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Kazo."
Henrys considered. Vne's natural self was hardly the type to be chosen for that select service. But on
Uke she would be marked; too many nerve-severed natives would remember her role in the mngh. In
past centuries no Uke had avoided the trance, so there were no recriminations; but that had changed.
There would be no place for her here; the blood of billions would be on her suckers, however
necessarily. So her request was reasonable.
And if the entire ugly job of selective population control was accomplished in one night, freeing human
hands and conscience of that monstrous burden, protective exile for Vne would be quite in order.
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"All right," he said, knowing his government would cooperate once the truth was known.
She walked back to her apartment while he remained at the gate. How glad he was that the rrwr was
securely caged and that it stood between him and the developing mayhem.
He heard a sound in the distant tunnels a massive bellowing. The invisible ears of the rrwr pricked
forward. Henrys put his hands on the wheel, nudging the barred wall just a bit.
The noise became louder. Henrys moved the wheel again. It balked.
Oh-oh. He shoved it around harder. The give was minimal. Something was jamming it.
Then he saw what the rrwr was doing. The creature stood facing him, two suckers firmly planted on the
floor against the sliding barrier, blocking it.
Coincidence or design?
The rrwr eyed him and made a "rrwwrr" that sounded like a chuckle.
Two figures came into sight beyond the cage. Brf and Nuxto!
Henrys yanked at the wheel. The barrier strained at the blocks, but could not budge them. The bellowing
amplified.
"Open!" Brf called urgently in English. "They're too far gone to listen to me anymore. My guards are
holding them back for a while, but "
"The animal is blocking the gate!" Henrys yelled.
Brf looked. "He never did that before!"
"Maybe you never starved him like this before."
Ukes charged down the passage. No guards restrained them now. They were obviously crazed, chasing
anything that fled.
Henrys brought out his shrapnel sling. The needles would perforate the rrwr's suckers and lame it,
freeing the barrier.
"No!" Brf cried. "Mngh is the greater threat! We'll go through the cage!" And he opened the gate.
Henrys had to desist, knowing that a wounded rrwr would be even worse than a balky one. What a
predicament all to honor the whim of Vne!
The rrwr moved. In one sinuous bound it was at the open gale; in another it was through. It knocked Brf
and Nuxto aside and plunged down the passage to intercept the mob, spiraling up the wall and across the
ceiling as it went. Had it overlooked the immediate bait or did it hold some little affection for the king,
its familiar keeper?
Henrys watched, fascinated, as monster met maddened Ukes. The rrwr's mouth-tentacles clasped a
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native and threw him under its back for it was on the ceiling now while its body spines held off the
others. Then it grabbed another and bit off his arm with one motion. The rrwr's motive was plain: it was
famished, and it had suddenly been confronted by unlimited prey.
Yet that seeming cunning, blocking the barrier how smart was it? Had the wild creature patiently
waited its opportunity to escape? Ordinarily such a ploy would not have worked, as it could have been
drugged. But this time, with the ravening crowd coming and the king on the wrong side...
Brf and Nuxto were through. "I think that rrwr's smarter than you figured," Henrys said as he closed the
gate behind them. "Maybe some of the mngh affected it "
"It would have been smarter yet to stay caged," Brf panted. He was old and unused to such exertion. "I
left the other gate open so it could fight in the larger space but this gate we must seal!" And he
unhooked a large Uke lock, passing it through the bars to make a secure closure.
For a moment more they watched the fray. The tide of battle was already turning. The rrwr could not
maneuver with full effect in the narrow hall, and the Ukes seemed oblivious to pain or injury. Now the
mngh had a temporary object, and it concentrated mindlessly upon it. But this, too, was limited by the
passage; only two or three Ukes could come to grips with the rrwr at one time.
Nevertheless, the mass of the crowd was forcing the rrwr back, slowly. Ukes set themselves on floor,
wall, and ceiling, clinging to the animal wherever a handsucker could find purchase. When it stepped
back to gain room, they pressed forward. The rrwr fought viciously, beginning to realize that the
relationship was no longer predator-prey, but life against life. The mighty teeth crunched body after
body, and corpses were accumulating underneath, forcing further retreat. Green blood actually flowed
down the incline of the passage toward the cage. But still they came.
Henrys tried to imagine an Earthman with a blaster substituting for the rrwr. The outcome would be
similar; one weapon could not keep firing indefinitely. Yes, the mngh was power!
"On!" Brf said. He led the way to Vne's apartment. Henrys, though fascinated by the gruesome battle,
turned and followed.
"Is there any other exit?" Nuxto asked anxiously. He still looked like a Uke, but patches of white and
even natural blue showed through his clothing.
"None," Brf said. "This is our safest refuge. We are seeing in microcosm what all the world
experiences."
Henrys hoped that microcosm didn't wipe them out. There seemed to be little selectivity to the mngh so
far.
They reentered the apartment. Vne was there, composed. "The empire and the cake are imperfect,
separately," she said, as though there had been no interruption. "Together they can form a workable
larger system. But you will have to fashion it yourselves. Uke, Earth, and Kazo a committee of three."
"I suspect I have missed something," Nuxto murmured.
Vne ignored him. "You three, representatives of your species, shall institute an interworld committee to
oversee the operations of the cake. When the time comes to abandon that system and that shall be
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within this decade you shall institute the empire proper. In this way you will preserve your worlds
from the larger threat."
The three spoke together. "Larger threat?" Brf demanded. "How can we trust " Nuxto started. "We
have no authority " Henrys said.
They stopped. What was the point in debate? If what she said made sense, something of the sort would
develop. If not, there would be time later to reconsider.
"We must choose committee members we can trust absolutely," Brf said. "I know a number of Ukes "
"No," Vne said firmly, "Each new member shall be selected by agreement of the existing members of
the two other species. You three select the first round only; later six will select, and on, as far as
necessary."
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