"When do you expect him to deliver?"

"By nightfall at the latest."

Broey held his silence for a moment.  Religious significance.  More than likely the plant came from beyond the God Wall then, as Kidge implied.  But why?  What were they doing?

"Do you have new instructions?" Kidge asked.

"Get that substance up to me as soon as you can."

Kidge fidgeted.  He obviously had another question, but was unwilling to ask it.  Broey glared at him.

"Yes?  What is it?"

"Don't you want the substance tested first?"

It was a baffling question.  Had Kidge withheld vital information about the dangers of this tibac?  One never knew from what quarter an attack might come.  But Kidge was held in his own special bondage.  He knew what could happen to him if he failed Broey.  And Jedrik had handled this stuff.  But why had Kidge asked this question?  Faced with such unknowns, Broey tended to withdraw into himself, eyes veiled by the nictating membrane while he weighed the possibilities.  Presently, he stirred, looked at Kidge in the screen.

"If there's enough of it, feed some to volunteers - both Human and Gowachin.  Get the rest of it up to me immediately, even while you're testing, but in a sealed container."

"Sir, there are rumors about this stuff.  It'll be difficult getting real volunteers."

"You'll think of something."

Broey broke the connection, returned to the outer room to make his political peace with Gar and Tria.  He was not ready to blunt that pair . . . not yet.

They were sitting just as he'd left them.  Tria was speaking:

". . . the highest probability and I have to go on that."

Gar merely nodded.

Broey seated himself, nodded to Tria, who continued as though there'd been no hiatus.

"Clearly, Jedrik's a genius.  And her Loyalty Index!  That has to be false, contrived.  And look at her decisions:  one questionable decision in four years.  One!"

Gar moved a finger along the red line on the chart.  It was a curiously sensuous gesture, as though he were stroking flesh.

Broey gave him a verbal prod.

"Yes, Gar, what is it?"

"I was just wondering if Jedrik could be another . . ."

His glance darted ceilingward, back to the chart.  They all understood his allusion to intruders from beyond the God Wall.

Broey looked at Gar as though awakening from an interrupted thought.  What'd that fool Gar mean by raising such a question at this juncture?  The required responses were so obvious.

"I agree with Tria's analysis," Broey said.  "As to your question . . ."  He gave a Human shrug.  "Jedrik reveals some of the classic requirements, but . . ."  Again, that shrug.  "This is still the world God gave us."

Colored as they were by his years in the Sacred Congregation, Broey's words took on an unctuous overtone, but in this room the message was strictly secular.

"The others have been such disappointments," Gar said.  "Especially Havvy."  He moved the statuette to a more central position on the chart.

"We failed because we were too eager," Tria said, her voice snappish.  "Poor timing."

Gar scratched his chin with his thumb.  Tria sometimes disturbed him by that accusatory tone she took toward their failures.  He said:

"But . . . if she turns out to be one of them and we haven't allowed for it . . ."

"We'll look through that gate when we come to it," Broey said.  "If we come to it.  Even another failure could have its uses.  The food factories will give us a substantial increase at the next harvest.  That means we can postpone the more troublesome political decisions which have been bothering us."

Broey let this thought hang between them while he set himself to identifying the lines of activity revealed by what had happened in this room today.  Yes, the Humans betrayed unmistakable signs that they behaved according to a secret plan.  Things were going well, then:  they'd attempt to supersede him soon . . . and fail.

A door behind Tria opened.  A fat Human female entered.  Her body bulbed in green coveralls and her round face appeared to float in a halo of yellow hair.  Her cheeks betrayed the telltale lividity of dacon addiction.  She spoke subserviently to Gar.

"You told me to interrupt if . . ."

"Yes, yes."

Gar waved to indicate she could speak freely.  The gesture's significance did not escape Broey.  Another part of their set piece.

"We've located Havvy but Jedrik's not with him."

Gar nodded, addressed Broey:

"Whether Jedrik's an agent or another puppet, this whole thing smells of something they have set in motion."

Once more, his gaze darted ceilingward.

"I will act on that assumption," Tria said.  She pushed her chair back, arose.  "I'm going into the Warrens."

Broey looked up at her.  Again, he felt his talons twitch beneath their sheaths.  He said:

"Don't interfere with them."

Gar forced his gaze away from the Gowachin while his mind raced.  Often, the Gowachin were difficult to read, but Broey had been obvious just then:  he was confident that he could locate Jedrik and he didn't care who knew it.  That could be very dangerous.

Tria had seen it, too, of course, but she made no comment, merely turned and followed the fat woman out of the room.

Gar arose like a folding ruler being opened to its limit.  "I'd best be getting along.  There are many matters requiring my personal attention."

"We depend on you for a great deal," Broey said.

He was not yet ready to release Gar, however.  Let Tria get well on her way.  Best to keep those two apart for a spell.  He said:

"Before you go, Gar.  Several things still bother me.  Why was Jedrik so precipitate?  And why destroy her records?  What was it that we were not supposed to see?"

"Perhaps it was an attempt to confuse us," Gar said, quoting Tria.  "One thing's sure:  it wasn't just an angry gesture."

"There must be a clue somewhere," Broey said.

"Would you have us risk an interrogation of Havvy?"

"Of course not!"

Gar showed no sign that he recognized Broey's anger.  He said:

"Despite what you and Tria say, I don't think we can afford another mistake at this time.  Havvy was . . . well . . ."

"If you recall," Broey said, "Havvy was not one of Tria's mistakes.  She went along with us under protest.  I wish now we'd listened to her."  He waved a hand idly in dismissal.  "Go see to your important affairs."  He watched Gar leave.

Yes, on the basis of the Human's behavior it was reasonable to assume he knew nothing as yet about this infiltrator Bahrank was bringing through the gates.  Gar would've concealed such valuable information, would not have dared raise the issue of a God Wall intrusion . . .  Or would he?  Broey nodded to himself.  This must be handled with great delicacy.