Chimal laughed out loud at that. “Then you no longer want to kill me?”

The Master Observer lowered his head. “That was my mistake and I can only plead ignorance and ask forgiveness. You may kill me if you wish.”

“Do not die so quickly, old man, you have many things to tell me first.”

“That is true. Then — let us begin.”

“What is it?” Chimal asked, looking apprehensively at the steaming, brown slab of meat on the plate before him. “There is no animal that I know that is big enough to provide this much meat.” The suspicious look he gave the Master Observer inferred that he suspected which was the only animal large enough to supply it.

“It is called a beefsteak, and is particularly fine cut that we eat only on holidays. You may have it every day if you wish, the meatbank can supply enough.”

“I know of no animal named a meatbank.”

“Let me show you.” The Master Observer made an adjustment on the television set on the wall. His private quarters had none of the efficient starkness of the watchmen’s cells. Here was music from some hidden source, there were paintings upon the walls and. a deep carpet on the floor. Chimal, scrubbed clean and beardless after rubbing on a depilatory cream, sat in a soft chair, with many eating utensils and different dishes set before him. And the cannibalistically large piece of meat.

“Describe your work,” the Master Observer said to the man who appeared on the screen. The man bowed his bead.

“I am a Refection Tender, and the greatest part of my work is devoted to the meatbank.” He stepped aside and pointed at the large vat behind him. “In the nutrient bath here grow certain edible portions of animals, placed here by the Great Designer. Nutrients are supplied,, the tissues grow continually and pieces are trimmed off for our consumption.”

“In a sense these pieces of animal are eternal,” Chimal said when the screen had darkened. “Though part is removed, they never die. I wonder what the animal was?”

“I have never considered the eternal aspects of the meatbank. Thank you. I will now give it much thought because it seems an important question. The animal was called a cow, that is all I know about it.”

Chimal hesitantly ate one bite, then more and more. It was better than anything he had ever tasted before. “The only thing missing are the chillies,” he said, half aloud.

“There will be some tomorrow,” the Master Observer said, making a note.

“Is this the meat you give to the vultures?” Chimal said, in sudden realization.

“Yes. The less desirable pieces. There is not enough small game in the valley to keep them alive, so we must supplement their diet.”

“Why have them at all, then?”

“Because it is written, and is the Great Designer’s way.”

This was not the first time that Chimal had received this answer. On the way to these quarters he had asked questions, was still asking questions, and nothing was held back from him. But many tunes the Watchers seemed as unknowing about their destinies as the Aztecs. He did not voice this suspicion aloud. There was so much to learn!

“That takes care of the vultures,” he had a sudden memory of a wave of death washing toward him, “but why the rattlesnakes and scorpions? When Coatlicue entered the cave a number of them came out. Why?”

“We are the Watchers and we must be stern in our duty. If a father has too many children he is not a good father, because he cannot provide for them all and therefore they go hungry. It is the same with the valley. If there were too many people, there would not be enough food for all. Therefore when the population exceeds a certain number of people of both sexes, worked out on a chart kept for that purpose, more snakes and insects are permitted to enter the valley.”

“That’s terrible! You mean those poisonous things are raised just to kill the people?”

“The correct decision is sometimes the hard one to make. That is why we are all taught to be strong and steadfast and to hew to the plan of the Great Designer.”

There was no immediate answer to that. Chimal ate and drank the many good things before him and tried to digest what he had learned so far. He pointed his knife at the row of books across the room.

’I’ve tried to read your books, but they are very difficult and many of the words I don’t know. Aren’t there simpler books someplace?”

“There are, and I should have thought of it myself. But I am an old man and my memory is not as good as it should be.”

“May I ask… just how old are you?”

“I am entering my one hundred and ninetieth year. As the Great Designer wills, I hope to see my full two hundred.”

“Your people live so much longer than mine. Why is that?”

“We have much more to do in our lifetimes than simple farmers, therefore our years are the reward of our service. There are machines that aid us, and the drugs, and our eskoskeletons support and protect us. We are born to serve, and the longer that life of service, the more we can do.”

Once again Chimal thought about this, but did not speak his thoughts. “And the books you were talking about…?”

“Yes, of course. After today’s service I will take you there. Only Observers are allowed, those who wear the red.”

“Is that why I am wearing these red clothes as well?”

“Yes. It seemed wisest. It is the best, and most suitable for the First Arriver, and all the people will respect you.”

“While you are at the service I would like to see the place where the watchmen are, where they can see into the valley.”

“We will go now, if you are ready. I will take you myself.”

It was a different sensation to walk these tunnels without fear. Now, in his red clothing with the Master Observer at his side, all doors were open to him and the people saluted when they passed. Watchman Steel was waiting for them at the entrance to the observation center.

“I want to ask forgiveness,” she said, eyes downcast. “I did not know who you were.”

“None of us knew, Watchman,” the Master Observer said, and reached out to touch her deus. “Yet that does not mean we should avoid penance, because an unconscious sin is still a sin. You will wear a mortification, thirty days, and come to love it.”

“I do,” she said fervently, hands clasped and eyes wide. “Through pain comes purification.”

“May the Great Designer bless you,” the old man said, then hurried away.

“Will you show me how you work?” Chimal asked.

“I thank you for asking me,” the girl answered.

She led him into a large, circular, high-domed room that had screens inset into the wall at eye level. Watchmen sat before the screens, listening through earphones and occasionally talking into microphones that hung before their lips. Another raised observation station was in the center of the room.

“The Master Watchman sits there,” Steel said, pointing. “He organizes the work of us all and guides us. If you will sit here I will show you what to do.”

Chimal sat at an empty station and she pointed out the controls.

“With these buttons you choose the pickup you wish to use. There are 134 of them, and each one has a code and a watchman must know every code for instant response. They take years to learn because they must be perfect. Would you care to look?”

“Yes. Is there a pickup at the pond below the falls?”

“There is. Number 67.” She tapped the buttons and the pool appeared, seen from behind the falls. “To hear, we do this.” Another adjustment and the splashing of water was clear in his headphone, and the song of a bird belled out from the trees. The image was sharp and in color, almost as though he were looking through a window in the rock at the valley outside.

“The pickup is mounted on the valley wall — or inside of it?” he asked.

“Yes, that is where most of them are so they will not be detected. Though of course there are many concealed inside the temples, such as this.” The pool vanished and Itzcoatl appeared, pacing on the broad steps of the pyramid below the temple. “He is the new first priest. As soon as he was officially declared so, and had made the proper prayers and sacrifices, we permitted the sun to rise. The Sun Tenders say that they always welcome a chance to stop the sun for a day. It is a good chance to overhaul and adjust it.”