"Ah, yes. Those."

"They are growing quite perturbed, as Gubru interceptors now seem about to cut them off, and may do them harm."

The Examiner hesitated only a moment. "Please inform the approaching envoys that we will be only too happy to grant their request. They should come directly to the Mount, under the protection of the Uplift Inst.i.tute."

The robot hurried off to pa.s.s on the order. Other aides then approached, waving readouts and picting preliminary reports on still more anomalies. One after another of the holo-screens lit up to show the crowd that had arrived at the base of the hill, tumbling out of rusty boats and surging up the unguarded slopes.

"This event grows ever more interesting," the Grand Examiner sighed reflectively. "I wonder, what will happen next?"

90 Gailet It was after sunset and Gimelhai had already sunk below a western horizon turbid with dark clouds by the time the worn-down survivors finally pa.s.sed through the last examination screen to collapse in exhaustion upon a gra.s.sy knoll. Six chens and six chimmies lay quietly close to each other for warmth. They were too tired to engage in the grooming all felt they needed.

"Momma, why didn't they choose dogs to uplift, instead? Or pigs?" One of them moaned.

"Baboons," another voice suggested, and there was a murmur of agreement. Such creatures deserved this kind of treatment.

"Anybody but us," a third voice summarized, succinctly.

Ex exaltavit humilis, Gailet thought silently. They have lifted up the humble of origins. The motto of the Terragens Uplift Board had its origins in the Christian Bible. To Gailet it had always carried the unfortunate implication that someone, somewhere, was going to get crucified.

Her eyes closed and she felt a light sleep close in immediately. Just a catnap, she thought. But it did not last long. Gailet felt a sudden return of that dream-the one in which a Gubru stood over her, peering down the barrel of a malevolent machine. She shivered and opened her eyes again.

The last shreds of twilight were fading. Bitterly clear, the stars twinkled as if through something more refracting than mere atmosphere.

She and the others stood up quickly as a brightly lit floater car approached and settled down in front of them. Out stepped three figures, a tall, downy-white Gubru, a spiderlike Galactic, and a pudgy human mel whose official gown hung on him like a potato sack. As she and the other chims bowed, Gailet recognized Cordwainer Appelbe, the head of Garth's local Uplift Board.

The man looked bewildered. Certainly he must be overawed to be taking part in all this. Still, Gailet also wondered whether Appelbe was drugged.

"Urn, I want to congratulate you all," he said, stepping just ahead of the other two. "You should know how proud we are of all of you. I've been told that, while there are certain test scores that are still in dispute, the overall judgment of the Uplift Inst.i.tute is that Pan argonostes-the neo-chim-panzees of Earthclan-are, or, well, actually have been ready for stage three for quite some time."

The arachnoid official stepped forward then. "That is true. In fact, I can promise that the Inst.i.tute will favorably consider any future applications by Earthclan for further examinations."

Thank you, Gailet thought as she and the others bowed again. But please, don't bother picking me for the next one.

Now the Grand Examiner launched into a lengthy speech about the rights and duties of client races. She spoke of the long-departed Progenitors, who began Galactic civilization so long ago, and the procedures they set down for all succeeding generations of intelligent life to follow.

The Examiner used Galactic Seven, which most of the chims could at least follow. Gailet tried to pay attention, but within her troubled thoughts kept turning to what was certainly to come after this.

She was sure she felt underfoot an increase in the faint trembling which had accompanied them all the way up the mountain. It filled the air with a low, barely audible rumbling. Gailet swayed as a wave of unreality seemed to pa.s.s through her. She looked up and saw that several of the evening stars appeared to flare suddenly brighter. Others' fled laterally as an oval distortion inserted itself directly overhead. A blackness began to gather there.

The Examiner's aeolian speech droned on. Cordwainer Appelbe listened raptly, a bemused expression on his face. But the white-plumed Gubru grew visibly impatient with each pa.s.sing moment. Gailet could well understand why. Now that the hypers.p.a.ce shunt was warmed up and ready, every pa.s.sing minute was costing the invaders. When she realized this, Gailet felt warmer toward the droning Serentini official. She nudged Michaela when her friend seemed about to doze off, and put on an attentive expression.

Several times the Gubru opened its beak as if about to commit the ungraceful act of interrupting the Examiner. Finally, when the spiderlike being stopped briefly for a breath, the avian cut in sharply. Gailet, who had been studying hard for months, easily understood the clipped words in Galactic Three.

, "-delaying, dawdling, stalling! Your motives are in doubt, incredible, suspect! I insist that you proceed, move along, get on with it!"

But the Examiner scarcely missed a beat, continuing in Galactic Seven.

"In pa.s.sing the formidable gauntlet you faced today, more rigorous than any testing I have heretofore witnessed, you have demonstrated your worthiness as junior citizens of our civilization, and bring credit to your clan.

"What you receive today, you have earned-the right to reaffirm your love of your patrons, and to choose a stage consort. The latter decision is an important one. As consort you must select a known, oxygen-breathing, starfaring race, one that is not a member of your own clan. This race will defend your interests and impartially intercede in disputes between you and your patrons. If you wish, you may select the Tymbrimi, of the Clan of the Krallnith, who have been your consort-advisors up until now. Or you may make a change.

"Or, you may choose yet another option-to end your partic.i.p.ation in Galactic civilization, and ask that the meddling of Uplift be reversed. Even this drastic step was prescribed by the Progenitors, as insurance of the fundamental rights of living things."

Could we? Could we really do that? Gailet felt numb at the very idea. Even though she knew that it was almost never allowed in practice, the option was there!

She shuddered and refocused her attention as the Grand Examiner lifted two arms in a benediction. "In the name of the Inst.i.tute of Uplift, and before all of Galactic civilization, I therefore p.r.o.nounce you, the representatives of your race, qualified and capable of choosing and bearing witness. Go forth, and do all living things proud."

The Serentini stepped back. And at last it was the turn of the ceremony sponsor. Normally, this would have been a human, or perhaps a Tymbrimi, but not this time. The Gubru emissary did a little dance of impatience. Quickly, it barked into a vodor, and words in Galactic Seven boomed forth.

"Ten of you shall accompany the final representatives to the shunt and offer witness. The selected pair shall carry the burden of choice and honor. These two I shall name now.

"Doctor Gailet Jones, female, citizen of Garth, Terragens Federation, Clan of Earth."

Gailet did not want to move, but Michaela, her friend, betrayed her by planting a hand in the small of her back and gently urging her forward. She stepped a few paces toward the dignitaries and bowed. The vodor boomed again.

"Irongrip Hansen, male, citizen of Garth, Terragens Federation, Clan of Earth."

Most of the chims behind her gasped in shock and dismay. But Gailet only closed her eyes as her worst fears were confirmed. Up until now she had clung to a hope that the Suzerain of Propriety might still be a force among the Gubru. That it might yet compel the Triumvirate to play fair. But now . . .

She felt him step up next to her and knew the chen she hated most was wearing that grin.

Enough! I've stood for this long enough! Surely the Grand Examiner suspects something. If I tell her . . .

But she did not move. Her mouth did not open to speak.

Suddenly, and with brutal clarity, Gailet realized the real reason why she had gone along with this farce for so long!

They've fooled with my mind!

It all made sense. She recalled the dreams . . . nightmares of helplessness under the subtle, adamant coercion of machines held in ruthless talons.

The Uplift Inst.i.tute wouldn't be equipped to test for that.

Of course they wouldn't! Uplift Ceremonies were invariably joyous occasions, celebrated by patron and client alike. Who ever heard of a race-representative having to be conditioned or forced to partic.i.p.ate?

It must've been done after Fiben was taken away. The Suzerain of Propriety couldn't have agreed to such a thing. If the Grand Examiner only knew, we could squeeze a planet's worth of reparation gild from the Gubru!

Gailet opened her mouth. "I ..." She tried to make words come. The Grand Examiner looked at her.

Perspiration condensed on Gailet's brow. All she had to do was make the accusation. Even hint at it!

But her brain was frozen. It felt as if she had forgotten how to make words!

Speechlock. Of course. The Gubru had learned how easy it was to impose on a neo-chimpanzee. A human, perhaps, might have been able to break the hold, but Gailet recognized how futile it was in her case.

She could not read arthropoid expressions, but it seemed somehow as if the Serentini looked disappointed. The Examiner stepped back. "Proceed to the hypers.p.a.ce shunt," she said.

No! Gailet wanted to cry. But all that escaped was a faint sigh as she felt her right hand lift of its own accord and meet Irongrip's left. He held on and she could not let go.

That was when she felt an image begin to form in her mind-an avian face with a yellow beak and cold, unblinking eyes. No effort could rid her of the picture. Gailet knew with terrible certainty that she was about to carry that image with her to the top of the ceremonial mound, and once there she and Irongrip would send it upward, into the oval of warped s.p.a.ce overhead, for all to see, here and on a thousand other worlds.

The part of her mind that still belonged to her-the logical ent.i.ty, now cut off and isolated-saw the cold covinous logic of the plan.

Oh, humans were sure to claim that the choice made today had been rigged. And probably more than half of the clans in the Five Galaxies would believe it. But that wouldn't change anything. The choice would still stand! The alternative would be to discredit the entire system. Stellar civilization was under such pressure, right now, that it could not stand much further strain.

In fact, quite a few clans might decide that there had already been quite enough trouble over one little tribe of wolflings. Whatever the rights and wrongs, there would be substantial sentiment for ending the problem, once and for all.

It came to Gailet all in a rush. The Gubru did not merely want to become chims' new stage consort "protectors." They meant to bring about the extinction of humanity. Once that was accomplished, her own people would be up for adoption, and she had little doubt how that would go!

Gailet's heart pounded. She struggled not to turn in the direction Irongrip was guiding her, but to no avail. She prayed that she would have a stroke.

Let me die!

Her life hardly mattered. They certainly planned to have her "disappear" immediately after the ceremony anyway, to dispose of the evidence. Oh, Goodall and Ifni, strike me down now! She wanted to scream.

At that moment, words came. The words . . . but it was not her voice that spoke them.

"Stop! An injustice is being done, and I demand a hearing!"

Gailet had not thought her heart could beat any quicker, but now tachycardia made her feel faint. Oh G.o.d, let it be . . .

She heard Irongrip curse and let go of her hand. That alone brought her joy. There was the sound of squawking Gubru anger, and high "eeps" of chim surprise. Someone -- Michaela, she realized-took her arm and turned her around.

It was full night now. Scattered clouds were underlit by the bright beacons of the mound, and by the turbulent, lambent tunnel of energy now taking form above the artificial mountain. Into the stark light of the floater car's headlamps a solitary neo-chimpanzee in a dust-coated formal robe approached from the last test station. He wiped sweat from his brow and strode purposefully toward the three surprised officials.

Fiben, Gailet thought. Dazed, she found that old habits were the first to rea.s.sert themselves. Oh, Fiben, don't swagger! Try to remember your protocol. . . .

When she realized what she was doing, Gailet suddenly giggled in a brief wave of hysteria. It shook her partially free of her immobility, and she managed to lift her hand to cover her mouth. "Oh, Fiben," she sighed.

Irongrip growled, but the new arrival only ignored the Probationer. Fiben caught her eye and winked. It struck Gailet how the gesture that had once so infuriated her now made her knees feel weak with joy.

He stepped before the three officials and bowed low. Then, with hands clasped respectfully, Fiben awaited permission to speak.

"-dishonorable, incorrigible, impermissible interruptions-" the Gubru's vodor boomed. "We demand immediate removal and sanction, punishment-"

The noise suddenly cut off as the Grand Examiner used one of her forward arms to reach up and switch the vodor off. She stepped daintily forward and addressed Fiben.

"Young one, I congratulate you on making your way up to this place all alone. Your ascent provided much of the excitement and unconventionality that is making this one of the most memorable of all ceremonies on record. By virtue of your test scores and other accomplishments, you have earned a place on this pinnacle." The Serentini crossed two arms and lowered her forebody. "Now," she said as she rose again, "can we a.s.sume that you have a complaint to voice? One important enough to explain such abruptness of tone?"

Gailet tensed. The Grand Examiner might be sympathetic, but there was a veiled threat implied in those words. Fiben had better make this good. One mistake and he could make matters even worse than before.

Fiben bowed again. "I-I respectfully request an explanation of . . . of how the race-representatives were chosen."

Not too bad. Still, Gailet struggled against her conditioning. If only she could step forward and help!, For some time the dim slopes beyond the circle of lights had begun to fill with the Galactic dignitaries-those who had departed earlier to watch unknown events downslope. Now they were all hushed, watching a humble client from one of the newest of all species demand answers from a lord of the Inst.i.tute.

The Grand Examiner's voice was patient when she answered. "It is traditional for the ceremony sponsors to select a pair from among those who pa.s.s all trials. While it is true that the sponsors are, on this occasion, declared enemies of your clan, their enmity will officially end upon completion of the rites. Peace will exist between the clan of Terrans and that of Gooksyu-Gubru. Do you object to this, young one?"

"No." Fiben shook his head. "Not to that. I just want to know this: Do we absolutely have to accept the sponsors' choice as our representatives?"

The Gubru emissary immediately squawked indignantly. The chims looked at one another in surprise. Irongrip muttered, "When this is over, I'm gonna take that little frat boy an'..."

The Examiner waved for silence. Its many-faceted eyes focused upon Fiben. "Young one, what would you do, were it up to you? Would you have us put it to a vote of your peers?"

Fiben bowed. "I would, your honor."

This time the Gubru's shriek was positively painful to the ear. Gailet tried once again to step forward, but Irongrip held her arm tightly. She was forced to stand there, listening to the Probationer's muttered curses.

The Serentini official spoke at last. "Although I am sympathetic, I cannot see how I can allow your request. Without precedent-"

"But there is precedent!"

It was a new, deep voice, coming from the dim slope behind the officials. From the crowd of Galactic visitors four figures now emerged into the light, and if Gailet had felt surprise before, now she could only stare in disbelief.

Uthacalthing!

The slender Tymbrimi was accompanied by a bearded human mel whose ill-fitting formal robe had probably been borrowed from some bipedal but not quite humanoid Galactic and was thrown over what seemed to be animal skins. Beside the young man walked a neo-chimp who had obvious trouble standing completely erect and who bore many of the stigmata of atavism. The chim hung back when they approached the clearing, as if he knew he did not belong on this ground.

It was the fourth being-a towering figure whose bright, inflated crest ballooned upward in dignity-who bowed casually and addressed the Grand Examiner.

"I see you, Cough*Quinn'3 of the Uplift Inst.i.tute."

The Serentini bowed back. "I see you, honored Amba.s.sador Kault of the Thennanin, and you, Uthacalthing of the Tymbrimi, and your companions. It is pleasant to witness your safe arrival."

The big Thennanin spread his arms apart. "I thank your honor for allowing me to use your transmitting facilities to contact my clan, after so long an enforced isolation."

"This is neutral ground," the Uplift official said. "I also know that there are serious matters regarding this planet which you wish to press with the Inst.i.tute, once this ceremony is at an end.

"But for now, I must insist we maintain pertinence. Will you please explain the remark you made on your arrival?"

Kault gestured toward Uthacalthing. "This respected envoy represents the race which has served as stage consort and protector to the neo-chimpanzees ever since their wolfling patrons encountered Galactic society. I shall let him tell you."

All at once Gailet noticed how tired Uthacalthing looked. The tym's usually expressive tendrils lay flat, and his eyes were set close together. It was with obvious effort that he stepped forward and offered a small, black cube. "Here are the references," he began.

A robot came forward and plucked the data out of his hand. From that instant the Inst.i.tute's staff would be inspecting the citations. The Examiner herself listened attentively to Uthacalthing.

"The references will show that, very early in Galactic history, Uplift Ceremonies evolved out of the Progenitors' desire to protect themselves from moral fault. They who began the process we now know as Uplift frequently consulted with their client races, as humans do with theirs, today. And the clients' representatives were never imposed upon them."

Uthacalthing gestured toward the a.s.sembled chims.

"Strictly speaking, the ceremonial sponsors are making a suggestion, when they make their selection. The clients, having pa.s.sed all the tests appropriate to their stage, are legally permitted to ignore the choice. In the purest sense, this plateau is their territory. We are here as their guests."

Gailet saw that the Galactic observers were agitated. Many consulted their own datawells, accessing the precedents Uthacalthing had provided. Polylingual chatter spread around the periphery. A new floater arrived, carrying several Gubru and a portable communications unit. Obviously, the invaders were doing furious research of their own.

All this time the power of the hypers.p.a.ce shunt could be felt building just upsjope. The low rumbling was now omnipresent, making Gailet's tendons quiver in imposed rhythm.

The Grand Examiner turned to the nominal human official, Cordwainer Appelbe. "In the name of your clan, do you support this request for a departure from normal procedure?"

Appelbe bit his lower lip. He looked at Uthacalthing, then at Fiben, then back at the Tymbrimi Amba.s.sador. Then, for the first time, the man actually smiled. "h.e.l.l, yes! I sure do!" he said in Anglic. Then he blushed and switched to carefully phrased Galactic Seven. "In the name of my clan, I support Amba.s.sador Uthacalthing's request."