Mrreg continued to study McKie.
"I see what Ekris meant." Then, more briskly: "Well, McKie, I followed your career with interest. It now appears I did not follow you closely enough. Perhaps if we had not . . ."
He left the thought incomplete.
McKie picked up on this.
"It was inevitable that I escape from Dosadi."
"Perhaps."
The attendants finished their work, departed, taking the oddly shaped crystal flasks with them.
"Answer my question," McKie said.
"I am not required to answer your question."
"Then I withdraw from this case."
Mrreg hunched forward in sudden alarm. "You cannot! Aritch isn't . . ."
"I have no dealings with Aritch. My client is that Gowachin who made the Dosadi decision."
"You are engaging in strange behavior for a Legum. Yes, bring it." This last was addressed to someone offscreen. Another attendant appeared, carrying a white garment shaped somewhat like a long apron with sleeves. The attendant proceeded to put this onto Mrreg, who ignored him, concentrating on McKie.
"Do you have any idea what you're doing, McKie?"
"Preparing to act for my client."
"I see. Who told you about me?"
McKie shook his head.
"Did you really believe me unable to detect your presence or interpret the implications of what my own senses tell me?"
McKie saw that the Gowachin failed to see beneath the surface taunting. Mrreg turned to the attendant who was tying a green ribbon at the back of the apron. The old Gowachin had to lean forward for this. "A little tighter," he said.
The attendant retied the ribbon.
Addressing McKie, Mrreg said, "Please forgive the distraction. This must proceed at its own pace."
McKie absorbed this, assessed it Dosadi fashion. He could see the makings of an important Gowachin ritual here, but it was a new one to him. No matter. That could wait. He continued speaking, probing this Mrreg.
"When you found your own peculiar uses for Dosadi . . ."
"Peculiar? It's a universal motivation, McKie, that one tries to reduce the competition."
"Did you assess the price correctly, the price you might be asked to pay?"
"Oh, yes. I knew what I might have to pay."
There was a clear tone of resignation in the Gowachin's voice, a rare tone for his species. McKie hesitated. The attendant who'd brought the apron left the room, never once glancing in McKie's direction, although there had to be a screen to show whatever Mrreg saw of his caller.
"You wonder why I sent a proxy to hire the Legum?" Mrreg asked.
"Why Aritch?"
"Because he's a candidate for . . . greater responsibilities. You know, McKie, you astonish me. Undoubtedly you know what I could have done to you for this impertinence, yet that doesn't deter you."
This revealed more than Mrreg might have intended, but he remained unaware (or uncaring) of what McKie saw. For his part, McKie maintained a bland exterior, as blank as that of any Dosadi.
"I have a single purpose," McKie said. "Not even my client will sway me from it."
"The function of a Legum," Mrreg said.
The attendant of the white apron returned with an unsheathed blade. McKie glimpsed a jeweled handle and glittering sweep of cutting edge about twenty centimeters long. The blade curved back upon itself in a tight arc at the tip. The attendant, his back to McKie, stood facing Mrreg. The blade no longer was visible.
Mrreg, his left side partly obscured from McKie by the attendant, leaned to the right and peered up at the screen through which he watched McKie.
"You've never been appraised of the ceremony we call Laupuk. It's very important and we've been remiss in leaving this out of your education. Laupuk was essential before such a . . . project as Dosadi could be set in motion. Try to understand this ritual. It will help you prepare your case."
"What was your Phylum?" McKie asked.
"That's no longer important but . . . very well. It was Great Awakening. I was High Magister for two decades before we made the Dosadi decision."
"How many Rim bodies have you used up?"
"My final one. That, too, is no longer important. Tell me, McKie, when did you suspect Aritch was only a proxy?"
"When I realized that not all Gowachin were born Gowachin."
"But Aritch . . ."
"Ahh, yes: Aritch aspires to greater responsibilities."
"Yes . . . of course. I see. The Dosadi decision had to go far beyond a few phylums or a single species. There had to be a . . . I believe you Humans call it a 'High Command.' Yes, that would've become obvious to one as alert as you now appear. Your many marriages deceived us, I think. Was that deliberate?"
Secure behind his Dosadi mask, McKie decided to lie.
"Yes."
"Ahhhhhhhhh."
Mrreg seemed to shrivel into himself, but rallied.
"I see. We were made to believe you some kind of dilettante with perverted emotions. It'd be judged a flaw which we could exploit. Then there's another High Command and we never suspected."
It all came out swiftly, revealing the wheels within wheels which ruled Mrreg's view of the ConSentient universe. McKie marveled at how much more was said than the bare words. This one had been a long time away from Dosadi and had not been born there, but there were pressures on Mrreg now forcing him to the limits of what he'd learned on Dosadi.
McKie did not interrupt.
"We didn't expect you to penetrate Aritch's role, but that was not our intent, as you know. I presume . . ."
Whatever Mrreg presumed, he decided not to say it, musing aloud instead.
"One might almost believe you were born on Dosadi."
McKie remained silent, allowing the fear in that conjecture to fill Mrreg's consciousness.
Presently, Mrreg asked, "Do you blame all Gowachin?"
Still, McKie remained silent.
Mrreg became agitated.
"We are a government of sorts, my High Command. People can be induced not to question a government."
McKie decided to press this nerve.
"Governments always commit their entire populations when the demands grow heavy enough. By their passive acceptance, these populations become accessories to whatever is done in their name."
"You've provided free use of jumpdoors for the Dosadi?"
McKie nodded. "The Calebans are aware of their obligation. Jedrik has been busy instructing her compatriots."
"You think to loose the Dosadi upon the ConSentiency and hunt down my High Command? Have a care, McKie. I warn you not to abandon your duties as a Legum, or to turn your back on Aritch."
McKie continued silent.
"Don't make that error, McKie. Aritch is your client. Through him you represent all Gowachin."
"A Legum requires a responsible client," McKie said. "Not a proxy, but a client whose acts are brought into question by the case being tried."
Mrreg revealed Gowachin signs of deep concern.
"Hear me, McKie. I haven't much time."
In a sudden rush of apprehension, McKie focused on the attendant with the blade who stood there partly obscuring the seated Gowachin. Mrreg spoke in a swift spill of words.
"By our standards, McKie, you are not yet very well educated in Gowachin necessities. That was our error. And now your . . . impetuosity has put you into a position which is about to become untenable."
The attendant shifted slightly, arms moving up. McKie glimpsed the blade tip at the attendant's right shoulder.
"Gowachin don't have families as do Humans or even Wreaves," Mrreg said. "We have graduated advancement into groups which hold more and more responsibility for those beneath them. This was the pattern adopted by our High Command. What you see as a Gowachin family is only a breeding group with its own limited rules. With each step up in responsibility goes a requirement that we pay an increasing price for failure. You ask if I know the price? Ahhh, McKie. The breeding male Gowachin makes sure that only the swiftest, most alert of his tads survive. A Magister upholds the forms of the Law. The High Command answers to a . . . Mrreg. You see? And a Mrreg must make only the best decisions. No failures. Thus . . . Laupuk."