Its bars sparkled and shile Gowachin e&039;s center McKie had seldoed His nose crest was fringed by flaking yellow crusts Heavy wrinkles worlaze with the degeneration which often blinded Gowachin who lived too long away from water His body had a slack appearance, with loosethe nodes between his ventricles The hae floor and that floor shiies

Jedrik paused, divided her attention between McKie and the old Gowachin She seemed to expect a particular reaction froht

McKie stood a moment in silent examination of the Gowachin Prisoner? What was the significance of that cage and its shilanced around the roo the space Six arh which he and Jedrik had entered A remarkable assortment of objects crammed the room&039;s walls, sonizable as weapons: spears and swords, flaarish armor, bombs, pellet projectors

Jedrik e The occupant stared back at her with faint interest She cleared her throat

"Greetings, Pcharky I have found my key to the God Wall"

The old Gowachin reht he saw a sparkle of interest in the glazed eyes

Jedrik shook her head slowly from side to side, then: "I have a new datum, Pcharky The Veil of Heaven was created by creatures called Calebans They appear to us as suns"

Pcharky&039;s glance flickered to McKie, back to Jedrik The Gowachin knew the source of her new datum

McKie renewed his speculations about the old Gowachin That cage ies Bahrank had spoken of conflict between the species Humans controlled this room Why did they ied Gowachin, this Pcharky, another agent fro of his throat, McKie wondered if his own fate runted, then:

"The God Wall is like this cage but , the words clear Galach with an obvious Tandaloor accent McKie, his fears reinforced, glanced at Jedrik, found her studying him She spoke

"Pcharky has been with us for a long ti how many people he has helped to escape from Dosadi Soon, I may persuade him to be of service to me"

McKie found hih her words Was Dosadi in fact an investigation of the Caleban mystery? Was that the secret Aritch&039;s people concealed here? McKie stared at the shie Like the God Wall? But the God Wall was enforced by a Caleban

Once ed Gowachin

"A sun confines enories inadequate?"

But Pcharky&039;s attention was on McKie The old voice croaked

"Huly?"

"Don&039;t answer him," Jedrik snapped

Pcharky closed his eyes Interview ended

Jedrik, accepting this, whirled and strode to the left around the cage

"Co, McKie" She didn&039;t look back, but continued speaking "Does it interest you that Pcharky designed his own cage?"

"He designed it? Is it a prison?"

"Yes"

"If he designed ithow does it hold him?"

"He knew he&039;d have to serve my purposes if he were to remain alive"

She had come to another door which opened onto a narrow stairway It clied into a long hallway lined with narrow doors dihted by tiny overhead bulbs Jedrik opened one of these doors and led the way into a carpeted roo Dark wood panels reached from floor to waist level, shelves loaded with books above McKie peered closely: booksactual paper books He tried to recall where he&039;d ever before seen such a collection of primitive But, of course, these were not prie recapitulations

Jedrik had re, stopped midway in the room to turn and face McKie

"This is my room Toilet there" She pointed to an opening between shelves "That" Again, she pointed, this ti opposite the toilet door "is one-way to adht, and it&039;s our best As Dosadi s, this is a relatively secure place"

He swept his gaze around the roo space, a mark of power on Dosadi; the absence of people in the hall By the standards of this planet, Jedrik&039;s roo, represented a citadel of power

Jedrik spoke, an odd note of nervousness in voice and manner: