Fire With Fire

Alnduul’s mouth seemed to squirm. “I remain perplexed: you are obviously aware that the Dornaani are the Custodians. Answers to your questions on the Dornaani sphere are currently being crafted by Third Arbiter Glayaazh.”

“Alnduul, the questions we would ask the Custodians are different than those we would ask the Dornaani.”

“How so?”

“We have asked the Dornaani questions pertaining to their history. But if we were to wish information on the history of the Accord itself, it seems only right to ask the Custodians. And I must believe-since Custodianship is not a permanent position-that the Dornaani and the Custodians are separate political entities. Or is the voice and will of the Dornaani the same thing as the voice and will of the Custodians?”

Alnduul’s lids slowly cleared his eyes: the pupils were fixed upon Caine. “None before have made such a distinction when submitting their questions.”

Caine felt several retorts and appeals rush up like an incipient, reflexive shout. Trusting instinct, he pushed them back down-and waited.

Alnduul’s eyes did not waver. “However, it is an apt distinction. And perhaps more necessary now than in the past.”

Behind him, Lemuel’s “We’re in!” drowned out a chorus of relieved sighs, all from outside the sending circle.

Alnduul gestured to himself. “I shall be the one to answer your questions. You may proceed.”

“Before beginning, we wish to clarify: the Custodians may not withhold information pertaining to their own activities, is this correct?”

“Fundamentally, but there are two key exceptions.”

“Which are?”

“Until you are conferred membership, we will not indicate the existence of, nor discuss any of our activities involving, any protected species.”

“Understood. And?”

“And, if in answering your questions regarding our activities as Custodians, we would be forced to disclose information on other member states, we must decline to answer.”

“We assumed so. However, did you not, during our first contact, indicate that another race had been recruited to augment the Custodians in a variety of routine functions?”

“This is so.”

“So we may also ask questions regarding the performance of those functions as well, correct?”

A pause. Gotcha. But maybe you’re glad we’ve found this loophole-

“You may.”

“By extension, then, we may ask the identity of these auxiliary Custodians?”

A longer pause. “We have never considered this particular line of inquiry. However, revealing any of the activities of a member race would violate the race-privacy protocols of the accords.”

“Allow me to verify that I am accurate in my understanding: is it true that this other race has served as Custodians?”

A long, long pause. Then: “Yes, they work as Custodians.”

“Then I do not understand how questions pertaining to them, or their identity, are protected under the accords. The Custodians themselves have no such protections.”

“No, but the racial identity of our assistant Custodians is irrelevant. Their species of origin does not alter their responsibilities or their performance of them.”

Caine had foreseen that rebuff: “Alnduul, do you believe that the nature of an observer influences what they observe, and thus, what they report?”

“Yes: we hold this to be a fundamental tenet of the limits of empirical method.”

“So do we. So I must insist that the speciate identity of a given Custodial team will ultimately shape the work they do. By inescapable deduction, then, their identity is pertinent to any detailed inquiry into the overall history and performance of the Custodial function within the Accord.”

“Please excuse me for a moment.”

No one in the gallery spoke. Alnduul’s “moment” was seven minutes in length. Then: “Thank you for your patience. Although we have no extant policy on this matter, your reasoning is without flaw. In the absence of explicit rulings to the contrary, we hold that you may inquire as to the identity of those who have been solicited to assist us in routine Custodial tasks.”

“Good job, Riordan.” Lemuel’s mutter was triumphant. Visser was smiling fiercely; Downing only nodded and mused. Elena seemed to be carefully staring somewhere else.

And now, the 64,000-credit question…“Which member state has been assisting you in Custodial matters?”

Alnduul’s pause was peculiar in that Caine could not see any reason for it. “The Ktor.”

Eyes closed, Downing nodded vigorously to himself.

“May we ask how the Ktor were chosen, and why?”

Again a long, strange pause. Alnduul’s thumbs seemed to flex downward slightly-

— and Elena was on her feet. “He’s embarrassed-or apologetic-or annoyed.”

“Annoyed at us?”

“No. At himself.”

Alnduul stood straighter. “I cannot reveal all the circumstances surrounding that choice, for to do so would violate the privacy of several member states. However, I may tell you that the Ktor volunteered to serve in this role. Furthermore, the requirements of Custodianship make it most prudent to solicit help from other member states in descending order of their technical competencies.”

Downing and Visser exchanged confirmatory nods.

“Logical,” Durniak whispered. “As the most senior member state after the Dornaani, the Ktor are probably their closest technological rivals.”

And therefore, Caine thought, even more likely to be the ones behind the Arat Kur obstreperousness. But why? Well, we’ll circle back toward that later-“When was the Accord established?”

“Approximately seven thousand years ago.”

The quiet in the gallery was absolute. Caine couldn’t be sure, but it seemed as though some were holding their breath.

“Are the Dornaani the architects of the Accord?”

“For the most part, yes.”

Huh? “There were other architects?”

“Not at the time of the Accord’s formal institution seven thousand years ago. But the spirit and structure of the accords was borrowed from the founders of an earlier, analogous organization.”

Just how far back are we talking about? But first things first: “Have there been other members of the Accord?”

“No.”

“How long have the Dornaani served as the Custodians?”

“Approximately seven thousand years.”

Whoa. “So you have always been the Custodians?”

“Yes.”

Hmmmm…“Have other member states expressed interest in becoming the Custodians?”

“I am not allowed to say: it would imply the official actions or attitudes of other member states, not the Custodians. However, I may say this: the Dornaani are interested in identifying another species that would be willing to serve as Custodians.”

I could interpret that about twenty different ways-and I don’t have the time now to even ask about one. “Have the Custodians ever had to intervene in wars waged between species of the Accord?”