manipulation, all this theoretically achieved in compliance with the weapon and technology laws of Priest-Kings. The next phase, which I have referred to as that of extermination, or virtual extermination, would be that of the now- augmented numbers of Kurii turning on the considerably war-reduced human population of Gor, perhaps in a hundred coordinated nights of massacre, perhaps in a set of campaigns, in which Kurii, in virtue of their size, strength, agility, savagery, sharpness of sensory perception, and such, would presumably overmatch similarly numbered forces of humans in the field. Then, with a Kur Gor, so to speak, with large amounts of smuggled weaponry in place, the way would be cleared for a massive invasion fleet from the remote habitats, one unlikely to be significantly deterred by Priest-Kings. Lastly, the Sardar would be entered, and the Priest-Kings destroyed. The Kurii would then have their planet, all of Gor, with all its resources, from which, if they wished, they might seek other worlds. All this would be seemingly done within the weapon and technology laws of the Priest-Kings, until the final phase, the invasion of Gor from the remote habitats, abetted by the numerous emplaced Kurii, with their contraband weaponry.”
“This is too bold, too far reaching, too daring,” I said.
“Let us hope so,” he said.
“Surely such things could not occur,” I said.
“Let us hope not,” he said.
“What is being done here?” I asked.
“We are on the brink of the first phase,” he said, “in which dissident elements in various cities, or, I suppose, even minor, frustrated, ambitious Ubars, are to be contacted, encouraged, enflamed, and supplied.”
“Would one or more of what you have called the remote habitats not be involved in this?”
“Certainly,” he said. “If even one were secretly involved here, providing ships, supplies, personnel, weapons, and such, matters might precede apace, and if one were to be successfully involved, it seems then there might be another, and another, and so on.”
“But would not Kurii, given their dispositions, and such, then contest Gor amongst themselves?”
“Yes,” he said, “and then with weapons of enormous power, such as might turn the world into a cinder, such as might alter the axis of the planet itself.”
“Such weapons should be denied them,” I said.
“That is the view of the Priest-Kings,” he said.
“And perhaps to us,” I said.
“That is the view of Priest-Kings,” he said.
“I know a world where there are no Priest-Kings,” I said.
“Perhaps you are curious as to why you have been ordered to report here,” he said.
“Yes, Master,” I said.
“It has to do with your experience in the house of chance, in Ar,” he said.
“I was only a serving slave, an entertainment slave,” I said. “My role, and that of the others, was primarily to keep men at the games.”
“While your masters ruined them,” he said.
“They were free to leave whenever they wished,” I said.
“But perhaps their luck would change,” he said. “And how, if they left now, could they recoup their losses? And might their departure not dismay the pretty kajira who has been so delightedly and enthusiastically at their side, encouraging them to spin or choose once again, and then again, one sharing so sympathetically in their fortunes? Could they, if they were to leave, brave that tiny exclamation of disappointment, a pout from such pretty lips, a turning aside to another fellow, one of greater interest?”
“Master has been in such a house,” I said.
“Perhaps,” he said.
“Please do not look at me like that, Master,” I said.
“Your pretty body,” he said, “should be lashed, and lashed.”
“I am no longer in such a house,” I said. “A kajira must do as she is told!”
“Yes,” he said, “but I suspect some are better at doing what they are told than others.”
I was silent.
“I learned from Astrinax,” he said, “from your test in the office of Menon, which you passed easily, that you, a nasty, deceitful little kajira, were an excellent choice for such a slave.”
“Master!” I protested.
“Ah, yes,” he said, “you, with your smiles, your expressions, your laughter, your body movements, your inadvertent touchings, your little cries of pleasure and disappointment, would do very well at keeping a fellow at the tables, in prompting him to continue, even be it into penury or destitution.”
“I am different now, Master,” I said. “I have learned much in the collar.”
“But I have not brought you here,” he said, “to castigate you for the worthless, shameful slut you are.”
“Allison does not want to disappoint Master,” I said. “She has learned much in her collar. She wants to be as Master would have her be. She wants to please Master.”
“You think you have learned a little in your collar?” he said.
“Yes, Master,” I said. “Very much, Master!”
“How to be a better animal?”
“Yes, Master,” I said.
“Kiss my hand,” he said.
I quickly kissed it.
I looked up him. I felt myself his slave. I wanted to be his slave. Then I put my head down. “Master has suggested that my presence here has to do with my having served in the house of chance, in Ar,” I said.
“Yes,” he said.
I lifted my lips to him, the offering of a slave.
He looked away, across the room.
I knelt back, a tear forming in my eye.
“I do not see how I can help Master,” I said.
“First,” he said, “I will give you a sense as to what is involved.”
He rose from the bench and went to a shelf to the side, from which he drew forth a large leather envelope, and returned to the table.
“You recall the sheets with squares, on which you, and Chloe, inscribed various letters, signs, and such,” he said.
“Certainly,” I said.
He then extracted a small sheet from the envelope.
“Do you know what this is?” he asked.
“No,” I said.
“Do you play kaissa?” he asked.
“No,” I said.
“But you have heard of it, you have seen a board, some pieces, such things.”
“Yes,” I said, “in the house of Tenalion, in Ar, even here. Some men play it.”
“Many men play it,” he said. “Records are kept of some games. Some games are annotated, criticized, discussed, and such.”
I looked at him.
“In order to do that,” he said, “obviously the pieces, which have rules for movements, and commonly accepted values, must have names, and there must be a way of designating the areas to which they might be moved. The squares of the board are numbered, and named for the initial placement of certain pieces, those on the first row. Each player has twenty-three pieces, but only ten are placed on the first row; the squares take their designations from the initial placement of these ten pieces. For example, from left to right, on the first row, one would have the Ubara’s Initiate, the Ubara’s Builder, the Ubara’s Scribe, the Ubara’s Tarnsman, and then the Ubara. Next comes the Ubar, and then, in order, the Ubar’s Tarnsman, the Ubar’s Scribe, the Ubar’s Builder, and the Ubar’s Initiate.”
“This sounds complex,” I said.
“It is not really complex,” he said. “It is only that it is unfamiliar to you. For example, the fifth square in the
