Aw, hell. Instead he reached down and offered his hand to his former foe. I don’t know what we were fighting over. Somebody else got the brass ring, anyway.

A moan of surprise rippled through the crowd. From the Gubru came grating wails of dismay. Fiben finished hauling Irongrip to his feet, got him stable, then looked up to see what the gorillas had wrought to cause such consternation.

It was the face of a Thennanin. Giant, clear as anything, the image hovering in the focus of the hyperspace shunt looked enough like Kault to be his brother.

Such a sober, serious, earnest expression, Fiben thought. So typically Thennanin.

A few of the assembled Galactics chattered in amazement, but most acted as if they had been frozen in place. All except Uthacalthing, whose delighted astonishment still sparked in all directions like a Roman candle.

“Z’wurtin’s’tatta… I worked for this, and never knew!”

The titanic image of the Thennanin drifted backward in the milky oval. All could see the thick, slitted neck, and then the creature’s powerful torso. But when its arms came into view, it became clear that two figures stood on either side of it, holding its hands.

“Duly noted,” the Grand Examiner said to her aides. “The unnamed Stage One client species tentatively called Garthlings have selected, as their patrons, the Thennanin. And as their consorts and protectors, they have jointly chosen the neo-chimpanzees and humans of Earth.”

Robert Oneagle shouted. Cordwainer Appelbe fell to his knees in shock. The sound of renewed Gubru screeching was quite deafening.

Fiben felt a hand slip into his. Gailet looked up at him, the poignancy in her eyes now mixed with pride.

“Oh, well,” he sighed. “They wouldn’t have let us keep ’em, anyway. At least, this way, we get visitation rights. And I hear the Thennanin aren’t too bad as Eatees go.”

She shook her head. “You knew something about these creatures and didn’t tell me?”

He shrugged. “It was supposed to be a secret. You were busy. I didn’t want to bother you with unimportant details. I forgot. Mea culpa. Don’t hit, please.”

Briefly, her eyes seemed to flash. Then she, too, sighed and looked back up the hill. “It won’t take them long to realize these aren’t really Garthlings, but creatures of Earth.”

“What’ll happen then?”

It was her turn to shrug. “Nothing, I guess. Wherever they come from, they’re obviously ready for Uplift. Humans signed a treaty — unfair as it was — forbidding Earthclan to raise ’em, so I guess this’ll stand. Fait accompli. At least we can play a role. Help see the job’s done right.”

Already, the rumbling beneath their feet had begun to diminish. Nearby, the cacophony of Gubru squawking rose in strident tones to replace it. But the Grand Examiner appeared unmoved. Already she was busy with her assistants, ordering records gathered, detailing followup tests to be made, and dictating urgent messages to Institute headquarters.

“And we must help Kault inform his clan,” she added. “They will no doubt be surprised at this news.”

Fiben saw the Suzerain of Beam and Talon stalk off to a nearby Gubru flyer and depart at top speed. The boom of displaced air ruffled the feathers of the avians who “remained behind.

It happened then that Fiben’s gaze met that of the Suzerain of Propriety, staring down from its lonely perch. The alien stood more erect now. It ignored the babbling of its fellows and watched Fiben with a steady, unblinking yellow eye.

Fiben bowed. After a moment, the alien politely inclined its head in return.

Above the pinnacle and the crooning gorillas — now officially the youngest citizens of the Civilization of the Five Galaxies — the opalescent oval shrank back into the narrowing funnel. It diminished, but not before those present were treated to yet one more sight none had ever seen before… one they were not likely ever to see again.

Up there in the sky, the image of the Thennanin and those of the chim and human all looked at each other. Then the Thennanin’s head rocked back and he actually laughed.

Richly, deeply, sharing hilarity with its diminutive partners, the leathery figure chortled. It roared.

Among the stunned onlookers, only Uthacalthing and Robert Oneagle felt like joining in as the ghostly creature above did what Thennanin were never known to do. The image kept right on laughing even as it faded back, back, to be swallowed up at last by the closing hole in space and covered by the returning stars.

“They exist. They have substance! They are!”

The assembled Gubru officials and officers bobbed their downy heads and cried out in unison.

“Zooon!”

“This prize was denied us, honor was set aside, opportunity abandoned, all in the name of penny-pinching, miserly bean-counting! Now the cost will be greater, multiplied, exponentiated!”

The Suzerain of Cost and Caution stood miserably in the corner, listening amid a small crowd ef loyal assistants while it was berated from all sides. It shivered each time the conclave turned and shouted its refrain.

The Suzerain of Propriety stood tall upon its perch. It stepped back and forth, fluffing up to best display the new color that had begun to show under its molting plumage. The assembled Gubru and Kwackoo reacted to that shade with chirps of passionate devotion.

“And now a derelict, recalcitrant, stubborn one forestalls our Molt and consensus, out of which we might at least regain something. Gain honor and allies. Gain peace!”

The Suzerain spoke of their missing colleague, the military commander, who dared not, it seemed, come and face Propriety’s new color, its new supremacy.

A four-legged Kwackoo hurriedly approached, bowed, and delivered a message to its leader’s perch. Almost as an afterthought, a copy made its way to the Suzerain of Cost and Caution as well.

The news from the Pourmin transfer point was not surprising — echoes had been heard of great starships bearing down upon Garth in mighty numbers. After that debacle of an Uplift Ceremony, the new arrivals were only to be expected.

“Well?” The Suzerain of Propriety queried the several military officers who were present. “Does Beam and Talon plan a defense of this world, against all advice, all wisdom, and all honor?”

The officers, of course, did not know. They had deserted their warrior leader as the confusing, unhappy Molt-coalescence suddenly reversed direction.

The Suzerain of Propriety danced a dance of impatience. “You do me no good, do the clan no good, standing about in righteousness. Go back, seek out, return to your posts. Do your duties as he commands, but keep me informed of what he plans and does!”

Use of the male pronoun was deliberate. Though Molt was not yet complete, anyone could tell without dropping feathers which way the wind was blowing.

The officers bowed and rushed as one out of the pavilion.