The Course of Empire(178)

Aguilera nodded and Aille thought there was a hint of respectful-concern in the human's shoulders. The native's brown eyes narrowed. "Will you be all right, sir? I don't pretend to understand all that's going on here, but we will gladly speak on your behalf, if you think it would do any good."



The doorfield faded and Aille saw, not Meku, as he had expected, but Dau krinnu ava Pluthrak. Dau was a highly venerated and very old Jao who had been kochanau two generations before. Aille had only seen Dau once in his short life, when the elder had been between postings and had returned to Marit An. But the impression of wisdom, of having encountered Pluthrak's greatest living treasure, had been lasting.



"Vaist," he said, rising to his feet and performing grateful-welcome in its most classical mode. "I had not expected to see one so illustrious on this world."



"I have assumed Meku's responsibilities for now. He felt inadequate to cope with the intricacies of this—" Dau was old, but still vital, his body stringy with age, but not weak. His snout wrinkled as though he scented something peculiar. "This—complex situation. As far as you are concerned, it is but barely begun, but the roots of conflict with Narvo go back through the generations."



His gaze flicked over the Terrans, his eyes a tranquil black. "So it is true. You do surround yourself with natives."



"Yes." Aille read a trace of perception-of-error in Dau's stance and for an instant, he was a callow, impulsive youth back on Marit An again, observed by Dau as he was being taught to spar through wrem-fa, body learning, the most ancient of their ways, in which nothing was ever explained and conscious thought bypassed altogether. He had been baffled then, when his elders refused to clarify what was expected, and went on trouncing him until on some subconscious level he finally divined the proper response and thereby absorbed the lessons they wished to impart.



He pushed aside the memory. Wrem-fa was a matter of life's experience, even more than a crecheling's training. When it came to humans, it was a simple fact that Aille's wrem-fa now greatly exceeded that of any Jao except Wrot and a few others like him. It was certainly much superior to Dau's, however wise and venerable the kochanau might be in other regards.



Aguilera ducked his head and led the other Terrans out of the office. After they had gone, Dau regarded him steadily with expectation in the lay of his ears. He intended Aille to do or say something, but he was not going to indicate what. It was to be wrem-fa all over again, apparently. Despite his respect for the kochanau, Aille found that a bit irritating.



"I am kroudh now," Aille said brusquely, almost challengingly. "What I do no longer reflects upon Pluthrak."



"Not officially." The enigmatic black eyes swept the office, alighting finally upon Yaut. "But you will always be Pluthrak by birth. That cannot be altered."



"If I die, my origin will no longer be an issue." Aille turned back to the image tank and called up a cross-section of one of his space-going submersibles. The oblong black shape hung over his immense desk, rotating slowly, alien and fascinating. "Oppuk has demanded my life repeatedly, since he was removed and placed in captivity by the Bond. I have thus far refused to surrender it, of course, since he no longer possesses oudh. That will change though, if the Naukra assigns alternate leadership to this world. They may, after all, decide to return oudh to Narvo—and Narvo may then choose Oppuk as Governor again."



Caught off-guard, Dau's eyes flashed green. "That is hardly likely. And you will not surrender your life to that oaf, no matter what!"



Aille pitched his ears at an ironic angle. The elder had spoken in unaccustomed haste. Neither Dau, nor Pluthrak, had the authority to command him any longer, and they both knew it. That was in the nature of kroudh.



"Before I came here, I viewed his so-called 'palace'! Where, apparently, he insists on spending his captivity while the Naukra assembles." Dau snorted in disapproval. "Disgraceful! The monstrosity is surrounded by useless vegetation that can be neither eaten, nor made into any useful product. The building itself, though it appears Jao without, is riddled inside with windows, tiny enclosures, straight lines, and corners. It is positively hideous."



His ears flattened. "And the state of disrepair on this world! We detected entire regions where the infrastructure has been left in ruins from our initial conquest. No wonder the natives are in a constant state of revolt! Their most basic needs have been ignored. Even animals have to be properly husbanded, or they produce nothing of value. That truth is widely known. Even to Narvo. Even to Dano!"